Trust this computer - what is shared? Apologies if this has been asked before, but when you trust a computer, what data is shared?

I'm on iOS 8 and have been plugging my personal phone into my work PC for charging. I click "trust" because I thought if I clicked "don't trust" it wouldn't charge.

It says data, contacts, and other things of that nature are shared when clicking "Trust." Apple seems pretty vague with "other things." My question is, is it possible that my text messages are synced to my work computer when I hit "trust"? If so, can my employer read them? I tried looking online but couldn't find anything about text data being stored on a PC computer after clicking "Trust."

I only ask because I've been considering leaving my company and texted a friend about it. Thanks!

Unless you explicitly backed up your iPhone to your work PC using iTunes (or ran some other type of program like Macroplant's iExplorer), you're probably fine. Tapping the "Trust" button does allow a computer to access an iPhone's information, but doesn't initiate any particular kind of access.

For more information, see 'Trust This Computer' alert on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

Let me know if this helps.


How can I use two USB devices with the new USB-C MacBooks? I recently was provided with the latest MacBook model, for which Apple decided to switch from a number of ports to just one, USB-C port and a headphone jack. The only two accessories that I use on a regular basis, a mouse and a headset, both require a USB port which was not a problem on the old models. One can purchase an adapter to fix this problem, either a USB-C to USB or a USB-C to HDMI+USB+USB-C. Here the problem arises that there is only a single USB-C port, and these adapters only provide one USB port. Is there or will there be a way for me to have both my accessories function? This doesn't seem like an abnormal problem to have, but I can't find very much information on the topic.

You can plug in a USB hub to the available USB port on your USB-C adapter.


How do you lengthen the amount of time that Time Machine keeps hourly backups? Time Machine keeps hourly backups for 24 hours by default before purging for daily backups and I'd like to extend this further (to a week of hourly backups). Is there a way to change the backup retention policy config to allow for this? There doesn't seem to be an option in the UI.

Failing this, I'll have to install something else and I'd rather stick with Time Machine because of a fairly large initial backup (millions of files, TB's of data, already under backup with Time Machine)

The answer is this isn't easily done. Apple doesn't expose the timing which means it's likely to change if you apply any updates to the system or the change might even break backups so they don't run.

I've left a comment asking about the use case. I've employed scripts to get around this in several cases for customers, but I'd need to know more about your actual use case before providing an alternate solution that would work even with the default Time Machine scheduling.


How do I create and lock a single photo album in ios10? I am looking to lock a single album on my phone within my iOS albums, where I can store things that...

I to remain permanently on my iPhone/iPad
I don't want saved anywhere other than in my backups
I don't want my kids to accidentally see
I don't want to re-save to google photos, one drive etc. repeatedly...
That remains the one and only place, besides a back-up that specific images remain.

You can't lock the photos, but you can hide them.
Hiding photos is a simple enough process. Start by opening up photos and selecting all the photos you wish to hide.
Now, click the share button and scroll through the bottom section looking for an item labeled 'Hide'.
Now, the only place that the photos are accessible is in Photos > Albums > Hidden. There's not even a preview so the photos stay extra hidden.

Unfortunately, there's no native (as you requested) way to lock these photos with a PIN, but now the only way to see them is to find the Hidden album.
All photos in the Hidden album are not shown in Moments, Collections, and Years. Until iOS 11 and macOS 10.13 High Sierra, Hidden items will still appear in auto-generated albums, like selfies, screenshots, etc.


detect thunderbolt display connection and switch bluetooth accordingly I have a thunderbolt display that I use as a docking station with wireless keyboard and mouse.

Is there a way to turn on bluetooth when connecting the display and turn it off when disconnecting the display?

ControlPlane can do what you want. It's pretty versatile, but you can certainly build a rule that will turn on your Bluetooth when a specific display is attached.


How do I subscribe to RSS feeds in Safari on a page showing the Reader button? Safari (the desktop variant) shows an RSS button in the address bar for any page with an associated RSS (or Atom) feed. Clicking that button opens the RSS feed in your chosen feed reader application (Safari by default).

However, on most pages the RSS button only appears briefly as the page loads, or not at all. When the page is fully loaded it's replaced by the Reader button. There doesn't seem to be any way to disable the Reader button or otherwise get to the RSS button on such pages - so how do I subscribe to the RSS feed for the page (other than hunting around for an RSS link in the page content or worse, the page's source code)?

Click and hold the Reader button, and a menu of available feeds appears.

(Discovered after much Googling at Mac OS X Hints.)


Videos/Movies filling up my HDD Am a bit of an adrenaline junkie and have 2 GoPros that I use to create movies with in iMovie.
At the moment I can't seem to make any as my startup disk is full of 575 gb of Movie data, despite transferring all of the videos out of iPhoto and movies out of iTunes and iMovie and from various other locations. I have also deleted previous iMovie events to free up some data but only 10Gb.
Anyone have any idea what I can do without having to restore my mac?
Its almost like theres a fault and its storing data that isn't actually there.
Cheers!

When you delete something in iPhoto it goes to iPhoto's trash. Then from there it goes to the OS X trash. So you need to empty both of those trashes to reclaim the drive space.

Also, I use DaisyDisk to see where I have the most space being taken up. They have a free trial, but you will find it invaluable for freeing up drive space.

Something I use to move videos from iPhoto to external storage is the iPhoto Manager. It will copy the actual event from iPhoto do a different iPhoto library. In my case I have different libraries on different external drives. So I sync everything to the library on my internal drive. From there I can edit, share, etc. Then later I hook up the external drives and copy the events to the correct drives, then delete them from the internal library.


iMessage no longer working on Mac after AppleID change I recently just got my first MacBook Air. I already have an iPad mini and I just changed my Apple ID. I had everything set up before I decided to change it and iMessage was working perfectly on both devices. Anyway so after I went through all the hassle of changing my Apple ID when I went back onto my laptop, it won't even let me send a message even though I have set to my new Apple ID.

The vast majority of the time when iMessage no longer delivers to a Mac (or iOS device) is due to the time settings where the clock has drifted.

I would work through this checklist as you rule out any account related issues (especially the part about appleid.apple.com to verify the account isn't locked):

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3970

It also covers a big reason why messages fail to be delivered even if you can sign in - firewall settings and networking issues between the Mac and the APNS servers that alert your computer a message is coming and help deliver the message itself.


How do I use/transfer my kids iTune balance onto my family plan My kids have ~$30 on their iTunes accounts from gift cards.  We then put everyone into a family group.

When they purchase items from the App store, it is paid for under the family account.  How do they access their original balances?  I'd like to transfer it to the family, or any other method to use their gifts.  It's been "stuck" for years like this.

There is not a transfer function since the value was spent when it was associated with an AppleID.

Can I redeem all my iTunes gift cards at once?

If you queue up your purchases, remove the accounts with a credit from the family and then spend down the balance to zero, then join back in the family. As long as the purchases share with the family, it won’t matter that a non-primary purchaser purchased it. The main thing, is each account can spend down their balance if you let them purchase.

Going forward, only redeem credits from the master account that carries the payment terms of you want to prevent or restrict purchases from other accounts in general.


How to start playing first song in playlist after all songs are over? I listen to music on my Mac every day. However after a playlist ends, playback stops and I have to hit Play manually to start playing the playlist again from the beginning.

Is there anyway to restart a playlist automatically after it has finished playing the last song?

Simply enable Repeat → All. Right-click iTunes on your Dock, and the option will appear.

There are several other locations, such as the menu bar item Controls → Repeat → All, or this icon at the top of your iTunes window, opposite the album art:


Delete unnecessary files in /System/Library for Mac OS X I happen to have some unused/obsolete python libraries in System directory, especially in /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python, the issue is that I can't delete any file in the library anymore. I guess it's happening after upgrading to 10.11.

I tried sudo rm -rf, but I just can't delete any file in it.

python> sudo rm -rf *.pyc
Password:
rm: easy_install.pyc: Operation not permitted
rm: pkg_resources.pyc: Operation not permitted
rm: pylab.pyc: Operation not permitted
rm: pyparsing.pyc: Operation not permitted
rm: six.pyc: Operation not permitted

What might be done to remove them?

Do not touch the System directory! Those are files that the system may or may not need in the future (or currently). OS X uses Python, so just because you may not need the module, that doesn't mean that OS X doesn't. Really, this is why they created SIP in the first place.


Need an Applescript to handle specific incoming mail. Here's what I'd like the Applescript to do: upon receiving an email (I'm using Apple Mail) from a specific address, I'd like, firstly, that email to be deleted (not just moved to trash), and secondly, to send an email to myself with the simple message: "You got mail." Upon receiving that message, I would then go and read the deleted message using my account's web access (retrieved messages there are only deleted a month later).

The issue I'm trying to solve is that I don't want the emails from that contact to be easily accessible by anyone using my computer. I could create a new email address just to receive mail from that contact, and keep that address completely off of Apple Mail, but that would force me to manually check the account from the web every couple of hours.

Hopefully that's clear.

Thanks

You don't need an Applescript. In Mail.app go to Preferences > Rules and add a rule that will delete any email that meets your specifications.


Do I need to get a license to use OS X system font in my app? I recently completed my first cocoa app and want to publish it (not via Mac App Store), I am using system font in my app and not bundling any font with my app itself.

Do I need to get permission to use the default system font in my app?

No. If the font is not bundled, there is no need to license.


How can I get a standard (non-phonetic) Russian keyboard to map "/" and "?" to "." and "," or otherwise allow their entry? I have Russian/English stickers on top of the keyboard, which in the Russian layout works for almost every key I have tried, but not the "?" and "/" key, which in the Russian layout should be "." and ",". As a result, I do not know (apart from switching to the U.S. keyboard to enter an appropriate keystroke) how to give a "," or "."
How, from the Russian keyboard, can/should I enter a "," or "."?

Look at the keyboard map in System prefs>Keyboard>Input sources, or from the language menu bar (flag icon) from which you'll find them on Shift 6 & 7


Way to keep track of successful commands on command line? Usually I just copy/paste successful actions I do on the command line into a text file. That's a bit of an error prone and cumbersome process and I sometimes forget to do it.
Do you know of a way to automatically log commands that return successfully (I'm thinking of things like cmake, make etc. but also basic commands like cd) to a text file in order to keep a record of how you managed to finally successfully set up your environment to compile that one stubborn piece of code? For instance...
I'm on a MacBook Pro, MacOS Catalina, using iTerm2 with zsh and oh-my-zsh extension, as well as powerlevel10k.

