What does the "Resample image" option do in Preview? When using Tools > Adjust Size in Preview, there is an option to Resample image which is checked by default.

When it is unchecked, a few things happen:

The Fit into option is disabled and set to Custom
Scale proportionally checkbox is checked and disabled
the option to set the new size in pixels is greyed out

What does this option do exactly? How does it affect the image when it is down-sized vs. up-sized and without the resampling?

Resizing an image changes the size that it will print at without changing the number of pixels in the image. Notice if you disable resampling, "pixels" is no longer an option on the drop-down menu next to Height and Width, because resizing does not change the number of pixels, so you can't express the new size in pixel dimensions.

Resampling an image changes the number of pixels in the image. Resampling would generally be used when preparing images for the web, since you have a target PPI (see below) and need to reduce the pixel dimensions while maintaining that PPI.

One important thing to know before going further: The number of pixels in an inch, or PPI, determines the sharpness of an image. The more pixels in an inch, the sharper an image is. If you have an LCD monitor whose physical dimensions are 12" wide x 9" high, with a resolution of 1920x1080, it would have 160 PPI. A monitor with the same resolution but physical dimensions of 16" wide x 12" high would have 120 PPI and would look noticeably more grainy or blurry.

Resizing

If you make an image smaller without resampling, the resolution will increase to compensate, since when you resize, the number of pixels present does not change.

If you make an image larger without resampling, conversely, the resolution will decrease. Your image will become blurrier because while no new pixels are being added, the pixels are spreading out to cover more space and PPI drops.

Resampling

If you make an image smaller by resampling, the number of pixels present will be reduced. This means PPI stays the same, since while you are reducing the dimensions of the image, you are reducing the number of pixels present at the same ratio.

If you make an image larger by resampling, the pixel dimensions will increase and PPI will again stay the same. In order to accomplish this, pixels have to be created where there weren't any before. Your image will again become blurrier. The program has to estimate what pixels should be added based on the existing pixels, and it won't be perfect, resulting in jagged lines and overall blurriness.


matplotlib broken after `pip install matplotlib --upgrade` to version 2.1.0 My OS X python installation is through homebrew. I then add python software using pip. I recently upgraded matplotlib from version 1.4.3 to 2.1.0 via pip install matplotlib --upgrade, and now matplotlib gives me this error when I try to make a basic plot:

In [1]: plt.plot(np.arange(10))
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-1-a81699eb47e8> in <module>()
----> 1 plt.plot(np.arange(10))

/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib/pyplot.pyc in plot(*args, **kwargs)
   3227 @_autogen_docstring(Axes.plot)
   3228 def plot(*args, **kwargs):
-> 3229     ax = gca()
   3230     # Deprecated: allow callers to override the hold state
   3231     # by passing hold=True|False

/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib/pyplot.pyc in gca(**kwargs)
    957     matplotlib.figure.Figure.gca : The figure's gca method.
    958     """
--> 959     return gcf().gca(**kwargs)
    960
    961 # More ways of creating axes:

/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib/pyplot.pyc in gcf()
    586         return figManager.canvas.figure
    587     else:
--> 588         return figure()
    589
    590

/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib/pyplot.pyc in figure(num, figsize, dpi, facecolor, edgecolor, frameon, FigureClass, clear, **kwargs)
    554         # FigureManager base class.
    555         if matplotlib.is_interactive():
--> 556             draw_if_interactive()
    557
    558         if _INSTALL_FIG_OBSERVER:

/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/matplotlib/backend_bases.pyc in draw_if_interactive(cls)
    183             manager = Gcf.get_active()
    184             if manager:
--> 185                 cls.trigger_manager_draw(manager)
    186
    187     @classmethod

TypeError: unbound method trigger_manager_draw() must be called with _BackendMac instance as first argument (got FigureManagerMac instance instead)

I am not sure how to diagnose this. I do have a working Python 3 matplotlib however.

Is this actually a bug within version 2.1.0 of matplotlib?

This is an issue with matplotlib 2.1.0 on macOS. There is a bug which causes this due to some refactoring in the new release.

It will probably be fixed in a bug fix release soon, but you will have to downgrade if you need it working now.

To install old version: pip uninstall matplotlib && pip install matplotlib==2.0.2

Refs:

https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/9345
https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/issues/9366
https://github.com/matplotlib/matplotlib/pull/9347


How can I mark an arbitrary file as Restricted (using SIP)? I am looking for further information on protecting certain files so they cannot be edited unless the system is rebooted in Recovery mode. Is SIP the direction to go in? What are the steps to make an arbitrary file restricted?

You'll need to first disable SIP temporarily by booting up in Recovery mode (or any similar means).

Then either add the extended file attribute com.apple.rootless to the file, you want to protect - or add it to /System/Library/Security/rootless.conf.

After you reboot into ordinary macOS, the file should be restricted by SIP.


iMac software causing I phone messages to appear up on older iMac Just upgraded older iMac with neatest software.  Now my spouse's text messages show up on iMac.  Her iPhone software is old and she cannot turn it off from her iPhone. Is there a way to turn it off from the iMac?

Open the "Messages" App on the iMac, go to settings and remove the iMessage account.


revoke forbiddance to send Apple events to System Events I have been using Gitk provided by Git provided by Homebrew with success, for several years.

A couple of days ago, it suddenly prompted a security window when called.

I did not allow access, hoping I would be able to change my mind.

Now trying to start Gitk will always cause:

$ gitk --all
Error in startup script: 58:103: execution error: Not authorised to send Apple events to System Events. (-1743)
    while executing
"exec osascript -e [format {
        tell application "System Events"
            set frontmost of processes whose unix id is %d to true
        end te..."
    invoked from within
"if {[tk windowingsystem] eq "aqua"} {
    exec osascript -e [format {
        tell application "System Events"
            set frontmost of processes ..."
    (file "/usr/local/bin/gitk" line 12237)
$ _

I would need to revoke that forbiddance.

I have removed Git and reinstalled:

$ brew remove --force git && brew install git

That didn't solve the case1. Force was used in order to remove all versions.

If I don't fix this, I'd need to get used to either Tig or Sourcetree or some other alternative, with an impact in immediate productivity.

1: After reinstalling, error is the same, just moved to line 12212. That's because I use taint patches on top of official Gitk. As you can see, those patches are unrelated to the cause, so please don't let it make you focus away from the actual issue, which is 100% macOS materials.

Check setting under: System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy

If you find nothing there, then in Terminal, read the man page for: tccutil

man tccutil

You can use the following command to reset all permissions you've set on AppleEvents:

tccutil reset AppleEvents

Note that after doing so, you'll have to respond to all previous queries that may come forward again.

 Note: A few years back there was a project IIRC on GitHub that allowed reading the privacy database and targeting specific occurrences of a set permission, but I think changes in macOS Mojave crippled it. It might be worth doing a bit of googling if you'er looking to target just a specific occurrence of an app permission that is not available in the GUI.


High resolution drawing app for iPad I'm looking for a good app that I and kids at my home can use to draw pictures on the iPad. I've used many of the free apps, like Chalk Pad and so on, but I notice that each of these comes with a lag.

What's a good app which helps you draw great looking pictures and has a minimum amount of time lag? I'd prefer free apps, though mentioning paid apps won't hurt.

My girlfriend uses iDraw for vector picture drawing. It’s not free, but it’s the best iPad drawing app I’ve seen. It also has an OS X version.


MacBook Pro Retina running Bootcamp with 2 external 27" monitors I am wanting to buy a MacBook Pro Retina but am currently really nervous about doing so. I've read that everything seems to run well on the Retina and is usable as long as you have the latest graphics drivers and you bump the font to 150%.

All this is fine, but I'm worried about what happens when I plug in my 2 external 27" monitors. The main question I have is will Windows want to run those 2 monitors at 150% font as well or can you set it up so its only on the laptops monitor that the scaling will take place?

Also wondering if drivers improved with Mountain Lion?

If your MacBook Retina is running in 150 DPI then your external screens will run in 150 DPI as well. This is a no go.

You can run your MacBook in eg. 1920x1200 (or any other resolution). But because this is not native resolution it is grainy. Even running with perfect pixel doubling like 1440x900 is blurry (http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/59283/why-is-a-retina-macbook-running-1440x900-grainy-under-boot-camp). Like going from none-retina to retina (just the other way).

I have been running with the retina under Boot Camp for many weeks now, and I've given up. Yesterday I ordered a MacBook Air and I'm selling my retina on eBay (Denmark). I'm pretty tech savvy... And everybody who says retina and Windows are great lies!

You can try this on your own machine before buing a retina. Just change the DPI on your current laptop and attach an external screen and try changing the resolution to a none native resolution.

If Windows are your main OS, don't buy retina! Period.


Why are my browsers only downloading some files but not others? My 12 month-old MacBook Pro just suddenly seems to not want to download certain files.

This sounds like a silly noob PEBKAC but it's not! For the past few weeks, most files that I click on in my browser which are not viewable in the browser (DMG, ZIP, etc) do not prompt me to save them. Instead of the Open with/Save File dialog appearing I just see a blank page and get the spinning wheel in that browser's tab. The status bar at the bottom reports "Transferring data from " but the download never completes, no matter how long I wait.

I've done some initial troubleshooting. Here's what I've ascertained:

I can use my web browser to view HTML pages, PNG images, JPG images, Flash sites, and even sites that load Java applets.
The issue is not specific to a file type (extension). I can download some ZIP files, but not others (see below).
The issue is not due to any ISP level filtering. My wife's computer, on the same network (older version of OS X) does not have this problem.
The issue is not related to the size of the file. See examples below.
From doing some digging on the mozillazine knowledgebase, I thought perhaps that my problem was a corrupt localstore.rdf file. I deleted this, both manually and using the "Safe mode" option, but it didn't seem to make any difference.
I've also tried resetting options related to browser.download in about:config, but this hasn't made any difference either.
It was at this stage that I tried other browsers, and came to the conclusion that it was something at the OS level. Yes, this problem occurs in ALL browsers that I have installed (Firefox 3.6, Opera, Safari and Chrome).
The issue happens regardless whether I'm connected to my home wi-fi network or a different wi-fi network (e.g. at work).
I currently have my firewall disabled in System Preferences.
(edit) After posting this question, I installed a download manager called Folx. Entering the URL of a file directly into this app seems to download any file just fine. However I'm stunned why the default browsers are behaving like this, and would prefer the lightweight browser default to a heavy, feature-rich third party download manager.

