(Credit:
Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Updated at 12:15 p.m. PDT
While the majority of commenters on CNET and around the Web are reporting success in downloading iPhone OS 3.0 Wednesday, there were scattered reports of problems.
My colleague Stephen Shankland, a CNET News reporter, tried several times to download the OS update around 12 p.m. Pacific to his iPhone and received the same error message, pictured above, each time.
CNET News Poll
A handful of CNET commenters reported problems accessing iTunes. "I see that the upgrade is now available, but four times the message I get after a couple of minutes is that the download has 'timed out,'" said one reader, and another reported, "Same issue here, cannot connect to the iTunes store to activate so the phone won't work."
A quick perusal of Twitter showed a smattering of people with the same issue.
This, of course, is a repeat of what happened last year, when Apple's iTunes servers couldn't withstand the barrage of traffic when customers tried to update to iPhone 2.0 software at the same time new iPhone 3G buyers were attempting to activate their phones.
Anyone else having problems with the update today?
Update 12:45 p.m. PDT: Reader Michael Samstag wrote in to say his iPhone was rendered unusable when he tried to install the update. "It has the 'connect to iTunes' message and will only allow emergency calls," he says. "I signed up for the 'Apple callback' for tech support and they called back and put me on hold for 20-minutes. Then the call got disconnected and now the earliest callback time is between 6:15 p.m. EDT and 6:30 p.m. EDT. So, I'm looking at having no cell for a minimum of three hours, probably longer."
Gizmodo is also hearing reports of phones "bricked" from the update. We're still waiting for comment from Apple.
Update 1:05 p.m. PDT: We're also getting feedback about general sluggishness and intermittent problems accessing Apple's Mobile Me service. But it sounds like the situation isn't as bad as last year. That was when the simultaneous launch of the iPhone 3G and Mobile Me wreaked havoc on across Apple's servers and related Web services.
Update 2:26 p.m. PDT: My colleague Stephen now reports success in installing the update--after 30 tries over the course of 2.5 hours. Samstag, the reader who earlier reported his phone had been bricked by the update, also says it's working now.
Seems like things are getting back to normal now.
If the Mac OS X 10.5.6 update caused you problems earlier this week, try, try again.
(Credit: Apple)Apple has acknowledged an issue encountered by some Leopard users trying to install the company's latest update released Monday.
In a support document posted to its site, Apple described an issue in which a Mac would hang on a "Configuring installation" window when trying to install Mac OS X 10.5.6. That was apparently the result of an incomplete update getting seeded into the Software Update process, and Mac OS X will freak out if it tries to install a partially downloaded update.
Apple recommends that if you encounter this problem, or have already, that you force Software Update to quit, remove the partial update from your library, and re-download the update. If you chose to download the standalone update from Apple's site rather than the combo update, you might also have had this problem; when in doubt, choose the combo update option.
If you've had a separate problem in trying to install the update, check out our sister site MacFixIt for tips and troubleshooting guidelines.
Fire up Software Update to get the latest update to Mac OS X Leopard.
(Credit: Josh Lowensohn/CNET)MobileMe syncing improvements and security fixes headline the list of changes unveiled with the release of Apple's Mac OS X 10.5.6 update Monday.
The file should be appearing in the Software Update window at any moment now, depending on how often you've set Software Update to check for new software. The sixth update to Leopard, originally released in October 2007, comes with the usual range of tweaks, bug fixes, and security improvements.
One update of note concerns MobileMe, which is now capable of pushing updates made to calendars or contact information from the Web or an iPhone to the primary Mac within a minute. Apple had numerous problems with the launch of the MobileMe service earlier this year, and the latest update should help fix one of the more pressing issues still outstanding with the $99-a-year service.
A full list of the issues addressed with 10.5.6 can be found here, while a list of the security improvements should appear here relatively soon. If you want to download the update from Apple's Web site, go here, but the Software Update function is the easiest way to get updated.
Apple has released the latest version of Leopard, with bug fixes and security updates accompanying the fifth update to the operating system.
The company sent over a list of improvements about 30 minutes ago, and the full list of fixes and improvements should be up on Apple's Web site any moment with the update itself popping up in Software Update. Two notable updates from the "General" section were a fix for the video playback problems that affected some MacBook Air owners, as well as a puzzling bug "in which some Macs could unexpectedly power on at the same time each day," which would be the first time I've heard that one.
In any event, let us know if you have any problems installing the new update. It's hard to believe, but it's getting close to a year since Leopard was first released.
Time to update those Leopard laptops to 10.5.4.
(Credit: Apple)Apple has released Mac OS X 10.5.4, the fourth update to Leopard since it was released last October.
The new version contains the usual mix of bug fixes and security updates, with iCal getting the most attention. iCal won't delete events without telling you as a result of the latest update, for example, and Apple said the update "improves overall iCal reliability." Airport and Spaces & Expose also received some updates.