Do you know of a way to automatically log commands that return successfully ... in order to keep a record of how you managed to finally successfully set up your environment to compile that one stubborn piece of code?

You first need to answer the question What constitutes a successful command?
You're probably thinking "that's easy!  One that works and exits with a 0 code!"  To get a better perspective of that, you need to define what a failed command is.  The broadest of definitions will be any command that has an exit code of not zero.  Does that mean the command has failed?
No.  It doesn't.  Commands fail for any number of reasons and that doesn't mean what you typed was in error.  Let's use a very simple example:  ssh.  If you connect to a remote server and exit cleanly (type exit when your done), you will get an exit status of zero (0).  However, if you poweroff the machine, you will get an exit status of one (1) when the connections is broken.
Did your command fail?
Try it.  Connect via SSH to any remote.  Exit cleanly then issue the command echo $?.  Do it again and then issue poweroff or kill your session on the remote and issue the echo command again.
I also use Zsh and I created a custom prompt that prefaces my prompt with  a green check  or a "red X"  depending on whether the last command failed or not.
Here's a sample with the SSH example used above.

Did the command actually fail?  No, it didn't but the result generated an error code because something in the process failed.  This holds true for the commands you issue compiling software as well.  Your command can be syntactically perfect, but the compile will still fail because you have an error in your code. Did you want that command ignored?
BASH_COMMAND Environment Variable
Out of curiosity, I investigated this and it’s not a trivial thing to do.  You cannot use history because it’s designed to be interactive and not scripted.
In Bash, there is an environment varialbe called $BASH_COMMAND.  It’s the command that is about to be or is being executed unless the command was called from a Trap, then its the command executing at the time of the trap.
In order to make use of this, you would have to execute all of your commands within a DEBUG trap:
trap ‘prev_command=$thiscmd; thiscmd=$BASH_CMD’ DEBUG
mycommand
if $? -eq 0; echo $prev_command >> somefile.txt; else echo “Command failed”; fi

This would be the logic, but in all practicality, it doesn’t work because you have to execute your command within a trap.
I haven’t found an equivalent in Zsh (yet... but I doubt I’ll continue my research).
Zsh Addons

I'm on a MacBook Pro, MacOS Catalina, using iTerm2 with zsh and oh-my-zsh extension, as well as powerlevel10k.

I'm not a fan of these things especially for the novice user.  You're bringing in lots of extra complexity and add-ons to prettify your command prompt and shell environment.  I encourage folks actually learn how to do this manually so you understand the underpinnings of your system.
The code for my above example is actually very simple:
PROMPT="%(?.%F{green}✓.%F{red})%fallan@%m %F{blue}%1~ %f%# "

In fact, I create a simple function (in ~/.zshrc or `~/.bash_profile) for when I have to cut/paste terminal output to public forums like this:
# (Re)sets the prompt on the fly
setprompt() {

  case "$1" in
    se) # Obfuscates username to "allan" for StackExchange posts
        PROMPT="%(?.%F{green}✓.%F{red})%fallan@%m %F{blue}%1~ %f%# "
        ;;
    *)  # Default is to set the prompt back to the original
        PROMPT=' %(?.%F{green}✓.%F{red})%f%n@%m %F{blue}%1~ %f%# '
    ;;
  esac
}

Bottom line, this really isn’t feasible.
Avoid all those add-ons.  It's just wrapping.  Learn to use the core shell first, then add things as you go.  This will help you in actually learning the system.  You're looking for shortcuts to things and this will actually hinder your effectiveness.
TL;DR
Don't do this.  A command that failed isn't necessarily a bad command.  You can very easily "ignore" a perfectly good command because it failed due to an issue not related to the command itself.

Usually I just copy/paste successful actions I do on the command line into a text file. That's a bit of an error prone and cumbersome process and I sometimes forget to do it.

If you're finding copy/pasting to be error prone, you're doing it wrong.  If it's cumbersome and you forget, then rethink your workflow.  I have OneNote open on my second monitor at all times so I can refer to and take notes as soon as I need to. Find a flow that works for you.  The built in shell history isn't a substitute for good note taking.
Not only is this not a good practice overall, it’s not feasible at due to how you would go about capturing the last successful command.


Is there a way to restart the Touch Bar on MacBook Pro I have the MacBook Pro and several times the touch bar will just hang on me — freeze. I wont be able to control anything from it and it's pretty much unresponsive.

Is there a way we can restart it or something where I don't need the whole system to restart.

On 10.13 High Sierra.

sudo pkill "TouchBarServer"


Apple Remote Desktop multiple ports on one address / ip I am using Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) version 3.5.1 and I want to add computers to the list. I have several virtual machines running on an VMWare ESXi host. VMWare enables screen sharing via VNC but with different ports for different VMs.

So I have this:

ESXi host ip :      xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
First VM vnc port:  5901
Second VM vnc port: 5902
....

I am able to connect to each of those VMs via

open vnc://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:5901

I can also add the first VM to the ARD computer list. But when I add the second VM it overwrites the first VM because the ip address is the same. Is it possible to workaround this problem?

Thanks for your help!

EDIT:
I also tried to edit the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.RemoteDesktop.plist directly. Although I could create another entry which also shows up in ARD this second entry then has no network address assigned in ARD. So that does not help...

I'm not specifically familiar with ARD, but in general Apple assumes one IP = one computer.  You'll be less likely to have these kinds of compatibility and interoperability issues if you give each VM its own IP address by using "bridged" networking on ESXi instead of NAT.


Can you keep an iPhone permanently offline? After doing initial setup and whatnot, will the phone and all preinstalled apps work properly without ever connecting to the internet again? (Assuming basic cellular is active, or not if that makes a difference)

Specifically, is there any “phone home“ requirement in the default software?

Yes.

You can keep an iPhone permanently offline after doing the initial setup and still use it. You can continue to use the basic telephonic feature, and the stock apps such as Calculator, Camera, Photos etc. which doesn't require an active Internet connection to function.

There's no requirement in iOS, the operating system running on iPhones to phone home, that would hinder its normal operation, in total absence of an Internet connection.

However, any feature, even within the built-in apps, dependant on Internet connectivity would remain unavailable, such as the ability to send and receive iMessages, accessing the App Store to install new apps, syncing contacts, email, calendar etc. to iCloud, using Siri, Apple virtual assistant and even updating the iOS software (in untethered mode).


iPod to iphone transferring I wanted to transfer an app from my iPod to my iPhone. The the app I paid for was on my iPod. And I'm trying not to pay for the app again. Is there a way I can transfer the app from my iPod to my iPhone without using any laptop or computer?

Simply browse for the app on your iPhone and download it from there under the account that you paid for the app originally.

Follow this apple documentation on how to download a previously paid app.


Removing the “unread messages” indicator when messages were deleted by bug So, I recently experienced what seems to be quite an old bug in the default Messages app for the iPhone: while I was typing a text message, my phone’s battery died, and when the phone was powered back on, my text message history seemed to have been entirely deleted. However, there’s still the little number in a red bubble on the app’s icon indicating unread messages, which I don’t seem to be able to remove since I can’t read the deleted messages.
Is there any way to recover the messages so that I can read them (other than using a cloud backup I haven’t made), or a way to reset the unread messages indicator to display the correct value for the messages it has access to?

Reboot your phone.
I discovered a solution for this one accidentally when I turned my phone off for a time, and then back on again - when it was turned back on, the list of messages was fully restored.
It's possible that the simplicity of fixing this issue is why Apple hasn't patched the bug in the 5+ years it's been known about.


Can I use 2 iPhones as walkie talkie? (without internet!) I want to use 2 (or more) iPhones as walkie talkie (i.e. they talk each other without needing internet/voice call).

Of course this should work with wifi, because it doesn't make much sense a to have bluetooth or usb connection for this application...

There's an app for that™.

WiChat will allow you to chat with the Bonjour protocol, that is, chatting with people on the local network without connecting to an external server.


How to prevent Finder windows from automatically popping up when I attach a disk? I have a removable Firewire drive.  It has several partitions, many of which have Mac OS installers on them (I'm a developer/sysadmin, and need to reinstall fairly frequently).  However, I also use this disk for backup and storage, so I don't want to install an operating system every time I attach it.

Whenever I attach the drive, Finder pops up a couple windows automatically, offering to install the operating system.  I'd prefer that Finder not pop up these windows.

Why do only some of the partitions pop up windows?  How can I disable it altogether?

Apparently it is set in the HFS+ filesystem header. I found some technical detail here, including C source to modify it.

  The idea is to set word 2 of the finder info field in the HFS+ volume
  header. The Mac OS 9/X Finders know to open a window corresponding to
  the dirID stored in this field.

And there's an ancient app to set it here.

For a tool to read the volume header check out fileXray (non free.) Its manual shows the location of the relevant flag on page 170, it looks like :

# Open folder ID
         finderInfo[2] = 0

If you're also using these disks for backups you probably aren't going to want to mess with the filesystem header, certainly not with the outdated tools above.


Using AppleScript to open an application without the app stealing focus I use iA Writer enough that I would like it to open in fullscreen on login, but unfortunately the developers have disdain for preferences.

I decided to write an AppleScript that I could add to the startup list, but I can't get it to work properly. I'd like to open a specific file using iA Writer on login, in 10.8 fullscreen mode, but without changing focus from my normal desktop, or a least automatically returning me to my primary desktop after launch. EDIT: Here is my code after suggested edits:

set front_application to front window
tell (application "iA Writer") to open (POSIX file "/PATH/TO/FILE.txt")
activate application "iA Writer"
#EDITED# tell application "System Events" to keystroke "f" using {command down, control down}
#ADDED# delay 1
#ADDED# tell application "System Events" to keystroke "1" using control down
end tell
activate front_application

This code successfully opens the file with iA Writer in fullscreen, but switches to the new, iA Writer-controlled desktop, waits a moment, and switches back to my main desktop.

Since OS X's change from spaces to desktops, I don't even know if it is even possible to open an application in Mountain/Lion fullscreen without it stealing focus and forcing a desktop switch.

Many thanks to @Lauri Ranta for your help thus far!

Any further help, regarding keeping iA Writer from switching desktops when becoming fullscreen, would be very appreciated.
Thanks!

