Using Apple's IR remote to simulate a left/right mouse click or navigate presentations I have a 2009 MacBook Pro running OS X 10.7 with an Apple IR remote. Since I create my presentations with LaTeX, which generates PDF files, I cannot use the remote to control my presentations (it only works with Keynote out of the box, not with Preview).

Some searching around led me to this app that allowed one to extend the remote to other programs. However, this was last updated in 2009 for Snow Leopard, and it doesn't work with Preview on Lion. Some apps like Spotify, have dedicated addons/scripts  that will let you do this (for that app).

Is there a way to get Apple remote to work with either Preview.app or Adobe Reader/Acrobat? At the very least, can it be made to simply do a left click and right click (i.e., Next → Right click, Prev → Left click), so that I can have the most basic navigation capabilities?

I know that there are a few ways to add support for various apps, but you might want to consider paying for Mira.

I've used it for a few 10.6 and 10.7 laptops and it works great.

There's also Remote Buddy, although I've not tried it personally.


Cannot save screenshot to file At some point in history I made some settings change somewhere to save screenshots to the clipboard instead of the default Desktop location. However, I did this somewhere else than this place:

I still most often want to use the clipboard, for instance when posting this question :)

My problem is that both with or without control modifier, they're always saved to clipboard. I think this is because I didn't use this setting here but something else that interferes/overrides. I currently have no way to store a screenshot without going through the hassle of creating a new file in preview to paste into… Any tips highly appreciated!

---- Update to clarify:

I have tried all the normal screencapture settings and currently have:

defaults read com.apple.screencapture
{
    location = "/Users/viktor/screenshots";
    type = png;
}

However, there is still no way OSX ever produces any files, just clipboard. This is due to the fact that I made some more obscure change some time back that was not as simple as changing the shortcut like above or these plist settings that seem to be common now. What I need help with is finding out what that was to be able to restore. It was probably 5 years or so and my guess is that the shortcut settings for this didn't even exist at the time, therefore leaving me to use something else that now overrides this…

This link here should help you with what you want right now:
https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/change-macs-default-screenshot-directory


iPhone Trojan Attack Warning I opened an internet radio app, HiDef Radio, that I have used before, many times, on my iPhone 4s with iOS 9.3. After connecting to a station and listening a short while, a window popped open saying:

  Apple Security
  Attention!!

  (6) virus detected on your iPhone!
  IP address 108.72.0.216 (not my iPhone's IP address)
  One of the last sites you've visited contained a Trojan, loading via the vulnerabilities of the browser.

  Click ok to start the cleaning process. After clean up, make sure to upgrade your system to the latest version.

  Install        Cancel

  Detected by Apple Firewall Ver 6.2.7

Clicking the Cancel button took my to the App Store for a VPN program, HotSpot Shield Free VPN Proxy which, as it turns out, I already have on my iPhone! But it was not running (and is not now, either) when the popup window appeared.

So what does all this mean? Obviously the popup is fake, there is no Firewall on iOS, the IP address is wrong, etc.

Is AnchorFree (makers of HotSpot) resorting to scare tactics to push their product?
Is the HiDef Radio app compromised?

These popups are completely and totally FAKE. All they're meant to do is prey upon your fears as a user. (tl;dr at the bottom)

Most app advertisements are networked, meaning the developer adds a little bit of code to their app, sets what kind of ads they want, and the network lets people buy ad slots. Sketchy ads (like these) pay a lot more, since they're banned from many networks and only some apps allow them (that's usually configurable).

These app advertisements are usually implemented as a custom WebView that only closes once the X appears after a few seconds. As you can see here, these ads also appear in safari, where you have to close the page, and cancel can do whatever the designers want it to do:

A lot of this style of ad also reference the "adult sites you've visited" hoping you won't turn to technical support or the Internet for help.

In reference to you saying that this was made by AnchorFree, that's highly likely. It's an easy (and sadly, effective) way of pushing their product to get more subscribers. Clicking download would've most likely taken you to the HotspotShield install page as well. Your HiDef radio app is probably fine.

tl;dr: your phone is fine, the ad is fake, and AnchorFree probably paid for it. The HiDef radio app is also fine.

PS: I'd be careful about the VPN apps you use, since some will sell your data that they gather through the tunnel they make to advertisers and other people. Read the privacy policy!


Create a HTML bundle? How can I create a bundle of HTML/CSS/JS/Image files that can be double-clicked to bring up a web browser? Ideally I would like to be able to use an icon on the file as well.

Is there a plugin for Chrome or Firefox that I could use to save page as a bundle?

Safari and TextEdit allow you to create a .webarchive package.

What I'd recommend is creating your site and open it in Safari to save it as .webarchive.

I'm not sure about customizing the icon… not sure if that is supported for webarchive bundles.


Mac Pro keeps rebooting when installing Win7 on Mac Pro using EFI Boot/GPT drive I've tried to re-install Windows 7 using Bootcamp Assistent, since Windows 10 gave me a lot of headache.

Ran in to the error "No bootable device detected...", so I used following steps:

Make EFI bootable USB installer

Download Win10 install ISO
Boot into Windows DVD setup to access a Windows command prompt
open command prompt at install screen by pressing shift+F10
load diskpart and make clean install disk by typing:

diskpart
list disk
select disk n #n=USB stick
clean
convert gpt
create partition primary
format fs=fat32 label=Winstall quick
exit
exit

mount downloaded install ISO
drag everything from the mounted ISO onto the USB stick
delete bootmgr and bootmgr.efi from the stick to avoid BIOS/CMI boot and force EFI boot

Flash MacPro4,1 with MacPro5,1 firmware

Bootrom MP41.0081.B07 (EFI 1.4) to Bootrom MP51.007F.B03 (EFI 1.5) (If your machine shows Bootrom version MP41.0081.B08 you could first try to continue without upgrading. I don’t know which Apple EFI version is contained in there. Downgrading should be possible as well, definitely possible to version MP41.0081.B07. Please research if you don’t want to lose the downgrade possibility to MP41.0081.B08) The upgraded EFI finally enabled me to complete the boot process and you will have all other advantages of the 2010 and later models (hex-core CPU, faster RAM, Audio over DP) This upgrade is reversible. (If using El Capitan you need to disable System Integrity Protection. Otherwise the flash will not perform. If patch is running successfully you can see a big grey loader bar and the apple logo. Optical drives will open.)

Download MacPro5,1 firmware here -Mount .dmg (to prevent error 5570)
Download Mac Pro Firmware Utility here
Run Utility and follow instructions
check upgraded bootrom version and identifier in System Information

Setup Windows with EFI Boot

remove ALL physical drives except the to be Windows drive
plug in Winstall USB Stick
Boot Mac holding option/alt key
Choose EFI Boot
Enter setup and select GPT target disk
Install

Install Bootcamp Drivers (optional)

Boot into Windows
Download Bootcamp Support Software
Run Setup

The problem is, however, that my machine gets stuck in a bootloop during Windows 7 install... After initial installation, it tries to reboot but gets stuck at grey screen and keeps rebooting. When upon rebooting while holding option/alt key, the Windows drive does not appear, only the 'Winstall' USB stick.

Is this a Windows 7 issue and should I try Windows 8/8.1?

I plan to use drives as followed:

640 GB HDD (old OS X install)
500 GB HDD (Windows7)
240 GB pcie SSD (Main OS X)

"Windows 7 x64 (64-bit) will NOT boot natively using UEFI on a Macintosh!"

See source with technical details here:
https://darobins.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/native-uefi-windows-7-boot-on-mac-mini/

PS
It would have been nice to not only copy and paste my installation guide in your question. That cost me some time to put online. A link or reference as source would have been nice. From the title of my post it could have come to your mind as well, that a WIN8 or WIN10 installation had been the goal, not WIN7...EFI Boot Windows 8.1 or 10 Install on MacPro4,1 / Mac Pro (Early 2009)


Appstore does not save partially downloaded file I upgraded to Catalina because I need Xcode 11. Now when Catalina was being downloaded, it continued from where it stopped even when there was network error. Now I am downloading Xcode with Appstore.

I started off since morning for over 6 hours only for the downloaded file not to find space to install. And When I deleted and clicked on it on the App Store. It started all over. That's 8 GB gone. I am in Lagos Nigeria and I don't have wonderful download speed. In case I encounter the space not enough again because I have deleted almost all apps I have just to make space for it, how do I make it use the already downloaded file so I won't go through this horrible experience again.

You should use wget/ curl based methods and Apple Developer website for downloading it. I am not a fan of App Store managing huge downloads. Since I am not doing iOS development, I can work with old version too, so don't need App Store to recognise the download and give me an update.

Can't update Xcode
Download older version of Xcode?

I don't know about CURL, but in wget you can do

wget -c https://site

-c lets you continue the download where you started.

Reclaim the space using apps listed here:

How can I figure out what's slowly eating my HD space?


iTunes won't play from Apple TV I've had Apple TV for just over a week and up until today, everything has been fine. My problem is that when I try and watch previously bought films/tv shows, they won't play. It just goes back to the play screen. Also, I cannot buy new films. I've reset it, logged off and back on again but still the same. Can anyone help?

Unless you have an amazing internet pipe, don't bother trying to play purchasef TV, etc, from the TV or Movies icon on ATV.

Download the TV, etc, to your Mac/PC, turn on iTunes Home Sharing on the Mac/PC and on the ATV, choose "Computer" on the ATV, and stream it from the Mac/PC to the ATV.


detaching a chrome tab on catalina causes a jump to a different workspace It is my habit to have dozens of chrome tabs open across a dozen workspaces in macOS.
Often I want to to re-organize these tabs.
For example, I may have an instance of chrome on workspace 5 with 10 tabs.
Let's say that I want to detach 3 of these to a separate instance of chrome on the same workspace.

This has worked fine for years. However, after the upgrade to macOS Catalina, when I detach the first tab, I and the tab are forced to a completely different workspace containing a completely different instance of chrome.
This is extremely disorienting and annoying and it happens every single time that I detach a single tab from an instance of chrome.

I've tried these commands in the terminal as suggested here:

 $ defaults write com.apple.dock workspaces-auto-swoosh -bool YES
 $ killall Dock

But when I detach a tab now, the tab just seems to disappear.
It is actually transported to one of my 12 workspaces but I am not.
Now I have to go searching for it.

This is driving me insane.
Anyone have a work-around?

