Pandora and the Mac

[rotorschnee]

Bonjour -


I am one of the prospective people who are looking into pre-ordering a Pandora from wave 2, but I'm doing a little information gathering. I want the Pandora not so much as a gaming system (but I definately would emulate old school Chronotrigger!), but more for a mini-linux box. Looking to get into th world of Linux-flavours (my only exposure was RedHat linux back in the ol' college days), while having some fun. Plus, looks to be a good idea to support. And I'll also admit, I'm attracted to the novelty of it.


My dilemma - my current setup at home right now is with a Mac. I am curious on how the Pandora would interact with a Mac. Not really in the regards as say, syncing and iPhone to your Mac, but more for file sharing - eg, taking documents, mp3s, images, etc from the Mac HD and moving to Pandora if needed.


My first thought was doing by way of an USB external HD. Transfer files from Mac to EHD, then EHD to Pandora. Was thinking, perhaps another way - directly connecting Pandora to Mac and elimiating the middleman?


Secondly, since I do have a Mac and not a linux box, I am curious if I am going to do troubleshooting on the Pandora how that would be effected. I read that the Pandora is nearly *unbrickable*, but I am assuming that in many regards, I'm going to need supplimental software/resources to *unbrick* a Pandora, and I am not sure a Mac can easily do that.


Thoughts? I appreciate any input.


All the best this yuletide season.


-Nick

 

[slaeshjag]

Transferring files can be done to the SD card slots in the pandora by putting it in USB mass storage device mode. This will block the pandora from using the SD cards, but your mac will see them as removable storage devices. As long as the SD cards are formatted with a file system both the Mac and the Pandora can read, you shouldn't encounter any problems with that.


The pandora is nearly unbrickable in the sense of that there's *almost* always a way to install the next stage of software. So even if you manage to break the boot loader, you access the chips hard coded flasher to install a new one. If you ever need to do this, I'm sure there are people on these boards who know how to do it.

 

[Eridger]

Bonjour -


I am one of the prospective people who are looking into pre-ordering a Pandora from wave 2, but I'm doing a little information gathering. I want the Pandora not so much as a gaming system (but I definately would emulate old school Chronotrigger!), but more for a mini-linux box. Looking to get into th world of Linux-flavours (my only exposure was RedHat linux back in the ol' college days), while having some fun. Plus, looks to be a good idea to support. And I'll also admit, I'm attracted to the novelty of it.


My dilemma - my current setup at home right now is with a Mac. I am curious on how the Pandora would interact with a Mac. Not really in the regards as say, syncing and iPhone to your Mac, but more for file sharing - eg, taking documents, mp3s, images, etc from the Mac HD and moving to Pandora if needed.


My first thought was doing by way of an USB external HD. Transfer files from Mac to EHD, then EHD to Pandora. Was thinking, perhaps another way - directly connecting Pandora to Mac and elimiating the middleman?


Secondly, since I do have a Mac and not a linux box, I am curious if I am going to do troubleshooting on the Pandora how that would be effected. I read that the Pandora is nearly *unbrickable*, but I am assuming that in many regards, I'm going to need supplimental software/resources to *unbrick* a Pandora, and I am not sure a Mac can easily do that.


Thoughts? I appreciate any input.


All the best this yuletide season.


-Nick

Since I don't have a Pandora (or a mac), I'll be speaking from my 4+ years of *nix experience-


Linux-based operating systems are (typically) very, very open. That's the philosophy they're built on. I'm not sure exactly how some extremely fancy, complicated things will work on a mac (like using the Pandora as a wireless bluetooth controller, or vnc'ing into your desktop or whatever), but it'll more or less behave like a smartphone/UMPC or whatever when it comes to placing files on the device. After all, the only thing you're actually doing is using the Pandora as an adaptor for the sd cards you use on it. As long as those cards are in a recognizeable format by both the Pandora and your Mac, there won't be a problem.


You probably already know this, but all SD cards are formatted with Microsoft's FAT by default. FAT, from what I know, is so old (among other things) that it's recognized just fine by every modern system I know.


The only thing that might hinder you performing advanced tasks with it like the ones I mentioned above is that Apple machines are extremely proprietary, and handle some operations very differently than any other type of O/S. But as long as they comply with *some* standards you should be absolutely fine.


