1st Mac - questions.

Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
This is my first mac and I love it. I'm a windows systems engineer, so everything I'm trying to figure out I'm still thinking in the windows world. I figured out a lot of it already, like using Finder for.... uhhh... pretty much everything.



Couple things though, first, If I have a printer on a windows machine that is shared and I DO have the mac driver on my system, how can I set up the printer with IP printing and tell it the driver I want. It's a HP 5550 and the only driver I have is a installer, and once I run it I have no idea where the driver is to have it load to the IP printer. It only wants to install to an attached USB. And another quick one, how do you uninstall software? Is there an "Add/remove" program in here somewhere? thank you!



ME

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    haraldharald Posts: 2,152member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pc-to-mac

    And another quick one, how do you uninstall software? Is there an "Add/remove" program in here somewhere? thank you!



    ME




    OS X right?



    Remember all those DLL's and everythin ... all those odd things all over your computer?



    Forget 'em.



    To uninstall an app drag it to the bin. Done.



    (In OS X, an app is a 'bundle' with all the gubbins inside it)
  • Reply 2 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Harald

    OS X right?



    Remember all those DLL's and everythin ... all those odd things all over your computer?



    Forget 'em.



    To uninstall an app drag it to the bin. Done.



    (In OS X, an app is a 'bundle' with all the gubbins inside it)




    No way. It can't be that easy. ummm... wow. That's the only thing I can think of to say. How about the printer problem? And another one, when I insert a card into the pcmcia card slot on the side, does it grab it right away and ask you what to do, or do you have to activate it somehow?



    ME
  • Reply 3 of 20
    Here's another one... How do I configure what my powerbook does when I close the lid or when the power on my battery gets to a certain point?



    ME
  • Reply 4 of 20
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    Not much choice for that, unfortunately. If you close the lid, the computer will sleep, it's automatic. However, I believe PowerBooks can also wake from sleep and be used with the lid closed, assuming you hooked up an external mouse, keyboard and monitor. You'd have to connect all the stuff and then press a key on the keyboard to wake it up.



    You might be able to get the PowerBook to execute some scripts if you mess around with AppleScript and a program that does advanced battery monitoring (don't remember the name, maybe X-Charge?). But I have no idea how to do any of that stuff.



    As for the printer, I also don't really know much about how to fix that problem but I bet you'd have a better chance of getting it to work right if you connected it to the Mac and tried to get the PC to see it. Macs have historically been better at working with PCs than vice versa.
  • Reply 5 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pc-to-mac

    No way. It can't be that easy. ummm... wow. That's the only thing I can think of to say.



    However, keep in mind that the application you wish to uninstall may still have preferences hiding about the hard drive. Not that these will do any harm or conflict with anything, but the first place to check is in the Library folder on the main level, and in there you may find a few small things. Ditto for the Library folder in each users' folder.
  • Reply 6 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by JimDreamworx

    However, keep in mind that the application you wish to uninstall may still have preferences hiding about the hard drive. Not that these will do any harm or conflict with anything, but the first place to check is in the Library folder on the main level, and in there you may find a few small things. Ditto for the Library folder in each users' folder.



    What exactly is the Library folder, and what is it's purpose? How does it affect users profiles and stuff?



    ME
  • Reply 7 of 20
    Here's a brief crash course in the Library inheritance system.



    There are four levels of Library folders:



    /System/Library

    /Library

    /Users/yourname/Library

    /Network/Library



    The first contains things belonging only to Apple and the core of the system. The contents here apply to all users. Users and administrators both should *never* touch what is inside this folder. It should always remain "clean" and safe. In fact, the permissions are set here so that you *can't* modify the contents without explicitly changing the access rights to it first.



    The second is only writable by administrative users. Like System, its contents apply to everyone, but if there are ever problems and the system has to be booted into safe mode for repairs, this Library will be ignored and only the known safe items in the System folder will be loaded.



    The third is the preferred folder for installing things on a per-user basis. Contents of this folder only apply to the user it belongs to. It too would be ignored in safe mode.



    The fourth is rarely used and can be ignored unless you are using a special network setup with Mac OS X Server and a bunch of Mac OS X client machines.



    Now, what exactly *do* these three Library folders contain? Good question. There are two basic kinds of things kept here: application settings and application/system add-ons.