UPDATE: I've confirmed this is a bug in chrome not macOS mission control

This is so annoying that I switched to firefox and firefox does NOT experience the same issue.

Actually, I do get "teleported" with my tab, but that is also super annoying. Ordinarily I want the tab on the same desktop, that's why it was in that browser window in the first place.


iOS 9.2 double touch fingerprint sensor I was messing around this morning and found that if I quickly double touch (NOT double-click) the fingerprint sensor on my iPhone 6S+ (iOS 9.2), the current app (or the home screen) slides down to the bottom half-screen, showing a blurred home screen background on the top half.  It doesn't matter if I use a finger that the sensor recognizes.  It goes back to normal after about 8 seconds or if you double-touch again, but I can't figure out what this mode is for??  Is this a bug or some hidden feature I haven't heard about yet?

It's a feature!  It's so you can reach the upper part of the screen with you thumb.  It's called reachability, for more info here.


My app is showing install size instead of download size in App Store My uploaded iOS app is showing 28.3 MB size in the App Store app on an iPhone 5s. As per the Estimated App Store file size from iTunes Connect, my app size will be as shown in the image.

My concern is that it is showing the install size (28.4 MB, the amount of disk space that the app will take on the customer's device) in the App Store app on the iPhone 5s.

I think it should be Download Size instead of Install Size. Is anything wrong with the size showing in the App Store? Or is it so?

The App Store shows the install size because this is the amount of storage space the user requires on the device once the app is installed. The download size is rarely useful. There is nothing you can do to change what is shown on the App Store page.


iPod Classic - Disc 1 and 2 of a double album are not consecutive in the cover flow Some double albums correctly imported via iTunes are then not correctly diplayed in the cover flow. Disc 1 and Disc 2 of double albums are not consecutive despite the information, names etc are correctly uploaded.

How to get such albums displayed in sequence using the cover flow option?
Thank you for any contribution
Have a good day
Alessandro

Whenever I import a two disc set into iTunes, I edit the metadata so that the album names match across the two discs, rather than having disc numbers as part of each album name. It is still easy to see which disc is which because the metadata includes disc numbers (separate from the track numbers) which are independent of the album name.

As I recall an iPod sorts first by disc number and then by track number (or maybe iTunes does that and the iPod inherits the result), so the tracks play in what seems like the correct order.


How do preference files become corrupted? I've read a few different troubleshooting articles and Q&A's where the culprit is a corrupted preference file for an application or process. Typically the solution is to delete the bad preference file and allow a new, default preference file to be spawned upon restarting whatever software was misbehaving.

How does a preference file become corrupted? Is this simply a low-level read/write error, or is there a higher level error occurring in some cases? Is it just malformed or misspelled XML?

I believe plutil could tell you if there's a syntactical error with the file, but again, how was the error introduced? I'm unclear on the usual source for these corrupted files. Thanks.

It can be caused by a great number of things, but I believe the most common cause is where the file is being written to, and the application terminates before it's finished writing the file. This could be caused by system overheads being too great for a successful write at the time.

Hardware errors with the hard disk, or memory could also cause data errors, but I would imagine these would be the least of your problems by this time.


What's my full version 7.1 (11D167) I'm trying to figure out if I'm on IOS 7.1, 7.1.1, or just what?  I get 7.1 (11D167).  I'm thinking to attempt to use "pangu" to jailbreak my phone.

11D167 is iOS 7.1.

The version shown in the device About will show the entire version number.


Pairing Apple Watch to new iPhone without erasing My iPhone was lost and I want to pair my watch with my new iPhone. Everything I see says that unpairing the watch will erase it. The problem is I don't have a backup of the watch since it's a new phone.

Is there a way to backup the watch without erasing it?

I know that if I had a recent backup of my old phone and restored the new phone from it, it would have the watch backup as well, but in poor form my backups were too old from before I had the watch. Also even if I did have a recent phone backup it still wouldn't have the very latest data from the watch, and that's what I'd like to save.

There are some similar questions, but none answer my question.
Apple watch still paired to an iPhone I no longer have
Pair Apple Watch again without erasing

The watch backs up periodically, but you can’t easily get at the backups until you bring an unpaired watch to the phone containing the backups.

I don’t foresee this changing this fall 2019 but a cloud backup interface would be needed to do what you ask if the watch or another wearable was to stand without the iPhone to manage data and setup.

I’ve not seen any way to jailbreak a watch and repair it either which is what you’re looking to accomplish so until new information comes to light, you’re stuck with only one option.

Get an iPhone to recover whatever backup exists of the lost iPhone, then wipe the watch and repair. You certainly want to engage apple support in case they have any insight into how they plan to handle this situation or if we don’t know enough and there are other options.


How is there storage when I haven't signed in yet? Just reset phone Lots of problems with my iPhone. iTunes music skips like messed up cd, websites timeout, some apps click to download but they do nothing. Restrictions are off. Factory reset phone and I wasn't allowed to create a new Apple ID but before signing in my iCloud storage already showed 1.99 GB being used. I set up as new phone and not logged in any account prior to this. Hmmm. Any help?

Each of the apps you installed is taking up part of the 1.99 GB storage.

Even if you erase all content and settings - the OS and some baseline storage is used so you don't ever get 64 gb of available space.

What's the practical difference between a 16GB and 32GB iPhone?
https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/71313/5472


Undocumented applescript functions Is it possible for an application to have undocumented applescript functions. Commands that do not appear in the Applescript Editor Library for the application? Is this common? Is there someway to uncover these functions?

Yes, an application can have undocumented AppleScript functions. These functions will be declared in the application's Scripting Definition File (SDEF) file but marked as hidden.

Typically the ability to hide AppleScript functionality is used to hide supported, but now legacy, AppleScripts commands and to hide incomplete commands.


How to prevent "Look Up" functionality from showing link previews? As you know Apple just updated the look up function and added previews of the link you highlighted. As a non-native I often use look up to see the meaning of a word. When the word appears as a link, or within a link highlight shows the preview instead of dictionary.

I was wondering if there is a way to switch between them or disable preview options.

No definitive answer, but I do have a workaround for you.

Select the link including a whitespace before or after it, then use the look up function on the whitespace part of the selection.

Update: you can also look it up by selecting it and then right clicking a few pixels next to it (see picture). I find the quickest way to do this is right clicking the link to select it, than right clicking again right next to it to make the 'Look up' function appear.


Mac Clients getting IP address out of DHCP range when Net Restoring I have a Mac Server setup to reimage my Mac Clients and it has been working great since 10.9.

My server environment is primarily windows with the exception of a few Mac servers (Imaging, Printing, and Caching).  I have a windows server that runs DHCP and has a small range setup for reimaging.  The clients used to get an IP in this range, however, since upgrading the Mac Server to 10.12 they are getting an IP address outside the DHCP range and causing IP conflicts.  It just seems to pick a random IP.

My DHCP range is 192.168.17.130 - 192.168.17.160. The Macs are getting IP's like 192.168.17.83 (which is already allocated to another device on the network).  My DHCP server is not showing any mention of the Mac client, and it also has lots of available IP's to lease.

I do not have DHCP server turned on, on any of my Mac Servers.

As you could imagine it is causing the reimage's to go really slow and act strange.

Despite the Mac server's DHCP service being "off", it might still be handing out addresses to DHCP clients. The DHCP and NetInstall/NetBoot services are both handled by the same daemon, bootpd (although NetInstall also activates TFTP and NFS). Theoretically, if NetInstall is on but DHCP is off, bootpd should be running but not handing out addresses over DHCP. But in at least some versions there's a bug that can lead to DHCP being fully active despite being "off".

The bug seems to occur when both DHCP and NetInstall are turned on, then DHCP is switched off, but the bootpd daemon doesn't seem to get the message and keeps doing DHCP. Generally, the solution is simple: switch both DHCP and NetInstall off, then switch just NetInstall on.

To confirm, check the log (system.log specifically) on the Mac server, look for entries from bootpd. You should see "BSDP" entries, but not "DHCP". See this Apple support document for some examples (although it has both BSDP and DHCP running).


How to handle malfunctioning macbook after macOS upgrade while avoiding full reset I have done a terrible mistake and upgraded my macbook pro to macOS High Sierra Developer Beta.

I experience multiple malfunction behaviours, including:

Missing files right after upgrade.
Machine does not go to sleep when closing the lid (this might be the cause for other issues, since the macbook got VERY hot in my bag
and shut down forcibly - twice...).
Mouse and keyboard does not function after login screen (not even USB mouse and keyboard. I had to connect via VNC to control the machine).
Finder won't launch (The application “Finder.app” can’t be opened.).

I would like to downgrade back to macOS Sierra (assuming the problems I described are reversible), but to avoid losing all data. Is it possible?

Same as my answer to No user to login in MacOS High Sierra, even though it may not be a strict duplicate...

I'd suggest nuke & pave, back to Sierra & HFS+, test the disk [as there are many utils that can test HFS but only one that can test APFS] then rebuild from backup.


Using a Mac, is there any way to purchase iPad-only HD content from iTunes? There are many movies on iTunes that only have HD versions if you are shopping from an iPad or Apple TV. However, I use a Mac Mini for my media center rather than an Apple TV. Is there any way to buy HD versions of these movies directly on a Mac?

Source: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3209

  In order to purchase, rent, and view HD content from the iTunes Store
  on your computer, you need to have the latest version of iTunes
  installed, you can download the latest version here. In addition, you
  will need to have components that support HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital
  Content Protection) installed on your computer.

  Mac System Requirements for HD content:

  Mac OS X v10.5 or later iTunes 10 or later
  2.0 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor
  At least 1 GB of RAM
  A display that supports HDCP with a screen resolution of 1024x768 or
  higher.

  If your computer does not meet all of the above requirements, you will be unable to
  purchase, rent, or view HD content from the iTunes Store.

  Note: If you are trying to view HD video on an external display, the
  display must have a digital connection (DVI, DisplayPort, or HDMI) and
  also support HDCP.

If it isn't obvious where to buy the movies, I would guess that your system requirements are not there.


How to back up iPhone with iOS 11.3 via iTunes on a Mac? When I plug my iPhone 7 (iOS 11.3) into my Mac (macOS 10.13.4), I see the following categories in iTunes (12.7.4):

I don't see any way to do backups.  How do I do local backups with the latest iOS / MacOS?

In the iTunes window, click on Summary. Under Backups, click on Back Up Now button.


