How do I set my machine up?
Ok... here's the scoop...
The definitive guide to perfect Mac Pro usage (
)
#1) Set up computer, put original system disk in... hold down "D" key during boot process. Run extended hardware test... verify everything is "good".
#2) Add new hardware... (In My Case... remove stock 320 Gig HDD... Add 1 TB Boot Drive, add 1 TB Media Drive... add 500 GB Time Machine Drive, add 400 GB Windows Drive... and 2 More gigs of Ram... add additional DVD/CDRW without riplock).
#3) Boot off of original system disk again. This time, run Disk Utility, format / partition the boot drive with a single partition, GUID, named whatever you want. Format / partition second 1tb disk as "Media", single partition, GUID. Partition 500 GB Time Machine Drive into 2 partitions... 1 120 GB GUID Partition for a Swapfile, a second partition using all the remaining space. This will be for Time Machine. I call mine "Sanitarium"... as it will help me keep my sanity if my machine craters at some point in the future ;-). Lastly, partition the last drive into a single partitions for VMWARE Virtual Appliances (XP, Linux, etc.), I call mine Virtual Machines...
#4) After this is done... reboot and repeat step #1... making sure EVERYTHING is still good (new ram and all).
#5) Once done, reboot of the system disc again... and install OS X for the First Time. However, edit the options... and DO NOT INSTALL ANYTHING EXCEPT THE MAIN OPERATING SYSTEM. Do not install applications, printer drivers, additional fonts, or anything else. JUST the MINIMUM it will let you install.
#6) After install (about 12 minutes), the machine will reboot. Now... immediately go to software update and download ALL the newest updates for whatever you have (and uncheck the "check for updates" checkbox at this point... no sense in having your machine doing this automatically taking up ANY cycles... you will know when there are updates... and if not... check manually once a week or so. Don't touch anything on the system during this process... just to make sure nothing gets hosed. You'll reboot. Go BACK into System Preferences, and re-check for updates to make sure there are no more. If there are, install them. Reboot and repeat. If not... go on to step #7.
#7) You need to move your swap file from the main boot drive to the special VM partition (ALWAYS on a SEPARATE PHYSICAL DISK or it's a moot point) that you created in step 3. Here is how you do this... First, enable root user by going to Applications -> Utilities -> Directory Utility, and under the "Edit" menu, choose "Enable Root User". Set a password, and close out of Directory Utility. Next, open activity monitor in the Utilities folder, and click on the Disk tab. Keep this open just to see what your VM is doing while we do the following. Next, open up terminal, type "su -" and enter... and when prompted enter your just created root password to switch to root. Once there... type the following: "ps -wax | grep dynamic_pager -m1" and ensure the output shows the swapfile location. It will. Make a note of this. Now... "cd to /System/Library/LaunchDaemons" . Once there, do a "chmod 777 com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist". Next, use "vi" to edit the file as follows (if you use a standard text editor, it will save it incorrectly when you repair permissions and the swap file WILL NOT WORK):
"<key>Label</key>
<string>com.apple.dynamic_pager</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/sbin/dynamic_pager</string>
<string>-F</string>
<string>/Volumes/SwapDaemon/</string>
</array>
<key>OnDemand</key>
<false/>"
My partition is called SwapDaemon, obviously... but if yours were "Bob", then just replace the path to your path of "Bob"... and you are all set. Save the file by doing an esc then ":wq!" from vi... and get back to your command prompt. Once there, exit terminal... and go into Disk Utility, and REPAIR PERMISSIONS. Reboot. After the reboot, open Activity Monitor again and make sure that you see a VM Size... and open a terminal. SU to root again. Now, type the "ps -wax | grep etc" command again from above. YOU SHOULD NOW SEE THE PATH CHANGED TO YOUR NEW PARTITION. Once this is done, type the following "rm -rf /var/vm/swapfile*" . This will remove all of the previous existing swapfiles from the boot drive.
