AppleScript to Choose Files from Folder Automatically Newbie question. I've created an Applescript that looks at the selected Folder name, copies the last term of the Folder name, and appends that to the beginning of the File Name of the files inside the Folder. I'd like to do choose the Folder automatically instead of manually. I'm sure it's a small change, just not sure how...

tell application "Finder"

    set selected_items to selection

    repeat with this_item in selected_items

        set current_name to name of this_item as text

        set current_extension to name extension of this_item

        set length_extension to length of current_extension

        set name_no_ext to text 1 thru (-length_extension - 2) of current_name

        --set AppleScript's text item delimiters to " "
        set AppleScript's text item delimiters to {"("}

        if (number of text items of name_no_ext > 1) then

            set z to last text item of name_no_ext --get the number at the end of the name before the extension

            --set comments of this_item to z

        end if

        set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""

    end repeat

    repeat with this_file in (get files of (choose folder))

        set the_name to name of this_file
        set name of this_file to {"(", z, ")", " ", the_name} as string

    end repeat

end tell

The way you handle dropping files onto an AppleScript application is like this:

on open theFolders
    -- do your stuff here
end open

You're dropping a folder, or maybe more than one folder. So there needs to be a repeat in there to handle the dropped items, and then another repeat to handle the items inside each of the dropped items. Like this:

on open theFolders
    tell application "Finder"
        repeat with aFolder in theFolders
            set theFolderName to name of aFolder
            set theFiles to every file of aFolder
            --
            repeat with aFile in theFiles
                set theName to name of aFile
                set theNameLength to length of theName
                set theExtension to name extension of aFile
                set theExtensionLength to length of theExtension
                set thePureNameLength to theNameLength - theExtensionLength
                set theName to (characters 1 through thePureNameLength) of theName as string
                set the name of aFile to the last word of theFolderName & "_" & theName & "." & theExtension
            end repeat
            --
        end repeat
    end tell
end open

I think this does what you want. I don't know what your original file names look like, nor what your folder names look like, but for a case where your folder names look like this:

Folder A, Folder B, Folder C

and where the contents of each folder look like this:

file 1.jpg, file 2.jpg, file 3.jpg

The above droplet would give the following results:

For Folder A

A_file 1.jpg, A_file 2.jpg, A_file 3.jpg

For Folder B

B_file 1.jpg, B_file 2.jpg, B_file 3.jpg

For Folder C

C_file 1.jpg, C_file 2.jpg, C_file 3.jpg


Triggering an automation / shortcut on iPhone after a call is over I would like to run an automation or a shortcut every time I finish an incoming call or an outgoing call. What is the trigger I should use? Does such kind of a trigger even exist?

I found this in the Apple support documentation which defines communication triggers for messages and emails right now. There are no communication triggers for calls. So I believe we have no option but to wait and check if Apple plans to add triggers for calls.


Mail.app stopped working after upgrade to OS X Mavericks Mail.app is not working since the upgrade to OS X Mavericks. I read that I should try to uncheck SSL. However it won't let me. All my emails just sit in the outbox. Is there a way to remedy this or is there another mail software I can download?

I'm using Gmail which I know has types of issues and have accepted that but it's my business POP emails that is frustrating me.

I've switched to Postbox for my mail client until some of the Apple Mail glitches get worked out. Postbox seems to be built on the Thunderbird engine (which also works well) but it adds additional features. I use multiple Gmail and IMAP accounts, but I don't currently use any POP accounts -- based on past experience with Thunderbird I wouldn't expect any problems.


How do I change the location of screenshot in OS X Lion? The old method that works for Leopard/Snow Leopard doesn't work any more on Lion:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /Users/kamus/Pictures/snap

Has something changed or does anyone have some good workarounds?

Perhaps it's because your path isn't really a path to a folder:
Notice to terminating /:

defaults write com.apple.screencapture location /Users/kamus/Pictures/snap/


Can a MacBook 12 inch (2017) run OSX Mavericks? I have a newish MacBook from 2017, but I have an old backup with programs I need to run from an old MacBook Pro 2013 that was running Mavericks.
The app from my backup is only for 32bit and requires Java runtime 6.
Would my 12 inch MacBook 2017 run Mavericks? (So that I can boot that old program)

You can not install Mavericks. The 2017 MacBooks came preinstalled with macOS 10.12.5 (Sierra), so you should be able to run 32 bit software. I have used 32 bit Adobe CS5 and CS6 (basically Photoshop and other stuff) on macOS 10.13 and 10.14 (High Sierra and Mojave), but I get error messages when quitting the applications. This was not a problem with Sierra and older versions of OS X. As Mathew pointed out, if you install Catalina or a newer version of macOS, you will not be able to run 32 bit software, unless you use a virtual machine (see below).
You can install Legacy Java (Java for OS X 2017-001), if you need Java 6 runtime support. I currently have this installed on a machine with High Sierra and another machine with Mojave.
You could try installing Maverick in a virtual machine. Both VirtualBox and Fusion Player are free products. I am not sure you can still download Mavericks. Yosemite and El Capitan are both available for download from Apple. However, most users dislike the feel of a virtual machine.


Is there a setting to make the Mac not change resolution when connecting to an external display? I am currently running 2880x1800 resolution on my MacBook Pro retina (using the command setgetscreenres).

Whenever I connect to an external display, my Mac changes to a lower resolution. Is there a way to disable this behavior?

Also I've noticed that sometimes instead of extending the display, it mirrors my display on some external displays. I don't think I will ever use mirror mode, so is there another setting to make all external displays extend?

In mirroring mode, both screens need to use the same resolution.  The external display probably can't support the huge 2880x1800, so it's lowering yours to match.

In System Preferences > Displays > Arrangement tab, uncheck the mirroring option.  Then you should see two separate preferences windows, allowing you to set different resolutions for each display.  Note — the Arrangement tab is only visible when you have an external display connected.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5266


Extract numbers from string using shell Using shell script, how do I extract two sets of numbers from a string like "R14C11"? I'd like to get the result as an AppleScript list.

R14C11 -> {14, 11}
R5C9   -> {5, 9}

"R" and "C" will be constants but the number of digits in each set of numbers can vary.

There are a lot of ways to do this, one is to use sed

echo R5C9 | sed -E 's|R(.*)C(.*)|{\1, \2}|'

Or, if you want to ensure that only input with the correct format will be matched

echo R5C9 | sed -E 's|R([[:digit:]]+)C([[:digit:]]+)|{\1, \2}|'

Some explanations:

-E enables extended regular expressions, which among other things makes the matching of the pattern easier
s|SOURCE|TARGET| is the substitution command to transform SOURCE into TARGET
R([[:digit:]]+)C([[:digit:]]+) is the source pattern we are looking for: An R followed by at least one digit [[:digit:]]+ followed by C followed again by at least one digit
The target replaces the matched source, with \1 standing for the text matched within the first () in the source, \2 for the second

You can also just use bash itself

[[ "R5C9" =~ R([0-9]+)C([0-9]+) ]] && echo "{${BASH_REMATCH[1]}, ${BASH_REMATCH[2]}}"

[[ "R5C9" =~ R([0-9]+)C([0-9]+) ]] matches the text, with R([0-9]+)C([0-9]+) being basically the same as the source pattern above
Matching parts within () get assigned to the shell array BASH_REMATCH
The echo is only executed if the match ([[ ... ]]) was successfull, and then prints the reformatted expression (which is a bit confusing to read because the various {} mean different things...)


Dealing with filename extensions - bash vs oascript I have a script than closes open windows, but it only works when I have enabled the Finder "show all filename extensions" preference.  Is there a robust way to accomplish this regardless of the state of the filename extension preference?  I suppose I could try to close the file both with and without the extension, but that's an ugly solution

cd somedir
for file in * ; do
  echo file name is $file

osascript<<EOF
  tell application "Preview"
  close (every window whose name is "$file")
  end tell
EOF
  sleep 1
done

As your shell variable $file will always have a file extension in tact, you need to use the path property for Preview's document, which contains the full file path of the open file, including file extension:

cd somedir
for file in * ; do
  echo file name is $file

osascript<<EOF
  tell application "Preview"
    close (every document whose path ends with "$file")
  end tell
EOF
  sleep 1
done

This is slow, however, even without the sleep delay.  Another way you could do it is to enumerate the files in AppleScript instead:

osascript<<EOF
  use sys : application "System Events"
  use Preview : application "Preview"

  script
    property list : displayed name of every file ¬
                    in sys's folder "$somedir"
  end script

  repeat with f in result's list
    tell Preview's document named f to if exists ¬
    then close
  end repeat
EOF

This is almost instantaneous, and the displayed name property specifically uses the name as it's displayed in Finder, with or without its extension.  Therefore, it matches the name property of the Preview document.


How to use a USB-C adapter on an older mac with USB A I have two Macbooks - one from work (with USB-C only) and my personal (2015 - thunderbolt and USB-A 3).
I recently purchased a Satechi USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet adapter for the USB-C Macbook and would like to use that also for the older macbook. I purchased a USB-C to USB-A converter and tried to connect the USB-C adapter, but it does not work.
It does not appear as an interface option.

https://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Type-Type-C-Adapter-Converter/dp/B07KCL8WZK

https://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Type-Type-C-Adapter-Converter/dp/B07KCL8WZK

The adapter in the link violates the USB specifications and is a fire hazard.  You should bust it to pieces with a hammer and throw the crushed bits away.  Seriously.  This adapter runs the risk of short circuiting some very valuable computer equipment.  It's a $7 mistake waiting to become a $700 mistake.

I recently purchased a Satechi USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet adapter for the USB-C Macbook and would like to use that also for the older macbook.

You can do that with the right adapter but it would be cheaper to just buy the correct style Ethernet adapter for the older MacBook.

I purchased a USB-C to USB-A converter and tried to connect the USB-C adapter, but it does not work.

That's probably because the adapter was made broken.  This adapter violates the USB specifications, it should not exist because the specifications specifically say this adapter should not exist.  Throw it away before you plug in the wrong cable to it and damage something valuable.
Here's a Thunderbolt to gigabit Ethernet adapter to consider.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD463LL/A/thunderbolt-to-gigabit-ethernet-adapter
Connecting USB-C devices to a computer without a USB-C port is not trivial, it cannot be done with a $7 adapter.  It would take a PCIe breakout box and USB-C adapter card, which would easily cost more than just buying the right gigabit Ethernet adapter for your older Macbook.
Rereading my post I can see that I might come off as being mean.  I'm not trying to be mean, I'm trying to be stern and straightforward.  This is a stern warning that the USB-C to USB-A adapter you bought can do expensive damage to your computer, it needs to go away before that damage is done.


How to determine which process or application is using excessive data My 2015 MacBook Pro uses wifi from a 4G dongle. Some process or application is regularly making large download requests, which are very expensive over 4G - it recently used $60 of data in a single day, for an unknown purpose.

