Which version of OS X should I update my Mac to? I just fixed my Macbook Pro (late 2009) by downgrading it to Snow Leopard OS. But I do want to upgrade it, since my Mac can take a newer version and work just fine. My specs are:

Model Identifier:    MacBook6,1
Processor Name:    Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:   2.26 GHz
Number Of Processors:  1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache:  3 MB
Memory:    4 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz

According to Everymac the last OS that machine is capable of running is 10.11 El Capitan.

As to which OS you choose to put on it, that will be dictated by which you have previously 'purchased' from the App Store. You can only download OS versions that are in your purchase history, with the exception of the latest OS - in your case El Capitan, for which there is an exception made for machines unable to run the current OS, Sierra.

If you choose any intermediate OS, you would need to find a friend who has that installer.


On MacOS 10.15.5, "About This Mac --> Storage" is not recognizing my RAID-1 drive correctly I upgraded from El Capitan to Catalina 10.15.5 on a MacbookPro mid-2012 , the oldest HW that Catalina will run on. Then, I created a RAID-1 drive using 2 USB disks. "About This Mac --> Storage" is not showing a logical 500-gb RAID-1 drive, the 500-gb disk RAID member, and the 500-gb partition RAID member is not displayed, but the 1-tb disk for this partition, and the other 500-gb partition on the same disk, is displayed.

On the other hand:
(1) "Go -> Utility -> Disk Utility ", (2) "Finder", and (3) command-line utilities all show the correct drive structure: the logical RAID-1 drive, the 2 physical disks, the 2 partitions of the 1-tb disk. Further, the amount of available drive space, on all disks, all agree.

note:
I did a major reorg of my data when I upgraded to Catalina. My internal disk is SSD, and Catalina automatically formatted it to APFS. Next, I emptied the 500-gb and 1-tb disks into a 2-tb disk. I decided to re-format both (hfs+). Using Catalina's RAID tool, I created the RAID-1 drive.

Everything, except "About This Mac --> Storage", looks great so I am proceeding. So, I'm just reporting this and thinking this has something to do with a mid-2012 MacBook Pro being the oldest HW to support Catalina. Since data is critical to me these days, please tell me if I should be concerned about the strange "About This Mac --> Storage" result.

About This Mac > Storage doesn't show my RAID set either, on my 2018 Mini running Mojave. I suspect it's just a bug in the OS.


Recover accidentally deleted photos not shown in recently deleted I accidentally deleted a photo, and it does not show in the "recently deleted" folder. Is there any way I can get it back? I have iOS 8.2.

Their is no way you can recover a photo after deleting it from recently deleted unless you have a backup


How long (time/duration) should a complete restore on an iMac from Time Machine take? I was getting long boot times when I would log onto my account and even my kids' accounts on my iMac (2008 Intel Core 2 Duo).  Then I could not launch Disk Utility and other standard, pre-installed software (including Accounts under System Preferences).

I started the process with Snow Leopard to restore from a Time Machine backup, but it says it's going to take 56 hours! My HDD is 500GB but that seems like an excessive amount of time.

What would be the usual time range?

I started it last night, but it came back to the "Language option" as if it restarted the disk.

Ideas?

After reading some Apple support threads on this topic, I found a hopeful tip that (for some reason) connecting the TM drive before launching Time Machine System Restore limits you to USB 1 speeds (and thence multi-day time estimates), but attaching it after gives you full USB 2 speed.

After suffering through about 1% of a backup estimated at 60+ hours to complete, I tried this and it indeed the projection is much better.


Is there a way to limit the size of the disk swap file in Mac OS X? It seems to be that in OS X, whenever you are out of ram the system happily swaps to disk. This easily becomes an disaster due to the fact that the swapped out memory eventually fills my drive. On my Macbook Air with 2GB ram and 64GB disk this is a major problem.

In order to solve this I've created a crontab running a purge-command every 10:th minute. It minimizes the swap from growing and also makes the system more responsive whenever the system is swapping. I've tried to disable swap but it's far to unreliable.

Can you configure this behavior? Is there a better solution?

$crontab -e

*/10 * * * * purge

Yes you can configure the dynamic_pager, but for most it is simpler to just disable it and see which program crashes due to the inevitable out of memory errors.

Why would I disable swap file in Mac OS X?

Pay attention to programs that implement their own virtual memory / cache / paging systems like virtualization and the Adobe Suite in case you have inadvertently tuned them to use more RAM than is available on the system. They tend to be first on my investigation list when I see a mac with runaway swap allocation on the filesystem.


Is it okay to run Apple's Thunderbolt Display in portrait mode? Will it overheat when used in portrait mode? (The air intake holes are in the bottom of the monitor when it is used in landscape mode, which provides good ventilation. When you put the monitor in portrait mode they're on the side. Will that be a problem?)

No, that shouldn't be a problem.  As long as the vents are not blocked, it should be fine.  I would only worry if you notice it getting hotter than usual, in which case I would put it back in landscape mode.


Playlist folder not showing songs from all child playlists I have created a playlist folder which contains 2 regular playlists (i.e. not smart playlists).  The hierarchy is like this:

Occasions
|
+--- Party mix 1
|
+--- Party mix 2

In iTunes, if I click on the Occasions folder, I can see all of the songs from Party mix 1, but none of the songs from Party mix 2.

I can't see any difference between the 2 playlists, and because it's not a smart playlist there aren't any settings available.

Should a playlist folder automatically include all songs from its child playlists?  Any ideas about why it wouldn't be showing songs from both playlists?

I had this happen to me for the second time recently. I just fixed it!
I thought I looked up a fix the first time, which I haven't been able to find.
However this is what I did just now.

I copied the name of the playlist to the clipboard,
then I simply deleted the whole playlist (for me this was fine because it was one of MANY playlists in the folder, this one only having one song in it).

Created a new playlist in the folder, pasted the name in, then added the song to the playlist! Pop! It showed up in the folder now!

For you, I would probably drag all the songs to a new playlist outside of the folder, delete the playlist inside the folder, then either re-create the original playlist by creating another one in the folder and dragging all the songs from the 'backup' (outside the folder), or perhaps try dragging the 'backup' back into the folder straight away.

*you could also try using the "New Playlist from Selection" function (command-shift-n) (under the file menu) (assuming Mac Platform).

I of course can't try any of these other methods until I encounter this problem again.

PLEASE NOTE: deleting the SONG from the playlist and then adding it again had NO EFFECT. The reference to the playlist itself seems to be the problem/bug.

I'm running v10.5 (141), but this happened on an older version as well.


How can I tell whom a text message is addressed to? I have my iPhone 5S set up so I may receive text messages sent to my email account, my phone number AND my son's phone number. The problem is, when I get a message (say, one that was sent to my son's number) I can't tell if it was sent to ME or HIM.

How can I see this info?

I'd guess you probably can't.

The entire Apple/iCloud paradigm is to be able to get messages to you across multiple devices simultaneously.
To make it easy for you to deal with those messages wherever you may be.

The last thought of the manufacturers/programmers was to differentiate message recipients inside one device containing multiple yous.


Huge memory leak in Mountain Lion I recently bought a MacBook Pro Intel Core i7 with 8GB DDR3.

By monitoring with htop I notice that my RAM usage sometimes goes up to 7GB, with only Google Chrome, a few iTerms a text editor and app store.

After running $ purge my RAM usage goes back to 2GB. I found myself typing this command multiple times a day.

htop doesn't seems to show the reason, as the application that most memory consumes it's App Store, with only 3%.

I read a few posts about this and that's where I found the purge solution, but is there a better approach?

Will the Mavericks update fix this?

Any memory usage that you can get rid of with purge is, by definition, not a leak.

OS X has always tended to use memory for its disk cache, and newer version have become fairly good at keeping memory busy with caching when not used actively by programs. When a program uses that memory for computation, the amount used for the disk cache is used correspondingly.

Why do you think it’s bad that your memory is used? Unless you’re seeing performance degradation, it tends to be a feature to effectively use your installed RAM.

ETA: What @zigg said above.


duplicate a folder/file structure using a placeholder file I have a large library of digital media. Most of it is kept "offline" but the library software I use (Plex) uses media files to build the library and so I need to use placeholder files.

Using 30 second "this file is archived" videos I can easily catalog offline movies in Plex. I "rsync" the directory structure without files and then "do cp" a placeholder into each movie directory and rename using the parent folder name.

For TV shows this isn't practical as there can be hundreds of episodes per show. I would like to know if there is a way to duplicate the folder/file structure of a tv show, with many episodes under a single folder, using the same placeholder file.

I think there is a way to create folders from the filenames, then copy the placeholder into each new folder, rename using the folder name and then move the files back out to a single directory, but I don't know how.

Here is what I would do (there may be more efficient ways to automate this, but this is a quick hack that should achieve what you need). I hope I've understood your question correctly.

To get a list of all the directories (and their subdirectories) within an existing directory:

Open Terminal, and navigate to the existing folder containing the structure you would like to duplicate (if you are not familiar with Terminal, I am happy to give more specific guidance on how to do this. Basically, if you think of Terminal like Finder, the default folder that you are "viewing" when you open Terminal is your user folder. From there, you can type pwd to see where you are, ls to see a list of everything in the current directory, cd [folder name] to move into a folder in the directory, and then cd .. to move back up a level to the parent directory).

Type the following command:

find . -type d

This will list all of the directories contained in the current directory, as well as each of their subdirectories (i.e. it will not stop searching until there are no more subdirectories to enter).

The list will have entries that look something like this:

./directory1
./directory1/subdirectory1
./directory2
./directory2/sub2/sub3/sub4

We need to clean the formatting up just a bit before we can use this text.

To clean up the text so it can be used to recreate that folder structure:

Copy this list into any plain text editor (not Microsoft Word); I use TextWrangler but TextEdit comes with your computer. Using the find and replace feature, remove every instance of ./ (leave the "replace with" box empty and press replace all). This will delete all the initial periods and slashes, but retain subsequent slashes which indicate subdirectories.

