Tag Archives: Mac OSX

[MacOSX] Bonjour Issues with Realtec 8111B on Gigabyte GA EP35 DS3

… can be solved easily using Lnx2Mac’s driver :D

His driver is based on Realtec’s Linux driver which has been released under the GPL.

[MacOS] Firewall: Little Snitch 50% Reduced Until Feb, 3rd

One of – if not even – the best firewall software for the MacOS plattform is available for half the price… Until February 3rd, 2013.

Besides the firewall features for in- and outgoing connections, it also includes a very sophisticated network monitor.

Features

configurable Profiles (for home-use, office-use or use in internet café)
inbound firewall detection
research assistant
and many more…

Pricing

Single user license is 15€ (instead of 30€)
Multi user license (up to 5 Macs) is 55€ (instead of 110€)
Multi user license (up t0 10 Macs) is 95€ (instead of 190€)
Family license 30€ (instead of 60€)

See Objective Development’s website for further details or buy here…

Screenshots

[MacOS] MacUpdate Launched Holiday App Bundle for $49

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Yeah, it was overdue already. The guys over at MacUpdate just launched their pre-chrismas holiday app bundle. For US$49 you will get:

Data Rescue 3 (instead of US$99)
One of the best data recovery tool for the Mac
Espresso 2 (instead of US$75)
One of the best CSS, HTML, XML, JavsScript editing tools around
TotalFinder (instead of US$18)
The Must-have tool, since Apple’s finder is really still total crap
TotalSpaces (instead of US$15)
brings eventually back the grid-style spaces to OS X 10.7 and 10.8
Snapz Pro X 2.5 (instead of US$69)
Screenshots and video capturing made as easy as possible
Mac DVDRipper Pro 4 (instead of US$25)
Copying, Ripping and Converting DVDs made easy, in times of MacBookAirs this tool looks vintage to me ;-)
PopChar X 6 (instead of US$38)
Accessing special font characters made easy, usable scenarios really unknown to me
MoneyWell 2 (instead of US$50)
some finance manager, I would never use ;-)
Swift Publisher 3 (instead of US$30)
never heard of that one, but sounds interesting
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (instead of US$30)
Sim Game in Theme Park style. For those of you who have enuff time for games ;-)
Company of Heroes (instead of US$30)
never heard of that one, sounds like the typical military strategy game

Anyway: the bundle makes sense at least for the TotalFinder, DataRescue, TotalSpaces and Snapz Pro. Means you can’t do anything wrong by buying it. And who knows, probably PopChar, MoneyWell and Swift Publisher might turn out to be useful aswell. The first 12,000 buyers will get Live Interior 3D for free on top (saves you another US$129)…

Get the bundle here: https://www.mupromo.com

[Apple] Certified Apps Only As Of Mac OS X 10.7?

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According to Rixstep.com Apple plans to set up an App Store starting with the introduction of Mac OS X 10.7.

Developers planning on marketing software for 10.7 will submit their products to the App Store as iPhone and now iPad developers have already done. 10.7 will have kernel support for (‘insistence on’) binaries signed with Apple’s root certificate.

No software will be able to run on Mac OS X 10.7 without being approved and signed by Apple, Inc.

According to MacStories.net allegedly Steve Jobs has answered a direct request send to him by Fernando Valente of Chiaro Software. Valente asked him:

There’s a rumor saying there will be a Mac App Store and no software without authorization from Apple will run on Mac OS X. Is that true)

According to the mail Steve Jobs (or someone managing his email account) simply answered:

Nope.

Anyway: you cannot be sure what his answer specifically means. Probably we’re gonna need jailbreaks for Mac OS X in the near future anyhow…

[Apple] Marc Maiffre Says OS X Is Less Secure Than Windows

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Notorious hacker Marc Maiffre said in an interview with CNet.com that OS X is less secure than Windows. The reason why Windows is more attacked anyway is Windows’ market penetration.

[MacOS] Psystar Release Rebel EFI

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As of yesterday the notorious Mac Clone manufacturer Psystar has released a commercial software called Rebel EFI. Rebel EFI prepares a normal PC to allow for the installation of Mac OS.

