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Mac FAQ

Why doesn't Real Player work when I try to launch a video from a web site?


This is a known issue to the people who make Real Player. There is an existing bug in their software that may prevent media from playing when a non-administrative user clicks media links in a web browser. The easiest way to get around the problem is to launch the Real Media Player BEFORE you open the web browser. As long as Real Player is already running, it should play the media file.

I have Windows(2000 or XP) in my office- how do I access "my documents"


You can open your Windows server documents from a Macintosh by doing the following:
1. Login to the Macintosh as yourself (same username and password you use to access a CHFA Windows machine).
2. Go to the finder (Click on the Mac Face in the lower left of the screen)
3. Click on the Go pulldown menu - choose Connect To server.
4. In the address line type SMB://MERCURY - then click the Connect Button.
5. On the SMB Mount page choose "staff" for Faculty and Staff or "students" for Students. Click OK.
You will then have a STAFF (or STUDENTS) icon on the desktop and in the Finder. Double-click then scroll down to find your user folder (you will not have access rights for anyone else but your own).

I get a compaction error any time I send mail. -OR- My mail gets send out repeatedly.
Mac OS X Panther error (10.3.x)


The source of this problem comes from sending a message with an attachment larger than 52KB.
The error message:
"Compaction Error The old mailbox cannot be moved to make room for the new one, perhaps because the disk is full. An attempt will be made to restore the mailbox to its state before compaction"

We are working with Apple Computer Inc. to try fix the problem, most likely with their software. Until such time as they fix the issue, we have found that this problem initially occurs when you send an attachment of size 52KB or larger. What happens is this message is placed in the outbox queue (waiting to be sent out to its recipients). The message *is* sent, but Mac Mail fails to compact the out folder after sending, which results in the message staying in the out and being sent each time you send other mail messages. This will continue UNTIL the offending message is removed or deleted from the out box - and all additional outgoing messages will be sent over and over.

The work-arounds we currently have
1. Don't sending attachments over 50KB (obviously not a useful solution)
2. Delete the "stuck" messages in the Out box. When you receive the "Compaction error" delete any messages from the outbox of Mac Mail (labeled as Out). Do this by opening the Out box - selecting each message and pressing the delete key (right of the +/= key) or the delete icon. DO NOT drag the messages to trash - as this will not fix the issue.

3. Mac Mail or Thunderbird can be configured to keep your mail settings on the local hard disk of the computer in your office. This eliminates the error, but also prevents backup of messages risking loss of your mail if a hard disk failure occurs in your office. We need to schedule a time to work with you to make this change, as it can take up to an hour (depending on how much mail you have).

There is no reason (benefit) to change to Thunderbird from Mac Mail at this time (other than personal preference).

Adobe Illustrator (or other Adobe products) keeps crashing on me when I try to print. The computer says that Adobe Illustrator unexpected quit. How can this be fixed?


There are two ways we've found to fix this problem. They both have to be done from with your (the users's) account, and neither of them is very difficult.

Option 1:
Launch System Preferences
Choose the Print & Fax pane
Click the Set Up Printers... button
Click on a printer to highlight it - I recommend the default printer for whatever lab you are using
From the Printers menu, select Create Desktop Printer (or press Apple-Shift-D)
When that finishes, go ahead and Quit the Utility, and Quit System Preferences

You will now find a printer icon on your desktop. You can go ahead and delete it if you want to-- the act of creating it was all that was necessary for fixing this folder problem.

Option 2: (all the folders discussed are contained within the previous mentioned folder)
Open your Home folder (the folder with your name)
Open the Library folder
Create a New Folder (select New Folder from the File menu, or press Apple-Shift-N)
Change name of folder to Printers (it is case sensitive)

Whether you followed option 1 or option 2, you should find that Illustrator should now allow you to print once again.

Microsoft Word gives me an error message about not being able to save. How can I fix this?


There are currently two known issues with the newest version of Microsoft Word (version 11.1.0) and Mac OS X Tiger. The two issues give different error messages, and we are still trying to determine if these are two unrelated problems, or the same problem with different error messages. The error message from the first problem is "Word cannot save this document due to a naming or permissions error on the destination volume." The error message from the second problem is "The disk is full or too many files are open."

We currently have a work-around that works for both error messages. We also have a solution for the first problem type (caused by an incompatability between the OS, Word, and Norton Anti-Virus). If you are getting the first error message, please contact us to apply the full solution. We have had a few reports that once "solved," the result is that the second error message now pops up. There currently is NO full solution for the second problem, but we are working with both Microsoft and Apple support to find a resolution.

One choice is to save the file to another location. You can save it to Local Storage on an office computer (not available in labs), or to removable media such as a USB Flash Drive.

