Understand Finder Find Results I am looking in a folder for a file which contains path in its name. I enter path in the search box, and select it to search the current folder (which is my default anyway). The tool tip indicates Filenames Name matches: path.

What I see is 110 items, none of which even contain the string path, let alone match.

What does the finder think I am looking for, and what do the results actually mean?

This is a relatively new iMac running MacOS Sierra.

In the Finder, use command-F to get a Finder search window.  You will get:

There is now a bar with criteria added.  You see a pop-up menu "Kind" followed by "is" and another pop-up menu "Any".  Click the "Kind", and choose "Name" from that menu:

There now is a pop-up menu just following "Name", select "contains" from that, and type the word "path" in the field that follows.
You can add criteria by clicking the + sign at the right of the search bar.

Spotlight does seem to "power" the default search field in Finder windows.  I use Spotlight only in desperation, as it almost never ever finds what I'm looking for.  But with the search criteria in the Finder's search window I usually book success.

So, remember:  command-F gets you a Finder search window with a criteria bar, and that certainly helps.


How can I remove stickers from the lid of my MacBook Pro? I've got a MacBook Pro with Retina display and I've got a ton of stickers on it. Is there a method for removing the stickers from the back without damaging the finish and without leaving sticky residue on the laptop?

Is this something I can get help with from the Genius Bar?

Just peel off the stickers.

The best thing for removing the residue is Teatree oil. You can get it from Walgreens in the US, and most chemists in Australia.

Just soak some cotton wool (or other soft cloth) in the oil (so you don't scratch the surface of your MacBook) and wipe until no residue is left.

Because the oil is viscous I would make sure that your TimeMachine backup is  up to date before use.  Don't kiss your brand new looking Mac as the oil is poisonous if ingested.


Stop itunes library from syncing with iphone automatically Is there a way I can stop my iphone from syncing with my itunes library automatically whenever I plug it in (without choosing to cancel the sync or quit itunes)? Ideally I'd love to be able to plug in my phone without itunes opening up in the first place.

In iTunes, go to iTunes Menu > Preferences > click the "Devices Preferences" tab, and tick the "Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically"
box.

This will stop iTunes from opening automatically when you plug in your iPhone.

You can also connect your iPhone to iTunes, stop the sync, click the iPhone icon in the upper left corner of the window, and in the "Options" section, untick "Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected".

This option prevents your specific phone from syncing automatically. You'll need to do both to get what you want accomplished.


Select word under cursor using a keyboard shortcut? What is the keyboard shortcut to select a word that your typing cursor is currently on ?

For example, if the word I want to select is World, while the typing cursor is between one of the letters of that word such as This Wo|rld is huge, what do I press to select only World ?

I don't know a single shortcut to select the word, but you can do it in two steps, by first moving the cursor to the start of the word, then select the word.

1) Move cursor to left of word:

⌥←

2) Select word to right of cursor:

⇧⌥→

Of course you could do a similar thing with moving to the right of the word with ⌥→ then selecting the word to the left of the cursor with ⇧⌥← if you prefer.


Why can't I restrict all from executing a folder? Why isn't the code working?

mkdir new_folder
cd new_folder
cd ..
chmod 666 new_folder
cd new_folder //this is allowed
ls -la
total 0
drwxrw-rw-   2 David  staff   68 Mar 16 18:20 .
drwx------@ 10 David  staff  340 Mar 16 18:20 ..
Davids-MacBook-Pro-2:new_folder David$ cd ..
ls -al | grep new_folder
drwxrw-rw-   2 David  staff      68 Mar 16 18:20 new_folder
Desktop David$

A folder/directory requires at least one executable bit or you won't be able to open/traverse it. Therefore chmod 666 folder is a pointless command.


I am not a company but am trying to avoid having to buy multiple individual iOS licenses I'm developing an app for iOS and since it's not going to be published by my company it looks like I have to get my own developer license.

I can live with that, but there's a part of the app that I'm stuck on that I need to get a third-party to help me work through. Some of the libraries I use for the project have problems with the simulator, so what I need to know is:

Am I stuck having to buy two iOS developer licenses (one for the third-party programmer, one for myself)?

One possibility would be for me to keep testing this person's code and send them the output, but I can't think of an obvious way to automate that and it just seems suboptimal. Any other suggestions (short of starting my own company)?

You can add a member to Your developer program if You enroll as company. You won't have to buy another account.

Here's the info from Apple (You need to have developer account in order to enter this link).

  If you are enrolled in the iOS Developer Program as a company and hold either the Agent or Admin role, you can invite co-workers to join your development team by visiting the People tab in Member Center.


Having same information on several devices I have several ipads that I would like to be identical in terms of apps, music etc. Once I take the time to put on the appropriate apps, sort into folders etc then I would like that exact same configuration on the other two iPads. Is this possible? Many thanks

If you are looking to sync data within the Apps, that will vary from app to app.  Look for iCloud support there.

If you are looking to have the same deployed content on each, look into iPad Configurator, which supports mirrored configurations.


How to curve type around a circle using keynote? Im trying to put text around a circle but I cant. I can do it like vertical, diagonally and horizontal but not circle.

No, there's no text tricks like that built into Keynote.

In order to achieve effects like this, you'd have to use ArtText or TypeStyler.

If you only do it once and for short text you can use the CRUDE way:

In a crude way and for short words could you make a number of single letter text boxes? Place them where you want them, go to metrics (the little rule) in the inspector and rotate each one to suit.

Or use WordArt


Build in and build out of two images where one replaces the other in the same slide I'm creating a Keynote presentation.

I have a slide with two overlapping images at the center of the slide. What I want to do is make one of the two disappear when the other appears. This should be done in one slide.

I've tried to add "build" effects or playing around with the orders, but I guess this may not be the right way to do it. I've also looked around on the web, but I've not found anything which really addresses my problem.

Add build out to the first element and build in to the second.

Set the build out to be with the build in.

Preview:


Backup the entire image of Mac book pro I have Mac book pro with OSX-10.7.3, which has to be give back to my company. I bought a new/personal mac book pro and I'd like to copy all the data including  bootcamp images.

Is it possible to take the image/backup of entire disk including bootcamp images??

Do we have to worry about any applications if you take a backup on one mac and restore on other mac ??(for e.g parallel software)

Please suggest the best possible backup/copy method to transfer all the content/data/applications from one mac to other.

Thanks,

Kiran

Carbon Copy Cloner for your OSX partition, and Winclone for your Bootcamp partition. Winclone is now commercial software, but I believe you can still download older versions for free elsewhere.


Apple Music & Apple TV As far as I can see Apple TV does not support Apple Music (see Apple Music)

Did I miss something?

Apple Music will launch on iOS, Mac, and Windows on June 30, coming to Apple TV and Android phones this fall. Here is the news you can check. http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2015/06/08Introducing-Apple-Music-All-The-Ways-You-Love-Music-All-in-One-Place-.html


Is it safe to upgrade all outdated port when upgrading from Snow Leopard to Lion? My Mac running Snow Leopard has several MacPorts based open source software packages installed. Upon the upgrade to Lion, all my ports are listed as outdated.

It's safe to upgrade them en masse?

macports.org currently says:
"Note for Lion users: There is no official release supporting Mac OS X 10.7 yet, but you can test the MacPorts 2.0.0 release candidate if you like."

I usually don't upgrade to a new major version of OS X until MacPorts has released their first official support for it.

I agree with Jerry Jacobs that you should probably back up your /opt hierarchy before attempting. Then you could try doing sudo port selfupdate to see if that upgrades you from 1.9.2 (or whatever) to the 2.0.0 release candidate.  If it does, then you can try sudo upgrade outdated.

I wouldn't try doing a sudo upgrade outdated on Lion without at least being on the 2.0.0 release candidate of MacPorts.


How do I lock FileVault on logout? I want to lock FileVault when I logout. I have two accounts on my Mac one admin and a standard user, only the admin account can open the FileVault. How do I lock FileVault so I need to unlock the FileVault when I logout of any of the two accounts?

As of now I only need to open the FileVault when I have restarted the computer. I use macOS Sierra public beta.

There is a non-graphical setting you can try:

sudo pmset -a destroyfvkeyonstandby 1

That would mean that you need to re-authenticate after sleep transitions to standby. It isn't something that changes at logout, but it's the closest I think you can get at present.


Exclude sub-folders from Finder search How can I force Finder to only search the current folder, ignoring the contents of all the sub-folders?
I don't want to exclude the sub-folders permanently from Spotlight, just for a certain search.

The reason I want to do this is that I sometimes have a folder with sub-folders that contain files/folders that are identically named. A simplified example is shown below:

main
|
|-config.txt
|
|-folder 1
|  |
|  |-config.txt
|
|-folder 2
   |
   |-config.txt

When I'm in main and hit CMD+F and type config.txt I get three files. I don't want to click every file to see which one is in main and which in another folder, so ideally the sub-folders wouldn't show up in this search.

There is a product called Path Finder 6 that offers a feature called "filters and selections," demonstrated here.
You could try selecting all the items in the folder you are searching and applying a Label, then perform a Spotlight search for your item "AND" the additional criteria of "file label" by holding down the option key while clicking on the plus sign.


How Do You View Several PNG Images In Preview With Continuous Scroll? I have several PNG images I want to view as a single document in Preview, Lion OSX.

Usually I just select several images and open them in Preview, but when I do that, I can't set the view to "Continuous Scroll."

The default behavior for PNG images in Preview seems to be to zoom out after you flip a page, meaning I have to resize every page scroll down. That gets tedious.

Is there a way to put these PNG images together in one, single Preview document so I can select "Continuous Scroll" as an option and don't have to resize each page?

Ok, here's what you need to do:

Open up the first PNG image in Preview. Make sure the side bar is showing.

Open the second image in Preview, and from the sidebar, drag the thumbnail image from the second window to the first window's sidebar.

