Archive for the ‘Boot Camp’ Category

MacBook Pro (2009): Boot Camp: Windows 7 (64): FW & ExpressCard Issues

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

My MacBook Pro, of 2009 vintage, has both FireWire 800 (FW 800) and ExpressCard among its data & communications ports.  These work fine in Mac OS X, but not in [Boot Camp > Windows 7 (64-bit)].  That’s how it’s always been with this laptop.  A while has passed since I last searched the web, so I wondered whether any solution had finally been found.  I was prompted by the serendipitous discovery (in a desk drawer) of an ExpressCard to FireWire card, offering dual FS800 ports.  It was originally purchased in an attempt to work around the non-functioning (in BC-W7) native FW port of the machine, but that attempt had not, to date, been successful.  I wondered if maybe a solution to using that work-around might now be available.

No.

Sadly I just wasted valuable time looking around.  All I confirmed was that I was not alone with this problem.

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MacBook Pro > Boot Camp > Windows 7: FireWire & ExpressCard Port Issues

Saturday, September 1st, 2012

This is a long-standing problem to which it seems there might never be a solution…

Websearch on [MacBook Pro > Boot Camp > Windows 7] re not-working-properly of:

  •  FW800
  • ExpressCard Slot

Links I found (if only for posterity):

  • e.g. Google: [macbook pro boot camp express card recognized]
  • https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1770784?start=0&tstart=0
    • Q:
      • I have just tried the Express 3/4 wireless card from Ubitquiti. After booting up in Bootcamp, and inserting the card, I did not receive the “Found New Hardware” dialog. I am unable to find the device in the device manager. It appears that bootcamp may not support the Express 3/4 card slot.
      • I can see when I boot OS X that the card is recognized, but it does not have a driver for it. So I know the H/W appears to be functional.
    • A:
      • In subsequent experimentation, I am finding that if the card is inserted when I bootup with bootcamp, then the expresscard/34 is recognized. However if I insert the card after having been booted, the card does not get recognized.
  • http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=783982
    • Q:
      • I’ve got Windows 7 RC 64-bit installed on a 2.53 GHz MacBook Pro (dual boot using Boot Camp) with an ExpressCard slot. I also got a FileMate SolidGO 3FMS4D48M-WR 48GB ExpressCard SSD; the drive works beautifully under OS X, but is not recognized at all by Windows 7 when it’s in the ExpressCard slot. In Device Manager, the yellow caution icon appears in front of the Standard ACHI 1.0 Serial ATA Controller under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. The drive does not show under Disk drives or in Disk Manager. The corresponding Device Status message is: “This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use (Code 12). If you want to use this device, you will need to disable one of the other devices on this system.”
      • The drive is recognized as SATA under Mac OS X and also works fine in Windows when plugged into a USB port instead of the ExpressCard slot (at which point it is not treated as SATA, but USB). I’ve tried the latest Boot Camp drivers, but that has no effect. Any suggestions?
    • A:
      • Unfortunately for Unibody users like myself with the Nvidia MCP79 chipset there hasn’t been a solution found yet – it’s discussed towards the end of the thread. I’m going to try and help when I have time but until they find a solution or Apple release what would be quite a simple EFI patch to enable it in the BIOS emulation we’re stuck with PATA and your SSD won’t work

Mac Pro Disk Failure & Recovery

Thursday, August 9th, 2012

Computer increasingly slow on start-up, eventually becomes sporadic in its ability to succeed, unexpected error messages…

Yes, it’s Disk Failure Time !  This time it was on my Mac Pro (desktop)

So I did these things:

  • Copied latest stuff to a portable (WD Passport) drive:
    • I copied documents, videos and downloads
    • I generated a list of installed applications, both 32-bit and 64-bit.
  • Opened up the machine to remove drives (and at the same time to hoover-out dust).
  • Procured a replacement hard drive
    • Google-search revealed my old drive to be obsolete, no longer (easily) available
    • Phoned a local computer tech wizardry shop, who fix Macs as well as PCs, and they had a suitable replacement drive (a WD SATA 1TB drive, twice the size of the old/failing one.
    • Bought that very disk.
  • Fitted the disk, as sole disk, and recovered both the Mac OS and Boot Camp > W7 partitions, according to the “DO” (not “DON’T”) branch of the instructions listed at http://blog.davidesp.com/archives/300
    • It took about an afternoon.  The longest stages were the actual restorings from backup.
  • For W7
    • The first thing I updated was the antivirus.  This was for the app as well as the database, and it wasn’t quick.  No reboot needed though.
    • Otherwise, two or three reboots were required, including first-use, windows updates critical, windows updates optional.

Mac Pro: Better GPU (With Decent CUDA)

Tuesday, June 12th, 2012

I’m considering getting a decent CUDA  card for my existing Mac-based system.  Currently its GPU is a GeForce 8800 GT, having 112 CUDA cores and 512 MB RAM.  In contrast, for example, the Quadro 4000 has 256 cores, 2GB RAM, memory bandwidth just under 90GB/s.  Clock speeds are harder to compare in a meaningful way, there is processor clock speed and cores clock speeds, and of course we are dealing here with multicore.

