Macbookpro can't recognize bootable usb at boot time? I have an old macbookpro:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier:   MacBookPro6,2
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed:    2.53 GHz
Boot ROM Version:   MBP61.0057.B0F

I created a windows usb with bootcamp assistant, "Create a Windows 7 or later version install disk" with a windows 7 ISO image.

I went through bootcamp's "Install or remove Windows 7" option and partitioned 21GB from my harddisk for my windows partition (it's named "BOOTCAMP", MS-DOS (FAT)).

I plugged in my usb and restarted my laptop. I pressed option during boot to go into the boot menu. Somehow, my usb stick doesn't show up in the boot menu. I only see my normal boot partition and a recover partition. I tried removing the USB stick while I am still in that menu and plugging it back to see if that will fix the problem. It did not.

Strangely, I noticed that my USB stick does not light up when I unplugged it and reinserted it when my mac is in the boot menu. Normally the usb stick will light up when inserted into this usb port.

I thought my ISO is not bootable so I tried another windows 7 ISO and the results remain the same.

Is it possible that my model is too old such that it doesn't allow booting from USB during boot time? Is it possible that older ROMS do not check for USB drives during boot time (hence explaining why my usb doesn't light up)?

I can assure you that my usb port is functioning correctly (at least during Mac OS X run time).

rEFIt is a useful utility for selecting boot partitions that don't necessarily show up normally (Linux bootloaders, incomplete installs for example, or if there is something out of sync with the boot sectors).

You could use it here to see if it can recognise your USB stick, you could also use it to boot Windows from FireWire if that's at all useful.

You'll need a second usb stick to run it in 'live boot' mode, if you don't want to have it installed on your system, but it's pretty small so even 20MB is enough. Download the disk image and use Disk Utility to clone it onto your second usb stick, then boot with option held and it will appear.


Time Machine - "tmutil" syntax to inherit backup set for new drive My iMac had an SSD startup drive (called SSD) and a 3TB internal hard drive (MacintoshHD) duplicating the SSD as well as containing the User folders and all data.

MacintoshHD died last week. I reinstalled the original 1TB hard drive (also called MacintoshHD but not currently being used) and bought an external Thunderbolt 4TB drive. Onto this I've copied my home folder (at root level  so the supplied LaCie setup software is untouched in the root too).

I have successfully restored everything but my Movies and Downloads folders (which stupidly I excluded from TM because of space issues!) by copying the contents of the .../Backups.backupdb/Macintosh/Users/operacentric folder to the new drive. Thus the new drive doesn't duplicate all users and system folders that the original had.

I want Time Machine to continue using the existing backup set (at least until I can afford an 8TB new drive when I can start again!) It has backups for SSD and MacintoshHD until the last backup but one (which is when the HDD failed). So the Latest folder contains an SSD backup but the previous one has folders for both drives.

Having read the manual page and various guides here and elsewhere about TMUTIL, I believe I can use Associatedisk to relink the backup to the new drive. However, they don't deal with the issue of having two drives in the backup. I am not quite sure of the syntax - do I use the root drive name (LaCie), the Users folder or the operacentric folder?

sudo tmutil  associatedisk [-a] mount_point snapshot_volume

Is the mount_point:

/volumes/LaCie or
/Volumes/LaCie/Users or
/Volumes/LaCie/Users/operacentric ?

Can I use the actual snapshot volume rather than the (missing) link in Latest?, so

/Volumes/TimeMachine/Backups.backupdb/iMac/2017-12-24-000806/MacintoshHD

or do I enter the same point of the hierarchy

/Volumes/TimeMachine/Backups.backupdb/iMac/2017-12-24-000806/MacintoshHD/Users/operacentric?

All the posts I've seen here relate to a single drive - not sure how to work with the internal and the external...

I am extremely confused as to what names are what disks and partitions and such in your particular scenario. Therefore I will attempt to provide some guidance on the ‘associatedisk’ verb and how to use it, but I can't say for sure the exact commands to run with the names of your existing disks as I don't know what's what.

The associatedisk verb takes a mount point and a snapshot volume, as you found from the man page. This means if you are backing up a disk named "Macintosh HD" on a computer named "George's MacBook" to a Time Machine backup disk named "Time Machine HD", to reassociate this disk to the backup you would run:

sudo tmutil associatedisk -a "/Volumes/Macintosh HD" \
  "/Volumes/Time Machine HD/Backups.backupdb/George's MacBook/Latest/Macintosh HD"

The -a flag associates all other snapshots of the same volume to the disk. This might be useful as you mention something about ‘Latest’ link being broken — point at a specific date/time and use the flag so that the other snapshot dates are associated too.

Feel free to add to your question with a list of disks, partition names and what their purpose is in your setup and I might be able to provide some specific commands to run.


Create a new iOS backup without deleting the previous one When I go into iTunes and do a manual back up now it deletes the previous backup (as seen in Preferences > Devices > Backups.  Is there a way to create a new backup without deleting/over-writing the old one?

You're close: Preferences > Devices

then Ctrl-click the backup name. Select Archive from the pop-up menu. The backup will be renamed something like "Device - Feb 2, 2015 20:03". The next backup will be a new one named "Device".

Yay Mystery Meat.


How to press Control key on Mac I cannot seem to find out how to hit the ctrl key on a Mac. When I open a terminal and I want to exit an editor such as nano as I cannot since I don't know how to exit and save. How would I do this? I am using OS X 10.5.

Different keyboard layouts have used different labels on the CTRL or Control key. It might be marked control or CTRL or even ^. Additionally, the behavior of that key can be easily reassigned using System Preferences, which means that the control key on your keyboard could be remapped to do something else (or nothing); if you are not getting results when you post, that could be the problem.

I've created an instructional video on how to press the control key on a mid-2011 MacBook Air.


Cannot restart Mac, Finder issues in El Capitan I've been having some issues with an iMac running El Capitan. The issue seems to be Finder. I tried leaving it to shut down by itself overnight to no avail.

On occasion I get this message: The screenshot below is Dutch but says something along the lines of:

  Your Mac was not shut down because Finder could not be stopped. Please quit ?Finder to continue.

Things I've tried

I've tried shutting it down with a hard reset (power button and a shutdown command from terminal) and restarting.
I've tried disk repair in recovery mode,
I've tried resetting NVRAM.
I've tried shutting down Finder with the usual suspects: Force Quit, killall Finder.

This last one does something, but definitely not what I expect:

It looks like Finder has quit, it's no longer in the list activity monitor. Relaunching it with terminal command open . in the user home folder gives the error:

  LSOpenURLsWithRole() failed with error -600...

Don't know how to fix it anymore. Any advice?

My issue turned out to be in an outdated Wacom driver. After removing it, Mac worked fine. I guess formatting would have sorted it out too.


Firefox's Pinned Tabs in Safari Is there a way to mimic Firefox's Pinned Tabs in Safari on Yosemite?

I love the Pinned tabs in Firefox because they allow me to easily keep a few key tabs (webmails, calendar, todo list) open without them taking up too much space. But I love Safari because it syncs with all my other devices.

I tried to search for extensions that do this, but was unable to find any.

Note: Pinned Tabs (or App Tabs) offer several functionalities:

they allow you to select tabs that should always be loaded when Firefox starts
these tabs are minimally represented in the tab bar
these tabs stick to the domain, e.g. eternal links are opened in new tabs by default
these tabs are difficult to close (e.g. [cmd]+W is ignored)

See this screenshot (gmail and twitter are pinned), or the documentation

The only way you can really emulate this is if you create a Safari Extension for each website which you can put whatever picture you want for the buttons background. Don't think that's something really fluid in terms of work flow and realistic fixes, but trying to alter hard coded UI elements isn't easy to do for every day users.

Note: Creating an extension will require a developer certificate, but this is the closest option to your desired result https://developer.apple.com/library/safari/documentation/Tools/Conceptual/SafariExtensionGuide/UsingExtensionBuilder/UsingExtensionBuilder.html


How can I show only unnamed faces in Mac photos I was trying to show photos with unnamed faces so that I can annotate them. There is an online solution but it requires you to mark all the pictures with no faces at all. Any suggestions?

For Catalina, this method works (at least from what I can tell):

Person is not %
Person is blank (i.e., the field is literally blank)

It's possible that just the second condition is all that is needed.
Here is what it looks like:


Upgrade dual booted MacBook Pro to Lion from Snow Leopard/Ubuntu I have a MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard and Ubuntu on separate partitions. I use rEfit to choose which operating system I want to boot into. I would like to upgrade to Lion, but I'm concerned this will cause major problems due to my partitioning scheme. Has anyone else done this?

I used to dual boot fedora and snow leopard on a macbook pro and upgraded it to Lion no problems. You should just be able to upgrade as normal without altering your ubuntu partition, although as per Vlads answer it's always best to take a full backup first (not that I'm always very good at following that advice myself).


Dropbox to continue backing up images until it completes I come from Andriod where Dropbox did an amazing job of backing up all my phone's pictures. Since I moved to iPhone I noticed that Dropbox backs-up a few pictures and then stops, popping-up the following message:

How come Dropbox can't continue backing up until it is finished?
Is there a way to make it continue automatically?

This happens because of a restriction put on all apps performing background tasks, specifically those fetching data. For example, this happens with the Spotify-app as well when it downloads songs for Offline Mode.

There isn't really any way to bypass these restrictions, at least not on a non-jailbroken device. It might be impractical, but the only option is opening the app every time it has to pause/terminate it's background tasks. You can of course also keep the app open – that will allow for the tasks to be completed with no practical time limit.

If you have jailbroken your device, you can download an app enabling what's commonly called "true" multitasking enabling apps, such as InfinityTask, which disables many of Apple's multitasking-restrictions.


Outlook "select an identity", how to get this window? I'm familiar with the Microsoft Database Utility app / window that you can trigger by opening Outlook while holding option, like this one:

However I received a different window this morning when opening Outlook normally, without any modifier keys.  This is the window I received this morning:

Does anyone know how to manually bring up this "select an identity" window?  A few of my users at work have to refer to old identities, usually archives, and I'm always hesitant to teach them how to use the MS Database Utility for fear of them rebuilding or accidentally deleting the identity.  This "select an identity" window seems much more user friendly.

Yes, you can do this.

