Beyond Crappy to Shitty

July 24, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

Yesterday I encountered software that goes well beyond “crappy” to the truly shitty level. It’s a trojan-style virus named Virtumonde.

I’m still not 100% sure how it weaseled into my system — especially considering I keep this WinXP box patched and updated and run an anti-virus program (Avast) and WinPatrol (which checks for system modifications). Nonetheless, yesterday while I was browsing the Web in Firefox, Avast suddenly started firing off warnings of a trojan trying to install itself. I instructed Avast to block/delete it. There were 5 or 6 such warnings and I now suspect that Avast wasn’t able to kill one of them.

Oh, and I should mention that I wasn’t browsing for porn or looking at otherwise suspicious Websites. Rather, I was just looking up PHP tutorials. And I subsequently went back to those sites — using Firefox’s history — and didn’t have a repeat attack. So, the source of the attack remains a mystery.

At that point, WinPatrol kicked in — setting off alarms that an add-on, a Browser Helper Object (BHO), was trying to be installed in MS Internet Explorer. Mind you, IE was not even open at this point as I was browsing with Firefox. These BHOs had no names, but the files associated with them were

opnmnkh.dll
ddcca.dll

Both these files had been placed in WINDOWSsystem32 right at the time of the Avast trojan warnings.

First, I tried to disable them within IE. No luck. Then I tried simply deleting them, but Windows would not let me because they were being used by a system process (and I couldn’t terminate that process). Then I tried removing them with WinPatrol. No luck. Then I installed a second anti-virus/spyware app, Windows Defender. Defender identified the Trojan as Virtumonde, but it was unable to remove the files. It did describe the trojan and offer some advice about it:

Description:
This program displays advertisements and may be difficult to remove.

Advice:
Remove this software immediately.

Sigh. No shit, Sherlock.

I moved to the next level of combat: Hijack This and KillBox. Hijack This provided some additional diagnostic information, pulled from the registry:

O2 – BHO: (no name) – {DCD53738-C4F9-414A-A03C-C7405A4AC844} – C:WINDOWSsystem32opnmnkh.dll
O20 – Winlogon Notify: ddcca – C:WINDOWSsystem32ddcca.dll
O20 – Winlogon Notify: opnmnkh – C:WINDOWSSYSTEM32opnmnkh.dll

This told me that the BHOs were being loaded during the system boot, via Winlogon Notify; and Hijack This informed me that (1) this was very early in the boot process and thus hard to kill and (2) that this was a common route for trojans to install themselves. Helpful info, but then Hijack This couldn’t do anything about these registry entries. For some reason I can’t understand, they cannot be deleted. Next I turned to KillBox, which is supposed to be able to terminate processes and delete files associated with them. It didn’t work.

And during this time, ddcca.dll was renamed to jkkll.dll and gebyy.dll — obviously, randomly generated file names. But opnmnkh.dll remained the same and seemed to be the main culprit.

Finally, after five hours of struggling with this and screwing up my entire day, I turned to SystemRescueCd, described by Wikipedia as

a distribution of the GNU/Linux operating system on a bootable CD-ROM disc, useful for repairing unbootable computer systems and retrieving data after a system crash.

Yes, indeedy! I’d used this once before to rescue files from a computer that wouldn’t boot into Windows. This time, I booted from the CD and, from the command line, renamed the offending files to

gebyy.fuckoff
opnmnkh.fuckoff

Rebooted my system and, finally, I stopped getting alerts about an virus/trojan infection. Once the files were deleted, I could go back to Hijack This and remove the registry keys.

My system now seems back to normal, but, of course, I’m wondering if I fully removed that crappy (shitty) trojan.

Man, it’s enough to make me spend more time on my Mac, which is not such a big, juicy target for crap like this.

P.S. And I give a bit thanks to WinPatrol for preventing those BHOs from loading! I’m off to pay for their “Plus” version right now!

P.P.S. I did try two apps that are designed specifically to remove Virtumonde, but the ones I looked at did not succeed. I suspect this trojan has been mutating and is thus resistant to the automatic removals. The most helpful information about this trojan, for me, was on Audit My PC.

Radio Flyer: NOT Crap

July 14, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

Every once in a very long while a company’s customer service surprises you in a good, non-crappy way.

Radio Flyer, the maker of “little red wagons” since 1917, recently proved this to me. We bought my son one of their Deluxe Steer & Stroll Trikes. These are pretty cool as they allow the parent to “co-pilot” the trike, steering it from behind.

