Can I access my Time Capsule remotely if I haven't set it up at home? My Macbook has frozen on the start-up screen. I'm not sure if it's a serious fault or whether it just needs to re-start from a back-up, but I'm overseas at the moment & the back up is my Time Capsule at home. I need urgently to retrieve files from my Time Capsule. I'm aware that I could have set up my Time Capsule up to be accessed remotely before I left, &  I was wondering whether it is possible to set up remote access remotely, if that makes sense?

Thanks very much

If You Have a Time Capsule or an AirPort Extreme Base Station with Shared USB Hard Drive

If you have either a Time Capsule (which is basically an AirPort Extreme Base Station with a built-in 500 GB or 1 TB hard drive) or an AirPort Extreme Base Station (AEBS) with an attached USB hard drive, you can share out the Time Capsule/AEBS hard drive and make it accessible via the Internet. To do this:

Start the Airport Utility.
Select your Time Capsule or AEBS. Make a note of the IP Address shown on the right -- you will need it later.
Click Manual Setup.
Check your "Connection Sharing" setting under the Internet Tab. The following tutorial is valid if your "Connection Sharing" is to "Share a public IP address", the normal setup for a home network. You will need to have a static IP address, or use a free dynamic DNS service. If you have a different type of "Connection Sharing," you probably don't need a tutorial to set up remote access to your disk; adapt this one as needed.
Click Disks (at the top of the dialog box), and then click File Sharing.
Select (check) the "Enable file sharing" checkbox and the "Share disks over Ethernet WAN port" checkbox. It is strongly recommended that you also set Secure Shared Disks to "With base station password" and Guest Access to "Not allowed"; not making these changes may allow unauthorized users to access your Time Capsule/AEBS hard drive.
Click Airport (at the top of the dialog box), and then click Base Station.
Enter a Base Station Password and verify it in the Verify Password box.
Click Advanced (at the top of the dialog box), and then click Port Mapping.
Click the plus sign (+) to add a new port mapping.
In the Public UDP Port(s) and Public TCP Port(s) boxes, type in a 4-digit port number (e.g., 5678) that you choose. In the Private IP Address box, type the internal IP address of your Time Capsule or AEBS that you wrote down in step 2 (for example, 192.168.0.1). In the Private UDP Port(s) and Private TCP Port(s) boxes, type 548. Click Continue.
In the Description box, type a descriptive name like "Time Capsule File Sharing" or "AEBS File Sharing". Then, click Done.
When you have made all changes, click Update.

Your Time Capsule/AEBS will restart. Once it does, you are now ready to connect to the Time Capsule/AEBS hard drive via the Internet. To do this when your MBA is away from home:

In the Finder, click Go > Connect to Server.
Type in the correct domain name or external IP address for your network, plus a colon and the port number you specified in step 11. For example, "www.myhomedomain.com:5678" or "123.123.12.123:5678".
Click Connect.
You will be prompted for your user name and password. The user name can be anything you like; the password should be the password for the Time Capsule/AEBS which you specified above.
Click Connect.

Voilà! You are now connected to your Time Capsule/AEBS hard drive from your MBA. You can access files, copy files back and forth between your MBA and the hard drive, delete files, whatever you want, as long as your MBA remains network-connected. The next time you go to connect, it should go even more quickly (especially if you save your password in your keychain, and if you add your home IP address/domain name to your list of Favorite Servers in the Connect dialog box).

Note that the Time Capsule/AEBS will appear in the Shared section of your Finder's sidebar as a server, with the Base Station Name of the Time Capsule/AEBS as the server name.

Taken from http://forums.dealmac.com/read.php?4,2800627


How long does an iPhone alarm last? I lost my iphone but the alarm is still on and I want to know if the alarm turns itself off or if someone calls the iPhone will the alarm turn off.

The alarm will last about 15 minutes, according to Anna Fyen's answer on Quora:

  My alarm works fine every weekday. I cannot give you the exact time. But one day, I set an alarm and let it ring for a while so after about 15 minutes or so of ringing it turns itself off and displays a message on the lock screen.

Phoning an iPhone currently playing the alarm will likely interrupt the alarm and replace the sound with that of the ring tone.


How can I move virtual memory swap files to a different drive or partition? note: This is a question that I asked on SuperUser a while ago. I'm re-posting it here because I think it belongs here.

By default, Mac OS X stores its swap files in /private/var/vm/. I would like to place the swap files in a different location. How can it be done?

note: copied from SuperUser:
For older versions of OSX, see this thread on forums.macosxhints.com.
Credit goes to dblu for explaining the use of plutil, ZILjr for introducing the wait4path command, and ekl for simplifying the whole thing by eliminating the need for an intermediate shell script.
Complete solution:
1.  Open Terminal and make a backup copy of Apple's default dynamic_pager.plist:
$ cd /System/Library/LaunchDaemons
$ sudo cp com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist{,_bak}

2.  Convert the plist from binary to plain XML:
$ sudo plutil -convert xml1 com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist

3.  Open the converted plist with your text editor of choice. (I use pico, see dblu's answer for an example using vim):
$ sudo pico -w com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist

It should look as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs$
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>EnableTransactions</key>
    <true/>
    <key>HopefullyExitsLast</key>
    <true/>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.apple.dynamic_pager</string>
    <key>OnDemand</key>
    <false/>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/sbin/dynamic_pager</string>
        <string>-F</string>
        <string>/private/var/vm/swapfile</string>
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>

4.  Modify the ProgramArguments array (lines 13 through 18) to use the wait4path shell command prior to launching dynamic_pager. See note #1 for details on why this is necessary. In the following example, my partition is called Swap, and I chose to put the swapfiles in a hidden directory on that partition, called .vm be sure that the directory you specify actually exists. The XML should look as follows:
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
    <string>/bin/bash</string>
    <string>-c</string>
    <string>/bin/wait4path /Volumes/Swap/ &amp;&amp;
/sbin/dynamic_pager -F /Volumes/Swap/.vm/swapfile</string>
</array>

5.  Save the plist, and return to the terminal prompt. Using pico, the commands would be:
<ctrl+o> to save the file
<enter>  to accept the same filename (com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist)
<ctrl+x> to exit

6.  Convert the modified plist back to binary:
$ sudo plutil -convert binary1 com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist

7. Restart your Mac. If you run into trouble, switch to verbose startup mode by holding down Command-v immediately after the startup chime. This will let you see all of the startup messages that appear during startup. If you run into even worse trouble (i.e. you never see the login screen), hold down Command-s instead. This will boot the computer in single-user mode (no graphical UI, just a command prompt) and allow you to restore the backup copy of com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist that you made in step 1.
8. Once the computer boots, fire up Terminal and verify that the swap files have actually been moved:
$ cd /Volumes/Swap/.vm
$ ls -l

You should see something like this:
-rw-------  1 someUser  staff  67108864 18 Sep 12:02 swapfile0

9. Delete the old swapfiles:
$ cd /private/var/vm
$ sudo rm swapfile*

10. Profit!
Note 1
Modifying the arguments to dynamic_pager in the plist without using wait4path does not always work, and when it fails, it does so in a spectacularly silent way. The problem stems from the fact that dynamic_pager is launched very early in the startup process. If your swap partition has not yet been mounted when dynamic_pager is first loaded (in my experience, this happens 99% of the time), then the system will fake its way through. It will create a symbolic link in your /Volumes directory which has the same name as your swap partition, but points back to the default swapfile location (/private/var/vm). Then, when your actual swap partition mounts, it will be given the name Swap 1 (or YourDriveName 1). You can see the problem by opening up Terminal and listing the contents of your /Volumes directory:
$ cd /Volumes
$ ls -l

You will see something like this:
drwxrwxrwx  11 yourUser  staff   442 16 Sep 12:13 Swap -> private/var/vm
drwxrwxrwx  14 yourUser  staff     5 16 Sep 12:13 Swap 1
lrwxr-xr-x   1 root      admin     1 17 Sep 12:01 System -> /

Note that this failure can be very hard to spot. If you were to check for the swapfiles as I show in step 12, you would still see them! The symbolic link would make it seem as though your swapfiles had been moved, even though they were actually being stored in the default location.
Note 2
I was originally unable to get this to work in Snow Leopard because com.apple.dynamic_pager.plist was stored in binary format. I made a copy of the original file and opened it with Apple's Property List Editor (available with Xcode) in order to make changes, but this process added some extended attributes to the plist file which caused the system to ignore it and just use the defaults. As dblu pointed out, using plutil to convert the file to plain XML works like a charm.
Note 3
You can check the Console application to see any messages that dynamic_pager_init echos to the screen. If you see the following lines repeated over and over again, there is a problem with the setup. I ran into these messages because I forgot to create the '.vm' directory that I specified in dynamic_pager_init.
com.apple.launchd[1]  (com.apple.dynamic_pager[176]) Exited with exit code: 1
com.apple.launchd[1]  (com.apple.dynamic_pager) Throttling respawn: Will start in 10 seconds

When everything is working properly, you may see the above message a couple of times only, and then no more of the "Throttling respawn" messages. This means that the system did have to wait for the partition to load, but in the end it was successful.
Exclude the path from Time Machine
In OS X 10.7 and later you can do this with tmutil. Example:
sudo tmutil addexclusion -p /Volumes/Swap/.vm
For that example, to review the result:
tmutil isexcluded /Volumes/Swap && tmutil isexcluded /Volumes/Swap/.vm
If the volume used for swap need not be indexed
Use mdutil. Example, to switch off then erase the store:
sudo mdutil -i off /Volumes/Swap && sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/Swap


Mail.app smart mailbox "match any" problem Anyone know why this doesn't work?
If I remove either of the rules I get emails but never if I have both.

Apparently it's a known bug.

  Helpful AnswerRe: Mail.app : smart Mailbox misbehaves with condition "any"
  15-Jun-2011 08:47 (in response to Claude Cauwe)

  That's a known bug.  I've reported it, and was told that it was already something Apple is aware of.  Evidently hasn't been fixed yet, though.

Edit: I've just checked, and the bug appears to be fixed in Mail.app from Lion. At least it works as expected (mich732).


"Create disk image" disabled My 2015 MacBook Pro has become unbootable after software update for 10.14.5 failed to install. Because I do not have a recent backup, I would like to create a disk image of the entire boot disk. However when booting an external device, mounting the MBP in target disk mode, and selecting New  Image from the file menu of Disk Utility.app, the option is grayed out. As seen in the screenshot shown below. Can anyone suggest why it is unavailable?

You can not create a disk image of a APFS volume. Your closest two alternatives are as follows.

The first alternative would be to image the APFS container of the APFS volume. All volumes in the container must be unmounted in order to image.