From my research, it seems that:

  • The NVIDIA Quadro 4000 is compatible with a Mac (tower) both under Mac OS and Boot Camp Windows 7 64-bit (as well as some other versions I don’t care about).
  • It is possible to install more than one such card, doubling the number of cores, and benefitting dual-monitor-related performance if the two monitors are each connected to separate cards.

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Upgrade Mac Boot Camp XP to Windows 7 64-bit

Friday, May 18th, 2012

Web-Research:

  • http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/running-windows-anything-else-your-mac/179571-upgrade-windows-7-without-going-through-bootcamp-again.html
    • ID:
      • Updating Boot Camp and installing Windows 7 on your Mac
      • by Topher Kessler  January 20, 2010
    • Best to install drivers first:
      • Boot Camp Software Update 3.1 64-bit: The full Boot Camp driver package for 64-bit versions of Windows, including Windows 7.
      • Boot Camp Software Update 3.1 32-bit: The full Boot Camp driver package for 32-bit versions of Windows, including Windows 7.
      • Graphics Firmware Update 1.0: This provides graphics updates for iMacs and MacPros with Geforce 7300GT, 7600GT, and Quadro FX4500 graphics processors. It is only required if you are installing Windows 7.
      • {BUT are they not included as standard nowadays (2012) with latest version of Boot Camp ? }
    • http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/running-windows-anything-else-your-mac/179571-upgrade-windows-7-without-going-through-bootcamp-again.htm
      • ID:
        • upgrade to Windows 7 without going through bootcamp again?
        • Question by “brockga”, Feb. 2009
      • “should be” no need to destroy & re-create existing Boot Camp partition, just install W7 over the top of it.
      • Further advantage of this method: W7 “Custom Install” option able to save existing Documents
        • << The Windows 7 install process will then copy all of your data in “My Documents” over to a Windows.old folder within Windows 7 itself. All applications and documents stored in other locations will have to be reinstalled / transferred manually. >>
        • x
    • http://forums.macworld.com/index.php?/topic/139815-successful-setup-os-x-lion-bootcamp-win7-data-partition/
      • ID:
        • Successful setup: OS X Lion + Bootcamp Win7 + Data Partition
        • ernopena_nyc, 28 August 2011
      • The key to this working is creating your extra partitions AFTER you make the Bootcamp partition but BEFORE you install Windows. And once Windows is installed, you CAN NOT shrink, resize, delete, create, or modify any partition.
      • <<<
        • I have my internal 500GB hard drive partitioned the following way:
          • 120GB OS X Lion (system and apps)
          • 316GB workspace partition (user files, projects)
          • 64GB Bootcamp Windows 7 Ultimate
        • To make this work, I started with the standard procedure of installing OS X Lion on a single Mac OS Ext partition and using Bootcamp Assistant to build the Bootcamp partition for Windows.  Then I did 2 key things:
          • 1. Before installing Windows on the Bootcamp partition, I first went back to Disk Utility, shrunk the OS X Lion partition, and inserted a 3rd partition Workspace_HD for all my user files. Then I restarted and installed Windows 7.
          • 2. After Win 7 Ultimate, the Bootcamp drivers and Office 2010 were installed and activated, I DID NOT make any changes to any partitions. I can put whatever I want on any partition, but I CAN NOT shrink, resize, delete, create, or modify any partition. Any change to the partition tables after Windows is installed will BREAK the Bootcamp partition.
        • I went thru 3 broken installs of Bootcamp/Win7 to figure this out
      • >>>
    • http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/windows-7-on-a-mac-my-boot-camp-survival-guide/3446
      • Miscellaneous related tips and discussions…

Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium: Premiere: Run in Boot Camp Windows 7

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

 Having got the suite installed and ready to use, I ran Adobe Premiere.  It created an account for me on [CS Live Services].  It complained that my video card drivers were insufficient for CUDA accelerated rendering.  Sadly I cannot update these – I must only accept those that Apple provide (via Boot Camp updates).  So no CUDA acceleration then I guess…

Nevertheless, how well does it work in other respects, and how usable is it overall?  The

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Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium: Launch in Boot Camp Windows 7

