Add Home Folder Hard Drive to Favorites and Desktop I just reinstalled my Mac, thinking I'd give OS X Mountain Lion a try.

In my system, I have both a regular HDD with a partition Storage and a SSD. On the SSD, I've installed OS X, and now transfered /Users/kba (my home folder) to /Volumes/Storage, so that the Storage partition now is my home folder. For the most part, this works great.

However, after having done this, OS X now no longer recognizes Storage as a partition — it won't allow it to show up on my Desktop next to my SSD Macintosh HD. It no longer shows under Devices in the Finder sidebar either.

But worst of all, I can't seem to add it to the sidebar! When I go to /Users and drag kba to Favorites, it only stays there for a fraction of a second. Same thing happens if I check Storage (Home folder) in the Finder Preferences: Storage blinks, then disappears from the sidebar and takes the ✔ in the checkbox along as it goes.

mount output

/dev/disk0s1 on / (hfs, local, journaled)
devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse)
/dev/disk1s2 on /Volumes/Storage (hfs, local, journaled)
map -hosts on /net (autofs, nosuid, automounted, nobrowse)
map auto_home on /home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse)

ls -h@lde /Volumes/Storage output

drwxrwxr-x@ 32 kba  staff   1,1K 30 Jul 20:26 /Volumes/Storage
com.apple.FinderInfo      32B

I've solved it myself. I just tried to drag Storage into Favorites now and it works for some reason!

I'm thinking that it's because I (a few days ago) wrote found a command that was meant to remove nobrowse. (I don't recall exactly where I found it or exactly what it was, so I can't paste it here. Sorry).

After running the command, Storage suddenly appeared on my Desktop, even though (as it can also be see in the question) OS X didn't mention anything about the drive having the flag nobrowse. Either way, after Storage appeared on the Desktop, I still couldn't make it show up under Favorites. Until now. I hadn't tried to reboot earlier, so that might be why it suddenly works.

Thanks to everyone trying to help in the comments above.


How to make Bootcamp 4 work in Windows 8.1 on unsupported MacBook Air 1,1 I recently installed Windows 8.1 on my Macbook 1,1. It had previously run Windows 10 which worked fine at first but began to give problems with each major update until version 1709 stopped the trackpad working properly.

I then experimented with Ubuntu and Linux Mint, trying to find a modern, supported OS that worked OK on this 1.6 GHz Core 2 Duo machine with only 2GB of soldered-in RAM.

Windows 8.1 immediately installed and runs better than the latest version of Windows 10 on this machine but when I tried to install Boot Camp I got the message that I was using an unsupported machine, even when I used compatibility mode.

I know I can install Windows 7, then Boot Camp and then upgrade to 8.1 but is there any other way of forcing  Boot Camp to work? It is useful for configuring the Mac keyboard and to use multi-touch on the trackpad, even though most of the hardware drivers have now been installed separately anyway.

I fixed this issue by right-clicking the setup.exe file in Bootcamp and choosing "Properties". I set the compatability setting to "Windows Vista Service Pack 2" and ran it as administrator. I got a compatability warning but chose to run program anyway. The Bootcamp program ran, installed all the drivers and (importantly) the Boot Camp option on Control Panel. Meaning that the keyboard is now the correct UK Apple version and the trackpad has tap to click and I can right click by tapping both fingers. This old MacBook Air is actually pretty usable on Windows 8.1 and its supported until 2023!


iPhone 5 iOS7: Prevent screen from locking during voice call This seems like a simple feature that must exist, yet I can't find it in settings or by googling.  I want this behavior:

The screen should never lock while I'm on a voice call, no matter how long I'm talking.

After the call is over, it should return to its normal behavior, locking after X minutes of inactivity or when I click the top button to turn the screen off.

Can this be achieved?

This bugged me for a while. I just found out that (on my phone anyway) if you slide your finger from left to right on the name of the caller, you will see your call menu again.


How to view status of service (e.g. whether it's running) in a format similar to Linux `systemctl` using macOS `launchctl`? How to view status of service (e.g. whether it's running) in a format similar to Linux systemctl using macOS launchctl?

I want to view the status of a service in macOS using launchctl in a format similar to Linux systemctl, e.g: systemctl status sshd.service

I attempt this using the below launchctl list commands. It's not obvious whether Apache is running, and I've read that - in the first column in the latter command should mean that the service isn't running.

Any ideas?

Nicolass-MacBook-Pro:Documents nlykkei$ sudo launchctl list org.apache.httpd
{
        "LimitLoadToSessionType" = "System";
        "Label" = "org.apache.httpd";
        "TimeOut" = 30;
        "OnDemand" = false;
        "LastExitStatus" = 0;
        "Program" = "/usr/sbin/httpd-wrapper";
        "ProgramArguments" = (
                "/usr/sbin/httpd-wrapper";
                "-D";
                "FOREGROUND";
        );
};
Nicolass-MacBook-Pro:Documents nlykkei$ sudo launchctl list | grep apache
-       0       org.apache.httpd

I want to view the status of a service in macOS using launchctl

Hi,

to view the status, use print: launchctl print system/org.apache.httpd

Syntax is:  launchctl print <domain>/<item>

Domain can be:

 `system/<service>`
 `user/<UID>`
 `pid/<PID>`
 `session/<asid>`

Various combinations and examples below:

Use: launchctl list to list all services. Simple listing of known services, not detailed.

Sample output:

$ launchctl list

PID Status  Label
659 0   com.apple.trustd.agent
-   0   com.apple.MailServiceAgent
-   0   com.apple.mdworker.mail
99270   0   com.apple.mdworker.shared.0E000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
-   0   com.apple.mdworker.shared.04000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
-   0   com.apple.appkit.xpc.ColorSampler
652 0   com.apple.cfprefsd.xpc.agent
-   0   com.apple.coreimportd
770 0   com.apple.TrustedPeersHelper
-   0   com.apple.SafariHistoryServiceAgent
1236    0   com.apple.progressd
3111    0   com.apple.cloudphotod
758 0   com.apple.Finder
693 0   com.apple.homed
-   78  com.ajsoft.a.mail

The first column is the process PID
The second column is a return code
The 3rd column is process label

Itens with - on the first column are NOT running

Itens with - and not 0 on the second column were executed at least once, but are now either sleeping or stopped, example: -    78  com.ajsoft.a.mail

Detailed list of all services under the system domain: [all, including enabled and disabled ones]

sudo launchctl print system/

To get detailed list only of the DISABLED System services:

sudo launchctl print-disabled system/

To get ALL information about a specific system service

launchctl print system/com.vix.cron

sample output:

$ launchctl print system/com.vix.cron

com.vix.cron = {
    active count = 0
    copy count = 0
    one shot = 0
    path = /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.vix.cron.plist
    state = waiting

    program = /usr/sbin/cron
    arguments = {
        /usr/sbin/cron
    }

    default environment = {
        PATH => /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
    }

    environment = {
        XPC_SERVICE_NAME => com.vix.cron
    }

    domain = com.apple.xpc.launchd.domain.system
    domain umask = 22
    minimum runtime = 10
    exit timeout = 5
    runs = 0
    successive crashes = 0
    last exit code = (never exited)

To print all services under the domain of the user with UID 501

launchctl print user/501

Get all information using the service or application PID (returned by the command 'launchctl list`)

launchctl print pid/758

sample output:

com.apple.xpc.launchd.domain.pid.Finder.758 = {
    type = process
    handle = 758
    active count = 91
    on-demand count = 1
    service count = 90
    active service count = 2
    activity ratio = 0.02
    originator = /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app
    creator = Finder.758
    creator euid = 503
    uniqueid = 758
    external activation count = 0
    security context = {
        uid = 503
        asid = 100008
    }

    bringup time = 20 ms
    death port = 0x52a63

    in-progress bootstraps = 0
    pended requests = 0
    pending requests = {
    }
    subdomains = {
    }
    pending attachments = {
    }

    environment = {
        PATH => /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
        SSH_AUTH_SOCK => /private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.Me9t1KNNjL/Listeners
        TMPDIR => /var/folders/km/w6p6dvwx6qb16nzxdwy5m5080000gq/T/
    }

    services = {
               0      -     com.apple.amp.devicesui
               0      -     com.apple.security.pboxd
               0      -     com.apple.coremedia.videodecoder
               0      -     com.apple.SafariServices
               0      -     com.apple.MediaLibraryService
               0      -     com.apple.coreservices.SharePointManagementService
               0      -     com.apple.managedclient.pds.Exchange
               0      -     com.apple.SystemExtensionsMDM
               0      -     com.apple.LookupViewService

To get information using the session id

launchctl print session/100008

sample output:

com.apple.xpc.launchd.domain.session.100008 = {
    type = session
    handle = 100008
    active count = 1
    on-demand count = 0
    creator = launchctl.42668
    creator euid = 0
    external activation count = 0
    security context = {
        uid unset
        asid = 100008
    }

    death port = 0x0

Useful commands:

This command installs/add a service:

launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ServiceExample.plist

This command enable a service to auto run after installed:

launchctl enable system/com.ServiceExample

This command disable a installed service from auto-running:

launchctl disable system/com.ServiceExample

This command start a service:

launchctl start system/com.ServiceExample

This command stop a service:

launchctl stop system/com.ServiceExample

This command remove a service:

launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ServiceExample.plist

This command force execution of a recent loaded service:

launchctl kickstart -p /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.ServiceExample.plist

This command Stops and Disable a running service

launchctl bootout system/com.ServiceExample

You can change the above 'system domain' for a 'user domain' process.

Install/add means: include the service on the listing of services that the system knows about. (so you can start and stop it)
remove means: remove the service from the system listing of known services. (it will not be listed anymore if you execute launchctl list)

No files are deleted by removing the service, you just remove its .plist reference from the list of services. Once removed you cannot start/stop it. And it will not show on the launchctl list. Unless you add it again with the load parameter.