Also, delete all new lines (i.e. the text may wrap onto multiple lines, but there should be no explicit new paragraphs in there). The above example will now look like:

directory1 directory1/subdirectory1 directory2 directory2/sub2/sub3/sub4

To create an arbitrary number of new folders with one command:

Note: You could also do this step using folder names from a different source, I was slightly confused by what the source of the folder names was in your question

You should now have a list of folder/subfolders that is all on one line (though it may wrap to multiple lines when it is rendered in your text editor), and has no punctuation*. Copy all of this text to your clipboard. Go back to Terminal, and use cd [folder], cd .., ls and pwd to navigate to the destination folder where you want to recreate the folder structure, as described above.

Once you are in the right folder, type:

mkdir -p and then commandv, and hit enter. Make sure there is a space (and nothing else) between mkdir -p and the first directory name, and one space between each subsequent directory name.

I know people have varying levels of familiarity with UNIX and the Terminal environment, so if this is confusing feel free to comment which steps need more clarification.

*Note that if any of the directory names you paste into Terminal have spaces or non alphanumeric characters such as (./'!?:_) etc., you need to escape them or it will not work. That is, for every space or other weird character, you must put a \ directly before it (note the difference between \ and /). So music/the beatles becomes music/the\ beatles. You can use find and replace for this as well.


Java 6 doesn't work on OS 10.6.8 i don't understand and need some help: java doesn't work anymore for a few months and i don't know why.

I have installed the latest version from apple, actually the 1.6.0_45-b06-451 on my imac 21,5" of middle 2010 and after checking the security system option and enabled the firefox plugin, i tried in safari and Chrome. Also tried with 32 and 64 bits kernel...

Finally i checked the XProtect.meta.plist to see the version limit allowed.
When i check on java.com it seem disabled or not installed, but on other sites it worked fine, like here (or javatester.org for examples)

What can i do for use without issues like i did before ?
Thanks a lot for any help...

If you install OSX Mavericks via the app store, Java will stay up to date & working.


Start XQuartz automatically on X11 app launch Before switcthing to Mac OSX 10.8 everytime I launch application which uses x11 it was starting x11 automatically.

After switching to XQuartz and 10.8 it does not work anymore and I have to launch XQuartz manually.

How to launch XQuartz on demand?

I was having the same problem. Quitting XQuartz and deleting ~/.Xauthority resolved the issue for me.  I got the idea to do this from the Mountain Lion, Xquartz, and (lost) autostart thread in the Apple Mailing List. Other suggestions from that thread include:

Logging out and then back in after installing XQuartz.
Ensuring that the $DISPLAY variable is being set by by launchd and not clobbered by your shell scripts (see http://xquartz.macosforge.org/trac/wiki/X11-UsersFAQ#sshXforwardingdebugging)


How to move files between Ubuntu and iPhone I recently got an iPhone 6s. At home I do not have Windows or Mac computers, only Ubuntu.

Is there a way to transfer files (music, photos, PDF, or really anything actually) between the PC and the phone? It should not involve syncing via an internet service, as I may have the need to transfer large or private files. Also, I do not want to jailbreak the device.

On recent iOS - you can just share out the files over SMB and use the files app to mount the share / move files and folders.
For doing it without a network or file share, here are the older steps using open source libraries to do this without needing to jailbreak the device.

http://www.libimobiledevice.org/

If you don’t see this included, consider using homebrew to install that package and the http://askubuntu.com people are amazing resources if you run into issues.

https://askubuntu.com/a/704677/21224


iOS 6 update problem: how to switch to Indian store? I just updated my iPad 2 to to iOS 6 yesterday. Today when I tried to buy an app the usual way from the App Store, I got the message "Your account is not valid for use in US store. You must switch to the Indian store before purchasing." I am unable to update my old apps as well and am getting the same message. Any idea how I should switch to the Indian store?

I too faced this problem after the iOS6 Upgrade. This worked for me:

Open the Appstore
Go to Featured (scroll down to bottom until you see your Apple ID)
Click on Apple ID
View Apple ID
Enter your Password
Once you login it will say your account is transferred to the respective country.

Hope this solves your problem with updates.


Can I move Applications to another partition? My Startup disk partition is just 20 GB and I'm running out of space.
What's the safe way to transfer Applications folder to the other partition?

Can I just move all apps into a folder on the other partition and create a symlink to it?

Just move them is probably the best solution. The user caches and preference files stick with the user home folder, so other than convention - most cases it doesn't really matter which volume contains an application. You'll need sudo or file permission tweaking to actually delete some of the apps, but I've found no downsides to moving any apps to an external drive.

Spotlight still indexes them, updates to the App Store work as long as the drive stays mounted when you want to see that an update is available.

Tools like LaunchBar and others will probably need hand-holding to find your moved applications - especially if you don't place them in /Applications on the destination volume.

You will need to re-introduce the moved copies of the App to Launchbar, but in some brief testing, the following apps worked flawlessly when moved to the root of an external drive.

Mail
iWork 09/Keynote
Utilities/Terminal


Downgrading 2020 13" MacBook Pro to run macOS Mojave Can I downgrade the 2020 13" MacBook Pro to run macOS Mojave? This is the Model Id=MacBookPro16,2 - with Quad-Core Intel Core i7 of 2.3 GHz; sold in Europe in July 2020, that comes with Catalina pre-installed.
Unfortunately, many of my legacy software (in 32-bit) cannot be made to run under 64-bit. Some of my hardware relies on 32-bit software.
Are there hardware components in the 2020 models, which are NOT supported in previous? If one can downgrade, would that work with a time-machine backup? or would one need a complete re-install after erasing and re-formatting the disks, from a Mojave.ova file?

No, you cannot downgrade the model of MacBook that you have to run macOS Mojave. The oldest supported version of macOS for your model of MacBoo is macOS Catalina 10.15.4.


Updating iTunes for Windows XP failed; no longer functions I am getting this error message when I try to open iTunes:

iTunes.exe - Entry Point Not Found. The procedure entry point A VCFAssetCreateWithByteStreamAndOptions could not be located in the dynamic link library AVFoundationCF.dll

When I click OK, it states that "iTunes was not installed correctly. Please reinstall iTunes. Error 7 (Windows error 127)."

I have tried to do the fix but it does not work.

This will probably be most easily resolved by re-downloading the full installer from apple.com/itunes and running it.

Note that you don't actually have to fill in an e-mail address in order to download it. Uncheck the boxes, click the Download button, and it should start within a few short seconds.

After the download completes, run the installer and try to open iTunes again.


Keyboard Shortcut: How to move cursor to the next capital letter of word written in camelCase in macOS & Xcode I'm able to move the cursor using ⌥ + → (Alt + →) to the end of a word. However, if the word is camelCase, I want to move the cursor to the next capital letter.

How do I do that?

Use the keyboard shortcut: ⌃ + → (Control + →).


Geolocation on Mac Pro Our Mac Pro is showing our old address as the location. How do we get it to change to new address?

We have switched on and off, reset and it still not working.

If you moved with your own router and are still connected to it —on the new location— it may be that the database that holds the information about where your particular SSID, MAC or whatever information Apple uses to identify and geolocate network devices that conform it's "WPS" has not been updated yet.
This answer may be of help:

  The Mac can use Wi-Fi network identification for localization. This is called a Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS). The access points name and signal strength is determined and looked up in a database to identify the location. The more access points are found, the more precise the localization.

Apparently, Apple used a commercial service called "Skyhook" where you could send your wifi and location data manually to update their database, but it seems they have their own location service now, which has, according to this answer:

  no public facing way to seed their master database.

On the same answer though, it states that:

  when you opt in to share anonymous diagnostic information it will occasionally update their database

So maybe opting in —if you haven't already— will speed up the relocation of your network on Apple's side.


I need to transfer videos from my iPhone 6 to my Mac I want to be able to transfer some videos from my iPhone to my Mac so that I can create a YouTube video. The problem is that I can't insert a cable into my Mac because it only has inserts for a charger and headphones. Is there any way I can email or use Dropbox to get the pictures and videos into my Mac?

Based on your description I assume that you're talking about MacBook what only has only one USB-C port.

For transferring media from your iPhone to your MacBook you have multiple options:

Use AirDrop
Use Lighting to USB-C cable
Use iCloud or any other cloud provider (Dropbox, Google Drive or Dropbox)


Do I need a sine wave UPS for late 2013 Mac Pro? The support person at CyberPower told me that my late 2013 Mac Pro has a PFC power supply therefore,  I would need to get an UPS with sine wave output.

Is this a correct statement?

The CyberPower rep is only partially correct:

Yes, you do have a PFC power supply
No, you don't need a pure sine wave UPS to run the Mac Pro specifically or any Mac generally.

Mac Pro Power Efficiency
Apple puts out an excellent document (PDF) on the efficiency of the Mac Pro.  But specifically, it get a 90% power efficiency rating at 100V, 115V and 230V which far exceeds the 85% minimum threshold set by the EPA to be Energy Star v6.0 compliant

From EPA Energy Start requirements:

Internal power supplies: 85% minimum efficiency at 50% of rated
output, 82% minimum efficiency at 20% and 100% of rated output, with
Power Factor > 0.9 at 100% of rated output for power supplies with >=
75W output power

Apple Power Supplies
Apple's power supplies from the base model MacBook to the top of the line iMac Pro all use power supplies with high efficiency

MacBook Environmental Report
iMac Pro Environmental Report

To achieve this level of efficiency, this basically requires PFC.  Looking at a tear down of a MacBook power adapter, we can see the PFC circuitry.

So, bottom line is that your Mac Pro has a PFC power supply
UPS with sine wave output.
Unless you are running sensitive (and that being the operative word) equipment that will react badly to non-sine wave or simulated sine wave power output, you have no need for this.  By sensitive, I mean things like scientific instrumentation, network communication gear (telco), high-end audio electronics, etc.
Apple's products are robust enough to withstand the fluctuations in standard UPSes and from the electrical grid.
From personal experience, I have used UPSes (Uninterrupted Power Supply) from APC and CyberPower purchased at the local big box store on sale; and as a resident in FL with frequent power outages during the summer months, neither have failed to keep my computers (Apple, Dell, Synology, etc.) running without issue.
TL;DR
Yes, you have a PFC (Power Factor Corrected) power supply.  All Apple computers have a PFC power supply.
No.  You don't need a “sine waveform UPS”.  It will not hurt to get one, but your benefits will be negligible; a standard UPS will work fine.
It's likely the rep is reading a Feature/Benefit chart and attempting to up-sell you on a product you don't really need.


