text:
Convert .cda audio file to m4a
I wanted to use ffmpeg
ffmpeg -i file.cda file.m4a

but I get the error
Invalid data found when processing input

So how can I convert lots of cda files on macOS?

If e.g. file.cda is a file you have on your HDD/SSD, then you can not convert as CDA files do not contain any audio data, they are just shortcuts to the tracks on an audio disc.

@user3439894 I realised this, annoying. Thanks.

I can't because a .CDA (CD Audio) file is a Windows file, created as a shortcut to a file located on a CD.
The file doesn't contain any Audio data.
I had to rip the CD on my Windows machine, then copy the ripped (located in the Music folder) files onto my Mac.


text:
how to add iTunes album artwork in Mojave
I do right click > Album Info > Artwork > Add Album Artwork, then I choose a picture (jpg) and then hit "OK" but the artwork isn't added.

What is the audio format of the tracks you want to add artwork to?

Do you this dialogue box  (unless you have previously checked Do not ask me again) when editing the Album info?

@nohillside wav

@NimeshNeema Yeah I get that and click "Edit items"

AFAIK you can‘t add covers to WAV files. You can test this yourself by converting the tracks to MP3 or AAC within iTunes and try to assign a picture there.

source: Stack Exchange

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

sort: votes


text:
remove track number from start of song name iTunes
I just imported my own folder of audio files into iTunes.
Now every song is prepended with a track number, 01, 02, ... 18, etc.
How do I remove these? Other albums don't have this (despite the files in ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music having the prepended numbers).

The track name is taken from the metadata (or, if there isn't any, from the filename) of the tracks during import. So if after the import you end up with the track number in the title this was already encoded in the file itself.
To remove, either edit each title after the import or pick an appropriate script from Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes.

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


text:
Apple ID with iCloud email vs non-Apple email, any differences in capabilities?
I'm about to create a new account with Apple's cloud services. AFAIK there are two ways to go:

Create a 'full' new iCloud account from an Apple device, thus creating a new email address ending in @icloud.com at the same time.
'Just' create an Apple ID using a non-Apple email address I already have, i.e. a GMail or Outlook or other existing email.

An @icloud.com email gives me native integration with the Apple mail & calendar & contacts clients on macOS and iOS, and generally uses push data for synchronization.
Both options might require migrating some existing emails or data, depending on the situation.
My question is, beyond the native Mail, Calendar & Contacts app integrations, are there any other differences between an @icloud.com Apple ID and a 'non-Apple mail' Apple ID? Any gotchas down the road, like some security or health related synch services not working with non-iCloud accounts, or less cloud space, or...?

are there any other differences between an @icloud.com Apple ID and a 'non-Apple mail' Apple ID?

No. Both approaches give you a fully capable Apple ID. There's no different type of Apple IDs.

Any gotchas down the road, like some security or health related synch services not working with non-iCloud accounts, or less cloud space, or...?

No, nada. Any Apple ID created using whatsoever approach is similar in capabilities and security.
Note: A difference that I noticed: I attempted to create an Apple ID using a 3rd-party email and created it via Web. You only get 1 GB of iCloud storage.


text:
How can I create an alias/shorcut to sudo/root an app permanently?
I would like to have an alias to run an app as root always. I am trying to save time and not go through the terminal commands.
Thanks!

How secure does this need to be?  If you do not need to worry about security this will make it easier.

What kind of application are you trying to run as root? Desktop applications should never be run as root.

Doesnt need to be secure at all. The app Id like to run is Blender.


text:
How to make the items in a variable a single item
Lets say I have a variable Q set to {"a", "b", "c"}
how can I make it so that AppleScript takes the items of Q and turns it into a single item so that Q is now set to {"abc"}?

@calum_b AppleScript questions are perfectly on-topic, no need to bounce them to StackOverflow.

If you have: set Q to {"a", "b", "c"}
You can then do:
set Q to (Q as string) as list

(Q as string) coerces the Q list {"a", "b", "c"} into a string, "abc", and as list turns the string into a list item assigned to Q.

Not necessary, but if you also add:
return Q

Just to see what it returns, it will return:
{"abc"}

Which is what you wanted.


text:
I can't quick punch-in / how do I start recording audio while playing in logic?
I have been pressing space to play the stuff I have already created, and then I hit 'r' to start recording (audio) but it never records anything.
I only seem to be able to record when I am not playing the track previously.
How can I record immediately ?

Logic Pro will start recording when you hit 'r' on the track that is currently selected. If you have a different track selected than the one you need to record to, it will record to that track instead (and if it is a software instrument, no audio will be recorded).
The solution is to have your audio track selected when you are listening to playback.

I have the correct track selected.


text:
Get french accent on Linux terminal connected via ssh from MacOS High Sierra
I come on this forum since no answers or suggestions on other forums.
I am often connecting from a MacOS High Sierra terminal via SSH to a Debian 8.0.
The locales on my MacOS are :
LANG=
LC_COLLATE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_CTYPE="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="en_US.UTF-8"
LC_ALL="en_US.UTF-8"

Everything on MacOS side works fine, I can type on this MacOS terminal all french characters, even combined for example to get "ê" character with key "^+e".
My issue is that I am often connected via to a Debian 8.0 and I can't get to have french accents like I have on MacOS.
I have done on Debian 8.0 :
# locale-gen
Generating locales (this might take a while)...
  fr_FR.ISO-8859-1... done
  fr_FR.UTF-8... done
  fr_FR.ISO-8859-15@euro... done

So the locales on Debian 8.0 are :
locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: No such file or directory
locale: Cannot set LC_MESSAGES to default locale: No such file or directory
locale: Cannot set LC_ALL to default locale: No such file or directory
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8
LC_CTYPE="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_NUMERIC="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_TIME="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_COLLATE="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_MONETARY="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_MESSAGES="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_PAPER="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_NAME="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_ADDRESS="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_TELEPHONE="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_MEASUREMENT="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_ALL=fr_FR.ISO8859

I have also tried with :
# locale
locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: No such file or directory
locale: Cannot set LC_MESSAGES to default locale: No such file or directory
locale: Cannot set LC_ALL to default locale: No such file or directory
LANG=fr_FR@euro
LANGUAGE=en_US.UTF-8
LC_CTYPE="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_NUMERIC="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_TIME="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_COLLATE="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_MONETARY="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_MESSAGES="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_PAPER="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_NAME="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_ADDRESS="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_TELEPHONE="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_MEASUREMENT="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="fr_FR.ISO8859"
LC_ALL=fr_FR.ISO8859

I don't see where is the problem, anyone could help me to have french accent on Debian terminal from my MacOS keyboard like I have on my MacOS terminal ?
UPDATE 1 :
I tried the solution suggested by @Spiff by doing :
 $ locale-gen "en_US.UTF-8"
Generating locales (this might take a while)...
  en_US.UTF-8... done
Generation complete.

$ locale
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=
LC_CTYPE="C"
LC_NUMERIC="C"
LC_TIME="C"
LC_COLLATE="C"
LC_MONETARY="C"
LC_MESSAGES="C"
LC_PAPER="C"
LC_NAME="C"
LC_ADDRESS="C"
LC_TELEPHONE="C"
LC_MEASUREMENT="C"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="C"
LC_ALL=C

But this doesn't seem to work since when I type on french accent character, nothing displays.
UPDATE 2 :
I have found a partial solution : if I put into a new file ~/.bash_profile :
LANGUAGE="en_US.UTF-8"

Then, I can type french accent characters.
But now, the issue is that I have no more the file ~/.bashrc executed (so no more environments variables, no alias, nothing more).
If I do at the end of ~/.bash_profile : source ~/.bashrc, nothing happens.
How to circumvent this issue and make take into account my ~/.bashrc file ?

Which bash files on the server or the Mac?

SOLUTION : uncomment in /etc/ssh/sshd_config :
# Allow client to pass locale environment variables
#AcceptEnv LANG LC_*

(made community wiki; credit to OP)


text:
File/Disk Recover Mac Book
How can I recover lost, erased, files from Hard disk bad shut-down. Free apps only please. MacBook.I had a bad shut down, then restarted system. I lost bunch of docs, pics, music

I’ll see if there is a better duplicate for file recovery. Keep in mind, we don’t host shopping questions so when you restrict an option to free, that’s shopping. Asking about functions or how to select software that can do a function is fine.

This thread has some useful information - https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/21953/options-for-recovering-deleted-files

thanks mike, your a big help. this question may have been asked before. Not by me and I haven't seen an answer from previous question.

Start with data rescue. They let you perform the entire recovery for free and then test a couple files to be sure they have usable files. It is paid software if you need many files back.


text:
Number roadmaps as A001 instead of A1 using Word page numbers
To identify roadmaps provided to participants to a biycle randonnee, I want to number them as A001 to A150, B001 to B150 and C001 to C150.
After printing the required roadmaps in a printshop, I number them at home with my printer, starting with the pile A001 to A150. To do that, I use the page numbering of Word.
Unfortunately, it prints as A1 to A150, omitting the 0 when at the beginning of a figure. How can I change Word behaviour so that it would print A001 to A150 ?
TIA

Another place you could ask would be https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_word-mso_mac

Thanks. I have given up, believing this is not feasible. I printed three series: the A001 to A009, the A010 to A099 and the A100 to A150. Same for B and C (total 9 runs). Better than wasting my time with Microsoft.


text:
How to set default web cam
I have installed CamTwist on my MacBook (mid-2015 - Retina display).
Now every app uses that by default.
I want the default webcam to be the FaceTime HD camera installed in my MacBook.
How do I make every app use that webcam by default?

What have you already tried to solve the problem? Things like preferences of CamTwist, preferences of the applications, System Preferences, CamTwist FAQ/Support site etc?

@nohillside I couldn't find an option in System Preferences, there's nothing in CamTwist either. I was expecting to find it in System Preferences, like setting the default audio devices.

Looking at http://camtwiststudio.com/support/faq/ the following seems to apply to your situation.

PS: Development for the application may have stopped, the web site looks rather outdated.

My preferences look completely different... I have 2016 version of CamTwist 3.2. Looks like I'm out of date though, they have 3.4.2 now. Not sure where the 2013 number comes from? It only runs on macOS 10.10+  which came out in 2014

@theonlygusti I only noticed that the latest blog entry is from 2013.

