Can I recover a deleted Whatsapp conversation in iPhone? I deleted a Whatsapp conversation around 10 days ago (dragged the conversation > more > delete chat) on my iPhone.

iCloud backup was turned off at the time. I guess I’ve definitely lost it. I wonder if it may have been saved to the Google servers?

Is there any way to recover it?

Any help much welcome.

I wonder if it may have been saved to the Google servers?

WhatsApp backup from an iPhone is never saved to Google's servers.

From your problem description, you have apparently lost the conversation forever.


How to Have CSS Content Preview in Finder? Running Lion 10.7.4

The .php and .txt extension have a preview of the content in Finder.

But not the .css.

Is there a sudo magic for enabling this?

This the icon generation is dependant on the associated app for that file type, so associating .css files to TextEdit might get them to be treated as plain text in the icons. It's worth a shot, I guess.


How to increase the font size of 3 finger tap lookup results? Is it possible it increase the font size when using lookup functionality after performing a three finger tap on a word?

You can change it by modifying the /Library/Dictionaries/YourDefaultDictionary/Contents/DefaultStyle.css file.

You must change the part related to the html.apple_client-panel.

Open the file with TextEdit or any other editor.
Look for html.apple_client-panel body.

There you'll find this:

html.apple_client-panel body {
font-family:'Baskerville';
font-size: 14px;

This is the definition's font size.

If you want to change the size of all the fonts, you'll have to play around with the rest of the html.apple_client-panel related stuff.

When modifying the file, you'll be prompted to duplicate the document, as it is protected. Change it, save it, change (if necessary) its file format to .css, and just replace it inside the dictionary's package. This will require admin privileges, of course.

Note: Make sure you're editing the DefaultStyle.css file inside your defaults Dictionary package. Remember, too, to reopen the Application were you're testing this, or the changes won't be noticeable.


Wireframe iOS design apps for iPad? Is there an app for iPad to assist in wireframe design for iPad and iPhone apps?

I don't mean actual development, just placing standard widgets and the things you usually do with photoshop and associated kits.

I've adored Briefs app since running across it a few years back. Nothing comes close to the power and design of this app. It for a long time was probably too powerful (sadly) to ever ship on the iTunes store - but the app has finally launched on the Mac and iOS App stores.

http://giveabrief.com

The trial Mac version is free as is the iOS app, Briefscase, which run the briefs. Heavy users of the app will want to buy the actual app on the Mac App Store.


Safari notifications I've disabled prompts for notifications in Safari but still get them. What do I do? I've got the latest macOS version with all the updates.
Update #1 some screenshots

So you've done everything correctly but the notifications are still coming through, there are a couple things to try...

But first please quit Safari, and then do a full reboot, and test again, as even when you close Safari the Safari notification service continues to run in the background.

If you are still having an issue:

Quit Safari.
Go to Finder.
Press CommandShiftG.
Type ~/Library/Preferences into the field.
Press Go.
Find com.apple.Safari.
Move it somewhere safe.
Reopen Safari and reconfigure the Allow websites to ask permission to send push notifications.
Try with one of the problem websites.

This will remove your Safari preferences and will need to be setup again but it may resolve the issue.


Password not working Today, out of the blue, my iPhone kept poping up a message that said my password was incorrect for my email account. I went to settings and reentered the password (I'm 100% sure this is the correct password). But the message kept popping up.

I tried to go my Apple password and have a link sent by email to change my password. But no email ever arrived. Any suggestions?

Try to rule out the causes... Go to your inlog page of your mail account on your pc and try with your password. If you can access the mailbox, then you know it's your iPhone. If you can't, it's you.

If you can access your mailbox on the web, then make sure you've configured your mail-account correctly. You can always try Google to search for a setup for your e-mail client. For example "How to configure hotmail with iPhone", or so.

And as a last resort, you can delete your mailbox and re-add it. Your iPhone will automatically rebuild your inbox, so nothing will be lost.

If you're using a POP-account (like hotmail), I could recommend an IMAP-account (like GMail).


Tap to tweet/tap to post is at the bottom of the notification center On iOS 6 on my iPhone the tap to tweet/tap to post buttons are located on the bottom of the notification center causing me to either have to scroll down or clear some messages before I can see them.

On my iPad it is on the top, which makes me think that is where it should also be on my iPhone. Is this normal expected behavior or has something gone wrong with my phone?

Any possible fixes would be appreciated.

In the Notifications section of the Settings app, you can tap the Edit button in the upper right to make handles appear (three thick horizontal lines) on each of the items  in Notification Center.

You can drag the items up or down by these handles to re-order them, so just drag the Share Widget item to the top, if that's where you want it, then tap done.


Filevault - Wordpress website issue I decided to try to turn on Filevault; the problem is I can NOT log into my Wordpress websites back end.

It keeps saying that my passwords are wrong.

I go to another Mac that has Filevault turned OFF and try and I get in with no problems.  Is Filevault messing up with the data?

It's saying it will take 2 days to encrypt.  I'm ready to just erase the damn hard drive and start all over again.

I run many a wordpress site and have turned filevault on and off without issue. I can't think of how the two would get in eachother's way, but perhaps try changing the keys in wp-config.php to force expiry of any stale sessions/cookies? This page generates new ones for you.


Is it possible to download a virus via iPad safari browser? I understand that PDF reader in iPad can be a security loophole for virus to get through; but beyond that, how easy ( or hard, or even possible ) is for a virus to sneak through iPad safari browser? Any well publicized exploit concerning it?

Presently there aren't any known Viruses for iOS. The security exploit that you mentioned, the PDF exploit and the TIFF image exploit before it, were patched shortly after the exploit was made public.

Is it impossible for a virus to sneak through? Absolutely not, though if you're running the most recent iOS release the chances you'll get a virus or have your iOS device be exploited are extremely unlikely. There's a large community of people who actively seek exploits for non-malicious reasons (Jailbreaking), and Apple is always quick to patch the security hole.

As a rule of thumb, for iOS and other operating systems, keep your device up to date via the built in update mechanisms and you're exposure to security vulnerabilities will be quite low. In fact, the most recent iOS update 5.1.1 included a URL-spoofing security update. Though this isn't a virus, it's an example of the cat-and-mouse game that Apple and the security community continually play.


How can I ensure that friends with iPhones send me SMS/text instead of iMessages? I have an android phone and normally use the Google Messages app for sending and receiving SMS.
Yesterday, I used the macOS Messages.app app for the first time to send a friend a link.  I guess they have an iPhone, because now when they text me it comes to Messages.app instead of to my phone.  I'm assuming this will be the same for all other iOS users.
How do I prevent all Messages.app and iOS Messages users from sending me NON-SMS messages?  Thinks I have tried:

Closing Messages.app.  I still get macOS notifications of messages.
In Messages > Preferences… > Accounts > [my email address], untick "Enable this account".  Then my friends messages disappear and I never see them at all, at least until I reenable in Messages.app.
Looking in System Preferences and on icloud.com and appleid.apple.com to see if there is some setting I can disable—but I've not found anything relevant.
Using Apple's Deregister iMessage tool to unregister my mobile number.  When I attempted this it gave me the message "Your phone number is not registered with iMessage."

This question was closed as a duplicate of Removing phone number from iMessage, but as noted my phone number is not registered with iMessage, so that question is not relevant.
Am I doomed to never receive SMS from iPhone users ever again?

You may not have to do anything except deregister your cellular number from messages.

https://selfsolve.apple.com/deregister-imessage/

At that point, if people send you messages to your Apple ID they won’t deliver if you sign out of the app on any remaining Apple OS devices.


Configuring @me.com account on Adium I am trying to set up my iCloud (@me.com) account in Adium. But it never logs in, and it says that my password is wrong. However when I set it up in iChat it works fine.

I have googled for this sort of problem a bit, but found no answer.

Why is it happening?

Officially you cannot use third party clients for connecting to AIM with iCloud account. It seems that the protocol is the same, but authentication is different.

  AOL/Apple changed the authentication method for new iCloud accounts. This will have to be fixed in libpurple before it'll work again in Adium.

This quote is from this board.

Try using a nightly build of Adium, if it's fixed — it's there.


How do I get Mac Calendar app to use outlook instead of Mail app for its email alerts I have been trying to get away from Google lately so I am trying to use the Mac Calendar app for my calendar. I want email notifications for my events but Calendar always launches the Mail app even though outlook is my default mail app.

Sorry, that is not possible since Mac calender only works with mac Mail to send the alerts.

However, in Mac mail, you would be using your chosen email provider (same as in Outlook) so the emails would be send using that provider.

The receiver would not know where the email came from.


List & documentation for Open Directory properties Anyone know where I can find documentation on the various properties available for directory services on the Mac?

man dscl only tells me that I can -create or -read a record. It doesn't tell me how to create them; what properties are available and the options can be set on each. I know a few (RealName, UniqueID, PrimaryGroupID, UserShell) but where can I find documentation on all of them?

There is a document from Apple called
"Mac OS X Server
Open Directory Administration
For Version 10.4 or Later".

Read Appendix "Mac OS X Directory Data", it contains all what you ask about:

"Standard Attributes in Group Records" at page 222
"Standard Attributes in User Records" at page 217

Here is excerpt from the last one:

…

You can get this document here.

There are a lot of newer documents on Apple site (haven't seen them yet). They may be useful to.


How do I change geolocation of photos in the Photo app? The thing is, there is a bunch of photos I've taken that are referred at the wrong location.

For example: there is a picture of my dad that was taken at my home in Barueri, Brazil and the Photo app says that it was taken at Ar Riyad, Saudi Arabia

Lots of other photos are located in places like Africa and Western Asia, places that I've never been before.

Is there a way to correct it?

I do not know a way to edit the location of photos on the iPhone but with El Capitan you can now edit them in the Desktop Photo App:

select the one or more photos
press cmdI or use Window -> Info
check/enter and/or edit the location information under Location


Blur screen live on macOS Any suggestions for an app that can blur a specific part of the screen while working on in macOS? Or a browser extension that blurs the specific part of the screen (again) while surfing the Internet?

Not exactly blurring but you can use the following app to create a floating "snap" that can be used to conceal part of screen.

Snappy - Snapshots, the smart way is a free app that you can download from the Mac App Store.

