text:
Mavericks Dock icons have become corrupted. Is there a cache to flush or a database to rebuild?
I'm running OS X Mavericks 10.9.1. Some of my Dock icons for running applications, including the Finder icon, now appear blank and empty, or as a square filled with random noise pixels.
I have tried "Verify Disk" in Recovery mode, and it detects no errors. I have Repaired Permissions and rebooted.
Is there some cache to flush or database to rebuild that could fix this seemingly harmless but annoying anomaly?

In case you don't want to use some "cache cleaner app" then just try doing it manually from the terminal with these three commands followed by a reboot:
sudo find /private/var/folders/ -name com.apple.dock.iconcache -exec rm {} \;
sudo find /private/var/folders/ -name com.apple.iconservices -exec rm -rf {} \;
sudo rm -rf /Library/Caches/com.apple.iconservices.store
or
Alternatively a single boot into Safe Mode once could/should clear out some caches.
Worked For Me™ in Sierra (10.12)

I used a utility (CleanMyMac 2) to flush all the User and System cache files, and when I rebooted, the problem seems to have been solved.
So I don't know which specific cache needed flushing, but everything looks good now.
And yes, I could have done this with Terminal commands, but I prefer to use something with a GUI.

Wheat,
If it was my Mac I'd start by clearing all the caches with AppleJack. This is a great utility for this sort of task.


text:
OS X: is there any (area selection) screenshot tool that can upload to Imgur?
On Windows, I was spoilt by the fantastic Greenshot, a superb (and free) screenshot tool that had among its many features, uploading to Imgur.com.
I currently use CloudApp but I've reached my 'limit' for uploads and I don't feel like paying for their Pro service when there's myriad of free (and better) image hosting services like Imgur etc.
So are there any screenshot apps which can plug into Imgur?

I've done a bit of searching in the past for the same thing and didn't really find anything. Although this doesn't upload directly to Imgur, it's not very time consuming.

Step One: Take a screenshot of an area with the keyboard shortcut Command (⌘)-Shift-4

End result should be something like this.

Step Two: Just upload it to Imgur. http://imgur.com

List of other keyboard screenshot shortcuts.

I really am looking for an app that does it in one hotkey, as indicated in the question. I'm currently trying out Captured though, a low-priced app in the Mac App Store. Also Slingshot might do the job but I'm not sure if it can do area selection or not. Captured seems to have a (del-breaking) bug for me right now so I'm very disappointed in it.

I made the switch to LightShot a while back. Although it doesn't upload to Imgur it does the job for me. It seems like exactly what your looking for except the Imgur part. http://app.prntscr.com

Maybe this one can help:
mac2imgur -- A simple Mac application designed to make uploading images and screenshots to imgur.com quick and effortless.
PS: Apparently this project is not currently actively maintained, the last update to the source code has been made 2016. So it may or may not work in more recent versions of macOS and/or with current versions of Swift.
It work for Catalina 10.15.0.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

sort: votes


text:
How can I use Google Calendar etc. with iCloud?
Since 3 years, I'm a Linux user. Now I am thinking about switching to OSX. I informed myself about OSX and looked into many youtube videos about it, but still I have a few questions about it
At the moment I'm using Google Calendar as my primary calendar. In my google account I have a dashboard where I see an overview over my data, calendars etc. Where can I find this in my apple Account? If I use iCloud, how does this work? Are calendars etc.. only synced over icloud and Apple devices?
If I don't want to use iCloud, is it possible to integrate my google Account into the OSX calendar etc?

You had several questions in here. This site works better when there is only one question per question. That way, it's easier for other people to find solutions if they have the same problem. I've edited out your additional question, but feel free to ask them separately

@patrix okay, thanks. It just seemed a bit silly to create more then 1 thread for such simple questions.

It makes the site hard to use if you have multiple questions (which answer are you going to accept if several answers cover only part of your questions?). But for your other questions, a trip to the next shop selling Apple computers might prove helpful as well.

Or you could join the chat room and discuss your questions there (might be easier to get help if you can interact with others)

Your Google account can be added to System Preferences → Internet Accounts. There you can select the services that you would like to enable.

For example, selecting the Calendars service will enable all of your calendars in your Google account in the Calendars app on OS X.

That's great! Thanks. That would make iCoud pretty redundant, or not? Does iCloud have other advantages or is it just the possibility to sync data between apple devices?

@user3025786 It's mostly personal preference on OS X. I'm not aware of any categorical syncing benefits of iCloud or Google, unless you factor in iOS devices, where the benefits of iCloud are obvious.

Google Calendar and iCal don't communicate seamlessly. Alerts can get removed if they don't exist on GCal ("popup with message" for example gets killed by GCal, whereas "alert" will still work). There are occasional issues syncing, where GCal will refuse to allow a change, especially with recurring events. But overall they are 95% compatible. I have had several GCal accounts syncing with iCal on all Apple devices (MacBook, iPhone, iPad) for years now.

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/


text:
File management 'Favorites' list customization
Generally I'd do all my file management from the terminal but there are the cases where the GUI is more effective. I'm wondering if it is possible to customize the list of apparent 'Favorites' even though I don't use most of them. I'd like to add my own folders that I have created to that list, is there a way to do this?

Yes, you can customize this list of "Favorites" in the Finder. To sort/rearrange the existing items in this list, click and drag them up/down in the list and release the mouse click to change the ordering.
To add an item to this Favorites list, simply click and drag any folder from inside of the Finder content area to this list and it will "stick" to the list in the place where you let go of the click.
To remove an item from the Favorites listing sidebar in the Finder, simply hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and click and drag the item away from the Favorites listing. The dragged icon will turn into a cloud once you drag it so far (releasing the click will remove the sidebar item you've dragged away).

Thanks dude. oh my I've become horrible at GUIs, i'll come back and give you a +1 if I ever get 15 reputation here

Glad it helped!

To add any directory to your favorites, first, go to your root dir:
Use: ⌘+⇧+G then type in / in the popup.
Navigate to the directory you want and drag it onto Favorites.


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Trace/BPT trap: 5 and Gnuplot/Text Edit, ... on Mavericks
I need to use gnuplot and a bunch of other stuff, so I installed MacPorts on Mavericks. After installing the packages, if I try to plot something I get the Trace/BPT trap: 5 error. Reinstalling XQuartz didn't fix the problem. Do you know how could I fix this? I tried various methods suggested online but nothing worked. Thanks!

Could you expand on what 'various methods' you did?

I reinstalled MacPorts and Homebrew, I reinstalled XQuartz and I checked if there was something strange in .bash_profile


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Is it possible to define a timeout on dead keys on OSX Mavericks?
When you press a dead key such as an accentuation key, OSX will wait indefinitely until you press another key. I want that, instead, if you don't press the second key fast enough, it will just ignore the accentuation keypress.
Is that possible?

What keyboard layout are you talking about?

It is a personalized keylayout that I made using ukelele, @Tomg.


text:
`rm` and Mac OS X's Versions feature
I assume that deleting a file via Finder also deletes any previous versions in /.DocumentRevisions-V100 that are attached to that file.
But what's happening if a file is deleted in Terminal with the rm command? Are previous versions left behind or do they actually get deleted, too?

rm just deletes the file(s) specified on the command line. So if you need to delete additonal files from /.DocumentRevisions-V100 you need to delete them explicitely as well.


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Viewing Medical imaging on Mac OS X ?
I am looking for a Software on Mac OS X Snow Leopard capable of viewing DICOM files. DICOM stands for Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine.
I found IrfanView on Windows with DICOM PLugin but on MAC I can't found anything.

Try Mango: http://rii.uthscsa.edu/mango/

Try OsiriX: http://www.osirix-viewer.com
The viewer is free and I used it myself to inspect x ray images.

I found MIPAV Medical Image Processing, Analysis, and Visualization application http://mipav.cit.nih.gov/
it is in java, multi-plateforme.

Another option is to use a web-based DICOM solution. A famous one is the Orthanc, that I completely recommend. We are using the Orthanc on our BreastScreening project, a project that joins contributions from both MIMBCD-UI and MIDA projects.


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Different SSH/RDP hosts based on location
I have a few servers that I ssh and RDP to to at my office.  When I'm out of the office I connect to them via hamachi.  Currently I have duplicate ssh hosts and rdp profiles for inside and outside the office.  I'd like a solution that switched these automatically based on my location.  I've looked at the network locations but that doesn't seem to do what I'd like it to.

Do you use local DNS inside Hamachi and have access to your company's DNS records? You could create a similar entry for the respective IPs.

onik no, I access everything via ipv4.


text:
How to mount my MacBook's user folder as registered user using Automator?
In an answer to this question, Ben Wyatt recommends the following to get Automator to mount a network volume:

1) Get Specified Servers. This will let you build a list of shares to connect to. If you can map it from Finder -> Go -> Connect to server, you can use this.
2) Connect to Servers. This will connect to any servers passed to it (either from get specified servers or from ask for servers).

In my case the network volume is my MacBook, and using Ben's method I'm only connected to the mounted volume as guest. But I need to be connected as a registered user.
I can of course specify a username and password in the server URL:

afp://username:password@URLofMyMacBook

But then I get a window asking me to specify which volume I want to mount: Macintosh HD, my public folder, or my user folder?
How can I get Automator to automatically mount my user folder?
I know I can create an alias of the mounted volume and probably get automator to "click" this, but I'd prefer to do this without having an extra file lying around.
And I want to do this with automator, not as a startup item, since I don't want to mount the volume upon startup.

