Using HD monitor with 2011 Apple Macbook Pro I was wondering if I can set up my laptop with a HD monitor. My computer is a 2011 Macbook Pro and doesn't have HDMI output, but it has the Thunderbolt one.

Do I just need to get a Thunderbolt cord and plug that into the monitor? Will it work if the monitor is a HD one?

Your machine will support up to 2560x1600 on an external monitor.
However, using a converter thunderbolt to HDMI will output max of 1920x1080. If the monitor you are planning to connect to your laptop is HD(720p) or Full HD (1080p) then you are good to go and can use a converter thunderbolt to HDMI. If the monitor's resolution is higher than 1080p then you will need a minidisplay port to display port adapter(mini display port is the same thing as thunderbolt, but it is cheaper to find it looking for a mini display port). Make sure that the monitor has a display port, otherwise you will need to use dual DVI cable with an apple adapter, which is well overpriced and may be considered as an overkill. Hope this helps.


On iOS and macOS birthdays are duplicated I've been experiencing duplicated birthdays on my laptop and iphone and couldn't find the answer. Every time someone's birthday it says tomorrow/today *name's* birthday and one more tomorrow/today *name's age* birthday.

Found a problem that my google calendar got contacts' birthdays as well as iCloud and that caused duplication.

Solved by simply unselecting google contacts calendar for contacts both on iPhone and MacBook in Calendar Preferences.


iPhone 4s downgrade from 9.2.1 to 9.0.2 can I downgrade my iPhone 4s iOS 9.2.1 to 9.0.2? I try using ipsw but it isn't signed at this moment. Can I create custom ipsw 9.0.2?

Its possible to downgrade my iPhone?

Thanks.

You can only downgrade if you saved an SHSH blob from the old version while Apple was still signing it. If you don't have an SHSH blob for 9.0.2 then it's too late now, and there's no way you can downgrade.


Mouse freezes when a second mouse is plugged in I use a wireless Logitech trackball for RSI reasons.  My wife uses a random dell usb mouse because she hates the trackball.  We have a single Mac mini and use fast user switching to change accounts.

On both accounts, the trackball stops tracking.  It'll move the cursor for a while and then stop mid-motion.  The buttons still work.

On the login window, the mouse works.  When I log in from there, it works for up to a minute.  Then it dies again.

I had no issues with this mouse on my previous machine (linux) and the issue started immediately when I switched to this mac.

Equipment:  2014 Mac Mini running Sierra.  Logitech m570 trackball.  Generic dell usb other mouse.

I might have fixed this.  Not sure yet, but it's been usable for a whole 10 minutes which is a new record.

The fix?  I shuffled usbs until I found a permutation that works.  Didn't think that would be a problem in 2017, but here we are.


Is it possible to preserve Light Table (or Album) ordering when exporting from Aperture? I'd like to export my Light Table to disk using a custom counter that preserves the ordering of the Light Table. Alternatively, I'd like to do the same for an Album.

Thoughts?

This always works for me as is in Aperture (v 3.1.2).

Are you pressing v to get to the browser view for the specific album or light table before exporting. You can drag things into manual order or specify any other sort like Date, Rating or other sorting. At that point when you export as versions, the counter takes the pictures in the order shown.

Here a pair of clips of Light Tables and the control for ordering.


Can I view websites on an iPad in an iPhone sized window? I'm trying to test out how my website looks on the iPhone, but all I have is an iPad. Is there a way to force the iPad into iPhone size view window?

Nope, you can't do that. But if you have a Mac, you can install Xcode from the Mac App Store for free.

It comes with an app called iOS Simulator which will let you run Mobile Safari on your Mac, including the resolution of older iPhones/iPods (non-retina display), new retina display iPhones, and the iPad's resolution.

It also implements all the touch screen Javascript events (eg: onmouseover is triggered when you tap instead of onclick, then onclick is triggered when you tap again), double tap to zoom into a DOM element, and will properly show you how things like fixed position CSS elements will appear, which is very different on Mobile Safari compared to regular desktop Safari, and it gives you all the iOS form elements (<select multiple> fields are completely different for example).

I'm not aware of any way to properly test your website on Windows or Linux, changing the browser window size is not good enough.


Downloading additional voices from command-line I am using a MacOS X server (to which I only have command-line access) to convert text to speech which is saved to sound files (using PyObjC). I would like to install some of the optional OS X voices (for example com.apple.speech.synthesis.voice.tom.premium) but I need to be able to do this through the command-line rather than via the System Preferences. Does anyone know a way to do this?

You can predownload the voice files to your App/Python package (or however you are distributing your app), and then write a script to move or copy the voice files to this folder:

/System/Library/Speech/Voices/

So:

  Download the voice files on your development machine
  Wrap them inside an assets folder or something like this
  Part of your Travis script can be to move the files first in the Voices folder on the mac
  And after that, you run your tests/other scripts


HP P4515 printer in 10.7.4 - what driver? HP's official support page lists the Laserjet P4515 as a compatible printer in 10.7 using the HP Print Software from Apple (per http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01664444&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en#N2473). However, the P4515 is not listed in my available printer software when installing a new printer.

Is there a different driver name I should be using which also matches the HP P4515 model?

It appears HP supports this printer with the P4014 series drivers.  Try installing them manually and use the Print and Scan page in System Preferences to add the printer to your machine.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/ProductList.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=135&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=3558788


macOS Big Sur Terminal command 'open' behaviour changed and I don't know how to get back to how it was in Catalina I updated my macOS to Big Sur 11.0.1 and it seems that they changed the way open command or rather launch services are acting in this version.
I have different versions/releases of my software on my machine in separate folders. Name of my .app is some-app.app (example). If I run this app with open some-app.app then this works perfectly fine and runs my application.
Now if I navigate my Terminal to a different folder with the same .app name and I try to use same command it is actually going to bring up the existing one already running. This is incorrect as this is 2 different instances of app.
I tried renaming one of them thinking this might have something to do with it but no luck, it still brings up already open application.
Please note that I have also checked the process COMMAND by using ps aux and the command of the first app is clearly pointing to correct folder and correct name - which is different then the second instance that I'm trying to run.
I'm also aware of the fact that I could run my app from Contents/MacOS folder inside the package but that is not the solution I am looking for.
Any ideas what could have changed from Catalina that this is happening?

For now it seems that open -n someapp.app was the solution. I'm not sure if I will run into issues later down the line where I'm not able to use this command but it works at the moment.
Thank you @nohillside for the idea.
UPDATE: What I've done is alias open="open -n" and it seems so far that this is now working same as it was working pre-Big Sur :)


Will the 2018 Mac mini be able to use my 2011 iMac in Target Display Mode? I'm currently using a 2015 MacBook Pro and using a Thunderbolt cable to my 2010 27 inch iMac as the screen in Target Display Mode. I want to upgrade the MacBook Pro to a Mac mini, which has Thunderbolt 3, not Thunderbolt 2.

Will the Mac mini do that, and will I need an adaptor or something?

I think I found the answer, buried deep in Apples support doc for the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adaptor.

  This adapter is not compatible with displays that use DisplayPort or
  Mini DisplayPort, such as the Apple LED Cinema Display. Thunderbolt
  and Thunderbolt 2 are not the same as Mini DisplayPort , though the
  ports have the same shape.

Apparently Thunderbolt 3 does not pass mini display port signals, so target display mode will not work if you have an older iMac or monitor that uses mini display port.

This makes a big difference to me, as I will have to buy a new monitor if I go ahead with a mac mini. At least thats what it looks like from the doc. I'd welcome anyone who has actually done this.


Can Mid 2015 Macbook Pro Run 3 External Monitors? I have a mid 2015 MacBook Pro, and I want to run three external monitors - it only seems to power 2 of them. I can seem to run any combination but only two. I am powering them through 1 X thunderbolt to dvi, 1 X thunderbolt to VGA, and 1 XHDMI.

Can this be done?

YES.  It can be done if your MBP has the extra graphics chip AND you use Displayport as one of the monitor inputs.  Click on "About this Mac"  "System Report" "Graphics/Displays" and look to see if it has 2 graphics chips one of them being "AMD Radeon R9 M370X"

My experimentation has taught me this:

2012 MBPR with extra graphics chip can drive 2x TB-DVI + 1x HDMI
2015 MBPR with single integrated graphics can only drive 2x of any combination as poster indicates (it cannot drive the combination in #3 below)
2015 MBPR with extra graphics chip can NOT drive 2x TB-DVI + 1X HDMI but it CAN drive 1x TB-DVI + 1x TB-DisplayPort + 1x HDMI as one of the answers here indicates.

I don't know what changed between 2012+extra graphics and 2015+extra graphics to require that one of the displays be using displayport input (vs DVI/HDMI/VGA).  Wish there was a way as I now need to get another monitor...


Apple Music upload/download quality If high-quality music files are integrated into the iTunes Media/Music/ folder, and the user uploads content to iCloud by subscribing to iTunes Music, and those files are then downloaded to other devices of the user; do those files when they are on the other devices have the same bit depth and sample rate that they had prior to being uploaded into Apple Music? I.e., are they bit-by-bit the same files that were initially added to the iTunes folder?

When you subscribe to iTunes Match the individual files that you added to your iTunes library on your Mac are not uploaded to iCloud. Instead they are matched with the existing high quality music files made available by Apple.

These are then downloaded on any new device that you access your library from.


Will Lion install MySQL with it? I had MAMP running on my laptop. I use MySQL a lot. I kinda messed with the user file permission and I fixed it , in that process I changed some password in MySQL config files. So now SQL does not work even though MAMP runs perfectly.

I was planing on installing OS X Lion. I am wondering if upgrading to Lion will install MySQL and all its packages? Will it fix the problem? Or should I have to reinstall MySQL even after I upgrade?

No, I don't believe Lion comes with any sort of SQL server pre-installed.


Mac automatically restarts after shutdown I was using Win 10 on my 2017 21.5" iMac before, but formatted it and installed Mac Mojave again. Here format means I've formatted the data disk as well as system disk, merged all partitions and make only one volume. And installed Mojave.

Now if I select "Shutdown" in the Finder menu the Mac always automatically restarts instead. I am using power button to shutdown the computer. Sometimes, the computer restarts itself - without any action. Weird.

