Reader Reports on iLife 04 (most recent first)

(added 2/4/2004)
" Mike, First of all thanks for the info on the hard drive you gave me about a week ago... everything's working great! I wanted to let you know about a little "bug"(feature?) I found in GarageBand that let's you open multiple projects at once, since I don't know if anyone else has found this yet.

While in the Open dialogue box, all you have to do is select multiple projects and click Open. This will open each of the selected projects in a separate GarageBand window. I have been able to edit the separate projects some times, and at other times, GarageBand treats all of the windows as if they were the same project (i.e., it will only allow you to edit and play one of the projects).

I am running a DP 1.25 MDD G4 with 768MB Ram and the multiple files really bog down my system (so I know that GarageBand has at least opened up multiple projects even if it won't allow you to edit all of them all of the time). However, I was still able edit and play each of 4 different projects (a mix of my own and Apple's samples) at a time when GarageBand would allow it, so the system performance isn't degraded to a point of absurdity.

I'm not so sure that this will be useful in and of itself because the editing of multiple projects at once is sporadic, but i thought I would pass on this little observation in the hopes that someone else could benefit from this information (possibly to make the editing more consistent). Thanks.
David "

(added 2/4/2004)
" I'm running iLife4 on my MDD G4 with a Pioneer 106D recently installed. iDVD works fine with it although I had some initial difficulties, which others are also experiencing. iDVD4 stalled during stage 4 (multiplexing & burning) but I managed to get things working by doing the following: In the energy saver control panel make sure "put the computer to sleep when inactive..." is set to NONE and "put the monitor to sleep..." in set to NONE and make sure "Put the hard drive to sleep..." is NOT ticked. (this is an old tip for retail superdrives since the first OS X release)
I did this after 2 failed attempts, and since then have burnt 3 separate DVD's (1.5 hours of movie) without any problems. Another tip is to open up the "Activity Monitor" utility and have it in the background when burning. This way you can monitor the CPU & Hard drive activity during the whole process (I'm sure they'll bring back the progress bar in a future release!). Also taking a peek at the green activity light on your burner can help reassure!

My guess is that the same problem which causes the DVD drive to stop ejecting after a long sleep (although after after being awake for about a minute it seems to recover), is stopping iDVD from seeing the drive after a long period of time left unattended (which is what most of us do when burning) but with the above steps all seems to be fine.... for me at least!
Leigh. "

Since the first days of OS X (10.1.0), often superdrives (retail at least) had problems with the drive going to sleep (w/no access) if a disc was left in the drive for long idle periods (like the long encoding time before burning in iDVD). Setting the energy saver to never sleep drives is the most common tip. (helps many but not all per drive db reports over the years.)

(added 1/20/2004)
" Hi Mike, I emailed you earlier with the problem with the sound stick and GarageBand ("not 44.1" error) Just to let you the readers comments (tip below) really helped. I changed the settings in the Audio Midi Utility (to 44.1KHz) and walla all is Good.
GB sounds great and it is very addictive to play with once you can hear what you are creating. Thank You and your readers for all the help I have received from your site.
Ken S"

One reader said this is not an option with apple pro speakers, but I wasn't clear if Garageband also reported the 'not 44.1' error with Apple Pro speakers also.

(added 1/20/2004)
" Your (reader's) tip on installing iLife 04 on Server (posted Friday, see below) is way too much trouble - just rename /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist and the install will proceed.
Ryan S. "

(added 1/20/2004)
" Hey Mike, I've been running Ilife 04 all weekend on my upgraded 7600 G3 450.
Although I do notice a performance hit being that it is a big app, I have found Garabge Band to be useable. I have had no problems at all with any intruments or crashes or loop limits. I can't get Panther to install, but this works fine.
Benjamin B. "

(One reader had noted a problem (freeze) with a PB G4/550 on some piano loops.)