This is a great find. I was going to say unplug the camera when you don’t want it default. I can’t think why you would have it connected and not want it to run, but perhaps there’s a reason I didn’t consider.

I solved this (so far) by quitting Camtwist and then restarting the computer.  That deactivates the Camtwist driver.  My Camtwist (latest version) is missing any preference option to deactivate the driver etc.  I made sure it wasn't in my login items or anywhere else that might launch at startup!


text:
How can I find iPhone apps uploading a lot of data?
Why do the iPhones in my home periodically use up all the upload bandwidth? Happens at least once a week, likely once a day or something.
I only notice when I get annoyed by slow internet.
How do I analyse which app is causing this this?

Some apps like Photos can use Data to upload content if that option is turned on in Cellular settings. I am not sure about a weekly behaviour.

Do you use iCloud? If so iCloud will automatically backup and upload your Photos, Videos to Apple iCloud service. Depending on your internet connection and photo data size, the upload might take some time.

In Settings > Cellular Data it will show what app is using how much data in the last period (however long it has been since you reset the usage data) which should give you an idea what the culprit might be. My wife's iPhone had her Weather Channel app using more data than Facebook and she is always on Facebook. So we deleted that app...

@SteveChambers this happens on wifi. Idk if it would still happen on mobile data or not but I don't want to test that out (expensive)

@nohillside how do you know it's an app that causes this? every iPhone my family owns does it

Just edit it again. But please keep in mind that asking "what is causing this" without showing any details is a reason to put the question on hold for being too broad. That's why I changed the focus slightly to ask about "how to analyze".

It is unclear whether Bandwidth is from Cellular data or Wi-Fi setup separately. So I will do both.
In Settings → Cellular/ Mobile Data, after waiting for sometime, all the apps that consume data appear in descending order of used data. If Low-Power mode is off and sufficient battery power is available, then Photos and videos and iCloud Drive files will upload to iCloud if the feature Use Data for iCloud is turned on. To avoid extra usage this should be turned off.
For Wi-Fi, such usage chart is not available in iPhone natively. Two indirect approaches are:

See the biggest files or app-usage of iCloud. Go to Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Manage Storage.
It is less accurate but go to Settings → Battery → Usage pattern. This can be a mix of a lot of activities but most apps that are at the top use a lot of bandwidth in my iPhone.


text:
Automatically zip attachments on Mail getting sent
How can I have a single file or several files that I dropped into an email on Mac, automatically become a zip file before getting sent?

I don't think you can drop files into mail app and then zip them... I was thinking there could be a plugin that does something like that, like maybe just when you try to attach multiple files, the plugin could ask you if you wanted to zip them or something, but I couldn't find any plugins like that.

You could definitely string together actions in Automator that takes in files, zips them and then opens the new message window and adds the zip as an attachment. This could be just a shortcut or a context menu item (Automator Service) that then hands over the selected files in Finder... or an App icon (Automator App) that sits next to your Mail app in the Dock where you would drag the files. — Here's one example: https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/Email_Attachments_with_Automator. That article is pretty old, but it looked to me like nothing has changed.

@Joonas That is a good idea! Better than mine after the question was edited. Please post it as an answer!

I thought about it and I was pretty tempted to just copy & paste that article to my answer... But I think it would be better if you answered it yourself. I believe you were able to do it based on the article and so maybe there would be more worth in you answering your own question with what worked for you rather than me copying something off the internet. Not that I'm expecting you to have done it much differently...  — I think you have to wait like 8 hours after posting your own answer to be able to mark it as the correct answer.

Attaching the folder with all the files in it would zip them. But all Mac users wouldn’t see the zip but the folder itself.


text:
External Disk, extended journaled with password, suddenly starts without password query
my External DiskLaCie hard drive D2 Quadra USB3, extended journaled with password,
appears on the screen the next morning without a password query.
On my MacBook Pro and on the hard drive no updates etc. where made.
Now even after restart and delete the PR VRAM etc it always starts without a password query ...
On "infos" in the disk utility, I see that the disk is still password protected and journaled...
I have an other External Disk (the same product), she still starts with password query, so what has happened on my mac or with the external disk over night?
Apple MacBook Pro 13 Zoll
MacOsHigh Sierra V 10.13.6
PS. LA Cie/Seagate Support says, that i shall ask the apple support, and vice versa...

Sounds like the password may have been saved in your keychain...

what could be the name of this keychain? im looking in my keychain administration

there is no key with name of the external-disk or "LaCie" etc


text:
iPhone adding events in calendar
Why is my Add Event plus sign gray and disabled? The calendar, add event plus sign should be red. This is usually top right like in the picture I added.

I tried refreshing and swiping down in the Show All Calendars. Hiding or closing did not work. I also tried switching iCloud on. These tasks are only a precursor to be able to add events again.
Until I realised that I had to reestablish or open a new Calendar because I had deleted it by not wanting iCloud anymore, a few minutes in frustration had passed. Adding my own Calendar again was my solution!!

Hey and welcome! It is unclear what you're asking. Is the problem solved? I don't see a greyed + sign either!

Please wort this so the answer goes on the answer section and the question is just a question. We don’t host blog posts, but it’s totally expected if you answer your own question.


text:
Why so many shell in /bin
Here is the ls output of my /bin directory:
[csh       ksh       zsh       bash      dash      tcsh      sh      ...]

Prior to catalina bash was the default and now zsh is default. What's the usage of others?

See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4317247/bash-vs-csh-vs-others-which-is-better-for-application-maintenance and  https://stackoverflow.com/questions/199661/what-linux-shell-should-i-use for discussions about shells and which to use. Apple switched because of licensing issues with Bash.

Primary question was: "What's the usage of others?" I didn't install any of them. zsh is the default as it's still now in beta maybe that's why bash is still available. But why others?

Different people have different preferences. It's the same reason why there are Microsoft Word, Pages and LibreOffice, or different models of cars, or ...

See also https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/361870 for an overview of differences between bash and zsh. Offering more than one shell addresses legacy concerns and provides choice. There is no single answer or reason.

@nohillside So, in which OS you found both Microsoft office and libreoffice pre installed? On Fedora you'll find only bash not the other ones.

Different OS, different rules. Most unixoid systems come with a whole bunch of shells, to suite different preferences. You might as well wonder why macOS ships with nano and pico and vim and emacs and TextEdit.app. The answer is always the same :-)

There are a lot of different shells available for Unix-like systems, and different users have different preferences. So on most Unix systems you'll find some of the most often used shells installed, to give users a choice in using whatever they prefer.
For more information about the differences between various shells see:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4317247/bash-vs-csh-vs-others-which-is-better-for-application-maintenance
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/199661/what-linux-shell-should-i-use
bash vs. zsh: What are the practical differences?

The default shell is just the shell newly created user accounts get assigned as a default shell. This can easily be changed by using chsh or changing the entry in the Users & Groups preference pane. And it's worth nothing that the default shell of existing user accounts will not be changed during the upgrade to Catalina.

Apple and Unix tools self document themselves, so you can read the manual page of each to understand their role and place.
I recommend you start with the korn shell - be different!
man ksh

I can’t speak for Apple, but the plurality of options helps software evolve and change since scripts based on previous tools can keep working when a change happens to the default or not hold back newcomers from solving a problem in a different way than an existing shell.


text:
How to use other key combination to replace ⌘W?
I am using a small mechanical keyboard on which if I press a special function key and key 'W', it means 'up'
I use iTerm2 as my console app. From time to time I use 'up' to recall past commands.
Unfortunately this function key is next to the ⌘ key. So sometimes I miss the special function key, and pressed ⌘W accidentally. It closes an active tab of `iTerm2' instead of going back in command history.
Is there any way I can use some key combination to replace and disable ⌘W in order to close a tab?

I don't know iTerm, but if the items you need to switch have actual menu commands, this will work - https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/175053/disable-q-for-a-specific-application

Wow! Didn't know about this feature before! It's very powerful. Your suggestion is a life-saver! Thanks!

Glad it helped:) I'll flag this as a duplicate, so in future anyone searching for either issue will be able to find the answer.


text:
First time pairing of Apple Watch with iPhone keeps failing
I just got a new Apple Watch Series 4, but I'm having some issues pairing to my iPhone (an iPhone 8 with up to date iOS).
When iPhone and Apple Watch are near each other, the pairing procedure starts on the iPhone. I can go through, alternatively, the pairing using the "holding the phone over the animation" or the one with manual code insert. After a few seconds on the following "pairing successful" screen, a popup message appears saying that communication between the devices wasn't stable and that I need to restart.
A couple of times I was able to select wrist and crown position, it started syncing but again failed after a couple of minutes of waiting.
I tried restarting the iPhone and the Apple watch, resetting network connections. This happens with Wi-Fi, Cellular and Bluetooth on, with or without Wi-Fi connected to a network.
One thing that I don't understand is why I can't pair using only cellular connection on? I tried moving outside the building, to stay outside the range of any known Wi-Fi access points. In that case, the pairing can't even start. The iPhone says I need to have a Cellular or Wi-Fi connection on (along with Bluetooth) but it appears that I can't do anything without Wi-Fi. The same happens if I turn Wi-Fi off.
What could be going wrong? How do I pair the Apple Watch to iPhone in such a scenario?

You need wifi and bluetooth for pairing to work.  Also, be sure the Watch is on the charger the entire time.  Perhaps your wifi network is not stable and doesn't stay connected to the devices long enough for it to complete.  Try a different wifi network, if possible.  Be sure to power cycle each device, too.

Thanks @fsb, so it seems that Wi-Fi is mandatory. Company network may have restrictions. Anyway, the message is wrong on iPhone: it clearly states "make sure iPhone is connected to a cellular network or Wi-Fi and activate Bluetooth"

Now that I think about it, maybe the message on the iPhone states that because on the other side there can be a cellular-connected Watch

And thanks @Nimesh for fixing my question


text:
Developing accessory for iOS devices without MFi Program
I am developing a device that will communicate with an app installed on an iOS device. I have some doubts:

If I use an MFi cable, do I need to license my product?
To communicate by serial port, is it necessary to license the product?
Is there any way to communicate with the USB cable that does not require the license?
I have nowhere found the cost to license the product, for both development and manufacturing.

