How do I fix the duplicate libraries I think the new Photos app has made? I used to use iPhoto, and my photo library was around ~40GB+ in size. When I upgraded to Yosemite, I was forced to use the "Photos" app which "migrated" my photos.

When I open my home folder. The "Pictures" folder is ~130GB+ in size! When I open it I see:

  iPhoto Library - 44.81GB (Migrated Photo Library) Photos Library 2 -
  44.51GB (Photos Library) Photos Library.photoslibrary_prepare - 43.85GB (Folder)

I can't use iPhoto anymore because Yosemite doesn't let me. I have time machine backups. I just want to delete the duplicate library, but I don't know how to verify that they are indeed duplicates, or somehow connected to Photos. I want to still be able to access my photos on my mac. I used to use Aperture as well, but Yosemite has rendered it useless.

What is the best way to clean up the duplicates (if they really are duplicates), without losing my photos ? I'm fine "using" the Photos "App". :(

EDIT:

I deleted iPhoto Library and Photos Library.photoslibrary_prepare.
I emptied my trash after that.

I opened photos, and it seems to be working. Nothing seems to be missing. But the amount of free space I have on my hard drive has increased only by 10GB. Weird.. No idea whats going on. Can't tell what Photos has done.

Any idea what's going on ?

EDIT: The amount of free space has going back to its original amount, even though I just "deleted" 80GB+ of photos...

EDIT: After restarting my mac, there appears to be ~8GB more of space. If I add up the sizes of all the folders under "Macintosh HD", there should be 110GB of free space (out of 500GB), but OS X reports only 77GB free. So where is the missing 33GB?

See https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/180313/54484

The files were not duplicated, rather additional hard links were created. The data exists once, and each hard link is simply a pointer to that data on the hard drive.

Deleting one library will not recover any significant space, because hard links to the same data still exist. Finder shows the size for each library bundle as including the hard linked files, so it appears that much more space is being used, when it is in fact not.

As far as your "missing" 33 GB, unless you have turned on the display of hidden folders you are not getting an accurate count by simply counting the size of visible folders. Use something like Daisy Disk for a true view of what space is being taken up and where.

Finally, for the record, both Aperture and iPhoto work fine under Yosemite, so long as you don't delete the libraries they used. They cannot read a Photos format library.


How to enable the sidebar in finder? All out of a sudden, the sidebar in "Finder" is gone. The weird thing is that the "Show Sidebar" entry of the View menu is disabled/grayed out, so the sidebar can't be enabled again. Do you have any ideas how to fix this issue?
Btw, restarting did not change anything.

Edit: Happens on OSX Yosemite/10.10.3

For me, the solution is that I need first (by Apple mis-logic) to hit:

"View / Show Toolbar" (⌥⌘T);

…then "View / Show Sidebar" (⌥⌘S) becomes ungreyed.


How can I remotely monitor whether a Mac is connected to the Internet? I'd like to monitor a fleet of machines and be notified when they fall off the Internet (independent of wifi access). Does OS X support this natively?

Is there a go-to tool that IT folks use to accomplish this?

I'd look at osquery for collecting that sort of data from a fleet of Macs. You might whip together something that's more narrow - but this will let you alert on disconnects as well as monitor / detect many other issues that will crop up on a daily basis.

You might be a candidate for using Apple Remote Desktop to create lists of hardware and it reaches out to each one and determines online status and can be automated for reporting. If your fleet is less than 2,500 devices, that might be just fine although it starts to become unwieldy or just need some time to complete tasks when you're handling more than a few hundred remote connections for anything but basic operations.


Is there a program that allows you to create keyboard shortcuts that consist of regular keys? I'm looking for a method that will allow me to turn custom, nonstandard key combinations into a currently-unused intermediary key (like F16 or something). The intermediary key would then be able to be recognized in other applications (such as FastScripts), so that I can finally assign this intermediary keyboard shortcut to whatever action within that application that I desire.

By "nonstandard key combinations," I mean combinations that do not incorporate any modifier key (that is, ⌘ command,  ⌥ option, ⌃ control, fn, or ⇧ shift).

Examples of nonstandard key combinations, pressed simultaneously:

1 + 0
A + D
space bar + V
W + 5
tab + Q

I have installed Karabiner, but I don't see a way to accomplish this in Karabiner.

Are there any programs that can do what I am looking for?

OS X El Capitan, version 10.11.6.

This can be done in Karabiner, but is counter-intuitive and turns common keyboard usage upside down (check the first sentences of Monomeeth's answer).

An example for [M+N] to F13 is already provided in the presets of Karabiner:

Mapping 1+0 to F16 would require to add the following snippet to private.xml:

<item>
  <name>Simultaneous Key Presses [0+1] to F16</name>
  <identifier>remap.simultaneouskeypresses_012f16</identifier>
  <autogen>__SimultaneousKeyPresses__ KeyCode::KEY_0, KeyCode::KEY_1, KeyCode::F16</autogen>
</item>

By defining an additional vk_lazy key (i.e. 0) it should also be possible to first press 0 and then 1 and depending on the first key up either send an F16 or write 01, which is a more comfortable behavior typing "shortcuts" on a keyboard.


How to make Safari warn me with a pop-up window before closing a tab? Whether it is Chrome, Firefox or Safari, I always encounter this problem. I stream this video and let it loads for like 30 minutes so I can watch. Meanwhile, I navigate through my 10 other tabs. At some point I want to check how's the progress on the streaming video download. But all of a sudden, I accidentally click on the little cross that's hidden to close on the video tab and al the download is lost!

I'm using Safari, so I need a fix for this browser, maybe Chrome too. I noticed that if I'm on Safari and the page is a form and I accidentally close the tab, it warns me if I'm sure I want to close the tab. I wish it could do the same for any tab.

Does anyone know a trick or extension that would help?

Instead of using your mouse you can use the keyboard to cycle through the tabs. The keys Ctrl+Tab will go forward through your ten tabs and Ctrl+Shift+Tab will go backward. At no time will these key commands close a tab by mistake.

Should you want to close a tab however you can achieve this with Command+W. Once you've finished using your browser you can close it with Command+Q.

Edit: Further to my answer in the latest version of Safari you have the ability to pin tabs. Once a tab is pinned the only way to close it is to right click it with the mouse and select "close tab" Even the Command + W keyboard combination won't close it.


No search results at all in the iOS App Store I've got iPad 3 with iOS 7.0.2.

I can't find anything using search option in App Store. No matter what I search for - even well known apps. I've got internet connection, no special search filters. It's been going on for days. I tried restarting the tablet, turning internet on and off. No success.

I'll be very thankful for any ideas how to solve it.

Are you certain that there are no stray characters in the Search box? Try clicking the x at the far right of the Search box and repeating your search.


How can I modify Boot Camp Assistant so it can use bootable USB? I own a 2011 21,5" iMac, and I need to install Windows to run some software that is Windows only.

I have done this in the past by altering Bootcamp assistent so it can use bootable USB drives, which is not natively supported on the 2011 iMac. (as explained here)

Now lately I reinstalled my iMac, so I wanted to modify Boot Camp again. As it turns out Apple 'fixed' this workaround by making bootcamps internal files not editable anymore.

So after I realized I couldn't use a USB drive, I tried using a bootable DVD, this didn't work, since Boot Camp gave me the message that "There is no bootable USB drive installed".
In other words, Boot camp thinks it needs a bootable usb drive, when those aren't supported on my model.

So my question; does anyone know a way to work around this 'fix'?

Boot Camp Assistant.app - among other apps in the Utilities folder - is protected by System Integrity Protection as outlined here.

By disabling SIP you will be able to edit the info.plist again.

So boot to Recovery Mode by pressing cmdR while booting.

Open Terminal.app (menubar -> Utilites -> Terminal)
Enter csrutil disable
Reboot your Mac
Edit the file /Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app/Contents/Info.plist
Reboot again to Recovery Mode and enable SIP again: csrutil enable
Reboot your Mac

You should also be able to edit the file directly after booting to Recovery Mode without disabling SIP:

/Volumes/name_of_main_volume/usr/bin/nano /Volumes/name_of_main_volume/Applications/Utilities/Boot\ Camp\ Assistant.app/Contents/Info.plist

You'd have to make notes how and what to add though because you may have no real internet access.

Even if you can create a USB Windows installer, this does not necessarily mean that you can boot your Mac to Windows using this flash drive.


Display phone numbers instead of contact name in recent calls I restored my contacts from iCloud after restoring my iPhone 6 Plus and setting up as a new iPhone and then imported sim contacts. I am now having an issue when I get an incoming call; it shows the caller's name but when I go to recents it only shows the number!

Restarting both messaging and phone apps worked for me.


Email migration from Mac Mail to Outlook 2011 for Mac I think this topic must have been posted earlier also.

I want to transfer my emails from mac mail to outlook 2011. When I go to import option in outlook 2011 and select the mac mail to import the mail boxes, all I get imported is blank folders every time.

The results were the same even after reinstalling office 2011.

Can anyone share their views on this topic and I would be very greatful if anyone could provide me solution of this question on how to migrate the emails from Mac Mail to Outlook 2011.

For transferring all your apple mail items in to Outlook 2011, there is a need of robust data format conversion process. This step helps you to migrate from one mail client to another. In this reference, an apple mail to Outlook 2011 converter is desired to fulfill to requirement. However, you can accomplish this task by manual method also but it faces some pitfalls.

So, check a review of required converter that i found as a resource on web mentioned below:
http://download.cnet.com/Mail-Exporter-Pro/3000-2369_4-75877193.html


Flash doesn't appear in my Chromium "chrome://plugins" page I recently upgraded Chromium manually from http://build.chromium.org

I tried loading some Flash content and it won't load.

First I was thinking that maybe there's a problem with the plugin so I went to "chrome://plugins", it wasn't there, I tried installing, still wasn't there.

Went to /Applications/Chromium.app/Contents/Versions/42.0.2286.0/Chromium Framework.framework/Internet Plug-Ins/, there was no PepperFlash directory.

I copied from Google Chrome, reloaded Chromium, still nothing (No content and nothing appears in chrome://plugins).

Tried installing the Pepper Flash specifically from http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/ (Selecting My current Mac version and the PPAPI plugin from the other list below).

Still not working.

Any additional ideas? I'm really frustrated.

You can try to use the system-flashplayer, but you have to enable "Enable NPAPI Mac, Windows" in about:flags first.


