Mountain Lion 101

[sparkyscott21]

Whenever there is a new OS release, there are the inevitable software bugs that follow. And, with more than 3 million downloads in the first weekend alone, at least one of those users is sure to find something wrong with the latest cat from Cupertino. Let’s take a look at the top seven Mountain Lion bugs that are really bugging out.

Follow the gallery below to see the current list of Mountain Lion bugs that we are seeing in our install of Mountain Lion.

When Mac OS X Lion was released last year, many experienced Wi-Fi issues on their Macs. It looks as though Apple hasn’t quite squashed the bug as many users have been reporting slow Wi-Fi speeds that can be as slow as dial-up speeds. Yikes.

Mac portable users rely on the strong battery Apple packs into the MacBook. However, don’t expect to get a day or even half a day use out of your MacBook. Many users are reporting that the battery performance average on Macs running Mountain Lion has dropped by more than 50% after the upgrade.

Software incompatibility is the biggest issue for many users, and Mountain Lion once again nixes support for some apps. If you are running older apps, you might want to check with the RoaringApps website to see if your software will work with Mountain Lion upon upgrading.

“Where’s the mouse pointer?” is not something you want to hear after an upgrade, but some users have reported the mouse pointer will disappear from the screen, only to reappear after pressing Command + Tab on the keyboard. This weird happening has plagued other versions of OS X in the past, but has cropped back up for some after upgrading to Mountain Lion.

Some users have reported a Notification Center phenomenon when creating a new event in iCal. When creating a new event in the next day cell, before you can finish typing the event title, a notification appears for that new event. (Special thanks to @codeguy on Twitter for providing the screenshot and bug description)

In an attempt to protect your Mac from incompatible software and files, Mountain Lion will check files during the upgrade to ensure that they will be compatible. If they aren’t, then the files will be moved to a folder in the Finder called “Incompatible Software.” Here, you can find potentially missing files and apps. Read more about the Apple incompatibility check in this knowledgebase article.

While not exactly a bug, Apple did not include Web Sharing in the latest version of OS X. You can still enable the built-in Apache Web Server by downloading a replacement system preference pane, but we feel that this setting should have stayed in Mountain Lion, especially with many web developers relying on this feature for testing purposes.

8-1-12

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[Ads]

[sparkyscott21]

OS X Mountain Lion has been a painless upgrade for most users, but there are a fair amount of people experiencing some unusual wireless connectivity problems and issues. Mainly, the wi-fi connection seems to drop at random, or the Mac simply won’t stay connected to a wireless network for long. Sometimes it automatically reconnects and sometimes it doesn’t.

If you’re experiencing these wifi issues you’re not alone, the good news is that we have a few solutions that appear to resolve the connection problems in Mountain Lion. For best results, try combining both of these tips.


Fix #1: Add a New Network Location & Renew DHCP


This may work best for those who upgraded from a previous version of OS X to Mountain Lion but if you’re having the wifi drop issue go ahead and do it anyway because it is consistently successful with addressing wireless issues:

Open System Preferences from the  Apple menu and choose “Network”

Pull down the “Location” menu and choose “Edit Locations…”

Click the [+] button to add a new location, name it whatever you want then click Done

Back at the “Network” screen, click the “Network Name” menu and join the wireless network

Your wireless connection may now be active and working fine, but renew the DHCP lease anyway:

From the Network panel, click on the “Advanced” button in the lower right corner, then click the “TCP/IP” tab

Make sure “Configure IPv4:” is set to “Using DHCP” and then click the “Renew DHCP Lease” button, click “Apply” when prompted

The appropriate DHCP settings should be renewed from the connected router, click “OK” and exit out of System Prefs

The network location and DHCP renewal tip resolved similar wifi problems in Lion, and it seems to work in Mountain Lion too for many users.


Fix #2: Change MTU Size to Prevent Dropped Connections


This is a bit geeky but bare with us: MTU stands for Maximum Transmission Unit and controls the largest packet size allowed for transmission over the network. If this setting is greater than network capacity, the computer will experience packet loss and dropped connections. The default setting of 1500 is somewhat aggressive and some networks reject packets of that size, but it turns out that 1453 is just small enough to maintain a consistent connection with most networks but just large enough to not cause any slowdowns, it’s the magic number and an old cisco networking secret.

Open System Preferences from the  Apple menu and select “Network”

Click the “Advanced” button in the lower corner, followed by the “Hardware” tab

Pull down the “Configure” menu and set to “Manually”

Change “MTU” to “Custom” and set the field to “1453″

Click “OK” and close out of Network preferences

Be sure you’re joined on a wireless network, close out of System Preferences, and enjoy the internet as usual.


