Very slow write performance 30min+ for 2GB - APFS? Yesterday I have been working with Docker on my MacBook Pro 2012 which runs Mojave and the internal drive has been automatically converted to APFS (seems to be so for startvolumes since Mojave).
It worked well until I decided to add another plugin to my jenkins docker container. Then everything got slow.

I tried to restart docker but that did take endless.
Reboot of machine looks slow as ever - since Mojave.
Uninstalled docker and reinstalled it.
It took 36mins to copy the 2GB DockerDesktop into
the Applications folder.
I am now running fsck and it takes very long
but don't expect any useful output.

Is it normal that perfomance of APFS degrades, especially suddenly?
I did run benchmarks recently and thougt okay write performance is bad but still okay and now it looks like glue. Found this note according to APFS: "Copy-on-Write may cause a performance degradation over time as the drives become fragmented."

Are there any tools for APFS to fix the performance?
I guess the best option might be to get an SSD and use CarbonCopyCloner to Copy the System over to an SSD. I think of a 1TB SSD are there any recommendations according the 2012 Mac Book Pro?

Okay after running

diskutil APFS defragment /dev/<yourdisklocation> status

I saw that defragment was disabled.
Turning it on with

diskutil APFS defragment /dev/<yourdisklocation> enable

an waiting about an hour, the write speed startetd to return to "normal".
I could Copy the 2 GB in about 5 Minutes instead of 40´

Anyway - the Cruxial 500 MX 1TB SSD ist already in my Postbox.


How to read iPhone system logs? Does the iphone (and ipod/pad?) have an equivalent to the Windows Event Log? How can one read it?

I'd like to examine the event log for things like unlock events (successful and failed), charging times (connect/disconnect), network access (connect/disconnect) for both wifi and data, and power cycles (on/off). Bonus points for what apps run and when. All going back several weeks (if possible).

I want to check existing history, not install something on the device that will track this kind of information going forward. I would also prefer not to install something in order to get historical logs, but will do so if that's the only route forward. I don't have a Mac, but do have Windows 7 (and Linux if need be).

The devices are not jailbroken and running iOS 8.

This can only be done on a mac:

Connect your device to a Mac
Open Xcode, go to Window->Devices in the title bar
Click on your device from the sidebar
Click 'View Device Logs'

You don't need to be enrolled in a developer program to be able to do this. To this on windows you'll probably need some sort of virtual machine/hackintosh


change all .sh files to executable by terminal i hate retyping chmod +x filename and insect to run from terminal. how do i set    this for all .sh files ? I've tried Inspect then manually setting the extension

Using a find command would be simple enough:

find . -iname "*.sh" -exec bash -c 'chmod +x "$0"' {} \;

The command breaks down as
find [obvious!]
. = from this folder. You can put a path instead
-iname = case insensitive name
"*.sh" = wildcard filename
-exec = utility to execute commands
bash = what tool you want to use (you can use sh instead)
-c flag means execute the following command as interpreted by this program.
chmod +x = command to change the file to executable
"$0" = The value that was passed to the utility
{} = If the string {} appears anywhere in the utility name or the arguments it is replaced by the pathname of the current file.
; = Terminates the command


how to turn on hardware virtualization on Macbook pro with BootCamp with no OSX I haven't been able to turn on hardware virtualization on a Mac with BootCamp (Windows 10).
All the solutions I have found say that I need to restart and choose OS X ( including How to turn on Hardware Virtualization on Late 2013 MacBook Pro (for Windows 8.1 using Boot Camp)?), but my problem is that BootCamp is the only partition there is my machine.

After getting on Internet recovery mode and just restarting from there (nothing else done) then virtualization got enabled in BootCamp!


Requirements difference between Yosemite and Sierra I have a late-2009 iMac which seems to have held up pretty well, especially since upgrading the RAM to 12GB.

I only fairly recently updated the OS to Yosemite after running Lion for so many years.

The OS update my have made my Mac a little slower, but if so then not by a great deal. But I could probably do with updating again — to Sierra — as certain programs require a more recent OS than what I have.

I am a bit concerned that running Sierra will put too much of a strain on my machine... or are the requirements not a whole lot different to any other versions of OS X over the last 5 years or so?

Here are the general requirements as specified by Apple:
OS X Yosemite

OS X Yosemite - Technical Specifications
General Requirements OS X
v10.6.8 or later
2GB of memory
8GB of available storage
Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Some features require a compatible
Internet service provider; fees may apply.

macOS Sierra

MacOS Sierra - Technical Specifications
General Requirements
OS X 10.7.5 or later
2GB of memory
8.8GB of available storage
Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.


Booting Windows 7 in Boot Camp shows a black screen with a blinking cursor I am trying to restore a DMG image of a Windows 7 Boot Camp partition back to Boot Camp. (I know that I should have used Winclone, but I didn't have that option because the drive was already dying and so I couldn't even access OS X anymore.)

So far, I've gotten to the point where I can start up the computer, hold Option, choose Windows, but then when it boots up, it shows a black screen with a blinking cursor.

I've tried a few things so far to try and fix this, none of which has worked. I have used the Windows 7 install DVD to run bootrec and all its possible arguments. I've ran chkdsk C: /b. I've also used the "Automatically fix startup problems" button, of course, as well.

Anyone know what else I could try to fix this?

Since it is an Image-File frome a previous (working) Bootcamp Installation it should not be necessary, but there is an upgrade for the graphics and bluetooth driver from Apple with an installation instruction found here "Boot Camp: iMac displays a black screen during installation of Windows 7" which adresses this problem.


Is there a way to refresh symbolichotkeys.plist without logging out? There is an extremely annoying bug in OS X with a non-Apple mouse where every time I reboot I have to go into ~/Library/Preferences and delete com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist, logout, then reset my buttons for Expose and Spaces.

This bug has been around for years now, and Apple refuses to fix it so I'm trying to figure out a way to make starting up a less painful experience.  I think it would be bearable if I could just scrap symbolichotkeys and refresh without having to logout.  Is there a command or AppleScript that could accomplish this?

You can restart the SystemUIServer by killing the process in Activity Monitor. It will auto restart. I think that should give you the desired effect without a reboot/logout.


Is there a way to make folders open in a new window by default in OS X El Capitan? Is there a script for making folders open in a new window by default in OS X Yosemite or OS X El Capitan?

Set folders to open in tabs or windows

  In the Finder, choose Finder > Preferences, then click General.
  Select or deselect “Open folders in tabs instead of new windows.”

  Open folders in tabs or windows

  Press the Command (⌘) key while you double-click the folder.

  The folder opens in a new tab or window, depending on your Finder
  preferences. Tip:   If the Finder toolbar and sidebar are hidden,
  double-clicking a folder without pressing the Command key opens the
  folder in a new window.

  To open a new Finder window without opening a specific folder, choose
  File > New Finder Window or press Command (⌘)–N.

Info from: OS X Yosemite: Open folders in new Finder tabs or windows


List all keys added to keychain using `security add-generic-password` Is there a command in security that lists the names of all keys that have been added to the keychain through add-generic-password?

I've tried, but it find-generic-password only ever returns one result as far as I know.

This did it for me

security dump-keychain | grep 0x00000007 | awk -F= '{print $2}'

I used it for this blog post: https://www.aria.ai/blog/posts/storing-secrets-with-keychain.html


Daily FTP backup script for external hard drive I need to set a daily backup of a specific external hard drive in iMac to a FTP server. In Windows I use a batch file but with OS X I'm a little lost.

You may write this script and it will work for not big number of files, but entire external hard drive backup to ftp server only using bash is a hard task. Because of possible connection problem, because of namespace problem. (Some file names on Mac ) may be impossible to store on your ftp server. If you backup small number of files ~100mb just zip them and upload with sh ftp command. But if the amount of data is large >1gb it is better to use third party software like "immortal files" or "goodsync".


Cannot connect to x11vnc server from other client Hello guys I have installed x11vnc server on MAC OS el capital but trying to connect remotely and stream the images of desktop only a black image is rendered to vnc client do you have any idea? I am using it as below
x11vnc -forever -shared -many -display :0

x11vnc is a server for X displays - i.e. you can only connect to the X display running on your Mac - not the ordinary Mac desktop. This means that if you're running for example an X desktop in a window with emacs, xeyes, or whatever odd program - you can connect to that.

You cannot connect to a desktop running Finder, Safari, and similar. Those are not X programs and are not displayed on an X display. In order to connect to them, you'll need a macOS native VNC server. Such a server is bundled with macOS. You'll need to open System Preferences, then Sharing and then enable Screen Sharing.


How can I fix permissions for files in the /var/folders/zz? How can I fix permissions for files in the /var/folders/zz?

There are a lot of file under /var/folders/zz that seem to be application caches or some sort.

I am interested in this because, it appears that if the permissions of these folders get set incorrectly (and there is a lot of "help" out there that suggests changing these at one time or another) it can easily break the applications that use them, like Apple Software Update, Apple Setup Assistant, Adobe Flash Installer, and many others.

Note: This asks a different (although similar) question to the one found in Can I delete files or folders from /private/var/folders/?, and provides a correct & concise answer to this specific question. It is also not about clearing space, but about fixing permissions on these files, which when incorrect WILL break applications.

These application cache directories can be deleted and will be re-created with proper permissions, after a reboot and the various parent applications are re-launched.

There is a lot of confusing half-responses to this question online, but it is safe to delete these folders, and this is a foolproof way to correct permissions. However, it is important that you only delete the underlying folders and do not delete the /var/folders/zz folder itself. There has been at least one bug reported that the OS will not automatically re-create the zz directory (although this may be fixed now).

It is very likely that the system will prevent some of the folders from being deleted. This is usually fine as well.

After deleting the folders, you should reboot immediately.

sudo rm -rf /var/folders/zz/zy*
sudo shutdown -r now

When the system boots and related application start up, the required directories will automatically be re-created with the proper permissions.

Some things that this fix can solve, include:

The Adobe Flash Installer always failing to install.

see: https://forums.adobe.com/message/9192807#9192807

Apple Software Update failing to install anything.

see: Software Update Permissions error

Apple Setup Assistant or the login screen showing question marks for all font characters.

see: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7696662?start=0&tstart=0

and likely many other things.

