Volume Encryption plus FileVault -- redundant? My startup disk was formatted as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)". Then I installed macOS Sierra, and it prompted me to turn on FileVault. I did, not remembering that the disk was already encrypted, and it went through the slow process of encrypting the data.

Is my disk double-encrypted now? I assumed it wouldn't have asked me to turn on FileVault if it was already encrypted. Should I turn FileVault off again?

Don't think it's double-encrypted. I suspect you created a 'Disk Password' when encrypting in Disk Utility and then you added users to unlock the disk when enabling FileVault. Out of curiosity, what do the following show?

diskutil cs list
sudo fdesetup list -e

Answers from original poster:

diskutil cs list shows:

+-- Logical Volume Group B48571B2-985A-48B3-91F0-0C9AA9FFBE0A
|   =========================================================
|   Name:         Macintosh HD
|   Status:       Online
|   Size:         511250432000 B (511.3 GB)
|   Free Space:   36864 B (36.9 KB)
|   |
|   +-< Physical Volume C60946EB-D0F1-4A80-BAAF-6D7F0B716C2A
|   |   ----------------------------------------------------
|   |   Index:    0
|   |   Disk:     disk0s2
|   |   Status:   Online
|   |   Size:     511250432000 B (511.3 GB)
|   |
|   +-> Logical Volume Family 3C90D9A1-05C4-4D94-B20F-05F469418176
|       ----------------------------------------------------------
|       Encryption Type:         AES-XTS
|       Encryption Status:       Unlocked
|       Conversion Status:       Complete
|       High Level Queries:      Fully Secure
|       |                        Passphrase Required
|       |                        Accepts New Users
|       |                        Has Visible Users
|       |                        Has Volume Key
|       |
|       +-> Logical Volume 38FE20AC-17E6-4C37-B465-FB270BE91718
|           ---------------------------------------------------
|           Disk:                  disk2
|           Status:                Online
|           Size (Total):          510883004416 B (510.9 GB)
|           Conversion Progress:   Complete
|           Revertible:            Yes (unlock and decryption required)
|           LV Name:               Macintosh HD
|           Volume Name:           Macintosh HD
|           Content Hint:          Apple_HFS

sudo fdesetup list -e shows:

ESCROW  UUID                                                                     TYPE USER
        799FBB35-D5A3-443E-B397-E934AECC6D51                                  OS User myusername
        1B4714C8-EB0E-42D4-A2D4-F45E19CA6890                              iCloud User


How do I get dual colour theme for numerals duo watch face? I am using the Beta of watchOS 6. In the keynote, I saw the numerals duo watch face with two different colors for each number. Is this exclusive for series 4 or series 5? I am Series 3 user. I did update to the GM version but did not find this color scheme in numerals duo. Attached some screenshots of the Apple website and the keynote.

How do I get such a colour theme for numerals duo watch face?

Source:

Apple Watch Series 3 running watchOS 6 are limited (at this time) as to the colors used in the Numerals Duo face.  S4 and above can have multiple colors.

S3 watches can also use the Numerals Mono face.  That's just an outline of the numbers with no color fill.


Google Maps: mark road as Closed on iPhone/mobile (Directions) Is there a way to mark a road as Closed in Google Maps Directions on a mobile phone (iPhone but likely to be the same on Android)?

So that the itinerary is changed, avoiding that closed road.

Note1 on the desktop version the road is to be "report as closed", but didn't see that on the mobile version.

Note2 any other solution that makes Maps avoid that road is welcome as well.

Unfortunately you can’t report a road closure when using directions.
You can do it by going in Contribute tab > Edit map > Report a problem with map data > Selected the road > “Closed Road”.
Note that it won’t be closed on the map until an employee verifies it manually (it can take up to a month).
As @chenmunka suggested it you can also report it as closed on Waze, some of the closures are shared to Google Maps.


How to 'clear refresh' a page display in web browsers (aka. 'hard refresh', ie. ignoring cache)? While doing web development I often need to refresh a site I'm building with the cache ignored. What are the best ways to do this?

I used to use the 'Disable cache' option in Firefox's Web Developer Toolbar. However this disables the cache globally, slowing other sites down, and has the following bug: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=643184

I gather you can do a 'clear refresh' in PC Chrome with ctrl-F5? Is there an equivalent in Mac Chrome, or Firefox for that matter?

For Firefox OS X 3 options:

Force Reload Page (override cache)

Cmd+F5

Cmd+Shift+R

Shift+Reload button

Edit:

Wikipedia has an overview about how to bypass the cache on nearly every browser imaginable.


How Do I Start Over With Backups Using Time Machine? I have a Mac Mini Server running the latest version of Mavericks and OS X Server.  I would like to do a full backup of my server.  I have no business need to keep the backups currently on the disk.  Can I just turn off Time Machine and delete Backups.backupdb through Finder or Terminal?  I also want to make sure that when I delete the backups that I can remove them from Trash.

I have done searching on this but have only found information on how to delete backups of certain files or moving the backup disk to another volume.

If you are backing up to an external disk, the fastest way is to

disable Time Machine
erase the backup drive/partition with DiskUtil
re-enable Time Machine

OTOH you won't loose anything if you keep the old backups for now. As every time slice within TM is a full backup you can still recover up to "now".


iTunes - don't know how to moves songs from library to library in same computer I am using iTunes for the first time, and it seems to be very different from Windows OS.

I am trying to do what I would have expected would be a very basic thing - take a song from one library in iTunes and move the song to a different library in iTunes. Everything is on the same computer! I could not find a drag and drop option or a cut and paste option.

Here's what I do. I drag the items from iTunes to a folder, such as one on the Desktop. When you drag items from iTunes, their actual files will copy to a folder or window. I then quit iTunes, launch it again, choose the other library, and drag that folder onto the iTunes window, or to an empty playlist.


Open applications in the background in OS X, I don't want my focus taken from me. Respect my Focus! I'm running El Capitan 10.11.4 on a 2014 Mac Mini.

I'm often running 10-14 apps at one time as I work writing reports, word/excel/Adobe/Safari/iTunes/calendar/etc...

Frequently I want to open another app, I want it to open in the background and go back to word/excel and keep working, but the launching app takes away my focus, sometimes 2 or 3 times. once for the splash screen, once for the open dialogue window, and again after I click 'new document'.

Another situation, I update an app in the background, like 1Password (beta) and every step it takes my focus back to the app being updated.

Is there anything I can do with Unix/Terminal, etc. to force all app activity to be done in the background, or to keep OS to respect my focus?

To launch an app in Finder in the background (hidden) you can use a simple Automator service. Open Automator app, select a service that accepts files or folders in Finder and add a Run Shell Script action with following contents:

for f in "$@"
do
    open "$f" --hide
done

Save the service as Open in background. Open System Preferences./ Keyboard / Shortcuts / Services, find your new service and assign a keyboard shortcut you desire. I chose a handy ShiftCmdB. Close System Preferences and test the service and the shortcut.

Nice thing about this is that it works with apps as well as documents.


List of Metadata Attribute Aliases That I can Search for in Spotlight If I open up Spotlight, I can use metadata attributes such as kind:pdf and date:today to refine my search.

I'm curious if there's a way to list all of these attributes that I can use with this syntax (attribute:value)

Good question. There is a page on the Apple Developer site that goes into details of Spotlight metadata attributes. Though it's developer focussed I think you'd be able to draw inferences from the attribute keys listed there, e.g.

kMDItemKindDescription of the kind of item this file represents.
kMDItemAttributeChangeDateDate and time of the last change made to a metadata attribute
kMDItemContentCreationDateThe date and time that the content was created.
kMDItemContentModificationDateDate and time when the content of this item was modified.

The nice thing about this list is, that it's quite exhaustive, but it also means that developers would have needed to build this into their apps, so that Spotlight could accurately index the content.

On this list you also find more "obscure" (or lesser known) attributes, such as

kMDItemCreatorName of the application used to create the document content. For example, "Pages" or "Keynote".
kMDItemKeywordsKeywords associated with this file. For example, "Birthday", "Important", etc.
kMDItemNumberOfPagesNumber of pages in the document.
kMDItemPageHeightHeight of the document page, in points (72 points per inch). For PDF files this indicates the height of the first page only.

If you're interested, there's also an oldish article over at the Superuser blog that gets into some of the details of using Spotlight including commands you can use from Terminal. There's a link in the article (about ⅔ down) pointing to a full list of attributes Spotlight keeps for you. That link is dead, but I've dug out a copy from the Wayback Machine for you. It's similar to the page on the Apple Developer site I provided before.

I've tried some of these examples out and it turns out that the command line would allow you to use the listed attributes, such as kMDItemLastUsedDate. It also seems to allow for a much finer use, such as Boolean use and number ranges like ">=10".

I've subsequently successfully used TextContent:"something", Country:AU (for Australian content), date>20/1/2017 (that's 20 Jan 2017 in my lingo and filters everything after that date) and author:Alex (e.g. returns documents and emails created by me) in Spotlight's GUI. This article on Spotlight tips for El Capitan & Yosemite (slide 10) mainly mentions the kind: filter, though they also name the above date and author.

What you can use very much depends on what developers of applications that save documents to disk have implemented using the metadata importer to provide Spotlight support.


How to I protect my jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad? People always say, "Jailbreaking can cause security problems." That might be true, but in some instances, you just need to jailbreak it.

How can I protect my iPhone and my data when it is jailbroken? Is there an app (through Cydia), that allows me to modify anything, or is there no easy application that does this? I'm pretty sure jailbreaking just removes the part of the OS that only allows you to download apps from the App Store. You think you would be able to modify that file/part of the system and allow it access to Cydia or whatever, and then somehow create a secure network and screen apps for viruses or whatever.

On a general level, I'd personally secure a jailbroken phone by re-enabling the code signing restrictions of iOS, ensure sandbox requirements are upheld and turn off all remote access. Furthermore, disabling all root accounts and choosing secure passwords for all remaining accounts that your specific jailbreak process creates or modifies would be prudent.