Snappy lets take create snapshot of a part of screen or entire window which remains floating on top of all other windows. You can use it to create a blank snapshot, (such as one of blank portion of screen or part of wallpaper). This snap can be moved around or freely resized. It is possible to adjust the alpha value for the snap using the context menu. It doesn't actually create a blurred view but you may find that useful.

Also, it takes a simple mouse click to get rid of the snap. Snappy app runs in Menu bar, and keeps track of all the previously captured snaps (which can be re-invoked using a simple click).

A sample is as shown below:

Here I have created a snap of the white portion of the browser viewport and resized it to conceal the part showing the question.

Note: No affiliation whatsoever to the developer.I find this app super useful in my workflow, where I need to keep around snap of some part of the screen.


How do I record changes to a cell in Numbers via AppleScript? I'm very new to AppleScript so bear with me. What I am trying to achieve is for every time I run the script, the current value of a cell is copied into a cell, one column to the right of when I last ran the script, so the first time it puts the value of A1 into B1, then A1 into C1, then A1 into D1 ect. How would I do this?

This is written as more of a proof of concept to show some logic in accomplishing the task. There may be a better way to code it, but I do not really do much AppleScript with Numbers, maybe someone else (CJK) can present some different code.
The following example AppleScript code was tested under macOS High Sierra and Numbers, version 5.1 (5683), with a default document using the basic blank template and as coded works per what was mentioned in the OP. The example AppleScript code assumes that Numbers is already running with the default document opened.
As coded, with set n to 1, if the value of, e.g., A1 is not missing value, then the value of the next cell in that  row whose value is missing value, then gets the value of the first cell of that row. In this case the value of, e.g., A1.
Setting set n to 2, and so on, acts on that row and the value of that rows first cell, if not missing value, then get set to the value of the next cell of that row whose value is missing value.
Note: The setting or changing the value of a cell is not set until focus is removed from that cell. This normally occurs when pressing a key, e.g., tab, enter, arrow or when clicking elsewhere in the document with the mouse. I'm mentioning this so when you go to test the code and you typed something in e.g. A1, its value is still missing value until focus is moved elsewhere.
tell application "Numbers"
    set n to 1
    tell row n of table 1 of sheet 1 of document 1
        if the value of its first cell is not missing value then
            set v to value of its first cell
            set c to its cell count
            set i to 2
            set flag to true
            repeat while flag is true and i is less than c + 1
                if the value of cell n of column i is missing value then
                    set its value of cell n of column i to v
                    set flag to false
                else
                    set i to i + 1
                end if
            end repeat
        end if
    end tell
end tell

Note: The example AppleScript code is just that and does not contain any additional error handling as may be appropriate. The onus is upon the user to add any error handling as may be appropriate, needed or wanted. Have a look at the try statement and error statement in the AppleScript Language Guide. See also, Working with Errors. Additionally, the use of the delay command may be necessary between events where appropriate, e.g. delay 0.5, with the value of the delay set appropriately.


Macbook Pro 2015 - Install Windows 7 then upgrade to Windows 10 (Boot Camp) I have a 2015 Macbook Pro and an OEM license of windows 7.

I plan to install Windows 7 with these instructions provided by Kevin in this thread:
Install Windows 7 On MacBook (x) 2015

This will hopefully let me boot camp into Windows 7 with some limited functionality.

My question is, since Microsoft is giving free upgrades to Windows 10, can I upgrade my windows 7 license to windows 10 through boot camp utility? Since my Windows 7 installation didn't use boot camp utility, will there be compatibility issues from upgrading from windows 7 to windows 10?

Also, has anyone with a virtual machine been able to claim their free upgrade to windows 10? Not clear to me if you are ineligible for upgrade if you have an OEM windows.

Bit late to the party! However, this is essential for anyone else in the same boat -

If you install Windows 10 directly and update to version 1511, it'll accept Win7/8/8.1 product keys when you activate.


Battery charge suddenly drops to 0% even when plugged into mains (Mid 2009 15″ MacBook Pro) My mid-2009 15″ MacBook Pro (A1286) has developed a nasty habit in the last couple of days. It suddenly discharges its entire battery without warning, and won't start until it's had about 10 minutes charging afterwards. This happens even when plugged into the mains and on 100% charge. So far it's only happened after a long day's use (plugged in all day), but it's happened three times now. The cycle count is 768, according to Apple support the maximum cycle count on my model is 1000, so it shouldn't be end days yet. It's also displaying the condition as "normal".

I've ordered another battery which should be arriving tomorrow, but I'd really appreciate knowing why this is happening, and how I can avoid it happening again. I've lost some important work due to these shutdowns, and I'm worried about where the charge is going - if the battery fried the logic board I'd be up the creek.

Any ideas?

Your problem is (or was) your Power Adapter.

45W that's enough for a MacBook Air but definitely not for a 15" MacBook Pro.

Apple shipped a 60W or 85W power adapter with these MacBook Pro (depending on the processor)


How can I type the "@" symbol via remote desktop with a Swedish keyboard? I am running Remote Desktop to connect from my iMac with Snow Leopard to a Windows box at work that runs Windows 7 Professional. The connection is done over ssh.

When logged in to the window box I can use Alt + Tab to switch between programs, I can also see that when using emacs pressing Alt registers as Meta (which is what I have set it up as). However if I want to type a @ which on my Swedish keyboard is Alt + 2 nothing happens. The same is true for { and [ and so on.

Does  ⌘ + alt + 2 work? This is a combination for @ in bootcamp.

For the other keys:

⌘ + alt + 7  to get {
⌘ + alt + 0  to get }
⌘ + alt + 8  to get [
⌘ + alt + 9  to get ]


iPhone 4 would not turn on unless it is plugged in So my phone would only turn on when it's plugged in and I just bought it yesterday so I'm kind of frustrated because I don't know what do about it.

Your battery is mostly likely dead and needs replacing. You have three options:

Take to an AppleStore (expensive - and probably not cost effective as you have bought the phone second hand);
Purchase a replacement battery and replace it yourself
(Luckily, replacing the battery on the iPhone 4 requires minimal
disassembly), or;
Send it to a battery replacement service (easily found online, or
offered through eBay, and not too pricey)

This has happened to me many times (5 or 6 times) and I always go for option three, because I am lazy.


iMessage inconsistently failing to work after Sim card swap I recently swapped my Sim card in my iPhone 4, to move to another carrier.  I ported my number across so there is no change other than the actual Sim card.

Since then, iMessage seems to be entirely inconsistent in whether it will actually work or not.  Messages will wait for ages before failing with a "Not Delivered" message, to recipients that I previously used iMessage with.  Failed messages will not even send as an SMS instead, even though this setting is turned on and would be used in the past.

I have turned iMessage on and off several times.  I have checked it is receiving at the correct addresses (my phone number, which is correct, and my Apple ID email address also).  Sometimes this works, sometimes it fails to activate, and just says it's waiting, sometimes it does nothing except return me to the screen without making any changes, or I get "An error occurred during activation, try again".  Often it will ask me to re-sign into my Apple ID, which will usually fail.

Rebooting the phone normally or with a force reset makes no change, although sometimes rebooting it with iMessage disabled, will start it up with it enabled and working...  Eventually after messing around in the settings app it will show as enabled and receiving at the proper addresses, and then it may work for a while longer, but at some random interval which could be hours or minutes it will start to fail to send them again.  Right now everything is showing as "ON" apart from the subject line setting, and it is set to receive at the proper addresses, but failing to send anything.

I am running the latest OS update, non jailbroken.

Any clues as to why this happens, and how I can prevent it?

EDIT:

I am now in a curious half way house, where I get the bubble to show someone is replying to my messages etc, but my own messages are still sent as text messages.  I send a message, it goes as a text, I see the reply being types and it's delivered, presumable all this happens over the iMessage system, and my next reply is still a text.  Genius :)

EDIT 2:

So, I can now see the "speech bubble" that implies someone is typing a reply.  The reply, however, never arrives.  I have turned iMessage off now.  I get free texts anyway, I just liked the read receipts :(

Have you tried resetting the network settings with iMessage turned off?

To reset your network settings, tap

Settings > General
Then scroll down and tap Reset > Reset Network Settings

When the device restarts, turn on your iMessage again and let it activate.


Will the hard link file consume the same size of origin file? already known that the hard link is just another name for linked file.
But what upset me is that when select both the original file and the hard link file the size finder shows is doubled.
So is it just a illusion or a real case?

Basically the Finder is unaware of any hard links (at least when summing up file sizes), so each file/link just counts on its own. If you happen to have several hard links pointing to the same physical file in your selection, the calculated size will be bigger than the space used on disk.

Let's say you have a folder containing two hard links to the same file data:

If you run "Get Info" on the folder in Finder, you'll get the sum of both file sizes, even though they only use space on disk once:

So yes, Finder doubles the size (or multiplies it in cases with more than two hard links).

While it might seem easy to detect such situations within one folder, it's not so easy in cases where you sum up the size on a top folder of a deep folder hierarchy. Of course it would be possible to keep track of all physical files counted (which all have a unique id), but in practice the use of hard links is rare so it's probably just not worth the hassle. The only places I've found hard links on my Mac are

hard linked image files from migrating from iPhoto to Photos
Xcode documentation files
Terminfo and timezone definitions
Safari caches


How can I make my Mac accept a user password of less then 4 characters? I don't want secure password for my desktop. Instead I use just two letters for quick typing. I can change password in terminal by running:

passwd

But terminal gives me:   Failed global policy "com.apple.defaultpasswordpolicy"  Password change failed because password does not meet minimum quality requirements

I believe if the password has less than 4 characters this is blocked.
The same limitation is when trying to set it by preference panel obviously.

Until now in last versions of system, only solution I found was installing of Server application from Apple and basically modifying you osx by it to be   a server, so you can access one setting for password characters policy and be able to set whatever password you like.
So is there other option ?

I found this not so easy solution on web, that works quickly instead of necessity to do it by Server application from apple.

In Terminal:

pwpolicy getaccountpolicies > temp.xml
nano temp.xml

Now remove text prior to first <xml tag and replace

<string>policyAttributePassword matches '^$|.{4,}+'</string>

to

<string>policyAttributePassword matches '^$|.{1,}+'</string>

then save file (Ctrl-O), exit (Ctrl-X) and run

sudo pwpolicy setaccountpolicies temp.xml

to install the updated policy.


