number 9

I enabled FileVault on my MBP and cancelled the conversion when I saw how long it was going to take. When I tried to re-enable it again today, I got an error saying

could not create filevault disk image

Google wasn’t very helpful, so I’m noting down the fix here, which is:

sudo rm -r /Users/Shared/username.sparsebundle

 Turns out FileVault doesn’t use encrypted .dmgs(because they’re fixed size) but instead has a directory called username.sparsebundle (.sparseimage, pre-Leopard) that does the same job.This is initially created as /Users/shared/username.sparsebundle ,populated and only moved into place once the old home directory is deleted.

Just upgraded my work mac to Leopard. Took an hour, worked flawlessly.

Of course, the first thing I did was stick in a USB stick with holds half a zpool from my Solaris Express box at home:

  planb:~ $ zpool import
    pool: sticky
      id: 4692054964394431575
   state: FAULTED
  status: The pool is formatted using an incompatible version.
  action: The pool cannot be imported.
  Access the pool on a system running newer
    software, or recreate the pool from backup.
   see: http://www.sun.com/msg/ZFS-8000-A5
config:

    sticky          UNAVAIL   newer version
      mirror        DEGRADED
        dsk/c6t0d0  UNAVAIL   cannot open
        disk3       ONLINE
planb:~ $ zpool import sticky
cannot import 'sticky': pool is formatted using a newer ZFS version

i.e. ” I know this is half of a mirror, but it’s a newer ZFS version than Apples”.

what’s new pussycat?

So I reformatted the disk on my Solaris 10 update 4 box:

vera / # rmformat
Looking for devices...
...
...
     3. Volmgt Node: /vol/dev/aliases/rmdisk0
        Logical Node: /dev/rdsk/c4t0d0p0
        Physical Node: /pci@0,0/pci8086,4c43@1d,7/storage@7/disk@0,0
        Connected Device: Kingston DataTraveler 2.0 PMAP
        Device Type: Removable
vera / # zpool create sticky c4t0d0p0

This is how it looks on Solaris 10:

vera / # zpool status sticky
  pool: sticky
 state: ONLINE
 scrub: none requested
config:

        NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
        sticky      ONLINE       0     0     0
          c4t0d0p0  ONLINE       0     0     0

errors: No known data errors
vera / # zfs list /sticky
NAME     USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT
sticky    85K  1.87G  24.5K  /sticky

So I copied a bit of data on, zpool exported and stuck it back in the Mac.

planb:~ $ zpool import sticky
planb:~ $ zpool status
  pool: sticky
 state: ONLINE
status: The pool is formatted using an older on-disk format.  The pool can
    still be used, but some features are unavailable.
action: Upgrade the pool using 'zpool upgrade'.  Once this is done, the
    pool will no longer be accessible on older software versions.
 scrub: none requested
config:

    NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
    sticky      ONLINE       0     0     0
      disk3     ONLINE       0     0     0

errors: No known data errors
planb:~ $ zfs list
NAME     USED  AVAIL  REFER  MOUNTPOINT
sticky  30.8M  1.84G  30.7M  /Volumes/sticky
planb:~ $ ls -l /Volumes/sticky/
total 3
dr-xr-xr-x+ 4 root  sys  6  7 Nov 00:10 local
planb:~ $ touch /Volumes/sticky/bummer
touch: /Volumes/sticky/bummer: Read-only file system

Much better.

pussy galore

Now for the crazy conspicacy theory bit:

planb:~ $ zpool get all sticky
cannot get property 'name': pool must be upgraded to support pool properties
cannot get property 'bootfs': pool must be upgraded to support pool properties
cannot get property 'bootfs': pool must be upgraded to support pool properties

i.e. “this zpool format doesn’t support bootable volumes. but I do.”

Like me, I’m sure your dearest wish is that karaoke catalogues included everything in the ‘new wave’ shelf of Toggsys’ record shop in Haverfordwest Riverside Market.

Brothers and sisters, the Rapture is at hand.
Behold The iKaraoke!

Strips the vocals off any of your ipods music, mixes in your best rendition of ‘mr pharmacist’ and squirts it out through through your stereo.

That alone is worth selling your soul to the DRM devil, but it gets better. It’s got an integrated FM transmitter, which I expect is the usual iTrip affair.

These can be tampered with , by which I mean ‘modded to drown out all other stations within a 70 foot radius’.

I predict this years surprise Christmas #1 will be ‘hey, guy at number 35, shut that fucking dog up’ by The Stooges.

Apple have been busy.

Rumours of a worthy successor to the ipod mini turned out to be true(with an external finish bordering on practical).

Very, very glad I resisted the temptation to try to make a buck on the refurbed nanos that apple were pimping (although the DAB radios did very nicely, thanks for asking. If anyone needs any old 2000ADs, be sure to let me know.)

And it looks like mini/nano itx is toast , unless you have a thing for serial ports. Don’t these have VT-X extensions? If that’s true (and they don’t burn too many houses down) I’ll have to get one.

Coverflow has been assimilated (heard they were taking about going shareware on us, so that’s not a moment too soon).

They seem to have hidden the new shuffles away. Which is a good idea if you want to sell the minis nanos, probably.

Oh and the big ipods have keyboards and videos or something <shrug/>.

Good news all round. Unless you work in iPod city, naturally.

I’ve been doing really well.

I still haven’t got a gumstix , I’m #1 on Google for ‘pootooth’ (which I’m thinking of putting on my CV) , and last week I decided I definitely wasn’t getting conned by apple.

My girl got an ipod mini last month for her birthday – 6Gb for 155 quid.
I had a 512Mb shuffle as part of a deal from audible at the same time.
I knew that new ipods were imminent, so thought I’d ebay the shuffle (while it wasn’t quite obsolete) and spend the cash on a mobiblu. Colour features, open interface, nicely dinky, etc.

Then his Jobsness tells me what I really want is an ipod mini, only

• 2/3 the storage
• with no accessories
• in only two colours
• unproven. Apple hardware in my experience is less than reliable (bad ibook experience at a formative age)
• with a colour screen I’ll never see that will piss horrible chemicals into my groin when it cracks
• that’s brittle and I’ll forget is in my back pocket – until I sit down

for 20 pounds more. Oh, and just to help me make up my mind, you can’t get minis anymore. Cheers.

But today I read the ArsTechnica review ( involves throwing it out of a car at 50mph, then driving over it, and it still working) . And I’ve had a rethink:

• these things are bulletproof. Might even be todder proof…
• white is a nice colour and they do nanotubes (ipod condoms) if you really want a snot green ipod
• there are already hacks out there to use the colour screen
• it’s dinky
• there are OSS apps that speak ipodian
• 165 pounds is very cheap for a 4Gb flash player – a 1gb mobiblu is 130 quid, and that’s a choke hazard

Still think I’ll procrastinate a bit longer though:

• some analysts reckon sales figures aren’t as awesome as they could be, so a price drop might be on the horizon.
• I have a lot of crisp packets
• the refurb store (no url, it’s a secret) opens tomorrow; if the minis are cheap enough I’ll get a few
• I really need some shoes.