Apple has teams of people to police third party apps, set up sandboxes, audit security, etc… When you jailbreak, you take responsibility for all of those activities which carries a large technical burden to know what to check in the first place and then how to secure things.

At some point, this exercise becomes a bit metaphysical  - Do you trust Apple to engineer and watch the device? Do you trust yourself to be up on securing unix systems (Practical Unix and Internet Security, 3rd Edition is a fabulous book)? Do you trust the jailbreak to document what changes it has made and allow you the control over security you desire?

There are clearly times when a jailbroken phone (in the hands of a knowledgable operator) can be more secure than Apple's current iOS if it patches a vulnerability that you need to have closed now and not when Apple patches it - but for most, sticking as close to Apple's configuration as possible is the best plan from a security stance.


Approve this mac using another device I bought a new MacBook Pro (macOS Sierra v10.12.4), and I'm having some issues with iCloud. Even tho I never had a Mac before, I did run on my VMWare a MacOS (I don't recall using the iCloud back then).

Whenever I try to log in to the iCloud, it asks for my Apple ID and MacBook Pro passwords. after that, I get this message:

When I click the Forgot Code? button, I get an alert that says:

  If you can't remember the iCloud Security code, you can approve this Mac using another device.
  Cancel | Use Other Device

When I click on the Use Other Device button, the alert gets closed and then nothing happens. I've tried running iCloud on my PC to get by any chance there the code, but unfortunately, no luck.

Any solutions?

Do you have an iPhone or iPad? If yes, then one of these can be used to receive the code. A PC won't work as I know.

If you still don't receive the code on your iDevices, try the following on your iPhone or iPad:

Go to Settings > Your Name (Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes & App Store) > Password & Security.
Enter your Apple ID password when asked.
Tap Get Verification Code

This might only work with Keychain enabled on your iDevice.

If you don't have any other Apple devices, it could be your last option to reset the iCloud Keychain. But in this case I'd prefer to call the official Apple Support.


What is that delay between a tap and cursor movement? I occasionally run Windows on my macbook.

There is an annoying problem with the touchpad.

I click somewhere by tapping the touchpad, and then move the cursor, but the cursor movement will not respond until half second later.

However, if I click the touchpad and then move cursor, there is no half second delay.

Is this an intended behaviour? Is there a resolution?

In essence, this is due to poor drivers in Windows. The Mac drivers have been created better than those in Windows.

The problem is created because the trackpad is waiting for the possible second tap to indicate a double-click. In OS X, the drivers are simply 'smarter' and understand better when you intend to double click or click and move.

Indeed, actually clicking the trackpad then moving is instantaneous since the physical difference between a click and the cursor movement means that it can distinguish between a double-click and a click and move much faster since it doesn't have to wait for that second click.

Such behaviour can be noticed if you put an old iPhone without multitasking next to an iPhone with multitasking, and press the home button on both. You should notice that even though the newer iPhone should be quicker, it's not. The older iPhone reacts quicker, since it doesn't care if the home button was pressed twice - the same action is carried out. Conversely, the newer iPhone must wait those extra few milliseconds to see if you press the home button a second time, indicating that you want something other than the app to close (you want the multitasking bar).

With careful timing, it is possible to notice a similar yet opposite effect in OS X to the one apparent in Windows. Whilst a tap-move in Windows causes the cursor to lag as you noticed, and the same behaviour in OS X doesn't cause any lag (the cursor moves immediately), you may notice that a tap-move-tap in OS X causes the cursor to 'snap' back to its original position (if the 'move' was small enough) since it predicts that you wanted to do a double-tap on the same spot. In Windows, a similar tap-move-tap is equally predicted as a double-tap, and to make you do this in the same spot, it prevents you from doing the 'move' for a split second. Two different methods for overcoming the same problem, yet one is considerably better than the other!

Whilst I haven't tried it, Trackpad++ seems like something that should fix it by replacing the Boot Camp drivers with "much better ones"…


Upgrading RAM of a MacBook Is it possible to upgrade memory to 8 GB my model of MacBook? The manual says no, but on the web some people have made some videos about the upgrade. I don't know if any of them are fake.

I found this site:

Other World Computing RAM upgrade for MacBook 6,1

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/Apple_MacBook_MacBook_Pro/Upgrade/DDR3_White

It seems it's possible to upgrade.


How can I switch applications on iPhone or iPad by keyboard like "Windows key + tab" on Windows? I like typing by keyboard while using iPhone and iPad. But when I switch applications(e.g. between Safari and memo application), I have to the push home putton on the devices'. It is very frustrating. Does anybody know how to switch applications by keyboard like "Windows key + tab" on Windows?

For iPad, ensure that multitasking gestures are turned on in "Settings > General > Multitasking Gestures". Instructions to switch between applications are right below the button.

IPhones do not support task switching with a Bluetooth keyboard.

On iPhones equipped with a 3D Touch screen, you can switch applications by force pressing on the left-most corner of the screen. This will open the task switching view.


any way to restrict to newsstand only in guided access mode? In guided access mode, can I restrict to Newsstand alone, so users can only view Newsstand and the subscribed newspapers and magazines?

It seems that the guided access mode can only restrict to a single magazine.

It may sound counter intuitive, but each "Magazine" in Newsstand is actually an App, and the Newsstand "App" is actually just a standard folder that's been messed about with a bit at the OS level to make it appear and function a bit differently.

As such, with Guided Access being restricted to single app scenarios, you can't do what you wish, because when you are viewing the Newstand App you are actually just sat in a folder at your home screen - A double slick to bring up the multi-tasking bar shows that the left most screen which is normally associated with the Homescreen page/folder that you last launched an app from is showing Newsstand still.


Is there a keyboard shortcut to open the filename popover menu in Preview, Pages, etc.? I'm referring to the popover menu that opens when clicking the little down arrow next to the file name in some apps.

I use that extensively—it would be convenient if there were a keyboard shortcut to open it, but I haven't found one yet.

I don't know of one, but you can of course use Command I (Get Info) in the Finder to change the name or assign Tags.


How to connect USB hardware to a MBP via an external monitor I have a setup where I am using one external monitor (Dell P2414H) for two laptops - one Macbook Pro and one Dell Latitude E6430.

The dell is connected via a docking station with VGA cable, and I am able to use the USB keyboard and mouse when they are plugged in to the monitor.
The Macbook Pro is connected directly to the monitor using a DVI cable and the Mini DisplayPort / DVI adaptor.

However, my MBP doesn't seem to see the external keyboard and mouse unless I unplug them from the monitor and plug them directly into the laptop.
I need to switch between both laptops very frequently, so replugging is not a good option.

How can I make my MBP see the mouse and keyboard when they are plugged into the monitor?

I think your problem is that USB is not carried over Display Port/DVI. I have an older Apple Cinema Display that has USB ports on it and the cable has both DVI and USB ends that get plugged into the Mac.

That DELL monitor has an upstream USB port (and I would be very surprised if that is not connected to your docking station for the PC). Connect a cable between that and the Mac and the keyboard and mouse should work.


Manage iOS Developer Enterprise Programs for several companies I am a sole trader and I have developed an iPad app that I'm going to sell to several companies independently.
They are small companies (<50 employees) that have nothing to do with IT and it would be a nightmare for them to register with the Developer Enterprise Program.

That's why I'm probably going to register for each of them.

1- Can I register for several Enterprise Programs with my Apple ID, or does it have to be done by someone inside the companies (with a different ID each time that then adds me as as admin)?

2- In that case, am I going to be able to register on their behalf (if they provide me with their apple id + password? or if I appoint myself as the contact for Apple?)

3- Do I even need that program to deploy less than 100 apps to iPads?

You will need to use the Enterprise Program, unless you want to deploy everything on the iTunes store.

In terms of if you can register for several Enterprise Programs, a single organization can enroll in up to five iOS Developer Enterprise Programs.  However, each Enterprise distribution provisioning profile can only be associated with one App ID.

This Stackoverflow post should help.


How can I repair a broken key of a new MacBook Pro 15'' Retina 2015? I have bought a new macbook pro 15" retina in March 2015, but with less than 1 month of usage, I feel that my enter key is very loose and probably (or almost) broken.

Maybe it's not broken and the quality of Macbook Pros is getting worse and things deteriorate really faster than the older ones.

Aesthetically the keyboard looks normal, but when typing, specially the enter feels horrible...I can't stop thinking I've spent 2K euros in something that is worse than cheap competitors.

The product is under warranty, but I don't know for sure if the authorised firms will do something about it — they might say that this behaviour is normal or that I used it badly (which is not true).

Has anyone had any exprience with this?
How can I resolve this problem?

Thank you very much.

It seems to be the problem of keycap. The plastic part was broken.


How to upgrade Macbook Air 2014 SSD? I have a Macbook Air 2014 - 128 GB, and I am running out of space.  Is it possible to upgrade the SSD to one of bigger capacity?

In some Macbook Airs the SSD is actually replaceable. Please refer to iFixit.com and the other answers for details.

However, a very interesting option is to make use of the SD card slot. There are a number of products out there that will fit seamlessly into your SD card reader slot. You can then mount it as an additional drive and put e.g. your music library onto it. Some examples (feel free to update):

Transcend Jetdrive Lite
PNY StorEDGE
Nifty MiniDrive
Sandisk miniDrive

Using one of these solutions you could add up to 256 GB (2015) of storage to your Mac.


Can you know the macOS version from the firmware version in Macs? I’d like to know if it’s possible to know what macOS version is installed in a Mac (such as macOS 10.14.3) if you can get the firmware version (such as in System information).

I sometimes cannot log into a customer’s Mac because it’s Filevault encrypted.  So this way, by starting the Mac from a macOS external volume, I can get the firmware version, and, hopefully, the macOS version.

Is there any website that lists firmware version and corresponding macOS version? such as:

Boot ROM Version: 238.0.0.0.0      macOS 10.14.4

or the same firmware version could be in different versions of macOS?

