iCloud storage insufficient As you can see whenever I try to backup my iPhone it tells me there is insufficient storage. All I want to do is backup my contacts and all super basic data in case something happens to my phone. I have backed it up a couple of times to my computer but I would like the more consistent back ups from iCloud.

I have next to nothing stored in my iCloud like I honestly do not know what it is and so I cannot understand why it will not let me backup my phone. Then when I try to backup my phone even though I have every app turned off it says my backup will be over 5 gb. How do I make it so my backup is under the 5 gb limit???? I have looked at all the other forums and have not found anything helpful. It tells me my iPhone has never been backed up before.

On a side note can you tell me why Netflix wants to use 150 mb of my iCloud?

Okay, so I knew it was going to be simple but for some reason apple decides that text messages should be backed up without ever explicitly saying so, so old text messages take up gigabytes of iCloud space.


Can't use my 9.0.1 iPhone with Xcode My Macbook and my iPhone are updated to the OS X 10.11 Capitan and iOS 9.0.1, but when I try to use my iPhone as a running device with Xcode, it tells me I can't use it because of the version of them.

I can't upgrade xCode (6.1). On the App Store, it tells me I'm on the latest version.

Current iOS is 9.0.2
Latest Xcode release is 7.0.1 - from the App Store
I'd try updating to those first.

If iTunes doesn't seem to think it needs updating, you could always get the .ipsw file from one of the many direct download links available [the files come directly from Apple, just the links are published separately] then hold  Alt ⌥  whilst clicking the "Check for Update" button in iTunes & manually navigate to the .ipsw

One source of links is always Redmondpie - http://www.redmondpie.com/download-ios-9.0.2-links-for-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch-ipsw/


Can I download newsstand in-app purchases via my computer? I downloaded a newsstand app, and purchased a 1 year subscription in-app. Now I need to download the magazine. However, I currently have no access to WiFi and the magazine itself is 300MB. Is there any way to download the magazine on a computer and transfer it to my iPad?

I don't think that it is possible to download the magazine onto your computer. I have little experience with newsstand.

However, it may be possible to take your (presumably ethernet) internet connection, and share it to a wifi card in a mac (if you or someone else you know who will let you tweak setting on their computer have one)

On a mac, go to system preferences, and click on the sharing pane.
Click on the internet sharing option in the sidebar. From the drop down menu, select share connection from ethernet, then check the checkbox for wifi.

This should theoretically enable you to download the magazine directly to your iPad, via the computers wifi.


What is the keystroke to switch between windows in a guest os (Ubuntu) in VirtualBox? Using Ubuntu installed as normal operating system, I can switch between windows by using alttab.

I installed Ubuntu in a VirtualBox VM with a MacBook Pro/OS X as host. In the Ubuntu guest, alttab doesn't switch between windows. How shall I change the keys to do that?

You have to hit the Left COMMAND key once and the mouse switches to finder and other apps. If you click inside of virtualbox it activates the virtual machine which in this case is ubuntu. (This assumes that you are running in the default mode which captures on click). It's confusing because it's displayed with a left arrow, but what they really mean is the left COMMAND key. (The one that looks like it has a four leaf clover on it).

The key looks like this: ⌘ It's also known as the Apple key.
This key is on either side of the space bar. Each works the same. So for example if you wanted to print a document in Windows you could use the keyboard shortcut CONTROL + "P" (Press the control key, continue to hold it while pressing the "P" key), on a Mac they use a different key - it's the COMMAND Key not the CONTROL key so you need to press ⌘ and the letter "P" to print. So if you know several keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Windows, just try them on the Mac but instead of using the CONTROL key substitute the COMMAND key.

The CONTROL key, SHIFT key, OPTION key, and COMMAND key (or Apple key as some like to call it), are all what's called modifier keys. You press them to modify the function of other keys on your computer.

However in Virtual Box they have mapped the left one, to the left of the spacebar to allow you to leave the virtual host's screen and return to Apple's Finder or any other program that's currently running.


iPhone/iPad alarm clock app with custom radio stream support Is there a iPhone (or even better iPad) alarm clock app that will play a radio stream of my choosing to wake me up?

With custom stream I mean the possibility to enter a custom URL to a .pls file, and that pls contains a URL to a mp3.

Something like TimeTurner but with the custom stream support.

TuneIn Radio. I've not looked back since.


Is it safe to keep iPhone's Hotspot on? I want to keep my laptop tethered to my phone's connection and was wondering if it is safe to keep emitting the personal hotspot wifi signal all day and anywhere I go (underground station, work, busy streets etc). Or would that have a risk of intrusion ?

My personal hotspot is password protected.

If you've password protected the network, the only worry you should have is battery life on the phone providing the hotspot.  You could also use a password with more entropy bits, but which is easier to remember. I would hazard a guess that not many folks are actively trying to crack random personal hotspots on the tube, walking around the park, grabbing an eel pie, or whatnot. I would suggest that if you remain concerned about it, just turn it off! You will certainly be saving some battery power and not zapping your gonads with wifi radiation, especially if you carry your phone in a pants pocket.


Hinge on 2016 MacBook Pro I have a 2016 15" MacBook Pro and I want to know if it is normal that when I lift the lid, it moves more freely than I expect.

In other words, if I gently push the lid without changing the opening angle, the lid moves and returns to its place.

Previously I had a MacBook Air, and this did not happen, that's causing me to worry.

Here is video showing movement and hinge action for my MacBook Pro

Is this normal?

No that is not normal and either the clutch mechanism has too much play or a mounting screw is loose or something fractured.

Although Apple changed the way the signal cables connect from the lid to the motherboard radically in the 2016 model, as compared to earlier models, the mechanical hinge mechanism is much the same as previously, and there should be no give in any lateral direction between the lid and the frame.

All clutches slip a little, but yours seems overly loose. Protect it and get a repair estimate from Apple are my recommendation. It may be covered for free or it might be a paid repair, but then you’ll know for sure.


Why am I able to open Wireshark and capture packets in macOS without root privileges? As far as I know, capturing packets using Wireshark requires root/administrator privileges. In Windows, it prompts for UAC elevation and runs with administrative privileges. The same thing in Ubuntu; it prompts for a password to authorize access before showing me the interfaces.

However, in macOS, there is no authorization required. I don't have to enter a password. Instead, Wireshark is directly showing me the interfaces and I am able to capture packets.

How is Wireshark able to do this on macOS? What is special about macOS that allows interfaces and packets to be monitored without administrative access?

The reason is that the Wireshark installer installs a LaunchDaemon (i.e. something that runs with superuser privileges on boot) for setting special permissions to capture network packets. More specifically you can look at the file /Library/LaunchDaemon/org.wireshark.ChmodBPF.plist to see what it does and when it is run.

As creating these LaunchDaemons require superuser privileges in itself, the Wireshark installer requires you to be a superuser (i.e. you have to enter an administrator user password to install the software).

If you look at the actual script run by the LaunchDaemon in /Library/Application Support/Wireshark/ChmodBPF/ChmodBPF, you'll see that it creates 256 devices entries /dev/bpf0 to /dev/bpf255 and sets to that everyone in the access_bpf group can read and write to these device files.

The access_bpf groups is actually also created by Wireshark installer. This also requires superuser privileges. If you open System Preferences and then Users & Groups, you'll be able to fold out the "Groups" part of the tree and see "access_bpf" listed there. You can then add/remove users from that group to give or remove permission to capture network packets within Wireshark.


High CPU consumption, 33% battery, suddenly MacBook Pro Retina shuts down saying it needs to be plugged in High CPU consumption, 33% battery, suddenly MacBook Pro Retina shuts down saying it needs to be plugged in.

I plug it in and then Mac works fine and battery level is at 33%.

I googled this, found nothing.

Any idea what might be wrong ?

Battery needs replacement ?

Battery looks ok:

Battery Information:

  Model Information:
  Serial Number:    D863016Q037F9Y2A9
  Manufacturer: SMP
  Device Name:  bq20z451
  Pack Lot Code:    0
  PCB Lot Code: 0
  Firmware Version: 511
  Hardware Revision:    000a
  Cell Revision:    1150
  Charge Information:
  Charge Remaining (mAh):   2656
  Fully Charged:    No
  Charging: Yes
  Full Charge Capacity (mAh):   6827
  Health Information:
  Cycle Count:  587
  Condition:    Normal
  Battery Installed:    Yes
  Amperage (mA):    2711
  Voltage (mV): 12002

System Power Settings:

  AC Power:
  System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 0
  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):   0
  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):    5
  Wake on AC Change:    No
  Wake on Clamshell Open:   Yes
  Wake on LAN:  Yes
  AutoPowerOff Delay:   14400
  AutoPowerOff Enabled: 1
  Current Power Source: Yes
  DarkWakeBackgroundTasks:  1
  Display Sleep Uses Dim:   Yes
  GPUSwitch:    2
  Hibernate Mode:   3
  PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep:   0
  Standby Delay:    4200
  Standby Enabled:  1
  Battery Power:
  System Sleep Timer (Minutes): 30
  Disk Sleep Timer (Minutes):   0
  Display Sleep Timer (Minutes):    2
  Wake on AC Change:    No
  Wake on Clamshell Open:   Yes
  AutoPowerOff Delay:   14400
  AutoPowerOff Enabled: 1
  DarkWakeBackgroundTasks:  0
  Display Sleep Uses Dim:   Yes
  GPUSwitch:    2
  Hibernate Mode:   3
  Reduce Brightness:    Yes
  Standby Delay:    4200
  Standby Enabled:  1

Hardware Configuration:

  UPS Installed:    No

AC Charger Information:

  Connected:    Yes
  ID:   0x0aa1
  Wattage (W):  85
  Family:   0x0085
  Serial Number:    0x00935697
  Charging: Yes

I had the same issue; I did an SMC reset.

Connect the power adapter to the Mac. On the MacBook / Pro's keyboard, hold down the Shift Control Option keys and the Power button at the same time. Release all keys and the power button at the same time – the little light on the MagSafe adapter may change colors briefly to indicate the SMC has reset.


If iCloud is logged out in iTunes and my iPhone is reset, can I still track it? If iCloud is logged out in iTunes and my iPhone is reset, can I still track it?

If I understand your question, the answer is no.

To track your phone, you need to have turned on Find My iPhone by logging into iCloud and flicking the Find My iPhone switch. If you logged out of iCloud, you turn off Find My iPhone, and your phone cannot be tracked. Only you can turn off iCloud unless somebody knows, or guessed, your password and turned it off themselves.


