16 GB Crucial RAM For MacBook Pro I'm looking to upgrade my MacBook Pro to 16GB of RAM. I'm considering:

Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1333MHz PC3-10600 204pin SODIMM CL9 Mac

The specs match what my MacBook wants from RAM but it doesn't specifically state which models it is compatible with. Are the MacBooks very fussy about RAM or could someone tell me if this is compatible with my MacBook?

Specs are as follows:

  Late 2011 Macbook Pro 15″ (8,2)
  2.4 GHz Intel Core i7
  4 GB 1333Mhz DDR3 RAM

MacBooks with replaceable RAM use typical DDR3 like any other PC laptop.

From http://support.apple.com/kb/SP644:

  1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; supports up to 8GB

The RAM you linked to:

  DDR3 SDRAM
  Memory Speed 1333 MHz ( PC3-10600 )

I cannot guarantee that your MacBook will be able to address all 16GB, since the technical specifications claim the maximum supported amount is 8GB. However, I've seen several cases in which the upper bound Apple lists as "supported" is incorrect, so it's worth a shot. Make sure the RAM you buy has a decent return policy, in case your MacBook can't use more than 8GB as per the technical specifications.


How to load windows 7 directly (without Boot camp) in a Mac Mini with intel processor whose Hard disk crashed and so is replaced? The hard disk of my Mac mini with 2 GHz intel processor and 4 GB RAM crashed and so I have replaced the Hard disk. How to load Windows 7 without loading Boot camp? Windows 7 original DVD is not able to boot the computer (Bootmgr missing error) and Acronis True image home boot CD (Acronis loader) (both 2011 and 2012 versions) is not able to load completely and recover a disk image. Also please advise how to update the BIOS

Just because something isn't documented doesn't mean it is impossible, the following is true for Mac Mini's from 2010, 2011 and 2012.

You can install Windows alone on all three by configuring a hard drive to be MBR, setting the active partition to be the one containing the Windows folders. A Boot Manager, the 100mb partition you see on windows 7 computers, can be configured to point to this installation or better yet boot the mac holding C and boot into the windows 7 install CD. Have it repair the installation, it will create this partition pointing to Windows.

The drivers are difficult to find, however, you can buy a Mac and do everything needed in Windows without having to have any apple software loaded on the machine.


Convert whole library to new .HEIC format Can the whole icloud library be converted from the non-optimised format to the new optimised format, or vise versa?

I have noticed that some of my photos have automatically be using the new format.

At present, September 2017, no. You will begin to take new photos in HEIC format once all of your iCloud synced devices in iOS and macOS have a version of the os and Photos app to support the new compression formats.

Then, images will begin to collect in the new format. Presumably over time, it might get added either a until it’s to process or just a feature to go back and evaluate / reprocess the images if the potential savings are substantial.

My hunch is that this would first be used with people using iCloud photo libraries and enabling the reduce file space option on some devices that then actually need space. The system will then be looking to offload / resample images anyhow and signal the willingness to have a transformation made to save space. Let’s see what heppens as this format rolls out this fall.


Will I see performance boost if I add memory with these Page-In/Page-Out statistics? Currently, if I open Photoshop after a days time, the load up time is about 5 seconds.  If I close and open again (right after), the load up time is about 2 seconds (I assume this is caching?).  Can someone explain how adding memory will (if at all) increase performance here (4GB to 16GB)?

Background Info: My Page-Ins are about 2GB and my Page-Outs are about 60MB (iMac 12,2 4GB RAM).

The increase speed you see when starting Photoshop immediately after previously starting and stopping it is coming from the hard disk cache which cannot be increased, and adding more system memory will not make much difference unless your allocated memory is sufficiently high to require significant paging out to make room for the new app.  As any paging will have taken place on the first load, it's unlikely to require more paging on the 2nd attempt unless you re-access the data that has been paged out so that is get's paged back in, which you do not allow time for in this scenario.  Your page in/out figures need to be better detailed to allow for proper consideration - how long is this sampled over etc?


Kernel Panic on Hibernate / after unplugging Devices When I'm at work, I've got my Macbook connected to an external monitor and a Apple Magic Mouse + Apple keyboard (both bluetooth) and I am connected via ethernet.

When I unplug all devices and take my Macbook back home after work it normally goes to sleep mode and when I open it afterwards I get back right to where I left.
Recently I experience a lot of kernel panics when I am back at home (not every time). The white light doesn't flash anymore and when I open it, it tells me something went wrong and the system had to be shut down. Always showing this Log:

https://gist.github.com/martinhelfert/9531915

Any idea whats causing this? Checked RAM with memtest, sending it to sleep mode before disconnecting, checked the hard disk for errors, did the smc reset already

Have you tried creating a fresh, new user account and seeing if the problem persists there? It could be due to something your user account is loading or running in the background.


Where can I download old iOS versions from Apple? I need to test my app with older version of iOS and can't find exactly where to download them from Apple.

Anybody know the adress?

As far as I'm aware Apple doesn't offer the links directly, but iClarified has a complete list of iOS downloads for all models of iPhone available here. It came in handy when I downgraded my old 3G back down to 3.1.3


System boot chime right speaker only I recently replaced the internal hdd inside my macbook pro mid 2012 with a ssd. Now it seems that the system chime (the "boong" that goes off when i turn it on) only plays through the right speaker. Within the OS sound comes out of both speakers.

I have tried both a NVRAM reset and a smc reset.

What could be the issue?

This seems to be a problem for a particular number of MacBook Pro models starting in 2010.  According to this article in the Apple support site, the following models have a sub-woofer speaker in addition to the left and right speakers to enhance mid-range sounds.

MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Late 2011)
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012).

Looking at this article in the Apple discussion boards and this article here on Ask Different, users of these models are experiencing the same issue. If I had to guess, every model with this sub-woofer acts the same way and only a few users have noticed it.

There may not be a way to correct this. I hope this information helps.


How can I access 'flight mode' in iphone4 without a sim card? I am attempting to unlock an iPhone4. However, my issue seems to be that the phone doesn't recognize my SIM card. The advice I got from my previous carrier is to put the phone in 'flight mode'. This seems impossible to do without a working/recognized SIM card. Is there a short cut for accessing 'flight mode'?

Depending on your iOS there are several options to do this.

One way is by jailbreaking the phone.
Using the iPhone IMEI and the Gavey SIM tool you should be able to unlock it.

use google to find out more


Update install failing macOS Sierra I was on Sierra public beta 1, then on the lock screen, while trying to open the Guest account, it restarted automatically. Now it won't boot up, the installer is failing with the following error:

Is there any way I can stop the update from installing itself and opening the installed OS.
I don't have a time machine backup. Is there a way to take one from internet recovery or a bootable disk?

The system is a 13" MBP Retina.

This solved the problem for me:

Reset the NVRAM using Cmd+Opt+P+R after startup chime.
Boot into safe mode by pressing Shift after the startup chime.
Optionally, take a backup if you don't already have one. I disabled FileVault at this point so I can take backup using a disk image. Not necessary.
Install the updates and let it complete.

Credits: Stuart H


How can I sync mail older than two weeks on my iOS 4.1 device? In the settings for my exchange account I only see options for syncing up to two weeks back, not more. Is there a way I could sync mail that is more than two weeks old?

The reason for this is that the Exchange Administrator has used the iPhone Configuration Utility on the server to adjust how many weeks of mail you are allowed to sync. It is not possible to override this value on the phone itself without jailbraking.


Troubleshooting high CPU activity in the WindowServer process As far as I know WindowServer process is used by all apps to draw windows that we see. And a lot of people are reporting a problem when their WindowServer is using a lot of CPU. Is there any way to find out what process is interacting with WindowServer besides looking at the precesses at the ActivityMonitor, shutting them down and looking at the result?

Check out the man page for perfdiagnose. This tool is purpose-made for diagnosing exactly this sort of issue, where a simpler tool like Activity Monitor can only show you symptoms.

The output from perfdiagnose is not intended for end-users, but for developers and teams at Apple. If you're not able to make any sense of the logs it produces, your best bet is to attach them to a bug report submitted to Apple.


My SMS are not displayed in macOS Messages app anymore I use to have my SMS displayed in the macOS Messages app but it doesn't work anymore.

I check this Apple support document and my configuration is well set up:

Use Messages with your Mac.

Any idea how to restore it?

My configuration:

iOS version: 11.2.6
macOS version: Sierra 10.12.6

For SMS to appear in Messages app in macOS, you need to have Text Message Forwarding turned on in your iPhone. It can be enabled by going to Settings apps → Messages → Text Message Forwarding on your iPhone and turning on the switch which appears against your macOS device in the list.

The iMessage app on iPhone can send both an iMessage message as well as a SMS. iMessage appear in a blue bubble, while regular SMS appear in a green bubble.

Assuming you are signed into both your iPhone 6 and iPad 2nd generation, you can receive and reply to regular SMS (green bubble) from your iPad (as well as other Mac and iOS devices signed in using the same Apple ID), by using a feature called Text Message Forwarding. The option can be found by going to Settings apps → Messages → Text Message Forwarding and turning on the switch which appears against your iPad device in the list.

For step by step instructions, you can go through the Apple knowledge base articles, Use Continuity to connect your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch and How to forward SMS/MMS texts on your iPhone.


Open new terminal window in current space, regardless of other open terminals in other spaces When using Spaces on Mac OS X trying to open a new terminal instance results in focus being pulled to whatever space has the most recently accessed terminal window. With Finder I can click on the Desktop and then use ⌘-N to create a new Finder window. What I am looking for is a method for performing the same function for Terminal windows.

How can I create a new Terminal instance in the current space, regardless of whether or not there is another Terminal instance in one or more other spaces.

Thanks.

