ITG Mac Help

So you're using one of ITG's Mac OSX systems. Congratulations! But because you're reading this, you're probably in need of some help. Bummer!

This page contains some information about how the macs work, where your data is hiding, and how to fix things that have gone wrong. We have divided the page up like a typical FAQ document, in the hopes that you'll find what you need fast and easy.

If you don't find what you are looking for, send us an email at VMIL and we'll help you out.

The Questions

Logins & the Desktop

• Why do I need to login?
• Why do I need to logout?
• My dock is screwed up! How do I fix it?

Data Access

• Where does my data go?
• How do I get to my data that's on another Mac?
• How do I get to my data that's on a Windows system?
• Why should I be careful when switching between Windows and Mac OS?

Running Applications

• How do I find application N?
• Are there other applications on the system?
• An application keeps asking for a registration number. What do I do?

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The Answers

Logins & the Desktop

Why do I need to login?

The old macs never needed a login, and were always treated as a single user system. This was a very insecure method of working: anyone could delete your data at any time, not to mention do other nasty things. By requiring each user to login, a much stronger sense of security can be maintained. Also, it makes access to certain services like printing and data sharing much simpler.

Why do I need to logout?

So that someone doesn't cause trouble when you're not around. If you leave yourself logged in, people can do malicious things in your name. So remember to logout!

My dock is screwed up! How do I fix it?

The applications, files, and folders in the dock can be rearranged and deleted by you at will using a non-standard, ITG-only mechanism we've implemented to counteract Apple's decision to not have a global dock configuration file.

To make changes to your dock permanent, find the file called ".osxconfig" in your home directory. Edit the file and change the line:

reset preferences = yes

to read

reset preferences = no

This will allow you to make permanent changes to your dock that will remain local to each system. One caveat: should the location of one of your dock icons change, you will notice a "hole" in your dock indicated by a question mark icon. You will need to manually drag the suspect dock icon into the trash, and add a link to the correct location by dragging the icon into the dock.

Data Access

Where does my data go?

Most of your data will be placed in your home directory, the same home directory that appears on the Unix systems and which also serves as the Z:\ drive on the Windows systems. If you leave stuff on the Desktop, it will be shared with the other Macintosh desktops in the lab. This data is accessible from Windows, and the Windows desktop is accessible via your home directory. The two are kept separate due to the use of resource forks by OSX, and the ease with which these can become corrupted when files are modified via Windows.

You can also put your data into one of the Workspaces and RAID drives. Workspaces/RAIDs that have the same name as the machine you are using are local to that machine, and consequently much faster. For fast access, always use a local workspace.

How do I get to my data that's on another Mac?

The Desktop and your home directory (include the Documents, Library, etc. directories) are shared between macs. Putting data into those directories automatically enables them to appear on the other systems.

Remote workspaces are mounted in the /Workspaces directory. You can get to the remote data from within those directories.

How do I get to my data that's on a Windows System?

The desktop of your windows login is found in your home directory in the directory windows/Desktop. This is always mounted when you login.

Data saved to local PC workspace drives must be accessed via Samba using the Network drive location mechanisms of Mac OSX.

Why should I be careful when switching between Windows and Mac OS?

Data saved by applications under Mac OS frequently have what is termed a "resource fork" associated with them. The resource fork contains information about the file's type, what application to launch when opened, etc. Apple has depricated use of resource forks, but many applications - in some instances Apple-authored applications - seem to still make use of them when writing to NFS mounted directories.

When the resource fork is saved onto a Unix filesystem (non-HFS filesystem), it is usually saved in an "invisible" directory called ".AppleDouble", or it is saved into an "invisible" file with the same name with a period (".") appended to the front. Other operating systems do not make the association between these separate files. For the most part, this situation is acceptible: Windows programs can open the file and work with it as before.

Problems occur when the file is saved or deleted via a Windows or Unix computer. Because these operating systems do not recognize the associate to the resource forks, the two files get out of sync, or in the case of deletions, left behind. When a MacOS system then attempts to read the contents of a particular directory, it uses the information in the resource forks to construct an erroneous list of files present in the directory.

Deleted files are especially problematic: while the data has technically been destroyed, the filesystem still contains a resource fork with a reference to a file with the previous name. Attempts to save a file into the folder that re-uses the name will fail, and attempts to delete the folder may not succeed.

This warning should not prevent you from sharing data between the two systems. Chances are very good that you will never notice a problem. Should you encounter one though, try using the terminal application to locate and delete files in the .AppleDouble directory or files called ._.<filename>. Manual removal of these files using the Unix "rm" command will generally solve the problems.

Running Applications

How do I find application N?

The first place to look is in the Quick Find folder. It is in the dock, and is labled. Hold down the mouse on that icon and a list of applications will appear. Look for the application in there.

The next place to look is in the Applications folder. Again, the icon for the Applications folder is in the dock. Hold down the mouse and look for the application in there.

Are there other applications on the system?

Some applications can only be found in their MacOS 9 form. These are referred to as "Classic" applications. If you open the main hard drive, you'll see a folder called "Applications (Mac OS 9)". Look in there for your application. It will take longer to start up, as it has to first boot up a copy of the older operating system.

Because Mac OSX is really a flavor of Unix, there is a large number of Unix packages available via the Terminal shell as well.

If there is a package in particular you need or would like to try, please contact us and we'll do what we can to enable you.

An application keeps asking for a registration number. What do I do?

Usually this indicates that the application is storing the serial numbers in a preferences file and you don't have the right information in your preferences folder. You can either restore the default preferences (see the question about the dock above), or you can contact a system administrator who will help you get the correct preference file for that application.