How can I detect (and disable) these processes?

To demonstrate, I rebooted and immediately opened Activity Monitor (so I'd have an accurate measure of the network activity), then used the laptop for an hour or so (but without constantly monitoring the activity).

The total Data Received is 428Mb (confirmed on the wifi dongle), but the cumulative network traffic of the processes listed is far less than this:

I assume that one or more processes is running, requesting data, then closing, and that after this they're no longer individually listed in the Activity Monitor, so it's not possible to determine which processes are implicated.

How can I debug which application or process is causing this? Activity Monitor doesn't seem to be precise enough, so is there a better option?

PS I have disabled:

App Store "check for updates" and "automatically download"
DropBox
Google Drive
iCloud Drive
and I haven't opened iTunes.

You can monitor the traffic with numerous applications and tools. One that is already installed is

/usr/bin/nettop

To block this unwanted traffic the easiest you also have numerous options:

– block the destinations via /etc/hosts

– block the ports used by those unruly programs using your builtin pf firewall

– use one of the application level firewalls like
–– RadioSilence
–– LittleSnitch
–– HandsOff
–– Vallum
–– TripMode

Most important and practical is of course to just uninstall the offenders if posssible.


How do I open a URL with a custom scheme in Yosemite with cron and open? I had a cron job that ran every morning at 10:30 to call into our daily status meeting on Go2Meeting. After I upgraded to Yosemite it stopped working, and I figured out that it was because

open -g citrixonline://blahblahblah

now sees the URL as a file name, and not a URL with a custom scheme. Can I get open to treat this like a URL again?

I don't know if opening the URL scheme via Safari would help?

open -g /Applications/Safari.app citrixonline://blahblah; killall Safari


Add Directory Service to macOS image I'm trying to add an Active Directory service to macOS image. I know how to bind AD on a Mac but I was looking for an automated way to do it for a large deployment 50–100 Macs, i.e add it in an image profile. What's the best practice for this?

Depends on how you created the image.

If you're using the installer as your source then there's a pane for adding directory servers.

If you're using an installed system as the source then you may have to use something like the dsconfigad command in a script to bind.


Does disabling the prompt to enable two-factor authentication on an iOS device disable future prompts from appearing? I was recently working with an iPhone user who noticed that since updating to iOS 14, they were being prompted to set up two-factor authentication on their Apple ID. They temporarily dismissed the prompt by navigating to Settings, tapping the "Two-Factor Authentication" option and selecting "Not Now" - but out of interest, will this prompt re-appear - or does choosing this option disable all future prompts from appearing on that device (or Apple ID)?

You cannot guarantee that the user will not be prompted in the future.
There's a continued development in security and the need for preventive measures. Today two-factor authentication is absolutely crucial and wide-spread, 25 years ago it was only used by the few.
Apple some times "moves the bar" by changing the minimum security requirements. In those cases, they could start prompting user's again for enabling two-factor authentication - or even requiring it entirely.
For example, not so long ago the requirements for developer accounts were changed so that these users must have two-factor authentication enabled (also affects apps such as TestFlight, App Store Connect, etc.). These users were notified in advance that this requirement would be instated.


How to remove duplicate files from the Photos app library I am running OSX 10.12.6 and sorting a large number of mostly not native digital pictures (scans from negatives).
Using the command:

fdupes -r -A  "/Users/yves/Pictures/Photothèque.photoslibrary/Masters"

I get many results of duplicates like below, same files but in different subfolders:

/Users/yves/Pictures/Photothèque.photoslibrary/Masters/2019/12/27/20191227-174527/_NIK3130.tif
/Users/yves/Pictures/Photothèque.photoslibrary/Masters/2019/12/31/20191231-081818/_NIK3130.tif
/Users/yves/Pictures/Photothèque.photoslibrary/Masters/2020/01/02/20200102-183407/_NIK3130.tif

Is this normal behavior ? I understand the same files may have been imported several times, but I wonder:
is is safe to eliminate the duplicates and how best to do it ? For convenience I am using exiftool in combination with Applescript to adjust (reconstruct mostly)  picture metadata in the Photos library from selected pictures and want to make sure I do this only once and for the correct file.

If they don't come up in Photos.app, I wouldn't touch what goes inside .photolibrary package. There are just too many questions of Photo library going wild. You anyway won't be saving much space there, if the files are tiny.

What software can find close duplicates from 2TB worth of pictures?


Exit silent mode without vibrate When using the hardware switch on the side of my iPhone to change from silent mode to non-silent mode, the phone vibrates once.

How can I turn off this vibrate?

There is no vibration from non-silent mode to silent mode.

Go into Settings --> Sounds and then turn off vibrate on ring

Use the hardware switch and re-enable vibrate on ring


Is there way to crop the output of a camera for a video chat? I'd like to use Zoom, Google Meet, etc. with my built in camera, or an external webcam.
However, the camera is too wide and shows parts of my setup that I'd prefer it not to. Is it possible to crop the view, which is then automatically used by video conferencing software? (ideally set once and forget)

For those wondering, I noticed this initially when I saw that Photo Booth crops my webcam input (which is embarrassing if you use that to judge what is in view!).

Cameras either have or don't have these features.

Pan (side to side adjustment),
Tilt (crop & enlarge),
or Zoom (up & down adjustment)

This is shown as P/T/Z or PTZ on feature lists.
Apple's built in FaceTime camera has none of these sadly, you will have to look at the specs for any external camera you have to see if it does.
While there is some 3rd party apps that apply these after the fact, they do it by taking the video feed, adjusting it and pushing out a new virtual feed.
Since these will likely be suggested, be aware, these can be problematic. They can be buggy, they often ask for very deep control/access of your system, and some programs do not take virtual video input well. This is reflected in their universally poor ratings in the App Store. I have also found they are stubborn to uninstall and run insidiously in the background, so use at your own risk.


Convert iPhone 4 30-pin connector to iPhone 5 Lightning connector I need a 30-pin (iPhone 4) to Lightning (iPhone 5) with a long cable (1m) between the 2 ends.

Does such thing exist?

Apple sells a Lightning to 30-pin adapter.

If you're okay with 3rd-party solution, 30-pin female to Lightning adapter  could be closer to what you need, but there could be compatibility issues.

The kit includes this:

to which you can add Lightning 1m-extension cable which should get you from Lightning to 30-pin.

As far as I can see there is no single cable that does what you want.


USB to MagSafe 2 Adapter In case of an emergency, I'd like to use my solar powerbank to charge my Macbook 2015 13". It outputs 2.1A 5V, and I learned that the MBP can be charged with that, but I don't know if that's actually true (is it?). It would take about 12 hours to fully charge it I think, which is okay

Now next problem is finding a USB to MagSafe 2 Adapter. Any ideas?

What if I use USB to USB-C, and USB-C to Magsafe 2 adapters? :) Those are readily available on the market.

Edit. I've found this which simplifies things.

Do you think this is safe? (charging mbp with 11W)

Apple's MBP power cable supplies a maximum of 60W of power in order to both use the machine and recharge the battery at the same time.

If you're not using the MBP, then it's possible that 11W is enough to charge the battery, albeit very slowly, as you indicate.

It's unlikely that you would be able to use the machine with 0% battery on 11W, and even if you could, then the battery would barely recharge at all.

So, this might well work for the sort of emergency that required you to leave your MBP closed and plugged in for several hours until you could use it a bit.

Also: you will only draw the full power over USB C connector. USB 3.0 A connectors can only draw 0.9 A.


Safari prompting for local user account password on Apple websites When navigating to an Apple login page in Safari on macOS 10.15 it shows a Apple ID login window and prompts me to enter my local user account password (not my Apple ID password). From what I can tell, this is a Safari feature and is not a part of the webpage.

Is there anyway to disable this? I have all Safari autofill settings turned off as I use a third-party password manager. It is super annoying to wait several seconds for this window to be displayed and then have to click "cancel" before I can log in.

EDIT

It appears there is no way to disable this behavior. I have opened an issue in Feedback Assistant (FB7582188). Feel free to dupe it. https://openradar.appspot.com/radar?id=5003428010917888

This is a new feature with safari on macOS and Catalina when you are signed in to your iCloud / AppleID on trusted and keychain synchronized devices when communicating to some Apple secure services online.

Your local admin password unlocks they key store and sends a secure token rather than your iCloud password to authenticate you through Safari to Apple’s web site.

Ways to opt out:

Sign out of iCloud on that Mac.
Use a different browser.


File/Folder Bi-directional Sync I need a good bi-directional file/folder sync utility for my Mac running OS X El Capitan 10.11.5. I have tried some options but none seem to perform the tasks exactly that I need. What I need is this:

A utility that will update files and folder structure between my primary Mac HD and an NAS and it has to be bi-directional. The solutions I have tried so far either only update files in one direction or they will not update the folder structure between the two drives.
Automation as much as possible. I have reviewed a couple of utilities that claim the ability to do everything I need in #1 but will only work when launched manually.

The main utilities I have tried so far are Unison, rsync and the built in file merger capability of Mac OS X. Unison has not worked since I started setting it up. There seems to be a conflict between the type of NAS Unison needs to operate and how my NAS is set up. I have connected with afp which Unison does not recognize.

Rsync will update files if I run it twice, in two different directions. The problem with this approach is there is no analysis done by Rsync to determine which file version is the most recent.

The built in capability of Mac OS X to merge files has limited capability that works but it only works for files, not for folders.

I am basically looking for something similar to the offline file option available in Windows.

Thanks

Think about your exact requirements, and check whether they would also allow using a synchronization tool that is not file-oriented. Bittorrent Sync or its open source cousin SyncThing should fit your use case fine, if I imagine all your requirements correctly.


Can't write to my FAT32 USB drive on Mac I can't write to my USB on MacBook Pro. The USB was working well on both Windows and Mac until it stopped working on Mac suddenly (it's working well on Windows though). I reformatted it as FAT32 and tried other formats too (ExFAT,...etc) but, still facing the same issue.

Under "sharing and permissions", I find "you can only read" and it is greyed out so, I can't change it.

Any ideas are welcomed as I've been stuck in this since more than 2 weeks.

I have seen that issue (disk being read-only on Mac and read-write on Windows) before where it was caused by a slight disk corruption.

I solved it by plugging the USB drive into a Windows PC and running scandisk to check for and correct errors on the drive. Afterwards the drive worked just fine on both Mac and Windows for reading and writing.

Note that it is important to "safely eject" the drive whenever you want to disconnect the drive from the Mac or PC. On the Mac, you'll need to press the small up-arrow besides the drive name in Finder (called unmounting). On the PC you'll need to look in the dock for the icon for safe ejecting hardware, select your drive and eject it. Another option is to power down the PC/Mac whenever you want to unplug the drive, but that is cumbersome.

If you do not safely eject the drive, you risk corrupting the drive.