Okay, problem was I thought of my user folder as residing in /Users/userfolder and the URL to that folder being afp://URLofMyMacBook/Users/userfolder.
But to connect directly to my userfolder I need to tell Automator to open:

afp://username:password@URLofMyMacBook/userfolder

without /Users/ in between. Now it works without asking me to specify the volume.
I found this out by mounting the volume manually and looking at the "Information" (Command+I).


text:
MBP getting very hot
Alright, so I think this is a fairly common problem with apple products that have closed in fans: I have a 2012/13 Mac Book Pro 15" that I got 5 months ago with the following specifications:

Processor:  2.7 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory   :  16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics :  NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1024 MB
Software :  OS X 10.9.1 (Mavericks)

I mainly use the system for programming, email and other work/school related projects.
My main problem/concern with it is how hot it gets right above the function keys and on the bottom of the computer. I have tried cooling pads & fans but they don't seem to make much of a difference by any means. I don't have excessive processes running either, for the most part I'll have a text editor, terminal and a web browser running.
Does anyone have solutions? And is it odd to see this happening with such a relatively new system?

What are the internal temperatures when you are experiencing hotness? What temperature is the case? (the second is harder to measure - but thermal cameras and some contact thermometers are quite accurate).

I would also recommend the advice about using Activity Monitor to see what is using the processor and understand why the computer is getting hot.
A MacBook Pro is made from metal and the case conducts the heat well. It might feel hotter than it really is.
There are a number of temperature sensors in the laptop which can easily be read by software. A search on the internet showed this application which you could use to read the sensors and may give you some idea of where the heat is coming from (although it is probably going to be either the CPU or GPU): http://www.bresink.com/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

+1 for getting a more detailed measure of the internal temperatures.

It could be an issue with your Mac's SMC. System Management Control (SMC) is what takes care you your Mac's temperature control (not spinning up the fans when either the GPU Diode, or CPU get's too hot). It's very easy to reset your SMC, it's help me with similar issues in the past. Here's the link to Apple's support doc on how to do such; http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

It shouldn't be getting that hot if you're just web browsing and word processing with some terminal use.  If you bought it relatively recently, I'd schedule a visit to your local apple store's genius bar.

Check Activity Monitor for any processes that are running excessively high processor/memory usage, and Console for repeating error messages. I had issues with a few system processes after upgrading to Mavericks; fixing disk permissions and then verifying/repairing the drive really helped. Any system processes that need to modify specific files may get stuck running if the files in question don't have the correct permissions. And definitely check fan speeds; if they aren't running as they should you'll have overheating issues.


text:
Problem with Paid Contract
I signed up for a developer account for my son under my name because he is not of age yet and because he wants to make his own apps. But itunesconnect won't let me input my bank account info, ect. for the paid contract necessary for him to set up the iap because I already put in my own information for my own account. What should I do?

Call Apple and they will solve it for you, their online support (email, on-site etc) is way too slow and won't give you the right results.

@Robuust. Try not to answer a question in the comments.


text:
How can you set up a free, universal OS X-wide ‘autosave’ script?
I want to set up a free solution in OS X for a universal ‘autosave’ function (given Apple’s own solution is limited to only a few apps - at least for now), and let Dropbox do my file versioning and backup for me.
I've tried out the (paid) app ForeverSave, (formerly known as freeware ‘EverSave’), and it doesn't actually do a straight 'perform Cmd+S' so much as saving a COPY of the file into its own ‘Library’ in a folder somewhere on the mac (clogging up the hard drive unnecessarily), and as aforementioned, Dropbox already does my versioning for me.
I’m sure there’s a free way to do it via scripting + scheduling.
So I need to set a simple script - to just perform ‘Cmd + S’, to run (from startup onwards) once per minute, and within the script code (or just somehow), to set app exceptions (like browser apps where Cmd+S would not be welcome and get in the way), so that it only triggers in apps you actually to autosave in.
How would this be done?

Dealing with the same problem myself (especially needing effective autosave for excel for mac, which is most definitely broken in Mavericks) - I just started the "ForeverSave 2 (version 2.1.2)" trial on my Mavericks-running 2011 15" mbp and it seems to both force a cmd+s save of the excel document I'm working on and also save a copy to its library.  This does lead to some excess clutter but it has options to 1) keep the total number of backups for a certain file less than X amount (you specify amount), or 2) to automatically delete backups older than X number of days.  It does actually force a cmd+s, which is great - I tested several times by typing something, letting the document sit slightly longer than the ForeverSave auto-save time window, force-quitting excel or turning off my computer, and upon re-opening the file my new data was still there, without me having ever manually saved.  It only does this when the document is the active window, however so if you type something and then go start working on another document, it will not auto-save that first one (unless the autosave timer just happened to go off in the split second between you finishing typing and going to another window).  Only really seems like a problem if you make the autosave window very long (i.e. I could image if it was set to 3 hours I might work for two hours, navigate to another window, and then have a problem that quits excel, with no autosave ever happening) - to compensate I just set the autosave window to 2 minutes, and am having Foreversave delete any backups that it has after they're a week old, so it's library stays small.
Silly that we have to pay $20 for software to do something so simple, but at least it seems to work.

In the end, I deem this as an acceptable solution - my only (massive!) gripe with FS, is that its design is 'opt in', not 'opt out' - you have to manually add (and customise the individual version limiting settings for), EVERY single app you want it to automatically save in the background for. You can MAKE it 'universal' like I ask in my question but it's a huge amount of work and, you have to always remember to add a new app to its 'Library' whenever you install one that works as a file editor. That's kinda stressful and cumbersome; but still, as you say it does the job that it promises! Thx!

From my own experience I'd be wary of trusting Dropbox's versioning. I'm not sure what schedule they use, but the one time I tried relying on it, the last saved older version it had of one of my files was from a backup months before.
As to your question, I'm not sure you can do it the way you want to do it, but why not simply use Time Machine but change the save interval to 120 secs (by default its at 3600 secs). You do that by editing the plist here:
/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto.plist
(Tip: don't edit the original. Copy and move or rename the original for safekeeping).

Thanks for your info, the problem is, can time machine do it to a PSD file in Photoshop, or an xlsx file in Excel 2011? (Its own autosaving seems broken, that's where I lost data so I'd like to set up a system-wide universal one to override such shortcomings itsef). As for dropbox I've used Packrat Unlimited Undo for years and it's never seemed to miss a beat (and saved me on numerous occasions), truly saving every single version that manages to upload from my dropbox client.

Yes, it should do. TM doesn't distinguish between files types, and its not really a versioning mechanism. It just restores files as they were when saved. If your saves are frequent enough it'll effectively do the same thing. The problem is the solution I gave you for changing the save time interval doesn't actually work in Mavericks (it did in earlier versions of OS X). Something's overriding that interval setting in the plist. I'm still trying to figure out what.


text:
Normal Fan Speed for an early 2011 MacBook Pro
I have an early 2011 Macbook Pro and I noticed today, strangely for the first time, that the fan(s) are always running and audible. I have to admit that I usually have some background noise when using that machine but I've noticed the fan noise now that it's quiet.
I checked the RPMs and they are both (left/right side) at 1995-2000 and CPU temperature is ~36℃ - which all seems like normal readings to me but just to make sure, the fans do run all the time, right and for an idle machine (10.9.2 on it with nothing else running) fans running at 2000 rpms is normal.. or not?

Laptop fans are very small compared to their desktop counterparts, and require a much higher speed to displace a sufficient amount of air.

2,000 RPM is the MINIMUM speed for MacBook fans, with the max being 6,200 RPM.
Typical operating temperature of a MacBook CPU is between 35℃ and 85℃

nice and to the point (+1)

Perfect - thanks for the thorough information!


text:
Is there a way to show the date (in addition to time) in the OS X lock screen?
This is what the default OS X lock screen, (if you have it set to require password on wake from sleep etc.), looks like:

By default it seems to only show the time in the top right-hand corner.
It would be great to have today's date handy as a reference in the screen as well - just like you can configure it.
Without finding a third-party lock screen app (that costs money), is there a command or setting to include the date in the OS X default lock screen?

What version are you using?

I'm updated to the latest consumer-available revision at present, 10.9.2.

Not trying to sound mean, but why would you want to do this?

^ I have my mac configured to require password immediately upon wake (from sleep/screen saver etc), so end up using the default lock screen a lot for quick reference if need be. Date would be great to be able to refer to lightning quick like you can the time.

Another option, which worked for me, was the following crontab entry, in root's crontab:
0 0 * * * defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText "The date is `date '+%B %d, %Y'`"

This sets a message on the lock screen, including the date.  It isn't as slick as including the date with the time in the corner, but it has the advantage of working at all (I couldn't get @konqui's answer to work for me), and it doesn't require installing any 3rd-party software.
If anyone is interested, I detailed the procedure in more depth on my blog, but the essence of the solution is posted here.

You may use Live Wallpaper App and setup it as a wallpaper which supports clock on wallpaper. It's not free but it's not expensive too.

I know your Problem, You would like to have the same Date/Time Format when the Mac is locked as when you are logged in? wouldn't you.
I once found a solution on the Apple Community Forum, Sadly i don't remeber if it worked for me. But i will give it another try when i'm home.
Source: https://discussions.apple.com/message/16630967#16630967

Here is solution used to change time to 24-hour format on Mac OS Login and Lock screens. I am running OS X 10.8.2 localized in Sweden.

