Options for iTunes replacement Ever since iTunes 11, the Apple UX team has destroyed iTunes usability.  Presently is is extremely hard to find audio files in large libraries.  Previously you could search the entire library and subfolders handily via the filtering search methodology.  Now this is entirely obliterated and I struggle finding things handily as before.  I have complained to Apple several times now both on Radar and standard feedback, but it seems that they have no interest in listening to user feedback now.

Now with that rant out of the way, I have been searching for quite some time for an option to replace iTunes, but nothing has proven satisfactory.  I had quite hoped for Vox to fill the space, but its iTunes library search function is broken and seems to not be able to recuperate over the last few updates.  I have tried every other piece of software that I've seen on MacUpdate so far as well, but again nothing has filled the void.

What software are you finding fills the feature problems that the recent iTunes updates have created, if any?  If everyone else is like me I believe I'm going to write an iTunes-like app that puts the functionality back whilst reading iTunes libraries.

I know this is not very pro-Apple of me, but I would definitely recommend Google Play.  Unless you happen to have more than 20,000 songs, you can upload all your music to your own Google Play library, and then access it on any device.  I had used iTunes previously because I wanted a service that allowed me to easily access my music on any device, but since Google released an iOS app that problem was solved.

Speaking of which the usability of the UI on the web front end and on the iOS app in my opinion is great and very intuitive.  Searching is done almost instantly, and it also returns results from the google play store, which is super nice for me since I now have their streaming service. ($10 a month, otherwise Google Play is free)

Anyway, Google Play is a great replacement if you don't mind having your music pushed to the Google Cloud.  It also serves as its own backup...

The only issue I had when switching was with some of Apple's old DRM from a very early version of iTunes... I can't remember how far back, but the issue was only with a very few amount of songs.


How to properly increase a `ulimit -n` limits? I'm trying to download the X-Plane 10 Demo through uTorrent, however I get a "too many open files" error all the time. I can do the alternate download (which takes forever and a day), but I wonder how I can increase the setting in Lion?

I found conflicting information about it, some say that ulimit -n and sysctl are the tools of choice, while others report that launchctl is correct.

The reported value for ulimit -n is 256, same for launchctl limit:

cpu         unlimited      unlimited
filesize    unlimited      unlimited
data        unlimited      unlimited
stack       8388608        67104768
core        0              unlimited
rss         unlimited      unlimited
memlock     unlimited      unlimited
maxproc     709            1064
maxfiles    256            unlimited

The following should resolve most solutions (and are listed in order of their hierarchy):

echo 'kern.maxfiles=20480' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo -e 'limit maxfiles 8192 20480\nlimit maxproc 1000 2000' | sudo tee -a /etc/launchd.conf
echo 'ulimit -n 4096' | sudo tee -a /etc/profile

Notes:

You will need to restart for these changes to take effect.
AFAIK you can no longer set limits to 'unlimited' under OS X
launchctl maxfiles are bounded by sysctl maxfiles, and
therefore cannot exceed them
sysctl seems to inherit kern.maxfilesperproc from launchctl
maxfiles
ulimit seems to inherit it's 'open files' value from
launchctl by default
you can set a custom ulimit within /etc/profile, or
~/.profile ; while this isn't required I've provided an example
Be cautious when setting any of these values to a very high number when compared with their default - the features exist stability/security.  I've taken these example numbers that I believe to be reasonable, written on other websites.
When launchctl limits are lower than the sysctl ones, there have been reports that the relevent sysctl ones will be bumped up automatically to meet the requirements.


How do I get the full path for a file in finder? I look for a file in finder, finder finds it.  But, I'd like to find it's full path. How do I do that?

You can also enter the following in Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES
then
killall Finder

This will display the full path in the titlebar.

to turn it back off change the -bool YES to NO

Or if you want to copy the text of the path you can drag the file into Terminal.


Apple Music "Content not authorized" error Yesterday I started my free trial of Apple Music and downloaded about 200 songs on my iPhone through Wi-Fi and it worked fine (with Wi-Fi turned on). Today I went for a walk and I could not play the downloaded music offline. Once I turn off both Wi-Fi and Cellular network I get an error: “Cannot Open: This content is not authorized”. Neither of songs downloaded to the phone works. However, if I turn my Wi-Fi back on, everything works perfectly fine. Does anyone know how to deal with it?

In Settings > Music, is the "iCloud Music Library" toggled on? I would start with checking that first.
If it's already the case, I would recommend signing out and back in with your Apple ID in Settings > iTunes & App Stores.

I'm subscribed to Apple Music, and had a similar issue recently after changing phones. Something wrong with DRM I assume, so authenticating again should be enough to solve it.


Restoring apple iPad I got an iPad from a friend. It wasn't new, but they reset it so I could start again. The only thing is, I need to get into  the restrictions stuff to change the restriction settings. Problem; I don't have the restrictions pass code. There is no way I can contact the friend since they moved and blah blah blah, I don't have or want a backup, and I can't use iTunes. I am wanting to restore like factory settings, so I can make my own passcode. Any help?

Try entering DFU mode and restore it from there.

To enter DFU mode:

Step 1. Connect iDevice with your computer.

Step 2. Start iTunes.

Step 3. Press power- and home-button of your iPhone and hold it down

Step 4. Maybe the “Turn-off” slider will appear – continue holding down both buttons!

Step 5. The iPad will turn off.

Step 6. When the display turns black for four seconds, release the power-button. Don’t release the home-button!

Step 7. iTunes will show you after 5 to 10 seconds that your iPad has entered the DFU mode.

Step 8. Restore Your phone

Hope this helps


Mail: all accounts set to offline but still receive emails In Mac Mojave, when I want to focus on work then I switch all email accounts in Mail.app to offline mode. I could of course close the application, for better focus, but can not do it since I need to find reference material in some email folders. But the thing is, even in all accounts are set to offline, I am still getting new emails. How can I fix this?

You can define your firewall to block mail.app when activated, then toggling it on/off when needed.

You could also use another app (like Radio Silence) to only block mail.app and keep your firewall running (and I'd personnaly go with that solution). I don't believe Radio Silence has a shortcut but it's really easy to set up & use (literraly launch Radio Silence, drag Mail.app into it and toggle on/off button when needed).

If you prefer to set up an automator script to enable/disable the firewall to block mail.app
First of all set the firewall to block Mail.app:

Go to System Preferences -> Security and Privacy -> Firewall
Click on the lock on the bottom left to make change
Click on "Firewall Option..."
Click on  +  and add "Mail.app", then choose "block incoming connections" (like transmission in the picture below)

After that, you can use this script to toggle the firewall:
(this AppleScript allows a user to turn on or off the built in firewall. The script reads and then displays the current state and then presents an option for changing that status. The change happens immediately but the Systems Preference pane needs to be closed out and reopened in order to visually see that change. I found it here)
set firewallState to do shell script "defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf globalstate"
if firewallState = "0" then
    set firewallStatus to "The firewall is currently set to off (or allow all incoming connections)"
else if firewallState = "1" then
    set firewallStatus to "The firewall is currently set to allow access for specific services and applications"
else if firewallState = "2" then
    set firewallStatus to "The firewall is currently set to allow only essential services"
end if

#change status of the firewall: 0=off 1=on for specific services and 2=on for essential services

display dialog firewallStatus & return & return & "Do you want to enable the firewall?" buttons {"Cancel", "Turn Firewall Off", "Turn Firewall On"} default button 1 with icon 2
set the userChoice to the button returned of the result

if the userChoice is "Turn Firewall Off" then
    do shell script "defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf globalstate -int 0" with administrator privileges
end if

if the userChoice is "Turn Firewall On" then
    do shell script "defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.alf globalstate -int 1" with administrator privileges
end if

Finally, you can save it into an .command and active it by a click or use terminal with osascript /Users/USERNAME/Desktop/YOURSCRIPT.applescript
Or set up Automator to create a Mac Application that you can double click, add to the dock, etc.:

Open Automator application
Choose "Application" type
Type "run" in the Actions search box
Double click "Run Shell Script"
Click the Run button in upper right corner to test it.
File > Save to create the Application.


Emoji Keyboard not inserting emoji after pressing Enter After opening the emoji keyboard with Ctrl + Cmd + Space, selecting an emoji and finally hitting enter, the emoji keyboard closes but nothing is inserted at my cursor.

A restart seems to fix this, but after some time the keyboard breaks again and I need to restart again.

Does anyone have an idea why this is happening?

This is on macOS High Sierra v10.13.6 (17G2307)

Thank you.

The Enter (Return) does not work on my MBA High Sierra and never did before.

I place the cursor where the emoji has to go, then double click on the Emoji of choice.


enabling/disabling Internet Sharing with terminal in mac osx 10.9.2 The problem is setting the internet sharing with CLI instead of GUI in Mac OS 10.9.2

I followed instructions as per this thread Start/stop internet sharing from a script? including both CLI and scripting the system pref app, but to no avail. Also tried the Sidekick  app (formerly NetworkLocation) and finding that it cannot set up internet sharing on its own.

This is the situation:

CLI only launches internetsharing.plist file, while other things such as bootpd and natpmpd are not launched. I tried to make a copy-bootpd.plist file permanently resident in /etc but that doesn't seem to do any better.
I was already using a script originally, and the reason I switched to CLI was that GUI scripting of System Preferences is almost impossible in 10.9.2 as object names are not properly passed. Hence the same script will work or not work, depending on something I'll never find out.
Sidekick is unable to do more than start and run an app, while modifying the settings within the app still needs to be done by hand.

Question: Is there someone out there who can pick every single event taking place when one checks internet sharing box in the sharing pref pane, and possibly suggest how to activate the same events with CLI?

I was browsing the same thread you linked to and also found that none of the answers worked. However I was able to modify Philip Regan's solution to work with my Mac OS version (10.9.3).

Here is the modified solution.

tell application "System Preferences" to set current pane to pane "com.apple.preferences.sharing"
delay 1
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
    click checkbox 1 of row 8 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of window "Sharing" -- change to row 10 if you are using anything before Snow Leopard
    delay 1
    if (exists sheet 1 of window "Sharing") then
        click button "Start" of sheet 1 of window "Sharing"
    end if
end tell
ignoring application responses
    tell application "System Preferences" to quit
end ignoring

This pertains to number 2 in your list... you might want to check out an app called "Accessibility Inspector". It was helpful in finding the new path to the particular GUI element this script modifies.