The work-around for both issues is that you will not have a problem saving the file as another document type. When saving (either a normal Save or Save As) the standard format is Word Document (.doc). Choosing another format from the Format pop-up menu will allow you to save. Our recommendation is Rich-Text Format (.rtf) -- it is readable by both Macs and PC's and will retain font choices and settings and most margin and paragraph settings. (Highly complex document settings MAY be lost.) To make this your default setting, follow these instructions:
1. Launch Microsoft Word (if it is not running already)
2. Select Preferences from under the Word menu
3. Select Save from the window on the left
4. Set the pop-up menu for Save Word files as: to Rich Text Format (RTF)
5. Click OK

Microsoft Excel tells me it cannot access my Documents folder or Desktop when I try to save. How can I save my file?


This is part of a known issue between the current version of Microsot Office and Mac OS X Tiger. The particular error message is:

"Microsoft Excel cannot access the file 'Where-ever you tried to save to'.
There are several possible reasons:
--The file name or path name does not exist.
--The file you're trying to open is being used by another program. Close the document in the other program, and try again.
--The name of the workbook you're trying to save is the same as the name of another document that is read-only. Try saving the workbook with a different name."

There currently is NO full solution for the problem, but we are working with both Microsoft and Apple support to find a resolution. There are a couple of fixes that can be done.

If you have unusual data or formulas entered into Excel, your only choice is to save it to another location. You can save it to Local Storage on an office computer (not available in labs), or to removable media such as a USB Flash Drive.

The other work-around for both issues is that you will not have a problem saving the file as another document type. When saving (either a normal Save or Save As) the standard format is Excel Spreadsheet (.xls). Choosing another format from the Format pop-up menu will allow you to save. One good choice is Comma Delimited (.csv) -- it is readable by both Mac's and PC's and will retain entered data, but it does not preerve cell properties, formulas, and other special formatting. Another setting that may work for you is an Excel 4.0 Workbook (.xlw). It should be readable by Mac's and PC's as well, but once again has problems retaining some advanced features. To make one of these your default setting, follow these instructions:
1. Launch Microsoft Excel (if it is not running already)
2. Select Preferences from under the Excel menu
3. Select Compatibility from the window on the left
4. Set the pop-up menu for Default save as type: to which setting you prefer
5. Click OK

I access my e-mail and get the error "Mail cannot access your mailboxes because they are locked."
Mac OS X Tiger problem (10.4.x)


Use the following steps the access your email:

1. Acknowledge the error message and Quit Mail
2. Open your Home Directory (house-shaped folder)
3. Open your Library folder
4. Open your Mail folder
5. Select the file "Envelope Index-journal" and drag it to the trash
6. Re-launch Mail

How do I access the Public server storage space?


1. Make sure that the Finder is active. (click on desktop, select Finder from the dock, etc.)
2. Select "Connect to Server" from the Go menu (or press Apple-K)
3. Type "smb://mercury.chfa.uni.edu" (or select it from favorites if it is there; no quotation marks please!)
4. Click the Connect button
5. Select "Public" from the Pop-Up menu
6. Click the OK button

I'm getting asked for the password for the keychain "login" in Safari or Mail. What is this?/How do I get rid of this?


Keychain is Apple's software that stores cookies and passwords securely.

These instructions for resetting it can be found on Apple's web site

If you change your account's password using your Mac OS X Tiger Install disc (or if your network-based account password is changed due to a network admin forcing a password change), your default keychain password (which uses the same initial password as your user account) does not change. Because of this, you will be prompted to enter a keychain password each time an application requires authentication that your keychain would normally provide.

Note: This doesn't happen if you change your account password using Accounts preferences.

If you want your default keychain to be unlocked automatically when you log in, synchronize your Keychain Access and account login passwords by doing this:

1. Open Keychain Access (you can get to it by choosing Utilities from the Go menu in the Finder).
2. From the Edit menu, choose Change Password for Keychain "login."
3. Type the former password of the account that you are currently logged in to, then click OK.
4. If you entered the correct password, a new window appears; enter the original password again in the Current Password field.
5. In the New Password field, type the password that matches your current account password.
6. Re-enter the newer password in the Verify field, then click OK.

I don't remember my original (former) account password

If this is the case, you'll have to delete the keychain.

1. In Keycain Access, choose Keychain List from the Edit menu.
2. Delete the "login" keychain.
The next time you log in to the account, you can save your current password in a keychain.

In some cases, it may work better to manually delete your Keychain.
1. Make Finder the active application
2. Select your home folder (From the Go menu choose Home, or press Shift-Apple-H)
3. Open your Library folder
4. Open your Keychains folder
5. Select and delete your login.keychain (click on login.keychain and press Apple-delete)
6. Restart the computer

I log in or am using the computer and get an error saying "There is a problem synchronizing the file "problemfile" Error code is -48 (or a couple of other error codes.) What can I do?


This is a complicated issue and explanation, with a simple solution.