How can I fix or diagnose this?

I used to work as an Apple technician and I'v had several Macs that describe your issue, but they were only laptops. The issue with them was liquid damaged. Now you thinking how the h'll can an iMac get liquid damaged, but I can tell you, I'v actually seen it myself. So it's possible but maybe not in your case.

I recommend to let an Apple technician look at it. Water damage causes a fault in the circuitry, but the same fault can happen from other causes or just rare breakage.


Resetting MBR on iMac I installed Ubuntu on my iMac (partially successfully) I had rEFIT installed but it did not recognize the Ubuntu installation.

I removed the partition and rEFIT and now when I attempt to install Windows on a new partition created using BootCamp, pressing OPTION does not show the Windows USB created with Boot Camp, nor is the Apple Recovery or whatever partition that was available before.

It seems that my MBR is messed up or something?

I came across OSX86TOOLS and it seems to be able to install EFI and what not, however I'm not certain hat's exactly what I need to do.

Below is from Partition Inspector from rEFIT:

  * Report for internal hard disk *

  Current GPT partition table:  #      Start LBA      End LBA  Type  1
  40       409639  EFI System (FAT)  2         409640    624880263  Mac
  OS X HFS+

  Current MBR partition table:  # A    Start LBA      End LBA  Type  1
  1    625142447  ee  EFI Protective

  MBR contents:  Boot Code: None

  Partition at LBA 40:  Boot Code: None (Non-system disk message)  File
  System: FAT32  Listed in GPT as partition 1, type EFI System (FAT)

  Partition at LBA 409640:  Boot Code: None  File System: HFS Extended
  (HFS+)  Listed in GPT as partition 2, type Mac OS X HFS+

OSX86TOOLS -> https://code.google.com/p/osx86tools/

Any ideas/advice?

Boot from an install DVD or USB key (If you have one).

From the first installer page choose Disk Utility from the Tools menu.

Check to see if it finds your partition.

Verify/Repair it.

Then, from Tools, choose Startup Disk, and see if you can set your system partition.

If you don't have an install DVD or USB key there are plenty of instructions around on how to do it.

iPartition can change partition schemes without wiping the disk if it comes to that. It's a great tool to have, I've used it a lot for various disk activities over the years, with Linux, Windows, and OSX partitions.

You need a GUID disk to boot OSX normally, not sure how you had it working with an MBR. Disk Utility will normally tell you what you have and how to correct it, if it can.

This is similar: HD accidentally reformatted to MBR, how to get back to GUID?

Long story short - make sure you back up your disk, you're probably going to be reformatting it.


Tracking Sleep with the new watch Is there built in functionality for the Watch 3 to track my sleep patterns?  Is there anything that figures out sleep cycles and duration, and tracks heart rate at the same time for a prelimnary analysis?

The Apple Watch doesn't currently have built-in sleep tracking functionality. However, there are some excellent third-party apps that can track your sleep. Sleep++ is one of the more popular options, and it's free. However, Sleep++ doesn't track heart rate itself, instead leaving you to use the Apple Health app's built-in heart rate tracker. Another great choice is Sleep Diary, which does track heart rate, and seems to have a wealth of features.

This is just from some quick research - I don't personally do any sleep tracking with my Apple Watch, as I charge it overnight.


How do I set the window minimize and maximize speed without using the shift-key I would like to setup my computer (Macbook running snow leopard) so that it will maximize and minimize the windows slowly. I know that this can be done by holding on the shift key while minimizing but can I set it as default so that I don't have to hold the shift key down?

You can do so by using the Applescript below. You'll need CornerClick and you can find more info on MacWorld.

tell application "System Events"
  keystroke "m" using command down
  key down shift
  delay 0.3
  key up shift
end tell

tell application "System Events"
  set proc to name of the first process whose frontmost is true
  tell process proc
    -- add error trapping here
    tell its window 1
      set w to its name
      if get value of attribute "AXMinimized" is false then
        tell application "System Events"
          keystroke "m" using command down
          key down shift
          delay 0.3
          key up shift
        end tell
      end if
    end tell
    --
  end tell
end tell

say "Collapse" using "Alex"


Change carrier settings in iPhone post iOS7, possible? I recently moved to a new country, and got a new SIM for use over there. The sim came with an old no-name android phone, that works fine (can use data, call, text, all).

When I insert the same sim in my iPhone 5 with iOS 7.1, it can receive calls & texts, but not make calls, send texts or use the data connection. I assume this is because it still has my old carriers settings. Pre iOS 7 there was a setting to change carrier settings, but it seems to be gone? Is it possible to go around this, with or without jailbreaking?

If it's of interest, I changed from ePlus in Germany to Softbank Prepaid in Japan.

Just go to http://www.unlockit.co.nz on your iPhone and follow the instructions. There are similar sites as well that do the same thing, and you don't even have to be jailbroken. There are some tweaks that enable the APN settings in the Cellular section of the Settings app, though, if that's what you really want.


Which 27" monitor for mac mini at lower resolution to look larger? I'm considering getting an HP Z27 (4K UHD) or HP Z27n G2 (QHD) for my mother.  She has a (2018?) mac mini.  I plan to turn it to a lower resolution so that everything looks larger, because it would help her to see.

If the resolution will be lower, is there any point UHD, or is QHD just fine?  Or does even QHD not work well if I turn the resolution down?

The two HP 27" models that you mention in your question are the very same two that The Wirecutter recommends in its review of the best 27-inch monitors. According to the article, current (Sept 2019) pricing is US$540 for the 4K/UHD/2160p version, and US$340 for the 2.5K/QHD/1440p version. Based on your description of the intended use for the display, I'd say QHD resolution will be just fine.

If your mother would be satisfied with a 24" display, you can save some money by buying a display of that size. The Wirecutter's review of the best 24-inch monitors recommends the Dell UltraSharp U2415 (currently US$225) for QHD/1440p resolution, and the Asus VS239H-P (US$130) for FHD/1080p resolution. At the 24" size, either resolution should work fine for your intended purpose.


How can I force specific HiDPI modes? I have a 13" MBP (Early 2011) plugged it to a Dell U2711 monitor via DisplayPort.

I have successfully enabled HiDPI mode, using Quartz Debug the problem is that the screen won't run at the HiDPI equivalent of the screen's native resolution. i.e 1440x720 HiDPI (2560x1440). The screen's maximum resolution of 2560x1440 is recognised & working.

The best it will do is 960x720HiDPI (1920x1440), which seems strange as most of the documentation suggests HiDPI will only work at pixel doubling resolutions.

Is it possible to force the MBP to run the display at 1440x720 HiDPI on a screen that supports 2560x1440 native pixel resolution?

After a lot of messing about I managed to get this working in two ways.

The first is by using the Retina Display Manager I found on reddit.
This gives a menu with all the available display modes, but try the second method first.
Screenshot 1 (Warning, large file)
The second I found after using Retina Display Manager, to my surprise the Displays pane in System Preferences was reporting it was running in 720p mode.
This mode is actually 1280x720 HiDPI (2560x1440).
Screenshot 2 (Warning, large file)

Yay!

I was going to embed screenshots of these new menus, but they are now insanely huge due to HiDPI mode, so I just linked to them instead.


Hide Apple menu on second monitor How to hide the menu bar that shows up on the second monitor? I tried searching in the following settings:

Finder preferences ⌘,
System settings :: Desktop & Screensaver
System settings :: Displays

I thought it would be on SS :: Displays :: Arrangement, where we position the menu in one screen or another dragging the white box, but nope. I'm running OS X 10.9.4.

Found the answer in this blog post Hide The Menu Bar On Your Secondary Monitor With Mavericks. Uncheck the option "separate Spaces" on Mission Control:


How to open Google Drive links directly in Google Drive app Is there a way to do this?
Currently, the GDrive links I click in my emails open in Safari.

Is this currently a limitation of the app (or iOS 7)? Is there a configuration I can change?

Apparently you can prepend the url with the respective Google app to which it belongs. So if it is a Google Sheet, prepend the url with Googlesheets://. If it is a doc, I'm guessing you would use Googledocs://
So if the url is http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/Google-document/, amend it with the appropriate app prefix (in this case Googlesheets:// like so: Googlesheets://http://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/Google-document.
PS: The issue is discussed at length here.


Preview auto-open of PNG files after being downloaded from Safari How can I make PNG files be automatically opened after being downloaded from Safari?

This might be related to a preference in Safari rather than Preview.

Open Safari, then Preferences, then go to the General tab. If the option to 'Open "safe" files after downloading' is checked, uncheck it and that may stop Preview opening the downloaded image automatically.


How to disable the Trackpad zoom in Chrome or TextEdit In Chrome or Textedit I always accidently end up zooming with the build-in trackpad on MBA with Mountain Lion. How do I disable the trackpad function for zooming in application specific.

Looking into the com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad.plist it is not clear what function is it and how do I disable it in Terminal.

From the example:

defaults write com.google.Chrome.plist AppleEnableSwipeNavigateWithScrolls -bool FALSE

I was thinking of doing the:

defaults write com.google.Chrome.plist AppleEnableZoomWithTrackpad -bool FALSE

But I do not know the actual entry name for it.

I managed to disable it using BetterTouchTool (http://blog.boastr.net/) an awesome freeware app that lets you customize trackpad gestures on a per-app basis. I just added two gestures for chrome (one for pinch-out and one for pinch-in) and assigned no action to them. BTT overrides the OS's gesture recognition and disables pinch to zoom.

The pinch-to-zoom was conflicting with the other BTT gestures I set for Chrome (rotating gesture to switch tabs), and Chrome was always resizing my web pages whenever I switched tabs with my gesture. This trick ended it.


How to delete iBooks.app Is there any way to delete apps that were added by Apple in the Mavericks 10.9 update? In particular, I'm talking about iBooks.app. When I try to delete it, OS X tells me that it can't be because it's required by OS X.

close iTunes

via terminal.app

sudo killall bookstoreagent
sudo tar -czf /Applications/iBooks.tar.gz /Applications/iBooks.app
sudo rm -fr /Applications/iBooks.app

keeps you a working backup, just in case you need it back:

cd /Applications
sudo tar -xzf /Applications/iBooks.tar.gz

there is no need to alter any other files, nor to play with LaunchAgents or Daemons. Once the App is gone, iTunes gains back the books functionality. I read some evil suggestions on the interwebs.


airplayit replacement I was using Aitplayit on my iPhone and iPad and it worked perfectly.  After updating to iOS 7, it no longer works properly. After visiting their website over some time, it definitely appears its no longer supported.

