Use iOS dictation on macOS There is a huge difference in voice recognition accuracy between macOS and iOS. I don't know if this is because I use dictation more frequently on iOS or because they use a different engine on the two systems. To benefit from the good results on iOS I dictate my texts to Notes on iOS and paste it to whatever app on macOS by using the virtual clipboard (aka Handoff). But that is not a very smooth workflow.
Is there any way to use iOS dictation on macOS? Or to transfer some sort of "user database" from iOS to macOS? Must be a common problem.
(I still use macOS Mojave 10.14.6. But I can't imagine that Catalina will make any difference…)

No. (Not yet) I would make sure you optimize your microphone setup and then retest to be sure the results are reproducible.

My educated guess is the Apple Silicon chips in iOS give Siri and edge over Macs without T2 chips even on those, you may be right and see differences in the two OS.
The thing you can control for now is checking that your microphone for the Mac is as personal and close to your vocal cords as your watch / phone / pad / pod are.
Proper mic makes a massive difference in Siri no matter which engine you use in my experience. The ability to be close due to size and also different hardware makes the biggest difference for me.
I would probably not use Bluetooth microphone for your tests either. Hard wire is best for Siri if you can accommodate it.


Custom finder shortcut keys Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a way to add shortcuts to open a particular folder in Save Dialogs and Finder Windows?

Is it possible to set custom shortcut keys for finder, for example at the moment we have CMD+Shift+A to go to Applications, could finder be programmed to CMD+Shift+S for sites for example?

I believe the only way to do this is by using a third party utility. You will need an app where you can assign an applescript to a shortcut. A few examples of these apps :

FastScripts

Alfred

You would then create an Applescript/Bash script that will open that folder and assign the shortcut to run that script.


How do I get my computer name to show correctly in the finder? I recently upgraded to Yosemite and following that upgraded to an SSD drive. Life is good and I am happy with everything except that since the upgrades I am seeing a silly variety of names for my computer.

I renamed it to The Shire and now it shows up as The Shire(2) or The Shire(3). No matter how many times I change it back in Preferences > Sharing, it keeps adding all those extra numbers. There are times when I see four or five different iterations of my system - see attached image.

To add insult to injury, the old name of my system, the generic MacBook Pro (5) also shows in the list.

From what I have read this may have something to do with Bonjour, but I have not see any solutions out there for restoring order and correct names to list.

Sage advice is welcome.

I solved this annoying bug by unchecking 'Back to my Mac' and 'Find my Mac' in System Preferences/iCloud.


iMac 27" Screen goes black screen My iMac 27" screen went black on start up after logo, but I could still see my mouse pointer. I've restarted my computer and it is still not helping at all.

I'm running Mavericks 10.9.2 with an i5 processor and 4GB RAM.

Couple things that I've done:

I did a PRAM reset with ⌘, ⌥, P & R at start up and still no luck.
Launched Disk Utilities by holding command & R keys at start up, ran disk diagnostics and got a good message. I also click all repair related buttons and still green message appeared OK.
I booted up into Safe mode and still no luck.
I ran Apple Hardware Testing and the result is good.
I've reinstalled OS X Mavericks and still the same problem.

I'm wondering what would be the possible culprit with this kind of issue?

I've ran into this issue a couple of times now, this is what has resolved the issue each time. Step 5 sometimes returns a "file not found" error and step 6 doesn't always seem to be necessary but has been in some cases.  Regardless, having in their doesn't seem to have an negative effects.

Boot to single user mode (hold ⌘ S while powering on the Mac)
Type and hit return: /sbin/fsck -fy
Type and hit return: /sbin/mount -uw /
Type and hit return: rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow.plist
Type and hit return: rm /Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist
Type and hit return: rm /private/var/db/.AppleUpgrade
Type and hit return: reboot

Assuming all instructions were followed the Mac should reboot and reach the login screen with no trouble.  The instructions above should be followed VERY carefully, with attention paid to spelling and spacing, as there aren't many safeguards in single user mode to prevent you from deleting otherwise necessary files.

If you have access to another Mac and a Firewire/Thunderbolt cable you could boot this Mac in Target Disk Mode ( T while powering on) and connect it to the spare Mac to remove the files from the GUI.  You would need to open the iMac's system volume (default is Macintosh HD) and remove or rename the two files mentioned above in Library/Preferences.

Hopefully that helps!


OS X Yosemite - TCP/IP issues when using manual IP I seem to be having a weird issue on OS X Yosemite (10.10.5) - When I have my wifi connection set to DHCP, everything works fine. But, when I switch to manual IP (even with the exact same IP config that I get from DHCP), routing to internet sites fails. I can ping local computers, but, pinging other sites results in "No route to host". I would appreciate any ideas on how to fix this. Thanks

Edit:
The routes that I have after setting a manual ip are

Routing tables

Internet:
Destination        Gateway            Flags        Refs      Use   Netif Expire
default            192.168.2.144      UGScI           1        0     en1
127                127.0.0.1          UCS             0        0     lo0
127.0.0.1          127.0.0.1          UH              8     2206     lo0
169.254            link#5             UCS             0        0     en1
192.168.2          link#5             UCS             7        0     en1
192.168.2.1        a0:63:91:2:9e:b0   UHLWI           0       88     en1   1195
192.168.2.3        74:d4:35:94:ef:54  UHLWIi          5      302     en1   1140
192.168.2.9        9c:20:7b:c8:9d:f7  UHLWIi          1        0     en1   1188
192.168.2.14       64:27:37:e7:24:51  UHLWI           0        9     en1   1141
192.168.2.100      28:c6:8e:5f:de:82  UHLWI           0       84     en1   1140
192.168.2.140      0:11:32:b:b9:11    UHLWI           0       14     en1   1140
192.168.2.144/32   link#5             UCS             1        0     en1
192.168.2.144      link#5             UHLWIir         2        0     en1
192.168.2.250/32   link#5             UCS             0        0     en1
192.168.2.255      ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff  UHLWbI          0       24     en1

Looks like I am affected by the issue posted here. The proposed solution of adding a new default route works. If anybody else, has a better solution, where I don't have to do that everytime - when I switch between DHCP and Manual - I would love to try it. Thanks

Solution posted there is to add a default route to the router IP

sudo route add default 192.168.x.x


Single-User-Recovery-Mode on High Sierra 10.13.6 Before the High Sierra update to 10.13.6 I was able to boot in single-user-recovery mode by holding Cmd-R-S at startup, but after the latest software update booting while holding Cmd-R-S just enters the regular Single-User Mode on the root volume (like if I pressed only Cmd-S).

Is there a new method or alternative key combination to boot the RecoveryOS in Single-User Mode?

EDIT: booting while holding Cmd-Option-R-S also starts in Single-user mode (not Single-user-recovery mode).

I was having the same issue, this is how I fixed it.

As we are not able to get to Single User Recovery Mode by using the key sequence, Command + R + S at startup to run csrutil disable, it is not taking you to Single User Mode.

Start by booting the computer in standard Single User Mode using Command + S. Once you are at the command-line, run the following command to turn off the dGPU:

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00

Then reboot your computer by running:

reboot

The dGPU has been disabled, so we can now access the GUI recovery mode. On reboot hold Command + R, and it will take us to the GUI recovery mode. Once there, click on Utility menu and open Terminal, here we can run the csrutil command:

csrutil disable

To make the dGPU fix persistent through the next update, make sure to run the nvram command a second time, then reboot by running:

nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00

followed by:

reboot

Boot into Single User Mode with Command + S to continue with the kext moving procedure. Once done, go back to GUI recovery to enable csrutil, then reboot.

Once Mac fully boots, run nvram one last time as sudo:

sudo nvram fa4ce28d-b62f-4c99-9cc3-6815686e30f9:gpu-power-prefs=%01%00%00%00

and do multiple reboots to test the machine boots back up properly. I have no issues now.


Issue: Safari on macOS won't open a new window via keyboard shortcut I can open a new window from the menu bar, but for some reason Safari insists on opening a new tab rather than a new window when using either the default keyboard shortcut or a custom shortcut.
Has anyone run into this issue before? If so, how did you fix it?
Note: I have quit the application multiple times and restarted the computer.

SOLUTION:

"There is a setting in System Preferences > Dock called "Prefer tabs when opening documents". Change this to "Manually"..."
(Solution via Stack exchange)


Wi-fi login Network Accounts are Unavailable I work support and mainly work with PCs so my mac experience is limited. Right now one of the mac laptops we support is not utilizing the wifi at the user login screen and displaying "Network accounts are unavailable." I can login with the local admin and the wifi automatically connects as it should then, but I can't seem to jiggle anything loose to restore the wifi connection at login screen. I would appreciate any help or advice on how to restore this functionality as all of the laptop users need to be connected to the wifi for their domain accounts to be granted access on the laptop.

I presume you mean this error message:

I have had this problem in the past, due to an incorrectly configured DNS on the local machine. If it's only the Wi-Fi that the network accounts are unavailable on (as it was for me), try changing the DNS to point to the correct server for Wi-Fi connections.

networksetup -setdnsservers Wi-Fi <server-ip>


Is it possible to recover a lost stickies note? I use Stickies very much, and some of them are very lengthy and important to me.

Suddenly I lost a sticky which contained crucial information I need to recover. I don't know why it doesn't appear anymore since I don't remember closing it without saving.

Is there any way to recover past stickies? Thank you

I do not know how to solve this problem, but you can use yellow. It is similar to stickies but you can retrieve what you deleted (unless you delete that). Hope this can prevent future mishaps.


Wine menubuilder.exe crash I am trying to install Steam with Wineskin but I get a window showing "winemenubuilder.exe has encountered a serious problem" the log of this crash is here on pastebin

I am using OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Make sure you did exactly this step by step:

Create a new blank wrapper with the latest Wine Engine
Select Install software and click SteamSetup.exe in Downloads or wherever you put it
Go through the setup wizard.
This is where the crash takes place. Force Quit all Wineskin processes.
Launch your wrapper again and click Advanced options
In the EXE flags, type -no-dwrite, tick use Start.exe and change nothing.exe on top to C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe
Now do a test run and see if it worked. Now whenever you launch your wrapper, Steam should launch.


