macOS 10.14.6 macpro3,1 internal speaker disappears

After the second supplemental updates, I found out the internal speaker is missing.  That's it no longer shows on the Sound.  I don't know if it's just a coincident or not.

I tried to reset the whatever RAM by pressing the Alt Command P R keys when restarting, and you know how that is:  I can never be sure if I indeed hitting the keys at the right time given the fact that I am using the wireless Bluetooth keyboard and a non supported GPU.

Anyway, no luck with any of the resets I performed.  The machine connects with the Samsung Bluetooth speaker OK, just like before.  (One of the very odd things from day 1 is say I turned on the speaker and the machine connects for a second then it would immediately drops the connection and the video would get congested so much so Youtube thought there is a internet connection issue, well there is indeed a connection issue.  At that point I have to manually connect the BT speaker.  But this is just an aside.)

Hopefully money can work around this problem.  I ordered a CR2032 3V battery.  Maybe the existing one lost its power but even so I don't think it affects the presence or absence of the internal speaker.  But I just like to buy stuff.  Another prong of attack to this problem is I bought a USB mic and headphone jack adapter.  The latter solution hopefully can work around the problem.

UPDATE:
Apparently, or not so apparently, after the Supplemental updates, I need to manually do the patch updates because my whole macpro3,1 is a hack in order to upgrade to 10.14.6.  In the past, the dosdude patch would do a prompt automagically but not this time.  So after scratching my head for some hours I finally remember ahhh maybe I need to do that manually.  Unfortunately I placed the order to get some hardwares and hopefully the cancellation can go through.  After re-installing all the patches, the headphone port, internal speakers all work as they should be.  Magic.

VLC on MacOS 10.14.6

After 2 Supplemental Updates from Apple, VLC still acts weird.  The menu graphics are torn when the VLC player is active on screen.  VLC has become very usable until the 10.14.6 as it plays mkv files and can scale or crop video into my LG 2560x1080 screen.  Too bad VLC is screwed up now.  A search on Google says this is not an individual isolated experience, it does affect a certain user base who uses NVIDIA graphics.  VLC believes it's the implementation of the macOS that wreaks havoc on the screen.

UPDATE 1/9/2020
VLC hasn't had an update to address this issue as I think it's considered a problem with Apple's OS.  In the indefinite wisdom of the internet, somebody in November updated the thread regarding this issue and gave us the work around, just uncheck the whatever Display transparency in the System Pref, and viola, the issue goes away.  No matter torn screen graphics.

macOS 10.14.6 on MacPro3,1

Thing should have gone a bit smoother if only I took a bit more time preparing.

Since last time, I have changed my file system to APFS which allows normal software update via Apple.

As such I just needed to download and restart to install.  Or so I thought.

I was basically taking a chance as I didn't put back the stock GPU.

So when it reboot, nothing kind of happened.  I tried holding Alt, or Command R to get under the hood.  I tried a few times.  I am using bluetooth keyboard and touchpad so they can be a bit iffy when doing the bootup and holding down keys kind of operation.  But apparently it can be done.  I suppose the bluetooth connection is pretty low level and is connected right away without the OS fully loaded so you can work on it right away.

Since I couldn't boot up so actually got my old macOS USB drive and boot with Alt down and boot to base macOS.  I used Time Machine to go back to 10.14.5.

I got everything running and I made sure I removed the non native GPU and put the stock GPU back before I started my download, install and reboot route.

It seems like I need to remove the USB drive, or I am not sure as I thought unless you hold down Alt otherwise it doesn't matter.

In any event I was able to boot back into the user login screen.  And the patch program automatically asked to update the patches.  Then reboot.

After everything works like I am sure it's the latest 10.14.6, then I powered down, removed the stock GPU card and put back the newer more powerful but not natively supported GPU.

It was on my third trial that everything worked.

AF DC-NIKKOR 135mm f/2D

This lens is a mystery.  You can find information online from third parties as to how to use it but you can't find anything from Nikon.  Nikon Imaging does provide a pdf here http://download.nikonimglib.com/archive2/YcrVZ00oXSZ102eGHPE061XWFw47/AFDC135_2D_(27_DL)02.pdf

However it makes no mention of the effect of using the combinations of lens f/stop and defocus image control f/stop.  For that it only provides three pictures with defocus at neutral, R and F.  There are lots of mid-wife tales on how to use it but they are hardly definitive.  And to add to the cacophony of half truths here is some more ...