Stolen iPhone: what is the security risk? Unfortunately today my iPhone 6 Plus was stolen from my pocket on the streets of Sao Paulo. I did not have cellular data turned on. I had Touch ID and a 4 digit number lock in place.

How much data can an attacker get off the device? Presumably with access to the hardware he can pull off everything, but I understand it is encrypted?

In particular I am concerned about cached emails in the GMail app, and the Apple Keychain, which retains some credit card information and many passwords for internet sites.

About one hour after the phone was stolen, I received numerous password reset requests on my Facebook account. I have changed my master email password and Facebook login.

The iPhone never showed up on "Find my iPhone" and although I have requested a remote erase, I suspect that isn't going to happen.

Actually, the data on your iPhone 6 is encrypted at rest and furthermore no data comes off the device even if it is connected to a computer. Someone would need to brute force the PIN and then press Trust to trust a computer which would then be able to transfer off data or sync the device.

It's suspicious you got password resets. Perhaps the lock screen was configured to allow them to reply to messages or dial phone numbers or otherwise look at incoming mail. That would of course mean that the phone had WiFi or data connection - so in that case, the remote wipe is a good possibility.

I hope you get a response to the wipe, but you are in a fairly good situation all things considered.

Here are Apple's documents on how data is protected and what to do in the case your device is lost or stolen:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202775
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201472


Record my iPad screen on MacBook I have an iPad 1, and MacBook with Snow Leopard 10.6.8. I want to record my iPad screen to MacBook and share the video file.

I thought I can use AirServer and downloaded it. I mirrored my iPad with AirServer. I am able to see the iPad screen through AirServer on MacBook, but I'm not seeing any option to record my iPad screen.

Could someone advise what I'm doing wrong here?

There are several 3rd party AirPlay receivers which could run on Mac OS X and receive/record screen mirroring from an iDevice.

You have to download and install one of these applications. Try LonelyScreen (free) or Reflector ($15).

Another way is by using QuickTime. QuickTime on OS X 10.10+ can record iDevice screens, but you must connect your iDevice to Mac, while the AirPlay receiver method can work with Wi-Fi.


why apple hardware test doesn't see my network? I would like to check if the new installed ram can have generated a kernel panic with AHT (Apple Hardware Test). Restarting by pressing the D key the dropdown appears for the selection of the network but mine is not present. If I try to find it by entering the network name and the WEP password I get an error.

If I see all the other networks why I do not see mine?

And why the form don't accept my data?

My system is a Mac Mini late 2012 with Mac Os Sierra 10.12.6

I figured out that temporarily removing the WEP encryption allows access to the tool via the Internet and solved this issue.


Outlook 2011 crashing at startup (main window buggy) I was using Outlook (last v., updated) since the Mavericks update without any issue.

But since couple of days, when I start it, the main window takes 1 or 2 real minutes to display, and is very buggy (shadow is missing, it's cutted on the rigth), and unusable.
I can't figure out what I did whn it happens (only that I used Safari – instead of Fx – for 1 day, but didn't install anything).

Capture of the window (in Fr) – yes, no shadow (and I got a message in cosnole related to a bug with a background blur).

I rebuilt the main identity, checked for updates, and checked for unusual console messages, nothing. But, when I start the mac in safe mode (shift), it works.

Any idea to find what could mess up with Outlook?

Thanks!

Since it works in Safe mode here are some instructions:

1- To check if your user permissions need repair log in as differant user.

If no problem- repair your permissions.

2- This is more detailed one:

If it works in Safe Mode but not in normal mode…

    Remove Login Items. Open System Preferences > Accounts. Click on the Login Items tab. Remove items. You’ll have to test to see which one (s) is the culprit. Verify that you are running the latest updates for all applications. Some might not be Snow Leopard ready.
    Check your Fonts & delete font caches. There appears to be a widespread issue with FontBook and font substitution in 10.6. Something having to do with the fact that Snow Leopard has moved to .ttf as the preferred font library format over .dfont. Office does not need ANY of its fonts to “run.” See Font Management for details and help deleting font caches.
    Check for corrupt preferences.
        Test for corrupt Microsoft preferences. Sort for Microsoft in the User’s Library/Preferences folder.
        Test for other preference conflicts/corruption
            Go into your home folder and take the ~/Library/Preferences folder, and put all the files in there into a folder on your desktop called old_prefs. The Finder will lock up when you move them out the first time. Force quit the Finder.
            Now log out and back in, and you will see your Mac is now back to defaults.
            Test, if it works, you know its one of the preference files.
            Start with putting everything back in that starts with “com.apple” and log out/in.
            Slowly, a few preference files at a time, move the old ones back into place, and log out and back in, then test.
            Rinse and repeat until you find the bad preference.
        If the problem persists, try the same thing with the other sub-folders of ~/Library.
            ~/Library/Caches
            ~/Library/InputManagers
            ~/Library/Fonts (Office 2008 and 2011 no longer use this folder for fonts. You can delete or move to a Fonts disabled folder)
            ~/Library/PreferencePanes
            ~/Library/Application Support
            ~/Library/Application Enhancers


Can I run MacBook Pro Retina 13 inch early 2015 without a battery? I have a swollen battery, and want to remove it while waiting for the replacement.

Can I remove it and safely turn on the Mac only with the power chord?

Most Apple laptops will work safely, but slightly less reliably, with the battery removed. They will behave like a desktop computer that possibly has an inadequate power supply for full load conditions: remove the power, and everything goes poof, which is not ideal, given the ease with which a MagSafe or USB-C connector can disconnect. Repeated 'shocks' of this kind to the circuitry may cause damage to the filesystem.  So remember to Shutdown before removing the cable and keep good backups.

Some people say that the Mac may run at a lower clock speed, to reduce power load, though this may depend on model.

However, removal of the battery in this model is not easy. If you're planning on replacing it yourself, then crack on. Otherwise, you might just want to leave it alone until the repair is carried out.


How do I prevent nginx from auto-loading using homebrew? I'm using Mac High Sierra.  I install nginx with homebrw a while back, but I can't remember how to permanently stop it from running when my computer boots.  I have this file

localhost:mydir davea$ ls /Library/LaunchDaemons/*nginx*
/Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.nginx.plist

but even though "sudo brew services stop nginx", stops it, I don't want to have to keep running that every time I restart my machine.

The ‘stop’ verb to ‘brew services’ will stop the service from restarting automatically on boot having ‘unregistered it from launching at login (or boot)’ per the help text shown with ‘brew services’. The file you mention should be removed when you ‘stop’ the service.

You can check whether Homebrew believes the service is running or should run on startup with the ‘list’ verb.

$ brew services list
Name    Status  User Plist
nginx   started root /Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.nginx.plist

$ ls /Library/LaunchDaemons/*nginx*
/Library/LaunchDaemons/homebrew.mxcl.nginx.plist

$ sudo brew services stop nginx
Stopping `nginx`... (might take a while)
==> Successfully stopped `nginx` (label: homebrew.mxcl.nginx)

$ brew services list
Name    Status  User Plist
nginx   stopped

$ ls /Library/LaunchDaemons/*nginx*
zsh: no matches found: /Library/LaunchDaemons/*nginx*


Change font of Terminal programmatically w/o restarting At home I've got a nice big display that unfortunately does not have the same resolution as my retina macbook does.

I'd like to use a pixel-font on the low-res screen and a nice smooth one on the retina screen. To do this I've set up a script that listens to an event when the display is connected.

I've set up two profiles in Terminal.app, one for the low-res screen and one for the retina screen.

Is there a way to make a profile the "default" profile (eg using applescript) without restarting Terminal.app (otherwise defaults com.apple.terminal ... would have done it)

The following script works by changing the current default profile (so it's not entirely what I need, but might work if I find the names of all the settings I want to change):

#!/usr/bin/env osascript -l JavaScript
function run (argv) {
  var terminal = Application('Terminal');

  terminal.defaultSettings.fontName = 'creep';
  terminal.defaultSettings.fontSize = 16;

  // these don't seem to work
  // because I do not know their names, and it's hard to debug guessing them
  // terminal.defaultSettings.fontAntialiasing = false;
  // terminal.defaultSettings.fontHeigthSpacing = 0.8;
}

I'd have to write a script to revert the changes

Okay, after some fooling around in AppleScript editor (it has this nice thing called dictionary that shows you all available commands for a given App) I settled for this script:

#!/usr/bin/env osascript
on run {name}
  tell application "Terminal"
    set default settings to settings set name
    set current settings of tabs of windows to settings set name
  end tell
end run

Make it executable (chmod u+x change.applescript) and run it, passing in the name of the profile to activate:

./change.applescript creep

This will:

change the default profile, so all new windows will use it
change the profile of all tabs of all windows to the new profile, so open terminals get to use it too!


Can no longer edit my contacts in iOS 5 I just updated to iOS 5 on my iPhone 4, and now I can not edit my contacts. Where "edit" use to be is no longer there. If I type a new number on the keypad and hit add to existing contact, I can edit from there, but there is no "done" or "save". Not sure what to do.

This seems to be a bug. I ran into this same problem over the weekend when I was trying to add a new contact I had received over SMS. It seems that depending on how you get to the contact screen, the "Done" button may not be there. If you open the Contacts app (instead of getting to your contacts from the Phone app), you should get a contact screen that has the save button. Hope this helps.


Zoom and center selected portion of screen on MacOS The presenter in the video at https://developer.apple.com/wwdc18/407 does something fabulous with zoom on MacOS that I cannot figure out. He selects a portion of the screen (similar to the way you can select a portion of the screen to take a screenshot) and then zooms and centers on that selected area.

He does this several times. The first time is at about 13:35, though the selecting action can be difficult to see. It is much clearer when he does this at 17:22.

I've spent a good deal of time on Google to no avail. I can find no third-party software that adds this functionality to the system, either.

Is this a Mojave thing?

This is not exclusively a feature of macOS Mojave. This is an old, built-in feature from OS X.

Navigate to:

System Preferences → Accessibility → Zoom

Set Zoom Style to  Picture-in-picture .

You can adjust the coordinates of the selected portion by clicking  More Options...  →  Adjust Size And Location .


iTunes: making it remember the last song and position I have a big collection of music. I thought it would be so natural to remember the last playlist, the last song (and possibly also the position within the song) that I played before I closed iTunes, e.g. because I restarted the computer. So many applications do this, take XCode for example.

So is there maybe a script, or some kind of a plugin that does this? Or any other way?

Or maybe we should ask Apple to add this simple functionality?

Update: iTunes 10.6 remembers the last playlist, but still not the last played song. Well, getting closer each year...

You can use the Relaunch application: before close iTunes take a snapshot from iTunes with Relaunch and next time, load this snapshot (or set it to auto-load).

Relaunch saves you time by taking Snapshots of which applications you are using, and starts them back up for you. Think of it as a launcher on steroids that lets you switch between work contexts with one click.