Now, you'll notice that the title bar says "2 documents, 2 total pages." Continue dragging images into the first image until all the images are combined into one PNG. Make sure you save it. :-)


Salt Water Damaged iPhone, Can I get the content off it? My iPhone X keeps showing the Apple Logo, then cuts out and does the same. I have got a lot of photos on in that I would like to get off. Would that be possible?

Any software, or other methods to get the content off a dead iphone?

What you described is called a boot loop.  It is caused by any number of things, but based on your description, it sounds like it was caused by physical damage.

Can this be recovered?

Yes, but there’s no software that gets around a physical problem.   For this type of issue, it’s possible that restoring your phone from a backup you may be able to “fix” the problem.  However, any data not backed up can and will be lost.

There are 3rd party services that offer recovery services - iPad Rehab is one such example.  They are a bit pricy, but on the flip side, they don’t charge you unless they’re successful. (I’m not affiliated, just very familiar with their offerings)


Is there a simple way to clear "documents & data" + "other" from iPhone while running iOS 10 beta? I am running the iOS 10 beta and there is roughly 6GB on my iPhone 6s that is currently documents & data and other. I want to get rid of it the simplest way possible. Under non-beta I could do a backup and restore. In beta, it doesn't seem as simple to restore the phone and free up all that space. Any thoughts? Thanks.

Try making a backup using iTunes, then going to settings on the iPhone and erasing everything. Then restore from the backup.


Multiple Sidebars in the finder Is there a way to have multiple sidebars in Finder?

The Finder sidebar is useful for storing shortcuts to different folders. However it becomes lengthy quite quickly.

I want to have a different sidebar for each project I am working on, so each sidebar can contain different shortcuts to different folders.

Pathfinder does offer this functionality, but I find it a bit klunky to use and the program is quite expensive for just this one feature.

Are there any alternatives?

SwitchUp can swap out the Finder preferences and let you manager multiple sets of these preferences, which can give you different sidebars.  Watch the video on their website to get an idea of how it works.


No horizontal scroll in Safari. Bug, or pref? Mac Pro 5,1 Mojave, Safari [latest] 14.1
Since the last Safari update in the last week, I've lost the ability to shift/scroll to move horizontally.
Fine in Chrome, Finder etc, this seems to just be Safari.
Did a pref slip somewhere? I've never really tried to find if this is a pref, I thought it 'just happened'.
If it's a bug I'll report it, but I'd like to know if I missed a pref.
Screenshot hopefully wide enough to display this. Click the image, then if you see a magnifying glass with a + in it when you hover your cursor over the letters, click again so it goes beyond your window size [or repeatedly tap  Cmd ⌘   +  until it no longer fits the window].
Hold Shift & scroll mouse wheel.

It would be interesting to know if this affects trackpads too, but I don't have one to test.

It's an issue with AdGuard, specifically the Web Annoyances Ultralist.
Reported to the developers in https://github.com/AdguardTeam/AdguardFilters/issues/82833
with a dev response

Ok, better disable this filter. It can break something in Safari, also our filters compiler has one issue AdguardTeam/SafariConverterLib#21
After release which will contain the fix for problem above, you can try that filter again.

I have that filter disabled for now & will test again after the next release.


Spotlight disappeared when I updated Last night my computer said that it needed an update, so I ran it. This AM the spotlight icon is gone! How do I get it back? Thank you!

EDIT: I'm told that the question was unclear. I mean that the little icon in the upper-right that looks like a magnifying glass was gone today. I ran an update last night, so I thought maybe that had something to do with it. However, this issue is now resolved, because after asking this question I tried to restart my computer and couldn't, and force quit wasn't even opening, so I realized there were bigger problems. I forced my computer to restart, and now spotlight is back! Thanks I guess! (:

If the icon is gone, you can still start a search by   cmd + space?

If that doesn't work, you'll need to troubleshoot things a bit and post back with some more details.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201516


Multi user mac and iCloud data security I'm currently using a shared Mac with other users.
All user accounts are Administrators.
I noticed that with sudo my files are accessible from other user, and I'm wondering if also my iCloud Data (Notes, app data ecc. ) are accessible and readable in the same way.

Did someone has any clue?

Thank you

An "Administrator" account has complete access to all other accounts through tools such as "sudo". To the extent that iCloud data is unsecured in the user accounts, it could be accessed by anyone with an administrator account. However, without the user's login password, access to information stored in the login keychain is not possible - so passwords to servers and websites and the like are reasonably "safe".

The simplest way to give reasonable secuity is to not make everyone an administrator - the standard setup requires administrator privledges to view files stored in other login account folders, so non-administrator accounts cannot view such files. If using non-administrator accounts is not feasable, one could create encrypted files and/or disk images to store private things.

The FileVault whole disk encryption does not do what you want, since it still allows full disk access to any administrator account.


Could Not load Date & Time preference pane I am getting weird time in my click (attached is the screenshot)

And it's not letting me change my time and giving me error "Could Not load Date & Time preference pane"

Any idea what's going on? Because of this error lots of app have stopped working such as chrome, sublime etc. My suspicion is that it has been corrupted by MAMP but can't confirm.

Thanks.

I solved this problem by opening Disk Utility and selecting "Repair Disk Permissions" in OS X 10.9.  I had used     chown    to change permissions and messed up my preference pane apparently.


What is the difference between thunderbolt and displayport iMacs when used as monitors? Somewhat confused by the Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort compatibility rules, and the apple store people were unhelpful, so I ask here (maybe I should ask here first :)  Hopefully we can come to a complete compatibility matrix.

I have a 27" iMac from December 2010 ("old imac") and another 27" iMac ("new imac") from July 2011.  The first is MDP and the second is TB.  I also have a MBP from July 2010 (which is MDP)  and a MBA from August 2011.  I would like to make a unified setup.

What devices can be used as monitors for other devices?  For example, I know that I can use an MDP cable to connect the MBP to the old imac.

The following options will work for you:

old iMac as a display for MBP, MBA and new iMac. Use a mDP cable.
new iMac as a display for MBA. Use a TB cable.


Possibility of viruses from opening dmg file? While installing a file, the pop up with the fake flash player downloaded a dmg to my computer. Because I was already downloading something else and expecting to find it in my downloads I accidentally opened the dmg file. At this point I knew this was not the software I wished to download so I closed the window. The installer might have been left open for several hours past that until I ejected it and deleted it however. So I opened the dmg file and left it open for a while but I didn’t install anything nor run it. Am I good? Is there anyway to be sure?

If you just opened the .dmg image and didn't manually open any file or run any program located inside it, you're fine: as far as I know, there's no "autorun" functionality on DMG images in macOS.


How to quickly send new mail without opening mail application? I know Quicksilver has a plug in for quickly sending new mail messages without opening the Mail application.

But the Quicksilver plug in doesn't work under Mountain Lion.

How do you send a new mail message from Mail using Mountain Lion similar to the Quicksilver approach using preferably free application?

Check out QuickMailer. It's similar to LaunchBar but I feel that it's easier to use. Here's a screenshot:

If you're a keyboard-junkie like me, it has shortcuts to compose mail and send mail (Compose: Ctrl + ⌥ + ⌘ + m, Send: ⇧ + ⌘ + d) to speed up the mailing process too!

It isn't free, but it's pretty cheap at 99 cents. I don't own it so I haven't tried it out, but I've heard great things about it.

Hope this helps!


How can I log in to ICQ using Messages? It used to be possible to log in to ICQ accounts with iChat by using your ICQ login info as an AIM account. However, that functionality seems to have been removed - if memory serves, with the introduction of Lion.

Is there any way to use ICQ with Messages under Mountain Lion?

Setting Server to login.icq.com and Port to 5190, unchecking SSL in Server Settings tab should help.

Add:

Enter only the first eight characters of your password, leaving off any extras.  This consistently worked for me.  I use OSX 10.9 Mavericks and Messages.

Some have had results leaving the last character off their password.


Multimedia USB device noise I'm using a USB device that combines a few inputs(optical, USB, 3.5mm) and outputs them to one 3.5mm port. After outputting my MacBook Pro sound to the device through USB for a few minutes there appears noise and not long later it becomes so unbearable that I have to pause the media. That cycles every 3-5 minutes provided that I output it through USB. If I output through the 3.5mm jack, however, everything is smooth. I tried using the device on a Windows computer and outputting through USB worked fine. I also recorded the outputted audio(screenFlow) and there was no noise there.

Sounds like a problem with the audio format. Open the Audio MIDI Setup application, select your USB device, and try different combinations for audio format (sampling rate, channel/bit-depth).

If your device is locked at a sample rate and/or bit-depth, this should be a workaround. Try creating a Multi-Output Device with your device and the Built-in Output. (note: with the multi-output, you will have to set the volume on each device individually)

Click the + icon at the bottom left and select Create Multi-Output Device.
Under the "use" column, select Built-in Output and your device.
Set the Master Device to Built-in Output. This will allow you to choose different sample rates based on what is allowed for Built-in Output.
Lower the volume on Built-in Output (essentially muting it so sound only goes through your device)
Right-click on your device under the Multi-Output Device and check Resample this subdevice.
In System Preferences > Sound, change the output device to the Multi-Output Device.

Now you can change the sample rate of the multi-output device.


Will an AT&T iPad purchased from Best Buy US work in india? I am planning to purchase iPad Mini wifi + cellular from Best Buy. The Best Buy representatives were not sure it will work in India with different service provider or not.

They are selling iPad with the service provider locked with AT&T or Verizon (as I was told, anyway).

If I purchase, from Best Buy, a wifi + cellular AT&T iPad, will that work in India or do I need to buy an unlocked iPad from Apple store?

I never have heard that iPads are locked. Are they?

There are 2 options.

First you will have to have AT&T unlock your device.

Then you will need to find a provider in India that will support your device.

Alternately (but costly) is to open an International roaming account with AT&T.

Check here:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/travel-guide.jsp?

Technically speaking, you device will work in India.