The device will be connected and powered over USB.
Note: A proprietary iOS application will be developed to communicate with the hardware.

Yes. You'll need to obtain an MFi Program license. The cost, viability and special API access (if any) can be determined only after contacting Apple.
To get more details, and to get in touch with an Apple correspondent, check out MFi Program homepage.

It appears the the resultant (software) product will be your own. It is up to you what, if any license be applied. If you choose to use source from another vendor. You need only apply their restrictions, if any. To their source (if included).
If there is no license available (listed) with their source. Its restrictions (if any) are unknown. So you should be unencumbered.


text:
Automation Item
in Mojave > System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Automation  an Installer requires access to System Events.
How to find out to which app this belongs and eventually (if wants to sent data to some servers) how to delete it?

Installer is the built-in macOS app for installing packages. The Installer app itself does not belong to any app in particular; it runs any package given, usually by double-clicking a pkg from Finder.
Installer will request Automation permission when a script in a package requests such, which will occur at the time of running the package. When such a request occurred, you would be installing an app on your system, hence it would be this app’s installer scripts which would trigger this.

Thank you grg.Is there a way to find out which app Installer requested access to Finder, but more important is how to remove this item from the Privacy list?

@Valdo - The installer app is denied any access in your screen shot. You could edit the TCCD database directly or see if it has clues when the entry was added: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/178313/change-accessibility-setting-on-mac-using-terminal The access_time table is where I'd start. From there, you could possibly do a unified log search to trace back how that was added on a specific Mac.


text:
iPhone no message alert sound when near MacBook
I've noticed that when my phone is near my MacBook, I only receive notifications for Messages on my MacBook. My iPhone remains silent, and the screen does not light up.
Is this an expected behavior (feature not a bug?), and is there a way to ensure that the phone always dings and lights up for message notifications?
Thanks!

Are you using the laptop or is it open during this time?  Messages will only notify you on what it thinks is the active device (in this situation).  If that describes your situation, that's the normal behavior.

Yea I'm active - looks like this has been addressed in the duplicate tag!


text:
Text search in PDF files with iPadOS 13
In iOS 12 the Preview builtin in the Files opens a PDF file nicely but there is no text search possibility (magnifier glass). To find a word in a large pdf document it is necessary to reopen the file in Books or other similar app just for the sake of having the magnifier glass built in. How about iOS 13 Preview, is there the text search feature already built in?

iPadOS/iOS 13 are currently in beta. Do you have a developer/public beta running on any of your devices. The features available in beta may not be final and are liable to change.

No, I didn't have iPadOS 13 installed, just asking because the way how the text search in pdf files in iOS 12 is very annoying.


text:
Strange looking certificate in macOS Keychain
I need help with a strange looking certificate which has appeared in the Keychain of my Mac.
The name of the certificate is "A9936B80-41C7-4D34-8020-59C3E40A31A8 A98369B2-0C8C-4CF8-9921-015C5D9A4C86". It is installed in the login keychain under My Certificates. There is no clear name of an issuer, nor to whom it was issued.
It is not trusted by the system and after deleting it gets reinstalled again and again.
What it is?

Welcome to Ask Different :) Do you develop iOS apps, and debug them on a device? Are you a registered Apple Developer, without a paid membership of the Apple Developer program?

I found a plausible explanation, the certificate is most probably related to studentd, see https://eclecticlight.co/2019/04/01/back-to-school-studentd-and-classroom-in-mojave-10-14-4/:

Although run from a system LaunchAgent property list, studentd is run as the user from login. If you log into a user account which doesn’t yet have one, it creates a security certificate in that user’s login keychain, with a name starting with ‘member:’ followed by two UUIDs. The first of these is that user’s UserIdentifier given in ~/Library/studentd/AdHocConfiguration.plist, thus is that student’s identifier for the purposes of studentd. That certificate isn’t trusted, but trust is obtained later if the user connects that Mac to a Classroom system.

Answers on AskDifferent should be more than just a link to prevent answers from becoming useless in case the link breaks. It's ok to include links for reference, but please add the essential parts of the link target directly into your answer.

"Answers on AskDifferent should be more than just a link" My answer was more than just a link but for unknown reasons "nohillside" edited my reply. I bet you'll delete this!

I've removed the follow-up questions included in your answer, they didn't add value to the answer itself. The essential part is still hidden somewhere on the linked page though, please edit this directly into your post.

Welcome to Ask Different, Valdo - have a look at [help] - especially the part about editing. Also, don't confuse kindness with niceness with constructive criticism. This site has long established norms on question quality, answer quality and collaboration.

I'm almost sure with UTMOST certainty that your MAC is hacked. I've been hacked for over 4 years now by "white hat" hackers AKA ethical hackers. These guys are actually curious about how you got tons of money and they make sure that you're doing it not in an illegal manner.


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Mouse cursor frequently disappears
On macOS Mojave 10.14.5 through Catalina 10.15.2, my mouse pointer becomes invisible frustratingly often.
The only way to make it visible again is to enter Mission Control or to click on the middle part of the menu bar at the top of the screen, where there isn't a button.
Wiggling the cursor does not make it visible again, but the "enlarge cursor when wiggling" option is on.
Changing the cursor size does not prevent this problem.
Resetting NVRAM does not noticeably fix this problem.
I am using a MacBook pro with retina display mid-2015.
The problem happens on both trackpad and mouse

Does this happen with a mouse or trackpad or both? (You don't mention what kind of Mac you are using.)

Do you have any 3rd party software or driver (e.g. Logitech) installed which might interfere with the mouse? Or an application which might disable the mouse pointer from time to time? Can you create a new user on your Mac, log in there and check whether it happens for the new user as well?

I have the same problem with 10.13.5. I am using Karabiner-Elements. It isn't easy to investigate, even with a new user context because I don't have any idea what application or event might reproduce the problem.

@danielAzuelos do you think karabiner causes the problem?

I didn't start the investigation yet. Could you add the information requested in 1st comment by @IconDaemon?

@danielAzuelos I've only experienced the issue with 3rd party software so far (not Karabiner, but similar). So disabling it for a while to see whether the problem disappears might be a good approach here.

For me it happens on mouse and trackpad. It happens during videogames, like League of Legends, but also happens somewhat randomly. i can RELIABLY make it happen by hitting cmd tab a few times to bring up app switcher. not just hitting cmd tab, tab, i mean cmd tab, cmd tab tab, cmd tab. if you do it enough, eventually itll disappear. osx 10.14.6, mbp 15inch mid 2019. @IconDaemon

Does that info help you at all @dan ?

I also have this issue. Brand new laptop. :(

I have this problem sometimes with 10.14.6.  I can fix it by moving the mouse to one of my hot corners (e.g. start screensaver) or by clicking on one of the top menu items.  Basically I move it all the way to an edge of the screen even though I can't see it, and then trigger a response.
It's still pretty aggravating, but at least I can get back on my way pretty fast.

Annoying when you don't have enough reputation to comment. Unfortunately this is not an answer. I already know some methods to show the cursor again, the question is asking how to stop it from disappearing in the first place.

Out of curiosity, do you use Karabiner Elements?

I am not using Karabiner Elements.  I am using multiple screens with sometimes heavy RAM/CPU usage.  (thankfully I can comment on my own post!)

I found this helpful. (iMac 2015 MacOS 10.14.6)
https://osxdaily.com/2013/07/19/disappearing-mouse-cursor-mac-os-x/

Welcome to Ask Different!  We're trying to find the best answers and those answers will provide info as to why they're the best. Explain why you think the link you provided will answer the question.  Answers should be self-contained so others can find them by using the search feature.  Links can change and become outdated so we prefer the answers to not just be a link.  See [answer] on how to provide a quality answer.

I have this same issue sometimes when I hover over the dock. I do not know the root cause unfortunately, but I can offer a slightly more permanent solution than clicking the menu bar. This fixes the problem for me for quite some time (months?), although it is possible for it to regress.
Restart Finder

Press Command + Option + Escape to open Force Quit Applications.
Choose Finder.
Click Relaunch.


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How to open a files that's currently in Trash
How do I open files that are in Trash? I have put some MKV video files in Trash. I want to watch the videos (I use IINA).
How can I watch the videos without moving them out of Trash?

To avoid the message, e.g., "The document “Filename.mkv” can’t be opened because it’s in the Trash. To use this item, first drag it out of the Trash.", and open the target file without having to remove it from the Trash, do the following:

Open INNA, so it's window is showing.
Open the Trash.
Drag and drop the target file from the Trash onto INNA's window, and it will play.

Note: If INNA is open without a window, you can drag and drop the target file from the Trash onto INNA's Dock Tile, and it will play.

Another method to use for apps that will not respond to drag and drop on its window or Dock Tile:

Open the Trash.
Open Terminal.
In Terminal, use the open command:

If the target app is the default app for the target file you can do the following:

Type open followed by a space, then drag and drop the target file from the Trash onto the Terminal window, and then press: enter

Or, if it's not the default app for the target file you can do the following:

Type, e.g., open -a IINA followed by a space, then drag and drop the target file from the Trash onto the Terminal window, and then press: enter

Note in some cases, depending on the app and its location, you may have to use its path as well:

Type,  e.g.,open -a /Applications/IINA, adding .app if necessary, followed by a space, then drag and drop the target file from the Trash onto the Terminal window, and then press: enter

Note: IINA does also have a command line interface, e.g.:
/Applications/IINA.app/Contents/MacOS/iina-cli

You can use the -h or --help argument to display its builtin help.


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iPad: Sending iMessage messages from e-mail
When I send message on iMessage, it’s sent from my e-mail, which I am logged in iCloud with i.e. my Apple ID, not my phone number. In Settings → Messages → Send and Receive(?), is not my number, just my Apple ID e-mail.

Screenshot from Send and Receive:

receive and send iMessages over
What I have tried:

Disabling iMessages & FaceTime on both devices(iPhone and iPad), then restart and then enabling it again.
Logging out from AppleID in Settings → Messages → Send and Receive(?).
Adding my phone number in Settings → AppleID → Name, Phone Numbers, e-mail.