To enable Swedish time format on Login screen run following command from Terminal:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences AppleLocale "sv_SE"
To enable Swedish time format on Lock screen do the following:
 a. Enable Root User (how to do see below)
 b. Logout
 c. Login as root
 d. In System Preferences -> Date & Time -> Clock check Use 24-hour clock
 e. Login as standard user
 f. Disable Root as User (how to do see below)

To enable Root User:
System Preferences
-> User & Groups
Click the lock to make changes  (admin password)
Login Options
Jonn
Open Directory Utility
Click the lock to make changes  (admin password)
Menu -> Edit -> Enable Root User
Type Password two times
To disable Root User
System Preferences
-> User & Groups
Click the lock to make changes  (admin password)
Login Options
Jonn
Open Directory Utility
Click the lock to make changes  (admin password)
Menu -> Edit -> Disable Root User

sorry, how does your answer display the DATE in the lock screen


text:
Macbook pro 13" OSX Mavericks F3-Key Function?
Whats this F3 on the Macbook pro 13" with MacOs Mavericks on it? If I press it, there is my desktop big and above from it, my open programs with thumbnail. But this is feature is senseless, because from there I cant switch through my programs with shortcuts.
Greetings.

Ah..I see...I dont need a mouse anymore lol

Nah, you dont understand. I'm a developer and I switched from Windows + VirtualBox to Mac. Thats because I'm asking here...I dont know anything about Mac. But I see now...I press FN+F3 and can easily switch through apps with the touchpad.

I do understand. Whether you are a developer or not doesn't chagne the fact that you are asking about a  feature of OS X which is not programming specific / related.

That is called "Mission Control"
If you prefer to use the keyboard rather than the mouse to switch to a different workspace, you can use control + ← or control + →


text:
How to erase and reformat SD card to ext3 on my macbook to prepare it for my raspberry pi
I'm trying to reformat my 32G SD card to prepare it for my raspberry pi. My GUI program on my mac does not allow me to format it to ext3 which is what i'm told to reformat it to for my raspberry pi.
How do I reformat this SD card to ext3. I've researched some links on how to do it from the command line but i'm having a hard time understanding the procedures. Is there a GUI program out there that will do this for me or will i need to do it from the command line.
I've tried using fdisk but i can't figure out what commands I need to add on to erase and format to ext3. I know the path and name of my SD card which is /dev/disk1s1 so that is no problem.
I've also tried using the GUI program SDFormatter which is located here (https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4). But I doubt this will reformat it to the format I want which is ext3.
It takes some time to write a Linux distro to my SD card so I would like to get this right. Otherwise I wait for 2 hours for the writing process to complete plug in the SD card and then start up my pi and notice it doesn't work. I would like to stay away from making this time consuming mistake another time.

Install e2fsprogs brew install e2fsprogs
Format disk sudo $(brew --prefix e2fsprogs)/sbin/mkfs.ext3 /dev/diskN

I've tried to take this approach, but every time I try to format the disk it complains about the device being busy.  lsof-ing the device shows nothing.

@AlexMax you need to unmount any volumes on the disk before you can format them.

Tried that, said it was busy.  Which is why lsof showing nothing in use was so distressing.

You don't need to do format or preparation on the OS X side except for unmounting the SD card.
Copying the image uses the dd command to dump the proper ISO on to the card - partition format and all the data in one step. Here's how I prepare a SD card for my beagle bone black (similar ARM computer on a chip that runs Linux):

diskutil list - verify that disk1 or whatever is the proper mount point for it
diskutil eject disk1 - closes any files and leaves the storage free for the linux data to arrive
dd if=whatever.iso of=/dev/disk1 - write the image verbatim starting from the first block of the SD card.

Here is what things look like if you capture the contents from terminal using script:
Mac:~ user$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            250.1 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *31.9 GB    disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:       Microsoft Basic Data                         8.0 GB     disk1s2
Mac:~ user$ diskutil unmountDisk disk1
Unmount of all volumes on disk1 was successful
Mac:~ user$ sudo time dd bs=1m if=ubuntu-precise-12.04.3-armhf-3.8.13-bone30.img of=/dev/disk1
Password:
1832+0 records in
1832+0 records out
1920991232 bytes transferred in 767.278741 secs (2503642 bytes/sec)
      767.32 real         0.00 user        23.16 sys
Mac:~ user$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            250.1 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *31.9 GB    disk1
   1:                 DOS_FAT_12 BOOT_ARMHF              1.0 MB     disk1s1
   2:                      Linux                         1.9 GB     disk1s2

Minor addition to other excellent answers: On the raspberry pi site, on the page
https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/noobs-setup/
... they write:
"It is best to format your SD card before copying the NOOBS files onto it. To do this:

Visit the SD Association’s website and download SD Formatter 4.0 for either Windows or Mac.
Follow the instructions to install the software.
Insert your SD card into the computer or laptop’s SD card reader and make a note of the drive letter allocated to it, e.g. G:/
In SD Formatter, select the drive letter for your SD card and format it.
"

This suggests to me that SDFormatter is the way to go.
Despite this, I'm not terribly happy with SDFormatter.

It doesn't explicitly list compatibility with OS X > 1.8.
It doesn't provide the option of installing for just one user.
On startup, you get a Finder dialog stating "SDFormatter wants to make changes." This is exactly how malware obtains privilege escalation. Creepy.
The app itself suffers from OEM-itis: ugly dialog, bad grammar.

EDIT: In fact, my SD card is 64G, and the card I prepared with SDFormatter failed horribly. After reading man pages for a while, I used diskutil to reformat the SD card to have two 32G FAT32 partitions, dumped the NOOBS file on the first one, and then everything was fine. In fact, as others have noted, the NOOBS loader will actually reformat the card to a single large partition itself.

I needed to format a partition to ext3 on my USB flash drive. The drive was already formatted, and had 3 partitions, and I wanted to convert partition 1 from FAT32 to ext3.

install brew, visit http://brew.sh/
install e2fsprogs using brew install e2fsprogs
figure out the name of your partition or drive using diskutil list -- in my case, my partition had was on disk2 and had the identifier of disk2s1
sudo $(brew --prefix e2fsprogs)/sbin/mkfs.ext3 /dev/disk2s1 but you may need to change the drive from disk2s1 to the partition or drive that you want to format. This command will ask you to verify the name of the partition, just to be sure :)

This link should help you for Mac/Windows/Linux users.
http://computers.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-flash-an-sd-card-for-raspberry-pi--mac-53600

Welcome to Ask Different! While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.


text:
Any chflag for files in Notification Center?
I would like to have a list of TODOs in a particular folder (tex files) in the notification centre (the one in the right upper corner which opens from the corner).
Notification Center is the one at the top right

where I want to get notifications of the tasks which I mark in my files.
I want to communicate with the center to get alerts.
I am not sure if this is possible.
Example of tex file
\documentclass{article}
...
% TODO note this for the exam and improve the figure
Lorem ipsun.

Intuitively, it would be great if I can type in terminal
chflags showNotificationCenter TODO **/*.tex

to show TODOs of specific files in the alarm center.
Is there any function to show those Tex-files' TODOs in Notification Center?

I looked at this question a couple of times, but it is not clear to me what you exactly want.

@CousinCocaine I added a picture with explanation what is Notification Center and what I want.


text:
Block calls from unknown and withheld
How can I block calls from the "Unknown" caller? I have iOS 7 on an iPhone 4S. Does any other version of the iPhone offer this ability?
I've checked the question Call blocking for iPhone?, but it doesn't seem to work for "Unknown" callers.
I found the following question: Cannot answer unknown calls on my new iPhone 4S.
I want to do the opposite. I want to stop unknown callers from coming up on the phone, and I would rather not know that they are calling.

Related: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/320565/block-all-unknown-numbers-not-in-my-contacts-from-calling-and-messaging-on-my-ip

Sorry, but true call blocking can be only done by a carrier. However, if you wish to allow calls only from your contact list, and exclude everyone else, you can use Do Not Disturb feature on your iPhone 4s.

This answer turned up when I was doing a search for a scenario where I am receiving numerous calls "for the vehicle owner" (presumably organized crime) coming from a number with my area code. This question and answer provide a way to only have it ring when someone from my contacts calls.

Well, as of 2021 iOS can block unknown (not in address book) calls completely
or use external apps to look-up for phone numbers
See https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT207099

For saved contacts, its easy task to block any contacts from Settings > phone > blocked option.
But for Unknown number call block follow the below steps,
Phone app > Recent > (i) symbol > Recent option (Blue watch icon) > Block this caller.

