text:
SMS Relay to macOS without iMessage?
Is it possible to relay SMS to macOS without using iMessage? I want to only use a phone carrier's SMS service, without iMessage, but would like to leverage the Mac Messages app.
If I can relay standard audio phone calls to a Mac, answering them through FaceTime, why is relaying SMS to Messages dependent on iMessage? Seems like a workaround should exist.

Do you have to use the default macOS Messages app? Or would you be happy with any solution?

@Monomeeth Any solution I suppose

While I cannot provide a detailed solution at the moment, I know that I am able to send and receive standard SMS on macOS via the messages application.

@MichaelVoccola Yes you can send standard SMS through the Messages app, but it requires you be signed into iMessage. Check the app Preferences.


text:
How to reconnect to Airport Extreme hard drive without rebooting
I put a mac formatted hard drive on my export extreme. I can connect just fine. If I leave the house and use the computer outside I'll get a message about the drive not available and the option to disconnect. I pick that. Then when I get back home the Airport Extreme still shows up in the finder but clicking it I get the message

"AirportExtreme" can't be opened because the original item can't be found

Rebooting my mac fixes the issue but that's no good because I lose the state of all my apps.
Is there fix for this issue? Either (a) a way to make it just work like it's supposed to or (b) some command I can run to fix it?

Okay, I found one workaround which to option-click the Finder and pick "relaunch"

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Is it possible to transfer Late-2011 MacBook Pro 15" SSD to new late-2016 iMac as primary drive?
My personal Late-2011 15" MBP is having issues and I'm considering replacing it with an iMac (either early/late 2016).
If I did decide to get an iMac, would I be able to simply put my MBP SSD into the new iMac, set it as my boot drive, and have a reasonable expectation that it would just work?  If not, is it even possible?  If possible, what is typically involved?

Ummm you know that the last iMac was actually released in 2015?

And to answer your question, not really. While I believe it is technically possible to move the drive and the drive would function normally in the iMac, the logistics of getting to the port for the drive is so ridiculously difficult I would highly discourage it. Best thing to do would be to get an iMac and use migration assistant to transfer your data to the new machine

@NoahL - no, I didn't know that.  Thanks for the info.

To swap a drive in an iMac, you have to remove a $1000+ screen which is held in place with adhesive.  The cost/benefit of doing this to avoid doing a fresh install is simply not worth the risk of damaging that screen.  Just my $0.02

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


text:
Cannot remove startup items
I cannot remove the WD items from the startup list. The delete button is not active (greyed out).

I looked for entries in:

/Library/LaunchDaemons/
/Library/LaunchAgents/
~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/StartupItems

But without luck, no WD items found. Any ideas where I have to look?

What does the warning message at right say?

Something like items cannot be found.

(All Users)-login items are stored in the file /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist. Normal user login items are saved to ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist.
Some WD apps add login or startup items to /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist and /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist.
The WD installer apps (e.g. WD Access for Mac) usually provide an uninstall feature which removes the respective app as well as login items or other installed files. The plist files itself won't get deleted though even if it was created by the WD installer.
If the uninstaller doesn't remove unwanted items you can do it yourself by either editing the global plist file or removing the complete plist.
A default file /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist or ../loginwindow.plist doesn't exist (in Sierra) but may have been created and modified by other installers. You can get the content by executing sudo defaults read /path/to/plist in the Terminal.app window.


text:
Completely disable the power button on my MacBook
I have a MacBook Pro Retina, Mid 2015 running macOS Sierra 10.12.2.
I want to completely stop my power button turning off, sleeping or restarting my device; I have already tried other solutions such as running this command:
defaults write com.apple.loginwindow PowerButtonSleepsSystem -bool no

but all that does is change the behaviour to opening a window with a default action of shut down!
I just want to stop other people, or myself, from purposefully/accidentally using it to turn off my computer. It's a button I've never used, apart from when I first bought my MacBook sometime two years ago.
I still need the button to be able to turn on the device, obviously.

If you completely disable it, how are you going to boot it?

@Tetsujin I have not turned off my Macbook ever XD But that's a good point, I just don't want it to sleep/restart/shut down my macbook once it's on. Obviously, having a way to turn on my macbook is kinda important.

To be blunt, disabling your Power button is a bad idea. Even if you never intend to turn off your MacBook Pro, the Power button is critical for some troubleshooting steps such as resetting either the SMC or NVRAM. And, as @Tetsujin implies, how are you going to boot it when you do need to (e.g. after a repair or replacing the battery?

@Monomeeth quoting from my question: "I want to completely stop my power button turning off, sleeping or restarting my device" also "I just want to stop other people, or myself, from purposefully/accidentally using it to turn off my computer."

@theonlygusti Just clarifying that it wasn't me who downvoted your question, in case you thought it was. While I think it's a very bad idea to do what you want, I am nevertheless curious as to whether it's possible to do this without modifying your hardware. And for that reason I'll be watching this with curiosity to see what, if anything, people come up with.

How often are you pressing and holding down this button by accident that you need to disable your Mac's hardware?
Anyway, my suggestion as someone who has never managed to hit the power button accidentally (and now that I've tried, noticed that it doesn't actually seem to do anything) would be to just keep iTerm open because it unexpectedly stops my computer from restarting about 9 times out of 10.

DanHollis solution is good, but it merely disables the button in software. I'll tell you how to completely disable the button.
You will need:

Center hole punch. 1/8" recommended.
A hammer, preferably light-weight so you have very fine control of your swing.

Step One
Align the CHP over the power button. The 'Center' in Center Hole Punch is instructive - you need to make sure you're exactly over the switch itself. Done correctly, this will remove the switch without affecting any other components in your MacBook.
Step Two
Swing the hammer. Sounds simple, but it's not. Make the swing fast and accurate, but don't put much force behind it. The point here is to strike quickly enough to punch out the switch itself, but not with enough force to penetrate deeper and actually damage something. Done right, the CHP will strike through and permanently disable the switch. Too fast or forceful and you'll break the computer. Too slow and you'll just turn the computer off.
Results
Your power button is now completely disabled. If the need arises, you can start the computer by manually shorting the contacts the switch connects to. On my desktop I can do this by arcing the pins with a knife, but the MacBook won't offer you the internal space to do that. I leave this as an exercise to the reader.
Suggestions
You might want to practice your hammer swings before doing this for real. I suggest practicing on a meaty part of your leg. The objective is to swing as fast as possible without feeling pain. If you swing too hard, it'll hurt. Too soft, and you'll just be tapping your leg. However, if the hammer bounces back and it doesn't hurt, you're doing it right. Just practice until you're confident and you'll do fine.

If warranty compliance isn't an issue, you could take the MacBook apart and cut the switch off with a Dremel. I've done something similar before with unused pins on an arduino. After that you can just epoxy the button cover back in place and it'll look exactly the same.

I currently am not in front of my mac but I found this command:
cd /System/Library/CoreServices/loginwindow.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj
mv PowerButton.nib PowerButton1.nib

here in which you can save it as an app and auto start it at login here
You can also use a program like PowerKey to remap the power button, it will still shut down if you hold it as that is handled by the motherboard, not the OS (whether you're using regular macOS or Windows through Bootcamp)
There is no way of disabling the press and hold force shutdown as it is handled by the hardware and cannot be affected by the software... unless possibly flash an edited BIOS that disables it
If I need to improve this, please tell me how
I will be testing this for myself tomorrow

"it will still shut down if you hold it" - this is what i want to disable. Currently, my power button is set to shut down only if it is held. However, I don't want it to shut down at all

@theonlygusti There is no way of disabling the press and hold shut down as it is handled by the hardware not the software,well... without disconnectiong or destroying the power button or related circuits, witch both would probably ruin any warranty you have

@fsb yeah, you're right. I was annoyed at having such a negative reaction on another question. I've deleted my comment (which was worthless XD), however, this answer still doesn't really help because the current solution I have, which I mentioned in my question, already covers what this answer promises.

@theonlygusti like I said earlier, you can't disable the force shutdown without damage or flashing a new BIOS (if you even can on a mac) as it is controlled by the hardware or possibly the BIOS

How do I flash my MacBook's BiOS to solve the issue? If the question can't be answered without overwriting important aspects of the system, let's overwrite those important parts of the system.

@theonlygusti I don't think it's even possible through OSX, maybe through Window by using Boot Camp, but you would need an edited version of your specific MacBook's BIOS for it, and that's also assuming your BIOS can even control the force shutdown. Most computers it's completely handled by the hardware and only BIOS can speed up the proccess

@DanHolli go for it

@theonlygusti I know this as I have an old Gateway 2000 that you can change the power button to instantly kill the computer, or send the normal keypress signal unless held, witch then it's killed

@theonlygusti you mean for me to reserch more... ok

@DanHolli well yeah, you told me it might be possible through Window's boot camp, but I'd need another version of my BiOS. I'd love to see  a full solution

@theonlygusti, I'm looking if it's even possible on ANY system without physical damage to the computer

I found a duplicate(ish) question here, I hope this is a more simple explained issue for you, at least for now

@theonlygusti, sorry, I can't find a way to disable a force shutdown for ANYTHING without physical damage, may I ask why you want it disabled anyway?