Any help much appreciated.

No, you can't.

Some Macs didn't get their updates. For a host of possible reasons. Install by image would be one where this is expected (Such as copying a partition from another Mac). Then the firmware is older than the expected OS.
Some Macs did get their updates with OS updates/upgrades. But then the owner decides that Mojave for example is still too buggy and they downgrade to what they had before. Then the firmware is newer than the associated OS.

What you get with the firmware info is just a weak indicator of what was installed at one point, but not a reliable one for what actually is installed.


Change duration of still frames in iMovie 10.0.7 I am making a video that contains both video footage and still frames but I can't find where to change duration of still frames to longer than 4 seconds.

How can I change the duration of a still frame to be longer than 4 seconds in iMovie 10.0.7?

Open the app and search for Freeze Frame in the help menu.

Select the help topic named:

- Add a freeze frame

It explains how to freeze a frame and at the bottom of the page, it describes how to modify the 4 second default.


ImageMagick Errors while installing dependencies I'm using this script:
https://github.com/maddox/magick-installer

to install imagemagick and it's dependencies
i have a few errors the first run for some missing files or borken links but now i have all this solved.... but when it's installing the libpng, i think, the scrip stops and trow this error:

ln: ./libtool: File exists

i don't know what to do, seems like the first run it created some symlink somewhere and not it found this symlink and stops the script.

thanks.

Try installing ImageMagick with HomeBrew

https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew

Once installed just type

brew install imagemagick

This will download any dependancies, compile the source and install it.

More info here : http://www.engineyard.com/blog/2010/homebrew-os-xs-missing-package-manager/


Will my app get rejected? I'm currently writing a workout logging application in for iOS. My application requires a user to create an account to start logging. All that's required is: username, password, gender, bodyweight. Username/password is used for the initial database row entry, and for unique queries from database. And then gender and bodyweight is used to calculate a Wilks Coefficient (takes into account gender and bodyweight to compare strength among individuals). And that's it. I wrote a privacy policy for this. Was about to submit for review and find out. But looking through the App Review guidelines, it was a tad unclear on the requirements.

As long as it's explicit in the privacy policy, it should be ok. Have you considered adding HealthKit capability?


LibreOffice error: "Either another instance of LibreOffice is accessing your personal settings or your personal settings are locked" When I try to open LibreOffice, I get the following error:

  Either another instance of LibreOffice is accessing your personal settings or your personal settings are locked.

  Simultaneous access can lead to inconsistencies in your personal settings. Before continuing, you should make sure user 'macowner' closes LibreOffice on host 'new-host.home'.

  Do you really want to continue?

I don't know why this started.  Also, there is only one account on this computer, I changed its name from "macowner" to its current name over a month ago.  Edit: I found out my computer kept the same file directory structure when I changed the username of my account, so my account's directory is called /Users/macowner.  This may be where LibreOffice gets the string for its error message.

I'm running LibreOffice 4.1 and OS X 10.7.5.

How do I remove this error?

According to the LibreOffice docs and this similar Ask Ubuntu Q&A, it stores a .lock file ~/Library/Application Support/libreoffice/4/user on OS X to indicate a session is active and running.

To clean it up:

Make sure no instances of LibreOffice are currently running.
Open the Terminal application
Optional: Check to see if lock file exists, at the prompt type: ls -l ~/Library/Application\ Support/LibreOffice/?/user/.lock
If you see "cannot access" this means the lock file is not present.
At the prompt type: rm -f ~/Library/Application\ Support/LibreOffice/?/user/.lock
Close the Terminal application
Start LibreOffice


Key combination not propagating to Fusion VM I have a clean installation of El Capitan with VMware Fusion Pro 8 and Windows 10 Pro.
I use Fusion in full screen, and the windows keyboard command Control + Command+ D is used to create a new desktop, however when pressing this command, the mouse curser changes to the Mac OS cursor, and nothing happens. It seems Mac OS is digesting the command and not allowing the virtual machine to receive it.

Interestingly:

The VM receives other commands, like Control + Command+ Left
All commands 'disableable' through preferences in both keyboard and accessibility are disabled, with the exception of Command + Option + Left, and Command + Option + Right to change full screen applications.
The only reference I have found to it, is a Document Shortcut, which I would expect to be consumed via the application in focus.

How can this renegade command be rectified?

The key combination ctrlcmdD is a system wide shortcut to show or hide the definition of a selected word/words. This even works in VMware. As a last resort the definition of the name of your virtual machine will be shown.

To disable the shortcut, open Terminal and enter:

defaults write com.apple.symbolichotkeys AppleSymbolicHotKeys -dict-add 70 '<dict><key>enabled</key><false/></dict>'

This will add the key 70 to the file com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist and disable the shortcut. After a reboot you will be able to use the above shortcut in fullscreen mode in Windows 10.

You may get a similar result by installing Karabiner and adding a special keycode.


Understanding the contents of com.apple.spaces.plist I'm interested in understanding the contents of com.apple.spaces.plist because I'm trying to develop a solution to the problem of restoring apps to their original Spaces after a restart.

Looking at the value of the Space Properties property inside this plist, I see some information that looks relevant to the problem I'm trying to solve:

    "Space Properties": [
      {
        "name": "",
        "windows": [
          8557,
          114,
          183,
          91
        ]
      },
      {
        "name": "40ED97C0-613E-4E9F-ADCB-B0E4A1788987",
        "windows": [
          8557,
          114,
          188,
          337,
          338
        ]
      },
      ...

I assume the IDs under each windows property are the IDs of the applications in each Space. Is that correct?

Can I somehow, by editing this plist after a reboot, restore these window IDs to the Spaces they were assigned to before a reboot, and thus get all my windows back to where they were?

I assume the IDs under each windows property are the IDs of the applications in each Space. Is that correct?

That appears to be correct. I confirmed this by saving copies of com.apple.spaces.plist over time and matching the changes in its contents to windows I moved back and forth across Spaces. There is a delay of a few seconds from when you move a window to when the plist is updated to reflect that change.

  Can I somehow, by editing this plist after a reboot, restore these window IDs to the Spaces they were assigned to before a reboot, and thus get all my windows back to where they were?

This doesn't seem to be possible. The plist appears to be a write-only source of information. That is, the OS periodically writes out what it's holding in memory to this file. But it doesn't update what's in memory by reading from this file.

I tested this on macOS 10.15.4 by making edits to the plist. They were ignored by the OS and simply overwritten with the current state of my windows and Spaces.


How do I make Apple Script open Script Editor and write a new script? I have tried to do

tell application "Script Editor"
    make new script with properties {name:"this is a test", body:"and
    more text"}
end tell

but it came up with the error

'error "Script Editor got an error: Can’t make class file." number -2710 from file to class"

This works for me:

tell application "Script Editor"
    make new document with properties {name:"this is a test", contents:"and
more text"}
end tell


Can no longer sign in to @me.com or @icloud.com email address A few days ago I started noticing notifications from my email clients that there was an authentication error for my email address ending in @me.com. I tried re-entering my password several times, I changed my password, tried the @icloud.com version of the email address but unfortunately, nothing worked. I can however, still sign in to webmail at iCloud.com, and to other Apple services using these credentials, just not email.

Does anyone know what can cause this? I have quite a few internet accounts that depend on this email address.

Kind regards,
Roemer Bakker

You are probably hit by the 'App Specific Password' feature. Apple recently changed their policy for 'third-party' Apps and Clients to require a password differing from your main AppleID password.

The following Apple Support link: Using App-specific passwords is a good place to start.


Does iOS slow download speed when downloading torrents? Problem : I live in a country where carriers provide mobile data plans which they offer for 5 dollars; I get the 10GB "night time data package." So I tried to download some torrents from my PC using iOS personal Hotspot feature. But all the time I try to download a torrent it gives like 1KBps speed or less.

I've changed settings in uTorrent according to my internet speed but it gives slow speed. When I try to download large/small files directly from a website (web server) it gives full speed my carrier supports like 40Mbps. I have the problem only when downloading the torrent.

What I've found so far : I thought (still think) that would be a restriction with iOS and contacted apple support team and asked them about that. But they said iOS doesn't slow down speed when downloading a file through personal hotspot and said probably my carrier throttling my speed. But still I think iOS slows down my Internet speed because of a clear reason which I've explained below. So I want  know whether iOS slows down my Internet speed when I downloading a torrent or my carrier throttling when downloading a torrent.

Reasons to think Apple may do that : I've downloaded torrents before using hotspot feature like 1 year ago. But several things now have changed.

That time I used a Nokia phone which clearly have no hotspot restrictions.
That was about 1 year ago. So carriers might have taken actions to throttle speed when downloading torrent.

What I want to know :

Does iOS slow down internet speed when downloading torrents?
What could be the reason of slow torrent speed on this situation? ( torrents basically have several hundred seeders)
What actions can I take to get full speed?

I don't know of any traffic shapping or bandwidth throttling capabilities of iOS.  Technically, you would need stateful packet inspection to be able to detect Torrents and then slow them down (traffic shaping); this is found on many advanced routers and most definately not in iOS.

Most likely, it's your ISP that's doing the throttling.

  Hundreds of larger and smaller ISPs all over the world try to limit
  BitTorrent traffic on their networks. Unfortunately, most companies
  are not very open about their network management solutions, with
  Comcast as the prime example.

Read the full article here.

What you want to do is Test to see if your carrier is blocking/slowing down your traffic.

Test if your ISP is blocking Bittorrent

This is a Java applet and does not require a Bittorrent client.  It will compare the download speed of a small test file seeded through Bittorrent with the download speed of the same file through normal file transfer.  If the difference is significant it will indicate that your ISP is throttling your file transfer.


Security issue on blocked screen in High Sierra? I can see my powerpoint presentation (opened in fullscreen) on locked screen on my iMac! (mac os 10.13.6)
worse than that I can see it when I'm playing video, see photos in Photo app or open launchpad...
How I can fix it?