If you have Outlook open, quit out of it.
Launch the Activity Monitor.
In Activity Monitor, locate "Microsoft Database Daemon" and quit it.
Quit the Activity Monitor.
Open the Finder.
In the Finder, hold the Option key and select Go –> Library. This will open the hidden Library folder in your home folder.
In the Library folder, navigate to Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Preferences/Office 2011.
In that folder, find the file named "Outlook Preferences" and drag it to the trash.
Launch Outlook. It will now display the dialog box that allows you to choose your identity.
If you want this dialog box every time you open Outlook, make sure that "Show this list when opening Outlook" at the bottom of the window is selected.


iCloud Drive downloads limit hard drive space I have iCloud Drive set up on my Mac and it keeps downloading files in the background. My hard-drive space becomes smaller and smaller and I run into problems with a full hard-drive.
E.g. I was recording a Zoom meeting and it suddenly stopped, because my hard-drive was full due to iCloud-Drive downloads. I now have to remove these downloads every time to free up disk space.
How can I make iCloud stop downloading files in the background?

Right click the file in iCloud Drive, the one you don't need. then, click remove download. this will free up space on your Mac and keep the file in iCloud, where you can download at any time by double clicking it.


App Store doesn't show Mountain Lion as installed After downloading, and upgrading to OS X Mountain Lion, the Mac App Store shows a "download" link for it; it doesn't show "installed." Secondly, although I have downloaded it twice, it does not show between my applications.

Why does this happen?

When you purchase Mountain Lion in the App Store, it will first download an application called Install Mac OS X Mountain Lion.app to your /Applications directory. When the download is finished you're automatically prompted with the following window:

After that Mountain Lion installs and reboots into your Mountain Lion install. The installer application will be automatically removed - because most users won't need it anymore.

If you open the App Store, you're offered you to re-download Mountain Lion (hence the button says "download"), which could be useful if you wanted to create an install USB with the .dmg image.

You can verify if you have installed Mountain Lion by going to the menubar and click: Apple icon → About this Mac. In case you have Mountain Lion installed, you'll see this:


Need help adjusting AppleScript automation for converting .pages to .docx? How do I adjust this script to allow me to choose files not in a 'pages only' folder, and instead multiple "free" files?
Keyword here is 'single'. I'm by no means a coding expert but I've learned about automator recently and it's been incredibly useful when converting PNG images to .ICNS
I was sending a classmate a folder with my notes for a course and I realized he's got a PC and I have a Mac, so I should convert the pages documents to .docx so he can open them. I have many other instances where this is necessary. I did some looking online and I created a quick action, and it works! I've tested it a few times and its almost exactly what I need.
The only problem is it only works if all the documents are in a separate folder of only pages documents and I want a way to get around that. If I could select multiple pages documents at a time without putting them in a separate folder first that would be great!

This is the script I'm using:

    --Select from where you will pick up the pages files
    set theSourceFolder to choose folder with prompt "Select folder with original pages files :"
    --Do it
    tell application "Finder"
        set theNames to name of files of theSourceFolder ¬
            whose name extension is "pages"
    end tell

    --Select where the files will go
    set theDestinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Select folder where files will go :"

    -- How many files to export
    set item_count to (get count of items in theNames)

    --Get files and export them
    repeat with i from 1 to item_count

        set current_file to item i of theNames -- get a file
        set lean_file to text 1 thru -7 of current_file & ".docx" -- change the originalfile (.pages) to a .MS Word name
        set out_file to (theDestinationFolder as Unicode text) & (lean_file) -- get the fully qualified output name
        set in_file to (theSourceFolder as Unicode text) & (current_file) -- get the fully qualified input file name

        tell application "Pages"
            set mydoc to open file in_file -- open input file in Pages
            export mydoc to file out_file as Microsoft Word --do the exporting
            close mydoc saving no -- close the original file without saving
        end tell

    end repeat

    return input
end run

I think I have to change "theSourceFolder" to maybe "theSourceFile"? but I also am pretty sure there's more to the script than I understand and I have a feeling that if I try tinkering with it I'll ruin it.
edit:
also maybe if I could just select the file in finder without the pop-up window prompting me to select a file that would be even better!
Thanks for your help in advance!

This AppleScript code will take the currently selected files in the front most Finder window, looping through each item one at a time, and only if the file is a “.pages” document, a duplicate will be exported as a Microsoft Word document.
You can play around with the code if you would prefer to have the option to choose the output folder where the exported files will be saved to.  Otherwise, the exported files will be saved to the same folder as the original files.
tell application "Finder" to set inputFiles to selection as alias list

repeat with i from 1 to count of inputFiles
    set thisFile to item i of inputFiles
    tell application "Finder"
        set fileName to name of thisFile
        set nameExtension to name extension of thisFile
        tell current application to set theOffset ¬
            to offset of nameExtension in fileName
        set baseName to text (theOffset - 1) thru 1 of fileName
        set outputFolder to container of thisFile as text
    end tell
    if nameExtension is "pages" then
        tell application "Pages"
            set myDoc to open thisFile
            export myDoc to file ((outputFolder & baseName) ¬
                & "docx" as text) as Microsoft Word
            close myDoc saving no
        end tell
    end if
end repeat

Caution:  this code will overwrite any existing .docx files with the same name that currently may exist


RSS reader with tagging of individual posts Is there an RSS reader (ideally a website / iPhone app combo) that allows individual posts to be tagged? Most seem to allow "starring", but that's it.

Not just an RSS reader but a much greater app that meets your requirements too: DEVONthink.


iPhone 5 (AT&T, ios8.3) Suddenly Can't Text One Number I've been texting my wife's number from this phone for months. Suddenly today I am getting an error message telling me I need to use a ten digit number. The number the error thinks I'm trying is my wife's number but with "11" added to the beginning.

So far I can still text other people without the error.

A similar error error has been reported before. One of the suggested fixes is deleting and recreating the contact and deleting all the texts, but I'd really like to avoid that if I can. I don't want to lose all of those texts.

I tried removing the "1" from the My Phone Number setting, turning MMS off and on, turning off dial assist, turning the phone on and off, manually deleting just her number and entering manually in a text message, and none of that has worked.

I just fixed this after 2 years.  First- delete the contact altogether.  Second - delete every single message the person has ever sent you, including any group texts they are in (if it's not obvious to you, search for their name, and when the messages come up, swipe left on them and hit delete).  Third- re-enter their contact, being sure that there is a 1(xxx)xxx-xxxx format and that the selected type of number is iPhone (even if it Is not).

Send a test message.  If it doesn't work, do a reset and do it all again.  If you don't delete every single old message, it won't work.  It worked for me!!

I have no idea what the original problem was because I share contacts with my husband and he could text these two contacts.  I just know this worked.  Apple tech even said she was going to write it down to share because she had no idea.


How to fix corrupt or missing os system fonts in high sierra I did a clean install of my mac from a usb key. Following that, everything worked perfectly in high sierra. Then, i used migration assistant to restore from my latest time machine backup. Following the restore, all of my fonts on not only the login screen, but also everything on the desktop and finder have become question marks with boxes around them. My question is, how do i restore the system fonts to get my fonts back into human readable form? See the screenshots below.

I’ll assume you have already tried a safe boot to rebuild the font cache and you legitimately have a system level corruption where the font database cannot retrieve even a system font.

Boot to internet recovery if you can and verify that Disk Utility gives the boot volume a clean bill of health. A failing storage device would explain why a good backup on a good system would end up with corrupt fonts.
Boot to internet recovery (or local recovery) and connect to the internet and download a fresh copy of macOS to reinstall over the top of the data.

Once that’s done, you can be sure you have a good install and then go back to isolating how the user account got corrupted.

Boot to single user mode (or recovery) and mount the files stem as read/write and remove /var/db/.AppleSetupDone file so you can make a brand new admin account.

If this new admin account is also corrupt, you’ll need to perform a full erase install and/or seek hardware service since known good OS can’t be installed on an erased drive.

If this new admin account is fine with fonts, now you know the user account you migrated has the issue so you would decide to pick apart the font database / library for that user and re-enable all fonts in FontBook app - remove any third party font management tools. Or you could hand migrate that user’s files to a clean working account and walk away from the user corruption.

Sorry for so many if / then / else, but this isn’t a simple - press this one button to restore the fonts when you’re migrating user data to a system that’s not sure it’s working.


Is is possible to deactivate the Lightning port? On a current iDevice, such as an iPhone 6 or an iPad Air 2, is it possible to deactivate the Lightning port?  I don't want to break it, just temporarily disable it, similar to how Settings > Bluetooth can be used to temporarily disable Bluetooth.

Edit: Why?  To prevent data exfil in an enterprise setting.  So I'm looking to prevent data sync and data transfer.  Charging is still ok.

No, any version of iOS doesn't allow the deactivation of the Lightning / 30-pin port.

Plugging an iOS device into a new computer will prompt a message on the device whether or not to "trust" that computer or not. "Trusting" a computer allows normal access, otherwise the device would only charge and disallow any data transfer... although it seems in your environment that would be of little benefit.


How can I copy my music from iPod Nano (model A1446) to iPhone 5s? I am trying to somehow extract the music from my iPod and also transfer all the playlists the way I arranged them on the iPod before. The iPod is a 7th generation iPod Nano and I am using iTunes 12 on Windows.

It appears that the only option iTunes offers me that is obvious would be to wipe my iPod and then start synchronizing data from the PC to the iPod. This appears to be due to setting it to manually manage music and videos (see below). Effectively this would remove the data from the iPod and thus not leaving anything to copy to the iPhone.

Now I do know that I could transfer the files from iPod to PC in my file manager (iPod_Control). If I then import those files with their meaningless naming scheme iTunes will likely pick up all the song metadata. However, this won't aid me in any way in transferring the playlists over to the new device.

So how could I accomplish this without first wiping the iPod, then building an iTunes library from scratch, then transferring everything to both devices again?

I've had a similar problem. The only solution I found was an application called TouchCopy12. It allows you to transfer songs off of an iDevice directly to iTunes. I'm pretty sure you are able to transfer playlists as well. You get (I think) 82 transfers before you have to register. The link to the program, as well as information about it, will be located down below. I hope this helps and good luck!

http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/purchase.php

and

http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/features/index.php


How to swap command and option modifier keys with a script in OS X Lion I use a PC usb keyboard with my macbook. So, I've gone into System Preferences > Keyboard > Modifier Keys... and swapped command and option for the usb keyboard. This puts those keys in the "correct" position for a mac.

