Managing giant eBook collection with iPad after iTunes update broke compatibility with Calibre? In an effort to upgrade security, a recent iTunes update broke functionality to Calibre - my favorite eBook management tool. Now I am without a way to effectively manage my eBook collection in a organized fashion between my iTunes library and my iPad. I find that although iTunes handles music well, it doesn't manage eBook libraries very well at all.

Here is message board post describing the iTunes security update.

Does anyone know how I can manage my eBook collection so I can keep track of what I have on my iPad and easily sync and manage my hundreds of books?

I had the same issue when iBooks got updated. The way I access Calibre when on my iPad is to put my Calibre library in Dropbox. Then, I can just access ebooks in Dropbox and 'Open With…' iBooks, read them, and delete them again. I used to do the same thing but using the CrashPlan app; either would work (it basically depends on what cloud storage system you have the most space with).

It's inelegant, but there's no more elegant way that I can think of.


Can I Connect to a Local SMB Share? When attempting to connect to smb://localhost/share, I receive an error that I ought to access the files locally. This is not always desirable. For example, this means I can not use my portable home on my Mac Mini that is serving the home directory.

Windows (via native SMB/CIFS) and other *nix systems (via Samba) can access local shares just fine. Why can I not do so on OS X?

According this this link it is possible:

https://www.chrisnewland.com/solved-mac-osx-samba-cifs-through-ssh-tunnel-error-the-server-localhost-is-available-on-your-computer-364

  Finder identifies smb://127.0.0.1 as a local filesystem and refuses
  to mount port 445 even if you've set up an SSH tunnel using

-L 445:localhost:445

  The solution is to alias your lo0 interface to
     127.0.0.2 and Finder doesn't see this as a local address.

sudo ifconfig lo0 127.0.0.2 alias up

  Create the ssh tunnel and map to your    Samba / CIFS server

ssh user@remote -L 127.0.0.2:445:smbhost:445

  Now you can open the share in Finder

smb://user@127.0.0.2


Can I upgrade my MacBook Pro using "generic" RAM? Has anyone tried just buying generic RAM (which is 1/2 the price) such as the Kingston or Corsair brands? I figure if it works just as well as the $200 pairs, why not! I am open to other suggestions as well.

Yes, you can buy third party RAM.  I usually buy Crucial RAM.  As long as it is made to be compatible with your machine (Same Bus Speed and such).  Usually, you can search these companies sites for RAM for your specific make and model MBP and they will have suggestions for it.

You can sometimes even put in more RAM than Apple says it can.  The companies test newer machines to see how much RAM they can handle.  For instance, the new current gen MBP only supports 8GB according to Apple, but 16GB of RAM will still work and won't cause any problems. It will work perfectly.

I am running 8GB of RAM in my machine, it cost me 46 dollars with shipping over 200 dollars from Apple.

Just be sure to keep you old RAM just in case your new RAM goes bad, which it most likely won't, but that way you have back up RAM to use in just such an occasion.

I hope that helps.


Tell macOS to only use swap and compressed memory when really needed (macOS 10.14 Mojave) As disabling swap and/or compressing memory is not recommended and also not a stable option after 10.9 Mavericks (despite the vm setting exists), I'm doomed after few days of running my Mac with my memory writing to the far-from-optimal pages of memory. As everything gets to swap or compressed memory so easily, I need to reboot my system relatively often (despite my 16GB RAM).

I'm searching for a solution which saves me from these slowdowns.

For example in Linux zramswap is optional. Also Linux has its swappiness value between 0 and 100 variable like

vm.swappiness=5

Also I may consider a solution about file cache (which usually randomly eats up tons of memory for no valid reason and fails to drop it before RAM turns to the less optimal purgatories of compressed memory and swap). For example here ZFS has an option on FreeBSD to maximize the size of file cache in memory:

vfs.zfs.arc_max="1536M"

In macOS the best known workaround for the file cache issue is running

# /usr/sbin/purge

Which is even "cronnable". So this flushes file cache, but unlikely to be optimal. It flushes too many things. Also if something is already in swap and/or compressed memory, despite the purge it stays there, so those softwares using them stay slow (and I feel that slowness, trust me).

Is there any solution to make macOS less likely to use file cache, compressed memory or swap (but still keep the first for performance and the latter two for emergency)?

I have the same issue and completely sympathise. Unnecessary swapping in the face of other options (e.g. shrinking the cached files area) has been a problem for years. It's made even worse under Mojave, where free memory - not even disk cache, but completely free - is present, but the system decides to use swap anyway. On an SSD, every write causes wear & tear to the hardware, so this is actually (albeit in a small way) physically damaging behaviour. Since the SSDs in modern Macs are soldered onto the main board, the situation is dire.

I've been told many times by very confident posters on sites such as this that free memory is a bad idea, because it's sitting there consuming power and being of no other use. Disc cache (at least) should consume it. I agree with this; Mojave does not, compressing data and swapping it to disc even when gigabytes of free memory are present. On my home laptop, sleep cycles make it even worse. Right now, after a wake-up the machine has 11GB free, 5GB in use and 6GB swapped. The gibberish "memory pressure" colour is green, whatever that means. It's utterly absurd and indefensibly broken.

I used to think there must be something I was installing or doing wrong, but on brand new Macs at work with nothing extra installed, consuming RAM via opening lots of tabs in Safari will soon enough show use of swap space despite lots of free RAM.

And yes, it lags - badly at times. This definitely has a performance impact.

I know of no solution. Apple Engineering claim it 'works as designed'.


Where's the iTunes app section for my iPhone? I just updated itunes to 12.7.0.166 before making a backup of my iphone 5. To my surprise I can't find an apps section when configuring the phone in itunes, nor can I find the apps section in the itunes library itself.

I'm confused. Have they removed that section in the update? If so, then that would make my backups useless -- there is no way to back up my apps. Transferring purchases from the phone does nothing, it just finishes immediately.

I could not find an itunes changelog.

Do I need to downgrade itunes to make a decent restore of my phone nowadays?

Update:
To clarify, I have apps that are no longer available for download. There is no other option than itunes.

You can find a overview/summary of iTunes 12.7 changes on this Apple support page.

Changes include:

  Apps: Looking for your past iOS app downloads? Learn how to redownload apps on your iOS device.
  iTunes U: Collections of iTunes U content appear in the Podcasts section of iTunes.
  Internet Radio: Your Internet Radio stations appear in your music library's sidebar. Click Edit in the sidebar to show or hide Internet
  Radio.
  Ringtones: iOS 11 supports redownloading ringtones directly to your iOS device, without the need to use iTunes on your Mac or PC.
  Books on Windows: Books on iTunes for Windows are managed in iBooks for iOS. Learn how to redownload books on an iOS device.

  If you have an iOS app, ringtone, or book that's no longer available
  for redownload, you can move that content to your iOS device while
  plugged in to a computer with a USB cable.

According to MacWorld:

  Where it will really hurt is if and when you need to restore an iPhone
  or iPad. You can still perform iTunes backups, but the restore won’t
  transfer apps from your Mac, but instead re-download them over the
  Internet from Apple. That can easily consume gigabytes of bandwidth,
  depending on your app choices. Many users download few apps, or those
  apps that are relatively modest, and this won’t be as big a hit.

  There’s no way to bypass or minimize this problem. If you have any kinds of restrictions on your internet service—whether in performance or limits—you should consider using a public Wi-Fi hotspot or the Wi-Fi of a friend without those limits. You’ll need to plan ahead when you wipe and want to restore an iOS device.

So to answer your question, that section (apps) has been removed from iTunes, and restoring apps will require redownloading via the AppStore in iOS. Plan on using Wi-Fi or a hotspot to prevent large data usage when redownloading apps.


How can I remove the music bar in iMovie 10.0.3? I last used iMovie 3 months ago, but now it's totally different.  I've figured out some things, but under the audio track there is now space for a music track, which I'm not using, and I can't see how to hide it.  It takes up so much room that I can't see enough of my clip to work on.  Is there any way to hide the music track if I'm not adding music?

I presume you're referring to this bar at the bottom of the timeline:

At the time of writing (iMovie 10.0.4) this bar can not be hidden from the timeline. You can provide feedback to Apple here:

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


Is it possible to have only one notification for a text message until the message is read? I've been looking for a while but I cannot find out if I can limit it so that I only receive the first notification and no others until I've read the message.

There is a notification setting that will prevent the same text message from generating a follow up notification after a period of time (default is 2 minutes I believe).

I'm looking for a solution for Person A sends me 4 texts in the span of a minute. I'd like to not get a notification for messages 2 through 4 unless I've read 1.

Wouldn't it be Settings -> Notifications -> Messages -> Repeat Alerts -> Never?


Can't boot to OSX on 2013 Macbook Air after installing Windows 8 I installed Windows 8 using the Bootcamp today. During the partition screen when installing Windows 8, there was no NTFS partition. There was one partition which said Bootcamp on it. I formatted it and selected it for Windows installation. Everything went well and Windows is installed.

But now I am unable to boot into my OSX. Every time I start my Mac it directly goes to Windows.

Is there anyway I can get OSX back? I do need Windows though.

Have you tried holding down the option key when you reboot? You can also select the default boot disk from the bootcamp GUI in windows.


What files are included in the /System/Library/LaunchAgents and /System/Library/LaunchDaemons I bought a used MacBook recently and want to know if it has anything nonstandard like mdm, etc. I have many items invthese folders, such as com.apple.mdmclient.plist, com.apple.managedclient.plist, etc. although I see no signs of having mdm profiles. Is it standard to be included in /System/Library/LaunchAgents and /System/Library/LaunchDaemons?

It is Mojave’s 10.14.4 and I have erased the hardcover and reinstalled the OS.

On macOS any MDM enrollment is not hidden. You are prompted as part of device enrollment and even if you accept, the system preferences show the profile control visually always and clearly. If you have no profile entry in system preferences (check that it's not enabled and hidden by selecting Customize from the view menu - if you don't see it - you're not managed)

Enumeration of /S/L/LaunchAgents and LaunchDaemons can be done, but I wouldn’t waste any time once you wiped the drive and reinstalled the os.