Here's an example of a file that I can download just fine. The Open with/Save file dialog appears, and I can specify a location to save the file. The file saves without problem.

This freeware font:
www.fontspace.com/livin-hell/carnivalee-freakshow
(click the Download button — I didn't link to
the zip file directly because the
site checks the referer to discourage
hotlinking)

And here are some files that display "Transferring data from somesite.com..." and a spinning wheel but never actually save any file to my local machine:

This freeware DMG file: mac.eltima.com/download/downloader_mac.dmg
This 512KB test.zip file on Dropbox: dl.dropbox.com/u/477850/StackOverflow/test.zip
This freeware font: www.1001freefonts.com/font/BaroqueScript.zip

Now I'm stuck. Any ideas from the community are very welcome! Also apologies for removing hyperlinks that were added for me by a mod — I couldn't update the post without removing them :(

Have you tried to ⌥-click a link to a download?

This usually guaranteed to download the file.


In OS X, I want to change to a non-standard keyboard shortcut for switching spaces In System Preferences > Expose and Spaces > Spaces Tab > to switch between spaces, there is a drop down list that allows you to select a modifier key and the arrows. The arrows are so far away from the rest of the keyboard! I want to bind to the vim keys (h, j, k, l) for (left, down, up, and right). On my Ubuntu machine, I push the equivalent of command-option-j to go down a space. Does anyone know how to change to a non-standard keyboard shortcut on OS X?

(I ran across a post that details how to change the modifiers, but still uses the arrow keys. This is not what I'm trying to do. Custom keyboard shortcuts to change active Spaces desktop)

Go to System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcuts. Then, on the left side, select Exposé & Spaces. On the right side you will see the current keyboard shortcuts for Exposé and Spaces. If you double click on the shortcut command (literally double click ^1 for instance) you will be able to change this to whatever you want. Just do the key-combo you want to use.

So, once you double-click on the shortcut, it'll show it as editable. Then, press the keys you want the short cut to be, all at once, for instance press Apple and J at the same time, and it'll change the shortcut.


MacBook Air (1st gen) running really slow, basic apps crash and no internet MacBook Air was working fine yesterday. Switched it on this morning and it wouldn't boot, just hung on grey screen.

Eventually got the MacBook Air to safe boot, now MacBook Air boots normally (but very slowly). Once logged on (not through safe boot) AirPort is connected with IP Address but Safari will not connect to internet.

Basic apps like Finder, System Preferences > Security, Transmit and AirPort Utility keep crashing.

Have tried the following:

Verify Disk is okay.
Repair Disk Permission ran.
Tried removing and adding AirPort.
Reset PRAM and SMC.
Unable to run AHT, can't remotely attach disk because MacBook Air can't be found on network by other Macs.

The current installation of OS X is only about 6-8 weeks old and has all the latest updates.

What's wrong? My thoughts are corrupt OS or RAM. I can't reinstall the OS with being recognised by another Mac and I can't test the hardware for the same reason. Am I missing something?

Rich

Have you run the Apple Hardware Test that came with the MacBook Air?

  To use Apple Hardware Test on your
  MacBook Air:

  Disconnect all external devices from your computer except the power
  adapter.
  Restart your MacBook Air while holding down the "D" key.
  When the Apple Hardware Test chooser screen appears, select the
  language for your location.
  Press the Return key or click the right arrow button.
  When the Apple Hardware Test main screen appears (after about 45
  seconds), follow the onscreen
  instructions.
  If Apple Hardware Test detects an issue, it displays an error code. Make
  a note of the error code before
  pursuing support options. If Apple
  Hardware Test doesn't detect a
  hardware issue, the issue may be
  software related.

If AHT found no issues, run a memory test. Download memtest86+ and burn that to a CD, and boot the MacBook Air from the CD. I have personally had RAM issues which AHT didn't find but memtest did.

EDIT: Sorry, I only just not noticed that you said you're unable to run AHT, presumably because you don't have an external optical drive. I'd recommend taking the MacBook Air in to an Apple store. Or by using a USB Ethernet Adapter you could probably get it to boot AHT from the network.

EDIT2: Have you tried booting from a USB drive? You could use another Mac to install a fresh copy of OS X to a US disk and see if the Air can boot that. or, you might be able to copy the Mac OS X Install DVD to a USB disk and try to run AHT off there...

Ultimately, a visit to the Apple Store is probably your best bet :-(


PowerBook G4 (No Intel) running OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) doesn't react to clicks from the touchpad or mouse ... My PowerBook G4 (without Intel) running OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) doesn't react to clicks from the touchpad or mouse ... any ideas why? and what to do? Is it a Software or Hardware issue? Don't have a OS X Tiger CD to reinstall. Did check what I could on SafeBoot, at some point it said that the HD seems functioning correctly.

Any solution for this? Any informed ideas would be greatly appreciate it.
Thank you!

If you are using a USB mouse and the mac is still not responding to you, then its clearly a software issue. I would recommend you to using your installer disk and clean install the OS, this will surely fix the issue.


Toggle language by pressing Shift + Command I've moved from PC to Mac and I'm used to pressing Shift + Ctrl, while on Mac I have to press Ctrl + Space. This is a bit frustrating (probably because I've only used it for 2 days), so I opened System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts and tried to change the shortcut to Shift + Command and for some reason it refuses to change.

I tried to test some other shortcuts such as Command + Z and it works fine. I'd still like to change it to Shift + Command. Is there a way I can achieve this?

With freshest version (11.4.0 at 13.12.2017) of Karabiner Elements and Cmd + e for previous language source:

You can put this json gist to ~/.config/karabiner/assets/complex_modifications/<filename>.json, add gist rule in Karabiner Elements Preferences -> Complex Modifications -> Rules -> Add rule and Enable Languages -> Command + Shift to Command + e.

This will remap Cmd + Shift to Cmd + e and you can change language source by Cmd + Shift.


Installing Windows 10 on Early 2011 MacBook Pro (VirtualBox method) Apologies if the etiquette of posting is incorrect, I'm brand new to the site despite lurking for years and couldn't seem to comment on the guide I mention below.

I've been trying to set up Win10 on my Early 2011 MBP, using various methods and receiving even more error messages/setbacks.

As an intro to the problem, I'm trying to use a method that doesn't involve using my internal Superdrive as I've discovered it's seemingly broken over the years and so it's unusable. Now this causes me Legacy/EFI problems I'm learning, to install via USB that is, even after fixing my MBR/GPT partition tables Windows will cancel after the install. I've tried to bypass by following this guide: No bootable device USB 2.0 MacBook Pro mid 2014

I've tried the above guide multiple times and have come across varying factors in the guide.

The most common one I'm facing (and my current problem), is when it comes to listing the volumes in diskpart - the FAT32 32GB partition titled BOOTCAMP I've set aside for Windows isn't listed in the volumes. This isn't always the case, sometimes it's shown - sometimes it isn't.

The only variable I can think of as to why it now won't show is because I've switched Windows 10 ISOs.

The reason I did this is because yesterday the install process probably went the furthest it did. All the files managed to xcopy to the virtual drive, then back onto the C drive - and even showed in the Mac boot screen (which occasionally doesn't happen) - but upon loading the screen instantly went blue and said there was a problem with my boot files and Windows needed to repair.

So I downloaded the newest .ISO from Microsoft yesterday. But now, as a result, the BOOTCAMP partition I've set aside never seems to show up in diskpart.

This has probably been the bane of my existence for the past 2-3 days - so any help is massively appreciated. Thanks.

Just format the Bootcamp drive as "mac journaled extended" and then start the Windows installing process
When the "select volume" window appears, delete the Bootcamp volume and create it again.
Done.


iOS 9 alarm icon in status bar behaviour change? I just updated to iOS 9.0.2 direct from iOS 8.4 and this morning (a Sunday) I noticed the alarm icon in my status bar.

I have two repeating weekday alarms, and I thought the previous behaviour was to show the icon if you had a pending alarm on the same day, but now it seems to be present if there are any upcoming alarms active, even if they're days away.

Similarly I thought that if I dismissed a repeating alarm and there were no other alarms active that day, the icon would disappear for the rest of that day. This doesn't happen now.

I see a possibly related unanswered post on Apple Support Communities: Why is the alarm icon showing with no alarm set?

The iPhone User Guide for iOS 8.4 on page 15 says the icon means "an alarm is set", which could mean either really.

Is this new behaviour, or am I misremembering?

This is not new behaviour. The alarm icon shows in the status bar if you have an alarm scheduled at any time, regardless if it is on the same day or not.


Is Apple Care+ worldwide? I am planning to purchase an iPhone 6s (unlocked) from the US and use it in India. Since Apple does not provide international warranty for phones rather than the iMac etc, I came across Apple Care+ (That covers warranty for 2 years of hardware & software issues). So, I am planning to get Apple Care+ along with the purchase of the phone.

If issues arise with the iPhone, will it be covered by Apple Care in India?

Apple offers two AppleCare plans:

AppleCare Protection Plan
AppleCare+

Both of these are actually AppleCare products.

According to Apple:

  AppleCare products for Apple Watch, for Mac, for iPod, for Apple TV,
  and for Apple Display provide global repair coverage. Service will be
  limited to the options available in the country or region where
  service is requested. Service options, parts availability, and
  response time vary by country or region.

  All repairs will be completed using genuine Apple parts for repair
  service. All repairs are performed by Apple-authorized technicians.

Source: Apple

Therefore, only Apple Watch, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, and Apple Displays are covered by a global repair warranty (as you already state in your question). However, you're mistaken in assuming AppleCare+ is treated differently to the AppleCare Protection Plan, because they both fall under the category of AppleCare products, and the above quote applies to both.

In other words, while you can purchase AppleCare+ for an iPhone, this coverage will not be global. In your case, purchasing an iPhone in the US and also purchasing AppleCare+ will only cover you in the US. It will not cover you in India or anywhere outside the US.