How to charge iPad with one or more USB devices connected? I use my iPad with lightning power cable, to execute live theater lights show through an ArtNet server to DMX dimmers signals in Wi-Fi.

I need to connect two USB devices to it, one keyboard and one USB buttons tables like the Novation to launch a single light scene from keyboard or button USB table, but at the same time I need to continuously charge the iPad because it will work for 10 hours always connected to lights dimmers.

How I can connect two USB devices to the iPad and charge it the same time?

Use the Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F7KJDIM/

It has a USB port and a port for a lightning cable.  Just connect a powered or unpowered hub to the USB A female and attach your instruments to the hub then connect the new Apple powered USB camera kit with everything hooked up, plus the lightning cable to a computer or USB charger.


Remove unnecessary backups from TimeMachine to get space I know that oldest backups are removed automatically when there is no space for new ones on TimeMachine. I use TimeCapsule also for sharing files on WiFi, so I’d like to free some space by removing of unnecessary backups:

Large files which needen’t to be backed up (e. g. image previews of Lightroom over 1 GB). I have excluded them in TM preferences but they are already present in older backups keeping space forever.
Oldest backups I know I will not need. (So to trigger the same as TimeMachine does automatically but earlier than disk gets empty).

You can simply enter Time Machine and select folders, apps, and files and select to delete all backup copies of that item. The command line tmutil compare also gives exhaustive detail of what changed between backup intervals if you don't mind using the terminal and a UNIX shell. Even without shell tools, you can micromanage storage from the Time Machine GUI as follows - quoting Apple's article on Mac Basics: Time Machine:

  You can also enter the Time Machine restore interface and find files that can be removed from the backup drive itself to conserve space. To do this, select the file(s) and from the Action pop-up menu (gear icon) in the Time Machine Finder window choose "Delete All Backups of...". Be sure to only delete files you are sure you won't need or want to restore later.

Next, you can use a tool like BackupLoupe to analyze your Time Machine backups to identify how much space each interval used, how much space your average backup takes, how long it will be to fill the drive at the current rate, etc…

With that level of detail, you can curate your storage needs as little or with as much detail as the situation requires. This tool has helped me figure out problematic backup drives, Macs with filesystem corruption (when each backup is larger than it should, etc…) Once you have visibility on what's being stored, you can delete folders, entire snapshots and configure your backup exclusion lists to be in harmony with your available storage and backup needs.


Why does my iphone 6s not wake up for a phone call? Sometimes when unplugging my iPhone 6s from the charger, the screen stays black without waking up. I have checked and determined that did charge the battery so I know it had a good connection. If I get a phone call (while plugged in or after unplugging) sometimes I can hear the ring tone but the screen is still black and I cannot see to swipe the answer button. I have to hit the home button to make the screen come alive. This happens intermittently and only while plugged in or just after. Anyone else have this experience?

I don't think that I've ever gotten a call on my iPhone 6s while it was charging before, but I can say that some of the little things about the iPhone 6s are buggy, like how some system sounds don't always play.

All that I could recommend is to update to iOS 9.1, as my iPhone 6s is noticeably less buggy on 9.1 than it was on any earlier iOS 9 release.


Will Time Machine backup an iTunes library that's stored on an external HD? As part of a family 'computer shuffle/switcheroo' I'm thinking of repurposing a Mac Mini as a media-server running iTunes (to feed our library of video content to our Apple TVs). However, I will need to store the iTunes library on an external hard drive since the Mac Mini has only a 500GB internal drive and the iTunes library currently exceeds 1TB.

Obviously I would want the iTunes library backed up; all our family computers are backed up to a single 3TB Time Capsule. My concern is whether or not the external drive with the iTunes library would get backed up; AFAIK external drives do not get backed up via Time Machine (am I correct about that?), but I wondered if the the linkage between the iTunes app (residing on the Mac Mini) and its library (on the external) would maybe provide a bridge that would allow the iTunes library to be included in the backup.

Can anyone advise? Thanks.

Yes, Time Machine will backup external drives as well. Just make sure that the drive is not excluded in the settings:

System Preferences > Time Machine > Options…


How to remove open documents from the dock in Mac OS Catalina My dock in Mac OS Catalina shows icons for all open docs in my open apps (Finder, Word, Skim,...)
If I right click on any of these apps and press "Hide" the doc icons disappear from the dock, but the moment I use the app again, they all reappear again. Is there any way to make the doc icons disappear completely. They are shown to the right of my apps in this screenshot:

The behavior shown in the image in your OP is the normal default for macOS when application windows are minimized.

If you do not want to see minimized windows in the Dock, then do the following:

Go to System Preferences > Dock and check the       [√] Minimize windows into application icon checkbox.
In Terminal run the following command: killall Dock

This will restore all the application windows so they are not minimized to the Dock.

Now you can minimize the application windows you do not want to currently see and they will minimize into the application's icon on the Dock, not the the normal default position as shown in the image in your OP.

To then access a minimized window, when in the application, you can go to the Window menu on the menu bar, or either click-hold or right-click on the Application's Dock Tile and select the target window.


Can I link two different kinds of Macs each using different OSes? Is it possible to link (run as one machine) my G5 PowerPC OSX 10.4.6 machine to my G5 INTEL running OSX 10.6.x or higher simultaneously? I want to run differing versions of OS X, and be able to use my Classic apps while still keeping up with Flash Player requirements. How can this be done?

You can't really join seamlessly two separate macs, and have it all just work out of the box, eg having one Intel based Mac that can run the Lastest OS's and One older PowerPC Mac that can run all the Classic OS's and have it all work at the same time  merged into a single OS where all apps just run together.  Something like that may be theoretically possible but it has never been done, and would require Apples full support to do so.

So in other words Paying someone to port your old classic software to  the latest version of OS X would probably be less expensive than the solution necessary for merging two independent operating systems and architectures into one, so lets not even go there any further.

The good news is that there are options that will allow you to independently connect two macs or emulate a classic mac enviroment within an Intel mac.

Options:

Just use both computers (each is working fine why mess with that) and connect them to make it work for you.

Connect them physically and use each one directly. What you could do is get a KVM and an extra monitor to share between them.  A KVM would let you switch one USB keyboard, USB mouse, and monitor between the two Macs at the touch of a button or keyboard stroke. Additionally, the  second monitor could be used as constant output, for example it could be showing video content as a second display from the Intel Mac while you are working on your Classic Apps on the Power PC Mac on the KVM connected / active screen.
Another solution would be to network your two Macs onto the same network and then enable screen sharing or VNC on the Power PC mac and then connect to the Power PC from the Intel Mac, effectively giving you a picture in picture view to your older Power PC mac while working within the Intel Mac.

Use only the newer computer and find an emulation solution to run your legacy classic application on the Intel Mac. For more information on emulating classic on Intel macs see How to run Classic (pre OS X) apps on Intel Macs

Sheepshaver seems to be the goto solution for emulating Classic OS, so if your software can work within "MacOS 7.5.2 thru 9.0.4" than this should be able to do it for you.


My iPhone 6s is glitching like mad after the iOS 11 update, what should I do? Specifically, after I unlock my device many phantom buttons are being pressed and random apps are being opened by accident and things like that. Additionally, many specific clicks that I make have a massive time lag, which mixed with phantom clicks creates sheer havoc.

It's basically unusable at this point, I can't text, navigate any app properly, or even pick a phone call. I have tried restarting more than a few times to no avail.

The way I see it, these are my options:

Somehow uninstall the new iOS, I was perfectly happy with the last one.
Go to iCare and ask them to fix it, need to double check but I think I still have warranty. If I don't, then what?
Keep restarting it and poking it till something happens

Please say that someone has better suggestions?

The first thing I’d try is downloading and installing the iOS 11.01 update.

To install the update over-the-air, go to Settings > General > Software Update.

For more information, refer to: iOS 11.0.1: What’s New Or Changed?

Finally, if you get absolutely desperate you may want to consider Downgrading iOS 11.0.1 To iOS 10.3.3 / iOS 10, though the window for doing this will be short!

Long term, like any iOS problem where multiple apps are misbehaving, you can always erase all content and settings after you have a good backup to make sure it’s not your settings. If the glitches continue, then restoring the device will get you a clean speedy iOS or the knowledge you need a hardware repair.


Connect 3 iMac 21" Screens together? What's the best solution to connect 3 iMac screens together so they're all usable as one large screen.

I currently have 2 iMac's connected together via a single thunderbolt to thunderbolt cable (Which works fine, mouse goes between the 2 screens etc).

However my 3 iMacs only have 1 thunderbolt port each so there's no spare port to connect the 3rd screen.
Similar image to the ports available on the 3 iMacs:

What you will need is splitter so you can connect 2 displays to your Thunderbolt port so you can use the both iMac with Target Display Mode.

It's the only way to use these iMacs as screens.


How do I make the hard drive visible in the Finder? On OS X Lion I don't see the hard drive in the Finder and I seem to have no permission to create a folder under / from terminal.

I know I can do this if I activate the root user, but I need to be able to see the directories I have created under / in the Finder.

How can I be able to make my main hard drive visible in the Finder?

While in the Finder, go to the "Finder" menu and select "Preferences".
From the "General" tab, place a check next to "Hard disks" -- this will make your hard drive visible on the Desktop.
From the "Sidebar" tab under "Devices" again place a check next to "Hard disks" -- this will put your hard drive in the sidebar of any finder window, and should also add it to "Open", "Save", and "Save As..." dialog sheets (as well as others)

If you are an administrator on the computer you should have no trouble adding files and folders to the root directory (/)


Why isn't Alt-Tab working for switching windows of the same app? In my MacBook Pro running Lion, I use Command + Tab to switch apps, and Alt1 + Tab for switching windows within an app.

In my work iMac, also running Lion, Alt + Tab isn't doing anything, and I can't find any setting for that. Also, I dont remember tweaking anything in the MacBook Pro to get this to work.

note 1 - Alt is the same as Option on most Mac keyboards, but mine just has Alt printed.

Try Command + ` (backtick). That is the default.


Where can I find public domain images of the latest Apple products for commercial use? I would like to use the images from Apple websites and don’t know how to contact and get permission to use some images from Apple.

Are there ways to get written permission to use these images commercially?