Your picture shows "burn in" or "image persistence" where the physics of the liquid crystal elements that are held at one voltage level for a period of time tend to not relax entirely when that voltage changes.

This affects the polarization of the backlight and you will see ghost images.

Short term, you can reduce the backlight level so that it's not letting as much light through, but long term you can use a screen saver or just select a higher cost display that shows less of this inherent characteristic.

Other display technologies have similar effects, but they can be more permanent with CRT tubes or OLED displays. LCD generally recover over time, but can be permanently marked and need to be recycled or used in less discerning uses once they are used past the design life.

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

  Image persistence can be reversed by allowing the liquid crystals to return to their relaxed state. In other words, turning off the monitor for a sufficiently long period of time (a few hours or maybe days) will relax the crystals and eliminate image retention. For most minor cases, simply continuing to use the computer as usual (and thus allowing other colours to "cover" the affected regions) or turning off the monitor for the night is more than enough.


Simulate shift-tab with Automator/AppleScript? OSX 10.9.1, Late 2013 MBPr

I am trying to make a Automator workflow to connect to another machine on my network. How can I do this with Automator? I have it all set up up to the point where I have to enter and admin's name and password, but I can't find a way to simulate keystrokes that actually works. I found a method that sounded legitimate here, but this did not work for shift-tab (as the field selected on launch is the password, and I need to edit the username and password).

I tried this AppleScript, which is what that post told me to do:

on run {input, parameters}

tell application "System Events"
    keystroke (tab) using {shift down}
end tell

return input
end run

The Automator workflow claims to have finished with no error, but the field selected on launch is still selected. How can I successfully select this field? Thanks!

I'm answering the original question in the title in case people are searching for it and navigate to this page.

You don't need to put shift down in curly braces, unless it's a comma separated list.
If the "tab" in parenthesis doesn't work, try the key code.
For each key press, try telling System events to do so without end tell.

Depending on your application, you need to specify which application you are telling to do the commands, and other parameters such as the window.

For example, in Safari, with the suggestions above:

tell application "Safari"
    tell front window
       tell application "System Events" to key code 48 using shift down
    end tell
end tell


Macbook Air 2008 won't boot after error message asking to shut down due to low battery Yesterday my Macbook Air (original), model: a1237 flashed an error message
asking the user to shutdown due to low battery. Since it was not me, but my brother who was operating the macbook at that time, that I am not able to exactly put here what the error message was.

But, as I was told later, it prompted him to shutdown.

After that event, the Macbook when completely dead! It won't boot.

Here are the things that happen now, when I power it on:

sleep light turns on
keyboard lights are off
the Apple logo on the lid doesn't turn on
no chime, no sound, no display
the fan works

It's like as if only the sleep led and the fan are the two working components in the macbook.

Things I tried:

SMC reset
Removing the battery and trying to switch it on AC (Is this a bad practice?)

None of these tricks worked!

I would be very grateful to you if you could help me on this one.
Thank you in advance!

If you can't boot to a grey screen after resetting the SMC and then connecting a working charger for 15 minutes, you have a hardware issue.

The steps a hardware technician would perform are as follows:

Disconnect everything you can from the Mac
Try a power on when connected to power. (Observing whether the charge LED goes green or orange is an important clue to the health of the SMC/logic board and battery)
Reset the NVRAM and try a boot with the option key held down listening for the blower to start up
Charge for 10 minutes
Reset the SMC again
Now that things you can do externally are basically exhausted, now they would open the Mac case and proceed with observation/testing - perhaps with disconnect the battery and test charging and boot again


Lost the Option to Boot into macOS After Windows 10 Bootcamp Installation Recently I tried installing Windows 10 using Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro. The initial steps went smoothly until the actual windows installation where I was unable to install Windows on Boot Camp drive. I don't recall exactly if it was a MBR/GPT or NTFS/FAT32 issue, but after formatting the drive I was able to proceed with the installation.

Now Windows 10 is installed and working as expected, and so is the Boot Camp Utility software inside Windows.

The problem is that I have lost the option to boot into macOS. After restarting the machine and holding the Option key, "Windows" is the only option I have. Even after setting the default boot option to macOS inside the Bootcamp utility and restarting the machine I am back in Windows.

I tried the Apple recovery tool by holding the CMD+R at startup and downloading it. After going to the Disk Utility section the the Macintosh HD drive is greyed out:

Which is solved by unlocking the drive and entering my macOS password. But after restart and going to the Disk Utility it's still greyed out.

And this is the result of running "Verify Disk" on Macintosh HD.

Looking at the free space on the drive it seems that the data is there.

Since I don't have access to an Apple Store in my area to seek support I was wondering if there's a way to repair the boot and boot into macOS without losing any of my data?

And this is the output of gpt -r show disk0 and diskutil cs list entered in Terminal:

UPDATE: Recently I tried decrypting Macintosh HD after unlocking from Disk Utility and nothing happened. Then I tried the same process from the command line and this is what I get:

Error: -69750: Unable to modify a FileVault context

If you have access to Windows only I'd suggest you to try these steps:

Access the run command via Win + R (I don't know how Bootcamp actually remaps Win key, alternatively just open start menu and type run).

Insert msconfig once inside the Run GUI.

Once accessed the System Configuration Utility click on the Boot tab.

Check the option No GUI boot and click OK.

Now you have to Restart and hold down Option key.

You should now see Mac OS and Recovery as boot options.
Enter Recovery --> Startup Disk, now you may be able to select you default boot drive.
If you have Filevault enabled, one way of making the default boot drive selection option appear is to change the Boot Security from High to Medium or None back to High. It will then prompt you to enter your password so it can check to confirm that the encrypted drive is bootable. Then you can select the partition and choose to boot from it.
Now Reboot as you would normally(without pressing any key while you're doing it) and you should boot automatically inside Mac OS, from there I'd create a new Bootcamp instance.


Keynote: appear, disappear, reappear in Build Order Is there a way to make an object in the Build order appear, disappear, then reappear on the same slide?

For example, I want to show a blank slide. Then, when I click, I'd like a circle to appear. When I click a second time, I'd like the circle to disappear. Finally, when I click a third time, I'd like the circle to appear again.

Obviously, this is a vastly simplified example of the problem. However, if you can tell me how to accomplish this, I can apply the solution to the very complex slide I'm building.

Also, I know I could do this by duplicating the slide and playing with what is visible on the second slide. However, I would like to accomplish this in a single slide.

Unfortunately this is not possible to do. (Provide Kenyote feedback to Apple if you'd like to see this feature added!) Here are two possible alternatives:

Create 2 copies of the object on the slide and have them build in/out in sequence. This will keep your slide deck cleaner and make it easier to align the objects.

(objects shown separately for illustrative purposes; you'd want to align them perfectly!)

As you suggested, create 2 copies of the slide with no transition (so the effect is seamless and there's no delay). This will make it easier to see how you've set up the effect in your list of slides. (But if nothing else on the slide changes, it might just be annoyingly redundant.)


Is it possible to access the Clipboard as a file from the command line? When something is copied to the clipboard, is it available anywhere as an editable file?
I'd assume it's written somewhere even if it's just a temporary file - although I am likely mistaken.

I'd like to be able to easily edit the content of the clipboard, using an editor like Vim, then have those edits saved back out to the Clipboard.

You can read and write to the Pasteboard with the Terminal commands pbcopy and pbpaste. So to edit it you could use something like

pbpaste > /tmp/clip.txt && vi /tmp/clip.txt && pbcopy < /tmp/clip.txt

If you need it often, a shell function might be better suited. You can define one by putting the following into your .bashrc

pbedit() {
    local _t=$(mktemp)
    chmod 600 "$_t"

    pbpaste > "$_t"
    ${EDITOR:-vi} "$_t"
    pbcopy < "$_t"

    rm -f "$_t"
}

This tries to minimize the risk of other people accessing the temporary file while editing (but can't prevent anybody with admin or root priviledges from access).


How to run programs from an external hard drive on MacBook Pro? I need to know how to install and run applications from an external hard drive on my MacBook Pro.

You just need to copy the application to the external drive. Mac apps can actually run from anywhere, it is merely convention to keep them in the /Applications folder.

Of course all the preferences will still be in your home Library folder but the app will be on the external drive.


How to make Finder remember its window size and column sizes? Why doesn't OS X remember the Size of the Finder window and the size of the columns in Cover flow (or any other) view?

It seems like something very basic that should just be there but it's really frustrating when I have to continuously resize columns to see filenames and resize the window so I can see a reasonable amount of stuff.

I know there are script that can allow you to achieve this manually, but that really isn't acceptable. They've had decades to get the simple stuff right. Why doesn't this already happen by default?

The simplest answer to 'how' rather than 'why' is:

Opt[alt] drag a column sizer. That size becomes the new default, after you relaunch Finder. Only works for column view, not coverflow.

Other options, though each is temporary

Double click a column sizer to set that column to show full content width.
Right-click a column sizer for more options.

To relaunch Finder, hold Opt and right-click Finder in the dock. Relaunch will be in the context menu.


iPad Refusing to Sync after 4.2 Beta Expired I didn't quite get around to updating to the GM version of 4.2 in the iOS developer channel on my iPad and unfortunately the beta I had installed has now expired.

iTunes says that the software on the iPad has expired, but any attempt to synchronise with the device throws an iTunes error along the lines of "no session could be created with the iPad".

Looking at the device logs, I see this:

Mon Dec  6 11:01:36 * lockdownd[16] <Error>: 2ff66000 spawn_service_agent: Service com.apple.mobile.installation_proxy is currently prohibited from running

Mon Dec  6 11:01:36 * lockdownd[16] <Error>: 2ff66000 spawn_and_handle_checkin: Could not spawn the com.apple.mobile.installation_proxy service agent:ServiceProhibited

Mon Dec  6 11:01:36 * lockdownd[16] <Error>: 2ffe8000 spawn_service_agent: Service com.apple.mobilebackup2 is currently prohibited from running

Mon Dec  6 11:01:36 * lockdownd[16] <Error>: 2ffe8000 spawn_and_handle_checkin: Could not spawn the com.apple.mobilebackup2 service agent:ServiceProhibited

Any ideas on how to get up-to-date without taking the iPad to Apple?

