MacBook Air starts to heat up when turns on My MacBook air begins to heat up everytime I its tur on, after few minutes the fan starts to become noisy, what can I do to solve this problem?

This is the screenshot of my activity monitor and console

The first thing I would do is reset the System Management Controller.

For MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and MacBooks where you can’t remove the battery on your own (i.e. it's a built-in battery), here’s what you do:

Shut down your MacBook Air
Unplug its power cable
For 10 seconds, press and hold at the same time the shiftcontroloption keys (on the left side of the built-in keyboard) and the power button
After 10 seconds let go of all keys and the power button
Plug in the power cable
Switch your MacBook Air on with the power button

Once you've done this, test to see if the problem is still present. If it is, you can boot into Safe Mode to see if the issue still persists.

Boot into Safe Mode

Follow these steps to boot your MacBook Air into Safe Mode:

Fully shut down your MacBook Air
Restart your MacBook Air
Immediately press the Shift key and keep it down
Let go of the Shift key when you see the login window (NOTE: If you have FileVault enabled you may need to log in twice).
Take a note of what happens (i.e. does it heat up, are the fans noisy, etc)
To exit Safe Mode just restart your Mac as normal

If the issue doesn't occur while in Safe Mode, boot your MBA normally to see if it returns.

On the other hand, if the issue still occurs while in Safe Mode, I strongly suggest you test your hardware. Depending on the exact model of MacBook Air, you will either use Apple Hardware Test or Apple Diagnostics.

If your MacBook Air was introduced:

before June 2013, use Apple Hardware Test
after June 2013, use Apple Diagnostics

Choose the appropriate process below.

Run Apple Hardware Test

If your MBA uses Apple Hardware Test, follow these steps:

Shut down your MacBook Air
Restart your MacBook Air
Press and hold the D key before the gray startup screen appears.
After a while, Apple Hardware Test (AHT) will start.
When prompted, select your language and click the right arrow.
When the AHT console appears, you can choose to run Basic tests by clicking the Test button. However, I suggest you select the "Perform extended testing" checkbox before you click the Test button.
Your test results will appear in the window in the bottom-right of the console.

Note 1: that the extended test will take some time. Take a note of the results and report back.

Note 2: If pressing and holding the D key at Step 3 doesn't work, start again at Step 1 and, at Step 3 press and hold both the OptionD keys instead. This will try and run diagnostics from the internet instead, so you will need to allow more time for it to complete.

Run Apple Diagnostics

If your MBA uses Apple Diagnostics, follow the steps:

Fully shut down your MacBook Air
Restart your MacBook Air
Immediately press the D key and keep it down until you see the Diagnostics screen appear
Wait for Diagnostics to finish (this typically only takes a few minutes)
Once complete, one of two things will appear on the screen:

a No issues found message
a brief description of any errors found plus further instructions

If the diagnostics test does find errors, take a note of what they are

Note: If pressing and holding the D key at Step 3 doesn't work, start again at Step 1 and, at Step 3 press and hold both the OptionD keys instead. This will try and run diagnostics from the internet instead, so you will need to allow more time for it to complete.

Regardless, take a note of what happens and let me know how you went.

[UPDATE]

Now that we've established the issue doesn't occur while you're booted into Safe Mode, we know that your hardware is okay. This means the problem is essentially software related.

I would now check what you have listed in your Login Items. To do this:

Go to Apple > System Preferences > Users & Groups
Make sure your User Account is selected at top left
Click on the Login Items tab
Make a note (or take a screenshot) of what items you have listed there
Now remove each of the items by clicking on their name (so they're highlighted) and then clicking on the minus - button
Once all items are removed, exit System Preferences
Restart your Mac
Test to see if the problem still persists
If the problem persists, stop here and let me know. If the problem has gone away, continue below
Repeat Steps 1 to 3
Click on the plus + button to add one of the items back
Exit System Preferences
Restart your Mac

If the problem returns, repeat Steps 1 to 3 and then remove the item again. If the problem didn't return, start again at Step 10. Continue this process until you identify the item(s) that cause the problem.


Bootcamp and disk space I tried to install Windows via Bootcamp and when I first launched BC it said (something like): The drive cannot be partitioned because there is not enough free space and it said I needed 40gb.