Broken ZIF Lock on Mac Mini A1176 I recently was upgrading my Mac Mini's failing hard drive when I accidentally removed the audio board ZIF Cable lock completely from the board. It can be alternatively "fixed" by buying a USB audio adapter, but it would be nice to have fully functional. Is it possible to be fixed or is it stuck this way permanently? Thanks in advance!

Mac Mini 1.83GHz Core Duo 2GB ram Early 2006

Yes is can be fixed. All connectors on a logic board can be replaced with the correct tools. SMD Soldering station, hot air.  Find your local repair shop and they can most likely do it for you.


MacBook Pro keyboard backlighting loses current setting? I recently bought the 13" MacBook Pro and using the function keys set the keyboard backlighting to be four steps below the maximum setting, as indicated by the graphic that appears on the screen. Often when I boot the computer or open the lid after a sleep period, if I adjust the backlighting by one step then I notice that it has a noticeably different value to what I set it to. For example, it might have dropped from near the maximum value to the half way setting.

Is this normal behaviour of the Mac adjusting the backlighting level for the ambient lighting conditions? Or should the on screen graphic retain the same number of bars regardless of whether I'm outside in brilliant sunshine or in a darkened room?

Yes, it actually is normal. If you are in a well lit room, then the backlighting will refuse to turn on.

So no, the onscreen graphic would not retain the same number of bars unless you stay in the same room or do not change into different lighting environments.


How to use F1-F12 keys with MacBook? Blender requires F-keys such as F12 and numpad. The numpad emulation works for me, but I am unable to get the function keys such as F1, F4 and F12 working. For example, F12 should do rendering. So how can I use Blender with a MacBook?

You have two options; either hold down fn as L2G suggested, or switch to the F1 etc. keys to work like that directly.

This can be setup in keyboard preferences here:

If you do that, F1 will work as the actual F1 key. If you want to use it for controlling the brightness, you'd hit fn with it.


How can change from sync'ing an iPhone (or iPad) to a PC to sync'ing to a Mac? iTunes on PC was used before to sync and update my iPhone 3, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2, but recently I got an iMac 27 and started sync'ing the iPhone 4S using the iMac.  But when I plug in the iPhone 4 (the old one) into the iMac, then I can't drag Music, Movies, or iTunes Univ videos into this old iPhone. (in iTunes 10.5 on the iMac, I can't drag and drop any Music to the iPhone 4 under DEVICES)

What is a proper way to start sync'ing with the iMac if it was sync'ing with the PC before?  I just want the iPhone 4 "as is", but sync'ing to the iMac instead of the PC.  (want to keep iOS 4.3.5 because I might do some development work and want to test on iOS 4.3.5)  Are there other precautions to take note of when changing which machine to sync to?

You can only sync a device to one computer, however if you can locate the backup folder, these contain lots of files which all need to be moved across to the other computer and it thinks it has always backed up this device. Locate it on your PC depending on the OS below.

Windows XP: %AppData%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
Windows Vista: %AppData%\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
Windows 7: %AppData%\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup

and transfer this file to your Mac:

Mac OS: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

You will need to authorise your new iTunes account and transfer all your music and apps.


How to change the creation (st_birthtime) date/time of a file in Lion? touch(1) can only change modification and access times, but has no options for creation time. This does not work, at least not on Lion.

So how do I change the creation time, also referred to as birthtime in fstat(2)? There's no corresponding call in utimes(2) and there doesn't seem to be any command line tool for this.

I know I can copy the file to a new file, which then gets the current time as birthtime (and then delete the original), but surely there must be a better way?

touch -t also changes the creation time if the target modification time is before the original creation time.

SetFile can set the creation time to be before the modification time or in the future.

-d date    Sets the creation date, where date is a string of the
           form: "mm/dd/[yy]yy [hh:mm:[:ss] [AM | PM]]" Notes:
           Enclose the string in quotation marks if it contains spa-
           ces. The date must be in the Unix epoch, that is, between
           1/1/1970 and 1/18/2038. If the year is provided as a two-
           digit year, it is assumed to be in the 21st century and
           must be from 00 (2000) through 38 (2038).

This would set the creation time to the modification time:

SetFile -d "$(GetFileInfo -m test.txt)" test.txt

SetFile and GetFileInfo are part of the command line tools package, which can be downloaded from Xcode's preferences or developer.apple.com/downloads.


Remove applications from 'cmd'+'tab' I have just started to use the command+(Shift)+tab shortcut for switching between apps.
The issue with this is a few applications that I have open, I hardly use or have them open in the background (I still want them open).

Is it posible to remove some of the applications from the command+tab menu whilst still having them open and accessible via the Dock?

I'm pretty sure the Dock and App switcher are linked together, you can't get what you want. It's unfortunate because many apps are simply background apps that are irrelevant in people's day to day workflow.

You can however, opt for a 3rd party Window Switcher, which can be configured to not show applications that have no open windows. Some people like Witch, I very much like contextsformac. I have it setup as OptionTab, but you can replace CommandTab entirely if you want.


Has Mountain Lion helped take advantage of multiple displays? after using Lion I was frustrated by the lack of multiple display integration it had. When I swiped between spaces, the secondary display served no purpose but to display that gray linen pattern that we're starting to see appear everywhere.

Has anyone discovered a feature in Mountain Lion that allows more function to come out of a secondary display? I would really hope there is.

Thanks for the help,
Greg

The only change in Mountain Lion related to multiple displays is the ability to make an app go full-screen on a display other than the main one. Unfortunately, you can still only have one full-screen app open at once (the linen covers whatever display the app isn't on).

I recommend using a window manager like Divvy to easily make apps take up the full screen space and switch them between displays quickly.


How to draw onto a shape that I just drew in Preview.app? When drawing using draw tool, if I hover over a shape or image it turns into the hand tool and then I can't draw. How do I fix this?

In Preview app and once the shape is drawn, you can only move, rotate or resize it.
Here is an article that comes from the Apple's Preview User Guide :

You can add a shape to a PDF or to an image using the Shapes tool in the Markup toolbar, and then rotate the shape or change its sides or angles.

If the hand cursor persists or the shape you just drew does not suit you : click on the Sketch or Draw button again to draw a new shape.
If you want to draw onto a shape you have just added : close the image preview you were editing after saving it and re-open the file so the shape will be considered as part of the image.


Mac completely freezes when waking up from sleep When I wake my MacBook Pro 15 inch up from a long period of time (2-5 hours) of sleep, my Mac shows a black screen (there is clearly some backlighting, so its on, just showing only black), and my Touchbar is on. However, it responds to absolutely no input: the trackpad, keyboard all have no effect. The Touchbar and the screen are both completely frozen.

A restart does seem to put everything back to normal, however. I should also add that in the events that my Mac had these sleep issues, the case was open. Whenever I shut my MacBook, physically, and leave the lid down, I notice no issues whatsoever. I've left my mac on sleep with the lid down for hours at end (traveling, or when I'm asleep) with zero issues whatsoever. Statistically speaking, I only experience issues when the lid is left up the and the Mac falls asleep.

I should note that I've already asked a similar question before, where my screen was instead showing a repetitive pattern, rather than a black screen. The link: 15 inch MacBook Pro running macOS Mojave woke up with blue screen from sleep

As of that previous question, I have run a diagnostic with no issues found.

I don't know if the problem is hibernation or anything like that, but here is the relevant info:

❯ pmset -g
System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
 standbydelaylow      10800
 standby              1
 womp                 1
 halfdim              1
 hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage
 proximitywake        1
 powernap             1
 gpuswitch            2
 networkoversleep     0
 disksleep            10
 standbydelayhigh     86400
 sleep                1
 hibernatemode        0
 ttyskeepawake        1
 displaysleep         10
 tcpkeepalive         1
 highstandbythreshold 50
 acwake               0
 lidwake              1

❯ pmset -g assertions
2019-06-15 23:03:12 -0700
Assertion status system-wide:
   BackgroundTask                 0
   ApplePushServiceTask           0
   UserIsActive                   1
   PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep    0
   PreventSystemSleep             0
   ExternalMedia                  0
   PreventUserIdleSystemSleep     1
   NetworkClientActive            0
Listed by owning process:
   pid 354(useractivityd): [0x0000042d00018358] 00:00:01 PreventUserIdleSystemSleep named: "BTLEAdvertisement"
    Timeout will fire in 58 secs Action=TimeoutActionTurnOff
   pid 352(sharingd): [0x000003c70001834e] 00:01:43 PreventUserIdleSystemSleep named: "Handoff"
   pid 100(hidd): [0x0000002900098145] 00:00:00 UserIsActive named: "com.apple.iohideventsystem.queue.tickle.4294968616.3"
    Timeout will fire in 600 secs Action=TimeoutActionRelease
Kernel Assertions: 0x104=USB,MAGICWAKE
   id=504  level=255 0x4=USB mod=12/31/69, 4:00 PM description=com.apple.usb.externaldevice.14300000 owner=USB Receiver
   id=505  level=255 0x100=MAGICWAKE mod=6/15/19, 10:56 PM description=en0 owner=en0
Idle sleep preventers: IODisplayWrangler

More information on my system:

Hardware: 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4, Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB, Radeon Pro 555X
Software: I have Xcode installed, and the apps running in the background were  Spotify and iTerm.

This is a common problem with Macs, but it's usually easy to fix. You probably just need to reset your System Management Controller (SMC), which controls things like how your computer sleeps/wakes and responds to opening the lid from sleep, etc.
If this does not work, you could go a step further and reset your Nonvolatile Random- Access Memory (NVRAM) and/or your Parameter Ram (PRAM). These two things store small pieces of memory related to your system settings. The SMC, NVRAM, and PRAM all sometimes contain errors, or simply bug out, which just requires a quick resetting of their stored information. Sometimes the steps for resetting each differs depending on your model Mac, so I suggest reading through Apple's Official docs on their steps here:
How to reset your Mac's SMC
and
How to reset your Mac's NVRAM or PRAM

I hope this helps.


