At the request of one of my readers, I am making a short tutorial on how to burn activate.iso on Mac OS X. This is a fairly simple process, however I will cover it in as much detail as possible.

Tools Needed:

The activate.iso file ( Download )
Disk Utility (  Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility )
A Blank Dual Layer DVD

The Tutorial:

Download the activate.iso file from the above list of tools. Once downloaded, you need to extract it, since it will be in a compressed zip format.

Open Disk Utility ( Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility ) – you should see a screen similar to the below

Click on Burn, you will see a browse window similar to the image below, browse to the location where you downloaded and extracted the activate.iso file. Highlight activate.iso, then click on Burn.

After clicking on Burn, the browse dialog will disappear and you will see a new window, similar to the following image. At this point you will need to insert your disk. When Disk Utility recognizes that a blank dual layer disk has been inserted, it will enable the Burn button. All you need to do now is click Burn.

After the burn has completed you will most likely need to reboot your Mac to remove the disk since for me anyway OS X did not recognize that there was a disk in the drive after the burn completed and therefore did not let me eject the disk while I was in the operating system. So what you need to do is reboot your Mac and eject the disk using the eject button before your Mac boots back up completely.

So that’s it for the tutorial, nothing special, just use good old Disk Utility to burn and you’re all set.

This was giving me a problem some days ago so I thought I’d write up a quick tutorial on how to shrink dmg files on a mac. Why would you want to do this ? Well lets say you are creating an application and you want to package it in a DMG so you open up Disk Utility and create a blank image. Well you can only choose certain sizes. Most of us would choose a 40MB image so we have plenty of initial space to work with.

As far as I know there are 2 methods for shrinking the dmg down to the size of its contents, they are listed below.

Method – 1:

• Right Click on the DMG
• Click Compress

This will generate a zip file down to the actual size of the content of the DMG since free space has 100% compression ratio.

Method – 2:

This method involves the use of the Terminal App which can be found under Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal

• Launch Terminal
• Type the following hdiutil resize -size 10M /Path/To/DMG/DMG_Name.dmg

Code Breakdown:

• hdiutil – A utility that comes preinstalled with Mac OS X, that manipulates disk images, etc…
• -size – An argument passed to hdiutil, indicating that you want to change the size of an image.
• 10M – means I am changing the dmg size to 10 Megabytes, insert your own value here.
• The rest should be self explanitory

So there you have it, 2 methods to resize your dmg in Mac OS X. Thanks for reading.

If anyone would benefit from having a little GUI App that resizes DMG’s let me know, if I receive enough requests, I might make one and post it here.

Requirements:
- Mac OS X 10.4 or later
- Intel Processor
- Dual Layer DVD Burner 

Installation:

So today I have decided to release the an Alpha Version of ISOx360. You can download it from my projects page.

ISOx360 makes burning XBOX 360 games on your Mac just about as simple as it can get. Simply download ISOx360 and extract the .dmg then open the .dmg and drag ISOx360 to your Applications folder to install. Once installed you can launch ISOx360 and you should be presented with a screen similar to the illustration to the left. 

Download ISOx360 on my Projects Page: http://chris-fletcher.com/projects/ Read more

OSx360 probably the only application that is available for Mac that can properly burn XBOX 360 games. It seems as though the developer has abandoned the project. I have checked the developers website and a few forums where he interacted with a few people that had issues with OSx360.

I’ve tried to contact him to see if he would release the source code to the application so that I could continue development and work out all of the bugs, including the ability to verify stealth on the newer released games. However, I have not been able to make any contact so I will be developing a new burning application for Mac OS X that will burn XBOX 360 games.

I’d like to ask my readers to please leave me comments with feature requests, etc…

In the meantime, OSx360 will still properly burn XBOX 360 games even if stealth is not verified. What I would suggest is this, use abgx360 to verify the ISO to ensure it has been properly patched. You can follow my tutorial on how to do that by clicking the link here. http://chris-fletcher.com/2009/06/07/how-to-stealth-patch-xbox-360-games-on-a-mac/

After you’ve finished with abgx360 and everything appears to look good, you can proceed to open OSx360. Follow my tutorial by clicking the link below on how to burn XBOX 360 games using OSx360.

http://chris-fletcher.com/2009/06/05/how-to-burn-xbox-360-games-on-a-mac/

You’ll want to follow the tutorial step by step, here’s the exception, If everything checked out fine in abgx360 but you are seeing stealth not verified in OSx360 then you must make a minor change to the configuration. 

