How can i adjust volume of my tracks with those in the iCloud? I recently activated iTunes Match for my music collection. Before that I had regained volume of all tracks to a quite low level. I use MP3Gain on windows with the default setting of "89".

On my PC/iTunes and on my iPhone I activated "sound check". iTunes has calculated the value for sound check. And it seems that the songs are level. However -- most of the songs on my PC are not yet updated from the cloud, they are still the originals. Maybe this is the reason why they are level.

When i play music with the iPhone the volume is very changing. I have loud songs (those which were matched) and I have very silent songs (those that needed to upload to the cloud).

This is very annoying. What can I do? Why does sound check not work on the iPhone? I would be content with regaining my songs to a higher level. But to wich one? And can I re-upload the updated files to the cloud?

Questions and questions ... any hints very much appreciated.

Edit: In the meantime I found out to wich level I must set my own songs. In MP3Gain the setting is "97". But this does not help very much because I am not able to re-upload songs to iCloud. Even if I delete a song from iTunes Match and make iTunes add it afterwards the song is not re-uploaded. It seems that the iCloud does not delete songs immediately and it does not recognize that a file has changed. The track will only be re-activated (or undeleted) with the old level. Sad, sad.

iTunes will not read the tags that MP3Gain uses to set the volume. iTunes stores Sound Check volume information in the iTunNORM tag.

If all of your music is in MP3 format, you could try qNormal.

However, if you've enabled iTunes Match and have a mix of MP3 and AAC files, you could try the commercial product beaTunes. It has a Windows version.

Both applications claim to calculate the appropriate volume using the open source ReplayGain algorithm that MP3Gain also uses.


Organizing Favourites in Finder with Symlinks and colons On my machine I have repeating patterns of directories.

E.g,:

notes/2019-01
records/expenses/2019-01
records/taxes/2019-01
customer/project/notes/2019-01

Links in the Favourites bar show up as:

2019-01
2019-01
2019-01
2019-01

To get around this, I'm creating symlinks to point to the folders I'm regularly using.

MacOS lets me rename the symlink in the gui, and it seems to accept unusual characters, even '/'.

so I can create symlinks like:

notes/01
exp/01
tax/01
proj/notes/01

But... on the command prompt, the '/' is a ':', which is a surprise.  I've not seen this done in other Unixes.. maybe I've never noticed.

Is there a pitfall to this? am I tempting fate with slashes and colons here?

The filesystem internal separator is : on HFS which is why other Unix don’t existing that generally. There’s no harm I can see to what you propose as its portable across Unix in my experience and harmless on macOS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems


Google Chrome shuts down when my MacBook Air goes to sleep No error messages come up and upon initiating Google Chrome again, it goes to my homepage.  I have gone into System Preferences and then to Security & Privacy and auto logout is disabled.  Any other suggestions?

It sounds like your Mac is set to automatically log you out after a period of inactivity.

Open System Preferences from the Apple menu in the top-left corner. Open the "Security & Privacy" preference pane. Click on the "Advanced..." button in the bottom-right corner. You may need to unlock the pane using the padlock icon in the bottom-left corner.

I think you'll find "Log out after XX minutes of inactivity" ticked. Untick it.

Advanced settings within Security & Privacy

If not work, try to uninstall and re-install software.


Is there any way to backup an iphone *including* passwords and such? My iphone 4 was backing up to the cloud. I got a 5, and did the entire restore process. I was irritated and inconvenienced to discover that my email account passwords and my google 2-step verification tokens in the google authenticator app did not come back from the backup. I had to re-enter account passwords, and then tear down and re-set-up the google authenticator tokens.

Aside from my mild pique that the Apple person who sold me the phone neglected to mention this little bit of entertainment, I'm left wondering: is there any way to get backups to include this stuff? Do itunes backups include this stuff, so that I'd be happier if I switched from cloud to itunes?

I believe that if you make an encrypted backup using iTunes it will include passwords.


macOS standard keyboard shortcuts for tabbing between windows Are there any key combinations standards for tabbing between windows within an application?  For example, in the Safari web browser: CTRL-TAB will cycle through the open tabs.  It would be nice if this was

If not, I am wondering if there is a clever technique to implement such a feature (automator?).

Your question seems to be conflating two things: cycling through tabs of a window and cycling through windows of an application.

⌘ cmd` grave and ⇧ shift⌘ cmd` grave will cycle through windows in an application.
This works for virtually all applications.
⌃ ctrl⇥ tab and ⇧ shift⌃ ctrl⇥ tab will cycle through tabs in a window.
This works for all applications which implement macOS Sierra's standard tab framework or implement this keyboard shortcut for their own tabs (which almost all tab-supporting apps do).


MacBook Pro only charges with smaller MagSafe 60W My MacBook Pro 2.3ghz  i7 mid-2012 stopped charging and the light on the charger doesn’t show up anymore.

I thought it was the MagSafe 85W and got a new one, but my MBP is still not charging. The light does not work on both the old and new 85W charger, and neither actually charge my MBP.

However, I have a smaller 60W MagSafe that works ok. The light comes on and it charges the MBP.

What could explain this?

The DC jack looks ok, but I wonder if that could be it? Or is it more likely to be a logic board problem?

UPDATE

I’ve also conformed this by using iStat - it shows that the 65W charger provides around 30W while both the 85W chargers do not show up at all.

UPDATE 2

I have also used pmset from the terminal window to check the power management. As suspected, both MagSafe 85W are not seen at all, it reports "no adapter attached". It only works with the MagSafe 60W.

The rawlog, with the MagSafe60W attached and then removed shows:
AC; Charging; 57%; Cap=3748: FCC=6550; Design=6900; Time=2:02; 3028mA; Cycles=92/1000; Location=0; Polled boot=05/12/19 08:19:07; Full=05/12/19 09:15:17; User visible=05/12/19 09:18:17 05/12/19 09:18:31 No AC; Not Charging; 57%; Cap=3761: FCC=6550; Design=6900; Time=2:01; 3097mA; Cycles=92/1000; Location=0; Polled boot=05/12/19 08:19:07; Full=05/12/19 09:15:17; User visible=05/12/19 09:18:31

The rawlog with the same MagSafe 60W detached shows:
No AC; Not Charging; 57%; Cap=3761: FCC=6550; Design=6900; Time=2:01; 3097mA; Cycles=92/1000; Location=0; Polled boot=05/12/19 08:19:07; Full=05/12/19 09:18:31; User visible=05/12/19 09:18:31

The only difference between the Magsafe 85W and the 60W is the output:
- MagSafe 85W: output 18.5V, 4.6a
- MagSafe 60W: output 16.5V, 3.6a

I have also replace the DC jack and still no luck.

Why on earth my laptop only works with the adapter that provides less voltage and amperage?

Try to do a SMC and PRAM reset.

SMC, amongst others, controls power management of your Mac. From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295:

  These symptoms might mean that an SMC reset is necessary:

  [...]
  The battery doesn't charge properly.


Microsoft Outlook 2011 constantly crashing I just purchased Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac last week. Outlook CONSTANTLY crashes. I have tried everything… uninstall and re install twice, rebuilding main identity. Please help! I am so frustrated since I just purchased this. I am running Mountain Lion as well.

Here is the error when it crashes:

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_CRASH (SIGTRAP)
Date/Time: 2013-02-15 20:20:24 +0000
Application Name: Microsoft Outlook
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Outlook
Application Signature: OPIM
Application Version: 14.2.0.120402
Crashed Module Name: merp
Crashed Module Version: 2.2.4.120402
Crashed Module Offset: 0x00003aa2
Blame Module Name: OutlookCore
Blame Module Version: 14.2.0.120402
Blame Module Offset: 0x0004de5f
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409
Crashed thread: 8

New error after taking MERP update and Office update 14.2.5:

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_CRASH (SIGTRAP)
Date/Time: 2013-02-18 16:36:46 +0000
Application Name: Microsoft Outlook
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Outlook
Application Signature: OPIM
Application Version: 14.2.5.121010
Crashed Module Name: merp
Crashed Module Version: 2.2.4.121010
Crashed Module Offset: 0x00003aa2
Blame Module Name: OutlookCore
Blame Module Version: 14.2.5.121010
Blame Module Offset: 0x0004e10d
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409
Crashed thread: 8

Took SP3 for Outlook so now using version 14.3.1 and new error:

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:
Exception: EXC_CRASH (SIGTRAP)
Date/Time: 2013-02-18 17:39:05 +0000
Application Name: Microsoft Outlook
Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Outlook
Application Signature: OPIM
Application Version: 14.3.1.130117
Crashed Module Name: merp
Crashed Module Version: 2.2.4.130117
Crashed Module Offset: 0x00003782
Blame Module Name: OutlookCore
Blame Module Version: 14.3.1.130117
Blame Module Offset: 0x0004d9ed
Application LCID: 1033
Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409
Crashed thread: 8

From the crashlog it looks like Merp is causing the crash.  I googled merp crashing outlook and came across an article on answers.microsoft.com.  From what it said, you need to update Microsoft Error Reporting Program (Merp) from Here:   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=28734.

Before you do that, check and see if you have any rules that may be corrupt and remove them.

Here's the link about Merp crashing outlook:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2011-macoutlook/outlook-2011-crashes-every-time-i-open-rules/8740225f-9b4b-4df7-a1e1-f693fb12322f?msgId=655b76b4-28af-4df0-b5e5-56989f26677e


Autochoose for press and hold? Is there a way to change the press and hold character picker in a way that it automatically choose a certain character.

I'm German using an US keyboard (on purpose, I don't want to switch back to a German one) and if I press and hold 'a' I get a lot of options. I don't care about any of them but the 'ä'. I know how to eliminate the other choices (thanks to How to add characters to the press and hold character picker in OS X Lion?) but I don't even want to chose. I want to hold and press the 'a' and would love for the 'ä' to just appear without me having to choose it.

I don't think you can do this with press and hold, but you can press:   option + "u" then "a" to get "ä". I find it quicker than pressing and holding the key.


How can I replace the 'Linen' that is prevalent in many Lion apps? There are many places where the "linen" texture is used in Lion, from the Login Window to various app backgrounds like Safari and so on.

Is it possible to replace this image with something else?  Let's say I have a nice hessian weave pattern from a lovely house I lived in that hasn't been decorated since 1979, or some sand, or a patchwork quilt depicting the transperambulation of pseudo cosmic anti matter?

