Gizmodo Australia » patches

Motorola Droid Experiencing Software-Related Speaker Issues

Jack Loftus — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Droid sales are blowing up, but so too may be Droid speakers, as reports are starting to pour in from users who’ve experienced the sound cutting out at inopportune times. Island of Misfit Toys, here we come!

Luckily, the bug appears to be software related. Time for a patch.

Who amongst the swelling Droid ranks has experienced this annoying issue? [Droid Support Forums via Engadget]

Netbook Hackintosh Fix 10.6.2 Coming In “A Few Weeks”

John Herrman — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:06:14 +0000

When Apple killed Atom processor support in the Snow Leopard 10.6.2 update, it was one of the first times they’d actively tried to stop hobbyist hackintoshing. It was also sort of a dick move! Luckily, it’s not going to stick.

The (main) man behind the NetbookInstaller software, which takes care of enough of the under-the-hood tweaks to make netbook hackintoshing approachable, heard the plaintive cries of his flock and handed down a decree from on high:

The kernel will be fixed. It’ll just take a few weeks.

This certainty, combined with the flip-flopping Atom compatibility in earlier 10.6.2 builds, points to the breakage as an intentional choice, not just some incidental bug.

Update: Actually, there’s an interesting case to be made: The 10.6.2 killed Atom in all builds of the update. Interesting. —Thanks, Eduardo!

Even better, for anyone who dove straight into the 10.6.2 update only to find themselves very suddenly without a working netbook, there’s a quick fix: Downgrade your kernel! Using the same instruction set you can do a partial (excluding the kernel) upgrade to 10.6.2, but you’re probably just best off waiting until everything is patched-up right and proper. [Meklort, MyDellMini]

Mac OS X 10.6.2 Update Missing Atom Support, Breaks Hackintosh

Rosa Golijan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:03:00 +0000

If you’re using a Hackintosh then you might want to wait before upgrading to Mac OS X 10.6.2 because for all the bug fixes it brings, it lacks the Intel Atom support necessary for our beloved Hackintoshes.

[OS X Daily]

Snow Leopard 10.6.2 Fixes Account-Nuking Bug (And About 40 More)

John Herrman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:58:59 +0000

OS X 10.6.2 is out, and it’s a veritable bug-squashing party. That infamous glitch that was destroying user accounts a while ago has been taken care of, as have a few dozen other annoyances. But whither our sweet Hackintosh?

Prior builds of 10.6.2 have flip-flopped between treating Intel Atom support — vital to netbook hackintoshing — as a bug that needs to be fixed, or as something they should just leave be, because oh god, I love my hackintoshed netbook so goddamned much, why don’t you just leave me alone?, etcetera. Any brave EULA-flouters want to give this thing a go?

Anyway, here’s the changelog! The most notable changes are the aforementioned account-eating error, as well as a fix for an irritating glitch with four-finger Exposé gestures only working in one direction. Weighty stuff. [Apple via Loopinsight]

What’s included?

General operating system fixes provided for:

* an issue that caused data to be deleted when using a guest account
* an issue that might cause your system to logout unexpectedly
* Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts
* the reliability of menu extras
* an issue in Dictionary when using Hebrew as the primary language
* shutter-click sound effect when taking a screenshot
* an issue with the four-finger swipe gesture
* an issue adding images to contacts in Address Book
* an issue in Front Row that could cause sluggish or slow frame rates while watching videos
* creation of mobile accounts for Active Directory users
* reliability and duration of VPN connections
* general reliability improvements for iWork, iLife, Aperture, Final Cut Studio, MobileMe, and iDisk
* overall improvements to VoiceOver performance
* this update addresses video playback and performance issues for iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) and iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) computers that may occur in some situations while AirPort is turned on

Fonts fixes provided for:

* an issue with font spacing
* an issue in which some Fonts are missing
* font duplication issues
* an issue with some PostScript Type 1 fonts not working properly

Graphics fixes provided for:

* an issue when connecting monitors to DVI and Mini DisplayPort adapters
* an issue in which the brightness setting may not be remembered on restart
* addresses functionality with specific display models
* general reliability and performance improvements when using some applications

Mail fixes provided for:

* a situation in which Mail’s unread count may not update properly as messages are read on another computer
* an issue in which deleted RSS feeds may return
* an issue in which Mail cannot preview or Quick Look attachments when composing a new message
* an issue that can cause Address Book and/or Mail to stop responding when opened
* an issue in which email messages received from an Exchange Server are not formatted correctly
* an issue in which Mail reports “Account exceeded bandwidth limits” for some Gmail accounts

MobileMe fixes provided for:

* performance when accessing files from iDisk via the Finder and syncing iDisk files
* an issue in which syncing iDisk files does not proceed beyond “checking items”
* reliability and performance when syncing contacts, calendars, and bookmarks with MobileMe (syncing with iTunes and iSync are also improved)
* an issue that prevents some users from logging into MobileMe via the MobileMe System Preference pane

Network file systems fixes provided for:

* compatibility with third-party AFP servers
* file synchronisation for portable home directories

Printing and faxing fixes provided for:

* automatic printer updates improvements
* Print dialog allowing you to enter and send to more than one fax recipient

Safari fixes provided for:

* a graphics distortion issue in Safari Top Sites
* Safari plug-in reliability

Intel Promises To Stop Its Firmware Bricking SSDs

Rosa Golijan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:40 +0000

A few weeks ago, Intel pulled a firmware update the day after it came out because many users running 64-bit Windows 7 found that it bricked their SSDs. Whoops. The good news though is that Intel has acknowledged and replicated the bug, and is working on a fix. The bad news? There’s no timeline for when the fix will come out. [Reg Hardware]

Microsoft Fixes Windows 7 Student Edition Upgrade Problems

Sean Fallon — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:42:00 +0000

While most of you had a painless upgrade to Windows 7, some experienced problems with the downloadable Student Edition from Digital River. Microsoft acknowledged the problem and has now come through with the ISO file you so desperately need.

If you were affected by this problem, here are your solutions:

• ISO file
• Detailed Instructions
• Download tool for creating a bootable Windows 7 flash drive and DVD [Thanks Stephen!]

First Snow Leopard Patch Released To Developers

Sean Fallon — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:59:00 +0000

Less than a week after the release of Snow Leopard, Apple has already dropped the first patch on developers for testing. The 71.5 MB download includes several fixes related to 3G modems, the Dock and Motion 4.

The 10.6.1 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Snow Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, including fixes for:

* compatibility with some Sierra Wireless 3G modems
* an issue that might cause DVD playback to stop unexpectedly
* some printer compatibility drivers not appearing properly in the add printer browser
* an issue that might make it difficult to remove an item from the Dock
* instances where automatic account setup in Mail might not work
* an issue where pressing cmd-opt-t in Mail brings up the special characters menu instead of moving a message
* Motion 4 becoming unresponsive

MacRumors Forums have also included some unofficial notes on the update:

– Network Diagnostics now offers to remove manually-entered DNS values for DHCP configurations
- Software Update for printer drivers of Bonjour/USB printers
- HICocoaView double-redraw during live resize
- Bluetooth connection to nearby printers on startup
- libdispatch object use after deallocation
- Sending of messages with Mail where the SMTP server response has no text
- Upgraded email accounts and SMTP servers that require authentication on port 587 but not port 25
- Printer custom keywords added/edited by auto setup tool are now migrated after software update
- Generic drivers are now visible in printer driver list
- WWAN devices that use the AppleWWANSupport2 component
- Updated to Flash 10.0.32.18

[World of Apple and MacRumors Forums]

Airport Update Fixes OS 10.5.8 Issues

Mark Wilson — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:39:00 +0000

I know of a few people who’ve encountered weird Wi-Fi problems since the OS 10.5.8 update. Now Apple has released a Macbook/Macbook Pro patch for the networking issues claimed to occur under low battery power. Hopefully things will be all better now. [Apple via Ars]

Microsoft’s First Windows 7 Beta Patch Fixes MP3 Bug

Sean Fallon — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Microsoft has issued it’s first patch for the Windows 7 beta—a fix that focuses on correcting a flaw that shaves several seconds off edited MP3s.

Up until now, this patch had to be found and installed manually—but if you missed it, a recent Microsoft patch article notes that it may be possible to restore any corrupted MP3 files by right-clicking into “Properties” and clicking “Restore” in the “Previous Versions” tab. Even so, its a good idea to back up all of your MP3 files before doing an upgrade from Vista to Windows 7. [Computerworld]

QR Code Jacket Patches Take Strangers On the Street to Your Blog, Stat!

John Mahoney — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:31:00 +0000

We’re sad that after all these years, the only place QR codes are actually useful is still good ol’ Japan (where they’re everywhere)(AU: And they’re growing over here as well). That said, San Francisco has recently dabbled, and there are readers available for just about every mobile platform (including iPhone)–which you’ll have to make sure all of your friends have installed if you’re going to wear one of these. The US$20 patch points to a proxy server which redirects phone browsers to the URL of your choice when someone takes a photo of your shoulder, back, um, wherever. Which means you can take them to your innocent little blog, or perhaps something a bit more nefarious. You wouldn’t do that though, would you? [p8t.ch via Pocket Lint]