MacNewsBlog

Today, Apple quietly updated the MacBook to official Santa Rosa status by giving you the option of a 2.0 or 2.2 GHz, with an updated 800 Mhz front side bus and finally, the new integrated graphics GMA X3100. This means the MacBooks can finally use up to 4gigs of RAM.

They also updated the MacBook Pro as well. You now have a 'build to order' option of getting a 2.6 GHz version for $250 more.

Our local Apple Store probably has the MacBooks in stock today but we've heard that the MacBook Pro is a build to order option only at this time.

Apple today released iTunes 7.5 for Mac and Windows as well as QuickTime 7.3 for Leopard, Tiger, Panther and Windows.

About iTunes 7.5 for Mac
iTunes 7.5 features the ability to activate iPhone wherever service is offered and support for Phase, a new interactive music game designed exclusively for iPod nano (third generation), iPod classic, and iPod (fifth generation). This release also includes bug fixes to improve stability and performance.

About QuickTime 7.3 for Leopard
QuickTime 7.3 addresses critical security issues and delivers:
- Support for iTunes 7.5
- Updated support for creating iPhone-compatible web content
- Updated JavaScript support in the QuickTime Web Plug-in
- Numerous bug fixes

This release is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.

Get iTunes 7.5 for Mac here.
Get Quicktime for Leopard here.

A reader has requested some information on how to remove the 'Codec' Trojan if you already have it installed. The easiest way is to install Intego's VirusBarrier, and be sure your virus definitions are up to date. You can however do it yourself using the terminal.

This info is from MacWorld and fully tested:
1. In the Finder, navigate to /Library -> Internet Plug-Ins, and delete the file named plugins.settings. Empty the trash. This deletes the tool that sets the rogue DNS Server information.
2. In Terminal, type sudo crontab -r and provide your admin password when asked. This deletes the root cron job that checks the DNS Server settings. You can prove it worked by typing sudo crontab -l; you should see the message “crontab: no crontab for root.”
3. Open your Network System Preferences panel, go to the DNS Server box, and copy the entries you can see to a Stickies note, TextEdit document, or memorize them. Now retype those same values in the box, then click Apply.
4. Reboot your Mac.

After you reboot, you can confirm you’re free of the trojan horse (in OS X 10.5) by opening the Advanced pane of the Network System Preferences panel and looking at the DNS tab—you shouldn’t see any gray entries. In Tiger, to really prove that you’re free of the infestation, use the scutil command detailed above, as that’s the only way to see all the DNS Servers your machine knows about.

As a footnote, Mac OS X security works just fine. This Trojan actually asks you to install it using your own username and password. This doesn't mean that Mac OS X security doesn't work, it proves that it does. Be careful of what you install and be sure your software comes from trusted sources, not porn sites :-)

A reader sent us this report from RegHardware in the UK stating that Apple's MacBook owners may have faulty hard drives. Retrodata, a data recovery service has noticed their customers have a large number of failed Seagate 2.5 inch SATA drives that were made in China loaded with firmware 7.01.

"We're getting 20-30 times more failed drives of this kind than others," Retrodata chief Duncan Clarke told Register Hardware.

From the looks of the photo in the article, the drive platter gets scratched thus destroying the drive. Retrodata claims the read/write heads fail and this leads to the damage. Apple and Seagate has refused to comment thus far.

If you've had a drive go bad in your MacBook, we want to hear about it!

Last night I was listening to Loveline online while working on a few projects. Turns out that Dr. Drew Pinsky is an avid Mac user and co-host Stryker has made the Mac a part of his life during the last year. Stryker told the tale of how his MacBook drive went dead and how he had to take it to an Apple Store. Well his drive was dead and he was told to take it to a drive recovery specialist. Two hours late, bad news! There was nothing that could be done to recover the stuff on his drive!

Needless to say Stryker was quite upset about the whole thing and decided to call SOS Apple. After being transfered to a few people he was told he'd be helped out. Later that day, someone from Apple called him and said they'd "help him out". Not sure what exactly was going to happen but it sounded like Strykers getting a new MacBook. The MacBook was only 12 months old according to him.

