HeadphoneAddict Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I'm having a new problem with OSX after upgrading from 10.5.8 to 10.6.3 and I was wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue and what they did to fix the problem? I bought the Mac OSX 10.6 upgrade when it first came out, but I never installed it because everything was running so well with 10.5 and I didn't want to screw things up. Recently I started running into some issues where some software required OSX 10.6 to run. I made sure over the past several months that all my software was slowly upgraded to become 10.6 compatible before doing the OSX upgrade, and I did the upgrade 2 days ago. The upgrade went well, as far as I could tell. But now i found that I can't use several of my DACs IF they are plugged into my 4 port Targus portable USB hub, without hearing clicking or popping and other interference. This includes my DACport, Nuforce HDP and Apogee mini-DAC. I keep several DACs plugged in at the same time and then use the Mac software to switch from one to another, depending on what amp I wanted to listen to. The Targus hub has a special cable that plugs into both USB ports on my Macbook Pro (rev Jan 2009), so that it has enough power. I have two of these Targus hubs, and the new problem occurs whether I swap out the hub or the cables. The above DACs work fine plugged directly into the Macbook. However, I can still plug the Pico Slim, iBasso D4, or Headstage USB DAC into the hub and they all work fine when switching between them with software. Even my Hauppauge USB HDTV TV stick with eyeTV software has now become unreliable regardless of whether via the USB hub or directly plugged into the Mac, and before this update I could plug the TV and 3 DACs into the hub at the same time without a problem. What I don't understand is why did this problem start only after I did the system software update? Has anyone else seen this happen? I know one thing I can try is to buy a new powered hub and see if that solves the problem, but it's a real pain the in butt when everything was just fine before. I could also just get used to frequently plugging in and unplugging devices from the Macs own USB ports, and go back to optical when using my Mini-DAC. Without the hub I cant use my 500Gb ext drive, USB TV stick and DAC/amp at the same time (unless I use optical or firewire for a DAC). So if someone could recommend a particular hub brand or a software fix that they know works well in this situation I would really appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 It's a sign, Larry. Get rid of those inferior DACses. I have not noticed similar behavior, but I have noticed the awful beachball a lot more with Snow Leopard. Have you tried a powered hub? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Why not use optical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 ^Exactly. With this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPH Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I'm having a new problem with OSX after upgrading from 10.5.8 to 10.6.3 and I was wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue and what they did to fix the problem? I bought the Mac OSX 10.6 upgrade when it first came out, but I never installed it because everything was running so well with 10.5 and I didn't want to screw things up. Recently I started running into some issues where some software required OSX 10.6 to run. I made sure over the past several months that all my software was slowly upgraded to become 10.6 compatible before doing the OSX upgrade, and I did the upgrade 2 days ago. The upgrade went well, as far as I could tell. But now i found that I can't use several of my DACs IF they are plugged into my 4 port Targus portable USB hub, without hearing clicking or popping and other interference. This includes my DACport, Nuforce HDP and Apogee mini-DAC. I keep several DACs plugged in at the same time and then use the Mac software to switch from one to another, depending on what amp I wanted to listen to. The Targus hub has a special cable that plugs into both USB ports on my Macbook Pro (rev Jan 2009), so that it has enough power. I have two of these Targus hubs, and the new problem occurs whether I swap out the hub or the cables. The above DACs work fine plugged directly into the Macbook. However, I can still plug the Pico Slim, iBasso D4, or Headstage USB DAC into the hub and they all work fine when switching between them with software. Even my Hauppauge USB HDTV TV stick with eyeTV software has now become unreliable regardless of whether via the USB hub or directly plugged into the Mac, and before this update I could plug the TV and 3 DACs into the hub at the same time without a problem. What I don't understand is why did this problem start only after I did the system software update? Has anyone else seen this happen? I know one thing I can try is to buy a new powered hub and see if that solves the problem, but it's a real pain the in butt when everything was just fine before. I could also just get used to frequently plugging in and unplugging devices from the Macs own USB ports, and go back to optical when using my Mini-DAC. Without the hub I cant use my 500Gb ext drive, USB TV stick and DAC/amp at the same time (unless I use optical or firewire for a DAC). So if someone could recommend a particular hub brand or a software fix that they know works well in this situation I would really appreciate it. I don't have much experience with troubleshooting Macs, but maybe this might help: Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPH Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Another possibility is that your USB cables need more burn-in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadphoneAddict Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 It's a sign, Larry. Get rid of those inferior DACses. I have not noticed similar behavior, but I have noticed the awful beachball a lot more with Snow Leopard. Have you tried a powered hub? Unfortunately I can't afford a pair of PWD to use in both the bedroom/Macbook rig and main rig, sorry. I think I'll need to go look at powered USB hubs tomorrow, but I wasn't sure if anyone could recommend one that they know would fix the problem. Why not use optical I suppose I can switch the bedroom CD player to coax into Apogee (for WA6/eXStatA), and then use optical for Macbook into Apogee. But the nice Emotiva optical cable that I am using is very stiff and difficult to manage or route around the Macbook rig, which is on a small rolling bedside table next to my listening chair. I'll need to get a more flexible cable that wont put torque on the optical jack and will let me roll around the laptop table. I could also switch back to the iBasso D10 with a short optical cable, but I would still want to plug it into USB to keep it charged. This could feed my balanced Protector on my table, but the DACport is a little better sounding. I wanted something for this role that would be self powered and not need to be tied into wall power. (too many