Is there a fan in the new Airport Extreme? I'm wondering if there is a fan in Apple's Airport Extreme wireless router so that I can plan for a low noise environment. Is there any source measuring the noise from this part or documenting the internal construction?

http://store.apple.com/us/product/ME918/airport-extreme

Yes, it does. See this article on ifixit.com for instance.


Why does three-finger swipe gesture not support natural scrolling? There are three page swipe gesture options in Lion:

Scroll left or right with two fingers, which is new to Lion, has a neat animation and is currently supported only by Safari.
Swipe left or right with three fingers existed in Snow Leopard and doesn't have the animation, but is supported by other applications.
Swipe with two or three fingers enables both of these gestures.

Now, I would be happy with the third option, however it seems that three-finger swipe gesture completely ignores natural scrolling preference.

If you disable natural scrolling, all options work identically, but if you turn it back on, two-finger swipe changes its direction, while three-finger gesture stays the same.

This leaves me utterly confused because to go Back in Safari with natural scrolling I can:

swipe right with two fingers, or
swipe left with three fingers.

This gets just as confusing in Mission Control or any other application that supports navigation.

Can I override this behavior and “invert” three-finger gestures, too, and should I?
What was the idea behind this design decision?

This may be one of those things that is labeled as a "feature not a bug." It's possible that the swiping gestures that are the same as the gestures on Snow Leopard are considered "Legacy" gestures. If that's the case then it is possible that having it "backwards" Is the expected behavior. If it's a legacy gesture then it may be considered to ignore natural scrolling because that is a "new" feature. I'm not saying that's how it should work, if you ask me if you change the direction of scrolling, it should apply to all gestures, not just the scrolling ones. I've moved mine back to the two finger option for the moment. You should file it at http://www.apple.com/feedback to make sure that Apple knows how confusing this is.


How to stop iPhone from listing iMac as audio source during phone call? I just purchased an iPhone 8 Plus which is running iOS 11.2.1. I am upgrading from an iPhone 6s which I never upgraded to iOS 11. When I make a phone call, the top right option used to be a toggle for just speakerphone. Now, it shows "audio" and there are multiple options. They are: my iPhone, Speakerphone, and my iMac. My iMac did NOT used to appear as an option, and I do not want it to appear.

I want to be able to toggle speakerphone with a single tap, like I used to do. How can I resume that behavior?

What I have tried

Disable Handoff on the iPhone 8 Plus

Disable handoff under Settings > General > Handoff
Reboot the phone.

Disable Handoff on my iMac

Uncheck the option under Apple logo > System Preferences > General > "Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices"
Reboot the computer

Turn off wifi on my phone

I was curious to see if the iMac would not show up as an option when wifi was disabled, because I don't know how it was being discovered by my phone. Even with wifi disabled, the option still appeared. It must be because both the iMac and iPhone are signed into my iCloud account.

None of the above options had any impact.

Here are screenshots of my experience

On your iPhone, go to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices > un-check the Mac. Then switch off the "Allow Calls on Other Devices" toggle switch and restart the phone.

Also worth mentioning: simply switching off the "Allow Calls on Other Devices" toggle switch does NOT solve the problem - the Macs remain in the audio options list even if that option is off. You need to leave the option on and un-check each device before toggling the option off.  You may not see the audio choices change until the phone is restarted.


MBP mid 2015 initial Time Machine backup to Samsung T5 blindingly slow The title pretty much sums it up. Just bought a new 500GB Samsung T5 external SSD, and the first time machine backup is seems like an inside joke. The majority of the time it's backing up at a crawl < 1 MB/sec, but occasionally jumping to to 10-20 MB/sec. Estimated time remaining is 20 hours.

According to USB 3.0 speeds, 625 MB/sec is upper limit. I understand this speed will, most of the time, not be achieved because of files in non-consecutive memory locations and controller performance etc, but shit I'd expect to see at least something like 100 MB/sec or larger. Is this a reasonable expectation? Is it possible I just have zillions of tiny files in impossibly distant memory locations? Or that I unluckily got a bad T5?

I'm running on Sierra 10.12.6 and I disabled throttling with "sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0" and have no other apps running.

Any suggestions for getting typical USB 3.0 write speeds?

Initial Time Machine backups do take a long time compared to subsequent backups. How long the first backup takes will depend on a number of factors, some of which you've already covered in your question.

As for your exact situation, it is possible that you have a faulty T5, but it's not the most likely option.

I've used a few of these drives on various Macs and have found them to be very fast, but in all cases they're connected to a USB-C port (not a legacy USB 3 port).

The first things I'd do is test the T5 by transferring only a few large files (e.g. a few movie files so that you're transferring about 5GB or so of data). I would then repeat the test, but with the T5 connected to the other USB port of your MBP.

The above tests should result in one of the following results:

transfer speeds anywhere between 100 MBps to 200 MBps on both USB ports
transfer speeds anywhere between 100 MBps to 200 MBps, but only in one USB port
transfer speeds still at a very low level, regardless of port

If you're getting transfer speeds you're happy with from both ports, then you know that your lack of speed is nothing more than the initial Time Machine backup having to process/copy a lot of files.

If you're getting transfer speeds you're happy with from only one port, then you know you have a problem with one of your ports and you should use the other for your Time Machine backups.

If you're not getting good transfer speeds regardless of the port, then further troubleshooting is warranted to isolate whether it's an issue with your MBP or your T5.

Let me know how you go.


How to flag a single message in a thread? When I select a thread and click the flag button as shown in official guide, it flags all the messages in the thread. This is suboptimal when the thread is long and contains many messages. How can I flag one single message in a thread?

Select the thread.
Scroll to the message.
Hover over the space above the title. The cursor should show “grab”:

Double click, and the message will be shown in a pop-up window.
In toolbar of the pop-up window, there is a “flag” button, which will only flag this message.


Contacts missing after syncing with I cloud and gmail I already synced my contacts on my iPhone 4s to my Gmail but I noticed that
not all contacts were transferred.  I am missing 170 contacts so far still sitting on my IPhone.
 Any explanations? How to make Gmail pick up all contacts?

There are plenty iOS Contact Backup Apps in the Store

Easy Backup (free)
My Contacts Backup (free)

So there you can export all contacts on the iPhone to an File and import them on Google Contacts - should work fine :)  let us know (with the Checkmark) if it worked for you or not :)


Why does Safari cache old pages on iPhone even after you've downloaded the new page? This may be a problem specific to Reddit.com, but I find that if I follow a link to another site on mobile safari and hit back, that only part of the time will I see the latest copy of the page.  A lot of times, I'll see a copy of the page from weeks ago that mobile Safari has cached for some reason.

For clarity this is what happens:

I visit reddit on March 1st in mobile Safari, click some links, everything works.
Later I visit reddit on March 3rd and I see the March 3rd homepage.
I click a link to visit another site off of reddit, and then click back to go back to reddit.com
I see the March 1st copy of reddit.com

I would imagine this has something to do with Core Data, memory warnings, or both. If Apple is using its own kit, then it is saving the cache in a Core Data store, which is, essentially, an unordered set. My theory is that when you go to a site, Safari is going to the Core Data store and grabbing the first instance of the URL in question if it exists, which can be old, new, whatever. But since I also don't think that Apple would be nearly that sloppy, I'd say that every page attempts to cache, but the amount of data required to properly cache a site is beholden to memory warnings, which you, as the user, should never, ever see, only this time the newer page simply doesn't get cached and that's why you get random older pages in view.

Okay, that was a bit technical. In short, I think Safari attempts to maintain a clean cache, but memory limitations of the device don't always allow that to happen.


Weird issues after updating to macOS 10.15 Catalina beta 8 (19A558d) I have MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Touch ID model), and I've been on macOS 10.15 Catalina developer beta since June without any issues. However, since updating to the latest beta, I have several major issues:

Item dragging is not working. I've tried three-finger drag in Finder on built-in trackpad and using Logitech MX Master mouse. It simply selects the file and doesn't move the file as I move the mouse cursor.
Safari hangs very often, especially when editing text. I have to Force Quit it every couple minutes. I've tried disabling all extensions and clearing Caches from Develop menu. (FWIW Chrome works perfectly good).
Same in Mail app, when I try add a new mail account. When I edit texts in Mail Preferences window, the app hangs.
I can't download any new apps from the Mac App Store. It starts downloading process but nothing happens, stuck at 0% progress.

It looks like all these problems appeared after I updated to beta 8. I don't have any previous backups.

I've tried restarting my Mac, resetting SMC and doing some cleanup with CleanMyMac but no luck. What can I do, preferably without restoring my system?

I was having the same issue, and I just reinstalled the beta by going here: https://developer.apple.com/download/ then clicking "Install Profile" on Catalina. Then went to software update, and it started downloading Catalina again. Everything's fine now (no hanging, dragging works, etc.).


How to connect an early 2013 MBP to a 4K LG Television I've seen some people on YouTube saying they were able to connect an early 2013 MAC Book Pro with some 4K Monitors. I bought an 4K LG TV. It seems that I can't connect using 60Hz. I already tried the Thunderbolt connector and couldn't make it. Could anyone help me with that?

Most Macs with an HDMI port (besides Mac mini late-2012 and older) support 4K, but are capped at 30Hz or 24Hz. The MacBook Pro Retina 15" mid-2014 model supports 60Hz at 4K, but older models do not.
I personally have a MacBook Pro Retina 15" late-2013 model, and it can only do 4K at 30Hz
(4K is defined in my answer as 3840 x 2160.)


How do I regain my iTunes ratings and playlists? I just transferred by music to new computer (300GB).  It no longer shows 20 years of ratings and playlists.  I tried to uninstall and reinstall iTunes.  Will they show if I sync my phone, or will I lose everything that way?

You don’t mention by what means you transfered your music to the new computer so I don’t know if this will help or not but I’d recommend reviewing this page from apple that specifically addresses your use case, that is, How to move your iTunes library to a new computer.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204318

If you still have access to the “old” computer you may want to follow the directions on the above link.

I also found this page, about your itunes library files, may also shed some light on the missing ratings and playlists.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201610


27‑inch iMac 2017 i5 vs. i7 I own a bit old MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) with 2,2 GHz Intel Core i7, so I'm considering replacing it with a new iMac, but not sure which CPU should I choose.