Sorry if this comes off as sort of rude. I'm sort of a Linux zealot and Macs sort of go by the absolute opposite philosophy that *nix does.

 

[slaeshjag]

Sorry if this comes off as sort of rude. I'm sort of a Linux zealot and Macs sort of go by the absolute opposite philosophy that *nix does.

MacOS X is a *nix

 

[TrashyMG]

MacOS X is a *nix

Was going to point that out. Also mention that prior to GNU and linux, Unix based OS like Solaris, HP Unix and AIX were very proprietary and some still are.


But my guess he was mistaken that *nix only meant Linux.

 

[Link]

Use my MBP for downloading various media and have no complaints using it with SD cards or the Pandora.

 

[Eridger]

MacOS X is a *nix

Yeah, yeah. I just don't consider it to be *nix-related. I think it's more like the adopted mutated incest-child that the parents keep locked away in a basement and has food given to him from a crack in the cellar door.

 

[Prometheus]

The only thing that might hinder you performing advanced tasks with it like the ones I mentioned above is that Apple machines are extremely proprietary, and handle some operations very differently than any other type of O/S. But as long as they comply with *some* standards you should be absolutely fine.

Speaking as both a Linux and Mac OS X user, there's nothing I'm aware of that most users would come across in Mac OS X that would "handle some operations very differently". It is, as others have mentioned, a proper registered/certified *nix, after all (something that, if memory serves, Linux is not).


"Extremely proprietary" or not, I happen to use the very same methods for just about everything I do on both my Linux box and my Macintosh.

 

[Eridger]

"Extremely proprietary" or not, I happen to use the very same methods for just about everything I do on both my Linux box and my Macintosh.

I don't like that. :-/

 

[SNESFAN]

I don't like that. :-/

yes call apple, them them to remove the core of their OS because it's too unixy... it gives linux zelots less of an ego boost to know that people are able to bring alot of the same fundamentals from a mac to linux.. and visa versa


Me? I don't like either personally, very content with my 18 years of windows/dos experience. Glad to see nobody has compatibility problems with the pandora and windows.

 

[Prometheus]

I don't like that. :-/

I actually started using Linux precisely because I liked my previous Macintosh (which I literally used to death). I likely wouldn't have approached it at all otherwise. I guess you wouldn't like that, either.

<snip> people are able to bring alot of the same fundamentals from a mac to linux.. and visa versa

Personally, I find this important. Well summed-up.

 

[TrashyMG]

AIX, Solaris, HP Unix, Linux, several flavours of BSD and yes occasionally Mac OS X.. I've use them all and outside of some nuisances there pretty much the same when it comes to command line stuff.. I think general Unix skills should be a school requirement.. I see so many new hires where I work get blind sided with only being in the Windows camp.

 

[SNESFAN]

AIX, Solaris, HP Unix, Linux, several flavours of BSD and yes occasionally Mac OS X.. I've use them all and outside of some nuisances there pretty much the same when it comes to command line stuff.. I think general Unix skills should be a school requirement.. I see so many new hires where I work get blind sided with only being in the Windows camp.

A unix sys admin does not make for a good windows sys admin and probably visa versa. I've seen first hand what happens when a unix guy jumps into windows server. I donno, I'm not a unix sys admin but it sounds like like it's probally similar to what happens when a windows guy jumps into a unix based system from what you're saying.


There is plenty of jobs for windows sys admins, so for them to make unix a grade school requirement would incorporate an unfiar bias in the system. Understood it's open source and no particular company would specifically benefit from them doing that, but Microsoft would ultimately pay the price of that. Not that there doesn't need to be a change, but doing that is almost the same as "breeding out" similar what happened in braveheart with the English and the Scottish. I did however learn and the first actual computer I touched was an apple II in elementary school but I learned "basic" programming language in middle school.


I don't know, I think Microsoft should go back and incorporate the same unix base so there is less confusion going from platform to platform... but they haven't, and they won't, so that's where we're at. I don't think that's ever going to change.

 

[Eridger]

Maybe I just have some additional hatred for Macs because I tried to ressurect an ancient G3 was forced to tinker with the bios in order to get my external cd reader to function. The damn little cmos battery or whatever you all it was dead too, so the system set itself back to sometime around 1943 whenever it was disconnected from a power source. Caused... problems.