Change a Mac Mission Control wallpaper using the terminal I can use Automater to change the wallpaper of the current "space" im in, but I can't tell it to change another space.

Any thoughts?

This isn't automator, but works well for me.

In the space that you want to change the desktop, open System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Select the picture you want for that space/screen.


How to turn on red light (digital audio) inside of the 3.5mm headphone socket on macbook pros? So apparently many macbook pro models have a digital audio output hidden inside their 3.5mm headphone jacks.  Example.

I thought this was physically activated by the mini TOSLINK plug, but recently I installed Linux Mint (native boot) on my MBP and that red light came on and stay on.

So I guess it can be controlled by software.

Anyone know how to activate it in macosx?   The only reason I want to turn it on is I think it looks cool.

Plug in a clear audio jack and you’ll have your red laser engaged and the sound muted. It’s controlled by firmware which is software, just harder to patch and mess with.


How to resize Mac OS Extended (Journaled) partition after linux messed it up? I've tried to use Ubuntu on my macbook pro (6,2), but it was a total and abject failure, mainly due to poor hardware support.

So, I have given up on my little experiment and just deleted ubuntu and erased the partition it used in the ssd. Now, I'm trying to make os x reclaim the former linux partition's space, but I get an error whenever I try to resize the system partition in Disk Utility:

Partition failed with the error:
File system resize support required, such as HFS+ with Journaling enabled.

OS X's partition is "Mac OS Extended (with journaling)". My OS X's version is 10.8.3 (Mountain Lion).

Any way of doing it without wiping out the disk? Even if I had a backup one, the bakcup-and-restore process would be very time consuming and I believe there must be a cleverer way of resizing a partition than deleting everything...

EDIT:

output of diskutil list:

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *240.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS osx                     40.0 GB    disk0s2
   3:       Microsoft Basic Data Deposit                 139.7 GB   disk0s5

The real reason may be the fact, that the recovery partition is no longer there.

Have you tried the resize with diskutil command?  (man diskutil look for the resizeVolume command).  If nothing else, it might give you a different or better error message.

A repair on the volume might also help.

Also see this question.


Terminal: limit my bandwidth Is it possible in Yosemite to limit my downloading bandwidth use to for example 300kbps using the terminal? I dont want to install software to do this.

There is similar question (with answers :)), hopefully this will help: https://softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/3859/limit-bandwidth-on-a-per-app-basis-on-os-x


How do I stop DVD player from autoplaying? When I insert a movie DVD into my USB superdrive, the DVD player starts.  I want it to stop doing that.

I've tried the following to disable this behaviour:

System Preferences -> CDs & DVDs -> When you insert a video DVD: set to Ignore (actually moved all of them to Ignore)
DVD player -> Preferences -> unchecked "Start playing disc" for when DVD player opens and when a disc is inserted.

Neither of these made a difference; insert the disc and the DVD player still starts playing it. Any other options?

You might have more success using RCDefaultApp (freeware, old but still functional) if only because it shows a few more choices of precisely what to ignore.


Xcode 9 beta 403 forbidden For an old C++ project compilation test I would need to try the first XCode 9 beta specifically: http://adcdownload.apple.com/WWDC_2017/Xcode_9_beta/Xcode_9_beta.xip
However the page returns error "403 Forbidden" for me. I don't know whether link is down (from old comments, these versions were working 3 years ago), or it's restricted to paid accounts.
Could anyone confirm what's the case?
Thanks.

Paid up developers can not see any old betas for redownload. You typically need a support case and a very compelling reason to get anything beta from Apple once they update to a new beta. Save your downloads if you ever think you need them later.
That being said, all the release versions of 9 that are available:

https://developer.apple.com/download/more/

Assuming you don’t want the last version of 8, here is the oldest 9.0

https://download.developer.apple.com/Developer_Tools/Xcode_9/Xcode_9.xip


Copy "Artist" into "Album Artist" in iTunes? In iTunes, Is there a way to automatically populate the "Album Artist" metadata with the "Artist" information, for all songs where the "Album Artist" field is empty?

Obviously this is for songs from various artists. This is easy to do manually, but it gets tedious quick.

The reason why I want to do that is that on the iPhone, the field "Artist" under "Library" refers to the field "Album Artist". The song where this field is not populated are not listed under the artist name...

A third-party application (or AppleScript) is needed to do this “automatically”.

You can run an application like Bliss (blisshq.com) in the background to scan your library periodically and make the changes to update missing tags.


App Store keeps asking for admin password I periodically get the following dialog box on my MacBook, running OS 10.9.5:

  App Store is trying to install Apple-provided software. Type an administrator's name and password to allow this.

I get this dialog even if I don't have the App Store open on my machine. I have turned off all automatic updates in System Preferences.

The problem is that I have no idea what this software is--I don't see any such updates in the App store when I open it.  My administrator account is distinct from my user account (which doesn't have admin privileges).  I can't disable this popup.  It drives me nuts (and I think it's a poor design choice by Apple that this dialog doesn't provide information about what it wants to do, and then expects me to type in an admin password and trust it).  If I press "Cancel," the box goes away until it pops up later -- when, I don't know.  If I press "Install Software," it again provides zero feedback.

Looked at my console log too.  No info.

So, who can tell me what this is, and how to stop it?

Security updates are for your security. Unpatched systems are first to be attacked when a new exploit is discovered.
Of course, if you were running in an admin account, these could all be done silently. As you're not, someone has to authenticate every time.

Switch off all updates… in all accounts…

Sign out of the App Store… in all accounts…


I cannot rearrange pages of a PDF in Preview Trying to learn how to use my camera, I downloaded this PDF manual. Once I opened it in Preview, I noticed that the pages were not in the right order, so I tried moving them in the left-side drawer to reorder them. But Preview wouldn't let me.
I usually have no issue reordering pages of a PDF by dragging them around. But for some reason, I cannot rearrange this document (I can't rotate the pages either).
I checked, and the file isn't locked and I have read and write permissions.
Why can't I reorder the pages of this PDF file?

The PDF is, somehow, locked against editing.
Here is the workaround I found, to achieve the desired result without having to use a third-party app. The idea is to duplicate the PDF from Preview in a way that will remove the restrictions.
Open the PDF and chose File then Print. In the dialog, chose size and orientation, then click on PDF on the bottom left, then Print to PDF.
Open the new file. It can now be modified at will, like any unlocked PDF.


Why does rotating a TIFF in Preview increase the file size? When I use Preview.app to rotate a .TIFF image file 90 degrees, the resulting file is about 10% to 20% larger. All I do is open, rotate, save; there is no exporting or "save as" changes. I've tried this on multiple TIFF files and the behavior is constant.

It's the same file with the same data, so why the size increase?

(2013 rMBP) -- (OS X 10.11.4)

So when you make any changes to a file and 'save' it in Preview, the file is re-encoded.  It must be using different settings that the program that originally created it.

It has nothing to do with rotating.  If it did you could try rotating it back and the file size would drop, but that's not the case.

I just tried saving a TIF and I can see that Preview seems to be adding an Alpha channel to the image.  Not sure if that would be the reason for the increase, but it is something that is different.


If I purchase an app on my iPad can I get it on a Microsoft PC Can I use an app I purchased on an iPad on a Windows PC?

Generally, no.

However the decision is ultimately up to the app’s developer to sell a single license across multiple platforms. So you’d have to check on a case-by-case basis (just don’t hold your breath).

As far as the actual executables, iOS and Windows apps run on completely different architectures, so there’s no way to copy an iPad app onto Windows and expect it to work. You can’t even do that on a Mac.


AppStore won't install OS X 10.10.5 update I am trying to install the 10.10.5 update. It seems impossible. Every time I click "update" in the AppStore and confirm the reboot, a dialog pops up: The available updates have changed. When I click "Show details", nothing happens and the update gets added to the installed updates.

Maybe the download is broken? How can I force the AppStore to re-download the patch? Can I install the update anyway? Where does the AppStore put its downloads?

I updated from 10.10.4 and had the very same problem. Even after rebooting this loop did not end. I solved it by installing the update from the command line with this command:

softwareupdate -i -a

In order to issue this command, open the Terminal application and enter the command. The tool downloaded the software update package and installed it. At the end the tool notifies you to restart your system. After the restart 10.10.5 was installed and everything was fine.

For details about this tool see https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT200113


What is the difference between `brew` and `brew cask`? So, what is the difference between brew and brew cask?

I know that homebrew is a package management software. But what kind of software can I get there? Is it open source software and commercial software?

Homebrew

brew is the core command for the Homebrew project.

  The missing package manager for OS X

  Homebrew installs the stuff you need that Apple didn’t.

Homebrew typically deals with command line software. Most of the software is distributed under an open source licence. See the Formulas for a list of available installs.

brew prefers pre-compiled binaries but will compile from source in some cases.

Cask

brew cask is an extension to brew that allows management of graphical applications through the Cask project.

  Homebrew Cask extends Homebrew and brings its elegance, simplicity,
  and speed to OS X applications and large binaries alike.

Cask deals with a mixture of software and licences. The software I work on is covered by a commercial licence and available via cask.

Cask offers a way to command line manage the installation of graphical applications.

See brew cask issue #7002 about the project's focus on predictability and how that affects the use of pre-compiled binaries or source.

Licensing

Availability through brew or cask does not imply any specific licence.


Scriptable menu bar icons Is there an easy way I can add custom icons to the menu bar status area? Ideally something like Growl (e.g., where you can just execute a command) but instead of notifications, just renders icons in the menu bar.

I'm mainly looking to draw numbers that I'd use to alert me of various things. For example, I can configure my email client to run a command/AppleScript to update the numbers when an certain kind of email arrives.

Something like this:

I would suggest starting with this thread, which describes using Cocoa Objective-C calls from within AppleScript. There is an example Xcode project here.

And Launch is a complete application written in AppleScript that functionally does this. Its Xcode project file is here.

