Apple screws W7?
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Discussion

LordGrover

Original Poster:

33,981 posts

233 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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My Windows 7 PC has been quick, stable a fault-free for several months.
Enter iPhone and i-fecking-Tunes: has apple done this deliberately?
Freezing mouse and complete lock-ups several times a day now. FFS

Stu R

21,416 posts

236 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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Can't say I've noticed any difference in performance / stability. Everything up to date?

dundarach

5,901 posts

249 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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turn off the apple services and set them to manual - you can then start them when you start itunes...

FourWheelDrift

91,629 posts

305 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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No problems here, just the usual sticking scrolling of iTunes screens which has always been like that.

LordGrover

Original Poster:

33,981 posts

233 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
quotequote all
Yep. All up-to date.

TBF, I think it may be down to the Dock - seems to be USB related. If plugged in directly via cable no issue but via dock frequent lock-ups. I'll pop it back to crap-phone-wehouse and get them to swap it.

irked

The_Jackal

4,854 posts

218 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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So Apple haven't screwed Windows 7 then?
Phew, I can carry on using it then

FourWheelDrift

91,629 posts

305 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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I'm sure you can still buy Apple screws, but I'm not sure about size W7.

LordGrover

Original Poster:

33,981 posts

233 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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I believe this is the offending article.


FourWheelDrift

91,629 posts

305 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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Have you plugged your iPhone into the PC using the supplied USB cable to double check?

cyberface

12,214 posts

278 months

Wednesday 24th February 2010
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FourWheelDrift said:
Have you plugged your iPhone into the PC using the supplied USB cable to double check?
Check his post at 16:17. Looks like he already has.

The iPhone USB driver is a fancy non-standard bit of code (usbmuxd on unix and OS X, probably similarly named service under Windows) but Windows 7 shouldn't allow a driver that sits on top of the USB stack to compromise the system.

I don't see how Apple code could compromise Windows 7's stability any more than a Microsoft app could compromise OS X's stability... unless Apple's iPhone driver is directly in the kernel (ring 0? can't remember how Windows works) which is 'bad Apple' really.

If it works fine with a USB cable (as it appears to), then faulty hardware (e.g. loose connections / shorts in the third-party dock stand) most certainly *could* crash Windows, since there's only so much a device driver can do if the hardware is glitching.

Without sounding like an Apple fanboy, I don't think Apple are anything to do with this (other than the fact you're using an Apple iPhone and thus want an Apple-compatible peripheral) - certainly not their code. User-mode code like iTunes sure as hell won't crash Windows 7, Microsoft aren't *that* bad FFS, it's not Windows 3.1 any more. Windows 7 is a stable, well written OS and even if iTunes were to bomb, it shouldn't lock up the OS. As far as I know, the Windows version of iTunes is still just a user-mode app and there's no SYSTEM-level access or kernel hooks going on, so won't be responsible for full-on freezes / crashes.

Duff USB peripherals *do* cause OS chaos, both on Windows and Linux and OS X. My supposedly 'expertly tailored' OS X ice kitty install on my monster Mac Pro gets unstable every so often, requiring a hard restart, because the USB client in my APC SmartUPS battery backup box sometimes goes haywire and sends rubbish down the USB cable. OS X does a good job of isolating the particular channel and the console logs tell me that a particular device on a particular bus is playing funny buggers, but it's only so long before the kernel gets bored of this and barfs...

Apple write pretty good quality code. I'd suspect cheap peripheral hardware first, if you're running a standard software install that thousands to millions of other people are using successfully. My cheap Maplin 'super dock' USB adapter that accepts 5 different memory card formats and also lets you plug in SATA drives of both 3.5" and 2.5" size (it's *really* handy for imaging discs) also pisses off OS X too on occasion. If I could find a super-high-quality expensive aluminium version of exactly that device, I'd pay for it - the flexibility to allow connection of virtually any mass storage device (hard drive, CF card, SD card, Memory Stick, USB flashdrive, whatever) is invaluable. Shame that the equipment itself is so cheap and flaky.... (I know it's off topic, but does anyone know of a 'reassuringly expensive' version of what I'm talking about? The brittle plastic has already broken on mine from putting 3.5" SATA drives in for imaging... it's a bit ramshackle - made by Unitek, called a 'SATA HDD Docking Station' and is red and black brittle plastic)...

LordGrover

Original Poster:

33,981 posts

233 months

Thursday 25th February 2010
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I think cyberface has it about right. While the packaging infers it's a pukka accessory the piece does not feel good quality and the cable socket is a little 'baggy'. Ho-hum. They've said they'll replace it.

Slight digression, but still knocking apple, smile
iTunes... who the hell decided horizontal scrolling is a good idea? I suppose the mac-freaks with their rolly-nipple-affairs can scroll to the side with a flick but it's torture on my wrist.

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

275 months

Thursday 25th February 2010
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iTunes is the most horrid app ever on windows.

Dracoro

8,955 posts

266 months

Thursday 25th February 2010
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RobDickinson said:
iTunes is the most horrid app ever on windows.
Useful contribution.

BigBen

12,110 posts

251 months

Thursday 25th February 2010
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LordGrover said:
I think cyberface has it about right. While the packaging infers it's a pukka accessory
Does not seem to have the 'made for ipod' logo on it, i.e. it has not been tested/approved by Apple so don't think it is pukka.

Ben

PJ S

10,842 posts

248 months

Thursday 25th February 2010
quotequote all
cyberface said:
If I could find a super-high-quality expensive aluminium version of exactly that device, I'd pay for it - the flexibility to allow connection of virtually any mass storage device (hard drive, CF card, SD card, Memory Stick, USB flashdrive, whatever) is invaluable. Shame that the equipment itself is so cheap and flaky.... (I know it's off topic, but does anyone know of a 'reassuringly expensive' version of what I'm talking about? The brittle plastic has already broken on mine from putting 3.5" SATA drives in for imaging... it's a bit ramshackle - made by Unitek, called a 'SATA HDD Docking Station' and is red and black brittle plastic)...
Does the item mentioned allow direct connection of the cards, or are they in a/their USB adapter?
If the former, then not sure what else exists on that front, but if the latter, then how does this look?

http://www.storagedepot.co.uk/Hard-Drive-Cases/sc8...
http://www.storagedepot.co.uk/Hard-Drive-Cases/sc8...
http://www.storagedepot.co.uk/Hard-Drive-Cases/sc8...

http://usb.brando.com/prod_detail.php?prod_id=0051... - noticed the above reseller carries the non-card reader version, so they may be able to order it for you.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=38831...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=34041...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=22665...

http://www.saverstore.com/product/20030245/Sumvisi...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Max-Value-Docking-Station-...
http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?num=50&am...

http://www.sharkoon.com/html/produkte/docking_stat...