text:
Why is my iPhone screen stuck on the 'connect to iTunes' screen?
I need help with my iPhone. It's stuck on the 'connect to iTunes' screen.
iTunes does recognize the iPhone, but when I select 'restore', it goes through a few progress bars, then errors again. I've already tried to hard reset the phone, but that doesn't work either.

Using all caps and horrible grammar generally won't get you any answers here.

Please note that the instructions I am giving are assuming you are using an English copy of Windows, since I do not have a Mac and therefore do not have much experience with them.  However, the steps will be very similar, and I will try to note where things might be different for Mac OS X.
First, check all of the following:

Make sure your copy of iTunes is up-to-date. In Windows, open iTunes, click "Help", then "Check for Updates".
Make sure you are connected to the internet and the connection is reliable.  iTunes contacts Apple several times during the restore procedure, and if iTunes fails to get a response during one of these check-ins, the restore will fail.
Make sure you are using the correct version of iTunes for your system.  If you are using a 64-bit version of Windows, you will need to install the 64-bit version of iTunes.  If you have Windows XP, you need the normal 32-bit version. If you have Vista or Windows 7, click the start orb, right-click computer, then click "Properties". In the "System" section, look for the line that starts with "System Type". If it says 32-bit, use the normal iTunes installer. If it says "64-bit Operating System", download the 64-bit version of iTunes from http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1047  (If you have trouble determining whether you have a 32-bit or 64-bit copy of Windows installed, try installing iTunes using http://www.ninite.com and it will automatically download the right version)
Delete the restore files from your computer. In Windows, press WindowsKey+R, type '%appdata%\apple computer\itunes' then delete the folders iPod Software Update and iPhone Software update if they exist.  If you are using OS X, the folder should be ~/Library/iTunes/.
If it still isn't working, uninstall iTunes, reboot, then install iTunes again, then reboot again.

If none of the above work, do the following to place your iPhone into DFU mode.  Some people have better luck with restoring with this method.

Plug the iPhone into the computer, and wait for it to be recognized in iTunes.
Press and hold the home and sleep buttons.
As soon as the iPhone screen goes blank, count to six seconds. At six, release the sleep button, and continue holding the home button.
You should see or hear the new hardware notification on your computer. When you do, you can release the home button.  If the new hardware notification, wait until iTunes recognizes it and tells you it found an iPhone in restore mode.
The iPhone screen should be blank. If it shows the "Connect to iTunes" screen, unplug it, then try again from step 1.

If you see Connect to iTunes screen when you start iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
In some situations, you might see the Connect to iTunes screen when you start your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. When this happens, your device is in recovery mode. Here's what to do.
Restart your device by pressing and holding the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons at the same time until you see the Apple logo.
If you see the Connect to iTunes screen again, you'll need to reinstall iOS. Follow these steps:
1. Connect your device to your computer.
2. You should see this message: "The software on [your device name] needs to be restored to factory settings or updated."
3. Click Update to reinstall iOS while keeping your data.
Get help if, after following the steps above, you see a restore error.
If you don't see a restore error, but you still see the Connect to iTunes screen when you start your device, contact Apple.
Source - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203122


text:
What new iPhone App that lets you maintain a single list, star items and sort them?
There was a new iPhone app released recently but I can't recall its name. It had some very simple features:

Keep a single list of things
Star items
Sort those items so that stars rose to the top

What was its name? The app in question is not 1list.

Figured it out, it was LittleList

I was guessing it was Wunderlist.

source: Stack Exchange

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/

sort: votes


text:
I want to play one podcast only on iPod Touch, but they play in series one after the other
I download multiple podcasts from one source, eg, five episodes of Naked Scientists.  I want to listen to one only, but when the first finishes it automatically goes to the second, and third etc.
I want to listen to just one episode at a time and have the iPod Touch turn off when it is finished (this is a sleep-aid for my insomnia...I don't want it playing all night !)
A "Genius" suggested making playlists, but although you can make a podcast playlist, it does NOT sync.

thanks all - I'll try the next couple nights and report back to this page.

With iOS 4, you can make a playlist directly on your device. Go to the Music app, then Playlists, then "Add Playlist...". Type in the name for the playlist, hit Save, and you're presented with a screen to add items to the playlist. Select "Podcasts" (by default, it's found under "More") and select the item you want to play. Tap "Done".
You're all set - just select the item from the playlist and only that item will play.

Kyle - thank you, thank you, thank you.
Tried it and it works.  Seems there is "always" a way to outsmart the machine.
Go it to work for one, now I will make a little library and I see no reason why it won't work.
Greatly appreciated.
Ed

Use the On-The-Go playlist and add the one podcast episode to it. Works from at least iOS 3 or possibly before.
You don't event need to clear the existing playlist, because adding a track will add to the end, so just start from that track and it will stop at the end (unless you have repeat on).

You should be able to do this with a smart playlist. Set it up with the following rule:
- Name is {the podcast's name}
- Plays is 0
Limit it to 1 item, selected by least recently added.
Check the "live updating" box.
This should give you a playlist with one track - the oldest unheard episode of the podcast.
I've used a variation on this and it is able to sync to my iPhone (once I selected it to be included in the sync).

all_licenses: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/


text:
What's a good iTunes alternative to use with my iPod nano 6g?
I'm looking for an iTunes alternative for my new iPod nano 6g.
I've used sharepod before but it doesn't work with the nano 6g—I can upload songs but they're not being recognized by the iPod database.
Any ideas on alternatives that work with the nano 6g?

Even though the list on media monkey says it works, if you dig deeper it works for 6G classic and up to 5G Nano.  No 6G nano.  sucks.

Mediamonkey is a good alternative on Windows, the nano 6th gen is present in the list of compatible devices.

If you're using Windows, try DoubleTwist. (Not sure if it supports Apple products on OS X yet.)

looks like it works only for android devices?

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


text:
Which iPod has the best sound quality?
I'd like to know if an iPod classic is a better investment than an iPod touch? I am really more into music than apps and games. If you have some other suggestions about great-sounding mp3 players I'd like to hear it.

All current iPods support the same:

Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz
  Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320
  Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes
  Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps),
  MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4,
  Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and
  AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV

This is from the Apple iPod tech specs page.
So, since they all support the same bitrates and formats, the quality does not change between models.
Get whichever you want. The real sound quality difference will come from your speakers or headphones.
Note: If you want the best sound, use the Apple Lossless format.

The frequency response and format supported aren't telling of the device's quality in audio output. You have to delve deeper (see Dietmar's answer).

The 5th generation and earlier have the best sound because they use the Wolfson chips. (see this article for more info)

Wolfson designs many different chips, so does Cirrus. I find it very wrong to simply say that one chip is better because it's from Wolfson. We need a more thorough analysis here. Still, this will be more difficult because the different iPods use different Wolfson chips and different Cirrus chips. Apple has moved to Cirrus chips for many of their products, I doubt that is just because they may be cheaper (which I don't know if that is the case).

I got an iPod Classic for Christmas to replace my aging iPod Mini (1st generation). The sound difference between the two is very obvious. I have a couple different sets of in-ear and over the ear headphones, all at least $100, that I used with the Mini, and with the Classic I'm hearing new stuff with every song.
I attribute this to faster CPUs and better algorithms but I haven't checked to see how different the CPUs are.

I will probably also go with the classic, I like it the most... Thanks for help.

No problem. I am really happy with mine. It's amazing technology.

Whoever will tell you the devices have the same sound output capabilities is certainly not an audiophile or is simply someone who needs an ears'check. I own an iPod Touch 2G, an iPod Nano 7th Gen, iPod Classic 5th Gen, iPhone 4S, iPhone 6s, iPad Air 2. The best, crisper, crystal clear sound, after testing all devices with the same FLAC album, same headphones and no equalizers enabled, the best audio quality comes out from the iPod Classic.
Period.

If you are not considering the speaker of the iPod Touch itself, the music is happening on a different device.  The only considerations then are whether the player can handle the music you throw at it, considering sample rate, bit rate, and compression.  Cheaper MP3 players, for example, could only handle 128 kbit/s, which wouldn't technically sound as good as 192 kbit/s.  CD quality sound is 44.1 kHz and ~1,400 kbit/s.  The MP3 is compressed, so the bit rate is obviously less.
The other consideration is whether your player's flash can be upgraded.  The downside to this is having it run very slowly.
Another consideration is how you will use it, whether it will be jogging or setting in a cradle to a bigger sound system.

Thank you. So as I understand, it does not matter which player I have as long as it can handle higher sound quality (192kbps and 320kbs).

I am in no way an audiophile or have equipment that can manifest the differences, but when the original Shuffle came out, reviewers said that it offered the best audio quality of the whole iPod line, so I think the chips in the device do matter to some extent (although, yes, your speakers/headphones will have a bigger impact).

Well, now I know I have to find some cool headphones;)

I am a big fan of Sennheiser's headphones, both in-ear and over-the-ear. I used to sell high-end audio and they do a really good job with the design and construction. They have a neutral sound that I really like. I also have some of Bose's $100 in-ear, and prefer the Sennheisers over them too.

@Greg I bought the Bose AE2 once, but was so disappointed (it was a "random" purchase at that time) - I gave it to my father. Then I got some Sennheisers for ~$110 and they did sound more natural even though they were in a whole different price category. These were open headphones which had gold plated connectors and came with adapters and a little pocket. Both the audio quality and the overall package are a lot more attractive.