But, for part of the day, I remote desktop to a windows machine. So now, I need to swap the keys back, so the remote desktop client isn't confused.

It's easy enough to do this through the Preferences UI, but its cumbersome.

I'd like to use a script of some kind (maybe applescript), so I could  quickly swap back and forth.

I've found several scripts online, but none of them are for Lion.

I was able to modify some of the scripts already out there, and get them to work in Lion. To create these scripts:

Run the Applescript Editor
Create two new empty script files (command-N)
Paste in these two scripts
Save them as something like "swap command option" and "restore command option" or whatever you'd like
You can test them by running them in the applescript editor.

Here is the script to swap command to option, and option to command:

#
# Script to swap the Command and Option keys
# in the System Preferences Keyboard settings.
#
# Helpful if using a PC keyboard
#

tell application "System Preferences"
    activate
    set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
end tell

tell application "System Events"
    tell process "System Preferences"
    click button "Modifier Keys…" of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"

    # Select keyboard: pop up button
    click pop up button 5 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"
    # The 4th choice there.. my USB Keyboard
    click menu item 4 of menu 1 of pop up button 5 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"

    # The Option Key pop up
    click pop up button 2 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"
    # Change it to Command, the 4th choice
    click menu item 4 of menu 1 of pop up button 2 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"

    # The Command Key pop up
    click pop up button 1 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"
    # Change it to Option, the 3rd choice
    click menu item 3 of menu 1 of pop up button 1 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"

    click button "OK" of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"

    end tell
end tell

tell application "System Preferences"
    quit
end tell

Here is the script to swap them back:

#
# Script to restore the Command and Option keys to their defaults
# in the System Preferences Keyboard settings.
#

tell application "System Preferences"
    activate
    set current pane to pane "com.apple.preference.keyboard"
end tell

tell application "System Events"
    tell process "System Preferences"
    click button "Modifier Keys…" of tab group 1 of window "Keyboard"

    # Select keyboard: pop up button
    click pop up button 5 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"
    # The 4th choice there.. my USB Keyboard
    click menu item 4 of menu 1 of pop up button 5 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"

    # The Option Key pop up
    click pop up button 2 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"
    # Change it to Option, the 3rd choice
    click menu item 3 of menu 1 of pop up button 2 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"

    # The Command Key pop up
    click pop up button 1 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"
    # Change it to Command, the 4th choice
    click menu item 4 of menu 1 of pop up button 1 of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"

    click button "OK" of sheet 1 of window "Keyboard"

    end tell
end tell

tell application "System Preferences"
    quit
end tell

To make these scripts easy to access, you can go to Applescript Editor Preferences and check "Show Script menu in menu bar". Then, copy your scripts to your home directory Library/Scripts directory, i.e. /Users/ryan/Library/Scripts

Now you can access them right off the menu bar script menu.


Backing up iOS Health Data takes enormous space? I got an auto generated e-mail from Apple telling me that my iCould Drive was almost full

Dear Benny Skogberg,
Your iCloud storage is almost full. You have
499.728 MB remaining of 5 GB total storage.
            Upgrade to 50 GB for 9,00 kr per month

Your iCloud storage is used for iCloud Mail and to keep
the most important things on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch safe
and available, even if you lose your device. iCloud Drive and apps
like Keynote, Pages, and Numbers also use iCloud storage to keep your
files up-to-date everywhere. To continue to use iCloud and to back up
your photos, documents, contacts, mail, and more, you need to upgrade
your iCloud storage plan or reduce the amount of storage you are
using.
The iCloud Team

Looking into the Backup, I saw the health data used more than half of the backup for it's data, and I come to think why. Do they store videos/images of health data? Other apps are less than 100 MB.
What makes the Health Data generate Gigabytes of Backup data?

How long have you kept your iPhone? For many years? The Health App stores data of your steps, walking + Running Distance, fights Climbed, etc.

You can just turn off & delete the Health App data from iCloud backup.

Or go to Health > steps > Show All Data > Edit >　Deleted All data from the app.


MacBook as audio source for iPhone USB compatible speakers Is it possible to output sound from a MacBook via USB to an iPhone/iPod compatible speaker (the speaker has an USB input that only works with iPhones), maybe making the Mac output sound through USB the way the iPhone does?

You can output Mac sound via USB by changing the settings in Sound. Connect the USB speaker, then open System Preferences. Select Sound. There are three 'tabs' in this window: Sound Effects, Output, Input. Select Output. You may see your speakers, or perhaps "USB audio CODEC". Choose either one.  Sound will come out of the USB speakers.


sudo: /var/db/sudo/ts is owned by uid 501, should be 0 I came from here and already fixed my sudoers: sudo: /etc/sudoers is owned by uid 501, should be 0

That allowed me to get sudo working. However, whenever I use sudo, I get a warning:

sudo: /var/db/sudo/ts is owned by uid 501, should be 0

how do I fix this?

UID 501 is the first administrator user on the machine, usually the first user that you create ergo you. Somehow ownership of the folder was set to you instead of root.

Open the terminal and change user to root:

# sudo su

Lets check the ownership of the files, first change dir to the folder:

# cd /var/db/sudo/

Then:

# ls -ln
total 0
drwx------  2 0  0  64 Oct 24 11:07 myusername
drwx------  3 0  0  96 Dec  5 08:23 ts

Another view:

# ls -la
total 0
drwx------   4 root  wheel   128 Sep 25 21:51 .
drwxr-xr-x  97 root  wheel  3104 Dec  5 07:57 ..
drwx------   2 root  wheel    64 Oct 24 11:07 myusername
drwx------   3 root  wheel    96 Dec  5 08:23 ts

You can see that on my system, both files are owned by true root user with UID 0. I would guess that changing the ownership of the folder should solve your problem. Still do make a copy of that folder beforehand.

sudo chown -R root:wheel /var/db/sudo/ts/

If you check the ownership again it should be user=root, group=wheel, so UID and GID 0.


Changing the horizontal scroll speed on a corded Apple mouse I have the latest MacBook Pro running the latest version of OS X and I am using the corded mouse.

The horizontal scroll speed using the mouse wheel is dead slow. The vertical scroll speed is OK for scrolling regular websites, etc., but when I try to scroll something like a Trello board, the horizontal scroll speed is unbearable and I have to tilt the mouse wheel multiple times to get from one card to the other.

Is there a way to increase the horizontal scroll speed, or am I stuck with a single speed for both axes?

Hacking system files or config files is OK with me if that's what it takes!

You mention that you have the latest MacBook Pro and a mouse with a 'wheel'? Is it an Apple corded mouse? There are two current models available - Magic and Corded with a 'tracking ball', so my immediate thought is you haven't got a Mac branded mouse (dont think Apple have ever made a wheel mouse) and there in lies your issue. If its the latest tracking ball corded mouse then you should be able to set tracking speed in the preferences. Note: the System Preferences / Mouse panel on Mac 'changes' dependent on which mouse it detects to reflect the capabilities of that particular mouse... if it isn't detecting horizontal scroll capability you wont see this in the preferences panel and it may be running on a default preset coming from the mouse itself.

Here is a screen grab of mine (running a magic mouse) - the tracking preference is universal vertical / horizontal so only one is shown.

Apple have built the scroll speed control into OSX so its odd that your mouse is reacting this way. I would be thinking broken mouse*, 3rd party mouse driver issue. The way to check that is to 'borrow' a colleagues working Mac mouse (see if it behaves differently on your Mac) or get on eBay and buy a used one for $20. Could be with you in 2 days.

Apple mice can part fail. I have two currently with issues - one over sensitive and clicks when I don't want it, one with intermittent random scroll speed issues (which might be the laser failing).

Link to help:

Apple Mice Variations over time on Wikipedia.

Tip: I work on Mac everyday to deadlines so part of my support kit is a bog standard Apple Pro Mouse (M5769) circa 2003 which I have used on multiple Macs to keep me working - its on my MacBookPro OS 10.8 right now for Photoshop as I prefer scrolling OFF in that programme. The Pro Mouse has no scroll function and I don't need a system hack, just plug it in. Two mice on the same Mac works fine and does not affect the Magic Mouse performance at all.


My iPhone charger emits a little very high pitch noise when my iPhone is charged... is it normal? When my iPhone 5s is fully charged my charger (which is the official one), emits a super little noise that is very high pitch (I would say nearly an ultrasound...). Is it normal ?

Have you ever wondered why the chargers are so small now days? Depending on your age, would remember that in old days the chargers were big and very heavy. It was the heaviest thing to carry around with your Laptop. Now days there are comparatively small an d light weight.

The new technology use high frequency transformers (15kHz range). That would be the Ultrasound range. If the circuit is not correct you would hear that sound.

Here is a sample how it sounds at 10kHz range.

Normally you should not hear the 15kHz, so in your chase the charger is creating lower (10kHz) harmonics, because it is not working properly.

Warning: If you have a dog make sure it does not go crazy.


Is it possible to track of battery consumption by all installed app on ios device? I would like to track the battery usage of all insatalled and system applications in iOS devices.

I hope it would look like this:

Is it possible to do this, if it is possible how to estimate the battery usage by all apps?

There is a app called Carat that might be overkill but it is way better than just watching the consumption.

It actually recommends what to do to save battery life.

One drawback is, it will not imminently show what needs to be done.

It will take >24 hours of monitoring your usage and then make recommendations on which apps to kill and how much battery life you get.


Is it possible to temporarily remove margin from iTerm2 window? I just wondering whether its possible to remove the left, right and top margin (or just all margin) temporarily in iTerm2 windows. My goal was to make the vim-airline looks better in iTerm2 by removing those margin. Here's the screenshot of the margin I want to remove..

I think you have to fork and build iterm yourself. Here's a project where somebody did that: https://github.com/jaredculp/iterm2-borderless-padding


Outlook 2016 can't connect to Exchange 2010 server after updgrading to macOS 10.12.5 After updating macOS from 10.12.4 to 10.12.5, Outlook 2016 stopped connecting to our Exchange 2010 SP3 server.

Existing identities show a yellow light in the account settings.

Starting with a fresh install of macOS 10.12.5 does the same thing.

Outlook 2016 is updated to the latest version.

The only message we get while trying to add an account is "Unable to connect to the server. Please try again."

The only thing we found that works is backing everything up and reinstall 10.12.4...

What changed? How can we fix this?

I am having the same issue - called Microsoft and they said it is a known issue with the latest 1701 builds of Outlook at this time. They are working on a patch but in the interim the only suggestion is to install an older copy.

The version that does appear to work is v15.30 of build 1701.

The last two versions of that build - v15.33 and v15.34 have the same issue.


Secondary Hard Drive I have a mid-2012 13" MBP with a 750G,5400rpm,HDD and I am going to remove the SuperDrive and add a 1TB Samsung Evo 850 SSD.

My question is, I am going to run my operating systems, macOS and Bootcamp Win 10 on the SSD and have the HDD for storage, is there any benefit to replacing my HDD with the SSD and then replacing the SuperDrive with the HDD?

Just curious if there is any read/write difference between the SuperDrive connection and the designated hard drive connection.

Thank you.

Since your Mac is from 2012, both the connectors are the same speed.
As I quote from this article:

  2012 Models - Fully support SATA III (6 Gb/s) in both the HDD bay and the Optical Bay. I'd recommend just leaving your HDD in place (more sound proof, less installing) and put your SSD in the optical bay.

Keep in mind that Macs that came with a superdrive are not able to install windows 10 via usb in bootcamp.You will have to install bootcamp with the cd drive still in the machine.
At least that was the only way for me (mbp early 2011)


Time Machine backs up a huge quantity of data on every run I have a MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard and a Time Capsule. In the last few days every backup took over 100GB of data. I don't know if there is some issue with permissions or something similar, but to be sure I removed all the old backups and reformatted the Time Capsule disk. I've also run filesystem checks and permission checks on my MBP disk using the installation disk.

Then I've restarted backup from scratch, the first backup took 160GB and for a few days following backups has worked fine (with a decent quantity of data for each run).

Now after some days I started my MBP and the backup is still in progress, when it was started it says that it needs to backup about 40GB of data (which obviously is not true) and while running the limit is increasing constantly, currently is at 95GB and it continue to grow.

I suspect that there could be some hardware issue with Time Capsule, but not sure.

Any hint to solve this issue?

Take a look at BackupLoupe:

http://www.soma-zone.com/BackupLoupe/

The blurb on the website describes what it can do far more eloquently than I can, but to summarise it's commercial software that you can evaluate for free and then pay for if you with to use it. Once you have determined which backup intervals or which files are taking up more space than you wish, you can delete files across all backups or delete snapshots as needed to maintain storage space per your requirements and preference.


Catalina: Instruments with Full Disk Access I am trying to use Instruments on my laptop, but it seems that after updating to Catalina, it cannot access my Documents folder:

I have given access to the application, Full Disk Access, but it does not work (I even shut down the laptop and restarted it, and also checked for errors with Disk Utility).

Am I missing something?

In Xcode you may start using Instruments with Xcode -> Services -> Toggle Instruments Recording.

This will trigger a chain of settings events inside OSX. The result can be verified by looking to File and Folders in Privacy tab (Xcode will be added also there).


Installing Network Link Conditioner for All Users (Yosemite) I'm currently deploying "Network Link Conditioner" out to my web team. It's the latest version from the Apple Developer Website (October 16, 2014 from Hardware IO Tools) and I'm installing it on 10.10 and 10.9 partitions.

My issue is that I install it on my admin user and the rest of my users can't see the PreferencePane in System Preferences. Investigating further, only the root user and the user it was installed on can see the pane.

I've verified that it's in the /Library/PreferencePane (the root one, not the user one). I've tried installing it through the root user, through the admin user and through a custom user. I've tried adjusting permissions on the PreferencePane file itself. Nothing seems to be working

The install display says it's installing for all users, but it doesn't seem to be actually doing that. The worst part is if I try to reinstall it on another user, I get the error

  "You can't install the "Network Link Conditioner" preferences.
  "Network Link Conditioner" preferences is installed with OS X and
  can't be replaced."

Any suggestions?

Ran into the exact same problem. Installed the Network Link Conditioner when my system had OSX Lion and XCode 4 or 5. Great tool but did not need it again until today. Found it no longer worked.
My system now has OSX Yosemite and XCode 6.4 so I downloaded Hardware IO Tools for Xcode 6.3.
Got the same message about not being able to replace it since it was installed together with OSX.

My solution was to first drag the tool from the opened .dmg onto the desktop and to then manually replace the tool using the command line:

cd Desktop
sudo mv /Library/PreferencePanes/Network\ Link\ Conditioner.prefPane Network\ Link\ Conditioner.prefPane.old
sudo cp -r Network\ Link\ Conditioner.prefPane /Library/PreferencePanes/


what is the new iOS 7 feature called "swipe to capture" On this site Apple praises the new feature "swipe to capture"

  With a swipe, you can capture what you want the way you want. (2)

And then noting in the footnotes:

  (2.) Square and video formats and swipe to capture are available on
  iPhone 4 or later, iPad (3rd generation or later), iPad mini, and iPod
  touch (5th generation).

Now my questions are:

What actually is this new iOS 7 feature? How can I use it?
Since there is a footnote for this, stating that is not available an all devices, what iOS7-compatible devices do not have this feature?

The iOS7 update enabled Swipe to Capture – allowing you to switch between camera modes like Photo, Video, Square and Panorama with a swipe.

The iPhone 5, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad 4, iPad 3, iPad mini, and 5th-gen iPod touch have this feature, while only the iPad 2 does not.


How can I report spam about my Apple ID I received a spam email that pretends that I have to validate my Apple ID account information.

  Our automated system was recently unable to validate your details and therefor we require you to complete a short validation process. Please proceed to the link below in order to avoid any interruption to your Apple services.

Where can I report this to Apple?

Phishing & Other Suspicious Emails

Apple offer the e-mail address reportphishing@apple.com for this purpose:

  Reporting Suspected Phishing Attempts

  If you receive what you believe to be a phishing email purporting to be from Apple, please send it to reportphishing@apple.com, a monitored email inbox, which does not generate individual email replies.

  Forwarding the message with complete header information provides Apple with important information. To do this in OS X Mail, select the message and choose Forward As Attachment from the Message menu. For other email applications or webmail based services, consult your provider’s support information to determine how to forward messages with complete headers.


Using a USB 3 port as a power delivery port for quicker charging of connected devices My Android phone charges via a USB 2 micro-usb connector and is capable of charging at greater than the 500mA provided by USB 2 data mode.

Is it possible to configure my Mac so that its USB 3 port functions in USB-2 power delivery mode and can thus deliver power at greater than 500mA?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#PD-R2.0V1.0

You are right. USB3 could do that, but needs a partner USB of same family to do it.

Thus the USB2 would be the bottleneck.

However the USB2 already can handle up to maximum of 900mW.

  Devices can request higher currents and supply voltages from compliant
  hosts.

In simple way, if your Android makes the correct request it could get up to 900mW supplied. You can check how much it gets in the About this Mac.

read more here https://electronics.stackexchange.com/a/5581/77190

and here:https://superuser.com/q/293189


What happens if I plug a 2016 MacBook Pro into itself? The charging cable on the 2016 MacBook Pro is USB-C both ways, allowing me to plug the MacBook into itself. What happens if I do this?

The new MacBook Pros have circuitry in all USB-C ports so that the charger can be plugged into any port.

Plugging a two-way USB-C cable will just make the device think that it's charging as technically there is a power source coming from one of the ports into the other.

It doesn't actually charge anything but the reporting is what's making the battery icon show 'charging'.


External hard disc not ejected properly I have a late 2012 Mac mini running OS X 10.8.2.  My iTunes library lives on an external Seagate drive, which has its own power supply. When my Mac mini goes to sleep it will frequently wake up with the familiar message"

  The disk was not ejected properly. If possible, always eject a disk before unplugging it or turning it off.

After looking around on various forums I have tried turning off the "put hard disks to sleep when possible".  This seemed to make the problem occur less often but it still occurs.

The only way to fix seems to be to reboot the Mac mini.

Is there a way to stop this or to auto-reconnect the drive when it wakes from sleep?

This problem coupled with the fact that half the time the Mac mini won't wake up at all is really bugging me!  My MacBook Pro works great, but the Mac mini is a pain!

The external drive is a Seagate STBV2000200 Expansion Desktop.

It's one of the major flaws with newer seagate drives (alongside no on/off switch so you have to pull the power cord out the back and risk damaging the disk). They are just not compatible with Macs unfortunately. They go to sleep and there's no way for the Mac to reconnect to them. I've contacted Seagate about this and they said "Sorry there's nothing they can do about it, perhaps I can contact Apple and they can do something about it". Great..!

I basically don't buy Seagate any more and don't recommend Seagate to any friends or family with Macs. They just cause too many issues.

I'm using 10.6.8, I've not tried 10.8.3 as poster above suggests.


iOS 10.1 missing storage space I have an 16G iPhone 5s with iOS 10.1 that is very quickly eating up space to "Zero KB". When checked in "Manage Storage" the apps definately doesn't add up to 11.9 GB.

When I try to remove some of largest apps, free space appears but shortly after is back to "Zero KB".

When connected to iTunes Audio + Photos + Apps + Documents & Data + Other + Free adds up to less than 7GB only.

Has anybody experienced anything similar or has any clue about where to look for a solution?

Edit:
Found similar symptoms described in https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/538v68/after_ios_10_update_storage_available_keeps/

Edit 2:
I tried to delete some of recently updated apps to see if anyone of the could be causing the issues. The apps were: Pokemon Go, Hooks, Skype, 9GAG, Twitter, JIRA Cloud, Audible, Endomondo, Netflix, Google maps, Instagram, Taxify.
It looks as uninstalling an reinstalling them might have restored small part of the lost storage space, but definately not all.
Will continue to investigate and report

I've similar issue on my iPad mini 2 for quite a while. I'm not sure what caused it, but have read that iOS would free spaces when needed. That means, the free space we see in the settings is actually not accurate. There are some disk cleaning apps and should "force" iOS free the spaces. I am using an app called "memory & disk scanner pro", and it can do the job. You may try it or some other similar apps.


Getting Audio and scores out of Jammit I've been using the Jammit app for learning songs and it's now not supported as the company that made it has gone bust. I've got a lot of tracks I've brought from them and they're still on my hard drive.....

I found a site https://github.com/mtolly/jammittools and it seems to have a solution which would do everything I need it to (extract the audio and score files for me to use outside of the app) but I have come up against a problem! I just don't understand how to use the software! As it's not for distribution to others but solely for my use, I'm just after getting the things back that I've paid for but can no longer access.....

I'm running an iMac 21.5 inch, Mid 2010, macOS Sierra v. 10.12.1

I've managed to get so that some of the command lines work, but I cannot locate the files within the Jammit app.......

I've developed a fairly decent Macintosh tool to extract all the separate CD quality audio (WAV, AIFF, or MP3 formats), printable PDF files of all the scores and tabs, animated video synced to the music.

There is also  a player/mixer that lets you play along to the scrolling music, mute or adjust volume of individual tracks, slow to half speed, and loop sections.  It even supports Airplay so you can beam it your big screen tv and sound system.

We have a growing database of free downloadable content that members have shared.  If you have Jammit tracks and want to be able to use them in any Mac or Windows DAW, and hopefully share some of your files, you are invited to check out our page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/125340751305319/?ref=bookmarks

Or visit Crammit for Mac:  www.jammit.ca


Multiple users developing for iOS simultaneously on a Mac using RealVNC We are a small team of developers and we would like to use MacBook Pro to develop for iOS.

Is is possible for several users to log in remotely to the Mac using RealVNC and to work in multiple accounts simultaneously?

Setup:

We have two Windows machines in different geographical locations
One single MacBook Pro where one user works locally

What we did:

We installed RealVNC server on the Mac

What is the problem:

When someone logs into RealVNC remotely he ends up in the same account as the local user.

Simple solutions

Virtual Machines

You can create OS X virtual machines and connect to them instead of the main session. Apps that can do this are for example: VMware, Virtualbox etc.

VPN clients spawning sessions

I do not know about Windows, but on OS X when you connect via Screen Sharing.app there is a possibility to create new session remotely. Maybe someone from the "Windows world" knows about that kind of software and can share knowledge about it.

Advanced solution

If You have a remote access app, which is able to connect also to the login window (the place where you choose the user and provide the password) - you can use a little hack:

Run the process with those lines (can be done via SSH):

CGSSessionID outSession = 1;
CGSCreateLoginSessionWithDataAndVisibility(&outSession, NULL, false);

This has to be compiled to the executable - it's written using C language and private API (more info on stackoverflow).

This will create separate GUI session in the background - then connect to the server running on the login window and connect to this "new" session.

NOTE:

The easiest way is to use VirtualMachines.
One of the app, that I know which can log into login window is NoMachine ( I was a developer of this app couple years ago and multiple sessions on OS X were possible, but that was proof of concept. Maybe this works out of the box right now).
I do not know if this CGSCreateLoginSessionWithDataAndVisibility hack still works in the newest OS X (I made this on Yosemite). And You will have to have some knowledge about programming and GUI sessions on OS X in order to use it properly. There could also be a problem with "disappearing" session (fun to experiment with this, though).


How to bring focus to Show Fonts dialog (eg. in TextEdit) on a MacBook Pro keyboard? I'm a quick typist and I don't want to use the mouse/trackpad unless I absolutely have no way to do something on a keyboard. It slows me down by at least 5 times.

Now, for example, TextEdit is on. I'm typing. If I want to change the font size, I can select (SHIFT-arrows) and use CMD+ and CMD- keyboard shortcuts. Works fine.

However, if I want to change the font, I can hit CMD-T to bring up the Show Fonts dialog. And that's it, the end of keyboard. I must move my hand and aim with the cursor to select the font.

Is there a way to bring the focus to the Show Fonts dialog from the keyboard, without having to resort to the trackpad?

Please keep in mind that this is about the laptop keyboard (MBP Retina), so it's not the full keyboard.

Please avoid answers like:

Why do you want to access the Show Fonts dialog from the keyboard?
Apple's trackpad is magnificent, you should use it, believe me it's better.

After you open the Show Fonts window, you can press Ctrl+F6 to bring focus to the floating Fonts window. To return focus to the window you were in, you can press Ctrl+F4.

On a laptop, you'll also need to hold Fn when you press the above keyboard shortcuts unless you go to System Preferences > Keyboard and check "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys".

After you move focus to the Fonts window, you can press Tab and Shift+Tab to cycle focus through the different columns and the search field.


How to connect iOS Mail app to Gmail with two-step verification This is an issue that I run across every time I modify my two-step verification settings in Gmail or set up a new phone. I've asked this question to Google enough times. Now I think I'm qualified to ask it to myself.

If you've set up Gmail as your default Mail app account and you use two-step verification, then Mail won't work if you haven't properly set up your device (and you might not even know it's not working if you're using the Gmail app as your main mail app until you try to share via email something in another app and realize it never gets sent).

There doesn't seem to be a simple user-friendly answer to this problem out there, so after running into this issue and solving it yet again, I figured I'd write out instructions for others to follow.

So you've already set up two-step verification in Gmail...

(If not, now is probably a good time to do so.)

But now that you have 2-step enabled, you can't use your old gmail password to sync your iOS Mail app to Gmail. You will have to sign into Gmail on your phone using a special app password which you can find by signing into Google at your two-step settings page:

https://accounts.google.com/SmsAuthConfig

Then click the "App-specific passwords" tab, and then the "Manage application specific passwords" button.

At this point you may see that you've already set up an app password for your device, but if you've recently reconfigured your two-step settings or activated a new phone, then you'll need to "Revoke" access and set up a new app password.

Set up a new app password for Mail by selecting "Mail" on my "iPhone" (or other iOS device) in the dropdowns and click "Generate".

Next, follow the directions provided by Google:

  Open “Settings” on your iPhone.
  Select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”.
  Select your Google Account from the list of available accounts.
  Edit your account information and replace your password with the 16-character password shown below.

It's as easy as that.


How can I remove the Job Title and Company from all Address Book contacts using AppleScript? I would like to remove the Job Title and Company from every contact in my address book using AppleScript.

Any ideas?

Try something like:

tell application "Address Book"
    set thePeople to every person
    repeat with i from 1 to length of thePeople
        tell item i of thePeople
            set organization to missing value
            set job title to missing value
        end tell
    end repeat
    save
end tell


What are the Apple-provided drivers for the AMD Pro Vega 16/20 for Windows 10? For those who own a 2018/2019 MacBook Pro with AMD Pro Vega 16/20 video cards - what are the Apple-provided drivers that come with Boot Camp? Are those video cards supported under Windows 10?

The answer is Yes, they are supported in Windows. The Windows Support image which gets downloaded from Boot Camp Assistant.app if you are on a 2018/2019 MBP shows AMD drivers. These can be downloaded manually using the brigadier tool, by specifying the correct model name (e.g. MacBookPro15,3).


Does LaunchAgent prevent repetitive execution of jobs? I want to automate the execution of a long-running job. It should be launched once per day but only if the prior job isn't still running. Can I accomplish this with launchd and how?

Yes, launchd ensures you only have one instance of the "agent" running and it does this for you automatically. Set your job up normally using StartInterval to schedule the execution of your background job and the system won't launch a new instance if the previous instance hasn't completed by the time it gets to that scheduled start interval.

If multiple schedule intervals pass, launchd will run just one new instance at the next interval. It's "smart" about it.

Here's a sample plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd
">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
     <key>Label</key>
     <string>com.mycompany.test</string>
     <key>ProgramArguments</key>
     <array>
         <string>/some/path/to/a/script.sh</string>
     </array>
     <key>StartInterval</key>
     <integer>60</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

In the above example, if /some/path/to/a/script.sh takes 361 seconds to run, launchd won't start 5 new instances during that time frame, and it will only start one new instance at the 420'th second mark in time.

The wording on the launchd.plist(5) man page says as much, but the way it's written kind of makes it non-obvious:

  StartInterval

  This optional key causes the job to be started
  every N seconds.  If the system is asleep, the job will be started the
  next time the computer wakes up.  If multiple intervals transpire
  before the computer is woken, those events will be coalesced into one
  event upon wake from sleep.

That last sentence essentially says "launchd makes your jobs singleton for you as long as you follow the rules for good job behaviour".


Quick switching between language keyboards How can I switch quickly back and forth between the English keyboard and the German keyboard on macOS?

In iOS, tap(or hold) the globe key.

In macOS, try control+space bar. Press and  hold control and then press space to get a list of languages.

If menu bar has input sources shortcut enabled in keyboard settings, one can use it too.


can I get the "date" of a photo with iPhoto on iOS? I would like to know what date some of the photos on my iPhone were taken. Does iPhoto for iOS let me do that?

Yes, iPhoto for iOS shows the date, time and if available address of the taken photo.


Disable Dock in Full Screen I have disabled the Dock in the desktop spaces with the following command.

defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 1000 && killall Dock

But when an app is in full screen mode, I can still open the Dock when I move the mouse to the screen edge and then move it again in that direction.

How to disable the Dock in macOS High Sierra in full screen mode?

The best workaround I've found:

defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 1
killall Dock

This makes the dock so tiny that it won't ruin your fullscreen workflow when it does pop out.


Have all "ipad mini 2"s a retina display? I want to buy a iPad mini 2 and I'm searching about it. Actually I'm confused. Somewhere people call it just "iPad mini 2" and somewhere else "iPad mini 2 with retina display" ..!

Ok, all of them have retina display? Or there is some iPad mini 2 which don't have a retina display?

Yes, every model of the iPad mini 2 has a retina display. Those who call it the "iPad mini 2" are likely just using a shortened form of the name for convenience.

Source: apple.com


How much space do audio recordings made by the stock audio recorder on iOS use per minute? My boss is going to make a very long audio recording using the stock audio recording app on an iPhone. I am worried that she might run out of space on her phone, especially if the app records in HQ.

My boss is far away, and I do not have an iOS device myself to test this on.

Does the app have different settings for audio quality?

How much space does the audio created by the app usually take up per minute? The recording will be of spoken words.