You can take a snapshot before restarting your system, and after that double-click on the snapshot you created. Then it restores all your files and applications you had open.


Does SuperDrive read 8GB DVDs? I would like to read some old 8GB DVDs I burned on Windows years ago. Does Apple SuperDrive read that discs?

Reference:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-superdrive
https://www.amazon.com/Memorex-8-5-Double-Layer-DVD/dp/B000UWX70S
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD%2BR_DL

If, by 8GB DVDs, you mean they're DVD+R DL DVDs, then the answer is yes.

The Apple SuperDrive supports the following media types:

CD-R, CD-ROM, CD-RW
DVD+R, DVD+R DL, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM


Can I create a chat room for 3 different clients for Gtalk service? I'm using Adium on my Mac and I wish to communicate with several people. My friend on Linux uses Pidgin. Another friend is using Gtalk client and all using gtalk service. It's possible to create a chatroom to contain these clients similar to how Skype does group room chat?

In Adium:

Right click on one of the contacts, and use "Initiate Multiuser Chat with (name)@gmail.com"
You should now join a group chat yourself, and an invitation will be send to that contact.
Right click on the other contact, and select "Invite to Chat" → (The name of the private chat you created).
Now the other contact gets an invitation they should accept.


Restored a file from Time Machine when Backup Disk not available I found I had deleted a file I needed to keep, so I used the File Vault icon in the top right, and selected "Enter Time Machine".

After successfully restoring the deleted file from a snapshot from several days ago, I realised that my NAS - which functions as my backup disk, had been turned off the entire time. The Time Machine icon had the usual exclamation mark in it for when the backup disk is unavailable.

How did Time Machine restore my deleted file, when the backup disk was not available?

I believe it is because Time Machine (in 10.7 and 10.7) keep local backups to augment the external drives.

He is an Apple support article.

"Local snapshots compliment regular Time Machine backups (that are stored on your external disk or Time Capsule), giving you a "safety net" for times when you might be away from your external backup disk or Time Capsule and accidentally delete a file."


Unable to use Boot Camp to switch boot device between MacOS/Windows 10 I have a Mac Pro 4,1 upgraded to a 5,1 with MacOS installed on an SSD and Windows 10 installed via a hacked Boot Camp on a separate HDD.

I'm running a GTX680 GPU which is Mac OS flashed to allow the display of the Mac boot screen over HDMI, but as I run a displayport connection, this is not that convenient when I want to switch from one OS to another.

I can use the Boot Camp option under both MacOS and Windows to choose by boot drive, but the Mac will always boot to Windows unless I switch to an HDMI connection and use the alt-key on reboot to choose my startup drive.

The SSD with MacOS on it is connected to the second optical drive SATA connection; the Windows drive is in the first drive bay.

Any idea why choosing the boot drive via Boot Camp is not working?

You could try creating a USB flash drive with rEFInd installed. Make this your default boot drive. Next, see if rEFInd can be used to boot both operating systems. If so, then you could install rEFInd on your HDD or SSD to silently boot macOS.


Move Apps from old hard drive My 2009 MacBook's hard drive failed this weekend and I had to have it replaced on the spot or wait 3 days.  I have successfully used a connection cable to connect the old hard drive to the new one and managed to get most files over without any problems.

I am wondering if there is a way to transfer Apps, like Microsoft Office over to a new drive without having to use a product key?

I don't think I have that info as the software came with the computer that I bought used.

Generally speaking, only applications that were installed via drag and drop can be directly transferred from one drive to another via drag and drop.

Applications that use installers, such as Microsoft Office does, have to be properly installed from their installation media and you will need the product key in the case of Microsoft Office.

If you have a Time Machine backup of the old hard drive, you can get the product key out of its plist file and use it, if you can borrow a copy of the same version of Microsoft Office from a friend and use your product key to install it.


How can I stop incoming e-mails interfering with music playback? I use my iPod Touch to playback music. I have it plugged into a music system. When an e-mail is received the iPod notifies me by beeping and lowering the volume. This is undesirable for me.

How can I make my iPod play music and never lower the volume?

Because the iPod Touch doesn't have a Mute switch like the iPhone, you will have to disable all the alerts in Settings > Sound. This can be done by tapping "None" on each of the Sounds (i.e. New Mail, etc.)

If you have iOS 6, you can switch on Do Not Disturb. You can then customize the settings in Notifications > Do Not Disturb. You could allow all calls (Facetime for later gen iPods) by changing the "Allow Calls From" settings. However, there will not be any text notifications - or anything else for that matter.


How can I deploy an ad-hoc iOS app to a user without a Mac? One of my deployment iPhone owners does not have a Mac. What is the normal method for delivering apps, and can it be done with no computer or only a Windows machine?

The Ad Hoc Distribution method described in the answer to Deploy iOS app on personal devices looks like it will solve my problem, but I need more detail.

Today the most common way is to use TestFlight. This does not require a computer at all for the end-user installing the app. They will simply need to download the TestFlight app from the App Store, and use that to download and install your app.

The other options you have for deploying ad-hoc iOS apps are:

1) Using Apple Configurator (Mac-only)

2) Using Xcode (Mac-only)

3) Using iTunes (requires specific version of iTunes)

4) Using OTA installation

Options 1) and 2) are Mac-only, and thus cannot be used from Windows.

Option 3) requires you to have the 12.6.4 (or older) version of iTunes that includes the App Store. You can download it here for Mac and Windows:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208079

Option 4) requires you to have a SSL-enabled web server that you can distribute your app from. You'll need to create a special plist-file for you app and link to it using the itms-services protocol. You can read about it here:

https://community.scripture.software.sil.org/t/distributing-ios-ipa-apps-with-ota-over-the-air-instead-of-apple-app-store/728

NOTE: If you haven't got very specific reasons for not wanting to do so, your best option is to use TestFlight.


How to display exact modified date/time in finder? I want to display the exact modified date/time in Finder. How can I do this?

As you may know, it's displaying things like like "yesterday" or "today" or just a date. I want to see the time component too as that can be important in some situations.

Thanks

In Finder - View > Show View Options or  Cmd ⌘   J

Uncheck "use relative dates"


Can I partially use iCloud with someone else's Apple ID without syncing contacts to my device? I'm using my mum's Apple ID on my new MacBook Pro, so, because of iCloud, I'm receiving all her emails, I have all her contacts, etc. I just want to use her Apple ID for iTunes, the AppStore and Facetime. Can I stop sharing all her data?

Sure thing.

Go to the Apple logo in the top left corner > System Preferences > iCloud > Uncheck what you do not need or sign out all together if you want.

I recommend only checking off only what you do not need while keeping Find my Mac on. This way you can still track your MacBook Pro incase it goes missing.

On the other hand, if you choose to sign out from iCloud, your iTunes purchases, FaceTime, etc... will not be removed or affected.

Hope this helps.


Mac Mail can't send outgoing messages via GoogleMail Lately my Mail client can't send my outgoing messages. I have a gmail count, and it's configured properly. I can get the incoming messages all the time, but I can not send any. Also the connection doctor says the server is available.

Does anyone have an answer to that?
My mail version is Version 7.3 (1878.6).
my osx version is 10.9.4.

There appears to be a problem on Gmail's side with their SMTP servers. This seems to have afflicted all non-browser based email clients that rely on SMTP and is apparently affecting a large number of users.

By the looks of this thread, it appears that they are actively working on a solution.

I think for now, all we can do is wait on google to hopefully fix the problem on their end.

Update: the issue has now been resolved and outgoing gmail should work through Apple mail.


OSX Mail - deleting imap email without deleting on gmail server I am using Mail.app to access my gmail account (business / google apps email).

I want to delete a big pile of emails in Mail to clean up my inbox, but I want to keep those emails in gmail (IMAP server) so I look them up in the future by logging directly into gmail.

I'm new to Mail. Is there a setting where I can delete my emails in this account freely in Mail without deleting them at all from the gmail?

You can check Mailbox Behaviors in your Gmail account setting (under Accounts) and check Store deleted messages on the server. This will make your messages still available in other clients even if you delete them in the Mac where you have this setting.

Reference: Mail (El Capitan): Mailbox Behaviors preferences


Use iOS shortcut to schedule an email to myself Is it possible to create an iOS shortcut that will automatically send an email after a defined period of time, in iOS 14?
I’ve tried using the “get time between dates” to set “current time plus four hours” as a variable, but the Wait command in scripting only seems to accept seconds as an input.
I have to take medication every four hours for ADD and for a circulation problem. But I tend to forget as I easily loose track of time, as ADD interferes with how I perceive time.
I have a shortcut that sets a timer to run for four hours when I run it. But if my phone is on “do not disturb” I miss the notifications. I’d like the emails as a backup notification.

I found I was able to do this, using the following steps.

Create a new calendar in Google Calendar (TempCal) that is set to email reminder notifications.
Link Google Account to iOS, to allow iOS Calendar app can access and edit TempCal.
Create a new shortcut, with these steps:
Adjust date - Add [time] to current event.
Add Calendar Event - Add [event name] from Adjusted Date to Adjusted Date to TempCal

When the event occurs, Google Calender emails me.
I made another shortcut to clear TempCal’s events. I set an automation to run this shortcut every evening.

Find all Calendar events when start date is in last 48 hours and Calendar is TempCal
Choose from Calendar events (select all initially and select multiple options checked)
Remove Calendar events - chosen events.


Why is My iPhone's Lock Screen Wider than Usual? Serious iPhone issue Today on my way home, I accidentally dropped my iphone with the back facing the ground from about 1.2 metres in the air. All other iphone functions are not damaged except for the screen. My phone has a password and therefore iTunes cannot access it. Also, the screen is damaged so I cannot see anything, and cannot key in the password for my iphone. No matter how hard I slided on the screen it's still the same when I takes the next screenshot. Could it be that the screen had already slided to the side, that's why I couldn't slide to unlock? Or has the touch screen broken down? So what can I do to solve this type of problem? Any reccommendations of iPhone controller (connection from USB only)? I have no budget at all and would not spend any money on this.

If it's a software issue you can fix it resetting the phone back to factory defaults (just make sure you back up first).

If it's a hardware problem like the screen doesn't work or touchscreen is not responding to touches then there's no simple fix. You can only resolve this by repairing the broken hardware.


OSX Hierarchy questions and organization I've done extensive searching on these questions and have even come across others, however, they do not answer any of my questions.

What are ~/Library and /Library for respectively? I can see they store certain applications, but why there and not /Applications or ~/Applications? I'm confused between the 4.
In my personal system, I see go, git, and android-sdk directories in /usr/local for these programs. Why would these not be stored in those application or library directories I mentioned above?
I know this is all down to choice, but where do I store, or what is a common place to store libraries such as boost that I would use across all of my C++ programs?
in line with the question above, where should I store the projects/source files for my C++, Java, IOS, Android, etc. projects? I feel like my system right now is very unorganized with some projects on my desktop, home directory, etc. because of my ignorance on these things, I want to find a good, organized system.

