text:
How can I make my Macbook Pro's headphone jack stop "humming"?
Switched recently from a Lenovo PC and one thing on my mac bothered me. Headphones plugged into my Macbook pro 13" (latest version) "hum" with static when there is no audio playing. Then after a short period of time, they stop humming, as if all power to the port is turned off. When any sound plays, it starts again. Anybody know of any setting in the Mac "bios" (or whatever they call it) or with drivers or software to get it to stop humming? It's rather annoying.

This "hum" you speak of happens on my iPad and I've just gotten used to it. It's not noticeable when sounds are playing.

Does the humming change or stop when you unplug everything else, including the magsafe power cable? Does it change when you play with the screen brightness? Does it change when the Mac is first turned on and still cold to the touch?

I've only noticed noise using apple ear buds, if I use any other set of headphones I don't hear humming of any sort.

I can confirm that removing the MagSafe cable solves the problem. Still, I'm looking for a permanent solution that would allow me to power the mac :)

10 years later I see myself with new MacBook and the same problem but unplugging the magsafe 3 power cable does to fix the issue.

I found the solution to my problem. For some reason (who knows why) the headphone output was set to 16-bit. Of course that's going to sound awful.
To fix this, head to 'Audio MIDI Setup' (can be found with Spotlight) and change the 'Built-in Output' to 32-bits.

Audio MIDI Setup can be found in the Utilities (Command-Shift-U, from the Finder, or Utilities folder inside the Applications folder). Thanks: this did solve my (light) humming problem.

I did not know this. I've noticed the odd bit of poor quality from the headphone jack, was set to 20bit. I wonder if setting it to 32.48K will help. Thank you!

Is this the mac default? Just changed it to 32 and the difference is very noticeable.

This answer really makes no sense at all. "CD Audio" is 16-bit & in the 40 years it's been popular has never been known to 'hum'.

Subtract nearly a decade from that, this answer was from 2013! I don't know what caused it at the time, but changing this setting fixed my problem. Resampling? Antialiasing? SNR around the low numbers? A bug in Mac OS X circa 2013? Who knows.

There have been instances over the years when the clock sync on DACs have had 'the jitters'. The way to actually test this is to change the frequency then change it back again. The act of changing it resets the clock. Changing it back then 'proves' it wasn't actually the frequency itself at fault, causing the 'hum' [It shouldn't actually be hum, it should be a 'fuzziness' in the signal, depending on how badly the clock was mis-firing. Sometimes it would even result in silence until its elbow was jogged to wake it up.]

My macbook air also hums into my Bose earbuds. Disconnecting the magsafe power cable lessens it, but not by much. Touching the body of the computer dramatically decreases the hum (the more skin that touches, the greater the decrease).

I experienced the exact same issue. Unplugging the monitor and power cord just caused different hums. Using the 3 prong power cord is what cleared it up.

What you are hearing is the intrinsic noise of the Macbook's DAC and output buffers.
The output does actually power down when it goes unused for a certain period of time, which is why the noise goes away. The analog output is powered down to save battery.
Unfortunately, since the noise is intrinsic to the system, the only way to disable it is to completely disable the ability to output any sound.
There may be a way to modify the period of time it takes before the output gets powered down, but I am not familiar with any.

… or you could try using an external (e.g. USB-powered) DAC that has a lower noise, but thats quite a lot trial & error.

"Step 1:Plug it in, Step 2:Install Drivers".... That's a lot of trial and error?

Closing my web browser solved my buzz problem!
My Mac Pro started an electronic type of buzzing sound suddenly in the past few weeks.
The sound was coming from the audio output (headphone jack or firewire audio output - same issue)
I had incorporated some new speakers recently and I thought maybe it was some kind of new grounding problem. While attempting to pursue a solution to the problem, on a whim I decided to shut down my mac to see if that might do anything.
While preparing to shut down I was closing various programs. Then I closed down Google Chrome, on which I had about 10-15 tabs open... and the sound went away!
I've never experienced something like this before.  I'm imagining perhaps it was some kind of issue with one of the pages I had up.
I've often had multiple browsers windows, each with multiple tabs open and never had this kind of thing happen... so this was unique experience for me.

Had the same problem, closed everything and the sound card went back to normal.

The hum is also present for me, even with unplugging everything. Actually, if you have a look (or at least, for me, this is the case) if you touch the body of the machine, it ceases to hum. It must be some kind of static buildup of charge on the aluminium body, and when you touch it, your body acts as a very large condenser.
When you can ground the machine with your body, you might want to check the power cord and replace an ungrounded "duck head" or cord with one that goes to a properly grounded wall receptacle. Also, take a toothbrush to the magsafe connectors to ensure all the springs work and make contact to the connector on the mac.
If you use an external USB I/O (I use a mixer, for I'm a session musician), the hum is not plagueing the alternative sound source.

Any of the above may apply, but this solved mine;
As soon as I unplugged from power, the buzz went. Nothing to doo with ground loops, or bad connectors ( even though 3.5 mm plugs differ surprisingly ).
The answer was that the laptop Battery was long overdue for replacement. When power is put through this for charging, you get the hum. I have about 40min of battery life without main charging. so it is enough to drive some midi gear from a sound font sampler for a few songs, then mute the channel while I feed it mains power again during the break.
I double checked the exact setup by plugging to a refurbished MacBook Air and confirmed it. ( actually the wife suggested this solution, you know what they say, don't argue with a woman, she's always right :)

Bmike above said that when he touched his, it got rid of the problem. if it's true for you as well OP, try touching the base and a brick wall or something, or lick your fingers and wipe the bottom with them a little. for any other solutions look up how to get rid of static electricity on google.

My solution: plug in three pronged charger instead of two pronged charger
Other answers have mentioned this but with other cruft in the way.

This is happening for those who are using the MagSafe adapter without the ground. The MagSafe you can connect to the power wall socket in two ways:

Using the 1.5-meter cable which has grounding pins.
Using the adapter that has only 2 pins and no grounding that's causing the noise.

Buy a cable with grounding and the noise will disappear.

Welcome to Ask Different SE and thank you for your contribution. When you get a chance, please take the [tour] to understand how the site works and how it is different than others.

iMac 27 inch - late 2012, i7
Well, Apple probably won't like this advice but it EASILY worked for me :

I use the headphone jack output for audio playback from my iMac (Pro Tools, iTunes, etc) and after upgrading to the iMac from my Mac Pro (early 2008, quad core) physically configured the same way (headphone jack output to my speakers) the iMac would constantly emit a BUZZ shortly after any sound was outputted from it.  i.e. : something like a system sound would play, there would be silence, and then after about 10 seconds or so the BUZZ would constantly output.
read and tried a few things that were completely useless and weird to even give a try (but I did regardless) - things like : 'zap the PRAM' ... reset the SMC ... switch to 32bit .... all weird, misguided and did not solve the problem.
I shut down the iMac, unplugged the power cable from the wall, grabbed a pair of needle nose pliers and then ripped off the GROUND PLUG from the power cable.  Plugged it back in, booted back up and SOLVED.  Apple's mention of a "ground loop" possibly being the problem in other posts was the best advice I found.  They did/would not offer this solution but for me, after working in recording studios for more than 25 years now and experiencing MANY types of grounding issues with regard to BUZZ in the audio signal - it led me to just rip that ground plug off and move forward.
As a professional I cannot profess to know that the possible negative implications might be from having a non-grounded iMac but let me just say that this is not the first time that I have done this with a computer or any type of gear for that matter to just basically "move on".

Let's see if Apple allows this post.  Believe me - try it!  If it doesn't help then make sure that you have a replacement IEC power cable (the one that has a female 3-pronged end and a male 3-pronged end) to swap out to if not successful.

Apple doesn't have anything to do with this site and they don't control any of the content.

This is bad advice.  While I understand it solved your problem with the hum, it doesn't resolve the real issue which is that there is a problem with the electrical wiring in your outlets/breaker.  The ground prong is there for safety purposes...ie if there is a hardware malfunction the ground gives a place for the voltage to dissipate so you don't get a shock.  Of course if the grounding in your house is broken...then it doesn't help you anyway.  Better to fix the wiring in your house than remove a safety feature.

This post is now the highest ranked answer when you Google

macbook headphone buzzing

, so I thought I´d leave my answer to this question as well.
As others have mentioned above, I also had the issue where I heard a low frequent buzzing/humming sound when I had my headphones (Bose QuietComfort) connected to my Macbook. If I touched the Macbook chassis with my hand, the sound faded. If I lifted my hand, the sound was more present.
There appears to be multiple ways to resolve this issue, depending on the root cause!
In my experience, adjusting the output in "Audio Midi Setup" did nothing. Instead, I discovered the audio jack connected to my headphone (and not my Macbook) was not fully inserted. When I pushed the connector back into the headphones, the buzz was gone!


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iPod lyrics hiding things in <> ... workaround?
I bought a CD, ripped it and copied it to my iPod Touch.  Then I found the lyrics on the internet, confirmed that they're the same as in the album booklet, and pasted them into the lyrics section in iTunes.
Everything's great, except for one track.  It's a collaboration, and in the lyrics, before each section, it says who's doing that part by putting their name in <>.  For one artist, it looked fine, but for the other, the line was blank!
What gives?  And what workaround is there to make both artists names appear?

After a bit of experimentation, I found a workaround.  The artist whose name wasn't appearing has a name that starts with an ASCII character.  It looks like iOS is trying to be clever, and ignoring anything that looks like it might be an HTML tag, even if it really isn't!
One simple workaround is to put a zero-width space (you can copy/paste one from that article) right after the <.  Your iPod will no longer assume it's HTML, and it will display just fine!

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
Restoring mail from backup after hard disk died
The hard disk on my iMac (Mac OS X 10.5.8) died, and after getting it replaced I have been trying to restore my files from backup.  The backup I have is just a copy of my user directory.  I copied the following files from backup to their corresponding location in my user directory before starting up Mail:

Library/Mail
Library/Mail Downloads
Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist
Library/Preferences/comp.apple.mail.searchhistory.plist

Going into Mail, I see my email accounts, and I can look at the lists of email messages... but when I click on the message to see it, there's no message content.
The strange thing is that when I look in INBOX.mbox/Messages for the mail account, I can see the email message files (.emlx files), and opening any of these files I can verify that the message contents are there.  But Mail won't show the message contents.
Any ideas on how I can fix this?
UPDATE: Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. It appears that just before my hard drive died I got some files corrupted, and that was the source of the problem. I tried restoring from a backup taken one day earlier, and that worked perfectly.