Why does Apple TV not stop my Mac from sleeping? When using Home Sharing on Apple TV 3rd gen, the Mac will fall asleep even though it is needed to stream content. So in the middle of a movie the connection will be lost because the Mac goes to sleep.

Why does it not stay awake? It seems like a big oversight on Apple's part.

You might want to try going to

System Preferences
Energy Saver
Then set Display Sleep to never

If you find the need to put the display to sleep because you want to have the computer on and running for whatever reason then I would suggest going to the Screen Saver options and enabling Hot Corners. In that screen you can make the display go to sleep or trigger a screen saver by moving the mouse cursor to a corner on your screen.

Source: That is my current setup. No Display Sleep on unless I'm running a lengthy Time Machine Backup overnight.


How can I reformat the internal drive and install Mountain Lion from an external drive? I have a very weird problem - I messed up with the partions when I installed Bootcamp.

I want to upgrade my 10.7.5 to 10.8.5. I have bought the 10.8.5 from Apple Store. I downloaded it and when tried installing it, it failed because there was no Apple-formatted disk.

So I guess I have to reformat the whole drive. I have backed up all my data (I don't have enough hard drive space to make a Time Machine backup). I have just saved necessary files and also the installer for OS X 10.8.5 that I just downloaded from Apple.

Now, how can I reformat and install OS X from the installer placed in the external hard drive?

You don't need any external drive. You can erase the drive and reinstall OS X using the recovery system:

Start up from the recovery partition by holding command-R.
Open Disk Utility, select the drive (not the Macintosh HD volume), open the erase tab, set the format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and press the erase button. It also erases the hidden recovery and EFI partitions.
Reinstall OS X. When I did this with my MacBook Air, I restarted it after I had erased the drive, so I don't know if it is possible to reinstall OS X from the recovery partition without relying on Internet Recovery mode. But if you restart the Mac, it will start up in Internet Recovery mode, which means that it downloads a disk image of the recovery system from Apple's servers, and you can then install OS X on the empty drive.

Some older Macs support a recovery partition but not Internet Recovery mode. See http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4904. If you have one of those Macs, you erase the whole drive from the recovery partition, and it is not in fact possible to reinstall OS X without starting up in Internet Recovery mode after that, you can probably use Recovery Disk Assistant instead.

If others search for how to do a normal erase and reinstall, erase the main OS X partition (like Macintosh HD) instead of the whole drive:

Start up from the recovery partition by holding command-R.
Open Disk Utility, select the Macintosh HD volume, open the erase tab, and press the erase button.
Quit Disk Utility and choose Install OS X.

See https://support.apple.com/kb/ph11273.

If your Mac came with Lion, the Install OS X option will download and install the latest minor version of Lion. You can upgrade to Mountain Lion or Mavericks from App Store after that.


PowerPoint 2011 crashes when trying to format shape Whenever I try to format shape (for example edit line) in PowerPoint it crashes leaving me with this error message:

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS
Date/Time: 2014-02-20 12:15:50 +0000
Application Name: Microsoft PowerPoint
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Powerpoint
Application Signature: PPT3
Application Version: 14.3.9.131030
Crashed Module Name: WLMGraphicsDevice
Crashed Module Version: 14.3.9.131030
Crashed Module Offset: 0x000165cf
Blame Module Name: WLMGraphicsDevice
Blame Module Version: 14.3.9.131030
Blame Module Offset: 0x000165cf
Application LCID: 1045
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0415
Crashed thread: 0

It's worknig on Mavericks on Polish version

EDIT
If it's any help that what I found in system log;

Feb 20 14:05:01 MBPTest.local com.apple.IconServicesAgent[316]: main Failed to composit image for binding VariantBinding [0x25d] flags: 0x8 binding: FileInfoBinding [0x353] - extension: ppt, UTI: com.microsoft.powerpoint.ppt, fileType: ????.
Feb 20 14:05:01 MBPTest.local quicklookd[3607]: Warning: Cache image returned by the server has size range covering all valid image sizes. Binding: VariantBinding [0x803] flags: 0x8 binding: FileInfoBinding [0x703] - extension: ppt, UTI: com.microsoft.powerpoint.ppt, fileType: ???? request size:64 scale: 1

Solution is to completely uninstall MS Office in your local language (Google how to, it's a long and painful process). Then clean install MS Office IN ENGLISH. It worked for me anyway - I've encountered the same weird behaviour on 2 machines with Russian MS Office, while the 3rd (with English one) was running fine. Guess this is just Microsoft's way of saying "learn friggin English, dudes!" :)


Connect to VNC from Windows I'm trying to connect to a mac screen sharing from a windows machine using tightvnc

I'm getting the error

"Server did not offer supported security type"

Any ideas on how to fix this ?

If you use Vine Server VNC as the server on the mac and open up port 5900, and VNC Viewer on the PC (or any other vnc viewer) you'll be fine.  Its not native, but its more flexible.

This, of course, is a free solution.

See this thread on mac screen sharing:

Controlling a Mac remotely

Vine Server here:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/osxvnc/

UltraVNC (client viewer only):

http://www.uvnc.com/download/1082/1082viewer.html


How to preserve session in Safari private window mode? I'm comparatively new to Mac OS.

I was a Chrome user before. In Incognito mode, it preserves the session, i.e., if you have logged in to Google and you open YouTube in the same window (but in a new tab), it automatically signs me in for that particular Gmail user in YouTube, whereas in Safari private window mode, I have to login everytime I open something new in a new tab.

I was wondering if I could make it just like Chrome by changing a few settings.

If you prefer the way that Chrome works, I would suggest using Chrome on OS X. In Incognito mode, it works the way you want.


Change order using the "Switch Keyboard" (Globe) key on iOS screen keyboard If you refer to the Apple KB here, or to what other users seem to experience on the web (maybe because they have only 2 keyboards set up...), you would expect that the Switch Keyboard key  would do a circular shift of one increment in your list of set up keyboards in Settings each time you tap it.

For me it does not. Instead, the switching order seems rather random (I have 7 keyboards enabled). I can't get to understand the behavior or to find a pattern.

Has anybody the same issue? I am asking because daily I use only 2 or 3 of them, and it is "annoying" to open the full list by holding the button when typing.

It’s not actually random unless you’re experiencing a bug I haven’t seen. If you switch keyboards in fast succession, it cycles through the list in the same order as it’s presented when you hold. However, if you wait a second after switching the keyboard, the next time you press the globe button it goes BACK to the last keyboard you used (i.e. the last keyboard you kept open for a second or more). So if you don’t switch fast, you’ll end up switching between just two keyboards. I assume this is designed for bilingual people like me, but I agree that it’s confusing sometimes. One confusing consequence of this is that if I have keyboards A, B and C installed (ordered the same way in the list), I’m currently on B and before that I used A, then here’s what happens if I start quickly switching keyboards: it first goes to A because that’s what I last used, but then it SKIPS B and jumps to C, and from there starts cycling through the list. The full trajectory in this example ends up being B A C A B C A B C...

I would like an option to make the globe button cycle through only a subset of keyboards and make all other keyboards accessible only by holding.


Add printer on El Capitan I am trying to add HP P1606DN as a USB printer. The instructions from HP say to use Apple Update via the Printers & Scanners dialog: HP Printers - Installing a Mac Printer Driver Using Apple Software Update.

However  nothing shows up in that dialog.

So then what is the correct procedure to download/install printer drivers known /recognized by El Capitan ?

Btw here is the Printers and Scanners after tryng both (a) Apple update and (b) manually installing the HP printer software. In both cases the new printer does not appear

Update the HP printer is giving a dialog "The disk you inserted was not readable by the computer". So maybe this were a case of a problem specific to the printer.

But the thing is - the HP installation info directs us to use Apple Update. So feels like we were going in circles here.

HP has its drivers readily available on its website. Just google the name of the printer.

That led me to this link. Which seems to have the driver you need.

Apple Software Update does not always have the driver you need. It has gotten so that any time I install an HP printer I just google the name for the latest driver as the CD that comes with most printers is Windows only or out of date. Also they often install a bunch of crap advertising HP supplies.


How can I bind only Left-Option to Meta/ESC in Terminal? I need Option for typing some special characters, so I cannot use Terminal.app’s “Use Option as Meta key” setting. But I cannot bear to do without an ESC-emitting Meta key either.

Eventually I got around to trying out iTerm2, and discovered that it allows one to choose to treat only one of the Option keys as a +ESC key (I chose the left one), which is absolutely perfect and exactly what I was after.

But I’ve basically spent all my time with it so far making it more like Terminal.app. Literally the only feature I like is the Left-Option binding; everything else it does differently from Terminal.app, I dislike.

And it’s ugly. From the icon on down.

So I wonder, is there any way I could teach Terminal.app this trick, to bind only one of the Option keys as Meta, so that I can ditch iTerm2?