This reader sent a tip for the problem a USB Soundsticks speaker user noted earlier:

(added 1/19/2004)
" Hi, I have a solution to one of your readers problem using SoundSticks with GarageBand. (see earlier report below where they were reported as not a 44.1KHz device)
You need to go to Audio Midi setup in the Utilities folder, select SoundSticks as the output device then change the default setting of 22.5 Hz to 44.1 Hz which is required by GarageBand. That's it. SoundSticks now are recognized and function normally.
-Gary K. "

(added 1/19/2004)
" I installed ILife 2004 at about 1:00am Sunday night. All apps seem to be improved. Iphoto Is much faster, Imovie with some cool improvements, IDVD with some very cool new themes and the TREE diagram of you DVD project is a much need visual feature I find very useful when playing the DVD.

One snag though, GarageBand will not let me play through my Sound Sticks and Sub Woofer. (Harman/Kardon) In GB audio preferences it shows them but they are grayed out and list out beside them "not 44.1". So i am only able to hear sounds out of the less than adequate tower speaker. Any thoughts on why??
Other than that problem the Ilife 2004 suit seems to be well worth the $59.00. ($49 list) Even though we were used to the Freebies from Apple. (iDVD stopped being free some time ago though)
Ken S "

(See tip on setting them to 44.1GHz above)
Another reader w/iSub also noted a problem.

(added 1/19/2004)
" I received iLife '04 on friday afternoon. The iPhoto update is great, and really speeds things up from version 3. Garage Band is a great program, but is not compatible with my Harmon Kardon iSub. The iSub only makes buzzing, cracks, and hissing sounds while playing tracks in Garage Band. For now, I'm forced to unplug it from the USB, and use only the Apple Pro Speakers while using Garage Band. My using a PowerMac 733Mhz G4, 768MB RAM, and GeForce 4 MX 64MB graphics card.
Mike F. "

Update: A reader (thanks Yves) sent a tip for the noise problem an iSub owner above, saying that setting GarageBand Audio/Midi preferences to "better performance" (vs default "Faster Response") helped. I don't own an iSub to test this but posting it as a FYI.

(added 1/19/2004)
" Mike, I've spent the weekend fooling around with GarageBand, and it's fantastic. I did have a problem that I wanted to pass on regarding using my Mbox with it that the other readers might be having trouble with as well.

You have to set GarageBand as a supported application in the Digidesign CoreAudio Setup application before GarageBand can see and use the Mbox as an input (Garageband recognizes both inputs individually - bravo).
I immediately had my iMac 17" 1.25 lock up once GB opened, completely freezing EVERYTHING. It required a hard reset to get things running again, and after a few tries at it, I went back into CoreAudio Setup and adjusted the hardware buffer size to 1024 from 512.
I had some very rare problems in the past using PTLE, so I figured I'd give it a shot. The Mbox is plugged straight into the iMac (not a hub). No problems since. Keep up the great work!
Scot D. "

(added 1/19/2004)
" Hi Mike, Got mine yesterday (1/18/04) after only ordering the Monday before. No issues installing or running the apps on my iMac DVSE 400 (even though GarageBand reportedly requires a 600MHz to run and a G4 for certain instruments). iPhoto 4 updated perfectly (though I did back up my library just in case), and iMovie seems a little snappier.
Thanks! Bob M. "

iDVD4 still requires a G4 CPU to run I believe (and internal supported DVD burner, still no external DVD burner support)

(added 1/19/2004)
" At first glance, it seems (at least to me) like Garage Band was written by someone besides Apple. In a lot of ways it doesn't behave like an Apple-written application. Most noticeable is the way that closing the main window quits the program, but there are other things about the user interface and menus that seem more like a windows application than a Mac one. (For example, turning the blue speaker-shaped "light" ON is how you mute the track?) The wood-trimmed "audio board" look to the main window is a little bit too "cute", as well considering the consistent clean brushed-metal look of all of the other recent Apple applications.
All that aside, though, it sounds nice, works well, and delivers what they promised.
Lou F. "