I looked for replacements, and I tried a few, but none seemed to work as well as Airplayit did.

Any suggestions for a replacement?

PS I use a PC for the server

Use.  Streamtomeme

It is much better than airplayit and has windows server software.

http://zqueue.com/streamtome/

The app is $2.99.  But we'll worth it.   Server is free


Search for .bashrc or other dotfiles in Finder When I search for files in my home folder that have a filename equal to ".bash_history", I don't get any results, even though that file is there. How can I search for dotfiles in Finder? (I know how to find them in the terminal, however, some programs such as Integrated Development Environments have an open dialog that forces you to go through the Finder to locate the file you want to open).

In pretty much any Open or Save dialog in OSX Yosemite (and several previous versions) you can type shift + ⌘ commmd + . to make invisible files visible within the dialog.

So you can easily open TextEdit (or any given app).

Type ⌘ command + O.

Type shift + ⌘ command + . to reveal invisibles.

Type shift + ⌘ command + G in the Open Dialog and enter ~ (tilde) in the Go-To field to navigate to your home directory.

Type . + P to get to .profile or very close thereto.

Or as AMR says if you know it you can paste the whole path to the desired file in the Go-To field and get directly to it.

If necessary you can always display invisible files in the Finder itself.  I've got this function in ~/.profile to toggle them on/off.

#--------------------------------------------------------------------
# Task: Finder — Toggle All-Files-Visible On/Off
# dMod: 2015/07/29 02:48
# Test: Yosemite
#--------------------------------------------------------------------

function toglffvis()
{

if [ $(defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles) = 1 ]; then
    defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -boolean false
else
    defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -boolean true
fi

sleep 0.2;
killall Finder;

}

#--------------------------------------------------------------------


Os X El Capitan: will System Integrity Protection patch .AppleSetupDone exploit/hack? I'm unsure whether this was possible in OS X Yosemite, however OS X Mavericks has a security flaw in which : Should a individual have physical access to a computer, he need only launch in Single User Mode, mount the hard drive and remove the file ".AppleSetupDone" in the Directory "/var/db/". In doing so, tricking the computer into thinking it is its first ever launch and allowing the individual to setup a new Admin account.

OS X El Capitan apparently has this new security feature known as System Integrity Protection, which limits root access to an array of Directories including: /system, /bin, /sbin, /usr, /etc, /tmp and /var.

My Question is:

Will System Integrity Protection protect the executable .AppleSetupDone from deletion, and the subsequent exploit?

No. .AppleSetupDone isn't an executable, it's just an empty file. SIP does not include /tmp or /var. These are directories that need to remain write able during normal use.


move a file, replacing existing (if any), ideally by putting existing in the trash I am trying to find a way to automatically (without user intervention) move a file from A to B, replacing B if it exists, ideally by putting the existing copy of B into the appropriate Trash folder.

This will be done in a shell script. Eventually A and B will beed to be $VARIABLES like this:

/usr/bin/osascript <<EOT
tell application "Finder"
    move POSIX file "$SOURCE" to POSIX file “$DEST" with replacing
end tell
EOT

but I can’t even get this to work without variables, such as this:

/usr/bin/osascript <<EOT
tell application "Finder"
    move POSIX file "/Users/luomat/Desktop/1.txt" to POSIX file "/Users/luomat/Desktop/2.txt" with replacing
end tell
EOT

I took that syntax pretty much directly from Stackoverflow 14058061 but I get this result:

24:132: execution error: Finder got an error: AppleEvent handler failed. (-10000)

I also came across a MacTech article which suggested using replacing true so I tried:

/usr/bin/osascript <<EOT
tell application "Finder"
    move POSIX file "/Users/luomat/Desktop/1.txt" to POSIX file "/Users/luomat/Desktop/2.txt" replacing true
end tell
EOT

but it still says:

24:132: execution error: Finder got an error: AppleEvent handler failed. (-10000)

Please note that stackoverflow #12708195 I am not trying to prompt the user to do this, but ideally would like it to happen ‘automagically’ as the kids say.

So… what am I doing wrong and/or missing?  Trying to Google for information on error code (-10000) pretty much tells me that it means “AppleScript failed” which isn’t all that helpful.

I need to do some more research to get this right.  I feel like its close, but applescript still doesn't like it.  Maybe it will give you some ideas until I get back here to give it another shot.  Btw this is going to be so much easier when you are using the choose file dialog.

heres my non-working (yet) attempt.  If you don't be me to it ill try to finish the solution tomorrow.

# 1. get desktop folder
set desktopFolder to (((path to desktop from user domain) as string)) as alias

# 2.set source file
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set theFile to ((path to file "1.text" of folder (desktopFolder)) as string) as   alias

# 3.set destination file
tell application "Finder" to ¬
set theDestination to ((path to file "2.text" of folder (desktopFolder)) as string) as alias

# 4.make it happen
tell application "Finder" to move theFile to theDestination with replacing


iPhone storage is full while iCloud is empty What can I send to iCloud and how do I do that? My iPhone is full and my iCloud has barely been used. Can you help me please?

The biggest thing that takes up storage is photos. If you're running iOS 9 or later, then go to Settings -> iCloud -> Photos and enable iCloud Photo Library. Then, make sure optimize iPhone storage is checked. Also, delete any apps that you may not use. Pay close attention to games. They eat up the most space. Switching to a streaming music service like Music or Spotify will also let you free up space by deleting music on your device.


repair EXFAT external disk My photos disk seems to have issues. Osx cannot mount it again. Also, the first aid utility is not successful

dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *2.0 TB     disk2
   1:               Windows_NTFS Fotos                   2.0 TB     disk2s1

sudo fsck_exfat -d disk2s1
Opening /dev/rdisk2s1
fsck_exfat: Can't open /dev/rdisk2s1: Resource busy

How can I recover the data? Is it possible to repair the partitions?

edit

I just found:

  How can I repair a disk that Disk Utility says it can't repair?
  You may not need to repair the disk!

  Is this an external drive you're sharing between a Mac and a Windows
  PC? I've had this issue a few times with a disk formatted FAT32. If
  you don't unmount your disk properly when you remove it from your
  Windows PC, the whole volume will be marked as "busy" and you'll be
  prompted to repair the volume if you look at it in Apple's Disk
  Utility. However Disk Utility will fail to repair the volume, and
  report: Can't open (Resource busy) File system check exit code is 8.

  The fix is easy, just plug that drive back in to a Windows PC, and
  unmount it properly before plugging it into your Mac.

Finally, I tried Windows 10 own recovery tool. This one worked and could recover fix the issues.


iMessage altered on iPad iPhone Have a copy of iMessages and one in the string is a photo I did not send and looks like it was sent with my name.  I know you can delete messages from iMessage string.
How is it possible that one I never sent was inserted?

It is very difficult to answer from your description. The most likely reasons are:

a) You forgot that you sent it.

b) You sent it without knowing that you did so.

c) Someone borrowed one of your devices and send it on your account.

d) You gave your iMessage password to someone, or they guessed it, and they sent the message on your account.

It is much more unlikely that it happened due to Apple employees manipulating your iMessages or NSA staff doing the same - and much more unlikely than bugs in the iMessage system letting other people's images appear as being sent from you.


Internet browsing problems when the Mac is bound to a Microsoft server with Active Directory I have set up Active Directory on my Mac and I can log in and authenticate fine to the server. When I try to browse the Internet, there is an error which says "The user could not be determined by the Single Sign-on agent". I believe the Internet is filtered through Bluecoat, so I was wondering how to browse the Internet as it's trying to request my Active Directory username but the browser is not picking it up.

I've had a look at the settings in Safari, but I just can't see anything about this.

I tried using Authoxy but I still can't browse or go to the app store. I have no problems with Active Directory as I can log in and can see all the other computers and servers.

Sounds like your proxy server requires NTLM authentication (this is a way in Windows where the logged in Windows session is used to transparently authenticate to the proxy). Authoxy supports this on OS X.


Installing OS X not from App Store This question might have been answered somewhere but have not been able to find it. So, I have a Mid-2009 MacBook Pro where I am still running OS X Yosemite since I forgot to update to OS X El Capitan when it was on the App Store before they changed it to macOS Sierra.

If I try to install macOS Sierra through the App Store it doesn't let me because it says that:

"This version of macOS 10.12 cannot be installed on this computer."

I started looking to see if I can find OS X El Capitan but there is no result through the Mac App Store nor Apple Developers site. So my last resort was through Google, where I found several options on where to download OS X El Capitan version 10.11.

So, my main question is if I download from these third party websites, can I install on top of my current OS like it is done through the App Store or do I have to do a clean install?

Would appreciate any help.

You have installed Yosemite before, look in the AppStore whether Yosemite is in your purchased items. This is one Option to install Yosemite and upgrade to El Capitan.

You can download El Capitan with this direct link from App Store. But I'm not sure whether this link work for you, try it.
Cannot offer other download links because many sites where you can download this are not clear trusted sites.

Third Option, went to next appstore or similar Mac shop and get a copy of El Capitan if possible. You have also the option to contact the Apple Support.


Use Apple TV and iPad 2 in a car How can I use an Apple TV with the iPad 2 where there is no internet WiFi? e.g. in a car?

It can't be done. If you want to watch media on the iPad in a car, copy the media (music, movie, TV show, photo) to the iPad via iTunes before you leave.


iOS 9.3.5 in iPad Mini 1 I have a first-generation iPad mini (model MD529LL/A, A1432, 32GB) running iOS 8.4.1. I use it mostly for web browsing with Safari and Chrome, email with Gmail, reading PDFs with iBooks and Adobe Acrobat, maps with Google Maps. It's not the fastest experience but it works just fine.

However, some apps no longer support iOS 8 and I'm considering upgrading the iPad to iOS 9.3.5, the latest version supported for this model.