Home Synch is the application is we are now using to help keep you files backed up in case of problems with the computer in your office, such as hard drive failure. When it reports an error to you, it is letting you know which file(s) it was unable to back-up. It also reports to you the location of that file as part of the error message, so you can find the file and fix the problem.

Most of these problems come down to one thing -- there is one or more illegal characters in the file name of that file, or in more severe cases, one or more files with illegal characters in the file name contained within that folder.

Back in the days of OS9, Macintosh computers did not have to worry too much about sharing files or saving to other places besides themselves. If you tried to save a file with a character that was not allowed by the operating system, the computer told you. Things are more complicated now. OSX still has the same file character limitations that OS9 and its predecessors did, although you can use much longer file names now. It is built on a UNIX shell, so the few UNIX characters that are illegal in file names can cause problems. Add in the greater likelihood of sharing files in a global community, or placing files on a Windows server (as is happening here) and you suddenly have to be concerned about characters that are not legal in a Windows file name too.

Here are characters to avoid using in file names
Illegal Apple Characters- :
Illegal UNIX Characters- /
Illegal Windows Characters- ? [ ] / \ = + < > : ; " ,
--in addition, Windows does not like a space at the beginning or end of a file name

The simplest solution is simply not to use any characters in a file name that appear on the illegal windows characters list. Remember, this is not something new -- Windows users have never been able to use these characters. This is just something that Mac users that want to be able to better exist in a Windows-dominated environment simply need to do.

To make things easier, if you have many files that may need to have name changes done, we have a site license for A Better Finder Rename. It is in your Applications folder. Launch the application and select from the Action tab, "Convert to valid NTFS/SMB file name. Then drag any folder that may contain many illegally named files to the window, select a Filler character (I like "-" myself), check the buttons for Files, Folders, and Subfolders and their Contents, and click OK. You can have the program do everything Automatically, or bring up every questionable file and you can OK its renaming and/or over-ride it. If this is something you might be doing often, Create Droplet... might be handy, since it creates a mini-program for your desktop that you can drag your files onto to test if the file will pass or needs to be changed.

How can I back up my e-mail that is saved locally (on my office computer)?


1. Quit your email program
2. Select your Home Folder (House icon, Apple-Shift-H, or Choose Home from the Go menu)
3. Open your Library Folder

At this point, the choices depend on your email program
Thunderbird Instructions:
a. Select (highlight) the folder Thunderbird
Mac Mail Instructions:
a. Open Mail
b. Open Mailboxes
c. Select (highlight) Local Mail [It may have another name, but it does NOT end in .mbox]

4. Hold the Control Key and click on that item (or right-click, if you have a two-button mouse), and select Create Archive of "highlighted item" (be it Thunderbird or Local Mail)

This will create a new file call Thunderbird.zip or Local Mail.zip. This file can easily be copied somewhere else for safe keeping. If you click on the file (Click ONLY once, or the computer will try to un-archive the file, and it will second copy of your email), you can find out how large the file is. If it is under 500 MB, you will likely have room to store it on Mercury, in your faculty share (drag it to the folder with your name in the dock.) If it is over 500 MB, your best bet will be to burn it to a CD or DVD.

How can I access my server-based personal document space from an older Macintosh?


The faculty, staff, and student storage areas can only be accessed from a Macintosh computer running OS X or a Windows computer. If the computer that you regularly use is running OS 9 and maintained by CHFA|Tech, please contact us and request an OS upgrade.

How do I change my account password in OS X?


Open System Preferences
Open the Accounts Preference pane
Click the Change Password button for your account

Enter your current (old) password in the Old Password line
Enter your new password on the New Password line, and enter it again on the Verify line
Do

NOT

enter anything into Password HINT -- this will usually lock you out of the system the next time your try to log into your computer!!
In most cases within CHFA, using those steps will change your password to access the computer in either the Mac or PC labs as well as your offices (if you are faculty or staff) or your university active directory account (if you are a student)
You will also see an icon with a key on it at the end of the New Password blank. Clicking on the key opens Apple's password assistant software. The Pop-up menu labeled Type is the type of password -- from manual entry to having the computer select a password for you; Length is how long the password should be, and Quality measures how secure the password is. Select Manual if you would like to test the quality of your password. Most passwords generated by the Memorable setting with a length of 8 or greater will work within our college. (Please note that use of Apple's password generator does NOT mean that the computer remembers the password for you.)

How do I print in OS X?


Printing in OS X is pretty simple, but a bit counter-intuitive when you are used to OS 9.

Step 1: Select Print from the File Menu (or use Apple-P)
Step 2: Select the appropriate printer from the Pop-up list next to the word Printer
Step 3: Press the Print button

If the printer that you are trying to print to is not in the Pop-up list, you can either try setting it up yourself (by choosing Edit Printer List ... from the Pop-up List) or submit a work request and we will get it set-up.