[danspocket]

when i boot from the TTD CD provided by AppleCare, i can't run tests b/c TTD tells me the screen resolution is too small -- says it needs a min of 800x600 and thousands of colors.
thing is, i have my screen set to the eMac settings, which is 1024x768 / mil of colors.
what gives? is there a way to keep these settings when booting off of a CD?
d.

[Grant_G]

That CD AppleCare sent you isn't compatible with newer Macs. I have no clue why they're still sending it out. It's at least a 2 year old version, and since it's TTD (not TTP) it hasn't been updated since. I fear that even if you can make it work, it will do more harm than good as it knows nothing at all about OS X. [Edit: you can use it to get a discount on TTP, however, if that helps any].
G

[danspocket]

is it that TTD doesn't know anything about X.3, or...? because both the CD and ReadMe PDF claim it's good for X.1 or higher. i realize i'll eventually need to get the full version (TTP), but until i have $$$ for that, i'd at least like to use what i have (and shelled out the $$$ for in AppleCare!).
d.

[nnager]

I read in the Micromat-sponsored forum at MacFixIt.com that the company gives a $38 discount if you own the old AppleCare version or some other utilities such as the soon-to-be-discontinued Norton Utilities. The MacFixIt.com forum provides fast, expert and responsive feedback from Micromat Tech Support as well as from a number of users, including me. TechTool Pro 4.0.2 is a powerhouse diagnostic and repair utility for hardware and software that works well with OS 10.3.4.
(For those that can afford two utilities, another great program is DiskWarrior 3.0.2. As a matter of fact, a number of us have used TTP 4.0.2 to create an eDrive, a software-created equivalent of a 2nd hard drive and we've installed DiskWarrior 3.0.2 and can run that, TTP or Panther's Disk Utility without ever having to leave the eDrive.) Respectfully, Norm

[Grant_G]

Hi Norm,
I'm kinda partial to both those utilities too, but haven't been able to do what you suggest with the eDrive. I installed one on my wife's iMac (see sig for specs), but it steadfastly refuses to accept installation of DW on it ... yes, it's v.3.0.2. Any ideas? (I use an external Firewire drive partition for an emergency disk for the G5, so don't have the problem there).
G

[Grant_G]

Dan, you're not alone in the "shelling out" department. So did I for the iMac, and so did a pal of mine in Kentucky for his. Both of us have useless CDs. Chris has gone ahead and bought DW so far (I haven't introduced him to TTP yet), and of course if you're at all familiar with these Macworld forums you'll know that I have had both of them for many years.
G

[pjskelti]

Grant - simply boot from eDrive and then drag DW installed on the internal HDD of the iMac/G5 into the Apps/Utilities (?) folder of eDrive, and that's all there is to it.
For OnyX, open the .dmg, after launching Installer from the internal HDD's Utilities folder, install as you would normally, and there you go.
I dragged DW at the time it was creating the eDrive, when it's Finder panel was displayable via double clicking the eDrive icon on the DT. Apps had long been finished, and it was doing User stuff, I think.
All works perfectly, esp. OnyX, as I had to do as above since I forgot about it at the time I dragged DW across.

[Grant_G]

I'll try it again and let you know. I just tried the one time -- when you and I discussed it. It's had some restarts since then, so whatever was causing it may be by the boards by now. Good idea about adding OnyX. I'll do that too.
G

[nnager]

Grant, as I recall, I booted the eDrive and then went into the Finder and dragged DiskWarrior 3.0.2 over from my normal internal hard drive's Applications folder to the folder for apps on the eDrive. I first played with it when I was volunteering as a beta tester on TTP 4 before its public release. It worked then with whatever version of DW was in use at that time and it works now.
Never had a problem with it nor did several others who talked about it in threads on several forums, including MacFixIt.com's Micromat-sponsored forum. There are ways, however, to cause problems. I just did a search of that forum and came up with a number of hits on "DiskWarrior" and "eDrive."
The latest posting on the topic by "MicroMat Tech3" (the handle for the tech support people at Micromat) in response to a question on dragging over DW to the eDrive was:

In reply to:

---

We do not support making modifications to the eDrive that are done by anything other than our TechTool Pro 4 updater. However, people have reported being able to run Disk Warrior from the eDrive. You might be able to find instructions by using the search feature in these forums.
Whatever you do, do not erase the eDrive or rename it in the Finder. If you do, TechTool Pro will no longer recognize the 4 GB partition as an eDrive, and it will not be able to copy the required files to the partition or remove the partition.

