How to set the Reply-To in Apple Mail exactly? I am trying to figure out the possible files that may affect the headers of outgoing emails when using Apple Mail. In particular I want to modify the Reply-To part.

I know that there are numerous solutions on the web, but apparently each one of the solutions that I have found is still missing some information that would work in my case.

Straightforward (manual) and terminal-based (automated solution) is the following. Basically the automated is the elegant solution which includes the command defaults write com.apple.mail UserHeaders '{"Reply-To" = "reply-to@address"; }' The above one is based on the solutions:

manual: https://www.lifewire.com/change-reply-to-header-os-x-mail-1172887
automated: https://www.lifewire.com/add-reply-to-header-os-x-mail-1172899

However, it turns out that in the past the above methods were not really working for me, so I had to follow a different route. (As background info: I was working at an organization where employees would get a strange username by default, something like, jsmit1234 for someone called John Smith, and then I wanted to have a more human-friendly email address in the reply-to part of the email, with something like: john_smith@...) Clearly I am writing this email because by now (4 years later) I can not remember how I did it back then.

Anyway, another idea is to do factory reset to the Mail app. According to the information found here, under ~/Library/ one should be able to delete the following files/directories:

(directory) Caches/com.apple.mail --- I can cd and view all the files. I assume I can delete the files as well.

(directory) Saved Application State/com.apple.mail.savedState --- I can cd into it, but I can not do ls. Interestingly I can not do ls, not even after changing to superuser with sudo su. In fact, if I perform the sudo su while being on the above directory I get the error message:
shell-init: error retrieving current directory: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: Operation not permitted

(file) Application Support/AddressBook/MailRecents-v4.abcdmr --- There is however lots of files in the directory AddressBook and there is two more files like the above one, ending in -shm and -wal (where the latter is an SQLite Write-Ahead Log file according to the command file).

(directory) Containers/com.apple.mail --- I can cd into it, but I can not even perform ls, not even as root.

(directory) Mail --- I can cd into it, but I can not even performls`, not even as root.

(file) Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist --- I can view the contents. Interestingly though, there is another file called com.apple.mail-shared.plist under the Preferences directory and I can not view that file with less, not even as root.

(file) Preferences/com.apple.mail.searchhistory.plist --- There is no such file in my system.

For the record I am running macOS Mojave 10.14.6 and the Mail app is version 12.4 (3445.104.11).

Now, I would really like to avoid doing a factory reset, because this way I would lose about 4 years of emails from my previous organization. So, the question to you is the following: What other files or commands can affect the Reply-To part of the emails? (When I made the change in the past it was another terminal command because the above one did not work as expected even back then.)

I would appreciate any help on resolving this issue and I want to thank you in advance for your time on thinking about this matter and suggesting solutions.

This worked for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skwoo8RjHSw

I deleted com.apple.mail savedState, and moved com.apple.mail and com.apple.MailServiceAgent to the desktop, as the video suggested. After restarting, the Mail App stopped its autocopy that I had set up.


Reduce colors from Millions to Thousands I was trying to run a Keynote presentation on a secondary display and Keynote told me that I didn't have enough video RAM and either needed to reduce the resolution or number of colors from Millions to Thousands.  I know how to change the resolution, but how do I change the number of colors?

Thanks!

For some reason, the option to change color depth was removed in Snow Leopard. SwitchResX can still do it I think, but that's shareware (10-day demo).


How can I switch from mac server App to Apache? I want to use Apache on macOS 10.13.
I issued "sudo apachectl start" command then it enabled.
I confirmed to display "It works" on the browser by http://localhost/ and I could know Apache worked properly.

But recently after I load Server app.
Then when I enter http://localhost/, "Welcome MacOS server" display. It means web server is used for App server instead Apache.
"Welcome MacOS server" continues to display even when I disabled MacOS web server. How can I switch to Apache?

Regards
Simon

How to deactivate MacOS server apache

This command deactivates web services

$ sudo serveradmin stop web

These commands should unload the launch daemons inside Server app. Following my experience Server Apache takes over as soon as you install server app. Stopping web services in some cases is not sufficient. By unloading the Apache daemon server app is unable to start its Apache.

$ sudo launchctl unload -w /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.server.httpd.plist
$ sudo launchctl unload -w /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.serviceproxy.plist

When configuring Server’s Apache the following configuration files are used. By uncommenting any listen section Server Apache will not be able to run.

$ nano /Library/Server/Web/Config/Proxy/apache_serviceproxy.conf
$ nano /Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2/services/ACSServer.conf

When Server Apache does not know which ports it has to listen to, it does not run.

Depending from your system some steps or all of them might be necessary to stop Server Apache from running and for your Apache installation to take over. All these steps will only affect your server web services.

With the next Server App web service will be gone.


How long does a macbook air battery last for I have had my macbook air for 2 and 1/2 years now. Is this a normal time for the battery to be needing a replacement?

It's supposed to last for 1,000 charge cycles. How long that is in years depends on how you use your MacBook Air (but it should almost certainly be more than 2½ years). You can check your current value by clicking the Apple menu, selecting "About This Mac", clicking the "System Report..." button, selecting Power and looking at the "Cycle Count" statistic.


Accessing the AppStore through Notifications Edit If I go to system preferences on my MacBook Pro then the App Store I have to unlock it to access it. I was in notifications then clicked on today, then edit and I see the option to click on AppStore button, that takes me to the Appstore with out unlocking it. I do not understand this, so I want to ask if this is normal. I do not have allow access when locked turned on on my iPhone.

The system preferences are locked since some people need to ensure the settings for the app aren’t changed casually.

Launch the App Store application itself from spotlight or the dock or the Apple menu. This avoid the system preference pane that can be locked and unlocked or messing with editing the notifications settings.


How can I force MacPorts to upgrade all upgradeable ports that it can? Suppose I have outdated Ports A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Suppose for simplicity that all of them are "requested".

A has no dependencies.
B directly depends on C and D and E.
C directly depends on E and F.
D has no dependencies.
E has no dependencies.
F has no dependencies.
G has no dependencies.

To the best of my understanding, when MacPorts runs (sudo port upgrade outdated), it installs the ports in a dependency tree sorted by alphabetical order. So, it would install the ports in this order: A, D, E, F, C, B.

Suppose Port A is broken. MacPorts quits installing.

I see this as an inconvenience, because the other outdated ports could very well be working fine. The fact that A won't install has no effect on any of the other ports. Now, because a single port won't install, all the rest of my ports are out-of-date until this port is fixed.

My Question:

How can I tell MacPorts to continue installing all installable ports that it can install without error?

This is probably the same as this one in spirit: MacPorts: Continue installing other updates after error. I don't buy the answers on that page, however:

The MacPorts dev (@ClemensLang) says that there's a reason MacPorts doesn't continue. (The links he includes support this, but it gets too technical for me. Sorry!) In my case above, installing Port G after Port A fails wouldn't seem to be problematic. (...or is it?) Is there a way to do it safely?
The -p flag is evidently problematic. I would have thought that would be the answer to this solution, but multiple devs caution users not to use it unless they really understand what it does. I'd rather play it safe.
I could try sudo port upgrade outdated and not A. This works if only one independent port fails, but what if I have two or three ports (out of dozens) that fail? Could I do something like, sudo port upgrade outdated and not A and not C and not E (etc.)?

Suppose there are too many ports that fail to exclude them individually. Suppose also that there are too many ports to upgrade them individually.

This is what I use... it might not be pretty but it works:
sudo bash -c 'for port in `port outdated  2>/dev/null |  tail -n +2 | awk '\''{print $1}'\''` ; do echo -n "$port:" ;  port -N upgrade $port 2>> /tmp/upgrade-ports.err >> /tmp/upgrade-ports.out && echo "✓" || echo "✕" ; done'

Let me brake it down for you:

first, you don't want sudo in a loop, otherwise you need to keep putting your password. To avoid sudo I got the whole loop and quoted it (Alt+' in zsh is very helpful to properly escape the existing quotes) and then ran it with sudo bash -c. Alternatively you can put it in a file and run it as a script with sudo script

that leaves us with this loop:

for port in `port outdated  2>/dev/null | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $1}'` ; do echo -n "$port:" ;  port -N upgrade $port 2>> /tmp/upgrade-ports.err >> /tmp/upgrade-ports.out && echo "✓" || echo "✕" ; done```

I build the list of ports with:
port outdated  2>/dev/null | tail -n +2 | awk '{print $1}' (tail removes the line "The following installed ports are outdated:")
for every port I print the port name and a semicolon (without newline )
then I try to upgrade it non interactively, and save the output and errors
if the upgrade was successful I print a "✓" and a newline, otherwise a "✕" and a newline
note that this will not show the dependencies being installed, but you can tail the log to see what is happening*
this is what the output looks like:

adwaita-icon-theme:✓
apr:✕
aquaterm:✓

HTH
*Edited to clarify.
This means that in your example the output would look like this:
A:✕
B:✓
C:✓
D:✓
E:✓
F:✓
G:✓

But B will take a LONG time, and C, D, E and F will be very fast because they have already been upgraded during B.


The iPhone couldn't be restored. An unknown error occurred (3194) I have an iPhone 6 iOS 8.0. And I want to restore it. So I downloaded the iOS 8 firmware for iPhone 6 from this link then I opened itunes and pressed shift+click on restore button and then chose my downloaded ios 8.0 firmware, but I get the below error message:

The iPhone couldn't be restored. An unknown error occurred (3194)

I searched the internet and some people suggested modifying the hosts file found in this location C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc by removing or commenting the apple.gs lines. But I still get the error. So if anyone could please advise how to restore to the currently installed iOS 8.0 without updating.

Hosts file contents:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a '#' symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host

# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
#       127.0.0.1       localhost
#       ::1             localhost
#74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com
#127.0.0.1 gs.apple.com

(Just so this question has an answer...)

Apple is no longer signing iOS v8.0.0 installations. You will need to restore to (as of this writing) 8.1.3 which is the latest version available. The HOSTS file settings are to ensure that iTunes can talk to the update server, which isn't the issue in your case.