Huh, figures I'd find the solution right after I finally ask someone...

Booting the iPad in restore mode allowed iTunes to begin a restore & update process and now my iPad is happily updating to the proper, non-beta release.


Can Grapher evaluate a function? I just noticed that Grapher fails to evaluate a function at a constant.  In the image, the graph of y = c should of course be a horizontal line.  Is there a way to fix or work around it?  This seems like such a fundamental bug that I can't understand why I haven't run into it before.

Well, the problem is that Grapher assuming that the x in f(x)=x^2 means the x coordinate.

To fix this problem, you should change the x to some other variable (say z).

I know, Grapher is weird sometimes.


Used iPhone 3G 16G - Worth anything? I currently have a an iPhone 5 64GB I am using and a iPhone 3 16GB I am not using. Planning to upgrade to the iPhone 6 when it comes out later this year.

I've heard Apple will give you cash off purchase for trade in. Does anyone know what they might give me if I trade one or both in, and whether a combination trade would even be considered?

Or, would I be better off selling on my own?

Although newer iPhones get substantial value (iPhone 4S + 64GB AT&T is up to $150 today), iPhone 3 and 3GS are rapidly becoming worthless in the US. Your phone is may still be worth money in a rebate or gift cart in USA if you exchange it as part of a phone purchase. Apple has an official relationship with PowerOn where the staff in each store checks market conditions from that third party and quotes you an offer when you are shopping.

Apple's plan is documented at http://apple.com/recycling and currently in the US, you can only trade in one device for each iPhone purchase. You can go to that site now and see if they will offer any money, but I'm seeing $0 currently.

Apple staff are trained in evaluating the condition of devices, so you'll get a better read on the price you'll get by having that second opinion. Some people feel their phone is flawless when it isn't. Others mark a phone down for things that would actually fetch price for excellent condition. You can do a little research before going in to the Apple store on:

http://gazelle.com
http://ebay.com (prices here will likely be both higher and lower than what you will get from a company that does Apple's trade in which means you have to do more work to get a fair number)
http://amazon.com (search for your model and look for Trade In in the right side of the web page under the buy now/add to cart button)

I would also research what your local cell carriers have for current promotions. If there is an in-store, verifiable special. You can ask Apple Retail to match the brick and mortar offers if there are case / charger deals locally when you buy.

If Apple's deal isn't good enough, look for a carrier or Radio Shack that have $50 for any phone trade in and see what's the best deal overall. I can't imagine it not going for $15 if you put it on ebay for 0.01 and no reserve, but that's a bit more of a gamble than if you were to get an offer from a company that buys used devices.


iOS or Airprint receipt printers? Apple stores print receipts from their iPod touch credit card readers.  They probably use a custom solution with a server backend.

Square has a few wireless receipt printers it can work with.

I haven't yet seen a receipt printer that is airprint compatible though, allowing more apps to use it.  While credit card acceptance and sales apps would obviously benefit, I can imagine a number of other uses for a small printer that prints bits of disposable information.  The daily forecast, sudoku puzzles, today's schedule, todo lists, etc, for those who have to share their iPad with a spouse or children, for instance.

Are there air print receipt printers, or is there an easy way to set up a receipt printer, perhaps with an airprint server (device or software on the mac) that would allow this?

The Apple Store doesn’t list any AirPrint-compatible receipt printers.

However, the AirPrint Activator (an app for your Mac) allows you to use any shared printer via AirPrint.


Script to click app on Menu Bar on Mavericks I use an application called NoSleep.  Technically it is a Kernel Extension.  It is used to prevent a Mac (OSX Mavericks) from going to sleep when you close the lid.

https://code.google.com/p/macosx-nosleep-extension/

NoSleep works fantastically well.  I only have one issue.  I want the NoSleep feature ON when the computer boots and performs auto login.  By default NoSleep is running but in an  off state.  To toggle on, you simply click (once) the NoSleep icon on the system bar (up where volume, dropbox etc shows up), upper right.

I would like a simple AppleScript that I can run at startup as an App using System Preferences/ Users and Groups / login items.  That just clicks that icon.

Although this is not an ApplesSript (and I would still like to know how to resolve the question via clicking etc) there is another way to skin the cat.  The application can be installed with a command line interface.  If installed: you can turn NoSleep on as follows:

NoSleepCtrl -a -b -s 1,1

That is easy enough to script that I can even do it.


Will Apple TV from Canada work in Europe (Norway)? I am moving to Europe (Norway) soon but I am considering to buy and Apple TV in Canada because it's cheaper.

I'm not worried about power outlet compatibility since I can just use an adapter, but does anyone know if the Apple TV from Canada will be fully functional in Norway, or will certain services, Apple accounts, etc. be restricted?

Many thanks in advance.

The Apple TV functionality is almost entirely tied to your Apple ID. I believe the Apple ID "nationality" is tied to the billing address and/or credit card on file. If the address is Canadian, you'll have access to the Canadian iTunes and App stores, if it's Norwegian, you'll get the Norwegian stores. You can use iTunes gift cards purchased in a given country to buy content on that country's stores, but switching back and forth between two countries seems to be problematic (you may only get access to the content from one country at a time, and it requires two billing addresses, or two iTunes accounts).

Apple has a few useful articles you may want to look at, including the types of content available in each country, the availability of iTunes Match and iTunes in the Cloud (which allows you to re-download purchased content on a Mac or iOS device) and whether you can buy or rent Movies and TV Shows.

From the looks of it, the content and options available in the Canadian store is superior to that of the Norwegian store (e.g. Norway doesn't have any TV shows), so if it's logistically feasible for you, it may be worthwhile to set up your iTunes account with a Canadian address and credit card (or just buy a lot of iTunes credit in Canada).


"activate application" for Hidden Application How might I activate an application that is hidden from the OS X Dock?

The following only works for applications that are displayed in the Dock.

activate application "Firefox"

tell application "Numbers"
    activate
end tell


Cannot open Terminal on mac ("Not allowed to use" error message) I cannot open Terminal at all because of this error message. (Probably the rudest error message I have ever seen on a computer.) This mac was originally a school computer and the permission to use Terminal was not given to me in the first place, so I have no clue about the method the "IT guys" used to keep me from using it, and therefore I do not know how to recover from it either. I have an admin account, though the account I usually use is standard, (I tried logging into other existent admin accounts presumably set up by the IT guys, but even in those accounts it was impossible to run Terminal), and I have already tried running permissions repair but it had no effect on the issue.

(p.s. I am not a very advanced user of mac, so descriptions fit for a newbie would be very much appreciated. Have seen a similar question on this website but it did not really help.)

Your best bet would be to do a clean install, presuming you have copies / licenses for any software you use on there. Backup any files you want to keep, and follow one of the many guides out there. For instance:

http://mashable.com/2015/10/01/clean-install-os-x-el-capitan/

This could well take less time than figuring out what the IT guys did, and make your Mac faster in the long run.


Saving Xcode Project to the Desktop When I open the Desktop folder where I saved my Xcode project, only a "main" or "swift" file is there, not the whole project. I need to zip the whole project and upload it for homework assignments.

go to your project folder press right button and  compress your folder and upload your required mail.


Calling an app from the terminal via script I try to call an application from the console and pass it an argument. This is the script I am using:

#!/bin/sh

open -a "/Applications/MyApp.app/" $1

Somehow the OS is unhappy with this and complains:

FSPathMakeRef(/Applications/MyApp.app) failed with error -43.

What can I do?

That looks like /Applications/MyApp.app doesn't actually exist.

You can test for that in your script, perhaps like this:

#!/bin/sh
APP=/Applications/MyApp.app
if [ ! -d "$APP" ]; then
  echo >&2 "$0: $APP not found."
  exit 1
fi
exec open -a "$APP" "$@"


Messages app on my Macbook Pro stopped sending to Android The Messages app on my Macbook Pro (running High Sierra) suddenly stopped sending text messages to Android devices. I can still send texts to Android users from my iPhone without a problem, but when sending texts from the Messages app on my Macbook Pro it will not send to Android devices. It just started doing this out of the blue yesterday. I have not had an issue until then. And I have not made any updates to the Mac or the iPhone OSs in that time that might cause the problem, but I did install Microsoft Office 2018 on the Mac. Cellular data is turned on on my iPhone as is Send as SMS.

Text messages from your Mac are actually sent through your iPhone. On your iPhone go to the Settings app → Messages → Text Message Forwarding. You may need to re-do the setup by removing and re-adding your Mac in there.


Make volume and brightness sliders stay open on macbook pro touch bar I have already changed the setting in Keyboard Settings for the Touch Bar shows to Expanded Control Strip and I have volume and brightness sliders loaded onto the expanded control strip.

However, I still have to press the button before I slide. Can I make the sliders stay open?

Unfortunately, you can't achieve that without any third app.

BetterTouchTool is probably the most famous one, and let you customize your TouchBar as you like. You can try it for free for 45 days to see if it suits you.

You can see on the picture below an exemple, with the brightness slider as you want :

My TouchBar My rules is a BetterTouchTool applike but free, however it's not very user friendly...

On the default preset below, you have both the brightness and volume sliders as you want :


Screensaver settings spontaneously revert I have my screen saver set to display images from a folder in my ~/Pictures directory, and the "Shuffle slide order" box is checked. In Yosemite, I find that occasionally one or both of those settings will revert to the defaults; the "Source" menu will revert to "National Geographic", the "Shuffle slide order" box will be unchecked, or both.

Is there any reason these settings should be changing without my intervention? Is there any way I can monitor the settings (such as in a system log somewhere) to find out more about when this happens and why? Is there a default write command I can execute to make my desired settings the default?