However, when I tried to check my total storage in the "about" section it said that I had over 100gb free space! Then when I double checked with Disk Utility it said that I had 33GB free space! in Disk Utility it also said:

Available: 103,21 GB (69,25 GB   Purgeable)

What does this mean?

I have deleted a ton of files but the free disk space is just shrinking! Not getting bigger!

Mac OS version: 10.13.4
I do not Use Time Capsule

You leave out some necessary information for us to help you. We are going to need (at least) the version of macOS on your Mac. it's under the Apple Menu, "About This Mac..."

Assuming that you have the latest (High Sierra, 10.13.4) it is possible that the problem is that of Time Machine snapshots (again assuming that you use Time Machine). Something that Apple introduced in High Sierra and something we are all learning how to work with even now.

This answer shows how to list and then delete snapshots. Once you do that see if you can then resize the macOS partition to a size sufficient for Boot Camp installation.

Failing that please edit your question and add in macOS version, which Mac you have, if you use Time machine, etc.


NTFS Read-Write App for Snow Leopard / Lion I am looking out for an app that can read and write NTFS partition.

I am using Snow Leopard, and will update to Lion (very soon).

I have heard about NTFS Mounter, but I think there will be other apps which are much better than NTFS Mounter.

Please suggest a fine app, once that you have personally tried and tested.

I've been using Paragon NTFS ( http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ ) which I've been using since Leopard and now with Lion. It's good, but I do get the occasional problem once every couple of months. I'd rather buy a supported product as I use it quite often. If it was occasional, I'd probably got for NTFS-3g or other free options.


Is it possible to install OS X Mavericks from one Mac to another? I have a macbook pro which I bought with OS X Mavericks preinstalled. I have a Mac Mini with Mountain Lion which I want to upgrade to Mavericks. But since the download size is too big, I wonder if it is possible to create an installation disc or better yet USB using the OS X Mavericks already installed in Macbook Pro and use it to install Mavericks in my Mac Mini?

You can't "install" it, but you can clone an image of the OS on your laptop using Disk Utility and save it to an external hard drive, then restore that image (also with Disk Utility) onto your Mac mini.

Even better, if you can use Target Disk Mode (requires both Macs have either Thunderbolt or FireWire), you can use the same restore feature in Disk Utility to clone directly between the drives without requiring the external media/image file.

This will of course wipe your Mac mini drive in the process and won't give you a clean install.  If you're OK with that though, then it might be an option if you really can't afford the download.


How can I ask for input and then pass the variable in terminal? I'm currently trying to do something quite odd. I want to automate updates on multiple computers in my office and first I need to open a program and said program has two fields; one for username and another for a password.

Obviously walking around the office to 50 computers and inputting my user and password is quite annoying so what I'd rather do is be able to assign my username and password to variables and then pass those variables to the username and password fields in the program.

So far I can open the program via the remote desktop app on all the machines and I can use osascript to send keystrokes but I want terminal to ask me for the username and password so that I don't save them into my script. Is there an easy way to do this and then tell those variables that I save my pass and username into to be the keystrokes? Thanks!!

These lines will prompt for your username and password:

echo -n 'Username: '
read username

echo -n 'Password: '
read -s password #The -s means silent, so your password is not shown in the terminal.

You can then use the variables $username and $password in the rest of your script, like this:

osascript -e 'tell app "System Events" to keystroke "'"$username"'" & tab & "'"$password"'"'


Why is there a doubled name in the Photos app when I search to name faces? The image below represents what I mean: Even though there is only one Bartłomiej Semańczyk in my Contacts, that person appears on the list below twice.

How do I remove repeated options on the list when I search to name faces?

One is the original name tag you supplied in iPhoto, the other is the closest possible Contact in your Address Book.

I went through the same process yesterday - trying to decide whether I wanted people tagged as names, or Contacts.

I can find no way to switch it off - nor, even more irritatingly, how to assign all photos with a particular face to the Contact instead of the original name, other than one at a time…

Edit:
Simpler than I first thought - Select one 'Face' in the main faces screen, click the name & start to type. Choose whether to use the Original tag name or the new Contact name. All similarly-tagged faces will be changed to the new system & the old tag will vanish.