Backup iPhone contacts etc to move to new iPhone (no iCloud) I have three iPhones linked to my AppleID. (Don't ask me why, it began when Apple was not providing family access.) I already have iCloud Contacts, Calendars, etc. on my AppleID made from one of my iPhones.

Now I'm going to replace my another iPhone (which doesn't use iCloud Contacts and Calendars) with new one, and need to backup and move contacts and other stuff. Since I don't want to merge Contacts and Calendars, I can't use iCloud on the iPhone I want to backup.

Is it possible to change AppleID on the iPhone I want to backup keeping all the stuff untouched to link it to new iCloud account? Or is there another way?

Switching Apple IDs

If you go to Settings > iCloud and Sign Out, everything should stay safely on your phone with the exception of iCloud Drive documents and photos from your Photo Library. If you were to then sign into a different Apple ID, such as a newly created one, you could turn things like Contacts and Calendars. I say should because if you get any warnings saying something will be deleted, you should take them seriously.

Unfortunately , this requires taking extra precautions for iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Drive. If you do have things in iCloud Drive or iCloud Photo Library, you can go to www.icloud.com on a computer and perhaps download your documents and photos from there so that they are safe on a computer.

The Alternative

Contacts and Calendars are a tricky thing to backup without iCloud as they don't seem to be included in the catch-all iCloud Backup.
There may be many alternatives to the above, but the only one I thought of off the top of my head was to check with your carrier about using your SIM card for that purpose.


Is there any way to display whether a song is explicit via my iPhone's Music app? (if i bought explicit songs from the itunes store) with Cydia? Is there a way to see if any song is explicit/clean if I bought any songs from the iTunes store and synced it in via iTunes via Cydia apps? (iOS 5, iPhone 4, Mac 10.9 Mavericks)

If explicit you should have a little E next to the title


Is a .sparseimage file with a strong password safe? I have created a .sparseimage file of my Home folder on my 2009 iMac running OS 10.11.2 and have chosen a 17 character password which https://www.grc.com/haystack.htm notes that against an Offline Fast Attack Scenario (Assuming one hundred billion guesses per second) it would take 11.52 million trillion centuries to break.

My intention was to move it to my iCloud account but I find I cannot do so because it exceeds the limitation on file sizes that one is allowed to upload to one's iCloud account.

My question is, am I risking the possible compromise of this file by storing in on my Dropbox account?  It has financial and other legal info that I would never want compromised.

Your password will not be compromised by a brute-force attack. More likely it will fall to some other attack such as a password grabber or malware. Your computer will be able to open the sparseimage and therefore the obvious target to attack is your computer. The sparseimage and its password is safe enough, but you should ask yourself a few questions about why you want to approach securing your data this way.

Consider securing your high-value data in a small encrypted sparsebundle image within your Home folder, rather than unsecured within your Home folder and then trying to password protect it when you copy the whole Home folder into Dropbox
Storing your home folder in Dropbox sounds to me like a poor design (I am not a security expert). If you are looking for backup plans then Time Machine disks can be password protected too (this results in a sparsebundle protected by a strong password. Your Time Machine disk image, and the multiple machine snapshots which it contains, can then be stored in an off-site store of your choice. The Time Machine disk image can only be accessed with your strong password
Take care when trusting to estimates of password strength. A 17 character password can appear to be strong to an algorithm designed only to look for length and variety, but may well appear in the many non-dictionary password tables. For example "passwordpassword!" Contains 17 characters, but you can be sure that someone somewhere has already used it and it probably appears in a huge password table somewhere.


How can I stop this process from trying to launch every 10 seconds? In my system.log file, this keeps happening every 10 seconds:

Feb 23 16:26:00 computername com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.wondershare.AnjoyTunesHelper[759]): Service could not initialize: 16C68: xpcproxy + 11765 [1475][286733C4-18D9-396D-B01B-A096BE5B1DC1]: 0xd
Feb 23 16:26:00 computername com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.wondershare.AnjoyTunesHelper): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

I have read "How do I stop a particular service from running?" and it helped get rid of other wondershare processes, but after restarting, this one still persists.

I've searched on files with "wondershare" or "anjoytuneshelper" in the name, but find nothing. Does anyone know how to stop this process from ever recurring? It's not a big deal itself, but it sure does make it hard to find other events in the system.log file.

EDIT: I've also tried this process but with no success:

Launch RealPlayer
Click Help -> Reset RealPlayer
Agree to EULA
Keep going through each step until it asks you if you want to "Add Agent"
Select "Don't Add Agent"
Restart computer

I finally figured out where the files were: they were in hidden folders and I don't/didn't know how to use Finder's normal search to look for hidden files. I read that to find where these files are, I had to use Finder's Go -> Got to Folder feature and type the location you want preceded by the ~ character, i.e. ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/RealNetworks and then the applicable folder/file. Once in this folder, I could use Finder's normal search feature to search for files with "wondershare" and "AnjoyTunesHelper" in the name. I found a bunch, deleted them, rebooted and now my system.log file is nice and clean!


Move of time machine backup: unable to "restore" I want to use a new hard drive for time machine. I try to restore the old backup into the new disk using disk utility. It fails with the following error :

  source volume is read-write and cannot be unmounted, so it can't be
  block copied

Why ?
What can I do ?

Problem understood. The disks were actually locked by the failed copy of the backup folder I tried to do between the two disks shortly before.

If it happens to you, just make sure the disks are not locked. In the worse case, reboot.


Yosemite Spotlight on Client not index server shared folder I've a Mac Mini Server (Yosemite server) where is located the folder: 'Studio'.
This folder is shared in the same network.

I've a Client iMac (Yosemite) that access to that folder 'Studio' located on server.

Spotlight on Server is able to search in that folder.
Sporlight on Client is NOT able to search in that folder.

I've run on Client terminal:

sudo mdutil -E /Volumes/Studio

And have this error:

/Volumes/Studio:
2015-02-14 11:53:22.017 mdutil[4611:159875] mdutil disabling Spotlight: /Volumes/Studio -> kMDConfigSearchLevelOff
Error: unable to perform operation.  (-403)
    Server search enabled.

Any hints?

I think that the Spotlight stuff is only supported over AFP - making sure that only AFP is being served should do the trick. This might be useful: Does OS X Yosemite support spotlight on network drives?


Movies purchased on itunes Why can't I watch my purchased itune movies offline on my MacBook Pro?
no wifi no movie yet I have purchased all of them.

You can. The content needs to be read from somewhere though, so you will need to download the multimedia directly to your hard drive. You can do so directly via the iTunes.app that typically lives in the dock at the bottom of your screen.


Mails from Apple are shown malformed in Outlook 2010 (Windows) I have a setup with Mac and Windows clients. The Mac users use Apple Mail and all users have an HTML signature with images. When a Mac user replies to an email the text from the initial message becomes an attachment with the name: untitled attachment001.html and the image from the signature becomes an attachment with the name: PastedGraphic.pdf.

Can this behaviour be avoided? How can I preserve the original email and signature?

I have managed the following. I discovered that it was due to the malformed signature. So I created a .webarchive file that contains the signature as I want to be. The signature appears correctly at both the file and the apple mail signature editor. But when I open to write a new mail only the borders of the signature image appear and there is an '?' inside the borders. What does this mean?

The Mac users need to make sure that their outgoing email format is HTML or Rich Text even if the incoming format was plain text or use a plain text signature.

I'd prefer the latter: I use plain text email whenever possible as it's more-widely compatible and usually is easier to read. This, by necessity, would entail using plain text signatures.


Format a pen drive in NTFS format I've formatted my pen drive in FAT format but it's not showing in a Windows laptop, so I'm thinking the formatted pen drive through OS X is not compactible with other OSs. How can I format a pen drive through OS X El Capitan?

OS X and macOS can't format partitions as NTFS or write to NTFS without third-party software (read is built in).  Both Windows and Mac support read/write to FAT and you can erase a disk and set the format to FAT in Disk Utility which can be read in Windows. If Windows cannot read the FAT volume then this is a separate problem with the disk or Windows as it should work.


View login history in Macbook app store app When I opened the app store app on Macbook Pro, it asked me to login in a pop-up box. The strange thing here was: The user ID field was disabled to edit and it had a pre-filled email address which is unknown to me.
So that pop-up box had only password field enabled to fill in for an unknown email address.

Is there a way to track where that email was coming from?
Does this mean the Macbook Pro device is hacked?
What are some measures that can be taken to prevent this?

I have always kept the device locked and secured from public wifi.

If you bought the Mac used, this could be the AppleID of the person who sold it to you. You should be able to find an option in the Store menu (Store —> Sign Out) to sign out of that AppleID. You’ll be able to sign in to your own ID after that. Be aware that apps that were provided with the Mac may need to be re-purchased or downloaded again to associate them with your ID, or to be able to use or update them after signing out.


What mail program offers spam filtering and a unified way to check multiple mailboxes? I have been using Mail and I really don't like it. I have tried Thunderbird, Entourage and Postbox and do not like any of them either.

I need a clear and unified way to check all my mails and also a very non-intrusive spam filter.

Edit: The thing, that I hate about Mail is:

Its hard to get a collated view of all my mails. I have multiple classifications, that does not make much sense, some mails end up in Important and Junk at the same time. What is the point of having both Junk and Spam.
Sent Items are not maintained properly. I would expect the items sent from other mail client to be visible.
The Junk mail algorithm is faulty and I have missed a whole lot of important mails recently.
Maintaining multiple account is difficult. I have found myself sending same email thread using different email accounts. ( I think mail has memory on what is the last used email account)
Mail threads are difficult to read. It creates multiple copy of the mail thread.

What I would like in the optimal email client:

Simple, single unified view.
Seamless handing of multiple email accounts.
Ability to handle Hotmail and Microsoft exchange accounts.
Better Junk mail classification algorithm.
Maintain better record of past conversations, including sent mails.
Good interoperability with Calendar and possibly other related services (like chat client).

