I continue to be impressed with the chameleon/chimera boot-loader efforts – it’s made all of my updates since first installing my hackintosh trouble-free, including this last 10.7.1 update. Awesome.
Posts Tagged ‘apple’
An Apple ad that will make you want to vomit
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010The mac/pc ads were cute & funny. This 8-minute long navel-gazing circlejerk just makes me want to punch these dudes in the junk. If the iPad “exceeds your ability to understand”, that doesn’t make the device “magical” — it makes you an idiot. Is this the Apple target market now? Okay, maybe I’m the idiot for even asking that question.
Successful replacement of my Macbook Pro’s keyboard – some tips
Monday, March 1st, 2010Last week, my wife left her (red, non-diet) soda next to my Macbook Pro on our kitchen counter, and the inevitable happened: my 2-year-old son tossed something up on the counter and knocked the soda over right into the keyboard of my laptop. (This is the third laptop-spill incident that my wife has been involved in — the previous 2 were on her Dell, which I’d fixed and replaced. Here’s hoping she actually listens to me about not putting liquids next to laptops this time). Fortunately, the laptop was still functional, though the keys were sticky and the “f” key in particular was completely nonfunctional. I tried taking the key apart, cleaning underneath with rubbing alcohol, and replacing the key, but it didn’t work. (As a side-note to all of you out there learning this the hard way, one thing you should do if this happens to you is to unplug it, remove the battery, turn it upside down with the display opened at a 90-degree angle after toweling it off, and let it dry out. My wife toweled it off, but didn’t do any of the other stuff, risking electrical damage. Thankfully that didn’t happen).
I ordered a replacement keyboard from applecomponents.com. Despite the amateurish web design, the service was solid, and I received my keyboard (in new, not used, condition) in a well-packed box in just 3 days from the west coast. I have a Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro (the late-2006 “Merom” edition, not the later “Santa Rosa” edition). The guys at ifixit.com have a nice, detailed guide for replacing such a keyboard. I’ve used their guides before for replacing my hard drive. I like that they have large, clear pictures for each step, and that they effectively highlight where the screws are.
Now, this is not for the faint of heart. Obviously I’ve done this a few times (including with my old G4 powerbook, which was easier to muck with). If you endeavor upon such a thing, you’ll want to make sure you have separate containers for the screws from each step, so that when you put it back together, you’re not wondering which parts go where. (I used baby-food cups). I will say that though ifixit’s guide got me most of the way there, there were a few minor issues with their instructions.
Specifically, step 9 is troublingly sparse on detail about how exactly to get the upper case free from the front of the case (near the optical drive). They mention “rocking it back and forth”. This is totally, completely insufficient. There are 3 or 4 HARD LOCKING SNAPS in place in this portion of the case. After lifting up the back portion of the case (which is screwed tight, after you’ve removed the screws) as described in the ifixit guide, you really, really have to pry this sucker open. The first time I did it, it took a long time. I thought it should come apart rather naturally given the instructions, but you have to apply quite a bit more force than is indicated in the guide. I honestly thought I was going to break it until it snapped apart, and everything was fine.
The other issue I have is ifixit’s pithy “follow these instructions in reverse order” reassembly instructions. Seriously, that’s all they give you. Sure, that’s sufficient to get the cables reconnected & screws back in place, but it tells you NOTHING about how to properly mount and install the keyboard. I had to assemble/unassemble/reassemble 3 more times before I got the keyboard sitting just right (not bowing). Also, the first time I screwed the keyboard back in place, I had forgotten to thread the backlight connector down through the tiny hole where it attaches. Regarding the proper mounting, one issue is that there are tabs on the back/top of either side of the keyboard that must be pushed fairly far into place to prevent upward “bowing” of the keyboard (ie, keys sticking up at an angle). It’s entirely possible to get the tabs into the proper slot, but for the keyboard to still bow up after reassembly — you’ll need to take it apart & then push the tabs further into place (mine had a bit of a “click” when they got all the way in — but I did have to force it). The other issue is that the “tabs” (which are really sharp pointed needles of metal rather than what one might think of as a “tab”) at the top of the keyboard have to be carefully aligned and pulled into place to get the keyboard taught and satisfactorily installed. (Unless you like bleeding, you’ll need needlenose pliers. This is not listed as a “required material” in the guide. Sure, I have them, but it’s a small nit about the guide itself).
One last thing you might want to consider when doing this is a can of compressed air for cleaning out the insides while you’re in there. Mine was fairly clean, but it doesn’t hurt to blow out the dust, since excessive dust buildup can lead to static discharges and shorts. Anyway, my keyboard is literally as good as new now. Hopefully the extra tips here will help out someone else in a similar situation.
droid does?
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Verizon has been pitching their upcoming new consumer smartphone (the Droid) pretty aggressively (bonus points for using hipster douche background music in the spot). I’m currently out of contract on my verizon phone and am looking to upgrade, but verizon’s offerings are notoriously lacking. I have no interest in either a Windows mobile device nor a blackberry. I want something whose interface and usability is on par with my iPod touch, but AT&T is a non-starter for me (bad reception near my house on the South Shore) so I won’t be getting an iPhone.
Unfortunately, it looks like I’ll have to keep waiting. After carefully following the reviews for Verizon’s new Android phones (including the Motorola Droid and the HTC Eris), there are some fatal flaws (for me) in the lineup. The Droid has one of the ugliest, unusually shaped qwerty keyboards I’ve ever seen, and it’s got that curious directional pad off to the side. Well, it turns out that there’s a good reason the Droid has that screwball d-pad: the Droid doesn’t do multitouch input (pinch to precisely zoom out, expand to zoom in, etc). Apparently both the phone and the Android 2.0 software claim to support it, but it’s not enabled on the Droid. So either the support is bad/buggy/incomplete for the Droid’s higher resolution display, or Motorola fears Apple’s patent wrath (in a way that Palm doesn’t because of either cross-licensing or Mutually Assured Destruction from Palm’s own smartphone patent portfolio). With regard to the Eris, this is the hardware for the HTC Hero, which was universally received as underpowered. It also doesn’t run Android 2.0, which I’d want for integrated Exchange support.
Anyway, it looks like I’ll be waiting for another Android 2.0 device, the Palm Pre on Verizon, or a Verizon iPhone. Weak.