Weird behaviour of mysql-connector-c++ in OSX I'm developing an application in c++ in OSX Yosemite that uses mysql. I've installed both mysql and mysql-connector-c++ using brew.

I could use the library without any problems until recently, butnow I'm having some problems.

Basically, when I try to run my application I get the following error:

libc++abi.dylib: terminating with uncaught exception of type
sql::SQLException: Unknown MySQL server host 'K@??' (0)

I've checked and I'm correctly passing the host name, which is localhost. I've tried to reinstall mysql-connector-c++ but the problem remains. Does anyone have any idea on how to fix this?

I'm using mysql version 5.7.14 and mysql-connector-c++ version 1.1.6_1.

I also got this problem. I guess the reason is the mismatch between macos and mysqlconn. The latest mysqlconn binary release only supports up to macos 10.10 and the latest macos is 10.11. I compiled the driver myself and the issue has gone. So you can try to compile that yourself and it should work. Here are the commands I used:

cmake -DMYSQL_CONFIG_EXECUTABLE=/usr/local/Cellar/mysql/5.7.15/bin/mysql_config -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=~/
make;make install

Then you can just include ~/include and ~/lib for your header and libs. Hope this works for you. If this still does not work, try to check whether you used the same gcc for both mysqlconn and your program. brew now installs gcc 6.2 but mac only carries 4.2.


Is it possible to identify who deleted my shared folder? My Mac, in my workplace, can be accessed from other Mac systems (file sharing is enabled, and it has no password set).

I've found out there are 2 folders were deleted (missing from my desktop).

How can I check who was connected to my system or who was access my desktop remotely, so that I can identify who deleted my folder?

Regrettably Mac OS X does not log file access and changes by default. The user responsible for deleting the two folders is unlikely to be identifiable through your Mac's log files.

There are records kept of file changes in .fseventsd but these are at a block level, rather than the folder and file level.

Third party file recovery tools may still be able to recover your two lost folders.


Why is Photos using my battery for Audio like this? My new iPhone 7 (which I set up as a new phone and not from a backup) is reporting strange battery usage due to Photos.

It's saying that 15% of the battery has been used in the last 24 hours due to photos being onscreen for 5 minutes, using Audio!

What's happening?

It could be because you have been watching some of your own videos in the photos app. It doesn't mean that the photos app has been doing this for the full five minutes, it just means that there has been audio playing in that app at some time, and the rest of the time could be other things.


How to keep messages after deactivating imessage? I disabled imesseage (and removed the addresses) on my iphone 4. Afterwards, some old messages to some friends disappeared from my phone. I don't understand why.

I restored imessage and the addresses, and now the old messages are back. How can I disable imessage without losing the messages?

In the morning, reactivating imessage, adding back the numbers, then disabling it removing the numbers, fixed it. I still have all my old messages.


Change Users Home Directory I have created a new user but the new user's home directory has the old users path. How can I update my new user's home directory so that the terminal opens to this directory and all software considers this new directory my home directory? I'm using OS x 10.8.4.

A safer way to change the home folder associated with an account is to do so through System Preferences.

Click on the Apple menu, then System Preferences.
Select Users & Groups.
Click the lock at the bottom left and authenticate as an administrator.
Right-click on the account you want to change and select Advanced Options.
Change the "Home directory" path and click OK.


OS X Server File Sharing - Airport Extreme Disk via VPN I have a 3 TB disk mounted on my Airport Extreme, which I can access locally just fine. However, I would like to be able to mount it over VPN outside of my network. I am able to do so with any drives on the server (internal or external), but the server application doesn't seem to recognize any drives connected via the Airport Extreme.

Is there any way to do this, or is my only option to move the drive to the server instead of the Airport Extreme?

I know this is an old post, but responding anyway in case people are googling for an answer still.  You can access your Airport Extreme Shared Disk through a VPN from outside the network, all WITHOUT checking "Share disks over WAN".  Here is hows it's done:

Configure your VPN server to also push the routes for your home network.  Below is a sample from my macbook routing table once connected to the VPN:

Internet:
Destination        Gateway            Flags        Refs      Use   Netif Expire
default            172.20.10.1        UGSc          15        2     en0
10.0.1/24          10.2.1.5           UGSc           0        0     utun1

As you can see, the home network traffic gets tunneled through the VPN.

Next step is to "Connect to server..." in Finder.  You can click on "GO" in the top menu bar to get there, or hit Command-K.  Once there you need to provide the url to the file share.  In the case of the Airport Extreme the url should look like this:
afp://10.0.1.1/NAME_OF_SHARE
OR
smb://10.0.1.1/NAME_OF_SHARE

(replace NAME_OF_SHARE with your shared name, mine is Raid5 so the url looks like this: afp://10.0.1.1/Raid5)
For the username and password, provide the credentials as you normally would connect.  For cases where a disk password is used instead of accounts, then the username will be "root", and the password will be the disk password.
All set, the share will be mounted as normal.

**NOTE:  These instructions assume you are on a MAC.


keyboard shortcut is driving me crazy, how do I get rid of it? I use the keyboard shortcut CommandOptionL to lock my machine. For the most part this works, but not if Chrome is in focus. In Chrome, when I use that combination, it opens the "Downloads" page in a tab. I have tried everything I can think of to prevent this.

There is a menu item for "Downloads": Window -> Downloads. I have used the  System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> App Shortcuts to attempt to set it to something else, but it doesn't seem to matter, I can add a new shortcut for Downloads, but no matter what I do CommandOptionL still opens Downloads. The only difference is the shortcut I configure highlights "Window" in the menu bar momentarily, while CommandOptionL does not. Although it does highlight if I set the shortcut to CommandOptionL.

I have even gone so far as to set defaults write com.google.Chrome NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add 'Downloads' '\0'.

When I read:

defaults read com.google.Chrome NSUserKeyEquivalents
{
    Downloads = "";
}

and yet CommandOptionL still opens the Downloads page.

Global keyboard shortcuts in macOS  have always been frustrating, but it was possible to override each conflicting app, but this one is driving me crazy.

EDIT: I also went through the chrome extensions and no keyboard shortcut was set to CommandOptionL. I also tried disabling all extensions; it did not work.

There is already a system wide keyboard shortcut to lock your display. It's CommandControlQ for High Sierra and higher and ControlShift⏏ on other systems, to let your display go to sleep (which is effectively the same when password protected).

With this keyboard shortcuts in mind you can be sure, that they don't interfere with any application.

Note that on newer MacsBook Pros with Touch ID only the first keyboard shortcut works.


External HDD Unmounted After Sleep I have the new iMac 21,5" and a Samsung G3 Station 1,5TB external HDD. When I plug my HDD, connecting to energy and via USB, no problems, Mac OS recognizes it and I can use it normally. The problem appears when I put my computer to sleep. When it wakes up, my HDD was unmounted and to use it again I have to remove USB cable and reinsert it.
This is annoying me. I have looking for suggestions or improvements to put it work better, but no idea.
If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Additional Information:

Snow Leopard 10.6.8;
On restart it works;
Disk utility cannot see HDD after it wakes up;
My HDD is formatted on NTFS. I don't know exactly, but it could be part of the issue. Unfortunatelly I can't format it to HFS+ or FAT32. My files and backup are all there.

If only we've searched before buying we would find this drive has this problems. It seems it lies either in firmware of enclosure or in firmware of a disk used inside. I didn't find FW updates for it on Samsung support site (but they have a habit to hide such stuff).

Probably, you may upgrade FW for the disk used inside enclosure and it could help but no guarantee.

If you can get your money back just do it because it seems this product is faulty (it probably behaves the same under Windows (you may try it if you could)).

If you can't get your money back or exchange it try this solution from MacOSXHints.


Can I group canvases in OmniGraffle? I have an OmniGraffle doc that is like 30 pages / canvases long. I'd like to organize the canvases into groups rather than just a long list. For example, I'd like to have 'Menu' below, under which the 'menu-' canvases would be grouped. This is what it looks like currently:

I'd like it to be grouped. Is this possible?

It is not currently possible to "Group Canvases" in OmniGraffle Pro 5.

You may email omnigraffle@omnigroup.com and request this as a feature, or visit http://forums.omnigroup.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4 and post this request.


Finder/Terminal: Find files that contain less than 21 lines of text I have lots of text files that have a different number of lines of text in them.

In Mac OS Finder, is there any way to search for files that are less than 21 lines? (i.e. each file has less than 21 line of text in them).

The Search for files gives lots of options, but I can't see one that is for line length.

From reading up on the subject, it seems using Grep in Terminal may be the best way, but I haven't found any sources that explain how to use Grep to search for line length on multiple files.

In Terminal you can combine find and wc for this:

find /path/to/directory -type f \
    -exec bash -c '[[ $(wc -l < "$1") -lt 21 ]]' _ {} \; -print

This will find all files (-type f) beneath /path/to/directory, count the lines (wc -l < "{}", {} gets replaced by any file found) and print the file name for files containing less than 21 lines.

PS: It will also try to count the lines in non-text files. If this causes issues, use the following instead:

find /path/to/directory -type f -exec bash -c 'file -b "$1" | grep -q text' _ {} \; \
    -exec bash -c '[[ $(wc -l < "$1") -lt 21 ]]' _ {} \; -print

PPS: To start from the current directory, replace the path at the beginning with . (a single dot, for the current directory)

PPPS: To restrict the search to the current directory, use find . -maxdepth 1 -type f ...


Disabling creation of unnecessary files on my external hard-drive? I had an old mac that I decided to strip down for its hard-drive and RAM.  I threw a shell on the hard-drive, and now I can connect it to my new mac with a USB cable.

Essentially I want to be using it like any other USB drive.  However, mac keeps putting hidden files on it every time I plug it in:

drwxrwxrwx  1 user  staff  32768 Jun 16 09:31 .Spotlight-V100/
drwxrwxrwx@ 1 user  staff  32768 Jun 16 09:31 .Trashes/
-rwxrwxrwx  1 user  staff   4096 Jun 16 09:31 ._.Trashes*
-rwxrwxrwx  1 user  staff   4096 Jun 16 09:31 ._.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent*
-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 user  staff      0 Jun 16 09:31 .com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent*
drwxrwxrwx  1 user  staff  32768 Jun 16 09:32 .fseventsd/

Is there any way to have all this disabled, or is it simply a side-effect of the fact that the drive came from a mac?