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011
  • Installer for CS5.5 Production Premium
    • For viewing the license conditions, it offers language choices including [English (North America)] and [English (International)].
      • It’s not clear what the difference is.  I wish it showed some examples in each.
      • I’m not the only confused one, e.g:
        • http://forums.adobe.com/message/1227810
          • Peter Spier
            • 3. Jan 14, 2009 10:21 AM (in response to rpollack-2)
            • Re: CS4 English International vs English US
            • To add to the confusion, I think the difference is in the default dictionaries and the spellings in the interface, i.e. it presumes you want British-style spelling (as you have), and has nothing to do with licensing.
            • I have no clue how to change that election other than to re-install. If you can live with the funny spelling in the menus, you can set the default dictionary to US English in InDesign, and probably other apps.
            • With nothing open, click the text tool and set the control panel to character mode options. Change the language in the dictionary dropdown near the right end. This is also available from the character panel (which which is where you’d change it in Photoshop, it’s in the prefs under Hyphenation in Illustrator — and you may be able to reset the interface language in the Photoshop prefs, too)
      • I chose [English (International)]
    • Next it asked for:
      • Serial Number or else check the Trial button.
        • I did the latter
      • Also it asked for Language
        • I assume this to be the operating language for the app
        • Again I chose [English (International)]
    • Next, [Install Options]
      • Apps:
        • Flash Pro CS5.5
        • AIR for Apple iOS Support
        • After Effects CS5.5
        • Audition CS5.5
        • Encore CS5.1
        • Flash Catalyst CS5.5
        • Illustrator CS5.1
        • OnLocation CS5.1
        • PhotoShop CS5.1 (64..)
        • PhotoShop CS5.1
        • Premiere Pro CS5.5
      • Location:
        • [C:\Program Files\Adobe]
    • Next it began calculating the total time for install and began installing.  After a few minutes it returned its time estimate as around half an hour.  This (initial conservative estimate?) rapidly dropped to around 20 minutes.
    • Next it asked for web browsers to be closed
    • Finally it displayed what looks like a Launcher window for the Production Premium suite, withbuttons labelled akin to Periodic Table elements, except that one of them [Ps] (PhotoShop) appeared twice, identically labelled.
      • On mouse-hover it emerged (from tooltip text) that the second [Ps] was 64-bit, the first then presumably being 32-bit, though its tooltip text did not confirm this
  • Possibly unrelated, Kapersky AntiVirus reported
    • <<Detected a potentially dangerous modification of the application BMDSTREAMINGSERVER.EXE without a digital signature>>
      • That application was installed yesterday, as part of DaVinci Resolve Lite for Windows.
      • (I got distracted by domestic events)
      • The Kapersky prompt appeared to time-out, I don’t know whatit assumed/did…
  • The Launcher highlighted the followingTutorials link:
  • From Launcher, ran Adobe Premiere
    • A “First Use” dialog came up
      • Requested mu Adobe ID
        • Ientered it.
        • Response screen said: <<By providing an Adobe ID, you have set up access to Adobe CS Live Services during your trial period.
        • It also indicated it had sent email verification.
    • I received two emails.
      • First email
        • <<<
        • Thank you for providing your Adobe ID and downloading your Adobe Creative Suite® software trial. During your software trial, you will have access to CS Live services that further extend the capabilities of your Adobe Creative Suite software. Accessed from within your software, CS Live services enable you to accelerate creative reviews, streamline cross-browser testing, and easily host online meetings.
        • For quick and easy access to CS Live services, here is some important information you will want to save:
        • Your complimentary CS Live services subscription will expire with your product trial.
        • >>>
      • Second email:
        • Verify email address
          • Strange that this was sent after the email containing Personal Meeting Room address etc.
    • Thank You dialog gave link to tutorials:
    • I clicked the [Done] button
  • Adobe Premiere started up
    • Popup stated: <<Adobe Premiere Pro requires updated video card drivers for CUDA accelerated rendering.  Please download and install current drivers for your video card.>>
      • That’s what I was afraid of.  It’s making the same demands as DaVinci Resolve.  I cannot satisfy those demands, all updates are under Apple’s control – it is normal that laptops (as my MacBook Pro is) have customized versions of graphics card drivers…
      • I closed the popup.
    • Premiere prompted for [New Project] etc.
      • I clicked on [Help]
        • The Help panel, once populated (after a minute or so), included a [Getting Started and Tutorials] link.

Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium: Download for Windows

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Given my poor experiences on my [MacBook Pro (2009) > Boot Camp > Windows 7] with Boris Blue and with DaVinci Resolve, it is by no means certain that [Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium] will fare any better.  But it’s worth a try.

So I downloaded a trial.  As part of that I had to first allow [Adobe Download Assistant] to be nstalled and executed.  It prompted for my level of expertise.  I answered: <<Novice: I could use all the help I can get>>.  In response it gave the following link:

The download is apparently 7.116 GB, estimated download time between 5 and 8 hours. Overnight in other words.

DaVinci Resolve on MacBook Pro > Boot Camp > Windows 7

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Basically it won’t work on my MacBook Pro (2009) with Windows 7 running under Boot Camp (3.3).  I guess Boot Camp doesn’t make sufficient of the GPU’s capability available.