For the longest time I thought you twist the defocus image control ring to the R numbers to "enhance" blur behind the focused subject, the R(ear) as in rear; and enhance the blur in the foreground if you twist the defocus image control ring towards the F(oreground or front).  If you set your aperture to f/2, then you may set the defocus ring at 2 F or R, so on and so forth.  Of course you can leave the defocus ring at the neutral position rendering no defocus effect.  Notice that, there is an additional click beyond the 5.6 on both sides of F and R, it's not marked but I guess it could be an 8 but who knows.

My question is if I set my f/stop at f/4, must I only set the defocus at 4 either F or R direction or I can set it at 5.6 or even the unmarked 8?  Or I can set it only from 4 or below only, meaning 4, 2.8 or 2 in either directions.  I understand mechanically I can set whatever what I am trying to find out is what is supposed to according to NIKON, the engineers behind the lens.  I think Matt Gringer's videos provide the answer, i.e.  if you shoot at f/2, you should only stay at f/2 R or F.  However if you shoot at f/5.6, you can choose all the defocus points in between the 5.6 F or R, i.e 4, 2.8 or 2.  (Gringer was on a trip in HK and he visited a Nikon center there and some guy explained to him how it's supposed to work he didn't know what he was doing with the defocus ... Granger also repeated this (what the guy told him) on another of his video, I just couldn't find the video now, back then he called himself the Nikon guy).

Again, I never find anything direct from Nikon.

Or never mind.

From shooting with this lens for more than a year, all I could say is given some shooting conditions, it has the most offensively ghastly chromatic aberrations ever, period.

(the effect of the defocus is subtle so I don't bother to test it or use it myself ....  I know it's ridiculous)

Beast Grip Pro

At long last I got myself a Beast Grip Pro.

This is in my mind the gold standard of iPhone or mobile phone videography when grips are concerned.  They also offer custom cage that's specific to phone models or iPhone models, i.e. if you upgrade your iPhone, chances are you need to upgrade your cage.  The only advantage I can think of is a much customed fit when it comes to attaching optics.  The cage is cut to fit exactly over the lens so there is no guess work or any adjustment to make sure lens alignment is right.  Of course the drawback is the cage can be obsolete when you need another model of the latest and greatest iPhone.

The beast grip pro on the other hand is quite adjustable, at the expense that you need to align the lens mount when attaching optics and you may or may not knock the attachment out of alignment in use.  The latest iteration of the grip has better clamps to accommodate smaller or bigger phones to make sure a snug fit.  The lens opening has another insert to take into account of dual camera phones.  I own a cinema mount grip and its 37mm threaded wide angle/macro lens adapter.  It fits right on the beast grip as well.  The advantage is quite obvious.  The cinema mount I own (bought few years back) is kind of sloppy when compared to the beast grip.  There is just more play to all the adjustments, the alignment can go out of place quite easily and the screwed down clamp isn't all that smooth.  The beast grip is definitely a win but then it costs I think at least twice as much if memory serves me well.  Also I think Beast Grip years ago won the case against Cinema mount Grip and the latter could no longer sell the product in the US (ops, just checked Amazon, they are selling in the US, so I don't know, legal stuff what do I know right?).

Right now I just use my iPhone SE with the BGP.  I moved the lower clamp one notch up so it's more snug when clamped down.  It involves a hex key and two screws so it's not exactly convenient to change phone say swapping out the iPhone SE for the bigger iPhone 8 Plus.

Before I bought it I always wonder how snug the clamps are, now I know, it's reasonably snug so that normal touching of the iPhone won't screw up the alignment.  But then again, it will never be a better fit than a customed Beast Cage for a particular model of iPhone.  Another advantage is the BGP is it does provide an actual grip on the right hand side.  For the cage, if you need a grip you really need to buy another add-on in order to have a grip.  The cage only provides an interface so one can attach optics, mic, light and other accessories but it's not really a grip per se.  Like I said before, however, attaching optics or optical adapter should be much easier and accurate for a cage.

Beast Grip sells the BGP and a few limited products on eBay at 15% off.  Its official website with some other promo offers 10% off.  So for BGP, eBay is the way to go.

Nikon 20-35 f/2.8

It still pains me that the lens is broken and can't be repaired because the necessary parts aren't available anymore and even if they are I suspect it makes more sense to buy another copy as the repair costs at least an upward of $300 plus dollars, which is what an "ugly" copy costs on eBay.  Of course by repairing you save the lens.