Wifi gets disconnected when connecting to VPN via Cisco AnyConnect Client I have a Macbook Pro 2017 model. Whenever I try to connect to VPN via Cisco AnyConnect Client, my wifi gets disconnected. I have to again restart my router and try with the Cisco client again. In 2-3 attempts I do get connected to the VPN. But till I get connected, I have to retry the steps and manually restart my router. How I can resolve this issue?

I had several clients that this problem.  Cisco AnyConnect can fail to connect if your router is misconfigured. The only way this was cured was by contacting the Internet Service Provider and having them reconfigure the router from their end to enable VPN connections to succeed.


Half of keyboard backlight dim after soda mishap I somehow managed yesterday to spill some soda over part of my 2010 MacBook Pro's keyboard - it stayed mostly in the keyboard area, touching the F8-F12 and 8 through equals keys. I shut down the Mac, cleaned it up, made reasonably sure nothing had drained into the keyboard itself, then rebooted. The computer itself seems to be working fine.

The issue is that the right half of the keyboard, including the couple rows below the spill, is now significantly diminished in terms of backlight. I've tried grabbing Lab Tick, and the brightness does seem to adjust when I alter the setting, just not up to the same amount that it had pre-spill. Before I go resetting my SMC, I'd like to know - are there other alternatives for cleaning the keyboard or restoring the brightness? The keys aren't sticky at all, just dimmed, and the laptop is still covered under AppleCare.

Unfortunately, there's not a lot that you can do. Liquid damage is tough to repair without replacing components. The only way to get to the underside of the top case is to remove every component in the machine, which I'm guessing you're not set up or trained to do. Even if you could get to it, it's unlikely that you'd be able to restore the backlight. The best thing to do is to take your machine to the Apple Store and tell them exactly what happened. Since liquid damage is not covered by AppleCare, you will have to pay for this. Sometimes they are able to help you out with the repair cost, but not always. The worst case scenario would be sending the machine to an Apple repair center for a complete repair of all components affected. This costs a flat rate of around $1250.

I know this isn't the news you were hoping for, but I hope it helps!


What prevents the iMessage slider from working on a new iPhone 5? I'm struggling to enable iMessage on my new iPhone 5.

iMessage works on my iPod, but I go on settings to turn on I message and the button that slides to enable/disable it always slides back to off. (as if by force on it own and I even tried tapping it just incase it was my fault.)

I got my iPhone three days ago and it's been bugging me to get this working.

You will need to work through the various causes at will contribute to the failure of your device to register for iMessage service.

My guess is there is something wrong since normally, you get signed in and find a password error when entering your Apple ID elsewhere on the phone. Also, a problem with SMS activation happens after you manage to get the phone to accept the slider in the ON position.

Start here http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4268 in troubleshooting and know you can also call Apple (or visit a convenient store) for more personal help. New devices, no matter where you purchased it, get free support for setting it up in the first 90 days.


iMac mid 2011 grey screen On a site I have come along a pretty cheap 27" mid 2011 iMac. The seller says it's broken and when he press the power button it shows a white/grey screen and the "startup sound" plays.

Is there any chance that this may be a motherboard/logic board, CPU, memory or GPU related issue?

Or will I most likely be able to fix it with a fresh install on a new drive?

You know the old saying:  "If you have to ask...."

It could be any/all of those things.  If it was a grey screen with a flashing question mark, your chances would be very good that it was just something a hard drive and a OS reinstall would fix.

But seeing that you (or the seller) didn't mention this, it could be something more.  Then again, it could be nothing.  That's the problem with buying these things sight unseen - you are rolling the dice.

If you can get the seller to run Apple Diagnostics (hold down D  while powering on) and select "Extended Tests"  It will run through a battery of tests and then provide you with a diagnostic report.

The downside to this is that you've just shown all the cards to the seller which might now change the price.

Now, while I can't give you a definitive technical answer, I can share with you some of my personal experience:

My daughter has a 13" 2014 MacBook Air which she spilled milk on (trust me, I cried).  The logic board from Apple was costing $750+.  On eBay, used logic boards were going for $500+.  I thought I would try and get a "broken" MBA and see if I could salvage the parts.

Every single one that I purchased (a total of 5 from 5 different sellers) all had more wrong with them than was stated, but all insisted that "they didn't know what was wrong with it."  Several had more damage than they let on, and most importantly all had liquid damage but none listed this fact.  Liquid damage is very identifiable, especially when they remove the moisture indicator strips.  Thank goodness for eBay's and Paypal's buyer protection.

Would I buy non-functioning Macs in the hopes of servicing them?  Sure.  But I would get my hands on them first.


How do I disable this red warning appearing in every new conversation in iMessage? Every time I get a text-message from a new number, I get this big, red message:

  WARNING: Apple will never ask you to open Terminal or execute a command on your Mac, click a link, visit a website, send or change your credentials, send or reply to an e-mail or text message, call someone, receive a call, or download and run an application on your phone or your Mac. If such a message claims to be from Apple and asks you to write back or take any similar action, it is a phishing message designed to compromise your account. Do not reply and immediately tap below to report it. If you are unsure, stop and contact the IS&T HelpLine before doing anything else.

Notably, there's no where to ‘tap below’ under the message; and I have no idea what the “IS&T HelpLine” is.

How do I disable this? I'd almost think it were some sort of reverse-psychology phishing worm, because I'm very sure this isn't default iMessage behaviour … except that I can't think of a way that this behaviour benefits a hostile actor? -_-

Turns out that this is Apple internal messaging, intended for employees.

It appears that, if the machine has a directory named AppleInternal in the root directory, certain Apple-employee-specific features of the OS — including the above one — are silently enabled, without explanation.

I've no idea how this happened to my machine, but I rm -rf'd /AppleInternal, rebooted Messages.app, and the message has stopped appearing.


unable to unlock login keychain? Everytime I start my MacBook Pro (which is set to automatically boot into my account) I get the error message "unable to unlock login keychain" with 3 options - continue (which will give me errors as I use my computer whenever I need the login keychain) create new keychain (I know this creates a new keychain, but does it copy all my keys?  Or are they lost now?)  or Update keychain password.

I've used the password which I think should work, but it doesn't.  Now my machine auto logs in, and I get the error, and at the moment I'm clicking continue.

I've tried using keychain repair, which finds no errors.

Please: How should I trouble shoot my keychain errors?  How do I fix my keychain errors?  Is there any way to keep all my old passwords, or have I lost those?

If you cannot unlock the keychain then its contents are lost, they're encrypted using the keychain password.

Your login keychain and password are linked, if the login password is changed via system preferences the keychain password is changed to the new password also. However, it is possible that the login password can be changed by other means whilst not changing the keychain password.

When the system logs in it will try to unlock your keychain with the same login password - if they don't match, you'll see the error message you're seeing.

If you manage to remember the keychain password and unlock the keychain you should change your login password to match. But, as I said initially, you're out of luck if you can't remember the password.


Recomendations for simultaneous use interactive drawing application for iPADs I need to tutor my nephew in algebra.  He's 3000 miles away.  We both have iPads.  Skype or the phone can handle the voice channel.

I would like an application with the following:

Each of us can draw on our ipad at the same time, Whatever we draw appears on the other screen.
Option for different colors.  E.g. He draws in black, I draw in red.
Ability for either person to erase/modify their work, with a toggle to switch between 'erase mine' vs 'erase evertything under the eraser'
Ability to hit a one button save/mail screen.
Ability to scroll/magnify screen.  Each iPad has a several viewport on the canvas.
Ability to snap and crop a picture and paste into screen.
Inexpensive.

In essence, I want to set him a problem, or allow him to snap a picture of a problem.  Then while he works it, I can 'red-line' places where he has made an error, taken an invalid shortcut, etc.  He can correct his error, leaving my redline, I can then check and remove my redline.

Nice to have:

Multiple sessions so I can work with several students at once.
Handwriting recognition that turns scrawled math into typeset equations.

So far the programs I've found have one or more of the following limitations:

A:  Only one person can draw at a time.
B:  Only one color can be in use at a time.
C:  You can't erase.
D:  Your canvas is limited to one screen
E:  Interaction is limited to WiFi.
F:  Interaction is one way:  It's essentially a presentation tool.

I think FlockDraw would be the best app for you. Although it is a web app, you could use it on an iPad by downloading a free Flash browser such as Puffin Web Browser.
List of Features:

draw online
unlimited people in a room
updates in real time
different colors
different shapes
eraser
ability to draw lines
one click saving
full screen mode
gallery to save and upload images
ability to type and draw
chat

In response to your limitations and requirements:
A: Only one person can draw at a time. - Two or more people can draw
B: Only one color can be in use at a time. - The large variety of colors allow for more than people to draw with different colors
C: You can't erase. - Eraser is provided.
D: Your canvas is limited to one screen - Well, each person can see the same screen so yes they are limited to it. If they wanted to, they could erase their canvas and start with a new one (Not sure what this is asking)
E: Interaction is limited to WiFi. - When you create a session, you are given an unique URL. You can share that URL and allow more than one person to join you session (This does not have to be through Wi-Fi)
F: Interaction is one way: It's essentially a presentation tool. Two people can draw at the same time.
1. Each of us can draw on our iPad at the same time, Whatever we draw appears on the other screen. Yes, drawing simultaneously is a feature.
2. Option for different colors. E.g. He draws in black, I draw in red. There are lots of colors to choose from
3. Ability for either person to erase/modify their work, with a toggle to switch between 'erase mine' vs 'erase evertything under the eraser' Sorry, don't think this is on here. There is only one eraser that has the ability to erase everything.
4. Ability to hit a one button save/mail screen. Yes, you can save the canvas.
5. Ability to scroll/magnify screen. Each iPad has a several viewport on the canvas. You may be able to; I haven't tried it on an iPad
6. Ability to snap and crop a picture and paste into screen. As you are on an iPad, this feature is included, but it may be harder to do on the iPad. But yes, there is a gallery.
7. Inexpensive. - It is completely free online
Note: There is an iPad/iPhone app, but I'm not sure that it is better than the web app. It also costs $2.99.


My Mac is making an odd noise every couple of minutes Total Mac OS noob here, after spending a lifetime on Windows I have my first Mac.