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Winclone Obselescence

Sunday, December 25th, 2011

I’ve been using Winclone, a Mac OS app, to back-up my Boot Camp – Windows 7 partition onto a HFS+ (Mac OS compatible) external disk drive.  However tonight it failed, early in the attempt, repeatedly.  Also when I asked it to look for updates, it failed to connect to the internet, whereas I could access websites OK over Safari.  Searching round, I found a later version, downloaded it, deleted the existing one (2.2) and installed the new one (2.3).

The new one similarly failed to access the internet.  On the other hand it did not fail early on in the process.  I aborted it anyhow, for reasons that will become clear (below).

Web-Search:

  • Google: [winclone alternative]
    • Several posts stated:
      • Mixed experiences when using Winclone under Snow Leopard and the impossibility of using it (straight) under Lion)
      • To minimise problems under Snow Leopard, [Compressed] should be disabled.  Also select [.dmg] format.
      • This product (Winclone) was no longer being developed
    • Best Example:

Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium on Windows and Mac OS (Possibly)

Friday, November 11th, 2011

I bought a discount copy of Adobe CS5.5 Production Premium, because (after much discussion with others) its feature-set seems to match my typical and forseeable production requirements more than those of other NLEs, including my current mainstay, Sony Vegas 9 (which I am still trying to wean myself off, but when any proper job comes along, I tend to fall back on the familiar and trusted, for low risk including avoidance of learning-delay).

Being (so far) a one-man-band who is traditional Windows user, I purchased the Windows version.  But, confirming what I had heard, it does seem that most media people I have met use Macs.  So should I have purchased the Mac version?  Are the versions exactly the same or have they different functionalities?  Is there an option for the license to cover installing the same product on both Windows and Mac OS provided only one of them is run at a time? (e.g. when on the same physical machine).  Ideally at zero or negligible cost of course.  For example Avid Media Composer does have this flexibility.  While the uncertainty remains, I will not open the box (in case it turns out that I need to exchange it).

Here is what I have learnt so far (mainly from web-searching, unverified information):

Differences between the OS-Specific variants:

  • It appears that for CS5.5 Production Premium (at least), the Windows variant has slightly greater functionality.
  • However it remains to be seen what will be the case for CS6, when it becomes available.

Some options are:

  • Volume licensing.
    • Intended not only for businesses but also for individuals.  If the “volume”is for two licenses, they can be for each of the OS’s.
  • Crossgrade.
    • But as far as I can tell it’s intended only for one-off (or infrequent) crossgrades, requiring “destruction of the software” on the old machine each time.  Shame it isn’t simply happy with repeatable deactivation/reactivation on each machine / OS.

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Laptop-Based Mobile Editing: GRaid Mini (Out-Shines “Passport” Drive)

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Video-editing on-the-move (e.g. on a train) using a MacBook Pro (laptop) with Sony Vegas 9 (64-bit) as NLE (under Boot Camp / Windows 7), my practical experience was that a GRaid Mini external drive was far, far better than a 5400 rpm Western Digital “Passport” drive.   Consistent with the dual use of the MacBook, I partitioned the drive for both NFTS (Windows) and HFS+ (Mac OS), 50-50%.  Due to Boot Camp limitations (explained below), up till now I only ever used it “tethered” to its own mains-based power supply.  But now I see it can also be used mobile, powered from the MacBook – something that up till now I could only achieve under Mac OS, not under Windows.

When using Boot Camp / Windows on the MacBook, I initially tried the shirtpocket-sized Passport drive because it was small, light and powered from the laptop’s USB port.  While its data throughput wasn’t too bad, at least for single-channel HD editing (especially when only 1280720), when it came to cuts from one video clip (hence, in my case, video file) to another, there was a frustrating delay every time.

I also have a GRaid Mini drive, but it wasn’t obvious at first how to use it mobile when using Windows (on a MacBook).  That drive consists of two 7200  drives in RAID-0 configuation (striped, giving speed but no redundancy), and appears just like any single drive to the computer (no RAID management etc. needed).  The drive has not only a USB (2) port but also FireWire 800 (FW800) and eSATA ports.  While the latter two options work fine with the MacBook under Mac OS, they don’t work under Boot Camp / Windows.  I have tried many times and trawled many forums, no solution is apparent.  Under Mac OS the eSATA drive would ordinarily plug into an ExpressCard adaptor plugged into the laptop’s ExpressCard slot, but under Boot Camp / Windows, the ExpressCard slot doesn’t work, while for the FW800 port under Boot Camp / Windows, it appears to work at first but eventually crashes as a device when it attempts to communicate data (e.g. when copying files).

When connected only by USB to the MacBook under BootCamp / Windows, the GRaid Mini is not powered from that port, hence up till now I have relied on a mains power supply to that drive.  However, I discovered if, after first connecting by USB, you subsequently connect also by the FW800 lead, then the drive takes power from the FW800 yet communicates data via the USB lead.   Hooray!  I can use it on-the-move then!

