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How to fix the SSL “Verify Certificate” issue in Leopard Mail

August 26th, 2008 brian cometa 22 comments


Does this screen look familiar?


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If you’re constantly having to click “Always trust XXX when connecting to XXX” when using Mail with SSL on, your solution may be a few clicks away.

In the above image, notice that it says “Always trust “smtp.gmail.com” when connecting to “imap.gmail.com”.” The problem here is that Leopard won’t ever trust a certificate (even after clicking the check box) when the server you entered in your account details doesn’t match the server name the certificate is using.

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In this case, imap.gmail.com should be changed to smtp.gmail.com to reflect the name of the server on the certificate and the problem goes away like magic!

Here’s another slightly more complicated example…
Read more…

Popularity: 13% [?]

Automatically Resume File Transfers After Closing LCD Display

July 28th, 2008 brian cometa No comments

I think this may be a new Leopard (10.5) feature, but perhaps I just never noticed it: if you close your LCD display (sleep your computer) during a file transfer, the transfer will resume after the machine is woken up.

For example, say you’re transferring a 5GB file from your Macbook to your Mac Pro on the same network. Halfway through the file transfer, you accidently shut your LCD display and the computer goes to sleep.

Do you have to start the transfer over? No! Open the LCD display and wake up your computer — it will automatically rejoin your network and immediately resume the file transfer from where it was stopped!

The only caveat here is if your computer can’t rejoin your network. If, after shutting your display, you move to another network or loose your WiFi signal, the transfer will give up and produce an error about 10 seconds after waking up.

Popularity: 4% [?]

MobileMe’s iDisk Changes

July 26th, 2008 brian cometa 1 comment

Picture 4.pngAlthough much hasn’t changed with the iDisk after the switch from .Mac to MobileMe, I have noticed a couple welcome changes:

First, when uploading something to an iDisk, you get a real progress bar/file transfer box.

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In the past, you would probably just see this box for a few seconds. It would close quickly, looking like the upload was completed, but the file would still be uploading to the iDisk in the background. The only way to tell the upload was completed was by checking the file size on the iDisk.

The second welcome change to the iDisk involves iDisk syncing. In the past, iDisk syncing was completely secretive with no way to tell when or what was being synced to/from the iDisk and your computer. Now, when your iDisk is syncing, you get a handy display in the bottom of your Finder window:

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Video: How To Remove Stuck CD From iMac / Slot Loading Optical Drive

June 13th, 2008 brian cometa 7 comments

Not too long ago I read this tip on MacOSXHints.com. It talks about using a 3.5″ floppy disk to remove a stuck CD from a slot-loading optical drive. Since I couldn’t find a 3.5″ floppy, I got an idea after reading ericdsa’s comment.

Instead of a CD or DVD as ericdsa suggested, I used two credit cards (well, the same size, shape, and material as credit cards); one wedged below the stuck cd or dvd, one wedged above the stuck cd, applied tension, and voila!

Popularity: 21% [?]

You Can Close Notebook LCD Display When in Firewire Target Disk Mode

June 13th, 2008 brian cometa 5 comments

tdm_icon.jpgAbout a week ago, I was working on a MacBook Pro with a dying hard drive. I was able to access the drive via Firewire Target Disk in order to repair the drive using Disk Warrior. The whole process was expected to take at least five hours.

While in the past I’d always just left the LCD display open, in this case I accidently closed the lid. Shiz, I thought! I’ve just waisted the last few hours of hard drive repair; but when I check Disk Warrior, I noticed it was still working perfectly!

I tried opening and closing the display a few more times, the MacBook Pro kept running with the display closed. I just tested closing the lid on my Powerbook G4 – it worked too! I can only assume that all Mac displays can be shut when in Firewire Target Disk Mode — only wish I would have learned this years ago.

Popularity: 6% [?]