Generally, you should be able to find Apple product images on the official website along with applicable license and applicable usage guidelines/restrictions. However, they are all copyrighted and trademark protected, so you want a lawyer to advise you and not people on the internet, no matter how reasonable we seem.

Most comprehensive information is on Apple’s legal page covering Apple Intellectual Property: https://www.apple.com/legal/intellectual-property/

Once you are set on trademark, copyright and permitted uses, other places to look are:

Apple Newsroom Archive: Search for the product announcement news item for the product you are looking for (e.g. here's the link to the news item for the recently announced 16" MacBook Pro), and you'd find the images made available by Apple.
App Store Marketing Resources and Identity Guidelines Webpage: You can find the product image templates here, with blank screens. The images can be used as per the terms of license for marketing your own software.

The contact information for Apple PR personnel is also generally made available with the Newsroom item. You can also find the relevant contact information on the Apple Contact Us webpage.


How to shorten startup time after Lion to Mountain Lion upgrade? I have been looking for answers since and have seen a few that say I need to do a fresh install and whatnot. I am simply unhappy with the fact that I just bought a brand new laptop that got a free Mountain Lion upgrade and now regretting it because the startup time is over 1 minute.

I'm not a techy person and I don't know how to do a fresh install. I refuse to do so if I have to pay for another Mountain Lion download.

How to fix the slow computer start, to make start up time as it was before?

Once you've paid once for an OS upgrade, you own the right to download the OS again at any time. Reinstalling will not require another purchase. If you wish to try your luck with a fresh in a fresh install, consider watching TLDToday's video series:

How to Create a Bootable Mountain Lion 10.8 USB Install Thumb Drive

How to Clean Install OS 10.8 Mountain Lion


Is there a way to force iTunes 11 to update tags? Is there any way to force iTunes 11 to rescan the music library and update the information for any tags that have been changed outside of iTunes? I know that selecting a single track and then 'Get Info" will force an update for that track, but it doesn't seem to work with multiple tracks.

From the MusicBrainz iTunes Guide:

  Updating Library in iTunes

  Brute force method (full library re-scan)

  This method works best if
    - you've re-tagged a whole lot of your files and don't remember which files/albums
    - or there are far too many for the first approach
    - or you've moved/renamed files and iTunes has lost them

  Ready?

  Go to File > Add Folder to Library
  Point it at the top of your iTunes directory ("My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Music" on Windows, by default).
  iTunes will rescan your music, but recognize it's already imported, so you shouldn't end up with duplicate files (unless you have moved/renamed files)

You can also refresh a selection of songs by following the AppleScript based solution (on the same page linked above):

  Mac-only advanced method

  This method is a bit more complicated to set up, but easy to use.

  Fire up Script Editor (which is under Applications/AppleScript, but it will work with TextEdit). Paste the following code, then save as a Script called /Library/iTunes/Scripts/Refresh.scpt (create the Scripts directory if it doesn't already exist).

    tell application "iTunes"
     refresh selection
    end tell

  Now, inside iTunes, you should see a Scripts menu (an icon of a scroll, just left of Help). The "Refresh" item on that menu will force it to re-read the tags for all tracks that you have selected.


Quit is grayed out in Mail My Mail has the Quit menu item disabled, and it doesn't allow me to quit it.

I know that similar question has been asked here before, but it doesn't have any positive answer.

It happens very sporadic so I cannot understand what causes it.

The only way to quit Mail is to force-quit it in Activity monitor. After that mail works normally.

What I remember from day before is that I did try to move a group of mail to another folder using the rules and that got stuck.

Looking in the Console I find this as most recent mail activity. There is a huge report attached to it, so I won't publish it here unless requested.

  8/1/13 9:16:44.356 AM sandboxd[6335]: ([6153]) Mail(6153) deny file-issue-extension

Also looking in the Console from day before here is what Mail reported.

MBA with OS 10.8.4 and Mail 6.5

One of two things has happened to make Mail non-responsive during the normal quit process.

The entire program has hung (and you will see it as non-responsive in Activity Monitor or the Force Quit dialog window).
Mail's background threads for interacting with mail servers have hung and not timed out (and you can open the Activity Window from Mail's Window Menu) to see what specific account and perhaps even what it's trying to do (such as delete messages, send mail, update or synchronize a folder, etc…)

Once the quit menu is dim - you can either force quit the app, wait for it ti finish quitting or log out of that user (perhaps by rebooting) but you can be sure the Mail program is trying to quit at this point so you can continue to use it or decide to help it down as you see fit.


Replace German keyboard of Macbook Pro MC700 I have a German Macbook Pro, but I dont really like the keyboard layout, I would like to replace about 15 keys to make it easier for typing. Is it possible to do so ? And where can I find the black cover of the key (Do I need to buy the white scissors below the black cover as well ???)

You can replace the entire keyboard. See how to tear down macbook pro unibody.


Migration from PC to iMac not working I have my first iMac and cannot get the migration from my PC to work.

I have been told that it is difficult if I have already started using my computer. Can I just start from scratch from when I took the computer out of the box? Can I delete anything I've done and use the migration manager. My emails and my husband's music has transferred? I am not real computer literate so please keep that in mind when answering.

Here is the things you might want to do before wiping the partially set up mac to get back to the automatic migration step described in this other answer

Open the Mac App store and make sure you're signed in to the Apple ID you want to "own" the iLife and iWork apps. Once you've signed in and accepted the license agreement, you can wipe the Mac following this instruction and try the "clean migration" with no user accounts on the Mac to delay/reduce the transfer from PC.
Copy any documents to an external USB drive before erasing things
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904 - choose the erase install and use Internet Recovery to do the erase with no drives connected.

Also, you get phone support with a new Mac. You can do your best on these steps and then call to get a human to make sure you're on the right track with the erase / migration. https://apple.com/support


How do I delete a specific cookie by name in Safari? I opted into an experimental new Stack feature (coming soonish!), and now I want to opt back out. To do so, all I have to do is delete a cookie called purple. It should be easy. Just go to Safari preferences, privacy, cookie details, and...

...hum.

I don't want to delete all of my Stack Exchange cookies, just the one I know the name of. Can I delete this cookie through Safari? If not, where do Safari's cookies live, so I can delete it by hand?

You can still see individual cookies using Safari in developer mode.  Go to "Safari-->Preferences-->Advanced" and enable "Show Develop menu in menu bar".  Navigate to the webpage that holds the cookie you are looking to remove.  Go to Develop in the menu bar and "Show web inspector".  On the left hand side there will be a folder "Cookies" that holds the data from that site.  You can right click them and delete certain ones.


How can I see progress in BackupLoupe? I'm relieved to discover that BackupLoupe exists, probably for the same reason everyone else is: Time Machine Restores correct system errors but wipe all recent data from your hard drive. BackupLoupe allows you to put it back.

Unfortunately BackupLoupe does not automatically merge the contents of a folder that you want to restore - you have to either delete the existing folder you're restoring or restore millions of files individually. Obviously, merge is what everyone wants (but we don't get it). This should be a function of Time Machine (but that is a product from the software makers at Apple.)

BackupLoupe is a buggy program, and I find that after a comparison, I need to restart the program and scan a backup just to see any changes. Also, things simply disappear from the screen. Nevertheless, it is probably our ONLY option to combat the ruthless simplicity of Time Machine.

But I at least want to know if a process has begun in BackupLoupe, and see a percentage, timer and list of what is happening, preferably a check mark next to each restored file, subfolder and folder in real time. IS there a setting that allows me to monitor what is happening? Are there are settings that make this vital tool work intuitively that I should know about?
Thanks

I like to use BackupLoupe to locate the files I want to restore and not actually do the lifting.

Once you have a Finder window - you could use Finder to show you the progress of the copy or even use a tool custom designed for syncing folders that can be paused / stopped / resumed.

http://www.kaleidoscopeapp.com does file merges primarily but it's also nice for syncing folders
https://www.panic.com/transmit/ is another wizard level program for managing files and copying them - it's also not exclusively for local copies but does that well.
I like to use BackupLoupe to locate the files I want to restore and not actually do the lifting.

So in a nutshell, get a file moving tool and let BackupLoupe do the indexing / searching is my advice.


How can I get the resources under Mac OSX like windows? In windows I can get the resources by using the below method:

How can I get the resources under Mac OSX ?

I find the solution.

1.Finder Command + K -> Go to Server.

2.Then type in the server address.

3.Connect it.


My iPhone is protected by password, is it possible for the thief to restore factory setting? I quickly activated lost mode in find my iPhone. I worried that the thief managed to restore factory setting before I do that. The thing is before I put lost mode, I disable the 3G dataplan following a stupid advice from my families.

That means my iPhone will never know that it should turn on its kill switch because it will never connect to the internet. What about if the thief restore to factory setting before connecting to the internet?

find my iphone is ALWAYS ON. I never turned that off. I am concerned that the thief just turn of the iPhone, never access internet and then restore factory setting before I turn on lost mode.

My wish is for the phone to be returned and the thief to get the thief to jail. I am willing to pay the price of the iPhone for that to happen.

To restore a device using iTunes, iTunes itself requires an internet connection. Furthermore, the status of Find My iPhone is obtained from the device as well as Apple's servers—iTunes knows if the device you're attempting to restore has Find My iPhone enabled and will prevent the device from being restored. The only way to restore a device with Find My iPhone is to put it in Recovery/DFU mode, but then when the device is finished restoring, Activation Lock will be enabled when the device connects to Apple's servers which is required when setting up the phone.


Can't run an ova file I download virtual box from http://www.modern.ie/en-US/virtualization-tools#downloads and extracted it. When I tried to run ova file, I couldn't.

$ sudo ./"IE11 - Win8.1.ova"
./IE11 - Win8.1.ova: ./IE11 - Win8.1.ova: cannot execute binary file

$ ./"IE11 - Win8.1.ova"
-bash: ./IE11 - Win8.1.ova: cannot execute binary file

$ ls -l "IE11 - Win8.1.ova"
-rwx------  1 alex  staff  3834711040 Mar 28 15:02 IE11 - Win8.1.ova

The same failure from Finder, it said

There is no application set to open the document “IE11 - Win8.1.ova”.