Are you sure you copied these into your User account's folders (/Users/yourusername/Library), rather than the system? (/System/Library or /Library,)  also, it might be a permissions problem, though that's less likely if you did in fact copy these folders.

Yes, I copied them into my User account's folders.  And yes, it was copy and paste using Finder.

The email index probably needs to be rebuilt.  Last option on the Mailbox Menu.
(And just in case, you do still have your backup, right?)  :)

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

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


text:
Recieving Error Code 60 connecting iCal to OS X Server
I have a problem with my Mac mini running OS X Server 10.6.6. I want to use iCal and Address Book on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro.

I started the two services without SSL.
I installed port forwarding on my router: 8008, 8800, 8843, 8443
I added the account on my iPhone and iPad

But now, on my iPad and Mac I get the error: Code 60.
What did I do wrong?

This may help:

Open iCal on your client computer > Preferences
Go to the Accounts tab
Go to Server Settings tab
Make sure there is a port number entered. It should match the port number being used by the iCal server. Originally, this setting was on "Auto" and it worked fine. The "Auto" option no longer works. Also, be sure to check "Use SSL" if you are doing so. (In my setup, I have it on port 8443, with SSL on.)

Also make sure everything has been updated.

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


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iPhone 3GS how to enable or subscribe for free Find My iPhone
the free Find My iPhone seems to require an iPhone 4 for setup, even though it will work on an iPhone 3GS. How can I set up the service without an iPhone 4?

The service is only free to users of the iPhone 4, and if I recall correctly users of the iPad.

It’s a feature that’s part of MobileMe, but now it’s also free on every iPhone 4 with iOS 4.2.*

From the Apple Website, bold mine
To use this functionality on any other device requires a full MobileMe subscription. It is automatically active once you have the full subscription, along with a nice array of other nice features.
The Find My iPhone feature is available when you create a MobileMe account on your device, with a toggle option to switch it on or off.
I have been using the paid subscription for almost 4 years and have been extremely happy with it due to the amount of different devices I own.

You could try signing up for the trial of [MobileMe][1], set up Find My iPhone and then cancel the subscription before the trial period expires. I don't know if the Find My iPhone feature would stick around but it is worth a try. You may find that you like MobileMe and want to keep it, if so you can save some cash by buying the subscription from [Amazon.com][2].

Edit- http://www.apple.com/iphone/find-my-iphone-setup/

You don't need to have a full MobileMe account to use find my iPhone, just iOS 4.2. One step that they seem to leave out is that you should download the "Find My iPhone" app from the App store. I set up my iPad with it and now works.


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Time Machine backup format
Is the format of Time Machine's backups documented, or standard?  Can I extract the files with a non-Mac system?

Do be aware of the 2011 work to make Linux HFS less likely to corrupt volumes past 2 TB. Good links and summary at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HFS_Plus#Linux

You may find this related question relevant: http://superuser.com/questions/306497/can-linux-mount-a-normal-time-machine-sparse-bundle-disk-image-directory

Time Machine is documented well at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1427 and this discussion goes into sparse bundles and FileVault so it's worth a read http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1447315
Since backups to an attached hard disk are written as plain files - that would be easier to connect to a non-Mac system. Backups to a Time Capsule are stored in a disk image
in sparse bundle format, you will need to have software that knows how to mount those bundles.
Either requires your non-Mac system to be able to read HFS+ volumes - but once over that hurdle, you can simply navigate the Backups.backupdb folder and extract whatever files you need. The folder structure is simply organized by the time the backup completed.

It's barely a format at all. Time Machine just keeps multiple directories, each containing complete copies of your filesystem, using hard links to prevent storing unchanged files multiple times. You can get the files off just by copying them out of the correct directory. The only requirement is that if you're mounting the disk locally, your machine has to be able to mount a HFS+ filesystem.

UFS+? Did you mean HFS+?

Yes, quite right. Thanks for the correction. I've edited my answer.


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How to point an Apple TV to an iTunes Library on a NAS?
I have my Apple TV linked to my iTunes library stored on a network storage device by linking to my laptop. I would like to point my Apple TV directly to the iTunes library on the storage device without linking through the laptop. Is there an easy way to do this?

(Assuming you have an Apple TV 2…) You can't do it without jailbreaking.
Once you do that, you just need to run Plex or XBMC. I only have experience with the former, but we're very happy with the results.

This cannot be done with a standard AppleTV.  It may be possible with a jailbroken Apple TV or if you put something like XBMC onto it.


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I just upgrade my iPhone to iOS 4.2. Where did all my email go?
I just upgraded my iPhone 3G from iOS 3.1.3 to 4.2.1.

Backed everything up (8 hours)
Downloaded the update (1 hour)
Installed the update, and restored everything (1 hour)

Everything looks like it worked… EXCEPT that now, all my email is gone.
I have three questions:

How could it restore all my contacts, settings, apps, all email settings, all email boxes, everything… and only skip my email?
Where did my email go?
How do I get my email back?

What sort of email accounts do you have? POP? IMAP? Exchange? Gmail? Are you syncing your phone with a Mac or a Windows PC? What (if any) mail program do you use? Apple Mail? Outlook? Thunderbird? Entourage?

Email is not included in the backups according to this apple support page.  This probably makes sense as you would normally have a copy on a server whereas with SMS, MMS etc you wouldn't necessarily have a copy on the server.  So the answer to where is your email gone is it gets wiped by the backup process.
To get your email back you should be able to just go into your email accounts and click the circular arrow button to refresh or if you're setup for push mail then it should sync automatically.  You can take a look in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars for your mail accounts which should still be there.  If they're not syncing try turning the mail off and back on in one of the account setting screens.

Unfortunately "back up" does not mean "back up everything".
(You think it would... but it doesn't.  Not sure why Apple thinks you want to lose 1000s of emails... but you will.  Instantly and without any warning.)
Your only choices are based on 2 things that its already too late for you to change:
If you "kept email on server"... you can have it resent to your phone.
(Unfortunately, you will also get 1000s of email you do NOT want. Ugh.)
If you didn't "keep email on server"... you lost everything.
Kind of odd that "backing up" CAUSES you to have a massive data-loss.  But unfortunately, some non-thinking people at Apple do it that way.
Not sure why "back up my email" would have been so impossible for Apple to do.  (Or at least give you the choice.  I'm pretty sure nearly everyone would say "YES, KEEP MY EMAIL".)
Or, at least the back-up process should say in huge letters:  "You are about to lose 100% of your email."  Before you start.  (No, you have to later read about it buried in the docs somewhere.)
I would imagine if enough people contacted Apple about this "feature" they might do something about it.

Always opt to "keep email on server". Why wouldn't you?

Why would you want private info kept on the server for years?  I want my email on my PC harddrive or iPhone only.... as soon as possible.   NOT on some server that I have no control over.

I had the same problem when i first upgraded from 3.1 to 4.0 -- my emails were gone.
In that case, it was a problem with the download of the .ipsw file from Apple. It seems that it is possible that the downloaded .ipsw file is corrupted (i'm not sure if there is anything that checks the integrity of the file, as happens with .zip for example).
Here's how i fixed it:

Deleted the .ipsw file from my
computer (i think it should be
iPhone1,2_4.2.1_8C148_Restore.ipsw
for the 3G, but it should certainly
be something like that).
Restored
the phone to my last 3.1.3 backup
Started the upgrade process again,
with iTunes downloading a fresh copy
of the .ipsw file

Some people recommend downloading the .ipsw file separately, and using that to upgrade, but i'd try the automatic iTunes route first.
After i upgraded a second time, everything was where i expected it.


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How to disable visual display of modifier keys?
Somehow I have gotten my Mac Mini into a state where every time I press a modifier key - shift, option, command or control - it shows an image of the symbol of the modifier key around the upper right of the screen. This is quite annoying and I do not know what this feature is called so it is difficult for me to find information about it. How can I disable this "feature"?

It sounds like you have the “Sticky Keys” feature enabled.
To control the setting, open the System Preferences application ( > System Preferences…), load the Universal Access preference pane, goto the Keyboard tab. You can turn “Sticky Keys” Off (or On) there. You may also want to disable the “Press the Shift key five times to turn Sticky Keys on or off” feature. Or, if you want the sticky feature without the display, just disable “Display pressed keys on screen” and leave it enabled.

Thank you! - I must have hit shift five times in a row for some reason.

Go to System Preferences then select "Accessibility" then in both "General" and "Keyboard" sections, disable the sticky keys in the Keyboard and de-select the Sticky Keys in the Keyboard section.


text:
can't get HTML to display in Apple Mail signature
I'm stumped.  I cannot get the HTML I wrote to display!  I followed all the steps properly with creating a webarchive file, renaming so that it shows up in Apple Mail. But then when I go back in and see the signature, it's there but it doesn't display the HTML ... it just displays the code!
I've tested the HTML code on a webpage, and it works just fine.  I have my message format as Rich Text.
The code is:

Have you seen this question elsewhere on here?: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/1138/how-can-i-add-some-html-to-my-mail-app-signature

OK, I figured out the problem, thanks to someone on the Apple forum!
When I was typing out the file in TextEdit, I needed to use the setting Format > Make Plain Text (or use a pure text editor like Text Wrangler).  That was messing up the whole process.  Now it's working!
Here's that thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=13095810#13095810

You don't specify the steps you used so in case you missed something, take a look at this page describing how to set up HTML mail signatures.

I followed all those steps exactly.  This is what I see when I look at the .webarchive file I made:  https://files.me.com/azdesertfather/yutxdw  I made it in TextEdit and saved as .webarchive, but I also tried doing it in Word as an .html then bringing that into Safari to make it a .webarchive.  Both ways, same weird problem...


text:
What's kern_sploit proccess that apears in my iPhone 4?
After jailbreaking iPhone 4, I was noticed that some processes were added to the process list, like kern_sploit. What is this?