In the image shown below, Macintosh HD is a APFS volume. With the Macintosh HD volume highlighted as shown below, click on the Unmount button.

The image below shows the Macintosh HD volume as unmounted.

The next step is to image the volume's AFPS container.  The container will not be shown by default in the UI; the Show All Devices option in the View menu must first be selected, as shown below.

After highlighting this volumes's APFS container, this container was selected to image from the menu bar, as shown below.

In the popup shown below, the file name for the image was changed to Macintosh HD. (The actual file name will be Macintosh HD.dmg.) The location for the image file was changed to the Documents folder. Also, the format was changed to compressed.

Click on the Save button to create the image.

Note: The commands given below could have been used in place of the Disk Utility application.

diskutil unmountdisk disk2
hdiutil create -srcdevice /dev/disk2 ~/Documents/Macintosh\ HD

The second alternative would be to image the root folder of the APFS volume. The volume must be mounted in order to image.

Select to Image from Folder... from the menu bar, as shown below.

In the popup, highlight the Macintosh HD volume, as shown below. Next, click on the Choose button.

In the popup shown below, the location for the image file was changed to the Documents folder. The format should be compressed.

Click on the Save button to create the image. In this case, you may be prompted for your password.

Note: The command given below could have been used in place of the Disk Utility application.

hdiutil create -srcfolder /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD ~/Documents/Macintosh\ HD


My Mac died and I can't access iPhoto on my external hard drive My Mac died.

When I connect my external hard drive to my laptop I can't access my iPhoto – it says iPhoto won't open because it's a machine backup.

Any ideas?

Background

iPhoto and external storage

It's true that with a normally running operating system on a Mac, an iPhoto library can be stored on an external drive.

Normal running of iPhoto will involve file system writes to the iPhoto library and elsewhere.

Time Machine and the file system

When Time Machine backs up to an HFS Plus file system, most of the files that are associated with its backups database are saved in a way that prevents further edition; that prevents deletion – prevention until it becomes necessary for a point in time in the backup to be thinned.

iPhoto and Time Machine backup databases

Because edition and writes are prevented, iPhoto will be unable to launch and work with any iPhoto library that's within a backup database …

Best use of the backup drive when one of two Macs has failed

Essentially, as soon as possible, you should restore your iPhoto library – and whatever else you will need:

from the backup drive
to a separate drive

The destination drive can be internal or external.

Side note: do not aim to restore from the backup drive to a different area of the same drive; you would continue to have a single point of failure, which is horribly risky.

If the only failure of the failed Mac was its internal disk drive

Consider replacing that failed internal drive. Then use Time Machine to restore data to the replacement drive.

(What model is the failed Mac, how much memory does it have, and so on? Edit your question to include relevant details – thanks.)

If the internal disk drive of the failed Mac is a good drive, and if that Mac is beyond economical repair

Take the good internal drive. Consider arranging for it to be placed in an enclosure that will be suitable for use with your good Mac laptop. So you'll have an additional external drive for use with whatever computer you want.

(What model is that good Mac laptop, how much memory does it have, and so on?)

Cost comparison

It's likely that a suitable external drive enclosure will be more economical than a drive.

Initial cost should be not the only factor in your decision … adding background information (specifications etc.) to your question should help people to make recommendations in answers.


Don't require a password when waking Is there a way to not require a password when I wake my MBA (open the lid)? I'm aware of the security implications. I'm running Lion.

System Preferences > Security & Privacy

Uncheck the box "Require Password Immediately"


Can’t pair Magic Keyboard due to numerical keys not working I bought a iMac 27” off eBay and included in the sale was an Apple trackpad and Magic Keyboard.
I am trying to pair the keyboard but when the screen asks me to enter the numerical confirmation code, the number keys on the keyboard do not work.
The trackpad paired perfectly though.
I have plugged in a wired USB keyboard and everything works fine there.
Have I inadvertently activated a keyboard shortcut on the Magic Keyboard and disabled number keys or something?
Can I hard reset the keyboard back to factory settings?

You should able to connect the keyboard to your Mac with a lightning cable. When you unplug it again, it should be paired. Note that it won’t be listed as (Bluetooth) paired whilst connected with a cable, but it should still be usable in that state.
Once paired, you can rename it in the Bluetooth settings.


Clean up Hard Drive and Re-install Mac I have the following MacBook

  MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)

I want to format the hard-disk and reinstall the Mac so that I have a clean system.
I tried to boot up with CMD + R and reinstall OS. Looks like it didn't wipe out the hard disk and just install the OS again.

Please let me know whats the best way forward. Read a lot of articles are they are confusing. Some say it will get into Internet recovery mode etc.

Boot up holding down Command R, as you did, but go to Disk Utility (under the Utilities menu) and Erase the disk before installing the OS.


Update from Mac OS X 10.6.8 to the newest version I want to update from Mac OS X 10.6.8 to the newest version which is macOS Sierra. My Mac should be able to run this version of macOS. If I try to download the update on the App Store it fails because I need Mac OS X 10.7 at least.

What can I do to upgrade my Mac?

Here's how Apple says you can upgrade via their macOS upgrade page.  You need to install an intermediate upgrade first.

Upgrading from OS X Snow Leopard

If you’re running Snow Leopard (10.6.8) and your Mac supports macOS Sierra, you will need to upgrade to El Capitan from the App Store first. Then you can update to Sierra.

Upgrading from OS X Leopard

If you’re running Leopard and would like to upgrade to macOS Sierra, first you’ll need to upgrade to OS X Snow Leopard. You can purchase OS X Snow Leopard from the Apple Online Store. Then upgrade to El Capitan as above, and then to Sierra.


Why does the website I'm putting into the reading list in Safari disappear shortly after? When I put a website through "command/shift/D" into my reading list, that site disappears after a couple of seconds. It happens to every site I'm putting into that list and also tried to restart Safari or my MacBook Pro. But it was no use.

How can I solve that problem?

One thing to note, I've installed macOS High Sierra just this morning and that problem also appeared today. So, there might be a connection.

Regarding the solution, that problem seems quite trivial.

The site that you want to save into your reading list doesn't disappear shortly after but is put on the bottom of that list.


macbook pro blank display I am facing the issue with my laptop as when its starts its booting and chime sound is present but the display is blank and after sometimes, the display becomes grey. Sometimes it will work fine means display is working perfectly

I tried with changing RAM, reassembled display cable, but sometimes it will work, sometimes not.

My laptop is not in warranty, I checked with the service center they said some issue with either LCD or logic board, so they have to replace and it costs similar to buy a new laptop.

If I use with an external display, will it work?

I had a similar problem with my Macbook Pro (Not in Warranty). Apple Genius Bar was able to get it fixed in $150. They replaced the logic board and screen. For the time being, using the external display is probably the best choice.


What's a good iPhone app that will let me view files on my network? I'm looking for an app which provides functionality similar to Apple Finder's "SHARED" feature, or Microsoft Windows Explorer's Network Neighborhood. Basically, I should be able to use my iPhone to access shared files on computers that are on my same network. Any suggestions?

Specifications:

Doesn't require software to be downloaded/running on any of your machines. The only piece of software the solution requires is the iPhone App.
You should only be able to access files that are shared on the network.
You should be able to access files on network drives that aren't connected to computers (e.g. NAS).
Doesn't require jailbreaking the phone.

Examples of things I'm not looking for:

A screen sharing solution (e.g. remote desktop, logmein, etc.), this violates #1 and #2 above.
Far Finder: violates #1 and #2, possibly #3 as well.

I think NetPortal by Stratospherix may do what you want. I use their FileBrowser for iPad, but I haven’t tried NetPortal, which is their iPhone version. They also have a free NetPortalLite version.

(Sorry, I don’t have the rep to include more than one hyperlink.)


Move Time Machine backup from local disk to Airport Extreme disk and share with others I recently picked up a Drobo for storage and light backup, and want to clear the 1TB Western Digital external drive I have off my desk. I would like to still use Time Machine, but possibly off a share from my Airport Extreme, so my wife can use it on her laptop too.

This disk currently has been running Time Machine locally for my iMac. If I move the disk to the extreme, and tell Time Machine to use it - will it just start off from where its at, or will it have to do an entire new full backup and start over again?

And with that, can you have multiple machines backing up to the same disk shared through an Airport? Or should I partition it for the different machines using it?

I have run TM backups both locally and across the network.

Moving backups:

Just moving the disk won't work.  If you don't need to use the old backups, it's probably worth just biting the bullet and waiting for it to complete a new backup (if you connect an ethernet cable on a gigabit network it's faster (~90MB/s) than connecting the drive via USB (~30MB/s)).

If you need to keep the old backups, you could try creating a sparsebundle with disk utility, mounting it, and then copying the backup files directly onto it.  This method would be slower than creating a new backup from scratch over gigabit though, so if you don't need the old backups, it doesn't buy you anything.

Multiple machines:

Yes, you can backup multiple machines to the same Time Machine disk


iPhone 5 won't activate without SIM card I just purchased an unlocked iPhone 5 from the Apple store today, and I can't activate it to use it because it says "please" insert a valid SIM card to use it. I'm not using this phone as a "phone" to make calls. I'm a developer and am just looking to use it for development purposes. How can I go about using the iOS 5?

You cannot activate an iPhone 5 without (nano) SIM card. You could go to a local store and ask if they have one for you just to activate and you're fine to go.

There is no point in buying a SIM card if you don't have plans to use it as phone.


Is the iOS Voice Memos built-in app appropriate for recording an hour-long interview? I have been sufficiently impressed with the sound quality of the voice memos app on my iPhone.

I'm planning to interview several of my family members for up to an hour at a time. I have a 4th generation iPod Touch which I plan to use for recording. Does anyone know of any reasons why the voice memos app would not be up to the task?

I will have the device plugged in to power, and on a table in the middle of the two or sometimes three people speaking. I'll do some math to ensure that I have enough free space on the device beforehand. I have the 64GB iPod Touch.

There are various records (/1, /2) saying that since iOS4 there's no limitation in size any more. My suggestion: put the iPod on the table, run the voice recorder and see how long it goes and if the process of importing to the computer works fine.


Numbers How to show a hidden column? First time working with Numbers and I hid a column by mistake.  How do I show/unhide a column in this application?

Right click (or control + click ) on an adjacent column header letter.  For example "Column D".

Then select Unhide from the dialog.


Fastest way to get a photo from iPhone to Mac? I just want to snap a photo on my phone and work with it on my Mac. Currently I text it to myself (so it comes up in Messages on the desktop)-- quick but hacky. Email is 2nd option (slower). Airdrop doesn't work iPhone to Mac.

