April 21, 2009 11:35 PM
Carputer
Filed under: Mac
And now for something completely different.
I've got a new ride in my driveway, and despite it having an excellent stereo, the only iPod integration is an Aux jack at the front of the radio. Ugh. After researching various methods of integrating an iPod into the existing equipment, I found a rather nice unit from Harmon Kardon which is unfortunately discontinued. A nice external display mounted on the dash to display info on an iPod tucked away in a glove compartment. Since this wasn't an option, I explored further.
Apparently the big geeky thing these days is to install what's commonly called a Carputer, a computer that mounts somewhere in the car, generally tying into the car stereo, and using some form of touch panel display at the dash. These are generally DIY systems with various degrees of quality and style. But, having a number of spare parts lying around, this may be just the thing for me to tackle.
First steps will be to document the existing stereo setup, and see how best to route audio in. I've got a few ideas on where to mount the screen which should give a nice stealth look to the casual observer, and of course, this will all be run under OS X. Stay tuned...
March 11, 2009 12:03 AM
More updates break Postfix
Filed under: Mac Postfix
I'm assuming it was the 10.5.6 update, possibly a security update, I don't know. But Postfix broke again after the install finished. Same nonsense with many log entries about files not being owned by Postfix, as before, running a new 'make upgrade' fixed that up.
Had one last problem that was new, Postfix launched, but wasn't receiving mail. main.cf had an entry for inet_interfaces that had previously been set to 'all', but was no longer. Changing that back and relaunching Postfix cured the issue.
February 7, 2009 07:59 PM
Postfix Admin and error 105
Filed under: Postfix
Spent some time struggling to upgrade my old Postfix Admin install from 2.1.0 to 2.2.1.1, kept running up against the following error:
DEBUG INFORMATION:
Invalid query: Can't create table './postfix/vacation_notification.frm' (errno: 150)
Seems like others have had this, but I didn't find a solution posted. Some time Googling and investigating MySQL docs finally had me stumbling across the answer. The MySQL user 'postfixadmin' wasn't originally granted sufficient privileges to the database, and a prior ALTER step hadn't executed, and more importantly, hadn't been flagged as an error. Granting this user the ability to Alter, Create, Drop, and all other structure related commands then running the setup.php again resolved the issue.
Hope this helps someone out there.
February 3, 2009 12:08 PM
Using an iPhone without service
Filed under: iPhone
This won't help the 3G crowd, but if you have an original iPhone and for whatever reason no longer have cellular service with it, be sure to check out Apple's Knowledgebase article 'Using an original iPhone without a wireless service plan' , which will let you use the phone as an iPod Touch, including WiFi, store apps, etc.
You'll need either the original SIM, or a replacement SIM from your carrier, normally available for a small fee.
December 19, 2008 07:38 PM
Otterbox Impact case for iPhone 3G
Filed under: Reviews iPhone
The great folks at Otterbox have been kind enough to send over a sample of their latest case for the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3G Impact Case. Not having a 3G iPhone (yet!) myself, I've asked my good friend Tre to lend a hand with this review. What follows is his report.
Continue reading "Otterbox Impact case for iPhone 3G"October 16, 2008 08:47 PM
Apple Security Update 2008-07 breaks Postfix
Filed under: Mac Postfix
At least, if you have compiled your own version it does... More info on this update here.
After running this update and restarting, not only did Postfix not launch correctly, but my logs quickly filled up with warnings about every single file on my drive not being owned by Postfix. Several reboots later I was finally at the point where I could try troubleshooting this, and the easiest fix was to just run a new 'make upgrade' on my current postfix install.
Also, be sure to remove /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.postfix.master.plist before rebooting, as this file won't work for a real mailserver, if you were using a .plist in this location to start postfix previously, you'll need to restore a backup of your original file or recreate it from scratch.