You can create a new service using automator (from the applications folder). At the top of the automator window, enter: Service receives 'no input' in 'any application'. Then, in the workflow, add 'Run applescript'. Make the applescript contain the following:

on run {input, parameters}

    tell application "Terminal"
        do script ""
        activate
    end tell

    return input
end run

(You can add any command you like into the do script line between the " " (e.g. something useful to run when terminal first opens like uptime if you like, or just leave it blank).

Save the service as 'Open Terminal' or whatever name you like. It should now appear in your services menu.

Then if you want to add a keyboard shortcut, you just need to go to System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard Shortcuts tab, select services in the left hand menu, and find your new service (its probably near the bottom). Just click in the space to the right of your service name, and assign it whatever keyboard shortcut you like, and hey presto! it should all work


Preview pdf markup on iPad? I've always loved the functionality Preview.app provides for marking up PDFs.  Using Dropbox allows me to easily see these changes across my mac's, but I'm stumped as to how to not only see, but continue to markup PDFs when I'm using my iPad.

Is there a native app or setting I'm missing? I've tried using iBooks, but I cannot annotate there on a pdf like I can an ePub.
If there isn't a way to do this out of the box, does anyone have a favorite third party solution?

As limited as it is, but just for annotations, Adobe Reader for iDevices does support most (if not all) annotation types.

Other PDF viewers support annotations as well, and if you want to have more functionality, particularly when it comes to PDF forms, you might look at PDFExpert by Readdle.


Can't delete the main Mac hard drive I want to downgrade from macOS Sierra to OS X Mavericks. I have backed up my Mac using Time Machine and I made a USB with the OS X Mavericks Installer.

The thing is that when I reboot my Mac with Alt/Option, enter the USB Installer and open Disk Utility I can't delete the main drive since there isn't just the button to erase it, but the volume ("Macintosh HD") has this button. How can I solve this problem?

If your volume is 'formatted' with coreStorage as a logical partition, reverting might be enough to resurrect the "Erase" tab.
In Terminal run the following command:

diskutil cs list

Note the disk identifier for the logical volume (e.g. on a Mac with only one drive and nothing else attached, it would be something like disk1)

Now try and revert from coreStorage (replacing disk1 with your own found disk identifier):

diskutil cs revert disk1

(you can run this either booted from your usual volume, or the installer disk)

If successful it will be mentioned in Terminal and the "Erase" button should have returned in Disk Utility, when you're booted from your installer drive.
(With more drives connected, make sure the disk identifier is the right one for the logical volume you want to revert)

If you can't successfully revert, make sure File Vault and encryption have been disabled, then try by destroying the whole coreStorage group with this command:

diskutil cs delete lvgUUID

replace lvgUUID with the UUID you found earlier in the diskutil cs list command under "Logical Volume Group".


Why is Image Capture showing two copies of every photo in my iPhone camera roll? I use Image Capture to import photos from my iPhone. I noticed recently that it shows two copies of every photo in the Image Capture window, both in list view and grid view.

There is only one copy of each photo in the iPhone camera roll, and when I drag them to a folder it only creates one copy of each. So it's not really causing a problem, but I'm curious why it is happening. I first noticed it in 10.10.1, and it continues in 10.10.2

See the screenshot below for an example. It is displaying two copies of IMG_6173.JPG and two copies of IMG_6172.JPG. There's only one copy of each in the camera roll. If I select all four and drag them to the desktop, it will create only one copy of each.

I just had this issue and found a solution on another site:

First, close Image Capture. Next, dismount the iPhone from the Mac by ejecting it with iTunes and unplug the cord from the iPhone. Then, just plug it back in and open up Image Capture again.

Worked for me - only one set of images.

Of course, this was after trying a couple other things... like turning off My Photo Stream (Settings>iCloud>iCloud>My Photo Stream: OFF) and turning off the "Keep Normal Photo" option (Settings>Photos & Camera>Keep Normal Photo: OFF), but I didn't notice any change immediately after doing these things  Only after unplugging and reconnecting the iPhone did the problem fix itself.  GOOD LUCK!


Display full name of apps shown in iTunes sync page As shown in the image, is it possible to see the full name of the app ? For instance, Adobe Reader is shown as 'Adobe Rea...' .

You can drag the entire window wider, or fullscreen it, but there's a limit to how wide it will go. There appears to be no separate column resize facility.

Narrowest...

Widest...


Is it possible to write a script to change the Energy Saver settings in OS X (10.7.3)? Basically, whenever I know I'm going to be gone, or if I'm going to sleep, I change the Energy Saver settings in System Preferences in OS X (10.7.3) for Power Adapter to:

Computer sleep: 1 min
Display sleep: 1 min

If I know I'm going to be around a while, I like to change the Energy Saver settings for Power Adapter to:

Computer Sleep: 15 min
Display Sleep: 15 min

Is it possible to script this sort of change? I do it often enough that a script would be worth it.

Look for the section titled "Changing Power Management Settings" in this MacScripter guide. An AppleScript example from the guide:

do shell script "pmset sleep 30" with administrator privileges


OS X: View Zip File as Folder One of the few good features of Windows is its ability to view a zip file as a folder. Is there some way, possibly using a third party app, to do the same on the Mac?

I know there are a number of apps which will mount the zip file as a volume, but I haven’t found a way to see one simply as a folder.

If you're comfortable with the command line and just want to get a list of the files inside the zip file, you could also use the zipinfo command:

$ zipinfo Archive.zip
Archive:  Archive.zip
Zip file size: 465 bytes, number of entries: 3
-rw-r--r--  2.1 unx        6 bX defN 18-Jun-19 05:00 baz.txt
-rw-r--r--  2.1 unx        6 bX defN 18-Jun-19 05:00 foo.txt
-rw-r--r--  2.1 unx       23 bX defN 18-Jun-19 05:00 bar.txt
3 files, 35 bytes uncompressed, 41 bytes compressed:  -17.1%

Or, unzip -l:

$ unzip -l Archive.zip
Archive:  Archive.zip
  Length      Date    Time    Name
---------  ---------- -----   ----
        6  06-19-2018 05:00   baz.txt
        6  06-19-2018 05:00   foo.txt
       23  06-19-2018 05:00   bar.txt
---------                     -------
       35                     3 files


Print multiple email messages from Apple Mail to individual PDFs My goal is to be able to highlight a number of messages in Apple Mail then run a process to print them each to a PDF.  Right now I can select multiple emails command + P Then select PDF -> Save as PDF but that saves all the highlighted emails as an single PDF file.  I'm looking to get an individual PDF per highlighted email (with the subjst as the PDF file name if possible).

I looked at Automator's Print Plugin but couldn't find a way to create separate documents (can't say I'm any sort of Automator pro so I may have overlooked something obvious)

Is there some way for me to accomplish this using Automator or applescript?

This following AppleScript code will save single or multiple selected email messages as individual PDF files. Each PDF file will be named as the subject of the selected email message.

This solution works for me using the latest version of macOS Catalina.

tell application "Mail" to activate

tell application "System Events" to tell application process "Mail"
    repeat until frontmost
        delay 0.1
    end repeat
    tell menu bar 1 to tell menu bar item "File" to tell menu "File"
        tell menu item "Export as PDF…" to perform action "AXPress"
        delay 1 -- Value May Need To Be Adjusted
    end tell
    repeat until sheet 1 of window 1 exists
        delay 0.1
    end repeat
    if UI element "Choose" of sheet 1 of window 1 exists then
        -- When Multiple Email Messages Are Selected
        click UI element "Choose" of sheet 1 of window 1
    else
        -- When Only One Email Message Is Selected
        click UI element "Save" of sheet 1 of window 1
    end if
end tell


My whole HD is "Mac OS X Base System" my entire HD is now "Mac OS X Base System":

ps: Mac OS X Base System is Disk0s2

I cant delete this partition to install Mac OS X; I already try the terminal, but message reply "you cannot erase the boot disk".

Does anyone have any idea how can I fix this?

Probably your pMBR/GPT got corrupted or the Base System is somehow mapped falsely. Usually the first partition (EFI) and the last partition (Recovery HD) aren't visible.
Additionally a freshly erased disk0s2 ususally contains ~200 MB and not 1.4 GB (which is "by accident" the uncompressed size of a Base System).

The best thing is to completly erase the internal disk by whether:

Booting to Internet Recovery Mode by hitting altcmdR immediately after the start chime, repartitionung the internal HDD to one partition and installing a new system.

or

Attaching a thumb drive and installing a fresh system there. After rebooting from the thumb drive, repartition the internal HDD and install a fresh system to the internal disk.

In both cases the invisible EFI partition will be build automatically as well as the Recovery HD while installing a new system.


Stanza replacement recommendation? Now that Amazon has sunk the usability flagship among e-readers, Stanza, I am looking for a replacement but it turns out to be very difficult. It seems every app praises itself beyond reason. Every forum peddles whatever app has their fancy. How can I find a good e-reader app without installing and testing them all? Many aren't free and it would be silly to pay for many of them, only to find them all lacking.

My requirements, roughly in order, are the following. Basically, this is what made Stanza so amazing to use.

In-app download from sources such as Feedbooks. (This is what's now broken in Stanza, and won't ever get fixed because Amazon doesn't care. This is the reason I'm looking for alternatives.)
Easy to search for and download free books.
Configurable font size, font color, and background color.
Configurable font size, font color, and background color - in night mode.
Configurable without having to dig deep into settings.
Easy to select a book from the library.

Long overdue answer to this one…

Simple answer - Marvin (paid & free versions) plus Calibre (free, donationware) for format changing, editing etc & plugins by Wulf Krueger (again free, donationware) (iOS Reader applications & Marvin XD) for simple transmission to iPhone rather than having to use iTunes.

Join my Facebook group Revive Stanza for iOS 5 & check the back history. Wolf Krueger was very active in the early days, when there was a lot of discussion as to what might be the ideal replacement for Stanza. It's gone very quiet over the past year or so, as it became more & more apparent there was going to be no further move on Stanza, so it's an archive rather than an active group any more.

