I have been using my MacBook Pro more and more lately and quickly finding hard drive space shrinking.  The addition of VMWare Fusion and some virtual machines seems to eat up hard drive space pretty quickly.  The stock 160G Fujitsu 5400rpm hard drive is also a bit slower than I would like.

I did a bit of investigating and a couple of conversations on Twitter I found out the job of upgrading the hard drive in the MacBook Pro is a doable task with the right tools and some guidance.  I have been working on computers in one shape or form for the past two decades so I figured I could handle one MacBook Pro.  Please note, changing the hard drive yourself probably voids the warranty but, it’s my MacBook Pro so why not.

The hard drive I decided to upgrade to is the Hitachi Travelstar 7K320. The drive is a 320G, 7200rpm drive with a nice cache and the right form factor.  I was able to find this drive at ZipZoomFly for $89 after a $30 mail-in-rebate.  I have had some great luck over the years using Hitachi drives so it seemed like a great deal.  ZipZoomFly always provides great service to boot.

Upgrading

I follow a few of my own steps here in conjunction with a couple tutorials I found online and from some folks who were also upgrading.

Step 1: Backup – this is huge, make sure you have a good backup of the hard drive before upgrading.  I used SuperDuper to create a full backup of my MacBook Pro.  This is NOT the image of the disk but a full backup to an external hard disk.  I have a 160G external USB drive for this purpose.  I think the back up took a bit over an hour.  

This backup should be a bootable backup, which I tested before installing the new hard drive.  Apple states they don’t support booting off of an external USB drive, just a Firewire type.  I am a rebel and don’t really care if Apple supports it or not, it’s my laptop and I will do as I please.  Seriously, I figured if it worked, great, otherwise I would be forced to pickup a Firewire drive.  In order to book off of the external drive you need to have the MBP powered off and while holding the Option key down, power it on.  It will search devices capable of booting from and sure enough the external USB is available.  I booted from it and tried a few things and all was good.

Step 2: Remove old hard drive and install new one – I did some homework on how difficult it would be to replace a MBP hard disk before purchasing a new one.  I found a tutorial from iFixIt which gives some nice details on the process.  The tutorial is 6 pages with nice photos detailing the process, pretty hard to go wrong.  I just took my time and double-checked everything.

Step 3: Boot from external USB drive – this is, as before when testing, a key step and if it doesn’t work then nothing will work from here.  Since I tested the external backup before I replaced the drive, I knew this would work.  Again, holding down the Option key while powering on which shows only the external USB as an option.  Boot worked fine.

Step 4: Initialize new drive – this was one step I never saw in any reference but the new 320G hard drive needed to be formatted. 

Step 5: Restore backup – Using SuperDuper again and now restoring from the backup to the newly formatted 320G hard disk the steps are pretty much the same as when backing up except for the new source and destination drives.  I also told SuperDuper to make the new drive as the startup drive when it was done restoring.  The restore took just about an hour and seemed much faster than the back with faster transfer rates.

Step 6: Restart – After the backup restored I then rebooted to the new hard drive and all looked well.  I did check permissions on the new disk and some seemed to be wrong so I Repaired Permissions and proceeded to test my applications and everything is now zipping right along.

I hope this helps.

I have been using my iPhone version 1 for a while now and when Apple released version 2.0 of the iPhone firmware along with the app store I was really excited to see some of the applications I could use.  So far I use tools such as Twitterrific and others but really only for minimal use, until today when Instant Cocoa released pTerm which allows SSH, Telnet and TCP connections from my iPhone.  pTerm costs only $4.99 and will let me check my servers, change configuration or other maintenance from the road.

Features include:

• SSH, Telnet, and Raw Socket (TCP) support
• xterm terminal emulation
• 80×24 standard unix terminal window
• Pinch to zoom in the terminal
• Landscape and Portrait modes
• Support for CTRL keys
• Works over Edge, 3G, or WiFi connections
• Entirely based on PuTTY; if the features are in PuTTY, we can proably provide them on the iPhone!

theAppleBlog lists additional details about the application.  The web site lists the application as Version 1.0 with 1.1 ready and waiting for Apple.  You can get this version from the Apple Application Store.

It seems Apple carefully let the release of the 2.0 firmware for the iPhone out a little early.  MacRumors was the first I saw with the announcement with a link to the download.

