Download OS update only once for all home computers I want to upgrade all my home computers (4 macbooks running 10.8) to the new Mavericks OS.

I have a download cap, so i dont want to download it 4 times. How can i download it once and install it on all computers?

To quote Bryan Luby from "Re-use Mavericks install file"

  Download the update from the App Store. Once the file has finished downloading, check your Applications folder for the "Install OS X Mavericks" icon. Copy this installer to your other computers before going through the install process. The installer will delete itself after the install is finished.

I recommend distributing the file between computers via AirDrop (if all your computers support it) or via File Sharing (from the Sharing pane of System Preferences).

Note: Running the update from /Applications/Install OS X Mavericks.app will DELETE the installer upon completion! Be sure to distribute the file to all your machines before installing it.


Where is my Recovery Partition? After moving my computer, a Mac Pro 2013 running Sierra 10.12.6, (from one building to another, with a week or so spent in a garage), I found that it would not boot. The system drive was the internal SSD. While I was placing the computer in to a cabinet, the cylinder was unlocked and the computer dropped out and fell a few inches, and fell on to it's side. I have to assume this jostled something important enough to not boot.

I would get the Apple logo, then the circle with a line through it, then, eventually, it booted in to a utility mode with a menu to restore from Time Machine, use Disk Utility, etc.

As I understand it, that's the "Recovery Partition".

Now, I have no memory of ever creating, managing, or maintaining such a thing, but there it was.

Using the Disk Utility, I could not find the native SSD built in to the Mac Pro, but it saw my external SSDs, including my Time Machine drive.

I repartitioned one of the SSDs in to a big enough slice, and restored from Time Machine in to that new partition, and the system came back up.

So, my question is where is the Recovery Partition? I have to assume it's not on the internal SSD -- hard to imagine that simply a partition of the SSD is unmountable, vs the entire card. Is it on my Time Machine drive? That's my guess, but I don't know how to make sure.

At some level, I don't care. "It just worked" and did it's job. But I would feel better knowing that it's not on the internal SSD. My hope is that I can pop that out and push it back and it'll just work, or, barring that, I can simply replace it and nothing more untoward has happened to the machine. As it stands, it seems to be working fine save not being able to see the internal SSD.

diskutil list seemed to be the answer I was looking for.

$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *512.1 GB   disk0
   1:                  Apple_HFS SSD                     512.1 GB   disk0s1

/dev/disk1 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *3.0 TB     disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     314.6 MB   disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Passport                700.0 GB   disk1s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            299.4 GB   disk1s3
   4:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk1s4
   5:                  Apple_HFS Partition 1             1000.0 GB  disk1s5
   6:                  Apple_HFS Partition 2             999.8 GB   disk1s6

This shows me that the Apple_Boot Recovery HD, at 650MB, is on disk1, and from the other partitions, it's obvious (to me) which actual device this is on. This was the primary goal.


How to move spotlight back to the top right corner in El Captain? I guess Apple got a bit too literal with the "Spotlight" feature. I feel far too sceptical about upgrading to El Captain just because of my most favourite feature, the Spotlight smacks right at you in the middle of the screen. Is there any way at all to bring spotlight to where it was back in the good old 10.9 Mavericks?

You can click and drag the Spotlight search field anywhere on the screen and it will stay there.


Apple's servers (i.e. all apple.com servers incl. iTunes and App Store) not loading every couple of days Okay, this is a strange one.

Ever since 2017 rolled around I have had this weird situation where I cannot load any pages from an Apple server on one of my iMacs. The strange things about this are:

It happens using either Safari or Firefox - but Google Chrome works fine
The iTunes Store, Mac App Store, etc are also affected
Every other device on the same network (e.g. iPhones, iPads, MacBook Pros, Apple TV, PCs, etc) all connect fine to these servers (including the same Safari/Firefox browser versions running within macOS on a virtual machine on the same iMac)
The problem persists regardless of how I connect this particular iMac to a network (i.e. ethernet or Wi-Fi, directly or via a router)
All other web servers (as far as I can tell) load fine

Restarting the iMac has no effect, neither does using Safe Mode. Nor did clearing caches, switching off extensions, switching to another user account. I also checked Google Chrome's settings (looking for some sort of DNS caching/prefetching option) to see if I could identify why it works, thinking that would help me troubleshoot the issue - but I didn't see anything obvious.

However, one solution I have found that resolves this issue is:

connect using a VPN that places me in another country
load apple.com in Safari
disconnect from the VPN
now all apple servers load fine in Safari and Firefox, as well as both the iTunes and App Store apps

Unfortunately, within a day or so the problem reappears and again, the only fix I've found is the one above. While this fix only takes about a minute, it is nevertheless frustrating, especially when you're in the middle of a workflow and have to access Apple's servers all the time!

Does anyone have any ideas about this?

Remember: This affects Safari, FireFox, iTunes and the App Store apps but not Google Chrome? And only those apps on one iMac are affected, but not within macOS on a virtual machine on the same iMac.

SPECS

The iMac in question has the following specs:

21.5" Mid-2010
16GB RAM
Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11.6
Safari 10.1 (but since v10.0.2)
FireFox 52.0.2 (but since v50.1.0)
iTunes 12.6.0.100 (but since v12.5.4.42)
App Store 2.1

I would be tempted to do two things to troubleshoot this:

Get a new network connection - use a VPN to connect elsewhere or move the computer to an entirely new network.
Install macOS on an external drive and when you have this problem, power off the main macOS and boot to the alternative OS to test in rapid succession if this could be some odd corruption on the os.

You’ve ruled out all the big, easy targets, so this is likely to be something that’s a real edge case or wacky one-off issue. The VM connecting to the network when the host OS cannot is just baffling to me as well.


Mojave 10.14.4 broke something in file system After updating Mojave to 10.14.4 two days ago I've got some weird bugs with working with files. Finder doesn't see pictures created by Photoshop. Webpack-dev-server doesn't see changes in files. What happened? How to roll back to version 10.14.3?

The first thing I try when this kind of thing happens is to re-boot into Safe mode, then re-boot normally.

I find these aberrations don't last, especially after performing the above.  Sometimes you can re-install the update to cure it.


How to configure router for Remote Desktop connection? I am currently working remotely due to the pandemic. I am one of very rare Mac user at my university. In Poland Macs are not popular, and our net administrator and our tech support have no or limited knowledge on macOS. I use desktop MacMini (at work) and MacBook Air (at home) both logged in with the same AppleID, running on Big Sur. I have installed Apple's Remote Desktop (v.3.9.4.) on my MacBook Air and want to connect remotely and work on my MacMini at work (screen sharing). I already contacted Apple's Tech Support and learned that to access remotely from different network router at my university's network has to have set a port forwarding (ports 3283, 5900).
Can anyone provide me more details on that? I got feeling that I need a ready solution when I contact my net administrator with that to overcome unwillingness to tackle new problems.
Best regards, Marcin

There are a couple of ways to approach this. One is via use of the University's VPN, which would put you right on their network and keep your IT department from having to do anything besides allow you to log into their network via the VPN. This would be my preference as it is common, secure and puts your home Mac right on the same network with your Mac at university.
But you don't mention that there was a VPN involved, so...
Take those port numbers and the IP address of your Mac at the university and your Mac at home and talk to someone in the IT department.
What they will do (if they allow this) is forward your home IP address to your work IP address via those two port numbers. It is all done by your IT department. When they are done with this they should give you an IP address to connect to from home. This IP address will, in effect, be your Mac at University. You would plug that into Apple Remote Desktop at home and it should (if everyone has done their jobs right) connect you from home to your University Mac.
Note that your University IT department might recoil in horror at what you are suggesting (I would, we don't do this where I work) as it could be a security risk. So your best bet is to see if they have a VPN that you can use.
We can help you with that too, but that would be a different question, separate from this.


How to Erase External USB Drive Which Won't Mount & Isn't Recognized Before starting, let me mention that I have ALREADY read the following thread in its entirety, and it did not help my situation:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4832305?start=0&tstart=0

I have also read four related posts here on apple.stackexchange.com, and they haven't helped either.

Now to my situation . . .

I have an external USB 2 TB eGo Drive. For several years, the drive has served as my primary backup.

Then, a few months ago, it suddenly stopped mounting on my desktop. My other external USB drive, a Western Digital, continues to mount just fine.

Unplugging the eGo Drive's power supply and plugging it back in again several times, unplugging the USB cable from both the drive and my iMac, and using a different USB port on my iMac, have not solved the problem. The eGo Drive still refuses to mount.

Furthermore, it does not show up in the left pane of Disk Utility.

Neither is it listed under About This Mac/System Report/Hardware/USB.

It likewise refuses to appear if I type "/volumes" under "Go/Go to Folder...".

It does not appear in the EtreCheck app either.

Finally, if I type "diskutil list" in the Terminal, that doesn't work either.

Another suggestion I found online said to force quit the "fsck_hfs" process if I see it in Activity Monitor. However, I do not see it there, not even under "All Processes".

When I turn on the eGo Drive, I can hear it spinning up, but that is as far as it goes.

I read online that there is an application called USB Prober -- a part of Xcode -- which may possibly recognize the eGo Drive and get it to mount. However, I do not see it anywhere in my Xcode 7.0 installation, and I haven't found a link to download it from either.

I would really like to resurrect the eGo Drive if there is still some way to do it. If not, then I face another problem: The eGo Drive is loaded with a lot of personal data, including family photos and movies, financial records, software registrations and serial numbers, and a lot more. As such, I obviously do not feel comfortable with just throwing it i the trash.

So, is there some easy way to totally erase the drive, even though I am unable to mount it on my desktop? I have read that strong magnetic fields can destroy data on a hard drive, and I imagine that they sell devices which perform just such a task, but I don't own one of them, and I probably couldn't afford one anyway.

So, if anyone can tell me how I can either get my iMac to recognize the eGo Drive so that I can at least erase it -- and maybe even reformat it if need be -- or possibly even mount it, and then reformat it, I would be very appreciative.

Thank you.

There's still several elements you may not have checked. First, swap cables to make sure the cable is ok. If it still fails, then next, make sure your power supply really works. If possible, get a variable replacement AC/DC converter from an electronics store. Mine lets me set the voltage, amps, and ohms along with changing the connector tips. Use the settings on the original DC converter to test.

Assuming none of those items were the issue then you still have two other elements to check: the case and its controller and the drive itself.

To check the case: go to your local Best Buy or other electronics store and get a hard drive case. They're very inexpensive now. Pop open the old case, take the drive out, and put it into the new case. If it mounts, the issue was the case. If it still does not mount, it's the drive.

To really get rid of the drive, toss the drive in a fire. Nothing will be salvageable.


Location not loading When I try to change my location for the App Store, it wint load. i go to fetured, my apple id thing, put in my password and everything, but when i click on the country/region button to change it, the page won't load. I have a working Internet connection.

You can't change the location of the Appstore, it is based on the country you have registered it with. Like if you buy a new iPhone in Brazil and you sign in to the Appstore for the first time, it will redirect you to the Appstore of your Apple-id.


ellipses dots in iPhone message app but no message sent So, this might be a bit of a dumb question but sometimes I text someone and then I get the ellipsis back and then I usually get a message. However, sometimes I never get a message back and am curious. Does this mean they started typing something they didn't send? Is it possible that they are texting someone else? More curious than anything.

Most likely they started and stopped.  Maybe they saw you typing at the same time and you both decided to wait for the message before  responding?  Theoretically it should only show when someone is typing a message to you.


Where can I find the terminal on a MacBook Air 2011 I'm using a borrowed laptop- a MacBook Air 2011- and have no idea where to find the terminal. It's not in Applications, or the side bar...

By default, spotlight should find all apps (command space) if you don’t know where they sit.
The terminal app is in /Applications/Utilities
Also, the help menu works if you search for terminal, it’s not the top hit, but you should see an article covering apps included with macOS. This user guide has links to open each app (including terminal.app) and very helpful summaries of what they do.


How to disable the scrolling on OS X Safari? What I would like to be able to do is set a certain part of a webpage in the viewport of Safari and then "Lock" the scrolling temporarily so that I can't accidentally scroll up or down and move what I have set up in that window.

Using the post that grgarside linked to, I've written a Safari/Chrome extension that adds a button to the context menu (right click) on every page, which allows you to "pause" scrolling, essentially locking the page in place. To unlock it, you just right click and choose "Resume Scrolling."

You can download it here.


Is it possible to add hosting to some image hosting in share menu? I have a MacBook Pro. I can make screenshots. It lands on the desktop. By opening the context menu I can press the Share button.

Is it possible to add some button which will share the image on some image hosting? For example, I had Gyazo on Windows and now I use Lightshot. I can select region of my screen and picture immediately hosts on the server and link to the image is in my buffer.

I mean this menu:

Is this possible on Mac?

You can use ImageShareUr which adds a share extension for uploading to Imgur.

Choose More to enable the extension for the first use, then you can select an image and choose Share → Upload to Imgur and follow the instructions.

Despite the author's message on the page that it doesn't work in Sierra, I've just tried it on 10.12.4 and it works great.


Does Apple Watch Auto Unlock need network access and Two-factor authentication? I am thinking about getting an Apple Watch. One of the most interesting features is Auto Unlocking of Mac. Does Apple Watch auto unlock need network and two-factor authentication?

The AirDrop function says it needs open Wi-Fi. I used to think that it needs a network. Later I found that two devices need not be connected to a common access point for AirDrop to work. So I think network isn't necessary.

Another problem is the Two-factor authentication. Is it necessary? My password is very secure and I don't want to enable this feature. Apple's help page says Make sure that your Apple ID is using two-factor authentication instead of two-step verification. I don't understand what this sentence means. Should Two-factor authentication be turned on or must not use two-step verification?

Does Apple Watch auto unlock need network and two-factor authentication?

To use Apple Watch Auto Unlock feature, you need to have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on both your Apple Watch and Mac. It is similar to AirDrop, the radios must be turned on for the feature to work.

Also, your account must have Two-factor authentication turned on. Having Two-factor authentication enabled provides an extra layer of protection and doesn't compromise your Apple ID in any way.

  My password is very secure and I don't want to enable this feature.

It doesn't matter howsoever strong password you use, once someone else gets hold of it (which could happen accidentally), they have complete access to your Apple ID account. Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security by having the user to obtain and enter an additional, randomly generated code.

Two-factor authentication is more advanced than two-setp verification. Apple highly recommends protecting your account with Two-factor authentication, so much so that if you use it at-least for a couple weeks, you couldn't turn it off.

For more details refer to the linked Apple Support articles:

How to unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch
System requirements for Continuity on Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and Apple Watch
Availability of two-factor authentication for Apple ID
Switch from two-step verification to two-factor authentication


Magic Mouse: replace single finger swiping/scrolling with two finger swiping/scrolling I sometimes accidentally trigger the horizontal swipe/scroll gesture on my magic mouse. Especially in X11/Inkscape, if I work zoomed in on a big canvas, this often moves my canvas several screens to the right or left and I have to carefully swipe/scroll back to my original view.

I would like to make the swiping more explicit by allowing only two finger swipes, which should then just work as vertical/horizontal scroll gestures, as if I had triggered them on a normal mouse (with 2 scroll wheels).

Preferences > Mouse > More Gestures > Swipe Between Pages (two fingers) does not help. I also already tried to map (globally) single finger swipes and scroll actions in Better Touch Tool (BTT) to No Action. But they still work in all apps.

What else can I try, i.e., what other tools can I use or what other system settings can I change (via Terminal) to make it work?

System specs: Macbook Pro Retina, Magic Mouse, OS X 10.9.5 (Mavericks), BTT 0.9985

Update: Please note that:

I had been using BetterTouchTool version 0.9985 (as stated above)
I also tried MagicPrefs (some older version)

If someone provides a detailed, convincing solution that solves the above problem, I will try to reclaim my now abandoned Magic Mouse, validate the solution, and gladly accept the answer.

MagicPrefs (http://magicprefs.com) version 2.4.2 did the trick for me. Choose "Preferences" in the menu it puts in the upper right of the menu bar, then click on the "Configure Scrolling" button, and then uncheck the row of checkboxes to the right of the label "One Finger Scrolling:"

No more scrolling with one finger!

Sadly, as the app notes, you can no longer use "momentum scrolls", where the page keeps scrolling after you have lifted up your fingers. You can't have it all, I guess.


Why can't I Airplay a certain sound file in iTunes? I have this one file that, when I play music in iTunes using Airplay, always makes iTunes revert to use the computers internal speaker. When this specific track is finished, next track is again playbacked via Airplay, without me doing anything.

Chances are that the file you try to playback has the file extension mp4. Try to change the extension to m4a and see if it works as expected then. In my case the source for my file was the sound track of a Youtube clip I had extracted using some online tool.


Find My Friends and Podcasts Bug in OS X iTunes Both Find My Friends and Podcasts apps are listed among the updates in iTunes on OS X, but when I attempt to update my apps there, I get a warning for each app:

This happens each time I update my apps in iTunes, and requires me to dismiss the dialog for each Find My Friends and Podcasts each time I do so.

If I can't update these two apps from iTunes, why are they listed there among my updates? And why are they listed there at all, given that they are not listed as needing an update on my phone?

How do I tell iTunes that these apps are already updated on my phone so that I don't see them listed among my updates any more?

Delete them from iTunes, but keep them on your phone. They're built into iOS 9 anyways so having them in iTunes is pointless


Can I connect my Macbook Pro to a Windows 10 PC via usb-c for more than just power? Right now when I plug my 2019 MacBook Pro into my Windows 10 PC's USB-C port it charges just fine.  I was wondering, if I could essentially use my PC as a KVM.  Is it possible to use my PC's mouse/keyboard and my secondary monitor with my MacBook?

The port is a USB 3.1 Type 2 but all Device Manager shows is an unknown "Billboard Device".  I can't even access the drives at the moment.

Your PC is not a keyboard and mouse, so no, it cannot be used as a KVM.

Just like your Mac, the keyboard and mouse on the PC are USB devices - it's just like a regular mouse and keyboard, just permanently plugged in.  They are "end devices" and your PC doesn't present itself as an HID device so there's no way for your Mac to see the PC as an input peripheral.


Reset iPhone 3GS with broken power button and touch screen I've got a broken 3GS and both the power button and touch screen are broken and there's a passcode I forgot on it.
It's also no longer synced with iTunes.

So basically I want to get this thing in recovery mode but how?
Can't reset it with iTunes.
Can't power it off to get it in recovery mode.

How can I shut off the device (preferably with voice commands or USB)
It's not jailbroken so no SSH either.

I've also got an iPod Touch (4th generation) and was wondering if I could steal the power button and/or screen from that, even if it's just to format it.

This happened to me too.  My son forgot his password, and he didn't want his iPhone anymore, but I wanted to erase the device before selling/recycling it.

The broken power button (also called the "sleep/wake" button) makes this difficult - normally you'd hold down the power & home buttons simultaneously while connected to iTunes via USB, all the way through a power cycle, through the apple logo's appearance, until it shows you the Recovery Mode screen as shown here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201412

Without a working power button, a variation is necessary.  What I did was use the Assistive Touch feature, which my son had already turned on months before, since the power button wasn't working.  Plug the device into a computer with iTunes loaded.  Hold down the "Lock Screen" button (in the "Device" submenu) for a few seconds until the power-off slider is shown.  Then, while holding down the Home button, slide the power-off slider to the right - keep holding the Home button for a long time, through the device powering off, through the Apple logo, and until the Recovery Mode screen appears.

Now follow the prompts in iTunes on the computer, and the device should reset as normal.


OS X Messages.app, cmd+shift+w not working On my new mac,

I have noticed in Messages.app, I can no longer purge message threads via cmd+shift+w like I could on my old computer.  Every time I have to manually hit the "x" and delete them.

Update:  I am trying to "close the conversation" not delete it.

Thoughts on how to fix this or add the binding?

If you mean delete Conversation.

Select the Conversation and use cmd+ Delete  keys

--update--

Looking at the help>show shortcuts.

It is supposed to.

But I do not see the menu option in mine.


Big Sur - Time Machine structure I'm running Big Sur and I noticed three things about Time Machine:

if I format a drive as HFS+ and then I choose it for Time Machine, it gets automatically converted to APFS without asking;
once a backup is completed, if I open it in Finder I can only see the data volume, as it skipped the system one;
local snapshots seem to be available (I can see them via tmutil) but I cannot access them in Time Machine UI.

I would need to know if these things are "normal", please.

All three are normal for TM volumes created in Big Sur.
Explanations for 2 & 3: you won't see the system volume in the Finder, but it will be available if you need to boot from the TM volume. The only reason for doing that would be to repair or restore the source.
Local Snapshots are stored on the source and are not designed to be accessed from within the TM interface.


Mail not displaying message body content The Mail app on my Mac stopped displaying message body once the message is opened.

I can still see the message body in the message preview in each mailbox, but when I click (or double click) on a specific message, the message body is blank in the new window.

This happened to me a while ago, some time after updating to El Capitan. It affects all my email accounts on my Mac, Mail works properly on my iPhone. I don't remember changing any settings.

How to resolve it?

Rebuild the Mailbox

Try rebuilding the affected mailbox:

Select the Inbox or affected mailbox.
Select Mail.app > Mailbox (menu) > Rebuild

Rebuilding the mailbox will cause Mail.app to read all the messages again from the server. Rebuilding often fixes problems and restores missing or malformed messages.

From Apple's support document Mail: Rebuild mailboxes:

  You may need to rebuild a mailbox to update the list of messages it contains. For example, if messages appear to be missing or garbled, or if you can’t find all relevant messages when you search using the Entire Message search option.


How to ctrl+click without right clicking? A website that I use has different commands for ctrl+click and right click. Because ctrl+click is mapped to right click on Mac, when I use I get the right click action. I want to be able to use the ctrl+click command without it being interpreted as a right click.

Use Karabiner (Download-link: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/) for this. With Karabiner it is possible to reassign every single key.

So you can use the control-key for example for letter i (meaningless, but useful for your problem).

Lock at the picture below, there I have change the function for control-right to write the letter i.

So now I hope you can use Ctrl + Click on this website!


Cannot select text in Safari address bar All of a sudden, Safari on my Mac has started misbehaving. I can't select the text in the address bar, and so I can't go to any new websites. When it redraws, it goes all weird:

I've tried deleting the cache, clearing all cookies, disabling all plugins and rebooting. These things didn't help. I've had to switch to Chrome for the time being. Can anyone suggest some other possible remedies?

Safari suggestions is broken today.

Go to Safari > Preferences > Search and disable Include search engine selections.


Broken MacBook Pro screen Can I transfer data from my MacBook Pro which has a broken screen, to another Apple Mac. The screen is black when I turn on the laptop.

Unfortunately your question provides no details in terms of the model of MacBook Pro you have or what type of other Mac you may have access to. This is important because the easiest ways to transfer data involves hardware - eg. the ports available, whether the hard drive is easily removable, etc.

Below are some options for you. Which ones are valid will depend on your hardware.

External monitor

Plug your MacBook Pro into an external monitor so you can access/use it. This will give you a whole heap of options, such as:

Connecting an external hard drive to transfer data across
Use file sharing to make the MacBook Pro accessible to other computers
Set up your computer to use iCloud to sync your data to another Mac
Making a Time Machine backup and using this to transfer data
Use a USB flash drive to transfer data

Another point to consider with this approach is that you could still keep using the MacBook Pro by connecting it to a monitor.

Use Target Disk Mode

Start up your MacBook Pro in target disk mode using these steps:

Ensure the MacBook Pro is off.
Connect the MacBook Pro to the other Mac using a FireWire or Thunderbolt cable.
Power up the MacBook Pro while holding down the T key.
Since your MacBook's screen isn't working, you won't see when it's ready - so just wait until you see the MacBook Pro's hard drive appear on the desktop of the other Mac.

Now you can access the MacBook Pro's data just like it was on any external hard drive.

Remove the hard drive

Depending on your MacBook Pro model, removing the hard drive may be a fairly easy process. If this is the case for you, then remove the hard drive and place it inside a hard drive enclosure (they're not expensive). This allows you to connect it to another Mac as an external drive. Not only can you transfer your data, but you can keep using the drive as an external drive for more data storage or backup purposes.


Why is the current provisioning process for iPhone development implemented the way it is? Given the large number of examples of issues with the manual steps necessary to provision devices and install apps using the developer SDK, I am wondering why Apple took this route.

Specifically, the process seems to be error-prone and could likely be automated.

Is this just a rite of passage or are there reasons for implementing it this way that I am missing?

Are there reasons some of these steps HAVE to be manual?
Does anyone see a way of improving this or does anyone know of some automation/scripts that make this simpler for developers new to the platform?

The biggest issue is the key generation. The hardcore security of iOS is that only signed apps are allowed to run on your devices, unless you've jailbroken it and installed a package to bypass this, typically for non-licensed deploying or app pirating.

You need to generate a key based on Apple's certificate authority, or CA. Then you upload it to the portal and Apple approves it, provided you're a paid developer. Whenever you deploy an app, be it to the store or to your device for testing, you sign the app with your digital signature, which is backed by Apple. This tells your device, or your testers' or customer's devices, that the app is from a developer who is who he says he is. Since the main way to get an app on your device is through the store, you have the confidence that it is not tampered with (since the developer's signature is invalid with the flip of a single bit in the app) and that it's passed through Apple's checks by being hosted on the store. This is a two-fold assurance of the security.

Provisioning profiles are a whole other beast. Previously, Apple would let you "sideload" an app to any number of devices you wanted. This meant that you could bypass the App Store and sell apps yourself as a download, no different than desktop apps. Apple didn't approve of this and has since limited it to 100 devices per year being listed on a single developers account. You add your devices to the portal by it's UDID, it's unique fingerprint, and you would need to get this from any devices you wish to beta test your app or adhoc deploy to. Since it costs roughly $0.99 / year / device, it's prohibitively expensive to sell apps this way, but it allows you to have plenty of beta testing slots. Of course, a provisioning profile is the list of which devices can run which apps signed by who developer.

In recent Xcode's, once you've established your key (which would be difficult to automate from inside Xcode), you can plug in any iDevice, open the organizer and click "Use for Development". Xcode will prompt for your credentials and then automatically add the device to the portal and create a provisioning profile for you. Once you've done the initial setup, it's basically one-click to add an extra device. I don't think Apple is as worried about the initial setup being automated, since it's only a one-time process.

(Sorry, I'm trying to work on my long-windedness.)


Why does a MacBook Pro keep dialing in its location through Find My Mac after a clean install? Unfortunately my iPhone was stolen yesterday. I did have Find My iPhone enabled, but shortly after the theft my iPhone stopped updating its location. I believe the device was turned off, reset, or had it's SIM card removed.

When finding my iPhone I did notice something interesting though, a MacBook Pro I used in the past but which was handed on to a colleague still shows up in my devices. It, however had a clean install of OS X after the HD was replaced, and is now only linked to my colleague's personal iCloud account, and doesn't even have Find My Mac currently enabled.

Therefor my question is why and how this MacBook Pro is still being tracked in my iCloud account after a complete reset/reinstall? Is it being tracked by MAC address whenever it comes online? Do I have a chance of locating my iPhone in a similar way later on?

I'd really like an authoritative answer on this, as this observed behavior raises additional questions on abuse of Find My Mac after buying a second-hand computer for example, as it seems you need to rely on the seller removing this device from his iCloud account.

Here's what Apple says:

  Because of how Find My Mac works, you must deselect the box next to Find My Mac in the OS X System Preferences > iCloud pane to remove your device from your iCloud Find My iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Mac device list.

One of the ways this persistence is implemented is by writing a Find My Mac token to NVRAM, the persistent memory in Intel Macs. You can see this token by running the following command in a terminal:

nvram -p | grep fmm

On my Mac, the result includes my name, Apple ID, and the name I gave the computer, along with some encoded information that probably includes a key of some sort.


No sound in Photobooth recorded videos I have no sound in my videos recorded in Photobooth. This happens on any user account, and the mic is working. I am using macOS 10.12.2 (16C67).

I found the solution, for some reason "Boom 2" caused my microphone input to always be "Aggregate audio device", which worked on all applications I tried except Photobooth. Uninstalling "Boom 2" resolved the issue.


Getting Swedish Apple keyboard to map the same way in Bootcamp (Windows 7) Whenever I use Windows 7 through Bootcamp, my keyboard mappings are totally different. Many special keys get mapped to what they would be on a PC keyboard, which is a real pain since I program on both platforms (and I am mostly used to the mac layout). The problem characters are these: []{}|\

On my SE Mac keyboard, I use these combinations:

[] - any alt + 8/9
{} - any alt + shift + 8/9
| - any alt + 7
\ - any alt + shift + 7

When in Bootcamp, it behaves like a Swedish PC keyboard:

[] - right alt + 8/9
{} - right alt + 7/0
| - right alt + >
\ - right alt + ?

I have tried numerous keyboard settings without any difference.
I was able to switch control and command using a register key but I have found no way to switch the combinations above.

Is there any way to fix this?

As I understand it, US keyboards  do not have this problem since the above keys maps the same way on Mac and PC keyboards. I really envy that...

You can probably get what you want by creating a Windows layout with the Apple mapping. The tool for making such things is at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964665.aspx


Reverse Resume Functionality for Safari I would like to reverse the resume keys for Safari. i.e.; Command-Q should quit and not save any tabs (since that is what I normally want to do). Cmd-Opt-Q should save windows.

I know I can disable resume system-wide.

I know I can use

defaults write com.apple.Safari NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false

or other trickery (locking the saved state folder) to disable Resume per application.

In this case, I don't want to disable Resume for Safari, I just want it to reflect that 90% of the time, it isn't what I want to do.

This is easily done using the normal Keyboard system preference.

Go into the Keyboard Shortcuts section, then Applications, then Safari

Add the last two and you should be good to go...


Mid-2015 Macbook Pro Dented on Arrival I was finally happy to be retiring my Early 2011 Macbook Pro, and upgrading to one of the newer force touch rMBP. But when the package arrived today, I noticed that it has a dent under the chassis.

I haven't used the laptop, or even turned it on, but the seller won't accept returns on eBay. Common sense would suggest getting in touch with Apple, but I'm not sure if this is covered under warranty.

What are my options right now?

Some pictures:

If the laptop is brand new then it should be covered under warranty by Apple for at least 12 months. I would definitely recommend getting in touch with them. You can lookup whether you're covered by warranty by entering in the laptop serial number here.

Even visit an Apple Store if there is one nearby you, they are usually more than happy to help.

Even though this is technically physical damage, it's due to no fault of your own, so it needs to be fixed.

I would also open a case with the seller through eBay, although they state they do not accept returns, if the dent wasn't photographed as part of the ad, or if it happened during shipping, it should be covered under the general eBay/PayPal returns policy.