There are, of course, as many book reader apps as there are book readers, so I'm certain there are more opinions on which is best than anyone could reasonably wade through.

The group, btw, isn't trying to sell anything, or even force everybody to adopt the same new app & all opinions are the responsibility of the poster; it was just a meeting place for many people stuck in the same situation when Stanza went away.


Macbook pro stuck on 'About a second remaining' for an hour I'm trying to upgrade my Macbook pro late 2011's hard disk to an SSD from Corsair.
 I have inserted the USB stick with the OSX Mavericks installer, and everything went great: I made a GUID single partition table, and then erased the disk as Mac OS X Journaled. Then I clicked Install OSX Mavericks and selected the SSD. After 13 minutes, the blue bar is complete, and on top, it says: 'Preparing to install. Your computer will restart automatically.'. Below the blue bar, it says 'About a second remaining'.

It's stuck on this state, with the mouse on the spinning wheel mode, for over a full hour. I'm really starting to worry.
I looked online and found a guy with a similar problem, but he only waited for half an hour. What should I do? Thanks!

The problem with the upgrade script is the timing only estimates how long it takes for Apple's software to install.

You can (and should) open the log file while upgrading/installing and press Command-3 to show all logs, not just the errors.

⌘+L
⌘+3

You can see that during this "about a second" it's really migrating user files and handling all the things you've brought to the Mac that isn't part of the base system.

Basically, let it run as long as you can stand - especially if the log file shows progress being made. If progress isn’t being made, consider connecting to the internet via a wired connection if possible or making sure the wireless network is operational before interrupting what looks to be a paused or stopped installation.


What was the format for personal sites hosted with (deprecated) .Mac? I can't find any leads on what the URL formatting was for websites hosted as part of the .Mac offerings. I'd like to find my old one and see if it was archived by the Wayback Machine, but don't remember the syntax (i.e. http://web.mac.com/~handle).

homepage.mac.com

The format was http://homepage.mac.com/sitehost/penrithfire and at least some of the pages are in the Wayback Machine.

This penrithfire example came from a signature in a discussion from 2003 about dot Mac.


Windows Live XMPP and iChat I'm not all too familiar with the XMPP protocol, but ever since Microsoft released official XMPP support for Windows live Messenger, i've been wondering how to make it work with the "Jabber" account type on iChat (which is also XMPP). Anyone found a solution?

A lot of blog sites seem to have assumed that Windows Live's XMPP support would work with any existing Jabber client, but it isn't so.

To log into the Windows Live Messenger network with XMPP, a client program needs to use OAuth; i.e. it has to direct you to Microsoft's web site to log in to Windows Live, and then it has to connect to MS via XMPP and pass a token it got using OAuth.

So, to use iChat with it, either iChat would have to add support for all of that specifically, or there would need to be some kind of proxy in between iChat and the MS servers that would do the authentication part and then pass everything else through for iChat. Sadly, I haven't heard of anyone building anything like that yet.

If all you wanted to do is to connect to the Windows Live Messenger network from iChat, you might have more luck just going through a Jabber server that has the MSN Transport installed, which connects to the Windows Live Messenger network using the old fashioned MSNP protocol instead of XMPP.


Can't ping local devices by network name after DNS change Today I was changing the Wifi network adapter settings to give my MacBook Pro a static IP address on the local network (disabling DHCP), and for this I had to add the DNS servers that I looked up in my router's admin interface.

Upon adding the first DNS server with the "+" icon in the DNS tab of the adapter advanced properties, all the entries that were already present in the list of DNS servers vanished without me taking notice of what they were. (I figured they weren't so important). So I added both DNS servers provided by my router's status page as well as the router IP address (you never know).

After applying the parameters, I noticed I could not ping my Raspberry Pi with it's network name raspberrypi anymore, nor could I connect via SSH to it with this name. I have to use the IP address instead.

This leads me to believe I lost a DNS server in the process. How can I find out which DNS server to add in order to be able to ping devices by network name again?

Thanks

Your router's DNS servers won't know about your private device names, but chances are your router will. Add your royter's IP address to the list of DNS servers and drag it to
the top of the list.


Embedded video in pdf file doesn't work in Preview I worked with LaTeX and I created a pdf document that contains some embedded videos. The videos pop up when I click on them and this functionality works just find in Adobe Reader. But when I try to do the same on Preview it doesn't work, and it gives me this sound as if there's an error or something, just that no error is shown on the screen. Can someone know how to make Preview work with embedded videos on pdf files?

By definition, either Acrobat or Adobe Reader would be considered standards for viewing a given PDF. Since your PDF does not display the embedded video in Preview, this would indicate a bug within Preview that needs to be reported to Apple.

In addition to decribing how you created the PDF, they'd need a copy of that PDF for testing.


Is it possible to schedule send an email using the default Mail OS app? Most of the questions here are asked for the OS 2016 and before. It's 2020 now, are there any methods to schedule an email using the default mail app?

Mail doesn't have this feature out of the box but you can use your native Mac apps to schedule an email. My answer is based on macOS Catalina but it should be practically the same besides some minor differences, placement etc.
Using Automator and Calendar:

Create an email workflow using Automator; then
Add the Automator workflow to a new Calendar event (formerly iCal)

1. Create an email workflow using Automator
First open Automator app, which is found in the Utilities folder, and choose New Document. When you see the workflow type chooser, select Application.
Select Mail from the Library pane on the left, and a list of Mail actions will show in the Actions pane to the right. Scroll down and you will see the New Mail Message action. Double-click it or drag it to your workflow.
Once you've composed your message, add the Send Outgoing Mail action to the workflow. Now save the workflow and quit. Make sure the format is set as Application.

2. Add the Automator workflow to a new Calendar event
Open Calendar app (formerly iCal) and choose New from the menubar, or select an existing event to edit.
Give the event a name and set the time and date as per usual. Where we can set an alert, we'll select Custom. From the dropdown, choose Open file, and from the next dropdown, (currently labeled Calendar) select Other. Now browse to the Automator workflow app from the previous step. Save the event and quit.
Should be good to go. Don't forget to keep your Mac turned on.
Edit: Using Calendar without a Automator workflow
The Calendar app lets you send an email as part of an events alert. Similar to the first method, instead of selecting Open file after choosing Custom for the alert type, you can select Email.
Not sure how long this has been an option or if its available in earlier versions of Calendar and iCal.


Change an app from "all users" to "this user only" I've been on my mac for quite a while now, using only a single account (mine).

I've added a new account for my girlfriend recently (yes it's getting serious), but I have a little problem.

I'm a physicist and therefore use a lot of domain-specific apps (matlab, macvim, latex, ...) which my girlfriend doesn't need.

How can I change these apps so they only show up in my account's applications folder (I am the admin). Vice versa, I would also want that none of the apps she installs are visible on my account.

How would this be done? Do her privileges prevent her from installing global apps?

You have two questions here. ( and ~ is short for the /Users/current_user folder)

1) For apps only to show up in your account - move them to ~/Applications

2) If a user is not part of the Administrators group then that user cannot install apps in /Applications which is the normal place for shared Applications. Non admin users can install apps in their home folder ~ but not another user's Applications folder nor the system Applications folder.


Launching apps behind the lock screen? I need to run an application behind the lock screen, e.g., just as Time Machine or Sophos antivirus (and others) can run when the screen is locked.

Specifically, I would like to schedule an application to launch when the computer is asleep and unattended (but not powered off).  The plan is to schedule wake via Energy Saver or pmset, and use iCal/Automator to schedule the app launch.  The problem I'm encountering is the lock screen (ie System Pref > Security > Require Password).  When the lock screen is enabled the application will not launch unattended - a user must enter the password. By way of debugging I have confirmed that disabling lock screen allows the app to launch, but this is not a solution due to the security issues.

Bottom line: Is there a way to schedule an applescript or shell script (perhaps with root privileges) to grant the lock screen access to the password?   I'm thinking KeyChain should be able to do this, but I can't figure out how.  Or perhaps there are other solutions?

Other details:
- I'm running 10.7 and 10.9.

Power Manager

If you are happy to use a third party application, Power Manager can do exactly what you want.

There are lots of recipes to help create your schedule. For your situation:

Create a Scheduled Power On/Start Up
Create a Scheduled Application Launch

By default, Power Manager will power on a sleeping Mac to perform scheduled events. The recipe above for launching an application will automatically wake a sleeping Mac. You can adjust the event to power on a shut down Mac, if desired.

Power Manager will launch your application behind the lock screen. This is possible because Power Manager has a helper agent running within each user session. The main scheduler works with the agent to make sure the application is launched in the right user session.

Disclosure: I work for DssW, who make Power Manager; so feel free to ask technical questions.

Fast User Switch

If you are concerned about security, consider having the user be switched back to the login window with Fast User Switching.

While Fast User Switched, your Mac can wake to schedule, run the AppleScript, and complete its task while not risking unguarded access to the Mac.


How can I get my Macbook Air 2013 (September 2013) to connect to wi-fi? I just got my new MacBook Air delivered yesterday.  I opened it up today and was happy until it couldn't connect to Wi-Fi.  After Googling I found out that this has been an issue and that Apple created a patch for it.  But that was in July and I got mine yesterday.

Do I have to download that patch even though it's old? I got mine 24 hours ago so I would assume that it would've come with that patch already on it?

I am running 10.8.4.  My ISP is Verizon Fios.

I am confused.  Not sure what to do.  Please advise.

Something is wrong here!

It is correct there are always software updates, but it is not possible that your Airport (WiFi) does not work at all (unless it is broken) and no software will fix that, so you need to send your computer back.

Make sure it is turned on in your system preference - Network- WiFi ON!

Now to the software updates:

Even if you bought it tomorrow does not means it has the latest software updates.