@theonlygusti, I hate to say something is impossible, but I think this might be without physical damage, still doing research though

@theonlygusti, I think I found something to bring hope here!!!!!! It's the third one, I don't know what the commands would be yet,looking deeper, please check if you can get to the prompt for me as it seems not all macs can do it

@theonlygusti, I found a list of most, if not all, commands here. If you change any settings related to input, have an external keyboard handy

@DanHolli yeah, nice! That does look promising :D

@theonlygusti, I don't think that it will help, but, A:it might, and B: it's cool to even just know that there's a command line before boot

I make the app PowerKey, which allows you to remap a tap of the power key to input Forward Delete or another command. Might be useful for some who find this answer. It does not modify the hold-to-shutdown behavior, however, and that is not the goal of the app.
However, there was an issue with OS X Mavericks that had people searching for a way to modify the power key tap and hold behavior. That lead binchewer to release several tools and patches in that vein such as power_fixer.
http://web.archive.org/web/20160202223452/http://binchewer.org/blog/index.php?id=1
https://github.com/binchewer/power_fixer
https://github.com/binchewer/power_fixer/pull/8
https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/1u5v5e/mavericks_power_button_fix/ceisg91/
https://www.reddit.com/r/OSXTweaks/comments/1yguq4/request_fix_the_power_button_back_to_how_it_was/
On the reddit link, binchewer posted a command that, at least at the time, disabled the power key completely.
I'm not sure if it will work today, especially with System Integrity Protection enabled.
WARNING: likely many side effects. Your computer will not sleep automatically when you close the lid. No way to force a restart if your computer hangs. Etc.

Investigating further. Expect to finish in a week. Small hint for those, who want to simply turn the button off:

kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleACPIPlatform.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleACPIButtons.kext/

Will need to be run with sudo. Please use and experiment at your own risk.

That final command, which is taken from the reddit post, doesn't work. Instead, the button now forces a hard shut down after it has been held a while.

@theonlygusti it did work in OS X 10.9.1, you may want to do some investigation around disabling AppleACPIButtons.kext in Sierra if the procedure has changed. You'll likely also need to disable SIP.

SIP is already disabled, DanHolli (another answerer) told me "There is no way of disabling the press and hold force shutdown as it is handled by the hardware and cannot be affected by the software... unless possibly flash an edited BIOS that disables it"

Did it actually work in 10.9.1? Or did it just prevent the annoying Mavericks thing? (Instant shut down)

@theonlygusti IIRC it completely disabled both tapping and holding of the power key. I quickly disabled it, though, as it was far too annoying to not have the MacBook sleep when I shut the lid.

Hmm, and you are on 10.9.1?

Shut down your Mac. Tape the power button down while your Mac is shut down. As you tape it, your Mac should boot up again, then your power button is stuck down and it won't affect your Mac while using it. The only way to shut down your Mac is to go to the Apple menu then click Shut Down.

Have you tested this? It seems like this would cause problems.


text:
Opening a Folder of Files
If I have a folder full of similar files, is there a technique to open all of its files with a particular app? For example, I would like to right-click on a folder and Open With a selected app.
I know I can do this by entering into the folder and selecting some or all of its files. I just wondered whether there is a way to do this on the folder itself.

Are you looking for an option within the GUI (i.e. the Finder)? Or would an option using Terminal suffice?

@Monomeeth preferably within Finder. Possibly a Terminal solution can be adapted some how.


text:
MacBook keyboard decals without letters
I'm looking for one of these types of stylish MacBook keyboard skins:

But I don't want any of the keys marked. I just want blank keys, without letters/symbols.
Do any such products exist? I can't find any by looking myself.

My suggestion is that you contact the manufacturer of the keyboard skin that you are interested in and see if they can do one offs or custom orders.

@Allan that's probably going to be extremely expensive. I can't imagine that there aren't already soltions available, perhaps for touch typists to practice.

"Probably?" The response I give my employees when they tell me that is "probably means you haven't checked."  However, why not get keyboard blanks and then put your skin on top of it?

@Allan the skins with designs look opaque.

So...you haven't checked then.  And for the record, you would be incorrect because those who consider me "crappy" do so elsewhere and for someone else.  Sort of like how this question gets voted closed....

@Allan Ooh ouch, but also like how it's gotten 2 upvotes and 0 downvotes

@owlswipe Yeah..that was a bit snarky... but it's one of those things that really irks me.  It's a "good question" in and of itself, but nonetheless, off topic as written....

I don't think this question has anything to do with customer support. Nor do I feel that it will attract spam/opinionated answers. I feel that the problem is already clearly described, and what I have done so far is stated. I don't understand why this is closed.

@theonlygusti Think it's closed because it's a product recommendation request, which can generate innumerable correct answers if multiple products exist. That's why this site is better suited to specific questions about Apple Hardware like "My iPhone is in a bootloop, what do I do?" rather than "Which case should I get for x need" (which can have multiple answers that are corrected based on opinion rather than based on whether they actually solve the problem of your bootloop.

@theonlygusti But you can ask a question on Meta about this.

Yes,
There is one such unlabeled keyboard available that I have found: the Das Keyboard 4 Ultimate. It is an external keyboard and not a cover, but I think it's what you're looking for.

The OP said he was looking for a "keyboard skin" not an "external keyboard"


text:
Caps lock to change input language disabled by Spotify.app
I use caps lock to change input language, but when Spotify.app is ON caps lock behaves like normal caps lock.
Any ideas how to get def macOS functionality back? I looked through Spotify.app settings and couldn't find key mapping options.

You should contact Spotify.  I see another complaint from months ago at  https://community.spotify.com/t5/Desktop-Mac/Switching-between-quot-input-sources-quot-with-using-quot-Caps/td-p/1452332 .  In meantime, you can always go back to the standard Control plus Space shortcut.

@TomGewecke I already contacted them. I'd rather quit spotify app than rebind keys in my brain :)

I think you have your priorities correct there.

The problem seems to be streaming/music app related as the same occurs with Amazon Music streaming.


text:
Close menu bar menu with applescript
tell application "System Events" to tell process "SystemUIServer"
    tell (menu bar item 1 of menu bar 1 where description is "system sound volume")
        click
    end tell
end tell

will open the sound menu bar item, but I want to delay one second then close it.
I tried:
tell application "System Events" to tell process "SystemUIServer"
    tell (menu bar item 1 of menu bar 1 where description is "system sound volume")
        click
        delay 1
        cancel
    end tell
end tell

but that didn't work

You almost had it.  This works for me.
tell application "System Events" to tell process "SystemUIServer"
    tell (menu bar item 1 of menu bar 1 where description is "system sound volume")
        click
        delay 1
        key code 53
    end tell
end tell

But if the user selects another app then the escape will be sent to the focussed app.

I'm not quite sure about that because your script draws focus to the system and sound volume icon, then clicks.  With A delay of only one second, I doubt there would be anytime to draw focus to another application before the escape event.

No I am sure about this, because I have tested. About 5 hours ago


text:
Where can I find the magnifying glass UI for iOS 10?
Just looking for the UI for the magnifying glass feature in the recent iOS 10.

you mean the two finger stretch?

If you are looking for ways to zoom the screen:
Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Zoom (second option from the top)
If you want to use the camera as a magnifying glass:
Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Magnify (third option from the top)


text:
MacBook Pro 15" Touch Bar running hot
I just got a MBP 15" Touch Bar with sierra.  I am using it for web development (Webstorm) and graphic design (Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer). When using the graphic design tools, my MBP can start getting hot... up to 88°C. Now this happens with within 30 minutes or more of using the software. I have to stop my work and wait for it to cool off.
I have even put my Mac to sleep and went to the store and when I came back my Mac was pretty hot. It seems like sleep mode did not work.  Keyboard lite was on when I got back from the store.  I put it to sleep again and the same behavior happened.
I also have a 2015 MacBook Pro 15" and it does not run as hot as the latest 2016 MBPs. Am I missing something?  Is this normal for new MacBooks?   I have checked the apple pages for temperatures but they only provide ENVIRONMENT temperatures and that is it.

Actually, I just took my MacBook pro to the Apple store (again) and after 3 times of repairs, the MacBook pro 2016 was still having issues with the display, keyboard and overheating. Apple replaced it. Overheating is not normal specially when you are using non intensive programs. I now have a MacBook 2017 that runs at 42°C most of the time, compared to my 2016 that ran most of the time at 60°C or higher. Something to do with the Skylake vs the Kabylake... I think.

I'm curious, did one or both machines have a discrete GPU?

Yes, they both did.

The normal operating temperature range for silicon is much higher than is comfortable to the touch.  The heatsinks & fans are directly below the top of the keyboard along the hinge opening.  I too have found the upper edge of my MBP to be uncomfortable to touch -- typically when I'm debugging using the F() keys.
My recommendation would be to use a product that allows you to manually adjust the fan speed in order to run the fan at a higher-than-minimally-necessary speed to lower the temperatures accordingly.
I personally use iStat Menus.  In that tool, under 'sensors' is a button to 'Edit Fan Rules'.
Incorporating feedback from the OP to create a more comprehensive answer:
Alternatively, if you believe you may have a hardware issue, a trip to the Apple store might be warranted.  The OP had a hardware issue that, while mitigated by the iStatMenus approach, really required a hardware solution, including multiple trips to the Apple store, to ultimately resolve.

So sad that I have to buy extra software to keep my MBP from getting very HOT.  I tried using iStat Menus and so far it is working well.  I have my settings at medium but on gaming it still gets very very very HOT.

@btinoco - I agree wholeheartedly!  I've been keeping an eye out for something that would just allow me to adjust the target temperature used by the smc, but so far, nada.  Also, I commonly 5 different fan presets, based on the amount of cooling I need and the noise I can stand in a particular environment.  It's not uncommon for me to use both fans on High to get the desired cooling if my CPU is busy (say, running 2 VM android emulators, for instance.)

@MrWonderful could you post your iStat Menu desired cooling temps and
fan speed settings, would be useful for me, and perhaps others finding this thread.

What fan rules should we use?

@IgorGanapolsky - I didn't realize there WERE fan rules in the new version(s) of iStatMenus!  I played with them a bit and determined I don't care for the approach.  I still use fan SPEED settings, just a few like low, med, hi, for presets and change them manually if I find the touch bar area running hotter than I'd prefer (up,) or if the computer is louder than I'd prefer (down.)  When I used the rules, I was annoyed that the fan speed would 'flutter' around the trigger temps.  What would work BETTER for me is setting a target temp for a sensor, and let iStatMenus adjust the fans gently.

