iPod Touch 1st Gen with V3 software

The new V3 iPhone/iPod software from Apple offers a lot of improvements and additions, unfortunately the amount of these changes decreases the further back the family tree you go. Probably the least blessed by the V3 update is the first generation iPod Touch, the model I use. I’ve been looking through the software I use on my iPod for a couple of days to find what’s new, so here’s a list of the changes you get for your £5.99/$9.99

Search Found to the left of the home screen, this offers similar functionality to the Mac’s Spotlight, searching most of the device’s built in applications. Icons for each application on the left identify where the match is so this is a very fast way of finding what you want. It’s also customisable from Settings>General>Home, as shown below. The home button can be assigned an action, and apps you don’t want to include can be deselected. It’s even possible to drag the apps around to change the order of the search results.

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Quicktime and the stuttering mouse

A few weeks ago I noticed a problem with mouse movement on the hackintosh, where the cursor would jump across the screen as if pausing for a fraction of a second. This only happened when quicktime was active, for example when using iTunes or the Quicktime player. An initial workaround was found at PCwizcomputer and while this worked by replacing a quicktime file it wasn’t a perfect solution.

Browsing for a better fix last week I found the weaksauce12 blog, also at PCwizcomputer. This highlights a problem with AppleUpstreamuserclient.kext. The explanation is that this kernel extention is for DRM use with the Macintosh versions of Nvidia 9400 and 9600 GPU’s. Although I have a 9800GT this appeared to be causing the problem as removing this kext did the trick. Combining this fix with iTunes 8.1 has made music a much better experience on the hackintosh.

iTunes updated to version 8.1

Apple has today released an update to iTunes. Version 8.1 boasts several new features on top of the usual bug fixes, including importing CD’s at iTunes Plus quality (AAC, 256kbps) and Genius for Movies and TV shows. The best improvement for me so far has been the speed boost. iTunes now loads faster and syncing with my 1st Gen iPod Touch is noticeably quicker.

Also updated are Front Row and the iPhone/iPod iTunes remote adding iTunes 8.1 compatibility.

Software updates for Friday 3rd October

Apple updates iTunes to 8.0.1 and AppleTV to 2.2
Bug fixes for both updates and Genius feature added to the AppleTV.

Fab’s Autobackup for recovering data from unbootable windows installs
Software backs up settings and data, like the Migration Assistant but will work if Windows cannot start. Wish I had known about this two weeks ago when I spent hours retrieving data from a corrupt Windows install.

Undercover updated to V2.5
The Macintosh recovery software (as in recovery after theft) has dozens of improvements in the latest version, this is software I bought and use on my Macbook.

Optimised Firefox 3.0.3 builds available
BeatnikPad hasn’t been updated for a while but there’s now a new source for optimised builds.

News for Thursday 2nd October

Increase your ADSL speed with the BT iPlate
For those suffering slow broadband speeds over an ADSL connection help may be at hand. The BT iPlate replaces your master phone socket and filters out electrical noise caused by other appliances in your home.

Microsoft and Washington Attorney General target scareware
Fed up with those popup windows warning that your computer is infected/corrupted and only by buying a piece of software can your computer be saved? So is Microsoft and it’s doing something about the problem.

Nintendo reveals the new DSi
Larger screens, two cameras, SD memory support and an MP3 player are some of the features of Nintendo’s latest handheld.

Apple threatens to close the iTunes music store over increased royalty rates
Increased royalty rates could mean the iTunes store would run at a loss if Apple is forced to pay for the increase.

Seagate Freeagent for Mac reviewed
And it’s not brown.

Apple readying more Snow Leopard Beta’s
Hopefully coming to a Bittorrent server soon. Now the developer focus on the iPhone is dropping off Apple is pushing ahead with Snow Leopard beta releases for developers.

Engineering Windows 7: Managing Windows windows
A lot of though is going into Windows 7, hopefully the engineering teams will have more say than the marketing team on what ends up in the final release.

Pwnage 2.0 released, screenshots

The iPhone Dev Team has released Pwnage 2.0 for jailbreaking and unlocking 1st gen iPhones, jailbreaking the V2 iTouch and iPhone 3G. Only firmware 2.0 is supported in this version.

I’ve tried unlocking my iTouch this morning with mixed results. The creation of the modified firmware completed with no problems but the process failed when PwnageTool tried getting the iTouch into DFU mode to enable iTunes to restore the new firmware. iTunes wouldn’t install the firmware when I manually put the iTouch into DFU mode. I eventually got around that by starting with the iTouch in DFU mode, coming out of it and going back in when the PwnageTool prompted. Following the PwnageTool instructions got the iTouch into a state where iTunes could restore the new firmware. Other users have reported success starting the process with the iDevice disconnected, and connecting when prompted to enter DFU mode.

Remote.app review

One of the first apps from the iTunes store that most people will try after upgrading their iPhone or iTouch to V2 is Remote. A simple interface much like the iPhone and iTouch music player, it allows control of your Computer’s iTunes or an AppleTV from anywhere within Wifi range of the same network.

iPod Touch Firmware download problems

Today has not been a good day for Apple in the UK. Problems and delays have blighted the launch of the 3G iPhone, with customers leaving Apple stores empty handed. The iPod Touch version 2 software is now linked to from the iPod page, but trying to access it results in the error message below. Not much to do but keep trying until the problems are sorted, more details to follow when the servers start working.

UPDATE After posting the above I tried iTunes again, and it’s now sometimes saying version 2 is available.  Clicking update then learn more still results in an error message, then iTunes says my iPod is up to date. Definitely not the smooth Apple experience we expect.

iTunes 7.7 available for download, in software update

Following news yesterday evening that iTunes 7.7 was due imminently it’s now available from both the itunes download page at Apple.com, and software update. The big addition is the App store, although this doesn’t seem to be currently available and there’s no software update for the iPod touch yet (v1.1.4 is still the latest). From the notes on the iTunes download page, ‘Access to the App Store requires the iPhone 2.0 Software Update for iPod touch, sold separately.’

UPDATE The App store has now appeared in the UK, and I have browsed and downloaded several of the free apps. Still no sign of the version 2 update at 22:52, so us iPod Touch owners are left staring at all those lovely apps we can’t use yet. Looks like Installer will be serving up software for another night.

Hackintosh part 10

When I completed the build and testing of my hackintosh I still had plans for some future updates to the hardware. 2Gb of Ram is fine for general use but gets used up fast if you start running windows in a virtual machine as well as Mail, Firefox, Graphic Converter and several other apps. I’ve now added another 2Gb of PC800 Kingston ram of the same spec as the original, and it’s working fine. System Profiler reports four banks of 1Gb PC800 ram and no problems. I can now allocate 1Gb of Ram to a virtual machine without slowing down the rest of the system.