Paul Shadwell RTFM

Black Screen After VMware Fusion 3.1.3 Upgrade (and how to fix it)

A user came to me today with a problem on his Macbook Pro. He had upgraded VMware Fusion 3.1.2 to 3.1.3. He was getting some errors which I said may well be fixed in the new version. Errors relating to Windows 7 SP1 and graphics drivers.

Anyway, he did the upgrade but when starting the Virtual Machine he could only see a black screen after the initial Windows logo boot. After Googleing the problem he found several answers, including uninstalling and reinstalling VMware Fusion. None of which helped. I suggested rebooting the Macbook Pro just in case but this failed to resolve the issue.

So I tried a few things myself, such as starting Windows in safe mode. Which worked and was able to login. So I came to the conclusion that perhaps it was the graphics drivers that were a problem. As the Fusion upgrade had new VMware Tools (which contain the graphics drivers) it was unlikely they had installed as the user was unable to get into his session.

In the Safe Boot menu (the menu you get when you press F8 while booting into Windows) there was an item called Start in low resolution (640 x 480) or something to that effect. I selected that and was able to boot and login.

At this point I uninstalled the VMware tools using the Programs and Features item in the Control Panel. After this a reboot is required. Once rebooted I selected Install VMware Tools from the Virtual Machine menu in Fusion.

This worked and now the user was able to get back into his VM.

The only difference I could find between my upgarde (that worked 1st time) and his, was that he had suspended his VM before upgrading Fusion where as I had shut mine down completely. So my recomendation is to shut down any running VMs before upgrading Fusion.

If this info helped you, let me know.

The New MacBook Pros Don't Come with BootCamp Drivers (How to find them)

For those of you, like me, who still have to have a foot in the Windows camp, having BootCamp is a great way to isolate work and play. 

Usually, the BootCamp drivers for Windows come on the OSX installation disk however, the new MacBook Pros released on the 24th of February 2011 do not have the drivers. Trouble is, you only find this out once Windows is already installed on your BootCamp partition.

This caused me a certain amount of stress while having to do an emergency build after a 13" MacBook Pro had been damaged. I was able to obtain one of the new machines, a 13" MacBook Pro with an i5 processor.

These machines have new graphics and a new chipset, so the old BootCamp drivers downloadable from Apple as BootCamp drivers version 3.2, don't work.

All is not lost. I had noticed that during the BootCamp setup I was given the option to download the drivers. During the 1st attempt I opted to use the drivers supplied on the OSX Installation DVD (That's what is says in the dialog box).

In the same dialog box is the option to download the drivers. Take this option and you get a full install of all the new drivers for the new MacBook Pros. You get the choice to either burn to a CD or copy it to an external drive. I copied them onto a USB memory stick.

Once I had booted back into Windows 7 I was able to run the startup.exe file suplied and the new drivers were installed. Support for the new graphics, chip set, network card etc etc was all there.

I could finally relax and get the install finished and backup restored for the user.

Hope this helps someone in a similar predicament.

Setting up a VLAN for use with a Drobo Pro

When using a Drobo Pro over ethernet (iSCSI) usually it is necessary to setup a 2nd ethernet port to dedicate to the iSCSI protocol. iSCSI is a bandwidth hog so best preformance is gained this way. However, if you have a computer with only one ethernet port, such as a Mac Mini or an iMac, you can setup a virtual network to isolate the iSCSI traffic while still using a single connection.
The following steps explains how to do this.

Open System Preferences

Click Network

Interfaces

1. Click the gear wheel.

Manage Virtual Interfaces...

