working MMS, tethering and VVM hack for ATT iPhones on os 3.0

just spend 2 days trying to fingure out how to do it & w/ few trial & errors … now i have my as-modem / tethering, MMS and Visual Voice Mail (VVM) all working on my iPhone in US / ATT network (f*ckers).

Here’s the most detailed, ultimate, working guide / how to:

1. download this already properly compressed .ipcc file (right click / save as | credit: Aaron Krill )
2. in terminal app type the following:
   defaults write com.apple.iTunes carrier-testing -bool TRUE
   [windows instructions here]
   
3. ctrl-cmd click on …. / eject & restart your phone
4. on your phone check – Settings > General > Cellular Data Network > fill in the following (leave other fields blank):
   Cellular Data: APN: wap.cingular
   Visual Voicemail: APN: acds.voicemail
   MMS: APN: wap.cingular
   User: wap@cingulargprs.com
   Pw: CINGULAR1
   MMSC: mmsc.cingular.com
   Proxy: wireless.cingular.com:80
5. [UPDATE: att has been actively disaibling MMS functionality. you can try this hack that requires SIM card att phone, but pipl are reporting that in only works for limited time. however there's word on the street that 3.1 might bring MMS to att users]
   [this only works if you're on a family plan] login to your wireless.att.com and change your text plan to another one (you can change back once MMS starts working)
6. restart your phone

THAT’S that. now you have an iPhone on ATT network that works as it should: with MMS, tethering and VVM enabled

ps: here’s a guide on how to tether (mac – you’ll need to have the latest updates, i’ve experienced bluetooth connectivity issues w/ MBP, but works via USB cable)

how to fix new facebook

I was one of those people that hated new facebook … until I figured out how to fix it. No, it won’t look like the old facebook – progress is something you might not like, but you have learn to live with it. However this solution will get rid of the clutter and will let you keep up with your best friends.

How? By filtering the clutter. It only take about 1/2 hour to organize new fb to fit your needs.

Here’s a step by step photo-slide or follow my instrucions below:

“filters”
- the big change will b to create 2 “filters”: “best friends” and “the rest”
- “best should include … only your best friends and those who you need to keep tabs on (eg. business associate, potential date), but if one of your best friends is a “spammer” – as in he/she clutters your fb with constant updates – leave them out of this “filter”
- “the rest” – this is where you put everyone else; spammers, people that you don’t necessary need to keep up with on daily basis. And you don’t really care if you miss one or two updates about them.

Of course you can create as many filters as you can (eg “spam”, city you live in, business, etc). But  don’t include same people in diferrent filters.

Once you’re done, simply drag “best” to the very top – that way whenever you open fb, you’ll only see the limited list that’s much simpler and cleaner then “all”. I decided to drag “rest” dirctly under and “all” on the very bottom

how to fix Time machine / cannot mount disk image

i received the infamous “storage location can’t be found” when trying to backup to my time machine one evening. following apple’s tech support forum is not always the best idea, IF you have a “gut feeling”. well i’ve made a misteake of following their advice (instead of just re-booting my mac):

• per the forum advise i  went ahead to time machine preferences / “change disk” option and re-pointed to my time capsule (DON’T DO THAT -  rebooting will solve 99% of your problems with sparsebundle)

Here’s how i solved this problem without terminal, Disk Warrior or other last resort methods:

[this widget will help you determine what's wrong - Time Machine Buddy]

1. try to mount your image backup file – aka sparsebundle:
- you’ll find it on your backup drive and just open the file via finder – in my case it was on timecapsule / data / myMBP20348u203984.sparsebundle
- it will take a while to open up – in my case … 4 hours! (my image is over 200gb) – IMPORTANT: you need to be connected to your time machine hard drive directly, so if you have time capulse like me – via ethernet cable (having your laptop connected to electricity helps too, since your bettery will die before 4h …. )
- once it mounts, you’ll see “disk image … your name” under “devices” in finder (if you’re in a hurry to get a particular file, from a particular date / directory – here’s your chance)

2. right-click on the Time Machine icon in the Dock (or , option/TM icon on the top). chose “Browse another Time Machine backup…” and  point it to your image, and the time machine should launch successfully

3. almost there. the trick for the TM to “find” your image at this point is … unmount the image
- then, go to “enter Time Machine”
- if it opens, that’s that! – exit TM, and try “backup now” – again, this might take time, in my case over 2 hours … with status stating “preparing backup”, but in the end it worked

5. for the rest of your poor souls, here are some more complicated links i found to help you:

hard mac rocks – how he recovered this image

original apple thread … with bunch of guesses