You are basically attempting to downgrade the software on your iPhone (since the restore process installs the newest version, and you want to restore but then go back to iOS 8.0). You cannot downgrade iOS unless Apple is still signing the previous version, which usually only occurs for a very small window after a new update is released.


Wifi doesn't work unless I cycle it off then on again coming off of sleep I have a Macbook Pro Retina, 15in, and I have the above issue. In a related question (Wifi doesn't work unless I turn it off then on again) a user commented:

  For as long as I can remember, I've had to do this on my MacBook Pro
  Retina 15″ — I've always presumed it's the router, as I only have the
  problem at home. I even have a script that will automatically cycle
  the Wi-Fi if it's attempting to connect to my home network and fails
  for more than 3 seconds :) –  grgarside Jan 26 at 20:00

Does anyone know how to write/load this kind of script? Thanks!

You could try something like this: (Copy and Paste it into AppleScript Editor)

--
-- Toggle Airport Power On and Off
--
if (offset of "On" in (do shell script "networksetup -getairportpower en1")) > 0 then
    do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en1 off"
else
    do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en1 on"
end if

Change the en1 to en0 (zero) for your WiFi.

If it works save the apple script as application. Pull it to your dock for fast access.


sudo dscacheutil -flushcache = ?Invalid command I'm getting the following response when I try and run dscacheutil -flushcache

  ?Invalid command

Turns out I'm a complete idiot. I was running some telnet commands and forgot to quit


Install bootcamp with my parallels partition I've been using parallels for a while and I want to use that partition for bootcamp. I've read about doing it the other way, using bootcamp in parallels but not from parallels -> bootcamp. How do I do this?

Thanks.

It is not a trivial task - it's easy the other way round, but not this way…

Converting/Cloning a Parallels VM to Bootcamp on Mac has the full details, but this is the précis…

Process Outline
These are the basic steps required to get the job done:

Create the Boot Camp partition and make it bootable.
Copy the source vm’s filesystem to the boot camp partition.
Fix the Boot Camp partition’s mount devices and boot manager.
Fix the Boot Camp partition’s storage controller drivers and registry values.

Prerequisites

A Mac computer of course.
Parallels Desktop
The Windows 7 virtual machine which is to be cloned to the Boot Camp partition. This will be referred to as the “source VM”.
A second Windows 7 virtual machine which you’ll use to manipulate the source VM and the Boot Camp partition. This will be referred to as the “transfer VM”.
A Windows 7 install disk.
Either a Mac OS X install disk or a second Mac that can be connected via a Firewire cable.
A USB flash drive (of any size).


My iPad mini 4 randomly turns off when i shake it! Also when it reboots on its own WiFi is greyed out but when I reboot again (home button+power) wifi comes back. The iPad is 16GB WiFi & Cellular out of warranty. I feel like there is a problem with the internals! I have iOS 10.3.3 on it. Sometimes it also happens when i press too hard on the screen

You're holding it wrong! - Stop shaking it!

Seriously - you're experiencing problems with defective hardware. Take it to a proper repair shop and get a fixed price on fixing the issues.

You should probably prepare for the fact that buying a new iPad is cheaper than repairing the old.


If we install "modified games" on our iPhone or iPad, what risks are we exposing ourselves to? For example, through TweakBox, AppValley, or even some website, we can install some "mod" or "modified games" (such as a Pacman that never dies, or a game that requires your location but the app can emulate the GPS location).

We have to go to Settings and "trust" the app. If we trust the app, to what extend of risks are we exposed to?  I don't believe the app can go to the Mail or Gmail app and look at our emails, for example. The only thing I can think of is that it fakes a log in screen to your iTunes account and lead you to type in the user name and password (Trojan horse), so I will always cancel such log in popup and go to iTunes and log in there myself.

Strongly recommend not to install such apps via any such (untrusted) medium

There's a likelihood that you may be exposing yourself to innumerable risks. These apps are distributed by gaming the Apple Developer Enterprise license.

They are distributed without going through the standard Apple's App Store Review Process. So it's likely that may be breaking one or more review guidelines and posing risk to the security of device and data.

Apple continuously discovers and suspend enterprise licenses where they are gamed to distribute apps to general public without going through the App Store Review process. Enterprise license is created solely for the purpose of distributing apps within an enterprise, and not to general public.

Apple's Enterprise Developer Program Also Being Used to Distribute Hacked Apps

  The only I can think of is that it fakes a log in screen to your iTunes account and lead you to type in the user name and password (Trojan horse), so I will always cancel such log in popup and go to iTunes and log in there myself.

If you are concerned about this particular risk, i.e. an app presenting a fake iTunes login popup and stealing password, there's an easy way to trust it's authenticity.

Just press the Home button (or on devices without Home button, navigate back to Home screen). If the popup is presented by the app (fake), it will be sent to the background along with the app. If the popup is presented by iOS (genuine), pressing Home button won't let you dismiss it. You will be able to dismiss it either by entering password or the pressing the cancel button.


Homebrew installed git not working I installed git with Homebrew and /usr/local/Cellar/git/2.31.1/bin is supposed to be the directory where the git executable is installed. BUT none of the commands are working:
rgdgr8$ /usr/local/Cellar/git/2.31.1/bin/git --version
rgdgr8$ /usr/local/Cellar/git/2.31.1/bin/git
rgdgr8$

I just don't know why.

Solved it! I had another git folder in /usr/local/ which had symlinks in /usr/local/bin. So I had to move that git folder elsewhere and then installed and reinstalled git with homebrew.


I'm looking for a copy utility for OS X that will tell me exactly what is being copied at the moment as well as what has been completed already I think the title says it all. I'm looking for a copy utility/Finder plugin for OS X that will tell me exactly what file(s) is/are being copied at the moment (from and to included, of course).

A history of what has been 100% completed already wouldn't be bad but I can do that by comparing directories.

If you are comfortable using the Terminal.app for copying files instead of finder, the cp (copy) command has an option to show the files being copied.  The list of previously copied files would be displayed.  The "-v" option stands for "verbose".

$>  cp -vr Messages /tmp/Messages
Messages -> /tmp/Messages
Messages/118942.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/118942.emlx
Messages/122810.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/122810.emlx
Messages/126942.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/126942.emlx
Messages/127552.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/127552.emlx
Messages/133765.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/133765.emlx
Messages/133912.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/133912.emlx
Messages/134148.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/134148.emlx
Messages/43442.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/43442.emlx
Messages/43443.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/43443.emlx
Messages/51858.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/51858.emlx
Messages/51859.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/51859.emlx
Messages/51860.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/51860.emlx
Messages/51861.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/51861.emlx
Messages/86518.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/86518.emlx
Messages/86905.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/86905.emlx
Messages/9164.2.emlxpart -> /tmp/Messages/9164.2.emlxpart
Messages/9164.emlx -> /tmp/Messages/9164.emlx
$>


Automator: Run TextEdit as Root Specifically, I want to simplify editing the hosts file, which requires root privileges.
The following command works in the shell:
sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts

From what I am able to learn, the following should work using Automator:
-- Run AppleScript
on run {input, parameters}
    do shell script ¬
        "/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit /etc/hosts" with administrator privileges
end run

… the key being that with administrator privileges is the equivalent of sudo and will ask for a password.
However, when I run the script, I get the following error:

The command terminated due to receipt of a signal.

and then

TextEdit quit unexpectedly.

… which looks serious.
If I try the same thing with Atom text editor, it works as intended.
How do I get TextEdit to run as root?

On the current version of macOS (10.12.6 at the time of this writing), this will not work from the shell either:

$ sudo /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit
Password:
Illegal instruction: 4

And if you check the crash logs, you'll find the following:

Sandbox registration internal error: Incoming message euid:0 does not match secinitd uid:501.

This is by design; TextEdit is a sandboxed app, and running it as root would defeat much of the purpose of sandboxing. I don't think you will be able to find a way to get it to run as root. This isn't a bad thing, though, as running a GUI app as root is generally a terrible idea for security, as there are many ways to surreptitiously inject code into a Cocoa app, and if that app runs as root, you can open up some pretty serious security vulnerabilities this way.

To edit files like /etc/hosts, I recommend finding another way:

Use a command-line editor such as emacs, pico, or vi.
Use a GUI-based text editor that has the feature to prompt for your admin password when needed (I believe BBEdit can do this, for example)
Simply copy the /etc/hosts file to another location, edit it there, and then use sudo to copy the modified file back to /etc.


Mac app for testing websites in android emulator quickly Hi I want to test my site locally on my Mac using the android device layout . The usual android sdk takes more time to load . Is there any app similar to opera mobile emulator which provides android device layout plus testing on local instance?
I want something like this

I think this is samsung emulator for android, and for installing the samsung emulator on my local mac mini I didn't find any appropriate tutorial. Has anybody ever implemented this thing?

You could try different ways of speeding up the Android emulator, such as running an x86 guest, and installing Intel HAXM.

If the graphics is slow, you can also try installing an "accelerated" emulator like GenyMotion, which seems to paravirtualize graphics APIs.


Adding a second iCloud email account to Mail.app in macOS Sierra How to add a second additional email iCloud account in Mail.app?

I am helping someone who ended up with two separate iCloud accounts. One is hooked up to his new MacBook Pro, no problem. Email, Messages, Reminders, Notes, and such all syncing.

Now this person wants to access the email for the second iCloud/Mac.com/Me.com account. Need just email, no other iCloud features such as Messages, Reminders, Notes, and so on.

How to add an additional iCloud account for email only?

I am afraid to use System Preferences > Accounts > iCloud item in list as that might totally confuse and ruin the already-assigned account for all the syncing. We want to add a second email, not replace the already-assigned iCloud account.

Go to the mail app and open mail preferences. Then, under accounts, hit the + button. Select "iCloud" and input the log-in information. Select ONLY the mail icon. Then hit "Add Account".

By going through the mail app preferences instead of System Preferences you can avoid dealing with all of the iCloud options. Here is a picture of what it looked like when I added a second iCloud mail account. On the left side in the list of accounts you can see two iCloud icons (boxed in red):


iCloud password broken on iPad, works on computer I have a relative who smashed their iPad beyond repair. It's been replaced with a refurbished one. I restored the tablet from a backup on my computer (Win7, if that's relevant). It boots properly and the expected wallpaper and apps from the old machine are present.

