mac os x tips

Or how I twiddled things to my liking.

This page contains miscellaneous quick tips I've found over the years. Current tips are tested on OS X 10.5 (Leopard) only unless otherwise stated. Needless to say you use these at your own risk.

Finder & Friends

Safari

Disks & Disk Images

You can create an ISO from a folder using the command line hdiutil tool:

hdiutil makehybrid -udf -udf-volume-name <vol_name> -o <iso_name> <source_folder>

One handy use for this is turning DVDs captured with RipIt or similar software into ISOs. While OS X Leopard can play the 'DVD Player Media Document' packages (extension .dvdmedia) RipIt creates, other OS can't. By turning the package into an ISO it can be played with common software such as VLC or burnt to disc. For example, if you wanted to create an ISO from a 'DVD Player Media Document' called 'Casablanca' you would use the following:

hdiutil makehybrid -udf -udf-volume-name Casablanca -o casablanca.iso Casablanca.dvdmedia

If you have any comments or corrections please contact me.