More Details:

see: http://www.magnusviri.com/OS_X_Admin/what-is-var-folders.html

see: https://osxbytes.wordpress.com/2015/03/19/boot-hang-after-deleting-var-folders/comment-page-1/


Updated to OS X Lion 10.7.1 solved the issue. In http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1437 it specifies "Improve the reliability of Wi-Fi connections" that may be this problem.

Anyway, working really fine now.


Single User Mode not starting First of all, there's no firmware password or anything fancy. I'm trying to diagnose a late-2011 MacBook Pro 15", and I'm trying to get into the single user mode. I press and hold Cmd+S (the left Cmd, if it changes anything) but I'm not getting into the mode. I've tried pressing (and holding) it before pressing the power button, at the same time, a little after etc. I've tried all the combinations. It just won't enter. It will keep booting or let's say (try booting) into the OS where it gets stuck. When I press Cmd+S, however, I can see a very brief terminal in the middle for a very short/split second, and it disappears as I haven't pressed it all. What am I doing wrong?

UPDATE: I've tried Cmd+S on another 15" MacBook Pro from 2011, and it behaves the same: It just won't let me into recovery mode. They are both Yosemite, one is 10.10.3, and I can't tell the other one's minor version since I can't boot into the system in any way (and it's owner doesn't know the version either).

UPDATE 2: As Buscar웃 asked me about the verbose mode process, I took a video of booting into verbose mode: https://s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/downstage-eu0/IMG_1942.MOV

UPDATE 3: Here's a GIF version of the video. I had to reduce quality and size a lot, but you'd get the general idea:

Although this does not answer the original question, as it is about an earlier mac model, this is a somewhat common issue for newer macs, and I feel that this answer may be helpful from the people that come here from Google, where this page is one of the top results.

If, when entering single user mode, you encounter the issue shown in this question's GIF (the mac shows the single user mode white text, but never prompts a terminal and just contiunes booting anyway), the answer is that Single User Mode via CMD+S does not work on T2 macs (if your mac's model appears on this list, then it has a T2 chip).
Apple's official guidance (which strangely now leads to a 404 page, but is still available on the Wayback Machine) is to:

Turn on your Mac, then immediately press and hold CMD+R to start up from macOS Recovery.
Select Disk Utility from the Utilities window, then click Continue.
From the Disk Utility sidebar, select the volume that you're using, then choose File > Mount from the menu bar. (If the volume is already mounted, this option is dimmed.) Then enter your administrator password when prompted.
Quit Disk Utility.
Choose Terminal from the Utilities menu in the menu bar.
You can now enter UNIX commands. When done, choose Apple () menu > Restart.

These steps replace the CMD+S method, which doesn't work with the recommended settings on current Mac computers.


How can I configure my iPhone to show my contacts photos full screen when they call or I call them I used to see my contacts' photos full screen when they called or when I called them now I only see a thumbnail when they calling and when I call them.

Have you synced your address book with GMail?
It usually does it.

It was found earlier that if you add photo to the contact through iPhone it will display them full screen. And if you add it from address book app from a mac it will display them small.

Now I heard syncing contacts to iCloud will do just the opposite i.e. it will force all the contacts to be displayed full screen. Though I did not try.
Try to sync to iCloud if you can and report back.


Is there a way to batch find locally stored songs in Apple.Music and add them to library? Most of time I use Apple.Music for listening to music (from Mac and iPhone). Also I have locally stored music library (~1000 songs). So I want to find each local song at Apple.Music and add it to my iTunes music library. Is there a way to do it batch?

Your question isn't quite clear, so I'm making some assumptions here:
 - You're using a Mac, with iTunes.
 - You're either looking for a way to distinguish your own music from Apple Music for whatever reason (having non-DRMd versions of the songs in your own personal library)

I can't help you with the last part, but iTunes on the Mac (and I suppose Windows) stores Apple Music (extension m4p) files separately from Your music files (extension m4a, mp3, aac, etc)

Apple Stores Apple Music under the iTunes Library folder (which you can discover by going to the iTunes Preferences pane and looking at the last tab). Apple Music is typically stored under /iTunes Media/Apple Music whereas your music is stored under /iTunes Media/Music

Or you can execute a command like the following from the iTunes library folder that will list all the Apple Music files into a text document.

find . -name "*.m4p" -print > textfile.txt


Are favorites in the Photos app suppose to sync between devices? I use Apple Photos on my Macs and on my iOS devices. I can flag photos via the Heart icon as favorites, but in my case they are not synced between devices.

Is this a bug, or is this meant to be like this?

ps: I saw the question Are "Favorites" and edits synced with Photos for Mac/iOS?, but it neither attracted answers nor is it it particular current - that's why I ask this here and now.

They will (or should) sync between devices if you are using iCloud Photo Library, otherwise, e.g. when syncing just the PhotoStream, favourites do not sync.

I just tested this on a device running iOS 12.1.3 and macOS Mojave 10.14.3 by favoriting a photo in the iOS photos app, and not only did the photo appear in the Favorites album in Photos.app on Mac, the Favorites album was automatically created in both places. (I don't use Favorites, but they do seem to work for me.)

According to Apple's Support article for iCloud Photo Library, edits do indeed sync between devices. I also confirmed this just now by cropping a photo on my Mac, and watching the cropped photo appear on my iOS device.

NB: if you are trying to sync favorites between devices using a hardline sync such as iTunes, I am unable to describe what the correct behavior for that is, as I don't have a setup to test it with currently, nor could I find any information on Apple's support website.


MacBook connecting to wrong network? My neighbors just setup a Wi-Fi network, and my MacBook is now automatically connecting to it.

I've never manually connected to it
It has a single bar ("dot") of signal, my network has all 4

This is starting to get on my nerves, as I run lost of server software on my computer that I need access to from my other devices, and I don't want my neighbors to have access to. Additionally, I run a BitTorrent client often, and I feel bad using it on someone else's network, due to the high bandwidth usage.

Note that I do have a terrible router that's normally sold for $10 now, and I do lose wireless for ≈ 10 seconds every hour or so, and it might see the other network as a good alternative to no network. How can I prevent it from connecting automatically, other than asking the owner to set a password?
Also note that my admin is quite paranoid, and I have very limited access to the Network. My options are "Turn AirPort Off", "Network Name", and "Show in menu bar". "Ask to join new networks" is permanently checked, and I have no advanced options. Might there be a "forget network" feature like on iOS?

If you go to Network Preferences in System Preferences, you should see a button labeled "Advanced" click on that to get to a window with many different network options. Click on Wi-Fi at the top and then rearrange/delete/add networks as you see fit. Then hit ok and you should be good to go! Depending on your OS this may not work, I have no idea. I am on Lion.


What option should I give the sudo command to have the password asked through a graphical interface? This problem has ben bugging me for a while now.

Every now and then, I need to write a script file that should execute sudo commands. I do not necessarily know in advance that I will run as sudo so I am sure there is a way to open a nice graphical interface (such as the one popping up when installing software) but how ?

The man sudo says:

-A          Normally, if sudo requires a password, it will read it from the current terminal.  If the -A (askpass) option is specified, a (possibly
            graphical) helper program is executed to read the user's password and output the password to the standard output.  If the SUDO_ASKPASS
            environment variable is set, it specifies the path to the helper program.  Otherwise, the value specified by the askpass option in
            sudoers(5) is used

So I am pretty sure the solution resides in that -A and SUDO_ASKPASS tuple however I've managed to find what to put into those.

OS X doesn't have an entirely clean way to do this, but there are a few ways to fake it.  First, AppleScript has a good way to do sudo-ish things based on a graphical authentication, and you can use that:

osascript -e "do shell script \"stufftorunasroot\" with administrator privileges"

You can also use that mechanism to set the sudo timestamp, and then use the regular sudo (within the 5-minute timeout window) to do things:

osascript -e "do shell script \"mkdir -p /var/db/sudo/$USER; touch /var/db/sudo/$USER\" with administrator privileges" && \
    sudo stufftorunasroot

Finally, you can use AppleScript to prompt for a password, then pass that to sudo:

pw="$(osascript -e 'Tell application "System Events" to display dialog "Password:" default answer "" with hidden answer' -e 'text returned of result' 2>/dev/null)" && /
    echo "$pw" | sudo -S stufftorunasroot


How do I merge folders using finder? I have a folder (let's name it main-folder and it's mounted via smb) that contains lots of files and subfolders. I want to copy half of the contents of main-folder to a local subfolder (let's call it my-folder). My problem is that one folder is common between main-folder and my-folder. And even though I have pressed the option key, I do not get the merge option.

I know I can use rsync and other similar commands which I've done lots of time. EXCEPT I can't use it this time as I am only copying half of the files/folders. Too tedious to write an exception list.

I was hoping for a similar behaviour when dragging files/folders in Windows Explorer.

Any ideas on how to make it work? Thanks a lot

Just hold the Option button when you drag the folder, then will be available the "Keep Both"/"Combine" option so you can merge the folders. Just like the Windows default behavior.

Where did folder "merge" or "keep both" go in OS X 10.9 Mavericks?


File Vault 2 and ssh I am considering enabling File Vault 2 on my Macbook Pro, which frequently stays at work overnight, and which I often need to log into remotely using ssh.  What are the ramifications of using File Vault 2 for a machine that needs to receive ssh connections?  Specifically,

Will I need to stay logged into my user account overnight, or will I still be able to sign out and leave the machine at the login screen when I leave?
Can the machine sleep without requiring keyboard authentication for File Vault 2 when it wakes up?  Right now, I allow the machine to sleep and utilize "Wake for network access".  Will this still be possible with File Vault 2 enabled, or will I need to prevent it from sleeping?

(I'll note that I'm aware of the sudo fdesetup authrestart option to restart the machine from remote without physically being there, which is helpful only if these other issues are not a problem.)

The only time the machine will need the filevault key to unlock is at boot, at all other times the system is effectively decrypted with the key in ram.

As soon as the machine powered off, it will be locked again.

You do not need to be logged in, and waking the machine up from sleep is no issue.


Where is my crontab file? I want to edit my crontab file to schedule a script. Where do I find it?

In Mac OS X Lion the user crontabs are stored in /var/at/tabs. In the past they were located in /var/cron/tabs.