However we can't login to iCloud on the device. It always says incorrect password. To troubleshoot we logged in to iCloud on my computer, being very attentive to the email and password spelling. It worked.

The password is a dozen characters, mixed case alpha numeric (no symbols or punctuation). I'm absolutely positive it's being typed correctly.

Why is the correct password on iPad being denied?

Solved! It turns out in this situation the "incorrect password" error is really "can't connect to iCloud server to determine if password is valid" error.

After enabling WiFi, establishing a connection to local router, verifying internet was indeed available, login is possible.


Using time machine backup data from newly installed OS X Lion I need to replace my HDD to SDD, and I think of upgrading to OS X Lion.
Can I use my old backup in time machine HDD from Snow Leopard when I have clean install with Mac OS X Lion? I mean, can I open time machine in newly installed Mac OS X Lion to copy all the necessary files backup in Snow Leopard?

The Lion Migration Assistant has had no problems for me to restore users and applications from recent Snow Leopard external disks. I was pulling from Time Machine, but it shouldn't matter if it's just a bootable drive or has many point-in-time versions typical of Time Machine.


How do I get into an app from Notification Center on iOS 10? In iOS 9 and earlier, you could tap any notification center row to be brought into the app, usually deep-linked to the source of the notification. Swiping on the notification revealed other options.

In iOS 10, 3D touch or long press is used to get those other options, but simply tapping on the notification does not get you into the source app. Is there a way to do this in iOS 10?

Every notification can be 3D touched (or long-pressed) -- not just those with other actions. After popping open the notification, tap on the application name and icon in the notification header to open the app.


Is there a way to prevent my use of my Mac during certain hours? For instance by not being able to login between 7pm and 7am.

That is for myself, for my own user account on my Mac.

I'd like to make sure I can't use my Mac during night time.

I'm using macOS 10.14.6.

I'm not sure what you're doing on your Mac that you wouldn't want to be doing, but as far as I know there's no way to restrict login entirely.

You could, however, make it impossible to use the Internet on your Mac, which (at least for me) would dramatically reduce the likelihood that I was going to try to use it.

One such app for this is called (rather ironically) Self Control.

The only downside is that I believe you would have to set it every day. Maybe someone else will have a better idea.


macports: bash_completion not working with make (with gmake or without) I've installed bash_completion from macports. Completion works fine for git, for instance, where I installed +bash_completion variant.

Completion doesn't work for make, whether I install macports' gmake or not. gmake doesn't even have +bash_completion variant.

How do I make it work?

Apparently I didn't follow bash installation instructions. On a fresh system, after adding bash to /etc/shells and chsh -s /opt/local/bin/bash, it worked.


Hackintosh / VMWare AMD 7950 Chipset I currently have a Mac OS X Mavericks VM running on a Windows 7 machine in VMware Workstation.  I am trying to install Logic Studio 9 and  am unable to install due to the following reason.

Logic Studio Installer requires that your system have a Quartz Extreme capable video card.
Logic Studio Installer recommends that your system have 64 MB of VRAM; this system has only 0 MB of VRAM.

The chipset installed by VMware is:

Chipset Model: VMware SVGA II
Type: GPU
BUS: PCI
VRAM: 32MB
Device ID: 0x0405
Revision ID: 0x0000

I have a Sapphire 7950 installed on this machine.

What is the best way to approach this problem?

Possible hackintosh solution?

Technically the issue here has nothing to do with the Hackintosh. It's a limit on the VMWare graphics card and failing the Logic install checker.

You can try the following:

Install Logic9 package, right-click and choose Show Original
Choose LogicStudio.mpkg. Right-click and choose Show Package Contents
Go to Contents/Resources/Requirements Checker.app
Right-click, and choose Show Package Contents
Find Checker.app, navigate to Contents/Resources -> file minsys.plist
Edit it, replacing every
"block" with "warn"
Save the file.

Now run the install and it should pass the check.

This same issue impacts genuine Mac's which don't have the required RAM or graphics cards, etc.


Is there a way to make an iMac's internal drive disappear completely WITHOUT removing it? I want to make it so that it can't be seen or written to while booted from an external drive.

For some background, I use a cross-platform dev environment that can target Linux and want to install the recommended Linux distro for testing. Every time I've tried before, it wrote a boot loader to the internal drive that must be messed up because my Bootcamped Win 10 won't boot afterwards. If it matters the req'd distro is Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition.

You appear to have two questions/issues:

1) A Linux system has "boot jacked" your boot manager/boot loader, messing up Windows.

2) Hiding above system from macOS.

You could give rEFInd a try to fix/manage your boot issues.  It should solve 1 but not 2 per se.

There may be a solution for 2 here:
How to prevent auto mounting of a volume in macOS High Sierra?


I need to reset my old iPad, but forgot restrictions passcode and don't have an iTunes backup I found an old iPad 2 generation (what I don't use anymore) and wish to gift it to my parents.

A lot of personal data on this iPad.

I need to reset my old iPad, but forgot restrictions passcode and don't have an iTunes backup before restrictions passcode.

Howto reset iPad with factory settings?

Within iTunes make a manual backup of the old iPad.  Once that is in place you can follow the steps outlined at this blog post...at least if you are working with iOS 6.

For iOS 7 or 8, follow the steps outlined at my blog post on how to actually retrieve or recover your passcode without resetting to factory defaults.


How to load a LaunchAgent always as root? I'm using a LaunchAgent to always open a cocoa application (i.e. Xcode) at login. the custom application requires root permission but when it's loaded by launchctl is loaded without permissions.

How can i do it?

I already tried using the "UserName" keyword in the Agent's plits, but doesn't work.

LaunchAgents are always run by the user that logs in, and therefore don't obtain root privileges.

/Library/LaunchDaemons are run by root and therefore gain root privileges when they are run. Place your .plist here instead and it will run as root, however it won't be run when the user logs in, as it's run by root not the user that is logging in.


Windows Steam not working properly using WineBottler on macOS v10.13.6 (17G3025) I've just installed the latest WineBottler v2.0 from https://winebottler.kronenberg.org/downloads.

I clicked on the supplied Steam install button, and ended up with a new application in my application folder - I called it Steam-winebottler.app because I've already got the standard Mac Steam.app.

Steam-winebottler.app launched fine, did various updates, and eventually gave me what looks like a log-in window without any of the usual text.

What I mean is I can see the Steam logo, the Valve logo, and what looks like boxes for password and username entry, but not text saying "Password" or "User name" or "Click to continue" or anything like that.

Here's a screenshot:

https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=19444

mentions a problem: Steam client window(s) do(es)n't render any text.

which says "Ensure Steam client is launched as follows...

wine Steam.exe -no-dwrite"

It looks like that's the problem I've got, but I can't see a way to apply the fix when using the WineBottler approach.

I'd appreciate any clues.

Thank you.

JavaScript is Enabled? I know this is the way a website can look if JavaScript is turned off.


dnsmasq quits with "abort" I installed dnsmasq using brew, and tried to run it as a service without success. This is how I installed it:

brew install dnsmasq
sudo brew services start dnsmasq

system.log just shows 2 lines over and over:

dnsmasq[52260]: setting --bind-interfaces option because of OS limitations
com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (homebrew.mxcl.dnsmasq): Service only ran for 0 seconds. Pushing respawn out by 10 seconds.

I tried running it manually, and I got similar results:

itsadok@mpb ~$ /usr/local/sbin/dnsmasq -d --interface=lo0 --port=50003                                                                                [2.2.4]
dnsmasq: started, version 2.76 cachesize 150
dnsmasq: compile time options: IPv6 GNU-getopt no-DBus no-i18n no-IDN DHCP DHCPv6 no-Lua TFTP no-conntrack no-ipset auth no-DNSSEC loop-detect no-inotify
dnsmasq: setting --bind-interfaces option because of OS limitations
dnsmasq: reading /etc/resolv.conf
dnsmasq: using nameserver 192.168.1.1#53
[1]    53009 abort      /usr/local/sbin/dnsmasq -d --interface=lo0 --port=50003

The exit status is 134, which is consistent with the abort message I'm seeing. Adding sudo does not help.

If I set the port number to 0, effectively disabling DNS, then the process runs indefinitely, but obviously with doing much of anything.

Any idea what's going on, or how I can debug this further?

I'm on Mac OS Sierra, 10.12.4

I had the same symptoms that were described in the question as well as a new and stale PID file in /var/run/dnsmasq.pid every 10 seconds. I am working with dnsmasq 2.77 installed via Homebrew, and macOS 10.12.5. I had 29,000+ hosts defined in /etc/hosts, which was fine until some point - upgrading macOS or dnsmasq, perhaps.

I made a backup of /etc/hosts and then removed all lines from the hosts file except as follows.

127.0.0.1       localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1             localhost

255.255.255.255 broadcasthost

After trying it with the minimal hosts file, I found dnsmasq working.

ps aux | grep dnsmasq
sudo lsof -n -i4TCP:53 | grep 'LISTEN'

But I didn't lose the definitions of hosts to block. They were migrated to the dnsmasq configuration file. A host definition in /etc/hosts looks like the following sample.

0.0.0.0 analytics.google.com

The corresponding definition in dnsmasq.conf looks like the following sample.

address=/analytics.google.com/0.0.0.0

Encouraged, I then added back to the hosts file all of my own definitions for my home LAN, my work LAN, some remote host nicknames, and local virtual hosts.


how to change music tonality in runtime? On windows usualy for karaoke purpose some audio cards provide possibility to change tonality on fly, is it possible under Mac ?

Is ther any additional software which can do it ? or maybe terminal command ?

Have a look at Capo.
From their Website:

  Pitch Adjustment

  Capo lets you adjust the pitch of your songs—so you can change their
  key or fine tune them to match your instrument.


Can I move the OS X that was preinstalled on my MacBook pro to a VM running on the MacBook Pro? I would like to run linux as the primary operating system on my MacBook Pro to replace the OS X that was pre-installed with the MacBook.

I would then like to run OS X inside a virtualbox guest running on the MacBook.

