POSSIBLE? Copy USB thumb drive image to file and rebuild it to use the USB drive ?

I bought an 8GB USB thumb drive and used it to create an install boot disk to boot for install or use disk utility to clone my system drive for failsafe. In other words it is called "Install OS X Mavericks" and I can boot from it.
SO, it just sits there and does nothing while I am not using it, and in the meantime I have some documents I need to get printed at Kinkos and class notes to carry around, and this drive could really be useful to do that, rather than waste time and money to buy a new one and keep track of them all. You know how these things always get lost of broken and you end up with a few of them and never know what's on them?
So ... in UNIX style I tried to do a dd of the drive "dd if=/dev/disk2 of=$HOME/usbdrive.dmg bs=4096" - assuming a 4K block size would work.
The system does not seem to recognize it, so I'm doubting if that was the correct way to do this, or if this can be done at all.
What I want to do in short is to not bother with formating or anything like that, and just create a disk image that I can store around until I need to put it in my USB drive to boot for an install, rebuilt, clone system drive, etc.
Can this be done, and does anyone know how to do it?
I do have Mavericks Server, but I'm not sure how or if the System Image Utility will do this? It sees the drive, but it just give me options to make a Net Boot Image, NetInstall Image, or a NetRestore Image ... and I do not know if any of those options will allow me to put it back on the drive when and if I need to?

The command you want is
sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Mavericks.app --nointeraction
This command only works if "Install OS X Mavericks" is in the Applications folder and a 8GB usb is erased and named "Untitled". Change the command as you see fit.

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A year ago I brought a 1 TB hard drive (My Passport), I have not used it for over 4 months and now when I use the USB cord to connect it to my mac, it does not register the hard drive. Does anyone know why this is happening?

A year ago I brought a 1 TB hard drive (My Passport), I have not used it for over 4 months and now when I use the USB cord to connect it to my mac, it does not register the hard drive. Does anyone know why this is happening?

The beeps could be caused by something as simple as a loose internal wire or connection. If it is under warranty (not sure how long that is, as WD drives range from 1 to 5 years depending on the model's series - I think "my passport" drives are 3 years) you could contact WD and ask them about it.
If it is out of warranty, you could also try opening the case and check the connections - the drive may be fine, and there have been posts on TomsHardware forums of people getting the beeps, opening up the case and the drive is fine, just some wire worked loose.

I have a MacPro late 2011 and each time I use the USB connection it freezes my desktop, also I have lost my windows OS on VMware Fusion, regards Bettws

I have a MacbookPro 10.6.8 and each time I use the USB connection it freezes my desktop, also I have lost my Windows XP operating system on VMware Fusion. regards Bettws

Energy Saver is very problematic with non-Apple USB devices. Which means when you close the lid to your machine, those devices will not necessarily appear until you next restart the computer.
Secondly, Windows XP is not secure anymore, unless you pay Microsoft a special licensing fee. To avoid that, upgrade to at leats Windows Vista:
https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2741

Is there a way to get data to and from the hard drive of a Powerbook 180 without having to use the floppy drive?

Howdy folks!
I have an 20 year old Powerbook 180 with what I think is an unreliable floppy drive. Sometimes while accessing a diskette the screen flickers and usually power to the whole computer drops out.
I'm not familiar with Mac connectivity. Is there a way to access the hard drive--to get data off of, and install files, etc onto, the hard drive? 3.5 inch drives are 20th century.
But... I am happy because my old Powerbook still boots up just fine and I can look at my old files installed on the HD ok.
Thanks,
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Hi Hayward,
This may be a power supply issue, not necessarily a problem with the floppy drive itself. Any change if you try removing the battery?
Would it be correct to assume that it is a plain PowerBook 180 (not 180c)? Which power adapter are you using? It must have a 7.5 DC output, but is it capable of supplying at least 2.0 A?
Unfortunately it is difficult to remove and connect the (2.5" SCSI) hard drive to a modern computer. Had it been 2.5" IDE, things would have been much easier.
It is possible to set up a serial null-modem connection from a PowerBook 180 to another computer. See the following discussion for details:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4974860
If the PB 180 has an internal modem (or an external modem connected to the modem port), you could send files to another modem-equipped computer over the phone lines. With the proper software installed, the PB 180 can even use a dial-up Internet connection.
Alternatively, another semi-old (pre-1998) Macintosh computer with built-in Ethernet could be used as an intermediary, You could use LocalTalk (or a plain Mac printer cable) for file sharing between the PB 180 and the semi-old Mac (the latter could then forward files over a local network or via the Internet). It is also possible to connect the PB 180 to the semi-old Mac in SCSI disk mode (see the user guide below for additional information).
manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/0302674APB160180UG.pdf
Jan

When using a personal dropbox account, is it possible to use the mapped drive without downloading all my dropbox files to my hard drive as well?