Command-line arguments for "Remote Desktop Connection for Mac"? I haven't been able to find any documentation that would indicate this is possible, but is there any way to pass the hostname you'd like to connect to as a command-line argument to Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection for Mac?

Some background info for those interested:

I'm a systems administrator, and I'm in the process of moving to a MacBook Air as my primary work computer from a Windows 7 laptop. I frequently use Remote Desktop Client to connect to servers, and in Windows, I use Launchy as my keyboard launcher. I've assigned "rdp" as a keyword so when I invoke Launchy, type "rdp {tab} servername" it passes the text after the tab key as the hostname to mstsc.exe (i.e., mstsc.exe /v:servername). This results in the remote desktop client opening a session to the hostname specified.

There is no command line access for the Microsoft Remote Desktop Client. But the free and most excellent CoRD remote desktop client does handle rdp:// links which would let you call it from a launcher of your choice or even via open on the command line.

The CoRD documentation on github lays out how you can use URL encoded parameters to open full-configured RDP sessions.

rdp:// URL syntax

CoRD handles rdp:// URLs, which you can use from many places inside OS X. Unfortunately, there is no way to extend Finder's "Connect to Server" dialog, which supports launching VNC URLs, so we can't launch CoRD from there. If Apple changes this (or if anybody is aware of a way to extend it) we would love to hear about it.

  Saved Servers

  If you want to use rdp:// urls with existing saved servers, you can (as of 0.5.3)! Just use the label in place of a hostname:

  open rdp://label

  New Servers

  From a shell (using Terminal):

  open rdp://hostname

  Additional parameters can be used to start a fully-configured session via the URL:

  open rdp://[username[:password]@]hostname[:port][/domain][?parameters]

  The following parameters can be set for the session via a query string (as of 0.5.2):

  screenDepth ### [8|16|24|32]
  screenWidth <width in pixels>
  screenHeight <height in pixels>
  consoleSession ### [true|false|yes|no]
  fullscreen ### [true|false|yes|no]
  windowDrags ### [true|false|yes|no]
  drawDesktop ### [true|false|yes|no]
  windowAnimation ### [true|false|yes|no]
  themes ### [true|false|yes|no]
  fontSmoothing ### [true|false|yes|no]
  forwardDisks ### [true|false|yes|no]
  forwardPrinters ### [true|false|yes|no]
  forwardAudio ### [0|1|2]

  0 - Forward Audio to the Local Machine (Currently not used since CoRD doesn't present audio)
  1 - Leave Audio at the Remote Machine
  2 - Disable Audio at both  Machines

  Example

  open rdp://jsmith:securePassword@hostname.bigco.com/BigCoDomain?screendepth###24\&consoleSession###true\&themes###false\&screenWidth###1280\&screenHeight###800

  Note:

  When using ampersands (&) from the command line, they have to be escaped with a backslash (). Colons (:) can be used in place of ampersands for the same effect, without needing to be escaped.

  Passwords with any special characters in them, @, :, &, etc need to be encoded according to the URL Encoding Format

  Command Line Use

  CoRD supports the following command line options: -host -port -u -d -p -a [8|16|24|32] set screen depth -width set screen resolution width -height set screen resolution height

  Example

  /Applications/CoRD.app/Contents/MacOS/CoRD -host example.com -port 3389 -u username

  Caveats

  Launching CoRD from the command line this way causes a fresh instance of CoRD to be opened. One symptom of this is multiple Dock icons. This overrides or decreases the effectiveness of many of CoRD strong points, including unified sessions, etc. For that reason, we recommend using the open command, and rdp:// URLs to launch sessions.


Import Google Reader subscriptions into Flipboard Is there a simple way to import my rss subscriptions from Google Reader(GR) into Flipboard(F). I know i can read the subscriptions in F, but want to really import them into F so i can access it in F after GR will shutdown.

Yes there is and it is described in an article on the Flipboard web page: "We’ve Got Your RSS Covered! Save Your Google Reader Feeds Now".

Basically you just have to choose Google Reader in the Accounts tab. Once imported, Flipboard will fetch the feeds on its own. So it will also stay when Google has shut down Reader.

Just one more hint:
If you want to save your feeds in a stand-alone file (e.g. for backing up) you could use Google Takeout.


Upgrading OpenSSL without linking and workarounds I am confused by all the posts, questions, answers, dropping symlink, linking, heartbleed bug, etc... that exist on updating your OpenSSL on a Mac.

When I run $ openssl version I get OpenSSL 0.9.8zh 14 Jan 2016 but when I run $ brew install openssl I get Warning: openssl 1.0.2l is already installed.

Does this mean I have two versions installed?

What exactly should I do now via HomeBrew?

Is there a clean way of updating it to the newest and bug-free version without all the linking and path changing, etc...?

I am using OS X El Capitan 10.11.6

You have two versions of OpenSSL installed. There is one that is distributed as part of the operating system, and one that Homebrew has installed. They live at different locations on your Mac.

The Heartbleed bug was introduced to OpenSSL with version 1.0.1. The last version that Apple shipped with OS X is version 0.9.8. So you don't need to update the version that is bundled with the operating system to compensate for Heartbleed, 0.9.8 is not affected by the bug. And if similar bugs are found in the future that do affect 0.9.8 then Apple will release a patch to fix them.

Homebrew has installed its own version either because you asked it to or because it needed it to for another piece of software. The version that Homebrew has installed (1.0.2l) includes the fix for Heartbleed. So you don't need to do anything to compensate for Heartbleed there either.

In general though, you should run brew outdated to look for any packages you've installed through homebrew that are out of date and either run brew uninstall XXXXX if you don't need them or brew upgrade XXXXX to update them if an update is available (replacing XXXXX with the name of the package).


APFS Errors: fsck can't repair TL;DR

Asked the same question on Apple communities, nothing useful.
Find the post here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8123614

bash-3.2# fsck_apfs -d -l /dev/disk5
fletcher64_init:58: Selecting AVX2 implementation of fletcher64
** Checking volume.
** Checking the container superblock.
** Checking the EFI jumpstart record.
** Checking the space manager.
** Checking the object map.
** Checking the APFS volume superblock.
warning: apfs_sb at apfs_fs_index (0): apfs_features has unrecognized features (2)
** Checking the object map.
** Checking the fsroot tree.
error: btn: key (2) compare error: 22
   fsroot tree is invalid.
** The volume /dev/disk5 could not be verified completely.

Hardware iMac (27-inch, Late 2013), 256GB stock SSD, nothing special, nothing fancy.

Standard issue hardware and I am certain that this hardware is flawless- since I run Linux/Freebsd on it.

Drive is a default single partitioned GPT for fresh install of High Sierra. I simply erased the whole drive, set a new GPT scheme, formatted it as HFS+ and started the installer from USB. This went ok, but after a few days I checked the Volume after power outage and found that I can't repair it anymore...

Disk Utility.app says the same what fsck does. Disk Utility is basically executing fsck in the background anyways, if you think it's not then start Disk Utility directly through Terminal and you will see it in stdout.

I couldn't find any useful documentation, just some marketing flavoured mambo-jumbo without any technical depth.

I installed the 10.13.1 Public Beta release with hopes that maybe it will recognize the unrecognized features, now it says more or less the same and still can't repair the volume - although it does not complain about unrecognized features.

I read somewhere that APFS is close related to ZFS, so maybe one can work with ZFS tools or other software that explicitly is designed to repair APFS similar to a back story here: http://dtrace.org/blogs/ahl/2016/06/15/apple_and_zfs/

Sub-topics

Is there a way to opt-out of APFS on SSD?
Is there a way to convert back to HFS+

During installation the installer didn't asked about conversion (or maybe I missed it) and now im stuck with a drive I can't use.

Update II:
After reading a bit about ZFS and then references from Wikipedia entry about APFS (correct me if I am wrong) APFS implementation should take care off any faults on it's own, and, theoretically there is no need for a fsck command. Well, thinking of it, I never had to fsck a BTRFS volume either, if there were some issues there were scrubbed at boot time, guess this is how APFS is supposed to work as well - since fault tolerance is one of it's core features.

More technical details by reverse engineering APFS are here

Update III (07.01.2018)

After some weeks of APFs testing on native Apple and non-Apple hardware by doing a lot of common and some not so-common testing - I recommend to stay away from it until the Linux kernel is able to mount an APFS volume in R/W mode. From my experience one can expect to have a really bad day if your APFS based storage crashes for some reason and won't be able to self-heal. In most cases it does the job and can repair itself - however in 8 weeks I landed in more then 5 cases where it couldn't- despite no hardware failure. I was not able to repair/reuse the volume without reformatting therefore I'm not using APFS until it's well documented and mountable in Linux in R/W mode for anything else then system files.

SSD vs. non-SSD
If you are running APFS on non-SSD: it will be slower then HFS. Period.
APFS is (currently) only reasonable on internal SSD drives and on can be on  hybrid drives (although Apple installer won't agree). Magnetic hard drives don't benefit from APFS in any way. External SSD drive performance is not really comparable since the amount data you can squeeze through USB-C is limited and HFS+ wont't be a bottleneck.

Same advice as the Apple forums. Backup and reformat your system.

Apple has not released an APFS specification or code yet. As you have found, only very rough reverse engineering has been done. Trying to interpret what key 2 miscompare in the fsroot tree is pure speculation at this point.

There is no way to convert back to HFS+. There is an unofficial way to opt out though.

There is no need for a fsck command means that the FS will try to fix anything wrong on-the-fly, online. No filesystem can be immune from all potential damage or implementation bugs. If something can't be fixed by fsck offline, then there really is no chance to have it fixed online.

However, one potential scenario is a bug with fsck and not the system code, but again that's pure speculation without being able to understand what's wrong. It's your choice, but a reformat is the safest point.


How to share something into a Reminders list? Suppose you are viewing a webpage and need to set a reminder to do something with this page. How might you go about doing this given that 'reminders' does not appear to be in the Share list in iOS 8.1.3?

You can't, yet.

You need to create the reminder manually and copy-paste the URL into the notes if you need it.


Run iPhone Apps on MacOs Laptop for free I have a .ipa file in my laptop and also have a Apple Laptop with MacOS. I do not have any iPhone. I want to run the app in my Laptop. Doing a quick Google Search brought me this., which looks like costing $99 for each year. I just want to run the app for free, what should I do?