On my Mac - there are 304 system launch agents and 339 system launch daemons - including the ones you mentioned. Those frameworks exist on all macOS installs to work with MDM and not to indicate your Mac is currently managed. Just that it could later become managed if you enroll it or approve device enrollment if Apple points your Mac to an MDM endpoint.

mac:~ me$ ls -la /System/Library/LaunchAgents | wc -l
     304
mac:~ me$ ls -la /System/Library/LaunchDaemons | wc -l
     339
mac:~ me$ sw_vers
ProductName:    Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.14.5
BuildVersion:   18F132
mac:~ me$ ls -la /System/Library/Launch* | egrep -i "mdm|managed"
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel   1525 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.ManagedClientAgent.agent.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel    549 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.ManagedClientAgent.enrollagent.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel   1458 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.mdmclient.agent.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel    719 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.ManagedClient.cloudconfigurationd.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel    516 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.ManagedClient.enroll.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel    523 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.ManagedClient.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel    645 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.ManagedClient.startup.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel    792 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.mdmclient.daemon.plist
-rw-r--r--    1 root  wheel    578 Aug 20  2018 com.apple.mdmclient.daemon.runatboot.plist


How do I make a terminal alias that edits root owned files in a GUI text editor? How can I quickly edit root owned files like /etc/hosts and /etc/apache2/httpd.conf in a text editor such as TextEdit which would let me do modern text editor operations, without actually running the editor in sudo -b mode first, or without using nano, vim and other terminal based editors?

Ever since Lion came out, doing

$sudo open -e /etc/hosts

no longer works - the file remains locked when TextEdit opens it.

sudo and open provide all the functionality already for editing files of other users so you can just run

SUDO_EDITOR="open -FWne" sudo -e /etc/hosts

to edit /etc/hosts. Make sure to quit Textedit at the end (Cmd-Q) because otherwise sudo won't notice that you're done with editing.

To make life easier add the following to your .bashrc (or .alias if you have it)

alias sudoedit='SUDO_EDITOR="open -FWne" sudo -e'


Auto Delete Hidden File when USB Connected? I have a MacAir running El Capitan with all updates. I use a USB stick to move movies from Mac to Samsung Smart TV. The TV writes a hidden file " .device_info_*** " (long abstract filename). This file keeps details of movie folders in it... but does not update. So when I delete a movie... the folder stays hidden on the stick in this file and shows again when connected to the TV. I have created a work around by showing hidden files and deleting this file... the old folder info disappears when viewing on the TV and the TV writes a new file when USB is reinserted. But the whole process starts all over again.

I want to have an auto script that deletes the .device_info_*** file every time the USB is connected to my MacAir - without any user interface or questions about "are you sure, etc" . The asterisks in my example are wildcards because the filenames created are different every time (after the .device_info_ part of the name).

What script would do this? And can wild cards be used as part of the filename in the script?

I am not a script writer but am pretty savvy.

Here's a Keyboard Maestro script that deletes a file when a partition is mounted:

If you want wildcards, it might be more useful to use a script action with rm:

rm /Volumes/volumename/.file*


How do I access the backup of my iPod Touch? I backed up my iPod Touch (4th gen) a few months ago on iTunes. My iPod has subsequently died and I want to get at the photos and videos from the backup. But I can't seem to find them anywhere.

Where are they stored, and how do I get access to them?

iPod Touch 4th gen, iTunes on a Windows machine.

If you are using Windows 7, the backup file is located here:
C:\Users\[yourusername]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

If you are on Windows XP, I'm sorry, and your backup file is located here:
C:\Documents and Settings\[yourusername]\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

The backup file is a database file. You won't be able to browse it manually. You can either restore it to another iOS device, or you can use specialized software to extract the data for you. This is but one example of software that does this: http://www.iphonebackupextractor.com


Got Stuck When Installing Octave in High Sierra I've tried to install Octave using homebrew by using this command:
brew install octave.
But after make sign, I got stuck and nothing happened more than a half hour.

➜  ~ brew install octave
==> Installing dependencies for octave: gcc, veclibfort, arpack, jpeg, libtiff, little-cms2, ghostscript, epstool, fftw, cmake, jasper, netpbm, fig2dev, fltk, freetype, fontconfig, gl2ps, glpk, webp, gd, lua, gnuplot, graphicsmagick, szip, hdf5, flac, libogg, libvorbis, libsndfile, pcre, portaudio, plotutils, xz, imagemagick, pstoedit, qhull, qrupdate, metis, suite-sparse
==> Installing octave dependency: gcc
==> Downloading https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gcc/gcc-8.1.0/gcc-8
Already downloaded: /Users/asrulsibaoel/Library/Caches/Homebrew/gcc-8.1.0.tar.xz
==> ../configure --build=x86_64-apple-darwin17.4.0 --prefix
==> make

How can I solve this?

The installation appears to be waiting on installing gcc. Take the following measures one by one.

If the installation is still stuck at make, cancel it by pressing Control + c.
Enter brew cleanup --prune=0 to clear the local cache.
Enter brew update followed by brew upgrade to update the local cache of package repository.
Run brew config and check the output corresponding to CLT: key. It should shaw the version of installed Command Line Tools. If it says NA, install Command Line Tools by executing xcode-select --install.
Once Command Line Tools are done installing, confirm by observing the output of brew config.
Reattempt installation of Octave by running brew install octave.


How do I restore a case-sensitive, journaled Time Machine backup to a case-insensitive, journaled filesystem? I would effectively like to switch from a case-sensitive journaled filesystem to that of a case-insensitive journaled filesystem. Booting into Lion's recovery allows me to format the drive as I wish, however, no matter what I choose Time Machine will always reformat it as a case-sensitive journaled filesystem (which makes sense). My question is, how can I make this switch?

The correct answer (after several days of experimentation) was to remove all ambiguously named files that would have a conflict. Then using another admin user, restore the original user using migration assistant. If you don't remove ambiguously named files, migration assistant will move what it can and then fail at some point giving no indication that it actually failed. You'll be without data and you won't know what.


How to Sync my Mail app with my Gmail account? I want to start using my Mail app on Mac the same way I use it on my iPhone. On my iPhone once I read an email it is marked as read in my gmail account as well (if I access it from the web) and vice versa, this does not happen with Mail on my Mac.

If I read an email on my iPhone it is still marked as unread on my Mac, and if I read an email on my Mac it is still marked unread on both my gmail (the web interface) and my iphone. Is there a way to sync Mail with my Gmail account properly?

Check to see if Gmail on your Mac is set up to use IMAP instead of POP3 by going to Preferences > Accounts in Mail. IMAP syncs the read / unread status (among a host of other benefits).

If it's not set up to use IMAP then you'll have to remove the account and add it again, this time making sure to select IMAP in the account wizard.


Migrate OS X using Migration Assistant and Time Machine - not enough space I desparately need to migrate from Mac OS X 10.5.8 running on a rather old Mac Pro to 10.10 running on a new Mac Mini. To achieve this, I was planning on using the Migration Assistant (MA) tool with a Time Machine (TM) backup stored on a USB drive. However, MA keeps telling me that there is not enough space to complete the migration, even though the TM backup is ~24 GB, and the Mac Mini comes with a 500 GB HD.

I have checked here:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/11412283#24471966

but none of the advice given there help me. I have also checked the disk (multiple times) using diskutil.

Do you guys have any tips on how to resolve this? Are there any other ways in which I could perform the transition?

Thanks a LOT in advance!

EDIT: I have tried to connect the two machines via FireWire - same issue. In the dialog box where I can select what to migrate, I have tried unselecting user data, applications, etc. What's strange is that MA keeps telling me I have not enough space on the target drive even if I unselect everything except for, say, the settings.

The same thing happened to me. I lost a Mac virtual machine, which was not backed up by time machine on the host system, but it WAS backed up by the guest OS X system itself. After creating a new guest OS X system and figuring out that Migration Assistant was the correct method of restoring from a Time Machine backup, I was blocked by the same issue. MA claimed that I needed more space to restore the data from the backup. My target system was a single drive system with 80GB of total space and 60GB free, while the backup was only around 30GB in size. Even when only a small amount of files were selected, MA refused to restore it.

The target system had Server.app installed, while the original system backed up did NOT have Server.app installed. So, I simply moved Server.app to the Trash, and tried MA again... this time it worked and had no issues.


AirPods: listen to audio + record video + use microphones? I'm trying to record some sing-along videos that will later be merged.  This is for a school musical during quarantine, and we will be making a lot of these clips, so a good capture process would really help.

It would be super slick if I could do all of the following at the same time:

Use AirPods with an iPhone or Mac.
Listen to a song through the AirPods.  (I can arrange to stream it in almost any imaginable way.)
Record a video.
Use the AirPods' microphone(s) as the (only!) audio source for the video.

Many thanks in advance if anyone knows a recipe.  I'm happy to buy an app if that will do it.

Plan B is to use the iPhone and AirPods only for listening, and use a separate camera.  But I don't have a separate camera that has a good microphone, so I'd have to live with the lousy audio, or buy new camera & mic hardware, maybe a vidcast setup.

I believe as long as your AirPods are connected they will be used as the default microphone input, so any video recording software will work fine.

For example, in QuickTime Player, go to File > New Movie Recording. Then click on the arrow next to the record button and you can select exactly which microphone and video inputs to use if it's not already default.


How do I silence Siri on my HomePod mini? By default, Siri on HomePod mini comes enabled and very loud, and the minimum volume (as far as I can tell) is irritatingly loud. In fact, the whole talkback from Siri (confirming commands, etc.) is irritating and unnecessary. But I can't find how to simply shut off talkback (as I can with Siri on my iPhone).
How do I silence Siri's talkback on my HomePod mini?

Try these:
In the Home app on your iOS or iPadOS device, touch and hold a HomePod.
Scroll down, tap the Settings button, then do any of the following:

Deny access to Personal Requests: Tap Personal Requests, then turn off each HomePod you don't want to use Personal Requests on.
Disable “Hey Siri” requests: Turn off Listen for “Hey Siri.”
Disable summoning Siri using HomePod touch controls: Turn off Touch
and Hold for Siri.
Disable indicator light when Siri is listening: Turn off Light When
Using Siri.
Hear a chime when Siri is listening: Turn on Sound When Using Siri.
Turn off VoiceOver: Tap Accessibility to access settings for
VoiceOver and for Touch Accommodations. See Use HomePod touch
controls.

