iMac showing SMART failure

Wow...this is the second time in a row where I'm having drive issues with my Mac.  The firs time, it was my Macbook, where the drive outright failed.  This time, it is my iMac.

I purchased Mountain Lion two days ago.  I began to download it last night to install on my iMac and during the install process, I was asked to select where to install ML, so I selected the main drive.  A pop-up appeared stating there were errors on the drive and that failure was imminent.  It would not let me install.

So, I've made an appointment to the local (if you want to call it that) Genius Bar, for tomorrow morning.  I've to pack up the 27" iMac and tote it to the Genius Bar.  That's going to be a bit of a PITA.  Then I'm probably going to be told that they'll have my iMac for a week or so...let's not hope I have to go through the same situation as my last visit.

Now, this problem is rampant on the Apple.com forums, as well as MacRumors.com.  Many people were blaming Lion, but some people were running Snow Leopard when this occurred.  I don't believe it is any Mac OS version, but something isn't quite right here.  Many people were affected by this.  The culprit is either a bad batch of drives, which Apple has a "recall" on (my system didn't qualify for this recall...weird), or a cooling issue that is adversely affecting hard drives, as many have complained that their systems are running excessively hot.  Many people have also stated that OS X is becoming smart enough to actually correctly assess imminent drive failure (whereas the previous OSs were not able to do this consistently).  That only partially explains the large amount of drive failure complaints...what's causing the failures?

Another thing:  I have no idea how long my machine has been showing "fail" as a SMART status.  You'd think the user/admin would be prompted somehow that there's an issue related to drive failure.  I wasn't made aware until I tried to install v10.8.  An admin shouldn't have to check the SMART status daily, weekly, or even monthly.  Really...this is 2012 and an OS should somehow convey (proactively) the nature of such a status.

I've Time Machine, so I've a backup.

Legacy Macbook Woes

I got the Macbook back in 2006, I believe.  It's pre-C2D and apparently doesn't support 64-bit OSs.  My wife's computer is C2D (mine is Core Duo), so her CPU is 64-bit...the motherboard probably doesn't support 64-bit, though.  I'd try to install Lion on it but she'd kill me.  It took her awhile to get used to Snow Leopard when I upgraded it without her consent (LOL).

So....

http://www.glitch.com/forum/general/11684/#reply-122479:

"The issue I experience with this is that I have one of the first intel core duo macs. This means that the max memory it can handle is 2 gigs. This means that the mac cannot handle running 10.6 even though it has 64-bit capable processors. This means that my mac is stuck at 10.5.8 until it breaks and I am forced to buy a new iMac (a few thousand dollars I do not want to spend until I have to since the iMac still does everything that I need it to). This is not a huge deal for me since I have 2 Windows machines and 1 Linux machine that run Glitch perfectly, but if anyone else has this issue and therefore is unable to use Flash 11, please post here so the devs have a better idea of usage statistics and can make a decision as to wether or not it is worth dedicating resources to allow people to play the game with Flash 10 with the caveat that it may not work right."

Yeah, I'm pretty much stuck in the same situation as the above, although a reply to the above hinted at a workaround:

http://www.glitch.com/forum/general/11684/#reply-122489:

Landar, first off your Mac will run *better* under 10.6 than 10.5, with the same hardware you have right now. I've done that with MacBooks and iMacs of that generation.
Second, almost all the C2D Macs can actually handle 3-and-a-bit gig (it's the usual Intel motherboard limitations) or even four, look up your system at www.everymac.com/systems/by... and click through to the details page.

So, there may be hope after all.  I'll need to look into this.

Core Duo Not Supported by Mac OS X Lion

So, I plugged my Macbook to the network, thinking I'd download and install Lion via the App Store (by going to Store --> Purchased (since I'd already bought and installed Lion on the iMac), but found that Core Duo machines aren't supported:

WTF...

It looks like my Macbook now has one foot in the grave.  I'll have to stick with Snow Leopard, but eventually, that will be unsupported.  It's not a huge deal, I guess, since Lion just came out.  I wonder when Leopard goes end-of-life (if it hasn't already)...

This is a rather large bummer.  The laptop isn't THAT old.

Well, there's one other Macbook in the house...my wife's.  It is a Core 2 Duo machine.  I don't even know if she wants the upgrade but it is available to her if she'd like to give it a shot.

It looks like I've a good excuse to buy me a new Macbook next year with whatever bonus I get.  If I do, I'll go Pro this time, more than likely...so I can game on it.

May as well back up with Time Machine since I've got it set up beside the iMac, though.

OS X Lion Brings Major Security Overhaul To Apple Users

OS X Lion Brings Major Security Overhaul To Apple Users

I haven't yet fully read the article, but it will definitely be on my weekend hitlist!

OS X v10.7!

Yep yep!  I got the big Lion!  I'm using it on my iMac and once I get used to it, will be putting it on my Macbook.

I'll update this post as I discover issues and/or things I like.

[EDIT (7/23/2011):


So, I'm finding --


1.  That I like Mission Control...a lot.
2.  I like that I can side-scroll the desktops.
3.  FaceTime looks cool.  I'll have to give it a shot soon.
4.  I like the fact that I can use the Magic Mouse like the touchpad on my Macbook...even if I can't do everything the demo video shows on the Apple pages).
5.  I read in an article that I posted here that security in Lion has improved drastically.  Good job, Apple!
6.  My Macbook (Core Duo) is NOT supported in Lion, so I can't install Lion on that machine...not good!
7.  Full disk encryption will secure your data if your Mac is lost/stolen.]