DasBoot 2.0 now supports Snow Leopard

Another valuable free utility has gained Snow Leopard support, with the release of DasBoot 2.0. This is a tool for making custom boot devices from a USB flash drive or other USB or FireWire media, including an iPod. It can import a variety of diagnostic utilities (Disk Warrior, Drive Genius, TechTool Pro and more) from their bootable install discs and configure them for use on the same device. You'll obviously need the appropriate license key to use commercial software. It's also possible to update the installed software, so there is no need to burn a new disc every time one piece of software gets an update. This version of DasBoot works with 10.5 and up; there is also an older (1.0.3) version available for Tiger. The only real limitation comes from the inability of PowerPC Macs to boot OS X from a USB drive. If you need to repair both Intel ...

published on Thursday, the 15. July 2010, macosxhints

AppleJack 1.6 for Snow Leopard

AppleJack has been updated to work with Snow Leopard with the release of version 1.6. In a nutshell, AppleJack is a command-line utility and series of scripts for running repair tasks in Single User Mode when a bootable startup disc in not available. It's great for those times when all you get is a blue screen and no GUI startup, and need to troubleshoot and repair the problem, but left your complete CLI reference book in your other suit. To use it, bring up Single User Mode by holding down Command-S at startup and then when the prompt is available type applejack. Use the menu provided or select 'auto pilot' to perform all of the basic tasks, such as filesystem and permission repair, cache clearing, and more. There is an 'Expert mode' available by typing 'x' at the AppleJack prompt to do more operations on the hardware and user accounts. Documentation is provided in a Man page; type man applejac ...

published on Tuesday, the 13. July 2010, macosxhints

Apple Quietly Goes After Mac Trojan With Update

Th'Inquisitor was one of several readers to point out coverage of Apple's stealth security fix, included along with the recent Snow Leopard 10.6.4 update. Graham Cluley of Sophos first noticed the update to protect Mac computers from a Trojan, and the fact that Apple didn't mention it in the release notes. The malware opens a back door to a Mac that can allow attackers to gain control of the machine and snoop about on it or turn it into a zombie. "You have to wonder," writes Cluley, "whether their keeping quiet about an anti-malware security update like this was for marketing reasons." While he certainly has a point that Apple benefits by its users' belief that the platform is secure, you also have to wonder whether any such publicity from a security company has a marketing subtext, as well. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

published on Saturday, the 19. June 2010, apple-slashdot

Mac OS X 10.6.4 missing Flash 10.1, says Adobe

Apple has once again failed to put the latest version of Flash in a Snow Leopard update, Adobe's security and privacy director complains. Mac OS X 10.6.4, released on Tuesday, includes Flash Player 10.0.45.2. The problem, says Brad Arkin, is that this version of Flash was originally released for Macs in February, whereas v10.1 has been available since last week and fixes major security vulnerabilities, in addition to bringing feature improvements.... Apple - MacOS X - Adobe Systems - AdobeFlash - Adobe

published on Thursday, the 17. June 2010, macintosh-news-network