Every couple minutes I hear an odd sound (playing through the speakers), it sounds like two beeps in quick succession, with a puddle-like noise in the background.

It doesn't seem to be anything listed under Sound Effects in the control panel.

What does this sound mean, and do I have to do anything?

This sounds like the sound Skype makes for a Contact Available notification.


Graphics Card on Windows 7 on MBP I was just wondering was it possible to use the "AMD Radeon HD 6490M " card  of MBP on Windows 7  by installing Win7 either on

a) Boot Camp
b) Parallels
c) VmWare

as I like to play games on Win7 for which I need t graphics card.

Thanks

I have VMware and it does support native use of the video card. Boot Camp, of course, supports all of your Mac's hardware as well once you install the Apple driver set. I do not regularly play games anymore, so I cannot speak to how well something like Call of Duty would perform. What I can talk about is how well Windows performs in general when using VMware versus using Boot Camp.

When I had the stock amount of memory on my MBP (4 GB), Windows seemed to be "dragging" under VMware. Under Boot Camp it ran great. The main app that I use on Windows is Visual Studio, which is pretty resource intensive--although perhaps not as much as a game.

Once I added the maximum amount of memory that my MBP can take (8 GB), VMware's performance became respectable. I can now use Visual Studio side by side with the rest of Mac OS X and it doesn't feel "dragging" anymore. Of course, when I switch to Boot Camp I can tell the difference right away--with 8 GB of RAM this MBP became the best Windows PC I have ever had.

In summary, if you have a sufficient amount of RAM, I would give it a shot under VMware for gaming. But Boot Camp will always be your best bet. Hope this helps.


How to reduce the size of swap files (Mac OS 10.6) \ I recently deleted (Oops!) my swap files and thanks to some great help on this forum, I was able to re-start my Mac and there is now a new swap folder.

I had used Grand Perspectives in an attempt to clear up some RAM, and that's how I even found the large swapfiles.

As I have a MacBook Air with only 2 GB of space, I imagine this problem might happen again. I noticed my computer 'whirring' a lot before I cleared the files (internal fan of some sort?). I took it to mean the computer was working harder than usual to run my the programs I had open: Excel, Word, Preview, Mozilla, and Safari; is this typically a sign that I have too many programs open and risk filling my swap files?

I'm wondering what to do if my swap files again get so big? Will re-starting the Mac clear the swap files?

Thanks & Cheers,
Cynthia

I’m writing this answer assuming you are bad with the technicalities. Please tell me, if you are not :)

The only way to reduce the size of your swap is to use apps that use less resources of the computer to run. When thinking of resource-heavy apps, Excel, Firefox and Safari immediately come to mind, especially if you open a lot of tabs.

Keeping your (underpowered, if you will) computer running nicely will require some effort on your side. Quit apps that are not in use. Close tabs that are not in use. Restart apps if they stop responding.

Also, if you can update your computer to Mountain Lion, please do so, as Safari on Snow Leopard is really heavy.

And yes, restarting the Mac clears your swap files.


Find Windows incompatible file / folder names Is it possible to detect files / folders that are incompatible with Windows in Mac?

We are uploading all our files to Dropbox (from Mac) and we have found that folders with names like "< 2014" are not uploading.

I have found an app called Filerr but it's not downloadable anymore.
http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/35160/filerr

The rules of what is a valid windows filename is extremely complex, see here. It depends on the file system and for instance also on where the Dropbox folder is mounted in Windows (since the complete path name in windows is not allowed to exceed a certain number of characters). And since OSX doesn't know where you will mount Dropbox under windows, it can't guarantee that a particular file will work.

Now, there is an easier question on whether we can find all files containing a character that is illegal in windows filenames, namely <>:"/\|?* (according to the same document). This is quite easy using the commandline:

find . -name '*[<>:"/\\|?*]*'

Run this in the Dropbox directory (or replace the . with the Dropbox directory), and it should give you a list. The rationale is that in a filename [] is being used to mean: one of these characters. So I'm asking to list any file under this directory that contains one of these characters. Within the brackets, I only need to escape the backslash.

(now note that this command will also theoretically catch many filenames that are not valid on OSX, so can never be there in the first place, but that doesn't matter).


New York not found in French weather app I have one iphone in English, one in French.
In the weather app, in English, I can find "New York, NY" no issues.
In the French version, New York simply does not appear in the search results!
Known issue??

Searching for "JFK" gives me "WNYC". It is the same weather in both cities.


Why is the Finder app always open? First time Mac user. I am confused by the fact that the finder application is always open. For example, when switching apps with Cmd+Tab, it is always there, even when there are no windows opened for the app. Cmd-tabbing to Finder with no windows/tabs opened for it has no effect (it seems to me it would more intuitive to open a new tab when this action is chosen).

Furthermore, there is no 'Close app' option when I right click the Finder icon in the dock. Am I misunderstanding something about the Finder app? Is it required for proper functioning of Mac OS? From what I see, Finder is just a file browser, which by no means should be forced to be open 100% of the time.

The main reason it's always open is that it displays the icons on the desktop. You can check what the finder does by enabling the "Quit" menu feature. To do this, launch the Terminal application and enter the following commands:

defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool YES

Hit return. Then restart the Finder by running

killall Finder

Close the Terminal. Click on the Desktop, choose "Finder" in the top bar, and "Quit Finder". Now you're running without Finder. First thing you'll notice is that all Desktop icons will be gone.

To get your desktop icons back, just click on Finder in the Dock.

If you want to remove the "Quit Finder" menu item, you can do that with:

defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool NO


How can I change subtitle color, background or font used by iTunes? In iTunes subtitles background is black and font Courier New (and rather big). How can I change this preferences?

A quick googling of iTunes skin's yields quite a few results on changing the look and feel of iTunes. I don't know personally how to change individual aspects of iTunes though.


In Sierra: How to get Qt 5.8.0 / PyQt 5.7.1 / sip 4.19 / Python3.5 to install & work correctly? I am experiencing trouble trying to get the combination of Qt 5.8.0 / PyQt 5.7.1 / sip 4.19 / Python3.5 to install & work correctly on my macOS 10.12.2 (Sierra).

Steps to reproduce the problem:

(I am being very specific for if anyone else will ever venture here trying to accomplish the same thing)

Install Python3.5 via homebrew (brew install python3.5).
Installing PyQt5 via homebrew however did not work as my python code complained that it could not find the pyqt module. I fixed it by applying some symlinks. Yet, the code remained buggy throwing up errors like QtGui.QApplication was missing etc. I also found multiple complains of macOS users that had run into similar problems but I could not find any real solution. So, I removed all my symlinks and ran brew uninstall pyqt5.
Then I found this gist on GitHub, and started following that so I:
Downloaded qt-opensource-mac-x64-clang-5.8.0.dmg from qt-project.org
Downloaded SIP and PyQt5-gpl sources as mentioned in the gist.
I then unpacked the SIP & PyQt5 tar files. Then I executed the command:

python3.5 ~/Downloads/sip-4.19/configure.py -d /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5/lib/python3.5/site-packages --arch x86_64

So far, so good. Also make, sudo make install & sudo make clean, as mentioned in the gist, executed without a problem.
Now, I arrived at step nr. 13 from the gist, which told me to make a small change to the !host_build command listed in the ~/Qt5.8.0/5.8/clang_64/mkspecs/qdevice.pri file. The file  however did not mention any !host_build comment at all, so I added one myself.
Then, at step 15 from the gist I executed:

python3.5 configure.py --destdir /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.5/lib/python3.5/site-packages --qmake ~/Qt5.8.0/5.8/clang_64/bin/qmake

This gave a SDK path error, which I fixed by running sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer as per instruction on this post on Stack from people that ran into a similar problem.
Now, the code mentioned above in step 10 did execute, but it threw up an error:

  Error: This version of PyQt5 and the commercial version of Qt have incompatible licenses

So, I searched and arrived at a post on the QT forum. It helped me solve the error by making some small adjustments to PyQt5's configure.py file (commenting out the license check).
Then, I was finally able to successfully run the command I mentioned at step 10 (step 15 from the gist).
However, when I tried to run make again, everything seems to be going perfect until it now throws out this error that, so far, I have not been able to fix:

~/Downloads/PyQt5_gpl-5.7.1/QtCore/sipQtCoreQt.cpp:1093:62: error: no member named 'WindowCancelButtonHint' in namespace 'Qt'; did you mean
      'WindowCloseButtonHint'?
    {sipName_WindowCancelButtonHint, static_cast<int>( ::Qt::WindowCancelButtonHint), 419},
                                                       ~~~~~~^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    WindowCloseButtonHint
../../../Qt5.8.0/5.8/clang_64/lib/QtCore.framework/Headers/qnamespace.h:300:9: note: 'WindowCloseButtonHint' declared here
        WindowCloseButtonHint = 0x08000000,
        ^
~/Downloads/PyQt5_gpl-5.7.1/QtCore/sipQtCoreQt.cpp:1106:58: error: no member named 'WindowOkButtonHint' in namespace 'Qt'
    {sipName_WindowOkButtonHint, static_cast<int>( ::Qt::WindowOkButtonHint), 419},
                                                   ~~~~~~^
2 errors generated.
make[1]: *** [sipQtCoreQt.o] Error 1
make: *** [sub-QtCore-make_first-ordered] Error 2

Is there anyone able to help me out?

I am the one who did the Qt5 5.8.0 upgrade for Homebrew. This is a known problem that will persist until Riverbank upgrades their software. I suggest you contact them on their mailing list.

UPDATE: As a temporary workaround, I've added a qt@5.7 formula, and updated the PyQt5 formula to depend on it. See the following pull requests, which I've merged:

https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/pull/9297

https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/pull/9308


Brightness on bootcamp is totally off So i have a MBP retina 15" that has a Windows 7 Bootcamp partition.
The other day I noticed my screen was a little dirty so I took the screen brightness all the way down (fn+ f1) and did this while Windows 7 was locked.
I now cannot get the brightness back up.

I have hard booted and it seems to get back to the Windows 7 login screen.  I'm not 100% sure if it's there but if I press esc, I can hear the Windows ting error sound.  So it seems that i am there.