Source: https://support.apple.com/guide/homepod/change-settings-apde6dc8093d/homepod


Applescript- I made an auto scrolling code and need to know how to stop it Edit: This is the most recent code I have now... How can I get it to stop (change the value of x) when I run a separate script?

    set x to 0

tell application "Google Chrome"
    set urlName to URL of active tab of front window
end tell

if urlName is "https://www.facebook.com" then

    tell application "System Events"
        tell application process "Google Chrome"
            set frontmost to true
            repeat while x = 0
                key code 38
                delay 1
            end repeat
        end tell
    end tell

else

    tell application "System Events"
        tell application process "Google Chrome"
            set frontmost to true
            repeat while x = 0
                key code 49
                delay 1
            end repeat
        end tell
    end tell

end if

I have redone the script, again. That code before was ridiculous tbh. I got a little ahead of myself... Let's try this again... Save this as a "stay open" application again, named anything. You'll just have to quit it when you want to stop scrolling, and start it up again when you want to continue. I advise putting it on your Dock for easy access:

global script_PID
on run
    tell application "Google Chrome" to activate
    delay 1
    tell me to activate
end run

on idle
    tell application "Google Chrome"
        tell active tab of front window
            set urlName to URL
            if (execute javascript "if (window.pageYOffset + window.innerHeight >= document.body.clientHeight){true;}else{false;}") is false then
                execute javascript "window.scrollBy(0,window.innerHeight - 40);"
            else
                tell me to quit
            end if
        end tell
    end tell
    return 1
end idle

Tell me if you have any issues with this.


How do I change the brightness button to scroll lock button? I recently bought a PSPY keyboard and I tried to turn on the light on the keyboard.

It connects to my Mac which runs 10.15 Catalina. I tried doing FN + ScrollLock, but it only brightened by laptop.

Do I have to go to setting and change the function or do I need to verify USB is working correctly on my portable Mac?

USB could be working correctly and the keyboard could need a program or another OS and driver to be updated and controlled.

Have you already ruled out getting support from the vendor or seller? Without any sort of details it will be a lucky coincidence if someone can guess what hardware you bought.


Can anyone tell what does the number 33 mean in my lock screen of iOS 10? Recently, I tried iOS 10 public beta in my iPhone 6, but I am confused by the lock screen, see the picture, my question is what  the number 33 means in my lock screen?

Update: In the new version of iOS 10 public beta 2, this confusion is no longer existed.

Note: This was an issue in early betas of iOS 10. The correct string in Chinese characters is displayed in Developer Beta 3/Public Beta 2.

Original Content:

The number is the current "year" in the current cycle of the Chinese Sexagenary Cycle.

Year 33 of the current cycle corresponds to 丙申 in the Stem-Branch system, which is displayed when the date is displayed in the Calendar application (both iOS and OS X/macOS).

General formula for converting years 4 AD/CE and later is floor(western year - 3)/60), where floor is equivalent to taking only the part in front of the decimal.

Example: floor((2016-3)/60) = floor(2013/60) = floor(33.55) = 33

See the link for more details on the system.

In iOS, previous versions may have displayed the long string which can be seen when opening the Day view of the Calendar app.

To enable/disable this display, go to Calendar > Alternate Calendars in the Settings app.


Yosemite and Parallels I was wondering if adding more RAM would help the stalls and poor performance of a mid-2011 iMac. It was working great until I upgraded to Yosemite and the newer Parallels.

If your machine is starved for RAM then it will be swapping pages of memory out to disk.

You can check this whenever you find your Mac stalling and performing poorly by opening Activity Monitor and checking the Memory tab. At the bottom of the window you should see a value labelled "Swap Used". If you regularly find a significant value against this then your Mac could likely use more RAM. Ideally you want this to say "0 bytes".

The coloured Memory Pressure graph can also tell you how efficiently your RAM is being used (i.e. is your Mac constantly having to swap things in or out of RAM). From Activity Monitor Help:

Green memory pressure: Your computer is efficiently using all of your RAM.

Yellow memory pressure: Your computer might need more RAM eventually.

Red memory pressure: Your computer needs more RAM.

Speaking from personal experience, Parallels (or any software that runs virtual machines) need a lot of RAM to perform well. Of course it depends on how much RAM you are allocating to your virtual machines.


Macbook Pro Retina – "Battery Is Not Charging" My Retina MacBook Pro is currently on 4% battery power, but when I plug it in, the battery icon up the top shows the plug icon instead of the lightning bolt icon inside it to say it's charging and stays on the same 4%. How can I fix this so that my laptop charges fully?

Screenshot:

This happens to me too. I clean the connectors, especially the area around the pins on the computer case. This is a very small area; last time I used a heavy paper stock card and cleaned out any dust or debris that might have been there. Problem solved!  This has happened to my computer a few times and the solution is always getting either the power connector pins clean, or the metal areas immediately adjacent cleaned. It could be a grounding issue.


MacBook Pro 2011 miniDisplay port VS Hdmi - Best Adapter? I've got a 2011 MacbookPro 2011 with miniDisplay port, and a I Recently bought this beautiful monitor: Asus VS248HR Gaming Monitor

I currently have a VGA adaptor, and even though that is a really nice monitor, it doesn't seem like one over the VGA connection type; therefore I would like to buy a HDMI adaptor and connect my new monitor over HDMI.

I've found several cheap adaptors on amazon, but a couple of questions bug my head:

One: can I possibly have a good resolution/overall good vision performance if I use one of those cheap HDMI adaptors you can find on Amazon, or I need to buy the more expensive Apple one?
Second question: will my resolution improve after connecting the new monitor over HDMI?

Thank you guys

Your MacBook Pro is officially capable of displaying an external resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. Using a HDMI cable is not going to improve on this.

As far as the type of MiniDisplay port > HDMI adapter you opt for, we can't comment on one of those cheap HDMI adaptors you can find on Amazon as there are countless cheap adapters around and you'd really have to specify a specific model. However, what I can tell you is:

You don't need to buy the more expensive Apple one.
You should opt for a reputable well known brand if you're not going to buy an Apple one, not just a cheap and nasty brand you've never heard of before, as the quality of cable/connector can make a real difference.


Have AirDrop auto-accept files from a certain other mac? I have two macs in separate rooms and like to use AirDrop to transfer files between them, but having to accept on the receiver every time I send a file is annoying.

Is there a way to tell AirDrop always to accept files coming from a certain other Mac?

TUAW just featured an app called DropCopy yesterday. It has been around for about 4 years and one of the first sentences I read popped out and reminded me of this question.

  For one, DropCopy can auto-accept file transfers. Meaning, your recipient needn't be in front of his/her machine to initiate or accept a transfer. That's handy if you want some files to be waiting at a remote work station upon your arrival.

It's a bit of give-and-take. DropCopy DOES require all the computers to be on the same network. It does not set up a second channel AdHoc network even where supported, but it offers compatibility outside of Lion and lots of additional features.

  The way it works is similar to AirDrop. Just drag-and-drop your file onto the Dropzone and it'll show all the possible destinations. Participating machines must be running DropCopy on the same network. Simple.

Via TUAW's screenshot, DropCopy can also transfer your clipboard contents, send text messages, and also supports multiple computers.

DropCopy is free for the first 3 computers, can be downloaded for free on the Mac App Store, purchased from 10base-t interactive's website, and even has an iOS version.


How to securely wipe all data from iOS device prior to sale Ive got a couple of iPads that i no longer use that i wish to sell on eBay.

They run a range of iOS versions from iOS 9-12

What steps should i take to make sure that data, passwords, photos, accounts etc stored on the iPad are secure and not recoverable once the device is with a 3rd party.

Settings > General > Erase All Content and Settings is the Apple method for preparing your iDevice for sale or giveaway.

Steps below lifted entirely from the Apple support page linked above.

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

If you paired an Apple Watch with your iPhone, unpair your Apple Watch.
Back up your device.
Sign out of iCloud and the iTunes & App Store.

If you're using iOS 10.3 or later, tap Settings > [your name]. Scroll down and tap Sign Out. Enter your Apple ID password and tap Turn Off.
If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, tap Settings > iCloud > Sign Out. Tap Sign Out again, then tap Delete from My [device] and enter your Apple ID password. Then go to Settings > iTunes & App Store > Apple ID > Sign Out.

Go back to Settings and tap General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. If you turned on Find My iPhone, you might need to enter your Apple ID and password.
If asked for your device passcode or Restrictions passcode, enter it. Then tap Erase [device].
If you're switching to a non-Apple phone, deregister iMessage.
Contact your carrier for help transferring service to a new owner. If you aren't using a SIM card with your device, you can contact them to get help transferring service to the new owner.


How can I know whether an app supports the iPad Retina display? In the app store is there any easy, ideally universal way to tell whether an app supports Retina graphics? A great deal of apps have a What's New entry that says "Added Retina Support" or "Support for New iPad" but as time passes that won't be a good measure.

I've noticed some apps have lower-res thumbnails (I can only tell by looking) on my Homescreen but the App Store icons tend to look perfectly clear. Of course running the app I can usually immediately see if it's the old resolution, but I'd like to be able to tell before I download (or purchase!) the app.

How can I tell if an app is Retina enabled from the app store?

Unfortunately there is no way uniformed way to verify iPad Retina Display support. But I wouldn't expect there to be one since Retina and Non Retina iPad applications, from a hardware support standpoint, are identical. Retina Display capable apps will run perfectly fine on the first and second gen iPads. Therefore, there would not be any need for Apple to list this under the requirements section. You're only option is to read the the change log found within the description section of each application.

I don't think there is any need for you to avoid buying any application simply because it does not support iPad's Retina Display. I would expect any of these apps in question will eventually get the update needed. I would suggesting checking out the last updated date for whichever app you're interested in purchasing. It is always a good sign if the app has been updated recently since it shows active support from the developer. Any app that hasn't been updated in a year is likely one you would want to avoid.

Lastly, a lot of these applications scale wonderfully on the iPad and even if you notice the pixelation from the lacking support of the iPad's Retina Display, that pixelation will be rather minor and hardly ruin the app experience.


MacBook will not turn on I have a MacBook pro and it won't turn on. Basically I press the power button and the White light at the front turns on. Then a few seconds later it just crashes and the White light goes off then the laptop turns back on but just seems to be stuck you can hear it and the White light stays on (not flashing like in sleep) and that's it. It just stays like that no screen or keyboard lights, nor the Apple logo. I have tried restarting it and tried holding all the key combinations that the apple site suggest, but still it doesn't work. I've tried it with the power cable plugged in and without.
It's a 2008 model 15".

