Follow-up for Michael Conniff (or anyone interested in corrupt NetInfo DBs)

Michael was EXTREMELY helpful to me with a corrupt NetInfo database problem I had a few months back (that archived thread is here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=823282&tstart=0
I was talking to someone else about this recently, and I realized I never posted a follow-up/conclusion to that thread (& I can't now because that thread is archived).
I tried some things (that I never posted about) in the solution process that Michael had never tried (& I think it worked), and I also discovered some interesting little facts/tips about trouble-shooting these things, tips that, at the time, Michael did not know (heh, I feel so smart, because he knew SO much!).
So, Michael, if you're out there, and would like a few more tidbits to add to your voluminous knowledge (though by now you may already have learned what I have to offer), or, if there's anyone else out there with a keen interest in how to recover from a corrupt NetInfo database, let me know, I'll post my little bits of knowledge.
My tips aren't monumental discoveries (some might even find them obvious), and they will likely be of little interest except to people with an interest in how to recover from a corrupt NetInfo database, but I figured I should try to make my own little contribution here if anyone's interested in the info.

The basic resolution wasn't too exciting...backup in FireWire Target Disk Mode, then Archive & Install (& just to be very deliberate I did end up fixing the 10.3 first, then upgrading to 10.4 w/ another A&I). But the interesting stuff is in the details.
For one thing, at one point we were discussing what was in my NetInfo, and longnames, whether they were find-able, etc. Well, I discovered that while the NetInfo db isn't meant to be human-readable, if you do "more" the various files inside /var/db/netinfo/local.nidb, you can in fact read enough of what comes out to figure-out what users are defined and a few of the details of how they're defined (for instance, the longname, their password hint, etc).
More interestingly, we had put my system through a new round of setup and had setup the 501 user, but then got stuck. One worry I had was would the A&I now know what users to keep since the NetInfo presumably no longer knew about the users that used to be on the system (& I think I did "more" the local.nidb files and saw there was no apparent entries for the users I cared about).
Apple had a knowledge base article about restoring your NetInfo from the auto-backup that is sometimes created
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107210 We saw that I had an auto-backup in /var/backups/local.nidump, though it was old and we wondered if it had the users that I cared about in it.
Well, I discovered this file is plain text and fully readable! So, I "more"'d it and saw that everything I cared about was in that backup! You were unsure if that Apple article was the best way to restore a NetInfo, but I tried it (I figured I had nothing to lose before my A&I), and as far as I can tell it worked great. I did Apple's NetInfo restore steps, did an A&I, and when it came up, all the users I cared about were there and defined just like they'd always been. I did not try testing the system after the restore & BEFORE the A&I...I didn't want to take any chances, I just wanted my users back and a clean system and I figured the most reliable way to reach that desired state was to restore the NetInfo and then do the A&I immediately.
So, 3 good tidbits: You can semi-read some good info out of local.nidb, you can check to see how good your backup is in local.nidump pretty easily (just read it), and Apple's restoration instructions seem to work pretty well.
Moral (for me): If you run 10.4 or earlier, you do want that 3:15am auto-backup to happen from time to time. It could be useful one day.
I have a question though, how come when I start a GUI Terminal window there are some commands it won't execute even when I use sudo?
For instance, I can
cd /var
But even if I try
sudo cd backups
there's no way to cd to /var/backups.

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ZCover iPod Nano case for sale in UK, anyone interested?

I am selling a zCover ipod nano case for anyone in the UK that wants it. Used for 1 week, but need to sell as I no longer have an ipod!
Comes with the 2 cases and screen protector. Cheapest in the UK is £20, but I am starting bids at £10
If anyone is interested please go to
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/zCover-iPod-Nano-Silicone-Case-Clear-AS-NEW_W0QQitemZ58259 58158QQcategoryZ56170QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Item number: 5825958158

I had a look at this case sounds good, but when checked it out on the web, saw this review.
I tend to agree, if doesn't protect the screen what use is it.
Another thing to add about the review, sounds a little like they were promoting this web site, when checking it out, did have a review but has been archived, and they expected to buy $$ to read the cramy opinion.
If you click RainDayMagazine you notice they only posted on this topic and identical in each stream, purely promoters not ipod users helping others.
I stick clear of this case. One last thing, you cant see your ipod either through the metal finish of this case.
Google search on iKeychain case:-
There have been a lot of rumblings in the Apple community about how easily the iPod Nano’s screen gets scratched so I am surprised that iLounge rewarded this case with an 8 even though it doesn’t offer any protection to the screen. It’s a very stylish case and the keychain aspect of it makes it very chic, but if I can’t read the screen due to it being scratched up then the case serves me no purpose.
You have to assume that because this case fits on a keychain it will be surrounded by keys and from what I have learned through extensive research over the past 17 months is that keys scratch stuff, .....
Who be stupid enough to run over their ipod really, please.