The first things I would do are to reset both the NVRAM and SMC. Follow the steps below.
Reset the NVRAM
IMPORTANT: The steps for resetting the NVRAM are different for the Late-2016 MacBook Pro models (i.e. different to all other Macs).
For all Late-2016 MacBook Pro models (with and without Touch Bar) follow these steps:

Shut down your machine. Yes, a full shut down, not just logging out.
Press the power button and then immediately press the commandoptionpr keys.
Keep these keys pressed down for at least 20 seconds!
Let go of the keys and let your Mac reboot normally.

Note: When you log back in you may need to readjust some of your system preferences (e.g. speaker volume, screen resolution, startup disk selection, time zone information, etc).
Reset the SMC
You should also try resetting the SMC. To do this on your MBP, follow these steps:

Shut down your computer
Keep the power cable plugged in.
Press at the same time shiftoptioncontrol (on the left side of the keyboard) and the power button
Let go
Turn your computer back on with the power button.

How does your temperature compare?
Once you've reset both the NVRAM and SMC, your MBP should behave how Apple intended. If you still experience temperatures of 88º C and are concerned by this, you can use this resource (which can be filtered) to compare temperature readings with other users. Of course, I'm not sure how many users with Late-2016 MBPs have recorded their temperatures yet.
However, my earlier MBP temp is regularly at 81º C and it performs very well!
Do you have a problem?
Another thing you can do is run Apple Hardware Diagnostics to see if it finds any errors. To do this:

Fully shut down your MBP
Restart your MBP
Immediately press the D key and keep it down until you see the Diagnostics screen appear
Wait for Diagnostics to finish (this typically only takes a few minutes)
Once complete, one of two things will appear on the screen:

a No issues found message
a brief description of any errors found plus further instructions

If the diagnostics test does find errors, take a note of what they are

Note: If pressing and holding the D key at Step 3 doesn't work, start again at Step 1 and, at Step 3 press and hold both the OptionD keys instead. This will try and run diagnostics from the internet instead, so you will need to allow more time for it to complete.
Let us know how you go.

The new Macs can run hot out of the box when fans are controlled by the SMC. Some owners might want to attempt to manually control the cooling before resetting hardware...

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


text:
After closing the lid Mac didn't ask for password
This is super scary. Yesterday I closed my MacBook's lid in the evening. The next morning I opened the lid and my MacBook didn't ask me for my password. I was already logged in.

This seems like a bug, but how can I trust that my Mac to lock my user when I close the lid? I think I will have to logout which is annoying. Has anyone experienced this before?

Can you add a screenshot of the 'System Preferences > Energy Saver' pane for both the 'Battery' and 'Power Adapter' tabs? It's possible one of the settings in this area is affecting the sleep habits of your Mac.

Try resetting your SMC.

@SkeletonBow it happened once. But that's the problem isn't it? security should never fail.

That's correct. Maybe you could try contacting Apple about it, though with an issue like this (which is so intermittent and seemingly unreproducible), I'm not sure it'll do a lot of good

Do you remember if the laptop had logged in instantly? Or did it have to wake up from sleep, and then log in itself? If it's the latter, then it would be more of an issue with your laptop not going to sleep on time

@SkeletonBow I think your spot on, screen was on.


text:
Re-assign ctr+alt+F shortcut
How can I eliminate the useless
Control Alt F global shortcut (move cursor to the next word)? It's in conflict with another custom shortcut I really need.
(macOS Sierra 12.12.2)

Possible duplicate of Change the Option+R/L shortcuts to Control+R/L.  While not an exact duplicate (differing key combos) the premise of the question and the answer are the same.

thanks for this link...however,  I couldn't find the shortcut I am talking about in 'karabiner', nor I have any idea of how to modify the .xml they talk about, to get the effect I want...

@jjrr Please add your system version! Because Sierra and Karabiner are still not compatible! Also: in which app(s) do you need the ctrl-alt-F shortcut to work differently? And: using a German keyboard layout the shortcut doesn't work at all. I just get a ƒ. Using the en_US layout it works though.

ah, too bad - I have macOS 10.12.2. I would like to remove  system-wide both 'alt+F'  (move one word to the right)  and 'crtl+F' (move one character to the right) , especially in safari

Seeing that's it's Sierra, I went ahead and retracted my close vote and edited the question with the detail.

Would it be easier to reassign the app's key command than try disable a system-wide shortcut that has no menu option?

@Tetsujin well, maybe...I also thought about that, but I don't know how to do it...

I'd need to know what app - but here's a generic explanation - http://apple.stackexchange.com/a/269851/85275

thanks for your link — as I said in a previous comment, it's primarily for safari, so far


text:
Unable to install Snow Leopard from original disks
I own an iMac that was recently updated in error by a family member (I've forgiven them). This was a disaster because some of my hardware and software no longer work! Previously this iMac was running Snow Leopard 10.6.8. So, I decided to install Snow Leopard again. I have the original disks (remember those things) that came with the computer but cannot install Snow Leopard. I have wasted two whole days on this and am now desperate.
My specs are:

Late 2009 iMac
27" model
16GB RAM
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Magic Mouse
Mac OS X 10.11.6 installed :(

What I have tried:

Booting into Recovery Mode, from both the local HD and internet, but my Mac doesn't seem to support this?
Installing Snow Leopard from original Apple iMac grey disks that shipped with the computer
Installing Snow Leopard from a retail version of Snow Leopard (borrowed from a friend)
Verified the optical drive is working fine (it reads CDs/DVDs and burns DVDs fine)
Verified that booting from the optical drive is fine (booted from a Prosoft Data Rescue II CD)
Followed the steps outlined at http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/upgrading-your-mac-to-snow-leopard-using-your-usb-drive/ to create a bootable installation USB. I did this in case there was some other issue with using the optical drive.
Searched Google, Apple discussions and here for an answer

I am willing to try anything at this stage. I have a function on February 19 to prepare for and I require Snow Leopard for compatibility with some specialized software/hardware.
Pleeeeeeaaase can someone help me? Pretty please with sugar on top…!!! :)

What happens when you try to use the SL Install DVDs? Does it show an error? Do you have a backup of your computer/important files?

Are you near an Apple Store? If you take it to the Genius Bar, they'll help you install Snow Leopard and help with any problems you might run into.

Both install disks won't boot. I have the original disk that came with the iMac and a retail version (borrowed from a friend) and the computer won't boot from them! Grrr. But just when I think it's the optical drive, it boots fine from a Prosoft Data Rescue II CD. Crazy, hey? Yes, I have backups, so have no problem wiping the drive if necessary. But if I can't boot from the original discs nor the bootable USB, how do I install Snow Leopard? This is my conundrum.

I am 1.5hrs away from an Apple Store. I think I will have to do that if I can't get this sorted in the next few days.

If you have 10.11.6 installed, one thing to try would be to download the 10.12 installer from the app store.  It is very easy to make a USB boot from the recent 10.xx installers.  Boot from that USB, and you -should- be able to restore from your time machine backup.

@Kent Hehe, just worked out how to comment properly. Ok, that makes sense, but are you saying that a bootable USB with a more recent OS X installed is more likely to work than the one I've already created with Snow Leopard on it?

Um, Maybe?  It makes sense that if the computer won't boot from a DVD it also won't boot from a USB made with the same OS version as the DVD (even though it -should- boot from both).  But, I also just remembered that the 2009 iMacs cannot run Sierra.  You'll need to get another copy of the 10.11 installer, not 10.12.   That's why your relative was able to install 10.11 so recently.

@MacLover Two questions for you: (1) Is your iMac by any chance the built to order Quad Core 2.8GHz model? (2) Is your specialised software/hardware music related?

@Kent Actually, Late 2009 iMacs are compatible with macOS Sierra, although that begs the question as to how El Capitan was installed and not Sierra?

@Monomeeth Correct on both counts! But why does this give me a sinking feeling that you're about to tell me something bad?

@MacLover Not something bad. But I am 99.9% certain I know what your problem is. Does your friend, the one you borrowed the retail copy of Snow Leopard from, still have the Mac he installed it on? If so, what is it?

@Monomeeth Yes, she does! It's a MacBook Pro circa 2008/2009. Does this mean you can help me?

Just posted an answer. If my suggested approach isn't an option for you, you could also try the suggestion offered by @Kent if your backups are Time Machine backups.

Depending on when you bought your iMac, it came pre-installed with either Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.1 (10A2155) or 10.6.2 (10C2234). It is one of these versions that will be on the original discs you refer to and, based on your lack of success with the retail copy, it is also one of these versions your friend must have as well.
Now, the reason your iMac isn't booting from any of these is that it can no longer run any version of Mac OS X before Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.3.
Why?
Well, the key issue here is that your iMac is one of the quad core models. These were options for the 27" model only and both variants (i.e. the i5 and i7 versions) had a firmware update. Because of your music requirements (as expressed to me via Comments), I am 99.9% certain you installed this firmware update (which Apple recommended all users do anyway).
It is this update that is preventing you to boot from your Snow Leopard discs because the firmware update itself requires as a minimum Snow Leopard (10.6.3). The installers you're trying to use are for Snow Leopard 10.6.1 or 10.6.2.
Solution
IMPORTANT: This solution is based on your comment that you have backups of all your files etc. Proceeding with this will reformat your hard drive - so proceed carefully and ensure you have a current backup!
You can use Target Disk Mode to get around your problem. More specifically:

Borrow your friend's MacBook Pro and ensure it and your iMac are both switched off
Connect the two computers together via a FireWire cable
Start your iMac in Target Disk Mode by holding down the T key on your iMac keyboard immediately after starting up. Keep the key down until you see the icon floating around the screen.
Start the MBP
Once booted, your iMac's hard drive will appear on the MBP desktop just like any external hard drive would.
Insert the Snow Leopard retail disk into the MBP and follow the prompts to install Snow Leopard. Ensure you select the iMac hard drive as the install location - DO NOT select the MBP hard drive or you'll have a very unhappy friend!
When the installation is complete, reboot the MBP again and immediately hold down the Option key. When prompted to select a statup disk, select the iMac's drive and hit Enter.
You're now booting the MBP from your iMac hard drive.
Once booted, use the Apple Menu > Software Update option to install updates.
Keep installing updates until you have at least Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.6 (the first version which includes the Mac App Store).
Once you're running Mac OS X 10.6.6, shut down the MBP and switch off your iMac.
Disconnect the FireWire cable from the two Macs.
Reboot your iMac and update/install whatever software you need to get it working as you want.
Copy/migrate across any files etc from your backup.
Crisis averted!