Neither of these worked!

Hi Esea, welcome to Ask Different! Can you include a screenshot of Settings -> Messages -> Send and Receive, and tell us what version of iOS you're on?

Of course! https://prnt.sc/oc6jhq

The screenshot shows no number selected. Does it still not work if you add a phone number and select it under "Empfangen und Senden"?

Problem is that I don't know where to add phone number.. And that's correct, in "Send and Receive" is just email, not phone number (from iphone) with email like it used to be. I've tried to add phone number (as you can see in point 3 in "What I have tried", but that didn't work.

@esea123 Does you iPad has a SIM card? if not, you should turn on text message forwarding on iPhone(if any)


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Thunderbolt 1.0 with New Monitors
I have never connected my MacBook to external monitors. I know I can use the HDMI port, but I was wondering about the Thunderbolt 1.0 port (I have 2 ports).
I am using a Mid 2012 15" retina MacBook Pro. Here are the monitors I am considering buying (2 units):

https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-27MU88-W-27-Inch-LED-lit/dp/B01LG5RY74/

I know I can't run these at full 4k with my laptop.
What do I need to use these monitors until I am able to upgrade the MacBook? These monitors don't have Thunderbolt 1.0 ports.

Thanks for the link. I probably wasn't specific enough. What adapter do I need as the monitors I am buying don't have Thunderbolt 1.0 ports.

The answer in the other question includes links to sites that can provide you the info for various types of connections.  Did you look at any of those?

Sorry, I didn't see anything like that through all the massive amounts of information. Would you be so kind to provide a direct link?

@user145133 The important thing to know is that you wouldn't be connecting those monitors to a "Thunderbolt 1.0 port". The port on the computer doubles as a standard mini-DisplayPort. So you would just need a mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable to connect a monitor with a DisplayPort input.

@jksoegaard thanks for the info. I think I got what I need. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NW9XKGL/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATXJQVAHAUH7D&psc=1


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Connected to Ethernet but no Internet access
I am having a very frustrating problem. My 2009 iMac is connected to our network by Ethernet, however it cannot access the Internet.
All my other devices work fine, and local adresses (192.168.0.1 for example) work fine. Things I have tried so far:

Restarting Router and iMac
Connected to a different network, same results
Changed DNS, flushed DNS-Cache and tried to open IP's directly in Chrome
Removed Network completely, deleting "SystemPreferences" Folder

Pinging IP's in Terminal results in timeouts, pinging hosts in "cannot resolve: Unknown Host".
At this point I have spent several days of searching through forums and trying everything I can think of.
How do I resolve this issue?

When you say you've connected to a different network, how was that done?  Did you use the same ethernet cable for that connection? Can you connect to any other network resources (like servers, printers, etc) or is it just going out to the internet?

Deleting SystemPreferences can leave things in a weird state; make sure you reboot afterward, and then create a new network location in System Preferences. If that doesn't get it working, more info will be needed: is it getting a valid IP address for the local network? Are the subnet mask, router, and DNS server(s) the same as other devices on the same net that are working (I assume there are some)?

I have connected to a hotspot on my phone, and a local community hotspot by Wi-Fi, but with the same results. I haven't tried accessing Printers, however pinging DNS-Servers such as 1.1.1.1 directly is working!

I haven't tried manually adding a new network location, but I made sure to reboot. The iMac is getting a valid IP-Adress, I already tried it with a static one. Subnet mask and Router seem to be correct, and I have already tried all DNS-Servers i can think of, including of course the standard ISP one.


text:
Slow download speed via Web browser on macOS Mojave
I am trying to download a big file from the internet (~4GB), but for some reason the download is extremely slow. An Internet speed test says I have a 4Mbps download speed, but the browser download never exceeds 500Kbps and sometimes gets as low as 25Kbps.
I read on here about people switching away from Apple applications, but switching to Google Chrome hasn't altered the download speed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I am using a baseline 2019 15" MacBook Pro. I understand that many variables can affect download speed, but I was posting here in case this was a problem that people had faced before.

Welcome to Ask Different. It would help us if you provided additional info, such as the types of devices, OS, etc.  Download speed is affected by many different variables and it's very difficult to provide an answer based on the info you've given.  Please see [ask] for how to ask good questions that have a better chance at being answered.

Your Internet connection speed alone doesn't determine the download speed that you will get when fetching a file from a remote site. You Internet bandwidth determines the maximum speed that you get when transferring content from a remote computer.
The remote computer (download host) may also have upload bandwidth restrictions due to variety of reasons. The upload speed of the remote computer in-effect considered in addition with your download speed determines the transfer speed you get.
It appears that the site you are trying to download data from have such restriction in place. To alleviate, try using an alternate download mechanism available on the site, via a different protocol or a download mirror.

To verify if you are receiving speed advertised by your ISP in the installed Web Browsers, you can simply check with one of the Internet speed testing websites.


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Use multi-finger gestures with RealVNC
I am using RealVNC for remote access to my Mac from my Android phone. I am also using it for controlling the cursor - like a trackpad. I want to use the multi-finger gestures like mission control, app exposé, etc. Is that possible via RealVNC?

The RealVNC Android app mouse interaction mode doesn't support macOS specific multi-finger gestures. For the list of supported mouse actions see the support article:

How do I use VNC Viewer for Android and iOS? - RealVNC Help Center

Isn't there any plugin or anything that can do it?

@VictorF It would be advisable to contact the vendor for support regarding non-advertised features.


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Synchronize deleting photos from iCloud to iPhone
I know that deleting photos from iCloud Photos does not remove them from iPhone. But what should I do to synchronize deleting? I want to leave on iPhone only those photos, that I have in my iCloud Photos

The answers to the question you've linked don't apply if you use iCloud Photo Library.

I don't know what it was, but after resynchronize it starts work. So, you right, all works as in this answer


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"Harpulia" and "Javanese" processes cause high cpu usage
I'm wondering what is the purpose of "Harpulia" and "Javanese" processes (see screenshot below)
Hi !
They're high in CPU usage (and make my macbook pro fans to be running loud) and they do not seem to be essential as I can cut it so the fans are slowing down.
Oftentime these processes appear when I watch a video on chrome but it is not the only time they appear.
On the other hand, they do not seem to be related to any chrome processes.
Thanks in advance for the help.
PS : on the screenshot these processes does not use much CPU compared to most of the time (it can be more than 100% per process).

Malware. Disconnect from the net immediately. See https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/361687/cpu-completely-occupied-by-strange-programs-with-person-names Sometimes it's people's names,. sometimes plants...

Thanks a lot. You were right. Didn't think at all about a possible malware. I've been running malwarebyte anti-malware and everything is fixed now.


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"Compress item" inside Time Machine backup
Trying to compress (by right-click + "Compress item") an item inside a Time Machine drive's /Volumes/drive_name/mac_name/Latest folder will put the resulting .zip file on /Users/user_name/Desktop on the host computer.
This of course does not happen with other external drives not used as Time Machine backups.
Why does this happen? And how does it work, under the hood, the process of detecting that I'm trying to create a new compressed file in a Time Machine drive and of making a copy of the new compressed item to ~/Desktop?

Why does this happen?

Because the Time Machine backup is read-only.
This behavior isn't specific to Time Machine; the same thing will happen if you try to compress an item that's in a read-only area of your hard disk (like /System), or an item on a read-only disk or network volume.

By default, the user does not have permission to write to the Backup: only the system does.
If you are trying to save space on a backup that is full, then that's not the way to do it, and you should modify your question accordingly.


text:
Removing Spotlight index for a no-more-existent Time Machine drive
Suppose that an old full Time Machine drive is attached to a new macOS installation, and configured as the main backup storage (but no backup of the new position already begun). Spotlight started indexing the old drive, as usual.
How would I clear indexing data and related for this disk, if it has been successively erased (ExFAT) with Disk Utility?

Hi. What are you looking at to think an index is being preserved?

I don’t actually know if any index is preserved, just curious.

Spotlight index for an external drive is stored on that drive, so you wiped it along with the data.


text:
iOS Shortcuts App: How can I convert my Workflow to a service app?
Back in AppleScript or Apple Automator it is possible to convert workflows to a compiled read-only application.
Is it possible to hide, compile or convert my iOS Shortcuts workflow to a self-running service, too? So far I don't see any way to lock or prevent changes to my workflow.

I think this is a no (especially on iOS 12 and lower). Have you experimented with sharing a Shortcut iCloud link and then seeing if that link can be archived - recorded so you can go back to it if you delete the original or modify the original?

@bmike: I don't want to share or archive the workfow. Instead I would like to prevent any changes.

Not possible, so the best you can do is wipe it and reload t from code control outside iOS if you think it changed.

Are you looking at iOS 14 developments?

This isn’t possible. You would need to compile an app to import and run these “locked” scripts.
Xcode lets you install your own apps without needing a paid developer account.

Thanks, I was expecting this kind of answer. I will take look into Xcode


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Select All in iOS Safari
When selecting text in iOS, you get a "Select, Select All, Speak Sentence" popup as soon as you place the cursor. This doesn't seem to work in Safari where trying select something only brings up "Copy, Define, Share".
So how does one trigger "Select All" on a webpage shown in Safari?

As an alternative, I have Voice Dream installed and you can use 'Save to Voice Dream' by tapping the share button in Safari, and read the text using Voice Dream TTS

‘Select, Select All, Speak Sentence’ are the options shown when there is no current selection. In your screenshot, a selection has been made, so the options change to be contextual to your selection, namely ‘Copy, Look Up, Share…’.
You can only bring up the first set of options without a selection, therefore this is only possible in a text input or textarea. You can make the entire page editable, thereby being able to place the cursor within without a selection, by running the following JavaScript in a Shortcut:
document.body.contentEditable = "true";

Is document.body.contentEditable = "true"; a persistent setting? Is there anything else needed in the Shortcut? How do you even use that in a Shortcut?

@user No, similarly to JS run in a desktop browser's console, the setting applies to the current JS context which will likely be replaced on page navigation. The Shortcut only needs to consist of that one action to run the above JavaScript in the webpage.

This would be a much better answer if you'd actually show a working Shortcut workflow. The first paragraph of your answer is very informative; however the lack of an example Shortcut workflow showing how to properly use the JavaScript snippet makes for a marginal answer.