I spent ages saving up for the laptop, and if you've eve had a problem with your mac you should know how worrying it is. So any help no matter how big all small would be very welcome. And I'll add a bounty for all my reputation if answers start appearing.

There is a problem with the NVIDIA graphics processors that can prevent the MacBook Pro for powering on. I have a 2008 15" MacBook Pro that had symptoms similar to what you are describing about a month ago. I took it to the Genius Bar and they determined that it was the NVIDIA chip causing it and replaced the logic board for free despite the fact that it was not under warranty and I didn't have AppleCare.

My recommendation is to take it in to the Genius Bar and have them check it out. I have found they have great support and have fixed problems out of warranty (such as this one) on more than one occasion. However, it looks like from the comments on another answer that you have done this already. It might be worth a shot trying again and take the support article with you to see if they change the diagnosis.

Or perhaps this answer might help someone else experiencing the same problem.


Retrieving a file from an iOS backup So I have recently updated from iOS 6 to 7, but in the process, I did a clean restore. Beforehand though, I have done a backup in iTunes before the update.

Something I forgot to grab when doing the restore was a voice memo that I somewhat need. And my question is, is there a way to get the voice memo without restoring my iPhone to iOS 6 and restoring from the backup just to get the file?

I would do the restore and get the memo (or sync them all to iTunes or another program like PhoneView)

That might take 10 seconds of your brain time to get going and some waiting. I've not found a speedy way to dig amongst the backup files to locate specific memos.

The backup files are stored plainly in ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/ but there might be 8,000 files with names friendly to the backup process and not to you and I.

Perhaps if you knew the size of the file, you could narrow down the audio file or drag a few hundred of the closest sized files into iTunes to see which of them are actual sound / movie files. Scripting the file command to determine which are sound files might narrow the search.


Creating iTunes ID using existing Apple ID I've an Apple ID already, which I got after registering at developer.apple.com. Now when I sign-in using iTunes, it says the id has not been used with iTunes and needed to review. When I click on review button, it asks some information and my credit card details. Since I am not purchasing anything, I put a card info which I rarely use. On Clicking submit, it doesn't accept the card info.
Why apple need Card info just to sign-in to iTunes, and will it deduct any money for signing in??

When you registered at developer.apple.com, had you Provided credit card information? If you had, the card information which iTunes needed must same as it. Don't worry，if you don't purchase anything, it will not incur any costs.
Actually, you can register an Apple ID without credit card. Go to the App Store, pick a free app to download. And click Creat Apple ID. Now you can Select NONE when it asks you credit card details.


Parenthesis don't show in built-in iPhone calculator app When you open the iOS's built in calculator app and rotate iPhone you get the scientific calculator.

I am trying to use parenthesis ( ) to write something like (2+2)/4 but the parenthesis don't appear!

How do I enter that expression?

The built-in calculator doesn't offer any visual clues to let you know you've opened a sub-group operation in an expression. The only thing that tips you off is you'll get a sub-result after you close the group show up in the display. For example, enter the following:

5 + ( 3 + 3 )

After you type the opening ( you don't see anything on the display. But when you press the closing ) the display shows you 6 to tip you off to the fact that the 3 + 3 operation was performed.

I prefer the TouchCalc app myself. It will show a small ( in the lower left corner of the display when you open a sub-expression grouping so you know you're actually perserving your order of operations as intended.


Spaces and Expose Overview using the 2nd Monitor I have two monitors, and 9 (3x3) virtual desktops. When I invoke the Spaces overview mode of expose, everything gets pulled onto the primary display. It creates one overview with 3x3 desktops, although each desktop is a weird shape of two rectangles touching and offset, representing the two monitors.

I would much prefer to have both desktops used for this view, with a 3x3 display of the primary spaces on the primary display, and a 2nd 3x3 display of the secondary desktops on the second display.

Does anyone know of a defaults command or 3rd party app that supports this?

As far as I know, it’s not possible to show the Spaces Overview on both screens. It will always be shown in the primary display and the other will fade to black. I haven’t come across any utility that does that. Hyperspaces is nice, but it doesn’t do that. Although if you really use spaces, I’d recommend you give it a look. Read their blog and possibly ask the author if such thing would be possible for future versions. He’s working on version 2.0 at the moment and you never know… :)


3GS iPhone will not update to iOS 5 According the iOS 5 features page on Apple's web site, the 3GS is supported. When I push the "Check for Update" button in iTunes, it says "This version of the iPhone software (4.2.1) is the current version." I'm running iTunes 10.5.142 on Windows. I have also used this same setup to upgrade my iPhone 4.

Is there something else I need to do here? Could it be refusing because this phone does not have a carrier anymore and I use it only over WiFi?

Simple answer: You don't have a 3GS, but rather a 3G. The last iOS update for the 3G was 4.2.1. A 3GS ran all the way up to 4.3.5, which was the last public release of iOS 4. If you are running 4.2.1 and iTunes doesn't even see the 4.3.5 update, then, well, that's pretty telling that you don't actually have a 3GS but a 3G.


MacBook Pro suddenly started to freeze with any action (using SSD) I'm having a trouble with my MacBook Pro (Mid 2012).

I have upgraded it (5 months ago) to use a Kingston SSD instead of a SATA, and everything was perfect. Very fast and smooth...until yesterday. I was working and then when it was time to go home, i just pull down the monitor and the macbook went to sleep. When i came home and open my MacBook, it was just a disaster, EVERY SINGLE action, even click on any button, causes to freeze and the apple colorful ball (loading) appears.

Today i tried to put another SSD (samsung) to test if was my SSD that has a problem, but the problem remained. Then i tried to use a simple SATA and everything is normal (i'm asking now from my macbook with a SATA HD).

What do you think it could be?

This are my configs:
 - MacBook Pro Mid 2012
 - 13"
 - i7
 - 12Gb RAM
 - Intel graphics 1024
 - El Capitain OS X

p.s.: My SSD is almost full.

It sounds like you have a faulty SATA cable. Others have reported this same problem when upgrading from a standard HD to a SSD with Mid-2012 MacBook Pro laptops.

You can find more information over at Apple’s Support site:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/24783957#24783957


OSX file navigation for pictures like windows In windows I can hold control and use my arrow keys. When I find a file I want to be included in the group selection I hit the space bar(I think this is how it works) and it will add to the selected list of items.

I'm not working by file name, I'm working by picture preview. So the ability to scroll through the list and see previews is important while group selecting. I'm trying to delete pictures. I have thousands in one folder. Should I use win32 to do this? or am I just missing how to do it with OSX?

I often select images to keep or delete by generating HTML files like this:

printf %s\\n ~/Pictures/folder/*.jpg|while read l;do printf %s "";done>/tmp/a.html;open /tmp/a.html

Then I for example move the files I opened in tabs to another folder:

osascript -e 'set text item delimiters to linefeed' -e 'tell app "Safari" to URL of tabs of window 1 as text'|cut -d/ -f3-|xargs gmv -t ~/Desktop


Applescript error: "Connection is invalid" when app quits I'm working on some code to check on the currently open tabs/windows in my installed web browsers, like so:

on checkbrowser()

    if application "Safari" is running then
        tell application "Safari"
            set windowList to (every window)
            # do some stuff
        end tell
    end if

end checkbrowser

repeat while 1 = 1
    checkbrowser()
end repeat

This works perfectly as long as Safari stays open. If Safari is ever closed while the script is running, I get this message:

  error "Safari got an error: Connection is invalid." number -609

The problem is something to do with (every window). If Safari quits, shouldn't the if statement prevent the script from even going to that line of the code? But that is where it throws the error.

Any ideas? Thanks!

--
Edit: Found the solution here.

The key was to put the problematic code inside a try block. Like this:

    if application "Safari" is running then
        tell application "Safari"
            try
                set windowList to (every window)
                # do some stuff
            on error number -609
            end try
        end tell
    end if

This way, the script ignores the error -609 and just moves along, which is what I wanted.


Make meta + arrows count underscore as words? I find myself using the meta + arrow keys constantly.

When I am editing code, it would be nice if I could count underscores as words so that when I decide to rename a variable it goes to the character right after the underscore.

For example, if I have a variable named workout_disabled_color, and I press meta + ←, and my cursor is currently at the end of "color", then it would go to the left of the character c.

Is anybody aware of how I can do this?

Try modifying nxhtml-mode-hook.

(add-hook 'nxhtml-mode-hook
          (lambda () (modify-syntax-entry ?_ "w")))


Can I use a non-Apple, Bluetooth keyboard with a MacBook Pro? I'm currently operating on a late 2013 MacBook Pro and am eager to buying a wireless keyboard for my setup. I was looking at the Logitech MK345, which is a bluetooth mouse-keyboard combo, and thought it was quite what I needed. Although, it didn't really say anywhere that it worked with Mac. I tried looking for answers to see if non-mac keyboards function properly with OS X and only saw answers for wired ones.

I'm pretty confused... Should I take the risk of buying the keyboard? Any suggestions to what I should do? Thanks.

Yes in general. Bluetooth has an HID profile that lets mice and keyboard work with any other Bluetooth receiver that supports that profile. macOS and Mac hardware support the standard profile, so at worst, you are likely to need to remap windows specific keys and deal with no Apple specific keys.

Can I use a non-Apple keyboard with OS X?

Unless the keyboard you buy requires some custom driver or isn't standard Bluetooth, you should have low chances of needing to return it or have it not work at all. In specific, you are looking at a USB keyboard not a Bluetooth one, so that's also going to work with the limitations that special keys and drivers and software won't work on macOS. The majority of the keys will work.


Can my iPad open iPhone apps using the iPhone 5 form factor? At the moment, my iPhone apps(for example: Yahoo Weather) on my iPad 3 Retina running iOS 7.0(11A465) are displayed using the 3.5" iPhone screen in the iPad, is it possible for me to change it to display the 4" iPhone screen(iPhone 5) in the iPad?

Thanks.

No, this is currently not possible. iPhone apps running on the iPad will use the smaller iPhone 4s screen's aspect ratio.


How to get external Apple keyboard to accept modifier key input from Macbook's internal keyboard (and vice-versa)? I just bought an older Apple keyboard, with the idea that I could use it in conjunction with my internal Macbook Pro keyboard as a substitute for buying a keyboard that's capable of splitting into two pieces.  The idea is that I should be able to put my right hand on the external keyboard and my left hand on the internal keyboard and type as usual.