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


text:
Why can't I transfer purchases from my jailbroken iPhone 3GS to iTunes?
I have a jailbroken iPhone 3GS and I cannot transfer purchases to iTunes.
This is a recent issue; I could transfer purchases earlier.

If it is jailbroken, why not just open the phone through your file browser and retrieve the files?

are both the iPhone and iTunes signed into the same iTunes account?

@asandwhich How would we go about doing that?

If both iTunes and the iPhone are logged into the same iTunes account and you still can't sync the apps and you don't want to play with the iPhone too much (jailbreaking does weird things sometimes, seemingly irrelevant stuff can break things), you can just download the apps again in iTunes. All purchases can be re-downloaded for free.


text:
Multiple users on one machine and Dropbox
If UserA logs in to an OS X machine (at the GUI) and starts Dropbox, UserB logs in via ssh and adds a file to their Dropbox, will Dropbox work for UserB? Or does UserB need to log in via the GUI also, and then "switch" (not log out) to UserA?

log in via ssh?! I didn't know dropbox supported that. are we talking about apple "drop box" or http://www.dropbox.com ?

Log into the Mac running the Dropbox.com desktop client. I have tried to clarify the question.

DropBox does not support not-logged-in users. The solution seems to be the following:
Log in and start Dropbox from the command line:
alias dropbox='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox &'
dropbox # start it.

ps aux | grep -i dropbox # shows multiple instances running

The above technique seems to work. Error messages are sent when the second Dropbox launches:
already someone listening at socket

RegisterApplication(), FAILED TO establish the default connection to the WindowServer, _CGSDefaultConnection() is NULL.

But everything appears to work.

The Dropbox app runs as the logged-in user, and uses user-specific preferences to determine which Dropbox it's associated with and where the local Dropbox folder is located, so I'd assume that means that it only works for the logged-in user. There's only one way to find out for sure though - try it and see! :)

I've tried it and it doesn't work, but I thought it is supposed to support this setup.


text:
Multiple apps in one icon for the iPad
My husband's iPhone has the multi app icon and wanted to get the same on my new iPad.
Is it possible to get it on the iPad?

Could you clarify what you mean by "multi app icon"? Are you referring to iOS Folders?

I think you are talking about iOS folder. If so, touch and hold one icon till icons begin dithering. Then drag and drop one icon on an other icon which of two you want to folder together. Your ipad will suggest you a folder name. You may change or assume that. Then push the home button.

Also, the iPad must be updated to iOS 4.2 to have this functionality


text:
Time Machine backup is slow. How can I speed it up?
My time machine is backup is very slow. Connection is FireWire 800. Transfer is around 5 Mb/s or 0.5 MB/s, which seems slow. I've seen plenty of mention online of very slow Time Machine backups. What are some techniques or suggestions to speed this up?
I have:

Run the Disk Utility Repair tool. Everything is fine.
Disabled Spotlight on the remote disk

Searching for backupd in system.log gives the following:
13:29:33 Starting standard backup
13:29:33 Backing up to: /Volumes/BACKUP_DISK/Backups.backupdb
13:29:36 Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
13:29:36 Waiting for index to be ready (101)
13:29:55 Node requires deep traversal:/ reason:must scan subdirs|new event db|
13:42:53 No pre-backup thinning needed: 39.84 GB requested (including padding), 71.68 GB available
13:42:53 Waiting for index to be ready (100)
14:23:37 Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.
14:29:39 Copied 2.0 GB of 28.7 GB, 69560 of 113624 items
15:29:57 Copied 2.8 GB of 28.7 GB, 69560 of 113624 items
16:30:00 Copied 3.3 GB of 28.7 GB, 69560 of 113624 items
17:30:04 Copied 3.8 GB of 28.7 GB, 69560 of 113624 items
18:30:07 Copied 4.3 GB of 28.7 GB, 69560 of 113624 items
18:51:23 Bulk setting Spotlight attributes failed.
19:30:07 Copied 4.8 GB of 28.7 GB, 69999 of 113624 items
20:30:19 Copied 5.4 GB of 28.7 GB, 69999 of 113624 items
21:30:28 Copied 6.2 GB of 28.7 GB, 69999 of 113624 items
21:38:36 Stopping backupd to allow ejection of backup destination disk!

What is the speed of copying a resonably large file to the disk TM is on? This is to see if TM or the disk is the issue

Transfer rates to the disk are 500 Mb/s == 50 MB/s. Normal FW800 speeds.

Make sure the firmware is bang up to date. Mine wasn't and was slow, but got faster since then.

What firmware? OS X System Software? OS X EFI updater? I keep up-to-date however Software Updater tells me to, so AFAIK this isn't the issue.

Unfortunately, the solution in this case was:
Format disk (lose old backups)

Now the disk backs up at full speed.

Was it not formatted as HFS+J?

It was and still is. Nothing changed, just wiped it and everything worked fast.

@mankoff How odd!

It's no surprised that this would improve speed - you started again from scratch. Was the drive previously pretty full? How big is your TM drive compared to the total size of all the disks its backing up? I'd surmise that it was probably spending a ton of time 'thinning', which is throwing out in-between versions of files to make more room for newer versions.
Have a look at 'Console' and put 'backupd' in the Search box. Scroll back to before you formatted.. any clues?

Good suggestion. Drive was not full. Internal is 300GB used of 500GB. Backup drive was 500GB and had 71GB free. I've posted sample system.log output into the original question rather than here so it can be formatted properly. Doesn't seem to be thinning, but there may have been a spotlight issue, although spotlight was disabled on that drive.

This is not surprising. Hard drives are known to slow down when they reach the last 15%-20% of their capacity. Also I find Drobo drive enclosures to be slower than real external drives over the same interface (USB2, Firewire). One trick to keep a disk fast is to create a 25% partition and tell Time Machine to use the 75% partition. Use the other 25% sparingly.

I saw the same thing with 60% free space (1.2TB / 2.0 TB).  I partitioned the free space and did a fresh (300GB) backup which was FASTER than a 16GB incremental backup on the old partition of the same ext USB3 drive.  It seems it is the number of previous backups (or some property of them) that was causing the slowdown in my case. PS: Same in High Sierra & Mojave.

On El Capitan to High Sierra OS - the io is throttled in some cases. You can review these steps in case they apply in your case. Not everyone sees this speed up, but it shouldn’t be hard to test and reverse if it doesn’t help you. Anyone on Mojave and newer should look to other fixes like testing a backup to a blank or erased drive.
Time Machine ridiculously slow after El Capitan upgrade
The throttle should be evident in observing the backupd usage of the filesystem:
sudo fs_usage backupd

Writing a command to /etc/sysctl.conf and then restarting should disable that throttle:
echo 'debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf

Or without restarting:
sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0

You'll want to watch for other performance issues (extra CPU usage, other IO slowing, increased energy usage when backing up) after making that low level system tuning adjustment.

To change the setting live without restarting, use sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0. Use the sysctl.conf to ensure that the change is kept after reboot.

For me, this doesn't seem to be speeding things up past the ~5MB/s it was at before. I'm on Catalina, and moving data from an encrypted internal SSD to an encrypted Time Machine SSD over USB 3.1.

Yes @spacetyper it never made things faster for me, but some people loved it. I should add most people seem to think it’s ignored on 10.13 and newer... what OS version did you test?

@bmike This was on 10.15.6

@spacetyper good points. Hopefully the edit makes this more helpful.

According to this thread:
Delete the "in progress" folder on the TM drive and then things will operate at a normal speed.
Note: That did not fix the problem in my case.

Worked for me. InProgress file seemed locked and took time to delete.

You could try renaming the /.Spotlight-V100 folder on the TM volume.  I've never tried this but Spotlight is used to decide which files are new/changed since the last backup.  The only thing that comes to mind in reading your question, is maybe the index is broken and needs to be rebuilt, and TM in the mean time is running that search live, rather than indexed.
Long shot.

Deleting the .Spotlight-V100 folder and adding that drive to the System Prefs > Spotlight > Privacy list seems to have helped. I'll check if this works again on my other slow drive.

If it's worked, great.  I'm not sure though if preventing the TM drive from being indexed properly is a good idea though.  I suppose once the initial backup is done you could remove the drive from the privacy list and allow it to re-build the index.

Not a good idea? Seems like an obvious flaw that they allow it to be indexed at all. Why would I want spotlight to index the backup drive?

Time Machine makes heavy use of Spotlight to determine which files need to be backed up.

Add the Time Machine disk to the Privacy list of Spotlight (in System Preferences) so that Spotlight does not spend time accessing that drive.

Spotlight is an integral part of TM, and you can't stop Stoplight from indexing a TM backup. Adding the drive to the exclusion list will only affect other files outside of TM on the drive.

Fragmentation
In my experience, it's very common for the catalog B-tree to become very fragmented. On a volume that is both large and full, this type of fragmentation can have a significant effect.
At any time
Use the demo version of iDefrag to view statistics.
When the backup volume is as close as possible to full
Consider using the Metadata algorithm of the full version of Defrag, or a comparable utility, to defragment the catalog and other critical files.
(For a Time Machine backup volume, don't bother with full defragmentation.)
Other utilities
fileXray — this alone can not defragment the relevant files, but for analysis: I know of nothing better than fileXray.
Cross reference
Do Macs need to be defragmented?

