I finally decided to search for a solution and I found a workaround at least:

Basically, the workaround is to dock the Clipboard History window to one of the sides of . . . → Read More: Preventing Quicksilver’s Clipboard History window from popping up when quitting applications]]> A few months ago, I noticed that Quicksilver’s Clipboard History window would pop up unexpectedly when I used Cmd+Q to quit applications. Mildly annoying.

I finally decided to search for a solution and I found a workaround at least:

Basically, the workaround is to dock the Clipboard History window to one of the sides of the screen.

<shameless-plug> </shameless-plug>

Tonight, I started getting an error while trying to run my app from Xcode on my device (provisioned for development). The error was:

Your mobile device has encountered an unexpected error (0xE8000001) during the install phase: Copying file. Try disconnecting and powering off the . . . → Read More: Xcode/iPhone error 0xE8000001: problem and fix]]> As you all probably know, I’ve written a word game for the iPhone called Word Up!

<shameless-plug>

</shameless-plug>

Tonight, I started getting an error while trying to run my app from Xcode on my device (provisioned for development). The error was:

Your mobile device has encountered an unexpected error (0xE8000001)
during the install phase: Copying file.
Try disconnecting and powering off the device; then power the device
on and reconnect it.

I tried resetting the device a number of times and rebooting my MBP as well to no avail. It was beginning to look like I was going to have to do the dreaded restore and then lose all the cool jailbreak stuff that I’ve become so accustomed to. And then that made me remember that because my device is jailbroken, I can ssh to it and poke around. I wondered if a previous failed copy left some garbage on the device that was causing subsequent copies to fail.

iPhone:/ root# find . -name 'Word Up*'
./private/var/mobile/Media/PublicStaging/Word Up!.app
iPhone:/ root# cd /var/mobile/Media/PublicStaging/
iPhone:/var/mobile/Media/PublicStaging root# rm -rf Word\ Up\!.app/

Bingo. That fixed it. So if you hit this problem and you happen to have access to the filesystem of the device, give it a shot.

What does it have? From http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2405:

After installing . . . → Read More: New MacBook Pro Firmware]]> MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5.1 just popped up in Software Update:

After installing and rebooting:

Interestingly, I’ve also noticed that the “check for updates” functionality always fails to connect to the server. I’ve wondered if . . . → Read More: Frequent Quicksilver crashes?]]> Lately, Quicksilver has been quietly dying very often and I’m constantly restarting it. I suppose I should try reinstalling and/or deleting my preferences, but before I do that, I was wondering if anyone else was seeing this.

Interestingly, I’ve also noticed that the “check for updates” functionality always fails to connect to the server. I’ve wondered if this and the crash are related (e.g.: Quicksilver dying when it attempts to do an automatic check), but that’s just pure speculation.

Here’s a snippet from the last crash log that got dumpd in ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter

Process:         Quicksilver [1566]
Path:            /Applications/Quicksilver.app/Contents/MacOS/Quicksilver
Identifier:      com.blacktree.Quicksilver
Version:         β53 (3814)
Code Type:       X86 (Native)
Parent Process:  launchd [87]

Date/Time:       2008-04-01 11:27:29.302 -0700
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.5.2 (9C7010)
Report Version:  6

Exception Type:  EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000000
Crashed Thread:  4

My Apogee Duet Firewire audio interface arrived.

Thoughts:

1. Open Logic project file: “07 New Day”. 2. Drag the Marquee tool (Command-click tool) over the High Arpeggio region from bar 5 to bar 7. Verify that before releasing . . . → Read More: Logic bug: Creating Apple Loops from a region]]> While following the exercise “Creating Blue Apple Loops” on page 262 of “Logic Pro 8 and Logic Express 8″ by David Nahmani, I was running into some trouble.

1. Open Logic project file: “07 New Day”.
2. Drag the Marquee tool (Command-click tool) over the High Arpeggio region from bar 5 to bar 7. Verify that before releasing the mouse button, the help tag reads “5 1 1 1 7 1 1 1″, indicating that Marquee selection goes from bar 5 to bar 7 and is thus 2 bars in length.
3. Click the Marquee selection with the Pointer tool to create a new region that should be exactly 2 bars in length.
4. In the Arrange area’s local menu bar, choose Region > Add to Apple Loops Library.