@user I've added a screenshot of the shortcut. Unfortunately I can't share the actual shortcut itself as the sharing functionality appears to be broken on iOS 13, but I will add one when I can or you are welcome to add a link to the shortcut yourself.

Even with the screenshot this does provide directions, the steps necessary to actually create and use what you posted. I'm using iOS 12.x and can't recreate what you're showing. Not a big deal as at this moment I do not need to use this and was jut trying to get you to improve the answer so anyone wanting to select all text in a Safari window would be able to follow steps to create and use the JavaScript snippet and as presently written I think the average user will be lost.

This is a great answer, thank you. These days you also need to add "completion(0);" to the JavaScript and set up the share action a little bit differently.


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This webpage is using significant memory: how to stop it appearing?

This webpage is using significant memory. Closing it may improve the responsiveness of your Mac.

This banner appears at the top of some websites I use sometimes.
If I close it, it reappears again momentarily.
How can I force it to either

never appear
or only appear once and not re-appear after I've manually closed it

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8353302

@Daniil Manokhin, The linked answer talks about force quitting Safari and is not at all relevant to the question asked as he's able to close the given window normally! He's asking how to force the message "This webpage is using significant memory. Closing it may improve the responsiveness of your Mac." to either  "never to appear" or "only appear once and not re-appear after I've manually closed it"

 I wish I could banish that warning, too. It appears on a site I use often, yet the memory & responsiveness of my mac don't really seem affected. Likewise for the warning about the page being reloaded as it was using too many resources. Fine - you don't have to continually tell me that.

This is still an issue for me, it often appears when watching Disney+ for example, and if I click to dismiss it it comes back a few minutes later. My solution is... to use Chrome. But I don't like it. I would like to be able to permanently dismiss this warning, regardless of the quantity of memory the page is actually using. I hope someone finds a way eventually.

The question assumes that the feature can be configured or disabled: and that is by no means certain. The answer may well be "You can't".
The options will only exist if the Safari devs specifically coded changes to this behaviour. There are no relevant parameters in Safari's Preferences, nor in the Developer menu.
That only leaves the possibility of an (undocumented) plist key, which would require searching through the binary files of the app looking for likely text strings.

Possibly not the answer you're looking for but I've discovered my MacBook Air (10.14 macOS Mojave) runs faster and I have a smoother web experience when I use Brave or a browser other than Safari.

That is unusual. I've read and experienced that Safari gives by far the best overall laptop responsiveness and longest battery life.


text:
Spotlight icon started flickering constantly
I'm running High Sierra 10.13.3 on a 15" rMBP, with Alfred v3.8.2 as my Spotlight alternative. I haven't used Spotlight for years, and I honestly can't remember if the icon was always there or not there at all before.
For the past week or so my Spotlight icon has started to flicker on and off like this all the time:

It's super-distracting..
I haven't installed any new software in this time, or done anything to my system config, so I've no idea what could have suddenly caused this. I tried installed the latest Alfred update after the issue appeared to see if that would help, but it hasn't.
I've tried searching online for a solution but they all seem to be years old solutions for older versions of MacOS, and haven't helped. Things I've tried:

Fixing permissions on my primary HD.
Adding then removing my HD from the excluded list in Spotlight prefs.
Re-arranging my menu bar icons and rebooting my system.
Deleting com.apple.systemuiserver.plist and reboot, it successfully lost all of my menu bar preferences, (display bluetooth icon, show date and time etc.) but the problem persists.

Other suggestions involved reinstalling my system, which I'm not willing to do for a little icon annoyance; I'd rather just stick some tape over that part of the screen, but that's obviously not ideal.
Any help gratefully received. Please save my sanity.


text:
How can I prevent Cisco AnyConnect VPN from opening on startup?
Cisco AnyConnect VPN opens whenever I log in and its screen covers everything for a few minutes and can't be minimized. It's really annoying and I'd like to know if there's something, maybe in its config.plist, that will prevent it from opening on startup. Does anyone know?
I have to use Cisco AnyConnect for work, so I can't delete it.

Hey! Can you please check the settings in the app itself for the same?

In case anyone else comes along with this question, the answer is in the /Library/LaunchAgents/com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist file referenced above. But you don't need to toss that file; instead, just change the RunAtLoad setting at the bottom from true to false:

    RunAtLoad

Yes, I'm pretty sure you can stop apps from opening on startup even though it ignores Login Items. It is most likely in LaunchDaemons.
There are two locations for these, one is for Apple daemons only:

/System/Library/LaunchDaemons

The other is to include 3rd party processes:

/Library/LaunchDaemons

You may also need to remove from:

/Library/LaunchAgents

Just remove the files of the app you don't want to launch on startup and it shouldn't show up on launch anymore.

Regarding the OP's specific app, the culprit seems to be:/Library/LaunchAgents/com.cisco.anyconnect.gui.plist. I haven't tested this yet, because an update to the AnyConnect client was just recently released by Cisco and will be percolating downstream shortly.


text:
Update from OS X Lion 10.7.5 to macOS Mojave 10.14
I have recently got a mid 2012 Macbook Air which I installed Lion on. I am trying to update it to Mojave, but even though it is compatible, when downloading it in the App Store I get this error message:

How can I upgrade my Mac to Mojave? Do I need to upgrade to OS X 10.8 first?

Related, though not a dupe - https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/309399/how-can-i-download-an-older-version-of-os-x-macos

Refer to this macOS upgrade instructions webpage, (currently it refers to macOS Mojave):

macOS - How to Upgrade

Upgrading from OS X Snow Leopard or Lion
If you’re running Snow Leopard (10.6.8) or Lion (10.7) and your Mac supports macOS Mojave, you will need to upgrade to El Capitan (10.11) first. Click here for instructions.

Here's a direct link to El Capitan page on App Store (on the page you provided).


text:
How can I make multiple directories in Mac OS terminal?
I'm trying to make multiple folders at once but when I press enter it says: mkdir: i/like: No such file or directory.
I do this
mkdir i/like/icecream
I think I have the latest version of python.
Any help? Ty.

The Unix man pages are a valuable resource, although sometimes hard to read. Try man mkdir :-)

Im trying to learn how to use pushd and popd while reading this book: "Learn Python 3 the Hard Way" by Addison Wesley (2017). It tells me this:
cd temp
mkdir i/like/icecream
pushd i/like/icecream
~/temp/i/like/icecream ~/temp
popd
~/temp
pwd
~/temp
pushd i/like and so on... but I get stuck in mkdir i/like/icecream. It works if i enter mkdir i like icecream, but when I enter pushd it says ~/temp/i/ ~/temp only and it should say ~/temp/i/like/icecream ~/temp

pushd/popd are used for navigation within the directory structure, not for creating directories :-)

The switch -p allows deep folder creation along a path
mkdir -p  i/like/icecream/too

You don’t need python for this, unless it reminds you of “p” instead of the pattern passed in to create the full path prefix.

At least under Linux the long format of -p is —parents, so it would be “parents” rather than “path”.

You've managed to preserve the pattern @Phoenix as well as prompt a correction.

Not sure really what you mean.  I just looked up the man page on Linux, provided the comment, but it did not feel right to actually change anything in your post as the macOS man page may state something else there.

@Phoenix BSD: A mkdir command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX. BSD January 25, 1994. My guess is linux reimplemented this or took from GNU, but being inclusive  seemed the thing to do. I appreciate your comment here - it made the answer better Sorry for making it sound like you didn't know the score.

Yep. I’m aware of that.  Used to use MacOS X since 10.4, but moved to Linux after 10.11. I just don’t remember the man page text in macOS. Does it say “path” there?

@Phoenix It does't give a name to the -p option, probably because there is no long form (https://ss64.com/osx/mkdir.html).

Ah, that makes sense then.  BSD leaves it open for interpretation.  Thanks for the insight.

@Phoenix, macOS is not Linux, so what's applicable there is not relevant here! The macOS mkdir manpage states, "−p Create intermediate directories as required. If this option is not specified, the full path prefix of each operand must already exist.", so the use of the term path is just fine!

@user3439894 Not sure what agitates you so much. I have been a long-term macOS user and moved on to Linux after having run Mac OS X 10.11 for some time. I’m aware that Linux is not BSD or macOS and it was stated already by nohillside. My assumption was (and thanks to previous comments that I was wrong) that the man page in BSD/macOS looks very similar for this command as it is one of the base commands for both OSs. I’m happy that i learned something today. However, your comment does not add anything useful here and the pressure depicting agitation is not helpful either.


text:
Can you find Airpod Case using Find my iPhone?
My Airpods are in my ears but the case is missing. It's possible it fell out of my pocket while walking around town. Is it possible to use the Find my iPhone feature to find just the Airpod Case?

Here's my hoping that this issue can be fixed with AirTag. Or if apple updated the cases with FindMy feature inherent. I've lost the case the same way as you. So I had to cash up a replacement case because the case was never found. Fast forward some year and the next case accidentally had a full wash cycle because it was forgotten in the pocket of some trousers. So yes I really wish they fix these kind of problems too because replacements are expensive.

Unfortunately, you can only find the AirPods themselves. The case itself does not support Find My iPhone. You can order a replacement case under the section “Replace a missing AirPod or case” on this page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207581.

Yes, this should be possible as it is the case which uploads its position to the Apple servers - the AirPods which you actually stick into your ears can only play a sound. So if you select your AirPods in Find My iPhone, the location of the case will be displayed. If you have Find My iPhone activated for your iPhone, it will also be available for your AirPods. However, otherwise they will not show up in the app and you will not be able to track their location.
You can find more detailed information here:
https://www.google.de/amp/www.iphonehacks.com/2019/03/how-find-lost-airpods-case.html/amp
Good luck finding your AirPods!

Sadly AFAICT this is incorrect. I have my Airpods but not the case. I took the airpods with me this morning (the morning after I lost the case) and they show up wherever I happen to be even though I don't have the case. And yes I've emptied my pockets and my bag in the hope it was reporting the case. I think what it really reports is the last place they connected to one of your devices (iPhone/iPad/Mac)

You are right. After some further research I found out that the article I referenced is indeed wrong. What they said there sounded logical to me, but apparently Apple has still done it differently. So as you cannot find the AirPods this way now, what @gfting said is probably the best approach. I am sorry, but you might find them by going the way you went when you lost them again and checking if they lay aside the way.


text:
Disable Photo Booth sounds
How do I stop Photo Booth.app making sounds on the countdown and on the capture?
Sounds like a "beep - beep - beep" countdown and a shutter sound for capture.
How do I mute the app?