I made a silly one as an example…

a. Start to type, you have 2 alternatives, select the Contact name
b. Hit Enter, the Contact Name is embedded
c. Try to repeat the process… there is now only one choice for that person [or cat]

There's a huge, detailed Photos guide on iMore - How to use Photos for OS X: The ultimate guide


Is there a video player on windows for iPhone recorded videos? I want a video player which can play iPhone 8 recorded videos on windows 10. Windows media player plays some but doesn’t play others ... same for VLC player.
Thank you

EDIT:
More details were requested so here they are:

Is the VLC media player updated ?List item
-> Yes
The file format of the videos that don't and do playback?
-> .MOV doesn't play(except few which were actually live photos) /.MP4 plays.
Do they play on a different machine?
-> No. Not on windows machine.
are the files showing black, or what is happening when you
double-click click them/open them in VLC? Any error message?
-> No error message on VLC. It doesn't play. Nothing happens on VLC whereas on Windows Media player it says an error occurred.

Hope that helps. Thanks.

Let us assume your videos that you can't play back are in the .HEVC (.HEIF for images) format, which are not natively supported in Windows. Therefore, VLC should be able to playback those files. Is it up to date?

To further address your issue, we need more info:

file format of the videos that don't and do playback?
Do they play on a different machine?
are the files showing black, or what is happening when you double-click click them/open them in VLC? Any error message?


Bluetooth doesn't work after macOS Mojave update I'm new here. Will someone help me to fix this? I updated my Mac to macOS Mojave and now it cannot connect with Bluetooth devices. Why is this happening and how can I fix this?

it's a MacBook Pro and I tried to connect my wireless headphone. I do not remember the brand.

I tried all available methods.

Deleting files from:

/Library/Preferences - com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
~/Library/Preferences/ByHost - com.apple.Bluetooth.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
and after reboot

To reset your Mac’s Bluetooth module
Tried through safe mode.
Created a new user.
Turned off the wifi
Made a clean install.
Install Catalina
Return from backup 10.14.5
After replacing the bluetooth board.

** Now everything works! **


APFS - Is it possible to install 2 macOS versions inside one APFS container? As you might already now, a single APFS container can have multiple APFS partitions inside. Their advantage is the free space is shared between partitions.

Today I decided to try out macOS Mojave Public Beta and was about to create a second APFS container, but thought "why not use an APFS partition instead?" but I didn't want to risk my main macOS High Sierra partition being erased so I decided to ask it here. Is it possible to have multiple macOS installations inside a single container with multiple APFS partitions?

Yes, it possible to have multiple macOS installations inside a single container with multiple virtual partitions, but some of the partitions will be shared.

  Note: I do not think virtual partitions is the correct terminology. I believe the terminology should be APFS volumes sharing the same APFS partition.

I started  with High Sierra installed to volume labeled Macintosh HD in a APFS container. I using the Disk Utility application to add a new APFS volume labeled Macintosh HD 2. Next, I downloaded High Sierra from the App Store and installed to the Macintosh HD 2 volume. The result from diskutil list is shown below.

  Note: I used a external drive, so disk2 appears below instead of the expected disk1.

/dev/disk2 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +200.0 GB   disk2
                                 Physical Store disk1s6
   1:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD            50.8 GB    disk2s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 46.1 MB    disk2s2
   3:                APFS Volume My Recovery             1.0 GB     disk2s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      8.6 GB     disk2s4
   5:                APFS Volume Machintosh HD 2         18.2 GB    disk2s5

While both High Sierra installations use different root volumes (disk2s1 and disk2s5), the installations share disk2s2, disk2s3 and disk2s4.

Next, I created another APFS volume labeled Mojava 1 and then downloaded Mojava Beta from this Apple website. The result after installing is shown below.

/dev/disk2 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +200.0 GB   disk2
                                 Physical Store disk1s6
   1:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD            50.8 GB    disk2s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 74.5 MB    disk2s2
   3:                APFS Volume My Recovery             1.5 GB     disk2s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      8.6 GB     disk2s4
   5:                APFS Volume Machintosh HD 2         18.1 GB    disk2s5
   6:                APFS Volume Mojava 1                35.8 GB    disk2s6

Mojava installed to disk2s6 and shares share disk2s2, disk2s3 and disk2s4 with the other two High Sierra installations.

So there is now three macOS Recoveries for both High Sierra and Mojava. In my case, both High Sierra macOS Recoveries are Version 1.0 (327) and the Mojava macOS Recovery is Version 1.0 (330).

