How to convert Vmware Fusion virtual machine to bootcamp image i'm using ENVI + IDL software on a windows xp virtual machine. That software is too heavy so i can't work as well on that virtual machine so i need to boot that virtual machine on boot so to have all cpu and memory allocated for windows. Is there something could i do? Thanks!!

Converting a VM to a Bootcamp image is not supported and is technically difficult for a number of reasons, not least of which is that a Windows installation for a VM (or any physical computer) will not necessarily have all the drivers needed to run on different hardware.  There are other twitchy things about Windows like the whole license activation thing which tend to get in the way as well.


What exactly is included when I backup my iPhone 4 using iTunes? I have read this question Does an iTunes iOS device backup include everything on the device? but it doesn't seem to be explicit/succinct enough and I can't find a clear list of what exactly is and isn't backed up anywhere that I would trust.

Specifically I am asking which of these things are backed up ( and if there are any others which I am leaving out )

Settings inc email settings and and wifi passwords
Applications and their settings
Photos
Videos
Songs
Notes
Reminders
Calendar
Voice Memos
Contacts
SMS's
Firmware ( which I gather is not backed up )

I have a feeling that various parts of the backup are stored in various locations so maybe that might be explained, and also I read somewhere that the backup only includes the media items if a sync has been performed so could this be explained ... ie do I have to also do a sync to ensure a full backup.

I have an iphone4 and I am backing up to my computer as opposed to iCloud.

Apple has a great article enumerating what gets backed up for each level of iOS.

iTunes: About iOS backups

Pay close attention to the section titled iTunes will back up the following information and note that by setting a passcode, Apple backs up more of your device's keychain. Also this article covers using iTunes and iCloud to back up since each has strengths and weaknesses in terms of backing up an iOS device.

In terms of the things you enumerate - all are backed up except the one you didn't want (the OS itself and firmware for the device).

I would encourage you to also sync contacts (and other data) so you have a second backup (or even the ability to make a third backup of the synced data) since losing contacts is an event that is very painful to recover.


Search folder, copy to new folder and change names of the files! So I'm trying to recursively search folder, and as you might imagine it will be the "Photos"-folder in MacOS.

And in the process, I would like to change the file name, why you might ask? Because Nextcloud is for some reason changing the image name to year-month-day hour-minute-second $(increment number). So I need to be able to define this starting increment number.

This is what I have so far:

# Lets say that starting increment number should be I=7398
# name="$(stat -f '%Sm' -t '%y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S' "$file").$(ls "$file"|cut -d . -f2)"
# echo $name
find . -type f -iname '*.jpg' -size +500k -exec sh -c '
    for file in "$@"; do
        folder="/path/to/backup/folder/$(stat -f '%Sm' -t '%Y/%m' "$file")"
        echo mkdir -p "$folder"
        echo cp "$file" "$folder"
    done
' sh {} +

This works perfect! But I would like to in the process change the name from the files EXIF data, to be '%y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S {increment number}'.ext, 18-08-15 18-32-29 3453.JPG or whatever it is. Is this possible?

This above script reads a JPG, creates directory of the year the file image was created, created another folder corresponding to the month, copies the file to that year folder.

Expected result: also change name '%y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S {increment number}'.ext

The following is a proof of concept to show how I'd build out the target_directory and target_filename from the source_filename, based on information in your OP and comments:

$ ls -1
DSC_0008.JPG
DSC_0034.JPG
DSC_0077.JPG
DSC_0132.JPG
codetest

$ cat codetest
#!/bin/bash

find . -type f -iname '*.jpg' -size +500k -exec sh -c '
i=7398
for f in "$@"; do
    m="$(exiftool -d "%Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S" -FileModifyDate -s -S "$f")"
    d="/path/to/backup/directory/${m:0:4}/${m:5:+2}"
    echo mkdir -p "$d"
    echo cp "$f" "$d/$m $i.${f##*.}"
    ((i++))
done
' sh {} +

$ ./codetest
mkdir -p /path/to/backup/directory/2018/11
cp ./DSC_0008.JPG /path/to/backup/directory/2018/11/2018-11-26 15-39-09 7398.JPG
mkdir -p /path/to/backup/directory/2018/12
cp ./DSC_0034.JPG /path/to/backup/directory/2018/12/2018-12-26 11-52-30 7399.JPG
mkdir -p /path/to/backup/directory/2019/03
cp ./DSC_0077.JPG /path/to/backup/directory/2019/03/2019-03-02 08-36-07 7400.JPG
mkdir -p /path/to/backup/directory/2019/04
cp ./DSC_0132.JPG /path/to/backup/directory/2019/04/2019-04-03 23-42-36 7401.JPG
$

Obviously with the echo command in place, the output shown is not quoted and would fail if that was the actual command executed while copying; however, with the echo command removed, the actual executed command has quotes around the arguments and would not fail because of the spaces in the target_filenames.

Using stat instead of exiftool:

#!/bin/bash

find . -type f -iname '*.jpg' -size +500k -exec sh -c '
i=7398
for f in "$@"; do
    m="$(stat -f "%Sm" -t "%Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S" "$f")"
    d="/path/to/backup/directory/${m:0:4}/${m:5:+2}"
    echo mkdir -p "$d"
    echo cp "$f" "$d/$m $i.${f##*.}"
    ((i++))
done
' sh {} +

Note: Both of these worked when run as either a script, or, sans the shebang, copied and pasted into Terminal. That said, I'm not sure I'd run this on 30K files all at once without adding some error handling as appropriate for what this code will do. I'll leave that up to you to decide how, or if, you want to implement any error handling in the example code shown.


MBP security and safety At work, I rely on a public wifi and don't see any good security standards or requirements or tips from Apple. Are there some general tips on first steps to take for securing OS X - if so they would be of great help to me in learning how to secure my Mac.

Whats the best way to keep my late 2012 MBP safe and secure?

Enable the firewall (System Preferences > Security and Privacy > Firewall). Also click on the Advanced settings, and enable "stealth mode".  This will help a bit with protecting you on public WiFi networks by not acknowledging ping packets and similar.

Don't enable any Sharing options (System Preferences > Sharing) unless you're positive you need them. Things like Remote Login and File Sharing are especially dangerous if your passwords are insecure.

Be wary in general of things you see. If there's a page (fake) that states you have hundreds of viruses that need to be removed, don't believe it. Think before you act basically. Easier said than done, but it's really the best summary of best practices.

So many people also forget about the fact that your bank or other important institutions will NEVER ask for personal information via email or for you to "update settings". When in doubt, go directly to the relevant institution's site.


Is there an Ubuntu documented build to run on 2018 MacBook Pro? I have a 2018 13" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports, and I wanted to know where I lie with Ubuntu (or another distro) for dual booting.

I have successfully booted Ubuntu onto my Mac, from a USB drive and it works with an external keyboard and mouse, but that's not perfect and I'd like it fully working if possible.

I have come across this and it looks promising, however my Mac is a 15,1 and I can only find a 15,2 there. Strangely, there are two 15,2 MacBook Pros - 15" 2018 and 15" 2019. Mine, of course, is neither. I’m basically a little unsure how the marketing / model year numbers are supported for Ubuntu.

Is there an easy to install (i.e. well documented) distribution of Ubuntu that works on a 2018 MacBook Pro?

This is something that must be extrapolated as the 2015 through 2017 MacBook Pro's aren't vastly different than the 2018-2019 MacBook Pros.   The key functions:

* Audio                   → Not Working
* Suspend & Hibernation   → Partially Working
* TouchBar                → Partially Working
* TouchID                 → Not Working
* WiFi                    → Working on 13,2; 13,3; 14,2; 14,3

These will follow with the same statuses as MacBook Pro models 13,2 through 14,3 as noted.

Now, one very safe bet is to go for the main LTS build of Ubuntu as it is exceptionally well documented and has several dedicated support sites as well as this Q&A site.

Now, it's entirely possible that nothing works because of the new T2 chip that encrypts and controls the storage meaning you have to disable all boot security unless Apple signs your OS.  Given that, running Ubuntu on a 2018 and beyond MacBook Pro computer will be limited to virtualization - VirtualBox, Parallels, VMWare, etc. (IMO) this is a better path to pursue.

You can disable external boot and run externally, but the T2 SSD aren’t available for any OS other than Windows or macOS in 2020 due to secure boot and lack of drivers for the T2.


Some items in the Trash cannot be deleted because of System Integrity Protection That's the message I'm getting when trying to empty the trash. To my knowledge, almost all of this is just old backups from an external drive, even though the message seems to imply I've been rooting around (no pun intended) in operating system files.

Any clue what this message means?

sudo rm -rf /Volumes/ExternalDrive/.Trashes/

Replace "ExternalDrive" with the actual name of your external drive.
Be careful using the rm command and make sure the path to the External Drive is correct.


Is there any danger/risk in leaving my iMac G5 turned off and disconnected for long periods of time? As the title states, is there any danger in leaving my iMac G5 (Later 2005 model) turned off and disconnected from a power outlet for long periods of time?

I will be traveling for roughly 1 month and, during a normal week, I only intend to use it a couple of times a week. Otherwise, it will sit in my room under a full dust cover, disconnected from a power outlet.

Is there any risk to this? Specifically- could doing this alone damage the battery/system components/screen as it would damage a portable battery powered device such as an iPad or iPhone (where the battery must be charged and discharged at a fairly consistent rate)?

Your machine is now 10 years old, so there's definitely the risk that your PRAM backup battery has "worn out" and is nearly dead now. The life expectancy for these kinds of "coin cells" is normally about 10 years.

So if you disconnect your Mac from the power supply for an "extended time" you risk that it fails to back up the PRAM. A battery loses its charge over time, and that's especially true for worn out batteries. The more you disconnect your Mac from the mains connection the more the backup battery has to supply the PRAM with electrical current, which in turn causes the battery to wear out even more.

Disconnecting your Mac from the mains connection as such is not harmful for your Mac or any of its components.

You could have your battery replaced which should cost you about USD 100-150 (my estimation based on the effort to completely disassemble the iMac). Then leaving the iMac disconnected for a month would not be any problem at all.


iPhone: How do I change the default start time of an event? Often I find myself finishing a meeting and setting up one the following week, same time same place.  Apple is pretty good about suggesting the place and even autocompleteing the title, but the time is almost always very close to the current time, NOT the time of event I am copying.

Is there any way to make this a little more "dumb" and just grab the previous event's time instead of assuming that I want the current time?  This would also make it much easier to paste events that repeat irregularly.

