Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with powerpc

Quark Problems

aburd — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:58:21 -0800

My mom is a graphic designer and uses Quark. She just switched from a PowerPC based Macbook Pro to an Intel based MacBook Pro. Using the new Macbook Pro, she can't seem to open the Quark files she created using the old MacBook pro. It produces an error saying something about the processor. Is there a nice program for converting such files? I don't know much about Quark or design software but please let me know if I am skipping some obvious detail. I want to get her this software for Christmas so I can't be too obvious but I can probably get some details out of her without being too obvious.

ipod touch updating error

klangklangston — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:27:22 -0800

Unknown error 0xE8000001 from ipod touch; won't connect. OSX 10.4.11, powerpc.

Last night, I tried to update my girlfriend's ipod touch software so that she could run apps (she'd been wanting it for a while, and I thought it would be a nice surprise). So, I paid my 4.95, downloaded the firmware… and got an error connecting to the iPod (the aforementioned 0xE8000001). I googled around, and it seemed like maybe I needed to update my iTunes version from 8 to 9. OK, so did that. Still, same error.

Fuck.

Now my iTunes says that I need to update my safari so that it can connect to the iTunes store, but I don't believe Safari 4 will run on a powerpc.

How can I: Revert to the earlier version of iTunes and how can I unfuck my girlfriend's iPod before she stabs me in the face?

PowerPC seeks Intel based Mac workaround

alice ayres — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:18:06 -0800

Can I run an Intel based Mac application on my PowerPC mac laptop? I would like to buy MacSpeech Dictate. I would not like to buy a new laptop or computer. The system requirements state Intel based Macs. I am running 10.5.1 on a G4 Powerbook (Power PC). Does anyone have any experience with this kind of dilemma or suggestions for a workaround?

As a last resort, I have thought of renting an Intel Mac laptop, as this is for a short term project I am working on. Does anyone have experience with laptop rentals in NYC?

How to successfully do iPhone development on PowerPC?

Herschel — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:00:34 -0800

I'm doing iPhone development on a PowerPC Mac. How do I get code signing to work properly so that I can build to my iPhone? The iPhone SDK doesn't officially support PowerPC, but with some fidgeting, it can be installed. See here. I've got the SDK installed and running fine in Xcode and the iPhone simulator works fine.

However, I can't build to my iPhone in Xcode -- the code signing is fubar. Some clever people have created workarounds here. Namely, I used the codesign script that Tiku posted along with some of the corrections. This has helped me make some progress. The code compiles now, but I still get an 0xE800003A error when it tries to deploy.

I think I have all my keys and provisioning profiles set up properly. My iPhone is registered for development, I've got the provisioning profile created. The AppID listed in the dev portal says MagicNumber.com.website.* and in my project, I have the Bundle ID set as com.website.${PRODUCT_NAME:identifier}. In project settings, product name is HelloWord, and the code signing identity is my developer certificate.

The console log of the iPhone says:
Wed Feb 18 14:57:55 unknown afcd[180] : user mobile has uid 501

Wed Feb 18 14:57:55 unknown afcd[180] : mode is 0x41e8
Wed Feb 18 14:57:55 unknown mobile_installation_proxy[182] : install_embedded_profile: Skipping the installation of the embedded profile
Wed Feb 18 14:57:55 unknown mobile_installation_proxy[182] : verify_executable: Could not validate signature: e800800e
Wed Feb 18 14:57:55 unknown mobile_installation_proxy[182] : preflight_application_install: Could not verify /var/tmp/install_staging.QNk2sD/HelloWorld.app/HelloWorld
Wed Feb 18 14:57:55 unknown mobile_installation_proxy[182] : install_application: Could not preflight application install
Wed Feb 18 14:57:55 unknown mobile_installation_proxy[182] : handle_install: Installation failed

Any help is appreciated!

Play a WMV on a Mac

tommasz — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:23:02 -0800

I've got a Mac G4 running 10.4.11 and I've been experiencing worsening problems playing WMV files. I realize this is a kludge to begin with, but things are getting weird... When I doubleclick a WMV file in the Finder, it appears to start the Quicktime Player, but nothing happens. I can view the file in VLC with no problem. This has been an on-going issue.

Now, and this is recent, in both Camino and Firefox certain embedded WMV files download but instead of playing in the browser window, I get a black window with a white bar across the top and "(no video)" in the center of the window. Nothing plays.

