:: digital introvert » mac os x

How-to: Get Frontrow Working In Mac OS X Lion

Tom — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:54:02 +0000

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.

Core Duo owners drawing the short straw?

Tom — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:56:25 +0000

What I have found amazing, to the point of being almost funny, is the fact early adopters of the iMac G5 will actually benefit from Apple’s upcoming OS X release, Snow Leopard, more than users of the more up to date Intel Core Duo iMacs.

When Apple first shipped the iMac G5 in August 2004 the average consumer didn’t realise they were buying an all in one with a 64-bit CPU. Apple’s choice of chip was the PowerPC 970 series from IBM, which could process both 32-bit and 64-bit instructions natively.

Apple announced to the public that it would make the transition to Intel processors at the World Wide Developers Conference in 2005. By January 2006 they released the first two products running Intel Core Duo processors, these included the 15″ MacBook Pro and the entire iMac line. The rest of Apple’s range followed throughout 2006 and by September the iMac range was updated to include 64-bit Core 2 Duo processors.

So if you still own a Core Duo Mac does that mean there is no point getting Snow Leopard? Not really, but it will be interesting to see if the G5 catches up with the Core Duo Macs once Snow Leopard’s installed. Apple are stating the use of a 64-bit CPU will deliver 15%+ more performance in Snow Leopard.

Intel Core Duo is the odd one out

Apple release Mac OS X 10.5.6 update.

Tom — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:39:38 +0000

Apple have today released the long awaited 10.5.6 update with the promise of many fixes, including MobileMe, AirPort performance, Graphics performance and much much more. For a full description of the latest improvements please visit here. This is a brief rundown of what’s been improved.

Address Book
AirPort
Client Management
iChat
Graphics
Mail
MobileMe
Networking
Printing
Parental Controls
Time Machine
Safari

The update weighs in at 377MB although this may vary depending if you’ve kept your Mac up to date. The promise of improved gaming performance and the ATi bug fixes are a welcome inclusion. Also MobileMe will now sync with the online Cloud within a minute of you making any changes, previously this took about 15 minutes.

Mac OS X 10.5.6 update is here

Apple releases Security Update 2008-007

Tom — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:33:30 +0000

Apple released their seventh security fix of 2008 tonight. The update is recommended for all users of Mac OS X. For more information about the update you should visit here. It weighs in at 31.1MB and as usual for an update of this nature, requires a restart.

Get your updates...

Editing Movie and TV Show descriptions now possible in iTunes 8.0

Tom — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:03:44 +0000

Amongst the updates to iTunes 8.0, Apple didn’t really advertise the fact they have now enabled us to use our own descriptions for Movies and TV Shows. This is a nice bonus for all those who like to add their personal dvd collections to their iTunes library. It previously needed a 3rd party script to enable the editing of descriptions.

Custom descriptions now possible in iTunes 8.0

Still no artwork fix for shared libraries in 10.5.5!

Tom — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:14:48 +0000

Apple released 10.5.5 on the 15th of September. According to Apple the update included the following improvements..

Improves Spotlight indexing performance.
Improves iPhone sync reliability with iCal and Address Book
In MobileMe: improves overall sync and Back to My Mac reliability.
Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule.
Addresses stability issues with video playback, processor core idling, and remote disc sharing for MacBook Air.

I was hoping this update would fix the long standing problem in Leopard of shared libraries not showing album artwork on the remote source. I have a Mac mini setup in my bedroom with a 20″ ACD and it is very frustrating seeing a placeholder instead of actual album art when scrolling through not just Music, but also Movies and TV Shows. Please Apple, fix this problem, as “gorgeous artwork” is what you love doing!