Stuck in Darwin/BSD - Michael Conniff?

this is a shout-out to michael conniff, if you're out there (well, tomorrow am in london!) i've tried to follow all your post re. this: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4550428 as well as a few others and i'm still stuck. here's what i've done to date:
- performed DU and DW repairs and permissions
- followed the instructions in the above thread with the following errors
loginwindow[69]: [Login.m:1867] Failed to launch /System/Library/CoreServices/Setup Assistant.app/Contents/MacOS/SetUp Assistant (error 5)
kernal[0]: AppleBCM5701Ethernet – en0 link active, 100-Mbit, full duplex, flow control disabled
launchd: Server 0 in bootstrap 1103 uid 0: “/use/sbin/lookup”[65]: exited abnormally: Hangup
SystemStarter[44]: “/Library/StartupItems/Tablet” failed security check: permissions
crashdump[125]: ifcstart crashed
VersionCueCS2Daemon[155]: warning: VersionCueCS2Daemon not started by mach_init process (parent pid: 1)
config[35]: target=enable-network: disabled
sudo: root : TIY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/kill -9 173
SystemStarter[44]: IFC (122) did not complete successfully
SystemStarter[44]: The following StartupItems failed to properly start:
SystemStarter[44]: /System/Library/StartupItems/IFCStart
SystemStarter[44]: - execution of Startup Script failed
if you have a moment, could you let me know if you see anything wacky in those lines or if i should keep looking. in an aside, i'm also trying to attach my powerbook to the sick powermac (re. above) in target mode, to backup in case of the worst, without success. (i can see DW so i know i'm in the target zone, it's just not recognizing the HD). let me know if you have any tricks up your sleeve about that?! thank you, thank you! in advance. cw
p.s. a heck of a tennis game you fine people put on today!

I'm trying to fix my husband's ibook. It's also doing the Darwin/BSD thing. I did everything posted here:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1553062
And I ended up with the result noted by Leah(?)--I get a repeating blue screen. Looks/acts like it's booting. I get the Apple, status bar, then blue screen, changes shades, but keeps repeating about 3 separate shades of blue with a quick status circle in between.
When I go into Darwin and do one of the checks Michael suggested, it tells me repeatedly that Setup Assistant crashed. I finally reached a point where I was willing to reinstall. My husband doesn't store anything on his system--just uses it for Internet and e-mail, so no great loss could occur even in a worst case. He may need to reinstall some e-mail addresses, favorites, etc., but nothing major.
BUT, I can't get the thing to boot from a the install disk 1! The computer won't recognize the disk. I tried holding down C. No go. I tried option--and here's the weird thing. The hard drive for the system shows up, but NOT the CD! I tried CMD-OPT-SHIFT-DELETE, and I got the folder/flashing question mark alternating symbols. Basically, the system recognizes the hard drive, but won't boot from it. And although I hear the CD clicking and whirring in the drive, it won't read the disk as a recognizable drive...?
We'll likely bring it in tomorrow, because I'm out of ideas. I was actually going to try to unplug the HD and see if the CD would then read (based on a MacZone article I came across), but when I saw the schematic online for mucking with an ibook, that was way out of my league as someone who has only monkey-ed with desktops before.
Anyway--I don't mind reformatting. That would be totally fine. But is there any way I can achieve that at this point? Or is it off to the shop in the a.m.?
Thanks!

Anyone interested in working on a LabVIEW book with me?