I plug the external keyboard in and I can type just fine.  The problem comes when I try to use any sort of key combination with both keyboards at the same time.  For example, when I hit the control key on the internal keyboard and the 'e' key on the external keyboard, I would like for the cursor to move to the end of the line but, instead, a lower-case 'e' shows up onscreen.  When I hold the shift key on the external keyboard and hit the 'a' key on the internal keyboard, rather than seeing an upper-case 'A' appear, I get a lower-case 'a'.

I rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts, macros, and emacs, but besides that, it doesn't make much sense for me to type with using both keyboards if I have to move both hands to one keyboard whenever I want to use an emacs key binding or type a capital letter.

Is there a way to make one keyboard accept modifier key input from the other?  Ideally, I should be able to hold a modifier key on either keyboard and type another character from either and have OSX recognize a keystroke combination.

Keyboard:  A1048 (not a new one)
Macbook Pro:  MacBookPro8,2; 15-inch; Late 2011; Mavericks 10.9.2

(Unnecessary backstory for the curious:  I'm trying to avert the carpal tunnel I feel coming on from programming on my Macbook keyboard alone.  I'm a pretty wide-shouldered, wide-chested guy and the position I have to take to get my hands close enough together to type on the keyboard has me, essentially, contracting my hand laterally such that the outsides of my palms and my forearms form a 135-degree angle, which is horrible posture.  I need to be able to spread my arms farther apart.)

KeyRemap4MacBook
I knew I had seen this somewhere…
All you need to do is install KeyRemap4Macbook.
From the "implicit behavior" section:

Share state of modifier keys with all connected keyboards:
When you are using multiple keyboards, modifier keys are shared with all keyboards.
For example, pressing "shift key on keyboard1" and "space key on keyboard2" sends shift-space.

Yes, it works on other Macs too, not just MacBooks.


Macbook Pro with External Monitor Keeps Readjustng I have a mid-2007 Macbook Pro running OS X Lion which I connect to a Dell external monitor via the DVI port. Recently, the screen has been constantly turning blue (which seems to indicate that it is readjusting) when I plug it in, with about a one second delay in between adjustments. The cable itself seems to be secure, and the problem persists even if I turn the screws on the connector to secure it to my laptop. As a result, my external monitor is basically unusable! Any ideas why this is happening and how I can fix it? Thanks in advance!

The displays's physical connection is disconnecting and reconnecting causing the Mac to automatically detect settings from the display upon re-connecting, this seems to indicate a physical hardware issue.

Monitor Cable:

First  make sure the cable is securely attached to the monitor too.

Failing that, I would try a different cable and see if the problem persists, there may be a short or continuity issue in the wires within the cabling.

Monitor:

Additionally try a different monitor and see if the problem persists, it is entirely possible that the Monitor's internal electronics may be failing.

The MacBook Pro:

If the problem persists after trying another cable or monitor it may be an issue with the DVI port or even the connection of the DVI port to the motherboard on the MacBook Pro.

If you try gently applying very slight force to the cable end near the MacBook Pro while the monitor is connected in directions such as: up, down, left, right, etc and that causes a change in what your observing, the DVI port may be failing.


iCloud Sync Borked on iPhone My contacts, notes, and calendars on my iPhone all disappeared about a week ago, except for a few which look like contacts I have added directly on the phone.

It took me a bit to realize it, but once I did I tried syncing my iPhone to get the contacts, notes, and calendars back. This lead to the realization that my sync settings were messed up because iTunes started trying to backup my entire phone. Somehow the "Automatically Backup..." had moved from iCloud to This Computer, so I switched that back to iCloud. I'm the only person who has access to this computer or phone, so these settings changed on their own.

Once that sync with my Mac finished and the contacts, notes, and calendars were not restored I went looking and noticed that everything under iCloud syncing had been turned off on my phone, including Find My iPhone which is supposed to only be turned off if I enter my password. Again, I'm the only user and didn't change that so that was weird.

Turning contacts, notes, and calendars syncing back on under Settings > iCloud has not restored any contacts, notes, or calendars to my phone. I waited a couple hours to give it some time since it is set to check every hour. I have also tried turning on push and changing the time to 15 minutes. I even tried "manual" but couldn't find a button to push to do it manually.

I just tried turning off iCloud syncing and using iTunes to sync contacts, notes, and calendars manually. I tried twice, the first time just clicking sync all, and the second I selected "Replace information on this Phone". Neither resulted in any contacts, notes, or calendars on my phone.

Since I still have no contacts, notes, or calendars on my phone despite having iCloud contact syncing turned on both on my Mac and on my iPhone, is there a way to force the phone to do a fresh pull of the contacts, notes, and calendars from iCloud?

(Alternatively, have I missed something else that might be keeping iCloud from syncing the contacts, notes, and calendars.)

If it is helpful: I just noticed that my broswer tabs are syncing in both directions, Mac to iPhone and vice versa. So iCloud sync isn't completely borked.

Open Settings on your iPhone and find the iCloud settings page.

Find Contacts in the list, and switch it on.

If your contacts are still in iCloud, they will sync back to your iPhone.

Also check in System Preferences/iCloud on your Mac, and make sure those settings are correct, with contacts turned on.

Check your settings in iTunes, paying close attention to anything regarding "Contacts" under iTunes info tab

In the summary tab, you should have set things to sync to iCloud

Your info Contact settings should look like this:


Making Airport appear as a computer I live in a building where I am connected to the university network for internet. I am not allowed to connect a router, or I will be kicked off the network. (This rule was created after wrongly configured routers blocked internet access for the entire building.) They expect people to connect their computers all through ethernet.

I have multiple computers including a MBA and an iPad, so I don't plan to abide by this.

I know I could configure one of my Macs for internet sharing, but it would have to be running all the time. Since I own an Airport Express I was hoping I could use it instead. Is there a way to configure the Airport so that the network administrators can't detect I'm using a router?

Have you tried talking to your campus' Network Administrators? Plead your case! If they ask why, hold up your iPad. You are never going to be running a cable to that thing with the intention of using it on a network. Only power and maybe headphones!

Working with them might let you use your wireless with their recommended settings. Maybe bring the Express with you and let them configure it in the manner they want. Maybe they would prefer you NAT yourself, maybe they would prefer you to Bridge the connections.


From command line on macOS, how to add a user group to the Sharing and Permissions list for a directory? The macOS gui, as shown in the attached image, provides a way to add users and user groups to the permissions of a file system directory.

There are also lots of examples of how to create groups from the command line, etc (dscl, and so forth).  But I don't see anything on how - from the command line - to add user groups to the permissions of a file system directory.

PS: The answers in How to manage users access to shared folders from the command line? covers network shares, but don't show how to do what the Finder does (on an unshared folder).

Yes, you can do it, but it's a bit complicated. Permissions on macOS are rather complex; the Finder hides most of the complexity, but at the command line it's fully exposed and you have to deal with it.

Really short answer: use chmod +a to add access control entries, ls -le to view them, and man chmod and man ls for details.

Medium-length answer: to add (or remove) Read only access for the group mygroup to the folder at /path/to/folder:

chmod +a "group:mygroup allow list,search,readattr,readextattr,readsecurity" /path/to/folder
chmod -a "group:mygroup allow list,search,readattr,readextattr,readsecurity" /path/to/folder

For a file, Read only access would be:

chmod +a "group:mygroup allow read,readattr,readextattr,readsecurity" /path/to/file.txt

To add Read & Write access:

chmod +a "group:mygroup allow list,add_file,search,add_subdirectory,delete_child,readattr,writeattr,readextattr,writeextattr,readsecurity" /path/to/folder

and for a file:

chmod +a "group:mygroup allow read,write,append,readattr,writeattr,readextattr,writeextattr,readsecurity" /path/to/file.txt

To examine these ACL and check your work:

ls -le /path/to/file.txt

Advanced usage you can call chmod =a# will rewrite the numbered rule instead of add or remove granularly the permissions.

To just remove an entry of the ACL chmod -a# wipes that entire entry like the - control does in the GUI.

Long answer: macOS has two different types of file permissions: standard POSIX (unix-like) permissions, and access control lists (ACLs) consisting of one or more access control entries (ACEs). All files and folders have POSIX permissions, consisting of one user (the owner), one group, and everyone else, and for each of those some combination of read, write, and execute (don't ask) access. They can (but usually don't) have a list of ACEs that allow (or deny, but don't worry about that) access to additional users and/or groups, and have much more detailed control over what access is being allowed (/denied).

The Finder hides the distinction between POSIX permissions and ACEs, but anytime you have more than one user or group, the additional ones are ACEs. So to add access for another group, you need to add an ACE. chmod +a does this. You also need to specify a full list of types of read and/or write (or other) access are being granted. The Finder's idea of "Read only" access corresponds to read,readattr,readextattr,readsecurity, and its "Read & Write" access corresponds to read,write,append,readattr,writeattr,readextattr,writeextattr,readsecurity.


How to show all annotations at once in Preview? I just got an heavily commented pdf, when I open it in Preview, all annotations (highlights, notes) are "hidden", i.e. do not show up in the left margin. I can display them by clicking on them but I would like to see them all at once without having to click on each of them individually. I couldn't find a menu item but maybe I missed it? Or is there a keyboard shortcut?

This is a workaround, as I couldn't find a hotkey or menu option to do this. Still, clicking

View > Hide Notes

and then

View > Show Notes

Will show all anotations. I can now see all the annotations without manually clicking them. This worked on Preview 5.5.1.


In multi-monitor setup, how to control which workspace a newly launched app appears in? I have a MacBook Pro (OS X 10.11)  with one HDMI monitor and one USB monitor. The MBP is on the left, HDMI in the middle, and the USB is on the right. Each monitor has ~3 workspaces (meaning I usually have a total of 9 workspaces).

My overall setup seems chaos with regard to on which monitor, and in which workspace, apps launch into. I launch apps via the Dock and Finder.

Example: On the USB monitor in workspace #8, I double clicked a .docx file in Finder. At the time, I had workspace #1 displayed on the MBP. The MBP monitor all the sudden flipped to workspace #2 and opened the document.

Likewise, launching apps from the Dock gives inconsistent results.

Note:   The behavior that is most logical does happen when you start Launch Pad and System Preferences from the Dock.

put mouse focus in the monitor and workspace you want.
click on the Dock for Launch Pad or System Preferences.
they launch in the monitor and workspace that has the current focus.