Additional Troubleshooting Tips


Sometimes just rebooting the Mac is sufficient to resolve the problems, but that’s not always the case.

Also, some wireless network problems are due to interference with other networks, be sure to check the channel of the router you are connecting to and make sure the connection strength is strong. Now is probably as good of time as any to fire up the all new Wi-Fi scanner in Mountain Lion and check out your network health.

In some situations, performing a clean install of Mountain Lion has worked for users who have consistently upgraded from ancient versions of OS X onward, but realistically that should be considered a worst case scenario and for most users you can get the same effect simply by adding a new Network Location as instructed in fix #1 above.

8-2-12

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[Macette]

Just found this info. Scott I did install it for open office to work since moving to MLion . Do you know of another free office application that doesnt use Java so I can uninstall this or turn it off. Im only using open office for a spreadsheet, I would rather not have Java if it is a risk...I will look and see if you have posted how to to turn it off.

[sparkyscott21]

Actually, most normal people do not, or will not use java..

The layman will never use java.

Some do just cuz they like it for programming..

I'll get back at ya later on other programs..
Don't forget, here on the east coast, we are around 5 hours behind ya'll in time....


Sent from my iPhone 4 via TapaTalk

[Macette]

Actually, most normal people do not, or will not use java..The layman will never use java.Some do just cuz they like it for programming..I'll get back at ya later on other programs..Don't forget, here on the east coast, we are around 5 hours behind ya'll in time....Sent from my iPhone 4 via TapaTalk

Ok thanks Scott and please let me know what I should do to get rid of java or can I just turn it off....can I just app zap open office...

[sparkyscott21]

I'll talk at ya later on this, but, do you normally use Chrome or Mozilla??

That only would be fine.

As fas as other programs, I use M. S. for Mac.

I'll be back at ya...



Sent from my iPhone 4 via TapaTalk

[Macette]

I'll talk at ya later on this, but, do you normally use Chrome or Mozilla??

That only would be fine.

As fas as other programs, I use M. S. for Mac.

I'll be back at ya...



Sent from my iPhone 4 via TapaTalk

Ok Scott I use mostly chrome, I have managed to get it disabled on safari via safari-security and chrome via chrome plugins and on the mac its self unchecked in applications-utilities-java pref. I do have firefox so did firefox pref-content- unchecked "enable java script." Is that it....I still have Open Office on and was still able to open the spreadsheet I have. ??? Catch ya later

[sparkyscott21]

AirDrop is probably the quickest and easiest way to transfer files between Macs these days, thanks to it’s instant ad-hoc network it lets Macs send files back and forth – without even being connected to the same network. As is, How to Use AirDrop in Mac OS X, but now with OS X Mountain Lion you can send files through AirDrop right out of a Quick Look window:

Locate any file in the Finder of OS X Mountain Lion and hit the Spacebar to summon Quick Look

Click the Sharesheet icon in the upper right corner [>] and select “AirDrop” from the menu

Have the recipient open AirDrop to be visible as the file destination

Click “Send” to transfer the file

This is perfect for when you’re looking through files with Quick Look and want to quickly share them with someone nearby, and it’s definitely faster than using File Sharing to create a network between the two. As mentioned earlier, you don’t even have to have a network accessible to use AirDrop, because it creates a direct ad-hoc connection between the Macs.

Remember, even if you’re using an older Mac or one without wi-fi, you can enable AirDrop over ethernet and on unsupported Macs pretty easily.

8-4-12

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[sparkyscott21]

OS X Mountain Lion makes it easier and faster than ever to access and tweak Accessibility Options from anywhere on the Mac. Just hit Command+Option+F5 and a preference window will instantly appear that allows you to adjust commonly used Accessibility features.

The settings list includes enabling zoom from keyboard or scrolling, enabling and disabling VoiceOver, toggles for sticky keys, slow keys, and mouse keys, contrast adjustments, and the ability to toggle screen inversion on and off. You can also launch the main Accessibility Options preference panel from the window, and clicking either Done or outside of the window makes it go away.

If you don’t have it enabled, the zoom features are very useful and allow you to hold down the control key combined with a two-fingered swipe gesture to zoom in and out of areas on the screen.

8-17-12

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[tralph]

I find it hard to understand how Apple can launch a new operating system with a few esotric features and leave users with bundles of useless and expensive software. Logic 8 will no longer install. We are moving our studio to PC based applications - we can no longer trust Apple.