This feature has helped us steer Ian out of traffic on numerous occasions — although now, at 3.5 years old, he doesn’t need much co-piloting and is almost ready to move up to a two-wheeler.

In any event, the gears in the front wheel went out a few months ago. I couldn’t figure out how to open the wheel, let alone fix the gears and so I went to RadioFlyer.com to buy a replacement part. I was prepared to purchase it, but I stumbled upon their warranty form. Truth be told, I couldn’t remember exactly when I purchased it so I guesstimated a date. I really was not sure that our trike qualified, but I figured it didn’t hurt to fill out the form. And Radio Flyer did not request any proof of purchase from me.

I really didn’t expect much, but just a few days later a replacement part appeared on our doorstep. Radio Flyer had promptly shipped it to us at their expense. Amazing!

I attached it to our trike and Ian was mobile once again.

Thank you, Radio Flyer, for proving that some companies still stand behind their products!

A Proposal: IOSYBWGFYO Crap

July 10, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

There really ought to be an acronym for crap like this:

Slashdot Yahoo Downgrades MusicMatch Jukebox:
Posted by kdawson on Monday July 09, @07:11AM
from the nice-while-it-lasted dept.

BanjoBob writes ‘MusicMatch Jukebox has been a bundle of great MP3 and music management applications in one package. Apparently, it is the end of life for this wonderful MP3 player, ripper, catalog, CD player, Internet radio player, purchase outlet, Auto DJ, Super Tagger, and music database. There was nothing not to like about the product. There is nothing to like about the new downgrade, Yahoo! Music Jukebox. MusicMatch users have been getting notices to ‘upgrade’; those who have taken the bait are not pleased. The Yahoo! Music Jukebox feedback forum doesn’t have much nice to say about the product. Lots of features have gone away and the ‘free upgrade’ costs about $20.'”

Maybe the acronym should be “IOSYBWGFYO”, or:

In Order to Serve You Better, We’re Going to Fuck You Over

M-Audio FireWire 410 — Confusing and Crappy

July 4, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

First, a disclaimer: I am not a professional musician or an audio engineer. But I have worked in radio for over 30 years. So, I think that it is not just my incompetence that has made my experience with the M-Audio FireWire 410 audio interface a hair-pulling-out nightmare.

For those not familiar with the FireWire 410, I should explain that its function is to provide a hardware, FireWire-based connection between audio sources (microphones, instruments, etc.) and your computer.

Setting it up is a mind-numbing experience, as I’ve found during hours of configuration hell on both Windows and Mac machines. In fact, even though I’ve had it for over a year, some of my audio software still does not work properly with it.

But the most crappy thing about it can be found in this warning in its manual:

IMPORTANT: It has come to our attention that problems have been reported with several types of IEEE1394 (“FireWire”) devices, including MAudio FireWire devices. These problems occur when using a 6-pin bus-powered connection when plugging and unplugging external FireWire devices, when both the computer and external device are powered on. This is commonly referred to as “hotplugging”. In some cases the FireWire port on the host computer system is rendered permanently inoperable. In other cases the external FireWire device is rendered permanently inoperable. M-Audio does not want users of M-Audio FireWire products to experience such costly problems. Therefore, M-Audio must require that users of M-Audio FireWire devices refrain from hotplugging any M-Audio FireWire device. You must make your FireWire connection while both computer and FireWire device are powered off; then power on.

I have never heard of a FireWire device (or USB device, for that matter) that will render a port “permanently inoperable” just from plugging it in while the computer is already on. Fer cryin’ out loud, that ability to “hot plug” is one of the main selling points of FireWire/USB connections.

So, for its Byzantine set-up and for requiring that one must plug in the M-Audio FireWire 410 only when your computer is powered down, I hereby declare it a crappy piece of software (and hardware).

Original Comments on this Post

42 comments were posted on this article when it was over on my old, original, crappy Blogspot site–the most ever on a Crappy Software article. Here they are in all their annoyed glory. ‘Course, now you can extend this comment thread even further with the comment form at the bottom of this article.

Anonymous Anonymous said…

You are exactlly right! The M-Audio Firewire 410 will go down in history as the most legendary, lemon-flavored PC/Mac audio interface. They have had years now to work out the bugs in the drivers/hardware but they just can’t seem to do it!