I guess the "official" method would be via iPhoto-- but Photo Stream takes time to sync and even after it does, launching iPhoto and exporting a single image to JPG is massively more complicated than it should be, so going this route is really the last resort.

Is the answer Dropbox Photo Sync, or some other 3rd-party app/service?

(P.S. to mods, AFAIK this is not a dupe question-- I searched existing questions closely before posting.)

Photo Stream isn't actually as bad as it seems. You don't need to launch iPhoto to get the photo — it's already on your Mac and much faster than it appears in iPhoto.

Your Photo Stream is stored in:

~/Library/Application Support/iLifeAssetManagement/assets/sub

Go to this folder and sort by date. Inside those folders are JPGs of all your photos.

You can create a smart folder to only show JPGs sorted by date modified which gives you an automatic updating folder of your pictures. Drag this smart folder to your Dock for immediate, real-time access.


Pages: Make auto dash to break a word to new line (hyphenation-Greek) How can I make Pages to auto-correct my text at the end of the line and break the last word to fill all the line like LaTex does. I have Hyphenation check but when I writing greek it doesn't working...

For example:

  Once in a while we all need some kind of document, it may be a busi-
  ness plan presentation....(continue)

Apple has never provided any spellcheck or related tools for Greek in OS X.  You have to try 3rd party tools, like the ones mentioned at

https://discussions.apple.com/message/15810593#15810593


"Hey Siri" doesn’t run if iPad locked and Smart Cover Closed in iOS 11 I have an iPad Pro 9.7 Wifi & Cellular 128 GB.  In iOS 10.3.3, I could call Siri with "Hey Siri" keyword even if iPad locked and Smart Cover closed. Now, I upgraded my device to iOS 11. The "Hey Siri" keyword runs only if iPad locked and Smart Cover is open. However; if iPad locked and Smart Cover closed, it doesn’t work. I've been using my iPad (in a Smart Cover) for "Hey Siri what is the degree in my room" for about a year now. It stopped responding only after updating to iOS 11. "Hey Siri" and "Allow Siri while locked" toggles are checked in Settings also.

This is a known issue with iOS 11. Currently there is no way to turn "Hey Siri" back on with the Smart Cover covering the iPad's screen.

Please provide feedback to Apple so the feature can be brought back in future releases of iOS 11.


Can I regenerate the the photo thumbnails that have turned black after restoring my iPhone? I had to restore my iOS 5.1 iPhone from iCloud after recieving a replacement. Many of the thumbnails for photographs are now black. Is there a way to regenerate them?

Wait and see. When I looked the following morning, the black thumbnails had all been regenerated automatically.


Cannot change APFS encryption password I have a clean install of macOS High Sierra with APFS Encrypted file partition.
During install I checked the "decrypt at login" option, but each have a different password. I now want to change my APFS password but I haven't been abled to:

"change password" is greyed out in the Disk Utility for my APFS volume.
diskutil apfs changePassphrase ...  returned an error saying it can't do it.

Any idea how I can do that?

P.S. I also have FileVault turned on, with the same password as my login (so different from the APFS Encryption).

You need to list your disks to find the APFS volume disk where you want to change the password:

sudo diskutil apfs list

Now find the UUID of the cryptographic Disk User:

sudo diskutil apfs listUsers <your APFS volume, like: disk1s1>

Finally you can change the APFS volume password:

sudo diskutil apfs changePassphrase <your APFS volume, like: disk1s1> -user <the Disk User cryptographic UUID, like: 12345678-1234-1234-1234567890AB>


Refresh my current location iPhone Many apps use your "current location" (or what they think is your current location), to make ads relevant to where you are, and other location related app features seem to use this information. Pandora, Spotify, etc. for example play audio ads for businesses near where they think you are.

I went to school in Iowa, but have been living in Chicago Area for 9 months now - yet all of my ads are for businesses in the Iowa City area, among other location based features throughout apps.

Is it possible to update what these apps think you current location is? I have location services and everything activated. It feels like the location is permanently cached as Iowa City.

Reset your advertising identifier.

Settings -> Privacy -> Advertising -> Reset Advertising Identifier

This will force iAd to regenerate your advertising profile.


What happens when you walk out of range from iPhone / Macbook Pro with bluetooth headphones? Im thinking of buying a pair of Bose bluetooth headphones as the non-bluetooth pair I've used everyday for 5 years are dying.

I really like the idea of no cables, but what happens if I walk out of range of my Macbook Pro or iPhone? Will the music start playing through the phone or computer (not very practical as I'm in an open plan office)

SHORT ANSWER

In a nutshell, when I'm out of range the music does not start playing through the speakers of the connected device.

LONG ANSWER

I own a pair of Bose Bluetooth headphones that I've been using with an iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro and an iMac. I've had these for about 15 months and have been very happy with them.

The pair I own maintain a charge for about 7hrs and are able of being paired with 8 different devices. They can also be connected to two devices at the same time!

Now that I've provided that context, my comments below will make more sense.

If I connect my Bose Bluetooth headphones to my iPhone for playing music they work great. If I move beyond a certain range, the music is no longer heard on the headphones, but as far as the iPhone is concerned the music is still playing. During this period, the music is not heard from the iPhone speaker. If I move the headphones further out of range so that the connection is totally lost, then the iPhone stops playing music altogether (i.e. the pause button becomes a play button again).

However, I have had another issue that may or may not be relevant in your case. I also use my headphones for long phone calls when I work at home (usually 1 or 2 days per week). This works fine, however, if I happen to have another device within range that is also paired to my headphones (remember they can be paired to 8 devices, and connected to two devices simultaneously) then that other device may connect to my headphones. Once that happens, if I get a notification or if the other device was already playing music or a video, then this causes some sort of weird interference with my call. This interference was only happening when I was on a call, not if I was using them just to listen to music.

Now, this issue may be peculiar to my set up as there are lots of variables involved, such as:

the model and specs of headphones
the model and specs of all the paired devices
how many devices you've paired
whether these devices are in range
what these devices are doing at the time

In my case, once I figured out what the problem was, I chose to 'forget' my headphones from the other devices and now only pair/connect to them on my iPhone (as that's what I use the headphones with for 95% of the time). And if I need to connect them to another device for a while, I just connect them then. This has worked very well for me, as I rarely need to use them with another device.

I hope this helps!


How to create a Siri shortcut to play tunein radio on HomePod and Mac How can I create a shortcut such that I can tell my HomePod
"Hey Siri, good morning"
and it will then play a certain tunein radio station

on the HomePod
and also on my Mac in the other room
and have the playback in sync.

Currently, the only way for me is to go into the other room and start the tunein radio station on my Mac in the Music app and then select both the Mac and the HomePod as airplay output. But that's something my humble assistant should do for me … Thanks!

I guess, I'm just missing the obvious solution. But for now, this is working for me:
Summary
A Siri shortcut executes an Apple Script on the Mac that starts the radio stream with the Music app and adds the HomePod as airplay output.
1. Apple Script to start the radio stream
On the Mac, create a script using the Script Editor application and save it e.g. to ~/play-radio.scpt.
# ~/play-radio.scpt
tell application "Music"
    set selected of AirPlay device "HomePod Kitchen" to true
    set selected of AirPlay device "HomePod Living-Room" to true
    play (every track of playlist "My Radio Playlist")
end tell

In the Playlist "My Radio Playlist", I've added the radio stream I want to start. I suppose, one could also add the radio stream's url directly. But this way, I can modify the playlist without re-opening the script again later.
2. Create Shortcut to execute the script
With the device that has been paired with the HomePod, e.g. the iPhone or iPad, open the Shortcuts app and create a new shortcut that is named after the desired Siri command, here: "good morning"

Add the workflow item Run Script Over SSH. Enter the hostname of the Mac and your Mac's user-account name. Choose "SSH Key" as authentication method. Add the command to execute the apple script:
osascript ~/play-radio.scpt

3. Import the SSH Key
If you haven't done so already, export the public SSH Key of the Shortcuts app by clicking on the SSH Key entry, share, and then air-drop it onto your Mac.
On the Mac, add the key to the file ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.
Attention! This will allow the Shortcuts app on your iOS device to ssh into your Mac.
4. Activate SSH
If you haven't done so already, activate SSH remote login on your Mac:

Go to "System Preferences"
Go to "Sharing"
Activate "Remote login"

Now the HomePod will understand "good morning" and execute the script, which will start Music on the Mac playing the radio station on the Mac and the selected AirPlay devices.


How to type a circumflex for programming maybe this is a silly question but im trying to type

self.router[@"say/hello"] =  ^ {
        NSLog(@"Hello World!");
};

and i cant type this character ^

I tried with:

option + i = ˆ
shift + 6 = ˆ

please help i'm a bit bored o copy and paste every time.

Switch from using the US International PC layout to the US layout.  Then Shift + 6 will generate ^.


How to run Linux gui apps on macOS (e.g. via XQuartz) I'm trying to run some Linux applications on macOS. I have installed XQuartz but if I attempt for instance to run firefox it does something - i.e. the firefox process can be seen by ps:

$ps -ef | grep firefox
  502 29337 29230   0 11:59AM ttys032    0:00.01 X /Users/steve/Downloads/firefox/firefox

.. But it does not show up as an X app:

So which additional steps are required to get Linux binaries to run?

You can't launch the Linux version of Firefox on macOS, because it is a binary for Linux calling libraries from Linux and calling system calls of Linux.

You have to build a macOS version of Firefox on macOS from the source tree you download from here:

https://archive.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/

through the traditionnal steps:

./configure
make
/usr/bin/sudo make install

And during the configure step, you will have to take care to use the standard sets of X11 libraries (disclaimer: I didn't test this).


How to disable that “Guest User” from appearing at the OS X 10.8.5 login screen I have removed the "guest user" account by: System Preferences → Users & groups → Guest User → Remove.

It still remains as an option under users (but states disabled).

It still shows up on login screen and if selected allows guest to logon to computer.

How do I remove guest login completely so that is is not even an option at login?

How to disable that “Guest User” from appearing at the OS X login screen

For modern versions of OS X, disabling Guest account is done as follows:    (I have provided a screenshot from El Capitan, but Yosemite is very similar)

Open System Preferences
Go to “Users & Groups” and click the unlock icon
Click on “Guest User”
Uncheck the box for ‘Allow guests to log in to this computer’

The key here is everything must be disabled.  Once you completely disable the account, it will no longer show up on the login screen.

If you have older versions of OS X, follow the instructions below:

Disabling Guest User in OS X Lion, Mountain Lion

Click on “Security & Privacy”
Click the lock in the lower corner and type in your administrative
password to unlock the control panel
Check the box next to “Disable restarting to Safari when screen is
locked”


Clipboard survives a reboot. Is it secure? I noticed that things in my clipboard survive a reboot - love it, very convenient. But I'd guess that's written to disk, and if I had physical access to your machine, I could reboot it and access the file the has the clipboard contents in it. It's gotta be secured in some way, right?