I can boot to one of the three macOS Recoveries stored on disk2s3 by holding down the ⌘+R key combination at startup. If the default startup disk is a APFS volume containing macOS, then the corresponding macOS recovery will startup. For example, if the startup disk is set to the APFS volume Machintosh HD 2, then holding down the ⌘+R key combination at startup will result in the Mac booting to High Sierra macOS Recovery on APFS Volume My Recovery.

  Note: macOS Recovery no longer appears in the Mac Startup Manager. However, macOS Recovery, for a given macOS installation, can be booted using the rEFInd Boot Manager.

BTW: Removing Mojave from the APFS container is covering in my answer to the question: Erase an APFS volume?


External Hard disk 500 GB free but can't copy 8 GB data I have WD external hard disk, which was working fine. Its MS-DOS formatted. I have downloaded a file in .mkv, which works fine, and isn't corrupted. Upon copying the 8 gb file, it says "The file is too big to be copied", whereas its only 8 GB being copied on 500GB disk. I tried formatting it. still nothing. What else can i do?

The HDD is formatted using FAT32 which has a known limitation of 4GB file size. You need to format it using exFAT which is supported by OS X and Windows.


iPhone App to limit the data usage to 10 Gt? Is there any application to limit the data usage to certain amount in iPhone?

P.s. I tested Onavos such as here but it is very slow with me so uninstalled. Also Data Usage app but poor ratings.

The following looks the most promising apps and recommended here.

My Data Usage Pro here
DataMan here


Clean up iTunes excess Over the past years, I have removed plenty of songs from my iTunes library, but not deleted the files, and now my Music/iTunes folder is double the size of what iTunes reports as my library size. I don't care about any of the songs I have removed from my library. Is there any way to delete all of them? Thanks in advance!

There's a handy AppleScript that will identify files in your iTunes folder that aren't in the iTunes library: Music Folder Files Not Added.

Download the file, open the .dmg and add the script file to ~/Library/iTunes/Scripts (you may need to create that folder if it's not there already). Then it should appear under the script menu in iTunes (a scroll icon between the Window and Help menus).


OS X 10.8 in a VM on a Mac running Windows I would like to get Mac OS 10.8 to run out of a VM on a retina MacBook Pro under Windows 8 host.

Do I need to buy an OS X Server license or can I use the one shipped with the laptop?
Where do I get the installation media for the clean installation?
What is the easiest way to get it installed in a VM?
What is the best virtualization software for this case? I'd prefer VirtualBox, but I don't mind paying if something else provides better compatibility and speed.

The OS X EULA (both client and server editions) restricts running OS X as the guest OS in a VM running on OS X as the host OS. In other words you are only allowed to run OS X in a VM that is itself running on OS X. See section 2-B-iii of the most recently published OS X EULA document for the official wording.  http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/OSX1082.pdf


Are there any disadvantages to using the brew version of bash for /bin/sh? I have patched bash & sh with the latest patches as described here, but now have some issues with some things in my dotfiles (particularly the loading of rvm and some custom functions and completions).

I don't have the issues if I just use the brew version of bash as both /bin/bash and /bin/sh, but I'm wondering if I might run into other problems with system stuff.

I would advise against making the Homebrew installation of bash your system-wide bash or sh command. However it should be fine to use as your personal shell.

Homebrew provides a vanilla installation of Gnu Bash. You will be missing any Apple additions to the shell that are provided if you use the Apple-supplied bash or sh binaries or source code from Apple's opensource.apple.com site. Any OS-level shell script provided by Apple may be relying on those Apple extension and changes to function.

Homebrew also installs, by default, a 4.3.x version of bash:

> brew info bash
bash: stable 4.3.24 (bottled), HEAD
http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/
Not installed
From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/blob/master/Library/Formula/bash.rb
==> Dependencies
Required: readline ✘
==> Caveats
In order to use this build of bash as your login shell,
it must be added to /etc/shells.

This is a significantly different version than the 3.2.x version that ships with OS X 10.9.x. It is not 100% backwards compatible with pre 4 versions. For example substring extraction on positional parameters indexing changed from 3 to 4. It could break system-level scripts.

