How do I Propery Configure Display Scaling on macOS (with a 1440p External Display) to Reduce Eye Strain? I have a triple monitor setup, I use it for my gaming computer primarily. This setup until November was 3 1080p 27" monitors. I use a Dell D6000 Dock to connect my 2018 MacBook Pro (and when WFH in lockdowns my work Mac Mini). I'm back in the home office but the setup has changed since I last used it (which worked perfectly).
I bought a new 1440p 165Hz beast of a gaming monitor, I've been using it on windows since November with absolutely no issues. All you need to do is whack 1 slider up to set an appropriate display scale and you're done.
On Mac I'm having a few more problems getting this display scaling to work properly. I've been getting eye strain this week when my main monitor is set to 1440p, its really bad. If I set the display to 1080p the strain goes but the quality of the image is worse than my side monitors. The side monitors on windows look blurry, when compared to the main and I paid alot of money for my new monitor and I'm very happy with it, so I want to run it at full whack.
The Display menu is confusing in my opinion because it displays different scaling options for retina & non retina displays:
Retina

Non Retina (This is my actual display settings for the monitor in question

I would like to run the display so that the screen scaling matches 1080p, but I want the image to be at the full resolution of my monitor, 1440p. I've had a look into both RDM & SwitchResX but don't really understand what I'm doing.
RDM
I don't actually get many options in this program. I get the usual options that are available in display and very few "Retina" options.

If I try to select 1280x720, nothing happens at all. If I select 1280x800 (16:10 so an incorrect aspect). the screen changes and displays a really high quality image with the OS GUI scaled and at a much less eye taxing size.
SwitchResX
I've played about with custom resolutions but can't get it to send a 2560x1400 60Hz signal scaled to 1920x1080. If I add a custom resolution it just marks it as invalid, even if I use the preset provided by the program.
Dilema
I really can't live with the OS GUI scale of native 1440p on macOS. Everything is just that little bit too small and its genuinely causing me physical pain to use my setup which is tried and tested for years (never had ANY issues on the 1080 displays). I'm planning an upgrade of my side monitors to 1440p as-well so I really need to crack this issue before I go and triple my problem...
I tried things like following this gist to set the screen to 2560x1080, even turning SIP off (which seems scary to me).
Would these issues be caused by my use of the Dell D6000 Dock? I'm connecting it to my mac via Thunderbolt USB C & I use the provided HDMI 2.0 cable to connect the dock to the monitor. I tested the specific cable with my windows machine and was able to run the panel at 1440p + 165Hz so bandwidth is likely not an issue. My dock supports up to 3 4K displays so again I don't think there are any physical limitations in the way. This is a purely software issue and I've got to say disappointing from apple. Their iOS accessibility is top notch, but their mac accessibility looks to be garbage if this experience is anything to go by! and I'm not alone!
For now I'm running the monitor at 1080p, everything looks blurry but at least I'm not going blind....

The solution requires SwitchResX and to follow this guide - How to Mimic a 2K Monitor as “Retina Display” in macOS Sierra Using HiDPI. The high level steps:

Install SwitchResX.
Disable SIP.
Create a custom 4k resolution (3840 x 2160) in SwitchResX using the Scaled resolution option.
1920 x 1080 HiDPi becomes available in Current Resolutions of SwitchResX.
Enable that resolution.

The image is now going to my monitor at 2560x1440 with the HUD scale of 1920x1080.
(Thanks to @Tetsujin & @sfxedit I've been able to get the monitor displaying how I wanted.)


How to edit or add tag colors In Preview.app for macOS 10.13.3, how do I remove a tag from the drop-down menu and add additional colour tag, other than the few shown? I made a tag which I want to remove from the drop-down menu. Also, I wonder if it is possible to add custom colors to tags?

The tags shown when saving or modifying a file are Finder tags, not specific to Preview, etc.

Go to Finder → Preferences, then choose the Tags tab.

Click on a tag, then choose – to remove it.

Tag colours can be changed by right-clicking on a tag in the list and choosing a new colour for it.

  Drag your favourite tags to the area below to make them available for quick use in Finder menus.


How to change volume icon on Mac boot picker I installed Windows and Linux on my Mac. The Linux (Fedora) partition gets an icon on the boot picker (hold option on power up) as shown in picture:

Just for the purpose of doing it, how can I also set an icon for the macOS and Windows partition?

Place a 512x512 icns at the root of the partition named .VolumeIcon.icns. Startup Manager should pick this up and use it on that page.


How can two people read the same book on different devices I have bought a book on iBooks and my girlfriend also wants to read it. But I was wondering if it would cause any problems regarding icloud remembering where one of us stopped reading.

I have tried searching online but I couldn't find anything that would help. I was thinking about letting her use the bookmark function but that might cause me to lose my point in the book.

Is there any way we can easily read the same book on the same account? Preferably we should be able to use the same device but that is not necessary.

Have you considered adding her as part of the "family" ?

Did this with iTunes and my daughter, but a quick look in the help in iBooks shows that you can share a book via family without compromising either Apple Id...


Apple watch showing old notifications On my apple watch I receive a imessage, I twist my wrist to show the message but for it always shows me the old messages and then the new imessage? How can I stop this so it either just shows me the new message or the actual up to date thread?

Sometimes, you may not know that the configurations of your Apple Watch push notification system is different from your iPhone. The phone may receive the latest messages while the watch is lagging or doesn't receive any at all. This post might help you out.


Stop sharing pictures to another device I share an iCloud with my aunt and I turned off my iCloud Photo Sharing and Photo Stream. However, my aunt still is able to automatically get my pictures on her device. How do I stop that from happening?

She still has access to the account.

If you and your aunt are using the same account then she can still have access. You should make sure that she has her own account so that you can send her a shared album of photos instead of the entire gallery.


Airplay Quality Issue From MacBook Pro Long story short, my question is - is there a known quality issue using Airplay from a MacBook?  And is there a way to improve quality?

Details

I have an HDTV here that I'm using for Airplay mirroring.   We have Comcast internet, using Comcast's wireless router.  The AppleTV is connected directly via an ethernet connection.  The MacBook Pro is a mid-2012 retina model.

Whenever I use Airplay from the MacBook, the video is always extremely choppy.  The audio keeps up okay, but the video constantly freezes.   The thing is, I can use Airplay from my iPhone 5 or my iPad 2 without any issue.

Example

To compare, say I open up the YouTube app on the iPhone or iPad.  I can mirror videos from those devices without any issue - clean playback, no pausing.   If I open a YouTube video on my MacBook, the video will constantly pause and "jerk".   If anything I would have expected the iPad to have the most issues, as it's the oldest device.

Mavericks

I had hoped that the problem would get better after upgrading to Mavericks yesterday, but no luck.  When attempting to use the AppleTV as a "second monitor", the performance is so bad that even moving the mouse cursor around causes pausing, so it's just not usable.

FWIW - I'm an IT guy, consider myself pretty knowledgeable about this stuff... so ask any follow up questions you may have.   I'm really frustrated that this is a non-issue with iOS devices, but seems to be impossible to get working correctly from the $2000+ MacBook LOL.

Additional Info

Unfortunately, there hasn't been any interest in the question today.   But I thought I'd add some additional info.   Both my Macbook and router are operating at 802.11N, so I would think wireless network speed should not be a problem here.   From what I can tell, the issue keeps pointing to my Macbook (based on all the above)...  I'm just not sure what else to check.

Okay, after dealing with this for quite some time, I finally found a solution that worked for me.   I figured I'd come and share for others as well.

In order to resolve the choppy playback, I ultimately went in to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset All Settings.  After resetting, the device downloaded the very latest OS for the Apple TV, and after everything was done, the Airplay quality between the MacBook and AppleTV is actually pretty decent.

In testing, I was able to mirror my display without any noticeable choppiness.   I was also able to extend my desktop on to the TV, and this worked surprisingly well.   Even playing YouTube videos was of decent quality, with almost zero choppiness during playback.

What I have not tried yet...  and will update this answer later on, is reconnecting my photo streams.   As it's common to have 1000+ photos in my shared streams, I'm concerned that this may have slowed the device down (just a guess, honestly).   I'll do some more testing today, mirroring as is, then adding the photo streams and comparing, to see if that causes any issue.   If it does, I can always reset again.


How to edit hosts with TextEdit on Yosemite? This line used to work
sudo -b "/Applications/Textedit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit" /etc/hosts

But on Yosemite, it does not work anymore.

Yes I just tried your command and it exists with error code 132 (I don't know why).

You can still use this to open your hosts file sudo open -t /etc/hosts. It will open the TextEdit app, if you want to run it in the background you can add your -b in the command line.  Or you can use other text editors like vim and nano they're both working perfectly with Yosemite.


Restore files from Time Machine to a different Mac My old MacBook Pro died recently (dead logic board) and I am unable to access the files on the hard drive.  I used Time Machine to back it up and it was running macOS El Capitan.

My new MacBook Pro is running Sierra.  I want to restore some of the files from my old Macs Time Machine to my new Mac.  When I go into Time Machine I choose "Browse Other Backup Disks" and Time Machine opens.

However I cannot go "back in time" (using the arrows or the slider on the right hand side), it seem as though Time Machine is empty.

Open "Migration Assistant" on the new Mac. Select the restore from Time Machine backup option. Select the time machine back up you want to restore from and restore.


Transfer iTunes playlist to iPhone Could anyone tell me how to transfer a playlist from iTunes (12.5.3) to my iPhone?
I've tried selecting manually manage music, but the playlist does not appear in selection at all.

I've also tried Wondershare TunesGo, but I have the same issue, no single playlist appears for me to select.

I appreciate any tips you might have.

Using iTunes 12 you can select the playlists to copy with the following steps:

Connect your device to the computer.
Select the icon for your device, located at the upper-left.
Select the “Music” option on the left pane.
Ensure the “Sync Music” check-box is selected.
In the “Playlists” section, check the playlists you wish to sync with your iOS device.
Select “Sync” and your playlist should sync.

In the case your problem is related to the fact the you are not able to see any playlist this answer may provide a solution for you.


Launching Character Viewer (aka CharacterPalette) from command line So, recently I have being using the Character and Keyboard Viewer a fair bit and set up simple Alfred keywords that toggle the launch/quitting of these apps so as not to have to leave the keyboard.