Using Siri let’s you nail the start time. The system does still prefer to make a new appointment now if you don’t specify the start time or a start day.

  Hey Siri, make an appointment for 10 am next Tuesday.

Also, for when the default calendar is lacking, you can get some very capable apps to extend how you view, automate and combine calendars if you don’t want to just add all your calendars to the native iOS settings and use Siri / calendar.app - the first two I recommend are:

Fantastical 2 - a powerhouse of intelligence and smart scheduling
Calendars 5 - also has better smart scheduling than iOS and has great integration for google calendars and other cloud calendars.

You don’t need another app, though to just make an appointment precisely when you want it to be slotted in your calendar, just use alternate input mechanisms. These third-party apps had smart scheduling before iOS implemented it, but now Apple ships everything you need so only get these if you need more than one Apple can do out of the box.


How to transfer apps from iPad to MacBook Pro I got a new MacBook Pro recently and I want to transfer my old apps into my new Mac, how can I do this?

Menubar -> Store -> Sign In (with same account used on the iPad)
Menubar -> iTunes -> Preferences -> Store -> Automatic Downloads

Once you have signed in with your account, a sync via USB should do the trick aswell, I think.

BTW: You might also need to authorize your computer to play some purchased music (Menubar -> Store -> Authorize this computer)


Why does iStat Menus disable S.M.A.R.T. on my Mac? I have set up a launchd job which checks my S.M.A.R.T. status.

After I installed iStat Menus my launchd job immediately threw me a popup saying me to backup all my files. I checked with Disk Utility and I saw S.M.A.R.T. status as Unsupported.

I immediately uninstalled iStat Menus using the official uninstaller and I found out that immediately after uninstalling that app my SMART status showed up SMART status: Verified. Phew!

Why did iStat Menus disable S.M.A.R.T.? Is there any specific reason I would like to know.

Here's how my script looks:

A=$( diskutil info disk0 | grep SMART )

if [ "$A" != "   SMART Status:             Verified" ]
then

osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to activate' -e 'tell application "Finder" to display dialog "Your Drive is failing, Please backup all your important files now" buttons {"OK"} with icon stop'
fi

Why did iStat Menus disable S.M.A.R.T.?

Nothing can disable S.M.A.R.T.  It is a technology built into the firmware of your HDD or SDD that reports on the health of your drive.  It's not something that can be disabled.

  After I installed iStat Menus my launchd job immediately threw me a
  popup saying me to backup all my files. I checked with Disk Utility
  and I saw S.M.A.R.T. status as Unsupported.

This is because there is a system service residing at the hardware layer that's intercepting responses from the drive's S.M.A.R.T. reporting.  Disk Utility is attempting to send a request to the drive to report back on it's status and iStat Menu is (for a lack of a better word) grabbing the result; no result comes back - thus it's "Unsupported."

Regarding your script....

While your script in and of itself is good, Disk Util's "S.M.A.R.T. Status = Verified" is nothing more than the "check engine light" on a car's dashboard.  It tells you something is wrong, but not what and only  after something has failed.  This is about as useful as closing the barn door after the horse escaped.

S.M.A.R.T. has a number of attributes that Disk Util doesn't monitor nor report on.  To get comprehensive reporting and more granular data as well as thresholds that will warn you of impending failures, look to tools specifically made for this type of task.

Smartmontools (Free, CLI based)
Disk Drill.  (Free for monitoring, paid for data recovery)
Drive Dx.  (Free trial, paid for continued use)

I have personally used the built-in Disk Util to get the S.M.A.R.T. status in a pinch.  However, I  prefer the "pro" tools designed specifically for this type of task.  Smartmontools is sufficient for me, but for clients who aren't comfortable with a CLI, I recommend either Disk Drill or Drive Dx


Trackpad and USB mouse frozen my girlfriend broke her trackpad of her MacBook white 2009 and now she's using a USB mouse. This does not work properly and gets often stuck. Do you think the sto issues are related? DO you have any suggestion on how to fix this?

There is every possibility the trackpad is still generating data, even if only randomly.

The only two alternatives I could think of would be

Get it fixed, or
Disconnect it


Fix IOS 8.1 Mail Threading to match osx I noticed, after updating I believe, that the inbox of the mail app in IOS 8.1 only lists emails coming in, so making out the back and forth conversation that often replies turn into is impossible.

On my mac, it still groups in and outgoing emails in the same thread (ordered by time) so that the conversation becomes apparent.

I've been looking into turning on the "send hidden copies to me" option, but it doesn't seem like a very sustainable option if I'd export my mail to some other client some time in the future. And also, it gets naggy having it notify you for an incoming mail every time you send one out.
Does anyone have any other ideas of how to fix this?

Thanks!

Tap on the More button after swiping left and you’ll find a new option to show related messages.

Source : http://www.maclife.com/article/features/50-ios-8-tips-and-tricks


error "System Events got an error: Can’t get application process \"System Preferences\"." When running
tell application "System Events"
    click button "Turn Bluetooth Off" of window 1 of application process "System Preferences"
end tell

I get the error:
error "System Events got an error: Can’t get application process \"System Preferences\"." number -1728 from application process "System Preferences”

I’ve also tried
tell application "System Preferences"
    reveal pane "com.apple.preferences.Bluetooth"
end tell
tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
    click button 6 of window 1
end tell
quit application "System Preferences”
Didn’t give me any errors, but it didn’t work

I’m running macOS Sierra. This is supposed to turn my bluetooth off (I’m planning to have this run when I login)

This works for me using the latest version of macOS Mojave.  This code may need to be adjusted To work with the current version of your operating system;

try
    if application "System Preferences" is running then do shell script "killall 'System Preferences'"
end try
repeat until application "System Preferences" is not running
    delay 0.1
end repeat
tell application "System Preferences"
    reveal anchor "Main" of pane id "com.apple.preferences.Bluetooth"
end tell

tell application "System Events" to tell application process "System Preferences"
    repeat while not (exists of UI element "Turn Bluetooth Off" of window "Bluetooth")
        delay 0.1
    end repeat
    click UI element "Turn Bluetooth Off" of window "Bluetooth"
    repeat while not (exists of UI element "Turn Bluetooth On" of window "Bluetooth")
        delay 0.1
    end repeat
end tell

try
    if application "System Preferences" is running then do shell script "killall 'System Preferences'"
end try


How can I delete something from the Apple Pay wallet How do I remove an old boarding pass for Amtrak?  Tried settings, tried the info button on the lower right corner, I just don’t see any option to delete.

Make sure you are using the Wallet app while your device is unlocked. You cannot make any changes to passes, cards, etc, when you are accessing the Wallet with the home-button double-click when the device is locked.


Displays won't sleep while screen-saver is running So, I've got my screen-saver set to come on after 5 minutes,

… and my display to sleep after 1 hour:

Unfortunately, I get up every morning, and the displays are still running Aerial. I really, really don't want to burn out my expensive 5k monitors by powering them 24/7.

How can I ensure that 1. my computer requires my computer requires my password after a few minutes, 2. my displays don't turn off until they've been idle for a few hours (they take forever to boot back up — ~10 seconds before I can log-in when I sit down), and 3. my displays do turn off after a sufficient idle-period?

I too have faced similar problems. The easiest and guaranteed working solution which i found out after lots of experimentation is to get this software Better Touch Tool and configure a quick shortcut "Ctrl+L" to lock/sleep the display. So I can manually do it when I am stepping out from the desk or for overnight downloads.

You might already have done this. I am just putting this here for other's sake. You will have to enable this option too so that when u lock the display, it asks for the login password when u wake it up. Hope this helps.


Is there a way to mount or expose a folder within a package to another folder? I'm trying to create a time-lapse video from jpegs using GoPro studio on the MAC but that (and alternatives I've tried) don't seem to understand how to access all the photos in the Photos app.

If I right-click on the Photos app and go to 'show package' contents, I can see all my photos in a directory called 'Masters'.

Is there any way to mount or otherwise expose that folder as a standard folder that other applications might be able to work with?

You can create an alias outside the bundle to expose this folder (by command-option dragging "Masters" out of the bundle). However, it is not always advisable to mess with the contents of a bundle, so proceed with caution. If you're just reading the photos, there's no problem, but Photos may not take kindly to modifications. The "safest" (but most annoying) way to access items in your Photos library is to export them from Photos itself.


Q: Backing up Notes.app content (on the iCloud / OSX / iOS) for safekeep? I'm wondering, how do I back up Notes.app content on OSX so that I can safely either trash it all and restart, or do future upgrades?

(The reason I'm doing this is because OSX and iOS no longer sync Notes properly..)

The content of your Notes.app is located in /Users/youUserName/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Notes

So to back it all up you need to copy/move everything in the directory above to another location and restore it later.


MacBook External Display Black I tried to reply to this thread - MacBook Pro detects external monitor but shows black screen.

Unfortunately I don't have reputation to do so...

If you are having troubles with a black display it could be that your Mac has onboard graphics and a dedicated graphics card.

The full issue I had was a 2018 MacBook 15inch using two hdmi to usb-c connectors, only one display would ever have an image, the other was black.

As soon as I turned off Automatic Graphics switching (Apple Icon > System Preferences > Energy Saver > Tick Box for Automatic Graphics Switching) the problem immediately ceased.

Hope this may help some others with the same issue as me.

Edit:
Ensure you do this for the relevant mode of use. You can change this setting for both using battery and being connected to power

See my question as my answer. I wanted to post as answer in the linked thread but I was unable but I wanted to give back to a site that has helped me in the past


AppleScript: Press Enter Every X minutes If Terminal is Open and Application Has Been Idle for X Minutes I am new to AppleScript and am attempting to use it.

If I am using Terminal and if I have not pressed a key for x minutes I want my Mac to press the return key. It is to repeat this process every y minutes. I would like this process to continue until I close Terminal or stop the AppleScript.

My programming attempt is below:

repeat 52 times
delay 840
tell application "Terminal"
set currentTab to do script ("Return") in front window
end tell
delay 840
end repeat

Why not fix it in the terminal?

I would suggest something like

while true;
  do <whatever your terminal actions is>;
  sleep 60; #sleep 60 seconds
done;

This will go in a continuos loop. When the program exits, it jumps to sleep 60. Which will cause it to sleep for 60 seconds and then jump back to the execution part.

Although this is not specifically what you asked for, this might be an easier way to deal with it.