3.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz (MNED2LL/A) for € 2,699
4.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz (Z0TR) for €2,939

I'm a software developer who's stack is:

Python
Swift for iOS and macOS development
Docker
PostgreSQL
Javascript

I'm concerned if I benefit from purchasing an iMac with i7 for extra €300. Please advise. Thanks!

Software development tends to be a very CPU-centric task, but the question is whether or not a few extra GHz is going to buy you significant enough longevity to stave off your next computer purchase by any significant amount. I somehow doubt it. I'd go for the 3.8GHz i5.

...or at least I would, but you mentioned Python. Python is one of the slowest of the various interpreted languages commonly used. It can use all the help it can get. If you do a significant amount of Python coding, I'd go for the faster processor.


Mountain Lion Free Upgrade Issue I have bought my mac last month, so I am eligible to get a free upgrade of Mountain Lion. As Apple stated - I have requested for my upgrade and it said you will be notified with your upgrade code. It's been 24+ hours and I have not received any mail from Apple.
So, how much time they're taking to send a mail usually?

Thanks

EDIT - There was some technical issue with the form on saturday. I called Apple Care and they've sent me the codes now.

Thank you all for help.
Ak

Mine took about 3 days. The entire thing has been a bit of a shambles to be honest. I'd give them another couple of days then just get in touch with them.


calendar sync between iPhone and Microsoft exchange My calendar events sync only one way between my iPhone and Microsoft Exchange

If I enter the event in my iPhone, it won't appear in Microsoft Exchange, but the other way around works

You likely have multiple calendars on your iPhone and the exchange calendar is not the default calendar (the default calendar is where new appts are created).  The iPhone calendar app seamlessly accesses all the enabled calendars on the phone and presents them in one single calendar view.  (Think of these calendars like transparencies stacked on top of each other, you can see all events on all calenders at once.)

Open "Calendar" on the iPhone home screen and click the word "Calendars" just above the home button.   Find which color the dot next to your exchange calendar is (they aren't labeled as nicely in the next step, it may not be necessary but I need it because I have a lot of calendars).  While you're here if you only need one calendar you can "uncheck" others, so help avoid calendar confusion.  Unchecked calendars will not be displayed tho, be careful you are not hiding appts by unchecking a calendar that has appointments on it).

Next open Settings app and go to Mail Contacts, Calendars, once that's open scroll way down to the bottom, the last item is where you set your default calendar.  Change this to your Exchange calendar, so that when you create a new appt, this calendar will be used.


Is there a way possible to make iPad sleep / wake at specific time intervals using Apple configurator? I would need to control an iPad's sleep/wake at specific time intervals.

I know using Apple configurator helps disabling all hardware buttons and touch events too... But my motive is to make the iPad wake by 7am and sleep by 10pm.

I know apps like MokiTouch and KioskPro helps, but has limitations. Is there a way to achieve this via Apple Configurator ?

i do not think it is possible to control an ipads sleep wake interval


Can I restore a backup and then begin backing up to a new name? I'm getting an ipad mini and I already have an ipad. I'd like to restore from icloud onto the mini so I can get my apps and savegames, but after that I'd like to diverge the backups so I can configure them both differently.

I know I can restore from backup onto the new device - after I do that, will it keep the backups separate? Or will the two devices be fighting over the same icloud backup name?

They are still two separate devices. Restoring from a backup does not change that. So the next time each one runs a backup, it will be done separately, even if the devices have the same name. (That said, I would suggest for ease of identification, you change the name on one.)


iOS 11.0.2 - AirDrop not showing up in Control Center even after long pressing the "Network Icon Group" in the Control Center Good day everyone, I have this iPhone unit which we updated to iOS 11.0.2. We were trying to AirDrop files to and from it, but we hit a snag when we were trying to go to the AirDrop control through the Control Center. It wasn't popping up even when we were long pressing the "Network Icon Group".

Does anyone know why this happens?

I know we can go to the Settings itself and search for AirDrop settings and turn it on, but it's so convenient to be able to turn it on and off from the Control Center.

Any help is very much appreciated. Thanks.

I am using an iPhone SE and a long press on the network settings box in the control center is working fine for me.

If the box opens but there is still no icon, you can check if there are any restrictions active like in the article mentioned by Melvin Jefferson (found in settings / general / restrictions).


Removing randomwhere, malware(leadingsignsearch) from [Security & Privacy] - [Full Disk Access] I know I should have cautioned when I first download unwarranted stuffs, but things happen.

Removing them from /Library/LaunchDaemons or settings of each browsers, anything manually are done. Profile cleared, but from this particular section:

- at the bottom of the right window will not work. It will not respond to the mouse click. As you can see, I have already unlocked.

Please someone let me know. I need these eradicated.

Try Apple's command line tool tccutil! The general usage is:

tccutil command service bundleIdentifier

Only one command (reset) is implemented right now. The service is the protected item (e.g. Microphone or Photos). The bundleIdentifier is the bundle identifier of the app given access to protected services.

Open Terminal
Get the bundleIdentifier of the apps to remove:

mdls -name kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier -r /Applications/Some.app #Some.app is just an example.app

Real example:

host:~ user$ mdls -name kMDItemCFBundleIdentifier -r /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
com.apple.Terminal

More methods to get the bundleIdentifier: Getting the bundle identifier of an OS X application in a shell script. The app to remove is not necessarily in /Applications or /Applications/Utilities/.
Remove all permissions for the app:

tccutil reset All bad.axisofevil.randomwhere #bad.axisofevil.randomwhere is just an examplary bundleIdentifier

RansomWhere?'s exec has a (null) bundleIdentifier. The associated launch daemon plist contains a com.objective-see.ransomwhere though, which looks like a typical  bundleIdentifier. I would try this one first.

BTW: RansomWhere? is no ransomware but a sec tool available here: RansomWhere?

Alternative approach:

Download tccutil (v1.2.5) from github. It's not related to Apple's command line tool though having the same name. It's also available via brew but apparently outdated there (v1.2.2) and won't work with Catalina.

Disable SIP
Download tccutil from github.com/jacobsalmela/tccutil (direct link: tccutil)
Unzip the downloaded tccutil-master.zip
tccutil is a Python script.
In the command line enter (in the example below I d/led the zip to Downloads and unzipped it there - apply the path below to your environment respectively):

-h to get a short help text

sudo python $USER/Downloads/tccutil-master/tccutil.py -h

-l to list all items in the accessibility database

sudo python $USER/Downloads/tccutil-master/tccutil.py -l

-r to remove an app/entry

sudo python $USER/Downloads/tccutil-master/tccutil.py -r /path/to/example.app|bundleIdentifier

Enable SIP


Why does the fan come on after having my MacBook Air on for only 2 minutes? Running Windows 7 and after a resume the fan comes on about 2 minutes and doesn't turn off and it's the loudest thing in the room. I'm not doing anything but browsing . . and I don't think it's because of flash. Any ideas?

Windows (in Boot Camp) doesn't do most of the power management tricks OS X does, so the CPU generally runs at full tilt all the time. That creates lots of heat, so your fans stay on. It may be because of flash, but, like you, I doubt it. To test that, leave Windows running for awhile with no web browsing.


Will there be a USB-C to thunderbolt 2 adaptor? I only need data transfer to be higher then USB 3.0 Right now USB C ports are just arriving in laptops and I unfortunately dedicated to go with a cheaper laptop (pc) but with thunderbolt-2.

The thing I don't like about thunderbolt 2 products is the premium price you pay for the Lacie external drives with thunderbolt2. I hope that in the future USB-C devices will come out that will be a bit cheaper as the PC world and mac are seemingly getting 1 standard thunderbolt3 and USB-C.

Long story short will the thunderbolt 2 connection be of ANY use to me in the future world of USB-C on my windows laptop in regards to my normal USB3.0 ports? If yes then what applications of USB-C will it work with?

The only application I really care about is if I could connect an external HD sold with the new USB-C to my Thunderbolt2 via an adapter.

I am thinking I will only get a benefit from thunderbolt 3 devices that are labeled as such to get an adapter to thunderbolt 2 ports for me to get a speed gain compared to USB3.0.

In short the whole idea behind these questions is to have a fast connection between disks and laptop as I am working on big files in Photoshop and TB's of photo's and film ect. Even if USB 3.0 is "fast enough" I would still like to have the Thunderbolt 2 speeds rather then the USB 3.0 speeds.

If it is compatible will the theoretical and effective speed of a USB-C to Thunderbolt2 connection surpass the USB 3.0 max speed?

In specific. Thunderbolt can carry USB but USB cannot carry thunderbolt.

In general, as long as your Mac has any Thunderbolt connector, it is highly likely you will be advantaged to connect over thunderbolt instead of using USB. For my money even Thunderbolt 1 is superior in many ways to the best USB 3 chipsets we have today. Now - the above statement is going to be obsolete soon since the newest Thunderbolt 3 chipsets and USB Alternate Mode Functionality mean that USB can be other protocols and TB3 looks to be an awesome step forward for simplifying the need for adapters that you would need on Thunderbolt 2 to get USB 3.0 connectivity today.

What Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 cables/adapters exist for OS X and Mac hardware?


iTunes opens on my iMac automatically iMac with OS X 10.11.5.  iTunes opens with no prompting from me.  I can close it all day and it keeps re-opening.  I rarely want to use it.  How to stop this from happening.

Thanks for the advice.

None of the suggestions here had made any difference.  But, I kept looking and scouring the web and found (I don't remember where) what I thought, at first, was a half-assed suggestion that seems to have done the job.  The suggestion was that a "dirty" or misaligned speaker jack could be the issue.  Well, some days ago I removed the speaker plug from the iMac and, lo and behold, the constant opening of iTunes ceased.  I will eventually experiment to see if that was really the issue, but at least temporarily I'm satisfied with using the internal speakers.


Messages.app not downloading messages send/received on iPhone I've been recently trying to fix an issues with Messages.app. My iPhone sends/receives all of the messages fine, on my Mac Messages.app will display these messages if the Mac is switched on.

However, if I leave my Mac off then the messages do not appear in Messages.app which is incredibly frustrating.

I have tried signing in and out on both devices, but nothing changes. Forwarded SMS is also having this issue.

I'm currently running OSX 10.10.3 and iOS 8.3 12F70

I'm not sure it will even attempt to distribute messages to all possible destinations once one has definitely received it.