This works splendidly for Keyboard Viewer running the applescript:

    if application "KeyboardViewer" is running then
    tell application "KeyboardViewer" to quit
else
    tell application "KeyboardViewer" to activate
end if

But the same for "CharacterPalatte" (Character Viewer) which launches OK according to Activity Monitor does not show show the window!

The Character Viewer window is nowhere to be seen. It launches just fine using the menu dropdowns from the menu bar.

Any ideas?

)

My approach to launching Character Viewer ("CharacterPalette") proved otiose as there is an OS X shortcut I was previously unaware of: ctrl+cmd+space opens character Viewer.

For reference this call in Applescript is:

    tell application "System Events"
        key code 49 using {control down, command down}
    end


iPod Touch Connected To WiFi But Bars Don’t Appear In Status Bar This only just started happening. Settings reports I am connected to the network, and I can browse the web in Safari, update apps, receive emails etc., but next to where it says "iPod" in the status bar, the little WiFi strength symbol is no longer displayed. Does anyone have an idea why, and how I can fix it?

Thanks, jrtc27

Have you already turned off the iPod (by pressing the topmost button for several seconds)? The iPod asks you if you really want to turn off. Wait until ist is off, then switch it back on and see what happens with the status symbol.


Booting from a cloned Windows 10 installation I have Windows 10 Pro installed on a external flash drive, I tried to install Windows via bootcamp but it is required to have more free space. I succeeded to install Windows 10 with VirtualBox on a SanDisk 32 gb flash drive and boot into Windows 10. The drive capacity is too small so I bought a Kingston Kyson 64 gb USB 3.2 flash drive, but it will not work with Bootcamp.
If I fresh install Windows with VirtualBox, the installation process will stop around 40% and reboot to EFI interactive shell.
If I clone SanDisk > Kingston from another Bootcamp machine, the clone drive will boot to Windows loading screen followed by BSOD.
If I clone SanDisk > Kingston from the booted Windows 10 drive, the clone drive will boot to Windows loading screen followed by Startup blue screen.
If I clone sector-by-sector, the clone drive will boot with BSOD 0xc0000225, 0xc000000e, Missing / Damaged Winload.efi.

IMO, flash drives are not designed to endure the amounts of writes that would be performed by having an operating system installed on the drive.
There are many different mechanisms which can be referred to as having cloned. Since you have not explained how you cloned Windows 10, I will assume you are confident Windows 10 was correctly cloned. Windows does have the ability to detect when being cloned and if detected, can result in Windows 10 not booting properly. The general solution to this problem is to rebuild the BCD.

I realize this answer is vague, but this is only do to the lack on details in your question.


CPU broken on my late 2013 Macook Pro. Is it worth replacing? My computer keeps restarting and after taking it into the Apple store and a repair store, both are telling me the CPU needs to be replaced. The Macbook pro is a late 2013 and it's like a $500+ repair. Do you think it's worth replacing or should I just buy a new machine? Also, is the CPU the same as the logic board?

It's worth paying $500 to fix a 2013 MacBook Pro, because you should be able to sell it for more than $500 if it's in working order. So get it fixed, and you can then decide whether to keep it or sell it and put the proceeds towards a new machine.


Bought an iPhone 6 from a friend - iCloud question The phone was wiped but they left their AppleID logged in. I deleted their AppleID and their iCloud account from the phone and replaced it with my own.

Will my stuff still go to their iCloud?

It's not clear what you mean by you've deleted their Apple ID and iCloud account from the phone, but if you've fully signed out of all services (i.e. Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes and App Store) then you're on the right track.

However, your friend needed to follow some steps before selling you their phone. According to Apple, this is what someone should do before they sell or give away their iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

I would start again by getting together with your friend and double-checking that everything is done the way it should be.


MacBook Air - No internal speaker sound after boot (icon not greyed out + no red light) I don't know when I've started having this, but with my MacBook Air 2015 13", the volume icon only shows "Headphones" as an output device option.

The icon is not greyed out, nor is there any red light coming from the headphone jack. The startup chime works fine as well.

Resetting NVRAM - didn't work
Resetting SCM - didn't work
Re-plugging in the headphones (multiple times) - didn't work
Twirling the headphone plug (multiple times) - didn't work
Blowing in the headphone jack (multiple times) - didn't work

The problem fixed itself, by having the MacBook sleep overnight.


What does the dynamic global hostname option in sharing settings do? Can anyone explain what this option does?

All computers running Mac OS X contain a feature called Bonjour. It works by sending multicast DNS packets out onto your current network to advertise your computer’s available services. This is how iTunes Sharing works; your computer tells other computers that it has a shared iTunes library available, and gives the computers instructions on where to connect to it. Over the past few weeks, I have been experimenting with an extension of the service called Wide Area Bonjour. Instead of sending out multicast DNS packets to your local network, it sends out similar packets to an actual DNS server, which with the correct authentication, updates actual zones in the DNS server. This essentially allows you to use the magic of Bonjour across many networks, or even the Internet. All that’s required is that each computer that is interested in your Bonjour domain has the domain listed in its “Search Domains” (or “DNS Suffix”).
The service I have been testing out is Global Hostname, which will host a Wide Area Bonjour-enabled zone for you, either on your own domain, or a subdomain of globalhostname.org. Apple’s AirPort product range feature Wide Area Bonjour to enable you to control your AirPort from wherever you are.

Added:

Its purpose is to provide features similar to those offered by "Back to My Mac" without using the .Mac/MobileMe service. It requires that you have your own DNS server. If your service provider supports secure dynamic DNS update (RFC 3007), you can provide your Mac with a global DNS hostname so that other computers outside your local network can refer to it by name. Even if your computer’s IP address changes at regular intervals, your computer will automatically update its global DNS hostname to point to its current IP address. Your service provider or domain administrator will provide you with the necessary user name and password so your Mac can update its hostname every time its address changes. If your service provider supports Wide-Area Bonjour registrations, you can also select the “Advertise services in this domain using Bonjour” checkbox to advertise this computer’s active Sharing services in this domain. If the domain’s administrator enabled Bonjour browsing for this domain, other computers will see the services listed automatically in the respective application, based on the Search Domains entered in their Network preferences or based on information returned by DHCP. :)


Adding Gradle to PATH I am trying to add Gradle to my PATH.  I have used the command

export PATH=/myUsername/Applications/gradle-2.6/bin:$PATH

but when I type

gradle

I get an error "command not found."  So I went to look for .profile or .bash_profile, but neither file existed.  So I created .bash_profile, and added the line

export PATH=/myUsername/Applications/gradle-2.6/bin:$PATH

This still did not work, and I have no idea what to do from here.  When I type $PATH, I see the lines added, so I have no idea why it isn't working.  Any help would be appreciated.

The path /myusername/Applications/gradle-2.6/bin probably doesn't exist except your personal user folder is in the root of your main volume - which would be very, very uncommon on a *nix system.

Depending on where you've installed Gradle the proper path might be:

/Users/myUsername/Applications/gradle-2.6/bin or
/Applications/gradle-2.6/bin

So change the export line to

export PATH=/Users/myUsername/Applications/gradle-2.6/bin:$PATH or
export PATH=/Applications/gradle-2.6/bin:$PATH


ipad ssh application with solid copy / paste support I have been using iSSH on the ipad when I need to ssh to my servers; however, one of the glaring problems with iSSH is that you don't have copy / paste support within the iSSH terminal application (supposedly it is there if you will run VNC, but that is not an option).

Has anyone got an ipad ssh application with good copy / paste functionality?  I need to be able to copy text from within the session and paste it into a browser (and vice versa).

Panic Software recently released Prompt, the best iOS SSH app I've seen. Copy and paste works great; just double-tap text to bring up the copy/paste dialog (tap-and-hold doesn't work).


How to remove additional vertical line from dock created by Automator app Can you help me by telling how to remove vertical line from dock created by Automator App. As you told that we can create it by following this process but i want to know how to remove it.
Using Automator to Create an App:

Open Automator.
Select "New Document" in the lower left.
Choose a type for your document - Application.
Find "Launch Application" from the list, and drag it into - the workspace on the right.
Select the Finder app.

To do this, you have to go down to "New Variable." It will tell you to select the path. Click the dropdown, and go down to "Other." Do a search for "Finder.app" and select it.
Then click "Done."

Click "Run" in the upper right hand corner, just to make sure it launches the Finder.
Go to File > Export...

Name the file and choose a location for it. I picked my Applications folder.
Click Save.

Repeat steps 7 & 8 for as many lines you want, changing the name each time. I kept the names numerical for ease of use. line1.app, line2.app, etc.

The Automator workflow isn't what caused the vertical lines, as there is nothing in the workflow capable of doing that. There is a new feature, since macOS Mojave, in System Preferences > Dock which added an additional vertical line, [√] Show recent applications in Dock. Uncheck it and the vertical line on the left will go away.


Macintosh HD disappeared from finder after "disk damaged and cannot be repaired" I have a MacPro 13.3 Inch mid2011 with 500GB storage and recently while performing a Mac update, it froze and was still stuck on a grey screen even after multiple restart attempts. I finally tried Command+R to attempt Time Machine(none were available), Disk Utility but "Repair Disk" was greyed out, and finally tried to reinstall Mac OS X but when it was close to completion, again, it showed Macintosh HD is damaged.

I bought an external hard drive hoping to save my school work from Macintosh HD.

Disk Utility>External Hard Drive>Partition>GUID Partition>Mac OS
Extended
Ran OS X Installer and selected my External Hard Drive as the target. Near completion, it gave me the option of transferring my
information from another drive. I selected the first option (Mac
etc), but when it came to loading my internal drive, it didn't load.
I let it run for several hours but still to no avail so I skipped the
process and finished registering.
When my Mac loaded, it showed the message that Macintosh HD is damaged. Please back up your files immediately.
I loaded Finder, but Macintosh HD is not listed under devices.
I loaded Disk Utility and at first it showed my Macintosh HD with my 69GB/500GB...but then it disappeared after I clicked on Verify
Disk.
If I unplug my External Hard Drive, Mac shows a grey screen with a folder and question mark.

Is there anyway of recovering the data on my Macintosh HD now?

If I don't replace the hard drive and just continue to operate using my external hard drive will that work? I am not sure whether it's better to just get a Thinkpad or repair/replace the internal hard drive.

I appreciate all help and advice you can offer! Thank you

I wouldn't suggest continuing to use an external drive for your MBP, apart from anything else it's just not practical.