Can I tell Terminal that it is allowed to kill processes if asked? Mojave on my iMac routinely applies its own updates and reboots itself, with most running programs returning to a reasonable copy of their pre-reboot state. That's fine, especially since these updates can take quite a long time. I don't want to sit waiting for them.

But I do web app development, and there are typically several different node.js web servers running in terminal windows. It's convenient to leave them running all the time. Using nodemon, they automatically restart when I change the server code, which is handy.

But when an update wants to reboot the system, the terminal windows running the servers all ask me whether I'm OK with killing the process, and sit waiting for an answer. Meanwhile, I'm in bed. And in the morning I have to say "yes", and then wait tediously for the update to complete. If I don't do it then, I forget about it, and see just the same thing the next morning.

Is there any way that I can script my code to tell the terminal program in advance that, if someone asks, it is ok to kill the running process?

Open Terminal Preferences → Profiles → your profile → Shell and switch ‘Ask before closing’ to ‘Never’.


Adding a new executable to the PATH environment variable? I'm trying to install this library called phantomjs.

The instructions include this line:

  http://code.google.com/p/phantomjs/wiki/BuildInstructions

  For convenience, copy the executable
  bin/phantomjs.app/Contents/MacOS/phantomjs to some directory in your
  PATH.

How do I do this?

The cleanest way to achieve this would be to symlink the binary in the /usr/local/bin directory (which is included in PATH by default). You might need to create this directory if it doesn't exist yet. You can check to see if these directories are already in your PATH by opening Terminal.app and typing:

echo $PATH

This will generate a colon delimited listing of all directories in your PATH.

If the directories /usr/local or /usr/local/bin do not exist yet, execute the following:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/bin

Symlink the binary, replace (/Applications) with the path to phantomjs.app if it differs:

sudo ln -s /Applications/phantomjs.app/Contents/MacOS/phantomjs /usr/local/bin

Now you should have no problems executing phantomjs from the command-line.


What does the "NS" prefix to a class name mean in iOS? I notice the "NS" prefix in all the class names in iOS. What does that mean? (e.g NSMutableArray)

It stands for NextSTEP, the operating system that Steve Jobs (caused to be) built after he was evicted from Apple.  Objective-C and the NextSTEP API are the basis of the newer OpenSTEP and MacOS-X APIs.


How to remove my local Backupdb.backupsdb? On my local harddrive on my MBP retina (2014, 10.11.3) there is a Backupdb.backupsdb folder:

drwxr-xr-x+  5 root  wheel   170B  2 Jan 03:32 Backups.backupdb/

I thought that folder only exists on timemachines?
However, i want to remove it, as it only holds an old unfinished backup:

drwxr-xr-x@ 5 root  wheel   170B 20 Mär 14:06 2016-01-02-020746.inProgress/

I disabled SIP, but neither rm -rf nor sudo rm -rf worked, not even in recovery mode. I always got Operation not permitted.

Does anyone know how to delete it?

What you are asking is to disable local backups, right? To do that, type this in terminal:

sudo tmutil disablelocal

The local backups will go away, and so will the space taken up by them (The folder, backups.backupdb)


General Password Get/Set I had sent my MacBook Pro for a hard-drive replacement which was returned back with a fresh installation of the OS.
But there is no password set when I need to "click to unlock".

How do I set my password ?
How do I retrieve my sudo password ?

I assume that the account you are using doesn't need a password right now (otherwise how would you log in). Passwords can be changed in System Preferences -> Users and Groups

If you are an admin user, your sudo password is the same as your login password.


iTunes locks up (library on NAS) iTunes continually locks up on me.  I have my library set to an external NAS, and I only launch iTunes when connected to this NAS.  Any ideas why iTunes locks up - is it related to the library not being on my PC?

Your assumption that it locks up because the iTunes library is located on the NAS is likely correct. Some NAS's offer a setting/app to run an iTunes-Server. If your NAS offers something like that you should use that instead of just putting the library on a shared drive. (E.g. http://qnap.com/en/index.php?lang=en&sn=2674)

If your NAS doesn't have iTunes Server functionality you could try going through the NAS settings and see if there are power-saving options like "spinning down the harddrive" that you can disable. By disabling those settings the NAS will remain active all the time and there will be less of a delay when iTunes tries get the next track etc.

If you need more help you should post the exact model of your NAS and people may be able to tell you something more specific.


How to restore individual files from TM backup after clean install? My teenage daughter's Mac Mini (running OSX 10.8) was cluttered with all sorts of stuff, even unwanted and inappropriate popup windows when using Safari, and more. So I made a final TM backup. Then I did a clean install of Mavericks.

Now, I wanted to bring back individual files and folders from that TM backup, BUT...

going to Migration Assistant, I realized that it would overwrite the clean install and bring back the clutter. This is no option.
going to TM, I realized I wasn't able to select any of the snapshots from the timeline
going to the external drive containing the TM backup with Finder, all folders within her "old" user-folder showed a small red stop-sign, which I learned is an issue with permissions. I wasn't able to restore manually.

What to do now?

I know I could restore the cluttered state and copy folders and files manually to an external drive, make another clean install of Mavericks, then copy manually from that external drive. This seems a lot of time and work to me.

Is there an easier way?

going to the external drive containing the TM backup with Finder, all folders within her "old" user-folder showed a small red stop-sign, which I learned is an issue with permissions. I wasn't able to restore manually.

This is probably the easiest way to go.

You can fix the "red stop-sign" issue by opening Terminal and entering:

sudo diskutil disableOwnership /Volumes/[Your TM Drive].

You'll then be able to copy the files over manually, without having to worry about permissions.


What's the best OSX for my 2007 3.1 MacBook 2.2Ghz Intel Core 2 Dual, 1GB RAM, currently using OS X 10.5.8? My ol' clunker is doing very well considering its age, but I would like to upgrade its OSX to see if it runs a bit faster, and also because I can't run the latest versions of some applications on OS X 10.5.8..

I'm just hesitant because I'm afraid to make the computer even slower with a newer version of OSX, even if Apple says that I can run newer OSX... Does anyone have any advice? Much appreciated!

According to EveryMac the latest OS that your Macbook can run is 10.7.5 (Lion).

A big focus on the preceding release 10.6 (Snow Leopard) was performance. It was the OS update that Apple advertised as having "no new features" as the work was focused on refining and improved the existing ones. Reducing the memory footprint, removing legacy code, the Finder was rewritten in Cocoa, a new Cocoa version of Quicktime was created, etc. In John Siracusa's review of Snow Leopard for Ars Technica he said "Should you buy Mac OS X Snow Leopard? If you're already running Leopard, then the answer is a resounding 'yes.'"

So I'd definitely recommend upgrading to Snow Leopard at least.


How can I add shells to the list in Run Shell Script in the Automator? If I select the Run Shell Script action in Automator, it has a drop down menu filled with possible shells:

/bin/bash
/bin/csh
/bin/ksh
/bin/sh
/bin/tcsh
/bin/zsh
/usr/bin/perl
/usr/bin/python
/usr/bin/ruby
/Users/iain/Library/Frameworks/zsh/Programs/zsh

I reckon that some of that list came from /etc/shells, especially as it has tacked on my custom zsh at the end (unless it's read the currently selected shell from somewhere else). I also have an updated Ruby in /opt/rubies/ruby-2.1.2/ which I'd like to use for this shell script action.

Would anyone know how I can add it to the list? I've tried adding it to /etc/shells which didn't work (and seems like a horrible hack). Doing that removed the custom zsh from the list too!

Also, when I first pull in the action my current shell (the custom zsh) is automatically selected. If I try to use the drop down and re-select the custom zsh, it selects /bin/bash instead and removes the custom zsh from the list. If, however, I leave the custom zsh select and I save the workflow and restart automator, the custom zsh is missing and there is no shell selected for the action.

I could use one of the existing shells to call the custom Ruby, but it would obviously be easier to remove a layer of redirection

Any help with this will be much appreciated.

The list of these shells in this action come from this PLIST file --> "/System/Library/Automator/Run Shell Script.action/Contents/Resources/Shells.plist"

Edit this file to add others shells (need administrator's password)

    <key>/Users/iain/Library/Frameworks/zsh/Programs/zsh</key>
<dict>
    <key>args</key>
    <array>
        <string>-c</string>
        <string>%</string>
        <string>-</string>
    </array>
    <key>script</key>
    <array>
        <string>cat</string>
        <string>for f in "$@"&#10;do&#10;&#09;echo "$f"&#10;done</string>
    </array>
</dict>
<key>/opt/rubies/ruby-2.1.2/</key>
<dict>
    <key>args</key>
    <array>
        <string>-e</string>
        <string>%</string>
        <string>--</string>
    </array>
    <key>script</key>
    <array>
        <string>ARGF.each do |f|&#10;&#09;puts f&#10;end</string>
        <string>ARGV.each do |f|&#10;&#09;puts f&#10;end</string>
    </array>
</dict>


Mac freezes on startup with vertical striped bands I have an early Intel Macbook 13.3" that freezes on startup with strange bands down the screen. I'm unable to do anything. Any ideas on what would cause this?

That screen indicates a likely graphics card or video RAM (GPU/VRAM) failure and not a software failure. These parts are one with the logic board, so it could also be the CPU. In any event, as long as you seek Apple for repair and the mac is less than 5 years old, it might be as little as $350 to fix if it needs a repair.

You will want to back things up and see what your convenient repair options are by browsing http://locate.apple.com

If you can't get help soon or economically, edit in your Mac model year and software level (Lion, etc...)
 and we can start with some troubleshooting steps.


Change home directory with symlink I added an SSD to my system, so now I have a boot drive on the SSD and my home directory on a different volume. I successfully changed the home directory as specified in Change Users Home Directory. However, this breaks all of the symlinks I've set up for my dotfiles, since things like .bashrc which used to point to /Users/me/.local/dotfiles/.bashrc are now broken.

My fix was to instead change /Users/me/ to be a symlink to /Volumes/Home/Users/me, and set /Users/me to be my home directory. Are there any stability problems with this approach? Will it be noticeably slower than having my home directory actually be /Volumes/Home/Users/me?

This approach is quite okay and generally sane. You should verify that Time Machine is still backing up your home directory, following the symlink to the new drive, and not just backing up a reference to your directory.