After downloading Rebel EFI,

[..] users simply insert a retail copy of the Snow Leopard DVD, follow the installation procedures and then install the application. The application automatically detects connected devices and downloads the appropriate drivers.

Rebel EFI features Psystar’s DUBL (Darwin Universal Boot Loader) and a Safe Update mode, that prevents users from installing updates that could break their systems. The Safe Update mode only installs Psystar approved updates.

In contrast to the EFI-X manufacturers, Psystar in the past has released several drivers for free to the OSX86 scene. The advantage of Rebel EFI in contrast to solutions like the Chameleon boot is that is already comes with an automized hardware detection and a bunch of downloadable hardware drivers. Chameleon on the other hand is available free of charge and a lot more powerful for users in the know. So decide for yourself which product fits your needs the best.

A single license for Rebel EFI costs about 50US$ and can be ordered here.

rebelefi_hardware

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[MacOS] Psystar Accounces OEM Licensing Program

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As of yesterday the Miami based company Psystar, which is still in legal trouble with Apple, announced to license their virtualization technology to third party manufacturers.

Computers preloaded with Psystar’s DUBL (Darwin Universal Boot Loader) would allow to make

“systems Mac OS X compatible. Psystar’s virtualization technology, specifically engineered for Snow Leopard, allows for seamless operation of the Mac OS on generic Intel Hardware and would be offered on all Psystar Certified machines.”

Find more information about this step in Psystar’s official press statement.

[MacOS] Comprehensive Gigabyte Hardware Specification List

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With the advent of Snow Leopard many users have issues installing it onto PC based hardware. Well this is not very curious, since a PC is no Mac. Anyway as Gigabyte motherboards proved to be very close to the original Apple Intel specifications many people decided to buy those boards.

With the release of Snow Leopard DSDT patching seems to have become a must. Installation attempts will most likely fail without it. The intention of this list is to provide comprehensive information on the most used Gigabyte motherboards.

The original idea for this list was by a guy called ximekon (find original list here on InsanelyMac forums).

Model	North- bridge	South- bridge	LAN	Fire- Wire	Audio	BIOS Link	Last Check
P35
P35-DS3L	P35	ICH9	Gigabit	-,-	ALC888	F9	08/29/2009
P35-DS3	P35	ICH9	Gigabit	-,-	ALC889a	F14	08/28/2009
P35-DS3R	P35	ICH9	Gigabit	-,-	ALC889a	F13	08/28/2009
EP35
EP35-DS3	P35	ICH9	RTL8111B	-,-	ALC889a	F4	08/28/2009
EP35-DS3R	P35	ICH9R	RTL8111B	-,-	ALC889a	F4	08/28/2009
EP35-DS3P	P35	ICH9R	Gigabit	Yes	ALC889a	F6	08/28/2009
EP35-DS3L	P35	ICH9	Gigabit	-,-	ALC888	F6	08/28/2009
EP35-DS4	P35	ICH9R	RTL8111B	-,-	ALC889a	F6	08/28/2009
EP45
EP45-DS3	P45	ICH10	2 x RTL8111C	-,-	ALC889a	F9	08/28/2009
EP45-DS3R	P45	ICH10R	2 x RTL8111C	yes	ALC889a	F11c	08/28/2009
EP45-DS3P	P45	ICH10R	2 x RTL8111C	yes	ALC889a	F8	08/28/2009
EP45-DS3L	P45	ICH10	RTL8111C	-,-	ALC888	F10	08/28/2009
EP45-DS3LR	P45	ICH10R	RTL8111C	-,-	ALC888	F2	08/28/2009
EP45-UD3	P45	ICH10	RTL8111C	yes	ALC889a	F8	08/28/2009
EP45-UD3P	P45	ICH10R	RTL8111C	yes	ALC889a	F9	08/28/2009
EP45-UD3L	P45	ICH10	RTL8111C	-,-	ALC888	F5c	08/28/2009
EP45-UD3LR	P45	ICH10R	RTL8111C	-,-	ALC888	F5	08/28/2009
EP45-UD3R	P45	ICH10R	RTL8111C	yes	ALC889a	F9	08/28/2009

you cant see this line, do you?