The order in which the leads are connected is vital.  If by mistake the FW lead was connected first, then the drive would sense that as the data communications route, and subsequently fail in use.  It is vital that the USB connection is made first.  Likewise, on disconnecting the drive (following “ejection” by the computer’s file-system), disconnect the FW drive first.  The rule is FW lead: connect last disconnect first.

My experience of editing with the GRaid Mini is far more fluid hence more pleasurable and efficient.  Totally worth it.  None of the per-cut delay effects of the 5400 rpm Passport drive.  And now it can be used on-the-move, even with Boot Camp / Windows on a MacBook.  I just wish Apple would fix that Boot Camp isue with FireWire and ExpressCard ports!

MacBook Pro: Restore (Mac OS & Boot Camp) from Backup (Disk Utility & WinClone)

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Backup & Restore via Disk Utility (DU) – on Mac OS install-disk – to a fresh hard-drive:

  1. Routine: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1553
  2. Complication: Backed-up not the whole disk but aMac OS partition alongside a Boot Camp partition.
  • DON’T: Naive use of Disk Utility (DU) to restore straight away the partition (as a sole partition) from backup doesn’t work – it won’t boot.
    • You may see a grey Mac OS screen with “No Entry/Parking” sign, or error messages about ACPI drivers not present.
    • Attempts to install (fresh or archive i.e. user file preserving mode) from install disk fail since disk is not bootable.
      • Error message: “Mac OS cannot start up from this disk”
  • DO: Try install fresh OS X from install-dvd, then use it to create Boot Camp partition (and presumably boot-selection menu) then restore (with erase) to the OS X partition (only).  To save time (hopefully), didn’t actually install Windows.
    • Both the fresh-install and the restoration of OS X took about an hour.
    • Yes it worked! Booted into Mac OS just fine.
    • Left it to “settle” a bit – e.g. until CPU level down around zero.
    • Restart in Shift-Boot mode (to refresh OS’s tables etc.) and log-in as “DefaultEverything” (dummy user created as per advice – I think from Larry Jordan).  Maybe should have done that the first time…
    • Restarted in normal user account, again left awhile.
    • Boot Camp Assistant:
      • Create a partition (e.g. divide disks space equally between the two partitions)
        • (takes a minute or two – progress bar is initially misleadingly stationary)
      • Select [Quit and install later]
        • All we wanted was the partition, to restore into.
    • Started WinClone (App, started from MacOS)
      • It appeared to first scan the backup then began to install it.  Not quick, maybe an hour for each of these (two) tasks.
      • Source partition was 232.57 GB – as compared to the destination partition of around 250 GB.
    • Alt-Booted into W7 just fine.
    • Being on the internet, it began downloading numerous system updates – furiously (like it was hard to web-browse even on another computer on the network.
    • Correspondingly, on ShutDown, W7 installed numerous (61) updates.  Took ages – so if ever repeating such a recovery, allow for this…
    • Also on subsequent start-up, updating & registering stuff – took a few minutes – wish I’d run it straight (boot camp) not within Parallels.  But it seemed “happy”.
    • (to be continued…)

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Mac Additional Partitions to Boot Camp

Friday, January 7th, 2011

Special instructions, e.g. to have a data partition alongside Mac OS and Windows partitions:

Boot Camp 3.2 Update – Yes or No ?

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

NO! …Not at the very least until such time as I have no pressures and fancy an experiment (everything backed-up of course). On my Jan 2010 MacBook Pro (unibody), most things “ain’t broke” at present, the only issues are that the FW800 port and ExpressCard ports work only in Mac OS, not Windows 7, but I’ve found no explicit mention of these issues having been fixed. Shame, quite a few Windows people are put off Macs for that kind of reason.  On the other hand while some people report no problems, others do report issues (sometimes due to old/unhandled existing nVidia drivers on their systems), as follows.

  • nVidia driver problems affecting install, display (and possibly keyboard).
    • Installation may hang or fail or appear to succeed but not completely in practice.
    • Screen may appear at low-resolution (e.g.VGA) or may black-out
    • Sleep (power management) may give a BSOD.

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MacBook Pro FW800 useless under Boot Camp

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

No solution noted as of March 2010: http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1972915&start=15&tstart=0

Windows 7 Start-Up Repair

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

Here are the steps that worked for me:

As it happened, this whole process was a distraction.  I was trying to get a BootCamp-W7 Virtual Machine (VM) in Parallels working – it would boot OK in BootCamp but not Parallels.  It was a matter of identifying the problem by excluding other possibilities, as much as hoping for this to be the fix.   However I record the process I went through, here, for posterity.