I had a similar issue last year when my phone would be out of range for iMessage for most of the day, but my Mac at home was happily picking them up - I didn't see any of them til I got home :(

See How to tell Messages "I'm not at home"? which is similar, but the opposite way round.
None of the proposed solutions worked for me at the time - perhaps would be different now I'm on Yosemite, but I won't get chance to test unless I get the same job this summer, in the same out-of-range location.


How do I install Minecraft mods on macOS There are so many mods for Minecraft and reading online everybody talks about a mods folder that I can't find. What's wrong with macOS and how do I get it working?

I found the answer to this question and I'm posting these info as Q/A on this website in the hope that it can help someone.

After searching on Internet I discovered that MODS are not supported by the Minecraft authors, so you have to download external libraries and HACK your Minecraft installation.

You must download the Java edition, mods are available for this version, so the lack of macOS port is not a problem. You can download it from the Minecraft website

Once you downloaded it, click on the icon, this will open the Minecraft launcher, which is a frontend program to your game.

After the launcher ends loading, you will see a select button that allows you to choose the version you want to play.

Well, we need to create a patched version of Minecraft and after this, we can choose which one like to start using this selector. So now the question is: how do we create a patched version of Minecraft? We need to install the Minecraft forge that is an API that allows MODS to work with few or no issues.

CLOSE YOUR MINECRAFT.

You can download it from: Minecraft forge

Which version to download depends on your Minecraft version! You can see that my Minecraft version is 1.14.4, so I need to download this version. The file you have to download is the INSTALLER:

After the installer download completes, start it and wait it ends its work. Now you can start again the Minecraft launcher and you notice that there is something new: the patched version is ready!!

Start again Minecraft, it will take longer to get ready and will download any missing library. Once it starts there is another important surprise for you: you got the mods folder!

Where is it?! Open a terminal and copy and paste this:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/minecraft

a new finder window opens and there you can see the mods folder

There you have to insert all the mods you want. Remember: with Minecraft version x.x.x works only the mod build for this version! When you search for mods, be sure to download the correct ones.

Have fun!


How do you diagnose why a keyboard shortcut does not work? I am trying to get Command+Alt+Shift+L to work in RStudio on OSX. I have a large number of customisations that might possibly prevent this shortcut from working. I've gone through the usual places (e.g., system preferences - keyboard; Alfred; Better Touch tool). Thus, I thought there might be some more general procedure for working out what program, if any, is intercepting the shortcut

Is there a way of seeing what program might be intercepting a particular keyboard shortcut?

There is app called KeyCue that will help you find the keyboard shortcuts in use by your system.

It is shareware.

More info and to download : http://www.ergonis.com/products/keycue/


Cannot Run Sudo After Mac Sierra Upgrade I tried running sudo in a terminal and was greeted with the error message:

sudo: unknown uid 501: who are you?

I tried doing an ls -l ~, and instead of seeing my user name in the file entries, I saw 501.

I think this might have happened in the process of upgrading Mac OS to Sierra; at least I think this is the first time I tried to run sudo since upgrading.

The problem was fixed by restarting the MacBook Pro.

However, when I first executed the restart, the system hung with a black screen. I then forced the power off (by keeping pressed the power button for several seconds), then turned it on.  Then it worked.


Change volume range for sound? (i.e. dB-range for slider) I have an issue where the "slider" for volume is near unusable for a USB-headset. Only the first four mini-steps (see Lowest volume is still too loud—how can I make it even lower?) are somehow valid volume ranges, the rest are way too high.

In the MIDI-control I can see that the dB-range is from -37 dB (0-volume) to -0 dB (1-volume, or max, the scale is between 0 and 1). With mini-steps (see above) the increment is 0.016-volume, but the first step from 0 to 0.016 gets the dBs from -37 to -32.37, and each following mini-step is roughly 0.5 dBs closer to 0.

I want the volume slider to step between -37 and -18 dBs instead of -32.37 (the lowest mini-step with sound) to 0. Is this doable somehow using the normal vol up / vol down keys?

As a comment, I think the actual dB-values are way off, but that probably depends on the fact that it is a USB-headset.

Edit
Added image below, note that this is set manually, I cannot get it this low with volume keys. Lowest with volume keys is "value" at 0.016 and db at -32.37, whilst I'd like 0.001 and db at -36 as I have now (via applescript).

I also had this Problem a years ago by then I found no way to do it with OS X Onboard Tools didn't even try nor know the AppleScript Workaround (this would have been enough for me i think) anyway.

My Solution I ended Up using was to use Soundflower https://rogueamoeba.com/freebies/soundflower/ a Software based 2 or 64 Channel Audiorouting Tool.

Maybe it also had some inpact on my decision to use it that I already used it for Music Production.

I think the Way I used it to do what you're looking for was as follows:

Soundflower shows up as 2 Separate Audio Devices on the Audio-Midi-Setup a 2Channel and a 64Channel Device both with individual Soundlevel Sliders.

So I just set the System Out under Systemsettings to Soundflower 2Channel and then set a Audio Level on the Soundflower 2Channel Device.

By that time Soundflower was a free Tool don't know if its still free and also am not 100% shure if I really only used Soundflower back then or together with Jack http://www.jackosx.com.

As I said it was years ago and I can't remember all exactly also I now have different Audio Setup much more complex so i'm currently not able to try it out by myself.

Hope it still helps you.


How can I specify the C++ version to use with Xcode? On the command line I can use clang -std=c++98 -pedantic-errors which will prevent me from using features of newer C++ versions.

How can I achieve the same thing with Xcode?

EDIT: Example code

#include <iostream>

int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {
    int arr[] = {1,2,3,4,5};
    for(int& e : arr) {
        std::cout << e * e;
    }
    return 0;
}

This is my desired behavior.

$ clang -std=gnu++98 main.cpp -pedantic-errors
main.cpp:5:16: error: range-based for loop is a C++11 extension [-Werror,-Wc++11-extensions]
    for(int& e : arr) {
               ^
1 error generated.

But running Xcode with the c++98 toolchain set doesn't error.

EDIT 2: I found a switch to make it warn, but it Xcode doesn't error.

EDIT 3: I found another switch to make warnings errors

Click on a Project file, then Build Settings and find C++ Language Dialect.

Use this to get an error:


How can I prevent files emptied out of the Trash from accumulating in "purgeable space"? I'm having the same problem as the person who asked this question: I cleared a bunch of files out of my Trash and instead of getting free space on the volume, I got 30 gigs of "purgeable space".  According to the accepted answer to that question, I can engage in an entirely reprehensible workaround to liberate this space from its ghostly, meaningless existence in purgatory—a strategy to which I may well be forced to resort.

None of the answers to that question, however, deal with the more fundamental issue of why this is happening in the first place.  Ideally I'd like to avoid having to do this ever again.  Is there some way to tell the filesystem not to mark files as "purgeable" rather than just removing them?  I'm running High Sierra, and the system drive (the drive in question) is using APFS.

Based on this Apple support article, I gathered that the purgeable space might be taken up by local snapshots.  I had already backed up since emptying the Trash, but I have more than one backup drive.  I removed the backup disks that aren't accessible at the moment and some time later my system drive's purgeable space was shown to have been alchemically transmuted into free space.

Since Apple hasn't bothered to include information on how local snapshotting works when you have multiple backup drives, and since I never managed to discover a way to identify what is currently contained in purgeable space, I can't be entirely certain that this was what fixed the issue.  It would be quite helpful if there were to be a post listing the various ways that purgeable space can come about and how to prevent this from happening.  I haven't managed to find such a resource; in fact, the support article doesn't even include the word "purgeable"; perhaps comprehending such an arcane detail is considered to be beyond the mental capacity of Apple's target demographic, even for its support pages.


Boot into Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6 on a 2015 MacBook Air I have an external SSD containing a bootable installation of Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6. It also contain some software crucial to my use.

Can I boot into it using my 2015 13" MacBook Air?

Unfortunately you can't.

OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 is the earliest OS supported on your 2015 MacBook Air. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is too archaic (released in 2009) and you won't be able to boot into it on your 2015 MacBook Air.


Can too much wattage on a charger destroy my iphone 7 plus? I've been googling it and trying to find answers but I cant find a direct yes or no. All I find is "My 12w charger works on my iphone" and "iphone draws as much power as it allows so its ok to use an ipad charger" and "read the manual to be sure"

Well I saw a 50W charger on amazon.

Thats like 5x more than a 12w charger. And it was only 25 bucks.

Will a 50w charger destroy my phone?

As long as the charger is standards compliant, your phone will not be damaged because of the wattage. The phone and charger makes sure that the phone does not receive more power than it can handle.

The 50W charger you saw on Amazon is most probably misleading you. There's a bunch of these advertised as outputting "up to 50W". The reality is that the chargers have multiple outputs and each output only supports up to 2.4A per port - which at 5V is 12W.


Do AirPods directly benefit from better LAN Wi-Fi? I have just purchased AirPods. When I'm in my kitchen watching videos from my MacBook Pro paired with AirPods, the audio in the AirPods frequently tend to switch over to low-quality audio for a second. This is discernable because there is a volume spike/panning-style effect. This is probably due to connectivity issues.

I'm assuming the problem is due to one of the following:

The Wi-Fi LAN router connection to the MacBook
The Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connection from the MacBook to the AirPods

I don't think that the first point is the main issue because I don't usually experience audio loss when playing video from the MacBook speakers in this room – but it could be.

My question is: do AirPods directly benefit from better LAN Wi-Fi? I.e. does the LAN Wi-Fi improve device connectivity for the AirPods, for instance by 'empowering' the user to traverse further to other rooms, than would be possible if there was no LAN Wi-Fi present (like outdoors)?

If yes, that may suggest to me that I should upgrade my Wi-Fi router to improve the AirPod experience.

In a nutshell - no WiFi doesn't help the AirPods at all.

Problematic interference on the 2.4 GHz frequency range could hurt bluetooth quality, so I suppose you could power off the WiFi gear and test if that's in any way related to the signal issues you are seeing with AirPods.


Is there an easy way to reduce quality of .mov files taken from an iPhone? I've noticed the small movies I take on my iPhone 4 result in large .mov files. For example, a 1 minute movie results in almost a 100MB .mov file. This is running through my cloud storage (Dropbox) rather quickly. Is there an easy way to reduce the quality/size after transferring to my Mac?