OS X spawns from two different cultures: Unix/POSIX and Mac OS.

Folders like /usr, /var, /etc, the command line shell in the Terminal (bash by default) all belong to POSIX environment. Portable software targeting Unix-based systems (like git) go into /usr/local by default, or into package manager's defined location if installed by it (Homebrew uses /usr/local, MacPorts use /opt/local).

Library, Applications, /System and others belong to Mac OS specifically. Apple's software, services, and GUIs of third-party apps go there.

The ~ symbol in path is a traditional way to denote path to current user's home folder. Things that must not be seen by other user accounts go into ~/... counterpart. For example, Mail keeps emails in ~/Library, but standard stationery templates in /Library.

Library folders are supposed to be accessed by applications programmatically, not browsed by user via Finder. Since 10.9, ~/Library is hidden so that users won't unknowingly screw anything there.

There are no out-of-the-box recommendations how to store your files. They will be as good organized as you are good in organizing. They only thing to say in context of OS X is that your files must be in the home folder, but not in ~/Library, and probably not in ~/Public which exists to share files with others.


Making Terminal recognize HandBrakeCLI commands I just downloaded HandBrake on my Mac to edit videos (and compress them).

The GUI works fine, however, when I type the command HandBrakeCLI in Terminal, it does NOT find the command.

The specific issue I am trying to resolve is that I want Terminal to know where to find the HandBrakeCLI commands and related tools.

How do I do that once I have a working GUI?

How do you "activate" the HandBrakeCLI command on MAC?

This is what I am typing into my terminal:

username~ $ HandBrakeCLI -h
-bash: HandBrakeCLI: command not found

I got the idea to type that command from:

https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/CLIGuide

Have you downloaded the command line version?

From HandBrake's CLIGuide:

  tell the shell to look for the program in the current working
  directory. To run a command in the Terminal, you just type its name.
  But the shell will only look in the places where applications are
  usually stored (like /usr/bin/). You need to tell it to look in the
  current directory. To do that, precede the program name with ./ like
  this:

  ./HandBrakeCLI

  Of course, running that won't do much anything useful. If you run
  HandBrake without telling it what to do, it will just tell you to read
  the help...

Or: Instructions on how to compile Handbrake in OS X, probably what you're looking for.


Constant "please unlock iPhone" message in Photos 2.0 I recently upgraded my Mac Pro from Yosemite to Sierra, and whenever I plug in my iPhone 6s, both iTunes and Photos will open as they should.  However within Photos (and Image Capture), I get a "please unlock iPhone" message.  When I unlock my iPhone, everything proceeds.  While I do not get the "unlock phone" nag from iPhoto, however, my photo library has been converted to use Photos.

As per discussions at the Apple forums, I've reset my iPhone's network settings.  This prompted a fresh "trust this computer" dialog on my iPhone, for which I clicked "trust".  Unfortunately, this had no effect on Photos or Image Capture, which are still asking me to unlock the iPhone.

How can I get Photos and Image Capture to recognize this iPhone and stop asking me to unlock it?

macOS Sierra 10.12.3
Photos 2.0
iPhone 6s running iOS 10.2.1

Being very quick to press "trust" (on iPhones dialog 'trust this computer') might be a solution. Please see the detailed description here:
https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/297828/254849


Can I move the top menu bar? As a Windows/Fedora/Mac/Ubuntu user, the menubar at the top of the screen has always bugged me. It doesn't go away and you can't move it. I've tried dragging it away in vain several times. It would look so nice on the right, just like my taskbar.

But after experiencing success with asking other questions that I thought impossible, I decided to ask it here to see if anyone knows how. So, with no further ado:

How can I move the top menu bar in Mac OS X?

You can not re-position the menu bar, but you can configure it to be hidden when idle by checking the option 'Automatically hide and show the menu bar' under the General tab of System Preferences. Screenshot provided for further clarification.


Pages - new paragraph in the same list item? I create a numbered list:

1. Point 1
2. Point 2

and so on. Now I realised that the content of 2 requires two paragraphs

1. Point 1
2. Point 2, paragraph 1
   Point 2, paragraph 2

but pressing enter in a list just creates a new list entry.

Shift-Enter gives a new line but not the extra space you want to separate the paragraphs (c.f., this paragraph and the previous paragraph):

1. Point 1
2. Point 2, paragraph 1

   Point 2, paragraph 2

(There is too much space in this example but you hopefully get the point.)

How can this be achieved?

I solved it myself. Just duplicate the current list style and make the new style without a bullet in the appropriate section of the Format sidebar. Pages is smart enough to continue the numbering on the next paragraph where it left of in the previous paragraph.


Error with Oh My ZSH themes, ZSH_THEME="random I get the following message after installing Oh My ZSH and changing ZSH_THEME="robbyrussel" to ZSH_THEME="random" in .zshrc.

  Users/me/.oh-my-zsh/oh-my-zsh.sh:source:110: no such file or
  directory: /Users/me/.oh-my-zsh/themes/“random”.zsh-theme

Remove the "'s from the ZSH_THEME variable. You want:

ZSH_THEME=random

in your .zshrc file. See the zsh theme documentation for an example that shows it, clearly, without the "'s on the value.


Gatekeeper preventing from opening files from Finder (launching apps is fine) Here's what's happening (in Sierra, 10.12.5)

try to launch a non-application file which ISN'T a bundle (e.g. pdf, png -- numbers bundles will be fine) -- by double-clicking, or using open in the Terminal
A dialog is prevent with "FILENAME" is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the Trash.

What I've tried:

safe mode
running as a separate user

What I've discovered:

It's definitely related to gatekeeper: Turning gatekeeper off with sudo spctl --master-disable makes these images launchable.
Something is wrong with spctl the underlying command line utility which manages security policies. See below.

Problem with spctl:

If you run a basic command like spctl --assess -vvv --raw /bin/ls it replies with One or more parameters passed to a function were not valid. (I tried this as it is a diagnostic step in an old but closely related fix.

However running this same command with gatekeeper off gives the correct result.
I've also tried to restore the SystemPolicy db from the original by:

sudo spctl --master-disable
turning gatekeeper off
sudo cp -p /var/db/.SystemPolicy-default /var/db/SystemPolicy
copying the system policy
sudo chmod u+w /var/db/SystemPolicy fix perms
restart the computer
sudo spctl --master-enable
turning gatekeeper back on

But this hasn't helped (but in fact I don't think the SystemPolicy db has reverted back to the defaults -- it seems to grow massively in size (or possibly just revert back to the previous db) when I turn gatekeeper back on.

Any thoughts?

Just experienced a similar issue on a 10.13 system after having migrated it from a 10.12 system -- turns out /var/db/gkopaque.bundle wasn't valid, so I copied that from a good 10.13 system (by making a tarball as root on the good system, extracting it as root on the destination system), restarting (the system or killing syspolicyd), and that fixed the issue.


Can I browse the Mac App Store without Snow Leopard? I understand that Snow Leopard is required to install the Mac App Store and actually install apps. But is it possible to browse the store on the web the way you can with the iTunes Store?

It's possible to browse the Mac App Store in your browser. Here is the link to do so:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/mac/id39?mt=12


Macbook white thingy below keyboard button is broken I've got an early 2009 macbook pro, and I accidentally broke the white plastic mechanism underneath the S button. They are labeled 130 and 140 in the picture.

Does anyone have a clue what the white things under the key are named and where I can buy a cheap replacement?

They are sometimes called scissor clips. I have bought them from thebookyard.com, which is a Mac parts seller based in the UK. Apple is known to replace them for free as a walk up service at the Genius Bar and you of course can order official repair parts from a variety of sources.

Be aware that different keys on the same keyboard can have minute differences in the layout and size of these supporting clips even when the key cap size is identical.


How do I change the resolution for the external monitor to 2048x1152 HiDPI? I just got a Dell P2421DC monitor and connected it through USB-C to my MacBook Pro 13'' from 2017 running on Big Sur 11.1. I know that the font won't be all crisp and Retina is just way better anyways, but I read that running it on 2048x1152 HiDPI would give me a better result for the fonts. Is it possible to do this with SwitchresX? I read so many posts already but just couldn't find a solution that works (since I'm not a coding expert anyways)...

The Dell P2421DC is a 24" 2560 x 1440 display. You can set your display to use 2048 x 1152 HiDPI, which will use the full pixel range, but scale objects up, making them appear larger. Whether text will be clearer will have to be seen. You'll also be taxing your graphics processing by scaling to a 1.25 factor, rather than whole number pixels.
Hold down ALT when you click on the 'Scaling' radio button in System Preferences > Displays to produce more options.
Your monitor has has pixel density of 122 pixels per inch. A Mac Retina display typically has a density of 218 ppi. You're never going to get close to a Retina display clarity with that hardware.
Earlier MacOS versions did have better smoothing for lower-density displays, but this has been removed, for reasons that only Apple knows about.


Put windows on a *partitioned* external hard drive? I'm a Mac user who needs access to a windows program. Instead of using bootcamp (which I've used in the past) I'd like to put windows on one partition of an external hard drive so I don't have to take up space on my computer. What I'm after is being able to boot into windows from one partition and leave the other partition free to use for extra storage (on mac or windows, like a flash drive). [Here is the tutorial][1] I followed, but when I go to boot into windows on my mac it says "Unable to verify startup disk". Does anyone know how to resolve this?
(Note: I did do this a couple years ago with my old mac and it worked, and I don't remember what tutorial I used. So it is possible, at least with mac os from a couple years ago)
Thanks in advanced!
EDIT: This is regarding a 16" MacBook Pro running mac os catalina
[1]: https://www.instructables.com/id/Installing-Windows-on-External-Drive-With-Mac-Part/

The link you have provided outlines a method which requires a third party tool to install Windows 10 on an external HDD or SSD. The use of third party tools is unnecessary since Apple and Microsoft together provide all the necessary software required to install Windows 10 on an external HDD or SSD of any intel based Mac that can boot Windows 10 from an external HDD or SSD.
You can either add partitions for additional volumes on the external drive while installing Windows or you can add the partitions after you have installed Windows.
Most users install Windows 10 to EFI boot from the external drive. Many answers have been posted here at Ask Different regarding the installation of Windows 10 to EFI boot from external drives. An example of how to install Windows 10 on a external drive can be found here. You can add additional partitions to the external drive by either of the methods given below.

By modifying the steps given in the link to add additional partitions through the use of the diskpart command.
By using the Windows Disk Management tool to add the additional partitions after installing Windows 10

Note: If you need an ExFAT volume, you may need to first created a FAT formatted partition using Windows, then use macOS to reformat to ExFAT.


Subtract files in folder A from folder B I've got folder A with 8000 images and folder B with 9000 images. Folder B contains the 8000 images from folder A as well as additional 1000 images. I would like to delete the 8000 images which are already in Folder A, leaving only the "new" 1000 images.