Check here

http://www.wireless.att.com/travelguide/coverage/roaming/step3.jsp?CIDL=356&CTN=&MNC=SHOP&DID1=468&DID2=&devicenum=1&STEP=3


Can Apple Preview display the page size (dimensions in inches) of a PDF? If I open a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat, when I select File then Properties, I can see that the Page Size is 11 x 8.5 in.

Is there a way to access this information in Apple Preview?

Tools/Show Inspector gives you this information and more. The shortcut is ⌘ commandI.


What should I do to make the iPhone always remember I have trusted the Windows 10 device? I didn't have to do this before, but since a few days ago, the iPhone started to ask me to "Trust This Computer?" every time when I connect it to my Windows 10 laptop to access photos on the phone. I don't remember anything I did differently.

What should I do to make the iPhone always remember I have trusted the Windows 10 device?

iOS Version: 11.3 (15E216)

Firstly, ensure you have the most recent version of iTunes installed on your machine, then:

Plug in your device.
Type Windows Key + R, then type devmgmt.msc in the box which appears, hit enter.
Click Portable Devices.
Right click on Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod, then Update Driver Software.
Choose "Browse my computer for driver software"
Navigate to "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile  Device Support\Drivers"

This should install the baseline iTunes framework required for remembering your computer's unique address. You may need to trust the computer once more after having updated the Apple iPhone driver software.

Note: You may need to search in some other tabs in Device Manager to find the Apple device, such as Unknown Devices. You'll know when you've found it.


How to download photos from iMac desktop to external drive (WD 1 TB My Passport ) Bought a new iMac desktop and want to download loads of photos to an external drive I just bought (WD 1 TB My Passport.  I clicked initialize but still can't figure out how to download the photos to it.

It's likely that the problem you are having is that the drive as shipped is formatted as NTFS, which works fine on a Windows computer but is a read-only format on a Mac.

Run Disk Utility, which is found in the "Utilities" folder in "Applications" and you can erase the drive and turn it into a Mac formatted drive. Select "GUID Partition Map" for the Scheme and "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as the format. If you want to use the drive under both Mac and Windows then select "ExFAT" as the format.

(If you are running High Sierra then you will need to select "Show All Devices" under the "View" pop up at the left of the window to see the physical drive.)


New iPhone 8 asking for App Store password for someone else's account I have an iPhone 8 that was set up from an iPhone 7 backup.

Every few minutes I get a popup asking for an App Store password, except the account it's specifying is an account that belongs to a family member.

Similar questions say that this can happen when an app was installed using a different App Store ID. So to fix this, I uninstalled every installed app.

I'm still getting the popup. Is there any way to fix this?

Head into Settings > iTunes & App Stores and at the top you should see that your iPhone is logged in with your family member's Apple ID.

Click on the Apple ID, then tap on Sign Out and then login with your Apple ID.


SMART disabled on new MacBook Pro 13 Retina (ForceTouch) I just wanted to see some of the SSD parameters on my freshly purchased MacBook Pro retina and found out that SMART support is obviously disabled by default.

Is this intended and if so, why? I'm using smartmontools to read out the information…

> $ smartctl -a /dev/disk0
smartctl 6.4 2015-06-04 r4109 [x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-15, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     APPLE SSD SM0256G
Serial Number:    *censored*
LU WWN Device Id: *censored*
Firmware Version: BXW1JA0Q
User Capacity:    251,000,193,024 bytes [251 GB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Thu Jul  2 08:58:52 2015 CEST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Disabled

EDIT:

It would be great if someone else could also confirm that SMART is disabled by default. You simply have to install smartmontools via brew.

brew install smartmontools

and then check the status via

smartctl -a /dev/disk0

UPDATE:

Without changing anything, I noticed today that it apparently switched itself to enable. I'm not sure when this happened but I installed several Mac OS X updates, so probably this was fixed by (at least) one of them. Here is the new output:

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     APPLE SSD SM0256G
Serial Number:    *censored*
LU WWN Device Id: *censored*
Firmware Version: BXW1JA0Q
User Capacity:    251,000,193,024 bytes [251 GB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Mon Jan 25 09:09:44 2016 CET
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

You can reenable SMART for a volume by typing the command:

sudo smartctl -s on /dev/disk0


How do I find all files categorized movies on my disk? In the dialog of "About this Mac", started from below the Apple menu item, the Storage 'tab' says there are 42.43 GB of Movies.

Ok, how do I find all those files that the system categorizes as movies?

In other words - how did OSX find them?

I can't find them anywhere.

Is there a Terminal ls -al | grep [something] that I can fire off from the root folder to help me find them?

In a Terminal, use the following command:

mdfind "kMDItemKind == '*movie'"

This will output the fully qualified pathnames of files in which the metadata stores used by Spotlight classify it as some type of movie.

Example output from a movie taken on my iPhone and transferred to iPhotos on my Mac, one of the lines outputted by mdls is:

kMDItemKind                    = "QuickTime movie"

"QuickTime movie", which have a .mov extension was just one of extension types that showed as "$some_type_of movie". So you will probably see other file extensions as well.


Mac: how to securely delete an SD card? Nothing I have tried gives me read/WRITE access to my SD card from my Canon camera. How can I secure-delete before selling the card on eBay? (the lock switch is on: unlocked - tried the other position too, just to make sure)

If you can't erase the card from your camera does the camera at least recognize the card? Can you take a picture and have it saved to the card? If not the card may be damaged or your camera's card reader may be damaged.

Either way, try putting the card in a card reader attached to your Mac's USB port (or if you have a later model MacBook Pro or iMac, in the computer's built in SD card reader) and see if the Mac recognizes it and mounts it on the desktop or in a Finder window. If it does, run Disk Utility and erase it there. Generally these cards are formatted MS-DOS (FAT) for use in Canon and other brand cameras and you can choose that format in Disk Tools.

If you want a more secure erase you can use Disk Utility "Security Options..." to accomplish that.

If you can accomplish this with your computer, put the card back in your camera to see if it is recognized. If it isn't there may be something going on with the card reader on your camera.

Just to be thorough, what brand, size, and speed is this SD card? Some off-brand cards can develop issues like this (directory or database problems during a shoot, don't format correctly, etc.) and it's worth noting here that there are differences between brands of these cards. I've never had a problem with dozens of Sandisk, Lexar, or Kingston brand cards of all types: compact flash and SD of all types, sizes and speeds.


Is there a HDD/Hard-Drive testing tool for mac? I just found an external HDD in my shelf and want to sell it :-) Before this, I tried to delete all the files on the HDD, but the disk utility of Snow Leopard aborted with a known error "Disk Erase failed with the error: POSIX reports: The operation couldn't be completed. Cannot allocate memory". So I used the terminal (as described here) to delete the files on the HDD. Now my question is: is there a (freeware) tool to check whether the HDD works well? I don't want to (accidantely) sell a broken HDD

Why not use Disk Utility to write zeroes or if you have more time, interest in being sure it works repeatable, set it to write more passes of random data.

The drive will report IO errors in the system.log if there are hardware errors. If you have an SSD or want a tool to read back the random bits to ensure everything not only wrote properly, but can be read back with perfect fidelity, see the free tool stressdrive written by rentzsch.

You might also like to read over What is the best free hard drive diagnostics app for Mac OS X?


Sound: No output or input devices found 2016 MBP 13-inch 4 Thunderbolt 3 ports running macOS High Sierra version 10.13.6

All of a sudden, my sound isn't working, and using the volume buttons show a mute icon with a stop sign underneath. In my sound preferences, it shows no output or input devices.

Running system_profiler SPAudioDataType in Terminal gives this output:

Audio:

Devices:

Reboot the computer and hold D to run the Apple Hardware Test. In my case, it said no issues were found, but after rebooting, everything started working again. Based on the comments, many others have had the same experience.

Thanks to Allan for suggesting the hardware test.


What are the keys corresponding to the shortcut? I'm trying to figure out how to use my Apple keyboard at times instead of the mouse. What keys do I press for the following shortcut?

Apple's Help menu in the finder has an article titled What are those symbols shown in menus? - the related articles at the bottom are great reading. Your specific answer is:

shift+fn+delete

The up arrow ⇧ is the shift key and the symbol ⌦ is the Forward delete symbol.  Typed fn+delete.

Refer to Mac keyboard shortcuts for further information on the symbols.


Connecting to Mac mini through xSession I have encountered this problem when I was trying to help my friend who want to learn iOS programming but at the moment cant afford to buy a Mac.
I have Macbook and Mac mini.
I was avid use of linux in my past and I have used XSessions on linux where I was exploiting multiuser service from a linux machine and had my personal GUI or XSession.
As Mac is basically unix based system.
I am wondering if it is possible that I can setup my Mac mini such a way that my friend can connect to his personal xSession over the internet to my mac mini and start coding on my Mac mini.

This is not possible, since the OSX GUI doesn't run on X Server. Furthermore, there is no support for simultaneous desktop logins. You could theoretically run an X server on OSX, but you'd be able to run only apps that use XQuartz, not native OSX apps.

You could allow him to access your Mac via Screen sharing or VNC, but it wouldn't support multiple users.


Help with a bash script to proceed if bundle id is found Looking for some help writing a bash script that checks if a particular bundle id is installed and proceeds to install the package if not found.

Found that we can use "mdfind kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = "com.hnc.Discord" (for example) returns the location for the particular bundleid if the app is not found nothing comes back.  Maybe I can use this with an if statement somehow?

Any help would be much appreciated.

mdfind does not produce an unsuccessful exit code but you could pipe the results to grep which does. The code would look something like this:

mdfind "kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = com.apple.Terminal" | grep -q Terminal || installer ....

|| is logical or.