Obviously the above steps will take some time, but let me know if you run into any problems.
As an aside, if you don't have access to a FireWire cable, or your friend doesn't want to lend you their MBP, you could try Kent's suggestion in the comments. In theory his suggestion should also work.

Sir, this looks very promising indeed!!! I have a Firewire cable and my friend is dropoing her MacBook Pro around to me shortly. I will do this tonight!

I've reinstalled tons of 10.6 onto mostly MacBooks using either the 10.6.0 or 10.6.3 retail discs but never encountered that firmware problem. It's specific to the 27" model?  And in step 6, erasing the iMac hdd is also an option. From experience, mail and other things upgrade from 6->11 but not the other way around. So you're better off starting with a clean slate from your backups.

@Kent You're exactly right - upon re-reading Step 6 I see I didn't actually specify that erasing the drive was the option the OP should take. I guess my Important note (before the steps) mentions this, so hopefully the OP does just that. And yes, the firmware issue is specific to quad core models (which was only a built to order option on the 27" models).

You, Sir, are a scholar and a gentleman! My iMac is back on Snow Leopard and most importantly my specialized software and hardware works again!!! Thank you!!! You have my gratitude! :)

A scholar and a gentleman? Well, thank you! :) More importantly, I'm glad you're back on track for your function. Good luck!


text:
iPad connected to LG Ultrafine 4K Display
The Apple support document for the LG Ultrafine 4K display states here that only newer Macs are supported.
https://support.apple.com/HT207447
I was wondering if it is possible to use a Lighting to USB 3.1 Type C cable to transfer video+audio to the LG display. This following entry for a specific cable on Amazon mentions:
also supports USB quick charging, and high performance video and audio transfer

https://www.amazon.com/USB-3-1-Type-JOTO-White/dp/B01540Q4FK
Has someone tested this and can someone confirm that this is (not) working?

No, it will only charge the iPad.
Lightning doesn't have anything to do with HDMI. It's just a serial bus that cannot send any HDMI data without some help.
With Apple's Lightning Digital AV Adapter (which, in fact, is just small computer itself) you can output to an HDMI display. The native resolution is only 1600x900, however.


text:
How do I get the path of app in its launch script?
I made an app by following these steps

Make folder Foo.app
Make Subfolder Contents
Put Info.Plist in Contents with
...
<key>CFBundleExecutable</key>
<string>Foo</string>
...

Make MacOS/Foo as an executable shell script

Foo looks like
#!/bin/sh
echo $0 > /Users/me/temp/foo1
pwd > /Users/me/temp/foo2
export > /Users/me/temp/foo3

Clicking on the app in the finder then checking the results. The results are, foo1 is empty, foo2 is just / and foo3 looks like
export Apple_PubSub_Socket_Render="/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.FgQwJ5EVCp/Render"
export HOME="/Users/me"
export LOGNAME="me"
export OLDPWD
export PATH="/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin"
export PWD="/"
export SHELL="/bin/zsh"
export SHLVL="1"
export SSH_AUTH_SOCK="/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.4hbrl5p8fp/Listeners"
export TMPDIR="/var/folders/7h/wyw4jhd933z5jmqzsdx6r0sr0000gn/T/"
export USER="me"
export __CF_USER_TEXT_ENCODING="0x1F5:0x0:0x0"

No references to /Applications/Foo.app anywhere
Now do I get the path to my app in the launch script?

You can use this code:
DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
echo $DIR >  /Users/me/temp/outLog.txt

It'll give you path to the MacOS folder of you app.
Here's great stackoverflow answer about this.


text:
Change volume of speakers before unplugging headphones
I have a 15" Macbook Pro mid-2015.
If my headphones are currently plugged into the audio jack, is it possible for me to control the volume of the speakers?
So that, after unplugging my headphones, the speakers can already be muted for example?

If you had already set your speaker to be mute before you plug in you device into your audio-jack port after you unplug your headphones it will still be mute.
Here's an example.
Before the headphone jack:

You can see that the speakers are set on mute.
When you plug the headphone it will be on the last set volume:

And again when you unplug them, you can see that they are still on mute:

This doesn't even attempt to answer the question.

So ask properly, this is the second answer saying the same thing.

No, no other answer has said this. Show me the other answer which has said this. Hint, there aren't any

My question: "If my headphones are currently plugged into the audio jack, is it possible for me to control the volume of the speakers?"

How does you answer (Change it before plugging headphones in) doesn't even relate at all to the very clear question I posed


text:
New BT mouse interferes with Apple keyboard?
My kid smashed my Logitech M705, so I replaced it with a M720 that has BT as well as its own dongle. I used the BT to connect it. Suddenly my Apple BT keyboard is no longer working so well. Periodically it "goes nuts", almost always after pressing Command-Z for undo... it just keeps on undoing. It seems fine when you're just typing away, but do anything with command keys or such, and blamo.
Is this something I should expect, or not?

Is this a separate issue from your other BT question or does that answer also fix this one?

It does not, I'm still having the same problems. Periodically.

Are you using the latest software from Logitech?  I know there were several questions here recently regarding Sierra and Logitech drivers that were solved with the last update.


text:
"Show Keyboard & Character Viewers in menu bar" setting not remembered
I see no keyboard & character indicator on the menubar panel, and trying to enable "Show Keyboard & Character Viewers in menu bar" in  System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard tab, that has no effect and, after closing and re-opening that settings window, Show Keyboard & Character Viewers in menu bar is still NOT ticked.

I use more than one keyboard layout and I need to permanently see the active one on the panel, and switch between them from there (at the present I can only switch from shortcut), like in this image I found on the internet:

I think that having more than one keyboard on your list in system prefs/keyboard/input sources  should normally automatically put the "flag" menu in your menu bar, but I guess something must be amiss on your system.

I think you are looking for this option:

I will look up the "Input sources" option as soon as I can. As for the rest more aggressive approach, looking at the link you posted - I am not sure I will try that, it seems recommended for more severe problems (before you bring it into the Apple Store) and also some comments there report chilling after effects. I will consider it though. I appreciate your assistance.

I have mentioned the character viewer only in response to your comment that two buttons can be shown one in place of the other, I am mainly interested in displaying and switching keyboard layouts on the panel: from the button seen the image you posted, except I use more than one layout, as indicated in update to my question.

I am almost sure that is the answer!! I cannot test on the spot but I will in a day or so.

@cipricus if the answer resolves the problem, please remember to select the answer (and we can remove the comments as well)

as simple as that. i'll look into the 'not remembered' part too


text:
Create an iCloud account on my friend's iPhone
I don't have an Apple device, but I'd like to try iCloud Mail on my PC. Can I create an iCloud account on my friend's iPhone, then sign out on his device and use the account on iCloud.com? If so, doesn't it erase his iPhone data or cause any problem whatsoever?

If all you need to know is whether it will erase your friend's iPhone data, the answer is no.
What your friend will need to do is sign out of their iCloud account via Settings > iCloud.
After signing out, what happens depends to some degree on what version of iOS your friend has installed, whether they have other Apple devices, etc. However, the worst case scenario is that when they sign back into their iCloud account all their iCloud data will sync back to their device with the exception of any photo stream photos older than 30 days. (Of course, if you're only going to use it for a very brief period to create the account, and then sign out of it, this won't be an issue as they'd be signing back in not long after signing out).
However, I do strongly recommend that your friend does a manual backup of their device to iTunes (on their computer) first. This is just an extra precaution in case something unexpected happens.
Also, your friend may get some emails from Apple (e.g. about Find My iPhone being disabled, etc).

No worries. It actually doesn't change my answer. The main thing is they just sign out while you create your iCloud account. Then you will need to sign out and they will sign back in. They will get some emails from Apple both when they sign out and back in again, but otherwise it should be a fairly painless process. However, I still recommend they manually backup via iTunes to their computer. This is just to cover some unforeseen circumstance. It is also a good habit to get into anyway (if they aren't already). Too many people rely purely on iCloud backups and I don't recommend that.

No need to use an iPhone. Just create an iCloud account through Apple's web site as outlined here:
http://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-iCloud-Account
Essentially, the link says to go to appleid.apple.com and create an Apple Id.  Using that Apple Id, you can log into icloud.com and use the icloud services there.

It doesn't give you access to all iCloud features, e.g. iCloud Mail. Here's what I see when I log into my iCloud account now: screenshot


text:
Scripts on mac. Auto execute from USB?
I have written a simple script for macbook and later found a program called platypus which makes an .sh file to an .app
Now I want to ask if it's possible to launch that app from the USB automatically as soon as it's plugged in?
And if somehow yes. Does it also work if the mac is closed or just in login Screen?

That would be a pretty major security bug if something like this worked without explicit user permission.

yeah thought so, i wanted to know cause my macbook have really many photos and i move them around quite often. so if it was possibly?

great thx a bunch

(BTW, one of the first Google hits would be http://www.lightroomfanatic.com/tutorials/advanced/how-to-automatically-launch-lightroom-by-inserting-a-media-card/ -- which looks straightforward enough to adapt for non-Lightroom uses).

No, this wont work. This is one of the advantages of macOS, it does not execute stuff that is found on a USB drive.
I consider this a great deal when we talk about security.
However there are devices that look like an USB thumb drive, but when plugged in expose themselves as a HID (Human Interface Device) and then execute keyboard shortcuts to run their exploits.
For example the USB Rubber Ducky Deluxe is such a device.