Message notification does not work in iPhone 4S My iPhone 4S always showed a notification in banner (that is, the top of the iPhone screen) when a new message/mail came to me. Those notifications can be viewed in any state(Means, Even if I am playing a game or I am seeing some other apps, I can see the notification in the banner if a new message came).

But, the problem that I faced is, nowadays, it doesn't show the notifications on the banner. If a new message appears, it just show the notification on Messages app icon with the corresponding badge value. Also, I opened the notification screen (by swiping from the top of the screen), the notification appears.

The problem is, it does not show the new message alert in the banner. I attached my Messages app's notification settings here.

Did I miss something? Just confused!!

The source of my problem was Cydia app "Do Not Disturb".


Microsoft Remote Desktop local redirection? I have a Windows 7 Virtual Machine setup, that I remote into using my Macbook Pro. I'm using Microsoft Remote Desktop 2014, and have Folder Redirection setup. I don't see where the redirected folders are supposed to show up on my VM? It should be a folder called Projects. Screenshot below shows no redirected folders:

Thank you

It should show up under Devices with Removable Storage.  When you add the folder in Remote Desktop try clicking browse when adding the folder and confirm its the right path to the projects folder.


Can I change "delete" to "archive" in the message control bezel in Mail.app? The version of Mail.app that comes with Mavericks has this cool message control bezel (below, in the orange box) under the email header in every message allowing you to delete, reply, reply-all, or forward the message when you hover on the line:

It's great, but I archive all my mail. Can I change the trash can button (pink arrow) to the archive box, like in my toolbar?

As stated by CMW, Delete2Archive can solve this issue:
http://akgungor.com/2013/11/11/delete2archive-archive-gmail-messages-using-delete-key-os-x-mavericks-mail/

I use it an can confirm that it works, also for your problem:

When I hit delete on the keyboard it is archived (i.e. it stays in Gmails "All Mail")
When I hit the button from your screenshot, this seems to apply as well (to my surprise). So therefore your issue should be solved as well :)
When I hit the delete button in the toolbar of Mail.app, it gets actually deleted to the trash. You can customize the toolbar to include an "Archive" button as well (right click on the toolbar and choose 'customize toolbar'), see screenshot. I put it left from the delete button:


MBA to 2 HP monitors I have macbook air ( 2014) and I want to connect 2 27" HP Monitors. I have thunderbolt to HDMi converter and then also bought HDMI splitter but it only mirrors the monitor. If I buy USB to HDMI converters, would that setup work or no?

According to EveryMac

  *Although Apple only reports that this model can support a single external display up to 2560x1600, Intel reports that this model can
  simultaneously support two external displays up to 2560x1600 "daisy
  chained" via Thunderbolt.

So, no - only one monitor over HDMI. Two If you can daisy-chain compatible Thunderbolt monitors.


How can I delete a photo on multiple devices without having to delete it manually everywhere? I'm using Photos for iOS and MacOS to store my photos. When deleting a photo from either device, nothing happens with the photos on the other, not even after syncing. How can I avoid having to manually delete a photo on both devices for it to disappear? I'm not using iCloud sync.

Without iCloud, the images are just imported, not synced. There's no tangible connection between the two. This the same behavior has you'd find with a camera's memory card.

Before iCloud, images were synced via iTunes. You can still sync images back to the iOS device via iTunes, but if you do that the iOS device can't delete them.


Is there a safe way to move the /Users folder to a separate volume/drive? I have an SSD on the way and will be moving my HDD to the optical bay slot in my MBP.  I want to boot from the SSD and store my /Users folder on the HDD.  I've seen the way that everyone suggest moving an individual account's home folder to a separate partition.

However, I want to move the ENTIRE /Users folder.  I don't want to bother with moving individual user accounts, and I want any new accounts I create to reside on the HDD without any additional steps other than creating the user.

I already have a complete clone of my /Users directory on a separate partition I created for testing this out.  Is there a safe way (i.e. will not cause any problems with application or OS functionality) to direct OS X to utilize the new /Users folder?

The best way to do this is probably to setup /Users as an automounted partition, with all your home directories in the root of that partition. I am going to assume you have already copied over the home directories properly (with permissions enabled). Now you just need to add the volume to /etc/fstab. Assuming the parition is named Users, you add a line like this:

LABEL=Users /Users  hfs rw,auto

Instead of using the volume name you could also use the volumes GUID if you know how to find it, which would be slightly more reliable (it would prevent mishaps if you ever inserted another volume with the name Users. That would looks something like:

UUID=DF000C7E-AE0C-3B15-B730-DFD2EF15CB91   /Users  hfs rw,auto

You can find more information in man 5 fstab. Be warned, that manpage is mostly about the programming interface for fstab, but also goes into the file. Unfortunately it does not go into all the options available, there really appears to be no good documentation for it, but this should give you enough to get what you want done.


Why for some actions wifi is required (ie. cellular is not enough)? Synchronizing iCloud photo library and downloading apps over 100 MB both require wifi, ie. they are not permitted when on cellular.

Is this limit only for "convenience", so there wouldn't be surprises when the phone bill arrives? Is there any official reason? Or technical?

I'm asking this as my current cellular plan (LTE) consistently delivers better speeds than my current ADSL plan (= wifi) and I have plenty of headroom in my transfer quota.

That mechanism is in place to protect customers unaware of the data limits and to conserve the network's bandwidth, this means that everyone gets an equal share of the network. Although what I normally do is USB tether to my Mac then Wi-Fi share the USB connection then connect to that with my iPhone


Help my MacBook Pro keeps crashing and I have no Idea why I have a 2015 Macbook Pro 13" Retina running 10.11.4 , which has been crashing every now and again and have no idea what sets it off. The last two times I was on Safari and the other I was happened while playing a game. I've saved the last two reports the machine sends to Apple after it boots up. I'm not sure if they're of any help, but any help would be appreciated!

http://pastebin.com/cAgzPJUf

http://pastebin.com/amPT8TUB

The reason for the crash is listed at the top of those reports:

  zalloc: zone map exhausted while allocating from zone buf.8192, likely due to memory leak in zone kalloc.256 (620851200 total bytes, 2420408 elements allocated)"@/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-3248.40.184/osfmk/kern/zalloc.c:2628

And this one:

  zalloc: zone map exhausted while allocating from zone ksyn_waitq_element, likely due to memory leak in zone kalloc.256 (733364224 total bytes, 2864697 elements allocated)"@/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-3248.40.184/osfmk/kern/zalloc.c:2628

It looks like a memory leak.  Further down the report is this:

  Kernel Extensions in backtrace:
           com.razer.common.razerhid(15.38)[26748FCF-9967-378F-9E4D-4A77D1938E18]@0xffffff7f9ac6c000->0xffffff7f9ac86fff

It looks like it's being caused by a third-party driver, maybe a mouse or keyboard.  Check to see if there's any updated drivers.


How can I access to internet in iPhone 4 with USB or other way through my mac book pro? I have a iPhone 4 and Mac book pro. I am accessing internet in Macbook through dsl modem lan. But I don't know how to access internet in iPhone.

My specific question is there any way to access internet through USB or any other way with through my mac book pro????

?

You can do this by sharing your MacBook Pro's internet connection - typically called an ad-hoc network.

You will need to connect your USB aircard, and then open System Preferences > Sharing > Internet Sharing. (From this Apple Forum post) Select USB from the drop down menu next to "Share your connection from:". Then select the "Wifi" from the checkboxes below. Check the Internet Sharing option to the left, then join it with your iPhone.

Here is an Apple KB support article that you may find helpful in setting up an ad-hoc network. While you are using USB the steps in this OSX Daily article should be very similar to your situation.


Watch can't sign in to iCloud I set up a new Apple Watch yesterday by restoring from the backup of a previous watch. The watch from which the backup came was successfully logged in to my iCloud account. But with this watch, each time I have attempted to log in, I am getting an error:

The error is "Could Not Sign In - There was a problem connecting to the server"

The iPhone I'm doing this on is connected to the internet and logged in to iCloud. I am able to authenticate to iCloud in other apps (verifying App Store purchases, for example). It seems to be just this one task that can't connect.

This has persisted through restarts of both the phone and the watch. Is there a fix? How should I go about troubleshooting?

Apple Watch series 3, watchOS 4.2; iPhone 8, iOS 11.2.5.

Try updating to the latest iOS/watchOS version.

A new update (11.2.6/4.2.3) just came out and it might fix whatever is causing your issue.


What is the character limit for an encrypted USB drive password in Disk Utility? Is there a character limit for an encryption password when formatting a USB drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) in Disk Utility? I was able to use a very long 65-character password but was wondering how much longer I can make it.

FileVault 2, uses the User's login password as the encryption passphrase.1  macOS/OS X doesn't have a limit as to the length of a password2.

You can have a password without a limit, but practically speaking, it's not feasible to do so.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FileVault#Security

2 https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/22721/password-length-limits-in-history-of-operating-systems-and-popular-web-sites


Can I get iPhone charge status from my Mac? I have my iPhone plugged into my Mac via USB. Is there anyway to check on the charge status? I know iTunes does give you a small battery indicator, but I am looking for something a bit more detailed, like % charge.

I thought it is something nice to have and I am a bit lazy to reach for my iPhone to check every time I charge my phone.

You are able to see the charge status on the iPhone page on the new iTunes 11.


Is it possible to recover current texts after restoring from an old backup? I restored my iphone 4s from a 1/2/2013 backup. Looks like I lost everything that was current like texts. Can I get it back to the state it was in before I restored it from that 2013 backup?

Only if you have a more recent backup.

Do you have iCloud Backup set up on the phone? If so, you most likely have a more recent backup on iCloud.


OSX multi-user remote login w/ GUI I would like to give some restricted access to my OSX 10.8.2 to somebody who's using Windows on their computer. TeamViewer, VNC, LogMeIn, etc. all work fine, as long as I do not want to use my mac at the same time.

Is it possible to give remote users the option to login and see the GUI and run limited apps without disturbing the user logged-in on the console?

Yes, it is possible to give a user restricted access to your Mac. That's what parental controls are for (http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11471):

  You may not want all users to have unrestricted access to a computer,
  the apps on it, or content from the Internet. For example, you may
  want to prevent some users from changing their user settings or limit
  the apps they can use. To manage what a user can do on a computer, you
  use parental controls.