There's probably a better way to do this, but you could try saving this as private.xml in KeyRemap4MacBook:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
<appdef>
<appname>APPLETERMINAL</appname>
<equal>com.apple.Terminal</equal>
</appdef>
<item>
<name>Terminal meta</name>
<identifier>private.terminal-meta</identifier>
<only>APPLETERMINAL</only>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::A, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::A</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::B, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::B</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::C, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::C</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::D, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::D</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::E, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::E</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::F, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::F</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::G, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::G</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::H, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::H</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::I, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::I</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::J, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::J</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::K, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::K</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::L, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::L</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::M, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::M</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::N, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::N</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::O, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::O</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::P, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::P</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Q, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::Q</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::R, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::R</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::S, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::S</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::T, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::T</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::U, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::U</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::V, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::V</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::W, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::W</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::X, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::X</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Y, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::Y</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::Z, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::Z</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_0, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_0</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_1, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_1</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_2, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_2</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_3, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_3</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_4, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_4</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_5, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_5</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_6, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_6</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_7, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_7</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_8, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_8</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEY_9, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEY_9</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BACKQUOTE, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::BACKQUOTE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BACKSLASH, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::BACKSLASH</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BRACKET_LEFT, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::BRACKET_LEFT</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::BRACKET_RIGHT, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::BRACKET_RIGHT</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::COMMA, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::COMMA</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::DOT, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::DOT</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::EQUAL, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::EQUAL</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::MINUS, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::MINUS</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::QUOTE, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::QUOTE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::SEMICOLON, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::SEMICOLON</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::SLASH, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::SLASH</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_0, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_0</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_1, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_1</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_2, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_2</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_3, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_3</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_4, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_4</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_5, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_5</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_6, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_6</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_7, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_7</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_8, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_8</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_9, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_9</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_CLEAR, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_CLEAR</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_COMMA, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_COMMA</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_DOT, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_DOT</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_EQUAL, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_EQUAL</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_MINUS, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_MINUS</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_MULTIPLY, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_MULTIPLY</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_PLUS, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_PLUS</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::KEYPAD_SLASH, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::KEYPAD_SLASH</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::DELETE, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::DELETE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::ENTER, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::ENTER</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::ESCAPE, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::ESCAPE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::FORWARD_DELETE, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::FORWARD_DELETE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::RETURN, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::RETURN</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::SPACE, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::SPACE</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::TAB, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::TAB</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::CURSOR_UP, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::CURSOR_UP</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::CURSOR_DOWN, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::CURSOR_DOWN</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::CURSOR_LEFT, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::CURSOR_LEFT</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::CURSOR_RIGHT, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::CURSOR_RIGHT</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::PAGEUP, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::PAGEUP</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::PAGEDOWN, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::PAGEDOWN</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::HOME, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::HOME</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::END, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::END</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::UK_SECTION, ModifierFlag::OPTION_L, KeyCode::ESCAPE, KeyCode::UK_SECTION</autogen>
</item>
</root>

This wouldn't work with repeated key presses:

__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::OPTION_L, KeyCode::VK_NONE, Option::KEYTOKEY_BEFORE_KEYDOWN, KeyCode::ESCAPE


Terminal loop command to change created date for all files in a large directory I have a directory with roughly 3000 video/subtitle files nested in slightly varying levels of sub directories that I would like to change the 'date created' on.

Almost every file has a year in the name and the year is always formatted as '[YYYY]' and I would like to use touch to change the date created for each file to the aforementioned year. Date, month, hour, and minute don't particularly matter so they could just be YYYY01010000 for all I care.

Where it gets tricky is that I would also like to do the same for the directory containing each file(s). (it is a directory of the exact same name as the file). There is at least one file with no [YYYY] and possibly more so there would have to be a "leave it alone" case but I know that more than 99% have the year included.

I am just not experienced enough with terminal to risk throwing everything  out of organization with a mistake.

the majority of files follow this directory structure (file types vary):

'Videos'/'Name [YYYY]'/'Name [YYYY]'.mp4

OR for related groups of videos

'Videos'/'Name [ALL]'/'Name1 [YYY1]'/'Name1 [YYY1]'.mp4
'Videos'/'Name [ALL]'/'Name2 [YYY2]'/'Name2 [YYY2]'.avi
'Videos'/'Name [ALL]'/'Name3 [YYY3]'/'Name3 [YYY3]'.mkv

As for the 'Name [ALL]' directories I think I can handle those as odds and ends as they should be easy to find if they have normal created dates as opposed to the standardized output of the touch loop.

EDIT ----

/Volumes/MediaDrive/Media/Video\ Media
├── Movies
│   ├── 12\ Angry\ Men\ [1957]
│   │   └── 12\ Angry\ Men\ [1957].avi
│   ├── 12\ Years\ a\ Slave\ [2013]
│   │   └── 12\ Years\ a\ Slave\ [2013].avi
│   ├── 13\ Sins\ [2014]
│   │   └── 13\ Sins\ [2014].mkv
│   ├── 2\ Guns\ [2013]
│   │   └── 2\ Guns\ [2013].mp4
│   ├── 2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968]
│   │   ├── 2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968].mp4
│   │   └── 2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968].srt
│   ├── 2012\ [2009]
│   │   └── 2012\ [2009].avi
│   ├── 21\ Jump\ Street\ [ALL]
│   │   ├── 21\ Jump\ Street\ [2012]
│   │   │   └── 21\ Jump\ Street\ [2012].mp4
│   │   └── 22\ Jump\ Street\ [2014]
│   │       └── 22\ Jump\ Street\ [2014].mp4
│   ├── 28\ Days\ Later\ [ALL]
│   │   ├── 28\ Days\ Later\ [2002]
│   │   │   └── 28\ Days\ Later\ [2002].mp4
│   │   └── 28\ Weeks\ Later\ [2007]
│   │       └── 28\ Weeks\ Later\ [2007].divx

This is to apply to only the movies directory so the others at the top of the tree will not be involved.

To my best knowledge all files will be either:
1 - alone in a directory sharing their name.
2 - with 1-5 subtitles files sharing their name + language on the end, inside a directory sharing their name.
3 - in a directory that could or could not be sharing their name followed by '[ALL]' which will contain either Case 1 or Case 2.
4 - Any version of the above 3 cases, but without a year appended (less than 1% so can be skipped).

I took a stab at writing a script that I think should work for you. You mentioned that you are not too experienced with terminal, so to use it, do the following:

cd into the root of your Movies folder
Create an open a new file (can be named anything, I used change-date) using touch change-date; open -e change-date. This will open a new file in TextEdit.
Copy paste the script below into the open file.
Make the script executable by running chmod +x change-date
Run the script using ./change-date
(Optional) Delete the script using rm change-date

You can replace all instances of touch with echo touch if you would like to test what the script will do. This will cause it to print all of the touch commands it will run, so you can look through the output and make sure it looks correct before removing the echo commands.

#!/usr/bin/env zsh

# recursively loop through all directories in the current directory (should be Movies)
for dir in **/*(/); do
    # use a regex with sed to set $year to whatever is between [ and ] if it is a series of 4 digits
    # if there aren't brackets, or the contents inside the brackets aren't 4 digits, year will be an empty string
    year=$(echo $dir | sed -En "s/.*\[([0-9]{4})\]/\1/p")

    # if the length of year is 4 characters long
    if [[ ${#year} -eq 4 ]] then
        # set the modification time of $dir to Jan 1 of $year
        touch -t "$year"01010000.00 $dir

        # loop through all files in $dir
        for file in $dir/*(.); do
            # set the modification time of $file to Jan 1 of $year
            touch -t "$year"01010000.00 $file
        done
    fi
done

I'm not the most experienced at writing my own shell scripts, but this seemed to work for me. If someone with more experience would like to correct an inefficiency or some other mistake, please feel free.

Before running this script, my directory looked like this:

$ tree -D
Movies
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  12\ Angry\ Men\ [1957]
│   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  12\ Angry\ Men\ [1957].avi
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  12\ Years\ a\ Slave\ [2013]
│   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  12\ Years\ a\ Slave\ [2013].avi
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  13\ Sins\ [2014]
│   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  13\ Sins\ [2014].mkv
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  2\ Guns\ [2013]
│   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  2\ Guns\ [2013].mp4
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968]
│   ├── [Jan 10 00:22]  2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968].mp4
│   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968].srt
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  2012\ [2009]
│   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  2012\ [2009].avi
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  21\ Jump\ Street\ [ALL]
│   ├── [Jan 10 00:22]  21\ Jump\ Street\ [2012]
│   │   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  21\ Jump\ Street\ [2012].mp4
│   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  22\ Jump\ Street\ [2014]
│       └── [Jan 10 00:22]  22\ Jump\ Street\ [2014].mp4
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  28\ Days\ Later\ [ALL]
│   ├── [Jan 10 00:22]  28\ Days\ Later\ [2002]
│   │   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  28\ Days\ Later\ [2002].mp4
│   └── [Jan 10 00:22]  28\ Weeks\ Later\ [2007]
│       └── [Jan 10 00:22]  28\ Weeks\ Later\ [2007].divx

And after running, it looked like this:

$ tree -D
Movies
├── [Jan  1  1957]  12\ Angry\ Men\ [1957]
│   └── [Jan  1  1957]  12\ Angry\ Men\ [1957].avi
├── [Jan  1  2013]  12\ Years\ a\ Slave\ [2013]
│   └── [Jan  1  2013]  12\ Years\ a\ Slave\ [2013].avi
├── [Jan  1  2014]  13\ Sins\ [2014]
│   └── [Jan  1  2014]  13\ Sins\ [2014].mkv
├── [Jan  1  2013]  2\ Guns\ [2013]
│   └── [Jan  1  2013]  2\ Guns\ [2013].mp4
├── [Jan  1  1968]  2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968]
│   ├── [Jan  1  1968]  2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968].mp4
│   └── [Jan  1  1968]  2001\ A\ Space\ Odyssey\ [1968].srt
├── [Jan  1  2009]  2012\ [2009]
│   └── [Jan  1  2009]  2012\ [2009].avi
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  21\ Jump\ Street\ [ALL]
│   ├── [Jan  1  2012]  21\ Jump\ Street\ [2012]
│   │   └── [Jan  1  2012]  21\ Jump\ Street\ [2012].mp4
│   └── [Jan  1  2014]  22\ Jump\ Street\ [2014]
│       └── [Jan  1  2014]  22\ Jump\ Street\ [2014].mp4
├── [Jan 10 00:22]  28\ Days\ Later\ [ALL]
│   ├── [Jan  1  2002]  28\ Days\ Later\ [2002]
│   │   └── [Jan  1  2002]  28\ Days\ Later\ [2002].mp4
│   └── [Jan  1  2007]  28\ Weeks\ Later\ [2007]
│       └── [Jan  1  2007]  28\ Weeks\ Later\ [2007].divx

EDIT ---

To get this answer to work correctly on an external ExFAT drive, a HFS+ disk image had to be created to give the correct permissions. The disk image was created on the external drive and the script was run from that disk image successfully


How to stop OneDrive from autostarting When I boot up my Mac there is a OneDrive icon in the menu bar. If I select it I see a dialog asking me to configure it. I can quit the application, but how do stop it from restarting again?