Whatever I wish to change it to, a) can I change it, and b) will it change it for all instances where the linen appears, or does each application have it's own resources which would need ammending one by one with differing methods, and c) is there a particular size/fileformat/other feature that any replacement image must have, for example must it be a 200x200 PNG that tesselates etc.

The linen backdrop file is
/System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Versions/C/Resources/NSTexturedFullScreenBackgroundColor.png

You can edit that file, or replace it with a file of the same name, but be certain that the replacement file has a resolution of 72 pixels per inch or you probably won't like the result.

ᔥ John Martellaro: OS X Lion: Change Login Screen’s Dirty Linen

Certain applications and situations draw their background from different sources. for example, the background file for Mission Control can be found at /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/defaultdesktop.png

If you replace that file, you'll need to do a killall Dock command in the terminal before the change will take effect.

ᔥ OS X Daily: Change the Mission Control Background Wallpaper Image in Mac OS X Lion


Mail app on OS X 10.10 goes blank with Office 365 Account after displaying for a minute I am having an issue viewing email on Office 365 with Mail app.

After clicking on the Office 365 mailbox to read the emails the message list goes blank after about a minute, I then have to click on another mailbox then back to the Office 365 one to view the messages again but you only get about a minute until it does it again. This is frustrating when you are reading a long email.

This only happens with Office 365 accounts, I also use iCloud and Google mail accounts without any problems in Mail.

I have run connection doctor but it says everything is ok.

Has anyone any ideas? Or come across this before?

This seems to be a known bug which has been around since (if Google is anything to go by) at least OS X 10.8 (!) and is still not fixed. That's modern Apple for you.

None of these worked for me (e.g. the "Rebuild" option is greyed out, for starters!) but maybe they'll help you.

Mail.app inbox becomes blank after a few minutes of use


Clicking on a link in text no longer goes to my Chrome Incognito window, opens a new one instead When I have one Chrome window open and it is in "Incognito" mode, and then click on a link in a text file in TextEdit, it has always resulted in the opening of a new tab in the Chrome incognito window.

Suddenly last week this has changed and it opens a new Chrome window which is not Incognito.

Is there some setting in MacOS that determines this that could have been changed without me knowing it? Or is it a silent update to Chrome that's the cause of the change? Or something else?

This was an intentional change introduced in Chrome 68 to bring the macOS behavior in line with that of Chrome on other operating systems. Prior to Chrome 68, links opened externally would open in an Incognito window if one was open, which was the opposite of the behavior on other platforms (e.g., on Windows, external links would always open in a non-Incognito window). This has been discussed at length in this Chromium bug report thread, as well as on the Google Chrome Help Forum.

Essentially, the old behavior was deemed incorrect by the Chromium team and Chrome 68 "corrected" this discrepancy. There appears to be no way to revert this change within Chrome. However, one workaround is to drag an external link into the tab bar of an Incognito widow, which will open the link in that window.


What is the Computer name that appears on new Macbooks ? I'm selling my Macbook online and I want to reset the name of the computer to the generic name as if it's completely new from the apple store. In system preferences > sharing > Computer name. I forgot what the generic name is when you first buy the computer.

Is it "new computer" or "Generic" or "New User"? I know it's completely 100% unnecessary but I want to do it as a nice touch for the next user.

If you have time, you could reinstall OS X and quit the installer (and shutdown the system) at the point when it asks you to enter a username and password to create your first account.

When the buyer powers it on, it will then display the OS X welcome message and allow the buyer to complete the setup as if it were bought new.


How do I play sounds from my iPad to my Stereo wirelessly? Is this possible to stream the audio played on an iPad to a Stereo wirelessly ?

My stereo is connected to my iMac via BlueTooth. So If I can play the audio from my iPad on my iMac this will do what I want. But maybe there is another way to do it...

Another question is : Can I transmit the sound to my mac using the simple connector cable ?

What I really want to do is to use for instance GarageBand and hear the sound on my stereo. Wirelessly would be the best, but, as a second choice, I can handle the fact to be forced to be connected with USB.

And please, I know the ultime and last choice to use the mini-jack output on the iPad...

You can connect the iPad directly to your stereo using bluetooth. Or you can use AirPlay to stream audo to your iMac. However you cannot record anything while doing this:

  While the "AirPlay - Bluetooth - HDMI" switch is on, an alert appears if you try to record an Audio Recorder or Guitar Amp Touch Instrument, or if you try to record a sound with the Sampler. You can turn the switch off from the alert.

From: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4622


How can I run Windows applications on a MacBook Pro? I have a friend that wants to buy a Mac Book Pro and he has some windows applications that he needs to run. He doesn't want to buy the applications again.

Can he run the Windows applications on his MacBook Pro? What ways to accomplish this are available?

You have three choices. They all come with pros and cons

Run a Virtual Machine

You have VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop in the commercial space to chose from when it comes to virtualization software. And if you're comfortable tweaking and fiddling you can use VirtualBox for free.

Pros:

Near native speeds for your applications
Your OS X-based data can be accessed from your Windows programs
Can pick between running them in a full Windows desktop-in-a-Window or in integrated mode where the Window apps appear as windowed apps right in your OS X desktop
Decent support in the commercial offerings at least for graphics acceleration so you can run some graphics intensive programs
You get a bunch of neat things with virtual machines including the ability to pause applications mid-run and snapshot the state of your virtual machine

Cons:

You have to buy a copy of the Windows operating system
The Windows OS installation will take up a lot of space on your hard drive, plus the Windows application space
If your Mac is older, doesn't have much RAM, the VM approach can drag down your system a bit but most, if not all, new Macs can handle VM hosting duties without much of any issue

Run Wine

Wine is a translation layer for Windows applications. It's a bit like a virtual machine but doesn't require the Windows OS. It sits between the Windows application and OS X and makes the application think it's running on Windows by translating all the Windows calls its making to OS X calls.

There are two choices of know of here. The free WineBottler and the paid-for CrossOver Mac from CodeWeavers.

Some commercial software is delivered for OS X this way -- I know The Sims 3 game that my wife likes to play on her MacBook Pro is actually the Windows version of the game running under the Wine emulator.

Pros:

You don't need to buy a copy of Windows
Your OS X-based data can be accessed from your Window programs

Cons:

Application support under Wine can be hit-and-miss. Some apps work well, some don't. Check at http://appdb.winehq.org/ to see if your applications are on the list of tested, supported applications if you're going to try WineBottler. CodeWeavers keeps their own list.
Because the Windows applications think they're running on Windows, and not everything Windows does translates perfectly to OS X, some applications can behave erratically.

Run Windows Native with BootCamp

Windows can actually be installed your Apple hardware directly and usually runs just fine. Apple even provides a utility called BootCamp that lets you keep a Windows and OS X installation available to your Mac and pick which OS to boot in to when you start up your machine.

Pros:

That's the fastest you can get for Windows apps on Apple hardware. It's the OS running on bare metal. If you need every last little bit of performance for your applications, this will be your best bet.
Your Windows partition stays separate from your OS X partition so changes to one rarely impact the other

Cons:

You have to buy a copy of the Windows operating system
Moving data between the Windows side to the OS X side is hard and in some cases impossible, for the most part the OS'es and their programs are completely silo'ed


iPad keeps charging and uncharging My iPad Air 2 keeps charging and Uncharging. I don’t think it’s a charger problem since I plugged into my iPhone SE and there’s no problem. When I plugged into my iPad, it keeps switching between charging and not charging rapidly.

Video: https://imgur.com/a/Z6Nnv

Similar to this situation: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6300997

iPad Air 2 and iPhone SE have different power adapter (head charger unit). iPad Air 2 needs 10W adapter, while iPhone SE needs 5W adapter.

In my experience, I can use 10W adapter for charging my iPhone 6 (which using same adapter with iPhone SE and some users said it will boost the speed). But iPad Air 2 can not be charged with 5W adapter, because it will need more power.

If you have used the correct adapter, make sure there is no problem with the USB cable and your iPad USB port. Because sometime, dust and dirt can disrupt the charging process.

Check this page to identify your adapter: https://www.apple.com/power-adapters/


How can I respond in a definitive fashion to an app pestering me about a permission? Why?

In that case, I think of Steam, which keeps requesting access to the Accessibility Panel. I don't think I want that, because Steam is not an Accessibility tool.

What?

I'd like to say "No, I don't want to give you access, stop asking".

NOTE: Buscar's answer clearly explains why it needs to be accessed, which makes the problem a non-problem.

Enable & Control Access for Assistive Devices & Apps in OS X Mavericks

  For example, many popular games will require access to the Assistive
  Devices abilities so that an online game can properly use voice chat
  or screen broadcasting. This is true with nearly all Steam games,
  ranging from Team Fortress 2 to Civilization V, and Blizzard / Battle
  Net games like StarCraft 2 and World of Warcraft. Note these games
  will continue to function without Assistive Access, but their feature
  set for online communication and sharing may be limited, and thus if
  you’re playing games and find the voice chat features aren’t working,
  this setting or app-specific access could very well be the reason why.

You can not send a replay to it, but you can disable it in your sys pref security and privacy, and/or in the game set up.


No GDB in the new Command Line Tools (OS X Mountain Lion) for Xcode - September 2013? I've recently formatted my Mac and when I reinstalled the command line tools, I installed the new  Command Line Tools (OS X Mountain Lion) for Xcode - September 2013. I've just typed gdb in my terminal to debug one of my programs and it told me -bash: gdb: command not found. There is no gdb in these new command line tools, is there?

If it doesn't, where can I get it? How can I install it?

Is brew install gdb one choice?

Apple switched to clang/lldb some times ago.

You can still install gdb from brew with brew install gdb as suggested. You'll probably want to install gcc with it (you'll have to specify the exact version of gcc you want, eg. brew install gcc47).

Some privileges are needed for gdb to work and you'll need to code sign the binary. See instructions given by brew.


What should I do if my headphones don't go into my iPhone 4s When I put my headphones into my iPhone It doesnt go completely in like it should. I don't know what to do. Can anyone help me?

If none of the headphones you try (you should try different sets) can physically fit into the port, then there is probably something lodged down in the port. Shine a light down it and see if you can find anything. If you have repeatedly tried to dislodge whatever may be there but seem unable to get it out, go to an Apple store and see what they have to say about it.