You should use crontab -e to interact with these in general, but knowing the location is useful for when you want to restore them from a backup of your disk, or something similar.


How to resize Macintosh HD? In my disk utilty, I have some unused space left over.

I want to resize Macintosh HD to use this space.

Whats the best way to resize Macintosh HD? Disk Utility won't let me resize it whether I'm live resizing from the tool running on my Mountain Lion install or if I boot into Recovery HD so the OS isn't running.

Here is a screenshot of my Disk Utility window currently

Please please make sure that you type in the correct partitions. Double-check and triple check before running the merge command. It’s really important that you backup all of your data. I’m not taking any responsibility if you manage to erase anything. You will not want to lose data if there’s a sudden loss of power mid-operation.

In Disk Utility, create a new partition from the unused space.
Open terminal.app, and from there you’ll run diskutil mergePartitions

First you need to find out which partitions you’ll want to merge:

disktuil list

And hopefully you’ll see something like this:

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            499.2 GB   disk0s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS Untitled                 50.0 MB   disk0s3
   4:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s4

You’ll want to merge disk0s2 with disk0s3. So you’d run something like this:

diskutil mergePartitions JHFS+ DiskName disk0s2 disk0s3

Beware that the above will merge partitions between disk0s2 and disk0s3. Data on disk0s2 is preserved, data on all the partitions in-between is erased. In my example the two partitions are contiguous so there’s no problem. But if your recovery partition is in between it will be erased.

If you need help with the mergePartitions command:

  Usage:  diskutil mergePartitions [force] format name
          DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode DiskIdentifier|DeviceNode

  Merge two or more pre-existing partitions into one.  The first disk
  parameter is the starting partition; the second disk parameter is the
  ending partition; this given range of two or more partitions will be
  merged into one.

  All partitions in the range, except for the first one, must be
  unmountable.

  All data on merged partitions other than the first will be lost; data
  on the first partition will be lost as well if the "force" argument is
  given.

  If "force" is not given, and the first partition has a resizable file
  system (e.g. JHFS+), it will be grown in a data-preserving manner,
  even if a different file system is specified (in fact, your file
  system and volume name parameters are both ignored in this case). If
  "force" is not given, and the first partition is not resizable, you
  will be prompted if you want to erase.

  If "force" is given, the first partition is always formatted. You
  should do this if you wish to reformat to a new file system type.

  Merged partitions are required to be ordered sequentially on disk. See
  diskutil list for the actual on-disk ordering; BSD slice identifiers
  may in certain circumstances not always be in numerical order but the
  top-to-bottom order given by diskutil list is always the on-disk
  order.

  Ownership of the affected disk is required.

  Example: diskutil mergePartitions JHFS+ NewName disk3s4 disk3s7
           This example will merge all partitions BETWEEN disk3s4 and disk3s7,
           preserving data on disk3s4 but destroying data on disk3s5, disk3s6,
           disk3s7 and any invisible free space partitions between those disks;
           disk3s4 will be grown to cover the full space if possible.


Can I remove a photo or video from the Memories feature in iOS 10's photo app? I love the new memories feature in iOS 10 but sometimes it grabs less than great photos. Can I remove those photos just from the memory?

Yes, tap the edit button in the lower right corner than select the 'Photos & Videos" item to remove or add media to a memory. It is also broken out on MacRumor's guide.


Can I remotely control an iPhone from a Windows laptop? Does TeamViewer Quicksupport only let me  see her  iPhone screen from my Windows laptop? Between computers, TeamViewer lets me control and operate the other computer.

This YouTube video and article refers only to screen sharing.

Yes, that is correct. The current version of TeamViewer for iOS only supports sharing the screen, not remote control.

Other solutions makes remote control possible, but they require the individual app you want to control to support that remote control solution.


Trackpad (+ spotlight) semi-unresponsive, Mavericks on a 2010 MBP Ever since I upgraded my 2010 Macbook Pro from Mountain Lion to Mavericks, an issue has been occuring at seemingly random moments. Without warning, my trackpad will no longer allow me to click or use gestures, although moving the cursor around is still possible. Also, both Spotlight and the application switcher (cmd+tab) stop appearing, although the latter does function (but without any graphical feedback).

I've read some articles about a similar issue with the new rMBP's, so this might be related. Apple does seem to explicitly limit their acknowledgement of the bug to those new rMBP models, however. (related question)

The fact that Spotlight and the application switcher also die on me seem to indicate that it's a software problem. Rebooting my Mac helps without fail, but is quite inconvenient at times..

Is there a fix / solution / more elaborate diagnose available? Am I the only one or is this more widespread amongst the older generations of the MBP?

If you physically cannot hear/feel the bottom of the trackpad actually click the switches on the right and/or left of the trackpad, then this is probably a hardware issue that only coincidentally occurred with the software update. I have experienced a large number of older MacBooks with failure-to-click issues that are the result of a bulging battery pushing on the back of the trackpad assembly.

A short-to-medium term solution is to use the "System Preferences" -> "Trackpad" controls to turn on "tap-to-click", but eventually the battery will need replacing. This will have the added benefit of giving you a longer time-between-needing-recharging compared to your four year old battery.


Is there a way to revert OSX Snowleopard to a clean fresh install? My mums laptop is not very well managed and I would like to clean it up and perform a fresh install on it and teach her the ropes from scratch as she is having a lot of performance problems with it at the moment.

Is there anyway i can reinstall it?

It is a Macbook Pro

If you bought your Macbook new then it should have come with a set of recover DVD's that look like this :

You need to locate this media and use the disk marked "Mac OS X Install DVD" to reinstall the OS. Remember to take a backup of all user data beforehand.


How Do I Get Out of Boot Loop on iPhone 4? I dropped my iPhone (jailbroken, running on IOS 7.0.6), and it went blank - it has this habit of being switched off own its on when it's dropped. I tried holding the sleep/power button, but it's not showing me the Apple logo (usually, it will show me the logo when I pressed the button). I can't do the DFU or Recovery Mode as my home button is kind of not working, unless I press it with the right amount of force.

I tried plugging in to my computer, and nothing is detected (the cable is working just fine). However, my phone will go into the endless boot loop when I plugged into the socket/charger. While it's booting, I tried holding the volume (+), but it never worked.

So, how do I get out of this boot loop with 'kind of not working' home button? I'm avoiding the idea of buying a new phone, but if it's my last resort, I guess I have no choice.

My advice would be to fix your home button (here's an excellent guide from ifixit if you want to fix it yourself: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPhone+4+Home+Button+Replacement/3144) and then put it into DFU mode. If your home button is dodgy, fixing it will greatly enhance your chances of getting into DFU mode in order to restore it within iTunes.

There are tools that exist to get your device into DFU mode with a broken home button however these are unlikely to succeed if iTunes isn't detecting anything and your device is bootlooping.


MacBook Pro won't start since deleting various files I removed some ".dylib" files because BitDefender Virus Scan told me so. I wanted to remove all of Genieo's stuff but I presumably missed the "launch.conf" file. Had no access to it.

Now my Mac freezes while starting up. The big problem is that the DVD-drive is out of work since a long time ago, so I can't reboot with the installer disc. Also safe mode doesn't work.

I think I have OS X 10.6.9 on a MacBook Pro

Use single user mode to remove launchd.conf


Facedown detection on iPhone 6 with iOS 9 Apple highlights that an iPhone — and presumably other iOS devices — will use light and proximity sensors to determine whether it's laying face-down, and stop the screen from turning on even when notifications come in.

It does not seem to work on my iPhone 6. Do I have to enable low power mode for this to work?

The motion coprocessor setting are what govern this battery saving option.

Settings > Privacy > Motion & Fitness > Fitness Tracking

On setting allow the motion coprocessor and proximity sensors to shut off the screen if they detect a face down orientation.

You can test the sensors by checking motion in the health app for step count (for instance) and by making a call and testing the proximity sensor turning off the screen when it is covered.

See this nice article for more information: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2015/09/why-facedown-detection-feature-in-ios-9-doesnt-support-iphone-5-iphone-4s-ipads-and-ipod-touches.html


How do I unlearn a word? I have accidentally learned 'formating'.

I've tried unlearning by right-click, and have removed the word from the /Library/Spelling and ~/Library/Spelling directories.

The word is still not underlined in red when I type it on various apps.

Is there any way to make sure the word is unlearned?

Pages recognises the word as incorrect, but not TextEdit or Google Chrome.

As a workaround: add the correction to your Keyboard prefs.

SysPrefs > Keyboard > Text

formating --> formatting

I know it's not the real solution you want, but perhaps helps in the mean time.


Restore directory under ~/Library from TimeMachine I want to restore a directory from TimeMachine backup.

Unfortunately the folder I want to restore is under ~/Library which is not shown when I enter TimeMachine.

It is simple enough to access ~/Library but I can't figure how to do it in TimeMachine - any ideas?

I found a kludge, which enabled me to restore the file, although I am not entirely comfortable with this.

I added ~/Library to the Sidebar, it then showed in TimeMachine.


Where is the sender name for iMessages set? I need to change it on an iPhone 4 (iOS 5) The sender id as it displays on the recipients iMessage is what I would like to reset. However, I cannot find where it is set on the sending device (iPhone 4). It seems to be device dependent as sending iMessages from my iPad 2 displays a different sender name although both devices use the same Appleid.

I hope I understood your question correctly. Try this: go to settings>>messages>>caller id. Choose the email address that is associated with the name you want the recipients to see


Reinstall the Mail app I have a 2 yr old Mac Book Pro with retina screen i7 processor, 16GB ram. Since upgrading to Yosemite my Mail app works fine except for when I attach JPEGS to the Mail - then many recipients only receive a tiny version of the JPEG. Been to the local Apple store several times with no success. Apple store say I need to do complete CLEAN REINSTALL of the OS - does anyone know if  I can just reinstall the Mail app by itself / or a scan to detect damaged files.

You should be able to extract Mail.app from the OS X installer packages using Pacifist.

Re-installing Mail however is unlikely to solve your problem.

Mail has an option to scale images. When composing a message with an image attachment a pop-up appears in the header section to set the desired image size. Make sure that is set to “Actual Size”.