Most of this is documented:

How do you convert video within 10.7 without any 3rd party software

The Finder has built in video encoding and you could even use these to set up watch folders and attach a pre-set conversion using Automator if you found one setting that you prefer...


Is it possible to move the mouse by one pixel on a retina display? I was trying to use DigitalColor Meter to find the color of a pixel on my retina MacBook Pro, but I found that it was impossible to get the color that I wanted because the smallest that I could move the mouse by was two pixels (in either direction).  If you zoom in using the control-scroll trick and disable pixel antialiasing (in the Accessibility preferences), you'll also see that this is the case.

Is it possible to move the mouse by just one pixel on a retina display?  It seems like the ability to do so would make the mouse movement smoother.  I guess to solve my color problem, I could just take a screenshot and zoom in on that, but it's a lot of extra work.

No - the mouse is aligned on the "fake" size of the screen and not the true screen pixel grid in most cases.

The concept of a physical pixel and a display pixel is a distinct one on retina displays since the hardware reports movements on a resolution-independant scale.

Furthermore, there appear to be some subtle bugs in the code side of things so even if the developer wanted to determine the next pixel's color it appears the routine that reports mouse position doesn't count physical pixels on this model screen.

There is a nice, very technical article by one of the programmers for Xscope - Retina for Masochists/ that explains a bit how the resolution that the software is told to draw gets translated into the actual on screen pixels which is fixed.

As an aside - the Xscope program is free to try and puts the digital color meter to shame on many aspects of determining color and much, much more.


Add tags to equations in Pages Pages has since a relatively recent update a very useful way to insert equations using LaTeX and/or MathML syntax.

On multiple occasions, I have wanted to add tags to equations—a custom equation number on the right side of the equation. However, the \tag{} command doesn't seem to work in Pages. Is there any other way I can achieve this?

Three possibilities which come to mind are a) using a table with two cells, putting the equation in the left one and the equation number on the right, b) adding the equation text above or below the equation (but unfortunately not to the right), or c) adding spaces and then the tag manually (which seems to be a terrible idea). Is there a better way to do it?

\tag is part of the amsmath LaTeX package rather than LaTeX itself. Pages doesn't support ams.

Internally, Pages uses blahtex to generate PNGs from the rudimentary maths environments. These individual equations don't have context of the page width, so it's not possible to add a correct amount of right spacing automatically within the equation environment.

However, Pages can do this. You can use the ruler to correctly center align the equation, and right align content outside of the equation.

Optional Create a new paragraph style for your equation lines. This preserves the ruler adjustments so you don't have to recreate this manually for each equation. Use the blue Update paragraph style button each time you make a change to the style to preserve the adjustment.

Create two tab stops:

Half width, center aligned. This becomes the center alignment for the equation.
Half width can be calculated by taking the 1 column width shown at the top of Layout (here, 17 cm) and dividing by 2 (here, 8.5 cm).
Full width, right aligned. This becomes the right alignment for the tag.

In a paragraph of your new equation paragraph style, press Tab. Insert your equation as normal. This will be center aligned on the page.
After your equation, press Tab. Insert the tag for the equation, which will be auto. right-aligned.


What is the best way to make free phone calls from an iPod touch? I want to be able to make free phone calls from an iPod touch. I've used Google Voice for my computer, but it doesn't work for an iPod touch. How should I go about doing this?

These are the ones that I mostly use, in order of relevance:

Viber
Skype
Tango


Prevent Safari 10.x from auto-downloading files? Is it possible to prevent Safari from auto downloading files? Kind of like how Firefox does it.

To be clear, I am not asking about auto-unzipping, but rather webpages that auto start downloads for nefarious dmg files.

To stop Safari from automatically downloading files (and instead ask you with a prompt before downloading):

Open Safari, and go to Safari -> Preferences in the menubar (or hit command+,)

Go to the General tab and hit the dropdown next to File download location. Choose Ask for each download.

Now, if I navigate to the download page for something (for example, the 1Password browser extension) and download it, a download prompt will appear before the file begins to download:

Indeed, the file does not download until I click Save. If I click Cancel, the downloads menu shows me that Zero KB of the file was downloaded:

Asking before each download is a great way to prevent malicious DMGs from being downloaded onto your Mac, but you can read this great answer that explains why these steps I've outlined are completely unnecessary, because DMGs can't harm your computer until you manually install them.

Instructions and images for Safari 10.0.1.


Moving ipad pictures to a different computer I previously have synced an old ipad with my computer. Then I gave my ipad to my dad to use.

Now, it appears, that ipad somehow keeps track of the pictures I sync'ed with my computer differently from the pictures my dad has currently taken. For example, when I open up this ipad on my dad's computer, the bottom of the iTunes shows 5G of "pictures", and 17.20G of "others", presumably the materials sync'ed with my old computer.

If I check the "Storage" of the ipad, it lists a few items, and one item being "synchronized from itunes".

if I click on "Pictures" tab, and I check "sync pictures", the itunes popup says something like "this ipad is already synchronized with another itunes database on "[MY OLD PC]". do you want to wipe out and sync the ipad with this itunes?"

I don't want to do that. I want to sync the entire ipad to my dad's computer, including the pictures I have taken before giving the ipad to my dad.

I frankly don't remember which computer I used to sync with this ipad long ago. I guess my question is, how do I sync ALL pictures on this ipad to a brand new computer?

If you erased the iPad before giving it to your dad, then this issue wouldn't have happened.

Anyways, can you view the iPad like a camera (in windows explorer)? Then can you copy all of the pictures off?

The warning from iTunes about erasing doesn't always mean it will erase the iPad; I've had to sync my device to a new iTunes and It didn't actually erase (but your experience may vary)


What is sunproxyadmin on port 8081 and what is port 11059? I did a port scan and 8081 came up as sunproxyadmin. What is this? Also, it showed an open port number 11059. What is that port?

Port numbers are just numbers - they do not give a definite answer as to what kind of software uses the port on your computer.

Your port scanning software used a list of well-known ports that matches the number with the name of a piece of software that originally used this port. In your case "Sun Proxy Admin" is a piece of software for Sun computers - i.e. most likely not something you run on your Mac.

To find out what is actually using port 8081 and 11059, you can run the following commands in the Terminal:

lsof -n -i4TCP:8081
lsof -n -i4TCP:11059

This will give you the command name and the process ID (PID) of the program on your computer that has these ports open.


Run a standard unix process (not an app) on iPhone from OS X command line I'm working on improving iOS cross-compilation support for ghc, which has a metaprogramming feature which requires running code at compile time. One mechanism for this involves running a process on the target and communicating with it from the compiler via pipes. This is a standard unix process (one compiled for iOS), not an iPhone app. How can I launch this process on a connected iPhone from the OS X box where the compiler is running? For the simulator I can use simctl spawn but I don't know of anything similar for real devices.

You can't.

Jailed iOS devices have no method of executing any given program remotely. You'd have to jailbreak your device to be given access to terminal.

The iOS simulator is slightly different since it lacks many of the security features that the full iOS has, and since its running directly on your mac as child processes (rather than an emulator emulating a ARM processor).


App Store: can't add a new credit card (too many are already associated) I use virtual credit cards to perform online purchases with my debit card, and I usually create a new one for every purchase (with a charge limit equal to the purchase's value).

I was trying to add a new one today to buy an app on the Mac App Store, and I got a message saying that it couldn't be added, as there were already too many credit cards associated with my account.

I did a live-chat with support, and they told me that there is a 5-card limit every 30 days, so apparently I can't perform any purchases for 30 days.

Is there any way around this? I don't have iTunes Gift Cards readily available in my country.

Thanks for documenting the current state of play. Although most can buy gift cards from the store of your choice and load them into the App Store, if they truly are not easily available in your country just slowing down the cycling of cards you use for payment is the obvious choice out of this dilemma.


OS X El Capitan - Running Mavericks off of usb drive So I plan to erase my MacBook Pro completely. After I erase its drive from an El Capitan recovery drive that I have, I want to boot into Internet recovery mode, plug in another flashdrive, install Mavericks on it, and then use the recovery drive for El Capitan to install El Capitan onto my MacBooks internal SSD.

Basically, I want to have El Capitan on my internal SSD and Mavericks on my external USB drive. Is this possible at all, to have an older version of OS X installed on an external device?

If you have the Mavericks install app:

Copy the Install OS X Mavericks.app file to your desktop
Insert the flash drive you want the installation files to be copied to
Download this script, unzip it, then move the osx_10.9_bootable.sh file to your Desktop.
Open Terminal app, then type cd ~/Desktop/ and hit enter
Then type sh osx_10.9_bootable.sh and follow instructions then wait

If this was successful, restart your Mac and hold down the Option key then select the newly created installation drive to install Mavericks onto your external HDD.

(in this case, 0553225513 is my external hdd, which will be your flash drive)

After the installation you can reinstall OS X El Capitan on your Macbook.


What program(s) can I use to open an .xlsx spreadsheet for editing on my Mac I can double-click the file and a browser preview opens that looks like excel.... but it is basically just a browser preview feature and it is read-only.

The file came from a Windows machine.

If you have opened it in Excel but you are unable to select or change it, the sheet may be protected.   If the sheet has been protected using the Tools > Protection > Protect Sheet option then a lock symbol will appear next to the sheet name in Excel 2011.

Sheet protection can be removed by using the Tools > Protection > Unprotect Sheet command.


Is it possible to launch and use Itunes with the command line on windows? Is it possible to use iTunes with the command line on Windows?

I want to pass actions to the program like to play a playlist.

Is it possible to use any iTunes functionalities in the command line?

While iTunes might not be controlled directly from within the Windows command line directly, using either VBScripts or PowerShell scripts it might get tamed though.
The following list of PowerShell code was compiled from the above mentioned links to also showcase how playlists can be selected and songs rated.