It's Greenpoison's exploit. It's legit. According to the GitHub source, Snowbreeze installs it.

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


text:
Entourage window resizing issue
Could someone tell me how to retain the email window to the full page size eachtime I open entourage.?
When I open the new email window it opens in a small window, in then have to drag the window to use it comfortably.
I close down reataining these sizes and when I open the entourage later it always goes back to the small window!
It is driving me crazy?

It's most likely that your Entourage preferences file is corrupted in some fashion. Try this:

Close Entourage.
Navigate to ~/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Entourage.plist.
Move the file to the Desktop.
Open Entourage, resize the window to your preferred size. Entourage will automatically make a new preferences file.
Close and open Entourage again to test that the change sticks.

If all is well, you can trash the original com.microsoft.Entourage.plist file from your Desktop.


text:
Mac Mini fan gone furious

something awful happened to my mini.
I placed it under my aircon, and for some reason, the aircon started to drip.
right on the fan grills on the mini.
not a lot, probably like an eighth of a glass of water.
so, i rushed to unplug everything from the mini.
and leave it to dry.
problem is... when i plug it all in, i start with the power cable.
just when i plug it, the fan gone furious. like 6000rpm furious.
the state of the mini is currently OFF.
that's one thing i'm confused about.
second, after a while the fan speed goes down..
but never really really low.
even when it's off, and the room is cold (not just cool) it's still noticeably whirring.
and the mini is still OFF.
when i turn it on.. after just 15-20 minutes the fan goes furious again.
like 6000rpm.
what can i do to fix this, and how much damage have i done.
and to answer a few preliminary questions.
the mini is a late 2009 mini, C2D, 4GB ram, and usually running on 18C room.
and i've never upgraded any hardware, RAM, HDD, everything.. still as it was.

How long did you let it dry?  It can take days, even when put in a sealed bag with dry rice.

i dried it with a hair dryer for an hour. not with hot blower, just air blower.

Since it got wet, I'm inclined to believe this is hardware damage.
I recommend that you give it another few days to dry, without use. Keep it completely unplugged for this time.
If that doesn't work, run Apple Hardware Test. If it finds problems, take it to the Apple Store for service.
Good luck.

the system works fine though.. the os is running fine, just the fan is driving me nuts. so i was wondering about the extent of damage to the machine.

You can make any water damage worse by turning the machine on.  Unplug it and wait for several days.

After you've waited for it to dry as Nathan said, if the problem persists you can try to reset the SMC, as it's a common solution for fans not behaving correctly.

Is it the older, taller Mini or the newer shorter one? Also, did you take it apart at all while you were drying it?
If the answer to both of these questions is "Yes," then you may have unplugged the fan control cable. Unplugging this cable makes the fan run constantly. You will need to open the case back up and make sure that the little, tiny cable on the front of the logic board is properly plugged in.


text:
How do I enter DFU mode on an iPhone 3G OS 4.2.1?
I've tried several solutions to enter DFU mode but none worked:
- the Home + Sleep combo
- the DFU program here
Somebody has an idea?

Just to add I have been trying to get my iPhone 3G (just upgraded to 4.2.1) into DFU mode too using all of the methods on YouTube, using the counting assists, etc. but they don't work. Perhaps DFU mode might have been written out of the firmware or something? That's the way it seems to me, anyway. Whenever I press my power button now, plugged in or not, the phone just starts up straight away after a couple of seconds—no period of black.

Can anyone confirm that these instructions still work with iTunes 12.4 and an iPhone 3G with iOS 4.0.2? I am unable to achieve DFU with that combo.

DFU has always worked as follows:

Turn off the phone
Hold power and Home for 10 seconds (exactly 10 seconds, use a clock with seconds)
Release Power, but keep holding Home
After 5-10 seconds you should get the phone detected on the computer with the screen still black.

I've tested this on 2G, 3G, 3Gs and works on all of them fine.
Here's a video on how to do DFU properly: iPhone DFU Mode
Also I just like to note that this procedure must not be mistaken for recovery mode (iTunes cable screen), which is done by:

Hold Home
Keep holding Home, press power to start the device (1-2 sec is enough)
Release power, keep holding Home until you get to the iTunes cable screen

This is not DFU, this is recovery mode.
DFU is:
- 2 sec Power
- 10 sec Power + Home
- 15 sec Home
And it doesn't work for me.

You should have added this as a comment on the answer. You still can delete this and do it properly! ;)

Actually what you say will most likely put you in recovery. DFU mode is just as I answered above. Recovery is: Hold home, press and hold power for 1-2 sec to start the device, release power -> iTunes cable (recovery). Try what I said above. I've tried it thousands of times and it works - here's a video on how to do DFU properly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl5mXtmBusE

You are aware that DFU mode results in a blank screen, right? The only way to tell if the iDevice is actually in DFU mode is to have it connected to a desktop PC.


text:
software for autoslicing a song
I'm searching a program for slicing a song (MP3, wav, whatever) automatically in different patterns.

please be more explicit about the meaning of "slicing in different patterns"

I hope I understand correctly, you are trying to edit a song, perhaps for a ringtone or something ?
You could try Garageband that ships with your Mac,
Or you could try this Program, Audacity, I find it very useful.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Hope it helps
Karl


text:
What replacement SMS/MMS app for iPhone will allow me to change convo color, etc?
My best friend and a client of mine have the same name, and it's way too easy to accidentally click on the client when I'm having a more adult or humorous conversation with my buddy at the same time as my client.
Is there a replacement iPhone texting app that uses the native SMS (I have unlimited texting plan so don't want to bother with giving all my contacts a new handle nor requiring them to download an app themselves), but allows a couple other features like choosing what color a contact's talking bubbles will be or choosing the messaging font?
I really don't want to jailbreak if at all possible.

The easiest solution might just be to change the name of your friend or client. Use a nickname or reverse the first/last fields.

Thanks -- this is true, but I still think it's too easy to mix up which one you're in when you're trying to have quick conversations with multiple contacts. I wish you could customize each person's bubble color or background. It seems really silly that you can't.

There are loads of "messaging" apps on the App Store, however, none of them use SMS. And if they do, it's one-way, it's send only. All the rest of them are data calls using an external service that invariably requires registrations, and (in some cases) perhaps payment!
This is one of the infamous "duplicates Apple functionality" zones. There is one way in or out of SMS, and that's Messages.app built into the iPhone. It is unfortunate that messages can't be customized beyond how it works external to the app, and the minor details such as showing a subject field, counting characters, etc.
Without Jailbreaking, you will not find a full on frontend replacement for communicating via actual SMSes in the iOS App Store. Other, more "creative" solutions must be done here.
Per @mankoff's comment on your question itself, you could perhaps find a better way to have his name displayed, be it by Nickname or other ways.

Thanks for the explanation - Hmm, I was afraid of that. I'm worried about going the jailbreak route, but maybe that's the only way I can get the features I want.

@kate that's precisely why jailbreaking exists and is legal (get the features we want). main issue is that it's still hard maintenance (keeping everything in sync, updated and backed up).

Cawas, "is legal" is not the same as "not illegal". It's hard for me to explain, but just because Jailbreaking "is not illegal" does not mean it's legal to do. Call it an unenforceable law. If it were legal, Apple would provide the tools and sanction it, this isn't the case. I think it has to do with the EULA too.

There is a difference "legal" and "Apple approved". Apple doesn't write the law, only the support policies for it's products. It is legal to jailbreak in which case Apple is no longer obligated to honor it's warranty.

Thanks for putting that more correctly than I could :). @Cawas: Additionally, Jailbreaking relies on security vulnerabilities. This, inherently, reinforces "g ."'s statement.

@g and Jason, yes, all true. But I just meant to free kate of her worries. I bet Steve Jobs have a jailbroken iphone. If not, woz certainly do.

Steve, no. Unlocked? Maybe. Not jailbroken. Woz, yes.


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Selecting buttons with keyboard

Possible Duplicate:
How can I select buttons with just the keyboard?

I have been using OS X for only a while now and am finding certain things a bit hard to do. Consider an option box shown below :-

Pressing an enter key would shut down the system, however how do I select the "restart" or the "cancel" options using they keyboard alone? Whats the keyboard shortcut for that? Arrow keys just dont work.
Coming from a Linux/Windows background, this is really confusing.

What suggested in How can I approve prompts with just the keyboard? doesn't work.

Use the solution @mankoff provided on http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/7263/how-can-i-approve-prompts-with-just-the-keyboard and it will work.  You need to enable it in the keyboard settings

This is called a dialog box, or simply a dialog.

Use the Tab key to switch buttons then return to activate that.
I think all GUIs I have used - Windows, OS X, X11, old Mac all have this.

Don't try this at home ! You would risk shutting down your Mac by mistake. This answer is simply wrong.

How does that shutdown a Mac?

Let's say Joe has full keyboard access enabled. Joe presses the Power button, and gets the dialog. Joe follows your advice, and presses Tab until the button Cancel is outlined, and presses Return to activate the button Cancel. This will activate the default button Shut down, and will shut down the Mac.


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Pdfs on my iPad to my pc
I have downloaded some pdf files I need them for school but would like to read them on my PC at home. how do I get them to my PC.

Email might be the most noob-friendly.

lol True enough Randy.

As @Mr Andyface mentions a few answers below, doing this thru iTunes and iBooks is a good alternative. Plus it gives you the extra benefit that you are keeping a backup of your PDF's in your iTunes library.

If you have opened the pdf in ibooks on your iPad then when you sync the iPad they should appear in the books section in iTunes. You may need to turn this section on. From the menu bar click iTunes > Preferences (on a mac) Edit > Preferences - then in the General tab tick the box next to books.
It doesn't separate them out into ebooks and pdfs like iBooks does, but if you know what it's called you should be able to find it easy enough.
If you need to find in on your hard drive then right click the file and click 'show in finder' (on a mac) - not sure what you'd click on a PC.
hope that help

I would highly recommend Dropbox. It has an iOS app that you can use with your iPad and a PC app as well. Just drop files into the dropbox folder and it will be synced to both your iPad and PC.

