“No signal” at external display connecting to MacBook Pro using DisplayPort I’ll be really grateful for any recommendations in solving the problem of connecting an external monitor to MacBook Pro using a miniDisplayPort / DisplayPort cable.

For a long time I used AOC I2369VM (1080p, 60Hz) as an external monitor for MacBook Pro (Early 2011, 13”, macOS 10.13.6) using a miniDisplayPort / DisplayPort cable, and it’s work perfectly. A couple of days ago I bought a new AOC I2475PXQU (1080p, 60Hz) and it doesn’t work: the laptop “sees” the monitor and creates a second desktop, however on the monitor I see the message “No signal” only. In some cases, the laptop freezes or spontaneously reboots when the monitor is connected or disconnected. When I change the image output settings to 1080i or 720p, sometimes the second desktop appears on the monitor (but in most cases I see the message “No signal” only). For some reason, the monitor is defined as I2475W1 in the system settings. I tried using a different cable with the same connectors, however this didn’t fix the issue. I performed a reset of NVRAM, PRAM and SMC — this didn’t help either. In addition, I performed Apple Hardware Test — there are no errors. Also, I connected other devices to this monitor using HDMI, and they worked perfectly.

Update: According to the monitor menu, H. Frequency is 45 KHz at 720p and 34 KHz at 1080i; V. Frequency is 60 Hz at any settings. When other devices connected by HDMI, H. Frequency is 68 KHz and V. Frequency is 60 Hz.

How can I localize and fix the issue? Can the miniDisplayPort / DVI adapter solve the problem? (I have a DVI cable.) Thank you.

most probable cause is the mDP cable
different cable / adapter should solve the problem


IPod touch location services A box popped up that says "Turn on location services to allow weather to determine yor location".  There are two tabs underneath that say "settings" and "cancel".  Neither of the tabs work the box won't go away.  I can't get it to shut off.  It's just stuck.

Do a hard restart:
Hold the home button (the round one at the bottom) and the sleep wake button (the one on the top or the right side of your device) for 15 seconds or till the apple logo shows up.
If it does not appear, try to check if the device is still on, then try again, if it's off hold the sleep wake button.


macOS Sierra: Safari dialog opens with no buttons Whenever I open safari, this alert opens with no buttons. The only way to close it is to force quit safari. How can I fix this?

MacOS 10.12.4
MacBook Air 2013

Make sure Safari is closed when preforming this operation.

Go to ~/Library/Safari/
Drag the Bookmarks.plist to your Desktop
Move all other files and folders in ~/Library/Safari/ into your trash
Open Safari and then immediately quit out
Replace the Bookmarks.plist in ~/Library/Safari/ with the Bookmarks.plist that you saved on your Desktop in step 2
Open Safari and see if the problem persists


Is reinstalling Mavericks possible via recovery mode with two HDs and without a backup? I can't get my iMac working and I don't have a backup.

If I choose to reinstall Mavericks or Lion (it shipped with Lion, I upgraded to Mavericks) will that wipe over the core HD?

I got core HD 350 GB and another internal HD of 2 TB.

If I choose the install destination to be the 350 core HD, will that wipe out data on it?

If you reinstall OS X from Recovery HD or the installer app (or Internet Recovery), your Mac's HD will not get erased.  If the installer needs to erase things, it will tell you, so go slowly and really read the words if you get a dialog box and choices.

If you are concerned, install OS X onto any free USB drive and then get a good backup of the system you care not to loose.


Would monitors attached to my USB hub make my CPU run hotter? Would having 2 monitors attached to my USB hub (along with 1 monitor attached to the MiniDisplay port) contribute to the CPU getting hotter?

My MacBook:

Core i5@2.5-GHz
16-GB of RAM
1 HooToo 7 port USB hub
2 Diamond USB Multi-Display Adapter
the USB Display Adapters attach to HP 2511x (25") and Samsung S24D300 (24")
the MiniDisplay port monitor is HNC iF281D (28")
MacOS 10.11 (El Capitan)
I installed iStat to monitor things.

I just read in some forum that the CPU might overheat with more than 1 external monitor???

I have been using this set-up for a few days. It is working fine.

I found the answer:

USB graphics devices, like the USB-HDMI-DVI, are “virtual” devices where much of the heavy lifting is done by the CPU, by hooking into the graphics stack.

Even so, I'll keep this set-up and monitor things with iStat. All I display is MSFT Word documents and stupid web pages. I think I'll be ok?

Sorry I did not do more research!


Sharing a VPN connection using Internet Sharing (via Airport) Internet Sharing from my MacBook Pro (10.6.6) to other WiFi devices works fine.

But the moment I turn on the VPN connection (PPTP) on the Mac (which I would also like to share), the other devices cannot access anything anymore (everything works fine on the Mac itself).

What do I do?

Linking to rodrigo.sharpcube.com is appalling. I lost hours of my life following it. It's a totally unnecessary wild goose chase into IPFW. Please avoid. The first answer from JRobert is accurate. Here is a more detailed step by step with images.


What constitutes Date Usage on an iPhone 5? I have an iPhone 5 and I just received notice that my data usage for free is almost up.  I presently have 1GB. I am total unaware of what data usage is and should I change to a plan with 2GB.

Do I have to do something to make sure I use Wi-Fi in all places that I am.

Exactly what takes up my data usage when using my phone? Is it from receiving a message, text, taking photos. Please be specific if possible.

You need to contact your Carrier, i.e. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint etc, to see what they define as Data Usage.

That said, generally speaking, any communication that you send/receive/request over their network while directly connected to their network, and while Roaming, is typically counted under Data Usage.  This could be emails, websites, pictures, videos, etc. Typically when connected to a Wi-Fi Access Point then Data Usage Accounting is not counted against your monthly Data Usage allotment.


Disable the conversion from "" to “” when typing Chinese Every time I type in a quote mark ("), the "smart" Chinese input method would automatically convert it to “ or ” for me. But compilers and interpreters don't know what “” mean, they can only recognize ".

How can I disable this conversion?

In most Cocoa-based applications, you can disable this by unchecking Edit > Substitutions > Smart Quotes.


XQuartz: user / environment when executing xinit? (XMonad, xmodmap, etc.) I'm running XMonad with XQuartz on an 11,3 Macbook Prop Retina. My .xinitrc looks as follow:

[[ -f ~/.Xdefaults ]] && xrdb -load ~/.Xdefaults
export LANG="en_CA.UTF-8"
xmodmap /Users/xxxxxxx/.xmodmarc
cd $HOME
/Users/xxxxxxxx/Library/Haskell/bin/xmonad

I've noticed that both the LANG export and the xmodmap are being called, but their effects are not persisting. If I throw some env >> tmp.txt in there I can see that it's a different environment than when I finally reach a terminal, and I suspect perhaps even a different user that is calling xinit.

My Questions

what user or environment is actually calling xinit when you startup XQuartz?
where is the appropriate place to put xmodmap so that it's called once, and only once, when XQuartz is started?
How do I get the LANG set once, and only once, as an environment variable when I start XQuartz (I need it for unicode support)

Thank you!

What user/env is actually calling xinit when you start XQuartz?

Under Linux, this would be the user that you logged in as; I'd suspect that it's probably the same for Mac OS X.  As for the environment, whatever the current environment is when you run xinit, that will be the environment that XQuartz runs with, excepting changes to the environment done within one of the files that XQuartz reads when it starts up.

Where should I put xmodmap so that it's called once, and only once, when XQuartz is started?

To create your own custom map/table and store it in a configuration file, run:

xmodmap -pke > ~/.Xmodmap

Make the desired changes to ~/.Xmodmap and then test the new configuration with:

xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap

To active your custom table when starting Xorg, that is XQuartz, add the following to your ~/.xinitrc

[ -s ~/.Xmodmap ] && xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap # you can also try using `[[ -s ~/.Xmodmap ]] && xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap`

How do I get the LANG set once, and only once, as an environment variable when I start XQuartz (I need it for unicode support)

To set LANG, simply add one of the following to your ~/.xinitrc

[[ -z "$LANG" ]] && LANG=<VALUE> # only sets LANG, if LANG is empty
LANG=<VALUE> # sets LANG regardless of whether it is or is not empty


Installing ffmpeg in mac os "command not found" Hello I tried installing ffmpeg after installing homebrew. when I typed "brew install ffmpeg" it says "command not found" can you help please?

When you ran the first command, you pressed "any other key" than RETURN, and so you never actually installed homebrew.

Re-run the first command and make sure to hit the return (enter) key when asked.


macOS App Switcher, transparency and Dark Mode? I recently switched to macOS Mojave Dark Mode, and I like many aspects of it.
But there's one thing that really gives me trouble, i.e., using the App Switcher in front of a window that is mainly dark/black.
When I use the keyboard shortcut, Command + Tab to invoke the App Switcher, the switcher highlights the currently selected app using a black frame. Black frames do not work too well when they are used transparently above black background.
I did then turned to the Accessibility settings to Reduce transparency but that actually made things worse.
Is there a way to somehow fix this problem?
(I installed HyperSwitch as a workaround. The UI part works much better there for me, but the actual logic of app switching is "wrong" when using multiple screens, so that renders it a no go for me)
Two screenshots are shown below. The first one shows the App Switcher with the first app (iTerm) selected.

In the second one, now the selection is on Google Chrome (which one can somehow guess from the fact, that the app name is highlighted below the icon).

As the last comment indicates, 2 years later, still no official solution by Apple.
My personal answer: invest the 10 Euros/USDs for the Contexts switcher. That product works fine for my requirements. It appeared to be dead, but after months of no activity, a new version was released March 2021.


Spell-check doesn't work on words with dashes (Mail.app in Yosemite) I just upgraded to Yosemite, and noticed that in Mail.app spell check (as you type) doesn't work properly if two words are connected by a dash (hyphen) and only the second one is misspelled. For example:

test-test (no squiggly)
test-asdf (no squiggly)
asdf-test (squiggly on first word)
asdf-asdf (squiggly on first word)

Here #2 should get a squiggly but it does not. All other applications seem to work as expected (although I'd prefer to have squigglies on both words for #4). I have Mac OS 10.10.2 and Mail.app 8.2 (2070.6).

Any suggestions for workarounds?