(Answering my own question)

This problem never went away for me, but I do have a workaround. I found the preferences that kept changing were in com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser. I set everything the way I wanted it in System Preferences, then read all the values from that preference file with

defaults -currentHost read com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser

I then copied all those values into a script that would write them back to the same preference file whenever it spontaneously changed its values.

#!/bin/bash
defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser CustomFolderDict -dict identifier \"/Users/me/Pictures/MyFolder\" name MyFolder
defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser SelectedFolderPath \"/Users/me/Pictures/MyFolder\"
defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser SelectedSource -int 4
defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ScreenSaverPhotoChooser ShufflesPhotos -bool true

(I may be able to combine all those lines into one line; I am not sure about that and haven't tried it.)

I saved the script as ~/bin/screen-saver-prefs and made it executable. Whenever I happen to notice that my screen saver is not doing what I want, I just open up a terminal and run screen-saver-prefs at the prompt. ~/bin is on my PATH, so I don't need to reference the directory. If you don't want to do that, just use the full path to the script to run it.

It's not the most elegant or efficient solution, but it works.


Restore partition from merged partition I accidently merged my BOOTCAMP and Mac OSX Partition via diskutil.
Is there any way to recover my data from the Bootcamp partition?

You'd have to do some very serious data forensics on the partition and even then, you're not guaranteed to get all your data back, as some of it will likely have been overwritten already. If it's important, you're probably best off paying for a professional data recovery company to get the data back. If it's not important, just reinstall bootcamp from scratch.

You could try to do this yourself, though you'd risk making things worse, so don't do this unless you don't really care about losing all the data. Basically, you would need to re-shrink your OSX partition to its original size, create the bootcamp partition in the exact same position and size (e.g. "80GB" is not good enough - this needs to be precise down to the sector) as before without initialising/formatting it (just adding the partition table entry - NOT via Disk Utility). Then, you can run an NTFS data rescue utility on this partition and see what it finds. You probably don't know the exact size and start of the old bootcamp partition, so you either need to see if it's recorded in any log or backed up files, otherwise you'll have to scan the drive for the NTFS header, if it's still there. Again, there are tools that can automate this.

I can't overstate how easy this is to mess up though, so unless you're prepared to lose the whole lot forever, let a professional handle it.


Will I ever spoil my iPhone by placing it on top of my laptop? Does anyone know if I will ever spoil my iPhone by placing it on top of my laptop?

I mean I don't know about these electronic/magnetic stuff and I want to know if there may be any problem putting them close together (especially when my laptop is running and heated)

Your iPhone will not spoil if placed on your laptop. Unless it is so hot that your iPhone warns you about its temperature.

Concerning the electronic/magnetic stuff, your laptop will not give out that much amount of stuff to spoil the iPhone, unless your laptop is a microwave.


"Fetching..." Behavior in Finder "Open With" Menu in Yosemite I don't know if other people have notice this in Yosemite:

With a file in Finder in focus, when you move the cursor to "Open With" entry, whether from context menu or menu bar -> File, a "Fetching..." subentry appears.

A moment later, the usual suspects show up, as they did in previous OS X versions.

This behavior, I assume, is supposed to be an improvement. Since /Application/***.app/Contents/Info.plist is live-fetched, an user no longer need to reset LaunchServices for related changes to appear. This is my conjecture.

However, this causes a problem for me. I create keyboard shortcut through applescript or BetterTouchTool to invoke Menu Bar -> File -> Open With -> Certain App.

This way I programed FN+SHIFT+1 to open the file with TextMate, FN+SHIFT+2 for Writer Pro, etc.

The 1) need for cursor over "Open With" to trigger fetch, and 2) the delay in fetching cause my scripts to be invalid.

I was able to verify this theory by: 1) Right clicking a file, 1) Hover over "Open With" entry, 3) Wait for the submenu to fetch, 4) Click outside the Context Menu to have it disappear, 5) and invoke the keyboard shortcut.

And the shortcut worked.

So these are my questions:

1) Obviously, can I revert to pre-Yosemite behavior?

2) Does anyone have clever ways to open a file type with multiple apps on demand cleanly and efficiently?

UPDATE:

So far, I have one workaround, that is to create a Automator Service. Here is an example with TextMate:

I can run this without delay through 1) Menubar -> Finder -> Services -> Open With TextMate, 2) top level of the context menu, or 3) a keyboard shortcut if I choose to.

This comes with two caveats:

1) The items received into the service have to be in the broadest definition possible, e.g. files and folders. Finder doesn't recognized, for example, .plist files as documents. If you set the service to only receive documents, Open With TextMate would not show up when you want to use it on a .plist file.

2) Because of (1), this menu entry shows up on every item in Finder. It's innocuous enough if there is only one or two custom entries. If there is six or seven, this group of items is going to take over the context menu.

I had a similar issue and the 'Fetching...' was taking many seconds. I just reset Launch Services with the following command:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -seed -r -f -v -domain local -domain user -domain system


Is there a way to get a new MacBook Pro (Max OSX Lion) with the Aqua style on it? I am looking at Mac OSX Lion and I am not liking the fact that Aqua is gone. No more blue scrollbars, no more 3D look, no more beautiful Aqua design. (drop-downs, radios, scrollbars, etc.) I do not currently have a Mac but if I ever get one, (I highly want one, but they're too expensive for me to afford right now) I want the Aqua look back. Is there any way to do this? I really hope that there is.

There is no "official" way of changing it, though OSX is customizable with 3rd party apps. I researched around a bit and found out though that most of these apps won't work with Lion. Perhaps as time passes by Lion updates for these apps will be released, and perhaps you will be able to make Lion look however you want.

Here is a page with some themes for both Mac OS and iOS. They provide a theme for Lion, the only one I could find.

Nevertheless, I should clarify:

Aqua is still there. The term "Aqua" refers to the whole UI of Mac OS X, including that of Lion. Over the years it has changed, and it happened again in Lion. I too thought the Leopard-style aqua was better, but trust me, you will like the Lion Aqua.

Scrollbars hide automatically and they are meant to be discrete: having the blue scrollbars back would just defeat the purpose. Just the same, Lion tries to streamline elements such as tab views and progress bars that were perhaps to "obtrusive" to the eye, or called to much attention.

Im typing this from a machine with Lion, and can tell you you will love the new UI whenever you get your mac. Just give it a try! :) Designers at Apple did a great job to my opinion.

Hope it helps!


Reason for perpetual dynamic DNS updates? (Crossposted from Serverfault)

I'm using dynamic DNS (the "adult" version from RFC 2136, not à la DynDNS), and for a while now I've been seeing my laptops with MacOS 10.6.x churning out updates about every 10 seconds. And seemingly redundant updates at that, as the IP is more or less stable (consumer broadband). I don't remember seeing that frequency in the (distant...) past.

The lowest time-to-live that MacOS pushes on the entries is 2 minutes, so I have no clue what's going on.

...
Jan 12 13:17:18 lambda named[18683]: info: client 84.208.X.X#48715: updating zone 'dynamic.foldr.org/IN': deleting rrset at 'rCosinus._afpovertcp._tcp.dynamic.foldr.org' SRV
Jan 12 13:17:18 lambda named[18683]: info: client 84.208.X.X#48715: updating zone 'dynamic.foldr.org/IN': adding an RR at 'rCosinus._afpovertcp._tcp.dynamic.foldr.org' SRV
Jan 12 13:17:26 lambda named[18683]: info: client 84.208.X.X#48715: updating zone 'dynamic.foldr.org/IN': deleting rrset at 'rcosinus.dynamic.foldr.org' AAAA
...

Additionally, I can't find out what triggers the updates on the laptop-side. Is this a known problem, and how would I go about debugging it? One of the machines is freshly purchased and installed. The only "major" change was installation of the Miredo client for IPv6/Teredo, but even disabling it didn't make a change (except that AAAA records are no longer published).

Hm, must have been something transient: I noticed that the SOA didn't change, and after a zone freeze/thaw, the problem suddenly disappeared. Looks like BIND might have had a hick-up.


Resizing/moving windows with keypress and mouse in Mac OS X A few years ago I remember a friend using an application in Ubuntu that made window management extremely easy. If you wanted to move the active window, you would press a key and drag the window by clicking anywhere on the window. If you wanted to resize the active window (proportionally), you would press a key and turn the wheel. I think this is very intuitive way to resize and move a window.

Are there any free applications for Mac OS X that can utilize similar mechanics?

Afloat does moving and resizing as explained, and does more than that. I really loved this application.


Checking if command process is actually running I want to know if a process is actually running (ie, doing something) and not stuck somewhere.

In my case, I am installing clang-8.0 using macports. It has been a while (like an hour) since it showed ---> Building clang-8.0 on the terminal window. I am unsure if it actually is doing anything or has gotten stuck (if the latter case, I will Ctrl-C out of it). As you might have guessed, I do not see the standard input prompt on the terminal window.

You might try to install htop which shows processes that are running ( more user friendly version of top command)

And also I think brew is more versatile than macports for installing packages (or programs) .


Copy range of files with same file structure I would like to copy range of jpg files from the multiple folders.
I have a lot of folders with *.CR2 and *.xmp, in addition, it has a jpg folder with *.jpg files. I need to copy only jpg files and save file structure.
example:

2018/folder1/jpg --> temp/folder1/jpg
2018/folder2/jpg --> temp/folder2/jpg

Can this be automated? not to go to every folder and copy the files?
I tried Unix command:
cp folder1/*.jpg to folder1/jpg and got *.jpg: no such file or directory

I would like to copy range of jpg files from the multiple folders. I
  have a lot of folders with *.CR2 and *.xmp, in addition, it has a jpg
  folder with *.jpg files. I need to copy only jpg files and save file
  structure. example:

  2018/folder1/jpg --> temp/folder1/jpg
  2018/folder2/jpg --> temp/folder2/jpg

If I understand correctly what you're asking...