You can't run .ova files from Terminal as they are not a binary file, hence the error. ova files are for VirtualBox, so you need VirtualBox to be able to open the file. Download VirtualBox from virtualbox.org.


Add big green check mark to Keynote presentation I'm using Keynote '09 for the first time, and I find myself wanting some bits of clip art or additional shapes. At the moment, I just want a big check mark. It's hard to believe that this isn't provided, but I can't find it.

Most fonts have a check mark dingbat. In a text box, type in option v to see it. Then change the color to green like you would any other text.

For additional clip at, look at the dingbat fonts already be installed on your system. Some common ones are webdings, wingdings and zapf dingbats.


Why doesn't OS X Spotlight search inside .json files? I am trying to search a folder for an ID number. The folder contains various different file types. The ID can be found in several .json files, but non of them show up.

If I rename the .json file to .json2 or .jsont then the files show up in the search:

If I try and use terminal and mdfind it is the same, .json files wouldn't show up when searching for the ID.

Is there some setting I need to change such that spotlight/mdfind will search inside .json files? Or will I have to rename all files?

Note: Some of the .json files are quite large (~16 MB). Does this matter?

You could try adding JSON to the Spotlight RichText importer.  The process for XHTML is described here, and should be analogous for JSON:

http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-archive/2013Jun/0079.html


How to merge partition in macos catalina I want to merge two partitions in mac but can't answer on internet please help
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     314.6 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk3         350.0 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_APFS Container disk2         75.0 GB    disk0s3
   4:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         75.0 GB    disk0s4

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +75.0 GB    disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s4
   1:                APFS Volume Untitled                761.9 KB   disk1s1

/dev/disk2 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +75.0 GB    disk2
                                 Physical Store disk0s3
   1:                APFS Volume Projects                27.1 GB    disk2s1

/dev/disk3 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +350.0 GB   disk3
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD            11.0 GB    disk3s1
   2:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD - Data     220.0 GB   disk3s2
   3:                APFS Volume Preboot                 81.4 MB    disk3s3
   4:                APFS Volume Recovery                535.7 MB   disk3s4
   5:                APFS Volume VM                      1.1 GB     disk3s5

I agree with Gilby's answer with respect to having the Projects volume stored in the same container as the Macintosh HD volume. This answer involves merging while attempting to preserve the Projects volume in a separate partition.  Here, I assume there is no data to be saved on the Untitled volume. You can not directly merge the partition containing the Untitled volume into the partition containing the Macintosh HD volume, because the partition containing the Projects volume is between these two partitions. This answer will clone the Projects volume to the partition containing the Untitled volume, then merge the partition that contained the original Projects volume into the partition containing the Macintosh HD volume

The example used in this answer was taken from a virtual machine with Catalina installed on a much smaller internal drive. The drive was not encrypted.

The steps to clone and merge are given next.

Click on the Disk Utility window and then press the ⌘+1 key combination to insure the proper sidebar is displayed, as shown below.

First, highlight the Untitled volume shown in the sidebar, then select the Restore button. For Restore from:, select the Projects volume, as shown below.

Finally, select the Restore button in the popup window. When finished, select the Done button. I needed to quit and open the Disk Utility to see the results. There should now be two Projects volumes, as shown below.

Highlight the first Projects volume shown in the sidebar, then select the Partition button. If necessary, select the Partition button in the popup window. With the partition containing the original Projects volume highlighted in the pie chart, select the - button. The result is shown below.

Next, select the Apply button, then the Partition button. When finished, select the Done button. I quit and opened the Disk Utility to be sure I was seeing the correct results. There should now be one Projects volume, as shown below.

You are finished.
Instructions When Projects Volume Is Formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)

Since your Projects Volume is APFS formatted, you can ignore the instructions below.

Before proceeding with the numbered steps given above, first execute the following instructions. Click on the Disk Utility window and then press the ⌘+2 key combination to insure the proper sidebar is displayed, as shown below.

Note: Your container numbering may different.

Next, highlight the container for the Untitled volume shown in the sidebar, then select the Erase button. For Format:, select the Mac OS Extended (Journaled), as shown below.

Finally, select the Erase button in the popup window. When finished, select the Done button. I needed to quit and open the Disk Utility to see the results. The Untitled volume should no longer be in a container, as shown below.

You can now proceed with the numbered steps given above.


Check if apps have been transferred in iPad backup to iTunes I just backed up my iPad 1st Gen into iTunes on my MacBook Pro, but I need to make sure all my apps have been transferred. How can I check this?

You could use an app such as iPhone / iPod Touch Backup Extractor (for Mac) and iPhone Backup Extractor (for Windows) to check the backup to make sure that the files that you require have been successfully backed up.

If necessary, you could attempt to restore the files to be certain that you have access to them.


Apple MacBook Air battery I noticed a very interesting aspect about the MacBook air's battery over the years. I bought a MacBook Air 2013, and recently I replaced it with the new MacBook Air 2018 13 inch Retina display.

I ran coconut battery on both devices, and surprisingly the 2013 MacBook Air had a design capacity of 7150 mah, while my 2018 MacBook Air has a design capacity of only 4381 mah!! Both my macbook's battery are in perfect condition.

So what is going on here? Obviously every year the MacBook gets better battery life, so is the battery usage just more efficient as time goes on? Thanks for any reply.

EDIT: I just have a bad feeling my new MacBook has a defect. Does anyone else have the 2018 MacBook Air and have a bigger battery? If so I'm returning this computer for sure.

I also just upgraded my old MacBook Air 2013 (cpu i7-4650U) with MacBook Air 2019 13' (cpu i5-8210Y) and mine new mac shows me 4381 mAh too. I think Apple reduced the battery capacity to decrease physical battery size. Why? If we'll compare this 2 CPUs:  i7-4650U and i5-8210Y we'll see that max TDP (aprox. shows cpu power consumption) is 7W while for i7-4650U it's 15W which is more than twice more. This can explain why Apple reduced the battery capacity almost twice.

CPUs comparison: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/Intel-i5-8210Y-vs-Intel-i7-4650U/3402vs1955


Does the iPhone have a disabled chip for FM Radio? This commentator writes:

  The iPhone 6 has an FM receiver chip Apple disables, forcing you to use iTunes…

My question is: Does the iPhone 6 have a disabled chip capable of receiving FM Radio?

I wouldn't have believed a single ranting tweet, but the UK's Daily Mail also covered this recently - so it's actually likely to be true, for any given value of 'true'
[my own opinions on the Mail's foil-hat, ranty, opinionated style aside…]

The FM radio hidden in your SMARTPHONE: Mobile manufacturers are denying users the chance to listen to radio for free


Why would my external USB3 drive (a Drobo) keep getting disconnected? I have a mac mini (Mid 2011) running High Sierra (10.13.4) that I've been trying to use a home server. I'm not sure what the cause is, but my external USB drive (a 3rd-gen 4-drive Drobo) keeps disconnected after 16-48 hours. The Drobo is out of warranty and since June 2017 Drobo doesn't provide any community support so I haven't been able to figure out if the issue originates with the device. Aside from power cycling (which isn't the cause in my case) what might cause a USB drive to disconnect ?

Are you using the USB cable that came with the Drobo? I know I got a bad one with my Drobo 5D that Drobo had to replace. I also recall some discussion a few years back about issues with Drobos sometimes disconnecting when the host went to sleep. Is your Mini set to never sleeps do not to sleep the connected drives?

I’m using a Thunderbolt connection with my 2012 Mini so my only USB/Drobo experience is a 5D with Windows 10.


What is the easiest way to move images, clipboard, links from iOS to a Windows PC and vice versa? I've used PushBullet in the past but it's been so neglected and now barely works.

What can I use today to accomplish this task?

Im using Shareit - free app for iphone + free program for win. Works very fast. Only of course have some adverts as free version.


Personal Hotspot not forwarding DNS requests to the interent on iPhone 7 with IOS 11 I have been using my iPhone 7 plus as a personal hotspot since I bought it.  The hotspot worked fine with IOS 10.  After upgrading my iPhone to IOS 11, the personal hotspot now exhibits the following behavior: It lets one or more devices connect to the personal hotspot but will not forward DNS requests to the internet.  All web pages show "unable to connect".  If I had a browser open to web pages prior to connecting the computer to the iPhone's hotspot, those webpages can still be browsed because the system cached the IP address of the site's domain.

This happens regardless whether I connect via wireless, Bluetooth, or USB.   If I turn off the personal hotspot and turn it back on, all devices easily reconnect, but the behavior repeats: no DNS requests go through.  It does not matter whether the tethered device is a laptop, tablet or IOT device.  The behavior is the same.

I've done all of the usual folk-remedy "fixes" like restarting the phone, resetting network settings, recreating the hotspot name & password, and so forth with no change.  I've hard-coded google's DNS servers into the DNS settings of the IP4 and IP6 network settings into the laptop with no success.

Any point in the right direction would be appreciated.

I have a similar problem with my Android phone, the working fix that I googled up was to edit manually APN settings and assure that "APN type" for APN used for data traffic reads "default,supl,dun". (It had been "default,supl")


Any Problem in Letting iPhone 4 Battery Drop to 0? Is there any problem if I let my iphone 4 battery drops to 0%? I remember for older smartphones, once your battery flattens out all your data is lost, because they are stored in memory.

While I understand that iphone shouldn't have this problem, but I wonder whether is there any problem if the battery goes flat?

Not really. You won't suffer any data loss because the iPhone keeps everything on non-volatile flash memory. A complete discharge isn't great for the battery, but as long as it's not a regular habit your phone will be OK.


How I can save the Skype chat history from my iPad? How I can save the Skype chat history from my ipad?
It does not matter in what format, for example as a text file.

In my ipad, I have a chat history, which is very important for me. This chat history includes several years of communication (so to copy it manually is extremely difficult, because it is impossible to select and copy a large amount of text in Skipe on an iPad, but only one message at a time). I still don't update from iOS 6.1.3, in order to avoid losing this chat history. I can not find the answer anywhere.

It would be nice if Skype (Microsoft) synched the message history from your iDevices to your Mac where it is easily accessible, but I suspect they don't.

In the meanwhile you can try a trial version of something like iExplorer (https://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/) which can access most/all files created on iDevices and try to locate your Skype message history.