For apps like Chrome, Excel, NetBeans, iTunes, etc. that does not happen. I can't figure-out how OS X decides which workspace to put it in.

Problem solved! Let's say that I was not that familiar with apps that were running but had no open windows. Along with that I'd never paid much mind to my Dock (I always hid it with the Genie Effect). And the fbara comment sealed my understanding.

note: When I was messing around with the options settings for apps on the Dock, a few times I was given the choice of selecting both a default monitor and workspace. I am not sure what I did though. I can't get that choice anymore.


How does CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock support two displays from one USB-C port? According to the FAQ for the CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock, two different monitors can be connected in extend mode through the single USB-C port. How is this possible if MST is not supported?

Why can one not do the same thing with other USB-C hubs like this one? It says in their FAQ that one cannot connect two external displays in extend mode on mac because of lack of support of MST.

The clue is in the name: Thunderbolt and USB are two different things, even though they both use the same plug and socket.

USB C offers some of the capabilities - video signal, power transmission, data; but Thunderbolt provides a greater range of data travelling down the same cable.

The Thunderbolt Dock has 2 HDMI ports, which can provide two separate video outputs. The USB hub has one HDMI port.


Work database with visual interface I need a app that can help me work on a database with visual aid, I don't need it to be in a specific language, is only that I can see the workflow to better understand all the links between tables

There are a few tools that can visually display database schemas. If you're using MySQL, you can use MySQLWorkbench. Commercially, there is the Navicat line of products. I haven't used them though. They are available on the Mac app store.

Looking just now, I see Wikipedia has a page on data modeling tools.


Stream Videos from PC to iPad? So I have an iPad 3 running iOS 9.2 and a PC running Windows 10. I use an app called INFUSE on my iPad to play videos and movies. Now when I was running iOS 8.4, I did something (I can't remember exactly what) on my PC, and created an ad hoc network or something like that, which allowed me to access my disk drive from infuse and play videos. After that I have upgraded iOS on my iPad (clean install). Now I can't remember how to do it again. I can create an ad hoc network but my iPad won't join it. Can someone please tell me how to replicate the process?

You need to make sure that you have the sharing permissions set for the "Everyone" profile manually on your Windows 10 computer for the directory that holds the videos. Below is a link to the instruction on how to set this up from the Infuse website.

Makes that “SMB File Sharing is enabled on the device you wish to stream FROM"
http://support.firecore.com/hc/en-us/articles/215090977-Streaming-From-Other-Devices


No hover feedback in OS X Yosemite I recently upgraded to OS X Yosemite. Everything works fine but for some odd reason my cursor fails to highlight (provide feedback on anything I hover on any options).

As an example (if I'm not explaining this very well):

When I hover over the options in the Safari menu (or any other menu, nothing shows up as a blue background as you would expect (it only turns blue after I've clicked it).

I've been running Mavericks for a long while, and I had no issues.

I'm not sure if the mouse has a part to play, I'm using Mad Catz R.A.T3, anyone know if this as an issue with Yosemite? Or are aware of a fix?

I had the same issue with my Mad Catz MMO 7 and I fixed the problem! If you download the latest driver software from http://madcatz.com/downloads/ for Mavericks (OS X 10.9) it fixes the problem. You will have to restart your computer in the process.


Mid-2010s Kernel Panic GPU - best options? I'm having issues with kernel panics on a mid-2010 Macbook Pro 15 inch. I have read many threads about this (What's the cause of GPU panics on macbook pro mid 2010?) and the thread that links to are good examples. The panics seem to be related to GPU/especially video for me. Mavericks made them less frequent, but they didn't go away.

Apple was able to tell me that the logic board has already been replaced (before the computer came into my hands, presumably as part of the extended warranty that was intended to fix this problem).

Given the age of my computer, I'm wondering what my best options are. Is a new graphics card certain to fix the problem? If so, is it best to send it to Apple or to try to order one and install it myself?

Suggested problem tracing /and repair) steps (after each test the performances).

Vacuum clean the inside of your Mac to improve cooling.
Google and Install gfxCardStatus, Leave on Dynamic Switching. From there it will Monitor and Alert you to what apps switch you to the Nvidia Graphic Card.
Also open the Activity monitor - Energy tab, where you can see when the Nvida card kicks in, and does it switch on/off irregularly.
Monitor your Console log for irregular (fast)GPU switching.
Do some hardware testing:

  GpuTest is a cross-platform (Windows, Linux and Max OS X) GPU stress
  test and OpenGL benchmark. GpuTest comes with several GPU tests
  including some popular ones from Windows'world (FurMark or TessMark).

This test might help you decide to replace the card.


What happens if I share my iTunes ID and password with a friend who lives abroad? I would like to share my iTunes with my niece who lives outside the US.

If I give her my iTunes ID and password, will she be able to listen to the music I have in my account? And more importantly, will she be able to access anything else other than my iTunes music?

This is a tricky question to answer as it depends on what you use that ID for. If it is just for iTunes Store purchases, then all she will be able to access is whatever you have purchased on the store. Of course, this isn't limited to Music, but also Movies, TV Shows, Books and Apps. She will also be able to authorise purchases using that ID and password and so could max out your credit card renting the Frozen movie countless times (I'm just assuming she's about 8 or so here ;)) or buying more hearts on Candy Crush.

If you also use it as your main Apple ID for iCloud and other Apple services, she will have access to those as well. Whether she uses it for those purposes is up to her; if she knows she is able to and is inquisitive, you might find her logging on to iCloud.com and nosing through your iCloud Mail or your Calendar.

The best option would be for her to have her own Apple ID and for you to add her to Family Sharing instead. That way, she has access to all of your past purchases, but will not be able to authorise any (you will be able to authorise on her behalf though). Additionally, she won't have access to your iCloud information.

If she already has an Apple ID, then great! If not, and she's under the age of 13, you'll need to create a managed one for her through iTunes. If she is over 13, you can simply create an Apple ID by going to the Apple ID management portal.

Have a look here for full information on creating an Apple ID for kids.


Why's airplay randomly disconnecting? We're having problems with airplay machines.  We've got a pair of Apple TVs as well as multiple Macbooks.  Airplay is not used much, but when it is, it likes to randomly disconnect.  It doesn't seem to matter which devices happen to be connected, they'll just randomly drop, anywhere from within 5 minutes of starting playback up to a half hour.  I can't recall them ever lasting more than half an hour without failing.

Any troubleshooting suggestions?  I'm a little disappointed that it doesn't at least attempt a reconnect on its own, is there a way to tell it to auto retry connections that drop?

I had the same problems with airplay dropping out randomnly.

I changed the resolution to 720p instead of 1080p and now it plays flawlessly without disconnecting once.


Close all open finder windows from terminal? I want to close all open finder windows from my terminal. I suppose I should use killall.. but then what?

Use AppleScript via osascript:

osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to close windows'

killall is to kill applications, not close windows.


How to export Reminders task to Todoist? Is there a way to export or synchronize Reminders tasks to Todoist?

This is not possible within the App itself.
Although you can download an App called IFTTT, it connects the Apps you use and make them work together.

Sync Reminders

When you connect two Apps in IFTTT you create a Recipe, turns out there's a recipe right for what you're looking for!
You can find one here and here, after you've downloaded the IFTTT App.

Hope this helped you out!


My calendar won't work on my iPhone 4 since upgrading to iOS8. I am unable to save events All my history and future events (except birthdays attached to my contacts) are gone and I can't save new events.  When I view my calendar in iCloud from my computer they are all there.  They're just not syncing with my phone!  I don't have my calendar in my phone synced to any other calendar either. How can I resolve this?

I struggled with this for quite a while. Out of nowhere, I could not add any events or reminders to my calendar, and the (+) in the corner of my calendar was grey. Super frustrating!

Go under settings. Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars.  You must click on individual accounts, and move the slider for calendar to the "on" position. For instance, I have an iCloud account, and multiple gmail accounts listed. I clicked on each account, and turned on all of the calendar sliders.

This fixed the problem, and I am now able to add events, and view birthdays and events.


Where can I find information on comparing two MacBook Pro models? I'm thinking about getting a MacBook Pro, one of the 15" ones in the low end of the spectrum.

I can see two models in on-line shops that match my price range (namely, the MD318D/A and the MC723D/A). One model is 100 euros cheaper than the other, but weirdly, it seems to have the better specs: the MC723D/A comes with a 750GB hard drive as opposed to 500GB.

All the other specs seem identical, down to the size of the L6 cache, the processor, and the make and model of the graphics adapter. The only special thing the expensive one seems to have is OS X Lion instead of Snow Leopard. Can the software update account for a hundred euro's difference?

Here are the data sheets I'm comparing: MD318D, MC723D - German only, sorry,  Amazon.com doesn't seem to have them.

Where can I find reliable information on each generation so I can figure out whether the price difference is justified or not, and what the extra €100 would actually get me?


Update 200 multiple devices with the same specs at the same time? I have 200 iPOD touch devices with the same specs. Currently, i am updating them one by one using Apple Configurator which does not require me to download the update multiple times. But, i still have to connect the devices and go through the update process one device at a time.

Is there a better way to do this?

One option would be to update the iOS directly on the iPod Touch (if you haven't disabled that option), otherwise you can speed up the process by connecting multiple devices to your Mac at once and update them in one go.

This can be done with multiple USB-Lightning cables plugged directly in to the computer, or by using USB hubs. A more expensive solution would be to buy a dedicated syncing/charging-station. These types of products often allow you to lock multiple iOS devices inside a cage or similar, and have them all easily charge and/or connected to a single Mac for syncing/updating. They come in various sizes for holding for example 4 devices, 16 devices, etc.


Traces of Visual Studio for mac throughout macOS! I recently installed Visual Studio For Mac.  I didn't liked the IDE and UI so I removed it, according to steps suggested by various stack exchange community posts.

Today when I used Omni Disk Sweeper to sweep my Main Disk, I came across the files shown in the screenshot.  Visual studio was the only application I have ever downloaded from Microsoft.  Can these files be related to Visual Studio?

If they are VS-related, how can I remove them (and other traces of Visual Studio)?

To remove, open Terminal and run

sudo rm -r /usr/local/share/dotnet


Delete cached (offline) email on hard drive in Mail program (El Capitan) How can I delete all cached/offline email from the Mac OS 'Mail' program on my SSD in Mac OS El Capitan? I have 2 Gmail accounts and an Exchange account for work. I'm running out of room on my 256GB SSD, so I need to clear out any/all data that I can.