In a nutshell, while AppleCare+ provides additional hardware and technical support from Apple (it even covers two incidents of accidental damage), it is not currently available in India, nor does it provide global coverage for iPhones.

However, Apple has reached a number of agreements with the government of India and is now investing a lot of time and money there. It is possible that at some future point AppleCare+ will be available in India. With this in mind it is always worth checking with Apple directly at the time of purchase.


Stop MacBook Pro from disconnecting network while downloading larger files I am using a Gigabit Ethernet adapter (Apple) to connect to my network.  While downloading larger files the MacBook Pro blanks the screen and disconnects the network even though it is active doing the download.

Being new to Mac, I don't know where to look other than in the System Preferences under Energy Saver and Network.  Is there any other place to check in order to stop this behavior?

What OS is it? 10.9 shouldn't have this problem if you update. Just make sure the network access is checked in energy saver.

Alternatively: 'Note: Portable computers have no network connectivity when in sleep mode, but can wake if the Energy Saver option "Wake for network access" is enabled. If you wish to use file sharing or don't want to interrupt your Internet connection, you should not manually put the computer to sleep, and you should drag the "Computer sleep" slider to Never.'

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2412


Can I copy files from a PC to an iMac using a USB memory stick? Having been a PC user for a number of years I'm now seriously considering purchasing an Apple iMac (21.5″, 2.7 GHz). Is it possible to use a USB flash drive to copy files from my Windows 7 PC to the iMac?

Absolutely you can copy files from a USB thumb drive to a Mac. They're typically formatted as MS-DOS partitions which a Mac can read and write.


Filter my Library on Apple Music My 'Library' in Apple Music is too cluttered for the following reason: whenever I add a song, the corresponding album and artist are also added. Similarly, whenever I add an album, all the individual songs of the album are  added as well.
As a result, my library is filled with Artists and Albums that I am not interested in and that are there just because I added on the fly (usually through Shazzam) one song that I happened to like. This problem is compounded by the fact that Apple Music links the song to an arbitrarily chosen album, when the song could as legitimately be linked to another album.
Furthermore, the individual songs that I added because I like them individually are drowned among all the songs of all the albums that I added because I like the albums generally.
In order to sort the wheat from the chaff, I would like to see in the each of the three sections (songs, albums, artists) only the  items that I did personally add to it, and hide those that were added there automatically because I added an item elsewhere.
For example, if I add 'Yellow submarine' to my songs, I do not want 'The Beatles' to appear among my Artists. I also do not want 'Revolver', '1' or 'The Red Album' to appear among my albums.
Similarly, if I do add 'Exile on Main Street' to my albums, I want neither all of its songs added to my songs nor 'The Rolling Stones' added to my Artists.
In a word, I want to see just what I added myself - no more, no less.
Is there a setting or a filter on Apple Music that could help me achieve this? If not, is there a third party app that could link with my library and allow the kind of filtering that I want?
I thank you in advance for your help and suggestions. W.
PS: I navigate Apple Music through iOS and macOS devices.

iTunes/Music manages your music library which you can access via various views. So if you add a track its artist will always show up in the Artist view, its album will always show up in Albums (and vice versa). The beauty of this is that you can choose to play all Madonna tracks by selecting her in the Artist view, or choose to play a specific album only by selecting it in the Album view.
Obviously this gets difficult to manage the more your library grows. I currently have over 40'000 tracks in iTunes/Music and found that it's much easier to manage if I use playlists to keep things in places where I find them again.


Can you turn off Messages and still get iMessages from others? My daughter is constantly eating up data and uses Messages. I want that she does not get any iMessages until she is connected via Wi-Fi.

Is there a option to turn off Messages when on the Cellular Network?

You can disable which app is using the most data instead. Some apps download data for updates, etc. For sure it's not the Messages app.

And for the Messages app, there's just an option to send an iMessage as a text message when cellular data is not available.

To know more, check this link from Apple.


Linking homebrew, php, mcrypt, and localhost:8000 I currently using

php -S localhost:8000

for my php testing server on OS X.

I am trying to use OpenCart which requires mcrypt and OS X does not come with that.

I installed Homebrew, php 5.6.5, and mcrypt.

It still says that mcrypt is not on when I try to install Open Cart which requires that.

How can I be sure that the correct php version from Homebrew as well as mcrypt are linked properly?

In the past I manually installed MySQL and also tried to manually install php 5.6.5 to replace the version that came with OS X. The phpinfo(); page I made and the command line both state that I have version 5.6.5 so I am unsure if that is linked to Homebrew or to when I manually tried to install php 5.6.5.

Thank you

I'm not familiar with OpenCart but you should check you path and make sure the homebrew php is the default.

In the terminal:

$ which php
/usr/bin/php
$ php -v
PHP 5.5.14 (cli) (built: Sep  9 2014 19:09:25)
Copyright (c) 1997-2014 The PHP Group
Zend Engine v2.5.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2014 Zend Technologies

$ which mongod
/usr/local/bin/mongod
$ ls -al /usr/local/bin/mongod
lrwxr-xr-x  1  ----  admin  34 Dec  8 17:25 /usr/local/bin/mongod -> ../Cellar/mongodb/2.6.5/bin/mongod

In this example I've installed mongod from homebrew.  I've never installed php but it looks like it exists on my system by default.  I'm guessing your system is using the standard php and not the brew one.

Try running your server like this:

/usr/local/bin/php -S localhost:8000


Seeking OS X app recommendation: instant text entry I'm looking for an app (or script) that does this:

I hit a global shortcut key chord.
A one-line text entry box appears.
I enter a line of text and hit ENTER.
The text is saved somewhere, perhaps as a plaintext file on the local filesystem.
I'm looking at the same screen I was before step 1, without any more clicks, keys, or delays.

That's it.  The purpose is simply to have a muscle-memory way of recording a very brief thought.  Please don't suggest a solution that involves a heavy app with lots of features -- for the sake of this OP, that fails the requirements.

This description sounds a lot like Twitter, and given that many OS X Twitter clients could be configured to fulfill this behavior, I don't want a Twitter client.

You can do this without any third party software. Just use Automator to create your own Service that appends the input string to any text file.

Open Automator and select to create a new Service that receives no input in any application.

From the Library, drag the Run AppleScript action to the area on the right, and use the following script code:

on run {input, parameters}
    return text returned of (display dialog "Enter some text:" default answer "")
end run

Then, add a Run Shell Script action that receives input to stdin, and replace the default script with the following:

cat >> /Users/danielbeck/notes.txt

Instead of /Users/danielbeck/notes.txt, specify any path.

Here's what it looks like in Automator:

Save as e.g. Add Note, and assign a keyboard shortcut in System Preferences » Keyboard » Keyboard Shortcuts » Services » General » Add Note

Here's the dialog box:

You can press Cancel, Escape, or Cmd-Period to cancel.

You can even change how the notes appear in the text file through changes to the Run Shell Script action. For example, you can use the following instead, if you reconfigure the Run Shell Script action to receive input as arguments instead:

echo $( date +"%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" ) "$@" >> /Users/danielbeck/notes.txt

It will look like this in the resulting file:

2012-01-30 12:38:56 foo
2012-01-30 12:38:58 bar


iPhone to make a sound when it shuts down due to low battery Is there a way to have the iPhone make a sound just before it goes to sleep due to low battery (i.e. when battery goes from 1% to 0%)?

No, there's no foolproof way of setting the iPhone to make a sound before it goes to sleep due to low battery.


OSX EL Captain customization and themeing I don't like the new dock, I don't like the new folders, I don't like flat or may be I am bored of looking at same stuff. But really I still miss OSX Lion/Mavericks 3D dock and a more lively user interface.

I am a big fan of Ubuntu, Arch Linux. I go to noobslab every once a week to customize my pc. I easily get bored of looking at same think for a long time.

What am I already using for customization:

1) LiteIcon for changing app and custom icons which I usually grab from DeviantArt {disable SIP}

2) cDock for custom Docks {disable SIP}

3) Xtra Finder & TotalFinder for more enhanced and shortcuts {disable SIP}

4) iTerm and Oh-My-Zsh for a better shell

5) Alfred in place of spotlight with custom themes

6) Irvue for OSX to grab Hi-Res wallpaper from unsplash automatically

Are there any suggestions for creating better User Interface , customization, Personalize better? Any cool app for widgets, any kind of amazing stuff.

NOTE: This is not just a question. This post is more of like a Wiki. Everyone can post there cool, customization apps, tweaks, scripts, anything here. This is an effort to grow the apple stack exchange community and make it more fun. Thanks.

Request: Please don't downvote, keep on hold as personal opinion etc. You can however edit this question. I am still asking for better customization apps.

What is SIP?

How to disable SIP?

I have disabled SIP but why shouldn't you disable it? Know what you are doing. I am not encouraging anyone to compromise his/her security

Amazing post I wished to write a blog post about this same topic. For yosemite you had Flavour 2 for customizing. The was large of people contributing there themes. But, the support for Flavour 2 had ended. They won't support EL Captain because of SIP

El Capitan Means The End Of Mac Themes & Deep System Tweaks

But, there is still a work around for EL Captain and you can install Flavour 2. Have a look at this reddit post.


Working with attachments **to** a PDF file in Preview I've got a PDF that has something else (actually, another PDF) as an attachment. Like most Mac users I use Preview by default to view PDFs, and Preview gives no indication that I can find that there is an attachment, nor can I figure out how to access the attachment now that I know it's there. I was pretty confused until I tried Adobe Reader which immediately makes it clear that there is an attachment. Am I missing something here or is Preview essentially ignoring attachments?

Unfortunately Preview does not support or indicate PDF attachments in a PDF, or any file Preview can open. I suggest you continue to use Adobe Reader for Mac.

You can send your feedback about this to Apple here.


Android File Transfer continuously fails to copy files to the SD card over USB in Android Lollipop Android File Transfer fails to copy showing the following message:

Another symptom is that the copy is not continuous. It freezes after copying a few megabytes during a couple of seconds.

I also have tried using AirDroid. It transfers data over WiFi instead USB. Google Chrome freezes after a few seconds even turning on "remote transfer" option to "always" in the AirDroid configuration

I also have tried SHAREit changing the path to receive files to the SD Card. It gets stuck without sending anything or giving any feedback.