When using a personal (not business) dropbox account on my mac book pro, is it possible to use the mapped drive only? Currently I have dropbox mapped to my computer but it is also saving a redundant copy of the data on my hard drive. My goal is to pull, edit and save files on the mapped drive only without having a redundant back up of all my dropbox files on my computer wasting valuable storage space. Any advice out there? Thanks in advance for your help!

I don't believe that is accurate, but maybe I am missing something (I am not a Windows user).
Looking at 2 explanation of how to map a Dropbox as a drive…
http://lkeng.org/wp/?p=147
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d8uvseVr5A
Both of those are linking to the 'local copy' of Dropbox. It is not a true 'network' drive as far as I can see (it still requires the local copy on the PC).
Another video suggests using another service to mount the Dropbox, but that is not using Dropbox anymore, it is going through Otixo…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAIpm2qmglU
Dropbox does not provide easy to use URL's to mount as a network disk so I don't think this is possible on OS X.
Dropbox's forum has this too…
https://www.dropboxforum.com/hc/communities/public/questions/202133795-How-to-ma p-dropbox-as-a-network-drive-on-Mac?loca…
You may need to examine the Windows computers carefully - if they have Dropbox installed & running then all the files are stored on the local machine in addition to the 'mapped drive'.
It looks to me like people are 'redirecting' the local copy to appear like a remote disk just so they can address that path on other machines - each PC is being setup the same. You could create aliases on OS X, but it doesn't help move files off the machine.
Hopefully someone else will contradict me, but I don't think this is how Dropbox works.

I converted aif files to mp3 files in I tunes so I could put them on a flash drive. Now when I transfer an album to the flash drive I get both the aif files and the mp3 files in the flash drive. How do I get the iTunes to only copy the smaller file?

I converted aif files to mp3 files in iTunes so I could put them on a flash drive. Now when I transfer an album to the flash drive I get both the aif files and the mp3 files on the flash drive. How do I get the iTunes to only copy the smaller file?

My suggestion to use the smart playlist was more along the lines of making one list with rules to show everything in your library as long as it was kind "mpeg" (= mp3).
Smart playlists cannot be edited manually, only by changing the rules. You can use them as the basis for another smart playlist though.
There is added overhead to using smart playlists, so don't go overboard.

Since my G5 died I was thinking about getting a Mac Mini, but I have a ViewSonic Monitor (from 2004) and a USB keyboard and mouse - I also have the external drive tha downloaded my files on to. Do you think the monitor, keyboard and mouse will work on it?

Since my G5 died I was thinking about getting a Mac Mini, but I have a ViewSonic Monitor (from 2004) and a USB keyboard and mouse - I also have the external drive that I downloaded my files on to. Do you think the monitor, keyboard and mouse will work on it? Would I have to get a hub so I could use the stuff I already have? Is that viewsonic too old to work on it?
What else would I need? Please advise...

Yes for keyboard and mouse.
The monitor will work if it has an HDMI, VGA ir DVI input. If it only has a VGA input you will need this adopter
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/cables/cable_choo ser#selected-step1=MINI-DISPLAY-PORT&selected-step2=VGA&step=3

I think the DVD player reader on my Mac is going bad. Is there a way to copy the files off of an Apple Install DVD onto an external drive and then do theinstall from the external drive?

I think the DVD player reader on my Mac is going bad. Until I get it fixed Is there a way to copy the files off of an Apple Install DVD onto an external drive and then do theinstall from the external drive? It's ILife 11 if that makes a difference. Finder won't let me see the files to copy. I know - dumb question.
Thanks.
Bob

Adding an SSD is not a simple endeavour like adding additional memory or adding another hard drive to a Mac Pro. That's probably why the option is only offered as an option at the time of purchase. Even if your Apple store was willing to install the necessary parts you will probably be paying for 1-2 hours of labor plus the cost of purchasing the necessary service parts (SSD, bracket, cables, etc) which I suspect will make the upgrade cost much higher than what it costs to add the SSD option when purchasing a new system.
I use my system for business and need it to work reliably. Even though I'm fairly handy with tools I would not be willing to risk damaging my system and voiding my warranty by opening my system and removing the logic board and several other parts in order to squeeze in an SSD option and attach the appropriate cables and brackets. I'm also not prepared to deal with the hassles of explaining why my system has unauthorized parts installed in the event I experience issues and need to make use of my Apple warranty. My time is valuable, so I would probably investigate external storage options, or if I needed the speed of an SSD, I would consider selling my existing system and then purchase a new system configured with an SSD.
If you haven't already done so I suggest doing a search on 'iMac SSD installation' to see what's involved. It might help you understand why the SSD option is not offered post purchase.

