Resetting screen brightness setting in touchbar MacBook Pro during boot Due to a series of unfortunate events, my 2018 15” MacBook Pro found itself out of battery and with screen brightness set to zero.

I should also mention that I have FileVault full disk encryption enabled, so there’s the intermediate boot step that asks you for your password before fully booting the computer, running apps and (presumably) whatever it is that draws the brightness button in the touchbar.

Basically, when the computer booted, the screen looked like it was completely blank, and the only thing on the touchbar was the Esc key (in particular, no brightness button). I initially panicked, and tried to reset the SMC, but it made no difference. After a while, I figured out that only the backlight was off, so shining a light into the display allowed to figure out what was being drawn on the screen, and from there I got the computer to boot — with enormous difficulty.

However, the process would have been much easier if I could have reset the brightness to a more usable level.

Given that the brightness button on the touchbar is unavailable before boot, what can I do to adjust screen brightness before the computer fully boots?

I found this issue with the touchbar not showing anything happens only if you've file vault on.

After booting my system I just assumed it was at the login screen and asking for password. After entering the password it logged me in and the touchbar controls appeared again.


How to send email from "different accounts" in Outlook iOS app (Outlook.com account)? And by "different accounts" I mean other email addresses (and aliases) that have been setup as send (or send/recieve) accounts within the one outlook.com account.

For example, within my <me>@outlook.com account at outlook.com I have configured the following accounts/email addresses from which I can send email, one of which is set as the default:

<me>@example.com (Default)
<me>@example.org
<me>@example.net

However, when composing a new email on the Outlook iOS app I can only select from other accounts I have setup with the iOS app itself (by tapping in the "From" field).

On the Android Outlook.com app (and on the website) I can easily select from any of the above accounts/email addresses, as well as select the default account from which to send (in settings). However, on the iOS app, I cannot find this information anywhere, nor the ability to select the default account?

The Default account: However, when I send email from <me>@outlook.com in the iOS app it does "magically" send it from my default account (ie. <me>@example.com)! However, there is no indication of this in the iOS app (it simply shows <me>@outlook.com in the "From" field) and there does not appear to be anywhere to configure this - as far as I can tell?

Using the latest versions... iOS 8.3, Outlook App 1.1.9

So, in summary, when using an Outlook.com account in the Microsoft Outlook iOS app:

How do you send From other addresses (and _aliases) configured for this account?
How do you configure the default send From address for this account?

I ran into this post while doing some research.

I think this works now, but if you add your aliases after you added your outlook account to the app i think you have to add them manually in the app. At least that was what i had to do.

And they need to be connected in outlook.com as well.


How do I add loyalty cards to the iOS wallet? Is there any way to add loyalty cards to the iOS wallet? I'm talking about those mini keyring cards. Or any arbitrary barcoded card, like my library card.

I'm interested in OS provided methods, first. When I scan my cards it says no codes or passes found or something. Not very helpful.

The support forums seem to indicate that I need to install specific apps for every card. Forget it.

And these loyalty card and wallet enhancing apps all seem rather sketchy.

I use PassSource, and it's very handy!

You don't need to download any apps or even create an account. You just use your iOS device to go to their website, input information about your loyalty card/coupon/ticket/etc., and tap "Add to Apple Wallet".


My Trackpad doesn't work on my MBP when I unpaired Logitech mouse I had Logitech mouse paired to my MBP/Capitan. I used Logitech Unifying Thing to unpair the mouse. Mistake: now no mouse, and no trackpad response. Keyboard still works. Rebooted MBP, no change. Is there a way to bring MBP trackpad back using only kybd?

@Allan recommended booting into safe mode, so 3rd-party extensions wouldn't be loaded. This brought the trackpad back, and I was able to run the uninstaller.

I also found that merely unplugging the Logitech transceiver dongle freed the trackpad. No reboot needed.


Sparse bundle on NAS - can't open "Resource temporarily unavailable" I just got a new Lacie NAS with their NAS OS 4. After making an initial Time Machine backup to this device I wanted to mount the resulting (encrypted) disk image but when doing so I just received an error message "Resource temporarily unavailable". Googling this error message returned a lot of Voodoo fixes. However, after playing around a bit, restarting a few times etc I realised that I had something called Time Machine service enabled for this share. Turning this service off immediately made the disk image available as expected.

Disable "Time Machine service" for the share the disk image is stored on.


Using wrong character set I have an old text file from an old Mac, and I'm pretty sure I'm using the wrong character set.  Opening quotes show up as Ò, closing quote as Ó, and apostrophes show up as Õ.  I'm not sure where to look to find which encoding the original file used.

It's MacRoman being read as if it were iso-8859-1 or similar.  This chart shows the codes  http://www.alanwood.net/demos/macroman.html


iMessage and FaceTime from complete stranger I have had the same problem as the previous complainant. I received an iMessage from a @yahoo.com address saying "hi". I then asked who this was and the reason for the message and also how he obtained my number and email. He claimed that he has me stored in his directory as "Abba". I'm certainly no Abba!

I asked him to remove me from his contacts, to which he agreed. Today the idiot messages me again saying hi. I mentioned that I would have him reported, he then called on FaceTime and hung up???? Also sent me a pic of himself!! How do I block him from contacting me, this is rather annoying?

First, the best advice for dealing with a hungry troll: don't feed him.

Ignore this guy, and he will quickly get bored and move on.

If your device runs iOS 7, you can block FaceTime and messages from known addresses that disturb you.

However, if unknown individuals are bothering you with frequent iMessage text messages, you can adjust your Notification settings to ensure that you are not interrupted with alerts when messages from unknown contacts are received (the messages will still be waiting for you in the Messages app, but you will not receive pop-up or banner notifications about them).

To disable notifications for iMessages from unknown contacts, go to the Settings app, then Notifications, then Messages, then scroll down to the "Show iMessage Alerts From" and select My Contacts Only.

Then, ensure that the person who is harassing you via iMessages is NOT in your Contacts.  You should no longer receive alerts about his messages (but they will still be received in the Messages app).

Note that this also means that you will not receive notifications about messages received from ANY unknown contacts - you will only receive notifications about messages received from phone numbers or email addresses that are stored in your Contacts.  So, be sure to check your Messages app regularly to see if you've received any messages from people not in your Contacts list that you WANT to hear from.


How can I do a full text search of plaintext files in my DropBox folder? I understand that Spotlight will search the full text of files in any folder and will show files that contain instances of the searched text. But I would also like to see highlighted instances of the searched text within the text file. Command-f in a text editor accomplishes this.

The problem is that I have to perform a two-step process which can be very time-consuming when I have a lot of files to search through:

Use Spotlight to locate files that have instances of the searched text in them
Open each file in a text editor individually, command-f, and locate the instance of the text within that file.

Is there any way of combining these two steps into one on OS X? Is there a feature of Spotlight I am missing or an app that will do this? I can do this quite easily on the iPad with the search bar in Daedalus Touch but would love to find out an OS X equivalent.

Thanks for reading.

I often do such search, but I do not use fancy GUIs for that. If you are interested, then read on.

Unix has a great tool called grep which will search for patterns within files. It even supports regular expressions if you use egrep.

Example searching the word "hello" with all case mixture in the Dropbox folder:

cd /Users/name/Dropbox
grep -Riw hello *

That is it. Oh, I forgot to mention you have to use the Terminal application before typing these commands.

If you look for two words "hello" or "bye", you can do:

egrep -Riw "hello|bye" *

If you are looking for every words that contains "ell" (such as hello), you can do:

grep -Ri ell *

And finally (but read the manual page if you want more), matching every file that have the word "iOS" with this particular case:

grep -Rw iOS *


Photo sharing with offline viewing for the iPad I'm looking for a solution to easily share photos with family members around the world. I realise there are dozens of photo-sharing sites, but I'm looking for something that has

native iPad compatibility
syncing / auto-download
offline viewing
access control
simple interface

This is aimed at grandparents keeping in touch with their new grandbabies, so simplicity is important. The offline viewing is also key as I expect they will want to take their iPad on the go as a 'brag book' to share with friends when/where internet is not available (or too slow).

One option is MobileMe Gallery. I'm not crazy about the subscription fee, but it is acceptable. It caches photos when they are viewed which is acceptable, but not as great as sync / auto-download of new photos.

I've also checked out Dropbox which has the advantage of not requiring a subscription fee. It caches photos on the iPad the same as MobileMe Gallery. But it doesn't have an easy export from iPhoto which is a drawback.

The questions are... Is MobileMe Gallery fit for purpose? Are there alternatives? Are there better solutions?

Dropbox would probably do this. Or at least some of this.

It is possible to set up several Dropbox accounts (i.e., one for you and one for different family members) and share folders between those accounts. This would enable you to upload photos and they would be shared immediately in the shared folder.

Dropbox provides a Photos folder which can be organised into a web album for viewing via the web page or in the iOS app. The most recent release of the iOS app has just included photo cacheing so that it doesn't need to be online to show photos.

Not entirely sure that this would be a great solution but it might solve some of the issues. Also, not entirely sure that the sharing and photo features work quite as I have described but would be worth experimenting with.

This link explains how to set it up: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quickly-set-share-beautiful-photo-galleries-dropbox/


Is there a way to see a calendar in Photos? I want to click on Dec 25th 2014 and see all the photos I took that day. I thought there used to be a calendar in iPhotos, was that removed in Photos on macOS?

It doesn't look like the calendar made it into Sierra.  However, there are other ways to search for photos using specific keywords.  From this Apple Support page, you can either use Siri or Search to find photos taken on a specific day, at a specific location, or with specific people:

  For information about how to search using keywords assigned to photos,
  see Find photos by
  keyword.

  Ask Siri. Say something like:

  “Show me photos of California”
  “Show me photos from April”
  “Show me beach photos”
  “Show me vacation photos”
  “Show me photos of Becky”

  Use the built-in Search Box in Photos:

  Click the search field in the toolbar.
  Type the search text in the search field.

  As you type, suggested searches appear below the search field. You can
  type multiple words separated by a space to search based on multiple
  criteria. For example, entering “California March” locates all photos
  in “California” taken in “March.

  Click an item in the suggested searches to see matching photos.