It seems like your internal drive has or is just about to fail.  Have you/can you check it's SMART status from disk utility?  Either way, I would suggest not worrying about trying to verify or repair it - just try and get your important files copied over to your external HD/other back up disk whilst you can still get some access to it.

Replacing a HD in a MBP is actually quite easy, ifixit: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/MacBook_Pro_13%22_Unibody_Early_2011 has good instructions.

I have replaced a HDD in a MBP 2012 and would rate it as moderately easy.  Hdd are fairly inexpensive these days and tools to do the job properly are available readily from Amazon for only a few quid.


What's the name of the temperature sensor closest to the PCIe slots in a MacPro5,1? What's the name of the temperature sensor closest to the PCIe slots in a MacPro5,1?

I'm concerned that an installed PCIe card is overheating.

This is the full list - from iStat Menus

There isn't really one anywhere near the PCI slots that's also in the same compartment.
CPU, DIMM & IOH are all in the lower compartment, Drive Bays & PS are in the upper.

I've seen machines reporting a temperature for PCI Slot 1 - but these may have the original graphics cards in them... mine barely has an original anything.


How to force quit non responsive wifi dialog I have two non responsive wifi dialogs.

They don't go away with cancel, and they don't offer the join option.

They don't appear in the activity monitor.

I don't know what the process is called, I tried killing every process with the word Wifi on it, and Wifi proxies.

Any way to solve other than full, reboot/logout?

This applescript works for me using the latest version of Sierra

You can paste this code into ScriptEditor app and save it as an application.  Then run your new app anytime you need it

do shell script "killall SystemUIServer"


Which generation is my iPod touch? I just bought an iPhone 5, and was planning on listing my (what I thought, was) 5th generation iPod touch I bought last year, but Glyde and Apple support both claim there are only 32GB and 64GB 5th generation iPod touches, where as, mine is only 8GB.

My girlfriend has the iPhone 4S, and my iPod's screen is bigger than hers, which leads me to believe it is an iPod touch 5th Gen, but I can't find any documentation on it existing in the wild. It also has no rear camera, only a front facing one.

The model number laser etched on the back is: A1421

You do have a 5th Generation iPod touch, and it's the 16GB model.

If you check out Apple's website for current-generation iPod touches, specifically the "tech specs" page, you'll see that there are two types available today. The left one (the one with no metal circle on the bottom-left of the back) is the one you have.

On your Usage page, you have two numbers: available and used. The confusion is probably because "available" here means how much space you have left for new content, not the total amount available to you. If you add the two numbers together, you'll have roughly ~13GB of total storage. (the remaining storage being taken up by the OS)

Also, Apple has an article on identifying your iPod that can often help find the marketing name for any iPod that's been released.


Is it possible to use multiple flags on a single email in Mac Mail? I'm still using El Capitan, for a number of reasons.

So in Mac Mail, I have a choice of six different colored flags. I want to be able to flag emails more than once - that is, with multiple colors.

Actual use case - I run an online literary magazine, and I'm flagging emails as Orange (to read), Green (accepted) and Red (rejected). BUT I would love to be able to add a Gray tag to accepted and rejected emails (eg, Green and Gray - accepted and published, Red and Gray - rejected and recipient notified). Anyway, there are multiple cases where this would be useful.

Is it possible?

Strangely enough, when I've sent emails back and forth to other folks, I have seen multiple flags! But they're not in the usual spot (left side of user's email, top email) but to the right of the user's email (bottom email, green and gray!) I have no idea how this happened and have not been able to replicate it, but it's exactly what I want.

Thanks!

Mac Mail doesn't allow you to do that, but the Outlook client for macOS does.


Allow non-admin user to sudo without access to admin account data I need to lend my MBP to a friend for a few days while their laptop is out for repair. I would like to not have to erase my account to do that.

I have set up another User Account for them without Administrator Privileges.

They need to use my laptop for development and will probably require sudo access at some point.

Is there a way for me to allow them sudo access but not allow them access to any data stored for my own user.

Anecdotally, this does not sound possible, because sudo access would mean the highest access on the machine so everything will be accessible.

Is there any other way to achieve this without having to erase my data?

I found this question that is looking for ways to encrypt each user folder separately but without answers.

The Answer:

Yes, it's definitely possible. sudo is designed to implement fine-grained security policies. As an example of fine-grained, sudo can be configured to allow a user to run a particular command, but exclude certain options for the command. Don't get sudo confused with su.

And so, when you say, "sudo access would mean the highest access on the machine so everything will be accessible", that's simply not true. IMHO, sudo was made to order for the exact problem you are faced with: "How do I give a user access to resources he needs to do his job, without giving him the run of the castle?" You may also appreciate the fact that sudo performs extensive logging of all sudo usage. This provides accountability for all sudo users because, unlike su, users execute sudo from their account, not the root account.

Here are two examples to illustrate this point. These are two entries that would go in the sudoers file - the file that defines a user's privileges under sudo. In the first example, the user friend will be given "access to everything"; i.e. unlimited root privileges:

Example: sudo for Full root Privileges

friend   ALL = (ALL) ALL

In the next example, the user friend will only be given privileges to run the software update option (-U) on the utility youtube-dl. This specification will confer root privileges to run only this one command with this one option (although in this case most of the other options do not require root privileges.):

Example: sudo for Limited root Privileges

friend   ALL = (ALL) /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl -U

A Brief Overview of sudo:

I can't explain sudo in the space of this answer. As you'll see that simply is not possible. Instead, I'll try to provide provide a "walking tour" with some references that will give you a better understanding of what sudo can (and can't) do, and how to configure sudo to implement the security policy you want.

Todd Miller currently maintains sudo as he has since 1994. That probably makes him the godfather of sudo.
There is a prodigious amount of documentation on sudo, including many older versions - including ver. 1.8.17p1 used in the current version of macos (Mojave, 10.14.5).
Perhaps a good place to begin learning about sudo is in a nutshell
Having read this nutshell overview, you now know that sudo is typically configured using the sudoers file. This is where you will create the specifications that implement your security policy; the specifications that define what resources your friend can access while using your machine.
Again, there's a lot of documentation. You'll want to read man sudo (ver 1.8.17 online), and man sudoers (ver 1.8.17 online). OK, skim through it at least, and study the EXAMPLES :) And BTW, your friend will need to read man sudo also, as he'll be using it!
Once you've decided what resources your friend needs, you can prepare to tackle actually editing/creating your own sudoers file. But there are some things you should know first:

The sudoers file should only be edited with visudo. To access it, you'll need to be logged in as (or su to) the "admin" user on your Mac. Upon entering the command shown below, the Sample sudoers file will be opened in your admin user's default editor (I've set mine to nano).
Know that editing the sudoers file carries risks. Minimze those risks by NEVER editing sudoers except through the visudo app. visudo is designed to validate the syntax of the sudoers file when it is saved. That won't save you from errors that have the correct syntax of course, but it's far less likely that you'll leave your machine in an unusable state!

Making changes to the sudoers file:

And so: To edit the sudoers file, login as (or su to) the admin user, open a terminal window, and enter:

bash-3.2$ sudo visudo
Password:                # you'll need to enter your admin user's password here

The editor specified in your environment will open, and the sudoers file will be listed. The User specifications section is near the end of the file; you can insert one of the example lines from above, taking care not to edit either of the existing lines:

  root            ALL = (ALL) ALL
  %admin          ALL = (ALL) ALL
  # insert your additions below here; e.g.:
  friend   ALL = (ALL) /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl -U

When you finish your edits, write the modified file, then exit the editor. visudo will automatically check the syntax of your sudoers file, and alert you if it finds a problem. You should never override these alerts; find and fix the issue, or simply comment out your changes until you do.

Using sudoedit to limit access to files

One final example: You wanted to grant sudo access, but not allow access to any data stored for your user. For purposes of this example I'll assume that you want to give your friend the ability to edit the file /etc/fstab.hd (a do-nothing file), and all files in the directory /etc/ssh.

You can use the sudoedit specification in the sudoers file to grant your friend access to files or entire directories that you specify. Here's how to accomplish that:

Run sudo visudo to open the sudoers file for editing.
As previously, enter the following sudoedit lines just below those you added previously; i.e.

  root            ALL = (ALL) ALL
  %admin          ALL = (ALL) ALL
  # insert your additions below here; e.g.:
  friend   ALL = (ALL) /usr/local/bin/youtube-dl -U
  # insert sudoedit specs below here:
  friend          ALL = (root) sudoedit /etc/ssh/*
  friend          ALL = (root) sudoedit /etc/fstab.hd

To edit these files, your friend will enter the following command(s) in a terminal window:

MyMacBook:~ friend$ sudo -e /etc/fstab.hd

# or...

MyMacBook:~ friend$ sudo -e /etc/ssh/ssh_config

# which will open the specified file in `friend's` specified editor

Limits of sudo

You should also keep in mind that sudo has its limits.

First and foremost, sudo is used to get  root privileges for a user from the command line (Terminal). It has no role in determining privileges anywhere else in the system; e.g. to add a new user in System Preferences. Outside the shell then, the authorization database controls access privileges, and sudo has no relevance. You may need a tool like this to manipulate the authorization database. {02/29/20 Edit: authbuddy is no longer maintained; its author suggests Apple's security tool instead. See man security from the CLI, or this html version }

Secondly, sudo should NOT be considered as a tool to harden the system against malicious users. Rather, it's simply a tool for reducing risk and increasing accountability for authorized users. That's not to say it "rolls over", it's only to say that its purpose is not system hardening.

This seems like a good point to stop, and catch our breath :) Your question did not include any specific security goals or policies, so it doesn't seem to make sense to prattle on with more examples (and there are plenty of those available for the cost of a Google search). However, if you do want help with specific configurations, you can either edit your question here, or post a new question. And don't forget that as sudo is available on virtually all *nix platforms, there are other SE sites that may prove useful: SuperUser SE and Unix&Linux SE are two examples.

Other potentially useful resources related to sudo:

AppleGazette on editing the sudoers file
AP Lawrence on Using sudo
Using sudoedit to limit file editing to a specific directory/ies
More on sudoedit (aka sudo -e, aka sudo --edit)
What's So Great About sudoedit?
Good general (not Mac-specific) help from from Digital Ocean
The sudo command, Part 2 of a 4-part series on "Demystifying root"


Calendar app not able to add subscription to "on my mac" How do I get apple calendar to add calendar subscriptions to my greyed out "On My Mac" section?