(I removed the original script, but I couldn't come up with anything better than this either.)

set fw to front window
do shell script "open ~/Notes/todo.txt -Fa iA\\ Writer"
delay 0.1
tell application "System Events" to tell process "iA Writer"
    perform action "AXPress" of (button 1 where subrole is "AXFullScreenButton") of window 1
end tell
delay 1.5
activate fw

WriteRoom has an option to open documents in custom full screen windows. If it's selected, you could use something like open file.txt -Fjga WriteRoom.

If someone else just needs to open an application on the background, you can use open -jg or launch. launch sometimes opens a visible window if an application isn't open and open -jg if an application is open but has no windows.

set b to "com.apple.TextEdit"
tell application "System Events"
    if bundle identifier of processes contains b then
        launch application id b
    else
        do shell script "open -jgb " & b
    end if
end tell


How to mirror a selected area/window in primary display to second display I want to project only a selected area or an application window to the external monitor. Is there any software that can do that kind of thing?

OBS — Open Broadcaster Software

In System Preferences → Displays, do not use Mirror Displays.
In OBS, click the + button under Sources and choose Display Capture.

Set ‘Display’ to your normal display.
Set Crop to your preferred method of cropping, such as Manual or To Window and configure the crop settings below. Click OK.

Use the red handles to resize your Display Capture source appropriately within the black ‘display’ (preview) in the OBS window. This is how/where your display will show on the mirror.

Right-click anywhere in the preview and choose ‘Fullscreen Projector (Preview)’, then select your external display to output to.


Can I use the USB-C cable for my charger to transfer large files between different OS X laptops? I have more than one Mac Book Pro, and need to transfer large files between them.

Can I repurpose the USBC cable for power to transfer between Mac Books?

Is there a better/faster cable, or way to transfer files between MacBooks?

The charger included with the 2016 MacBook Pro is a standard USB Type C cable. It should achieve speeds of up to 10gbps.
If you'd like speeds of up to 40gbps, I'd buy an official thunderbolt 3 cable from Apple. These should have the highest speeds.

NOTE: My bad, I looked into it and the cable is a standard USB C cable, not thunderbolt. Answer has been changed to reflect that.


Can't delete folder named __MACOSX So, I have a folder in my ~./Trash folder, and I can't seem to delete it. It's named __MACOSX, and I've tried everything I can think of to get rid of it. Finder won't start at all because of it (it starts for a bit at login, but then crashes/freezes), the terminal freezes up when trying to remove it (both as me and as sudo), and it even freezes up when auto-completing (tabbing) after typing the first few characters of it. Any suggestions?

Update: doing a normal ls lists it just fine, but an ls -l to try and find out more about it freezes the terminal:

polaris:~ rob$ cd .Trash/
polaris:.Trash rob$ ls
__MACOSX
polaris:.Trash rob$ ls -l
^C^C

(Pressing ^C doesn't do anything)

Another update: Onyx's trash utility freezes while deleting trash or secure deleting trash, SuperEmptyTrash crashes,

I can think of a couple of things.
First, try deleting everything in your .Trash folder with sudo privileges:
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

If that fails, then try resetting the PRAM on your Mac. Sometimes doing so can surprisingly fix odd errors.
Finally, make sure that the permissions on your .Trash folder are correct
ls -ale ~/.Trash/

The permission for the folder should be like the following:

drwx------  24 username  staff         816 Mar 24 22:06 .
drwxr-xr-x+ 34 username  staff        1156 Mar 24 09:51 ..


Magic Mouse can never reconnect on Yosemite Since upgrading to Yosemite (did a wipe of my HD before installing, so no settings was there from Mavericks) I can only connect my Magic Mouse normally once per boot.

Normally you would be able to connect the mouse, sleep the computer, connect the mouse again, however I have to reboot my MacBook Pro after the sleep, if I want the Magic Mouse to work again.

I can see the device in both the Bluetooth preference pane and the Bluetooth menubar icon dropdown, but clicking connect in either of them does nothing.

Sometimes deleting the pairing and re-pairing with the mouse works, however most of the time it doesn't.

I have tried to reset my nvram and deleting /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist, without any success.

When using Mavericks and below, I have never had any issue with my Magic Mouse and the problem still exist when using a different Magic Mouse on Yosemite.

Any suggestion on how to fix this, without downgrading to Mavericks?

I found a solution from this comment on reddit:

Turn off wifi
Reconnect Magic Mouse
Turn on wifi again

I just noticed that the above doesn't work sometimes and instead you have to reconnect the mouse after turning on wifi again:

Turn off wifi
Turn on wifi again
Reconnect Magic Mouse


extract if_index without grep from scutil --dns I'm using the grep command to extract active interfaces from the output of the scutil command with the --dns option.

$ scutil --dns | grep 'if_index'

I am suspecting if a user's machine with different system language (Spanish, Chinese, etc) the text 'if_index' will change and the above mentioned command will not produce the right result. Is my suspicion right? If so could someone tell what is the right way to perform the above operation?

If you look at the executable itself, /usr/sbin/scutil with the strings command you can see that those strings are hardcoded directly into the executable.

$ strings /usr/sbin/scutil | grep 'if_index'
  if_index : %d (%s)

Additionally this CLI's output remains the same when you try changing the LANG=.. or LC_ALL=.. environment variables. For example:

$ LANG="zh_CN.UTF-8" scutil --dns | grep 'if_index'
  if_index : 10 (en0)

$ LC_ALL="zh_CN.UTF-8" scutil --dns | grep 'if_index'
  if_index : 10 (en0)

Doing this with another CLI tool such as git translates the output:

$ LC_ALL="zh_CN.UTF-8" git --help
用法：git [--version] [--help] [-C <路径>] [-c <名称>=<取值>]
           [--exec-path[=<路径>]] [--html-path] [--man-path] [--info-path]
           [-p | --paginate | -P | --no-pager] [--no-replace-objects] [--bare]
           [--git-dir=<路径>] [--work-tree=<路径>] [--namespace=<名称>]
           <命令> [<参数>]

这些是各种场合常见的 Git 命令：

开始一个工作区（参见：git help tutorial）
   clone      克隆一个仓库到一个新目录
   init       创建一个空的 Git 仓库或重新初始化一个已存在的仓库

All this leads me to believe that the output will not change.


iPad 2 deleted notes - how to find I have a problem with "NOTES" on my iPad. I have missing notes that appear to be deleted. I have been trying to get on to iCloud to see if I can find them ther, but I can't seem to login. I'm going through a divorce & have important notes. It seems like my wife has somehow logged into my iCloud account & deleted them. Is ther a way to find them?

The simply answer is, unfortunately, that it will likely not be possible to recover notes that were deleted through iCloud.

Your only possible way to recover the notes would be if you have Time Machine backup on a OSX computer that is logged into your iCloud account. Honestly, even for this to work would be highly unlikely.

In the future, check out Evernote, or Google Drive to store your important notes.


How to rename files by moving/shifting characters in file name (e.g. appended sequence to prepended sequence)? I've searched high and low, but haven't come up with a viable solution. I want to enable sorting of these files by the sequence number in the file name, however the sequence is appended to the file name. If it was prepended I could accomplish my goal.

Currently files in finder appear as:

this is a great story_100.mp4
another great story of another time_103.mp4
yet another fantastic story_101.mp4
our last story_102.mp4

Trying to get to:

100_this is a great story.mp4
101_yet another fantastic story.mp4
102_our last story.mp4
103_another great story of another time.mp4

How can I accomplish this on a Mac? I've tried applications Renamer and NameChanger, the latter which supports regex, but I'm stuck. Lord this is frustrating...please help and many thanks to you in advance for the dear soul to lend the solution!

I'm not familiar with either of the programs you've tried, but here's how to do it in A Better Finder Rename ($20), and I expect at least one of yours can do it in a very similar manner. See below the screenshot for instructions and an explanation.

First, I chose ABFR's "Re-arrange using regular expressions" feature. This will probably be named something similar in other programs. This requires a regular expression to match with, followed by a substitution pattern to create the new filename.

(.*)_(\d{3})\.mp4

The first capture group (.*) simply matches any number * of any character . necessary to make the filename match.
This is followed by a literal underscore, which in your case delimits the border between the filename and number.
Then, the second capture group (\d{3}) matches exactly three {3} digits \d. If some of the files have more or fewer than three digits, say a number between n and x, you would change it to (\d{n,x}).
Finally, the extension is matched with an escaped period \. and mp4. If your files have different extensions, you should change this to \.(\w{3}) — just like the number, but with characters \w instead of digits.

Then, we use those capture groups to make the new filename. The syntax for this part may vary more between programs.

$2_$1.mp4

This is perhaps more straightforward: our second set of parentheses surrounded the number, so we put that first with $2, followed by an underscore, the filename $1, and the extension .mp4. (If you used \.(\w{3}) earlier, write $2_$1.$3 instead.)

If you'd like practice and help with writing regular expressions, I recommend the website RegExr, which provides live syntax highlighting and tooltips.


Connecting iPhone to hotel's ethernet network I am going on holiday tomorrow and the hotel I am staying in does not have wireless internet access in the bedrooms (awful oversight I know!).  They do however have ethernet points in each room.  I will only be taking my iPhone with me on this trip which obviously doesn't have an ethernet port.  However I do have a Netgear DG834PN modem-router which I can take with me.

I had a thought that I could put the router in bridged mode and use it as a wireless access point so that my iPhone can utilise the ethernet network.  Does this sound correct?  If I understand bridging correctly, this will mean that I won't need to assign an IP address to my router as it will take the one handed out by the DHCP server in the hotel.

Is any of this at all correct?  If not, do I have any options or am I stuck?

Yes, this could work. It's an odd solution, but allowing your router to be a bridge, then presenting a wireless SSID to your iPhone is a way to make this work. Perhaps the hotel assumed guests would bring laptop computers, thus the hard-wired ethernet ports...


Can’t reboot into OS X from Boot Camp I made a partition with Boot Camp on my wife's Macbook Pro and installed Windows, however after being installed I can not find the Boot Camp control panel.

I have looked in the control panel and the task bar. The program is simply not there. I can't get the Macbook to run OS X at all at this point, but can verify that the partition is only 40 GB in size. At this point, I don't care if I can get the partition working. I'm more worried about getting the OS X partition back up. I do not have a OS X install disk — the computer didn't come with one.

First you should be able to boot into OS X if you press and hold the ⌥ key just after pressing the power button.