I also want to ensure no new mail get stored locally. Basically, I just want the mail accounts to sync to the IMAP/Exchange email servers via the internet and never rely on any local storage. This is a hardwired Mac Mini, so it's never offline. Thanks.

You can find Mail's cached mails in

~/Library/Mail

To see how much space this folder is using, either use Finder's Get Info or

du -hs ~/Library/Mail

To remove the folder and all its contents, either use Finder or

rm -rf ~/Library/Mail

AFAIK, I don't think you can stop Mail from caching received emails from your servers. There used to be an option in Mail preferences that would stop it from caching everything, but I think this was taken out in Mavericks.

With Mail's behavior as such, it is logical to assume that once these mails are deleted, Mail will re-sync with the necessary servers to cache these mails again.

You might be able to change some things in Mail's preferences, I'll check and edit appropriately.

There's a pretty good guide on Mail and its storage usage over at HowToGeek right here.


Why is "Real Memory" greater than "Memory" for kernel_task process? What exactly does Activity Monitor's Memory column mean?

How come in the example situation below (from a macOS High Sierra system) the Real Mem column is greater than the Memory column?

According to a previous question How is the "Memory" column calculated in Activity Monitor?, one might expect that Real Mem should always be less than or equal to Memory, which apparently is not always true.

Edit:
This behavior is not only applicable for the kernel task but also to other processes. For example, in the screenshot below we see a couple Google Chrome Helpers experiencing the same behavior, where Real Mem > Memory. The same can be seen with Dock, Notes, Spotlight, Facetime.

The kernel is special - it's the micro system that actually allocates memory and runs the virtual memory. You can just assume 3.60 GB is what your kernel has claimed and that 1.86 GB of that corresponds to what the task itself needs and the rest is the overhead / allocations to support all the demands made on the Mach kernel.

Every other line in Activity monitor behaves as one might expect, adding up fairly clearly once you ignore the kernel numbers:

Total virtual memory allocation is always the largest. Most of that is unallocated / not mapped physically and not in any category listed.
Real Mem is the non-shared and non-compressed allocation to that task.
Compressed Memory is the part of the total memory that has been compressed before being actively stored.
Private and Shared are both real memory usage but indicate if other processes might also need or be responsible for that allocation against the total.

For a larger discussion of the kernel_task, this question has some great links and discussion of how kernel_task is so very different than the rest of the processes you see on macOS.

What exactly does kernel_task do?


If i send a folder via Apple Mail, will users on other platforms be able to open it? The title says it all. Does anyone have experience with sending uncompressed folders to people using different operating systems? Can attached folders be opened on Windows?

When you attach a folder to a email in Mail, even thought it looks like an individual folder in the email, both in the composed email and then the sent email, nonetheless the contents of the folder when sent, is zipped into a single .zip archive that is base64 encoded for transport. It is the .zip file that's received by others and there should not be a problem with them accessing it regardless of Host OS.

Looking at the actual .emlx file, here is an excerpt showing the attachment as a .zip file that is actually an "untitled folder" selected to be attached.

--Apple-Mail=_E825218C-47BC-4480-9C03-9F3B81A43257
Content-Disposition: attachment;
    filename="untitled folder.zip"
Content-Type: application/zip;
    x-mac-auto-archive=yes;
    name="untitled folder.zip"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
UEsDBAoAAAAAAAuq2kgAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASABAAVG8gVGVsbCB0aGUgVHJ1dGgvVVgMAGZ+cFdm
fnBX9QEUAFBLAwQUAAgACAAOqtpIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGwAQAFRvIFRlbGwgdGhlIFRydXRoLy5E
U19TdG9yZVVYDABrfnBXa35wV/UBFADtmDsOwjAQRGeNC0s0LindcABuYEXJCbgABVeg99Eh2hGy

When I received the file in a different email client it was shown as an attachment not the folder as shown in Mail under OS X.

When opened in the other email client it contained the files that were in the "untitled folder" that was attached to the email that was sent.


HDMI vs DisplayPort output resolutions I am connecting a MacBook Pro to an external 4K monitor and mirroring the displays. The display actually shows a warning with the actual resolution when the input is not 4K. If I select the "Best for ..." option in Settings, the output is 4K as expected. However, all other scaled options are outputting at 1080p. Is this expected? I saw somewhere that if I use DisplayPort instead of HDMI, I may have additional options, but I can't find any official documentation. Is that true?

I saw somewhere that if I use DisplayPort instead of HDMI, I may have additional options, but I can't find any official documentation.

It depends on the capability of the monitor, the cables and the converters.  If, for instance your monitor supported HDMI spec 1.4  but you used an older cable certified with the 1.2 spec, you'd be limited to the refresh rates you could use at certain resolutions (i.e. 120Hz at 720p).  When connecting display devices (whether HDMI or DP), there's a number of variables you have to account for to ensure you're getting the best (or maximum) performance; it's not so simple to say "HDMI gives you this" or "DispayPort gives you that."
That said, I would say that DisplayPort provides you with better reliability than HDMI due to the fact that the native signal is DisplayPort.  You have to convert that signal to get HDMI.
Now, when you convert, you introduce complexity and that can affect reliability and performance.

What's wrong with HDMI?


Applescript: activating remote application failure I have an Applescript to quit my local iTunes, access a remote computer and open iTunes there:

tell application "iTunes" to quit

set remMachine to "eppc://user@0.1.2.3.4"

tell application "iTunes" of machine remMachine to activate

The following error is returned:

  error "iTunes got an error: Application isn’t running." number -600

Yeah, tell me about it. You tell an application to 'open' and it fails because it isn't open.

How can I open an application on a remote machine?

Edit: I have tried changing the script to:

tell application "iTunes" to quit

set remMachine to "eppc://user@0.1.2.3.4"

tell application "Finder" of machine remMachine to do shell script "open /Applications/iTunes.app"

but the returned error is now:

  error "Finder got an error: Handler does not allow remote events."
  number -10016

This is actually incorrect as remote events are enabled in System Preferences.

Thanks to @Tetsujin for this link which provided the details for the answer.

My script now looks like this:

tell application "iTunes" to quit
set remMachine to "eppc://user@0.1.2.3.4"
tell application "Finder" of machine remMachine
    open file "Macintosh HD:Applications:iTunes"
end tell

This does the following:

Quits the local instance of iTunes
Sets the details of the 'remmachine'
Opens iTunes on the remote machine


Can Siri be used effectively by someone who stutters when they speak? I am curious if Siri can be used effectively by those who stutter when they speak. By effectively, I mean that the error rate where it misunderstands what you are intending to say is low enough that it can be used without undue frustration in day to day life.

I would ideally like to hear from someone who has firsthand experience with this.

It’s hard to answer definitively, because it greatly varies depending on the degree to which the person stutters.

I have a stutter, though it’s fairly mild these days thanks to a few decades of working to correct it. I do make a conscious effort to form my thoughts completely before speaking to Siri, and I’ll still stutter on occasion. Sometimes the result is workable, because Siri doesn’t need to recognize exact sentences, but instead relies on general meaning and keywords; other times I just have to start over.

It happens infrequently enough that it doesn’t bother me. Now if you stutter a lot it might become frustrating, but that depends on your patience level, and once again on the extent to which you stutter. And even someone who stutters “a lot” may do so in a way that is easy for a machine to correct, if that makes any sense.

As an aside, I think most people have to form complete thoughts in their heads before speaking to an AI. The state of the technology doesn’t enable it to deal with what would be considered “normal” speech patterns anyway, with all its hesitations, self-corrections, etc.

From my limited knowledge of speech impediments, different people struggle with different phonemes, certain sounds in specific arrangements, etc. Myself, I struggle greatly with the “W” sound at the start of a sentence (among other things). This is highly workable with Siri, because if I can get past the very first letter of a question, then I’m usually good to go

For the most part, interactions with Siri are fairly short. “What time is it?” “Shuffle my Favorites playlist.” “Give me directions to Starbucks.” I’d say if you have reliable mechanisms/tricks for working around your hurdles in short bursts, you’ll find Siri pretty usable.

Sorry for all the “It depends,” but hopefully this helps at least a little. There is solace in that Apple has been focusing on Siri’s error rate, and accessibility is an area of importance to Apple.

And quite frankly, even native speakers with no speech impediment complain about Siri’s error rate all the time  I’m just trying to say there is going to be a baseline amount of frustration with the technology no matter what.

I would recommend relaying your experience with Siri to Apple. Also Tim Cook appears to read all emails he receives, though he may not always respond. He cares deeply about users with accessibility needs, as he has made evident on numerous occasions. I’m not going to post his email address here, but it’s easy to search for.


Can I have 2 different networking interfaces active at the same time to increase my available bandwidth? Android devices have a "Dual Networks" feature where you can use both the wifi and 3G network adapters concurrently to increase your available bandwidth:

Can I do something similar with my MacBook Pro, for example if I have both ethernet and wifi connections?

Assume that the wired connection uses a different router/gateway than the wireless one.

Usually your NIC priority is in effect to determine which interface to use preferentially. So either your built-in ethernet or your wireless card leads depending on your gateway settings to a target. Both may be in effect but not at the same time to one and the same target.

However a second ethernet card added to an expansion slot (e.g. ExpressCard/34) may be bonded to your internal ethernet card. This is known as Link Aggregation or Port Bonding and Port Teaming. Both have to master LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) or IEEE 802.1ax and IEEE 802.3ad though. And the switch at the other end needs to support it also and usually has to be configured for it on your two ports.

The latest Mac Pro as well as the older ones with 2 NICs are capable of doing such right out of the box.


How to continue Time Machine backups from a previous computer? I had MBP 2015 in the past and used Time Machine on it. Last September, I switched to MBP 16'' 2019 and did a fresh installation / manual copy of most of my home directory files, maintaining the layout.

Note: I wanted to do a fresh installation for various reasons but if I were to compare the filesystems in the end, they are almost the same – my home directory is still /Users/borekb, the folder layout under it is exactly the same, etc.

