Device Removal

I don't touch anything, and my slow first generation MacBook will randomly come up with the above message. Maybe an uptime of 13 days is the cause? 

It is about time I rebooted into Kubuntu to get some updated maps on to my phone for TMJ. There has some considerable improvements in the maps in Edinburgh, and I don't know what actually needs to be mapped when I'm out in the field.

OOO: Possible fix for the command timed out error on Leopard

With a change in the way that X11 works on Leopard, the X11 version of OpenOffice.org has been giving an error message on startup saying "command timed out". With previous versions of Mac OS X, OpenOffice.org had to make sure that X11 was running first be trying to start OpenOffice.org.

The following change should work for 2.4, 2.3.1, 2.3, and possibly earlier versions. Open the file OpenOffice.org 2.4.app/Contents/Resources/Scripts/main.scpt in "Script Editor". (You will need to control+click the application icon and choose "Show Package Contents".)

Then replace the code block "on openSoffice(aFile)"...."end openSoffice" with the following:

on openSoffice(aFile)
 if (atLeastOSXVersion(10, 5, 0)) then
  -- if we have leopard, we don't need to manually start the X server first
  set theCmd to "sh " & (quoted form of (POSIX path of getOOProgramPath() & "soffice")) & " "
  do shell script theCmd & aFile & shellTerminator()
 else
  set theDisplay to startXServer()
  if (theDisplay is equal to "error") then
   return
  end if
  set theEnv to "DISPLAY=" & theDisplay & " ; export DISPLAY; "
  set theCmd to "sh " & (quoted form of (POSIX path of getOOProgramPath() & "soffice")) & " "
  do shell script theEnv & theCmd & aFile & shellTerminator()
  -- logEvent("open CMD: " & theEnv & theCmd & aFile)
 end if
end openSoffice

Please comment on how this works for you.

Edinburgh Leopard Tech Talk

Today I went along to the Leopard Tech Talk in Edinburgh at the posh Caledonian Hilton Hotel.

It was a very interesting event, and might just convince me to start programming in Cocoa and Objective-C 2.0. Objective-C 2.0 is far more like Java when it comes to memory management. This is where I tend to struggle in C. The event was under Apple Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), so I can't publicly discuss anything that isn't publicly available.

In the Cambridge Bar afterwards, one of the things that I tried to fix with the help of and Apple Tech guy was the Finder restarting when trying to change file permissions. This is mentioned in Apple support article 307128. However the instructions there don't quite work. After some tries in the pub I was still getting the crash. Once I got home I had some tried the article again, and the second sudo dscl command seemed to wipe out the group record. In the end I did manage to get the problem fix, and I no longer get the crash.

I also got to play with an iPhone, and the reception on the O2 network is crap. The iPhone was only just, maybe thinking about getting a signal. On the other hand my Sony Ericsson k750i on the Vodafone network could get a full signal. Since I upgraded to Leopard I haven't had my phone working as a bluetooth modem. With the help of the tutorial that I used the last time, and the GPRS network data table, I managed to get it working again.

The tutorial is now out of date of Leopard. On Leopard it is now a lot easier to setup. Once you have paired your phone, head into network preferences, and click Bluetooth in the left column. Then use the "User name" from the afore mentioned data table for the "Account Name" in Network preferences. The "Password" field uses the same name in both the data table and Network preferences. Next you need to click "Advanced...". Select the appropriate vendor and model for your phone, and enter the appropriate APN from the data table. Hit "OK", then "Apply" and you should be ready to connect.

At least now, the next time I go out with my laptop, and don't want to pay for expensive wifi, I can use a little bit of data on my pay as you go phone.

Can launch PPC apps again

Since installing the Quicktime 7.2 and iTunes 7.3.1 updates on my MacBook, I've been unable to launch PPC applications through Rosetta. It appears that having Java 6 installed has caused the prebinding process to crash.

Following the process documented in a comment by Darlene on a blog, I've been able to launch PPC applications through Rosetta again. The process is basically removing Java 6 and then force running the prebinding process. I didn't even need a restart which is nice.