# Inspired by
# - https://gist.github.com/rkumar/503162
# - http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/scripts.asp

# Search for iTunes COM object
Get-CimInstance Win32_COMSetting | Select-Object ProgId, Caption | Where-Object Caption -ILike "*itunes*"
# Initializing itunes
$itunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application

# list methods and properties
$itunes | Get-Member
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist | Get-Member
$itunes.LibraryPlaylist | Get-Member
$itunes.CurrentTrack | Get-Member

# commands
$itunes.Play()
$itunes.NextTrack()
$itunes.PreviousTrack()
$itunes.PlayPause()
$itunes.Resume()
$itunes.Stop()

# changing properties
$itunes.SoundVolume = 50 # sound volume to 50%
$itunes.Mute = 0 # mute
$itunes.Mute = 1 # unmute
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist.Shuffle = 0 # shuffle off
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist.Shuffle = 1 # shuffle on
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist.SongRepeat = 0 # repeat none
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist.SongRepeat = 1 # repeat one
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist.SongRepeat = 2 # repeat all

$itunes.CurrentTrack.Rating = 80 # 100 = 5 stars, 80 = 4 stars, 60 = 3 stars, 40 = 2 stars, 20 = 1 star
$itunes.CurrentTrack.AlbumRating = 80

# Retrieve values
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist.Name
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist.Index

# List available playlists
$itunes.Sources.Item(1).Playlists

# Select playlist and start playing
$playlists = $itunes.Sources.Item(1).Playlists
$selPlaylist = $playlists.ItemByName("Name of your playlist")
If ($selPlaylist -ne $null) { $selPlaylist.Reveal(); $selPlaylist.PlayFirstTrack() }

These options allow to bind certain functions to macros to control iTunes i.e. from within VoiceAttack or mouse/keyboard macros.

How to just add song to library? Or even sync iphone?

In PowerShell if you'd enter the following commands
Get-CimInstance Win32_COMSetting | Select-Object ProgId, Caption | Where-Object Caption -ILike "*itunes*"
$itunes = New-Object -ComObject iTunes.Application
$itunes | Get-Member

you should see an output similar to this:
   TypeName: System.__ComObject#{9dd6680b-3edc-40db-a771-e6fe4832e34a}

Name                               MemberType            Definition
----                               ----------            ----------
Authorize                          Method                void Authorize (int, Variant, string)
BackTrack                          Method                void BackTrack ()
CheckVersion                       Method                bool CheckVersion (int, int)
ConvertFile                        Method                IITOperationStatus ConvertFile (string)
ConvertFile2                       Method                IITConvertOperationStatus ConvertFile2 (string)
ConvertFiles                       Method                IITOperationStatus ConvertFiles (Variant)
ConvertFiles2                      Method                IITConvertOperationStatus ConvertFiles2 (Variant)
ConvertTrack                       Method                IITOperationStatus ConvertTrack (Variant)
ConvertTrack2                      Method                IITConvertOperationStatus ConvertTrack2 (Variant)
ConvertTracks                      Method                IITOperationStatus ConvertTracks (Variant)
ConvertTracks2                     Method                IITConvertOperationStatus ConvertTracks2 (Variant)
CreateEQPreset                     Method                IITEQPreset CreateEQPreset (string)
CreateFolder                       Method                IITPlaylist CreateFolder (string)
CreateFolderInSource               Method                IITPlaylist CreateFolderInSource (string, Variant)
CreatePlaylist                     Method                IITPlaylist CreatePlaylist (string)
CreatePlaylistInSource             Method                IITPlaylist CreatePlaylistInSource (string, Variant)
FastForward                        Method                void FastForward ()
GetITObjectByID                    Method                IITObject GetITObjectByID (int, int, int, int)
GetITObjectPersistentIDs           Method                void GetITObjectPersistentIDs (Variant, int, int)
GetPlayerButtonsState              Method                void GetPlayerButtonsState (bool, ITPlayButtonState, bool)
GotoMusicStoreHomePage             Method                void GotoMusicStoreHomePage ()
NextTrack                          Method                void NextTrack ()
OpenURL                            Method                void OpenURL (string)
Pause                              Method                void Pause ()
Play                               Method                void Play ()
PlayerButtonClicked                Method                void PlayerButtonClicked (ITPlayerButton, int)
PlayFile                           Method                void PlayFile (string)
PlayPause                          Method                void PlayPause ()
PreviousTrack                      Method                void PreviousTrack ()
Quit                               Method                void Quit ()
Resume                             Method                void Resume ()
Rewind                             Method                void Rewind ()
SetOptions                         Method                void SetOptions (int)
Stop                               Method                void Stop ()
SubscribeToPodcast                 Method                void SubscribeToPodcast (string)
UpdateIPod                         Method                void UpdateIPod ()
UpdatePodcastFeeds                 Method                void UpdatePodcastFeeds ()
CanSetShuffle                      ParameterizedProperty bool CanSetShuffle (Variant) {get}
CanSetSongRepeat                   ParameterizedProperty bool CanSetSongRepeat (Variant) {get}
ITObjectPersistentIDHigh           ParameterizedProperty int ITObjectPersistentIDHigh (Variant) {get}
ITObjectPersistentIDLow            ParameterizedProperty int ITObjectPersistentIDLow (Variant) {get}
AppCommandMessageProcessingEnabled Property              bool AppCommandMessageProcessingEnabled () {get} {set}
BrowserWindow                      Property              IITBrowserWindow BrowserWindow () {get}
ConvertOperationStatus             Property              IITConvertOperationStatus ConvertOperationStatus () {get}
CurrentEncoder                     Property              IITEncoder CurrentEncoder () {get} {set}
CurrentEQPreset                    Property              IITEQPreset CurrentEQPreset () {get} {set}
CurrentPlaylist                    Property              IITPlaylist CurrentPlaylist () {get}
CurrentStreamTitle                 Property              string CurrentStreamTitle () {get}
CurrentStreamURL                   Property              string CurrentStreamURL () {get}
CurrentTrack                       Property              IITTrack CurrentTrack () {get}
CurrentVisual                      Property              IITVisual CurrentVisual () {get} {set}
Encoders                           Property              IITEncoderCollection Encoders () {get}
EQEnabled                          Property              bool EQEnabled () {get} {set}
EQPresets                          Property              IITEQPresetCollection EQPresets () {get}
EQWindow                           Property              IITWindow EQWindow () {get}
ForceToForegroundOnDialog          Property              bool ForceToForegroundOnDialog () {get} {set}
FullScreenVisuals                  Property              bool FullScreenVisuals () {get} {set}
LibraryPlaylist                    Property              IITLibraryPlaylist LibraryPlaylist () {get}
LibrarySource                      Property              IITSource LibrarySource () {get}
LibraryXMLPath                     Property              string LibraryXMLPath () {get}
Mute                               Property              bool Mute () {get} {set}
PlayerPosition                     Property              int PlayerPosition () {get} {set}
PlayerPositionMS                   Property              int PlayerPositionMS () {get} {set}
PlayerState                        Property              ITPlayerState PlayerState () {get}
SelectedTracks                     Property              IITTrackCollection SelectedTracks () {get}
SoundVolume                        Property              int SoundVolume () {get} {set}
SoundVolumeControlEnabled          Property              bool SoundVolumeControlEnabled () {get}
Sources                            Property              IITSourceCollection Sources () {get}
Version                            Property              string Version () {get}
Visuals                            Property              IITVisualCollection Visuals () {get}
VisualsEnabled                     Property              bool VisualsEnabled () {get} {set}
VisualSize                         Property              ITVisualSize VisualSize () {get} {set}
Windows                            Property              IITWindowCollection Windows () {get}

Here, you could i.e. retrieve the current playlist like this:
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist()

Name            : Lukas Graham
Index           : 25
sourceID        : 71
playlistID      : 13135
trackID         : 0
TrackDatabaseID : 0
Kind            : 2
Source          : System.__ComObject
Duration        : 7050
Shuffle         : True
Size            : 253446516
SongRepeat      : 0
Time            : 1:57:30
Visible         : True
Tracks          : System.__ComObject
Shared          : False
Smart           : False
SpecialKind     : 0
Parent          :

You can further check what members this object supports on appending | Get-Member:
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist() | Get-Member

   TypeName: System.__ComObject#{0a504ded-a0b5-465a-8a94-50e20d7df692}

Name            MemberType Definition
----            ---------- ----------
AddFile         Method     IITOperationStatus AddFile (string)
AddFiles        Method     IITOperationStatus AddFiles (Variant)
AddTrack        Method     IITTrack AddTrack (Variant)
AddURL          Method     IITURLTrack AddURL (string)
CreateFolder    Method     IITPlaylist CreateFolder (string)
CreatePlaylist  Method     IITPlaylist CreatePlaylist (string)
Delete          Method     void Delete ()
GetITObjectIDs  Method     void GetITObjectIDs (int, int, int, int)
PlayFirstTrack  Method     void PlayFirstTrack ()
Print           Method     void Print (bool, ITPlaylistPrintKind, string)
Reveal          Method     void Reveal ()
Search          Method     IITTrackCollection Search (string, ITPlaylistSearchField)
Duration        Property   int Duration () {get}
Index           Property   int Index () {get}
Kind            Property   ITPlaylistKind Kind () {get}
Name            Property   string Name () {get} {set}
Parent          Property   IITUserPlaylist Parent () {get} {set}
playlistID      Property   int playlistID () {get}
Shared          Property   bool Shared () {get} {set}
Shuffle         Property   bool Shuffle () {get} {set}
Size            Property   double Size () {get}
Smart           Property   bool Smart () {get}
SongRepeat      Property   ITPlaylistRepeatMode SongRepeat () {get} {set}
Source          Property   IITSource Source () {get}
sourceID        Property   int sourceID () {get}
SpecialKind     Property   ITUserPlaylistSpecialKind SpecialKind () {get}
Time            Property   string Time () {get}
TrackDatabaseID Property   int TrackDatabaseID () {get}
trackID         Property   int trackID () {get}
Tracks          Property   IITTrackCollection Tracks () {get}
Visible         Property   bool Visible () {get}

So adding a file to the playlist can be achived by simply invoking the AddFile(string) operation on the CurrentPlaylist() oject, i.e. like this:
$itunes.CurrentPlaylist().AddFile("D:\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\Jason Mraz\Mr. A–Z\03 Geek in the pink.mp3")

InProgress Tracks
---------- ------
     False System.__ComObject

In regards to synchronization, I haven't used my IPod in a while so haven't used synchronization this way myself yet. I've now dig up my IPod and checked the API really quickly for it and have found my IPod this way:
$itunes.Sources.Item(4)

Name            : Roman's IPod Shuffle
Index           : 4
sourceID        : 14036
playlistID      : 0
trackID         : 0
TrackDatabaseID : 0
Kind            : 2
Capacity        : 2017361920
FreeSpace       : 1128808448
Playlists       : System.__ComObject
SoftwareVersion : 1.0.1

A lookup of the respective members lists the following methods and properties for my IPod Shuffle:
$itunes.Sources.Item(4) | Get-Member

   TypeName: System.__ComObject#{cf4d8ace-1720-4fb9-b0ae-9877249e89b0}

Name            MemberType Definition
----            ---------- ----------
EjectIPod       Method     void EjectIPod ()
GetITObjectIDs  Method     void GetITObjectIDs (int, int, int, int)
UpdateIPod      Method     void UpdateIPod ()
Capacity        Property   double Capacity () {get}
FreeSpace       Property   double FreeSpace () {get}
Index           Property   int Index () {get}
Kind            Property   ITSourceKind Kind () {get}
Name            Property   string Name () {get} {set}
playlistID      Property   int playlistID () {get}
Playlists       Property   IITPlaylistCollection Playlists () {get}
SoftwareVersion Property   string SoftwareVersion () {get}
sourceID        Property   int sourceID () {get}
TrackDatabaseID Property   int TrackDatabaseID () {get}
trackID         Property   int trackID () {get}

The UpdateIPod() method here might be what you are looking for, though I haven't tested is yet.