Edit 2: I had further analyzed my problem with Mail and I have found out, that the problem has been with Gmail's interaction with Mail. I was quick to judge, Mail as a faulty piece of software. I have found an very useful link, that has addressed, almost all of my problems, http://www.macworld.com/article/1157846/mailgmail.html. Sorry again, for a very nebulous question and being very judgmental. (I am a programmer, judging things is in my genes ;) )

Also I have been  trying SpamSieve and the faulty behavior of spam filter is mostly user error. In this case, me providing faulty training data to the software, by clicking on all junk emails and not marking enough mails as junk.

Its hard to pick a best it really is up to what works best for you! I would recommend searching around for more mac e-mail clients using your favorite search engine and try as man as you can.  This Wikipedia list will get you started Comparison of email clients for some more e-mail clients to research.


IOS 7 - Google Calendar - Fantastical edit mode shows GMT timezone I have an iphone-5, ios-7.  I use fantastical 2 to manage multiple google calendars.  When I create an event the event is created in my LOCAL time-zone (pst).  When I view the event the event is displayed in my LOCAL timezone.  However, when I want to edit the event, the time shows up in GMT...

Originally Time Zone Support was turned off.

Then I turned it on, and the Time Zone shows correctly (Vancouver).  However, when I go to edit an event it still shows as GMT.

Could you please help me with this...I don't think I can continue to use the software as is...

Please note that I'm NOT on ios-8, I'm on version 7.1.2.

GMT, also called UTC or Zulu time.

Is the basis time (zero) for all time zones clocks world wide.

When the Time Zone Support is turned on, the Calender will rightly so show the GMT for you to decide which time zone is to be used.

It has to do that logically, since you are on time zone support (means automatic switching the time zone) if you travel. So you have to tell it which time zone to use as fix point for that event.

Let me try to make it clearer:

You set a meeting for the Vancouver time at 8:00.
Now you travel to New York and the Calender will automatically move that time to New York time, if the time zone support is turned on, if it is not turned on you would miss that meeting reminder, since it will still show as Vancouver time.

You can either leave it on, and choose the time zone, or turn off the time zone support. If you do not travel outside your PST time zone you do not need the time zone support.

But...there is always a "but".

If you have meeting attendees from different time zones, and not always up to speed of the time differences, calling a meeting at 16:00 Vancouver time with someone in NY would mean 19:00 for them. Here is where the time zone support comes handy for you to look up.

In your Fantastical 2 you can turn it on/off here:


Is it possible to move photos on iPhone to external storage? I'm going on vacation soon (The Black Forest) and I'm planning to take a lot of Hi-Res photos and videos.

However, since it is a vacation, I prefer to stay away from my laptop (otherwise, I would spend time coding or checking work's email).

Is it possible to move the photos and videos on iPhone to external storage, whether it is SSD or SD card for example?

To get it on to an external drive, your photos need to get to a computer first (because an external drive can not be plugged into an iPhone).

To get the photos to a Mac, you can use a standard iPhone to USB lightning cable to plug your phone into the computer. Your Mac will normally pop up asking to import the photos, accept this. (Windows computers might be capable of this, I am not sure.)

Or you can use iCloud Drive for any computer. On your phone, turn on iCloud Photo Library in settings. When your photos are uploaded to the cloud, go to iCloud.com on your computer. Open the photos web-app, select your desired photos, and at the top, you should see some buttons to import the photos to your computer.

Once the photos are on your laptop, you can move them to your desired external drive.


Why do some files in Mac OS X say 'Date Modified' as '24 January 1984 08:00'? When I am copying files on a Macintosh, I notice that the folder says that its Modified/Created timestamp is 24 January 1984 08:00. Why is this particular timestamp is used? Is it something to do with when Mac OS X was first released?

It is the Mac's birthday.

Jan. 24, 1984, was the date Jobs took to the stage to show off the very first Macintosh in a live demonstration. The presentation from Jobs stirred an audience of more than 3,000 people into a frenzy when the computer read aloud, "Hello, I'm Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag."

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/07/26/mountain_lion_easter_egg_references_debut_of_original_apple_macintosh


preview highlight shape I am using 10.8.5 with Preview V 6.0.1(765.6).

When I use Tools->Annotate->Highlight Text to select texts in order to highlight them, I expect it to be a rectangle region. But it is not, see the picture below.

Personally, I don't like it being this way (if this is not a bug). I tried 3 different PDF files, and I got the same results.

Is there any option to change this?

This isn't a bug, it's a feature, designed to replicate a real-life highlighter. The highlight feature works the same in the new iBooks, as well as iBooks for iOS. There is currently no way to change this.

You can provide feedback to Apple regarding this at the following page:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html


Connect 2 external HDMI monitors to one USB-C port through dual HDMI adapter I recently bought a dual HDMI Omars USB-C Laptop Docking Station adapter for my Macbook Pro 2016 13.3" with touchbar.
I'm trying to use the HDMI ports to get my two Philips monitors to go in extended mode on my Macbook Pro. Using Windows in Boot Camp, I'm able to get the extended mode closing the lid, but on macOS, I can't.
Any suggestions (except using two adapters, which is very uncomfortable and it's the reason why I bought this new adapter)?

The dock you have bought operates over USB-C and requires MST support from the operating system in order to do extended mode on the connected monitors. MST is not supported in macOS, both it is in Windows. This is why it works in BootCamp, but not in macOS.
The Amazon product page you link to actually contain this information. If you look at the illustrations, you'll see that the monitors connected to a Windows PC shows different content on each monitor - whereas the monitors connected to the Mac shows the same content on both monitors.
In order to solve this you need to connect the second monitor with a cable directly to the MacBook Pro instead of through the dock - or by replacing the dock with a Thunderbolt 3 dock. Those docks do not require MST in order to function, as they work with Thunderbolt display multiplexing instead.


Did `man ls > temp.txt`. Output textfile is corrupted When I execute man ls > temp.txt the output text file is corrupted. By corrupted I mean that first and last letters in some words are overly repeated.

Several first lines in temp.txt:

LS(1)                     BSD General Commands Manual                    LS(1)

NNAAMMEE
     llss -- list directory contents

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
     llss [--AABBCCFFGGHHLLOOPPRRSSTTUUWW@@aabbccddeeffgghhiikkllmmnnooppqqrrssttuuwwxx11] [_f_i_l_e _._._.]

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN

And so on. Without redirection man ls is perfectly normal. What's happening?

From man man:

To get a plain text version of a man page, without backspaces and underscores, try
    # man foo | col -b > foo.mantxt

man prints formatted version of man page, underscores and double letters are parsed

Its not so much that they are 'parsed' but rather "if you don't have a terminal, bold format is to be displayed as a repeated character". Once you hook it up to a terminal (vt100, xterm, Terminal, etc...), man recognizes the terminal and sends the appropriate control codes to do color, bold, underline and the like. Its being parsed correctly - just for a null terminal type.

 comment by MichaelT


Use iPod Classic Without iTunes I use a program called iShuffle with my iPod shuffle. All I do is copy music files in Windows Explorer to the Shuffle's Music folder, then run the little app and it magically works without iTunes.

http://agoraphobeus.free.fr/iShuffle/index.html

Is there an equivalent for the iPod Classic line, and older generations of that line?

You could try using Rockbox, however you might want to check whether or not your iPod is supported. Rockbox is an alternative firmware for your iPod classic that allows you to copy music files just like a normal MP3 player.

http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/IpodFAQ

It even plays Doom!


Stop Ctrl+v doing page down in mail and safari apps (Mojave) I have same problem as Using CTRL +V in Mail app on Mac Os X but in Mojave and for more apps.

I have Ctrl+v setup as paste in System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts. This works fine in many apps but in the mail and safari apps it does a page down. If I hit Ctrl+v at the bottom of the text window then it works as a paste, meaning I can paste stuff into a text box but only at the bottom. How can I stop it doing this page down?

The solutions in the other questions involved mapping the command key to the Ctrl key using a feature that I can't see in Mojave. In any case this is not acceptable as I want to be able to use the command key in other situations.

Create or edit the file: ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.Dict
(may need to create the folders as well) to contain the text:

{"^v" = noop:;}

You will then need to close and re-open the programs that you were have problems with.


How can I browse WWDC session videos directly on my iOS device or AppleTV? On my Mac, I can log in to the developer center to watch the videos from the website, and that I can log in on iTunes on my Mac to browse and download them. However, is there a way to browse and watch WWDC session videos directly from my iPad or AppleTV?

I've tried logging in to the Apple developer center on my iPad's browser, then viewing the videos "in iTunes"--this brings up the iTunes app, with a section called "Developer on iTunes", but also a pop-up dialog telling me "Access Denied". On the AppleTV, there isn't even a browser, and searching iTunes U in both places has yielded nothing.

You can find them in iTunes U, and if you log in at

Apple Developer Site

with a valid developer ID, you will get a list of videos - and there is a button to "View all in iTunes".

When I did this a minute ago on the iPad I got a "One moment please" followed by a redirect to iTunes, and all the videos appeared in categories, all marked "Free".

If it isn't working for you then there must be a problem with your account. If you can access it through the Mac you're probably going to need to talk to Apple about it.

You've probably thought to try "Clear Cookies and Data" from Preferences->Safari?


Numbers: Countif with condition the content of a cell I am struggling to come with a solution on this problem, making me wonder if the Countif function is designed to work this way, or what is wrong with my syntax at the end.

I have my first table with the data and the second where I want to count data.
In the second table I have columns with the "strings", which their appearance I want to count on my first table.
My formulas is the following:

=COUNTIF(table1 :: B5:B7;"=T(C9)")

I have tried also

=COUNTIF(table1 :: B5:B7;"=C9")

But I am getting syntax error. Can someone give some insight ?

I managed to find the syntax that works, but I was not allowed to post the answer. It should look like this:

=COUNTIF(Table 1 :: B2:B337;"="&T(A3))


How do I link an installed app in iBooks Author? I'm trying to making an iBook for educational purposes, and in that book I linked to web pages, embedded a video, embedded an image. I want to link to an installed iPad app in my iBook, is it possible in iBooks Author?. If so, then can someone guide me how to do this or provide some link for that. Any help should be appreciated.

It is possible in WebKit so it is probably possible in iBooks too. The URL depends on the application, as it's the developer who chooses it. More info here, with the example of launch center, an app which is basically a list of URLs to apps.

Try it with the free app Twitterrific (make your link to twitterrific:// – no http://!).