Those files are created on other external drives as well.

The files that start with ._ are AppleDouble files that are used to store metadata like extended attributes and ACLs on unsupported filesystems. If the volume doesn't support the native formats, the AppleDouble files might get recreated even if you delete them. If the volume supports the native formats, the AppleDouble files are ignored, and you can either delete or merge them:

rm /Volumes/Volume/._*
dot_clean -f /Volumes/Volume # flat merge (default is recursive)

It's usually safe to delete the ._ files in any case. The .Trashes folder on my USB drive only had a com.apple.FinderInfo extended attribute:

$ sudo xattr -l /Volumes/WD/.Trashes
com.apple.FinderInfo:
00000000  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |........@.......|
00000010  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  |................|

.com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent* files are not created if you enable this setting:

defaults write com.apple.TimeMachine DoNotOfferNewDisksForBackup -bool true

Spotlight can be disabled with mdutil -i off:

mdutil -i off /Volumes/Volume
rm -rf /Volumes/Volume/.Spotlight-V100

Deleting .DS_Store files:

find /Volumes/Volume -name .DS_Store -delete

This makes deleting files on the volume in Finder delete them immediately:

sudo rm -r /Volumes/Volume/.Trashes; touch /Volumes/Volume/.Trashes

BlueHarvest can remove most of those files automatically:


Apps retaining data after being deleted I had the Facebook and Instagram apps installed on my iPhone (latest iOS).
I deleted both apps and checked that there was no data from either app stored on iCloud (I went to Settings - iCloud - Manage storage and there was no mention of them storing anything on iCloud). Then I reinstalled Instagram, opened it, clicked on Login and the page still showed “Login as MYFACEBOOKNAME”.

How is this possible? How can I delete my FB login info once and for all on my iPhone?

iOS apps can retain data after uninstalling if they store data in the keychain, which you can never clear unless you reset the device.

Some apps can also get unique information about your device and associate it with your device to store the data on their servers.


How can I use shortcut keys for context menu items? A common workflow on a Windows or Linux PC is to right click on a link in (say) Chrome, then hit "L" to copy the URL to the clipboard.

How can I achieve this on MacOS?  I don't want to have to use the mouse to select the relevant menu item.

Context menus can be navigated in Safari with keyboard shortcuts. E.g pressing C - Enter will jump to copy link.


Upgrade boot camp from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 I set up Boot Camp on my MBP (2014 model) installing Windows 8.1 (I want to use Windows 10, which is supported) but the boot camp wizard did not seem to work with Windows 10 for some reason - possibly me choosing the wrong variant of Windows 10 from the MSDN page?

I tried the "Media Creation Tool" in windows to upgrade from 8.1 to 10 but this failed with a message about the tool not working for my version of windows.

I have downloaded a windows utility for creating a bootable USB using an ISO file. I then created an install USB for windows 10 on my USB drive. When booting and holding the option key, I see three options: Mac, Windows and the USB drive. If I select Windows it just boots as usual ignoring the USB drive. What happens if I select the USB drive? Will it install window 10 onto my windows bootcamp partition (as I want) or will it try to install it on the USB drive?

It has been a while since I use windows 8.1, but I believe you can mount the Windows 10 iso. From there you can just click on the setup application and upgrade to Windows 10.

Some comments on what you are attempting.

I understand you dowloadeded a windows utility to create the bootable USB. You make not mention copying the Windows Support Software to the USB. This is required.
You see three options: Mac, Windows and the USB drive. The correct answer is "EFI Boot". I assume this is what you meant by USB drive.
The Boot Camp Assistant creates the partitions necessary for the installation of Windows. You make no mention of creating space for the Windows partitions.
All Microsoft "Media Creation Tool"s are incompatible with Apples way of installing windows. In other words, you should not use a Microsoft "Media Creation Tool" to create the USB Windows installer. You can use a Microsoft "Media Creation Tool" to download the Windows iso file.
Your Mac already contains all the tools needed to create a USB Windows installer from an Windows iso file. You should use the Boot Camp Assistant to download the Windows Support Software, but from there you can create the USB installer without the aid of the Boot Camp Assistant.
Actually, you can install Windows 10 without using any USB drives. A procedure for this is given here.

If you do not have working Windows 10 iso file and you have activated your Windows 8.1 installation, then you can upgrade to Windows 10 for free. This offer expires at the end of the year. You do have to agree that you use "assistive technologies". (Microsoft will not check to see if you do). The web site to see is: Customers who use assistive technologies can upgrade to Windows 10 at no cost.


Pre-installed movies and photos on new MBA MBA 13"

I when I got it home for the first time. I switched it on I checked how much disk space I had left. I was surprised to see 45MB of movies and photos 471MB.

I can't find the movies and the photos in the finder window. Where are they and what are they?

Many thanks for any suggestions.

I just made the following test :

 sudo find /system -name "*.png" | wc -l

returns 4553 on my mac : There are over 4000 images in my /System/ directory. It's probably your case too.

Using

sudo find /system -name "*.png" -print0 | xargs -0 du | awk '{total+=$1} END{print total}'

I get 248352K, that 250MB. Not your 450MB but we are getting close. You can assume the files you see are system files (yes your system uses images and video !)

I would definitely not suggest to delete theses files since they are used by the system.


How can I type a backtick (accent grave or "`") on a European (Dutch) keyboard? How can I type a backtick (accent grave, or "`") on an European (Dutch) apple keyboard ?

According to this image from Apple's KB article, it appears to be between the Z and shift.


How to keep my iTunes (app) library after reinstalling Windows? I have an iPhone 4 and I'm a windows 7 user; I have the latest iTunes installed on my PC and synchronized with my iPhone; I don't have any music or video in there, as I don't use the iPhone for that purpose, but I have quite a big app library.

If I'm going to reinstall Windows on my computer, or even move to a different one, what should I do to keep my iTunes library? I'm assuming the App Store keeps track of what I've purchased, but how to avoid re-downloading everything again?

Just backup your whole iTunes Library folder. On the new OS, install iTunes, copy your Library to the old place and open iTunes holding down Shift (Windows) or ⌥ (Mac OS).

A dialog should appear:

Select Choose Library... and select your old Library (I think you have to select the xml-file inside the Library folder) and everything should be as it has been before.

Source: How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one


Which macOS Git GUI app offers a "Split View Staging" view? I use SourceTree as a Git GUI tool. I'm very productive with the app and find it far preferable to the command line Git interface for common tasks.

Unfortunately, SourceTree is incredibly slow, buggy, lacking features, and rarely updated. I would very much like to reduce my dependency on Atlassian's product.

The problem is that I'm heavily dependent on SourceTree's Split View Staging view of the staging area. This view perfectly fits my mental model of how a staging view should work.

This view allows individual lines, hunks, or single-character changes to be staged independently. Then, all of the currently staged changes are shown in a single pane of the split view. All of the unstaged changes are shown in the other pane.

This allows you to easily see exactly which changes are staged at any given time, and commit only those specific changes. A file can exist in both the staged and unstaged panes.

What other macOS Git GUI app or tool offers a commit/staging view similar to Split View Staging offered by SourceTree?

One popular Git GUI app, GitHub Desktop, apparently has no plans to support Split View Staging:

Make staging line hunks more obvious #1688

There are various free as well as commercial macOS Git GUI apps available as listed on Git SCM webpage. The listed tools differ in their performance and feature set. The list is a living document with new apps getting added over time.

As you are looking for a macOS app with support for granular staging/unstaging support, I'll list one free and one paid tool each here which I use/have used personally. I too am a heavy user of SourceTree, but keep up with it's minor annoyances.

1. GitKraken (Free):

GitKraken is a free macOS Git GUI client. Although it's not a native app, but it comes with extensive set of features. Along with adding new features, the team behind the client is constantly working on improving overall performance with frequent releases. It supports Split View Staging. More details here:

Staging

  Unstage files by selecting a staged file and hitting the Unstage File button that appears. If you click on a file to view the diff, you can selectively unstage lines or hunks.

2. Tower (Paid):

Tower is a paid macOS Git GUI client. It's a native macOS app with excellent UX and performance. It is quite popular among software developers. It supports Split View Staging. More details here:

Chunk & Line Staging

  One of the things that make Git such a great tool is the ability to craft granular commits. With Git's staging area, you can determine which changes exactly you want to have in the next commit. Tower takes this one step further by allowing you to determine the exact chunks and even lines you want to add:

  Select a changed file in the Working Copy list. In the diff view on the right, you can then select the exact chunks & lines you want to add to the next commit.

I personally use SourceTree and Tower.

I'd recommend you to give the various tools mentioned on Git SCM webpage a try and choose as per your liking.

No affiliation whatsoever to any of the mentioned apps. I am on a constant pursuit to select and use the best tools available for the job at hand.


Why doesn't Google Drive show up in the list of apps when sharing a photo? Open the Photos app
Select an image
Pull up the menu (bottom left icon)
Available apps are Message, Mail, Twitter, etc.

Google Drive does not show up in that list (which seems to be called "Activities").

I have signed in to the Google Drive app and even restarted my phone.

I just had the same issue here in August 2018 on iOS 11.4.  I am using the Apple-native Photos app and installed Google Drive two days ago, when I successfully was able to share from the Photos app onto Google Drive.  Now, two days later, it isn't working.  I tried the Save to Files option but Google Drive doesn't show up there either.

Turns out, it appears that I have selected too many photos at one time to upload.  When I select ten or fewer photos to share, it shows the Google Drive icon in the Activities list as an option.  But when I select more than ten photos, the Google Drive icon disappears from the Activities list.  Must be some kind of internal limit placed on it or perhaps a total upload size limit.  So if I want to upload more than ten photos, I will just do more than one upload.


MacBook with 10.6.8 Snow Leopard freezes after Wi-Fi connection I recently switched service providers and received a new router. My phone and old Windows computer connect fine, but my MacBook freezes (rainbow wheel starts going around forever after about 2 mins of being connected). MacBook connects to Wi-Fi fine at a friend's house.  Another answer describes something similar being solved by switching off IPv6. However, System Preferences > Network > Wi-Fi > Advanced > Wi-Fi > TCP/IP > IPv6 is set to Automatically and all other options are greyed out. I tried to switch it off via directly entering command into Terminal, but it stayed set to Automatically.