The basic premise is to generate NSMenuItem instances and add them to the system's NSStatusBar:

set statusMenu to (NSMenu's alloc)'s initWithTitle_("Launch")
-- (build and do stuff with the statusMenu here)
set sysStatusBar to NSStatusBar's systemStatusBar
set statusItem to sysStatusBar's statusItemWithLength_(32)
tell statusItem to setMenu_(statusMenu)
tell statusItem to setHighlightMode_(1)
set menuImage to NSImage's imageNamed_("icon.png")
tell statusItem to setImage_(menuImage)

AppleScript excerpt from Launch's source code, Copyright © Lee Hanken


How do I back up videos using IFTTT, not just photos or is there an alternative? I created an IFTTT applet to backup photos from my camera roll to Google Drive, which is syncing to my Mac. I created a folder action to move all files from that Google Drive folder(~/Google Drive/IFTTT) to ~/Pictures/IFTTT. The photos backup fine, but the videos aren't even detected by IFTTT.

How can I get IFTTT to backup all my photos and videos?

If not, is there an alternative to back up both my photos and videos? I only want the photos backing up to my Mac, and not the cloud as I already use Google Photos.

IFTTT does not support videos with iOS Photos.

You can, however, use Dropbox for iOS on your iOS device and enable Camera Uploads (Dropbox > Settings > Camera Uploads).


Purchasing rMBP now - will come loaded with Mountain Lion? I wanted to purchase the new rMBP, but I was waiting for Mountain Lion to be released so that Mountain Lion comes already loaded on my computer.

Now, I am going away to college on August 16th, so really, I'd want to be able to have my computer by the time I head off to college and as of now, Apple Store's website says 3 - 4 weeks (I need to order it online because I want to upgrade my RAM from 8 GB to 16 GB).

So what do you guys think? If I order it now, by the time it comes in 3 - 4 weeks, it will be pre-loaded with Mountain Lion?  Or is that a risk depending on when Mountain Lion is released vs. my computer shipped?  Or is waiting for Mountain Lion a silly thing to do as the update will be seemless/not a big deal at all and if I don't order it within the next week, I am risking not getting my Computer in time?

Order now. You'll get Mountain Lion free no matter what, and it's a pretty painless process to install, particularly on a clean computer.

It's probably a toss-up whether you'll get Moutain Lion or not. It seems likely that it will be released before the end of the month, but when that image gets pushed to machines is anyone's guess. And even if you do end up with Lion, that may be a blessing in that you can wait out any 1.0 bugs if they pop up.

Ordering now gets you in the queue, and there's virtually no downside to not having a copy pre-installed.


Control volume of individual apps on iOS I would like to independently adjust the volume of Google Music and an interval timing app. The only app I see is VolumePanel but you need to jail break your phone. Is there anything available for the stock OS?

Also, this is not a duplicate of this question, as that solution only applies to Mac OS.

Unfortunately no, the only volumes that could be changed separately are media volume and ringer volume, which is also alarm volume.
There are, though, possibly tweaks with jailbreak, but the one you mentioned is pretty outdated and will either just not work or cause bigger problems. Search among tweaks released or updated starting at least from March 2018.


What are stored on the “KG” drive? Last time my Mac had some startup problems and I went to the Genius Bar for a clean OS installation. The technician took out a hard drive called “KG” and booted my Mac from a recovery partition on it.

Just for curiosity, I want to know what are included on the “KG” drive. During booting, I saw a lot of normal and recovery partitions of different macOS versions. It would be interesting to know what other partitions/special tools are on the drive (and perhaps it would be handy for me to have a similar drive if I encountered similar problems again).

The only thing I know is the appearance. It should be a LaCie 2TB Rugged Thunderbolt + USB-C, with the “LACIE” trademark replaced by an Apple logo and the two uppercase characters “KG”. I think the words “Genius Bar” are also printed on it, if I recall correctly.

Any help is appreciated.

There's no way anyone here can know what exactly was stored on a specific hard drive handled by an unspecified technician in an unspecified location. You should ask the technician if you can instead.

The contents on that hard drive has most possible changed numerous times between then and now. There's no guarantee in any form that any "KG" drive has the same contents as any other "KG" drive across countries, stores, technicians, etc.

In practical reality, there's really no chance for you to get an exact copy of that technicians hard drive at the time of your repair.

Moderne Macs have recovery partitions on their hard drives or SSD by standard. They also contain internet recovery within the flash portion of their main board - so even if you replace the hard drive or SSD, you'll be able to boot from that and reinstall macOS or alternatively fix problems with the drive.


10 bit/color channel support I am in need of 10 bit colour/channel (30 bit in total).
Everything in my workflow supports 10 bit colour/channel: DSLR, Eizo 276, D700 in my Mac Pro (late 2013). Unfortunately OSX 10.9.8 is still on 8 Bit/channel.

Can any body tell me a work around?

As far as I know OS X does not support 10 bits channels.

Here is a blog article which talks about it : Nope.
Another site says they thought Mavericks would bring 10bits channels, but nope.
4 month later, same site, still nope.


Can I sync calendars and contacts from two mac accounts with one iCloud account? The reason I want to do this is that I have two Mac accounts for different purposes, one for fun and one for work. However, there are some types of data (e.g., contacts) that I want to share. Moreover, I have a single iPhone used for both work and personal, and I want both sets of data on the phone.

The two Mac OS X accounts are on the same machine. I have no connected either to iCloud as yet until I get a recommendation on what will serve me best.

What do you recommend I do?

You could have two iCloud accounts and sync both calendars to your iPhone.
You can achieve the same result if one or both of your accounts is on Yahoo, Gmail or Exchange, without the need to create two iCloud accounts.
If having two calendars that you can switch on and off is your concern, you can have one iCloud account, under one user account in your computer, and two calendars, named "Fun" and "Work", and reduce the hassle.


Is there a way to lock your Apple device against syncing on other computers? Find my iPhone is nice, but that doesn't really stop savvy thieves from syncing the device back to factory settings.

Unfortunately, no.  That's a flaw of the iPhone that is designed to help you, in case you ever forget your passcode.


Why do some OSX progams have an installer (mpkg) instead of drag-drop? Most OSX programs can be installed by dragging the app to the Applications folder (or wherever the user wants them).

However, some software must be installed by launching an .mpkg package, acting more like the 'double-click and press next-next-next...' installation method under Windows. For example: Google sketchup has an installer, while Google Picasa is drag-and-drop.

Why is this?

Would it technically be impossible for those programs that use the installer approach to provide the 'standard' drag-and-drop approach? I would assume that any files that need to be installed in specific locations could be done so upon first launch of a drag-and-dropped program?

The drag-and-drop method originaly came from cases where the application was a stand-alone executable, so all you needed to do to install it was drag the executable from a floppy to the App folder.

Today many applications use installers that let you drag-and-drop to the app folder, while the drag action in fact launches an installer that will install multiple files in different places. So technically the drag-and-drop today may very well be an installer.

So why then use an "Next-next-next-install" installer? Because you may want to ask the user questions! Maybe you don't want to install all parts of the software? Maybe you want it installed somewhere else? Or it could simply be a question of accepting the license agreement.

You can't do that with the drag-and-drop install.


Will it hurt my Macbook Air to be plugged into a "Uni Pak II" which is a dimming power source? I'm at a conference and the only plug is a "Uni Pak II" which is a dimming power source (here's the manual).

At first my charging indicator on the end of the MBA plug didn't light, but I slid up the analog slider and it lit up (I knew it had worked yesterday!).

Is there any chance of it harming my MBA or power supply to use this?

In general, it isn't a good idea to put a power adapter on a light dimmer as the circuitry could malfunction if the voltage is too low.

That being said, I believe the 45W adapter for the MacBook Air will survive- it just won't charge if the dimmer reduces the voltage below 100 volts. The AC is converted into DC and then applied to a voltage regulator circuit which typically shuts down when it isn't getting enough.


How can I prevent my Macbook Pro 2011 from going to sleep when I close the lid? This is not a duplicate of this question as it does not work: Is there any way to set a MacBook Pro to not sleep when you close the lid?

I have a Macbook Pro 2011. I want to be able to close the lid without the Macbook Pro going into sleep mode. It seems InsomniaX is not doing anything. I've seen people with MacBook Air having the same problem.

Does anyone have an alternative suggestion for that?

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that I close the lid but I have a Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter plugged in that displays something on an external monitor. I want to close the lid and still be able to view to video that is playing on this external monitor.

The laptop will automatically go to the default sleep mode when closed unless it is plugged into power. Once plugged in, you will be able to run it to the monitor, wireless mouse, etc.


Can I daisy chain a Thunderbolt display to a non thunderbolt display I have dual thunderbolt displays. One of them is breaking down. Since apple discontinued the thunderbolt display, are there other companies that can support daisy chaining a non apple monitor to an apple monitor.

Here, here, and here all say no, but that was before the july 2016 discontinuation. Other forums say you can do this with DP 1.2, but the OS is incompatible. Again, these are old forums and I wanted to know if there is an update.

I have a 2014 retina macbook pro for reference

The short and simple answer is:

Directly?  No.  You cannot daisy chain a mDP display directly off a Thunderbolt
display.
Indirectly? Yes.  You can add a single mDP display off another Thunderbolt peripheral (like storage or a dock)

This is coming off of Apple's Support page as of the time of this answer:

  Can I connect my Mini DisplayPort monitor or monitor using a Mini DisplayPort adapter to my Apple Thunderbolt Display?
  Mini DisplayPort Monitors or Monitors connecting with Mini DisplayPort adapters will not function when connected through a Thunderbolt Display. They must be connected directly to the Thunderbolt port on the computer or to a non-display device as indicated above.

(Emphasis mine)


Increase Font size in Thunderbird I have recently purchased an iMac to replace my 13" MacBook Pro and am gradually setting it up.

My eyesight is fading, so I intend to use the bigger screen to improve readability.

One application I am having problems with is Thunderbird. The list of messages in my Inbox remains stubbornly small.

I have tried changing Font size in Preferences/Display to no avail.

Theme Font & Size Changer sometimes disappear from Thunderbird. You simply cannot see the button to the options for this add-on. In order to make Theme Font & Size Changer add-on working for Thunderbird, you need to change the xpi-file (which is basically a zip file) before you import the add-on to Thunderbird.

You need to change the Bootstrap.js file inside the .xpi file. Bootstrap.js is a large file, and you have to comment out a line, rezip the files, and rename the extension from zip to xpi and reinstall the module.