• Configuration
• Burn Options Pane
• Uncheck Require Stealth Verification

 

After you’ve made the configuration changes you can proceed to burn your game. I have been able to this without any problems, but don’t blame me if this ends up producing coasters for you.

Just wanted to mention again that I will be developing a new burning application for Mac OS X to burn XBOX 360 games and urge anyone reading this blog to submit any type feature requests.

The goal of the application will be to mimic OSx360 in that you can open an ISO it will verify stealth, dmi, pfi, etc… and allow you to burn the game. I’d like to try and keep it as simple as possible but will consider all feature requests.

That’s it and thanks for reading.

I’ve had the pleasure of downloading the Developer Release of Google’s new browser, chrome. Right when you launch the application it notifies you that its not appropriate for general consumer use and that the bookmark and password import as well as certain privacy features are not functional yet, but hey who needs those features, all of us Mac users are eager to try out the new browser.

At first glance the browser looks very plain with a view of your six most visited sites similar to version 4 of Safari that was just recently released by Apple. Read more

This tutorial should work no matter which operating system you are on, however I am writing it with more emphasis on how to do it on a Mac, since there isn’t any software that will help with backing up original Wii Games on a Mac.

The best thing about this Guide is that if your Wii has a mod chip installed and you have an SD card and a home network, then you wont have to spend any money on any additional hardware. So on to the guide.

Prerequisites:

• Wii with a mod chip
• Wii with Version 3.2 ( If your version is higher then 3.2 then you must downgrade )
• Wii connected to your network
• A Mac connected to your network
• An SD Card ( Must be less then 2GB )

Required Software:

• WiiOSx Tool - A custom application I developed to aid the process and make life easy. WiiOSx Tool will format your SD Card to the proper specifications, prepare your SD card to install the Homebrew Channel, prepare your SD card to install custom IOS and the Wii HTTP server. Finally, WiiOSx will make it easy to download your ISO. Go ahead and download WiiOSx Tool, install and launch it and then proceed to Step 1.NOTE: Only works on OS X 10.5 ( Leopard ) 

 

Step 1: Preparing Your SD Card

The first thing we need to do is prepare the SD card. We will need to format the SD card with FAT16 and then add the necessary applications to it. To do this follow the steps below:

Formatting Your SD Card:

1. Launch WiiOSx Tool
2. Click the Format SD Card Tab
3. Select your SD Card from the Drop Down
4. Enter A New Name for your SD Card ( It can be the same name as the current card name )
5. Click Format SD Card

Preparing the SD Card for Homebrew Channel Installation:

If you already have the Homebrew Channel installed, you can skip this part and go on to Step 2

1. In WiiOSx Tool click on the BannerBomb Hack Tab
2. Select your SD Card from the Drop Down
3. Choose a version from the Drop Down ( Start with the first and work your way down until one of them works )
4. Make sure Erase Card is checked.
5. Click Make BannerBomb SD Card
6. Take the SD Card and put it into your Wii’s SD Card Slot
7. Press (Wii), Data Management, Channels, SD. It should either pop up Load boot.dol/elf? or freeze. If it freezes then repeat steps 1 through 5 and choose a different version.
8. Click Yes and Install Homebrew Channel

 

Step 2: Checking Your Wii’s Current Version

The first thing we need to do is check which menu version your Wii currently uses. To do this follow the steps below:

1. Turn on your Wii
2. On the bottom left hand corner of the Wii menu you should see the Wii Logo. Click on it
3. Then Click on Settings
4. On the top left corner of the screen you should see your version
5. If your version is higher then 3.2 then continue to Step 3.
6. If your version is 3.2 then continue to Step 5.

