Let’s say a customer has restored his data to a new hard drive or new Mac computer from a backup source. These restored files are unavailable due to permissions problems or ownership privileges on the files. The Get Info window cannot solve this issue as the needed options for fixing or changing the permissions are unavailable in Finder. What to do? Fix them in Disk Utility or Terminal!

Disk Utility is a great tool

For solving many permissions errors. It includes two important operations:
• Verify
• Repair Disk Permissions.

This operation will solve much of the customer’s issues with permissions, but if access problems persist, it might be necessary to change ownership of the files in Terminal.

Using a sudo command

Terminal allows the root user to change the ownership on a single file or recursively to all items in a folder. To do so, first navigate to the location of the file or folders on which you would like to change ownership using the cd command.

If the data is housed on the local User home folder, changing directories won’t be necessary. Then, use the command:

sudo chown -R username:staff /Volume/volumename/username

• where “username” is the short name for the account which you would like to use to access the data
• Volumename is the location of the data on which permissions need repair.

The User will have to authenticate using the User’s admin account password before the action is applied to the file system.

It’s not always the best idea to change permissions in Terminal, but you may need to use it if Disk Utility & Get Info can’t get the job done.

To enter: comment below with the number of artists in your iTunes Music library (or really, just drop any ol’ comment in there -and while you’re at it, please excuse my Photo-chop skills (or lack thereof …)

What you get if ya win:
• 1 Contour Design, Pocket Sleeve for MacBook – $39.95
• 1 pair Skullcandy 50/50 Earbuds – $49.95
• 1 pair Altec Backbeat Classic Mobile Earbuds – $22.88
• 1 Booq Mamba Pack Backpack, Red – $99.99

One entry per person, per day. We’ll announce the winner Monday around noon, so for those of you with superior math skills, you can enter a total of 4 times (if you leave comments today, Saturday, Sunday and Monday before noon.)

As always – no purchase necessary. CSNW employees and partners are ineligible. Offer ends 8/02/2010 at 12PM PST.

Full rules and conditions.

Update: Comments are now closed and a winner will be chosen.

After checking for battery issues, it became clear that this issue may be resolved with an SMC reset.

SMC stands for “system management controller” and this little guy is responsible for many low-level functions on Intel-based Macs, such as responding when you press the power button, responding when you open and close the lid of your laptop, and sensing changes to ambient lighting.

It’s certainly possible that the SMC could encounter an issue that might cause strange behavior – much like the situation described above with the continuous beep. In these odd cases, resetting the SMC may be the only way to resolve an issue, however, an SMC reset should only be attempted after all other tried and true troubleshooting have been performed. If you’re at all uncomfortable with the proceedure feel free to make an appointment with our HelpDesk folks – that’s why we’re here.

Before You Reset Your SMC

• Try each of the following steps in the order below before you reset the SMC. Make sure to test that the issue remains after completing each troubleshooting step.

• Press Command + Option + Escape to force quit any application that is not responding.

• Put your Mac to sleep by choosing the Apple () menu from the upper-left menu bar and then choosing Sleep. Wake the computer after it has gone to sleep.

• Restart your Mac by by choosing the Apple () menu from the upper-left menu bar and then choosing Restart.

• Shut down your Mac by by choosing the Apple () menu from the upper-left menu bar and then choosing Shut Down.

• If your Mac appears to be running normally but isn’t responding, force the computer to shut down by pressing and holding the power button for 10 seconds. Note: You will lose any unsaved work in any open applications.

For Mac portables experiencing issues related to the MagSafe power adapter and/or battery, try:

• Unplug the MagSafe power adapter from the Mac and the wall power socket for several seconds.

• Shutdown the Mac. Physically remove and re-insert the battery (if it’s removable) and startup the Mac.

• If the issue is still not resolved after following the troubleshooting items above, an SMC reset may be necessary.

• After performing normal troubleshooting, these symptoms may indicate that an SMC reset may be necessary:

Resetting the SMC

The process for resetting your SMC is slightly different for laptops with removable batteries v.s. non-removable, and desktops also have their own process. We’ve outlined the process for each below:

SMC reset for Mac laptops with a removable battery

• Shut down the computer.

• Disconnect the MagSafe power adapter from the computer, if it’s connected.

• Remove the battery.

• Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.

• Release the power button.

• Reconnect the battery and MagSafe power adapter.

