Archives for the 'Apple' Category
Rebuilding the Apple Mail Envelope Index
Some time ago, I had set up my Gmail account in Apple Mail in order to copy over messages that were missing in my online jimmitchell.org IMAP account. I’m one of those guys who likes to have everything all in one place at my finger tips when I want it.
After copying over the messages I wanted, I completely removed the Gmail IMAP account from Mail and when about my business. Soon after, when I went searching for a specific email, I experienced the phenomenon of ghost emails in the search results (see image below). These are messages that Mail once new about, but no longer know where they exist. The ghost emails were all from the since removed Gmail account.
If you’re experiencing the same problem, here’s a very simple fix for it. First, quit Apple Mail if it’s running, then navigate your way to “~/Library/Mail/” (where “~” is your home folder) in the Finder. Once you’re in the Mail folder, you’ll see a file named “Envelope Index” which keeps track of where all messages are located. Rename “Envelope Index” to “Envelope Index Backup” (We don’t want to trash the file just yet).
Then, relaunch Apple Mail. You’ll be presented with a daunting “Message Import” dialog that looks like your email account was wiped out and you’re starting all over. Fear not. You’re simply rebuilding the Envelope Index at this point.
Click “Continue” to rebuild the index. Once it’s done, all those pesky phantom messages will be gone the next time you perform a search in Mail (Yay!). You can then go back to the “~/Library/Mail/” folder in the Finder and move the file you renamed to “Envelope Index Backup” to the Trash.
And there you have it. A very simple solution to a problem that has baffled some of the best Mac users.
Abrupt Logout in Leopard 10.5.2
Okay this so totally sucks that I have to let the world know about it!
While in the middle of my work, Leopard 10.5.2 just logged me out on its own without any kind of warning. It didn’t let me save any open documents or anything — it just logged me out, and so totally hosed a FileMaker 6 file I was working on in the process that it can’t be recovered or anything. Thank god I have a back up — but DAMNIT Apple, you just cost me two hours worth of painfully tedious work on that file with this little inconvenience. I’m pissed in a very big way right now. Thank you so much.
First it was the external monitor debacle that bit me, now this! Has anyone else had this happen to them? How did you deal with it? Is there something I don’t know about going on here?
[update] It would seem the WindowServer crashing was the culprit according to my crash logs. It could be that there’s a tremendous memory leak in FileMaker 6 (a PPC application which has to run in Rosetta) windowing code. Unfortunately, I don’t have much choice here as the day job is unwilling to upgrade — other than developing FM6 solutions in Windows, which I may have to do now. At any rate, I’ve calmed down somewhat, but I’m still quite annoyed that I lost the 2 hours of work.
MacBook Air Battery: A Bit Pricey Too
MacBook Air battery replacement costs $130, takes 5 days : “if the unit is out of warranty.” (Via MacFixIt.)
As Joe “Guitar” Huges would have said: Ouchie, baby…
[Update] According to Andy Ihnatko on Twitter, the MacBook Air battery is an Apple Store replaceable part for $129 (same price as a MB battery) with no labor charge. No word if it could be done while you wait at the Genius Bar, or if a unit had to be left & picked up later.
[Update v2] Mac Daily News reports that it’s not really that difficult to swap out the battery after all. Of course, you should only have the swap done by an Apple Certified Tech, lest your warranty be voided. But then again, hopefully by the time you’d need a new battery, your warranty will have expired…
My Keynote Thoughts
Here are my thoughts of the Apple keynote in 5 points…
Leopard: Agreed. Most successful OS X yet. Had to work on a machine with Tiger the other day, and it felt, well, ugly. I definitely like 10.5 way better, even with the remaining flaws (getting impatient for the 10.5.2 update).
iPhone: Good for Apple, but I still don’t want one. I just don’t use my phone/iPod enough to justify what it would cost me. I admit, they are sleek though. Maybe one day.
iTunes/AppleTV: Of absolutely no interest to me. I’m old-school when it comes to renting my movies. I actually like going to the local Blockbuster and browsing the aisles for something to watch. I don’t even do NetFlix or Blockbuster Online.
MacBook Air: Innovative? Yeah, to a degree I guess. Serious work-horse? Not even close. At best, I see the MacBook Air as a toy for those with an extra $1800 (or $3100 for the SSD equipped model. Ouch!) burning a hole in their pocket. To me, it’s just another gadget that only does some of what my MacBook Pro already can. I’ll stick with what I’ve got, thanks.
Time Capsule: This was the highlight to me. For the average user who is in the dark about backing up data, Apple has made that task much easier. Serving as a base station with a “server grade” hard drive (I guess that means it should be less likely to fail), it’s a simple set up. That’s good for a start. I’m still a huge proponent of having a fully cloned (two if possible) backup of the machines you really rely on. Disk drive quality isn’t what it used to be, so that means more of a chance to lose your data than ever. Backup often, and backup early I always say.
As a final note, I’ve already purchased my Worst Keynote Ever shirt from the MacMerc store…
Oh. A final, final note: There were software updates for QuickTime, iTunes, Front Row and iMovie today. Be sure to fire up Software Update to get yours…
Resetting iTunes Authorization
So you just got a new iMac for Christmas, and now you need to know how to reset which machines are authorized to access your purchased iTunes media. Well, you’re in luck, because here’s the support article you’ve been looking for: