Tag: imac

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Where’s my keyboard?

So I have installed Windows 7 on my iMac, despite not having the proper Boot Camp drivers. It did eventually install, however lacking the proper drivers is causing me a few issues.

Notably though I can use the wireless keyboard and mouse to log on to Windows, once logged in, the iMac under Windows 7 decides that it can no longer see the keyboard and mouse. So the only solution is to plug in an USB keyboard and mouse. The thing is that the OS can see the keyboard and mouse, it’s just that they don’t function!

The other problem is with the audio drivers.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before Apple release proper Boot Camp drivers for Windows 7.

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Windows 7 on a 27” i7 iMac – Better luck this time! It works!


It didn’t work before, but it is working now!

I have installed Windows 7 on the iMac using Parallels, however I did want to use it on Boot Camp. In the main because I can.

Problem number one was that currently there is no support in Apple’s Boot Camp for Windows 7.

I hoped that it wasn’t going to be an issue. But it was…

Apple’s Boot Camp Assistant is very nice piece of software and the ease by which I can create a partition for Windows is so quick and easy and has virtually no impact on my OS X partition (apart from reducing its size).

Then slot in the Windows 7 installation disk and off we go. Remembering the format the Boot Camp partition, the Windows 7 install process starts to do its stuff. However after installing the files the whole process hung on a black screen It didn’t look right.

Quick Google search.

Ahhh

This blog entry states that the problem is with the display drivers.

So once more a fresh install and then into the DOS prompt to delete the “faulty” display driver.

However this did not work for me.

I tried again and still no luck.

Hmmm….

Was going to give up when searching for the original article I read this blog post.

The black screen problem is that for some reason, Windows 7 running on this new ATI 4670 card sends the video to the secondary monitor, leaving the primary display black. If you merely plug another monitor into the Mac, you get display just fine.

Hmmm, I was lucky that I had one of those nice 24” Apple Monitors in my office. Could this work?

Once more I configured the drive using Boot Camp Assistant, once more I put in the Windows 7 install disk, once more I set the whole process going…

Well…

Who would have guessed it! The install process worked, true the 27” iMac was all dark, but there on the secondary screen was the whole Windows 7 install process. Once installed it was very simple to install new graphics drivers and “pop” there on the 27” iMac was the Windows 7 desktop. In with the OS X install disk to install all the Windows drivers.

Job done, no need to delete files or reconfigure drives, just plug in a second monitor.

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Windows 7 on a 27” i7 iMac – No luck!

Well that didn’t work did it….

I have installed Windows 7 on the iMac using Parallels, however I did want to use it on Boot Camp. In the main because I can.

Problem number one was that currently there is no support in Apple’s Boot Camp for Windows 7.

I hoped that it wasn’t going to be an issue.

So off I went.

Apple’s Boot Camp Assistant is very nice piece of software and the ease by which I can create a partition for Windows is so quick and easy and has virtually no impact on my OS X partition (apart from reducing its size).

Then slot in the Windows 7 installation disk and off we go.

Remembering the format the Boot Camp partition, the Windows 7 install process starts to do its stuff. However after installing the files the whole process hung on a black screen. Hmm this doesn’t look right.

Reboot and try again…

Hmmm same problem.

Well back into OS X, delete the partition and try again. Nope same problem.

Quick Google search.

Ahhh

This blog entry states that the problem is with the display drivers.

So once more a fresh install and then into the DOS prompt to delete the “faulty” display driver.

However this did not work for me.

I tried again and still no luck.

Hmmm….

Update: I did manage to get it working in the end….

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Adding the printer…

I had been putting off adding my Canon MP600R to my new iMac, as the process on my 10.5 iMac was not simple.

Well things have improved with 10.6 as it was very simple and much easier than with previous versions of OS X.

The key though was to have some patience as it can take a bit of time for the printer to appear in the printer list.

Once though it “appears” then it is quite easy to add the printer like any other USB, network or Bonjour printer.

Once added though, run Software Update to get the most up to date drivers from Apple.

Next job to be able to scan from the printer.

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Editing photographs

I am really enjoying my new 27″ iMac, in particular the large screen is fantastic for editing photographs.

I have been lucky (and I suspect many others have as well) not to experience any flickering with my 27″ screen, it appears that some have had issues.

I know some don’t like glossy screens but I have not found it to be a problem. The widescreen format allows me to view the whole image and all the relevant tools alongside making it a superb photo editing experience.

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Ordered new iMac

Well after much waiting I have ordered my new iMac.

In the end after much thinking I went for the 27″ model with the…

2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.46GHz; Hyper-Threading for up to eight virtual cores

imac27inch

I also upped the RAM to 8GB.

I did consider getting the 2TB drive as I do use a lot of storage, however the upgrade was £187 and I know I can get two external drives for that. I current have 4 1TB drives so not too worried (and two of those are empty).

All of which means it should be a lot faster than my current iMac which is a Core 2 Duo and only has 2GB of RAM.

I had considered ordering a Mac mini to use with the iMac, but not sure how the display thingy is going to work, so going to test it with a MacBook Pro first. There is no hurry as Apple won’t deliver it until November… that I am guessing will be the end of November and not the beginning.

I did consider getting a slower one which I could get in three days, but in the end decided that going for the top model means I will feel it will last longer!

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At last, new iMacs

Apple today announced a revision to their iMac range.

Coming with 21.5″ and 27″ widescreen LED screens in a 16:9 aspect ration, which is great for HD films, though it’s a pity that there is no Blu Ray drive. If you want HD you are going to need to download HD.

The new iMacs come with a new improved wireless keyboard and the new Wireless Magic Mouse which yay has no scroll ball!

I think my old iMac is about to be replaced…

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No Blu-Ray

I have been holding off buying a replacement iMac as I have been waiting for the release of new models. Rumours were abound a month or two back that the new redesigned iMacs would have Blu-Ray.

Generally you should never wait for new models as you will always be waiting. Buy the hardware you need when you need it.

Sometimes I wish I had done that, but my “normal” practice with Apple hardware is to buy it just after it was released. I did that with my last iMac and my iPhone 3GS.

Well the current rumour is that the new iMacs won’t have Blu Ray, they will have powerful chips, but no way to play Blu-Ray films…

A lot of this is dependent on your view if the future of movies is in physical media or downloads.

The main reason I prefer physical media is that my broadband connection has trouble with standard definition films let alone the huge file sizes that HD movies would be. Even now I have to download films from iTunes overnight to avoid hitting my bandwidth cap, the time it takes and the impact downloading has on my (very small) bandwidth, essentially stopping me from doing anything except watching the progress of the download.

The new iMacs (again according to the rumour sites) will be released before the end of October.