I have Android Lollipop 5.0.1 on a Samsung Galaxy S4. The only options available are MTP and PTP (camera).

The question is: what is the problem? Why can't I copy the files?

Try using SmartFinder for Android. It's on the App Store and it's free. Make sure you have USB debugging enabled before using SmartFinder though.How to enable USB debugging?Go to your smartphone's Settings -> About device -> Tap on the Build number until you get a message "You are now a developer!"Go back to the main page of Settings ->Developer options -> make sure USB debugging is ticked.Once you connect your phone for the first time, it'll install an app called SmartFinder (about 4 MB) on your phone. It won't have an icon, no need to launch it.Then, simply find the .mp3 file under Music in SmartFinder, select it and tap Import.If that doesn't work, then the file might be corrupt.


How do I completely reset and delete all Music.app settings and configurations I was looking for a way to get a completely clean slate on the Music.app in macOS Catalina.
I attempted to find and delete all related settings in ~/Library, ~/Library/Cache, ~/Library/Preferences, and removed the Music folder from ~/Music.
However, every time I start up the Music.app after this, the old song list information is still there, but obviously, the music files cannot be found since I deleted them. (I get the fist time welcome popups such though.)
Are there any other files, databases, etc, that need to be cleared out before I'll get a completely clean slate again?
EDIT:
I used this script to try and clear files:
I tried this to get rid of the files but it didn't work:
#!/bin/bash
cd ~/Library/
music=$(find . -iname "*com.apple.music*" 2>/dev/null)
itunes=$(find . -iname "*itunes*" 2>/dev/null)
IFS=$'\n'
for x in $music; do rm -r "$x"; done
for x in $itunes; do rm -r "$x"; done

I attempted to delete the Music library from ~/Music, but Music seemed to want to rebuild that, and discovered that downloaded music and other things were missing which lead to some issues.
I decided to delete the Library from ~/Music and when launching Music, hold the option key until you are be prompted to open or create a new Library, select to create the Library and you should be good to go!


Use a Mac mini as a remote build server for an iOS game Five other people and I are developing an iOS game using ARKit. I have a MacBook that I use for myself, and a Mac mini sitting at home that could act as a remote build server.

Now, it would be easy enough for them to edit the project's swift files, upload them to my machine, and have it build the project for them. Or even just push them to out git repository which runs all the tests with TravisCI.

I feel that's a really subpar solution, as you'd miss all of the helpful features of a modern IDE. It's a lot easier when your tools immediately tell you you're doing something stupid, rather than writing a bunch of code just to have it not compile in the end.

I started searching, and I found this: http://dringend.cc

Something like that would probably be ideal, but unfortunately it's only available for iOS, and they'd need a Windows or Linux application.

Things I've thought about using:

Using Steam or something to stream the entire desktop (VNC is too slow) so they could use Xcode. Could work, but it could be flaky depending on the Internet connection. Plus, it doesn't support multiple users obviously, and even if it did, it would still be a pain to manage multiple git users.
Something like https://www.macincloud.com for each of them, but it could get expensive. Ideally we wouldn't have to spend any money.
Buying Macs - not an option.

Is there any sort of IDE that would give you code analysis, and allow you to run code remotely and see the output locally? I know CLion supports Swift, but it wouldn't really work when you tried to import UIKit and etc.

I know working around having to get Macs results in a crappy experience overall, but this is something we're doing as part of our university course. We do have some hope of putting it on the App Store (that's why we chose iOS), but it's not a commercial project by any means - and as such there are no funds available to buy Macs.

I had some hope I could devise an elegant solution for this, but perhaps having them run a slow VM would be our only somewhat acceptable option.

I haven't had a chance to test this well designed and documented system that Microsoft just announced, but you might be able to run the free tier or arrange an educational discount if they're looking for some partners as they launch.

Microsoft Visual Studio App Center for iOS: https://appcenter.ms/iOS

If that doesn't work, my recommendation is you’ll need to run Xcode 9 on your mini and then get one used Mac for every other contributor. They can connect to the build server on iOS 9 and either use Xcode themselves or Screen Share as the second account each Mac allows fully supported.

You will waste far more effort, suffer low quality code and delay working around tooling issues than you’ll gain by not funding your development team with tools that work. Buy broken Mac at scrap prices and fix them up or cook dinner and trade labor with someone that can repair Macs. Do anything you can think of to get your team Xcode running on macOS.

It’s like training dentists remotely with no tools but books and then hoping they perform as part of a team still without tools. Your customers will not be fooled when they see the results. Worse, if your iOS app is going to the App Store, you’re competing against every team that had funding for 4 years college, the best training and tools.

Now, I hope to be proven wrong soon. I think we’re a year or so away from the Xcode server to be good enough to really run as the build server João hopes to find, but in October 2017 they aren’t ready. The iPad should be a $250 solo, design, test, build machine as swift playgrounds mature. Once that is hooked into Xcode in the cloud or running remotely, it should be game on for windows, Linux, iOS and Mac to be on somewhat more equal footing to program for iOS since someone might invest the effort to reverse engineer the remote Xcode programming functions.  Today, Mac is privileged to develop for iOS and to operate otherwise puts your team at a huge disadvantage.

For low cost programming options, you might need to scope to python or swift alone without the iOS framworks to keep the budget low for 1:1 hardware deployments that you could fund with a grant or course fees.

$30 Raspberry Pi - http://blog.andrewmadsen.com/post/136137396480/swift-on-raspberry-pi
$9 Adafruit Trinket M0 - https://www.adafruit.com/product/3500


How to create "Eternal Night Shift" on macOS Mojave? I'm wondering how I could create an eternal NightShift using macOS Mojave 10.14.6?

I've already set Night Shift to end at 9.00am and to start at 9.01am but that portion where macOS starts to pale+brighten up is terrible, especially if I happen to be awake and working during that period in time.

I've already set Night Shift to end at 9.00am and to start at 9.01am

Then you should change the time to when you're not awake. For example 5:00 AM.


Yosemite repeatedly tells me to open system preferences to give control to RightZoom but it is checked in system preferences. Whats the matter? Whenever I reboot Yosemite (MacBook Pro Early 2011 model), it keeps giving me a bunch of these messages. I have included an image of the , but then when it opens up System Preferences, RightZoom is already checked, so shouldn't it have access? It is annoying because the new full screen functionality is a bit aggravating

Visit the Privacy tab in the Security prepane. Click the lock icon and enter your password to unlock it. Select RightZoom in the window (don't bother with the check mark at this point) and click the minus (-) underneath the list. Locate the RightZoom application icon wherever you keep it on the computer, and drag it into the list you just deleted it from. You couldn't do that in Mavericks, but it makes the process work better in Yosemite. That way, if the permissions associated with an older version of the package or one that's gotten misplaced on your hard drive, you can set it right. Just be sure that the one you dragged is the one you're using.


How can I force a folder and the contents to be downloaded locally and not uploaded to the iCloud? I am trying to store a folder locally on my Macbook pro. I am running Catalina 10.14.4. Once I download the videos, they eventually all upload to the cloud and I have to redownload them. I am about to leave on a roadtrip and won't have internet access to redownload the file.
I have tried including a folder in the same location as the videos with .nosync in the name, but the files still upload.
Please let me know if you have any recommendations.
Thank you for your time,
Cameron

I have tried including a folder in the same location as the videos with .nosync in the name, but the files still upload.

But have you tried changing the name of the folder that contains the files to end with .nosync? iCloud Drive ignores the contents of folders named with .nosync, not the files that are in the same directory as such a folder. So, in your example, you'd change the name of the folder Lecture Videos to Lecture Videos.nosync.
Also—perhaps a simpler solution—you could simply move your Lecture Videos folder somewhere on your disk that isn't a subdirectory of ~/Documents or ~/Desktop, which are the two folders automatically synced to iCloud. For instance, you could put your Lecture Videos folder in ~/Pictures or ~/Downloads.
And, lastly, before you leave for your trip, you could go to System Preferences > Apple ID > iCloud and disable Optimize Mac Storage, which—if your laptop has enough free space—will (usually) prevent files from being automatically removed from your local disk once they're uploaded.


Custom dialog box in Automator? I would like to create a service that performs a set of actions based on several parameters
A custom dialog box with multiple radio buttons would be a great way to capture these.
My experience with AppleScript so far only gives me very basic prompts
How can I use a custom dialog box in Automator?

Maybe this will be of use to you.

Dialog Toolkit and Dialog Toolkit Plus are ASObjC-based script libraries for showing enhanced dialogs. Add multiple text entry fields, checkboxes, popup menus, radio buttons, path controls, extra buttons and rules to dialogs.

Just read the text files included in the bundle to help you get started. Playing around in Script Editor.app, with the sample scripts included, should help you understand the process.

Here are a few examples created with this scripting addition in Script Editor


How to control brightness on external late 2009 iMac monitor when connected to new 2012 iMac primary monitor? I have a late 2012 27" iMac as my primary monitor also connected to a late 2009 27" iMac as a secondary monitor via a mini-display port to mini-display port cable. I also have a Dell 24" monitor connected to the late 2012 27" iMac as a third monitor.

I can change the brightness on the Dell monitor manually with the Dell hard buttons but I cannot change the brightness on the late 2009 iMac using the keyboard attached to the late 2012 iMac

Is there anyway to change the brightness on the iMac which is serving as a secondary display?

Other details:

I don't want to use the software Shades as it’s a memory hog and leaks memory
I'm using a wired Mac keyboard connected via usb to the late 2012 iMac
control + F1 or control + F2 does not work.

I have the same situation! Only thing that works so far is a second keyboard connected to the late 2009 iMac, but that's quite annoying according to my available workspace on my desk.


Mail.app mailbox corruption Once a week or so, Mail.app will not display the contents of a mail message. Selecting Mailbox -> Rebuild fixes bandaids the issue until next time.

I only have one account in Mail.app, pointing to a Microsoft hosted Exchange server. This has happened consistently for the past 3 months.

What information would help to solve this problem, or what is a solution to this problem?

You could try deleting the "Envelope Index" files.