Both of those reasons can lead to inoperable system scripts on your Mac if you switch to Homebrew's versions of bash and sh for anything other than your personal shell. You can make your personal shell the Homebrew bash shell by running:

chsh -s /usr/local/bin/bash

and then logging out and logging back in. This should be relatively safe for the stable operation of your machine.

If the above chsh command fails saying /usr/local/bin/bash is not an acceptable shell you'll need to add it to the list in /etc/shells by running:

sudo vim /etc/shells

It should be added on a new line in the file like so:

> cat /etc/shells
# List of acceptable shells for chpass(1).
# Ftpd will not allow users to connect who are not using
# one of these shells.

/bin/bash
/bin/csh
/bin/ksh
/bin/sh
/bin/tcsh
/bin/zsh
/usr/local/bin/zsh
/usr/local/bin/bash


how to delete the apps all data? I have an app that give you points if you share your link and someone download it so I send the link to my sister to download it but I didn't get any point then I found out that my sister has downloaded it from a long time but she deleted it I tried to delete it from the storage in the settings and download it again  but still I cant get points , do you have any idea how to completely delete an app ?

sorry for my bad English ^___^

Most apps like that do the registration server side and you would need To erase the device entirely and not use the same Game Center account.

Deleting the app does delete all data unless it’s designed specially and in that case, you need to know exactly what bundle and delete the data from iCloud on a mac, not from iOS.

In general, deleting the app deletes all data. Especially if you don’t enable iCloud.


How can I force my iPad to lock? There are certain times when I would like to be able to force my iPad to go to passcode lock mode immediately, rather than waiting for the usual 15-minute timeout.

I currently have "require passcode after" set to 15 minutes. There is also an 'immediately' setting, which requires a passcode every time that the device is brought out of sleep mode, no matter how much time the device was asleep.

I am wondering if there is a way to put the iPad into 'require passcode immediately' mode on a one-time basis, without changing the 15-minute default that I have in settings. The instances where I need an "immediate lock" are few and don't outweigh the utility of keeping the 15 minute delay most of the time.

Is this possible? If so, how?

Turning the iOS device off will require a passcode to be entered no matter the timeout value if you have one other than requiring the passcode immediately upon locking.

You can also utility any of the "Find my iPhone" or MDM tools that allow remote locking of the device, but these are often not feasible and much more time and work than simply powering off the device or rebooting it.


Tell Safari to Download Certain File Types? There are certain file types that Safari automatically opens natively.  Various kinds of video files, for example.  Is there a way to configure Safari to not open these files and instead default to just downloading them?

I'm using Safari 5.1 on OS X 10.7.1

I don't know about permanently, but you can hold down the option key when clicking on a link, and that will always download it instead of opening it.  Similarly, if you put a URL into the address bar and type option-return, that will download it as well.


Connecting to SSH server slow since macOS upgrade Since upgrading to macOS I have had problems with slow connection to my local server running Debian.

Running ssh -v shows that it is hanging at the following message.

  debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received

A search has said try to enable the NoDNS option within the servers sshd config but that has not helped.

Has anyone got any ideas?

I tracked down my slow SSH logins to IPv6 timeouts. This was from a Sierra client to a Sierra server. After adding the following to my client ~/.ssh/config it is now near instantaneous.

# Default is 'any' which includes inet6
AddressFamily inet


Gmail shortcut for open spelling corrections hides window - any way to fix? The gmail shortcuts list says to "Open spelling suggestions" you press Command-M, but that minimizes the Google Chrome window for me. Any way to get a workable shortcut for this?

As Chrome has an actual Minimise key command, you can change it to be something different

Before

System Prefs > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts
Hit + then set the app to Google Chrome, menu item to Minimise & the key to something you don't use anywhere else

That should free up  Cmd ⌘   M  just for Chrome, yet it will still function correctly elsewhere.

After

Note it adds an  Opt ⌥  version for Minimise All, which tends to be a common side effect of doing this type of replacement.


Intermittent AirPort issue on MacBook Pro Early 2015 I have an Apple MacBook Pro Early 2015, with AirPort issues.

The problem is extremely complex, but effectively it means I get page time out intermittently.