Is there any way to save Mac OS X preferences into a shell file? Whenever I reinstall my Mac OS and/or buy a new Mac, I have to configure manually almost all the options of mouse, dock, etc.

I'd like to know if Mac OS or some software can provide some way to save all the configurations I set up with the System Preferences app into a shell file, creating something like Mathias Bynens' https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.macos

The System Preferences appear to be stored in various places, depending on whether they are user or system specific. A lot of them are stored in either /Library/Preferences/ or $HOME/Library/Preferences/ (for per-user settings). But each preference pane will have its own way of storing them.

You can see which preferences are stored this way by typing:

defaults read <domain>

Where <domain> is either the start of the filename in your per-user system preferences, or the full path to a .plist file. For example:

defaults read com.apple.screensaver
defaults read /Library/Preferences/com.apple.screensaver

The former will show your per-user customisation of the screensaver settings, while the latter will show the system screensaver settings.

The settings are largely organised by preference pane, though not necessarily that straight forward. You'll likely have to poke around in /Library/Preferences and sub-folders (especially SystemConfiguration) to find them all.

One option would be to just copy the relevant files out, and put them back in place for new installations.

Another way would be to export and import it as required.

Exporting the Power Management (Energy Saver) System Preferences to pm.plist:

defaults export /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement pm.plist

Importing those preferences from pm.plist on the new computer:

defaults import /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement sysprefs.plist

You may even want to edit the various exported .plist files if there are specific system preferences you do/don't want to share between computers. That way you can have some customisation locally, and the import command will not overwrite those, just add the ones you've set in the .plist files. You can use the defaults command to modify your own .plist files as well (but make sure you specify the full path to the file, not just a name, or you may be modifying your per-user preferences).


Open files in background on MacOS Sierra? I often want to open several files, and then check through them. They may not appear consecutively in Finder or Calibre, so I have to select a few, open them, select more, open them, etc.

Unfortunately, my reading apps take focus as these open, so I have to fight my way back to the Finder or Calibre to select more, open them, etc.

So it would be very helpful to be able to open these in the background, and then go to the reading app when they're done. I saw a previous suggestion to open applications in the background, and tried it as an application and as a service, but couldn't get it to work, even trying different terms such as -ga Clearview instead of --hide.

Open applications in the background in OS X, I don't want my focus taken from me. Respect my Focus!

Any other options?

If you just want to go back to Finder you just need to open Script Editor and paste this code:

repeat
    if "Finder" is not frontmost application then
        tell application "Finder"
            activate
        end tell
    end if
end repeat

Save it as an application, like FinderAlwaysON and execute it before starting your work.

Be aware that this will lock your computer with Finder, so when your are done opening the files bring up Force Quit (Command+Option+ESC) and close the app.


What license is needed to use Apple hardware in a movie? I want to enter a short film in a NZ student film competition.

I want to include a scene where a girl works on an Apple MacBook. Is it okay to show the Apple branding/logo in the film?

The fact it is an Apple computer is not important to the movie, it could be any laptop. Should I just keep the logo off the screen, or is it not OK to even show the white edge?

I'd really appreciate helpful links to the Apple website or other reliable sources.

Basically none. If you are not using their trademarks, logo by itself - which is entirely different than using the physical product as built by Apple or as modified in any way you please to change it with painting, stickers, or a even a hammer. You probably don't even need a license to show the software if that is incidental to the picture. What you can't do is imply that Apple endorses the film or use Apple products in marketing your film.

If you are thorough, you will want to have a look at both Apple's legal trademarks information and consult with whatever lawyer (or paralegal) is helping you with other legal aspects of making a movie that is familiar with the laws in your specific filming/distribution locations.

Here is Apple's main trademark page:

http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/trademark.html

In it, you are not really a reseller or advertising the movie itself with the product and trademarked design and logos, so read that portion but don't take it too seriously for the things that don't make sense. Pay attention to how Apple prefers their product to be depicted in photographs.

Also - there is a tidbit about mailing Apple directly for product placement.

Marketing or advertising requests (which may include promotions/giveaways, sponsorship, product placement, and partnership requests) may be emailed to wwmarcom@apple.com

You might not get free product to use, but you should get a nice package covering their desires and wishes for product placement. Even if you were using Macs in a light that Apple prefers not to see - you might be covered under free speech and artistic expression rights, but I wouldn't expect Apple to spell out that on their pages - so check with your legal team for that if you have concerns.

Good luck filming your project.


Receiving Unwanted Password Reset A while back I had added a secondary email address to Apple ID which had not belonged to me. A few years later I keep receiving messages of activity of that account (reset the password, change of details, etc.).
My Apple ID account is not associated with that account, I just receive emails from that account with information, because I added my mail as secondary mail.
I do not want to receive these emails. I cannot reach this person.

I do know this person but did not want to contact. Apple Support could not intervene either as it is prohibited for them to change user's data.
Albeit, I have contacted that person and we have solved that issue.


How to associate an iPhone with an Apple ID/account via iTunes? I'm trying to associate my iPhone 7+ with my Apple ID so that when I log in to my Apple ID account I see my device associated with that account:

I have my iPhone connected to my Mac laptop and I have iTunes launched. Is there any way to perform this association through iTunes? If not, what's the easiest way to make this association between my device (ipHone 7+) and my Apple ID/account? Thanks in advance!

Update

I was able to follow @Monomeeth's steps up to step 3. Here is what I see on my phone screen:

Note I circled my desired device (my iPhone 7+) in red, so yes, I do see it there on that screen inside the Settings app.

So @Monomeeth's next step (Step 4) states:

  "Ensure that you're logged into your Apple ID for iTunes etc"

My question is: How do I do this, so I can go on to Step 5?

Maybe I'm missing something from your question, but...

Launch the Settings app on your iPhone 7 Plus.
At the very top you'll see your photo or an icon pertaining to your name. Tap on this.
On this screen you should see a whole range of settings, including for iCloud, iTunes & App Store, etc. You should also see your devices listed.
Ensure that you're logged into your Apple ID for iTunes etc
Assuming you see your iPhone 7 Plus in the list of devices, tap on that as well to verify the device.
If prompted to sign in to iCloud etc, then enter your password and tap OK.
If prompted to answer security questions, etc, then do so.

After going through the above process, do you find your iPhone 7 Plus is associated with your account? If not, then try downloading a song or app you've previously purchased with your Apple ID and check again.


Activate Used iPhone 4 If I were to buy a used iPhone 4 (e.g. from eBay), which carrier(s) would allow me to activate it without a contract?  Is there an activation fee?  Anything else I should be aware of?

UPDATE:
It seems there is less knowledge as to what Verizon's policy is, and as luck would have it they're my current provider.  I would like to know what their policies are also, if anyone happens to know.

So long as it's an unlocked iPhone, you can use any SIM card to activate the unit. It doesn't actually have to have a plan attached to it. I'm not aware of any carrier on the world that only supplies contracts and foregoes monthly plans, so there should be no issue with your carrier of choice. Contacting Verizon is a wise idea with respect to their policies, as without further details your question is pretty broad.


iMovie is not uploading videos to YouTube When I click File > Share > YouTube (username) a box pops up, but the "next" button is not highlighted and is not clickable. I've also tried to upload the files from the YouYube website but when I do I get this error and a 0% upload:

"We did not recognize the format of this file, but we will try to process it anyway. See this article on recommended formats for more information."

The file extension is .imovieevent.

What can I do to successfully upload to YouTube?

I don't have much experience with iMovie, but I would suggest exporting your video, then uploading it to YouTube. In the past I have used inbuilt uploading mechanics and they don't tend to be the most reliable of things.


Mac OS X users with empty name Looking at my Users & Groups I have just noticed two users I never payed any attention before.
Maybe they already exist from the beginning of time i.e. when my macbook pro was installed for the first time.
But, as told, I have never, ever, ever noticed them.

Does anyone know where these users come from and if I can delete them?

No clue where they come from, is your macbook refurbished by any chance?

Just remove them if you don't use them.

They have no username, so they kinda don't have any folder related.


How to change zoom/"green button" behaviour Since Yosemite, the green button in the upper left corner on each window activates the fullscreen mode. By holding alt, it works as before (Mavericks). Is there any possibility (Terminal?) to change this behaviour back to "normal"? For example: holding alt for fullscreen mode?

Update

You can change the behaviour back to "normal" with BetterTouchTool.

Hold down Option key and click the Green button. It will change from the Full Screen button back to a Zoom button.

You can also double-click the empty area in the window frame (title bar) if you don’t have it set to minimize when double-clicking.

However, this soft can help you : https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/30591/right-zoom

Apple Support


Unable to Perform Name Resolution My MacBook Pro, for some reason, detects the wireless connection, but I cannot go to a web page using Safari. I can open the iTunes Store, but cannot access my email. I ran the Network Assistant and it reflects that my connection is good. I tried putting in a manual IP address but my computer is still unable to perform name resolution to go to any web page. My home WiFi uses a WEP password, and configure IPv4 using DHCP.

I went to a local McDonald's to see if I could access the Internet with their free WiFi - my MacBook connected immediately and went out to several websites with no issues.