EDIT: I've also had to download and install Java for Mac OS X 10.4 Release 5 to get Java working again.

Picasa Web Albums now supports GeoTagging

Picasa Web Albums has now caught up with Flickr and started to properly support GeoTagging of Photos.

I have however found a bug in the iPhoto uploader plugin. Basically if you have used a GPS track to Geo tag your photos, if you compress the photos on upload, then you will lose those Geo Tags.

As a point of note, you need to enable the GPS tag reading as described in the Google Help.

I have posted to the Google Web Albums Google Group to see if any one there has come across the problem too.

My first GeoTagged Google Web Album

Apple posts an FAQ about the X11 for Mac OS X

Apple have released Technical Note TN2165, an FAQ about the X window environment (X11) for Mac OS X.

There are several interesting things in the tech note including:

• "OpenGL does not support off-screen rendering." Even with OpenGL not being enabled in OpenOffice.org, I get redraw issues with part of the window being off screen. This happens in both when scrolling the document and opening a new dialog that partially appears off screen. When the section of the document or dialog is moved on screen, then it doesn't draw properly. I'm now wondering if this problem is not just with OpenGL, but with X11 in general.
  
• XDarwin is no longer recommended.
• It is technically feasible to make cmd+v work across all X11 applications.
• "XInputExtension is not yet implemented." Could this be why OpenOffice.org on the mac has some issues with the input of some international characters? (Please correct me in the comments if I'm wrong with this assumption.)
  
• OpenGL has the same problem as the command osacompile, in that it won't run/work unless the user is root or the currently logged in user of Mac OS X.
  

My First CWS

I have now created my first CWS (Child Workspace) macosxdmgapplink. It only affect the Mac packaging. It is basically the patches that I created earlier at the Mac Port Meeting in Hamburg. I have updated the DS_Store file for OpenOffice.org 2.2.

The extra functionality that you will get with this new CWS is an updated background in the disk image that Mac Users of OpenOffice.org use for installing OpenOffice.org. More importantly, inside the disk image, you will get a link to the Applications folder. This will make it easier for users to drag and drop install OpenOffice.org.

Now all that needs to be done, is for it to be passed by the QA representative maho, and then integrated.

Row span in Writer's Tables

In one of my not so common moments of using OpenOffice.org Writer as a user, I recently came across an issue with the table layout. I did not have the flexibility to have table cells run over many rows in the way I wanted them to. To my delight, it would appear that this is going to be fixed. Unfortunately the fixes won't come in time for this report that I'm writing.

For more information about this please see the GullFOSS blog.

Workaround for X11 not launching posted on Mac Porting Web Site

With the deluge of people complaining about the X11 update and OpenOffice.org not starting, I posted a news article detailing a quick workaround to get OpenOffice.org running again. It should be noted that the next release of (and current development builds) are not affected by the problematic fonts as there has been a change in the logic which safe guards against the the divide by zero that was happening when the new fonts supplied by Apple were being loaded in. Hopefully Apple are going to re-release the X11 update soon.

Apple's X11 update

Apple released an X11 update on 1 November 2006. It fixes a but that I commented about, regarding the cmd+tab and the X11 windows not coming forward.

On the other hand there appears to be an issue with the fonts in that build. This seems to affect the current official release of OpenOffice.org on the Mac. I didn't notice it at first because I have been using builds made by my ooobuilbot MacPort1.

The current workaround is to remove the Vera fonts from /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF. For more information please see issue 71096.

First Priority 1 bug fixed

Opened and closed as being fixed in 3 day, now that is what I call quick. I must thank hr for his quick response and pjanik for helping to find the error. Mind you it can be quite nice sitting on the cutting edge of technology. Unfortunately you end up forgetting what is in the latest official release!

My first Priority 1 OOo Bug

The great thing about having a oobuildbot is that you end up living on the edge.

Today I came across a bug that means that HEAD of CVS does not build on the Mac platform. With the help of Pavel, we found the issue and filed the issue. You can track it's progress in issue 70965.