Hack to make the MacBook Air SuperDrive work with any computer
24 June 2008 07:56 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
The MacBook Air's US$99 USB SuperDrive is a unique part that only works with the MacBook Air. Until Now. tnkgrl Mobile has discovered a hack to make the MacBook Air's US$99 USB SuperDrive work with any Mac of PC.
Some people have speculated that perhaps the MBA SuperDrive draws more than 500 mA and that the MacBook Air provides more than 500 mA via its USB port. This is not the case…What about drivers? I (and others) have scoured the MacBook Air system folder or additional and modified .kext files (kernel extensions) by comparing them with the ones available on other Macs - nothing.
Other people have suggested that perhaps the optical drive within the MBA SuperDrive uses special firmware. This is not the case either. After taking apart the SuperDrive and mounting the optical drive directly into a PCs removable bay, it was recognized just fine.
The trick, it turns out, is in the IDE to USB bridge which allows an IDE device to work as a USB device. This US$9 part must be replaced and requires removal of a daughterboard (containing a power connector, a USB connector, and several capacitors) and the relocation of a 12MHz crystal.
More pictures and videos of the whole process on tnkgrl Mobile.
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How to Upgrade Your Apple In-Ear Headphones
11 November 2007 04:50 EST
PowerPage Contributor
An unidentified reader sent this in and it might actually prove useful...
The beauty of this hack, besides the obvious benefits, is the price... approximately 80 cents, providing you already have the tools for this.
For the full guide, go here and let us know what you think in the comments or forums.
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User's iPhone Explodes During Unlocking Effort
31 August 2007 07:43 EST
Chris Barylick
Whether you feel it's right or not, successful iPhone hardware hacks have been reported around the world. Some of these hacks have worked and the users seem pretty happy with the results.
Others have backfired and caused damage that's nothing less than impossible to explain to the nice person behind the Genius Bar as accidental or the dog's fault (such as the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth now refusing to work or the iPhone itself refusing to power up).
According to iPhone Atlas, a more severe example has arisen.
A relatively anonymous post to the Hackintosh forums provided this comment and showed this picture:
“We were so happy, all the software part was done, so we started opening the iphone. The antenna cover was a bit tricky but eventually it came off. Then we started to open the metal cover (after taking out the 3 screws) and PUFF, up it went in smoke, I think my collegue must have touched something. It literally went up in black smoke. I was so hot that when I tried to pick it up I burnt my fingers. So, this is for sure the most difficult part of the whole process. I don’t know what he did, as I had just stepped out of the room to fetch something when I heard a scream…they got such a fright.”
Although the iPhone is severely cool, there are certain provisos to follow when opening it up and trying to modify it: as in, be extremely careful, follow the directions and if you find US$499/US$599 wafting to the ceiling in the form of black smoke, try to have a sense of humor about it after the fact.
If you have any thoughts or feedback, let us know in the comments or forums.
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iPhone Unlock Achieved Through Hardware Workaround
22 August 2007 07:46 EST
Chris Barylick
A group working to unlock the iPhone and thus allow it to run on wireless carriers outside of AT&T is claiming success. Contributors to the Finding JTAG blog are citing a successful unlock of the iPhone via a "hardware hack". According to iPhone Alley, the hack involves removing a piece of hardware that's temporarily installed in the iPhone that is temporarily installed into the iPhone during the time involved in unlocking the handset. Once the hardware is removed, the iPhone can function normally using any wireless carrier's SIM card.
The group has provided the following YouTube video as a means of proving the group's claim and demonstrating the hack in action as a successfully unlocked iPhone accesses the T-Mobile network:
The group has also stated that while their hack currently involves removing hardware through taking apart the iPhone and soldering certain components, they hope to have a software version available soon as well as instructions for the hack posted next Tuesday.
Cool to see this in action and it'll be interesting to see where this goes. Stay tuned to the PowerPage for more details as they emerge and if you have an idea or feedback about unlocking the iPhone, let us know in the comments or forums.