To configure it, as explained in the link above, create a new user for your colleague and turn on parental controls:

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Users & Groups, click the lock if it’s not unlocked, and enter an administrator name and password. Click Add (+) below the list of users, choose “Managed with Parental Controls”:

from the New Account pop-up menu, enter name and password information, and then click Create User. Click Open Parental Controls to set up the controls:

To restrict the apps the new user can open, click the App tab and limit the applications the new user can open. You also could select simple Finder to further restrict the new user's environment:

Now configure your Mac so that two people can use it at the same time:

Enable Screen Sharing in System Preferences>Sharing:

One of you must log in remotely using VNC. Install it on another computer and connect to your Mac. You will get best results if both computers are on the same network and if the apps you run don't need much graphic power.


Open Finder window - single instance If I click the Show in Finder link in Chrome's Downloads pane, every Finder pane I have suddenly comes to the foreground.

If I have several open I have to hunt around to find the Download I'm looking for.

Is there a way of disabling this action so that it only shows the Finder for this particular task?

This behaviour also happens elsewhere - very annoying.

That's intended behaviour - though since Mavericks it sometimes breaks & does only focus the one window until the Finder is relaunched.

The window you requested will be the frontmost, active window.

Unlike Windows, Mac applications consider all an app's windows as part of the same process, so bringing the process to the front brings all its attendant windows.


Unable to partition internal disk on El Capitan I'm trying to install Linux on my MacBook Air but seem to have fallen at the first hurdle and am unable to partition my disk.  I open Disk Utility, I have ~70GB of free space and when I click partition at the top it starts the process.

What I then find is that Disk Utility says "Incorrect number of file hard links" and "Invalid directory item count".

I have also tried to run first aid on my Macintosh HD, the same messages come up but then Disk Utility just says that the First Aid process is complete, leaving me still unable to partition my disk.

Is there anyway I can fix this problem?

Thanks.

Did you ever create hard links in the terminal? Sounds like you need to delete them properly.

If that doesn't work you may need something like DiskWarrior to repair your drive.

If all that fails, backup your hard drive, re-initialize and re-partition.

Good luck!


Keep standalone bash script app open after run of script I have a bash script that I have turned into a standalone macOS app (i.e. I created a folder Script.app which contains subfolders Contents and MacOS and in the folder MacOS resides my bash script). If I open the app the bash script runs and after the successful run, the app closes immediately.

I would like the app to remain open and run another bash script upon quitting the app. Or, if this cannot be done, perform some Finder action upon quitting (more precisely unmounting a Volume).

Gathering what's above in the comments, here's what works: Use Script Editor to write a script containing

do shell script "complete_path_to_start_script"
on quit
    do shell script "complete_path_to_quit_script"
    continue quit
end quit

Use Script Editor to export the script as a standalone app which remains open after the start script has terminated. This option can be selected in a checkbox.


Howto clean Photo Folder I opened Photo. I deleted all the pictures. Then I emptied the "Deleted images".

My Photo app is apparently empty.

I open finder, the photo library package is around 7GB an subfolders are full of old images and other unknown files.

I wish to clean all, to gain a fresh empty Library.

If I delete the .photoslibrary folder, the app shows an error message.

Can someone tell me the right procedure, please?

You can create a new library by opening iPhoto whilst holding ⌥ alt/option. This creates a fresh iPhoto library which you can import media into.


Is there a way to update the emoji font? As you probably know,  and Unicode keeps adding new emojis, but, if like me, you can't or you don't want to update to the latest version of macOS, you don't have those emojis. I know that there are several emojis fonts such as

EmojiOne
Twitter Emoji (Twemoji)

But, I don't want to have this kind of library, I would like to have the "real" emojis from  (Yes, I ❤ to use the Apple logo and emojis ).

Is there a way to update the emoji list from the  emojis?

This is my question, I think it's technically possible, but I have no idea where to find those emojis and how to update them.

The font file you need to use a more recent version of is /System/Library/Fonts/Apple Color Emoji.ttc and is about 135MB.

The High Sierra version of the file and the process to install it to /Library/Fonts can be found here:
http://stephenradford.me/install-high-sierra-emoji-on-older-versions/

Note that the Emoji & Symbol picker will not list the newer emoji added since your version of macOS. For that to work you would also need to update at least  /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreEmoji.framework and maybe some other files.


Is there an Iphone key logger for non-jail broken phones? I would like to know if a key logger can be installed on a non-jail broken IPhone?

Thanks

In the practical sense, yes you can. You can use an exploit for the iPhone software to gain access to install the keylogger. If you want me to tell you how, I can't/won't.

On the nitpicky "theoretical" side - no, you cannot. If you use an exploit for the iPhone to gain access to install the keylogger, you could say that you have really jail-broken the iPhone. Thus you cannot install a keylogger on a non-jail broken iPhone.


TV provider disappeared from iOS? Somewhat bizarrely, on both my iPhone and iPad, TV Provider is not an option in the Settings menu. If I search in Spotlight, it shows up, but when I click on it it just opens the Settings app (does not open TV Provider). It's a bit frustrating because I recently canceled my FiOS subscription and switched to Spectrum, but have no way of changing my TV provider settings in any of my apps.

If you don't see "TV Provider" in Settings sign in into both iCloud and AppStore app with the account that set US as a home location and reboot device.


How to add Service to Finder Toolbar In the contextual menu (right click) on a folder or file object in the finder will give you the option to select "Services".  I wonder if there is some way to move those services into a button on the toolbar.  In particular I would like to add "New Terminal at Folder" to the toolbar.  Anyone have any idea how to do this?

You can create an application doing exactly this using ScriptEditor.app and then add it to Finder Toolbar.

First place this line inside your ~/.bash_profile file:

alias cdf="eval \"cd \\\"\\\`osascript -e 'tell app \\\\\\\"Finder\\\\\\\" to return the POSIX path of (target of window 1 as alias)'\\\`\\\"\""

This will change the active directory to the one of the topmost Finder window.

Then create an application in ScriptEditor.app like:

tell application "Terminal"
    do script "cdf"
    activate
end tell

Save this as an application and add it to the Toolbar with ⌘ CMD + Drag.


My iPad won't respond to anything. So I have had my iPad for about a year but I haven't used it in a few months. I've been easy on it. It has never fell or anything and now it won't work. When I hold down both buttons (or the power one) absolutely nothing happens. Also when I plug it into my computer iTunes doesn't even recognize it. What can be wrong and how can I fix it?

Plug the iPad into the original Apple charger (the one that came with the iPad) for a few hours.  Your computer's USB port may not provide enough power if the iPad's battery is completely discharged.  The iPad charger is rated to provide twice as much charging current as a typical computer USB port.


Can't restore music to iPhone from iTunes I have a family member that did something a bit carelessly (but with good intentions) and I'm trying to help fix it.

They upgraded their iPhone 4 to iOS 5, but they did it from a different computer/iTunes than the one their iPhone was associated and synced with.  This wiped out everything on the iPhone, of course.

Now I'm trying to help them restore data, apps, music, etc.  There was a device backup in iTunes on the old laptop so I copied the contents of the MobileSync folder between the two systems.  On the new laptop, I restored from backup via iTunes.  Then, I proceeded to download all previous purchases in iTunes (apps, music), and then tried to sync:

First I synced apps only. No problemo.
Then I added music to the sync settings. Houston, we have a problem.

When I try to sync music it says that the iPhone is associated with another iTunes library and the phone will be erased.  Ugh.  If I only try to sync apps, there isn't an issue.  But of course, they want their music copied back to the iPhone. :)

In short, how do I accomplish all of the following:

Restore important data from the iTunes device backup copied from the old laptop
Ability to sync all purchased/future purchases of music
Ability to sync all purchased/future purchases of apps

Thanks in advance!

Note: This is all done on a Mac. Just look up the PC equivalent of the following steps if required.

How to recover past information:

Option 1 - Restore iPhone 4 directly from old computer:

Connect iPhone 4 to old computer, open iTunes, put the iPhone in DFU mode, (while holding alt/option key) select Restore after iTunes has detected the iPhone 4 in recovery mode, and select the most recent backup of that iPhone 4.

Option 2 - Copy iPhone 4 backup from old computer, and place on new computer to recover:

On the old computer, go to ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup, and copy the most recent backup of the iPhone 4 and transfer it to the new computer.
Connect iPhone 4 to old computer, open iTunes, put the iPhone in DFU mode, (while holding alt/option key) select Restore after iTunes has detected the iPhone 4 in recovery mode, and select the most recent backup of that iPhone 4.

How to create the ability to sync all purchased/future purchases of music and apps:

Open iTunes.
Sign out any pre-existing AppleID/iTunes Account once iTunes loads.
Sign into desired account of individual (your relative's I'm assuming).
In iTunes, select Store -> Authorize This Computer...
Rejoice!
Have your relative use iCloud for backup to make life easier in the future.

Let me know if you have any more questions, or need any futher explanation. Enjoy!


Use my old MacBook Pro as a Rack Console I'm just getting into using number of cheap server racks. I look into rack consoles and they look pricey for this particular work I'm doing. Do you know if I can turn my old MacBook Pro (early 2011) into one?

Just a guess here but it sounds like he wants to use an old MacBook as a glorified KVM. Now Server rack KVMs have a connector that goes to the Keyboard, Mouse and Video port of every server.

To do something like this you would need a software controllable KVM switch as you cant plug all of those servers into your MacBook and switch between them without some sort of hardware. Even then I'm not sure you can view incoming video, I am inclined to think not but am not completely sure.

One thing you MIGHT be able to do is use RDP and/or VNC on the MacBook and then plug the MacBook into a small dedicated hub/switch that then goes to a "spare" ethernet port on your servers.

Most servers have multiple ethernet ports and dedicating one to a "soft KVM" might work if they are not otherwise occupied.

The problem with that is that it is not strictly a KVM as it depends on the server's O/S being up and running, where a true KVM is nothing but a switch that connects directly to the server's keyboard, mouse and video ports. Allowing you to see and control the system from power on to power off, BIOS and other non O/S status messages included.

So for the TL;DR summary, probably not


Safari Security wants to use confidential I get a dialog with answer choices "Always allow | Deny | Allow" and text of Safari Security wants to use your confidential information stored in "Safari Extensions List" in your keychain.

What is the purpose of the question?

I need a little help in understanding the source of the question and its intended purpose

All your credentials are encrypted and stored using Keychain (e.g. ~/Library/Keychains/). It provides secure storage of your passwords, keys, certificates and other private data.

