Apple iMac versus PC – the results may surprise you

[kilobits]

Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightning...

Following the announcement of Apple's Thunderbolt Ethernet and FireWire adapters to accompany its latest MacBook Pro and MacBook Air offerings, Apple issued a small software update for existing computers that will allow them to properly use Apple's new adapters. Apple made this update available via Software Update so many would automatically install it on their systems, but unfortunately for many people this update has resulted in kernel panics and the inability to boot their systems.

In some cases, at startup the system will appear to boot normally but then issue a gray screen with the instructions to hold the power button to reboot the system, indicating a kernel panic. At other times, the system will simply display an "international no" symbol and not proceed with the boot process. For those experiencing kernel panics, the following text may be seen across the screen indicating a fault in the driver:

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff800064ba7b): "Unable to find driver for this platform: \"ACPI'.\n"@/SourceCache/xnu/xnu-1699.26.8/iokit/Kernel/IOPlatformExpert.cpp:15 04

The Thunderbolt update applies a single plug-in update to the "IONetworkingFamily.kext" kernel extension, but it appears this plug-in contains a bug or two that is not compatible with at least some systems running OS X Lion 10.7.4. Unfortunately, being an update to an extension and not a new extension means that removing the extension or the plug-in is not an option and the only way to address this problem is to revert back to an older version.

If this happens to your system after installing the Thunderbolt update, then you can try the following options, which should clear up the issue and restore your system without losing any user data or settings:

Reapply combo updater
First check to see if your system will start up in Safe Mode by holding the Shift key down at startup. If this is successful, then you can download the OS X 10.7.4 Combo updater and apply it to your system, which should replace the faulty kernel extension with the older one.

If you cannot boot to Safe Mode, then you can still apply the combo updater but you will need access to a second Mac running Lion in order to do so. To use the second Mac to reapply the combo updater, boot up your problematic Mac while holding the T key down, and you should see it load into Target Disk mode. Then attach the Mac to the second one either using a Thunderbolt cable or using a FireWire cable. When you do this the Mac's hard drive should mount as an external disk on the second Mac.

Next download the OS X 10.7.4 Combo updater and run it, but choose the hard drive of your faulty Mac as the installation destination instead of the internal drive of the working Mac. When the update is done, eject the Target Disk mode hard drive from your second Mac and restart the faulty system, and your computer should boot normally.

Restore from backup
If you do not have access to a second Mac then your next best bet is to restore your system from a Time Machine backup if you have one. To do this, restart your system with the Command-R keys held down to load the recovery partition, and when the OS X Tools window appears choose the option to restore from backup. Then attach your Time Machine drive to the system and select the most recent backup to restore, which you should have created immediately before applying any of the recent software updates Apple has issued. If you do not have a recent backup, then avoid restoring from backup as this will result in you losing any new documents you created since the last backup you made.

Allow the restoration process to finish (it may take a couple of hours to do), and then restart the system. When finished, open Disk Utility and be sure to run a permissions fix routine on the boot drive, after which your system should be restored and functional.

Reinstall OS X
A final approach, especially if you forgot to make a backup of your system before applying the recent updates, is to use the recovery partition to reinstall OS X. Similar to applying the Combo update, this will rewrite the OS and a working version of the faulty kernel extension to the hard drive, but will do so without requiring access to a second Mac. To do this, reboot your system and hold Command-R to load the recovery partition. Then open the OS X installer and proceed with the re-installation of OS X (you may need to provide your Apple ID and password to download Lion).

As with applying the combo updater, this process will not touch your user accounts and data, but will replace the OS with a fresh copy. After the installation is complete, restart the system and then immediately download and apply the combo update, which can be done through Software Update or by manually using the combo updater package. If you use Software Update, then be sure to avoid applying the Thunderbolt Update again as it will appear as an available update.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7...news&tag=title

[Synaesthesia]

Of course it matters. Any technology needs a certain critical mass to make it viable, and with the list of "people who will never implement thunderbolt" being huge and growing, It can only end badly.

The list starts:

Manufacturers of any peripheral costing less than $200
Samsung and many, many others (because The evIL EMpire's licensing terms for the Mini DisplayPort connector, that Thunderbolt uses, are too restrictive)
Anyone competing on price.
All desktops
etc.

So who does that leave us with:

People who want to sell overpriced "universal docking-stations/breakout-boxes" to fanbois.
Very high speed, very expensive peripherals.
Monitor makers that think that building a docking station (compatible with a very small segment of the market) into their monitors will help sales.

So basically AppLE and LaCie (and maybe Drobo).

The world would be a boring place if everyone used the cheapest possible solution, but they don't. They use the most appropriate solution, and Thunderbolt ain't it.

I think Thunderbolt will succeed. It's got Intel's full backing, it's being put on the new laptops and Intel motherboards. The promise of a super-speed unifying connector is just too great.

[NAG - Wesley]

I think Thunderbolt will succeed. It's got Intel's full backing, it's being put on the new laptops and Intel motherboards. The promise of a super-speed unifying connector is just too great.

Ultrabooks are already selling in good enough numbers to show that Intel was right on the money with what consumers wanted. Thunderbolt will be just as easily picked up now that multiple vendors are coming out with their own solutions. And don't forget, everyone, you can add a Displayport-enabled device onto the end of the chain as well.

