Chris Murphy: My findings in tech

Hostname in Mac terminal tabs

chrisjmurphy — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:08:22 +0000

One thing that has always annoyed me about Mac’s Terminal program is the lack of the ability to set the hostname in a tab title when I ssh to a box. There isn’t a whole lot to find on Google about how to do this but there is one diamond in the rough: Amy Linari’s MagicWrap program. In short this Perl program wraps the ssh binary and uses xterm escape codes to set the tab name before calling the ssh binary. Just what I was looking for!

Install is straight-forward with a dmg file and then easy editing of a configuration file:
vi /usr/local/magicwrap/etc/magicwrap.conf
Just edit that file and remove the comment hashes in front of the ssh section. Mine looks like this:

# This is a hash of wrappers. The format is as follows:
#
#       '' => [
#               'title' => '', # Use \1... to put args in title
#               'command' => '', # Command to wrap
#               'style' => '', # Style to switch to (optional)
#               'clear' => 1, # Clear screen before command (optional)
#
%wrappers = (
        'ssh' => {
                'title' => '\1',
                'command' => '/usr/bin/ssh',
                'style' => 'Pro',
                'clear' => 1,
        },
#       'ftp' => {
#               'title' => 'ftp \1',
#               'command' => '/usr/bin/ftp',
#       },
);

# Leave this alone.
1;

Then run this command to create the symlinks:
/usr/local/magicwrap/bin/magicwrap
Then make sure the MagicWrap wrapper is in your PATH before the actual ssh binary. I did this by adding it to my .profile file.
export PATH=/usr/local/magicwrap/bin:$PATH
After that just restart terminal and ssh as you normally do, once you connect the tab name should be changed to the name of the box you are connecting to.

Note: The most recent time I did this I ran in to a new error:
Unable to create link /usr/local/magicwrap/bin/../tmp/
I wish I could say I knew why this happened but I was able to fix it by changing some directory permissions:
sudo chmod 777 /usr/local/magicwrap/tmp
If anyone knows a better way to fix this please let me know…

Adding time zones to MySQL on Mac

chrisjmurphy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:44:11 +0000

Today I was trying to run someone else’s script to setup some default mysql databases. In one of the scripts there was a command as follows:
SET time_zone = 'GMT';
This was causing an sql error ‘SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1298 Unknown or incorrect time zone: ‘GMT”’; The reason for this error is because the time_zone tables in the mysql database were empty, so all I needed to do was find out how to populate them…

Easy fix was to import the time zones from my local machine with this easy command from the command line:
mysql_tzinfo_to_sql /usr/share/zoneinfo | mysql -u root mysql

After that my mysql.time_zone* tables were populated and running the set time_zone command worked fine.

Netbeans stuck on creating project?

chrisjmurphy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:08:54 +0000

Today I ran in to an issue after installing Netbeans 6.7 (This problem existed with 6.5 as well). Whenever I tried to create a new project or add files to a package the application would just hang at 25%. I found the solution on the netbeans forums and decided to post it here for future reference… hopefully this will save someone some time and frustration in the future:

All I did was edit my netbeans.conf file located here:
vi /Applications/NetBeans/NetBeans\ 6.7\ RC3.app/Contents/Resources/NetBeans/etc/netbeans.conf

I added a line under the commented out #netbeans_jdkhome line like this:
# Default location of JDK, can be overridden by using --jdkhome : #netbeans_jdkhome="/path/to/jdk" netbeans_jdkhome=/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6/Home

After that I restarted Netbeans and everything worked fine.