Mouse movement in Windows like Mac While most people seem to want the Windows mouse movement on their Mac, I'd like it the other way around! Basically just remove the mouse acceleration on Windows.

Ideas, anyone?

P.S. I posted this in the Apple section because I would get annihilated by Windows fanboys!

Try http://support.microsoft.com/kb/149228

But good luck anyway, in this Mac crowd! :)


Sync iPhone contacts with MacBook I am not seeing how to sync my iPhone contacts with my computer contacts.  It's an iPhone 5s and a 2008 MacBook. How can I move my phone contacts to my computer?

If you're not using iCloud to manage your contacts you can sync the contacts manually with your computer.

Connect the device to iTunes over USB.
In iTunes, choose your phone from the toolbar and select the Info tab.

iTunes for Mac: Sync contacts, calendars, and other info with iPod, iPhone, or iPad
Check the box beside Sync Contacts and press Apply.


All-in-one USB-C Dock for 2016 15" Macbook Pro I frequently need to plug the following into my 15" touchbar MacBook Pro:

External monitor (2560x1440@60hz)
USB Mouse
USB Keyboard
Power (something in the 60W+ range - not 15W)

Currently all the adapters needed to do that are turning my desk into a rat's nest and I'd rather not plug 3 separate things in every time I set my laptop down.

I've looked around and can't find anything that fits the requirements. Anyone know of something that fits the bill?

Sounds like you want a USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 dock. One cord connects all the peripherals you ask for to your Mac.

OWC makes several, StarTech makes several, Belkin makes amazing one - http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F4U095-APL/

Be sure you know if you're getting one that charges your Mac - they cost a little more, but should be much more stable for video / power and save your Apple adapter to sit in your go bag or the second place you plug in.

If you want a bargain - you could get a ThunderBolt 2 adapter, but then you still need a power cord and also the cost of TB-3 to TB-2 adapter. Probably not cheaper based on the prices I see today for docks.


Where is Safari Reader CSS or HTML in El Capitan? In OS X El Capitan, Safari Reader View file for modifying the CSS is no longer found in Safari application and in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Safari.framework/Versions/A/Resources/.

Where is it located?

Is it locked by System Integration too?

If there is no way to modify, I think in downgrading to OS X Yosemite.

I tried mdfind -name Reader.html and on my copy of El Capitan it yields the following path:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SafariShared.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Reader.html

So it looks like the file has indeed been moved.


Verify OS X Base System Mac Pro (Late 2013) macOS Mavericks

Internet Recovery Mode:

OS X Utilities:

Disk Utility:

    disk0

      OS X Base System

I can verify "OS X Base System" but not erase, restore or alter partition layout?

macOS Internet Recovery is a NetBoot-like service. Basically, a bootable image is downloaded via HTTP (from an Apple or an Akamai server) into RAM and your Mac boots to it afterwards.

So yes, you can run First Aid on the OS X Base System volume and it will not erase, restore or alter partition layout because it's not a writable volume.

Since it has to be assumed that the image was verifed already after the download has finished and the boot process was successful, why do you want to verify the OS X Base System again?


Connect a desktop PC wirelessly to a home network via Airport Express I have a desktop computer with a non-Mac OS (it currently runs Windows XP Home Edition, but I'm about to replace/add Ubuntu) which I can't connect to my home network (again, the router is not a Mac product): I don't have an ethernet cable where it currently is and it doesn't have a wireless connection option. I do however have an Airport Express and I wanted to know if it was possible to use it as an "antennae" to set a wireless connection to my network.

I mean, the idea would be something like this:

PC <--(ethernet)--> Airport express <--(wireless)--> Router

EDIT: It CAN be done. I was not allowed to touch a lot of things in the router/network, but I managed to configure the Airport without changing things in the current network. I had to set the IP manually but it is currently working.

This doesn't answer your title, but your question I suppose.
Unless you just have the AirPort lying around without any use, a cheaper solution would be to get a USB Wireless Adapter. You can get those for almost a tenth of the price of an Airport.


Replace Finder with Forklift Is possible to have Forklift open folders, paths, etc instead of Finder?

Discussion here on replacing Finder with nautilus.

You can add a Quit menu item to Finder and quit it like so:

defaults write com.apple.Finder QuitMenuItem 1; killall Finder

Now, run ForkLift.

You could try (WARNING: DANGEROUS) to rename ForkLift2.app as Finder.app and replace Finder.app, but I think this would probably just cause problems, possibly severe ones.

What do you mean by "open folders, paths, etc."? Almost all Finder interactions on my computer are initiated by me. Just use ForkLift instead. The only time something else uses Finder is if I double-click on a DMG, then it opens in Finder. If you have this, or other specific use cases that you would like to have interact with ForkLift, please clarify or post additional specific questions.


Can I edit an iPad photo and save both the edited and original version? I have an iPad 2 running iOS 8. Is there a way to edit a photo and save both the edited and original versions? Does it matter if I make the edit from the photo stream or camera roll? Thank you.

You could make a screenshot of the photo by pressing the home button and power putton together.

After this you can edit one of those photo's


How can I bypass Activation Lock? I bought a used iPhone 4.  The previous owner re-set the phone, but did not remove the device from their iCloud.  It is asking me for their iCloud information when I try to set-up the phone.  I don't have contact with the previous owner anymore.  Is there a way to remove the device from their iCloud so I can use a new one?

Official steps to turn off Find My iPhone Activation Lock are documented by Apple at https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201441

In a nutshell, the various ways to remove iCloud Activation Lock include:

Apple will remove the lock if they can verify the original purchaser is requesting the action.
Self-service removal if you can authenticate as the iCloud account that placed the lock on that device.
Business using DEP can often use their MDM to remove the lock as a self-service action without needing Apple to be involved.

For consumers, you will likely need to make an appointment at an Apple Store and provide the Genius on-hand proof of purchase (to show you're the authorized owner) along with proof of identity and they will reset Activation Lock, giving you access to the device.

For businesses, it depends if you are enrolled in DEP - Apple's Device Enrollment Program or just want to provide copies of the original purchase listing serial numbers to verify ownership.

If you bought the device second hand, stole it, found it or came to possess the device by some means other than buying it from Apple directly, then you will probably need the original owner to show proof of purchase, etc. They will then transfer the device to your account or simply disable Activation Lock.

The only self-service way to remove the lock if you can't type your password into the device itself is to authenticate at https://icloud.com and remove the activation lock when the device is not connected to the internet.


MacBook Pro has kernel panic same time every time I purchased a second hand MacBook Pro 2015 and installed High Sierra on it and upgraded the SSD. Every day between 5-6pm it has a kernel panic and restarts. Any idea what might be behind this? I can't identify an activity trigger and its been happening daily for about 6 months.

This panic signature reminds me of a panic I saw a while back that was caused by Norton AntiVirus, which you have installed. In fact, here is someone on the Norton forum seeing the same thing. It's possible that you have a daily scan in the 5-6pm timeframe which hits this bug.

If you’re not already running the latest version of Norton AntiVirus, update to the latest.
If you are on the latest version and this panic continues to happen, uninstall Norton AntiVirus. Specifically, this means making sure that its four kernel extensions are uninstalled. You can verify via kextstat | grep com.symantec.
If the panic continues after uninstalling Norton, uninstall your other KEXTs (Black Magic, Soundflower, SoundGrabber).
If panics continue, we can start to debug them by adding symbolication to your panic output: Disable SIP, run sudo nvram boot-args="kextsyms=1", reboot, and collect & upload a new panic report.


Is it normal to have the home directory under git? I've just found out that my home directory is under the supervision of Git, i.e. there's a .git folder in my home directory.

My questions are:

Is it normal that my home directory is under Git?
If it is not normal:

what's your advisable way of removing it from the supervision of Git? Should I just remove the .git folder?
What could have caused it to become a git repository?

Is it a good idea to have it under Git?

It was basically Intellij who made me notice this, because it tells me:

  18:10 Unregistered VCS root detected
              The directory /Users/cell is under Git, but is not registered in the > Settings.

where clearly /Users/cell is my home directory.

It also tells me "Unregistered VCS root" and is doing some work in the background...

I've just Intellij because I wanted to start learning Scala, so the only thing I installed before creating a new project was to install the Scala plugin.

No, it is not normal for your home directory to be under git.

To remove just rm -rf .git

It is not a good idea to have it all under git as there are files like caches, trash that you do not want under a version control.
Theoretically, you could exclude them in .gitignore but I don't think this is practical and it makes it difficult for you to put other git projects in your home directory.

As to how it happened, we can't say. Something or someone made a git repo on your home directory.

For keeping configuration files under git look at the various git repos of dotfiles.


Does Apple's wireless keyboard work cross-platform such as in Ubuntu, Windows and *ixes? My friend bought me the mStand here and it is quite cool passive heat conductor, placing the screen to the right level and I can use it for books etc besides laptops. It requires a wireless kbd and the only such kbd I would tolerate is probably by Apple (because it is small and function at least in Mac). Now I have different laptops such as Ubuntus, Windows and Linuxes. Can I use this keyboard with them also through Bluetooth?

Sure, there's nothing keeping it from working with Windows other than the fact that it's missing some keys. I'm not sure if it's compatible with the various distros of Linux, but you can try it out and look on their associated forums.

Also, for Windows, be sure to check this out:  http://www.kudzuworld.com/blogs/Tech/20080101.EN.aspx


iPhone 4/5 SIM sizes I have an iPhone 4 and I'm borrowing an old iPhone 5s from a family member. I understand that they have two different types/sizes of SIM cards but would I simply ask my carrier (Verizon) to send me a smaller one or would it be more complicated?

The solution to your problem is, either you get it from service provider or cut it by yourself to nano sim size (as stated by other user). You might know that iPhone 4S uses micro sim whereas iPhone 5S uses a nano sim, so to use it with iPhone 4S again after cutting it, all you need is a micro to nano sim adapter which is available online for few bucks. This way you can use it on both devices.


Transferring hard drive from an old to a new MacBook Pro? I have this Macbook Pro which has been working grand other than a terrible Logic Board issue. So I’m jumping ship and wanting to set up a new, refurbished mid 2012 MacBook Pro.

How can I transfer my hard drive over? The refurbished MacBook Pro that I’ve bought has a 128 GB SSD, whereas the old one has a 500 GB. I’ve tried just removing the hard drive and swapping the 500GB one in, but it gives me a hard drive read error. Do I need to wipe the old drive? Is there another procedure?

No extra steps are needed when you move a drive from one Mac that's compatible with the new Mac other than opening Disk Utility and partitioning / erasing the drive.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904
https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25649

If you have tried that several times and get the same hardware error - it's now time to repair the new system by triaging the issues:

Reconnect all cables and retry
Put another working drive back in the new Mac and test

Either the Mac is now broken or the drive now is broken or the cabling is now broken. A repair will tell you which of the three above happened.

For this reason, I almost always connect the new hard drive externally over USB and make sure the old Mac can boot from the new drive and work out any installation issues. Only when I'm convinced I have the correct OS to boot an external drive do I remove it from the external sled and do the swap.

Much faster to know the repair went well in that case but you do need a USB to SATA (or whatever your SSD / storage connection is if you're not working on a 2012 era MacBook).


How can I check for available entropy? On linux systems, one can check for available entropy (useful to know if you're tapping /dev/random for any PRNG purposes) with

cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail

However, there is no equivalent of /proc on a Mac (AFAIK). How can I check for available system entropy on a Mac? I'm running OS X 10.7.3 (Lion)

To update with some of my comments under Kyle's answer — One of the reasons for Macs not displaying this information is that it isn't needed (in most cases). Linux systems will block calls to /dev/random if there isn't enough entropy in the pool. On Macs, it periodically keeps adding to the entropy pool using the SecurityServer daemon.

However, it also notes that if the daemon fails for some reason, the output quality will decline without any indication of failure:

  The quality of
       its output is however dependent on regular addition of appropriate entropy. If the SecurityServer system daemon fails for any reason, output quality will suffer over time without any explicit indication
       from the random device itself.

So even though the amount of entropy is not made available easily, it doesn't mean it isn't there and there might be instances where its knowledge might be helpful.

This is not a solution, but a clarification of how entropy is gathered and used in Linux.

Linux actually has two different entropy pools:

/dev/random and /dev/urandom.

The former is a true random pool, fed by system entropy sources.
The latter is more of a PRNG such as those found on the BSD's and OS X.

However, even urandom requires a seed of 'real' random entropy in order to produce quality pseudo-random data. On recent kernels, a complete lack of entropy in /dev/random will still not block urandom, but urandom will re-use the last valid seed until more entropy becomes available. Because urandom is nonblocking, most services that require a steady stream of entropy use it rather than relying on /dev/random.

There are still some services however, such as various SSL suites, which can't make do with pseudo-random entropy, but require a truly unpredictable entropy source. In this case, urandom (or any other PRNG) can't be used, and /dev/random comes into play.


Not receiving Text Messages after upgrade to iOS 7 Upgraded both iphone5s to ios7 approx two weeks back. Suddenly last Thurdays I cannot receive his texts. Phone calls and FaceTime yes. Texts no. He can receive texts from me. Any ideas?

I had something similar. To fix it, go to the Settings app, then General, then scroll down all the way to the bottom and tap Reset.

This gives you various choices, but Reset Network Settings is what you want:

you will then be given a confirmation to Reset Network Settings -- tap the text.

The phone will restart, and your Messages and texts should work fine. You may have to enter your WiFi passwords again, and on my phone, Mobile/Cellular, the toggle for Mobile Data / Cellular Data had been changed, so it may be an idea to check that.


Is using a Mac mini as an iPhoto server for 2 client laptops a good idea? We have 200+ gigs of pictures and home videos on both me and my wife's laptops. This is getting unmanageable as well as taking up too much hard drive space on both of our laptops.

I am thinking about getting a Mac mini that will acts as an iPhoto server, and setting up an iPhoto share so that our laptops can still browse the pictures as well as our Apple TV always having access to that stream of photos. That way our Apple TV is not dependent on our laptops being powered on.

Is this a good idea? Anyone have a better suggestion?

You can happily place the library and have it share out.  You will need to have iPhoto running at all times in order to have the library visible to other users tho.

When you connect to the library from another Mac, you will not be able to use the same Events/Albums views that you have locally.  Some of it is available, but mainly it just throws a huge list of all your stuff that is not organised in the same way as you would expect if it was local.  Also, it's SLOW, in that it seems to almost cache the contents each time you connect which can take a while, and subsequent navigation is not quick either.

Another way to do this, is to share out the folder that the iPhoto data resides in, rather than opening iPhoto and sharing your library via the app.  This has the advantage that iPhoto does not need to be running on the Mini, although the disadvantage is your Apple TV won't connect.  This will however open the library in the same way as if it were local (in essence it is local, just on a network drive).  You can test this out by holding OPTION down as you start iPhoto, it will let you connect to a different library.

All in all, it's not a great solution either way.  I long for a sensible way of sharing in iPhoto and iTunes that does not require the apps to be running at the time (just a background sharing daemon would be great), that allows you to navigate and modify as if they were local, but it does't really exist for either app, and any solution is substandard to your local install workflows.


How can I change default X11 application? I compiled my own X11 Server for Mac OS X and want it to replace the original outdated X11.app supplied by Lion. How do I do that?

cd to /usr/X11/bin
rename the existing X symlink to Xquartz (to X_orig for example) in case you need to revert in the future to the "vanilla" config
symlink X to your compiled binary.


Upgrading brew in El Capitan I just upgraded to El Capitan, and when I tried updating brew I got the following error:

$ brew update
Error: The /usr/local directory is not writable.
Even if this directory was writable when you installed Homebrew, other
software may change permissions on this directory. Some versions of the
"InstantOn" component of Airfoil are known to do this.

You should probably change the ownership and permissions of /usr/local
back to your user account.
  sudo chown -R $(whoami):admin /usr/local

Before I proceed with the chown recommendation, given that El Capitan just came out, is that the right way to proceed here? Why is this step necessary, and what are any potential undesirable consequences of running this command?

In case it helps, I found two issues about El Capitan in brew: 40837 and 41665 but a solution to this problem wasn't immediately clear. What can I do to continue to use brew in El Capitan reliably?

I mean they give you the solution right there. I had the same problem and I just ran:

  sudo chown -R $(whoami):admin /usr/local

and it worked.


Install Mac OS on old Mac Mini not working from USB nor from internet A friend of mine gave me an old mac mini, the white one, i guess from 2007 or something. It has Mac OS 10.x installed (actually it has 3 versions installed for whatever reason).
The problem is that he has no idea what his user name and passwords are.
So I would like to re-install a fresh OS and setup the mac mini.
It is not the first time, that I do this, so I do press for sure the right keys while starting up.
I tried booting the system holding down the apple key + r without success. The system will boot into the primary installation.
With Command + Apple + r it is the same.
I can reset VRAM using Command Command + Apple + r + p and I hear the chime sound.
Pressing any other combinations doesn't let me hear any sounds.
So I wondered and created a bootable stick with MAC OS Sierra on it. Just to make sure my old mac mini can handle it.
While booting up and pressing command I can choose between the installed Versions of MAC OS or install Sierry from USB.
When I choose to install from USB the Mac Mini will simply boot into the installed Mac OS.

I remember that on an old windows PC I wasn't able to install from USB even though he recognized the USB Stick. I had to do that from DVD / CD.
What do you think, do I have to use a DVD/CD to finally install any OS?

Since I don't don't have the option to burn a disc here I wasn't able to try out yet. Maybe there is another solution?

First step is to erase the non volatile ram (used to be called PRAM) by holding Command-Option-P-R and listen for two boot chimes in a row then release the keys and try the install.

For an erase install, you need to boot to the installer and then choose Disk Utility from the Utilities menu and literally erase the drive. I would physically disconnect my backup if any before doing the erase. At that point, NVRAM or not - the system can’t boot from the erased drive and will make your life easier to select the correct installer and get a clean new OS.


Playing AVI files in macOS using VLC On Ubuntu, I use VLC to play all types of videos. Now I have a MacBook Air I bought in 2017 with macOS High Sierra. I tried to play an AVI file, but QuickTime does not recognize the format. There is no other app it offers in Applications. So I tried searching for VLC on the App Store but unable to find it.

How can I play AVI videos, which QuickTime does not recognize on macOS? Why isn't VLC on the App Store?

VLC for macOS is available and is regularly updated, just like VLC for Ubuntu. If you can play a file using VLC in Ubuntu, it can also be played by VLC on macOS.

You can download VLC for macOS here.

Clicking the download button will download a .dmg file in Downloads folder in Finder. To install VLC, simply double-click the .dmg file. A DMG file is identified as Apple Disk Image in macOS and is mounted as a volume in Finder. To install VLC simply copy VLC.app by dragging it into the /Applications directory.

Alternatively, if you have Homebrew setup (a popular package manager for macOS), you can install VLC using Homebrew Cask by running:

brew cask install vlc

VLC for macOS is not distributed via Mac App Store. Unlike iOS App Store, Mac App Store isn't the only option to install apps in macOS. A lot of developers choose to distribute their apps independently.


How to convert photos from heic into jpg? On ios devices photos are stored in heic. I turned on the option to "send originals", so when I send a photo from my phone to my mac, it is in heic format. The conversion is only necessary once in a while when some website requires jpg-format. For my own purposes I'd like to stick to the more efficient heic-format.
What ways are there to convert photos heic to jpg on macos? Assume the photo is on the mac file system.
For solutions I would be specially grateful if you could take into account the following preferences:

Software that is available on macos by default
Software available on homebrew
Other ...

Preview.app

Open the HEIC with Preview.app
File > Export...
Format: JPEG

In batch:

Select all the desired HEIC files in Finder at once (using shift + click or dragging)
Right-click > Open with > Preview
Use shift + click (or dragging) in Preview to select all the files in the sidebar
File > Export Selected Images...
Click options in the bottom-left of the dialog
Set the format to JPEG
Navigate to the location you want to save the new JPEGs
Click "Choose" in the bottom-right of the dialog

Command line (ImageMagick)
brew install imagemagick
convert IMG_1234.HEIC image.jpg

In batch:
for file in *.HEIC ; do convert "$file" "${file%.HEIC}.jpg" ; done


Macbook Pro Keyboard and Trackpad not working after battery change I've changed my battery after this question:
Does battery condition have anything to do with macbook pro performance?
The performance has significantly increased, however I have a new problem.
My Macbook's Keyboard and Trackpad are not working at all.
Only the power button works. I've connected an external mouse and Apple keyboard via USB slots. They work just fine, the problem is it's not a laptop anymore.
This happened after I changed the battery and replaced it with an iFixIt battery while going over their tutorial. I did use Listerine instead of adhesive removal, because apparently shipping them is illegal in my country. Some comments said that's a good alternative, I'm not sure if this caused the issue or not.
After the keyboard and trackpad became unresponsive, I've read that the Touchpad Trackpad Ribbon Flex Cable is very sensitive and it easily gets damaged. I've ordered a new one and installed it, didn't help.
Right now I'm looking for more solutions on how to fix my device.
Mid 2015 MBP Retina

If before replacing battery, your Mac's keyboard & trackpad were working fine, then generally after replacing old battery, Mac MUST work fine, provided you've placed+inserted new battery correctly+completely, and you've made sure (old) keyboard & trackpad connectors are properly connected.
KB = Keyboard . TP = Trackpad (aka: Touchpad).
Mac = Macintosh = MacBook Pro/Air/etc.
Replacing hardware parts (especially the TP), again, seems to be the remaining last option for your case.
Just do this extra step: Once you attach the ribbon flex cable connector (of KB, TP or battery, etc) onto Mac board's socket, then fully INSERT & slide it in completely into the socket, then use the lock mechanism in the socket, and put a tape on it, (tape piece should cover the socket and bit more area around it, and some portion of the flex-cable as well.)
The reason I'm suggesting that, as I'm suspecting, this connection is not stable in your case, and some pins are disconnecting when you're re-assembling back, as your comment indicates that you later also obtained new keyboard & trackpad, (so problem is not inside the keyboard or trackpad itself).
Low-Quality and/or older-generation Lithium battery packs in Mac can degrade very quickly when HEAT or high-temperature is applied or around the Mac.
When battery swell-up it pushes/expands upward, few components that suffer from this, one of them is Trackpad (aka: Touchpad), etc.
Trackpad's touch sensor may have developed cracks or some circuit has disconnected partially, so replacing atleast Trackpad may be necessary.
Heat expands different type of materials at different rate, so electrical disconnect, etc can occur from this.
Your sentence is not clear enough what exactly you've ordered-for, is it just the "ribbon flex" cable-conector, Or new keaboard & trackpad ? i would guess that you've ordered new keyboard & new trackpad (which includes new ribbon-flex connector).
New ones should work, & you may need to reset SMC and reset NVRAM/PRAM, see below details.
If new ones (new battery, new keayboard, new trackpad) are correct item for your exact Mac model# and still not working, then my remaining deduction would be, that, your Mac board itself has disconnected/faulty circuits near the area where battery pack is.

KB = Keyboard . TP = Trackpad (aka: Touchpad).
Mac = Macintosh = MacBook Pro/Air/etc.
You may be already aware-of and already applied the solutions mentioned in this answer, but I'm including it anyway, so that other users with a similar problem can understand what options are there, and how to do it systematically.

When the keyboard and trackpad stops working, are unresponsive or partially not-working, then in problem(s) like this, Mac owners have to use USB based mouse and keyboard.

After attaching external, wired/hardware based USB Mouse, Mac owner MUST do these:

Click the Apple () icon in top menu bar → select ⚙ System Preferences from your menu bar.
Open Accessibility → select the "Pointer Control" in left-side column → select "Mouse and Trackpad" Tab → find this option line "Ignore built-in trackpad when mouse or wireless trackpad are present" and select it.
inside Accessibility, select the "Keyboard" in left-side column → select "Accessibility Keyboard" Tab → find this option line "Enable Accessibility Keyboard" and select it. Then it lets you type and interact with macOS without using a hardware keyboard.
if you have a hardware based Keyboard with USB connector, then skip this number 4 step, Or else, if you only have a USB-Mouse, then follow these steps: go back to the ⚙ System Preferences → click "Keyboard" icon → select "Keyboard" Tab → then select the "Show keyboard and emoji viewers in menu bar" option. In top Apple menu bar you will see a keyboard icon ⌨ or you will see your country/location  Flag icon, click on it, choose the "Show Keyboard Viewer" option. A small ⌨ window will appear which will display keyboard's key-buttons. To use this software keyboard, click on key-buttons with your USB-mouse.
turn-off Bluetooth in Mac.

KB = Keyboard . TP = Trackpad (aka: Touchpad).
( Few unicode symbols from IEC : Power - &#x23FB; - | ⏽ . Toggle Power - &#x23FC; - ⏼ . Power On - &#x23FD; - ⏽ . Power Off - &#x2B58; - ⭘ . Sleep Mode - &#x23FE; - ⏾ )

TROUBLESHOOT:
After you've done ⚙ System Preferences configuration shown above, then take below troubleshoot steps (before getting/ordering hardware parts)

Update System Firmware: load all updates from Apple, & also all Security updates from Apple.
Unplug USB-mouse & KB, and check if internal KB & TP are working or not.
If internal KB & TP are working then NO need to follow any other steps, but if NOT-working then plug back in your USB-mouse & KB.

if previous (firmware update) step did not work, then Reset SMC: detail instruction is here, and a brief summary is shown below:

if your Mac model's battery is removable, then: Turn off Mac; Unplug power adapter; Open bottom/backside (P5 pentalobe) screws that are keeping the lower-case attached with internal frame & board, remove (all) battery pack(s); then press & hold-down ⏽ Power button for 10 seconds. Mac will be discharged completely, & SMC will reset. Re-attach the battery pack(s), connect power supply adapter & plug.
if your Mac model's battery is NOT-removable (that is, it is inside the laptop, & so opening-up lower-case is necessary to remove battery packs, then do not unscrew & do not remove lower-case), keep power supply connected to Mac, then first press these THREE buttons altogether (left-side) ^ Control + (left-side) ⌥ Option + (right-side) ⇧ Shift for 7 to 10 seconds, then also press & hold the FOURTH button, the ⏽ Power button, and keep press & hold these FOUR buttons altogether for 7 to 10 seconds more, then you will see that Mac has began shutdown process, and in this stage it will also automatically reset SMC.

if your Mac computer's specific model has Apple T2 Security Chip then above instruction is valid for that type of Macs.
if your specific Mac model has no T2 chip, then press & hold all of those FOUR button altogether from beginning, & just use left-side ⇧ Shift button, instead of right-side.

Unplug power cord/plug, for around 15-seconds.
Unplug external USB mouse & KB, & wait for around 5-seconds.
Turn ON Mac with ⏽ Power button.
Check, if internal KB & TP are working or not: if internal KB & TP are working then NO-need to follow next steps,
but if internal KB & TP are still not working, then plug back in your external USB-mouse & KB.

if above/previous steps did not work, then Reset (Parameter RAM) PRAM: detail instruction is here, and a brief summary is shown below:

shutdown Mac completely, use ⏽ Power button. Sometime shutdown process needs time, so wait around 60-seconds for shutdown. And after 15-seconds of shutdown, press ⏽ Power button (to start the Mac), & immediately after pressing ⏽ Power button, press & hold down these FOUR buttons altogether: ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + P + R, and keep on holding all of those buttons for 20 seconds. Based on your Mac model# during those 20-seconds you will either hear the STARTUP sound for 2nd-time, Or you will see the Apple LOGO  (or a GRAY-SCREEN) appearing & going-away, twice. When you will hear STARTUP sound SECOND-TIME Or when you will see Apple LOGO () DISAPPEARING SECOND-TIME, then release all those FOUR buttons. Then you should see, Mac is restarting/rebooting, and starting with normal boot process, (if this does not happen by itself in your specific Mac model# , then press ⏽ Power button once).
Unplug external USB-mouse & KB,
Check, if internal KB & TP are working or not, (if internal KB & TP working then NO-need to follow next steps), but if internal KB & TP are still not working then plug in your external USB mouse & KB back.

.plist = Property-List .  cmd = Command .
KB = Keyboard . TP = Trackpad (aka: Touchpad).

FEW MORE TROUBLESHOOT OPTIONS:

Safe-Mode : in safe mode, macOS disables all 3rd-party extensions & software, some (Apple)-system extensions (which are not required in safe-mode), etc, etc.
Began to shutdown Mac and wait for around 60-seconds to complete shutdown. Then, wait around 15-seconds, and turn ON Mac with ⏽ Power button, and immediately after that Press & hold onto the ⇧ Shift button, until you reach login credential (username & password) entering screen, then release ⇧ Shift button.
(if you've disabled login into Mac to reach Mac Desktop mode quickly, then hold onto ⇧ Shift button for around 90-seconds after you see Mac desktop, then release ⇧ Shift button.)
In "Safe-Mode" you'll see the words ”Safe Boot” in top-right corner of screen.
Check if internal KB & TP are working or not, if working then (try to) find out which 3rd-party software's extension is causing this conflict that in normal-mode KB & TP stop working. (Follow the "REMOVE .plist FILES" step in below).
If internal KB & TP still did not work/response in "Safe mode", then this step indicated, problem is NOT related with any 3rd-party extensions or any (3rd-party) startup software,
So plug back in USB-mouse & KB, and Shutdown or "Restart" Mac, and goto next step.
MOVE .plist FILES FROM ~/Library/Preferences/ (aka: "User Library/Preferences" folder) INTO ~/Desktop/Backup/MyLibraryPreferences/ FOLDER:

first source folder you have to go in is ~/Library/Preferences/, so follow these steps : open "Finder" (file browser) → click/select your Mac storage drive → find & go inside "Users" folder → then go inside the folder that has your UserName, f.e. in my case its "atErik" → press ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + >̣ buttons (Command+Shift+dot) altogether for once, it will goto "Unhide Files and Folders" mode (aka: Unhide/Unhidden Files and Directories mode, aka: show hidden files & folders mode) temporarily. Find & go inside the "Library" folder, then find & go inside the "Preferences" folder.
• Here, the beginning ~ (tilde) symbol means: inside your HOME directory/folder. The ~ is a shortened form of, for-example: /Users/atErik/ folder, Or /Users/<UserName>/ folder (aka: "HOME" folder/directory).
• So ~/Library/Preferences/ in its expanded form, indicates to /Users/atErik/Library/Preferences/ folder (or /Users/<UserName>/Library/Preferences/ folder).

Move below .plist files into a "Backup" folder on your Mac Desktop:
• Select all of these below property-list files (they have .plist filename-extension) and also select other .plist files related to any (KTM) keyboard, trackpad, touchpad or mouse, then select "Copy" option for all selected files by using ⌘ Command + C ( or use "Copy" option in Finder's "Edit" menu. )
• Then in "Finder" goto your "Desktop", create a folder "Backup" (if it does not exists), then inside the "Backup" create another sub-folder "MyLibraryPreferences".
• Now you MUST MOVE those selected .plist files into ~/Desktop/Backup/MyLibraryPreferences/ folder, by using ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + V buttons ( Or goto "Edit" menu in "Finder" file-browser, & press & hold ⌥ Option button in software/hardware KB, you will see that "Paste"-mode will change, & "Move"-mode will appear & available, so select "Move" option. )
• You may have to enter a privileged admin type of user's username & password, to complete the "Move" process.
SELECT .plist FILES:
• com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist1 (Magic Trackpad)
• com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.mouse.plist (Magic mouse)
• com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist
• com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad.plist
• com.apple.preference.trackpad.plist
• com.apple.driver.AppleHIDMouse.plist (wired USB mouse)
• com.apple.AppleMultitouchMouse.plist
(to select multiple files, you have to press ⌘ Command button before clicking on next/another .plist file)
(Mac will auto-create above files with default settings, after a restart/start)

3RD-PARTY : 1st-party is you (your own developed software/scripts, etc). 2nd-party is Apple developed software running on Apple developed macOS. And 3rd-party is who is not you/1st-party & is not Apple/2nd-party, so it is OTHER software developer.
3rd-party software often uses their parent company (or developer) name or their own company (or one of the developer's) name or uses the software name for their software files & directories/folders.
So to detect 3rd-party software files, you will need to know 3rd-party software's company name or developer name also.
3rd-party can+may use these set of folders, which can+may reside inside here ("/Library/") or here("~/Library/") or both : ".../Application Support/", ".../Caches/", ".../Containers/", ".../Frameworks/", ".../Logs/", ".../Preferences/", ".../Saved/", ".../Application State/", ".../WebKit/", etc.
Disable (temporarily) all 3rd-party AUTO STARTUP items, & Login-time auto-start items, services, applications, etc:
• We will disable those (by using CLI+GUI, etc) temporarily after making backup (so that they can be retrieved/restored easily later).
• Open the "Terminal" (press Fn + F4 > click on "Other" icon > click on "Terminal") : To view hidden files & folders in "Finder", in Terminal run this
cmd: sudo defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
To apply the above new settings, we have to stop all running "Finder" instances/sessions, (macOS will auto start a new instance of "Finder" after we stop all), do that with cmd: killall Finder
• NOTE: Do Not Use The Word "cmd:" Itself, When You Copy Or Paste A Command From Here, I Used "cmd:" Here To Make It Clear That Words Used After "cmd:" (inside grey box) are ("Terminal") commands.
• run cmd: launchctl list to view various STARTUP items. Keep a backup list what items are set as STARTUP item, with
cmd: dt="/bin/date +'%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S'" ; dv=`$dt` ; launchctl list > ~/launchctl-list_${dv}.txt ; unset dt; more ~/launchctl-list_${dv}.txt && unset dv;
• These (AUTO-STARTUP) type of software items/componenets are placed inside these folders usually : "/Library/StartUpItems/" (items in it are launched by system when Mac system starts-up), "/Library/LaunchDaemons/" (launched by system "root"-user when system starts-up, with bit more detail or specific options), "/Library/LaunchAgents/" (items in it are launched by user-account when user logins, so these are LOGIN-time AUTO-START items), macOS also starts various system & other software items from "/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/" folder (items are launched by "root"-user at system startup) & "/System/Library/LaunchAgentsitems/" folder (items are launched by user-account when user logins), but these two "/System/..." folders are usually for CORE system components & must not-be changed/touched by any general users, unless you're capable to work in that level. 3rd-party software must-not be inside "/System/...".  And 3rd-party LOGIN AUTO-START items are also inside "~/Library/LaunchAgents/" or "/Users/<UserName>/Library/LaunchAgents/" folders (items in it are launched by user-account when user logins).
• Move (all 3rd-party & risky 2nd-party) items from LaunchDaemons & LaunchAgents, etc into a backup folder after disabling them, (and also save attribute & property list of all files in those folders), with this shell script/program here: https://GitHub.com/atErik/Disable-MacOS-3rd-Party-Startup
• after moving above items, make another backup list of STARTUP items, with
cmd: dt="/bin/date +'%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S'" ; dv=`$dt` ; launchctl list > ~/launchctl-list_${dv}.txt ; unset dt; more ~/launchctl-list_${dv}.txt && unset dv;
• Below PLIST files also contain STARTUP items (and not-disabled even in Safe-Mode, so these can be RISKY/abused) and these MUST-NOT be used by any 3rd-Party, unless it has SHOWN you this (below "/private/var/db/launchd.db/...") data & informed you & obtained your fully-aware full & explicit consent to use it:
 /private/var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd.peruser.501/overrides.plist
 /private/var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist
Run this cmd to view list of these PLIST files: sudo ls -Gal /private/var/db/launchd.db/
User can view items in them with these
 cmd: nano /private/var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd.peruser.501/overrides.plist
 cmd: sudo nano /private/var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist
Run this: launchctl list & findout which "Label" does NOT begin with "com.apple...", so those are 3rd-party STARTUP items, and use below commands to disable them.
Disable 3rd-party and RISKY 2nd-Party items in above two PLIST files, with such EXAMPLE commands:
 disable "rexecd": sudo defaults write /private/var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist 'com.apple.rexecd' -dict Disabled -bool true ;
now with "nano" open the plist, and apply similar "Disabled" pattern of XML-codes, on other entries that are 3rd-party or risky 2nd-party items.
Some (harmful) developer's App/pkg installer sets-up various non-standard (and constitutional amendment violating) ways (one of such shown in above) to start various (fishy, aka: Anti-Privacy, etc) items (by violating the Privacy-Rights, human-rights, etc to SPY & data-collect, etc), So one way to quickly & temporarily disable these fishy/immoral/unethical activities is, MOVE them in a different folder :  with "Finder", go inside "Applications", select all apps that are 3rd-party apps (installed by you), (to multi-select, use ⌘ Command button each time before you select/click on an app), then in "Finder" select "Copy" option in "Edit" (or press ⌘ Command + C altogether for once), then on your Mac "Desktop" create a new folder "Backup", then create a sub-folder "Apps" inside the "Backup". Go inside that "Apps" & press ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + V buttons altogether once (or goto "Edit" menu in "Finder", press ⌥ Option & then select "Move" option), you may have to enter a privileged admin type of user's username & password to complete the MOVE process. (Don't forget to restart Mac once, after below steps).
Remove/Delete 3rd-party auto startup items, login-items, services, applications, etc software items, (if you prefer to use GUI for it, & if you don't want to make backup) : Goto ⚙ System Preferences → click on "Users & Groups" icon → select your username (or nickname) on left side column/pane → select "Login Items" Tab → you'll see list of startup items, select an item & press the “–” sign below to remove it → Done. Later by using the “+” you can add some (not-all) items back.

MOVE .plist FILES FROM /Library/Preferences/ (aka: "Mac Library/Preferences") INTO ~/Desktop/Backup/MacLibraryPreferences/ FOLDER:
• In "Finder" → click/select your Mac storage drive → press ⌘ Command + ⇧ Shift + >̣ buttons (Command+Shift+dot) altogether for once to show hidden files & folders, → find & go inside "Library" folder, → then find & go inside "Preferences" folder, → and check-for & find & select .plist files (that are shown & listed in above), → also find & select any other (KTM) keyboard & trackpad & touchpad & mouse related .plist files, → then select "Copy" option for all selected files by using ⌘ Command + C (or use "Copy" option in Finder's "Edit" menu).
• Goto your "Desktop" folder, find & go inside "Backup" folder, create a sub-folder "MacLibraryPreferences" inside the "Backup".
• Now you MUST MOVE those selected .plist files into ~/Desktop/Backup/MacLibraryPreferences/ folder, by using ⌘ Command + ⌥ Option + V buttons ( Or goto "Edit" menu in "Finder" file-browser, & press & hold ⌥ Option button in software/hardware KB, you will see that "Paste"-mode will change, & "Move"-mode will appear & available, so select "Move" option. )
• You have to enter a privileged admin type of user's username & password, to complete the "Move" process.
Shutdown or "Restart" your Mac, and unplug USB-mouse & KB (immediately after clicking on "Restart"/shutdown). Wait around 15-seconds.
Boot/Start your Mac, and check if internal KB & TP are working or not, if yes then NO-need to follow next steps,
if internal KB & TP are still not-working after SAFE-MODE & PLIST-REMOVAL, then follow (shown in above) SMC-reset & PRAM-reset steps AGAIN,
and again check if internal KB & TP are working or not, if yes then NO-need to follow next steps,
if internal KB & TP are still not-working, then plug back in (external) USB-mouse & KB, & Restart Mac.
HARDWARE INFO: run below shown commands inside Terminal. NOTE: output is obtained from an old MacBook-Pro, so your Mac output will be different based on your MacBook model#:

cmd:  ioreg | grep Keyboard
normally, when internal keyboard works, then you should see (6-Lines of) similar output shown below, with above command:
•     | |   |       |     |   +-o Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad@1d183000  <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x100012c9c, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (7371 ms), retain 33>
•     | |   |       |     |     +-o Apple Internal Keyboard@0  <class IOUSBHostInterface, id 0x100012ca7, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (7357 ms), retain 11>
•     | |   |       |     |     | +-o AppleUSBTCKeyboard@1d183000,0  <class AppleUSBTCKeyboard, id 0x100012cb1, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (7349 ms), retain 8>
•     | |   |       |     |     |     +-o AppleEmbeddedKeyboard  <class AppleEmbeddedKeyboard, id 0x100012d0d, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (0 ms), retain 8>
•     | |   | +-o Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad@1d183000  <class AppleUSBDevice, id 0x100012c9e, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (1 ms), retain 15>
•     | |   | | +-o Apple Internal Keyboard@0  <class AppleUSBInterface, id 0x100012caa, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (0 ms), retain 5>
cmd:  ioreg | grep Trackpad
normally, when internal trackpad works, then you should see (2-Lines of) similar output shown below, with above command:
•     | |   |       |     |   +-o Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad@1d183000  <class IOUSBHostDevice, id 0x100012c9c, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (7371 ms), retain 33>
•     | |   | +-o Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad@1d183000  <class AppleUSBDevice, id 0x100012c9e, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (1 ms), retain 15>
cmd:  ioreg | grep Touchpad
normally, when internal trackpad (aka: Touchpad) works, then you should also see (4-Lines of) similar output shown below, when above command is run:
•     | |   |       |     |     +-o Touchpad@1  <class IOUSBHostInterface, id 0x100012ca8, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (551 ms), retain 11>
•     | |   |       |     |     +-o Touchpad@2  <class IOUSBHostInterface, id 0x100012ca9, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (10 ms), retain 11>
•     | |   | | +-o Touchpad@1  <class AppleUSBInterface, id 0x100012cad, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (0 ms), retain 5>
•     | |   | | +-o Touchpad@2  <class AppleUSBInterface, id 0x100012caf, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (0 ms), retain 5>
if similar lines (like above) are not-present in your output, then obviously the hardware has failed or is disconnected.
If similar lines are present, (and internal KB & TP are still not-working properly), then thats indicating: some software/settings, etc are causing conflict, Or there is a partial hardware malfunction.
NOTE/REQUEST TO OP @esqarrouth (if you want to, then) please EDIT your post and put a word "EDIT:" at bottom-side of your top/1st post message, and then show output of above three "ioreg" commands, so that others can see the output & analyze.
Please use one ` backtick symbol (aka: back-quote, aka: grave-accent) in beginning of each "output" code-line (Backtick button  ̀̃ is in top-left corner of keyboard, under the esc). Any text or code inside 2-Backticks creates an "inline"-mode code-line which can wrap at-edge without crossing-over & all text or code is also viewable without sliding left/right. And at-end of each code-line please also use one-more ` backtick-symbol and two "space" characters. Two-spaces at-end of a text/code line, creates a Line-Break(LB) <br />.
so i.e. the `a ̪test ̪code-line` ̪ ̪ ( "space" character is shown as  ̪ )
will become: a test code-line

f.e. = for example . i.e. = in example . e.g. = example goes.
KB = Keyboard . TP = Trackpad (aka: Touchpad).

REPLACE HARDWARE:
if troubleshoot steps (mentioned in above) did not solve problem,
Replace hardware parts (at-least replace keyboard) by yourself. Its better to replace both KB & TP at same time.
When you have a chance, read-up on these, watch videos on YouTube, etc: it will become very easy to you once you watch few videos & read docs, then if you're confident to do it by yourself, order hardware parts.
So begin with the sites below:

MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Mid 2015 Repair
especially read this answer to "z" Key not working, Command key also, and;
here is a YouTube video: Macbook Pro 15" Retina A1398 Change Keyboard.

After you've replaced (internal) keyboard/trackpad, unplug external USB-mouse & KB, and check+test if internal KB & TP are working or not, if working then NO-need to plug back in USB-mouse & KB, and go back to previously mentioned options in "Accessibility", and change/suite with your preference/choice.
But if internal KB & TP are not-working then plug back in (external) USB mouse & KB.


Can I use two non-Thunderbolt displays on a MacBook Air I have been told that the only way to connect more than one external display to a MacBook Air was to buy Apple's Thunderbolt monitor and daisy chain.

Mavericks promises better support for external displays. Is it now possible to run two non-Thunderbolt monitors from a mid-2013 MacBook Air or is this still impossible?

The changes in Mavericks make it possible to connect a DisplayPort monitor to your MBA and also use an Apple TV as an external display - I've just confirmed it on my setup - but that is pretty slow over wifi.

The issues with connecting monitors to the MBA are in hardware, not software. For example, the reason why you cannot connect a DisplayPort adapter to the Apple Thunderbolt Display is because the monitor itself uses the DisplayPort channel:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4832/the-apple-thunderbolt-display-review/8

Connecting two displays to the MBA requires two thunderbolt devices.

The first device can be either the Apple TB display or one of the Thunderbolt docks with a DVI / HDMI connector. Both of these options use the DisplayPort channel, so connecting a DisplayPort monitor to them won't work.

This is where the second Thunderbolt device comes in (a hard disk or other device with two TB ports for pass-through). This acts as a man-in-the-middle and can extract a second DisplayPort signal.

So your setup will look like this:

<Air> -- <TB dock/display> -- <TB drive> -- <DisplayPort monitor>


Are iOS 14 widgets animated / distracting? I'm concerned about updating to iOS 14 mainly because widgets have moved from their own screen onto the home screen. I get reminded of Windows 10 active tiles which just don't know when to stop moving.
I use widgets often in iOS 13, but I really don't want to be distracted by them because they're...

Animated
Not out of sight

Are they animated? As in: are they allowed to animate in perpetuity?
Is there a solution to #2 other than putting them on their own home screen page? If so, are they accessible from within apps as they are in iOS 13?

I am using iOS 14 with widgets on the home screen, & I don't find them at all distracting.
Firstly, widgets are only on the home screen if you put them there. If you don't they're all on the screen to the left of the home screen as in iOS 13.
I have the Music, Photos, Calendar, & Weather widgets on my home screen, with all but Music as a stack. The closest to animation that I've seen is that sometimes the top widget of the stack changes as I wake my iPhone. Of course widgets do live update, so there would be a momentary animation when one updates. If those updates are frequent enough I imagine it could look like animation, but I can't imagine why a widget would be updating so much.


View Keychain from encrypted IOS 8.2 backup? Is there any way to access the keychain from an Iphone 5 IOS 8.2 backup?

Here are the hard facts:

encrypted backup where I KNOW the password
device is lost

So far I could restore all the (important) files just fine, however I am stuck on how to view my saved passwords. Apple support sites only show me how to restore a backup, but not how to read it. After searching for quite some time
I found two possibilities:

Decrypting the iPhone keychain from backups

This requires me to have not only any iPhone (like the Apple support pages) but even the original one, which I have the backup of. So that's not possible.

Elcomsoft Phone Breaker

This seems to work. I downloaded the demo version, which shows which passwords are saved on the backups, but not what they are. However, the cheapest version for OS X is 199€.

Isn't there any other way to access my data for free?

I had the same problem and found a great article that helped me decrypt the keychain from my iOS 9 backup: Recovering Google Authenticator Keys from iOS Backups.

Here are the steps for El Capitan:

Install pip: sudo easy_install pip
Install m2crypto (see answer to Trouble installing m2crypto with pip on El Capitan)

First, install openssl and swig with Homebrew: brew install openssl swig
Then install m2crypto using pip:

env LDFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix openssl)/lib" \
CFLAGS="-I$(brew --prefix openssl)/include" \
SWIG_FEATURES="-cpperraswarn -includeall -I$(brew --prefix openssl)/include" \
pip install --user m2crypto

Install some more Python packages:

pip install --user construct progressbar pycrypto pyasn1

Download the iPhone Data Protection Tools
Extract your backup: python backup_tool.py PATH_TO_BACKUP
And finally, decrypt your keychain:

python keychain_tool.py -d "PATH_TO_extract/KeychainDomain/keychain-backup.plist" "PATH_TO_extract/Manifest.plist"


Can I "use" my iPhone SE, through my MacBook Air? So I just bought this phone BRAND NEW month and a half ago. Must have dropped it today as half of the screen is damaged and unusable (can't see or use touch) Went to Telus where I bought the phone and had some problems about the warranty. Its Saturday and I have to wait til Monday when a manager comes in Store for me to deal with this. The agent did do a factory reset on my phone in case it was just a glitch but its the same. So now its at the original welcome screen. Before I could at least see my texts etc, now its just at the spot where I enter a wifi network and I can't enter the password because I can't use the full screen and keyboard! Im hoping there is some way I can use my phone through the MacBook!! Only been using Apple products a short while though so I'm not familiar with all the mac can do. Can anyone help? I know before I had the phone reset I had it synced with the MacBook so I could see my messages and stuff from there but its not anymore. Shouldn't there be some kind of app I could use on another Mac device to control my iPhone? thanks!

This isn't a complete answer because there's no simple way to really control the phone via mouse and keyboard. I can get you past that screen though.

First, plug your phone into your computer.

Then open QuickTime Player and choose "New Movie Recording". Using the little drop down right next to the record button, switch it from the built in camera to the name of your phone. You don't have to actually record it, but this will allow you to see the full screen.

Next, go to iTunes and open the page for the device (this button: ). Then scroll down in that Options part and click "Configure Accessibility…". Under Seeing, choose VoiceOver, and then click OK.

Now you can use your phone, but it's going to be tedious to type.

To cycle through all the buttons on screen, swipe left and right. To click one, double tap on the screen. This includes the keyboard keys, so you can slowly type the wifi password. (However, you can hold off on typing that in, and skip this screen for now. You will be able to use the Mac's keyboard to type)

If you download Mocha Keyboard Lite to your computer, and on your phone, use VoiceOver to go through the Bluetooth settings, you can enable Bluetooth and connect to your computer. That way you can use your MacBook Air's keyboard to type on the phone. That's as close to normal usage of the phone as you can get with a half-broken screen.

 Note that the lite version of Mocha Keyboard does not allow you to use the delete or backspace key! Type carefully!

Edit: if you really need to use backspace with Mocha Keyboard Lite, just press Control+Shift+B, then Control+K. Don't ask me how I know this!


Why are notes not being saved when using Notes on my macbook pro? I keep having this issue where I will

Add a note to Notes
Close the app
Come back later and open it and its no longer there.

There is no Save button on the so assume that once i click "+" and add a note (type something in) and close it that it will be there when i open it up again.

Am i missing something here?

Aside from making sure you've installed all the latest system software updates, try the following to "reset" Notes on your computer:

Quit the Notes application.
Turn off iCloud Notes sync on all your devices (on Mac, in System Preferences > iCloud, and on iOS, in Settings > iCloud).
In the Finder, pull down the Go menu, hold down Option to reveal "Library", and choose that.
Type com.apple.Notes into the search field and then choose the "Name matches" search option that appears.
Select the "Library" search scope.
The search should show a few folders with names like "com.apple.Notes", "com.apple.Notes.help", and "com.apple.Notes.savedState", and some files named "com.apple.Notes.plist" and "com.apple.Notes.help". Select all of those and drag them to the Trash.
Restart the computer.
Turn on iCloud Notes on just your computer.
Try creating an new note, then check against https://www.icloud.com/#notes to see if notes are being sync'ed successfully.
If that works, turn iCloud Notes sync back on again on all your devices.

Hope that helps!