Can't re-install homebrew I'm having a problem re-installing homebrew. I am running Mavericks

It started with me trying to install express.js. Homebrew had been installed on my mac for quite some time, never had any trouble with it. I used sudo npm install -g express, but when I ran express --version, I got command not found. Eventually, I found a possible solution online, and just tried to reinstall npm with brew remove npm and brew install npm. Again, I ran into errors (Unfortunately, I didn't save the exact errors) I used brew doctor to try and figure it out, looked up a ton of tutorials and mucked around with homebrew, and I guess I broke something.

Now, I figure I should just try and reinstall homebrew.

I run the install command for homebrew:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

It returns this message:

It appears Homebrew is already installed. If your intent is to reinstall you
should do the following before running this installer again:
    rm -rf /usr/local/Cellar /usr/local/.git && brew cleanup

So, I run

rm -rf /usr/local/Cellar /usr/local/.git && brew cleanup

This returns:

-bash: brew: command not found

I try running the install command again, and this time, it doesn't tell me homebrew is already installed.

So again, I run the install command for homebrew:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

And now I get this:

==> This script will install:
/usr/local/bin/brew
/usr/local/Library/...
/usr/local/share/man/man1/brew.1

Press RETURN to continue or any other key to abort
==> /usr/bin/sudo /bin/chmod g+rwx /Library/Caches/Homebrew
Password:
==> Downloading and installing Homebrew...
remote: Counting objects: 136, done.
remote: Total 136 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0)
Receiving objects: 100% (136/136), 10.37 MiB | 1.53 MiB/s, done.
Resolving deltas: 100% (44/44), done.
From https://github.com/Onomanatee/portfolio_Yuri_Legiest
 * [new branch]      master     -> origin/master
HEAD is now at c253261 Commit4
==> Installation successful!
==> Next steps
Run brew doctor before you install anything
Run brew help to get started

Running brew doctor or brew help , however, results in

-bash: brew: command not found

I really don't know how to fix this. And why is the brew installer referring to a repository I used as a test for a little web project? (right above Installation succesful!)

Short term answer, try this command to see if your brew installation worked:

/usr/local/bin/brew doctor

It seems that your bash environment may not be looking in the /usr/local/bin for executibles (which means you have to write the full path rather than just the name of the command). The solution may be just resourcing your conf files, which can be roughly done by closing your terminal and opening a new one. Otherwise, you'll want to add a line to your ~/.bash_profile. I think resourcing will do the trick though.

So after confirming the success with the first doctor, try quitting your terminal application and starting fresh, then your original usage of brew should work. If it doesn't try:

echo $PATH

and report  back the results.


Switching between proxy and no-proxy config in .bash_profile I have configured proxy settings (on mavericks) within $HOME/.bash_profile (purpose: to make npm, rvm, git use the corporate proxy) and the configs are as follows:

git config --global http.proxy http://proxy_usr:proxy_pwd@proxy_ipaddress:proxy_port
git config --global http.proxy https://proxy_usr:proxy_pwd@proxy_ipaddress:proxy_port
export http_proxy=http://proxy_usr:proxy_pwd@proxy_ipaddress:proxy_port
export ALL_PROXY=$http_proxy
npm config set proxy http://proxy_usr:proxy_pwd@proxy_ipaddress:proxy_port
npm config set https-proxy http://proxy_usr:proxy_pwd@proxy_ipaddress:proxy_port

However, I don't need these configurations at home.

What is the best way to manage the .bash_profile so that my mac should pick the settings based on the proxy? Can we write a shell script to set my .bash_profile based on network I use (home/ work - no-proxy/proxy)?

You may create a separate shell script and source it whenever you are at a "non-proxified" location. For example, I have a .unset_proxy.sh under my user directory that I source whenever I need to get work done at home or starbucks. This is what it looks like:

unset HTTP_PROXY
unset HTTPS_PROXY
unset http_proxy
unset https_proxy
npm config delete https-proxy
npm config delete http-proxy
npm config delete proxy

This is the command I run:
    . ~/.unset_proxy

When I'm back at the office building I simply source my bash profile to reset the proxy:
    . ~/.bash_profile


OS X swapping with free memory available? I've noticed my machine keeps swapping memory even though there is (at this moment) around 7 GB of RAM still free; does anyone have any insights on why this is happening, if I should care, and if so, how I can stop it?

See this image:

This looks 100% normal, fine and not at all even beginning to look like a problem.

Swap is for items that the system determines aren’t needed actively and frees up RAM for other tasks that can benefit. You have a very large proportion of free memory so the system is well in the green.

Apple’s activity monitor now has a “pressure” gauge so I would look at that and only worry if you see large page in / delays or yellow / red pressure on Apple’s graph.

To check page rates to and from swap, open a shell in terminal.app and run:

vm_stat 60

You will see counts per minute and the swap in and out are the ones to worry about. Next would be that you have a stable and low amount of free pages so that number going down to 0 or 10 would be worrisome about swap or allocations. Until then, you’re likely at full speed with any amount of swap that’s not filling your drive causing other issues.


How can I terminate the running sudo command that always reopens? When i open a new window in terminal i get this: !

I was trying to install MacPorts approximately a year ago and that did not go well.

Since i don't use terminal very often I just left it that way.

Now I would like to have it working again!

I tried to delete the com.apple.terminal.plist file and I am stuck.

When I enter my password the shell turns from sudo to tee and everything I enter is just repeated!

When I don't enter my password I get a useable shell.
What can I do to prevent the sudo command from reopening?

What you have is a bad set of shell startup files, so the first thing to do is regain control of your Mac.

Do not log out or reboot (just in case the damage will prevent a new log in - unlikely, but why risk it - especially if you don't have a good backup)
Open System Preferences
Make a new Admin account and enable fast user switching
Save whatever work in other apps you cannot afford to lose
Use the menu bar to log in as the new admin account

At that point, you'll know if that new user has full shell access or if you somehow messed up the files that set up all user shell processes.

You can go about removing MacPorts from the new user as well as be sure you have a good backup before you go in to clear the files that are messing up your current user's shell login process. Since your port install isn't functioning - try to run the port uninstall, but proceed with the manual rm command to actually remove the items in /opt and elsewhere that were installed.

http://guide.macports.org/chunked/installing.macports.uninstalling.html

At that point, you can also try cleaning up files elsewhere - here are the files MacPorts should have changed on you, so you may have to delete all of these and/or recover them from a clean instal or a backup from before when MacPorts touched them:

  Depending on your shell and which configuration files already exist, the installer may use .profile, .bash_login, .bash_profile, .tcshrc, or .cshrc.

The cleaning for you might also involve:

cd /Users
sudo -s
cd broken
tar -cvf ./bash_broken.tar .bash*
rm -i .bash*

That will make a backup tar file of all your broken bash startup files (.bash_history, .bahsrc, etc…) Be careful with the sudo - if you rm the wrong file, there is no trashcan or undo. The -i flag will have rm ask you if you want to delete each file. You want to remove pretty much all of them except maybe the history file (so you can look back at what you did in the past if needed).

Once you've removed the files, log out of the new user and back into the old user and see about whether that fixed your terminal problems.


Poor audio in one speaker - Mac I have a 2016 Macbook Pro 15" running macOS Sierra. The left speaker sounds muffled (it isn't outputting any treble) while the right speaker sounds perfectly fine.

For some casual debugging, I've done the following:

Played with volume (no change)
Used different audio sources (no change)
Tried headphones (headphones work fine)
Used Sound settings to change balance left and right, this magically made the right side sound just as bad. (This quickly lead me to believe it's a sound card issue)
Used Applications > Utilities, Audio MIDI Setup to mute one side or the other and changed the format. This fixed the right side again confirming the sound card issue.
Killed coreaudio and let it come back up. No audio at all after this.
Reboot and reset pram, audio working as it was before (headphones good, left speaker muffled)

What else can I do to get both speakers singin' right again?

s g,

One thing in your troubleshooting leads me to believe that this is not a sound card issue: headphones worked.  The sound card controls all audio, not just the speakers.

I see two possibilities(off the top of my head):

Your left speaker is damaged.
Your headphone jack has something in it that's causing electrical problems, or has a damaged connector.  Make sure there's no debris jammed in there or other damage.

Also, electrical feedback from the bad speaker (if that's the case) could cause the behavior you saw with the right speaker.  Again, I don't see this being an sound card issue at all.

Honestly, I would take it in and let Apple have a look at it.  If it is hardware issue, they can repair it.  If it's something in the software, they may have a solution.


Why isn't a binary not being found in my PATH? I've got a Python project which uses a virtual environment. In my project folder, there is a bin/ folder which contains all the executables needed by the project. To use these, you run source bin/activate to insert the path to that bin/ directory to your PATH variable.

Now, most of the time this works as I'd expect. I run the source command and when I run which python, it shows the one I'd expect from the virtual environment. Sometimes however, it doesn't list that one. It lists a different one on my PATH. Here's an example of what I see:

We can see we are in the project directory:

$ pwd
/Users/dalemy/Projects/my_project

We can also see that the python and python3 binaries (actually symlinks) are in the bin/ directory:

$ ls -al /Users/dalemy/Projects/my_project/bin/python*
lrwxr-xr-x  1 dalemy  staff    7 10 Feb 15:16 /Users/dalemy/Projects/my_project/bin/python -> python3
lrwxr-xr-x  1 dalemy  staff   44 10 Feb 15:16 /Users/dalemy/Projects/my_project/bin/python3 -> /usr/local/Cellar/python/3.7.2_1/bin/python3

Here we can see that this is the first entry in the PATH variable:

$ echo $PATH
/Users/dalemy/Projects/my_project/bin:/Users/dalemy/.poetry/bin:/usr/local/opt/python3/bin:/usr/local/opt/ruby/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/MacGPG2/bin:/opt/X11/bin:/Users/dalemy/Config/scripts:/Users/dalemy/.poetry/bin:/Users/dalemy/.local/bin

But when we ask about where Python is located, it doesn't find it:

$ which python
/usr/local/bin/python

$ which python3
/usr/local/opt/python3/bin/python3

Running type -a shows the same thing:

$ type -a python
python is /usr/local/bin/python
python is /usr/bin/python
python is /usr/local/bin/python
python is /usr/bin/python

I've got no idea why this is happening. The bin/activate command runs hash -r and I've run it manually to be sure that it's clearing out anything cached. If I remove every single entry on my PATH except for the first one, I just get that it can't be found.

Once it starts doing this, the only solution I've found is to remove the virtual environment completely and recreate it.