12:19 PM
Blogger Randy said…
I agree,and Thankfully I got My 410 Second hand for a lot less than a new one.Why can’t you hot plug it?….Their Crap Drivers.
One thing to note is that you cannot have ANYTHING connected from the 410 to your computer during driver install. This includes not only the firewire but the Audio outs also,and any other plug for that matter. I’ve used it successfully with Amplitube/and Guitar Rig 2. But NOW cannot use it at all because I recently Upgraded my main PC to Vista Ultimate (Figured I’d start figuring MS Vistas Glitches Now,rather than Later) M Audi Only offers a Beta Driver,which even after 3 attempts to install,promptly Gives My Dual Core PC (with 2gbDDR,and A 150gb Raptor for OS/500GB Mirrored RAID)
The Blue Screen of Death.
I’ve only had 2 or 3 Vista Tweaks to fix,Mcafee,Nero,Update Hardware Drivers…And M Audio…Only one Remains..and guess which one that is! BTW M Audio Does Not Respond to Help emails Either. Good Luck!

4:13 PM
Blogger Randy said…
Update.r/t Vista Driver…Worked with Jose From M Audio on Tuesday. Went through the Steps,Delete Driver,Delete any TEMP File. Restart,Download Driver,Installed Driver,Restarted as M Audio and Jose Requested…OS Load Screen,and BOOM before you get to the Desktop…Blue Screen of Death/Crash. He Then Emailed me back saying that the Reason the Driver Caused Vista to Crash was possibly using a MotherBoard Firewire Plug instead of a PCI one.Only Problem is that the M Audio 410 Was not Connected to my PC AT ALL at the Time of the Driver install(Heck it was sitting across the Room!)…guess I’ll Try that too….Must Be Something Else..It COuldn’t be the Driver Could It?….Umm YES it Could!
BTW After Speaking with their “Tech Support” Line..I am a little Concerned about how Savy they are,and where they’re from…Do they Even Know what the Product is/Have Any Experience with it?…Stay Tuned

12:24 AM
Blogger Matt said…
I’ve had one for a bit over a year and found it to be a great product… i found the mixer confusing at first but got it working with CubaseSX, guitar rig, etc the same day i got it.

I also hot plug mine all the time, i dont care if it breaks the port, firewire cards are cheap…. but it never has had a problem.

8:31 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I have the FW410 on a Mac and can confirm that whilst the hardware is ‘ok’ the drivers are the most bug riddled pieces of crap probably ever known to man, hell, they’ve only had like 5 years to sort the sorry thing out! Support is a joke too, constantly told to “reinstall drivers” LOL. How about you learn to write them first you monkeys! it now resides as the worlds biggest pro tools dongle. Nice one M-Audio,-you totally suck.

8:28 AM
Anonymous elevated said…
I’m glad to have found a place to leave a comment about the Firewire 410. This thing has caused me problems for years now, and I thought it was just me!!!

Here’s a cute feature nobody else mentioned: The device crashes entirely if a plug in a completely seperate firewire device to my computer! This is a computer with multiple firewire ports. I’m not even talking about the COMPLETELY WORTHLESS extra firewire port that’s built into the 410.

2:48 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I have used the 410 in my studio for a year and a half now and it worked fine. Until 3 days ago when some sound bursts started coming out of the speakers. After that it was a nightmare consisting in the card constantly disconnecting itself from the computer while on. I changed the cable and the same happened. I borrowed another 410 from a friend and it worked ok with the same computer and same cable. One of the two FW connectors in my card doesn’t work at all, and the other has this behavior of working fine and after a while disconnecting itself. Offcourse I upgraded the drivers and the firmware, but it’s still not working. I have never hotplugged my device since I bought it, so I don’t have a f**king clue of what has happened. The worst thing is that the guarantee is over and nobody seems to be able to fix it. Off course I contacted M-Audio and they didn’t answer. I am using Pro Tools M-Powered so I’m stuck with shitty M-Audio until I have enough money to buy Pro Tools HD or something really pro. I hate M-Audio.

3:40 PM
Blogger Jeremy Butler said…
Judging from all the comments (almost all negative) on this one post, I could start an entire blog JUST about the craposity of the M-Audio Firewire 410!

4:12 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I have to agree with all of these comments. What a total piece of junk this thing is. I had it working for 3 months with all kinds of software weirdness on the Mac, but was able to get it to work in spite of many headaches. Then the thing just suddenly died on me.. driver reinstalls didn’t help, and tried it on another system, same thing.

Now I’m running an Alesis MultiMix 8 which has hardware knobs instead of M-Audio’s lame software utility, and in a way I’m kind of glad this thing crapped out otherwise I’d hav e never realized what I was missing.

10:56 AM
Blogger Rob said…
My FireWire 410 crashes on a OS X 10.4 machine when it goes to sleep and on my 10.5 machine when I plug in another FireWire device – in this case a FireWire 800 drive.