You cannot run iOS applications on anything other than iOS. And you need a device capable of running iOS (iPhone or iPad).

The reason being is that iOS applications are compiled to run on the ARM-based processor. OS X (and most desktop or notebook operating systems) run on the i386 or x64 architecture.

To run a different arch-type, you'd need an emulator. And all Xcode has is a simulator.


How to omit file extension from zsh autocomplete? I'm new to zsh in Catalina. In .zshrc, I currently have

setopt CORRECT
setopt CORRECT_ALL

When I run a java program from the command line, I want only:

% java ProgramName

If I type java Pro autocomplete adds the rest of the name but also appends .class. (Or, if I have the source file in the same directory, it appends the . after the name) and I then have to delete .class (or hit the backspace once) before I can run the program.

Is there a way to get zsh autocomplete to omit .class (and .) but only when the initial command is java?

I'd prefer not to install something like Oh My Zsh which might alter my other zsh settings.

It appears you are still using Zsh's legacy completion system. You can upgrade to "new" completion system (released back in the year 2000) by adding this to your .zshrc file:
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit

Then you'll see that Zsh's java completion will no longer add .class.


Free SSH GUI client with ssh tunnel support for Yosemite? Is there any free SSH GUI client for Mac OS X? Coming from Windows I would be happy with something as simple as Putty.

Features:

Free
Connection Manager
SSH tunnel support
Yosemite ready (and retina pretty)
Currently active (development not dead)
Support for private key authentication

I’m aware of similar questions posted here but I haven’t found a good alternative covering the requirements in items 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Most OS X users don't use "ssh GUIs" because OS X ships with a very good Terminal application. This is unlike Windows where the cmd.exe or even a PowerShell are not friendly command line interfaces to remote servers.

In OS X, you can just fire up Terminal.app and ssh from the command line with:

ssh <myhost>

You can use a more advanced terminal application like iTerm2 and it will allow you to save "profiles" that, when called up, automatically run a set of commands in the terminal for you. You can use these to automatically start ssh connections (which can be interactive terminal sessions or stunnels):

You can start and stop stunnels from the command line as well -- after all, these are just ssh connections that open a local port and forward requests to a remote server. For example:

ssh -f user@personal-server.com -L 2000:personal-server.com:25 -N

And you're done.

Private key authentication schemes are supported by the ssh command line that ships, default, with any OS X version.


open image full screen with "open -a Preview" Using osx 10.9.3

I would like to write a script that opens images full-screen with preview but I can't seem to find the command line options for the Preview application.

Preview.app doesn't have command line options, but you could use AppleScript in Terminal:

open -a Preview somefile.png ; /usr/bin/osascript -e 'tell application "Preview"' -e "activate" -e 'tell application "System Events"' -e 'keystroke "f" using {control down, command down}' -e "end tell" -e "end tell"

Just replace somefile.png with the path/image you want; AppleScript invokes fullscreen.


How do I tell beta app review to test on a compatible device? I'm trying to do a TestFlight beta test for an app, but app review keeps rejecting it saying it crashes.

My app has UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities set to limit the devices it can be installed on. It doesn't support the iPad, but the app review team keeps testing it on an iPad, saying it crashes, and rejecting the binary. I've told them the above multiple times, both in the testing notes and when responding to the rejection.

How do I get them to test on a compatible device?

All iPhone apps must be able to run on an iPad. If there is not sufficient technology in the iPad, an appropriate message needs to be shown. Your app cannot crash during app review for any reason. Apple may bring out an iPad which meets the device capabilities in the future and you shouldn't have to update your app before it works.


File management 'Favorites' list customization Generally I'd do all my file management from the terminal but there are the cases where the GUI is more effective. I'm wondering if it is possible to customize the list of apparent 'Favorites' even though I don't use most of them. I'd like to add my own folders that I have created to that list, is there a way to do this?

To add any directory to your favorites, first, go to your root dir:

Use: ⌘+⇧+G then type in / in the popup.

Navigate to the directory you want and drag it onto Favorites.


Are tags portable, and if so how? I am a relatively new Mac user, recently bought a MacBook Pro with OS X 10.9.1.

I see that there are tagging capabilities within the file system. I'm concerned about portability. If I get a new computer in a few years, how would I transfer my tags to the new system? What if I want to move my files to a Windows or Linux machine? Can I see the tags on these operating systems?

I just don't want to put some effort into the built-in tagging system only to have my tags useless at some point down the road.

Tags are not 100% portable in that they don't always survive mailing or copying to other computers such as Linux or Windows. On that respect, it's more about those OS supporting the Apple filesystem. I am impressed that even copying tagged files to a SMB formatted USB drive preserves the tag metadata and most copy operations from and to another Mac via an HFS+ hard drive or share does preserve the tags well in practice. (Even copying the file to a 10.8 or older Mac didn't strip tags in my tests).

Apple's article covering tags, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5839, recommends:

  If you want to include your Tags when sending files through Mail, Messages, or other apps, compress your files and folders before sending them.


How can I prevent my iPod from downloading album art? I have a first-gen iPod Nano 4GB. I live having album art in my iTunes library on my nice, big, fat, PC hard drive. However, I don't really need it on my iPod. I'd like to maximize the amount of music I can fit on there.

So, how much space is that album art taking up, anyway? Can I keep it from getting on the device without having to delete it all from iTunes?

There used to be an option in iTunes 8 that allowed toggling of album artwork on devices.  This was removed in iTunes 9.

I also have your model Nano and would like to disable the artwork - only recourse for us is to leave feedback :(


Changed developer account and now can't log in to it from Xcode I was forced to changed my account name from a nickname to an email address. Now I can't log in to my developer account from Xcode. There appears to be no way to just edit the current developer ID in Xcode. I can add a new address, but it requires an iCloud address, which my new email is not. What can I do here to resolve this? Also, how do I ensure all my entitlements are moved to the new account?

Silly me. I was having trouble adding my new account in Xcode. Once I did that, all was well.


Recover photographs from Photos library I made the (idiotic) decision to install a beta version of OS X Mojave Big Sur, which later became corrupted, forcing me to reinstall OS X Catalina.
During the time that I had Mojave Big Sur installed, I opened Photos which migrate the library to its new format.  My Pictures folder was archived by Backblaze.
After I installed Catalina, I attempted to open the Photos library (restored from Backblaze) and got this message:

I don't recall the process exactly, but I was able to open Photos which included some of the original photos.  As you can see, this new library (highlighted) is substantially smaller than the other libraries:

How do I get the photographs and the meta data from my older library?

The first thing to check is whether Photos Library.photoslibrary (the 53.31GB one) is Catalina- or Mojave-compatible (Or neither - i.e. it's somehow got corrupted).
If you have access to two Macs - one running Catalina and the other Mojave, try to open the library on both and see which one can open it. Do make sure you're opening the correct library (Since you have more than one):

In Mojave, open Photos > Preferences > Library location > Click on the current library, navigate to where your desired library is located, and select it.

In Catalina, open Photos > Preferences > System library. Navigate to where this library is located, and set it as the system library.

If you don't have two Macs, try this: Right-click on the Photos library > select Show package contents > If there's a folder named Masters, it's Mojave. If there's a folder named Originals, it's Catalina (Be very careful not to make any changes to any of the folders or files, otherwise it'll corrupt the library).
If you open Masters or Originals, the unmodified versions of all your photos will be in there. Latest edited versions (for Catalina) will be in Resources > Derivatives. An easier way to extract the photos along with metadata is with a Mac app named Photos Takeout, but that will only work if your library isn't corrupted.


When did Apple add support for 3D models in Quick Look and Preview? I just happily discovered that .obj files are viewable in Quick Look and Preview!

I'm assuming this is now standard functionality, rather than the result of some third-party software on my Mac having been bundled with a Quick Look plug-in for OBJ... since Preview appears to have added support at the same time.

Surprisingly, web searches have not revealed much about this feature. All I've found is this GitHub page, but it's for a separate plug-in. Maybe it was released under a license that allowed Apple to make it part of macOS? Curious...

If it is standard, since which version of macOS has this been available? I'd like to know what to tell others when sharing .obj files with them regarding if they can expect to be able to view the data on their Macs without needing to install 3D software.

Quicklook 3d file preview was available since Mac OS 10.5 Leopard as far as I can remember. Common 3D files like OBJ and Collada DAE works out of box for quicklook and preview, Finder too will generate a nice icon for them. Pretty neat!


Share iPhone 4G connection over an ethernet adapter? For my work, I am sometimes in the field using my iPhone 8's 4G connection for Internet. I tether my laptop to it over WiFi using Personal Hotspot; this works fine.

Some of the equipment I work on doesn't have WiFi to be able to connect to the hotspot, but it would be useful to temporarily give it Internet access while I'm working on it. I see that Lightning ethernet adapters are now available and show up as an ethernet interface in iOS.
 All the information I can find refers only to using the wired interface as the uplink to the Internet.

Does anybody know whether iOS will run Personal Hotspot (ie, DHCP, NAT, routing to the 4G interface, etc) on the ethernet interface when one of these adaptors is plugged in?

Thanks.

It will work if you connect the iPhone via usb to a PC or Mac and then forward the connection over ethernet to a wifi router.

  This would work because iOS allows for hotspotting over USB. from there, you can use the sharing preferences on Mac to share internet, you may share the connection to any available interface, which includes wifi/usb to ethernet or any other interface that may be connected.

With a wifi router, you would be able to access both wired and wirelessly what is on the network. The connection would come from the iPhone, go to the computer, then travel to the router; where a NAT would be created, and multiple devices connected to the wifi router would allow for communication between the wired and wireless devices.

A note: your Mac and iPhone will not connect to the network because they are supplying the internet connection. Another device would be needed.

See Screenshot below:


iTerm2 - Split vertically with current profile with same working directory When splitting vertically with current profile by using the keyboard shortcut, Command + D, is it possible for the new iTerm2 window to have the same working directory as the current one?

By default, invoking this command opens the new window with the users home directory as the current directory.

Open iTerm2 preferences by using the keyboard shortcut, Command + , or by invoking the command iTerm2 → Preferences... in the Menu bar.

In the Preferences window, switch to Profiles tab and under Working Directory select Advanced Configuration. (The default selection is Home directory.)

Now, click on the Edit... button, and in the pane that opens, under Working Directory for New Split Panes select Reuse previous session's directory. (The default selection is Home directory.)