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First "No-Hacking-Skills-Required" Tutorial Posted to Allow iPhone Third-Party Apps
20 August 2007 01:53 EST
Chris Barylick
If you've been determined to muck about with your iPhone, possibly violating its warranty and hack it so it can run third-party applications, this might be what you're looking for.
The guys over at Gizmodo have posted a full tutorial as to how to install third-party applications on your iPhone via a program called Installer.app for the iPhone.
User-friendly but not for the faint of heart, this doesn't have Apple's blessing and may require resetting your iPhone if things go south.
That being said, this is also the least techie way of getting to a point where you can place third-party applications on your iPhone.
Be careful. Have fun. And let us know how it works out in the comments or forums.
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iBook G3 Becomes Book and Server
06 July 2007 11:31 EST
Chris Barylick
I was never this optimistic when my iBook G3 croaked a few years back, but a user over on Chaos Blog 2.0 has apparently taken a 500 MHz iBook G3 with a broken screen and turned it both into a book and a server.
After removing the non-functioning screen and trimming down the essentials of the case, the author then wrapped the remaining iBook in a hardcover casing and connected the unit to a Firewire hard drive.
Perhaps the most impressive part is that he was able to retrofit the power supply to another part of the laptop and cut the footprint down by half. The blog posts step by step instructions, complete with pictures, so if you have several free hours, the tools on hand, a somewhat-croaked iBook and a soldering gun, you can pull off a similar feat.
As always, if you have a cool fix, hack or workaround of your own that you've done with your Mac laptop, let us know about it.
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iPod Hacked into "iTop"
05 June 2007 01:09 EST
Chris Barylick
A picture's worth a thousand words in this case.
Engadget has a story about an iPod that's been essentially hacked into a handheld/mini-laptop. The story originally appeared over on Hack-A-Day in which Owen McGarry took an out of warranty iPod, installed a swivel device, a protruding hard drive and a Linux operating system.
Unfortunately, details are scarce at this time, although additional photos can be found over here via FaceBook.
Remove the glare factor and you could have a cool portable video unit for flights as well...
Let us know what you think.
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Apple TV OS Hacked to Run on MacBook
27 March 2007 11:28 EST
Chris Barylick
While it's not clear if this is practical or not, a video has been posted of the Apple TV's operating system having been hacked to boot and run cleanly on a MacBook laptop.
Still, it's kind of cool and the guys over at Apple TV Hacks have published a full tutorial as to how to find and use hidden files within the kernel file and use them.
If you have any ideas or feedback on this or how to use it for a spiffy new purpose, let us know.
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The Apple Core: MacBooks and death threats
21 August 2006 01:55 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
In today's episode of 'MacBook Exposed' fellow ZDNet blogger George Ou has taken a few journalists to task for promoting the HackBook story incorrectly leading to "a vicious orchestrated assault on researcher David Maynor and the company SecureWorks." The dissenters are upset because they claim that Maynor and SecureWorks falsified their research presented at Black Hat 2006.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.
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iTunes Visualizer for the MacBook Pro Backlit Keyboard
22 June 2006 09:24 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Sorry MacBook users, this one requires a keyboard backlight.
iSpazz is a plugin for iTunes on OS X, controlling the MacBook Pro/PowerBook backlit keyboard and optionally the display backlight.
To use this yourself, download the plugin uncompress it and copy it to Library/iTunes/iTunes Plug-ins in your home folder.
Pressing the "i" key toggles the display flicker.
technorati tags:MacBookPro, PowerBook, Hack
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Karma-improved SmackBook
14 June 2006 08:00 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Some people thought that the original SmackBook was too violent so a YouTube user uploaded a video of the Karma-improved SmackBook which appears to take advantage of the MacBook's ambient light sensor (ALS).
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Modding an old iPod Remote to Work With the New iPod
14 November 2005 07:01 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Shakin-tosh, a member of KODAWARISAN, has modded the old iPod remote control to work with the new iPod. (Translation)
I guess there were now new Macs to disassemble this week :)
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PowerBook Hacks and Other Foolishness
11 November 2005 01:00 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
MacDan has posted a number of Macintosh related hacks, help and other foolishness. Some of my favorite PowerBook-related pages from MacDan:
- Fried chip in a DVI TiBook - Blank white LCD on a 667 DVI 'Book, toasted chip and a solution.