A bit closer to what you are suggesting:

 for i in {1..52};
   do <your action>;
   sleep 840;
 done


Automatically start multiple user sessions when OSX starts I need to get several users session logged-in as soon as the computer starts. Manually I would have to log into the first user and then start switching to each one to open their respective sessions. I need to automate this process. At the end sessions must remain open so each will have some program instances running.

Thanks!

Assuming there are no passwords, you can have each user session open another one when starting, using CGSession. I did not try it with Yosemite, but it does work for me with El Capitan.

Log in as user1.
Create an empty file named “logall.sh”, in a folder where the user won’t see it.
Make the file executable (open Applications/Utilities/Terminal, type chmod 777  (with the trailing space); drag the file’s icon in the Terminal window; press Return).
Make the file always open with Terminal (right-click on the file’s icon; select “Open with…/Other”; check “Always open with”; select Applications/Utilities/Terminal).
Open the file in TextEdit.
Set the file’s contents to the following, and save:

"/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/User.menu/Contents/Resources/\
CGSession" -switchToUserID `id -u user2`

Repeat for each user except user1. Set user1 to log in automatically on startup (System Preferences/Users and Groups/Options/Automatic login/user1).


Cannot connect to OS X SMB server from Linux I set up an SMB server on my Mac by going to System Preferences > Settings > Sharing and enabling File Sharing. Afterwards, I tried to access it from my Arch Linux laptop. It asked for my password, as I expected, and I enter my Mac's login password. The dialog keeps showing however.

Using the terminal and entering smbclient -L 192.168.0.64 yeilds the following output on both my laptop connected to the network, as well as in an Arch Linux virtual machine running on my Mac:

 mike@ArchLinux > ~ > smbclient -L 192.168.0.64
smbclient: Can't load /etc/samba/smb.conf - run testparm to debug it
Enter mike's password: <I enter my Mac's login password here>
session setup failed: NT_STATUS_LOGON_FAILURE

Using PCManFM as my Linux file manager, going into network:/// shows "Windows Network". Going into there links me to smb:///, which then shows "Failed to retrieve share list from server: No such file or directory"

I had this behaviour with my Mac Mini running MacOs 10.13 after activating File sharing, but NOT authorizing specific users. So my guess is that you simply forgot to enable login for your account.


Having trouble with a SMC reset I'm having trouble with my built in iSight and I'm trying to reset the SMC. My MBP has a non-removable SMC, so the instructions ask me to press CMD-SHIFT-ALT-POWER at the same time, release it at the same time and then press the power button to power on the machine.

Trouble is that, the machine power ons when I press CMD-SHIFT-ALT-POWER and I dont think that resets the SMC. What should I be doing to correct this?

That is the incorrect key combination. You are pressing Command instead of Control.

To reset the SMC on portables with a builtin battery, press (left side):

ShiftControlOption + Power Button

Subsequently, release them at the same time. Then power on your computer.


iCloud prompts me to create a free @me.com email address to turn on Notes sync I'm very aware this question is probably about to become obsolete with the release of iOS 6 at some point soon, but thought I'd ask anyway.

I have an iCloud account set up on my phone with the email address (Apple ID) of myfullname@gmail.com.

This iCloud account has Reminders, Photo Stream and Find My iPhone all switched on without issue. However, whenever I try to turn on Notes sync (to work with my recent Mountain Lion upgraded Mac), the iPhone displays a dialog:

Create a free @me.com email address to turn on Notes.

            ╔════════╗      ╔════════╗
            ║ Create ║      ║ Cancel ║
            ╚════════╝      ╚════════╝

It seems I can't use my current, otherwise fully functional, iCloud account with Notes sync. Is that right?

The way that Apple handles notes on the iOS devices is that really they are just specially formatted email messages being sent to yourself from yourself. This was a bit more obvious in earlier versions of OS X as the notes you would write would appear in the apple email client Mail.app.

If you want to use you iCloud account to sync your notes then yes apple forces you to create a free iCloud.com (used to be me.com) email address which is really not a bad idea, but for someone who already has a gmail account it certainly is not necessary.

if you would rather have your notes sync by way of your gmail account you will need to open the settings app on you iOS device(s) then tap on "mail, contacts, calendars" and add your gmail account there. You will then have the option to turn on or off several services like email, contacts, calendars, and notes. in fact you can turn on nothing but notes should you desire.

it wil also be a good idea to visit Settings > Notes on your iOS devices and choose the account you wish to be your default note creation account to avoid any future confusion.

If you are setting up notes on an OS X computer and need help try using this online guide that apple provides. it covers how to set up mail and other services on a number of different systems.

http://www.apple.com/support/macosx/mailassistant/


The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition. Windows 10 and Mojave The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single
  partition.

  The startup disk must be formatted as a single Mac OS Extended
  (Journaled) volume or already partitioned by Boot Camp Assistant for
  installing Windows.

I had installed Windows 10 via bootcamp in my mac. Current version is 10.14.1

Now I don't want windows and need that space back but getting above error when I go bootcamp to remove it.

This is the output of diskutil list

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         181.3 GB   disk0s2
   3:       Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP                60.3 GB    disk0s3
   4:           Windows Recovery                         509.6 MB   disk0s4

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +181.3 GB   disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD            116.4 GB   disk1s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 44.6 MB    disk1s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                512.8 MB   disk1s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      4.3 GB     disk1s4

And this is of diskutil cs list

No CoreStorage logical volume groups found

Can anybody please help me to solve this problem?

Output after I tried commands given in the first answer

❯ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         250.8 GB   disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +250.8 GB   disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD            116.4 GB   disk1s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 44.6 MB    disk1s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                512.8 MB   disk1s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      3.2 GB     disk1s4

This is a very common question. Again, here is the commands you need to enter in a Terminal application window.

sudo diskutil eraseVolume free none disk0s4
sudo diskutil eraseVolume free none disk0s3
sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk0s2 0

These commands will have removed the Windows partitions and expanded the macOS partition to recover the free space. However, there will still be Windows boot files stored in the hidden EFI partition (disk0s1). These files can be removed by entering the commands given below.

  Note: If you have an legacy BIOS booting Windows, then these Windows boot files would normally not exist. In this case, the rm commands would produce an error message.

sudo diskutil mount disk0s1
cd /Volumes/EFI/EFI
rm -r Boot
rm -r Microsoft
cd ~
diskutil unmount disk0s1


How to display the location of files with Spotlight? When searching for a file with Spotlight (and with the Finder) I often
find many different versions of the correct file name.

But to choose the correct one I want to deal with, I should see its
complete location on the file system.

I'm hunting a Makefile.
Spotlight (the Finder too) displays me a list of a lot of them (I'm working with different package managers which install softwares in
different directories).
How may I quickly display their complete location to choose the one I want?

With the command line find or locate the answer is pretty easy. But in some cases I would like to avoid to start a Terminal and fire a pretty long find.

You can press ⌘+⌥ to see filepath in Quicklook pop-up.


My iPhone SE only boots on quick charge When I try to boot it it shows the Apple logo for a second and then gives up, same with Recovery mode.

When I put it on quick charge it boots up and works but when I unplug it, it slows down and then shuts off.

I've managed to do a quick change from quick charge to the laptop USB port while it was in Recovery mode and am currently reinstalling the software.

Any ideas?

The battery is dead and needs to be replaced.

If you can only power on and use your phone while it's plugged in, then the battery can no longer hold a charge.  It needs to be replaced.

Fully charged MacBook Air turns off when power cord removed
iPhone turning off on low battery

"Quick charging" has to do with the current that the charger supplies.  It's not a mode you can select.  Laptops don't have the ability to quick charge as a typical USB port only provides 5V at 500mA max.  You need at least 2.4A to quick charge (12W).

You can try doing a hard reset of the phone, but if the problem persists, it's definitely a failing/failed battery and it will need to be replaced.


Create an SMS shortcut on homescreen? Is there an application the creates a homescreen shortcut that sends a particular message to a specific number when pressed ?

So basically something that allows :

Add number
Add text message
Create homescreen shortcut

Now every time I click that shortcut, it sends the sms to that number directly.

You might want to check out LaunchCenter Pro:

  It’s like speed dial for anything you do with your iPhone or iPod Touch. Create one-tap shortcuts straight to the feature you need
  inside of your apps.

  Message a loved one, search Yelp for the nearest coffee shop, jump
  straight to the camera in Instagram, all with just a flick of your
  thumb. Create shortcuts for email, Safari, phone or FaceTime calls,
  Google searches, and more. If you do it on your phone constantly,
  Launch Center Pro will make it easier and faster.

  Sample shortcuts:

  Call a loved one Message a friend Email your boss Fire up Instagram’s
  camera instantly Search Yelp for nearby coffee shops Jump right to
  your favorite website Create a new item in OmniFocus Search Twitter
  using Tweetbot Use the iPhone as a flashlight And so much more...

I haven't tried it, personally but the description above seems to indicate it will work. You might also follow the recent news that some of the features of LaunchCenter pro are being disabled at Apple's request by the developer.


Is there a macOS alternative to delaycut or eac3to? I'm looking to edit some audio tracks for movies without reencoding them.

I've searched online, and apparently delaycut and eac3to would be good for what I'm aiming to do (according to an Original Trilogy forum post).  The problem is that that they're both Windows-exclusive applications.  A possible alternative might be Audio Cutter, but some of the reviews on the App Store have me hesitant to pay for it.

Can anyone suggest a macOS application that can do what I want to do?  (I'd prefer something free, but if there's no free option, that's fine.)

If what you are trying to do is extract segments of audio from an audio file and save them to files, then I suggest Audacity.

It is open sourced, cross platform, and probably can do what you need with ease.


iOS 10 no longer starts lock screen music player when headphones inserted Before installing iOS 10, whenever I plugged in my headphones (or car adapter), the lock screen music player would pop up (which is very convenient).  Was this a deliberate change to the OS, or some problem specific to me?  Is there some way to reenable this feature?

It appears to be deliberate, I miss the feature too as it will not appear whether I use wired or bluetooth connection.

I could not find a way to reenable it.


Suggestions for copying iTunes songs and playlists to SDCARD/player and cleaning up the "name mess"? This might be a bit of an odd one.

I have a collection on songs in iTunes and I'd like to copy it to an SDCARD to play it on my car's radio, together with the playlists I have to listen to the music in "proper order".

Copying the folder structure in $HOME/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/ works fine, and the player can read the files.