I am not able to add calendar subscriptions to my "on my mac" subscription section, instead I am forced to put all subscriptions into the iCloud section (greyed out "On My Mac" section). Earlier I was able to do this without problems.

In Calendar->Preferences->Acccounts, disable iCloud.

Then create a new calendar, giving it a name that doesn't conflict with any of the calendars in your iCloud.

Now you can re-enable the iCloud account.

The new calendar (under "On My Mac") remains.


How to switch the keyboard input language from the terminal? I already have one way to do this:
function input-switch-darwin() {
    cliclick kd:ctrl kp:space ku:ctrl
}

But this is very slow:
❯ time cliclick kd:ctrl kp:space ku:ctrl
cliclick kd:ctrl kp:space ku:ctrl  0.02s user 0.03s system 13% cpu 0.434 total; max RSS 7088

Thanks to the tip by @user3439894, I found an answer (you need ripgrep and https://github.com/myshov/xkbswitch-macosx installed):
ec() print -r -- "$@"
ecerr() { ec "$@" 1>&2 }

function input-lang-set-darwin() {
    # https://github.com/myshov/xkbswitch-macosx
    # `hyperfine --warmup 5 'xkbswitch -s 3' 'xkbswitch -s 0' 'xkbswitch -se Persian-ISIRI2901' 'xkbswitch -se US'`
    # they all ran about the same 77ms
    local wanted="${1:l}" to='US'
    case "$wanted" in
        en*) to=US ;;
        fa*|per*) to='Persian-ISIRI2901' ;;
        toggle*)
            case "$(input-lang-get-darwin)" in
                U.S.) to='Persian-ISIRI2901' ;;
                Persian*) to='US' ;;
            esac
        ;;
        *) ecerr "Not supported" ; return 1 ;;
    esac
    xkbswitch -se "$to"
}
function input-lang-get-darwin() {
    defaults read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.HIToolbox.plist AppleSelectedInputSources | command rg -e '"KeyboardLayout Name" = "([^"]*)"' --replace '$1' --only-matching --color never
}

Another option is https://github.com/Lutzifer/keyboardSwitcher, but I couldn't build it without xcode.


Macbook pro, black screen with chime only after using Casper/JAM Every time I boot the mac I get a black screen, I can hear the chime but that's it, nothing comes on the display even when having an external display connected. In recovery mode it works, i get display.

tried NVRAM SMC resets
tried First Aid on the disk and permissions repair
tried deleting and recreating kernel cache
tried booting in single user mode or verbrose mode and both give me a black screen.
tried reinstalling the OS which worked just fine UNTIL I join the laptop to the domain (using Casper/JAMF) and reboot it goes back to the black screen issue
tried fsck_apfs

If I understand your problem right ... it only happens after you join Mac to the domain using Casper/JAMF !

Try following.. hold option on boot and manually select the boot drive again while holding control to set it as default


Open page in new tab without closing menu In my bookmarks bar in Chrome I have a folder with bookmarks. If I click the folder I see the links in this folder. I don't want to open all links in this folder, but a few. On Windows I can simply ctrl+click any link in this folder and it will open that page in a new tab without closing the current folder so I can quickly click the next link.
In Chrome on OSX once I click Cmd+link the page is opened in a new tab, but then it closes the Chrome foldermenu...is there a way to prevent that menu from closing?

Although I hesitate to assert that there is no analogous function in Chrome on OS X, I can’t find one built in.  However, there are some plugins that might help, such as the Mouse Gesture Extension and Shortcut Manager, although you will need to fiddle with these a bit to get the feature you want.  I hope this helps.


OSX: /tmp Not Writable : Operation not permitted My /tmp directory became unwritable yesterday, I believe that the permissions are all set correctly:

$ ls -l /
lrwxr-xr-x@  1 root  wheel   11 Sep 22 16:05 tmp -> private/tmp
$ ls -l /private
drwxrwxrwt@  3 root  wheel   102 Oct 17 15:04 tmp

$ ls -leO@d /private/tmp
drwxrwxrwt@ 3 root  wheel  restricted 102 Oct 17 15:04 /private/tmp
com.apple.rootless    0

However, I get an error when I attempt to write into this directory, even with sudo:

$ cd /tmp
$ pwd
/tmp
$ sudo cat > test
-bash: test: Operation not permitted

I'm using OS X El Capitan 10.11.6. Any help is much appreciated- thanks!

Edit: after following fd0's suggestion, it looks like the directory might be rootless, which I suppose is related to SIP and may be why root cannot make changes. I note that the contents that I see in the /tmp directory appear to be related to App Store automatic download to be used to upgrade my Mac to Sierra if I request it in the future: perhaps something broke during this App Store process? I'm still not sure how to correct my system, though.

Edit2: I solved this problem by upgrading to Sierra. Probably the steps linked to by Slava below would mostly work but it sounds like the extended attributes would be lost so I chose to upgrade instead.

Recreation the link /tmp -> /private/tmp helped me (with csrutil disabled in recovery mode) : https://superuser.com/questions/1133065/unable-to-write-to-tmp-osx-unable-to-correct-permissions-operation-not-permitt#comment1629612_1133065

Looks like the Sierra installer makes /tmp rootless if you download and cancel it on the very first step of installation.


Adjust width of spacer between Mac OS dock icons Many of you might know that it is possible to add a spacer to the Mac OS dock icons with:

$ defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="spacer-tile";}'
$ killall Dock

but the problem is, I find them a bit wide by default. I do understand the size of the space is the same as an actual icon but I'm wondering if anyone knows a way to adjust the space of those spacers

An image of the spacers I'm talking about can be found here

I just tried typing in different things and discovered that "small-spacer-tile" adds a narrow space.
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="small-spacer-tile";}'
killall Dock

Here, a "small-spacer-tile" vs a "spacer-tile":


How to remove dataloading.net? On my father's mac, dataloading.net keeps popping up in tabs. It doesn't seem to be in Safari's extensions (at least not visible in preferences). He has clean my mac 3 installed. Can this problem be solved with that?

I'm having trouble recommending any virus scanner, because there's a lot of crapware out there.

If you suspect your Mac may have malware or adware installed on it, I would recommend trying BitDefender, a lightweight antivirus app for Mac (available for free on the Mac App Store), which I have found to be especially good at detecting both adware and malware and then removing it. BitDefender scans your machine when prompted (good for an ongoing issue) but does nothing in the background.

If you want constant protection in the future (that promises to block this kind of adware/malware from being downloaded onto your Mac in the first place, and has fulfilled its promise twice for me) you can try Avast, which is also free (but not available from the Mac App Store, just their website).

Hope this helps, let me know if this fixes the problem or not!


This computer is no longer authorised for purchased items I am facing a very annoying problem from last few days. Whenever I try to install an app from my Mac to my iPad it says:

  This computer is no longer authorised for purchased items

but when I try to authorise this computer, it says:

  This computer is already authorised

You've probably authorised the computer with a different iTunes account from the one that the iPad is using. Have you tried deauthorising it and then authorising it again? (If you've purchased iPad apps on both the iPad and the Mac, using different iTunes accounts, then you've got a problem.)


Use iphone or android as external mic for macbook using bluetooth Is there a way I can use an iPhone/Android phone as an external microphone for my Mac? Ideally without a cable i.e. bluetooh/wifi.

Edit:

Since this hasn't been answered yet, I would be okay with using cables too if people know how to do that.

Using a cable, your iPhone can be an audio source by using the built-in Audio MIDI setup.  Plug in your phone and click enable.

Next make sure your mac is set to use the device for input.

Then on your phone select audio output to Dock connector.  Now any audio from your phone will be sent to your Mac.  To use it as a microphone you now need to use an app that lets you feed back your mic.  There are many apps that do that, I use https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/microphone-free-vonbruno/id1070812067?mt=8 since it is free and simple.


I cannot remove Sound Booster Driver in Audio MIDI Setup I had removed the Sound Booster Driver from my Applications folder on my Mac. For some reason the Sound Booster Driver is still in my Audio Devices and I cannot remove it. I have tried searching all my folders/Applications/Etc. and I cannot find it in any of my folders. Does anyone know how to remove this from my Mac?

You can't remove registered objects from Audio MIDI Setup. You need to get a proper uninstaller for the app.
Direct link: https://soundbooster.froyosoft.com/UninstallSoundBooster.zip


Move desktop item to system tray (dock)? Windows user switching over to Mac here.

I have downloaded an application, the link to which is currently on my desktop. It is actually a *.app file, which I'm assuming is a shortcut to the file? I want to get the shortcut onto the tray of icons at the bottom of the screen. I'm familiar with linux/unix. Is there a way to mv the file from the desktop where it is to the tray of icons at the bottom? I'm not sure what the path is.

Previously, I tried dragging it onto the tray, then deleting it from the desktop, but when I tried to then run it from the tray, it said it was in the trash.

Firstly, @cyphorious has the answer you need, but I'm going to add more details to help expand your understanding of Mac terms.

Firstly, the .app file that is on your desktop is the actual application, not a link.  Think of a .app as being roughly equivalent to a .exe (the main difference being that a Windows .exe file is a single file that will no doubt require a bunch of DLLs and other supporting files that it will expect to find either in your windows/system32 folder, or in the same location as the .exe itself.  A .app looks like a single file, but is actually a collection of files and folders that is just treated differently so an app can be identified and moved/copied/deleted as a single file, rather than having to know which files and folders combined make it up - it's essentially a bit like a zip file that doesn't need unzipping to access the contents).

The tray of icons at the bottom is the dock.  Nothing lives in the dock permanently, anything there should be a shortcut or link to the actual file that is expected to reside elsewhere.  In this way, when you remove an app from the dock, you are just removing the shortcut, not deleting the actual app.

So the key to getting the shortcut working in the dock is to move the application to where you want it, then either start it and tell it to stay in the dock, or drag it to the dock from its new permanent location (usually the applications folder as per @cyphorious's answer, but could be on an external disk etc).


directory structure between mac osx and linux I found that there are some differents between Max osx and linux jsut like ubuntu, etc. is there any introduction about that, or is there any one can make a introduction.

for example:

ubuntu: /usr/lib/
10.8.2 osx:

/usr/lib
/usr/libexec

While you can shove libraries anywhere you want, and use OS X very similarly to Linux, I suspect you are after information on "the OS X way" of doing things, in which case:

Your question is too broad. While similar in some ways, there are many fundamental differences than between software packaging on OS X and something like Ubuntu - well beyond "stuff goes here on Linux, and here on OS X".