This is my excuse to buy some nerdy, dad harness so as to hold my gears on my shoulder securely.  It's going to look ridiculous but hopefully my camera won't be sliding down my shoulder anymore.

I swear the camera only slid down from my shoulder and along the way, I was able to absorb part of the fall with my hand and leg ...  But still bad enough to crack the filter and worse ruined the focus and zoom mechanisms all together.  I think I paid more than $600 for it from KEH years ago when I shot a dinner party.

Zero Halliburton

I try to find more information about the cases.  But there isn't much to be found.  Then again, if you just try a bit harder you may be able to find something to connect the dots.

I own a couple of Halliburton cases, they are called camera cases.  And since they have Zero as part of the name so they aren't exactly old or prior to the acquisition by the Zero Japanese company.  I am just writing from memory which isn't very good.(Edit:  This proves my memory is really unreliable.  The Japanese company that bought Zero Halliburton is called ACE and it was done in 2006.  ZERO bought Halliburton in 1952)

You would think that a company with this legacy would have more information about old models and their dimensions and what accessories go with them.  Alas, that isn't really the case.  When I first got those cases a few years back, I searched online and I found the Zero Halliburton website just terrible, I'm sure I wrote about that back then.

Halliburton is kind of falling out of flavor I think.  If people want aluminum cases, they might opt for Rimowa.  If people really want to carry the load they opt for Pelican.  Where does it leave for Halliburton, I don't know.

I tried again to find some information on the cases.

This is from Pop Photography 1981.

So my cases are 105 and 111.  At least I now got the model numbers right I think.

I always want to find foam and inserts for them.  And now I find some lead.  Though I have to say foam is not really ideal as they tend to disintegrate in a nasty way.  Hopefully the dividers last.  I barely found one store that sell new old stock for the cases ...

Godox CellsII N

This isn't even listed on Godox website.

So you know it's old.

This is based on the 433Mhz frequency as opposed to their 2.4GHz ones.

I got a pair of these so I can do hypersync on my Sunpak 120J.  I was confident that I can hook it up all right.  Alas, that didn't work out exactly I hoped.

Even my old Neewer is on the 433 frequency but they don't talk to each other.  And I can't attach the CellsII to my 120J through any cables provided.

In the end, the best I can do is to attach my Neewer transmitter to the Godox CellsII receiver and the Neewer receiver attached to the female sync cable to the 120J.  Through that I was able to sync to 1/1000 with almost no banding.

The thing is I can sync to 1/8000 of a second with no banding if I use an optical slave.

To be able to use hypersync is good when I need to shoot high speed under bright sunlight.

I ordered a Pocket wizard cable male mini 3.5mm to household plug to streamline the connection and also to hope the sync may work better.

This is a bit crazy but I can't help myself.

EDIT:
What I thought and what actually is can be vastly different.  Initially I thought I would get all the features of my Nikon branded SB-800 to work remotely (the hot shoe connector on the transceiver is only single pin so that sort of give away there is no other communication to the flash except to fire). As there is no user manual on the company's website and the one I found is for Canon ... so it's a bit difficult to confirm things.  I believe this CellsII-N would control Godox's own Wistro strobes, like the AD180 or AD360 or similar models but branded differently.  The good news is the trigger is still hypersync capable with varying degrees of success depending on how high the speed you go and the trigger connection.  Waiting for my eBay PocketWizard 3.5mm to HH to trigger the flash directly from the CellsII N

Flash

Godox is stirring up the market place the past 5 years that you can't help but notice them.

Profoto is, I heard, threatens to sue Godox for something something.  We will see.

I got a set of 433Mhz trigger from Neewer which is I think just another name from Godox.  It comes with a transmitter and 2 receiver.  After years of very occasional use, I changed the little battery inside the transmitter.  The set has been quite good, it's not like well built or 100% fool proof but it works.  The battery door is not so well closed so sometimes there is bad connection.  But other than that I am happy with the purchase.  Now most of what Godox makes are 2.4Ghz so I don't think I can use the existing cheapo 433Mhz receivers.  The price of those running of 433Mhz is definitely cheaper but then you feel like you are not future proofing your purchase.

My SB-800 can do high speed sync, that's the trick sync by pulsating the flash above the sync speed of the camera.  Then of course I have a pair of Sunpak 120J, which can't do no Nikon high speed sync.