The amount of space any recording takes will depend on a number of factors. And, even the exact same recording can take up different amounts of space depending on the drive it's stored on and how it was formatted.

In my experience, a one minute audio voice recording using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s with iOS 11 installed will typically take between 650KB and 700KB. That is based on one person speaking into the phone while they're in a quiet room. Note that the amount of background noise, distance from the microphone, etc can all affect the amount of space required.

The Voice Memos app saves audio as a MPEG 4 Audio file (i.e. a file with the .m4a extension).


Damage replacement plan / Insurance for Mac Book Pro? I used to own a Dell with a pretty beefy replacement plan.  When I bought my MBP, I asked if there was any similar coverage and the "genius" said no.  I search around online and found a company called Safeware, but it would be hard for me to believe that this would be the only company around doing this.

Does anyone own insurance like what Dell offers for their Mac?  Has anyone ever destroyed their computer and got a replacement?

Apple does not offer any insurance like that with Applecare. I think Dell only offers it because replacing a piece of equipment is ultimately really cheap for them, but Apple doesn't play Dell's game (and that is probably part of the reason why you purchased an Apple product).

Going by the fact that you are in the USA, I think this would depend on the type of damages for which you are seeking insurance, which you don't specify in your question. Renter's or home insurance would protect against theft from your home (rent or own, respectively). Damage incurred while being on the road would probably fall under some kind of business insurance, though I'd imagine you would pay a pretty hefty penny for that level of care no matter who you call.

I think your best course action would be to call your insurance company and see what they have to offer that best suits your particular needs.


Apple mdls (MetaData List) command on Networked Drive I have discovered mdls as a way of extracting information from a (photo) file. However, I have found that it doesn’t seem to work properly if I am accessing the file over the network. Some of the meta data is missing, most notably the GPS data which is what I wanted most.

However, if I copy the file to a local drive, then the metadata is all there, and everything is fine again. This suggests that mdls is looking in the wrong place for some data … ?

It gets weirder depending on the network:

If I connect using SMB I get a limited selection of metadata
If I connect using NFS I get the message that it could not find the file at all.

How can I use successfully mdls on networked files?

Just an FYI, exiftool (which has to be installed) can pull all metadata from the file over the network without the need to have the network volume indexed.

That said, the most likely reason you're only getting some of the metadata is because indexing is most likely turned off on the network volume.

I tested this with an SMB Share to a Linux System and copied over some photos that I know contain GPS Info.

On first query I got the same results you did, a subset of the metadata, however upon turning indexing on using mdutil and letting the volume be indexed, then mdls returned all metadata including the GPS Info.

In Terminal use the following syntax, mdutil -i on mount_point, e.g.:

mdutil -i on /Volumes/Data

Also, you might want to read the manual page for: mdutil


What is the keyboard shortcut for editing a cell in Excel? I can't find the keyboard shortcut for this on the mac. It's F2 on a windows machine.

Office for Windows: F2
Office for Mac: Ctrl + U


How to burn FLAC to audio CD? I want to burn .flac files directly to an audio CD. Is there any (possibly free) OS X application to do this?

Yes, Burn is free and open source software, but it is a bit buggy. LiquidCD is freeware, but I didn't encounter any issues while using it.


Ethernet Thunderbolt on Bootcamp So, I'm running a rMBP, and my BootCamp simply refuses to recognise my Ethernet. I can see it recognises the Thunderbolt converter, as there's an option to eject it under 'Safely eject hardware'. I'm rather bad with technical stuff, but I tried manually installing a driver or something like that (I found a solution here that seemed to work for people, but I couldn't figure it out for the life of me).. I haven't unplugged it since startup, so that's not the issue.

If you installed the bootcamp driver to your win7 all necessary drivers are already installed but I´ve figured out that you have to reboot your windows if you connect the adapter to your mac. So the best solution is that you first connect the adapter to your mac and after that you should start/boot up your mac to windows.


Old MacBook power adapter on new MacBook Pro? I have a 60W power adapter from my old 2008 MacBook.

Can I use this power adapter on a new 13" MacBook Pro, which also came with a 60W power adapter?

However the two power adapters have two different modell numbers.

Can there be a problem using the old one on the newer 13" MacBook Pro?

Yes, as long as your new MacBook Pro is of the 13" variety, then you will have no problems.

While Power Adapters technically have different model numbers (to associate them during repairs), the wattage is what you need to look at when considering to use on on a machine.  15"/17" MacBook Pro's require 85W Power Adapters, where as, the 13" MacBook Pro and MacBook use 60W Power Adapters.

Hope that clears it up for you.


Problem downloading large app using iPad 2 I tried to download a 500MB app using my iPad 2 connected to WiFi and got an error stating that the app could not be downloaded.

Someone told me that its because the file is too large to be downloaded from the iPad and that I will have to download the app via iTunes on a PC and then sync it with my iPad.

How true is this? And how can I fix this issue?

In my experience, when this happens it's usually down to the fact that the download process failed (for whatever reason) and iOS will not allow you to recommence the download or try starting it again from scratch. It's not so much to do with a software imposed download limitation.

There's only a limit over 3G (20MB) and a general limit on app sizes (2GB).

The only thing I can suggest is trying to delete the app from the home screen and restarting the download (although I'm doubtful this will work).

Otherwise, you will have to connect to iTunes and install as it suggests. For large apps, I tend to do this due to problems like you have experienced and because it's usually quicker!


Can I use Time Machine to dump Photos? Can I use Time Machine to restore my machine to the iPhoto app without destroying the files that Photos has converted?
I don't find Photos intuitive and I'm up against the clock on a project (Photoshop) and can't spend time learning how to access file I can see but can't access. Maybe at another time - I just want my old system and thousands of image back where they were.

Yes, you can use Time Machine to restore iPhoto app and also the iPhoto library before the conversion of Photos app.

You have to navigate through Time Machine backups and folder via Finder.
Now go to Applications and restore the iPhoto.app.
After that navigate to the folder containing your iPhoto library and restore it where you want without overwrite the converted Photos library.
Exit from Time Machine.
Open iPhoto and open the iPhoto library.


How does one update a Jailbroken 4S on 6.1 to 6.1.1 and preserve their jailbreak? I'm running a iOS 6.1 on a jailbroken iPhone 4S. I was one of the many to jailbreak my phone when evasi0n came out. As some of you may know, Apple has released iOS 6.1.1, an 'emergency' update for some battery and other issues experienced on the 4S. I'm one of those affected by the battery issues (its not the jailbreak's fault, I'm very conservative with what I install).

I'm hesitant to just hit update in iTunes. Do I need to restore my phone first to a fresh 6.1.1, restore all my data then re-jailbreak? Am I going to have to install all of my tweaks again? Thanks for any input on this.

You need to restore the device to install a clean version of iOS and then re-jailbreak (OTA updates simply do not work and using the update feature in iTunes can leave behind data that will eat away at your disk space).

It is actually good form to set the device in DFU mode (rather than just hitting restore in iTunes) and then let iTunes take it from there. Once the device is upgraded to 6.1.1 and jailbroken, you can then safely restore from your backup.

Your question (and many additional topics related to jailbreaking) is actually covered on jailbreakqa.com, the official information and help site for jailbreaking.

You cannot "preserve" a jailbreak.


Homebrew gives a warning: "You have MacPorts or Fink installed" I just got a new Mac Pro with OS X 10.9. When I run:

brew doctor

I get the warning:

Warning: You have MacPorts or Fink installed:
/opt/local/bin/port

This can cause trouble. You don't have to uninstall them, but you may want to
temporarily move them out of the way, e.g.
sudo mv /opt/local ~/macports

I didn't install MacPorts or Fink, why do I get the warning?

Note that some 3rd-party packaging tools may sometimes automatically install MacPorts. I recall RVM does that (or at least used to, I don't know the current state), so while you're not aware of actually installing it manually, it might still be there.

If you move /opt/local to a different location that might break whatever pulled in MacPorts in the first place.


Shortcut for selecting the first song result from search in iTunes Often times I find myself searching for a song in my library and as expected iTunes filters my results. I wanted to know is there a quick way for me to be a to jump right to that first result instead of manually mousing over and clicking it to play. You would think it would be the tab button but that directs me to the left column.

Assuming the sidebar isn't shown (the current default), in iTunes v 11.3.1, I'm able to:

search (hit enter if you get the popdown results instead of the full window update)
tab
even though the song
isn't highlighted, I can just hit space and the top song starts
playing.

If you use the arrow keys instead, you can see that the first song gets selected, and then you can navigate the search results from there.

If the sidebar IS shown, everything is the same, but you'll need to hit tab twice.  As an aside, toggle the sidebar with ⌘alts

This is on Mac, on Windows YMMV.


SSH connection to Mac works from the outside but not locally I configured SSH access to my Mac in order to use Prompt on my iPad. That way I can use my Mac from anywhere in the world, as long as I can get my home IP address.

Although the SSH connection works fine from a separate external connection (my 3G iPhone, for example), it times out when I try to connect from a separate device on the same home wifi network.

As a result, I spent two whole days trying to debug a connection that actually works fine.

Why does an SSH connection that works fine from a separate external address time out when I try to connect from behind the same router?

Is there a workaround so I can just use a single SSH setting whether I am in my living room or on a different continent?

Note: a useful way to get your home IP address (if it's not fixed) is to log into your Gmail account from afar and look at "Last account activity" on the lower right corner of the screen.

The router does the NAT on the external interface. However when you ssh to your WAN address the router will recognize packets coming in on on the internal interface as being sent to its own address and will just send them to its local port 22. What you want does exist but isn't often supported, it's called "NAT loopback".