Acquiring Images using the USB port

I want to acquire Images using the USB port of the PC. Is it possible to acquire images using the USB port and analyze the image using IMAQ library. If we use the USB port direct then we may not need the IMAQ vision acquisition card.

Try Irene's drivers (see previous answer above), or Peter Parente's webcam drivers (www.mindofpete.org).
cheers,
Christopher
Christopher G. Relf
Certified LabVIEW Developer
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Since I have the newest version of itunes, I can't back up like normally. The only way is to considilate files and then put them on an external drive which I don't have. Are there any other options? If I can't back up to a disc like I used to, can I inste

Since I have the newest version of itunes, I can't back up like normally. The only way is to considilate files and then put them on an external drive which I don't have. Are there any other options? If I can't back up to a disc like I used to, can I instead just keep everything on my ipod and then if I have to get a new computer or something just download all my songs from the ipod to my new computer's itunes? Will that work? Will I still be able to keep all my songs that way?

I'm going to assume the consolidating files does not work due to hard drive space limitations.
Since you're moving to Windows 7, have you tried using the Windows files and settings transfer utility? That will move everything for you to the same location on the new computer, it also allows some control over what actually gets moved.
Alternatively, if you know the location of all of the media, it can be manually moved by copying it from the old computer to the new computer in the same location.
Also, using the Apple article on moving the library, take a slight twist on what it says. Move the iTunes library to the external drive, update the settings in iTunes to reflect the library being on the external drive, then consolodate it.
The options are endless for moving the library... it simply takes a little effort to make it happen and possibly a twist on existing "standard" methods depending on your unique situation.

How to ensure the link between iTunes Library itl file and Music Folder residing on a different drive?

I'm planning to move my Music Library from a PC to Mac. Both running iTunes 10.
On the PC (Win XP) the iTues folder did not move from My Music folder when music (and videos, books, etc) were moved to a different drive on the PC. iTunes runs ok, but the itl, xml and itdb files remain in the My Music Folder.
When I transfer the music (folder and all other contents) to the Mac, and then the itl, xml, itdb files into the new Music>iTunes folder will they still be "linked" or will I need to rebuild the itl from scratch?
Is there a way to ensure that the itl and music files themselves transfer to the Mac and remain linked once iTunes is launched?
thanks

Making a split library portable
Here are typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
If the iTunes folder contains the iTunes Media folder as above then the iTunes folder can be moved to a new location/drive/computer without breaking the file references. Although it is possible to migrate a split library from one system to another, the media folder must end up at precisely the same drive letter & path on the target system. This is feasible when moving between Windows systems, possibly feasible moving between Macs, but definitely impossible when moving PC to Mac or vice versa.
Assume the media folder on the external drive is called ..\<Parent>\<Media> and the library files are in the usual place of <Profile's Music>\iTunes.
You need to copy the library files and Album Artwork folder into the <Parent> folder, then use the hold-down-shift-when-starting-iTunes method (hold down option for Macs) to open the copy of the database that you've made in the <Parent> folder.
Once this library has been opened and tested there are a few changes you can make so that it conforms to the standard layout. When iTunes opens it uses the folder name where the database is located as the window name so if the <Parent> folder isn't called iTunes then neither will be the main iTunes window. Close iTunes, rename <Parent> as iTunes and use the hold-down-shift-when-starting-iTunes method to open iTunes again. If <Parent> is the root of the drive, make a new folder called iTunes and move the library files, Album Artwork & <Media> folders into the new iTunes folder instead. Start iTunes, then check under Edit > Preferences > Advanced that the media folder location has been correctly updated and edit if necessary.
You may also want to correct the media folder name. Having applied the fix above, if it was necessary, close iTunes then rename the <Media> folder as iTunes Media. Start iTunes and again check under Edit > Preferences > Advanced that the media folder location has been correctly updated and edit if necessary.
Congratulations, your library is now fully portable and you can connect your external drive to any computer running the same build of iTunes, Mac or PC, in order to work with it. Don't forget to deauthorise the old computer if you won't need to access protected content on it again.
tt2

I am trying to connect a Macbook Pro to a projector for a Powerpoint presentation. When I use a VGA cable, the color of the projected images are not good. When I use a USB cable, the projected image includes the presenter notes on my computer screen?