Phone app > Recent > (i) symbol > Recent option (Blue watch icon) > Block this caller. That suggestion does not work. When you Hit the Clock symbol the second time nothing happens. I believe your service provider needs to have this function; AT&T does not, unfortunately.


text:
Unsure of how to achieve my usage scenario with a repurposed iPhone
I live in the USA. I want to purchase a used iPhone 5 and repurpose it and activate it with my existing Apple ID, and use it as if it were an iPod touch, without a service contract from a phone provider. I also do not want to jailbreak this iPhone.
I'm familiar with questions like this one and with Apple's knowledge base article "Using an iPhone without a wireless service plan", but my usage scenario seems to be different.
To the best that I can understand, Apple's instructions apply to a person who has an existing iPhone mobile service plan. In this scenario, said person buys a newer, second iPhone for use with his existing SIM card and mobile provider, but wants to keep the old iPhone and use it merely as an iPod touch. The instructions are to take the working SIM card registered to that person's mobile provider account for use with the new iPhone, and use it to activate the old iPhone once, remove the SIM card, and then keep the old iPhone for use as an iPod touch. But this presumes, unless I am mistaken, that both the new iPhone and the old iPhone will be registered to the same Apple ID.
I, on the other hand, have never had an iPhone service contract with a company like AT&T or Verizon. I honestly have no need for an iPhone. Rather, I have owned a succession of iPod touches over the years, which I use over WiFi every day. I don't want or need a mobile account with a service provider for an iPhone.
My old iPod touch 4th generation is no longer doing what I need it to do because today's apps run too slow on it. I don't want to buy an iPod touch 5th generation at this point because it only has an A5 processor, and I don't want to wait to see if Apple ever releases a newer-generation iPod touch.
So my question is this: Can I purchase a used iPhone without a mobile service contract, borrow an iPhone SIM card from a friend who has his own Apple ID different from mine, and use my friend's active SIM card one-time to register my used iPhone to my own Apple ID, not to my friend's Apple ID?
If this will not work, what method can I use, if any, to end up with a working iPhone-as-iPod-touch that is registered to my own existing Apple ID and nobody else's, considering that I have never had a mobile service plan for an iPhone at all?

You could edit Apple ID out of this and not change a thing as you don't get to enter an AppleID until after the iOS activates.

@bmike, I'm afraid I just don't understand the process here, never having tried this. Please elaborate.

I solved the problem by making an appointment at the Genius Bar at the local Apple Store, explaining what I was trying to do, and asking for their help. Even though I purchased a used iPhone 5c from a third-party, they brought out a working new Sprint SIM card and activated the iPhone with Apple (for use as an iPod touch only. with no phone service) for me. They also let me keep the SIM card in case I need it to reset the iPhone.
The new SIM card that the Sprint Store had given me earlier, for one reason or another, did not work.
The Genius in the Apple Store told me that Sprint SIM cards are very specific, and some would work in a 5c and others would not.
The Sprint SIM card model that did work with my iPhone 5C was Sprint part number SIMGLW406C.
The Sprint SIM card model that did not work with my iPhone 5C was Sprint part number SIMGLW406R.

Good to know. I've only done it with AT&T phones and they seem to be a bit less finicky. Glad to see you got the issue resolved.

The SIM card, while required for activation, holds no information about the AppleID.
I am not sure if you can uses a friend's SIM card to do this but you CAN walk into an AT&T store and get a SIM card for your iPhone.
Just tell them your friend messed up his SIM card and needs another one. You should not need to give them a phone number or anything else, there should be no charge for the SIM card.
Once you have a valid, new, SIM card you should be able to activate the phone and use it as an iPod touch without having a cellular service plan.

So are you saying that any SIM card from the mobile provider that the phone is locked to would work to activate an iPhone as an iPod touch--that it does not have to be a SIM card taken from an iPhone belonging to someone who already has that iPhone registered for mobile service from that provider? Honestly, I have zero experience with this and I just don't understand the parameters.

Is the iPhone provisioned for Sprint or a completely unlocked phone compatible with Sprint's network? You DO need a SIM card for Apple to activate to phone, once activated you can remove the SIM. I've done this several times in the last week as we have a bunch of old (AT&T) iPhones we are handing our for use as iPod Touches. I just used a new unused SIM we got from a local AT&T store if the SIM that was in it would not work.

The phone is provisioned for Sprint and locked. I bought it from a commercial reseller as used, but as near as I can tell, it is in fact brand-new and has never been used before. I got a never-before-used SIM card from a Sprint store, right out of the sealed packaging. When I brought it home to try it, I could not get it to work. In the morning I'm going to an Apple Store Genius Bar to see if they can tell me anything.

When I put in the SIM card, the iPhone says "No Service". When I connect to a known-good WiFi, on the phone, then I get the "Try again later" message no matter what I do. I've done a couple of safe-mode resets on the iPhone and reinstallations through iTunes, to no avail.

The Apple Store Genius Bar solved my problems, as I explained in my own answer. Sorry for the frustration!


text:
What is the meaning of 'no acceptable variant' ERROR message?
I have a Mac mini Server with Mac OS X Server 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard), where I run a WebDAV Server for syncing my OmniFocus (Mac <> iPad). But I don't use the Web-Server itself (only WebDAV).
When I do a sync in OmniFocus from my iPad, I can see the following ERROR message in the apache2 error_log file:
[..14] [error] [client IP] no acceptable variant: /usr/share/httpd/error/HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED.html.var

OmniFocus has no problem and sync just works fine (debug logfiles show clearly that WebDAV works as intended and the client has the needed User permissions & rights).
Only the Web-Server is making trouble.
I suppose that an ERROR message in my WebServer logfile means that something is not configured as it should be?!
I understand that it has something to do with 'Multi Language Custom Error Documents' which is on by Default and is dependant on several Apache Modules. But even after reading several Readme files and studying online Tutorials it is far beyond my understanding of how this works together.
My Mac mini Server is still not in productive mode and turned off most the time. I only turn it on to resolve this last remaining ERROR message.

What I tried so far:
• extensive Google search / even on SE sites
• read all possible (available) Apple Server manuals
• started reading the Apache Server manuals
• I spent several nights trying to fix the problem (fiddling with .conf files)
• I did reset to default settings for the Apache Server
• I talked with some hackers about 'Apache Modules' at the 30C3 Congress in Hamburg
• Installed a 2nd Mac OS X Server on another Volume to recover default conf files/values

• Could someone please explain me the meaning of 'no acceptable variant' ?
• Why does this ERROR matter? What do I need to understand to fix this ERROR?

you show us the output, what is the input ?

Input is a sync in OmniFocus done on my iPad. Custom sync with WebDAV Server.

Yes, please do so (as long as it doesn't reveal private/personal information)

I did a rewrite of the whole Question.

Inside the httpd.conf file there are the following lines of code:
AddLanguage de .de
AddLanguage en .en

# LanguagePriority allows you to give precedence to some languages
# in case of a tie during content negotiation.
#
# Just list the languages in decreasing order of preference. We have
# more or less alphabetized them here. You probably want to change this.
#
LanguagePriority en de

# ForceLanguagePriority allows you to serve a result page rather than
# MULTIPLE CHOICES (Prefer) [in case of a tie] or NOT ACCEPTABLE (Fallback)
# [in case no accepted languages matched the available variants]
#
ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback

You should understand what it means and how you can alter its functions. Maybe you ask an Apache Server Guru ;)

IMHO it is the Fallback directive that causes the problem. How can I alter the code ForceLanguagePriority Prefer Fallback — can this line be edited that it has a different function?


text:
MacBook Pro case that ventilates and protects against dust
I like to use my MacBook remotely and therefore I need to leave it standby. I normally put away my MacBook in a slipcase. I guess this isn't a good idea when I use the MacBook (remotely) because of the heat and necessary ventilation.
Are there any solutions for using a MacBook remotely and still be able to protect it against dust? Some sort of a case that has ventilation?

Would a dock help you out? There is no case which will keep your Macbook 100% dustfree and the ability to cool it. It's physically impossible..
Check these hard-cases - as they prevent your macbook from scratches for example: http://www.macbook-case.com/p/6/13-cases-macbook-pro/

Even if you remove the dust once a year, this is not an issue. Unless you work in the desert.

I was thinking of some sort of box instead of a case. Something like once used for letterwheel printers (protect against sound not dust ...). Guess such thing doesn't exist, but couldn't resist to try anyway ...

Here is a possible solution for you.
Normally you would not need additional (forced) ventilation since MacBook does that as long it gets fresh air access.

Product Highlights
Protects from Dust & Scratches
Access to Ports & Sensors
Two-Piece Snap-On Design
Ventilated Opening Minimizes Heat
Scratch-Resistant Hard-Shell


text:
How can I discover Windows hosts to add a printer
I have a Windows print server on the network. I am trying to one of the printers on this server to a Mac with the latest OSX. I can ping the Windows PC, but when I go to the Windows tab in the add printers window, the PC doesn't show up.
Is there any way to make OSX discover all hosts on the network? I've tried the following command as suggested in a similar question on Super-User:
arp -a

But to no avail. Any thoughts?

Turns out the answer to this one is time. I gave the Mac about 30 minutes and when I went back to it, it had found my print server. It's a shame there is no button to tell the Mac to discover devices on the network.

I am CONSTANTLY amazed at how crappy Apple's networking is compared to Windows. I do believe it was "discovering" Windows print servers. It just took too long doing so...

I know this is not a real answer but I have been using Macs in (mostly) PC environments and I find the best way to print to it is by setting up a printer using it's IP address.
I rarely have any success printing thru a Windows print queue, and unless there is a rule that you HAVE to print thru the Windows server save yourself the hassle and just print directly.

Hi, I had considered that but really we want the Macs to use the same queues as our Windows users. I've also posted an answer. Thanks.


text:
Different account with different display resolution
I am having two accounts on my Macbook Pro with Retina display. My wife doesn't like my current resolution, so she changes to a larger one. However when I switch back to my account, the OS doesn't switch the display resolution, if I change to my preference, it also affects her account.
Is there any way to make it work?

are both accounts admins?

No, my wife's account doesn't have admin permission.

So she uses a Guest account!