I've reinstalled macOS from scratch, without backup, twice.
The issue only happens on Wi-Fi.
It happens when on WPA Personal Wi-Fi, but not Enterprise, unsure about Unsecured and WEP.
It happens on 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz on any wireless channel, regardless of interference.
I can still ping local devices, but HTTP requests to the router's config page for example do not work, and internet requests either.
It isn't DNS related as I've tried 3 DNSs and tested with IP addresses
There is no Firewall, or tools like LittleSnitch running
I can see when the issue occours by pinging 8.8.8.8
Other devices on the same internet connection both wired and wireless are unaffected.
The issue is resolved by a reboot.
I've reproduced this at other locations, as well as trying a new Router from my ISP, Virgin Media, and buying a Ubiquiti UniFi AP-AC-LR
We've run Wireless Diagnostics, which Apple Engineering has looked at and not found anything.
They have changed the AirPort card
Tried PRAM and SMC resets, and most the stuff on this thread:
Wifi Keeps Dropping Macbook Pro 13in Retina Early 2015

I'm completely out of ideas, Apple are refusing to replace the Mac, and my work colleague has the identical issue on a newer but same model of MacBook Pro.

Does anyone have any idea how to proceed, I have been waiting for Apple to deal with this and they seem to have no idea, what the issue is.


Increasing height of 27" iMac I struggle with my 27" iMac, with its fixed size and weight, to have it sit at a comfortable eye sight position for me when I look down at my screen.

If your neck aches because the monitor is too high, a few recommendations are available here and on macrumors. I'm soliciting a solution for the opposite problem dismissing:

Drilling holes to introduce VESA compatibility.
Introducing a clash with the fine lines of the iMac by putting it on top of one or a few books or reams of paper.
Getting an absurd-looking box to solve a problem that was contrived in the first place.

Is there another method to make the 27" iMac ergonomic for someone a bit taller than average who does not wish to keep his head dangling over his body while looking down at the monitor?

We can separate the possible solutions into intrinsic and extrinsic solutions, as well as sitting/standing solutions.

Intrinsic solutions (ones that will not look like an afterthought):

You can "[b]uy [an] iMac with Built-in VESA Mount Adapter". You will not see this option on the usual checkout lane, but Google locates it.

The 27" iMac weighs 21 pounds (9.54 kg). This could make it challenging to couple it with some random monitor arm on the market.

Extrinsic solutions (an additional base with a potentially jarring look):

Rain Design mBase Stand for 27" iMac, $69.95
Bretford MobilePro Desk Mount, $179.95
A custom solution that matches the desk rather than the iMac.
Satechi produces a plastic and an aluminum stand. They're not adjustable, but breakage is less of an issue than with glass.
Fitueyes clear Computer Monitor Riser 4.7" (thanks, Allan)
Halter Acrylic Monitor Stand / Monitor Riser 3.675"H

The trouble here may be that you're designing a desk for just one person. If you are pursuing a more fluid ambiance at an office and wish to accommodate someone ranging from, say, 5ft to 6ft 2", the presence of a base may not be too convenient.

Sit/stand solutions

Ikea sells a manual and an electric adjustable desk. They are sitting/standing desks, and so they are a much more general solution for problems in ergonomics. To use while sitting, you will need to look for a really deep keyboard tray (or possibly get a second lower table to position underneath, if you won't find that setup particularly jarring).
Ergotron WorkFit-A, Sit-Stand Workstation, $595
Varidesk standing desk Pro Plus, $395 to $595.

Note that neither the Ergotron nor the Varidesk solve the problem since the height difference between the keyboard and the monitor platform is constant. A monitor pedestal will still be needed.

To conclude, your best bet may be to look for a sit/stand desk (google/bing) and hook an adjustable keyboard tray (google/bing) underneath. Unfortunately that's not a cheap option.


Green text "Profile" appears on login? (OSX Yosemite) Whenever I login to my machine some green text appears in the top left saying "Profile".
It has done this since OSX Mavericks too.

Here's a screenshot:

This happens because of Razr's mouse and keyboard software that allows you to designate profiles for key bindings. The profile that is being used is displayed in green text in the corner of the screen on when logging in.


Deleted Files not going to Trash, Catalina I have recently updated my Macbook to Catalina and since then everytime I delete a file using "Move to Bin" option or by dragging it to the Trash can I get a message "This item will be deleted immediately. You can’t undo this action.".

Any help is appreciated.