Upgrading subversion on a Mac

chrisjmurphy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:50:17 +0000

OSX comes installed with Subversion which is really nice. But it comes installed with version 1.4.4 which is pretty old compared to the most recent version at the time of this writing which is 1.6.2. I didn’t find this out until I attempted to use the –depth option (which allows you to only check out so far in to a repository) during a checkout and was informed that it was an invalid option.
cj-mac:Adknowledge cjmurphy$ svn co --depth immediates svn+ssh://... svn: invalid option: --depth cj-mac:Adknowledge cjmurphy$ svn --version svn, version 1.4.4 (r25188)
The install process for the newest version was pretty simple. I used the CollabNet binary, the newest version can be found at CollabNet. Just download the dmg, mount it and run through the install steps.
Since the installation by default puts the svn binaries in a different location than the default mac install we have to tell bash to use the new binary. I chose to do this by adding a line to my ~/.profile file:
vi ~/.profile
Added these lines to the bottom:
# Adding Subversion to PATH export PATH=/opt/subversion/bin:$PATH
Then loaded the new .profile file in to my current terminal session:
. ~/.profile
That should be all we need to do, lets check the version:
cj-mac:Adknowledge cjmurphy$ svn --version svn, version 1.6.2 (r37639)
That’s it. Pretty simple and I can now use the –depth option as well as many other new and useful features that have been added since 1.4.4.

Installing a SSD in a MacBook Pro

chrisjmurphy — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:55:32 +0000

I recently purchased a new unibody 17″ MacBook Pro that came with a 5200RPM 500GB hard drive. I’ve been pretty curious about the benefits and performance of SSD as a hard drive so decided to take the plunge and replace the stock hard drive with a new OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD. I took pictures of each step along the way since I couldn’t find a central location for a full walkthrough of the process. This guide will be tailored to an OCZ Vertex SSD but the general steps should work fine for any other brand. Any additions, corrections, suggestions, comments are appreciated. Enjoy.

Step 0: Backup Current Settings
My first step was to use Time Machine to backup my current profile. I used an external Western Digital hard drive. This was my first experience with Time Machine and it was a simple and successful process!

Step 1: Get the latest Firmware and Boot Disk
Before attaching the new OCZ SSD you’ll want to upgrade the firmware on it. My Vertex came with firmware version 1.1 and at the time of this writing the most current firmware was version 1.3. In order to flash the SSD with the the firmware a boot disk and the actual firmware utility will have to acquired. Lucky for us, a user on the OCZ forum has created an ISO with FreeDOS and the newest version of the firmware for each size of SSD. More information and download links can be found in this thread at the OCZ forums.

Since I had never burned an ISO image on a Mac before I had to do a little research as it wasn’t immediately obvious. Here is how I ended up doing it: Open up ‘Disk Utility’ and drop down the ‘File’ menu and click ‘Open Disk Image’. Navigate to the disk image you downloaded and click ‘Open’. This will mount the ISO and you will then be able to click the ‘Burn’ button on the top of the utility. It’s that easy and now you have a boot disk containing FreeDOS and the firmware for your SSD.

Selecting the ISO in the Disk Utility

Step 2: Removing the current hard drive and replacing with the SSD
Now that we have a boot CD we are ready to switch out the hardware; First step is to shut down your laptop (Do not merely put it sleep, do a complete shut down). Now you’re going to need a couple of tools to open the case and move the hard drive ‘spacers/pegs’. The first screwdriver is a Phillips #00 screwdriver and the second is a Torx T6 screwdriver; Both were purchased at Westlake Hardware:

Phillips #00 Screwdriver, T6 Torx Screwdriver

Got the tools? Great! We’ll begin by turning the laptop over so the bottom is facing upwards. Remove all of the screws on the outside of the casing and be sure to remember where they go. Some of the screws are longer than others so you must put them back in the same hole they were originally in. I did this by just placing them beside me in the same positions they were on the case:

Screws have been removed from bottom of case

Screws laid out in their placement for the case

MacBook with bottom cover off

Since it is hard to tell, I will say that the longer screws were the last three on the top but I believe one of them was a even a different length. I think all the small screws were the same but be safe and make sure you know exactly where to put each screw when we put the bottom back on. Once the cover is removed touch a metal part inside to make sure you are grounded. A good spot is the casing that holds the optical drive in. Now that you are grounded locate the hard drive which is in the very bottom right have corner. First you will need to remove the bracket that is holding the hard drive pegs in place. The bracket is located above the drive and has 2 screws.

Hard drive still hooked up

The hdd bracket removed

Now that the bracket has been removed we can take the hard drive out and disconnect it from the motherboard. There should be a small clear tab attached to the drive; Just pull this tab up and carefully slide the hard drive up. Remember it is still connected so don’t pull it out too far. Detach the cable that connects the drive and the motherboard by gently pulling at the end of the cable near the connection and then entirely disconnecting the cable.