BigSur Notes app - how to search for 'aws'? When I search for 'aws' in Notes app, it shows all matches for 'was'.
This pretty much makes it impossible to find notes with 'aws', given that vast majority of my notes have the word 'was' in them.  How can I turn off this strange behavior?

You can try searching using Spotlight Search. Spotlight searches Notes and will list the Notes it finds. I just tried it and it found "aws" in my Notes. And it didn't include "was".


How to reduce photos in iPhoto while keeping metadata? I got carried away taking high-res and RAW photos, and now my iPhoto Library is just too big. Most of these photos aren't good enough to take up that much space,  but they're still good enough to keep. How can I reduce the sizes of my photos while maintaining iPhoto metadata (e.g., albums, rating, location) for them?

Extra props if:

I can do it as a batch process.
I can exclude certain photos from the reduction (e.g., only reduce photos without 5 stars).
It gracefully handles the relationship between the modified and original photos.

Short Answer, Automator:

Long Answer: iPhoto cannot create a smart album based upon File Size, so you'll have to either group them by other means or manually create an Album with the offending photos (the big ones). Automator, on the other hand, is perfectly capable of finding iPhoto images by size (and by Rating stars).

The first thing you have to decide is: Do I want to scale my images down? Do I want to make them JPG instead of whatever format they have? Do I want to do both for maximum effect? That is, you have to decide what's the best optimization for your photos that has a balance between quality/size.

Each of those have consequences:  if you don't save a copy of the original photo, and the resulting quality is not something you like, there's no turn back (unless you have a TimeMachine or similar backup of course).

In any case, Launch Automator, create a new "Workflow" and add the following actions:

NOTE: I've removed the "Make copy" actions that Automator asks you to place by default when an operation will "affect" files, but leave those to "experiment" so you don't alter
your original images, at least until you're satisfied with the results.

I suggest you try with a small set of images before going Coo-Coo with the whole Library. As in create a small album with some of the "big" images and try from there. You don't want to wreck your iPhoto library…

This should preserve all the metadata and original photo, while making a Batch adjustment.

If you have programs like Pixelmator or Acorn, you will have more automator stuff there. The more the merrier.


How to format a USB drive and increase its available size? I have a 32 GB USB flash drive which is currently formatted to 261 MB:

How can I reformat/erase that USB drive so that I access all 30.75 GB of it?
Disk utility won't let me change the size of the partition to 30.75 GB.
Update 1: I erased the drive. At the end, there was this dialog box.

Update 2: I took the path of least resistance and changed the size of the drive to 30 GB on a Windows machine (discmgmt.dsc utility).

If you can you might trying erasing the disk and then reformat it. You will, of course, lose everything written to disk. If you want to keep what's on the disk you could copy it you main drive. Disk utility allows you to erase the disk and then reformat it.
After opening Disk Utility go to the Edit menu and at the top of the panal you'll see option to erase, partition, and other commands.


What is the difference between AirPrint, Bonjour and Rendezvous? While know what AirPrint does, I am confused about what it is. It claims to be a bunch of technology standards used together such as mDNS, IPP and multicasting. However, the term Bonjour is also thrown around as well, which also appears to be based on the same technologies. What makes it even more confusing is that Bonjour is just a rebrand of Rendezvous.
Is AirPrint a rebrand of Bonjour, the same way Bonjour is a rebrand of Rendezvous, or is AirPrint distinct from Bonjour?

First Rendezvous = Bonjour = unicast DNS
I forget why the name changed from Rendezvous, something about what Apple (used to) call it and what everyone else called it. It’s a server less DNS solution so devices can query locally, self-assemble, and discover services without needing a pre-configured DNS server / database.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicast_DNS
http://www.multicastdns.org/

AirPrint is a standard Wireless Printing protocol so that diverse printers all look like a standard printer, eliminating the need for specific drivers for specific printers. In the same way that LPR (Line Printer Protocol)is a printing protocol as well as IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). Here’s some Apple support / marketing information:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201311 (AirPrint specifics)
https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment-reference-ios/intro-to-bonjour-apd0401947ff/web (Bonjour DNS)

Per wikipedia: "AirPrint is based on mDNS (Bonjour, more specifically) and Internet Printing Protocol (IPP)."(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_printing_protocols#Wireless_protocols)


Pages 5.5.2: How do I remove the light gray line between two columns in a table? I've inserted a 2 column Table into my Pages document. How would I remove the very faint light gray line that appears between the columns? This line is not just a formatting feature but shows up when I export the document to PDF.

OK, I figured out how to toggle gridlines. I am still unsure why the text appears differently in the table versus outside the table, despite sharing the same font and size.


Can you whitelist certain words from being auto-corrected? I'm aware you can turn off autocorrect entirely. However I feel like Rick & Morty is popular enough to warrant its exclusion from being autocorrected to Marty.

Is there any way to override/prevent auto-correct for specific words?

Generally, you can tap the little × in the autocorrect bubble to block the autocorrect (or pick the left-most choice if using Predictive). Do this enough times and iOS will learn your typing habits and stop trying to correct that word.

For a more permanent solution, you can also add that word into your systemwide custom dictionary.

On iOS, open Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacement → +
Under Phrase enter Morty. Then either leave the Shortcut field blank, or enter morty in lowercase so the name gets capitalized automatically.

Note that these text replacements synchronize across your iOS and macOS devices over iCloud. However if you also want to add a word on macOS, it’s under  → System Preferences → Keyboard → Text.


Invoke Perl script in Windows from OS X I have a Perl script written in Windows and an AppleScript written in OS X. I want the AppleScript to invoke the Perl script that is residing in Windows. How can I do this?

Assuming you have access to the file from your Mac system, for example through a shared folder, you would run it locally (through Terminal) like this:

perl /path/to/windows/shared/folder/scriptname.pl

In AppleScript this would be something like:

do shell script "/usr/bin/perl /path/to/windows/shared/folder/scriptname.pl

However, this still executes the Perl script from your local Mac instance. If you want to actually invoke it on the Windows server, that's a different ballgame. This would require you to setup remote access, through for example SSH or IIS on the Windows machine.


OSX Second monitor/display background Is it possible to change the display default image on a second display connected to an Apple running OSX 10.6. ? I can see all the display options for the desktop, but the 2nd display has the Apple Desktop picture 'Apple/Nature/Aurora as a default.  The only way I can find of changing this is to select mirroring on displays and then choose an alternative, which will display on both screens.  Turn mirroring off then 'Aurora' returns, but the desktop will reflect the new change.
kind regards
Ric

@Rick - With Mirroring turned off, when you open System Preferences and click Desktop & Screen Saver, you should see a window open in each display that allows you to select a distinct background image for each display.

Mac 101: Change your desktop


How do I stop iTunes from automatically assigning a hollow star rating to podcasts? I’m having a problem with podcasts in iTunes. Here’s how it seems to work:

I listen to a few episodes of a podcast, rating them as I go. (I use the 2-star rating to mark podcasts for deletion once I’ve listened to them. I use higher star ratings for podcasts I want to keep.)
Once I’ve rated a few (I’m not sure how many), iTunes seems to give the podcast’s “album” a default average rating. This is shown via hollow stars, as opposed to the filled stars for user-assigned ratings.
This rating gets assigned to all episodes of that podcast, which means:

Episodes of this podcast no longer show up in my “unrated” smart playlist
If the automatic average rating is two stars, episodes of this podcast show up in my “To delete” list.

Is there any way to stop iTunes doing this auto-rating? Maybe a plist setting or something?

I'm not aware of any way to turn this off. Perhaps you could work around this issue by giving the podcast "album" a rating of 3 stars?

Then your smart playlist for delete could check for 2 star rating. Your smart playlist for "unreated" would check for 3 star rating. Your smart playlist for "keeper" could be 4+ stars…


How to upgrade to latest macOS with a clean install? I have found several guides on how to put the installer on external media using this command:

sudo /Applications/Install\ macOS\ Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled/ --nointeraction

However, when I run that command I get the error:

  To use this tool, you must download the macOS installer application on
  a Mac with 10.12.5 or later, or El Capitan 10.11.6. For more
  information, please see the following:
  https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201372.

I'm running 10.11.6, but when I follow that support article I get led in a circle - back to the App Store, which downloaded an 11 MB installer which led to the above error in the first place.

The only other thing I find is some third party web site that I am supposed to trust, to install their own tool to do the download. I am not going to install and trust such third party software. All I need to do is download the full version of the installer. Surely Apple must provide this somehow, since their own command is referring me to their own documentation (which strangely doesn't tell me how to download the whole installer in a way that works!)

How do I get the full installer?

Note: This may seem like a duplicate of this question which is marked as a duplicate of this question. But all of the answers for those question either don't work (lead me in a circle back to the App Store which downloads a tiny installer even after I delete it and try again) or refer me to a third piece of software that I'm not going to trust.

To perform a clean install, try using Internet recovery.

About macOS Recovery

  Newer Mac computers and some older Mac computers automatically try to start up from macOS Recovery over the Internet when unable to start up from the built-in recovery system. When that happens, you see a spinning globe instead of an Apple logo during startup. To manually start up from macOS Recovery over the Internet, press and hold Option-Command-R or Shift-Option-Command-R at startup. Learn more about these key combinations.


iphone x and lens for camera - should I be worried about scratches I just got a new iPhone X and am curious if I should protect it from scratching the lens. I am using an Element Case to protect but is this enough for the lens of the camera too? thx

Most surface scratches on any camera lens don’t matter a huge amount due to how light focuses. That being said, you’ll want to not scuff too badly or crack the housing. Apple has had a long time to get the hardness right on the glass and cameras, so I would expect you’d have a low chance of issues - especially if you have a case.

Drops to the body (to the ground from a table / case or not) and internal failure are much more likely to compromise image quality than a physical failure of the lens.

Also note - even without a case, the physica of the metal band surrounding the camera make it very hard to hit the part of the glass where the sensor / light enter. Nothing is going to stop an ice pick or diamond ring that targets “ground zero” on the cover, but most unintentional drops and scrapes should be away from the light path by design.


Stolen iPhone - Activation Lock email I got my iPhone 6 stolen in Brazil a few weeks ago. It had a pass-code and 2 factor authentication.