I think the problem may be due to the fact that the thing takes its power from the FireWire port so anything that upsets that power supply makes it crap out. That explains why they want you to plug it when the computer is off./

If that’s the case the drivers can’t do much.

11:51 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I’ve been working as a professional recording engineer for 8 years and a computer tech for about 12, and I’ve found the M-Audio FW410 to be nothing but rock solid. The hardware is what it is, and the software/drivers are fine. I have never had a problem on any systems I’ve used it on. All I can say is read the manual as far as install goes…it’s not the inferface’s fault if you can’t follow install directions, or if you fry your hardware by not using the “remove hardware safely” option in the taskbar.

8:49 PM
Anonymous Mike said…
M-AUDIO is the most crappy company I ever bought from. One I first bought my Firewire solo there was advertised on the box that I will get Logic for free. I never received that. After too much insisting the told me to contact the company behind logic, a kind of F* you!

Now, I am trying to make the crappy firewire solo to work on my mac. Without any driver, just using Apple’s drivers, the crappy fw solo works sometimes, sometimes not.

I have download their new crappy driver. Now, I connect my firewire solo and it says that the firmware is being updated and will just take 2 minuts… well, 20 minutes has passed and I am still not able to use the crappy FWSolo.

Their support is crap. Their drivers are a pure piece of stinking dump and their products sometimes work sometimes don’t.

12:34 PM
Blogger Kundan said…
I bought the Firewire 410 a week back.First thing: It doesnt work with the built in firewire port of the laptop.I tried it on both my laptops.I calledup the support and after hours together someone comes online and says that it would work only with a PCMCAI card and that too only with the Texas Instrument model. This is an absolute torture. I am fine to feel the pain of losing 15% while i return this now but i dont want to go through any more of this torture. I have used M-AUDIO Nova,M-AUDIO Ozone…and never faced any problem but Firewire 410 sucks big time.

3:10 PM
Blogger Darrell Berry said…
my (2nd hand) 410 worked very erractically for a few days and now on os x 10.5.4 causes a page fault which brings the OS down with a reboot screen a few minutes after boot (usually) and/or randomly hangs/dies during use. i wouldn’t recommend it for anyone, at least on 10.5.x…

4:13 PM
Anonymous Michael C. said…
I have one too. What a piece of shit.
That guy saying it was “rock solid” is an probably from M-Audio.

10:05 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I started having problems with M-Audio Firewire drivers when I updated to the 1.8 version. I then painfully checked each version going backwards, until I came to 1.7.4 which works fine for me on Leopard/intel and Tiger/ppc G4 with an Ozonic.

11:10 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I have a M-Audio fast Track Ultra. I bought it to replace the M-Audio Firewire 410 that kept crashing (Blue Screen) my PC. the Fast Track Ultra is no better. It crashes my PC. Please note: These crashes point to the device drivers of these audio interfaces. I’ve tried everything. I do have a simple workaround that will calm the issue down but is only a band aid.

12:40 PM
Anonymous petermichaelw said…
Uh, perhaps i am alone here, but I WHAT BLUE SCREEN? THis always makes me laugh. I have never had a blue screen in XP. Never. Since it came out, with real versions, bs versions, 5 different machines (of my own). Never. Can’t just be me.

I have no problems with my firewire 410 on XP and Vista 32bit, and thats over a period of 2 years now, on 3 different machines.

The only disappointment I have is the name 410, when in reality you cannot use 4 inputs at a time. But as it turns out, many use the “inputs available” number instead of the “inputs that can be used simultaneously” as the name.

10:23 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
All of you are right!!! They are crap! Same issues…all the time…

11:34 AM
Anonymous orchardstars said…
i had it working at least to play off off a media player like regular speakers but now its like none of the eight plug ins in the back will allow any kind of sound to come out no matter what i try. crappy. crappy. crappy. ….

7:48 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Well I can only say unlucky for those of you who’s dosent work, Im a music tech student and have been studying music tech since i was about 15, im running a leopard MBP and i havnt had any problems with it other than occasionaly having to switch my laptop on and off for the drivers to realise that it is actually connected.

HOWEVER Iv got one question that you guys might be able to help me with! When i am running logic it says that i have 4 inputs! I know one and two are the XLRs/3/4″ jacks on the front, and by pressing the mic/line button itll switch to the jacks in the back. SO CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHICH CONNECTIONS ARE 3&4?