cables) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeadphoneAddict Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I don't have much experience with troubleshooting Macs, but maybe this might help: Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC) Thanks, I might also need to reset PRAM or SMC. I didn't even think about that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Currawong Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I'm having a new problem with OSX after upgrading from 10.5.8 to 10.6.3 and I was wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue and what they did to fix the problem? I bought the Mac OSX 10.6 upgrade when it first came out, but I never installed it because everything was running so well with 10.5 and I didn't want to screw things up. Recently I started running into some issues where some software required OSX 10.6 to run. I made sure over the past several months that all my software was slowly upgraded to become 10.6 compatible before doing the OSX upgrade, and I did the upgrade 2 days ago. The upgrade went well, as far as I could tell. But now i found that I can't use several of my DACs IF they are plugged into my 4 port Targus portable USB hub, without hearing clicking or popping and other interference. This includes my DACport, Nuforce HDP and Apogee mini-DAC. I keep several DACs plugged in at the same time and then use the Mac software to switch from one to another, depending on what amp I wanted to listen to. The Targus hub has a special cable that plugs into both USB ports on my Macbook Pro (rev Jan 2009), so that it has enough power. I have two of these Targus hubs, and the new problem occurs whether I swap out the hub or the cables. The above DACs work fine plugged directly into the Macbook. However, I can still plug the Pico Slim, iBasso D4, or Headstage USB DAC into the hub and they all work fine when switching between them with software. Even my Hauppauge USB HDTV TV stick with eyeTV software has now become unreliable regardless of whether via the USB hub or directly plugged into the Mac, and before this update I could plug the TV and 3 DACs into the hub at the same time without a problem. What I don't understand is why did this problem start only after I did the system software update? Has anyone else seen this happen? I know one thing I can try is to buy a new powered hub and see if that solves the problem, but it's a real pain the in butt when everything was just fine before. I could also just get used to frequently plugging in and unplugging devices from the Macs own USB ports, and go back to optical when using my Mini-DAC. Without the hub I cant use my 500Gb ext drive, USB TV stick and DAC/amp at the same time (unless I use optical or firewire for a DAC). So if someone could recommend a particular hub brand or a software fix that they know works well in this situation I would really appreciate it. Can you open up the Console (In Macintosh HD -> Applications -> Utilities) and see if there are any interesting messages about USB coming up when you get the clicks or pops? If anything starts getting screwy with USB you usually get a console message about it. As for hubs, I'd probably buy a Belkin and definitely a powered hub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salt Peanuts Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Bit of an old news by now, but yet another rumor about MacBook Pro update. New MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air Models Scheduled for Launch This Month? - Mac Rumors Actually, didn't Dinny just buy an iPad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Bit of an old news by now, but yet another rumor about MacBook Pro update. New MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air Models Scheduled for Launch This Month? - Mac Rumors Actually, didn't Dinny just buy an iPad? Yup, and the rumored available date is almost exactly as I predicted in relation to my receipt of the iPad. I expect a thank you card from everyone at Macrumors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grawk Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 you could still cancel your order to delay the new laptops tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Monkey Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopstretch Posted April 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2010 He either didn't, or can't. MacBook Pro Updates Imminent (Really), Part Numbers Appear - Mac Rumors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episiarch Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Apple Store is down. So hopefully MBP updates are really really imminent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episiarch Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Annnnd we're back. New MBP's, the 15" and the 17" at least. i5 with an i7 option. No dramatic price changes that I can see. Was wondering if there might be a micro-SIM tray in this generation. Nope. http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morphsci Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 ^^^ Or the 3g iPads are ready for prime time? Edit: Awww... damn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episiarch Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Oh, looks like 13" got revved a little also . . . still core 2 duo but faster clock, and it has a bumped integrated GPU. They say the GPU bump yields 1.8x the previous 13" on Doom 3, 1.6x on Call of Duty 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 I really want to sell our Win based laptop, give my wife my 13" macbook and get a new 15" MBP. Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salt Peanuts Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Dew Eet, Nate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark baguette Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Is the biggest imac 'safe' to get, or is that due for a refresh? Hypothetically speaking of course.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Is the biggest imac 'safe' to get, or is that due for a refresh? Hypothetically speaking of course.... I've heard at least some rumblings of display issues with the 27" series of iMacs but they were also allegedly addressed with two firmware updates about a month ago. Apple claims iMac display issues are fixed | MacFixIt - CNET Reviews My 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salt Peanuts Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Is the biggest imac 'safe' to get, or is that due for a refresh? Hypothetically speaking of course.... According to them, iMacs are in the middle of product cycle based on past history. Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellylh Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 want 15" i7!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torpedo Posted April 13, 2010 Report Share Posted April 13, 2010 Damn, I was expecting an i5 based 13" MBP Had I known the 13" was getting only a faster processor, I'd have purchased it a couple of months ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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