Next check if you have any Mail plugins installed that could cause the problem. Try removing plugins and adding them back one by one.

Next create a new account on your Mac and set up Mail there. If the problem does not appear, it is linked to settings in your account. Try resetting Mail preferences: trash the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist file and restart you Mac. Mail will create a new preferences file. If that does not work, move the old file back in place and restart.


How to write a service to get some string? I want to write a service on macOS, and it only return a string, like my email address. So in any application, if I need input email address, I just hit the same shortcut.

I write a service in automator, and run shell script:

#!/usr/bin
echo "my_name@domain.com"

but it only output the text to stdout instead of application input.

You can add a "run applescript" command to your automator workflow

set the clipboard to "my_name@domain.com"
tell application "System Events"
    keystroke (the clipboard)
end tell

OR

tell application "System Events"
    keystroke "my_name@domain.com"
end tell

You can add this AppleScript to your Automator workflow to be able to insert the time and date from your clipboard

set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ","
set theLongDate to (current date)
set theLongDate to (date string of theLongDate)
set currentMonth to (word 1 of text item 2 of theLongDate)
set currentDay to (word 2 of text item 2 of theLongDate)
set currentYear to (word 1 of text item 3 of theLongDate)
set monthList to {January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December}
repeat with x from 1 to 12
    if currentMonth = ((item x of monthList) as string) then
        set theRequestNumber to (text -2 thru -1 of ("0" & x))
        exit repeat
    end if
end repeat
set currentMonth to theRequestNumber
set currentDay to (text -2 thru -1 of ("0" & currentDay))
set theShortDate to (currentMonth & "/" & currentDay & "/" & currentYear) as string
set CurrentTime to (time string of (current date))
set CurrentTimeandShortDate to (theShortDate & " @ " & CurrentTime)

set the clipboard to the result -- the result formatted like this 04/16/2017 @ 12:27:00 AM

-- If you only want to copy the time and date to your clip board without sending the keystrokes, Then comment out the next three lines

tell application "System Events"
    keystroke (the clipboard)
end tell


Automator to change PSD to JPG I need a batch conversion tool to change PSD to JPG image files.

I have not seen a simple Automator action for this.

if you use Photoshop this is easy to do, under File/Automate/Batch which will allow you to pick files, set any options on quality etc that you like


URL-scheme details for Reminders application The Reminders application understands the reminders: URL scheme, so that you can invoke it, for instance, from Terminal as open reminders: (use of // is optional).

What I'm looking for is documentation of further elements of this scheme. Specifically, I want to construct URLs that allow me to do the following:

open a specific list
open a specific reminder

I've tried things like reminders:74771907-EA34-4848-A935-0C839AE123CC using both list and reminder-item identifiers, but to no avail.

Update:
jeeyul's answer points out that Reminders-related URL schemes are undocumented, which would likely cause rejection of apps that use them when submitted to the OSX/iOS App Store.
For private use, however, this is not an issue.

See:

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/featuredarticles/iPhoneURLScheme_Reference/Introduction/Introduction.html for a list of official URL schemes on both iOS and OSX
https://superuser.com/questions/498943/directory-of-url-schemes-for-mac-apps provides good information for examining the schemes defined on a given machine.

I don't know the details of URL scheme.
However the scheme is x-apple-reminder not reminders
It can launch reminder app at least.

However the host and path rule is not revealed yet.
Reminder widget can open Reminder with specific EKReminder,
So, there must be a scheme definition for it.

The scheme x-apple-reminder is undocumented, So using it should be rejected.


How can I download all MP3 files from a web site? I am wondering if there is any software available in OS X that can download all mp3s or specific type of file from a URL. For e.g. I have a url http://www.parweztv.com/Khan%20Adeeb/SURA-04/ and I want to grab all mp3 from this url instead of right clicking one by one and saving it.

Also wondering, if that can be done using wget or some terminal command in OS X?

You can use wget like this:

wget -r -nd -A.mp3 http://www.parweztv.com/Khan%20Adeeb/SURA-04/

-r to recursively download all files below the level of the URL specified

-nd to not create a hierarchy of directories in your download location (not necessary)

-A to specify the files you want to download (all files ending in .mp3 in your case)

You can obtain wget for OSX via homebrew or macports.


Do MacBook Pro displays degrade over time? I work on MacBook Pro (15", mid 2010) pretty much every day for at least 8hrs. I remember my previous (non-Apple) laptops displays used to darken over time. Should I expect something similar happening to my MacBook Pro?

I have had a MacBook Pro since early 2007, and the display is as bright and crisp as the day I bought it. I've also had an iBook G4 since early 2005 and there's no problem with its display, either.

I doubt you'll have any problems for quite awhile if at all, as newer models tend to have better displays then older models.


WhatsApp doesn’t show usernames on notifications Today I updated to version 2.18.52 & I can’t see the names of the people who send me a message. The only thing I see is the WhatsApp logo and the word “message”.

I can’t also see the status my friends posts, they all look black. I uninstalled the app, reset my phone & nothing seems to work so far.

The reason you’re not seeing the names of those users sending you WhatsApp messages is because you haven’t got previews enabled in your Notification settings.

To do this:

Go to Settings > Notifications
At the top tap on the Show Previews option
Now select the option you want generally across all your apps (i.e. Always, When Unlocked, or Never)
Now go back to the main Notifications screen
Swipe up until you see the WhatsApp option
Tap on WhatsApp
Now at the very bottom of your WhatsApp Notifications settings you’ll have options relating to Previews - set this to Never if you don't want the actual message included in the Preview
Exit Settings
Launch WhatsApp and within its Settings go to Notifications and enable Show Preview (this step in combination with choosing Never at Step 7 will enable the contact name to be displayed in the preview, but not the message itself)

Note: You can skip steps 2 to 4 if you only want to set Preview settings for WhatsApp.


How can I stop OS X from automatically connecting to an NFS server on startup? I upgraded to Lion today, but was having the same problem on Snow Leopard. When I start up my Mac and login, it automatically connects to an NFS server. I know this because I see the server in Finder in the Shared section. I'm assuming I connected to the server at some point in the past, but I'm not sure how to make it stop connecting now. Where can I look? Even after ejecting the server, it reconnects on the next startup. What can I do to make it stop?

Further information - here's what my /etc/auto_home looks like:

#
# Automounter map for /home
#
+auto_home  # Use directory service
#
# Get /home records synthesized from user records
#
+/usr/libexec/od_user_homes

And running /usr/libexec/od_user_homes produced no output.

The mount doesn't show up in Disk Utility or the Directory Utility, and running lsof doesn't show the mount (/CIFS). df does show /CIFS and indicates that the Filesystem is x-browser:

Here's /etc/auto_master:

#
# Automounter master map
#
+auto_master        # Use directory service
/net            -hosts      -nobrowse,hidefromfinder,nosuid
/home           auto_home   -nobrowse,hidefromfinder
/Network/Servers    -fstab
/-          -static

And the output from mount:

/dev/disk0s2 on / (hfs, local, journaled)
devfs on /dev (devfs, local, nobrowse)
map -hosts on /net (autofs, nosuid, automounted, nobrowse)
map auto_home on /home (autofs, automounted, nobrowse)
x-browser: on /CIFS (nfs)
localhost:/gWMIVnK_1WG9ZzUq0q3qb7 on /Volumes/MobileBackups (mtmfs, nosuid, read-only, nobrowse)

You may want to consider using the NFS Manager application to help you locate and disable the NFS automount. You should refer to this section of the manual for assistance.

The mount name /CIFS and the lack of NFS information indicates you may be running Sharity. Check if it's installed, using Spotlight. If it is, you can find the documentation here.


Adding a bookmark or a web page to the reading list in Safari causes freeze When I try to add a bookmark or a web page to the reading list in safari it freezes.
How do I solve this problem and what is causing it?

Systeminfo
Mac OS 10.6.8

Try to reinstall Safari.

Uninstall by...

...dragging /Applications/Safari.app to the trash.
...using a free cleaning tool. This tool will also remove preferences files in the library. Therefore bookmarks and extensions will be removed aswell.

Download Safari from the apple website and reinstall it.


Video screensaver in mountain lion Can I somehow have a video loop as a screensaver in mountain lion?
I remember the Save Hollywood app that worked for leopard, but nothing since then.
Is there any way?

Save Hollywood has been updated for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and is available as freeware.

Other paid app options are Video Screensaver (on MAS) and My Living Desktop.


How to handle bundle identifiers with spaces? Lets assume my current directory is /Applications and it contains all my apps. Lets say I want to know the bundle identifier for Google Chrome:

$ mdls -raw -name kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier 'Google Chrome.app'
com.google.Chrome

Now let’s use that to locate the app:

$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = com.google.Chrome
/Applications/Google Chrome.app

Now lets try the same for Tor Browser Bundle. First, get the bundle identifier:

$ mdls -raw -name kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier TorBrowser.app
org.mozilla.tor browser

Then, locate the app:

$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = org.mozilla.tor browser

Nothing. I likely need to quote it:

$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = 'org.mozilla.tor browser'

Nope, still nothing. Lets try something else:

$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = 'org.mozilla.tor'
$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = "org.mozilla.tor browser"
$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = org.mozilla.tor\ browser
$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = "org.mozilla.tor\ browser"
$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = 'org.mozilla.tor%20browser'
$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = 'org.mozilla.tor+browser'
$ mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = 'org.mozilla.tor_browser'

Nothing works. This is the only app I ever had this issue with, and the only one I ever saw with a space in its bundle identifier. How can we reference it?

A proper bundle identifier should not have a space in it. According to Apple's App Distribution Guide -> About Bundle IDs, a

  "...bundle ID string must be a uniform type identifier (UTI) that contains
  only alphanumeric characters (A-Z,a-z,0-9), hyphen (-), and period
  (.). The string should be in reverse-DNS format. For example, if your
  organization’s domain is Acme.com and you create an app named Hello,
  you could assign the string com.Acme.Hello as your app’s bundle ID.

So, technically, org.mozilla.tor browser is not a valid bundle identifier, so you'll get unexpected results when trying to work with it. It should likely be changed (by the developer) to something like org.mozilla.tor.browser or org.mozilla.tor-browser, etc.