Is this configuration legal from a licensing perspective?
My mac book was pre-installed and there wasn't an installation CD in the box.  How can I get the OS X installation image for installing into Virtualbox?

UPDATE:
I have NOT purchased a copy of OS X, and I do not wish to purchase one either :)

You could try to download the Yosemite installer (or another OSX version if your "purchased" it earlier) and try if you can install a virtual machine with it. You could also visit this link (it is for parallels, but maybe it will also work with virtual box): http://kb.parallels.com/en/118806


Why is the home button on iOS devices physical? I understand that Steve Jobs tried to minimize the number of physical buttons on iOS devices, and I am sympathetic with that idea. It is understandable that the power button, which has to be accessible before the OS is running, has to be physical, and it also makes sense that the volume or mute/rotation lock buttons, which require rapid access, are physical. But I cannot think of a reason why the home button is physical. It is also known as one of the most fragile parts in iOS devices.

Is there anyone who can suggest a possibility of why the home button was designed to be physical rather than a touch icon or some gesture?
Why is the home button located on the front surface whereas all the other physical buttons are located on the sides? I think this is the ugliest part of the design of iOS devices.

While no one can say for sure, unless Jony Ive joins Ask Different, I think there has been enough talked about in keynotes and other various appearances (D8, for example) that it can be reasons.

(The Other) Jason's comment above hits the nail on the head. You feel the dip of the home button, and you know what it is. This also allows you to know which way is up. Because with an iPhone you'll feel a speaker grill, and on an iPod you won't feel anything.
The Power button isn't the only hardware button, because the home button is used for things like putting the device into DFU mode. This is done even after the device leaves the OS, so it has hardware-level functionality too. I'm fairly certain that the home button is a hardware-level button, I'm pretty sure I've turned my phone on via it before. Not to mention using it to reset the device in the few situations where I've locked the device up. The home button is not software level button, the volume buttons and ringer switch are the only ones.
Why would you want the home button on the sides of the device? Or top? That makes it completely impossible to meaningfully put to use, especially as frequently as we do.

Hold your iPhone normally, and then start to look at where your hand lies. My palm covers (the bottom) half of the right side, with my thumb at the top. There is a small gap, which happens to be where the SIM card slot is.

The top of phone: Headphone/headset port, noise-canceling auxiliary microphone, a small gap which would be a pain to push as frequently as we hit the home button, and the sleep button.

On the left of the device, all of my fingers cover most of the available room leading up to the volume buttons and ringer switch. And you also have to be considerate of those who are left-handed.

So what's left? A far corner of the device, or the back. The back would be an incredibly silly location, and having a small button in any corner would be massively inconvenient for someone.

The Home button is in a principle spot. It is dead center, large enough to wildly jab at and hit with very good accuracy, and ever present (well, duh). Good for either handedness, and even when it's docked. A quick push in the middle of the device resets your context, taking you to the home screen to move onto your next task.

There is no place on this phone that could better serve the home button's purpose. Period.


Migration Assistant (MA) in Source remain "looking for other computer" state forever I am trying to migrate my data from one Mac to another. The transfer is from my MacBook Pro running OS X 10.9.5, to my MacBook Pro (Retina) running OS X 10.10 Yosemite.

I followed the suggestions in this forum for the config/settings:

Turn off the firewall on both the machines
Turn off WiFi on both the machines
IP Address of the Ethernet is reachable from both ends

Then started Migration Assistant on the source first. Selected "To another Mac" option and it begins waiting for the other computer.

Then I started Migration Assistant on the receiver. Selected "From another Mac…" option and its able to see the source. I selected the source and clicked next. It then showed the code.

However, the source is still stuck in the "Looking for other computers" state and does not progress.

Can you ping one Mac from another? Look in the network control panel and find the IP address of each Mac. they should be similar. Like 192.168.01 and 192.168.0.2 where the IP address of each is only different in the last number. If that is not the case you can try assigning each a unique IP address manually and try again. failing that...

Can you plug the computers directly in to each other with a plain Ethernet cable and reboot both while connected and then try again? The network control panel in that case should show both with a 169.x.x.x IP address that is different than the other Mac. If that is not happening assign each a manual IP address in the range of 192.168.0.x, where X is a number between 1 and 254 and different on each Mac

The other thing to try is to put the old system into target disk mode (Command-T while booting) and then connect the two with Thunderbolt or Firewire cables and run migration assistant in LOCAL mode. EG select the option to copy from a locally attached disk.

Another way would be to image the old Mac with Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper or even Disk Utility to an external (USB or other) drive and then plug that into the new Mac and run Migration Assistant in local mode as above.

Exactly what is going on or why, I am unsure but those alternatives should help you get up and running.


Control AppleTV with terminal or web? Is there any way to control an Apple TV 1st gen either through terminal connection or a web interface (ideally using a REST interface)?

By "control" I mean don't mean "control everything".  One example use-case would be: Give the ATV a MP3 stream URL and have it play.

If some kind of "hacking" or plugin is involved, that's ok!

No, there is no such interface available for the default ATV2 shell, however you could install XBMC (jailbreaking required) and use XBMC API to control it.

If you really want to control the default interface (now called AppleTV.app), you have two possible routes (both beyond the scope of this site and question):

Reverse engineer the protocol used in the remote app.
Reverse engineer the AppleTV.app and use some way (mobilesubstrate) to inject hooks for functions or whole network interface.


Remove IAP store from game = rejection? I decided to remove a button in my game so that users won't be able to access the IAP store. I plan to submit my game with the In-App Purchase tab turned on in Xcode(I want to leave the codes there for future use and the game won't work if I turn it off), but without the app really having an IAP store. Will the app get rejected like this?

IAP is on by default, same is GameCenter. If you do not use them, the app will not get rejected.

If you enable them, that does not mean that you have to use them or are currently using them.


Macbook pro (mid-2012) startup chime delayed (slow booting) after HDD to SSD conversion I recently upgraded HDD to SSD on my mid-2012 macbook pro.
After the SSD upgrade, the startup chime is delayed, causing slow booting of my mac.

Any potential pointers ?

Avoid cloning a HDD to a SDD
The problem with cloning is that you are making an exact copy of all the data on your drive at the block level - including the deleted data.
Spinning media acts and breathes differently than solid state media (i.e. TRIM support) and as such, you will be introducing problems for your SSD where none existed on the HDD.
What do do instead?
Do a clean install and utilize Migration Assistant to transfer your user data.


PDF "is damaged and can't be opened" on mounted drive I have a late 2013 MBP, OSX v10.10. I have a drive mounted via ssh tunnelling. The basic command looks like:

alias mountCS='ssh -f useru@host1 -L port:host2 -N ; sshfs -p port user@localhost:remoteDir /Users/User/mnt/CS'

While ssh'ed in to the same remote host I created a pdf from latex. When I try open to take a peek from mounted dir I get the error "“results.pdf” is damaged and can’t be opened. You should eject the disk.". However, this happens with R pdfs too. If I simply copy it to a local directory it opens fine though. Odd right? When I first set this sshfs mount up, it didn't do this.

When this happens to me, I delete the ._results.pdf file, and then I can open it from the mounted directory.


DHCP Server stopped responding after switching TB to Ethernet Adapter OS: 10.10.2 w/ Server.app

I had created a LAG (link aggregate group) on my Mac Mini server. Since then DHCP services stopped working. This is my current bootpd.plist file. The LAG is called bond0 according to my Mac.

Any ideas what I can do to resolve the DHCP issue? None of the clients can obtain an address. Does DHCP not support bonded interfaces?

<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs$
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
        <key>Subnets</key>
        <array>
                <dict>
                        <key>allocate</key>
                        <true/>
                        <key>dhcp_domain_name</key>
                        <string>example.com</string>
                        <key>dhcp_domain_name_server</key>
                        <array>
                                <string>10.0.0.11</string>
                                <string>10.0.0.12</string>
                        </array>
                        <key>dhcp_domain_search</key>
                        <array>
                                <string>example.com</string>
                        </array>
                        <key>dhcp_router</key>
                        <string>10.0.0.1</string>
                        <key>lease_max</key>
                        <integer>604800</integer>
                        <key>name</key>
                        <string>10.0.0.0/24 Network</string>
                        <key>net_address</key>
                        <string>10.0.0.0</string>
                        <key>net_mask</key>
                        <string>255.255.255.0</string>
                        <key>net_range</key>
                        <array>
                                <string>10.0.0.150</string>
                                <string>10.0.0.174</string>
                        </array>
                        <key>selected_port_name</key>
                        <string>bond0</string>
                        <key>uuid</key>
                        <string>0135C3AF-5933-4316-9FD3-ECE1B2F1A57B</string>
                </dict>
        </array>
        <key>dhcp_enabled</key>
        <array>
                <string>bond0</string>
        </array>
        <key>timeServiceStarted</key>
        <string>2015-03-30 20:03:31 +0000</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Probably your DHCP Server uses the wrong network interface to propagate the leases after building the bond:

Open Server.app and connect to your server
Click in the left pane on Advanced -> DHCP
Open the DHCP network in question by double-clicking on it or highlight it and click on the pencil at the bottom
Check the 'Network Interface'. Probably you still have an old network interface (Presumably Ethernet 0 or 1) chosen there. Change it to Bond0 (or whatever the human readable name is)
Hit the OK button and quit Server.app


How can the check point on startup for macOS's T2 chip authentication be bypassed for securely signed OS's like RedHat? How can the checkpoint on startup for macOS's T2 chip authentication be bypassed for securely signed OS's like RedHat?

I know after both drives within, say macOS Catalina for example, are mounted while in the root bash of a recovery partition, you can edit almost anything in either volume, but how does one get to the "watchOS" prefs/executions, to add to or modify the list of "secure signed OS's" you can boot with, even after the OS Security pref has been set in that recovery window to allow external drive booting?

Apple keeps claiming on all official documentation and forums that you can install Linux to a T2 enabled machine, but it doesn't appear this is true of booting (post install, even if UEFI equipped).

You can set the security level for the T2 chip to allow the installation of Linux. However, if the Mac has internal drive (onboard PCIe-based SSD storage) which requires a driver that the version of Linux being installed does not have, then you will have to install to an external drive.