What could possibly be going wrong here?

The only way I found to reproduce what you are seeing is if the symlink points to a non-existing file. So best to use ls -l to verify that all the symlink targets actually exist, and fix the links if necessary.

More generally speaking: Unless you really need a specific version of python3 it might be better to just run

cd /Users/dalemy/Projects/my_project/bin
ln -s /usr/local/bin/python3 python3

or just rely on PATH.


Can I split the screen vertically in iOS 11, on iPad? I’m using a large iPad Pro in portrait orientation (ie, screen taller than it is wide). I’d like to split the screen so that Safari is on the top half and my note taking app is on the bottom half. It doesn’t seem to allow it. Is it not possible or am I missing a gesture?

This is currently not possible — apps can only be placed to the left or right, not at the top or bottom, regardless of device orientation.

  Drag an app out of the Dock to make a Slide Over or drag it to the right or left edge of the screen to make a Split View

Use Multitasking on your iPad

You do get to choose if you have the device in landscape mode or portrait mode so if you need to prioritize for extra height, you can. In your case, prioritizing for extra width isn't possible currently.

You can provide feedback to Apple about iPad here if you have a great use case for top/bottom split in the future:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html


Macbook Pro connects an external monitor only after reboot My old 13 inch (2008 or 2009 model one of the first unibody models) macbook works fine in connecting external monitors with my VGA adapter.

My new 15 inch has issues with the same connector. I have to reboot in order for it to work. When I plug the adapter with a cable in the new macbook - nothing happens. When I unplug it, the screen goes to blue and then goes back.

What could be the problem? I think I have this issue from the time I got the laptop. It is with Mountain Lion (it had this issue with all the versions of the os). The old mac is also with Lion.

Could this connector be somewhat different and the new mac to require a new connector?

I reset the NVRAM or whatever, it didn't help

This is the solution:

The 15 inch Macbook uses 2 graphics cards. I use gfxCardStatus application to control which graphics card is used - OS X too easily allows apps to request the more powerful card, which drains the battery too quickly. Skype is an example of such an app.

I just discovered that the integrated graphics card (the weaker one) cannot support a second monitor for some reason. Even though in my 13 inch Macbook it can. So only the "discrete" (or the more powerful) card can do this.

In essence, either stop gfxCardStatus app or go to "Discrete Only" mode in it.


OS X Lion - Please help me understand Finder "Find" I'm a long-time Mac user, but for some reason I can't get my mind around this. Maybe I'm missing something incredibly obvious.

Baseline: When I choose Finder->File->Find, I get a window titled 'Searching "MacHD"' where "MacHD" is one of two Search places listed just below, to the right of the text "Search:" I see two potential search-places currently defined, "MacHD" and "This Mac". "MacHD" is the default, which generally works for me -- except when I need to restrict the search.

Q1:  How do I add to the list of potential search-places?  Say, I often want to search ~/Documents/Foo only.  To the right, I see a Save button and a "-", but, intuitively, I kind of expect a "+" button there.  I assume there's some kind of equivalent, but I can't see it.

Q2: What are the parameters of this Find? How would I find out? System Preferences -> Spotlight -> Search Results allows me to re-order and eliminate some search results from visibility, and System Preferences -> Spotlight -> Privacy lets me excludes some places from indexing, but how do I know, for example, if a file inside the System folder is or isn't findable?  Yeah, I can do a trial search and find that the file /System/Library/Accessibility/AccessibilityDefinitions.plist is NOT found, so I infer that Spotlight doesn't index the System folder. But is there a more direct way of figuring this out?  Could I add the System Folder to Spotlight's indexing?

At the moment, I'm searching for a mislaid image file among tens of thousands I've collected in various places on my HD. My procedure: I set the Finder find to look at "MacHD" and tell it to find all image files, change the results window to icon view, use the slider at lower right to make the icons "large", grab a cup of coffee, and scroll through all the images. But I'm not confident I'm getting a look at all the images I've placed throughout my HD. Is there a better, more thorough search method? Can I get more control?

Yes I know about the shell (command line) find command.  In one command I can get a list of, say, all *.jpg files on my HDD, but I can't see a convenient way of displaying and scrolling through them that's nearly as good as the Finder provides.

No doubt there's a tutorial for using Finder "Find" somewhere on the web that will put me right, but I haven't located one.

You have a few options since you're on Lion. The Find feature of Finder by default will search whatever folder you're in. The option next to it is called "This Mac" which should look through the computer. You can also go to "All My Files" in the sidebar and then click on the images section header and that should look for all the image files as well.


How to duplicate-check between iPhoto Library and Photos Library *and* move non-duplicates from iPhoto -> Photos? I'm working on merging a 11000+ image iPhoto Library with a Photos Library - with the purpose of pushing it to iCloud Photos.

I'm not exactly sure how to proceed. I know that my friend has new images on the Photos Library that aren't on the iPhoto Library - so I can't just ditch the Photos Library and do a one-way import.

Does anyone know which app would currently allow for this? I mean, I just used iPhoto Library Manager to merge three iPhoto Libraries on 3 separate machines into one, and now it seems there's only one hurdle (mash together iPhoto & Photos Libraries) before I can deliver the images to her iCloud Photos.

Is there anything you could offer as advice for accomplishing this, as it has been a very long task (took something like 6 hours to combine three iPhoto Libraries which were all on 3 different computers, to boot :) )

I'm thinking a few approaches are possible, but who here would know which one to take?

1- Convert iPhoto Library to Photos Library and find an app that can merge + de-duplicate two Photos Libraries.

2- Find an app that can merge + de-duplicate an iPhoto Library and a Photos Library into one Photos Library.

Also, once this is done, is it just a breeze to push it to iCloud Photos, or should I somehow prepare further?

Perhaps a little bit late for esaruoho's friend but might be useful for someone else.

FatCatSoftware, who created the iPhoto Library Manager that esaruoho linked above, have created a similar application for managing Photos.app libraries called PowerPhotos.

For this situation I would go with option 1.

Convert the iPhoto Library to a Photos.app library.
Combine the two Photos.app libraries into one by using PowerPhotos.
Run a duplicate image check using PowerPhotos in order to make sure there are no duplicates.
Upload images to iCloud.


Is it possible to sync my iPad 2 with my iTunes library stored on my pc wirelessly? I want to be able to wirelessly sync my iPad with iTunes how I do this?

Yes it is,

you have to connect your iPad to your PC once.
Select your device in iTunes and check the flag "sync with this iPad over Wi-Fi" under the tab "Summary".
Click "apply".

Now you can sync your device without connect it to iTunes trough the cable. You can do it both from iTunes and from the iPad.

If you want to launch the sync from your iPad go to "Settings -> General -> iTunes Wi-Fi Sync"


How to search through online сhеss games using AppleScript or Automator? I would like to search for specific online сhеss games. Each game has a single adress. Since there are millions of games on instant chess, it would take far too long to index all the games. So I will set a limit and use the script at night. Conditions should be something like this:

http://www.instantchess.com/?EXP=1&GPI=84094532

To start, could the script search games 84094532 to 84095000 and store the web addresses of all the games with Reti opening in them so I could see the games by myself during the day?

Thank you for trying to help me but someone has already done it. This question can be marked as solved. Here is his script (all credit goes to him):

set retiList to {}
set theStart to 84094500
set theEnd to 84094600
repeat with gameRef from theStart to theEnd
  set theScript to ("curl 'http://www.instantchess.com/?EXP=1&GPI=" & gameRef as string) & "'"
  set theSource to do shell script theScript
  if theSource contains "reti" then
   set end of retiList to gameRef
  end if
end repeat
retiList


How to assign multiple apps to single focus command shortcut in Slate? I would like to use a single keyboard shortcut to focus on multiple applications in Slate. For example, I want to map Command+1 to Chrome and Firefox. Each time I press Cmd+1 the focused application should rotate. Is this possible? If so, how can I do this?

bind 1:cmd focus 'Chrome'
bind 1:cmd focus 'Firefox'

For example save this script as ~/bin/chromeorfirefox and make it executable:

#!/bin/bash
if [[ $(lsappinfo visibleprocesslist|cut -d\" -f2) = Google\ Chrome ]]; then
  open -a Firefox
else
  open -a Google\ Chrome
fi

Then add

1:cmd shell '~/bin/chromeorfirefox'

to ~/.slate.

lsappinfo was added in 10.9. You can use a script like this in 10.8 and earlier:

#!/usr/bin/osascript
if (path to frontmost application) is (path to application "Google Chrome") then
    "Firefox"
else
    "Google Chrome"
end if
tell application result
    reopen
    activate
end tell


Change label on USB drive in OSX Terminal I am trying to write a program in Python that will rename a USB drive (from the standard "USB DISK" to my custom "MYDISK").

However, I can't find any way to do this neither in Python nor in OSX Terminal. (I figured, if I can make it work in Terminal, I can simply use os.system("command") in Python).

The USB drive is a FAT32 formatted flash drive on filesystem /dev/disk2s1, and it is by default mounted on /Volumes/USB DISK

What I have tried so far: (from http://techbu.com/2009/06/28/renaming-usb-drive-labels-in-linux)

sudo umount /Volumes/USB\ DISK            ## Works fine
sudo mlabel -i /dev/disk2s1 ::MYDISK      ## Command not found!

It seems that the "mlabel" command is not found in OSX Terminal. Is there an alternative?

See diskutil

sudo diskutil rename USB\ DISK MYDISK


How do I sync my iCal with an Android smart phone from T-Mobile? I am a T-Mobile customer wanting to upgrade to a smart phone.
I would like to be able to sync my Macbook iCal to Gravity Smart or Mytouch 3G.
Is this possible without being complicated?

iCal speaks CalDAV and Exchange active sync - so you have many choices to sync your phone to any server that makes sense to you.

Google calendars work well for a free solution, but it is only one of many services that you could use.


How to mount Core Storage volume under Linux (or force conversion on unrevertible volume)? I tried to mount HFS+ partition in Linux today, but I had problem with

hfsplus: unable to find HFS+ superblock

I've found later that this partition is in fact Core Storage container for the logical volume, what could mean I should at least know corrected offset of the real logical volume on this partition.

I tried to follow advices seen in plenty of places to revert the volume using diskutil cs revert UUID, however my problem is that I see:

Logical Volume C4FE8...
-----------------------------------------------------
[...]
Revertible:      No
[...]