Will this upgrade make my iPad feel much slower?

What other downsides should I be aware of?

I think you can expect some slowdowns, especially in the time it takes to launch some apps. Here's an excerpt from an article that compared iOS 8 and 9 on the iPad mini:

The decrease in app responsiveness is a disappointment considering Apple's claims, but we have to consider that we are dealing with old hardware that just doesn't seem to handle Apple's new Metal API/compiler particularly well. At least flicking through home screens is reasonably smooth, even if using complicated apps isn't - scrolling through the Guardian app on the iPhone 4s or iPad mini is surprisingly juddery.
At least the iPhone 4s gained some battery life from the update to iOS 9 - the 40 minute (approximately 9 per cent) increase in our Web use test, as well as Low Power Mode, suggests that in everyday use you'll be less likely to feel battery anxiety. The iPad mini showed no signs of extra life after updating to iOS9. We should stress that both devices on test have been in constant use since their launches three and four years ago, so both devices have suffered battery fatigue. We're only interested in the comparative times, allowing for a few per cent margin of error due to climatic conditions affecting the battery chemistry in the devices.

Something further to consider is that not all new iOS 9 features are enable on the 1st gen iPad mini. Again, from the same article:

Apple's latest iOS brings plenty of new and useful features, but most are confined to newer hardware. For example, none of the new multitasking features are available for the iPad mini. You'll need at least an iPad mini 2 or iPad Air to invoke picture-in-picture and Slide Over, while only the iPad mini 4, iPad Air 2 or iPad Pro can handle side-by-side Split View.

So, you'll have to balance that against the increased security, new features that are enabled, and increased app compatibility that iOS 9 will bring to your iPad mini.
And, if you end up installing iOS 9 on your iPad mini and regretting it, downgrading back to iOS 8 is no longer an option. So, one other downside (if you can really call it that) to consider is that iOS 8 to iOS 9 on your iPad mini will be a one-way trip.


Mavericks Finder spins when opening folders Since upgrading to Mavericks, Finder sometimes hangs when I select a folder and am waiting for its contents to populate the window. This happens primarily in Open dialog boxes:

It'll spin for about 15-30 seconds before showing the items in that folder. I can "Go to folder" and it'll usually show the contents immediately in that case. Why does it spin, and is there a way to make it faster? (It should be instant. I don't go to folders with thousands or even hundreds of items.)

Clarifications: These are just regular, local folders, usually in my home directory... not Remote Disc or network shares or anything fancy. It's an early 2013 Retina MBP, so it has a solid-state drive.

There are a number of Apple Support Communities discussions regarding this, and a number of possible fixes given. To summarise in case one works for you:

Disable Finder App Nap

This seems to fix it for almost everyone on ASC who had Finder working fine in 10.8 but now is 'broken' in 10.9.

sudo defaults write com.apple.Finder NSAppSleepDisabled -bool YES

…then log out and back in with 'Reopen windows when logging back in' disabled.
Clear Finder Caches

Empty ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.finder and restart Finder.

rm -r ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.finder/ && killall -HUP Finder

Reset Finder Preferences

Related to above — delete both preference files used by Finder:

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple/sidebarlists.plist

Reindex Spotlight

sudo mdutil -E /

Change the 'Show Scroll Bars' setting

It seems that it can be fixed by changing the scroll bar setting in System Preferences → General from When Scrolling to Always.
Repair Permissions

Try repairing permissions in Disk Utility.


iPad apps transferring to iPhone through iCloud If I download any app on my iPad will it download itself to my iPhone? The iPhone & iPad share the same iCloud account.

In settings->Itunes & App Stores you can choose whether to enable automatic downloads for apps purchased on other devices.

Assuming the app is compatible on both this means if you turn it on for Apps on your phone, then it will download itself to the phone after purchasing on the iPad.


select all the text in a iPad Pages document is it possible to select all the text in a Pages document with a simple action?

If so, how?

if not, is there any trick to change the font in all of the paragraphs in a document?

Touch your finger anywhere on the document and hold for a second. Then remove your finger and a pop-up menu should enable you to "Select all".


OS X 10.9.4 shows wrong used disk space The used disk space reported in About My Mac is inconsistent (MacBook Air, mid 2012).

Notice that the used space for Apps is greater than my disk size. I tried different ways to fix it (Disk Utility, fsck command, etc.), but nothing helps.

Any suggestions?

These values come from the Spotlight index. So you could try rebuilding the Spotlight index to fix these values.

There are simple instructions from Apple here on how to rebuild the Spotlight index.

You can also do it from the command line using the mdutil command. You'll be prompted for your password to run this command.

sudo mdutil -E /

Please note, whichever way you perform this task, it will take a while to run.


Can I stop Mac while FileVault is Decrypting? As I asked above, I am leaving work and I have to bring my computer home.

Can I close the screen and resume it later?

Yes. FileVault encryption / decryption pauses when on battery power, at shutdown, and at sleep. It will continue when you plug it in and log in.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204837


Why does my MacBook's screen continually dim and brighten without my input? My MacBook Pro screen constantly dims and brightens.  The automatic box is unchecked.  The brightness adjustment button is constantly moving back and forth.

Go your System Preferences, select "Displays", and uncheck Auto-adjust Brightness.


How to mount Linux_RAID on OS X I have a NAS that broke and it used linu_RAID as its format type. How do I mount this in OS X?

Similar to this one...
https://superuser.com/questions/307639/how-can-i-mount-a-single-raid-1-disk-partition-as-ext3

I found out it wasn't ext using the following command...

sudo dd if=/dev/disk2s4 of=../disk1s3.header bs=1024 count=2

This told be it was XFS so I used fuse-xfs and it works as long as I access it with root privileges.


Photoshop CS6 and NetBeans very sluggish and laggy on new rMBP 2014 So I have this problem with Photoshop CS6 and NetBeans being very sluggish and laggy on my new rMBP 2014 15" 16GB RAM. It's running perfectly fine on my iMac 2009 21" 4GB RAM school computer, except for the occasional lag of RAM.

Activity Monitor shows that there's plenty of RAM and CPU power at all times, and still it's so sluggish and laggy.

Specs:
Processor  2,2 GHz Intel Core i7,
Memory  16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3,
Graphics  Intel Iris Pro 1024 MB,
Software  OS X 10.9.5 (13F34)

Does anyone have any idea on what is causing this and how I could possibly fix it?

One trick is to drag their preferences files out onto the desktop and restart the apps - they will build new ones, though you'll have to enter your settings again.

You might check if these are taking App Naps - look in Activity Monitor.


Prevent TextEdit from opening for unknown file types that are plain text TextEdit is used by the system so it can't be removed, but I have another text editor I use and it causes confusion when text files that don't have a suffix or don't have a suffix which I've already associated with my real text editor open in TextEdit.

An example of this getting really strange in a workflow is if I've selected many files that I want to edit and open them all up at once, and some are in my real editor and others have opened in TextEdit in the background, but I'm unaware of that. Another example is simply knowing that I opened a file some time back, but not being able to find it anywhere in my text editor because it is actually sitting there in TextEdit.

I don't mind that .rtf files or .doc files open with TextEdit but I would like to make it so that a plain text file of an unknown type or one which hasn't been actively associated with my real text editor will never open up in TextEdit. Is there any way to do that? I'm using 10.8.3.

I think this answer here is what you're looking for:

How does Mountain Lion set the default text editor for the "open -t" terminal command?

To change default text editor to e.g. textmate, execute this command in terminal then restart:

    defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSHandlers -array-add
'{LSHandlerContentType=public.plain-text;LSHandlerRoleAll=com.macromates.textmate;}'


Apple mail unable to reply or close windows Whenever I try to reply (or reply all) to any email through the mail app, an empty new message window opens that I can type in but all the buttons (send, attach etc.) are greyed out and I cannot close the window without restarting the mail app. Has made the app complete unusable except for reading emails. Any ideas how to fix this?

In my case the following approach has fixed this issue, for the time being at least:

(Using Mail.app version 9.2)

Go to Mail > Preferences and select the 'Composing' tab. In the section of preferences relating to 'Responding' and change the settings so that they are the opposite of what you normally use. Save the changes.

I then quit Mail. (In my case I then restarted the machine as well - for a wholly separate and unrelated reason, but I don't know if that's a critical step or not, certainly won't do any harm.) Re-launch mail, and I found that replying to a message now conforms to the new preferences that I've set.

I then re-edited the preferences to set them back to what I wanted. Tried a new reply, and it works - the target addresses are in place, the text of the original is there and quoted.

I guess the issue may have been due to the original preference settings getting corrupted in some way. I'll keep it under review, and if it stops working again anytime soon, I'll aim to add a comment here.


Running shell commands with Automator: how to create a droplet launching an "exec" command? I need to create a automator application that launches the following exec command, whenever a image file is dropped onto it (the exec print the image files with some printing params).

exec('lpr -o ImageableArea=DS_8x6 -o PageRegion=DS_8x12 -o
PageSize=DS_8x12 -o media=DS_8x12 '.$fullPathOfTheImageFile);

How can I create this application? I can't go beyond this point:

In the Run Shell Script action, change Pass input:, (upper right hand corner of the action), from to stdin to as arguments. Then you can get the result of the previous action passed to a shell script as an argument. Example:
lpr -o ImageableArea=DS_8x6 -o PageRegion=DS_8x12 -o
PageSize=DS_8x12 -o media=DS_8x12 $1


FTP sites open in Finder instead of in Safari I cannot log into FTP sites on my iMac (Intel Core i5, 2.8GHz, running OS X 10.6.7).

I probably created the problem when I installed Firefox and it took over as the default browser. I changed the default back to Safari, but then every time I try to log into the FTP at school (ftp://sws.pcc.edu), Firefox launched instead. I found a utility that said it would allow me to control internet protocol associations, which it kinda did. I tried to set Safari back to FTP but now FTP's open in Finder.

How do get things back to allowing me to login to FTP sites in Safari?

Safari does not support browsing FTP sites (displaying directory listings). Given a ftp: URL for a specific file, it will display or download it, but URLs for directories will be passed to the Finder instead.