While I do think Dropbox is great, I don't think this solves the issue. The problem is that the pdf is downloaded to the iPad, and OP wants to move it to PC. Currently Dropbox on iPhone/iPad doesn't enable the "Open in" functionality, to allow moving the pdf from iBooks/email to Dropbox. I wish it did, however.

Dropbox on iOS devices does support "Open in", its the icon on the top-right. (I just verified with my iPad to be sure.)


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White on black without inverting colors?
When using Mac OS X, is there a way to have white text on black background without inverting the other colors?

For all applications?

Yes, for all applications.

Create a Custom ICC Profile
Theoretically this is possible by creating a custom ICC profile for your monitor. However, creating an ICC profile is not trivial.
You can see this ability by looking at some of the specialised profiles in /Library/ColorSync/Profiles/. The Gray Tone profile for example compresses all the colours into a single black to white strip.

The Lightness Increase profile's 3D representation demonstrates how any colour can be mapped to any other colour.

There are a number of problems to this approach. Mac OS X's text is anti-aliased. Inverting just black with white will likely result in outlined text; the gray pixels surrounding each letter will not be inverted.
An Alterative Approach: Editing System.clr
An alternative approach is to alter the colours returned by Apple's NSColor class. This class provides the colours and patterns used across Mac OS X. The file that stores the Developer colours is located at /System/Library/Colors/System.clr.
Looking at Apple's Color Programming Topics guide, I suspect a developer may be able to load the file into a NSColorList instance, alter the colour, and write back the file.
This goes against Apple's advice not to alter files in /System, but it is probably your best solution. The modification task requires someone with Objective-C knowledge and available consulting time.

Good answer @Graham-Miln, could you elaborate on it?

@Griffo what would like to know more about?

Hey @GrahamMiln thank you so much for the answer. I am figuring out how to create an ICC profile, but I don't know how to apply it. Any ideas here?

turning off "font smoothing" (anti aliasing) is pretty easy. Just search "font" in system preferences or go to general, it should be at the bottom in general.
When I have time I am going to try editing .icc profiles in the ColorSync folders. In system preferences> display>colors, you can "Calibrate..." to create a sort of default icc profile in ~/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/what-you-named-it.icc.
What I cannot figure out is how to directly edit the color profile (.icc) in photoshop..

@DevinGRhode consider asking a new question about how to easily edit ICC profiles on macOS.

You could turn on both color inverting and grayscale mode in Accessibility preferences - that would give you white-on-black without weird inverted colors, but everything would be grayscale.


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Alias for network drive
In the Finder > Connect To Server window I have an IP address I connect to. Is there a way to make a nickname or alias for this server?

I would suggest doing it in your hosts file, but I don't have my mac with me right now, so I can't confirm that works...

What sort of server? and is internet or local?

local. windows SMB. 192.168.x.y

You can create aliases directly to network shares the normal way, by right-clicking the mounted share and choosing "Create Alias." If you want to create an alias/bookmark to the server so you can select which share to mount every time, do the following:

Open Safari
Bookmark any page to make a new bookmark
Edit the bookmark to point to your server and service. For Windows sharing, the URL would start with smb:// followed by your IP address, ex smb://192.168.0.5
Drag the bookmark out of the Safari bookmarks view onto your desktop

Try adding the following line to your /etc/hosts file:
10.0.0.1     alias.local

Better to use directory services see http://superuser.com/questions/245354/what-is-windows-hosts-file-alternative-for-osx/245364#245364

Note that the accepted answer, which was the best answer at the time, is now a bit out of date. In fact, there was an intermediary method between it and my recommendation, but that is also outdated.
The first time you connect to the server, use the Finder > Connect to Server method as in the opening post question.
To create a permanent shortcut to either the shared network drive or to any folder on that drive, simply click and drag the folder icon to your desktop/Finder location whilst holding down Cmd+Opt.

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


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buffering location /tmp?
I was a long time Ubuntu user before I moved on to a Mac; so I'm used to seeing videos on YouTube and copying the buffered files from /tmp to another place for later viewing, if I like the video.
I tried doing the same on my Mac but its not working. Are the videos being buffered to a location other than /tmp?

As an alternative, you can use something like Tooble to watch videos and later download them in the format of your choice. It has a free and a pro version as far as I know. I use the free and it works.

Likely they reside in the Application's Cache directory.
Look into (HOME)/Library/Caches and (HOME)/Library/Application Support


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Why do iPhone App Store ratings and reviews seem to get processed so slowly?
I'm trying to figure out what's going on with Apple's ratings/reviews system on the App Store. I've had issues with my own app (ratings/reviews not showing) now I see a major app with similar issues...
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011 free app was released just 2 days ago (Feb 14). It now has 29 ratings and 9 reviews (one review is mine posted from night of 2/15). But this has got to be a well downloaded app right? I'm talking 1000's probably just in the first day, so where are the other reviews/ratings?
Does anyone know if:
1) Apple has humans approve all ratings/reviews before letting them show?
2) Apple has an algorithm for passing/rejecting ratings/reviews?
3) What is the exact time delay between posting a review/rating and it appearing on the App Store?
Also-> Have you had any experience with a review or rating not showing in the App Store ever or only after a long delay?

We can't really provide a concrete answer for this question here. Since we don't know why Apple makes the decisions they do, any answers would just be guesses and speculation.

Ratings appear very quickly, and do not appear to require approval (can't imagine that they would). The reality is that almost no one rates the apps they download, and since "rate on delete" was eliminated with iOS 4, even fewer ratings will appear. (The removal of "rate on delete," where the OS asked you to immediately rate an app when you deleted it, is generally a good thing, since someone deleting it is much more likely to dislike an app than someone keeping it, which resulted in significantly skewed ratings).
Reviews sometimes appear very quickly -- within minutes of submission -- and sometimes take up to a day to appear. Last year there were some significant abuses of the review system that became public, including mass reviews submitted by marketing companies (through individual accounts set up for that purpose), so it's likely that Apple changed their policies at that point. From what I can tell, if an account has a long history of ratings across multiple developers, reviews can appear very quickly, but there seems to be a delay for new accounts or those with few reviews, which may well be approved by humans.
However, as Phillip wrote, the actual process is entirely unknown, and Apple intentionally keeps it that way.
Personally, its never taken more than a few hours before my reviews appeared, and it's usually within minutes.

Edited to add
Just wrote another review and noticed that below the entry area it says,

If a review is deemed inappropriate, it will not be posted to the App Store.

which implies potential review, and after the review is entered it says,

Your review has been successfully submitted. Please note that it may be reviewed and will not appear in the store immediately.

The "it may be reviewed" at least partially supports my "depends on your account" theory.

I think the time for ratings to show in the store is directly affected by the number of ratings submitted and not at all related to time passing.
Once your app hits a (unknown / undisclosed / and perhaps time dependent) critical mass of ratings - the data gets exposed to everyone.
I know nothing other than as a user - sometimes I have left ratings and reviews that never showed up for obscure apps. I have no insider insight and know of nowhere (even inside the NDA discussions) where this is actually documented.

This comes up from time to time and, like always, it's probably safe to say that any algorithms related to the App Store rankings, comments, reviews are all company secrets that no one is going to divulge. The same goes for the number of downloads for any app. Unless SI states publicly how many downloads they have so far, there's no way to really find out as Apple treats that information with the strictest confidence. I would be very surprised if anyone had viable (actionable) answers to your questions.

I have rated many major apps, mostly with positive feedback, such as GarageBand, The Simpsons Tapped Out, and Bejewled, and I have never seen one of my reviews appear on the App Store.

Did you mean to submit this as a help request to Apple? We, unfortunately, aren't affiliated with Apple at all. I recommend checking this out for feedback.


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Can't boot Mac, only shows a Folder with a Question Mark?
How do I start up a Mac when all it shows is a Folder with a Question Mark, even with a DVD in the drive?

Image courtesy of Loïc Wolff

Perhaps there is a language barrier here, but I'm voting to close as not a real question.

Same here. @germanus Can you provide more information?

Sounds like this person has a Mac that can't find a system folder.  And yeah, without a bootable external disk or a DVD it's not going to startup.

you're talking about that? http://i.imgur.com/6o7ro.jpg

@Neth: Make your comment an  answer and I will vote it up.

I just went through this my self!
Your Mac can't find anything to boot from. Or more specifically, it can't find the system folder on your primary boot device.
Try booting from your OS X DVD and running Utilities -> Disk Utility to check your boot drive for errors.
To boot from your DVD, insert in to Mac, turn off Mac, and hold C while you turn it on. You have to hold it until it chimes IIRC. That'll tell it to boot from the DVD.

What if your Mac does not have a DVD drive?

Internet Recovery should be possible for all Macs without a physical drive. Except maybe the 1st revision Air? In which case, an external bootable USB should be possible. I have had to do a full reinstall from scratch on a 1st rev Air, I believe external bootable USB was the only solution I was able to make work.

A folder with a question mark means your Mac can't find the system startup software.
Follow the troubleshooting steps in this Apple Support technote: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

I find both the answers from Ian C. and ghoppe correct and accurate, so I gave them both a +1, because they're both right.
If it was me I'd try the Disk Utility tactic first because you may have nothing more than a case of index corruption on the hard drive and that might fix it up. The next most likely cause, in my opinion,  could be that the drive has developed bad sectors in the boot code and it can't even read the startup stuff. Finally, it's possible that the NVRAM/PRAM has become corrupt. This can happen, but not as frequently as the other two. I've seen indexing problems induced into Mac's when the power gets cut on and off quickly during the boot process. If this has happened to you it might be a good possibility, and Disk Utility might be able to clear it up.
If you use Disk Utility and it does a semi-recovery of your HD, it might be rendered read-only, meaning it can't completely reconstruct your index files, but what it can recover will likely be rendered read-only. In this case, a tool such as Disk Warrior may be of use to you, but it's expensive.
If you have an external hard drive that's bootable, you could obtain Scannerz (http://www.scsc-online.com) and scan the drive for bad sectors. Scannerz can also, if used skillfully, determine other problems on your system but it requires a bit of knowledge as to how a system functions. I could teach my dog to do basic drive testing on a drive with Scannerz, but using it to isolate other faults, like bad cables, connectors, or logic board problems requires at least a little knowledge about basic systems and hwo they work. The company that makes this product has some troubleshooting procedures about the process in their downloads section of their web site.
If your a hard core techie, once again with an external hard drive, you could download smartmontools (http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/smartmontools/wiki), run it off the externally bootable HD and see if your drive is even working. Both Scannerz and Disk Utility only report what I'd call "threshold" S.M.A.R.T. data (i.e PASS/FAIL) but this can report a lot more. Unfortunately, S.M.A.R.T. can often miss some problems with a drive until an actual write operation occurs and fails, so problems may exist that such tools may miss. smartmontools is command line only and needs to be run via a terminal. Newer versions of Disk Utility also provide better S.M.A.R.T. reporting, but IMHO it's still not stellar.
With luck, it will be something simple.