Since you do not have a WiFi Internet connection you can not get the software updates via Internet.

You could bring it back to Apple and they will fix it.

Alternatively, get a piece of Ethernet cable and connect to the router.

Since it is a MBA that does not has a Ethernet plug, you will need a Thunderbolt to Ethernet plug.

Then Click on the Apple (top left) and on the software update.


Missing advanced network settings for iPhone USB/Bluetooth tethering My iPhone is tethered to my Mac laptop via Bluetooth or USB.

I want to set up a proxy on my Mac for use with the iPhone network interface, but unfortunately in Mac OS X 10.6, under System Preferences -> Network, the iPhone Bluetooth and iPhone USB network interfaces lack the standard options under the Advanced… tab. These Advanced… options are available in other interfaces (e.g., Airport, Ethernet, etc.).

I want to use the polipo caching proxy for tethered browsing, but I am unable to define an HTTP Proxy in the GUI, since these options are missing.

The prefpane windows for my tethered iPhone's network interfaces (Bluetooth & USB)  is missing the normal options for network interfaces.

Does anyone know a command line workaround for setting up an HTTP proxy, or some way of modifying the prefpane settings for the iPhone network interfaces?

You can use the networksetup command. For example:

sudo networksetup -setsocksfirewallproxy "iPhone USB" localhost 8888

Take a look at http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/networksetup.8.html


Disk Utility - 3 Pass Erase Just for my curiosity and knowledge,

I read on a book that Disk Utility can erase a Volume/Partition by using different option of security.

Among these options there is one called: 3 Pass Erase, that writes two passes of random data followed by a single pass of known data to the disk.

According to Apple, this option meets US Department of Energy.  What does the US Department of Energy have to do with secure erasing data? Do they control the security standard? I thought was the Department of Defense that control the standards.

Thank you

The 3 pass erase method, where two passes are random data and one is known data is listed in DoE M 205.1-6. The DoE among their other sensitive operations, designs, tests, and builds the US nuclear arsenal. Different agencies often develop different methods to achieve same results.

Also, I don't think either agency uses either of those methods anymore.


Can I use Migration Assistant to migrate certain data from different sources? I recently had a hard drive failure (which I now blame on the SATA cable because my SSD became corrupted). I have the stock hard drive that originally came with my MacBook Pro, and I have put it in an enclosure so I can use it via USB. When I restored my hard drive using Time Machine, the computer kept going to sleep despite being connected to power. After about 12 hours being stuck at the same spot, I decided to force shut down the computer and then restart the transfer. When the computer booted back up, all (or at least most, and some data I haven't needed lately) was there. I tried to open the Messages app and it would not open. I reinstalled the OS using the option that would allow me to keep my data, which fixed some errors that the system had been giving me. After researching online, I learned that I should remove the file that stores Messages information (I forget what it was called). My Messages now open, but all previous ones were deleted.

When I get the SATA cable fixed, I want to restore from the Time Machine backup because I still don't fully trust the OS on the hard drive I'm using right now. However, I have other files and messages that have been created that I want to transfer. How should I migrate these files without overwriting any data?

When migrating my system I often "abuse" the Migration Assistant to import my files to a dummy user. Then I create a second user and copy only the files I really want to the new user. Once I am done I delete the dummy user. This strategy should also help you to get your files together.

Some other hints that could interest you:

You can use rsync with the -c command in Terminal to compare files by their checksum. This is a very slow process because every file will be fully read. However, this gives you absolute certainty if two files are identical or not. Using e.g. rsync -anrcv /Volumes/BackupDisk/OSX/Users/me/ /Volumes/OSX/Users/me would print all files that have different checksums, i.e. are potentially corrupted. I sometimes use that when I suspect that a drive has corrupted data.
You can use caffeinate in Terminal to keep your Mac from sleeping.


Why won't iTunes copy my new mp3 to the iPod? I have a new mp3 in iTunes, and despite how many times I sync it with my iPod, the new song will not be copied. I tried to remove all songs from that artist, and add again, but the new song is still not on the iPod.

There is no message or indication of an error.

Any idea what's wrong here? (using a fourth-gen iPod touch and iTunes 10)

As @iampearce answered in the comments:

  If you're manually syncing, grab the file from in iTunes and drag it
  onto the iPod itself. This will force it to copy over, and you'll be
  able to see it happen in the progress bar.


Is it feasible to transition from external USB to NAS for data drive? I have a basic 1Tb external drive plugged into the back of my 2012 MacMini. It works but is ugly.

I've been considering for a while getting either a NAS, or just plugging a USB drive into the back of my main router as a network disk - for central store of photos and digital media (music, video) across our household.

Could I just use that solution to replace the external disk on my Mac and use a network drive on the NAS as a remote volume, without impacting my user experience? I connect my Mac to the outer by ethernet (Powerline/Homeplug 200Mbps) so I wouldn't need to rely on wireless but even so - is this going to be too slow?

It all depends on a couple of things, not the least of which what, exactly, you define as "too slow." And that is going to be answerable only by trying it out. One of the other things it depends on is how fast your network is.

Modern networking is at the gigabit level, but it is still common to see routers and switches, especially those provided by your ISP to be 100mb (or 1/10th the speed of gigabit). Needless to say I would recommend you have gigabit networking. And if you are relying on your ISP-provided router for your network, perhaps you will need an inexpensive gigabit switch to connect all your computers with one port left over to then plug into your ISP-provided router.

Another consideration is what, exactly, you keep on the external drive. If it is your user profile I would say no. If it is your documents folder, probably.

Again it depends on your personal usage patterns and how much data you are pushing across the wire and how fast you need it to be.

I have a NAS. I use it for backup (Time Machine & Dropbox) and as a centralized location for music, TV & movies (Plex) but don't use it as a location for keeping files I am currently working on (Dropbox is there just as another backup location). But people work with documents (Word, Excel, etc.) across a GB network all the time, so it is completely doable.

But it depends heavily on your use case. So find a place with a liberal return policy (Costco?) and give it a try.


How to automatically connect VPN when connecting to a network? In my university, the only way to access Internet is to connect to a VPN server. I've configured the VPN on my Mac and it's working fine, but I need to manually connect to the VPN every time I connect to the University network. How can I configure my Mac so it automatically uses the VPN whenever I'm working inside the University network?

Edit:
Can I use AppleScript to achieve this? Theoretically, it should be fairly simple, something like this:

if NetworkAPI.connectedNetwork.SSID == "Specific SSID":
    NetworkAPI.getVPNConnection("VPN Name").connect()

(I added AppleScript tag to my question to attract people with expertise in AppleScript, but any other method is acceptable.)

LifeHacker has answered your prayers (with Apple Script). You will obviously need to replace VPN University with the name of the service pertinent to you, and SSID University with the name of your university's SSID.

on idle
    set mySSID to do shell script "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I | awk '/ SSID/ {print substr($0, index($0, $2))}'"
    if ((mySSID as string) is equal to "SSID University") then
    tell application "System Events"
            tell current location of network preferences
            set myConnection to the service "VPN University"
            if myConnection is not null then
                if current configuration of myConnection is not connected then
                    connect myConnection
                end if
            end if
        end tell
        return 120
    end tell
    end if
end idle

You can save this as an application any way you want, I prefer to go through Automator, though Script Editor, AppleScript, or XCode are also capable of compiling AppleScript, save it as an application, mark it to start on log in, then if you want to be fancy, you can either tell XCode not to have its icon on the dock, or edit the .plst file in the application bundle as such:

<key>LSUIElement</key>
<string>1</string>

This little hack per user ianneub.

Note I have tested the applescript piece only on my early '11 15" MBP OS X 10.10. Your mileage may vary if you're running El Capitan (I bet it doesn't though). This post comes with no warranties of any kind, and may give you gonorrhea.

EDIT:
Note I updated the original script to check for a specific SSID, then perform the actions. I'm on my WinXP machine right now, so this is an untested, but relatively safe change. I found the info on getting the current SSID here and info on string comparison here.


How to expand SD Card disk size (clone smaller SD Card into Larger one) I am trying to clone the content of my 16GB SD card onto a 64GB SD Card.

What I tried first was to just copy all the files from the 16 to the 64 manually. This did not work out, the tool using the card could not use the card anymore. So I did following:

Create .dmg file from 16GB SD Card.
Restore .dmg onto my 64GB SD Card.
Boot up the 64GB SD Card
= works like a charm

BUT unfortunately it also "shrink" my 64GB card to 16...

Here is what I get typing diskutil list:

/dev/disk3 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *62.5 GB    disk3
   1:                 DOS_FAT_32 UNTITLED                15.8 GB    disk3s1

So as you can see there is 62.5GB on the partition Card. How can I expand the 1: DOS_FAT_32 UNTITLED to gain more space, like 60 or so?

Thank you!

€: I read somewhere that I can copy the image of the 16gb into the image of the 64 with asr --source UNTITLED16.dmg --target n/UNTITLED64.dmg --erase but that gives me "n/UNTITLED64.dmg" is not a volume. Could not validate target - No such file or directory :(

€€: As suggested by comments I tried copying things using cp and also rsyncit did not help, it’s just the same result as manual copying of files.
Then I also tried Disk Utility > Image > Resize but unfortunately it did not work either, I get: The selected disk image can not be resized. Operation not permitted. Even if I add public read-write permission :(
Same thing using sudo hdiutil resize -size 50G /path/to/image.dmg gives me hdiutil: resize: failed. Operation not permitted (1)...

Try booting from a GParted Live USB stick. You should be able to resize the FAT partition with that utility.


Bootcamp partition not showing up after OS partition resize I have a MacBookPro mid 2012 with OSX El Căpitan and yesterday I resized my OSX partition in order to make more room for the bootcamp partition (Win. 8.1). After I decreased the OSX partition I tried to log into the bootcamp partition but it didn't show up anymore, even if it appears Ok in finder. Would you please help me to recover it ?