Run the following Terminal commands to backup and delete the files:

cd ~/Library/Mail/V2/
cp MailData MailData.old
cd MailData
rm Envelope\ Index Envelope\ Index-shm Envelope\ Index-wal

Alternatively…

Quit Mail
In Finder, press ⌘ cmd+⇧ shift+G

Copy and paste the following

~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/

Press return or click Go
Backup then delete/move these files to the Trash:

Envelope Index
Envelope Index-shm
Envelope Index-wal

Relaunch Mail and wait for messages to import.

Note: once in a while this causes a corrupted message or two to reveal itself, usually in the form of having no "From" or "Subject" in the list view of messages (at least in "Classic Layout" mode).

Sometimes a corrupted message can actually screw up the interaction between Mail and the server, even if message is corrupted not on Mac, but on the server itself! (seen happen w/ AOL).


Can Apple TV stream video from an external server using SMB or FTP protocol with external subtitles? I am seriously considering moving from my Android TV-based player to Apple TV player, because my current solution fails completely on playing / streaming videos from from an external server through SMB or FTP protocol with external subtitles.

Some software players (i.e. VLC) can browse network shares (some can't), but all of them fails on opening external subtitles, i.e. stored in the .srt or .txt file with exactly the same filename as corresponding video file. It is only possible to display subtitles, if they are embedded into video files that supports embedded subtitles (i.e. MKV) or subtitles downloaded from OpenSubtitles.org.

This is especially weird, because happens only on SMB / FTP protocol. When using exactly the same player on local disk, everything works just like a charm.

I'd like to ask how does it work in case of Apple TV?

While searching the Internet, I managed to learn that Apple TV can play content from local network (don't know, if using SMB or FTP protocol), using VLC or some other players. But I can't find any certain, confirmed information about fetching subtitles from. srt, .txt etc. files stored in exactly the same source and using exactly the same protocol (local share using SMB or external share using FTP) as used for fetching main video file.

Can anyone shed some light on this problem? Thank you.

Yes, this is possible using third party apps such as for example the VLC media player for Apple TV.

Note that you need a fourth generation Apple TV or newer.


Symlinks broken with vmhgfs on fusion When I use VMware Fusion with an Ubuntu guest (it worked long ago, but this problem has existed over several generations of ubuntu, at least including natty, oneiric and precise) and shared folders using vmhgfs, no matter what I do, many of my symlinks are broken.

The ones that are broken are symlinks that point to files in subdirectories, such as foo -> bar/blah.  They're broken because they're presented to linux as foo->bar.

Anyone have any idea what's going wrong?  This has, in the past worked for me, but it just doesn't now.  It seems like a bug in vmhgfs.

Please don't suggest using NFS, SMB, etc.  I'm specifically interested in getting HGFS working.

the following solution does not properly fit the original question, as it does not provide a solution to use symlinks in the host as symlinks within guests. nevertheless it can be useful in certain situations, specially for windows guests:

Adding ...

sharedFolderX.followSymlinks = "TRUE"

to your .vmx file, where X stands for any given shared folder in question, makes the symlink transparent to the guest. so the symlinks now show as a regular file or folder within the guest. the mapping take place in the host.

this works for the following versions and above

VMware ACE 2.0.x
VMware Fusion 2.x
VMware Player 2.x (Linux)
VMware Workstation 6.x (Linux)

as of Dec 24, 2013.

please refer to the VMware KB article Symbolic Links Do Not Work in Folders Shared Between Linux/Mac Hosts and Windows Guests (1007277) for more details and affected/supported versions.

---- edit by Martin (as comments not yet allowed).
---- credits also to Mike as he provided the link to the VMware KB in his answer.


iCloud: Restore file which has been deleted a few days prior. How long possible? Let's say I have deleted a file accidently a few days ago and I have discovered my mistake right now.

Is it possible to restore this file, when it was inside of the iCloud-folders?

In case a restore is possible:

How long is a file-restoration possible, starting from the day of deletion on backwards?

Restore file which has been deleted a few days prior. How long possible?

30 days.

Is it possible to restore this file, when it was inside of the iCloud-folders?

Yes.

How long is a file-restoration possible, starting from a specific day on backwards?

30 days.


How to take a screenshot when you are using screen sharing I am accessing a mac using screen sharing.

If I try to take a screenshot of a window using the built-in screenshot tool, I find that the screenshot consists of white background with shadow border as below.

Can anyone point out how to take screenshot while using screen sharing?

Edit-

The mac that is accessing through screen sharing is running macOS Mojave (10.14.6)
I am using TigerVNC client software running on Linux to access the mac.

Edit 2-

I find that taking a screenshot of a window using the built-in screenshot tool works if it meets the following conditions-

The window of which you are taking the screenshot should be the currently active window.
The screenshot should be on a timer. After you click on capture and select a window, a countdown timer appears. You select the window one more time so that it becomes the active window and then wait for the screenshot
to be taken
The window should be recently redrawn (or refreshed, I do not know the correct word). Try to scroll up/down in the window or do anything so that the window gets redrawn.

I use LaunchBar to start the ScreenCapture app (it used to be called Grab) so you can search for that as well. Spotlight or any other launcher should work.

Take the screen shot locally on the Mac is my advice and then save it to a cloud sync folder or otherwise get it to your remote is my advice. You get the standard keys and best resolution / drop shadow, correct key shortcuts this way.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201361

LaunchBar is designed to Keep your hands on the keyboard. Well worth the cost for me - especially when I screen share in from Windows / Linux / iOS / iPadOS and even other Macs.

https://obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html


How does the 4th generation iPod Shuffle know what time a song was last played? Synching my iPod Shuffle (4th generation) updates the Last Played column in iTunes, and it looks as though the updated value matches closely to the time I played the song on the Shuffle.  But ... how does the Shuffle know?  Does it have a clock?  If it has a clock, does it have other stuff?

You can find some information about the guts of an iPod Shuffle here.
Also because the selling point of a Shuffle is price (and portability) while still maintaining the Apple quality I don't think Apple would put much more components into it than what is absolutely necessary.


Are 'du' and 'df' reliable when there are lots of hard links? MacOS 10.13.2 (17C88)

Backupdb is three times the size of the used space on the internal drive.

When there are lots of hardlinks in something (as there are in TM backups), does 'du' count every link, or does it count the actual file once?

It seems likely that it is actually reading the files and counting bytes, because it takes a LONG time for large files.  And a hard-link could point to a directory outside of the one being measured.  (But that shouldn't happen when measuring the entire backupdb.)

Other questions discuss reasons 'du' and 'df' might differ, but the ones I've read so far have reasons other than hard-links.

I expect a Backupdb to get larger with every backup, but I'm trying to figure out how much space I need to relocate it.

From man du:

  Files having multiple hard links are counted (and displayed) a single time per du execution.

  Directories having multiple hard links (typically Time Machine backups) are counted a single time
       per du execution.

From man df:

  The df utility displays statistics about the amount of free disk space on the specified
       filesystem or on the filesystem of which file is a part.

So assuming both man pages are correct neither utility should count hard linked things twice.


How do I resurrect a Thunderbolt display? So I have a 27" Thunderbolt in my office that somebody else used to use. Now it is considered "broken", but I think it can be made to work. Here's a rundown of its current state:

I can connect it to my MacBook Pro, and the computer recognizes the display. It shows up on the "Arrangement" tab. It has working USB ports when I connect its USB cable. Even its speakers work. But the display is completely black, doesn't even turn on or flash.

What do you think can be done to fix it?

Thank you.

I have had a similar issue a few weeks ago. In my case the screen was not "completely" black, but it was close. Going to the "Display" tab in the settings app and turning up the brightness did the trick.

However, it may also be an actual hardware failure if there is nothing at all visible on the screen. In that case you should take the display to an Authorized Apple Service center.

In the pulldown, select Mac repair since these require the same training, tools and skill to repair as an iMac does.


default command-F search folder Somehow I have changed this, and I want to change it back.  In Finder, on command-F "Find", I default to my home folder, not the current folder.  (The "This Mac" choice is also there.)  I don't remember how I did this, but I want it back to the default behavior.  Other users on this machine do have the default behavior.  I tried trashing ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spotlight.plist (or whatever it is called).
[MacOS 10.6.8]

Open Finder's Preference panel (Cmd-,). There, under the extended settings, you'll find a dropdown list that allows you to choose between "This Mac", the current folder or the last search range.

(Note: I checked this for a German Snow Leopard installation, so perhaps my re-translations may be a bit off -- sorry for that!)


iPhone 3GS always rebooting when logging on to cellular network I upgraded to 4.3, without jailbreak. Phone seemed ok, but I turned it off and on again a few days later (normal power off). It started rebooting itself. I tried hard resets.

Eventually got to a stage where it needed the SIM unlock code but was otherwise working. Unlocking the SIM froze the device when the signal bars first showed (trying to register on the network, I guess). I tried resetting the network settings, no help.

I did a complete restore this morning, setup as new device, activated (officially unlocked). Still the same problem. Someone at work connected it to XCode on Mac, said they didn't really do anything, and it started working. I turned it off, on again, and it has the same problem. Any ideas?

You might be lucky, iOS 4.3.1 is out and there's the following change in the changelog:

  Resolves bugs relating to activating and connecting to some cellular networks

Try to update and tell us if it fix the problem.


Using iPhone screen as a display monitor Has anybody come across somebody using iPhone hardware (intact/as is, or hacked, taken apart, disassembled. either way) to use the iPhone screen as a display monitor?

An app called Duet can make your iPhone a display for your Mac.


Installing ffmpeg through homebrew: dyld library not loaded After installing ffmpeg through homebrew without any errors and after confirming that it has been linked, I get the following error when trying to run it:
dyld: Library not loaded: @rpath/libopenh264.5.dylib
  Referenced from: /opt/miniconda3/lib/libavcodec.58.54.100.dylib
  Reason: image not found
zsh: abort      ffmpeg

I've tried it through pip, conda, the ffmpeg.org website, all to no avail. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

I can't offer anything to help you w/ Homebrew. I gave it up some time ago due to various issues like this. I can recommend MacPorts as a package manager for macOS.
Once you have MacPorts installed, you should be able to install a functional copy of ffmpeg. I installed ffmpeg on my macOS Catalina system some time ago, and use it regularly without a hitch. Following is the port command I used:
% sudo port install ffmpeg +nonfree

nonfree was one of the "variants" available for ffmpeg; variants are explained here on the MacPorts site


Why does 4s iphone change to vibrate when I put phone in my pocket? Maybe I'm nuts but it seems my iphone 4s switches from normal (audible) mode to vibrate when I put my phone in my pocket.  Anyone else having this weird issue?