If you don’t need it uninstall it.

If you still need it then check in System Preferences for your account and remove it from the login items.


Multiple monitors in lion With Lion it seems the mission control is separate for each screen, however I have not found a way to show a different desktop/space on each screen.

Basically I want it so that when a do a swipe on my track pad to change space, it only changes scrolls the spaces on the monitor which the cursor is in.

I have tried to set a fullscreen app on my second monitor but it always comes back to my laptop screen. Yet Apple seems to think this is possible judging by the second image in the scroller on this page (http://www.apple.com/displays/) (This image also shows a menu bar on the laptop and 2nd display, how is that done?)

So how can I individually set spaces per monitor?

(also in the old spaces you could drag windows between monitors as well as spaces, is this not possible in Mission Control?)

This is an excerpt of Appple's Application Kit Release Note for Lion regarding fills screen apps & multiple desktops.

Multiple Monitors and Full Screen (New since early 2011 seed)

We have made some simplifying assumptions for Lion Full Screen
behavior on multiple monitors. Multiple monitors are treated as a single unit by Spaces, and therefore are also treated as a single unit in Full Screen. This means that all monitors will be dedicated to windows belonging to the full screen application, and there can be only one primary full screen window visible at a time. A secondary monitor is useful for inspector windows.

Secondly, because the menu bar is located on the main monitor, the
primary full screen window will be located on the main monitor as well. This allows the menu bar, floating toolbar, and full screen window to maintain their interrelationship on the same monitor.

full document can be found here: http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#releasenotes/Cocoa/AppKit.html

According to this document it isn't possible.


how to page down when running top? When running top in terminal, I can't find a way to scroll down to view all running processes (save for resizing the window, but even then I can't display all). I tried setting and using the page down key command in the preferences, but that didn't work.

Anyone know how to scroll down in the list of processes in top?

Unfortunately, top is not scrollable; you're meant to sort the process list to shorten it to what you want.

htop is a more-powerful alternative that is scrollable. Here's how to install it on Mac OS X.

Or, you could use Activity Monitor from /Applications/Utilities.


Is there a way to configure the wireless keyboard to control the keyboard light? My Macbook Pro has a lit keyboard.

I can change the intensity of the keyboard light using Fn F5/F6 on the Macbook's keyboard.

My Apple Wireless Keyboard, Third generation (A1314), has no markings on F5/F6 for changing the keyboard light.

Sure enough, pressing Fn F5/F6 on the wireless keyboard does not affect the keyboard light.

(Fortunately, changing the Macbook's display intensity and volume both work fine on the wireless keyboard, where the inscriptions on the keyboard say they should.)

Is there a way to configure the wireless keyboard to control the keyboard light?

You would think this would be a simple task, such as simply designating a shortcut to a specific key combination for this action from System Preferences, but unfortunately it's not an option. You may have noticed that the actions themselves (dim, increase brightness, toggle backlight on/off) are not included in the 'Shortcuts' list in 'System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts' and therefore there isn't a way to configure them natively within the settings/preferences of OS X/macOS.

I have heard of a third party program called LabTick that has helped to resolve this issue with users in the past, but it was developed for older operating systems and warns against it being unstable on a newer OS. I have confirmed the instability myself by installing it on macOS Sierra 10.12.2; the first time I launched it, it quit unexpectedly while trying to configure the shortcuts. When I was finally able to configure the shortcuts, they did not work for me even after trying multiple different key combinations.


Simplest and Sure manner adding multiple Groups and Users, CentOS 7, macOS I have this instructions on CentOS 7 Linux version.

$ sudo groupadd oinstall
$ sudo groupadd dba
$ sudo groupadd oper

$ sudo useradd -G dba,oper -g oinstall oracle
$ sudo passwd oracle

And Already I know that it is possible to add group and user using:

$ sudo dscl . -create /Groups/nameGroup

$ sudo dscl . -create /Groups/nameGroup PrimaryGroupID xNumberGroup
$ sudo dscl . -create /Groups/nameGroup RealName "nameGroup Daemon Group"
$ sudo dscl . -create /Groups/nameGroup passwd "*"

$ sudo dscl . -create /Users/nameUser UniqueID xNumberUser
$ sudo dscl . -create /Users/nameUser PrimaryGroupID xNumberGroup
$ sudo dscl . -create /Users/nameUser UserShell /usr/bin/false
$ sudo dscl . -create /Users/nameUser RealName "nameUser Daemon User"
$ sudo dscl . -create /Users/nameUser passwd "*"
$ sudo dscl . -create /Users/nameUser NFSHomeDirectory: /usr/local/Some/Folder

$ sudo dscl .  append Groups/nameGroup GroupMembership nameUser

The question is how to perform Linux steps on macOS in the simplest and sure manner?

When I say the above I want to imply, what lines can I do without?

PD: I know is it possible install Oracle Database using Virtual Machine but I'm not interested (I'm exploring this way).

The easiest way to add a group account on macOS is to use System Preferences/Accounts, click the + button and select the type of account to Group

However, if you are looking for a simple way to add a group account in command line then other than the dscl option there is also the Directory Service command line tools. Type following in Terminal:

dseditgroup -o create -u myadminuser -P myadminpassword -r "Some Group" somegroup

That will create the group account in the /Local/Default domain (same as the above in GUI).

You can add an existing user to the newly added group with:

dseditgroup -o edit -u myadminuser -P myadminpassword -t user -a someuser somegroup

and check membership in the group with:

dseditgroup -o checkmember -m someuser somegroup

It will display either:

yes someuser is a member of somegroup

or

no someuser is NOT a member of somegroup


Optimal way to clean Lightning port? Every few months or so, my iPhone 6S becomes unable to charge via the lightning port without jiggling the cable. I am able to fix this problem by using a paper clip to clean pocket lint out of the port. A surprising amount always comes out!

However, I'm always a little nervous about damaging my phone while cleaning the port. Is there a better method?

Since Apple doesn't have any official, public-facing support documents for cleaning Lightning ports, you may be straying into opinion territory.

Users have reportedly successfully and safely used paperclips, plastic or wooden toothpicks, compressed air, vacuum cleaners with a hose, and even tightly rolled sticky tape. Paperclips and other metal objects reportedly have the ability to damage your iPhone's Lightning port pins and some methods are allegedly better than others.

Whatever you use is up to you, provided you can maneuver the object in a way that you don't damage the port's pins.

(Sources include Reddit and Stack Exchange, but answers are anecdotal.)


How do I "isolate" one of the vocal parts (bass, tenor, alto, soprano) in an audio (MP3, etc) file? I have a song on my computer that primarily consists of vocals. In GarageBand, I want to listen to each part separately so that I can create a piano version of the song.

I put "isolate" in quotes because I am aware that it's difficult, if not impossible, to isolate the different tracks from a song file.

The short answer: notch and peak filters. You can use the master buss EQ to notch out or boost frequency ranges that correspond, primarily, to the instrument or voice you're trying to remove or isolate. Notches are for removing and peaks are for boosting.

It's less than perfect in GarageBand because the built-in EQ facilities are somewhat simplistic, but you can make a reasonable go of it if you're patient.

Let's talk about removing something. Boosting something is the same approach, you just turn the gain up on the notch instead of down.

First, you'll need to identify approximately what range of frequencies you want to cut. I'll usually consult something like the Interactive Frequency Chart. It shows you, for any instrument, what the dominant frequency range it covers. You're mostly concerned about notching out the fundamentals of the instrument since they tend to be the strongest component of the instrument's sound.

At the bottom of the chart is the frequency plotted in 1/3 octave bands. If we wanted to, for example, remove an oboe from our track, we're looking at removing the fundamentals from approximately 200 Hz up to 1.5 kHz.

That's a pretty broad range. If we removed that much content we'd be taking lots of other instruments with it. But we can use this as a starting point for our filter.

Head in to GarageBand and call up the master EQ strip by pressing the Smart Controls button in the upper right hand corner:

Select EQ and Master from the toolbar over the smart controls:

Now add a notch filter (there are four available on the EQ strip, I just picked the one to the left because we're doing lower frequency content removal). Center the notch at 650 Hz ((1500 - 250)/2 = 650), which is the midpoint of the oboe's range. You can either drag the dot left and right until it says 650 Hz in the lower righthand corner, or you can click on the value and just enter it directly:

And then set the gain as low as it'll go by dragging the dot downwards or entering -24 dB for the gain in the lower righthand corner directly:

The width of the notch, called the Q, is at its maximum value -- the filter is removing the most content at 650 Hz, but it's also removing a lot of content above and below 650 Hz. We want to narrow it so it's covering really just the 200  Hz - 1500 Hz range. It won't be perfect because it's only a second order filter, but it should be good enough. You can click on the Q value in the lower righthand corner of the EQ strip to enter a value. 2 is about right:

With this starting point for your notch filter, solo your track and play it. Now, as the track plays, adjust the mid-point of the notch up and down until the oboe is at its quietest. If there's a portion of the track where the oboe is the lone instrument, loop that and do your manual adjustments there, otherwise feel it out. Once it's as quiet as you think you can make it, play with the Q until it's more or less still that quiet, but the Q is as high as possible. This gives you the narrowest possible notch -- the least amount of information you can remove to cut the instrument out of the overall sound.

Repeat, adding additional notch filters, until you've removed everything you want removed.

And, as I said earlier, to boost instead of remove, just reverse the gain. The process is, otherwise, the exact same:

And you can combine cuts and boosts to truly isolate just a small part of the frequency spectrum in a signal to study it. Though, you may find that without harmonic content, the instrument is a little hard to decipher. It depends on how strong or weak the fundamental of the instrument is in relation to the harmonic overtones it produces.