For example, libraries typically live in "bundles" rather than folders like in /usr/lib - either as .Framework bundles which live in /Library/Frameworks or ~/Library/Frameworks (the framework bundles include headers, support versioning etc). Or shared libraries may live in application bundles... etc - each of these is a big topic by itself.

Without a more specific question, any answer shorter than a small book may not be very informative..

This article explains some of the basic locations, and their Linux-equivalents

Apple's documentation on this kind of stuff is extensive (e.g the intro to Frameworks)


iOS Simulator cannot create devices after upgrading to Xcode 6 I just recently upgraded to XCode 6.1.1 from 5.1.1.  When I launch iOS Simulator.  I get an error "Unable to boot device in current state: Creating".  I have tried deleting the devices and adding them back manually.  But that is to no avail.  I have reinstalled XCode as well after uninstalling and cleaning my Library and Preferences folders.  That also has not worked.  I am not sure if there are artifacts left over from 5.1.1 that are causing this.

Does anyone know what the root cause/solution is?

Please Advise

This error can happen if you renamed Xcode.app.  I suggest you do the following:

Quit Xcode.app, iOS Simulator.app, etc.
Execute: sudo killall -9 com.apple.CoreSimulator.CoreSimulatorService
Execute: rm -rf ~/Library/*/CoreSimulator
Reboot and try again.


Need help using AirDrop between iPhone 8 Plus and MacBook Air I have an iPhone 8 Plus and a MacBook Air early 2014. I've been trying to use airdrop, but my iPhone is not finding my computer.

Both devices Wi-Fi is on and connected, as is Bluetooth. On my MacBook I can see the AirDrop screen, but that's it. I need help figuring out what to do in order to airdrop from my phone to the computer.

I'm now 100% sure, but because of the old operating system on the computer, there could be some compatibility issues. If your able to I would suggest upgrading to El Captain, macOS Sierra or if your computer can support it, macOS High Sierra. You can upgrade it via the App Store.


Prevent Address Book (Contacts) to quit when closing the window The Address Book quits when closing the window. Did anybody find a way to prevent this behavior?

If the application is designed like there is no way to change it. If you want to keep the application open and not see it you can hide it:

from the menu "Address Book" → "Hide Address Book"
with the keyboard shortcut command + H


iPhone Configuration Software/Application for Windows or Mac OS X Is there any application that would allow you to manage and configure your iPhone? (i.e. desktop screen, desktop folders, icon names, settings, etc.)

You can manage and configure your iPhone using the free app "Apple Configurator 2" from the macOS App Store.

You can read more about it on Apple's support page:

https://support.apple.com/da-dk/apple-configurator

It won't necessarily allow you to change icon names, though, as they're generally not configurable.


How to find out devices associated as iMessage client with my apple ID Is it possible to find out what devices have been registered to receive iMessage with my Apple ID?

I can only see my phone number and Apple ID in iMessage settings, but not what devices are registered.

Itunes > Itunes Store > Click on email id after logging in (i.e. view account) > Manage Devices

That should get you a list of devices, that you have your appleid enabled on. You can check those device settings to see if iMessage is enabled and if yes, under what ID.


Enable Voice Control without floating mic icon TL;DR I have searched to find a way to hide the icon but still have Voice Control enabled, or at least have a way to permanently move the icon to the dock/menu bar/Launchpad but have found this discussed nowhere.

Any suggestions on how I can have Voice Control enabled and have the floating icon permanently stored somewhere out of the way?

In the past year I discovered Dictation for my MacBook Pro. With Mojave the microphone icon was to indicate that dictation was activated. The Keyboard Shortcut I used to switch this on/off was to press either command key twice.

I was new to integrating this feature in my daily MBP use when I upgraded to Catalina. The Keyboard Shortcut no longer worked (wether the Voice Control was enabled or not) which was fine because I discovered Voice Control, which I began using and really enjoy. It expands Siri to not just transcribe dictation and enables voice control in every function of my MBP.

However, the floating mic icon is always on screen. No matter where I put it it is annoyingly in the way. I have searched to find a way to hide the icon but still have Voice Control enabled, or at least have a way to permanently move the icon to the dock/menu bar/Launchpad but have found this discussed nowhere.

Any suggestions on how I can have Voice Control enabled and have the floating icon permanently stored somewhere out of the way?

Not a cure, but a visual option:  I move the 'Voice Control' icon 99% off screen, you can select wherever you want to move it off screen


Avoid apps from stealing focus in macOS How can I stop a program, for instance Slack, which can have some significant loading time, stealing focus when it's finished loading?

If I start Slack, then switch focus during its loading time, the program steals focus when it's done loading. It drives me nuts.

Is there a way to prevent this behavior?

I found a couple options that should cover most applications. Either one of these could be used to create an Automator workflow to make running the script more convenient.

Option 1: Terminal command

The open command can be used to open an application using the -a option. You can add the -g option to open the application without bringing it to the foreground. This does not work for Slack or Google Chrome. I suspect it is because they are cross-platform applications that are built differently and aren't perfect macOS citizens. This solution is preferable if it works for the desired application.

open -g -a "Microsoft Word"

Option 2: AppleScript

You can use AppleScript to activate an application and hide it if it had not previously been running. The application will launch and still steal focus, but the script will delay a short time to ensure the application launches before trying to hide it. It's definitely not a perfect solution, but it works.

set appName to "Slack"
-- Check if the application is running
set appIsRunning to application appName is running
-- Activate the application
tell application appName to activate
if not appIsRunning then
    -- If the application is not running, delay and then hide the application
    delay 1 -- increase this value as needed
    tell application "Finder" to set the visible of process appName to false
else
    -- If the application is running, count the number of windows.
    tell application "System Events" to tell process appName to set windowCount to count of windows
    -- If no windows are open, open a new one.
    if windowCount = 0 then
        -- Open window command here. I could not find one for Slack
    end if
end if

See this answer for several commands for opening new windows if that is desired.


Connected a Cinema Display to MacBook Pro, recognizes sound output device but no sound I connected my new Cinema Display to my MacBook Pro and the audio output device shows "LED Cinema Display" in Sound Preferences, and the volume controls work, but no sound is output.

I tried unplugging and plugging back in the USB cable.

Is my device incompatible, or is something wrong?

(I solved my own problem right as I was about to post here.)

The Mini DisplayPort must be plugged in before the USB cable.  Unplug both, plug them in in the correct order, and it should recognize the sound.

Unplugging only the USB cable will not work.


Why is Homebrew lynx configuration not in my home directory When installing lynx with Homebrew, the primary configuration (according to the lynx option screen) is at a long, version-specific path (thus the path will change every time a new version is installed):

/usr/local/Cellar/lynx/2.8.9rel.1/etc/lynx.cfg

Why isn't the default configuration placed in a normal place like:

~/.lynxrc

It's by design. According to the Homebrew homepage:

  Homebrew won’t install files outside its prefix and you can place a Homebrew installation wherever you like.

According to the lynx man page:

  LYNX_CFG            This variable, if set, will override the default
  location and name of  the  global  configuration  file  (normally,
                         lynx.cfg) that was defined by the LYNX_CFG_FILE constant in the userdefs.h file, during installation.

In some linux distribution, the constant LYNX_CFG_FILE in set to ~/.lynxrc (as I remember) but in Homebrew  this constant is left to its default value. You can check it with brew edit lynx. If you want to change the location of the lynx configuration file, you have, as you tell, to set:

export LYNX_CFG=~/.lynxrc


How to remove the sidebar in Apple Preview (presentation mode)? Preview suddenly displays a sidebar on the left-hand side in presentation mode. I do not know how to disable this.

This answer mentions

Always Show Sidebar

in the View menu, but this does not seem to exist in Preview version 10.0.

Update

Even in full screen mode, I do not find this item in the View menu. This is what I see:

While Preview is in full screen, the option is available from the View menu and toolbar button.
The app must be in full screen for these to be available.


When syncing iphone 5, itunes hangs on backup stage I have a new iPhone 5 (iOS 6.0.1) and successfully configured it with a backup of my old iPhone via iTunes on my Windows 7 PC. This basically transferred all my settings, media and apps.

I added some more music to my iTunes the next day and tried to sync my iPhone. So I plug in using the Lightning cable and click "Sync". I goes through the motions until it hits stage 2, backing up. Here it hangs and never gets past this stage. I left it on overnight the other day and it was in exactly the same state in the morning as I left it the night before.

I also can't seem to skip the backup stage by clicking the x. it just seems to freeze up for a bit when I do and then resumes the never ending backup.

Any advice on how to solve this as I literally just want to put 1 album on my iPhone and at the moment, this isn't possible.

Delete any old backup related to this device

Open finder
command-shift-g to open the go to folder.  Put in ~/Library  Hit go
Navigate to Application Support > MobileSync > Backup
Order by Date Modified and look for the latest folder which should be timed at the last time you did a backup.  Drag the folder out to the desktop
Try to resync with the phone

If it all works you'll get a new backup in the folder, delete the one on your desktop.


Disable Safari from loading previous website when scrolling down with Magic Mouse How can I stop Safari loading a page from history, each time I scroll the current page over the page end? i.e. swipe upwards on the Magic Mouse when the page is already at the bottom.

This feature is driving me crazy, because reversing the action triggers a reload of the page I was on and which I never intended to leave. Most of the times the page does not resume even close to the state it was in, so I'm losing work in practise every time this happens.

I'm aware of this question Can I disable the Magic Mouse swipe to go back feature in Safari?, but that deals only with horizontal swipe gestures which I have already disabled.

This is a feature of the Reading List in Safari, and does not occur when viewing webpages normally. Scrolling beyond the end or beginning of a page when viewing it from the Reading List will switch to the next or previous item. This functionality cannot be modified.


How to see how much storage is used per app on OS X? I was wondering if there is a way to check how much space is used for each app that's installed on your mac. When you click on the Apple logo left on top, then "About this mac" you can see at the tab "Storage" the total amount of pictures, programs, other, movies and music. But it would be nice if I can check per app how much space the take on my mac. Is this possible?