It could also be written

if mdfind "kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier = com.apple.Terminal" | grep -q Terminal
then
  :
else
  installer ...
fi


How to read/write from/to a NTFS formatted External HDD on MacOS high Sierra? With the introduction of APFS in MacOS high sierra I am unable to read/write from/to my external HDD which is formatted in NTFS. I need this case because I regularly switch between windows and mac and hence want to keep my HDD format as NTFS. Previously (on Sierra) I was using OSX fuse on my mac for NTFS read/write support but they haven't released any update for APFS. Any suggestions or alternatives I can use to achieve NTFS read/write on APFS?

same problem I have faced, I use WD Elements external hard drive on my MacBook Pro which is currently on 10.13.4 I have successfully installed FUSE but it did not work for me.
If you use Seagate/WD Drive then you can download their version of Paragon Software which is available for free but works with their brand's drives only.

For WD Drives

For Seagate Drives


Is it normal for a MacBook Pro to run so hot? I have a new MacBook Pro 16" and I've noticed the physical temperature between the touch bar and the screen is really hot to the touch and with a thermal gun measures 105 degrees F.  The same location underneath is also just as hot.  Reading the internal sensors the temp hovers around 150 Deg F and when the system is in control of the fans they appear to be barely running.  When I override them and speed the fans up things will cool down but that seems a bit strange that the system control to allow the internals to get that hot.

I've tried doing an SMC reset and that didn't help.  It also doesn't matter if I'm charging it or not it will still run as hot.  I have it sitting on the top of my desk with a lot of space around it for good circulation.

If I'm doing non-cpu or non-gpu intensive operations:

Should the temperature be that high if all of the airflow systems are working correctly?
If the components would normally generate that amount of heat shouldn't the fans speed up without having to be forced to?

See here for info on how to get the specifics for your processor.

150F is an OK temperature for the processor to be running at. Here's a nice guide on everything you need to know about intel temperatures.

System control for the fans generally tries to balance the need for the fans with the noise made by the machine, meaning the fans are left off for as long as possible. But the designers know the thermal limitations of the CPU and have measures in place in software to protect it against thermal damage, so you shouldn't be worried about it.


"Advanced" App Store search I would like to search the iPhone app store in such a way that I only see results that don't offer an in-app purchase. I know that Apple offers a data feed of all the App Store's data, so in principle a service could exist that would allow this. However, having tried all the App Store search engines I know of (uQurey, AppShopper, AppAdvice, 148apps), it seems that none of them offer this kind of specific customised search.

So my question is whether there is an App Store search service that allows such specific queries as this.

There is a way now: https://appapp.io/us/has_iap=false/search

(Full disclosure - I made it)


how can I use applescript to type? how can I use applescript to type in a specified area on the screen? I've tried the 'keystroke' command, but it doesn't seem to work. also, how can I use applescript to display an image? thanks a lot if you answer. here's the code I have so far:

set theText to text returned of (display dialog "Put what you want to autotype here." default answer "" buttons {"OK", "cancel"} default button 1)
display dialog "select where you want me to type " & theText & " Your text will be typed in the area selected. you have 10 seconds to select once you click 'OK'" buttons {"OK"}
delay 10
say "typing"
--command for typing here
end
end
end

tell application "System Events"
    set textToType to "text here"
    keystroke textToType
end tell

Replace within the quotes of "text here" to what ever you need.


Weird message appeared, like spam, black screen, green button? Yesterday I received a weird message on my iPhone 4, it was a completely black screen with a wide green / standard button at the bottom.

It seemed like a kind of broadcasted message.

The message said something about RSVP.

I've never seen a message like this before, wasn't an email, SMS or iMessage. I did a search on Bluetooth apps to see if I could see this type of thing, but didn't find anything.

I dont know if its related, but a few minutes later I heard a sent message noise.

I can't find the message in texts or email either.

It all feels like I've been hacked into some how.

That's an operator message which gets displayed directly on the screen and doesn't get added to the usual SMS messages. My bank uses them to send me the login PIN for electronic banking whenever I want to log in.


Music on my iPhone 5s is gone! Went to play tunes while working out the other day. I tapped on the Music app to open my playlists and all that appears is an image of a girl with headphones on. No playlists...no songs...no way to proceed to any of my music. Anybody else missing their music via Bluetooth?

Yes it happened to me also. After you launch the app, wait a few seconds and it will give you the option to join Apple Music, or go to your music. Click "Go To My Music" and you will be all set. If you don't see these options make sure you have an Internet connection and wait a few seconds.


Can I still add friends to Game Center on iOS 9? My iPhone and my daughter's iPod both have iOS 9. I have tried to add her as a friend in Game Center using both her email address and her nickname. But nothing seems to work.

She has also sent a request to me. But nothing seems to get through.

I have read that game center does not allow adding friends in iOS 10. Does that mean it also doesn't work I iOS 9 now?

Note: my daughter is under 13 and we have entered her age as such. That does kind of limitations in some games. But I had not heard that it would block her from using Game Center friends.

Many Game Center's features were removed from the Game Center service itself so they still wouldn't work, including adding friends, even if you have Ios 9 (and in Ios 10 obviously).
Now, you  can see just the rankings and the goals of the game; you can also invite and challenge your friends only through iMessage, and only if the game supports it.


Is there a way to prevent iTunes from asking me to update my iPhone's carrier settings? I don't sync my iPhone with my work computer.  I just plug it in to charge it.  Is there a way to prevent it from prompting me every time to update the phone's carrier settings?:

I have un-checked iTunes' "Check for new software updates automatically" setting, but it still asks for me to update the carrier settings.

Hmmmm the message about updating your carrier settings is not an IOS upgrade. It is a tiny little file that your carrier (EG AT&T, Verizon, etc.) places on your phone to keep it up to date with their network.

Let it check and apply it, it takes about 30 seconds.


What is the latest iOS version for iPhone 4? I want to download the latest iOS version for offline restore for my iPhone 4. I want to know what is the latest iOS version and how can I download it?

The latest iOS available for the iPhone 4 is iOS 7.1.2

Have a look at: Maximum Supported iOS Version

The direct download links for the full releases are:

iPhone 4 (GSM Rev A)

iPhone 4 (GSM)

iPhone 4 (CDMA)

Download the appropriate file for your device and then in iTunes select the device and option-click the Check for Update button and select the downloaded .ipsw file.

Also, if you Google "how to install ios from file using itunes" (without quotes) you'll find additional information.


Photos app on macOS doesn't sync with iCloud when Photos app on iPhone uploaded correctly I don't see photos on my macOS (macOS Big Sur) Photos app but on my iPhone (iOS 14.4) there is info that all photos were "Updated Just Now".
The count of photos in the iOS app is higher than the macOS Photos app.
I've checked the free space on macOS (there is 12GB free space), also iCloud has free space (14 GB free  of 50 GB)
Other services like Calendar and Notes sync without any problem with iPhone

I've enabled on my iPhone on Photos the option "Upload to My Photo Stream" and I restarted macOS.
Syncing on macOS Photos come back.
Probably by mistake I switched it off.
More info how it works: https://macpaw.com/how-to/my-photo-stream-icloud


How do I prevent OS X from automatically installing app files on my drive I have just reinstalled my Air with Lion. I didn't want to do a Time Machine restore, as I really didn't want any of the old apps, and I'd like to manually sort through my home folder and discard old crud.

After copying back my previous hard drive contents to ~/PREV, I noticed that Spotlight would suggest to launch apps that existed there, even though I hadn't "installed" them, like copied them to the /Applications folder or run their installers (for those that have them).

I quickly updated the Spotlight preferences to not index the ~/PREV folder (no need to, anyway, as it was only a temporary folder). That fixed that.

Now, I just discovered that Finder has context menu items stemming from BetterZip, which is now in my Downloads folder, having been copied over from my PREV folder. I did not install BetterZip.

What the ....? Somehow OS X is automagically installing .app files whereever it finds them? How on earth is this a good idea? What is OS X doing behind my back? And most importantly, how do I stop this crazy behavior?

Thanks :)

The Apps that the Finder shows in the context menu "Open with..." are not determined by Spotlight.
Independently of Spotlight the System scans for all .app files on your disk and builds a database of Apps and the file types they can open.
As long as you have an App on your disk, the Finder will offer to open files with it.

AFAIK, you can only prevent this behavior by either moving your apps to another disk, deleting them entirely or (what I often do) zipping them.

(By the way, OS X is not installing the Apps. Usually an App is 'installed' when it just is on your disk. Installing like on Windows is hardly ever necessary for an App to run on OS X)


What do I have to do on my iPhone or in iTunes if my number changed? I switched to a new provider yesterday, and I'm gonna receive an iPhone 5s from them later today. But as the cancellation of my plan with the previous provider isn't completed yet, the SIM card coming with the phone will use a temporary number. As soon as my old provider is ready, my current number will be transferred to the new SIM. This requires no action on my part; the SIM will simply be "offline" for a few hours and will then use my current number.

I was wondering if the iPhone and also iTunes will display the changed number immediately or if there's anything I have to do. For example, restarting the phone, removing and re-inserting the SIM, or even restoring the phone?

Are there any other consequences of a changed number I should be aware of? Because if it's a hassle, I'd rather wait until the number is transferred before I actually unbox the phone.

I simply had to change the "my phone number" field in settings, everything else worked just fine.


How to safely rid a Macbook Pro's power port of chocolate? There was a chocolate coin from Christmas at the bottom of my laptop bag which managed to get shoved into the power port and conform to the space and fill it completely. I managed to scrape most of it away with tweezers but I'm afraid attempting to charge it will most definitely cause the residue to melt and harm the computer. Ideas?

If it's a magsafe port us a cotton swab or soft bristle tooth brush. See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203207.


When can I remove the El Capitan install drive? I have installed 10.11 from a USB drive, it has run as expected and I am now at the "Create account" screen (input name+username).

I will now turn the computer over to the person who will do the remaining steps.
Can I remove the USB drive at this point without problems?

Yes, you can now remove the install media and shut down the computer. Once the machine reboots into the Setup Assistant, it's safe to remove the install media.