How to see what files were changed in TimeMachine? I tried TimeTracker, tms and timedog but none of them works with OS X 10.6

Any suggestions?

Lion has come out with the tmutil command and the man page shows that it will crawl a specific backup and report very detailed information on your specific backups. The verbs compare, uniquesize, and calculatedrift look most useful if you don't mind the terminal.

I still use BackupLoupe on Lion (as well as on older OS) and have high praise and thanks to the team that built it every time I need to use it. I should probably send them more money, too. It's that good.

It makes it very easy to see what files are taking the most space between backups and also is indispensable for knowing when a specific file has been changed by tracking each time it is saved as a new version going back in time. It works on a local database so you are not crawling the filesystem each and every query - just once each time to collect the deltas for each backup.


Can't install myEclipse on MacBook Pro with Yosemite After updating to Yosemite, I find that I can't install myEclipse again.

  Installation error:insufficient memory,zero virtual memory.

I also tried the sysctl vm.swapusage command, the result is

  vm.swapusage: total = 0.00M  used = 0.00M  free = 0.00M  (encrypted)`

Does anyone know the solution?

Download the installer again. MyElcipse 2015 CI 6 has been rebuilt to solve this problem.


Missing Notification Center Widgets & Share Extensions Half of my Notification Center widgets (most importantly, Weather) suddenly disappeared, and can no longer be added back by clicking Edit at the bottom of the Notification Center. Those that remain, like Today and Tomorrow, show no information.

They are also missing from  → System Preferences → Extensions → Today.

I’ve tried reinstalling the macOS 10.12.3 Combo Update, with no success through multiple reboots.

Apple has a knowledge base article for this bug occasionally affecting macOS Yosemite, El Capitan, and now Sierra. This happens most often after installing an OS update.

To reregister all Notification Center widgets and Share Extensions, start a Terminal session, and enter the following:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -seed

(Triple-click the above line and press ⌘ cmdc to copy, then ⌘ cmdv inside Terminal.)


What is “Protocol Capability Request” and how to resolve? I try to activate an Apple iPhone 4 CDMA but my carrier says:

  As per our technical team confirmation received, the device is not able to send the MEID in response to "Protocol Capability Request" message requested by OTAF during *228 call, might be the device is not supporting MEID and is supported only ESN (Old 8 digit). Though the MEID/pESN is written on the device but in actual it is ESN based device, as this is an open market device.

I don't know what I have to do now. How to resolve this?

Unless you have done something to the phone to prevent it from sending the MEID, there is nothing else to do. The device is apparently simply not capable of doing what the carrier requires for activation.


How do I open a filtered port in pf? I have opened a number of ports, and am familiar enough with pfctl, but even though I have opened various ports, then show up as "filtered" - which means of course that they are not open.

How can I open them, or is it a function of having a suitable app using them?
For example

pass in proto tcp from any to any port 53

In a scan this shows up as

  53 dns Filtered

How can I open this port?

Usually port scanners use UDP and TCP to scan port. Since most implementations of DNS servers use UDP you probably also have to open 53/udp:

pass in proto udp from any to any port 53


How can I make a playlist from a shuffle sequence? Every once in a while, my iPod does a spectacular job at shuffling the perfect set of songs. Is there any way to save this sequence to a playlist so I can replay it again in the future?

From any list of songs in iTunes (like for example, when you're on iTunes DJ) you can select the range of songs by clicking while holding the Shift key. Once all songs are highlighted you can go the File menu and select New Playlist From Selection. A new playlist will be shown at the bottom of the Playlist section containing the exact same song selection and ordering. Hope this helps.


Notes - Setting up for use with iCloud Why do I have to enable 'Notes' in both "Settings > iCloud > Notes" and also in "Mail, Contacts, Calendar" > [iCloud account name] > "Notes"?

If I do not set both of these 'Notes' to 'On', the iCloud Notes account does not appear in Notes.app > "Accounts".  I just have "On my iPhone".

However, if I do set both to 'On', then I have 2 Notes accounts under iCloud.

Why can't I set just one? Why do I have to set the second one?

What is interesting, is that both of the places you mentioned are redundant. You cannot have "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" > [iCloud name] > "Notes", Off, while "iCloud" > "Notes" is On. If one is on, and you have an @icloud.com (or @mac.com style), the other will automatically be in agreement.

So in short, set one, and other will be set.

This is probably because, Apple provides Settings.app > iCloud for users who haven't chosen to set up an @icloud.com (or equivalent) email address. For users who have chosen to set up that email, the settings become redundant.

Other email accounts under "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" may have the option of notes, in which case it syncs notes you create in the Notes.app with your email accounts (often found under "Notes" somewhere).


Screen blinking "HDMI no signal" when Mac is sleeping I usually leave my computer, and let it go to sleep after 15 minutes.

My external screen is showing a blue screen saying "HDMI no signal" every other minute while my MacBook is asleep, and the screen lasts for a few seconds. If I unplug the external screen, the message appears for a longer period of time.
It did not happen with other computers (I have tested with a MacBook Air and a Windows Surface PC).
The built-in screen is turned off and does not blink in any way.

Setup:
I have a MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, 2017) running MacOS Mojave (10.14.1). I have a USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter, to which my external monitor (ASUS VS248H) is connected using a HDMI cable.

Question: Is there any way to avoid screen blinking (except for turning the screen off when I leave it)?
I.e. sending the correct signal to the external screen, so it does not think it is disconnected.

The Apple Digital AV Multiport Adapter is a passive converter meaning that it's just "rearranging" the pin outs from the DisplayPort signal to the HDMI signal - basically, the monitor is detecting voltage, but there's no data being sent.

I expand on this more in this answer to a similar question.

Instead, you should be using either of the following with your monitor which supports DVI and HDMI:

Type C DisplayPort to DVI adapter (active is "better", but passive is OK here since DVI and DisplayPort are similar signals.
Tyep C DisplayPort to HDMI active adapter.


App offering audible alarm for low battery on Mavericks? I installed the update to Mavericks a few days ago, and while it's mostly been great there is no longer a sound that goes with the low battery warning. I have several programs which suppress the visual notifications, which makes for very unpleasant interruptions when the machine goes into standby.

I contacted Apple support about it and they said that there is no way to add a sound to the notification using settings available in the operating system. They suggested I use a 3rd party app, but although I have found some which offer low battery pop up windows, I'm having trouble finding any offering an audible alert.

You could write a short script and run it via cron every couple of minutes.

pmset -g batt

Running the above will show your current battery usage. You can then parse it out and you can make it alert you with something like:

say "low battery power"

That will speak out "low battery power. Or to make it beep:

printf "\a"

I have a desktop, so can't see the pmset output, a quick google shows something like this would do it:

if [[ `pmset -g batt | awk -F'[^0-9]*' '{ print $3 }'` -lt 10 ]];then say "Battery low";fi

You can put that into a cron to run every 5 mins or so.

To add this to cron to run every 5 minutes, do:

crontab -e

and type in a line that looks like this:

*/5  *  *  *  *  if [[ `pmset -g batt | awk -F'[^0-9]*' '{ print $3 }'` -lt 10 ]];then say "Battery low";fi

Then save and exit. The crontab editor will be whichever is set as your default editor in $EDITOR. For me that vim, default OSX it's nano.

crontab -l

That lists out your crontab. For more info see: enter link description here

To use launchd, you'd be better off putting that into a shell script, then putting a launchd plist file in your ~/Library/LaunchDaemons folder. That's somewhat out of scope of this answer, Lingon is a great tool to control LaunchD files. See LaunchD for more information. You shell script would be be the same command as used above, with

#!/bin/sh

as the first line. Save it somewhere, make LaunchD run it.


Would erase content and settings affect phone number? I just want to know, I just want to do it safely. My phone always said it's almost full storage but I did delete all my text messages, pictures, apps, etc. I tried everything but it always said the same thing. So I don't know if I erase the content and setting will help me erase some parts in my iPhone 4s. I'm trying to make sure.

No, your phone number will not be affected.


Can I use the new @me.com address as a full feature mailbox? When setting up iCloud in my iOS 5 iPhone 4, there is a new @me.com address created (Settings > iCloud > Account > Advanced > Mail

Is this new @me.com a full feature mailbox?

Yes - iCloud includes full mail service - webmail, IMAP and iOS for free and not counting against your free 5 Gb of cloud storage quota.

http://www.apple.com/icloud/ mentions that iCloud is free with iOS 5. Enjoy!


Building mPlayer from Source - Error Trying to build mplayer from source for applying patches.

./configure works fine, but it leads me to this error

    Undefined symbols for architecture x86_64:
  "_fribidi_reorder_line", referenced from:
      _ass_shaper_reorder in ass_shaper.o
  "_fribidi_get_bidi_types", referenced from:
      _ass_shaper_shape in ass_shaper.o
  "_fribidi_get_par_embedding_levels", referenced from:
      _ass_shaper_shape in ass_shaper.o
  "_fribidi_get_joining_types", referenced from:
      _ass_shaper_shape in ass_shaper.o
  "_fribidi_join_arabic", referenced from:
      _ass_shaper_shape in ass_shaper.o
  "_fribidi_shape", referenced from:
      _ass_shaper_shape in ass_shaper.o
ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture x86_64
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
make: *** [mplayer] Error 1

I can't figure out what to do now?
I'm using OS X 10.7.

What about using Homebrew?

Once installed it should be as easy as writing in the terminal

brew install mplayer


Deleted Safari and now I cannot get it back. Mavericks I deleted my Safari browser and now I would like to download it again but it seems that this option is not as easy to be done. I'm running OS X Mavericks at the moment, and there is no download for Safari on the Apple page except for those before OS X Lion.

Safari gets reinstalled:

Sometimes when you download and install a Combo Updater.
Always when you reinstall the OS.

You could also use a tool like Pacifist to get the app from the install package (or Time Machine from your backup), but it depends on how you lost the app whether you want to go in like a surgeon or have the deluxe treatment. Unless you are sure you can use Pacifist, I'd start with the Combo and then move to the normal installer.