For the Bootcamp control panel to appear, you should install the Bootcamp drivers from Apple. Run Boot Camp Assistant to get them or try these tips.

Also: More on Boot Camp.


Cannot compress any file I get a popup "The contents list can’t be created for compressing."
every time when I try to compress a file.

And also thumbnail preview is not working.

I am sure if both issues are related but they both happened today.

I've tried repairing disk permissions, deleting finder plist, restart but none of this works.

I am running Yosemite 10.10.1

Any suggestion?

=================================

I went to Apple Store and they can't fix this.
They reinstall the Mac for me.

Thanks for all answers.

Run the following commands in order in Terminal. Same issue for me and fixed it. I'm not sure what's causing it but I have to run it every so often to fix it.

sudo mkdir /private/tmp
sudo chmod 0777 /private/tmp


How does Windows 10 run on a Mac that officially only supports Windows 7? Does anyone have experience with Windows 10 having specific driver-related issues on a similar Mac that only supports (has Bootcamp drivers for) Windows 7? I have this MacBook Pro: Apple MacBook Pro "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 17" (SR) Specs

Apple supports up to Windows 7 on this Mac with Bootcamp drivers. I upgraded it to Windows 8 (not supported by Apple) and it still works just fine (Windows 8.1 now), except for some quirks like the volume/brightness bezel not showing up when I use those controls.

I am a little concerned that installing Windows 10 might break something that can't be fixed, and I'll have to wipe everything and figure out how to go back to Windows 8, which would be a pain. Does anyone know if Windows 10 is successfully able to use the Windows 7 bootcamp drivers? …or should I be the one to test it out and see if it works okay? :D

Microsoft tried to focus on backwards compatibility with Windows 10, supposedly retaining support for drivers designed for Vista. I've been running Windows 10 on a newer Mac and it works fine. I'm sure you'll have no issues.


Unable to reset VRAM or boot a 2007 MacBook in Safe Mode or otherwise Recently I made a hasty mistake in forcing a shutdown when it was becoming unresponsive. Previously I've been able to boot the system with no problems by starting in single user mode (to bypass the gray progress bar (which disappears after loading partially) and spinning wheel that stays indefinitely). However, now when starting up the system, it appears that pressed keys aren't recognized.

I've tried resetting the SMC (by unplugging the power source and battery and holding down the power button for 5 seconds), but that appeared not to help.

Is there another way to get to single-user mode or reset the NVRAM (such as by opening and adjusting something in the MacBook)?

EDIT:  I attempted diagnostics based on comments below by trying to boot into Verbose mode and holding Option to bring up the bootloader, but nothing worked.

Your keyboard may not be functioning properly.

If pressing ⌘ CommandV doesn't get you into verbose mode but you can can no longer get into Safe Mode (⌘ CommandS) there may be something wrong with the keyboard.

Try an external USB keyboard to issue the ⌘ Command⌥ OptionPR to reset the NVRAM.  (Alt = Option)

That should allow you to reset your NVRAM.  At this point you should test out the built-in keyboard and if it still isn't working, it's time to look at getting it replaced.


Siri saved my reminder on the shared "family" list. How can I prevent this from happening again? I asked Siri to remind me to purchase some personal items at the pharmacy, and right at that time the reminder appeared, I got an awkward phone call from a family member asking me why my reminders appeared on their phone.

I discovered this when I opened "reminders" on the Mac. Somehow the only reminder list I have is "Family". That means every alert I had appeared on their devices.   every.one.

Besides being exposed to a complete lack of privacy, how can I stop default reminders, of any source, from appearing on the family iCloud group?

Examples: Email, calendar, events, etc

Settings → Reminders → Default List. This is where you can choose the list you wish to store reminders when you don't specify a location at the time of creating the reminder.

"Remind me to …" uses the list you select as the Default List in Settings.
"Add … to my … list" uses the list mentioned in that specific Siri command.


Macbook Pro 2019 Bootcamp external display switches to 30hz when laptop lid is closed I am having the most frustrating problem. I have a 2019 Macbook Pro (AMD 5500M) running Windows 10 / Bootcamp. I have a 4k UHD external display which will not display above 30hz. I thought it could be the cable, but somehow discovered that when the laptop lid is open, both displays will run at 60hz!
I close the lid, and the display switches back down to 29hz. There is no way to change this.

This problem ONLY occurs in Windows 10 / Bootcamp. This does not happen on Mac.

Here are the screenshots for the monitor settings

https://imgur.com/a/QyOVoRS

Other things I have tried

Just disabling the monitor in the display settings (use only thing monitor). That also changes the display to 30hz.

I have looked around the power settings thinking there is some strange video switching, but i can't find it.

Any help would be VERY much appreciated.

Thanks!

As it turns out, this is an issue with the 2019 Macbook Pro and Bootcamp/AMD drivers. The solution is easy. Switch the resolution to something other than the default, and watch as the refresh rate magically increases to 60hz. Then just set the resolution back to the default setting and the refresh rate will still be at 60.


Iphone photo albums downloads I have 2 seperate photo albums on my iphone.  I have downloades one of the albums to my computer, but can't figure out how to switch to download the other album. When phone is hooked to computer itunes only reccognizes one of the photo albums and I can't figure out how to switch...any help out there?

Are you running iOS 5?  If so, the new albums you can create in iOS 5 are only for temporarily classifying photos from your Camera Roll.  But once you remove them from Camera Roll, they will also disappear from your Albums.

Thus, there is no circumstance where a photo would ONLY be in your Album and not in your Camera Roll, unless by Album you mean the Sync'ed Photos that have always been available through iTunes.


Macbook Pro Won't Boot off of USB Flash Drive Model MacBook Pro 2010 6,2

OS X version  Yosemite 10.10.3

I used createinstallmedia to format and create an install USB stick.  This step went fine.  Command used was:

/Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/HP-8 --applicationpath "/Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app"

(One comment was that I need to do this as sudo.  The line before was 'sudo bash' so I end up with a root shell.)

Note that if you backslash the spaces inside the quotes it doesn't work.  Basic shell stuff, but I'm rusty it took me a bit to figure it out as the message talks about "not a valid installation package."  Unhelpful...

When I attempted to boot it, it starts up, I can select the USB stick.  When it boots I get the apple logo.  The progress bar gets a little over 1/4 of the way, then the screen goes to a grey barred circle ("No") and nothing more happens.

Edit: Booting verbosely the boot fails with [SearchForTransportEventTimeOutHandler] -- Missing Bluetooth Controller Transport!

Searches for this message find mostly forum posts related to hackintoshes.

The copy of installer is one that I've used on several macs, but before I've always been doing upgrades, not install from scratch.  (I suspect malware on this one, so I want to zero out the disk before reinstalling.

Note also that this mac has a superdrive.  I've vague recollections of a firmware  'feature' that prevented booting an installer off of a memory stick.

Tested the USB stick with 3 other laptops, all of which had superdrives.  Same failure mode.

Tried a second image on a new stick.

Rebooted the mac with the jump drive not plugged in.  Got a grey folder with a question mark -- I think that's 'no system folder'

On a whim plugged the new stick in.

Booted off of this stick just fine.  I am now in the process of doing a 3 pass secure erase of the hard drive.  Odd results in Disk Utility.   Claims that this disk has 19 folders, 59 files, and that 630 MB are in use.

I will add to this answer as I find more information.


How to change text transparency in the Mac preview? This text is the watermark I want to add. Just wondering how to change its transparency.

https://maketecheasier.com/watermark-pdf-pages-quick-actions-macos  has a solution with automator to achieve the text transparency adjustment.

And I found another solution, using Keynote:

Load Image in Keynote, and text in Keynote can set transparency using View menu -> Show colours (CMD + Shift + C).


Trying to get a Symlink but it turns to be an Alias I'm trying to move my Backup folder from the SSD to another internal HD via symlink using this command:

ln -s /MacintoshHD/Backup   ~/Library/"Application Support"/MobileSync

the problem is, when i hit enter instead of creating a Symlink I get an Alias. Any suggestion on why this is happening?

The command you used is ok. This created a link in ~/Library/"Application Support"/MobileSync that points to /MacintoshHD/Backup. And this is is a symbolic link.

However, is you get the info on Finder it will catalog as Kind: Alias.

The first letter of the output of ls -l will show you that is a symbolic link:

lrwxr-xr-x   1 username staff    8 Dec 10 18:27 MobileSync -> /MacintoshHD/Backup/


Capturing video of Mac window Mac has a neat little feature where I can (while grabbing a portion of the screen) hit spacebar and click on a window to capture it (and the surrounding shadow), for example:

I've searched for this on Google, but its stupid algorithm keeps searching for similar words, even when I put it in quotes (like mac "record window only"). I want to capture a video of a window only (including cursor of course).

How do I do this? What application do I use?

Just use Quicktime Player. File->New Screen Recording. You can select a portion of the screen, but spacebar doesn't work to select the whole window, you have to drag a frame around the window manually. You can trim the video afterwards, if you selected an area too big though. If you want to google, use "quicktime record window".


Can't drag folder to desktop Since upgrading to Mountain Lion, every time I try to drag a folder to my desktop it only makes an alias. Is there any way to reenable moving regular folders? It's really obnoxious to have to make another directory every time I want to move something for a short while.

Try deleting the Finder preferences (rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Finder.plist)
Try to replicate the problem on another user account on the same Mac.
Look for utilities which change the keyboard behaviour.


Remove entries from finder's context menu? Does any one know how can I remove items that I never use from the context menu?

e.g.: Burn "yadda yadda" to Disk...

You can actually remove native MacOS items from the context menu....but unfortunately, it doesn't appear you can remove the ones you indicated above. Regardless, if you want to take a look, head to

System Prefs > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services

and then uncheck the items you don't want on the menu.

It's unfortunate that you can't remove all of them. But it can at least help you get rid of some of the clutter.


Linux on Macbook, dual-boot, without rEFind Is it possible to install a Linux distribution on a Macbook Pro partition and do a dual boot, without installing rEFind.
Thanks!

Note: The introduction of Ubuntu 18 has made these instructions obsolete. In other words, the Ubuntu 18 installer will automatically create files in the proper locations for Ubuntu to appear in the Startup Manager.

You can still employ step 7, if you want an Ubuntu icon to appear in the Startup Manager.

  Note: These instructions are for Mac models with 64 bit EFI firmware. In other words, if your Mac has Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) or a newer version OS X (macOS) installed, then you can use these instructions.