Now, when invoking the Splitting Vertically with Current Profile command by pressing Command + D keys, the adjoining window will be opened with the same directory as the current working directory.


Check application version in Catalina I just upgraded to Catalina 10.15.7 coming from High Sierra.
On any previous MacOS release I can press space on any app on app drawer to show application version.
I'm positive they removed it in recent release since I can't view app version anymore.
Any other method to view app version?

You can usually see the version number of an Application in the Finder's Preview pane (most obviously seen in Column View, but also available in other views with View > Show Preview).

System Information's Applications panel will also show the Version numbers. (You may need to wait a bit while it collects the info.)

Individual apps can be checked with File > Get Info.


Mac wakes up after a few seconds: System Wake Reason not found For the last few weeks I've run into issues with my 2017 MacBook Air on macOS Catalina 10.15.1. (Edit: it also happens on 10.15.2 and 10.15.3.)

Whenever I go tell it to sleep (either through closing the lid or the context menu or CMD + Shift + Q) it wakes up after about 2 seconds.

I've already tried the following things with no avail:

Reset SMC
Reset NVRAM
Boot into safe mode
Disconnect any devices
Log into another user
Disable wifi
Disable waking up the mac from lid opening
Disable hibernation
Disable boot on lan

I've got the following log outputs

pmset -g assertions:

2020-01-19 23:19:43 +0100
Assertion status system-wide:
   BackgroundTask                 0
   ApplePushServiceTask           0
   UserIsActive                   1
   PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep    0
   PreventSystemSleep             0
   ExternalMedia                  0
   PreventUserIdleSystemSleep     0
   NetworkClientActive            0
Listed by owning process:
pid 133(powerd): [0x000009910009a039] 00:00:01 UserIsActive named: "com.apple.powermanagement.wakeschedule"
    Timeout will fire in 0 secs Action=TimeoutActionRelease

# This line is repeated with incrementing hex numbers within the
# brackets literally thousands of times

Timeout will fire in 2 secs Action=TimeoutActionRelease
   pid 176(hidd): [0x0000002600098dfc] 00:00:00 UserIsActive named: "com.apple.iohideventsystem.queue.tickle serviceID:100000337 name:AppleHIDKeyboardEve product:Apple Internal Keyb eventType:3"
    Timeout will fire in 120 secs Action=TimeoutActionRelease
No kernel assertions.
Idle sleep preventers: IODisplayWrangler

And log show | grep -i "Wake reason" (shortened):

2020-01-19 23:12:44.154039+0100 0x3a0      Default     0x0                  204    0    airportd: systemWokenByWiFi: System Wake Reason not found
2020-01-19 23:12:44.154170+0100 0x3a0      Default     0x0                  204    0    airportd: systemWokenByWiFi: System Wake Reason not found
2020-01-19 23:12:44.154277+0100 0x3a0      Default     0x0                  204    0    airportd: systemWokenByWiFi: System Wake Reason not found
2020-01-19 23:12:44.240592+0100 0x5dbc     Default     0x0                  204    0    airportd: systemWokenByWiFi: System Wake Reason not found

Activity monitor shows kernel_task with by far the most idle wakeups but that bit of information seems somewhat useless

I did a clean install of MacOS and it completely solved the issue.
Just to be clear, I deleted EVERYTHING off the hard drive and re-installed MacOS. So basically it was a software issue.
I went through everything on Apple’s website to isolate the problem. Finally called Apple support who worked with me for 1-2hrs. Then finally just recommended a clean install. And bam, fixed.


Can't gain write access to secondary hard drive root-level folder I have a second hard drive installed on my Mac. On its several root-level folders there's only one I can't get write access to.

I've tried right-clicking it, select "Get Info", unlock it, click the plus sign, select my name, change my name, & everyone to "Read only to "Read & Write", click the gear icon, "Make Me the owner" & "Apply to enclosed items."

Even after repeating those steps I still can't rename or delete this folder. How can I gain write access to it?

Do you need permissions to exist on this volume?  If not use the "Ignore permissions on this volume" checkbox, and that will take care of all of the problems.

Also - I would run disk utility's verify to see if there are any problems with it.


Why can't I left click on my Macbook Pro? I have a Macbook Pro (Retina, Late 2012) running OS X El Capitan (10.11.13).

What works:

Secondary click with two fingers
Feel/sound of trackpad click (no noticeable change in the feel of the trackpad)
Three/four-finger swipes/gestures

What doesn’t work:

Primary (i.e. left) click
One finger tapping to click

What I’ve tried:

Toggling System Preferences Trackpad settings
Rebooting
Toggling Bluetooth even though it’s normally off and I don’t own a bluetooth mouse (Can't click with trackpad or mouse (OS X 10.9, MacBook Pro))
Using a USB mechanical mouse (right click worked, left click didn’t)
Switching the Primary mouse button with the USB mechanical mouse connected (Secondary click on the left button worked, Primary click on the right button didn’t)
Reset SMC and PRAM (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/reset-macs-smc-pram/)
Apple Hardware Test (No results found, could not click “Perform extended testing”)
Booting in Safe Mode
Checking Battery Health ("Condition: Normal” according to System Report; some people have had trouble with their battery bulging)
Laying my Macbook Pro on its side and tapping underneath the trackpad area (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3097419?start=15&tstart=0)

I’m confused.

I’ve used the Accessibility Options Shortcut (Fn-⌘-⌥-F5) to turn on mouse keys, which I’ve been using for the past week. As fun as it is to toggle mouse keys on and off, I’d really like to get the clicking working. Please help. I will be happy if this has a stupid easy answer.

Let's just say it's a story of unknown Bluetooth interference or a paired Bluetooth device that’s in range of the Mac.

I had this very issue last week on my Early 2013 15' MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Normal (Left) mouse-click wouldn't work under any conditions while running OS X, the built-in Trackpad, Magic Mouse or USB Mouse, while the secondary-click was fine on all.

I booted my MBP with a Linux Mint Live USB Flash Drive and the built-in Trackpad, Magic Mouse and USB Mouse all worked, both normal-click and secondary-click.  So at least I knew the built-in Trackpad, Magic Mouse and USB Mouse hardware was fine and it was looking like a software issue.

As another trouble shooting process I made an OS X USB Flash Drive Installer, figuring it would boot clean and the built-in Trackpad or Magic Mouse would work fine since it worked under Linux, however during the install... no normal-click would work, while the secondary-click was fine.

Turns out my Magic Trackpad, which I was not using and was in the closet, was depressed by a book that fell over on to it.  Because it was connected, even though not in use, it was causing the other clickable devices to fail on the normal-click while the secondary-click still worked.

This drove me crazy for a couple of hours because the book fell when I was not in the room, so I never heard it or suspected the Magic Trackpad to be an issue.  Linux Mint Live USB Flash Drive worked because the Magic Trackpad was not paired to it and therefore couldn't and didn't interfere.  Unlike in OS X it automatically connected.

What a pain it was but who doesn't love a good mystery!

Do you by chance have a Magic Trackpad lying around?

——

Or a Bluetooth mouse in a travel bag - if that mouse is pressed down, you can’t ever get a left mouse up event from any other device.


Upgrade or replace early 2008 Mac Pro? I have an early 2008 Mac Pro that I use for research involving a lot of statistical computing. Some of this requires a decent amount of memory (storing hundreds of thousands of iterations of simulations, each having many parameter values…). It's fairly slow and seems to be swapping a ton on many of these runs.

My question is how easy and how cheap would it be to add memory and maybe a SSD to speed it up (I don't care about processing speed on its own that much). I don't want to invest a ton of money in a machine that might soon be obsolete (e.g. not supported by new OS versions), but I don't have a ton of money to blow on a completely new machine.

What about other options for a new Mac? Would a new iMac with lots of memory be comparable in cost to the total upgrade price for my current machine? I'm not super tech savvy so don't have a good sense for whether throwing many hundreds of dollars into a 7 year old computer is dumb. Advice would be greatly appreciated.

Based on personal experience, the 08 Mac Pro is well worth squeezing that last bit of life out of.

It will take 64GB RAM, as 8 x 16 - even though Apple say it will only take 8GB sticks. Best source, other than OWC [which I think is US only] is eBay. There are specialists who sell old Mac parts & RAM; & mostly list with specific models items will run on. DDR2 is not cheap, though. I think I paid 300 quid for 16GB last year.

It's possible to add an SSD in one of the optical bays - without losing any existing drives in the main bays.
You will need a 2.5" > 5.25" mounting bracket, a PATA > SATA power cable & an SATA data cable [straight ends] maybe 9" long [don't get the shortest one, it won't reach]
The power you get from the optical bay itself.
The SATA connection comes from 2 'hidden' extra connectors - on the motherboard, behind the main fan assembly, which you can route behind the optical bay as you refit it.

Clone your existing boot drive with something like Carbon Copy Cloner & away you go.

The speed increase from the SSD alone is astonishing.


How can I use a second computer to manage apps on my iPhone? I have an iPhone and two Macs -- an old Mac I've been using to manage what's on the phone, and a new one that I've never connected to the phone.

Now I'd like to use the new Mac to buy a couple apps and add them to my phone. (The old machine isn't available right now.)

I don't want to connect my phone to the new machine and have it sync and wipe out the apps and the music that are already on there.

Is there any way to keep what I already have and add some more items using the new Mac?

(The reason I don't just use iTunes on the phone itself is that something I want to get is so large that the phone refuses to download it over the cellular network.)

You are quite correct, you don't want to sync your iPhone to this new Mac. At the least, you'd lose any songs or movies you have loaded.

You can do what you want using the iPhone Configuration Utility (free at http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/). Install, connect the iPhone, click on the iPhone's icon, and go to the Applications tab. It will let you install or uninstall individual apps.

Or connect your iPhone to WiFi (you could use Network Sharing from the new Mac, if no other WiFi is available) to download directly, after buying from either the iPhone or the Mac.


Unable to log into new installation of macOS High Sierra I recently installed macOS High Sierra on my MacBook Air. After that, it is not accepting the correct password. I also failed to unlock my FileVault. It also shows that the password I entered is wrong.

Later, I discovered that when I type it input some symbols instead of letters, I tried to change it using Input sources on the right most corner of the screen but again it’s not working.

I spend long hours for it, but all in vain. I decided to re-install macOS, and now the problem is I cannot boot from the USB. I tried all possible combinations to enter Disk Utilities, but in vain.