#8) Set up the Mac OS. Go into System Preferences, and go through EVERY SINGLE OPTION. This takes a while... but will result in a smooooth system. Here are my settings:
In Desktop and Screensaver, turn off translucent menu bar (obviously set your preferred desktop and screen save as well).
In Expose and Spaces, I don't personally use spaces, so I turn it off. Expose I disable all the F keys, and just have the hot corners set up as follows:
Top Left, Screen Saver
Top Right, Dashboard
Lower Left, All Windows
Lower Right, Desktop
In International, edit the international list and uncheck EVERYTHING except English.
I have nothing bluetooth, so I go into bluetooth and turn all of that off.
Go into Displays, and choose enable "show displays in menu bar". Click color, and calibrate it. MAKE SURE THAT IN TARGET GAMMA YOU SELECT PC STANDARD of 2.2 and NOT THE MAC STANDARD. At least for me, that gives a much MUCH more pleasing picture.
In Energy Saver, so that you won't have any issues with reboot from sleep, set the top slider to "Never", and the monitor slider to "15 minutes" or whatever. UNCHECK the sleep hard disks when possible. I personally don't like the stress that constantly spinning up and down the hard drives does on reliability.
In keyboard and mouse... for the keyboard, set the keyboard rate to all the way fast... and delay one bar from far short. The mouse I'll leave up to you.
Check the box that says "show eject in menu bar".
Go into sound if you have speakers hooked up and choose your default system sound, and the output should be "line out" unless you are using digital. There are TWO PLACES to set this in SOUND and you need to do them both.
If you have .mac... set this up in .Mac tab.
Go into Network... DELETE EVERY CONNECTION TYPE EXCEPT THE ONE YOU WILL BE USING. If you are on wireless, and not using the ethernet, DELETE FIREWIRE, BLUETOOTH, AND BOTH ETHERNETS (you can EASILY add them later). If you are on 100/1000BT, then delete everything except the single connection there. The rest of network you'll have to set as to your specific situation.
If you have quicktime pro, enter serial number.
In accounts, under login items, delete everything there set to automatically open when you login. Probably only ituneshelper.
In Date and Time, set your preferred time server and time zones.
Click on startup disk, SELECT the OS X 10.5.2 folder, hit the lock to make changes, etc.
Click on TIME MACHINE... turn it on... and choose the disk you want to make as backup. This will be the partition, for me, anyway, I called Sanitarium.
You can go into options and I don't have it back up anything but my home folder. You can set that however you like.
After time machine has finished backing up, reboot again.
#9) Install iLife '08 (customized to your liking).
#10) Install iWork '08 (if ya got it... it's incredible).
#11) Reboot again. Now lets set up the dock. The FIRST thing you should do is remove the default stacks in the dock. Then, drag your primary boot drive from the desktop into the righthand part of the dock. Right click on it, and select the following: Display as Folder, List Contents as LIST. Now you have a cool Mac "Start" menu. Drag your home folder into the dock next to the main boot drive. I personally use Display as FOLDER, List as Grid on this one. Now, here are the icons I put, in the order I like them, in the dock: Safari (Firefox sucks... don't believe the hype), Mail, Address Book, iCal, iTunes, iPhoto, iWeb, Time Machine, System Preferences, Terminal. All other I throw away.
#12) Move your iTunes library to your Media Drive. This is done in iTunes... preferences. Alternatively you can move your entire home folder to the Media drive. I haven't done this yet, so I won't list how... you can look it up via Google, however... if you decide to.
#13)... Reboot! Download and Install SMC Fan Control and Onyx, both latest versions. Run Onyx... and go through and clean all caches, run all scripts, repair permissions, delete logs, etc.
#14)... Reboot! NOW YOU ARE READY TO ENJOY YOUR FAST MAC AND START ADDING APPS! Note: Keep an eye on Activity Monitor as you add apps for those that will hose your system ;-) (3 things I really recommend are Perian, Divx, and Flip4Mac).
Enjoy!
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