Some good old trial and error, using your ears as your guide, is the best teacher here.


Easily review large set of short sound files I have a large set of mp3s that I need to listen to and evaluate. If I add them to iTunes, it wants to play them consecutively without stopping. I need to listen (once), think, possibly replay, etc., until I'm ready to go onto the next.

I've also tried VLC. It also (by default) wants to play as a playlist w/o stopping. It does let you loop each file, but then you have to listen to it looping rather than hear it as a one-shot (which is how it would be used).

In iTunes, if you uncheck the checkbox next to each song, you can play one at a time.


Is there a standard format for HTML-emails? I have noticed that HTML-formatted graphical emails which I receive are the perfect width for the message pane in Lion's Mail app.

It almost looks as if Apple designed them (it didn't they are from random companies).

Is this a coincidence, or is there a standard? Did Apple play a role in defining it?

HTML emails from companies are usually made using an online HTML builder, such as xact target, Dot mailer, Mail Chimp and the like.

The templates use HTML to create the emails. In the HTML there is code which will render differently in Mail, and outlook, Hotmail, yahoo mail, etc. The suppliers of email software will spend significant amounts of time making sure teh same version is seen in the same way by all email recipients

The HTML code in a lot of HTML email also defines whether you are using a desktop app, web mail, or even mobile.

The reason your emails fit onto your browser is down to the flood of people using mobile email, on iPhones, iPads, Android devices, etc. The email is built in columns, usually no more that 2. These columns can then be narrow or wide depending on whether the recipient is using a mobile device or a desktop email client.

Next time you get a HTML email have a look at it on your desktop email, and then compare it with how it looks on a mobile.

The hardest mobile to support is Blackberry, as most models do not support HTML, instead they often render a plain text version.

So to finish off and answer your question,

There is no design standard, and Apple did not have a say in it.


How to uninstall GlobalProtect VPN client? GlobalProtect VPN client refuses to uninstall the regular drag-app-to-trash way.

Their recommended method is to download the original .pkg installer and use its uninstall feature. This isn't always possible since GlobalProtect is branded to an organization and if you're no longer with that organization you can't download the installer.

Is there a way to uninstall GlobalProtect without using the installer?

One way is to run the uninstall script bundled inside the app:

sudo /Applications/GlobalProtect.app/Contents/Resources/uninstall_gp.sh


Script doesn't find file Suppose my_folder contains my_script and my_program. my_script tries to run ./my_program -myoptions. It works when I cd into the directory, but not when I double click on it.

Here is the output:

CasebashMac:~ chris$ /Users/chris/Programs/synergy-1.3.1\ 2/work_comp_server ; exit;
/Users/chris/Programs/synergy-1.3.1 2/work_comp_server: line 1: ./synergys: No such file or directory
logout

How can I fix this?

"./synergys" is a path relative to the directory which you are currently in. To fix this you will need to specify an absolute path, for example:

  /users/chris/Files/synergys

Obviously change it to a path that actually exists :)

Might be overkill, but there is a wikipedia page about paths:

Path_(computing)


Difference between back-up computer vs. complete copy of everything? What is meant by backing up computer vs. creating a copy of entire hard-drive?  Are the meanings the same?
How to create entire bootable copy of my computer using time machine?
I have a time capsule.  Is what I have an exact copy of my computer?

Time Machine (TM) will allow you to restore your computer to the way it was by copying the the TM files onto the disc in your computer.  When you do a TM restore, you will be back to the same state you were in at the time of the last backup.  There are a few caveats to this.  It assumes that your computer's hardware is fully functional--you have a good display, a good hard drive to copy to, etc.  It also assumes that, for a reasonably large TM backup, you have the time to spare to do the restore.  This can be easily half a day until you are back up and running.

When you create a bootable backup, you may also be able to restore from this backup, but the key advange is that it is immediately bootable.  No need to wait many hours for a restore, you can quickly get working again.  Additionally, you can use any hardware.  Lets assume that your computer is totally fried; just take your bootable backup to another machine, boot from it, and it appears to be your original machine.  Email is configured, documents are available, applications can be run.

My personal backup strategy is to use both TM backup and bootable backup.  If I have the time to restore from TM, I will do that.  I make my living from my Mac, so I have the bootable backup for emergencies.  I can be up and running quickly if I am under a tight deadline.  Hard drives are inexpensive, so my recommendation is to do both!


Can I move "Pages" of apps in iOS 5? I have an iOS 5 iPad 2 and my homescreen is a bit confused. My apps are stored in pages of like content but the pages aren't logically ordered. Is there a way I can move a whole page of apps/reorder them (not just one app at a time)?

You can move it by pages in the iTunes interface but (so far as I know) not on the iPad itself.

Connect to your computer
open iTunes
select the iPad in the left column
select the apps tab along the top

At this point at the upper right is a view of the apps on the iPad.  You can drag and drop apps to move them around.  You can grab a page and drag it up and down the list to rearrange the pages.


iOS Photos - can you paste copied photo I seem to be doing a lot of long press -> Copy of Images, and I would like to save them directly into Photos, but I can't find a place to do a paste.

Instead, I have to paste into Notes, then use "Share" (Activity button) to tap "Save Image".

Is there some way to paste directly into (a new) Photo?

Here’s a Shortcut to save the current photo from the clipboard to your Camera Roll:

 Save Clipboard Photo

With a photo on your clipboard, call this shortcut from the Shortcuts app, or Notifications widget, or with Siri, and the clipboard photo will be added to your Camera Roll.


After removing Bootcamp, my Hard Disk has around 80GB missing I removed Bootcamp earlier via the BootCamp Assistant, and it flashed some error up that I just ignored.

Now, when I've gone back to reinstall Bootcamp, I've noticed that while the disk reads as being 500GB in total, there is around 80GB unaccounted for in the GUID table..?

Here is an output from terminal:

diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            419.2 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3

Any ideas how to get back the missing disk space?

EDIT: Might be worth pointing out, I am running the latest public beta of OSX 10.11

I'm guessing that OS X probably mis-partitioned it when removing the Bootcamp partition, and the old Windows partition is either free space or corrupt. Either way, you can try to go to Disk Utility or boot into Recovery(like @klanomoath said) and check to see how the partitions are setup. You can then resize the Macintosh HD to use any free space, and erase any corrupt or unneeded partitions.


How can I limit bandwidth for a specific port/app in OS X 10.10 Yosemite? I am running OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and I am looking for a way to limit upload bandwidth specifically on TCP port 8333, so I can run Bitcoin Core to contribute outgoing bandwidth without completely saturating my connection.

Here is a list of utilities I have looked into:

ipfw - This has been deprecated since OS X 10.7, and has been removed in OSX 10.10. Unfortunately this also means that any ipfw GUIs are out too (Waterroof, Speedlimit, Noobproof, etc).
Network Link Conditioner - This allows bandwidth limiting on Yosemite, but only on a system-wide level. I’m looking for a solution that will limit bandwidth only on a specific port, or only for a specific app, so my entire system won’t be affected by the limit.
pfctl - This is the new tool that replaces ipfw in Yosemite, but there is a lot less help available online, especially on limiting port/application bandwidth.
dnctl - There is almost no documentation available for this online, but it seems like it may be able to do the job if configured properly. It has been mentioned before in this Stack Overflow question, but the answer doesn't provide any examples on how to use/configure dnctl to limit bandwidth.

In short, I am looking for a way to limit bandwidth of a specific application/port on OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Does anything like this exist? And if so, how can I use it to limit outgoing traffic for a specific app, or on TCP port 8333?

Here is what I've tried with pfctl and dnctl:

Maximillians-MacBook:~ Max$ sudo pfctl -E
Password:
No ALTQ support in kernel
ALTQ related functions disabled
pf enabled
Token : 1626248500898813477
Maximillians-MacBook:~ Max$ (cat /etc/pf.conf && echo "dummynet-anchor \"customRule\"" && echo "anchor \"customRule\"") | sudo pfctl -f -
pfctl: Use of -f option, could result in flushing of rules
present in the main ruleset added by the system at startup.
See /etc/pf.conf for further details.

No ALTQ support in kernel
ALTQ related functions disabled
Maximillians-MacBook:~ Max$ echo "dummynet in quick proto tcp from any to any port 8333 pipe 1" | sudo pfctl -a customRule -f -
pfctl: Use of -f option, could result in flushing of rules
present in the main ruleset added by the system at startup.
See /etc/pf.conf for further details.

No ALTQ support in kernel
ALTQ related functions disabled
Maximillians-MacBook:~ Max$ sudo dnctl pipe 1 config bw 10Kbit/s
Maximillians-MacBook:~ Max$

Unfortunately I'm still getting over 1Mbit/s chugging through my connection on port 8333.

For port 8333:

Create the anchor for pf to use:

(cat /etc/pf.conf && echo "dummynet-anchor \"customRule\"" && echo "anchor \"customRule\"") | sudo pfctl -f -

Create the PIPE to send the desired port to your dummynet anchor:

echo "dummynet in quick proto tcp from any to any port 8333 pipe 1" | sudo pfctl -a customRule -f -

Then set the desired speed for the pipe you created: (E.X: limit to 10mb/s)

sudo dnctl pipe 1 config bw 10Mbit/s

http://mop.koeln/blog/2015/06/01/Limiting-bandwidth-on-Mac-OS-X-yosemite/

I have been using a app called Murus, It claims to do this and much more but I have yet to get it to work on the free version for port throttling.  Very powerful otherwise of a gui app.


What does Spotify cache in /Storage? ~/Library/Caches/com.spotify.client/Storage can get admittedly huge. I can't tell its contents due to the folder scheme. What are its criteria for storing things? Spotify also invariably stores more than I asked it to (in its settings). I saw that it used to cache local music (already on my hard drive, copied again), does it still do that? What else is in here? Is this remnants of a premium-only offline cache, or is Spotify caching everything I listen to anyway?