You are correct that this information is not secured. This is a very common scenario across most apps on the system when you don't see the keychain dialog to access data. Luckily, there are simple countermeasures you can enact to secure your information.

Placing a password on your account so that it does not log in upon a reboot will protect your clipboard and all other files on the disk from an idle snooper.

Next, establishing FileVault encryption on the whole drive will stop almost all amateur and some professional attacks as long as your passcode isn't available or guessable.

Lastly, a screensaver lock and timeout will reduce the window of a sleeping or unattended Mac can be snooped on without knowing your account password.

There are also apps that clear the clipboard on timed intervals if that truly is your only security worry.


Issue with SD card format - won't unmount Below is the 2 screenshot that I have tried after searching on so many places on net, but nothing worked for me until now.

First one is via using DiskUtil :

And second one via terminal :

Both the method is having issue and unable to format the sdcard, could anybody please help this out.

Highly appreciated your help in advance thanks.

Update the current snapshot of the memory card from disk utility :

I had a reluctant SD Card that reported "Resource Busy" whenever I tried to dd an image onto it even after unmounting it. My fix was to use the "Force" option for the diskutil unmount command:

diskutil unmountDisk force /dev/disk<# of the drive you want to unmount>


Error with Android usb. Working Macintosh HD not repairable. Alternatives to backup? I have to say first, I have almost zero experience is the use of Terminal, an usually I'm very careful with what command I use.

I have tryed to create a bootable Android x86 usb and it was a success, it booted perfectly on a windows pc. I hope it worked on Mac too, sadly it was not.

But I immidiatly(usually shut the Mac once a week) discovered, by that boot try, I did something wrong. A slow grey loading bar appeared at the start up!
Before realizing the bootable android usb (with UNetbooting) I tryed a terminal operation I saw on youtube and in another thread

sudo DiskUtil UnmountDisk disk1s1
sudo dd if=/Users/Me/Desktop/android.iso of=/rdisk1s1

(I get now it was correct of=/dev/rdisk, right?)and I use it three times, without any results, I thought.So, after the long slow bar, I tryed to verify disk with Disk Utility and found I need to repair.

Booted my install CD and before I opened Disk Utility notice in the choice of partition install Macintosh HD was not appearing, just my Vista partition.

Disk Utility sadly sad me it was beyond repair and needed a backup. I did it twice, one with SuperDuper! (who was even faster than Time Machine, who started even long before I downloaded SD!).
But I'm not ok with this. I find here this

df -hl

and

sudo fsck_hfs -l /dev/disk0s2

with, again, just the repair advaice.

Even noticed the three tries were placed at Macintosh HD folder with  lost+found and  DamagedFiles folders, all created at the same time.

So I hoped deleting them the problem could be solved. No, it isn't.

Still I transcripted the 2 damaged files in the folder who are

.DSIsRunning            Macintosh HD/Library/Prefences/DirectoryService

utmpx                   Macintosh HD/private/var/run

Now. My only chance to set everything back, even if my Mac still works without any defect sign (expect the long startup), is just to restore backup or else?

Just me! Apparently choosing a password not as soon as possible assigned me another user (former user127893, now user128454) but still same username and almost similar avatar (a quarter or the former with a more visible Triforce :D )

BTW recently I tried to run a Disk permissions check and repair. After that I repeat the Verify Disk and the error message changed (if I remember well it wasn't like this) incorrect number of thread record.

Hope if I retry a repair this time I'll have some luck.

P.S.:I'm a bit surprised of this did't get much attention and I'm gonna search mmore about Buscar웃SD suggestion. I wonder if I need to apply Cunningham's Law (the best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer)


2013 Macbook Air can't get past grey screen We were camping, I was trying to pull up a movie and it froze. It was completely unresponsive, I didn't see the kernel panic message but I forced a restart by holding down the power button.
On booting again, it went straight to the "prohibitory symbol." I forced another restart, and since then, the screen has just been grey. No Apple logo, nothing.
After 30-45 minutes, I get the flashing question mark folder.
I have reset the SMC and NVRAM. Resetting the NVRAM seems to work, it does the startup chime, the screen flashes, and then shortly after it chimes again. It didn't help.
I can't boot into recovery ⌘ CommandR., Internet recovery ⌘ Command⌥ OptionR, or diagnostics D. Safe mode ⇧ Shift
and single-user mode ⌘ Commands didn't work either.
I have tried booting off of a Lubuntu flash drive ⌥ Option and a SliTaz live CD via a USB CD drive C; neither of  those did anything either. If I leave it for a while, the flash drive will start blinking and the CD spins up, but the computer is still grey and unresponsive. I have a Mac at work, so I might try creating a bootable flash drive from that once I go back.
I've ordered one of their cursed pentalobe screwdrivers; does anyone know if this machine has diagnostic LEDs like the older iMacs? I'm thinking it's definitely a hardware issue at this point but I don't know how to move forward, I figure I can at least recover the SSD.
Thanks in advance, let me know if you need any other details. I haven't seen anything like this before.
I think it was running 10.8 or 10.9 but I don't know for sure, I haven't really used it in a couple years. Model is A1466, EMC 2632.

... does anyone know if this machine has diagnostic LEDs like the older iMacs?

There are no diagnostic LEDs on the logic board.

I'm thinking it's definitely a hardware issue at this point but I don't know how to move forward, I figure I can at least recover the SSD.

This is a big jump in determination when two very conspicuous clues were presented:

A prohibitory symbol means that it cannot find a boot volume

Fix a sometimes happening prohibitory sign 🚫
No entry sign on 2017 Macbook Pro--will replacing the hard disk work?
Can't format my Macbook, HDD and mac Utilities won't load, “blocked” sign after trying to boot usb

A folder with a flashing question mark means the file system on the boot volume was corrupted.

Unable to boot up my Mac. Getting a flashing folder with a question mark

iMac only show flashing folder with question mark after formatting OS X partition drive

Not seeing my HD in the disk utility

Now, I'm not ruling out hardware - it's entirely possible your drive has failed.  But breaking out the screwdriver prior to doing any sort of diagnostics or even examining the symptoms a bit more is putting the cart before the horse.  You can run Apple Diagnostics by holding D  while booting from a powered off state.


Can I use my Jawbone ICON to listen to Netflix on my iPhone4? Question says it all. Is there some config to do this? Phone is not jailbroken.

I've just got an ICON last weekend and it plays all audio output I've thrown at it (phone calls, podcasts, games). Netflix itself, I couldn't test since we don't have that here in Europe, but I don't see why it should be any different than the other apps.
What is important, though, is that A2DP support is installed on the ICON. In my case, it was out of the box, but apparently that's different with older ones. In that case, you apparently need to go to http://mytalk.jawbone.com and install a software update for your headset.


Xamarin Android Player runs slowly on MacBook Air 2015 I've a need to virtualise an Android device on my MacBook Air. I've successfully installed the Xamarin Android Player and downloaded Nexus 7 Marshmallow image. The emulation starts correctly, but it is very slow.

From what I've found from the internet is that this could be a disabled virtualisation issue or outdated firmware. I'm running the latest version of El Captain - 10.11.6, so I think this couldn't be an outdated firmware issue.

There is no (very hard to find) clear walkthrough on how it is possible to enable virtualisation on MacBook Air early 2015.

I know that there are alternatives to Xamarin Android Player, like Visual Studio, but I'm really short on SSD space - 128GB. That's the main reason why I don't want to install Visual Studio with many features what I have no need to use.

Please share your thoughts on what issue could slow down the performance of Android emulator and what would be the optimal way to solve such issue.

I've got tired of searching and waiting for someone's help and approached Xamarin themselves about this issue. Turns out that this product is no longer supported (see link to the official Xamarin statement) and they advise to use other emulators rather than their (what sounds a bit strange for me at least). So following the advise of Xamarin support service I have downloaded Genymotion Android emulator for personal use (as it is free).

After downloading you might want to tweak certain things for emulator to run a bit faster. Genymotion works on top of VirtualBox (it installs it on the background so no need to install it separately)

Switch from Legacy Paravirtualization Interface to Hyper-V (Settings->System->Acceleration)
Enable 3D Acceleration in Settings->Display->Acceleration
VirtualBox will constanly complain that there is more cores used than there is available on the computer (4, when my MacBook Air has only 2). But, if you change this value to 2 the performance of emulator will be much more slower. No idea why.
Make sure that you have Intel HAXM drivers otherwise don't expect the emulator to work at its full speed.

Everything mentioned here fairly experimental, so any if you have any relevant in this field, please share it.


MediaKit reports not enough space on device for requested operation I have a 4TB WD external hard disk that is partitioned as follows:

/dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *4.0 TB     disk2
   1:         Microsoft Reserved                         134.2 MB   disk2s1
   2:       Microsoft Basic Data NTFS                    3.2 TB     disk2s2
   3:       Microsoft Basic Data exFAT                   506.0 GB   disk2s3
   4:                  Apple_HFS TIMEMACHINE             272.9 GB   disk2s4

Time Machine app recognizes the disk and all the partitions but when it attempts to erase the partition a popup message appears saying "MediaKit reports not enough space on device for requested operation"

How can I fix this problem?

macOS 10.13.3 High Sierra

The problem is that Disk Utility isn't able to reformat your drive from NTFS to APFS. You can format it to HFS+, then Disk Utility will pick up and do the rest for you. Here is a tutorial with detailed, step by step instructions: https://mycyberuniverse.com/web/how-fix-mediakit-reports-not-enough-space-on-device.html
Note that this will erase your entire disk (in case you have multiple volumes).
Summary of commands needed, in terminal:
diskutil list
diskutil unmountDisk force disk2
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rdisk2 bs=1024 count=1024
diskutil partitionDisk disk2 GPT JHFS+ "New Drive Name" 0g

Where disk2 is the name of your external drive, listed from diskutil list


After removing bootcamp partition, booting the mac it says insert bootable media and press any key? so I had to remove my bootcamp partition because I was running low on osx Sierra space and I didn't need the Windows partition. But when I boot the mac I get an error

  No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key

My guess is that there is still some sort of a Windows boot manager on a partition, but I can't see it in Diskutil GUI or when pressing Alt on startup, or in the startup disk. Currently, the only wat to boot to macOS is to hold down Alt then -> Macintosh HD,

Before selecting Macintosh HD in the Mac Startup Manager, hold down the control key. The straight arrow will become a circular arrow. This will make Sierra the default.

You can also make the Sierra the default, by selecting Macintosh HD from the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.