Hello
Several months back I began working on a LabVIEW training manual and
after becoming busy with other things, progress has stalled out. I am about
70 pages into it.
Here is what I have so far.
Chapter 1 - Introduction (could probably use a little more work)
Chapter 2 - Number Types
Chapter 3 - Strings
Chapter 4 - Booleans
Chapter 5 - Arrays
Chapter 6 - Structures (about 75% done)
Chapter 7 - File I/O (havnt started)
I envisioned this much as an introductory manual for someone who has never
used LabVIEW before. I have my own business in which one of the things I
had hoped to offer was LabVIEW training and thought that it would be more
cost effective if I could produce my own training manual than have potential
students buy a 3rd party book.
I'm not sure what to do now with what I have but these are my ideas.
1) Finish and polish what I have outlined above myself and see if I can sell
individual copies. I think that this would be appropriate for college
courses
using LabVIEW with a need to quickly teach LabVIEW newbies enough
to create vis for small experiments. Perhaps tailoring custom chapters to
show
how to use the classes particular hardware.
2) Find one or two people interested in working with me to make something
considerably more substantial, getting into advanced programming concepts
and
hardware programming concepts. This would continue to be a commercial
project.
3) Turn what I have so far into an open project. Divvy up the chapters and
subchapters
to individuals to really hammer out into something nice. This has a lot of
appeal for
a lot of reasons. I dont think it would be too difficult with the effort of
10-15 people
working a couple hours a week to produce a free document that is better than
all
the books currently on the market.
What do you say? Anyone interested in working on this project with me? I
think it
would be a great service to the community.
Send me e-mail or respond to this thread so I can get an idea of the level
of interest.
Make sure you let me know your LabVIEW background and what sections you
would be interested in working on. Suggestions for future chapters are
welcome, too.
(State Machines, Interface Nodes, GPIB, VXI, etc.)
Mark
Mark J. Sowa, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Strigidae Technologies, Inc.
w3.one.net/~marksowa
P.O. Box 531251
Cincinnati, OH 45253
Voice: (513) 259-9682
Fax: (513) 598-4203

I'm willing. 5 years experience doing GPIB and card-based DAQ along with
playing with niceties like ActiveX, both for external app control and to
expand the available selection of front panel controls. Reasonable amount of
time at the moment though I'm looking for a new job [anyone hiring? ] so
that may change.
A commercial book that gets published is better on the CV than a free one so
I favour working towards the former and doing it as a comprehensive work
that goes into depth. But at the order of 1k pages it's a formidable task.
Publication indicates a publisher thinks it's worthwhile; producing a free
book is an indication only of lots of free time to most people
Mark Sowa wrote in message
news:[email protected].
> 2) Find one or two people interested in working with me to make something
> considerably more substantial, getting into advanced programming concepts
> and
> hardware programming concepts. This would continue to be a commercial
> project.
ActiveX could be the basis of two chapters- "how/why to do it" and a
reference to the common apps and controls. The latter however is essentially
a reference to a load of M$ products and M$ may protest. There's a
continuous trickle of ActiveX messages online so it's probably worthwhile.
One problem is, is there actually a need for another Labview book? You've
started this simply as a tutorial handout to make the cost of your course
appear less. Personally I've not read all of the supplied documentation and
have not bought any Labview books. Aside from the crap "case study" thing NI
produce. There's a few out there already, and I'd need to be convinced the
project is worthwhile before pitching in!

HT201303 I received this update from Apple, but I have no record of altering anything, can you tell me what has been updated, who updated anything, and how was it done? Hello, The following information for your Apple ID was updated on 03/22/2014: Phone

I received this update from Apple, but I have no record of altering anything, in particular telephone numbers, can anyone tell me what has been updated, who updated it, and how was entry made to my account?
Hello,
The following information for your Apple ID was updated on 03/22/2014:
Phone number(s)
If these changes were made in error, please CLICK HERE, to Cancel this changes withing 24hours..
This is an automated message. Please do not reply to this email. If you need additional help, visit Apple Support.
Thanks,
Apple Customer Support

This is a user to user forum, so no one here can provide an answer. You should contact iTunes Support directly.
Here's how you can do that: http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact/

16GB SODIMM anyone interested in pushing TOSHIBA together to update BIOS

Hi,
Anyone interested to convice Toshiba to update the BIOS Memory Reference Code routine to recognize the new 16GByte SODIMM modules released by the memory company I´m Intelligent for the differnet product lines including laptop Satellite?
We could have 32GB with two slots.
So, please answer the ones interested and stay tuned.
Thanks.
KR,
RI

Thanks, Jerry, for the quick reply.
Before I posted my original question I had been through all available downloads/docs for my Satellite and read up on the Battery Manager feature on some of the Toshiba notebooks.
My Satellite does NOT have the Battery Manager feature/app among the many Toshiba-branded utilities. Only "ecoMode," which doesn't appear to do much exept trim down power consumption, and "PC Health Monitor," which reports info on battery charge level, etc, and allows access to Windows power management plans for tweaking. But no Tosh-branded Battery Manager application...
What I'm trying to determine is whether it could be ADDED to my machine, by updating BIOS to a newer TOSH version (maybe that's a bad idea), or by downloading a utility app for a newer Toshiba laptop, or both?
"Officially" it appears that the Battery Manager (and therefore, Eco Charge) was not available for my older L505, but what I want to know is whether I could add it somehow?