Is there any way to "reset" the brightness for bootcamp?

just had the same issue.
there are 3 Options:

you are connected to local LAN and able to log on remotely and can find the registry setting or slider in energy options
you connect a 2nd external monitor and with some luck it shows at least some Desktop
you reinstall windows :(


Safari has disappeared from my iPhone 6 Safari is NOT on my iPhone 6 anywhere. It is not in a folder as I have not put any extra folders on it. I also do not have the use of Spotlight. Cannot figure this out.

You turned on Restrictions.  Turn it off again.


How to remove default GIT or update it? I cant delete or rename current version of git... Even with sudo...

MacBook-Pro-Kiril: $ sudo rm /usr/bin/git
override rwxr-xr-x  root/wheel restricted,compressed for /usr/bin/git?

MacBook-Pro-Kiril: $ sudo mv /usr/bin/git /usr/bin/git-apple
mv: rename /usr/bin/git to /usr/bin/git-apple: Operation not permitted

sudo rm -rf /usr/bin/git wont work for El Capitan due to SIP restriction

simple solution is create alias

alias git='/usr/local/bin/git'


Comparing MacBook Air sleep resume times Q1. Which MacBook Air models have the fastest resume-from-sleep times?

In other words, how long does it take (in the most common scenario, not the theoretically-shortest) between opening the display lid and getting a keypress echoed in an open TextEdit window?

Q2.  Do the newer (or newest) MBA's have faster resume time?

Q3.  How does this compare to the resume time of the iPad?

For the purpose of these questions, milliseconds matter!

This is not an actual answer to your questions, but more information on the subject:

MacBook Airs go into "deep sleep" (hibernate) when left with the lid closed for a longer while. Basically, the current state of the machine is saved to the hard drive (the SSD in the case of MacBooks) and the machine turns off, thus not consuming any power while in standby. When you open the lid, the machine state is retrieved from the SSD and restored.

So, the wake time is determined by the speed of the SSD inside the MacBook Air.

2010 MacBook Airs have SSD speeds in terms of 100 MBps, while latest MacBook Airs (2012) have SSD speeds in terms of 400-500 MBps, so wake time should be a lot faster with the 2012 models.

Comparing with the iPad is irrelevant, as iPads do not hibernate, as far as I'm aware of.


OSXFUSE, BindFS and HFS+ extended file attributes I use BindFS with OSXFUSE to mount some folders on an external drive on mount points within my user home folder. This is a sample line from my fstab:

/Volumes/Content/Pictures       /Users/Me/Pictures     bindfs  nobrowse,mirror=Me,volname=Pictures,xattr-none,local,multithreaded     0       0

Things work pretty well like this, except that if I turn the extended file attributes on (xattr-rw or even xattr-ro) I lose the writing capability on the mounts with a suspicious error:

  The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -50).

I am trying to put some order into my files using tags, and I need to turn the extended attributes on in order to read and write tags. I wonder if there is a way to turn HFS+'s extended file attributes on for the mounts created using OSXFUSE and BindFS. If not, is this a general, unresolved bug/incompatibility?

Some technical info:
I am running Yosemite with the latest updates. I install OSXFUSE using Homebrew Cask and BindFS using Homebrew.

These issues have reportedly been fixed in the latest version of BindFS. Try installing BindFS with head option and see if the problems persist:

brew install bindfs --HEAD


How to prevent the application launched in Terminal from undesirably exiting? I launch applications from the Terminal with commands like this one :

/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail &

The important part is the &.

For Unix / Linux / Solaris :

I have learned at school that adding the & makes the program live on his own.
I strongly remember launching a command like xeyes & and having the program running safe even after I close the shell.

On Mac OS X (Unix inside) :

I launch an app with & and I close the Terminal window : the application exits !
Why does this undesirable behaviour happen on Mac OS X ?
How can this be fixed ?

The "standard" way of accomplishing what you want to accomplish (on OS X as well as on Linux, FreeBSD or other systems) is to use the command nohup:

nohup program &

This will start program, which will run in the background relative to the shell because of the & - and will ignore hangup signals due to the nohup command.

This way the program will continue running even though you close the shell. It doesn't matter if you're closing the shell because you're closing Terminal.app, or you're closing the shell because you are disconnecting from a ssh connection to the computer, or similar.


How to use cmd + V to paste into a Ubuntu VM in Parallels? I think that I have the proper settings that should allow me to use Command  V to paste into my Parallels Ubuntu command line:

and

But when I try to paste into the command line using Command  V nothing happens.  If type that twice in a row ^V appears in the command line, but not the text in my clipboard.  How can I get Command  V working to paste?

Annoying problem, but copy/paste is different in Linux terminal:

Cut - Ctrl + Shift + X.

Copy - Ctrl + Shift + C.

Paste - Ctrl + Shift + V.

Hope this helps.

see: https://howtoubuntu.org/how-to-cut-copy-and-paste-in-the-terminal-in-ubuntu


How can I remove Finder and Trash from my dock (for Mojave) I've got my first ever Mac and was wondering how to remove Finder and Trash from my dock (and put them in Launchpad instead).

I've tried some of the solutions on other questions but they don't seem to work on my Mac.  Ideally I would like the icons to be removed automatically on start-up too.

Thanks :)

The Finder in MacOS is 'always on'. There is no need to Launch it in normal operation, so having it in Launchpad is fruitless. Any app currently running will normally appear in the Dock: so the Finder, being always on, will always be in the Dock.

The Dock provides functionality as follows: by right clicking on the Finder's icon, you can bring to the foreground any open Finder window, and perform other tasks like creating a new window or connecting to a server. You can also control whether the Finder is linked to a particular display or Desktop space.

Right-clicking will also show if the Application is Not Responding, in the event of a problem, and is a useful troubleshooting technique. (Admittedly, there are other methods of performing all these functions, but the Dock is arguably the easiest.)

Similarly, the Trash icon is only to be found in the Dock. You can of course send files and folder to the Trash with a key command, but the only way of dragging a file to the Trash is onto the Dock. Clicking on the Trash icon is the easiest way of opening the Trash to recover trashed files. You could not drag a file from a Finder window into the Trash within LaunchPad.

There is always a compromise to be struck between "ways I'd like to do things" and "ways that the OS is designed to do things". Sometimes it's possible and desirable to modify the defaults; and sometimes it's not possible (without making significant alterations that may cause unforeseen difficulties, limitations or even 'damage' to the OS).

Customisations to Apple's System files are possible, but require regular maintenance to ensure that new system updates have not restored Apple's original data, or changed things so that the customisation no longer works or even causes problems.


How to Break up a Long Element List into multiple lines of code (Applescript) In applescript, how do I make this a multi-line/easy-to-read property list?

set props to {target:"Safari", slideNo:2, propsUrl:"https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/slideId/preview", rewardsUrl:"https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/slideId/preview", coords:{posX:937, posY:497, sizeX:149, sizeY:262}}

something (reasonably) pythonic like...

set props to (
{
    target:"Safari",
    slideNo:2,
    propsUrl:"https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/slideId/preview",
    rewardsUrl:"https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/slideId/preview",
    coords:{posX:937, posY:497, sizeX:149, sizeY:262}
 }
)

Is this possible? Using '¬' at the end of each line seemed to screw up the formatting.
Thanks in advance :)

If you want it more readable, then use property and separate the list you have into individual properties, e.g.:

property target : "Safari"
property slideNo : 2
property propsUrl : "https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/slideId/preview"
property rewardsUrl : "https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/slideId/preview"
property coords : {posX:937, posY:497, sizeX:149, sizeY:262}


Finder search *only* searches file-names (Macbook Air, El Capitan) I'm on a Macbook Air, running El Capitan (10.11.6), and I'm not very knowledgeable about computers. I have a quick question about the Finder/Spotlight search.

So, as a grad student, I have tons and tons of PDFs on my computer. A lot of times, it's helpful for me to perform a keyword search to look for references (I often forget that I've downloaded relevant files), and Finder has done a perfectly serviceable job searching through file contents and through file names up until about the last week. Suddenly, about a week ago, I realized that Finder was only indexing search results that had the keyword in the file name.

I've tried poking around in search preferences to no avail, and I've looked for forums addressing this problem online. I have seen plenty of people who want to search file-names and can't (i.e., they can only search file contents), but I have not seen my problem anywhere.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be going on here and how I could fix it? I have even tried re-indexing the search results as suggested elsewhere on StackExchange as a general tip for people with faulty Finder searches, but that didn't do anything for me.

Thanks so much for your replies in advance!

Solution:

Navigate to System Preferences>Keyboard>Shortcuts>App Shortcuts

Press the 'plus' (add) button

In Application, choose Finder

For Menu Title, enter "Find by Name…"  Do not use the "" and you must use an ellipsis (…), not three periods (...).

Enter your desired keyboard shortcut.  I use CMD-F, replacing the default behavior of regular Find.  I then repeated the process, adding a keyboard shortcut the the Finder of CMD-OPT-F for Find.


How do you connect an Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric pad to Windows 10 via Bluetooth? I recently bought an Apple magic keyboard with numeric pad to use with my computer, after reading threads online that you can connect it via Bluetooth to a Windows PC. When I search to add a new Bluetooth device, my PC doesn't find the keyboard.

I tested the keyboard with my MacBook Pro where I am able to use it fine. It also connects using the wire to my PC, but it won't find the keyboard via Bluetooth. My Windows PC has Bluetooth 5.0, and I've tried holding down Command + W, tried resetting the keyboard via my MacBook Pro, but it still isn't able to find my keyboard.

Does anyone know a way to fix this issue?

When you have the Windows Bluetooth pane open and it is searching for devices then slide the power control on the keyboard to Off and then On shortly after. This should make the keyboard discoverable by Windows.

Make sure that the keyboard is not plugged in via cable to another computer, and make sure that it is not able to communicate with a previously paired Mac at the same time.

Note that the comments you have received earlier regarding duplicates and directions concerns a completely different keyboard, namely the "Apple Wireless Keyboard". You have the "Apple Magic Keyboard" which works in a slightly different manner regarding Bluetooth pairing - and it doesn't have a power button, but rather a slider.


Pages keeps deleting empty lines when I change the font style I am running the latest version of Pages (5.6). The problem occurs whenever I position the caret on a new, empty line.