Unfortunately the pass-code was set to only be required every 4 hours so if the thief kept the phone unlocked every now and again we could assume he/she has access to it. The phone was also in air-plane mode when it was stolen.

I immediately used a friends phone to access my iCloud and set up the "erase" option when the phone connected to the internet. I changed my apple password and informed my network provider.

I just got an email saying that "Activation Lock is requesting your password". On iCloud it still stated "erase pending" and that it will happen when the phone next connects to the internet.

Surely the activation lock request means the iPhone had to connect to the internet?? Why didn't it start erasing itself??

I've now changed it to lost mode to see if that does anything but it says "lost mode pending" and it will activate when the iPhone is connected to the internet.

I was just wondering how i got the activation lock email? And for a stolen iPhone, which mode is best... erase mode or lost mode??

I would take extreme care not to enter your current or former Apple-ID passwords anywhere when following any kinds of directions from emails. The email you have received might well be a fake email sent by the people holding your phone, trying to trick you into giving them your Apple-ID password.

In general, they can do very little with a phone that has been activation locked. However if the phone is unlocked, they can find your e-email address and try to scam you into giving them the code.

Depending on their technical abilities, they might also have put the phone on a restricted network, where the commands to erase it cannot reach it, but where it can reach other destinations on the Internet.


Issues with Texts Sending Through iCloud I'm having issues where my texts are sending through my iCloud. I've read the other threads in here and tried the following:

Go to Settings → Messages → Send & Receive

However, under "you can be reached by iMessage at" has my phone number greyed out and two email addresses (my icloud and my apple email).

Under "start new conversations from" it only shows my email addresses and not my phone number.

I think this is also affecting my ability to send texts via my Apple Watch.

I believe I figured this out... I turned iMessage off and back on. My number was then able to be selected and my emails de-selected. Messaging now works on my apple watch too.


How can I open or export a abcddb file in Windows 7 Excel? I have a file in the abcddb format. This file was saved on a Mac. I am trying to open in Windows 7 in either Excel or Access. How can I do this?

The file is actually an SQLite 3 datafile.

The closest match would be Access, but it will not open the file as such. You will have to install an ODBC connector, set up a connection and open each table. Not trivial, I am afraid, but doable.

Check http://www.ch-werner.de/sqliteodbc/ for an SQLite ODBC connector. Note: some antivirus show a heuristics alert for the executable, it is probably safe.

Command line:
If you have access to the sqlite3 command line tool (comes standard in OS X), you can list the tables (there are 24) with

echo .tables | sqlite3 file.abcddb

and you can export each table to CSV with

sqlite3 -csv -header file.abcddb "SELECT * FROM TABLE;" > TABLE.csv

and open it with Excel or Access.

Of course, you can "play" with SQL SELECTs. A CSV list of Name, Surname, Phone (with a line for each phone number, hence possibly more than a line for each person) can be got with:

sqlite3 -csv -header file.abcddb "SELECT ZABCDRECORD.ZFIRSTNAME AS 'First Name', ZABCDRECORD.ZLASTNAME AS 'Last Name', ZABCDPHONENUMBER.ZFULLNUMBER AS 'Phone' FROM ZABCDRECORD INNER JOIN ZABCDPHONENUMBER ON ZABCDPHONENUMBER.ZOWNER = ZABCDRECORD.Z_PK;" > telephones.csv

ZABCDRECORD is the "main" table with a row for each contact. But data that cn be multiple for each contact (phone numbers as above, email addresses, physical address, URLs...) is in separate tables, each containing a ZOWNER column that "points" to column Z_PK (autonumeric) in ZABCDRECORD (technically, they have it as a foreign key).

Alternative GUI software: you may download DB Browser for SQLite for OS X or Windows (PortableApps package available too for the later). Just open the file then use File->Export->Table(s) as CSV file.


How do I stop apps from loading at startup if CMD-OPT-Q doesn't work? The apps are Safari and Xcode, both are loading local files. I close both with the keyboard shortcut in the title but they always launch again at the next startup. My system is running Sierra

The "Command-Option-Q" shortcut says in the menu "Quit and Keep Windows". This will remember the windows (files) that are open when you quit, and restore them when you open the application the next time.

If you don't like this behaviour use "Command-Q"

If the problem is when starting up the computer and these applications are started automatically, they are probably in you Login-Items.

See System Preferences > Users & Groups > Your account > Login items and uncheck or remove the applications.


cpu clock too low / force cpu clock / overclock I have a MacBook from a few years back.
When I use it write some code and browse the internet, the fans go very fast and the noise is horrible. But the temp shows only 70 C.

So I used SMC to force the fans to 3000rpm. I really don't mind frying my MacBook as long as its quiet.
Now instead of the temp rising to 90 C or more (what I want!), my MacBook decides to lower the cpu clock to 0.8 Ghz. And it becomes completely useless. I can't even use one program at a time.
Even the mouse cursor lags.

What can I do? Can I force the CPU clock?

Model: A1286 i7 2.0 Ghz (High Sierra) Early 2011

edit: i don't even want a turbo boost or anything (would be nice). i just want to use the 2 Ghz and not only 0.8 Ghz.

That sounds most probably like an old Mac, which will not go very fast anyway these days.

But the symptoms really can describe a few things of underlying problems.

misconfiguration: look at the programs installed and delete what's unneeded, especially background applications (make a clean install ot the OS if all else fails)
SMC settings got confused: perform an SMC-reset
aging hardware: the thermal grease could be bad by now and might need replacement (try the other options first)
being dirty: if the grills for the fans are clogged (most probable here) just open the case, clean it out.


If Yosemite is free, why do I have to verify billing info? I am unable to upgrade to Yosemite because when I press the "Free" button it takes me to  a page where I must verify my billing info., then when I press done, it gives me "your payment method was declined" !!

Since it is free, why do I have to verify my billing info ?
and if my account is verified why is it saying declined, does it try to take money out of my account ?
and how then to install the new OS ?

Note: my current OS  version is 10.9.5

The verification is for your Apple ID for purchases. You can either set the payment option to none if you're from the US or add a credit card to it. This eases the payment option if you plan to buy apps from the store later.

But in the case of downloading Yosemite, You will not be charged for anything.


Cannot disable three finger tap look up after migrating to a new computer I recently moved to a new MacbookPro and migrated my old computer's files/settings over to the new one.

For some reason I am unable to disable the ability to look up the definition to a word by using a three finger tap gesture.

I have unchecked the "Look up" option in the Trackpad preference
pane.
I also disabled option to "Look Up in Dictionary" within Keyboard
preference pane > Keyboard Shortcuts > Searching > Look Up in
Dictionary.

I typically use BetterTouchTool to turn a three finger tap gesture into a middle click, I have disabled this feature for now and continue to have the issue where if I tap something with three fingers the text becomes highlighted and I am greeted with a definition to the word.  This happens in all applications.

Is there any other way to disable this feature?  Is there a terminal command I could try?

Have you tried deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist or running defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad TrackpadThreeFingerTapGesture -bool false?


iPad Pro 9.7'' won't upgrade to ios11 My iPad Pro does not seem to be willing to upgrade to ios11.

General > Software Upgrade says ios 10.3.3 - Your software is up to date.

I had previously enrolled to the beta program, although I had never been able to get any beta version. Thinking this might be the cause I removed it from Profiles.

How can I update, or how can I troubleshoot the situation?

Try iTunes to update your iPad Pro to latest iOS 11 first. If iTunes doesn't prompt you there is a new version to update, then you will have to use software which will install iOS 11 onto your iPad Pro.


Safari wont open web pages (maybe other browser either) so I recently upgraded to High Sierra (formating the entire HDD of my MacBook Pro)

Everything worked alright for a week or two but two days ago browsers stopped working.

I usually use Firefox as my default browser but it  started throwing some weird message I have never before seen so I uninstaled and open Safari trying to redonwload it. Open Safari and when I try to open google.com it just stay still "loading" the page.

No error code shown, no web content shown. Just there loading.

I suppose this is exactly what happened to Firefox...

The thing is: any other app using internet seems to work just fine and every other computer on my house is working just fine.
Just trying all the options I run MAMP and noticed not even the Localhost page is loading

Also tried starting in secure mode and plugging the ethernet cable and turning off wifi.

Any ideas on what can be the problem and/or how can it be solved?

Thanks a lot.

EDIT: I was able to download Chrome via Terminal and it is working just fine, I also realized that neither App Store nor Mail are working propperly, thanks

I found a source of answer that addresses an issue very similar to yours on Apple Support Communities webpage.

Safari won't load after High Sierra upgrade

  Log out of your account.

  Click  menu in the menu bar > choose “Shut Down”.
  Then press the power button to start the Mac.
  Launch System Preferences.

  Look at the bottom of the pane.
  Do you see Trusteer Rapport or Tusteer Endpoint installed?
  If yes, click it and stop it
  or uninstall Trusteer Rapport/Endpoint.
  Do you have Airfoil app installed?
  Deselect Proxies, if selected.

  System Preference > Network > Advanced  > Proxies Tab
  Unlock the lock if you have to.
  Under "Select Protocol", uncheck any box that is marked as check.
  Click "OK" then "Apply”.
  Sometimes third party software can cause this sort of problem.

  Please run EtreCheck and post the report here.
  Download it, open Downloads folder, click on it to open and select "Open".
  Select a problem from the “Choose a problem” popup menu box, and then “Start EtreCheck” in the dialog.
  Click “Share Report” button in the toolbar, select “Copy to Clipboard”, and then paste it when you reply.


How can I use tabs in Mac Mail? One of the new featuers in macOS Sierra are tabs in more apps, including Mail.

How do I use tabs in Mac Mail? Clicking "View", "Show tab bar" displays a bar with one tab, but I can't find a way to open a new tab.

For tabs to work in all situations, you need to enable them in System Preferences->Dock (set the appropriate option to "always"). Afterwards, you can (in Mail) select "File -- New window" or press Opt-Cmd-N to create a new tab.