Power off by pressing the Power Button for few second
Press the Power Button- after the beep sound - Press Command + R
Connect Internet (it will download the Disk Utility Manger)
Select Reinstall OS X

The temporary solution i have found is to boot in safe mode. Press and hold the Shift key when you turn the mac on, before hearing the boot sound.
This will spare you the recovery procees, cause i dont wanna réinstall everything yet.
Then in safe mode you can launch disk utility, repair some stuff, and then reboot. Beware, do not turn off thé mac, just select "reboot"

That shouldn't solve the problem, as safe mode requires that a working operating system be found, which isn't happening.


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Tool or trick to require doubleclicking to launch apps from dock?
Is there a way to make it so that launching an app from the dock requires a double click instead of a single click?  I find myself accidentally launching apps and then needing to force-quit them.
I'm hoping for some OS hack or third-party app.  Yes, I already have the dock hidden.
thanks!

You can move the dock's location and size by going to System Preferences > Dock. Rather than keeping the dock at the bottom, where the mouse needs to be often, move it to either the right or left sides of the screen.
I auto-hide the dock on the left side of the screen (I'm on a 13" MacBook Air, so my vertical space is limited too). You could also use @VxJasonxV's suggestion of removing the apps from the dock. Most of the programs I launch are via  spotlight (the ⌘+Space shortcut is very useful). And the last trick I use is BetterTouchTool. I bound five-finger-click to ⌘+Q, which makes it very easy to quit applications, but not so easy that it accidentally quits applications I didn't mean to quit.

+1 move the dock. It is much better placed on the side.

Five finger click to close... interesting idea. Definitely not the easiest thing to do, which might just be perfect.

Don't hide the Dock. You'll be less surprised when it pops out at you and eats your click.
If applications must be "force quit" when you accidentally open them, get them out of your Dock! Use a launcher like Alfred, LaunchBar, Quicksilver, or Google Quick Search Box. Or even Spotlight!

I rarely, if ever, use the mouse to open applications, much less use the dock.

I'm usually programming on an 11" macbook air so vertical space is at a premium.

@peanutbutter I'd put the dock on the side if I were using an 11" Macbook Air


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Canon Selphy CP780 Printer for MacBook Air
Where can I find information on set up?

Be aware that up to now there is no OS X 10.7 driver for the Selphy printers and some people have gotten support answers from Canon suggesting that there will be none.

Perhaps you should try the GutenPrint print drivers. These open source drivers work for a huge number of printers, the Selphy CP770 and 790 are listed as supported so either of those might work.
The drivers work with all versions of OS X.

Just a note: issues with Gutenprint on Catalina onwards (due IIUC to Apple's code-signing): https://sourceforge.net/p/gimp-print/bugs/723/

Apple's Mac 101 guides for installing a printer: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, or earlier versions.
Canon's extra drivers (you probably don't need them, but install if you have a problem).
Hope this helps. If you have a specific problem, please post with more details.


text:
Installing Windows 7 on MacBook Air?
Last night I was trying to install Windows 7 on my new MacBook Air, I started it and the Windows installation began. I deleted 80GB HD (preinstalled Mac OS) also deleted, but I could install windows completely. Now my MacBook is not starting or booting from external USB DVD rom, please help me out, not even booting from the original Mac CD which came with PC.

When you turn the Air on, does the screen come on? Does the startup chime ring?

Why you bought a MacBook when you delete the Mac OS and install Windows? You didn't use Parallels or other virtual machine, neither bootcamp?

honestly didn't understand too, why simply do not use os x natively and sometimes (in rare cases) you can boot parallels desktop for the Losedows. ;)

Create an image file from install DVD using Disk Utility. Restore this image to a USB flash drive. Then start the Macbook, press and hold "option" button. you will see the start up options. Select USB drive and complete installation.

If you have one of the brand new Macbook Airs (11" or 13") it comes with a Restore USB drive. You will have to reinstall a barebones OS X install with BootCamp Drivers to get your Win7 machine up and running. You may have to do a complete reformat in Disk Utility while booting off the USB drive and start your Win7 install over again. Apple laptops are made to run OS X primarily and Win7 secondarily. You can run Win7 all you want and only boot into OS X once to get the computer set up but you need to keep that 8GB partition for OS X on your computer.
 As Faiz said, you will boot to the USB Recovery by plugging it in and holding *Option* and choosing the USB Recovery as the boot source. Installing OS X is as easy as Win7 so just follow the prompts and you'll be good.

Actually, you normally don't need the OS X partition installed for running Windows, though I'm not sure if this is applicable to the laptops with no drives. Apples EFI handles all the BIOS -emulation for Bootcamp and thus the installed OS X doesn't do anything.

I will defer to you, deiga, when it comes to Apple's EFI bios emulation. All I know is that my Macbook Pro installed and runs Win7 just fine and I still have OSX installed. My main question is why buy a Apple laptop if you never want to run OSX?


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New digitizer stopped working after 30 seconds
I plugged a brand new digitizer into my 2g iPod touch and I wanted to test it before I clip it in. It worked great at first and I managed to click with it for about 30 seconds, while not moving the digitizer or the iPod.
Suddenly, it stopped working and I have been unable to get the digitizer to work again, despite reseating it numerous times. The iPod works otherwise normally.
What happened?

Make sure that both sides of the connect cable a plugged in, then make sure that the center button works.  The center button has broke for many of my friends and myself.

I've had a digitizer die on me after a few weeks of use. I replaced the digitizer in my iPhone 3GS and it worked like a charm until one side of it just stop responding one day. (Being an iOS dev, I whipped together an app that had number buttons on only half the screen, so I was able to still use it.)
I'd suggest checking the cables. Be sure that you didn't loosen anything while "testing before refastening".
Also, considering the fragile nature of both the device and the non-apple digitizer, it could be broken. If the cables are all connected, you might need to send it back to where you bought it.


text:
Is there a way to test my iPhone for any potential rogue apps
Is there is a way I can test my iPhone for any potential rogue apps that someone may have installed on it?  I have been working on some nondisclosure type work lately, and it appears that information is being leaked.  I am concerned that something has been installed without my knowledge, and I just waant to make sure of things.

Apple is generally pretty decent with reviewing applications - HOWEVER - if you need to an application such as  http://www.digidna.net/products/diskaid   may help a great deal.
Truth to be told - the iphone is not secure period.   Just attend one blackhat event and keep your iphone bluetooth and/or wifi enabled and voila - folks can show you why
Nicolas Seriot, from the Swiss University of Applied Sciences, has found some alarming design flaws in the iPhone operating system that allow rogue apps to access sensitive information on your phone.   (click on that last sentence for the link.

As Glenn mentioned, iPhone's only security is its relative obscurity. And there are not anti-virus or anti-malware for made for it. For one, without jailbreaking the software developer don't really have access to enough iOS resources. Heck, the mac doesn't have anti-malware software.
All that being said, your best bet is a phone wipe, install stuff on it again from zero, picking apps very carefully, and change every password you can. I'd say ideally, install jailbreak then ssh and change your root password from alpine to anything safe.

Although jailbreaking makes your iPhone much less secure, if you still do it you could use Firewall iP to catch if an application is sending something from your phone that you haven't approved.


text:
Looking for a free/cheap backup solution on OS X for NTFS external HDD
I'm looking for an incremental backup system on OS X that plays nice with USB NTFS-formatted external HDDs. I am currently using NTFS-3G to work with the HDD, but since Time Machine doesn't work with NTFS drives, I have just been manually copying files from my HDD to back it up (ugh).
I need to use an NTFS drive because I am going back and forth between Windows machines at my school and a Mac at home. I have no permissions at my school to install any Windows software, so I am forced to find an OS X solution.

You can use Time Machine. This page tells how to enable NTFS for writing from Snow Leopard.

CrashPlan is great for Mac backup. But it dose NOT officially support NTFS Drives. There is a workaround. and I have made it work.  See here:
http://support.crashplan.com/doku.php/recipe/back_up_windows_mapped_drives

I have no experience using the Mac client at all.  So I can't say for sure whether it specifically works with an NTFS formatted drive.  But CrashPlan has a client that can theoretically do what you want for free.


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Tablets and SSD degradation
Does the iPad use any type of controller for drive wear leveling? It seems like Sandforce is the only player in the field.

Apple iPad does not use an SSD. It uses a flash based drive.
UPDATE: In response to the differences between SSD's and Flash Drives, here is the following excerpt explaining the difference.