Any suggestions as to why I cannot turn it off? Mac is running on 10.6.8 Snow Leopard.

Try turning IPv6 off before connecting to the Wi-Fi.

Turn the AirPort off, go to System Preferences, Network, AirPort, Advanced, TCP/IP, Configure IPv6: Off. Then turn the AirPort on, and everything should work fine.


Is this an email from Apple or fraud? Begin forwarded message:

From: ID Report <childaviintlteknic59@substemptauthsvcstld.com>
Date: February 15, 2019 at 9:20:10 AM EST
To: [Bla bla bla <my email address>]
Subject: [TBA] Your account has been temporarily disabled for security reason!

Dear [Bla bla bla <my email address>],

Your Apple ID was used to sign in to a new web browser.

Date and Time : Friday, February 15, 2019
IP Address : 79.171.55.205
Country : Albania

Your Apple ID has been temporarily disabled for security reason.
When you see this alerts, you can go to iforgot.apple.com to unlock your account with your existing password.
Your account will permanently disabled if you do not verify your account under 24 hours.

Sincerely,

Apple Support

Apple ID45 | Support | Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2018 All Rights Reserved

Even without posting the headers or any hyperlinks in the message, it's easy to identify a message like that as a bogus message. Note the poor use of English ("see this alerts") and the creation of the sense of urgency ("permanently disabled if"). There is also almost certainly a bogus hyperlink for iforgot.apple.com in the message which would lead to a website that was designed to scare you into supplying your credentials to the scammer.


Skype with both system and microphone audio in El Capitan I'm trying to use Skype for screen sharing with simultaneous audio from my microphone and the Mac system (for example a video or a game).

Using Soundflower, and in the Audio Midi Setup an Aggregate Device for input and a Multi-Output Device for output I've been able to get either Mac system audio or microphone (voice), but not both.

In some settings, both seem to be input, but only the system audio is output, or just a very quick bit of voice can be heard before cutting out.

I'm stumped...

Here are the Skype audio settings:

And here are the Mac settings:

First, Audio Midi Setup

And Sound from System Preferences

I have found some videos on YouTube that discuss this, like this one which I've followed, but still no luck.

Thanks. Any help is truly appreciated!

I have just done this - for skype recording and it works:
My settings are almost identical to yours except: -

in skype I have the microphone as my mic - not as the aggregate device.

I have also added my headphones (!) as part of the multi output device. ie headphones + built in + soundflower (2 chan)

I can now record the entire skype video + audio + the mic input from my end using Quicktime screen recording with the mic input set to the aggregate device...

nb - no "flowerbed" used, no "line-in" used


I was sharing an iCloud account, would he know about my photos? So I was sharing an  iCloud's account with person I know and lately I took some photos which I later regretted taking.   So I deleted them immediately from my iPhone and I deactivated my iCloud photo library, my photostream and my iCloud photo sharing. Then, I logged out and made my own new account.

I am worried that this person has access to my photos even though I deleted them, because I know it's possible to  recover deleted photos from iCloud.

It is possible for him to recover the photos? Should I be worried?

If you deleted the photos, then went into the Recently Deleted folder and permanently deleted them from your iPhone, followed by disabling iCloud Photo Library as you stated, then you should be fine.


Intempestive remote server/connection failed windows I have the following connection failed message on OSX 10.12.4. I'm used to access to a distant hard drive through a VPN (Cisco Anyconnect), but I removed that connection and the vpn software about two months ago. Everything was fine until yesterday where that message always showing up.

I've been in touch with Apple customer support, but so far, they were not able to help. There is no trace of the former server in network system preferences, finder, etc.

By monitoring the console, I noted that I have the following logs when the error windows show up :

Regarding the logs, I checked in keychain if they were any references to the remote server, but I did not find anything. Would someone have an idea about how to solve the problem ?

Found the problem, if anyone has it. Bitdefender tries to follow old shortcut that I have pointing toward folders on the remote server. I don't know why suddenly it tries to follow those folders, but if you need to solve this problem :

Open bitdefender
Click on "Antivirus for Mac" in the menue
Preference
Exclusions
Add the problematic folders, it should do the job


Why are email replies sent from iPhone not threaded in Gmail? I noticed that when replying to emails from my iPhone, they are no longer being grouped as a conversation in Gmail.

If I receive an email and reply via my iPhone email app, it will show up in my send folder on my desktop.  But not grouped in the conversation thread like it should.

Until recently, no matter where I replied from, the reply always ended up as a reply in the same conversation.

When I reply from my desktop, it does show properly as part of the conversation. Why?

Apparently, there's something wrong with the iPhone 6, its configuration is not fully compatible with Exchange settings.


Upgrading My MacBook Pro (Late 2013) Components I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) with the following specs:

2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 Processor;
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Memory; and
Intel Iris 1536 MB Graphics.

I wanted to upgrade the Processor and Memory but having read some passages online, it seems as though I will be unable to do so.

Can anyone confirm this? Am I unable to upgrade my device?

If I can upgrade anything, what can I upgrade and how can I go about doing this?

Thank you in advance.

There's not much you can do, other than change the SSD. Apple solders essentially everything down onto the motherboard (CPU, RAM, chips...). Unless you have insanely good microsoldering skills, you can't swap the CPU or RAM.

The only think you could upgrade would be the SSD drive, which should be a M.2 PCIe drive, like this. Even then, you'll need a Pentalobe screwdriver.

If you're interested in how irreparable your Macbook is, here is the teardown from iFixit.


High volume battery for MacBook Pro Can you advise me of where or if it a high capacity battery exists to replace my pre unibody battery on a MacBook Pro?

A quick search turned up Fastmac replacement batteries which claim to

...replace the computer’s original battery with a larger capacity and longer lasting advanced power cell battery that utilizes TruePower technology. With up to 68% more capacity...


What happens if I buy a paid game while it's free? There's this game on the App Store called Flying Hamster HD, before it used to cost like $6 or something now it's free.
If I delete the game I “purchased” when it's free and decide to re-download it am I charged if the price goes up?

When it's available for free and you buy it you get it for free.
It's impossible to charge you afterwards because when you decide to download it because it's free. You don’t get refunds if the price goes down or charged if it goes up.
Many apps become free over time, and that's one of the ways how I save a lot of money.
So in short, free = free (watch out for in-app purchases though, they are never free!)
To give you a better detail about updating apps:

It's free if they update the same app, not if they decide to put a complete new application in the AppStore.


Eclipse STS re creates folders every time it is opened, may be due to file permissions Ok, i have asked this question two times in stackoverflow two times, here and here.

I haven't gotten an answer, but after rethinking the problem i think it may be because of files / folders permissions, ok this is what it is happening.

Environment: eclipse STS 3.8.2 which run over java 1.8 and the SO is macOs Sierra.

when i open the IDE for first time it creates a folder in my home user called .eclipse and inside a folder with the name org.springsource.sts_3.8.2.RELEASE_562342862_macosx_cocoa_x86_64. The IDE uses this folder to save configuration, plug-ins and so on, ok latter when i close the IDE and open it again, the IDE creates a new folder like the first but it changes the name like this org.springsource.sts_3.8.2.RELEASE_562342586_macosx_cocoa_x86_64 and saves the configuration there, so all the previous configuration it is lost.

This leads to have a fresh environment every time i open the IDE, so every plug-in installed it is lost. I have tried to copy and paste the content of one folder to another but the IDE ignores the files in there.

I was also facing the same issue. To resolve it I did the following steps.

Extract the tar/zip file anywhere you want.
Drag the STS.app file to "Applications".
Now you will see the STS application in launchpad also.
Now you can start STS by clicking on this STS icon from launchpad/spotlight search.

It should resolve the issue.


How to access the Library folder I am asking the same question from before by other people. My Macbook Air cannot connect to LAN internet. At the network preferences tab, it showed that my USB LAN has a self-assigned IP address and will not be able to connect to the internet. The network status showed 'CONNECTED' but below, it mentioned about the self-assigned IP address. What is it about?

I tried to look for a solution via google but I check my system preferences that my Macbook Air does not have this folder called 'library' where I could delete some of the un-used file or un-wanted file from my Mac. How can I solve this because I really need to use the internet when I have to pay the internet bill every month for my student residence. I have asked my friend from the residence but they also don't know how to deal with it.

Is my Mac is not the original Macbook that does not have such a folder?

I am just worried. I am sorry that I am not a tech-savvy person.

Your title does not seem to have anything to do with your actual question, you should change that.

There are a number of "Library" folders on your Mac, but the only one you should ever go into is actually hidden, meaning that Apple (for all intents and purposes) recommends you stay out of it.

Why? Because deleting things in your users Library folder without knowing what these files do could cause more than a few things on your Mac to stop working.

If you just need to do some clean-up and delete unneeded files I recommend using a utility like Onyx (I use it, there are others that do similar things). And that will clean up the unneeded (cache and temporary) files for you, safely and easily.

If you want to go exploring though you can view  your Library folder by holding the Option key down while selecting the Finder's "Go" menu. "Library" will show up in the list and then all you have to do is select it to open a Finder window to explore.

But, again, be careful deleting things. If you do not know EXACTLY what a file is or does leave it alone or you could cause problems with your Mac, one or more of your Apps or numerous other things could stop working.


How Do I Know if my MacBook Pro is Using WPS? I have learned that WPS is not secure. There is a WPS button on my XFinity modem; but how do I know if it's enabled so I can know if I need to adjust my router settings (or perhaps decline to use an insecure network that I cannot control)?

If you simply option click on your Wifi icon on the menubar in OSX you will be rewarded with a wealth of information about the connection. - if you see something you don't like then as Lyken says log into your router and change it after,

Once you have determined the Security settings for the network you have joined, you can decide to not use it or connect over VPN or perhaps get the administrator of the modem to change the security.

Also, there is a Wireless Scan tool built into Mountain Lion and it's called Wireless Disagnostics.

You can find it in /System/Library/CoreServices (use the finder's go to folder menu item in the "go menu"). Once you open the program, you can choose the utilities window and run a scan of networks to determine their security even before you join them:


Why might a oui.txt file have appeared in my home directory on my MBP? oui.txt has "suddenly" appeared. I don't know how/why.