Sometimes the invisible user trash folder in your home folder gets the wrong permissions set (for unclear reason).

Usually the trash can looks like this viewed in Terminal/ls -la

drwx------   3 user  staff     96 23 Nov 19:13 .Trash

I had several similar incidents and the folder looks like this then:

d---------   3 -     -         96 23 Nov 19:13 .Trash

To get back the normal behaviour open the Terminal in /Applications/Utilities and enter:

ls -la ~/

to get a list of the content of your user folder (the .Trash should be listed as well). Execute the typed command by hitting the return key. Check the content of the folder whether it really is your folder.

To remove the broken trash folder enter:

sudo rm -d ~/.Trash

You have to have an account with admin prvileges to execute a sudo command.

Exit the shell by entering exit and quit Terminal.

In the Finder simply create a new folder and move it to the trash. This will create a new .Trash folder with proper privs and move the new folder made previously to the trash can.


How can I get the last logins/shutdowns/restarts located on a volume from another Mac? I'd like the last command to display login/logout information located on a volume from another Mac. I've mounted that volume at /Volumes/1013.

Where does last get that information from? I'd rather open the relevant log file and read it directly than use Terminal.

Image added as answer to user nohillside below:

Solved by Jaume (details below), basically:

sudo chroot /Volumes/1013/ last -10

works for High Sierra, it didn't work for El Capitan, still very good though.

last gets its information from /var/run/utmpx, a file that records user and tty sessions, shutdowns and reboots on the current system. utmpx is a binary file, which means you can't use less or grep to read it or search for keywords.

So to get the session information of the other Mac, we want last to read  /Volumes/1013/var/run/utmpx.

Unfortunately, last can't be told to read a file different than /var/run/utmpx, but this is where chroot comes to the rescue. chroot takes two arguments, a path and a command, sets the command's perceived root directory to the specified path and executes it.

In our case, this is the command we need (type your login password when asked):

sudo chroot /Volumes/1013/ last

This command changes the root directory to point to /Volumes/1013 so that when last reads /var/run/utmpx, it actually reads /Volumes/1013/var/run/utmpx.

You can pass options to last, if you wish, or pipe the output to grep for more relevant results, for example:

sudo chroot /Volumes/1013/ last -10 | grep <some user>

If the command above doesn't work (for example, you get a segmentation fault), try this:

sudo chroot /Volumes/1013/ /Volumes/1013/usr/bin/last -10 | grep <some user>

that is, run the executable from the other Mac.

Note that there's a limit on how far back you can go with the macOS version with either method.

For example, with macOS "Sierra" 10.12, last worked as expected, while with OS X "Mavericks" 10.9, last only prints one line and then hangs. dtruss shows that a serious incompatibility is the reason for the hang:

$ sudo dtruss -p 39542
dtrace: system integrity protection is on, some features will not be available
SYSCALL(args)        = return
dtrace: 3870 dynamic variable drops with non-empty dirty list
lseek(0x8, 0x4000, 0x0)      = 16384 0
dtrace: error on enabled probe ID 2175 (ID 945: syscall::read_nocancel:return): invalid kernel access in action #12 at DIF offset 68

You can overcome this limitation by plugging the drive to a Mac running an older version of macOS.

For more information on chroot, run man chroot in Terminal.


Can't install Windows on Boot Camp (Retina MacBook Pro, mid-2015) Running High Sierra (APFS, unencrypted) with up-to-date Boot Camp Assistant (6.1.0) — clean OS install a couple days ago.

Running into trouble at every step of the process, with both Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 8.1 64-bit (clean ISOs downloaded directly from Microsoft).

Use Boot Camp Assistant to create partition (122GB on 1TB SSD). It downloads Windows Support files, but 9 times out of 10 the laptop crashes at the step of “Saving Windows Support files” – but force restarting allows me to alt/option-boot into the Windows installer anyway: great.

Boot into Windows 10 installer, format Boot Camp partition, select Windows version (have tried both Pro and Home) — it gets through copying, expanding, installing Windows files… but then I get an error every time at "Installing Updates” – error code 0x80070002, can't find drivers compatible with this hardware — Windows will restart (doesn't restart, just goes to a black backlit screen and stays there until I force restart).

Ok. Delete the partition, download the Windows Support Drivers to a FAT-formatted USB drive, then repeat all the above. Same exact thing.