The question is can they all do hypersync, that's by timing the flashing output and make sure of the long duration assuming they are long duration of the manual flash full output?

It seems to be there is a high chance that they can IF the trigger supports high speed sync.

That's if the trigger supports high speed sync then it will probably most likely can do higher sync when the flash is set at manual and full power.

I haven't got the change to test it on my gears as of now, my set of trigger is just a pure trigger, there is not other magic.

For the past five years of so, Godox has been cranking out models after models and it certainly gaining traction in the market place.  Consumers are happy but not so much from the big name strobe manufacturers.

I am interested to see if I can break the x-sync barrier by using hypersync or high speed sync by using remote radio trigger.

macOS 10.14.5 and APFS

Previously my macOS was on the older file system.  Finally I got the OS updated to 10.14.5 and then moved it to APFS.  I had to put back the old video card so I can access the boot up option menu.

I actually updated it to 10.14.5 first so I could have left it alone but then I felt like to update the file system to APFS as chances are the next subsequent update may also work against me if I am on the old file system.  The software update from macOS simple won't find update on the old file system.

The macpro3,1 2008 is on it very last leg and I don't know how long it can last.  The next OS can be in the offing and totally obliterates this model.  I mean this is on borrowed life already as Apple's Mojave officially doesn't support this old model.

iPhone for Video

I usually carry dual DLSRs with 16-35 and 70-200 for events.  I seldom take video.

Then sometimes without any warning I got asked to take some video.  I could have used my D810 for video but then number one it would screw up my setting for stills even I have another camera.

So my video equipment of choice is whatever iPhone I am carrying and shoot it using Filmic pro which gives me some controls I feel I need.  Would I invest in Beastgrip, I absolutely, because I am such a sucker.  I would buy the anamorphic lens and whatnot.  But then I don't have any more money.  So I have to put everything on hold.  I even have problems getting some hard drive.

Youtube Ad Remover ad

I couldn't think of any ad that's more meta more ironic in an earnestly non ironic way.

I am a some what believer of the free market in the sense that I don't necessarily object to junk mails whether those put through your front door or your electronic inbox.  Sometimes I even voluntarily subscribe to some mailing lists.  But there should be a fine line between spam and scam.  I draw the line on scam.

For Youtube video, I just click skip or if sometimes when that's not available you just have to sit through it.  I totally get if it's free you are the product kind of thing that's the business model of Youtube and Facebook.  Ad is a business model that feeds a sizable workforce.

4K 60fps Youtube

You have fast Internet connection and you think you can play some UHD 4K from Youtube with no problem.  Wrong.

I don't have the very specifics but I can't really play Youtube 4K on my Mac in most or all cases I tried.  (I know I should say all cases but let's keep it not scientific)*

The video just stutters.  It has nothing to do with my connection speed.

I think it's because Youtube uses the V9 codec or something something that Apple doesn't support.

If you run the Safari browser it doesn't even try, the video just gives you 1080p as the best option.  When uses Chrome, it lets you play with 2160p with stutter every 2 seconds or so.  1440p is fine though.

So that's the state of Youtube 4K on a Mac.

I no longer have any "convenient" access to a PC to test it out.

*The only uploader whose 4k video can play smoothly is Filmic Box, so I don't understand, I don't think they lie as the Settings does show it's 4K 2160p.  So I don't understand.  But all else plays stuttering.  This only applies to using the Chrome browser; Safari still falls back to 1080p and doesn't bother with 4K not even try.

update:  I think using Chrome on Mac, I can play 2160p (probably at 30fps) but it stutters at 2160p60fps.

update: I got the chance to play 2160p60fps on my 2012 MBP and it plays flawlessly.  So I stand corrected.  It "must" be something else.  I was playing it on a 2008 MACPRO3,1 with the GTX 770 GPU, the rig isn't meant to be running the latest greatest OS X so this defect of playing the 2160p60fps maybe a small price to pay.  Safari does still lower the playback to 1080p60fps.

Streaming News from Youtube

Perhaps when they do the news they don't have streaming in mind.

I don't see any of those Youtube video from CNN are date stamped.  CNN has a habit of running the BREAKING NEWS on its crawler so almost all the news material is breaking news and you just don't know how current they are by looking at the screen and the screen alone.  I just wish they would date stamp all the material on screen.  Without live TV, streaming is the next best alternative.  Though I lose the sense of how current the material I am watching.