Thanks a lot,

Emil

Usually, in order to enlarge your Windows partition, you have to relocate the entire partition. Or, in other words, there usually is not way using OS X to enlarge the Windows partition after shrinking the OS X partition. You can, for example, remove Windows completely and then reinstall Windows to a larger partition. There are also third party tools, such as Winclone, that can be used to backup a Windows partition, shrink the OS X partition, create a larger empty Windows partition, then restore Windows to this larger partition.

I am not sure how just shrinking the OS X partition alone would cause Windows not to boot. One idea is that the type of partitioning was changed. In other words, you either had a pure or hybrid GPT partitioned drive and, after shrinking the OS X partition, the partitioning changed from pure to hybrid or hybrid to pure.

A pure GPT partitioned drive requires Windows to use the EFI to boot, where as a hybrid GPT partitioned drive requires Windows to use the BIOS to boot. So the questions are what is your current partitioning scheme and how does Windows intend to boot?

The following Terminal application commands can be use to determine you current partitioning scheme. None these commands will change your computer.

diskutil list
sudo gpt -r show /dev/disk0
sudo fdisk /dev/disk0

If fdisk shows more than one partition, then Windows will assume to use a BIOS boot method, otherwise the EFI method will be used.

You can determine if Windows was using a EFI boot method by viewing the contents of the hidden EFI partition. To view the contents in the Finder, enter the following command.

diskutil mountvolume /dev/disk0s1

After viewing the contents, you can hide the partition by entering the following command.

diskutil unmountvolume /dev/disk0s1

What you are looking for is a folder labeled Windows. If found, then Windows probably was using the EFI boot method, otherwise the boot method was probably BIOS based.

If the wrong boot method is being used, then the partition tables need to be repaired. The proper steps to repair the tables depends on the contents of the tables. In other words, you will need to first post the output from the first set of commands given in this answer.


How "safe" is my laptop running on Service Battery I've had my Mac for over 3 years and I've been good about checking the battery's condition, which was always Normal, but all of a sudden the dreaded Service Battery suddenly showed up.

This was not unexpected, I use my MacBook like a desktop. My Mac is never really moved and is always fully charged (I do take out the cable when it reaches 100% but I put it back in at about 10%). My cycle count is 781 which is only about 3/4 of the battery's life, and I use it hours every day.

My question is, how long can I go with this Service Battery. I do not want to damage my computer but as I'm always right next to the power cord, battery capacity is not a problem.

The help says:

  You can continue to use your battery before it’s checked without harming your computer.

So when will it damage my computer if at all?

I replaced mine (MBP 2009) as soon as possible in the knowledge that Apple only stock replacement batteries for 5 years (source: Apple Genius told me). Mine was 4 years, 11 Months...

Aside from the 'service battery' warning I was seeing wildly fluctuating capacity and a tendency to power down hard at ~20% - so aside from the physical risk you may also risk data loss & file system corruption.


OS X Mail App - How to send an email at a specific date and time Just for my curiosity and knowledge, is there any way to create different emails and have them delivery automatically at a specific date and time?

As provider I do use iCloud.com and Gmail.com and I have OS X 10.10 Mail App.

There is a plugin for mail SendLater unfortunately it costs money. Maybe there are some similar free plugins.


How to make command-key shortcuts work again? I've just upgraded from 10.5 to 10.6.3 and all seemed to go OK, except that now no keyboard shortcuts work in any application. The keyboard viewer shows me that the command keys are working fine, and some global shortcuts work fine when I've configured them to (e.g. command-space to produce the Spotlight search box).

But all applications (e.g. Finder, Safari, Chrome, Terminal) ignore any shortcuts I type at them, even if I use the keyboard viewer to type them.

Oh yes, one other strange anomaly: in Chrome, if I type command-C, it brings up the Developer Tools window if the selection is in the main body rather than the URL box.

Another anomaly I've just found: in the iTunes search box, the backspace key and the arrow keys don't have their usual function - they produce blanks. If I copy that text, it seems the key codes are going through uninterpreted (here I typed 'a' followed by backspace, left arrow, right arrow, up arrow, down arrow):

% pbpaste | od -c
0000000    a  \b 034 035 036 037
0000006
%

What on earth is going on, and how can I stop it?!

This may not help directly but have you tried creating another account on the system to see if you experience the same issues?
If a new account does work then I am willing to bet a plist file in ~/Library/Preferences/ got messed up or not upgraded to the new 10.6 format. I recall a similar key mapping issue when I went from 10.4 to 10.5.


Is there a Mac diagnostics utility for troubleshooting hardware issues? Is there software that helps identify problems, issues, conflicts, etc. with the hardware of a Mac?

I came across Tech Tool Deluxe, which was apparently used in Applecare. Wondering if there was any other hardware diagnostics tool out there.

Looks like Apple Hardware Test is a possible solution. Might need some elbow grease to get it to work on OS X Lion.


macOS Catalina upgrade install with macOS Yosemite is stuck at macOS Catalina will be installed on disk I am installing Mac OS Catalina on Mac OS mid 2012 as upgrade install from Mac OS Yosemite It has stuck for about 3 hours now at finishing bar of macOS Catalina will be installed on disk Kindly guide what to do
screenshot of where installation is got stuck

screenshot of laptop specifications

I'd suggest patience proportional to the time since your last backup.
Catalina will reformat the drive into new partition types. Interrupting that is going to mean starting over.
If you're lucky, the time it's taking is simply the time needed to reformat. macOS since maybe High Sierra or Mojave really expects to be running on an SSD, so there's going to be considerable additional time penalty whilst it does this conversion on an HD.
If your backup is good, you could consider dumping this attempt & start over with El Capitan, which is considered minimum OS from which to jump to Catalina. I'm somewhat surprised the installer didn't prevent you from going ahead, though I've never attempted to jump this far myself, so I don't know how the installer should react to the attempt.


Cannot log into my Google account with Smart Lock, username and password prompt keeps repeating I have two-factor authentication enabled on my Google account, and in order to log into my account on my iPhone one has to use the Google Smart Lock application from the iOS app store.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/google-smart-lock/id1152066360?mt=8

After signing in, being prompted for my 2FA device which I press, I go through the prompts, and then I am presented again with the login form.

The solution here was that at some point I had disabled Safari which doesn't really uninstall it as it can't be removed but does remove the app icon from your home pages. It also seems to have other effects as cookies or however the Smart Lock app is saving state fails to work, and thus will continuously ask for you to log in.

As of iOS 12, this setting is found: Settings > Screen Time > Content and Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps

After ensuring that I had enabled Safari, everything worked perfectly.


Is there any way to generate an XML file of my Music library in macOS Catalina? I have upgraded to macOS Catalina and have no real complaints. But to the best of my knowledge, some audio applications — mainly DJ playlist-based applications — that use the old iTunes XML library file might be out of luck.

Is this really the case? Is there no way to generate an XML file based on your Music library in macOS Catalina?

While Apple Music does not automatically generate an library XML file, this can be done manually in the app itself.

While the old XML file is not automatically generated anymore, you can manually export an XML file of your Music library in macOS Catalina which — I will assume — is in the same exact format as the old iTunes XML file by following these steps.

First, open up the Music app, go to the “File” menu and choose the “Library” option.

Then, in that list there are two options: “Export Library” and “Export Playlist.” I’m choosing “Export Playlist” for this example.

After doing that you will be presented with a fairly standard Apple file save/load interface to save the “Library.xml” file and there you go!

While definitely not as convenient as the old way it was constantly generated in iTunes, I believe this should work well for apps that require the XML file.

Slightly snarky note/criticism from a programer: Why isn’t there a JSON formatting option for export? Let users choose XML or JSON based on needs since — honestly — nobody really likes dealing with XML in 2019. But I digress…


Trying to make a portable Mac Pro. Is there a third party way to use a Mac Pro as the "computer" and a laptop as the Screen, mouse, keyboard, speaker, ext?

It sounds like it might work but in taking about target display mode Apple only mentions an iMac as supported.

Target Display Mode

Though they do not specifically mention a MacBook as supported or not. It is unlikely that trying it would cause problems (or damage), but I am unsure.


How to make iPhone turned on after charging I often charge my iPhone when it ran out of battery. I often postponed charging my iPhone until it really run out of battery.

After I charge my iPhone, I usually go to sleep or rest or forget about it. Unfortunately, as shown in If we run out of battery and then charge iPhone, will it turn back on?, things tend to go wrong.

The iPhone can be fully charged, but not turned on at all. So For 3-4 hours, I would receive no incoming calls.

If I want to receive incoming calls, I could go back to my iPhone 3 minutes after charging and explicitly turn it on. However, after that 3 minutes, I usually have other things to do or is sleeping. So I am often forget to do so.

This has cost me a lot of money because I often lost important call because of this.

How do I change iPhone behavior so that charging the iPhone automatically turn it on?

I think it's just common sense. We want our iPhone to get turned on all the time and if we do not like it, we can always turn it off. The idea that my iPhone can be charged without me being able to receive any call bothers me a lot.

In a word: Yes.

To the best of my knowledge, the mere act of plugging-in the dead iPhone to a recognized charger will cause the phone to initiate the boot sequence once the battery has charged sufficiently to allow for running the phone and charging simultaneously.

You can check this behavior by turning your phone off and then plugging it into a known-good charging system.  You should see the apple appear shortly and the phone will proceed to boot-up.


Are there any good iPhone camera apps that properly rotate photos? I have an iPhone 4s. I'm happy with the default Camera app, however every time I import photos to Picasa or email them or use them on a website or something they're improperly rotated. This is because the iPhone doesn't rotate the photo, it only saves rotation in metadata, and it is extremely annoying. So are there any good camera apps that actually rotate the photo (not just metadata) and saves photos to Photo-stream and saves photos and videos to the camera roll/Photos app? I'd even pay $1 or $2 if need be, but it has to save pictures to the same place that the default app does and has to rotate properly.