It's 4.1MB, so it's probably this: https://linuxnet.ca/ieee/oui/

  Sanitized oui.txt Wed, 12 Feb 2020 03:10:16 -0400  •  4.1 MB (4,050,564 bytes)  •  ASCII

The result of ls -le@ oui.txtis:

$: ls -le@ oui.txt
-rw-r--r--@ 1 user staff 4047610 31 Jan 12:20 oui.txt
        com.apple.TextEncoding 15

I have a file on my computer named utils6.py. The top of the file has this comment section.

  This file is part of Scapy  See http://www.secdev.org/projects/scapy
  for more informations  Copyright (C) Philippe Biondi
  This program is published under a GPLv2 license

  Copyright (C) 2005  Guillaume Valadon
  Arnaud Ebalard

The code has Utility functions for IPv6.

This utility script outputs a file called oui.txt


MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015): SSD replacement I would like to replace my 256GB storage with a drive having more space, and not less efficient in terms of read/write speed. I was thinking about something like Samsung Pro drives with M.2 interface. But I am not sure if MacBook uses standard interface for this purpose.

So my question is, which drives/memory chips are compatible with my laptop model? Which hardware interface should I look for?

Also I guess that I need some specific toolkit to replace SSD, right? At least, to open laptop's back lid.

Ok, thanks to @nekomatic and @GioValerio. I guess that one of JetDrive 820 drives should be sufficient for my purposes.


How do I specify what is used as the real C compiler? I have a configure on Mountain Lion that's running into trouble:

[snip]
checking for gcc...
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/OSX10.8.xctoolchain/usr/bin/cc
checking whether the C compiler works... no
configure: error: in `/Users/jonathan/Downloads/httpd-2.4.4':
configure: error: C compiler cannot create executables
See `config.log' for more details

Meanwhile, I have just opened Xcode and installed command-like tools, including /usr/bin/gcc.

Is there a way I can invoke the configure script so it will take /usr/bin/gcc as the C compiler?

And when I specified:

CC=/usr/bin/gcc

It gives:

checking how to run the C preprocessor... /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/OSX10.8.xctoolchain/usr/bin/cc -E
configure: error: in `/Users/jonathan/Downloads/httpd-2.4.4':
configure: error: C preprocessor "/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/OSX10.8.xctoolchain/usr/bin/cc -E" fails sanity check
See `config.log' for more details

For now I'll ask: how do I tell it what to use as the C preprocessor?

(Long-term what I'd like is to know why it's not aware of standard command line tools and pulls C-related functionality from an esoteric place.

Apple's gcc binary is really llvm.

Mac:~ bmike$ which gcc
/usr/bin/gcc
Mac:~ bmike$ gcc --version
i686-apple-darwin11-llvm-gcc-4.2 (GCC) 4.2.1 (Based on Apple Inc. build 5658) (LLVM build 2336.11.00)
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

You'll want to obtain gcc from homebrew or from source if you need gcc and not llvm standing in for gcc.

Good reading abounds on various blogs:

http://kennethreitz.org/experiments/xcode-gcc-and-homebrew
http://jfire.io/blog/2012/03/02/xcode-4-dot-3-homebrew-and-ruby/
http://www.andrewsavory.com/blog/2012/2458
https://github.com/mxcl/homebrew/wiki/Custom-GCC-and-cross-compilers

Once you've gotten a real version of gcc installed, you can export CC=/usr/local/bin/gcc or whatever else you prefer for setting the environment variable to match were you choose to store your now non-llvm-based compiler.


File access problem with SMB and AFP on Mac OS X 10.4 SERVER Ok, I have about 10 macs, each with a different username/password that acces a mac os x server raid. File on the server, Photoshop, illustrator and indesign is used and open by anyone, anytime of the day !

now, on on station, the designer access BOTH the SMB and AFP share ate the same time... that case many file lock up and access. Even some corruption on some file when saving..

so here is the question,

Can i block certain IP to log as SMB
Can i force the mac to access AFP only
and last question, do you suggest afp acces to server or smb, and why ?

*NOTE : Yes i know i can make shortcut on desktop, but they don't use it ! so now, i have to "force" them to work properly...

I have updated the server to 10.6 and mac to 10.6, the problem never came back !


Apps in iOS App Store, download old version of the app to support old iOS I have an old iPad running on iOS 9.  The iPad is used for "simple tasks" like watching Netflix.  Up to today, I was able to install older versions of Apps as long as I had already purchased them (similar to these instructions), but now I am no longer able to do so.  Instead I just get the message that the device is too old for the app.

I tried the Netflix app and the Youtube app, as those are the only previous purchases on the iTunes account not currently installed.  New purchases work fine, as long as these actually support iOS 9.

Has something changed in the App Store approving previous purchases with old versions, or is it the case that Netflix and Youtube both pulled older versions and I coincidentally am stuck on both?

When trying to download the App from search results, the download fails.  However when browsing the "Purchased" section, I am able to download the older version.


Homebrew doctor warning: you have unlinked kegs in your Cellar How do you fix this?

$ brew doctor
...
Warning: You have unlinked kegs in your Cellar
Leaving kegs unlinked can lead to build-trouble and cause brews that depend on
those kegs to fail to run properly once built.

    imagemagick
    jasper
    libtiff
    little-cms
...

Like this, for each unlinked keg:

brew link imagemagick


Can't add items to iTunes library Starting this morning, every time I try to add an item to my iTunes library, a blank window appears. I can close it, and in the main iTunes window there's an exclamation mark in the top right corner. If I click on it, a dropdown appears with the information: Adding item to library cancelled.

For clarity: I am not trying to add new files, I'm just browsing the iTunes catalog and trying to add items from there.

I have an active Apple Music Account so I see no reason why I should not be allowed to add an item from the iTunes Store.

Any suggestions on what the problem might be and how to solve it? Thanks.

MacOS Mojave 10.14.4 / iTunes 12.9.4.94

It's a known bug since the release of macOS 10.14.5.

The blank window that shows up when you try to add an item to your library is actually supposed to contain new terms of service that you have to agree to, but it's bugged on macOS and just displays an empty page instead.

The only solution right now seems to be to go to Apple Music on any of your iOS devices (iPhone, iPad) and add a random item to your library there, then restart your iTunes on Mac and it should be fixed.

This bug has been around since 10.14.5 Beta and Apple still hasn't fixed it, which blows my mind, because it basically makes Apple Music unusable for anyone without an iOS device.


How to update macOS to latest release of current version? I am on Catalina 10.15.3 and do not want to move to Big Sur just yet. Software Update does have the option to update to Big Sur but I am unable to determine how to do just a minor point update.  How do I install the latest update of Catalina?
Update From a comment by @jefe2000 I am trying the command line version and it seems promising.
$/usr/sbin/softwareupdate -l
Software Update Tool

Finding available software
Software Update found the following new or updated software:
* Label: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Update-
    Title: macOS Catalina 10.15.7 Update, Version:  , Size: 5099042K, Recommended: YES, Action: restart,

But what is the actual label?  I was unable to get this to work and have created a separate question for it.  Unable to install an update via the softwareupdate command line tool

Download and install the Catalina 10.15.7 Combo Update from Apple.


4th Generation iPod Touch Differences Are there any hardware differences between the 8GB, 32GB and 64GB 4th Generation iPod Touches.

Apart form the storage size.

Only storage size is different. There is no evidence or claims that point to the contrary.


A downloaded webp image from a website could not be opened When I try to preview a downloaded image, I get an error:

The file “file-name.jpeg” could not be opened.
It may be damaged or use a file format that Preview doesn’t recognize.

However Chrome browser can display the downloaded image just fine.

How can I preview such images?

Here is an example image in this location. You can right-click and select save the image as.

It's a WEBP image (developed by Google) and Preview doesn't natively support this file type.  If you right click and select "View Image Info" you can get the image details (this one was done in Firefox)

There are a few ways you can view this image...

WebP Viewer (free).  Available on the App Store.  It's a Quick Look plugin and supports printing.  Supports Safari
Browser Add-Ons:

Firefox: WebP Image Converter
Chrome:  Built In tool

Copy the image and paste it to another application then save it.  I used OneNote and was able to save the image as a JPG.  You can use other apps like Word, Pages, Notes, etc. and achieve the same results.


MacBook Pro - SSD problem, folder with question mark I get random crashes and hang-ups after 2-3 hours of use, and then after I restart my MacBook Pro, I get this flashing folder with question mark inside.

I tried resetting PRAM/NVRAM and SMC but nothing works. It's kinda hard to replicate the problem because it happens randomly. Right now it's working fine and I'm able to post this question from my MacBook. I even tried First Aid in Disk Utility and it was not able to find any problem.

Although it only happened 2 times while I'm doing programming in Visual studio Code (I don't know if it's related). I'm concerned if this is a hardware or software problem, it could be an installation issue or sign of a failing SSD.

I tried diagnostic and it sees no problem. I also tried Internet Recovery (Alt + Command + r + p) but my Internet connection was so slow, I always get error 2106f.

Right now it's working fine, so if I hold Option key during startup, I can see and select my Macintosh HD. But when it crashes and I get the folder with question mark I don't see my Macintosh HD.

I wasn't sure guys if this is a hardware or software problem.

And one more thing, whenever I get this folder with question mark, there is a high pitch sound coming from the right side of my laptop, I wasn't sure if it's coming on right speaker or right fan. The sound is high pitch, and whenever I heard that sound I knew that my computer hang-up and I will get this folder with question mark.

Update: I suspect that maybe this is related to CPU/GPU/logic board or temperature problem, I don't know. So I went to the website:

http://www.fishgl.com/

to test the GPU. I opened Google Chrome and visited the website, and it caused my MacBook to heat up and suddenly it freezes. So I shutdown my mac and the folder with question mark appeared again.

Here is the photo after it freezes:

Here's the specs of my MacBook Pro:

15" mid 2015 with Radeon graphics.
16 GB RAM
512 GB SSD
macoS Mojave 10.14

Folder with question mark appears when your Mac is not able to find a startup disk.

If a flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
About the screens your Mac displays as it starts up

This could be due to either failing drive or loose connection between hard drive and the logic board (more common in MacBooks/portables).

Other symptoms most likely point towards some kind of hardware failure rather than software.