Does default e-mail port behave differently than custom? I'm trying to setup mail on Mavericks to talk directly to my mail server at an ISP. I use the ISP for my mail, but filter it through Gmail and that works. So, here's what I've tried:

telnet to port 25 (blocked by ISP)
telnet to port 465 (connects, but get no e-mail header)
openssl to port 465 (works just like I'd expect)
openssl to Gmail port 465 (works just like I'd expect)
telnet to Gmail port 25 (blocked)

…but here's the difference. For Gmail, I have "default ports (25, 465, 587)" checked, and no custom port. For my ISP, I have custom port set to 465. I have use SSL checked for both.  However, for Gmail, it realizes it has to use 465, and for my ISP, it gets stuck trying to connect to 25.

Any ideas? It seems that mail knows to use TLS for port 465 only if it's a "default" port, and won't use it if I type 465 in directly.

Here's a bit more information:

Successful connection to Gmail:

INITIATING CONNECTION Oct 29 22:11:37.797 host:smtp.gmail.com -- port:465 -- socket:0x0 -- thread:0x600001277d00
CONNECTED Oct 29 22:11:38.008 [kCFStreamSocketSecurityLevelTLSv1_0] -- host:smtp.gmail.com -- port:465 -- socket:0x6000004c4910 -- thread:0x600001277d00
READ Oct 29 22:11:38.081 [kCFStreamSocketSecurityLevelTLSv1_0] -- host:smtp.gmail.com -- port:465 -- socket:0x6000004c4910 -- thread:0x600001277d00
220 mx.google.com ESMTP m63sm2836028ioe.40 - gsmtp
Unsuccessful connection to ISP (hostname obscured)
INITIATING CONNECTION Oct 31 21:17:03.606 host:mail.xxx.xxx -- port:465 -- socket:0x0 -- thread:0x600001661b00
CONNECTED Oct 31 21:17:03.909 [kCFStreamSocketSecurityLevelNone] -- host:mail.xxx.xxx -- port:465 -- socket:0x6080006cf0a0 -- thread:0x600001661b00

I found a bit more, but may need more help. I'm getting the following error in the system log:

errSSLXCertChainInvalid: Invalid certificate chain (-9807)

The ISP-assigned server has a self-signed certificate. I think it's loaded. It was originally a "login" certificate. I tried trusting it for everything, and that didn't work. I tried moving it to system, and that didn't work. So, I'm wondering if the certificate is not considered a root certificate.

I requested the ISP to fix the https site so that I could hopefully get the certificate into the Mac. It appears that no one uses any other method of getting the cert than browsing in Safari, and Safari refuses to connect to port 465.

You wouldn't get anything from port 465 at all as it's encrypted.

Various forms of encryption use various ports (not all the same port) and keep it that way to keep themselves identifiable. Some may do their own thing, but it's entirely up to them.

Here a quick list of providers and their various ports for reference.

Generic:
Unencrypted     25 (or 587)
StartTLS        587
SSL             465

Google:
SSL             465
StartTLS        587

Yahoo:
SSL             465


OSX Lion freeze after sleep Sometimes, after I wake up my MBP from sleep I get the screen shown in picture. Once I click somewhere in the middle of the screen I get the log in window. When I log in all the windows/apps that were open before sleep are closed. This doesn't happen always but it happens quite often. Any suggestions? Has anyone had same problem ? This started happening after installing SSD. (Crucial M4)

I've experienced this as well. The error is actually related to the settings of diplay sleep and computer sleep:

  In System Preferences > Energy Saver the timers for display sleep and computer sleep must be greater than the time of auto logout after inactivity in System Preferences > Security & Privacy.


Do I need a newer Mac if I want to continue to use Xcode with my iPhone? Recently I updated my iPhone 6s to iOS 12.2.

When I went to compile my app, Xcode told me it needed to be upgraded to deploy to device running iOS 12.2.

When I went to upgrade Xcode, it told me my OS needed to be upgraded to macOS Mojave.

When I went to upgrade my Mid 2010 MacBook Pro to Mojave, App Store said “Nah uh, your computer is too old”.

I tried to restore my iPhone to 12.1.4 from the .ipsw, and iTunes says Apple says “Uh um, nope; I decline to authorize…”

Am I separated from my app and data until I pony up for a newer Mac?

Your computer is too old to be officially supported on macOS Mojave, I'm afraid. Also it is not possible to downgrade an iPhone to an older iOS version, unless you have saved certain information before you did the upgrade (which you didn't do).

However there are two unsupported methods of running macOS Mojave anyways, which will enable you to install Xcode 10.2 and develop for iOS 12.

The first option is to use the Mojave Patcher third party utility found here:

http://dosdude1.com/mojave/

It essentially patches a Mojave installation package to be able to run on older, otherwise unsupported hardware.

The other option is to use a virtualisation system such as VMware Fusion or Parallels Desktop and run Mojave inside a virtual machine.


Which applications should be in the Utilities folder? A while ago I wanted to make things more convenient so I organized the my Mac applications in folders. Little did I know, it prevented Software Updates to detect needed updates.

Now, I've been trying to revert things the way they were. For most Apple application, thats easy, just put it at the root Application folder. However there is the "Utilities" folder, that I played with a bit.

Which application should and should NOT be in this folder?

Applications

Address Book
App Store
Automator
Calculator
Chess
Dashboard
Dictionary
DVD Player
FaceTime
Font Book
iCal
iChat
Image Capture
iTunes
Launchpad
Mail
Mission Control
Photo Booth
Preview
QuickTime Player
Safari
Stickies
System Preferences
TextEdit
Time Machine

Utilities

Activity Monitor
AirPort Utility
AppleScript Editor
Audio MIDI Setup
Bluetooth File Exchange
Boot Camp Assistant
ColorSync Utility
Console
DigitalColor Meter
Disk Utility
Grab
Grapher
Java Preferences
Keychain Access
Migration Assistant
Network Link Conditioner
Network Utility
Podcast Capture
Podcast Publisher
RAID Utility
Services Manager
System Information
Terminal
VoiceOver Utility
X11


All calendar entries lost across iPhone 4, iPad, MacBook Air after iPhone upgraded to iOS 7. Help? My husband has lost all his calendar entries after upgrading to iOS 7 on his iPhone earlier today. He deleted 3 football calendars from his iPhone as they were duplicated.  Everything was fine.  Now everything is gone, including on iCloud.

He has no back up elsewhere.

Any ideas?

You might want to put both devices in offline mode (or power down the router) in case the duplicates were not really and the calendars were deleted.

You can use another computer (or a web browser) to log into iCloud.com and inspect the calendars as far as Apple sees things.

If the calendar data is still in the cloud, then your missing data is due to an error on each device or a temporary network condition.


Is it possible to select Terminal output by using keyboard keys? Often I like to copy output from the terminal into the clipboard.

Currently I'm using the mouse. Select the text so that it is marked. Then "command" plus "c".

In a text-editor or text-processing software you can use the "shift" key (keep it pushed) together with the arrow keys for selecting text. So one needs the mouse less and can keep the hands on the keyboard.

On the terminal that doesn't work. Keeping the "shift" key pushed and pushing the arrow keys just creates this: ;2C;2B;2A;2D;2D;2D;2D;2D

Hexadecimal numbers obviously. Does anyone knows the meaning?

But my actual question is:

Can one select terminal output via keyboard?

Similar to what I have described concerning text-editors.

The terminal multiplexing program tmux has configurable keyboard commands for selecting text for the purpose of copying and pasting.  tmux is a very powerful addition to any terminal.  It has a high learning curve, but if all you want to do is copy and paste you can learn how in a matter of moments and it will stay completely out of your way until you are ready to take the next step.  tmux can be installed directly, or using a package manager such as Macports or Homebrew.


What does installing a "device enrollment challenge" do on an iPad? I work for a large faceless corporation, and they're rolling out some new software for email. As part of the install, it's asking me to install a "Profile" which contains a "Device Enrollment Challenge".

My question is, should I be nervous about this? What privacy issues should I be concerned about, if any?

Any requests to install a profile containing Device Enrollment will have come from your corporate MDM (mobile device management) server and so can be trusted if it's a corporate device. If it's a personal device you should ask the head tech about any restrictions which may be put in place on your device by the profile. Chances are there won't be any problems if the profiles have been well implemented but it's worth double checking anyway.


superfast ssd (PCIe connector) to MBP mid2012? is it possible to put one of these new generation ssd to my MBP with pci express connector?

PCIe SSD

I don't believe it is possible as the Macbook Pro 2012 doesn't come with a PCIe according to the Apple specifications.

http://support.apple.com/kb/sp649

You can put a standard aftermarket SATA SSD in though.


Is there any way to broadcast a part of your screen as webcam on OSX (for twitch, omegle etc)? Title: can you get a section of your screen recognised as if it was a webcam, so sites like twitch and omegle will read from it?

You can use OBS, also known as Open Broadcaster Software.

Here's the official site's description of OBS:

  Open Broadcaster Software is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. Supported features include:

  Encoding using H264 (x264) and AAC.
  Support for Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV) and NVENC.
  Unlimited number of scenes and sources.
  Live RTMP streaming to Twitch, YouTube, DailyMotion, Hitbox and more.
  File output to MP4 or FLV.
  GPU-based game capture for high performance game streaming.
  DirectShow capture device support (webcams, capture cards, etc).
  Windows 8 high speed monitor capture support.
  Bilinear or lanczos3 resampling.

You can download OBS for macOS 10.8+ from the official website. It also supports Windows 7/8/10 and Linux.


Location services on a macbook pro How can I set the location on my macbook from a GPS set when out of range of any WIFI signal (e.g. at sea)?

You'd have to read the GPS manual & see if it has any form of mac connectivity/drivers, otherwise you'd need to buy a GPS dongle - this is just the first one I found, no doubt there are many others - http://www.amazon.com/GlobalSat-ND-100S-USB-GPS-Dongle/dp/B003WNHGAO


Offline files / Directory sync I have a MacBook Pro that I travel with a lot.  I also have a NAS for my home network.  Many timesI use my MacBook in areas where I do not have Internet access.  I'd like to have copies of some of my folders while I travel and sync up when I return back home.  Is there anything like the Microsoft 'Offline Files' feature present in the MacOS, or do I need to script something like this myself?