Copy between 10.9 host and guest in Parallels I have been using Parallels 9 no problem for quite a while for .Net development in Windows. I have recently changed over to working on OS X applications, and as such, I am using Xamarin.Mac.

As a part of our dev cycle, we have to test. In doing this, I spun up a Mavericks VM, and installed Parallels Tools, updates and created a "Clean Slate" snapshot.

The only problem is I can't get files to and from the VM at all.

The first method I tried was the usual old ⌘ + c and ⌘ + p options to no avail, getting the following response;

In addition to this, I mounted my local home directory (enabled by default) and tried to copy the item over. I could browse the directory fine, but on copy, I got the following information;

Is there some sort of incompatibility with copying between an OSX host and its OSX guest?

you have to update your parallels tools, to do so as i remember you have to select Window install parallels tools, then follow the on screen instructions


How to get the geolocation of an IP address in Terminal? Is it possible to get the geolocation of an IP address in Terminal?

Not sure what the numbers in an IP address mean, but there must be some logic behind it, so lookup can't be that hard.

You can do this without having to install any additional apps or software.  Just use the command curl and the free geo ip website http://freegeoip.app.

Execute the following command in Terminal (I am using Apple's IP for this example):

curl https://freegeoip.app/xml/17.178.96.59

You will get your results in an XML format:

<Response>
    <IP>17.178.96.59</IP>
    <CountryCode>US</CountryCode>
    <CountryName>United States</CountryName>
    <RegionCode>CA</RegionCode>
    <RegionName>California</RegionName>
    <City>Cupertino</City>
    <ZipCode>95014</ZipCode>
    <TimeZone>America/Los_Angeles</TimeZone>
    <Latitude>37.3042</Latitude>
    <Longitude>-122.0946</Longitude>
    <MetroCode>807</MetroCode>
</Response>

You can even issue the same command using the domain name instead of the IP:

curl https://freegeoip.app/xml/apple.com

Other Formats...

freegeoip.app also supports CSV, JSON and JSONP

CSV:
curl https://freegeoip.app/csv/apple.com

17.178.96.59,US,United States,CA,California,Cupertino,95014,America/Los_Angeles,37.30,-122.09,807

JSON:  curl https://freegeoip.app/json/apple.com

{"ip":"17.178.96.59","country_code":"US","country_name":"United States","region_code":"CA","region_name":"California","city":"Cupertino","zip_code":"95014","time_zone":"America/Los_Angeles","latitude":37.3042,"longitude":-122.0946,"metro_code":807}

To check your own ip...

Just omit the ip or domain:

curl https://freegeoip.app/xml/


App for fitness videos requiring merging, trimming, changing audio and speed adjusting in Instagram videos for iPhone? I want to create sport training videos like here that requires trimming, merging and audio changing. It would also be extremely useful to change the speed in videos. How can I do them?

Working in progress, community effort.

Clipper due to its fast speed and Videoshop due its customisation capabilities are recommended for recreational fitness videos like the video in the question. Please notice that Clipper loses your edits and can only edit one production at a time!

Full-scale almost-desktop-feeling with all kind of bells-and-whistles

iMovie (loading, big product...meant for Movie/Hollywood level stuff, overkill -- so much unnecessary adjusting!)
Videoshop (speed adjusting for each clip, audio for the whole production, possible to work with many productions at a time, unstable and slow to use)

Improvisation producs that make uploading super fast

Clipper (missing speed adjusting, only possible to work on one production at a time -- and clears up memory so you lose your production after a while, bad)
Replay (speed adjusting over the whole production, imposible to specify, example here)


SwitchResX broke my color profile, how to restore? I wanted to try SwitchRes X and I installed it. It broke my color profile. Now my screen look pink and I cannot calibrate. If I go to my color profile it shows:

and if I click on calibrate it shows:

and I removed the application. It didn't fix my problem. I tried to find the original color profile and it is gone in <~/Library/ColorSync/Profiles> or <~User/Library/ColorSync/Profiles>.

Besides reinstall the whole system, is there a way I can restore factory color profile? Thanks.

Per campyguy‘s post in https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/switchresx-cannot-remove-fully.1893707/, here goes how to get rid of the annoying "SwitchResX" prefix.

Open Terminal and enter the following Command:
ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayPrefsKey
Return of last step should be ended like: ... AppleBacklightDisplay-610-a031, remember the "610" and "a031" hints.
Go to folder "System/Library/Displays/Contents/Resources/Overrides"
Find the file folder "DisplayVendorID-610" as per the hint.
Edit the file "DisplayProductID-a031" in text editor with super admin permission (such as "sudo vi" command), delete the "SwitchResX" word in the file.
Reboot. (Don't forget to delete SwitchResX profile files in your ColorSync folders /Library/ColorSync/Profiles/Displays/ and ~/Library/ColorSync/Profiles/

Hope this finds you well.


Which USB keyboards will work with an iPad 3? It is possible to connect a USB keyboard to an iPad (3rd generation) using the camera connection kit.

However, my Apple keyboard does not work so which ones do?

Yes I know I could buy a wireless keyboard.

Yes you can, but it doesn't seem to work under the new iOS6.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqCk6nz80Ps


Why does Automator need the discrete GPU? My 15" MacBook Pro with Retina was getting quite hot while I was just browsing the web, so I opened Maverick's Activity Monitor to see what was using so much energy. I discovered that the discrete graphics card was active, and the apparent reason for this was Automator was open (but without any windows/documents open).

Why on earth does Automator need the discrete graphics card and not just the integrated graphics?

Some of the Automator actions, such as those pertaining to Quartz, use the discrete GPU (if available). It may be a stability thing to require the discrete GPU on launch (similar to VMware Fusion). If you regularly use Automator and don't use the Quartz filters (or don't care about the performance gain) it should be safe to use gfxCardStatus. Just select Integrated Only before launching Automator.


Using caps lock key instead of right click (contextual menu) I'd like to remap Caps Lock to right click - for the cases where I can focus on objects with cursor keys, or tab.

For instance after selecting files in Finder I'd like to hit Caps Lock and get the contextual menu you'd get on right click.

The 3rd party tool http://pqrs.org/macosx/keyremap4macbook/ seems to be able to do what you need to remap your keys.

One possibility is to remap Caps Lock to Control and thus pressing Caps Lock + left-click would open the context menu.

Sure, this doesn't remove the need for a mouse click, so the right-click might be a better solution :)


Can I customize the OSX screen saver to show the Day of the Week? I would like to have a screen saver display (hopefully) a large text of today's day ... the message option on the screen saver seems to only allow fixed text with no meta tag support.

This can't be done with any of Apple's screen savers that ship with OS X.

My favorite screen saver is the Marine Aquarium ($20) screen saver which has a customizable crystal that can display the time (analog or digital), date, or a calendar.

If you Google "os x screen saver with date" you'll come up with many free or inexpensive alternatives. My favorite among these is the Pong Saver, but that doesn't provide the date.


Update/backup iPod via iTunes on virtual Windows XP? All the programs I use on my Mac these days are either in a Linux VM (in Virtualbox), or open-source apps which are also available on Linux.  With one exception: iTunes, which I only use to feed my iPod Touch (4gen).

I'm tempted to switch over to Linux entirely, but I don't want to completely lose the ability to update/backup my iPod, and I don't want to deal with the hassle of dual-booting.  (I can buy apps on my iPod itself, but apparently I can't download MP3s or subscribe to podcasts without using iTunes on a computer.)

I've heard that you can't run (non-server) Mac OS X in a virtual machine, even on Apple hardware.  I do, however, have an old Windows XP license.

Is it possible to run iTunes 10, including iPod Touch (4gen) syncing, in a virtualized Windows XP on a Linux host?  I've the most experience with Virtualbox (at work and home), but I'd be willing to entertain the possibility of switching to another VM.

I found this article that says it's possible, but is rather old: it only speaks of the iPod Touch 1gen.  This other article has no date but mentions iTunes 8 (which Wikipedia says was shipped with the iPod Touch 2gen).

It doesn't need to be terribly convenient.  If CD ripping doesn't work, for example, I'm happy to rip elsewhere and copy the files to Windows for iTunes.  I really just want the ability to copy data onto my iPod, including iOS updates, and do backups.

Has anyone tried this more recently?  Is it still possible with iTunes 10 / iPod Touch 4gen?

Is this possible? Legal? If so, what are the drawbacks and tricks

As of OS X Lion 10.7, the EULA permits you to use the OS in two virtual machines, on Apple hardware:

  (iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within
  virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already
  running the Apple Software.

This was first allowed with OS X Server 10.5, and both VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop allow you to easily setup an OS X guest machine, as does VirtualBox

An OS X guest on non-Apple hardware is possible with some fiddling, but is in violation of the software's EULA (i.e doing so is of questionable legality..)

iTunes, running in a VM, will be able to see the iPod/iPhone/iPad. As long as the USB can be connected to the VM. So this depends on which setup you are using. The above should explain the legalities of the OS X and VMs.

You can install Linux on Apple hardware, then run a VM of OS X (10.7 and above) on the machine to be able to use iTunes to keep the library in sync and updated, etc., and it won't cause you any issues.


LSOpenURLsWithRole() failed with error -10810 Downloaded and installed the AirStream application, and when I launched it nothing happens. In Terminal the output is

$ open /opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app
LSOpenURLsWithRole() failed with error -10810 for the file /opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app.

This seems to be a Java stub/launcher

$ file /opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub
/opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub: Mach-O universal binary with 2 architectures
/opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub (for architecture i386):  Mach-O executable i386
/opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub (for architecture x86_64):    Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64
Lees-MacBook-Pro:Casks hanxue$ oprn /opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub

When I manually run it

$ open /opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub

This is the result

/opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub ; exit;
$ /opt/homebrew-cask/Caskroom/airstream/latest/AirStream.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub ; exit;
JavaVM: Failed to load JVM: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk/Contents/Home/bundle/Libraries/libserver.dylib
JavaVM: Failed to load JVM: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk/Contents/Home/bundle/Libraries/libserver.dylib
JavaVM FATAL: Failed to load the jvm library.
[JavaAppLauncher Error] JNI_CreateJavaVM() failed, error: -1
logout

Java is properly installed, and I have other Java applications running without a hitch. How do I solve this error?