Other operating systems also do not execute stuff that is found on a flash drive (unless configured to do so).


text:
iPhone 4 stuck in recovery mode after restore
When I went to restore an iPhone 4 with iOS 7.1.2 with iTunes, I got it stuck in recovery mode.
I believe the device has been restored, since it has been reverted from 'Mike's iPhone' to just 'iPhone'. But now I'm stuck in recovery mode.
I used the Reiboot tool on my Windows 7 laptop, but that didn't work, so it prompted me to download the firmware, since the software was damaged. I did, but I have to pay to begin the process with Reiboot. Is there any free way to fix this?
Note: I've also tried to use the 'Tiny Umbrella' tool on my laptop, and that won't even start. I do have an old computer tower running Windows XP, maybe I could use Tiny Umbrella on that?

"I have to pay to begin the process" ?? Pay who? There is no charge for any iOS. The free way is iTunes.

You clearly have only skimmed my question, Tetsujin. I have already attempted to restore the device with iTunes, but the iPhone is now stuck in recovery mode, and the process will not complete.

I picked out the point that made no sense & may cost you money. But if you want to pay for something unnecessarily, who am I to stop you?

Tetsujin raises a fair point, even after thoroughly reading your question I do not understand why you suggest you must pay. Is it Reiboot asking for payment?

Indeed, it is Reiboot that asked for payment. I apologize, did I not specify?

Thanks for the clarification, I've edited the question with that. I'm unfamiliar with Reiboot personally and there are plenty of tools which download the IPSWs freely available from Apple's site, expecting you to use iTunes to do the restore (also free as expected). I've always used iTunes to restore — I wouldn't trust a separate tool like that. Exiting recovery mode into a normal boot is also something you shouldn't generally need a tool for, since you can force a hardware reboot using the buttons on the device, even if you don't want to enter DFU in the case of an actual recovery loop.

That's what I'm in, a recovery loop.

Enter DFU and perform a DFU restore.

Connect the device to iTunes using USB.
Hold the Power and Home buttons until the display turns black.
Immediately release the power button but keep holding Home until iTunes displays a message that the device must be restored. The screen of the iPhone will remain black.
Use iTunes to restore the device.

This method only looped me back into recovery mode.

I apologize, I re-read your answer. The process has begun, and I will notify you if it works.

This did nothing for me, sorry. It reached the point of 'Verifying restore' and then it stopped.

@YSP It's only been ¾h, I would have expected it to take at least an hour. Did it say anything when it stopped?

No, just 'iPhone could not be restored'.


text:
Identifying conflicting extensions in classic Mac OS
I am experimenting with Sheepsaver and am having some problems. I've got it booting okay into Mac OS and have installed some games and other software. But I think I was a little too eager and installed too much without properly testing things and I'm experiencing a number of freezes. Actually, the screen freezes up and mouse pointer disappears but sound is still playing.
Anyway, I remember in the good old days having some software installed on my Power Macs that listed what extensions conflicted with what.
So, my questions are:

What was that software?
Is it still available?
Does it work in sheepsaver?

Conflict Catcher is the one I remember.

@Tetsujin Yes, that's another utility we used a lot, although not as often once Apple incorporated the Extensions Manager into Mac OS (which I guess was the death knell for CC, especially since it was quite expensive).

@Tetsujin I remember Conflict Catcher too :) but InformINIT was what I was after.

I know exactly what you're talking about. It's called InformINIT and it was one of those tools that many of us Mac experts used to narrow down problems with. Even after Apple's Extensions Manager was released with Mac OS 7.5, InformINIT remained an extremely useful tool to identify those pesky control panels and extensions!
In summary:

Yes, you can still download it from here
Yes, it works within Sheepsaver!

As an aside, don't forget you can ask questions here about your Sheepsaver problems.


text:
Unusual problem with Swoop on Mac OS 9.0.4 under SheepSaver
I have setup SheepSaver with Mac OS 9.0.4 and it boots okay. I've installed software and games. One of those games is Swoop http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/swoop/
I can launch Swoop and play the game ok. But after I'm dead and try to play it again, the game starts but then freezes. The music and sound effects keep playing, but pressing the keyboard keys or moving the mouse has no effect. The only response I can get is by forcing SheepSaver to quit. When I launch SheepSaver again, I can play the game again, but only once. During that first game I can play for ages, but when I'm dead it freezes again upon trying to play it again. Very strange.
I used to play this game all the time in the Classic environment in OS X and never had any problems.
I've tried setting up SheepSaver on another Mac and have the same problem in that installation as well.
I've also tried changing the SheepSaver preferences - but all my changes have made things worse - the game either doesn't start or starts and freezes immediately.
My usual settings when the games works fine for one game are as described here http://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/sheepshaver_mac_os_x_setup
Does anyone have any ideas on what I can try next?

I used to love that game! :) Since you've already tinkered with the preferences, I have no initial suggestions to offer - but I will install it myself to see if the problem is replicated at my end! Will let you know how I go.

Sorry it's taken me a while to respond, but as promised in the comments I've tried to replicate this problem at my end.
The good news is that I could in fact replicate the problem. The problem occurs on five separate SheepSaver installations on three different Macs (running Tiger, Snow Leopard and El Capitan). I've tried various preference settings, along with experimenting with Mac OS 8.6 and Mac OS 9.0.4 installations. I've also tried booting SheepSaver with extensions off, and tried playing Swoop without sound.
Long story short, I couldn't play more than two consecutive games before SheepSaver froze.
As a final check, I tested Swoop on a standalone 2002 Quicksilver PowerMac G4 running Mac OS 9.2.2. Swoop plays flawlessly! :)
So, in a nutshell, I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, but I don't think you're going to get Swoop to work properly in SheepSaver. You could try some other emulation software, such as Basilisk, or purchase an older Mac capable of booting directly into Mac OS 9 (or running the Classic environment under Mac OS X). If you happen to want to try the Classic environment, post a comment and I'll happily test this for you (I have a couple of Macs that can run Classic OS under OS X).
Either way, good luck!

Thank you Sir. I + 1 your answer but will wait to see if someone else offers a different answer before accepting yours. I hope you understand.

Absolutely! I really hope you get it working. :) And if you do, please share what you did.


text:
(SheepSaver error) Sorry, the desktop folder on the startup disk could not be created. Try unlocking the disk
I've been having problems with a SheepSaver installation (see my other question Unusual problem with Swoop on Mac OS 9.0.4 under SheepSaver) so decided to start from scratch and create a second SheepSaver installation. But instead this time I followed the instructions from here http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/sheepshaverwrapper.html
All was going well, but when I get to step 3b I get this error

If I click OK, SHeepSaver just starts again and gives the same error.
The startup disk is a disk image created in Disk Utility and it has to be locked to work with sheepsaver, so its not like i can unlock it. Plus it's an image of the Mac OS 8.5.1 install CD.
I searched the various mac OS 9 / Sheepsaver forums, but this error message doesn't seem to be discussed anywhere.
What gives?
How do I fix it?
Any ideas welcome. :)

Are you sure it's Step 3a? Your question states The startup disk is a disk image created in Disk Utility, but I had a look at the link and you should be using Step 3b (not Step 3a).

Thank you sir! I have corrected my question. But the issue persists as I mistakenly had 3a in the question but was actually doing 3b.

I had a look at the SheepSaver Wrapper page you're using and think they've essentially been too clever by half. I followed it a few times and ran into various problems I then had to resolve myself.
If I was you, I would stick to the setup at emaculation instead.
However, if you're going through all this effort to try and play Swoop (as per your other question) I suggest it's just not worth the effort. Just my two cents worth.


text:
Disable shape detection in Preview's annotation tools
When I try to draw a line on an image using Preview's annotation tools, it doesn't remain as I drew it but instead the line is drawn linear. How can I set it to be preset as nonlinear?
So looking to the images, I don't want it to be set like this:

Instead I want it to be preset in this way, instead of clicking the actual function everytime to make it nonlinear.

In recent versions of Preview there are two annotation tools which seem almost identical: Sketch and Draw.

They both allow you to draw lines, but the difference is that Draw does not try to use shape detection.
Solution: Use Draw instead of Sketch.
Ignore the misleading icons, where it seems that Draw has a thicker line. You can always set the line thickness.
This tool appears only on computers with a Force Touch trackpad, but this is the case for most MacBooks.
Note: As said in a comment under, the Draw tool also changes the thickness of the line depending on Trackpad pressure, so consider this if you want to use the Draw tool as an alternative to the Sketch tool.
It was not a problem in my case, but it may be in yours, depending on how and why you need to draw on the PDF.

The Draw tool changes the thickness of the line depending on Trackpad pressure, so this isn't exactly equivalent to the normal tool.

@grg You are right about this, but while we wait until they (hopefully) will support this, I wanted to provide a workaround for many people who would still be fine with using the Draw tool, at least until this is solved, which was my case and hopefully it could be the OP case.

It's currently not possible to disable the shape detection used by default in the markup tools.

If your drawing is recognized as a standard shape, it’s replaced by that shape; to use your drawing instead, choose it from the palette that’s shown.

Source: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH20218
You can provide feedback to Apple here:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html

Darn. It makes drawing freehand red circles much more difficult. Hopefully they'll let us disable it eventually.

@Catija I noticed you commented in 2020. See my answer, it seems that in recent versions this can be solved.

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


text:
How do you get a stack trace of a running process?
On Linux, you can examine /proc/$PID/stack. Is there an equivalent on OSX?

See also https://stackoverflow.com/q/24523118/32453

Maybe this is what you are looking for?

Open Activity Monitor.
Select the target process.
Click on the gear icon in top left.
Select "Sample Process" from appeared menu.

It will display detailed info about process:

Welcome to Ask Different.  It's always a good idea to add some text describing the images.  The text can be picked-up by Search for when others have a similar question.  See [answer] for tips on providing good answers.

WOW!! I didn't know about that! I was trying to get something like this with lldb without success... Thanks!! +1!