How to update Git (actually remove apple git and install new one via brew)? I want to update git. I find this article:

On one of the first steps, I get a problem. When I tried to backup currently installed git I got permissions restriction. It's ok it must be some OSX system restriction.

I checked PATH and noticed that /usr/bin is after /usr/local/bin. So if I just install new version of git via brew this version will be used (since brew installs everything into /usr/local/bin. I did that and the result frustrated me. Old git is using instead of installed via brew. Why?

Here is some output:

svlad at sharikovvlad in ~/sandbox/git-test on master [+]
$ git --version
git version 2.11.0 (Apple Git-81)

svlad at sharikovvlad in ~/sandbox/git-test on master [+]
$ which git
/usr/local/bin/git

svlad at sharikovvlad in ~/sandbox/git-test on master [+]
$ ls -al /usr/local/bin/git | grep git
lrwxr-xr-x  1 svlad  admin  28 Sep  3 18:16 /usr/local/bin/git -> ../Cellar/git/2.14.1/bin/git

svlad at sharikovvlad in ~/sandbox/git-test on master [+]
$ /usr/local/Cellar/git/2.14.1/bin/git --version
git version 2.14.1

svlad at sharikovvlad in ~/sandbox/git-test on master [+]
$ echo $PATH
/Users/svlad/bin:/usr/local/opt/gnupg@1.4/libexec/gpgbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Library/Frameworks/Mono.framework/Versions/Current/Commands
$

So why apple git is using? /usr/local/bin is first in path so symlink from this folder must be used? So why I am getting old version?

Also, any thoughts how can I remove apple git?

You can try to remove CLI tools alone, which is what comes with Apple git and that may solve your problem.

CLI Tools Removal

https://gist.github.com/yoneken/3284561

if that didn't do it, that means that CLI Tools were downloaded separate from Xcode and you can try this to remove it:

sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools

Once that's gone you just check to make sure it got removed and then reinstall it with Homebrew. Hope this may help.


Is it possible to copy paste between Mac OS and its virtual machine? I am running Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3, and I have installed VMware to run virtual machines: Windows 7 and Ubuntu 11.10.

I have also installed VM Tools.

I would like to know if it is possible allow copy paste among the three systems? It seems that, by default (just by mouse) it is not permitted.

Edit1: I am using VMware Fusion 4.1.2, and the Settings for both Windows and Ubuntu is as follows:

Edit2: I just realize that the copy paste (both two directions) between Mac and Windows work by default. But the copy paste between Mac and Ubuntu or Ubuntu and Windows does not work...

By the way, I just want to copy texts...

Edit3: I just shut down the 2 virtual machines, and rebooted them, and copying and pasting texts among them works fine... It is really odd... So I guess I had done something on my Ubuntu, which disabled copying and pasting, then rebooting Ubuntu reset it...

You can find a lot of documentation about copy/paste, drag and drop,... on the website of VMWare, and they stated:

  To use the copy and paste feature, VMware Tools must be installed on
  the virtual machine.

But since you've already installed those tools, I recommend you reinstall them. Just to be sure.

Also, make sure you don't stumble upon the limits of this feature:

  You cannot copy and paste or drag and drop content that exceeds the internal buffer limit of 4MB.
  Copy and paste or drag and drop of formatted text containing images might not work across different operating systems.
  Copying and pasting files from the host to an Outlook email message or compressed folder in the guest and vice versa might fail.
  Workaround: Copy files from host to the guest desktop first and then
  paste the files from the guest desktop into the Outlook email message
  or compressed folder.


How to delete an administrator account on mac? I have an administrator account on my mac I don't need, and know the password but cannot delete it.

Go to System Preferences > Users & Grops > unlock padlock > click in + > Create a new Administrator Account.

Now, you can delete the other Administrator account.

Close actual Session > Open session with the new Admin account > Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > unlock padlock >select old Admin Account > click in -


Is there free, system-wide http/https proxy software for OS X? I need to forward all my traffic trough a HTTP/HTTPS proxy in order to connect to a VPN. I can only connect to that VPN using a HTTP/HTTPS proxy.

Is there something free that I can use to achieve this in OS X?

To connect to a Proxy Server (which is what you're trying to do) you need no special Programm just tell your System to send all the Traffic over the Proxy.

You can do this inside of your Mac's System Preferences under Network

If you need more Information on how i suggest you to read the Official Apple Support Document: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18553


How can I run a shell script with admin privileges from Applescript? I am writing an Applescript that aims to automate the install (add to root keychain) and 'Always Trust' setting by simply launching the Applescript. I'm stuck with how to get the admin user authenticated with the authentication popup?

Here is my code so far:

try
    set question to display dialog "To Install Click 'Continue'" & return & "You will be prompted to enter an administartor password!" buttons {"Close", "Continue"} default button 2
    set answer to button returned of question
    if answer is equal to "Continue" then
        do shell script ("sudo security add-trusted-cert -d -r trustRoot -k /Library/Keychains/System.keychain ~/Desktop/MyWiFiCertificate.crt")
    else if answer is equal to "Close" then
        display dialog "You have cancelled the WiFi Certificate installation." buttons {"Exit"} default button 1
    end if
on error errorMsg
    display dialog errorMsg
end try

However, I get this error

sudo: no tty present and no askpass program specified".

I'm guessing it is because of the fact that the operation can not be authenticated by the admin user. I'd be grateful if anyone who has automated this process before could refine my code to enable the user to authenticate and automatically 'Always Trust' the WiFi Certificate.

You can pass administrator privileges to a line of AppleScript which requires administrator privileges by appending "with administrator privileges":

do shell script "security add-trusted-cert -d -r trustRoot -k /Library/Keychains/System.keychain ~/Desktop/MyWiFiCertificate.crt" with administrator privileges


Yosemite 10.10.3 asks for google password every week with 2 factor authentication I have two factor authentication enabled on my google account and I was really happy when Apple finally started to support that.

However there is a slight nuisance: OSX keeps asking for a password every week or so and I have to reenter the security code for two factor authentication.

The "Never ask on this device" option is nowhere to be found. What is going on?

As far as I know, Google still considers some apps (including Apple's) to be less secure, as they call them. As a solution to be safe, they can force you to reauthenticate from time to time.

My solution, that I'm happy with so far, is to use their App Passwords for every single app that is less secure and does this annoying reauthentication step.


Mavericks Mail.app Text Re-formating Driving Me Bonkers I send my e-mails in plain text via mail.app. Since the release of Mavericks, there is one auto-correct feature that is driving me bonkers and I'm hoping someone here can point me in the right direction.

When composing long e-mails, I will create headers using a string of dashes. For example...

------------------------------------
Next Steps
------------------------------------

However, with the release of Mavericks, when I create the dashed line, it is replace with the following:

——————————————————
Next Steps
——————————————————

The problem is that I can't find where to turn this off. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Found the answer to my own question. For some reason, simply asking the question tends to provide me more clues from which to solve it myself. Weird how that works.

Apparently there are substitutions within Mail for Smart Quote and Smart Dashes, which is what was giving me fits. You'll find it under "Edit \ Substitutions \ "


Unable to open sleep image due to permission issues I upgraded my Mac to High Sierra and I wanted to open the sleep image which is situated in /private/var/vm But when I opened it it showed 'you have no acces to open this file please contact your administrator or network administrator' message like that.I am not sure whether this is a problem with me or has Apple restricted access to sleep image on high sierra

Find these keys on your keyboard command+I this will open the get info window

After the windows opens scroll down and click on the sharing & permission

Now if you don't see your username in the filed which appears after clicking on sharing & permissions then add your username (Admin) by clicking on the plus sign

Now if this doesn't works then again click on the plus sign and add Administrator (First check is Administrator is visible in the filed or not after clicking sharing and permission)

After pressing command+i you will get to see a window like this after which you will have to click on the lock icon!

Then enter your password

Now a second overlaying window will appear on your mac screen

Now, You will have to select either your username or administrators and add it to the sharing and permissions field

After that there wouldn't be any permission issues!


Sign out of messages on Mac (iMessage) I logged into my iMessage account on a friend's Mac but now I can't figure out how to sign out.

How can I secure my messages from appearing on that computer?

You can sign out of the Messages app on OS X as follows:

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH22359

If you can't access the Mac, then changing your iCloud password or evoking the application specific password for FaceTime and messages would suffice but also be more work for you.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204397
https://appleid.apple.com


Backgrounding iPhoto sharing via email I just found out that when you share a picture in iPhoto via email, the email screen does not go away until the photo has been completely emailed. This means, if its a large photo that I am trying to 'share', depending upon my bandwidth, it takes quite a while to send, during which, I cannot browse any other picture in iPhoto. Is there a way I can background the sharing via email process such that the email screen goes away as soon as I hit the send button and I can proceed on to share other emails. I am fine with the system queuing up the pictures to upload.

The iPhone does it very nicely. Seems like the programmers forgot this backgrounding feature in Mountain Lion...

I usually just switch to Mail, create a new mail there and drag the pictures I want to send from iPhoto into the new mail.


Automator/AppleScript: move folders to a location based on their name I'm very new to scripting and Automator but I am trying to figure out a way to have folders automatically moved to a desired location based on the beginning and ending of their names. for example:

If folder name starts with "A" and ends with "45" move to Documents/Archive/A/45

or

if folder name starts with "J" and ends with "29" move to Documents/Archive/J/29

Edit:

Real world folder name would be: A761245 or J647929
Yes the destination folders already exist
No, the source folder and destination folder are in different locations.
I'm running macOS Mojave 10.14.6

Is there a way to do this with automator or scripting? Thank you!

I opened Terminal, which by default opens to ones home directory, and ran the following command:

mkdir -p  ./Documents/Archive/A/45 ./Documents/Archive/J/29 A761245 J647929

This created two new directories, A761245 and J647929, in the root of my home directory and the hierarchal directory structure within my Documents directory to receive them when moved.