Apple Developer Program Refund Help I work as a software developer and was contracted by a hospital to develop an app. I purchased the Apple Developer Program to upload the app, but Apple rejected it saying that the developer certificate name does not comply with section 5.2.1 of the PLA:

Since your app is specifically for a medical institution, it should be submitted under an account that reflects the name of the medical institution. Your app is currently submitted under an individual account that reflects your name, “AMAN ULLAH TANVEER.” To comply with section 5.2.1 of the PLA, your app should be submitted by an account that reflects "Saifee Hospital Karachi.”
To request an update to the company name or entity type associated with this Apple Developer Program account, the Team Agent will need to contact Apple Developer Support to request an update to the company name. On the Contact Us page, select "Membership and Account," then "Organization Name Change" to make this request

I then asked Apple to change my account type from individual to company. Apple reject my appeal by saying you are not the founder of XYZ company.

Thank you for contacting Apple Developer Program Support regarding migrating to an organization membership.
We are unable to proceed with the migration because you do not meet our migration requirements:
• The owner of the individual account must be the founder or cofounder of the organization.
Though only founders or cofounders are eligible for migration, your organization can enroll
separately into the Apple Developer Program. After the enrollment is complete, it is possible to transfer apps to the organization membership. See the App
transfer overview for details.

When asked for a refund, Apple denied by saying the developer program fees are non-refundable.

I apologize for the inconvenience you may have experienced, unfortunately we are unable to process this credit due to our no-refund purchase terms. You can view these terms within
the Program License Agreement located in Membership > Show Agreements at the Apple
Developer website.

When asked apple if I change the name of my application to something generic removing the words "Hospital" from it

Thank you for contacting the App Review Board. However, changing the name of your application does not resolve the 5.2.1 issue. Since your app is specifically for a medical institution, it should be submitted under an account that reflects the name of the medical institution.
Please refer to our previous correspondence for details on how to resolve the issues we identified during our review. It would be appropriate to revise your app to ensure it is compliant with our guidelines prior to resubmitting it for review.

Can someone explain who needs to apply for the developer program?
Is my money totally lost?

I think you have some things mixed up:

The developer agreement is between Apple and the seller of the app (free apps are also regarded as being sold on the App Store). It is not between Apple and whomever actually makes the app.

If you're an individual making and selling an app, you need an "Individual" account with Apple. The name of the seller on the App Store is then your given name. The name of the app itself can be anything - it doesn't have to be your name.

If you're working for a corporation developing an app to go on the App Store, the corporation needs a "Company" account with Apple. This agreement can be made by anyone authorized to sign the documents for the company - for smaller companies this is usually the director. This also applies if you're both the developer, owner and director of the company.

If you're developing an app for a client and they're going to release it on the App Store - then that client needs to enter the agreement with Apple. Either as an Individual or as a Company depending on who your client is. You yourself needs no agreement with Apple at all.

In your specific case, the app is not going to be sold by you - rather it is going to be sold by your client - the hospital. Therefore the hospital needs to apply and enter into the Apple Developer Program. When they have done that, they can create a user account for you with developer access, so that you can upload the app for approval by Apple.

The specific part of section 5.2.1 that you're in violation of is:

  Apps should be submitted by the person or legal entity that owns or has licensed the intellectual property and other relevant rights and is responsible for offering any services provided by the app.

Therefore it does not matter that you state that you have agreements with the hospital that you are allowed to use their name, trademark, logo, etc. The app needs to be submitted by the entity providing the service - not by the person that happened to be doing the actual coding.

You can make a second plea to Apple stating that you didn't know that you weren't supposed to enter an agreement at all - but if they already explained to you that it is non-refundable, there's really nothing you can do. It is explained up front by Apple who needs to enter in an agreement and pay the fees, so it was your responsibility to figure that out before ordering and paying.


Can I sell a PDF through the iBooks store? I want to sell my children's books on Apple.  They are ready because I made them all on Corel. Is there a possibility of turning them into PDF and publishing them in that format or will I have to do it all again on iBooks Author?

Apple has a support document that addresses this very topic:  Publish and sell books with iBooks Author

If you intend to put your books up for sale on the Apple Book Store, then they must be in the iBooks (.ibooks) or EPUB (.epub) format.  You will have to use iBooks Author for .ibooks.  For .epub you can use iBA, Pages, or various other apps.
If you intend to have a wider distribution outside of iBooks, then they must be in a different format than iBooks like PDF or EPUB.  If you go this route, you don't need to use iBooks Author; you can use the PDFs generated in Corel. One vendor for this is gumroad - https://gumroad.com/


Can I unload com.apple.mrt via launchd or otherwise remedy these errors? I just realized that the job com.apple.mrt crashes every 10 seconds on my Mac.

What exactly is the aim of com.apple.mrt? Apparently it should be a "Malware Removal Tool".
Can I remove it from launchd (overrides.plist) ?

Here is my Console system.log :

31/07/2015 16:22:11,756 smd[180]: Could not remove job "com.apple.mrt": 150: Operation not permitted while kernel is in rootless mode
31/07/2015 16:22:11,769 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.mrt[590]) Service exited with abnormal code: 2
31/07/2015 16:22:11,769 com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.mrt) Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

Config :

MacBook Pro (13" - mi-2012)
2.5 GHz Intel Core i5
OS X Le Capitan 10.11 (Beta 4 - build: 15A244d)

If you want to rid yourself of com.apple.mrt, you can run a few Terminal commands to get it out of your hair.

First, open the Terminal app. You can find it in Launchpad or by using Spotlight. Next, stop the process using sudo launchctl stop com.apple.mrt.

Then, remove the components, using the following (or manually remove them in Finder):

sudo rm /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mrt.plist
sudo rm /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.mrt.uiagent.plist
sudo rm /System/Library/CoreServices/MRTAgent.app
sudo rm /usr/libexec/MRT

Finally, reboot your machine. com.apple.mrt should no longer launch on startup (or at all).

Notes:

You may need to enter an administrator's user and password.
Apple may release updates which re-add com.apple.mrt to your machine.


backing up my backups...what to backup? sorry about the facetious title...

I am writing a script to backup my time machine backups in the event that my external HDD fails, and my HDD partition with the backups looks like this...

My question is, is it enough to just dump the 'latest' folder to my backup drive? Does that contain 'everything' that is o my latest system or only some revision of what changed in earlier backups?

If you only want the latest backup, then yes - it is enough to just dump the latest folder to your extra backup drive.

Each of those folders (the dates) contains the full backup as it looks on that day.

Note that Time Machines saves space on the drive by using hard links to "deduplicate" the backup. This means that if you want to copy multiple dates to your extra backup drive, you'll probably want to handle hard links - otherwise the size of the backup will normally double for two days, triple for three days, etc.

Remember: If you're only copying the latest date folder to your extra backup, you will not be able to restore files that were recently deleted, but stored in the folders representing earlier dates.


How to tell what program is launching softwareupdated? My Macbook was running really slow after opening it up and so I opened Activity Monitor and saw one process called softwareupdated that was not responding. It didn't say it was using any CPU but my laptop was crawling. I force quit it but then it restarted again. So I looked it up online and saw that App Store uses it (and maybe others). So I opened App Store and ran update. It seemed to use the process as it showed 104% CPU. Then when it was done it went back to 0 CPU. Still it showed in red that it was not responding.

How do I know what process is calling this? How do I prevent it from being called?

Pictures:
softwareupdated process:

softwareupdated process when clicking update in OS X App Store:

double clicking on the process in Activity Monitor:

app store preferences and settings:

To answer your question which program is launching the softwareupdated:

In your System Preferences, click on the App Store.

It will show you the settings for updates.

Normal is to have it check for Software Updates continuously, that will explain the softwareupdated running in your Activity Monitor.

There you can also set what happens next, like download and auto install or not etc...


How to see the members of an Active Directory group in the Mail application I'd like to find out how to check the members of a group defined in Active Directory from the Mail application in OSX 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion).  I have my corporate AD server defined as an LDAP server, so I can use groups from it in the address fields of an email.  But I can't work out how to see who the members of a group are, to check that I'm sending email to the people I want to.

Am I missing something obvious, or is this not possible?

To my knowledge, you cannot do this directly within the Mail.app on a Mac. However, you may be able to accomplish this using Directory Utility (hidden away in /System/Library/CoreServices), depending on how your system is configured. My work Mac is bound to AD and it works for me.

Open Directory Utility. Click on Directory Editor. View "Groups" in node pertaining to whatever your AD server is. You should be able to now search for the AD group you'd like to mail to. Unfold the data for "GroupMembership" and you should see the complete listing of members of this group.

I know this is a bit roundabout, but it does work.


Does the MacBook show FaceTime missed calls? I use my MacBook Air for FaceTime calls, while a friend calls me using an iPad 2.

Since I don't always keep my Air turned on all the time, my friend's calls often end up unanswered. However, it's very rare that I see these on my Mac. It was only once that I actually saw a missed call in my FaceTime.

Does FaceTime actually store missed call information on Apple's servers? Should they appear in my MacBook once I turn it on?

It will show up in your missed calls list in FaceTime.app (even if your computer is turned off at the time):

So yeah, FaceTime stores missed call information on Apple’s servers. It will show up in FaceTime.app, but you need to open FaceTime.app for it to show.


Play music from Desktop? I remember there used to be a play button on my music files on my Desktop. I would click it, and it would play that song without opening anything up. Now I can't. I have to make do with opening Finder, switching to column mode, and then playing it. I don't want to use Quick Look, because it disappears when I move away. I may have switched view settings, updated Quicktime, etc. Do you know of a way that I can do this again?

In order to show the play button, the icon needs to be at least 64x64 pixels. It works fine now that I've enlarged my icons from 60x60.


Are there modifications I can make on a Mac Pro 2012 so it can run macOS Catalina? Are there any processor upgrades I can use to allow me to run Catalina on my trusty 2012 Mac Pro 5,1 ?

Thanks

Update!

It worked using http://dosdude1.com/catalina. Veering slightly from the video, I cloned my Mojave startup drive, and installed on the clone.

At the point in the app and video where you are asked to make a USB drive installer, I selected "install to Computer". This worked!

After the install, the patcher app starts and installs some more patches.

So far, so good.

However, I don't know how long this system will work! Will I be able to use Software Update? Use at your own risk!

Please watch the video and use it as a guide.

