MAC
OS X Tips & TricksCONSTANTLY
MAC
OS X Tips & Tricks
This site has been put together to help teachers and students out with laptop issues. The information here has been picked up from various websites, workshops, manuals and from just plain playing with the computers. I hope you find something useful here, if you have some suggestions for additions, please email me - Crystal
 OSX
Tutorials |
Tips
and Tricks |
Troubleshooting |
| Interesting
Software |
Useful
Links |
Time Wasters and Fun Stuff |
* Freebies: Atomic Learning offers some free tutorials and some subscription based tutorials. One of their freebies covers Tiger. They have a series of Quicktime movies covering various aspects of Tiger. A really useful site for beginners.
* Built in Freebie: Check out the Help menu sometime - the built in help engine in OS X is really quite useful as well as user friendly.
*MLTI built in assistant: The Learning Center - you can access this either from the bookmark in Safari or from the springboard on the dock. This is a great resource on the MLTI machines.
*A non-MLTI version of the Learning Center is available online as well.
Okay, this section is a little thin right now, I'll add more as I come across them, if you have any tips that you think should be added, email them in to me.
In the mean time, this site has a pile of tips and tricks already collected! MacTips also has a variety of tips and tricks that include not only OSX but also other applications
Of course, if you check out Apple's own OS X site you will get a really good feel for the features built into your system.
What is with all the cats? Ever walk into a conversation about computers and somebody asks if you are running Tiger yet? Or mentions a cool feature that will be in Leopard? Ever feel like you are speaking a different language? Here's the deal. . . Apple has various versions of it's OSX operating system. They each have their own codename. Here's a rundown of the versions and their codenames:
10.0 - Cheetah
10.1 - Puma
10.2 - Jaguar (the system for MLTI v. 1)
10.3 - Panther
10.4 - Tiger (the current system and the system shipping on MLTI v. 2.0)
10.5 - Leopard (not out yet, sneak peaks available)
Okay, so after hearing about this, my superintendent started singing "Wondering where the Lions are" . . .
Right Click for Windows Users : Simply hold down the Control Key and click on an object, works pretty much like right-click.
The Dock: Key combinations to do a variety of things with your dock:
Apple-tab will flip between the most recently used applications. Continue holding down the Apple key and repeatedly hit the tab key to bounce between all open applications.
Apple-Q will quit the application that is selected using the combination above.
Option-click: toggle 'Hide Application / Hide Others'
Option-click on Desktop: Hide Application(s)
Apple+Option: Hide Others
Control-click: Show Context menu (same as right-click) Right-click (or Control-click) an icon then press Option to Force Quit
Apple-click an application icon to open enclosing folder and highlight the application.
The Trackpad: If you have the option to tap the trackpad turned on you may have noticed that your cursor goes all over the place when you are typing. Open the mouse system preference pane and check off the box marked "ignore trackpad when typing."
Screen Shots: You have 3 options built into the system.
Option 1: If you find an image on a web site just hold down your ctrl key and click on the picture, you will get a contextual menu, one of the options is "download image to disk." This will save the image to your desktop.
Option 2: Hitting Apple Shift 4 (Apple Shift 3 will give you a full screen shot) will give turn your cursor into a crosshair (this works in any program) and you can simply click and drag out a box that contains the part of the screen that you want. This also saves a file to your desktop.
Option 3: There is a program called Grab in the Utilities folder on your computer that will allow you to do screen shots of windows, selected areas, menus, etc.
Zoom: Want to zoom in or out on your screen? You need to set this one up ahead of time, Open the Universal Access preference in System Preferences and click on the Seeing tab. Make sure Zoom is turned on. You can also turn it on or off by using the option, apple and 8 keys. Now to zoom in simply hold down the option, apple and + keys, to zoom out hold down option, apple and- keys.
Create an Archive: Need to create a compressed folder of files to email to somebody? Simply control-click on the folder and select Create Archive from the pop up menu.