I would set her up as admin and see if display preferences get saved then. The Guest account does not do that.


text:
How do I make Chrome the default browser in the OSX Guest Account?
I'd like to make Chrome the default browser in the OSX. I've managed to get Chrome added to the guest account but there are several issues

Everytime the guest account is launched after reboot Chrome needs root permission to check for updates. How do I turn this off or set up the guest account so that Chrome doesn't ask (as in it thinks it has already asked)

Every time the guess account is launched the user is ask if they want to make Chrome the default. How can I get this not to happen?

When Chrome finally starts it asks the user to login. I'd like it to start just on the Google home page. How can I do that?

I'm guessing all 3 of these might be related to some how running Chrome once in guest mode and copying some configuration files out of guest mode into the correct place so that next time guest mode is run those files already exist and chrome thinks it's already been set up.

The crucial point to realize with the Guest account is that the User homefolder it creates, with preferences set in its /Library/Preferences folder, are wiped upon logout.
To effect changes, you need to make the changes (add the specific preference files) in the /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj folder. This folder contains the generic template User Homefolder structure used when creating a new user or the Guest User.
This page has details about how it is done in Snow Leopard, but it is applicable to Mavericks.

First of all you may need to unhide the hiden files so open terminal and run those commands :
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

killall Finder

To switch back, do the same but substitute FALSE for TRUE.
Now
Login to your guest account, there set chrome as your default browser (or even Firefox)
Then do not logout ! This would erase your session, so use the  on the top right corner use the swich user drop down menue,
Now that you are back again in your Admin account,
Find the new temporary guest home folder, under
 Users/Guest

Select all the folders inside of it,
And copy them in :
 /System/Library/User Template/English.lproj/

English or whatever your languish is if you are using your computer in french this should be :
  /System/Library/User Template/French.lproj/

as you can see in this folder there was the defaults folders for the guest account
By modifying them you have just modified default appearance of the guest user account
You may want to save this folder in a safe place before, in case you want to undo your work.
For reference ,
You just have to follow the steps as shown in this video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU-W2-_c5bA
Or if you prefer text version :
http://www.michaelsmac.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=394

Ok make sense, I will try, but it's long and takes time ...

So, that's all I can do I have to leave now !

You should use pkill instead of killall

@GoodPerson Realy, why ?

more portable; killall on some systems means "kill all the processes running"

Interesting ! I am on Linux now, no possibility to try it out so I let it like that for now. Anyone who want to do an edit is welcome.

https://xorl.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/admin-mistakes-solaris-killall/


text:
Restore iOS 6 without going to iOS 7
I found an old iPhone 4s of one of my family members, it has iOS 6.1.3 installed, but it has a passcode on it, and he does not remember the passcode, and its currently locked, and if I try again I will have to restore. I was wondering if there is a way that I can restore the phone to iOS 6, instead of going to iOS 7? or is there any other ways around this? I really hate iOS 7 on my iPad so I would like to keep the version, while restoring the phone.

The iphone is in lost mode.

possible duplicate of Downgrading to a previous iOS version

The short answer is No. For the long version, see my answer here: http://apple.stackexchange.com/a/114076/18387


text:
To sync AudioMemos timestamps with your calendar?
I am trying to find a way how I can sync the timestamps of my recordings to my calendar so I know when I have recorded things.
I am using the application AudioMemos at the moment.
How can I sync AudioMemos' recordings to my calendar?

If you access the audio recordings via remote access, are the timestamps correct?

Yes, the timestamps are correct. The only thing is to visualise them with your calendar or in some timeline.


text:
A player with global hotkeys in Mavericks for back/forward
I want to use Dictatation in order to dictate a text that I listen in a headset. I would like to be able to pause and go back/forward without switching between the windows of the text editor and of the player.
Using global keys for this would be a  way. I already have the button f8 for pausing, but what about back and forward?
Is there a player with such global keys?

You can use Automator to create Services that control the playback of QuickTime Player, then assign keyboard shortcuts to the Services in System Preferences.
The Automator Service:

Keyboard Shortcut in System Preferences:


text:
Dictation disables f8 play/pause hotkey
I'm trying to use dictation in order to dictate into a text editor a recording that I listen in a headset - played by VLC.
There's a big problem with the fact that, when dictation is running, the f8 play/pause hotkey is not functioning (in a Macbook Air).
Is there a solution to this?

Does alt + F8 work?

@Robuust - No, but I have found that the problem is in fact with VLC and not with dictation. Dictation can in fact pause the player when it is started with the Fn key and un-pause it when it is stopped (double-click Fn key). But it works in this way with iTunes, bit not with VLC. This is an answer here, I think.

my question is a duplicate of this one - but very partial, because that one doesn't discriminate between media players and asks for a different thing

I have found that the problem is in fact with the way Dictation can or cannot work with VLC and other media players, except iTunes (I have also tried Clementine and MPlayerX).
Dictation pauses iTunes when it is started with the Fn key and un-pauses it when it is stopped (double-click Fn key) - a great feature, which doesn't seem to work with VLC.
The way the Fn key is meant in Dictation (pausing the player) is not the problem, but rather the solution to what I need Dictation for. It provides Fn key as an alternate and better solution to the pause/play media key. But I will have to use it only with iTunes.

As noted:

The fn-key can be pressed to pause the Dictation.
To stop pausing you can double-press fn.

I know that, and that also pauses iTunes when dictation is started and un-pauses it when dictation is stopped/paused. This is a great solution itself for what I need, only that doesn't work with VLC as far as I can tell. Can you verify it with VLC?


text:
How is it possible to have global hotkeys in OSX?
By "global" I mean that kind of shortcuts that I am using in Windows and that are set within and for an application but that can be used when that application is hidden or minimized (not on top). (e.g. the ones discussed here.)
I see that in this article here on "OS X Mavericks: Use global keyboard shortcuts" that shortcuts are called "global" but in a different sense - it seems to me - because they are only available if the given application is already active (focused upon, on top, like for example a text editor in which I can write) but not if it is not in this position (for example: if the text editor is open and ready for writing, then, the shortcuts available for an audio player will not be accessible).
So, I am not referring to the media keys on the keyboard, but to ones that I can set in an application and then can use when other application is active and actively used.
When adding some shortcuts for vlc under Keyboard settings, they are not global in this sense.

Are solutions with 3rd-party software ok?

@grgarside - as i imagine that natively there is no solution, yes!

You can assign a shortcut to a script like this:
tell application "System Events" to tell process "VLC"
    click menu item "Step Forward" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Playback" of menu bar 1
end tell

For example save the script in ~/Library/Scripts/ in AppleScript Editor and then use FastScripts to give it a shortcut. Or if you have bought the Powerpack for Alfred, you can create a workflow with a Hotkey trigger connected to a Run Script action.

In addition to the answer by @Lri which probably works fine, but without installing any 3rd-party software, you can also save your script to ~/Library/Services and it should be accessible from the Keyboard Shortcuts screen under "Services > General", similar to what you tried to do originally except do not look under "App Shortcuts" because, as you say, these only work if the app is running.  If you get your script listed under "Services > General", and assign the hotkey there, it should be accessible globally.
more detailed information here:  https://scriptingosx.com/2019/05/open-apps-with-custom-shortcut-in-macos/


text:
Is it possible to create shortcuts for VLC using Automator?
I see here that Automator can be used to create commands that then can be triggered globally.
I have no idea how to use Automator but see that it has some options for involving applications... Can a "service" be created for VLC that will then be bound to keystroke triggers?
What I want are simple commands like pause/play, back and forward that could be used with shortcuts no matter what other window application is on top.

Just out of interest what Mac do you have.

@Buscar웃 - macbook air and mavericks

My MBA has the media keys for that function, do they not work for you?

@Buscar웃 - there are three on my keyboard, next, previous and play/pause. i am interested in a larger range of shortcuts that would work in the same way, especially in back/forward (within the same file). vlc has three levels of jump back-forward, iTunes only one. I use this for transcription so it is a big difference to me

If you press the back-forward keys, it's go back/forward in the same file...

You can create services like this:

Then give the services shortcuts from System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services.
I prefer using third party applications instead of services to assign shortcuts to scripts though. There has been a bug since 10.7 where the shortcuts for services don't always work until you hover over the services menu from the menu bar (or for example run a service once from the menu bar). There is also a noticeable delay before services are run, and the shortcuts for services don't work when an application that doesn't have a services menu (like Tower) is frontmost.
More examples:
tell application "VLC"
    if playing then
        tell application "System Events" to tell process "VLC"
            click menu item "Pause" of menu 1 of menu bar item "Playback" of menu bar 1
        end tell
    else
        play
    end if
end tell

tell application "VLC"
    set n to 60
    if duration of current item - current time > n then
        set current time to current time + n
    else
        next
    end if
end tell

tell application "VLC"
    set fullscreen mode to not fullscreen mode
end tell

tell application "VLC"
    volumeUp
end tell

Open VLC's dictionary in AppleScript Editor to see all supported terminology.


text:
How to set VirtualBox in order to access external hard drives in guest Win7?
I have installed VirtualBox in order to use Windows 7 as guest on a Macbook Air running Mavericks (mainly to be able to use a printer that has no drivers for Mac). Also, I have installed the Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack and the Guest Additions, so that now the video settings as well as the support for USB are available. Except that, while the flash drives as well as the printer work, the external HDD drives connected by USB do not.
After un-mounting the external HDDs in Finder they appear only greyed out in VirtualBox system tray.

Adding them as filters in the Settings of the Virtual Machine makes them look selected as they should (no longer greyed out), but they are still not available in the guest Windows.
I am talking about two external HDD drives, both 500 GB, one ntfs and one fat32.
I expected the USB connections to work fully after installing the Extension_Pack and the Guest Additions, but it looks like there's something more to be done.
What?

