AppleJack 1.3.2 fixes a serious bug associated with File Vault use that could wipe large sections of a user’s hard drive. In addition, AppleJack has been retooled to operate much more securely while doing file deletions. An added feature in this release is an automatic check for the /tmp directory (often implicated in boot problems). If the /tmp directory is not found, it is recreated (symlink to /private/var/tmp). Enjoy.

Full change log follows…
Continue reading ‘AppleJack v. 1.3.2 released.’

AppleJack is a user friendly troubleshooting assistant for Mac OS X. AppleJack lets you troubleshoot a computer even when you can’t load the GUI, or don’t have a startup CD handy. AppleJack runs in Single User Mode and is menu-based for ease of use.

AppleJack 1.3 allows you to:

1. Repair your hard drive
2. Repair permissions
3. Validate .plist preference files and remove them if they are damaged
4. Clear out system and user cache files
5. Delete obstinate swap files

all without having to remember any other command than ‘applejack’.

Download it now

Continue reading ‘AppleJack 1.3 Released’

This is an AppleScript for quickly reporting spam to SpamCop from within Eudora. This version fixes the format of submissions to SpamCop to comply with SpamCop’s new, more strict header parsing routines.

FEATURES:

1. Quickly and automatically queues a properly formatted spam report to your outbox
2. Submission of multiple selected messages at one invocation.
3. If message has been left on server, script can be configured to set that message to be deleted.
4. Attachments to the spam are deleted automatically, with or without notification, according to user preferences.
5. Script can mark the spam as read, and can optionally trash it or move it to the Junk folder.

Download & Enjoy!

Unfortunately, there aren’t adequate verbs in Eudora’s AppleScript dictionary for a robust implementation of the Junk mail feature. Moving an e-mail to the Junk folder does assign a score of 100 to it (though it takes a while to see that), but I’m not sure if it properly updates the Bayesian filters the way the Junk command does. Consider it a workaround implementation until we either get native verbs for it, or until keystroke programming becomes standard in Mac OS X.

* This script is intended for Mac OS X v 10.2.x and up, and Eudora 6.x, but might also work with Eudora 5.2, though obviously without the Junk mail functionality.

Continue reading ‘Eudora to SpamCop v 1.2. Fixes submission format’

This updated version of XJanitor.pl includes an AppleScript controlled system whereby which you can turn maintenance off for discreet periods of time (when giving a presentation, or if you’re working on a video editing project and don’t want any heavy disk usage by any other processes). Also, the script has been improved, and has much better console output than before. Lastly, if you change the way the script is called by Chron, you can make sure maintenance won’t run when your laptop is running off the battery.

Since a lot of Macs aren’t used as 24-hour servers, and are often sleeping or simply shut down, using Cron the old fashioned way doesn’t really hold up for regular UNIX maintenance to be performed.

I have written a Perl script that simply checks to see how long it’s been since a particular task has been performed, compares the time with how often that task should be performed, and if necessary, executes the task. The script is extensible to any maintenance tasks that output to a log file (and any task can be made to do so). The script also includes the option to send you an e-mail (but only if the task(s) have been executed) including full script output.

Please note: You must have administrative privileges on your Mac in order to install and run this script.

Continue reading ‘XJanitor-PL: Surefire Periodic Maintenance for Mac OS X (Now with a controller)’

This version has been replaced by v. 1.2. Please go to the new page for information and download link. Posting to this page is now closed.

This is an AppleScript for quickly reporting spam to SpamCop from within Eudora. In addition to queueing a properly formatted spam report in your outbox, it has the following features:

1. NEW!: Submission of multiple selected messages at one invocation.
2. If message has been left on server, script can be configured to set that message to be deleted.
3. Attachments to the spam are deleted automatically, with or without notification, according to user preferences.
4. Script can mark the spam as read, and can optionally trash it or move it to the Junk folder.

Download & Enjoy!

Unfortunately, there aren’t adequate verbs in Eudora’s AppleScript dictionary for a robust implementation of the Junk mail feature. Moving an e-mail to the Junk folder does assign a score of 100 to it (though it takes a while to see that), but I’m not sure if it properly updates the Bayesian filters the way the Junk command does. Consider it a workaround implementation until we either get native verbs for it, or until keystroke programming becomes standard in Mac OS X.

* This script is intended for Mac OS X v 10.2, and Eudora 6, but might also work with Eudora 5.2, though obviously without the Junk mail functionality.

Regardless of the ‘Switch’ ads’ sanguine approach to entering the promised land of Mac OS X, there are some areas in which Mac use can be somewhat frustrating. One of these areas is financial software. Every year, at tax time, I am left wondering what features are going to be left out of the Mac version of either TurboTax or TaxCut, which one will have the most bugs this time, and which one will have the worst support for Mac users. Frankly, if you’re a Mac user, you will always get the short end of the stick when it comes to Intuit and H&R Block’s software. So, which stick is the better for Mac users for the 2002 tax year?
Continue reading ‘Tax Software for Mac OS X’

Ok. Sometimes even the best computers crash. They’re still too primitive for the complexity we push on them. Poor things.

Poor us.

Here’s a script that helps clean up the mess left over from a system crash in Mac OS X (10.2). The script first checks your harddrive and attempts to repair it, then asks you if you want to delete old swap files (virtual memory), and cache files scattered around your system. This script has only been used with Jaguar! You could really damage your system if you use this on some other platform.

Please note: You must have administrative privileges on your Mac in order to install this script.

Continue reading ‘CrashCleaner.sh: Repairs hard drive(s), deletes cache and swap files to help recover from Mac OS X crashes’

Since a lot of Macs aren’t used as 24-hour servers, and are often sleeping or simply shut down, using Cron the old fashioned way doesn’t really hold up for regular UNIX maintenance to be performed.

This page is for an old version. An updated version with full instructions is available at http://theapotek.com/teknotes/archives/000040.html#000040. The new version is only for 10.2 and higher.

I have written a Perl script that simply checks to see how long it’s been since a particular task has been performed, compares the time with how often that task should be performed, and if necessary, executes the task. The script is extensible to any maintenance tasks that output to a log file (and any task can be made to do so). The script also includes the option to send you an e-mail (but only if the task(s) have been executed) including full script output.

Please note: You must have administrative privileges on your Mac in order to install and run this script.

Continue reading ‘XJanitor.pl: Surefire periodic Maintenance for Mac OS X’