This is not a answer...but to show the result of a test

It confirms a problem with using a dash with spell checker in Mail.app and Notes ect... on my MBA with 10.9.5

The result is sporadic, sometimes if the word before dash is correct it will ignore the word after dash, sometimes not.

Interestingly if I enable check Grammar with Spelling it will work correctly.


Inconsistent results when getting folder size in AppleScript I'm using this line to get the size of a folder:

set thesize to physical size of folder x

The problem is that sometimes it works, other times it doesn't, and it's very annoying because there doesn't seem to be any kind of logic to it. The same folder path can return "missing value" at first, then return the number of bytes later, without any code change. It seems to start working more often after I "Get Info" on the folder in the Finder, but even that doesn't always work.

How do you make this reliable? I can't send my application to other people with this kind of unpredictability on my own computer.

Try Automator. I did it and it worked for me on each folder.  I tried it as a Service.

I might have automator actions that you don't have.

You can get them here if that's the case:

http://www.automatedworkflows.com

There you will find awesome automator action packs. Very useful.

Phil


Unusable Macbook pro screen My Macbook screen has started flickering and is unusable:

I've tried restarting but does not fix. It seems to be isolated to the Macbook screen as an external monitor still works. It was not dropped or have any liquid spilt on it. What could cause the issue and how to fix?
Version information:

Update:
Seems to be the same issue as:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzNfrxcVowA&app=desktop
Initially, I could see the display up to 30 degrees of lid being open but now the display renders pink as per above screenshot.

It could be as simple as a worn or partly disconnected ribbon cable, but the centre section makes me think it's physical screen damage. Without hands-on it's hard to say.
Your choices are… re-seat or change the cable & see if it improves, or take it to a professional. The cables are very fragile and this new a Mac might be covered if it’s failing in the terms of coverage.
Your test of an external monitor eliminates the GPU being at issue. One further test would be take a screenshot & view it on the external monitor.


macOS Bluetooth very high retransmission rate I use my MacBook Pro from 2017 sometimes with bluetooth headphones on my desk with a distance of approximately 40cm between me and the MacBook.

The Problem is that sometimes the retransmission rate is very high (similar to package loss) which causes that the bluetooth stream of the headphones stagnates.

Using the same headphones with my other iDevices is no problem so I think it is the mac's fault.

Additionally I do not use any other bluetooth devices with my Mac and with a external bluetooth adapter the retransmission rate is 0%.

Super graphs and presentation of this item - you are correct to be concerned if you are getting the feeling that efficiency is low right where the Mac is.

Couple things to help set conditions. You will want to track what exactly is plugged in physically to the mac. Everything from which cable - which port - as you make screen shots of times with high retransmission, you will know how often that happens and if it’s only when one cable or one device is attached. (And you will have to detach devices - split-half troubleshooting if needed or one by one)

Make note of devices that generate interference even when they are properly working:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201163 - About USB on Mac computers
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201542 - Resolve Wi-Fi and Bluetooth issues caused by wireless interference

Hopefully you don’t need to capture the Bluetooth traffic to understand the spikes and cause of retransmission - there are devices that can do this but it’s kind of technical and the good tools cost money and time to learn. If the only problem is the Mac, that’s a good reason to think it’s part of the issue either causing interference or more sensitive to the interference than your same iOS devices and headset.


Edit default alert in subscribed calender I am currently subscribed to myasics ics running calender which shows my training plan. Its default alert is set to one week before.

I want to change that to two alerts. One being the day before and one on the day. I cant seem to edit this default.

How do I alter it?

On a Mac running a current OS, this is how you would go about adding multiple alerts for one event.

Double-click your event
Click the date/time of the event
Click the 'Alert' field and select when you would like your first alert
to happen (notice that there is a 'custom' field)
Now that you've selected a time period for your first alert, if you
hover over the 'Alert' field you should see a small '+' symbol to the right; if you click it, it should trigger a second alert option.

On an iPhone:

Locate your event and tap it to open it
Click 'Edit' in the top right corner of the screen (Note: If you don't click edit and instead only try to adjust the alert section from the main window, it will not give you the option to set up a second alert.)
Scroll down to the Alert section; choose the time frame for your
first alert
Now that you've set the first alert, you should see an option for
'Second Alert' below the original 'Alert' option (Note: The 'Second Alert' option doesn't look like it exists until you set up the first alert)
Choose a time frame for the second alert and then click 'Done' in the
top right hand corner of the screen


Add SSD to iMac: Thunderbolt or internal? Is there any thunderbolt SSD which can be as fast or at least not much slower than internal one from OWC? I want to use is as system disk. It will be good to have two thunderbolt ports on this thing to daisy chain display.

It will be also a big bonus if I can buy it in Europe (because of specifics of organization where I am working).

Thunderbolt is 10 Gb/s. Internal ones use SATA II or III at 3 or 6 Gb/s, respectively.

However the Thunderbolt ones use SATA III internally. So you won't see any difference.


Mac Terminal: emacs-style command editing messed up This has been a "quality of life" issue for me for a while now- command-line editing in the Mac terminal is messed up for me.

If I type a few chars, and then hit CTRL-A to move to the beginning of the line, it'll move the cursor too far over. It seems like what's on the screen is out of sync with what bash really has in its "buffer".

For example, I start typing "ls -l":

... and then hit CTRL-A to move the cursor, and I end up with the following on the screen:

I think the following snippets from my .bashrc are relevant to a potential diagnosis:

export PS1="\[\h:\w\]\$ "
export SUDO_PS1="\[\h:\w\]\\$ "
set -o emacs

FWIW, this also happens to me while using iTerm2 instead of the Mac default terminal.

Drop the '\[' and '\]'. They mean "the enclosed stuff doesn't take up display space", and are messing up the count, as you suspected. They are usually used to enclose strings that set the following text color, f/ex.  Without them, the prompt - and emacs editing - will work correctly.

Here's a handy prompt-syntax reference card.


Sierra - Apache localhost user level and phpMyAdmin I've installed the AMP stack (Apache, MySQL, PHP) and phpMyAdmin on my system.
I set up user level root too (localhost/~user) and it worked.

The things that make me still confused are:

Why is it forbidden to access system level root (http://localhost/) now?
And if I want to use phpMyAdmin on my user level site (http://localhost/~user/) should I install it again on my localhost/~user?

The "Forbidden" (error 403) error message is something that's generated by the Apache web server

What you need to check in  your httpd.conf (or related files) that:

Your global Directory has Options -Indexes (this prevents the server from showing an index of the directory and file structure in the absence of an index.htm or index.html file.  Having this option set and no index.htm file will cause this 403 message to be generated.
You have the line DirectoryIndex index.html index.php specified.  This will ensure it automatically opens either file name upon entering the directory.  You also want to make sure you have an index.html or an index.php file in the directory.

If you want to test out your PHP installation, there's a small piece of code you can put into an index.php file (you can name it anything you want, but it must end with .php).

<?php
   phpinfo();
?>

When you point your browser to localhost you should now see (your settings will vary of course):

phpMyAdmin

As for phpMyAdmin, you can put this anywhere.  You can put it in your users directory (not recommended if you have multiple users that need to use it) or your can create a port based virtual host so that it will be available only if someone knows which port it's listening on.  Have a look at the Apache documentation to see examples and explanations.

Also, you might want to have a look at Adminer instead of phpMyAdmin.  I have found it much easier to deploy and much more robust.


Can't access RAW files in Photos.app I cannot access RAW image files in Photos.app. I have a bunch of RAW files from both my Olympus OM-D E-M5 and from my iPhone (I use the Halide app to take them). They are all JPG/RAW pairs.

The photos display with the little J icon in the top right corner but the Image > Use RAW as Original option in the menu is greyed out. I'm pretty sure I had this working in the past.

If I dig into the Photo Library with the terminal I can see that the ORF (Olympus RAW Format) and DNG (Digital Negative) files are there. I just cannot access them from Photos app.

My library is an iCloud Photo Library and on iOS if I use apps that know about RAW files, such as Darkroom, they are able to open the RAW versions. I have "Download Originals" configured on my Mac.

I'm on Mojave 10.14.6 and Photos is Version 4.0 (3461.7.140)

Some things I investigated:

If I create a Smart Album with Photo is RAW as the only criterion, it only shows me a fraction of all my RAW files (170 images). Curiously, the ones that are JPG/RAW pairs show with the R icon in the top right corner but for these I cannot choose Use JPEG as original.

However, if I count the actual number of RAW image files in my photo library folder I have 1189 RAW files:

➜  ~  cd Pictures/Photos\ Library.photoslibrary
➜  Photos Library.photoslibrary  find . -name "*.ORF" | wc -l
     416
➜  Photos Library.photoslibrary  find . -name "*.orf" | wc -l
     550
➜  Photos Library.photoslibrary  find . -name "*.dng" | wc -l
     223

The only thing that "works" is File > Export > Export Unmodified Original from the menu, which correctly exports both the JPG and RAW versions of any image marked has having both.

Ok, the problem is one of:

The Photos UI is very poorly designed.
I am a dummy

Or a combination of the above

The Use RAW as Original option is only available when you are in Edit mode and only affects one photo at a time ♂

Related:

  If I create a Smart Album with Photo is RAW as the only criterion, it only shows me a fraction of all my RAW files (170 images).

This is because the is RAW criterion isn't if a RAW file is available, rather, if a photo has previously been switched to Use RAW as Original


Is it safe to remove the "Install Xcode" application after installation? Is it safe to remove the Xcode 4 installation program from my Applications folder after I installed Xcode? If there is a free update, will I still get it, or do I have to buy it again?

The installer is 4,58 GB, which is space I could use on my hard drive!

Yes, it’s safe to remove the XCode installer, once you’ve installed the XCode tools. XCode tools can be downloaded for free from Apple’s website. If you are registered at developer.apple.com, you may also download the iPhone/iPad SDK from developer.apple.com, to be able to create iPhone/iPad software (the XCode tools that ship with MacOS X will only allow you to build applications for Mac OS).


How to clear the pasteboard / find string from the command line? I want to be able clear out the whatever data is cached in find (command-f) clipboard contents from the command line.

Whatever is in there seems to carry across between applications. This is a clear security risk in some cases.

How to secure macOS's clipboard?

Is there a way to do this?