Logical Volume Family above this has all encryption related fields set to No/None. However I cannot find a way how to have this volume revertible.

Because it's only 300 GB of data on 1TB drive, I've managed to shrink it. The idea I have is to create empty partition of the same size as the volume and the copy it using dd. Then I would have pure HFS+ partition probably mountable under Linux. However gpt in recovery doesn't allow me to add next partition to disk0 saying "resource is busy". Graphical utility seem to have some bug and I cannot confirm new partition (in recovery mode as I don't know the password to superuser account).

Now, does anyone manage to mount Core Storage volume at least read-only under Linux?
Or maybe someone found the way how to make this Core Storage volume revertible?

I don't know if it's possible to remove CoreStorage entirely once a disk's been converted, but it is possible to mount the HFS volumes inside (provided they are not encrypted - if so, you'll also need to use libfvde).


How do you find a lost serial number for a stolen Mac to make a police report? How do you find a lost serial number for a stolen Mac to make a police report? What is the easiest way to recover a serial number without having the product box or receipt? Can you get it by using your AppleID and how do you do that?

If it’s signed into iCloud, you can see it and its details under “My Devices” in your Apple ID. See here for instructions from Apple.


What's the name of the iOS / OS X calculator app that has 'variables' functionality? I'm looking for an app on the App Store but I forgot its name.

It is a calculator app that looks like it has been written on a noteblock.

You can store the solutions of calculations as quasi-variables and then reuse them later on.

I know it's available for the Mac and all iOS devices.

Does anyone know what app this is?

This sounds like the app Soulver which is available on Mac OS X and iOS.  It allows you to use a mixture of natural language and spreadsheet/calculator functions to perform easily readable equations.


run applications from external hard drive I have a hard drive taken from an old macbook.
I am working on a university iMac, I want to run applications such as Android Studio from the External Hard drive however when I run the application from the external drive, the machine loads the Android studio application on the iMac not the External version. How can I get around this?

To open the app from an external disk, you have to refer to it explicitly using a Terminal command:

open /Volumes/<volume_name_of_external_disk>/<path_to_application>/Android\ Studio.app

Having never used Android Studio, I don't know if there is a space between 'Android' and 'Studio' in the app name. If there is, the back-slash character in the open command is required to delimit the space character.

Ex: open /Volumes/ExternalDisk/Applications/Android\ Studio.app


Editing songs in iTunes 11.0.2 I've recently got a new Windows laptop and downloaded and installed the latest iTunes (11.0.2). All my music (over 5000 songs) went into iTunes fine, just as they were on my old laptop. However I have now noticed that when I download new music and add it to my iTunes it won't allow me to edit the songs through "Get Info" even though the songs I transferred from my old laptop can be edited perfectly fine. Can anyone help? Thank you.

check if you have relocated songs.
check if your files can be rewritten.

I use self-written python program to remove stale content.

import win32com.client
itunes= win32com.client.Dispatch("iTunes.Application")
ITTrackKindFile=1
mainLibrary = itunes.LibraryPlaylist
tracks = mainLibrary.Tracks
numTracks = tracks.Count
deletedTracks=0
batch_size = 90
deleted = []
while True:
  while numTracks  !=0:
   currTrack=tracks.Item(numTracks)
   if currTrack.Kind == ITTrackKindFile:
       if currTrack.Location == "":
         deleted.append(currTrack)
   numTracks-=1
   for track in deleted:
      track.Delete()
      deletedTracks+=1
   del deleted[:] # free memory and close handles
   if not numTracks:
     break

if deletedTracks > 0:
if deletedTracks == 1:
  print "Removed 1 dead track."
else:
  print "Removed " + str(deletedTracks) + " dead tracks."
else:
  print "No dead tracks were found."


Why is (Yosemite) Mac Mail hitting my internet so hard? Mail is downloading 250-500Kb/sec and has been for a while now. I can't figure out what it's doing. Is there some way to find out? I tried Window->Activity but it didn't show anything being downloaded.

How about using opensnoop to try to work out what Mail is doing? opensnoop is one of the tools that make up the Dtrace toolkit. It is part of the OS.

sudo opensnoop | grep Mail

That command should show you what files Mail is opening. That might point you in the right direction to what it is doing.


Strange temporary recurring flashes on the screen So, I've been using my MacBook Pro (2019 15 inch) for quite a while now(somewhere about 6 months. Recently, I've started to notice strange blinking ringlike flickers on my screen that occur literally out of nowhere and for no apparent reason. They usually persist for like 30 minutes and then disappear after I reboot the laptop multiple times. Can you please help me with identifying the underlying reason for that? I include a photo of my screen and also here is a link to the video https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V9jnmmugM2Og16_j0Da_R3C1nEi_0vQv/view?usp=sharing
P.S. I did not spill anything on my screen nor did I somehow scratch it or damage it.

First, Make sure your MacOS is up to date in [System Pref -> Software Update].
Try disabling the auto brightness in [System Pref -> Display] (automatically adjust brightness); and [System Pref -> Keyboard] (adjust keyboard in low light).
If you have a custom color profile, switch to the default "color LCD" one in [System Pref -> Display -> Color]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsK5zmRpg5k
Resetting PRAM might also help: Reboot, hold CMD + Opt + P + R until the apple logo shows, then let go. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5laIcLMnJU
Create a guest account or new user in [System Pref -> Users & Groups] use the + icon to create one. Press the Apple logo at the top left to [log out] and test using the new account.
You can also try running the Apple Diagnostics test to see if there's a hardware problem by restarting and holding "D" until it boots up.
https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/diagnose-problems-mh35727/mac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8y_pcaw_Ac
For hardware-related repairs: If you have AppleCare+, it wouldn't hurt to get a price quote, because 2016+ MacBooks have a T2 chip that rejects non-Apple certified hardware repairs and parts. If looks like the minimum cost for a repair for the screen could be $99-$300. https://support.apple.com/mac/repair/service
This site says to expect around $455+ for an out of warranty screen repair.
https://www.gophermods.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-replace-a-macbook-screen-at-the-apple-store/
Hope this helps! Best of luck!


Home button goes to TV app While working with my Apple TV, I noticed that pressing the home button (to the right of the menu button) would instead take me to the TV app.

Is there any way I can change this behavior, such as a toggle in Settings?

You can change the behavior by going into Settings under Remotes and Devices.

In the Remote section, there will be an option called Home Button. Tap the option to switch the location the home button sends you to. Since Apple TV automatically sets it to TV app after updating, you just need to press once to restore normal behavior, and again to switch to launching the TV app when the home button is pressed.


How to sync or backup iPhone contents to new Mac Possible Duplicate:
  transfering iphone data to another computer
  How to synchronize iPhone with new Mac without losing data?

I have brought a new mac and would like to sync my iPhone content with the new mac (i.e. contact, calendar, apps and etc..) As the the first sync will erase all contents from my iPhone, is there any way to avoid it. If the iPhone backup has been performed on the old PC, can I restore all the content from the backup if the content was erased during sync with the new mac. Please advise.

I logged in, authorized and used "Transfer Purchases from iPhone" as described in @appleluntanyi's answer and the linked article.
When syncing apps, I got the dialog

Are you sure you want to sync apps? All existing apps and their data
on the iPhone "iPhone" will be replaced with apps from this iTunes
library.
Cancel / Sync Apps

When I synced anyway, it did in fact keep the app data, but it messed up the icon order and grouping.
So I would recommend syncing the iPhone to your old computer just in case, taking screenshots of your home screens if you want to remember how they were arranged, doing the login/auth/transfer as described in the article, and then syncing despite that incorrect dialog.
You can e.g. transfer the screenshots to the computer through Preview.app: File > Import from iPhone….


How to add a "mobile data ON/OFF" shortcut? This is one feature I have to toggle frequently and there doesn't seem to be a shortcut for this. By default it is a 3 step click : Settings -> Mobile -> Mobile Data.

Is there a way to add a shortcut for this ?

The web site brdrck.me/settings/wifi used to give custom shortcuts, but not anymore.

Without a jailbreak, that's not possible.


How to download pre-built binaries from MacPorts without installing? I see as of 2.0 MacPorts is hosting pre-built binaries, which it would install by default if licensing is present and compatible. I'm looking for a more current version of rsync than ships by default with Macs, and has the necessary patches (which I believe are missing in the rudix makefile) and I would then distribute it like a regular install, for example nesting in a NetBoot or pushing out over a patch management solution instead of installing locally.

Where can I download the prebuilt binary, which I'm assuming I could treat like a package install, including man pages?

Macports guide says

  MacPorts can pre-compile ports into binaries so applications need not be compiled when installing on a target system. MacPorts may create two types of binaries: archives and packages.

However I found issues with packages a few years ago (which might have been fixed) and the following is more of how I view MacPorts.

If MacPorts does have a binary package which it does in most cases then it behaves exactly as a package install including man pages. The only difference is that you need the command line compiler and the MacPorts sources (not the sources of the packages) installed and that the code is in /opt/local.

Also due to shared libraries you can't just take an executable and run it it probably depends on other shared libraries which MacPorts also provides.

As for centralisation you could easily install on one machine and then rsync or rdist to all the others (or use other macOS replication mechanisms) or as MacPorts pointed out set up a local repo.


How to delete photos to free up space? My wife's iphone is full. I decided to free up some space by removing the photos. I connected iphone to PC and copied over complete photo collection. Then I disconnected the device and started removing each single photo by hand! Well, because you just can't select all and remove photos from your device in 2016 unless it is Android, Windows or Blackberry phone. So, after spending enough time to delete 1.5k photos by hand, I removed them from "recently deleted" folder only to see that the available space is 0 bytes. I restarted the phone. Tried to take a photo, no luck. The iphone refuses to take a picture because there is not enough space on the device. This is peculiar because I have zero photos according to "camera roll". So, now, I can't neither install an new app nor take photos, ffs Carl!

I am literally laughing while writing this because the question is so dumb simple I've never expected to ask. How to actually remove the photos from iphone to free some space?

This is iphone-4 with iOS 9.3.5.
Some screenshots.

There is another trick how to free up some space:
1) make sure you have less than e.g. 3gb free space left
2) go to you iTunes Store and try to "rent" a movie which will require much more than 3gb. (most movies need 5gb or more).

once you try to rent, your "purchase" will fail but your device is cleaning up space. you will notice some Apps as "being cleaned" on your home screen.