I then use the following compound command to move any directory whose name started with an upper case alpha character followed by six numeric characters:

for d in *; do [[ -d $d ]] || continue; if [[ $d =~ ^([A-Z])([0-9]{4})([0-9]{2})$ ]]; then mv -n -v "$d" "./Documents/Archive/${BASH_REMATCH[1]}/${BASH_REMATCH[3]}/"; fi; done

The result of this compound command was:

A761245 -> ./Documents/Archive/A/45/A761245
J647929 -> ./Documents/Archive/J/29/J647929
$

This compound command could be used in a bash script, e.g.:

#!/bin/bash

for d in *; do
    [[ -d $d ]] || continue
    if [[ $d =~ ^([A-Z])([0-9]{4})([0-9]{2})$ ]]; then
        mv -n -v "$d" "./Documents/Archive/${BASH_REMATCH[1]}/${BASH_REMATCH[3]}/"
    fi
done

This basically works by testing the name of any directory passed to conform to an upper case alpha character followed by six numeric characters  using capture groups and BASH_REMATCH to build the appropriate destination pathname for the mv command.

I know you said the destination directories already exist and the example bash code above takes that for granted without any additional error handling.  With that said though, you could add a line of code that would create the necessary hierarchal directory structure first, as in the example below:

#!/bin/bash

for d in *; do
    [[ -d $d ]] || continue
    if [[ $d =~ ^([A-Z])([0-9]{4})([0-9]{2})$ ]]; then
        mkdir -p "./Documents/Archive/${BASH_REMATCH[1]}/${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"
        mv -n -v "$d" "./Documents/Archive/${BASH_REMATCH[1]}/${BASH_REMATCH[3]}/"
    fi
done

The one-liner compound command would be:

for d in *; do [[ -d $d ]] || continue; if [[ $d =~ ^([A-Z])([0-9]{4})([0-9]{2})$ ]]; then mkdir -p "./Documents/Archive/${BASH_REMATCH[1]}/${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"; mv -n -v "$d" "./Documents/Archive/${BASH_REMATCH[1]}/${BASH_REMATCH[3]}/"; fi; done

I'd use this version of the compound command and or bash script.

Note: Using the -p option with the mkdir command will create the hierarchal directory structure as needed without erring out if it already exists. This would be that way I'd go just to make sure you do not try moving a source directory to a nonexistent destination directory.


How do I use Mac Mail as a searchable archive of past emails and delete emails on Gmail? Can I use Mac Mail.app as a searchable archive of emails stored locally? How can I set this up?
I use Gmail as my primary email and interface. I'm out of space. I have mac Mail.app linked with Gmail, so all my messages are there but I don't use that as an interface. I want to archive the messages in Mac Mail as one or multiple year files in a way that they remain searchable and then remove them from Google to free up space, without removing them from my Mac Mail archives. In the event I needed to search a message from say 2010, I'd like to be able to open up Mac Mail and search there if it is no longer on the Gmail server.
How would you set this up please? Sincere thanks for any ideas.

You could create local folders inside the Mail App and transfer the mails from your inbox into these folders. To do so, open the Mail App and select inbox (at the top menu bar), then navigate to new inbox. You will get a new pop-up window asking you where to create the new inbox/folder (here you want to make sure it is set to local). You can also set a name, e.g. for your use case 2019 for all emails from 2019.


Can I make a podcast out of any flash video to listen to on my iPod? Is it possible to make a podcast out of any flash video on the web that I can listen to on my iPod?

Maybe.

One of the reasons content providers choose Flash is that it makes grabbing the video for your own purposes nontrivial. Some sites provide links for downloading video, even if the embedded player is Flash. But I don't think that's what you're asking.

RealPlayer (http://www.real.com/realplayer/download) provides a free player as well as a program that will run in the background to try to grab Flash video. They also have a free converter program (RealPlayer Converter) for transcoding, if what you capture isn't something your iPod can play. If it's an iPod Touch, then you can play H.264/AAC or H.264/MP3 movies directly. Other formats you'd have to convert.

If you are talking an audio iPod, you need to pull the audio out of whatever movie you capture. I would do that using QuickTime 7 Pro, a $29 purchase. There are free alternatives, I'm sure. But taking just the audio from a Flash video is a bit obscure.


update ipad2 3G jailbreaked to ios 7 and it got stuck on error 14 I tried to update my ipad 2 3G jailbreaked to ios 7 and it got stuck on error 14 and it has been in "recovery mode" itunes screen ever since.

I have put the ipad on DFU mode 100x then try to restore it.
I have changed different ports and usb cables.
I have used many different OSs(Mac & Win).
I have tried using tinyumbrella and RecBoot to try to kick it out of recovery.
I tried changing, modifying the hosts files.
I have restarted the computer numerous times.
and I used latest versions of itunes.

and my log file is uploaded here

any idea?

Just connect your iPad to your PC and click on "Restore to factory". iTunes will download the latest version of iOS supported and install it, which in this case will install iOS 7 on your iPad.


How to change computer name as it shows up in AirDrop? I use AirDrop quite often to quickly send pictures that I take on my iPhone, to my Mac. The problem is, I have several Macs (all of them are Mac minis) and when I activate AirDrop on my iPhone, they all show up with the exact same name.

I've Googled, and the only three ways of changing the displayed name in AirDrop that I've found are:

changing the computer name in System Preferences -> Sharing -> Computer Name,
changing the "Me" card's name in Contacts, or
modifying a Plist file with the command
defaults write com.apple.NetworkBrowser DisableAirDrop -bool YES.

Unfortunately, none of these are working for me. 1 doesn't seem to apply, as my computers already have unique names in the Sharing control panel, but they don't show up in the AirDrop display on my iPhone. 2 wouldn't work, because changing the "me" card would sync across to the other Mac (my contacts are syncing using iCloud). I tried 3 and it doesn't work either - the AirDrop item disappears from Finder, however my computer still shows up in the AirDrop display on my iPhone. The only working solution I found was by turning off WiFi on any computers that I don't want to show up in AirDrop, which prevents them from showing up in AirDrop on my iPhone. Fortunately this works for me, since I typically AirDrop files to only one of my computers, and all of my computers are connected via Ethernet anyway, so WiFi is unnecessary for network connectivity. Is there a different way of either changing a computer's name or making it disappear entirely from AirDrop?

You can opt out of AirDrop on a Mac quite easily.

turn off WiFi
Use an OS X Profile to disable sharing via AirDrop (MDM such as OS X server.app's profile manager can do this easily)

Setting the name should be easy to test. Open the sharing preference pane and make one Apple an Orange. Watch that the names change. If not, you've got a caching issue with your network and might want to power off all AppleTV and Airport devices at the same time to get a clean start to that cache. I haven't figured a more elegant way to purge the collective shared cache of bonjour names that works as well as a total outage there.


Delete a file locally, but keep it in iCloud I have a file on my desktop that is now synced with iCloud using the new feature of macOS.

I would like to delete it, but keep a copy of it in the iCloud.

I am nervous that if I simply delete it from my Mac, it will also be deleted in iCloud.

Is there a way to keep the iCloud copy, but delete the local copy?

For example, here are two directories on my desktop, one is only in the cloud, the other is both in the cloud and saved locally:

I would like to make the Personal Docs folder become like the Datasets folder

As Andreas mentioned in his answer, brctl evict purges the files. But for me, it seems to work permanently. Even purges recursively through folders. Maybe it is because I purged 40GB of data, hard for iCloud to reset in a heartbeat

>brctl evict SuperBigNestedFolder
evicted content of 'SuperBigNestedFolder/'

Nice!

BUT, when iCloud evicts the files it also throws away all metadata.
This cripples Spotlight by removing the ability to search for text found inside popular file formats such as word, pdf, pages, keynote, or txt.


Files on Desktop are not accessible [UPDATE] This issue seems to be fixed in 10.15.2.

Device, OS version and other background info:

MacBook Pro Retina late-2013, Catalina 10.15.1
FileVault is not enabled.
iCloud Desktop/Document syncing is not enabled.
Time Machine backup stored on an external drive; auto-backup is temporarily disabled.
Daemons, extensions and login items:

Alfred 4
BetterTouchTool
DropBox
Calendar 366
Logitech Option

Problem description:

All files under ~/Desktop path are inaccessible by most applications, including Finder:

Double click on the file or choose from "File > Open..." within application both fail to open the file. The error message of open dialog claimed "The document XXXX could not be opened."
Files can be renamed in Finder, can quick view the content, and can be copied to other directory, but can not be moved out of Desktop or delete.
Files in other directories can not be copied or moved to Desktop and applications can not save files to Desktop either; the error message of save dialog claimed "The file 'Desktop' couldn't be opened".
Finder can still create new folder on Desktop and it can be opened, but it can't be moved or deleted as well, files from other directory can be moved into these folders, but the moved files will become inaccessible too.

Reboot can temporarily solve this issue, but logout and re-login and this situation will happen again. Create a new account on the same machine and it is not affected by the same problem so far.

Possible cause of problem:

This problem seems to only affect applications that use Launch Service, because other applications that use conventional POSIX file I/O are not affected. All CLI utilities in Terminal can read, create, write and delete all these files, including vi, cp, mv, rm command; pipelined commands like echo hello > ~/Desktop/hello.txt are still functional and new files will be created on desktop, but these newly created files can not be opened by TextEdit.app as well.

Other applications like Visual Studio Code can also open and write to the files without problem. It also worth mentioning that web browsers like Safari, Chrome and Firefox can open and read the content, but I'd guess that's because web browsers are specially coded to tolerate read error and partial contents.

FileVault is not enabled; and this is an old model so it's not T2 and file system encryption related issue. Permission is irrelevant to this issue because Visual Studio Code can access these affected files normally. Adding applications like TextEdit to full disk access does not help either.

I guess that the problem is related to Launch Service, like a broken database file or something, but I've no idea how to identify the source of trouble. Tried to search related logs in Console.app but don't know where to start.

Temporary measures:

Reboot everyday.

Please help.

[EDIT] NO PERMISSION IS IRRELEVANT TO THIS ISSUE. That’s the first thing I’ve checked. All permission is set normally and NOTHING IS LOCKED. It just will revert back to normal right after rebooting— without doing anything else. And applications that use conventional POSIX I/O can still work perfectly normal.