The error occurs because JVM failed to launch - the Java application itself has been hardcoded to load libserver.dylib. This file exist for Java 1.6 and older, but not for Java 1.7 and above.

Workaround

Create the directory structure and symlink from libjvm.dylib to libserver.dylib

$ sudo mkdir -p /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk/Contents/Home/bundle/Libraries/
$ sudo ln -s /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk/Contents/Home/jre/lib/server/libjvm.dylib /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk/Contents/Home/bundle/Libraries/libserver.dylib

Note that this is specific to JDK 1.8.0 update 5. The paths will need to be updated in three places for future versions.

Solution

Modify the Java application's code so that it will not look for libserver.dylib. You should really not hard-code the path to JVM. Instead, use /usr/libexec/java_home if you need the path of JVM in OSX.


After uninstalling Oh-My-Zsh, my terminal is messed up This is not a duplicate question.

I've already looked at the answers for Uninstalled zsh, terminal gone weird, and although I changed the settings, it still defaults back to zsh title, with a different prompt:

And the preferences pane still defaults back to /bin/zsh, even after I change it to /usr/local/bin/bash and the Default login shell option, then restart my terminal:

How can I fix this? I have tried restarting my computer and terminal, I have removed all zsh files...I am lost.

Because you are checking the "default login shell" option, Terminal will start your default login shell, which is apparently zsh. What you enter in the box below makes no difference, because you do not check that option.

You do not state what your goal is, but I will assume that it is to return to bash, which is the default in macOS.

To change your login shell back to bash:

Open Settings (from the Apple menu).
Select "Users and groups"
Unlock it, if necessary, by clicking the padlock icon at the lower left and entering your password.
Control-click your username in the list at the left, and select "Advanced" in the menu that appears.
In the dialogue sheet that appears, change your login shell to /bin/bash.


“Sign in to download from the App Store” dialog does not allow paste OSX 10.8.5

I am using lastPass and have the appleID in there so I can copy and paste whenever needed.

Sometimes when I am told I have an upgrade I am asked to sign in to the app store.
Annoying but ok. So I have generated a quite safe password - why am I not able to paste that into the password field? Any setting I can change?
(I obscured the appleID in the picture below)

You can use Keyboard Maestro with a macro such as this which takes the current clipboard and inserts its contents by typing it rather than pasting, allowing the clipboard to be entered into fields where pasting is forbidden.

Also, for what it's worth, OS X 10.10 Yosemite does let you paste into the aforementioned field and I believe so does 10.9 Mavericks.


Is handoff available for Safari with Yosemite and iOS8.02? Assumptions:

Yosemite installed on a Macbook Pro Retina
iOS 8.02 installed on an iPhone 6

I was able to receive a call on my iPhone and have the handoff of the call to my Macbook Pro work successfully.

This article suggests that handoff is available for Safari.

On the home screen it should look like this:

I can't see either of these icons popping up - even though I can get handoff for calls working.

My question is: Is handoff available for Safari with Yosemite and iOS8.02?

Yes handoff is available for Safari in Yosemite and iOS 8.02, I just tested it. But it does not work with Google Chrome as shown in the screenshot (at least not yet and in my case).

But you can use iCloud tabs on your iPhone. It shows you which tabs are opened on other devices, have a look a this page. It is for iOS7 but it works the same in iOS8.


iPhone 6 storage, iCloud usage in general lists 2 phones I need to know why there are two phones showing up on my iPhone  If you go to General , storage & iCloud it lists two phones, mine and another below ? I have only one and to my knowledge I'm not linked to anyone else's. thank you

It's most likely an old phone of yours; Perhaps you upgraded to a different model recently?

Either way, you should be able to click on it & then click 'delete backup'


How do Services work on Mac OS X Lion (I can't make them appear in Menu Bar) I'm trying to create a service (in this case, operating on images in Evernote.app).

I open up Automator, make my script, and set it to to receive 'image files' in 'any application'. Doesn't show up either in the menubar (Evernote > Services -> "My Image Service"), or in the context-menu (Right-click image, services are at end of menu).

Changing the selection to: no input, files, files or directories, etc. makes no difference. Changing the application to Evernote.app makes no difference.

The thing that makes me think I'm missing something: if I set the application to Preview.app, I also can't get any services to appear in the menu bar. Is there something I have to do to trigger their appearance there?

(EDIT: my question got cut off for some reason - fixed that)

Make sure that the service is being saved to ~/Library/Services as a .workflow file. It only seems to include Services in the menubar when they are saved to this path.

Additionally, ensure that the Services folder is not an alias to another folder. It should show up as a normal folder in finder. I had a similar problem and was able to resolve it by removing the alias I created in ~/Library/. Instead of my Services alias, I created the Services folder as a normal folder. Once I did that, every script that was saved there began to appear in the menu as expected.


Is the 3rd generation iPad Carrier Locked in the US? Is the 3rd generation iPad carrier locked in the US to either Verizon or AT&T? Can you swap out SIM cards between Verizon and AT&T?

Effectively yes - you should not expect to be able to use a Verizon iPad on an AT&T account or the other way around. The next two paragraphs only apply to the US iPads.

Internationally (outside the US), the micro SIM slot is unlocked, so you will be able to insert a non-AT&T/non-VZW card in either and have service without needing to jailbreak the device.

See: http://www.apple.com/ipad/4g/ - the section on selecting a carrier and ready to take on the world.


Disk utility won't let me use the restore option to get a .dmg image onto a USB I'm tying to make a bootable Debian USB drive. All I need to do is restore the USB drive from the Debian dmg. I get this error. The debian.org documentation is not helpful with this specific issue. Here's what I keep running into.

I would suggest using dd, from the command line (Terminal).

The syntax is as follows:

sudo dd if=/path/to/file/<file> of=/dev/disk<your drive number> bs=1m

It will prompt you for your password, and you will not be able to see it as you type.

To get your disk number, you can run diskutil list from Terminal, and find the disk that most closely matches your drive's stats.


Trouble updating to Java 8 JDK I have run the JDK 1.8 installer from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html, and it all apparently installed correctly. But in the terminal, when I do:

  javac -version

It still reports 1.6.0_65

What am I doing wrong?

I'm using Mavericks 10.9.4

What does your .bash_profile say? There should be a line:

export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.6`

You just have to change the Java version from 1.6 to 1.8 and then reload the system variables (. ~/.bash_profile). Tried this out changing between jdk7 and jdk6. So version 8 shouldn't be an exception.


Apple screen/file sharing issue My parents are getting on in age and live 100 miles from me so I try to fix their mac issues by logging in remotely use Apple Sharing - screen sharing and file sharing, so I turn it on and leave it on on their iMac. However, after a period of time this fails even though nothing is changed. I get the dialog "There was a problem connecting to the server "iMac".

When I got one of my parents to tell me what was the setting said, it said that anyone can access using the IP address (or VNC or SMB) but gave a local network address, not a full internet address. It seems that its only set for LAN network connections? Any idea how this is fixed?

VNC style screen sharing is not really designed for use over the internet. The protocols are slow and require lots of bandwidth, plus dynamic ip allocation from ISPs can break it if you're not using a ddns service.

For this purpose you are much better of using some software other than the built in stuff. There are good commercial ones for $$, but also free options that do the job just as well.

I personally use NoMachine, which works across macOS, Windows, Linux and has mobile apps.

I have also previously used TeamViewer with good success.

For your use case, both of these options will be free, should be fairly reliable and will have more functionality than you probably need.


Syncing bookmarks between iCloud and Firefox I use Windows 7 and I've just got myself a lovely new iPhone. I've installed iCloud and it synchronizes my iPhone's calendar with Outlook, which is great, but I also prefer Firefox over Safari, but iCloud only apparently supports Safari or Internet Explorer (yuck).

Is there any way to sync bookmarks between Firefox/iCloud/iPhone?

Edit: A bit of research brings up a thing called Firefox Home - How does this fit in?

I use Xmarks, but this means that you'd have to have Safari or IE open (or at least the Xmarks client for them open) when you're on your desktop.

This way when you add/remove bookmarks from Firefox, Xmarks will bring it over to Safari, then Safari will bring it to iCloud.


Does the 2011 13" MacBook Air have a longer battery life than the old one? My understanding is that the new MacBook Air 2011 is using a new Intel CPU that uses less power. I expected that should mean either longer battery life or a lighter computer, but I can't remember how much battery life they claimed the old one had...

Should I expect longer battery life from the new MacBook Air 2011?

Apple hasn't changed the claims about battery life. 7 hours for the 13,3", 5 for the 11,6". It's a bit strange that according to Apple the batter life didn't change. Maybe we'll get a nice surprise.

Found it here: http://www.macrumors.com/2010/10/20/apple-announces-new-13-3-inch-and-11-6-inch-macbook-air-models-with-flash-storage/


CPU at 100%, but no processes showing significant usage Situation:

All 4 cores maxed out. Mac noticeably lagging.

Attempted Solution:

(Reveals wildly contradictory information.)

Closed all applications
Opened Activity Monitor
Totaled all Process ID activity and noticed that all processes listed (including activity monitor and finder) only add up to about 10-20% CPU usage, BUT ALL 4 CORES ARE STILL REDLINED/MAXED OUT.

Additional Info:

Activity monitor also says that:

User Usage is < 5%
System Usage is almost steady at 85% (yet no PID's show significant CPU use)
Idle 10%

The system in question is running OS X 10.7.5 (Lion).
(I'm writing from another machine.)

Three Part Question:

HOW CAN WE STOP THIS BEHAVIOR?
Why is the total CPU usage drastically different from the PID list total?
(BONUS) Why isn't there any system PID showing up that correlates with the 85% system usage?

NOTE: This is only a partial answer, so any other info as to why this happened could be good for others with this problem.

Literally, upon simply plugging in the power cord, all symptoms immediately stopped. (Battery was well above 10%.)

CPU usage dropped to normal levels.
Resulting sluggishness stopped as well.


How to create linux USB discs that do work on Apple Macs? It seems that there are several problems releated to incompatibilities between  Apple-EFI and UEFI that do prevent Apple users from easily using USB drives to install or even run other operating systems.

