God Bless Ubuntu

The Backstory:

After postponing for a while, I finally met up with a client and collected my work for their next project. I did what I always do: copied all the needed files in a pen drive. Usually, I'd format it before taking it with me, but somehow it just slipped. The only thing I had in that pen drive was Ubuntu Studio, along with some other random files. I knew there weren't any viruses, so there's really no point in formatting my drive (other than to look neat).

The Plot:

I met my client, came home, had lunch, and plugged in my pen drive, only to find this:

The files I need are inside that folder....the selected one.....which has now become "DATA.exe"....

GREAT!!

Apparently, I picked up a virus.

Now, I can't fix this on my mac without installing some random software, which I really don't want to do. Judging from the damage, this seems to be a rather simple virus, something even Windows Defender could handle. On the other hand, the virus would become active the moment I plug it into Windows. It's probably not going to do much, but I can't risk losing those files. (I don't want to end up asking my client for another copy; that's just unprofessional)

Eventually, I decided to fire up Ubuntu (not the one on my pen drive), and see how that flies. So, I booted up, mounted my pen drive, and guess what?

Lo and behold, I can access my folder again! I love how you can see both the original folder, and the virus! Ha ha. 

So, I backed up what I needed, formatted the drive, and went back to catching up on this years Oscar Nominations. (My money is on Eddie Redmayne. Better luck next time DiCaprio!)

The Conclusion:

And that, my friends, is the story of how Linux, an open source operating system, was more helpful to me than either Mac or Windows! You don't need to be a geek to use Linux! (I'm not saying that I'm not one, but hey, that's just me). You don't even have to use it, just have a copy lying around for times like this! What harm could it possibly do you?

Download your copy of Ubuntu now!

#MacProblems

As any Mac owner knows, beyond the sleek design and performance, this piece of machinery comes with its baggage. I won't get into many issues, just one in particular: backward compatibility. It all started when I wanted to install Maya 2016 yesterday, but it required that I update my OS. After much hesitation and deliberation, I decided to go ahead and move up to Yosemite. This, as usual, led to a world of problems.

Errors Ho!

As you can see above, the first problem I encountered was a driver problem for the GPU. The display started acting crazy. Luckily, a couple of updates fixed that issue. Next, I started running my most important apps to make sure they still work. This left me with 3 Java Update requirements, 3 OS incompatibilities, 3 damaged app errors, one configuration error and one plain old "can't be opened" error. Oh, and PTGui just keeps bouncing without doing anything else.

Here We Go...

Finale 2011

First thing I did, was install Java SE6 runtime. That fixed Illustrator and Flash, but Finale wasn't as lucky. It started running, but when I created a note, it displayed an error: "Unhandled Exception Caught" and closed. Next time, it just "quit unexpectedly". At first, I thought something was wrong with the Garritian Instruments plugin, but it crashed even when using the default SoftSynth instruments. Eventually, I was able to use it a bit, but it's still very unstable.

After Effects CS6

Next, I searched for an update for After Effects CS6. I found one on Adobe's website, and after installation, it started running smoothly. *Phew* That one was a bit scary. I can't imagine working without AE. I had to install newer versions of FCP and Compressor to get those working too. (OMG! Compressor looks completely different!)

Nuke Studio 9

Nuke, NukeX and Nuke Studio all refused to open, claiming that the app was "damaged or incomplete". A quick reinstallation took care of that. And I have to say, way to go on the non-commercial license! Thank you, The Foundry!

  

DaVinci Resolve Lite 11

DaVinci Resolve was kind of a weird fix. I uninstalled the current version and tried to reinstall it, but got an error saying 

"Mac OS X 10.6 or Later Required"....Um.....I'm running 10.10! 

Whatever.

Thankfully, the lite version of DaVinci is free, so I just downloaded and installed the latest version from Black Magic Design's website. 

(They have a linux version now?? Sweet!) I can't wait for them to launch a mac version of Fusion! I love professional grade freeware.

Logic Pro 9 running Kontakt 5

Something weird happened with Kontakt. When opened as a standalone software from applications, it gave me a blunt message saying "Can't be Opened". Interestingly, I can still load it as a plugin inside of Logic...Well, that's really the only way I'm going to use it, so, whatever. I'll just let it be.

While I was fixing all of this, I noticed something crop up on my Activity Monitor. I typically have a habit of keeping it open whenever I work, and for good reason. My CPU usage was suddenly sky rocketing for no apparent reason. A closer look revealed the cause to be a process initiated by HP? What? This useless process was eating up my resources much like a virus, and kept relaunching upon termination. A quick search online showed I wasn't alone. Apparently, this was caused by a printer driver.....so much for that update from apple! Removing it was an instant fix. 

Note to self: don't update drives unless necessary.

HP's custom made virus

Closing Thoughts

During the OS update, the installer displayed an error, saying that my Wacom driver will not be supported. Apparently it went ahead and automatically uninstalled it. I downloaded the latest driver and now, my pen tab seems to work fine. In the end, I could never get PTGui working. I guess I fixed everything other than that and Finale...oh well. Irritating as these issues may be, they all stem from one root cause - Mac is based on Unix. Unix has lousy backward compatibility. Like it or not, such issues have to be expected. Although, at the end of the day, I'd rather debug a Windows than a Mac.

P.S. - Red iTunes?? Seriously???