You can change directory into the 2018 directory, e.g.:

cd "/path/to/2018"

Then use, e.g.:

rsync -aR */jpg ../temp/

This will copy the folder*/jpg directories in 2018 to temp so you'll have temp/folder*/jpg directories, where temp it at the same level as the 2018 directory.

In other words, as in your examples:

  2018/folder1/jpg --> temp/folder1/jpg
    2018/folder2/jpg --> temp/folder2/jpg

They will be created as you've shown.


Is there a limit to the number of newsstand apps I can have installed? Newsstand seems to be a fancy folder, contianing specific apps. Normal folders on iOS have a limited number of apps which they can contain.

Does newsstand inherit this limit, or does the scrolling shelf bypass this limitation? Is there a hard limit to the number of apps that one can have installed in Newsstand?

It's a shelf for a lot of subscriptions. Many more than the standard folder limits. As conceptually you could see it as a folder, but in fact its a newsstand. I tried to find some documentation on the limit for newsstand and couldn't find anything but I've seen some of my clients have a LOT of subscriptions on their shelves.


Can't resize partition on VMWare Mac I have a mac running in a virtual machine and I expanded the hard drive in the settings, however when I go to resize the partition in the guest OS, it does not let me. There is only one partition now, the main one I want to expand, and then just "Free Space".

It is a GUID partition map and PCI physical volume.
Using Disk Utility I can't drag to resize the volume I want to modify
If I delete the "Free Space", I get this error: "An internal error has occurred and the disk for one of the specified operations could not be found. This may be a temporary issue, try again."

This issue persists after a reboot and using recovery mode on High Sierra 10.13.5

Solved this by first going into the terminal and finding the disk identifier:

diskutil list

Then, with the identifier I used the following and it successfully reclaimed all of the disk free space:

diskutil resizeVolume /dev/disk0s2 0

Be sure to replace /dev/disk0s2 with the identifier of the partition you want to expand.


Download MacOS install disc? My MacBook Pro doesn't boot anymore. I've lost my install disc for the OS and I need to format/re-install. What are my options?

Go to an Apple store or Apple reseller and purchase the Snow Leopard install DVD.  It's relatively inexpensive (as far as Operating System prices are concerned).

Here is the link to the online store, where it will ship within 24 hours.


How to clean up the files left by deleted VirtualBox VMs? I am running OS X Sierra on a 2016 Macbook Air.

I installed VirtualBox recently, and had 48 GB of free space after installation. I then set up an Ubuntu VM with a 10 GB hard drive. After 20 minutes of playing around, I deleted the VM.

Upon checking my free space, I saw that I now have only 46 GB left. Undoubtedly, VirtualBox left some files undeleted because I did not install/download/transfer anything else in that time. I even went to the path where the VMs are stored on my real hard drive and deleted that directory, but it still didn't help.

I can't afford to lose 2 GB every time I delete a VM. I am on a lightweight Macbook Air and memory space is very valuable to me. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

EDIT: This eating up of space is most definitely due to VirtualBox. I created and deleted another Ubuntu VM instance and sure enough, lost out on another 2 GB.

Open the VirtualBox dmg file and double click the uninstall icon. When you are done, eject the diskimage file.


Why "which" command does not give you the correct path? See the following mvn version. I'm wondering why "which" command does not give you the correct info.

LM-SIN-00676037:myproject haibliu$ mvn --version
Apache Maven 3.0.3 (r1075438; 2011-03-01 01:31:09+0800)
Maven home: /usr/share/maven
Java version: 1.6.0_37, vendor: Apple Inc.
Java home: /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
Default locale: en_US, platform encoding: MacRoman
OS name: "mac os x", version: "10.8", arch: "x86_64", family: "mac"

LM-SIN-00676037:myproject haibliu$ which mvn
/usr/local/bin/mvn

LM-SIN-00676037:myproject haibliu$ /usr/local/bin/mvn --version
Apache Maven 3.0.4 (r1232337; 2012-01-17 16:44:56+0800)
Maven home: /usr/local/Cellar/maven/3.0.4/libexec
Java version: 1.6.0_37, vendor: Apple Inc.
Java home: /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
Default locale: en_US, platform encoding: MacRoman
OS name: "mac os x", version: "10.8", arch: "x86_64", family: "mac"

Just to clarify:
/usr/bin/mvn comes with my Max OS X, Mountain Lion. And I used Homebrew to install /usr/local/bin/mvn. After that, I changed the order of PATH in /etc/paths.

LM-SIN-00676037:myproject haibliu$ cat /etc/paths
/usr/local/bin
/usr/bin
/bin
/usr/sbin
/sbin
LM-SIN-00676037:myproject haibliu$ echo $PATH
/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin

That's all I did. And I'm using bash shell.

which is an external program, which tries to determine how your shell will resolve a command from the existing $PATH, but it is possible for it to get it wrong.

If you're using bash as your shell, use the bash built-in command "type" to have the shell itself tell you how it will resolve that command:

$ which mvn
/usr/bin/mvn
$ type mvn
mvn is /usr/bin/mvn
$ type type
type is a shell builtin
$ type which
which is hashed (/usr/bin/which)

You can see here that in my environment that /usr/bin/which and the shell built-in type agree. In yours it seems they don't, though I am curious why they don't. Perhaps you have PATH changes that were not exported? Try "export PATH" and then "which mvn" again.


terminal app on my iphone 5? Which app do i use to get terminal on my iphone 5?
I got something that i thought was terminal, but im not sure. I want to modify my iphone using terminal.
I downloaded serverauditor already.
Please help.

Local
To use a local terminal, you have to jailbreak.
At which point you would install mobileterminal(with cydia) to access the local shell.
Remote
For accessing other systems, you would need a ssh client (although you could do the above, and run ssh).
I recommend prompt.
Also, if you jailbroke your iPhone and installed openssh, you could just use prompt to connect locally; it has a better interface than mobileterminal.


Does apple review apps during the holiday break? I had assumed they wouldn't be reviewing apps during this Dec 22-29 break (ARGH!) but on appreviewtimes.com there have been several postings both today and yesterday.

Does anyone know if they still review apps? iTunes connect is supposed to be shut down.

This is what apple wrote in the mail do developers:

As a reminder, from Monday, December 22, through Monday, December 29, 2014, iTunes Connect, Application Loader, and iTunes Connect for iOS won’t be available.
During this time, you won’t be able to submit new apps, app updates, or In-App Purchases. You also won’t be able to access iTunes Connect or make changes to TestFlight Beta Testing


Sound and heat when lid is closed - MacBook Air Can you damage screen or something because of:

Playing loud music when lid is down?
Running some processor/videocard-intensive applications that heat the laptop, while lid is down?

Playing loud music? I doubt it. The sound probably won't sound as good (as it'll be muffled), but it'll work.

Heat? Maybe. I have an older MacBook Pro that gets its airflow in through the speaker grilles and out through the hinge. I don't run it when closed for that reason, but that is supported (it wasn't on my even older iBook G4). If you can wake it up with the lid closed, it'll probably work fine. Try it a few times and see if the screen is uncomfortably hot after a half hour or 45 minutes.


Does Time Machine back up potentially corrupted files? I have an external hard drive that I bought for my laptop so I could back up the important stuff and do a clean install, as somehow I got that stupid MacCleaner adware thing on it and it was causing issues.

I've used Time Machine only back then, several months ago.  After doing a clean install, low an behold, someone's contact info directed me to update Adobe Acrobat and then quickly scrolled through some boxes where I accidentally clicked on something to install something similar (doh!).  I followed the instructions to get it off my laptop but I'm not sure it's all fully gone as I occasionally get some pop-ups.

Question, now that I'm backing up onto external drive again using Time Machine, will those little bad files also be backed up as well, or does Time Machine just back up files and applications?

Time Machine cannot know which files you consider "bad" or "good". Thus Time Machine backs up both classes of files just the same.


5K external screen with 2015 15 inch retina MBP with Intel Iris Pro graphics Has anyone tried whether Intel Iris Pro found in 2015 retina MBP is powerful enough to drive single 5K screen like Dell UltraSharp UP2715K or Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS or Philips 275P4VYKEB or HP Z27q? (basically all the ones that aren't relying on usb c/thunderbolt 3 connector like LG 27MD5KB-B UltraFine)?

I'm trying to find an external screen for my MBP and unfortunately due to macOS/OSX's focus on retina screens, non retina screens (fonts mainly) look pathetically bad, whereas Windows (even launched within OSX via RDC) looks sweet. So the only option is to either go 4k but that means usable resolution would be 1080p or 5k with usable 1440p. Hence I'm wondering if it can drive 5k screens.

No, the mid-2015 15" Retina MacBook Pro is not powerful enough to drive a 5k-display.

You can see the specifications here:

Mid-2015 Retina MacBook Pro Technical Specifications

You're limited to driving up to a 3840x2160 pixels external display via the Thunderbolt/mini-DisplayPort port while using the built-in display.

For the HDMI video output you can go up to 4096x2160, but only at 24 Hz. So still no 5k support.


Using older macOS on MacBook Pro with updated EFI firmware If, for example, I'm using El Capitan on a MBP, I then install High Sierra on it and the firmware gets updated, will I be able to re-install El Capitan  if I decide to do so later?

Yes.

It's not the firmware that dictates what OS can be installed, but the Model identifier (i.e. MacBookPro 12,1 for a 2015 13" MacBook Pro).

If your Mac was capable of running a macOS version before, it will continue to be able to support it after a firmware update.


Apple Mail: Save Disk Space or only load some Mails I have a DiskSpace Problem on my SSD on my Macbook. So my Question is, is there any possibility to download only a few Mails (like on iOS - the first 200 Mails) or does have anybody of you out there a great Solution to prevent Apple Mail to download all my 19.000+ Google Mails and 5.000 iCloud Mails?

I would like to use the "native" Apple Mail Client.