If I change the font style to bold (or turn off bold), Pages automatically highlights (selects) the empty line, which reveals an invisible format character. If there is text below the line the caret is positioned on, after I start typing, Pages deletes the entire line and moves the text up because the line was empty to begin with.

Screenshot to better illustrate this. The caret is positioned between the two lines of text. When I, for instance, turn bold on or off, the following happens:

The new line is selected, so once I start typing, Pages deletes the entire line and the new format style is cleared. This is really irritating because every time I change the font style now, I have to deselect the new line manually by clicking away from it, using the arrow keys, or something like that so it won't overwrite the new line.

Is there any way to stop this from happening?

This is indeed an annoyance with Pages.

One way around this:

While at the end of the preceding line and before adding the new line, change your formatting, then tap return and type your new line.


Combining Finder's File Open/save dialog with Alfred Finder's Open/Save File dialog is actually very dumb (in terms of flexibility). When I look for a file or its location, I can probably find it much faster using Alfred.

However, in many cases, you just have to use that dialog. Not particularly when you open files, but for example when you specify the place to save them.

As I'm a keyboard-only user (at least for 99% of the time), I find it tedious to launch Alfred, and reveal the file/directory in Finder and drag it (or its proxy icon) to the dialog in order to open/save it.

Is there any way I can get a keyboard-only, fuzzy-matching style file/folder selection mechanism for this dialog?

I could imagine using Alfred and AppleScript for that, but I don't know where to start. The end result would be that I could just select the appropriate file or folder via Alfred.

Note that:

I have the Alfred Powerpack, so AppleScript is possible.
I know Alfred has an "Open with…" action. This is not the same.
I know I can go to folders with ⌘⇧G, but it's weak in comparison to what a real shell offers.
I know you can Spotlight-search in that dialog, but I prefer Alfred's capabilities.

Update, 5 years later: I came looking for a solution for this and stumbled upon my own question. I also found this thread in which people have suggested several workflows, but the only one that would actually directly work is now a dead link (don't you just love it when text-only stuff is hosted on someone's Dropbox?).

Once you find the file using Alfred, you can copy its path to the clipboard and paste that path into the Go to Folder tool of open/save dialogs.

Find your file in Alfred, press the right arrow key to view the list of operations for that file, the up arrow key to go to the last option (Copy path to clipboard), and then the enter key to activate that option.
Switch back to the open/save dialog, press cmd-shift-g to  open the Go to Folder dialog, paste the path in, and hit enter. The file will be selected and you can hit Enter to open/save.

If you're interested in getting some more flexibility out of Open/Save dialogs, I highly recommend Default Folder X. It's immensely powerful and customizable and could eliminate the need for workarounds like this.
$35, 30 day trial


Deleting photos on iOS7? For some reason whenever I delete a photo on my camera roll, the corresponding photo on iCloud photo stream would also be deleted. Am I going crazy here? I thought the whole point of photo stream is to back up your photos so you don't have to keep them on your phone?

Also, is it normal that photos on iCloud are displayed as taking up my phone's space in settings -> usage? For example it says "camera roll: 551mb", "photo library: 0" and "photo stream: 390mb". Why are photos in iCloud taking up space on my phone, and why is not everything backed up (390mb vs 551mb)?

I believe you are misunderstanding how My Photo Stream works. It is intended as a temporary (up to 30 days or 1000 photos at any given time) mechanism to allow each photo you take to sync to each of your devices - iOS, Mac and Windows. There is also a limit of 1000 photos in My Photo Stream at any given time. As new photos are uploaded, older ones are deleted.

"Why is not everything backed up": If you have more than 1000 photos in your Camera Roll, the oldest X (greater than 1000) photos will no longer appear in My Photo Stream. Similarly, photos older than 30 days will be removed. Again, My Photo Stream is not a backup service. This could explain storage size discrepancies, as could the fact that videos are not uploaded to My Photo Stream.

"Why are photos in iCloud taking up space on my phone": My Photo Stream stores a copy of each photo that is in the stream on your device. Generally speaking, an identical photo that is in multiple places should only take up space once on your device - if the same 100KB photo is in Camera Roll and My Photo Stream, there are two pointers to the same 100KB file on the device, instead of having two files that are 100KB each. That said, the storage is not freed up until all pointers are removed from the device. If you delete a 100KB photo from Camera Roll, but it still exists in Photo Stream, that 100KB will still be used.

Also, if you have started or joined any shared Photo Streams, that will take up space as well.


MacOS Mojave Install - About 2 minutes remaining, for 2 hours I'm currently a new Mac user, I was given a newer iMac to test with High Sierra installed on it, I needed to install Mojave to use the app I need.

It seems to be stuck at 2 minutes remaining for the last 2 hours. When I look at the activity monitor, it has already received 97 gigabytes of data on the network tab, should I be worried?

Turns out, something on our network, who knows why, was blocking some aspect of the OS update. As soon as I moved the PC to an external line, the update completed in about 40 minutes.


Can't get suggestions for Dotted Blue Underline in OS X Dictation I know that the dotted blue underlined words during dictation in OS X are supposed to provide alternative suggestions of the voice transcription.

However, when I control-click or right-click the blue underlined words, I do not see any suggestions or alternatives.  Please help!

I am running the GM of OS X Mavericks...been running Mavericks since beta seed 4.

Also, I use a magic trackpad, not a mouse (just in case this matters).

Is this just a Mavericks bug or am I doing something wrong?

aThe blue underlined words (if it works in the same way as it does on iOS (I don't use dictation on OS X)) then they are not there to provide alternate suggestions, but they are there to tell you that OS X is not entirely confident in its transcription. If a word is underlined in blue, it's saying that that was it's best guess, and if you select it you can edit the word if it is wrong in order to correct it.

If you do, Siri / OS X Dictation learns to connect that word to what you just said, and thus becomes more accurate after this is done tens of thousands of times.


Mount home sparsebundle when SSH I'm using FileVault to encrypt my homedir. But when I'm not logged (locally) into my remote machine and I'm connecting to it trough SSH my home contains only the sparsebundle file.

How can I mount it so my home dir appears normally as a local login on the machine ?

Mount

SSH lets you create a ~/.ssh/rc that will be executed right after the environment has been set up, but before any shell will be active (so beware of that; search for "sshrc" in man ssh(8) for more informations).

So, to mount your FileVault partition you can add  this line to your ~/.ssh/rc file:

hdiutil attach /Users/$USER/$USER.sparsebundle -mountpoint /Users/$USER

Don't worry, your ~/.ssh/rc will be available to the system even before mounting the FileVault partition.

Unmount

Now you have to ensure the unmount at logout, and only if you are connected via ssh. To do that you can use your shell's logout script. These are the logout script paths for the 3 most used shells on Macs (feel free to add more in the comments):

bash: ~/.bash_logout
zsh: ~/.zlogout
(t)csh: ~/.logout

Open (or create) the appropriate file and add:

if [[ -n $SSH_CONNECTION ]]
    then hdiutil detach /Users/$USER/$USER.sparsebundle
fi


My iPhone only shows the Wi-Fi symbol even when I'm using data? I noticed when I was checking a notification the other day that even when I was using 4G or LTE data, my phone just showed the Wi-Fi symbol, even when I turned Wi-Fi fully off. I am on an iPhone 5.

I just noticed the same thing. I see the 5 bars then my carrier then where I would normally see LTE, 3G etc I see the wifi symbol. When wifi is turned off that symbol grays out. It used to go away.
I can no longer tell if I am on LTE or a lesser signal.


What is the modern way to do port-forwarding on El Capitan? (forward port 80 to 8080) The old utility ipfw was discouraged in recent versions of Mac OS X and is now gone from El Capitan.

What is the modern way to do port forwarding in El Capitan?

I simply want port 80 to forward to port 8080.

To forward all port 80 traffic to port 8080, you can enter the following from the Terminal command line.

echo "
rdr pass inet proto tcp from any to any port 80 -> 127.0.0.1 port 8080
" | sudo pfctl -ef -

Taken from https://salferrarello.com/mac-pfctl-port-forwarding/


iOS 9 iCloud Drive not showing all my folders and files Now that iOS 9 lets you add attachments to email from iCloud Drive, I thought I'd give it a spin. I put some test files in a folder on iCloud Drive on my Mac, and then went to my phone and tried to add an attachment. I only see a couple folders from two apps, and my own folder I added isn't shown. Am I doing something wrong?

This should work. The only caveat I can discover is the that file you wish to attach in email must be fully downloaded. The download state of each file is visible in the iOS iCloud Drive app.


How do I keep an ssh tunnel alive using launchd? I would like to keep an ssh tunnel alive. Below is my launch agent plist file but it only keeps the tunnel up for a day or two at the most. I'm using OS X 10.10.3.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
        <dict>
                <key>Label</key>
                <string>com.my.ssh_tunnel</string>
                <key>ProgramArguments</key>
                <array>
                        <string>/usr/bin/ssh</string>
                        <string>-R 0.0.0.0:22221:localhost:22</string>
                        <string>-NTC</string>
                        <string>-f</string>
                        <string>-o ExitOnForwardFailure=yes</string>
                        <string>-o ServerAliveInterval=60</string>
                        <string>user@user.server.com</string>
                </array>
                <key>RunAtLoad</key>
                <true/>
                <key>KeepAlive</key>
                <true/>
        </dict>
</plist>

I think you need to add "ServerAliveCountMax".  Since you don't have it set it defaults to 3.  Try setting it to something higher than 3 and see if it relives some of your issues.  In your case it would disconnect if the server is not responsive for 180 seconds.

From the ssh man page:

 ServerAliveCountMax:

     Sets the number of server alive messages (see below) which may be
     sent without ssh(1) receiving any messages back from the server.
     If this threshold is reached while server alive messages are
     being sent, ssh will disconnect from the server, terminating the
     session.  It is important to note that the use of server alive
     messages is very different from TCPKeepAlive (below).  The server
     alive messages are sent through the encrypted channel and there‐
     fore will not be spoofable.  The TCP keepalive option enabled by
     TCPKeepAlive is spoofable.  The server alive mechanism is valu‐
     able when the client or server depend on knowing when a connec‐
     tion has become inactive.