‘Flash Drives’ are a generic term which used for anything from USB memory sticks to SSDs. An USB flash drive uses lower quality low performance NAND flash with just 1 or 2 channels. Its durable, cheap but slow. An SSD on the other hand uses high performance NAND with mutliple channels. ( 12 or 8 is not uncommon), and there is a  memory controller on a SSD which is much better and both can store data even if its not powered.
Flash drives (USB) are slow storage devices where as SSDs are high performance drives. They’re much faster than normal HDDs.
A USB flash drive uses USB, which is generally a slower interface than the Serial ATA interface. A USB flash drive is generally thought of as a removable device by the OS and is managed as such. A SSD is treated similarly to a hard drive, and is often recognized by your OS as a type of fixed disk.
USB flash drives and solid-state drives are both based on flash memory. Most of the flash memory use  NAND memory, which are available as single-level cells (SLC) and multi-level cells (MLC). Single-level cells store a single bit in a single memory cell, whereas multi-level cells store more than a single bit in a single memory cell. The MLC accomplishes this by allowing each memory cell to store multiple electrical states, therefore, allow one MLC cell to store more information than one SLC cell. For example, a MLC that uses 4-levels can store 2 bits of information.  MLC are cheaper, as they can store more information per memory cell than SLC. Cheap, large SSDs and USB flash memory use MLC disks, although not necessarily. MLCs sounds great in terms of storage density, but it does have a catch. MLCs are  slower than SLC. Therefore, the large capacity USB flash drives and SSDs tend to be slower. Solid-State Drives (SSDs) have no moving parts, high reliability and longer life-span than traditional hard drives
Taken from here

Solid State Drive is very different from a flash based drive. Learn to do your research before voting down. SSD uses more NAND than a normal flash drive (which is in the iPad), SSD is 8 - 12, while a flash drive (which is in the iPad) uses 1 - 2.

Also, check the iPad tech specs from the Apple web site. 16, 32, and 64 GB flash drive. Not SSD, if it was SSD it would be clearly labeled that way.

@klutch2 An SSD is "8 - 12", and a flash drive uses "1 - 2"? What does that mean?

Not inches, NAND Flash Memory chips.

Flash IS basically the same technology as SSD only the performance of SSD is higher and accordingly the price. @Brian Carlton has a more relevant answer to the question.

@klutch2 Just to clarify, I was quoting your ambiguous comment, not implying inches.

I'm not voting down but I do think this answer is not clear in making a distinction between the electrical/physical interface (eg USB or PCIe) versus the memory technology (eg NAND or flash, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#Write_endurance). The term "SSD" doesn't imply either one of those options; it only refers to large amounts of non-volatile read-write memory that is not directly addressable by the CPU and acts like the non-volatile memory that used to be provided by a spinning disk.

This isn't a big concern since you will likely be writing to flash less than you would on a desktop.  Streaming video will go to DRAM.  I'm an electrical engineer who uses flash and I would be ok buying an iPad; I expect the battery will fail long before the flash.  Additionally when a sector goes bad, it will be skipped on future writes.

Whether Flash is used in an SSD (SATA interface) or just as a Flash memory hanging off any other internal bus, the Flash wearing out issues are the same. Unless Apple has done something in system software to minimize write cycles (caching schemes?) the wearing out risks are real and only Apple can explain how it is mitigating it. Yes, SandForce controller is the only one that claims Write cycle reduction and thus extend the Flash endurance by minimizing the write cycles.


text:
How do I temporarily exclude a folder from a search?
I often use spotlight to locate documents quickly. The one annoying thing is that I often email documents to share them and spotlight will find the version of the document indexed in my mailbox attachments folders. Is there any way to selectively exclude certain directories while searching? I'm thinking something along the lines of:
http://macosx.com/forums/howto-faqs/225786-advanced-spotlight-features.html
I'd love a "not:message" operator or something.
I don't want to tell spotlight not to index any of my email--it's useful and sometimes I search for "kind:message". The only way around it I see would be to drag all of the "Attachments" subfolders under all of my .imapmbox folders (I'm using gmail imap). Anyone know of an easier way to do it?
Thanks.

Try "searchterm NOT kind:message"

Yes, that definitely does what I asked for. Unfortunately it doesn't solve my original problem. Emails are excluded, but attachments still show up since they are just documents in the filesystem. Seems like excluding each of the "Attachments" folders is the only way around it. Anyone see other options?


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Can I daisy chain multiple displays with Thunderbolt?

Possible Duplicate:
Does Thunderbolt support chaining multiple monitors to a MacBook Pro?

This question is a follow up to this question I found on this site.
If I have a monitor that supports DisplayPort, will it be possible (with a Mini Display Port to DisplayPort cable) to have my monitor (Dell U2711) at the end of a Thunderbolt daisy chain?

Currently the port on the MacBook Pro is both a DisplayPort and a Thunderbolt port. The limitation, as already explained in the other question, is only relevant to DisplayPort, which has to be the last device in the chain, if daisy chained.
So in short, and in theory, it should work. According to the Thunderbolt page, you can plug in any adapter for DisplayPort and it should work, as long as the device also supports it.
The only time this gets really complex, is when you need to both power the device and use it using just the one port. If the device has external power, it shouldn't cause any major problems daisy chaining, however, the DisplayPort device still needs the last device in the chain. Simply because it cannot transfer data at the speed and rate the Thunderbolt can.

Thanks for your answer, that's just the info I was looking for!

Only if you don't have a Thunderbolt display in the chain.  According to Apple, you can daisy-chain two Thunderbolt displays on compatible systems, but not non-Thunderbolt displays (such as the LED Cinema Display, which uses Mini DisplayPort, or others via a Mini DisplayPort adapter).
Otherwise, it works fine.


text:
Loose light up apple logo on unibody macbook case
The light-up Apple logo inset into on the back of my 13" Unibody MacBook (this thing) has come loose and is recessed into the lid. Is there a way to get inside the lid to reattach that piece? Thanks for any help!

Please note that just about anything that you do to open up the case in order to fix this will void your warranty.

@MarkSzymanski that's not completely true. upgrading the hdd / memory yourself won't void warranty. if you do it properly. so as long as you don't break anything it's all good. ( I did ask this at a apple repair shop )

@FLY, in this case it is true though.  Hard drives and RAM can be upgraded by simply removing the bottom case, this is why they are classified as "User Serviceable" components.  The display assembly involves several steps beyond that to remove, and then many more much riskier steps to disassemble.  I say riskier as the display assembly was for a long time only available as one complete component.  If the lid cracked, the LCD cracked, the bezel cracked, etc you had to replace the entire assembly.  Only recently (6+ months?) has Apple made other components of the display available to providers.

iFixit has directions on opening the lid: Installing Front Display Bezel.It requires their $3 Spudger tool.


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How to resolve repeated emails asking for verification of my Apple ID?
I have received my email to verify my Apple ID, but when I click on the verify now it will not open a verification window in Internet Explorer 8.  I receive the error "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage".
I do not know what else to do.  I can log into my Apple ID and resend the verification email over and over, but I continue to receive this message.

Try again with a different web browser. Do you have the same problem?

Are you using a Mac?

kiamlaluno: No, he isn't. He said he's using Internet Explorer 8, which is Windows-only.

This is off-topic and probably belongs over at Super User.  But Nathan is right -- you'll want to try the web page in a different browser.  It could also be that your email client broke the link somehow.

I have seen this problem where internet explorer doesn't open certain web pages. It may be an issue with internet explorer not having SSL enabled. In internet explorer go to the Tools menu and click internet options (you can also get to internet options from control panel). Click on the advanced tab and scroll to security, make sure there are check marks where it says SSL 2.0 and 3.0 and then click apply.
If that doesn't work just install another browser like safari or firefox.

There isn't anything special about visiting https://appleid.apple.com than any other web site that uses SSL.
Check the date on your computer, turn off extensions, allow cookies - you generally get a message that your account has been disabled if that's the issue - so unless your browser suppresses that message, it's likely a browser configuration issue.
Going to another computer to make sure your account hasn't been locked due to too many attempts might be prudent if you're confident your browser isn't somehow blocking the web site from doing it's job.
http://www.apple.com/support/appleid/ really does walk you through the things to check.


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Transfer file between iPhones using Bluetooh
Can I transfer data between two iPhones via Bluetooth?

Only if you have previously installed 1 app in each iPhone. And non-jailbroken options will only allow them to work with same app on the other side.

Yes.
There's an AppStore app called Bluetooth Fileshare ($0.99), but it has very low reviews. Also, check out Bluetooth Photo Share (free) if you're only interested in transferring photos.
If you have a jailbroken iPhone, you can use iBlueNova ($5.99), but there might be better/free ways to do file transfer if you're already jailbroken.

If you jsut want to transfer images/contact details etc Bump is a good app, it also works cross platform too.

Why not use AirDrop? You can transfer a lot of information pretty fast and don't require any new software to be loaded?


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Turn off Anti-Aliasing on Mac
This is a followup to the Stack Overflow question, Why does there appear to be a different number of unique colors available on the Mac as compared to Windows?
How can I turn off anti-aliasing on a Mac, either through manual settings or, more preferably, while doing a screen capture (i.e., when I capture the screen, I need the raw data without anti-aliasing algorithms applied)?

You can manually turn off font-antialiasing with this terminal command:
defaults write CoreGraphics CGFontDisableAntialiasing YES

to turn antialiasing back on again use this:
defaults write CoreGraphics CGFontDisableAntialiasing NO

Thanks for Quick response. Even with Anti Aliasing OFF, i see around 250 different colors for small block of text. Is there any way to get less unique colors for same block, as On Windows it shows only 2 colors for same block with Anti Aliasing Off. Appreciate your quick responses.

Does the Command + Option + \ helps?
This option keys disable the Anti Aliasing when doing the Zoom (using Ctrl + Scroll)


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MacBook Pro USB Ports Not working
I have a MacBook Pro mid 2009 computer. Connecting my usb flash stick doesn't do anything, I tried both ports but not working. I tried connecting an iPad, the iPad charges but it doesn't open show in iTunes for syncing.
One thing to note is that Windows on VMWare recognized the devices when it is active, but not MacOSX. That means the problem is not hardware related.

Have you repaired disk permissions and reset your PRAM?
Follow these instructions to repair disk permissions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1452
Follow these instructions to reset PRAM:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

I followed your instructions to repair disk permissions and reset PRAM. Still no luck :(

Go to the Apple menu and choose About This Mac. Click the More Info button. In the new window that appears, click USB under Hardware on the left. Expand the items there.
Do you see your flash drive or iPod?
If not, you've probably got a hardware problem. Take it to the Apple Store if you've still got a warranty.

I can see my flash drive and iPad on the System Profiler, no problem with that.

I had this happen to me this morning as I was trying to debug some iPhone code on a device. It wouldn't see my phone, a flash drive, or anything I plugged into USB. Finally, with my fingers crossed, I rebooted - when it came back up all was well.

