Disk never sleeps in Mac OS X - how to fix it - updated

[caption id="" align=“alignright” width=“448”] Image by DigaoSPBR[/caption] My internal hard disk would continuously spin on my MacBook Pro and never goes to sleep. I replaced my internal drive on my MacBook Pro with an SSD disk, which made a massive difference in speed. At the same time, I removed the DVD unit and installed a new 500gb drive instead. The extra disk went to sleep when not in use, but then started within a couple of minutes or less. Here’s what I did to fix that problem. ...

February 6, 2012

My favorite commands in .bash_profile on Mac OS X

Here are some additions to my .bash_profile for making life easier. I especially like that completion now ignores case. Makes navigating the file system so much faster. Give them a spin. [cc lang=“bash”]export HISTCONTROL=erasedups export HISTSIZE=10000 shopt -s histappend set completion-ignore-case on [/cc]

November 24, 2010

MAMP WordPress Error establishing a database connection

I’ve installed MAMP on my Mac to do some changes to my blog. I tried to set the WordPress wp-config.php file to connect to localhost:8889, but got an error that It could not connect to the database. After replacing localhost:8889 to 127.0.0.1:8889 it works. My quick guess is that permissions for the root user is set to allow connections 127.0.0.1, but not localhost. Anyway, it works now. My wp-config.php file looks like this: ...

March 20, 2009

Mac OS X 10.5.2 hangs on wake from sleep

I have had this annoying problem with my Macbook Pro. Sometimes when waking the machine from sleep, the machine can not connect to the selected Airport network and then hangs with spinning pizza of death. Apples next update to 10.5.3 looks like it will fix it. Hopfully Apple will release it soon… From Fixed list of Mac OS X update 10.5.3 - Joining AirPort network after wake issue resolved

May 21, 2008

Usenet - The forgotten network

[caption id=“attachment_2418” align=“alignleft” width=“300”] Photo by Paul Hammond[/caption] It’s been awhile since I last logged on to Usenet to read some groups and to download stuff. I found this great application called Unison from a company called Panic. And it’s great. I even signed up for a Usenet account from them when buying the software. I now have a 10mbit line at home, and no Usenet provider has been able to provide a fast enough service to me, until now. Impressive stuff. The only downside with the account is that you only get 10gig of download. Now, that may sound like a lot, but I get through that fast. ...

March 30, 2004

Little Snitch makes sure Mac applications doesn't call home

Little Snitch keeps you covered Use Little Snitch to monitor what developers of programs sends home. Then you can stop that specific traffic. More and more programs phone home with information to the software company. Sometimes it’s harmless, like checking if a newer version is available, but sometimes they also send data like serial numbers and your registration information. So is there a way for you to control what programs can do? Yes, there is! There’s an excellent program called Little Snitch that monitors all communication from applications on your Mac OS X machine and asks you if the information is allowed to be sent over the internet. ...

October 13, 2003