This might be helpful if you give a try:

Add your username in the Name column

Select the Desktop folder from Finder and Press cmd+I.
Click the lock icon   to unlock it.
Enter an administrator name and password
In the Sharing & Permissions section, do the following:

a. Click the Add button + below the list, select your username then click select.

b. Select your name in the Name column, click the Action pop-up menu , then choose “Make __ the owner.”

c. Also, click Apply to enclosed items... ()


How to add a shortcut to a NFS share in Finder? I have defined a NFS mount point in Disk Utility. The target machine is running Linux.
I don't see the machine in Finder (preferences/ shared / servers is checked)
I also can't drag the folder to the Finders Favorites.

All of this is possible if I mount the NFS share manually through the command line.

Is there a setting to have the NFS mount points behave like the other folders on my system (OS X 10.7.3) ?

In Finder, go to preferences, then click Sidebar. Under the Shared group, tick Connected Servers.


Is it possible to rename network interfaces in system preferences? Is there a way to rename USB Ethernet interfaces in System Preferences? I'm running macOS Catalina.
I have 2 USB Ethernet adapters - both are AX8817. Kinda hard to tell them apart.
I'm in this menu quite often, changing IPs. Would be nice to have some control over the names used here.

Rename them using the cogwheel at the bottom of the window.


Can you Recover Data from a Filevault encrypted harddrive externally? My mac won't boot and it maybe a harddrive issue, but I need to get the data off it, is it possible to recover the data using a set of tools if I know the password and have the appropriate cables?

What Mac are you using (Macbook Air / Pro)? Does it have a replaceable disk?

If the disk is not replaceable, I see the following options:

Access your Mac in target mode and unlock the disk from another computer. For example this article explains the procedure.
Using recovery mode: Press cmd + R : Recovery Mode
Same as above, but you manually select the recovery partition by pressing alt at boot

Sometimes the filevault2 volume cannot be opened easily. See here for a workaround.

If the disk is replaceable I would remove it, unlock the disk, and save the data e.g. with an USB-IDE adapter (like this one).


How to limit any devices to appear on any Bonjour/Airplay capable devices close by? This is an issue at my school district where I work as a network admin. Right now, I could see around the list of at least 15-20 Apple TVs that is located across school buildings when I press on AirPlay function on my iPhone 6. Our only security we have is right now that all Apple TVs require password to access before we can use them.

What is a good method to limit Apple TVs to only ones that teachers should be seeing in the list to select from? I am trying to find the answer for this on Internet but I cannot find one.

There are a number of ways to do this, depending on your network setup.

You could as @tron_jones suggested use isolated networks or VLANs. Another way would be to setup the router so that each class room is on a different subnet i.e.

10.0.1.0/24 for class room 1
10.0.2.0/24 for class room 2
10.0.3.0/24 for class room 3

mDNS / Bonjour does not broadcast outside of the subnet by default.

Either of these options should work, but require a non-trivial amount of alteration to your LAN, essentially there is no solution within the product itself.


Access Keychain Access password generator (password assistant) via Terminal without the user interface Is it possible to access, the "password assistant" also known as the password generator located inside the Keychain Access via terminal or otherwise?

Steps to access in UI:

Launch Keychain Access
New password item
Select padlock item (generate password)
Create random password according to security level

Your exact question has been asked on Stackoverflow in 2009. The answers did not provide a way to access the Keychain password generator, but did suggest some alternatives.

A Google search for mac terminal password generator also shows several ways to generate a password from Terminal. I have listed a couple below.

openssl rand -base64 6

You can change -base64 to -hex to limit the use of special characters. The 6 indicates the lenght of the password.

env LC_CTYPE=C tr -dc "a-zA-Z0-9-_\$\?" < /dev/urandom | head -c 10

The "a-zA-Z0-9-_\$\?" part indicates allowed characters and the 10 defines the length.


Are there Fingerprint Readers that Can Connect to my Macbook? I'm building an app that requires fingerprint scanning. However, I've noticed most fingerprint scanners out there only connect to Windows Devices. Is there a way to get a fingerprint scanner connected to my Macbook? I only need to get the picture of the fingerprint.

I assume your laptop does not come with Touch ID.  The only 3rd party unit I know of is the Eikon To Go USB Fingerprint Reader. Made to work on Macs.  You can find it here, and here. This unit is described on many other web sites. Just Google it to see other sites. I think this unit is out of production but Amazon advertises the reader.  I'd check to make sure its compatible with your system software.

Do you own a regular scanner? Since you only need a print of your fingerprint, have you thought of scanning your finger by holding it down on scanner screen and scanning it?


Built-in microphone level auto adjusts itself My built in microphone in MacBook Air 13″ (2017) keeps adjusting itself to the maximum volume each time I have video/audio enabled in Google Chrome (or any other browser except Safari). This happens in Skype (mic auto adjusting function is turned off) as well.

It is so annoying that I must disable microphone anytime something happens, or someone else is talking in my apartment. Because of this I cannot have meetings with my partners and work properly.

If you haven’t already, try resetting the NVRAM and attempting to replicate the issue. Here’s an Apple support article on what an NVRAM resets does and how to do one.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

If the issue continues, create a new user account and attempt to replicate the issue in that account. If the issue persists in a test user account than, I’d advise visiting an Apple Store for them to run audio diagnostics and determine if you are having a hardware issue or if your operating system needs to be reinstalled.The article below highlights creating another user.

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25796?locale=en_US


Why is my iTunes Music app suddenly skipping every track? I was listening to music on the way home today, and all of a sudden it wouldn't play the next track.  On closer inspection it was skipping through every track, regardless of whether I had pressed play or not.  The majority (I would say about 90-95%) of my music is streamed from iTunes Match, but the very few downloaded songs on my phone were also doing the same thing.  I tried to download a few more of the songs, but it wouldn't allow me to.  It looks like it tries to connect to do so, but cancels itself.

So far I have tried the following without success:

Closed and re-opened the app;
Restarted the phone;
Hard reset the phone;
Signed in and out of iTunes Match on the phone;
Connected the phone to my Mac and tried to run a sync or two with iTunes;
Erased all settings;
Restored from an iTunes Backup;

It is still skipping through every track and wont let me download.  This is very annoying, seeing as I pay for things to "just work" but more often than not I'm having to spend my nights doing admin for the stuff that should just work.

What else can I try other than take it into a store, which I do not want to do as I really don't have the time to deal with Apple's clueless Geniuses.

Thanks in advance.

UPDATE : I had already checked the Server Status at Apple's website, but I neglected to add that to my question

It was reported earlier today on multiple sources that Apple services were experiencing outages throughout the day. Service seems to have been restored after about an hour or so of outage, and Apple has yet to officially respond as the reasons why but it did correspond during the VMA announcement.

For future status of their online services don't forget to check - https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/


OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Mail keep quitting unexpectedly. This started happening after the last update I'm just wondering that why Mail keeps quitting after the 10.10.3 update.
The mail app worked fine and I never had to quit it, but now it happens occasionally.

Sorry I didn't provide those informations.
Here is the User Diagnostic Reports:

Crashed Thread:        18  Dispatch queue: NSOperationQueue 0x7fbff45644a0 :: NSOperation 0x7fbff7e23ee0 (QOS: UTILITY)
Exception Type:        EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Thread 18 Crashed:: Dispatch queue: NSOperationQueue 0x7fbff45644a0 :: NSOperation 0x7fbff7e23ee0 (QOS: UTILITY)
Thread 18 crashed with X86 Thread State (64-bit):
    0x7fff8d4d9000 -     0x7fff8d4e4ff7  com.apple.CrashReporterSupport (10.10 - 631) <D87A64FA-64B1-3B23-BB43-ADE173C108C6> /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CrashReporterSupport.framework/Versions/A/CrashReporterSupport

Let me know if I can provide more info to solve my question.

What I actually want to do is to make the mail app stable instead of crashing 2 or 3 times a day.

I found the source of those repetitive crashes : a rule that tried moving email in a directory that does not exist anymore. Under 10.10.2 Mail would simply not do anything. Under 10.10.3 Mail 8.2 crashed and corrupt the mail index. Simply fixing the rules did solve my problem.


“Your system has run out of application memory”, but memory pressure is not even at 50%? The system has 16GB of memory, and the memory pressure looks well below even 50%. This doesn't make any sense. Usually the message starts popping after about 10 days without restarting.

Any light to shed here? I used to have a 12GB hackintosh with Yosemite and this NEVER happened, it lasted stable without restarting for months at a time, this is really ridiculous, I was really expecting for Apple hardware to be more reliable, not less.

Note that memory pressure does not have a one-to-one relationship with the percent of memory used. Here's a previous thread explaining how pressure is measured.

Your system appears to have used all physical RAM you have (13.6 GB actively used, 2.3 GB of cached ram). Thus, when you open new applications or attempt to load a new webpage, some of the data in physical RAM is swapped to disk. If your disk is full, and it can't swap any more RAM, then this "Out of Memory" error could occur.

I'm somewhat confident this is a software issue, not hardware. As you mentioned, you don't regularly reboot your Mac. Rebooting essentially resets RAM, freeing up significant amounts of space. Taking a quick glance at the process list, there seem to be a lot of "status-bar" apps that reside in the background (like Telegram). Having so many applications open over the course of 10 days probably means a significant amount of information is being cached in RAM, which is why you have so high memory usage.

Fix this by closing stuff you aren't using, or reboot every time this happens. Alternatively, switch to a different browser (if you can/are willing) since Chrome has a litany of nice but memory-intensive features such as preloading search results.

If you're interested in finding what is really causing the memory usage, this very thorough thread has instructions.

Finally, the reason you never had this issue on Yosemite may have been that you simply didn't open as many apps, restarted more often, or had more disk space for swap.

TL;DR: Restart regularly, and close unused apps. Maybe switch browsers.


Reinstalling iMovie on a mid 2009 MacBook Pro I accidentally uninstalled my iMovie from my MacBook Pro mid 2009. Thing is, when I go to the app store and try to reinstall it, I can't – my system's too old.

When I try to get an old version of iMovie, they're just updates – not the core application itself.

I need any (really... any!) version of iMovie running by today because I have an urgent video edition due.

Anyone has any clue about how to reinstall the iMovie on my old MacBook?

You should be able to find a version of iMovie from Apple's iMovie download site:

https://support.apple.com/downloads/imovie

Available: iMovie versions 2.x to 9.x.


iTunes: "Your account was changed while you were editing your account information." I logged into the iTunes store via Settings on a new iPhone 5s, and it automatically went to the "confirm your payment information" page.