I rebooted several times, still not working.

just wanted to comment that i had the same problem and by rebooting ... the problem was gone...

You said that you have rebooted several times, but sometimes rebooting isn't enough. Did you try powering down the Mac completely, then starting it up? That is often a cure for odd problems like these when nothing else works.

There may be a preference on VMWare that it allowing the devices to go to Windows instead of Mac - I know Parallels has that. Try looking for and deactivating device preferences.


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OS X Automator send mail
I would like to create an Automator application that reads the address book and sends an email from the default email account with the content of the addr. book search result.
Everything works except before sending the email the use is asked to press the send button.
Is it possible to achieve this with no user interaction ?

you can directly do an applescript to send an email and call it from automator:
   tell application "Mail"
      activate
      set newMessage to make new outgoing message with properties {account:"Account Detail", subject:"Mail Subject", content:"Content"}
      tell newMessage
        make new to recipient at end of to recipients with properties {address:theRecipient}
        set visible to true
      end tell
      send newMessage
    end tell

You would just need to get theRecipient from the input passed to the AppleScript action. Also, you need to replace the properties on the third line with details of your Mail account.
set theRecipient to (item 1 of input)

should do it.

You can make a Do AppleScript block, and use AppleScript to tell Mail to click the Send menu item.
Directions here.


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AppleScript to spit out Incremented Number with Leading Zeros
So I am trying to create a simple script that will use a file to store an integer. When the script is called (in my case as part of a keyboard macro) it will drop in (where I'm typing) the current integer, with the requisite number of leading zeros. Then it will increment the integer (without the leading zeros) and write it back into the file.
The leading zeros part works, but for the life of me I can not figure out how to store the value of the 'counter' variable in a file so that, later, when I call the script again, it will pick up where it left off.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Here is the error message I get:
    error "Can’t make \"z:Users:zachphillips:Dev:AppleScripts:counter\"
    into type file." number -1700 from
    "z:Users:zachphillips:Dev:AppleScripts:counter" to file

And here is the code:
    set theFile to "z:Users:zachphillips:Dev:AppleScripts:counter"
        open for access theFile
        set fileContents to read theFile
        close access theFile

        set counter to fileContents as integer

        on add_leading_zeros(counter, max_leading_zeros)
        set the threshold_number to (10 ^ max_leading_zeros) as integer
        if counter is less than the threshold_number then
            set the leading_zeros to ""
            set the digit_count to the length of ((counter div 1) as string)
            set the character_count to (max_leading_zeros + 1) - digit_count
            repeat character_count times
                set the leading_zeros to (the leading_zeros & "0") as string
            end repeat
            return (leading_zeros & (counter as text)) as string
        else
            return counter as text
        end if
    end add_leading_zeros

    add_leading_zeros(counter, 2)

    open for access newFile with write permission
    set eof of newFile to 0
    write counter + 1 to newFile
    close access newFile

Add a .txt extension to the file you're saving to. If counter is the folder, do this:
set theFile to "z:Users:zachphillips:Dev:AppleScripts:counter:save.txt"

Assuming that you have a valid path, this should fix the problem. Otherwise, you're trying to save to a folder.

The result of open for access is a "file reference number". You must use this number with the read, write, and close access commands. For example,
set handle to open for access theFile
set fileContents to read handle
close access handle

Also, the script ignores the result of add_leading_zeros(counter, 2). You can put the result back in counter with
set counter to add_leading_zeros(counter, 2)

but if you do counter + 1 after that, AppleScript coerces counter from text to integer, and you lose the leading zeros. You want to add 1 before you put the leading zeros, like
set counter to add_leading_zeros(counter + 1, 2)


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How to clone CD or DVD from the CLI so it can be accessed in VirtulaBox Windows VM
How can I clone a CD or DVD to an ISO or DMG, using just the CLI, so that I can attach it to a VirtualBox VM.
I often clone CDs or DVDs using the following commands:
diskname=`df -kh /Volumes/* | grep -o Volumes.* | cut -d"/" -f2`
diskname=`echo $diskname | sed s/\ //g` # remove spaces
device=`df -kh /Volumes/* | grep Volumes | cut -d" " -f1`

sudo umount $device
dd if=$device of=~/Desktop/$diskname.iso bs=2048
hdiutil eject $device

The result is a .ISO on my desktop that is, as far as I can tell, a bit clone of the CD or DVD.
However, when I boot a VirtualBox Windows XP VM and attach the ISO, Windows says it cannot read it.

You can use hdiutil to create the disk image, then convert to a hybrid format:
hdiutil create -srcdevice $device $diskname
hdiutil makehybrid -o $diskname.iso -joliet -iso $diskname.dmg

NOTE: this method does not require unmounting the device first.

That was it. I forgot Windows needs joliet. Thanks.


text:
Port forwarding on iPhone?
I'm using iPhone as a modem.
Is there a way to port forward to my computer because I'm using it as a development server.

This isn't really about computer hardware or software

Jailbroken? Then certainly. Not jailbroken? Probably not.

To port forward to the iPhone you simply forward to the IP address it has.

Get a dedicated 4G router or hotspot

Short answer
Until now (iOS 9.1) there has been no way to configure port forwarding in Personal Hotspot
Long Answer
Activating Personal Hotspot on an iOS device enables it's built-in NAT router. Other devices that connect to this iPhone (using USB, WiFi or Bluetooth) get an IP in the 172.16.0.0/12 subdomain.
There are no NAT settings in iOS, nor does it provide UPnP or NAT-PMP for remote NAT configuration.
Why?
Nobody knows Apple's reasons.
Wild guess: Knowing that availability of the Personal Hotspot feature on an iOS device depends on it's carrier, Apple may have disabled further features as way to play nice with the carriers.
Possible Workarounds

On the device that needs to accept incoming connections: connect to a VPN that provides a public IP and incoming connections
If you have access to the remote device you could create a tunnel (e.g. with ssh)
If the remote device is connected to the same iCloud account, enabling Back to my Mac will put you on the same private IPv6 network
Using a 4G modem instead of your iPhone will give you a direct internet connection accepting incoming connections

Edit: BUT...
Even you could bypass NAT on your device, your cellular IPv4 internet connection is very probably also behind a carrier-grade NAT.

Using a 4G modem instead of your iPhone will give you a direct internet connection accepting incoming connections Yes that's what I tried to do with a Modem Domino Huawei 4G but that didn't work because functionalities are deliberately limited by the ISP (Orange) : it's not an original Domino Huawei, it's transformed. I'll try desimlock (need to find an adaptator for micro SIM) but that may not have anything to do with accessing to port forwarding... So be carefull what 4G modem you buy !

There is no way to do port forwarding on an iPhone when using it as a Wi-Fi hotspot.  This is by design.  (IMO) the iPhone hotspot feature was to allow users to access the Internet via their phone's data plan so the user could check email, surf the web, chat, etc.   It wasn't designed to serve as a router with more advanced features.
There are no ports open on either "side" of the iPhone hotspot in which to interface for management.  I did a portscan on both the public side and the private side (from a Mac and a PC) to see if I could access a management page - it's locked down and doesn't respond (though it does respond to a ping).
However, I just tested and verified that my dedicated hotspot - AT&T Unite Explore does support port forwarding (page 60 of User Manual).  I was able to forward port 22 to my laptop and successfully connected via SSH to it.
One last thing - while I was able to do this successfully on AT&T, your provider may not allow you to open ports on your device - check with them first.


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What are the empty home and net drives?
I have two drives on my Mac which are always empty (I've enabled show hidden files in the Finder):

What are these drives for?

Not sure why you're always seeing them -- I don't, even with hidden files enabled -- but they're the root directories commonly used by the automounter when you connect your Mac to an NFS network (which generally means a Unix/Linux network). Users' home directories are usually mounted under /home, and other shared filesystems under /net.


text:
Which 13" MacBook Pro 2011 is right for me?
I'm completely new to Mac (OS X) and I want to buy a 13" Macbook Pro 2011. I'm not sure if the "2,7 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7" is worth the +300€.
I want to order one of the two with a 128GB SSD for fast boots. I'm a developer (mainly web) so I need the book for programming and for the university later this year. I'm not going to install Windows or Linux on the machine. I need Mac OS X.
My questions:

Is there any advantage of a SSD in the Mac as long I don't plan gaming? Or do they boot up fast from some kind of sleep mode? I need a Notebook which starts really quick and does not loose battery when off (sleep mode etc.).
Is the i7 much better than the i5? I mean the only difference between the two books is only CPU and HDD.
Is 13" enough? I can't visit an Apple store since there aren't any in my region. My current notebook is a 15" one running Ubuntu and I think it shouldn't be much smaller. But the 15" Macbooks are too expensive for me and a 13" might be more portable. I'll connect the book to a larger screen @ home anyway.
Thanks.

I've ordered the cheapest 13" as my first mac.
I already have a 80 GB SSD which I will put in it immediately when it arrives. An SSD is beneficial to about everything you can do on your mac because the hard disk is usually the performance bottleneck.
Don't worry about the screen size and resolution if you'll hook it up to an external monitor anyway. I've played around with a 13" a lot this week and the screen size and resolution are fine for normal pc usage.
I would not pay extra for the upgraded CPU.
Remember that the cheapest 13" has about the same cpu speed as the previous generation's 17" flagship! (see benchmarks posted below)
So either way I would go with the cheapest version.
If you are unable/unwilling to open up your mac yourself I would take the SSD option. You can always get a nice little external HD with 1TB disk space for not much money, if you run out of SSD space.
Here are CPU benchmarks:

I can only really answer question #3:
As a developer/photographer I think 13" is a good size for a laptop, as long as you are connecting it to an external monitor back at base. The 13" laptops are a lot more portable than the 15" ones, ideal for taking to uni!

I decided to take the cheapest 13". Going to buy it today or tomorrow. :)

I did the same thing and got the cheapest as my first mac and upgraded the ram to 8Gb.  It's actually faster than my Windows 7 desktop with an overclocked quad core.


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MacBook Pro won't load photos
My MacBook Pro is not loading my photos anymore. I insert the SD card, as I have always done, iPhoto pops up and says loading photos, but then the error message pops up saying that the disc was not ejected properly when I haven't even touched it! Can someone please help me?
Thanks!