I am trying to connect a Macbook Pro to a projector for a Powerpoint presentation. When I use a VGA cable, the color of the projected images are not good. When I use a USB cable, the projected image includes the presenter notes on my computer screen?

To move an iPhoto Library to a new machine:
Link the two Macs together: there are several ways to do this: Wireless Network,Firewire Target Disk Mode, Ethernet, or even just copy the Library to an external HD and then on to the new machine...
But however you do choose to link the two machines...
Simply copy the iPhoto Library from the Pictures Folder on the old Machine to the Pictures Folder on the new Machine.
Then hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
and select the Library that you moved. That's it.
This moves photos, events, albums, books, keywords, slideshows and everything else.
Your first option didn't work because you imported one Library to another. Every version and thumbnail is imported like a distinct photo, you lose all your Albums, Keywords etc., the link between Original and Previews is destroyed, the non-destructive editing feature is ruined and so on. In summary: it's mess.
Your second option didn't work because you simply referenced her library on the old machine.
Regards
TD

HT1364 I used these instructions to move my i-tunes library to the external hard drive that two different home pc's access. My playlists do not show on both Is it possible to have one i-pod synch amid two different computers that use the same library?

I have a sole i-pod and two pc's, used the instructions for "iTunes for Windows: Moving your iTunes Media folder" in the hope that I could synch my one i-pod between two different computers that are sharing the same library. Is it possible to have two seperate computers that only share an external hard drive (one wireless, one not) ? When I am looking at a shared library should it appear the same on both machines (ie: playlists/ purchased list etc)?

If it is moved correctly, playlists will display on both computers and it should be possible.
Close iTunes.
Hold <SHIFT> and launch iTunes.
When prompted to create a new or open an existing iTunes library point iTunes to the iTunesLibrary.itl file on the external drive.
The entire library should now show up with all playlists and playcounts.
Do this on both computers.
Keep in mind that only one computer can access iTunes at a time, otherwise errors will occur when each computer attempts to write to or update the iTunesLibrary.itl file.
Syncing may work seemlessly with both computers, but honestly syncing is designed to work with one and only one computer.

I recently purchased a new iMac with an external drive. I want to transfer my files from my old iMac to the external drive, but I'm afraid that doing that will compromise the use of the external drive on my new iMac. Comments? Help?

I recently purchased a new iMac with an 1 Terrabyte external drive. I want to transfer my files from my old iMac to the external drive, but I'm afraid that doing that will compromise the use of the external drive on my new iMac. I have not downloaded the external drive's software onto my old Mac because of this concern. May I simply "drag and drop" the contents I want transferred to the external drive, then set up my new Mac with the drive and download there? or is there a better procedure? Comments? Help?

If your intention is to copy a just documents and data (word processing files and music for example) then yes, you can use drag and drop. If you want to transfer data and applications and permissions, it would actually be easiest to connect the drive to your old computer and turn on TimeMachine. Once TM is finished, connect the drive to your new computer and restart it holding the option key to get into Recovery mode. Then you can use the restore from TM option to transfer your data and programs to the new computer.

I have my iPhoto set to an external drive yesterday when it was in use the usb disconnected i now have a message saying (your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable) I have tried shutting down and restarting.

I have my iPhoto set to an external drive, when it was in use the usb disconected as i was moving my mac air, when i re-conected a message said (your photo library is either in use by another application or has become unreadable).
I have tried shutting it down and then re opening iPhoto but get the same message.
The reason for the external drive was there was not enough room on my hard drive, I have around 7000 photos on it.
is there a simple fix?
Regards
Dale

These are your options:
1. Restore the iPhoto library from the most recent backup that predates the issue.
          Advantages: Always works, if library damage is causing the problem and the backup is intact.
          Disadvantages: Impossible if you don't have a backup. All changes made since the backup are lost.
2. Repair or rebuild the library. Be sure to back it up first.
          Advantages: May solve the problem with no loss of data.
          Disadvantages: May fail. May take a long time if the library is large.
3. Scavenge the library with a third-party application called "iPhoto Library Manager," which you can find in a web search. From the application's menu bar (not the iPhoto menu bar), select Library ▹ Rebuild.
          Advantages: All images and albums should be preserved.
          Disadvantages: All books, calendars, and slideshows will be lost.

POSSIBLE? Copy USB thumb drive image to file and rebuild it to use the USB drive ?

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