The magic words seem to be

pbcopy -pboard find < /dev/null


How to remove old iOS device backup (mobile backup) files in macOS Catalina Before migrating to macOS Catalina, if I had old iOS device backups, I was able to remove them via the Preference window of the iTunes app. Now, the iTunes app is gone.

The backup files still reside in ~/Library/Application Support/MoibleSync and are eating up a huge amount of disk space (200GB+ in my case, since I have multiple devices).

In macOS Catalina, where can I access the UI which allows me to see available device backups, so that I can safely and selectively remove them?

Starting with macOS Catalina, iOS device sync support has been moved from iTunes into the Finder app. iTunes app itself has been discontinued, and the iTunes media library now made available in standalone Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Books, and Apple Podcasts.

This Apple Support document lists the steps to access the iOS device backups on macOS Catalina:

Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch - Find backups stored on your Mac or PC:

  To find a specific backup:

  On a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15 or later, open the Finder. On a Mac with macOS Mojave 10.14 or earlier, or on a PC, open iTunes. Click your device.
  In Finder, under the General tab, click Manage Backups to see a list of your backups. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Show in Finder, or you can select Delete or Archive. In iTunes, choose Preferences, then click Devices. From here, you can right-click on the backup that you want, then choose Show in Finder, or you can select Delete or Archive.

Once located, you can delete a backup file like you normally delete any file in Finder.


Macbook Pro Retina Not Working on Battery, but fully charged and cycle count is low I have an MBPR (15in) that is about 18 months old (no AppleCare). The battery has only 331 cycles on it, and Apple states it should last for 1000. The battery is fully charged, at 100%.

If I remove the power cord, the machine dies, like the battery is dead -- it completely dies, no sleep.

Consequently, if it is powered off and I turn it on, and then unplug it pretty quickly (before much s/w is loaded) it dies, just the same -- no sleep.

The light is green on the charger and the battery status shows 100%, but it also says it needs to be replaced. I tend to think the battery itself does not need to be replaced yet, but that something is preventing the machine from using the battery.

In About this Mac reports:

7377 charge remaining (100%),
fully charged: yes,
charging: no,
full charge capacity: 7450.

Does anyone have any knowledge of issues with this? I hate to have to sink money in this very well cared for MBPR.

FWIW I have tried an SMC reset and PRAM reset, a few times, ea.

I can not repair your battery, but try to provide you with information to decide if the battery is EOL.

There are 3 conditions reported.

  Replace Soon: The battery is functioning normally but holds less
  charge than it did when it was new.

  Replace Now: The battery is functioning normally but holds
  significantly less charge than it did when it was new. You can
  continue to use the battery until you replace it without harming your
  computer.

  Service Battery: The battery isn’t functioning normally, and you may
  or may not notice a change in its behavior or the amount of charge it
  holds. Take your computer in for service. You can continue to use your
  battery before it’s checked without harming your computer.

In About This Mac-- more info look for battery information such as:

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh):  2147   (it shows this at 40% remaining based on current consumption)
Fully Charged:   No
Charging:    No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh):  4829 (this indicates the age, or the capacity of the Battery)---> on a new and healthy battery for my MBA that should be in the range of 7500 mAh, so I lost some over 2 Years of use.

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 480   (this is my battery on MBA 2012)
Condition:   Service Battery :(
Battery Installed:   Yes
Amperage (mA):   -1458   (this is your current consumption)
Voltage (mV):    7612 (this is also a indicator of your battery health in how well can it keep the Voltage at load)

There is a circuit mounted on/in the battery, not part of your computer but part of battery, that reports battery information to your computer. That information is then used to present you with the battery conditions. If that circuit is faulty, you have to replace the battery, even if the battery it self is still in a good condition. There is no way to reset or repair that circuit.


Using iMac Bluetooth keyboard and mouse with MBP I got iMac and I got 2 MBP, usually I use my laptop. But for each I have to use its own keyboard and trackpad or magic mouse, is there is any way to make them use just one keyboard and mouse e.g use I can use my iMac keyboard and MagicMouse with my laptop. I tried to make the iMac keyboard and Mouse discoverable by my MBP but bluetooth shows empty.

Is there a way that is possible as sometimes I use my iMac as an extended screen of my laptop.

So it's not possible to have the same mouse work on both your iMac and your MacBookPro simultaneously, but you can boot your iMac in target display mode. It becomes a monitor for your MBP therefore allowing you to use your mouse on both connected screens.

Additionally, it sounds like you are having trouble connecting your mouse to your MBP. Make sure your iMac is off, or your mouse is disconnected from the iMac, before trying to connect your mouse to your MBP.


Wake for network access without Bonjour Sleep Proxy? Is there a way to set some kind of "wake for network access" behaviour on my Mac without using a Bonjour Sleep Proxy?

I have a Mac with OS X 10.8.5, but no Apple TV nor Time Capsule or other stuff. I am happy with Unix solutions that require a bit of install and tuning on my laptops.

Wake on Lan works great on Macs with the following configuration :

Connected using an Ethernet cable.
Port forwarding if you're behind a NAT Router.
Enable wake on network access
A sleepy Mac (not Shutdown, it has to be on sleep)

That's it !


'Sign in to iCloud' pop-up won't stop popping up on my iPad This is obviously a common problem but even after following the 're-boot' advice I can't get rid of it.  I can't sign in to iCloud because that e-mail address no longer exists and I can't receive the reset e-mail; the 'forgotten password' system rejects my password, my date of birth and my favourite band - all of which are well known to me.  Can anyone help me, please?

The workable solution (until you get to the Apple store, that is):

Step 1. enter the wrong password and press done until you are presented with the option to reset.

Step 2. press reset and wait until safari is opened.

Step 3. double-click the home button to get the list of opened apps.

Step 4. kill all of the opened apps including the reset password page.

Your iPhone will work until the next restart.


Photo Stream issue with iCloud I have been noticing some Photo Stream issues with my 3 devices; iPad 2, iPhone 5, and iPhone 4. The problem is that pictures taken with the iPhone 4 will not populate to the other 2 devices, and vice versa.

The only difference that I see is that the iPad and iPhone 5 are logged into the same iCloud account (mine), but the iPhone 4 is logged into my wife's iCloud account.

Could this be the source of the problem?

Yes. Photostream shares photos between devices logged into a single iCloud account. You can post photos to a Shared Photostream and designated parties will be notified, but the photos aren't downloaded to computers or iDevices.


"About this Mac" showing wrong year I bought a new 15" retina MBP earlier this year, with the discrete GPU M370X that was released this year. However, "About this Mac" claims that it's a Mid 2014 model. Is it just a glitch or does anyone else have the same info? It's nothing to worry about, right?

It seems to be a localization bug. Changing the system language to English reports the correct year.

Apple's website and the script bmike linked below return the correct year.

Edit: In MacOS 10.12 (Sierra), it now shows the correct year when Swedish is set as the primary language.


How to force photo thumbnail download on iOS 8.3 I have 30,000+ photos synced to iCloud and am trying to get their thumbnails to show on the Photos app on iOS 8.3. On the (first) Photos tab, viewing at Years or Collections levels shows lots of grey placeholders instead of photos. Only when I click into Moments do the thumbnails actually load.

However, trying to scroll through all my photos at the Moments level, to trigger downloading of the thumbnail, would take hours. (It's a little faster under Albums > All Photos, but not much.)

Is there a way to force all the thumbnails to download? I tried disabling iCloud Photo Library and re-enabling it, but it did not force a sync. Note that I have Optimize iPhone Storage set, but I thought this should still download thumbnails.

I am having a similar problem.  All of my iOS photos have synced up to Photos on the Mac, but photos that I've added on the Mac show up blank in iOS. When I click on a photo, a blank comes up, with a progress clock in the lower right corner. However, that seems to stall at 25%. Even when I go into Edit mode, it appears to start downloading and appears to give up after 25%.

I may try to turn off iCloud Photos and try again, but I have nearly 70k photos and videos.


Photo Delete from PC but not from iphone What if I want to upload 10 photos to iPhone from PC, without using the internet. I don't want to keep the photos on the PC and want to maintain only one copy at the mobile. How do I do that?

1) Since it's not mac I don't think I can use the airdrop
2) Syncing via iTunes will remove pics from mobile as soon as I clear them from PC, so what's the solution??

Is there any way to "unsync" the photos I have synced via iTunes. Since there are 10-20 photos from different dates, making a duplicate is too tedious, that too, when I have to go in Photos collection and search for them.

If you have an iCloud account and have My Photo Stream enabled they should sync right to your iCloud.


Rename symlinks linking to ~/Documents It is not possible to rename symlinks to one default folders in your home folder (~/Documents, ~/Desktop etc...) using Finder
This works in Terminal.

Update 2

To test:

run ln -s Documents "Documents symlink" in terminal.
verify you can't rename ~/Documents symlink in Finder
verify that running mv "Documents symlink" "Document symlink new" works

I've started using an application called DTerm in the last few weeks, and it could help to make this task relatively painless.

The point of DTerm is to provide a command line specific to where you are, and with context to the application you're in. While you're in the Finder, DTerm provides a command line in the current folder in the front-most/active window you're viewing.

I have an Applications folder in my Home Folder, and a symlink called bin pointing to it for compatibility's-sake.

Note how the folder icon carries the standard Applications icon, but has the shortcut arrow.

By invoking DTerm using a configured keyboard shortcut, I can immediately rename that folder.

There's three things going on here:

The input field which I've typed the command into.
The command line is expanded/returned for things like variables and globbing (using the * for matching files).
The empty field under the returned command is a static text field for output/errors. Neither of which occur when using the mv command, at least not in my invocation.

And then of course, I rename it back:

Best of all? DTerm is available completely free of charge. The link at the top of this post will take you to the author's website, and here is a DTerm Mac App Store Link.


Why can I use Emacs shortcuts in many OS X programs? By mistake, when using Notes, I started killing and yanking instead of cutting and pasting and it worked. Same seems to be true for Pages. What gives? I don't think I have ever tinkered with the standard settings (at least directly).

Those key bindings are programmed into the standard text handing routines by Apple. Unless the programmer goes out of their way to write a text input library on their own, you get those key bindings for free.

Same as the close/minimize buttons and much else that is similar between programs. Much of a program comes from Apple's frameworks and SDK.


Does reinstalling Mac OS X change the cycle count of battery? If we go to System Information > Power in Apple menu, we see a parameter that is the cycle count of the battery. if we reinstall the operating system, will that remain the same or reset to 0?