Adobe Captivate LMS Compatibility Guide - Anyone Interested??

Why is it so hard to find information about Captivate LMS Compatibility?
I'll admit to being somewhat frustrated with the lack of easily procurable information about how to make Adobe Captivate content compatible with the plethora of LMS products now flooding the marketplace. (There are over 100.) I had hoped for years that Adobe would put up a site (or at least a page or two) that listed LMSs and laid out the correct settings in Captivate to use for each one. Sadly this hasn't happened. And the search function on this forum seems to be broken, which makes it more than hard to find information about a given named LMS.
So in desperation I've decided to try and provide a venue for this type of information myself. I'm going to reserve a section on my website at www.infosemantics.com.au for information specific to Adobe Captivate LMS Compatibility. I'll be listing anyLMS products there for which I can procure information related to using Captivate. Headings on each LMS page will overview the LMS functionality, compatibilty with SCORM or AICC standards, any known issues with compatibility with Captivate content, what Cp quiz settings other users have found work successfully, as well as any modifications to templates, or workarounds that have proven useful.
Naturally, I only have access to a small number of LMS products for testing. So I'm enlisting help from any LMS users on this forum to provide suggestions and information collaboratively.
Here's what I need from you:
Simply go to http://www.infosemantics.com.au/contact and leave a message stating the brand and version of LMS/s you use, and a contact email address where I can reach you for information on how you got your Captivate content to work with it. I will add a new page to the LMS Guide covering every LMS for which people offer information and add the info under each heading. Each LMS page will also allow comments so that other users can offer feedback and suggestions. If the volume of response is to high for mere comments, I can add a forum for each LMS where users can exchange information on what worked for them. User's interested in a given LMS can subscribe to that page so that they will be notified via RSS of any updates to information.
I intend to create test projects in Cp5 that have various combinations of Quiz Settings which (according to user feedback) SHOULD WORK on each LMS. You'll be able to download these zipped SCORM or AICC packages to test on your own LMS as well as the Captivate project files (cp and cptx format) used to create them, so that you can see the settings used. Hopefully this will help you to debug compatibility with your own LMS.
You can also leave a message on the contact form if you are trying to use a particular LMS but haven't had much success and would appreciate getting information about it. I can't promise to find the answers, but someone else that chimes in might be able to do so once they know you're looking.
My sincere hope is that over time this resource will build into something that will save a lot of time and angst for every Captivate developer trying to work with an ever-growing number of LMS products. More and more clients have them. But it's a minefield out there.
Anyone interested in participating in this attempt?

No, I'm not only concerned with Cp5's LMS compatibility.
I intend to put up information about all Captivate versions that anyone can supply information on. Most likely this will be from about Cp3 onward.

I have an airport extreme space station which works fine, but does not ask for the password so anyone can get on my network. I don't know what to do to fix this.

I set up airport wifi with a WEP password, but it never asks for the password and anyone can enter my network...what to do?

Is it possible to backtrack your way out of the keychain?
Yes:
Run the Keychain Access utility found in \Applications\Utilities
In the category column (on the left side of the utilities' window), select "All Items."
In the right column look for your Network Name. It will have a "Kind" of "AirPort network password."
Delete every entry that has both your Network Name with this Kind.
What can I do to test or reset?
You can completely erase all the base station's passwords by performing either a "hard" or "factory default" reset. You can also temporarily disable these passwords for up to five minutes so that you will have enough time to change them using the AirPort Utility, by just performing a "soft" reset. I would recommend this one first.
This would also be a good time to consider using WPA or WPA2, instead of WEP, as WEP is no longer considered secure.
I got the airport extreme based used with no softward and set up with reset on airport base and followed instructions.
You can download a copy of the AirPort Utility, that runs on OS X Tiger here.

I m new for SAP script can anyone tell me step by step

hi
i m new for SAP script can anyone tell me step by step.
how i can work with sap script and how can i call report programe by sap script
thanks .