If you are not afraid of using Terminal.app, you can run

sudo du -sh /Applications/* /Applications/Utilities/*

to get the size of each application.


macOS: How to open a local HTML file with URL parameters I want to start a Kantu web macro from the command line on Mac. Essentially this is as simple as opening the Chrome or Firefox browser with a local HTML page (which contains the macro code). All works fine on Windows. But on macOS, when I use

mac:~ open 'file:////Users/fabrice/Kantu/demoautofill.html?direct=1&close=1&savelog=demotestlog.txt'

Chrome starts, and the file URL gets opened, but the '?direct=1&close=1&savelog=demotestlog.txt' GET parameter part is lost.

So the question is: How to launch a local html file with GET parameters?

I found this post: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7710803/open-a-local-html-file-with-url-params-through-applescript which uses AppleScript as a workaround, but it is for Safari, I need Chrome. Plus I would like to avoid using AppleScript, if possible.

open just handles files, it doesn't know about GET parameters. So the AppleScript approach is probably the way to go here:

osascript -e 'tell application "Google Chrome" to
    open location "file:///Users/YOU/path/to.html?foo=bar"'


How to shut down Apple TV (2G) remotly? Is there any way to shut down Apple TV (new, 2G, second generation) by remote controler?
I can do it by holding middle button on remote controller but only if the TV set is on. If I just listen to the internet radio without TV set on, I cannot do this.

If you notice, the "Sleep Now" menu entry for the AppleTV is in the lower right-hand corner of the menu system.

Here's how I do it:

Press the "menu" button several times, until you hear the different audio sound to indicate that you're at the home screen.
Press the "right" button several times, until you'd think that the cursor is over on the farthest right option.
Press the "down" button several times, until you'd think that the cursor is at the "Sleep Now" option.
Press the "middle" button.

I do this a lot when I am streaming music to the device; takes me about three seconds and it works.


SSH command has no -Z option - Obfuscated ssh client I am working on a project remotely, and I have MACOSX 10.7.4 installed. The server is Ubuntu linux based, and I use "ssh" to access it. Recently the openSSH server in the remote server being secured by obfuscated ssh, so I have to login it with enhanced ssh command, in Windows, it's Potty software to support it. In Ubuntu Linux, it has "ssh" command with "-Z" option.

I found there is no -Z option in the "ssh" command of MacOS, so I upgrade openSSH to the latest one (6.01p1), still no this option. I am wondering why in Ubuntu linux, it's also openSSH package, but do have "-Z" option, but for the same package in MacOS, there is no "-Z" option at all?

By the way, "-Z" option will enable "ssh" to use obfuscated data (TCP header) communication. Any help is appreciated, I need a ssh client which can do support obfuscated communication.

About Obfuscated-openSSH, please check this - https://github.com/brl/obfuscated-openssh

Here is the usage displayed in Ubuntu Linux - "ssh" :

OpenSSH_5.2p1, OpenSSL 0.9.8k 25 Mar 2009
usage: ssh [-1246AaCfgKkMNnqsTtVvXxYyz] [-b bind_address] [-c cipher_spec]
           [-D [bind_address:]port] [-e escape_char] [-F configfile]
           [-i identity_file] [-L [bind_address:]port:host:hostport]
           [-l login_name] [-m mac_spec] [-O ctl_cmd] [-o option] [-p port]
           [-R [bind_address:]port:host:hostport] [-S ctl_path]
           [-w local_tun[:remote_tun]] [-Z obfuscate_keyword]
           [user@]hostname [command]

Here is the usage displayed in MacOS by "ssh" -

OpenSSH_6.0p1, OpenSSL 0.9.8r 8 Feb 2011
usage: ssh [-1246AaCfgKkMNnqsTtVvXxYy] [-b bind_address] [-c cipher_spec]
           [-D [bind_address:]port] [-e escape_char] [-F configfile]
           [-I pkcs11] [-i identity_file]
           [-L [bind_address:]port:host:hostport]
           [-l login_name] [-m mac_spec] [-O ctl_cmd] [-o option] [-p port]
           [-R [bind_address:]port:host:hostport] [-S ctl_path]
           [-W host:port] [-w local_tun[:remote_tun]]
           [user@]hostname [command]

Problem sovled. You can download obfuscated-openssh and compile it in MacOS to get a new ssh command.

Download it from https://github.com/brl/obfuscated-openssh.

Download and install gcc - http://www.mkyong.com/mac/how-to-install-gcc-compiler-on-mac-os-x/

$ sudo ./configure
$ make

If there are some errors while compiling it, remember to check this  https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2546848?start=0&tstart=0 (see details below)

$ export LDFLAGS="-L. -Lopenbsd-compat/ -fstack-protector-all -mmacosx-version-min=10.4 -lresolv"
$ ./configure
$ make

All done, you will have a new ssh. Check version.

$ ./ssh -v
OpenSSH_5.2p1, OpenSSL 0.9.8r 8 Feb 2011
usage: ssh [-1246AaCfgKkMNnqsTtVvXxYyz] [-b bind_address] [-c cipher_spec]
           [-D [bind_address:]port] [-e escape_char] [-F configfile]
           [-i identity_file] [-L [bind_address:]port:host:hostport]
           [-l login_name] [-m mac_spec] [-O ctl_cmd] [-o option] [-p port]
           [-R [bind_address:]port:host:hostport] [-S ctl_path]
           [-w local_tun[:remote_tun]] [-Z obfuscate_keyword]
           [user@]hostname [command]


How to get synthesized disk root device from shell? I have quite a few volumes (over 10) on a machine and I need to ascertain the parent volume of synthesized volumes for APFS drives.

If you execute diskutil list you get a list of volumes, but this list includes both root volumes and synthesized volumes, for example:

...
/dev/disk11 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *2.0 TB     disk11
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk11s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk16        2.0 TB     disk11s2

/dev/disk12 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *4.0 TB     disk12
   1:                        ZFS backup_tank             4.0 TB     disk12s1
   2: 6423532B-1232-1121-1532-062424236333               67.1 MB    disk12s9

/dev/disk13 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +2.0 TB     disk13
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume users_drive             1.2 TB     disk13s1

/dev/disk14 (internal, virtual):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        +XX.X TB    disk14
   1:                ZFS Dataset storage                 XX.X TB    disk14s1

/dev/disk15 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk15
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk15s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk10        499.2 GB   disk15s2
   3:       Apple_KernelCoreDump                         655.4 MB   disk15s3

/dev/disk16 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +2.0 TB     disk16
                                 Physical Store disk11s2
   1:                APFS Volume system_2                847.9 KB   disk16s1

Notice how in the above it is difficult to ascertain which volume the synthesized volume disk16 actually belongs to.

Is there a way to get this information from the shell quickly so that it lists these together?

You can use the apfs verb with diskutil:

diskutil apfs list

This produces a ‘graphical’ output of the APFS hierarchy, matching container partitions to their container contents.


Corrupt Time Machine I have an external disk partitioned in three

/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk1
   1:               Windows_NTFS Windows                 100.3 GB   disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Data                    400.1 GB   disk1s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS TimeMachine             499.7 GB   disk1s3

Now, the whole drive started to work bad: on the partitions that work, Windows and Data, to open a folder in Finder takes time, like ten secons to "list" what's inside. But TimeMachine doesn't work at all. It cannot be mounted by the system, so I can't access it.

Apart from that, once mounted (a weird thing is that I have to mount the partitions manually, before it automounted and the three partitions used to appear in the Desktop) I can't unmount them, nor eject the hard drive.

What can I do? Since I can access the data in Windows and Data, I can copy it (although it goes horribly slow) but what about TimeMachine, is there any way of accessing it if the system says it can't mount it?

I want to copy its contents and then format the whole drive to see if everything gets back to normal.

Any additional info needed, just ask.

This sounds like it could be a failing hardware component.

Swap any connectors, try with a different cable, etc. IF this is a some major brand usb 3.0 external drives have internal usb 3.0 connectors fail frequently. Try it with a usb 2.0 micro cable and it may work fine at a slower speed.  If an external drive, you may be able to put into a drive dock to avoid issues with the factory housing and connectors.

As soon as you get a stable connection, use the dd command, or something like daemon tools or 7 zip or whatever compression tool you prefer to dump the contents of each partition you don't want to lose to an iso to attempt recovery from later.  This is assuming you have another drive with sufficient capacity.  Let this complete before doing anything else so if the drive itself fails you have something to fall back to.

If you don't have any backup media, a clonezilla live cd could let you see the partition table really looks like and whether a filesystem to attempt to repair is still detected.

Consider the exFAT format for drives that need to walk in both worlds, and use a single hardware drive for TimeMachine if possible.  It has not worked well with multi partitioned drives in my experience, although it is a fantastic backup solution.

Hope this helps!


"Watch Me Do" workflow succeeds in Automator but not as app I have a 1 action automator workflow. This workflow is recorded to produce a "Watch Me Do" action. The action is to click on the "VPN" menu bar item, then select a particular VPN from the menu. This workflow runs fine in automator. When I run it as a standalone app the mouse moves correctly (clicking on the menu, selecting the correct VPN), but I don't actually connect to the VPN. I'm clueless about what's going wrong, so any help at all would be good!

In the console, the only thing I see is:

Oct 19 20:19:18 vonnegut Application Stub[7148]: Can't open input server /Library/InputManagers/MultiClutchInputManager.bundle
Oct 19 20:19:24 vonnegut Automator Launcher[7153]: Can't open input server /Library/InputManagers/MultiClutchInputManager.bundle

I'm running on a MacBookPro5,1 with an apple keyboard and a standard 2-button + wheel mouse attached.

I'm not really sure how to tell whether a connection is attempted. Nothing changes in ppp.log which makes me think nothing gets that far. If I try to connect manually, that's fine.

I've previously discovered when attempting to Applescript an application through UI scripting, that the Applescript command of the mouse didn't quite behave the same as the real mouse. For instance, I would be able to command the change of a dropdown box, but the app wouldn't register the change until a "real" selection by mouse occurred.

It must have been a bug in the design of the app, but it was defunct and I had to find a solution. I ended up using "Extra Suites" by Kanzu, which was able to simulate the equivalent of a "real" mouse click.