Randomly my Mouse Scroll wheel controls volume I was just doing some productivity on my mac and have my gaming mouse connected to my mac as usual but out of the blue without me changing anything, my mouse wheel is now controlling my volume and if I middle click it plays and pauses. I don't like this and want to change it back. Does anyone know how to fix this

nevermind I tried restarting but that did nothing so I just re-plugged in the mouse and it worked fine. I believe this problem occurred because it's in a usb hub with my keyboard so it might have confused it. I believe that's the case with this problem.


Are non-public Game Center Profiles not listed in "friends in common"? I understand that one can configure a Game Center profile so that it is only visible to Game Center friends. Are such profiles also not listed among "friends in common"?

I have several friends, most of whom I have each other in common with me, but when I select the their lists of friends, I see no friends in common.

In the current, iOS 5 version, of Game Center, in order for friends in common to appear (as "shared friends"), they must also have upgraded to iOS 5 (and have accepted the new ToS).


Two computers. Three screens - one control? I have a setup at home, where I have a laptop permanently connected to a screen, and another laptop that I take to work with me. Recently, I've started doing a lot of work using both machines at once - with the independent laptop sat underneath the major screen.

Anyway - I'm looking for software that will let the independent laptop treat the other computer like an extension of its screen (when I want it to) which can be easily disabled and will cope alright with multiple screens. Is this possible / does a solution for this exist already?

I've tried Apple Screen Share, which is cool but just doesn't quite cut it.

Teleport is a free application specifically for this purpose. It allows you to use one machine as a "host" with one pair of a mouse and keyboard, and use it to control (over your local network) other machines just by moving your cursor to another computer (similar to how multiple displays work, except this time on separate machines). It also integrates the clipboards of the macs, allowing you to copy/paste between macs.


ifconfig showing ipv6 address while networksetup doesn't when using ipconfig utility, it's showing ipv6 address:

  inet6 fe80::1c00:23f2:b82e:fc8c%en0 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0x4

But when using

  networksetup -getinfo %networ service name%

it returns:

  IPv6: Automatic

  IPv6 IP address: none

  IPv6 Router: none

Same when using ipconfig

  ipconfig getv6packet en0

it returns nothing. so do I have IPv6 address or not?

Your system does have an IPv6 address though it's not really usable for networking beyond the local subnet. fe80::1c00:23f2:b82e:fc8c is a fe80::/10 link-local unicast address

  Link-Local addresses are designed to be used for addressing on a
  single link for purposes such as automatic address configuration,
  neighbor discovery, or when no routers are present.

  Routers must not forward any packets with Link-Local source or
  destination addresses to other links.

so what you have is a sort of a bootstrap IP address, not something that can communicate with other systems on the Internet. If IPv6 was working, typically SLAAC or DHCPv6 would give additional IP addresses (and routes would be setup) for your system to use. These would not be fe80::/10 addresses.

On a SLAAC subnet, IPv6 configuration might look something like

$ ifconfig en0 | grep inet6
    inet6 fe80::4a69:97ff:fe77:a706%en0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
    inet6 2607:...:4a69:97ff:fe77:a706 prefixlen 64 autoconf
    inet6 2607:...:6061:4f35:9b95:c7d4 prefixlen 64 autoconf temporary
$ ipconfig getv6packet en0
$

getv6packet shows nothing as SLAAC is being used, and there is no DHCPv6 packet associated with that protocol. networksetup does not appear to print anything useful when SLAAC is in use (this is on a Mac OS X 10.11 system).

$ networksetup -getinfo Ethernet | grep IPv6
IPv6: Automatic
IPv6 IP address: none
IPv6 Router: none
$


MBA bricked by water damage – test whether just keyboard broken? Some drops of pure water were sprayed on the keyboard of my 2010 MacBook Air. I immediately tried to dry all of it with a cloth, then turned it upside dow, but open, an put it near the heating, so the rest could dry as well. After a few hours, I tried if it still worked and it did, except that the Alt key was electronically stuck, i.e. always treated as hold down. I tried a reboot, with the power cable connected, which also worked fine, but I could not log in, likely because the key was still stuck and thus my password was invalid. I let it dry some more with the lid closed. When I next opened it, however, the computer would not turn on at all. This has not changed after three more days.

I fear that something important short-circuited, but I still hope that only the keyboard is not working, including the power key. Is there any way to find out  for sure before opening up the case?

You could first try to reset the SMC, which you can find out about here.  If you the LED indicator on your MagSafe charger does not change, then you can assume that at least the keyboard is broken.  It really would be best to open the case and either reconnect the battery or inspect the keyboard's connection to the logic board.


Macbook Air (13" 2012) Fails to wake from sleep The Air doesn't wake up from sleep mode when the lid is closed. Have to do a hard restart by pressing the power button for 5 secs which isn't nice. Tried to select the startup disk from system preferences but it isn't helping. This behavior seems to have started after I started using the PGP disk encryption but I am not sure if anyone else has experienced the same problem.

Try resetting the Parameter Ram PRAM  Reset your computer’s PRAM .

And if that does not work try  Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

If the problem still persists after trying the above contact Apple Support.


I am getting an error 'pack with invalid duration' using ffmpeg with concat on Yosemite I am executing:

ffmpeg -i concat:"intro.mp4|movie.mp4" -codec copy output.mp4

and am getting error:

[mp4 @ 0x7fc5f984ae00] Packet with invalid duration -1975 in stream 1

I can't seem to figure out what the problem is. The files are both H.264 AAC.

Can someone explain what causes this error?

Make sure the video files are at the same resolution, framerate and timebase. First check what they are now, and if they differ, choose what clip you want to use to base the settings on. You can then convert the others with something like the following command (example with a resolution of 1280x720, 24 fps, a video timebase of 90k, and audio timebase of 48000).

ffmpeg -i original.mp4 -vf scale=w=1280:h=720:force_original_aspect_ratio=decrease,pad=1280:720:(ow-iw)/2:(oh-ih)/2 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -strict experimental -video_track_timescale 90k -r 24 -ar 48000 converted.mp4

What does this have to do with apple? Isn't this a general ffmpeg question?


Can't add or change custom images of address book entries Sometimes I'm not able to change any of the custom images associated with contacts in the address book. If I quit and restart several times, it eventually works again.

What would cause this sort of thing to happen? I'm running on Snow Leopard.

Type in terminal:

chmod -R 777 /private/var/mobile/Library/AddressBook

chown -R mobile /private/var/mobile/Library/AddressBook

It worked for me

from: http://www.hackint0sh.org/f126/33674.htm


Maximise Dock to full width I'm a new user of Macintosh and I'm trying to set the Dock to full width from the center of screen, like with KDE on Linux operating system.

You can do this with cDock.

Install, enable and choose Fullscreen width Dock.


Any program that can automatically split photos in one scan? I am about to scan my photo collection. To save time, I would like to scan multiple photos at once. How can I automate the splitting of photos in a single scan?

Photoshop and the cheaper Photoshop Elements both have options that can take one large image and automatically crop out sub-images. In Photoshop, the command you're looking for is File → Automate → Crop and Straighten Photos. In Elements, it's Image → Divide Scanned Photos. For more details, read this and this.

If you don't want to spend the money on Photoshop, you can download ImageMagick, and use this script to perform the separation. However it's worth noting that it's a command-line tool, so some familiarity with the command-line would help, although if you read the instructions on the script page carefully, that should be enough to get started.

Whatever tool you use, when you're scanning your photos, make sure you leave some space between them, and use something that will give a high contrast background, so the software will have a better chance of picking up where one photo begins and another ends.


Using SSHFS with launchd I have a Raspberry Pi I want to automount on my Desktop (Yosemite 10.10.1).  I've installed OSXFuse (with the MacFuse option) and SSHFS both from https://osxfuse.github.io/.  I'm using the password method for now and will establish certificates after I get this problem solved.

The following command works fine from Terminal:

/bin/mkdir /Volumes/RaspPi ; echo "mypassword" | /usr/local/bin/sshfs myuserid@192.168.8.16:/ /Volumes/RaspPi -o workaround=rename -o password_stdin -o allow_other -o defer_permissions -ovolname=RaspPi

Placing it into a launchd plist worked the first day.  The volume would get mounted and if I ejected it, launchd would remount it.  But subsequently it has failed with the error:

kernel[0]: OSXFUSE: user-space initialization failed (4)

The RaspPi mountpoint gets created in /Volumes, but the volume doesn't get mounted.

The plist contains these lines:

    <string>bash</string>
    <string>-c</string>
    <string>/bin/mkdir /Volumes/RaspPi ; echo "mypassword" | /usr/local/bin/sshfs myuserid@192.168.8.16:/ /Volumes/RaspPi -o workaround=rename -o password_stdin -o allow_other -o defer_permissions -ovolname=RaspPi</string>

I reviewed a lot of discussion about OSXFuse working via Terminal and not in launchd, but none of the solutions dealt with "initialization failed (4)".  They all seemed to deal with a socket problem and error 57.  I tried a few of those solutions, but they did not help.

Any suggestions?

I got it fixed by adding

<key>AbandonProcessGroup</key>
<true/>

More info about it can be found here OSX run script to mount sshfs at login with a plist file


Which solutions are available for printing on the iPad to a HP LaserJet 1020 printer? I have an HP LaserJet 1020 connected to an IOGear network print server.

Currently the iPad doesn't support printing out of the box, however I have heard there are several third-party solutions on the market, each with a mixed bag of results.

Which solutions are available and which is the most versatile or successful?

Apple has indicated printing will be available with the iOS 4.2 release, currently scheduled for November 2010.


Installing XP on latest MacBook OS X My MacBook (purchased in 2007) with Windows XP installed through VMware software. I have some important software that works only in XP. My MacBook broke down and I purchased latest MacBook Pro (2015).

I am not able to install Windows XP because the Mac does not allow installation through USB or CD drive. Also OS X help seems to suggest that it won't support XP in Boot camp. Can anyone help me out?

If I understand correctly, you just need to install VMware Fusion first, which will allow you to install and run Windows XP as a virtual machine, so that you can install and work with that important software of yours.

If you still have a backup copy of your old XP virtual machine (it's a large single file, if I remember correctly), you should be able to run that. Again,  after you have installed VMware Fusion.

Installing Windows using BootCamp is a very different thing (dual booting) and is indeed not supported for XP anymore.