As for playlists, iTunes allows exporting the playlists in .m3u or .m3u8 format. The paths in the playlist are in "OSX" format, but a quick sed one-liner changes the paths to relative ones and puts it in DOS format:

sed -i.bak -e 's:/Users/jjarava/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music:..:g' -e 's:/:\\:g' "$1";

(the SDCARD in the car radio is identified as SDCARD:\)

I can see the playlist files in the car's radio, but only SOME of the files are "visible"/are played from the playlist.

Given that all the files "missing" contain some extended character (like á, é, í, ó or ú in Spanish). I've been bitten by the different way to encode the names in the past (see Linus Torvalds and the OS X Filesystem for context), so I suspect the issue might be due to the encoding of the file names in the SDCARD. When "browsing" the SDCARD I can see the authors/paths properly and all the files are available, so I think it's an issue of the way the paths are read from the .m3u file and (not) resolved to the proper files.

My first idea was to write yet another script to look for "offending" paths and rename them both in the filesystem and in the playlists, but I'm hitting a wall as find/grep etc seem to have issues working with files with extended characters on them. Something that "should" work like:

find /Volumes/MUSICA_VW/ -iname '*.mp3' | grep -e '[áéíóú]'

to get the offending songs/paths, returns every single song (i.e, the same results that find alone)

The option of renaming the files in iTunes is not really an option, as any time I add music it's got to be "processed". I don't care too much about having the proper paths etc in the player, that's why I wouldn't mind doing mass renaming etc as part of the "export" but the information on iTunes should be the right one...

So before delving in the arcane secrets of bash and findutils, or just byting the bullet and coding something in Python, any suggestions? I'm sure I'm not the first one to have hit this specific issue, I'm sure.

And to any that have taken the time to read so far, THANKS!

I've not tested this on a huge hierarchy of nested folders, but assuming you use List view, giving you the opportunity to Opt/click the reveal arrow & then select all -

The Finder since Yosemite has a built-in Search & Replace for file names.

Right click, Rename [n] items…

I just tested on some recipe text files I intentionally added accented letters to, but it ought to work on any file…

It does mean you'd have to go through each replacement, one at a time, á é í ó ú etc but it would get there in the end.

TextWrangler could do the same for the m3u file.


Preferred sources/methods for VirtualBox images on macOS 10.12? I have a 2016 MacBook Pro running macOS 10.12 and I want to run a Linux VM such as Mint using VirtualBox. I am looking for best practices or official/recommended sources for an image that is packaged with the macOS host OS in mind.

I have downloaded VirtualBox, and first looked for macOS-friendly pre-built images. Top web searches lead to sources like osboxes.org, however their VDI images are .7z-compressed. macOS doesn't come with a 7z decompressor out-of-the-box. I could install one (The Unarchiver, Keka, etc.), however the macOS-unfriendly compression makes me wonder whether I'm looking at the wrong sources, and if there are other macOS-friendly sources for Linux virtual images (or whether there is another process that I should be following).

What are the preferred sources/methods for installing VirtualBox images on macOS 10.12?

I would say that in-general, the preferred method of getting a virtual machine image would be to create it yourself by installing the operating system fresh from the distribution's installer. I would recommend doing this anyway, it ensures the image you get has not been tampered with by a malicious actor.

Oracle does offer Pre-Built Developer VMs. Any other sources are unofficial.


How good is Yosemite - Is it worth to upgrade now or wait till it stabilizes I have iMac (2012) with OSX 10.9.5 (Mavericks) currently on it. I am a iOS app developer and need my mac best performing and can't let my mac go down for even 2-3 days.

I have read news about issues on Yosemite release and even some on iCloud bundled in the same. I wanted to confirm that is it stable enough to retain my work and performance of my mac as it is now.

waiting to reply from Maverick users.

EDIT for more clarifications :

I wanted more reviews specially on following sections from Mac / iOS Devloper Perspective

Stability
Performance
Ease of Upgrade (as it is >5GB and available on Mac App Store only, in low bandwidth intennet it may get disconnected between download)
Recommended features e.g security updates

-- Vishal

There are some bugs as in every .0 release, but your mileage may vary as to which ones (if any) end up affecting you. Unfortunately nobody can predict that. If you are concerned about a critical production system being put out of commission, it is probably best to wait for 10.10.1.


Why might some files not have resource forks? Does this affect the `tar` utility at all? I tarred, and re-tarred, the same directory. 2,560 bytes of metadata is somehow lost in that simple process:

  /tmp$ tar xf workArea.tar
  /tmp$ tar cf workArea_copy.tar WorkArea
  /tmp$ ls -l *tar
  -rw-r--r--  1 jdoe  wheel  2068480 Mar 19 22:54 workArea.tar
  -rw-r--r--  1 jdoe  wheel  2065920 Mar 19 23:27 workArea_copy.tar
  /tmp$

How can there be data loss???

But then, I un-tarred / re-tarred workArea_copy.tar, and there was no data loss:

  /tmp$ tar xf workArea_copy.tar
  /tmp$ tar cf copy_copy.tar WorkArea
  /tmp$ ls -l *tar
  -rw-r--r--  1 jdoe  wheel  2065920 Mar 19 23:38 copy_copy.tar
  -rw-r--r--  1 jdoe  wheel  2065920 Mar 19 23:27 workArea_copy.tar
  /tmp$

I noticed in the tar verbose output of when I untarred the original workArea.tar that some files did not have resource forks:

  /tmp$ tar xfv workArea.tar
  x WorkArea/
  x WorkArea/kjDesc.txt  // <-- where is resource fork?
  x WorkArea/._engGrammar.doc
  x WorkArea/engGrammar.doc
  x WorkArea/._gingers.txt
  x WorkArea/gingers.txt
  x WorkArea/._intro.docx
  x WorkArea/intro.docx
  x WorkArea/._myAntenna.doc
  x WorkArea/myAntenna.doc
  x WorkArea/notes.txt  // <-- where is resource fork?
  x WorkArea/._notesKj.txt
  x WorkArea/notesKj.txt
  x WorkArea/._queen.xlsx
  x WorkArea/queen.xlsx
  x WorkArea/trans.txt  // <-- where is resource fork?
  x WorkArea/._url.txt
  x WorkArea/url.txt
  /tmp$

However, in the verbose tar output I can see that the missing resource fork issue exists in both untarring workArea.tar and workArea_copy.tar. The verbose output is exactly the same.

All files in this tar file were created on my MacBook. Nothing was imported from other file systems.

I am sure that 2,560 bytes is metadata. But what metadata? workArea.tar and workArea_copy.tar both have the same missing meta-data, yet they have difference sizes. I don't get it.
For that matter, how might some files even end-up with missing resource forks in the first place?

thanks.

Resource Forks are a part of Mac OS files that were mostly used on Mac OS "Classic" (Pre Mac OS X, E.G. Mac OS 6 - Mac OS 9) In earlier Mac OS, and on the HFS File System (and HFS+) files had two "forks", the "data" fork and the "resource" fork. The data fork is what all files today have; the resource fork was a proprietary data structure from Apple designed for storing images, icons, dialog boxes, code and more in a structured file format.

They're not "metadata", they contained actual program code. Here's a screenshot from the old ResEdit program which was how resource forks were edited

Unix, Linux, and Windows lack a clear analogous data structure like the Mac Resource Fork. In part due to this compatibility issue, Resource Forks are not really used anymore (they're largely replaced with "Bundles")

Because of this, BSD/*nix tools like tar do not (by default) handle the resource fork. Therefore, when you run tar cf, you only archive the data fork

Note that in some versions of OS X, the built-in /usr/bin/tar utility will preserve resource forks, bu I can't confirm this for all versions of Mac OS X. If you want to preserve resource forks, look into ditto or make an HFS+ disk image (dmg) file

Helpful, but out-of-date information: http://xahlee.info/UnixResource_dir/macosx.html


Does Apple accept apps which has a simple HTTPServer or FTPServer for transferring files via wi-fi? I don't know is question silly but I couldn't find any answer. I am also an android developer and I built a file sharing application (for android) which allows two devices in the same wifi network to send files to each other. Actually the application acts like a simple ftp server and client. Files are sent over FTP.

Can I do the same thing for iOS? I heard AppStore has strict rules and I couldn't find anything about this in Apple documents?

Yes, I do believe you can include some or all of that functionality. Look at GoodReader's features, for example. It does wifi transfers, and it will connect to network shares. Some supported protocols include FTP, SFTP, SMB, AFP, etc. IIRC, I used a copy of it on my iPhone and a copy on my iPad to transfer files.

Good luck!


USB 3.0 to gigabit ethernet keeps crashing system with 10.10.1/2 I have this Realtek USB 3.0 to gigabit ethernet adaptor. Using either the included drivers for OS 10.8.x or the official Realtek drivers from December 2014, it hard crashes the system every 5-10 minutes. I have about 120 GiB of data to transfer to a 13" Pro Retina and no external HDD - is there a way to make the Realtek adaptor work under 10.10.x or a quicker way to transfer my data?

It may be worth starting up in Safe Boot mode and then using a utility like Onyx to clear your system caches and see if that helps with your stability issues.

Otherwise can you not transfer wirelessly? It won't be as fast as GB Ethernet but it would still get the job done. Failing that I'd suggest either an Apple Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter, or a USB transfer cable like this (probably much cheaper than the Apple adapter).


Strange MBP Wi-Fi problems I have an early-2015 MBP running 10.11.2 and have been having wifi problems on certain networks ever since buying it.

At home, my internet connection will drop every 10-15 minutes - according to the Network menu, I'm still connected to my router, but I get a timeout anytime I try to visit a page. This is not a problem that happens with any of my other devices. I've tried resetting my router and restarting my laptop, to no avail.

My router is a Cisco DPC3825.

Any ideas?

here's the exact error I get in Chrome:

This webpage is not available
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET

I should add - despite the error - this is not a DNS problem, I've tried various DNS server combinations and none have helped.

Furthermore,my laptop doesn't want to connect to any wifi that requires browser-based authentication - e.g., ShawOpen and Starbucks networks. Not sure if this is related to the other issue but it's still irritating.

WiFi problems have been a constant problem with OS X over the past few releases.  El Capitan is supposed to have fixed them, but problems still persist.

Fortuntaley, there is a fix and it invloves trashing your wireless setttings and starting again from scratch.  OS X Daily has a good write up on how to accomplish this.