On the left-hand side of your iPhone is this little switch (ring/silent). The plausible answer to your question is, that you turn the switch on/off by accidentally touching it when you put your phone in your pocket. This happens to me all the time as well.

When the switch is turned from on to off your phone will vibrate one time.


Date Taken changed to Import date in iPhoto I am not seeing the answer for this problem - I imported 14K photos from my PC to Mac, had them ready and cleaned up, no dups, etc., then after importing, most of the photos do not have the correct date taken, which causes a lot of problem to viewing all my photo. It is taking the date created as the date taken. I cannot seem to change anything else about it. With all pictures I have, I renamed ALL of them to the date taken in the format 2013-0520-xx, just so I would be able to keep up with them in the transfer. So I am able to know the date by the file name stored outside of iPhoto. Then I ran iPhoto for the first time, and everything is a mess without a way to fix it. HELP

The problem is most likely, that your original photos didn't include timestamps. So iPhoto changed the date to the day you imported it. You have to use ExifTool or Lightroom or any tool that can edit EXIF metadata correctly and then import the files again.


Difficulties with playing YouTube videos in Big Sur beta in Safari I was trying to play YouTube videos in Safari v14.0 (16610.1.23.1.3) in Big Sur beta, but it doesn't work, playing window is black and after click into it I get a message that an error occured. Does someone has solution for this one?

Okay guys, I solve the problem. It was causing AdBlock extension for Safari, I uninstalled it and installed AdGuard and now it works like a charm.


How do I remotely control my iPhone from my MacBook with no wifi or AC power available (so no router)? I'm connecting my MacBook successfully over my home wifi network via VNC (using Mac OS X's /System/Library/CoreServices/Screen Sharing.app) to my jailbroken iPhone 5, which is running Veency.

Now, in preparation for needing to control my iPhone remotely from my Mac when there is no wifi or AC power available (so a wireless router is impossible), I'm trying to use VNC over a direct wireless connection between my Mac and iPhone. I've created the network on the Mac and connected it to it from the iPhone. Problem is, I need the iPhone's IP address so that I can connect to it via VNC.

How can I use VNC to control my iPhone from my Mac when there is no wifi or AC power available? If I can't do it over a wireless direct connection, is there some way to do it over a USB cable connected between the MacBook & the iPhone?

Summary of solution

"Create Network..." on MacBook to create a "computer-to-computer" network (via a right-click on the wifi icon in the main menu).
Go to wifi settings on iPhone & join network created.
Either wait for IP address to show up on iPhone's network details page or statically assign one in the range 169.254.x.y, as long as it's not the same as the other computer's IP address.
Go to Finder (or Path Finder), click Main Menu\Go\Connect to Server... (or just type ⌘K) to connect, then type vnc://169.254.x.y, where x.y are the last two network octets you assigned statically to the iPhone or that the MacBook assigned to the iPhone.

You should then be connected.  Remember to be patient when connecting -- I experienced not exactly quick response times when connecting, and that was with no security...


Contacts sync iCloud/iPhone/Mac after clean OS X install I have an clean Yosemite installation without any data transfer from an old mac.

My iCloud account is synced with my iPhone, and the mac is using the same iCloud account.

After a sync some contacts are not synced.

When I logging into www.icloud.com via the browser, i see all my contacts in my iCloud's address book. Here are 3 groups.

mobile contacts
all contacts
wgroup

All 3 groups are synced with my iPhone but  didn't get synced the "mobile contacts" group nor the "wgroup" on the Mac. (The Mac didn't shows the groups).

Want achieve the following:

get synced all contacts and all groups on my all devices.

Sounds simple, but

where to setup what groups should be synced on Mac
or how to move all contacts into single group?

Ps: ofcourse, i can send by email the vCards to Mac but this isn't the right solution.

Any idea?

I had the same issue with certain contacts and contact groups not coming back from iCloud after a clean Yosemite install.

Today I found out that all this contact groups and contacts are starting to sync once I edited them, e.g. add a contact to a group, update a contacts phone number. For me it worked to edit them in icloud.com (webpage) or on an iOS device.


Cannot create a file with sudo in Apache web directory Suddenly the following problem has happened:
I have an Apache web directory at /www. Everything was ok with the permissions, but at some point (I can't realize what caused it), I become unable to create any new files in this directory.

I have tried two methods:

Saving a new file from Sublime
running sudo echo "" > newfile.

But both methods failed. On the other hand I am able to create new files in my home directory (using both mentioned ways) and then to copy or move them to /www. What may be the issue and how to solve it?

sudo echo "" > newfile should never have worked, because sudo only applies to the echo command and not to the redirection. Try using sudo touch newfile or echo "" | sudo tee newfile.

Sublime Text doesn't seem to support creating new files to a directory you don't have write permission to. It does support authenticating as root when modifying an existing file though. See http://sublimetext.userecho.com/topic/27820-prompt-if-need-elevated-permission-to-save/.

Maybe you did have write permission to the directory earlier but something (like upgrading to 10.9) removed it.


Duplicate launchpad icons where can I find the apps ? I have this strange behavior on Mac OS X Mountain Lion when I installed OpenSceneGraph. Please How to fix it ? I have duplicate icons on the launchpad. I 've tried the following solution : How Do I Remove Duplicate Apps From Launchpad? I recreate the launchpad database but nothing !

How can I check where those apps are installed ?

When I was having duplicates on my Launchpad, I used Launchpad-Control to remove them. It says it has serious issues on Mountain Lion, but I used it without any problems at all.


Cannot print PDF but can open it in Preview I was trying to print this document. It opens great in Preview but I cannot print it:

ERROR: undefined
OFFENDING COMMAND: firMf

STACK:

1185863205
-dictionary-
/CharStrings
...

Trying to print starting from another page leads to a similar error. Any idea? My printer works great on other similar material.

Note that this document is just week 1 of 10 of a class and if I could screenshot and print the jpg page by page I would (I just care about printing) but there are 200 pages total so Im looking for another solution.

Installing pdftops (and associated tools) worked. It converted the pdf to ps which I could then open (unlike when I directly saved to .ps from Preview) and print


Magic Mouse 2 for Mac Magic Mouse 2 appears as it is connected but it will not scroll; when you click on something it will not put on the screen what you clicked on. I have to triple click on the item to get rid of it on the screen.  I would like to know if there is a problem with the mouse.

Minimum OS requirement is El Capitan, 10.11
Ref: Apple KB - Magic Mouse 2 - Technical Specifications

System Requirements

Bluetooth-enabled Mac computer with OS X v10.11 or later


how to stop downloading a game in itunes? i downloaded a car racing game and 23 other games in iTunes , but the download time for the car racing game is 3 hours!how do i stop downloading this game, but not stop download the other 23 games?I have already tried deleting it but i could not.

Just click the downloads icon next to the searchbar. It will open up a list with all the downloads running. Right-click the one you want to stop and select "delete" or "stop" if you want to resume the download later.


Explanation for wrong charging wattage / slow charging? I have a 2013 Retina MBP and a fairly new 85 W Magsafe 2 charger. But when I connect this charger to my Macbook and check in Battery Health, it claims that it is receiving only 49 W.

Does anyone know why the laptop should be drawing such a low supply from the Magsafe 2?

85 W = maximum power used by your charger on the power supply side on AC.

49 W = actual power received by your MacBook internal power managment on DC.

Where is evaporating the missing 36 W?

Within AC -> DC transformation.
Joule effect within all conductors. This explains why your charger is heating (and incidentaly heating the atmosphere of our hosting Earth). This consumption is high because it is depending on the square of I (RI²) and on low voltage I is high.
A part is diverted by the PMC to power different parts of the computer based on its energy saving state.


Is it possible to type something into the address bar without going to the URL? On the desktop version of Safari, you can type something into the address bar without going to it. If I think of something I want to search as I'm browsing, I can put it in the address bar, but I won't press enter until I'm done reading the current page.

How do I do this on the iOS version of Safari? Typing something in the address bar gives you 2 options: "go" and "cancel." Unfortunately, pressing "cancel" will delete what you typed and revert the text in the address bar back to the original URL of the page you're on.

Is it possible to type something into the address bar on iOS Safari and leave it there?

This is technically impossible to achieve in the current version of iOS.
Though, you may want to try this trick which isn't right what you'd like to do, but may be a way around:

Tap the address bar and type whatever you want to search
Copy what you've just typed
Tap on cancel in order to get back to your current open webpage
When you're done and you want to search what you typed before, simply long press the address bar and tap on Paste and Search.

As I said before, this is not what you'd like to do, which indeed is not possible to achieve at the moment. Although, this may be an easy and quick trick as a way around of what you wanted to do.
Hope this helped you out!


How to fix JRELoadError on macOS 10.15.4 Catalina? When I download or brew-cask-install JOSM, jEdit (and propably any other java app) and run it, I get JRELoadError.

I have:

$ java -version
openjdk version "14" 2020-03-17
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 14+36-1461)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 14+36-1461, mixed mode, sharing)

How to fix that error?

Solved by installing Java 8u241 from java.com instead of Homebrew.


App Approved but IAP's Waiting for review, not getting reviewed We have had an App go through the approval cycle several times and while the status went into "Pending Developer Release", our IAP's never changed out of the "Waiting for Review" status.  We have tried resubmitting and also creating new product ID's and then resubmitting.

Both times yielded the same result.  Are we missing something or is there something we are missing?

I noticed from experience, that even when your app is approved, the IAP can take quite a while to get approved, especially when you have translated the IAP in (many) other languages, it seems that those needs to go to different teams that can understand the translation, to see if you deliver on your promise.

So in that mean time users get "Product not available" in the App. In my latest app I have 2 IAPs, the 2st one is approved 2 days after the App approval, the second which has more languages, is not yet approved (3rd day now).


dd error: unknown conversion sync I have an external drive with multiple partitions.  I want to clone the entire drive.   There are not any GUI apps that I can find that will clone the entire volume, so I attempted dd.  My command was:

sudo dd if=/dev/disk0 of=/dev/disk2 bs=128m conv=noerror, sync

However, this results is:

 dd: unknown conversion sync

Both noerror and sync are listed under conv in the man page.