I know this is an old answer, but is it safe to run iDefrag on a Time Machine backup (which has numerous directory hard links)?!

fsck_hfs -dyf -Race /dev/<disk#s#> will check the filesystem and rebuild attribute, catalog, and extent overflow tree. I tried it on a time machine drive multiple times and it does not break anything.

It could also be related to MRT process. For me, when I removed MRT process, backup speed becomes normal. By the way, MRT is sth called malware remove tool which comes with the security update and it will take lots of CPU to do scanning work. There are some articles on how to remove it.

Rather than mentioning there are "some articles" we prefer someone to answer with those articles summarized and linked so people can understand. The speculation about MRT seems spot on, but is that documented elsewhere either?

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


text:
Is there a standard delay for consumer ratings of apps on the App Store?
I have an app that's been out for a couple of weeks. Its not exactly selling like hot cakes yet, but I'm pretty sure I've gotten a rating or a review by now. But nothing shows when viewing either in iTunes or directly on the AppStore on the iPhone.
Is there a standard delay as to when ratings/reviews show up, that Apple imposes, especially for new apps? Or do you think there is some problem with Apple's system?

My experience is there is a fairly big delay in reviews showing up - but I would expect even the first review to get published within a month of posting should other ratings and reviews arrive for that app to separate it from an app that has less than 100 downloads ever.
I don't know for sure, but the ratings seem to be held back until 10 or 20 are submitted. Once you reach that limit the store will show the overall rating and only new versions get ratings once they hit their threshold (but a message stating not enough ratings are in to show).
It makes sense for users to expect a few points before any app gets zero or five stars and makes the ratings a useful measure that some handful of people expressed an opinion before they are shown.
After hearing about the delays, I've sometimes checked and my experience with about 50 reviews where I cared to check back, the shortest time was about 24 hours and the longest was 2 weeks for a review to appear. I've not had one not eventually get published, but I also don't generally review apps that have hundreds of reviews which is much harder to find your needle in the haystack of other reviews. I generally star those apps or write something and not bother to check if it ever made it live.

From a users standpoint, you only see reviews from the app store/country you are logged into. I have accounts on the China, US and NZ app stores, and notice significantly more reviews on the American and Chinese sites than the NZ one (unsurprisingly I might add). Perhaps you are logged in to an app store with less users/less likely to have reviews?
Maybe you can link us to you app so we can have a look at it. Good luck.

All these answers seem well enough, but I've made shining, 5 star reviews in the past (in America, with games I've bought and am logged into) that have yet to appear.  In the meantime, the illiterate smeghead who's dropped F-bombs every other word... he has 19 reviews showing, all made in the last 2 weeks.
I am more willing to believe that they're just waiting for a grouping of reviews, rather than reviewing reviews for viewable content.
It all seems disorganized to me.  I don't think the employess hired to improve this process have any real idea what they're doing.

yeah, it's really obnoxious to just not understand what is going on or how it's supposed to work.  i would actually write more reviews if it didn't often seem to be a total waste of time.  it makes sense to have an approval process, but at least with Amazon.com reviews, you get a notification when your review has gone live.  i'm writing this because a review i did last night still hasn't shown up.  i'm confused regarding whether or not i actually submitted it, or what. it had nothing controversial in it.  what a pain in the ass.

I know that they wait for a set number of ratings before displaying, and I imagine that reviews are subject to moderation.
These things might be especially true for new apps/developers.


text:
Disabling default keyboard on iPad with iOS 4.2
I have enabled 3 languages and use their keyboards, but the default keyboard still insists on popping up. Bought in Bangkok, using in Europe.Can I disable this unnecessary keyboard or am I stuck with it??

Go into Settings -> General -> Keyboard
Tap Edit
Tap and hold the "handle" (it looks like three horizontal bars) on English and drag it to the bottom

Or you can disable it outright.

Well, that did not work.it deleted the English kb ok, but NOT
the default, which doesn't even show up in the settings...
Anybody??


text:
How to set a Monospace Font for Dashboard Sticky Notes Widget?
I would like to use a monospaced font on the Sticky Notes in Apple's Dashboard widget.
However, only a few fonts can be selected, none of which is monospaced.

This is possible, because widgets are HTML, CSS, and JavaScript based. Here's how:
First, go to /Library/Widgets and find the Stickies one. Copy it to ~/Library/Widgets and name it myStickies (or something else).
Close the Stickies widget in Dashboard.
Now, go to the myStickies.wdgt version you copied and right-click it. Choose Show Package Contents.
In the new window that appears, right-click on the Stickies.js file and open it with your favorite JavaScript editor (if you don't have one, TextWrangler is great and free).
Now, use the editor to find the line var fontArray = new Array; (should be around line 407). You'll see below that line a bunch of lines similar to each other, saying something like fontArray["font name"] = 1,. You want to copy the last one of those (American Typewriter), and paste it back below itself. Then, change it so it looks like this: fontArray["Courier New"] = 8;
Save and close this file.
Now, open (from the same folder) Stickies.html in an HTML editor (TextWrangler works).
Find the line that says, <select id='font-popup' class='popup' onchange='fontchanged(this);'> (should be about line 40).
Below that, you'll find a bunch of lines similar to each other, each beginning with <option value. Copy the one for Gill Sans, and paste it below itself.
Edit it to say <option value ="Courier New">Courier New</option>.
Save and close this file.
Open Terminal and type killall Dock. This restarts Dashboard.
Now, double click the myStickies widget file you made. It will open in Dashboard. Follow the normal procedure of clicking the i and changing the font. You'll have a Courier option, and it will be that font. Yay!


text:
Getting music from a dead iPod Touch
I have a 3rd generation iPod touch with a dead battery and want to get the music off of it for my new one.
It powers up fine with the AC power cord but nothing with the PC's USB.
Any short fix besides sending it out for a new battery?

It sounds like your touch is consuming more power then your USB port can deliver at run-time.  See if you can find a PC that can supply enough current to get it to boot on a PC and use one of those non-apple sanctified recovery software.

I feel like I am perpetuating a myth, but here goes:
Laptops USB drives supposedly give out less power than workstation USB drives. Try using the USB port on a workstation.

Have you checked the USB cable?  Try it with your friends USB cable and see if that works.
Shouldn't your music be in iTunes anyway?

"Shouldn't your music be in iTunes anyway?" Only music that was purchased from there would be. I have a lot of my CD collection on my iPod, which is probably about 30GB worth, and that's not on iTunes.

How did you get it on your iPod without it being in iTunes?


text:
Playback on ipod touch
When I synch downloaded podcasts eg BBC History magazine podcast, they playback so fast on the ipod touch it is unlistenable even though it sounds normal on my laptop. Is there some setting on the ipod I need to change. Audio cds work fine on both.

When playing a podcast, a single tap in the album art area toggles the top bar on and off. The top bar shows position in the podcast, has an email icon on the left and a rewind 30 seconds icon in the middle. The icon on the right toggles between 1x, 2x and 1/2x speeds, so check that this is set to 1x. The icons on this bar are different for music tracks than for podcasts (repeat, genius and shuffle).
It's possible the ipod has got into 2x speed mode. I had this the other day, and either toggling the speed mode or pausing and playing again solved it, don't remember which.
Edit: today I had this problem. It seemed that the fast foward button was down, because the pause button was behaving oddly with this weeks "PC Pro" podcast, and the x1 x2 button didn't fix it. Strangley, clicking the home button until the spotlight search appeared seemed to be a temporary fix. Then playing with the transport buttons fixed it completely.


text:
personal folder in outlook stored on network share available on iphone?
I am looking to swap out a BlackBerry for an iPhone from Verizon. On the BlackBerry we use an older version of the desktop synchronization software and I can access personal folders (Outlook 2007 and Exchange Server 2007) stored on a network share. Can you do that from an iPhone?

Do you mean when you're on that local network, or from outside via the Internet?

It resides on a departmental share drive on the network.  That drive is mapped through group policy. The personal folders are, of course, mapped to the desktop inside outlook 2007.  The BB synch manager allows those folders linked in outlook to also be synched to the BB.  Can the Iphone (or a 3rd party app) do the same? While on the BB if you move an email from your inbox into a folder in your personal folder it moves it on the desktop as well.

It appears that this works while using a VPN. The iPhone talks to the Exchange group policies, and can use all the mail folders (although, IMAP may be necessary for this). For more info, see this Apple doc (page 9).


text:
Can I disable the iPhone's auto-rotation to landscape mode?
I can't stand iPhone's auto-rotation feature, e.g. rotate your phone just past some threshold, and the screen rotates from portrait to landscape.
This is always tripping me up, especially when I'm lying down and simply want to read my iPhone in portrait mode.
Is there a way to just disable the feature altogether?

It's really annoying isn't it. Pretty much the only reason I jailbreak is for Rotation Inhibitor.

Also of interest is a manner to lock in landscape mode which isn't as easy as the portrait lock - http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/78897/how-do-i-lock-iphone-5-in-landscape-mode

@Rich, I wonder which selfstyled usability guru in Apple invented auto-rotate.