Can I install mac mini and wireless keyboard/mouse without USB keyboard/mouse? I want to buy mac mini.
But I do not want have USB keyboard/mouse, which will not be used after installing them because I will use wireless keyboard/mouse.
Can I install or reinstall mac os and install wireless keyboard/mouse without USB mouse/keyboard?

it is acceptable for me to have only a usb mouse because it is small.
if there are no ways to install os and wireless mouse/keyboard without USB mouse/keyboard,　are threre ways to install them with only a USB mouse?

you have to buy a usb bluetooth, mac mini comes with no Bluetooth module installed! If your not it you have to buy the usb stick! Once this is done you can assign the keyboard and mouse to the mac mini! ;)


How can I access my Photostream on Windows? I'm trying to swipe a couple photostream pictures onto a borrowed windows laptop, but I can't find any way to do that via the web.

Can I access my photostream in any way other than iTunes? I'd rather not install it on someone else's PC.

On a Windows system you can access Photo Stream by installing iCloud Control Panel for Windows.

Based on the description it allows you to access all the features within iCloud. Though this is only supported in Vista and Windows 7.

  The iCloud Control Panel is required to use Photo Stream, Mail,
  Contacts and Calendars (Microsoft Outlook 2007 or later required) and
  Bookmarks (Safari 5.1.1 or Internet Explorer 8 or later required).


What is $RECYCLE.BIN in MAC? I had a directory called $RECYCLE.BIN which I did not create. I deleted it accidentally and as result all other directories beside it was removed too.

This is what happened in the terminal:

b@thebeast ~/Downloads]$ ls
$RECYCLE.BIN
Note.txt
Objective-C Essential Training
[ben@thebeast ~/Downloads]$ rm -r $RECYCLE.BIN
[ben@thebeast ~/Downloads]$ ls
[ben@thebeast ~/Downloads]$

Does anybody have had the same experience or know what is special about this $RECYCLE.BIN?

Were you running Parallels Desktop with a Windows Virtual Machine?

These folders are created if you are using the Shared Folders feature in Parallels Desktop. You can disable it in Virtual Machine -> Configure -> Shared Folders.

These folders can be safely deleted if you don't care about their contents.


DHCP server settings not loading I’m trying to activate a DHCP server using Server.app but all I get is an empty window "Loading…" and a spinning wheel "Getting service state…" which spins forever. All other services seem to run without problems (except for the spinning wheel which somehow often does not stop spinning). How would I go about troubleshooting this problem?

Apparently, Server.app messed up /etc/bootpd.plist by inserting a </dict> in the middle of the configuration.


How can I add my Facebook friends in Waze? I'm trying to add my Facebook friends to my Waze account and they are not showing up.

This is my screen, and it never changes

I found in their forums that this is a common problem, but I'm yet to find a solution after trying every workaround that's recommended.

I disconnected and re-connected Waze to Facebook multiple times.
I removed the app from Facebook and re-authorized it when it asked me for permissions.
I signed out and removed all information from Facebook from my iPhone, and signed in again (*)
I tried downloading Waze on an iPad and link Facebook from there, but the issue is the same.
I search in their home page to login and associated from there, but it only shows you a dashboard with little data.

(*) This step is specifically recommended in their official support "wiki"

sorry I can't link directly, it's in an iFrame. You can go to https://www.waze.com/support/question and search for can't see facebook friends

I am willing to completely delete my account (with Waze) and start from scratch, but I assume I'd need to create a new Facebook profile as I cannot find where to completely wipe my association with Facebook (this I don't want to do)

If anyone has any other suggestions, or knows how to completely delete your account in Waze, or whatever steps you can think of, I'd love to hear them!

I had this exact same problem (I'm on an iPhone 5) and just fixed it. I connected Waze to my Facebook account - setting my privacy level at 'My Facebook Friends' - and then went into Settings > Facebook > 'Update Contacts.' That took a few seconds, but when I went back to Waze all my Facebook friends had magically appeared. Hope that helps.


Is it possible and safe to uninstall pre-installed apps and to reinstall them when needed? Is it okay to uninstall apps that came with my Mac like iMovie and GarageBand? I don't think I'll be using GarageBand so I'm planning to uninstall it.

Additionally, if there would be a time I may need it, is it possible to reinstall the app?

Thanks.

iMovie and GarageBand are not necessary to the system and you may delete them at will. However, note that many other apps that come preinstalled on macOS are important to the system (even if it doesn't seem like it) and should not be deleted. As Steve Chambers commented below, though, macOS won't let you delete anything that falls into this category, assuming you aren't doing anything to get around that.
If your Mac was purchased after October 1, 2013, you can re-download the iLife and iWork apps (pictured below) for free at any time from the Mac App Store. Also, regardless of that, if you see them in the Purchased tab of the Mac App Store, that means you do have a “license” for them and can download them at any time.


is there iOS maps app in which i can download full city map? i want to use some maps app on my iPhone without using internet connection. So is there iOS maps app in which i can download full city map?


Microsoft Remote Desktop Client Configuration If this should be posted in networking stack overflow please let me know, and sorry if this is not the correct place. I'll delete the question if it's inappropriate.

I have a desktop (windows/linux) that I need to be able to access from my macbook. It is directly connected to my router via ethernet. What information do I need to connect from outside the network? From within my own network I can connect using 10.0.1.9 as the IP address. How do I specify which device on my network I should be connecting to- as using just the public IP address is not enough. Is it a port or is there a gateway I have to configure?

Basically you have to enable port forwarding. Most routers do that, even ones provided by the cable companies.

Briefly the computer you want to get to needs a static IP address (or a DHCP one that doesn't change) within your network. If it stays at 10.0.1.9 that is fine. Then on your router forward any RDP (Windows) requests on port 3389 to the IP address of your computer (10.0.1.9).

While you are in the router doing all the port-forwarding, get the WAN IP address of the router. That is what you will plug into your RDP or VNC clicent when connecting remotely. Note that that WAN IP address is DHCP and depending on your ISP may change at a moments notice. In practice my external IP almost never changed (TWC, Comcast, U-Verse)... YMMV

With Linux you will need to install and configure VNC and forward the VNC port numbers (5800 and 5900) to that computer. Apple's remote desktop is actually VNC but you might have better results with a dedicated VNC client.

Microsoft has an article about just this here


Mac Pro 2,1 updates and firmware question:will the firmware from the older work with the newer and vice versa? I'm pursuing an  alternative boot drive so i can explore a yosemite or elcapitan environment from my old mac pro 2,1 currently in the last version of snow leopard. (with legally purchased soft ware from our new laptop) I have the pikers boot.efi files swapped out in my yosemite clone disk and am going to put it into the mac Pro 2,1. I know the video card may have an issue showing verbose boot language but it's a 512 MB nvdia so before i purchase a new one i'm going to try that first.

If I want to be able to have two different OS versions (and keep old software tools functional) running on two different boot drives in the same machine and be able to choose which system with each boot using the option key held down- will that be possible with the existing firmware (it is 64bit capable) or will i be flummoxed by firmware or other factors?

Any advice on hazards to the machine and reverting  again if experiment fizzles appreciated. This would be a very clunky cheese grater.

thanks

boot.efi–the thing we're taling about here–is installation specific and is loaded after the hardware boot to handoff to the operating system. You should be fine having two separate installations.


Something keeps waking up my Mac, how do I find out what it is? I have a Mac Pro that draws about 250 watts (so I read somewhere) when it's running full-bore. It apparently draws less than 90 when it's sleeping. For whatever reasons I like to leave it on overnight, but I'd like it to sleep for cost and eco reasons. However, something I have installed keeps waking it up. I've done a fresh reboot, and then told it to sleep once it's fully up and running and before launching any other apps. It won't stay asleep for as long as a half hour (approximately, I haven't timed it) and it certainly won't stay asleep overnight.

By sleep I mean the monitors go dark and the hard drives spin down and the fan stops and power draw is minimised. By wake up I mean a jet takes off in my Mac Pro tower as all the fans and drives spin up together loudly enough to be heard in another room. The monitors may or may not come on, they seem to sleep all right.

FWIW I'm running Snow Leopard on a first-generation Intel Xeon quad-core Mac Pro with 10 GB of RAM, 4 internal hard drives and two monitors, but I think this is a software thing, not hardware, so that shouldn't matter.

How do I find out what process/app/plugin/background operation/preference pane/whatever is waking up my Mac?

Thanks.

You can see a log of power events with pmset -g log or or syslog.

$ pmset -g log | grep ' Wake  ' | tail -n5
10/29/12 10:31:20 PM GMT Wake      Wake due to EHC2/HID Activity: Using BATT (Charge:99%)
10/30/12 12:51:56 AM GMT Wake      Wake due to EC.LidOpen/Lid Open: Using BATT (Charge:68%)
10/30/12 8:50:33 AM GMT+ Wake      Wake due to EC.LidOpen/Lid Open: Using AC (Charge:100%)
10/30/12 5:12:32 PM GMT+ Wake      Wake due to EC.LidOpen/Lid Open: Using AC (Charge:99%)
10/31/12 12:58:01 PM GMT Wake      DarkWake to FullWake due to HID Activity: Using AC (Charge:44%)
$ syslog | grep 'Wake reason' | tail -n5
Oct 30 03:14:26 MacBook-Air kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: EC.LidOpen (User)
Oct 30 17:12:05 MacBook-Air kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: ?
Oct 30 17:12:31 MacBook-Air kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: EC.LidOpen (User)
Oct 30 23:08:18 MacBook-Air kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: EC.ACAttach EHC2 (Maintenance)
Oct 31 12:57:52 MacBook-Air kernel[0] <Debug>: Wake reason: ?

The post at OS X Daily has descriptions of the abbreviations.

  OHC: stands for Open Host Controller, is usually USB or Firewire. If you see OHC1 or OHC2 it is almost certainly an external USB keyboard or mouse that has woken up the machine.
  EHC: standing for Enhanced Host Controller, is another USB interface, but can also be wireless devices and bluetooth since they are also on the USB bus of a Mac.
  USB: a USB device woke the machine up
  LID0: this is literally the lid of your MacBook or MacBook Pro, when you open the lid the machine wakes up from sleep.
  PWRB: PWRB stands for Power Button, which is the physical power button on your Mac
  RTC: Real Time Clock Alarm, is generally from wake-on-demand services like when you schedule sleep and wake on a Mac via the Energy Saver control panel. It can also be from launchd setting, user applications, backups, and other scheduled events.


Boot Camp Windows 7 Taskbar overlapping maximized windows I have Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium x64 installed under Boot Camp 4.0 in OS X Lion (10.7.2) on the 2011 Mac mini and it's also hooked into Parallels Desktop 7 as a VM when I need it in OS X.