Source


How does the iPhone 5 measure elevation? I use an app called MapMyRun on the iPhone 5. In it is a report that shows elevation changes during the run.

Now to my knowledge, the iPhone5 has an accelerometer and GPS+.

The iPhone5 has no barometer or other way to measure elevation.

My question is - how does the iPhone5 measure elevation?

Measurements are done using the GPS.

INFO: http://gpsinformation.net/main/altitude.htm

  GPS altitude measures the users' distance from the center of the SVs orbits. These measurements are referenced to geodetic altitude or ellipsoidal altitude in some GPS equipment.


Shortcut for making a new window in Safari Whenever I use the new window shortcut in Safari, it creates a new tab instead of a new window. This most likely happens due to my having chosen the setting System Preferences > Dock > Prefer tabs when opening documents: > Always checked.

However, strangely enough, clicking on the menu bar item File > New Window seems to create a new window normally – not a new tab.

Is it possible to create a new tab with the shortcut?

In macOS Sierra 10.12.3, by default the keyboard shortcut to open a new window in most apps is ⌘N, however when one changes the default setting in System Preferences > Dock > Prefer tabs when opening documents: from In Full Screen Only to Always the New Window keyboard shortcut is changed to ⌥⌘N.


Whole drive gets wiped when attempting to re-format as NTFS for Windows I am attempting to install windows 10 using Boot Camp on my 2014 13" MacBook Air with 256 GB of hard drive. Everything goes well untill I reach the Windows install screen. I select my language, keyboard layout etc., but when I go to select the partition that I want to install Windows on (I set it to about 100 GB), it says that the drive must be formatted as NTFS (exact error: windows cannot be installed on drive 0 partition 3).

I bypassed that my opening a DOS windows and doing these following commands:

type: diskpart
type: list disk (you should see only Disk0)
type: sel disk 0
type: clean

and that fixes the problem but it also wiped my whole Mac OS partition leaving me with one empty 233 GB drive that I can install Windows to. I want to be able to switch between the 2 OS. I am currently in the process of re-insatlling macOS using Internet recovery since my drive got wiped.

How can I make it not delete macOS while still being able to install Windows?

At the point where you received the error message, you should have seen a partition labeled BOOTCAMP. You need to select this partition and click on the Format button. The label BOOTCAMP will disappear. Next, you select the partition that was labeled BOOTCAMP and proceed with the installation of Windows.

The Boot Camp Assistant cannot NTFS format a partition. So, instead the partition is formatted FAT32 with the label BOOTCAMP. You have to click on the Format button to reformat the partition as NTFS. This will erase the BOOTCAMP label. Later, when the Windows Support Software from Apple executes, the NTFS-formatted partition will be renamed back to BOOTCAMP.


Why is brew always reporting success when failing to start a service? I'm trying to setup httpd with HomeBrew on a mac.

As I painfully learned today, brew services start always reports success, even when httpd fails to start.

Example failures reported as success:

failure to start httpd because another instance (started outside of brew) is already running;
failure to start httpd because of a syntax error in a config file

For example, say I deliberately put some random chars in httpd.conf, and run:

$ sudo brew services restart httpd

Brew happily reports success:

==> Successfully stopped `httpd` (label: homebrew.mxcl.httpd)
Warning: Taking root:admin ownership of some httpd paths:
  /usr/local/Cellar/httpd/2.4.41_1/bin
  /usr/local/Cellar/httpd/2.4.41_1/bin/httpd
  /usr/local/opt/httpd
  /usr/local/opt/httpd/bin
  /usr/local/var/homebrew/linked/httpd
This will require manual removal of these paths using `sudo rm` on
brew upgrade/reinstall/uninstall.
==> Successfully started `httpd` (label: homebrew.mxcl.httpd)

Even though httpd is obviously not running:

$ sudo ps -A |grep httpd
 9481 ttys000    0:00.01 grep httpd
 (nothing else)

$ sudo lsof -iTCP:80 -sTCP:LISTEN
 (nothing)

What's wrong? Is this a bug in brew?

Trying to debug Apache issues on any computer can be difficult, but you just have to know what commands and files to look at.  First, try to start Apache using the apachectl command and look for errors written to the screen.

$ sudo apachectl start

If there is an error in the apache conf files or some system issue, you may see it there.

Also, you need to review the log file and see what the service is writing about itself.  For homebrew, the log file is typically called -

/usr/local/var/log/httpd/error_log

Often, when I find that Apache won't start, it is because there is a pid lock file that makes Apache think another instance is already running and you will see this in the log file. Delete the lock file and try to start the service again.

/usr/local/var/run/httpd/httpd.pid

One final note, a great resource for using homebrew to get a LAMP environment up and running on OSX is from Andy Miller over on getgrav.org (https://getgrav.org/blog/macos-catalina-apache-multiple-php-versions). Follow those instructions and you're ready to go..


How do I download/save a backup of OSX's "Enhanced Quality" system voices for future use? I wipe and reinstall OS X about once ever few months—probably more than necessary if I'm honest with myself, but then, it has become my go-to way to fix problems, and I've become very fast at getting everything set up again.

There is however one thing I have to do after every reinstall that takes quite some time on my slow internet connection: re-downloading the "enhanced quality" version of the "Samantha" system voice (my personal favorite).

Is there any way I could back up this enhanced voice so that I won't have to re-download it every time I install OS X? Ideally, I'd like a simple .pkg file I can just double click to install. Such a .pkg file for "Enhanced Speech Recognition" can be downloaded here, but I can't find anything similar for system voices.

Search for CatalogVersion 2 ApplePostURL http://swpost.apple.com in a browser. Or download one or several of the Apple update catalog files directly e.g:

10.9 catalog
10.10 catalog
10.11 catalog

Open the file(s) with a decent text editor. Search the file for MLV_locale_name with locale: your preferred locale and name: the voice name.

E.g. searching for MLV_it_IT_alice will reveal:

        ...
        <key>031-11791</key>
        <dict>
            <key>ServerMetadataURL</key>
            <string>http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/44/20/031-11791/gm3k0mrgb2nhbw6nmomxgshi9cd36lv9ke/MLV_it_IT_alice.smd</string>
            <key>Packages</key>
            <array>
                <dict>
                    <key>Size</key>
                    <integer>264300527</integer>
                    <key>MetadataURL</key>
                    <string>https://swdist.apple.com/content/downloads/44/20/031-11791/gm3k0mrgb2nhbw6nmomxgshi9cd36lv9ke/MLV_it_IT_alice.pkm</string>
                    <key>URL</key>
                    <string>http://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/44/20/031-11791/gm3k0mrgb2nhbw6nmomxgshi9cd36lv9ke/MLV_it_IT_alice.pkg</string>
                </dict>
            </array>
            <key>PostDate</key>
            <date>2015-01-22T18:33:08Z</date>
            <key>Distributions</key>
            <dict>
                <key>English</key>
                <string>https://swdist.apple.com/content/downloads/44/20/031-11791/gm3k0mrgb2nhbw6nmomxgshi9cd36lv9ke/MLV_it_IT_alice.dst/031-11791.English.dist</string>
            </dict>
        </dict>
        ...

containing the ServerMetadataURL and the direct pkg download URL: MLV_it_IT_alice.pkg

Enter the pkg download URLs in a browser or a download manager to get all desired voices.


What is this "Shared" in Finder's Sidebar? I don't know what this "Shared" is in the Finder's Sidebar.  Can these other machines access any of my information?  Should I turn this off?

System preferences > Sharing

You can choose what to share and with what conditions. You can share files with other devices connected to your network, but they have to know your UserID and password, you can share printers and many other functionalities.

Obviously, you can choose to enable the sharing or not just checking the "services" on the left sidebar. If you disable everything, your "shared" folder will not be accessible.


External Hard Disk Drive Not Showing Under 'Devices' I have just updated my OS to MacOS Sierra. I have connected my external Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and it is not displaying under 'Devices' in my Finder window. It worked fine before the update.

I am using a MacBook Pro With Retina (Late 2013), running MacOS Sierra (Version 10.12). My external HDD is a SeaGate Slim SL Media (500GB).

The external HDD shows up in the Disk Utility application. It also shows up on the About This Mac > System Report > USB. I am not sure what is wrong, the external HDD is identified but does not display for use in the Finder window.

I have read that it could possibly be in sleep mode and putting the MacBook to sleep (whilst connected to the external HDD) and waking it up again should fix the issue. However, this did not work. Nor did restarting my MacBook. It was also mentioned elsewhere that it may require extra power, so I attached the power adaptor to my MacBook and still, no success.

I do not wish to erase the contents of the external HDD.

Is there a way to get my external HDD to be working as expected with my MacBook?

Thank you very much in advance.

The 'Sharing and Permissions' option has been changed to 'Read-Only' for no apparent reason. This has happened to me previously, but it still showed up under 'Devices' in the Finder window.

I believe in the macOS Sierra update, this does not show.

Fix for issue:
Download the Paragon Driver for Mac OS to gain access for Seagate external drives without having to reformat from the following link:

http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/ntfs-driver-for-mac-os-master-dl/

Install the Paragon Driver and follow the steps. You will be asked to restart your Mac. Once your Mac has been restarted, the external HDD will display once again under 'Devices'.

Note: This resolution allows you to have access to your external HDD to modify it as you wish. It does not reformat the HDD - so your data is safe.


Will a standard MacBook Pro optical-bay HDD caddy fit a non-unibody MacBook Pro? I have an early 2008 A1226 15" MacBook Pro Santa Rosa (ie non-unibody), and I want to put an HDD in the optical bay (replacing my original HDD with an SSD). There are caddies like this that might do the trick, but they never specify my older (non-unibody) MacBook Pro version exactly. I'm wondering if that will actually fit, or if there's a better alternative that's fairly cheap. Optibay sells one specifically for non-unibody here but at $100 it's 5x the price.

The optical drive in a non-unibody MacBook Pro uses a PATA interface, so you would need to go with the MCE or iFixit caddy, both of which use an interconnect board to convert from SATA on the HD side to PATA on the logic board side.

The caddy on Amazon needs a SATA connection on the logic board side, so it will only work in a unibody MacBook Pro.


