Mac OS X FAQ

By Owen Baxter, Macintosh Consultant/Programmer, I.T.S., University of Otago

Question: How Do I Connect to a Shared Disk (Where's the Chooser)?

Answer for old versions, eg 10.1: Make sure you are currently in the Finder ("Desktop" program) and choose "Connect to Server" from the "Go" menu. Click Appletalk, then the zone the server is in (unfortunately, unlike Mac OS 9, the zone you are in isn't automatically selected), the choose the server. After that the procedure is similar to Mac OS 9. If the server isn't on the local network, enter its IP address or domain name in the text field "Address", eg "owen3.otago.ac.nz".

Answer for new versions, eg 10.3: Make sure you are currently in the Finder and choose "Connect to Server" from the "Go" menu. Click Browse, open the zone, then the server required. Enter the name and password, click Connect.
Alternatively, choose "Connect to Server" from the "Go" menu. Enter the domain name or IP address of the server required. Click Connect, enter the name and password, click Connect.

Question: How Do I Choose Which Program Opens What Type of File?

Answer: Unfortunately Mac OS X has to try to cope with both the Mac OS 9 way and the PC way of "binding" file (document) types to programs (applications). In other words both the invisible type and creator and the (sometimes invisible) file name suffix have to be considered. While it is very "un-Mac" to use suffixes (eg ".txt" for text files) it is an unfortunate necessity if you want to interact with users of other platforms.

If you find double-clicking on a document type consistently opens it in the wrong program (eg JPEG files opening in a Classic program like PictureViewer) just click an example of the file involved, choose "Show Info" from the File menu, choose "Open with Application" from the menu on the Info window, choose a program from the menu and click "Change All".

Question: What is a "DMG" file?

Answer: Any file with the suffix ".dmg" is a Mac OS X disk image. A disk image is a file that "pretends" to be a CD or other disk. Double clicking a DMG file creates a new "disk" at the "computer" level (and on your desktop if you use that option). Opening this disk image is like opening a disk--you can then drag items to your hard disk or run an installer. When you're finished with it drag the image to the trash to remove it.

Question: Why Can't I Use Pop-up Windows in Mac OS X?

Answer: Apple have not implemented this feature in the Mac OS X Finder. You can achieve a similar effect (in fact you can do much more) by using the shareware program "DragThing". This creates pop-up windows which can appear from any edge of the screen and also allows keyboard shortcuts for any program or document.

Question: How Can I Share a Folder Apart from "Public"?

Answer: Use the shareware utility "SharePoints". It is a preference pane (it is added to the System preferences program). It allows you to share extra folders (not just your Public folder). Get it here*.

Question: How Can I Get Double Scroll Arrows at Both Ends of the Scroll Bar?

Answer: Use the shareware utility "TinkerTool". It is a preference pane (it is added to the System preferences program). It will also allow you to change many other useful attributes of the system. Get it here*.

Question: How Can I Automatically Hide Everything Except the Current Program?

Answer: Use the shareware program "MenuStrip". This creates some extra buttons in the menu bar which provide several functions including the ability to hide everything except the current (frontmost) program. When you switch to another program its windows appear and the previous program is hidden. You can also set up a list of programs which are always shown (eg it is useful to never hide the Finder).

Question: How Can I Log in as "root"?

Answer: Log in as an admin user, Use the NetInfo Manager to authenticate and then enable root user. In System preferences choose the "Login" pane. Click the "Login Window" tab and click "Show Other User in list of network users". Next time you log in choose other, enter "root" as the user name and enter the admin password (the one you set when you initially installed the system).

I suggest you don't actually do this. Use the "sudo" utility from the command line to issue Unix commands as root or use the "Pseudo" shareware utility to launch GUI applications as root. If you don't understand this answer please don't do anything as root!

Note: * Shareware programs should be used with caution. Remove them if you think they are causing problems. Please pay the shareware fee if there is one. If you can't download from the server referenced here please go to VersionTracker and find the program there.