Does anyone know an elegant way to get the job done? (btw. I can not sort them by date and get the newer ones)

You can use a simple bash script to do this::

for file in *.*; do if [ -f "/FolderA/${file}" ]; then rm "/FolderB/$file"; fi; done;

This script assumes you are already in FolderB, which is where you want to delete the files that already exist in FolderA.

You can tweak it if you know the extension of the image files (ie, .png, .gif, etc) and you have the exact folder names. So instead of *.* you can use *.png or *.gif.

A MUCH safer version:

for file in *.*; do if [ -f "/FolderA/${file}" ]; then mv "/FolderB/$file" ~/.Trash; fi; done;

This will move the file to the Trash.  Using rm is a one-way-street.  Once you hit enter on an rm command, it's done; that file is gone forever.  Move to the Trash to ensure you got the results you are looking for.


Reliable software to record webcam videos longer than 5 hours? i'm doing university exams over the next, and due to covid, I have to do them at home, and record. I need to be able to record for around 5 hours continuously, - if the video fails i'll fail the exam. I've never done this before, and don't know about any software / any limits on software I have. + I don't have a camera, - only macbook.

Edit:
model is MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2018), running Mojave version 10.14.6 (18G8022)

I tested a few last year when I had to keep a watch on some people who were blocking my driveway (yeah, ikr;)
I tried a few, but the one that seemed to behave the best was SecuritySpy [approx £34, with free 30-day trial]. It can do a lot more than you need it to do, multi-camera, motion sensing, etc, but one of the simplest tasks it can do is just 'record until you tell it to stop', or you can preset 'record 5 hours' etc. It also timestamps in the corner of the video.
You can set it to a low refresh & low fps so it doesn't eat your drive making cinematic quality movies, if all you need is a record of you not sneaking off to the local library or having the answers written down right next to you.


Properly delete and then restore everything in iCloud Photos Due to what seems to be a very unusual bug, the storage counter for my iCloud account is stuck thinking that I have occupied more Photos storage than I really have. I was briefly in contact with Apple support, and I want to empty iCloud of photos and videos completely (basically down to 0 bytes). I want to do this to make sure that the storage usage is properly calculated.

After deleting all Photo/Video content in iCloud, I then want to restore the photos, videos, and preferably also all meta data (dates, folders, locations…) in its entirety.

Question: What would be the suggestible way to accomplish this?

I have Photos on my iMac set to "Download and keep all originals". Can I simply make a backup of Photos Library.photoslibrary, then go to iCloud.com and delete everything in the "Photos app", and somehow restore everything from the photoslibrary file?

I want to be absolutely sure that everything on iCloud is properly saved and restored. Even if that means that I have to download everything from iCloud.com – in case that the photoslibrary file for some discrepant reason may be incomplete relative to what's actually in iCloud.

"Download and keep all originals" is the correct setting to get all your photos onto your Mac. These originals are stored in Photos Library.photoslibrary, you can check the exact location of your library by launching the photos app while pressing option.
You can also check for syncing problems by creating a smart album, looking for files failed to sync.

After you have double-checked all of the above and saved your library on a secure place you go to System Preferences -> iCloud and choose Manage in the lower right corner (I don't know the exact translation, I'm using my Mac in another language). In the popup menu, choose photos and then delete from iCloud Drive.

The photos will be stored online for the next 30 days, so you are able to download them again, in case you made a mistake. After that period (make yourself a calendar entry) you can activate iCloud Photo Library again, and all your files will be uploaded again.


Can't open doc file in Libreoffice: this file is from an unidentified developer I want to open a doc (word) file which is created on a Windows computer about 10 years ago. When I open this file I get the following message:

"Test12345.doc" is from an unidentified developer. Are you sure you want to open it? Openining "Test12345.doc" will always allow it to run on this Mac.

At first Pages opened this file. I never use Pages, have always set Libreoffice to handle Word files including doc, but apparantly Apple found it necessary to overwrite this setting. So after opening this in Pages, then closing it, and trying to open it in Libreoffice and resetting LO as default application for doc files, this happens.

When I open the file info now, Libreoffice is set as default app for opening doc files, and it shows that I have read and write access for the file.

Why do I get this message? I don't want to open an application, I want to open a document? What causes this?

Select the file in the Finder.
Press CMD-I to open the info window.
Find the "Open with" part, and click the triangle to open it if it's not open already.
Click the dropdown menu, and choose "other", even if the preferred app is in the list.
Then find the right app, and check "always open with".
Then click the "change all" button.

Now it should work.


Is there music library software for OSX that works like Picasa does to replace iPhoto? I'm kinda new to OS X, but loving it. I have decided to replace iPhoto with Picasa and want a replacement for iTunes that works more like Picasa.

There are just some apps that really get on my nerves. For instance, it really bothered me how iPhoto moved all my photos that I had carefully organized, to some random folder. So finally I decided to switch to Picasa, which has the exact same functionality and doesn't move any of my files.

Recently I'm having same troubles with iTunes: I can't find where the music files I just imported from a CD are, and I just found out that iTunes creates a huge folder where it copies all your music files (this folder, in my case, is over 50 Gb). All of this is really annoying.

Is there any option for iTunes, such as Picasa for iPhoto?

EDIT: I'm basically looking for something to organize and play my music nicely, with a good OS X integration. I don't have a iOS device, so no sync or cloud service is actually needed.

If you like the basic functionality of iTunes, you can just disable its folder management activities in iTunes Preferences by removing the highlighted check marks below:

(English):


How to change the kind of a Keychain item? How can I change the kind of a Keychain item?

I'd prefer to do this via a GUI, command line (if no GUI), then lastly code (if no GUI or command line tool).

You can't directly change the kind of a Keychain item because item details use different schemas.

  generic        internet
  ═══════        ════════
  account ────── account
  creator ────── creator
  type    ────── type
  kind    ───┐  ★domain
 ★value      └── kind
  comment ────── comment
  label   ────── label
 ★service       ★path
  password───┐   port
             │  ★protocol
             │  ★server
             │  ★authenticationType
             └── password

You'll need to read out the information for the item you want to change, then create a new item with the new values where applicable.


How to change multiple file type associations on the Mac at once? I want to change my default media player in macOS.

(In my case, I want to change it to my own AppleScript-created instance of VLC that I exported as ‘VLC-New-Window.app’, which is scripted to always open files in a new VLC instance so that it doesn’t override the existing paused playlist or video file I want to keep in the background.)

It is very tedious to find an example of every file type I use VLC for (whether mkv, avi, mp4, m4v, m4a, m4b, mp3, flac, or m2ts), right-click on it, and manually set the new default program each time.

And honestly I’d like every audio or video file type that VLC can open to be applied here so that I never have to worry about this again.

Is there any method that can help automate this, or do this in batch?

Step 1: Put the list of file types (from one of the categories below) into a text file at ~/types.txt, with one per line as shown.
Below are very exhaustive lists for three common media file categories.
Audio:
.2sf
.3ga
.a52
.aa
.aa3
.aac
.aax
.abc
.ac3
.acd
.acm
.act
.adg
.adts
.afc
.ahx
.aif
.aifc
.aiff
.al
.alac
.amb
.amr
.amz
.aob
.apc
.ape
.apf
.apl
.atrac
.au
.avr
.awb
.bap
.bmw
.bwf
.caf
.cda
.cfa
.cidb
.cm3
.cmc
.cmr
.cms
.copy
.cpr
.cwp
.dac
.dcf
.dcm
.dct
.dfc
.dff
.dig
.dlt
.dmc
.dsd
.dsdiff
.dsf
.dss
.dst
.dts
.dtshd
.dtswav
.dvf
.efa
.efe
.efk
.efv
.emd
.emx
.f64
.fc
.fl
.flac
.flp
.fst
.g726
.gnt
.gpx
.gsf
.gsm
.hma
.hmi
.hmp
.htk
.htw
.hvl
.iff
.iklax
.imw
.imy
.its
.ivc
.k26
.kar
.kdm
.kfn
.koe
.koz
.kpl
.ktp
.latm
.lds
.lha
.loas
.lqt
.lvp
.m3u
.m3u8
.m4a
.m4b
.m4p
.m4r
.ma1
.mat
.mdat
.mds
.mid
.midi
.mids
.mini2sf
.minidsf
.minigsf
.minincsf
.miniqsf
.minissf
.miniusf
.mio
.mka
.mlp
.mmf
.mon
.mp2
.mp3
.mp+
.mp_
.mpa
.mpc
.mpd
.mpp
.mpt
.mpu
.msv
.mt2
.mte
.mtp
.mup
.mus
.mxp4
.mzp
.ncor
.ncsf
.nki
.nrt
.nsa
.ntn
.nwc
.odm
.oga
.ogg
.oma
.omg
.omx
.opus
.ots
.ove
.paf
.pcast
.pcm
.pek
.pfv
.pla
.pls
.pna
.prog
.pvc
.qcp
.qsf
.r1m
.ra
.rax
.rex
.rf64
.rfl
.rif
.rmi
.rmj
.rmt
.rns
.rsd
.rso
.rti
.rx2
.sa1
.sap
.sbr
.sd2
.sds
.sf
.sfa
.sgt
.sid
.smf
.snd
.sng
.sns
.sprg
.spx
.sseq
.ssf
.ssnd
.str
.swa
.syh
.sz
.tac
.tap
.tfm
.tfmx
.tfx
.tm2
.tm8
.tmc
.trm
.tta
.ul
.usf
.usflib
.vag
.vmo
.voc
.voi
.vox
.vpm
.vrf
.vy1
.vyf
.w01
.w64
.wav
.wma
.wrk
.wus
.wut
.wv
.wve
.wwu
.xa
.xfs
.xhe
.xi
.xmi
.zgr
.zvr