Note:
I went through all of the steps as listed in this answer on June 30, 2012 with this very same situation but am still not able to open a Web Page.

It sounds like the MacBook connection problems only happen when you have blocked the kiddo's x-box, correct?
Does removing the X-Box block allow you to connect to web and email?
If so, the problem is likely happening because of DHCP.  DHCP means the router hands out IP addresses.  Usually, DHCP will hand out IP addresses in the order that devices connect to the router.

For Example:
1st - 192.168.0.1 -> MacBook
2nd - 192.168.0.2 -> X-Box  [BLOCKED]

Now lets say the kid reboots the router while you are away.  Now the X-Box connects to wifi first and gets the first IP address. When you get home you get the second [blocked] address
For Example:
1st - 192.168.0.1 -> X-Box
2nd - 192.168.0.2 [BLOCKED]-> MacBook

Setting up your MacBook with a manual address (DHCP with manual address ) might work... but only if you chose an unused IP address in the "proper IP address range" for your router.
If the above is similar to your situation ... The solution to this depends on the make and model of your router.
My router has an option for "DHCP with reserved addresses".  This will reserve and assign a specific IP address to a specific device.Example: 192.168.0.8 -[BLOCKED] [RESERVED for X-Box] .
The "reservations" are based on a device's "MAC Address". The "MAC address" is a unique "serial number" for the for a devices WiFi or ether (MAC address is nothing to due with MAC OS.)
Another option is to set the IPs manually but this would could be a pain... There may be other options depending on the make and model of your router.
Please let us know more about your router and router setup.


Create 'New Email with Attachment (via web-based Gmail)' option in Finder? I use the web version of Gmail (www.gmail.com; as opposed to a offline email client). I frequently send files as attachments.

I would like to be able to right-click on a file on Finder and, with one additional click, I would have a new blank e-mail message on Gmail (on a new window of my web browser; currently Chrome), with the selected file already added as an attachment.

This post shows how to to something similar. But the new messages opens up in Apple's Mail client.
How to create a 'New Email with Attachment' option in Finder?

Any ideas if what I want to do is possible?

Try mutt, the command line email client that you can use with shell scripting:

This page seems like a excellent resource:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/mutt

New email from command line:

mutt -s "Subject" somejoeorjane@someserver.com -a somefile < /tmp/sometext.txt

Now you just need to modify that to go to Drafts instead of send (I have not tried this). Anyway, you can make an Automator service that runs one of these shell commands at mutt, then make a keyboard shortcut for that service.


Why localhost works even apache is off? I installed ZendServer CE.
This is my /usr/local/zend/apache2/conf/httpd.conf file: http://codepad.org/vorWrTKb

This is my /etc/hosts file.

##
# Host Database
#
# localhost is used to configure the loopback interface
# when the system is booting.  Do not change this entry.
##
127.0.0.1       localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1             localhost
fe80::1%losd0   localhost

Document root is /Users/anthony/apache/html

If I turn zend server off http:/localhost/ still works.
Moreover I have another web-site (php) here /Users/anthony/apache/html/somesite and it also still works on localhost.

At the same time I haven't any virtual hosts in /usr/local/zend/apache2/conf/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf having that documentRoot.

This is my httpd-vhosts.conf file http://codepad.org/qx20aZua

I checked default apache macos service and removed file from /etc/apache2 httpd.conf.

If ZendServer is on:

127.0.0.1 runs /Users/anthony/apache/html/ (correct)

localhost runs /Users/anthony/apache/html/somesite (it shouldn't)

If ZendServer is off:

127.0.0.1 runs /Users/anthony/apache/html/somesite (it shouldn't)

localhost runs /Users/anthony/apache/html/somesite (it shouldn't)

So I cannot understand how localhost works if apache doesn't?

The problem was solved.

I run ps aux | grep httpd and got a lot of process.
I've killed each process and restarted ZS. Now it's ok)


Create an APFS RAM disk There are various resources about how to create a RAM disk, but they all deal with HFS+ RAM disks. But how does one create an APFS RAM disk?

I tried passing APFS as file system to the diskutil command like below, but that doesn't work. Since diskutil has a whole bunch of APFS-related subcommands I assume there's more magic necessary.

DISK_ID=`hdiutil attach -nomount ram://$((4 * 1024 * 2048))`
diskutil eraseVolume APFS "RAM Disk" "$DISK_ID"

It works if you create a JHFS+ volume first and convert it to APFS in a second step:

DISK_ID=$(hdiutil attach -nomount ram://$((<number_of_blocks>)))
diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ "RAM Disk" $DISK_ID
diskutil apfs convert $(tr -d ' '<<<${DISK_ID}s2)

If the RAM disk has a size of 2 GiB (4 * 1024 * 1024)(block_size) or smaller no EFI partition is created and the 3rd command is: diskutil apfs convert $(tr -d ' '<<<${DISK_ID}s1) or more generally:

DISK_ID=$(hdiutil attach -nomount ram://$((<number_of_blocks>)))
SIZE=$(diskutil info $DISK_ID | awk -F'[^0-9]*' '/Disk Size/ {print$4}')
diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ "RAM Disk" $DISK_ID
if [ $SIZE -le 2147483648 ]; then diskutil apfs convert $(tr -d ' '<<<${DISK_ID}s1); else diskutil apfs convert $(tr -d ' '<<<${DISK_ID}s2); fi

Result:

...
/dev/disk2 (disk image):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        +4.3 GB     disk2
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk3         4.0 GB     disk2s2

/dev/disk3 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +4.0 GB     disk3
                                 Physical Store disk2s2
   1:                APFS Volume RAM Disk                32.8 KB    disk3s1


Can you solve these intermittent audio problems with Ford Sync and iPhone? Most of the time my iPhone 3GS works well with the Ford SYNC system (based on Microsoft Auto/Windows CE) in my Mercury Milan Hybrid.  I connect the iPhone to the car's USB input (inside the center console) and select "USB" on the "Media" screen.  It will start automatically playing whatever was most recently playing on the iPhone (which is usually a podcast for me).

The iPhone also plays well through Bluetooth (using the A2DP profile, I presume).  I prefer USB though because the steering wheel controls for next/previous track (and fast-forward & rewind) don't work over Bluetooth (probably because iOS doesn't support AVRCP), and the volume is significantly lower over Bluetooth than when using USB.

It feels like increasingly often I can't get audio to play over USB.  I will sometimes see a message saying something like "Autoplay not supported", and it won't play if I select a track (or podcast) on the Ford Sync screen.  Disconnecting and reconnecting the iPhone doesn't help, and I usually continue to have the problem even after turning off the car and opening the door to turn off Ford Sync.  (Though usually it works again the next time I drive the car.)

When this happens Bluetooth still works, though the USB problem occurs sometimes when the Bluetooth connection drops.  I can manually reconnect the iPhone over Bluetooth, and then the USB doesn't work.

I believe I noticed these intermittent problems before I upgraded my iPhone 3GS to iOS 4.0.  But they may be more frequent since then.

Has anyone else run into these problems?  Have you learned anything I haven't?

Update: The last time this happened I turned off audio (by pressing the volume dial).  USB worked when I turned it back on.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that this works whenever USB stops working.

Update #2: Nope, turning off the audio and back off doesn't work.  If when I switch to USB I don't see the track name, then in a few seconds the audio will stop.  And I've never successfully got it to work again, without turning off the car and waiting several hours. (I don't know if it always displays "Autoplay not supported when this happens.)

I don't know whether this is related, but occasionally when playing audio over Bluetooth, the Bluetooth symbol will disappear from the screen and the audio will stop.  When I got to the phone settings, the phone I've paired with Sync isn't displayed.  If I wait a minute or two, the paired phone will be displayed and I can reconnect.

I guess I should look and see if there's an update to Sync available.

Update #3: I've noticed that sometimes when playing audio over USB the Bluetooth symbol will disappear from the my car's Sync screen (as described above).  The audio immediately stops, and won't start again until I reconnect to my iPhone over Bluetooth.  (This is somewhat annoying, since Bluetooth shouldn't have anything to do with USB.)

I like the Ford Sync system, but it appears my worries about Microsoft's tendencies towards inferior quality and lack of attention to detail were not entirely unfounded.

Update #4: I've discovered (accompanied with a face-palm) that I can crank the volume on my iPhone to max to come close to the same volume over the car speakers that I get over USB.  And I don't know if it was the iOS 4.2 upgrade (with AVRCP support—which works well except for fast-forward and rewind), but the problem I describe in update #3 has been rare lately.  So I use Bluetooth most of the time and don't subject myself to the USB problems described above.  Bluetooth has the additional advantage of starting automatically from where I left off when I start my car.

I don't have an answer, but I have the identical problem with an iPhone 3G.  The sync system will recognize USB for about a month and then start failing until it flat out won't recognize anything device that is inserted into the USB port.  I've had the guys at the dealership look at it 3 times and each time they get it to start working again by upgrading the sync software or it just happens to start working.

Have you found a solution beyond using Bluetooth?  I can't even charge my phone anymore through the port.


How do I get my firmware version prior to running jailbreak on a new 3GS? I want to jailbreak my new iPhone 3GS, but I need to find out what firmware it has before downloading the jailbreak software. I can't get past the emergency call only page, and I can't read it with iTunes because I am using an illegal carrier, so not valid Sim as far as Apple is concerned.

Recent versions of redsn0w auto-detect the version of iOS running on the connected device, so you can usually just jailbreak it without having to manually figure out the iOS version first. You can always get the latest version of redsn0w from the Dev Team Blog: http://blog.iphone-dev.org/tagged/redsn0w

Jailbreaking with redsn0w also "hacktivates" (unofficially activates) unactivated iPhones (although not the iPhone 4S yet), which is convenient for these kinds of situations. Some things don't work on hacktivated iPhones (push notifications, iMessage, FaceTime), and the battery may drain more than usual, but it's fine for a temporary solution when no official SIM cards are available.


Icon is not disappearing after removing the app I've jailbroken iPhone4s (iOS 7.1) with pangu. Through cydia I've installed Terminal app. Then I've uninstalled the app. But the icon on the screen is not going. Does that mean uninstallation was not successful? If so how can I remove that completely?

Steps taken to uninstall

cydia -> installed(option) -> chose terminal -> modify (top right corner) -> chose remove

Run uicache as mobile, then respring (killall SpringBoard).