Apple has supplied a driver for Windows 10. This is included in the Windows Support Software which can be downloaded by using the Boot Camp Assistant. I am not aware of any version of Linux that has an equivalent driver.


How can one invoke a keyboard shortcut from within an AppleScript? I need to invoke a keyboard shortcut from within an AppleScript code, later to be used as a startup item (i.e. the alternative to having to press something at every log in).

I get the impression that what you're trying to do is a copy command (i.e., ⌘C)—am I right?

Here's an example from one of my scripts:

tell application "System Events"
    tell application "Microsoft Entourage" to activate
    tell menu "Edit" of menu bar item "Edit" of menu bar 1 of process "Microsoft Entourage"
        click menu item "Select All"
        click menu item "Copy"
    end tell
    key code 123
end tell

That is, I script the menu command instead of scripting shortcuts.

You might also take a look and see if you have /Library/Scripts/UI Element Scripts/Key Down-Up.applescript, which should give you alternate ideas of how to emulate keyboard actions.

And of course, there are a lot of examples in /Library/Scripts/ and ~/Library/Scripts/, many of which are worth a look in general.


iSCSI mounts in macOS I have a question about using iSCSI mounts in macOS (High Sierra). What is the preferred way to mount iSCSI targets in macOS? Also, is it possible to do so from Recovery Mode? Any advice would be appreciated.

Regarding @jwalker's answer above, the GitHub project has 0 commits since 2018, and Kernsafe's product has not seen an update since 11/2019. So both can effectively be considered abandonware at this point. Neither are working on Big Sur.
Is there any way in 2021 and with macOS 11 to use network based block storage? I have some specific apps that require a "real" block device to store data. SMB/NFS won't work. I own a license for SNS globalSAN but it causes kernel panics in 11.x and it seems like it's an "Apple isn't giving us a way to fix it" type of problem since other vendors (ATTO etc) have similar warnings posted.
Hope this changes soon - it's a real shame that macOS doesn't have a native iSCSI driver (Windows has had one for almost 20 years now).
edit: I found one that works: Daemon Tools Lite for macOS. Performance seems to cap out around ~65MB/s (globalSAN was >100) but it seems stable and reliable so far.


Get video from iPhone Videos app onto Mac/PC So a friend of mine has a video in the "Videos" app under "Home Videos" that was created using iMovie on his Mac.

His mac has since been wiped and he's lost the video. It is however still on his iPhone. Is there any way to extract the video from there? I can't see an open in option or anything. The device can't be jail broken due to some MDM software on it.

Thanks all!

Assuming iOS 7.

If the iPhone has been synced with the target Mac, it should be straightforward. Go to the home folder and then go into the folders in succession

Music -> iTunes -> iTunes Music -> Movies

Once in the Movies folder, all the movies that you see on your iPhone should be visible. Then copy that file to wherever else you want it.


Reading large .mbox email files without importing to Mail? I have some very large .mbox files exported from Mail and other applications (unix mail, Eudora, Thunderbird, etc.) over the years/decades.  Is there any way, on macOS Catalina (e.g. 64-bit), of directly reading the mail in these .mbox files without importing them to Mail? (as these archives can be larger than the available storage space on my local User account partition)?

You have to use a third-party app, on MacOS I haven't found any free ones (on Windows you have some free).
This one for example:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mbox-office-viewer-migration/id829623734

All messages in an .mbox mailbox are stored as plain text so you can also open it with any text editor.


Setting Option+[WIFI ICON MENUBAR CLICK] as default action when clicking the wifi icon in the menu bar Clicking on the Wifi icon in the menu bar while pressing and holding the option key presents the user with a different and detailed view. The option-key is a nice feature. It works on a lot of the menu bar icons as well (sound and bluetooth).

I'd be nice if I could set this feature as the default action when interacting with those menu bar items.

How can I set this to be the default action on El Capitan?

Until now I've only found a workaround:

Install BetterTouchTool and create a special trackpad gesture or mouse gesture to invoke an option+click. In the example below I use the trackpad and a 3 finger double-tap in Global to do that:

From now on a 3 finger double-tap on the Wi-Fi menulet (and other menulets) will reveal the advanced or detailed view.


How do I delete Time Machine backups of my Trash? Time Machine (external hard drive) backed up some files in my Trash folder and I'd like them removed from my backup. I know how to normally remove backed up files from within Time Machine (right click a file and choose Delete Backup), but that method is not working for ~/Trash and ~/.trash in the backups.

How do I removed backed up files from the Trash in Time Machine?

Time Machine shouldn't be backing up the trash folder(s) under normal circumstances.

In any case, you might want to use Terminal command tmutil delete command to delete the offending files.

tmutil delete /Volumes/DISK/Backups.backupdb/HOST/DATE/Macintosh HD/.Trashes


What is the read speed of the SSD in the Macbook Air A1466 model? I'm having trouble finding a figure or proper specs on Google, and I was wondering how fast it is.

Anyone know?

According to this article, it's over 700MB/s.


Are the iPhone 4 charger and iPod 4 charger different? Are the iPhone 4 charger and iPod 4 charger different? I can charge my iPhone with both, but my iPhone charger will not charge my iPod. (I'm thinking it might be the length of the 30-pin connector, because the iPod touch is curved)
I know the outlet and wall adapter work.

No, they aren't.
Here you can find the two type of charger, 5W (iPod and iPhone charger) and 12W (iPad, iPod, iPhone charger) with compatibility list.
The length of 30 pin connector is always the same (it is standardised for Apple).


Macbook Air (2011) WIFI Issue After working perfectly for the past 1.5 years I have had my 13" MBA, I suddenly had WIFI issues. Let me give a few details about my experience:

I suddenly had issues connecting to the internet (I was able to connect to the wifi, but could not load a webpage in less than 2-3 minutes if/when it loaded) at my home, but had no issues when connecting directly to my modem via an ethernet cable - thus, it was not a network card issue or an issue with my internet provider.

After that, I had suddenly begun having issues connecting to the networks at my office and school...which is when I began to get frustrated.

See my answer below for how I resolved this issue.

After having issues with my home, office, and school networks (i.e. all networks I tried connecting to), I realized that the only thing these networks all had in common (besides my computer) was that they were all secured networks.

When I tried connecting to an open network, I had no issues at all - thus my realization that some settings on my MBA got screwed up somehow, and the security authorization was screwing things up.

Resolution: To do a hard reset on your WIFI settings, go into Macintosh HD -> Library -> Preferences (see screenshot below). Remove the SystemConfiguration  folder (place it on your Desktop for now). Reboot your MBA.

At this point, I had no issues connecting to any WIFI networks - I hope you have the same result.


Zabbix agent installation On the Zabbix website it says Mac OS X agent is supported, however, I do not see a download link available. Does anyone know how to install the agent on OS X?

Here is a link to the list of supported platforms: http://www.zabbix.com/requirements.php

And here's the link to the downloads: http://www.zabbix.com/download.php

There's no OS X option to download for pre-compiled agents.

I was disappointed too.
According to zabbix, it isn't in their plan to distribute a binary agent for Mac. That's a shame.
However, I found a post which describes how to do it yourself. Once compiled (once), you can deploy the agent executable to many machines...
I yet have to try.
http://bluepilltech.blogspot.lu/2015/02/how-to-compile-zabbix-agent-on-osx.html


What com.apple.diskspaced service does? What is the purpose of com.apple.diskspaced? What this service does exactly?

$ launchctl list com.apple.diskspaced
{
    "EnableTransactions" = true;
    "LimitLoadToSessionType" = "Aqua";
    "MachServices" = {
        "com.apple.diskspaced" = mach-port-object;
    };
    "Label" = "com.apple.diskspaced";
    "TimeOut" = 30;
    "OnDemand" = true;
    "LastExitStatus" = 9;
    "PID" = 96227;
    "Program" = "/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/StorageManagement.framework/Resources/diskspaced";
};

I think this service check your available  disk space.
If you have less than N% (~5%) of your HDD it will show a notification.

Until macOS Sierra this notification could be silenced by selecting (Don't show this again) but on macOS Sierra you no longer have this option.

I have 2% left on my HDD and I had to manually remove (Activity Monitor -> Quit) this daemon so I don't get this annoying notification.

I have searched for a decent way to stop this notification but I think there is only this solution.

Hope this help.


Internet Sharing, same LAN I'd like to share internet from ethernet (10.0.100.2) to Wi-Fi.

But when I do so and then I connect a device via Wi-Fi I get a whole different network: 192.168.2.0. Is there a way to use the same 10.0.100.0 network?

I need it because I have internal DNS and need to debug stuff over the LAN.

There is no need to use the same network. Usually you can simply populate your DNS-server with the IPs and the names of the hosts in the 192.168.2.0 network.

If you restricted allowed DNS queries to a particular network (i.e 10.0.100.0/24), you have to extend this to the 192.168.2.0/24 net.

In the network settings of the devices in the 192.168.2.0/24 network you have to set up your internal DNS-server as DNS-server.


How do I share files with users based on Apple ID? How do I setup file sharing across multiple macs, such that I can share by connecting with my Apple ID, as opposed to a username/password?

I've searched the net for documentation on doing this, and have the hang of it using username/password, but not using Apple ID.  The situation:

I have two Macs, both running OS X Lion, one with Server (I'll call that one the server, and the other the client).

From the client, in Finder, I see the server.  I click on it, and then click on 'Connect As...'.  A dialog appears, prompting me to connect using either a Registered User, or Using an Apple ID.  I select 'Using an Apple ID', and in the dropdown box below, select my Apple ID.  I click 'Connect' and the dialog shakes back and forth (I presume indicating 'no'), and does nothing.

Both computers have a single user, which is associated with my Apple ID.

Set up iCloud on both computers, that's what its intended to do.

Go to

System Preferences... iCloud

Alternatively, use either Dropbox or Google Drive. Personally I prefer Dropbox, but they're all pretty much of a muchness.


What can you and can't you do with an apple watch that has activation lock My first question is what can you do and what can't you do with an apple watch with an activation lock.