I am planning to make this a quick guide, so others will not loose precious time encountering the same problems as me.

It seems that the latest ISO of Ubuntu that has the UEFI removed in order to be able to boot on Macs is 12.04.3

What I did so far:

Tryed YUMI with mac blend of the ISO and it produces a disc that is recognized by rEFInd but that gives "Missing Operating System" when trying to load it..
unetbootin tool works on OS X, Linux or Windows BUT it will not create USB disks that will work on Macs.
Tried penguintosh.com with both Ubuntu ISOs and none of them works, it does run and creates the USB disc but it's not recognized by Mac EFI or rEFInd.

So, how can I create an USB disk that will install Ubuntu on Mac, preferably latest version Ubuntu.

Note: Assume that I do not want to keep anything on the Mac, the USB has to be bootable and any use of DVD drive is excluded.

Check Ubuntu's tutorial how to create a bootable USB stick on macOS, where it is suggested to use Etcher app (open source) which can help to flash OS image to SD cards & USB drives.

However, if the official ISO file downloaded from releases.ubuntu.com doesn't work (for Ubuntu), you can try to customize/respun it by using isorespin.sh script (check GitHub mirror; on macOS, you can try to run it using Docker) which should make your ISO compatible with UEFI. Alternatively, use ready-made Ian Morrison’s ISO disk images.

GitHub project page: resin-io/etcher.


mavericks mail breaking sent folder For a while now, my sent mail folder has been over/underactive. For over a decade, I've bcc'd myself on emails and handled the incoming bcc from the inbox. This meant I deleted the sent mailbox without concern.

The account I have a problem with is a google apps for domains

Recently, though, Mavericks mail has both funneled some of my BCCs into the sent folder (sporadically, the worst kind of error) and linked other messages in the inbox to the versions displayed in the sent folder. Trashing the message in the sent folder leads to deleting the inbox version as well as any version that I moved to a different folder.

Since this started, I haven't deleted any of those sent messages, which is possibly just an annoyance and kludge rather than a life-threatening disorder, but still.

I've tried tweaking the gmail folder settings, but no changes in behavior have been observed.

Assuming I understand your question correctly:

It all starts with in the origin.

In your case it is the Gmail.

First go to Gmail and settings and disable the "show in IMAP" for Send messages.

It looks like this:

Now Gmail will not longer send you the send messages.

However, next you need to do is also to tell the Mail.app not to save the Send mails on Server.

That is done here


Always show photos full-screen on iOS? In the Photos app on my iPod Touch, when I'm scrolling through photos, it always makes "up" = the orientation of the device, even if that doesn't match the orientation of the photo.  So half the time, the photo takes up only half the pixels on the screen, and the other half are just black, and I have to rotate the device, and it takes a couple seconds to realize this and rotate the display.

Is there any way to make iOS/Photos always show photos full-screen, even when that doesn't match the current orientation of the device?

Simply put, no.

Sorry!

There may be some jailbreak hack for this issue that I am unaware of, but there is no way to accomplish what you are asking with Apple's iOS and the Photos app on the iPhone/iPod Touch.


Which iCloud account does iBooks use to sync? Does the new iBooks app for OS X Mavericks sync notes, bookmarks, read position, etc. using one's iCloud account, or one's iTunes Store account?

In other words, if two people use separate Apple IDs for their iCloud accounts, but use the same Apple ID for the iTunes Store to share purchases, will their read positions and notes remain distinct or conflict with each other?

The iBooks app on iOS as well as OS X Mavericks uses the account you use to sign into the iBooks Store for syncing bookmarks, notes, collections, highlights and purchased books. So if you share an Apple ID/iTunes Store Account for purchases from the iBooks Store, then the sync will affect all the users who share the account.

The iBooks sync is not based on one's individual iCloud account, which is used for iMessage, FaceTime, Mail, Calendar, etc.

See iBooks: How to sync iBooks between devices for more information.


What would cause a MacBook to restart instead of shutting down or sleeping? I know there's a lot of advice for MacBooks randomly shutting down or restarting, but my question is a bit different. My MacBook Pro (mid-2010 15") only turns off when I instruct it to. However, it will only ever Restart: If "Shutdown" is chosen, it will instead restart. If "Sleep" is chosen, it will restart. If I close the lid and the computer tries to go to sleep, it will restart. The only way to get it to power off is by manually holding the power button.

The issue began when I updated to 10.8.4 so I assume it's some sort of software problem with the OS (could a .plist file have been changed somewhere with a bizarre value?). I was hoping that upgrading to 10.8.5 might help, but it's impossible to update because...the computer reset required prohibits the update from happening.

I've also checked the kernel's shutdown causes, and it's typically code "3" or "-60" I know there's no guide to what these mean, but I'm guessing they refer to the system restarting on its own ("3") and being turned off manually by the user ("-60") but I have nothing to back that up.

What might cause a Mac to display this behavior?

Have you tried resetting the PRAM?
Do it from Open Firmware - as your Mac restarts hold ⌘ + OF
when you get to the prompt type

  reset-nvram
  Press Return
  reset-all
  Press Return

it might work


How to create an alias with drag and drop? In MacOSX, when dragging a file or folder one can force a copy instead of a move by pressing option. I think that there used to be a way to alternatively create an alias but can't find which key to press.
Which key to press when dragging in order to create an alias ?

You must press command + option while dragging.


Would it be security risk to not upgrade to Sierra? Due to not getting Sierra upgrade work, I'm using El Capitan.

Could this pose security risk due to El Capitan already too old to get updates?

El Capitan is still currently supported by Apple. In fact, the most recent security update for El Capitan was released on 15 May 2017. For further information, refer to About the security content of macOS Sierra 10.12.5, Security Update 2017-002 El Capitan, and Security Update 2017-002 Yosemite.

You may also be interested in the following resources:

Contact Apple About Security Issues
Apple security updates

At some point Apple will cease to provide security patches to 10.11 and you would be arguably far less secure in specific. In general, you need to look at what security means to you and weigh the time to upgrade with the risk and time to reinstall from a backup.


Apple iMac Hardware Test: 4SNS : VH1R I have some weird fan issues with my iMac. It sometimes goes to maximum speed but only for a couple of seconds and then goes back to normal. Without doing any heavy processing. The hardware test tells me there's an error:

4SNS/1/40000001:VH1R-0.000

What could that be? I found nothing on the internet.

CNet has an article on the codes returned by the diagnostic test. http://www.cnet.com/news/how-to-invoke-and-interpret-the-apple-hardware-tests/

According to that VH... means voltage on the hard disk.

At a big guess you might have a dodgy connection to your hard-disk. If its intermittent then the voltage may drop, triggering the safety feature of the fans running at max speed.


What setting causes OS X to let you resize windows behind the dock? I've set up my fair share of Macs over the years, but I've never been able to pinpoint what setting tells OS X that you're ok with being able to drag-resize a window vertically so that it goes behind the dock (assuming the dock is in its default position at the bottom of the screen), as opposed to only being able to resize it vertically so that it is touching the top of the dock's "space".

My work computer is a 21" iMac Core 2 Duo and it drives me crazy because I'll quickly drag-resize a window larger by pulling down and to the right but instead of staying locked vertically above the dock it'll slide behind it which I don't like so then I've gotta jiggle the window around to get it all back into visible space... my home computer (6 core tower) doesn't have this problem even though I've, from what I can tell, set it up nearly identically.

Both machines running the latest version of snow leopard.

Here's a video captured from my machine at home showing the window resize behaviour I prefer. If it helps at all I can do another one from my work machine tomorrow showing the windows resizing behind the dock.

No application will ever slide “on top” of the Dock. You can resize applications that might cover part of the dock and they will remain below the dock. If you move or hit the “zoom” button, the OS X window manager will automatically resize the window to remove the part that is covered by the dock.

A different behavior can be observed if the dock is set to “Auto-Hide” (cmd+alt+d). Since the Dock is now a “temporary visible” object, windows will cover and use that part, regardless of the Dock’s visibility at the time of the resize.

UPDATE: If the Dock is always visible, are you telling me that you can’t grab any window (in this example a Finder window) and drag it like in the picture? (The red arrow is the mouse pointer that the SSHOT didn’t capture). I was clicking and dragging below the dock.

UPDATE II: As we started investigating, turns out that the following is true:

If OS X has a secondary display attached and this display’s vertical resolution is higher than the primary display (where the menubar and dock are), then the Dock will let you resize “behind” it. I don’t have enough screen combinations to test exactly when this happens, but it’s clear to me that it only happens when there’s an external display.

Next is a shot of my arrangement. As you can see in the picture, the “gap” between the big wide screen and the vertical one on the right is what I think causes the Dock to behave like this. It appears as if the window manager takes the highest vertical size when determining the bounds. I don’t know if this is a feature or a bug.

UPDATE III*: Ok, for the sake of testing, I went ahead and modified my Screen’s arrangement (see picture). I exaggerated the placement because I wanted to make sure that there’s no weird offset acting. With the screens arranged like in the picture, my dock will not let me resize below it.

This possibly solves the “mystery” of why does this happen. I hope you can replicate it and/or find a way to work around the issue. For the record, I rarely run into this because I usually either auto hide the dock or use SizeUp to move/arrange my windows, and it doesn’t let me put windows behind the dock.


Gatekeeper Configuration Data 14.0 I recently received Gatekeeper Configuration Data 14.0 installed automatically without any notice on my MBP, it's not shown on the normal "Software Update" list. But can be found via Apple > About This Mac > More Info > System Report > Installations. (OS X 10.8.5)

Did anyone else receive that too? and what is it for? I checked few other Macs none of them have it.

UPDATE: this is a quicker way to check it - click the Apple icon on the top menu, press and hold the alt/option key, it turns "About this Mac" to "System Information" then click.

Read about Gatekeeper here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5290
https://www.apple.com/osx/what-is/security.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatekeeper_(OS_X)

I have not seen v14.0 myself,


Is there a safe way to shut down a Mac that doesn't have a keyboard or mouse? I'm trying to safely shutdown a Mac desktop that does not have a keyboard or mouse connected to it any more, after hardware damage to the only keyboard and mouse in the house. It also does not have network access that I can get to from an iPhone, eg ssh etc is not enabled.