---

Grant, back in February, "MicroMat Tech3 had a more in-depth response. To spare you from doing the drilling down in the thread as I just did, here it is:

In reply to:

---

In order to keep the size of the eDrive to a minimum (currently 4 GB), it contains a reduced installation of Mac OS X that has only the frameworks needed by TechTool Pro 4, Disk Utility, Console, Terminal, Apple System Profiler, and System Preferences.
The instructions in TechTool Pro 4 make it clear that we cannot support installing other programs. That is not intended to discourage you from adventurous experimentation.
I do not know if Disk Warrior requires additional frameworks, but you could ask Alsoft, or just give it a try. If additional frameworks are needed by Disk Warrior, Alsoft should be able to tell you what they are, and how to copy them from your complete installation of Mac OS X to the eDrive.
Just to make this experiment easier, you should know that when you boot from the eDrive, TechTool Pro is automatically launched. When you quit TechTool Pro on the eDrive, an automatic restart from your usual startup volume takes place. If there were no way to prevent that restart, you would have to have TechTool Pro open (but doing nothing) while Disk Warrior was running. I doubt a conflict would result, but it would not be the most efficient use of RAM. The workaround is to force quit TechTool Pro (Command Option Escape), which will allow you to remain booted from the eDrive. In order to ensure a normal restart from your hard drive, I would suggest using the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences on the eDrive.

---

[Grant_G]

Cool Norm, and that last part was it. I remember it clearly now. I DID install DW (drag & drop, how hard was it?), but I couldn't USE it because of the automatic restart. I guess it didn't occur to me to try and run it on top of TTP while it was inactive but still on. Another thing ... I never measured the eDrive's size, but from what it was copying during the installation I believe it is substantially larger than 4 GB. I'll check that out too. Can't now because the wife is at her iMac merrily wondering why Java doesn't work in IE. Will she never learn?
G /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[pjskelti]

eDrive IS 4GB hidden partition, with OS X and DW/OnyX using 2.5 of that.
Mind you, I did trash all surplus crap from Preferences folders and Printers. Why eDrive does that is, I suppose, due to the fact the Reports can be printed as text, but otherwise, save as .rtf on internal or other partition of internal/FW drive.
As for using DW and OnyX - I simply hide TTP4, launch DW or OnyX, quit when finished with them, and quit TTP4 to restart from the internal OS once more. Heck, I even made a new background image to use as I detest the yellow of the default one - it's garish and total overkill. If you want it, email me (see profile) and I'll send it to you.

[Grant_G]

Thanks Phil. I don't mind the background though, it reminds me of where I am and what I'm about. Absolutely no mistaking it for her regular drive. I use a different background on my G5 emergency drive too for the same reason. Old age creepin' up fast, you know! Good idea about hiding TTP. When Mo leaves for work in a little while, I'm going to test all this out on her iMac. I'll report back, because I think it's a very valuable tool that I'll definitely add some comments about in the Forum FAQ Utilities section. I will include Micromat's admonishion that it's not supported, but they agree it might be useful.
G

[Grant_G]

Okay, done. But I can't say it was a simple chore, and I am certainly glad that (IMHO) I know my way around a Mac. First it said a new version of TTP was available, and did I want to update. I clicked OK and it tried, but stopped -- saying it was unable to proceed. No reason given. I knew I had saved the updater on the G5, so I networked the two machines and copied the updater to the eDrive. Oops, you can't do that "The eDrive cannot be modified." I was getting pestered to say the least. Why does Micromat make it so damn difficult (see my first rantings about TTP 4 last November)? Anyway, on a whim, instead I copied the updater to the iMac's main drive, then copied it to the eDrive without any problem. What's up with that?
Then I attempted to run it, but because no other applications can be running while the Installer is, it attempted to, and finally did, Quit TTP. Oh oh, that forces a restart back to the main drive. Being a swearing kinda guy, I said a couple of WTFs and thought, well lets see if she has TTP on the main drive. As long as the updater is here, we might as well use it. So I ran it. Guess what? It updated the eDrive! Holy cow! Well, anyway, one job down.
Restarted the eDrive again and tried Command H to hide TTP. Nothing. Pulled down the TTP menu and it's grayed out. Okay, I'll just open Finder from the Dock and go from there, with TTP in the background. I inserted the DW CD and dragged it over to the eDrive's applications folder. No problem. I fired it up and did a graph of the main drive and all seems to work well. I didn't actually run the program though, since the graph reported things to be just ducky. For some reason I then clicked on TTP to bring it front, and clicked Command H again. This time it worked. Huh?
OnyX's turn, and I won't go into it, but that gave me more fits. Fortunately I was finally able to just drag and drop it out of my networked G5's Applications folder into the eDrive's like folder. I ran several of its sequences, and they all seemed to work all right, although Automate mightn't be functioning normally. It's okay though, because the individual sets worked fine.
I put the two new apps' icons in the Dock, and we're good to go. However, I definitely hesitate recommending a novice attempt to do what I did this morning. I am therefore reneging on my promise to update the OS X Forum FAQ in this regard. As robust a tool as TTP is, I still just don't feel it's a good choice for beginning Mac users. Non-intuitive in the extreme, slow and frustrating. I love what it does, just not how it does it.
G (sorry Phil & Norm -- just my two cents worth)