If any I think ProCam might do this by default. There's no specific settings for where to do the rotation, but if I don't remember wrong it actually rotates the image. I'm not sure if the app is free or costs anything since I got it thru appoftheday for free.

Have a try. If you want I can check it out further so you don't need to purchase the app?

Edit:

Sorry to dissapoint you. Neither of the apps: ProCam, Awesomemize or Awesome Camera does this. I tested all of them by taking a photo upside down and mailing it to myself. The image arriving on my computer was also upside down.

If youre into code you should have a look at whats going wrong and how to fix it:
http://pleaselistencarefully.com/Why-photo-rotation-is-broken-on-the-iphone-4-and-how-to-fix-it-using-paperclip-on-heroku


Can a wired (ethernet) Mac act as a WiFi access point? A MacPro '10 running 10.6.8, connected to the network via Ethernet.

If I'd like to add a webcam is a router required or can I set up direct access? i.e. can AirPort act as an access point?

Yes, you can do that. When Ethernet is connected, go to Sharing System  Preference Pane. You can share the Internet there by selecting Ethernet as a source.


How to resize my partitions? I have 3 partitions on my hard drive right now, and none of them are able to be resized (the apply button is greyed out when trying to partition).

I also feel like my drives are messed up in some way because I tried to get Apple support to help with resizing, and they just said they don't know what's going on, and I need to do a full reset. However, I don't want to reset the Bootcamp partition as I don't have access to/can't find the license anymore to reinstall Microsoft Office, which is mainly what I use Bootcamp for.

Can anyone help me figure out how to resize my OS X Base System or Bootcamp partitions, so that I can have more space on my MacOS Sierra partition?

Here are some details.

diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                         251.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     314.6 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD            40.0 GB    disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
   4:       Microsoft Basic Data BOOTCAMP                104.9 GB   disk0s4
   5:                 Apple_APFS Container disk2         105.1 GB   disk0s5

/dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS OS X Base System       +39.7 GB    disk1
                                 Logical Volume on disk0s2
                                 D7973CD1-C28B-4D48-9D00-67E9F613D63D
                                 Unencrypted

/dev/disk2 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +105.1 GB   disk2
                                 Physical Store disk0s5
   1:                APFS Volume MacOS Sierra            94.6 GB    disk2s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 22.5 MB    disk2s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                515.0 MB   disk2s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      2.1 GB     disk2s4

diskutil cs list
CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group A8032031-9A1E-439F-B836-4317DC3B4E1B
    =========================================================
    Name:         Macintosh HD
    Status:       Online
    Size:         40028594176 B (40.0 GB)
    Free Space:   0 B (0 B)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume 08D113CD-E0B8-43F6-BBDA-6CE28CD1992D
    |   ----------------------------------------------------
    |   Index:    0
    |   Disk:     disk0s2
    |   Status:   Online
    |   Size:     40028594176 B (40.0 GB)
    |
    +-> Logical Volume Family D1D151BC-BDDE-4D3A-9997-0082983E4154
        ----------------------------------------------------------
        Encryption Type:         None
        |
        +-> Logical Volume D7973CD1-C28B-4D48-9D00-67E9F613D63D
            ---------------------------------------------------
            Disk:                  disk1
            Status:                Online
            Size (Total):          39676272640 B (39.7 GB)
            Revertible:            Yes (no decryption required)
            LV Name:               OS X Base System
            Volume Name:           OS X Base System
            Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

Disk Utility can't resize Windows NTFS partitions.
You can do advanced container/partitions editing in a GUI with a third party application:

Paragon Hard Disk Manager

It has fully functional 10 day trial period.


Iphone 4S screen and aux replacement costs I smashed my phone, all the screen is completely smashed but I can still receive calls and can hear when someone messages or emails me. Also my aux plug hole is out of coordination so I can't plug in ear phones.

I just want to know how much Apple will charge to get that fixed.

For price quotes it's probably best to contact an Apple Store in your country directly, because prices will vary around the globe (so a quote for UK won't help you much if you live in India for example). The people in the Stores are there to help you (and are usually quite good at that) and they will also be able explain to you the difference between having your phone repaired or getting a new one.

Alternatively there might be other repair shops in your area which offer screen replacements and other services. Their prices may be lower, OTOH if more than just the screen is broken (as it seems to be in your case) they might not be able to fix your phone.


What are these google host entries that keep showing up automatically in my etc/hosts file? I went to edit my /etc/hosts file and found a bunch of entries for google urls that I never put there. When I try to delete it, it just comes back. I tried searching google for it but to no avail. Here is a small sampling of the entries:

216.239.32.20 www.google.ac # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.ad # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.ae # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.al # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.am # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.as # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.at # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.az # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.ba # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.be # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.bf # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.bg # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.bi # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.bj # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.bs # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.bt # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.by # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.ca # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.cat # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.cc # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.cd # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.cf # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.cg # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.ch # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.ci # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.cl # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.cm # __CE_WATERMARK__
216.239.32.20 www.google.cn # __CE_WATERMARK__

It goes on for about 242 lines. Any insight would be appreciated.

216.239.32.20 seems to be a legit Google Inc. IP-address - so nothing to worry about in the first instance: Please check herdprotect.com.

The behavior is probably related to Kaspersky Security. Check this thread at discussions.apple.com.

To prevent the flooding of your hosts file uninstall Kaspersky Security. Then clean it up by editing it with sudo nano /etc/hosts.


Yosemite can't call numbers that contain two hash characters My iPhone (running iOS 8) and my MacBook (running OS 10.10.3) are in the same WiFi network, and I can answer incoming calls from my MacBook.

Initiating calls from the Contacts application on the MacBook also works - I click the phone symbol next to the phone number and it opens the call:

This works perfectly fine unless the phone number contains more than one hash character (#). When using conference systems, the hash sign is used to terminate input, e.g. after entering the conference or leader code.

Example:

This number works fine: +112345678,,,1234#
This number does not work: +112345678,,,1234##

The only difference is the second hash sign at the end. I've simplified that here, in real life, there are a couple more digits between the two hash signs, but the above also reproduces the error for me.

What happens is that as soon as there is a second hash sign in the number, clicking the phone symbol next to the number will not have any result.

The strange thing is that I can open FaceTime, click on audio, then start typing the name of the contact in question and call from there, including the second hash sign, and it will work fine.

One more note: The same can be reproduced by trying to open the number from the terminal:

open tel://+112345678,,,1234#

works, while the following will not work - it will open FaceTime, but will not dial...

open tel://+112345678,,,1234##

Is this a known issue with FaceTime/OS X - or am I missing something?

Confirming that this bug is still present in El Capitan. Frustrating. Curious if anyone has come up with a workaround using AppleScript, Keyboard Maestro, or other tool.


Restore Applications folder to dock I have inadvertently deleted my Applications folder from the dock. I tried accessing the Applications icon in a Finder window and then I tried to drag it down to the dock. I did so to the lower left hand of the screen, but the Applications icon went away with a cloud image. Now, I have no access to my Applications.

How do I recover access to Applications?

I'm assuming you dragged this icon, from the Sidebar of a Finder window…
That, as you discovered, will remove it from the Sidebar rather than add it to the Dock.

You can get that back from Finder Menu > Prefs > Sidebar.
Re-check the Applications icon

To then add Applications to the dock, start by clicking the sidebar element you just restored, in any Finder window.
Then drag the icon from the top of that window down into the right side of the Dock [I've moved my window right to the bottom of the screen to get these pics]


Is there a way to burn a Lion installation DVD-R from a new Mac mini or Macbook Pro? I got a new Mac mini and Macbook Pro, and hope to burn a Lion installation DVD-R if it needs to be used in the future.

But I searched for any file greater than 1GB on the hard drive and didn't find any.  Since we can use command r to boot up a partition for reinstallation, is there a way to mount that partition and burn the image to a DVD-R?

You can easily create a bootable USB drive as long as it's at least 1gb by using Apple's Recovery Disk Assistant. This will create a recovery partition on the drive but still needs to download Lion if you need to reinstall it at a later date.

You can create a bootable image from the original Lion installer download if you kept a copy of it, but you need an 8gb drive, so unless you have dual layer blank DVDs, then this isn't really worth the hassle, and using a spare USB drive would probably be easier. A great guide for doing this can be found here.


Mavericks OS X Server Software Updates: "Duplicate" entries? How do they differ? I'm running OS X Server on Mavericks with software updates service. In the list of updates there are several duplicate entries:

For instance there are two safari entries. Looking at the details, I can see that they have the product ids 031-02224 and 031-02225. Similar entries exist for iTunes updates etc.

What are the differences between such duplicate entries?

How do I find out more details for those product ids?

(Google comes up with a bunch of telephone numbers :-) )

They're different versions of the software (Safari v6.1.4 in this case) that the client computer will choose between based on... well, something. The info about what the differences are (and which is needed for which clients) is all in computer-readable format, not really human-readable.

You can download the two packages, then search under /Library/Software Update/Data/html/content/downloads for them. And I do mean search -- the 031-02224 is in .../downloads/17/37/031-02224/8gxq9vhxcra3e5adif9fhvafxoefypqvlx. Spotlight will find the folders by the package ID, but only if you search in the relevant parent folder (if you do a general search, it omits them because they're considered "system files", not the sorts of things normal users would be interested in).

Once you've found the relevant folder read through the various files (especially the .pkm and .dist files), you'll find that 031-02224 is the version for Lion, and 031-02225 is the version for Mountain Lion.

So... it's possible to find out, but not easy (and far from user-friendly).