Recommended to get it inspected by an authorized technician or service provider.


df numbers not adding up (Big Sur) I have a MBP with a 1 terabyte SSD. If I look at the storage tab of about this mac, it looks like I would expect, but if I run df -h from the terminal, I get:
Filesystem       Size    Used   Avail   Capacity   iused       ifree         %iused  Mounted on
/dev/disk1s1s1   932Gi   14Gi   83Gi    15%        568975      9767409185    0%   /

Is this a bug in df on Big Sur, or should I be worried that something is up with my MBP? On my old computer (which never get past Mojave) the numbers added up and looked right.

You should not be worried.  There is no bug.
You should show all the output from df -h | grep disk1s. The line with disk1s1s1 refers to the currently used snapshot of the read-only boot volume.  In which case the 14Gi is the expected used.


Use terminal to get Mac battery manufacture date/age How do I get the manufacture date or age like what's shown in CoconutBattery using the terminal? I tried ioreg -cr AppleSmartBattery which gave a ManufacturerData (data, not date, but it was a date format) that's way too old to be correct for my computer. system_profiler SPPowerDataType doesn't show anything related to what I want.
EDIT: there is a ManufactureDate line in ioreg, but it's a 5 digit number – how do I decode that?

According to the Smart Battery Data spec, the ManufactureDate is as follows:

The date is packed in the following fashion: (year-1980) * 512 + month * 32 + day

More specifically, when the integer is converted to binary:
bits 0-4  -- day
bits 5-8 -- month
bits 9-15 -- years since 1980

Verifying this using my own machine, the integer derives to something like 2018-x-x, which makes sense given the age of my laptop.
( On Big Sur with my work laptop, however, the value is no longer a small integer, so I'm not sure how the latest OS is encoding the date information )


How accurate is share my location With a cell tower in sight about a 3/4 of a mile away how accurate is the share my location if the phone is in a Walmart

It's going to vary, of course, but one way to get an approximation is to pull up the Maps app.

This article from Apple Support says the following about this...

  "Apps that can show your location on the screen, including Maps, show your current (approximate) location using a blue marker. If your location can't be determined precisely, you'll see a blue circle around the marker. The size of the circle shows how precisely your location can be determined—the smaller the circle, the greater the precision."

This article may be of assistance, too: http://n8henrie.com/2014/09/how-accurate-is-the-iphone-gps/


Boot Camp ‘bootable USB drive could not be created’ and ‘EFI system partition formatted as NTFS’ I did a fresh macOS install and wanted to install Windows 10 back but Boot Camp is asking for a USB drive. High Sierra wasn't asking for it as a Windows 10 ISO file was enough. Even if I try to install with a FAT formatted USB drive, I still can not install. I have a default Fusion disk which came with iMac but I’m not using it. I installed a 500 GB SSD.

Video: https://youtu.be/aVuB6MHjnzk

Trying without USB connected. I wasn't asked for a USB when I was on High Sierra on the same computer. I want to install to 500 GB SSD (macOS container):

Trying with a FAT formatted USB disk:

Also tried the way without Boot Camp as described here but with no luck: https://fgimian.github.io/blog/2016/03/12/installing-windows-10-on-a-mac-without-bootcamp/

  Windows detected the EFI system partition was formatted as NTFS. Format the EFI system partition as FAT32, and restart the installation. (Screenshot)

$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         499.9 GB   disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +499.9 GB   disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume macos                   41.5 GB    disk1s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 44.3 MB    disk1s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                517.0 MB   disk1s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      2.1 GB     disk1s4

/dev/disk2 (internal):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                         28.0 GB    disk2
   1:                        EFI EFI                     314.6 MB   disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS apple ssd               27.6 GB    disk2s2

/dev/disk3 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *30.8 GB    disk3
   1:                 DOS_FAT_32 WININSTALL              30.8 GB    disk3s1

I had the same problem. I formatted the disk manually using disk utility to ms-dos first, restarted the bootcamp assistant and it worked.


Equivalent of INS key: no key combination whatsoever works on my MacBook I have a MacBookPro 2011 (Italy) with OS X 10.11.6 and I'm looking for the combination that works just like the INS key found on Windows to overwrite text while I’m typing. The INS key is not found in the built-in keyboard, so I think there must be some other way to toggle this function!

To avoid any misunderstanding, you can see the keys found in the Italian built-in keyboard in the picture here:

I tried so many combinations, but none of these works:

FnEnter⏎ (it just produces a new line)
FnM (it just types an "m")
FnI
ControlT

And many more (for instance some combinations mentioned here: How do I simulate the Insert key in Windows on a MacBook Pro?)

Do you have any suggestions? This is driving me crazy, any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

If your purpose is simply to have the overwrite feature in Word for Mac or its free clones, then you can activate it inside the app and go to Tools > Customize Keyboard >  Commands and select "Overtype" and set whatever keyboard shortcut you want for it.


Will low power mode influence my facetime connectivity (speed and stability) or whatsapp messaging system? Namely, I have an iPhone 5 with a very weak battery, and I will form now on probably hold it in low power mode at all times. I am wondering if whatsapp messages will take a beating from this, and also if facetime will lose its speed and stability during the calls. Any suggestions, advice from experience guys? Thanks!

Considering according to Apple the low power setting affects
"Background app refresh
Automatic downloads
Wi-Fi associations"

By reducing or disabling these features,

Then yes it will be affected, your WhatsApp won't update its content unless you have it open as the app you're using. FaceTime should still remain as good though on cellular networks but if you're moving around while connected to a wifi network you may have performance issues if you stray too far away while low power mode is on.

Source: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT205234

Also further info on back group app refresh here: "Use Background App Refresh" https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT202070


Trackpad gesture to select text Ok, it should be very easy one to figure out but I can't do it, so I'm asking experts. I want to know which one is accurate trackpad gesture for selecting text. Is it "three finger swipe right" or "one finger fixed with two fingers swipe down" or "three fingers swipe down" or any other ??

This is the  context in which I'm asking this question.

I'm trying to automate my text selection to get highlighted in preview and to get copied to clipboard in web browser. Two different things , but selecting text & assigning gesture is common.

The way I select text in browser is by "three fingers drag right & down simultaneously".

This is how automatic highlighting worked in preview: selected text by "three finger swipe right" -  assigned action "^ command H" to this gesture using bettertouchtool app & selected text is highlighted. But can't use same technique in web browser to automatically copy my text with trackpad gesture.

When I use "three fingers swipe right" gesture in browser it only selects few words or one line & not the entire set of lines/para like in preview. So what will be right trackpad gesture to select text in browser. I hope its clear now.

I think this link may help you out. "Three Fingers Drag" is not in Trackpad Preferences. It's in Accessibility.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2015/06/25/three-finger-drag-gesture-os-x-el-capitan/

Admin please pardon me for pasting links.

James
From Vietnam.


How to disable top bar of the iOS keyboard? I would like to remove following top white bar of the onscreen iOS 11 keyboard on my iPad.

I tried to disable all keyboard options in settings but has no effect.

Such bar appears for example when I open a chat in full web (not a mobile view), search something via input field on the top right corner of the page, then go back and trying to post something to the chat:

As you can see this keyboard bar overlaps text input area. So it’s hard to use it.

Try changing your keyboard to an alternative keyboard (like Google Keyboard) and change it back to the original keyboard.


Macbook Pro SD card reader is not listed as USB hardware I have 15" early 2011 MacBook Pro with OS X Mavericks installed. Everything works fine, except the SD card reader. Even it's not listed in USB hardware list.

The SD card slot is dust-free and pins are clean. Resetting the PRAM/SMC has not helped.

How to fix it?

As far as I know it's not supposed to be listed under the USB devices at least in Yosemite and El Capitan, not really sure about Mavericks.


How to close the Accessibility recorded gesture feature once finished? How do you stop a favorite recorded "gesture" once you are done using it?  I am working with patients who have severe fine motor skills deficits.  They must use a stylus to work on an iPad or iPhone.

The recorded gesture function in the accessibility settings would be helpful if we could get it to stop, or go away, once we have finished using it.  Does anyone know how to do this?

Just press the AssistiveTouch button to show the panel, then close it again by tapping outside.


iPhone controlling iPad remotely: something like Hamachi I have searched for this around the web, but haven't found anything that was similar to what I was looking for. So here it goes.

Suppose I have one iPhone and one iPad, both being jailbroken. The iPhone is in the network A, while the iPad is in network B. Both networks have access to the Internet. My objective is to control the iPad using the iPhone. I should see the screen of the iPad on my iPhone and be able to run and control apps and input text.

Does anyone if this is possible (with the restrictions described above)?

There are two questions there. First:

How can I control my iPad from my iPhone

Since you have jailbroken the phone then the answer is to install Veency :

http://cydia.saurik.com/info/veency/ though I'm not sure it supports iOS7 yet.

The second:

How can I get VNC working across the internet?

You will have to configure port forwarding on the network that contains the iPad so that any VNC traffic that hits your home router goes to the phone. VNC usually lives on port 500 and last I checked Veency didn't allow you to change it.


Can I get a notification on my iPhone when I receive a certain email? I need to be able to reply to just 1 email that I irregularly receive within seconds of it arriving.  I want my iPhone to start vibrating etc. when it arrives.

Email is from info@meetup.com (the meetup website).  Problem is I only want to be notified when 1 of about 100 emails/month arrive.

That target email can only be identified based on a text string in its body content together with its email subject line. It's not (not able to be) coming from a special email address nor is it able to be set to go to a unique address for myself.  (They use 1 email they send from and I am limited to 1 email address to use to receive all 100 emails.)

I use gmail and Apple Mail on the Mac and have an iPhone.  But my Mac is not on all the time.

How do I get my iPhone to vibrate at me when this email arrives?

It is not possible on your iPhone. I searched for a bit if there was a third party email application which had this feature.

If I where you I would look into IFTTT (If This Then That). I'm on my phone now so could not try if you could read body text from emails. But there is a trigger->action: Get a notification when you get a new email with a specific label.

I'm not a Gmail user, but I guess you can make rules.

Make a rule that looks for incoming mail and scan for the subject or text in body and apply that label to that new email message.
Make a trigger->action in IFTTT. Let IFTTT watch your Gmail for any new messages with that specific label. IFTTT wil send you a push notification.