There is a macOS Catalina Patcher by @dosdude1 that is supposed to be compatible with Mac Pro 5,1. As of this moment, it is currently confirmed to working with Dev Preview 9 and Public Beta 8.

With modifications like this, there is always the risk of data loss or bricking, so make sure to have good backups and follow directions carefully.


What does com.apple.timemachine.supported denote? What does the presence of a file named .com.apple.timemachine.supported denote?

Is it safe to delete?

I find about a dozen of these scattered across my local hard disks, not the TimeMachine volumes...

It means that the folder it is in is supported as a target for Time Machine backups. They are very tiny files and wouldn’t be a space hog. But if you are seeing them, you are probably seeing other hidden files as well. But if you are using Time Machine for backup, don’t delete these files or the folder/disk wouldn't be able to be used as a Time Machine backup target.


Stop sharing printer over WiFi I recently bought a HP Envy 5000, and annoyingly it came without a cable to plug directly into my Mac. I must connect it to my WiFi network.
I live in a large shared building of around 12 people, but we all use the same wifi network. A couple of times I've noticed random documents getting printed on my printer that clearly weren't my own.
Is there a way I can set my printer so that it is connected to the network but so that only I can use it?
Currently I must unplug it, which isn't ideal. I even tried turning the printer off but I still found someone else's documents getting printed, it must have turned itself back on somehow.
Also, here are the settings I have under Sharing:

The User Manual has no documentation on any security features for that printer.  So, regardless if it's WiFi or connected to Ethernet, it's a wide open printer on the network.  Business class printers will have the ability to lock out users through a variety of methods - I always recommend these printers over the consumer ones for this (and many other reasons)
The "Printer Sharing" section on your Mac, is for printers connected to your Mac. It allows you to manage who/what can print to that printer via your Mac.  Technically, you can share a networked printer, but as stated before, since that printer is "wide open," anyone can get to it regardless of the policies you configure on your Mac.
So, you have two options:

create your own small Wireless network that only you have access to and put your printer on that.
purchase a USB cable and connect your printer directly to your Mac.

(Option 2 is probably the most effective method).


Is there any way to disable auto-shutdown from login screen when no user is logged in? A couple months ago when speaking to an Apple advisor about an unrelated issue, they told me the auto-shutdown was a "security feature". I think I may remember something about it only happening when Filevault is enabled. I know it is intended behavior as per Apple, but as I'm sure we all know, they do not always make the best decisions. If anyone has a solution to disable it, please let me know.

This seems to have been introduced in OS X Mavericks and has continued through at least OS X El Capitan—and most likely MacOS Sierra. If a Mac is started, and there is no login within a couple minutes, it will shut down after 5 minutes.

This is really bad from a remote perspective. Let's say I reboot the machine using ssh—if I don't reconnect and log in within this short timeframe, the computer will shut down, and then I have no way to connect to it. The only way to start the machine at that point is to have someone at the physical location. I've completely lost remote access to my machine for weeks because of this. This is not something that should happen without an option to disable it.

My only known workaround is to log in before it shuts down and then keep that user logged in. Unfortunately, this opportunity may be lost if restarting and connecting remotely with slow internet speeds. This functionality makes it so I cannot depend on an ssh connection to my machine.

I have tested this again on all three of my Machines. 2 are personal and one is for work which has never had any account transfers or even so much as a remote connection to any of my other machines. It is consistently reproducible on these three entirely different machines and OS versions. They each have shut down from the log in screen exactly 5 minutes after boot. (Again, only after no activity or log-in). That is, completely shut down—not go into sleep mode.

This is consistently reproducible on all three of the Macs in my possession:

Mac Pro (Late 2013) - 10.11.6 El Capitan
MacBook Pro (17-inch, Early
2011) - 10.10.5 Yosemite
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013) -
10.9.5 Mavericks

There are no log messages for the time the auto shut down happens, but here are the times of restart, reboot and the corresponding logs from one of the machines:

Reboot initiated at 9:02:30 AM
Mac had rebooted to login screen at 9:03
Auto shutdown at 9:08 (5 minutes after log in screen visible)
Mac was manually started again at 9:10:41AM

Logs during that time:

2/27/17 9:02:31.291 AM shutdown[1528]: reboot by [username]:
2/27/17 9:02:31.000 AM kernel[0]: Kext loading now disabled.
2/27/17 9:02:31.000 AM kernel[0]: Kext unloading now disabled.
2/27/17 9:02:31.000 AM kernel[0]: Kext autounloading now disabled.
2/27/17 9:02:31.000 AM kernel[0]: Kernel requests now disabled.
2/27/17 9:02:31.291 AM shutdown[1528]: SHUTDOWN_TIME: 1488204151 290568
2/27/17 9:02:31.291 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.domain.system) System shutdown initiated by: shutdown.1528<-sessionlogoutd.1527<-launchd.1
2/27/17 9:02:31.000 AM kernel[0]: Process launchd [1] disabling system-wide I/O Throttling
2/27/17 9:02:31.000 AM kernel[0]: Process launchd [1] disabling system-wide CPU Throttling
2/27/17 9:10:41.000 AM bootlog[0]: BOOT_TIME 1488204641 0

Is there a way to prevent a Mac from automatically shutting down at the login screen after 5 minutes?

I have not found a way to disable filevault auto-shutdown, but I have found a way to restart while bypassing the filevault pre-boot login screen (where the auto-shutdown happens). Entering this command in terminal will allow a remote restart without the risk of a shutdown:

sudo fdesetup authrestart

After entering the command and a password for sudo, you will need to enter either the filevault recovery key or a user password for a filevault-enabled user. This password will then be stored in memory and used automatically upon boot to satisfy the filevault authentication requirement. After the disk is decrypted, you will then be taken to the standard post-filevault login screen which doesn't trigger shutdown after 5 minutes.

Additionally, the authrestart command could be set to load a plist file automatically each time the computer is booted to authenticate filevault automatically, but this partially negates the purpose of filevault, and I don't think it's a great idea to store a password in a plist file.

I found this information here.

I'd still like to find a way to disable auto-shutdown permanently, but at least this is a workaround for the remote restart issues.


Can I turn on the hotspot in objective-c in IOS 7? Can I turn on the hotspot in objective-c in iOS 7?

I've searched StackOverflow, and some information I've found has said "objective-c does not support turning on the personal hotspot". But this information was from a few years ago.

Does objective-c support turning on the hotspot in iOS 7 now?

You cannot enable such System settings via any app (at least without a jailbreak).
Objective-c results in an app for an iOS-device, thus you cannot achieve this.
Apple does not allow any app which tries to enter the App Store to activate:

WiFi
Location services
Personal hotspot
Many more features not named above


AppleScript: How to check if the clipboard consists of a file (instead of text)? If my understanding is correct, there are two types of content that can be copied to the Mac global (systemwide) clipboard:

text

or

file

Even though they are two different, discrete data types, they share the very same clipboard. For example, if you have an image file on your clipboard, and then you copy a text sentence, the sentence will overwrite the image file, and vice versa. Please correct me if I am wrong.

My question is, how can I determine if the clipboard does not contain text, using AppleScript?

The context of my question is an AppleScript .scpt file that speaks the selected text in the System Voice at a specified volume. The selected text is copied to the clipboard, and then the text is spoken via the say command. The script is triggered by keystroke via FastScripts.app.

Every so often, I am given an error dialog that states, "Error Number: -1728." This error occurs when, instead of text being highlighted, I have highlighted or selected an actual file. Mac's Speech function cannot speak a file; Speech can only verbalize text.

So, I would like to create an if...then statement in my script to catch this error. Ideally, I would then like to convert the file to text, if possible in the way that TextEdit does.

If the Clipboard contains a file object, then clipboard info will contain, e.g., «class furl» (a file URL), along with many other classes.

The follow example code will check for the presence of «class furl» in the clipboard info:

if ((clipboard info) as string) contains "«class furl»" then
    say "the clipboard contains a file named " & (the clipboard as string)
else
    say "the clipboard does not contain a file"
end if

Update:

As I mentioned in one of my comments, there are other ways to code this, and this approach will return either an empty list or a list containing one list, which should be faster instead of the 14 that the first example returns if it contains a file. If the Clipboard does not contain a file, then the list returned is empty and it errors out, setting cbFile to false, and if not empty, setting it to true, which then is tested against in the following example.

try
    (item 1 of (clipboard info for «class furl»))
    set cbFile to true
on error
    set cbFile to false
end try
if cbFile then
    say "the clipboard contains a file named " & (the clipboard as string)
else
    say "the clipboard does not contain a file"
end if

By the way, I ran the purge command in Terminal in between testing these two examples and it felt like the second example is a bit faster, however YMMV.


How to completely remove Fuse for Mac OS X NTFS-3G I have problem with the removing of NTFS-3G. These instructions say:

  If you have followed those instructions then you've installed three
  packages.

  fuse_wait just replaces a single file of the NTFS-3G install with an
  updated version. So you don't really need to do anything to uninstall
  this package; when you remove NTFS-3G it should automatically remove
  that updated version.

  To remove NTFS-3G either open the NTFS-3G preference pane and click on
  the Uninstall button, or run the script at
  /System/Library/Filesystems/ntfs-3g.fs/Support/uninstall-ntfs-3g.sh.

  To uninstall FUSE for OS X open the FUSE for OS X system preference
  pane and click the Uninstall button.

  If the two preference panes are still there after running both
  uninstalls, then just right-click on them and select the "Remove ...
  Preference Pane" option.

  And reboot your Mac.

  To confirm that the file are gone you could run the following commands
  in Terminal. Hopefully you shouldn't get any results.

  pkgutil --pkgs | grep fuse  kextstat | grep fuse

But when i run "pkgutil --pkgs | grep fuse", i always get the result "com.github.bfleischer.pkg.fuse_wait". How can i solve this?

I don't think this is a problem.

The pkgutil command is just telling you that the fuse_wait package has been installed on your Mac. If this is the only result from that command then it means the other fuse packages have been uninstalled, and since the fuse_wait installer only replaces one file in the fuse install that file has likely been removed from your Mac.