• Press the power button to turn on the computer.

SMC reset for Mac laptops with non-removable batteries

These include MacBook Pro (Early 2009) and later, all models of MacBook Air, and MacBook (Late 2009).

• Shut down the computer.

• Plug in the MagSafe power adapter to a power source, connecting it to the Mac if its not already connected.

• On the built-in keyboard, press the (left side) Shift-Control-Option keys and the power button at the same time.

• Release all the keys and the power button at the same time.

• Press the power button to turn on the computer. Note: The LED on the MagSafe power adapter doesn’t change states or temporarily turn-off when you reset the SMC.

SMC reset for Mac Pro, Intel-based iMac, Intel-based Mac mini, or Intel-based Xserve

• Shut down the computer.

• Unplug the computer’s power cord.

• Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.

• Release the power button.

• Attach the computers power cable.

• Press the power button to turn on the computer.

So there you have it, a full breakdown of SMC resets for most late-model Mac computers. The next time your MacBook Pro starts beeping through the night you’ll know where to turn for the answer.

Step 1 – Deauthorize and reauthorize your computer

Before you attempt any of these these steps, grab a fresh back up of your device’s apps and files using iTunes. You could lose data if you don’t back things up – so do it first!

1. Connect your device to a computer and open iTunes.

2. In iTunes, select your device in the left-hand column and then click the Applications tab. Verify that Sync Applications is checked.

3. Choose Store > Deauthorize Computer from the menu bar. Enter your iTunes Store account and password, and then click Deauthorize.

4. Click Sync in the lower-right to sync your device. When prompted, select Don’t Authorize. This will remove all applications and other iTunes Store content from the device.

5. Note: You may see this prompt more than once. Select Don’t Authorize each time

6. When the sync is complete, choose Store > Authorize Computer from the menu bar. Enter your iTunes Store account and password, and then click Authorize.

7. Sync your applications and content from iTunes to the device.

Step 2 – Check for updates

Make sure you’ve have the latest version of iTunes installed. You can download and install the latest version of iTunes here. You should also check to see if there are any updates available for your application, installing the update may help to resolve any issues you may be experiencing. When checking for updates or newer versions of your application, make sure you are downloading the correct version for your device.

Step 3 – Reinstall the application

Remove the application from your device and your iTunes library.

To remove an App Store application from your device:

1. Touch and hold any application icon on the Home Screen until the icons start to wiggle.

2. Tap the “x” in the corner of the application you want to delete.

3. Tap Delete to remove the application and all of its data from your device.

4. Press the Home button to save your arrangement.

To remove an App Store application from your iTunes library:

1. Click on Applications from the left-hand column of the iTunes window.

2. Locate the application and either right-click or Control-click and choose Delete from the shortcut menu.

3. Select Remove when asked if you want to remove the selected application from your iTunes library.

4. Select Move to Trash when asked if you want to move the selected application to the Trash or Recycle Bin.

To download the application to your device or computer again:

1. Go to the App Store on your device or in iTunes.

2. Make sure you are signed in with the same account used for the original purchase.

3. Locate the application and click the “Buy App” button or tap the price on the device.

4. You will then see a dialog similar to one of the two below.

Redownloading from your computer you will see a prompt which says” You have already downloaded this time. To download it again for free, select OK.” Select OK to redownload the app.

Redownloading from your device you will see a prompt which says “You have already purchased this item. To download it again for free, select OK.” Select OK to redownload the app to your device.

Note: If you are rebilled for your download you can report the issue to Apple. If you are still having difficulty using a particular application, try downloading a different free application from the App Store.

That should do it! If the app still isn’t functioning properly you can report that to Apple here.

• Put in your install disk, let the computer start from that.

• Go past the Languages screen on the install and choose disk utilities from the utility menu at the top.

• Select your Macintosh HD from the list on the left.  Repair permissions first then select repair disk.

• If the disk is not repairable you may need another utility such as Disk Warrior to repair.  (We sell Disk Warrior at the Mac Store and it is an excellent investment for anyone with a Mac computer. We use it ourselves at our Help Desks and our Repair Center.

• After repairing retry booting the computer.

If this solves your problems, great !  If not you may need to either call tech support or make a help desk appointment for a software fix or diagnosis. If you are want to try a software repair yourself then do an archive and install from the install disk.  This will leave your information intact but replaces the operating system.