My MacBook Has Run Out of Memory My MacBook Air 2017 13" has run out of memory. I restarted my computer, opened ONE safari page(stackexchange.com) and got these results.
(macOS Catalina version 10.15.2)
Any recommendations?
Thanks!

Your Mac is designed to use as much RAM as it needs. "Using all the memory" is not a problem in itself, as long as Memory Pressure is green.
If you are not experiencing any problems, like slowdowns, or alerts saying "Your computer has run out of memory", then stop worrying and get on with your work. ;-)
It's worth reading the better and more detailed explanations here:
iMac with 8GB RAM -- memory always almost full
If you don't have enough free space on your system storage volume, then that might cause problems.
(Oh, and stay away from CleanMyMac, too.)


Mavericks Notes not compatible with IOS 10 Notes? 2010 MacBook Pro on Mavericks, Notes are not syncing with Notes on iPhone 5s on ios10. Is there a compatibility problem? I have tried all the usual remedies without success.

Yes, there's a compatibility problem. Notes were upgraded in iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, and you can't sync between OS versions from before and after the upgrade. You'll need to upgrade your Mac to El Capitan or Sierra (which you should do anyway, since Mavericks will soon stop getting security fixes, if it hasn't already).

As a workaround, you can use a web browser to access notes in the cloud via web app. It’s not as convenient as the native app, but you can get at the notes from https://icloud.com


Why do my environment variables keep getting wiped out in Mac OS Catalina? I am currently using MacOS Catalina, and every time my computer boots up from having shut down the environment variables get wiped out. I literally have to manually run export FOO=bar each time my computer boots up.

I have tried adding the environment variables to ~/.bash_profile but that doesn't seem to work, I think because Catalina uses zsh as opposed to bash. (Is there a way to switch back?)

Anyways, how do I persist environment variables so that I don't have to manually export them every time? Could something be wrong with my computer that's causing this? There are also some other weird issues when my computer does a fresh boot.

You need to create a file ~/.zshrc and put your export statements in there. The shell does not magically remember what you exported last time. You will need to put them in a file that will get sourced each time you start your shell, such as .zshrc.


How to invert screen colors and color hue? I want to "smart invert" my colors like this app does: http://arcanesanctum.net/negativescreen/

I tried the app called "Nocturne 2.0.0" but its "Invert Hue" option has no effect because of this issue: https://code.google.com/p/blacktree-nocturne/issues/detail?id=63

Is there a way to do this?

I am using Mavericks 10.9.2 on MBP2011

If you can create or find an appropriatey inverted ICC profile, this can be used to invert your colours.

See White on black without inverting colors? for more about how the display's colours can be manipulated.


External hard drive unrecognizable in disk utility but found in System Information I've got a WD EasyStore 1TB external hard drive that won't show up in disk utility at all. I've tried multiple MacBooks and on my raspberry pi. The ONLY thing I can get to recognize the hard drive itself are the WD Drive Utilities (yuck), but when I try to erase it from there the application crashes. I have looked for a fsck_hfs or fsck_exfat process running to see if the machine is trying to repair the disk before it runs it at all. Nothing. When I try to reboot my MacBook with the drive connected to it, it stays stalled on the apple logo for as long as I'll let it. I can see that it is recognized as a USB connection in System Information, but it is not recognized as storage at all. Help, please!!!

If several Macs and a Pi have all failed to read the disk, then I'd suggest it's not a software problem.
It's likely that the hard drive has failed in some way. WD drives are known to have poor enclosures, but getting the drive out of a portable drive shell is not easy.
You can try taking it to a data recovery firm, but it will be expensive. If you have a backup, just toss it. (This one, not the backup.)
Otherwise, you can try data recovery software yourself, but if the drive won't even be recognised, it's unlikely.


How to install iOS image (dmg file) from Dev Center? I downloaded an iPhone iOS dmg file from the iOS Dev Center, but don't know how to install it.

How do I load it on to my device?

I'm using iTunes 11 on Windows.

Files and applications in the iOS Dev Center are tools for developers working on iOS application development. As an OS X system is required to run Xcode and to install test apps on an iPhone, any supporting tools require OS X as well. You can't install them directly on iOS.


Add item to Finder toolbar with terminal? You can cmd-drag an item to the Finder toolbar to have it there permanently, but is there a way you do this in the Terminal?

The closest I've found is this old thread: http://macscripter.net/viewtopic.php?id=21344

Which suggests something like this:

defaults write com.apple.finder FXToolbarItems -array-add '<dict><key>file-data</key><dict><key>_CFURLString</key><string>"/Applications/Chess.app"</string><key>_CFURLStringType</key><integer>0</integer></dict></dict>'
killall -HUP Finder

.. or perhaps ...

defaults write com.apple.finder FXToolbarItems -array-add '<dict><key>file-data</key><dict><key>_CFURLString</key><string>"/Applications/Chess.app"</string><key>_CFURLStringType</key><integer>0</integer></dict><key>item-id</key><string>loc%20</string></dict>'
killall -HUP Finder

Neither seem to work. Is there something which works with Yosemite and above?

I notice that if I manually add the Chess app to the Finder toolbar, and then output the finder prefs like so:

defaults read com.apple.finder >> finderprefs

I can see it puts it in like so:

"TB Item Plists" =         {
        7 =             {
            "_CFURLAliasData" = <(lots of hex code)>;
            "_CFURLString" = "file:///Applications/Chess.app";
            "_CFURLStringType" = 15;
        };
    };

So I guess I need to find a way to do that with defaults write

More research suggests adding items programmatically is not advisable: http://prod.lists.apple.com/archives/cocoa-dev/2015/May/msg00212.html

If you know different, I'd love to know...

This is as far as I’ve got, and it’s not working for me on El Capitan (though, that could be something to do with the beta…).

It seems that defaults isn’t comprehensive enough (anymore?) for you to achieve what you want, however you can use PlistBuddy, which on 10.11 is currently found under /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy, to add/remove/edit plist files.

Here are the two commands you’ll can use to add the _CFURLString and _CFURLStringType:

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'Add "NSToolbar Configuration Browser":"TB Item Plists":8:_CFURLString string "file:///Applications/Chess.app"' ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c 'Add "NSToolbar Configuration Browser":"TB Item Plists":8:_CFURLStringType integer 15' ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

The “8” found in both of the commands above is the array index of the item.

No _CFURLAliasData is generated (as suggested in several places).  I’ve tried creating an empty _CFURLAliasData, but Finder didn’t populate it.

Another issue is that if I add/remove another item using cmd-drag all the data I’ve added with PlistBuddy gets erased…

Hopefully this information will get someone else partway there.


Install macOS on a MacBook with a blank HD without having another working Mac or old Mac HD? I'm getting 3 year old MacBook Pro with no HD (surplus from the company I work for). I don't have a Mac of any sort to do the install/restore/etc like most other answers to this question assume. I have a Windows PC, and will get a new blank internal SATA drive to put into the MacBook Pro. I also have a 1TB external USB drive, if that helps.

How do I purchase and install the latest compatible OS on this new-old MacBook?

How do I purchase and install the latest compatible OS on this new-old MacBook?

The recent versions of macOS are available for free of cost to install and download from Apple (starting with OS X Mavericks 10.9).

The easiest way to install macOS onto a blank hard disk in your MacBook Pro would be via Internet recovery.

Refer to the Apple Support article, About macOS Recovery to get instructions on how to install macOS over the Internet.

The availability of Internet recovery and the latest supported OS will depend on the make and model of your MacBook Pro.


How to make fullscreen app's space appear next to the current space? How to make fullscreen app's space appear next to the current space?

Normally it goes to the end of the list of spaces.

Clicking the fullscreen icon

while pressing the alt key will put it right next to the current desktop, at least on Mavericks.


Homebrew's instructions to update Xcode CLT fail to address warning Since Catalina, brew doctor has produced the message

  Warning: A newer Command Line Tools release is available.

Following the subsequent instructions to

sudo rm -rf /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools
sudo xcode-select --install

has no effect.

How do I make sure that Homebrew recognizes that no newer version of the CLT are available?

HOMEBREW_VERSION: 2.2.17-72-ge4719cb
ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/brew.git
HEAD: e4719cb6f3207a7aed932dbb9d6f363d6c478cd0
Last commit: 5 hours ago
Core tap ORIGIN: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core
Core tap HEAD: 221abc864bb25f3c0bfa0b0f0237f426f0a056a3
Core tap last commit: 39 minutes ago
HOMEBREW_PREFIX: /usr/local
HOMEBREW_DISPLAY: /private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.R94NebSNsk/org.macosforge.xquartz:0
HOMEBREW_EDITOR: /usr/local/bin/bbedit
HOMEBREW_MAKE_JOBS: 4
HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS: set
HOMEBREW_NO_EMOJI: set
CPU: quad-core 64-bit haswell
Homebrew Ruby: 2.6.3 => /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.6/usr/bin/ruby
Clang: 11.0 build 1103
Git: 2.26.2 => /usr/local/bin/git
Curl: 7.64.1 => /usr/bin/curl
Java: 1.8.0_172
macOS: 10.15.4-x86_64
CLT: 11.0.0.0.1.1567737322
Xcode: 11.5
XQuartz: 2.7.11 => /opt/X11

https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/issues/5002

This bug report, which is closed as expected behaviour, has this solution:

  MikeMcQuaid: Run xcode-select --install. If that doesn't work check for Mojave system updates. If that doesn't work reboot your machine and try both again. If that doesn't work try to download and install the latest CLT from https://developer.apple.com/downloads/more/

From the discussion under it, it seems you need to have both Xcode's CLT and the /Library CLT.


Is there any way to upload a screenshot from an iPad to this site (or other StackExchange sites)? So I capture a screenshot with my handy "[HOME]-[POWER]" combo, and draw freehand arrows on it in Adobe Ideas (because I like their line smoothing) to highlight my problem, but:

How do I upload this picture to Ask Different from the iPad?

Use Dropbox to upload it, then copy the link to the clipboard and paste it in your answer using the Markdown syntax: ![alt text](url)


Why is FAT16 limited to read-only with TrueCrypt on Snow Leopard? I'm experiencing a problem with TrueCrypt. The problem is described elsewhere but not resolved for me.

When attempting to mount encrypted containers, the following error is generated:

  hdiutil: attach failed - no mountable file systems

Other resources indicate that the problem is related to the version of MacFUSE.  I have tried a few versions but have been unable to find a pair that work for my system.