I think there's more question than answers there but it's Spotify's cache of files consisting of:

streamed music saved locally
imported songs (your local music)
adverts
metadata

The obtuse naming convention is purely a method to obfuscate the contents of the cache.

The cache is used in multiple cases, the main ones are:

to play already downloaded files instead of re-streaming (saves their bandwidth therfore saves $$$)
to allow Offline mode for Premium accounts


What special about Apple AirPort Extreme? I considering to replace my old wifi router and purchase AirPort Extreme.
Why airport extreme feature that make it price is higher than common router WIFI?

it is faster transfer data?
Better WIFI range?
etc...

Wireless is a complicated topic and you need to consult a speciality website like smallnetbuilder.com if you want to understand things like range, performance, and capabilities of different routers.

The Apple Extreme/Express are more expensive, require an Apple utility that runs only on iOS/OS X/Windows, and are not the most feature rich.  However, they are simple to use if you live in a mostly Apple world and have some unique Apple features that can be useful in that world.  For example, it's dead simple to wirelessly extend an Extreme/Express network and Apple Express routers can be hooked to speakers to use with AirPlay.

I just used three Expresses to replace an old 802.11g network (it used four old Linksys routers wirelessly extended to get about 50% coverage) at a friend's condo.  It's only a single floor with about 2500sf but the walls are all steel-reenforced concrete so wireless range was extremely limited.  It took all of about 10 minutes to install three units and network them with a single SSID and WPA password.  I would have preferred wired connections but it wasn't a practical option due to the construction.

I can't see much advantage to the Extreme over the Express with the current models unless you want to use the gIt might have better antennas and thus better performance but I think that's an edge case. It also may have some additional features so you'd need to do a feature-by-feature comparison.


How to restart USB subsystem? I'm developing onto Arduino and sometimes the USB port that is being used stops working. Then I need to plug the device into another USB port. Once all the USB ports stop working I have to restart the machine which is really annoying.

As far as I remember there is a command which is able to restart the USB subsystem individually but I can't remember. How can I restart USBs without restarting the entire system?

I'm using macOS Sierra.

This is different to the question Resetting the USB port on a MacBook Pro as I need software-only solution as my USB ports get frozen - which means they stop working until full system restart. There must be a way of restarting the USB subsystem individually.

You can reset the USB Bus with the USB Prober.app.  It's not included with XCode, but you can download it separately from the Apple Developer Download page.  You will need to signup and login.

search for iousbfamily
Download the latest IOUSBFamily Log Release file (at the time of this post it was IOUSBFamiliy Log Release for OS X 10.9.3)
Mount the .dmg and navigate to the directory with IOUSB-XXXXXX-log.
DO NOT install.  Just right click the package and "Show Package Contents"
Unzip the Archive.pax.gz; the file USBProber.app will be in /Archive/DevTools/Hardware

Important:

Just launching the app will reset your USB bus.  Make sure you you unmount any drives you don't want unceremoniously and improperly removed!


Getting error in Terminal when typing Passwd *Username* I’ve been trying to change the root password via Terminal on macOS. I launched Terminal by holding cmd + S while booting, which logged me automatically in as root without password.

When I type in Passwd root or Passwd and then hit enter, I just get an error message that says

  the daemon encountered an error processing request

two times in a row. If a log into my user and then try that it works perfectly but I want to change it from the “cmd+S” menu.

To use passwd in single-user mode or otherwise make changes to accounts on the system, you need to load Open Directory.

launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist


CMD + tab not working between apps I recently upgraded to OS 10.8, and now when I try to switch between apps using command + tab the quick switch menu (not sure what its called) to the app after toggling to it, but it never actually switches over.  I then have to click on the app in the dock.  I tried looking in the keyboard menu, what is causing this?

I believe that the Dock is the process responsible for running the application switcher. It might help to remove the Dock preferences (~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Dock.plist), and log out/in. However, this may require you to repopulate your Dock with the current Applications and settings.


Is it possible to view files stored in iCloud Backup? I have a backup for my iPhone 5s from January. Is there any way I can download them onto my computer ?

Is there any way I can look into the files that were backed up onto iCloud?

No and no, I'm afraid,

You could restore the iCloud backup to the device, then back it up to the computer and use a 3rd party tool to dig into that backup file, but you won't be able to get at the iCloud backup contents directly.


Time as x-axis in chart with Apple Numbers I'm trying to make an area chart in Apple Numbers (on Mac) where I have a series of values I want to plot on y-axis against time on the x-axis. Each value has a date that it occurred but the dates aren't equally spaced. Numbers is showing them as if they were equally spaced. Is it possible to plot them relative to their point in time?

This can't be done with an area graph. You need to use a scatter graph, or to insert hidden rows for each increment missing. This has been an annoyance of mine for a long time — I have provided feedback to Apple and you may do so too.


Can't stop the screen with the new iCloud terms from being displayed from time to time Since a couple of weeks back, when I start (and sometime during usage of) my Apple TV this screen comes up.

(In Swedish and it translates to...)

  New terms of service for iCloud
  You must accept the new terms of service before using iCloud on this Apple TV.

If I select Show terms I just gets the Apple TV settings, but it doesn't stop the "new terms" screen from appearing again later.

The same goes for selecting Not now...

How can I stop the annoying "new terms" screen from showing up all the time?
Can it be done on the Apple TV or do I have to use my iPad or computer?

As @Spiff suggested logging out of iCloud and then logging back in again solved the problem. As I logged back in again, then new terms of service for iCloud was presented and I was able to accept them.
Problem solved.


Recording video on mac without mirror inversion What's the best way to record a video on Mac without the camera flipping right and left?

QuickTime doesn't seem to have this option. I tried QCamera as it was posted as the answer to a similar question How do I prevent the mirror-effect in video recordings in Photo Booth?
but it doesn't have an option for recording video, only displaying video.

The only way I have access to the camera where the video is not flipped is FaceTime, but I have no way to record it (unless I did a screen capture on top of FaceTime, which just seems unnecessary).

Shift+Command+H will flip a video horizontally in QuickTime after you stop recording.

In summary:

Record a video in QuickTime as usual (it will still show as inverted during this time)
Stop recording
Shift+Command+H to flip it horizontally
Quit the app - it will prompt you to save the file, which will save it in the desired inversion. Alternatively you can File > Export to a variety of formats.

I tested this on macOS Catalina using QuickTime 10.5.


iOS 8.0.2 messed up my iPhone 5s I downloaded the update 8.0.2 on my iPhone 5s and it really did mess everything up. Nearly all my apps keep crashing when I try to open them, my imessage does not work. The only thing I can do with device is make calls and send SMS! I have powered off the device and turned it on again, but it doesn't help.

Any suggestions what to do?

Jash, you can downgrade your OS to 8.0 by downloading the original IPSW file for your device.  (They are device specific, so make sure you have the model number handy for your phone.)

http://www.redmondpie.com/ios-8-beta-download-release-date-features-rumors-and-news-update/

Once you download the version of 8.0 for your iPhone version - following this:

Connect iPhone to computer
Click on iPhone, then Summary
Hold SHIFT and click on restore. A file dialog window should open, allowing you to manually select the restore media. Navigate to where you downloaded the iOS software to, and select that .ipsw file from the list.  This is different for Mac vs. Windows - so it may be CNTRL or SHIFT for you. (SHIFT is Mac OS.)

It should overwrite and install the 8.0 version to the iPhone.

Regards,

Ed


Can the mid-2010 Macbook be used with the Apple Remote? I know that the remote works with units that have an IR sensor. The system profile has listings for hardware that both is and is not installed but, I don't see a listing for an IR unit.

Starting 2010 it is only the Macbook Pro's that support IR.

The last Macbook that supported IR was the 13" mid 2009, and the last Macbook Air was mid 2009


Mute all notifications for Microsoft Teams? Is it possible to mute all notifications in Microsoft Teams on iPhone?

Ideally there would be some mode that would allow me to mute all Teams notifications for one hour, two hours, eight hours, etc.

Logging in to Microsoft Teams on iPhone is quite unwieldy, so it would be convenient to stay logged in at all times. However, I rarely want to get notifications from the Teams app except for when I work remotely.

I also don’t want to adjust notification settings per team since I am member of quite many teams. And I don’t want to set the phone in silent mode since I still want to hear calls and SMS notifications.

You can manually turn off notifications for this app in the settings :

Settings > Notifications > Microsoft Teams > Allow Notifications

There's no built-in way to mute for X hours, but you may be able to do it with Shortcuts.


Using the iTunes control keys for VLC VLC responds to the itunes control keys (you know: back, forward, pause/play) on the keyboard.

Yet when I use them, both iTunes AND VLC respond, which is quite stupid. For example: I want to pause a video playing in VLC (iTunes isn't even running) so I press play/pause, VLC pauses yet iTunes launches and starts playing.

How can I temporarily disable the control keys for iTunes?

Running OS X Lion 10.7.2, VLC 1.1.12 -- this desired "proper" functionality suddenly appeared, perhaps as a result of the update from 10.7.1->10.7.2 the other day. Or perhaps as the result of a VLC update.

Control of VLC and iTunes via Apple Keyboard hotkeys is now decoupled. The active player responds to hotkey keypress.


what is the purpose of /private/var/db/crls folder What is the purpose of /private/var/db/crls folder on a mac? I noticed that it gets updated regularly.

It's system-wide cache of Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs).
I think Safari puts its cache there, that's why you see it's being updated.


Mac OS X Lion Terminal cursor problem Before I installed Lion opening a terminal window placed the cursor at the end of the prompt like so:

Wed Aug 31{shirsch4@Susan-Hirschs-iMac}/projects/perl/perl/lib/Utils--><cursor>

Now when I open a terminal window I get the cursor somewhere in the middle of the prompt like so:

Wed Aug 31{shirsch4@Susan-Hirsch<cursor>-iMac}/projects/perl/perl/lib/Utils-->

How can I correct this?