What is a good processor speed for FCP 6 real-time playback? I currently have a 2.2GHz dual-core macbook pro (2007) and it doesn't seem to work very well with HDV 720p real-time playback. I am looking into buying a new iMac this or next year. What would be a good processor speed for rendering and real-time playback in FCP 6 or 7? They currently have quad-core 2.5, 2.7, and 3.1 GHz.

Certainly get the fastest you can afford, but processor speed is only part of the equation.  You should also get as much RAM as you can afford.

It is a fallacy that higher processor speed = shorter task completion times.  A fast processor helps, but RAM is more important than processor speed.  More RAM means the processor can handle more tasks at once.

A MacBook Pro tops out at 8GB currently.  For video editing, I always max out RAM on a laptop.  For a desktop, I might go to 16GB or more if I was planning to work with multiple uncompressed tracks.


Have I been hacked or compromised from an answered face time call from South Africa? at 603 EDT I received a face time video call but somehow hung it up without answering (I was sleeping) at 605 they called back and since I was sleeping didn't really pay attention to it and answered it.  It looked and sounded like a party in the video so I immediately hung up. The line was open for 3 seconds and I have since blocked the number. Here is the number +27 (64) 6528179. Do I need to do anything to further protect my iPhone iPad and Mac? Thx, Oscar

Nope, no one can hack your iPhone or steal your data just by connecting with you over facetime.


Mountain Lion upgrade and many sites are not opening I've upgraded to Mountain Lion and since then many sites including Google (and all of its related services), facebook and many other sites are not opening. i can't even open gmail.com. the name resolutions seem to be working fine.

  dig gmail.com

  ; <<>> DiG 9.8.1-P1 <<>> gmail.com ;; global options: +cmd ;; Got
  answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 24840 ;;
  flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 4, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

  ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;gmail.com.          IN  A

  ;; ANSWER SECTION: gmail.com.     300 IN  A   209.85.175.17
  gmail.com.        300 IN  A   209.85.175.19 gmail.com.        300 IN  A   209.85.175.83
  gmail.com.        300 IN  A   209.85.175.18

  ;; Query time: 262 msec ;; SERVER: 8.8.8.8#53(8.8.8.8) ;; WHEN: Sat
  Jul 28 11:44:03 2012 ;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 91

In the status bar, it says Waiting for domain. and later it shows errors like EMPTY RESPONSE, TIMED OUT etc.

i even can't open yahoo, twitter. i've tested this from Chrome, Safari, Firefox. But all these sites open from my wife's macbook (snow leopard) that is using same internet connection.

however, i can open many sites including all SE sites, github and many others.

is there anything i can do? as i can't google, i'm literally can't search web too :(.

thanks in advance.

This issue affected several people after upgrading to Mountain Lion. For many, reducing their MTU size solved the issue:

Open System Preferences.
Select Network.
Select your connection and choose Advanced...
Select Hardware.
Change Configuration to Manually
Reduce the MTU size to 1300. Most people had good experiences with this value.
Observe how ping behaves over time. You can further reduce the MTU size in steps of 4.

However, there seems to be another issue: Proxies. The solution suggested here is:

Open System Preferences.
Select Network.
Select your connection and choose Advanced...
Select Proxies.
Turn off Auto Discovery Proxies.
Apply the settings.

This should be fixed with an upgrade to OS X 10.8.1 (not sure if an upgrade to Mountain Lion directly brings you to the latest upgrade, or to 10.8.0).

Actually, I would first try the upgrade to 10.8.1. If this does not work, try the proxy solution. If this does not work, try the MTU size reduction.


Is there a way to rename the built in speaker name? (Mac Mini M1) I am trying to rename the default or built-in speaker name on the Mac mini. Currently, it is "Mac mini Speakers". I want to be able to change or rename it.

You can't rename the existing audio output, but you can create another one with your chosen name.
Use Audio MIDI Setup.app (in the Utilities folder) to create an Aggregate Device that only contains your mini's speakers. (Normally, this is used to create a single input/output for multiple devices.)
Click on the + button at the bottom of the window to create a new Aggregate device, and then double-click on the item in the sidebar to rename it.
You will need to tick the "Use" checkbox next to "Mac mini Speakers".

You can then choose a more descriptive name, in preference to "Mac Mini Speakers".
This will be listed in System Preferences, in addition to the built-in audio output names. (However, it seems that the menulet doesn't get updated immediately. You'll need to log in again.)


Direct Analog Video conversion for iPad? Our organisation has ordered several 1000s new iPad minis for frontline staff. One of the things the management want is the ability to import analog video (ie, from a VHS) directly to the iPad (please don't ask why).

I've seen devices like this for sale: www.elgato.com/en/video/video-capture

But this device connects via USB 2, and an iPad doesn't have USB. Probably the iPad would lack the needed drivers to connect to it even if a USB converter was used.

Are there any devices which would connect directly to an iPad and allow for the import of analog video?

None that I'm aware of. Why couldn't the iPads be updated over the air to all download the same pre-converted video? It would take much longer and be extremely redundant to perform this task in the way you describe, over and over again for each iPad, even if a device that could do this existed.


Memory for iMac12.1 (mid-2011) I've found here that imac12.1 (mid-2011) unofficially will support 32 GB of RAM.

Questions:

Can I mix 2x2 GB with 2x8 GB of memory to get 20 GB of RAM?
Will this model work with imac12.1?

Thank you very much.

I always suggest that people check with the company called Other Word Computing, at macsales.com. They specialize in Macintosh memory upgrades and they provide good technical support. If you know the exact version number of your Macintosh, they can tell you exactly what the upgrade possibilities are and give you the exact memory specifications for your particular model. They post notices about which Apple firmware updates must be applied to your specific model before you attempt an upgrade. Of course they sell RAM at good prices, but you could use their upgrade advice to purchase RAM of the appropriate specification from a different company than theirs.


Macbook failing to connect to 5GHz networks I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) running on MacOS 10.14.3 (18D42) and since some time I have been unable to connect to any 5GHz WiFi networks while 2.4GHz networks from the same routers are ok.

I have tried several things to no avail:

deleting the network in my wifi settings
using three separate and different brand routers
resetting SMC and NVRAM
deleting settings in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
directory
made the 5GHz open without passwords
Changed SSID names

The Macbook is able to see the network; however, when I try joining the network, and I enter the password I keep getting an error "the wi-fi network requires a WPA2 password".

Interestingly, I get the same error when the authentication method is set to "Open".

I am 100% sure that the password is correct as I've tried several times (also setting up the 5GHz on different routers).
The networks are working (e.g. from my iPhone, Android phones).

Lastly, below are some of the details of the network setup in my Wi-Fi router.

Most likely your Airport Card has failed.

On your particular Mac, it uses the BCM94360CS custom SoC (System on Chip) that supports dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth.  The critical part related to your issue is the "dual-band" WiFi; it uses two different radios, not one.  So, it's completely plausible that one radio has failed (5GHz) while the other (2.4GHz) continues to function; this is what you're seeing.

Image from iFixit.com

To verify that it's not a software issue, you should boot into Safe Mode (hold ⇧ Shift) and/or Recovery Mode (⌘ Command R).  If the problem persists, it's a hardware issue.

You'll just need a replacement AirPort adapter which is fairly inexpensive.  It's also a fairly straight forward fix, basically remove the back cover, disconnect the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antenna, then remove the AirPort card. Replace with the new one and reverse the procedure to reassemble everything.  iFixit.com has an excellent step-by-step guide you can follow.

However, if opening the back of your Mac is not your cup of tea, let a professional handle it for you.


I assigned 2 disks to TimeMachine and when 1 goes missing, TM complains, but it should seamlessly continue to use the 1 that is present? On the same USB-3.0 bus (MB-Pro Catalina, 10.15.6), I always have a 1-td HDD and sometimes have a 2-tb HDD, which is split into 1-tb partitions.
Time Machine is set to back-up to both the 1-tb HDD and 1 of the 1-tb partitions.
::problem:: MacOS sometimes unmounts the 2-tb HDD drive when I put it to sleep. Sometimes I leave the 2-tb disconnected for a few days because the extra TM bkup and data on the 2nd 1-tb partition is not that important. But this makes TM complain. Yet I thought TM should seamlessly just continue to use the drive it can find if it can't find the second drive in a dual drive configuration? The constant warnings make me want to change TM to only use the one reliable 1-tb drive.
I'd really like for the 2-tb drive to stop unmounting. It is 5-years old, has been used extensively, and kept immobile on my desk.

I have Time Capsule and Time Machine setup on my MacBook Pro.
The Time Capsule is always available at home. The Time Machine is only available sometimes.
macOS never complains about the Time Machine drive being unavailable, unless it's been like 7 days (which almost never happens).


Does OneNote for Mac support graphics tablet input? I was thinking of purchasing a Wacom Bamboo Pad for note taking at college. I am going to an engineering school, and often typing isn't the primary method I would like to use to enter equations, data, or text.

Does OneNote for Mac support this? I know the Windows version does.

Running OneNote on Mavericks here, and right now it does not support tablet input in the way you have described (I wish it did). A possible compromise is to run Windows and OneNote in a virtual machine (or BootCamp), but it really depends on your needs and what you’re willing to put up with.


How to get filename of image used as image fill in table cell? I'm designing a large photo-based book for a client and he came up with the idea to select the images to include and their sequencing by placing them roughly into a Keynote file. This sounded like a great idea in theory, but it appears that he placed the images as fills inside table cells and now I have no idea how to get their filenames.

The filename is the most important piece of information for me because I have a hard drive filled with 25,000+ images so I can't just search for the right one.

Is there any way to get the filename of an image fill inside a table cell? I know how to do this with a placed image (Image > File Info) but when I click on an image in a table cell all I get is this:

I really hope I don't have to go back to the client to ask him to do this all over—he's not very tech savvy and he's already put a lot of work into this one file.

I am using Keynote 6.2.2 on OSX 10.9.4.

Yes, you can find the information you need.

Save the Keynote file.
Locate the file in Finder
⌥+Click or Right Click on the file
In the Dropdown, select Show Package Contents
There you should see a folder Data containing all the resources including images used in the file.

Keynote files are really packages of files that the application uses to build the presentation.