I confirmed my method of payment (none), and it came back with an error, letting me know that:

  Your account was changed while you were editing your account info. We were unable to save the changes. Please try again later.

I was currently logged into the Manage my Apple ID page when this error occurred (but was not actively editing anything), and once I logged out, I was able to confirm my payment method with no issue.

I was also able to log into the iTunes store on my Macbook and confirm the payment information with zero issue, but as far as I remember I was not logged in into the manage my Apple ID page.

Has anyone experienced this before? Does being logged into the manage my Apple ID page seem like a likely culprit for the error message I received?

I could see a race condition causing this briefly, but if you get this error for more than 15 minutes, I would get in queue with Apple support:

http://www.apple.com/support/ios/contact/
http://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus

Unless there is an outage, you'll likely need someone to assist you on the sever side to resolve these errors.


How to use iTunes Match with two user accounts on the same computer? Me and my partner have a Mac Pro in our house, each with our own user account. We both use iTunes, have iPhones, our own Apple IDs, and each have a subscription to iTunes Match.

However, for some unknown but frustrating reason, Apple only allows any one device to be connected to only one iTunes Match account, and in this case a device includes Macs. It simply won't let us enable iTunes Match on a second user account!

We both want to use iTunes Match, but I don't know how to make it work. Purchasing a second Mac for one of us to use isn't an option -- even ignoring the cost we only want one desktop computer. However, I do have a headless Mac Mini that I use as an always-on server, which might help.

Is there anyway I can set things up so that we can both use iTunes Match?

My current thoughts:

Use some kind of method or software to automatically keep two copies of my music library in sync: one on my Mac Pro, the other on the Mac Mini server. Have the Mac Mini's iTunes Library be tied to my iTunes Match account. My partner can keep using the Mac Pro. Note that for this to work the two synced iTunes libraries would need to share music, playlists, and (if possible) even statistics. Any change that happens on one would have to be transferred over to the other in manner that works with iTunes Match and allows it to upload the changes.
Figure out some way to combine our two libraries together (we have the same music collection anyway), use one iTunes Match account, but set it up so that we can access our music collection on both user accounts. Note that we'd still need to continue using our individual Apple IDs for most things on the phone, including for Contacts, Notes, Reminders, etc. Furthermore, we each have our own playlists and statistics so I'm not really leaning towards trying this.
Maybe there's a third option I haven't thought of...?

I haven't undertaken any of these yet, because I honestly don't know if any of them are possible, which one is the path of least resistance and pain, or if there's a better option I don't know about.

Any solutions or guidance anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated!

There's a kind of easy way to solve this as I found out recently. All it involves is using the same credit/debit card details on both iTunes accounts.
Yes, a little bit of a nuisance and there's no logic at all as why it would be this way but it solved it for me with my Macbook that I share with my daughter. 2 separate Apple ID's and 2 separate iTunes match accounts on the same Mac but she just pays me in cash if she buys something...


Will iPhone SE connect to a 802.11b/g router? I plan to purchase iPhone SE. The spec says the Wi-Fi module is 802.11ac (5 GHz band). However, my router is rather old - it supports 802.11b and 802.11g only (2.4 GHz band).

I cannot find information on whether a 802.11ac device can work in a backward compatible mode (i.e., on a lower frequency) with a 802.11b/g router or not.

So, will I be able to connect iPhone SE to a 802.11b/g router?

Absolutely.

Almost all wifi products are backwards compatible (I can't think of any that aren't). Specifically regarding the iPhone SE, the site GSM Arena lists the full specs for the iPhone SE's wifi modem: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, hotspot.


Dock process creates lock screen images continuously I noticed today that my disk is completely full despite the fact that it was half full just yesterday. OmniDiskSweeper revealed that in private/var/folders/gn loads of lock screen.png screenshots that are being made automatically every second. It seems Dock process is responsible for it. Couldn't have found any solutions anywhere. Is there any way to stop it?
P.S. MacBook Pro 2017, macOS Catalina 10.15.4

After changing my desktop background, it stopped all of a sudden


Is there an iPad app that lets me share my iPad screen with someone at another computer at another location? Is there an iPad app that lets me share my iPad screen with someone at another computer at another location? I'd like an app that lets me write stuff with my stylus (like note taker HD) and have that appear on someone else's screen on a computer at another location. If there is no such app, I'd be happy with some hack that lets me do this through my computer. (Now what I tend to do is write a bunch of stuff and have note taker HD email it to the other person.)

There's a Mac app called AirServer that enables you to mirror your iPad 2 onto your Mac. Maybe from there you can get this to another location...


Is it possible to export configuration from Apple's macOS Stocks app? I use Stocks.app on macOS and configured many assets I wish to "follow". Is it possible to export configuration from Apple's macOS Stocks app? I wish to put the config file into git repo (should be text file).

To be perfectly candid, the Stocks App and related iOS widgets are, quite frankly, not up to par.
There are many, better apps available, especially if you want to share your watch lists with others.

Your brokerage's trading app will usually allow the sharing or exporting of watch lists. Think or Swim actually has the ability to publish (Tweet) your watch list out.  You can export to CSV as well.

Excel supports "pulling in" of live stock price data. Nothing beats an actual spreadsheet for importing/exporting data.

Free/Paid apps on the App Store have much more functionality. For instance StockSpy has all these features including sync between multiple devices and a richer experience.

Financial Websites like Marketwatch have the ability to import/export their financial data.


Malware caused "Search With Google" service to be named "Search With Trovi" I'm dealing with a Mac that has been affected by some kind of Trovi malware - I've managed to undo most of the changes but there is still one I can't figure out.

The malware renamed the "Search With Google" service to "Search With Trovi". My fixes have sorted out the functionality of the service, in that it now successfully launches a Google search in Safari, but the name is still wrong. See pictures below.

Any ideas how to fix this?

I've tried searching the names and contents of all files on the Mac (including invisible files, and including those in packages) for instances of the text string "Trovi" but have had no luck.

The service name "Search with ..." is dynamically created and depends on your favorite service engine selected in Safari > Preferences > Search > Search Engine. So choosing a different search engine (e.g DuckDuckGo) in Safari will also change the service name (i.e. "Search With DuckDuckGo").

To remove Trovi completely, download, install and run MalwareBytes Anti-Malware for Mac or an antivirus app like BitDefender. You may also have to remove Safari extensions related to Trovi. A list of known malicious extensions can be found here: Remove Trovi Search from Apple Mac OS X (Removal Guide)


How to share Family calendar with non-family member? I have set up our family with iCloud, using iCloud Family Sharing.  Currently, myself and my husband define our Family and use our Family calendar for household events.

I also have a work iCloud account and would like to be able to subscribe to my home Family calendar from my work account so that I can see family events on my work calendar.  Is this possible, and if so, how can it be done (without adding my work account as a family member)?

You can share a Calendar with anyone in your contacts list…

Right click the calendar in the list on the left > Sharing Settings…

Start to type the name & select from matching contacts

As I recall [it's been a long time since I set mine up], they must have an iCloud account to be able to actually use it, so you'd add their mac.com, me.com or iCloud.com address.


Connecting monitor to mac via USB docking I just bought a new BenQ GL2450 monitor to connect to my macbook pro 13" late 2011. I try to connect it with a DVI cable and via a USB docking that goes into my laptop, but the screen says no signal and my laptop does not recognise any monitor. The USB docking works perfectly fine with my keyboard, mouse and even my M-Audio Fastrack Ultra 8R USB interface. So could it be that the signal simply won't go through a USB cable and that I need to find an adapter and plug it directly into my mini displayport or something? Because it would be way much more simple to just connect one USB cable and have everything connected already.

Thank you!

What is the docking station?  Without knowing, as a guess, I'd say yes, you will have to get video via the mini-DP.  USB and Firewire and such are not really designed to carry video signals, and while some USB docks do video, the laptop needs to support this properly - something that my MBP does not do at all.

I get the convenience, but the mini-DP is the way to go.


@ symbol conflicts with IntelliJ shortcut I am using IntelliJ 2021.1 where the VCS menus has been renamed to "Git" and a Swiss French keyboard, the problem is that when I try to insert an "@" in my code I have to press option + g (the normal location of an @ on a keyboard of this type), which automatically also opens the "Git" menu...so I end with a typed "@" but also a menu opened without focus...
I have tried to look for the IntelliJ shortcuts but this one is not listed and the same is true for the Mac shortcuts.
Do you have any suggestion?

Apparently there is no solution for the moment (they are discussing about it since 2017) see here
With a lot of shame, I propose as a workaround to define a new live template in IntelliJ and use that one to type @. In my case, I type anno + tab and get the symbol without the git menu.
It is possible to disable the mnemonics for the menu and in this way Option + G does not open Git anymore. See here for reference.


Automounting nfs share fails with err=2, RPC: Timed out I want to automount a nfs share whenever a user logs in to our Mac Minis. My original idea was to use the remote share as the place for the user's home directories, but due to being not able to mount the share, I'm just trying to get it mounted to an unrelated directory via autofs first.

My /etc/auto_master looks like this:

+auto_master
/net              -hosts -nobrowse,hidefromfinder,nosuid
/home             auto_home -nobrowse,hidefromfinder
/Network/Servers  -fstab
/-                -static
/-                auto_nfs -nobrowse,nosuid

My /etc/auto_nfs:

/home_tmp -fstype=nfs,vers=3,rw,resvport,tcp,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,noatime,timeo=900,retrans=3 192.168.0.2:/home_tmp

The remote machine is running 4.9.11-1-ARCH x86_64 GNU/Linux and it's /etc/exports looks like

/home_tmp -nohide,sync,rw 192.168.0.0/26

and the share is also visible from the client:

$ showmount -e 192.168.0.2
Exports list on 192.168.0.2:
/home_tmp                           192.168.0.0/26

The machine trying to mount the nfs share is within the 192.168.0.0/26 subnet.