Before iOS 4 - jailbreak software changes could do this.
For iOS 4 and later, the lock function easily sets a portrait mode for all apps that run in both portrait and landscape.
You can lock the screen rotation on the iPhone 3GS and 4, running iOS 4, to portrait only by double pressing the Home button (bringing up the task switcher), swiping right to show the media controls and pressing the left most icon (looks like a refresh button), the rotation lock. When locked you will see a padlock in the icon and a new status bar icon of the same design.
Note: this does not affect applications which only run in landscape mode, such as most games.
Edit: Video of how to do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYkUzYXtZT0

I was disappointed that Apple didn't make this lock to the current orientation. It is simple and would make the built-in functionality much more useful.

@g I imagine this is because the iPhone does not have a landscape home screen (or phone, or calendar, or maps, or iTunes, or ...) orientation. It would lock landscape applications, say Safari, to landscape and you would need to rotate the iPhone every time you close and open the application. Portrait is the iPhones native orientation, unlike the iPad which doesn't really have a native orientation and thus locking to current mode makes more sense.

Could be, but that isn't a great reason; you have to rotate it anyway for applications that only run in landscape mode.

No, there is no way to disable the accelerometer on an official iPhone.
Apparently for Jailbroken iPhones, there is a Cydia app called 'Rotation Inhibitor' (thanks JeffP) that lets you disable tilting for Safari and music mode. Info is here, but I have no experience with it.

If you read the comments on that post, the program on Cydia is called "Rotation Inhibitor"

There's also the app iNoRotate

On iOS 7+:

Slide your finger from the bottom of the screen upwards. A menu called Control Center should appear.

Click on the lock icon.

With the advent of the iOS 6+ Accessibility feature "Guided Access", there is a workaround for this. It limits a few things but it completely works if you really need a solution.

To enable the feature you will use, navigate to Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access and flip the toggle to ON. Set a passcode.
Navigate to the app you wish to lock rotation in, and rotate the device to a landscape orientation.
Triple-click the Home button. Depending on how other Accessibility options are set, you may need to then select Guided Access from a popup that appears.
Select Options and disable Motion. Press Done, followed by Start.

This will now lock the rotation in a lanscape orientation! Unfortunately it also disables all hardware buttons, so you will be unable to switch apps, lock the device, or adjust the volume until you triple-click the Home button again to disable Guided Access.


text:
How to install iPhone apps through OTA without iTunes interaction?
I am following this guide on how to install iPhone apps thru OTA without iTunes.
I have the following questions:

I only have a $99 developer program membership, not the enterprise program. The guide says this also works with normal ad-hoc distribution as well. Can I use my ad-hoc provisioning profile itself to do this?
I am testing with the iPhone 4 Simulator, as I don't have a physical iOS 4 device. But when I click on the "Provisioning profile" link, the simulator throws an error:

Cannot install profile. Safari could not install a profile due to unknown error.

When I click on the .plist link as mentioned in the guide, it doesn't do anything that looks like this.

Can I test this installation on the iPhone 4 simulator? What could be the reason for this failing?

guide link is broken to me, right now.

I'm going to vote to close. I think a question how an end user might use TestFlight would be appropriate, but this question is more of a developer question - how to sign your own apps, how to manage configuration profiles and code signing and then how to enable that for Over the Air updates. All good questions, just a bit off topic for here.

The Simulator does not use a bundled .ipa file; it uses the constituent application.  Furthermore, the Simulator runs an x86 version of the application with tweaked x86 versions of the iOS frameworks.  In other words, there is no good way to get an .ipa package to run in the Simulator.  The original developer could build for simulator then provide you with the relevant contents of ~/Library/Application\ Support/iPhone\ Simulator/User/Applications/ but that's really your only hope as far as I know.

Interesting, I hadn't realised quite how it worked. Thanks for sharing.

I know of two ways to install apps on iPhone without using iTunes: through a complicated process on a jailbreaken phone or through some 3rd party service.

+1 for that 3rd party service. I discovered testflightapp.com last week and have been DELIGHTED with it. My clients LOVE that I can pump new betas out to them without having to bring their phone to my office, or them even having to touch iTunes.

Testflight is Apple's inflight service for distributing betas. Absolutely helpful and valuable service. We are picked this service within minutes.


text:
App to video chat between iPod Touch 4 and Android phone?
I am looking to do a video chat between an iPod Touch 4 and an Android phone (not sure which version, but less than a year old).  Both of these devices have video cameras and microphones, I'm just not sure the easiest way to video chat between the two.  Any suggestions?

Yahoo! Messenger, Skype or Fring should do.

Tango will also work.


text:
Magic Trackpad / Mouse very spongy on Windows 7 with Bootcamp Update Drivers
It seems to me that both, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad respond differently on Windows.
While using them with Mac OS X feels natural, on Windows 7 with drivers extracted from Bootcamp Upgrade, it feels spongy / laggy / delayed / with latency, no matter what the mouse settings are. So I feel like I'm not in touch with the mouse pointer (cursor).
It makes me sad that I should not be able to use this excellent hardware on my Windows PC, and I would like to know if this can be fixed.

How much memory do you have?

Can we do anything else to help you find an answer? Please edit or flag this if you need assistance.

I have experienced this as well (from MS mice in O SX and Apple mice in Win7).  I have reported this issue -- I think Apple's "doesn't work well with Windows" bugs get tossed on the back burner and forgotten (until they start to cause a stink).
In the mean time, this is what I have observed:

Completely disconnecting hardware before restart helps (Unpair/disconnect/turn off everything)
Microsoft USB hardware needs to be physically disconnected during/before reboot to work well in OS X
Plan B -- Use VMware Fusion to run Windows.  How much is it really necessary to have fu only for serious hardware needs.  I do this just so that I can use my magic mouse and bluetooth keyboard without trouble.
Have a cheap MS USB wireless arc mouse handy (the top-heavy laser resembles behavior of the magic mouse)

Other thoughts:

I had this problem in Ubuntu also -- if my MS mouse was left connected during a reboot from Win to Ubuntu (and Ubuntu to Win), the mouse would act funny.  The problem was solved by disconnecting and reconnecting.

In regards to the Magic Trackpad, I have seen this issue as well, and found it on other sites noted as a probably bug. The workaround they suggested, which I also found beforehand, was to do a physical click (press down to make it click). After that, it becomes responsive.

I was/am having this issue as well. Although, my trackpad wasn't lagging or delayed, it would start off fine, and then, over a period of time, it would start to loose sensitivity. It was like my trackpad couldn't read my finger on it. After reading user3719's answer, and making a physical click with the trackpad, it started working perfectly again, like I had just rebooted it. Killer trick, user3719. I don't know where you found that out, but it worked like a charm for me.

I was having a problem with a bluetooth mouse under Windows 8 with Boot Camp. The mouse worked fine in OS X.
In the end I found there is a property on the wireless network card called
'bluetooth collaboration' that can be enabled when in Windows. This fixed the problem for me and now the bluetooth mouse works perfectly.
Open Device Manager, find the network adapter and look at it's properties. On the advanced tab find Bluetooth Collaboration and make sure it is enabled.
http://blog.craigharvey.me/2012/09/08/macbook-pro-boot-camp-and-bluetooth-mice-in-windows/


text:
Jailbroken iphone not charging - neither through USB nor through the A/C adapter!
I use the first generation iphone. My warranty is up like two years ago and I have already jailbroken my phone. It was functioning just fine until one day suddenly my laptop stopped detecting my iphone. I reconnected the device to a PC and the same thing happened. I guess its my mistake that I ignored it!. Then one day while I was riding on my bike,to my absolute horror the phone suddenly slipped from my pants pocket and fell on the rough concrete. I ran and checked but except for a few scratches on the back, it looked just fine, it jus got switched off. I switched it back on and it was working just fine. A week went by while I ignored my phone's inability to connect to any PC whatsoever. It was then that the issue started, Now my phone is not charging at all!. Sometimes either through a stroke of luck or a vigorous shake from me, it resumes charging! Help me out Please!. What am I to do to get it back to normal?!

have you tried a different cable?

It doubt the external physical cable connector was damage, as it is protected by the phone's chassis. More likely, an internal cable connector has popped loose or worse, been broken. You will likely have to take the phone apart and verify everything inside is working... or keep shaking your phone to get it to charge ;)

if you still have warranty on it :

I would suggest you restoring the
  iphone to factory settings and taking
  it to the nearest Apple store.

else :

I believe there is a hardware issue
  (loose connection). Since it is a 3G
  iPhone (warranty may have expired
  unless you got AppleCare), it is not
  difficult to open up and see whats
  going on inside.

Hope it helps!
p.s : When you say 'stroke of luck', things get interesting. You may put your iPhone in Restore mode and then see if iTunes is recognizing it (if you at least have any charge, only then will it be possible to try this!).

Apple store won't even look at it if they know it's jailbroken.

I have sent my Jailbroken iPhones (2G, 3G, 3GS, 4) to Apple facility many a number of times. The trick is to factory reset every time you send it in. Try it but only if still under warranty. I am a registered Apple developer. This one time I got a free replacement on an out of warranty iPhone. Apple can be pricey but are great when it comes to service.

Check the cable slot on the iPhone. Is there any pocket lint in there? Try cleaning it out with some compressed air or gently clean it using a toothpick. I had some very strategic lint block just the right pins to cause this issue on my iPhone. Best of luck.


text:
Why has Snow Leopard screwed up my Safari and my desktop's ability to stay organized
Ever since I installed snow leopard I get multiple safari crashes per day. And my desktop refuses to stay organized (by date modified)?