How to stop gatekeeper always asking for app verification in standard account? I've recently done a clean install of High Sierra and am struggling with reducing the annoyance of the app verification from gatekeeper. For security I log in as a standard user and have a separate admin account - this is the first time I've tried that separation between admin and standard accounts, which is where the problem may lie.

If I right-click the app and 'open', then confirm open again in the gatekeeper dialog, then I will still be asked every time I open the app.

I have disabled gatekeeper (security pane now has third radio button - allowing 'Anywhere' for download source) but this hasn't helped.

I used brew cask to download and install a number of apps and suspect it's those that I can't permanently approve.

you can try this in terminal To add an application to Gatekeepers exceptions and approved application launch list,

spctl --add /Path/To/Application.app

replace the Path and Application with yours


FLAC audio support for OS X 10.9 Someone please remind me of what software I need to install to get as full support for FLAC audio as possible.

I've figured out how to do this, and then forgotten again, perhaps a dozen times over the years. Every time I reinstall or upgrade my Mac. Now I've installed OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and it's time to do it one more time.

Ideally I'd like:

QuickLook preview support
ability to open and play FLAC in QuickTime Player (QTP7 is okay)

I'm hoping to avoid installing half a dozen QuickTime components and Quicklook plugins to find something that works well with 10.9. Thanks!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but native support of FLAC in Mavericks is near non-existent.

Your best bet would be to just convert your FLAC to ALAC, or Apple Lossless Audio Codec.

You can download the free utility XLD, or X Lossless Decoder, to convert.

Download XLD from its homepage here:  http://tmkk.undo.jp/xld/index_e.html


How do I set the default RSS reader in Safari 6 on Mountain Lion With Mountain Lion and Safari 6, there is no built in RSS reader and Safari prompts you to find and install one from the Mac App Store if you don't have one.

So I installed a few different RSS readers. Now when I click on bookmarks to RSS feeds from Safari, it opens the last RSS reader I installed.

My question is, how do I change Safari's default RSS reader from being the last one I installed to the one I choose? I'd prefer a direct system setting than having to install another plug-in or utility (I don't use extensions in Safari).

Further research yields this solution to the problem:

http://www.rubicode.com/Software/RCDefaultApp/

RC Default App is a (free) preference pane install that allows you to easily change what types of media are opened by which application.  Although it has not been updated in a while it still works on Mountain Lion.

I think this will solve your problem.  I've tested it on my own Mac.


Is it possible to lock all notes, and automatically lock new notes, on Notes app? I see that it's possible to password protect specific notes

I wonder if this can be done automatically to new notes so that I don't need to do it every time, if I want encrypted notes

Is it possible to lock all notes, and automatically lock new notes, on Notes app?

No, you can't set all notes to be locked. But that doesn't mean they're not all encrypted.

If you scroll ALL the way down in Passcode settings (if you have a passcode), you'll see a little line of text that says Data protection is enabled.

That means everything on your device is encrypted with your passcode. That's why Apple can't unlock it for you - it's silently encrypted.

Therefore, all your notes (if you have a passcode) are already encrypted. Adding a lock is an extra layer, but you can't add a lock automatically.

If you'd like notes to automatically lock, feel free to send apple some feedback at apple.com/feedback


Sourcing a replacement graphics card for an iMac I have a Early-2009 2.93 GHz 24" iMac, which has a faulty graphics card.

I'm keen to try replacing it myself using this excellent guide. Unfortunately the guide doesn't mention any advice on finding/buying a replacement card.

Where can I find a card to buy online (or locally), and what do I have to check to know that the card will be an appropriate replacement?

There were three gfx card options that went in this model:

NVIDIA GT120 (256Mb): part #661-4991
NVIDIA GT130 (512Mb): part #661-4990
ATI Radeon HD 4850 (512Mb): part #661-5135

Searching for these cards by this "Apple Part Number" yields many online sellers. Ebay, macpalace.com, powerbookmedic.com, macpartsonline.com...

(How to get the apple part number for any given computer is a mystery to me, so if someone wants to elucidate, I will probably accept the answer.)


Disabling the ability for my iPhone to use my iPad as a Speaker for the Phone app Since iOS11, when making a call using my iPhone Dialer app, instead of the speaker button being listed alone, when I click it, it has a context menu that offers Speaker or my iPad. I've never used this, and really have never wanted to use my iPad as the speakerphone for my Phone.

What's funny is that Googling for it shows very little written on this feature.

Any ideas on how to remove it?

On your phone go to:
Settings > Phone > Calls on other devices.

Turn it off altogether, or just for your iPad.


Is there an alternative to Adress Book that works both on a Macbook or Imac *and* on Iphone? Is there an alternative to Adress Book that works both on a Macbook or Imac and on Iphone? I always get stuck on managing contact groups on all my apple devices. Or is there a strategy to keep contacts data consistent on 3 apple devices at the same time. I'd rather like to do it without cloud services due to privacy concerns.

edit for clarification:

I use an imac (Snow Leopoard, early 2008) at home, a MBP (early 2010, Lion) for work and an Iphone 4 (iOS 5).

When i try to sync my contacts or groups of contacts from the iPhone to the MBP, it's not working. But the other way round it's possible, although i have to overwrite all existing contacts.

With the iMac it works great. Both ways.

What about Cobook?

http://www.cobookapp.com

There's a mac app and an iPhone app
AND
it's free!


Cannot restore located file from TimeMachine I'm trying to restore a handful of photos from my TimeMachine on Mavericks.
Here's what I've been doing:

Connect back up drive
Go to Finder, search for file name "S0077"... (which has been deleted, thus cannot be found on "This Mac")
"Enter Time Machine" and go back to a back up, where it can find "S0077"
Mark all the files I would like to restore and click "Restore"

Now, time machine animates the restoration process, making it look like the files are being put back to where they used to be. However, the restored files don't ever appear in the file system after restoring. Once the animation is over and time machine closed, the files are nowhere to be found.

I do not remember where in the file system the files used to be. Inside time machine it will only find the files as long as the search location is set to Devices > My MacBook Pro, but not on the HD. But in regular mode that entry dissapears from the sidebar and only shows the HD and the external back-up devices.
To me that seems like the files are restored on the computer but outside the harddrive - is that even possible??

Where could it be restoring the files to? Is it even restoring them? Is there a way to dictate a different restoration location for Time Machine other than its original location?

Thanks a bunch for any help and pointers

When you find the file in Time Machine, you can right-click it and select "Restore xyz to ..." .
That lets you choose a destination folder.


I think my drives are in the wrong bays on my iMac I bought a used 2011 iMac a couple years back. It till had the original HDD so I bought a 250gb SSD to use as the main/boot drive and a 1TB HDD.  I brought it to a shop that does work on Macs and they installed everything for me. I thought the SSD was going in the main bay, which is SATA3, and that the HDD was going to replace the optical drive, which is SATA2. I never gave it a 2nd thought.

Recently I was looking at my system information and saw that the SSD is only getting a link speed of 3 Gigabit and the HDD is getting 6. See below:

SSD

HDD

And unless I''m mistaken, it looks like there's an extra unused slot in there too? I know I should have checked this a lot sooner and there's nothing I can do about it now, but

Did the guy put the HDD in the SATA3 slot and the SSD in the SATA2 slot?
Did he unnecessarily remove the optical drive when he could have used an available bay?
Would switching them so that the SSD (boot drive) is connected to the SATA3 controller produce any sort of noticeable difference?

Yes, the SSD is only getting 3 GigaBit Link Speed. And, you are correct with respect to having the ability for a third drive.

From the everymac's website:

  The "Mid-2011" iMac models all support a single 3.5" hard drive and a second 2.5" SSD. As shipped, both the hard drive bay and SSD bay provided support for the 3 Gb/s Serial ATA 2.0 standard. However, as first discovered by site sponsor Other World Computing, the iMac EFI Update 1.6, released two days later, quietly provided faster 6 Gb/s Serial ATA 3.0 support for both of these connectors (but not the optical drive connector).

There is a video titled 2011 21.5-inch iMac HDD Upgrade.

There is also a video titled 2011 27-inch iMac SSD Bay Drive Install.

Answers to Your Three Questions

Did the guy put the HDD in the SATA3 slot and the SSD in the SATA2 slot?

It would appear the new HDD replaced the old HDD. The HDD cable should have included special hardware so the fans would work correctly. For example, see the OWC In-line Digital Thermal Sensor for iMac 2011 Hard Drive Upgrade. The SDD was probably replaced the optical drive and is connect to the logic board where the optical drive was connected.

I am typing this answer on a iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011). Below are my images, which you can compare to your images. This Mac has the original HDD and optical drive.

Optical Drive

HDD

Did he unnecessarily remove the optical drive when he could have used an available bay?

According to OWC, the answer would be yes.
Would switching them so that the SSD (boot drive) is connected to the SATA3 controller produce any sort of noticeable difference?

Yes. Do the math. According to the product flyer, the sequential read speed is 530 MB/s. Multiply by 8 to get bits per second and you get 4.24 Gb/s. This is faster the the link speed of 3 Gb/s.

Although, switching may not be a simple task, if the cabling included additional hardware to measure the temperature of the new HDD drive. You probably would be better off using the third bay designed for a SSD.


CMD 2 keyboard shortcut no longer working Since Wednesday I can no longer use ⌘2 as shortcut in any application on my MacBook Pro. I've quadruple checked Keyboard Shortcuts in Settings and I have nothing there. ⌘ and any other key works fine.

Today I discovered that with an external keyboard attached, I can use ⌘2 by using the 2 key on the number pad, but not the 2 in the number row.

Ideas?

One common cause of a single key combo not working is that it gets set as the trigger for Text to speech or for Speech Recognition.  Double check system preferences/speech


Core 2 Duo Macbook OS 10.6.8 to OS 10.7.5 I am running 10.6.8, on a  2.1 13" white-2008 Intel Core 2 Duo Macbook
Am I able to upgrade to OS X 10.7.5 "Lion & is it free or $20

Yes, you can update to 10.7.5 - I'm running it on my older (2006) white MacBook. You will have to purchase it through Apple for $20 here.


Is there a better way to shutdown/restart OSX? Whenever I want to shutdown/restart OSX I click on the menu, select shutdown, and then click the box for not saving the session, and then click OK. Then there's always at least one program that interrupts the shutdown process.