1. Click Manage Virtual Interfaces...

Add a Virtual Interface

1. Click the Plus (+) button.
2. Select New VLAN...

VLAN Settings

1. Add a name i.e. Drobo VLAN
2. Enter a Tag number (1 is default)
3. Select the interface to use. (Usually you have only one, Mac Pros will have 2 to select from)
4. Click Create

VLAN Created

Click Done

1. Select Drobo VLAN (or the name you used) in the interface list.
2. Select Manually as the Configure IPv4 setting.
3. Enter an IP address on an unused subnet (i.e. My Ethernet 1 IP is 192.168.27.100, so I used 192.168.30.10)
4. Enter 255.255.255.0 as the Subnet Mask
5. Click Apply

VLAN is Ready

Now go to the Drobo Dashboard and set the IP address to the same subnet as your VLAN interface i.e. 192.168.30.11.

iPad Prices Announced

Finally, as of today (10th May 2010) the prices have been announced for the iPad internationally for 9 countries, Australia, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Japan.

There have been both negative and positive comments regarding the prices and to try and come to terms with the seemingly vast differences from country to country I decided to work out what the real costs are.

All but Canada include their local Sales Tax or VAT in the price. Since the US price does not include Sales Tax I decided to calculate the differences based on the other countries prices per-tax.
I then converted this price into US dollars to come up with the difference we are actually paying over and above the US price.

Surprisingly (actually shouldn't be surprising at all) when all of the Euro countries remove the VAT the prices are very similar give or take a Euro here and there. It also turns out that the model with the least amount of difference is the 16GB 3G model, with a difference of under US$10 in some cases.

Here are the price differences per country in US$ over and above the pre-Tax price in the US. (Exchange rates calculated as of 10am, May 10th 2010):

Australia
iPad Wifi 16GB - $ 8.56
iPad Wifi 32GB - $13.46
iPad Wifi 64GB - $24.82
iPad 3G 16GB - $15.74
iPad 3G 32GB - $19.83
iPad 3G 64GB - $17.47

Canada
iPad Wifi 16GB - $27.47
iPad Wifi 32GB - $23.36
iPad Wifi 64GB - $19.26
iPad 3G 16GB - $22.13
iPad 3G 32GB - $18.03
iPad 3G 64GB - $13.92

UK
iPad Wifi 16GB - $41.36
iPad Wifi 32GB - $29.53
iPad Wifi 64GB - $55.49
iPad 3G 16GB - $37.31
iPad 3G 32GB - $25.49
iPad 3G 64GB - $51.44

France
iPad Wifi 16GB - $35.05
iPad Wifi 32GB - $42.07
iPad Wifi 64GB - $49.09
iPad 3G 16GB - $12.07
iPad 3G 32GB - $19.09
iPad 3G 64GB - $26.12

Germany
iPad Wifi 16GB - $37.74
iPad Wifi 32GB - $45.30
iPad Wifi 64GB - $69.00
iPad 3G 16GB - $15.30
iPad 3G 32GB - $22.87
iPad 3G 64GB - $46.56

Italy
iPad Wifi 16GB - $33.27
iPad Wifi 32GB - $39.93
iPad Wifi 64GB - $46.60
iPad 3G 16GB - $ 9.93
iPad 3G 32GB - $16.60
iPad 3G 64GB - $23.27

Switzerland
iPad Wifi 16GB - $45.47
iPad Wifi 32GB - $54.53
iPad Wifi 64GB - $55.20
iPad 3G 16GB - $41.31
iPad 3G 32GB - $50.37
iPad 3G 64GB - $51.04

Spain
iPad Wifi 16GB - $29.55
iPad Wifi 32GB - $39.90
iPad Wifi 64GB - $50.24
iPad 3G 16GB - $ 9.90
iPad 3G 32GB - $20.24
iPad 3G 64GB - $30.59

Japan
iPad Wifi 16GB - $ 8.35
iPad Wifi 32GB - $12.32
iPad Wifi 64GB - $16.28
iPad 3G 16GB - $13.51
iPad 3G 32GB - $17.47
iPad 3G 64GB - $21.44

These difference most likely allow for currency fluctuations and import duty per country.

I have published the spreadsheet I created for you all to take a look at:

iPad Price Differences by Country

Unlocking the Huawei E5830 aka 3 Mifi (Part Two) Updating the firmware

Following on from my previous post, there is one more step that will make the 3 Mifi easier to manage and that is to update the firmware. Updating the firmware reveals the web interface that will allow you to change settings on the unit without needing to physically connect it to a PC or a Mac running Windows.