Video:
.3g2
.3gp
.3mm
.3p2
.60d
.264
.aaf
.aec
.aep
.aepx
.ajp
.am4
.amv
.arf
.arv
.asd
.asf
.asx
.avb
.avd
.avi
.avp
.avs
.ax
.axm
.bdmv
.bik
.bix
.box
.bpj
.bup
.camrec
.cine
.cpi
.cvc
.d2v
.d3v
.dav
.dce
.ddat
.divx
.dkd
.dlx
.dm_84
.dmb
.dpg
.dream
.dsm
.dv
.dv2
.dvm
.dvr
.dvx
.dxr
.edl
.evo
.f4v
.fbr
.fbz
.fcp
.flc
.fli
.flv
.gts
.gvi
.gvp
.h3r
.hdmov
.ifo
.ircp
.irf
.ivr
.ivs
.izz
.izzy
.m1pg
.m2p
.m2t
.m2ts
.m2v
.m4e
.m4u
.m4v
.m21
.mbf
.mbt
.mbv
.mj2
.mjp
.mk3d
.mkv
.mnv
.mocha
.mod
.moff
.moi
.mov
.mp4
.mp4v
.mp21
.mpeg
.mpg
.mpg2
.mqv
.msdvd
.mswmm
.mts
.mtv
.mvb
.mvp
.mxf
.mzt
.nsc
.nsv
.nut
.ogm
.ogv
.ogx
.pds
.pgi
.piv
.plb
.pmf
.pns
.ppj
.prtl
.psh
.pvr
.pxv
.qt
.qtl
.r3d
.ram
.ratdvd
.rm
.rmbv
.rms
.rmvb
.roq
.rpf
.rpl
.rum
.rv
.sdv
.sfvidcap
.slc
.smk
.spl
.sqz
.sub
.svi
.swf
.tda3mt
.thm
.tivo
.tod
.tp0
.trp
.ts
.ty
.udp
.usm
.vcr
.veg
.vft
.vgz
.vid
.viewlet
.vlab
.vmb
.vob
.vp6
.vp7
.vro
.vsp
.vvf
.wd1
.webm
.wlmp
.wmmp
.wmv
.wmx
.wp3
.wtv
.xfl
.xvid
.zm1
.zm2
.zm3
.zmv

(For the few file extensions that I'm aware can apply to either video or audio, e.g. .ram, .mp4, .3gp, .3g2, I've put such an extension into the video list).
Image:
.006
.007
.1ff
.1im
.3dmf
.3dx
.7tif
.8pbs
.abm
.abr
.adi
.aex
.ai
.ais
.ait
.albm
.amu
.apng
.ard
.art
.arw
.asat
.avif
.b16
.bil
.bitmap
.bld
.blend
.blkrt
.blp
.blz
.bmc
.bmp
.bob
.bpg
.br4
.br5
.bum
.c4
.cadrg
.catpart
.ccx
.cdr
.cdt
.cdx
.cel
.cgm
.cht
.clp
.cm2
.cmx
.cmz
.comicdoc
.cpl
.cps
.cpt
.cr2
.csf
.cur
.cv5
.cvg
.cvi
.cvx
.dae
.dcim
.dcm
.dcr
.dcs
.dds
.design
.dib
.dng
.drg
.drw
.drwdot
.dt2
.dvl
.dwb
.dwf
.dxb
.easm
.ebm
.ec3
.edp
.edrw
.edw
.emf
.eprt
.eps
.epsf
.epsi
.exr
.fac
.face
.fbm
.fbx
.fc2
.fcz
.fd2
.fh11
.fhd
.fit
.flic
.flm
.fm
.fpf
.fs
.fw
.fxg
.gcimgd
.gif
.graffle
.gtx
.hd2
.hdz
.heic
.heif
.hpd
.hpi
.hr
.hr2
.htz4
.ibl
.icl
.icns
.ico
.icon
.icq
.ics
.idw
.ief
.iff
.iges
.igr
.ilbm
.ilm
.im1
.im24
.im32
.im8
.ima
.image
.ime
.imi
.ims
.ipj
.irf
.iss
.itc2
.ithmb
.j2k
.jfi
.jfif
.jif
.jiff
.jng
.jp2
.jpe
.jpeg
.jpf
.jpg
.jpg2
.jpm
.jps
.jpw
.jpx
.jt
.jwl
.jxl
.jxr
.k25
.kdc
.kodak
.kpg
.lda
.ldm
.let
.logo
.lt2
.ltz
.lva
.lvf
.lwf
.lxf
.mac
.macp
.mbm
.mcs
.mcz
.mdi
.mgs
.mgx
.mic
.mip
.mj2
.mng
.mpf
.mpo
.mtz
.mur
.nav
.ncr
.neu
.nff
.ngg
.njb
.nol
.nrw
.ntc
.nth
.odi
.odif
.ola
.opd
.ora
.ota
.otb
.otc
.otg
.oti
.ovw
.p21
.p2z
.pac
.pal
.pat
.pbm
.pc6
.pc7
.pcc
.pcd
.pct
.pcx
.pdb
.pdn
.pef
.pfm
.pgc
.pgm
.pi2
.pic
.picnc
.pics
.pict
.pictclipping
.pl0
.pl2
.pln
.plt
.pmb
.png
.pol
.pp2
.ppm
.ppsx
.prw
.ps
.psb
.psd
.psf
.psg
.psp
.pspimage
.psq
.pvl
.pwd
.pws
.px
.pxr
.pz2
.pz3
.qtif
.qtl
.qtz
.qxd
.ras
.raw
.rgo565
.ric
.rlc
.rle
.rs
.rsb
.rsrc
.rw2
.sct
.sdk
.sdr
.sec
.set
.sfw
.sgi
.sig
.skp
.sldasm
.slddrw
.sldprt
.snx
.srf
.sst
.sun
.sup
.svg
.svgz
.t2b
.targa
.tcw
.tcx
.tex
.tga
.tif
.tiff
.tjp
.tn
.tpf
.tpx
.trif
.trx
.u3d
.upx
.urt
.utx
.v00
.v3d
.vfs
.vga
.vis
.vpb
.vrl
.vtx
.wb1
.wbc
.wbd
.wbmp
.wbz
.webp
.wgs
.wi
.wmf
.wnk
.x-face
.x_b
.x_t
.xbm
.xcf
.xdw
.xip
.xpm
.xsi
.xwd
.yuv
.zdl
.zif
.zno
.zprf
.zt

(The above lists were collated from sources including dotwhat.net as at 2020.09.30 (audio, video, image), VLC's formats wiki, foobar2000 documentation, my own knowledge, and various programs' save / export file dialogues. From such sources, I removed a few that I deemed unsuitable as they are commonly used in non-media file contexts and may conflict, e.g. .xz was in a dotwhat.net media list, but it's usually an archive format.)
Some extensions may not open in the universal media player / image viewer you want to switch to, but you can fix it on a doesn't-work basis after the switch.
Step 2: Create temporary dummy files of every extension in an above category in your user folder.
Open Terminal.app, and using your txt file above do the following command:
while read -r line ; do mkfile 1b file${line} ; done < types.txt

Step 3: Select all dummy files in Finder at once, then press option+command+I. Under 'Open With', select the program you want to change the default to, make sure to click on 'Change All...' button, confirm, and it is done.


How can you get an app running in Terminal to scroll properly (as on Ubuntu)? Example: In Terminal, I fire up elinks and browser to a web page. I try to use the trackpad scroll gesture and the page up and page down to scroll up and down the web page that elinks is showing me. But instead of scrolling the web page, Terminal scrolls the entire scrollback buffer.

In Ubuntu, elinks will scroll properly when you press page up and page down and the scrollwheel.

This also applies to other console-based POSIX programs like Vim.

Any suggestions on how to get these programs to accept trackpad scroll gestures in OS X?

To use a mouse wheel or trackpad to scroll in Terminal.app you'll need to install MouseTerm. After installing MouseTerm you'll need to add set mouse=nicr to your .vimrc file:

echo "set mouse=nicr" >> ~/.vimrc

If you're still not able to scroll in elinks it's possible that it wasn't compiled with GPM (General Purpose Mouse) support. Since elinks isn't a native application to OS X you probably installed through MacPorts or Homebrew. I'd open the "formula" file for elinks /usr/local/Library/Formula/elinks.rb (by default for Homebrew) and verify that --without-gpm isn't anywhere to be found.

Though your question states you want to do this in Terminal.app I'd recommend taking a look at iTerm2 which supports this natively, and has quite a bit more to offer then the stock Terminal app.


How much time compression does the Camera app's time lapse mode apply? When I take a time lapse using the built in camera on my iPhone how much faster does the video play back relative to a normal video?

According to this blogpost from 2014, when the feature was released with iOS 8, the speed adjusts based on the length of the recording:

<10 minutes -- 2 frames every second -- 15x

10 minutes to 20 minutes -- 1 frame every second -- 30x

20 minutes to 40 minutes -- 1 frame every 2 seconds -- 60x

40 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes -- 1 frame every 4 seconds -- 120x

1 hour 20 minutes to 2 hours 40 minutes -- 1 frame every 8 seconds -- 240x

Every time the recording length doubles, the frame capture time and playback speed doubles as well. The author tested up to 8 hours and mentions that Apple referred to a 30 hour time-lapse...


iPhone XS the display works but not the touch I tried to turn on my iPhone XS; I succeeded but now that I have closed it again the display works but not the touch.
It doesn't matter where I touch, it doesn't work. The rest of the phone works, however.
What could it be?

There are only two pathways to address this:

Reset your phone.  Obviously, you need to make sure you have a backup of your data.

You need to take it in for service.  The Apple employee will actually repeat step one (and inform you about making a backup as well).

The digitizer (the portion that detects touch input) has died.  Unfortunately, it's no longer a separate components, but it's now glued to the LCD (the portion that displays images).  The whole assembly will need to be replaced.
There is a possibility that the logic board malfunctioned and the digitizer and display is still good, but without opening it up and putting hands on, it's impossible to tell - you still have to take it in.


Copy & Paste is not working in my Kali Linux Virtual Machine I am running VMWare Fusion 11.5 Pro on Mac OS X 10.15 Catalina

Copy & Paste is not working in my Kali Linux and my host (Mac OS X)

I checked the settings I see this

I search around, people suggest to install VMWare Tools.

I went to the menu the option is not lid up .

I am hitting the dead end.

What else should I check ?

It takes me 2 weeks to stuck in this annoying stage.
If someone else, also face this issue run these in your Kali
apt-get update
apt install -y --reinstall open-vm-tools-desktop fuse
reboot

These 3 commands work for me.
Result


iPhone 5 won't turn on after screen repair A couple of months ago, my iPhone 5 started to have lines on the screen. A common thing that some people do to diagnose that problem is to open the phone and disconnect the connectors to the screen, clean them a bit, and then put them back.

I tried to do it, but once the screen was back in place and I replugged the battery (because I unpluged it for safety reasons when I removed the screen), the iPhone wouldn't turn on.

I've tried the same procedure a couple of times but it still won't turn on.

It's been 3 months now. Can anyone help me?

I know this is a dead thread, but you may have possibly bricked the device. Try to make sure all screws inside are intact and screwed in properly and all cables are plugged in properly. You could have also damaged the battery. If you have another iPhone of the same model you can try swapping out the battery and see if it works in the other phone. If it does not, try replacing the battery. If it does work, try to turn it on and then call it or use find my iPhone or plug it in (just do something that would make noise and make sure the ringer switch is on so it will make noise). If it does not work you may have a damaged logic board and you will probably be better off buying a new phone.


After Time Machine restores a system: what's the permissions fix; why is it needed; what happens without it; why is it not integral to restoration? There are two places that a permissions fix is mentioned, needed after Time Machine restored the system: story 1 and story 2.

But what is a permissions fix and why is it needed?  What if you don't do such a fix, then what will happen?  (why is the fix not built into the Time Machine restore?)