Capture to HFS+, Use from Windows 7: Experiences

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

On MacBook Pro, used Sony Clip Browser (ClipBrowser) to import footage from a Sony XDCAM-EX to Mac OS HFS+.  This machine had MacDrive installed, enabling Windows apps to directly access files on the HFS+ file system.  On same machine, under Boot Camp (BootCamp) and Windows 7, ran Sony Vegas NLE.   Successfully imported and used footage by both of the following methods:

  • Sony Vegas’s Device Explorer [View > Device Explorer].
    • This took several minutes to import.
    • Importing resulted in copying the [.mp4] file (and other files) to the NTFS partition.
  • Direct use of [.mp4] on the HFS+ partition.
    • No need to import as such, just constructed waveforms etc.
    • This completed in seconds.
    • Only downside is that it ewas unable to save the waveform files etc., due to my config of MacDrive (read-only), so it would have to do this every time I opened the project.
      • Have yet to try the same thing when MacDrive has config for full read/write access.

GRAID Mini – NTFS & HFS+ Partitions: Initial NTFS Problem

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

GRAID mini was initially a single partition formatted HFS+ under GPT partitioning-scheme.

Repartitioned it as MBR partitioning-scheme where the HFS+partition (existing but reduced) was followed by an NTFS partition.  The repartitioning of the disk and the formatting of the NTFS partition was accomplished from Mac OS, using the iPartition application.

When I first connected the resulting disk to a MacBook Pro, the HFS+ partition was seen OK under Mac OS.  However the NTFS partition seen from Boot Camp / Windows 7 caused Windows Explorer to crash, whenever it was selected or right-clicked in that applications left-hand pane.  On the other hand if the thing selected in the left-hand pane was the computer itself then the NTFS partition (among other volumes) was listed in the right-hand pane, and it was possible to right-click that without the application crashing.  Also, no problems were experienced when accessing it from commandline, or when using Windows Explorer to look inside its folders (as opposed to teh top-level).

By right-clicking the NTFS partition in the right-hand pane, selected options to:

  • Define it as a mainly-videos drive.  Presumably alters the block size or something.
  • Change that volume’s name, from “GRD mini NTFS” to “GRm HTFS.  Not sure if relevant.

Subsequently was accessed OK in both left and right hand panes.

Mac:BootCamp:W7: FireWire Issues?

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

Some hard drives attached with FireWire may perform slowly with Windows 7 on a MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010).  Not aware of any such problem on my system, but found this in passing, worth keeping a note of…[http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3188]

  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010): FireWire drives perform slowly with Windows 7
    • Last Modified: April 14, 2010
    • Article: TS3188
  • Issue:
    • Some hard drives attached with FireWire may perform slowly with Windows 7 on a MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010).
  • Products Affected
    • Boot Camp, MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010), Windows 7
  • Resolution
    • This situation may occur because of an issue in the 1394ohci.sys driver in Windows 7.
    • Microsoft has posted a “hot fix” for this issue.  See the Microsoft website for more information.

SxS in ExpressCard slot on MacBook Pro invisible to Windows 7 Boot Camp

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

On a MacBook Pro, official SxS card in ExpressCard slot is seen OK by Mac OS. However on same machine running Boot Camp Windows 7, it is not seen.SxS drivers have been installed in both cases (OS X & W7). For W7 I tried a couple of versions, including the one from SXS Drivers, stated as “Updated for Windows 7”. The webpage also says “This OS must be factory-installed”, so I wonder what special things they do at the factory!I see at an apple forum some comments (at [http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2306364&tstart=0]) that “there is still no ExpressCard support in release 3.1 (of Boot Camp)” and “At the moment I’m aware of exactly zero Firewire ExpressCards that work in Windows 7 on Boot Camp”. Not familiar with this territory – maybe implies that the Sony drivers are not sufficient?Posted my problem at DvInfo: [http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdcam-ex-cinealta/477958-mbp-boot-camp-w7-cant-see-sxs-osx-can.html].  Response confirms Apple not only do not support ExpressCard (EC) under Boot Camp on a MacBook Pro, they may never do so, given that the new model lacks any EC slot.

Partition a disk to [HFS+] & [NTFS]

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Steps:

  1. Use iPartition, reduce existing HFS+ partition to half-size.
  2. Don’t create the other partition yet.
  3. Change Partition-Scheme (from GPT) to MBR
    • Otherwise the partition won’t be visible to windows.
  4. Now create the other partition, e.g. NTFS.
    • That option only became available once the partition scheme had been changed.
    • Result: [ MBR | HFS+ | NTFS ]

MacBook Pro gets hot under BootCamp Windows

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

Problem:

  • MacBook Pro, when in Boot Camp Windows 7, gets uncomfortably hot (in its heatsink areas, the bar above keyboard and also the chassis underside).  In comparison, it runs pretty cool (temperature) under Mac OS.

Reason:

  • No fan control when in Boot Camp Windows mode.