The cycle count will remain as it is. This is read from the battery directly.

Like a car odometer, you shouldn't expect to be able to change the cycle count without replacing the battery. Being able to change the cycle count would be dishonest for the next person.


Apple watch always-on sweep second hand I would like to use my Apple watch during patient assessment as an EMT. In order to do so I need a sweep second hand that is always displayed, otherwise I'll need to wear an analog watch for assessments.
I've tried using the Infograph watch face but when the watch face dims to its always-on status the second hand disappears. I need to reactivate the watch with a wrist-flick in order to get it displaying again.
Are there any watch faces that will continue to display a sweep second hand while the watch is in its dimmed, always-on mode?

No watch face is allowed to update often when dimmed to save battery.
You can make the watch face stay on for longer before dimming when turned on by tapping. Go to Watch settings on Apple Watch or the Watch app on iOS, choose General → Wake Screen and set On Tap: Wake for 70 Seconds.


Use MacBook Pro LCD Screen as a standalone monitor I have a broken MBP (2009, pre-unibody, 15") with a screen which I know is working.

I took it apart and there's this fancy connector, attached to the screen (sorry for branding):

Is it possible to 'convert' this into a VGA or DVI or anything else, so I can use the screen as external monitor?

That is a proprietary interface and there is not going to be a ready made solution to get it to adapt to being used as a stand alone screen separated from a Mac Book Pro.
Your best bet would be to sell the MacBook Pro as parts on eBay or something and just buy an external LCD or put the cash towards your next computer.
Its going to be an engineering effort as referenced in a similar question Can my Macbook Pro's display receive inputs from other sources?.  Here is the answer provided by "Fake Name":

Yes, but it's not worth it.
You would have to take the laptop apart, design and engineer a custom converter to drive the LCD interface (internally, it's going to use LVDS to handle the interface between the laptop's motherboard and the screen), and power it somehow. It also would probably render the macbook from which you removed the screen unusable as a laptop.
It would take a few hundred hours of engineering time, and cost a lot in prototypes.
You are better off just buying a separate LCD.


Rotate the Quote Bubble shape in Keynote for macOS The Keynote app for macOS offers a couple of its basic shapes for thought-bubbles (speech-balloon), one is oval, the other rectangular.

Notice that both point to the left.

➥ How to make them point in other directions, up, down, or to the right?

When I try flipping them or rotating them (hold down Command while dragging a corner), the text flips or rotates as well. I want the text in regular orientation, just the pointy triangular tip should be moved to top/bottom/right.

With the thought-bubble shape select, you just drag the green position handle on the tip of the callout triangle (for lack of a better term) with the mouse to the position of your liking.

Please see image below.


MacBook Pro Internal Hard Drive dead? Not too long ago, I tried to update my MacBook Pro to the newest OS (Mojave).
I downloaded the updater etc. and started updating my software. I didn't mind, so I just let it update for itself. I came back some hours after, to a black screen, and nothing responding. The computer didn't respond to any clicks neither to the keyboard, or lastly the display/screen getting closed.

I tried to shut down the computer by holding the power button. I then proceed to try to open it again and it shows a blinking folder with a question mark, which I found out, means it can't find a bootable drive.

I tried to open it in recovery mode, and from there download the OS, but every time I agreed to the terms and conditions etc. it sent me to the page, where I had to pick which hard drive the OS would be downloaded on, but I had nothing to choose. Nothing was there.

I also tried to go to disk utility, and I can't see my hard drive on the left side.

Does this mean my internal hard drive is dead? What does this mean, and what can I do?

Thank you for reading

Not withstanding Nimesh's comment and presuming that method does not work...

Installing Mojave was undoubtedly not the cause of this issue, more like just coincidental. That said it is likely that something has happened to the HD (or SSD) in your MacBook pro.

It could be a loose connection, it could be a damaged/dead drive. heck it could be a number of things. But the one thing they have in common is that it is likely that the MacBook will need to be opened and serviced by a tech competent in doing said work.

If it is within warranty take it to your nearest Apple store. If there is not an Apple store nearby, call Apple tech support.

If it is out of warranty you can still take it to Apple but they will charge you for the fix. Possibly more than an independent Apple dealer might. But that would be your choice and based on your local experience with Apple stores, dealers and the repair jobs they are experienced with.


Can I install Mac OSX Sierra on USB drive? I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro. I want to try Sierra as most of the software I want to use no longer works on Mavericks. I went through a number of post that I can install Sierra on 8 GB USB drive but that turned out only to be a macOS installer thumb drive.

I am interested in installing Sierra on USB drive just to test drive it and to run my favorite software. I bought 16 GB USB for that purpose but only found out it cannot be installed there for lack of space.

Can somebody guide me, can I have Sierra USB Image that I can load on USB and test drive it or can I install it on USB and run Sierra from it whenever I want it.

You certainly can install macOS Sierra to a USB device. I would advise you use USB 3 or 3.1 in order to ensure a smoother experience while booted from this device.

First of all, use the Mac App Store installer for macOS Sierra, which you can get here: get macOS Sierra. Learn more about obtaining macOS Sierra here: How to download macOS Sierra

Next, it's best to format your USB device as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). With Scheme as : GUID Partition Once you do this, open the macOS Sierra installer. When you are prompted to choose an install destination, make sure to choose your USB device.


Airport Extreme 802.11ac Can't See USB HDD Hardware:

Airport Extreme 802.11ac
Transcend StoreJet 250GB HDD
Belkin 4-port, powered USB hub

Configuration:

HDD formatted as MS-DOS (FAT32) via Disk Utility
HDD connected to USB hub
Airport Extreme connected to USB hub

Problem:
I cannot see the drive from the Airport Utility -> Disks tab.  I want to be able to do this to setup backups over the wireless network.  When I connect the HDD directly to my MBP, it auto-mounts and I can utilize it without any problems.

Solution:
I ended up calling Apple support and they advised that the Airport should have sufficient power for the drive.  They had me switch to a normal USB 2.0 cable instead of the Y adapter.  Further, they had me reformat (again) to Mac OS Extended (case-insensitive).  Magically, this combination works.

If the HDD is a 2.5' (laptop drive) that draws power from nothing else but the USB port it will never work with a USB Hub. They all share the same power source on the Airport that has a limit of 500mA. That would work with the hdd directly in the Airport but connecting an unpowered USB Hub draws around 80-100mA and the hdd is left with 400mA to start... which is too low.

I can only imagine, but i think you are using this setup to connect more than one drive to the Airport and having multiple disks shared by it. That's ok but...

For this to work you need a special USB hub known as a Powered USB hub that you can connect to the wall socket separately. This separate power adapter draws 2-2.5A of power from the wall socket to power each USB Hub port with its own 500mA thus being able to give enough current to the hdd to operate correctly.

Check this out. Notice the wall socket power adaptor.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/powered-usb-hub
Also try to get a decent brand so it lasts... and doesn't cause a fire or fry your hdd in the long run.


Yosemite Sleep Wake Failure I've got a MBA Mid 2013 and since installing Yosemite, I've had 3-4 sleep wake failures.  Generally I'll close the lid, head home and either when I open the laptop at home or back at work the next morning I get message (not sure of exact text) "Your computer failed to wake properly and has restarted".  It didn't happen with Mavericks nor ML before that.

2 Times it stated the process was Activity Monitor and this most recent time it was airportd.

I don't really lose anything since all my apps open pretty much where they left off it's just a big annoying.

Any ideas?

https://gist.github.com/dstarh/77180ee3382cdca03afb

I have had this happen a few times myself.  If I was to guess, at the time you closed you lid on your computer you had the power supply hookup and running. After the lid was closed you removed the power plug.  Later you open the lid, without the power plug and it was a blank screen.  If this is your case, you have two options,

unplug first before closing the lid
plug into power before you open the unit later.

I have found if I give my Mac a few seconds after closing the lid, before removing the power, it will not freeze later when I open the lid.

Still not sure of the problem, just a work around that I found after a little time with this type of problem.


Export iPad2 Slideshow with Origami Transitions I'm trying to export a slideshow from my iPad2. I can email or share single photos, of course, but how do you share or export a slideshow?
I especially want to retain the origami transition effect to share on YouTube or export to iMove. Is there a way? Or a program that creates the origami effect?
Thanks for your help.

I don't know if you can do this with the iOS iPhoto app, so I suggest you check out iPhoto for OS X. You have the ability to create slideshows, set origami as the theme and then export them to video. I do it all the time & it works like a charm.

I'm using iPhoto '11 v. 9.2.3.


What file systems can Snow Leopard read? I just got a MacBook Pro for my parents, and I need to get their files from a Linux desktop machine that most likely has either reiserfs or ext3 file systems.

I would like to know if Snow Leopard can read these files if I put the HDD in an external HDD case??

Thanks

It might be easier to connect the machines on a network and use rsync, nfs or ftp   to copy data, no extra software would be needed.

If you want to do this you will need MacFuse which allows OS X to read other file systems. A tutorial for ext3 is on this blog.


Why is my OSX client having so much trouble connecting to our SMB server? I've already asked this question on ServerFault, but I'm beginning to think that this might be an issue more with my OSX client machine than our SMB server.

I'm using 10.9, but this problem happened when I was on 10.8 as well. When I first connect to our SMB share (hosted by some recent-ish windows server, not linux or osx server), the Finder seems to lock up for a good 30 seconds while it fetches the root folder of the share. Navigating the share is extremely slow at first as well - it takes about 30 seconds to open each folder. In the system log, I see this message repeated many times:

Apr  9 15:14:37 teds-mac-mini.teradici.local NetAuthSysAgent[2139]: smb_mount: mount failed to teradici.local/data, syserr = Permission denied
Apr  9 15:14:39 teds-mac-mini.teradici.local NetAuthSysAgent[2139]: NAHSelectionAcquireCredential The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.NetworkAuthenticationHelper error -1765328228 - acquire_kerberos failed tmiddleton@LOCAL: -1765328228 - unable to reach any KDC in realm LOCAL, tried 0 KDCs)
Apr  9 15:15:11 --- last message repeated 5 times ---
Apr  9 15:15:11 teds-mac-mini.teradici.local NetAuthSysAgent[2139]: smb_mount: mount failed to teradici.local/data, syserr = Permission denied
Apr  9 15:15:13 teds-mac-mini.teradici.local NetAuthSysAgent[2139]: NAHSelectionAcquireCredential The operation couldn’t be completed. (com.apple.NetworkAuthenticationHelper error -1765328228 - acquire_kerberos failed tmiddleton@LOCAL: -1765328228 - unable to reach any KDC in realm LOCAL, tried 0 KDCs)
Apr  9 15:15:16 teds-mac-mini.teradici.local NetAuthSysAgent[2139]: smb_mount: mount failed to teradici.local/data, syserr = Permission denied

Eventually the delay in opening folders goes away and I can successfully navigate the SMB share. When the SMB share is responsive, no new messages like these show up in the system log, so I'm inferring that they're related to the problem I'm seeing.