I am running iTunes on Windows and had to download iTunes 7.7 to be able to do the update and access the App Store later on.  Once iTunes was up-to-date with 7.7 and with the iPhone connected and viewing the summary screen, click Check for Updates while holding down the Shift key.  This invokes the ability to install firmware manually.  It is very important to backup your iPhone BEFORE updating the firmware.  You will have the option of restoring all of your data to the iPhone once the update is complete.

The update takes some time but is hands-off and easy.  Once it’s done you can restore your data from your backup and the phone resets and shows in iTunes with the new 2.0 firmware version.

Heading over to the App Store revealed a whole bunch of really cool things to try and Twitterrific was the first one to give a go and it worked the first time.

I imagine Apple will release the 2.0 firmware for the general population later tonight or tomorrow.  Before upgrading, when I clicked Check for Updates it said 1.4 was the latest, that will change soon

I think we are going to see a revolution in mobile applications with the opening of the App Store.  This is going to be cool.

I have been a happy owner of an Apple Time Capsule for the past month or so.  It was very easy to setup and configuring it to work with Time Machine was a breeze and backups seamless.  I have been using a Linksys 54GL router as my main router and used the Time Machine as a backup and additional wireless station.  I came home last night to find I had no network connectivity.  A call to Charter Communications tech support pointed to my router and it sure seemed like it but Charter has been known to have problems and not admit them.

I decided to reassign my Time Capsule as my main router last night and make the transition sooner rather than later.   Reconfiguring the router was as easy this time as the last time and in the matter of an hour I had our network with both wire and wireless clients back up and running.

VPN is the Show Stopper

Everything was fine until today when I needed to VPN into a client site to get some work done and I could not connect.  I thought it may have been some configurations settings on the Time Capsule but I found thing obvious, like "VPN Configuration Here".  So I decided to check out the Apple support site for a solution.  I was greeted by a nice discussion on Apple’s Time Capsule support forum by many others having the same problem with no fix.   You can see I am not the only one.

I am running the AT&T VPN Client, when trying to connect I get a message saying it’s authenticating but it just times out.  Time Capsule firmware 7.3.1 is supposed to fix VPN issues but has not fixed mine as I verified I have 7.3.1.

One option suggested is to setup the Time Capsule as a pass-through device.  This will only work if you have another device behind it if you need DHCP.  In my opinion, this is only a hack any and Apple should address issues like this if they plan on being an enterprise player.  Today so many of us are either consultants to enterprises or telecommuters to enterprise companies and being able to VPN to sites is important.  Maybe enterprise is not on Apple’s radar and this is a perfect example.

Another possible solution for the AT&T VPN client is to turn off IPv6.  I have had some IPv6 issues on Vista and this may be the issue but hadn’t had time to try it out, but based on the support forum it worked for some:

A Step Back

This morning I took my Linksys 54GL and hooked it back up and it worked.  I think Charter has some issues they weren’t very open about or were doing some updates to infrastructure because the Linksys would not connect last night with two Charter network support folks and myself.  Today is a different day and the Linksys has saved the day, the work day anyway.

I am going to revisit some workarounds until Apple has better support for VPN. I likely won’t be able to until I get some free time and connecting to clients isn’t required for the day.   Anyone with a solution, please comment or send me an email.

I found some time this weekend to unpack the Time Capsule, set it up and perform my first back up.  I was going to provide the “unboxing” post I mentioned in a previous post but lost interest.  I am sure there are a ton of those types of posts out there if someone wants to search for them.  One thing I was surprised by was the size of the device.  It is a lot smaller than I expected and almost completely silent.

Setting up the Time Capsule

The first thing I needed to do to install and configure the Time Capsule was to install the Airport utility off of the included Time Capsule CD.  Once installed I ran the Airport Utility from the Applications->Utilities folder. 

I chose to setup Time Capsule wirelessly since it is the easiest, if it works.  It is pretty interesting that my MacBook Pro disconnected from my local wireless network and connected to the Time Capsule.  I probably shouldn’t be surprised, but I was.

The overall configuration was very easy, just stepping me through the configuration using a wizard.  I have an existing wireless network so I just added the Time Capsule to use that network.  I could have just as easily replaced the current network with the Time Capsule since it is a full Airport base station.  I may end up doing that at some point to take advantage of the 802.11n capabilities, but for now I just wanted to keep it simple.