An interesting problem I've noticed lately is that when I'm in Boot Camp any window that gets maximized will maximize past the Taskbar and therefore cover the contents of the bottom of the window. This behaviour applies not only to maximized windows but even windows that are set to open at the bottom of the screen but usually stick to the Taskbar as a boundary (i.e. run prompt). This has become irritating as I use Download Statusbar in Firefox as an example and I can't access the downloads if they're covered by the Taskbar without hiding it first.

The reason I brought up Parallels Desktop earlier is because the Taskbar acts normally in VM state. Windows will adhere to the Taskbar as a boundary and everything works as expected. Only when I'm in Boot Camp does it ignore the Taskbar as a boundary and maximize the window to the edge of the screen.

I've tried a number of solutions Google has given me including unlocking/locking the Taskbar, moving the Taskbar around, modifying some Registry entries but nothing has worked. What did end up working as a last resort was reinstalling the Boot Camp partition but the problem came back later on.

Anyone here have some insight as to what may be going on with the crazy Taskbar and possibly a way to fix it?

Problem finally solved. I read your article, and like you, I have been searching the internet for a solution. Your article inspired me to try and uninstall Parallels Tools, as I thought it might have set up some strange settings. And after I uninstalled Parallels Tools, all was fine again. My windows are once again maximizing correctly. This is bad news however, as I also want to use Parallels Tools when I run in OSX. Guess I have to go back to VMware Fusion or hope a newer version of Parallels Tools will fix it.


Watch HBO on AppleTV without jailbreak I use my AppleTV for watching Netflix. But now I am thinking about switching to HBO. Apples press info for the USA and press info for the Netherlands both state that HBO should be available for the AppleTV.

There is no HBO icon on my homescreen. How can I watch HBO on my AppleTV?

I prefer to do this without a jailbreak.

I live in the Netherlands, does that matter?

HBO GO (the app which allows you to watch HBO content with an AppleTV) is only available inside the US.


How can I edit a long URL in the Safari browser on my iPad 2? I'd like to be able to edit a long url in the Safari browser on my iPad 2 running iOS 8.1.1. I can select it, but I can't scroll through it to add or delete something on the end. I generally copy/paste it into Notes, do the edit, then paste it back into the browser window, but that's a number of steps and becomes tedious.

Is there a way to do that type of edit inside the browser window?

Hold down your finger in the address bar to get the little magnifier to show up, finally drag your finger to the right or left to get to the part of the url that you want to edit.
Update In recent versions of iOS, for devices with force touch, the address bar is selected, you can force touch the keyboard and slide your finger left and right to move the cursor.
ReUpdate Thanks for pointing out @Decade Moon, that in even more recent versions of iOS, you can hold the space key on the keyboard and move your finger left and right to move the cursor.


Can't boot to Mac OS volume after Bootcamp Windows install I've installed Windows 10 with Bootcamp on a new iMac with Mojave.

Now I can't boot to MacOS volume.

1) Bootcamp tool in Windows don't see volume as bootable.

2) Option click on restart don't show a menu to choose, only when bootable usb is connected

3) If I boot to installation USB, I can see this volume, but Startup can't choose this volume: The bless tool was unable to set the current boot disk...

I read some bootloader repair guide with changing partition size, but I don't know how to do that with hybrid drive.

Any suggestions?

Some strange thing happened.

I switched iMac off (like I did before for several times to restart) and let it be off for a time while I compiled fresh Mojave installation usb drive.

And after turning on iMac started to react on Option key, so I could choose MacOs volume to boot and it's booted successfully. Usb installation flash was plugged in.

Now this Option key boot menu is available without usb-flash plugged in...


Can iPhone wake me up if I completely turn it off? On the feature phones I used to have, I could set the alarm clock, then turn the phone "off": the alarm clock would trigger at the set time anyway. Can I do this on iPhone?

By "off" (in quotes, because, we know that from electrical point of view, some parts of the phone stay powered) I mean the state of the phone you get when it is turned on, then you press the power button for a couple of seconds, then a red slider appears saying "slide to power off" and then you slide it.

Playing the Clock alarm sound requires the main application ARM processor/CPU to be running the OS and Clock app.  When you "slide to power off", power to the main CPU, radios and audio amplifier is removed.  So, although the iOS device keeps time (as long as the battery isn't completely dead yet), it can't run the Clock app to play any sound.

When you just "lock" the device (quickly tap the top button and the display turns off), the CPU still occasionally gets power (something like a few times per second), and the audio circuits can be powered and active (to allow background music, etc.), so alarms can go off in that state.


How can McAffee cause a crash on my Macbook Air after being uninstalled? I was required to install McAfee antivirus software on my Mac by an employer. When I finished that job, I uninstalled the software. About six months later, my Mac has started to freeze occasionally. I used the Console to find a crash log, copied below, which suggests that McAfee is causing this. Please could anybody suggest a cure?

Path:                  /usr/local/McAfee/fmp/bin/fmpd
Identifier:            fmpd
Version:               ???
Code Type:             X86 (Native)
Parent Process:        launchd [1]
Responsible:           fmpd [85698]
User ID:               0

Date/Time:             2020-02-04 [redacted]
OS Version:            Mac OS X 10.14.5 (18F132)
Report Version:        12
Anonymous UUID:        [redacted]

Sleep/Wake UUID:       [redacted]
Time Awake Since Boot: 180000 seconds
Time Since Wake:       9400 seconds

System Integrity Protection: enabled

Crashed Thread:        0

Exception Type:        EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes:       0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Reason:    DYLD, [0x1] Library missing

Application Specific Information:
dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/McAfee/fmp/lib

Dyld Error Message:
  Library not loaded: /Library/McAfee/*/libeventwriter.4.dylib
  Referenced from: /usr/local/McAfee/fmp/bin/fmpd
  Reason: image not found```

Two solutions are offered by this page in the McAfee documentation: https://kc.mcafee.com/corporate/index?page=content&id=KB88461. The first solution is similar to the one in the link in IconDaemon's comment, and it didn't work for me. I have tried the second solution (boot in safe mode, and remove the listed McAfee files) and will post a comment if I continue to have the problem.


How to remove flashlight from iPhone X lock screen? The iPhone X lock screen has two default buttons, one is Camera and other is flashlight. Is there any way to remove/customize the flashlight shortcut? I could not find any solution for it anywhere.

On iOS 11 - the flashlight is tied to the 3D Touch feature. If you turn that off in General> Accessibility>3D Touch, then the flashlight disappears.

On iOS 12 - there's no known way to remove this with a setting on the phone or action short of jailbreaking (which would be a different question entirely on how to jailbreak)


bash $PS1 containing an emoj This question is related to
https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/357132/44531

I would like to have a space after the emoj . I've tried in the script below but I'm getting two lines instead of the hoped for single line. And, No I do not want two spaces appear in the zero return code case as I coded up in my original answer.

mac RC=1 $ declare -f highlightExitCode
highlightExitCode ()
{
    exit_code=$?;
    if [ $exit_code -ne 0 ]; then
        echo -en " RC=${exit_code} "'\xf0\x9f\x98\xb1\x0a\x00';
    else
        echo -e "";
    fi
}
mac $ echo $PS1
\u$(highlightExitCode) \$
mac $
mac $ er
-bash: er: command not found
mac RC=127 $
# FYI: I edited out the non-appearing space
#in my terminal output

I'm running macOS 10.10.5.

 mac RC=127
  $ bash --version
GNU bash, version 3.2.57(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin14)
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
mac $

When I try to add a space in the code below, I get a new line added.

mac $ echo $PS1
\u$(highlightExitCode) \$
mac $ declare -f highlightExitCode
highlightExitCode ()
{
    exit_code=$?;
    if [ $exit_code -ne 0 ]; then
        echo -en " RC=${exit_code} "'\xf0\x9f\x98\xb1\x0a\x00'" ";
    else
        echo -e "";
    fi
}
mac $ error
-bash: error: command not found
mac RC=127
  $
mac RC=127
  $
mac RC=127
  $

-------- fyi ------------

actually, when I copy and past here I get a space after the emoj, but the space doesn't appear in my mac terminal.

mac RC=127  $
mac $
mac $
mac $

You can always wrap in additional command substitutions to do this, for eg:

$ printf "%s  <-- some space after it" "$(echo -en " RC=${exit_code} "'\xf0\x9f\x98\xb1\x0a')"
 RC=   <-- some space after it

I'm not sure why you have that NUL character (\x00) trailing but with that I was getting this error message:

$ printf "%s  <-- some space after it" "$(echo -en " RC=${exit_code} "'\xf0\x9f\x98\xb1\x0a\x00')"
-bash: warning: command substitution: ignored null byte in input
 RC=   <-- some space after it

So I simply removed it.

Here I've wrapped your original echo command in a command substitution $(..command..) and then passed its output to printf to produce any additional formatting.

General structure:

$ printf "%s ...." "$(..command to produce output..)"

Additional Example

You could also use printf exclusively. I'm not entirely sure what your goal is here but you could do something like this:

$ printf "RC=${exit_code} \xf0\x9f\x98\xb1  <-- some space after it\n\n"
RC=   <-- some space after it

The UTF-8 code \x0a is a linefeed character, the above example removed it + the NUL, \x00 and added 2 newlines to the end instead, \n\n.


Disable ⌘+SHIFT+F keyboard shortcut for fullscren I use Spectacle to allow me to hit ⇧ + ⌥ + ⌘ + F to maximize a window.  However, sometimes I miss the ⌥ key, and this results in the system shortcut for moving the window to a new space to happen instead.

Trying to set ⇧ + ⌘ + F as the key combination in Spectacle produces a "this is a system shortcut, please disable it in system preferences" message, but I can't find that shortcut anywhere under keyboard shortcuts in System Preferences.

How can I disable ⇧ + ⌘ + F?

This is OSX Yosemite.

BetterTouchTool. Create a custom shortcut with CMD+SHIFT+F under Golbal, and leave the Assigned Action to blank. BTT will override the built-in action.


Disconnect external HD when installing El Capitan upgrade? I use an external HD with Time Machine to back up data.
Should I disconnect external HD before installing/upgrading to El Capitan?

Quick answer: No, you shouldn't have to, as long as you don't select to install to it during the upgrade process.  It shouldn't hurt to disconnect it though, if you want to.


OSX: Affix window to not move on spaces switch Is there an option, or external program that anyone knows of that would allow me to set window to always stay in the same position on every one of my 4 spaces / not move when I switch.