Is there an easier way to do this? Maybe by using the terminal? I was thinking of shutdown -h now, but that way seems kind of "dirty." What are some ways to do it?

If you don't care about saving the session, you can simply hit Ctrl + Option + ⌘ + ⏏ for Shutdown or Ctrl + ⌘ + ⏏ for Restart

You can also check out this post (Disable "Reopen Windows") on disabling resume if you don't want that. There is another solution posted here on Apple's forums for disabling the feature by William Donelson (second post by him on the page).


Slow website loss times on Google.com and apple.com I've noticed that recently when I try to use Google products or (more specifically) try to access apple.com, there are slow 30-60 second wait times or no load whatsoever. This applies to all web browsers that I've tried (Chrome, Firefox, Safari). I have no VPN connections or device profiles. This also only occurs when I'm using cellular data.

iPhone 8 Plus
iOS 11.4.1
Carrier: Verizon Wireless 32.0
Available space: 20 GB/64 GB

A similar error may be due to the low speed of the Internet. Check this information. The second way, I recommend checking and resetting errors on your iPhone.


App Store asking for credentials? After trying to install an application on my iPhone 4, I just saw this popup for the first time:

  Security Info Required

  To help ensure the security of your Apple ID, you must confirm your password and answer your security questions.

       [Cancel]        [Security Info]

Why is this dialog popping up?

Does it happen randomly? Or is it because I connected to a new Wi-Fi hotspot, and the App Store has never seen this IP address before? Or could it be because someone tried logging in with my account several times and failed?

This appears to be a recent change to how purchasing functions, added for increased security. According to TheNextWeb, via MacRumors:

  In the past 24 hours, Apple appears to have started prompting iOS
  devices owners and those with Apple IDs within iTunes to make their
  accounts more secure, requiring them to pick three security questions
  and enter their answers when they download a new app.

  The company is also asking users to enter a backup email address, in
  order to better protect their device but also their account (which is
  tied to Apple’s Retail website and all of its media services).


Can't bookmark a page in Firefox I haven't been able to bookmark a page using keyboard shortcut command + D or star icon in the address bar for about a month.

At first, I assumed this shortcut might've been removed in upgrade to version 25.0.1, 26 or 27.0.1 but after going through their change log at http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/releases/ I couldn't find any of that.

Is there a way to troubleshoot this without losing my existing bookmarks?

I was able to resolve this by exporting the bookmarks as shown here:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/export-firefox-bookmarks-to-backup-or-transfer

(suggested by @dwightk )

Exporting my passwords using password export addon
http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/password-exporter

and then re-installing firefox.


Is there a "windirstat"/"Disk Inventory X" type iOS app? (ie app for visualizing hard drive usage on iOS) This is a pretty simple question. Assuming you know what WinDirStat &/or Disc Inventory X do, which is visualize the usage of your hard drive on a file-by-file basis, sized in proportion to the size of the given file(s) & colorized according to type.

For someone it might be a new app idea. I'm hoping it already exists, however. I know a program like this wouldn't (need to) tell you the "path" to any files, but it would be nice to visualize which apps are hogging the most of the 16GB hard drive on my iPhone.

I'm aware of iTunes's simple Apps/Music/Video/Etc pie chart but am looking for something a bit more "WinDirStat/Disk Inventory X"-like.

Your only option is to make a backup of the iOS device on a Mac/PC, then use a third party tool to copy the files into the filesystem as regular files.

From there you can run Disk Inventory X or any similar tool.

Beware that iOS uses compression and doesn't necessarily store all of your files on the local device (photos and music in particular could be in the cloud), so this will not give you an accurate measurement. But it will be as close as you can get.


Can I share iBooks with another device that is authorized for the purchasing account? Is there a way to share iBooks with a device without connecting it to the machine running iTunes with the purchasing account?

I know that it is possible to download iBooks to a device that uses a different Store account by connecting the device to the machine machine running iTunes with the purchasing account; but is it possible to do so with a device that syncs to iTunes on a different machine (using a different account)?

iBooks, like all items bought in the iTunes store, can be shared across different iTunes libraries via iTunes Home Sharing. As Apple states:

  Home Sharing in iTunes is designed to let you easily share your iTunes media libraries between up to five computers in your household.

All libraries setup for sharing with the same ID can import purchases made with that ID, independently of the ID they normally use for purchases in the iTunes store. See Apple Home Sharing Support for details on requirements, setup procedure etc.


Youtube doesnt play on a specific connection on Macbook Air I am using a Macbook Air 13" (2013 model).
i5 Intel Processor - 4 GB RAM - 128GB SSD.

A few days ago, when I opened youtube (on Safari) to watch some videos it gave me the error "An error occurred. Please try again later."

I tried later, tried all the steps that Youtube suggests and it didnt work.
Now I cannot play any youtube video on my macbook.
All the other video sites like Dailyotion and Viemo are working fine though.
Using Firefox also didnt work. I have not tried downloading and using Chrome yet.

One day, I took my Macbook to a friend's place. I connected it to her wifi and Youtube was working like before. I came back home and was unable to play youtube videos again. The same error was staring me in the face.

Since then, I have found a proxy 'Proxy Free' to watch youtube. The videos work using the proxy, but the player is not the default youtube player. Also, chosing HTML5 player on youtube didnt work either.

I have then noticed that it works fine on other networks, but mine.
I have a basic modem (it has wifi but I have disabled it) provided by my ISP 'MTNL'. The modem then goes into a Netgear router. PPPoE is on the modem and the router is set to get the IP dynamically.

My wife and brother have Dell Windows 7 laptops and they are able to watch videos on youtube.

MTU is set 1492 on both the modem and the router. I have tried checking my MTU (also pinged it for a fragment test) and the results were fine.

Please help.

EDIT: Today, I clicked on a youtube link on twitter, and the video started playing. Then I clicked on the videos on the right side and they all (3) played too. But then I went to Youtube's homepage, and tried to play a video from there -- same error.

I went to twitter and clicked on the same link again -- it played.

Forced the DNS on my macbook.

Primary: 208.67.222.222
Secondary: 208.67.220.220

It started working.


consequences of `sudo rm` apps that shipped with the OS (like Photos, Messages, Mail) I've got numerous OSes installed on my Macintosh laptop for certain reasons. So I'd like to be as lightweight in my OS X as possible. What are the consequences of sudo rm -rf'ing  the following application that are allegedly unmodifiable/deletable because it’s required by OS X?

I am not a photographer so I don't really need

Photos.app Maps.app "Image Capture.app" "Photo Booth.app"

For communication I use emails mainly and I much prefer mutt so I'd like to get rid of

Mail.app Messages.app Contacts.app

I use vim mainly (and atom & Xcode occasionally) so I'd also like to get rid of

TextEdit.app Notes.app "Utilities/Script Editor.app"

I also don't see myself ever using

Calculator.app Calendar.app Dashboard.app "DVD player.app" "Game Center.app"
iBooks.app Reminders.app Stickies.app "Time Machine.app"

These are what I use OS X mainly for

iOS development (sometimes)
Web development: mainly to test browser compatibility
Updating the firmware

So would I break anything important if I delete all the applications mentioned above?

I wouldn't expect deleting the applications from the "/Applications" folder to break anything for you. Mostly because any part of these applications that is used by other applications will be stored in other locations like the "/Library" or "/System/Library" folder.

Having said this, I don't see any real benefit to deleting these applications. When Apple release an update for the operating system there is a good chance that it will restore a good portion of the files that you've deleted.

If you aren't using these applications the only benefit I can see to deleting these files is getting you back a little bit of hard drive space. I would recommend not deleting them from "/Applications", and just in case, I would STRONGLY recommend against deleting anything from the "/Library" or "/System/Library" folders.


Is it possible to make a bootable USB stick for a Macbook Pro to do firmware update? I know there are some possible duplicates. But the questions are not solved. Such as: Copy Crucial SSD Firmware Update ISO to Bootable USB

I am trying to upgrade the firmware of my SSD (crucial m500) from my macbook pro (mid 2010). My DVD drive is broken and I cannot replace it because the exit of the DVD is broken too. (the DVDs cannot get out after inserting.)

I found a lot of articles and followed them exactly, but none of them worked.
There are two typical methods I found.

1) using terminal to make the USB stick.
Reference: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-mac-osx
I am very sure I did it correctly. But when starting my mac, it did not recognize the usb stick.

2) using natural osx applications to make the USB stick.
Reference: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/apple-in-the-enterprise/how-to-create-a-bootable-usb-to-install-os-x/
This one is actually for making a USB installer for OSX. But I thought I would be quite similar to make a bootable USB stick for updating firmware. So I followed it, but disk utility did not allow me to restore the USB from the dmg file.

There are also a third method which uses rEFInd Boot Manager. So I do not actually need to make a mac specific bootable USB stick. But I had a bad experience messing around with rEFInd, and I do not want to take the risk again.

Some people say the USB stick does not work because Apple disabled booting from USB functionality for security reasons. If that's the case my only solutions are using rEFInd or updating the firmware from some other computers?

Is there anyone did it successfully?

I can confirm that this process works:

https://fuerstnet.de/en/upgrade-crucial-m4-ssd-firmware-mac-without-cd

There are many steps to follow, both in creating the usb disk, then in booting from it, but it took me to the firmware updater as promised. After all that effort, my disk was already up-to-date, but it did work.

Crucial support says there is no option for people without a CD drive, but there is. You just have to be willing to carefully follow some instructions and be sure you're not writing to the wrong disk.


Drivers not installing I use a Tascam US-122mkII audio interface to record music with. I recently upgraded my Macbook to OS X 10.9.5 and tried to update the drivers for my Tascam but they don't seem to be installing correctly. The control panel for the interface displays a blank after the 'Driver Version' label. Consequently, I'm not currently able to use the device.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver several times but it makes no difference. I have also tested this on another computer running Mavericks and it seems to work fine, so I don't think it's a conflict with the operating system. Somebody suggested that perhaps there is a conflict with traces of the previous driver still on the system. Is there anyone who can tell me how to check this or offer any other suggestions? Tascam were unable to help.

Yours hopefully,

M

I don't have any experience with the specific drivers, but here is how I would attack the problem.