When I do a sudo mount -t nfs -o resvport,rw 192.168.0.2:/home_tmp /home_tmp, I can change into /home_tmp and see it's content. But when I try to change into this directory with automount, I get:

$ cd /home_tmp
-bash: cd: /home_tmp: No such file or directory

The system log shows:

automountd: MOUNT  REQUEST: name=/home_tmp [] map=auto_nfs opts=nobrowse,nosuid path=/home_tmp direct=1
automountd:   PUSH /etc/auto_nfs
automountd:   POP /etc/auto_nfs
automountd:   mapline:  -fstype=nfs,vers=3,rw,resvport,tcp,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,noatime,timeo=900,retrans=3 192.168.0.2:/home_tmp
automountd:   do_mount1:
automountd:   (nfs,nfs)   /home_tmp -vers=3,rw,resvport,tcp,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,noatime,timeo=900,retrans=3
automountd:               192.168.0.2:/home_tmp      penalty=0
automountd:   nfsmount: input:
automountd:       192.168.0.2[other]
automountd:       nfsmount: mount on /home_tmp vers=3,rw,resvport,tcp,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,noatime,timeo=900,retrans=3:
automountd:         192.168.0.2:/home_tmp
automountd:       ping: 192.168.0.2 request vers=3 min=3
automountd: pingnfs: 192.168.0.2: RPC: Timed out
automountd:       pingnfs FAIL: can't get nfs version
automountd: NFS server 192.168.0.2 not responding
automountd:       Couldn't mount 192.168.0.2:/home_tmp, err=2
automountd: MOUNT  REPLY  : status=2, AUTOFS_DONE
automountd: mount of /home_tmp failed: No such file or directory
automountd: MOUNT  REQUEST: name=/home_tmp [] map=auto_nfs opts=nobrowse,nosuid path=/home_tmp direct=1
automountd:   PUSH /etc/auto_nfs
automountd:   POP /etc/auto_nfs
automountd:   mapline:  -fstype=nfs,vers=3,rw,resvport,tcp,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,noatime,timeo=900,retrans=3 192.168.0.2:/home_tmp
automountd:   do_mount1:
automountd:   (nfs,nfs)   /home_tmp -vers=3,rw,resvport,tcp,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,noatime,timeo=900,retrans=3
automountd:               192.168.0.2:/home_tmp      penalty=0
automountd:   nfsmount: input:
automountd:       192.168.0.2[other]
automountd:       nfsmount: mount on /home_tmp vers=3,rw,resvport,tcp,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,noatime,timeo=900,retrans=3:
automountd:         192.168.0.2:/home_tmp
automountd:       Couldn't mount 192.168.0.2:/home_tmp, err=2
automountd: MOUNT  REPLY  : status=2, AUTOFS_DONE
automountd: automountd exited

I read somewhere that this RPC: Timed out error can be caused by the nfs-server being started before some other service, so I restarted the nfs-server, but without effect. Any advice welcome to solve this...

Your Arch Linux distribution probably contains an NFSv4 server. The NFSv4 server requires a base directory (e.g. /srv/nfs4).

Any additional share has to be a subdirectory (e.g. /srv/nfs4/home_tmp). So move the server-side /home_tmp to the base directory.

The file /etc/exports looks like this then:

/srv/nfsv4 192.168.0.0/26(rw,fsid=0,insecure,no_subtree_check,async)
/srv/nfsv4/home_tmp 192.168.0.0/26(rw,nohide,insecure,no_subtree_check,async)

(only tested with async but should also work with sync)

Reload the file with exportfs -arv on the server.

Your client-side file /etc/auto_nfs has to be changed also:

/home_tmp -fstype=nfs,vers=3,rw,resvport,tcp,soft,intr,rsize=8192,wsize=8192,noatime,timeo=900,retrans=3 192.168.0.2:/srv/nfsv4/home_tmp

Finally enter sudo automount -vc in the client's shell to "refresh" the mounted share.

To set up networked home directories for OS X users some directory integration is required or at least recommended (e.g. LDAP or AD). For Linux servers I've found a pretty old how-to:
Automount OS X Home Directories Using OpenLDAP and Linux. I don't know if the approach still works well with newer macOS versions. An updated how-to would require a new question here or at Server Fault.


How to do I keep music on an iPod when I have no access to the iTunes account that it was added with? I have a rather difficult question. When I got my iPod I didn't have my own laptop, so my brother set up a joint account for both of our iPod's on his laptop - using his email and his personal account.
Unfortunately my brother has recently passed away and I have no access to his laptop, email or iTunes account.

So I'm not sure how to keep the music that is currently on the iPod (which I want to keep for sentimental reasons) while I attempt to sync it with iTunes with a new account (I want to add some music). Is there a way to do this - if so, how?

You could try, the windows only application, MediaMonkey (mediamonkey.com). This may help you as it used to be able to get around the itunes media controls... I have not used it for a while, so it may have changed (or Apple may have changed something to stop MediaMonkey from working as it used to).

With MediaMonkey you may be able to save the music already on your ipod. Once you have saved the music (safely - check it first) to a PC, then sync to itunes and then after you have sync'd it with itunes (which is pretty much guaranteed to wipe the original music), you could then re-add it...


Deleted .aae files and my photos are gone, how to restore, Help Please I deleted .aae files by mistake and all of my related photos are gone. How do I recover these missing photos?

iPhone 6, iOS 9.2.1

Download another Photo Editor from the iTunes store.  Open it and give it access to your photos.  It will recognize the unedited photos that were seemingly not there before.  This worked when I did the same thing to my .aae files.


What is the difference between -h, -r, -s, and -k, in the "shutdown now" command in single-user mode? So, I opened up single-user mode to show my friend how easy it was for a Mac to be directly hijacked if someone was able to steal the physical lap top (as opposed to hijacking remotely using SSH), and I couldn't exactly remember which shutdown now option to use (fortunately, I was prompted by the command line), so I defaulted to -h. Should I be worried if I use -h instead of -r? Is there any difference between these commands?

shutdown -h now
shutdown -s now
shutdown -r now
shutdown -k now

As stated in the shutdown manual page (man shutdownentered in a Terminal window):

 -h      The system is halted at the specified time.

 -k      Kick everybody off.  The -k option does not actually halt the
         system, but leaves the system multi-user with logins disabled
         (for all but super-user).

 -r      The system is rebooted at the specified time.

 -s      The system is put to sleep at the specified time.

So to shutdown the Mac the -h option is the proper one. -r restarts it and -s puts it to sleep. The -k option doesn't halt your system at all.


Locked out of my Mac? Recently when I was on my Mac I had turned off Bluetooth accidentally when I had meant to turn the WiFi off and back on (the WiFi was acting up). I logged off when I had to get off. And since my Mac keyboard is the default Bluetooth connected one that you get when you purchase it, it decided to not work.

When I came back later to finish up some things, I turned on my keyboard and typed my password, but nothing showed up in the box. The keyboard, when I turned it on, the light flashed until I finished typing, the  turned off. It didn't type anything into the password box, despite being on.

I replaced the batteries thinking it was dead, but that didn't work either. I have no USB connected keyboard to access my mac, I can't access Bluetooth, and my keyboard wont do jack squat.

I don't know how to log in!

How can I log in when Bluetooth is turned off?

(Also if my explanation doesn't make much sense, I have a video instead. )

You can reconnect your Bluetooth keyboard/mouse by cold starting/rebooting your Mac with the physical power button.

Make sure you keyboard is turned on
Disconnect all physical devices from the Mac, including any peripherals (printers, scanners, USB flash, etc)
Reboot the Mac (or boot the Mac if it was shut down) using the physical hardware button located on the machine

This will trigger the Bluetooth setup wizard and detect the Bluetooth devices and enable the service automatically.

Taken from OSXDaily.com - How to Enable Bluetooth Without a Keyboard or Mouse on Mac


How can I check if an iPhone is new or refurbished based on its serial number? I want to make sure that the replacement iPhone I am being given is new, not refurbished.

Given the serial number, is there any way to tell if an iPhone is new or has been refurbished?

I don't think you can do it with the serial number, but if you were given a replacement in a box that looked like the original packaging, then it's new. Else it is a refurb — at least, that has been my experience with Apple so far. This thread also supports that:

  If the replacement was from a black box (with the iPhone pictured on it), that's a new one. If you need to have your phone replaced in the first 14 days, it should be done as a retail swap. After that, for warranty replacements, you'll be given a refurb (assuming they are available, they take a while to get into the pipeline). Generally, replacement iPhones are packaged in plain white boxes with no accessories. New ones can be packaged like that too, for Genius Bar replacements, but after the phone has been out a while they will mostly be refurb units.

So in short, if you're looking at replacing an iPhone just a few weeks or a couple of months after release, then it's most probably a new stock. If it's been a while since the model released, then it's most probably a refurbished phone.


Why css files are opening in safari by default in MacBook? I do not know what happened to my MacBook, but all the css files are appearing with the web browser icon as you can see in the following image. When I open it it is opening in safari instead of TextEdit/other any editor. This is not happening with other file like .php, .twig, .yml, those all are opening in Text file?

Any idea why this is happening and how to correct that? Besides, in-built TextEdit of Mac, I am also using TextMate Editor(latest version 2.0).

I don't know why it's happening, but the usual way to correct would be:

Select a CSS file
Press Cmd-I, or right-click and select "Get Info"
In the Information popup, locate the "Open With" dropdown, and select the application you want to open CSS files with.
To affect all CSS files, instead of just this one, click the "Change All..." button immediately below the "Open With" dropdown.

If that doesn't work, it can indicate a problem with the Launch Services Database, or some other corruption of a system cache or database which is probably fixable. But try that first.


Sending specific keys when using Remote Desktop UNIX commands I would like to script the uninstallation and reinstallation of Profiles on a group of Networked Macs. In order to do this I shall use the UNIX Command part of Remote Desktop.

When sending the

profiles -D

Command, it responds with

Are you sure you want to delete all configuration profiles? [y/n]:

but I have no way of pressing the Y key.

Any ideas?

Checking the profiles man page, the -f flag will:

Automatically confirm any questions, or when used with -s, will retry startup profiles at each startup until successfully installed.

So, my guess is profiles -Df is what you're looking for.


Syncing iOS photos to MacBook - Photo Stream behaviour? I have upgraded my iPhone to iOS 5 and my MacBook to Lion, so "enjoying" the Photo Stream goodness now.