I just don't like their way of business. But it also applies to Microsoft. I'm not trying to flame anyone, I was just poking fun. My personal preference is to use Arch/Debian/whatever I feel like. I like the variety that AppleSoft don't provide.

 

[Klaue]

there's nothing I'm aware of that most users would come across in Mac OS X that would "handle some operations very differently"

How about the App format? A file format that isn't a file but a directory structure that mac just displays as if it were a file, which can generate nice problems when, for example, trying to upload it to a server.


(yeah, I know, this is a rather small issue, but that whole thing enraged me greatly the one time I wanted to make an app for, beside others, mac. The fact that a format description of this is nearly impossible to find diddn't make things easier (seriously, search for "mac app file format specification" - lots of results, none relevant))


On topic again..


I'm pretty sure you can access SMB/CIFS (more known as "windows shares") with the mac - so put samba on the pandora and share a directory on the SD-Card. You should be able to access that directory over the wireless network form your mac, even if the SD-Card was formatted with a Linux file system (which mac can't read usually). Or the other way around, share a directory on your mac and access it with the pandora.


This is of course just an additional solution in case you wouldn't have a card reader

 

[Prometheus]

How about the App format? A file format that isn't a file but a directory structure that mac just displays as if it were a file, which can generate nice problems when, for example, trying to upload it to a server.

I was, of course, talking in the context of this thread and the Pandora. (Also, as an aside, PNDs remind me a bit of .app in concept, though that's not really relevant. :lol: )


To make it more clear: To my knowledge, nothing (or almost nothing, at least) that I imagine most Pandora users would want to use Mac OS X to accomplish is done any differently from any other operating system. The only thing I can imagine one would have to look out for is formatting an SD Card as HFS+, because, whilst it's possible to read this under Linux, 1: I don't think writing is possible at this point (it wasn't when I last did this, at least, although that was a couple of years ago), and 2: I don't think it's been done on the Pandora yet, and I'm pretty sure that the Community Codec Pack doesn't enable it as it does with NTFS.

 

[Klaue]

Also, as an aside, PNDs remind me a bit of .app in concept, though that's not really relevant. :lol:

the PNDs are more like the java jar container, which is basically nothing but a zip file with the compiled classes inside... buut that's really off-topic now

 

[rotorschnee]

Hello all -


Thanks for the replies. I forget how passionate individuals become in the ol' OS debate, so my intention as not to raise tempers, but an earnest question - I'm with a Mac, so what's my interactivity going to be with it with the ol' Pandora? From what it sounds like, as like as I've got a file system that both Mac OS and Pandora can recognize, I should be golden like grahams and able to swap files between them with whatever medium I'm using. So I appreciate all yalls feedback.


I'm wondering if I can turn wifi/Airport on the Mac, and use it to also communicate with the Pandora via wifi local area network? I'll definately have to use this method to connect online with the device (since I don't have a wifi router).


Anywho, I've decided to take the plunge and preorder from batch two. So, that's exciting!


For some odd reason, I have this desire to get Pandora and install Lynx on it. Old school.


Cheers!


-Nick

 

[Asiyura]

[…]


I'm wondering if I can turn wifi/Airport on the Mac, and use it to also communicate with the Pandora via wifi local area network? I'll definately have to use this method to connect online with the device (since I don't have a wifi router).


[…]

I don't know if Pandoras are able to connect to adhoc wifi networks, but if they do, it'll be pretty easy.


OSX allows you to setup a wifi network easily and to share the internet connection, you just have to tick a checkbox.


I won't explain myself because I use OSX in french and translating the terms in english can be pretty inaccurate, so here is a tutorial.


Now, If Pandora can't connect to adhoc, you'll have to find another way

Oh and if you use ext2/ext3 on your SD cards, you'll have to use MACfuse and fuse-ext2.


Here is a tutorial about it.


I'm still hoping to be able to connect my pandora as a joypad to my mac with bluetooth and usb.


It was talked about a while ago, but I can't remember if it was done or not.

 

[Prometheus]

I don't know if Pandoras are able to connect to adhoc wifi networks, but if they do, it'll be pretty easy.

I'm pretty sure that this isn't possible right now.