Transfer app and data from iphone 5s to iphone 6s I have an iPhone 5s (iOS 8.2) and an iPhone 6s (iOS 10.2). On the old iPhone I have a banking app which I'd like to copy securely to the new iPhone, including all the app's data. I do not want to make a full backup. Both devices are using the same credentials for iCloud, none of the devices is jailbroken.

The app does not use iCloud.

Is it possible to copy only this single app without using third party software?

Given the way online banking is designed you shouldn't need to copy local data for the app, as the app is usually just a client for their website. You should be able to simply download a fresh copy of the app on your newer iPhone, sign in to the app, and load all of the necessary data from their servers (recent deposits/withdrawls/transfers, share account info etc. would all be kept on their end and simply sent to your phone temporarily over the network when the app requested it, unless that is your bank uses a very unorthodox device-locked system, which seems both unlikely as well as unreasonable behaviour for a bank.).


macOS Server http(s) ports bound I've got a Mac mini 2014 (running macOS Sierra 10.12.2) with the Server.app installed.

I was planning on hosting a webserver on this device on the default http(s) ports. However, I've found that one of the services installed by the Server app has already bound these ports.

I've tried to disable the service that's binding these ports by using launchctl and stopping anything that vaguely looks like apache/httpd. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough.

Does anyone know which service is binding these ports?

Comment out listening ports at the beginning of the file /Library/Server/Web/Config/Proxy/apache_serviceproxy.conf

Kill parent httpd process which contains substring "/usr/sbin/httpd -D FOREGROUND -f /Library/Server/Web/Config/Proxy/apache_serviceproxy.conf". For listing these running proceses use ps -fax | grep apache_serviceproxy.conf, for example.


Debugging charging problem with MacBook Pro I have a MacBook Pro (unibody late 2008 15")

A few weeks ago the charger was causing hassle and eventually the connector came loose.

The MacBook eventually lost power.

Then, I asked my friend for a lend of his charger. I plugged it in, no light showed indicating the charger was plugged in. However, upon plugging the charger out, the battery light would blink indicating the laptop was totally drained of battery.

The odd time (when I press loads of keys and power button at the same time) the laptop would turn on and I could work on it, but no battery showed and once I plugged the charger out it would die.

I figured it was something wrong with my friends charger.

I ordered a magsafe connector online and connected it to my broken charger.

I tried it out today and exactly the same thing is happening as did with my friends charger.

No charger indicator light, and battery indicator blinks for a few seconds when I plug it out.

It can't be a fault with the charger, since the same thing happens with my friends charger.

I doubt it's a fault with my MacBook Pro, since I had no issues before until the charger broke.

I tried an SMC reset, though it's hard to know if it worked properly since the battery is totally drained (as the battery light indicates), and I'm not sure if I did the right SMC reset for my specific macbook.

Any suggestions?

Apple makes 3 different chargers for their MacBooks that you need to be concerned about:

45-Watt -- For MacBook Airs.
60-Watt -- For 13" MacBook Pros.
85-Watt -- For 15" and 17" MacBook Pros.

You can use a higher-wattage charger than you MacBook requires, but not a lower-wattage one.  Yours was an 85-watt charger.  If your friend's charger was a 60-watt, that's why it wouldn't work.

Also, if your charger is broken, attaching a new MagSafe connector to it isn't going to make a difference.  Assuming your MacBook is OK, you will need a replacement 85-watt charger.

You may also need to reset your SMC.

For your model, according to this Apple document:

Shut down the Mac.
Disconnect the MagSafe power adapter from the Mac.
Remove the battery.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Reconnect the battery and MagSafe power adapter.
Press the power button to turn on the Mac.

You should note that your computer will not give you any feedback at all when you do this.  No lights or noises will come out of the computer to indicate it was successful.


iMessage on iPad: how do I know when the message is an sms or not? I've upgraded to iOS8. I have an iPad and an iPhone.

I'm chatting with a friend through his phone number with my iPad. I guess the iPad is using the iPhone carrier to send the sms. All works good.

Then I decided to turn off my iPhone and surprisingly the messages keep arriving to my friend. Without the carrier !?

I wonder, are they really sms? How can I check this on the ipad? They are all blue messages, and my friend number is highlighted in the contact profile (There is no email, just the number).

all blue messages are iMessages,
all green messages are sms text messages,

later this month you'll be able to use your ipad to send text messages from your iphone... as of now, all ipads use iMessage only!


command line in AppleScript I want to create an AppleScript app with this perfectly working (bash) command:

cd /Volumes/MEDIAS/WORK/CONVERSION_VIDEO/PROXY_720P/INPUT/; for f in *.mov *.mp4; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -vcodec prores -profile:v 0 -s 1280x720 /Volumes/MEDIAS/WORK/CONVERSION_VIDEO/PROXY_720P/OUTPUT/"${f%.*}_PROXY_720P.mov" && rm "$f"; done

but I get errors with the variable "$f".

How can I launch it through AppleScript?

Shell scripts/commands in AppleScript are handled with the do shell script command, which executes a shell script using the sh shell. In the short form of:

do shell script "..."

Where ... is the shell script to execute.

See AppleScript Language Guide do shell script Commands Reference and Technical Note TN2065 do shell script in AppleScript, for additional details.

What you need to do, is escape the double-quotes with a backslash, e.g. \"$f\" and elsewhere as necessary.

I've tested your command, wrapped in a do shell script command, with the necessary escaping as shown in the command below and it worked without issue.

do shell script "cd /Volumes/MEDIAS/WORK/CONVERSION_VIDEO/PROXY_720P/INPUT/; for f in *.mov *.mp4; do ffmpeg -i \"$f\" -vcodec prores -profile:v 0 -s 1280x720 /Volumes/MEDIAS/WORK/CONVERSION_VIDEO/PROXY_720P/OUTPUT/\"${f%.*}_PROXY_720P.mov\" && rm \"$f\"; done"

Note: Because the do shell script command uses the sh shell, if the ffmpeg executable is not in the PATH passed to the shell, which is /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin, you'll need to include the fully qualified pathname to the ffmpeg executable for your command to work in AppleScript.


How can I make a playlist of singles Over the years (!), I have collected a bunch of weekly freebies, plus I have bought a few singles. Is there any way that I can have a playlist made up of albums with just one track?

I just tried dragging everything over, but created a problem where iTunes continually crashed.

There has to be an easy way to do this. I can't believe it isn't there.

If you tagged them correctly using the "Total Tracks" tag, then they should all be "Track 1 of 1".

Another option might be something along the lines of "Album contains 'Single of the Week'", but that does not cover any single tracks you bought.

Other than that there is no way to do it except manually.


How can I make a copy of a dvd made with imovie? I have a movie of me skydiving, but the disk is starting to get scratchy. I was wondering how I can copy this to my hard-drive, so I can play it whenever I want. I tried the disk utility and copy the disk to an image, but that only copied the files and folders, thus not making it playable as a videofile.

My presumption is that when you burned the DVD using iMovie - it was encoded within a VIDEO_TS folder and you will need some software to move the video and sound files (which are hidden and obscured on the filesystem) back into a format that can be played on your Mac and/or burned back to a fresh optical drive.

Depending on the version of software that wrote the DVD to disc, you might be able to locate the raw video files (or find them on a backup). Barring that, using Disk Utility to simply clone the volume onto a new drive isn't a good choice, but I've had great luck with programs like the little app factory's RipIt.


Having trouble with Final Cut Pro disk space When I try to load footage onto final cut pro, it says that i do not have enough disc space. Before I start loading, I have 320 GB of free space.
In total, I am trying to load 5 hours of footage.

What can be the problem?

.DV tends to be about 4MB/sec. So 5 hours is about 18,000 seconds, so you are looking at a capture of about 72000MB, 72G so you should be fine..

Are you sure the Capture Scratch disk is set properly? Sometimes it's set to the wrong drive you want to capture to.

Check Preferences if you are using FCP, if you are using FCPX it might be somewhere else, not sure how you set capture disks in FCPX..


How do I pass a printer URI to lpadmin? I'm trying to connect an LexmarkE210 to a Mac. Running
sudo lpinfo -v | grep 210   # find LexmarkE210 URI

gives me usb://Lexmark/E210?location=1a140000 as the URI for the printer.
The .ppd driver was downloaded from openprinting.org
I first tried:
lpadmin -E -p "Lexmark-E210" -v "usb://Lexmark/E210?" -P "/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/en.lproj/Lexmark-E210-gdi.ppd" -o printer-is-shared=false

then tried without the question mark:
lpadmin -E -p "Lexmark-E210" -v "usb://Lexmark/E210" -P "/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/en.lproj/Lexmark-E210-gdi.ppd" -o printer-is-shared=false

to pass this to lpadmin (as described in
Add an IP printer with command line)   The result in either case is:

but it didn't work. So how do I pass the URI to lpadmin?
A third attempt to install the printer (no ?) with lpadmin returned printer status with the error:

A resume command, sent through the Web UI will set the printer status to idle, however, the problem persists.

? is used in URIs for parameterization. Here it is enabling use of the location= which appears to be a port reference.
So, it would seem you're asking if you should drop it in your descriptor I would say yes.


How to setup FTP server in Mac OS X Lion Server? I found that there isn't any FTP options in Lion Server. How can I setup it up? I would like to restrict .....

Which user can login with FTP server?
Which folder can permitted user access?

I found that I can install vsftpd via homebrew, but I can't find the vsftpd.conf file...

Would anyone here kindly tell me how to do these? Thank a lot.

Please refer to the answer at Create a Remote Only User in OS X.

The last part of that post will use bindfs to mount a user privileged only folder. See below. The whole instruction set is on the blog post referenced or just look at both posts. If someone wants me to duplicate that other post here let me know.

Getting in is one thing. Now you have to mount the folder you want to use. Unfortunately you can't use a symlink inside of a chroot jail. This is where MacPorts is your best friend. I don't know why I've never seen fit to install this before. After installation just issue the following commands.

sudo port install fuse4x
sudo port install fuse4x bindfs

You might have to restart. Now with an empty folder created in /chroot/user you can mount --bind to a folder outside of the chroot jail. For example

sudo /opt/local/bin/bindfs -u user /Library/WebServer/Documents/mysite/yourfolder /chroot/user/scratchpad

So far this seems to work here.