However, to perform the firmware update you do need to have it plugged into a Windows PC or a Mac running VMware Fusion. If you followed my last post to unlock the Mifi then you can use the same environment to update the firmware.

I found 3 different locations and 3 different versions of the firmware update for the Huawei E5830 and each one had it's own set of useful additions however, out of the 3 only one allowed for the update of the APN settings via the web interface and this is important, especially for Mac/iPhone/iPod/iPad users.

I found this website to have the most up to date and useful information regarding the E5830 http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/.

Here are the steps to updating the firmware:

On your PC or Mac running Windows in VMware Fusion go to the following web page:

http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/huawei-e5-e5830-e5832-imo-firmware-update-available

Click on the FTP link and download the firmware file. It is a .exe file.

Make sure your E5830 is connect via USB and is turned on. Also make sure that neither the 3 Wifi Manger nor the DC-Unlocker programs are running as they will grab the connection and will prevent the firmware updating program from seeing the Mifi unit.

Now run the .exe file you downloaded. Don't worry, the firmware will not be updated yet, the program can also tell you the current firmware version and the status.

Accept the agreement and click Next:

Now you should see the following.

Click Cancel as you have one step you must perform before going any further and that is to put the E5830 into firmware update mode.

Rather than go through all of the steps here, here is a link to a PDF document that gives you a step by step guide to updating the firmware. Just ignore Step 5, is is a mistranslation, do not remove the battery.

After a few minutes your 3 Mifi will have it's new firmware. I did notice that the firmware version number reported by the tool does not change, this is misleading, it is updated and you can see evidence of this by going the the web interface as follows.

Disconnect the Midi from the USB and if it isn't already, power it on.
Press the Wifi button for 2 seconds and wait for the blue W to light up.
You should now be able to connect to it via Wifi.
On the Mac open System Preferences.
Under Internet and Wireless click Network.
Select AirPort and click Network Name to see a list of available wireless networks. Unless you have changed the SSID, you should see the Mifi listed as 3Wireless-Modem-xxxx where xxx is a unique number assigned to your Mifi.
Select it and fill in the password which, unless you changed it, will be written on a label found under the battery inside the Mifi.
Now that you are connected, open a web browser and go to http://192.168.1.1

You will see a login screen, the default password is "admin".
You are now in and looking at the web interface of you 3 Mifi!!! Woohoo!

I will just go over a few of the settings that you may find useful:

Advanced Settings -> System -> Modify Password

Go here to change the admin password.

Advanced Settings -> Dial-up Settings -> Profile Settings

This is where you will enter the APN information that is required by most carriers (see theAPN List).

To create a new APN enter an Profile Name, Dial Number, Username, Password and APN. (Note: not all of the fields need to have data, check the APN list for details)
This is what I entered for Swisscom:

Profile Name: Swisscom
Dial-up Number: *99#
Username: swisscom
Password: leave empty
APN: gprs.swisscom.ch

Once you have entered the details click the Save button.

Now go to Advanced Settings -> Dial-up Settings -> Connection Settings

You need to select the profile to make it active.

Other settings of interest:

Advanced Settings -> WLAN Settings -> WLAN Basic Settings

Here you can change the SSID if you wish. I also set the Wifi Auto Off to Disabled.

Advanced Settings -> WLAN Settings -> WLAN Advanced Settings

Here you can change the password (WPA Pre-Shared Key) you enter when connecting via Wifi.

Hopefully you have found both of these posts useful. Let me know how you get on. If you have any questions I will do my best to field them for you.

Unlocking the Huawei E5830 aka 3 Mifi (Part One)

Whilst in the UK recently I bought a 3 Mifi with a Pay As You Go SIM for £69. They also had the Novatel Mifi but it was only available with Vodaphone on a contract. So I decided to go for the offering from 3. I had read that it was unlock-able and had many more features than 3 were allowing it's customers.