What should I do?

Before you worry about the installer, have you tested the hardware port?

Do you have an external keyboard that you could use to see if that works?


Encryption apps or password managers for iPhone without cloud or Internet connection Is there an encryption app or password manager available for iPhone that doesn't have a cloud connection or that can be disconnected from the cloud and the Internet?

I use 1password (https://agilebits.com/onepassword) for a long time already. Especially because it syncs very well across all my devices :)
However you can install iPhone only app and set in the Settings -> Sync Service -> Disable Sync.


Create plist through command line Forgive me if there is a better way todo this, but I have an app that is generated without a plist, this is partly due to the build system that is cross platform. Is there a way to generate a plist from the command line? I looked at defaults but I can't seem to generate one. I need to be able to set one key CFBundleExecutable.

Thanks.

The following example creates a com.domain.programname.plist file in:

~\Library\Preferences

defaults write com.domain.programname CFBundleExecutable $value

If you want an Info.plist file this example creates one on your Desktop:

defaults write /Users/$USER/Desktop/Info CFBundleExecutable ExecutableName

You could set the path to inside the .app bundle, say it's in Applications:

defaults write /Applications/AppName.app/Contents/Info CFBundleExecutable ExecutableName

For other permutations read: man defaults


Trying to close open port 5900 or find process that opened it On a Mac Pro 2013 running High Sierra I have discovered that port 5900 remains opened which is a "VNC remote desktop".  I do run TeamViewer but have turned it off & confirmed it being off with activity monitor.  On Terminal I have tried (see below). I really don't want this port simply being opened all the time.

patobrien$ sudo lsof -i :5900
Password:
COMMAND PID USER   FD   TYPE             DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
launchd   1 root    8u  IPv4 0xb6a6e03f8b5bc76d      0t0  TCP *:rfb (LISTEN)
launchd   1 root   13u  IPv6 0xb6a6e03f8b5b5d7d      0t0  TCP *:rfb (LISTEN)
launchd   1 root   20u  IPv6 0xb6a6e03f8b5b5d7d      0t0  TCP *:rfb (LISTEN)
launchd   1 root   25u  IPv4 0xb6a6e03f8b5bc76d      0t0  TCP *:rfb (LISTEN)
 patobrien$ sudo kill -9 1
kill: 1: Operation not permitted

TeamViewer is a proprietary protocol not the same as VNC. However, macOS has screen sharing (VNC) built-in. Turn it off in System Preferences->Sharing->Screen Sharing:


dtrace errors when running opensnoop in El Capitan In order to diagnose slow terminal interaction (which turned out to be an unrelated problem), I ran sudo opensnoop and saw output like this: dtrace errors

I assume this has to do with SIP in El Capitan. Is it something to worry about? How can I dig deeper to understand what the probe IDs correspond to and what processes are causing the errors? What is the action #?

You can white list portions of the restrictions when you boot to recovery HD and open terminal from the utilities window:

csrutil disable
csrutil enable --without dtrace

I haven't found good Apple documentation on this, but Rich Trouton has done a magnificent job documenting the internals of SIP on his blog and public speaking engagements:

https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/system-integrity-protection-adding-another-layer-to-apples-security-model/#more-7252
http://www.jamfsoftware.com/resources/os-x-security-defense-in-depth/


How to exclude times for Time Machine backups via command line? I'd like to exclude specific times where Time Machine should not run. This is so that I can create an off-site backup of the Time Machine backup for disaster recovery purposes. I don't want a TM backup running while making this backup as it may create a copy in an inconsistent state.

I realize there are tools that allow you to do this, but all require you to disable the Apple Time Machine scheduler, which I prefer to not to do. I'd also prefer not to install software I do not know or trust. Therefore, I'm looking for a command line solution to prevent Time Machine backups from occurring from 12AM to 6AM.

I took a look at tmutil man pages and didn't see any way of including or excluding run times. However, I did see that one can stopbackup, disable, and enable the service using this utility. So perhaps, there's a way to easily schedule these commands to run at certain times? For example:

Run these commands at 12:00AM:

sudo tmutil disable
sudo tmutil stopbackup

Then turn things back on at 6:00AM:

sudo tmutil enable

I tried using iCal with those commands in an .sh file, but nothing happen. I read about launchd, but I'm out of my comfort zone with getting that going, especially since these need to run as root.

There is no option to exclude certain times but there is an option to define times to run a backup. If you want to exclude working hours, 9 am to 6 pm, for example, you could tell Time Machine to make a backup between 18:00 hours to 9:00 (6 pm to 9 am). Forcing Time Machine to these hours essentially excludes your window.


Replace dead keys of default US keyboard layout on Lion? I've been trying to create a new keyboard layout using Ukelele on Lion. I want to replace some dead keys combination like option+e to option+'.

Ukelele seems to be the right tool for it. Problem is, since Lion, it doesn't support the "New from Current Input Source" option, which means I can't seem to simply edit the "US" layout to replace the dead keys I want.

Is there an already working keylayout that works on Lion and replaces the option+letter combinations with option+accent?

Is there another solution for this problem?

Where can I find the original Lion keylayouts? I've tried using old keylayouts (or automatically generated ones), but then a lot of subtle things breaking (like text selection on textmate).

New version of Ukelele supports "New from Current Input Source" on Lion. Managed to create a keylayout that solves my problem. Downoad it here: US AltGr.keylayout


How do I install macOS Sierra now after all these issues? I upgraded my iMac from El Capitan to Sierra about 6 weeks ago and all was working well. A few days back I decided I wanted to reinstall macOS Sierra so that I had a clean installation that wasn't upgraded from El Capitan, but was 'fresh' with no old files etc.

The first problem I ran into was an endless loop during installation so I posted this question: Stuck in endless macOS Sierra installation loop . Monomeeth got me past this problem by creating a USB installer.

Then I had an issue with kernel panics upon startup after reinstalling Sierra, so I posted this question: Finally reinstalled macOS Sierra, but now I get a kernel panic and William T Froggard and Monomeeth helped me get past that.

Then I got this error message:

Note that is a reflection in the photo, not a GPU problem.

So I followed the advice and tested my hardware. I selected the extended test and over an hour later the test found no issues. But when I restart and try again, it keeps bring me back to the above error.

I do not believe I have a hardware issue as there were no signs of problems before I decided to reinstall macOS Sierra. As I mention in my first question, I decided to reformat the HD by doing a 2 pass secure erase and this was successful. So I think that means I have no problems with my HD right? Plus the 1hr hardware test passed also.

Note that I have already tried booting into the recovery from the recovery partition, and from the internet. I have tried both these options many times. None seem to work. If I hold down alt/option during startup I see a macOS Installer option and a Recovery option:

I have tried both more than once and always get stuck in some sort of loop.

Either I boot from the macOS Installer option and get the error in
the first image above which goes round in circles because AHT finds
nothing and we do it all over again.
Or I boot into recovery and get the whole endless loop described in my first question Stuck in endless macOS Sierra installation loop that Monomeeth helped me with.
Or I try and boot again from the USB installer Monomeeth helped me create, but while it worked the first time to reinstall macOS Sierra, now I get a gray screen after selecting English for my main language. I'm not sure how this is even possible! Why did it work the first time but not now?

Obviously I wish I never decided to reinstall macOS Sierra, but now that I have, what do I do from here to get it back on this computer?

I've been looking over your other questions and the whole history of your situation and feel like we're missing something here. Not blaming you, I just think something unbeknown has happened (e.g. a power failure at some point you're not aware of that has caused some corruption).

So, I'm suggesting you do as follows:

Start your iMac in Target Disk Mode
Connect it to your MBP (make sure the MBP is connected to AC power)
Run Disk Utility from the MBP to erase the iMac HD (no need to do another secure erase) and also run First Aid
Assuming you don't encounter any errors, do a fresh download of the install macOS Sierra app from the Mac App Store (i.e. do not run the installer from the USB installer you created, but download a fresh copy from the App Store directly to your MBP)
Now run the installer from the MBP
Follow the steps to install macOS Sierra (ensure you select the iMac's HD to install it on)

Let me know if you run into any problems, but hopefully this will resolve the issue once and for all as it eliminates a number of possible problems.


Deleting files doesn't free up space I moved away (to an external drive) about 30 GB of files from a drive (startup disk) that had 60 GB of free space.  After the move it still shows only 60 GB of free space, not 90, as I would expect.  The trash is emptied.

I tried rebooting and verifying the disk (no problems found), but it didn't change anything.

How can I diagnose and fix the problem?

Note: this is what happened during the move.  I deleted the "washed out" items and repeated the move.

Update: The space was being taken up by Time Machine's Mobile Backups feature. This has solved the problem.

The washed out appearance happened to me once on a failed copy, in my case the files all had an improper creation date. In fact changing the date on the file fixed the issue for me. I think I used the info on this page to change the created date of the files. http://blog.grapii.com/2010/07/change-a-files-creationmodified-date-on-mac-os-x/


Apple Keynote doesnt play in most of my browsers I made a presentation with a simple transition effects and tried to export that presentation to HTML format.

But when I tried to open it on my MacBook, I found, that it doesnt work in Chrome, but works fine in Opera, Firefox and Safari. It show me the preloader and the black screen then in Chrome.

And then I tried to open it on Windows and found, that it works ONLY in Firefox... Chrome, Opera and IE8 dont want to play it...:( And show me the black screen only.

Is that normal or I do something wrong? I need it to play in IE and Chrome for most of our employees...

Export to QuickTime / Movie

Your best option is to export the presentation as a QuickTime movie. This will create an MPEG4 formatted file that can be played on a wide range of devices and operating systems:

Keynote.app > File (menu) > Export To… > QuickTime

Compress with Handbrake

After exporting your presentation, consider compressing the resulting movie file using Handbrake. Handbrake will dramatically reduce the file size and broaden the number of supported playback devices.

View with Browser or VLC

Many web browsers across different operating systems can also natively play back MPEG4 files; so for many employees a web browser such as UE or Chrome will be enough to view the presentation.

Alternatively Mac, Windows, and Linux users can all play exported movies using the free application VLC.


Control Arrow Keyboard Shortcuts in PyCharm According to the PyCharm Keymap for Mac, Control + Up Arrow and Control + Down Arrow are used to navigate between the previous and next methods.  OSX of course uses these key combos for (Control + Arrow Keys) for navigating between applications.