Do you have ntfs for mac installed ?
Make sure you can write on that drive in your host OS first.

@Gulali - No, I have not installed "ntfs for mac" and have no intention to. Isn't that for writing on the drive? I do not want to write, just to read, as I already can do in Finder. What about the fat32 drive? I can read and write on that in Mac's Finder, while in Win7 none of the 2 external drives is accessible.

Are they connected directly or via a hub. Also there is a setting in the virtual machine settings to give the guest vm direct access to a particular USB device.

Once I ejected the hard drive from mac os, it was instantly recognized by the guest windows virtual machine.

insert Guest Additions CD image.iso corresponding to your version number http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/ worked for me once I unmounted USB from host OS launched VB, went into settings adding the USB filter and pointed to desired USB, launched VB, logged in to windows, voila, right there in computer devices as Drive (E:)

Host: MacBook Pro Summer 2014 with Mac OS Sierra 10.12.6 (has USB 3.0 ports).
Guest: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (I have not installed USB 3 capability yet).
Win7 would not recognise a USB 2.0 Kingston 16GB memory stick. I have VirtualBox extensions installed, and have added a USB device filter under VM settings.
I have solved the problem by plugging a USB 2.0 hub into the MacBook Pro's USB 3.0 port, and then plugging the USB 2.0 memory stick into the hub. It works.
(I have a Kensington PocketHub Mini USB 2.0 with 4 ports).
Likewise I can now use a SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 memory stick through the USB 2.0 hub.
This also solved a similar problem with an HP-Prime graphical calculator; the HP software on my mac would not see the calculator if it was plugged directly into the USB 3.0 port, but it was fine when I used the USB 2.0 hub.

In my case (OSX Catalina, Virtual Box 6.1 and Windows 10 virtualized), I managed to get it working by using the the Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack.
Get them from the official downloads page. Make sure to download the exact version for the VirtualBox that you have installed.
Afterward, follow the instructions for their installation. In case something happens to that third party site, here they go:

Open VirtualBox.
From the left list, click Tools>Preferences. A window should appear.
From the icons at the top of that window, select Extensions. Click the plus (+) button at the right, browse to the folder where you downloaded the extension, and open the extension package. VirtualBox will notify you that you are about to install an extension pack. Confirm to install. After that, it should appear as active in the list of extension packages.
Make sure that your virtual machine is not running.
Check the settings of your virtual machine (select it in the left list of the main VirtualBox window and click the settings icon at the top) and make sure that in Ports>USB the USB controller is enabled and is using the USB 3.0 controller. If you don't see your external hard disk drive listed at the bottom, add it with the plus (+) button at the right of the list.
Umount (but DON'T unplug) your external hard disk drive from OSX. Start your VM. You should have access to the hard disk drive inside the virtual machine.

This worked for me. I needed to partition an external hard disk drive with a NTFS partition.

I have an issue maybe related (i do not use MAC at all)...
I can not make VirtualBOX to pass to the Guest a "USB 2.0 Hub"... it is not listed, it is hidden.
Does your USB HDD's have an internal HUB? Some have it... like some WD that also have a VirtualCD.
Maybe it is not related to your problem, but maybe it is.
Another problem i have with VirtualBOX USB redirect is that two USB devices (same name) can not be passed to the Guest at same time... it only pass the first one i try...
I do not know much about MAC, but my experience with VirtualBOX USB redirect is that it fails a lot in some conditions... no matter if host is Windows or Linux... it is VirtualBOX USB redirect what is failing!!! So i think the same will happen on MAC's.
It is just an idea!!!

Seems like you'd like the guest system to handle the whole USB thing.
Because OSX automatically attaches USB devices, you'll have to do the following:
Open Machine Settings > USB > Click the green plus symbol > Select your HDD.
Then unplug the Disk and plug in again, from now on the guest should see it as an USB device.

After unmounting your drive in the Finder, try opening Disk Utility, and see if the drive can be ejected. After ejection (if done), VirtualBox may see the device.


text:
Is there a ‘FileHippo.com Update Checker’ equivalent for the Mac?
I used to love FileHippo.com for keeping a lot of my well-loved tools on Windows up to date with its tool that you could check to scan your current program versions (both freeware and paid - in the case of paid it still works to download the latest installer as your license is still located in the system - I assume it would work for Mac too), and a simple repository on the site to directly download the new updater installer files from once the results screen online shows you what you can download and update.
Common apps monitored by FileHippo would be VLC, uTorrent, Firefox, Chrome (all the way up to dev channel), CCleaner, Adobe Reader, Adobe Air, DivX, Safari, Skype, Thunderbird - and all these apps I now have on the Mac too.
Is there anything like this for the OS X world?
MacUpdate.com looks great, but it doesn't seem to officially offer an equivalent 'update checker' app from looking at its website.
And as for Apple's Mac App Store solution, that doesn't cover the apps I listed above so could not be considered an adequate solution, unless all those players unanimously participated in that ecosystem which I don't think is the case.

Paied service, you might have overlooked it: https://www.macupdate.com/desktop

Coincidentally, FileHippo isn't necessary for the vast majority of those apps you listed. Tons of Mac OS X apps use a framework called Sparkle for self updating.
Don't download Sparkle, it won't do you any good. It's a developer tool intended to be added as part of the application's code. The point is that Sparkle (or some other self-updater) is already part of the application.

VLC self-updates via Sparkle
I'm fairly certain uTorrent does (I'm a Transmission guy, personally, which also self-updates via Sparkle)
Firefox/Thunderbird each have their own self-updaters possibly written by Mozilla
Adobe has their own software updater framework
Skype self updates though I don't remember the process
and Safari updates come from Software Update/Mac App Store.

I don't personally know about CCleaner, DivX.
These apps "phone home" when you open them in order to determine if there is an update or not. If there is, you get a nice little dialog prompting you whether you want to update or not, and there is usually also a changelog to inform you of what's changed.

If you let it take it's course, the process begins:

And then you're done.
Yes, this is only one app at a time, but it only happens when you use it, which really is preferable IMO. Things that update versions automatically out from under you can really throw you off. At least with this process you know when it's happened.

I think Mac Informer Client is a good alternative.

Thanks, good find, though the program seems really buggy and poorly written. got one application to update but there's stalls left right and center, e.g.: http://i.imgur.com/DRVxwHX.png - plus, I'm trying to figure out a way for it to not auto install but just download the update files for you, so it's more in your own control! One to watch and hope it improves, I guess.

Since the advent of The App Store, sites like osx.iusethis.com and apps like AppFresh have gone the way of the Dodo (although much of iusethis is still available according to a cursory googling: iusethis.luo.ma)
Steer clear of MacUpdate Desktop (sound reasoning).
App Checkers™ are and always will be dubious. Especially on the Apple platforms for reasons stated by Jason (namely Sparkle Framework popularity and the officiation of an App Store).
But so far, as stated by Saeed, the Mac Informer desktop app seems to serve the same utility its' predecessors and the Filehippo checker.


text:
Mac keyboard on powered hub does not work initially
I have a strange problem with my powered USB hub (USB 2.0) and my wired Apple keyboard which is plugged into that hub.
When I turn on the MacBook Pro (Early 2013), running OS X 10.9, the external keyboard is not working sometimes. As soon as I unplug the keyboard and plug it in again it works. This only happens when the MacBook has just turned on.
If I turn the powered hub to an unpowered hub (just by unplugging the power chord) the keyboard works fine - even at startup.
Does anyone have a clue what may be the problem?

I don't think you have to use a powered hub for a keyboard. I would recommend you not to use a powered hub if not necessary for the device itself -- this is because you're adding more power than it initially needs.

The keyboard is not the only device connected to that hub (there is also a mouse and other devices - e.g. iPhone, iPads - from time to time). Some of them don't work when the hub is not powered.

You should try using the keyboard extension cable that comes with your keyboard. For somewhat obscure reasons, this solved the problem for me and other people trying to use the Apple Wired Keyboard with USB hubs. See also https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/179299/33925

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately this problem occurred when I was working for another company more than one year ago ;-) But I'll keep that in mind.


text:
Is there a way to record my iPad screen for free?
Good afternoon,

I own an iPad 2 and a Macbook Pro. I am looking for a free solution to recording my iPad's screen from my computer. I plan to record the gameplay of various iOS games and upload them on video sharing websites.

About my iPad 2 -
Version: 6.0.1

Not jailbroken.

I apologize if this exact question has already been answered but I have been unable to find an answer that is suitable for my specific needs. Finding a free alternative to Reflector seems to be very difficult!

All answers will be greatly appreciated.

Is jailbreaking an option?

Use Photo Booth. (This is a joke, by the way. It would work though...)

I would prefer not to have to resort to jailbreaking my device. I understand that I could use the camera on the computer to record the iPad's screen but I obviously do not want to do that.

Thank you, Arne and daviewales.

It seems that, at this point, Reflector is my best option. I hope they do develop more free screen recorders for iOS devices in the future. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my question.

Also, I would like to thank whoever turned my "Answer" into a comment.

you should have the ability to comment on your own question, even with only 1 rep.

There used to be some free apps, but they stopped working because the devs didn't have time to update them to work with the latest changes to airplay.
If you are willing to pay a bit of money you can get apps which turn your Mac into an Airplay server. You can then mirror your iPad's screen to your Mac, and record it there.