See also the sample command https://stackoverflow.com/q/24523118/32453


text:
File with removed tag showing up in Finder
I recently learned about the tagging system on macOS and tagged the file with name DA1 with a yellow tag. Shortly after that, I removed the yellow tag but the file keeps popping up in my Finder window. What should I do to remove that file from Finder?

I have not found a stable way in the finder to apply tags. Usually any new method I try works for the first 5 files, and then the problems arise. Even the Get Info window will not reliably work (the tags appear to be fixed, but if you close the Get Info window and open it again, none of the changes have been kept).
However, recently I have been applying tags through an application's Save dialog box. Often this works to add or remove tags when the Finder doesn't. Maybe that will work for this problem file.

If I'm understanding you correctly, you tagged a file with the "yellow" tag, then later removed the tag. But when you view all files with that tag, that file appears in the view.
I would try restarting the Mac. That may flush the system. I have found adding or removing tags in the Finder to be completely unreliable. The problem has existed for years and in Sierra it's still not fixed. It may be that you thought you deleted the tag on the file, but it isn't actually removed.

Thanks a lot! Is there any way to remove the tag of a file without any such consequences?


text:
trimforce enable does not work
I am using 2009 macbook pro and I wanted to upgrade the default hdd to a Samsung Evo 850. I have succeeded to transfer everything from a Time Machine backup, but when I wanted to enable the trim by sudo trimforce enable, then after a restart computer just shows the "crossed out circle".  I am running OSX 10.11.6, and AFAIK it should just work.
Am i missing something there?
What I did exactly is:

put a clean ssd into the computer
booted from USB install disk for El Capitan
restored the backup from the time machine
logged in successfullty to a newly setup osx as a user with admin rights,
saw in system information SATA suport "Trim support: no"
in Terminal typed sudo trimforce enable, after a minute computer reboot
crossed out circle shows (every 10 seconds it changes for approx 0.3 seconds for apple logo, but the computer does not boot)

am I missing something?
Edit. On page Crindori Disk sensei I found:
This is the easiest and safest way to enable Trim on OS X.
It is even better than using the new built in trimforce command,
since that requires 10.10.4 and may require disabling system security on El Cap.

Are they up to something with "disabling system security on El Cap". Should I still have done the kext-dev-mode=1 thing?

Have you tried the usual: NVRAM and SMC reset, boot into repair mode and run disk utility?

I could not get it to run in repair mode. When pressing cmd+R, the crossed out circle appears too (this time not immediately after boot sound but 10 minute later).  I used repair mode from USB drive, ring first aid on SSD - it passed reported no error. I did reset NVRAM, did not try SMC.

You could try alt+cmd+R for internet recovery: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

Please avoid making your question a "moving target" by editing it. You can always ask a new question. Normally trimforce should work (without kext-dev-mode=1). There are many examples (including me) where it worked without problems.

Ok, internet recovery also does not work - stop sign pops up. I can boot only from usb stick.

hmm. maybe you are right and system protection is indeed the problem. Updated my answer.

Actually I have started now with cmdV. It seems "stop sign" means "recovery image verification error 0x6" or something like that. Anyway if one waits for a longer time it eventually boots. I will investigate into that direction, so fat it is mentioned with "ignore it" tone in hackintosh fora

Strange. Maybe you try repairing the recovery image then (http://osxdaily.com/2016/07/03/recreate-recovery-partition-mac/). But I don't see how that error occurs in the first place.

Yes indeed, the issue seems to be multifactor - when I enabled trim, the EFI must have got corrupted. I do not understand either... at least this is some hint.

I did the following: I booted the system from Time machine backup. I did repair disk from Disk utility (I think I did that before), but this time I have enabled "show hidden disks" in Disk utility debug menu and ran repair on EFI partition.  Somehow I think that when one does "repair disk" on whe whole volume this is run too, just not printed. Anyway it booted.

I'm using a Samsung 850 EVO in my MacBook Pro. If you prefer a method that uses the GUI, I recommend Trim Enabler (it's $9.99, works well, and supports the EVO 850):
You also asked why they mentioned that trimforce might not be safe. This article in their FAQ might answer your question: Why should I not use Terminal commands like trimforce?

The second link is dead.

I have read several forum posts reporting similar problems.
This article says that indeed El Capitan system security may be your problem and that you should use their software (Disk Sensei).
This article describes the procedure to get your system back. Some users also report they were able to make TRIM work with this procedure:

Follow these steps to disable kext-signing and rebuild your kext cache.
Step 1: Boot recovery mode by holding Cmd+R during boot
Step 2: Is your volume encrypted (FileVault)? If so, first open Disk Utility from the menu bar and unlock/mount your drive
Step 3: Open the Terminal from the menu bar
Step 4: Run this command: nvram boot-args
Does it say “kext-dev-mode=1”? if so, you can skip to Step 6. If it says “error getting variable”, continue with these steps:
Step 5: Run this command: nvram boot-args=kext-dev-mode=1
Step 6: Reboot back in to Recovery Mode again
Step 7: Run these commands, replacing Your Disk Name with the name of your Mac disk volume. If the volume name contains spaces, use quotes around it.
touch /Volumes/"Your Disk Name"/System/Library/Extensions

kextcache -u /Volumes/"Your Disk name"

Step 8: Wait until it finishes (can take as long as 5-10 minutes, don’t abort it) and reboot.
You should now be back in OS X with Trim enabled

There is also a second manual on how to reverse all TRIM changes:

Follow these steps to undo all changes made by Trim Enabler.
Step 1: Boot recovery mode by holding Cmd+R during boot
Step 2: Is your volume encrypted (FileVault)? If so, first open Disk Utility from the menu bar and unlock/mount your drive
Step 3: Open the Terminal from the menu bar
Step 4: Run these commands, replacing Your Disk Name with the name of your Mac disk volume. If the volume name contains spaces, use quotes around it.
nvram -d boot-args

cp -rf /System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext /Volumes/"Your Disk name"/System/Library/Extensions/IOAHCIFamily.kext

chown -R root:wheel /Volumes/"Your Disk name"/System/Library/Extensions

chmod -R 755 /Volumes/"Your Disk name"/System/Library/Extensions

touch /Volumes/"Your Disk name"/System/Library/Extensions

kextcache -u /Volumes/"Your Disk name"

Step 5: Wait until it finishes (can take as long as 5-10 minutes, don’t abort it) and reboot.
You should now be back in OS X with Trim disabled.


text:
Error -36 on a brand new Samsung 850 SSD drive
I, after some adventure (as described here), have successfully booted OS X installation from a brand new SSD by Samsung (EVO 850).  I am running OS X 10.11.6 (Trim is not enabled). My Mac is mid-2009 MacBook pro.
When installing, I have restored a Time Machine state. Now, whenever I try to access large files on the disk, they fail to be copied with an error message  -36: saying that the source file "cannot be read or written". I am able to successfully copy files from the backup disk or from the internet to the SSD, but once there, they cannot be copied further (they can be moved, but this is just a bookkeeping operation, no data is read then). So it seems the problem occurs when the OS tries to actually read something besides FS entries.
The error persists both in Finder and Terminal.
The SSD is brand new. It has an uptime of 7 hrs and 41 power cycles. It comes clean with Disk Utility - no problems detected, but I guess this tool does not perform disk read/write integrity test, just checks FS entries. Am I right?
So what options do I have here?

AFAIK Samsung provides test utilities for their disks. (often for Windows only however). Do you have the possibility to test the drive with it, e. g. booting from a USB?

A common problem with MBPs is the Sata cable leading to all sorts of issues. You may want to research that if the disk turns out to be ok.

I am installing a linux on an old laptop with that disk. However I till take a while (this is installation over internet with internet access provided by a cellular network...)

Judging from the symptoms, I would test the following:

Check macOS. For instance, boot from the Recovery partition or create a second partition with a virgin system and try to copy the files causing issues.
Check the SSD.

Check SMART info of the SSD.
Best remove the SSD and place it either in an external (USB) enclosure or into a different machine. Then test your drive from there. You can also boot from an external drive by pressing alt during boot.
Also try to get hold of a Windows PC or boot from Bootcamp and use the Samsung your SSD with the Samsung Magician. However, keep in mind your SATA cable may be the culprit (see next step).

Check SATA cable: The SATA cables of the unibody MacBook Pros are known to cause all kinds of issues. In case your SSD proves to be ok, consider replacing the cable.

I think this is something along these lines. It will take me several days to buy the necessary parts/get access to other machine. But I have just installed linux on that SSD. It did not give ma a single error once. I have copied several tens of GB (and used binary comparison of file contents, computed md5sum of copies). It seems SSD in a ancient Linux laptop (Dell Latitude E6400) works well. And the machine became cool to use again :) So point 2 is done.  I still want to make this SSD work in the Mac, so I will try to borrow HDD SATA cable, before buying one (the go aroung $50 right?)

I will buy enclosure as you have suggested and give it a try.

@Lacek I really hope you can solve the issue. It is still a great machine after all.

I just had an issue with my Samsung 850 EVO. I thought this was a hard drive failure, so I sent it to Samsung (they have a 5 year warranty on this type of SSD). They said nothing was wrong, so I now assume from the similar stories I've heard that the SATA cable is the issue. Apparently, the sleep LED on the right of the laptop is attached to the SATA cable. If it doesn't turn on when your MacBook sleeps, the SATA cable might be the issue.

Do you know if various cables available on e.q Amazon and ebay seriously differ from each other? Somehow I do no believe there are tens of manufacturers of these products (more likely they all come from one of two sources). Is there a "best" way to get replacement cables?


text:
Can't use Boot Camp with drive already partitioned
I'm running OS X Yosemite on a recently formatted 2010 MBP.
When I formatting the drive / installed Yosemite, I partitioned it with one partition called OS X and another partition simply called Partition.
I would like to install Windows 7 onto Partition and I'm under the impression I need to use Boot Camp in order to do that... it's been many years since I last did this however.
When I try to start Boot Camp, I receive the following error:

The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended
  (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for
  installing Windows.

