Technogeekery updates

[ffutures]

1: My iBook G4 really doesn't like writing DVD+R - it's fine with DVD-R. Maybe some of the newer ones had drives that can do both, this one doesn't.

2: iBook also doesn't know about the microscope camera, even with the macam program running. So it goes - I can use it with a PC for now, maybe bring my microscope in here and use it with the spare desktop machine.

3: Is there any reason other than "you don't need to worry about it" why you can't see what the USB ports etc. are up to?

4: Is there any particular reason why Apple don't give you any information at all about the progress of a job such as writing a DVD when you do it? Such as how long it's likely to take? First time of trying, not overwhelmingly impressed.

5: Re 2 - 4 above, am I missing something obvious in the way of an additional program / menu I ought to be looking at for this stuff?

Comments

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

1: Well, it was worth a shot, at least.

3: Exactly what do you mean by what the ports are up to? A lot of info ends up in /var/log/system.log, particularly problem reports.

4: On my 10.3.9 machines the DVD burning alert box has a foldout triangle that brings up a progress bar. Might be different in Tiger, I guess.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Agree it was worth trying, but I got this from Charlie and he's an early adoptor, wasn't very hopeful.

Didn't notice a triangle, doesn't mean it wasn't there. Don't want to waste another DVD finding out right now, but next time I burn one I'll check.

Re "what the ports are up to", I mean whether anything is plugged in and if so what the system thinks it is, that sort of thing.

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

All right, then System Profiler is just what you're after.

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Whoops, I thought I'd said it was a CD-RW/DVD-R only. I've only just acquired a Mac that can do DVD+/-RW. (You can, however, procure an external USB 2.0 DVD+/-RW drive and it ought to do the business.)

[autopope.livejournal.com]

Additional warning: don't use a DVD-R in your drive that's faster than 8x -- older iBook and Powerbook drives (specifically the Masushita UJR-816, if I remember correctly) suffer from indigestion if you feed them fast burn disks, and I think your iBook is of roughly that vintage.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I thought that was what you said, but Calle suggested that some Mac drives do both even if only sold as -R. But in any case I much prefer to use Nero on a PC for making CD masters and will be using it if I do go to an FF DVD, it's the program I know how I use and it's well suited to mass production, so it's no big deal.