It would be great to:

get any fix suggestions
learn which version of MacFUSE is used successfully by someone in my situation.

My System:

Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard)
Mac Mini 1.66Ghz Core Duo
2 GB RAM
TrueCrypt 7.1A

Update 1

After switching from MacFUSE to FUSE for OS X (OSXFUSE), as suggested in answers:

TrueCrypt volumes could be mounted read only.

Attempts to mount with write access continued to fail with the above error.  I can't be sure whether this is new since I changed over.

Update 2

Read/write succeeds for a TrueCrypt container formatted as Mac OS Extended.

The container I wish to open was originally created on a Windows system.  diskutil info describes it as FAT16.  The size of the container is 10.5 MB on disk when not mounted.  When mounted as read only:

(Dates are a bit quirky?)

I have used TrueCrypt 7.1a on Mas OS X 10.6.8 with OSXFUSE 2.3.8 with no problems.   MacFuse is dead.  TrueCrypt's official Mac installer 7.1a installs OSXFUSE as did 7.1.  Not sure how you installed TrueCrypt but if not with the Mac installer, then uninstall what you have (including MacFuse) and install using the installer.

Also make sure you have read/write/ownership of the TC container file on the disk.


Photo location on IPhone 5s How can I determine the location a photo was taken on my iPhone 5s?  I've tried the photo app on the phone but the information is too general.

At present, third party applications offer better access to photo metadata than the built-in Photos app on the iPhone.

For example, Photo Investigator, can show you the specific GPS co-ordinates recorded in the picture's meta-data. Photos contain GPS data that's only as accurate as your phone's GPS system happened to be at the time the photo was shot. For example, a Photo Investigator screen shot shows:

That gives you the latitude, longitude and altitude metadata. I'll caution that this is the exact same data that's used to show the pin for the photo in the Photos application. So it's not any more accurate, though it is text-based so you can use the co-ordinates in other mapping software like Google Maps or Google Earth if you don't like the way the location is rendered in the Maps app on your iPhone.


Add and remove custom words from the Gboard iOS keyboard dictionary How do I add and remove custom words from the Gboard iOS keyboard's dictionary? This is the keyboard app made by Google for iOS devices.

It seems like it learns custom words after I manually type them out a few times, but how many times must they be typed out? And is pressing a space after the word necessary to register it as a word? Since I'll often go to Safari and type a custom word and hit Enter.

And removing custom words, the only way to do this seems to be to wait until Gboard auto-corrects a word I type to a custom word that I want to delete, then if I backspace and re-write the word, then after a few times of this, it will learn to remove that word. But otherwise, there doesn't seem to be any way to manually remove a custom word. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

Edit: One thing I realized is that custom words will not be added to Gboard's dictionary if they are typed into fields with autocorrect disabled, such as Safari's address bar, which is where I type most of my custom words.

Adding custom words is done by typing them once. Once typed once, the word will be available using Glide Typing. It may not have a high priority, but gliding accurately enough will choose it, and the more it is used the higher priority it becomes just like any other word.

Removing an individual custom word is not possible currently. You can clear the entire custom dictionary in Gboard → Keyboard Settings → Clear my dictionary.


Why is Chrome getting so slow when file vault is enabled? I recently enabled file vault to encrypt my disk but now Google Chrome is really slow and it seems to be related to the file vault. The slowness is in anything and everything I do in chrome: opening a new tab, opening a link or a bookmark, even switching to a different gmail inbox tab is slow. I've already changed my new tab page to be blank, which helped a little but it is still very slow.

My suspicion is that it is related to file vault encrypting Chrome cache. Is there a way to work around that?

I've solved this problem by moving my Chrome cache outside of my home folder as follows:

Closed chrome. Then in Terminal:

cd Library/Application\ Support
sudo mkdir -p /local/myusername/
sudo chown myusername:_lpoperator /local/myusername/
mv Google /local/myusername/
ln -s /local/myusername/Google

Update: I'm not entirely clear why this speeds things up again, since, as was noted in the comments, File Vault 2 actually does encrypt the entire disk, not just the home folder. But it does seem to work nonetheless.


Finder allows rename on Exposing desktop When I press F11, It directly shows me the current-desktop of OSX.

Now, Let me describe the issue ( which is an issue according to me ).

Step 1) open any finder window ( for example as follows. Here, I have selected 4.1 )

Step 2) Press F11 to bring the desktop

Step 3) Now, press enter ( which is basically for renaming if a folder/file is selected in finder screen )

Observe following screen

Now, My question is as follows.

Should OSX allow renaming even in expose mode ?
Should OSX set focus to desktop when user Presses F11 ?

It's a bug. Basically it's not setting focus onto the desktop, the focus is still on the Folder/File that you're renaming in the Finder window, the only difference is the Window is being 'drawn' off screen. If you do it then press F11 to slide it back in the rename box points will be a perfect fit.

It probably shouldn't allow it, and I've never even seen it before, so kudos for finding a pretty bizarre bug!


Startup disk has no more space available for application memory? I purchased a new Macbook Pro (8,3) last April, and have been using it heavily for xcode development, and little else.

This morning a message popped up:

"Your Mac OS X startup disk has no more space available for application memory"

It then suggests closing applications and removing files from my startup disk.

I presume this means virtual memory, however my disk has 600.26 GB available, according to Finder. I do have a time machine backup disk attached to the computer as well, but it has 664 GB available.

What does this message mean when there is certainly plenty of disk space remaining on the primary hard drive?

I have 8GB of RAM, a 750GB hard drive, and am running OS X 10.6.8. If any of the other system info is pertinent, let me know.

I've seen that message in programs like Photoshop that have their own virtual memory systems rather than just assuming the OS can handle RAM and memory allocation.

A reboot should clear things up. (safe mode boot might be nice if you want to run a full disk repair pass and then reboot normally)


Macs and local DNSMasq - clients keep forgetting results given by local DNS I have a number of Mac OS X El Capitan and macOS Sierra clients whose DHCP configurations give them the local IP address of a DD-WRT router with DNSMasq setup within my LAN.

This is so I can use server.example.com and have it go to 192.168.1.3 and not our public IP address, and is far easier to manage than editing the hosts file of every mac, and also doesn't affect portable Macs when they need to connect to the same hostname from outside the building.

However, repeatedly some Macs keep 'forgetting' the local DNS. For example, when the problem occurs, I can ping the server hostname and get the external public IP. I can then clear the DNS cache, run the ping again and it's now the correct local IP address.

Does anyone run a similar setup, and know of any common pitfalls or issues, and how to get around them?

Prior to using DNSMasq on a DD-WRT router, I was using the Mac OS X Server App's DNS ability, but found it to be very slow as the same server was running File Sharing for the studio, so it was moved off.

I have even thought about running a scheduled command (either on each Mac, or via some Remote Desktop Management script) to clear the DNS every few hours or so.

Yes - this has been a pain for a long time and many generations of networking hardware and software.

Personally, I've given up on running my own dns and now pick one of two items.

Use mDNS and host.local for resolution and let DHCP assign addresses from a pool.
Set DHCP reservations for each device I care to connect to and use http://xip.io to resolve that IP by name.

In your case, I use 192.168.1.3.xip.io in place of server.example.com where I need to put a FQDN in for resolving a server name. I've never had this be unstable, but if you do, there are other providers like http://nip.io do the same service.


My iPhone 4s has gotten stuck in 'Reset and Erase All' mode for hours I purchased an iPhone 4s, added it to my service plan, but discovered that it still had the old owners info on it.   The associate that I spoke with suggested restoring it via  Settings > General > Reset and Erase All. I did that but the phone has been stuck in restore mode for some three hours now. The associate indicated it would take only about 15 minutes to do the reset. Is this normal? How can I restore the phone?

If you prefer to have a flowchart to narrow down the cause of why an iOS device won't restore, try this assistant:

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/assistant/restore/

If you prefer to have a list of steps, this article should help:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808

Sadly, there are many, many reasons why restores fail, some are antivirus software being too protective, some are computer problems, some are hardware problems and others are missing drivers or just bad timing.

Once you narrow down which exact step fails in the lists above, you can ask a new question if you continue to have issues restoring your iPhone. More than 30 minutes usually means there is a problem that will prevent a good restore from finishing.


Can bash be replaced entirely in OS X? Because of CVE-2014-6271 and CVE-2014-7169 on OS X I was wondering: can bash be replaced entirely by another, non-affected shell (eg dash or others)?

First, you don't need to do this unless you are are offering web services to the public internet from your Mac. If you are not, wait until there is an official security update from Apple.

However, if you are offering web services, you might want to update.

Official Patch

Apple has released an Official Bash Security Update Here

Checking whether you are vulnerable

First confirm that you are using an outdated bash:

$ which bash
/bin/bash
$ /bin/bash --version
GNU bash, version 3.2.51(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin13)
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

The most current bash is 4.3.25

If you don't have Xcode installed, you'll need the Xcode command line tools, which can be installed by

$ xcode-select --install

Or from the developer portal.

To install Brew (http://brew.sh):

$ ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

Then do:

$ brew doctor

Follow any instructions if there are problems. Many common problems are addressed here.

Then update brew to the latest list of packages:

$ brew update

To get the latest bash 4.3.25:

$ brew install bash

This installs bash into /usr/local/Cellar/bash/4.3.25/bin/bash

The old bash and sh still exists at /bin, so after installing you'll rename the old executables to a new file.

$ sudo mv /bin/bash /bin/bash_old
$ sudo mv /bin/sh /bin/sh_old

If you are very paranoid, you can remove execute permissions on the bash_old

$ sudo chmod a-x /bin/bash_old /bin/sh_old

Then create a symbolic link to the new bash 4.3.25 that brew installed.

$ sudo ln -s /usr/local/Cellar/bash/4.3.25/bin/bash /bin/bash
$ sudo ln -s /usr/local/Cellar/bash/4.3.25/bin/bash /bin/sh

Reboot and it is complete.

A warning — this may break some existing shell scripts that might rely on bash 3.2 or the differences that the Mac sh has over the linux sh. There is a much more sophisticated answer to replacing bash and sh from sources in this post.

In most cases it is best to wait for official updates.