Is there no solution beside remapping these keys in either OSX or in PyCharm?

Yes!

Open System Preferences
Open "Mission control"
Disable that hotkeys.


How do I access BIOS on my MacBook Pro (13 Inch - middle 2012)? On many Intel based computers, pressing the delete key shortly after powering on the computer, allows you to enter BIOS (or equivalent to it). How do I enter BIOS or equivalent on my MacBook Pro?

Please note it is traditional Intel Mainboard i5, without EFI.

The closest equivalent is holding option at start. That runs the firmware that allows you to select network boot or external or internal bootable OS.

There is no open firmware anymore where you can enter commands, so you can just reset NVRAM or let the option boot read the current NVRAM settings. Anything you would set in bios, you can write to the non volatile ram from any OS X booted OS and then those variables and settings are applied next boot.

There is no bios and no concept of a user navigable hierarchy of settings to adjust before any OS loads to Apple hardware. Most of what you might do “in BIOS” isn't possible.


How to change Safari 6 Reader font? In Safari 5 you could just change the Reader.html file inside of the Safari.app to use a sans-serif font.
This Reader.html does not exist in Safari 6.

How do I manage to change the font of Safari Reader (6)?

I hate to read serif fonts.

Add a rule like this to /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Safari.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Reader.html:

.page, h1.title {
  font-family: 'Avenir Next' !important;
}

The !important is required because a .page div has an inline style attribute that overrides the fonts in Reader.html.


Mavericks upgrade to High Sierra? We have a legacy Mac in our inventory with Mavericks installed. Just looking for advice from anyone who has done an OS upgrade to High Sierra. Does it work well or is it best to just leave it as-is and keep it cleaned up as much as possible? If upgrading is an option, what were any hurdles that we can potentially avoid? It's a pretty vanilla system other than being a bit on the older side.

Define "Legacy Mac" we will need the model to make an educated guess.

I have an older iMac that (just barely) supported Sierra, but once Sierra was installed it became so sluggish as to be practically unusable. So I wiped it and set it back to Snow Leopard. It is now running at an acceptable and usable speed.

You could use an external drive and make an image of the boot volume, then upgrade and see how it feels. If the new OS does not work well on the Mac then it should be simple to wipe the drive and image it back to the internal drive.

You have then only lost a little time and no data. just depends on how valuable your time is.


Mac OS X Lion - How do I turn a "regular" user account into a service account? During the installation of PostgreSQL using the installer provided by EnterpriseDB, I was given the option to assign a password to the PostgreSQL account. The installer said something about the account becoming "locked" if I don't assign a password. I didn't know what it meant, so I gave a password. Now I know what it was all about: the installer was actually talking about service account vs regular account. Now the PostgreSQL account appears in the login screen and it's an eyesore. What shall I do to turn it back into just a service account and make it disappear from the login screen? I'm guessing it involves using dscl?

A simpler thing to do will be to hide the user from the Login Window. Apple provides a few options on this support article.


Roll back from OS X Mavericks ( or any newer OS) to Mountain Lion I installed the developer preview of OS X Mavericks, & too many things broke. I can't stay on it & need to roll back to Mountain Lion. Any ways of doing that? Please help!

I originally installed Mountain Lion & Mavericks through the Mac App Store.

Since the question does not mention backups, I guess there aren't any.  What you can try in this case, is to make a time machine backup (e.g. on an external USB Harddrive) of the current Mavericks partition.

Then do a clean install (as suggested by jaume) and then use the migration assistant getting your data back from the Maverick backup into Mountain Lion.


How can I send an iMessage from my iPad to my iPhone? I'm going on a trip where I'm taking my iPhone and leaving my iPad home with my wife. Is there a way for my wife to send me an iMessage from the iPad? Both devices are mine, so currently any message sent to one also goes to the other. But shouldn't there be a way for her to use my iPad to send my iPhone a message?

Yes. Sending a message to "yourself" (i.e. your other devices) is done exactly how you would send a message to anyone else. Start a new conversation in Messages, then enter your phone number or email address, whatever's associated with your Apple ID, as the recipient. If you're going to be somewhere where you won't have cellular access (such as a foreign country) but only Wi-Fi, use your Apple ID-associated email address as the recipient to ensure you get it.

Each message will appear twice - once as being sent and once as being received - but other than that minor inconvenience, it is easy to message between your own devices.


Is "Documents" folder on iPhone secure? Is Documents folder of any app on iPhone secure? Can anybody access it with iTunes, or may be a third party program? Can I protect this folder with a password? (for example, Documents can be encrypted if I lock the device).

I would like to know this to correctly write a privacy policy for an iOS app that uses file sharing.

The visibility of the Documents folder for any given App since iOS 9 requires the developer to enable iTunes Sharing to make the contents of the Documents folder visible to iTunes (and presumably any 3rd party software that knows how to communicate with the device).  By default, file sharing is not enabled.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201301

What you need for File Sharing

The latest version of iTunes.
The latest version of macOS or an
up-to-date version of Windows 7 or later.
An iPhone, iPad, or iPod
touch with the latest version of iOS.
An iOS app that works with File
Sharing.

Since iOS 11, Apple has introduced a new Files App that gives the user file visibility on the device.  Again, the developer needs to use an API to enable what is visible to the user.


How do I disable voiceover when I cannot log into my iPhone? My toddler started pressing buttons like a madman and now I am in voiceover and locked out of my iPhone 8, because even though I hit on passcode numbers and voiceover kindly tells me what my passcode is, it does not log me into my iPhone and I can't use Siri either.

If this ever happens to you, you have to hit the Home button on an iPhone 8 about three times and voiceover is disabled.


iCloud not showing latest Whatsapp backup I backed up my Whatsapp on my iPhone 6. I have a new ipHone 12 and have installed Whatsapp. When I try to restore from my iCloud backup, there is an old backup there but not the latest one. I've tried gong back to my iPhone 6 and backing up again, and deleting and reinstalling Whatsapp on my iPhone 12 but the same, old, backup is there.
Can anyone suggest a fix?

I'm in a similar boat, having just bought an iPhone 12 pro, and am trying to swap in a SIM from an iPhone 8.
What I've noticed is that the last backup that the iPhone 12 is recognizing was an automatic backup from last month. I think that maybe the new phones aren't recognizing manually requested backups.
I've changed my automatic backup to daily, and am going to try swapping the SIM card in again once a new auto backup has happened. Will update this post once there's a result to report on.
Someone else in a different thread recommended changing the name of your new phone to match the name of your old one, but that didn't work for me. Might be worth a try though.

Update: Switching the automatic backup to daily seems to have done the trick. I put the sim back in my old phone, changed the auto backup, and deleted Whatsapp on my new phone. After a day, I swapped the SIM back to the new phone and then reinstalled whatsapp. The Backup went as expected.
Hope this works for you!


Why xterm would run only once on XQuartz? I have XQuartz running and I can open xterm if I have started XQuartz just for the first time after rebooting the machine.  However, as time passes, I cannot create new xterms.  So much so that if I quit current XQuartz and restart just XQuartz, I cannot get any xterm.  It is annoying that I have to reboot the machine just to be able to use xterm.

I am running OS X 10.11 El Capitan.  I'll appreciate any insight.

Here is the information from pkgutil.

$ pkgutil --file-info /Applications/Utilities/XQuartz.app
volume: /
path: /Applications/Utilities/XQuartz.app

pkgid: org.macosforge.xquartz.pkg
pkg-version: 2.7.86
install-time: 1445273913
uid: 0
gid: 0
mode: 755

Using Keyboard

After selecting/clicking on Xquartz, you can press command + n to create how many new xterm windows you need.

Using Terminal App

open a terminal app and enter the below command

/usr/X11/bin/xterm

hopes this helps.


Received an email saying someone has hacked my email account I received an email saying that someone has hacked my email over 6 months ago and they say that through it they have infected my operating system with a virus. They say they have access to all my accounts, browsing history, photos, files on my computer, they also said that they have taken screenshots through the camera on my device.

Is this at all possible? I do have a computer that I use occasionally but mainly go through my iPad or iPhone.

Fake. Delete It and Move On

I got a similar email last week and it is fake. All the details you mentioned are identical to the email I received. In my case, I use 2-factor authentication for my Gmail account, LastPass for my password management and a VPN for all my connected devices. The most telling part of the fakery is that the ‘hacker’ compromised you six months ago, yet has not taken any action. If they have the goods on you, why not sooner? Lastly, the email appeared in my Gmail SPAM filter. That’s the biggest clue to that it is SPAM.

Sample Spam

  Hello!

  My nickname in darknet is hort17.
  I hacked this mailbox more than six months ago,
  through it I infected your operating system with a virus (trojan) created by me and have been monitoring you for a long time.

  So, your password from  is  (and incorrect, btw).

  Even if you changed the password after that - it does not matter, my virus intercepted all the caching data on your computer
  and automatically saved access for me.

  I have access to all your accounts, social networks, email, browsing history.
  Accordingly, I have the data of all your contacts, files from your computer, photos and videos.

  I was most struck by the intimate content sites that you occasionally visit.
  You have a very wild imagination, I tell you!

  During your pastime and entertainment there, I took screenshot through the camera of your device, synchronizing with what you are watching.
  Oh my god! You are so funny and excited!

  I think that you do not want all your contacts to get these files, right?
  If you are of the same opinion, then I think that $890 is quite a fair price to destroy the dirt I created.

  Send the above amount on my BTC wallet (bitcoin): 1EZS92[...redacted...]E62e9XY
  As soon as the above amount is received, I guarantee that the data will be deleted, I do not need it.

  Otherwise, these files and history of visiting sites will get all your contacts from your device.
  Also, I'll send to everyone your contact access to your email and access logs, I have carefully saved it!

  Since reading this letter you have 48 hours!
  After your reading this message, I'll receive an automatic notification that you have seen the letter.

  I hope I taught you a good lesson.
  Do not be so nonchalant, please visit only to proven resources, and don't enter your passwords anywhere!
  Good luck!


How to jump between Spaces on OS X when some are Fullscreen? How to jump between Spaces on OS X using some key + number?

I know I can jump between Desktops (not including fullscreen apps) using  Ctrl ⌃   [num]  . I know I can jump between Spaces using  Ctrl ⌃   ←  /  → , but sometimes I want to jump from Desktop#1 to fullscreen app#5 and I want to be able to do this by pushing just one hotkey.