Reflector is $12.99
AirServer is $14.99
X-Mirage is $16.00

Check them out, and work out which one is best for you.
EDIT:
X-Mirage has a 7-day free trial, so I think it's the closest you'll get to a "free" solution.

To record your iPad's screen, you could use QuickTime X that comes for free with OS X Yosemite and OS X El Capitan.
Unfortunately your iPad must be running iOS 8 or later for this to work.

Connect your iPad to your computer (with the 30 pin or Lightning connector)
Open QuickTime Player, usually found in the "Utilities" folder of the Applications folder
Click File > New Movie Recording
From beside the red "record" button click the source arrow
Choose your device and click record!

(Image from ioshacker.com)

I don't know of a free option. There are products like X-Mirage (USD 16), which lets you record your device via AirPlay. This is probably the most hassle-free and cheap solution.
You can also buy an HDMI adapter from Apple, or some third party version, and record your gameplay that way using e.g. an HDD-recorder with HDMI input. For this solution you obviously need quite a bit of hardware.

Wait a few more weeks until OS X Yosemite is released.
In Yosemite it's possible to record your iOS screen with QuickTime when you've connected your device with an USB cable..

I think you should just get a different type of device flip the camera and record while the other device is playing games?

Although this solution is not technically free, it is a long term solution. You can buy an adapter to stream live whatever is on your iPad screen to your Mac screen. Then using a PC screen recorder system to record the "livestream" footage. There is free screen recording software out there. Software such as CamStudio and TinyTake offer pretty decent recording options for free, and extra if you pay for it.

Get  airshou. Here's the link cherryroad.xyz/airshou. To use it just click record, choose your orientation and quality, hit next and swipe up from the bottom of your screen. Then click AirPlay and press AirShou. Wait a few seconds, and the recording starts

Just use another mobile to record ur iOS screen as I also have same problem

This actually is a pragmatic solution for casual documentation needs. It doesn't make sense to pay for professional tools on a budget that prioritizes free. +1 in my book

Just go to camera and click the buttion flip camera! If this doesnt work I dont know what will because seriously I dont have an iPad and I have no clue om how to use it

Download irec
It will help you record and it is quick free and easy xx :3

Just so all are aware, iRec is no longer an option, it is listed under the "does not work" category in the emu4ios.net store.

emu4ios.com...install then find iRec and click install and begin


text:
Hide Gmail Labels on iPhone app
I have the Gmail on my iPhone and iPad, both running the latest version or iOS and the Gmail app. In the app, is there any way to get rid of/hide the 'important' and 'all mail'. When I toggle the sidebar in the app, both those labels appear under the 'more' category. Everything I've tried so far hasn't worked.

If you login to  Gmail (not the mobile site) via the browser, you can go to:

Settings (the wheel right on top)
Filters
Uncheck the Show in IMAP
after a short time the folders will be invisible in the mail apps.

This hides them from MobileMail but not the Gmail app

That's a google fail!

Currently, this is not possible.
You can send feedback to Google through the app: gear icon → Help and Feedback….


text:
"Other" just ate my hard drive
When I woke up his morning, I had >80 GB of free space on my hard drive. Over the last four hours, in which I wasn't even around, something filled my hard drive completely. I would attach a screenshot, but there isn't even room to save one.
I'm currently looking at around 210GB of 'other' on my 250GB HD - and I have no idea where it came from. It's always been fairly stable until today.
I am, of course, deleting everything I can afford to, but unless someone knows of something huge I can nuke where 'other' is, I don't think I'll be able to get it down to a manageable size.
I have a Time Machine backup. If I restore to it, will it also contain this huge amount of 'other'? Or is there a better option?

Have you tried rebooting your Mac? I've seen (awful, terrible, no good) applications create monstrous piles of 'temporary' files like this that delete themselves on a reboot.

There are many things that 'other' could be. This Apple KB article details what 'other' space is:

OS X: What is "other" space in About This Mac?

…but basically, there's not only one thing that it could be, or one thing that everyone's suffered from.
Your best bet is probably to run something like Daisy Disk or similar to find large files to delete. Alternatively, use Finder and search for large files sorted by Date Modified so that you can see recent files that might be taking up large quantities of space.

I recommend checking out a tool (there are many others) such as DaisyDisk which easily allows you to drill down and find space hogs.  The trial version should do the job in a hurry.

There is also a free utility called Disk Inventory X which will do essentially the same thing.

Where do you see that "other"?
Free some space if you can and use DiskWave to check exactly where the files are.


text:
IPod Touch says it's disabled for 22,768,662 minutes
I have an iPod Touch that says it is disabled and to try again in 22,768,662 minutes.  I really don't have 42 years to wait.  I need to access this iPod Touch and the material inside it without factory resetting it.  Please help?

You can fix it by syncing with iTunes then restoring, just follow this handy guide.

I have not officially tested this, however I have seen this same answer on a couple sites, so I thought I'd share it here.
There is a way to erase the password without erasing your files. Plug in your iPod. Open My Computer (or Computer for Windows 7). Click on Folder options and enable to view hidden files. Next go to iPod_control and click on the folder named Device. If your iPod is locked, there will be a file _locked . Rename the file to _unlocked. Remove your iPod and it should be cleared.
Again, I have never tested this. Please let me know if this process is no longer available, and I'll graciously remove this answer.


text:
Remove Find my iPhone lost mode passcode lock from every wake
If I have set my iPhone with the lost mode/password lock, how do I get rid of the password lock every time I wake up or turn on my iPhone with Apple IOS 8.1?

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH2700 explains that you should click the Lost Mode link again to change the status on the phone.


text:
How do I know what to put in DefaultKeyBinding.dict?
I am trying to create a few system level key bindings. I know about ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict but I am not sure what to put in there/or how to go about finding the commands and codes.
I would like keybindings to

Opt <-   //Move cursor back a word
Opt ->   //Move cursor forward a word
Opt Cmd <- //Home
Opt Cmd -> //End
(the same commands, but adding Shift to select instead of just move

Is there a good resource to help me figure this out?

There is a wonderful resource on DefaultKeyBinding.dict including an example file as well as all the shortcut strings and methods you need, available at:

https://github.com/ttscoff/KeyBindings

There are also numerous other resources listed at the bottom of the page, including the official Apple Developer documentation:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/cocoa/conceptual/eventoverview/TextDefaultsBindings/TextDefaultsBindings.html
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsstandardkeybindingresponding

http://osxnotes.net/keybindings.html appears to no longer be a valid url.

The list of keys is here: http://xahlee.info/kbd/osx_keybinding_key_syntax.html . For example, the key code for PgUp is \UF72C and PgDn is \UF72D

The accepted answer still provides good sources for key codes, however a full list of commands is now available from Apple here:
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appkit/nsstandardkeybindingresponding

2020 answer:
I'm using Karabiner
It used to be called KeyBindingsEdit which the other answer links to
It comes with a UI, you can import rules that other people have uploaded, and you can make your own through JSON format file
Here are my configs for moving cursor forward/backwards a word:
(I didn't check if the parenthesis are matching properly, confirm that the format is correct on your file)
{
  "title": "personal rules",
  "rules": [
      {
      "description": "cmd + arrow to ctrl + arrow",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "right_arrow",
            "modifiers": {
              "mandatory": [ "command" ],
              "optional": [ "any" ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "right_arrow",
              "modifiers": [ "control" ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "basic",
          "from": {
            "key_code": "left_arrow",
            "modifiers": {
              "mandatory": [ "command" ],
              "optional": [ "any" ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "left_arrow",
              "modifiers": [ "control" ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }

]
}

You would add it to ~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/<customname>.json

It looks cool, but I tried installing Karabiner and it immediately messed up all my existing shortcuts/hot keys

@Aximili that's a shame! I like it because if I move to a different computer I can easily carry all my shortcuts by copy/pasting the configuration file, worth the trouble

I found an application (KeyBindingsEdit) that is a nice UI for building it. If you are just looking for a good way to edit it, it could be helpful

Sadly, this no longer works with on Mac OS Ventura.

2024 update:
Many resources you find on the internet just tell you their setup, but does not tell you how they discovered them(which I hate). They surely don't contain all the bindable methods supplied by AppKit you may find helpful, like "convertToTraditionalChinese:". Or tell you that shift+tab is represented as 0x19 in StandardKeyBinding.dict.
So I found a way to extract bindable commands right from AppKit, using symbols /System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Versions/C/AppKit | grep KeyBindingCommands. Unfortunately I haven't found the way to do this on Ventura, so i only got a dump from Catalina here https://gist.github.com/hym3242/4ade5dbcabbe547f3d78687897b8ddfe.
also see https://gist.github.com/hym3242/8e8bc10a2fed8e55973c500f1798c234
Regarding the defaults write -g NSRepeatCountBinding -string "~r" trick, you can find NSRepeatCountBinding string in AppKit exe, so it would obviously require some reverse engineering to find that!


text:
How to extract contacts from Mail.app
A friend of mine just got her GMail account hacked because of a weak password. The attacker still has control of her account. She was using Mail.app to read her emails.
I would like to find a solution to get all the contacts sorted by usage (number of message sent from/to a person), which does not involve typing commands inside a terminal. I have a working solution based on grep and sort on files found in ~/Library/Mail/V2/... but I don't feel like sending her a script..

if it helps (doesn't give you the number of messages) you can look at all the previous recipients in Mail.app > Window > Previous Recipients. It lets you sort by last used, email, name, and wether it is in contacts or not.

@dwightk Thanks I didn't know this window. It may be enough if her contact list is short.