Expected Results:
The dialog should offer the choice of “Loop” or “One-shot”.

Actual Results:
The choice of “Loop” or “One-shot” is grayed out.

According to the book and http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301036, this graying out is a symptom of having a region that is not a whole number of bars in length, but this region seems to be exactly 2 bars in length as far as I can tell.

I posted about this on the Logic Pro Help forums (run by Mr. Nahmani; not Apple) and Mr. Nahmani kindly pointed me to an earlier thread that explains the problem and how to work around it. Basically, the bug is that the help tag is indicating that the region is 2 bars in length, when in fact, it’s actually a bit shorter. The remedy is to tweak the region a bit to make it shorter and then to make it exactly 2 bars in length.

I hope this helps other folks who run into this problem. And I hope Apple fixes this bug.

I’m going to try to use a 10% off code from GuitarCenter.com even though Apogee doesn’t seem to be on the allowed . . . → Read More: Buying an Apogee Duet]]> I think I’m going to buy the Apogee Duet as my Firewire audio interface:

I’m going to try to use a 10% off code from GuitarCenter.com even though Apogee doesn’t seem to be on the allowed brands list:

There’s the Presonus Firebox ($300), which I borrowed from a friend. Sounds pretty good, although the preamp gain (45 dB) is not stellar and no inserts for sticking something like a compressor. It seems to work pretty well in Leopard, . . . → Read More: Audio interfaces]]> Ah, what audio interface to buy for doing some simple 2 channel recordings into my MacBook Pro?

There’s the Presonus Firebox ($300), which I borrowed from a friend. Sounds pretty good, although the preamp gain (45 dB) is not stellar and no inserts for sticking something like a compressor. It seems to work pretty well in Leopard, although it sometimes disappears and I’ve had to replug it or reboot the computer to get it to show up again. Bus-powered, but you have to plug it in when you first connect it; otherwise it flashes and makes a loud, disturbing clicking sound. No meters; just clip LEDs. Most annoyingly, sometimes when I plug it into my MacBook Pro with OS X 10.5.2, I get a kernel panic:

      Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
         com.apple.driver.AppleFWAudio(2.4.0fc8)@0x5b445000->0x5b493fff
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily(3.4.0)@0x76d000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireAVC(2.2.1)@0x976000
            dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily(1.6.4b7)@0x986000
         com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily(1.6.4b7)@0x986000->0x99cfff
            dependency: com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib(1.1)@0x973000

Presonus has a higher-end model called the FireStudio Project, which looks nice on paper. Goes for $500. More channels (more than I need). Better preamp gain (60 dB vs. 45 dB for the Firebox) and dynamic range on the A/D converters (114 dB vs. 108 dB for the Firebox). Has inserts and meters and an interesting-sounding software bundle. Unfortunately, it seems to have a lot of problems with Leopard and/or the new Firewire chipset on newer Macs:

• discussions.apple.com – PreSonus FireStudio in Leopard
• forums.presonus.com – FireStudio Project – Firestudio Project with Leopard & Logic
• forums.presonus.com – FireStudio Project – Did the FSP Leopard driver do the trick?
• acapella.harmony-central.com – Presonus Firestudio Project Problems with Mac OS 10.5!

Another option is the Apogee Duet ($500). I can’t find reliable-looking specs on the preamps or A/D converters (BSW claims the preamps have 75 dB of gain), but there seems to be a favorable impression of the sound quality (similar to its big brother, the $1900+ Ensemble) and the usability and aesthetics. Haven’t heard any complaints about Leopard or general stability. It looks pretty nice and even has meters with 7 LEDs. No inserts though. And it’s Mac only and Core Audio only. I have a Mac, so that’s not too bad, though it might be nice to have something that works with a PC in case I’m out of the house and jamming with other folks.

• gearslutz.com – Apogee Duet
• Apogee Duet vs. M-Audio FW410
• Anybody got an Apogee Duet?