1:27 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Utterly crap. Only good thing is a good quality sound when recording and playing back. Other than that, it seems designed to make people loose faith in soundcards altogether.BLUE SCREENS EXIST, they are a pain too, someone said he knows how to work around them, how is it? I use Vista 32bit. Thanks

10:33 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Right!!! They are crap! Same issues…all the time… I had been trying to install for around two years now and always crash my computer!!!!!!

2:48 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
the M-Audio Firewire 410 is a consumer item priced to fool you into thinking you have quality.

note the jacks on the rear ARE NOT secured to the case, but are held merely by the solder joints directly onto the circuit board! plugging and unplugging causes stress fatigue on these joints which eventually break – lead has a low fatigue tolerance, and it’s tensile properties are ultra poor. and if you don’t plug and unplug often, the weight of hanging cables can do the job on their own.

M-Audio knowingly built a poor quality rig in order to save on production cost, and to maximise profit, which explains why they can’t be arsed to sort their software out?

on big projects, i’ve had the driver crash and turn my audio to mush, requiring resets.

if you have one of these and your life is perfect, just wait ’till tomorrow when the solder breaks on a contact and you lose a channel…

bye bye M-Audio, you suck.

12:26 PM
Blogger amith said…
I agree with all you guys. This piece from M-Audio is a piece of shit!
It has ruined some precious days of my life
YOU SUCK M-AUDIO!!!!!

11:50 AM
Blogger regis “t.b.” milkshakey said…
yup – i’ve been so frustrated for so many countless hours trying to make my 410 work. i hate it. i cant believe i bought it. funny – i never realized this was happening to everybody who owns one. fuck m audio.

12:30 AM
Anonymous Naaman said…
i wana join in tooo!
such a bad unit this is!!
i cant believe it!!
and people i know that have it are simply getting used to hit a restart button the pc every hour or so!!
im saving for an RME card now and will NEVER EVER deal with m audio. good ridden , them and theyr false tech support guys… better use asio4all driver till i get anew unit …

4:54 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I am an engineer and own punkrockrecords.com (marty Munsch).
I hate almost all modern technology thats not analog! I’ve been around, check my cred and laugh! But, I have found unless you specifficly have lets say, no less than 1 GB of RAM and a SCSI drive of 7000RPM and or a SATA drive and a raid turnkey setup dedicated to your PC/MAC with no less than DUAL PROCESSOR CORE you are S_O_L…Thats what this stuff is designed for. Not the typical home user. (at least they market it for professional use). I had got the BSOD on a older PC and MAC. I went to a shitty 2007 DELL precission 380/400. it works fine. thats the way its supposed to be.

10:34 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
hey!

I got the solution!!!!!

If you want to get sound back out of your FW 410, it ‘s easy:

JUST SMASH IT WITH THE TOOL OF YOUR CHOICE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WILL SOUND BETTER THAN EVER.

DO NOT BUY M-Audio

4:11 PM
Blogger Ronny B said…
To call this hardware shit is too kind. NEVER worked. Shit has more uses.

5:17 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Hey,

i bought it used on Ebay for 110€. At first i had some problems but then i connected the Firewire cable to my 2nd 4pin Firewireport. Now it works great since 2 months without problems!Not crackling!No loss of connection!I am using win7 and i downloaded the newest drivers from M-Audio. I heard that most of the problems come from wrong Firewire ports (Texas Instruments Chipset firewire Cards should work).

cYa

2:27 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Hey,

cYa

2:29 PM
Blogger Roger J said…
does anyone know if the FW410 works on firewire800 with a 400 adapter on an imac?

3:36 PM
Blogger luke peril said…
I just lost my logic board because of an error while trying to run a mere 8 tracks of audio in Ableton Live 8. The CPU was at only 56% with the Core audio card, but spiked immediately and crashed the program with the FW 410. Shortly after, total failure of the logic board. $750 repair cost because I didn’t have Applecare. This machine kills creativity. M-Audio deserves a class action suit for this lemon.

12:58 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I think I’ve burned my FW port on Audiophile M audio card. And that is not a first time. I’m kind of pissed off cause first “operation” cost me half price of a “solid rock” piece. Now what?

6:25 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I’m so glad I found this site. I bought the Firewire 410 about 5 years ago, along with a 2006 MacBook Pro. This thing has caused me nothing but grief…when the thing worked, the sound quality was good. WHEN it worked. A lot of times it wouldn’t initialize at startup. Then randomly it would. A few months ago, it finally fried the firewire port on my computer. I’ve had it up to here. I’m considering replacing it with a Roland USB interface. It is an outrage that something like this could cost 300 dollars and suck so horribly. I will not buy M-Audio again, and I will discourage everyone I know from doing so.