(added 1/19/2004)
" (i had 4.2 itunes before install)
the install wrote over my itunes from the dvd! - destroyed my library, purchased songs and deleted ALL playlists. Re-scanned the library to reload into itunes, but still had some duplicates. Not very happy...
(i have a large 250gb sep. hd drive with over 5,000 songs)
Michael D. "

(added 1/19/2004)
" I got my iLife '04 yesterday at 2:30 EST. I ordered it along with Panther and the M-Audio Keystation 49e on the 7th from the Apple Government store. iLife was only $24.50, Panther $64.50 and the Keystation $94. Panther arrived on Monday and I am still waiting on the Keystation. I have a 17" iMac 800 so I went right to the DVD and installed. I was a little put off that I was sent to a registration page first but with autofill I was done quickly. When I minimized Safari I discovered that iLife had been installing the entire time and was almost finished.

Once installation was complete I dragged the GarageBand demo files over and opened one (Daydream). After listening to it I opened a new file and started playing around. An attempt to drag an instrument from the menu to the screen cashed GB and launched the bug report script. I have not been able to duplicate the bug.

GarageBand has no manual as far as I can tell. Hot Tips sends you to the iLife website ( http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/). The closest thing I could find was the help file. Someone at O'Riley is already working on the Missing Manual! Eventually I figured out that the eye button brought up the prerecorded tracks and after about 15 minutes I had a very passable early 90's New Order/Depeche Mode tune. All I need now are some depressing lyrics. GB takes about a minute to launch and brings up the last project you worked on. I am looking forward to hooking up the keyboard and playing with the instruments.

My main reason for getting iLife '04 was the upgrade to iPhoto. After launching it I got a message that my iPhoto library needed to be upgraded to work with version 4. I had about 3000 photos in that library and it took about 5 minutes. The speed difference is huge! I had grown very frustrated with iPhoto's lack of ability to handle large numbers of files and non of the library managers worked very well. I had been using Photoshop Elements to screen/edit/crop/delete pictures and then putting them in iPhoto only for ordering prints or making shows. Now I can scroll through and not get the Spinning Beach Ball of Death. Today I imported the other 3000+ pictures that I had scattered around in libraries and folders. iPhoto does a pretty good job of finding and asking about duplicates. You can give an answer that applies to all the duplicates for a given folder. Scrolling seems just as fast with 6000 as 3000. Closing the first time took a good two minutes but now it is down to 15 seconds. I am guessing some kind of index file is being written.

I have not tried the new iMovie or iDVD yet. I didn't notice any change with iTunes.

The upgrade to iPhoto was worth the price alone for me. It is useable again. The new slide show options and sepia filter are nice but nothing compared to the speed increase. GarageBand is fun and I look forward to learning more. The killer app here may be the combination of GarageBand and iTunes letting people share their original creations across their network or the Net. No RIAA worries there and lots of potential for Windows users familiar with iTunes to get 'iLife envy" and buy a Mac. I have NO musical talent but even I can make decent music. I think Jam Pack is going to be my next purchase. I hope Apple gives us a couple of free upgrades before the next at cost upgrade. Between "Animal OS" upgrades and iLife they are getting close to subscription software.
Rob S. "

(added 1/19/2004)
" I received the iLife DVD/CD combo on Friday the 16th as advertised by Apple. However, when I tried to install the iLife series, the installer DVD (I have the G5 DP) stalled out on the GarageBand install when it reached 65%.
After several attempts at installing Garageband and the other updates, I finally gave up and called Apple Support on Saturday the 17th.
I was unsure of what exactly was causing all my problems. The bad install definitely left me with a damaged HD. TTP 4 finally cured the damaged Volume Structures on my Panther 10.3.2 HD, but I still couldn't boot from my original 10.3 (Panther) CD or my 10.2.7 (Jaguar) CD.