Strange message in terminal when visiting a website I have my terminal open most of the time. Today while I was searching for a software, search results took me to http://download.cnet.com. I didn't like the software, closed the page and carried on.
When I brought may terminal back up (it was open the whole time on the background) I had a strange message on the prompt saying
No permission to use the keyboard API for http://download.cnet.com

What is this and how the heck it has gained handle to may terminal and should I be worried?
P.S.
I visited another url from that domain and the same happened.
I'm running firefox on OS X 10.6.8
I launched firefox via terminal.

You are getting that message because you launched Firefox from the command line.

I assume that you used & to put Firefox into the background but that doesn't redirect the output so any error will get written to your terminal session. To stop that appearing you need to add 2> /dev/null before the &.

See this answer for more :

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18012930/how-to-redirect-all-output-to-dev-null

As for what the error means I assume that website has run some Javascript that hit Firefox's security system and bounced.


Is data transmitted over 3G secure? When data is transferred from my iPhone via 3G, is it encrypted, or is it relatively simple for a hacker to read the data that's transferred to AT&T's cell tower? What about after it reaches the tower?

3G can be secure or insecure, it's really down to the particular implementation.  If you are worried about your data while tethering or using a 3G iPad/iPhone then look at it this way, it's more secure than using free/unsecured WiFi hotspots/networks.

Really the answer to your question is that 3G is pretty secure, but it has its flaws.

3G is encrypted, the most common encryption algorithms have been cracked, with the right equipment somebody could intercept your information wirelessly.  However, they would need some knowledge, some money and some motivation to do it.  Then in addition to that, they would need your device to send unencrypted data (non https) so it could be deciphered.  All in all it's pretty unlikely but certainly possible that your information could be intercepted.  However, this is a risk for anyone transmitting data anywhere and is not isolated to 3G/WiFi or other mobile device communication methods.

Try a google search on 3G security and you'll find plenty of information on the flaws and security holes and how they might be exploited.

Just as an example, here are a couple of presentations:

3G Security Overview

blackhat.com powerpoint


Receiving "USB devices disabled: Unplug the device using too much power" upon login. Built-in keyboard and trackpad sometimes become unresponsive Hardware

Macbook Air 13" mid-2013 (running macOS Sierra) with no USB devices plugged in (except a Logitech wireless mouse that I never have plugged in while the laptop boots up).

Problem

I receive the message USB devices disabled: unplug the device using too much power once upon startup or logging in even when nothing's plugged into the USB ports.
The built-in keyboard and trackpad sometimes stop working. I suspect a logic board failure of some sort (but I'm no expert on hardware). However, they are always working upon starting up the machine, but only fail occasionally once I'm logged in to my user account.

These issues only started after recently recovering from a water spill (so that may have something to do with it). The laptop was dried with a fan for 5 days and works well still otherwise.

Here is one of the messages Console gives me:

  default   08:11:00.752541 -0500   kernel  000790.147865 HS02@14200000: AppleUSBHostPort::interruptOccurred: **overcurrent detected with port status 0x4000**, localSimulatedInterrupts = 0x0

How I've tried to fix it

I have taken it to the nearest Apple Store and had a Genius Bar employee run diagnostics. They told me that there were no apparent hardware issues, and that I would have to send the Macbook to a repair factory if the issues persist.
After cleaning the PCB with Q-tips and rubbing alcohol to remove any visible residue/dust, the keyboard/trackpad issues do not occur as often. However, they still happen once in a while.
I have also reset the SMC and NVRAM multiple times to no avail. I also deleted my Preferences.plist file as a friend suggested a corrupt Preferences.plist file can cause issues with the keyboard and trackpad.

Question

What can I try to fix my issues? I think these issues are probably a result of the water damage, but repairs can go up to $750 USD (so I was told) and the Genius Bar employee could not tell me what specifically was wrong with my Macbook. I would like some more info before I go and dump another few hundred dollars onto this thing, because if I have to pay $750, it may be more worth it to go and buy a new laptop instead.

TL;DR by @owlswipe

My Macbook's trackpad and keyboard spontaneously stop/start working after some water damage, and the USB ports spontaneously shut off too. What's the cheapest way to get this thing back into working order?

Also

This is what happens upon logging back in after a restart:

If there has been water damage that will have dried by now so the likelihood of water sloshing around causing this issue is near 0, however it may have caused corrosion to the trackpad, keyboard or main logic board.

You need to get Apple, or an Apple Authorised Service Provider to repair it. Alternatively you could seek third party service, or do the repair yourself.

The USB Over Current warning is associated primarily with the positive and negative rails having been short circuited (connected) causing more current than the allowed to flow, the USB chip puts that port into a disabled state to protect the computer from damage, this could be the result of corrosion inside creating particles that are shorting a component, or it could be that one of the connectors or wires has become corroded and has increased the resistance of that wire again causing a higher current draw and triggering the protective mode.

Self repair

If you decide to repair the computer yourself, you need to think about where the water was spilled, and how much, if it was only a small amount on the keyboard that could suggest that only keyboard replacement is necessary.

Anyway, first step is to backup data, and find a suitable take apart guide from a site such as iFixit, following these guides you can open the machine and look for signs of liquid damage on the keyboard, trackpad and main logic board.

Once you've identified where the liquid has damaged you can proceed to replace these components.


Can I easily replace keys in the new 2016 MacBook Pro? I am using the Dvorak keyboard map on my Mac, I used to just switch keys from the keyboard to have a nice Dvorak keyboard.

Does any one know if there is a simple way to replace keys on the new Mac Book Pro released this last fall?

I just removed two keys on mine: can't believe there's no good info out there on this yet. The clips are on all four corners of the key, but you should only pry the top edge of the key as the clips on the bottom are designed to slide off toward the bottom, rather than pull straight up. I used a thin piece of plastic (the plastic-only edge of a laminated tag) to pry the top edge. A credit card would probably work but might be a little stiff for the initial pry.

Once you have the top clips off slide the key down until the bottom clips are off as well. It's a nice flat surface underneath, I had no qualms about cleaning with a damp cloth. To replace the key slide the bottom clips on in an upward direction, then press the top clips into place once the key is centered in place.


iMovie: Crop and letterbox (ignore aspect ratio) I have a project in iMovie and I want to crop part of one of the included clips to a rectangle that isn't 16x9 or 4x3 or any standard aspect ratio. As far as I can see, iMovie will only let me crop in the shape of the current ratio.

How can I get iMovie to let me crop part of a clip to a nonstandard aspect ratio and letterbox the result?

Leaving this for future reference: now you can crop a video from the imported media section before adding it to the movie.

iMovie will add black bars automatically to fit the video, which you can control using the cropping tool on the clip after adding it to the movie.


Apple Coverage theft and loss I am planning to buy iPhone 11 Pro in US and move to India.

If I buy the iPhone and add AppleCare+ with theft and loss coverage, would I be covered in India?

Apple legal agreements are at https://www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/
The theft plan is specific to each US state, so you might have to read the entire document so you are comfortable with it.
Just as in the past, the plan may not cover you outside the country of purchase per the contract wording for the state of Minnesota plan.

4.1 Coverage Area
We may restrict your coverage benefit to the country where the Covered Device was originally purchased subject to section 6.2.

Assuming you have any coverage event other than loss, the new coverage looks the same as in the past. Covered wherever you are, but if you seek service outside US you either have to ship it back on your dime or accept local services if offered.
As a side note, there's no theft and loss coverage program available in India.  See Apple's India Sales & Support at https://www.apple.com/in/legal/sales-support/


opendirectoryd taking up 1/4 of the cpu and driving fans crazy on MacBook Air Since a couple of days my 2011 13" MBA (i5, 1,7Ghz) has a very strange issue which I don't know how to get rid of.

Every now and then (sometimes more times a day) a process called opendirectoryd takes up 99-101% of my CPUs. This causes the temperature to go up and after a short while the fans kick in. My MBA is logged in as part of an Active Directory Domain.

First I tried waiting a couple of minutes, but the process didn't stop. Rebooting the machine seems to always fix the problem, but that's not exactly my preferred solution for this problem.

For now I stick to force kill the process. I need to repeat this 1-2 times per iteration and then there's a undefined period of time in which I'm safe.

I'm not sure if it is related to the 10.7.2 update or to something else.

I found others having a similar problem. In that case it seems to be related to a Livescribe pen. While I have a Livescribe pen (updated to the latest version of the client software) I don't have any suspicious entries in Console.app.

Any help would be appreciated.

Here are the results of my investigation: https://superuser.com/a/426719/135263

--

As mentioned by @juanpablo, this may be caused by symlinks.

Apparently, if a symlink points to /home, autofs or automountd fire and take a lot of CPU to figure out that the place indeed doesn't exist.

Take a look at /etc/auto_home and /etc/autofs.conf.

To see if you're being hit by this particular problem, set

AUTOMOUNTD_VERBOSE=TRUE

option in autofs.conf, restart automountd

sudo launchctl stop com.apple.automountd

and review the syslog.log (you may use application: Console). You're affected by this problem if you see something like that:

May 20 17:53:43 xxx automountd[31709]: od_search failed

To workaround, edit the file /etc/auto_master and remove (or hash out #) the line starting with /home. Then run:

sudo automount -vc


Kotoeri Romaji layout for OSX I am trying to figure out how to change the Kotoeri Romaji keyboard layout to the Japanese default layout, using an external Apple US keyboard.

I'm currently running OSX 10.6.8 on a MacBook Pro 6,2.  I live in Japan and purchased the laptop along with the OS in Japan.  The default language for the OS is also set to Japanese.

Currently I am visiting family in the US and have an external US keyboard which I am trying to use.  Unfortunately the default Romaji layout for this keyboard in Kotoeri is set to "US".  I have checked the "Kotoeri preferences" section but the romaji layout selector does not have "Japanese 106 key" or anything like that listed.  It has a wide range of European layouts.

This is driving me nuts because, although the letters are in the same places, the punctuation on the Japanese layout is different, and after many years in Japan I've grown so used to programming with the Japanese layout that I can no longer touch type efficiently with the US one...

If someone could point me to a way to add options to the kotoeri Romaji layouts I'd be very grateful!

You can use the app Ukelele to fairly easily make a custom layout that puts the punctuation where you want it.

http://scripts.sil.org/ukelele

After making and installing a custom layout, you should be able to select it in the Kotoeri Preferences.