The permissions fix is to Open Disk Utility, select your boot disk and run the Repair Disk Permissions

What this does is compare the permissions of the files and directories installed by Apple to what is expected and changes them if needed.

If you have just installed OSX and then installed from a good backup then all the files will have the correct permissions and will not change anything. So it is a step that is a double check and probably not required but might find something on odd occasions.  I would not run this as if there was a difference between expected and actual permissions I would want to know what it is and work out what action broke the set up and fix that error and fix that action.


iMac Superdrive Replacement I have a late 2009 iMac 24 (9,1)

Basically, my superdrive is either dead, or dieing.  I put a disc in it recently, and it failed to do anything other than make odd noises then eject it.  Then on certain discs it would make an awful grinding noise repeatedly like a circular saw, then eject the disc (no apparent damage to it).  Then it took a disc in, buzzed a bit, and the drive just dissappeared, even system report couldn't see the hardware, never mind the disc inside.

I reboot holding option down allowed me to software eject, and since then I can repeat the above behaviour until the system seemingly abandons it.

Frankly, I always thought it was a bit dodgy (I bought it 2nd hand), as it was really SLOW to install the OS from and rip CDs etc compared to a cheap USB one I have.

So, the question is, how do I replace it, and what should I replace it with?  I'm happy to use a non apple part, so long as I can still use it in the same way without it complaining about being incompatible in iMovie/iDVD etc.

I know I can go external, and indeed have 2 external drives, but I don't like the clutter, and it seems that DVD player won't touch them anyway:

Getting the glass and LCD panel off without snapping cables is tougher than you may think, my recommendation would be to have it repaired by a professional. I'm not sure how much prices vary around the world but we would charge around £90 for the part and £40 for labour (if it's an optical drive) plus taxes. As things go, it's not an expensive repair.

If you're hell-bent on DIY then I'm sure there are places out there you can get parts and manuals/take apart guides. It may end up more expensive if you damage anything yourself, and of course there's no warranty on the repair!

The other option would be to use an external drive. There are loads of options out there at varying price points.


How can I generate dynamic keynote presentations? I'd like to build a series of Keynote presentations that contain some dynamic elements. By that I mean some elements are "compiled" in later. For example if I have a code sample on a slide, I want to be able to pull the latest code sample in from an external file when it is time to create the presentation. So 75% of the presentation is static, but then 25% needs to be included at the last minute. There should be some sort of place holder that is preformatted, and then the specific text is added in with the correct formatting.

Also these dynamic bits may be included from one of a few different sources. For example if the presentation is on Java it would include Java examples, but the next time it could include Objective-C examples.

In the past I end up effectively forking my Keynote presentation by creating a new copy, adding the dynamic bits manually, and then updating it. But then when the next presentation comes up I end up repeating the process, and since the forked copy is updated from the original, then I need to fork it from there, which means cutting out all the dynamic bits and replacing them. So I would like a better solution.

Seems like this is something that should be able to be accomplished through AppleScript or Automator, but I honestly know little about these two tools.

Thanks in advance!

You could create your keynote presentation as a series of separate files (either slides, or sections, eg. slides 1-20, slides 21-25, slides 26-40) and then merging them using Automator. This way you could simply replace slides 21-25 with alternative versions prior to merging?


iTunes - adding content to third party app Prior to this iTunes 12 update, there was a way to navigate to the apps on your iPad and select a third party app from the App Store, then be able to 'add media' to that application. I would put home videos and other content to CineXPlayer this way.

With iTunes 12, I no longer see this option for my third party video player. Is this no longer supported? Are third party video apps out of business?

Launch iTunes
Plug in iDevice, then...

select iDevice
Select Apps
Scroll down on the right-most scroll-bar until you see the File Sharing header
In that section, select your app

Then you can drag & drop to the right section

I shrunk my iTunes window down as small as it would go to show all the info without taking up too much room in here

Rebooting the phone may help if connectivity is an issue.


Manually retrieve video from an in-app recording. (5th Gen iPod) Is it possible to retrieve a recorded video that is stored in-app?

The video can't be accessed anywhere else on the iPod (as far as I'm aware) - I only know that it is data under Applications.

This app has been specially designed for business purposes - however the tech support at this small company have been far from helpful.

If anyone can offer any suggestions, I'd be very grateful.

If the App support this feature You can copy the video from iTunes else you have to use third party applications like PhoneView or iFunBox

Using iTunes:

Open the iTunes
Connect the device
select the device from sidebar or device menu
Select the Apps tab on device window (right side column)
Scroll down, below the apps list there will be another list of app
Search for the your app in that list (if the app support shared folder it will be listed here) and select.
On right side the shared document for that app will be listed from there You can select and save the video.

Using Other App (PhoneView or iFunbox)

Download and install the app from the links above
Connect the device and open the utility (PhoneView or iFunbox)
Select The device from the left side bar
Double click to list the user application
Search for your screen recorder app and double click on it to show the content
Inside the app there will be a document folder.
There you can see your video. just drag the file to desktop or you can export the file to some other location from the menu.


"Clean up by name" isn't sorting my files in alphabetical order I have a folder containing six subfolders. Right-clicking on the Finder background and clicking "Clean up by name" sorts them into the order "1.0", "1.5", "1.6", "1.25", "1.56", and "2.0". This is quite annoying, because that's neither in any lexicographic order (as I'd expected) nor in increasing numerical order, so it always takes a moment to find the right subfolder I want. What order does "Clean up by name" sort files into?

OS X Yosemite v10.10.5

Selecting Clean Up By Name sorts things by alphanumeric order1.

Using your example, you're actually mistaken in saying that the items aren't listed in some sort of increasing numerical order. The order you provided is:

 1.0, 1.5, 1.6, 1.25, 1.56, and 2.0.

However, the 4th and 5th values above can be interpreted as one point twenty-five and one point fifty-six. So, 25 is larger than 6, and 56 is larger than 25, and so on.

By way of comparison, MS Windows does the same thing.

So, why does this happen?

Well, just like databases and spreadsheets, most operating systems use strings to store data, in this case filenames.  Normally this works pretty well, but in examples like yours it is counterintuitive and that's why many people end up using naming conventions that add zeros to a filename (for example, instead of 1.5 it'd be 1.50 instead).

Recently I had to set up a workflow for an organisation that was going to produce an animation every Wednesday for the next three years. They wanted their files to be called NewsImage1, NewsImage2, etc. I had to explain to them it needed to be NewsImage001, NewsImage002 and so on so that by the time they were finished the animations would still be listed in order from NewsImage001 to NewsImage156. (If it were up to me the filenames would have used a dating scheme such as NewsImage201701 and so on, but alas it wasn't my call).

This sorting is also known to cause problems in certain industries, but as far as I know the only workaround in macOS is to add the zeroes to filenames as I've described above. In Windows you used to be able to manually edit a registry key, but I'm not sure that's still possible.

For what it's worth, I've always thought it should be an option in System Preferences somewhere, but I suspect it's not provided for compatibility purposes.

1 By Alphanumeric I mean it's a combination of alphabetic (Latin) characters and numeric (Arabic) digits that also takes into account symbols (e.g. punctuation marks, mathematical signs, etc). So, ordering works on the basis of symbols/special characters first, followed by numerals in order, followed by letters in order. I do not recall the order of sorting for the special characters, but for numerals anything after a decimal point is a whole number as opposed to a fraction. By this I mean that 1.1 is lower than 1.2, however 1.15 is higher than 1.2 because the '15' in 1.15 is seen as fifteen and the '2' in 1.2 is seen as two (not as twenty).


Keyboard Shortcut for Notification Center not working The keyboard shortcut "Show Notification Center" you can set under System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Mission Control stopped working for me after a restart.

I tried resetting to defaults, changing the short cut and finally exiting all running apps and processes - nothing seems to bring back the short cut.

Does anybody know how to debug this or a plist where I can manually edit this?

Resetting PRAM worked: https://discussions.apple.com/message/19284693?ac_cid=ms123456#19284693


How do I take a screenshot of the keyboard viewer with modifiers (e.g. Alt Gr, Shift)? I am used to working on a US/CA English keyboard, but I'm currently based overseas and the keyboard that my workplace got for me has a completely different layout (ISO European). It's especially difficult for me to remember where the symbols are that are being modified by the Alt Gr and Shift keys, so I thought I'd make a screenshot of the OS X keyboard viewer. I know that I can take a picture of an application window with the Apple + Shift + 4 + Space Bar shortcut, but I can't seem to get the modifier key to "stick" so that I can take a screenshot of the keyboard layout with the modifier. How do I do this?

You should be able to use Applications/Utilities/Grab.app for this kind of thing, it offers more kinds of capture including timed.


Wireless Display Adaptor not detected by MacBook Air I am trying to display my MacBook Air screen on a TV screen, using a Wireless Display Adaptor. The TV is not an Apple TV. Although the Display dialogue under System Preferences show the option to "Show mirroring options" there are no devices detected alongside "AirPlay Display".

I have tried the function "Detect Displays", but this makes no difference - the Mac is not able to detect devices.

Could this be because the Wireless Display Adaptor is a Microsoft device?  The device documentation suggests Macs should be able to mirror ok.

As per Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter's Store Page:

Operating systems
Mac OS X
Mac OS 10.10  (Not Compatible)
Mac OS 10.9  (Not Compatible)
Mac OS 10.8  (Not Compatible)
Mac OS 10.7  (Not Compatible)

[In all likelihood, 10.11/10.12/10.13 and later are not compatible as well]
It will not work with a Mac.


Names and location of .dmg files for OS X installation I believe a file was download and mounted to a director under Applications:

cd /Applications
ls -l | grep -i install
drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel  102 Nov  2 23:55 Install macOS High Sierra.app

Is there BASH command that can reveal the name and location of the mounted file?  This question is significant different from: Where is my macOS installer file located?  It would not surprise me if it were a .dmg file, but I would think that it is possible to mount other file types such as .iso

I am seeking the location and name of the file that is mounted to the directory of the Application: not the directory name itself (which is quoted above).

UPDATE

As indicated by the responses, a .dmg was not mounted.  I suspect the OS installation file located at:

ls -l  /Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/SharedSupport

-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel         328 Nov  2 23:55 AppleDiagnostics.chunklist
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel     2865866 Nov  2 23:55 AppleDiagnostics.dmg
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel        1984 Nov  2 23:55 BaseSystem.chunklist
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel   486219126 Nov  2 23:55 BaseSystem.dmg
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel  4721786712 Nov  2 23:53 InstallESD.dmg
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel        1386 Jun 29 01:55 InstallInfo.plist

My English is not very well, if you mean the Install macOS High Sierra.app is mounted by a .dmg file .
Then you should be wrong，when you download High Sierra for appstore.
Just downloaded this file “Install macOS High Sierra.app”
There is no mounted operation.