Combining PDFs with Preview in Snow Leopard
October 27, 2009 at 10:55 am | In Mac OS X | 2 CommentsTags: 10.6, combining, editing, merging, PDF, PDF files, Preview, Snow Leopard, usability, user interface
It used to be so easy to combine PDF files in Mac OS X. You’d open the first PDF file in Preview, click the “Sidebar” button to view the page thumbnails, and drag the additional PDF files into the sidebar.
No longer. Preview in Snow Leopard uses the sidebar for both files and pages. So if you drag a PDF file into the sidebar, Preview assumes you simply want to open the file. To combine PDFs, you have to do the following:
- Open the first PDF file in Preview.
- Click the “Sidebar” button.
- If the PDF file contains multiple pages and the thumbnails for the individual pages are not displayed, position your mouse over the thumbnail with the spiral-edge binding and click on the left arrow that appears. This will “open” the multi-page PDF.
- Drag the additional PDF files onto the thumbnail for the first file.
- Use “File->Save As…” to save the new PDF file.
Not terribly intuitive, is it? Frankly, I’m amazed this change made it past Apple’s usability experts. It clearly violates a fundamental principle of the Macintosh user interface: individual files are represented by individual windows. The previous version of Preview, which did represent files as windows and reserved the sidebar for pages within files, was much more intuitive.
Incidentally, there is a preference for choosing how Preview should behave when opening files. However, this preference does not rectify the problem of the sidebar being used for both files and pages within files. Moreover, the default value is inconsistent with the Macintosh user interface.
Further evidence of the discrepancy between the behavior of the new Preview and the Macintosh user interface is noticeable from the unusual title bar text. After opening two documents, for example, the title bar reads “document2.pdf (1 page) (2 documents, 3 total pages)”. If you make a change and then quit without saving changes, you’ll see another non-standard alert.
CNQL1212_ClassicNotSeize.kext was installed improperly
October 25, 2009 at 10:00 am | In Mac OS X | Leave a CommentTags: 10.6, Canon, printer drivers, Snow Leopard
After installing Snow Leopard and the HP printer drivers software update, the following warning message appeared:
The system extension “/System/Library/Extensions/CNQL1212_ClassicNotSeize.kext” was installed improperly and cannot be used. Please try reinstalling it, or contact the product’s vendor for an update.
According to this thread on the Apple discussion boards, CNQL1212_ClassicNotSeize is an old kernel extension for Canon printers that is no longer compatible with—or needed for—Mac OS X. Since deleting the file, I haven’t seen the warning message again.
Apple Mail says “Checking account connections”
July 19, 2009 at 9:22 pm | In Mac OS X | 2 CommentsTags: 10.5.7, Apple Mail 3.6, Checking account, Checking connection to mail server, hostedemail, Leopard, OpenSRS, outgoing mail, secure outgoing mail, setting up accounts, SMTP, SSL
After setting up an e-mail account on a new Mac, I ran into a curious problem. Incoming mail worked fine, but outgoing mail refused to go. Often this is a sign that the ISP is blocking port 25 (see Mail 3.0 Help: If the connection to the server on port 25 times out), but this time that wasn’t the case.
The first sign that something wasn’t right appeared during the account setup process when I entered the information on the outgoing mail server. Mail displayed a spinning gray spokes graphic next to the message “Checking connection to mail server servername“. It continued to do this until I clicked the “Cancel” button, at which point Mail allowed me to continue with the account setup.
Now when I tried sending an e-mail message, the message remained in the “Sending…” mailbox until I quit and relaunched Mail, at which point the message moved to “Outbox”. When I went into Mail preferences and clicked on “Accounts”, I saw the message “Checking account: Connecting to server…” displayed in Mail’s Activity window. When I opened Mail’s Connection Doctor, the message “SMTP connection to servername failed” appeared after a long delay.
After much experimenting, I found a solution, which is to set up the account as follows (I first removed all Mail preferences and files so as to start with a clean slate):
- During account setup, enter the outgoing mail server information, but click “Cancel” when Mail keeps saying “Checking connection to mail server servername“. Then click “Continue”.
- Bring up the Activity viewer by choosing “Activity” from the “Window” menu.
- Open Mail preferences, click on Accounts, and select the account in question. In the popup menu to the right of Outgoing Mail Server, choose “Edit Server List…”.
- In the server list window, select the problem account.