Leslie,
Without further information, my first guess is a corrupted SD card. Try the following steps.
1) With the SD Card inserted, locate and launch Disk Utility.app
2) On the left column lists of hard disks, DVD/CD and other storage devices detected on your MacBook Pro.
3) Click once to select the SD card. This will cause the right half of the window to be populated with series of possible actions. The default action displayed is titled 'First Aid'. Locate the 'Verify Disk' button on the bottom right corner. Click once on it and allow some time for it to diagnose your SD card.
4) If the Disk Utility.app reports an error, click to grant it permission to fix it. Once it's done, quit Disk Utility.app
5) Relaunch iPhoto and see if it works.
If this helps, please mark your question as answered. Thanks.

Ok, so I put the SD card in and iPhoto popped up and said loading photos, like it was reading the card. Then, that message popped up saying that it wasn't ejected properly and the icon disappeared from the desktop. I left the card in and went to disk utility, but the SD card was not listed on the left. Any other suggestions? Thanks for your help!

To rule out the card can you try it in a different device (ideally not the camera you've taken it out of).
To rule out a fault with the SD Card reader on the MBP can you test it with a USB card reader?

This may be a stupid question, but what is a USB card reader?

@Leslie a card reader that you connect via USB rather than one build into the computer.

I don't have just a reader, but I tried leaving it in my camera and attaching the camera to my computer, but that wasn't working either...


text:
Does the iPad 2 Support the iPad 1 Dock?
I'm thinking about selling my first generation iPad, but was wondering if I should sell the dock with it. I know that they are coming out with a new iPad dock specifically for the second generation. Will it not fit on the first generation dock?

I fear you might have to wait until later next week until someone can actually try this :-)

It's possible to use the first generation dock, but it's a bit difficult to get the iPad 2 connected, because of the tapered edge: See this link.

Hard to say for sure if the original iPad Dock will work with the iPad 2. Apple is selling an iPad 2 Dock, however, that is different than the original model.

I would recommend waiting to sell the dock.  I would venture a guess that it will, however, not perfectly. eg, I use my iphone edge dock with my iphone 4 and I think it is great!


text:
Can I transfer and view xvid (avi) videos on an iPad?
What type of video files can I watch on my iPad?
I usually only have .avi files; is there an app that will allow me to play them?

I rephrased your question, also, if you want to ask a question about Cydia, please ask another separate question (after searching if it wasn't already asked)

You could also try AirVideo, which will convert and stream xvid (and other formats) from a local PC.  You can connect to it via local network or remotely as well.http://www.inmethod.com/air-video/index.html

You can use OPlayer HD to watch your video on your iPad. There's also a free ad-supported version available

I usually use Handbrake to convert everything to .mp4 or .m4v (iTunes-friendly extension) before importing it to iTunes and syncing it to an iDevice.  Just open it up and give it a source file, pick the proper preset, and press Go.

Another idea is converting your videos using Macroplant's Adapter. Quite simple to do.

Use VLC for the iPad (link is directly to the apple store for VLC)
Quicky guide through here

VLC is no longer on the App Store


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iMac's fans make awful noise
My iMac's fans are making an awful lot of noise, sounding like a piece of cardboard is in them. It's a kind of ticking noise. This is happening since a few months ago. I have not changed any hardware. I have never encountered any other problems with my iMac and it has never crashed. My Mac is running normally and fast.
Here is what iStat says:

I have an Intel iMac (iMac9,1), Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.66 GHz, 2 GB RAM, running Mac OS X 10.6.6.
I have tried to reset the SMC but this did not help.
How can I make this noise go away without opening my iMac or sending it back to Apple?

Your fans are running at speeds appropriate for that model. Even using a stethoscope on the rear of an iMac, good techs have been confused between hard drive and blower noise unless you can change the noise by increasing or decreasing the fans or the HDD.
Rhythmic blower ticking is one of two things:

Failing or failed bearings in the blower.
Foreign object (paper, hair, other) lodged in the blower.

Choice #2 is less likely since the airflow around the unit usually precludes things getting stuck there. Also the design makes it unlikely things large enough to make noise or stick can enter the blower area.
I wouldn't recommend shaking an iMac (running or not), but tipping it on a side or upside down with a friend's help and then powering it on would let gravity and the airflow dislodge all but the most unlucky piece of debris from a blower. Be aware that succeeding to move debris may land such debris in a worse place than a blower, so do use caution.
If the bearings are the cause - you might try a fan control software to run the fans faster (sometimes higher speeds are less noisy) but do get ready for a visit to the shop as bearings don't fix themselves and the noise will get worse as it wears. A technician is the best person to get debris out and truly resolve a ticking noise whether it's a hard drive, optical drive or a blower.

I haven't checked to see if smcFanControl will work with your particular mac, but I have used it for several MacBook (pro and consumer) and even on my desktop tower mac (all intel) to control the fan speed. For example, when I was playing WoW in full-screen mode, I would increase the fan speed manually to keep the temp down and then reduce it when I was done. It has a nice menu bar widget that shows the current RPM and temp.
You might be able to use this widget to manually set the speed lower to reduce the noise. I would recommend you try to further investigate the cause of the issue so that you don't inadvertently burn out your computer. One activity you can do to narrow down the cause is when you see/hear the fan increase in speed, check your Activity Monitor application to see what is taking the most CPU. You will find this application in your Utility Folder. Once launched, use the popup to see All Processes and then sort by %CPU column.
Good luck!

If there is a "ticking noise" when the fan runs, then I am willing to bet you have an object of some kind that somehow got stuck against the fan and the fan blades are hitting as they rotate. Crack open the shell and give it all a good blast with some canned air. But, if it's not something visible, then I would say take it to an Apple Store.

Too bad there are no Apple Stores in the Netherlands. :(

Good point. Netherlands. Check.

These are all good ideas so mine is just a shot in the dark.  Try vacuuming the vents along the bottom of the display.  The loose item may pull clear if there is one and worse case, you've removed some dust and the fans may not run as often.

Well, granting you haven't restored your OS, you should still have the Apple Hardware Test on your system. Give that a whirl and see what it comes up with. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509

Have you been excessively playing games/running the Fan before that? I had the problem of a rattling Fans as well on a MBP, but it started quite subtle and then went on to sound as well like a piece of cardboard. However it was not related to anything beeing stuck in the Fan, but it was simply the lubricant dying. So I went to Ifixit.com disassembled my macbook. I was also able to disassemble the Fan by opening the screws on it,  and pulling out the rotor. Then I cleaned the rotor shaft and applied silicon oil to it and put it back in. (I tried other oil as well but it would not work like silicon and the fan would start to rattle again (motor oil, "special" electronics oil, etc))


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Printopia (AirPrint): turn it on/off via command line?
I love Printopia - this allows my iDevices to print to a printer attached to my Mac. The problem is I usually don't leave it on all the time. Whenever I want to print from my phone, I'd turn it on via System Preferences app.
Question: is it possible to do so via command line? This way I can ssh in my Mac and turn it on/off (or even better, write some simple script to automate the process).

There's no real reason that I can think of not to leave it on all of the time, but you can easily turn it on and off by loading or unloading the launchd plist:
This will turn it on:
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ecamm.printopia.plist
This will turn it off:
launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.ecamm.printopia.plist
Or you could just run the server directly:
/Library/PreferencePanes/Printopia.prefPane/Contents/MacOS/Printopia Server.app/Contents/MacOS/Printopia Server
(that's all one line)


text:
What activities cannot be interrupted?
Time was, Macs crashed a lot. (Maybe PCs did too, but I've only ever used Macs). And over time, I became wary of doing two things at once.
Today I wouldn't interrupt a back-up but I'm wondering -- is it okay to touch the keyboard during other long-running stuff like a big delete or download? Are there times when one should just leave an activity alone?

Well, first of all, touching the keyboard will not crash you computer, even if you're doing heavy process.
So if you're deleting a big number of files or downloading a big file, you can still go ahead and browse the web or write on a text editor, or whatever.
And even if Safari or Pages would crash, the OS is robust enough not to let this crash affect the download.
To sum it up, go ahead multi-task! Mac OS X is a really strong OS and you shouldn't worry about asking him to do multiple things, he's great at it.

Thanks, LW, kind of you to tell me what I should but didn't know. (My first time here -- Apple Discussions didn't do me much good, guess the question was too dumb!)

Thanks, LW, kind of you to tell me what I should but didn't know. (My first time here -- Apple Discussions didn't do me much good, guess the question was too dumb!) So I'll certainly change my habits.

Software still crashes a lot, but moderns OSes (Windows too!), are much better at Sandboxing, a OS software technique which prevents a piece of software which crashes from affecting other running software, or the system stability.
Realistically, the only processes which absolutely cannot be interrupted is hardware interfacing, which is almost invariably confined to drivers.

It's worth being aware that it was never Macs or Windows Hardware that crashed a lot, it has always been mac or windows applications that are more or less buggy. Indeed, the era of windows 98 BSODs was largely due to the popularity of windows spawning many thousands of poorly written, buggy pieces of software, together with Win98's poor ability to prevent software crashing from affecting overall system stability.
However, both OS X and Windows have come very far since then, so ther really isn't any task during which multitasking is likely to cause crashes, unless the task itself is composed of poorly written/buggy software.
There are certainly processes which are slowed down by multitasking (sometimes more dramatically then one would expect, hard drive intensive tasks come to mind), but there are no tasks which would be damaged or broken by multitasking, only delayed.

Thanks, FN, really helpful -- I'm about to change my ways!

There are a few things that should be done more-or-less alone.  A backup is a reasonable example (although Time Machine tolerates it well), and an even better example would be verifying the structure of the boot volume (this'll abort if there's too much disk activity), or live repartitioning of the boot disk (similar).  There are also some combinations that should be avoided, like switching network connections or settings during a download.  For the most part, though, OS X is set up to multi-task cleanly and safely, so don't worry about it too much.

Thanks, GD, clearly I've been worrying way too much -- I look forward to not!  To me, it's surprising that folk would even think of doing the unwise things you mention, but then I've been way too timid.