More info? What's the machine? How old? What kind of software is installed? Additional info would be helpful.

What version of Safari? Be sure to run Software Update from the Apple menu to make sure that everything's updated. My Safari crash issues were fixed in an update.

Sounds like you did an upgrade, perhaps with the help Migration Assistant?
Best way to deal with it?  Back up your data, and either
i) create a new account, pulling your data back in, but with a fresh library and settings or, better yet,
ii) reformat, re-install OS and create your account again, from scratch.  Pull the data in manually.
Upgrading, and/or migration assistant, often doesn't go well when automated.  Just the nature of the beast. If you're not entirely comfortable doing this, get a pro to do it.  Trust me.

OK it does go wrong sometimes but I suspect rarely not often

@Mark.. this is based on my experience as an Apple-certified technician.  :-)  I am an ACTC, I do Mac consulting for a living.  Your experience with migrations may be completely different... my experience has been that if you don't do it manually, problems are almost inevitable.


text:
Chrome and Firefox not remembering session
I just switched to the Mac, and I installed Firefox and Chrome. For some reason, I can't get the functionality for opening the tabs and windows from the last session to work either browser.

Mac OS X 10.6.6
Firefox 3.6.13
Chrome 8.0.552.237

I have tried making different profiles and reinstalling the browsers but nothing works.
I have looked everywhere and can't come up with a solution. Any help is appreciated.
EDIT: Safari's "Reopen All Windows from Last Session"  also doesn't restore last session windows.
EDIT 2: I just noticed that quitting the browser (versus closing it by clicking the x button) and restarting it does resume the last session in every browser.

Seeing your comment, this is because when you click the X on a Mac app, you are only closing the window, not the Application itself (like it does in Windows). Therefore you were still in a 'current' session, and that session had no windows.

I guess I have still to learn from the intrinsics of the Mac, but it does make sense. Thanks for the answer.


text:
Space in Volume Name; can you remove?
I have two drives in my machine:

An SSD with the OS on it
a HDD with all my data.

I have a symlink on the SSD for my home directory on the HDD so /Volumes/SSD/Users/Ross/ points to /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/Ross. The Macintosh HD drive is the original boot disk. I'm trying to get rid of the space in the volume name, but when I do I get all kinds of errors. I thought it was a simple as updating the symlink but it doesn't seem to be.
I tried just option-clicking the drive and renaming, which worked but I started to get a lot of application errors.  For example, Terminal won't even open. Also, a lot of the Ruby gem installers don't handle spaces well.

Is this your main, boot drive or an external drive? External drives are mounted in /Volumes/{Drivename}/

I have two drives in the machine, an SSD with the OS on it and a HDD with all my data. I have a symlink on the SSD for my home directory so /Volumes/SSD/Users/Ross/ points to /Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/Ross.  The Macintosh HD drive is the original boot disk.  I'm trying to get ride of the space in the volume name, but when I do I get all kinds of errors.  I thought it was a simple as updating the symlink but it doesn't seem to be.  Maybe logging in as another user?

I'm having the same type of issue at the moment trying to install some gems.  Unbelievably frustrating.

Yes, you can remove it, but you'd need to Reboot for it to take effect.
I don't recommend renaming it - the vast majority of applications handle the space just fine.
If you have a handful of problematic programs, then just create a soft link to your desired location:
sudo ln -s /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Ruby\ Stuff /Ruby


text:
Wi-Fi auto-disconnect for iPhone?
Is there an app to disconnect an iPhone from a Wi-Fi router at a specific time, other than just turning off Wi-Fi?

What are you trying to achieve by doing this? As Chris says,  a lot of routers have this kind of setting, so that may be your best bet.

You may be able to configure the router to only allow WiFi access to the iPhone during certain times of day.  This isn't a connection timeout so much as a parental control over the time of day WiFi is allowed.  The setting is located in your routers admin interface.


text:
Can I buy an iPhone 4 in another country?
I want to know if I buy a iPhone 4 in another country if I take it home to Denmark where I live, can I then reinstall it so it uses the Danish keyboard and the iPhone is on Danish?

Yes, you can buy a SIM-lock free iPhone 4, such as the ones that get sold in the UK or in Belgium and use them anywhere else in the World where iPhones are supported by local providers.
Be aware that the UK phone ships with a different electrical plug.
Language settings can be set from within the iOS preferences. I have mine running with multiple different keyboard layouts; and you can also set the main language of the device, just as you can set the language of any MacOS device to any installed language (usually quite a few). The nice thing is, that usually all apps also respect that language choice if they provide translations.

iOS devices (and I believe Macs too) come with all supported languages, you just need to choose Danish. You will also be able to choose Danish keyboard, on iOS it is very easy to enable more than one international keyboard and switch between them if you want to do that.
Assuming you are buying an unlocked iPhone 4 all you will need to make sure is that you have a micro sim, or cut down your existing sim card.

I can turn on the Danish keyboard and Danish language options on my US iPod touch, so yes. Whether a Danish carrier will support it (you'll need to get an unlocked phone or you'll have to manually unlock it).


text:
iPhone 3g (iOS 3.1) screen rotation problem
One evening, the screen of my iPhone 3g would no longer rotate. It was working fine that morning.
I haven't updated or installed any applications.

The process in charge of reading the accelerometer may be having troubles. I suggest you hold on your power/suspend button for 5 secs and then completely turn off your iPhone. After the phone has been turned off, press the power button again to start it (this will perform a "cold boot" of the phone). That's the equivalent of completely powering off a computer.
If the problem persists after the reboot, then you might have to restore your phone from a backup using iTunes.
Please provide more information or use the search tool in the upper right corner of the website to find similar answers on how to restore an iPhone from a Backup.


text:
Why am I asked for a credit card number to download a free app?
I  want to download free app in my iPod touch device and i have the following doubts.
Kindly resolve me doubts.

when i try to download it asks my credit card security number.
since i am trying to download free app , why do i need to provide my credit card security code?
Will i be debited for downloading the free app from app store?

I cant able to find any information regarding this on apple.
Please provide me some references about this from apple and please resolve my doubts.
Thanks a lot.


text:
Remote desktop iPhone app vs BT Home Hub 2.0
I got an app (RDP Lite) which lets me use my PC remotely when I set the IP address to my PC's and use it at home. So it's fine internally but when I want to try it externally I try setting it to my router's IP address, provided by BT Home Hub Manager under Home Network > IP Addresses, and that doesn't work.
I know I need to configure my router to allow incoming traffic to my default port for Windows XP, 3389, but I really don't know how. I've tried a few things like letting supported applications VNC to device 'IBM...etc' and removing the firewall temporarily but I'm shooting in the dark here.

I was about to buy that app, but I'm a long time user of LogMeIn Free were from here (Denmark) I help my mum and dad as well plenty of friends with their computer related problems back in my home country (Portugal)
LogMeIn Free was a fantastic as free solution, no hassle with proxies, routers or anything as it works with port 80 (http traffic).
So I bought the LogmeIn Ignition App and continue to use my access to all computers that i used before. It's a bit expensive ($29.99) but I bought it within a promotion discount and works marvelous and super fast!
I can now access any windows or mac computer from my iPhone or iPad with no worries.
It's just an idea.

love logmein too!

You need to do a few things:

Set up your PC to have a static IP address on your home network, you can do this two ways.  Either tell the router to always assign the same IP address to your PCs MAC address or tell the PC to take the same IP address when it starts up.  Best thing to do here is to search for your routers model number and the phrase 'static ip'
Have the router forward traffic on port 3389 to your PCs port 3389 via the port-forwarding section of your routers configuration panel
Identify the external IP of your router (go to www.whatismyip.com) or setup a dynamic DNS entry, try www.dyndns.com or www.no-ip.com
Tell the firewall on your PC to allow incoming traffic on port 3389
Make sure the PC is listening for your connection on the right port

It sounds like you're almost there, you might just be missing a small part.

It's usually called port forwarding but in your case it's most likely to be found under the 'applications' you mentioned in your router.
Make sure your PC has a fixed IP address and set up a rule in your router to forward all 'port 3389' traffic (that's the default port for the RDP protocol) to the IP address of your PC. Then try to connect your RDP client on your phone using your public IP address.
Quit often routers allow you to map inbound traffic on a specific port to a local IP address on another port. That's usefull if you want to control multiple PC's behind a router, if it's just one, use the same portnumber, 3389 in your case.


text:
How do I use RemotePC to access a Mac from an iPad?
I want to use RemotePC, but it needs an internet connection. I don't understand why; I only want to remotely control my Mac from an iPad, so a local network should be enough… right?

Macs come with VNC automatically, no additional install. If you can trust everyone on your local network and your VNC ports are closed on your router/firewall, then I would just turn it on. There is a check box under advanced remote management or remote desktop options that says something about allowing VNC users to log in. There's an optional password field. I use iTeleport then to VNC into my mac. There are other cheaper VNC programs too, but iTeleport is pretty excellent.

I use www.logmein.com. I am not sure how well it works nativly, but with the $30 ignition app, it works great.  The one thing that might not be best for you is that it is web based - you have to do it over the internet - a local network with no internet access would not work.