See NAT Loopback Routers


Low latency wireless monitor solution (2021) It's 2021 and Wifi 6 is finally supported by Apple M1 MacBooks, so can anyone point me to a efficient (preferably dongle-less on the MacBook side) solution for wireless screen casting in extended mode (not just mirroring)?
There are actually multiple scenarios one could consider:

connecting to regular (say Dell) monitor
connecting to an iMac
connecting to a projector
connecting to a TV
connecting to an iPad

but I'm mostly interested in the first two. Point 3 would we an awesome bonus.
I've tried many solutions but each has significant drawbacks, namely:

AirPlay (too slow out of the box, also can't connect to ordinary displays)
AirParrot with Reflector (extended display feature is currently broken for Apple M1)
LunaDisplay (haven't purchased as it can't be used with regular monitors)

I've also seen many references to DisplayLink, but I'm confused about their massive product inventory.
In essence I'm looking for a solution (software license or a piece of hardware) that would be:

compatible with scenario 1 and 2
fast (mouse cursor should display little to no lag)
minimalistic (preferably no dongle for the Macbook, or LunaDisplay size dongle)
easy to use like AirPlay

Edit: Tried AirServer and it is better than I've expected, but software alone isn't going to connect me to a Dell monitor, so I'll keep this question open.

I’ll answer the lowest latency which is at odds with your minimal and cheapest requirements. (From the Good, Cheap, Fast - pick any two triad)

Use LunaDisplay to transmit wirelessly to an iPad Pro that mirrors using a hardware cable to the display of your choice. The USB-C connector to a display that charges the iPad is the lowest latency in my testing.
AirPlay to an AppleTV hard wired via HDMI is second lowest latency.
TeamViewer comes in third place on Big Sur 11.2.2 using a ghost 4K HDMI adapter with commodity USB-C to HDMI adapters. This is the most expensive option since you need two “computers” and a second ghost display.

Dongles and hard wires are faster than everything and the LunaDisplay hardware effectively reduces the latency of wireless options.


Creating aliases for iTerm 2 that work during ssh I use numerous aliases set at a given UNIX environment. For example my current fish shell under OSX have these below

gm -> git merge
dk -> docker kill

and so on.

Now the challenge is I use iTerm 2 for connecting to various remote sessions and I wish these aliases work seamlessly on all sessions.

Is there a way to push these aliases into a global context so that iTerm 2 will input the original command upon detecting these aliases.

i.e if I hit gm + enter in any iTerm window it must issue git merge to the remote session.

If you use oh-my-zsh, you will want to place those in ~/.zshrc

vi ~/.zshrc

.
.
.
# Example aliases
# alias zshconfig="mate ~/.zshrc"
# alias ohmyzsh="mate ~/.oh-my-zsh"
alias work="cd ~/Lucas/local-sites/"


How can I enable internet sharing to work automatically in Mac OS X Lion? After having upgraded from Snow Leopard to Lion on my iMac and MacBook Pro, how can I get "Internet Sharing" to work automatically as it did in Snow Leopard? In particular, my iMac gets its internet via a DSL Ethernet connection, and I have enabled internet sharing on it. While my MacBook Pro can see, via wifi, the iMac, every time I awaken the MacBook Pro from sleep, I have to manually select the iMac from the list of available wifi sources and manually re-enter the password.

To attempt to get things to work, I removed the preferred wifi network and then added it back in. I made sure I checked the box that said “Remember networks this computer has joined” in the general preference pane section and also I made sure I checked the box that said “Remember this network” in the specific dialog box for logging in to my iMac-provided network. However, despite, that, when I did the test of putting the MacBook Pro to sleep and awakening it, I still had to manually select my iMac-provided network and provide the password.

Under Network on the system preferences, in on the wireless pane on the macbook pro, you should see Preferred Networks. Make sure the iMacs network is on top and all the require administrator authorization to: are unchecked.


Position of the configuration files of TexMaker Someone could provide information about the position inside the pc of the configuration files for the application TeXMaker. I can't find any file in the home directory.

More precisely, I'm looking for the .ini file in order to make permanent changes in the path.

The texmaker.ini file is created in the user's home and it's stored in:

~/.config/xm1

If I do

ls ~/.config/xm1/

the result is

texmaker.ini        texmakerapp.ini


Install VMware Fusion 5 from ISO image on my Mac I have an ISO image of VMware Fusion 5 that I would like to install from on my iMac.  How can I do it? I know I can install from a .dmg file and I now I can install from an ISO image when I already have a virtual machine installed, but can I install the real Applications from an ISO image?

Generally speaking the Mac will treat an .ISO file the same as a .DMG file, at least in my experience...

So put the file on your Mac and double click on it and see what happens.

Failing that rename it to .DMG and try again.

It is quite possible that the .ISO file you have is the Windows version and has only the Windows installers on it (Setup.exe or Install.msi, etc.) but as counter intuitive these suggestions sound, they have worked for me and should at least allow you to open the .ISO and see what lies within.

And a commenter reminds me that there is no VMWare Fusion for the PC, rather it is called VMWare Workstation.


Migrate from OS X 10.9 back to 10.8.5 I made the mistake of thinking OS X 10.9 Mavericks was an improvement over 10.8.5 Mountain Lion and my system now is slugish, applications constantly crash, and it's generally horrible. I would like to migrate back to 10.8.5 and need my applications and settings to be transferred back onto a partition containing 10.8.5.

I tried both migration managers and 10.9 will only move others settings over to itself, while the 10.8.5 version does not recognize the 10.9 startup volume as one it can migrate data from. I'm guessing Apple doesn't consider people might need backward compatibility, thus have seemingly left those like myself to determine a fix for issues that are a direct result of this.

Is there a solution is there for this situation? I really would like to 'migrate' back to 10.8.5

The easiest way would be do a Time Machine backup of your 10.9 Home and Applications folders only.

Then do a clean install of 10.8.5 and boot up in recovery mode and restore your 10.9 Home folder, and pick which applications you wish to restore from your 10.9 Applications folder.

I've had to do this rolling back to previous OS X versions and have rarely had too many problems.


USB Mouse Wakes Up My iMac Immediately After Entering Sleep Mode I have a Macally Wired 3 Button Optical USB Mouse ("BUMPER MOUSE") plugged into my iMac running Mavericks. When I put my iMac to sleep, the screen goes dark, but after about 10 seconds, the red LED on the bottom of the mouse flashes rapidly for about 5 seconds, then the LED turns solid for about 2 seconds, and then the iMac wakes up.

An entry in the syslog confirms that the Macally mouse is issuing a "remote wakeup" signal:

  Jul  1 21:51:55 imac kernel[0] : Wake reason: EHC2

  Jul  1 21:51:55 imac kernel[0] : The USB device HubDevice (Port 1 of Hub at 0xfa000000) may have caused a wake by issuing a remote wakeup (2)

  Jul  1 21:51:55 imac kernel[0] : AppleThunderboltHAL::earlyWake - complete - took 0 milliseconds

  Jul  1 21:51:55 imac kernel[0] : 169.011637: ar9300WowWakeUp: Skip PCIE WA programming

  Jul  1 21:51:55 iMac kernel[0] : The USB device Macally BUMPERMOUSE (Port 3 of Hub at 0xfa100000) may have caused a wake by issuing a remote wakeup (3)

  Jul  1 21:51:55 iMac kernel[0] : full wake (reason 1) 72 ms

I sent an email to Macally Tech Support but I'm not holding my breath....

Is there a setting (or script?) to tell OSX to ignore remote wakeup signal from a USB mouse?

Thanks.

No. You'll need to unplug USB devices that wake your Mac prematurely.

This is a firmware level task which would require significant training to pull off. Nothing is impossible, but this isn't an easy setting to simply change.

Hopefully the vendor has a way to make it more like other USB mice that only wake their host when they are physically moved and not for the fun of it.


How to disable Boot Camp and prevent any other OS installations? Is it possible to completely block the use of Boot Camp such that the current Mac OS installation is the only OS available to use? This is for T2 security chip enabled Macs specifically.
I found this page: About Secure Boot
I think the option to "Disallow booting from external media" takes care of scenarios where one could boot from a Linux live USB drive. But the "Full Security" option seems to indicate that Windows installed via the Boot Camp Assistant would still be considered secure or signed...? I want to know, if there is an option to block that avenue of installation as well; so effectively disabling Boot Camp.
If one were to set a firmware password, would a user be prompted for it every time when trying to boot into Windows? Like how this question may indicate: Booting into Windows partition prompts for firmware password. I am wondering if setting the firmware password is enough? For my specific scenario, the key is to prevent booting into another OS. I am OK if someone tried to install Windows via Boot Camp Assistant, but then became thwarted by the firmware password when trying to boot into Windows for the first time.

If you do not want an user installing operating systems, then you would create a standard account for the user. In this case, the Boot Camp Assistant application can not be used to install Windows without first entering an administrator username and password. This is shown below for Big Sur.

The rest of this answer assumes the following. See About Secure Boot for more information.

Firmware password protection is on.
Secure Boot is set to Full Security.
External Boot is set to Disallow booting from external media.

The firmware password is not required in the following cases:

Selecting Restart in macOS… from the menu produced by clicking of the Boot Camp icon  in the notification area on the right side of the Windows taskbar.
Selecting macOS from the Boot Camp Control Panel in Widows.
Selecting your Boot Camp volume in Startup Disk preferences of the macOS System Preferences application. However, this does require the password of an administrator.

The firmware password is required in the following cases:

Before using the Mac Startup Manager to choose the Windows (Boot Camp) volume.

Before using Mac Startup Manager to choose any macOS volume.

In other words, the firmware password is require only if the selection of a operating system is done using the firmware. The Mac Startup Manager is implemented in the firmware.