I'm using a local account on my mac - I don't know whether its possible to log into a mac with ldap or active directory, but I'm not doing either of those. I do, however, have an active directory account here at work, and I can use that to access network resources at work (indeed, that's how I'm logging into the SMB share).

Any ideas what might be going wrong here? Is it an OSX/client issue? Could it be an issue with the SMB server? Active directory?

I'm having the exact same problem on my client.  Looking at a WireShark trace, there is always a 45 second delay in opening the connection the the file share (OSX Server 3.1.2).  Using SMB1 (CIFS) does the same thing and WireShark confirms SMB vs. SMB2.  Any other ideas out there?


iOS App Store shows wrong version number for my app I have a new app update that shows version number 2.5, but when you tap the app for more details and check the Information section the version number is still 2.4.2.

This is simply caching, Apple serving the same information to clients over time so as not to put additional strain on their database. I see this every time I update one of my apps.

It'll fix itself in several hours, perhaps a day at most.


Why doesnt my iPod show album art? I have the iPod 160GB Classic Black. In my music library, each music album is organized into folder on my hard disk, each folder having album art. Why doesnt my ipod display that album art while playing? Just to clarify, the problem is only with some albums, not all.

EDIT: Is there a specific name that the jpeg file should have?

Storing the art in file id3 tags is the only method. Yes, doing it via iTunes is tedious,  it can be automated though.
Mass taggers exist on OSX, software such as beets or bliss. However they download cover art from online websites (google images, discogs...).
If you're interested only in copying your folder image to mp3 tags, I'm not aware of an existing tool that do that in batch mode. But a python script could be written for that purpose quite easily using mutagen library.


Recover and decrypt email app password My boss gave me his iPad and tasked me to get his Yahoo password that was in the default mail app. He made the account 15 years ago, and we both have tried all the recovery options (security questions are forgotten, backup email is no longer accessible). Additionally the passwords are not stored in the safari saved passwords

What I do know is the format of the password ( x number of symbols then y number of numbers etc )

I understand that passwords are stored in the keychain and are encrypted.

Should I:

Jailbreak the iPad and get the db file for the keychain and decrypt it using something like hashcat (while knowing the format of the password)?

Make an encrypted backup via iTunes and get the db that way?

Or is there a better way to recover the password?

Note: I only have Windows available to me

buy a Mac from Apple
set it up, use the same iCloud account/Apple ID as on the iPad
enable iCloud Keychain syncing using the iPad keychain as a starting point
access password via Keychain application
disable iCloud on Mac
return Mac to Apple and get refund

PS: please check the applicable return policy for your country first


how to avoid the "downloaded application" warning for a Standard User This is a followup on this post of mine: Application permissions for Standard user

I'm now running MacOS High Sierra 10.13.5 and this problem is still irritating.

I use my Mac as a Standard user. When I first set it up, all applications were downloaded/installed using the Admin user.

When using my Mac as the Standard user, every time I go to run an application I get the following message:

"Whatever.app" is an application downloaded from the Internet.
Are you sure you want to open it?

With the options for Cancel and Open. Of course I choose Open and everything works fine.

Now, I am used to this notice appearing the first time I try to run an app from the internet. My problem is that it appears every time.

Note that I am not asked for any Administrator credentials, and these apps have already been installed to the /Applications directory as an Administrator.

I have tried with a different Standard user and still have the same issue. I have also already used Disk Utility to repair the drive permissions, just in case.

How can I make this notice appear only on the first run?

==========================================================

More details:

If I install an application, while logged in as the Standard user, but authenticating as the Administrator, then it only warns me about the Application on the first run, and then never again, as long as I am still logged in as that Standard user.

But all the applications I installed while logged in as Administrator give me a pop up warning every time if I try to run them while logged in as a Standard user.

There is a "solution" to this problem, but it is so incredibly inelegant. For every application I downloaded and installed, while logged in as Administrator, simply installing the application is not enough. I must actually login as the Administrator and launch the application at least once to clear the warning for all other users. This seems incredible silly. Surely there must be a better way to accomplish this?

The basic problem is that the applications are all marked as being in quarantine (they have the "com.apple.quarantine" extended attribute) because they were downloaded from the net. Running the app removes the quarantine attribute if the file permissions allow you to modify the file (e.g. if you're the file's owner -- in this case, the Admin user). If you don't have permission, the quarantine attribute stays, and you keep getting the "downloaded from the Internet" message over and over.

Solution: one way or another, you need to remove that quarantine attribute. You can do this for a bunch of apps at once in Terminal.

First use su (switch user) to switch to your admin user (type in "su", then a space, then the account name of your admin user, then press return and enter the admin account's password; note that the password won't be displayed as you type). It should look something like this:

Dans-Mac:~ dan$ su adminacct
Password:
bash-3.2$

If that works, type in "xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine", then a space, then drag all the apps you want to dequarantine from the Finder to the Terminal window; when they're all listed, press return. Note that you can drag them one at a time or in groups, whatever's convenient. Something like this:

bash-3.2$ xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/BBEdit.app /Applications/Firefox.app


How can I set the default Reminders list on Mountain Lion? I'm using Mountain Lion and defined a service to add a reminder. My problem: It adds it in the wrong Reminders list. I can find a preference anywhere to set the default Reminders list - Reminders (doesn't have preferences), Calendar, System Preferences. I must have set it under Lion to one list, but now I want to changed it.

The most common suggestion was that it's the list at the top of the "list list" - but that doesn't work for me.

So how do I change the default Reminders list in Mountain Lion?

As it turned out, I defined the Reminders list in the Automator service myself, so I could change it there. Stupid me!


iOS 4.1 sms messages database to iOS 11 I'm looking to restore my old messages to my new iPhone however when restoring from backup the messenger app stops working. Apple support say its the database that is corrupt. From looking at the .db files of 4.1 and 11 the schema is different.

Are there any scripts/tools to move the old data into the newer format. I've tired 9 tools so far and they either cant read the old db or cant transfer them into the new one.

Only tool that comes close is icopybot, but I get an error constraint 2067 about 2 fields.

You may want to try migrating the data on the phone to an intermediary iOS. For example, if you're starting with an iPhone 3G (which has a maximum iOS of 4), then upgrade that phone to an iPhone 4S, (which can be updated to a max of iOS 9).
If you're able to upgrade from iPhone 3G to 4S, then you'll have your text messages on iOS 9.3.5, which should definitely be upgradeable to iOS 11.


SSH into LAN from outside through Airport Extreme I have an Airport Extreme, and a local network.

I have several computers within this network.

I want to be able to SSH into this local machine within the network, from outside it.

What I have done so far is that I open the Airport Utility program, within there I click the picture of the router and click 'edit'.
There I click 'network' and I suspect that it's 'port settings' that I should enter, so I click that. There I click 'description' and choose 'remote ssh login'. It fills several of the empty fields, I just change the one with the private ip address to the one i want to access. the default ports are 22. If I click ok on this, can I then SSH from outside? And if so, do I just do ssh <user>@<network_ip_address> -p<that port address that was given up in the airport by default>
.. ?

There are three options I am aware of
Port Forwarding
You can set up port forwarding for each device you want to be be able to connect to externally.

This assumes you know your external IP address.

For each device you could assign an arbitrary external port that forwards to that device on port 22. (Or you can do this for one device, and then connect to the others through it)
VPN
Were you to make a VPN with your local network, and then connect to said VPN, it would give you access to everything on on the network.
Reverse SSH
With reverse SSH you make use of an external server, and set up a listening ssh session. Then, on the external server you can connect to the device behind the router without being bothered by firewalls/port forwarding/etc...
This is what I prefer (as I haven't set up a VPN yet), but I have access to an external server.
You could do this with:
Device on home network ssh -f -N -R 1234:localhost:22 remote_user@remote.server.example

Where 1234 is the port that remote would use forward to the device
remote.server.example is the remote's address

Then, on the remote server ssh -p 1234 -t device_user@localhost


Valgrind Alternative for Mountain Lion Unfortunately, Valgrind does not support OS X 10.8 yet. After some Googling, I came across some forum posts where people were able to get it to compile and "almost" link. Does anyone know of any good alternatives to Valgrind for memory leak detection?

The Instruments app (part of Xcode) is a very good way to look for leaks and run stress tests on the memory allocation of a running program.


Weird Font Smoothing Issue As the title says, I'm seeing a weird font smoothing issue. It appears to happen randomically, mostly in Safari. I don't know exactly how to explain it, so here are a couple of screenshots from Safari:

Normal screen:

After the problem:

As the images show, it appears that font smoothing is simply disabling itself at random. It happens out of nowhere (the part of the screen where the text is quickly blinks and goes to image 2). Usually if I just reload the page (in this case) it goes back to normal.

I started noticing this a couple days ago. I'm using Snow Leopard 10.6.7.

Any suggestions on what could be causing this?

Well, to answer my own question: the problem was that my GPU was overheating.

I forgot to mention that this specific machine is a hackintosh. I don't know if such thing can happen to a real Mac, but anyway: here where I live it's pretty hot and dry, so there's a lot of dust accumulation inside and around my computer. The GPU cooler stopped because of this (last time I cleaned it was back in March), so I just opened up the computer case, cleaned it and now everything seems to be back to normal.


Apple TV (1080HD) - Macbook to HDTV Streaming Issues I have the brand new $99 Apple TV - 1080HD

I want to stream internet videos from my 2011 Macbook Pro (running Snow Leopard) to my new HDTV using Airplay and AirParrot.  Neither the Macbook nor the Apple TV is connected via ethernet cable -- they are both connected to the internet via our wireless router (currently, there's no ethernet jack near the TV).