My second question is how can I unpair the watch since the phone is a different location (I'm in South Africa and my brother is in New York with my phone). Is it possible to remove it from iCloud.com

I have to give the watch back to my work since I'm leaving but I can't unpair it. I also don't want to give them a watch with all my personal information on it.

To answer your first question: There are no limitations to having Activation Lock enabled on your Apple Watch, except for:

With Activation Lock, your Apple ID and password will be required before anyone can:

unpair your Apple Watch from your iPhone,

or pair and use your Apple Watch with a new iPhone.

– the above taken from Apple's support site –
But I don't know if those are considered disadvantages.
As for your second question, you can unpair the Watch from the iPhone by:

Launching the Settings app on your Watch
Select General
Tap Reset
Tap Erase All Content and Settings
Enter your password, if needed
Hit Continue


Accessing a local IIS server in a VM on a Mac from an iOS device for testing I have a Windows 10 install running in a Parallels VM on 2009 Mac Pro running OS X 10.11 and I want to access the IIS server in the VM for testing on iOS. I can reach website running in the VM from OS X without issue, but when I try and access it through an iOS device through an ad-hoc network or through the same wifi network it doesn't respond, but I am able to access websites hosted in OS X on the iOS device.

I don't want to use a third party solution, I just want local access that I can control. Has anyone been able to make this work?

Change your network setting in parallels to be bridge mode and you should be set.

http://kb.parallels.com/en/4948

The IIS and Windows will get their own IP address so you can connect as if the PC was a physical one connected directly to the network. The Mac won't see the traffic to the server process.


Display color change The display on my MacBook Pro laptop has suddenly changed so that instead of white here I get a light yellow.  What has happened?

I'm not sure how this can happen all of a sudden, but I have a suggestion.
Launch System Preferences (fastest way is Apple Menu > System Preferences)
Click on Display
Click on the Color tab
Select Color LCD in the left column
If this does not reset the color, click the Calibrate... button on the left. This launches the Display Calibrator Assistant
At the step called Target White Point (see the current step name at the left of the window) make sure you select Native

Hope this helps


Pages won't open after unexpected shut down I have OS X Yosemite v. 10.10.5.  After an update about 6 weeks ago Pages started refusing to respond, then shutting down unexpectedly.  Today Pages will not open at all.  I get the error message that Pages has shut down, do I want to reopen or report but reopen doesn't work.  Any suggestions??

I'd try clearing the saved state files.

From Finder:

 Cmd ⌘   N
 Cmd ⌘   Shift ⇧     G
Copy/paste ~/Library/Saved Application State

Find the folder com.apple.iWork.Pages.savedState and delete the contents not the folder itself, as it's an alias.
That should give Pages a fresh start.


Final Cut Pro X and Compressor straight to YouTube Is it possible to use Final Cut Pro X (FCPX 10.0.8) and Compressor 4.0.7 to upload a video straight to YouTube?  I can use the preset FCPX YouTube uploader to do it, but I can't adjust the QuickTime settings from within FCPX. I can also set custom QuickTime settings in Compressor and upload to YouTube from Compressor.  However, when I try to use those Compressor settings in FCPX, I only get the option to save to disk, not upload to YouTube.

Is there a way to use Compressor through FCPX to upload directly to YouTube?

p.s. The reason I want to do this is because I am teaching a class and want to upload large (2.5hr) videos to YouTube.  I have a very slow Internet connection, and I'd like to get the process started when I go to bed so that (hopefully) the videos will be uploaded by the next morning when I leave for work.  Final Cut Pro X has the ability to upload directly to YouTube (after all the rendering), but there aren't any custom options for the YouTube upload, and the videos it creates are 4.5GB, taking 10+ hours to upload.  Compressor will make the videos smaller, but unless I can figure out how to do all of the processing and uploading in one shot, I'll have to get up in the middle of the night to do the manual switch.  I'd rather avoid that!

Yes, this is possible. NOTE: Compressor cannot process directly to YouTube, it must first render to the HD, then upload to YouTube. The uploading is automatic if you set it up correctly.

Create your movie in Final Cut X and send to Compressor as usual. This creates a default batch named New Project. In the Settings window, drag the settings for the video you need (there are 7 to choose from) from the HTTP Live Streaming folder into the batch, then drag to a Destination you've created your HD. Once the destination has been chosen, select the New Project batch and choose the Job Action tab in the Inspector window. One of the "When job completes:" actions in Inspector is Publish to YouTube. You enter authentication credentials and define Title, Description, Tags, Category, etc, right from the inspector.


Locked out of OS X Server after switching network (wireless -> wired) I am completely locked out of my Mac Mini OS X Server (Mavericks) after installing in our server rack.

I was able to setup the server just fine on the bench using a wireless connection; was even able to join to our Active Directory domain.

I simply connected the Mini to our network switch, disabled the wireless network connection (.100), reconnected to the wired connection (green-lit at .200) using VNC at the new IP - which worked - but now, it's not accepting any account credentials, domain (MYCOMPANY\admin) or local.

Took it off the network to try and login locally, I still get "the shake" on the local administrator account, and now have no way of accessing the server.

Anything else can I try?
Thanks.

Have you tried to access it via screen sharing?

Try no name and the entire hardware serial as the password. Also try "Administrator" and the hardware serial. See this Apple support note: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5390

Of course if you can connect a keyboard and monitor then boot it into single user mode and break in as if it is any ordinary Mac. Here's the accepted method http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20001217230925152


macOS prompts to log in to Google accounts on every wake I have several Google accounts set up in System Preferences > Internet Accounts on macOS 10.14.5. The Google accounts have two-factor authentication. I'm able to log in the accounts via a Safari window, and then use them with Mail and Calendar without problems.

Until my Mac sleeps.  On wake, it demands that I log the accounts in again, requiring several rounds of password and two-factor authentication.

I have tried using Google's app-specific passwords, but they aren't accepted at the login prompt that pops up from System Preferences > Internet Accounts.

Is there a method to keep macOS logged in indefinitely?

Note: This does not appear to have the same cause as Can't login with Google using Internet Accounts — the answers there did not solve the problem for me.

If, like me, you have that problem, you might want to check that googleapis.com and other google domains aren't blocked by a firewall (if you are using little snitch, double check that accountsd can access google apis.

Once I allowed accountsd outgoing internet access to googleapis.com, as shown in the attached screenshot, the mac no longer complained when woken up from sleep that I needed to enter my password for my GSuite account.

If that doesn't work, you can maybe look for a DNS server or a host file that would block the googleapis aswell.


Fans go wild when screensaver is active - MacBook Pro 2017 I found a similar question here, but it's related to the laptop preparing for sleep. My settings while connected to power are:

Screensaver after 20 minutes
Turn screen off after 1 hour

I assume that my laptop won't sleep until after the screen has turned off - is this accurate? If so, any other indications as to why my fans go into hyper-drive when the screensaver turns on?

My fanspeed also was incredibly high when on OSX stock screensaver. Some virus scans and resetting of the MacBooks PRAM and VRAM later, I did a check and graphed the cpu usage. It was indeed the screensaver process which kept cpu at 100%.
It was set to a transition of pictures in a folder. Apparently the fade and float effect is too much for the mac. Switch to a blank screen with a clock shown. Fan speed went down to non audible since then and CPU is as low as can be during screensaver now.


MacBook Pro 2019 suddenly dead and does not turn on While I was doing a heavy task using my MacBook pro 2019, it got freeze suddenly (the color wheel keeps spinning). Then after 1 or 2 seconds the MacBook Pro suddenly shut down. Now it is not turning on. There is even no screen indicator or no chime when I plug the charger. Also, I did SMC reset and NVRAM reset. But still no luck. What should be the reason for that and what are the possible solutions?

No errors in the screen
No sound

When you have power issues, the most likely cause is hardware.

Follow precisely the steps to reset your SMC
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

This is something you want to do once, not regularly reset it - more than three resets in a month = a trip to repair for us at work.
Your machine has a T2 chip, so that also controls power on, so in rare cases if you can't boot to external media / Internet Recovery, you might have success reviving or restoring the firmware portion of the T2 system which can make all the data unrecoverable - so also read that through a couple times before attempting any portion in the middle.

https://support.apple.com/guide/apple-configurator-2/revive-or-restore-mac-firmware-apdebea5be51/mac

When these steps fail or you decide it’s hardware, seek someone trained to diagnose and repair your mac. Good options are at the consultant and Apple service locations listed at https://locate.apple.com


Prevent Active Directory Users From Locking Screen We've been having trouble with students in our new iMac lab not logging out, which ends up locking the screen and preventing anybody else from logging into the machine. While figuring out how to get the "Switch User" button to show would be a solution, we'd prefer to just disable the lock screen entirely.

Is there an easy way to both prevent users from locking the screen (^⌘Q) as well as disabling Sleep and Screensaver when users are logged in?

If there's a better way to approach the problem I'm all ears.

Thanks!

Assuming that you aren't granting the students admin rights on the lab computers, enable automatic log out in Security & Privacy > Advanced preferences:

  macOS Sierra: Set your Mac to log out when not in use

  You can set your Mac to automatically log out the current user after a set period of inactivity. This helps ensure that your information is secure when your Mac is unattended.

  Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click General.
  Click the lock icon  to unlock it, then enter an administrator name and password.
  Click Advanced.
  Select “Log out after... minutes of inactivity.”
  Set the amount of time before the user is automatically logged out.

The lower threshold seems to be 5 minutes.

Using automatic log out instead of disabling sleep/screensaver and not requiring a password query has the advantage that privacy of your users and protection from third party access (i.e. other students) is retained.


How do I downgrade node or install a specific previous version using homebrew? I'm using brew. I have node installed, using brew. I want to use an earlier version of node.

Online, I find instructions such as, for example:

cd /usr/local/Library/Formula
brew remove node --force
brew versions node
git checkout 83988e4 /usr/local/Library/Formula/node.rb
brew install node

The problem I have with this is that brew doesn't seem to have a versions subcommand:

$ brew versions node
Error: Unknown command: versions
$ brew --version
0.9.5

I'm new to brew. Do I need to enable the versions subcommand somehow? Should I use a different subcommand instead? Is there a completely different method I should try?

