Nobblynoel's Blog

 Apple Technician Guide Mac pro 2009

nobblynoel — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 19:50:39 +0000

Thanks to pete I discovered that there is such a thing as an Apple Technician Guide.

To see it bigger click on Full Screen

ENJOY

nobbly

Oral B Triumph Battery replacement Video

nobblynoel — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:36:41 +0000

Well finally got round to doing a video on how to replace a battery in an Oral B electric toothbrush.

I have now changed the videos to include the correct way to unscrew and screw the back using the power adaptor . Thanks for your comments.

Straight forward when you know how to do it. I have only posted a video on youtube as a full blog post would be too long.

Using a “4/5 A” battery that I bought from http://www.component-shop.co.uk/ Which I think means it’s 4/5 the size of an “A” battery

You can check your battery against the chart in link http://www.powerstream.com/Size.htm This way you will order the correct one.

Some people in the USA have an “A” size battery which is 17mm diameter 50mm long..

Check first to make sure your battery is a 4/5 A , before you order , as not all models are the same. A “4/5 A” battery is 43mm long x 17mm

It can happen that the display will start cycling through the segments . It seems to be a test mode you can get in and out of this mode by pressing the smaller of the two buttons. The one that changes the speed..

Also note that when removing the internals be careful with the coil at the top as this is very fragile as the wires are very thin and can easily break.

Check out the video here.

Part 1

Part 2

Your comments are welcome…

Mac Pro Case coating causing Bluetooth Problems

nobblynoel — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:55:08 +0000

It seems that Apple are changing the Mac Pro Case as a bluetooth fix. As the case design is the same could it be the metal coating has changed ?
Here is an interesting article on Aluminium Oxide Which could be weakening the bluetooth signal.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=11537534

How to Check your Bluetooth Connection

nobblynoel — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:24:25 +0000

For those having problems with bluetooth there is a way to see your connection quality.

You need to insert the OSX CD and install XCODE (options)

After installation you will see it in finder

Developer>Applications>Utilities>Bluetooth. Bluetooth Explorer.app

With the app running go to the menu, top left, DEVICES, CONNECTION QUALITY MONITOR, and click start.

The RSSI for my modded antenna was 0 to -10 and the Raw RSSI was -60 to -70 the dips in the middle are when I moved my mouse 5 metres away to see what happened with a weaker signal..

What are you getting ?

Is this Apple’s Bluetooth Fix ?

nobblynoel — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 06:06:02 +0000

A MP user on an Australian Mac forum who was having BT problems has had his case(enclosure) replaced,by an Applecare Tech, which solved the problem. Is this the fix everybody has been waiting for ?

Mac Talk Forum Link

BetterTouchTool for Magic Mouse

nobblynoel — Tue, 25 May 2010 08:43:11 +0000

For those of you wanting more buttons, actions or control interfacing your Magic Mouse with your MAC why not try BetterTouchTool

Can be downloaded form here

Although in beta or alpha stage it works really well and gives you some extras that apple is missing. Also included is windows snapping a feature which was introduced in Win7

BetterTouchTool

Reply From Jobs. (sort of)

nobblynoel — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:15:49 +0000

Interestingly out of the blue a very nice women telephoned me from Apple Executive Relations. She mentioned the mail I had sent to Mr Jobs and went on to explain that they knew about the problem and asked me if I wanted to get it repaired. Also she had spent the time to read this Discussion and my blog saying it was interesting and very helpful. My answer was I didn’t want it fixed as I had done it myself and can’t be several days without my MAC. But not all Apple executive relations staff are so helpful. I phoned them asking to speak to Mrs.x (the nice women) and the man wouldn’t transfer me, asked me what the problem was and started telling me that is could me the mouse at fault and some other bull. So all of you who want apple to sort it I think you should insist a little harder until Apple take you serious.

Lack off Comments

nobblynoel — Thu, 20 May 2010 10:02:46 +0000

Look Guys and Girls I’ve had over 1000 views so far on this blog and only 1 comment.

Please, If you find this info useful or you have had results with your bluetooth, post a comment

Thanks

Email to Jobs about Bluetooth

nobblynoel — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:35:38 +0000

I have mailed Steve Jobs about the Bluetooth Problem. Lets hope he answers…

Mac Pro 2009 Bluetooth Fix

nobblynoel — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:27:34 +0000

This came about after buying a Magic Mouse and finding that the mouse wasn’t working how it should. The pointer was lagging and the mouse would disconnect and reconnect at random .

Taking a look on the net I found lots who have the same problem even with older Mac Pros. There is a fix for the older models which involves swapping antenna wires that go to the bluetooth card. Now I can’t verify this but some say the labels on the antenna cables are wrong but it could be that the wire swap fix uses the airport antenna instead of the bluetooth antenna ?

More info on the wire swap fix can be found here

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/Mac_Pro/Bluetooth_MacPro_install/Bluetooth_MacPro_install.html

If you contact Apple for a repair they will change your Bluetooth module and the problem will still be there, Don’t even waist money or time on tech support phone calls or spent time and petrol driving to your closest Apple Store just save lots of stress spend a few minutes to read this blog and understand what the problem is and how YOU can sort it yourself.