The Golden Gigabyte Model Rules

if last character of the model name is a “number” or a “P” (i.e. EP35-DS3 or EP45-DS3P etc.) it means ALC889a audio chipset
if last or penultimate character of the model name is an “L” (i.e. EP35-DS3L or EP45-DS3LR) it means ALC888 audio chipset
if last character of the model name is an “R” (i.e. P35-DS3R or EP45-UD3LR) it means SATA Raid controllers
The P35 or P45 strings in the beginning are fairly self explaining I suppose (P35 always with ICH9 and P45 always with ICH10)

Your Help is Wanted

Weather these rules nor the list above might be 100% accurate. It is only what I found on the net and summarized from the list above.

If you derived a DSDT.aml clean from a BIOS (like using Koalala’s DSDT patcher) and you fixed it for OSX86, you may post it in the comment’s section – don’t forget to tell how much RAM you had while compiling the DSDT.aml (Don’t add individual graphic or wi-fi strings. Just add onboard-devices like onboard-audio and onboard-ethernet.)
If your board is not on the list check Gigabyte’s pages and post the specifications in the comments section below.
If your board is listed but details above are wrong: please post it in the comments section below.
If you know the LAN chipset of the board and it is not listed precisely above (saying Gigabit) please post it in the comments section.

Please always crosscheck with the official Gigabyte specification page for your model (links to your model are included in the BIOS column) before adding a dsdt.aml or anything that could burn your BIOS.

[MacOS] Is EFI-X illegally using 3rd Party Program Code?

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About a year ago a company called ASEM released a device called EFI-X. This device has been claimed to be capable of booting several Microsoft Windows versions and Mac OS X Leopard.

Legal concerns

From the beginning there were question regarding the legal status of the device. But ASEM claimed the device is legal, although it circumvents Apple’s binary protection using Apple’s copyrighted secret operating system keys (OSK1 and OSK2).

Technical issues

Anyway EFI-X devices had some issues. Many forums reported about problems with Bonjour and sharing in general. In the meantime articles from the official EFI-X support forums have been suddenly disappeared. Customers reporting issues or solutions and workaround to severe bugs have been banned from EFI-X support forums – our own help article to recover almost lost data was removed aswell and one of our members has been officially banned from their forums (the reason was this article in october 2008).

Examining EFI-X in deep

Now some frustrated customers who are on the other hand technologically very familiar have examined the EFI-X device in deep. One of the main points AsereBln found: in contrast to what EFI-X is stating: “Our approach is entirely different, (..) all our code and development is our own only” – they seem to be using program code that has been developed by the OSX86 community though. They seem to be using “Disabler.kext“. Moreover another user (RezRov) found out the EFI-X Windows update software seems to be violating the LGPL as it incorporates a modified USB device library (libusb-win32).

Use of possibly unlicensed 3rd party program code, possibly illegal use of Apple security keys, and customer support below grade for a 170€ (250US$) commercial product that seems to be the summary about a year after product launch.

Lessons learnt

We suppose end users should be aware of this possible hassle. Only an original Apple Mac is really hassle free and 100% compatible to a Mac. But if you are technologically interested and have the time and motivation search the OSX86 communities for setups. The OSX86 forums are full of knowledge and willing to help. But remember a PC won’t ever be 100% compatible to a real Mac.

[MacOS] Apple recommends using Virus Scanners

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Apple has released a technical note recommending the use of Mac antivirus software. For the first time Apple admits that Macs need protection like other operating systems aswell. Apple recommends three Anti Virus solutions:

The open source virus scanner ClamXav is not mentioned. Besides the major players Symantec and McAfee we can hope that Kaspersky also ports a version of their Anti Virus software soon. Or as Apple says:

“Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.”

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Tag Archives: Mac OSX

[MacOSX] Bonjour Issues with Realtec 8111B on Gigabyte GA EP35 DS3

[MacOS] Firewall: Little Snitch 50% Reduced Until Feb, 3rd

[Apple] Certified Apps Only As Of Mac OS X 10.7?

[Apple] Marc Maiffre Says OS X Is Less Secure Than Windows

[MacOS] Psystar Release Rebel EFI

rebelefi_hardware

[MacOS] Psystar Accounces OEM Licensing Program

[MacOS] Is EFI-X illegally using 3rd Party Program Code?

[MacOS] Apple recommends using Virus Scanners