No matter, I think making perviously broadcast material available on Youtube for streaming on Youtube is great as it's a free service.

Chromecast Ultra

I splurged.

I have no 4K TV and yet I got a Chromecast Ultra via the trustworthy eBay.  I lowballed the seller and we met in the middle.  That's the only way to go.

Officially the Chromecast is selling for $35 and the Chromecast Ultra is fetching $69.

I don't know much about the technology, I think that kind of goes without saying as I am going through life without knowing anything basically.

I have tried that with Vudu watching what else America Ultra.  Both the video and audio are very good indeed.  Youtube casting is equally impressive.  I cast Youtube from my Mac desktop/Chrome browser as well as via iPhone's YouTube app.

Casting is a no brainer.

But setting up the Chromecast hardware needs a bit of work as I needed to install the Google Home App first.  I didn't know about it as I thought it was 100% plug and play.  Not so.  I can't remember exactly but a year ago, my LG was able to do casting without nothing installed both from Youtube and Netflix.  Then kind of all of a sudden the cast doesn't work at all.  So I always got the impression the cast just works.  So when I plugged in the CU into the HDMI, I thought it just works but neither the iPhone nor the Chrome on desktop would see the device.  I thought the seller sent me a dud, which is actually quite rare.  Knowing that I don't know nothing so I looked up the Chromecast hardware and bang installing the Home app.  I must have read it before when I did my research but since my experience before I just thought it would just work.  Oh well something something happened, which I didn't know better.

The video and audio exceed my expectation.

Haughty

I appear haughty and disdainful as I get older.  I always tilt my head when I talk to people as I need to look through the bottom of my trifocal lenses.

macOS Mojave 10.14.4 MacPro3,1 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2 GB

They work!

After a year, I finally got myself the GTX 770 2 GB card.  The display is much better now.  I am no gamer but I can appreciate some fluid browsing.

It's a little bit of a hassle, yes, anything involves any slight extra effort I consider it a hassle.

I got to order 2 power PCIe power cable for the card, mini 6-pin to 8-pin.  The card is a MSI branded one, it's very quiet "even" it has two big fans.  I don't think they are running but if they are they are awfully quiet.

The GPU is not a Mac specific graphic card but it boots up just without the boot screen which I can live with.  If I need it I can use the old card for this purpose.

Now this 2008 Mac Pro is more alive than before.

UPDATE:  I also have to live with the "fact" that the HDMI won't be outputting audio in this macpro3,1.  Oh well.  Let me return this card.  Just kidding.  I am happy this eBay dumpster diving found works.

How Long to Marinate

How long do you marinate?  Does anyone ever do any scientific study on this subject?  On poultry, red meat or even fish?

Would it plateau off or even suffer from diminishing return over time?

When I prepare a steak, I only season it instead of marinate it.

If I were to marinade any meat or poultry, I say probably one to three hours the least, if you are prepared, over night won't hurt, like brining an entire turkey overnight.

Hotpot via my iPhone

I meant to write hotspot but I guess subconsciously I love hotpot too much.

My FIOS connection used to be 75/75 and in most days the speed is up or exceed spec.  Linking my laptop through hotspot is not terribly bad actually.  Even when it is around 10Mbps download.

The screen capture is from Google's speed test.  So according to Google at 20Mbps it's already good for HD streaming.  When I am on hotspot via my iPhone's T Mobile data plan I don't watch YouTube.

UPDATE:  When you reached some cap it then limit your speed.  Oh well.

GTX 770

Latest distraction:

The GTX 680 is pricier and harder to come by.  So GTX 770 is.  The version I got is by MSI with I think 2 8-pin power interface.  Sometimes you asked the seller it takes them forever to respond or not respond at all.

Judging from the manufacturer's web site, it should be a 2 8-pin power interface.  As such I ordered 2 of those cables that enable than connect from the Mac3,1 motherboard to the GTX 770.  It should be a mini 6-pin to the 8-pin.  The thing with this is I don't know if 6-pin is considered mini 6-pin already, or 6-pin and mini 6-pin are two different standards all together.  That's the word mini is just an additional descriptor.  I do see some cable just marked as 6-pin to 8-pin without the word mini.

I hope this combo works as I expect.  It would work, just without the Apple bootup screen, which I can live without.

Probably in three days I'd find out.