I use chronosync to sync my laptop back to my iMac and NAS. It's not a free solution, but once its setup it works. There are other options available from a simple rsync script to other sync tools.


How to create an application with applescript that will be able to open a file from finder I would like to create an application for a command line program I installed with Homebrew. The command's executable is located in /usr/local/bin/ and it accepts files as command line arguments. It's a PDF reader named zathura.

While investigating this topic I learned that an Applescript can be saved as an application. I've managed to do that and I've also managed to make Finder use it primarily as my PDF reader.

I tried writing the following script:

on run argv
    do shell script "/usr/local/bin/zathura " & (item 1 of argv)
end run

If I run this script from the applescript editor, using the play button, the program opens without any file, but that's understandable since I have no way with this interface to specify a file argument.

However, if I save it as an application, put it in the applications folder and click it, I get the error:

  Can't make item 1 into type Unicode text (-1700)

Moreover, when I select a file in Finder and try to open it with the new application I just created, nothing happens.

I don't understand why does the script act differently if saved as an application and what are the variables (as argv) that hold the information on the file that Finder would like to open.

Using the argv parameter with the run handler is designed for arguments passed to the script when using it with osascript from the command line.  In a regular AppleScript application, an open handler is passed a list of aliases (HFS paths), for example:

on open fileItems
    repeat with anItem in fileItems
        # do something with anItem
    end repeat
end open

From your snippet, you would do something like:

on open fileItems
    do shell script "/usr/local/bin/zathura " & quoted form of POSIX path of item 1 of fileItems
end open

Note that you should use the POSIX path of items when using them with the shell, and the paths should also be quoted or have characters special to the shell escaped.

See the AppleScript Language Guide for more information.


Why do browsers not render pictures in native pixel density on retina display? It seems to me that browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox) on my retina Macbook Pro do not render any pictures at native pixel density. For example, when I open an image from google images and then download that same image and open it in preview, that same image is smaller and more dense in Preview than it is in my browser. This seems to suggest that there is a discrepancy in pixel scaling between the two applications. Can this be fixed for the browser?

This is intentional. Most websites aren't designed for retina displays and only have 1x assets. If these 1x assets were drawn at native resolution on a retina display, they would appear at one quarter the size (half the height, half the width). That would obviously be impractical: it would be like browsing the web with your browser's zoom level set to 25%.

To get around this, the browser simply draws everything at 2x (retina) by default and then upscales any 1x assets to match. This way, websites appear at the same physical size on a retina display as they do on a non-retina display.


What to do about broken WiFi on iPhone 4S after iOS 7 update? Several iPhone 4S owners have noticed a problem with their WiFi not working after upgrading to iOS 7.

It appears to be both a software problem (our phones have been working for nearly two years with WiFi being just fine before the upgrade) and hardware problem (it gets partially better when the iPhone is chilled (physically).

My particular symptoms:

iPhone boots off spontaneously.
Diagnostics showing several panics with a debugger message of "WDT timeout" or "panic" listing kernel_task as the panicked task.
WiFi switch is disabled and set to "Off", can only be enabled by refridgerating the iPhone and rebooting (possibly needing to reset network settings).
When WiFi can be enabled, it repeatedly drops the signal.
If the iPhone isn't cool, Settings freezes up in the WiFi settings and, to a lesser amount, in the Cellular settings.
Once the iPhone warms up, the problems begin anew.

So the question is what can we practically do now? Is there any use calling Apple support (for out of warranty devices), should we take it in to an Apple store (for a not-too-expensive repair), should we take it to a local phone reapir shop (is this the type of thing they can repair and what does that usually cost/how long does it take), is there any reason to expect a software fix, or need we basically resort to exchanging our phones in for new ones?

I say give Apple a shot. I've been successful in resolving similar upgrade issues by calling the support number or making a Genius Bar appointment.

Local repair shops are fine for fixing a hardware component (i.e. replacing a screen) but not much help for an iOS software problem. Also see ifixit.com for DIY hardware repairs. They are amazing.


Two Apple IDs on one iPad Is there a way for both my husband and I to have our information (apps, photos, etc) on one iPad?  He's the original owner and now I have my own iPhone, but I want to be able to do the same things he does, but on separate accounts with one iPad.

In general, what you are suggesting is a Bad Idea™.

iOS devices such as iPad and iPhone do not have user accounts as you would have on a computer, where each user's data is stored separately and switching between accounts shows your data/apps/photos/etc. versus his. Simply signing in and out of an Apple ID on a device is not only time-consuming (to cover everything, there are at least 4-5 places I can think of off the top of my head where you'd have to log him out and you in, or vice-versa) but it's will wreak havoc with lots of things.

If you use iCloud calendars, they will either be deleted from the device each time you sign out, or if they are left, will be merged with the calendars of the next person who signs in. Notes stored in iCloud would be the same way. Calendars and notes don't necessarily take a huge amount of data, so maybe deleting them each time isn't that big a deal. What does take a lot of data is photos. If you use iCloud Photo Library, signing out will either delete all photos on the device (and therefore have to be re-downloaded each time you sign in), or if left, will be merged with the iCloud Photo Library of the next person to sign in (and eventually you'll end up with identical photo libraries).

If you use other systems for Calendars, Notes, and Email, such as Gmail, your stuff won't be accessible by just signing in and out of an Apple ID - you'd have to remove his account(s) and add yours, or vice-versa. That will cause all such data on the device to be deleted and have to be re-downloaded every time.

Apps do not get deleted by signing in and out, but by the same token, apps don't get downloaded just because you sign in. You can have apps purchased with different Apple IDs on the same device, but to update them, you have to be signed in with the ID that purchased them, which can create a headache. Also, app data, such as your progress in a game, does not go anywhere just by signing in and out. For games which don't have multiple save files (i.e. the majority of them), only one of you can save your progress. For other apps which contains data specific to one of you, the same idea applies.

The specific setting I mentioned in my comments requires signing in and out of iCloud, which I didn't think about when I mentioned it before. As mentioned above about calendars, notes, email, photos, etc. it would actually cause a lot of problems.

In short, no, it's not possible.


Creating a folder in the root of the filesystem results in "Operation not permitted" The following command:

$ sudo mkdir /AppleInternal
and entering my password when prompted,

results in:
mkdir: /AppleInternal: Operation not permitted

Is this because of System Integrity Protection? I'm sure I've done this previously with no issues. I'm on High Sierra (10.13.4).

btw, the reason I want to create that folder is so I can run the iOS Simulator in split screen: https://stackoverflow.com/a/46887389/368085

This is because of SIP, but only with the name ‘AppleInternal’. You can create other folders and files in the root, but the name AppleInternal is restricted. You can neither create a folder with the name AppleInternal, nor create a folder with a different name and rename it AppleInternal.


Can't use f.lux or Night Shift. How can I work around this? I have a mid 2011 Mac Mini running High Sierra. According to the apple help site, that model is incompatible with Night Shift. I have f.lux installed (had it for a couple of years) but it refuses to launch in High Sierra. I really like having the less blue night on the screen at night. Is there some way to work around this problem?

(Taken from user bobzippymail on a flux forum page)

delete "backgrounditems.btm" file under this path, and then restart your mac.
/Users/$your_user/Library/Application Support/com.apple.backgroundtaskmanagementagent/backgrounditems.btm

I would recommend making a duplicate of the file in case something goes wrong.


iOS Camera Roll and Photo Stream workflow When I take a photo on my iPhone it is added to both the Camera Roll and Photo Stream.  I can then upload the photo into "permanent" storage in Mac iPhoto either from Photo Stream or Camera Roll (during a sync).

Is there any difference in the photo stored in Camera Roll or Photo Stream?
Photo Stream automatically reduces the resolution when it transfers a photo to an iOS device.  Does this down resolution process only apply to photos transferred to a different iOS device, i.e. a photo taken on the iPhone is full resolution on the original iPhone but would be down sampled if Photo Stream transferred it to a different iPhone?
Is there any easy way to delete multiple photos from Camera Roll and Photo Stream on an iOS device?  One at a time isn't exactly practical for the hundreds of photos I might take on a long trip.

A photo stored in the Camera Roll is permanently stored on your device (until you delete it). Only 1,000 photos are saved in the Photo Stream on an iOS device, so if enough photos are uploaded to your Photo Stream the old ones will be purged. (But a Mac or PC will save all of the photos in your Photo Stream by default.)

According to Apple, the downscaling does only apply on iOS devices — if you have Photo Stream set up on your computer, those photos will be full-resolution.

On your Mac or PC, your photos are downloaded and stored in full resolution. On your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple TV, your Photo Stream photos are delivered in a device-optimized resolution that speeds downloads and saves storage space.

Yes — to delete multiple photos, just tap the action button in the upper right corner, select some photos, and tap the Delete button.


When opening my MacBook Pro, the Superdrive makes noise I have a MacBook Pro mid-2012 and I love the easy way of putting it to sleep when closing the laptop. I have never used the SuperDrive.

The problem is that after several months of using it and getting it out of sleep correctly when I open the screen, now when I open the screen, the SuperDrive makes noise, just like at startup. It never did that before.

I hate having such a noise when coming out from sleep. Is there a way to disable the SuperDrive?

There's an option to disable Super-drive in parental controls. Check in system preferences -> Parental control.

Edit
Ok if you want to do completely disable the superdrive without playing with parental control you can do it by unloading the kext file. Just go to /System/Library/Extensions folder and find IODVDStorageFamily.kext file. Move this file to any alternate location or create a new folder there itself and put it there and reboot. You won't see the superdrive in your connected devices again.

To use the superdrive again, you need to put that file again on the same location and insert a USB drive, so that OSX starts searching for connected devices and it'll find your superdrive. Do take the backup of you kext file properly and do not delete it.


macbook 13" and the audio jack for sound input I've followed the instructions at this link to set the audio port for input, yet nothing changes as described in bullet 6.

Any idea what I could try next?