ActyMac DutyWatch Remote is a good app for remote control, and provides access from an iPad.

RemotePC is designed to connect over the internet - i.e. when you are not on the same network. If you want to connect over e.g. a ad hoc network, look for a VNC client such as Screens or iTeleport (my favorites). They are both great.
http://edovia.com/screens
http://www.iteleportmobile.com/
Both apps connect to a Screen Sharing enabled Mac. iTeleport can also connect via the internet, i.e. even if you are not on the same WiFi, using an extra application which you run on your Mac.
As for remote control - I would recommend either TouchPad or HippoRemote. They also work using VNC, but instead of showing you the screen, they give you a virtual trackpad/keyboard on you iDevice.
http://edovia.com/touchpad
http://hipporemote.com/


text:
iPhone Search does not find historic SMS messages
On my iPhone 4, I have a large number of SMS messages (I don't delete them at all).
If I want to search for text in a particular message, it appears not to search historic SMSes. In other words, unless the text is visible in the latest messages, viewable on the screen without tapping "Load Earlier Messages", it will not match my string.
Am I doing it wrong? Is this a known issue?

Apple does not search for very old text messages as it makes the search much slower. There is no setting to modify the period of messages it should go through, but if you really need this then you can jailbreak and SSH into your iPhone. You can then edit the .plist file and make it search for messages that are even 2 years old.
Note: This will significantly make the searching slow.

I'm not prepared to jailbreak for this feature. Thanks for your answer.

which .plist file to edit? and what changes are to made to view old messages in search. plz explain.

I know it isn't a solution for viewing on the iPhone but there is a program called DiskAid will allow you to view past messages on your computer. It uses your backup files from iTunes.

I've got a way to do it on the computer. I wanted a solution for the phone unfortunately. Thanks for your post.

Spotlight search not working as expected.
Taken from engineerings reply on the issue:
———
"What the customer is experiencing is actually considered expected behaviour.  With the release of iOS 10, customers are now only able to search the last 200 messages with Spotlight or the in app search. This would include the last 200 sent and received messages.
The 200 searchable messages limit is only after restoring from a backup prior to iOS 10.  This is why devices that had the same Messages database and were not restored from a backup when they upgraded to iOS 10 can still search prior to the 200 limit.
If the customer would like to see this function in a different manner going forward, please encourage the customer to submit feedback at apple.com/feedback. “


text:
How to stream iTunes content to Apple TV 2G without a Mac or PC?
I would like to upgrade my 1st-gen Apple TV and was wondering if it is possible to stream to new Apple TV from a NAS drive with iTunes server or an alternate method. I am not willing to go XBMC way since I would like to control my Apple TV though the Remote app for iOS.

The AppleTV does not understand network files.  You need some Apple device to send the video streams.

You can play media that originates on an iOS device using AirPlay to send it to the Apple TV. AirPlay is built in to iOS.
If you have a PC or Mac, you could turn on iTunes Match and send the entire library to the cloud. At that point, you could ditch the PC/Mac and let Apple TV play from the cloud. iTunes Match requires a yearly subscription fee.
Neither of these features requires you to have a Mac or a PC, but neither helps much if all your media is on NAS.

It's not possible to stream directly to the new Apple TV from a NAS.  You need a laptop/Mac in the middle.


text:
How can the colors of a single window be inverted in OS X?
How can the colors of a single window be inverted in OS X?

Please add some description of what you're looking for.  "Inverted" window colors is a bit ambiguous.

Not what you asked for, but could be useful to someone: To perform this change globally, press ctrl-opt-cmd-8.

You can use Command ⌘+Option ⌥+Control ⌃+8 to invert the video colours of the whole screen.
There's no way to just invert the colours of a single window.

Hmm. There definitely used to be. In 10.4.

In Mountain Lion, the Ctrl+Opt+Cmd+8 shortcut was deactivated. I first had to activate it for it to work via Keyboard Shortcuts in the System Preferences in the Accessibility tab.

Black light software does it, and it does even more.

Black light works on a screen-by-screen basis, but not by app or window.

This looks like a good option, as Black Light was most recently updated in December 2023.
(I'm not affiliated with the project)

⌘+⌥+ctrl+8 does the whole screen if that helps.
You could make the window full screen!


text:
How do I stream Mac audio to Linux computer?
is there any way to stream audio from my Mac to my Linux computer (my av receiver is connected to that)?

I think VLC can stream the audio over the network - take a look at http://www.videolan.org/doc/streaming-howto/en/

If you don't want to pay money for AirFoil, you can use SoundFlower on the Mac and ESounD or PulseAudio's ESounD-compatible module on the Linux machine. This article explains how to do that.

Nice, but not too easy to set up.

The easy setup isn't free. The free setup isn't easy. Pick your poison :)

The linked site is long gone, but it's saved here: https://web.archive.org/web/20130709082126/http://blog.haynberg.de/?p=14

You can use AirFoil ($25) for Mac to stream the sound to AirFoil Speakers for Linux (free).
This software works great.

This guide worked for me http://tdotc.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/sound-matters/
Summary:
Install Soundflower in your Mac.
# open network port 16002 to receive raw data for PulseAudio (in your receiver)
while true; do nc -l 16002 | pacat --latency-msec=1; done

# connect the audio input on OS X to a remote raw sound sink via esdrec and netcat (in your Mac)
esd -tcp -bind ::1 & sleep 2 && esdrec -s ::1 | nc <SERVER> 16002

works for me too. After trying some hours to connect with esd to pulseaudio (without success) this worked. Thanks!

With XBMC installed on a Linux machine and without any other software on my Mac, I can stream anything I want.
To do this:

Configure XBMC as an Airplay receiver : go to System > Services > Airplay and enable Airplay (I do not use password)
On your Mac, Open Audio Midi Setup
Right click on the Airplay item on the left side and choose “Use this device for sound output” from the Action pop-up menu.

Now, anything you play on your Mac should output to your Airplay device.
To reverse back to normal output (e.g. on a MacBook), right-click on another output (e.g. the standard speaker or integrated output) and choose “Use this device for sound output” from the Action pop-up menu.
See also : Audio Midi Setup: Set up your audio devices

Use ShairPort on the Linux box.
Everything can be setup within minutes with zero software installed on the Mac, which is what I wanted.
Install from PPA
This should work pretty straightforwardly on any Debian-based distro.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dantheperson/shairplay-sync
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install shairplay-sync

Install from source
These instructions are valid for Debian, and worked on my raspberry pi within minutes. Other distros/OS may need to adapt the packages to be installed.

Install Alsa:
 apt-get install alsa-utils alsa-oss libasound2 libasound2-plugins alsamixer

Install PulseAudio:
 apt-get install pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils

Install perl SDP. Follow instructions on the perl-net-sdp repo

Clone & install ShairPort:
 git clone https://github.com/hendrikw82/shairport.git
 cd shairport
 sudo make install
 sudo cp shairport.init.sample /etc/init.d/shairport
 sudo chmod a+x /etc/init.d/shairport
 sudo update-rc.d shairport defaults

(optional) Rename your receiver (like the room name):
 vim /etc/init.d/shairport

Change/add the following:
 DAEMON_ARGS="-w $PIDFILE -a AirPlayName"

Start all the services (PulseAudio, ShairPort, etc)

You can now redirect your audio output to your new ShairPort device by alt-clicking the sound icon on your Mac.

All of these instructions were found on this blog post and copied here briefly in case the link goes down.

Shairport works great. For me the installation from the repository worked out of the box:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dantheperson/shairplay-sync
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install shairplay-sync.
After this I found my server pressing alt+volume icon on my mac.

Oh, I didn't know there was a PPA for this. I'll update my answer with your information. Thanks!

This is also packaged for OpenWrt, so you can use your OpenWrt router together with a USB sound card as an AirPort station.


text:
What port does Skype for iPhone use?
I want to set up Skype to have priority on my router whem I'm skyping from my iPhone, but I can't figure out which port the app uses.
Any ideas?

I always thought skype used any open port because it just works anywhere everytime, behind proxies and firewalls unless it's blocked for specific traffic or per application on its own machine.

It seems that it's port 80 and port 443.  See this article on blocking of Skype 3G traffic
www.bluecoat.com/doc/486

Skype and firewalls

Ideally, outgoing TCP connections to
  all ports (1.65535) should be opened.
  This option results in Skype working
  most reliably. This is only necessary
  for your Skype connection to be able
  to connect to the Skype network and
  will not make your network any less
  secure.


text:
How can I use Gmail to sync my calendar between Mac OS X and Android?
I've recently bought an HTC Desire and I'd like to sync my calendar from my MacBook Pro (Os X 10.6.6) with the calendar from the phone. I suppose it would be easiest to do it over Gmail, but I'm not sure how. I checked their site, and there is a simple tutorial how to do it if you want Gmail calendar events in iCal, but I need the opposite. How to do that?

You might find this question on the Android site about syncing desktop Outlook calendars and contacts with Google and Android helpful: http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/1673/sync-setup-question-android-outlook-2010-gmail-calendar-and-contacts

The approach I took was to sync my phone with the gmail calendar and then sync iCal with google calendar. I don't sync directly between phone and mac.
I can add events on all three now and it will sync between all of them.
edit: I've been asked to post up a screengrab, but it honestly isn't needed. I've seen the guides on setting up CalDav but it's honestly not required, iCal has a really simply method to add an account which makes it extremely simple to do.