10:30 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
So glad I found this page. What a horrible piece of equipment. I’ve been coping with the same problems you are all mentioning for years (bought it new 5 years ago). I am now replacing it because I just can’t take it any more. I will not buy M-Audio ever again.

10:54 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Maybe, just maybe, this is more a mac issue than a PC one. Most of the posts here are from mac users. lol

10:00 PM
Blogger Jeremy Butler said…
Don’t think this is a Mac issue. I had my problems with it while on Windows machines.

6:35 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Mac, PC… I have installed my FW410 on 5 different machines over the years and guess what ? It never worked at first attempt, always running through problems. Definitely the reason why you don’t want to buy M Audio, even if their speakers are OK.

5:58 AM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
I agree–this thing is a hunk of junk! It never worked on my XP machine, and the playback doesn’t work on my MacBook Pro. Coincidentally, my FW 800 doesn’t work anymore, only in 400 mode. Wonder if this crappy 410 is to blame?

9:18 PM
Anonymous Anonymous said…
Constant problems with this from the start, random popping, restting and crashing for no reason. M-audio have been bought out and the new companies technical help desk could do nothing to help apart from advice me how it should be working theoretically.
A sensitive piece of shit, I’ll be glad to see the back of it.

Macs Don’t Crash?

June 24, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

To them that say that Mac OS is one operating system — unlike Windows — that never crashes, I present Exhibit A below. I had put my MacBook to sleep and then tried to wake it again. It refused to wake up. After a hard re-start (pushing the off/on button for a few seconds), it did come back to life, but told me my Mac had panicked.

So much for Mac OS X being crash proof.

Anyone who tells you that a particular OS never crashes is living in a dream world.

— Mac “panic” —

panic(cpu 0 caller 0x00136744): stack_alloc: kernel_memory_allocate
Backtrace, Format – Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x2f163f28 : 0x128d08 (0x3cb134 0x2f163f4c 0x131de5 0x0)
0x2f163f68 : 0x136744 (0x3cbac4 0x2f163f9c 0x4000 0x7fff)
0x2f163fa8 : 0x13ae4f (0x41a68b0 0x0 0x0 0x4b9000)
0x2f163fc8 : 0x19ac1c (0x0 0x0 0x19e0b5 0x41b159c) Backtrace terminated-invalid frame pointer 0x0

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 8.9.1: Thu Feb 22 20:55:00 PST 2007; root:xnu-792.18.15~1/RELEASE_I386

Model: MacBook2,1, BootROM MB21.00A5.B00, 2 processors, Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GHz, 2 GB
Graphics: Intel GMA 950, GMA 950, Built-In, spdisplays_integrated_vram
Memory Module: BANK 0/DIMM0, 1 GB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
Memory Module: BANK 1/DIMM1, 1 GB, DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz
AirPort: spairport_wireless_card_type_airport_extreme (0x168C, 0x87), 1.0.47
Bluetooth: Version 1.7.14f14, 2 service, 1 devices, 1 incoming serial ports
Network Service: AirPort, AirPort, en1
Network Service: Parallels Host-Guest, Ethernet, en2
Network Service: Parallels NAT, Ethernet, en3
Serial ATA Device: TOSHIBA MK8034GSX, 74.53 GB
Parallel ATA Device: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857D
USB Device: Built-in iSight, Micron, Up to 480 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad, Apple Computer, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: IR Receiver, Apple Computer, Inc., Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA
USB Device: Bluetooth HCI, Up to 12 Mb/sec, 500 mA

Crappy Bluetooth

June 15, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

I’ve got this MacBook, right? And it’s got Bluetooth built in, don’t you know? But I don’t got no Bluetooth devices.

So, while I was out in Phoenix recently, I impulsively bought a Bluetooth mouse at Fry’s: the Macally model BT53 BTmouse.

What a piece of crap.

First, it’s frustrating as hell because it puts itself to sleep at a moment’s notice and you have to remember to click a button to wake it (just moving the mouse doesn’t do it). Problem is, sometimes it takes more than one click to wake it up. You’re stuck, clicking away, hoping it might come to.

Second, it comes with rechargeable batteries and a recharging stand. But, just two weeks after I bought it, they won’t hold a charge any more.

What a piece of crap.

And I’m now 1,500 miles from where I bought it so I can’t return to Fry’s and dump it.

Grumble, grumble.