If one were to set the firmware password, the user would not necessarily be prompted for the password every time when trying to boot into Windows. The password is only asked for, when the Mac Startup Manager is involved.
If someone installed Windows via the Boot Camp Assistant, they would not be asked for the firmware password when trying to boot into Windows for the first time. They would not be asked after the first time either. Windows actually restarts (reboots) several times during installation.


macOS Mail crashes when window is closed (app brought into background) For the last year (possibly longer) the Mail app on my iMac crashes after I close the window (not quit, just close using the red X button in the top left corner, or with cmd+w). This happens 100% of the time without fail. I submit a crash report to Apple each time but it seems like this isn't addressed. Note, I only have one account connected and that is my iCloud. Things I've tried:

resetting PRAM
removed Mail preferences files
removed the entire library (can't remember how, found instructions online. but after it was finished the app asked to rebuild the mail index)
rebuilding mailboxes (https://support.apple.com/guide/mail/rebuild-mailboxes-mlhlp1227/mac)
removing and re-adding my account

I'm out of ideas besides reinstalling macOS but that's my last resort. Here's part of the crash log:

Process:               Mail [10894]
Path:                  /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail
Identifier:            com.apple.mail
Version:               11.5 (3445.9.1)
Build Info:            Mail-3445009001000000~1
Code Type:             X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:        ??? [1]
Responsible:           Mail [10894]
User ID:               501

Date/Time:             2018-08-30 11:29:14.606 -0400
OS Version:            Mac OS X 10.13.6 (17G65)
Report Version:        12
Anonymous UUID:        <STRIPPED>

Sleep/Wake UUID:       <STRIPPED>

Time Awake Since Boot: 45000 seconds
Time Since Wake:       6100 seconds

System Integrity Protection: disabled

Crashed Thread:        0  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Exception Type:        EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes:       KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x0000000000000000
Exception Note:        EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY

Termination Signal:    Segmentation fault: 11
Termination Reason:    Namespace SIGNAL, Code 0xb
Terminating Process:   exc handler [0]

VM Regions Near 0:
-->
    __TEXT                 000000010a623000-000000010a9e5000 [ 3848K] r-x/rwx SM=COW   [/Applications/Mail.app/Contents/MacOS/Mail]

Edit to add detail:

When I disable my iCloud account in preferences, I can close the app without it crashing. But as soon as the account is re-enabled, it goes right back to crashing on close.

Another thing I noticed is that if I click the "Mailboxes" button to show all mailboxes (eg, Inbox, Flagged, Sent, etc). I can switch to any other mailbox and close the app without problems. It only crashes if I have the Inbox selected and close the app.

Update:

Opened Console and tracked error messages from Mail app. Here are the results, all of these errors are logged multiple times except the AEGetDescData error.

Error sending searchable item 29964 to CoreSpotlight:Error Domain=CSIndexErrorDomain Code=-1000 "(null)"

[AOSAccounts] : [ACAccount+iCloudAccount] : -[ACAccount(iCloudAccount) icaCloudKitToken] - icaCloudKitToken cannot be returned as account is still not vetted!

AEGetDescData of non-desc type 'reco' not a good idea

Update

A lot of events are logged in Console. I cleared the console before closing Mail, here's a screenshot with all the messages (my email address blurred out).

While evaluating your Console report I came across nasty malware on your system called "ScorecardResearch"

Since it is interacting with your Mail and who knows with what else and it is clearly sending your information without your consent, I assume it is also responsible for the Mail error.

Get rid of it.
https://www.2-spyware.com/remove-scorecardresearch-com.html


How to grant Screen Recording permission to an Automator Quick Action I've created an Automator Quick Action called "Screenshot" that uses the "Run Shell Script" action to run a script in my path, which uses Mac OS's built in screencapture command and then uploads the file to a Google Cloud Storage bucket. I've done this so I can use my Screenshot script from the Touch Bar by holding Fn to see the Quick Actions menu.

Here's the problem: when I take a screenshot while focused on an app that doesn't have Screen Recording permissions in Security and Privacy, I only get a picture of my wallpaper. Everything works fine in apps that have Screen Recording permissions, or when running it from Automator manually.

I suspect that Automator inherits its permissions from the window in which it is running. Therefore, I would like to know how to manually grant Screen Recording permissions to my most commonly used apps, so that I can take screenshots within them.

There are no add/remove buttons in the Security and Privacy section, and I cannot modify the database manually because of SIP.

Or, if there's a way to do so, I'd like to have the shell script run within the context of iTerm 2 (which does have Screen Recording permissions) instead of the context of the currently focused app.

I have had some similar issues. My workaround was to add the Automator created app to:
System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Accessibility
Then running the app, letting the system add the programs it may control to:
System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Automation
This might not at all be what you asked for, but I thought it seemed a bit similar.
Note however, every time I change something in the app, I have to repeat the above steps.


Disable MacBook screen turn off at locked screen Is it possible to prevent OSX from turning off displays when on the lockscreen? I'll lock my MBP with 2 external monitors, leave for 2-3 minutes, and come back and the monitor will be off. It then takes a bit of time for them to all come back on. I've tried Caffeine but it only appears to work when unlocked.

There is a free and open-source tool named KeepingYouAwake that can be used as per your requirements.

Having KeepingYouAwake activated will prevent the screen from turning off when lock screen mode is activated.

Download the latest version here.

or install it via cask:

brew cask install keepingyouawake.

This utility will not harm your Mac because it is based on an official command-line tool by Apple. BUT I cannot guarantee anything, so use this tool AT YOUR OWN RISK.


SMS not working from MBP with Yosemite and iOS 8 I have updated my mid 2012 MBP to yosemite, and my iPhone 5s is running iOS 8.0.

My wife called me last night, and sure enough the call popped up on my MBP. I answered the call, and it works fine.

The problem is with SMS.
Incomming SMS do not come to my MBP. I am also unable to send messages VIA SMS to my android friends. Is there something special I have to do to make SMS work? I'll remind you that the phone call feature works fine, so I'm not sure why SMS doesn't,.

Notes:
I am on the same wifi network with both of my devices.
I have both devices loaded with most current updates.
I have bluetooth enabled on both devices.
They are within 2 feet of eachother.

According to this blog post sms relay will be available with iOS 8.1


Regular Boot System Unresponsive My computer was working fine until last night when I restarted. When the computer booted up and I logged into my account, I suddenly got the beachball whenever I tried to open an application. For example, I tried opening Safari and the window opened, but then the computer froze. I then restarted and logged in again. I tried opening iTunes and the computer froze. I did this for Finder and for iCal too, and none of them responded; the window would open, and then the system would freeze up. I tried to fix this by:

Booting into Lion Recovery and repairing the disk (twice + verified twice)
Booting into Lion Recovery and repairing the disk permissions (twice + verified twice)
Resetting the PRAM
Running a Hardware Test (results said hardware was fine)

I also tried to boot into safe mode but for some reason I couldn't. As a last resort, I attempted to reinstall Lion but my wi-fi would cut out so the download never finished.

When I booted into Lion Recovery and tried to save a file from Safari, I could view all the files on my Macintosh HD (not their content, but just the structure); it looks like the filesystem is OK. It's just that when I boot regularly, every application is unresponsive. Also when I boot regularly, Safari doesn't work (a window will open and then I get the beachball), but when I boot into Lion Recovery, Safari works fine and I can browse the web (which is how I'm posting this).

One thing that's weird: I have Geektool and I set it up to display the running processes and how much memory and percentage of the CPU they were using, and I noticed one process called "Character Palette" was using up 90-93% of the CPU. I suspect this might be the problem. All other process were taking up under 10% (most were under 1%).

Basically,  my question is: what can I do to fix my computer?

Thanks in advance!

Computer:

13-Inch Macbook Pro (2012) with 500 GB SSD Drive and 8 GB of RAM.

I talked to Apple Support and eventually had to reinstall Lion, which fixed the problem.


Remove notifications for one specific email account on Mountain Lion's Mac Mail Is it possible to set or disabled Mail notifications on a per-account basis on Mountain Lion's notification center?

I have shared an email address that gets a lot of emails that I only need to check once in a while and it would be great if I could disable notification for this email. I can't find any settings to do this on Mail preferences or Notifications preferences.

Actually, it is possible - here's how:

Create a smart mailbox ( Menubar > Mailbox > New Smart Mailbox ) which shows the content of all the mailboxes that you would like to get notifications for, and give it a nice name (for example, 'Notifications'). In my case the only rule in this mailbox is a 'Message is in Mailbox' - but you can be creative!

Go to the General section in Mail preferences ( Menubar > Mail > Preferences ) or press ⌘ + ,. About half way down you'll see the setting 'New message notifications' - open the drop-down and select the smart mailbox created under step #1.


My robust broadcom wifi card interferes with my graphic card I have a robust AC1900 Dual band WiFi Card. Its signal is very strong and this causes interference with my AMD RX-650 card, although I had put the cards in as far slots as possible on mainboard. When using the card normally there is no problem. But when using DLNA or AirDrop services, the screen gets a flicker and eventually goes off and on again and is absolutely unusable!
How can I fix the problem without making the card signal too weak and reducing the transfer speed significantly?

I advise you to reduce the card signal level. This won't reduce the speed which is only related to the frequency of the carrier wave and the signal / noise ratio.

This will increase the overall signal / noise ratio of all the hardware using the bandwidth around the GHz (1 - 10 GHz). Net result: the interference should stop below a level to experimentally find. Then the network throughput will be better, but its scope (in meters reached) will be shorter. Most probably you will shrink your network radius from 100 m down to 25 m. You will also lower the quantity of micro-wave heating your eyes and your brain (every thing which is containing a lot of water).


My iPhone 4 only shows 256 MB of RAM? I just received my iPhone 4 and Activity Monitor Touch and SYSTEM lite only show 247 MB of hardware memory. But the iPhone 4 is supposed to have 512 MB (of which 503 MB are actually available). I checked with a function of my own (derived from here), too, and it also just shows 256 MB of RAM. I'm running iOS 4.1. I don't believe this is a readout bug as other iPhone 4 owners told me they are shown 503 MB in those apps.

Can anyone confirm this on his own iPhone 4? What should I do? Contact Apple and ask for a replacement device? Or just return the device and buy a new one?

That is pretty bizarre. The iPhone 4 is supposed to have 2x256MB memory modules for a total of 512MB, but it sounds like, for some reason, your phone isn't seeing one of them. Your numbers bear this out too - the iPhone hardware sets aside 9MB of the total memory, resulting in the OS seeing 503MB or, in your case, 247MB.

Definitely take it in and try to exchange it or replace it.


Can't sign into iTunes on Mac 10.7.5 I can open the iTunes app and it seems to be working as normal, but whenever I try to sign in it gives me two error messages, one after the other.

first - "We could not complete your iTunes Store request. An unknown error occurred(-50)."
second presents immediately after dismissing the first - “ We could not complete your iTunes Store request. An unknown error occurred (-9836).”

I'm using an early 2008 Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 that is fully updated but not upgrades past Lion.
Is this a server issue or something with my Mac?

My answer:
Since you mention that you are running Mac OS X Lion (10.7.5), the issue could be that your operating system is no longer supported. Try to update your Mac and see if it works.
My experience:
I had a similar issue on Mac OS X Mavericks (10.9). Once I updated to Mac OS X El Capitan (10.11), the issue went away.