Key Caps: Remember this one from earlier Mac operating systems? It used to be under the Apple menu and was really useful when you had to find all those oddball characters. It seemed to have disappeared in OS X but they just moved it to the Utilities Folder. You can also activate it by going to the International preference in the System Preferences. Click on the Input Menu Tab and turn on Keyboard Viewer. Then you can activate it by clicking on the flag in your menu bar.
Chooser: Ah, yes another relic from an earlier time - it is history now. If you need to find server just go to your GO menu and hit connect to server. If you need to set up a printer, you need to use the Print Center Application.
The following section contains tips about troubleshooting OS X and iBooks on an Airport network. The aim of this section is to help teachers and students keep their computer running. If you do not feel comfortable doing any of these items, please see your friendly neighborhood techie. These tips are not exactly Apple endorsed, they are based on my experience here at school. If you really need to find a solution to a problem, try Apple's support pages.
|
Problem
|
Solution
|
| Power Problems | |
|
1. The computer doesn't start up. Black screen, no blinking sleep light, no sound. Or, the computer won't wake up. |
Plug it in. make sure the adapter has power and try to turn it on. Also, check to see if the caps lock key lights up. If it does you may be stuck in the "sleep of death" also, the computer may be very hot. Hold the power button down until the caps lock key light goes off, give it a couple of seconds and try to start it up again. |
| 2. The computer runs out of battery very quickly and shuts down without warning. | The charger may not have been plugged in all the way, so the computer didn't charge - try again. Check the battery level when first unplugging. Reset the power manager by turning off the computer and removing the battery. Hold down the shift, control, option and power keys for 5 seconds. Wait 5 seconds and put the battery back in and power it up. Recharge the battery and see what happens. If it still isn't working right, swap the battery with a machine that works. If your machine now works, it is a bad battery. The battery may be replaced under warranty if it is defective, you need to have the battery to get a new battery. |
| 3. The computer is extremely hot. | The machine was set to shut down and then the lid was closed before it could shut down and it go stuck in the "sleep of death." Shut the machine off, let it cool off and try again. |
| 4. The computer won't sleep when the lid is shut. | The keyboard is probably not seated correctly, reseat the keyboard and try again. |
| Printing | |
| 1. Can't see the printers | You need to open Printer Setup Utility and add printers. |
| 2. Don't have the right printer driver. | You need to find out what model printer you have, if it isn't already listed in the list in the Printer Setup Utility, then you need to install a printer. The best place to get printer drivers for OS X is from the printer company's web site. It is not a good idea to install the drivers from the CD that came in the box. |
| 3. Won't print. I try to print but it never comes out anywhere and I've tried several pritners. | Check your Printer Setup Utility. Double click on the printer and look to see if it says printing stopped or error. Usually you just have to delete the old print jobs and restart the print queue to get things going again. |
| 4. Won't print, printer says it is printing, nothing ever comes out and the Printer Setup Utility is fine. | Check to see if anybody else is having a problem printing to the same printer. If the printer is fine, you may have a corrupt font, try a different font. |
| Network | |
| 1. Can't print, can't get on the internet, can't get email, etc. | No Network access. Check to see if you airport indicator is black and that you are on the network. If not, get connected to the network. |
| 2. I'm on the network and I can see the internal servers, printers, etc. but I can't get on the internet. | No valid IP address. Open System preferences and hit the Network pane. If the DHCP address for your Airport connection is 169.254.xxx.xxx then you do not have a vaild IP address. Try shutting your computer off, wait 10 sec. and start it back up. |
| 3. Been there, done that, still no go. | Check out your nearest Airport base station - are the lights blinking? What lights? Plug it in. The center light should be solid, the other 2 lights should blink randomly. |
| 4. Is is live, or is it Memorex? | Open your airport admin utility, it should automatically scan the network and show you all the base stations. If a base station is showing up twice, reset it. If a base station isn't showing up at all, reset it. If none of this has gotten you onto the Internet, check with your system admin. |