Hi laxman,
Follow these steps
Goto transaction code Se71
then give a name starting with Z r Y to create a new script then
1) create header data and basic settings
2)Pages u have to give ur pages number in character format only
3)window here u have to create windows for different variables such as for logo and etc., there will be a default window named as main mindow in this now u have to add new window for that
4)Page windows to add page windows follow these steps
goto edit option in the toolbar and select CREATE ELEMENT from which u can add already above declared windows
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After craeting all these press F9 so that u will be directed to coding part where u have declare the coding according to ur requirement
Regards,
Pavan

Anyone interested?

Hey everyone, my name is Sean, I'm a rising teen stand-up
comedian currently living in Okinawa, Japan.
Just so we're clear, I'm not japanese, I'm irish-american.
Anyways, I'm in the process of developing a website for my stand-up
comedy career, and I've been trying to make it as professional as
possible. Is anyone interested in designing a flash-intro page for
it? I have absolutely no skill in the flash design area, and I
would greatly appreciate any assistance. Contact me at
[email protected] if you're interested.

Hey everyone, my name is Sean, I'm a rising teen stand-up
comedian currently living in Okinawa, Japan.
Just so we're clear, I'm not japanese, I'm irish-american.
Anyways, I'm in the process of developing a website for my stand-up
comedy career, and I've been trying to make it as professional as
possible. Is anyone interested in designing a flash-intro page for
it? I have absolutely no skill in the flash design area, and I
would greatly appreciate any assistance. Contact me at
[email protected] if you're interested.

Hey Guys, from Germany. I want to connect my iMac 21" with my Tv just for fun. Does anyone know, how it works. With a Hdmi adapter?

Hey guys! I want to connect my Imac 21 " with my Tv just for fun. Does anyone know , how it works?

Selecting the correct adapter and cable depends on which year model iMac you have and what inputs the TV has?
Check the User's Guide that came with your iMac or your Spec's at > Apple - Support - Technical Specifications
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Example: if you have a 2010 or 2011 iMac and an HDMI ready TV, then you would want the > Moshi Mini DP to HDMI Adapter with Audio Support - Apple Store (U.S.)

I am trying to open iTunes on my mac. But a box pops up saying "The folder iTunes is on a locked disk or you do not have write permissions for this folder". Anyone know what that means? I've had my computer 2 years and its never had a problem opening it

I am trying to open iTunes on my mac. But a box pops up saying "The folder iTunes is on a locked disk or you do not have write permissions for this folder". Anyone know what that means? I've had my computer 2 years and its never had a problem opening it

I've already right-clicked on the application, clicked "get info", and changed it so all people listed in the "Sharing & Permissions" section have the "read & write" privilage.
The error message is referring to your iTunes library, not your iTunes application.
You need to check and fix the permissions of the iTunes folder in your iTunes library. This is by default located in your "Music" folder.
Select the folder Music > iTunes in the Finder, right click on it or Ctrl Click and click "Get Info". At the bottom of the contextual window thatwill pop up, disclose the Sharing and Permissions brick, change your status from Read only to Read & Write. You may need to click the padlock icon to make changes.

Can't log in with valid password, can't boot from disk, can't access disk utility, in single user mode can't reset password as appears locked in caps mode with '?' for forward slash, can anyone help?

Can't log in with valid password, can't boot from disk, can't access disk utility, in single user mode can't reset password as appears locked in caps mode with '?' for forward slash, can anyone help?

Which keyboard layout you were using? German, French ... I suppose your layout is reset to the default: US and you are unable to find the "?" or "/" ...
Please have a look into the keyboard viewer, to see how the layout of your keyboard is actually.
marek

HT201412 I no longer have the computer my ipod touch was sinked too, my ipod has now crashed, when conected to my latest pc it states this computer is not the supervisor pc for this device, can anyone help

I no longer have the computer my ipod touch was sinked too, my ipod has now crashed, when conected to my latest pc it states this computer is not the supervisor pc for this device, can anyone help

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I'm traveling to London for the summer, does anyone know a good power adapter/converter for my MacBook Pro?

I'm traveling to London for the summer, does anyone know a good power adapter/converter for my MacBook Pro? I know there's the Travel Adapter Kit but it's only for iPhones, iPods, iPad, etc.

Apple World Travel Adapter Kit
The World Travel Adapter Kit includes the Apple USB Power Adapter, USB Cable and six interchangeable AC adapter plugs for use with iPod, iPhone, and iPad. The adapter plugs can also be used with Apple MagSafe Power Adapters, Portable Power Adapters, and AirPort Express, so you can plug your power adapter into most electrical outlets around the world.
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Follow-up for Michael Conniff (or anyone interested in corrupt NetInfo DBs)

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