    By default, an application saves its preferences in the home Library (the "/Users/yourname" one) because, as I explained above, in the hierarchy this one applies only to the current user. The preference files here are simple text documents and are completely inert. If you delete an app, you can safely leave its preferences file in the Library forever and it will not affect anything until you reinstall that app.



    Things that you yourself may place in the Library folders include items such as screen savers, alert sounds, fonts, extra preference panes (for System Preferences), printer drivers, and plug-ins or add-ons for other software. If you browse the contents of the Library folders, you'll see that there are already subdirectories appropriately labeled for some of these things.



    Let's consider a couple examples:



    Q. You download a new screen saver. You are the administrator of this machine and want to install it so that all users have access to it. Where do you put it?



    A. /Library -- more specifically: /Library/Screen Savers





    Q. You buy some fonts. You want to install it so that only you can use them. Where do you put them?



    A. /Users/yourname/Library -- more specifically: /Users/yourname/Library/Fonts



    Does that help?



    The Library system seems a little strange at first, but once you understand how it works, I believe you'll come to appreciate it. It's a very logical layout.



    Oh, and welcome to AppleInsider! 8) Feel free to ask any more questions. Remember: the only stupid question is the question that goes unasked.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    Welcome to the Mac. You'll find a few things won't work the way you're used to, but if you learn the Mac way you'll quickly find that you like it at least as much, and in many cases better. That was my experience as a switcher two years ago. I was a switcher when switching wasn't cool. :-) Anyhow....



    On to your printing issue. Jaguar doesn't officially come with a way to print to a Windows printer. At least not via the GUI. However by downloading a package called gimp-print you will gain the ability to do that. gimp-print consists of many printer drivers that work with CUPS, the Common Unix Printing System, which is what OS X uses. There is a simple installer and it's all very easy. Technically you probably don't even need to install gimp-print since you have the driver already, but doing so will turn on the functionality for SMB printing (what you want) without needing to resort to the terminal.



    Here is a link with lots of useful info: http://homepage.mac.com/william_whit...o_windows.html



    See also www.macosxhints.com and search for windows printing. It contains a number of useful tricks for getting this to work.



    The other option you have is to wait for Panther. In OS X 10.3 Apple has made this all automatic, so no need to fiddle with anything.



    One other thing to mention is that contrary to what was said above, some programs need installers, and some don't but have them anyway. In an ideal world there wouldn't be installers at all, but since some programs need to copy things into system areas or make config changes they use them. For instance, gimp-print isn't an Application, but a set of drivers, so it comes as an installer. Many Apple applications use installers as well. There is no Add/Remove programs feature. So if you want to remove a program that was installed with an installer you'd need to either keep that installer file and run it again (if it supports uninstall) or trash the app and then trash any other files it left on your hard drive (usually just preferences, but sometimes could be library files). There really should be a better way to do this. But thankfully 99% of all apps are just bundles that can be drag and dropped and trashed at will.



    I hope that helps. You'll need to read up a bit on the Windows printing. It can be tricky to set up. Let us know if you need any further assistance. It does work, and work well once it's set up.



    Cheers,

    John
  • Reply 9 of 20
    Now that's the kind of info I like. Thank you very much! You did spark a point I asked before though... You said that printer drivers would go in the library folder under a certain user, would that include drivers installed by driver "installer" programs? I tried that, and I can't seem to find the stupid driver to use it. What are the extensions for drivers like printer drivers and such? Thank you so much for your help.



    Also, is the apple developer tools come installed on OS X? I need the use of Apple's Project Builder and I can't find it. If it isn't, how do I find it and install it?



    ME
  • Reply 10 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pc-to-mac

    Now that's the kind of info I like. Thank you very much! You did spark a point I asked before though... You said that printer drivers would go in the library folder under a certain user, would that include drivers installed by driver "installer" programs? I tried that, and I can't seem to find the stupid driver to use it. What are the extensions for drivers like printer drivers and such? Thank you so much for your help.



    Also, is the apple developer tools come installed on OS X? I need the use of Apple's Project Builder and I can't find it. If it isn't, how do I find it and install it?



    ME




    You would install the Developer Packages on the CD, and that includes the Project Builder. It will create a Developer folder on the main hard drive.