| Hardware Problems | |
| 1. Keyboard is giving me weird characters | Somebody flipped it into another keyboard. Go to the international system preferences and set it back to US. |
| 2. Trackpad is jumpy or slow. | Static will sometimes futz out the trackpad, put the computer to sleep for a few seconds and wake it back up. Remember to only use 1 finger on the trackpad. Also, really dry hands or really sweaty hands will make the trackpad act weird. |
| 3. Dark Screen | Adjust the tilt of the screen, adjust the brightness of the screen. |
| 4. Jammed CD | If holding down the F12 key does eject your CD, try turning off your computer and starting it back up with the mouse or trackpad button held down. Remember, with slot load CDs, you can only use normal size CDs. |
| 5. Hooked a projector up, but can't see anything. | Put the computer to sleep and wake it back up. Open the displays system preferences and check the settings. |
| Software Problems | |
| 1. Dead slow startup, slow operation in general. | Start up in "safe mode" (hold the shift key down) and let it crank, then restart as normal. Run Disk Utility and run disk first aid and repair permissions. Do not repair permissions on an MLTI machine. On an MLTI machine you can run several processes that may improve the general "snappyness" of the machine. Go to the 1to1 prefs in System Preferences and click on the Maintenance tab. Click the button labeled "Perform scheduled system mainenance tasks now." |
| 2. Machine is totally jammed, nothing is working. | Do the "3 fingered salute" hit the control, apple and power buttons and restart the computer. |
| 3. A program seems to stop working. | Force quit the application by hitting option-apple and esc keys. |
| 4. Generally weird acting program, quits unexpectedly. | Check to see if you can log in as another user and use the program. If the program doesn't work right as another user then reinstall the program. If it does work correctly then it is probably a corrupt preference file in your user preferences. In OS X the preferences all end in .plist. Log in as your normal self and do a search on .plist. Find the file that has the name of your application in it and trash it. Log out, log back in and try the program. |
One of the really cool things about OS X is that there are a lot of freeware and shareware programs out there. A lot of them are just small, "one trick pony" applications that only do one thing, but they do it really well. Here are a few of my current useful favorites and a couple of links to find your own.
VersionTracker is the ultimate download site for programs.
Apple also has a MAC OS X Hot Apps Site.
If you want to get started with open source software check out SourceForge or SchoolForge for education specific open source software.
Widgets all over the place - get your Widgets here!
TI 81 Calculator Emulator - Have a fully functional TI 81 on your Mac - runs in Classic mode.
Jiggler - wiggles your mouse periodically so you computer doesn't go to sleep and the screen saver doesn't come on.
Want to spotlight an area on your screen? Try Mousepose.
Need to trash locked files? Check out this one - Trash Locked Files.
Need to get your music off an ipod and back into your machine? Then you need Senuti.
Okay, so there are useful links all over this page. Here are a few that I couldn't find a home for elsewhere.
Did you know that Google has a search engine that limits searches just to Macintosh subjects? Really useful. http://www.google.com/mac
About.com's Mac OS site, all kinds of useful tips and tutorials.
Gotta keep a lab of machines up and running - check out this site for managing a lab.
Apple has a techical site set up for tech. coordinators - check it out here.
Maine Learns is a site that supports the MLTI project, they have an abundance of teacher resources and ideas linked there. Check it out and see what's happening around the state of Maine.
The MLTI portal site also contains a variety of information including the MLTI FAQs.
Some days are just a little stressful - pop a little bubble wrap.
Need a new outfit for your ipod - check out iAttire.
Instructables.com - Interesting do it yourself site - some great stuff here, some warped stuff too!
SodaPlay - a really cool site if you are into making models from soda straws.
How about creating your own machine?
How about your own Spirograph?
Make your own sand falls.
Okay, if you have actually made it all the way to the bottom of the page you obviously have WAY too much time on your hands! Congratulations - spend some time at the Center for the Easily Amused. Or if you've had it with the Internet, check out this site!
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