I'd appreciate assistance finding the correct dd command to clone an external drive with multiple partitions to another blank drive

I think the problem is the space between "conv=noerror," and "sync", although I don't get the exact same error you do:

$ dd if=/dev/null of=/dev/null bs=128m conv=noerror, sync    # With space, fails
dd: unknown conversion
$ dd if=/dev/null of=/dev/null bs=128m conv=noerror,sync    # Without space, works
0+0 records in
0+0 records out
0 bytes transferred in 0.065054 secs (0 bytes/sec)

...but the error message I get is different. Generally, the "unknown conversion" message will list the unknown conversion:

$ dd if=/dev/null of=/dev/null bs=128m conv=noerror,wibble
dd: unknown conversion wibble

I think what's happening is that the shell parses conv=noerror, sync as two arguments, "conv=noerror," and "sync", and then dd parses the first of those as specifying two conversions, "noerror" and "" (since there's nothing after the comma), and then complains that the option "" is unknown.

But that's not the error you're getting; yours actually lists "sync" as the unknown option. The only thing I can think of is that you might have something like a non-breaking space between the "," and "sync". In that case, the shell will treat it as just part of the argument, and pass "conv=noerror,sync" as a single argument; dd will then parse this as two options, and give the error message "dd: unknown option sync":

$ dd if=/dev/null of=/dev/null bs=128m conv=noerror, sync    # That's a nonbreaking space
dd: unknown conversion  sync
                       ^ That's also a nonbreaking space

In any case, remove the space (whatever it is) and it should work.


An iPhone has been detected, but it could not be identified properly Why do I get the following message in iTunes when syncing my iPhone(s)/iPad(s) to iTunes wirelessly on Windows Vista Ultimate?

  An iPhone has been detected, but it could not be identified properly.  Please disconnect and reconnect the iPhone, then try again.

Whenever I sit down at my Windows machine after being away for a while with iTunes running, I get several of these popups I need to dismiss before I can do anything in iTunes.

First thing is to Uninstall iTunes, get rid of it entirety.

Reinstall from Apple

Plug your iPhone in

It should now work fine.

If not follow the online troubleshooting assistant on Apple's website here


Why are the Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders empty in Samba shares? I'm sharing between iMacs with Samba. Both computers are running macOS Catalina (10.15.3). To get full disk sharing to work, I opened Settings > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access and added smbd.

I can mount a Samba share from one iMac on the other and see the full drive. Everything seems to be working except for this very strange behavior: the Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders (inside my user folder) all show zero bytes, zero items, and appear empty when opened.

None of those folders are actually empty. I can login with VNC and see the items in them fine. The permissions appear fine (my user has read/write access). All the other folders (inside and outside my user folder) show their normal contents.

What is causing these specific folders to appear empty and how can I fix it?

I double-checked the permissions (they were fine) and then restarted both client and server, and now everything is behaving normally. So maybe it just needed a restart?


After installing SSD in 2009 iMac I only see a black screen The computer chimes, and when I press any key like the option or R keys to enter recovery or the Startup Disk Manager, nothing happens. I tried to reset the SMC to no avail.

I have a 3TB portable HDD with a bootable install partition of Sierra I would like to install on the SSD.

Fixed it. The DisplayPort connector came undone.


Is it at all possible to open a 3rd party iPad app in a mac (xcode emulator, for example) Someone asked me this - I think the answer is no for a number of reasons, but I wanted to confirm. Is there any way to open an iPad app on a mac desktop or laptop?

For example I download a publisher's ipad reader - call it the WSJ's, for example - could I run it on my iMac and buy issues etc?

You can't. IPAs downloaded from the App Store are built for the ARM processor in actual iOS devices. The iPhone Simulator is not an emulator and can't run ARM code. You will need to compile your own app from the source code, so unless the app is open source you will not be able to do this.


How do I use AppleScript GUI scripting to change the mouse speed? I use a Mac at school which resets all settings once logged out. I would like to automatically set some settings in system preferences.

I found an answer here which described how to change the natural scrolling behavior in system preferences. Unfortunately, this doesn't help in changing the mouse speed. Additionally, I've noticed that fining the checkbox number in AppleScript is a very hit-or-miss process. Checkbox 1 might activate a checkbox at the bottom of a particular settings page, whereas Checkbox 2 might activate one in the middle somewhere. I feel uncertain whether I'd be able to find out how to change a slider due to this 'randomness.'

Does anyone know how to change the slider using GUI scripting?

As you've no doubt found out, UI Scripting has its issues and in this particular case, the mouse preferences, the code can vary based on the version of the OS and what type of mouse, thus making it difficult to provide you code that will absolutely work in your use case scenario. To show you, I'll use two examples of code that work for me on my system.

On a MacBook Pro with an Apple Magic Mouse under OS X 10.8.6 the following example ApplesScript code changes the value of the Tracking slider:

if application "System Preferences" is running then ¬
    tell application "System Preferences" to quit
delay 1
tell application "System Preferences"
    reveal anchor "mouseTab" of pane id "com.apple.preference.mouse"
    delay 1
    tell application "System Events"
        click of radio button 1 of tab group 1 of window 1 of application process "System Preferences"
        set value of slider 1 of tab group 1 of window 1 of application process "System Preferences" to 4
    end tell
    quit
end tell

In a generic mouse scenario, the following example ApplesScript code changes the value of the Tracking Speed slider:

if application "System Preferences" is running then ¬
    tell application "System Preferences" to quit
delay 1
tell application "System Preferences"
    reveal anchor "mouseTab" of pane id "com.apple.preference.mouse"
    delay 1
    tell application "System Events"
        set value of slider 3 of window 1 of application process "System Preferences" to 4
    end tell
    quit
end tell

The value range of the Tracking Speed  slider is a decimal value between 0 and 9. Note that the value range for the other sliders differ, Double-Click speed is 0 to 10, and Scrolling Speed is  0 to 7. Also note that these ranges may very depending on the OS version and hardware.

With System Preferences opened to the Mouse pane, for a generic mouse scenario, use the following line of code in Script Editor to get the properties of the sliders:

tell application "System Events" to get properties of every slider of window 1 of application process "System Preferences"

You'll see the minimum/maximum values as well as the value they are currently set to. The later is important to know after you've manually adjusted to your liking and then use in the script to make the changes as wanted.

Note that with UI Scripting the value of the delay commands may need to be adjusted for your environment and or additional delay commands may be necessary as appropriate.

Also note that the example ApplesScript code is coded to first close System Preferences if it's open. This is being done so as not to have to see the events taking place as the graphic dance of some UI Scripting can be distracting.

You will see the difference between the two versions of example ApplesScript code in the second one, not only does it not have or need the click of radio button ... command, the slider number is different, along with its name. In the first version it's slider 1 and Tracking where as in the second it's slider 3 and Tracking Speed. There is also no tab group in the second version.

To address the hit to miss point mentioned in the OP, with the generic mouse scenario there are three sliders, so the following line of code for the tracking speed:

set value of slider 3 of window 1 of application process "System Preferences" to 4

Can be writen as:

set value of every slider of window 1 of application process "System Preferences" whose name contains "track" to 4

Now you don't need to know what number the slider is as it will act on the only one whose name contains "track", which in this case will be slider 3. The same concept can apply to other UI elements too.

You can also address the slider by its name, e.g.:

set value of slider "Tracking Speed" of window 1 of application process "System Preferences" whose name contains "track" to 4

The same goes for other UI elements that have a name property, in this case e.g., window 1 is also: window "Mouse"

Note: The example ApplesScript code is just that and does not contain any error handling as may be appropriate/needed/wanted. The onus is upon the user to add error handling as may be appropriate/needed/wanted.


Mail app correctly marks spam but does not move it to the junk mail folder as by message, Mail app does not bother moving mail correctly marked as spam in the spam folder -- this only happen when I am at home, and only during the week-end.  I suspect that the IMAP server is to be blamed.  I could try to delete the account and recreate it, but since it's my work email, and the server is showing some problems, I am quite lukewarm about this solution (Mail app problem in Lion).  Is there another less drastic way of solving the problem?

I'm on OS 10.8.3 all latest whistles and bells.

You need open the preferences window (command + ,)
Click on Junk Mail pane
Select: "Move it to the Junk mailbox (Automatic)"


Preview an animated GIF image? How can I preview an animated GIF? When I double-click it, it opens in Preview and is not animated, showing each frame as a separate image instead of playing the animation. As an example, here is the image I was trying to preview (so you can try it yourself).

Is there some way to get Preview to play the animated GIF, or if not, what's the best app to imitate Preview in this one instance? (i.e. something that will quickly open and play the GIF, I don't care about editing and whatnot)

In Mountain Lion and Mavericks, Mac's own Quick Look has GIF support, so clicking     space     or ⌘+Y while the GIF is selected will play it. It might take a second or two to load though, depending on the size of the GIF.


Why did OSX 10.9.4 Internet Sharing stop working? I had Internet Sharing working correctly on my iMac with OS X 10.9.4. I was sharing my connection from ethernet to computers using Wi-Fi.

After I rebooted, my iPhone can connect to the Wi-Fi connection from the iMac OK, however has no internet access. I can access the iMac's local server pages, but not google.com etc.

I have rebooted numerous times. What can I do to fix this issue?

I am behind a cooperate proxy which settings are set correctly.

The best option here is to speak to your employer's technical support people.

If their policies permit the sharing of the wired corporate network to wireless devices they should assist you in setting up the connection or at least point you in the right direction.

If they do not, then it is probably best not to breach their policies.


Pixelmator's Pixel Tool Not Available This is probably a really stupid question, but I can't seem to find an answer anywhere. I want to use the pixel tool in Pixelmator, but I can't find it. Below is a picture of my toolbar. Is there something I'm missing?

You need to manually add the Pixel Tool to the Tools palette first.

  You can add it there manually by choosing Pixelmator > Preferences > Tools > Painting. Then simply drag it onto the Tools palette to place it there.