MacRumors.com notes that the update paves the way for Apple to release the MobileMe service, the successor to .Mac unveiled by Apple at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.
There are also a couple of security-related fixes for Safari and other issues that my colleague Rob Vamosi will cover in more detail. Mac OS X 10.5.4 should pop up through Software Update any moment now, or you can force the issue by visiting Apple's site.
For what it's worth, 10.5.4 did not appear in the list of available updates when I ran Software Update on my Open Computer from Psystar, as expected. As of about 2 p.m. PDT, Psystar hadn't posted a version on its site, although it might take the company some time to get the Open Computer version of the update up and running.
Look, people, it's 2008: You're responsible for what you install on your PC.
The outrage is spewing forth over Apple's move to include Safari 3.1 as part of its Software Update program. The new twist is that Windows users who never had installed Safari are now seeing it pop up in Software Update, where they are accustomed to seeing updates for iTunes and Quicktime, and that's not sitting well with many who inadvertently installed the browser.
If you don't want to download Safari for Windows, don't download Safari for Windows.
(Credit: Apple)Short attention span syndrome strikes again. This practice, of trying to get people to install your software through coy tactics, has been going on for years. All the major IM vendors have tried it at one point or another. Yahoo faced an outrage in 2005 over the fact that its "standard" installation of a Yahoo Instant Messenger application included toolbars and this really obnoxious "live words" thing that directed people to Yahoo Search.
Hell, Sony is actually charging people $50 to prevent software they don't want from being installed on their PCs.
That doesn't mean Apple's move is any less annoying, but it's hardly ground-breaking. And in this case, at least you have options. Apple made Safari 3.1 a standalone update option, so you can choose to uncheck the box next to the title and download just the iTunes updates. The company tells you exactly what you're downloading, and offers a link to its site for more information.
Had Apple bundled Safari with iTunes, the way they bundle Quicktime, I can see where Windows users would have more of a complaint. Being forced to install something you don't want just to get updates for something you do want is not cool. You can download standalone versions of QuickTime or iTunes on Apple's site, but sometimes they appear bundled in Software Update and people don't realize they have other options.
But that's not what's happening with Safari. If you don't want Safari, don't click "install."
It seems that at some point people became conditioned to downloading anything that shows up from an official source, like Microsoft, Apple, AOL, Yahoo, or whoever. Remember, it's your PC; spend your installation capital wisely.
The latest update to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard dropped Monday afternoon, with fixes for several different issues.
Apple posted a support document on its Web site and began informing Leopard users through the Software Update mechanism that Mac OS X 10.5.2 is now ready for public consumption. A combo update that includes some security patches is 343MB and can be downloaded immediately. The first update to Leopard, version 10.5.1, was released in November.
The latest version of Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5.2, has arrived.
(Credit: Apple)This time around, Apple has fixed some issues with Time Machine, the automatic backup software available in Leopard, as well as Finder. Time Machine now works with a wider variety of external hard drives, and you can now access the application through the menu bar like you would a list of Wi-Fi networks. There's no support for wireless backups, however, unless you pick up Apple's new Time Capsule external hard drive.
Finder now seems more stable, with fixes that should prevent it from crashing in certain situations. And Airport is said to work more reliably with improved stability and security.
Apple also released two separate patches for Leopard users that improve graphics performance and update WebObjects to 5.4.1. It's not clear whether those are included in the combo update; they aren't included in the list of new things in version 10.5.2 on Apple's site.
Tiger users also have some work to do, with new security updates released for both Tiger and Leopard. The Leopard combo update does include the security update released Monday for that OS. About 19 percent of the Mac installed base has upgraded to Leopard, Apple executives said on their earnings conference call last month.
Update 10:50 a.m.: Apple confirmed that the iMac patch corrects the freezing issue reported by some users, and it's encouraging people to download that patch as soon as they get a chance. Also, the Macbook Pro patch is just for Tiger users; the graphics stability issues fixed by the patch were corrected in Leopard.
If you haven't been prompted already, iMac and Macbook Pro owners should wander over to Apple's downloads page and install new patches released Friday.
Apple didn't provide any details on what the patches correct, but it calls them "important bug fixes," so they're probably important. MacFixIt and AppleInsider said the update fixes the graphics problems that caused iMacs to freeze. The patches are for the latest iMacs introduced in August, and there are separate versions for those running Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) and Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5).
There's also a Macbook Pro update that is said to improve "graphics stability" for owners that are using the 2.2GHz or 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo chips. There's only one patch, and it's not clear whether that applies to Tiger or Leopard users. I'd assume it applies to everyone, but I e-mailed Apple for clarification just in case.
The patches are available here on Apple's support site, but you can also find them by clicking the "Software Update" menu choice under the Apple menu. They might also be waiting for you the next time you boot.
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