Now I'm trying to set up Time Machine again but I'd like to continue with my previous line of backups – for example, I want to see last year's versions of files that are on the same path. Also, my first backup on this new Mac should be "incremental" – I'd like Time Machine to compare what is on my current Mac with the latest state of my previous backups (from September 2020) and does a diff as usual.
The key to this seems to be the tmutil inheritbackup command, which I've successfully ran:
$ sudo tmutil inheritbackup /Volumes/time-machine/Borek’s\ MacBook\ Pro.backupbundle
Password:
Mounting disk image...
Unmounting disk image...
Inheriting disk image for machine...
Successfully inherited disk image '/Volumes/time-machine/Borek’s MBP 16.backupbundle'

/Volumes/time-machine is a mounted network folder (I backup wirelessly to a Synology NAS) and the command seemed to work well – it did this rename:
Borek’s MacBook Pro.backupbundle → Borek’s MBP 16.backupbundle
I then went to Time Machine UI, selected the time-machine disk, entered my previous password for encryption, etc.:

Everything seemed fine so far.
However, when I start backing up, it does a full initial backup to a new folder inside the .backupbundle that is called after my new computer's name: Borek’s MBP 16. This is what it looks like after I mount the sparse bundle and browse the /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb folder:

I somehow want to tell Time Machine keep using the original Borek’s MacBook Pro folder (the one that was last modified on 22 Sep 2020).
How to do that?

UPDATE 1: I tried changing my computer's name to match the old one but Time Machine still insists on creating a new set of backups from scratch – it just calls the new "machine directory" Borek’s MacBook Pro 2:

I have also ran this script, found here (as Big Sur doesn't seem to support -a), to run tmutil associatedisk an all folders found under the original backup location:
for f in /Volumes/Time\ Machine\ Backups/Backups.backupdb/Borek’s\ MacBook\ Pro/*; do
  if [[ -d "$f" ]]; then
    sudo tmutil associatedisk /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD "$f"/Macintosh\ HD;
  fi;
done

This also worked correctly but Time Machine still doesn't see my older backups and is attempting to create Borek’s MacBook Pro 2 when I try to run a backup.

UPDATE 2: I've successfully verified backups which was a solution in this answer. The preferences UI still report "no backups" so I'm now trying to run a new backup, which was Step 2 in that answer and the author wasn't sure if it's necessary or not. I'll report back in a few hours...

If you tap the option key while clicking the time machine icon in the menu bar, you can browse backups from previous or other computers.


Getting an unsuitable terminal error when opening tmux after switching to homebrew Longtime macports user (tmux / 256color etc worked fine).  Recently decided to switch over to homebrew.  Have most things working again.

tmux throws the following error when launching (have not changed terminal or .tmux.conf)

open terminal failed: missing or unsuitable terminal: xterm-256color

I commented out the terminal settings in my tmux.conf and tried setting my $TERM to xterm.  The same thing happens (replacing xterm-256color with whatever I have $TERM set to).  My gut says that I was using a terminfo from macports and that I'm using the system terminfo with homebrew.  Not sure how to do this with homebrew to test.

Possibly relevant versions numbers of stuff:

homebrew 0.9.5
tmux 1.9a
iterm 2.0.0.20150412
yosemite (up to date)
zsh 5.0.5

I had to add:

set-option -g default-terminal screen-256color

to my ~/.tmux.conf to get it to work under all the same versions you reference above on Yosemite. You can see my tmux configuration file here if you'd like a point of reference.


Date and time unchangeable My date and time on my Macbook is unchangeable, I have admin rights and it is my own laptop but am unable to select the option "set date and time automactically", my date is 17 days off and the time is off by 6 hours. Is there a terminal code to reset this? This person seems to be having a similar issue, but I also do not have a lock image.

Thank You very much,

YOU might have a problem with permissions..

One is to restore system level permissions using the Disk Utility.
and use  this for Home Folder to restore them do following.:

  Restart OS X and hold down the Command and R keys.
  You will boot into the Repair Utilities screen. On top, in the Menu Bar click the Utilities item then select Terminal.
  In the Terminal window, type “resetpassword” (without the quotes) and hit Return.
  The Password reset utility launches, but you’re not going to reset the password. Instead, click on the icon for your Mac’s hard drive
  at the top. From the drop-down below it, select the user account where
  you are having issues.
  At the bottom of the window, you’ll see an area labeled ‘Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs’. Click the Reset button there.

  The reset process takes a couple of minutes.


No sound from iPhone speakers when connected to a dock with line out I've bought a (very cheap) dock for my iPhone 4, the dock has a line out jack on the back.
I have noticed that when the phone is in the dock, the sound comes out only from the line out and not from the internal speakers.
This makes impossible to use any third party alarm application because no sound plays without connecting some external speaker. Only the ringtones play, so the default Clock app works and plays the alarm sound.
Is there any software option to force the iPhone to use the internal speakers also when connected to a dock with a line out?

No, it is a feature.
I'm not sure if there is a fix for jailbreaked iphones, but there isn't such an option.


There is not a GO button in the menu bar Any idea how to add a GO button to my menu bar to the MAC PRO?
Menu bar I have contains:  Safari  File  Edit  View  History  Bookmarks Window  Help

NO "GO" Bar

Start Finder: then the menu bar reads:
Finder File Edit View GO Window Help.
It is a Finder menu not Safari menu that has GO.


OSX Yosemite periodically loses DNS info for my server I'm running OSX Yosemite as my development machine. I run a VPS for the product I'm developing at cursiveclojure.com. Every so often (3 times now over the last month or so) my Mac somehow gets into a state where it can't resolve that domain, even though it seems to work from elsewhere and the server is available. So right now:

~/d/riddley (master)> ping cursiveclojure.com
ping: cannot resolve cursiveclojure.com: Unknown host
~/d/riddley (master)> dig cursiveclojure.com  ANY +noall +answer
; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> cursiveclojure.com ANY +noall +answer
;; global options: +cmd
cursiveclojure.com. 10799   IN  MX  10 cursiveclojure.com.
cursiveclojure.com. 10799   IN  A   95.170.82.135
cursiveclojure.com. 10799   IN  TXT "v=spf1 a mx ip4:95.170.82.135 ip6:2a01:7c8:aab0:51f::1 -all"
cursiveclojure.com. 10799   IN  NS  rush.easydns.com.
cursiveclojure.com. 10799   IN  NS  nirvana.easydns.net.
cursiveclojure.com. 10799   IN  NS  motorhead.easydns.org.
cursiveclojure.com. 10799   IN  SOA dns1.easydns.com. zone3.easydns.com. 1411422284 43200 10800 1209600 10800
~/d/riddley (master)> ping 95.170.82.135
PING 95.170.82.135 (95.170.82.135): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 95.170.82.135: icmp_seq=0 ttl=48 time=300.551 ms

A friend has confirmed that the site works fine from elsewhere. The only solution I have found is to restart my machine, flushing the DNS caches with sudo discoveryutil udnsflushcaches doesn't seem to help.

Does anyone know what's going on?

From time to time I have the same problem - specially with my own MX server.
More or less default DNS setup for this DNS entry.

Restart helps, but disconnecting and reconnecting the network cable works too.
You could also try to change your network location.

Every of these solutions suck, I know. But it's ATM the fastest one before figuring out the real problem (one of the thousands other problems that came with Yosemite).


Apple Mail prints tiny fonts after Maverick upgrade After installing Mavericks on my MacBook Pro 13 (non-Retina) and on my Mac Mini, a printed message from Mail appears in tiny font. This is independent of the printer (tried on Hp and on Epson). After much experimentation I found that I can only increase the printed font size by raising the viewed font size to 16 or above. Even when doing this the mail message header is still about size 8.

Does anyone know of a fix to this? Is there a setting in the printer's plist that can be changed?

This has been reported to Apple via Mail Feedback and Apple Care.

I have the same problem Mavericks since I installed the recent Mavericks Mail update on Nov 8/13 (I had no trouble before that). All I can do as of now is to copy the body of the email to Text Edit, type in the heading information and print from there.


Can't connect to Samba Share on Linux File Server as a Guest user I have a File Server (Linux, Mint) running Samba which allows Windows machines on the network to connect as a Guest and read / write files to the shared folder.

I have a Mac book running El Capitan. This is unable to connect to the server and on trying to do so gives the following error

There was a problem connecting to the server "192.168.0.7"
Check the server name or IP Address...

I have tried using all of the following connection strings

smb://192.168.0.7
smb://192.168.0.7/share
smb://user:password@192.168.0.7
smb://user:password@192.168.0.7/share

cifs://192.168.0.7
cifs://192.168.0.7/share
cifs://user:password@192.168.0.7
cifs://user:password@192.168.0.7/share

But without any success.

I can successfully connect using a username and password and am able to read/write but I am just unable to connect as a guest.

The windows (xp) machines on the network can connect as a guest and can read/write without any issues.

Just to rule out the obvious. Are you able to ping those IPs? Maybe even nmap them to see if any ports might be closed.


How can I add some html to my Mail.app signature? I want to add my company logo and and some juice to my contact information in the signature part in Mail.app. How can I do that with little or no efforts?

It's not a huge effort to go through, but it does involve a little effort on your part. I haven't tried this myself (though will try it shortly just out of interest), but the basic principle seems to be to make a .webarchive file and drag it into the signatures preference box.

Worked example
eHow article
MacWorld example

I went and tried this and it does work in the current version of Mail.app, on Snow Leopard. The trick is essentially;

Create a .webarchive of your desired signature.

Bear in mind that any graphics you put in there need to be graphics that are out on the 'open web', rather than references to files on your own computer etc. I think it's this bit that catches a lot of people out.
Go into Mail and go through the motions of creating a new signature.
In the Library/Mail/Signatures folder you'll see Mail creating a new file with a guid-like filename (eg 61F51203-5C18-4061-A8EF-F53B17C41476.webarchive). Make a note of this filename!
Close down Mail, and replace the contents of that signature file
with your webarchive file.

The best way of doing that is;

Paste your webarchive file into the same folder (eg rob.webarchive), then highlight the new file that Mail created and press return - the filename should become selected for you.
Press cmd-c to copy this filename, and then alter the filename (eg add 'old-' to the front of the name). Press Return to close the 'name editing' session.
Now select your own webarchive file (eg rob.webarchive), and again press return to edit the name. Now cmd-v in the name you copied from the first file, and press Return to close the editing.

When you restart Mail, the new signature you've made will be available.

Gotchas include;

you're linking to images, css files or whatever that are not available on the internet,
you're not composing your message in 'rich text' form.

But I've just been through this and even though I have no use whatsoever for a HTML signature, it does work. :-)