Can I do it on Mac OS somehow?
Or maybe you can advise me of some additional software to install to achieve such functionality?

Thank you.

I'm afraid it cannot be done natively.
The closest you can achieve is to jump the last regular desktop with  Ctrl ⌃   [num]   then
 Ctrl ⌃   →  from there.

The difficulty is that fullscreen apps don't have a Space number, so you cannot add a shortcut key.

My personal solution is to simply never use fullscreen apps, I find them more trouble than they're worth.


How can I combine USB-C peripherals into a single cord? I've just acquired my fourth USB-C peripheral. In addition to the charger, that makes five USB-C devices that I want to connect to my Macbook Pro.
Perhaps I want to connect all five at once, but it only has 4 ports or perhaps I just don't want to plug in four cables every time I sit down.
 I've tried searching google and amazon and elsewhere for /usb(c|-c| c) (hub|splitter)/ and I am only finding solutions for connecting a bunch of older devices to a single USB-C port. Am I missing something obvious here?

You may be searching under the wrong names. I've (personally) not seen any USB-C hubs. Don't know if a "splitter" is even possible. However USB-C is now commonly used as a "dock" connector.

It run at speeds that allow you to connect monitors, video cards and other high bandwidth devices. If you do a Google search for "USB-C dock" you will find a number of devices that have multiple ports on it including (often) multiple USB-C ports.

With a USB-C dock you only need one plug when you connect up at home, everything else is plugged into the dock.


"Install Xcode" in Applications, necessary after I've installed Xcode? Do I need the Install Xcode after Xcode is installed?

Do you know of any reason it installed an installer to Applications?

You may want to keep it in order to be able to download delta updates instead of the full version when updating via the Mac App Store.

If you don't care about that or care more about disk space, you can delete it (you'll be asked for the administrator password) and continue to use Xcode.


Unicode fonts not stacking correctly (especially Kokonor) Correctly formatted Tibetan text, when pasted into Word, especially using the Kokonor font, does not stack correctly. Is there a solution or workaround to this?

Word 2011 cannot support complex scripts.  Word 2016 can do so, but I think it is still a work in progress, and Tibetan may work properly only with the font Microsoft Himalaya.  Let us know if that one does do stacks correctly.

Sometimes 3rd party keyboard layouts also do not work right with Word.


How to reinstall/repair OS X without losing files? I bought a Macbook Pro in 2012, it came with OS X Lion. (came with NO disc, etc)
1 Month ago I downloaded the update "Mountain Lion". About 2 weeks ago I removed some of the OS X Mountain Lion System files (Twitter, Facebook, etc)

After I deleted some of the system files, if I quit Notes, Contacts and other apps they freeze. I have also noticed other issues with the Mac. I have restarted, cleaned, repaired permissions, made a new account, etc but no good.

Am I able to somehow reset/repair everything, like doing a reinstall of Mountain Lion, without losing my files, apps, etc? I have no problem with the settings being set to default (I would like that).

For example, with Windows you can do a reinstall but all the files and apps are kept in a Windows.old file, and with Windows 8 you can do a config/system settings reset but all your files will be kept.

Time Machine has been disabled since I got this Mac.

You can do an Archive & Install which will reinstall OS X but keep your files.
Don't forget to make a backup before you reinstall in case something goes wrong.

Boot with ⌘R to enter the Recovery HD.
Choose Reinstall OS X.
Follow the instructions.


Are group messages sent over iMessage when possible? When I select multiple recipients, both iPhones and other phones, they are all marked with the green color, as if the message will be sent as an SMS.

Will the message be sent over iMessage to those who can receive it?

From what I have seen the minute a non iMessage user is added to a bulk message it sends all the messages via SMS. I suspect however this is dependant on the carrier more then apple.

From testing, the verification of whether a user has iMessage enabled is done before the message is actually sent.

My best advice is for you to try it out and see. I don't think there is really anyway to force it use iMessage.


Trying to install CocoaPods using terminal getting command not found Im trying to install CocoaPods using terminal. In their official website it is written:

installing it is as easy as running the following commands in the terminal:
$ [sudo] gem install cocoapods
$ pod setup

But when i enter the first line in terminal i get the following error:

-bash: $: command not found

What can I do with it, I tried looking in the web but since I'm a noob with terminal I couldn't really figure out what to to do.

the $ in the lines shown is meant to represent the command prompt of the terminal.

enter the commands without the $ preceding..also the [sudo] part represents the requirement to use sudo or not (you will probably need to) so this comes down to entering

sudo gem install cocoapods
pod setup

before embarking further on your exploration of the command prompt you might find it helpful to have a look through some of the resources on this superuser question


How to make Tab move the cursor between only input fields ignoring everything else? I have seen setting like this in "preferences", but cannot find it. I am using mojave.

Settings → Keyboard → shortcuts → Full keyboard access. control + F7 is the shortcut for the same.


How do I stop Google notification of sport scores on iPhone? On my iPhone's notification center, there is a section showing Google notifications. I get notified of baseball and now football scores. How to stop these specific notifications?

First, open Google application (it is not Chrome, fully G icon Google apps) that you have installed on your iPhone. Click on three dots ...(More) -> Settings-> Notifications from where you can disable and customize notifications.


Create AirPort network from the command line? Is it possible to put my AirPort in access point mode, so it creates an infrastructure (ie, non-ad-hoc) network from the command line on OS X?

Similar to using System Preferences -> Sharing -> Internet -> Share from … to computers using WiFi.

After some hours of digging through the internet, it seems that the only way to put an airport in HostAP ("software base station") mode in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion is to programatically call a the internal, undocumented, startHostAPModeWithSSID method.

I've updated the one example I could find online, and it does seem to work, with the one caveat that only WEP, not WPA, can be used: https://gist.github.com/4418079


Possible to find iPhone encrypted backup password in Keychain files? is there a way to recover your iPhone backup password (for encrypted backups) in Keychain or anywhere on a new MacBook?

When you encrypt iPhone backup on Mac, a password entry dialog will pop up to ask you to enter your password and display a "Remember this password in my Keychain" check box. If you checked the checkbox, your iPhone encrypted backup password was saved in your Keychain files. So you can open the Keychain to show the encryption password once you forget it.

If you did not check that "Remember this password in my Keychain" option, your iPhone backup password would not be saved in your Keychain. So it is impossible to find the encryption password in the Keychain or anywhere on your Mac. In this case, you have to use a third-party application to recover iPhone encrypted backup password on your MacBook.

This post would be helpful: http://www.isumsoft.com/it/find-iphone-encrypted-backup-password-in-keychain-on-macbook/


How to save or share slideshow in iOS 9.3.2? I can play slideshow in my iPhone with Photos app but I cannot save or share that slideshow. What is the problem?

It is currently not possible to save or share a slideshow. The only output is to the device screen itself or over AirPlay.


Managing iCloud Keychain Accounts on iOS How do you do this?

On macOS, once you enable iCloud Keychain, all of your accounts get listed in the Internet Accounts System Preferences Pane. Active ones and inactive ones. So on any given Mac, you can, for example, enable only the email accounts you want to check on that Mac, and leave the rest inactive.

But how do you do this on iOS? My iPhone is connected to my AppleID, it has iCloud Keychain enabled. But there is no list of my iCloud Keychain accounts.

There is a list of accounts in Passwords & Accounts, but this doesn't appear to be a list of what's on your iCloud Keychain. This appears to just be a list of what's currently set up on your phone. So I cannot, for example, turn on a bunch of email accounts I have previously set up on my computers. There's no way to enable them on the phone. I feel like I must be doing something wrong but I do not know what. This seems like one of those Apple features that is "so easy to use, you don't need anything but an on/off switch". But as usual, you DO in fact need more than an on/off switch.

Apparently this feature is only for macOS and is not implemented at all in iOS. Which of course makes no sense since the primary benefit of this feature for the majority of users would be to set up accounts on their computer and then transfer them to their phone. Also it's been about 5 years and still this feature remains half-implemented. Bummer.


How can I see where Photos.app thinks the System Photo Library is? I have about 8 photo libraries, all of them on a [connected and mounted] external disk. One of them is the System Photo Library, but which one? I have forgotten.
Since I upgraded to Big Sur, Photos.app is saying it cannot find the System Photo Library. Apparently, Photos.app is looking for it in some place where it is not.
I would like to know where it is looking, and what is the name of the library it is looking for, so that I can point it to its correct location.
Necessarily, Photos.app has this information stored somewhere. Where?

In Photos if you go to preferences (⌘ + ,) under General there are some library location settings:

In order to find out where System Photo Library is and to change it just hold ⌥ while opening Photos. You will be presented window with needed controls:

Refer to Apple documentation for needed steps: Designate a System Photo Library in Photos


Using Windows 8 .img file to create a bootable USB thumb drive Is it possible to create a bootable USB drive for installing Windows 8 without access to a copy of Windows?

I know I could install a VM and install Windows there, then make the bootable drive and use Bootcamp to actually install that way, but honestly I would rather not have to put the extra software on my system if at all possible.

I checked the Bootcamp documentation and it says I may have the option to "create a windows installation disk" but I don't have that option (unsure why?)

Additional information:
USB Key capacity: 1 16gb and 1 30gb
OS ver: OSX Mountain Lion
Machine: Late 2010 MacBook Air

It seems Bootcamp Assistant should be able to help you with this (especially as you have a MacBook Air). It odd that it doesn't. Another weird move from Apple. Because of this you may need to do some system editing, as ethanlee16 points out, to convince BA to give you the option of creating a Bootable USB.

Follow his instructions, or if you don't want to go into terminal, follow these instructions.

And then follow these:

First, convert your Windows 8 .img file to an .iso file. You can do this within OSX by following these simple instructions.

Next, just use the new .iso image with Bootcamp Assistant to create a bootable USB drive with Windows 8 on it. These instructions (as posted by Alexandr Mazanov in the comments) do a great job of explaining what to do.

No need for Windows or any VMWare. Good luck!


Is there a simple way to temporarily grant network access to a single application? Is it possible to only allow one single application to access the network connection, excluding all other applications from generating network traffic.

Streaming video or music locally over the router seems to be interrupted by i.e. Mail, Dropbox, or update services etc. -- Hence, I would like only applications such as iTunes or Spotify to be able to use the network connection exclusively when listening to music or watching a movie...