What also would be a Idea (but i found nothing to solve this Problem) to redirect the mail to my Mailbox on my (uberspace.de) Account where i'm able to use qmail.

So it should be a nice Solution to help People with the same Problem here.

(btw yeah i'm searching for a long time for an "awesome" Solution ;)

I doubt that changing your Apple Mail settings is going to help with your disk space problem (I've got more mail items than you do in my IMAP accounts, but my Apple Mail folder in ~/Library/Mail/ is under 1 GB), but leaving that aside, here are some ways to address the question that you have posed.

If offline access to your email isn't important to you, you can simply not have Apple Mail store your email locally.  To do this, in Apple Mail, go to Preferences -> Accounts -> [your Gmail or iCloud account] -> Advanced, and select "don't keep copies of any messages" under "Keep copies of messages for offline viewing".

If offline access to your email is important to you, there are a couple of options.  There are a couple of options in the aforementioned "Keep copies …" dropdown menu which might help you, such as not keeping attachments or only keeping mails which you have read.

If you'd like to redirect mail from Gmail to your uberspace.de account, that is trivial.  In Gmail, open your Settings, select "Forwarding and POP/IMAP", and then select "add a forwarding email address".  Gmail will send a confirmation link to the email address that you provide.  After that, back on that same tab, select this email address to forward to and choose what you want Gmail to do with the forwarded email (keep it, archive it, delete it).  (Gmail's full instructions for this are here, which includes links to information about how to filter email that you forward.) In Apple Mail, you would then disable downloading new mail from Gmail and enable it for this new account after you've gotten qmail set up to your needs.

If you'd like to redirect mail from iCloud to your uberspace.de account, that is also trivial.  In iCloud, open the Settings (lower-left corner), and enter the email address to which you want your mail forwarded.  You can choose there whether iCloud should delete the mail it forwards, and I presume that you would thus not have Apple Mail downloading your iCloud mail.


Numbers V3: If cell contains a value, convert cell value to X I have a spreadsheet which contains a mixture of text strings and empty cells. I'm looking for a formula to replace the value of all non-empty cells with a single character 'x', while leaving empty cells blank.

Here are a few hints:

use an auxiliary column;
use functions ISBLANK and IF;
replicate the auxiliary column within the original one;
remove the auxiliary column.


Debugging Apple Watch Wifi Apple Watch should connect automatically to any network I was previously connected with on my iPhone.

At my university I need to register devices for network access by providing them with a MAC address. There are no further logins required and the network is open.

I connected to this network with my iPhone and it works. Then I registered another device using the MAC address from settings -> General -> About -> MAC Address.

However, the Apple Watch just doesn't connect.

How can this be debugged?

Unfortunately watchOS 3.x can't connect to a Wi-Fi secured by WPA2-Enterprise.

I have experienced the same behavior in the past with watchOS 2.x as well.

This assumes:

Your university's Wi-Fi is part of eduroam or uses a smiliar Wi-Fi login using your credentials (user name + password)
Your university's Wi-Fi thus uses the WPA2-Enterprise security protocol
You can connect to the Wi-Fi just fine with iOS devices like your iPhone
You use an Apple Watch running watchOS 3.x

With iOS you can enter your credentials. They will get saved and can be transferred to watchOS. The certificate, however, cannot be provided from iOS to watchOS.

Let Apple Know

Contact Apple and let them know. Apple cares about user's feedback. Use Apple's feedback form for Apple Watch.

Updated answer

divB has pointed out that the network uses a MAC address filter instead of the WPA2-Enterprise security protocol

Please make sure to provide your Apple Watch's MAC address to your university as well as your iPhone's MAC address.

You can find it on your iPhone:

Watch.app > General > About > Wi-Fi Address


Dashboard contact widgets can't find any results? I have 7000+ contacts synched to my Apple iCloud account. I can see them with the contact app when I search for some of them via spotlight, as shown in the next image:

But in Dashboard Contact widget, it cannot find any matches with my name or number that I searched for.

What could be the reason the problem?

Before doing this save your current work.

Open System Preferences, then go to Security & Privacy section. In Privacy tab select Contacts from the list left side. In the right panel check Dashboard in the list. By selecting the Quit Now button your Dashboard will quit and it might cause logging out and closing your applications. Login again and in Dashboard remove and add the Contact widget again.


How to share Photos.app videos to YouTube directly? While it's great to have a quick upload to Vimeo (System Preferences app → Extensions → Share Menu) in Photos.app, what about a share extension to quickly upload videos from Photos to YouTube? Does such an extension exist that can be added to macOS?

While such an extension doesn't exist natively in macOS, the desired functionality can be added with the support of a 3rd party app.

Video Uploader for YouTube is a macOS app which lets you easily upload your videos to YouTube.

The app also installs a Finder and Photos.app extension which lets you upload to YouTube directly from Finder or from within the Photos app.


Safari can load internet but none of the other apps cannot! This is by far the weirdest problem I've come across,
My mac can perfectly access internet through safari web browser, but when I tried to do

ping www.google.com

through the terminal, it's requests is being timed out.

None of the other apps are able to reach internet either. Dropbox, Skype, Spotify all showing offline, except the browser itself

I'm guessing something bad with the DNS, but spend 2 hours trying to fix this with no luck

Since DNS resolves but the ping responses time out, we can rule out a DNS issue.

Things to try to diagnose the source of the problem:

It's possible that IPv6 is working but IPv4 is not.  Try ping6 ipv6.google.com to see if this is the case.
Find out whether a proxy has been configured that Safari might be using. Go to System Preferences, and search for Proxies to jump right to the tab in the Network config (also accessible from Safari preferences > Advanced > Proxies).
Confirm that other devices on the network don't have this same issue. It's possible that a transparent network proxy is filtering traffic.
Restart the computer, because this is a pretty unusual problem.


Mac Automator App: How to Set Folder This is probably something simple but its driving me crazy...

I was just able to build my first automator workflow, which is quite basic and uses the Subtitles application to download subtitles for movies in a specific folder.

The Actions are:

Get Folder Contents > Filter Finder Items (to only movie files) > Open finder item with the Subtitle app

It works fine when I execute the workflow from within Automator because it has a "Folder Action receives files and folders added to:" clause in the beginning which tells which folder to use.

However, I want to save that as an application so I can schedule that on iCal but, when I save as an app, the clause which tells the folder is no longer available and looks like I need to pass the folder name as a parameter/argument and I have no idea on how to do that.

So, what I need guidance is on how to have the app executed in iCal while telling it which folder to use.

Thanks in advance...

Try searching for and adding a Get Specified Finder Items action before your Get Folder Contents actions. This allows you to select the folder of which you would like to get and sort the contents.

Hope this helps!


Disable magic switch to Apple watch I have had a mt Apple watches for 4 years now (first a series 2 now a series 4) and I always have the following issue: When I active Siri on the watch with my AirPods connected to iPhone (and listening to audio) the following happens:

Siri is activated on the watch
AirPods connect to the watch causing audio playback to stop
Siri waits for the AirPods to connect (taks around 3-5 seconds, sometimes longer)
Siri is ready for input
After input the AirPods don't switch back to the iPhone causing met to take my phone and connect/play again

Is there any way to disable 'Magic Audio Handoff' to the watch? I tried disabling handoff all together in General but this does not seem to stop de AirPods from jumping over.

Try unpairing the AirPods from the watch.  To do this, on the watch go to settings -> Bluetooth click the "i" next to the AirPods and click unpair.


What affects the colour of the Startup Screen? I've seen Macs startup with a white [very pale grey] screen & some with a black screen.

random pics from interweb...

What differentiates which it will be?

My own machines here - 2 old Mac Pros, 3,1 & 5,1 are always white [grey] & have never started up with the black background.

It's based on the board ID in boot.efi. Depending on the model of computer, a black boot screen will be shown (introduced with Yosemite) instead of the older grey screen.

All these Macs and newer show the black boot screen:

MacBookPro10,1 (Retina, Mid 2012)
MacBookAir6,1 (Mid 2013)
iMac14,1 (Late 2013)
MacPro6,1 (Mid 2012)

Here's boot.efi from macOS 10.13.2 with the board IDs highlighted beside the string "Background Color".

You may be able to use Dark Boot to patch your boot.efi's board ID so the dark boot screen is displayed.


Device configuration for a Canon LIDE 30 In the past I've been able to use my Canon LIDE 30 scanner with my modern Macs.  I have installed the most recent SANE TWAIN packages, restarted the computer with the scanner connected, but Image Capture (and others) claim that no device is connected.  The System Report shows that a CanoScan is plugged in on one of the USB ports, but "Device has not been configured."

I'm on OSX 10.9.  I'm inclined to believe that the scanner really is "connected" but I've missed some step installing SANE.  Any thoughts or clues?

UPDATE: determined that my scanner is supported by the plustek "back end".  Have confirmed that /usr/local/etc/sane.d/plustek.conf exists.  scanimage command says "No SANE devices found."

I had the same problem with a LiDE 30, SANE, and OS 10.9.1 and solved it by setting my photo-editing application (Photoline) to open in 32-bit mode. Then the application recognized the SANE Twain interface.

I tested that technique on GraphicConverter 9. Launch in default mode: scanner not recognized. Launch in 32-bit mode: scanner found.

To open an application in 32-bit mode, Get Info on the application and check "Open in 32-bit mode."

Image Capture and Preview don't offer this check box, so they may be limited to 64-bit mode only.


How to get rid of the notification bar glitch on the iPhone 4s if your lock button is broken? My iPhone 4s has the notification bar glitch, and I've been researching on how to fix it. Most of the people said to restart the phone by pressing the home button and lock button at the same time. But my lock button is broken!

You can use Assistive Touch to mimic the broken button.

Once you enable it (in Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Assistive Touch), to turn the phone off, you would activate the assistive touch menu, press "Device", and then press and hold "Lock Screen".

To turn the phone back on, plug it in to a power source (battery, wall socket, or computer).