How to solve Mac Apple Store repeatedly prompting for Apple ID and password? I've got a shared Mac from my company. The Mac was previously associated with another Apple ID. I logged out and I logged in with my Apple ID.
I urgently need to be able to develop for iOS 13, and for this reason, I need to update XCode to the latest version. When I open the Apple Store it starts prompting for Apple ID and password, and the Apple ID field is automatically filled with the previous Apple ID, the one I signed out. If I type my Apple ID and my password in place of that, after 30 seconds it prompts again for the same information, in the same way.
I've tried a lot of tricks, all the ones that came out when you google for this problem. But none of them helped. I tried signing out, restarting, enabling two factors authentication, removing the password prompt in the settings, but nothing made any difference.
The only thing I didn't try was putting a valid credit card in the payment settings of my Apple ID. The credit card I had inserted time ago expired, and I don't want to insert any credit card info on a shared computer. Furthermore, I just want to update a free app and I don't think there are no alternatives.
Any ideas?

The version of Xcode - & everything else that was already on the Mac when you got it, including the OS itself - doesn't strictly belong to you. It belongs to the Apple ID that originally 'purchased' it, even if that purchase was free.
App & OS ownership is not transferrable.
Unless your company runs an MDM solution allowing it to properly manage company-purchased apps, then the simplest solution is to wipe the entire machine & start afresh. That way everything then 'belongs' to you.
The Mac also needs to be released from the Find My & entire iCloud structure too.
See Apple KB - What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac for a comprehensive guide.
As it's a corporate Mac, you'd be best to speak to your IT department before going at this single-handed, as it will likely require the compliance of the previous user.


Sharing files and documents across computers and devices I often have multiple documents I am working on or need to keep on hand. This includes PDF, Word, Excel, Pages, etc. Sometimes I need to work on them on my Mac Mini or sometimes on my iPhone or iPad and I definitely need to view them on my iPhone and iPad.

What's the best "cloud-based" storage service for my situation?

Dropbox
When you put your files into your Dropbox folder, they're instantly available on any of your other computers that you've installed Dropbox on (Win, Linux, Mac).
There are also apps for iOS and Android available. The Dropbox app for iOS is able to display pdfs and office documents. You cannot edit them, tough.

You get 2GB for free. 250MB for every friend you invite (8GB limit, though). If you pay, you can get even more space.
Growl integration for sync notification updates.
Web interface.
You can share folders with other people while keeping other folders private.
Create download links to your contents.


Restoring Mac OS X (10.7.5) A old MacBook was given to me to develop an iPhone app. The problem is that the Mac was treated horribly and there is a lot of bloatware. It is currently running 10.7.5. I want to create a new user that does not use ANY of the applications so it runs completely separate as in none of the bloatware apps are shown/used. I can't restore the Mac completely as it's someone elses and I don't want to remove any of their files but still want to have a "restored account."

You could make a new account, with Parental Controls setting.  Use the Parental Controls to only allow specific applications to run.  System-level programs (like anti-virus, or others) would still be running in the background; but, as far as normal applications go, you would know exactly what was being run and when.


How to fix fontd process taking up 100% of the CPU? I experience reoccurring incidents of fontd eating up all the process power. What could be the cause of this and how do I make it behave again?

sudo atsutil databases -remove; atsutil server -shutdown

From 50% cpu usage to 1%

Source: http://icicity.com/2014/02/13/high-cpu-usage-caused-by-fontd-on-os-x


Is it possible to filter which applications can use my iPhone's Personal Hotspot? Is it possible to filter which applications (in Windows) can use my iPhone's Personal Hotspot?

No, it is not possible. Even by jailbreaking would not enable this, or more exactly not in a practical way.


How to add third party app text contact to phone book favorites? I am able to see WhatsApp, Signal and Viber under Call when adding a Favourite contact, but I couldn’t do the same for text messages. Is this even possible?

This is not a user configurable attribute, but rather how the 3rd party app was programmed. Signal, Viber and WhatsApp shows up under Call as they support receiving VoIP call over lock screen.

There is no way for users to configure the said apps to get listed under Message.


Any way to retrieve lost iPod photos? Okay, here's the story: I lost my beloved iPod touch at school one day and never found it again.  I desperately want those photos back, but I can't recall ever having backed up any photos or anything on it.  I know the login information for the iCloud that I had set up for it and I was wondering if there's absolutely any way that I could retrieve those photos.  If not, I guess I'll live with it, but those were really important and I gotta know if there's some way to get em back.

If you didn't back up the photos, they're gone, sadly.

If you connected the iPod to the computer, iTunes may have backed them up without you realizing it, So check there first.

If you enabled iPod backups, you can send iPod on any other device and manage the storage to see if the iPod has a backup. If so, you can restore that back up on to pretty much any device.


How to use movie files in both Photos and iMovie without having duplicates? I want to upload videos to my computer and have it available on both Photos and iMovie. Do I need to upload it twice, which seems very inefficient, or is there a workaround?

Found this answer at Apple Discussion forums:

This works for me with Final Cut Pro (I think it'll work on iMovie too):

Add the video to your Photos Library.
Head to your Pictures folder.
Perform a right click on 'Photos Library'.
Hit 'Show Package Contents'.
Go to 'Masters'.
Select the year, the month and the day the video was taken (you can easily check this in the Photos app by performing a right click on the video and then click 'Get Info').
Drag the specific video into the iMovie application to use it with iMovie.


SSD drive to USB connection I have a spare SSD Drive that's been removed from my iMac. Is there a way I can use it externally using an adaptor or something though USB?

Yes, this is possible by purchasing an appropriate external case or "enclosure". You just need to make sure it's one suitable for the SSD you have.

These cases are not hard to purchase. You can get them from eBay, Amazon, etc. Purely as an example, here is a link to one on macsales.com.

NOTE: The one in the example is for Mac SSDs used from June 2013. As I said, be sure you get the correct one for your SSD.


How to better use a Mac mini as a home theater PC with a television set? I'm running a Mac mini into a television set via HDMI. With the Plex application for Mac, the experience is fantastic. But I've been looking for ways to make the "computer side" more couch friendly. I'm not expecting to write Pages documents or anything, but Web browsing, or working with system settings would be great too.

I've been able to enlarge some on screen text (like title bars, etc.) but it's still not a great experience. In the end, I'd like to keep the same screen real estate, but be able to read the screen more comfortably from my Lay Z Boy. For example, increasing the size of text in menus would be really helpful.

The following will work on Lion. You need Xcode as well (maybe you can copy just Quartz Debug from another machine; if not, you can remove the developer tools after following my steps).

Run Quartz Debug from /Developer/Applications/Performance Tools/, click on Window menu, then on UI Resolution, then check Enable HiDPI display modes.

Log out, log back in and go to System Preferences, Displays and choose one of the HiDPI resolutions.

This will effectively double all UI elements, including font and button sizes, menus etc. This is still work-in-progress, though, so expect glitches. Apple is working on resolution independent UI since forever, but with Lion came a new way of just doubling every pixel. The advantage is that this will work with nearly every application, whereas truly resolution independent UI would need vector graphics for every UI element.

I'm using this on a 46" LCD TV from time to time, to make accessing iTunes easier. One way to quickly switch between HiDPI and normal modes is to check "Show displays in the menu bar" (translating from german, might be labelled differently) in Displays preferences. This will add a menu extra to the menu bar with which you can quickly choose from previously used resolutions.


Final Cut Pro 10.0.7 Yosemite Compatibility? How do I get Final Cut Pro to work on Yosemite?

Any fixes will be greatly appreciated thanks.

Final Cut Pro (10.0.7) is incompatible with Yosemite. When I was updating my mac to Yosemite, I had to update many apps so they would work including Final Cut Pro.


USB key behaves as a CD My USB key behaves as a CD, because I'm not able to copy a .dmg  file from my MacBook Pro 2016 with `sudo dd if=/Users/jeremiegauthier/Downloads/ubuntu-gnome-16.10-desktop-amd64.dmg of=/dev/rdisk2 or with the following method :

Could anyone be able to tell what I need to do to allow the access?

You need to precede the dd command with sudo to give you permission.

I provide this answer with some reluctance because using dd is extremely risky. You can easily overwrite your system if you use the incorrect target. If you do not already know how to use sudo on the command line, you should look for other image copying tools, with inbuilt safeguards.


Is it possible to enable Code Folding in Xcode for Bash scripts? I work a lot with bash scripts and some of them can get pretty lengthy. Up until now, I've been using BBEdit as my editor of choice because of the way it handles locked files and permissions. But ... BBEdit doesn't support code folding. Xcode does, but it seems to only allow code folding in Obj-C and Swift. Is there any way to enable code folding for Bash scripts? If not, is there any app out there that can fold code in a bash script (preferably with syntax highlighting too)?

I haven't found a way to enable code folding for bash script in Xcode.

But here is an alternative: UltraEdit.
UE allows code folding for bash scripts after tweaking a file.

In the example below i have added

/Open Fold Strings = "{" "if" "elif" "do"
/Close Fold Strings = "}" "elif" "fi" "done"
/Ignore Fold Strings = "echo"

to the file ~/Library/Application Support/UltraEdit/wordfiles/bash.uew

Depending on your needs you may add other strings of course.


How to download an audio file from a web site on iOS? Is there a way to download an audio file, such as a mp3-file or a Quicktime-file from the iOS Safari browser to the device so I could listen to it later when I'm offline? Is there a way I should program the web site to make this possible?

I'm not looking for an additional app to help me achieve this.

No.  This is not possible at this time without using a third party app. I use GoodReader for this—and other—tasks.


Using a second HD and installing apps on external drive? I am considering adding an extra drive to my Mac Mini (possibly a tower-size one like mentioned here) and keeping it permanently plugged-in, for extra space and to leave the main Macintosh HD for essential files - system apps, my Adobe apps etc.

I have a 500GB hard drive, with currently 204.68GB remaining on it, but was considering using the additional drive for the other files I create. I also have a portable drive (SATA) which is NTFS-formatted, but that's used for files I frequently need to carry around - PowerPoint presentations etc.
On the additional hard drive, it would be for other things that are less frequently used.