Inserting a formula in Pages is not possible I would like to insert a formula in a Pages document (under El Capitan). But when I chose Insert -> Formula in the menu all entries in the submenu all entries are greyed out. Also Insert -> MathType equation is greyed out.

Do I need to install further software to have the options available?

Clarification

I am looking for a way to typeset a mathematical formula in a document (i.e., a kind of formula editor). Does any tool like this come together with Apple's office tool?

Functions and formulas can only be inserted into table cells. So, you have to insert a table first. If needed, the table can be configured in the Table section of the Inspector to consist of only a single cell: 1 row, 1 column, 0 header. Also, the table can be set to have no border stroke/line.

If you are in a word processing document and want to position the table/formula freely on the page, you need to set the table to be a floating object (Inspector: Object Placement).

(This answer is based on Pages version 4.3, but might apply in principle to newer versions as well.)

User manual for Pages 5.5: http://help.apple.com/pages/mac/5.5/#/tana41710df7


After binding Mac to AD, first login successfully creates mobile account and logs in, after that next login locks AD account Configuration: Mac OS X 10.7 and 10.8 Active Directory Server 2008 R2 Binding using AD Plugin or dsconfigad -add mydomain -username myuser -ou "OU=Computers,OU=Sites,OU=Mysite,DC=mycompany,DC=com"

Works fine. First login happens fine. Creates mobile account, no issues noticed.

However, after I logout, the next login attempt fails, and after only shaking one time, their AD account is locked out.

opendirectory.log makes a vague mention of account being expired but honestly I don't see much in the logs that pops out as useful.

Any help?

I ended up using the AD plugin from Centrify which worked fine.  I have abandoned the Apple plugin until they get their act together. Thanks!


How can I detect and remount my time machine sparsebundle? I currently have my Time Machine sparse bundle residing on a network drive plugged in to my router. I have a script that runs at login that auto connects to the shared drive and mounts the sparsebundle image as a device for backups. Here's what it looks like:

try
   mount volume "smb://readyshare/MacBackup"
end try

do shell script "hdiutil attach -mountpoint /Volumes/MacBackup/ /Volumes/MacBackup/TimeMachine.sparsebundle"

However, I've noticed that from time the time the device will automatically disconnect itself. Usually this happens when I leave for lunch and the MacBook Pro goes to sleep after a while.

Often I don't notice this until I get an error message about my backup device not being able to perform the backup.

Is there a way I can modify this script (or create a new one) that can detect when my sparsebundle device has been ejected and remount it?

Nowadays you can point Time Machine directly at a network share and it should handle this for you automatically. Maybe your question relates to an older version of macOS.


Would "erase all content and settings" disassociate my phone with the carrier? I accidently set my husbands new iPhone 6 up under my back up. Now, when I receive texts he receives them too. Its making it appear that I have two phones. We share an iCloud account. Can I do a complete "erase all content and settings" to fix his phone? It won't deactivate his phone with Sprint?

No. Cellular plans do not get erased since that registration belongs to the SIM card and cellular systems, not something that’s a setting on the phone that can be erased by the OS or a restore.
If you go to

Settings -> General -> Reset -> Erase All Content and Settings

This will restore the device to an 'Out of the Box' state and allow you to start the process of set up again. It will not deactivate the device as far as the carrier is concerned and you can still make and receive calls and SMS but will lose contacts and call history, etc....


Lion not searching SMB volume I just upgraded to Lion on my work computer and it seems like Spotlight doesn't index SMB volumes. This used to work for me perfectly under Snow Leopard. I've talked with Apple and they said it was never a supported feature, and just worked by coincidence on 10.6. Now it's not working at all. When I run the mdutil command in the terminal it says "indexing and searching disabled."

Can indexing be enabled for SMB data on Lion?

I was able to get this working by adding the volume to Privacy section of Spotlight System Preferences, then removing said share from the same location.

I think this is how I got it working in previous versions as well.


Uploading app to app-store with same name for another developer id Let me explain clearly,

I have developed an application and created an app in the app-store with an apple developer id. But, not uploaded the binary version.

Now I need to upload the app with another apple id with the same name. I know if I delete the old one I can reuse the name with other id.

I need to know two things about this,

Is there any time gap required for using the name after deleting the old app(can I create immidietely after deleting the old app)?

Is it possible to use the same Bundle identifier that I used for the old one?

As the old app's binary version is not uploaded and reviewed, I just renamed that application and then used the name for the new developer id.

Apple accepts the name and the app is now in review.


What is the real world difference between 2020 8th generation iPad and 5th generation iPad mini? According to Apple website, the iPad mini has the following differences (these are some of them):

Wide colour capture for photos and Live Photos

Fully laminated display

Anti-reflective coating

Wide colour display (P3)

True Tone display

In real world usage, how would those differ, especially screen features. Are those worth spending the extra money on the mini or should I stick with an 8th generation iPad?
(Also about the resolution, iPad mini has less resolution but more ppi, so what is the difference here?)

Whether or not something is "worth it" is highly subjective - noone can really answer that but yourself.
If you compare the displays side by side, you'll see the difference clearly. Are you going to be doing that on a daily basis? - Probably not.
However I would say that the fully laminated display especially makes a big difference in how you perceive the display. This is one of those "I didn't need it until I saw it, and then I really needed it" things.
The resolution versus PPI is simply because the physical size of the iPad Mini's display is smaller. Even though the resolution is smaller, the physical size is so small, that the number of pixels per inch is actually higher.


Open a new Finder window in List mode with full name shown Is it possible to open a new Finder window in List Mode with the file name column stretched by default to always show the longest file name?

Oftentimes, I find myself having to double-click and adjust certain windows in order to properly view longer file names.

Is there any way to control and define this?

XtraFinder
Has lots of features, including visualization of Finder and auto-adjusting column width.


How to jump to album in iOS 8.4 Music app? I've updated to iOS 8.4, and on the revamped Music app, I can't jump to artist. In previous versions, I could be playing a shuffle playlist and whenever I'm on some song and I wanted to keep playing from that album, I could simply tap the top right button and it would jump me to the currently playing song's album. Now, when I'm playing a song in a shuffle playlist, I see that button has been placed next to seek controls (previous, play/pause, next buttons), but when I tap that, it doesn't take me to the album anymore, it takes me to playlist.

How can I jump to album when playing a song from shuffle? It was a feature that I was using passively, but now I can't find it and I'm having quite hard time jumping to song's album, which I did a lot.

The currently playing song shows up in a horizontal now playing bar.

Click the three dots on the right hand side of the bar.

Click on the album name at the top of the pop up menu.


Cant get any sound from MacBook Pro with headphones plugged in When I plug my headphones into my MacBook Pro or when I return to my MacBook Pro after the headphones have been plugged in for a while, sometimes I get no sound, the Sound icon in the Menu bar is greyed out and when I click the Sound up button on the keyboard I get the below icon (see screenshot). If I take the headphones out and wait a couple of seconds then replug them in they work again.

Headphone wise I've seen this happen with a range of headphones from Apple EarPods to Bose noise canceling headphones.

I've seen this happen on two Mid 2012 MacBook Pro models, a 15" and  13", both running OS X 10.10.

Any ideas what's causing this and how I can be resolved?

Just in case any one mentions it, I'm plugging the headphones into the 3.5 mm headphone jack not the cinema audio port.

The next time it happens please option-click (hold 'option' while clicking) on the volume icon in the menu bar.

There you should see all available sound cards and headphones.

Please let us know what entries you can see.

I get to very same response if I plug in a USB mixer.


Mac office, outlook keep calendar invite in e-mail box When I recieve an calendar invite and send an 'accept' the message itself is being deleted out of my mail box. I know the invite itself is able to stay in your mailbox but the big question is how?!

Does anyone know how to keep your outlook calendar invite as an e-mail?

It's simple (until MS changes the pref on this): just accept the invitation to the meeting from the calendar, NOT your inbox.


How to recreate libraries in iTunes My problem is this. I have my language lessons and my music in different folders on an external hard drive. For some reason my libraries got mucked up (by opening iTunes when the hard drive wasn't connected). So I need to set up my libraries again.

What I want to do is set up two separate libraries: Language Lessons and Music. I know this is possible because I've done it, and set the location to the respective folders. The problem is that the new libraries I set up are empty -- there are no songs or lessons in the playlist! So how do I get iTunes to populate my playlists? I've found two alternatives but neither is satisfactory:

Click on each individual song/lesson in the folder to play it, and iTunes then lists it in the playlist. This is ridiculous as I have about 4,000 songs.
Physically drag the folder containing the Songs or Language lessons onto the window. This copies all the songs in the folder into that playlist. The problem is that I don't want it to copy my 4,000 songs into a new folder (which exceeds the space limit on the hard disc drive), I just want iTunes to populate each library with the songs in the existing folder.

I'm sure this is a dumb newbie kind of question, but there is nothing in the Mac documentation that even suggests how this can be done.

Using MacBook Pro, MacOS 10.6.8.

You can add your files to your iTunes library without having iTunes copy the files to its own folder. Go to iTunes > Preferences > Advanced and un-check Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to Library. This will let you drag-and-drop entire folders into iTunes, and it will add them to its iTunes Library xml file without making copies of all of your files.

(If you keep that checked and un-check the other option on that preference pane, Keep iTunes Media folder organized, iTunes will copy all of the files you drag into it, but it will preserve the naming and file structure of the original source folder.)


Why do I have two 'Macintosh HD - Data' partitions? I recently reinstalled macOS from a USB pendrive to be able to upgrade my 128 GB SSD to Big Sur. For some reason I now have two 'Macintosh HD - Data' partitions:

What's the second 'Macintosh HD - Data' partition doing here? And can I safely remove it?

The volume disk1s1 mounted as /Volumes/Macintosh HD - Data as no utility.
You can suppress by the terminal command:
diskutil ap deletevolume disk1s1


how to do a batch change (shift) of file creation date OS X Yosemite:

I took thousands of pictures on a trip recently, some from my iPhone, and some from my DSLR camera.

Now, the iPhone automatically gets its time and date from the local cell towers, but the DSLR stayed set with the time and date of its original configuration.