Simply muting the computer while using the app wont do?

@Perry no bc I want other sounds to be playing, and it's annoying to mute the computer anyway

I don't think there's any way to do it, it's frustrating and unnecessary sound

another classic case of apple UX "design" :/

Here's a possible option for you:
Hold down Option key while clicking the camera button. It'll instantly take the picture and not use the screen flash, but it will be silent.


text:
How do I fix bluetooth audio to amp after upgrade to Mojave
After upgrading to Mojave, my bluetooth amp now plays at a slower tempo and at a lower pitch with some audio glitches.
How can I fix this?
Bluetooth amp: GraceDigital GDI-BTAR513
Reason for upgrading to Mojave: I upgraded to Mojave to fix an unrelated problem with kernel panics after working with Apple support and the usual PRAM/SMC/Disk First Aid did not solve the problem.
Also tested: JBL stereo headset (successfully!)

If the JBL headset works then it doesn't appear to be the Mac.  Have you contacted the GraceDigital company support?

Sure, and I have done that.

I think, in light of no additional info, that the problem is with the the amp.  That device was released in 2014 and Mojave in 2018 so it could be a problem with how their implementing BT.  Try the answers in this post to see if that helps.


text:
Download Xcode 10.2.1 in macOS High Sierra (10.13.6)
I use MacBook pro with macOS High Sierra (10.13.6). The version of Xcode am using is 10.1 and I see the updated Xcode in AppStore is 10.3 which is not compatible with my environment since it expects macOS Mojave 10.14.6.
How can I get Xcode 10.2.1 which got released after Xcode 10.1 release. Also will  MacBook pro with macOS High Sierra (10.13.6) get macOS Mojave 10.14.6 update ? Thanks

I've closed this question as a duplicate because of the 'Xcode' question. As for the other question, we don't generally allow two questions in a single post, and in this case your 2nd question is really a separate distinct question. To answer that question we really need to know the hardware specs of your MacBook Pro (or, more specifically, the model) in order to answer the question. Feel free to post another question about that if you're still looking for an answer.


text:
Switching back to iOS12.3 from iOS 13 beta 3
I want to switch back to iOS12.3 from iOS 13.
For this apple support says that It can be done by restoring backup from iTunes:
But iTunes is not installed on my Ubuntu computer. so How to switch back to original iOS from iCloud backup?
One crude way I understand, is to format iPhone and this will turn phone into new one, then I can restore the backup from iCloud. Will formatting the iPhone restore the iOS 12.3 ?
Edit: I erased everything, and restarted as new iphone/also restored from very old icloud backup. But phone didn't switch back to iOS12.3.

You have run an iCloud backup after upgrading to iOS 13?

@nohillside, Not sure, I will have to check, but most probably it has been back up after iOS13

If you have ran a backup using iCloud while on iOS 13, and you don't have iTunes, there is unfortunately nothing you can do. If you have iTunes, you could restore from an old backup if you have one, or you can set up as a brand new phone on iOS 12.3 if you download the .ipsw file for your phone model and correct iOS.

Yes I have ran a backup using iOS13, but after resetting, and  restored from an old back up (iOS 12.3), but it didn't remove iOS13.

How did you do a reset? Just Erase Contents & Settings? I would recommend trying a Recovery Mode Restore. Documentation on how to do that is here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201263

Yes, using Erase Contents & Settings, In attached link of yours, it says to use iTunes!, and i dont have iTunes. Anyway, I waiting August to pass and stable release to come in september.

Just using Erase Contents & Settings does just that - erases the contents and device settings. It unfortunately does not erase the current operating system. In order to do that, you will need to use iTunes. You can either install it to your operating system (https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-itunes-on-linux-1999251), or take it to an Apple Store or AASP (Apple Authorized Service Provider), and they will be able to do it too.

Thanks for writing, Yes, I have done it using itunes.

Did that resolve it?

Yes! It resolved


text:
How to disable tap to drag?
On a MacBook air, the trackpad is super hard to use because whenever I try to move the cursor, it selects everything or drags something to somewhere random. This is the fault of some tap to drag feature. Whenever I touch the trackpad and move my finger, it thinks I am trying to click and drag. I disabled tap to click and everything, but this feature still vexes me. This feature is a pain in the butt so how can I disable it?

If this is a newer MacBook Air (with a Force Touch trackpad), changing the pressure required to "Click" should help fix this. I experienced similar issues on my MacBook Pro.
Go into System Preferences, click the Trackpad icon, and select the "Point & Click" tab. On the left you should see a "Click" slider with "Light", "Medium", and "Firm" options. If you shift it over one setting, you might find that's enough to fix the issue.
Alternatively, disabling Force Click and haptic feedback (unchecking the checkbox at the bottom), may also stop peculiar behavior from happening. That's ultimately what I ended up doing and it made a world of difference in my case.


text:
How to mute a tab in Safari when it isn't playing audio?
The "Mute this tab" menu item is greyed-out on http://www.donttap.com
I think that's bc the tab doesn't play audio except in the moment you click a tile.
But I don't want it to make noise when I click a tile later.
How can I pre-emptively mute tabs that I know will be noisy in Safari?

No easy way to do this... You need to make it play audio (click a tile) and quickly mute the tab. Or you can use the developer console to make it play a sound programmatically then mute it, but I don't know how far you're willing to go.

Almost agreeing with @user3052786, Would stopping autoplay work on Audio?

@ankiiiiiii No, preventing autoplay does just that, it doesn't stop media playback initiated by user interaction as in this case


text:
App only works when logged on to the desktop
I have an application that needs to be always working on a MacMini, I use crontab to start it but in High Sierra and Mojave, the app only works normally after logging on to the desktop.  I need it to be working even without being logged in. It worked normally in Sierra !
I start the app in crontab with the command:
 @reboot su - user -c "sleep 20 ; application"

and a script restart it if there's a problem!
Any idea how I can fix this? TIA

I have no experience using cron on a Mac... Do you know about Services and Daemons using launchd?

little knowledge , I come from linux , so I use what freebsd core of the Mac has to offer

I feel you, on a *nix or linux distro cron or systemd (and variations thereof) would be my go-to tool, but on a Mac, I really think you want to use launchd. I recommend looking at the documentation on it, LaunchControl is a GUI app that I think gives you a good understanding of how launchd works in a broad sense.

I agree, I'm seeing the launchd documentation right now, thank you.

Just to check, the application doesn't need the window server running in order to function right?

The application is an image server and needs to log in to run normal, but I'm not sure if it needs the Windowsserver because I forcequit the windowsserver and it still ran normal.  The problem occurs when I start the app without being logged in, if I do the loggin then I start the app and exit , it works normal.


text:
Is there a way to go back to a previous state of an APFS Partition on an external drive?
My question sums it up. I would like to go back in time on a partition on an external drive which is formatted on APFS. Decrypting a VirtualBox image, VBox crashed (as it does all the time in Mojave) and since then the disk image is corrupt. I was wondering if there's a way to go back to a previous state using APFS Snapshots.
Thanks!

Did you already save a snapsho? Are you attempting to return to one was automatically created? If neither, then no, you can't retrospectively go back to one that doesn't exist, that's what Time Machine is for.

The real answer here is, don't use VirtualBox.  It's worth everything you paid for it.

No I didn’t manually create a snapshot. Is there a way to configure APFS to create automatic snapshots? I don’t use time machine on my external drives, honestly. It’s also not the default behaviour. But might change that from now on.

Regarding VirtualBox, I have observes that it’s extremely unrealiable under Mojave and fails a lot. However it’s also depending on the computer model. On a Macbook Air 2017 it works fine. Maybe it has to do with Resolutions? Also I would love to use Whonix with Parallels, but I haven’t found a way to make it work.

APFS has transactional copy-on-write behaviour, so, in theory, you can revert to a previous, recent state, but there is no official mechanism for doing so.


text:
macOS Mojave - The great disappearing disk space mystery
I have a 512GB SSD in my Mac. When cleanly installed from a TimeMachine backup, it shows as being about 120GB. Over time, the disk usage steadily increases. Today About My Mac Storage shows just 44GB free and 403GB of "System".
I've read through all the related questions and (I think) tried everything, but given low level Un*x tools show nothing, and none of the solutions I've read worked (including flushing Time Machine snapshots. None have worked.
Here's the weird thing: df shows me 94% full, but du says 118GB used. Where is the rest?
I've cleaned out TimeMachine snapshots using tmutil, all the disk utilities like OmniDiskSweeper confirm the 118GB of actual files.
Creating a CarbonCopyCloner image on another disk is 118GB as indicated by du, so apparently somehow APFS thinks there is an additional huge chunk of space used.
(base) Mnementh:private alastair$ sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g /
1   /home
1   /EFI-Backups
1   /usr
1   /.Spotlight-V100
1   /net
0   /.PKInstallSandboxManager-SystemSoftware
1   /bin
1   /sbin
du: /Library/Application Support/Cylance/Desktop/q: Permission denied
40  /Library
0   /.Trashes
6   /System
1   /.fseventsd
4   /private
1   /.DocumentRevisions-V100
0   /.vol
23  /Users
45  /Applications
1   /opt
1   /dev
1   /Volumes
0   /.TemporaryItems
118 /
118 total

(base) Mnementh:private alastair$ df
Filesystem     512-blocks       Used   Available Capacity  iused               ifree %iused  Mounted on
**/dev/disk2s1    999805536  930152088    66129504    94%  2216997 9223372036852558810    0%   /**
devfs                 693        693           0   100%     1200                   0  100%   /dev
/dev/disk2s4    999805536    2099232    66129504     4%        1 9223372036854775806    0%   /private/var/vm
/dev/disk0s4    934512880  312083512   622429368    34%   459251          4294508044    0%   /Volumes/Windows
map -hosts              0          0           0   100%        0                   0  100%   /net
map auto_home           0          0           0   100%        0                   0  100%   /home
/dev/disk4s2   7813390288 5615807616  2197582672    72% 10158039          4284809240    0%   /Volumes/Thyme Machine
/dev/disk3s2  15627315120 3533581776 12093733344    23%   207942          4294759337    0%   /Volumes/8TB USB
/dev/disk4s3   7813128160 2320179456  5492948704    30%   134145          4294833134    0%   /Volumes/Media HD
/dev/disk5          49896      39432       10464    80%      328          4294966951    0%   /Volumes/OmniDiskSweeper

Where is all the rest?