So I decided to take a closer look and came to the conclusion that the Mac Pro bluetooth antenna does not work as it should. This could be down to bad placement, bad designed antenna or the metal of the case.

Where is the bluetooth antenna ?

If you try to follow the bluetooth antenna cable you see it goes behind the motherboard but impossible to follow.

I wanted to know so out came my motherboard. You can see from the picture below that is on the right sort of behind the PCI blanks.

The antenna is flat, about half inch wide and 3 inch tall. Looks pretty rubbish. Sorry I didn’t take any photos.

After more research I have found 2 possible fixes both costing about £10.

After more research I have found 3 possible fixes 2 of them costing about £10 and one free.

The Free and easiest

Move your Tower closer to your mouse. Mine is under my thick desk about a meter away.

Reports that 50cm tower to mouse works fine.

For some people like me this is not an option as I want my tower under my desk and not on it.

The second way (EASY) Cost £10

The first and easiest.

Buy yourself a usb adaptor plug it in and off you go.. Well not exactly. SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF PAGE ON WHICH USB ADAPTOR IS BEST

See update 2 about where to plug the usb adaptor in.

Adding a Usb bluetooth adaptor will get your Bluetooth working but you might not be able to wake up from BT or might have problems after with scrolling.

It seems that 2 bluetooths together aren’t so happy. So to fix this you will need to disconnect the original apple bluetooth located on the motherboard .

1: Remove power cable .

2: Remove case cover

3. Remove processor tray.

4. Locate bluetooth card and disconned the small plug on the left hand side.

5. Put back in reverse order.

TEST.

BLUETOOTH FIX USING ORIGINAL BLUETOOTH CARD

I prefer this way as I’m not adding any hardware as such I’m just replacing the antenna. This way no usb ports are being used and you use your original bluetooth card.

You will need to buy 2 things. EBAY is your friend. I got mine from ipodaccessorieshop in the UK

Doing this will not invalidate your warranty. It’s a 5 minute job to remove before your Mac goes for repair.

This is also the best way if you want to wake up from BT as everything should work fine after.

A wifi antenna. As wifi uses the same frequency as bluetooth.

A U.FL Mini Pci to RP-SMA CABLE to connect from the bluetooth card to the new antenna.

1: Remove power cable .

2: Remove case cover

3. Remove processor tray.

4. Undo the 2 screws and remove the PCI holder plate

5. Press the button on the fan and at the same time push the metal bar on the left side of the graphics card to the left

6. While the metal bar is on the left pull the graphics card towards you to remove it. Put card in a safe place where you won’t stand on it or spill you tea on it.

7.Remove a PCI blank and drill a 6.5mm hole in the middle.

8. Fit the RP-SMA connector and tighten the locking nut.

9. Put a little insulation tape on the other end as we need to fish this behind a support and don’t was to short anything on the motherboard.

10. Pass cable behind support and fit the PCI blank into place

11. Disconnect the old antenna.Its a very small plug and you must pull it forward towards you (away from motherboard) and connect the new U.FL cable. Tie up and insulate the old antenna cable to avoid short circuits.

12. Refit all in reverse .

13. Screw new antenna into back.

TEST

My bluetooth works fine now with my original bluetooth card and new antenna. I have tried it from far away as possible 5-6 metres and works fine.

The other thing to do is add your mouse as a favorite in the bluetooth preferences.

Your comments are welcome…

UPDATE 1

It seems that some people still have problems waking up the computer or an unresponsive mouse after wake up. It could be down to the type of usb bluetooth adaptor you are using. Apple recommends a D-Link DBT-120 USB-to-Bluetooth adapter, revision B2 or later

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8810.html

UPDATE 2 .

Some reports of the Magic Mouse still stuttering when using usb bluetooth adaptor due to placement of the adaptor .

I would recommend plugging it into your keyboard, monitor or something relatively close to your Magic Mouse..

UPDATE 3.

Added a 3rd easy and free way to improve bluetooth reception by moving your Mac Pro tower nearer your Magic Mouse

have a nice day and happy fixing.

UPDATE 4.

Reports that the Targus USB adapter that Staples sells for $25 works even with wake up. Targus USB adapter that Staples sells does not work properly after wake up.

UPDATE 5.

Apple recommends a D-Link DBT-120 USB-to-Bluetooth adapter, revision B2 or later

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/8810.html

Reports that the latest version v.C1 is not working .

Update 6.

It would seem that it is the case causing the bad bluetooth signal. The material or the coating of the case is somehow interfering /blocking the signal getting out of the case. Which might also explain why some people have better bluetooth results with the side cover left off.

UPDATE 7.

Added a link which explains the wire swap fix for older models

The main discussion is here,

http://discussions.info.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2231119&start=180&tstart=0

I will keep updating as I find out more.

UPDATE 8.

Added better way to remove graphics card without removing fan.. thanks pete

Remember if it’s not broke don’t fix it.