Also if you are running the kextstat | grep fuse command from the linked answer and getting no results then it further confirms that fuse is no longer running as part of your Mac.


iPhone 4s always searching for network My iPhone 4s with iOS 8 has stopped functioning correctly all of a sudden. It shows searching for network and keeps heating up. I have already tried resetting network settings and have also put it to factory settings but no avail. If I try to search for a carrier manually, it shows "No service" but keeps heating up. If I remove the SIM it just works perfectly fine and there is no issue at all. I am able to use all apps etc perfectly. Any clues on what I can do and if this issue can somehow be corrected?

Perhaps your Carrier Network Settings have been corrupted or altered in some way. In this case, the phone would be searching incorrectly for the carrier towers, or trying to connect and continually getting refused due to a setting error.

Apple provides details on checking and manually editing the settings, but getting them wrong can cause problems like you are experiencing.

You can also restore your phone via iTunes, which will wipe the iPhone, reinstall iOS, and redownload the carrier settings. After confirming the restore worked, you can then restore from a backup to get your apps and settings back.


Is there any keyboard shortcut for Play Later option in iTunes? If you right click a song in iTunes you will be able to select the Play Later option that adds it to queue.

Is there a keyboard shortcut for this?

I was also not able to find this command in Apple Script's dictionary for iTunes.

(I just switched from Winamp on Windows, where I had to simply type J to add the currently highlighted song to queue)

Simply create an app shortcut via System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts, which allows you to assign a hotkey to the menu item as I've done here:

Now the shortcut is displayed next to the menu item when you right-click on a song, which you won't need to do anymore because you can simply use your hotkey:


Re-installing OS X with apartment Wi-Fi I need to re-install OS X Lion and I'm at a stage where when I turn my laptop on, it needs an internet connection to proceed.

I have a good strong Wi-Fi signal, but I need to sign in. I usually do this by opening Safari, which prompts me with the sign-in page. I can't open Safari though because I'm in the re-install screen.

Any ideas on how to get around this?

Also, what's the proper terminology used here?

First I'd try to just connect to the Wi-Fi network and then run the recovery. But this will not work if you have a new and empty hard drive (i.e. no OS X  recovery partition on the hard drive) and need a full Internet Recovery from Apple's server.

If it doesn't work, I'd try and connect the Mac to another Mac or a Windows PC using a common Ethernet cable (network cable) and enable "Internet Sharing" on that system. On a Mac, Internet Sharing is simply enabled via System Preferences > Sharing. I don't know how this is done in Windows.

If that doesn't work either, I'd simply see that I connect the Mac to a different Wifi or ethernet-based network that doesn't require you to go through such a captive portal. Just remember not to enter any account credentials over public Wi-Fi (such as your Apple ID).


How can I check what permissions an app store app will request before installing it? I would like to find out, prior to installation, what permissions an iOS app will ask for.

I understand that granting these permissions is up to me and that no permissions are granted automatically.  However, my decision to install an app at all is very much influenced by how over-reaching the permission requests are going to be.

So, without actually installing the iOS app, how can I look up the app and see what permissions it will ask to use ?

I believe the google play store allows you to check this on the play store itself, prior to downloading - how can I do this in the app store ?

The iOS App Store does not display the permissions the app will request.  You can view certain info about an app prior to downloading:

Seller
Size
Category
Compatibility
Languages
Age Rating
In-App Purchases
Copyright
Developer Website (link)
Privacy Policy (link)

Unless the developer indicates the required permissions in their app description, Privacy Policy or Website, you will not know until the app requests that permission.


Files created by Windows on Lion SMB shares have 600 permissions I have File Sharing enabled in OS X Lion, and I'm accessing the shares using Win XP and Win 7 boxes. I can read and write fine, by when I create a new file, the permissions for that file defaults to 600, and is accessible only by the account authenticated with SMB. If I edit files, permissions are not changed. It is only new files that have this problem. This means other accounts on OS X cannot access the files, and neither can the apache server, which runs as _www I think.

Is there a way to make Lion SMB mark new files as 644 instead?

I think this could be a bug. I'm seeing the same behaviour in Mountain Lion too.

I've ensured that the file sharing settings are correct. Go to the folder in Finder and verify that the user has correct permissions, including creating files locally, which result in the correct (644) permissions. Go to System Preferences -> Sharing and select the share, and verify the user is in the list with read&write permissions.

Using the command line tool:

$ dscl localhost -list /Local/Default/SharePoints

to list shares, and:

$ dscl localhost -read /Local/Default/SharePoints/<sharename>

I can see:

dsAttrTypeNative:smb_createmask: 644
dsAttrTypeNative:smb_directorymask: 755

Yet files created by windows users end up with 600 permissions and are not readable by others.

While not an answer, hopefully it will give someone a step closer to finding it.


Yosemite Finder spins endlessly when browsing NFS mounted folders I have an NFS export on my Ubuntu 14.04 machine.  I can mount it just fine from the command line in Yosemite:
mount -t nfs -o rw server:/home/gbell2/iOS_apps /Users/Devel/iOS_apps

And immediately I can ls it.  No problem.
Problem is, when I go into Finder and browse it, the little gray wheel at the bottom spins forever.

I cannot browse or open files in that folder from Xcode either.
I do not have icon preview enabled.
My automount config just has Apple-generated stuff in it and while I know what automount is, these answers seem confused.
Another answer fingering automount isn't really clear either.
I've tried the mount options like rw,bg,hard,intr,noac,nfc,tcp with no change in behavior.
There aren't a large amount of files in the root folder of that share.
I'm not mounting in /Volumes because one of the above references indicates that doesn't work any more.
Mounting with SMB doesn't have this issue, though I'd like to avoid the permissions issues that I usually see when tying *nix systems together with SMB.
Any ideas or how to debug?

Oh my... turns out it was one of the .* files in the share.  A simple rm of them all (excluding .git and/or .svn) and I was golden.

What a pain.  Hours gone.  I was unable to narrow down which file it was - a binary search failed so it may have been more than one.

Here's hoping lots of other people can be saved the time wastage.


Why did my iPhone's GPS tracking get so bad? I started using the Nike+ GPS app on my iPhone 4 (not 4s) to track my running in summer 2011. The GPS measurement of runs was pretty consistent: runs on the same course would vary as much as a tenth of a mile from run to run, but I know GPS is not always as accurate as it is precise, so that doesn't bother me.

Sometime in September of this year (2012) the accuracy of my run tracking went way down. I had a few where the distance was under-measured by as much as 50%. I thought it might have been Nike+, but I installed Strava Run and had another run massively over-measured. Last weekend a 6-mile run (measured using gmap-pedometer.com) was measured as 0.17 miles on Nike+. (The Nike+ app, to its credit, has been regularly warning me that the GPS signal is "weak", so even it is dubious about the quality of its data.)

However, in non-running applications, location services seem to be just fine. Maps places me in the right place. Weather apps (Dark Sky is my best example) know exactly where I am. Are they using something else to get my location? Reading this question and this one make me think this could be a hardware problem, but the inconsistency between apps puzzles me.

ETA: I have not yet installed the iOS 6 update, so this is still iOS 5.

I regularly experienced similar problems with RunKeeper on my iPhone 4S where distance was over-measured. When reviewing the plotted map of my run I could see the coordinates jumping a bit erratically from one point to the other, accounting for the extra distance, and this for entire outdoor runs, not just sporadicly on spots with bad GPS reception.

Normal run:

Bugged run:

While I cannot give a definitive answer as to why this problem occurs, and why the iPhone seems to get stuck in this bugged state when it does, completely rebooting the iPhone (and possibly additionally toggling Flight Mode to reboot the antennas as well) seemed to always resolve it for a few days or even weeks.

On a sidenote, since I upgraded to my iPhone5 (with iOS 6 ofcourse), the problem has not presented itself again so far. Perhaps the problem was fixed in either iOS or in the hardware meanwhile.


Turn on do not disturb for single app Is there a way to turn on do not disturb for a single app rather than all apps?

Specifically, I would like to mute notifications from Outlook for Mac for about an hour.

Is it possible to do this in OSX natively, or alternatively through a third-party app?

(I am running OS X Mojave, version 10.14.6)

No - do not disturb is a system level function on macOS and iOS.

What you’d need to do is make an AppleScript or other tool to automate disabling notifications for that app and then possible hook that up to a timer app or trigger (or just remind yourself to toggle it with a keyboard shortcut when your other manual timer goes off).

So a third party app on macOS clearly could do this, it’s just not been written (or covered widely enough to be found) since there’s no API to make that app easy to write.


How many emails can be associated with one Apple ID FaceTime account? How many different email addresses can be associated with one Apple ID FaceTime account?

As long as those email addresses are not tied up with other Apple IDs, I don't think there is a particular limit.

My FaceTime has 4 emails associated with it - none of them are linked to other Apple IDs -  but when I tried associating a 5th email that was linked to another Apple ID, it would;t let me of course.


How can I use different facebook account to sign in a game on iphone? I used a facebook account to sign in a game on my iphone ( the game is "top eleven"). Now I want to change the account and use another one because I have more friends in 2nd account.
Already used 2nd account's username and password in setting but didn't work, even deleted facebook app and installed it again and signed in with 2nd one but when I open the game it runs with 1st one.
how can I solve this problem ?
thanks

It’s because you are also signed in on Facebook in Safari browser.
iPhone first looks for Facebook login in safari before looking for it in the Facebook app.

Log out of Facebook in Safari browser.
The game will then use your Facebook app to determine which account to use for login


Any need to verify disks after hard reboot? About every few days I need to reboot my 2012 MacBook Pro Retina.

I noticed these messages in the logs regarding "Journal is read-only and journal is dirty. Can not mount volume".

Any need to "Verify Disk" in Disk Utilities?

OS X doesn't normally seem to repair drives or volumes after hard resets or kernel panics, or at least the verbose startup output looks the same, and you don't probably need to do that manually either.

In this case you could try verifying the drives or volumes (logical partitions) as troubleshooting steps though. Note that the Verify Disk button performs completely different operations depending on whether a drive or a volume is selected. HFS+ volumes that support live verification can be verified even when they are mounted as the root filesystem, but you have to start up from the recovery partition to repair them.

According to Apple KB article TS1417, running fsck is not usually necessary.