Instead of using rEFInd, you can use the Startup Manager to boot most Linux distributions. The Startup Manager is contained in the the firmware that is already installed in your Mac. After installing a Linux distribution, you will need to move a few files around in order for the Startup Manager to recognize and boot the Linux distribution.

Most Linux distributions install grub and other files in the first EFI System partition on a Mac computer. Normally, this is the first partition on a Mac computer. The process of making a Linux distribution appear on the Startup Manager is a fairly trivial. The steps are given below for the Ubuntu Linux distribution. If you wish to install a different Linux distribution, post a command and I will verify if these instructions will work.

Install Ubuntu.
When finished, restart and hold down the option key to
invoke the Startup Manager. Select to boot from the OS X (or MacOS)
volume.
Open a Terminal application window.
Mount the EFI System partition by entering the command given
below.

diskutil mount disk0s1

Create a folder named Boot in the folder /Volumes/EFI/EFI. You
can use the Finder application or enter the command given below.

mkdir /Volumes/EFI/EFI/Boot

Copy the file grubx64.efi from the folder
/Volumes/EFI/EFI/ubuntu to the folder /Volumes/EFI/EFI/Boot.
Next, rename this file bootx64.efi. This step can be accomplished
by using the the Finder application or by entering the command given
below.

cp /Volumes/EFI/EFI/ubuntu/grubx64.efi /Volumes/EFI/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi

(Optional) Download a collection of icons from the sourceforge web
site Mac icns. Use the Finder application to open the
downloaded file mac-icns.dmg, then enter the command below to copy
the Ubuntu icon file os_ubuntu.icns to the EFI System partition.

cp /Volumes/mac-icns/os_ubuntu.icns /Volumes/EFI/.VolumeIcon.icns

This will add the following Ubuntu icon to the Startup Menu.

  Note: When finished, you can use the Finder application to eject the mac-icns volume.

Use the Finder application or enter the command below to unmount
the EFI System partition labeled EFI.

diskutil unmount disk0s1


Create solid horizontal lines in the .txt file Previously, I was able to press and hold the - and after few -, the combination of all the - create a solid horizontal line. Now, I use Sierra High and I'm not sure that it changed because of that. I provided an image of the solid horizontal line.

How do I create a solid horizontal line in the .txt file? This is obviously not a necessity, but, I kind of love to have it. I'm into programming, so if the bash script can be helpful, please, let me know.

It's a menu option in TextEdit.  Point your mouse at Edit > Substitutions > Smart Dashes, which I'm guessing will not be ticked.  Click on it, and turn it on.

Now when you press and hold the hyphen key, they will be replaced with gapless dashes that will form the line you're after.

There's also some options relating to this in the main preferences pane of TextEdit, which I believe are used for the default settings for new documents being created:

So make sure Smart dashes is turned on by default.  And don't miss the very bottom checkbox, which you might want to uncheck so that you retain this sort of dash-forming hyphens in plain text as well as rich text documents.

Should, by some unfortunate circumstance, this not resolve your issue, leave a comment, and I can provide you with an alternative way to achieve the same thing.


Can I limit the notification noise to one device when I get a message? I have a few Apple products: MacBook, iPhone, iPad. When someone sends me a text message, and the entire room starts dinging as all three devices tell me I got a message.

Is there an easy way to say, in effect, "I'm at my laptop, just tell me there."

Pick it up on one, the others go silent.

Just checking the lock screen on an iDevice is not sufficient, you need to swipe & open.
On a Mac, bringing Messages to the front will do it.


Contacts keep disappearing from iPhone 4 when iCloud is turned on I updated my iPhone 4 to iOS5 yesterday morning, and noticed after the install was complete that the contacts seem to have disappeared completely from my phone after setting the Preference for them to sync with iCloud.

Find a forum post from July suggesting creating a new text message in the Messages app and typing the first few characters of a contact's name to see if they still exist - which works, suggesting that having the contacts sync with iCloud causes some bug where the contacts merely aren't displayed in the Contacts app.

I then turned off iCloud-syncing for Contacts, and all my contacts were displayed normally again.

A few hours later, I test turning iCloud-sync for Contacts back on, notice no side effects; login to www.icloud.com later and see all of my contacts listed there.

Then this morning I open the Contacts app on the phone and it displays no contacts again. Turning iCloud syncing back off fixes it again.

Is there a better way to fix this and a way to fix it so that it doesn't happen in the future?

I've had this problem with iPhone 5
Updated IOS, about 2/3 of contacts disappear. Tried some of solutions, best one yet
Settings > Contacts>
Import SIM Contacts>
iCloud
And boom they are back, for now!


How to use iMac mid 2010 (21.5 inch display) as monitor I have a late 2014 macbook pro, and i am trying to use my 21.5" iMac as just a display via the thunderbolt cable. But it doesn't seem to be working, what do I need to change to do so?

The Display Port on the 21.5" iMac is output-only, so you can't use it in target display mode.


How do FaceTime and Push Notifications work on wifi-only iOS devices? Simple curiosity question.

How does FaceTime and Push Notifications work on Wifi only devices? I mean does the WiFi stays always on to achieve a continuous connection to Apple's servers?

I have older iPad and iPod touches and they don't have Wifi on when the come from sleep. Is that the same thing with newer models?

For what it's worth, my iPod Touches' (2g and 3g) WiFi remains on when the screen is off, and I do get push notifications from various things (in fact, as I was typing this I got one from Ambiance).  If you go out of range of known networks and "Ask to join networks" is turned on in the WiFi settings, you of course won't get push notifications unless you turn the screen on and accept an open network.  The Apple battery life optimization page has a little more information, including how to control on a per-application basis what push notifications will work.


How to add Spotlight comments to the bundled OS X apps? I'd like to add a Spotlight comment to TextEdit.app. Is that possible?

What I've done:

Open Finder
Browse to /Applications/
Select TextEdit
Press ⌘ + I (Get Info)
Click the lock icon to unlock the dialog
Click on Spotlight comment text field
Nothing happens. Even cut, copy and paste options are disabled in the context menu.

This seems to be the case for all the other OS X bundled apps as well (Font Book, iChat, iCal, …)

I could create an alias of the app and give comments to it, but are there any other ways?

You need to have write permission for the bundle. After you open the lock:

Select 'Read & Write' permission for 'everyone'
Add your comments
Restore the permissions


How to switch between mail and safari on iPad 2? When reading email using mail, I always click on a link and it open in safari. But when I want to go back to mail, I need to press the button and then find email. Is there a better way to seamlessly switch back to mail, with a gesture or something?

As far as I know there isn't a gesture: but you don't have to find email again. If you double click on the button the lower bar will show all the (open) applications in order of recent usage. Mail should be the first one.


How to find files in the Finder I think I'm doing something wrong with my use of the Finder, but I can't tell what.

I was trying to find a .jar file, and I realize I don't know whether the Finder can't find it or it doesn't exist.  So I started looking for folders and files that I know exist, to confirm or deny that the Finder is getting the right commands from me.

There is a folder at ~/.m2/, and when I look for it in the Finder, it can't find it.  I also searched for a file within the ~/.m2/ directory, and it couldn't find that.

This is where I'm confused.  Sometimes, the Finder returns results quickly, and other times, I'm not really sure if anything is happening or not.  Right now, it says 'Searching 'All My Files'" as the title of the Finder window.  Does that mean the search is still in progress?  Or is that just a title?  I'm not sure.

It also doesn't say, "Search done, found X results" or "Search in progress", or anything.  There's no pinwheel, no information.  I have no idea whether it's still preforming a search or not.

What am I doing wrong?  How do I use the Finder to find my files?

The hardware I'm using is Macbook Pro, OS version 10.12.4.

~/.m2/ has a dot as the first character of the directory name. This is a hidden folder, so isn't indexed by Spotlight. Finder won't find this because it's not in Spotlight's index. Rename the folder without the dot for the folder to be indexed.

Searching with Finder uses Spotlight so should be near-instantaneous. You can show the status bar with View → Show Status Bar (⌘/) and a pinwheel will appear at the right of the bar when Finder is still searching, disappearing after the search is complete.


How do I hide contact name from whatsapp notification on iphone5 I saw someone's iphone5 whatsapp notification pop up with only the whatsapp badge and the word "message" but I can't figure out how to do that on my iphone5

On your iPhone go to Settings > Notifications > WhatsApp > scroll down and you'll see "Show Previews" > And change that.

Also in WhatsApp settings. Click on Notifications. The toggle "Show Preview" off.

That should only show the senders name and not the context of the message.

You can also turn of show on lock screen for WhatsApp in iPhone notification settings for added privacy.


How can I run unzip silently in terminal? I have a lot of Zip archives that I want to unpack in a script. Is there any way to run them silently?

Here is what I have:

bash> unzip  02b852e3571e46f25fdfc79f43ceb726ddff9ba7.zip
Archive:  02b852e3571e46f25fdfc79f43ceb726ddff9ba7.zip
02b852e3571e46f25fdfc79f43ceb726ddff9ba7
  inflating: .editorconfig
  inflating: .gitattributes
bash>

Here is what I want:

bash> unzip <something to silence zip> MyArchive.zip
bash>

As stated in the manual, -q (quiet) or -qq (even quieter).

unzip -qq filename


My MacBook Pro (2011) is saying there are no software updates, however there should be. My MacBook Pro (2011) is not up to date, however there are no software updates showing. I know it is not up to date because when I try downloading Xcode it says Xcode can's be installed on Macintosh HD, it needs Mac OS X 10.8.4.What should I do?

For OS updates, the software updater only shows minor releases (so if you are running 10.6, you'll get all the 10.6.x updates etc.). In your case you need to upgrade to a more recent major release (10.8 or 10.9).

I would suggest going into the Mac App Store and examining the new OS X Apple release called Mavericks. It is 10.9 and might have several features of interest to you. Before purchasing and installing it though please backup your computer and files (perhaps via Time Machine).

With 10.9 installed you can run the lastest version of Xcode but be aware, I don't know what other programs you have on your system and it could be that older apps and app versions might not support 10.9 at the moment or without further updating ($$$).


How do I install Macports and Xcode for OS X Snow Leopard I'm new to OS X and I have an older Snow Leopard system.  I need to compile a few simple C programs for some analysis work.  It seems that gcc et al are part of a package called Xcode, and that many free software programs are in a package called Macports.

