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Welcome to The X Lab

The X Lab™ is a private venture dedicated to providing outstanding troubleshooting information and services to users of Apple® Mac® OS X®.

Looking for help with a Mac OS X problem? Consult the X-FAQs, a small sample of the detailed troubleshooting information available in our Troubleshooting Mac OS X e-books.

Enjoy your visit!

X-News

2016.08.12 E-Book Sales Suspended Indefinitely Due to Kagi Shutdown
Due to the shutdown of Kagi.com, sales of The X Lab's Troubleshooting Mac OS X e-books are suspended indefinitely.
2014.05.23 New FAQ: iOS® Requirements
The new "iOS Requirements" X-FAQ discusses the author's requirements for new features and bug fixes in iOS 7.1 and beyond on the iPhone®.
2014.04.30 New X-FAQ: OS X 10.9 Mavericks Post-Installation Issues
The latest X-FAQ, "OS X 10.9 Mavericks Post-Installation Issues," discusses a variety of Mavericks post-installation issues concerning System Preferences, Mail, Activity Monitor, the com.apple.IconServicesAgent process, delays before sleep, system logging, cosmetics, and Adobe® CS applications.
2013.11.08 New X-FAQ: MobileCal has active assertions beyond permitted time
Our new X-FAQ, "MobileCal has active assertions beyond permitted time," addresses the potential causes of multiple stacks+MobileCal… crash logs appearing in Diagnostic and Usage Data for iOS® devices.
2013.04.20 New X-FAQs for iPhone

Two new FAQs address issues in moving from a Blackberry® Curve™ 8330 to an iPhone 5:

2012.10.05 Announcing Troubleshooting Mac® OS X®, Lion Edition

After months of work, Troubleshooting Mac OS X, Lion Edition is now available.

Covering Mac OS X 10.7 Lion exclusively, the latest edition of Dr. Smoke's comprehensive troubleshooting e-book is packed with new and updated information, including new chapters, updated appendices, and plenty of high-resolution screen shots.

The price remains a superb value at US$19.95 for a single-user license, with download following the approval of your secure payment via credit-card or PayPal®.

You can also purchase Troubleshooting Mac OS X, Lion Edition for delivery on CD or in a specially-priced combination of download and CD. Multi-user licenses are also available.

Click here to buy now or use the following links to learn more:

2011.11.01 Announcing Troubleshooting Mac OS X, Snow Leopard® Edition

After months of work, Troubleshooting Mac OS X, Snow Leopard Edition is now available.

Covering Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard exclusively, the latest edition of Dr. Smoke's comprehensive troubleshooting e-book is packed with new and updated information, including new chapters, new appendices, and plenty of high-resolution screen shots.

The price remains a superb value at US$19.95 for a single-user license, with download following the approval of your secure payment via credit-card or PayPal®.

You can also purchase Troubleshooting Mac OS X, Snow Leopard Edition for delivery on CD or in a specially-priced combination of download and CD. Multi-user licenses are also available.

Click here to buy now or use the following links to learn more:

2011.09.28 New X-FAQ: Immutable flags
Our latest X-FAQ, "Immutable flags," discusses troubleshooting problems with locked files that cannot be copied, modified, moved, or deleted.
2011.08.17 New X-FAQ: Disabling firmware password protection
Our new X-FAQ, "Disabling firmware password protection," details the procedure for turning off firmware password protection, a prerequisite for some troubleshooting operations on Macs protected by a firmware password.
2011.07.25 New X-FAQ: Error -10810 Opening Applications or Relaunching Finder®
Our latest X-FAQ, "Error -10810 Opening Applications or Relaunching Finder," addresses troubleshooting this often frustrating problem.

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For previously published news and annoucements, click here.

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