Ok,

It seem that the trick in the above link only works if a line in is actually connected. Which wasn't the case...


Microphone really REALLY soft after upgrade to 10.15.4 Tested on Google Hangouts, Google Meet, Skype, Facebook Messenger, and Zoom. This is a MacBook Pro 14.3inch.

Even on this screen the microphone only registers when I talk VERY LOUDLY:

There were no issues before I upgraded. Since then, there has been another minor upgrade (which I applied). I've also tried with an external headphone that has a mic, and there was no improvement.

EDIT: Installed Windows on an SSD—with Bootcamp drivers—rebooted into it and the mic works. So it's definitely a software problem.

First, perform a SMC reset by following the instructions for your Mac.  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

As commenters have noted, a Safe Boot is also a useful step.  Hold down the Shift key immediately after hearing the startup chimes; you'll notice that login will take longer than normal, and you may see 'Safe Boot' in red letters at the upper right of the login window.  Test the hardware meter again by opening System Preferences > Sound (or press Option and one of the function keys assigned to a Volume control).


How to list content of .Trashes folder in single-user mode Is .Trashes folder suppose to be empty when computer is launched in single-user mode. If not, how do I see its contents? I tried ls command, but it doesn't list anything. It could be that the Trash simply is empty, but due to an error I am working on, I cannot login into my user account to check it myself.

There is a systemwide Trash folder as well as one per user. If you deleted files in Finder while being logged in with your user account, the deleted files are in /Users/YOUR-USER-NAME/.Trash.


Transferring Files After a Clean Install I am planning to do a clean install of Mountain Lion (on a Macbook Pro that was updated to Yosemite) after being told that I have some corruption in my hard drive. The computer (only 3 years old) has slowed down significantly in the last few months, especially when opening directories containing large amounts of files and when loading large documents in Photoshop and other applications. I had doubled my RAM (as a bandaid solution) and that seemed to make a difference for a while, but I now I need to do something about it.

The question is, after I've backed up all of my files onto an external drive with Time Machine and performed the clean install, how do I know what files are safe to copy back into my system? Thanks in advance for the help.

The short answer is that there is no easy way to know what files have been corrupted and what impact they may have.

The best solution is to rely as little as possible on the files on the old backup. You have made a good start by doing a clean OS install. Now re-install all applications from scratch, preferably by downloading brand new installers. Once you have done that then get all your documents, music and other data files from the backup but not such things as your Library folder. Thi means you will have to set the preferences on all your applications again.

This is a lot of work but the safest way to do a clean install.


Setting two tabs to split view in one action when using safari macOS catalina I'm using macOS Catalina 10.15.4 on a MacBook Pro 2018.

When using safari browser with two tabs in Full Screen, sometimes I want to drag one tab to view then side-by-side in split view.

The way I do it now is dragging one tab down from the tabs-bar, it opens in its own full screen view and then I drag them side-by-side just like:

I wonder if there is more efficient way to do it, requiring less actions (hopefully one darg or even keyboard shortcut).

If you have two safari windows open (command + n) then you can press long on the green button on the top left of one of the two windows and the following window will appear:

Then you can choose where you want this page on your screen, left or right, and then on the other side where you selected you can choose the other safari pages. There are keyboard shortcuts for what I don't know ... But a little less expensive than your version


Restore an iPhone from iCloud backup of newer iOS version I have an iCloud backup from an iPhone running iOS 8.3. Now, I'd like to restore another iPhone from this backup. The problem is that the other iPhone is running iOS 8.2 (this iPhone cannot be updated to 8.3 as I need it to run this very version).

I found some guides on the internet explaining how to do a downgrade from a beta version (I didn't find anything about downgrading from non-beta versions). But they are about downgrading from a major release to another major release (eg: iOS 8 to iOS 7).

My thought is that, unlike the iTunes backup, iCloud backup saves only information about the data on your iPhone (a list of all installed apps, a list of all downloaded music, movies, etc.) and when you restore from an iCloud backup, it will just re-download this media from iTunes and the App Store.

I didn't just try this yet as I don't know whether some data in iCloud may get corrupted by restoring to an older version.

Does anybody have any experience with this kind of thing?

You cannot downgrade unless one of the following is true:

Apple is still signing installations of the previous version of the OS to which you wish to downgrade, or
Your phone is jailbroken, you have saved your SHSH blob from the prior version, and you have a way to run a replay attack with that SHSH blob to trick the device into believing Apple is still signing that version.

You can determine whether a particular version of iOS is currently being signed for a given device on ipsw.me. Simply change 8.2 in the URL to the version you want to check, such as 8.0 or 8.3.

This list of updates, from the same website, shows when Apple starts and stops signing a given version.

In your case, 8.2 stopped being signed on 5/4/15. Therefore it is no longer possible to downgrade. Generally the window is about a month or so after a new version is released.


How to make macOS and iOS connect to the stronger WiFi I have a modem/router in my room which is at the back of the house. As I was having poor reception in the front side of my home, I've got one of the cheap ADSL routers and I'm using that as another hotspot (connected via ethernet to my fiber router) and I'm using that for the WiFi at the living room. Whenever I come home from outside, I first pass through the living room momentarily to get to my room. And all my Apple devices insist on automatically connecting to the living room's hotspot, which has poor reception in my room. If it connects even once, it will not automatically connect to the much stronger hotspot unless I turn off Wifi and turn it on again manually. It sucks because when I arrive home, I almost always need to turn off Wifi on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook Pro, which is extremely inconvenient.

Deleting the living room's password from my keychain would obviously avoid the issue, though I'd always need to re-enter the password and delete it afterwards when I use the internet at the living room, which is even more inconvenient.

I've also tried naming them the same, but it messes everything up (and apparently causes problems with routing) so I'd better keep the SSIDs separate.

How do I solve this problem?

If the one in the living room is connected to the main router via ethernet, just change it to access point only mode. Stop assigning addresses from this router. Set it to the same SSID as the other (stronger) router, and your devices should hand off to whichever signal is stronger at the moment. I have one router at home, plus two more in different areas, set up this way, and there are no issues. When I'm upstairs, devices connect to the access point; when downstairs, they connect directly to the main router, transparently.


Prevent icon from appearing in my Mac's Dock when I text on my iPhone I don't want iMessage on my MacBook anymore, at all.  I've signed out of all accounts on my MacBook but when I start a text on my phone, this creepy icon appears, so it still knows I'm texting.
I've read various related questions here, here, here and here but they're not quite getting at the same thing.
Does anyone know how to prevent this?  I'm running Big Sur and hadn't noticed this previously, but I tend to leave a while before updates (precisely because there's always something annoying like this).

When an icon appears in the Dock with a badge that looks like a stylized iPhone:

it means that macOS is making you aware that you started something on another device (a Mac, iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch) and you could pick it up on your Mac. This functionality is called Handoff, which is one of a set of integration features called Continuity (other Continuity features include Universal Clipboard and Sidecar).
To turn Handoff off:

Launch System Preferences and click General

At the bottom of the pane, deselect “Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices”:


External monitor flicker / signal loss I have a Samsung 28" U28E590 4K Display and a 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Intel Iris 550 1536 MB Graphics). I have a dongle for HDMI output.

The problem is that the external monitor flickers, displays white noise and sometimes cuts out completely. I've tried SMC reset and buying a new HDMI cable, but the issue persists.

How do I resolve the issue?

I've had a support case at Apple for over a year about this issue. They finally answered that it's a software issue and they are looking into it.
We have spent a lot of money in our business on original adapters and good technics to have a good setup. Several of our MBPs with USB have this flickering problem on 1 of the 2 screens (always the screen you attached last).
I really hope that Apple can find this seriously soon or they will probably lose more customers. We are not very satisfied. After all, we have spent lots of money at Apple to get this sorted with no result more than an answer 1 year after - the answer "it's an Apple software problem".


Achieve 60Hz on my AOC U3477PQU 34" Ultrawide Monitor with Macbook Pro 15" (Late 2013) I bought an AOC U3477PQU 34" Ultrawide Monitor and I am trying to achieve a higher refresh rate.

I connected my monitor to my Macbook Pro 15" Late 2013 with Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB graphics card via HDMI directly and via Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter and everything works fine but I have a refresh rate of 30Hz. This is quite annoying as I can see the delay even when I move my mouse cursor.

Is there any way I can get a higher refresh rate? Using an Mini Displayport to Displayport cable will solve the problem?

Thanks in advance for your help...

Just bought an Mini Displayport to Displayport cable (4K) and now I am on 3440x1400 with 60Hz.


In OSX Mail, how do you type an address without completion/correction? Aside from manually removing items from Previous Recipients, is there a way to type in an address in Apple Mail exactly as I'd like, without autocompletion?

For instance, address completion often uses a "pretty name" that differs from what I'd like for an outgoing email (e.g., if another person has sent me mail with the name formatted differently.)  When this happens, it's genuinely difficult to find a way to enter the address exactly as I intend to.

(I don't want to disable autocompletion completely, just when typing certain addresses.  That said, I don't believe there is a preference to turn it off completely either.)

After brute-force experimentation, I found the solution is the Escape key.  Type either "Esc, comma", "Esc, Tab", or Esc and then click on the body or another header.

Esc must come after the very last character.  (I'd prefer a way to mute autocomplete until I start on a new address, because the flashing makes it hard to type.)

Other natural-seeming solutions do not work.  E.g., if I type "delete", Mail hides the autocompletion, appearing to respect the typing.  If you then type "Tab" or "comma", or click elsewhere, though, even without another character typed, it replaces the adress with the first match in its list, and you must delete and start over.


How do I remove search suggestions from iOS Safari? On macOS, Safari can be configured to provide search suggestions "from" a chosen search engine. A similar feature appears to be present in iOS, but it doesn't not work as expected: even when the "Search Engine Suggestions" setting is disabled

search suggestions still appear:

Moreover these suggestions do not come from the search history of the specified engine (e.g., it contains entries absent from the selected engine's history) bug from somewhere else.

