There is no official support for running / installing Java versions greater than 1.4 on Mac OS X Panther. Here’s how I installed and configured my old Mac Mini G4 OS X Panther machine to run Java 1.5.

1. Download and install Pacifist

2. Download Java 1.5 from the Apple website and run the .dmg file

3. Start Pacifist. Drag the .pkg install file from the mounted Java .dmg file. Select the root of the package hierarchy and click the install button

4. When prompted to overwrite existing files choose ‘Leave Alone’

5. When the installation process has completed you can now set the default Java VM to 1.5. Open a terminal session and run the following:

cd /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions
sudo ln -fhsv 1.5 CurrentJDK

Confirm that everything has worked by executing java -version from the command line.

I think this is in the Parallels FAQ’s somewhere but I thought it’d be worth blogging about.

I was trying to setup my USB printer to work from Windows under Parallels on my Mac. I installed the relevant drivers but couldn’t get Windows to recognise that my printer was connected via USB, even though it was configured fine in OS X.

The answer is to download and install Apple Bonjour for Windows. Once you have done this, open OS X System preferences and find your USB printer under the Printer & Fax section.

Then choose the Sharing tab and make sure your USB printer is selected for sharing. Then hop back to Windows and fire up the Bonjour printer wizard. Step through the wizard and you should be able to select your USB printer. Make sure you select the printer model as ‘Generic / Postscript’. Complete the configuration and you’ll be able to print via USB from Windows!

If like me you start editing the PATH variable within your .bash_profile file without knowing what you’re doing, there’s the possibility that the next time you fire up the terminal, none of the usual commands will work.

You should be able to do this:

/usr/bin/vi .bash_profile

To edit and fix it.

When I’m on the command line in the *nix world, I prefer to use the locate command for finding files and directories over the find command.

The first time you try and use locate, you’ll probably be presented with something like:

locate: no database file /var/db/locate.database.

You need to build the locate database before using the command. Here’s how you do it on the Mac….

sudo /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb

It will take a while to complete but you’ll be able to use the locate command afterwards.