When I stream the video on my MBP, it is extremely choppy with very poor image quality.  I've played with all the AirParrot preferences (reduced video quality to eliminate choppiness, etc), yet nothing works.

In order to fix the issue, which of the following (if any) is the best bet for a technophobe like myself:

Install an ethernet jack near the TV because my wireless signal may be too weak (real dumb question: would I connect the Apple TV or my MBP to the ethernet jack?)
Forget Airplay and connect my MacBook Pro directly to my computer
Install an additional wireless router closer to the Apple TV
Get a repeater to expand the reach of the wireless signal from my one router.
None of the above.

If I need any additional adapters/wires, please specify so that this moron will understand.

Thank you all so much for any help you can offer.

I have a new Apple TV and stream from iPhones, iPads and various macs via AirPlay... and love it!

Two places I'd suggest you focus:

the operating system

upgrade to 10.8 (if you don't want to commit to ML, install it on a partition, thumb drive or RAM card and boot from there to AirPlay)
while not a principle cause of what you're experiencing, how much RAM does your MacBook have? If you have 4GB or less, upgrading to 8GB is a small dollar investment that provides a great return in speed.

the wireless router

are you experiencing slow or choppy wifi performance anywhere other than AirPlay?
does your MacBook Pro intermittently drop its wifi connection even when you have a full signal?
what wireless router(s) do you have, and how old are they?

just because it says G or N doesn't mean the wifi router is "any good" or supports all the protocols needed for AirPlay

how far is the wireless router from your tv and MacBook?

within reason, the closer the better

You call yourself a technophobe and moron, and I'm not here to dispute either of them (but I think you can achieve what you're hoping for!). My simple suggestion to resolve your problem: replace your wifi router with an Apple AirPort Extreme (less than $200) or AirPort Express (about $100).

I have used macs and iOS devices with a number of different brands of wireless routers, to limited success and happiness, usually defendant upon the age of the router. Older wifi gear does not support all the tricks and new technology Apple (and Intel) builds into the newer computers.
I've had the best success with Apple's AirPort Extreme or Express base stations... for working with both Macs and Windows boxes.

the AirPort Extreme let's you hook up a USB hard drive as a centralized TimeMachine backup disk for all your Macs backups
both the Extreme and Express let you attach a USB printer for remote printing

Either of the two routers are quick to set up, work with your Internet gateway, and should accomplish what you need. If you have an Apple store nearby, swing by and pick one up. You already have the software on your MacBook to configure it.

Good luck!


Newly Installed App (gem) Via Terminal, Path? I have used sudo gem install to install a few gems. My question is how do I know where the executable was installed, so I can add it to the path in .bash_profile?

Ruby "Gems" are not generally applications, most often they are libraries. From the Ruby Gems website

  1.1 Really Quick Start Question: I’ve installed RubyGems and I want to
  install Rails (for example). How do I
  do that?

  Answer:

gem install rails

  1.2 What is a Gem?

  A gem is a packaged Ruby application or library. It has a
  name (e.g. rake) and a version (e.g.
  0.4.16).

(emphasis mine)

Also, see this information on how to inspect a gem:

  2.5 Looking at an installed gem When you run

gem specification  progressbar
# shortcut: gem spec progressbar

  you will see all the details of the
  ’’progressbar’’ gem.

You should consult the documentation which came with the gem, or, post more details so we can assist you more.


Airport Time Capsule Third Generation Roaming connection with a Google wifi router I am trying to make a internet configuration to improve my wifi in the whole house, but I don't want to switch between different wifi names, I have a Airport Time Capsule Third Generation, Google wifi Router and a modem, my house is two stories and my basement, where I need internet signal too.

My Problem; I have my modem and router in the same room, and I was able to connect an ethernet cable to my Time Capsule, so far so good, but I can make the Time Capsule extend my wifi connection. I read that doing a roaming configuration would be perfect in this case. However, I don't have the whole explanation to do that.

When I connect the Google router and the Time Capsule, my understanding is I have to put in a bridge mode, but if I only do that and switch the wireless setting in the Time Capsule off, then the Network option goes off (bridge mode); too, but at that point the Time Capsule is not doing any internet wifi capabilities, to turn that option I have to go back to the wireless setting and chose the network Mode to Extend a wireless network and leave the name and password as they are, unfortunately if I do that my Time Capsule goes flashing amber, the google wifi goes amber too and the internet goes amber too.

Could you help me to solve this?

Roaming doesn't work perfectly between multiple brands of products, and wireless roaming (which you may have been reading about) definitely doesn't work between the Apple Airport units (Time Capsule included) and any other non-Apple products.

However here is what you would want to do in your situation to make things a little easier.

1) Make sure the ethernet cable comes from your Google WiFi Router and plugs into the WAN plug of the Time Capsule (that's the one at the very bottom, or on the one side with the little circular icons above the port.

2) Go into the Airport Utility and configure your Time Capsule settings as such:

Wireless tab -- Network Mode: Create a wireless network
Use the same exact Wireless Network Name as your Google WiFi
Use the same exact Wireless security settings as your Google WiFi -- typically WPA2 Personal and the exact wifi password.
Network tab -- Router Mode: Off (Bridge Mode)

Note: You may need to occasionally turn off and on your WiFi on your device to get it to join the closest wifi connection. As long as your WiFi settings are the same you should not need to re-enter any name or password info when the device tries to reconnect. The only way around this issue is to get another Google WiFi product to extend your network. Mixing brands tends to give finicky behavior for things like roaming between WiFi access points.


RW mounted NTFS drive not shown in finder I mounted my NTFS drive in OSX with

UUID=<some-uuid> none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse

in fstab, but finder does not show the drive. I can do open /Volumes/drivename and will see the files and can even write on it. How can I force finder to show me the drive. (and the unmount icon)

You should remove the nobrowse parameter because it tells the system that the mount point should not be visible via the GUI (i.e. on the Desktop).

Also, check your Finder preferences. In the "General" tab are options to show "Hard disks" and "External disks" on the desktop. In the "Sidebar" tab are similar options to show "Devices".

If this is an internal drive, the Finder will not show an "Eject" button, but you should be able to use Disk Utility to unmount.


Macbook Pro vs Macbook Air for IPad development I have IPad and I want to buy Macbook for development simple programs for IPad.  It will be my first Macbook and I don't want to spend too much many and look at Macbook Air 13' 128Gb.

I'm just wondering if this notebook is good enough to develop a small IPad aps ?

The answer depends on the types of apps you are developing. Apps that require some of the specialized hardware on the iPad (accelerometer, GPS, compass, etc…) you won't be able to effectively test in the simulator, so the size of the MBA screen may be fine. However for simple apps that do not require any specialized hardware you may find running in the simulator at 50% a bit too cramped, so you may want to opt for a MacBook Pro with Retina display. Running in the simulator has a much faster turn around than running on a device, especially on a Retina MacBook Pro which is as fast as my 2007 Mac Pro.

Personally, I bought a tricked out MacBook Air for my hobby iOS development. I feel I can get away with it because most of my iPad development is on the device. If I used the simulator more I'd move up to a Retina MacBook Pro. I also get more time to play with my stuff because I am willing to take the MacBook Air with me almost anywhere, as opposed to my 15" MacBook Pro which pretty much sat on my desk.


Safari: bypass "this connection is not private" doesn't work for access through IP address? I am using macOS 10.13.1 and Safari 11.0.1, since I upgraded from 10.12 it's not possible to access https websites through IP address.

For example:
I want access the config GUI from a router

I open Safari go to https://192.168.0.1.
Safari says: "connection is not private"
I click "Details" → "Open website" → "Visit website" then I have to enter the password from my local user.
The site reloads and again I can see the message: "connection is not private".

If I create a hostname entry in /etc/hosts like: 192.168.0.1 my.funny.router and go to Safari and open https://my.funny.router the connection can be established after I clicked "Details" → "Open website".

Is there a workaround? Can I disable that "feature"?

The bypass can't be bypassed apparently. Note also that it may fail and keep requesting authentication if your hosts file entry has both short and FQDN specified. In that case you MUST use the FQDN. This is possibly because the Mac will append your local domain to any unqualified host names before checking for permission and (I am guessing) that a remote site identifying as your local machine domain (mymac.local for example) can't be added to the keychain. OR it might be that having ONLY a short host name in /etc/hosts would be OK but if you have BOTH long and short names specified then you must use the FQDN as that is the one that resolves in your host file.


Why does a 12 inch Macbook refuse to turn on with a lot of battery remaining unless it is plugged in? This Early 2015 12 inch MacBook was showing 75% battery remaining, and when I plug in my iPhone to try to record the iPhone, the Macbook began to sleep and refused to turn on when I press the power button.  It showed the "Plug Me In" icon.

So I unplugged the iPhone and started charging it, and then it would turn on right away, and showed a 69% battery level.

So why did it refuse to be on at such a high level of battery remaining and how can it be fixed or prevented?

P.S. It is a Macbook 12 inch that was introduced in 2015... so the battery is just a little more than one year old.

Assuming it is a 12" MacBook (implying at most it's still a little shy of being a couple of years old) and not a 13" model (which could be a lot older), then the first thing I'd do is reset the System Management Controller.

For a 12" MacBook you reset the SMC as follows:

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

Once you've done this report back on how it went.

If in fact it's not a 12" MacBook, then please update your question with the exact model so we can make sure we're providing accurate advice for your model.


Cannot repair permissions on systemsetup (open error 1) I've been noticing some issues with my Mac lately and decided to repair permissions (with Disk Utility). However, after getting through a few files I am presented with:

Open error 1: “Operation not permitted” on usr/sbin/systemsetup

I've never encountered this before, so wanted to check if this is serious and how I might be able to rectify it.

Another issue, that may or may not be related, is that the System Information application is unable to gather any information about my machine. I am only presented with There was an error while gathering this information.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I am running 10.7.3.

Solution

Unfortunately, I was unable to determine the cause of either of these errors. I tried repairing permissions after booting from a secondary partition with no luck. However, System Information did report the proper information when booting from this secondary partition. Eventually, I decided to reinstall Lion on my main partition, which resolved all issues.

It's possible that this is a message that you can safely ignore.