To prevent unauthorized access to your credentials by 3rd party application, each time when keychain file is accessed, it asks for user permission to access his sensitive data.

If it wouldn't ask you each time, then any application (e.g. Safari plugin) or hacker could access your keychain file and steal all your passwords without your knowledge by a single command.

Read more: Examining Mac OS X User & System Keychains


Insert vector-based PDF to Powerpoint WITHOUT losing resolution It seems there is no solution for inserting a vector-based figure (e.g. PDF) into MS Office (Word and Powerpoint). Others have suggested converting the image into a high-resolution raster image first, e.g. here and on the Microsoft support forums. However, none of the workarounds will keep the inserted image as a vector-based figure (which has many advantages over a raster-based image, e.g. you can select and search text). My workaround is to save the PowerPoint as a PDF after inserting the image. In that way, you can keep the image in a vector-based image. Does anyone know of a better solution?

I’m a Mac user, so I’d be more interested in a Mac solution here.

PowerPoint 2011 and 2016 don't retain vector graphics from PDF files, but merrily convert everything into bitmap graphics when the presentation is saved. To embed vector graphics in the presentation file, it's necessary to use an .EMF or .WMF file (Enhanced Metafile / Windows Metafile) instead of PDF. These  are Microsoft's own portable graphics formats from the Windows world and can contain bitmap elements and vector elements. The EMF format is preferable over its older version WMF because EMF supports vector graphics better.

To embed vector graphics from a PDF file, the PDF file will need to be converted to an EMF file, but if possible, it would be preferable to use an EMF file exported directly from the software that was used to create the graphics in the first place. Vector graphics editors like Adobe Illustrator and Inkscape as well as OpenOffice Draw all can export .EMF files. (Affinity Designer currently not so.) The possible downside is that more complex graphics and effects from advanced applications like Illustrator may be rendered wrong in the EMF format, which then makes it necessary to convert the vector graphics into bitmap graphics after all.

For conversion, there are commercially sold utilities and free websites. There are also tools to convert PDF files directly to PowerPoint presentations (.pptx files), but I'm not sure about the quality of these solutions, e.g., they might just convert the vector graphics into bitmap graphics...

Using vector graphics applications for export or conversion:

• Adobe Illustrator can export to EMF format. So if AI is at hand, this is the tool of choice: Open the PDF file (or the original .AI file) in Illustrator and choose File > Export…, then choose "Enhanced Metafile (emf)" from the format selection in the dialog box.

• Inkscape (open source software) can export to the EMF format (File > Save As…), and placing the these files in PowerPoint seems to work fine. But when importing and re-exporting existing PDFs with complex graphics, e.g., from Illustrator, the result may differ from the original.

Wikipedia has a comparison of vector graphics applications with their export formats.

If this is all too much trouble and you want to keep at least a high-resolution bitmap image, the best workaround is to convert the PDF into a high-resolution image yourself, e.g., by using the Preview application to open and export the PDF as PNG. (Beware: Depending on the source of the PDF file, it may contain low-resolution bitmap graphics, which can not be 'upscaled' without visible pixelation.)

After placing the image, it's important to adjust PowerPoint's automatic image compression setting before you save the presentation: Choose File > Reduce File Size, and in the dialog box select "Keep Current Resolution"from the drop-down menu.


Preventing reply-alls from Group MMS text messages? I have some family members with iPhones.  They have figured out how to send text messages to multiple recipients: start a new Message, and add multiple contacts in the To line.  Unfortunately, they have not figured out that replying to these replies to everyone who got the original text message.

Is there a setting that I can ask them to change on their phones to prevent these unintentional reply-all messages?  Or is there a way that I can tell my iPhone (4 on iOS 5.1) to ignore reply-alls?

Unfortunately the current version of iOS doesn't natively give us much control over something like that.

As I'm sure you are already aware of, it does allow us to turn off Group Messaging (and MMS Settings > Messages). However, that would defeat group texts in general - not just replies.

.....Maybe the next OS will?


Home Server for an iOS developer | Xcode continuous integration I am currently developing websites and ios applications. Recently, I decided to install a home server for cloud/back-up purposes and especially for xcode server(helping me test my builds) with version control system.

I also know its possible to install xcode server on your development Mac but im looking for a remote machine.

With mac mini, i will be able to instal OS X Server and get all the services I want.

After days of research I still cant decide whether mac mini late 2014 have all the power i need. Especially in storage wise, I have limited options like 1TB etc. Whereas with other servers available out there, I can find one with more capacity and storage, and i will be able to upgrade it later on.

But I dont really have any upgrade choices with mac mini if i want to later on. So shall I go for a any home server (and give up OS X) or does mac mini can handle my workload and be upgradable?

I am more of a software guy and I really dont understand hardware:/

All the help is appreciated.

A late-model, mid-range  Mini will be fine. If all you need is a personal webserver and compiler farm it's very good value. Probably not powerful enough for rendering 3D animation unless you're patient.

Your storage concerns are very easily eliminated by plugging in an external drive. Get a small SSD with the Mini, store your stuff on a FW800 or Thunderbolt external. note that if you offload your storage to an external there is no point in getting a fusion drive.

Don't forget backups, but do hook up the backup drive via USB2. Simple hardware throttling keeps the backups running at low priority.

I have a 27 inch iMac running Server, it has no problems whatsoever keeping up with the load. I could not do my job as well with a laptop-size monitor but I don't think I'd notice laptop performance.


Is Game Center progress tied to the device or the account? I want to make a new game center account for myself, because I share one with my mom and brother.  Does it delete your progress in games if you do?

The Game Center progress stays with the account, not the device so you would need to check with each specific application to see if they also maintain the game status and would propagate it to a new account or you would be starting over when it detects a new account has been added to the same device.

There isn't a general "it always works this way" established in the games I have tried. Some certainly have their own data servers and data structures so you don't lose progress without a game center account. Others depend entirely on Game Center and only the account stores any sort of progress and achievements so that all status is 100% cloud based and not reflected on the device as a permanent store of progress.


Applescript to send email messages to the persons with specific in interest and with at least one email address I am trying to write a script that filters the persons in the Contacts application whose note include a specific keyword and sending those who has at least one e-mail address an e-mail. I have written the following code but something seems to be wrong. I couldn't figure out especially how to make a null check for e-mails.

property mailSubject : "A bulk message"
property mailBody : "Hi %NAME%"
property keyword : "topic"

tell application "Contacts"
    set theRecipients to every person whose ((note contains keyword))
end tell

repeat with i from 1 to number of items in theRecipients
    set theContact to item i of theRecipients
    set theName to name of theContact
    set theEmail to email of theContact
    if (theEmail is not equal to "") then
        set theBody to replaceName(mailBody, theName)
        tell application "Mail"
            set theOutMessage to make new outgoing message with properties {visible:true}
            tell theOutMessage
                make new to recipient at end of to recipients with properties {address:theEmail}
                set sender to "o****.g****@gmail.com>"
                set subject to mailSubject
                set content to theBody
            end tell
        end tell
    end if
end repeat

The execution of this script returns following error at the line set theEmail to email of theContact:

Contacts got an error: Can’t make |email| of person id "2827E13D-907A-41C5-A649-2174D1F61093:ABPerson" into type specifier.

Any ideas?

Önder.

You did not include the replaceName(mailBody, theName) handler, so I could not test the full script, however to fix the current error you need to modify the existing code.

Change:

repeat with i from 1 to number of items in theRecipients
    set theContact to item i of theRecipients
    set theName to name of theContact
    set theEmail to email of theContact

To:

repeat with i from 1 to number of items in theRecipients
    set theContact to item i of theRecipients
    tell application "Contacts"
        set theName to name of theContact
        set theEmail to value of email of theContact
    end tell


iOS 5 setup freezing at set up email I am trying to update my iPad first generation to iOS 5. It is freezing at the "Set Up Email" screen after I enter my email address and password. I have already clicked on the link in the email that asked me to verify my contact email address. Any thoughts on how to get past this?

I was able to update my 1st Gen iPad to iOS5. I would begin by shutting down the iPad and rebooting it. Make sure that all your apps are closed out and then try the upgrade again.


data transfer for iPad app How do I extract the data for a single app to transfer to another device running the same app? I want to move a personal wiki from an iPad 1 to an iPad 3.

You can copy any file from and to your ipad manually using a software tool like iFunBox without the need for jailbreaking.
I use iFunBox to backup save-games and app settings.


Restore Mavericks from Time Machine I have a MacBook Pro early 2011. I'm thinking if to upgrade to Sierra. Right now I have Mavericks.

If I backup my current system using the time machine, when I will restore from the backup, it will be back again Mavericks?

Time machine can't hold backups of the operating system. It only backsup your personal files. The steps below will allow you to downgrade.

macOS will not allow you to run an older installer so you will need to circumvent it by doing it from a bootable drive.

You may also consider running multiple versions of OS X. You can do this by partitioning Macintosh HD. It doesn't require a format so your files are safe. Do the same steps below except first partition the hard drive before restart. In the installer, select the other partition.

Requirements:

8GB flash drive;
that you had an apple ID when you had Mavericks installed.

How to do it:

launch the app store;
go to purchases and look for Mavericks;
download Mavericks and close the installer when it opens;
plug in your flash drive;
format the flash drive as Mac OS extended (journaled);
create a partition with a GUID scheme;
launch terminal and run this command:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El Capitan.app --nointeraction
hit enter and type your password;
wait for the files to copy - this will take a while;
restart your Mac while holding option and select your flash drive with the arrow keys and hit return;
proceed through the installer normally.

This shows how to downgrade to El Capitan. The process is the same for Mavericks.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/how-downgrade-from-macos-sierra-el-capitan-remove-macos-sierra-3581872/

Let me know what happens.  I hope this is helpful.

PS: backup any files you want to save from the flash drive because it will be erased.


Port 22: Connection Refused SSH Error Recently, I signed new keys to gain access to my friend's server. The keys were signed on my friend's machine and I signed and added them to my .ssh folder. I attempted to sign in multiple times but I received an error:

Permission denied (publickey)

This prompted me to try adding multiple keys into my .ssh folder for access to my friend's device. I could get nothing to work.

I then generated a key pair from my own machine, and I handed it to my friend to add to their server. Soon, I was able to SSH into the server.