In earlier versions of Mac OS X, this could be done from a simple menu option in the Printer Setup Utility, but that utility is no longer around in 10.6 Snow Leopard.  Luckily it can still be done — the feature is just hidden.

Be warned — this will make your computer “forget” all printers and printer settings you’ve set up.  You’ll have to add the printer to your printer list again as you did when you first connected it.

Head to System Preferences; you can get there by choosing “System Preferences…” under the Apple-icon menu in the top left.

In System Preferences, choose “Print & Fax”.

You should see a column on the left with a list of the printers you’ve set up.  Hold “control” on your keyboard while clicking on this list.  You should see a selection to “Reset Printing System…”  Choose this.

You will be warned that this will delete all printer queues and pending print jobs.  If this is alright, click OK.

The problem is, our music libraries get bigger and bigger, and a lot of us outgrow the space we’ve got in our Mac computers. An external hard drive is a great option — it can give us tons more room to grow our music collections… but how do we move our music over without making iTunes go crazy?

The good news is there’s a pretty foolproof way to do it, but it might be the opposite of how you’d expect.  Instead of moving the files over ourselves, and then pointing iTunes to the new location, we actually point iTunes to the new location first, and then tell it to “pull” everything over.  The best part is, this way we don’t lose our playlists, ratings, album art, and all the other “extra” stuff.  Here’s how to do it, step by step.

1) Connect your external hard drive, and wait for it to appear on the desktop.

2) In iTunes, open up your Preferences (under the “iTunes” menu).  Head over to the “Advanced” section.

3) Make sure you have a checkmark next to “Keep iTunes Media folder organized”.

4) Under “iTunes Media folder location” you’ll see the “path” to the folder that holds all your music on your hard drive.  It will probably look something like:
/Users/jesse/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music

5) To the right of this, there is a “Change…” button.  Click it.

6) Now you’ll be prompted to choose a new folder to keep your music in.  Select your external hard drive — make a new folder just for the music if you want to keep everything tidy — and click “Choose”.  Now you can close the Preferences window by clicking “OK” in the bottom-right.

7) Finally, you’ll tell iTunes to “pull” your music to its new home. On the newest version of iTunes, you’ll go to the File menu, and under “Library”, choose “Organize Library”.  Here, you’ll select “Consolidate files”, and click “OK”.

Depending on how much music you have, this can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more.  Once it’s done, iTunes will automatically be keeping everything on your external drive.  Even new music you buy, download, or import will be added to the appropriate location on the external drive.

Be careful! If you open iTunes without that external drive connected, iTunes won’t be able to find your music and will ask if you want to start a new library from scratch.  If this happens, be sure to click “Cancel” and connect the external drive before opening iTunes again.

First, make sure “Zoom” is enabled by going to System Preferences and clicking on “Universal Access”.  Make sure “Zoom” is set to “On”. Now, zooming in on wherever you’re pointing is incredibly easy.

On a laptop: hold the control button on your keyboard, and do the “scroll” gesture: two fingers on the trackpad, moving up & down to zoom in & out.

On a desktop: hold the control button on your keyboard, and use the scroll wheel (or scroll ball) on your mouse to zoom in and out.  This also works on the Mighty Mouse: just brush your finger up and down where a scroll wheel would normally be.

You can even fine-tune how your screen follows the cursor when zoomed in.  Under “Universal Access” just click “Options…” next to “Zoom” and try out the different modes.

• Restart your computer. While it’s restarting, hold the mouse button (or trackpad button) down.  Keep holding it while the computer chimes and boots up.  If it boots all the way without ejecting the disk, try the same thing again, but this time holding the “eject” key (or F12 if you don’t have an “eject” key).

• If you have a laptop, try holding it sideways with the disc slot facing downward while you eject the disc, so you’re working with gravity.

• If you’re comfortable using the command line, open up the Terminal application and type the following and then hit Return: “drutil eject”

Sometimes the disc is stuck because it was the wrong size for the drive (make sure you don’t use miniature discs!) or because a second disc was accidentally inserted when one was already in there.

Attempting to “pry” a disc out is rarely successful, since drives are designed to hold discs tightly even when the computer is moved around. If the disc is physically wedged or trapped in the drive, it’s best to let a technician disassemble the unit.  This can minimize further damage to the disc and to the drive itself.