I still like the idea of a BT mouse, however, and so I bought an overpriced Apple-brand one at the Apple store in Birmingham. Works like a charm. I don’t like the scrolly ball on the top as much as a regular roller thingy, but otherwise I’m liking it.

Wish it cost about half as much as it did, however.

What sucks about Firefox on the Mac

April 26, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

The blog, Walking Like Giant Cranes, has prompted folks to address the crappiness of Mozilla Firefox on the Mac. It asks:

“What sucks about Firefox on the Mac?”

…and it gets plenty of answers.

Personally, I’ve found Firefox to be pretty tolerable on the Mac–much better, at least, than Safari.

Update: While looking at this issue I found out about Camino–a browser based on the same rendering engine as Firefox. Just installed it and am typing this note using it. It does seem to be a bit speedier than Firefox…

Are Macs Crap?

April 19, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

I’m certainly not the first person to ask the question, “Are Macs crap?” Many, many, many articles have been written comparing Macs to other operating systems. And compare/contrast articles proliferate each time a new version of Windows comes out–as has happened recently with Windows Vista.

So, I don’t know that I’ve got anything unique to add to the debate. However, on 19 April 2007 I bought a MacBook after being a hardcore, “power” Windows user for years. So, I have, in a limited capacity, made the “switch” (despite the annoying, cloying Mac “switch” ads, which almost caused me not to buy a Mac). I say “limited” because my two main computers remain Windows XP machines; this MacBook is more of an auxiliary machine–for portable use and traveling. And I do a lot of work on Linux servers, too.

Thus, I am not a OS chauvinist. And I have worked on Macs in the past and I bought my very first computer from Apple–the amazing little Apple 2e. What a sweet machine! Talk about no crashes? That was the last computer I used that never crashed.

Why did I buy a Mac this time?

One of my computer’s hard drives just died (after only two years of use! crummy HP desktop computer!) and I was in the market for a new one and I rilly don’t want to go to Windows Vista. (Reasons not to use Vista: number 1.)
I’m interested in some lightweight video editing using Final Cut Pro. I teach in a department that teaches video editing and Macs are what my colleagues use. I want to be able to draw on their expertise, although I have had good luck with Adobe Premiere and Adobe Premiere Elements.

I plan to use the Crappy Software Blog to chronicle the joys and sorrows of learning a new operating system. We’ll see how much detail I feel like writing. If an item has already been well covered elsewhere, I may just list it here–unless its craposity warrants further comment.

This post will be updated/edited as I discover more things about Mac OS (X Tiger).

Joys

The display is well-defined and very bright. I suspect it’s something about the Mac gamma setting. In any event, photos and videos look great.
Web pages appear to render more quickly in Firefox than in the same software on Windows. (No, I won’t be using the sucky, Mac-provided Safari. What a substandard Web browser!)
When you first create an account, it uses the built-in camera to snap your picture to use as an avatar. Cute!
If you put two fingers on the touch pad, you can scroll with them (instead of just moving the cursor). Handy!
Adjusting monitor settings is more intelligent on OS X than Windows XP. If you’re running two monitors (e.g., my MacBook and an external monitor) and you call up the “Displays” settings, it shows a window for each directly on the individual monitor screens–unlike Windows which only shows you the settings for one or the other and makes you guess which is which.
Also, the Mac seems to be smarter about handling dual monitors. I had a window open in one monitor when I unplugged it. The Mac shifted the window over to the still connected monitor. In Windows, if you try that, then the “open” window still displays on the phantom monitor and you can’t see it. It becomes very difficult, then, to move that window back onto the visible monitor space.