Popular Solution (does not imply any recommendation):

Some good links (as of 2010-03-27):

Experiences:

  • Just copied the contents of the zip file to  [C:\Program Files (x86)\Lubbo’s Fan Control] and ran it from there.  It has files [inpout32.dll] and [inpoutx64.dll].
  • Ran it but it gave error messages:
    • (The) Following process(es) is/are using SMC:
      • kbdmgr
    • It’s not an error, but Lubbo’s Fan Control cannot share apple SMC access.
    • Do you want to kill it/them?
    • NO = the system may freeze.  Try only if you are running BootCamp 3.1
    • YES = the incompatible process(es) will bekilled and the program will start.
      • But I have read elsewhere that this means function keys won’t then work (for that session).
      • Didn’t work – it said “It was not possible to load IO driver.  Retry?” and “(May be better to press CANCEL and reopen the program)”
    • CANCEL = this program will exit
  • Someone else had the same problem but found a solution that appeared to work for them:
  • So it seems that to get Lubbo’s utility working I have to:
    • Kill a system process
    • Install a version of .NET that is not yet officially supported.
      • I’ll write a separate blog post about .NET
  • Life on the edge, huh?

Mac (Snow Leopard) setup – continued

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Recap:

  1. Backed-up via Time Machine to a low-cost (£60) USB-powered 0.5TB hard drive that will be carried around with the laptop (can that drive be backed-up itself?)
    • Turned off Time Machine (auto-backups) afterwards.
  2. Updated everything
    • Several system restarts required, and re-ran the Update function until no more updates available.
  3. Backed-up again viaTime Machine.

Continue:

  1. Ran Boot Camp Assistant
    • It prompted me to print its instructions.  I decided to accept this.
      • I connected my printer.  System prompted for printer-driver download – I accepted.
      • I selected the print option to format the instructions specifically for my (make of) printer.
      • From Preview, the instructions occupy 14 pages.  Thinking green (and clutter-avoidance) I elected instead to save it as PDF to a memory stick that I can view elsewhere.
  2. Read thru the Boot Camp instructions
    • It seems I have done it right so far (update everything & backup)
  3. Boot Camp Assistant: Actions
    • Click Continue (onwards from the printing stage).
    • Partitioning:
      • Select Divide Equally
        • (Don’t know what sizes I need, presumably can alter proportions later if needed using e.g. via iPartition).
      • Click Partition
        • (Is very fast)
    • Windows Installation
      • Insert Windows disk.
        • There are two options (disks): 32-bit and 64-bit.  Let’s go for 64-bit.  In case of any residual doubt:
      • Click Start Installation
        • (Even though Boot Camp Assistant (BCA) does not mention Windows 7 as an option, onlyXP & Vista.)
      • Locale info:
        • Language: English; Units: UK; Keyboard: UK
          • (What is “UK Extended” ?)
        • Next
      • Install Now
        • (Accept License)
      • Installation option: Upgrade or Custom(BCA instructions don’t mention this choice)
        • Default is Upgrade but this is a fresh installso choose Custom
          • Warning (from instructions): “It’s important to select the correct partition when installing Windows so that you don’toverwrite Mac OS X on your computer.”
        •  Selected the Boot Camp partition (Disk 0 Partition 3), but…
          • “Windows caannot be installed to Disk 0 Partition 3”
          • …because it has not yet been formatted as NTFS (did I miss that stage?)
        • Clicked Drive Options, and, with Partition 3 selected, clicked Format.
          • There were no format options e.g. NTFS or other, it just did it, taking only a few seconds.
        • Clicked Install, now it worked.
        • Looking thru the BCA instructions, that formatting step is indeed mentioned, all is well.
          • “The Windows partition is formatted using the NTFS file system”
        • (installation automated processes took half an hour or so)
        • Enter names for user (account) and computer (to distinguish it on a network)
        • Enter a password
        • Enter Product Key and accept default option to automatically activate when on-line.
        • Select Use Recommended Settings (e.g. for updates policy)
        • Accept TimeZone as UTC
        • JoinWireless Network
          • Enter key, accept Automatically Connect policy
          • Selectit as Home Network (trusted)
        • (Windows now began its update processes)
          • First it downloaded a manifest- list of available updates
          • After this it prompted to “click here for available updates”.  Did so.
          • It offered “11 important updates” and “2 optional updates”.  I accepted them all.
            • An update clash (my term) occurred – it said “Some updates were not installed” and “…try again in a few minutes”
            • Waited several minutes and tried again – it worked: 10 updates successfullyinstalled, then required restart (did it).
    • First proper login to Windows.
      • Note there had been no prompts for drivers etc.
    • Mac Hardware Drivers for Windows
      • Insert the Mac OS install-disk … after ejecting the Windows install-disk.
        • But the”Eject Disk” button has no effect (presumably due to no driver yet)
        • Workaround: Windows Explorer > DVD Drive > Eject
      • Autoplay (yes/no): Windows Support > setup.exe.  YES.
      • Security: Allow it (Boot Camp) to make changes to computer.  YES.
      • Boot Camp: Accept license, allow “Apple software update for windows”
        • (It took some significant time)
      • Restart
        • Doh – I left the Mac OS install-disk inserted; as a result I feared the machine would boot from that disk.  However in practice it was Windows that came up.
          • The default OS can be changed via the Boot Camp icon in system tray.
        • Unable to log in – keyboard doesn’t work.
          • (Yes, this is familiar Windows behaviour…)
      • Restart again.
        • Now it works fully.  Keyboard and disk-eject too.
    • Settling-in to Windows
      • Config the system tray to always show all icons.
      • Got warned that there is no antivirus as yet.
      • Purchase Parallels 5, which Kapersky AntiVirus comes bundled with, and I want Parallels anyway.  Cost around £60.
    • x
  4. Install Parallels
    • Purchase & download Parallels 5 desktop for mac.  Is a “.dmg” file of size 222 MB.
    • Restart machine in Mac mode.
    • Backup (Time Machine)
    • Run installer.  It says the installation will occupy around 450MB of disk.
    • Backup (Time Machine)
    • Run Parallels.  Prompts for activation (license key/code).  Did so.
      • (Parallels then did a “prepare for first start”)
    • x
    • Create new Virtual Machine onto the Boot Camp Windows 7 system.
      • New Windows Installation
      • Boot Camp Partition
      • Windows 7, “Let other Mac users access this virtual machine”, sharing “Home folder only”.  Create.
      • Done.
    • Now I have two new desktop items, for Parallels Virtual Machines (VMs): “My Boot Camp” and “Windows 7”.
      • How come I’ve got two items, not just one?  What are each of them for?
      • Others are similarly confused, e.g. http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=829128
      • Looks like the answer is at http://download.parallels.com/desktop/v5/docs/en/Parallels_Desktop_Users_Guide/23414.htm,”If you install Parallels Desktop on a Mac computer with a Boot Camp Windows partition, and Parallels Desktop detects that there are no virtual machines on the computer, it automatically creates a new virtual machine for this Boot Camp partition and places it to the following location: <Username>/Documents/Parallels/My Boot Camp
      • So I need not have created one explicitly.  I guess “Windows 7” is the one I (explicitly) created, “My BootCamp” is the one that Parallels (implicitly) created.  In that case all I need to do is delete the “Windows 7” one.   Did so.
    • Ran the “My Boot Camp” virtual machine for the first time.  It said “Setting up forthe first time – may take some time”.  In that case I regard this as part of the installation process.
      • Got to the login prompt (for Windows 7) and, reasonably enough, required me to log in before it could act further.  Dod do.
        • (It said “Please wait while the virtual machine is being upgraded”, then after several minutes “…was successfully upgraded”)
      • Now I had a Windows login prompt again.  Logged in.
        • The VM runs in Coherence mode by default.
        • (It said “The Windows application folder is being added to the dock” and “To remove the folder, edit the Shared Applications settings in the virtual machine config)
      • Installed Parallels Internet Security (Kapersky AntiVirus etc.)  – it is not installed by default – you have to take action, did so as follows.
        • Select the Parallels VM Launcher (window).  In the Mac (top-screen) menu (when that window is selected), click:
          • Virtual Machine > Install Parallels Internet Security
        • (Took maybe 30 minutes to download)
        • Began installing itself.  As part of this, Windows Firewall was disabled (as indicated by a Windows security message), so I unplugged my router, just in case.
        • At the end of installation, the VM restarted itself (successfully).
        • Following restart, I plugged my router back in and told Kapersky to update.
        • Following Kapersky update, a VM restart was required.  Did so.
        • Did another Kapersky update.  Status: Up-to-date.
      • Ran a full system scan.  Takes quite some time (started 18:08, finished ????).  No issues detected.
      • Windows security messages about “No firewall” and “Parallels Internet Security is on but reporting its status to Windows Security Centre in a format that is no longer supported”.
        • The “no longer supported” message: someone said “I had to uninstall Kaspersky as well as Parallels Tools, and then reinstall Parallels Tools, to fix this problem. That seems to have worked.”  http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=96492&highlight=longer+supported
        • I tried simply the VM Launcher option “Reinstall Parallels Tools”, because being simple, it was worth a try.  It restarted the VM.
          • No effect – didn’t fix it.
        • Try following another person’s advice “If Tools are already isntall, you can remove them from (Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs>) Programs & Features list, restart Windows and load them from Virtual Machine menu. “.  Did so.  VM Restart.
      • Configure: Do not backup with Time Machine.  This is very important!
    • x
  5. x

Mac (Snow Leopard) setup – in practice

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

This is what I have actually done so far:

  1. Backed-up via Time Machine to a low-cost (£60) USB-powered 0.5TB hard drive that will be carried around with the laptop (can that drive be backed-up itself?)
    • Turned off Time Machine (auto-backups) afterwards.
  2. Updated everything
    • Several system restarts required, and re-ran the Update function until no more updates available.
  3. Backed-up again viaTime Machine.

Next I intend to set it up for BootCamp-Windows7, because I guess this is best done while my Mac OS system footprint is still small (so it won’t spend ages repositioning blocks of my (to-be) installed Mac apps when the disk gets repartitioned for BootCamp).