Automator uses the same Apple Events as Applescript, and perhaps is falling to the same problem. What VPN client are you using? You might be able to solve the problem by using some Applescript (if the client supports it), or switching to another VPN client.


Random shutdown after minutes for macbook pro 15" 2014 I'm having this problem driving me crazy since some days.

My macbook just turns off after around 1 minute of being logged in.

I reset completely macOS thinking it would be a Software Issue but nothing.
I though it was an hardware issue but if I use the guest safari mode it doesn't happend, or also if I install the OS in recovery (which lasts 40 mins or more) I have no shutdowns... so can it be hardware?
CPU temp and fans are ok, same with battery.
Bluetooth and WIFI are turned off thinking it was a driver problem, but nothing
No useful logs in console and all ok running hardware test
Reset SMC and PRAM

Here's the latest logs before shutdown: https://gist.github.com/dariobanfi/6464faed360005041d9cc1a6895c1712

I am getting crazy... any idea what could cause this??

It's not clear to me what I reset completely macOS means? However, the first two things I'd do now are testing to see what happens in Safe Mode and to also reset the System Management Controller.

Boot into Safe Mode

Follow these steps boot your MBP into Safe Mode:

Fully shut down your Mac
Restart your Mac
Immediately press the Shift key and keep it down
Let go of the Shift key when you see the login window (NOTE: If you have FileVault enabled you may need to log in twice).
Use the computer for a while and take note of what happens (i.e. is the issue still present, etc)
Exit Safe Mode by restarting your Mac as normal
Once you've booted normally again use the computer for a while and take note of what happens (i.e. is the issue still present, etc)

Reset the SMC

If the issue is still present I would reset the SMC. For your particular MBP, follow these steps:

Shut down your computer
Keep the MagSafe adapter (power cable) plugged in.
Press at the same time shiftoptioncontrol (on the left side of the keyboard) and the power button
Let go
Turn your computer back on with the power button.

Let me know how things went after doing each of the above.


Fusion Drive with missing partition Initially my Fusion drive (1TB data disk + 240 GB SSD) consisted of a single partition where it was installed El Capitan, then I split the fusion drive into two partitions, the second partition I installed again El capitan ...
All was well ...
For a problem to the system keychain I wanted to move all the data in the second partition, I reset the first partition using disk utility that I returned an error not completing the process ...
Now the second partition running 100% where startup El Capitan and the first partition does not exist, no longer visible!
I tried to correct the error with disk utility but when I run SOS to repair the fusion drive, nothing happens ... will not start any operation by disk utilities ..
terminal with diskutil cs list:

Luca:~ geminimac$ diskutil cs list
CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 9B6BD63D-4451-4324-AB99-0855D82312C1
    =========================================================
    Name:         Fusion Drive
    Status:       Online
    Size:         628372754432 B (628.4 GB)
    Free Space:   621867577344 B (621.9 GB)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume F3B0E961-E842-4ED3-AF12-452551D913FA
    |   ----------------------------------------------------
    |   Index:    0
    |   Disk:     disk0s2
    |   Status:   Online
    |   Size:     388659318784 B (388.7 GB)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume 10C75CA7-7AE0-42EF-B6A5-4077F457A629
        ----------------------------------------------------
        Index:    1
        Disk:     disk1s2
        Status:   Online
        Size:     239713435648 B (239.7 GB)

I also have a FreeSpace of 621.9 GB which is the first partition lost.
Also Logical Volume and Logical Volume family no longer exist in the scheme ...
Is there a way to repair the disk from the terminal without losing any data?

Ok solved...I deleted everything with terminale used this command line:

diskutil cs delete "LVG"

After, I recreated the Fusion Drive


Will the sound processor in an iPad outperforms MacBook Pro's? So iPads or any other iPod or iPhones uses audio codec from third-parties, most likely Cirrus Logic in recently products. For example, the iPhone 5 uses Apple-branded Cirrus Logic 338S1077 audio codec according to this iFixit teardown.

I am not sure of the codec used in MacBook Pros, especially my 15" retina one, but I am thinking that since the audio is the Intel integrated one, the codec is probably Intel-branded.

But the question remains, which would yield a better quality. The one on MacBook Pro or the one on an iPad or iPhone.

(Assuming playing the same AIFF file, outputting through the headphone port to a same headphone.)

It's a Cirrus Logic audio codec  :

Source :

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/cracking-open/teardown-shows-retina-macbook-pro-is-nearly-impossible-to-upgrade-difficult-to-work-on/696
http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/cracking-open-the-apple-macbook-pro-with-retina-display/6372862?seq=79

So I would say the iPad won't outperform the MacBook Pro.


Relationship between OpenType fonts and PostScript printers, and impact on printing performance? In the pre-OS X days, there was an important distinction between bitmap fonts and PostScript fonts, and between QuickDraw printers (the Mac equivalent of "Winprinters") and much more expensive PostScript printers.  If you wanted to use a PostScript font with a PostScript printer, you needed to have installed on your computer the bitmap equivalent of one of the standard preinstalled PostScript fonts.  Later, it became more common to make sure that the PostScript font "suitcase" was in the right place to download to the printer at print time, and use Adobe Type Manager to display it antialiased on the screen.

In contrast, most fonts installed with OS X by default and available for purchase are either OpenType or TrueType format.  Many inexpensive laser printers now speak PostScript level II or level III, and in consequence include an even larger assortment of built-in PS fonts than PS level I printers such as the original LaserWriters.

According to Adobe, OpenType is a superset of the PostScript font format, and OpenType is supported by PostScript printers:

  OpenType development has improved both the support of Type 1 on Windows and the support of TrueType in the PostScript environment, ensuring that customers who use PostScript printers will have the best possible experience regardless of the font type used. Support for OpenType is part of the PostScript printing system, with the support of the latest AdobePS™ printer drivers and Adobe Type Manager.

Exactly what "support for OpenType" at the beginning of the second sentence means here is pretty unclear to me, though.  If I want to use a PostScript printer with OS X, will it make a difference in printing speed or quality if I use a font on the computer that is (or is not) in the list of fonts on the printer?  How does this work?

For example, if I print a TextEdit document in (OpenType) Helvetica to a networked LaserWriter, does OS X send PostScript code to the printer, which then uses its own built-in Helvetica font data in ROM to construct the glyphs on the page?
What if I use an OpenType font that's on the computer but not on the printer?  Does the font get translated into a PostScript font then downloaded to the printer (presumably a slower process just like it was in the pre-OS X days), which then prints with it as if it were built-in?
Or in the previous case do the OpenType glyphs get rasterized on the OS X side and then sent to the printer as a bitmap?
In either case, how does this affect the quality of printed output?
Whether the OpenType font is downloaded as a PS font or as a bitmap, I'm guessing this would take a lot more memory on the printer side than just sending PostScript code.  Should I worry about running out of printer memory (or at very least my document taking a long time to print) just as in the pre-OS X days?
Is it still worthwhile to seek out a printer with a built-in hard drive to store downloaded fonts, if I'm going to be doing a lot of printing with fonts that aren't part of the native printer-resident set?
Are there printers that get around some or all of these problems by coming bundled with OpenType fonts as part of their firmware, or at least printing with OpenType fonts directly?  This seems like the natural next step beyond inexpensive networkable printers with Postscript Level III support such as this Okidata model.

Printer-installed fonts tend not to be used at all, as PostScript output from MacOS (and PDFs) use unique names to reference the Font data that they contain, e.g. "Helvetica-Bold+AAXYZ".
There is no benefit to having a printer that stores font data, because the font names in the printer won't match the unique names in the PS output. Also, the amount of data saved is in the order of Kb, and negligible in terms of file size and performance.
The PostScript output from MacOS encodes the glyph data from PostScript, OpenType and TrueType fonts in a variety of ways within the data stream. It is not rastered beforehand.
I suspect that most laser printers these days contain ample memory, compared to those in 'pre-OS X days'. Some printers, particularly larger, 'network' devices, have memory expansion slots where you can add DIMMs.

In short: you do not have to worry about any lack of quality or performance by using OTF or TT fonts, compared to Type1 PS fonts.


Error opening txt file on MacOSx I am getting this strange error on Mac OS X. When I am trying to open a text file using 'TextEdit' or 'TextWrangler' I am getting this message "Verifying filename.txt". This message pops up and then after a while whole system comes to halt. I have to forcefully shutdown the system. I was able to open these files previously with either of the two applications. I have OS X Mavericks (10.9).

Has anyone faced a situation like this? What can be the remedy?

Without seeing the screencap, it really sounds like a filesystem error to me, yeah I could be full of little red ants but the first thing I would do is open disk utility and do two things, repair permissions and verify the disk (you cant repair it, repair will be greyed out).

If permissions repair works you are golden, if the disk does not pass verification, boot into recovery mode (reboot holding COMMAND-R) and run disk utility and repair the disk.

If that doesn't fix it (EG Disk Utility returns an error message) it may be time for a third party repair tool like Diskwarrior or Drive Genius. If THAT fails then it's time to backup, reformat and reinstall the O/S and restore your Apps and files... You do have a backup, don't you?


How to open the Screenshot Folder right after taking the screenshot I've changed the folder to which Screenshots are saved on the MacOS (This explains how it is done - http://www.idownloadblog.com/2014/06/15/how-to-change-where-screenshots-are-saved-on-mac/).

I was wondering if I can create an Automator script / Workflow so that this custom folder, say ~/Screenshots, automatically opens up immediately after the screenshot is taken. (For reference, I want it to behave like the Chrome Fireshot extension).

Save this script as "Reveal_Screenshot.scpt", In Script Editor to your /Users/INSERT YOUR USERNAME/Library/Workflows/Applications/Folder Actions folder.

on adding folder items to theFolder after receiving theNewItems
    --  Called after items have been added to a folder
    --  theFolder is a reference to the modified folder
    --  theNewItems is a list of references to the items added to the folder
    tell application "Finder"
        activate
        reveal theNewItems
    end tell
end adding folder items to

Now add a folder action to your ~/Screenshots folder in Finder.app by control + click on ~/Screenshots folder

Because you saved that script in the previous step, it will now be available to choose as a folder action to attach to your folder

Now every time a screen shot gets added to your ~/Screenshots folder , it will bring Finder.app to the front and reveal the new file in your folder


Can launchd be made to set a different owner on files it creates while executing a .plist job? I have a launchctl .plist file in /Library/LaunchDaemons as follows:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>david.ports.slocate.home.updatedb</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/opt/local/bin/slocate</string>
        <string>-U</string>
        <string>/Users/david</string>
        <string>-o</string>
        <string>/Users/david/slocate_david.db</string>
    </array>
    <key>Umask</key>
    <string>077</string>
    <key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
    <dict>
        <key>Hour</key>
        <integer>5</integer>
        <key>Minute</key>
        <integer>45</integer>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

For those who are wondering, I use the slocate port from MacPorts instead of the native locate database that ships with OS X.  This .plist job updates the slocate database specific to my home directory at 5:45 AM daily.  The Umask setting of 077 makes the output file readable only by me.  However, the file is created with the ownership of root; not what I want.