How to enable/disable Adobe host port in terminal? I disabled some ports (below) to be able to install Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator applications. The challenge is to re-enable them through terminal, otherwise I could not install Photoshop( see below picture ).

It can be run with simple sudo sh >filename<

This file contains this bash command:

echo "Do you wish to update your host file ?"
select yn in "Yes" "No"; do
    case $yn in
        Yes ) echo "127.0.0.1     activate.adobe.com" >> /etc/hosts;
              echo "127.0.0.1     practivate.adobe.com" >> /etc/hosts;
              echo "127.0.0.1     lm.licenses.adobe.com" >> /etc/hosts;
              echo "127.0.0.1     lmlicenses.wip4.adobe.com" >> /etc/hosts;
              echo "127.0.0.1     hlrcv.stage.adobe.com" >> /etc/hosts;
              echo "127.0.0.1     na1r.services.adobe.com" >> /etc/hosts;
               break;;
        No ) break;;
    esac
done

It needs to reenable because it can not allow installation from this point:

Does anyone know what commands are capable to reenable them? Or are there any programs to do it automatically?( It should be there because later I found an automatic program which - then - solved this challenge but now I could not enable it.

Not by commands/ scripting, but to solve the issue:

Open the file /etc/hosts by pasting it in "Go to Folder" in Finder. Edit out anything related to Adobe. This would stop redirecting those urls to 127.0.0.1 which is localhost. Thus allowing connections to actual IP. In my file,  localhost, broadcasthost are there only.

Also, for unknown errors/causes, https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/kb/cc-cleaner-tool-installation-problems.html is helpful.


Dragging files between spaces Prior to 10.7.2 I used to be able to do the following sequence:

Drag and hold a file using my thumb on the trackpad (button depressed)
Three finger swipe to move to another space
Drop the item in the other space

This was a handy one-handed way of moving things between spaces, but with 10.7.2 it no longer seems to work: the trackpad doesn't respond to swipe gestures while the button is depressed.

Is this a bug or was it removed? Hoping someone knows of a hidden preference to bring it back.

You should be able to do this by dragging the 'item' to the edge of the screen and waiting a bit for the space to switch. To me this works for folders and text as well as windows.


Do I need to delete an app's related data in ~/Library myself when I delete it? When I delete an app (move it to Trash) do I also need to delete its related data in ~/Library myself?

According to this:

Does deleting Mac App Store apps in Launchpad delete related files in the Library folders too?

some apps keep their data in ~/Library even after it's deleted. I find it kind of annoying that the app keeps its data even after it is deleted. The only reason I can think of that usage is maybe if I reinstall the app later, I can get my old data back. But I still prefer to deleting all its related data if I delete the app.

My second question is is this the main function of other uninstaller tools?

When I delete an app (move it to Trash) do I also need to delete its related data in ~/Library myself?

A user is not generally expected to delete those file themselves. If you are aware of, and wish to delete them, you can do so. The most that you would lose is the app specific preferences and any user data which could be re-used if you reinstall the app in future.

  My second question is is this the main function of other uninstaller tools?

Since you didn't name any tool, this cannot be answered concretely, and would depend upon choice of tool. But a tool that lets you delete an apps' related data is generally expected to show the files/folders that it would affect and should let you choose what items to keep.


Mac App Store Won't Open on Macbook Pro For the past few weeks my Mac App Store hasn't been loading correctly. Occasionally it does, but i'd say this has only been once or twice in the last month.

Here's a link of what it looks like:

Alternatively, anyone now how I can install Yosemite without going into the App Store?

First, close the app store or itunes, etc.  I fixed this by opening a terminal, then getting a super user terminal:
sudo su -
enter your password
now be careful. You are root.

Next we want to kill all the App Store related processes.  This doesn't hurt anything.  Let's find them using the ps command and then using the grep search utility to get down to what we want.

MacBook-Pro:~ root# ps -ef |grep store |grep -vi google
  501  9284     1   0 21Dec15 ??         0:08.90 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CommerceKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/storeassetd
  501  9349     1   0 21Dec15 ??         0:00.73 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CommerceKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/storeinappd
  501  9353     1   0 21Dec15 ??         0:01.91 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CommerceKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/storedownloadd
  501  9459     1   0 21Dec15 ??         0:00.17 /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/CommerceKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/storelegacy

The second column is the process ID we want.  We want to use the kill command:

kill 9284 9349 9353 9459

The numbers will be different on your PC.  Open up app store and it should work!
I have also read other ways - removing some verisign keys from the key chain app, and others, but this is what fixed me.


How can I use the keyword box to add keywords to a sequence of pictures without using the mouse? I'm running Aperture 3.6 on Yosemite on a Mac Pro.

In aperture-tip-rapid-keywording Scott claims that command right-arrow moves the selected image to the next image, while leaving the cursor in the keyword box at the bottom of the screen.

Alas, it doesn't do this.  It does move the selection to the next image but leaves the browser as the active receiver of keystrokes.  I have to click again in the keyword box.

Addendum:  Turns out this works for the keyword box in the info panel in the inspector, but NOT for the keyword box at the bottom. In addtion all the text in the box is selected.  Gotta love consistency.
So it never did work like this.

I've dropped Scott a note about this.

I tried with other command arrow options, in case I had command right arrow set to something.  If so I've set all 4 arrow combinations. (Up is the same as right, down the same as left in terms of selection)

How can I use the keyword box to add keywords to a sequence of pictures without using the mouse?

If this is an arrow reset issue, where can I find out what other app is mucking about with this.

The solution is actually quite simple.
Aperture => Commands => Customize

This brings up means to map any key to any command.

The desired command is "Add New Keyword"  It defaults to being mapped to command backtick, which I find awkward.  I remapped to Command K.  This overwrites a command used for stacks, but I don't use stacks much.

This allows me to go Command right arrow to select the next photo, then command-K to put the cursor in the bottom add keywords window.


Can I run windows 10 on my MacBook Air via bootcamp without paying for a windows license? I am interested in running windows 10 on my mac via apple's Boot Camp. I plan to follow the instructions laid out on this website: https://9to5mac.com/2017/01/23/how-to-install-windows-10-mac-boot-camp-assistant-partition-video/.

If I download the windows 10 iso file from microsoft, can I run windows without paying for a license? Does Microsoft allow you to run an unlicensed version windows? I have found conflicting information online and I don't want to start this process until I'm sure that I can use windows' without paying.

P.S. I only plan to use the Windows partition for ARCgis so it would be a shame to pay for a windows license just to use one software.

You can legally install and run Windows 10 (But not Windows 8.1 or earlier) as a trial up to 90 days on your Macbook Air with less personalization features, an “Activate Windows” watermark at the right bottom and some reminders about activating Windows time to time. Only thing you have to do is to download an ISO from Microsoft from this link (make sure to choose 64-bit) and use Bootcamp to install Windows as usual. During installation, when you are asked for a license key, there will be a button at the bottom of the window (not really sure about position), which says “I don’t have a license key” or something similar. Press it and choose the type of Windows you want to install if asked. You will be installing Windows 10 trial if you have followed this correctly, but there is no legal way to use it for free forever with all features.

If you are installing Windows just to run one application, try Winebottler for macOS first.


checking path capitalization of pwd Is there a quick way to check in terminal that the terminal command pwd returns the correct capitalization of the path?

Note that if you do cd ~/desktop then pwd would tell you that your path is /Users/foo/desktop rather than the correct /Users/foo/Desktop.

EDIT: Motivation: build systems need a way to check this early on, otherwise it's really hard to debug. An unsuspecting user uses a wrong capitalisation, starts a build, gets errors that are very puzzling.

EDIT2: Silently accepting incorrectly capitalised input for cd is the standard behaviour of bash on an HFS+ file system, and thus for the vast majority of OSX users. Then, pwd is a bash builtin, and it simply takes the content of the path stack of the shell (typos included).


TextEdit keeps changing file extensions when I save Is there a way to prevent TextEdit from changing the file extension on a file that I open it with, or at least prompt me?

Example:

Open somefilename.yyy
Save becomes somefilename.rtf

I have looked through TextEdit preferences without finding a setting.

Try with making the file to an Plain text file. It's under the Format tab (not in preferences).

Have you taken a look at this?

Apple support page


Shortcut for right click on underlined misspelled words As many I tend to misspell some words when I type. OS X is being nice and underlines them letting me know that something was not right, if use a mouse and right click on the underlined word a menu pops up and offers the correct spelling of this word.

Is there a way to trigger this menu from the keyboard?

You may want to try Cmd: (colon), that's not exactly the same menu but it may do what you're looking for.

Source :
Is there a way to spellcheck the word under the cursor with a keyboard shortcut?


How to mouse copy a very long line in vim terminal OS X I want to copy with mouse one line from one vim terminal to another vim terminal. This line is huge and has a hidden character (I presume at the beginning) that I do not want to copy.

In other words: I want to copy from the first character I consider good to the last character I consider good too. The problem is the copy with mouse does not go to the end of the line because this line is huge. It goes only to the end of the terminal.

The question is, how can I copy with mouse from character A to character B that is not visible on the terminal?

BTW these characters are a series of visible @. One per line on many lines. Using the arrow key there is only 2 lines with these @ in the middle. This shows between the first real line and the second real line.

You can use a little trick: save that long line to a temp file and copy that.

Select the desired portion of the line by moving the cursor to the first good position. By pressing v f [character], you select everything from that position to the next occurence of [character]. Pressing v $ would select to the end of that line. Use the power of Vim to select just the portion of the text you need.
Write the selection to a temp file by typing :w /tmp/long_line.
If the command already starts with :'<,'>, that's fine (it's a mark for your selection), just type ahead: :'<,'>w /tmp/long_line
Exit Vim and process the /tmp/long_line file as you like. A simple solution would be cat /tmp/long_line and selecting the output

Alternative: Buy a larger screen ;)


AppleScript file permission error when trying to save attachment of mail message As per various code snippets on the web I am trying to implement a simple AppleScript to save the attachments of Mail messages to a folder.

set thePath to ((path to home folder as text) & "Documents")

tell application "Mail"

    set selectedMessages to selection
    set theMessage to item 1 of selectedMessages

    set theAttachments to theMessage's mail attachments

    repeat with theAttachment in theAttachments
        set originalName to name of theAttachment
        set savePath to (thePath & ":" & originalName)
        display dialog ("Saving attachment to " & savePath)
        save theAttachment in savePath
    end repeat

end tell

Here is what the dialog box reports when I run the script with one message selected in Mail that has an image attached:

  Saving attachment to Macintosh
  HD:Users:billtubbs:Documents:20180415_103233.jpg

Here is the error message I get:

error "Mail got an error: To view or change permissions, select the item in the Finder and choose File > Get Info." number -10000

It is raised on the line

save theAttachment in savePath

I'm not sure about the permissions issue exactly, but I get no error when I use "file" in the line you are referencing.

save theAttachment in file savePath

Where savePath is an alias to a file. If the alias already exists (for example as a template that you copy to that location), then you should have no permissions problems by saving the attachment into it.


iPhone 4 restarts again and again, not detected by PC I have a network locked phone which my uncle sent my from foriegn. I previously updated it to iOS 7.0.4 and activated it using Hactivate tool because I did not have the network SIM. I used it for 6 months normally. Then I JailBroke my iPhone using evasi0n 7. It again worked normly for 2 months. But it curropted some of iOS applications including Mail, Safari, etc. I tried to restore it to iOS 7.0.4 but Apple didn't allow me. So I made a backup and restored to latest iOS 7.1.2 for iPhone 4. It was sucessful but again activation through SIM needed.