So basically now when I mix all the photos together and sort them by time and date, they are all out of order.  I would like to view the photos chronologically and to do that I need to shift the date and time of all the DSLR photos by the same (time zone) offset.

So basically, I need a command line or a script that will do something like this:

if filename = DSC_*.*
then creation_date = creation_date + 5 hours

I'm asking this for OS X specifically, but I guess it would be interesting to know how to do this in Windows or Linux as well.

Here is a condensed and modified version of the script info in the link I gave you in the comments. You can save it as a plain text file, without an extension, and make it executable per info in the link, e.g. chmod +x filename.  Place the script in a folder that's in your $PATH e.g.: /usr/local/bin/

This script sets both the created and modified date/time stamp on each DSC_*.* file +5 hours on the DSC_*.* files in the working directory.

In a Terminal then cd to the directory containing the DSC_*.* files and then type the name you gave to the script and press enter.

#!/bin/bash
for f in DSC_*.*; do
    ts="$(GetFileInfo -d "$f")"
    e="$(date -j -f "%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S" "$ts" +%s)"
    ((o=60*60*5))
    ((e+=o))
    nd="$(date -r $e "+%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S")"
    SetFile -m "$nd" "$f"
    SetFile -d "$nd" "$f"
done

In case the comment to the OP gets deleted the code above is based on the answer to Updating File Created Date by x number of days Mac OSX and modified to the +5 hours requested.  If you only want to change the created time then comment out, placing a # in front of, or removing the SetFile -m "$nd" "$f" line.


Is there any way I can animate switching desktops in Lion like it was in Snow Leopard? It's been bugging me for quite some time that switching desktops means the application stays at the desktop you're leaving, then pops up on the desktop you switched to. In Snow Leopard, the application stayed where it was and just floated with you when switching desktops, making it a lot easier to keep working in the same window or even to keep watching a movie. This of course applies only to applications you've assigned to all desktops.

I hope this will be fixed in Mountain Lion and if so I will update to that immediately, but is there any way this can be resolved right now, in Lion?

Any and all help will be very much appreciated! Also, I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I've done a bunch of searches but they came up empty.

@RadicalRaid, how I have used the various desktops is to categorize by the projects. so Desktop 1 would be all  project A stuff and Desktop B would be all project B stuff. And if there is a workflow involved then D1 would be process1 and D2 be process2 so on and so forth. That helps me to *focus on a *project basis rather than application basis. On the Mountain Lion Mission control the animations and gestures are much smoother and more organized so that really makes this type of focusing much easier and usable. Hope that helps.


Can I use the iPhone 4's camera via my Mac? I'd like to record some video on my MacBook Pro, which I could do using the built-in iSight except I'd like to record in HD. Rather than go out and buy a new HD video camera, is there any way of getting the Mac to recognise the iPhone 4's HD camera as an input?

Yes I know that I could just use the iPhone on its own and then transfer the video over, but I'd like to be able to see what I'm recording (without using mirrors). Have done a bit of Googling and can't see anything, so just thought I'd ask!

I've tried this, but unfortunately it doesn't work with iChat and PhotoBooth but works perfectly with Skype and other communications tools :

iWebcamera iPhone App ($4.99)


Is lowering my ODD fan speed dangerous after installing and SSD? I've just installed a new SSD in my mid 2010 27" iMac. I put it in place of the disk drive (ODD) so now there is no optical disc drive in my computer. After I did the installation I noticed that the fan speed shot up to ~3000 rpm and stayed there. So I downloaded SSD Fan Control and I'm currently using it to keep my ODD fan speed at ~1000 rpm. The system is running fine (from what I can see) and the noise it down to a minimum.

What I want to know is are there any dangers in doing this? The SSD isn't going to generate much heat at all but if there anything else around that part of the iMac that will generate enough heat to warrant letting the machine set the fan speed?

I'm assuming that this change in fan speed has happened because there isn't a signal being sent to the ODD temp input in the machine (since I've taken the ODD and thus the thermometer out, so it's defaulting to the highest rpm possible.

Thanks!

So, just to be clear, you replaced the optical drive in your iMac with an SSD and I am assuming a drive caddy.

In the process, you removed the optical drive temperature sensor:

When this sensor is absent, the fans will spin up to full speed.  This is the "fail safe."  So, you are using a software utility to control the fan and essentially override the systems ability to regulate temperature.

I would try to find a way to put that sensor on your drive to better control the fan speeds as the chips themselves would heat up under heavy use. Kapton tape should work just fine.

Damage?  I don't know because I never removed this sensor and I am unwilling to experiment.


Make apple id from iphone - new region , no credit card Okay - i know Apple say you must put in credit card info etc when you change region and try to log in -> sign up a new apple id. And i know there is no "None" option when you try to do this.

Now that we have settled that: - how is the work around this problem? How can i make a new apple id when i have changed region?

Virtual Visa Card? does this work? anyone have a guide? I have seen some pages having this service - but then i need to transfer money and that is not an option. Does anyone know about a "commen" fake credit card info i can put in?

Btw : i do this to get the pokemon app outside Austrailia.

It all depends on where you create your apple id. If you create a new one its possible without a creditcard if you do it in iTunes.

Open iTunes, then go to the iTunes Store by clicking the iTunes Store button at the top of the window.

Scroll down and find the country flag in the lower-right corner of the window. If it's not the flag of the country where you live, click it and choose your country or region.

Go to the App Store, Music, TV Shows, or Books section of the store by clicking on one of the icons in the upper-left corner.

Download a free app, song, video, or book. To find free items, look in the right column of the window and click any link that includes the word "Free," such as "Free on iTunes" or "Top Free." When you find a free item, click Get beneath its icon.

When you're asked to sign in with an Apple ID, click Create Apple ID.

Follow the onscreen instructions. When you're asked for payment information, choose None as the payment type. See what to do if None isn't showing or you can't select it.

After you enter all of the information required, you'll be asked to verify your Apple ID by email. You must verify your Apple ID before you can begin using it.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204034

I just wish you wouldn't do it for Pokemon =)


Mail - how to show POP3 mail account in the side bar This is my Mail screen:

I have Gmail Imap account and a Bezeqint POP3 account.

I want to see my Bezeqint account in the sidebar as I see Gmail's account so I can add and change folders.

How can i do that ?

POP accounts are view-only and provide no access to folders on the server.  You can create offline folders to keep your POP mail organized on your computer, but obviously these folders will not sync with your online account.


Should diskutil list an unmounted drive? diskutil list showed the presence of an external drive.  But nether Finder nor df showed it.  And there was no "oops" pop-up when I unplugged it.

Is diskutil list supposed to show everything plugged in even if not mounted?

From the manual page diskutil for the list verb:

  List disks, including internal and external disks, whole disks and partitions, and various kinds of virtual or offline disks.

So, yes it should list all disks, even if not mounted.

Note however, if you've ejected the disk instead of un-mounting it, it will not appear when using diskutil list. Also, once a disk have been un-mounted, it will not cause a flag to be raise as if pulling out a USB flash drive while still mounted, when disconnecting the un-mounted disk.


What is the frame rate of the 1080p HDMI output on an iPad 3rd Generation? I'm trying to figure out which HDMI Capture Card to buy and the cards that support 1080p60 are ten times more expensive than the ones that only does 1080i60/1080p30.

I would love to get 1080p60 out of the iPad, but I don't want to bet on this.

Also, does the HDMI out give the same fps for both apps and movies? I would like to record an app at 60 fps.

For HD video, Apple's page on the specifications for iPad 3rd Generation states (emphasis mine):

  Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats;

So if it is capable of playing HD video up to 1080p at just 30fps, then all that an HDMI capture card with 60fps support can do is capture at 30fps (and maybe add interpolation frames to make it 60fps). Since there's no actual gain by doing this, a 1080p30 capture card should suffice.

On the apps side, according to benchmark tests by phonearena.com on the iPad 3rd Generation, it was able to go up to 60fps (depending on the test). But note that this is just graphics rendering frame rate, not video decoding or even video recording (the latter is just 30fps according to Apple's specifications page). Video encoding (converting the app's graphics to HD) cannot be better than the video decoding support of 30fps.

I do not know if the HDMI output would be at the same frame rate for apps and video.


How to change the text color in an Excel shape? I am trying to change the text color specifically for a diamond. The background fill defaults unfortunately to blue -which I changed to white .. which is the same color as their choice for text .  Polar bear in a blizzard anyone?

"Look ma they can't see me !"

The funny thing is - the rounded rectangle does allow changing the text color:

For whatever reason the option to set text color has been neglected in the Format Shape panel on the right side.  However I noticed it can be set in the Main Ribbon


App for collecting (and categorizing) stuff from the web I've looked high and low and I'm surprised I haven't found exactly what I'm looking for; it seems like such a common task.

I just want an iPhone app to rapidly clip stuff from web pages. My first priority is just to clip images (with source url and/or caption). But being able to do the same with bits of text, links, videos, etc would be nice.

The way I imagine it working is: I navigate on the web. I hold down an image or selection. Some "drop points" appear on the side for me to drag and drop it into. I can have as many drop points as I want and they can have names.

More abstractly: I just want a very gestural/natural way (i.e. doesn't require thinking or tapping) to grab stuff from web pages and put them into folders.

I have been looking for something similar for a while now, though I am more interested in saving bits of text. So far, I've not found anything ideal, but there are two that I've come across that work pretty well.

Pearltrees seems to be the best, particularly for pictures and entire websites. There is an ios app for it, and you can add a button for it on your share menu. Additionally, Pearltrees is online, and both Firefox and Chrome (and probably Safari) have an extension for it. Your Pearltrees account has folders, so you can sort what you have-- there is also a "dropshelf" where you can put things until you have time to sort them later. The downside is that all of your folders and items are public with the free account-- should you want to make any of them private, you need to upgrade to a paid version.

Diigo seems to be a good way to save webpages and clips of text from a web browser. I have not explored it in detail, so I cannot speak as to its ability to save pictures. The filing system involves tags instead of files. I find this more difficult in some respects, but it may be to your liking. It also has a full version that requires payment, though you can do a lot with the free version.

If you've found anything else, I'd love to hear about it!


Can I use a Mid 2011 27 inch iMac (Thunderbolt) as a display for a PC? There are other questions on here that are similar, but I believe they relate to older models. If this is a dupe please close it though - I just want to find out if this can be done.