I have plugged my iPhone in and see that all the photos I have taken have been synchronised to my laptop via Photo Stream already.

Does this mean I do not need to sync them again? I thought Photo Stream was only a temp location and will get removed after some time?

So I think selecting "Photo Stream" in iPhoto shows the temp store, but they are also saved into a Event where they will remain even after being removed from Photo Stream.

Are my assumptions correct, or does it work differently?

Photo Stream only saves either your last 30 days' worth of photos or your last 1000 photos, whichever you hit first. However, in iPhoto on the Mac, the "automatic import" feature (which I believe is enabled by default) will automatically copy any photos in your photo stream to your Mac's local hard drive.

  So I think selecting "Photo Stream" in iPhoto shows the temp store, but they are also saved into a Event where they will remain even after being removed from Photo Stream.

Correct (again, as long as you have automatic import enabled. You can double-check the setting in iPhoto preferences).


Bootcamp update stopped at version 3.3 I have a 2011 MacBook Pro which I had setup with Bootcamp running Windows 7. I recently upgraded the OS X side to Yosemite as well.

The exact model is: Apple MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.2 17" Early 2011

Unfortunately my version of Bootcamp (in Windows) is stuck at 3.3. No updates are coming through for it from within the Apple Software Updater. Why is this? I cannot seem to find any reason why my computer wouldn't have the latest version of bootcamp offered to it.

A very similar question has been asked here: How do I update my MacBook Pro to the latest version of BootCamp? but has no answers.

Question: Is Bootcamp v3.3 the maximum version allowed for my software / hardware, or, is there a way other than Apple Software Updater that I should use to update my version of bootcamp? Again, Apple Software Updater is not releasing the latest version to me (despite the fact that it did provide me Bootcamp updates in the past up until v3.3)

Depending on your Windows 7 (32bit/64bit) you may download - booted to Windows 7 - the Bootcamp drivers for Windows 7-32bit Boot Camp Support Software 4.0.4033 or Windows 7-64bit Boot Camp Support Software 5.1.5621 for your MacBook Pro Early 2011 directly.

Overview for all supported Mac models: System requirements to install Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp

Unzip the downloaded file and start the setup.exe. Or update single drivers with the usual Windows methods.


Question about compatibility of High Sierra (on MBP 2017) w Photoshop Elements 2018 Specifically: Are there certain things I should do on my end (MacBook Pro 2017, High Sierra) so as to avoid crashing Photoshop Elements 2018? Not having a decent photo software on my MBP is driving me crazy and Gimp just doesn't do it for me (subscribing to Photoshop isn't worth it).

I've read tons of reviews. For every 5-star glowing review, there is a damning one. PE2018 should be the same upon delivery (download or disc), right? The variable here is the computer environment--which is why I am posting my question here and not on Amazon.

Thanks in advance!

It's not clear whether your concern is around the fact you're running macOS High Sierra or that you're using a 2017 MacBook Pro?

What I can tell you is that I've seen Photoshop Elements 2018 work just fine on Macs running macOS High Sierra. There really shouldn't be any issues, although everyone's system is different because of the software they have installed and external hardware that may be connected.

However, just in case you weren't aware, you can download a trial of Photoshop Elements 2018 to try it out first. I'd do that if you still have any concerns.


Automator: Open the current PDF file in Preview with another app After I open a PDF file with Preview, I want to open the same file in another PDF viewer (Skim or Adobe Acrobat).  How can Automator do this?

Here is an Automator Service/Quick Action that will open in Skim the front opened PDF document in Preview from the Preview > Services menu, or a keyboard shortcut if assigned in System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services.
This Automator Service was tested and works for me under macOS High Sierra assigning it a keyboard shortcut of ⌥⌘S, but should work as a Quick Action in macOS Mojave and later.
Example AppleScript code:
on run {input, parameters}
    tell application "Preview" to ¬
        set pdfDoc to (path of front document)
    tell application "Skim" to open pdfDoc
end run

Here is an Automator Service/Quick Action that will open the same PDF document(s) in both Preview and Skim from Finder.
In Finder, select one or more PDF documents, or a folder full of PDF documents and then right-click and select, e.g., Open PDF in Preview and Skim from the Services context menu.
This Automator Service was tested and works for me under macOS High Sierra, but should work as a Quick Action in macOS Mojave and later.
Example AppleScript code:
on run {input, parameters}
    tell application "Preview" to open input
    tell application "Skim" to open input
end run

Note: The example AppleScript code is just that and does not contain any error handling as may be appropriate. The onus is upon the user to add any error handling as may be appropriate, needed or wanted. Have a look at the try statement and error statement in the AppleScript Language Guide. See also, Working with Errors. Additionally, the use of the delay command may be necessary between events where appropriate, e.g. delay 0.5, with the value of the delay set appropriately.


Why is delete items after import so slow? I am importing thousands of photos from SD cards into albums on my Mac. Import is not super-quick but OK, but when I select "delete items after import" then it seems to delete about one image per second. Further, it claims import is complete but blocks more updates until complete, which gives the impression of hanging.

Is this a known issue and is there any explanation or workaround?

Use image capture to get the photos to your Mac. Then import from a fast storage location. The delay is cleanup data to the SD cards.

Get all the data off fast so you can let photos import rapidly and decouple the delete of the card till later.


How to lock screen on MacBook Air? I know this has been asked many times (Is there a similarly fast alternative to Crtl + Shift + Eject for new Macbook that lack eject keys?) but the hotkey combination does not work on my MacBook Air that has no eject button running 10.7.

So, what hotkey combination can I use to lock the screen?

Edit: pressing the power key on a MacBook Air while holding control and shift does not work in 10.7. The power key can only be substituted for eject in 10.8 and later versions of OS X.

Putting displays to sleep only locks the screen if this setting is enabled:

You can also put displays to sleep in 10.9 by running pmset displaysleepnow.

Another way to lock the screen is to enable the Keychain menu extra from the preferences of Keychain Access and then select Lock Screen from the menu extra:

An alternative way to lock the screen is to log out to the fast user switching screen. You can do it by running

/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu\ Extras/User.menu/Contents/Resources/CGSession -suspend

or by using the lock action in Alfred:


Is there a toggle for zoom/bigger text in OS X? In Ubuntu there is a toggle "Bigger text" you can activate, that's really comfortable when you have a big screen.

In Windows there is a wonderful option that make everything bigger in proportion, the size you like, and you don't have to care about anything else.

I can't find anything in the System Preferences but is there anything on OS X? After all they're the one selling 27" iMac everyday...

If not, is there something third party you would suggest?

EDIT1: Changing resolution does not help at all. If you do it, you will notice that the words get all more checkered and that makes them even more unreadable.

Thank you.

There's no direct equivalent in OS X - the closest is probably to simply decrease the resolution.

TinkerTool has options to change system and application font defaults, but doing so may cause application or OS crashes.


A Strange effect on iPhone6 and iPhone6+ when I Swipe Left-to-Right and Right-to-Left on Home button twice Here is image of that strange effect.

Is Apple is going to implement some new feature or a bug.?

This is a feature designed to bring the top of your screen into reach when you are using these new larger devices with one hand.  It's actually activated by a double tap (not press) on the home button.

Check out the item "Reachability" on this apple page:
https://www.apple.com/iphone-6/tips/


Saving information of all current apps on Mac I want to reset my (oldish) MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011) by wiping the hard drive and re-installing OS X. Is there a way to save information on all the applications I have currently installed so as to make the re-establishing easier?

Seeing as you said you have Time Machine already set up then there is nothing you need to do. Go ahead and reinstall OS X and once you're finished restart and hold Command + R at the start up chime, there you will be given the option to restore from a Time Machine backup. OS X El Capitan: Recover your entire system


MacBook Pro (Mavericks) sees details of non connected wifi network I have a MacBook Pro, connected to my private Wi-Fi (Apple Time Capsule) network.  I have another Wi-Fi guest network (Devolo). Opening who's on my Wi-Fi shows details of machines connected to my guest network, opening Devolo cockpit allows me to see and configure the Devolo Wi-Fi network, even when I'm connected to the other private network?

Wouldn't the simple explanation be that the networks are routing traffic between them.

Check your router settings, it could be as simple as bridge mode on one of them. Also, map out the DHCP servers and network ranges on paper in case writing it down lets you realize there aren't actually two networks or if one is NAT translated as an address on the other.


How can I fix this iPad stuck in the language setup screen? My grandmother got her iPad somehow in this state where it seems to be in language setup, but taps dont work as expected, rather they activate unusual boxes on the screen:

How can I fix this? Holding down the power and home button for 10 seconds restarted the iPad but the same screen was there. No interaction seems to be doing anything to advance the setup, the boxes that pop up seem to be interfering. The box in the image appears after tapping.

I figured out the answer. This state is called Voiceover, its an accessibility feature for the visially impaired,

However when used unintentionally by someone who doesnt know the special controls of the Voiceover feature, it can seem that the device simply is not responding to touch.

One simply has to tap buttons to select them then doubletap to click them, navigate to the Voiceover memu under accessibility and turn it off. Alternatively clicking the home-button 3 times in rapid succession enables/disables this feature.


Where are System Preferences settings stored? Trying to script equal brightness settings for two monitors Does anyone know where the System Preferences settings are stored on Mac OS X? I presume there's some .plist with them somewhere.

I think that they might be stored in multiple .plist files. I'm looking for the setting for the brightness slider in particular because I'd like to be able to write a script that sets the brightness to be exactly the same for two monitors.

Preference locations

Some system-wide settings are in /Library/Preferences, and some user settings are in ~/Library/Preferences. I say "some" because I have found settings in these locations before, but have not done an exhaustive search. Also, this is what could be called an implementation detail. It's not documented publicly by Apple, is not intended for users to manipulate directly (by editing the .plist files), and the way it works could change without warning in a future version of OS X. The fact that Apple made ~/Library hidden by default on Lion is a good indication that the contents of this directory are not intended to be modified by typical users. So, for best results, you should modify the settings indirectly through System Preferences itself.

Having said that, I changed the brightness of my iMac running 10.7.3, then went looking for changed plist files in the directories listed above. I couldn't find anything pertaining to screen brightness.