- TiBook display take-apart, re-assembly and various other related info - TiBooks break LCDs, hinges, how to get the dang things apart so's you can fix 'em.
- PowerBook Video Display Subsystems - from Wallstreet to Ivory
- Sandblaster! - Fun with a sandblaster
- PowerBook Wallstreet hinges - Yet another display hinge repair solution
- PowerBook Expansion Bay Module upgrades and hacks - opticals, HDs, etc.
PowerBook 5300 power jack replacement - Where I replace the crappy original power connector with a regular-style PowerBook power connector. Hey, whaddya know?!?! It works great! :-)
Nice weekend reading for the geek in you. That last 5300 article was a flashback to 1995 when I started the PowerPage because of a defective Global Village modem in my PowerBook 5300. Stay tuned for more on our tenth anniversary in the coming weeks. -Ed
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How-To: Change the Color of the Apple Logo on Your PB
09 November 2005 12:59 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Sterling Anderson has posted a pictorial on how to change the color of your PowerBook's Apple logo. That's pictorial, as in, just pictures. Obviously, you're doning this at your own peril, ok?
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Building the US$200 OSx86 Mac
02 November 2005 10:57 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
In the following article I will discuss how to build a Intel based computer that comes very closely to meeting the specs of the OSx86 Development machines. We will discuss exactly WHAT hardware you want, WHERE to find the software, and HOW to install it..."
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Watercooled, Overclocked PowerBook a Hoax
20 September 2005 06:41 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
German blog Der Eigenbroetler claims to have overclocked a PowerBook G4 17-inch to 5.86 GHz. In order to keep it cool they've added a liquid cooling system that uses distilled water. According to the Blog it's a "little bulky." Original German page, translated English version. The author admits in the comments that it's a hoax.
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iPod mini Dissection
22 August 2005 11:33 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Speaking of blowing out iPods, if you want to throw caution to the wind and open your iPod mini, iPoding.com has posted the autopsy photos. They don't tell you how to do it, but a little bird told me that the procedure involves a holding a hot hair dryer to the top panel to soften up the glue. You'll obviously be voiding your warranty (yadda, yadda) but with new iPods on the horizon, who cares? You can pick up a new one next month. Oh, the price of being an early adopter!
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What's Hiding in the Barcode on Your Driver's License?
04 August 2005 12:52 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
The SWIPE Toolkit is a collection of web-based tools that sheds light on personal data collection and usage practices in the United States. The tools demonstrate the value of personal information on the open market and enable people to access information encoded on a driver's license or stored in some of the many commercial data warehouses.
Decode Your Barcode unveils the mystery of the 2D barcode. Currently 39 states use 2D barcodes to digitally store personal information on the backside of drivers' licenses. What information is encoded on your license that machines can read and you cannot?
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How-To: Fix Your iPod FireWire Cable
21 July 2005 11:03 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Is your iPod's Firewire cable coming apart at the seams? Several of my iPod cables have started to de-sheath. What about you? Click through for a fix...
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DIY PowerBook AC Adapter Repair
30 June 2005 12:16 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
While we anxiously wait for Madsonline to start shipping their 65 watt Lucille AC adapter for PowerBooks, you may find that your current ride is in need of repair. PowerBook AC adapters take a lot of abuse, in addition to being wound and unwound thousands of times (especially if you only have one) they constantly get pulled-on, tugged, stretched and yanked. And if you're like me, your cats love to scratch at the white Apple logo on the darned things!
If you're not afraid of a soldering iron Tony Korologos of The Apple Blog has a fix for an AC adapter with a frayed cable.
This week my 2nd adapter shorted out completely. And since my battery only lasts about 7 minutes I was dead in the water. I really didn?t want to fork out more bucks on another new supply so I decided to crack it open. I was able to fix the problem and put it back together, just like new?.sort of.First I had to crack open the casing. The supply was obviously designed to be disposable and the casing had no latches or screws holding it together. I had to hammer a thin screwdriver around the edges and eventually cracked the egg open.
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