I'm so frustrated. It seems that every time we sit down to record the podcast, lately, it all goes to crap, and I'm sick of recording the same thing over and over again only to have it fail (audio gets garbly; drops samples; garageband crashes; kernel panics; all around nasty stuff).

It all seems to stem from Apple seriously screwing up their USB drivers on 10.5.2. This is definitely the first time I've felt seriously let down by my operating system since switching from Linux (which has its own issues) last May.

So, to help all other would-be podcasters out there, I've come up with a chart that helps you choose the proper combination of hardware and software when recording podcasts on 10.5.2:

Seriously, though, if anyone has a real solution to this problem that doesn't involve an OS reinstall (and then not upgrading past 10.5.1), please PLEASE let me know. And no, switching from the left USB port to the right isn't a real solution.

*sob*