In Terminal > Preferences, change xterm-256color to xterm-color:


Whats included in Library/Mobile Documents folder and is there anyway to safely decrease the size I have an iMac running High Sierra 10.13.6.  My internal Drive is about full and I've been looking for ways to clear up some space. My internal drive has a 250 GB capacity and I have around 15 GB of free space. The largest folder on my System is the Library folder listed at 134 GB which appears under my user account. This seems extremely large to me. Inside this Library folder is the Mobile Documents folder at over 91 GB. The largest item in my Mobile Documents directory is a folder named MyBook, which is the name of my external drive. Everything else seems of reasonable size. My question is 2-fold. Why is my 'Library Folder' so Large and is there anything I can do to decrease the size of the Mobile Documents folder.

~/Library/Mobile Documents is the aliased location for iCloud Drive. You can access this from the sidebar or Go > iCloud Drive ⌘⇧-I. If you have a folder in there with the name of your external drive, my guess is that it has been copied by mistake or perhaps a 3rd party backup? I can't think of any built in system that would do that.

For other files, you can see exactly what is taking up space for Mobile Documents in the iCloud System preference. Once in that preference pane click on Manage... bottom right. This will show you all of the programs that are storing data and you can delete them as you see fix. Keep in mind that some programs require a certain amount of data that you can't delete.

If you don't want a program to store data this way, go back to the main iCloud pane and click the Options... button to the right of iCloud Drive There you can check/uncheck the programs that are allowed to save data to iCloud. Also take note of the Optimise Mac Storage checkbox, you'll want this turned off.

Mobile Documents Also stores photos that have been shared to you from other people with iCloud Photo Sharing, you might want to check this option in the iCloud preferences too.


Macbook Pro (Late 2011) Bootcamp and USB boot questions I have a Macbook Pro with an OWC DataDoubler drive caddy replacing the Superdrive (installed at an Apple premium reseller, when I bought it, so I can still have my warranty).

The main drive slot has an SSD, and the Superdrive slot has the original 750GB hard drive. It all works great, and I have Lion installed on the SSD - blazing fast :) I also have the Superdrive on an external USB enclosure, also works fine.

Problem is, I would like to install Windows on the secondary hard disk. I tried using Bootcamp, but it wouldn't originally let me create the USB install disk (I've overcome that with the tip described here) but even if I use the USB Superdrive, I always get the "Boot device not found, press any key" message.

So, my question is: what am I doing wrong? Is it possible to install Windows on a secondary hard drive? How can I avoid the "Boot device not found..." message?

Thanks for any help!

Look here:

How can I install boot camp off a Windows 7 USB flash drive?

and  here:

Install Bootcamp Windows7 off external USB optical drive on Lion system

Maybe rEFIt will work for you too, but be aware of this:

Installed reFIT on Lion and now I can't login


Creating New Images in Preview It seems to me that the macOS Preview app's purpose is to edit existing images. I'm wondering if it's possible to create new images from scratch. For example, I would like to create an illustration with some paintbrushes. Instinctively I'm looking for File -> New Image, but it doesn't seem to exist in Preview. Please advise.

No it isn't possible to create new images with Preview, as it is just meant for doing basic edits on images.(see @SteveChambers' comment)

If you really want to use Preview and not another app, just find a white image of the size you want and open it in Preview to edit and draw on it.

Otherwise, you can use 3rd party software:

GIMP, a free and open-source image editor with many capabilities, including creating and drawing images(fun fact: the very first Google logo was created in this program)
Keynote, made by Apple as a presentation app, but can also be used for simple drawings
Pixelmator (paid), a user-friendly image editor with many drawing/painting capabilities
Acorn (paid), a user-friendly image editor with many drawing/painting capabilities


Use iPod Touch bluetooth to connect mobile phone and use dial-up for internet Is it possible to code a program which connects to my phone and use its dial-up service (GRPS/EDGE) to connect to the Internet?

I found the app iBluever which seems to be able to do this job.
Thanks anyway.


A key combination inserts invisible and festy character in Xcode Xcode inserts an invisible character whenever I press Ctrl+X, Ctrl+S (was trying to save the code but then realised that I am not using Emacs and should use command+S instead, and went back to delete the festy character.) Deleting something that is invisible is not fun, so.

Is there a way I can disable this "feature"? And by that I mean make Xcode stop inserting the character and essentially does nothing when I press the key combination. I am not looking for a full Emacs key binding setting for Xcode.

I don't think this is possible in Xcode.

This happens because ctrl+x indicates to Xcode that you want to type one of the ASCII control characters. The next thing you type tells it which one. Pressing ctrl+s inserts an ASCII 19, "device control 3". Different letters insert different control characters-- see the chart at that link for a full list. Control characters are not printable, so it's invisible. Unfortunately Xcode's option to show invisibles (Edit menu --> Invisibles) doesn't show ASCII control characters, so you end up with something Xcode doesn't like but that you can't see.

You might be able to use Karabiner to deal with this, I'm not sure though.


Is there The Way to get into Single User Mode w/o rebooting? Like with old-days-UNIX when you can just send a command to init and you're staring at black text screen with shell for your own use. ;)

Depending on your needs, try changing the log in window to ask for a user name and then enter >console as the user.

This likely was removed at 10.10 so you’d need to boot to recovery or ssh in or use a terminal app if this legacy init type bypass isn’t what you seek.

http://osxdaily.com/2018/09/02/access-login-console-terminal-mac/

Also, this isn’t true root single user mode, that needs to happen early in the boot process on modern macOS.


Make sourced .bash_profile works immediately in current window I use a macOS to connect to an Ubuntu server, after defining new .bash_profile (like upgrading node.js or making new alias), I will have to exit the ssh and login again after sourcing the .bash_profile before the updated bash to take effect is it possible to refresh the session in current terminal ssh session?

You can refresh the settings by running

. ~/.bash_profile

This will reread (source) the file.

Also bash caches paths to binaries, so if you change the location of a binary already known to bash you need to run

hash -r

to remove those references.


Cheapest option for split screen video editing? I'm wondering what the cheapest option for achieving a split-screen effect with different video clips is. This is on new iMac hardware with the latest version of iMovie '11, as well as QuickTime Pro 7 and iMovie HD '06 installed. Obviously I know Final Cut Express can do this, but I am hoping not to have to pay so much for what should be a simple thing.

Edit:

Okay, my first bounty. Fun times. Here's what I know: http://imovieplugins.com/ has some very cost-effective one-off effects for iMovie HD. However, it seems quite difficult to install these on 10.6. If anyone has a way to do so, I'd consider that a good answer.

Also, I am aware that the open-source Blender can do this, though the learning curve there is a bit much for me. An easy step-by-step guide for that would suffice if nothing else comes up.

The cheapest option is to use quartz composer to assemble the individual clips and mix them down. It is not designed like iMovie or Final Cut Express with shortcuts and ready build transitions, but it is free with Xcode 3. You have to register and agree to Apple's developer tools restrictions before downloading Xcode 3. You want the free program at the bottom of the page.

A more expensive solution would be something like ScreenFlow where you could make several self contained movies and then play them back for recording on the screen. By arranging and synchronizing multiple quicktime windows on your desktop you could record what you see on your screen. I have seen amazing works that were recorded as a screen capture. It's also not ideal, but if you are good, you can do wonders. Quicktime has free screen recording as well, but ScreenFlow makes it easier to crop out parts of the screen, catch the audio and automate moves and edit.

Lastly, Final Cut Express is the best tool and it sells for under $200 US.  It is the same engine as Final Cut Pro, but lacks all the other tools like Motion and Color that assist in cinema quality effects and editing.

Only you can know your budget and how much your time is worth. Start free and only pay for software when your time is worth more to you than the cost of the tools.


Test iPhone 4s hardware without battery. Possible? So, I have this iPhone 4s, which was broken. So i replaced the screen. While I was replacing it, I accidentally broke the black wire that connects the battery to the motherboard. So I dont know if it works, and I dont want to spend money on new battery if the screen doesn't work. I also want to test the motherboard, since I replaced the screen because the old one showed blue vertical lines. So I need to be sure both screen and motherboard is functioning. Can you test it somehow without battery?

Yes. Even with the battery disconnected you will be able to test the iPhone as long as it's plugged into the wall. I repair Apple products professionally and I am positive that it is possible, having tested an iPhone 4s this way just last week.

Using a mirror, that's about as good as I can get proving this with a photo.

Test the old screen like this


My Bootcamp Windows system can't see my Mac files? I recently got a new MacBook Pro.  On my old computer I had a Bootcamp partition that runs Windows.  Everything installed on the new one fine, but I have a problem.  Why can't I see my Mac files from my Windows system?  On my old computer, I could see and move them while running the Windows system.  The Mac side has no problems accessing my Windows files.

Does anybody have a clue what I should change and on which system?

The reason is that with the latest version of OS X, the internal drive is converted to a Core Storage volume, rather than the simple HFS+ volume you presumably had on your old computer. Apple still hasn't rolled out support for this in many areas, Windows included. You won't be able to access your files directly anymore from within Windows until Apple gets around to implementing Core Storage in Windows, if they even have plans to do that. The only solution is to use an external drive or create another partition formatted as exFAT or FAT32 as a neutral location that can be accessed by both operating systems.


How do I restore new iphone settings? I plugged my new iphone into my computer and it asked if I wanted to restore my old iphone settings.  I clicked yes not realizing I would lose everything from the last 8 months since I got the new phone.  Is there any way to restore what was on the new phone?

Open iTunes preferences, there's a "Devices" tab that shows you any backups stored on that computer, but if you've never connected it in between I can hardly imagine there's an older backup.
Did you connect your phone to any computer in the last 8 months, or did you eventually use iCloud backups? You could check those as well..