I had both Perian and Flip4Mac installed so I uninstalled both with no change in behavior. I have the latest Quicktime and my system software is up to date. I can work around all of this but it bugs me that it's supposed to work and doesn't. Any ideas?

Slow iBook

roll truck roll — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:58:31 -0800

Why is Mac OS 10.4.9 so slow on my iBook G4? I've tried everything I can think of and am going crazy. This is probably going to be a little overly wordy, for the simple reason that I really don't know what's important information and what isn't.

For starters, I have a two-year-old PPC iBook G4, 1.2 GHz, 768 MB RAM. Thank God I got Apple Care, as the logic board has already been replaced twice.

About three weeks ago, my computer started acting up. I couldn't open Microsoft Office. Also, I could open iTunes, but couldn't get into my music library. I quickly determined that the problem had to do with Disk Permissions. The Disk Utility gave me the message, "Underlying task reported failure." And apparently when you get that message it's time to cut your losses.

So I did a complete reformat and reinstall. While reformatting, I did the complete disk repair (the one that takes like three hours, whatever it's called). After all this, my computer ran perfectly, just like new.

I don't know how relevant any of that info is, except to say that I should theoretically be starting from a completely clean slate.

About a week after reformatting, I downloaded and installed 10.4.9. And ever since that point, it's been painfully slow. I'm not doing anything fancy. If I have open Firefox, Thunderbird, iTunes, Skype, iCal, and Word all at once, I'll get the spinning beach ball every few minutes. When one program is stuck, I can't switch to anything else. When more than one program is open, switching between two takes 5-10 seconds. Even switching between tabs in Firefox is a pain.

It never completely freezes. I just sometimes have to wait a long time for my computer to respond.

I took it to the Apple store twice in the past week. The first time, the guy deleted some Cache files. He also did some key combination on startup to "restore factory settings." Very little change.

The second time, the guy did a reinstall of 10.4.9. There was some improvement, but it's still prohibitively slow.

Again, I apologize for the longwindedness. I'm hoping that I've provided enough information that the problem might be obvious to someone.

Issue reinstalling OSX 10.4 (Tiger) on my MacBook Pro

freshgroundpepper — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 03:50:59 -0800

I've got a MacBook Pro that currently has Max OS X 10.4.7 installed on a single partition (no boot camp). I'd like to wipe the hard drive clean and reinstall OSX 10.4 from scratch, but I'm running into some issues. I've got an ADC (apple developer connection) membership, so I've got a couple of OSX install DVDs lying around. The two OS X install discs that I can find are a 10.4.3 and a 10.4.6 disc. Both discs say on their packaging and on the "readme" PDF that they require a Mac with PowerPC G5, G4, or G3 Processors. They don't say anything on them about the build on them being Universal or that they support Intel processors.

When I insert either of them and click on the "Install Mac OS X" icon, I get an error message saying: "Mac OS X 10.4 cannot be installed on this machine. Please consult the documentation for the list of supported Macintosh computers."

I assume that this error is because the disc seems to be a PowerPC only disc and not a universal/intel one. I've also tried to just boot with the DVD in and holding down "C" (so that it boots from the DVD drive instead of the hard drive). The disc spins up but then it launches back into OSX.

I think that the 10.4.3 disc came with my ADC membership, so it could make sense if they sent out a PowerPC only one for that. I'm almost positive that the 10.4.6 disc came with the MacBook Pro, but that doesn't seem right because it's not compatible with my system.

Do the Intel-based macs come with a DVD that is Intel-compatible? Am I just not finding the right disc, or did my Mac not ship with a disc that I can actually reinstall with? For anyone else with a MacBook Pro (or other intel mac), did you get a disc that specifically says that it's universal/works with Intel processors?

Ethernet on a PowerMac 5500

armoured-ant — Fri, 25 Feb 2005 07:40:39 -0800

I recently got hold of a PowerMac 5500/2275 (the black one with the TV tuner), but the ethernet port has been upgraded, and is now a modem. While this is all very nice, I'd much prefer it to have LAN functionality. What, exactly, am I looking for on eBay to equip this Mac with a network card, and how difficult are they to install?

What should I do with this Macintosh PowerPC 6500?

damnitkage — Wed, 11 Aug 2004 03:58:34 -0800

Mac Suggestions Filter

I was given a powerpc 6500. Seems to work fine. Doesn't have much in the way of software on it and I understand I can't upgrade to osx on this machine. What should I do with it? I'd like to keep around for something...suggestions? As a side note, we're currently all pc in the damnitkage household as the lone Imac died a horrible death recently.