As soon as I got home after my trip to the UK, I started researching what I needed to do to unlock the unit. Pretty much everyone was pointing to http://dc-unlocker.com for the relevant software. You have to purchase credits for the unlock code and 15 are required for the E5830 at a total cost of 15 Euros. The only issue is that it can only be done on a PC running Windows. After some testing I found that it was perfectly possible to run the unlock software and the firmware upgrades, using VMWare Fusion running Windows 7 as the guest OS. Once unlocked, you can do everything else from the Mac, using the web interface that is revealed after applying a firmware update.

Each carrier in each country has a different APN (Access Point Name), you need this information when using another carrier's SIM in the Mifi. Here is a useful site with all the most common carriers by country and the relevant APN info: APN List

I did find a lot of information but it does seem to be all over the place, so in an attempt to consolidate the information here are the steps I took to unlock the Hauwei E5830 and update the firmware, so that it is possible to change the APN via the web interface.

On a Windows PC or using VMWare Fusion running Windows go to the following URL:

http://www.dc-unlocker.com/

Click the "Free Download" link

Click the download link

Now run dc-unlocker_client-x.xx.xxxx.exe (the Xs are the version number which was 1.00.0486 when I wrote this) and install it.
At this point, plug in the Mifi using the USB cable it came with into a USB port. Then power on the Mifi and wait a few moments for it to be recognised in Windows and for the drivers to install. If you are using VMware Fusion, make sure you are in Windows when you plug in the Mifi, otherwise it will try and come up on the Mac side. If this happens, go into Fusion and select Virtual Machine from the menu, then USB, then click "Connect HUAWEI Mobile Connect" if it already says "Disconnect HUAWEI Mobile Connect" then the Mifi is connected and working.

Now run the DC-Unlocker client from the icon now on your desktop. (Make sure that the 3 Wifi Manager software that you may have installed, is not running before starting DC-Unlocker)
You can now click the search button:

After a few seconds you should see something similar to this:

The difference being that yours will say Locked where the arrow is pointing.

When you are ready, click the Buy-Credits button, this will take you to the DC-Unlocker website. You will need to purchase 15 credits to unlock the HUAWEI E5830 you can see the list and credits required here: Unlock Huawei E5830,E5832,E583x,E5836, E5837

Select PayPal and fill in you details:
Credits for: New User
User name: Create a username that does not already exist.
E-mail: Enter a valid email address as you will be sent a password.
Credits: Enter 15 as this is the number required to unlock the Huawei Mifi.

Click confirm
You will be taken to PayPal where you pay 15 Euros for the credits. When complete you will get an email with your username and a password.

Go back to the DC-Unlocker client which should still be running:
Click the Server button shown and fill in the username and password you were sent in the email.
Click the "Check Login" button to make sure everything is working.

Now click the Unlocking button and click Unlock

Within a few seconds the window will refresh and the SIM Lock Status will be unlocked

That's it, you can now use your unlocked 3 Mifi with other carriers and in other countries using locally obtained SIMs. There is a further step to make it fully usable and that will be in a follow up post that I am working on now.

A letter to Steve Jobs

In a fit of frustration after yesterday's announcement from Apple of the 1 month further delay in the international release of the iPad, I wrote the email below to Steve Jobs, chairman and CEO of Apple.
You see, I had been waiting patiently waiting for the iPad to appear here in Switzerland. Frustration was fuelled by the lack of even any pricing information, not only on the Swiss Apple website but on all non-US websites.
Here is what I wrote:
---------------------
Dear Mr Jobs
On behalf of the international community of Apple consumers I would like to protest at the way Apple is apparently leaving us out in the cold with the Apple iPad product.

We have been fed either misinformation or no information at all and it is starting to cast doubt over Apple's intents, at least it is to me.

I live in Switzerland and as yet we have no idea what the Apple iPad will cost here, if it is anything like the international pricing we have been used to to date on other Apple products, then it will certainly not be an "unbelievable price" as stated in your marketing.