- Click the “Advanced” tab.
- Click the red stop sign icon next to “Checking account: Connecting to server…” in the Activity window.
- Select “Use custom port” and enter 465 (for SSL) and leave “Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)” checked.
- Click “OK”.
- The popup menu should now display “servername (Offline)”.
- Choose “Edit Server List…” from the popup menu again.
- In the server list window, select the problem account.
- Click the “Advanced” tab. The password field will now be blank.
- Click the red stop sign icon next to “Checking account: Connecting to server…” in the Activity window.
- Enter your mail account password.
- Click “OK”.
- The Activity window should briefly show that Mail is checking the connection and then the message should disappear.
Why all the fuss? I’m not certain, but I speculate that it’s due to the mail server in question accepting only unencrypted connections on ports 25 and 587 and only SSL connections on port 465. Mail seems to think that if an outgoing mail server supports SSL it should support SSL on all ports on which it accepts connections. Adding to the confusion is a bug in Mail that seems to prevent changes to the outgoing mail server configuration when the “Checking account” process is active.
iLife 09 hangs on install
July 2, 2009 at 2:57 pm | In Mac OS X, Software | 3 CommentsTags: 10.5.7, hangs, iLife, iLife 09, install, installation, installer, restart, won't restart
Installed iLife ‘09 on two Macs today, and both hung at the end of the installation process. The iLife installer reported that installation was successful, but clicking the “Restart” button failed to reboot the computer; instead, the Installer window closed, the menu bar disappeared, and all that remained was a non-functional Dock. None of the usual tricks (e.g., Force Quit) would work, so I had to resort to powering off by holding in the power button. The system log showed the following:
LaunchServices/5123589: coreservicesd is running an unsupported version, 0 ( we are 10500000 ), so we cannot talk to it.
— last message repeated 153 times —
Very annoying. I suspect the iLife ‘09 installer isn’t completely compatible with the most recent Mac OS X (10.5.7).
Software update hangs at “Configuring installation”
December 19, 2008 at 1:08 pm | In Mac OS X | Leave a CommentTags: 10.5, 10.5.5, 10.5.6, hangs, Leopard, Software Update
When upgrading from Mac OS X 10.5.5 to Mac OS X 10.5.6, you may find that Software Update hangs at “Configuring Installation”. This is apparently due to an incomplete download of the update. Apple has posted instructions for fixing this if it should happen to you.
Personally, I didn’t encounter the above when upgrading. However, on one of my Macs I did run into a problem starting the update. Basically, I clicked the “Install” button and then Software Update hung with the spinning colored disk.
Fortunately, I was able to quit all other applications and log out (partially, at least) before I had to hold down the power button to shut down. After rebooting, I was prompted to download the update again and this time it worked without a hitch. Perhaps Apple’s update servers are a bit overwhelmed by the size of the 10.5.6 update?
iChat video freezes
October 18, 2008 at 6:36 pm | In A/V, Mac OS X | Leave a CommentTags: 10.5, 10.5.5, freezes, freezing, iChat, Leopard, video
Lately, I’ve found that the video in iChat tends to freeze partway into a conversation. Curiously, audio is unaffected. Once the video has frozen, I can no longer access the iChat menus (clicking on a menu produces the spinning colored ball). However, I can continue conversing with the other party until I am ready to end the conversation, at which point I have to force quit iChat.
There are several active discussions on this topic on the Apple Support discussion board (see, for example, iChat freezes after 10.5.5 update). The resolution that has worked for me so far is the following:
- In the QuickTime System Preferences, click on the “Streaming” tab and then choose “1 Mbps Cable” for the streaming speed.
- In the Audio/Video iChat Preferences, choose “500 kbps” for the bandwidth limit.
- Relaunch iChat
You’ll notice that the size and quality of the video are reduced, but at least it works!
iPhoto displays exclamation mark instead of photo
May 10, 2008 at 7:58 pm | In Mac OS X | 9 CommentsTags: exclamation mark, iPhoto, missing photo
Has iPhoto ever surprised you by displaying a giant exclamation mark instead of your photo? I had this experience after importing and cropping several photos today. The thumbnails appeared just fine, but when I double-clicked on one of the cropped photos I got a giant exclamation mark where my photo should have been!