Where do the suggestions that appear in the list of suggested searches in iOS Safari come from? How do I remove individual items, or clear them all without erasing other aspects of my browser history or affecting my synced history on macOS?

Those entries appearing as completion suggestions in the mobile Safari drop down under "Google Search" (or your default search engine of choice) are locally cached and are from your personal search history: e.g. somebody on that icloud account had typed "stranger things" in before -- not necessarily on that specific browser.

It can be cleared in the Settings > Safari > Clear History and Browsing Data. This will clear history, cookies, and cached pages (but not bookmarks or passwords) from the browser and from linked iCloud browsers. I tested this, and suggestions disappeared from my Safari "Google Search" list.

Unfortunately there does not appear to be a way to delete cached searches without deleting cached pages.

For a walk through see for example: Cult of Mac: Clear Your Browsing History And Web Data From Mobile Safari -- iOS Tips


How do I get Boot Camp back as default startup volume? I used to have Boot Camp as my default startup volume.

I have updated to 10.14.4 recently and since then Boot Camp is no longer shown under start volumes. My MacBook Pro boots to macOS now.

I can boot to Windows using the Alt key, but this is not what I want.

Is there any way to change it back to Boot Camp?

I just noticed that it was not only an update of macOS, but I had also NTFS for Mac installed. This prevents the Boot Camp partition to be used as a startup volume. If you deactivate the NTFS driver in NTFS for Mac, it can be used as startup volume again.


Deleting Active Leaderboards and Achievements I know that Apple says you cannot delete leaderboards and achievements once they are active. Is there a way to get them to not show up on an updated version of the game? Or do I have to delete my app and remake everything? There has to be a way to get around this.

Leaderboards can't be deleted once they are used in a live app, therefore you will need to create a new app if you wish to 'remove' a leaderboard.

  You can’t delete a leaderboard after the leaderboard appears in a live version of the app.

Source: Game Center Configuration Guide for iTunes Connect


The iPhone "xyz" could not be updated. An unknown error occurred (4000) Using iTunes to update my iPhone, I got:
Das iPhone "xyz" konnte nicht aktualisiert werden. Ein unbekannter Fehler ist aufgetreten (4000)
English:
The iPhone “xyz” could not be updated. An unknown error occurred (4000).

I could not solve it with the Apple recommended answer at I got Error 4000 when updating iPhone asking you to:

update iTunes
update the pc
plug in the cable directly (I have not done anything else anyway)
Restart both pc and iPhone
Switch off antivirus and firewall in all possible options

How to fix this?

Just update your iPhone using your iPhone update function, not the one offered in iTunes.
I have overseen another possible solution in the link of the question:

"Finally just put iPhone into Recovery Mode and did an update.
SUCCESS.  It did the 12.4.1 update and all seems fine."

Probably that would have helped as well. But the easiest solution is just to update your iPhone as you would do anyway if you did not have iTunes.


Is there a way to hibernate in mac? Possible Duplicate:
  Is there a way to make my MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard hibernate with a keyboard shortcut?

I am using mac os x snow leopard. Is there a way to hibernate?
also any keyboard shortcut?

Mac OS X (from 10.4) after going to sleep will write the memory content to disk (safe sleep). After the blinking white led stops the "hibernate operation" will be completed.

If power is still available your Mac will wake up instantaneously from memory. If power (and the memory content) was lost your Mac will take a little time more to wake up (from hibernation) since the memory content has to be read from disk.


Revert back to Mavericks from Yosemite Public Beta I have downloaded the Mavericks OS X Installation and found out it did not work. It gave me this message:

  This copy of the "Install OS X" application is too old to be opened on this version of OS X.

I wanted to downloaded the public beta thinking it would be nice since I heard there was no problems. I ran into lots of performance problems on the way. I would like to go back to Mavericks.

There is no such thing as beta software without problems.

Restore your system from a Time Machine backup taken before you installed the beta OS release. This is possible by booting into the Recovery Partition.


PCIe SSD swap from MacBook Air 2016 to newer model My sept 16 MacBook Air has overheated and died completely. I have spoken to Apple tech and to computer specialists and apparently the only people who can retrieve data from the ssd card is seagate and another national company that want to charge me more than the laptop (Apple never made an adapter to do this nor do they do data transfer apparently).
PROBLEM! The laptop died whilst in the middle of writing a very important essay and naturally didn’t have time to back up....so can I swap this ssd card into a newly purchased MacBook Air, retrieve and back up this data quick and bin this ssd for the new one? Is the 2017-2018 MacBook ssd the same as the 2016 models? Will this damage the new machine?

I’m desperate for my work.

The current MacBook Air generation is the early 2015 model. I’m assuming yours is this model but you should enter your serial number from the bottom case on Apple’s warranty lookup to be certain of it before you proceed.

Accessing the drive is simple and documented by iFixit. In short: have a MacBook screwdriver set handy, open the rear case making sure not to mix up the two shorter screws near the display, disconnect the battery, and remove or insert the SSD by unscrewing it and pulling it up and out of the socket at a slight angle.

If you were to buy a new MacBook Air of the same model, the SSD can be swapped. macOS does support booting a drive from one Mac in another Mac. Be aware that the SSDs use a proprietary connector that has changed often between generations and even between different product lines released in the same year. Other Macs such as MacBook Pro 2016/2017 and MacBook (12”) don’t provide the capability to swap drives at all as it’s integrated with the motherboard.

Regardless of the new Mac you choose, you’re better off attaching both drives and copying data over to the new one. There are adapters from Apple’s proprietary formats to the standardised m.2 format, so you can buy an m.2 USB adapter and another adapter for the SSD.

Consider selling the old laptop to someone who could make use of it for parts, e.g. a local repair store or on eBay as “for parts”, and dispose of the old drive when you're certain you're done with it.


How can I remove duplicated items in the install updates list? I just tried to install the OS X 10.10.3 update from the App Store. My internet is slow and after several hours, it finally finished.  It asked to restart, and I accepted.  But nothing happened.  I clicked the "Update" button again, and told it to restart several times, to no avail.

After a few tries, it started the whole download again!!!!

I cancelled it (I'll have to try again tomorrow), but now my Installed Updates list shows this:

And I don't know how to remove all the duplicate entries... or just a good installation of the update!! This is my first Mac, and is a serious negative experience for me... Other OS beta releases aren't this bad!! Any idea on how I can fix it?

EDIT: I was able to install the update with the combo updater, but the repeated updates are still appearing.  Does anyone have any idea what file I can edit to get it listed only once?

Something, somewhere, didn't register correctly.

Possibly someone maybe able to figure out exactly which receipt or App Store file to find, however, it would be far simpler & possibly safer to just get the standalone OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Combo Updater & run it again; because you don't know what else didn't happen as planned either & the Combo will make sure everything since 10.10.0 is correctly updated.

You can use a download manager to fetch it, too & it will then be resumable if the download halts for any reason.
- examples at Download Manager for Mac OS X [though Speed Download, arguably the best, is discontinued.]


Flagged/Starred Messages not working in Apple Mail I just setup two accounts in Apple Mail for the first time, and am having absolutely no luck getting Flagged messages to work, in addition the Starred message folders aren't working.

I'm using Mavericks v10.9.2...

First off, it's two Gmail accounts, both have the exact same issue:

Account #1 was created years ago, has nearly 50,000 emails in the archive folder, and has around 25 messages that are actively flagged/starred...
Account #2 was created this morning, has 6 total emails with 1 flagged/starred.

After setting up Apple Mail for the first time on BOTH of these:

Flagged emails DO show in the inbox.
The 'Flagged' mailbox is empty.
Searching for 'Flagged' messages returns no results.
A smart mailbox for flagged emails shows as empty.
The 'Starred' folders on both accounts are gone.  Sometimes they will
appear after a re-lauch of apple mail, but they disappear a few
seconds after that.

I have:

Tried rebuilding the inbox multiple times, with no effect.
Based on another suggestion, I deleted "Envelope Index" files and waited for them to rebuild.  Once complete I tried doing a search for flagged messages and waited...  With no effect...

In short: I can't view any flagged messages by any means because the Starred folders are gone (but present on both my iPad and my iPhone), and because flagged message simply will not show up as they normally do...

Maybe it's too late for this reply but I found a solution: Just create an empty mailbox in your mac, then drag and drop the emails that should be flagged to that folder. They'll appear again correctly in the Flagged folder.

I came up with this solution because I found out that new mail that I received and then flagged did appear correctly.


Truncated transfer of Time Machine backup contents to new flash drive I'm trying to transfer a 60GB folder from a Time Machine backup of a dead MBP to my 128GB USB-C flash drive (ExFAT). Unfortunately, whenever the transfer is almost complete, an alert informs me that my flash drive is 'full' and then truncates the transfer. This is weird, because my flash drive is newly formatted (no .trashes), and the size of the folder to be transferred is clearly much smaller than the maximum capacity of the flash drive. The folder ends up being only partially transferred. Furthermore, I start having trouble mounting the flash drive after the truncated transfer; the drive only mounts after I kill fsck.

All of the sub-folders of my 60GB folder can be transferred out individually – quickly and without any problems – except for one folder (projects). This folder contains ~400,000 items, primarily in node_modules folders. I believe that the large number of items might be causing the transfer to fail, but I can't figure out why.

My questions:

What am I doing wrong and how should I go about transferring my folders?
Why does my newly formatted 128GB flash drive show that it is full when it only contains a 60GB folder? Does this have anything to do with the large number of files?

Time Machine uses hard links to link to multiple copies of the exact same data. Hard links are one of many features that exFAT does not support.

If you were to copy multiple files that link to the same data to an exFAT drive, it would be duplicated for each hard link, potentially making the resulting copy much larger than the original.

To avoid these problems, you should probably only ever copy Time Machine backups to an HFS+ or APFS drive. If reformatting the external drive is not an option, you might consider creating a disk image of the backup directory and save it to the external drive (via Disk Utility or the command line).