How Do I Get Testers for my App Submissions? I submitted my enrollment in the Apple Developer Program a couple of days ago. I'm waiting to be approved.

I have Mac 3D Puzzle apps that were created as .app files using Unity 5.3.2. I plan to create iPad versions from Unity which create Xcode projects. I would like to take advantage of the TestFlight Beta Testing program for this app but I don't know anyone to invite. Many of the people I know are iPhone/iPad users but are not technically inclined where I would invite them to test my apps. Can I use this program?

Most people, myself included, ask family, friends, and co-workers to help test. Depending on the technical details of what you want tested, you can also put out calls for testers on Twitter and Facebook.

There are also websites that will help find testers for you, especially for games. Toucharcade is a good site for finding game testers.


Transfer Individual Apple Developer membership to Company on iTunes App Store without repaying I am currently registered as an individual Apple Developer on the App Store and have a free app which is available under my name.

My membership is due for renewal in a few days. However, I have registered my company and would like to distribute the app under the company name on the App Store. As I understand, registering as a organisation with Apple requires a D-U-N-S number.

Should I renew as Individual and ask for conversion to Company name (once D-U-N-S number for my company is available). If so, will I have to repay the US$ 99 fee when converting from Individual to Company Developer Program?
Wait for the D-U-N-S number and register directly under Organisation Developer Program?

I have already read this and this discussion, but they don't explain if one should repay to upgrade.

What are my current options?

There's now a specific form for this.

https://developer.apple.com/contact/submit/?entityType=individual&requestType=migrateAccount

You can get to it from the Membership section of the Developer portal, and clicking Need to edit this information? in the bottom right corner.


Is 64GB the max amount of memory for an Apple computer? I was looking at a comparison between 2017 Apple computer offerings and the highest end system appears to be the Mac Pro, a tower-type computer 6 inches in diameter and 9 inches high. This system is described as expandable in memory up to 64 gigabytes. So, is that the top-end limit on memory for current Apple computers?

Depends what you mean by "current". The discontinued Xserve range of Apple servers maxed out at 96GB (although Apple only claimed 48GB).

More currently, the answer continues to be Yes and No.

Yes, Apple only will support or sell 64 gig of RAM on the MacPro and iMac.
No, the MacPro newer than 5,1 and most newer 27 inch iMac will accept and run quality memory that add up to 128 GB reliably.
https://www.macmemory.com/

I would expect the next iMac Pro and Mac Pro to raise the ceiling for both the official limit and unnoficial limit.


iOS 7 clouds don't move on weather app Just downloaded iOS 7 on my iPhone 4. The clouds don't move on my weather app. My husband and friends' weather apps have animated clouds. Why doesn't mine?

There are many graphical upgrades in iOS 7 that simply don't work on iPhone 4 because of the relative lack of processing/GPU power. See this Ars Technica article for a list of the features disabled on iPhone 4.

  What don't you get?

  The slowest devices in Apple's lineup tend not to get every single feature that the newer ones get. Generally, this is either because the old hardware is incapable of supporting it or because the device's aging system-on-a-chip (SoC) isn't fast enough to provide a good experience. The iPhone 4 gets most of the features we highlighted in our massive iOS 7 review, but there's a long list of fine print attached. Let's run through not just the list of iOS 7 features it misses out on, but also the features from previous iOS versions that it isn't privy to. If the feature is on this list, it's missing from the iPhone 4.

  3D Flyover or turn-by-turn navigation in Maps.
  Panorama mode or Filters in the Camera app (filters can still be applied after-the- fact in the Photos app).
  AirPlay Mirroring.
  Siri.
  AirDrop.
  A number of the new graphical effects present on all other iOS 7 devices. These include translucency effects throughout the OS, live wallpapers, and the parallax effect used on the Home screen.


Function keys Magic Keyboard not bound correctly I just bought the new Magic Keyboard. On my Mac mini with Mac OS X El Capitan the function keys worked perfectly, but on my iMac still with Mavericks the function keys are not working... F12 for instance (sound up) brings me to the Dashboard and so on.

Is it something I missed? Pressing fn isn't working either and I've checked the preference pane....

I was able to make it work on Mavericks at least when connected over the USB-to-Lightning cable by applying this patch:

--- /System/Library/Extensions/AppleTopCase.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver.kext/Contents/Info.plist.orig  2017-01-10 20:28:14.000000000 +0100
+++ /System/Library/Extensions/AppleTopCase.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleTopCaseHIDEventDriver.kext/Contents/Info.plist   2017-01-10 20:31:55.000000000 +0100
@@ -38,6 +38,38 @@
    <string>5A2053</string>
    <key>IOKitPersonalities</key>
    <dict>
+       <key>Keyboard-Event - 615</key>
+       <dict>
+           <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
+           <string>com.apple.driver.AppleHIDKeyboard</string>
+           <key>CapsLockDelay</key>
+           <integer>75</integer>
+           <key>DeviceUsagePairs</key>
+           <array>
+               <dict>
+                   <key>DeviceUsage</key>
+                   <integer>6</integer>
+                   <key>DeviceUsagePage</key>
+                   <integer>1</integer>
+               </dict>
+           </array>
+           <key>FnKeyboardUsageMap</key>
+           <string>0x00070050,0x0007004a,0x00070052,0x0007004b,0x0007002a,0x0007004c,0x0007004f,0x0007004d,0x00070051,0x0007004e,0x00070028,0x00070058</string>
+           <key>FnModifierUsage</key>
+           <integer>3</integer>
+           <key>FnModifierUsagePage</key>
+           <integer>255</integer>
+           <key>IOClass</key>
+           <string>AppleHIDKeyboardEventDriverV2</string>
+           <key>IOProviderClass</key>
+           <string>IOHIDInterface</string>
+           <key>NumLockKeyboardUsageMap</key>
+           <string>0x00070029,0x00070029,0x0007002a,0x0007002a,0x0007002b,0x0007002b,0x0007003a,0x0007003a,0x0007003b,0x0007003b,0x0007003c,0x0007003c,0x0007003d,0x0007003d,0x0007003e,0x0007003e,0x0007003f,0x0007003f,0x00070040,0x00070040,0x00070041,0x00070041,0x00070042,0x00070042,0x00070043,0x00070043,0x00070044,0x00070044,0x00070045,0x00070045,0x0007004a,0x0007004a,0x0007004b,0x0007004b,0x0007004c,0x0007004c,0x0007004d,0x0007004d,0x0007004e,0x0007004e,0x0007004f,0x0007004f,0x00070050,0x00070050,0x00070051,0x00070051,0x00070052,0x00070052,0x0007000d,0x00070059,0x0007000e,0x0007005a,0x0007000f,0x0007005b,0x00070018,0x0007005c,0x0007000c,0x0007005d,0x00070012,0x0007005e,0x00070024,0x0007005f,0x00070025,0x00070060,0x00070026,0x00070061,0x00070010,0x00070062,0x00070037,0x00070063,0x00070082,0x00070082,0x000700e0,0x000700e0,0x000700e1,0x000700e1,0x000700e2,0x000700e2,0x000700e3,0x000700e3,0x000700e4,0x000700e4,0x000700e5,0x000700e5,0x000700e6,0x000700e6,0x000700e7,0x000700e7</string>
+           <key>ProductID</key>
+           <integer>615</integer>
+           <key>VendorID</key>
+           <integer>1452</integer>
+       </dict>
        <key>Keyboard-Event - 656</key>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
--- /System/Library/Extensions/AppleTopCase.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBTopCaseDriver.kext/Contents/Info.plist.orig   2017-01-10 20:27:50.000000000 +0100
+++ /System/Library/Extensions/AppleTopCase.kext/Contents/PlugIns/AppleUSBTopCaseDriver.kext/Contents/Info.plist    2017-01-10 20:44:53.000000000 +0100
@@ -38,6 +38,52 @@
    <string>5A2053</string>
    <key>IOKitPersonalities</key>
    <dict>
+       <key>USBHIDDriver</key>
+       <dict>
+           <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
+           <string>com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTopCaseDriver</string>
+           <key>IOClass</key>
+           <string>AppleUSBTopCaseHIDDriver</string>
+           <key>IOProviderClass</key>
+           <string>IOUSBInterface</string>
+           <key>bConfigurationValue</key>
+           <integer>1</integer>
+           <key>bInterfaceNumber</key>
+           <string>*</string>
+           <key>ProductID</key>
+           <integer>615</integer>
+           <key>idVendor</key>
+           <integer>1452</integer>
+       </dict>
+       <key>USBHIDDriver - DM</key>
+       <dict>
+           <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
+           <string>com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTopCaseDriver</string>
+           <key>ExtendedData</key>
+           <array>
+               <integer>50399649</integer>
+               <integer>50465185</integer>
+               <integer>50530721</integer>
+               <integer>50596257</integer>
+               <integer>61868449</integer>
+               <integer>61933985</integer>
+               <integer>61999521</integer>
+               <integer>62065057</integer>
+               <integer>62261665</integer>
+           </array>
+           <key>IOClass</key>
+           <string>AppleUSBTopCaseHIDDriver</string>
+           <key>IOProviderClass</key>
+           <string>IOUSBInterface</string>
+           <key>bConfigurationValue</key>
+           <integer>1</integer>
+           <key>bInterfaceNumber</key>
+           <string>0</string>
+           <key>ProductID</key>
+           <integer>615</integer>
+           <key>idVendor</key>
+           <integer>1452</integer>
+       </dict>
        <key>AppleTopCase</key>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>

like so (assuming you save the patch in a file named MagicKeyboard.patch):

sudo sh -c '(cd /; patch -p0) < MagicKeyboard.patch'

and rebuilding the kext cache using:

sudo kextcache -f -update-volume /

After reboot your Magic Keyboard should be fully functional when connected over the cable.


Does Apple use your PayPal or gift card first? I want to purchase something on the app store but I'm not sure if it will charge my gift card or PayPal?

Gift card balance (called ‘store credit’) is used first before other payment methods, except where not possible to be used, such as for gifts.

Which payment method is charged
This is the order in which Apple attempts to charge your payment methods:

If you have an Apple ID balance, Apple attempts to use your Apple ID balance to cover the full amount of the bill.

If you don't have an Apple ID balance or you don't have enough balance to cover the full amount of the bill, Apple attempts to charge your primary payment method. Your primary payment method is the payment method that's listed at the top of your Manage Payments page.

…

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201359


Detect single-user mode from the command line Is there a way to detect single-user mode in OSX (Lion, specifically) from the command line?

I've tried who -r, which returns 3 in either standard or single-user mode.

I've also tried nvram boot-args, which does not work either.

Google isn't helping much with this...