I was expecting to be able to view the partitions using Boot Camp, am I misunderstanding something? Do I need to re-partition my harddrive?
Or can I just insert my Windows disc and boot from Partition when starting up my Mac?

To do it the 'easy way', fully utilising Boot Camp, you need to start with one single volume on the Mac [ignoring the hidden volumes].
Boot Camp will then repartition for you & set up Windows on that new partition. Removal is then just as simple, using Boot Camp.
Boot Camp does more than just partition the drive, it sets Windows up in such a way that it is unaware it's being 'fooled' into thinking it's in charge of the drive.
Resist the temptation to ever change the volume structures any other way; tears will ensue ;-)
Best way to go right now would be to remove that extra partition in Disk Utility & extend the main one back to the entire drive, then let Boot Camp re-partition in its preferred way.
It can be done other ways, but none of them are as simple.

thanks, I didn't realise I could simply remove an extra partition without formatting the hard drive?


text:
Why is half of my Mac's storage full with "system" files?
What does this mean:

The "system" section is taking up 80 GB. Why is it taking up so much and is there any way I can reduce it?

Files with unknown extensions fill up the System section, so that would explain that.

@owlswipe that's a good answer. I didn't know that, maybe the fact that most of my device is filled up with program source files is what the large System section represents?

Yep, that's what's happened to my MB too.

In retrospect I am not so sure that this is a duplicate. This question is more wondering what constitutes "system" files and why this section in particular is so large. None of the answers on the "duplicate" address this.

Yeah, I'm not sure either :). If you need any more help with this let me know!

@theonlygusti such a question would likely to be 'too broad'. If you can limit its scope, you're welcome to [edit] your question and cast a reopen vote on it; it will automatically enter the reopen review queue and the community will decide whether to reopen it or not.


text:
How can I stop losing my screens when I close the lid?
When I close the lid of my MacBook Air, it's almost always plugged in.  When I open the lid, I have to sign in and my screen is clear of all the things I wanted to see or was looking at, but did not finish.  This happens several times a day.  I have to close the lid because of a possible dust situation where I need to keep the computer during the day.  This just started happening a couple of weeks ago.  I am running OS X El Capitan.  I do not log out, but it thinks I did.  Grrrrrrr!

Sounds to me like the cause of it is this setting, which you'll want to disable:
System Preferences > Security & Privacy >
Require a password X minutes after sleep or screen saver begins


text:
Compare battery life between two (same model) iPhones
My friend and I both own an iPhone 5s, which we have been using daily since bought (2013). Recently, he bought a $10 battery (0 cycles, manufactured 4 months ago) on eBay and replaced it, while my iPhone has the factory battery.
How do I test both iPhones to see if it's worth to change my battery too?
Note: cellular data is not available, only WiFi.

Hey! Already tested https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/battery-life-check-devices-runtimes/id1080930585?mt=8 on both devices ?

One thing to note is that almost all non-factory batteries run the risk of being a re-flashed used battery that makes it look like a brand new battery. There are a couple reputable companies, but most just use old used batteries.

Let me know if my answer helps or not. I'd be happy to add more details/change anything if you need anything!

Monomeeth provides a good guide on how to do the process of testing your battery manually, but there are two ways to do this automatically (and with fewer variables that could affect results).
Method 1: App
Battery Life (free ad-supported app) lets you check the health of your iPhone's battery immediately after downloading. In my experience, it's very accurate, and reviews seem to agree. Opening it up, you'll see a battery wear percentage on each of the iPhones, and approximate runtimes for talk/browsing/video usage.
The app is a simple way to objectively see if it's time to replace your iPhone battery.

Disclaimer: I have personally used the app but I am not affiliated with its developer in any way.

Method 2: Genius Bar
If you bring your iPhones into the genius bar, a genius can help you run diagnostics on the iPhones to see each battery's wear and current capacity (at no charge).
This is definitely the more official way to do it, but it does require taking a trip to an Apple Store. Read more about Apple's battery diagnostic here.

tl;dr: Download this app or go the genius bar for a battery diagnostic (which is a real thing).

Note: In my personal opinion, whether it's time to replace your battery is more subjective than objective. If the battery life is significantly worse than you remember it being, it's probably time to get a new battery!

This app may also work: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/battery-doctor-master-battery/id446751279?mt=8

@books453 Your app does show remaining usage time as well (very useful), but doesn't show health % with message about when to replace like mine does.

By implication, I'm assuming you don't want to just use an app, but instead want to do some real life testing.
However, the only way to do this and ensure some degree of accuracy is to ensure:

that you have the exact same apps running during these tests
all apps (and iOS itself) must be the same version
the start and end times (and therefore also duration) are identical 1
the ambient temperature at the time was identical (in other words, you'd have to do this in the same air-conditioned environment set at the same temperature)

In a nutshell what you would do is something like the following:

Fully charge both iPhones and disconnect them from AC power at 10pm
At 8am play the same movie at full volume and full brightness on both iPhones
At conclusion of the movie, take note of the battery percentage
Play the movie again (still at full volume and brightness)
At conclusion of the movie, take note of the battery percentage again
Play the movie again (still at full volume and brightness)
At conclusion of the movie, take note of the battery percentage again
Play the movie yet again (still at full volume and brightness)
At conclusion of the movie, take note of the battery percentage again (assuming you've still got a charge)

Now fully charge both iPhones and leave them connected to AC power until 8am the next day, at which point you disconnect from power and perform the same test (i.e. same room, same movie, same volume, same brightness, etc).
NOTE: The above test scenario is only an example case of how you could test both iPhones. The idea of the scenario I outline above is just to get across how one would conduct a test of both iPhones to ensure some validity to the results. Or, to put it another way, to ensure you're comparing Apples with Apples (yes, pun intended). Also, one of the other factors you need to consider is your actual phone usage during the test - to ensure a valid comparison you'd really have to have the phone switched off.
Regardless of the test scenario you adopt, compare the differences in your battery percentages (and also whether one phone runs longer under the same conditions) to determine whether the $10 battery is worth the trouble.
1 Actually, while the start times should be identical, the end time may not need to be (and therefore neither the duration). This way you can take note of whether one phone can endure your test scenario for longer than the other and, if so, how much longer? For example, in my scenario, can one phone play the movie a full 4 times? Can both do that? Keep going to see if one can continue to play the movie for longer and, if so, how much longer?
In a nutshell, only you can decide, based on your test results, whether it's worth changing your battery too.

This is a good answer except that it assumes the battery percentage meter is accurate. In my experience with my 4s the meter became less and less reliable as the battery aged, and once the phone was three or four years old it might shut down while the battery was still apparently at 30%, or might carry on until the meter showed completely empty. The only way of judging this reliably would be to run both phones identically until they shut down - and preferably repeat this a few times under different conditions and average the results.

@nekomatic Agreed. I tried to allow for this in my scenario, although I didn't explicitly say it. In essence that's one of the reasons for ensuring the same apps and versions of iOS are used, and also for repeating the movie playback again and again. At some point the charge will diminish and one of the measures be how much longer one phone can continue playing the movie for as opposed to the other. Of course, one of the other factors in this case is cellular phone usage - so to ensure a valid comparison you'd really have to have the phone switched off. I'll update my answer to clarify this.


text:
Office 365: Outlook — limit sync to 30 days
I have just installed MS Outlook for Mac and am trying to prevent it from downloading my entire inbox with emails dating back to 2008.
I have an IMAP Gmail account and only want Outlook to sync emails from the 30 most recent days. This is quite easy to achieve in Thunderbird but I can't see anything for this for Outlook?

As of Outlook 16.23 (February 2019), such a feature to limit the email downloaded by date does not appear to exist. There's a feature request on Outlook's UserVoice forum for this functionality.
For an IMAP account, under the account's Advanced settings, you can configure Outlook to only download headers.

There is nothing similar for Exchange accounts.

If you set up your Gmail account as a regular IMAP account (and not as a gmail account) in Outlook, you can limit the download size.  For this, you would also need to change your IMAP settings in Gmail.  There is an option to restrict the number of messages that can be synced. I have set it to 1000.  This does not work by number of days, but close enough if you can guess a number for yourself.


text:
Change 'show desktop' keyboard shortcut
I can show the desktop in Yosemite using cmd + F3
However I would like to change it to something else. I've done this in the past but can't remember how, and can't find anything online for that matter.
Also when I look under System Preferences I see nothing relating to this action?

System Preferences → Mission Control → Show Desktop. Hold down a modifier key to affect which keys are shown.

You can also see more keyboard shortcut options through System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts → Mission Control → Show Desktop.


text:
How do Skim's bookmarks work?
I'm using Skim to add bookmarks my pdfs and have some questions:

Skim seems to have it's own bookmark manager with folders and bookmarks that allow you to open bookmarks inside pdfs that aren't currently opened. Where are these bookmarks and folders stored on my machine? If it's in a plist is it possible to get xml/plain text format?
I'm able to access the bookmarks by going to the main menu and clicking Bookmarks and then manually searching through a drop-down menu. Is it possible to search this? Is there a hotkey to access search?
I want to be able to search Skim's bookmarks via a ruby/bash/applescript without Skim being open. Is this possible? Can you point me to an example?

According to another answer cmd + shift + / searches bookmarks.

They're stored in: $HOME/Library/Preferences/net.sourceforge.skim-app.skim.bookmarks.plist

How would I read the plist in a bash or ruby script?

The net.sourceforge.skim-app.skim.bookmarks.plist file is a binary Property List file of which much of the information is hex encapsulated as shown by the output of defaults read net.sourceforge.skim-app.skim.bookmarks. However, if you pipe it to grep, e.g. defaults read net.sourceforge.skim-app.skim.bookmarks | grep 'label\|type' you'll see what could be considered useful information for formulating search queries upon. To get relevant fully qualified pathnames, you'd have to parse the "_BDAlias" = <hex_formatted_data> output to get that.

