Enterprise Mac | Tom Yager » September 2007

September 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Why Parallels Desktop warns about booting from Boot Camp partition

TAGS: Desktops and notebooks, Servers and storage, Software

You know how Parallels Desktop puts up this big "wet paint" warning not to interrupt a start-up from a Boot Camp partition? I learned a hard lesson about why that's there.

My Parallels Desktop took a (core) dump while it was launching Vista from a known-healthy Boot Camp partition. It's probably no surprise that subsequent attempts to repeat that process consistently met with exactly the same result.

When you ask Desktop to boot from Boot Camp, it takes a while to alter Windows' reality with regard to the hardware on which it's running. I've always admired that Desktop and VMware Fusion are able to pull off this feat without triggering Windows' licensing boobytrap. Normally, when you make some significant change to your PC's hardware, Windows forces you to reauthorize your copy of the OS.

When Parallels Desktop blew its brains out mid-boot, it not only left itself in a non-functional state, it lit the fuse on Vista's authorization bomb. When I boot directly to the Boot Camp partition, it asks me to enter my Vista product key. I haven't taken the time to do this yet, but I'm having a bet with myself about what will happen when I re-enter my Vista key. Did Vista generate a new signature reflecting Parallels Desktop's phony hardware (or the half of it that Desktop put in place before it crashed)? If so, will Vista see yet another change when it sniffs out my actual configuration and put me through this again?

Are my Apple drivers blown away? Can I just reinstall them over the Vista install that's there, or will I have to reinstall Vista?

The next time I a) get a hankering to run Vista, and b) have a spare half day to mess with it, I'll find out the answers to these burning questions. Bets, anyone?

Posted by Tom Yager on September 9, 2007 11:29 AM

September 09, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Firmware update puts AirPort Extreme in temporary coma, full recovery the next day

TAGS: Peripherals, Servers and storage

After a reported successful flash to version 7.2.1 of AirPort Extreme firmware, my AirPort Extreme base station locked at start-up with the status/activity LED solid yellow. It would not respond to AirPort Utility either over the air or via local Ethernet connection, even after several power cycles that allowed up to thirty minutes between attempts.

This is dire. AirPort Extreme isn't just my Wi-Fi router. It's the NAT/DHCP router for wired client nodes on my LAN. When it's down, my lab's clients and one of each of my server's two GigE ports goes dark, along with the personal Macs and (ugh) PCs in my house.

To guard against such catastrophes, I keep a second wireless router (of inferior brand, speed, quality and style) configured to match AirPort Extreme's settings. I moved two RJ-45s, powered up the standby router, pulled the plug on AirPort Extreme, and my NATed LAN segment quickly returned to service. It's a process that even a manager could manage.

I came back to AirPort Extreme the next day. It booted without incident and it's now back in full service. I still don't know what happened. Maybe there's a supercap inside AirPort Extreme that keeps volatile settings alive while the router is powered down so that it boots faster, and it took a day without power to drain that cap. I didn't have the presence of mind to see if it took any longer to boot after it recovered.

The lesson here is that if you think your AirPort Extreme is toast, unplug it for a day before you read its last rites. The other lesson? If you run a critical WLAN, keep a spare Wi-Fi router configured to plug and go.

Posted by Tom Yager on September 9, 2007 11:07 AM

September 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)

iPod touch: Because I demanded it, and it's good for other people, too

TAGS: Consumer and lifestyle, Design and engineering, New Products, iPhone

iPod touch wipes out all of my objections to iPhone. I win, Apple wins, consumers win, and everybody who wants to leave work at work, and yet still remain just connected enough to stay on top of things, wins. Reverse-engineering projects lose. iPod touch's price, $299 or $399, genuinely defies reason, for reasons I explain below. iPod touch, plus a sweet phone, is all I need to bring with me on quick business trips.

I am, in the words of one blogger remarking on my photo (which I disavow), smug and condescending, so of course I believe that Apple created iPod touch based on my feedback and for my benefit. The fact that it was designed before I laid hands on an iPhone won't keep me from taking credit for it.

I've told you what I want, and don't want, from an Apple handheld device. I don't want it to have a lid. I don't want it to ring or light up an "available" icon on anyone's buddy list when I go on-line. At those times when the sight of a computer knots my stomach, and when QWERTY is a four-letter word, I'd still like to get some studying in, watch WWDC sessions that I couldn't attend, read comments to my blogs, pull up a datasheet for the mystery part that I just yanked out of my old DirectTV receiver, listen to Stevie Wonder's 4-disc boxed set, or perhaps even do something that's not horizon-broadening (fark.com). Out of pocket shouldn't have to mean off-line.

Oh, before I forget: Merry Christmas, Microsoft.

With the season in mind, I have blessed iPod touch's expanded distribution to addresses not my own. Nobody over the age of twelve will fake an enthusiastic reception of an iPod touch. One box per loved one, shopping's done, have a martini. Ones not quite so loved will enjoy any of Apple's lesser iPods, and the one that you're replacing with an iPod touch will take a nice polish. In coming years, all holiday/birthday obligations will be satisfied by iTunes gift cards, denominations scaled according to your affection for each recipient. Apple has a helpful table on its Web site.

And now, a spin of my beanie. iPod touch's price does not make sense. I may miss my guess slightly, but I believe that what we have here is an embedded system with a 32-bit CPU, 8 GB of flash (base model), a 3.5-inch backlit true color LCD and controller that's fast enough to run 30 full-screen frames per second with frame-accurate audio sync (if that's done by blitting from the CPU, double wow), a multitasking OS with a TCP/IP stack, Wi-Fi and high-speed crypto, and a battery, all mashed into an 8mm enclosure. Now, compare the 8 GB iPod touch, at $299, to the 8 GB iPhone, at $599. Ask yourself how Apple knocked down its engineering and build costs enough to pay for a $300 price drop while still keeping an Apple-esque margin. "Calm down, it's iPod nano with Wi-Fi, dude" comments will be filtered. From this mystified embedded-fascinated geek to Apple's enlightened ones, I can only say that I am not worthy. I just threw out my breadboard and Mouser catalog.

Back to you, reader. Are you about to pop The Question? Your intended won't think twice about feeding you your diamond over that illustrated diary in your ex's blog, but your (new) sweetie will forgive you to avoid giving back that engraved iPod touch. Anniversaries? That's right: iTunes gift cards, denominations graded by half and full decades of bliss. Consult the table on Apple's Web site.

Posted by Tom Yager on September 6, 2007 03:39 PM