$ sysctl -n kern.singleuser
0

It's 1 when booted in single-user mode, 0 when not.


Is it advisable to calibrate the battery on a iPhone? I want to ask the same question as here: Is it advisable to calibrate the battery on a MacBook?
but for iPhone.

Should I calibrate iPhone's battery? For example with make it completely empty and full charge it after that.

According to this Apple Support Communities user tip:

  So what are the "rules" for charging? The most basic one is charge
  whenever you want to, for a long as you want to. There's no reason to
  let the device drain completely before charging (in fact, it's a bad
  idea to do that on a regular basis), and there's no need to wait until
  it reaches 100% before removing it from the power source.  You can
  charge when it's at 40% and disconnect when it reaches 80%, or any
  other values, without hurting the phone. And you don't have to turn it
  off to charge it; in fact, you shouldn't.

There is no reason to calibrate the battery.


Restore previous-released OS version(mojave) from catalina public beta I followed this article. Now I'm on 10.15 Beta (19A512f), which I think it is beta 4, I'm trying to restore a timemachine backup of mojave(10.14.5).

My question is do I have to erase my entire disk to go back to mojave. I somehow managed to erase once before on a different machine. When I entered recovery mode again right after erasing, it seems like it tried to download a large image for a bare machine only using internet, but the timer stuck at 24:00. Basically, I couldn't access to mac OS utility at that time. Now I'm experimenting on another machine, and I don't want same thing happen again.

But as I skip Reformat and partition your startup disk step, I jumped to Restore from your Time Machine Backup step. I found that I have to choose between two destinations to restore, which I think it's something new brought by Catalina. Other the my backup drive, there are two other options. One is called Macintosh HD, the other is called Macintosh HD data. Both get similar info, I don't know which one it should be. So back to my question, do I have to erase entire disk. If I don't erase, which disk should be selected as restore destination. If I have to erase, does it mean the original OS installer on the disk would be gone as well, therefore I have to download the image from internet? But still after erase, do I still need choose between those two destinations? If so, which one.

I need to get back to stable version ASAP, so I can't simply unenroll the device and simply wait for Catalina release. And I also turned genius bar guys for help, they said Catalina bring security feature, they can't help me restore factory setting(install Mojave) either. Plus they said using beta version means you have to deal with issue yourself. Any solution other than these would help.

Thank you guys

Unlike some installations of some operating systems there is no OS level uninstall feature in macOS.

That is true for applications, though some do have uninstallers available.
That is true for minor OS version upgrades, EG 10.14.1 to 10.14.2
That is especially true for full versions, EG 10.14 to 10.15

What that means is that if you install an OS update or upgrade and you need to revert back to the previous version there is no built-in way to do so.

In fact the ONLY way to revert  any OS upgrade is to back up your files, boot into recovery mode (or a bootable USB installer), wipe the drive and re-install the operating system. Once that is done you can restore from your backup.


LogMeIn Hamachi "Network" menu gone in Lion I have used LogMeIn Hamachi to play on different game servers, however since I update to Lion I have been unable to change the server I want to connect. The whole "Network" menu is gone.

Here is a video showing LogMeIn Hamachi in action, where the "Network" menu is visible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf2ttAWFrxg (See 1:20)

I have the latest version installed (2.1.0.65)

Just found out now that you have to click the connect button first and then it works perfectly.


Why does the Notes app show on the lock screen? The Notes app occasionally shows on my lock screen. I understand that apps can show on this screen based on my location (ex: my AT&T app shows when I'm near an AT&T store) but I don't know why Notes would do this -- so far, once in my office and a couple of times in my bedroom at home. Any ideas?

It began happening after my upgrade to 9.0.2 though not sure if this specific version is to blame.

Update: I've now had this happen multiple times in airplane mode so I suspect this behavior may have nothing to do with my location.

Handoff is why the notes app shows up on my lock screen.

You could try disabling that entirely or be sure that no other device is communicating with your device over bluetooth or WiFi.

If you look at the text in the handoff settings, suggested apps can also be shown based on usage patterns. If you open notes every night at 7 pm, eventually the OS will suggest notes at that time based on inference. Since this intelligence was introduced with iOS nine, it would take a while for the OS to learn your habits so having it appear coincidental  with the 9.0.2 update seems plausible.


How do I move a contact on the iPhone from one group to another? I have about 20 contacts on my iPhone that is in the wrong group. How can I move them to another group?

I had the same problem. I found this page looking or a solution. I wasn't satisfied with the above. So I did the following:

Email the contacts to yourself (share contact).
In the contacts app, make sure you are in the proper group (for me, my gmail account with exchange)
Import the contact. It should be adde to the group you selected in the previous step.
Now go check the contact is in the correct group, and if so, delete the one in the old group.


Change the link underline color in Keynote How do I change the color in keynote of the link that underlines text? I have a presentation template where the links are underlined in teal. This is annoying. I want them underlined in black. I can change the color of the text, but not of the underline.

Select the text, press CMD-T to open the Fonts panel (from the Format > Font menu), then change the underline color via the underline popup's Colour menu item.

Please see image below.


What is a "stuck" process? Using the top command in Terminal, and ordering the list by state, I see a number of processes on Yosemite 10.10.1 whose state is stuck. I've looked through man ps and man top for an explanation, and done some googling, without enlightenment.

Nothing's apparently wrong with the system - in fact, coreaudiod (one of the stuck processes) is racking up CPU and merrily driving the sound system - but I'm curious what is "stuck" about them and whether this is cause for concern.

Processes: 198 total, 2 running, 5 stuck, 191 sleeping, 747 threads                                                                          21:42:18
Load Avg: 1.23, 1.21, 1.17  CPU usage: 0.72% user, 1.44% sys, 97.83% idle  SharedLibs: 15M resident, 15M data, 0B linkedit.
MemRegions: 367655 total, 2827M resident, 92M private, 294M shared. PhysMem: 7320M used (912M wired), 870M unused.
VM: 481G vsize, 1064M framework vsize, 0(0) swapins, 0(0) swapouts. Networks: packets: 41886204/42G in, 35471289/14G out.
Disks: 491864/8916M read, 1290630/36G written.

PID    COMMAND      %CPU TIME     #TH  #WQ  #PORT MEM    PURG   CMPR PGRP  PPID  STATE    BOOSTS           %CPU_ME %CPU_OTHRS UID  FAULTS    COW
261    coreaudiod   1.0  01:12.19 5    1    206   2412K  0B     0B   261   1     stuck    *0[1]            0.00000 0.00000    202  233919    198
231    accountsd    0.0  00:01.74 3    1    70    5092K  0B     0B   231   1     stuck     0[244]          0.00000 0.00000    501  11585     418
206    distnoted    0.0  00:24.10 3    1    143   4284K  0B     0B   206   1     stuck    *0[1]            0.00000 0.00000    501  70899     90
197    coresymbolic 0.0  00:00.35 3    2    23    996K   0B     0B   197   1     stuck     0[188]          0.00000 0.00000    0    57709     124
37     mds          0.0  02:54.01 4    1    802   44M    0B     0B   37    1     stuck    *0[1]            0.00000 0.00000    0    956495    1227
92425  tccd         0.0  00:00.00 2    1    26    972K   0B     0B   92425 1     sleeping  0[3]            0.00000 0.00000    235  935       124
92414  AssetCacheLo 0.0  00:00.68 4    0    74    3232K  0B     0B   92414 1     sleeping  0[22]           0.00000 0.00000    235  5147      175

The significance of stuck is that the process is not running while in a state that is uninterruptible while it waits for I/O. There’s nothing wrong, just that the kernel has accepted an I/O and it’s “stuck” waiting for that response before it can be paused or sent a signal to exit (or more likely continue to run normally).

How does 'stuck' (in results of 'top') relate to 'not responding' (in Activity Monitor), 'spin' or 'hang'?


How to share Mac System which has Lions OS 10.7? I was able to share my mac system screen using VNC server in Snow leopard OS but now I have upgraded the my Mac OS to Lion OS. Now VNC server is not compatible with Lion OS.
So can any one help me how to share my Mac system so that others can access my system remotely and run the iPhone application in XCode and able to see the iPhone simulator.

Have you checked out the built in Screen Sharing in OS X? Check out System Preferences -> Sharing -> Screen Sharing. Click on the Computer Settings button and you should see a dialog which allows you to enable VNC connections.

You should then be able to use any VNC Client like Chicken of the VNC to connect to the remote system running Lion.


How to easily delete duplicates from iTunes Over the years I've accumulated a fairly large iTunes library, with a number of duplicates (for instance, I have compilation CDs which have some songs I already had from the original CD, etc.).

Is there a good script that would let me automatically delete all the duplicates?

And no, I don't want the dysfunctional iTunes duplicate finder of which I am aware. To illustrate why not, check out this screenshot of two songs it thinks are duplicates (note the differences in length).

If you hold down the option key, you get “Check Exact Duplicate Items.”

The songs above would not have matched had you used that option.  You’ll still need to do some manual parsing, but you probably want to do that anyway.


Unable to update Xcode I am unable to update Xcode: after entering my user id and password I am getting "Your Apple ID has been disabled" error.

Go to the Apple ID page, then Reset your password.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to contact Apple Support for assistance.


Will iTunes match download all my music to a new hard drive? I've been thinking about weather to use iTunes match, but not for syncing to all devices as I'm happy with what I have on my iPhone and have iPod with all songs on.

What it would be useful for is to be able to download my library if my hard drive packs in or my computer is stolen.

Will iTunes match work in this way? will I be able to download all my songs and not just the ones purchased in iTunes?

If you enable iTunes Match, your entire library (up to 25.000) songs will be synced with your iCloud. So all your songs are in the iCloud. You can add a device to the iCloud and by so, all your music on the new device will be synced onto the new device. That's how iTunes Match works.

If you computer/hard drive gets stolen, you buy a new one and authorize it with you iCloud, it will sync once again on your new device.

So yes, you'll be able to download all your music stored in your iCloud onto new device.

As a matter of fact, even when the original device lost it's files, the songs are still stored in iCloud.

But be aware, the limit on devices is set on 10. So make sure you haven't add 10 devices already!

EDIT:
Proof of this is on the iTunes Match-page


Finder: Spotlight shortcut and command+tab switching apps stopped working Both these functions stopped around the same time.
El Capitan, but I think these worked after the upgrade and now don't.
Both functions work in other apps. Just not in Finder.
Repaired permissions on MacHD, checked and unchecked the command for spotlight in System Preferences>Keyboard>Shortcuts>Spotlight.
Using command+space in Finder gives the error chime.