Do you know of a reliable way to parse it? I used xxd -r -p and got Untitled:Users:max:Dropbox:work:tmp:pdfminer_testing:agile.pdf but it also with some very messy output

Haven't really looked into how I'd parse it other then having just manually seen what the hex data contained. However, if you choose to parse it with xxd and want the output to be printable characters you could use the tr command, but would have to pipe from xxd to e.g. textutil first as tr couldn't handle the output directly from xxd. E.g. xxd -r -p<<<'hex_data' | textutil -convert txt -stdin -stdout | tr -cd '\10\11\40-\176' You can modify the octal values, e.g. '\10\11\40-\176' to what you feel is appropriate after doing some sampling to see what works for you.


text:
Own Apple products for $1 for business?
I was looking for ways to save money for a small business on Apple products. While I find that Apple makes the best products, it'll be too expensive for a new business, and will most likely seek some other company.
However, I saw this...

...on the Apple website.
In detail, what does "Own It" mean? I'm doubting that only $1 comes out of pocket.

The text indicates that you pay $1 at the end of the financing term. So no, you pay $1 in addition to whatever agreement you sign with Apple, not $1 in total.
This is essentially a lease with option to buy.

Isn't this question a shopping question?

@William It's rather a "help me understand this financing offer from Apple" question. Which is maybe a bit unusual (as we don't get many of these) but not really off-topic per se.


text:
Does gigabit ethernet to thunderbolt adapter work with old ethernet?
Does Apple's Gigabit ethernet to thunderbolt adapter work with old types of ethernet that are not gigabit?
I am wondering because I want to use it with my 2015 macbook pro, wondering if I can connect to a non-Cat6 cable (my router doesn't support gigabit ethernet)

From Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

The Apple Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter lets you easily connect to a high-performance Gigabit Ethernet network. Small and compact, it connects to the Thunderbolt port on your Mac computer and provides an RJ-45 port that supports 10/100/1000BASE-T networks.

So the answer is, yes it will work. It will provide the bandwidth up to the supported bandwidths 10/100/1000BASE-T as applicable.


text:
Support combinatorics?
How can I get spotlight to recognise expressions like 8C5 or 7P4?
I want to do combinations and permutations with spotlight.

This looks like an XY Problem, so can you describe in more details which problem you are trying to solve here (without already making assumptions about the cause)? Also, just tried it here, Spotlight seems to be happy to search for these terms. What exactly doesn't work as expected for you?

@patrix I want it to give me the answer like it would for other calculations, so i can work faster.

After proper transformations you can calculate at least simple combinations and permutations in Spotlight:
7P4=7!/(7-4)!=7!/3!. Entered in Spotlight as 7!/3! it will give you a proper result: 840.
C(8,5)=8!/5!(8-5)!=8!/5!3!. Entered in Spotlight as 8!/5!3! it will give you a proper result: 56.
For info on other advanced functions besides Factorial which Spotlight can handle, see this page

According to Google Search a WolframAlpha Spotlight plug-in for Flashlight (a Spotlight extender - link in the other answer) which should be capable of doing these kind of calculations once existed but I can't actually find it or it's gone.

With Google Chrome installed you can use a work-around and add the Wolfram | Alpha extension which supports expressions like in your question in the extra search bar:

This isn't what I'm asking. I know I can do this, but I want to do 7P3

@theonlygusti If you need a panacea code one yourself...

that is what this question is asking then. How do I code it? Do I need to make some full-blown app? I don't even know how to register a new spotlight "listener" from  a macos app, if that is what i have to do...

If you need help in coding, please ask specific questions on Stack Overflow. Coding questions are off-topic on AD.

There is no easy way to do this.
Spotlight has access to doing calculations with the built-in Calculator.app, so you can put in some simple arithmetic expressions. However, this app is not able to compute combinations/permutations.
There seems to be something you can install called Flashlight (http://flashlight.nateparrott.com) that will let you write custom plugins for Spotlight, so maybe that is a solution (I have never used it, so I don't know how easy or difficult it would be).

Flashlight won't work in this case (I already have it for other plugins) because arguments are space-separated from the function

@theonlygusti Couldn't you make commands "Comb n k" and "Perm n k" (or even "C n k", "P n k")? It's better than typing in the whole formula, as suggested in the other answer.

You're right, that could be a way to do it. However, I specifically want to know how I can do nCr


text:
Build in and build out of two images where one replaces the other in the same slide
I'm creating a Keynote presentation.
I have a slide with two overlapping images at the center of the slide. What I want to do is make one of the two disappear when the other appears. This should be done in one slide.
I've tried to add "build" effects or playing around with the orders, but I guess this may not be the right way to do it. I've also looked around on the web, but I've not found anything which really addresses my problem.

Add build out to the first element and build in to the second.

Set the build out to be with the build in.

Preview:


text:
I think Chrome makes my computer run out of memory
Why are there so many "Google Chrome Helper" processes open:

I have been getting a lot of alerts lately because my mac is out of memory.
I wonder if chrome is the cause, and how I can fix this.
I only had 3 tabs open in chrome when I took the screenshot.

Chrome is a known memory hog.  You can search on this site and see dozens of questions & answers about that topic.

In addition to open windows/tabs, every loaded extension has a Google Chrome Helper. Go to the menu Window > Task Manager to see all the 'tasks' Chrome has running.

I think you'll find every answer will be to stop Chrome from running all the time and limit how many extensions and tabs you have open to only use what you need.  Or, get more RAM.

@fsb how do I get more ram for my macbook....

It depends on the MB you have.  I can't answer that but search here for others that upgraded their RAM on your model.  It's not easy or inexpensive but it is an option.  If it was me, I'd just not use Chrome unless necessary.

"Not using Chrome" is not a very helpful suggestion, BTW.

Wow. Looking at that screenshot, I'd guess you have 8, 10, or even more tabs open. Try quitting and reopening chrome. Then take a screenshot immediately. How much memory is it using? How many "Google Chrome Helper" processes are open?

I just quit and reopened chrome. Only one tab open: http://i.cubeupload.com/NB1Jc9.png – doesn't look like as much memory is being used though


text:
Missing Notification Center Widgets & Share Extensions
Half of my Notification Center widgets (most importantly, Weather) suddenly disappeared, and can no longer be added back by clicking Edit at the bottom of the Notification Center. Those that remain, like Today and Tomorrow, show no information.
They are also missing from  → System Preferences → Extensions → Today.
I’ve tried reinstalling the macOS 10.12.3 Combo Update, with no success through multiple reboots.

Apple has a knowledge base article for this bug occasionally affecting macOS Yosemite, El Capitan, and now Sierra. This happens most often after installing an OS update.
To reregister all Notification Center widgets and Share Extensions, start a Terminal session, and enter the following:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -seed

(Triple-click the above line and press ⌘ cmdc to copy, then ⌘ cmdv inside Terminal.)


text:
How to prevent Safari Technology Preview opening default Safari on launch?
After selecting Safari Technology Preview as default browser it now also launches macOS's default version of Safari at the same time on launch. Is there a way to prevent this?

This does not happen for me. Do you have any scripts bound to a web browser launching?

Thank you @BallpointBen - Is there somewhere to check? Turning Extensions off doesn't seem to make any difference.

I have the same question, please someone help

Almost 2021 and I have the same question

2021, same here.

I believe this is something to do with 1Password. It's been reported on their forums and replicated by the support team.


text:
I modified the 'com.apple.screencapture.plist' file and now my screenshots don't save
In Terminal, I executed the following lines:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop/
killall SystemUIServer

But try as I might, my screenshots never save to the Desktop. In fact, I have no idea where they go!
Here's a GIF demonstrating the problem:

Here's a screenshot of my keyboard settings (to show that there are no conflicts or that I'm not accidentally copying to clipboard):

Does anyone have an idea?

What's the result of defaults read com.apple.screencapture location?

Your command works in my Sierra without a problem even without killall SystemUIServer. It also works with defaults write com.apple.screencapture location -string "~/Desktop/". The ~ in the plist itself is expanded properly.

@Tetsujin It's /Users/gjtorikian/Desktop/.
@klanomath I am glad it works for you.

What happens if you change it to somewhere else, test, change it back, test?

@Tetsujin I set it to ~/Downloads, and verified it with defaults read.... It still does not show up. :( I hear the camera click and everything, too.

but what happened when you changed it to somewhere else?

Nothing happens. No image is saved.

Does it work when you set it from the GUI?

@JohnKeates I do not believe there is a GUI for this setting. Do you know of one?

@GJTorikian There used to be a setting in Grab, but it seems to be gone. Sorry.

Not related to the screenshots, but you are probably going to love adding the F flag to your ls commands. And while you're at it, you can create an alias to save keystrokes: ll is the default alias for ls -alF on Ubuntu installs

Assuming that you are running the latest version of macOS, with iCloud Drive activated and the "Desktop & Documents Folders" option selected, the ~/Desktop is no longer your regular desktop folder, as it's synchronized with iCloud.
My suggestion: drag any file from your desktop to a terminal window, and it will show the full path for the file in the desktop folder.
Hope it helps.

You can revert the screenshot save location to default (desktop) by removing the location key in the plist file. Just use the following Terminal command:
defaults delete com.apple.screencapture location; killall SystemUIServer
If that doesn't solve the issue, then there might be another aspect of your plist file that is corrupt, or another issue is present. As an alternative, you can just trash your current plist file completely and then reapply any adjustments to the defaults that you desire.

Just pointing out that "Terminal and bash... are a part of the overall OS" has zero to do with it.  Shell expansions happen before command execution, so the defaults binary never sees the tilde, that's all.
I'm not where I can check, but I wonder if it's more that you have the trailing slash on it for some reason?
Lastly... don't they default to the desktop anyway?

The problem you are having is that the OS doesn't understand the ~ shortcut. That's only a shell shortcut.
Set the location to the absolute path:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /Users/<username>/Desktop/
(replacing <username> with your username)
This should fix your problem.