Source: http://support.pixelmator.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10260


Keyboard shortcut for a service stopped working I have made a custom keyboard shortcut for Finder that runs a script that copies the full file path to the clipboard. The shortcut is Control + Alt + Command + C.

It has always worked, but today it suddenly stopped working. I tried sniffing for any program that activates when the shortcut is pressed using /usr/bin/sudo opensnoop in Terminal but to no success. I have not recently installed any new programs and I can't recall anything particular happening that could be the culprit.

How do I get my shortcut back?

My Automator workflow looks like this (the actions are in Swedish):

This is an extended comment containing some suggestions of things to try and help you diagnose your problem, but I don't claim that any of these will definitely solve your issue:

Check defaults to look for clashing keyboard shortcuts

Your service runs with a different shortcut and inside Automator.  So there is possibly a conflicting shortcut that has appeared and is blocking your original.

In Terminal (or other terminal emulator), you can retrieve all the active app-specific keyboard shortcuts:

defaults find NSUserKeyEquivalents

and your service workflow shortcuts:

defaults find NSServicesStatus

The symbols used to represent modifier keys are:

@: ⌘ command
$: ⇧ shift
~: ⌥ alt/option
^: ⌃ ctrl

Thus, ⌘+⌥+⌃+C is symbolised as @~^c (the c is lowercase).

You can do a general defaults search through all the preference files to look for that specific combination of characters:

defaults find '@~^c'

You can also search for matching preferences files:

grep -iE '@~\^c' ~/Library/Preferences/* /Library/Preferences/* 2>/dev/null

which, upon matching, will output something like:

Binary file /Users/CK/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ServicesMenu.Services.plist matches

and then you can target the specific domain to examine its defaults:

defaults read com.apple.ServicesMenu.Services

Third-party Application

There are third-party apps that allow you to see what keyboard shortcuts are being used by which applications on your system.  The one I know of is KeyCue:

I'm not endorsing the product and have never used it myself, but I believe it would be very useful in finding out if there's interference from another application or from within Finder stopping you from using that shortcut combination.

It's a paid app (€19.99), but has a free evaluation period:

  All our products are available for evaluation before purchase. As long as you do not have a license key, KeyCue operates in trial mode and occasionally displays a registration reminder instead of the shortcut table.

ADDENDUM : Your Workflow

Thanks for posting a screenshot of your workflow.  There doesn't appear to be anything obstructive about it that would obviously cause it to stop responding to a shortcut.

However, I'm going to take the opportunity to suggest some edits to it, as I can see what your AppleScript is doing, but it's not doing it in the most optimal way.

Here is your current workflow:

It starts by taking the files/folders passed to the service/quick action and copying them to the clipboard.  There's no need to and it only makes Automator do more work than it has to.  Instead, you can delete that first action, and have the files/folders pass directly into the AppleScript, where they will be stored in the variable input.

The AppleScript itself makes use of application "BBEdit" unnecessarily, so I suggest removing that and I'll show you how to make the changes you need without calling out to it.

If I'm interpreting your goal correctly from what you said and from what I see in your workflow, you wish to select some files or folders, press your shortcut key combination, and have file URL references to those files/folders copied to the clipboard, e.g. file:///Users/CK/Desktop/somefile.txt.

Your method works ok in some situations, but will produce incorrect results in a few other situations:

Any file/folder with a space in its name will not return a correct and clickable file URL link.  For example, the file with path /Users/CK/Shared Items/myfile.ext will be copied to the clipboard as file:///Users/CK/Shared Items/myfile.ext, which is an incorrectly encoded URL string, thus the hyperlink will appear like this: file:///Users/CK/SharedItems/myfile.ext.  (Technically, other character entities need to be percent encoded to form a valid URL, but I think they're less important if you're just looking to use them locally in Finder.)
Your present method replaces occurrences of "/Volumes" and occurrences of "/Users" with "file:///Volumes" and "file:///Users", respectively.  This will cause problems for any file path that might look something like this:

/Users/CK/Backup/Preferences/Volumesettings/Volumes.dat

There are three replacements waiting to happen there, which would yield:

file:///Users/CK/Backup/Preferencesfile:///Volumesettingsfile:///Volumes.dat

Having cleaned up the script, and deleted the superfluous action, here is what I am suggesting would be a smarter way to implement your service/quick action:

The AppleScript:

property text item delimiters : linefeed

on run {FSItems}
    local FSItems

    tell application "System Events" to repeat with FSItem in FSItems
        set FSItem's contents to the URL of FSItem
    end repeat

    set the clipboard to FSItems as text
end run

It utilises System Events (which is a faceless, background application that can perform efficient file system operations) to take each file/folder passed into the workflow and obtain an AppleScript property named URL, which conveniently holds the perfectly-formatted, validated file URL reference for a file.  Once it has a list of file URLs, it combines them into a single piece of text—one file URL per line—and places that on the clipboard.

Thus, selecting the following files/folder in Finder (if you imagine I selected three files and a folder, then pressed the hotkey to trigger the service):

/Users/CK/Desktop/NSImage.png
/Users/CK/Desktop/GIF Images
/Volumes/Lepton 1.5.2-alpha-2
/Users/CK/Desktop/mandelbrot.js

would yield the following clipboard contents (this is a live test):

file:///Users/CK/Desktop/NSImage.png
file:///Users/CK/Desktop/GIF%20Images/
file:///Volumes/Lepton%201.5.2-alpha-2/
file:///Users/CK/Desktop/mandelbrot.js


How to debug iPhone slow/hung wifi network problem PROBLEM

I have a very strange problem: my iPhone network seems to hang every few minutes. It happens in Safari, Mail, News, Twitter, Tweetbot, YouTube, and other apps. Here are some ways it happens:

when I Google search from the Safari omnibar (page load progress bar gets stuck at 15%, network activity spinner keeps spinning, followed often by a "Safari could not open the page because the server stopped responding"; oddly, Google autocomplete suggestions work perfectly while I'm typing the search query)
when I click a link in the search results (the page load progress bar gets stuck at about 30%)
when I try to refresh Mail with pull-down and release (the "Checking for new mail" message shows for a long time, even though my mail server is on the same LAN)
when I click on a story in News (blank page often followed by "you're not connected to the Internet")
when I click on a link in Twitter or Tweetbot

In all instances, I just have to wait a minute and everything is back to normal, until it happens again in 5-10 minutes, which is super annoying.

I have multiple wired and wireless devices connected to the network (and AirPort Extreme 802.11ac wifi access point) and this only happens on my iPhone. I don't think I'm losing wifi during these hangs, I suspect it's some kind of TCP/IP (DNS, IPv6, etc.) issue. I have an uncommon network setup:

Internet > cable modem > pfSense firewall > Windows Server (Mail and DNS server) > LAN switch > Airport Extreme

QUESTION

What is causing this?

What do I look for when debugging this using the Device Console, Xcode Instruments, or WireShark?

In case any one with this problem stumbles across this question, the problem fixed itself after upgrading to iOS 12, so my guess is it was a bug in iOS 11.


Maverics VPN to Windows 2008 SSTP with Certificate (PPTP) I'm unable to connect to a Windows VPN using my macbook air 2013.
The VPN Settings given to me are,

Server URL
Username & Password
SSL Ceritificate
VPN Type - SSTP

I have added image on how to configure VPN connection on Windows. Please help on how to configure this VPN on Mac OS X Maverics.

Thanks.

Apple's support article, OS X: Set up a connection to a virtual private network, walks through the steps:

  Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Network.
  Click Add (+) at the bottom of the network connection services list, then choose VPN from the Interface pop-up menu.
  Choose what kind of VPN connection you want to set up from the VPN Type pop-up menu, depending on the network you are connecting to, and
  give the VPN service a name.
  Enter the server address and the account name for the VPN connection.
  Click Authentication Settings, then enter the user authentication information you were given by the network administrator.
  After entering the user authentication information, click OK, then click Connect.

Below is a screen shot showing the PPTP VPN settings. Authentication Settings… contains the option for applying your certificate.


unable to boot my MacBook after FileVault 2 activation after activation of FileVault 2 I am unable to boot my computer, the apple sign turns into a prohibitory sign with a spinning circle beneath it , that spins forever. I really need the data on this computer :( and I can not afford the very expensive data recovery services . Does anyone know how I can overcome this problem or at least decrypt and save my data ?

You can press the option + R key to boot into recovery mode. Then using Disk utility and follow this guide to decrypt the partition:

http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/using-the-command-line-to-unlock-or-decrypt-your-filevault-2-encrypted-boot-drive/


I've taken a screenshot, how do I edit it? I'm used to taking screenshots in Windows and then editing them before posting them (with MSPaint)

How can I edit a simple image quickly on OSX?

I took a picture of a P.O. and I want to remove any PII information

There is a default application named Preview in OS-X for editing images.

If you created any screen shots, just open that screenshot image in Preview application and you can see the edit toolbar to edit the image.


Alternatives To Apple Dock - Taskbar This box helps explain the association that I always have had.

We bought a Mac.  I like many parts about it.  It syncs with my iphone etc...

I can't learn the dock.  I am afraid we might need to move back to Windows.  I can't stand it.  I've tried explaining to myself how to minimize it into the corner and tried minimizing applications to icon, but no luck.

Is there an application to display a list?  I'm not looking for alternative techniques for understanding.  I really needs a list, not a dock.

Preferably it would work look similar to Windows Dock.

Having used applications like Quicksilver before, and knowing the ingenuity and geniuses in the Mac community it feels like someone could create something like this.

uBar is a Windows-style taskbar for OS X that I developed. Be sure to set Window Grouping to Never in the preferences, and it will exactly replicate the behaviour you are looking for.


How to run a script if external IP is changed? How can I execute a bash script when the external IP is changed. I wonder if there is a hook in macOS to run such a script.

Your computer has no way to detect by itself that the external IP has changed, as this is handled by the router that translates your private IP to the public one.

So you must poll either the router itself, or an external site.

The router can be interrogated through SNMP le if it supports this protocol.
If it doens't but has a command line (CLI) access then you can use it with a language like expect.
If the router is only accesible through a web interface, this is doable but more complex.

You can actually avoid polling if the router support sending SNMP traps or has an event handler, then it is the router that can notify you computer about the change, and then you run your script on reception of such notification.