You could create a custom rule set to achieve this using Little Snitch:

https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html


BuildError(): error building a user of type I'm getting a strange message each time I boot. For a quick second before the Apple Logo appears I see the text:

BuildError(): error building a user of type 0x20010008

Then the Logo appears, and shortly after the Login screen. After which the following errors appear:

BuildError(): error building a user of type 0x20010008
**** ERROR _CreateMenuWithWithIdentifier no image for file: 1_flag_menu_item.png
**** ERROR _CreateMenuWithWithIdentifier no image for file: 77_flag_other_menu_item.png
**** ERROR UIFlagPickerRestoreState No state found for flag picker
**** ERROR ArchiveViewCreateWithOptions ArchiveCopyPNGImage failed for file: preferences_good_samaritan_message_ribbon.png
**** ERROR ArchiveViewCreateWithOptions ArchiveCopyPNGImage failed for file: logimui_bootprogressbar.png

In verbose boot this is in big text before the usual status messages that show loading of the OS.

I'm was running OS X 10.10.4, and this began once I upgraded to the GM Candidate of El Capitan 10.11, which is the newest and stable release. Haven't a clue about what it is.

Any ideas as to what these messages are?

Update: Fresh Install

I just wiped my computer and did a fresh install of 10.11 GM El Capitan. Still showing up. Seems to be an issue of the new OS.

The problem seems to correlate to enabling FileVault for the whole disk. I did that for my MBP since I use it for work and in the case it gets lost, I need the content to be protected.

When you boot from a disk completely encrypted by FileVault, the OS cannot boot until the password to decrypt the disk content is entered.

To do this, OS X starts a minimal LoginManager where you enter your user name and user password. The entered user password is used to decrypt the FileVault Key and FileVault can now decrypt the contents of the disk and the real boot sequence starts.

Usually this LoginManager offers a flag to select the language for its GUI and the Keyboard Layout. As it seems, Apple made an error by not providing the needed resources on the unencrypted partition for setting up the LoginManger. This results (in my humble opinion) in the following error messages at boot time (only to see for a very short time):

**** ERROR _CreateMenuWithWithIdentifier no image for file: 1_flag_menu_item.png
**** ERROR _CreateMenuWithWithIdentifier no image for file: 92_flag_other_menu_item.png
**** ERROR UIFlagPickerRestoreState No state found for flagpicker
**** ERROR AchiveViewCreateWithOptions ArchiveCopyPNGImage failed for file:  preferences_good_samaritan_message_ribbon.png
**** ERROR AchiveViewCreateWithOptions ArchiveCopyPNGImage failed for file:  loginui_bootprogressbar.png

When you logoff a user and get back again to the LoginManager AFTER the system has booted, you will see the flag, the language menu, and the power off menu, which you don't see directly after switching on the computer.


How to determine out what Wi-Fi channel is used from the command line? If I hold Alt/Option and click the Airport icon at the top, I get a bunch of extra data about the access point I'm connected to.

Most interestingly for me right now is the Wi-Fi channel. ifconfig doesn't seem to include it.

How can I get this same info from the command line?

There is a command line airport that is buried deep in the system framework that seems to be safe to call from the terminal. You can make a quick shell alias if you prefer short commands.

From macworld

Create an alias in your ~/.profile for the Airport Utility:
(this should all be on the same line with NO SPACE between airport='..., but it won't fit on one here!)
> alias airport='/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport'
Then you can run this command to find out more info: > airport en1 scan


Warn before quitting in Safari Is it possible to activate some safety check, like "Warn Before Quitting" in Chrome, to quit Safari? Sometimes we can press ⌘Q by mistake, and it's a pain to have the entire application closed.

Fabio's answer seems not to works as expected, not sure if I have a different version of BTT, or osx. Anyway, I found another option: simply bind Quit Safari with another keybinding.

Go to system preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> App Shortcuts -> Add new one ('+' sign) -> Choose Safari from the Application menu -> Enter in the Menu Title the exact text: Quit Safari -> Set another shortcut than cmd-Q, I used ^-cmd-Q (option+command+q).

If you do want quit Safari, you can use this shortcut, or quit from the menu.


Microsoft Office 2011 is sluggish I am a the tech support guy for a small church. we just purchased Microsoft office 2011 for mac.

we have noticed it drastically slows our imac (not sure on the specs atm) when one of the office products is running.

has anyone else noticed this or is it something on just our machine

Two things you can try :

1) Make sure you have the latest updates installed.  Office 2011 has been updated since release, so it pays to ensure the latest versions of all applications are installed.

2) Perform a Repair Permission on your Macs hard disk.  This has been known to cure slowdowns in a a few Applications including Office 2011.  Repair Permissions is a feature of Disk Utility found in the Utility folder in Applications.


Are there Anti-Theft apps for iPad similar to cerberus for Android I have been looking for some anti-theft applications for iPad, like the wonderful Cerberus application for Android which enables a lot of features to recover your lost or stolen Android mobile for only 2/3€. Avast anti-theft also worked perfectly in my Android phone and its free.

I would like to know if you have tested any of them in you Apple device and could give me a hint before buying it. It will be a plus if it could detect if the 3G microSIM card is removed, and send an SMS to another mobile like Avast anti-theft application for Android does.

I don't mind about price, the more features the better.

I would like the following options:

Remote control of the lost/stolen device (get SMS, get files, capture screen, turn on camera..)
Possible remote control by sending SMS.
Check for location of stolen device via remote turning on GPS or using 3G or any other method.

Apple makes their own anti-theft app, and it seems to be a fairly reasonable app as far as features. You can find out more about it here.

As of iOS 6, and the latest version you can use it to remotely (among other things):

Lock your device
Erase your device (the app doesn't work after this)
Display a message to the user
Play a sound
Geolocate the device
Get directions to the device
Put it in Lost mode, and allow the finder to call you while the device is locked (iPhone only)

Note that it has to have a internet connection, in order to communicate with whatever you are looking it up with. Also, it must have GPS for an accurate location - although wifi only devices that are connected to wifi should display their location, but it will be more general.

This app is the best one for iOS devices. Others have the limitation of sandboxing that Apple uses for security reasons. But sandboxing limits the features other anti-theft (it should be called "Recovery") apps can have.


iChrono won't install I have tried downloading iChrono, unzipping and installing, but I get the following error message:

  You can't install the file "iChrono
  3.wdgt" because it isn't a valid widget?

The requirements are Mac OS X 10.4 or later, but I have 10.6.4. When I try to install, I get the following error message:

7/09/10 6:46:07 PM  Widget Installer[327]   Can't open input server /Library/InputManagers/MultiClutchInputManager.bundle

After reinstalling the bundle by downloading MultiClutchInput, I stopped receiving error messages in the log.

I noticed that when I unzip the zip file, I receive the following message:

8/09/10 9:30:05 AM  SIMBL Agent[108]    warning: failed to get scripting definition from /System/Library/CoreServices/Archive Utility.app; it may not be scriptable.
8/09/10 9:30:05 AM  Archive Utility[699]    Error loading /Users/chris/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/megazoomer.bundle/Contents/MacOS/megazoomer:  dlopen(/Users/chris/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/megazoomer.bundle/Contents/MacOS/megazoomer, 265): no suitable image found.  Did find:
    /Users/chris/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/megazoomer.bundle/Contents/MacOS/megazoomer: no matching architecture in universal wrapper

Any suggestions on what to do?

Ok, so the problem seems to be that you don’t have the MultiClutch bundle in InputManagers.

Multiclutch allows you to assign custom keyboard shortcuts in a given app to a given gesture, for example if you wanted to “swipe” to change a tab in safari or similar.

  It works by installing a simple input
  manager that catches gesture events,
  looks to see what shortcut you’ve
  defined for it in the frontmost app
  (if you haven’t defined anything, it
  behaves in the standard manner), and
  performs that shortcut.

I don’t know what iChrono does but you might try downloading MultiClutch (the free little app) because that will surely install the InputManager, if you later “remove” it (by dragging it into the thrash), the Input Manager will stay there and your widget should be able to use it.

Check that you have

  /Library/InputManagers/MultiClutchInputManager.bundle

… and if you do and it still doesn’t work, try thrashing that bundle (save a copy just in case) and see if you can get a new copy.

UPDATE:
Could you create a new user and try to download + decompress + install from that user instead? Logoff and login with the new user.

There might be some weird or incompatible bundle sitting in your user.

UPDATE 2
As an added bonus, you can try to replace your Megazoomer’s SIMBL with the original one. I think you have an old version that somehow is not Universally compatible. To those effects a version was compiled by Mathias Meyer who forked the original version.

You can find his version here (links to zip). Download and uncompress the zip and drop megazoomer.bundle into ~/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins (overwrite it!)

I’ve taken this information from GITHUB: here


Some applications are reporting different stats than Activity Monitor? So here's something I'm curious about:

When running a full project in Ableton Live (music production), I am (when setting sample rate to the max) getting get drop outs and stuttering. This is as expected and Ableton Live's CPU meter confirms this with values from 80% to 100%.

However, according to MacOS' own Activity Monitor CPU usage never exceeds 60-70%. How can this discrepancy be?

EDIT: This machine has a 2,5 Ghz Quad-Core

The answer to your question is given in an article from the Knowledge Base of Abelton entitled : CPU meter shows a different value than the Activity Monitor/Task Manager.
Here is the main points :

The value shown on Live's CPU meter differs from Activity Monitor (Mac) or the Task Manager (Windows) since it shows Live's audio processing load but doesn't show Live's overall CPU usage
[...]
Another reason for differing values between Live's CPU meter and the system's CPU meters is that the Activity Monitor and Task Manager normally show 100% per core/CPU. For example, 200% CPU load on the system CPU load meter of a quad-core machine means half of the computer's processing power is in use.

Read the original article for full details.


10.7.5 on a late 2009 MacBook Pro crashes Ever since I installed Lion on my late 2009 MacBook Pro, it crashes several times a day randomly during some operation (open an application, browse the net, add photos, etc.).

I read the answer about updating Show Crash Prefs in System Preferences and tried to do it, but it doesn't work.

I updated Info.plist file with text editor exactly as in the answer, but the Finder still doesn't give the option of selecting new Show Crash Prefs?

Am I missing something?

Try the following two troubleshooting techniques:

download the latest Combo updater for your OS (note this is different than simply going to the Apple menu > Software Update) and reboot

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1582?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

do a Safe Boot:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455

Then report back.