Once I stepped through using the wizard the Time Capsule rebooted and my MacBook Pro was back on my original wireless network.   The amber light experienced on the Time Capsule during setup was now a nice green color, indicating all was well.

The First Time Machine Backup

I took my MacBook Pro and ran Time Machine for the first time and was delighted to see it find my Time Capsule right away and told me it would be starting a backup in 2 minutes.   I told Time Machine to skip my VMware Fusion virtual machines so it wouldn’t be backing those up all the time.

The backup started right on time and found 45g to backup.  The backup seemed to run very slow, taking about 16 hours to complete.  I am on a 802.11g network but I just figured it would take a lot less.  I didn’t try to figure out how long it should take but it was a lot longer for this initial setup.  I will be monitoring this in the future so I can determine if I need to change some things to get better performance.

Connecting with Windows Clients

I bought a Time Capsule so I would have Time Machine natively recognize it but also to backup my Windows clients too.  I was a little concerned with Apple’s support for Windows clients but was pleasantly surprised by the experience.  The key is to make sure File Sharing is turned on as seen in this screen shot.

Notice also the Workgroup is the Windows Workgroup on your network.  Once I set this and performed an Update the Time Capsule appeared in the list of my network devices in my workgroup.  Bringing up Windows Explorer shows the Time Capsule named Backup in the list:

When selecting Backup in the tree the user is prompted for credentials.  I was not sure of the user name so I chose the name of the device, Backup, and the password is the one chosen during the initial setup.   I was able to connect right away and create a new folder for my Windows files.

You can see the folder Time Machine created for my MacBook Pro backup.

Conclusion

I am really happy with the experience of setting this device up, it was easy and just worked.  I will follow-up later once I use it for a while both from my MacBook Pro and from Windows.   The only downside to the experience was how long it took to perform the initial 45g backup, which was a long time.  I may not have had my expectations set correctly.

The status back in Time Machine only tells the user how many files it is backing up, how much data needs to be backed up in total and a running status of the amount of data backed up.  I would like to see an estimated time to completion and more importantly, my current data transfer rate.

Today was a great day when the Fed Ex driver showed up two days early with my Apple Time Capsule.  This is the best I can show right now:

I am going to be on the road for a couple days so I can’t do the unboxing photos just yet but I will get to them when I get back.  It will be a great moment getting it setup and running my first Time Machine backup.

Well, after placing my order on January 20, 2008 my 1 TB Time Capsule has shipped today!

I am very anxious to get this little toy and be able to have Time Machine backup to my Time Capsule without me even thinking about it.  I am planning to take a few pics of the unboxing, not because I really have to but because I have never done one of those lame unboxing posts.

I have been using an iPhone for about 5 months now and love the thing, it is the single greatest gadget I have ever bought.  One reason I bought it was to  replace my aging iPod Mini.  I listen to as many podcasts as I can on my commute to client sites but also listen to the same podcasts on my PC when I am working at home.

One feature of iTunes and the iPhone I totally stumbled upon is one of its syncing features;  When I am home listening to a podcast and then take to the road I always sync my iPhone so I have the latest podcasts from my subscriptions.  I get in my car and finish the podcast I was listening to in my home office and viola…it starts in the same place I left off.  How cool is this??   Sure, it’s a small thing but it’s one feature that makes me glad I own an iPhone.  Topping it all off is when I come back home and sync the iPhone again, it updates the spot in the podcast I left off at in my car.   Two-way book marking, very cool indeed.

My old iPod did not do this, but either the iPhone or the latest iTunes has added this great little feature. 

Apple released Leopard update 10.5.2 a couple days ago which is intended to fix many of the common complaints with the operating system.  I ran the update as soon as I had heard it was available and it installed without problem.  I did hear a few people having problems but they seemed like isolated incidents and I am not aware of the details.

Wired Blog Network had an article titled Latest Leopard Update Resolves Common Complaints which highlights some of the major updates and biggest complaints.  I was going to write up something about the updates but since Scott Gilbertson already beat me too it, I figured I would just quote some of the details he gives.

When I ran the update on my MacBook Pro it weighed in a whopping 370MB, bigger than I expected.  The shear size alone should be a good indication at the number of fixes.  The release notes on this update from Apple are worth looking at for details on particular fixes, but the important ones from Wired:

• AirPort – improves connection reliability and stability
• Mail – numerous bug fixes and better handling of SMTP servers
• RAW image support for several new cameras (Canon, Nikon and more)
• Safari – patches a security flaw that affected only Leopard’s version of Safari 3
• Third Party Apps – Improves general stability when running third-party applications.