I bought a 27 inch iMac (iMac12,2). The back port cluster looks like this (on the right):

*from apple.com

I wonder if I can use those Thunderbolt ports as inputs from a PC? The PC will be running a Radeon HD 4850 (i.e. it has enough juice to power the display).

Can it be done?

No - currently, only computers with a ThunderBolt port (combined DisplayPort + PCIe data) will work for video in mirroring on an iMac. This means a small selection of other Macs that ship with thunderbolt currently work.

There could be adapters later that help, and perhaps a firmware update, but even a MacBook Air that you buy today with DisplayPort out won't work with the iMacs expecting thunderbolt in.


Stuck in upgrading PHP version on localhost Mojave I'm trying to get PHP7.2 working on localhost, but phpinfo() keeps saying 7.1.19 is in place while ~php -v tells me PHP7.2.18 is in place.

I run ~php -v it says:

  PHP 7.2.18 (cli) (built: May  2 2019 13:03:01) ( NTS )
  Copyright (c) 1997-2018 The PHP Group
  Zend Engine v3.2.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2018 Zend Technologies
      with Zend OPcache v7.2.18, Copyright (c) 1999-2018, by Zend Technologies

~echo $PATH

  /usr/local/opt/php@7.2/sbin:/usr/local/opt/php@7.2/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/Applications/VMware
  Fusion.app/Contents/Public:/opt/X11/bin

I installed PHP7.2 via brew in

  ➜  php@7.2 pwd
  /usr/local/opt/php@7.2

I expect te get on localhost PHP 7.2.18 in place.

UPDATE

Followed these instructions from the link mentioned by @miken32 (How to use the php that brew installed?)

Edited httpd.conf in folder /etc/apache2

#LoadModule php7_module libexec/apache2/libphp7.so
LoadModule php7_module /usr/local/opt/php@7.2/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so

If I uncomment the first line and comment the second line, I can run phpinfo() from localhost, however it says it's PHP 7.1.19 and php -v says 7.2.18

In case I comment the first line and uncomment the second line, localhost won't start and php -v says 7.2.18

I also followed these steps, but no luck either.

$ brew update php // get the latest homebrew php packages
$ brew install php@7.2
$ brew link php@7.2 // create an alias to this keg-only version; see comments output during installation
$ echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/php@7.2/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile // add the alias to your path; see comments output during installation
$ source ~/.bash_profile // reload .bash_profile to use the new settings immediately
$ sudo apachectl restart

Also tried brew link php71 --force but that didn't help either.

So it seems the webserver doesn't start when I switch lines httpd.conf

Any steps I can take the get 7.2.18 going?

UPDATE 2

➜  apache2 sudo apachectl -t

  httpd: Syntax error on line 178 of /private/etc/apache2/httpd.conf:
  Cannot load /usr/local/opt/php@7.2/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so into
  server: dlopen(/usr/local/opt/php@7.2/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so,
  10): no suitable image found.  Did
  find:\n\t/usr/local/opt/php@7.2/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so: code
  signature in (/usr/local/opt/php@7.2/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so) not
  valid for use in process using Library Validation: mapped file has no
  cdhash, completely unsigned? Code has to be at least ad-hoc
  signed.\n\t/usr/local/opt/php@7.2/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so: stat()
  failed with errno=22

Line 178 says:

  LoadModule php7_module
  /usr/local/opt/php@7.2/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so

Have to look into it. Somewhere on SO in a older post the suggestion was done if there are any 'strange' characters that might cause the error. Verified it and the only strange one is '@'. However that is Brew's out of the box installation.

You're trying to use the PHP module from HomeBrew with the Apple-provided Apache web server. That is an unsupported configuration on Mojave.

It doesn't work because macOS tries to validate that your software is correctly signed (i.e. not tampered with) - and it fails this check after you have changed which binaries are going to be loaded in. You can fix this by disabling SIP (System Integrity Protection) - but that is a really bad idea, as this would disable the protection on your other programs as well.

The correct way to proceed is to stop using the built-in Apache web server, and instead use a different web server. The easiest transition is to simple use Apache provided by HomeBrew instead.

You can do that by first installing Apache from HomeBrew:

brew install httpd

Then stop macOS from starting up the Apple-provided Apache on boot:

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist

Make sure that the new php module line you have inserted is now not commented, and the old is - i.e. make it look like this:

#LoadModule php7_module libexec/apache2/libphp7.so
LoadModule php7_module /usr/local/opt/php@7.2/lib/httpd/modules/libphp7.so

Then start up the new Apache web server installation:

brew services restart httpd

Depending on your settings you will then be able to connect with your browser to localhost:80 or localhost:8080 to view your site.


What font have you found to work the best with OneNote's OCR feature? I've been trying to do some OCR with Microsoft OneNote and am experimenting with what font seems to work the best. While some seem to be relatively good, I'm curious if anyone has any experience with OCR and has found a font to be nearly error proof? I found that Fixedsys causes errors at times, but not sure if something traditional like Courier or Helvetica would do better?

Tahoma works really well with OneNote's OCR feature.


What is com.apple.mail.plist and why was it slowing Mail down? I fixed an annoying problem with Mail 6.2 (I'm on ML 1.8.2), where Mail was slow and a pain to use.  I am on a SSD so everything was jerky while typing, sending mail out, and it would take ~1 second to display the text of a message when I scrolled up/down the list.  On a HDD I presume the problem would have been much more bothersome.

I looked at Mail slow under ML/ Apple forum and someone mentioned to look in console for errors such as deny file-read-data /Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist, and to delete such plist in case.  I did have such message, so I went on to delete the file (and a file of the same name in ~/Library/Preferences/).  Now Mail works fine, no slowness, no jerkiness.  So the question is, what the hell is com.apple.mail.plist, what was doing in my laptop and why Mail seems to be much happier without it.

FYI my laptop had a install from scratch of ML + backup restored through Time Machine.  In addition I restarted Mail after deleting com.apple.mail.plist and all my personal defaults (font, how to display messages, etc) are all still there.

com.apple.mail.plist is a property list that stores your defaults (preferences) for the Mail application.

Deleting the file meant that Mail.app would on next launch use the factory defaults.

Why your instance of Mail was misbehaving, I can't tell you, but deleting the prefs sometimes helps in these cases.


Need clarification on macOS proxy configuration settings I'm attempting to configure the proxy settings for a MacBook to work in my office. My company uses a proxy pac file and provided me the URL, what I am unclear about is the other options. I confirmed we dont have WPAD setup, so I assume that there is no reason to enable Auto Proxy Discovery. Additionally, when I check the proxy.pac file, I can see that there are a number of domains and ip address ranges that are configured to bypass the proxy, so my assumption is that I dont need to modify the "Bypass proxy settings for these Hosts & Domains" section, would that be used if my company didnt have a pac file and I was entering the proxy server address for Web Proxy and Secure Web Proxy?

Appreciate any insight that can be provided, I'm really looking to understand the various settings and options and which should be used in conjunction because Mac support is non-existent so I will be supporting myself.

Thanks!

if you a .pac file. u can use it with the following syntax https://ip_addr:port/proxy.pac [or could] in Firfox. The section just below the manual proxy settings.
hope helps


How to run chromium-browser from the command line? In Linux, when I installed the open-source Chromium Browser I was able to run it from the command line using chromium-browser with several useful options (such as specifying a proxy). I've switched to using a Mac and would like to do the same, but I get Unknown command 'chromium-browser'.

How would I go about setting this up on a Mac?

To open Chromium from the CLI use

open -a chromium
open -a /Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium
open /Applications/Chromium.app (or the respective path to Chromium.app)
/Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/MacOS/Chromium #usually with some errors  (e.g. "Error in event handler..." or some adm_helpers.cc/service_manager.cc errors)

Comprehensive list of command line switches:

List of Chromium Command Line Switches


How can I universally disable titles on hover in Safari? How can I prevent tooltips from appearing when I hover elements with the title attribute, in Safari 14 on macOS Big Sur?

You can change the delay for all Safari tooltips by setting NSInitialToolTipDelay. If you set a really long time, it's like they're disabled. For example, 10 seconds:
defaults write com.apple.Safari NSInitialToolTipDelay -int 10000

Delete to use the default value
defaults delete com.apple.Safari NSInitialToolTipDelay

Safari stores preferences in its sandbox container and defaults will only look in the container if you don't have a preferences file from a time when Safari wasn't sandboxed (e.g. if you've upgraded macOS and kept your home directory). Check you don't have a ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist file for defaults to use the one at ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist, or manually provide this domain to defaults:
defaults write ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari NSInitialToolTipDelay -int 10000


Delete many network configurations at once Opening my Network preferences screen in Mojave 10.14.2 on my MacBook Pro 2017 takes about two minutes, due to the massive number of network configurations that were automatically installed when I once attached a USB walkie talkie.

Is it possible to delete all these connections at once? Clicking to delete them one by one is incredibly slow due to the UI hanging after removing one.

Network preferences with literally 1000 network connections

You can use the Terminal to delete them out:

Usage: networksetup -removenetworkservice <networkservice>
    Remove the service named <networkservice>. Will fail if this is the only service on the hardware port that <networkservice> is on.

To get it to list then remove all the ones with MT65XX you'd need to do something like:

$ services=("${(@f)$(networksetup -listallnetworkservices | grep MT65XX | sed s/\*//)}")
$ for service in $services[@]; do networksetup -removenetworkservice $service; done

That this does is builds a list of services by running:

networksetup -listallnetworkservices | grep MT65XX | sed s/\*//

The @f splits the list on newlines, ignoring spaces. The grep finds just the MT65XX lines, and the sed removes any *, which denote disabled services in the output.

Then, for each of those, it runs the networksetup -removenetworkservice step.


How do you ask Siri to message whatsapp group? I know the new IOS allows you to ask Siri to send a whatsapp message to a person, can Siri message a whatsapp group ?

I figured out today how to do it.

First, you need to be sure that the name of the group can be easily understand by Siri. As I know from myself some group names are too complex for Siri. It will be simple if the group name is like a person's name.

Second, you need to add the group name to your contacts without any number etc. just create a new empty person with the group name.