It seems that Macports requires Xcode.  Xcode is not available for Snowleopard unless I have a $99/year developer subscription.  Alternatively I can install Lion for $30.

So to compile a tiny C program, I need to download some 5GB of upgrades and updates to upgrade to Lion, then download some 4GB iso to install Xcode?

Seriously?  Am I doing it wrong?

You can register as a developer for free on developer.apple.com. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for

Once registered you can download Xcode 3.2.6 from the developer site:


iCloud tasks do sync with Gmail I upgraded to Mountain Lion, use an iPad and iPhone. All syncs effortless over iCloud. Just bought an Android phone (Ic sandwich) and want to use Gmail for TASK syncing. But step 1 is iCloud to Gmail sync (and then Gmail to phone). Contacts and Calendar work well this way. In other posts about iPhone/Gmail syncing is mentioned that Task syncing does not work. Is that also true for iCloud/Gmail syncing? (all my switches are on in iCloud for Gmail syncing).

This won't work at the moment. Problem is that Google doesn't expose the tasks calendar in their sync procedure since many years, neither over Exchange nor CalDAV. You can only sync tasks into Google's cloud by using an app which directly communicates with Google Tasks (i.e. gTasks for iOS, GTasks for Android). This is the only way to sync Google Tasks over different devices & systems.

Furthermore, iCloud tasks can only be synced between the Mac & iOS versions of the Reminders.app at the moment so there is no other app which is able to communicate with these tasks. Therefore, it's not possible to get your tasks out of the Reminders.app, including syncing it to another service.

For now you would need to decide on one service and stick to it on all your devices. And this would be Google Tasks because you can't access iCloud reminders from Android.

But: in the future, it should be possible to sync iCloud reminders down to Android with SmoothSync for Cloud Calendar which says "iCloud reminders are not synced yet" in the current release notes.


How to share/broadcast the screen of the iPad to a distant computer? I want to write on my iPad and that a distant user (in a another city) can see (in live) what I write on my iPad. Is it possible?

I might use the app Nebo to write. So I was thinking: is it possible to broadcast the screen of my iPad? I am looking for an iOS only solution, but I can also connect the iPad to the mac...

Thanks.

If you can use a computer what you can do is  connect the iPad to the computer through a USB cable then view the iPad screen using QuickTime. Then use screen sharing software so the person in the other place can view your computers which will have you iPads screen.


Facebook causes iMac to become unresponsive I noticed that when my iMac's display goes to sleep while Safari is showing Facebook (i.e. Safari is the current active app and its active tab is Facebook.com) I am unable to turn the display back on. I have to unplug my iMac and restart it. Is this happening to you? Do you have any solutions (other than making sure you don't have Facebook running)? Have you experienced this with other browsers?

iMac 27", Late 2009 : OS X Mavericks 10.9

This problem seemed to have been solved after upgrading to OS X 10.9.1


Is it true that we could dual boot Mojave and Catalina, in the same APFS partition, and they don't have to have fixed sizes? Is it true that if we dual boot Mojave and Catalina, or if we dual boot Catalina and Big Sur, we can go the traditional way of creating two APFS partitions, and each partition is one container and in it, just have one volume and it is Mojave or Catalina, respectively. Each OS would then have a fixed size (for example, 250GB each, on a 500GB SSD drive).
But with APFS, we could also have one single APFS partition on the physical hard drive -- and so it is one container, and then create two volumes: one for Mojave and one for Catalina, and they can dual boot this way?  This actually has the benefits that each OS is not limited to a fixed size, because Mojave can be 150GB and Catalina can grow to 350GB, and if Catalina goes down to 200GB, now Mojave can grow to 300GB -- dynamic flexible sizing?

Below is an example of where the macOS versions named Mojave, Catalina and Big Sur (beta) have been installed in the same container. This is a triple boot arrangement. The output from diskutil list is shown below.
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *548.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         547.9 GB   disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +547.9 GB   disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume MyMojave                12.7 GB    disk1s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 410.3 MB   disk1s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                1.7 GB     disk1s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      1.1 MB     disk1s4
   5:                APFS Volume MyCatalina - Data       4.5 GB     disk1s5
   6:                APFS Volume MyCatalina              11.2 GB    disk1s6
   7:                APFS Volume MyBigSur - Data         2.9 GB     disk1s7
   8:                APFS Volume MyBigSur                14.9 GB    disk1s8
   9:              APFS Snapshot com.apple.os.update-... 14.9 GB    disk1s8s1

All the APFS volumes and snapshots exist in the same container partition and therefore share the space allotted to the container.
The OP's question indicates the assumption that each version of macOS would reside in a single volume. This is not true. In this example, Mojave uses 4 volumes, Catalina uses 5 volumes and Big Sur uses 6 volumes. The Preboot (disk1s2), Recovery (disk1s3) and VM (disk1s4) volumes are shared by all three macOS versions.
Below are the result of enter commands to get the volume uuid for the MyMojave, MyCatalina and MyBigSur - Data volumes. Each UUID is generated when a volume is created and therefore all such UUIDs are unique.
dma@dmas-Mac-mini ~ % diskutil info MyMojave | grep "Volume UUID"
   Volume UUID:               7C48B3D0-263E-4C25-9268-FD4001759334
dma@dmas-Mac-mini ~ % diskutil info MyCatalina | grep "Volume UUID"
   Volume UUID:               DCC8D3B0-3308-4FCC-B057-D4CE495A91FF
dma@dmas-Mac-mini ~ % diskutil info "MyBigSur - Data" | grep "Volume UUID"
   Volume UUID:               383CF355-F467-48CE-9124-B24149322EA7

Normally, macOS boots from the Preboot volume. Although all three macOS version share the same Preboot volume, they do not share the same preboot software. The preboot software for each macOS version is stored in a folder which has the same name as the UUID for a volume uniquely used by each macOS version. For this example, the boot software for MyBigSur is be stored in the folder named 383CF355-F467-48CE-9124-B24149322EA7 on the Preboot volume. Note that the name of the folder is the same as the volume UUID for the "MyBigSur - Data" volume given above.
Basically, the same setup is used to store the macOS Recovery software for each version of macOS, except the Recovery (disk1s3) volume is used.
The VM (disk1s4) volume is used by all three versions of macOS for virtual memory.
Mojave has an additional volume which is the root volume. For this example, this root volume is named MyMojave and has the identifier disk1s1.
When booted to Catalina, the root volume is mounted read-only. For this example, this root volume is named MyCatalina  and has the identifier disk1s6. Catalina has an additional volume which is both read and writeable. For this example, this volume is named MyCatalina - Data and has the identifier disk1s5.
When booted to Big Sur, the volume is named MyBigSur(disk1s8) is not even mounted. Instead, a snapshot volume (disk1s8s1) is mount as root. Big Sur has an additional volume which is both read and writeable. For this example, this volume is named MyBigSur - Data and has the identifier disk1s5.


Flickering external monitor w/ MBP retina 13" I use the latest 13" MBP retina and I wanted to use an external display (LG IPS231) through hdmi but the LG doesn't have an HDMI port.

So, I plugged the HDMI cable into my laptop to an HDMI to DVI adapter which I, then, plug into the screen. That doesn't work. Both screens flicker when I plug and unplug the monitor and the MBP recognises the screen and its resolution. On the other hand, the monitor shows the no signal screen.

I don't have another monitor or other computer to test right now.

I included a picture, not sure if it's super helpful.

Thanks in advance if anyone helps!

All I can really suggest is that you purchase a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, along with a VGA cable (D-Sub cable), and use that with your MacBook Pro.

(the blue socket beneath the DVI socket is the VGA socket.)


iPhone 4S video showing as 568 x 320 pixels resolution I was under the impression that the iPhone 4S recorded video at 1080p by default (using the native camera app). But when I send a video to myself via email and look at the video properties it is 568 x 320 pixels resolution. I wonder if this has to do with some compression given that it is being "shared" by email.

In that case, how do I extract the video without losing its pixel resolution?

Using iOS 7.

The issue relates to the fact that the video is being sent by email and the iPhone will compress the video for this purpose. It is not related to an email server capacity for attachments.

Reference here:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/transferring-videos-from-iphone-4s-to-computer

In order for video to be transferred at full resolution, the iPhone needs to be connected to a computer via USB. This will allow transfer of the entire file, for example using iPhoto.

When transferring a video file by email, a progress bar indicating compression is seen at the moment of transmittal, which measn the file is being compressed in resolution although it remains at full resolution within the phone until it is deleted.

In addition it is recommended to unlock the phone (if using a passcode) before connecting, to have access to this read/write functionality.


Sync iPhone's contact with Facebook, Twitter, etc I am looking for an app capable of merging duplicated contacts and updating my iPhone contacts with Facebook and Twitter friends information. What's the best app out there for this?

I suggest looking at cobook. It's pretty good at that kind of thing.


Macbook finder copy changes permissions to 777 I recently got my first mac (macbook pro) and I use it primarily for coding C++ and python in the terminal.  I noticed if I use finder to copy a directory (with my code in it) onto a USB drive, then the permissions on all the files get changed to 777.  Is there any way I can use finder to copy files onto a USB and have it preserve the existing permissions?

After some experimentation, I figured out that the USB drive was formatted FAT, and when Finder copies to a disk formatted FAT, the permissions get changed to 777.  When I reformatted the USB drive to MAC OS, then finder copied the files with permissions correctly preserved.

Side Note: Someone suggested the permissions don't really change to 777, but rather FAT simply does not support unix permissions.  HOWEVER, I would point out that I first noticed this not when I initially copied my files to the usb drive, but when I copied them back to my macbook from the usb drive, and then I saw that on my macbook the permissions were now 777.  So, in effect, FAT's non-support of unix permissions actually did change the permissions to 777.


10.10 updated and my internal camera not working I have just updated my 2013 MacBook Pro 13 inch with 10.10 Yosemite, but now I can't webcast.

How do I turn the camera back on?

Hi I had the exact same problem. Played around with terminal and figured out a way to reset the camera. Just open terminal, paste this in to it, and then press Return:

sudo killall VDCAssistant


Changing Input Language in iOS 9 with External Keyboard When using an external keyboard, is there a new key combination to change the input language? It used to be ⌘-cmd+space, but since iOS 9 that combination has been assigned to Spotlight Search, same as OS X.

My external keyboard has a  key that also invokes Spotlight Search starting with iOS 9, since I suppose it's a simple macro for ⌘-cmd+space.