Please list the things you've tried (the more specific the better) and how they failed. Without further detail on this we have no way of knowing whether you just made a typo, got something wrong to apply a specific answer to your setup, or whether really all the things you've tried didn't work. If you relied on information from other answers on this site please also add links.

I've run CleanMyMac, OmniDiskSweeper and command line to look for large files/folders. I've flushed the Time Machine backups (and saw them removed but only gained about 2GB of space).  I've also created a clone of the filesystem using CarbonCopyCloner - and only see 120GB copied and it's complete (and bootable).  I'm a long time Un*x admin and developer and so very familiar with all the commands but have been complete in searching the forums for suggestions.  As you can see from the above du and df provide what seem to be weirdly different results. I've never seen anything like this/

What's in /Library/Application Support/Cylance/Desktop/q?

It's the quarantine directory for CylancePROTECT - ACLs prevent it being scanned, but there's nothing in there.

So, things were completely unusable so I bit the bullet, backed up using Carbon Copy Cloner to a new disk, reformatted and restored. 132GB used... What the heck is taking up space that just doesn't seem to exist?


text:
Can I tell Mac OSX to lie to an installer about my OSX version?
I have an old piece of video processing software that is no longer updated for the last couple of years.  The Macbook I have it installed on is running 10.11 Yosemeite.  My new Macbook Pro has 10.14 Mojave.  When I go to install it on this new computer it says that "Mac OS X 10.6 or Later Required."
The software includes drivers for the video capture card, so I certainly don't know for 100% that this software will even work with 10.14, but obviously it was just not in the installers listed of supported OS's yet, so it won't try.
So, I'm wondering if anyone knows a way to create a virtual environment or run in a compatibility mode or flat out lie to the installer about the version that I have installed to get it to try to install.
Thanks for any insight!

That article doesn't answer this question. (1) It tells you how to modify truecrypt which doesn't match the app in the authors question (2) asks if there might be some other way of getting it to work which link doesn't address.

You can see if you can mode the installer as suggest in the link but you will have to figure out how.

You could try a virtual machine.  Check if the free version of parallels is still in the app store. You will need to get a copy of macos version that you need.  You can try the free Oracle VirtualMachine, but its hard to get to work.  VMware Fusion
With VMware Fusion, run the most demanding Mac and Windows applications side-by-side at maximum speeds without rebooting
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/


text:
Must disconnect then reconnect to wifi otherwise it times out
My MacBook Pro, Mid-2015 w/ Retina Display, running macOS Mojave 10.14.6, very very frequently times out when it tries to load web pages.
It says it's still connected to the wifi network, but the only way to load the page is to disconnect and then reconnect to (the same) wifi.
Then it will work fine for at least a few minutes, before I invariably run into the same problem again.

Did you try to reset your network devices like your modem, router, switch,...? Is the signal OK?

@DaktaMoriamé doesn't happen on any other device in the house, and yes


text:
Permission problem on Mojave and High Sierra
I received an error saying "The folder  can't be opened because you don't have permission to see it's content." This is on an external drive and it's only happening to one specific folder on that drive. I checked the permissions and it says the top line says "I can only read", yet under the table, it lists my name and shows that I can read and write.
The only thing that I can think of doing differently was renaming the drive so not sure if that caused it. But then, why am I able to view the other folders in the same drive?

Can you open Terminal, run ls -0leO@d on the folder and add the result to the question?

This is the response:  is a directory

Is this the only response? Please copy/paste both the command you ran and all the output you got to the question

Sorry about that. Here you go:

Last login: Fri Aug  9 13:15:38 on ttys000
lt-053:~ ericlee$ /Volumes/Portable\ 2TB/chasing\ the\ Sun\ Vlogs/Taiwan\ Trip\ 2019 ls -0leO@d
-bash: /Volumes/Portable 2TB/chasing the Sun Vlogs/Taiwan Trip 2019: is a directory
lt-053:~ ericlee$

Try clicking on the lock, unlock it, click your name, change Read & Write to Read Only, click again, change back to Read & Right. Also check the permission on the parent folder, because it can be causing effects too on it.


text:
How to file-manage an iPhone from a Windows box?
I am considering buying an iPhone, probably an XR, XS, or X.
Is it possible to file-manage such a device from a laptop that is running Windows 7 Pro and is connected to the iPhone by USB cable, and if so how can I do this?
The kind of file management tasks I have in mind are straightforward ones such as copying files to and fro, editing text files (which comes down to being able to open and save from the Windows machine), renaming and deleting files and directories, creating new directories, and moving files and directories about. Is this just as easy to do as if the laptop were connected by USB cable to say a flash drive rather than to the smartphone? Or is it perhaps impossible because there is no way of making an iPhone running iOS show up on a Windows box as a drive in the first place?
(Note: I have no need to sync; this question concerns file management only.)

Generally speaking you can't do this on a PC (Linux or Windows) or a Mac. Though on Windows PCs you can usually get to the folder that holds music and pictures, if I remember correctly.
But really there is no way to treat an iPhone like a thumb drive without jailbreaking it or jumping through hoops that would end up (possibly) being more trouble than it is worth.
The only thing you should do is back up the phone to your PC from time to time. Yes you can use iCloud backup, which I do use, but I also change that button in iTunes and back up locally from time to time. Mostly because I am a vaguely paranoid IT guy who has seen so many people lose data because of incomplete backups that I have two backup methods for my iPhone.

Many thanks for this. Being able to copy to and from that folder may be sufficient for my needs, especially if there are no restrictions on what types of file can be saved in it or directory structures created. Without using the cloud, is it only this folder that you back up locally and directly? Do you do it by USB cable? I don't understand the reference to "that button in iTunes".

I'd appreciate your comments on this which deals with "using your iPhone as a flash drive", I think without jailbreaking and just by using a file management app from the Apple Store.

Never heard of it. As always on AskDifferent individuals answer questions to the best of their ability. Meaning that any one answer may or may not be either correct or the whole answer. I don't jailbreak my phones and stopped even trying to use them as a flash drive since my first iPhone (a 3G, if I recall...) so the state of the art for file storage may have changed. And there is always iCloud drive...


text:
How do I list unanswered messages on Mail (OS)?
I am trying to do an elementary thing: I want to list my unanswered message (read or not read I don't care).
This basic request seems to be absent from Apple Mail!!!

This "basic" request/functionality is absent from a lot of mail applications, on various platforms...

https://www.apple.com/feedback/mail.html

What I do is BCC myself, so all the replied threads appear with 2 blue arrows. This would not work after the sender's second reply. 2. I use "Today" mailbox. It keeps even the  older read messages that I opened even once today, as well as those received today.


text:
Unable to Bootcamp mid-2011 MacBook Pro
I have been trying to get Windows running on my MacBook Pro after I deleted linux. I have the disk back to 2 partitions and bootcamp assistant tells me that it is unable to partition the boot volume or restore to a single partition.
Diskutil list gives me:
Jamess-MacBook-Pro:~ jamesestes$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
#:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE
IDENTIFIER
0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk0
1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
2:                  Apple_HFS MacBook Pro             397.9 GB   disk0s2
3:                  Apple_HFS Recovery HD             101.8 GB   disk0s4

Recovery is colossal - should be about 650MB. 'Simplest' would be reformat the whole thing & recover from Time Machine, 2nd would be see if Paragon Hard Disk Manager can fix it, 3rd would be what will probably be the actual answer… some nasty fiddling in Terminal.

The recovery partition grew when I deleted my linux partitions. I now have it back to 650MB but there is now free space on my disk.

My favourite would still be Paragon - all the functionality with none of the heartache [I don't like to put it in answers because people who want finicky Terminal solutions give me grief about it ;-)

I am unable to get Paragon working.

because…? You have to bear in mind we cannot see over your shoulder.

Paragon continues to install system extensions then reboots. After a reboot, it wants to install extensions again and it continues to repeat this process.

Then I'm back to option 1, reformat the whole thing, recover from Time Machine.

When paragon goes to reboot are you going in to System Preferences -> Security and Privacy and enabling the extensions?


text:
What use for the thin, folded, two-side protector that was boxed with my iPhone XR?
The iPhone XR that I recently bought from Apple came with a thin folded plastic protector that covers both sides. (In what follows I call this the Apple protector.)
I have also bought (again from Apple) a separate and (presumably) tougher screen protector, namely the Anti-Glare Screen Protection badged by Belkin; and I have bought a protective case made by Speck, the Presidio Grip, which is described as compatible with screen protectors.
Before I fit the case, should I fit the Belkin protector on top of the Apple protector, or the other way round? Or should I take the Apple protector off and keep it in the event that the Belkin protector gets damaged or mislaid in the future? Or perhaps the Apple protector no longer has a purpose and I should dispose of it?