I'm running OS X Yosemite (10.10.1); brew 0.9.5.

These days if you want to install a different version of node you do it this way:

First search for your desired package:

brew search node

This might give you the follow results:

heroku/brew/heroku-node ✔
llnode
node@10
nodebrew
leafnode
node ✔
node@8
....

And then install the desired version:

brew install node@8

Also remember that you can install more than 1 node package at the same time, but you cannot have them available at the same time. So if you have the latest/generic node package already installed you need to unlink it first:

brew unlink node

And then you can link a different version:

brew link node@8

For some older node versions (which are keg-only), it might be required to link them with the --force and --overwrite options:

brew link --force --overwrite node@8


I cannot change the home page of Safari anymore I think I may have a virus or something, because when I installed a program a few days ago it said something about "www.searchpage.com".

How can I fix this?

Yes, Malwarebytes just came out with a new update. Download this and have it scan your system. It is best malware scanner and works well for me. It said I had no malware and indications were I didn't. But reviews claim it works well.

Also, look in the system preferences for a "Profiles" section. You will want to delete any and all profiles you don't understand why they are installed and what they do for you. Many businesses and MDM install a profile so they can remote wipe and enforce settings. Apple makes sure they explain what they do in that app when you have one installed so you can decide to remove them or question the necessity of some of the choices if you so care to.


Using caps lock indicator for other purpose Can I use the caps lock indicator light for another purpose; like indicating that the current keyboard layout is Greek?

It looks like Karabiner + Seil can get you that.

The starting point: is the “Change CapsLock Key” on this page: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/list.html.en.


iPhone doesn't sync over WiFi I can connect to the PC via Remote app on the iPhone, but the iPhone can't see the PC to Sync and the PC won't recognize the iPhone. I've done syncing over WiFi before.

I'm using iPhone 3GS w/ iOS 6 and Windows 8.

Here are the standard steps to set it up:

Make certain that your computer and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch are connected to the same Wi-Fi signal.
Connect your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to a Mac or PC via USB. Launch iTunes if it doesn’t do so automatically.
Highlight your iDevice in the sidebar. (or choose at top right if iTunes11)
Click "Summary" in the menu bar. Scroll down to the "Options" section.
Check the "Sync with this (iOS device) over Wi-Fi" box. Click "Apply."
Detach your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Initiate an iTunes Wi-Fi Sync by tapping Settings > General > iTunes Wi-Fi Sync > Sync Now on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Or, plug it into an outlet

Does it fail at a particular point?

source


How can I find the intersection of two lists in AppleScript? Let's say I have two lists in AppleScript:

set listA to {"red", "green", "blue"}
set listB to {"green", "blue"}

I'd like to create a third list that has only the items present in both lists:

set listC to intersection of listA and listB --something like this
-- would return {"green", "blue"}

Basically, something like PHP's array_intersect().

Is there a built-in way to do this?
If not, I'd love a recommendation for a scripting addition that solves this problem.

The List & Record Tools Scripting Addition provides intersection of listA and listB (among other bits of terminology).

There is no built-in “primitive” for computing a list intersection. Usually one would just use one or more loops to check each element of one list against the other. This can be simplied (and sped up1) a bit by using one of the is in/is contained by/contains operators (or a negation thereof):

set listA to {"red", "green", "blue"}
set listB to {"green", "blue"}

to intersection of listA against listB
    local newList, a
    set newList to {}
    repeat with a in listA
        set a to contents of a -- dereference implicit loop reference
        if {a} is in listB then set end of newList to a
    end repeat
    newList
end intersection

intersection of listA against listB --> {"green", "blue"}

1The is in operator and its relatives are implemented by the AppleScript runtime environment in lower-level code where they execute much faster than the normal interpreted AppleScript code.

Incidentally, handlers that use labeled parameters have a limited set of terms that can be used for the labels. For example, intersection of listA and listB is not possible as a user-defined handler because and is not a recognized label. See the AppleScript Language Guide section on handlers with labeled parameters for a list of valid labels. Applications and OSA extensions can defined their own terminologies (e.g. the List & Record OSAX provides this exact syntax), but user-defined handlers are not as flexible. I usually just use positional parameters (handlerName(param1, param2, …)) instead of trying to make invocations of my handlers look like prose.


Google plus notifications in notification center Is there a way to retrieve or push google plus notifications using applescripts to have them show up in OSX Yosemite notification center?

I guess it only works if the website asks you if you want to receive pushs


Windows 10 via Bootcamp MBR Partition Error I have had nothing but problems today trying to install Windows 10. Boot Camp Assistant has already created the flash drive for installation and the partition on my hard drive. I restarted and booted into the Windows installer.

The partition created by the BCA gives an error in the Installer saying the selected disk has an MBR partition table, and that on EFI systems, Windows needs to be installed on a GPT disk.
Well, searching on the internet I came across this forum: https://superuser.com/questions/508026/windows-detects-gpt-disk-as-mbr-in-efi-boot .
I completed the steps using gdisk in Terminal. Now, when I boot into the Windows Installer, it just sits there, not loading. And eventually, the flash drive goes inactive.

What am I doing wrong? How do I get past the partition error?

If you changed the file within Boot Camp that allowed you to install from a USB on an older version of the Mac don't bother, it won't work.

If this problem persists just burn the ISO to a blank disc. I used a DVD-R. Then install it from the disc. I recommend restoring the partition to a single partition and uninstall windows with the BCA and try again this time with a disc that has enough space for the ISO.

The gdisk solution in some cases will help for other individuals but for your case I believe you have an old Mac.


Is it possible to return the iPhone to its very original factory state? Back to the screen that asks for SIM insertion and iTunes connection on background. Is it?

Settings -> General -> Reset -> 'Erase all Content and Settings'. On some devices (3gs and 4) this will only return the iPhone to factory settings (but not activation mode). For the latter, I'd just plug it in to iTunes and click 'Restore'.


Using Time Capsule to extend a BT HomeHub I currently have a Time Capsule (5th generation mid-2013 tall one) and use it as my only WiFi and back up to it.

I am moving house and will be getting BT Infinity (Fibre), so I will get a BT HomeHub 5.  I will need to extend the range of the WiFi so it can reach all areas of the new house.

Can I change the config of the Time Capsule to be an extension of the HomeHub WiFi? I've read contradictory info as to whether the two are compatible.

If this is possible and I reconfigure my Time Capsule, will I have to restart my Time Machine backups from scratch again?  Currently I connect to the disk "Mark's Airport Time Capsule" which I assume will stay the same even if I reconfigure the WiFi connectivity?

EDIT: OR... would it be easier (and give better throughput) to use Powerline extenders to connect to the outlying room and then set up the Time Capsule & HomeHub in a "roaming" network (i.e. both using the same SSID & security) credentials)?

Answer to:

  If this is possible and I reconfigure my Time Capsule, will I have to
  restart my Time Machine backups from scratch again?

Time Capsule settings and user stored data are separate things. You can erase the hard drive and keep the settings, and reset the settings while keeping your data.


Import PDF files from laptop to iPad without network We can use iTunes to import PDF files to Books application of iPad. However Books application has no PDF annotation capability. I have installed other PDF viewers on iPad (like Documents by Readdle, Foxit PDF viewer, etc) but have no idea how to import my PDF files from laptop to these applications, without network services (iCloud, Dropbox, email, etc).

Do you have any idea?

After connecting iPad to iTunes select the "Apps" tab. Scroll to the bottom of the page where there should be a section labeled "File Sharing". Those PDF viewing (and annotating) apps should be listed under there. Select the app, and then choose "Add..." from the lower right corner of the box. Add the PDFs and sync to your iPad.


Upgrading SSD on Macbook Pro Late 2013 I'm thinking to upgrade the ssd of my macbook pro 15 inc which is late of 2013. I haven't opened up the mac until now. But, as far as I see, ssd of the mac seems different like sliver. I think to buy that one. Isn't it suitable for the mac? I'd like to now the difference whether there is.

The MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013 SSD is not as in the picture of your question. Have a look at MacBook Pro 15" Retina Display Late 2013 SSD Replacement, to see what the Storage device looks like and how to replace it.

Example Image:

Also have a look at, Solid State Drive Upgrades - MacBook Pro with Retina Display 13" & 15" Late 2013, 2014, and 2015 from MacSales.com.

Note that the SSD Upgrade Kit offered by MacSales.com is a reasonably priced and nice option to be able to continue using the original SSD once replaced.


How do I publish a link to my iChat account So I have an email signature and web site that links to my email, twitter and linkedin identities, how do I add a link to my iChat account (via google talk server) other than just linking to my google user name (which is of course my gmail address). Thanks.

RIP Steve Jobs.

I believe that these work:

AIM
YIM
gTalk
Skype

Or would, if I had the user account dori on any of those services.


WindowServer High CPU using external monitor - Big Sur So, few bits of context

I've got a MacBook 12" from 2017
It's connected to an external monitor via USB-C to a Satechi V2 dongle and then HDMI to the monitor

I'm experiencing a few things:

Stuttering when I move windows (like dropping frames)
Videos stutter when my mouse pointer is in motion
WindowServer in Activity Monitor shoots through the roof of CPU usage when I move my mouse a lot
The above is accompanied by the beach ball

See screenshot

I've had a bit of a speedup by disabling "Displays have seperate spaces" in the System Preferences, but it's still happening. It's also slowing down game animations as when my mouse it moving, games won't animate.
Any thoughts?

If you're using an usb mouse, I've noticed that my gaming mouse causes the WindowServer to use a lot of CPU.
Turning transparency down in accessibility settings has helped quite a bit.
As of Dec 9th, 2020, it looks like it's still happening intermittently with one 4K display and my 2019 Macbook Pro.


How to remove one old python installation from a system with multiple (non-system) installations of python Disclaimer

First, let me get the obvious out of the way: I have not touched the system-bundled Python.  I know it’s important to leave it alone.  I have, in fact, done exactly that. ☺

Background

The Python official releases for Mac have a very handy Installer.  (It’s the Installer’s brilliance that allowed me to put newer versions of Python on my system without screwing up the system-bundled version.  Thanks, Pythonistas!)