Found it: it's now ^ctrl+space. I think that's the same as on OS X now.


External display will not come back after power-off while connected to MBP 2017 with Display Port My LG 34UC88-B ultrawide display has a weird issue:
  After the laptop goes to sleep - ~50% of the time, when the machine is woken up the display will not wake-up/power on.

My MBP (macOS) thinks the monitor is there but says there is no signal. From the window layout, I can tell that macOS thinks the display is up.

I can unplug/plug the cable into the same port multiple times and it will not "heal" without a reboot. If I plug the cable into a different USB-C port on the MBP - everything is normal.

I've also tried:

Booting with a different PC - not had the issue although it's running Windows 7 in single monitor mode using a HDMI cable.
swapping the cable (did not help)

I really hate having to move cables around every couple of days, so I'm wondering what else I can try?

How can I troubleshoot this further?

I'd start with resetting both the NVRAM and SMC (in that order). Before following the steps below, ensure you have no external hardware connected and that you're using the built-in keyboard.

Reset the NVRAM

Reset the NVRAM on your MBP as follows:

Fully shut down your MBP.
Press the power button and then press the commandoptionpr keys. You have to make sure you press these keys before the gray screen appears or it won’t work.
Hold those keys down for about 20 seconds or until you see the Apple logo
Let go of the keys and let your MBP reboot normally.

Note: When you log back in you may need to readjust some of your system preferences (e.g. speaker volume, screen resolution, startup disk selection, time zone information, etc).

Reset the SMC

Shut down your MBP
Press and hold the power button for at least 10 seconds
Let go of the power button and wait 5 seconds
Power up your MBP again

Once you've reset the NVRAM and SMC use your MBP as usual and see how the display behaves. If it's still not waking up normally, then reset the SMC again but with the following steps instead:

Shut down your MBP
Press and hold the right shift key and the left option and control keys for 7 seconds before then also pressing and holding the power button down for another 7 seconds (i.e. the keys will end up being held down for 14 seconds, the power button for 7 seconds)
Let go of all three keys and the power button
Wait 5 seconds
Power up your MBP again

If all of the above doesn't work, it may be worth testing your MBP in Safe Mode to see if it behaves differently.

Boot into Safe Mode

Follow these steps to boot your Mac into Safe Mode:

Fully shut down your MBP
Restart your MBP
Immediately press the Shift key and keep it down
Let go of the Shift key when you see the login window (NOTE: If you have FileVault enabled you may need to log in twice).
Take a note of what happens (i.e. does your display wake up normally, etc)
Exit Safe Mode by restarting your MBP as normal
Test again when booted normally

If the problem doesn't occur while booted into Safe Mode, let me know and we'll go from there.


Safari 8.0 web process at 100% CPU every time I start Safari after resuming from sleep Whenever I start Safari 8.0 (on Yosemite 10.10) after resuming my Mac from sleep, it kicks off a web process which consumes 100% CPU and soon gets the fans on my MBA going:

What's strange is that it's always the same URL (http://www.saudecuf.pt/) which is a site I haven't visited for a very long time, certainly not since I upgraded to 10.10. I have no idea why it's picking up that URL. The only solution is to force quit that process and from then on Safari behaves normally until the next time I put my Mac to sleep.

Very frustrating.

BTW: the site is the site of a local private hospital, nothing special.

Sorry it's not a solution, but just to reassure you that you're not going mad: I have the exact same problem, different URL, but similarly old and unvisited - it's not even an open tab or within top-sites.

However, as well as peaking at 98% CPU usage, I also eventually get  the red error notice in Activity Monitor 'Safari Web content (not responding)' and everything slows down - although Safari is mostly still usable.

I've tried disabling extensions and iCloud sync. Even restarting doesn't remove the old URL.


Trigger function key using AppleScript I'm trying to trigger a function key using applescript. I need it to press the 'volume up' key with fn.

I wrote the following AppleScript but it isn't effective:

tell application "System Events"
    key down 63 -- fn
    key code 111 -- f12
    key up 63
end tell

just executing key code 111 gives me the same result as the code above,

 key down 63

doesn't seem to effect the behaviour of the script, the f12 key is being pressed, without the function modifier.

Is there anything like

 using function down / using fn down

just like there is for the command key

 using command down

or is there any other way to achieve this?

if you are trying to set the volume in AppleScript a correct syntax would be as the following, no need to force button presses :

tell application "System Events"
set volume 4
end tell

Now as you can see its a forced process. If you want more flexibility like determining where the users volume is currently at or set it to increment increase/decrease by 1, yes it's possible, but a little more code heavy than i can manage right now (i'm typing from my iPhone)

However,

If at possible, and your end goal wouldn't be affected by using Automator. I would use Automator if I was you, it has built in functions like this with easy drag and drop motives. 'Set Computer Volume is one of them'. But thats an alternative, I just emulated that with the code above.


Does TextWrangler 4 break BBAutoComplete 1.5.3? I just installed TextWrangler 4, and now when I try to use BBAutoComplete version 1.5.3, I get the error message seen below.

Is there a workaround to make BBAutoComplete work with TextWrangler 4?

Yes, it breaks version 1.5.3, and yes, there's a workaround. But now it's unnecessary, because version 1.5.4 has been released and it solves the problem.

If for some reason you want to still use 1.5.3, you can do the following:

In the script ~/Library/Application Support/TextWrangler/Scripts/BBAutoComplete, there is a function canCompleteInWindow(w). This function needs to be modified to work with TextWrangler 4.

Open the script in AppleScript Editor.

As it ships, there is a function in the script that reads

on canCompleteInWindow(w)
    tell application "TextWrangler"
        return class of w is in {text window, disk browser window}
    end tell
end canCompleteInWindow

Change it so it reads

on canCompleteInWindow(w)
    tell application "TextWrangler"
        return class of w is in {text window, disk browser window, project window}
    end tell
end canCompleteInWindow

Save the script. BBAutoComplete should now work with TextWrangler 4.


How can I get Network drive shortcuts added to the Finder sidebar in Mountain Lion? I updated to Mountain Lion from Lion and I noticed that my network drives are no longer shown in Finder's sidebar under Devices.

Under preferences I have all checkboxes ticked. And when I click on "My MacBook Pro" I see the Network drives mounted but when I drag them to Devices (like I used to in Lion) they don't "stick".

Can I only get shortcuts by adding them to my favorites? And even there they get lost when I restart my computer.

This is a bug in Mountain Lion for which there seems to be no fix as yet. If you eject the network folder then re-connect it will appear in the sidebar but next time you login it will be gone.


How can I import an iDVD project into DVD Studio Pro? I don't know if this is even possible, but how can I import an iDVD project into DVD Studio Pro? I really want to be able to copy an iDVD project and tweak it in DVDSP.

I am using DVDSP 4.2.2 and iDVD 7.1.2.

This seems to be a way to go about it, but this only seems to work for iDVD 4.0 or earlier.

I'm not sure how relevant this is to you though, because I don't know the versions of the software you are using.

I have zero experience working with iDVD but maybe it is possible to save your project in an older format / convert it to an older format, to make sure it can be imported.


macOS High Sierra use almost all the hard drive space each time it's upgraded I have a 1T drive, and it normally uses 400 GB space. After the system upgrade from 10.13.5 to 10.13.6, the system now tells me the disk is almost full:

The system uses 870GB, almost the double what it used to.

Maybe there are some backup files in here, because sometimes disk space will be the correct size. I think a backup file is deleted at that time.

So what can I do to stop this from happening?

After contacting Apple's manual customer service, they told me to rebuilt the index of Spotlight, just add the Whole Macintosh HD to the exclude and then remove it, this solved the problem !


Retina iPhone app on the new iPad With the new iPads having a retina display, what will happen to iPhone apps that are built to support retina display for iPhone/iPod touch on an iPad sized retina screen. Will the iPad use the retina version of the iphone app or stick with the normal version?

The German magazine c't (or rather the new "Mac & i") tested the new iPad (3rd gen.) and found that it finally uses retina graphics in the iPhone apps that provide them:

  Übrigens stellt das iPad 3 auch Apps, die für das Retina-Display des iPhone 4(S) optimiert wurden, schärfer und ansprechender dar als sein Vorgänger – iOS zieht nun also endlich die optimierten Grafiken heran. Das wirkt sich positiv auf beide Darstellungsvarianten aus, auf die Originalgröße und den "2x"-Modus.

Translation:

By the way, apps that are optimized for the retina display of the iPhone 4 (S) are displayed by the new iPad sharper and more appealing than by its predecessor - iOS now finally uses the optimized graphics. This has a positive effect on both display variants the original size and the "2x" mode.


Windows using Bootcamp won't read any USB memory sticks I just installed Windows 10 on my MacBook (Early 2015, OSX El Capitan 10.11.2), and after everything set up I tried to plug in my External Hard Drive.  I made sure this HD would and does work in Windows 10 by plugging it into another laptop I have running only Windows 10, and it worked fine there.

When I plug it into my MacBook with Windows 10 running, it:

Shows the notification asking what I want to do with the HD, I close it.
Doesn't show a Windows Explorer popup appears with the contents of the HD.

After this I go to Windows Explorer manually and try to open it.  2 things happen with this.

I notice the drive is called "Local Drive" instead of its actual name, "My Passport" (named that because the drive is WD My Passport).
When I go to open the HD, it gives me an error I have never seen before, Invalid Parameters.

When I first saw this I safely ejected the HD, and I got the BSOD with an error of KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE.  I guessed it was a problem with the safe eject feature, so I rebooted and ejected it without the safe eject function, and it gave me the same BSOD error.

Before anyone marks this as "off-topic", this is about Apple's drivers in Windows, not Windows itself, as the causes of the BSOD error suggest.  None of the Windows updates seem to fix it, and I seem to be unable to find any driver fixes from apple.

Update: I can no longer even plug the HD into the computer, because when I plug it in it plays the little "Device Connected" chime, then the computer gives me the BSOD withe the same error.

I managed to finally fix this.  All I did was reformat the External HD as the "MS-DOS(FAT)" filesystem through Disk Utility.

I'm assuming it was an issue with the "ExFAT" filesystem, although I could plug it into 2 other Windows laptops in my house with ExFAT.