I would get a USB drive with a Mac partition I can wipe - it should be 20 GB or so (10 might work as well) and I'd download a clean OS installer from the App Store and install a clean OS onto that test partition.

You can use startup disk preference pane to switch between OS and then don't restore any files to the test OS. Just make a test account and apply all upgrades recommended by Tascam (10.9.5 or whatever) and then install just the driver.

You'll then have a clean system to know if the issue is Tascam's to resolve and/or know you can try again with different OS levels if the issue is really a driver-OS compatibility issue.


Catalina Beta 7 bricked my Macbook Pro I have installed macOS Catalina Beta 7 on my MacBook Pro Late 2013. After installing, my Mac prompted me to Restart. While installing the update I noticed that the Apple Logo with the progress bar disappeared. Shortly after, the screen went black and the Macbook froze. I tried a hard reset, but it keeps booting to the "question mark" folder. I tried several boot up methods, clearing NVRAM, starting in safe mode etc, but the Mac simply ignores my keyboard inputs while starting up. My guess is that the Firmware / EFI got corrupt because I can't use any of the key combinations. I can only boot to the question mark folder.

Does anyone have any recommendations or ideas?
Thanks in advance and sorry for my bad English :) !

I had the same experience with my MacBookAir. Turns out Catalina killed the firmware and the only solution according to the Genius Bar is to replace the motherboard. That is around 500 Bucks in my case.


Are Bash, Bourne, and Korn shells compiled into one binary in OSX? On OSX 10.8, if you compare the binaries for bash, sh, and ksh, a few different shell options, they are the same size.  If you take it further and cmp the binaries, there seems to be only a single-byte difference between the binaries.

This superficially seems to indicate that all of the code to support all of the different shells is available in each binary, but which subset you have access to depends on which shell you end up executing.

Can anyone confirm that the binaries are in fact compiled this way?
From Apple's point of view, is their any benefit in combining all of the shells in this manner?

ksh and bash are completely different, but the bash and sh binaries are mostly identical. OS X's sh is a version of bash that:

Has POSIX mode enabled. bash doesn't comply to POSIX by default.
Has different startup behavior. For example sh -l doesn't read ~/.bash_profile/.
Has xpg_echo enabled by default. So echo acts like echo -e and it doesn't support any options.

The default FCEDIT is ed in sh but EDITOR or ed in bash:

$ diff -y --suppress-common-lines -W 80 <(strings /bin/bash) <(strings /bin/sh)
                                      > /bin/bash
${FCEDIT:-${EDITOR:-ed}}              | ${FCEDIT:-ed}
@(#)PROGRAM:bash  PROJECT:bash-86.1   | @(#)PROGRAM:sh  PROJECT:bash-86.1
$ grep -rF '${FCEDIT:-${EDITOR:-ed}}' ~/Code/Source/bash-86.1/
bash-86.1/bash-3.2/builtins/fc.c:#  define POSIX_FC_EDIT_COMMAND "${FCEDIT:-${EDITOR:-ed}}"
bash-86.1/bash-3.2/builtins/fc.def:#  define POSIX_FC_EDIT_COMMAND "${FCEDIT:-${EDITOR:-ed}}"

The source can be downloaded from http://opensource.apple.com/tarballs/.

From man bash:

  If bash is invoked with the name sh, it tries to mimic the startup behavior of historical versions of sh as closely as possible, while conforming to the POSIX standard as well.

It doesn't emulate other aspects of the original Bourne shells though.

The original Bourne shells are no longer maintained, and /bin/sh is now meant to be some other shell that just complies to POSIX. OS X's sh allows using bashisms that don't necessarily work with the /bin/sh on other platforms (like dash on Ubuntu).


Can I simply manually delete individual Time Machine backups from the Finder or command line? I have moved from a Mac running Snow Leopard to a new Lion machine. Since there was a lot of cruft on the old machine, I set up the new one from scratch, only copying the data over I need. I still want to retain the Time Machine backup of my old machine for a while in case I missed something. That backup spans many months though and is huge. I really just need the latest backup from it, not its whole history.

Is it safe to simply open the Time Machine sparsebundle in Finder or on the CLI and remove the oldest folders? Or should I be using some Time Machine interface or tool to do so? I don't want to do it via the Starfield view, since it'll take me ages to click back and forth and delete each backup individually.

tl;dr - It's safe to delete in whatever way you choose.
The only conceivable problem would be if Time Machine was trying to prune a backup at the same time you were deleting, so maybe turn off Time Machine for the duration of your clean up if you're not using the built in delete button.

You can use tmutil delete in Lion to safely delete backups. The benefit of this is the deletion happens more silently in the background. The downside is the UI isn't speedy for deleting more than one snapshot at a time. In practice, you have to be there to attend multiple deletions.
Don't worry about the internals of how files are linked or stored - yes most of the files in most of the backups are hard links, but to clean these up, you have to delete things folder by folder. The system will handle decrementing the link count so there's no better or worse way to go here.
It is also safe to simply remove them via Finder or any other method - just be patient as each backup contains a full set of directory entries for each file. My (worst) record is 4 days to delete through finder a batch of unwanted backups.
Good advice might be to start small if you can't leave your mac on overnight.
You won't lose any data unless you are deleting the last copy of a version of some file. You don't get any warnings, it will get deleted - this is the same whether you use Time Machine itself, or Finder or rm in some terminal script.

As a brief aside - Why do you want to do this? Time Machine automatically prunes old backups when you're getting low on space. I've found it very comforting to just clone my Time Machine drive to a cheap USB external drive and put it on the shelf. (or make this the drive on the shelf and use it as an excuse to get a new drive) Perhaps it's the perfect pack-rat-keep-everything verses if-you-don't-need-it-now's-the-time-to-delete-it test for Mac users.


How can I stop the shell command `mate` from opening Textmate 1.x instead of Textmate2? I've installed mate in the preferences pane in TextMate2. It says "Shell support installed." I added the string export EDITOR="/usr/local/bin/mate -w" to ~/.bashrc as instructed.

However, when I use the mate command, Textmate 1 launches, for example if I type mate test.txt in the Terminal. I would like it to launch TextMate2.

Ideally, I'd like to keep TM1 around, as it does a few things that TM2 doesn't yet do. But if scrapping TM1 is the only/best option, that'd be useful to know, too.

You need to replace the symlink path in /usr/local/bin/mate to Textmate2

//go to the bin directory
cd /usr/local/bin

//delete the existing symlink
rm -rf mate

//create the symlink to the Textmate 2 mate executable
ln -s /Applications/TextMate2.app/Contents/Resources/mate mate


Easiest way to deploy a slideshow/video onto multiple iPads and have it play by clicking on 1 icon Looking to set up approximately 10 iPads for a presentation where each one has a single icon on the main screen that then immediately loads a slideshow/video.

Challenges/thoughts:

Would prefer the video to be saved locally to the iPad so we aren't dependent on the video loading from a shared Internet connection.
Preference is that they click an icon and the video autoloads full screen, would prefer not to have load/select a specific video file and hit play
Ideally want there to be a custom icon on the desktop for this video : this, I assume may require a safari bookmark saved to the home screen (which requires the video to be hosted...)
What is required to initialize 10 iPads at once?  Each will need to be synced to iTunes I assume?  Will they then need to be reset to work in the future with each individuals computer/iTunes?
If the video is stored locally, I was thinking I would use oPlayer or VLC so that the file doesn't have to be synced via iTunes - it can just be stored within the iPad filesystem

For reference, the iOS SDK (in case you decide to create a small application that plays the quicktime video), can only read stuff that is:

Inside the Application’s bundle
the “temp” application’s user’s document directory (not shared between apps)
Use the APIs to read the user video/audio library.

Number 1 and 2 would require that you create an iOS app that includes the video as a resource (which will -depending upon the video’s size-, make it a huge app)

Also creating an APP and deploying it, requires an Enterprise Licensing from Apple (so you can deploy to your company iP/ads/ods/hones). So I don’t think thats a good (and cheap) idea.

Using option number three you could go with VLC or something but they would have to pick the video from a library.

what would I do?

I’d set up a wi-fi network, with a local webserver that hosts the page. Then create a webclip on the iPads. All hardcoded. The WebClip could point to a real webpage, but a DNS “forging” inside your closed network could point it locally while they are there. This way, when they leave, if they take the iPads with them, the link will continue to work when they regain internet, as the DNS will be correct and point to the “external” website.

If the network is “closed” you can set it up in advance. A good 11n router should handle that.

No syncing, no weird app, no need to tamper each individual’s ipods…

Any catches?


iPhone 3GS never goes into standby I have noticed a problem with my iPhone 3GS recently. It never goes into standby mode unless I turn on flight mode.

When I have phone mode on it will keep on running something in the background. I haven't been able to locate what it is. I have tried to close down all the apps which are in the quick access list. I have also turned of the Location Service, Notification, Push. I have practically tried to turn of everything, and nothing help except for if I turn on the flight mode.

Anyone know what the problem might be? This problem is seriously causing the battery to burn down.

UPDATE: ok it seems a simple reset to factory setting fixed it and returned it back to normal. Probably some bug in the iphone tick off when I updated to the latest iOS. Thus made iphone never truely go into standby mode.

Have you tried Settings > General > Auto Lock?

Now that you've clarified the question:

The reason why I asked if you were in an area of bad coverage/weak signal is if your signal is weak then your battery will drain quicker.  However most people I know with iPhones would only get 24 hours out of a full charge anyway.  I usually plug it in at night and unplug it when I get up in the morning and generally it will last all day.  If you find your battery is draining too quickly for your liking you can do some of the following.

Turn off push notifications
Lower screen brightness
Turn off WiFi
Turn off 3G
Close apps which are running in the background

I'm guessing you haven't had a smartphone before and are used to getting a few days from a full charge.  Smartphones use battery much more quickly than traditional cell phones because of larger screens, more powerful processors and generally more usage.


VMware fast for first user, sluggish for second After launching VMware and opening the virtual machine prepared by another user, Windows 7 runs very slowly. File read/write is 10-30x slower than it should be and Windows has started to animate window move/resize, which brings the OS (or VMware?) to its knees.

How do I go about debugging the problem?