Launch iCal
Go to File -> Preferences
Delete any accounts you think you might have set up incorrectly
Add an account with the + button
Leave the account type as Automatic
Enter your google email address
Enter your google password

That is IT! I have a personal and work calendar on google calendar and it brought both in.

Thanks for the reply. You use Google calendar and you enter events to the Google calendar of iCal, or can you really sync events from the iCal to Google calendar and then have both? I hope you understand what I mean... Btw, I have three calendars in my iCal: home, work and holidays. I would like to have same thing on my phone and Gmail. I did the following: I copied all the events to Gmail calendar and then synced it to iCal. But then I had to delegate something and it looked really bad.. Can you explain exatly what you did and maybe put a screenshot of your iCal app?

Ivan, I have edited the answer with a few more pointers. Seriously, avoid the guides on the web, the current iCal software makes it very, very easy.

You are correct in thinking that the Google Calendar is the best way to go.
To sync between Google and your Mac you can set up the Google calendar as a CalDav, Google have a comprehensive guide for this. If you already have everything in iCal you may have to export them into the Google calendar web interface, this is just a case of selecting "Export" in iCal and "Import" in Google calendar. FWIW After using this hybrid approach for a while I've actually started using the Google calendar web interface rather than iCal as it is a bit more flexible and gives more are to work with.
I'm not too hot on how to set stuff up on Android, but I thought everything was linked to your Google account anyway? (Google do have a similar guide for Android, but I've not used it).

Once you've added your Google account on your Android device, it's dead-simple to sync the calendars.

If you're syncing Google Calendar to a Mac, be sure to checkout BusyCal.
(It's accurately referred to as "iCal Pro" and will sync to Google Calendars, MobileMe, or generic WebDAV calendars.)
There's a demo on their website.


text:
How can I map buttons on my PS3 controller to keystrokes on my Mac?
I purchased a PlayStation 3 controller for use with my Mac. It's paired via Bluetooth. It works great in emulators such as Snes9x, but I'd like to use it for other things as well. Is there any software that will allow me to map buttons on the controller to keystrokes?
I've tried USB Overdrive and as far as I can tell, it doesn't do what I want.
I'm on Mac OS X 10.6.6.

Yeah there's an application called "ControllerMate" that you can get here http://www.orderedbytes.com/controllermate/ . You pair the controller to the mac with USB (I think Bluetooth will work too but you might have to look up special instructions), then use this app to bind the controller functions to keys and mouse movements. It works really well. I used to use it to play things like Portal because they don't natively support the PS3 controller.

ControllerMate is by far the best solution!

Enjoy allows to map buttons to keystrokes.
Here is the mapping I determined for my PS3 controller (connected via Bluetooth):
The OSX mapping is used in games that directly support controllers, as Dustforce - where the SELECT button is mapped as pad0_btn3; there you would, of course, not use Enjoy.

Enjoy is a free program for Mac OS X 10.5+, focused on simplicity.

+------------------+---------------+-------------+
|      button      | Enjoy mapping | OSX mapping |
+------------------+---------------+-------------+
| left             |             8 |           7 |
| up               |             5 |           4 |
| right            |             6 |           5 |
| down             |             7 |           6 |
| L1               |            11 |          10 |
| L2               |             9 |           8 |
| R1               |            12 |          11 |
| R2               |            10 |           9 |
| select           |             1 |           0 |
| start            |             4 |           3 |
| PS-btn           |            17 |          16 |
| L3(left analog)  |             2 |           1 |
| R3(right analog) |             3 |           2 |
| ◻ square         |            16 |          15 |
| △ triangle       |            13 |          12 |
| ◯ circle         |            14 |          13 |
| X cross          |            15 |          14 |
+------------------+---------------+-------------+

You could try the procedure described here http://forums.macnn.com/77/gaming/377671/gaming-on-mac-with-ps3-controller/

The PS3 remote works with Remote Buddy if you're prepared to pay 20 euros (obviously test it out first though — it has a free trial period)


text:
4G iPod Touch internet speed incredibly slow with B/G WiFi router but fast with N
I have a B/G protocol modem/router and when I connect my iPod Touch (4G) to it, the internet access is incredibly slow (0,19 MB/s DOWN // 0,05 MB/s UP). So I've tried to create a new wifi (N) connection through the share menu on my iMac and connecting to it the iPod Touch has the normal speed one would expect.
I've also tried to restore wifi settings and restore from DFU my iPod but nothing changes.
Any idea on how to make my iPod Touch fast with my B/G modem?
Thanks

What is your definition of "fast", and why if you can create an N connection would you want the B/G?

Major question - is the internet as slow on other wireless devices/computers, or just the iPod Touch?

It is quite normal to see a real difference between 802.11b, g and n wireless networks.
The maximum network speed you can reach on this 3 different standards are:
IEEE     |        max speed        | ratio relative
standard |  radio     |  practical | to 802.11b
---------|------------|------------|---------------
802.11b  |  11 Mbit/s |   5 Mbit/s |   1
802.11g  |  54 Mbit/s |  25 Mbit/s |   5
802.11n  | 270 Mbit/s | 120 Mbit/s |  24

On the other hand, 802.11b, g and n use different radio channels.
You may consider these channels as different roads with different speed
limits and different amounts of traffic. Some of these channels may be
free when others may be congested.
Your problem isn't a problem, but rather the radiowave reality.
If you want to see it and even bring it under control,
I advise you to use iStumbler. This is an invaluable tool for wireless network tuning.

Could it be that your router's wireless channel or it's neighboring channels are occupied by many other wireless networks?
This is one reason a Wireless connection can experience huge slow down's. This would not be the case on an N-network as it operates in another frequency.

iPod touches only support the 2.4 Ghz band for 802.11n, so it will probably be on the same frequency.


text:
How does Apple AppStore rank search results?
I have an iOS application - an alarm clock. I released it a little over a month ago. Initially it was paid, but when I saw there were virtually no purchases (from 0 to 4 a day), I changed it to be free for a period of time. When it become free, in less than 10 days it has been downloaded more than 30,000 times, and more importantly (I think) it moved much higher in the search results when the user searches "alarm" - it reached 20th place in the results. During that time I also received very good reviews in the AppStore. But today I changed it back to paid, and now when I search "alarm" my app is shown at the bottom of the 4TH PAGE. Given that one page contains 120 apps, this is very bad for me and I don't understand why this happened. Can anyone tell me how does AppStore ranks search results and is there a way to move my app higher in the rankings, please? :) Huge thanks!

A total guess, but perhaps there's a heavy weighting on the gross earnings or number of paid purchases for apps that aren't free.

I'd venture to guess and say that the App Store ranking algorithm is a company secret, much like Google's web search rankings. It seems to me that the radical changes in placement you are witnessing are as much the fickleness of App Store customers as anything else.
Correlation isn't causation by any means, but it seems fairly clear by your description of the events that if you want a lot of downloads you will either have to make it free (and perhaps ad-supported?), or your alarm clock app needs to do something so unique amongst the plethora of alarm clock apps that customers will feel compelled to pay for it.

+1 Definitely a secret, and for one of the primary reason Google's is a secret: so people can't game the system, ensuring they get the best results.

The rankings are complicated and take many things into account. It's not publicly disclosed and the rankings are being tweaked over time as Apple learns what customers want (filtering shill reviews from demo codes, weighting reviewers and stars, aging older data out faster, recent sales data seems to be very important.) Also, there has been a see saw of whether a recently updated app, an app with an alternate availability date and the original date of release is sorted to the top. I would expect that to settle down to a mix of all three for a blended ranking.
In a nutshell - focus on making your app the best it can be - rest assured Apple will want to promote heavily the apps that make the most people happy. Don't try to SEO the store but instead make a small core audience very happy and expand from there. Make them so happy they legitimately want to leave stars and reviews. Initially apps got a bump asking for reviews and stars, but it seems lateely to have a negative back lash effect. How do you feel when you are interrupted at exactly the moment you chose to use an app and it hits you with an ask for promotion. Many reviews now express that rather than what is good about the app.
You will hopefully get your moment in the sun and then it will pass. Only the hard work of long term word of mouth will help make an app a long term success.
Do ask for user feedback in the info or settings menu or in an opt-in mailing list from time to time - somewhere your die hard curious users will find and way out of the way of the normal function of your app.
I would follow the blogs of some of the best developers and they write often about when they notice changes and trends in the rankings. There have been purges of junk apps, purges of ones that obviously game the keywords, ones that had shill reviews (nonsense 5 stars for obviously crappy apps).
Here are several blogs worth watching for words of wisdom and astute app store policy commentary:

Craig Hockenberry
Marco Arment
Neven Mrgan
The Omni Group
James Thompson

+1 Great advice, and great suggestions for blogs to follow.


text:
DVD to iMovie converter for Mac 10.4.11
First of all, is there such a thing? All I want to do is be able to import film clips from DVDs into iMovie so I can make groovy youtube videos. Any suggestions for a Mac 10.4.11 user?

I use HandBrake. It's free and open, and works nicely.