    Usually, installer place the drivers in the Library or System/Library folder, don't think I've run inot one that places it in the Users/yourname/Library folder.
  • Reply 11 of 20
    IP printing:



    you'll want to go to your Applications/Utilities folder. there you'll see a print center. double click that to launch the print center.



    there you'll have some choices as for what kind of printing you want to do. USB, AppleTalk, IP etc.



    Once you select IP, enter in the address. below that, there should be something labeled "Printer Model"



    Select HP in this case, and it will show you a list of all the HP printers.
  • Reply 12 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alcimedes

    IP printing:



    you'll want to go to your Applications/Utilities folder. there you'll see a print center. double click that to launch the print center.



    there you'll have some choices as for what kind of printing you want to do. USB, AppleTalk, IP etc.



    Once you select IP, enter in the address. below that, there should be something labeled "Printer Model"



    Select HP in this case, and it will show you a list of all the HP printers.




    This will work if he's printing to a network printer or a network print switch like a Jetdirect or whatever they're called. But if it's a Windows shared printer then he'll need SMB printing which isn't enabled by default.



    John
  • Reply 13 of 20
    I also have the sierra aircard 555 that I HAVE to run. It's either get it to run or keep the dell laptop around with me also. So I have 2 options, I found this how to do it , but... I don't know how to do it. I tried running patch in the terminal and trying to follow it, but it's obviously written by a guy that expects you to be an apple developer, which I'm not. Second choice, get windows xp that I have running in virtual pc to recognize the card when it's in the mac card slot. Then I can just load the software and run it in there when I need it. Either way is great. I'd rather just run it on the mac and have wireless internet! Wouldn't that be cool?



    ME
  • Reply 14 of 20
    any particular reason why it needs to be that wireless card?



    most (almost all) wireless cards are interchangeable.
  • Reply 15 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alcimedes

    any particular reason why it needs to be that wireless card?



    most (almost all) wireless cards are interchangeable.




    It's a wireless internet card, not LAN card. It's through Verizon wireless, and that the only card that supports verizon's high speed internet wirelessly. It's what my company uses. I do remote access administration to my clients using it from anywhere. That's why I have to have it. Any ideas?



    Oh, I just installed the developers tools off the Apple CD that came with my pbook, but I have no idea where it put them. I can't find them anywhere.



    ME
  • Reply 16 of 20
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pc-to-mac



    Oh, I just installed the developers tools off the Apple CD that came with my pbook, but I have no idea where it put them. I can't find them anywhere.



    ME




    Jaguar --> Developer folder
  • Reply 17 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MCQ

    Jaguar --> Developer folder



    Perfect, that worked. Now if I can figure out the rest of the patching and stuff that website says I'll be great!



    ME
  • Reply 18 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Luca Rescigno

    Not much choice for that, unfortunately. If you close the lid, the computer will sleep, it's automatic. However, I believe PowerBooks can also wake from sleep and be used with the lid closed, assuming you hooked up an external mouse, keyboard and monitor. You'd have to connect all the stuff and then press a key on the keyboard to wake it up.





    I can get my 12" working with the lid shut when using the display connector, but can't seem to do the same thing with the video connector (the one with S-video and composite output), should this really be working or just a built in limitation?

    I want to watch DVD's on a TV from my laptop, but with the screen off i.e. lid closed.
  • Reply 19 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Luca Rescigno

    Not much choice for that, unfortunately. If you close the lid, the computer will sleep, it's automatic. However, I believe PowerBooks can also wake from sleep and be used with the lid closed, assuming you hooked up an external mouse, keyboard and monitor. You'd have to connect all the stuff and then press a key on the keyboard to wake it up.





    I've managed to get this working with a display connector and an external mouse attached to my 12" PB, but not with a video connector (with the composite video connector hooked up to the scart socket of a TV). Am I missing something here, surely if it works for one connector, why not the other? Or is it just because they want to make it awkward to watch DVD's on anything other than my laptop screen (Apple DVD player doesn't support video mirroring)
  • Reply 20 of 20
    Quote:

    Originally posted by alcimedes

    IP printing:



    you'll want to go to your Applications/Utilities folder. there you'll see a print center. double click that to launch the print center.



    there you'll have some choices as for what kind of printing you want to do. USB, AppleTalk, IP etc.



    Once you select IP, enter in the address. below that, there should be something labeled "Printer Model"



    Select HP in this case, and it will show you a list of all the HP printers.




    By the way I find generic printer works pretty good for printer that you don't have a driver for..
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