Can I copy apps and settings from an old to new laptop, but exclude my iTunes libraray? I'm thinking about getting a MacBook Pro with the 128 GB SSD.
It would take days to set up all my software development tools, control panel settings, and download and reinstall dozens of applications.
I understand Setup Assistant can help with this process.
However, there are two main issues (that I can think of)...

The old laptop is running Snow Leopard. New one would be Lion. Will that be a problem?

On my old machine I'm using 185 GB of storage -- more than my prospective new machine's HD capacity. But 131 GB of that is my iTunes library.
Can Setup Assistant copy my applications, control panel settings, and work files over, but leave out my iTunes library?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Also any notes regarding gotchas / things to watch out for with Setup Assistant.
Thanks!

(In case it helps, the control panel settings I'm concerned about are, for example, my network configs for different "locations," my screensaver timeout, security settings, and also control panels I've added like the CP for my Wacom tablet.)

Everything should work smoothly from snow leopard to Lion.  As from itunes library, my advise would be to move it temporary to a non user related location (not under any user 'users' folder) during the copy.


Can I use the software on my mac to help me claim my eligibility for the Up-to-date-program, so I get Mountain Lion? I recently got a new MAcbook pro, and while I was exploring features on the Apple site and learning to make the transition to a Mac from a PC, I noticed there was an up-to-date program. I do not have any receipts or the papers from the shipping to prove when I bought my mac and they denied my first attempt. I would like to get the new software, but i need to know if there is any certificate installed to help me prove I bought my mac.

If you bought your Mac on-line directly from Apple, then your name, date of purchase and serial number of your Mac are enough.

It worked fine to upgrade my new MacBook Air (bought on apple.fr) to Mountain Lion.


How long does Safari's cache last? I would like to know Safari's cache lifetime. In case it has limited duration, also how to extend it.

The Safari cache lasts for as long as the max-age header (see section 14.9) is set (by the server which is serving the file) for the specific file that is being cached, unless it is cleared manually. However, max-age=0 caches the file until the file is modified (or the server tells the client the file is modified).


Open-source TextWrangler alternative? I need to use a text editor that is capable of always saving documents using Windows CRLF line endings. So now I'm using TextWrangler. I am opening files from volumes encrypted with TrueCrypt, and I need the content, and the fact that I'm opening these files, to remain secret.

TextWrangler, on the other hand, conveniently stores information about all documents opened in a file called 'Document State.plist'. The file is XML.

TextWrangler's manual says the following about 'Document State.plist', and nothing else:

"TextWrangler stores state information for individual documents in this file."

There is no way to disable the storing of this information in the preferences. Furthermore, there is a  section for some files that is ASCII encoded, but I don't know what is stored in this field.

So my question is, are there any good open source text editors for Mac that allow you to specify line endings, or is there a way to prevent TextWrangler from creating this file?

TextMate is a good editor on its own right, and has been open-sourced with an active development community.


repair an out-of-warranty Thunderbolt port The Thunderbolt port on my trusty several-year-old MacBook Pro is failing. To connect an external display, I now have to wiggle the cable around, then pull it out a few millimeters until the contacts are lined up just right. It's only a matter of time before the port breaks entirely.

Everything else about the machine is in great shape. Is this a "replace the entire motherboard" problem, or is there a better/faster/cheaper solution?

For that Mac, the thunderbolt port is a part of the motherboard (on the left, 3rd from the top):

So unless you're able to source the parts, perform a package exchange that clearly is a machine solder and then test things, the most economical repair would be to exchange the whole motherboard. As long as there is no physical damage inside, this would be a flat rate repair ($280) for Apple and probably cheaper than buying a logic board used. The flat rate repair would fix anything else wrong with the Mac. But, if you're up to reflow that part and do advanced soldering - there are lots of people that can attempt this repair even though it's not a trivial one.


iPhone 5 not appearing in iTunes I have an older mac that has iTunes 9.2.1 and my new iPhone 5 does not appear in the device list.  Are iPhone 5s compatible with iTunes 9.2.1?  My Mac is on an older OS X which is not capable of running the latest iTunes.

The system requirements list iTunes 10.7 as the minimum version supported by the iPhone 5.  Your version of iTunes is on the on the older side, so it's not surprising that it wouldn't recognize a device released after it was.

iPhone 5 system requirements:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html


How do I find out what is keeping my Macbook from sleeping? My Macbook will drain of battery when it's not plugged in. I thought it was a bad battery (it says it needs serviced) but even if it's a bad battery it should not be taking power when the lid is closed and it's in a sleeping state.

I figured it must be software since it's been software that sometimes prevents my computer from restarting (usually because I have an unsaved document):

  "Application X has prevented shut down of your computer."

But I also figured that if software was preventing the computer from sleeping that I would see the same message, "Application X has prevented your computer from going to sleep". But I've seen no message!

But I've been working on an app recently that requires an internet connection and this is what I see in the console after opening the lid to my laptop after a few hours:

  The network has changed! You may now be connected or disconnected. 19:47:48
  The network has changed! You may now be connected or disconnected. 19:48:11
  The network has changed! You may now be connected or disconnected. 20:48:33
  The network has changed! You may now be connected or disconnected. 20:48:56
  The network has changed! You may now be connected or disconnected. 21:49:14
  The network has changed! You may now be connected or disconnected. 21:49:39
  The network has changed! You may now be connected or disconnected. 22:49:59
  The network has changed! You may now be connected or disconnected. 22:50:25

It looks like something is keeping the computer awake because the app I'm working on reports the network has been connecting and disconnecting.

What is keeping my computer awake? Or is it just a bad battery?

I'm running OSX 10.11.4 and Macbook AIR Mid 2011

UPDATE:
I have not checked if it occurs when it is not plugged in. I will do more testing. When it is plugged in, the network is enabled for about 25 seconds every hour, even when the laptop is closed.

UPDATE 2:
I ran pmset -g and this is what I get:

Active Profiles:
Battery Power       2
AC Power        -1*

Currently in use:
 standbydelay         4200
 standby              1
 womp                 1
 halfdim              1
 hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage
 powernap             1
 networkoversleep     0
 disksleep            10
 sleep                0
 hibernatemode        3
 ttyskeepawake        1
 displaysleep         60
 acwake               0
 lidwake              1

Here is the results from using the assertions flag:

Assertion status system-wide:
   BackgroundTask                 0
   ApplePushServiceTask           0
   UserIsActive                   1
   PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep    0
   PreventSystemSleep             0
   ExternalMedia                  0
   PreventUserIdleSystemSleep     0
   NetworkClientActive            0
Listed by owning process:
   pid 102(hidd): [0x0002cf38000901c3] 09:14:50 UserIsActive named: "com.apple.iohideventsystem.queue.tickle"
    Timeout will fire in 3596 secs Action=TimeoutActionRelease
No kernel assertions.
Idle sleep preventers: IODisplayWrangler

Try pmset -g. It will show you a list of process id's that somehow have hooked into the sleep or shutdown process.


Connect New MacBook (USB-C) to Apple Cinema Display 30" (Dual-Link DVI) Because Apple Thunderbolt Display reflects the whole room, I still use the matte 30" Apple Cinema Display. (Two cables are required for 2560 resolution due to some obscure technical constraints!)

MacBook Air (Mini DisplayPort + USB)
Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter
Apple Cinema Display 30" (DVI)

How do I connect the MacBook (USB-C) to the 30" screen with 2560 resolution?

MacBook (USB-C)
(What goes here?)
Apple Cinema Display 30" (DVI)

There IS a solution to this problem, I searched and purchased quite a few adapters but finally I got it to work:

1) Purchase this USB-C to Display Port adapter:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00YBH6WDM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

2) Purchase this Display Port to "Active Dual Link DVI". It is important that it is an active converter and not a passive one:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00856WJH8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Sorry for the German pages but I am sure you can find it also in other countries' stores.

Connect that combination and also don't forget to connect the active converters power through USB.

If it starts with a scaled resolution, don't worry, there is a key combination (option or command scaled resolution) and you get the highest one.

Works like a charm!
I know it's pricey but I love my 30" Cinema Display.
I also got my old MOTU Firewire audio interface with apples TB3 to T2 and then TB2 to FW and an additional FW cable from Belkin to run.

Now I use my exact same setup as with my old MacPro but it's the MacBook Pro 15" with Touch bar. Logic Pro with a Project of 40+ Audio Tracks does put a load of 50% to the system :-)

If you need more info just answer here, I can help :-)

UPDATE: The following item is USB-C to Dual Link DVI-I (which can take DVI-D). No need for multiple adapters. Alas, this does not support the 30" Cinema Display, according to the product page:

  "The USB-C to DVI adapter will not work with Apple Cinema Displays or the Dell 3007WFP. These monitors require a true DVI-D signal. Please
  note this before purchasing"

https://www.pimfg.com/product-detail/USB31C-DVIF-1


App Store says app is "INSTALLING" but nothing happens I upgraded an old MacBook Pro to Mavericks, and I am now trying to download Xcode.

In App Store I searched for "xcode", found it, clicked "Install".

It is now saying "INSTALLING", but nothing happens, CPU at 0%.
If I let the computer unattended, it falls asleep (disk stops).
While waiting I tried to install MacPorts, but it says Waiting for other installations to complete..., so the installation is still going on somehow.

What should I do? Restarting App Store and does not fix the problem.

I rebooted and re-clicked INSTALL, and still the same problem.

It is a bit similar to this question but I have no /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate* file to delete.

Maybe this thread on Apple Support Communities is what you're looking for.

It sounds like it is, indeed, a cache problem. From the thread above, it'd seem you'd need to find the cache in the /private directory. I'll include specific instructions, inspired by the thread:

Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app)
Type in this command: sudo find /private/var -iname "com.apple.appstore" and press Enter
For each of of the found directories run rm -r <dir path>/* (For the brave: sudo find /private/var -iname "com.apple.appstore" | xargs sudo rm -r)


How do I use Handoff in the middle of a call? I received a call today, and the Handoff box popped up on my screen as usual. I took the call on my phone and the box disappeared.

Then, partway through the call, I wanted to "hand off" the call back to my computer. But I couldn't figure out how to do it, and the Apple help page wasn't very clear.

How can I take a call on my iPhone and then pass it to my MacBook? I'm running iOS 9 on an iPhone 6S, and OS X El Capitan on a MacBook Pro retina -- so I know my hardware is capable of it.

As of iOS 9.2, you can't do this in the middle of a call.

To talk using a different device, you must end the call and recall using the second device.