I first tried rebuilding the iPhoto database (see iPhoto 4 or later: Rebuilding the iPhoto Library), but that didn’t help. Then I came across this document on Apple Support: iPhoto 6: Image appears when browsing but is blank or exclamation mark when editing. Apparently, the exclamation mark indicates that iPhoto is unable to find the file for the photo. My splitting, merging, and renaming of events (perhaps because at one point I had two events with the same name?) must have caused iPhoto to lose track of the cropped images.
Fortunately, selecting the photos’ thumbnails and then choosing “Revert to Original” from the “Photos” menu restored the photos. I then just had to re-crop them.
Dot Mac won’t sync bookmarks
April 2, 2008 at 2:48 pm | In Mac OS X | Leave a CommentTags: bookmarks, dot Mac, Safari, sync
Today I discovered that my Safari bookmarks had stopped syncing via .Mac. Moreover, the usual trick (i.e., going to .Mac Sync Preferences, clicking “Advanced…”, clicking “Reset Sync Data…”, and opting to have the bookmarks on my computer replaced with sync info from .Mac) didn’t work.
Fortunately, I found a quick fix on Apple Support (see Safari 3.1, Mac OS X 10.5.2: Bookmark syncing issues with iPhone, iPod Touch, .Mac). Basically, it involves running the following command in a Terminal window:
defaults delete com.apple.safari RegisteredSafariSyncClient
After executing this command, you’ll need to sync with .Mac the normal way.
Open Firmware Password utility in Leopard
March 1, 2008 at 7:30 pm | In Mac OS X | 11 CommentsTags: 10.5, Leopard, Open Firmware, password, utility
Today I needed to boot a PowerBook into target disk mode to transfer some files. Since I had previously set the Open Firmware password, holding down the “t” key while booting wouldn’t work. A brief attempt to find an Open Firmware command for booting into target disk mode was unsuccessful, so I decided to temporarily disable the Open Firmware password.
Under Panther, I had used Apple’s Open Firmware Password utility to set the firmware password. According to the download page for the utility, though, it’s not compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or later. Instead, the reader is directed to the /Applications/Utilities/ folder on the installation disc. Frustratingly, when I inserted the Leopard installation disc, I couldn’t find an Applications folder, let alone a firmware password utility.
Turns out the preferred means for setting, resetting, or disabling the Open Firmware password in Leopard is to boot from the installation disc. Then at the “Welcome” screen choose “Firmware Password Utility” from the “Utilities” menu and proceed as directed. If you haven’t set an Open Firmware password, booting from the installation disc is simply a matter of inserting the disc and holding down the “c” key as you boot. If you have set an Open Firmware password, though, it’s a bit tricker. Insert the installation disc and hold down the Option key as you boot your Mac. When you see the padlock image, enter your Open Firmware password. On the next screen, click on the “Mac OS X Install DVD” button and then click the right arrow. Your system should now boot from the installation disc.
Another option is to run the Firmware Password Utility from the command line. First log into an account with administrator privileges and then insert the Leopard installation disc. Next open a Terminal window and type “open /Volumes/Mac OS X Install DVD/Applications/”. Now you can access the Utilities folder and double-click on “Firmware Password Utility”.
For more information on Open Firmware and firmware password protection, see the Apple Knowledgebase article Setting up firmware password protection in Mac OS X.
Canon scanner doesn’t work in Leopard
December 27, 2007 at 11:35 am | In Mac OS X | 8 CommentsTags: 10.5, Canon, CanoScan, driver, Leopard, scanner
After upgrading to Leopard, my CanoScan LiDE 60 scanner stopped working. This wasn’t much of a surprise; I figured I’d have to download a new driver after upgrading. What was a surprise, though, was how long it took to get the new driver to work!
Apple outlines the steps for installing the driver in Canon CanoScan scanners unable to scan. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t tell you that you must remove the previous driver before installing the new one. Nor is this mentioned on the Canon web site.
If you don’t remove the previous driver, the ScanGear installer will hang during the install process. If you force the installer to quit and try to use the scanner, you’ll get the following error:
The necessary file could be missing or damaged, or the settings are incorrect. Reinstall the scanner driver. Scanner driver will be closed.
Fortunately, Canon provides a utility for removing the previous CanoScan driver. For the CanoScan LiDE 60, the uninstaller can be found in the disk image deldrvosx1510en.dmg, which is available from the scanner’s Drivers & Downloads page. Note that you will need to unplug the scanner’s USB cable during the uninstall process.
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