[kilobits]

Here... Thunderbolt's future speculated upon...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-574...s&tag=readMore

Intel believes Thunderbolt will remake mobile computing by endowing laptops with a high-speed, versatile port.

To match Intel's mainstream ambitions for Thunderbolt, though, Intel will have to prove to hardware designers and to consumers that it's got compelling advantages over the alternatives. Today, those are chiefly USB (Universal Serial Bus) and HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface. Tomorrow, another challenger could arrive in the form of PCI Express Cable, and it's got a strong ally in PC giant Hewlett-Packard.

By some measures, Thunderbolt is already a success: Apple ships it in MacBooks and iMacs, which sell in steadily increasing numbers. Device makers such as Seagate, Western Digital, and LaCie have released external storage devices that use it. Thunderbolt offers real benefits for professionals and enthusiasts in markets such as videography who can benefit from flexibility and performance. And it's just about to make the leap to Windows PCs.

But input-output (I/O) standards are slow to change, and Thunderbolt has real competition: the ubiquitous USB is arriving in its faster version 3.0 incarnation; HDMI is well established for video; and an upcoming standard called PCI Cable is lurking in the wings as a more direct Thunderbolt alternative.

Success for Thunderbolt will mean it becomes more like Universal Serial Bus, which truly lives up to its "universal" label. Failure will mean Thunderbolt is more like FireWire or eSATA, technologies useful to some customers but not so useful that anyone could count on support being built into computers or peripherals.

IDC forecasts widespread use -- but still a future in which Thunderbolt is more of a luxury option. "We believe in 2016 it'll still be a premium technology," said IDC analyst Linn Huang, reaching about 15.6 percent of laptops that ship that year.

Eric Ackerson, a product manager in Acer's mobile group, sees a risk that Thunderbolt could remain relegated to a upper-crust niche, the fate of Firewire, but thinks that Intel's broader ambition will prevail.

"There is a very high risk of that occurring," Ackerson said. "But due to its high-end nature and the push Intel is making to make this accessible, I don't think this is going to happen."

[Fudzy]

IDC forecasts widespread use -- but still a future in which Thunderbolt is more of a luxury option.

Firewire 2.0?

[Drunkard #1]

Here... Thunderbolt's future speculated upon...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-574...s&tag=readMore





Eric Ackerson, a product manager in Acer's mobile group, sees a risk that Thunderbolt could remain relegated to a upper-crust niche, the fate of Firewire, but thinks that Intel's broader ambition will prevail.

"There is a very high risk of that occurring," Ackerson said. "But due to its high-end nature and the push Intel is making to make this accessible, I don't think this is going to happen."

From your first link:

"Thunderbolt has more muscle, but USB 3.0 will reach 100 percent of PCs in 2016, IDC forecasts, the same year Thunderbolt reaches less than a sixth of laptops and an even smaller percentage of desktop PCs."

Assuming 10% market share for aPPLE laptops, that means that about 5% of non-AppLE laptops will have Thunderbolt by 2016, and even fewer desktops. I count that as a failure.

Ackerson hasn't said why he isn't using USB3. For his application, there is no need for Thunderbolt, and it carries a heavy cost penalty - Thunderbolt drives cost about R 2000 more than USB 3 drives - for no benefit. (ie: a 2 TB Thunderbolt drive costs 200% more than a 2 TB USB3 drive)

I think Thunderbolt will succeed. It's got Intel's full backing, it's being put on the new laptops and Intel motherboards. The promise of a super-speed unifying connector is just too great.

I have a FireWire port on my Intel board. I needed a fast SD card reader. I bought a USB3 PCI card and a USB3 card reader, because even though I already had the FireWire port, I couldn't find an easily available, cheap, reliable reader in FireWire. Thunderbolt is FireWire 2.0.

[Synaesthesia]

Just because Firewire never took off hugely, (it is not a total failure), doesnt mean anything for Thunderbolt. It's like when everyone predicted the iPhone and iPad would be a failure because PC's outsell Macs.

[NAG - Wesley]

Thunderbolt is FireWire 2.0.

I think you're underestimating just how much power Intel has to make Thunderbolt a world standard. Intel can afford to pour money into a project until it becomes profitable over years (Ultrabooks and the Netburst Pentium). Apple, having an increasing, but limited market share to work with, hasn't got enough power to make FireWire a ubiquitous standard but it is one of the default connection standards on Macbooks, iMacs, desktop Macs and Mac Minis. And it does work beautifully.

You are right though, the similarities between the abilities of Firewire and Thunderbolt are close enough to actually call it Apple's Firewire 2.0 project ;-)

[Stuyvesante]

How Intel make CPU


Petrol, Petrol,....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wfsl...eature=related

[xera]

How Intel make CPU


Petrol, Petrol,....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wfsl...eature=related

LOLOL, the pc fans are having a field day over that.

[devdev666]

honestly ive never understood why its mac vs pc and not osx vs windows.

[Synaesthesia]

Because OS X is tied to Macs.

[devdev666]

yea but a mac is either a laptop or pc anyway and now they can run windows? so its literally the exact same thing

[Synaesthesia]

True. A Mac is just a kind of PC, that can run OS X, and is made by Apple.

[kilobits]

True. A Mac is just a kind of PC, that can run OS X, and is made by Apple.

Note made by Apple... designed by Apple. In Cupertino.