I assume you already tried gmail recovery ? Mail.app uses the Contacts app.

@Buscar웃 The informations she gave are being processed. They said it may take several days. The person who took control of her account is most probably actually in Bamako (Mali), and he has tried the standard Western Union scam on her contacts. I hope she will gain access to her account in the near future.

Actually the password reset is instant by google sending you a automated sms to a phone number or another email that was given during the account creation with instructions.


text:
iBooks version / iPad
I wish to buy an iPad to have some digital interactive books. The requirements for the books are: "To view this book, you must have an iPad with iBooks 3 or later and iOS 5.1 or later".
I don't wish to buy a new iPad (low on cash), and wish to buy a second hand one, as I'll be using the iPad only for using those digital books.
I know nothing about iPads and their different versions. What would be the minimal iPad generation (normal size or mini) I should buy?

You can also check to see if it's compatible with iBooks for Mac OS X (if you happen to own a Mac).

Every iPad including the original can run iOS 5.1 so it doesn't matter which iPad you purchase. The original iPad can be updated to iOS 5.1.1 and at the time of writing all other iPads (including all iPad minis) are still able to be updated to the latest version of iOS (7.1).
iBooks 3 requires iOS 5.1 so is able to be run on all devices that can run iOS 5.1 (therefore all iPads). However, iBooks 3 uses more system resources and the first generation barely handles it with numerous complaints of crashing simply because the first generation iPad doesn't have the resources available.
Ideally you probably want to buy the most recent iPad you can which will give you the ability to update in the future.

Thanks, what about the minimal iBooks version requirement?

@BlakBat Expanded answer

The current version of iBooks, 3.2, requires iOS7.

Thanks for the answers. So I guess an iPad Mini (1st generation) should be enough for my minimal needs.


text:
Installing Ubuntu aside OS X and Windows
My current config is this- I have OS X Mavericks 10.9.2 and Windows 8.1 installed via Boot Camp.
I'd like to install Ubuntu too on my mac- I figured I could do it with rEFInd? Or does the Boot Camp not allow this sort of stuff? How should I proceed with Installation?
Thanks!

You might want to look for tripleboot in the searchbox, I've seen this question before.

As @rob already noted there is a number of similar questions about this already. Please have a look at the answers given there but feel free to come back and edit the things you've tried and the result you got into the question if you can't get it to work. We then can reopen the question for you.


text:
How can I get OSX to appear as a wifi router without sharing internet
I want to use my Mac as a wifi-router on a private network (no internet access). I want users to be able to connect to the network by selecting the SSID on their iOS devices.
Is there a way to do this from the command line? I can select "Create Network..." from the networking menu but that has 2 problems.

The created network shows up under a special section "devices" on iOS. I want it to appear  in the normal list of wifi hotspots. How do I do this? I'm assuming maybe I can do it manually I can set whatever needs to be set so iOS can't tell the difference between my mac and a normal router
When selecting it in iOS is says it's not connected to the internet. I want to avoid that message. I get that I'm not actually letting them connect to the internet. The question is, how and I fool iOS into thinking it is connected to the internet. I have a feeling this is related to #1 because how does iOS know there's no internet when it hasn't actually connected to the network yet (I haven't selected it).

Note: any pointers into apple docs would be great as well. I've even tried looking at how something similar would be done in Linux in the hopes that it might lead to ideas about OSX but my Google foo is weak for this topic.

What's the benefit of connecting to a network and display it pretending it has internet, but it does not?

The created network shows up under a special section "devices" on iOS. - Where is this? I dont think I have ever seen such a section on an iOS device.

See "sysg" at the bottom of this screenshot. Note: It's off the screen and you'd have to scroll down to see it.

@Rob, I'm making an art installation that requires users to connect to a network at the site to access. I'm trying to make it as seamless as possible. That means telling users they have to scroll down because the thing they need to select is off the screen is a no-go. Similarly, having their iOS device tell them there's no internet and therefore refusing to allow them to access Safari is also a no-go. I can setup a router to do this but then, anyone else that wants to put on the exhibit also needs to go out and buy a router. If OSX can be the router they can do it without spending more $

What you are trying to do is indeed possible, but it requieres a lot of work to get it working.
I thought about that for a while and it is a great Idea to use a mac as Wifi-Router, especially in Virtual-Test-Environments. But Mac OS X does not work like that.
The reason for that is, that Mac OS X only starts the service, if you really have Internet connection. Why would you share your internet, if there is no internet. Simple as that. Simple as a Mac ;D
But you can work around this by setting up virtual Network Interfaces, that would simulate internet.
There is a nice discussion about Virtual network interfaces on Stack Overflow, meantoning your problem in a comment :
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/87442/virtual-network-interface-in-mac-os-x
(especially the long post by "bmasterswizzle" with the comment : "I've tested it and yes, it does. I was able to share my OpenVPN tun0 device (from my Ethernet connection) over my WiFi using this method. ")
You get this problem often with Virtual Machines, because there OS X also shares ethernet via the NAT-Bridge, but in fact does not need to have Internet Access to make it work.
It is a bit of an efford and I think you could easily go around it, if you have a script that fakes the Internet Traffic on En0 so you can share the En0 to the Wifi-Adapter. But I have no clue how to talk to the en0 interface via command line and faking traffic.
And as long as there is no traffic, your Mac won't share the Connection.

This type of network is know as an Ad-hot network. The procedure to create one is listed here: http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/maclife_101_how_create_adhoc_network
After creating an Ad-hoc network, you will see it listed in the list of wifi networks on your iOS device.
Note that you wont be able to connect to the internet using your WiFi connection if a device is connected to the adhoc network. But since you dont want the other device to access the internet, this should be ok.
I don't think the act of just connecting to a wifi network results in the message you stated. I have only seen that message, say, if you launch the browser or open an app that requires an Internet connection and as far as I know, there is no way to disable that message on an iOS device.

Thanks for the try but as pointed out in the original message this doesn't work. Unless there is internet to actually share picking to share the internet doesn't startup anything. No SSIDs appear on other machines to select to connect to on the iOS devices.
As for the message on iOS. That's why I'm asking. The hardware is certainly capable of doing this as I can install Linux or Windows and do it just fine. So the question is, how to do it on OSX, even if I have to install other software or edit system configuration files.

The message is shown by iOS. What has OSX got to do with it?

That's the whole point of the question. Why is OSX causing iOS to display this message when a normal router does not? I want OSX to behave like a router so I'm asking how to do that.

If your iOS device is connected to a wireless network which does not have access to the Internet, and if you open an app which requires a connection to the internet, it will show that error message. This is not specific to OSX ad hoc networks. BTW, where exactly are you seeing this error message?

I don't get this message if I connect my iOS device to a router that is not connected to the internet. I only get it if I connect it to my Mac which is not connected to the internet. I want to know how to get my Mac to behave EXACTLY like the router. (a) so the SSID shows up with other routers instead of its own special section and (b) so that when I select it it doesn't complain there is no internet.

What is your OSX and iOS version? (the exact version numbers)

OSX 10.9.2, iOS 7.1

@gman I believe you want to set up a wifi access point in "Infrastructure mode" rather than Ad-hoc mode. No idea how to do it though. Also don't know if that would get rid of the "No Internet" error.


text:
Producing music on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air
I am curious whether my MBA or MBP would be suitable for my creative purposes.
I like writing music. Now I have a slow but stable laptop with Ubuntu 13.10 installed. I've set up JACK, Ardour workstation, Hydrogen (drums) etc, and I got an overfunctional combine, but it is pretty laggy when it comes to real business. As for my "connection", at times I could just conect preamplified guitar cable to my laptop's mic-in, and entertain myself.
I heard that MacBook Pro is a great machine for sound engineering (whereas MacBook Air is not).
So my questions:

Why is it so great? How could it overgo my setup (apart from the speed of SSD, as I lack one)
Is not MacBook Air as much capable in this context as it's bolder brother?
If I am buy a Macbook Pro/Air, what hardware should I buy? i.e., core i7, 8 Gb, 256 SSD,... what soundcard?

The MacBook Pro is very Popular because of the Power it has, the stability and of course the Design.
It has more input connections, the MacBook Air has not.
You can look that up on the Apple Supprot Pages, but here are some examples :
MacBook Pro has a Line-In for 3,5mm jacks, where the MacBook Air only has a 3,5mm headphone jack, but no input.
Also The MacBook Pro has a FireWire Connector ( the older ones ) which is great. MacBook Air "only" has a Thunderbolt Connector.
But if you have one Thunderbolt port you can probably plug anything into that because of the flexibility. But it is also very expensive.
I also like the handling of Music Interfaces in mac OS X. It is very easy to extend the system regarding audio-stuff that has USB. Most Macs "just work" with them.
Also you have a large Software Library for Professional Music Production. Including the free GarageBand package. And the Apple "Logic Studio"
Most people like the MacBook Pro because (I think) it is the easiest and most stable to work with on Music and Audio.
If you want to buy a MacBook, I would recommend either a low budget MacBook Pro 13" or 15", or the 13" MacBook Air. It's depending on what exactly you try to produce.
For most Musicians the 15" MacBook Pro is the way to go, because of it's great Power. You don't have to care about that any more.
The SOundCard inside the MacBook is pretty stable to hande a lot of tracks at the same time, but if you want a workstation (with many interfaces and mixers), have a look at existing MacPro setups from the past years (not the new trash-can macPro).
I would also recommend researching on YouTube for "room Tours" or "Setup Tours" of People who produce Music.