I used similar Hactivate tool again. But it stuck and sucked!!

Now I am holding a iPhone 4 which

Restarts, stucts on Apple logo and again restarts and so on until it has some battery.
PC does not detect it.
And it does not turn on or turn off on my will.
Holding Power and Home button does nothing.

Any solution??

Have you ever had a battery replacement? If so, it could be a malfunctioning battery. If not, it might be time to have the battery replaced.


Failing to restore my iPhone 4S from iCloud backup over wifi I have been trying to restore my iPhone 4S over iCloud since yesterday. Invariably, it will fail with the message that the iPhone is no longer connected to the internet.

The wifi over which my iPhone is connected is also being used by four other computers that have no problems maintaining their connection with the internet.

Currently, the estimated time remaining for the restore is 11 hours. It has come down from 52 hours. This over a broadband connection of 120Mb/sec down and 9 Mb/sec up.

The size of the  backup on iCloud from which I am trying to restore my iPhone is 8GB.

Please advise.

Edit - to clarify: the problem is that iCloud restore fails.
Also, I tried turning off my Airport Extreme router for about five minutes earlier today. No luck: restore from iCloud failed after an hour and a half with the message that the iPhone was not connected to the internet. I also tried to connect the ADSL modem directly to my MacBook Air, sharing its internet connection over wifi my my iPhone 4S with the exact same result.

Edit 2 - I can start the restore, but it finishes after an hour or so with the dialog box that the iPhone is not connected to the internet.

I had the same problem. Tried for days to get it to work. On my 17th try, the restore completed. On that try, I was keeping the display active by tapping it every 40 seconds for around 2 hours and I had also turned off all encryption on my router. Not sure what caused it to work this time.

The weird thing is, the restore finished when the status bar said there were "about 3 hours" left in the restore. Seems like it miscalculated the size of my backup or something like that.

Apple really needs to figure this out.


How do I get information specific to CPU core via command Suppose we have one CPU with 2 cores. I seek dynamic scheduling information such as Processes, IO time, IDLE Time, System Time as allocated time specific cores as opposed to aggregated or averaged to a multi core CPU.

Below I have prepared a command but it is giving above information on CPU level and not on core level.

sh-3.2# top -l 15 | grep -i "Processes" | tail -2

Processes: 387 total, 2 running, 385 sleeping, 1677 threads

Processes: 386 total, 2 running, 384 sleeping, 1672 threads

You can install the program htop from Homebrew, which will give you this information.

When you have Homebrew installed, run the following command to install:

brew install htop

Afterwards you can run the program like this:

htop

If you go into the Setup menu by typing S and select Display Options, you can enable detailed CPU information. The CPU usage bar then displays information about the CPU usage, system (i.e. kernel) time, io time, etc.


Support combinatorics? How can I get spotlight to recognise expressions like 8C5 or 7P4?

I want to do combinations and permutations with spotlight.

After proper transformations you can calculate at least simple combinations and permutations in Spotlight:

7P4=7!/(7-4)!=7!/3!. Entered in Spotlight as 7!/3! it will give you a proper result: 840.

C(8,5)=8!/5!(8-5)!=8!/5!3!. Entered in Spotlight as 8!/5!3! it will give you a proper result: 56.

For info on other advanced functions besides Factorial which Spotlight can handle, see this page

According to Google Search a WolframAlpha Spotlight plug-in for Flashlight (a Spotlight extender - link in the other answer) which should be capable of doing these kind of calculations once existed but I can't actually find it or it's gone.

With Google Chrome installed you can use a work-around and add the Wolfram | Alpha extension which supports expressions like in your question in the extra search bar:


MacBook Pro battery charging stops early I have a Mac Book Pro 15" over a year now. I'm having a problem with charging the battery.

During work it stops charging and goes to battery powered mode. If I switch to a different power source it lights up only for a second.

I tried solving the problem by getting a new charger but it didn't help. Did you happen to hear about a similar problem? Is there a solution?

The first thing I will look for is dirt in the MagSafe port, there might be something there, but the chances are small.

The second thing I will do is a reset on SMC and PRAM, and any of the hardware stuff. I am not sure if PRAM is related, but hey, we want to rule out any possibility.

You can find how to reset PRAM here, SMC here. (SMC is a more likely problem, do that first)

The third thing I would do is a clean install, but no need to tell you, backup first. Whether a data backup or a Time Machine backup, but data backup will be cleaner.

Here comes the last thing we could do, open it up. Nay, just kidding, send it to Apple, have them figure it out. If it's not out of warranty for long, you could get a free repair, it's about chances.


How do I log in to my Game Center with nickname? I created an account some time ago and I could sign in through a username. I have the correct password and username but it took me a few tries to remember. The account got locked and it tells me to go to the Apple ID website to recover the account. I have to type in my Apple ID but I cannot because the username isn't an Apple ID.

How do I resolve this issue?

Your nickname is not your Apple ID. Sign in with your Apple ID.


what shell would you recommend using on mac? I'm new to Mac (using Mavericks)

i thought to install zsh.

Do anyone has a recommendation for a useful shell for mac?

I use fish. It has a lot of functions which make using the terminal quicker and more efficient.

auto suggestions
scripting
command completion
color


Getting a source clip from iMovie Last year I imported a video into iMove, edited it, cut pieces, etc and I have the result as a mov, but I want to also keep the original video file. I can still see it inside iMovie, but how do I get ahold of that file as a single simple file system file?

The iMovie Library file is actually a folder…
Right click it & 'Show Package Contents'

Then the original file is inside [movie name] > Original Media

You can drag a copy out to any other location. Keep the original in place, or iMovie will lose it.


How to stop startup chime on boot up I am still on Catalina 10.15.7 and just did the latest security and Safari updates today. I would post the versions, but not sure where to look for them. Anyhow, now on boot up I get the Apple startup chime which I do not like. I've read that apple put in back with Big Sur - but I don't have that.  Can someone tell me how to disable the startup chime? Some people online are saying that there should be an option in Sound Preferences but I don't see that either. I'm guessing I can mute, but I only want to disable the startup sound not all sounds.

This is pretty easy. In fact there are articles out there that describe how to do this.
Briefly, open terminal app in /Applications/Utilities and paste in this command
sudo nvram StartupMute=%01
It will ask for your password and then just return to the terminal prompt. When you reboot the chime will be gone.
Note that if you reset NVRAM (some old farts like me still call it PRAM) the chime will return, you just have to do that command again.
to turn the chime on
sudo nvram StartupMute=%00
In case you change your mind...


In iMovie, can I suppress the visual portion of a video clip? I'm using iMovie 10.1.12 on Mojave.  I have a video clip that I want to play at the beginning of my slideshow.  However, I only want the audio portion of the video clip to play and would like the screen to be black while the audio is playing.  What is the easiest way to achieve this?

Right click on the video and select "Detach Audio". From there you can delete the video portion and only be left with the audio.


Rename EFI Boot Partition "EFI Boot" I am trying to rename my Windows / Boot Camp partition from "EFI Boot" to "Boot Camp" or "Windows". But I do not figure out where to rename.

I tried bless command on the NTFS Volume, I tried creating the folders "System/Library/CoreServices" and copied the .disklabel file into it (or also blessit) but nothing changed.

Finally I got the Volume Icon on Boot Selection to work by copying the icns File onto the EFI partition. Also tried blesson the EFI partition – but this also do not work.

So I have my Icon, but I also would like to rename it – how can I do this?

Systems are Windows 10 and macOS Mojave.

I believe you are looking to create an entry in the Startup Manager menu where the entry has a custom icon and custom label. The image below shows this for Ubuntu. (For a better view, either click on the image or open image in a new window.) In your question, you have indicated you found how to create the custom icon, so I will not elaborate on this. You will find creating the custom label is a bit more difficult.

First of all, the volume containing the .VolumeIcons.icns file should be Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatted. The name of this volume will appear as the label on the Startup Manager menu. In this example the volume name is Ubuntu. The content of this volume is shown below. Basically this volume needs to be setup to appear as a legacy OS X boot volume.

  Note: Normally the Ubuntu volume would not appear in the Finder. In other words. the /etc/fstab file was edited so the Ubuntu volume would not auto-mount. I used the diskutil command to manually mount the volume. Also, the Finder windows does not normally show the hidden files.

Some installations actually store the operating system boot files in volume. In this example, I instead chose to install rEFInd to silently boot Ubuntu. In other words, I added the following lines to the bottom of the default refind.conf file.

#
# Added to make rEFInd silent.
#
menuentry "Ubuntu" {
    icon \System\Library\CoreServices\icons\os_ubuntu.png
    volume "EFI"
    loader \EFI\ubuntu\grubx64.efi
    ostype Linux
    graphics on
}
timeout -1
hideui all
scanfor manual

The actually Ubuntu boot files are stored in the hidden EFI partition, as shown in the image below.

  Note: The hidden EFI partition does not normally appear in the Finder and the Finder does not normally show hidden files.

  Note: There is no /EFI/BOOT folder containing an Bootx64.efi file. This was done so a default icon labeled EFI Boot would not appear in the Startup Menu.

What I do not understand is why you want to know how to do this with respect to Windows? Normally, the Startup Manager automatically inserts a Windows label for a properly installed Windows. There should be no need to apply the above procedure.