What I found funny was the fact that both of them thought that Apple's "never break". Dr. Drew didn't even know that he had to back up his stuff! Stryker vowed to back up his data and asked Dr. Drew if they would do it together. Let's hope these guys get something like SuperDuper or something!

Unfortunately it seems like Stryker, like a few of my friends has been bitten by the defective seagate drive. I sure hope Apple will do something to fix this problem or at least be proactive and figure a way to identify which MacBooks and MacBook Pros have these defective drives before theres a lawsuit.

To listen to Dr. Drew and Stryker give the Mac some love go here.

According to AppleInsider, Apple has already seeded the first update to Leopard out to it's developer community. Mac OSX 10.5.1 build 9B13 is said to be 267MB (wow!) in size. Over two dozen fixes are planned for rollout shortly.

Hopefully this will fix the much publicized Finder data-loss bug as well as other small niggles we have with running Leopard. Give um a couple of weeks to kick the tires on this. We expect Apple to move quickly to release the first update to keep the Leopard folks happy.

For all of you still on Tiger, just hold on and upgrade when the first update is released.. unless you're in a rush like we were...

Go get it via Software update or here.

Here's whats in the fix:

The following improvements for both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs are included in this update
AirPort

* Allows password-protected accounts on AirPort Disks to show up on in the Finder's Shared Sidebar.
* Resolves an issue with saved passwords for wireless networks.

Back to My Mac

* Improves the reliability of Back to My Mac-enabled Macs appearing in the Finder's Shared Sidebar.
* Improves compatibility with D-Link NAT gateways.

Disk utilities

* Restores the functionality of the progress bar during permission repairs in Disk Utility.
* Addresses an issue that could produce an alert when creating disk images using Disk Utility or Terminal.
* Improves disk partitioning when multiple RAID sets are created on the same disk.

iCal

* iCal alarms are now more reliably delivered via email.
* Resolves an issue when inviting attendees via a CalDAV account.

Mail

* Improves stability when resizing columns in the message viewer or switching between Stationery templates in email messages.
* Addresses an issue in which attachments enclosed inside an HTML link may not be clickable in email messages.
* Fixes an issue with email accounts added using the "Simple Setup" feature in which messages cannot be sent due to an SMTP connection failure.
* Improves Smart Mailboxes compatibility with .Mac Sync, and addresses an issue with To Do's disappearing when using Smart Mailboxes.
* Resolves an issue with syncing Mail accounts with .Mac in which multiple On My Mac folders appear in the Mailbox pane.

Networking

* Addresses an issue in which Microsoft Windows shared folders may be read-only when connected via SMB.

Printing

* Resolves an issue in which user-selected values on Paper Feed PDE are reset to default while saving a custom preset.

Security, Firewall

* Addresses a code signing issue; third-party applications can now run when included in the Application Firewall or when whitelisted in Parental Controls.
* In Security preferences' Firewall tab, the "Block All" option is now called "Allow Only essential services"
* Includes recent Apple security updates.

System and Finder

* Addresses a potential data loss issue when moving files across partitions in the Finder.
* Resolves an issue with login after turning off FileVault for a specific user account.
* Improves compatibility with Adobe Flash-based uploaders used by .Mac Web Gallery and certain other websites and applications.
* Resolves a potential text drawing issue with certain Adobe Flash-based websites and applications.

Time Machine

* Addresses formatting issues with certain drives used with Time Machine (specifically, single-partition MBR drives greater than 512 GB in size as well as NTFS drives of any size and partition scheme).
* Resolves an issue in which files restored in Time Machine may be restored to the backup hierarchy rather than the folders to which they belong.

TuneCore is giving away free music via iTunes! Not just any music mind you, but independent artists from their "label"! Yep, TuneCore, the company that helps indie artists get their music on iTunes is giving away 34 select tracks via the US iTunes store (sorry international readers!)

To get your free code to download the 34 songs, go to their 34 stars album page here. The artists aren't nobodies either! Steve Vai, Izzy Stradlin, Suzy Bogguss and Public Enemy are just some of the artists featured. The one I can't wait to hear is Maureen McCormick's track (yeah thats Marsha Brady from the Brady Bunch).