     The default value is 3.  If, for example, ServerAliveInterval
     (see below) is set to 15 and ServerAliveCountMax is left at the
     default, if the server becomes unresponsive, ssh will disconnect
     after approximately 45 seconds.  This option applies to protocol
     version 2 only.


What OS X tweaks, hacks, or modifications couldn't you live without? What OS X tweaks or customization applications do you find indispensable?

Please search before posting in order to avoid duplicate entries. You can search within this question with inquestion:this <search phrase>.

Rules

Limit each answer to a single entry
Include a short description
Include a link to an application website if possible, formatted like ## [AppName](URL)

~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict

A property list that enables you to bind keystrokes to sequences of Objective-C methods. It can be used to define text editing macros that work in most standard text views.

{
    // copy paragraph (option-c)
    "~c" = (selectParagraph:, copy:);

    // convert selection to lowercase (option-minus)
    "~-" = (lowercaseWord:, moveForward:);

    // insert line below (command-return)
    "@\r" = (moveToEndOfParagraph:, insertNewline:,
    deleteToBeginningOfParagraph:);

    // insert an XML tag (option-shift-x)
    "~X" = (moveWordBackwardAndModifySelection:, setMark:, deleteToMark:,
    insertText:, "<></>", moveBackward:, yank:, moveWordBackward:,
    moveBackward:, moveBackward:, moveBackward:, yank:, moveForward:);
}

To get started, make ~/Library/KeyBindings/ and save a property list like the one above as DefaultKeyBinding.dict.

More information:

Cocoa Text System
lri.me/keybindings
github.com/ttscoff/KeyBindings


Prevent Finder from launching when quitting all applications I have enabled the option to quit Finder. However, if Finder is the only remaining open app and I quit it, it will launch again.

Personally I don't find the scenario of having all apps closed that nonsensical... I might want to close everything, and then open a different set of apps (because I switched from coding to making music, for example)

Can I prevent this behavior?

If you open Terminal and enter "launchctl list" it will list all of the programs kept running by launchd, the "launch daemon" that keeps system software running even after it is quit/force quit/killed/crashed.

Scroll to the top the results, and you will see "com.apple.Finder" keeping the Finder always running as long as the OS is running. Finder does much more than browse the file system, and it should always be running (same for the Dock). However, if you want to quit it and keep it from relaunching, you will need to remove it from launchctl first. I wouldn't do this personally, but here's how:

Open Terminal
Enter: sudo launchctl remove com.apple.Finder
Enter your password and hit return.

Now you should be able to quit Finder without it relaunching.

To undo this:

Open Terminal
Enter: sudo launchctl load System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.Finder.plist
Enter your password and hit return.


openpgp2ssh (monkeysphere tool) installed with Homebrew on OS X error Can't locate Crypt/OpenSSL/Bignum.pm in @INC I am trying to install monkeysphere on an OS X machine with Homebrew:

$ brew install monkeysphere
monkeysphere: Unsatisfied dependency: Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum
Homebrew does not provide Perl dependencies; install with:
  cpan -i Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum
Error: An unsatisfied requirement failed this build.

monkeysphere needs the Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum perl module and Homebrew is telling me to use the command cpan -i Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum in order to install that module. After I type:

$ cpan -i Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum
...
...

And install the dependency, I re-type the brew command:

$ brew install monkeysphere
==> Downloading http://archive.monkeysphere.info/debian/pool/monkeysphere/m/monkeysphere/monkeysphere_0.36.orig.tar.gz
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Patching
patching file Makefile
Hunk #5 succeeded at 62 (offset 1 line).
Hunk #6 succeeded at 85 (offset 2 lines).
Hunk #7 succeeded at 88 (offset 2 lines).
Hunk #8 succeeded at 92 (offset 2 lines).
==> make install
  /usr/local/Cellar/monkeysphere/0.36: 52 files, 416K, built in 8 seconds
$

Now, monkeysphere is installed, but when I run a command included in the package (e.g. openpgp2ssh), I get the following error:

$ openpgp2ssh < gpg.key
Can't locate Crypt/OpenSSL/Bignum.pm in @INC (you may need to install the Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum module) (@INC contains: /Library/Perl/5.18/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Library/Perl/5.18 /Network/Library/Perl/5.18/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Network/Library/Perl/5.18 /Library/Perl/Updates/5.18.2 /System/Library/Perl/5.18/darwin-thread-multi-2level /System/Library/Perl/5.18 /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.18/darwin-thread-multi-2level /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.18) at /usr/local/bin/openpgp2ssh line 55.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /usr/local/bin/openpgp2ssh line 55.

monkeysphere is telling me that it still can't find the Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum perl module I have installed with cpan.

Why doesn't it see the dependency and how can I repair this issue?

Thanks for the attention!

The problem was cpan installed with MacPorts. I had to install the module with $ /usr/bin/cpan -i Crypt::OpenSSL::Bignum, specifying an absolute path for cpan.


Why doesn't my Macbook detect network after sleep? every time that my 2007 macbook with lion goes to sleep, either manually (closing the lid) or timing out, i have to restart my computer to connect to the wireless network.  It fails to detect any networks at all until I restart, then it connects to my default network no problem.  What can I do?

Clear the network out and re-setup it.

Otherwise, I've run into this issue before, what brand of router are you using? And does it happen with other networks apart from this one?

Related: Why doesn't Airport reconnect after sleep or shutdown?


What is the Master Agreement when trying to transfer an iOS app? I'm trying to transfer an app to another developer, but when I click transfer the only criteria which is not checked is Master Agreement:

Where is this Master Agreement, and how can I fix this?

You need to check your Contracts, Tax, and Banking information.

  To resolve this issue, you need to check your Contracts, Tax, and Banking information. If you have Request button on the page, you have to click and review it.

  After review it and check the box then submit.

Source: blog.jaey.ca: Master Agreement Criteria Not Met


How to sync an additional folder to iCloud Drive similar to how macOS Sierra does it? I want to add my Downloads folder to my iCloud Drive so that it can sync just like Sierra syncs with the Documents and Desktop folder.

Can this be done?

Similar answer to one of the others, but in this case I've used a symbolic link to do this rather than use the GUI to create an apple 'Alias', just to be sure it works in all cases.

Rather than add the original Downloads folder into iCloud, I've relied on the standard 'Documents and Desktop' sync option provided by Apple in iCloud without messing around in the background where those files are accessible (~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/) as I'm not confident that adding links in there is a good idea long term.

In terminal (or iTerm2 if you want a more customisable terminal):

Create a 'Downloads' folder in your 'Documents' directory (if you haven't already): mkdir ~/Documents/Downloads
Copy (or move as with this example) your files from the old (presumed to be in ~/Downloads directory to the new Downloads directory: mv ~/Downloads ~/Documents/Downloads
Delete your old Downloads folder (this should require your password, and presumes you are logged in as an administrator): sudo rm -rf ~/Downloads/
Create a symbolic link to your new Downloads folder: ln -s ~/Documents/Downloads ~/Downloads

All those commands again, but without all the extra words :)

mkdir ~/Documents/Downloads
mv ~/Downloads ~/Documents/Downloads
sudo rm -rf ~/Downloads/
ln -s ~/Documents/Downloads ~/Downloads

You will probably have to drag the new Downloads link (or folder) in Finder to the Favourites section/left menu if you want it to display there once more.


Copying files to NAS gives Error Code -50 "Error in user parameter list" I had a cheap NAS that I was using that would give me an Error with code -50 whenever I tried to copy certain directories of files to it. At first I thought it was just the NAS device. Recently I bought a Drobo 5N hooked it up to my network, now I am getting the same errors for the same folders which makes me think it is an OSX issue.

Has anyone seen this before and how do I fix it?

My debugging steps:

I have tried the same process from two different computers and both give the same error.

I have tried copying the files to a local drive or another DAS and they copied fine.

I have created an isolated network with a small switch and just my computer and drobo plugged into it and the same error occurs.

I also have tried through 2 different switches and through just a Time Capsule but the error persists.

Any ideas?

The problem for me was that there were several invisible .appledouble folders within the folders I was trying to copy.

These folders are written by OS X for compatibility with Apple Finder Metadata with some NASs but are safe to be deleted (at least in my case). I just removed them all and everything was back to normal.

You can automate the process by typing the below into terminal when your pwd is the external drive. Please only do this if you are comfortable with the terminal - otherwise you could end up deleting important things.

find . -name \.AppleDouble -exec rm -rf {} \;


MacBook 2017 (USB-C) to Apple Cinema Display 30" I've seen many of the solutions on the topic, all posted in this site. But I haven't seen any of them mentioning Apple's adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter

I have that, which was used to connect to my old MacBook Pro 2013.

Now, I'm assuming that all I need is to connect the Mini DisplayPort to an adapter, such as AllSmartLife USB C Type to Mini DisplayPort/Mini DP Adapter (as mentioned in one of the posts) and the USB cable to a USB-C adaptor.

Is this correct?

When selecting an adapter, you have to know what sources you are going from to what you are going to.  One important thing to keep in mind is that you want to limit the number of conversions/connections you make; more conversions = less reliability.

The 2017 MacBook has just a single USB-C port.  However, it supports the following:

  Charging
  USB 3.1 Gen 1 (up to 5 Gbps)
  Native DisplayPort 1.2 video output
  VGA output using USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter (sold separately)
  HDMI video output using USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter (sold separately)

(Emphasis mine)

The Apple Cinema Display has a Dual Link DVI port.

So, you need to go from USB-C DisplayPort to DualLink DVI Adapter like the Tripp-Lite U444-003-D (The product must indicate that it supports Dual-Link DVI or it won't work)

Keep in mind, that this particular display is getting long-in-the-tooth so to speak and it will become increasingly difficult to find newer interfaces for older, unsupported monitors that has a small market share (Everybody had DVI, only a few could afford DL-DVI).


Is there a beginners guide to Unix from the OS X point of view? I'm hoping to build on my embarrassingly-limited knowledge of the command line, and I know there are a ton of great resources out there. I'm wondering if there are any books or other resources that are tailored specifically to the OS X user running Terminal.

Thanks.

Well, there is always Apple´s official command line guide but back when I learned my way around the Terminal, I found Unix for the beginning Mage (PDF, free) quite entertaining and educational (given it suits your humour).

If you´d rather go for a book, I´d highly recommend "The Mac OS X Command Line: Unix Under the Hood".