Clarification
The two users are two accounts on the very same MacBook. The two users share the same OSX, and so it seems reasonable for them to also share the same Windows VM.

Update
After yet another fresh installation of VMware + Windows 7, this time installed and used exclusively by one user, the same sluggishness is starting. There are a few suspicions.

Mds is going berzerk, for instance. Could it be that it is indexing (and interfering somehow) with the separate partition on which the windows VM is installed?

The sluggishness starts after a little use: the unzipping of my code and a few debugging cycles under windows. Could my going along with VMware's default of making the disk usage grow as needed be contributing to some fragmentation so early on? VMware, as I now see, suggest using the non-default (allocate disk storage from the first moment of install) for production use. (What other use is there? And how could the non-production use be the default?)

How do I go about debugging the problem?

Passing VM images around is tricky business. The image is often created with hypervisor extensions that take advantage of specific hardware features on the machine where the VM was created. If you're not using precisely the same hardware (especially the same CPU) the VM can run slowly or even crash your host OS or lock up your CPU.

I'd start with getting the VM back to an initial state:

Delete all the snapshots in the VM
Power down the guest OS so it's "off", not just suspended
Bring up the Virtual Machine Library window (Shift+Cmd+L) and select the VM
Click the Wrench icon in the toolbar to bring up the settings window for this VM
Select 'Advanced' and make sure the preferred virtualization engine is set to 'Automatic' and that hard disk buffering is also set to 'Automatic'
Click 'Show All' to return to the main settings
Click 'Compatibility' and make sure the VM's compatibility is set to be with the version of VMWare you're running or higher (in my case that's Fusion 4 or higher) so you don't need legacy VM capabilities maintained
Click 'Show All' and return to the main settings
Click 'Display' and make sure 3D graphic acceleration is on. If it cannot be turned on this is a pretty good hint that the VM was created with another chipset and really isn't compatible with your machine.
Click 'Show All' and return to the main settings
Click 'General' and then press the 'Clean Up Virtual Machine' button. This will get rid of all the extra cruft from snapshots and get you back to a nice clean VM image state.
Click 'Show All' and return to the main settings
Click 'Processors & RAM' and set these to suit your needs. You need at least 1 processor, but if you have a multi-core machine you could set this higher. Ideally you wouldn't ever set the number of processors in the VM to any more than Physical Cores in the Machine - 1. That way your physical machine always has one core to itself. RAM should be set to at least the recommended value. If you have a lot of RAM in the machine you can increase this but don't go too crazy with it.
Now power up the VM and do a re-install of the VMWare Tool (Virtual Machine -> Reinstall VMWare Tools...).

Other things to consider:

The VM should be on fast disk. This usually means your primary drive in your machine. If it's on a USB-attached disk or a network attached drive performance will suffer.
You can't both use the VM image at the same time. I say this in case you have it on a shared drive and you're both trying to run it at the same time. You have to make your own, unique copies of the image.
Check the Task Manager in the VM to see what's running. Maybe you have a process or two that's going off the rails and eating up all the VM CPU. If that's the case  you're in to a straight why-is-this-process-misbehaving-in-Windows type question and you'd need to take it to http://superuser.com I suspect.

If this doesn't get the VM in to a useable state it's likely that your hardware and the hardware the VM was created on are too far apart in compatibility for you to pass the VM around.


Can't find login items in users and groups So I've read all the posts on here and looked in every recommended folder for my start up programs and can't find a single one, I'm definitely the administrator on my laptop so I don't know what to do besides go to Apple. I have a macbook pro mid 2010 with Yosemite. Thanks in advance for any input.

System Preferences → Users & Groups → your user account → Login Items

You can't view the list of login items for other users, even if you are an administrator.


How is the iPhone 7 waterproof if its charging port is exposed? as someone interested in Electronics, this has bugged me for far to long, and I am hoping someone can put an answer to end this annoyance.

My current idea as to how:

the entire port is isolated with Transistors, when the power cord is plugged in, those transistors open and allow the port to function as a normal data/charging port, but this is far to simple I know.

I am aware that this may be better suited to electronics.stackechange.

The iPhone 7 series is not waterproof — no smartphone is. According to Apple, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have an IP67 rating for dust and water-resistance. You can read more about how IP ratings work here.

In a nutshell, as far as water is concerned, an IP rating of 67 means the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus can be fully submerged in up to 1 meter of water for up to 30 minutes without being damaged.

So, will an iPhone 7 die if it takes a brief dip in water that’s deeper than 1 metre? No.

Will it survive for over a half hour or so in about 5cm (2") of water? Yes.

What this all means is that an iPhone 7 will survive a water accident.

As for protecting the Lightning port from water, while I haven't personally seen inside an iPhone 7 yet, what I can tell you is how smartphone manufacturers make their USB and headphone ports water resistant.

Typically, they seal all parts that could let water in. This means the SIM card tray has a built-in rubber seal to stop moisture getting inside the smartphone, as do external buttons, MicroUSB or Lightning ports and 3.5mm headphone jacks.

The charging and headphone ports are also fixed in place in a way that very tightly presses them up against the inside of the frame.

Another area of vulnerability are speakers. Air and audio need to pass through the speaker to outside of the frame, but the ‘grille’ needs to prevent water from getting in. Typically manufacturers use a screen made from an incredibly tight mesh that prevents water getting through without external force.

That's why smart watches aren't usually water resistant to 50m (not even Samsung's latest offering!). The Apple Watch 2 achieves this amazing feat by using the speakers themselves to eject the water. No doubt other manufacturers will copy this process.

Finally, as a point of interest, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were also designed to be water resistant (although not officially). I've seen inside these and the difference compared to earlier models is obvious. You can read more about this here.

[EDIT]

This edit addresses the issue raised by Adam Rice in their comment, namely that my original answer didn't cover the issue of what prevents water inside the charging port from damaging an iPhone 7 by conducting electricity between its connectors?

As I mentioned in my original answer, rubber seals are used to stop moisture getting inside the smartphone via the sim tray, external buttons, charging ports, etc. However, what I forgot to mention is that these phones have a moisture sensor in the charging port that protects the phone from electrical short circuits and damage. This basically means that the phone will not accept a charge if the sensors detect moisture. Likewise, electrical current between the connectors is also prevented if moisture is detected by the sensors.

Also, it is worth noting that having a water-resistant smartphone is a bit like having a diver's watch that is water-resistant to 200m. The instructions of such watches tell you not to press any of the buttons while it's under water. Likewise, with a smartphone, don't plug it in to a power source while it's under water.


OSX Utilities downloads installer then goes back to start Yesterday I had what seems to have been some hard drive malfunction. The disk cannot be verified or repaired and suggests that I reinstall OS X.

I've backed up my files and in the recovery utilities I select "Reinstall OS X", It then spends around 3 hours downloading Mavericks, when it's completed it doesn't provide me with any prompt, it just takes me back to the main OS X Utilities screen. At first I assumed that maybe I have to click Reinstall OS X again, this just downloaded the installer all over again.

Any ideas on what this could be and how to fix it? Short of sending this back to an Apple dealer.

I'm a Windows/Debian user. I only use my Mac at work for iOS Dev so I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing.

Your Recovery HD might not match with the version of OS X installed on the drive — try Internet Recovery. Boot with ⌘⌥R until you get the spinning globe, then follow the instructions. This should download a new Recovery HD which you should be able to use to reinstall OS X.


Sharing an iCloud account I am setting up my parents with an Apple iPad.  I was wondering if I can configure it so that they share a single iCloud account for email, calendar, contacts, photo stream, FaceTime calls, etc.  Is there a better way than a shared iCloud account if I want them both to be able to use it and there is only 1 device?

I do not think the IOS on an iPad natively supports multiple user accounts like Mac OS X.

There is actually no other option (unless you want to do some more advanced stuff which probably shouldn't be done on a device you don't use yourself). There is one user (or more precisely one set of settings) on an iPad and you can configure one iCloud email/calendar etc account. You can have a separate account for iTunes and the App Store, but this is probably not what you are looking for.

OTOH, you may want to look into iCloud email aliases to give both your mother and your father individual email addresses. See the answers on Is it possible to have 2 iCloud email accounts in IOS 5? for details.


Mouse cursor frequently disappears On macOS Mojave 10.14.5 through Catalina 10.15.2, my mouse pointer becomes invisible frustratingly often.

The only way to make it visible again is to enter Mission Control or to click on the middle part of the menu bar at the top of the screen, where there isn't a button.

Wiggling the cursor does not make it visible again, but the "enlarge cursor when wiggling" option is on.

Changing the cursor size does not prevent this problem.

Resetting NVRAM does not noticeably fix this problem.

I am using a MacBook pro with retina display mid-2015.

The problem happens on both trackpad and mouse

I have this problem sometimes with 10.14.6.  I can fix it by moving the mouse to one of my hot corners (e.g. start screensaver) or by clicking on one of the top menu items.  Basically I move it all the way to an edge of the screen even though I can't see it, and then trigger a response.
It's still pretty aggravating, but at least I can get back on my way pretty fast.


4k vs 5k Monitor as "Retina" on older MacPro I am currently running my MacPro (late 2010) with a 30" (2840 pix wide) and often an old iMac 27 as a secondary display.

I'd really like to upgrade to something more crisp - the difference on my MBP Retina is huge.

I thought about getting an Eizo 32" 4k - but it will obviously not be as crisp as the 5k models that usually come around as 27".

Does someone have experiences in these scenarios? It's virtually impossible to find that in the store to test before ordering.

Main application is software development, so usually heavy on text editing, with some graphics works in between. Real space is always rare, but I tend to like a bit bigger fonts lately...

(Graphics card is an eVGA GF GTX 680, main memory is maxed out)

In case anyone comes across this question - here's what I made out of it. Given that the graphics card might get to its limits with 4k anyway, I chose to give the Eizo 3237 a try with the 4k resolution at 140 DPI. Running on native resolution is small but crisp, as expected.

Using HiDPI modes and scaling up works really nice as long as you don't hit your nose onto the screen.

Quality-wise this thing is an instant buy - although I might be biased as Eizo monitors have never failed to make me happy in the past (had a couple of good other ones as well - though I'd rank them a bit below in terms of perceived quality).