Like I want VLC player to not move so I watch a movie, but switch spaces between other applications.

Open System Preferences > Exposé & Spaces, click the "+" under the listbox of Application Space assignments, select your application (which must be running), then click in the Space column for the newly-added application entry where it says "Space 1"; "Every Space" appears at the top of the dropdown list.


How can I automate repeat mouse clicks, with delay, from fixed coordinates within a browser window? Looking for a quick and dirty way to automate this mundane activity. I presume this could be done with an automation to press the mouse button from two separate pixel coordinates, with delay, so long as the browser window doesn't move -- unless there's a better way.

I tried building a Watch Me Do workflow, in Automator, but can't seem to get it to work.  I get the error "application Chrome is not running when it is expected to." It also never lists mouse clicks for some reason.

I do have accessibility set up, in system preferences > security & privacy > privacy > accessibility.  Automator, Chrome and System Events are all checked within there (among other stuff of course).

I tried the markashworth workaround as detailed here -- which also doesn't seem to work. Using his method, I get this error:

UPDATE: I just downloaded "cliclick" and figured out how do both clicks as a terminal command, with the proper delays.  BUT -- I don't know code and need a way for this terminal command to repeat "x" amount of times.  Anyone know how I could do that in Script Editor?  The command line is:

cliclick c:132,286 w:100 c:132,286 w:5000 c:1100,238

I would need a few seconds of delay before the loop repeats, which I presume I could do with a final "w:" in that line.  Thanks for the help!!

The following steps are a solution for automating the repeat clicking of a mouse, back and forth, at two different fixed positions within a web page -- i.e. clicking two buttons or links within in a web-page, with a user-defined delay between each click.

All this is, is a slight modification of what was described over in this thread -- this one being for two website "buttons" rather than one.

IMPORTANT -- this automation does NOT work in the background.  In other words, you can't be doing something else on your computer at the same time this automation is running.  In addition, your browser can't move its physical position on your screen after the automation begins, because you're literally telling the computer to press two buttons at fixed X,Y pixel coordinates.  The "buttons" on the web-page, therefore need to stay at the same spots on your screen for this to work.

Steps as follow:

Click the Apple icon (upper left), select "System Preferences."  Type "security" in the upper-right search window.  This should highlight Security & Privacy.  Open that.
Click lock icon, enter your password, click Unlock.
Click Accessibility from the scrollable list (blue icon).  Now click the plus sign below the box on the right.  Then navigate to Applications and scroll down to Utilities.  From within there, put check marks on Terminal AND Script Editor. Then finally select whichever web browser you use under the Applications list.  You can then close out of this window.
Launch Terminal.  (I do this by typing "Terminal" as a Spotlight search (the magnifying glass icon, upper right of screen)).
Remember (generally speaking) what that bottom-most line appears like when Terminal opens up.  You'll want Terminal to revert back to whatever that is after each of two short downloads occur within terminal -- both are idiot-proof. `
First Download -- Home Brew.  As strange as this sounds, all you do to download this "program" is copy the single line of text you see below "Install Home Brew" on its website.  Paste that text into Terminal, hit Enter and wait for the process to complete.  When the bottom line in Terminal appears as it was when you first launched it, you're done.
Second Download -- CliClick (second download).  Simply type these three words in Terminal, then hit by Enter: brew install cliclick
(note: CliClick took about 90 seconds to install as I recall)
When the download is complete, you can minimize Terminal -- as you're done with it now.  Close it entirely if you're certain cliclick has been downloaded.
Next, simply determine the X,Y pixel coordinates for both website "buttons" you want the robot to click on.  Before doing this, I recommend placing the browser window on your screen in such a way that its upper-left corner abuts the upper-left corner of your display. To determine the coordinates, simply press COMMAND+SHIFT+4 and jot down both sets of numbers atop each "button" you over over.  The top digits are X coordinates and the bottom are therefore Y.  You'll end up with two pairs of numbers for each button, obviously.  Write these down somewhere, then press Escape to turn off the crosshairs.
Launch Script Editor.  Like Terminal, I did this by typing "script editor" as a Spotlight search
Now, copy and paste ALL of the following text into Script Editor.  It must show up there exactly ias it does below, including indents etc:

tell application "Google Chrome"
    activate
    repeat 208 times
        do shell script "/usr/local/bin/cliclick c:" & "132,286"
        delay 3.5
        do shell script "/usr/local/bin/cliclick c:" & "1100,230"
        delay 4.5
    end repeat
end tell

Now you're pretty much home free! All you do is replace the first set of comma-separated digits with the coordinates you of your first website button in X,Y format.  Leave the quote marks as they are.  Repeat this for your second button and change the delays as you wish, which are in seconds.

Finally, set repeat value to the amount of loops you want to run and save the script.  Voila!  Pressing "play" in Script Editor will roll the press.  You can stop it by simply stealing your pointer back and clicking on the "stop" button, which I did multiple times to change the delays based on internet speed and server speed.


How to Change USB Thumb icon using Terminal or Bash/other scripting language I'm looking for a method to change USB or External Drive Icon using bash or any other command line method. I know how to manually chnage them like this

I am using El Capitan

You need to copy the .icns file to the root folder of the volume. The new file needs to be named .VolumeIcon.icns. For example, if you are using a Bash shell, have the file vol_external.icns and destination /Volumes/MyStick, then below would be the command.

cp  vol_external.icns  /Volumes/MyStick/.VolumeIcon.icns

  A word of warning: Once you assign an icon to a volume,  changing this icon is very difficult. I feel there must be a bug somewhere in OS X. However, deleting the icon does seem to work.

To get a directory listing for this copied file, you may need to include the -a option in the ls command line. For example, the command

ls  /Volumes/MyStick

will not display the file .VolumeIcon.icns, but the command

ls  -a  /Volumes/MyStick

will show the file.

  Note: Normally, files starting with a . do not appear in the Finder application.


Can you still create an Apple ID with a name that's not an e-mail address? I have an Apple ID that is not an e-mail address(*). When you visit the “Create an Apple ID” page on the Apple ID site though, it says you need to “Enter your primary email address as your Apple ID.” I'm not sure how I got my existing Apple ID that is not an email address, from what I can tell from Apple's FAQ page it may have something to do with MobileMe (though I never had a paid MobileMe account; it could also be from using the Apple Developer Connection site).

Is it still possible to create a new Apple ID somehow and not use an e-mail address as the ID, or is this a legacy MobileMe option only?

(*) To clarify: the Apple ID is associated with an e-mail address of course, and that's where my receipts are sent to when I buy something in iTunes (let's say “john.doe@gmail.com”), but my Apple ID username that I use to sign in in iTunes or on the Apple ID page is not that e-mail address at all (let's say it's “cool_john”).

It a not possible to create a non-email address Apple ID any longer.

As a matter of fact, they are becoming more and more inconvenient, as various Apple services begin to assume that your Apple ID is an email. If you have not started to notice it yet, trust me, you will, soon.

I recently changed my non-email Apple ID to the linked email address. You can change the username of an Apple ID without starting a new account.


Export Keynote to PowerPoint in high resolution When I take a Keynote (5.3 or 6.0) presentation with images (all pasted PDF files), then export the presentation to a PowerPoint presentation, all of the images become severely degraded. For reference, the original PDf files are on the order of 100KB, so I don't believe they are particularly large…

Is there a way to change this behavior? Having to copy each image over by hand greatly reduces the utility of the export feature. Is there possibly some Terminal command that I can set to make the exports high-quality? I need to export this in PPT so that my advisor can edit the file.

Cross-posted from Apple Discussions here.

EDIT

Though this question (How to not compress inserted pictures in Powerpoint 2011) seems related, my presentation images are degraded the very first time I open the exported presentation, and viewing the presentation does not improve the resolution.

As there doesn't seem to be any way to make PowerPoint handle vector graphics, the only solution is to export the image to the correctly sized PDF image (essentially treating it the same way one might work with a raster image).

While this is incredibly dissatisfying, it does result in a PPT presentation with unpixelated images…


Download multiple videos at the same time in the iCloud Drive iPhone application I copied some video files to a folder in iCloud and when I opened the iCloud Drive app on my iPhone and selected a file, it started downloading. But if I went back and selected the file again, the download started from scratch. So if I have 100 movies, I have to select a file, wait for it to download and select the next one, and so forth. I searched for an option to download offline all the files but couldn't find one.

I don't know a way to download multiple file at the same time with iCloud Drive.
But you can maybe solve the problem with AirDrop. If you have multiple files, for example in Finder on your Mac selected, you can send them all with only one click to your iPhone. The same works also from iOS-Device to iOS-Device.


How to change the PDF reader on Chome from Preview to Acrobat Reader on MacBook? How can I change the PDF reader on Chrome from Preview to Acrobat Reader on MacBook? The Adobe program is much more versatile and I prefer that one to Preview. In my Plug-ins in Chrome the Adobe Acrobat has the option to be de-activated as if it is the program I am using now. But my Chrome automatically opens PDFs with Preview.

Step 1: Open Chrome and type "chrome://plugins" into the address bar at the top.

Step 2: Scroll down and find Chrome PDF Viewer.

Step 3: Click the "Disable" link to prevent PDFs from loading within Chrome.

Step 4: Click the "Enable" link on Adobe PDF plugin.


Can I enable hiding the dock on my MacBook monitor only? When at home I use my 13" MacBook Pro hooked up to an 27" external monitor. When working on my 27" screen I prefer to have a visible dock at all times. I have enough screen real estate to afford this luxury.

When I'm on the road working on my 13" screen I prefer to automatically hide the dock as it really gets in the way when screen real estate is limited.

I now manually switch between enabling and disabling hiding (using ⌥⌘D) but I would prefer this to happen automatically. Can I enable hiding the dock on my MacBook monitor and disable hiding the dock on my external monitor?

I was able to use the previously suggested ControlPlane app along with some simple shell scripts to get this working.

First, I created a context for having my Thunderbolt Display plugged in ("Desk"), and one that negated that choice ("Lap"). Next, I made two simple shell scripts to toggle the autohide setting and restart the Dock. I put them in a .controlplane directory in my home folder.

~/.controlplane/dock-hiding-on.sh

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true && killall Dock

~/.controlplane/dock-hiding-off.sh

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool false && killall Dock

I then set those files to be executable.

Lastly, I set the correct script to run for the appropriate ControlPlane context. (Note: I had to show hidden files in the dialog with "⌘+⇧+.")


