instructions

Six 'instructions' stories March 2012 - September 2015

How to repair/replace iPhone 6s/6s Plus battery and display (Guides)

Jordan Kahn Sep 28 2015 - 12:40 pm PT

With the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus officially going on sale and delivering to pre-order customers over the weekend, it’s just a matter of time before you smash your display to pieces and drain your battery’s capacity. While some screen breaking and defective batteries might be covered under AppleCare and the 1 year hardware warranty included with all iPhones, otherwise you’ll need to refer to one of these handy guides from our friends at iFixit.
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How to enable the Google+ Photos Chrome app on Mac

Jordan Kahn Aug 18 2013 - 10:18 am PT

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Last month we reported that Google’s slick new “Google+ Photos” app that launched exclusively on the Chromebook Pixel could possibly be making its way to Mac. The proof came from a newly posted listing on the Chrome Web Store that made references to auto-uploading features specifically for OS X. Unfortunately, launching the app would give Mac users a “not supported on this platform” error message. While Google has yet to officially launch the Mac and PC versions of the Chrome app, there is a way to bypass the error message and enable the app now.
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How to enable Google Now on iOS for Google Apps accounts

Jordan Kahn Apr 29 2013 - 3:16 pm PT

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From 9to5Google:

Earlier today Google officially pushed out an update to its existing Google Search app for iPhone enabling the Google Now service with weather and traffic conditions, updates on breaking news and sports, and more. Some users logging into Google Search through a Google Apps account might have noticed that using the features would prompt an error that “your administrator hasn’t enabled Google Now for your domain.” Hanselman.com shares instructions on enabling the feature which aren’t exactly obvious since the setting is buried in “Android settings”.

Google Apps for Business, Education, and Government: Google Now needs to be turned on by an administrator before it can be used.

If you are an administrator, you can enable Google Now for users in your organization by following these steps:

Sign in to your Google Apps control panel.
Go to Settings > Mobile > Org Settings > Android settings.
Click the checkbox next to Enable Google Now to turn on Google Now.
Click Save.

‘Fix’ allows you to install Windows Bootcamp on new iMacs with 3TB drives

Jordan Kahn Jan 2 2013 - 6:11 am PT

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If you haven’t heard, those who purchased a new Mac with Apple’s built-to-order 3TB hard drive option found themselves unable to utilize Boot Camp assistant to install Windows. Boot Camp Assistant is currently limited to drives up to 2.2TB. Apple hinted that support might come at a later date, but TwoCanoes shares a step-by-step guide for getting the job done in Boot Camp until then:

Since it is not possible to get around the 2.2 TB limitation with booting Windows, it is possible to organize the partitions so that Windows is the last of the first four partitons and is within the first 2.2 TBs of space on the drive. Since the Mac can see the remaining space above the 2.2 TB limit, this space can be used for addtional storage space for OS X.

In order for Windows to boot successfully and still be able to utilize all of the available space on a 3 TB (or larger) hard drive, Windows must be installed on the fourth partition. You can use Disk Utility to create the partition, but since Disk Utility does not show hidden partitions, it can be difficult to see what is going on if some partitions are hidden. To have Disk Utility show hidden partitions, open Terminal and run the following command:

You can get the full instructions on TwoCanoes here.

Mountain Lion installed on a MacPro1,1, here’s how to do it

Jordan Kahn Jul 23 2012 - 12:50 pm PT

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As pointed out by OWC, a step-by-step instruction guide has popped up courtesy of Mac user Jabbawok that details the steps necessary to get Mountain Lion running on a MacPro1.1 (the models first introduced in 2006). It is not the easiest process ever, forcing you to upgrade the graphics card, have access to a spare SATA HDD, and go through a couple of dozen or so more steps inside Chameleon bootloader, terminal, and elsewhere. The good news is this means there are not a lot of Intel Macs that won’t be able to handle Mountain Lion. You can check out the instructions here, if you are interested, and the author gave a brief explanation below on what prevents the MacPro1.1 models from running Mountain Lion in the first place:

There are two things that prevent 10.8 from installing on a MacPro 1,1. The first is the lack of EFI64. Mountain Lion as has no support for 32bit kernel and extensions so it will not boot. This is true of many early Intel macs… The other thing is that checks are made by the installer; against a supported machines list. If your mac isn’t on the list, it refuses to install.

On a related note, you might make use of popular Mac backup and cloning app Carbon Copy Cloner throughout the process. The app was just updated to version 3.5 with a number of new features including Mountain Lion compatibility.

[tweet https://twitter.com/lfstudios10/status/227501498630823936]

Sparrow for Mac updated with Retina graphics and Mountain Lion support (9to5mac.com)
Chrome for Mac updated with improved Mountain Lion support (9to5google.com)

New iPad Wi-Fi issues seem to be software related, should be easy to patch

Jordan Kahn Mar 21 2012 - 10:03 am PT

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We mentioned earlier that some new iPad owners were reporting issues with Wi-Fi. The problem seems to affect all models of the new device with both users of the 4G LTE model and the Wi-Fi-only model experiencing poor Wi-Fi reception. Many forum posters compared Wi-Fi reception with their other iOS devices and MacBooks on the same network:

“My iPad 3rd generation has much worse range than my iPad 1. Two places I use it most My Driveway, and “down the hall at work” iPad 1 (iPhone 4s, and Macbook) all have solid connections. New iPad nothing. not a thing.”

One user reports only receiving good reception within six feet of a router while another claims to have had issues with four different third-generation iPads. The good news is that the fix is likely software related, as many in the forums pointed to temporary fixes like rebooting the device or toggling Wi-Fi on and off. OS X Daily confirmed resetting Wi-Fi and network settings seems to fix the issue for some and provided instructions. In 2010, the first generation iPad had Wi-Fi connectivity issues for some users and Apple eventually issued a software update to fix the problem, which is detailed in this support document. According to Apple, only “a very small number of iPad users” experienced the issue and that seems to be the case with the new iPad as well.

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