Sorrows

The Delete key is a backspace key.
Similarly, when viewing files in the Finder, you cannot delete a file with the Delete key alone. Instead, you must Move to Trash with a combination of Command-Delete.
And “regular” deleting is a two-button process: fn-delete (fn = “function” key).
The touchpad–like the mouse–has just one button. (Is this due to Apple stubbornness?!) But, thankfully, two-button mice work with it. (An $8 Logitech, wireless, two-button mouse works just fine with the MacBook.)
Page Down/Up requires pressing two keys instead of just one: fn-down/up arrow.
Maybe I’m just missing something, but selecting does not work as I expect with the and Home and End keys. That is, when holding down the shift key and End you should be able to select everything from that point to the end–in, say, a text box. But no…
Adding a conventional, non-Mac keyboard results in unpredictable key assignments. E.g., which key will work as the Open-Apple key? (However, some Microsoft keyboards will let you assign keys and, by default, will match the cmd-opt-ctrl keys’ layout to their position on a Mac keyboard.)
Windows can only be resized by click-dragging the lower-right corner (as opposed to click-dragging any edge of a window).
A special connector is required to connect to an external monitor. Windows laptops come with this as a standard feature. Apple charges $17 for a video adapter. Ain’t that chintzy for a $1,200 computer?
An update from Apple momentarily killed my built-in camera–less than a week after I bought it (so it “just works,” does it?). After dutifully going to Software Update and doing all the updates that were suggested, the camera stopped working. Went into Photo Booth and got nothing but a green screen. A Mac-using friend dug up this article, which explains, “Be sure that you shut your computer down completely (not just restart) after installing the update.” Shutting down is different that restarting? That sounds like a Windows thing! I thought Macs were smarter than that.Now I’m back in business and, using Photo Booth, I can create images such as the one below.
The keyboard shortcut for closing a windows (cmd-w) is right next to the shortcut for closing an entire application (cmd-q), which makes it super-easy to shut down an entire app when you were just intending to close one window within that app. Yes, I’ve already made this mistake.
Cmd-tab switches applications (just like, on Windows, alt-tab does), but it does not include app windows that are minimized to the dock.
iDVD is an excellent coaster maker. Initially, it seemed like iDVD was a great little program. It certainly makes the process of building a DVD dead simple. But it’s not so great at burning several disks in succession. Three times now, it’s locked up at the burn stage and created useless DVD coasters. Each time, it was after I’d successfully burned one disk and then told it to burn another. And each time, I had to force-quit iDVD after it hanged at this screen:

So, I’d have to say that Adobe Premiere Elements is the superior DVD authoring/burning software.

Neither a Joy Nor a Sorrow (tips/hints/tweaks I’d like to remember)

The Control key often acts like the right mouse button, giving one an options menu. (Odd that the Option key does not do that.) In MacSpeak, this is the control-click.
CMD-home/end take you to the start/end of a line.
Option-cursor takes to to the next word (like CTRL-cursor on Windows).

Handy resources for switchers

Switch 101: On Windows, I used to…

Comments may be made below, but anything vaguely smelling of an OS religious war will be deleted.

The 20 Most Annoying (& Crappy) Tech Products

April 17, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

We here at Crappy Software HQ know we aren’t the only ones who recognize crap when we see it. PC World recently polled its readers for their choices of annoying tech products.

Some things are annoying by their very nature. But when the annoyances stem from stuff you’ve paid for or products you rely on to get things done, that really takes the cake.

Unlike PC World‘s “25 Worst Products of All Time,” irksome products aren’t necessarily bad, buggy, or dangerous. But they all have one or two traits that make you want to wrap them in 200 pounds of steel cable and toss them off the side of a boat. From stupid features and rude behavior to brain-dead design and poor corporate policies, these 20 products have truly annoyed us over the years, and some continue to do so.

And the winners… er… losers are:

1. AOL CDs
2. Windows Me
3. Anything With DRM
4. McAfee Internet Security, Symantec Norton Internet Security (combined vote)
5. RealPlayer
6. Bonzi Buddy
7. MySpace
8. Windows Update
9. Windows Vista
10. Apple QuickTime

The staff at Crappy Software has experienced all of these products except Windows Vista. We can certify that they are, indeed, crap.

For more on this crap (with photos), see:

PC World – The 20 Most Annoying Tech Products

The Battle Over DRM: Macrovision & Jobs & Daring Fireball

February 19, 2007 Jeremy ButlerLeave a comment

On legal grounds, the biggest threat to fair use in the U.S. is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). But on practical, logistic grounds, the biggest threat to fair use is digital rights management (DRM) run amok on music and video media. That’s why many of us sat up and took notice when Steve Jobs (somewhat hypocritically) called for an examination of DRM and suggested the possibility of abolishing it.

This did not sit well with Fred Amoroso, CEO & President of Macrovision Corporation, a company that has been marketing DRM crap… er… “solutions” for decades. He fired a salvo back at Jobs that was a model of PR double-speak. This did not sit well with John Gruber of Daring Fireball, who offered a “Translation From PR-Speak to English of Selected Portions of Macrovision CEO Fred Amoroso’s Response to Steve Jobs’s ‘Thoughts on Music’“. It starts with this helpful translation:

I would like to start by thanking Steve Jobs for offering his provocative perspective on the role of digital rights management (DRM) in the electronic content marketplace and for bringing to the forefront an issue of great importance to both the industry and consumers.

Translation: Fuck you, Jobs.

(This post was cross-posted at MediaCommons.)