 

Step 3: Fixing Your Wii

This is a step you need to take if your version is above 3.2 before we begin, we need to prepare the SD Card with the necessary files. If you haven’t formatted your SD Card yet, then follow the beginning of the tutorial. If your SD card has been formatted already then all you need to do is as follows:

• Launch WiiOSx Tool
• Click on the Additional Apps Tab
• Select your SD Card from the Drop Down
• Make sure Erase Card is selected
• Then click on Add Applications
• Wait for it to finish and then insert your SD Card into the Wii’s SD Slot

Follow the steps below to Fix your Wii (This fix will enable WAD’s to run properly on your Wii)

1. Update your Wii to the latest version. 
2. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “WAD Manager”.
3. Press “A” on the Wii Remote once. The Wii should detect a SD Card. Press “A” again to see a list of WADs on the SD Card. Use the “D-Pad” to select “IOS16-64-v257-prod.wad”. Press “+” to install the WAD. Once installed, press the “Home” button, to restart you Wii.
4. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Custom Manager”. Using the same method as in “Step 3″, install the “cIOS_Fix.wad”. Once installed, press the “Home” button, to restart you Wii.
5. Using the ‘Homebrew Channel’, open ‘IOS Downgrader’. Just follow the instructions on the screen and wait until it finishes installing the necessary IOSs.
6. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Install Shop IOS51″. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install “IOS51″, by pressing “A”. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install the IOS Patch, by pressing “A”. Use the “D-Pad” to select “No”, and DO NOT install the “Wii Shop Channel”.
7. Using the ‘Homebrew Channel’, open ‘WAD Manager ’. Install ‘WAD MANAGER 1.3’. 
8. The Wii is now able to install WADs and Homebrew Apps should work properly now. 

 

Step 4: Downgrading Your Wii To 3.2

1. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Firmware Downgrader”.
2. Press the ‘A’ button on the Wii Remote. You should be presented with a list of different firmware versions. Select and press ‘A’ on one of the following:
   - 3.2J = Japan Firmware
   - 3.2U = American Firmware
   - 3.2E = Europe Firmware
3. Press the “Home” button on the Wii Remote to restart the Wii. 
4. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Install Shop IOS51″.
5. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install “IOS51″, by pressing “A”. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install the IOS Patch, by pressing “A”. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install the “Wii Shop Channel”
6. Using “The Homebrew Channel”, open “Mii Channel Updater”.
7. Use the “D-Pad” to select “Yes”, and install “Updated Mii Channel”, by pressing “A”.
8. You are now on the Wii Firmware 3.2X and can use the Mii Channel and Shop Channel. 

 

Step 5: Installing cIOS249

1. Start the Homebrew Channel
2.  Launch the Custom IOS249 Installer. 
3. It should only take a few seconds before the IOS is installed.

 

Step 6: Starting The HTTPD Server

1. Start the Homebrew Channel
2. Launch the WiiHTTP Dumper
3. Once it loads, it will connect to your network, and display the IP address of the Wii.
4. Insert the Wii Game that you want to backup!

 

Step 7: Downloading Your ISO

1. Launch WiiOSx Tool
2. Click on the ISO Tab
3. Type the Wii IP Address that is displayed from the HTTPD server into the Wii IP Address box
4. Click on Save ISO To, to select a location to save your ISO to.
5. Select the type of ISO you are creating, the choices are do-wii-sl.iso (Wii Single Layer Disc), do-wii-dl.iso (Wii Dual Layer Disc), do-gamecube.gcm (Game Cube Disc).
6. Click Save ISO, the process can take anywhere from 1.5 to 5 hrs. depending on your connection speed.

 

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I will not charge for WiiOSx Tool but I’m hoping that I’ll at least receive some donations for my hard work. You can use the form below to donate any amount you wish.

[donateplus] [donorwall title='Donor Recognition Wall']

NOTE: This will only work with backup copies of Wii Games, there is currently no support for the internal DVD drives that come standard in any Mac for reading original Wii discs.

In an effort to keep things simple, this is a follow-up of my tutorial on How To Backup And Burn Wii Games On A Mac. I have developed an application that allows you to simply insert the Wii Game into your DVD Drive and then select a location and name for your ISO and simply click on Backup Wii Game.

NOTE: This is an Alpha release of WiiOSx, I will need to receive a lot of feedback as far as functionality is concerned. WiiOSx has been tested on OS X 10.5 and works without any issues. Please leave comments and let me know what you’d like to see in future releases as well as any bugs you may experience.

Just follow the simple step by step Tutorial Below:

WiiOSx Tutorial:

 

Download WiiOSx, extract and then Launch the Application.

Insert your Wii Game that you want to Backup, Finder should pop up and say that you inserted a blank DVD. Click on Ignore. Now you should see information for Media Type and BSD Name. This information is not important but it should say something other then No Disc.