Mount root of SMB Server I have a Windows server that I want to backup all the Shares through a script automatically to my MacBook Pro running OSX 10.6.8. There is no common folder all the shares are in, they are just mounted as \\SERVER\Share_Name. I want to be able to have a script that cycles through all the shares on a server (even if the folder names are unknown at the time the script is created), and create a backup on a local folder on my Mac. Or, if there's an easier way than a script, or drag-and-drop (that doesn't seem to always copy all the files)

There's no root in Samba protocol. To list shares on your server you can use smbutil(1):

$ smbutil view //Administrator@10.211.55.8/ | awk '$2=="Disk"{print $1}'
ADMIN$
C$

and then use output with mount_smbfs(8):

smbutil view //Administrator@10.211.55.8/ | awk '$2=="Disk"{print $1}' | while read sharename; do
  mkdir ${BASE}/${sharename};
  mount_smbfs //Administrator@10.211.55.8/${sharename} ${BASE}/${sharename};
done

Please, read man pages to check other options I haven't used here.

The best utility to make backup I know is rsync(1). You can found it from MacPorts. It'll be interest if you know better.


How can I turn off music automatically starting after phone call in iPhone I use an iPhone 11 with a Sennheiser noise cancelling PXC 550-II Bluetooth headset.

Every time I end a phone call, the iPhone starts playing a seemingly random song from my music library. I understand the benefit from pausing music during a phone call, but when music was turned off before the call, I expect it to stay that way after the call.

I looked, and it seems MacOS has similar issues, but there is no mention (or solution) for the iPhone.

So is it

Me, because I overlooked a setting in iPhone
some bug in IOS, or
the Sennheiser headset?

I sort of hope for 1) because that would be a quick fix instead of having to report bugs to the vendors.

My guess is that it is a (typically) poor implementation in the bluetooth headset.

I have the same issue with two different cars that are connected to the iPhone via bluetooth. I guess the developer writing the code for the device couldn't imagine that anyone wasn't listening to music, so he hardcoded to start the music after the call ends.

I could not find a solution in many years, and have now disconnected my iPhone from the car for that reason. Obviously not useful for you, as a bluetooth headset that is not connected is useless (whereas the car still drives).


Cannot log into Messages I can no longer log into Messages. It normally logs me in automatically, but now it didn't log me in and the entry in the menu is greyed out. I am connecting to the internet from a different network than usual. How do I fix this?

I run OS X 10.9.5 and Messages Version 8.0 (4226)

Look at your preferences and make sure that the account is properly enabled.

If it is, try signing out and signing back in to see if that solves the problem.


Accidentally moving windows using mouse I'm ex-Windows user. There was no way to drag maximized window, but it's possible in OS X (I have Mavericks).

There is full screen mode, but I have found one annoying thing there - it's too hard to get access to the Dock. I have to point my cursor at the bottom of the screen and wait for a long time, unlike default behavior in non-fullscreen mode.

Is there a way to lock maximized windows, allowing to move them only with ⌘ or ⌥ key?

Currently, no, this isn't possible.

There's no such thing as maximising a window in OS X — I therefore presume you are referring to a window which has been stretched to fill the entire screen (as much as possible — i.e. not behind the menu bar). Since there is no difference between a window which has been enlarged and a 'maximised' window, there's no problem in dragging the window away from the menu bar, and it's not possible to prevent.

If you're always moving your windows, try something like BetterTouchTool. This lets you maximise any window by dragging it to the top of the screen.


iPhone drive removed upon installing iTunes When iTunes is installed my iPhone does not appear as a drive in Windows Explorer.
When iTunes is removed, the iPhone does appear as a drive.
I use Windows 7 64bit

I would like to have iTunes to backup locally and have iPhone as a drive so I can download pictures from it.

How can I have both?

This may or may not be related to the following error I get after installing iTunes and attaching+detaching my iPhone via USB:

Do you have any images in your camera roll? If not it won't appear.


Mavericks - ssh to host under search domain I am VPNed in to a network which has its own search domain, and it mostly works - I don't have to type the domain in the browser, and the host command resolves to the correct IPs.

However, when I try to ssh to a host on that network, ssh tells me it could not resolve the hostname.

This is very perplexing as I have never seen this issue before - the system is either resolving correctly or not at all.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks.

Have you tried to SSH to the IP address? It may be simple enough to work. Take the DNS out of the picture if you have the IP addresses of the hosts.

Whenever I use SSH out of Terminal I have always used the IP address and never had any issues.


Quick look .url saved webpages as rendered HTML I thought this was already possible in earlier versions of OS X but Yosemite seems to be missing the 'Web.qlgenerator' quick look plugin (or at least I am)

How do you enable .url quick look to see rendered html in Yosemite?

I found this question of someone who wants to disable the rendered html and have it show to source code instead, so it should be possible

Quick Look doesn't make web requests, so it can't show the contents of the webpage without opening it. The question you linked was asking about .html files, with the actual source saved locally. .url files only include a URL, so without downloading the page it can't render anything. You can still use .html or .webarchive files and they will be rendered in Quick Look (with a .webarchive everything, including images and styles, will be included).


How to save a Preview session with multiple pdf files open? I often work with multiple pdf files open in Preview. I would like to save the "session", so that I can go back to that exact set of files and work with them again. Is there a way to do that?

In most browsers this is standard, but I don't see any way to do it in Preview, or any other pdf viewer. Does it exist?

Go to system preferences -> general, and uncheck "close windows when quitting". Now whichever session you want to preserve, just quit the app with that. When you reopen preview, all those files load too.


When app get rating / review? I have submitted an app to App Store. It has been downloaded almost 300 times. 5 in app purchase happened. But I do not get any review. I guess it depends on the users, whether they want to express their feelings or not. Is it any statistics when I can get the first review?

This depends entirely on the app.

Some apps promote reviewing and get more reviews.
Some apps are designed for kids and do not get as many reviews, but sometimes get more reviews due to parents reviewing the app.
Some apps' market demographics means that the users are unlikely to review an app.

There's no single average time frame. It is entirely up to the user whether they review an app, although you can mention/promote reviewing in the app itself if you wish to expedite the process.


Best practices for 2011 Mac mini connected to monitor + HDTV? I'm dual-purposing a new Mac mini (2011) as a desktop machine and media center. I will be using a DisplayPort to DVI adapter to use with the desktop monitor, and a long HDMI cable to go directly to an HDTV at the other end of the room.

What can I expect from this configuration, when the usage pattern is going to be limited to one display at a time? Meaning, at any one time it will either be used as an HDTV source with the HDMI display or a desktop machine with the DisplayPort display. Obviously I'd like to avoid unplugging/replugging cables all the time to disable the displays, and I would probably not like to mirror 1080p to a 1600x900 desktop display.

Changing the audio output from HDMI to internal I can handle with an option-click to the sound menu extra, but there's no such functionality to switch from one connected display to the other that I know of.

Is there anything that I'm missing? Any software that might accomplish this for me?

Anything completely different that might work better?

Your "best practices" will depend a lot on your usage and expected behaviour. It sounds like your preferred option would be to keep both plugged in, but have an option to disable one display at a time. Unfortunately I've not found a way to do this, but there are a few tips and tricks you can use to make things more manageable.

The first is Gather Windows. It's an option in the display preferences that will move all open windows to whichever display you click it on (you get one window on each display). Useful for switching between displays.

If you use VLC, you can set a default screen to use for fullscreen video, under Video > Fullscreen Video Device and choose a screen. Then no matter what display the video opens on, when you full screen it, it will jump to the screen of your choice (presumably you'd set it to your HDTV).

Finally, you may find Moom useful. It's a great $5 app that gives you a bunch of window management options. You can get a demo to check it out. You can set hot keys for actions or use a nice pop-over that appears from the Zoom Titlebar button. Very configurable and useful, I suspect it would be handy in your case.


Problem installing xcode 4.6.2 on OS X 10.8.5 I need to install Xcode 4.6.2 on Mountain Lion 10.8.5. I got the dimg file from developer.apple.com, and ran it to install. This appeared to work, but when I click the icon in Finder, I get a dialog to install "Device Support." When I click Install, I get a message "An unknown error occurred. See the install log for more details." There is no way to make progress and no relevant message in the log. Please note, I have admin privileges while I do all this.

I have searched this site for similar questions, but all I found was a very similar (identical) problem with Xcode 4.6.2 and Lion 10.7.5 - but there was no answer. (I know that this version of Xcode does work with OS X 10.8.2, so I don't think compatibility is a problem here.

I had a similar problem.  I was installing 4.60 on OSX 10.9.5 using Parallels. I followed the answer to the question found here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3863980?start=0&tstart=0

That fixed it.


Is there a Google Calendar app for Mac desktop? I want to know if there is a Google Calendar app for the Mac desktop? I do not want to sync my Google Calendar to my Apple calendar. I want to have the Google Calendar app itself on my Mac. Has Google made this?

Google haven’t made a desktop calendar app. You can add your Google account to Internet Accounts in macOS which will allow you to access your Google calendar in Calendar.app without syncing it with your iCloud account. Alternatively you can use Fantastical which also supports Google Calendar.


Looking for an app to name colors on Mac (colorblind)? I am colorblind. I am looking for an app to help me identify colors by their basic names (blue, green, ...) when I am working on powerpoint or excel on mac (OSX 10.12).

On windows, I was using whatcolor quite successfully. This app translates the RGB code of the pixel under your mouse into intelligible color names such as blue, green, ... it's a real time-saver when you have to create powerpoints or excel.

I could not find anything similar so far on mac. I tried apps such as Visolve or Sim Daltonism but they did not have this simple functionality.

Please note I am not looking for a color picker such as DigitalColor Meter, that would just read out color RGB codes from pixels. I need a tool that "names" colors, stay on top of screen, with a compact window, just like whatcolor.

There are 2 apps on mac that name colors to help people with color blindness:

A free app called ColorCompass. It basically does the same job as WhatColor, although with a more simple color naming system. It's small, has instant color naming and stay on top of other windows.
Also a free app called ColorQuest. But this app takes more screen space and is quite slow. I did not find a way to make it stay on top, a deal breaker for me.

As a background, I am colorblind too and I personally use ColorCompass on my Mac to work with Mac Office all day long on a daily basis.