Now, my primary Python installation is 2.7.  Since it is the last 2.x release, that’s fine.

However, I was curious to learn about Python 3 as well, so I installed it.  And it plays perfectly nicely with Python 2.  In fact, Python 3 is opt-in, which is just what I wanted.  “Works as advertised.”

Now, the weird part…

I have 2 installed versions of Python 3!  The installers for Python 3.1 and Python 3.2 both installed to separate locations.  So, now I have Python 3.1 hanging around and I’m never planning to use it.  And since the installer is awesome (I’m not being sarcastic; I’m really impressed, especially since most programming languages require compilation from source), it also creates entries in /Applications with some handy utilities.

But since I have installed a newer Python 2 and two versions of Python 3, this means I now have:

/Applications/Python 2.7,
/Applications/Python 3.1, and
/Applications/Python 3.2

Help Wanted!

I just want to ditch Python 3.1.

And I want to be very thorough about it.  No forgotten directories buried under /Library/* (or whatever).

Anybody know how to do this?

From python docs noting that they seem to have hard coded 2.5 instead of the current version and is not that well written

  What you get after installing is a number of things:

  A MacPython 2.5 folder in your Applications folder. In here you find
  IDLE, the development environment that is a standard part of official
  Python distributions; PythonLauncher, which handles double-clicking
  Python scripts from the Finder; and the “Build Applet” tool, which
  allows you to package Python scripts as standalone applications on
  your system.

  A framework /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework, which
  includes the Python executable and libraries. The installer adds this
  location to your shell path. To uninstall MacPython, you can simply
  remove these three things. A symlink to the Python executable is
  placed in /usr/local/bin/.

so remove

/Applications/Python 3.1
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.1
/usr/local/bin/python31 (I use a different install so this might be python3.1 or similar)


iPad for lightweight vacation computing? Vacation computing for me these days seems to have fairly few requirements that my phone alone can't easily support:

Offloading raw SLR photos from SD card to clear space and post online (often to facebook)
Offloading, editing down, and posting videos (facebook)

Is the iPad a suitable, flexible, enjoyable device for this sort of thing? If so, are there any apps or workflows that help?

There are a lot of pro photographers who've started using the iPad for their first pass of editing. Vincent Laforet, who is highly respected wrote about his use of them at "Using the iPad on set". Also "12 Best iPad Photo Apps" has some suggestions.


Automator on unsupported apps: how to? Say I have a list of files and I want to open and process them one by one through a third party program. Does this third party program need to support Automator, in order for me to do this?

I am asking this because I just started researching Automator today, and found in it a lot of actions not only for built-in apps, but also for third-party files like Word documents,
which made me wonder: where did those actions come from? Were they added by Office during installation? And if the developer of the program I need to use hasn't enabled Automator support, is there nothing I can do?

The application (or a third-party) has to provide support for Automator. It's not automatic.


How to make show all music option reappear in the Music app? I turned the show all music option off on my iPod, but now the button has disappeared and hasn't reappeared since. How do I make the button reappear? I've already tried restarting my iPod, and the worst part is that I can only see my music on my Windows 7 PC.

To show all music, you will want to go to:

Settings -> iTunes & App Store

In there, under "Show All" set Music to On


How to prevent a "Bluetooth keyboard setup. There isn't a keyboard connected" message at startup I am using a Mac mini. It does not have a keyboard or mouse attached to it. This is by design because I only want to connect remotely to it.

I notice that everytime I reboot my machine. The machine boot sequence gets stuck on a message "Bluetooth Keyboard Setup." There isn't a keyboard connected and it has a circling wheel which says "No keyboards have been found. Make sure your keyboard is discoverable".

I don't want this message. I want my Mac mini to boot fully to a state where someone can remotely connect to it without being blocked by this keyboard message.

How can I do this?

I have already disabled bluetooth on the Mac mini, but it still gets blocked at this screen when it boots.

You have to turn off Bluetooth Assistant.

In Preferences, Bluetooth, click the Advanced button, then uncheck "Open Bluetooth Assistant at Startup if no keyboard is detected."

Once you turn it off, you should have no problems booting in a headless configuration.


How to get keyboard focus on login screen password field in OS X 10.8? My computer doubles as a server, so I leave it turned on and not asleep, but logged out, most of the time.

In 10.6, if I logged out of the computer for an extended period of time, I could log back into it without touching the mouse or without the screen having come on yet by pressing any key to get rid of the screen saver, then typing my password and hitting return.

In 10.8, if I log out of the computer for a short period of time then this is still possible; when you log out, the keyboard focus (blinking cursor) is on the password field. However, if I log out for a long period of time - I don't know how long exactly, maybe just enough for the display to turn off - then it doesn't work; after waking the screen, the keyboard focus is nowhere. The only way I can log in again is by using the mouse to click on the password field, which puts focus back so I can type there.

For reasons too complicated to go into, this is highly annoying to me and I would like to be able to login using the keyboard only (without using a mouse or looking at the display). My questions:

Is this standard behaviour or something I have set up wrong somehow?
Is there some key combination I can press to focus the login field?
Is there a setting that will mean the login field always stays focused?

By the way, I only have a single account on the computer (that is visible on that screen, I mean).

I have also been bothered by this and some trial and error led me to discover that the login screen keyboard focus problem is not caused by the display turning off. Setting the display to never sleep in System Preferences revealed that there is a screen saver that appears when the computer is left idle at the login screen. The login field retains focus until the screen saver appears, and when the screen saver goes away, the field no longer has focus.

This screen saver is not controlled by the screen saver settings in System Preferences, so I have not found a way to disable it. However, I did find a setting that I use as a workaround. There is a Terminal command that can be used to set the amount of idle time before the screen saver appears. I just set it to a number of seconds that is higher than the amount of time I am usually away from the computer. To change this setting you can open the Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities) and run the following command:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.screensaver loginWindowIdleTime 10800

Of course you should replace the 10800 with a number of seconds that will work for you. This command is documented by Apple Support in the article "Configuring a screen saver to run at the Login Window."

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4625

The article refers to OS X v10.6 specifically, but I used it on Mountain Lion 10.8.


Mac music library app? What are some alternatives to iTunes for managing music on a mac?

It should uspport flac files.

There's not many.

Here are a couple.

Cog - http://cogx.org/
Songbird - http://getsongbird.com/


Does my Bootcamp partition, disappeared by Lion install, still exist? I installed Lion on my macbook air, and noticed a couple of days later that my bootcamp partition was gone--rebooting with option key no longer showed the volume, and diskutil shows the following

ccaajj-mba:~ ccaajj$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:          Apple_CoreStorage                         120.5 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:                  Apple_HFS metta                  *120.2 GB   disk1

It's a 128GB SSD, so looks like my 20GB bootcamp partition is toast.

Any ideas? I'm wondering if the volume and data is still there but the partition map is hosed and just not showing it. Thanks in advance y'all!

This doesn't look good for your boot camp partition.  Take a look at the drive layout in Disk Utility.app (in /Applications/Utilities, accessible from Launchpad), which visualizes the entire drive in slices.  If you don't see the 20GB slice there, then it has been overwritten.

Did you obtain Lion from the App Store?


Native Camera app deleted on iPad mini The native camera app on my iPad mini got deleted somehow. Also, I couldn't find it in the App Store to download. It happened on iOS 10.3. I just now upgraded to iOS 11.

The iPad also had Photo Booth app which is also invisible now. On the App Store, the app shows an open button next to Photo Booth app, but nothing happens upon tapping on it.

Can someone please help?

It sounds like Camera is disabled in Settings > General > Restrictions. This removes the Camera and FaceTime apps. A similar post on Apple's forums said that the Photo Booth app was removed by this restriction.

This third-party article on an MDM tool says that the restriction removes the Photo Booth app:

  Disable Camera

  The camera will be completely disabled. This also remove the Camera, Photobooth, and Facetime apps on the home screen.

It would make sense that the restriction available in the UI flips the same bit as the MDM restriction.


is it safe to delete /private/tmp vs /private/var/tmp? I see these dirs are bloated with size in many GBs.
I have never touched these.
Occationally I just delete /private/var/mail/ishandutta2007

No.

No no no no no no no.

No.

Generally /tmp is cleared out upon reboot, but you should never just delete stuff without knowing for absolutely sure that you don't need it.

If you can't replace your hard drive with something larger and you're running that low on space, use a reputable tool that is specifically developed for the job, like Clean My Mac.


iOS simulator screen size not equal to window size I have a strange issue with my iOS simulator. It does not fit my Simulator Windows size. This is not a real problem, but the thing is that I cannot make screenshots anymore, when I save a screenshot, it saves the entire simulator window, not only the iOS screen.

How can I fix this problem?

The strange thing is that was working a few hours ago, even if the iOS screen was smaller, when I saved a screenshot, it saved at full resolution.

I will attack an image of the simulator Window. Window scale is 100%. If I change it, also the iOS inside will change too, but never goes full screen.

Now It's more flexible with Xcode 9- Simulator. You can pick & drag any corner of simulator to resize it and set it according to your requirement.

Look at this snapshot:

Note: With Xcode 9.1, Simulator scale options are changed.

There are several other ways also, to scale your simulator.

Keyboard short-keys:
 According to Xcode 9.1

Physical Size       ⌘ 1      command + 1
Pixel Accurate      ⌘ 2      command + 2

 According to Xcode 9

50% Scale           ⌘ 1      command + 1
100% Scale          ⌘ 2      command + 2
200% Scale          ⌘ 3      command + 3

Simulator scale options Menu:
Xcode 9.1

  Menubar  >>  Window  >>  "Here available options for simulator scaling" (Physical Size & Pixel Accurate)

Xcode 9.0

  Menubar  >>  Window  >>  Scale  >>  "Here available options for simulator scaling"

Using Terminal Command
Follow these steps to scale simulator using terminal commands

Close/Quit simulator. (if open)
Open Terminal app (using Spotlight search, Press ⌘ + SPACE to open spotlight search)
Copy following text and paste it next to terminal cursor.

defaults write ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iphonesimulator SimulatorWindowLastScale "0.3"

Open 'Simulator' (Run your iOS project using Xcode).

You will find simulator scale update.