However, the next day, I am receiving an error:

I'm running MacOS Mojave 10.14.6 on my macbook pro.

ssh: connect to host [hostname] port 22: Connection refused

I tried uninstalling and reinstalling OpenSSH via Brew, but there was no improvement. Additionally, I tried SSHing over port 2222, which also failed.

Additionally, I tried accessing two different servers and my SSH request failed on both attempts, so it seems a client side issue.

I'm rather new to working in the terminal over mac, so any and all advice would be appreciated. Below is the verbose error log.

ssh -vvv [user]@utdallas.edu

OpenSSH_8.1p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1d  10 Sep 2019
debug1: Reading configuration data /usr/local/etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug2: resolving "utdallas.edu" port 22
debug2: ssh_connect_direct
debug1: Connecting to utdallas.edu [10.182.71.70] port 22.
debug1: connect to address 10.182.71.70 port 22: Connection refused
ssh: connect to host utdallas.edu port 22: Connection refused

Currently, I am receiving a different error, and both seem to be related.

ssh -vvv ben@67.207.91.101

OpenSSH_8.1p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1d  10 Sep 2019
debug1: Reading configuration data /usr/local/etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug2: resolve_canonicalize: hostname 67.207.91.101 is address
debug2: ssh_connect_direct
debug1: Connecting to 67.207.91.101 [67.207.91.101] port 22.
debug1: connect to address 67.207.91.101 port 22: Operation timed out
ssh: connect to host 67.207.91.101 port 22: Operation timed out

Both servers which I've tried to SSH into are running some form of linux. (I don't have current My friend is still able to access their server from their account, and the school server which I'm attempting to access also allows SSH for other users. Both ports 22 are open on the machines.

Any diagnostic advice or recommendations for my issue?

Update: I rebooted my Mac, and I ran ssh -vvv [user]@utdallas.edu The first time I tried it it said:

OpenSSH_8.1p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1d  10 Sep 2019
debug1: Reading configuration data /usr/local/etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug2: resolving "utdallas.edu" port 22
ssh: Could not resolve hostname utdallas.edu: nodename nor servname provided, or not known

I ran it again and got a different error. All subsequent errors are of this form.

OpenSSH_8.1p1, OpenSSL 1.1.1d  10 Sep 2019
debug1: Reading configuration data /usr/local/etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug2: resolving "utdallas.edu" port 22
debug2: ssh_connect_direct
debug1: Connecting to utdallas.edu [10.182.71.70] port 22.
debug1: connect to address 10.182.71.70 port 22: Connection refused
ssh: connect to host utdallas.edu port 22: Connection refused

I found the solution to my issue. I was attempting to connect with the wrong hostname.

Bottom line:  Double, no, triple check the hostname you're connecting to.  A lot of these types of issues is caused by innocent, simple mistakes such as this.


Running a .jar on a Mac I've recently been wishing I could still play a Minigolf game that came installed with my first cell phone, a Sony Ericsson T610 (eat your heart out, iPhone!), which roughly looked like this:

'Member?

There are good reasons to believe that the game is "abandonware" and that Sony Ericsson doesn't offer support for it anymore.

I think the game can be found as a .jar file online, and is either this one or this one.

However, after downloading these files, I haven't been able to run them. Java is installed in the /Library folder of the Macintosh HD drive, and when I right-click the file to open it, I get a "The Java JAR file “Real_Minigolf_2005_128x128_SE_K300i-448093.jar” could not be launched. Check the Console for possible error messages." error message.

I have looked into this answer and this one, but neither have worked.

Is it possible to run these files on a Mac running El Capitan or above?

In general, you run a ‘runnable JAR’ by opening it or with Terminal java -jar /path/to/game.jar.

However, this JAR does not contain a suitable manifest for launching, i.e. not a runnable JAR.

$ java -jar /path/to/game.jar
no main manifest attribute, in /path/to/game.jar

Therefore you have to specify the main class manually. However, that still doesn't work.

$ java -cp /path/to/game.jar E
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/microedition/lcdui/Graphics
[…]
Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: javax.microedition.lcdui.Graphics
[…]

That's because this JAR doesn't support being run on a computer. It's a game for a mobile device and you can't launch it on a computer.


How to generate a (valid) PDF with "a2ps foo.txt"? I installed a2ps on Mac OS X 10.10.4 via brew. My ~/.a2psrc contains Options: --medium=Letter -P pdf. But when I do a2ps foo.txt no PDF file is generated (this used to work on Ubuntu/Debian Linux). When I do a2ps -o foo.pdf foo.txt I get a PDF, but it cannot be opened (maybe it is corrupted?). However, on a2ps -o foo.pdf foo.txt I get a PS which I can then convert to PDF (and open). How can I make a2ps foo.txt to produce a valid PDF on Mac OS X? Note that I'm looking specifically for the command line a2ps, no GUI or other programs (obviously it's easy to generate a PDF from a text file with other tools)

The a2ps utility is for formatting files for printing on a PostScript printer, hence its name is not a2pdf.

The file you created under Linux (or OS X), which is a miss-named .pdf file, is in fact a PostScript file and many Linux Distros will open it anyway.  Thus leading you to believe is was a PDF Document when in reality it's not.

Looking at the file created under Linux in a Hex Editor its header starts off with, e.g., %!PS-Adobe-3.0 and a PDF Document starts with, e.g., %PDF-1.6%.

This is why you get the "The file “filename.pdf” could not be opened. It may be damaged or use a file format that Preview doesn’t recognize." error message under OS X when trying to open a PostScript Document with a miss-named PDF Document extension.

Update: Installing a2pdf

After doing a little research I found a2pdf.  Further research required having Font::TTF::Font and PDF::API2 also installed.  So I downloaded all three packages master.zip (for a2pdf), Font-TTF-1.04.tar.gz and PDF-API2-2.023.tar.gz.

Next I extracted all three and installed them in the same manner in the following order, Font::TTF::Font, PDF::API2 then the master.zip (for a2pdf).  I did this in a Terminal using the following commands.

$ cd $target_directory
$ perl Makefile.PL
$ make
$ sudo make install

I then tested, from my Home Directory, with: a2pdf filename.txt > filename.pdf

It create filename.pdf and I then opened it in Preview just fine as a PDF Document.

That said, there are other modules that can be installed to do things like syntax highlighting, e.g. Perl::Tidy.  So you'll need to do a bit more research to utilize the full capabilities of a2pdf.

Note: I have Xcode and Command Line Tools for Xcode installed and as long as you have Command Line Tools for Xcode installed, which is a Homebrew prerequisite, you can install all of this from the Terminal the old fashioned way if not available from Homebrew, which I do not believe it is.


What affects the order of applications in Lauchpad? When opening Launchpad I've noticed that every page has different amount of applications laid out. Also, they doesn't seem to be ordered by any criteria (name, usage frequency or size). What are the sorting parameters for applications in Launchpad?

On a clean install, the core Mac OS X apps are originally ordered alphabetically. Newly installed apps will be appended at the back on an empty spot starting with page 2 (they will never be appended on page 1, even if there is room available, but you can ofcourse drag them there).

Apps can then be arranged manually, and they should remain in the order you sort them. However, I have noticed quite some buggy behaviors, mainly apps changing position after a reboot, and MAS updates pushing apps of the page.

I hope these will get ironed out in a coming update.


How can I see the year in the entries in install.log in Macs (/private/var/log install.log)? I noticed that in some Macs, the entries in install.log don't display the year:

Such as:
Oct-10 04:49:55+00 localhost opendirectoryd[186]...

Is there any way to see the year?:
something like:

2018-10-10 04:49:55+00 localhost opendirectoryd[186]... (I manually added the year to this one)

Any help much welcome.

You can't. That information doesn't exist.

/var/log/install.log is a plain text file. What you see in Console is the entirety of what's present in the file -- if the year isn't there, it isn't there.


How to switch the subtitle language of Hulu on Apple TV I began watching a show on Hulu. It came up with Spanish subtitles. I want to switch it to English subtitles.

I was instructed by a Hulu customer service rep to go to the Hulu website, log in, pull up the show, start playing it, hover the mouse until the control bar appeared near the bottom of the screen, click the gear, select English from the closed captions options, and then log out on the web site which would set it as a global default. I did this, and it did make the show, as seen on my browser, use English subtitles, but this did not affect the same show as seen on Apple TV. However, if I start watching a new show, the subtitles are in English. It's as though Hulu has "committed" me to watching The Handmaid's Tale with Spanish subtitles, and won't allow it to be changed.

The customer service rep said this was a "known problem with Apple TV" and that I'd have to wait for Apple to fix it. I'm dubious.

Does anyone have experience with the Hulu app on Apple TV, and can suggest how to force a subtitle language change on a series I've already begun watching?

So i was having the same problem and stumbled on the solution.  While watching the video hit the pause button on the Apple TV controller.  then swipe down.  A menu bar should appear at the top of the paused video Info  Subtitles Audio  When you hover over subtitles you will see it defaulted to Spanish.  Just switch to English.  Wow, so simple but took me forever to accidentally swipe down after pausing and then the menu appeared.  Good luck.


New MBP suddenly can't find any more Wi-Fi networks I've got a 2016 MacBook Pro for about a month now, and everything has worked very smoothly until today.
Suddenly I couldn't detect any Wi-Fi networks in my area anymore. (including neighbour's Wi-Fi, hotspots, etc...).

This is very strange, since all my other devices still have a perfect Wi-Fi connection. I searched solutions on the internet and I've tried many things, but no success.

I tried restarting my MBP multiple times
Setting up portable hotspot on my phone to see if my MBP would find it. It didn't.
Resetting PRAM didn't help.
Removing all my default networks didn't do anything.
Restarting in Safe Boot was the only thing that did do something. Strangely enough, I was able find all my Wi-Fi networks while I was in Safe Boot, but when I rebooted back to normal, the Wi-Fi was gone once again.

Does somebody have an idea of what might be going on?
Thanks in advance!

UPDATE: After a couple of hours the problem seemed to have solved itself after I restarted once again in safe boot and then restarted back to normal. My Wi-Fi works again (for now) but I'm not sure if it will stay that way. I'll update this again if it would break again.

Did you try to delete those network plist file?