Click on Select and choose where to save your image and give it a name and then click Save

You should now see your chosen location and image name appear next to the Select Button. 

If this is correct then you can proceed to click on Backup Wii Game, you should then be presented with a progress bar. Wait for it to finish and then burn with Disk Utility. You can follow my other tutorial for that bit. http://chris-fletcher.com/2009/05/17/backup-and-burn-wii-games-on-a-mac/

Download WiiOSx

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I will not charge for WiiOSx but I’m hoping that I’ll at least receive some donations for my hard work. You can use the form below to donate any amount you wish.

[donateplus] [donorwall title='Donor Recognition Wall']

This is a tutorial on How To Stealth Path your XBOX 360 games on a Mac. After much searching on google I have had a really difficult time finding anything to help me stealth patch XBOX 360 games on Mac that I’ve downloaded from the internet.

 

So this is sort of a follow up tutorial for How To Burn your XBOX 360 games on a mac. If you’ve opened OSx360 and the Stealth verification failed then you can’t burn the game and even if you could, you probably wouldn’t be able to play it in your XBOX 360 console.

This tutorial will explain in detail what you should do if Stealth doesn’t pass verification in OSx360. First you must download an application. The application we will need is called abx360, you can google for it or download it below. This application will fix an unverified stealth patch. ( Most of the time )

• abgx360

Download and install abgx360. Once it’s installed, open the application and then open up your ISO file of the game that didn’t pass the Stealth verification by clicking on the blue folder icon to the right of the text input field. You should have something similar to the below illustration.

Now click on the AutoFix tab and copy the settings below.

 

When you have everything set correctly you can click on the blue Launch button at the very bottom it should turn green when you hover over it with your mouse.

 

After clicking on the Launch button, a Terminal window should open and you should start seeing a bunch of text similar to the below. DO NOT INTERRUPT THIS PROCESS. Let it do its thing.

Notice the lines in Red, the game I am working with has a blank DMI, a blank PFI and my Stealth check has failed. These are all bad things and fortunately are all things that abgx360 will fix for us.

 

 You will notice that towards the bottom you’ll see some nice green lines of text. PFI, DMI, Video and Stealth have all been fixed, now it just needs to verify the CRC of the ISO. Let it finish, be patient this could take a few minutes. Finally we know that the program has finished when we see the line AutoFix was successful!

You can now close the Terminal and abx360. Now you can follow my tutorial on how to burn your XBOX 360 games on a mac using OSx360 and when the Verify screen pops up you should see something similar to the following.

Everything looks good, Stealth Check has passed, PFI and SS Sector Data are Valid, DMI is Valid and all is right with the world. Now go ahead and burn your game and enjoy.

Hopefully I’m not repeating what someone else has already done but like I said, I have not been able to find a good / if any tutorial on the internet. Please let me know if I missed something or you have some questions or need some help.

So if you used to be or are still an avid Windows user and are trying to take a screen shot on a Mac, then you are probably a little lost because you can’t find the Print Screen Key…

Well luckily for you there is this tutorial that will show you not only 1 but 3 different ways to take screen shots with a Mac.

• Shift + Command + 3 – This combination will capture the entire desktop and save it as a file on your desktop as picture(number). 
• Shift + Command + 4 – This combination will turn your mouse pointer into a cross and allow you to click and drag a box around the area that you would like to capture. After you let go of the mouse button an image will be saved to the desktop as picture(number). If you are not happy with your selection or you would like your mouse pointer back, just press the Esc key on your keyboard .
• Shift + Command + 4 then press spacebar - This will allow you to select which window you would like to capture and again will save a file to your desktop as picture(number).

In my opinion, I think that Apple has once again proven their innovation by being simplistic.

Here’s a good way to get discounts from Apple. I am listing a few links here. Just accept the agreement and check out the discounts you can get.

• http://www.apple.com/eppstore/officemax
• http://www.apple.com/eppsotre/bestbuy
• http://www.apple.com/eppstore/qwest

Just as an example, using one of the links above, you can get a MacBook starting at $939.00 vs. going to http://store.apple.com and getting it for $999.00. Hey $60.00 saved is an extra $60.00 in your pocket.

By now you should get the general idea. This information is listed for informational purposes only. You should adhere to Apple’s Employee Purchase Program and only accept the terms if you meet the criteria.

Just thought I’d share some knowledge with all the Apple Fans