There is an Apple KB article for OSX versions 10.6 and below that itemises those error messages that can be ignored, however that message is not in the list.  I cannot find an updated KB article for 10.7.

If the message does concern you, I'd suggest you reboot and hold down the Option key, you can then enter into Lion's Recovery mode from the menu shown and see if that does the trick.


How do I uninstall a program completely on a Mac? I come from a PC background... every time I want to uninstall an application, I must use add/remove programs. On the mac, you can simply run a .app file from wherever you want, and many say that the way to uninstall them is simply delete this .app file.

However, I have noticed that many apps save files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ directory. So when I delete the .app file, all those files are retained in the Application Support directory. Isn't there any way to uninstall an app and have it remove everything it installed on my hard-drive?

You can use this free app:
AppCleaner
(Synium used to offer CleanApp, but the product has been discontinued. You can still download a demo version which supports OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion up to macOS 10.14 Mojave.)


OS X ending - character when viewing source To view an email's source code in Mail.app, you can press ⌘ cmd+⌥ option  U . However, the source view is cut off every line on a certain character. Changing a line like this:

Notice the = sign at the end of the lines. Is there a workaround for this issue?

I assume this is in a section of the email marked with

--_000_7ACBD9F85F865846BB187E5B1529E52F25B26392F5LBCPLCYVMB002_
Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Where the first line would be a different long series of digits.

In this case = just marks a line continuation, To get the text delete it and the following CR and LF characters.

The encoding is needed as email as per RFC5322 says

  Lines of characters in the body MUST be limited to 998 characters,
        and SHOULD be limited to 78 characters, excluding the CRLF.

The encoding is quoted-printable and that is defined in RFC2045

  (Soft Line Breaks) The Quoted-Printable encoding
            REQUIRES that encoded lines be no more than 76
            characters long.  If longer lines are to be encoded
            with the Quoted-Printable encoding, "soft" line breaks
            must be used.  An equal sign as the last character on a
            encoded line indicates such a non-significant ("soft")
            line break in the encoded text.

The workaround is use a script to decode the MIME encapsulation


$PATH only shows RVM files-other Path are not shown in Macbook When I run echo $PATH I always get Ruby or RVM bin files and does not get any of the path I added in my .bash_profile; I am using a MacBook Pro and running Catalina. I am using the default terminal to review my Path .. I checked .bashprofile, .profile and also .bashrc, what could be wrong here?

echo $PATH results :

/Users/rr/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.7.0/bin:/Users/rr/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.7.0@global/bin:/Users/rr/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.7.0/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Applications/VMwareFusion.app/Contents/Public:/Users/rr/.rvm/bin

rr@rr-MacBook-Pro ~ % echo $CLASSPATH -- returns null value

.Bash_profile :

#export JAVA_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home)
export JAVA_HOME=$PATH:/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-13.0.2.jdk/Contents/Home
export M2_HOME=$PATH:/usr/local/Cellar/maven/3.6.3_1
#export PATH=$PATH:$M2_HOME/bin
#export TOMCAT_HOME=$PATH:/usr/local/apache-tomcat-9.0.31
#export PATH=$PATH:$TOMCAT_HOME/bin
#export PATH=$PATH:$JAVA_HOME/bin
export PATH=$PATH:/Library/PostgreSQL/12/bin
export CLASSPATH=$CLASSPATH:/Library/PostgreSQL/12/bin

I followed the steps provided in the Apple website on how to change the shell and restarted my Terminal app as a Bash shell instead of zsh shell - then I was able to verify the Class path and the PATH Environment variables without any issues


Hidden .DS_Store files not appearing in Finder despite enabling display of hidden files Hidden .DS_Store files are appearing in Terminal when using ls -a command, but not in Finder.

I have tried used keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + ., which toggles display of other hidden files and directories such as .gitginore and .git in Finder, but does not do so for .DS_Store files.

What is going wrong?

I'm not sure what command the Cmd+Shft+. shortcut invokes, but to truly show hidden files (on 10.9.* through 10.13.*, as of today), use terminal to execute:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE; killall Finder

For 10.6.* through 10.8.*, use (note the capitalization difference in the first instance of Finder):

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE; killall Finder

Source: http://osxdaily.com/2009/02/25/show-hidden-files-in-os-x/
(I'm definitely not a fan of osxdaily.com, but it works.

Additionally, to check on your current value, use

defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles

... and for simple usage of the defaults command, just enter defaults with no arguments.

I verified that the value on this system is set to TRUE and I can see all the .DS_Store files as seen below... (using 10.11.6)


iPhone 4 water damage - how to recover data? My sister dropped her iPhone into water and made the fatal mistake of turning it on just a few hours later, thinking it was already dry. I put it into a bag with rice for days. She had taken a lot pictures within the last few weeks but neither connected it to her PC nor is she using iCloud/Photostream, so we wanted to save the pictures somehow.

The problem is, the phone only turned on when connected to a power socket - and only in the inital setup mode ("connect to itunes"). And even then it would restart after about half a minute.

Assuming the battery got fried, I ordered a new one from iFixit (the phone's out of warranty since a long time) and replaced it; of course I also cleaned the logic board in the process. Though I couldn't see any corrosion despite the water indicators being pink. The only difference now is that when connected to a PC, the Apple logo appears, but the phone reboots infinitely after several seconds.

iTunes recognized it when entering DFU mode, but shows no additional data besides "iPhone" (capacity, iOS version, serial number).

Getting the phone to work again is secondary, we just want to save the pictures. Is there any way to get my data including all the pictures from iPhone?

Yes - programs like PhoneView can often read files from a device that iTunes insists must be restored. The iTunes function is to sync and clearly the OS is now in a state where it can't run itself or be updated, so the "correct" thing for iTunes is to ask for a restore.

I wouldn't say that you are guaranteed to get the photos back, but it's good you have the computer where the device normally syncs as that will have the encryption keys to unlock the storage if the device has data protection enabled.

You could also seek a quote from the usual data recovery services like:
- http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com
- http://www.krollontrack.com

You should expect to spend hundreds of dollars if you send the device in for recovery and you may have to pay if they recover anything - even one partial file - so be sure you understand what is being quoted before agreeing to a recovery attempt.


Not getting a notification of only one of my contacts I have the problem of not getting notified of only one of my contacts message but the moon isn't there

Most likely the Hide Alerts option has been enabled for this contact.

Open the Messages app, tap on the contact's chat whom you are unable to receive notification from and then tap on the i icon at the top right corner of your screen.

On the next screen toggle Off the Hide Alerts option.


How can I record synthesizer music to iPad? I have an iPad Air 2 and I just bought Loopy HD.

I also have a Roland synthesizer with MIDI output. Is there a MIDI to lightning cable?

I want to play something on my synth and add it to Loopy.

Thanks!

As long as the synth you have is core MIDI compatible. You may use a Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit or the Apple USB 3 Camera Connection Kit if it requires a bit of power output.

Other alternatives to just straight up USB for non-core MIDI products (products that require drivers) include iRig accessories, or plugKEY.

You will need this cable to make it work.

Best of Luck!


How to easily move all notes to another folder? A co-worker resigned last week, and just returned his Macbook to the office.
Now I'm backing up all the data before deleting his Mac account.
He had plenty of notes stored in the Notes app. I don't see a feature to export multiple notes to a zip file or Google Drive/Dropbox/etc. Sharing each one of them via email will be tedious.
I wonder if it's possible to move them to USB flashdrive, for example.

There is an app named Note2Txt which will convert all your notes to a text file. One file for each note. it runs very fast and you can store the text files wherever you like.  It works fine normally but i had a problem with it on Catalina.
There is also an app named Exporter which will convert all your notes to Markup files. Again you can put the output to any folder you like and have write permissions.
Both of these apps will convert all your notes to files. You can use the Notes app to convert a single note to a PDF but that doesn't run in batch mode.


Is it 'safe' to use FN for custom shortcuts I'd like to create my own shortcut combinations, and it looks to me that the fn key is actually only used for a few shortcuts on OS X. For example, fn-delete is forward delete. In applications like Photoshop it's not used.

Are you aware of any applications that uses fn shortcuts? I don't want to create potential conflicts. If feels strange to think that no software is using such a simple key, and they go for the more complex option-command-shift combinations instead.

Just to be clear, I'm referring to the use of the fn key (eg. the one usually on the lower left side of a MacBook Air's keyboard), not to the function keys (F1 to F19) found at the top of the keyboard.

You cannot create shortcuts using the fn key in the preferences pane (but you can assign Function keys f1, f2 etc.)

The shortcuts interface will allow you to press fn + X for Cut etc, but only X is displayed as the shortcut, and pressing fn + X results in typing X not cutting.

Very annoying for people that switch between Windows and Mac keyboards, since the CTRL key on a Windows keyboard is where the fn key is on a Mac keyboads.


Some application screens won't redraw in MBP I have a MacBook Pro running 10.6.8. It has all the latest updates (except for an item each for iTunes and Safari). Having not used Mail for a week or so, I've run into some problems with it - plus similar problems with Colloquy and LimeChat (both IRC clients). For all three, the problem is that the screen is not being redrawn; it appears to be acting transparently, and so screen furniture (scrollbars etc) are leaving a trail where the application content should be.

I've tried an array of things to fix it - obviously tried rebooting, and also shutting down fully before turning back on.

Also, I've deleted ~/Library/Preferences/info.colloquy.plist, with no change in Colloquy's behaviour. To be honest I'd not expect it to be an individual application issue, since it is affecting these three applications.

I've tried a few graphics things too. I've turned off the energy saving graphics mode in the Energy Preferences pane (although it has worked since new with that feature enabled). I was also running gfxCardStatus, now removed from the boot sequence and not running.

I've tried removing most things from opening at login, again to no avail. I've tried a new user account, and the same problems are exhibited in LimeChat. Not yet tried Mail in the second account - will do so - but am not hopeful.

As a long shot, my colleague suggests that I try verifying my primary (only) disk, and this turns out to be fine (verifying permissions as I type all disk permissions have been fixed, no change).

The last thing I installed was a modem driver, but it's been working fine with this, so I don't think it was that that has upset the system. Not sure I've done anything differently that might have caused this, tbh. So... I am now a bit stuck. Any ideas?

Edit: just tried Adium as well, another chat client. Same redraw problems again!