Hard drive removed with cord still connected

Hard drive with cord disconnected

Now that we have the old hard drive disconnected we need to remove the 4 pegs/spacers that are used to keep the hard drive stabilized while in the case. This is where we need to use the Torx screwdriver. Remove all four of the pegs and place your hard drive in a safe space and also take the tab off so we can use it on the new drive. We can now prep the SSD to be installed in to its new home. First take the pegs and screw them in to the ssd the same way they were in the hdd and then add the tab to the drive so we can easily remove it in the future.

1 of the 4 hard drive pegs to remove

OCZ Vertex SSD disconnected facing down

SSD facing up with tab placed

Next step will be to connect the SSD to the cord from the motherboard. Line up the connectors correctly and gently push in the black connector until the ends are flush with the drive. We are now ready to slide the drive in its spot. Place the drive into the spot where you removed the old hdd and gently push the pegs in to the designated spaces. Then replace the hard drive bracket above the SSD and make sure the drive is secure and will not be able to move.

OCZ Vertex SSD connected

SSD in its new home

SSD bracket close-up

That is about it for the hardware installation. Just replace the back casing and put the screws back in their correct places. In the next step we will upgrade the firmware and prepare the drive for OS installation.

Step 3: Upgrade the firmware
Now that we have the hardware installed we need to make sure the firmware is the latest and greatest. Insert the CD we burned in step 1 in to your MacBook if it not already. Then hold the ‘C’ button down on the keyboard and push the power button to boot up for Mac. Holding the ‘c’ button down will tell the Mac you want to boot from the CD. If everything went correctly you should now be at a command prompt. Type the command ‘fwupdate’ and press enter.

fwupdate command at prompt

The next screen will ask you if you want to search for any SSDs to upgrade. Press the ‘y’ button on your keyboard and be patient. There will be no visual indicator that you pressed the ‘y’ button and it may take a few minutes for it to find your drive.

Firmware update step 2

When your SSD is found you will be prompted to enter in the number indicating which drive you want to update. If you only have one drive just press ’1′ and hit enter. The firmware update will finish in seconds and you will hopefully be notified that you now have the newest firmware on your SSD.

firmware update step 3

Last thing we need to do in this step is restart the computer; This time hold down the click button while the computer starts to force the cd-rom to eject then put in your OSX installation disk.

Step 4: Identify the hard drive and install your operating system
When you first boot up in to OSX installation and make your way to the ‘Choose your installation destination’ screen you will notice there are no options available. Don’t panic! The SSD has no partitions so the installation doesn’t consider it as a place to put the operating system. Drop the ‘Utilities’ menu down and click ‘Disk Utility’. This will bring up the familiar disk utility but this time we will use it to create a partition on your new drive.

Oh no! Where is my ssd?

Don't worry. Open up Disk Utility.

With Disk Utility open select your SSD on the left and then in the box on the right click the ‘Partition’ tab. Change the ‘Volume Scheme’ to ’1 Partition’, name the drive whatever you like and make sure ‘Mac OS Extended (Journaled)’ is selected as the partition format. Then click ‘Options’ button and make sure the ‘GUID Partition Table’ option is selected. Once that is confirmed apply your settings and wait while your drive is partitioned.

Select the drive and 1 Partition

Worst iPhone picture I took all night...

Choose GUID option

Once the partitioning is done you can right click the SSD in the left column and click ‘Get Info’. I’ve provided the results of mine and hopefully you have something similar:

Hopefully you have something like this

We’re almost done. Exit Disk Utility and you should now see your SSD as an option for installation destination.

That's it. You're good to go.

You’re on your own from here on out since it’s just the regular install process. If you used Time Machine to back up your old settings just choose that option when it asks you if you want to import old settings. Please comment and let me know if this tutorial helped you or if you have suggestions or corrections. Hopefully I made this process a little bit easier for some people. I’ll post in a few days and give an update on the performance differences as I plan to do some comparisons on speed vs some of my co-workers’ Macs.