You have so many choices on OS X. Here it goes, take a look at this tutorial link for your question answered step by step.
Other excellent (and easy!) software to use are:
-iRip it from The Little App Factory
-Permute from Fuel Collective
-iFlicks from Jendrick Bertram
I translated the last one in French for...French users ;)
Hope this will help you!

MacTheRipper also does a decent job of this, although the author makes it deliberately hard to get hold of. You need to join the forums at http://www.ripdifferent.com/forum to get download instructions.

Rip the DVD to an iMovie supported video format such as mov or mp4.

The question refers to OSX 10.4, the tool here requires Lion :-(

This question specifically asks for a solution in OS X Tiger.


text:
When minimizing, not have new window of same app come to focus
There's a couple of behavior's that I find very frustrating, and no luck yet in fixing them:
Imagine chrome with multiple windows open.  There's one in front, then another application, then the other chrome windows.  When I hit apple + M to minimize, another chrome window pops up, rather than showing me the other application, which would be desired.
Similarly, if I have chrome windows on multiple desktops.  If I'm using one application on the first desktop, go use chrome on the second, and switch back to the first, chrome will appear on top when all I want is the original application!
The wrong window appears on the foreground in leopard.
Thoughts? Thanks!

Not exactly what you want, but shift-cmd-m minimizes all the app's windows.

Have you considered using CMD-H to hide the application instead of minimize it? If you minimize a window, the app that owns that window is still the focused app, but if you hide an application, it will change focus to the next app in the switcher.
I can't help with the second part of your question. I assign apps to spaces so they don't clutter my spaces (even though they do sometimes - I'm looking at you, Photoshop).


text:
iPhone headset mic button not working
The little button that sits on the microphone of my iPhone headset stopped working.
Normally, pressing the button will pause a song, go to the next song if you double-click it, and go to the previous song if you triple-click it.
Now the button doesn't do any of these things, but the headphones and mic are working fine.

I discovered that the contact was not flush with the top of the iPhone but was a little bit above. When I looked inside the headphone jack with a flashlight it looked somewhat strange at the bottom. I straightened out a paperclip and managed to fish up a small lump of pocket lint that had probably been forming in there for half a year or so. Just wanted to deliver this as a tip for anyone who runs into the same problem, before you send your headphones back to Apple as broken as so many people seem to have done.


text:
How do I use a keyboard shortcut to execute a shell script I wrote, passing the file selected in Finder as an arg?
I suppose you could have it pass in whatever was selected in general in any app (such as text highlighted in a web browser).

Use Automator. Generate a .app. A keyboard shortcut can launch the app, and Automator knows how to grab the Finder selections, which it can then pass to the shell script.

The easiest way to do this, assuming you're using Snow Leopard, is to create an automator service and assign a keyboard shortcut to it using System Preferences.
Here's a tutorial to get you started:
http://www.pixelcorps.tv/macbreak235


text:
Is it possible to purchase an iPhone app now to download later?
I was wondering if there is a way (or at least if it is possible) to purchase an app from the app store now, but do not download it now (to save on disk space) and download it later when required.
Often there are apps on sale (e.g., Lonely Planet city guides) that are not immediately useful. These are great apps, but not immediately useful. So, instead of downloading the app right away and use up disk space, it would be nice to purchase the app and download later when required.

Do you mean to save space on your iOS device or your iTunes computer?

You could purchase the app, then tap on the icon as soon as it appears to pause the download, and leave it paused indefinitely.

I've noticed you wanna give it a second or two first though. You'll know it's paused when it changes from loading to paused.

You can purchase the app through iTunes, rather than the app store.  Then you can download it later.

This will automatically begin to download the app, just like in iOS. So you will need to go to the downloads tab on the left and pause it as well if you go this route.

You could purchase the app and delete it. When you need it, go back to the appstore and redownload it for free.(since you purchased it already)

However, this will not have the benefit of saving you from using data on a limited data plan.

Not entirely sure but I think that this method asks you to 'Buy' again but after clicking the 'Buy' button it will acknowledge that you have already purchased the app.


text:
Filesorter alternative
I found a really cool app in the App Store called FileSorter
It automatically sort files. Is there any FREE alternative?

Uh, that application appears to be currently free already.

Actually, that application is free.

I've found this site a little while ago that let's me see if there are alternatives to apps either because they're on Windows (and the app's not important enough to boot Parallels) or too expensive:
alternativeto.net
Give that a try and see what you can find.
Specifically for you, this is what I found there.


text:
Is it possible to return the iPhone to its very original factory state?
Back to the screen that asks for SIM insertion and iTunes connection on background. Is it?

Apparently that state is called "Activation Mode"

The other answers explain this rather well but I'd like to make this point explicitly:
You can absolutely get the phone back to activation mode, but you CANNOT downgrade the iOS version back to factory. Blanking your phone will put it in a blank state for your current installed iOS version.

Settings -> General -> Reset -> 'Erase all Content and Settings'. On some devices (3gs and 4) this will only return the iPhone to factory settings (but not activation mode). For the latter, I'd just plug it in to iTunes and click 'Restore'.

If I understand what you mean is restoring to its original state -

Connect iPhone to the computer.
In iTunes, under the Devices, select your iPhone.
Select the Summary tab across the top.
Click Restore.

Yes assuming you haven't upgraded the firmware or OS past the factory state.
Whether or not you can revert to factory levels, here is how to get it ready for activation:
Remove the SIM and power off the device. Then plug it into iTunes while off and holding the home button all the while until you see the connect to iTunes icon. This is recovery mode but the device still has user data on it.
Your computer then can wipe all content and re-install any OS that is the same or newer than the OS that is currently on the device. You can load iTunes with older images than is current but just not older than is currently on the phone.
You can't go backwards in terms of undoing an update on the phone without modifying/jailbreaking the device - even then it's not a given and rarely successful in reverting back to factory OS or firmware.
Once the restore is complete disconnect the phone from the computer before replacing the SIM card.


text:
iTunes artwork doesn't change
I change the cover images for the songs in my iTunes library using:
Right Click > Get Info > Artwork > Drag-Drop > OK

and in most cases the artwork updates immediately. On some tracks, though, it doesn't.
I then tried removing the artwork (so nothing should appear in Cover Flow), but the track then keeps the image it had previously.

Not a programming question so I won't leave an "answer". That being said, use "Get Info" > "Artwork" > "Delete" to remove all the artwork, sometimes it doesn't get deleted in the "Clear Downloaded Artwork".

iTunes holds its data in an XML structure. On the surface what may appear to you to be a single Album file consisting of 10 separate tracks may, in fact, be 10 separate tracks, each with a separate link to the Album artwork. How this comes about I am not sure, but I think it's related to how the files were input to iTunes. For example, ripping your own CD may produce a different result from 'acquiring' the same album from - shall we say, a download sharing site.
Normally what I do is
(1) if an album has no artwork, I select all the tracks and drag'n'drop the artwork (from Amazon for example) into the box for Selected Item. Normally this will lock the artwork to EVERY track in the album. If, however, the structure isn't 'correct' the artwork will only be locked to a single track. You can check by clicking on several tracks in the same album.
(2)If the artwork isn't there for all the tracks, you can select all the tracks, then go to File>Get Info and drop the artwork into  the Artwork Box. You should then have artwork for every track
(3)Failing all this, as a last resort I drop the artwork in for each track separately.
One of these methods always works for me.
Bit tedious for a few albums, but for more than 1500 albums in my Library, I've only had to go the most tedious route a few times.
I should add that iTunes allows you to include several versions of the artwork for each track. If you replace artwork you may in fact simply be adding another version. Which one gets displayed is determined in the following way. Click a track. Go to File>Get Info>Artwork... here you will see all the versions of the artwork. Delete the ones you don't want. The one you are left with is the one that gets displayed.
I know.. it's confusing..

I was having this problem and managed to fix it by changing the tracks to MP3s (they were previously WAVs). You can do this by going into iTunes > Preferences > Import Settings > Import Using > [Select] MP3 Encoder.
Next, right click the tracks and choose > Create MP3 Version. It will create copies of the original files, which will allow you to add artwork.

Use an external tool like jaikoz which displays in a synthetic manner (table view) the artworks embedded in files.
Screenshot: http://www.jthink.net/jaikoz/images/osx/osxscreenshot1024x768.jpg

Just go to the location of your music and
1) select all files required with  ⌘ A
2) right click and select Get Info
3) Unmark the "Read-Only" or "locked" Box
4) Apply and Done
Then you can change the iTunes artwork

Some files might be write-protected. Go to the MP3 file, select all of them and untick the read only box.


text:
Not receiving anything in Mail.app inbox
I have a Mac Pro, and I use Mail.app. Everything used to work fine with my POP account.
However, last week my incoming mail showed that it was being downloaded to my inbox, but it never showed up. I have rebuilt my inbox, and also re-initiated, and configured my POP account, but the same problem remains.
I have also an IMAP account, which worked fine before and since this occurrence.
Any clue or hints on what is going on?

Do you have any Rules set for dealing with your mail?
Are there ANY other folders in your Mail set that could be holding your incoming mail?

To be clear:  you are accessing the same mailbox via two different protocols, POP and IMAP, correct?  May I ask why you wouldn't just use IMAP?

It's possible that your mailbox quota may have been exceeded, thus making it so you don't receive any new messages. If that's not the case, then I would completely remove the account from Mail or explore around ~/Library/Mail and edit/remove some files if necessary.