I ended up talking to 2 different Apple representatives (1 in Ontario, Canada and 1 in Sacramento, CA.), they were both very helpful. The second rep was a product specialist, and we finally (after about a hour between the 2 reps) narrowed my problems down to the optical Superdrive in the G5. We finally figured it out because I was able to mount the OS X installer DVD's with my external FW DVD.

Wish I'd thought of that earlier, but the representative was figuring the Superdrive was the problem, anyway. Apple offered to send me a new Superdrive, overnight.

This is the first time I've called Apple Support in a very long time, and I must say, I was very impressed with the service and the ability of the representatives to stick to it, until we finally found a solution. A big thumbs up from me to Apple Care Support.
John K "

(added 1/19/2004)
" Just wanted to share my experience with Garage Band. I have a TiBook G4/550Mhz (below the recommended 600MHz), 768mbram, upgraded Superdrive. The program seems to work fine until I used a piano from the loops section. Then it said that I did not have the processing power and froze. We'll keep trying. Thanks
Rich L. "

(added 1/19/2004)
" Everything installed fine on my older G3's. Even ran GarageBand better than I hoped. But frustratingly, I couldn't get GarageBand to run without crashing while opening a new file on my G4 (the one with the speed and 49 key keyboard). Once again, thanks for the permissions tip from over a year ago. I had to run disk utility off the Panther install disc but that finally fixed it.
Tim "

(added 1/19/2004)
" iphoto4 not as fast as Syeves demo at Macworld on my 800 mZh 17in imac.
Still a vast improvement over the previous iphoto, expecially for those with collections over 1000 pictures.
Sean "

(added 1/19/2004)
" (clip from a reader's comments on Friday)
"Why anyone would not want to install iDVD4 or Garageband I don't know. Keep the Faith, Bill T. "

for one, I dont want garageband on my laptops - what for ?
(actually there are some PB owners running even Pro Audio Apps..(remember apple touting that years ago when the PB G4 was first released?) but to each his own)
I want iphoto, and idvd/imovie thats all. silly that I had to use the DVD and then de-select the garageband and itunes off the installer.
now I've found a bug apparently
installed those apps, now my mouse (wireless studio mouse, and wired) will not work, 1st button, only 2nd, 3rd and both buttons, but I cant click.
Tried a logitech 3 button/scroll wheel - same 'bug' now I m trying to find a old single button mouse to get it working.
maybe its something else.. but it happened right after the install of the ilife 04
clyde e. "

(reports from Friday's news page follow)

" By default iLife '04, will not install on OS X server. To resolve this issue make a writable image from the DVD, and modify iLive.pkg, iDVD.pkg, and GarageBandApp.pkg, in the Contents/Resources/InstallCheck to remove the check for osx server.
(Update - a later reader report suggested to just rename /System/Library/CoreServices/ServerVersion.plist and the install will proceed.)
-- Ryan S

After the files are modified the install works fine, and no problems with the applications. iMovie has been improved to import video. It no longer requires files to be split at 2GB.
Mark K."

" I received my copy of iLife '04 today also. I ordered it on the day that Steve demo'ed it at MacWorld. What is interesting is that if you have a Super Drive, or a Combo Drive, iLife will force you to use the DVD disk. If you put the CD disk into the Combo drive the software will give you an error message that says iLife cannot be installed. Why anyone would not want to install iDVD4 or Garageband I don't know.
Keep the Faith, Bill T. "

"Hi Mike, Received my iLife'04 today. There are 2 cds in the package. One reads Install DVD, with iTunes 4.2, iPhoto 4, iMovie 4, iDVD 4 and GarageBand. The other cd has iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie, no DVD drive. So its true that you have to have a DVD drive. (to install all the apps) I have a revamped G4 AGP with Sonnet G4-800 running this with Cubase SX and Logix Platinum 6.

Played with Garageband a little and it seems great for beginning record producers. The demo tunes included will surely highlight the strengths of this app.
Take Care, Bill S."

I'm late ordering iLife4 (still spending 1/2 my day at the hospital) but welcome other iLife4 user comments on it.