Can I used iMac's Image Capture app to import video from my camcorder to iMovie '09? I'm trying to import video from my Canon camcorder (Vixia HF R600) to iMovie '09 on my iMac (an older model but updated to OS X 10.9.5) The camera recognizes the USB input but the computer does not recognize the camera. Can I import the video to iMovie using the "Image Capture" app?

You would need the iMovie 10 installed on your iMac.

If you have a qualifying system and OS you get it for free, otherwise it is $15.

Be aware that you might have 2 iMovies apps in your Application folder. The older ver9 and the newer one v10. Look for it.

Apple shows it as supported (Canon VIXIA HF R600
Format: AVCHD / MPEG-4) in the iMovie 10 (but not in iMovie 9)


Lost Wi-Fi passwords after reset network settings on iPhone After a network configuration reset on my iPhone all Wi-Fi passwords were lost. They were stored in iCloud Keychain, synced with my Mac, where they disappeared too. This is very frustrating since it seems that they were store only on iCloud and I can't restore them via old Time Machine backups.
(In Keychain on my Mac I have only some of them, 90% are lost.)

I came across this question and this was suggested by someone on a forum:

Disable iCloud Keychain from the iCloud settings page (On the top of settings if running iOS 10.3, down the list if running other versions of iOS)
Do the "Reset network settings" to debug the network issue you're experiencing
All the Wi-Fi passwords should now be deleted. What you now have to do is to connect to a network manually, then re enabling your iCloud Keychain, your old WiFi passwords should have resynced and you should now have access to all previously connected WiFis.

Note that I haven't tested this personally, but I just came across this because I'm trying to debug a problem when my iPad disconnects from WiFi only when streaming Netflix.


Does the iPad 2 or iPhone 4S play HD videos on Youtube? I was wondering if videos are played in HD when viewed on the iPad 2 or iPhone 4S .. Does anyone know ?

In the Youtube app video quality is selected automatically based on connection speed, so you will only get HD video if it's available AND you're on WiFi. It doesn't tell you the quality you are getting. On the Youtube HTML5 mobile site m.youtube.com you can select HD manually through a toggle button when it's available and you can do it on 3G but again no indication of the quality other than "HD."


Removing configuration profiles via command line Is there a way to remove configuration profiles as root?

So far I have tried the following:

$ sudo su -
$ find / -name profile # trying in the following folder
$ cd /private/var/db/ConfigurationProfiles/Settings
$ chmod 777 com.apple.managed.PlugInKit.plist # operation not permitted
$ mv -f com.apple.managed.PlugInKit.plist com.apple.managed.PlugInKit.plist.old # operation not permitted

Any force moves, copies, removes, or chmods are not permitted even though I am an administrator.  I was able to remove them manually in the UI a few months ago but the system admin disabled that feature awhile back and now I'm trying to remove the restrictions on the filesystem.

The profiles command gives you command line access to change profiles.
To remove a profile, use
sudo profiles -R -p identifier
To get the identifier of a profile if you don't have it already, find it in the list of profiles given by
sudo profiles -P

You can't mess around in /private/var/db/ConfigurationProfiles, only macOS itself can manage files in there.


Sometimes background image for lock screen doesn't show on iPhone I have seen this several times that the image I have for my lockscreen does not show. It is just black with the battery indicator shown in foreground and the unlock slider at bottom.

In iOS 6 and lower (which was the current version at the time this question was asked), iPhone does not show the background image while the phone is charging. This is by design.


How to setup iTunes account in a business environment and can you share app purchases? I'm considering switching to Mac's for our new in-house marketing and graphic design department. Currently we use CS5 master suite collection and the licenses can be reappointed from pc to Mac.

I don't have access to a Mac or the Mac App Store and have questions about licensing. I'd like to have each computer to have the respective user to load their private iTunes account with their own private purchases.  Is it possible to then login to an company iTunes account and install a program like FCP, the switch back to the users account?

Below is the Apple license agreement for the Mac App store, accessed on 24 January 2012.

According to a layman's reading of the text (I am not and do not pretend to be a lawyer), what you describe should be both possible and allowed under the terms of the license.

You or your IT staff would log in to the Macs, authenticate to the Mac App Store with your  company Apple ID, install the App(s), then sign out of the Mac App Store.  Your employees could then log in with their personal accounts and install any Apps they may have purchased, although according to the text in section i, they shouldn't do company work with their personal apps.

I hope this is helpful.

From http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html

  MAC APP STORE PRODUCT USAGE RULES

  Except as otherwise set forth herein,

  (i) If you are an individual acting in your personal capacity, you may
  download and use an application from the Mac App Store (“Mac App Store
  Product”) for personal, non-commercial use on any Apple-branded
  products running Mac OS X (“Mac Computer”) that you own or control.

  (ii) If you are a commercial enterprise or educational institution,
  you may download a Mac App Store Product for use by either (a) a
  single individual on each of the Mac Computer(s) used by that
  individual that you own or control or (b) multiple individuals on a
  single shared Mac Computer that you own or control. For example, a
  single employee may use a Mac App Store Product on both the employee’s
  desktop Mac Computer and laptop Mac Computer, or multiple students may
  serially use a Mac App Store Product on a single Mac Computer located
  at a resource center or library. For the sake of clarity, each Mac
  Computer used serially by multiple users requires a separate license.

  (iii) Use may require sign-in with the Apple ID used to download the
  Mac App Store Product from the Mac App Store. Mac App Store Products
  can be updated through the Mac App Store only.


Charging Macbook Pro with lower wattage from display is bad for battery health? I have a 16" MBP and a external display with thunderbolt 3 capabilities. The display can charge devices with 85w, but the MBP needs 97ish. The question here is: is it bad for the battery to charge the computer and use it at the same time if you are consuming more energy that the charger could deliver?

Charging the MacBook Pro with the lower wattage from the display is not bad for your battery health at all.
There's also nothing wrong with the computer consuming more energy than the charger delivers when under heavy use. It won't damage the battery nor the charger. Ofcourse it will eventually discharge the battery so that you need to lower the energy consumption in order to actually charge the battery.
Note that a MacBook Pro does not usually use near 97 watts all the time when in use. It is usually in short bursts if at all.


Control master audio volume with Siri I Can't control my iPad master volume with Siri, and I'm surprised about that.

Is there a way to do this control via Siri?

It's not possible and it's an oversight that makes hands free impossible.

What about 'Hey Siri, set volume at 50%', and while they're at it 'Hey Siri, turn speaker on'.

The excuse of volume being too hard are weak.


Will FileVault reduce the power of my hybrid SSD+HDD? I have a MacBook with a Momentus XT hybrid SSD+HDD drive. It have a 500GB HDD plus 4GB SSD which, as I could check, it uses as a cache for read operations. It uses some kind of black magic to determine the most used data and let it easily accessible through the SSD storage.

I wonder if I can enable FileVault 2 to encrypt this drive and if it will kill these feature of the hybrid drive.

I know that FileVault always lead to a performance penalty, but my wonder is if the drive will become unable to determine the portion of data that can be SSD-boosted due to the fact that it will become encrypted.

FileVault 2 encrypts the filesystem at a block level.   Despite the data being encrypted the cache in your disk should still be able to work out that particular blocks are being accessed more often and cache them in the SSD.


Two identical iCloud Group lists in Contacts For some reason - & this has been the case for as long as I remember, years at least - I have two sets of iCloud Contacts in my Contacts address book.

One is called 'iCloud (me.com) the other just 'iCloud'

The content of each is identical, except for one thing, & I'm a bit scared to test this too hard for fear of breaking something...
If I delete a contact group from either list, it deletes it from both after showing the sync 'wheel' for a couple of seconds.

The difference is…
If I do this from 'iCloud' then  Cmd ⌘   Z  to undo, it restores the group to both lists within seconds.
If I delete from 'iCloud (me.com)' then undo, the group is not restored to the 'iCloud' list

Has anyone any clue as to why this may be & if it is truly safe to delete one list entirely?

Sorry for all the blurriness ;-) The highlighted group is the one I just deleted then undid, which didn't return it to the duplicate group. The actual contacts, btw are still preserved in both lists, even though the group has now gone.

Incidentally - my iPhone shows only one list… & appears to be a mirror of the 'iCloud' list [the bottom one in the picture, with one group now missing]

Found it!

I have no idea how it actually was set up, as I discovered a pref pane through another question on Ask Different which I'd never seen before…

System Prefs > Users & Groups >[unlock] > Right click user name > Advanced Options...

My user@me.com account was listed twice in aliases.

I deleted one - the duplicate iCloud account in Contacts disappeared.
So far I've seen no unwanted  side-effects.


Did I accidently sync my iPhone with a work computer? What have I shared? So I have a work computer (a Dell laptop) and a personal iPhone. I’ve used this laptop to charge my iPhone and when doing so, I’ve allowed access when the prompt asks “Trust this computer?”.
Did I inadvertently allow syncing my iPhone with this laptop and share my web browsing history from my iPhone?
I don’t see it on my laptop’s internet history nor any of my phones images or contacts in my laptop, but my anxiety riddled self would like to be sure. (I was also logged into a google account on my laptop but not on my iPhone).
My phone and my laptop was on my home wifi while running a VPN.
When I go to my phones settings and click devices, I see that my work laptop is listed as one of the devices. I have never signed on to my iTunes account on work dell laptop.
Any answers is appreciated. I turn in my work laptop the first week of next month. Also under my iCloud settings, safari is turned off.

Approving a "Trust this computer" request enables basic communication between the phone and a computer, it doesn't transfer data per se. Basically it ensures that others can't just take your phone, connect it to their computer and transfer all your data without you knowing.
With Windows you will probably see your phone somewhere in Explorer afterwards, mainly the photos should be accessible. But you still would need to copy them to your Computer,