MacBuild Troubleshooting

MacBook

Touchpad

Intel MacBook touchpad's seem to be a little touchy by default. Usually, the sensitivity can be modified through Xubuntu's System, although it doesn't always have the desired effect. An alternative is to set the touchpad parameters directly through the Synaptics input driver. Run the following script (as root):

 #!/bin/sh
 
 # Check if root
 if [ ! $(id -u) -eq 0 ] ; then
 	echo "ERROR: You must run this script as root!"
 	exit 2
 fi
 
 echo 'Modifying touchpad sensitivity...'
 
 cat << EOF > /etc/X11/Xsession.d/90macbook-touchpad
 #!/bin/sh
 # Synaptics parameters to improve touchpad performance on Macbooks
 synclient FingerLow=10
 synclient FingerHigh=20
 EOF
 
 chmod a+x /etc/X11/Xsession.d/90macbook-touchpad 
 
 echo '... Done!  Please log out and log back in to enact changes.'

This will adjust the touchpad's parameters for all users, including new ones that are added to the system.

iMac

iSight Camera

If your iSight camera works in OSX but when you open Cheese the "Device cannot be found", you probably need to install Apple's proprietary iSight firmware. Here are instructions to do this:

• Open Firefox and copy/paste this address into the URL bar:

http://dalmano.bplaced.net/turanct.zym.backup/AUVideoS.zip

When prompted, click "Save" to save the file that will download. When it has downloaded, open and unzip the file to the desktop. Find the file-path by clicking Places >> Desktop then Go >> Open Location and after the suggested pathname, start typing "App" and the rest of the file name should auto fill. You will use this path to install the iSight Firmware in a minute.

• Open a terminal and update the repositories by typing the following 2 commands:

sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get update

• Now you will install the firmware

sudo apt-get install isight-firmware-tools

You will be asked if you want to install a program, press enter. Next you will be asked for the file name of the firmware, now is when you need to use the pathname you found earlier. Delete the auto-filled pathname and type the path named above ^^

• IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY PRESS ENTER BEFORE CHANGING THE PATH: The install will not work, but there will be enough of the file to confuse the computer later. Once the install has aborted, you need to completely remove the file by purging it with:

sudo-apt-get purge isight-firmware-tools

then try the installation again.

• Shut down the computer and restart it before opening Cheese and checking the camera. And I mean you need to actually Power The Computer Down. No shortcuts.