Below are some additional links to some other sources of information on the update.

See Also:

• [Updated] First Look: Installing Mac OS X Leopard
• Clean The Litter Box: Tips To Get Your Mac Leopard-Ready
• Adobe CS3 Not Ready For OS X Leopard
• Does Mac OS X Leopard Have ‘Top Secret’ Hidden Features?

I think this update is big in working toward fixing some of the items people complained about.  I have not had any real issues with Leopard since I installed it but my use is not 100% of my daily computing time.

I know the title is a bit subjective but I had to make the claim. You see, I am one of those Windows converts to the Mac you read about and I really like it. I admit I am not a 100% convert as my daily work includes writing applications on .NET and, well I still use my Windows XP desktop and Dell laptop. I have been doing almost all of my blogging from Windows because I use Microsoft Live Writer. Live Writer is by far the best blogging client for Windows and using it is a pleasure but the only problem is does not run on the Mac. I started searching for a good blogging tool for my work on the Mac, trying both ecto and older versions of MarsEdit. Even though both tools have a nice user interface and worked reasonably well, neither have the features of Live Writer. I am not a power blogger or anything but one feature I really like is posting drafts to my blog from Live Writer so I can work on them later from a different system. This is just a nice feature and one I relied on more than I imagined. So, along came MarsEdit 2.1, released only a few days ago. I downloaded the evaluation version and gave it a shot. Release 2.1 has something new, posting drafts to your blog. This was the killer feature I was looking for in a Mac blogging client. I gave it a run through it it worked as advertised. I paid my $29.95 right away and now am writing this post from MarsEdit. Very cool application, for sure. There are plenty of other features I am sure I will use in the coming months which include many updates:

Hot off the presses in MarsEdit 2.1:

Search Your Drafts and Entries

Now you can quickly filter your posts and drafts by keywords. Just type a word or phrase into the toolbar search field, and MarsEdit will restrict the post listing to only items that contain the text you’ve typed.

Native Tags Support

For supported systems, including Movable Type and WordPress, MarsEdit now offers a field for capsule-style tagging of your posts. It even remembers the tags you’ve typed before, so you’ll be able to reuse them in a jiffy on future posts.

Improved Web Preview

MarsEdit’s built-in preview sports a sleek new default appearance, massively enhanced performance, and fine-tuned usability. Now previews update quickly and without flickering or jumping around as you edit your post.

Save Drafts To Server

A new Post Status popup in the options pane lets you choose between Published and Draft status. Server support for this feature is somewhat hit-or-miss, so be sure to test with something not too embarrassing! Added not all that long ago in MarsEdit 2.0:

Beautifully Refined User Interface

MarsEdit 2.0 extends the simple elegance of MarsEdit 1.2, incorporating new features while continuing to simplify the user interface. Much more than just a pretty face, MarsEdit’s beauty and simplicity help you be a more productive weblog author.

Seamless Flickr Integration

The streamlined Media Manager now sports a dedicated tab just for Flickr! Browse your most recent photos, or your entire collection. You can even search by tag or photo title. When you find the perfect picture, insert it into your post with the click of a button.

Powerful Markup Macros

Nobody likes to type HTML code, which is why MarsEdit’s markup macros are so invaluable. With the ability to transform text from the editor or the pasteboard, you’ll find it a breeze to customize macros for the most tedious of your HTML tasks.

Streamlined Post Editor

The post editor was completely rethought for MarsEdit 2.0, giving you the power to show or hide fields in the window so that only the useful elements are visible. On supported weblogs, you can even add new categories, or edit the slug (short URL name) of your posts, without ever leaving MarsEdit.

New Printing Support

MarsEdit makes writing on the web a real joy, but sometimes it takes marking up a paper copy of your masterpiece to make sure you’ve gotten all the kinks out. With MarsEdit 2.0 you can print both the raw text of your post or the HTML preview, making it a snap to take your work-in-progress offline for yourself or others to review.

And More…

A huge number of “tiny tweaks” have been made to MarsEdit, moving it ever closer to perfection. Take a look around and see how well it suits you!

It looks like development is moving along nicely with MarsEdit and I look forward to using it and seeing future updates.