Apple Time Machine – AFP or SMB? Synology NAS hanging…

I have been using a Synology DS1522 NAS to try to backup a Mac over a VPN. Sometimes it connects and works fine, and other times it gets stuck as “Connecting to backup disk…” Does anyone know a solution?

One thing I learned, thanks to asking BING AI’s chat, is that SMB is preferred rather than AFP:

Types of disks you can use with Time Machine on Mac – Apple Support

Tip: If given the choice between SMB and AFP, use SMB to back up to your external backup disk.

Types of disks you can use with Time Machine on Mac – Apple Support

I went in to the Synology NAS control panel and disabled AFP and enabled SMB as well as Bonjour over SMB. We shall see if this helps…

Please leave a comment if you found this post while looking for a solution. I may have figured it out by the time you read this, and just forgot to update this post.

iOS 12.2 iPhone Photos won’t upload to iCloud over WiFi (but do over cellular)

Sometimes Apple stuff is just “magic.” But when the magic fails, it can send you endlessly searching for a solution online. I am placing this post here so search engines can be find it in case someone else is having this same issue.

Normally, I can take a photo on my iPhone and see it show up moments later on my Mac or iPad. Lately, however, photos taken from my iPhone seem to get stuck uploading to my iCloud Photos library. I had a few photos that didn’t sync after several days (hooked to power overnight and on WiFi). Sometimes, switching to cellular causes these photos to upload immediately.

I read some tips that suggested turning off iCloud Photos and turning it back on (with a phone reboot in between). I did that, end then had 5818 photos waiting to upload. Not great.

After none of the tips I read (from dozens and dozens of forums, blog posts and “fix it” site articles) worked, I decided to try the “erase everything and restore from a backup” approach.

I did that, and after an hour of restoring and getting Apple Pay and Touch ID and such set back up, I find that I now have 14,803 photos waiting to upload.

Does anyone have any clue what causes this, and how to fix it? My phone has been plugged up an on WiFi for half an hour and not a single change in the upload count.

Thoughts?

Mac and 3-D video and “st3d” metadata and YouTube

I started experimenting with 3-D video around 2003 using a camcorder add-on called the NuView. I have hours of 3-D footage from back then, but beyond converting it to red/blue anaglyph, there was no easy way to share it.

At some point, YouTube added support for 3-D video. It allowed you to easily upload video in several formats and it would play it back in several formats (including red/blue anaglyph, doing the conversion on the YouTube server side).

Unfortunately, this feature is no longer easy to use. They now require you to embed special metadata in the movie file before it is uploaded. They give instructions on their site:

See: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/7278886?hl=en

Unfortunately, the ffmpeg command line they show does not work. I errors out on one of the options. I could not find a solution, but was able to find others posting about the same issue.

So, it’s time to post something here on this site so the search engines will find it. I am trying to find a way to embed the “st3d” metadata in a QuickTime .mov file so I can upload it to YouTube as a 3-D video.

Anyone have any tips? Thanks!

See also: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250024661

Converting AIPTEK 3D HD Camcorder i2 photos for 3DTV

Years ago, I posted some articles on the AIPTEK 3D i2 camera.

I *finally* got to hook this camera up to a 3D TV and see the videos and images in full color 3-D (instead of the red/blue anaglyph conversions I’ve been doing). It works amazingly well!

I will soon post some tips on converting these images to play off of a USB stick (they do not, directly)…

Stay tuned.

Apple TV multiplayer and 3-D games list

Since I have had no luck finding such a list online, I plan to start a new Apple TV page that will cover the various multiplayer and 3-D games.

Multiplayer implies more than one player at the same time. There is no category for this in the app store, so unless the developer puts that word in the description, you won’t find these games with a search.

I was very surprised to find that the new 4th generation Apple TV supports 3-D content. The Pangea Software games (some of which I’d played on the Mac years ago) are the only ones I’ve found so far that work in 3-D. Really neat.

Check out the page.

Drobo (3rd gen) to Drobo 5C, part 3

This is part of a multi-part review of the Data Robotics Drobo 5C.

See also: Introductionpart 1 and part 2.

After having a Drobo 5C for a week, I’ve decided there are a few changes that I do not like, and one that I do like…

Don’t Like

Enclosure. As previously mentioned, the enclosure is now more of an outside shell that is no longer flush against the front of the device (when the removable face plate is on). Now, when the face plate is installed, there is a small gap running all around it. It just doesn’t seem as polished of a design. Also, when my laptop is set in front of the Drobo, if I open the lid too far, it now makes contact with the metal strip at the top rather than more gently rubbing against the plastic cover as it did with the previous 2nd and 3rd generation modules.

Power Supply. For some reason, the round power connector that goes in to the Drobo 5C now has a right-angle connector at the end. This causes extra tension on the cable (and probably power connector) as the chord is pulled at an angle a bit before running straight out the back and down behind my computer desk. I really don’t care for this, but if you put your Drobo at the far back of a desk (where the power cable would then point directly down), you may prefer this.

Drobo 5C right-angle power connector.

LED Status Lights. Since the front panel no longer covers the bottom row of status lights, the lights are brighter than the rest of the LEDs behind the panel. If I set the Drobo 5C brightness to 5, and have it next to a 3rd generation Drobo also set to 5, the blue LEDs on the 5C are much brighter because they are no longer being filtered out through the clear plastic of the face plate. It also means the 5C lights behind the faceplate are dimmer than the ones below it.

Drobo 5C (left) with brighter blue lights versus 3rd gen (right) with lights behind the face plate.

Can’t See LEDs. And, if your Drobo 5C sits a bit lower, the bottom row of blue LEDs can be hidden below/behind the face place. As I look down at the 5C and 3rd gen models, I can clearly see the front panel blue status LEDs on the 3rd gen, but cannot see the bottom row on the 5C. When sitting at a lower level, I can see them both. Not a big deal, but a change. I first noticed this when I walked in to where my computer is, and thought the 5C had locked up since all the blue capacity lights were off (or so I thought).

Drobo 5C (left) has recessed bottom lights, versus 3rd gen (right) that showed them through the face plate.

If they used the same power connector as they did on previous power supplies, and had kept the enclosure design the same, I would not have anything to gripe about.

Like

Face plate. There was one thing I did like, which I had not noticed before. In the previous photo, notice how the green drive lights on the 3rd generation (right) can be seen through the face plate. The black face plate is a bit transparent, and I had never noticed this until taking these photos. The 5C face place is opaque.

Drobo (3rd gen) transparent drive indicator lights.

Drobo 5C opaque drive indicator lights.

I expect I will have a few more things to say about this new Drobo (file copy speed, for example) so…

More to come…

Drobo 5C for $279 on Amazon

The Drobo 5C was introduced in October 2016 for $349. There has already been a $50 discount code ($299) and a one-day Amazon.com sale (also $299). Yesterday, the price tracking site, Camel Camel Camel, alerted me of a $279 price on Amazon:

http://camelcamelcamel.com/Drobo-5-Drive-Attached-Storage-DDR4A21/product/B01LWNHFBR?context=tracker

By the time you see this posting, the price may no longer be valid, but you might consider activating a Camel Camel Camel account to do your own tracking. You will receive an e-mail alert when the desired item (anything on Amazon) reaches the price you want. It also shows a historic graph of the price the item has been since tracking began.

Merry Christmas.