How can you find which monitor has the menu bar in AppleScript? Playing with AppleScript I want to manipulate the location of a few windows with position but I'm having an issue defining the monitor.  Currently I have several different size and brand monitors I connect to with my MacBook during my travels.  The only repeating occurrence with all four monitors I connect to is that the monitor I want to manipulate includes the menu bar.

When testing with do shell script "system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType I'm not sure if the returned text of Main Display: Yes considers the main to be where the menu bar resides from the extraction:

Graphics/Displays:

    Intel Iris Pro:

      Chipset Model: Intel Iris Pro
      Type: GPU
      Bus: Built-In
      VRAM (Dynamic, Max): 1536 MB
      Metal: Supported
      Displays:
        Color LCD:
          Display Type: Built-In Retina LCD
          Resolution: 2880 x 1800 Retina
          Mirror: Off
          Online: Yes
          Rotation: Supported
          Automatically Adjust Brightness: Yes
          Connection Type: DisplayPort
        Thunderbolt Display:
          Display Type: LCD
          Resolution: 2560 x 1440
          Main Display: Yes
          Mirror: Off
          Online: Yes
          Rotation: Supported
          Automatically Adjust Brightness: No
          Connection Type: DisplayPort

If my assumption of the Main Display is correct how should I properly grep the resolution of the identified main display so I can manipulate the windows?

When I research it would appear some commonly just step into each display:

Positioning a window with AppleScript using dual monitors
Run AppleScript for Specific Monitor
Cannot get or set the window size of some apps using AppleScript?
Set position of window with AppleScript

So I don't know if this would be two questions in one.  I'm somewhat confused on how the sequence is determined when connecting to multiple monitors (such as today I might be connected to a thunderbolt display but tomorrow I might be connected to two Dells monitors through my two DisplayPorts) and if there is a way to target a monitor in particular based on the menu bar.

I can already detect the app and it's size with:

tell application "System Events" to tell application process "Notes" to set theSize to get size of window 1
set theWidth to item 1 of theSize
set theHeight to item 2 of theSize

but my issue falls in determining the resolution so I can calculate the position and bounds to move the app window.

UPDATE

Removed my original answer.  Here is a completely different approach which I prefer over my original solution.  This version actually uses “Image Events” scripting addition.

This script will get the names of the displays connected to your computer.  The returned values of “display "Display 1" will always be “which monitor has the menu bar in AppleScript?”

property activeDesktop : missing value
property activeDesktopResolution : missing value

set displayNames to {}

tell application "Image Events"
    set theDisplays to displays
    repeat with i from 1 to number of items in theDisplays
        set this_item to item i of theDisplays
        set theName to name of display profile of item i of theDisplays
        set end of displayNames to theName
        set activeDesktop to item 1 of displayNames
    end repeat
end tell

tell application "Finder"
    set activeDesktopResolution to bounds of window of desktop
    set activeDesktopResolution to items 3 thru 4 of activeDesktopResolution
end tell

set theResultz to display dialog activeDesktop & "  " & item 1 of activeDesktopResolution & " x " & item 2 of activeDesktopResolution ¬
    buttons ¬
    "OK" with title ¬
    "Your Current Display and Its Resolution" with icon 1 ¬
    giving up after 10


Uninstalled apps on iPhone still show up in Settings iPhone 8+ iOS 13.5.1
I deleted the app and it still shows up in Settings, so I could not re-download it again. In the App Store, the app just says Open.
I’ve tried shutting it down multiple times (didn’t work).The app is grey with lines and it’s Snapchat.
How can I remove it from Settings?

To expand on my comment. Often these kind of issues respond to the backup, wipe, restore process. Here it is in greater detail

Plug your iPhone (or iPad) into your computer, launch iTunes and select the option to back up your device locally (rather than iCloud)
IMPORTANT Set a password for the backup. That will ensure the backup preserves all saved passwords. you will need to remember your AppleID password and unlock PIN.
Once the backup has completed, go into iCloud and turn off Find My iPhone, and unplug the phone from your computer.
Go to Settings > General > Reset and tap on Erase all contents and settings. you will be asked to confirm. Do so. The reset will take a few minutes. When it is done the iPhone will be at the setup screen, just like when you bought your phone.
Early in the setup process you will be given the option to restore from backup. Choose that, plug your phone into the computer and proceed with the restore.
When the restore is done the phone will reboot and proceed to download all your Apps. Unfortunately Apps are no longer stored on the computer during a backup so they all have to download, this may take a while depending on how fast your internet connection is.

When that is done you will have a freshly restored iPhone, identical, in configuration and settings as it was before. you will have to re-enter your AppleID and AppleID password but everything should still be there.
Note that doing this will usually clear temporary/deleted files that are otherwise not deletable, clearing usable space on your iOS device. It will also solve a lot of issues with the phone acting strangely and apps not working correctly, as well as the ghost app icons sometimes seen.


Is there a keyboard shortcut for hibernate 25 on a macbookpro retina, without changing power settings? Question Details:

Is it possible to make your macbookpro retina (2015) to hibernate (hibernate mode 25 i.e. fully powered off) via a shortcut? I still want it to go to sleep (the usual default safesleep) when closing the lid. Put differently: I would like to achieve the same settings that I had on Windows.

Windows setting:

On my Windows (7) laptop, besides shutdown and restart, I have the option of 2 settings: sleep or hibernate. Either pressing the sleep button on my keyboard or hibernating via the start menu (by pressing the start menu, clicking the right direction button and then clicking the "Hibernate" button). Neither method requires me to close the laptop lid.

Apple Mac OS Assumption:

I am under the impression that Mac OS has the ability to hibernate just like a Windows PC - i.e. totally powered off. In order to trigger this, I must first enable this feature [sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 25] and then trigger it by closing the lid. Please correct me if I'm mistaken about this. If I'm not mistaken, please see below:

Situation:

I've just started using a Macbookpro (V10.10). I like how it goes to sleep when closing the lid. However, I would like the option to hibernate via a button/keybaord shortcut. I understand I can change the hibernate mode to hibernate 25 via pmset. However, this makes the macbook go to hibernate whenever I close the lid - I don't want it to hibernate when closing the lid, rather just hibernate via a button/shortcut.

This shortcut isn't defined.

You could write a small shell script:

cat >hibernate <<eof
/usr/bin/sudo pmset hibernatemode 25
pmset sleepnow
/usr/bin/sudo pmset hibernatemode 3
eof

make it executable:

chmod u+x hibernate

and test it:

./hibernate

This small shell script will ask you your password and won't echo it
to get admin priviledge, and then make hibernate immediatly your Mac.

Upon wakeup, you will be able to verify that an image on disk was
cleanly made with:

ls -l /var/vm/sleepimage

and you will be able to check that the hibernatemode was reset to 3,
thus letting the action of closing the lid making a normal sleep.

If you are satisfied with this shell script, the next step will
require to define a shortcut to fire a shell script (and this is
another question).


How to use picture-in-picture for amazon instant video? On Youtube in safari, you can right click twice to get the PIP option.

However, I can't figure it out for amazon instant video

I don't have access to Amazon Video, so I can't test this, but try out PiPifier (Mac App Store link). It installs a Safari extension that takes any HTML 5 video and puts it in a PiP window. You can read more about PiPifier on GitHub.


How to repair or back up external hard drive when disk utility can't repair it? I have an external hard-disk with a single Mac OS Extended partition. This disk stopped working a couple of days ago. I tried to repair the external hard drive with disk utility but no luck. The error message is the following:

Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as
possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.

The hard drive doesn't appear on the side bar of Finder or on the desktop.
On disk utility the hard drive name appears to be on "gray" text than "black" text.

How do I repair it on the terminal?
Or how can I back up the external hard drive if I can't even access it normally?

diskutil list: 0: FDisk_partition_scheme *500.1 GB disk2 1: DOS_FAT_32 500.1 GB disk2s1 (That's one disk btw, and I don't know why it's on fat32, I last formatted it on MAC OS Extended Journaled)

Thank you

You could try to "mount" it via Terminal.

First, make a mount point:

sudo mkdir /Volumes/EXT_HD

Now mount (your device numbers may be different, e.g. /dev/disk2s1 — you can determine what it is as it will the the highest number when you issue the command ‘ls /dev/disk*’):

sudo mount -t msdos /dev/disk3s1 /Volumes/EXT_HD/

It might eventually show up in Devices in Finder.


Hot corners for mouse only When I work with a mouse I want to use hot corners. When I work with the Trackpad, I don't. Is there an option for this? The hot corners should only work if I used my mouse to  activate it.
I'm not optimistic, but I can't be the only one who wants it to work like this.

You cannot differentiate what kind of mouse/input device triggers hot corners. To the computer, a pointing device (mouse, trackball, trackpad, etc.) is a pointing device and all give input the same way so there's no way for it to differentiate what is actually moving the mouse. Hardware settings for each different device (such as tracking speed for a mouse vs a trackpad) are a different story.


MacOS 10.15.4 automatic eject sdcard when goes to sleep I bought a transcent jet lite sd card for my macbook pro mid 2014. On MacOS 10.15.4 whenever my macbook goes to sleep my sd card automatically ejected and there is no device in disk utility to mount again and I had to physically put sd card again and it's annoying.

I tried these but none of them solve my problem.

Reset SMC
uncheck put hard drives sleep in energy saver
Install Mountain App
Installing jetdrive toolbox and turn it on

Finally I found what my problem it is I open console.app and filter with /dev/disk2 and found out transcend helper eject my disk so I uninstall app and delete helper tools and then reboot.

Command to delete transcend helper tools:

sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.transcend.TSSleepHandlerHelp.plist
sudo rm /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.transcend.TSSleepHandlerHelp


How to prevent change in network configuration? I want to know if there is a way to prevent users (even administrators) to change a network parameter (dns domain for exemple).

Not simply "lock" the parameters and be allowed to unlock them with a password to change them, I want something like the GPO on windows that disables totaly any possibility to change the network settings except if the local policy itself changes to re allow it.

Get the latest OS X Server.app. Enable all appropriate services. One important service is the Open Directory Service.

Then enable and configure the Profile Manager. With the Profile Manager you can set up OS X and iOS devices. Beyond a lot of other features you can also restrict access to all System Preferences items.

Completely explaining the set up and the configuration would be beyond the scope of an answer. Please check Apple documentation or a walk-through like this one.

With additional tools like ADmitMac and a Windows AD environment you can also use Windows GPOs.