Solved by resetting NVRAM.
Power down.
Restarted holding down command+option+P+R until I heard the second chime. Released all the keys.
Now both functions work in Finder. Command+Space brings up Spotlight search box. Command+Tab brings up the list of apps to toggle through.


MacOs BigSur update 11.2.3 hangs with Error Domain=SUMacControllerError Code=7749 in logfile My iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2020) is not updating to latest MacOS BigSur 11.2.3 from 11.1.
It hangs in the UI with "10 minutes left" in the progress bar.
The install.log file exposes the following error messages (see below). Any idea what could cause this issue? Found nothing on google for the error message.
021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts SoftwareUpdateNotificationManager[764]: Successful call to queueAutoUpdatesForLaterWithCompletionHandler
2021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts SoftwareUpdateNotificationManager[764]: SUAppStoreUpdateController: install later for <none>
2021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts SoftwareUpdateNotificationManager[764]: SUAppStoreUpdateController: Triggering user side stash early for later updates
2021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts softwareupdated[273]: No keys specified for install-later registration
2021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts SoftwareUpdateNotificationManager[764]: SUOSUAuthenticationManager: No LocalAuth required
2021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts softwareupdated[273]: Queued (
      "<SUOSUProduct: MSU_UPDATE_20D91_patch_11.2.3>"
    ) for later
2021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts SoftwareUpdateNotificationManager[764]: SUOSUShimController: Armed: 1, with mode: 1, date: (null), updates queued for later: (
      "<SUOSUProduct: MSU_UPDATE_20D91_patch_11.2.3>"
    )
2021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts SoftwareUpdateNotificationManager[764]: Failed to create stash & update local policies: Error Domain=SUMacControllerError Code=7749 "[SUMacControllerErrorCommitStashInvalidState=7749] Committing the stash requires a valid prepare yet none is currently available (currently preparing)" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=[SUMacControllerErrorCommitStashInvalidState=7749] Committing the stash requires a valid prepare yet none is currently available (currently preparing), NSLocalizedDescription=Sichern der Benutzeranmeldedaten f<C3><BC>r das Softwareupdate zurzeit nicht m<C3><B6>glich.}
2021-03-13 20:25:03+01 imac-ts SoftwareUpdateNotificationManager[764]: Successful call to queueAutoUpdatesForLaterWithCompletionHandler

The solution to this was constantly trying to reboot.
I have left the Mac between 1 and 3 hrs between different attempts.
Then stopped the round and rebooted, retry.
On third attempt the OS was finally installed.
I do not know what the problem was.


Remove app preview from iOS 7 multitasking Using an iPad Mini, I preferred the paged, compact style of the app
switcher in iOS 6. In iOS 7 it is replaced by a scrolling interface
where I see 4 app-icons at a time at best and have the huge preview
cards quickly swishing through the screen.

While I can imagine the preview to become useful when e.g. writing in
one app and occasionally needing to steal a glance at another app
without actually switching apps, most of the time I find them merely
distracting; Especially the largely different movement speed of the
preview cards and the app icons.

Are there any possibilities to configure the behaviour/design of this
interface short of a jailbreak?

No, this isn't configurable on iOS 7.

We'll have to see what the jailbreak community comes up with for people wanting an alternate idiom or design for fast switching of apps.

As a sidenote, you can still use four finger swipe gestures to switch apps.


How to access gmail via pop instead of imap in mail.app in iOS 7.1 In iOS 6.x, my iPad and iPhone were connected with pop to gmail accounts. When I delete a message on the iPad or iPhone, the message is NOT deleted on the gmail server. So the message is still in my Apple Mail box on my OSX Lion Mac. The Mac Mail uses IMAP, so when I delete a message on the Mac, it IS deleted from the gmail server and the iPad and iPhone do not show the deleted message on their next update.
     How do I implement this "Mac is master" with the iPad and iPhone on iOS 7.1? I have tried enabling POP on the gmail server and told it to keep mail on the server's inbox. But  deleting on the iPad POP client still deletes the message from the server and it's no longer available on my IMAP Mac.

I'm following instructions from "https://support.google.com/mail/topic/3398031?hl=en&ref_topic=3396281" in the POP section. Am I missing something? Or is it just not possible anymore?

Go to your devices settings. Select "mail, contacts, calendar" > add account
Then choose "other" (NOT GMAIL!)
You will then be able to enter all the stuff manually and choose between imap and pop


Route all traffic to a particular domain/subdomain without VPN I'm using OpenVPN through Viscosity.

Is it possible to set it up in such a way that all traffic would go through the VPN, except traffic to a domain I'd specify (and all its subdomains, etc.)?

So only that one domain I'd specify would not use the VPN.

You'll want to add a static route to addresses you want, specifying the first hop in the chain, which can be an IP address or network device.

Here is a related question that involves establishing the static route at boot time.

Setting a static route every boot with launchd / plist is failing


Cannot launch gitk on Mojave: mapped file has no cdhash? I had a working version of git + gitk installed via homebrew on MacOS High Sierra.

After I upgraded to Mojave, I can no longer start gitk. It fails with the following error, repeated 105 times:

Error in startup script: 2018-11-16 09:30:53.167 osascript[48731:3339263]
    Error loading /Library/QuickTime/EyeTV MPEG Support.component/Contents/MacOS/EyeTV MPEG Support:
    dlopen(/Library/QuickTime/EyeTV MPEG Support.component/Contents/MacOS/EyeTV MPEG Support, 0x0106):
    code signature in (/Library/QuickTime/EyeTV MPEG Support.component/Contents/MacOS/EyeTV MPEG Support)
    not valid for use in process: mapped file has no cdhash, completely unsigned?
    Code has to be at least ad-hoc signed.

Any idea why I get this error or how I can solve it?

Thank you!

If you move "EyeTV MPEG Support.component" out of the /Library/QuickTime directory (to say your desktop) your Terminal should stop complaining about that component.  I had same issue.


Keyboard shortcut in Finder for selecting a different custom Favorite? I know I can get to e.g. Desktop with ⌘+⇧+D, but what about custom folders that I have added to Favorites? Can I move which Favorite is selected up and down?

You could use an application like Alfred or Automator services to assign shortcuts for opening folders:

If you want to open the folders over the current Finder window, you could use FastScripts to assign shortcuts to scripts like this:

tell application "Finder"
    reopen -- open a new file browser window if there are no open ones
    activate -- make Finder frontmost if the script was run with a global shortcut
    tell window 1
        set target to POSIX file "/Library/"
    end tell
end tell

Default Folder X allows adding custom shortcuts that work in both file dialogs and Finder.


iMessage conversations on iPad 2 are not appearing on my iPhone 5 I've just bought myself an iPhone 5, I've set up iCloud on it and synced it with my iPad. However, all of the iMessage conversations I had on my iPad are not showing up on my iPhone's iMessages. How can I load and continue to have my old iMessage conversations from my iPad to my iphone?

They are not stored in iCloud (or the iMessage server). This is for your own privacy.
They cannot be redownloaded.


Curve text in Microsoft Word for Mac 2011 How can I make my text follow a curve or arch shape in Microsoft Word for Mac 2011?

Insert -> WordArt, then Format tab appears.

Click Review tab.

Click Format tab again.

Now, click Effects button ("A"), and select "Transform" from the drop-down menu.

The arch, wavy lines, and other formats are shown under the "Warp" section on the ribbon.


How to wipe entire iCloud library without having to download it first? I have a Macbook and an iPhone who are both not syncing to iCloud, but the iCloud itself is filled with pictures that i want deleted. Is there any way of doing this without first having to delete thousands of pictures on one of them?

I tried doing it on the iPhone but apparently it says you can cancel it for 30 days, meaning i still cannot use the iCloud library since they're still in my "recently deleted", meaning if i enable it on any device, it's still going to download those thousands of pictures. Is there a way to just hard delete everything?

You can delete them on iCloud.com but deleting thousands will be painful. Photos can be permanently deleted immediately by deleting them from the "Recently Deleted" album.

Just enable iCloud Photo Library on the Mac using the "Optimized Size" setting and placeholder/thumbnails for the photos will quickly appear. Delete them from the regular Photos view then delete them again from "Recently Deleted" and you should be good.


APFS Partitions corrupted I recently ran Boot Camp Assistant to remove the Windows partition from my 2017 MacBook Pro, but during the partitioning step I quit Boot Camp Assistant. After restarting the computer the next time, I got a flashing drive icon and macOS was no longer booting.
My only option at this point was Internet recovery. I tried running Disk Utility, unfortunately First Aid seems to be unable to fix the problem:

Looks like the APFS Container got corrupted.
diskutil apfs list
|
+-- Container ERROR -69808
|   ======================
|   APFS Container Reference:     disk1
|   Size (Capacity Ceiling):      ERROR -69620
|   Capacity In Use By Volumes:   ERROR -69620
|   Capacity Not Allocated:       ERROR -69620
|   |
|   +-< Physical Store disk0s2 2881B334-866B-4DC7-98F9-2DB0B583B353
|   |   -----------------------------------------------------------
|   |   APFS Physical Store Disk:   disk0s2
|   |   Size:                       451000901632 B (451.0 GB)
|   |
|   +-> No Volumes

Next, I tried diskutil repairVolume on the APFS Volume, but again, no luck:
diskutil repairVolume disk0s2
Started file system repair on disk0s2
Repairing storage system
Performing fsck_apfs -y -x /dev/disk0s2
warning: nx_block_count is 122061322, while device block count is 110107642
error: object (oid 0x1): o_cksum (0x50eca9de0b97f54e) is invalid for object
Checking the container superblock
Storage system check exit code is 8
Error: -69716: Storage system verify or repair failed
Underlying error: 8

GPT partitions:
Password:
     start       size  index  contents
         0          1         PMBR
         1          1         Pri GPT header
         2          4         Pri GPT table
         6      76800      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
     76806  110107642      2  GPT part - 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
 110184448   11953680
 122138128          4         Sec GPT table
 122138132          1         Sec GPT header

Also, recovery tools like iBoysoft do see the APFS volumes and all the files after I provide the encryption password, so the volumes seems to be OK:

Is there any way I can re-build the partitions/APFS container so the disk will boot again? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Note: currently I am running a fresh install of Catalina on an external HDD.

Your best option is to use any recovery tools possible to mount the Volumes and get the files off the disk. If macOS Recovery can access it, then go to Disk Utility and simply make a disk image or something so that you have all your files. Then, remove the APFS Container Disk, and erase Apple SSD AP0512J... making sure that there is nothing left. Then, reinstall macOS from the reinstall macOS option in Recovery. This will allow your Mac to boot normally and you can later restore the files that you were able to previously recover.


