This how to guide goes over Graham Gilbert’s “printer-pkginfo” script to easily get printers into your munki repo for deployment.
Enjoy.
HCS Blog
Problem-solving by Apple Certified Professionals
Mar
25
Mar
24
Lighting to USB 3 Camera Adapter
On Monday Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of World Wide marketing at Apple, mentioned the release of new Lightning to USB 3 adapter. It woudl provide USB data and power in a Y-style adapte. It became even more exciting news when he went on to say you could use an Ethernet adapter with it to connect to corporate networks. Apple’s site mentions it as well in the product description:
"Add even greater capability and versatility to your iPad Pro by powering the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter with a USB Power Adapter. Then you can connect USB peripherals like hubs, Ethernet adapters..."
Apple site says these models of iPad are officially supported but more than these work.
iPad with Retina display
iPad mini
iPad mini 2
iPad Air
iPad Air 2
iPad mini 3
iPad mini 4
iPad Pro (9.7-inch)
iPad mini
iPad mini 2
iPad Air
iPad Air 2
iPad mini 3
iPad mini 4
iPad Pro (9.7-inch)
iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
Full details about the product is located at the link below:
Prior to iOs 9.X there was a way for iOS to connect to an ethernet network with a usb to ethernet adapter. It involved a Usb Hub but it was patched an no longer worked during testing on 9.2. A great post about it can be found at: http://www.hcsonline.com/support/blog/entry/ios-connecting-your-ipad-to-ethernet
After Monday’s announcement I immediately purchased the new USB 3.0 to Lighting adapter from Apple and received it today. I went ahead and tested the new USB 3.0 to Lighting adapter with an Apple USB 2.0 to ethernet adapter. I did make sure that each device was running iOs 9.3 when I performed my final tests. The products I tested were: iPhone 6S+, iPhone 6S, iPad Pro 12inch, iPad Mini 4th Generation, iPad Mini 3rd Generation , 1st Generation iPad Air , 2nd Generation iPad Air & a 5th Generation iPod Touch. I would have tested more but this is what I had in the lab at the time.
I discovered several things. This is certainly not a definitive list but were observations I made in testing.
1.) It works on all the devices I listed above. Apple site doesn’t officially support iPod Touch and iPhone but it worked regardless.
2.) It doesn’t necessarily need 9.3. When testing the 1st Generation iPad Air it showed up and worked. It was running 9.2 at the time. I tried to on the 3rd Generation iPad Mini running 9.1 and it didn’t work. Having said that I felt it's best to update to 9.3.
3.) A charger is needed. On each device I was warned that it needed more power. A regular lighting cable with at least 10W charger was sufficient for it to dismiss the dialog window, saying it needed more power, and work properly.
4.) It can be used during activation of device even if cellular and wifi aren’t present. Unlike a Mac you don’t have a place to select the wired collection. Visually the “next” dialog turns blue and you can proceed.
5.)No visual way to manage it. When you connect it you can see it in Settings/General/About. It does not show network information only hardware info about the adapter. I would love to see an Ethernet section Appear in Settings. Maybe in an update. You never know.
6.) When in Ariplane mode it still works. You can surf the internet and perform any network related actions.
7.) I tested it on a Cisco 802.11 AC 5GHZ network and a Cisco Gigabit Ethernet switch. When running a speediest it’s faster on ethernet…only slightly.
Overall this is exciting news for consultant and consumer alike. I am sure there are things I didn’t catch or see. Leave a comment and help the community learn how this product can be used more effectively in your environment.
For more great news and resources check out http://www.hcsonline.com/support/blog
Christopher R. Holmes
Senior Systems Engineer/Technical Training Specialist
HCS Technology Group
2314 Kaliste Saloom Apt 708 Lafayette, LA 70508
T: (337) 476-2772 T: 866-518-9672 Ext. 702
Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Mar
18
iPad Ethernet Rig
Note: iOS 9.x adjusted the sensitivity to USB bus power and so some older hubs don't work any more.
We tested it with a new Belkin F4U073 and it worked.
Items Needed:
- iOS Device
- Powered USB Hub
- USB Ethernet Adapter
- USB A to USB B Cable or a USB A to USB A Cable (An A-A cable would be unusual, but will depend on the hub. Use the cable that came with the USB Hub)
- Lighting to USB Adapter
- Ethernet Switch/Router
Process: (In no specific order)
- Disable WiFi and cellular data on the iOS Device.
- Connect one end of the ethernet cable into a free port on the switch, and the other end into the ethernet port on the USB Ethernet Adapter.
- Connect the USB end of the adapter to any of the USB ports on the USB hub.
- Connect the USB A cable to the USB hub.
- Connect the power cable for the USB hub to the hub and plug the other end into a wall outlet.
- Connect the USB end of the Lighting to USB Adapter to the other end of the USB cable that came with your USB hub.
- Connect the Lightning end of the adapter into your iPad.
Mar
06
When you connect a power source to an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch a familiar charging chime sound will trigger from the device, indicating that a cable is attached and the device is getting power. If you like hearing that auditory confirmation that a device is getting power, you can add the exact same audio playback feature to any MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. This requires OS X Yosemite (10.10.3 or better).
1. Disconnect the Mac from the MagSafe power source
2. Open the Terminal app, found in /Applications/Utilities
3. Enter the following command:
defaults write com.apple.PowerChime ChimeOnAllHardware -bool true; open /System/Library/CoreServices/PowerChime.app &
4. Hit Return
5. Re-connect the MacBook power supply to hear the chime
Mar
06
The command below will ping the ip address three times and for each response, your default OS X alert sound will play. The -a flag in the command below means Audible. And if not obvious, the -c means ping count.
ping -c3 -a 192.168.1.100