If you’ve ever tried installing a new hard drive in one of these machines then you’ve probably already found it goes something like this. Step 1. Spend an age delicately removing that big ass glass panel and then screen, installing the new drive, putting it all back together (careful, no dust). Step 2. Coming to the stark realisation the hard drive fan is spinning like a mad man and your quiet and serene iMac has turned into something of a 90′s gaming PC. Time to take it all back apart again then.

The reasoning behind this oddity is the fact Apple started using the built in temperature sensor (that most hard drives contain) to monitor and adjust the fan speed accordingly. Now you may think, ok so if I replace the drive with the same make and model Apple used at the time then all will be ok? Wrong. I found out the hard way by buying an exact replica of the 2TB Seagate ST32000542AS drive Apple shipped as an upgrade option back in 2009. After installing this I still got the noisy fan syndrome, and this was because unless the drive is flashed with Apple’s custom firmware then the pins used for the temp sensor cable are infact pumping out hard drive rpm signals.

Is there any way around this? There must be something we can do!!? Well yes, there is. It’s a simple mod that will get your capacities up without that dreaded fan following suit.

1. I will assume you already know how to get into your iMac. You need a couple of suction cups to remove the glass panel without cracking it. The panel is held on by magnets around the perimeter of the machine. For a detailed guide in opening her up, then check this. NOTE: Unplug the power cord!

2. Once inside and the screen is removed (careful with the screen cables, especially the one in the top left!!) you will have access to everything and the hard drive is slap bang in the middle.

3. Here’s the clever part. We need to replace the current temp sensor cable going to the hard drive with an external temp sensor. Now there’s another drive in your iMac that is constantly getting monitored, and that’s your Optical drive. That uses an external temp sensor with the exact same plug on the end as the hard drive cable. Put two and two together and you realise we can buy a spare Optical drive sensor and stick it on the hard drive. Bingo.

4. The part number you need is 922-9229, I got mine from TheBookYard here in the UK. Google the part number and you should find a supplier in your locale. Check the picture above to see where I installed mine. It’s been working flawlessly for about a month now.

If you have any questions then use the contact page to get in touch.

If you’re reading this then chances are you’ve come to the stark realisation that Apple have callously removed our lovably simple media interface from its latest OS. Some say this was a move to sell more Apple TVs, some say it was just no longer needed. Either way, I used this feature almost every night to watch Movies and TV Shows in bed, hear me Apple?! Many out there believe it will turn up again in the near future via the Mac App Store. But, what about now? What about today? Sorry, bad song. There are other solutions out there that offer even more features, like apps to check Twitter, the Weather, and even play YouTube content. The trouble is, simplicity was key for me. I’ve tried alternatives, Plex, Boxio, XBMC, but none offer the speed and versatility of Frontrow. Too many menus to get to your content, too many bugs to rely on it to work every time. So what can we do about it? Well, we can restore Frontrow to usable state.

First of all you need to get hold of few files taken from Snow Leopard. Incase you’ve already upgraded to Lion, you can use this simple package installer to install all the necessary files – Download [Thanks to mac-hatter for creating the file]

Once that’s all done, restart your Mac and your Apple Remote should then be capable of launching Frontrow once again. Go ahead and run it, you’ll notice a problem, your iTunes Library is not visible under any of the menus. This is because Apple has stopped iTunes 10.4 and onwards talking to Frontrow. So what can you do now? Well the best workaround I found was to create an alias within your Movies folder.

1. Navigate to your Home folder > Music > iTunes, and create an alias to the ‘iTunes Media’ folder.

2. Drag and drop this newly created shortcut into your Home > Movies folder.

3. Launch Frontrow and go Movies > Movies Folder. You’ll notice your iTunes Media alias in the list. You should now have a list of all your iTunes content.

While not 100% effective, this is the best solution offered at the moment and I am sure to be using this until I can find a reliable and simple alternative.

If you want to replace the WiFi Ribbon Cable inside your 2nd or 3rd generation iPod Touch then you will quickly learn that the cable is connected to the Logic Board with some sort of adhesive. This isn’t any glue though, it’s special conductive tape. The reason it’s special is that it only transfers the electrical signal down the Z-axis. It’s the only solution to replace the cable in your iPod Touch.

Buying this tape (3M 9703) is very expensive, and you in no way need a whole roll of it. I searched on eBay and have found one seller in the UK selling 20cm strips. That seller just so happens to be me! GO GET YOU SOME TAPE

Once you’re sorted for tape there are numerous videos on YouTube describing the fix, but I found this one probably the most in depth. While it doesn’t have any instructions on opening the case, it does explicitly describe the taping process.

The intricacy of this fix mustn’t be under estimated, you must take your time and prepare the surfaces thoroughly before applying the new tape.