Doing this you "Reset" the Wi-Fi:

Close your Wi-Fi from Macbook
From toolbar select -> Go -> Go To Folder
Paste this address /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
Locate and delete these files

com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
com.apple.network.identification.plist
com.apple.wifi.message-tracer.plist
NetworkInterfaces.plist
preferences.plist

Now restart your Macbook
Open your Wi-Fi and test again


Is only Sleep Mode good for my MacBook Pro? I'm a web designer and I haven't gotten any chance to shut down my macbook pro often with my busy schedules. When I'm not working (sometimes on weekends), unfortunately I forget to shut down my Mac for 8-10 hours! However, yet I can charge the Mac after its battery shows 15%.

So, is being always in sleep mode a weakening it's battery life? and does it hurt the logic board, honestly?

I've had my MacBook Pro for 6 years now and I barely turned it off over that period. Always in sleep mode when not in use.

If you don't have an SSD (I don't) and need to carry it somewhere it's always better to turn it off to be extra safe with the hard drive.

Ultimately, it's your computer and your responsibility so you have to choose what's best in your opinion. This goes for anyone reading this post as well.


Can Browsers on iOS use Content Blocking? Can any of the third party browsers use the content blockers that are available in Safari? Is this an API limitation?
For example none of the browsers like Firefox or DuckDuckGo apper to use the filters from AdGuard.

I believe not, unfortunately. If you ask BlockBear (the add filter I personally use):

Nope. Apple limits the content blocker to Safari at the moment, only Mr. Cook knows the future.


GMail on one Mac (only!) stopped working this week I have a GMail account, and I access it from two Macs, and an iPhone.  The iPhone and one of the Macs (10.14.x) still works.

On the other Mac (10.13.6), it stopped being able to receive mail a couple days ago.  The "Mail Connection Doctor" says "Trying to log in to this IMAP account failed.  Verify that the username and password are correct", and likewise for SMTP.

I found some ideas online and tried them, but nothing so far has worked:

Go to https://myaccount.google.com and turn on "less secure account access" (it was already on)
Go to https://accounts.google.com/b/0/DisplayUnlockCaptcha

I haven't changed my password in the past month, and I can still log in to GMail with a web browser.

When I go to "Accounts" in Mail.app and click my GMail account, it presents an OAuth-like sheet asking for my Google email/password.  When I complete the form, the sheet turns gray (empty), and only the "Cancel" button remains.

I found reports that GMail broke on Mojave recently, but my pre-Mojave system is the one that broke.

Any ideas for how to make this work again?

UPDATE: I've been clicking "Check Again" several times, and one time I got IMAP (only) to work, and it downloaded this week's email, but then it stopped working immediately.  I don't think I was doing anything special that time.

In the "Detail", I see:

250-smtp.gmail.com at your service, [my.ip.address]
{many more 250-prefixed lines}
AUTH LOGIN
334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
{my b64-encoded email}
334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
*
501 5.5.2 Cannot Decode response {big_ugly_code} - gsmtp
QUIT

That's not my password -- it really just says * there (though I don't know if Mail.app substitutes that in the window for safety).

UPDATE 2: Calendar.app has all my latest calendars, for this same Google account, and syncs fine on this computer (though obviously not with SMTP or IMAP).

Do you have your account configured with your regular GMail account password or an "App Password"?  Do you have two-factor authentication turned on?

I've had my home cameras configured for several years to send me emails via SMTP using my GMail with an App Password to email me if any motion is detected. I usually get several emails a day but this week suddenly it stopped working.  I generated a new Google App Password and even disabled 2-factor authentication but I still can't send any emails from my cameras.  Again... this has worked flawlessly for 2-3 years with no recent changes to my camera.

I encountered someone else having similar issues here: https://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/outlook-365-no-longer-connects-to-gmail-smtp/

I'm thinking google must have changed something.


Does shaking iPad violently going to damage its orientation hardware? Yesterday I showed my grandparents an iPad mini for the first time, and because the orientation wasn't right, they shook it violently a few times hoping that it'd orient it correctly again. I may be a bit paranoid, but is that going to damage its orientation hardware? What does the iPad orientation hardware look like?

The iPad Mini's accelerometer is a solid-state (with a microscopic mechanical - thanks Graham Parks for the correction) device so shaking should not hurt it. Electric shocks (for e.g. immersing iPad in water while it's on) and heat do damage electronics.

You're more likely to break the adhesive that connects the gorilla glass to the aluminium back before hurting the accelerometer.


Sync ratings bidirectional between iOS and iTunes on PC? Is it possible to synchronize library meta-data, specifically the star ratings, bidirectionally between iTunes on PC and iPad?

I am rarely listening to music, but if I do so, it is likely on the iPad (mini) hence ratings will happen sometimes there but sometimes also on PC. In order to make that worthwhile however a synchronization from iPad to PC and PC to iPad is necessary.

So far I have only found threads were adventurous workarounds and many posts said, that synchronizing even ends up removing ratings from their mobile device. Is there really no possibility to get (preferably automatic) bidirectional synchronization of this data?

Another possibility mentioned was iTunes match, but since I don't use music too often, the annual fee seems too high.

PS: I strongly prefer non-jailbreak solutions.

You can turn off manual mode and use automatic syncing -- this will maintain the ratings both ways. In iTunes you want to be sure "manually manage music and videos" is not checked.

Might need some tweaking if you don't sync your whole library though.  Best way I found to solve that complexity issue is using smart playlists...


Sync iTunes library across two machines I would like to sync my music library across both my Macs. (one way sync from Machine A to Machine B)
I currently already am able to sync across the music itself using rsync, however I would also like to sync the iTunes libraries which consists of the files being synced.

So to be clear, I have two copies of the files.. one on each system. I do not want a central based system they must be independent from each other as they may not have contact with each other at all times.

I have tested by simply syncing across the iTunes library database and making sure that the file paths for each file is correct however iTunes does not pickup any of the files.

Anyone else done this or know of a way I can do this?

What about using iTunes Match? One iTunes library across several Macs/iPhones/iPads?!


RAM freezes and crashes my iMac after upgrade to iMac late 2015 Recently I purchased 2 RAM carriers from a local supplier:
Micron Memory Upgrade 8GB 1867MHZ DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3L-14900S (8GBx2)
I wanted to upgrade from my current 8GB to 24GB.
However, a few days after installing, I ran into the screen going weird (for a few seconds). Please see the attached picture.
In addition, today the screen went blank for a few seconds, then came back but I couldn't interact with it at all, then I had to manually restart it by pressing the on button. And tonight, my iMac just restarted itself for unknown reason.
I used Memtest86 to scan for errors (for the whole system). After 6 hours, it found nothing, RAM included. I also used Rember software to double check if RAM are working probably, and again, found no errors. Lastly, I used Mac's diagnostics by pressing D when the computer is turning on, and it found no errors.
These issues never occurred during the 6 years I've been using it, only almost right after I installed these 2 pieces of RAM, so I assume the problem is the RAM.
What could possibly be the problem? Is it the RAM? The RAM slots? Any advice is appreciated.

You could always take out the RAM and see if the problem still occurs. It could just be a coincidence that the problem started after the RAM was installed, in which case you've got another problem!


Installing OS X on secondary SSD I have a MacBook Pro 17" Late 2011.
Today I removed to optical drive and installed a SSD (where the HDD was) and moved the HDD to the optical drive location.

Now I want to make the SSD my primary drive, and use the HDD for storage only.
the problem is that I can't clone all the HDD to the SSD because the former has 750GB and the latter is 250.

I only want to install the OS to the SSD. I don't mind installing all other apps manually afterward, but I'm just not sure what should I do next.

How do I install only OS X on the SSD and make it the main boot disk?

Download the installer to the current system
While it downloads, partition the SSD as GPT/OS X Extended
Run the installer and install the OS onto the SSD instead of the current boot drive
Use Startup Disk preference pane to set the new SSD as the boot volume default - NVRAM points to the SSD for all subsequent boots


Strange noise when holding MacBook Pro I recently bought a MacBook Pro Retina and for now I'm a little bit worried. Everytime I hold it up by one of its edges or even press this part (video), it makes this strange noise, like its gonna break. I thought the material was resistant.
I'm pressing the downside of the notebook, like at the start of the notebook. Downside, of course. If I hold the notebook to get it by this particular corner it also makes this strange noise. I'm a little worried.
Should I take it to an Apple Store?

Here is a video with the strange sound!

Picture of the exact corner:

I had a problem where is sounded like a "click" when pressing on the area you described. This was quite annoying while typing.

To resolve this I added a little bit of sewing oil to the screws and edges of the case where it makes the noise.

Press on the area where it does make a sound
Add a little drop of sewing oil (not too much) to the screws and edges
Press a few times times.
Wipe it the excesses and check if the noise is gone


iDrive backup for Mac failing I got a message from my Mac IDrive app that there has been no backup for four days. The message says the most common cause is the Mac being turned off, but my Mac is always on and connected.  IDrive has been working fine for months.

IDrive support suggested that I upgrade to version 3.5.1.5 but that's what I have, and they haven't responded further. There's no clue in the logs; it just says "Backup operation failed" at the end after listing files for backup.  I Have paid for a years service.

Is there a way to troubleshoot this other than requesting another support ticket?

I would keep on the vendor to explain how to debug this sync failure.
If they don’t make you happy, the team that make a ARQ software has a history of resolving issues for their clients (in my circle of Mac admins and consultants).

https://www.arqbackup.com/

If you’re technical and prefer command line, I can’t recommend rsync.net highly enough either. Their price point is attractive as is the detailed logging capabilities for troubleshooting - if you can set it up, you can troubleshoot it easily. Go for arq if ease of setup is your preference.

https://rsync.net/products/attic.html


How to use a variable inside a path in AppleScript? tell application "System Events"
name of current user
end tell
tell application "System Events"
set answer to name of current user
end tell
tell application "Finder"
delete ((POSIX file "/Users/answer/Desktop/untitled folder"))
end tell
tell application "Finder"
empty the trash
end tell

I want to make a universal code to delete this specific folder but I can't seem to make my variable (=answer) work in the quoted path.

answer

.

delete ((POSIX file "/Users/answer/Desktop/untitled folder"))

The following lines of AppleScript code replaces all of the code in your OP:

set thisFolder to POSIX path of (path to desktop folder as string) & "untitled folder"
try
    tell application "System Events" to delete folder thisFolder
end try

Note that this directly deletes thisFolder and its contents, bypassing the Trash, so be sure this is what you want before using it!

As coded, if thisFolder does not exist, the try command keeps it from fatally halting execution of the code. In other words, you'll not get an error message and it will continue processing additional code in the script, if any.