Is there a way to specify the ownership of the output file instead of the default of root?  I realize I can run this as a LaunchAgent under ~/Library/LaunchAgents, but I prefer the job to run whether I am logged in or not, hence installing it as a LaunchDaemon.

I'm running OS X 10.10.3 Yosemite.

I have a few suggestions. According to to the manual, you can set the UserName key- https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man5/launchd.plist.5.html. You could use periodic with a shell script to run slocate and change the permissions of the database. Setup a user crontab. A user crontab will only run at the specified time.


How do I spin down a secondary disk when not mounted? I have Macbook Pro 13" (Early 2011). I replaced the SuperDrive with a SSD that now is my main disk. The existing HDD is used for Time Machine and nothing else.

I have 2 problems with the secondary disk:

After a Time Machine backup, it stays awake way too long. I want it to go right back to sleep.
When I eject the disk, it keeps waking up after a while, and then keeps spinning forever.

How can I fix these 2 issues?

Edit
I found a program called Cocktail that you can set the sleep timer with, unfortunately this is for both disks. How will this affect the SSD?

Solution is a terminal command with which you can control the sleep timer.
I set it to 1 minute.

sudo pmset -a disksleep VALUE

This still means the disk wakes up every hour for the time machine backup, and also every 15 minutes-ish for god knows what reason.

But its much better than before, just annoying that it regularly wakes up for a minute, which is distracting.


What speed does maps.app use when calculating walking times I like walking to places. Before I leave I see how long it will take me to walk there in the maps.app. Often, I find I get there 15% faster than the time displayed on my iPhone. But again I am quite young and walk faster than usual.

Humans walk around 1.4 metres/second. What speed does the maps.app use to calculate walking travel times?

My Map is set to miles, but you could do the same for kilometres..

Drop a pin & keep moving it until it says it will take an hour to walk there.
Check the distance.
Mine says 2.8 miles.

Google tells me 2.8 mph is approx 1.25 m/s


How do I fix Excel 2008 Date Formats in Mavericks I have Excel 2008 installed on my Mac, which I recently upgraded to Mavericks, migrating all my settings across.

Previously (on Mountain Lion) when I entered a date like 11/12 this was interpreted as 11 December, but now Excel insists on interpreting this in American format.

All my existing data (some going back years, originally entered in Windows) displays correctly as I have entered a custom Format ddd dd/mm/yy, but displays incorrectly in the formula bar.

As far as I can tell, my system settings are correct for Australia - they were migrated across, and I have since checked. Numbers seems to have no problem with dates.

After some searching and trial-and-error, I have identified that the issue relates to the absence of a key file: com.apple.HIToolbox.plist, which for some reason is not created when setting up a new User account (and may not be copied across if importing from another computer). Luckily this file is created when opening the Guest account, which can then be copied across to all required User accounts.

Here is a detailed summary of the procedure I eventually used to fix this date format issue:

Create and open a Guest Account (if not already enabled, go to Users
& Group Preferences)
Go to the Library folder (it’s a hidden folder,
so to find it, use Finder to go to the home folder, then select from
the menu ‘Go:Go to Folder’ and type in ‘Library’)
Go to the
Preferences folder
Make a local copy of the file:
com.apple.HIToolbox.plist (e.g. onto an SD card, or external/cloud
drive)
Now open your desired User account
Go to your Library folder
(again it will be hidden, so find it as above)
Go to the Preferences
folder
Copy the file: com.apple.HIToolbox.plist (from local storage)
into this folder
Quit Excel and then log out of your user account,
and then log back in
Next time Excel starts, UK date format will be
correct!

(Source:
http://www.yellowsbest.com/solved-uk...excelmac-2008/)


Is it possible to have multi cam editing in Final Cut Express? Is is possible to do multi-camera editing in Final Cut Express like this
 or this?

EDIT: I am using FCE 3.5 HD on Snow Leopard. Is that bad?

My general opinion it's never bad to keep your money in your pocket and keep using software that works.

The last version of final cut express is the same as the last final cut pro (before X was released on the app store) so it is as capable as pro for multiple camera editing.

The oldest Express version I have handy is 4.0.1 and it doesn't need any plug-ins to work for multi cam.


Flush cache of DNS on macOS Sierra & High Sierra How to flush the cache of the DNS system on a macOS Sierra or High Sierra Mac?

I have seen discussion of the following, but am not sure if this is the modern approach. And I am not sure what each does exactly.

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache does nothing useful related to DNS cache entries - at least in non-LDAP environments and 10.9-10.13.

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder sends a hang up to mDNSResponder, launchd will restart the daemon and the DNS cache will be cleared as spillover effect.

This can easily be tested with the following command sequence:

sudo killall -INFO mDNSResponder

  default    03:54:55.672826 +0200   mDNSResponder   Cache size 282 entities; 189 in use (73 group, 29 multicast, 87 unicast); 2 referenced by active questions
  default    03:54:55.694219 +0200   mDNSResponder   Unicast Cache size              1769

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
sudo killall -INFO mDNSResponder

  default    03:55:52.148629 +0200   mDNSResponder   Cache size 282 entities; 180 in use (79 group, 19 multicast, 82 unicast); 2 referenced by active questions
  default    03:55:52.157180 +0200   mDNSResponder   Unicast Cache size              1992

sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder
sudo killall -INFO mDNSResponder

  default    03:56:39.446829 +0200   mDNSResponder   Cache size 282 entities; 8 in use (4 group, 0 multicast, 4 unicast); 2 referenced by active questions
  default    03:56:39.466259 +0200   mDNSResponder   Unicast Cache size              121

To get the results above open Console.app, choose your hostname in "Devices" and use a filter mDNSResponder & Cache size:


How do I change the Lion menubar selection color? I really hate the blue-purple color of the Lion (and Snow Leopard before it) menu bar selection. Isn't there some way to change this? I've tried tweaking everything, but Apple seems to have decided that we should all use this absurdly bright color unless we want to go totally monochrome and use Graphite (which I don't). I assume the same fix should apply to Snow Leopard.

System preferences > General > Appearance > [Blue|Graphite]

Graphite will turn menu selection co
lor to dark grey. Of course it's system wide so it also will change the color for other UI elements.

Modding

You will need :

SArtFileTool
image editor
a good backup ;-)

Download SArtFileTool into ~/Downloads/SArtFile then copy and decompress the system art resource file :

cd ~/Downloads/SArtFile
cp /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreUI.framework/Resources/SArtFile.bin ./
./sartfiletool -d SArtFile.bin artfiles

Go into the artfiles directory and find 52.png 68.png 71.png files and modify them.

52.png = "Blue" top menu text selection color
68.png = "Blue" menu item text selection color
71.png = "Blue" help menu item "Search" background color

Then recreate SArtFile.bin and put into place :

./sartfiletool -e artfiles SArtFile.bin SArtFile.new.bin
sudo cp SArtFile.new.bin /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CoreUI.framework/Resources/SArtFile.bin

Logout & log in again, menu should look something like this (I cheated and used the turquoise-ish files from "Lion Pulse" mod.)

Additional remarks:
The SArtFile is poorly documented for Lion, here's the explanation of the contents for Snow Leopard but Lion's is different.
The selection in Finder is still the harsher blue, haven't looked into that yet.


How can I tell if a Mac App Store app is a universal purchase? Apple has announced that it is officially launching the ability for developers to sell Mac and iOS apps as a single purchase.
The macOS version of your app can now be included in a universal purchase, allowing customers to enjoy your app and in‑app purchases across iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS by purchasing only once.
(source)

For example, GoodNotes 5 is a universal app, but I know it only through the linked support article. Its Mac App Store page only says the iPhone and iPad counterpart apps are available, but nothing about those being universal (or not).
The other app I'm looking at is iA Writer for Mac OS (but could be any other app, really), and unlike the Good Notes 5, I couldn't find any external mention of iA Writer being bundled with the iOS and ipadOS apps as a single purchase.
So can I somehow tell myself, without contacting the developers every time I need an answer, just by looking at the App Store pages, it's source code, or maybe making and API call of some sort?

I think I found the answer: you will have to find the app on both Mac and iOS App Stores, get the shareable link and compare the IDs. If those match, chances are it's a bundled app.


Jump to the Terminal's right directory from Finder's specific directory Possible Duplicate:
  “open terminal here”?

If I browse my Apple Finder at

/Users/arie/Documents/shugyou/genjutsu/fp

How can I possibly go to Terminal with that very same directory? So that I won't need to do two less productive commands (1) open Terminal from Spotlight, and then (2) type cd /Users/arie/Documents/shugyou/genjutsu/fp.

I use Mac OS X 10.5.8. Note I don't (want to) use iTerm. TIA.

cdto - Finder Toolbar button to open a Terminal window

cdff - Switch Terminal dir to frontmost window of certain apps


extend the press and hold app to other keys Thanks to this question: Customize accents when holding down a key

I know understand how to customise the press and hold app a bit to letters. But I'm wondering, could I do the same trick for other keys. For example if press the > (shift + .) I would like to get a pop up where I can choose to select → or ≥. Would that be possible ?

Okay, I think it is not possible, therefore I've made this little html app, that mimics the OSX app:

https://openuserjs.org/libs/kasperpeulen/pressandhold

You can find a demo here:http://embed.plnkr.co/jNA28BBb2JFAccPPX61p/preview


Problem booting from a DVD: How do I eject the DVD? I tried to install Windows 7 on Bootcamp, but the Windows 7 boot CD has a boot problem about code 5.
The Windows 7 installation DVD is in the DVD driver. How can I eject the DVD from the drive, and boot normally?

If it's an Intel based Mac, you can press either F12, or Eject, or the Mouse button on startup.