A few days ago, while browsing the MacBook Air pages on the Apple website, I noticed one of the images showed a Space themed game and was a little intrigued. Turns out that game was EVE Online, a vast MMORPG set in Space. I liked the idea of that so signed up for the free 14-day trial. After all the login crap I downloaded the 2.9GB DMG file ready to do some Space shooting.

error -4960

The DMG wouldn’t mount. Corrupted download I thought? So I went and downloaded it again. Still the same. Off I went to google, and little was found. After trawling through the EVE Online Forums I found out the only way to get it to run was to download it on a Windows machine and move it over to your Mac. I haven’t got a Windows machine. After a bit more digging someone had kindly posted a Terminal.app command to download the file through that, apparently downloading it through a web browser, the file size becomes corrupted, somehow. Anyway, the fix.

Go to Applications > Utilities > Terminal

Type:

cd ~/Downloads; curl -O http://cdn1.eveonline.com/mac/eve-premium_004577_185699-mac.dmg

The file should then download from within the Terminal.app. Remember the filename I have listed here is the most current one from when I made this post. If the problem is still happening with future versions you’ll have to update the DMG file name.

I’ve had my Rustler VXL for about a year now and have been content running it on a 7-cell 8.4v Ni-HM 4300mAh Battery Pack. With the correct gearing this was good to take the truck up to about 45mph. Well the battery has been slowly dying over the past couple of months and I was barely able to get 5 minutes runtime out of it in the end. So I decided enough was enough and bought myself a 3-cell Li-Po 11.1v 4000mAh Pack from eBay. The only trouble is, when I tried to test it out, I found the battery didn’t fit in the tray, it was slightly too long. Also, the wiring comes out the side of a Li-Po pack, not the centre, another problem needing to be solved. So here is what I did.

Tools needed

Dremel
File
Safety glasses
Steady hand
Patience

1. I used a mixture of the Dremel drill type cutting bit and a routing bit to attack the chassis with. First up I made a slot on the side of the battery tray for the connector to pass through tidily. Use your file to smooth all the burrs off the plastic, you don’t want it nipping your battery wires.

2. Next up was the toughest part, taking a hole out of the rear bulkhead. It’d be easy to just cut the entire section out, but I wanted to leave a strut across the top, not only will this help maintain chassis rigidity, it also helps hold the battery firmly in place. Take your time with this, as it is tough to get the angle of attack right. You’ll get there in the end. Again make sure to file all the burrs off after you’ve finished.

There we are, job done! The battery I was using was a fairly tight fit, if yours isn’t I recommend putting a block of foam in the hole to prevent the battery moving about. Also it’s handy to place a strip of ribbon across the tray before you fit the battery, it helps with removal.

If you want to install OS X (hackintosh) on your Samsung NC-10 Netbook, then you must have realised by now that neither the WiFi card nor Ethernet card inside it are compatible with the Mac operating system. The only option you have is to swap the WiFi card out for a model the OS X can work with. I chose the Dell 1490 which uses the Broadcom chipset. These are readily available on eBay for around £15.

What you will need

Spludger – if you’ve never heard of one, it’s a plastic tool used to open devices such as iPods and iBooks (although you can use something flat and smooth instead)

Small Philips Screwdriver

OS X comaptible WiFi Card

Open up

Once you have your WiFi card you’re going to want to swap it out, this isn’t to difficult, although it can seem that way at first. Just follow these steps and you should be fine.

1. Turn the Netbook off, unplug the Power cord, and remove the Battery.

2. Place it upside down on a soft surface (you want to protect that finish right?)

3. Proceed to remove all 15 screws from the bottom of the machine, including the Memory access door screw.

4. Once these are removed you will not notice much other than the keyboard feels a little loose. This is where you must be careful

5. Take a spludger, or anything relatively smooth and flat (I used the bottle opener on my Swiss Army Knife). I found starting in the bottom left corner (near the two USB ports) to be best. Gentle pry the case apart with your spludger, there are numerous clips holding the case together. It’s easier to slide it along the gap, rather than try to lever it open, less chance of leaving marks.

6. Move your spludger around the casing cracking open all the clips. You’ll feel the case is nearly ready to come off.

7. The last part holding the case together is four clips along the back section, where the battery fits. Gentle work you spludger in here and crack the four clips open.

8. The bottom should now come free and you will see the bottom of the Motherboard, housing the fan, and in the corner, the WiFi card.

9. Unplug the two antennae cables from the WiFi card, then remove the single black screw holding it in place.

10. Once removed, replace the card with your own, rescrew and reconnect the cables.

11. Clip the bottom case back on, making sure all the clips are seated properly. Turn the laptop over and make sure the keyboard is clipped in properly.

12. Replace all 15 fifteen screws to the bottom on the Netbook.

13. Refit Battery, and power on the machine. Once if loads Windows you will be greeted with a Driver install screen.

14. I found the easiest way through this part was to connect the Netbook up  via Ethernet, then choose to search for the Driver online. Windows will then find and install your WiFi card and you’re ready to rock!

Thanks for reading, I’m going to attempt installing OS X on this baby next, so check back for a progress update!