If the delays and lack of pricing information is due to Apple doing it's level best, to make sure that we are not being ripped off, then I applaud that work. However, as previously mentioned, I am doubting this.

Twice to my knowledge you have falsely stated international availability of the iPad and while I do not believe this is any fault of your own, I can imagine that you are not happy being shown as deliberately pulling the wool over the rest of the worlds eyes.

This is what you said at the iPad launch

This is what you said at the iPhone OS4.0 announcement

11:10AM - Q: Will iPad’s success impact its international launch?

Steve: No, we said we’re launching internationally later in April, and we’re launching later in April.

Please can you clarify what is happening and why it has taken so long for information to be released to the international community.

May I suggest the following: Make it easier for us to purchase your products directly from the USA online Apple store. Many of us would be happy to do so and pay extra for local Applecare.

I look forward to your response.

Best regards

Paul J Shadwell

-------------------------
To be honest I wasn't expecting a reply, but this morning when I woke up I had the following response waiting for me in my inbox.
-------------------------

"deliberately pulling the wool over the rest of the worlds eyes"

Are you nuts? We are doing the best we can. We need enough units to have a responsible and great launch.

-------------------------
Short and concise and a perfectly adequate answer.
So now we will continue to wait and see what will happen next.

Apple brings iPad launch forward 2 days!!

In an uncharacteristic announcement today (28th of March 2010) Apple spokesperson, Gordon Bennet announced that the iPad launch has been brought forward to the 1st of April.

Mr. Bennet said "Today we are announcing that the iPad launch will occure on Thursday the 1st of April. Apple stores in the US will open at midnight Wednesday to allow customers who had pre ordered to collect in person if they so wished. Deliveries of pre-ordered iPads will continue as advertised and will be delivered on the 3rd of April where possible."

Additionally Mr Bennet announced "To coincide with the iPad launch on the 1st of April we will also be publishing global pricing and avalability of the iPad worldwide"

When asked why the launch had been brought foward, Mr Bennet's response was "that most Apple employees were wanting to take the Easter weekend off as holiday so we changed the dates to accomodate".

I shall be giving away an iPad but you will need the Ken Ray's Secret Crypto Wonder Badge App from the Apple App Store here. Then enter the following code:

Alpha A1: 1 6 29 17 3 7 20 10 10 3

Connecting to an existing iTunes Library

While rebuilding my Mac Pro I am coming across a few issues when trying to get myself back to a fully functioning environment.

Last night I did a fresh install of Snow Leopard and this meant using the Disk Utility during install to wipe the Macintosh HD system drive before the installing the OS. Yes I did backup before I did this. What I didn't backup, because it's on an external hard drive, was my iTunes Library.

When I opened iTunes of course it didn't see my existing library, because by default, the iTunes Library is in your Home directory under Music.

Also changing the location under Preferences -> Advanced doesn't help either. So I searched on Google on moving your iTunes Library and of course this meant having a library to move but mine was already moved.

As a last resort I referred to the iTunes help which took me to this article which explains what to do and it couldn't be simpler.

Close iTunes if you have it open and then open iTunes again while holding the Alt/Option key on the Mac (hold down the Shift key on a PC) you will the be prompted to Choose Library. Simply point it to where your existing library is located (it will be the folder containing a file called iTunes Library.xml) and immediately iTunes opens as it was before. Phew!!

If you found this useful, let me know.

Snow Leopard is coming this Friday!

This Friday the 28th of August, Apples latest OS X update (10.6), Snow Leopard, will be release world wide.

I've been playing with Snow Leopard for a few months now and I'm very excited to be able to load this on all my production Macs.

As Victor Cajiao gave me a plug for my blog post about how to get the OS X DVD onto a hard drive to speed up installation, I will finally get on and do part 2. I will also update the original post so that you can see how to do this specifically with Snow Leopard.

I would be very interested to hear your feedback and if you have any comments or questions on how to do this process.