However, what would be the best way to go about this? Also, do applications work well if installed on an external drive - e.g. Quark XPress, MAMP etc. (although I may leave MAMP installed on the Macintosh HD but am not sure whether to move it).

I have looked up second HD and installation on Google, but what I found was about installing OS X on a second boot drive, not quite what I was looking for!

My question is, basically: Will applications run well off a second drive, and is this a good idea before I even do it?

I'm fairly new to OS X, got better since I started on it in mid-2012, any advice is much appreciated!

Mac apps run pretty much anywhere you care to store them.

Unfortunately, most Mac apps are also so small that the time you spend moving them off the boot drive doesn't compensate for the amount of space you recover.

You might look to store things like video and then photos and last music off the main volume as they typically take far more space.

As long as you don't have two copies of an app, you are free to quit any app and move it on or off the main volume as you please so other than losing some time, you can start now and see if this plan helps you reach your storage goals or if you need to reexamine them once you've moved all the apps you care to relocate.


My MacBook Pro makes 3 successive tones, a 5 second pause (repeating) My MacBook Pro makes 3 successive tones, a 5 second pause (repeating).

According to Apple, this indicates RAM does not pass a data integrity check.

So how can I fix it?

Three beeps on startup is typically a memory self-test error symptom.

This article is providing some tools to test your RAM :

http://www.cnet.com/news/troubleshooting-tools-memtest-and-rember/


How Do I know which Version of Beta OS X I'm Running? How do I know which Beta Version of OS X I'm running?

When I check About this Mac it shows me that the name of the OS version is OS X El Capitan, the version if 10.11 and a beta, and it shows me the build number, but how would I find out which specific beta release this is?

IE, how would I find out if build 15A235d as in the picture below corresponds with OS X El Capitan Developer Beta 4, 5, or 6?

Is there a way to find it out within the OS? Is there some kind of public database online like everymac.com where every build number is matched up with every name it was given?

Login to developer.apple.com with your developer account, you should see in the download section the current release build on the download page for OS X.

Go to developer.apple.com and login with your credentials
Navigate to the Member Center section
Select OS X
On the download tab you will find the current build

This is to answer how to find the build as per OP.


How can I make Mac OS X run a program before shutting down? I am trying to get Mac OS X to save all my VirtualBox VMs when it reboots. I already have a script that does this, but I need OS X to run this script automatically before a reboot.

When Mac OS X reboots, does it run /sbin/reboot?

Or how else could this be achieved?

Although Apple recommends to use "launchd", the easiest is to create a shell script using, for example, Terminal's pico:
pico /Users/Shared/logoutHook.sh

The file can contain something like:
#!/bin/bash
say 'Hasta la vista baby!'

Then give execution rights:
sudo chmod +x /Users/Shared/logoutHook.sh

Finally, hook the script to the logout procedure:
sudo defaults write com.apple.loginwindow LogoutHook /Users/Shared/logoutHook.sh

If you start another application, as I haven't tested this, I think it might be useful to warn myself and you that:

We might need to kill the shutdown signal to execute what we want;

Then send a new one (beware not to kill the signal sent by our own
script)…

If you want to remove the hook:
sudo defaults delete com.apple.loginwindow LogoutHook

If using "launchd", the idea would be to capture the SIGTERM signal. Have a look at: /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.shutdown_monitor.plist


Can I use the same Time Machine drive with OS X 10.5 and 10.8? I have an external 500 GB hard drive that I used to use for Time Machine backups with my PowerBook G4 running OS X 10.5 (Leopard). However, I now use it with a white MacBook running 10.8 (Mountain Lion). The PowerBook backups are still on the drive (each machine gets its own directory by default), but I have not backed up the PowerBook since I started using the drive with the MacBook.

My question is, is it safe to do a backup of the PowerBook again? Does Time Machine in Mountain Lion do anything differently to the drive that would make it not work correctly with Leopard, or vice versa?

I ask because the PowerBook is finally failing (occasionally boots directly to a kernel panic) so I'd like to do one last backup before it bites the dust.

Yes - whether you have a USB or other direct drive or a network drive, Time Machine will cooperate with different Mac backing up to the same destination.

The only problem would be if you enabled FileVault on a direct attached drive since only Lion and later can read those.


How to know the macOS version used for most recent clean install? Is there a way to know which macOS or OS X version was initially "clean-installed" on a particular Mac computer? (Assuming major or minor OS updates may have been installed later.)

Please note that I don't want to know which OS version originally shipped with the Mac (in brand new condition), as MacTracker has already that info. I'd just like to know which OS version was used the last time someone made a clean install, reformatted the drive, etc.

I've Looked for clues in /Library/Receipts/InstallHistory.plist

On a few computers I checked, they typically start with a "com.apple.pkg.OSInstall" package. It doesn't mention OS version, but scrolling down to most recently applied OS updates, and it may become clear what the OS version was by the updates.

BTW, all bets are off if the drive was cloned from another computer.


AppleScript to create a new Outlook email using selected text as subject? I have a workflow that involves creating emails by copying and pasting text into the subject. I think an AppleScript could do much of the heavy lifting. I'd also use Automator to set up the input as selected text and also setup a "run applescript" part to the workflow.

So this script would essentially tell Outlook to take input (selected text) and set as subject of a new email.

I think it would start out like this, from referencing other scripts to automate email creation in outlook:

tell application "Microsoft Outlook"
set NewMail to make new outgoing message with properties

I imagine after that it would be something like {Subject: Input}

Anyone know what the proper way to do this?

See if this works for you:

set varSubject to "Hello"
set varContent to "GoodBye"
set varName to "Jon Snow"
set varEmail to "jsnow@castleblack.org"
tell application "Microsoft Outlook"
    set newMail to make new outgoing message with properties {subject:varSubject, plain text content:varContent}
    make new recipient at newMail with properties {email address:{name:varName, address:varEmail}}
end tell


Is there any way to show the hidden files at the end of Finder's file list? I have Finder set to display hidden files/folders. This is rather inconvenient when I open my home folder however, given it contains a lot of them.

Is there a way to change the alphabetical sorting of Finder's file list, so that it sorts files beginning with "." at the end of the current file-list?

It's a longshot, but you never know.

One possibility is to arrange by Kind in Finder.

That would put the hidden files at the end marked as Others and in Alphabetical order. The folders are also organized, see example.


Mac mini with an iPad as the only display? Can I run a Mac mini with an iPad as the only display?
Let's say that Sidecar has some kind of an autostart and when the Mac mini boots, it automatically gets started.

Sidecar lets you use an iPad as a secondary display for your Mac. So Sidecar doesn't have any such kind of mode that lets you use an iPad as the only display.
You can, however, explore some 3rd party solutions which claim to make your iPad usable as a standalone display for a Mac mini. A such prominent 3rd party solution is Luna Display, Headless Mode

https://shop.astropad.com/pages/headless-mode

With Luna Display, turn your iPad into the primary display for Mac mini. Combine the best of Mac mini and iPad by harnessing the processing power of the Mac mini and the edge-to-edge full display of the iPad.
Minimum Requirements

Mac mini must be a 2011 model or later, and running macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) or later
iPad must be an iPad 2, iPad Mini, iPad Pro, or iPad Air model running iOS 9.1 or later (32-bit devices are not supported)
External mouse and keyboard connected to Mac mini are optimal for this setup in case of MacOS permissions and logins

How to Get Started

An external display is required to get set up, but is only needed the first time you configure your devices (unless FileVault is enabled).
Luna Display requires a Mac application to run. For Headless Mode, if FileVault is in use, an external display will be needed to unlock your drive whenever you reboot.

https://help.astropad.com/article/218-how-do-i-use-luna-display-in-headless-mode

Headless Mode: Using your iPad as the display for Mac mini
What you will need to get started:

Mac Mini

iPad

Luna Display and latest versions of the Luna Display apps, available for download at lunadisplay.com/hello

Reliable local WiFi network connection or USB cable
We recommend connecting an external keyboard to your Mac mini.

P.S.: No affiliation whatsoever with Luna Display or any subsidiaries. Never used it personally before.


How to see a history of "define" words which I used? I wanted to see the history of define dictionary words which I used in my iPhone but  I could not find a way to see it. Is there any option in iPhone to see it?

No, there's no way to see which words you have looked up previously in the dictionary using the "Define" shortcut in various apps.


How do I set the default search for Finder to filenames which INCLUDE the search term (rather than just begin with it)? Yosemite I'm using Yosemite (OS X 10.10.1).  If I search for the term "foo" and want a list of all files that include that term, I get foo.doc and bar.foo.doc and foodstuffs.xlsx and even The Foo History.  But it does not include snafoos.docx and AllTheFooReports.xlsx.  How can I change it to the (obvious!?!) behaviour of returning all results which include the search term?

I'd like to be able to do this from within Finder, not just in terminal.

The Finder searches for word prefixes.

If you save your search as a Smart Folder and then inspect that using a text editor (e.g. TextMate) you will see the raw Spotlight query:

((kMDItemDisplayName = "foo*"cdw))

The "w" modifier tells Spotlight to search for words. The "*" wildcard at the end of the search string makes Spotlight search for word prefixes. It will match names that contain a word beginning with "foo".

That matches all of your examples but one. "foo" comes at the start of the file name, after a space or punctuation or is capitalized. The exception is "snafoos" where "foo" is just a sequence of letters in the middle of the word.

You could change the query in the smart folder to:

((kMDItemDisplayName = "*foo*"cd))

Or click the "+" button below the search field in Finder and add a "name" "contains" "foo" criterion.

Or use mdfind in Terminal:

mdfind -onlyin . '((kMDItemDisplayName = "*foo*"cd))'

Or use HoudahSpot (of which I am the developer) to get more control over your search.