Besides doing a force shutdown by holding the power button, is there a better way to shut down a Mac in this situation?

This is anonther example of when this might be needed.

There are two possible ways provided by OSX.

When you shutdown via menubar → shut down, you get a one minute counter till shut down. That's enough time to disconnect your devices.

System Preferences → Energy Saver → Schedule


Can I find out who is currently using my Airport Express speakers, and kick them? If I want to stream music to an AE when someone else is connected, I get a message "The speaker XXX is currently used by someone else".

Right now, both my flatmates are not connected to the AE but I still get that message - the AE seems to be stuck. It appears all I can do is unplug the unit and plug it in again.

Is there a way for me to kick the current user, or at least see who was last connected to it?

Change the WiFi password. If I am not wrong, you can only access AirPlay speakers via WiFi. So change it and the person in question won't be able to connect.

If you want to find out who it is, go on to your router interface something like 192.168.X.X and see who is connected. Most people name their computers, so will probably show up. Sorry if I can't be more specific.

Also, maybe there is a bug with your AE (doubt it). Maybe you should reset it.


Update to latest libssl for Mountain Lion without MacPorts? I've tried installing postgresql, used the install pkg from EnterpriseDB 9.1.5, now psql isn't working. Seems to be a path issue, but now, there's the matter of libssl. Seems there is a new version, but how does one go about updating without MacPorts? Thanks

$ psql
dyld: Library not loaded: @loader_path/../lib/libssl.dylib
  Referenced from: /usr/lib/libpq.5.dylib
  Reason: Incompatible library version: libpq.5.dylib requires version 1.0.0 or later, but libssl.0.9.8.dylib provides version 0.9.8
Trace/BPT trap: 5

This is how I fixed this, it's based on a couple of threads on Stack Overflow.

sudo cp /Library/PostgreSQL/9.1/lib/libssl.1.0.0.dylib /usr/lib
sudo cp /Library/PostgreSQL/9.1/lib/libcrypto.1.0.0.dylib /usr/lib
sudo ln -fs /usr/lib/libssl.1.0.0.dylib /usr/lib/libssl.dylib
sudo ln -fs /usr/lib/libcrypto.1.0.0.dylib /usr/lib/libcrypto.dylib

Please take note of what the links you are replacing looked like before you overwrite them so you can put it back the way it was if it causes you grief.  I am not convinced this is a good idea yet, but it's working so far.  I'll edit if it comes back to bite me in the arse.


Best/neutral sound quality out of a Mac(Book)? And out of a iOS device? (Current models.) Does the headphone jack support digital audio output or not)?

Which is the provides the best sound quality the USB,  Thunderbolt, digital socket or perhaps Mini DisplayPort from the Mac of the Mac? and how does that compare with the output of the iPhone/iPod/iPad?

Please note this is actually two questions in one. I both ask about the output of the Mac(Book)s and iOS devices, respectively. Current models.

[For my question not to sound too subjective, I ask about natural, neutral sound.]

More info: NwAvGuy: Headphone & Amp Impedance (Basically he argues less - near zero - impedance is better.)

I am not an audiophile so I can't answer your subjective quality question (which is better-sounding).  But I can tell you that the headphone jack on your MacBook does include optical audio in a format called mini-TOSLINK, which you will need an adapter to get in a standard TOSLINK.

I have never had an audio quality issue with the standard copper-line devices I've plugged into my MacBook or iPhone or iPod.  My experience with outputting to TOSLINK extends only to sound systems which are a bit more dependant on the quality of the speakers, so I doubt the optical connector would be to blame with that.

If you are working with video, you may want to avoid TOSLINK as it apparently adds a bit of delay, but if you follow your "reduce impedance" rule, TOSLINK is probably the way to go.  Everything here is going to go through some digital stage of encoding, but TOSLINK avoids the wire, reducing radio interference and providing enough bandwidth that you can probably live with whatever or lossless (or near lossless) encoding is done.


How to fix Keychain on macOS Sierra I've recently set up a yubikey to login into my laptop, and while doing that I've also changed my account password, so that my default password is pretty long and I can use the yubikey plus a pin to login.
It works fine, sometimes it doesn't pickup the USB key, but mostly works.

The really annoying issue I have though is that I somehow broke the keychain. So now when I login with the yubikey I get a window like this:

The original message is macOS wants to use the "login" keychain, but I also get this message when I first log in to 1password, or, surprisingly enough when I use preview...

I've seen already a couple of posts here, but none of them were helpful to fix this issue.

I've tried to delete the keychain but it didn't work as well, not sure if I did it correctly.

The keychain may still be using the old password. In order for the act of logging in to unlock your keychain the two (user account and login.keychain) need the same password. I would recommend turning off in Keychain Access the settings that will prompt you to enter your long password. With your login keychain selected on the left, under the Edit menu select "Change Settings for keychain login" and uncheck both boxes.


Switching Apple ID on Iphone to different region to download games I have shared an iPhone for many years using my dad's Apple ID. I want to download some games not available in the Vietnam region, so I made an apple id in New Zealand. I have three questions regarding this topic.

What will happen to my contact when I switch? Will I still be able to make calls (using the same sim-card) or will I be charged international rates?
Will the progress of my old apps be kept? I looked up another question relating to this, and the answer was yes; I am just sure if this is also the case for changed in regions.
My dad uses and subscribes to Isharing, so will the payment for app stop if I sign out? I am login it through Facebook

1) Nothing happens to your contacts or call making functionality. You will still be able to make calls, and this does not affect calling rates at all.

2) Yes, progress in old apps will be kept. No data on the phone is deleted.

3) No, existing App Store subscriptions will not be cancelled when you sign out.


How can I use siri to add tick box items to a note? I have an elderly relative that can no longer write legibly due to a tremor.

Can we use siri to add tick box items to a note?

I'm not aware of any way to have Siri add a checkbox to a note.  You can use Siri to take notes or add Reminder items.  There are probably free apps on the app store that will do something similar but since most of them rely on Siri in the background, if they don't use Google's interface, you won't get much more than regular Siri.

I did find a nice site that lists dozens of things you can do with Siri, maybe that will help: https://techranker.net/how-to-use-siri-siri-commands-list-questions-to-ask-siri-app/


Paste to Subfolder in Finder List View Is it possible to paste a file to a subfolder in Finder with the keyboard?

I can paste into it with the mouse (using the paste command from the context menu) but CMD-V will always paste to the parent folder:

I'm looking for a solution where I don't have to go into the subfolder before I paste.

Basically, your way of viewing the folders in the OS means that in the over-arching parent folder that you opened the finder window in will be the folder that it detects you to be in causing your CMD+V to paste into this folder.

Even if you've expanded sub-folders the OS has made it so that in this viewing format you haven't actually entered the folder so the paste still occurs in the highest parent folder.

Try opening the folder with a double click on the folder name or change your viewing format to columns so checking the contents of folders, like it seems like you want to, is easy but pasting to specific places becomes possible.


Mountain Lion -- Finder always freezing I'm on 10.8.2.  Finder always freezes.  I have way more CPU and memory than this OS needs.  It's only Finder.  CPU usage spikes, spinning beachball, the whole thing.  I cleared all my caches, disabled the "all my files" finder window.  What else can I do?  Does this get fixed in 10.8.3,4, or 5?

Uninstalling Google Drive and restarting the Finder has solved this issue.


Can I select a clip in imovie by specifying the start and end time? (rather than dragging mouse) Is there a way in imovie to select a clip by typing in the start and end time (rather than by dragging the mouse).  I would like to make a precise selection from, for example, 0:16 to 18:02.  Is there a way to do that typing in those times.  Seems very difficult to get that precise with the mouse.

There is Handbrake that does exactly that, in fact one can define the start and end point in several ways.
Just a user though.


MySQL - installation from source failed on ./configure I'm following this How-to on installing MySQL on Snow Leopard but instead of using MySQL 5.1 I'm downloading the source for MySQL 5.5.11

so when I go into the source directory and run:

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/mysql --with-extra-charsets=complex \
--enable-thread-safe-client --enable-local-infile --enable-shared \
--with-plugins=innobase

I get:

-bash: ./configure: No such file or directory

What am I missing? what am I doing wrong?

Why don't you install MySQL from the DMG image - it works.

BUT - I'm not able to start v5.5.11 after the install, so I'm back on v5.1.56. It should only be a problem when installed on Snow Leopard.


Information/File Manager I'm looking for a file manager application which helps to organize a large amount of movies, pictures, music, text documents, databases, audio-books and ebooks. Right now I only use the Finder which doesn't work well, because I really need a function to put single files into multiple categories. Simply using the file system for this creates a confusing nesting of files.

Depending on the number of categories you require to handle, you could always use a combination of the finder with the built in label functionality, thus a movie can be held in one area (movies directory, for example), but "tagged" as something else.  Using smart directories and saved searches you can view your files by a combination of the attributes (location, label, media type) to create custom views.  All without purchasing software.  Cheap and cheerful, but may be suitable to your needs.


Applescript to drop down Script Editor in Menu Bar I want to write a script that will drop down the menu of the script editor from the menu bar, but without selecting a menu item from it. The idea is to give the script a keystroke shortcut (like F15) that will run the script, drop down the menu choices, and then I will select the script from the list to execute. This saves me having to navigate the cursor over the script icon in the menu bar and then click on it to drop the menu down. Instead, I just press F15 and voila! It appears.

Any suggestions will be appreciated. I made some attempts adapting other examples, but could not make any of them work. I was hoping for something as simple as:

tell application "System Events" to click process "Script Editor"

or

tell application "Finder" to click process "Script Editor"

The AppleScript code you're looking for is:

tell application "System Events" to ¬
    click (every menu bar item of menu bar 1 ¬
        of application process "SystemUIServer" whose description is "AppleScript")

As to assigning F15 to that, well you'll probably need a third-party utility to do that, as I do not believe an Automator service supports using just a single function key, (or any function key), as its keyboard shortcut.

I use a utility called FastScripts for many of my scripts and it will support a single function key.

Note: I am not affiliated with Red Sweater Software, the developer of FastScripts, just a satisfied user.