However, I was able to use Automator to record a workflow that opens System Preferences, goes to the Displays pref pane, and adjusts the brightness slider. This may be an easier and more reliable option for you. A quick Google search indicates that automator workflows can run from the command line, but I didn't try this.

I'll also add that one of my setups is a MacBook Air with a 30" cinema display. Setting the brightness to the same percentage on both (25% for example) does not mean that the brightness matches visually. You will likely need to choose different brightness levels for each display to get them to appear equally bright.

Monitoring filesystem usage by System Preferences

EDIT: The way you can see which plist files are accessed or modified while running System Preferences is to run a command like this in Terminal:

sudo fs_usage -w | grep "System Pref" | grep plist | grep -v "Info\.plist"

This command outputs a huge list of paths and files, some of which don't exist. File updates continued logging for a few seconds after I quit the app.

If you go this route, here's what I recommend:

Dump the list to a textfile
Eliminate duplicate paths
Look at the files which have been modified. Files with states such as "stat64", "open", and "getattrlist" are just being opened for reading, but files with states of "chmod" or "rename" are being modified. I saw my ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.systempreferences.plist file get renamed with an extension of .CvkFEbo, which I believe is the system's way of performing an atomic file write (write the entire file under a different name, and if that is successful, rename it to the original filename).

Unfortunately, I still didn't turn up anything regarding a screen brightness setting persisted to disk, but I have only lightly skimmed the fs_usage results to now.

Command-line tool to control brightness

I found an article that lists source code for controlling screen brightness on OS X using the CoreGraphics framework. The article is a little over two years old, and I haven't tried it myself, but it may be useful to you. There are simple compiling instructions posted at the end.


Is there a way to get google calendar "video" info from invites into Apple Calendar? At work, we use google calendar to manage our schedule.  I use Apple calendar as my local client to sync both that google cal and some iCloud calendars with my wife.

The problem is this - my work invites often have the url for a Google Hangout in them, which gets put in the video field of the invite.

That field doesn't seem to appear in my Apple calendar event.  Is there a setting somewhere I can activate it, or is is simply incompatible?

This question was asked on StackOverflow, and one answer provides a script to grab this information and populate it in Calendar. You'll find the script at Yeraze/CalendarHangout and a brief description of the solution here.


Is there a way to schedule an iOS app to open at specific times? I was wondering if someone had any ideas on how (like the title says) I could schedule an app to open, say every hour. Workflow app unfortunately does not support the app I need opened.

This isn't possible due to iOS restrictions.


How to get the line number in TextEdit Is it possible to get or display the line number in TextEDit in macOS Big Sur?
As I am using the editor for HDL (Hardware Descriptive Language) coding. If it's not possible, could you point me to an editor that supports line numbers that I could use with HDL files?

I typically use the App Store app to download BBEdit since it runs for free and has all the things you would want including line numbers. If you are familiar with VSCode, that’s a solid option too, but it is not a native app like BBEdit and TextEdit are.
I’m fairly sure there is no line number function in TextEdit.

http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.html
https://code.visualstudio.com/


Why am I getting this "AppLifecycleEvent" crash? macOS has been greeting me with weird crashes caused by scripts from "~Library/Application Scripts":

The first line in the stack trace leads to this:

6H4HRTU5E3.com.avast.passwords.PasswordsHelperApp

I discovered that this is a "script" from the "~/Library/Application Scripts" folder. However, it looks like this is a ghost folder - there are only subfolders in there with no files whatsoever:

What is this folder and is it safe to erase it completely if it's empty anyways?

The cause of your crashes is Avast AV software. Make sure you've installed a version that is compatible with your OS, or uninstall it completely (this may require running an uninstaller - contact Avast for details).
Application Scripts are, as the name suggests, scripts that are specific to a given application. The OS creates a folder for each application installed, regardless of whether it has any scripts or not.
From what I can read in your picture, the paths given are to /Library/Application Support, not Scripts, which is a different thing altogether.
That is the root level /Library folder, not the one in the user domain. That is where apps may install component files that are essential to their running.
I'd recommend just uninstalling Avast instead.


Cannot update macOS Mojave 10.14.2 to 10.4.4 I have a Mid 2012 MacBook Pro with 512 GB hard drive which dual boots along with macOS Sierra.

I have converted macOS Mojave partition to APFS from Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

When attempting to install macOS Mojave 10.14.4 update, this screen stays for a while and then system restarts to back to macOS Sierra:

What is going wrong and how do I resolve the issue?

Your 512GB HD is a SSD drive right?
APFS works only on SSD drives. (except for the Fusion drives)

The title of your question says: update macOS Mojave 10.14.2 to 10.4.4 => I think you meant 10.14.4 no?
So, do you really need your system to have that dual boot thingy?
Otherwise, I would recommend you to wipe you hard drive completely and entirely, but you'll loose everything. (that's why you have your backups up to date :-) I hope)
Once your drive is empty, start the installation of macOS Mojave from a USB thumb drive?!

Before doing all that, if your system is still working, first create a Bootable USB thumb drive with the macOS Mojave installation on it.

Don't forget that wiping your hard drive will WIPE all your data!


What should I do with the X11 Security folder after upgrade to Catalina? I updated my mac to 10.15 Catalina recently.
After update, I notice a Security Folder land on my Desktop.

I moved it to trash but I can't seem to delete it.

I've been stuck with this file in my trash for a week now.

Every-time, I tried, I got this

How do I safely get rid of it ?

I am surprised that no one has answered it.

If XQuartz was installed prior to installing Catalina then this X11 folder will exist. Uninstall your version of XQuartz using this gist (ideally before upgrading macOS). However, you have already upgraded to Catalina so the X11 shortcut folder can't be deleted as it appears in your desktop as a relocated item. If you want to know more, you can check the pdf folder too.

  You can find the Relocated Items folder in the Shared folder within
  the User folder. The PDF document in the Relocated Items folder
  explains what to do with files placed in this folder.

Here is a solution that you can do on your side:

Reboot and go to Cmd+R recovery mode
disable SIP by csrutil disable
Reboot to normal mode and delete that folder, empty trash
Reboot and go to Cmd+R recovery mode
re-enable SIP by csrutil enable
Reboot to normal mode


Contacts have disappeared since iOS 7 update, and iCloud is not available After updating to iOS 7, all my contacts have disappeared and iCloud is grey in my settings, i.e. not live. I keep getting a notification asking for me to accept Terms and Conditions of iCloud, but when I click, it goes to the grey iCloud in settings. How can I sort this out?

Go to Settings>General>Restrictions>Accounts, set this to Allow Changes.

This should render your grey iCloud settings useable again.


Will Early 2009 iMac accept faster-than-spec RAM? I am looking to upgrade the RAM on my Early 2009 iMac from 4GB to 8GB. According to the memory specifications it accepts PC3-8500 204-pin SO-DIMMs. However, will the iMac accept faster RAM (e.g. PC3-10600)? Supposing it does, is there any benefit to doing so?

For reference, here are the two types of RAM I'm considering:

Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500)
Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600)

There's no benefit in going with faster RAM because the speed is limited by what your motherboard supports (the early 2009 iMac has a 1066 Mhz frontside bus.) In theory the faster RAM should be able to work at the lower speeds and should be safe to install, however macs do tend to be fussy when it comes to RAM so I would recommend sticking to the RAM recommended in the system specs.

Edit:

More often than not your mac will accept higher speed RAM. However it can cause problems; one example from the Apple Support Forums. You can find similar stories all over Apple forums. This is why I advocate sticking as closely to the specs as possible.

As to the advantage of possibly installing the RAM in a future computer, in 2 years you'll probably be able to get twice the RAM for the price (and be wanting to install twice the amount too.)

Lastly, if you compare the 2 chips you linked you'll notice that the 1333 memory has a CAS latency of 9, while the 1066 has a lower (better) latency of 7. So you're trading an imaginary upside for a real downside.


Dell P2314H Monitor Cannot Connect to Macbook Pro I've got a late 2013 model 13 inch Macbook Pro with Retina Display, and a new Dell P2314H monitor.
I keep getting a message on the monitor saying its going to sleep. I've tried the following:

Display port to HDMI cable where the HDMI is connected to the MBP, and the DP is connected to the monitor.
VGA cable to the monitor and an HDMI cable to the MBP.
Points 1 and 2 with Thunderbolt adapters connected.

I still keep getting the same message.

I've been using passive adapters for this, im not sure changing them to active adapters will fix this.

Anyone have any ideas?

Got myself an active adapter between my DVI port and hdmi. Connected one end of the DVI cable to the monitor and the other end of it to the active adapter. Data going in through the mac to the monitor was converted and it all worked like a charm.


Retina display support for XQuartz X11 applications I use a MacBook Pro with retina display, OS X 10.8. I'm trying to run applications on a remote cluster via X11 ssh forwarding. I see everything with bad resolution, and guess this has to do with my retina display. I know that the same applications look good if installed on my local machine. Any ideas? Thanks!

Yes, you are correct. The problem is X11, XQuartz and their lack of support for the Retina Display. This is a long known issue.

In the linked thread, jeremyhu states:

  X11 just doesn't work well for resolutions outside of the 72-90 DPI range. This is an upstream X11 issue that needs to be solved before we can really do anything about it in XQuartz.

Not sure this will help you, but at least since last August, RealVNC has supported Retina displays.

Also you might try running X11 with your Retinia display at full resolution to see if this mitigates the issue. You can accomplish this with SwitchResX, among other software that is available to access other resolutions.

SwitchResX is a commercial third party application, but it is available to try for free and for download. Probably because it is technically a hack to use the full resolution of Retina Displays, it appears to be unavailable on the Mac App Store.

Another option to try is using NoMachine's nxclient/nxserver technology. I can't find anything that says it has Retina Display support, but a post in their forums leads me to believe that there is at least some support for Retina Display resolutions in the current version.


What ebook formats does iBooks support? What file formats of ebooks does iBooks support?

It supports ePub and PDF formats.
To import those formats you will need to add the ebook to iTunes and then either select automatic synchronization or drag them across manually and they will be added to your iBooks on the next sync.
If you have Dropbox for iOS you can also add files directly to iBooks from there.