Low-res photos when transferred from iPhone I have an iPhone 4S running iOS 8.1.0

When I take photos using the built-in camera app, and transfer them off my phone using DropBox or PhotoSync the photos mostly end up as low-res versions. Not all of them, but about 90%.

I've spent some time trying to work out what is going on and its melting my brain.

Things I know:

The problem is related somehow to the iPhone camera app as it doesn't happen with Camera+.
The photos do exist on my phone at full-res. If I plug my phone into the laptop with the USB cable, a drive gets mounted and I can get to my photos, copy them off and they are there basking in their high-res glory. That rules out any dumb stuff like 'was I using the front-facing camera' or 'have you set the phone to store photos at low-res'.
If I use DropBox or PhotoSync they come through as (mostly) low-res.
I'm not doing anything with iCloud as I know that causes lower-res versions.

Any help would be appreciated as it is doing my head in!

I believe the problem was fixed in either iOS 8.1.2 or possibly 8.1.1.

Running iOS 8.1.2, I have tested the same photos from my Camera Roll that gave me the issues described and they now transfer at the correct resolution.


Unable to set Photos system library I moved my Photos library to an external drive due to it's size.  I removed ~/Pictures/Photos Library.  When I launch Photos it asks to choose library.  I select "Other Library" and traverse to external drive where I select the photo library I moved.  Everything works as expected.  I then choose Photos preferences and and select "Use as System Photo Library".

The next time I launch Photos it cannot find the library and I have to go through the above sequence again.  I removed ~/Library/Prefernces/com.apple.Photos.plist and redid the procedure above.  When I check com.apple.Photos.plist it has the path to the external library.  Yet when I launch Photos it again says it can't find ~/Pictures/Photos Library.

Any recommendations what to try next?

This might be simpler using EasyFind from the App Store [freeware]

A search [including invisibles] for apple.photos immediately after launching Photos holding  Opt ⌥ , then quitting, shows several modified files, including

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Photos/Data/Library/Saved Application State/com.apple.Photos.savedState
/private/var/folders/nc/c83zpk8x7kd9qrxrd3nnbfym0000gn/T/com.apple.Photos.librarychooserservice

It might be useful [after making sure you have a good backup] to test out some of those. SavedState is always a prime candidate for this type of thing, I'm less sure about the chooserservice, but it sounds apropos.


IOS App that allows you to takes photos every X seconds and saving it in the camera toll (no time lapse) community

Is there an IOS app that allows you to capture photos every X seconds and automatically saves it in the camera roll (not like a time lapse that puts it in a single video)

Thanks a lot! :)

This app does the trick. It will save files to the camera roll. You can turn off the movie rendering.

IntervalCam - Create Timelapse Movies by TritheCat Studio
https://appsto.re/us/RunTR.i


Install openvpn custom config on iPhone I want to install OpenVPN on an iPhone 7 but can't get the OpenVPN app t open with the config file. I uploaded my own ovpn file to Google Drive and when I click on it it I can select "Open In" which shows me some apps including OpenVPN. If I tap OpenVPN it just flies away instead of opening the app.

I used the native Mail app which did work while Gmail and Drive would not work.


Is it possible to download/acquire iMovie 10.1.6? Two weeks ago, Apple released iMovie 10.1.7, which suddenly requires macOS 10.12.2 (previously it only required 10.11.2).

Unfortunately, my Mac, while perfectly capable of doing everything else I want, is stuck on 10.11, and now I want to use iMovie.

Is there any way to get an official copy of iMovie 10.1.6?

Get iMovie 10 via iMovie 9

It turns out that if you have iMovie 9, the App Store will allow you to upgrade to iMovie 10 without the normal checks.

I'm running macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 and the App Store just let me upgrade iMovie a moment ago.

Get iMovie 9

# 1. Download the iMovie 9.0.9 update package
curl 'https://updates.cdn-apple.com/2019/cert/041-98154-20191017-1fbef983-8d87-49af-83b1-edecc007ce2e/iMovie9.0.9Update.dmg' -o ~/Downloads/iMovie9.0.9Update.dmg

# 2. Mount the dmg
open ~/Downloads/iMovie9.0.9Update.dmg

# 3. Expand (unarchive) the pkg
pkgutil --expand /Volumes/iMovie\ 9.0.9/iMovie9.0.9Update.pkg ~/Downloads/iMovie/

# 4. Rename `Payload` to `Payload.zip`
mv ~/Downloads/iMovie/iMovie9.0.9Update.pkg/Payload ~/Downloads/iMovie/iMovie9.0.9Update.pkg/Payload.zip

# 5. Unpack `Payload.zip` (it will get named `Payload 2`)
open ~/Downloads/iMovie/iMovie9.0.9Update.pkg/Payload.zip

# 6. Move `iMovie.app` to the `Applications` folder
mv ~/Downloads/iMovie/iMovie9.0.9Update.pkg/Payload\ 2/Applications/iMovie.app /Applications/iMovie\ 9.0.9.app

# Enjoy!
open /Applications/iMovie\ 9.0.9.app

Get iMovie 10

Go into the App Store, see that the option now says "Upgrade".

In case when you can not upgrade iMovie because of information: "your system can not meet minimum system requirements" :

# 1. Check whether your App Store contains iMovie in tab "Purchased"
(You should see iMovie with button upgrade, If you don't see you should
turn on iMovie)

# 2. turn off iMove 9 and App store.

# 3. move to trash iMovie 9

# 4. Open App Store, go to "Purchases" tab and click "Install"

Notes

I don't know if this is perfectly reproducible, but I know that I just did it and it worked on my machine.

Some things that may or may not be important (i.e. I may have triggered a glitch mode):

I had opened App Store to iMovie 10 before installing iMovie 9
I installed iMovie 9 twice as a matter of verifying the script above
When I went back to App Store it gave the option of Upgrade instead of Get
I clicked upgrade and it downloaded, but requires a restart that I haven't done yet
I have a number of other downloaded but not installed upgrades in my queue

I hope that helps and it's not just me.


Is Private Browsing broken in Safari 5.1.4? From the release notes for Safari 5.1.4:

Allow cookies set during regular browsing to be available after using Private Browsing

What?

Doesn't that mean, to give an example, that if I go to Amazon in Private Browsing mode, Amazon will still know who I am, and all the things that I look at will appear as "recently visited" when I go to Amazon later (even on a completely different computer)?

If so, what good is Private Browsing mode?

Am I missing something here?

Note that secretly buying gifts as a surprise for loved ones is the "official" example often given for why one would want Private Browsing. Of course, If I actually buy them, I will have to tell Amazon about it, and it will enter my profile, but all the browsing before that could be hidden.

There was a bug that prevented cookies set begore going into safe mode from working again after the safe period had ended.

Imagine a truck with four wheel drive and when you were done and switched back to two wheel mode. It would be a problem if the indicators said two wheel but four was still engaged.

This text you quoted indicates the getting out of safe mode was tweaked so more things work again post safe mode.


How can I manipulate several security settings from terminal? I want to change these behaviors from terminal:

Auto-login
Showing password after screensaver and sleep mode
Go to sleep mode after x minutes
Enable screensaver after x minutes

1) Auto-login

That one is tricky. The default is saved in

defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow autoLoginUser

But in order to turn it on or off, you need to do it as root.

Set it:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow autoLoginUser ShortName

Delete it (turn it off):

sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow autoLoginUser

2) Showing password after screensaver and sleep mode

I've been trying to get that one to work, and I can't

You will see a lot of hints telling you that the answer is

defaults write com.apple.screensaver askForPassword 1

or variations like

defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver askForPassword -int 1

and that should work, because if you turn it off via System Preferences, you will see:

% defaults read com.apple.screensaver
{
    askForPassword = 0;
    askForPasswordDelay = 0;
    tokenRemovalAction = 0;
}

and then if you turn it back on via System Preferences, you will see

% defaults read com.apple.screensaver
{
    askForPassword = 1;
    askForPasswordDelay = 0;
    tokenRemovalAction = 0;
}

BUT if turn it OFF and the quit System Preferences and change the setting using 'defaults write', when I re-launch System Preferences, it does not reflect that change.

I'd really like to know the answer to that one (preferably without osascript, but if there is no other way, I'll accept it).

3) Go to sleep mode after x minutes

Assuming you mean "have the computer go to sleep after x minutes" you want:

sudo pmset sleep 20

You can also use different settings specifically for when you are on battery (for MacBooks):

sudo pmset -b sleep 10

If you want to specify never sleeping when plugged in, use

sudo pmset -c sleep 0

4) Enable screensaver after x minutes

@Daniel's recommendation worked for me:

sudo osascript -e 'tell application "System Events" to set delay interval of screen saver preferences to 30'

You can use 'sudo pmset displaysleep X' to have the display sleep instead of using the screensaver.


Refining a Sublime Text 2 / Transmit workflow I recently changed code editors from Coda to Sublime Text 2. All in all, I am finding that ST2 fits my web development workflow almost perfectly.

My one friction point is when interacting with an FTP server. I use Transmit (from Panic) to mount the server as a mounted disk. I then open that disk as a project in ST2.

When I do that, the Command-T / Command-P shortcuts in ST2 (used to quickly open any file using fuzzy matching) and the Find In Files feature does not return results until I drill down to those directories in the sidebar.

Now, I believe this is because Transmit has yet to "open" those directories and so the file system is unaware of what is in each directory.

Is there a way to either force Transmit to "open" those directories so they load instantly in ST2, or another alternative I haven't discovered yet?

Answering my own question here.

A follower on Twitter recommended Sublime FTP ($16), a third-party add-on by the author of Package Control, Will Bond.

For my own setup, I use his Sublime SFTP Solution which maps a local folder to the remote version. This setup allows me to quickly access my files.

Since working with remote files can come with some risk, I use Joel Thornton's Automatic Backups add-on to create a time-stamped backup of whatever file I have just saved. That way, in case something tragic happens, I can quickly roll back to an earlier version of my file.


Syncing Google Calendar with iPhone Alarms Does anyone know if there is a way to make google calendar alerts more intrusive on an iPhone? Currently, you just get a weak push notificiation, which is very easy to be ignored by accident.

One way would be to automatically sync calendar events with phone alarms (which are very intrusive, as they have to be manually disabled by users).

Is something like this possible with a jailbroken iPhone?

All you have to do is to choose a long and loud ringtone as your calendar alert sound. Try it, it works, and doesn't require any technical manipulation. You can change the alert from the preferences (and not within calendar itself).

You will probably have to make a ringtone yourself if the regular ones seem too harmless... A ringtone can be as long as 30 seconds. Here is how to make one: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-make-ringtones-for-iphone/

You can also set a second alarm in calendar for an event. It will be hard to miss two consecutive alerts of 30 seconds!