Fixed it!

I installed the pending update for Safari, which I thought was quite irrelevant, and that has sorted it out. Initially I thought that this did some system 'tidying up', which kicked a graphics module back into shape. But a colleague points out that Mail may well use WebKit's rendering engine, and it is possible that all of the IRC clients I tried also do.

The problem is still most strange, as the update for Safari has been pending for a great deal longer than the problem, which must have cropped up around ten days ago or less. So it was working without that update, and furthermore I've not idea what I did to trigger the fault.

Still, sorted now. Hopefully this post will be useful for anyone who encounters a similar problem.

Lightbulb moment: I seem to remember that I used the Software Update feature to download but not install the Safari update (5.1.2) between Mail working and breaking. Since the update required a restart to install, I left it and forgot about it. My guess is that, although it appeared to just download the Safari update, in fact it modified (and broke) the current configuration. If I can find a way to feedback to Bad Apple (tm), then I'll do so. Feedback done!


Numbers: How do I write between in an IF statement? I can't get the following formula to work in Apple's Numbers.app. I need the second IF to be BETWEEN 33.3% AND 66.6%.

This is what I have tried but it does not work:

IF(D≥66.6%,"High","")&IF(D>33.3%<66.6%,"Medium","")&IF(D≤33.3%,"Low","")

Thank you for any help!

Try this way:

IF(D≥66.6%,"High",IF(D<=33.3%,"Low","Medium"))


What happens when PCIe boost circuits are overloaded? In my understanding, the 2010 Mac Pro is rated for 75W of power for each PCIe slot, plus 75W for each of the two 6-pin boost (aux) circuits.  I know it's possible to exceed these limits, because I do it regularly. At what point does it have some effect, and what is that effect?  I'd like a very specific answer, not just, "it crashes".  My guesses:

A thermal or power sensor trips and kills power to the offending circuit.
A sensor trips and kills power to the whole PSU
The motherboard traces melt and cause a fire
The OS kills the process that is over-using the GPU

Obviously, any of these options would cause the computer to crash.  My computer sometimes reboots spontaneously when I'm doing heavy GPU processing, and I just want to understand exactly what is happening.

Interesting sidenote:  after this type of crash, I always have to reinstall the Blackmagic Desktop Video driver before my DeckLink will be recognized.

Still running strong 30% overclock..

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-4-1-and-5-1-pcie-aux-power.2035519/


Boot time on Mountain Lion I have my MacPro Quad and upgraded to Mountain Lion.
I have cloned the system hard disk to bootable external HD.  I have tried it and works fine.
Now when I have put the external HD in the BAY I to use it as my main HD the booting time is very long.
How can I reduce the booting time?
Many thanks in advance for your assistance.
Michel

Since you have moved the system disk around, the Mac doesn't know where it is so it takes a few seconds to look for it.  You need to tell the system which disk will be the boot disk and where it is located.  After you have moved the disk to the bay, Open the System Preferences>Startup Disk window and choose the bay disk.  When you restart, the Mac will know exactly where the boot disk is and your bootup time will be a lot faster.


PDF annotations: Annotating with Preview on Mac, view annotations on iPad My workflow is as follows:

Open PDF on Mac using Preview
Annotate PDF using the annotate tools within Preview
Send PDF to iPad

I would like the annotations to show up on the iPad in the native PDF viewer, but for some reason they do not! Does anyone know the reason why, and (better yet) a solution?

Note: When I use PDFPen to do the annotations, they do show up on the iPad, which has been my workaround so far. For reasons too lengthy to discuss, I cannot do the annotations directly on the iPad.

This seems to be an interesting problem.  I started annotating PDFs on my iPad using GoodReader.  Such annotations always show up fine in another PDF readers on other platforms.  Then, more recently I wanted to do a similar things on my MacBookPro.  At the time, I didn't realize Preview provides this feature.  The App Store provides an abundance of choices for PDF annotation programs.  I chose PDFProfessional since it only costed a few bucks.  I soon noticed it had a problem similar to the one you described.  I could see lines and scribble, but not text notes in other viewers unless I clicked and expanded the text box.  Otherwise the text box seemed empty.

Last month PDFProessional released an update and this fixed that problem.

It may be be that providing annotations that show up universally is harder than it seems and Preview just hasn't reached that level yet.


How do I rebuild the Spotlight index Apple Mac Pro (early 2009)
Firmware 4.1 -> 5.1
macOS 10.13.6 beta
Alfred 3.6.1

Due to problems with Alfred, I am trying to rebuild my Spotlight index.
I've been advised the following commands should work:

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist
launchctl   load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.metadata.mds.plist

sudo mdutil -E -i on /

The last command results in the error message:
Spotlight server is disabled.

Does anyone have any idea how to solve this?

I just fixed my Spotlight index issue a couple days ago with the following commands. Was driving me nuts too.
cd /
sudo mdutil -E /
sudo mdutil -a -i off
sudo rm -fr .Spotlight-V100/
sudo mdutil -i on /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD

For MacOS 10.15 Catalina and beyond, the last two lines should be:
sudo rm -fr /System/Volumes/Data/.Spotlight-V100/
sudo mdutil -i on /System/Volumes/Data

I know you tried something similar with Monomeeth guidance but maybe the subtle difference will work for you.
I added the actual Volume directory and Name to the last command since I had some USB drives plugged in that would get indexed otherwise.
I used Alfred for a while too but was happier with Quicksilver so I switched back.
Noticed you are running macOS 10.13.6 beta. Any chance that could be causing an issue? I would have put this as a comment but I don't have the rep yet. :-(


How make BBEdit Color Scheme follow system dark mode setting BBEdit has an awesome setting to make the application appearance match the selected editor color scheme – so when selected, if you select a dark color scheme in Preferences, it puts the app's chrome into dark mode.
I'm looking for the opposite. Is there a way to make BBEdit adopt the BBEdit Dark color scheme when the system is in dark mode, and the BBEDit Light color scheme when the system is not in dark mode? I don't think there's a simple BBEdit preference to do this, but BBEdit is legendarily AppleScriptable.
I use the awesome app Night Owl to switch my system between light and dark mode at sunrise and sunset, so I frequently change between light and dark modes for the OS, and I'd love it if BBEdit followed automatically. If there were an AppleScript that somehow either was triggered when the system changed modes, that periodically polled the system to see if it was light or dark and made sure that BBEdit was using the appropriate color scheme to match the system mode, or did something else creative to be sure that BBEdit used a light color scheme when I am writing things in the daytime and a dark color scheme when I am writing at night, that would be awesome.
In case it matters, I'm running BBEdit 12.6.7 and macOS 10.14.5.

BBEdit 13.0 introduced automatic color scheme switching based on the prevailing OS color scheme. (And it runs on macOS 10.14.2 and later, so you'll be able to use it.) Here's a screen shot of what it looks like in 13.1 (the current public release, as of when I wrote this answer.)
This is probably a simpler and more reliable solution than trying to automate it externally.


SuperDrive does not accept or read discs. Tried everything. Are they just horrible quality? Have an external USB SuperDrive from 2012, most expensive version with DVD writer (says Model: GX40N on the inside).

It stopped accepting discs and stopped reading them. I have searched for info and tried absolutely everything.

The thing is, it's barely been used, only a handful of times. There is zero dust in it. It used to work just fine. Then it stopped accepting discs, but would still read them. Then all of a sudden it stopped reading them too.

When it stopped accepting discs, I have been using a trick to hold the disc in, and perform the eject command, and it will try to push it out, and then suck it in.

No idea why this started happening... But at least it would read the discs.

Then one day it just decided to refuse to read the discs. Now, when I try to read them, it just spits it out immediately, doesn't even attempt to start spinning.

I have tried pushing all kinds of thick and thin, mint condition, CD's and DVD's in it.

I have opened it and blown out any speck of dust.

I have cleaned the lens with Isopropyl alcohol.

It makes all the right noises, everything seems to move/glide perfectly; arms, rotating thing, lens rail.

I have tried it on multiple machines, Macbooks, Mac Mini, Thinkpad+Windows 10, so it's not like it's a driver problem.

Meanwhile, my 20 year old, $20, who-knows-what-brand, DVD writer, in my home PC is chugging along every so happily, not a care in the world. That portable CD player from the 90's works fine too, because why wouldn't it?

When googling I find endless amounts of people having these kind of issues with SuperDrives from various production years, but no real solutions, just "replace it".

Are there any actual solutions that I have missed? Or is the only conclusion that these devices are just absolute trash quality at luxury prices, because Apple?

Everything you described is a physical issue.

the load/eject mechanism failed somehow to not accept disks.  Your work around was to manually hold them in.
The disks no longer being read could be the laser, the optical sensor or any of the electronic components that support these functions.  It could be a blown capacitor, resistor or fuse.  Maybe a bad IC chip or a broken trace.  Without putting hands on, it’s only a guess at this point.

There is no fix for it other than dissembling it and repairing it.  If this is not feasible the solution you stumbled upon is the correct one: replace it.

You don’t need a SuperDrive to work with your a Mac.  (IMO) They are over complicated with their loading mechanisms and I dreaded getting disks stuck in the drives.  I personally use a plain USB Plextor DVD/CD writer; it’s slow being USB 2, but it’s reliable and gets the job done.


iTunes in Yosemite does not respond to media keys My media keys on my MBP for iTunes 12 in Yosemite don't respond. Spotify works fine. I'm using the FN key to access the standard F keys.

These all work:

Screen brightness
Expose
Launch Pad
Keyboard brightness
Volume
Power key

Is this a known issue or something I'm missing?

Do you happen to have Spotify or another media application open at the same time as iTunes? They'll hijack your media keys, passing the the controls to that application instead of iTunes.

Or perhaps Chrome is hijacking your media key keystrokes. You can get more information on that here: http://www.omgchrome.com/chrome-google-music-media-keys/


What causes "The Finder can't quit because some operations are still in progress" error message? I am receiving this message when I'm trying to shut down my computer and I don't have any Finder windows open. What could be causing this message and how do I fix it so that I don't have to perform a hard shutdown?

Here's another way to Force Quit an application:

Click the Apple Menu
Hold Shift, and notice that the 'Force Quit...'
menu item has changed to 'Force Quit [frontmost app name].'
Select 'Force Quit [frontmost app name]' to force quit the Application.