Your "Apple Protector" is just a cheap piece of plastic made for disposal:
it's just there so you can remove it and view your new phone in its glory without fingerprints.
Apply the real (Belkin) protector immediately for protection.
Proof: the Apple Protector usually doesn't have openings for the earspeaker part.


text:
name of my macbook air changed automatically
i noticed that the name of my macbook air in terminal changed automatically to "homepc"
This is the log of the console with the exact timeline it happened:
NetworkServiceProxy.framework/Versions/A/NetworkServiceProxy (0x7fffb250bdc0) and /usr/libexec/networkserviceproxy (0x10201e390). One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Aug 15 00:57:00 Alexs-Air syslogd[47]: ASL Sender Statistics
Aug 15 00:57:06 Alexs-MacBook-Air findmydeviced[91598]: objc[91598]: Class LocalizedUnregisterErrorKey is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/FindMyDevice.framework/Versions/A/FindMyDevice (0x7fffb11a13a8) and /usr/libexec/findmydeviced (0x105338d10). One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
Aug 15 00:57:08 Alexs-MacBook-Air com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.imfoundation.IMRemoteURLConnectionAgent): Unknown key for integer: _DirtyJetsamMemoryLimit
Aug 15 00:57:14 homepc xpcproxy[91608]: libcoreservices: _dirhelper_userdir: 529: bootstrap_look_up returned (ipc/send) invalid destination port
Aug 15 01:04:08 homepc prl_naptd[90721]: Reloading configuration...
Aug 15 01:04:08 homepc prl_naptd[90721]: vnic0: DHCP/NAT for 10.211.55.1-10.211.55.254 netmask 255.255.255.0
Aug 15 01:04:08 homepc prl_naptd[90721]: vnic1: DHCP for 10.37.129.1-10.37.129.254 netmask 255.255.255.0
Aug 15 01:04:09 homepc timed[88]: settimeofday({0x5d546231,0x3a658}) == 0
Aug 15 01:04:10 homepc systemstats[59]: assertion failed: 18F132: systemstats + 214542 [0A10FDEF-5C7C-3D70-97F1-3A1D67836242]: 0x6d8f
Aug 15 01:04:10 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Aug 15 01:04:10 homepc com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.apple.preferen

What just happened?

EDIT:
The question which this is supposedly a duplicate of says this
It's perfectly normal for this to occur; when you login Terminal remotely bash does a reverse DNS lookup

I have never logged in remotely. I checked in system preference>sharing and all sharing is turned off including "remote login"

Hi, welcome to the AskDifferent help forum.
By looking at your terminal output, I can tell you that the name of your macbook air is Alexs-MacBook-Air and not homepc as you think. :-)
Open a new terminal session and type this command:
cd /
This will bring you to the root of your file system.
I wanted to add a screenshot but it's not possible in a comment.
Try what I suggested and let me know what the result was.

Hey @DaktaMoriamé, well that is not my terminal console but sys log console. I tried what you suggested and it still says "homepc" on my terminal. But i checked the name of my computer in system prefereces> sharing and it is "Alexs-MacBook-Air ". I wonder what "homepc" is and where  did it get that name. Thanks for your support

Can you post a screenshot of your terminal plz?
I find this very odd...

screen shot added

And when you type this command in your terminal:
echo $HOSTNAME
What's the result? It should normally show you the correct hostname. :-)

it says "homepc.cowrks.com" cowrks is my office where i am right now. So i guess that kind of solves the mystery as to where it got the name "homepc" from. Can you tell me why would my hostname change to that?

Bash did a reverse DNS lookup. It will only be the same if the hostname is not specified on the network you're connecting from and there is no reply from the DHCP server, or the reverse lookup against the remote DNS server fails to resolve.
I would suggest this: flush the DNS cache by typing:
dscacheutil -flushcache (in a terminal session)
Reboot your machine... After reboot it should be back to 'normal'

You are very welcome!


text:
Hardware keyboard keypress repeated in Safari HTML5 content
I use Safari on iOS 12.4 on an iPad 6th Generation. When I use my hardware keyboard as input into an HTML5 game, it repeats until clicking on a button outside of the game. What can I do to avoid this problem?

Is this in a web browser?  I assume the game is observing key down and key up.  The game isn't getting this information for an external keyboard

The game is observing WASD. This is in Safari.


text:
Is there a free and downloadable single-file version of the iPhone XR or iOS 12 guide?
Is there a free and downloadable single-file version of the manual for the iPhone XR or for the iOS 12 that it comes installed with? I mean downloadable (for example as a .pdf) without using Apple's iOS or having logged in to an Apple server from an actual iPhone XR.

You can use the Books app on macOS or Apple Books app on iOS to download single file user iPhone user guide for iOS 12 for free. Use the following link to obtain the guide:

iPhone User Guide for iOS 12.3

Thanks. Is it possible to download it using a Windows box? (Question now amended.)

@ruffle No, the books app is not available for Windows. However, you can transfer the downloaded epub book from a Mac to Windows. Details on how to locate the book are here: https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/259844/279727

Thanks for your help. This is a bit of a Catch 22, because I've just bought an XR, have no other device running an Apple OS, and would like to read the manual, preferably in hardcopy, before switching on the XR and doing things with it - or at least I'd like to have the manual in front of me on my desk when I do the first few things with the XR.

@ruffle You can access the Web version here: https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/iphone/welcome/ios While it may not be printer friendly, you can read it in a Web browser on your Windows box.

Thanks. I've now copied and pasted the manual in pieces to make a document of more than 400 pages, which I'm in the process of printing. Apple ship the XR in amazingly beautiful packaging, which must have cost a fortune to design. It's a shame they don't include the manual which contains information about turning on, setting up, connecting to the internet, what the buttons are for, basic gestures, changing the screen appearance, the status icons, and much more besides - very useful for those who haven't used an iPhone before.

@ruffle The general idea behind Apple products is that they are designed to be easy to use. Thus they include minimal manuals/paperwork. However for those who need it, manuals are available on the Web or in the form of Apple Book.


text:
Is there a way to block email tracking services on Apple's Mail app OTHER than blocking all remote images? Any extensions?
I work in an industry context where I deal with numerous promoters who all love to include click tracking software on their emails (both for opening message/links), for example via MailChimp, Constant Contact, or YAMM.
Doing some preliminary research online, practically every solution within Apple's Mail is just to disable remote image loading. This isn't a convenient option for me as I'm dealing constantly with emails where I need to see information contained in formatted images etc.
Are there other solutions, extensions, hacks, anything to help block other parties' tracking services?
In Gmail there are very capable browser extensions, but I'd like to keep everything in Apple Mail if possible.

I don't have an answer to your question. However I do have information that relates to this issue.
Even though you might have images turned off on your mail, apparently Spotlight follows the urls during the indexing process, which negates the advantages of having the images turned off.
So, you might want to turn off spotlight indexing of your mail. :(
Link below.
https://lifehacker.com/disable-email-search-in-spotlight-to-avoid-message-trac-1678528323


text:
How to configure a non-Safari browser as default on a jailbroken iPhone XR?
How can I set a non-Safari web browser (such as Firefox) as default on a jailbroken iPhone XR, preferably deleting Safari?

You can use the BrowserDefault tweak:

 BrowserDefault

Unfortunately, there is no way to delete Safari as it is required by the OS.


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Problems after deleting Bootcamp/little partition left
I use 2014 model iMac and last year I decided to bootcamp it. After a year I start having hard drive usage issues therefore I uninstalled my bootcamp. But the program couldn't uninstall it properly therefore it left empty space. The disk was deleted somehow. I tried to recover the space with using Disk Utility but now when I use diskutil list I get
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
   1:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            999.9 GB   disk0s1

I would like to bootcamp my iMac again but the bootcamp program gives the error:

The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition.

How can I set my Macintosh disk to use the full capacity (1TB)?
I tried using internet recovery but I ended up getting -2002F errors. ( even though I changed my DNS).
Also when I press alt while starting the iMac I still can see the Windows Disk even though i deleted it.
Thank you for your attention.
(here is an image of disk utility)

Hello, it looks like diskutil list shows that your HD has 999.9 GB. Can you edit your post to show images of your Disk Utility?

i added a screenshot

I really don't see a problem here... your Apple Hard Drive has 999 gb for your Mac, and the other gb is for recovery I'm guessing. And the reason you see the Windows Disk is probably because you have your USB for WININSTALL still connected. Unless I'm missing something?... correct me if I'm wrong.


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Replacing AZERTY keyboard by a QWERTY keyboard
Is it possible to replace the top case with the  AZERTY keyboard of a 15" MB Pro late 2012 (usb 3.0) by the top case with QWERTY keyboard of a 15" MB Pro Mid-2010. Do they have exactly the same dimensions?

At one time it was possible to make the change and in the end it became impossible in the official Apple network.
The only solution I could offer you is to buy and replace the keys. I had done it one 2011. ok it's long but I changed the keyboard for 5€... then just change the layout of the language in the keyboard preferences.

Whilst the topcase-and-keyboard is interchangable, changing the keyboard's nationality layout does not change what the machine knows as its native tongue. Yes, it is possible to change the keyboard layout in the OS to match the new languagr-layout, but that only takes effect once you have logged in - at the login screen, the keyboard will still be using the original language layout.


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Can my admin manage my iPad without me knowing?

Can my admin manage my iPad (download programs, change settings, etc.) without me knowing? (Configuring it so that I cannot tell that it's managed.)

My iPad is running iOS 12, and there are no messages in settings telling me that it is managed. It was set up and purchased by me, by the way. It's already connected to my personal Apple ID.
Edit: Can they manage my iPad if my only connection to them is that I'm signed into a managed Google Account (example@company.com) in Chrome? (sync)

You can tell if the device is supervised (i.e. managed) by opening Settings. Right at the top it says "This iPad is supervised and managed by xxxxxxx". If you do not have this message, your device is not supervised.
Your iPad cannot be supervised/managed merely by signing in to a managed Google Account in the Chrome browser.


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How to disable updates notification on iPhone XR (iOS 12.4), such as for an update of Numbers?
I'm using iOS 12.4 on an iPhone XR. Toggling to "off" at Settings | iTunes & App Stores | Automatic Downloads | Updates does not prevent me from getting notifications that updates are available for the Numbers program that I never use and do not even want on my device. How can I ensure that annoying red badges with this kind of notification never appear?

Notification on lock screens etc? or the red dot on App Store icon? Former can be done in notification settings-> App Store. Latter hopefully by turning off background app refresh such as in Low power mode.

If you don't want it & never use it, why not just discard it?

@Tetsujin or offload it. hardly makes a difference to me though.

How can I discard Numbers? Slow hovering over an icon on the front page to make all the app icons wobble brings up "x" as a way to delete deletable apps but not Numbers.

@ruffle that is odd. I don't have any of keynote, pages or numbers. Go to general, storage and find the app. you should be able to offload or delete it.

@ankiiiiiii - Many thanks! That worked! (Off-topic: any idea how I can delete Health and Wallet? That method doesn't bring up either a discard or a delete option for those.)