Ok. Delete, repeat, but once booted into the Windows installer, first click "Load drivers" and select the OSXRESERVED partition: shows up all the driver folders, but shows no actual driver files when you navigate to any of the folders. Un-check "Hide drivers that aren't compatible with this hardware”, and a few drivers show up for each piece of hardware — install them all. Proceed to Windows install – no dice, same error at “Installing updates” stage.

Ok. Delete, repeat, “Load drivers” but check the USB instead of OSXRESERVED — same thing, folders are there but drivers don't show up unless I un-check the ‘Hide non-compatible drivers’ option.

Ok. Try again with Windows 8.1 instead of Windows 10, and older version of the support software (Boot Camp Support 5.1.5722) on the USB.

This time Boot Camp Assistant actually completes the “Saving support files” portion of the automatic driver download, and asks for admin password for restart, instead of crashing. Great. Boot into Windows 8.1 installer – it requires a license key instead of having the “I don't have a license key” option, but find one online to get me to the next step. This time it hangs indefinitely at 24% of copying Windows files.

Anyone have any advice? Am I missing something obvious here?

Below are the instructions for installing Windows 10.

  Note: To get a better view of the images shown below, either click on an image or open an image in a new window.

Remove all Windows related partitions that may have been created by previous attempts to install Windows. When finished, the output from the command diskutil list disk0 should appear similar to what is shown below. I assume your sizes will be slightly different.

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         999.8 GB   disk0s2

The command below will create the 122 GB "BOOTCAMP" partition on your internal drive. The space occupied by this partition will be used for installing Windows.

  Note: Since I do not know the exact size of your Apple_APFS partition, I assumed the partition was 999.8 GB in size. Since this is unlikely, you may have to adjust the value of 877.8 GB.

sudo  diskutil  apfs  resizeContainer  disk0s2  877.8G  FAT32  BOOTCAMP  122G

Use the Disk Utility application to erase a 16 GB or larger USB flash drive. Enter the settings shown below in the popup window. When finished, do not remove the flash drive.

Use the Boot Camp Assistant to download the Window Support Software. Look for the "Action" pulldown on the Boot Camp Assistant menu bar. On my Mac, these files were downloaded to the ~/WindowsSupport directory.

  Note: You can not download the Boot Camp Support Software for your Mac computer from any Apple website. You must use the Boot Camp Assistant to download an officially copy of this software.

Mount the Windows iso file and copy the contents to the "WINSTALL" volume. You will need the use the cp command from a Terminal application window. Below is the exact command I usually use. The string ESD-ISO is the name of the mounted ISO file from Microsoft. If necessary, make the appropriate modifications.

cp  -Rv  /volumes/ESD-ISO/  /volumes/WINSTALL

  Note: This command will take a while to complete. Be patient!

Copy the Windows Support Software to the "WINSTALL" volume. Below is the exact command I usually use. If necessary, make the appropriate modifications.

cp  -Rv  ~/WindowsSupport/  /volumes/WINSTALL

Continue starting at step 3 of my answer to the question Boot Camp Assistance is stuck on create a partition?


Good GTD/todo/tasks app I am looking for a free task management application that has the following:
- Reminders for tasks that can be snoozed (like native reminders app)
- Grouping tasks/Adding subtasks
- UI showing tasks per day/week
- Prioritize task

I tried Wunderlist and Todoist. Wunderlist has a very nice interface but can not snooze tasks. Todoist also is missing time setting per task.
Anydo seems not working properly. Sometimes I get a popup others not.
What can you recommend?

Update:
I have checked the apps in the linked post. They are not meeting my requirement. None offers snooze

I like Clear.

It has reminders that can be snoozed. The snooze time is not optional (unlike the default Reminders app). When you snooze, it simply snoozes for 15 minutes.

You can create any number of categories under which to put tasks.

You can very easily prioritize tasks.

It doesn't really have a "today" or "this week" view except as a widget in Notification Center.

The UI is unbelievably easy and efficient to use.


Where can I get the Form to renew iOS Developer Program I am trying to renew my developer account.
I have added my credit card information and submitted to Apple Online.
But apple says:

  We have received your purchase request for Enrollment ID;
  however, your credit card number is not supported by our automated
  order system.

  You can either submit a new order online using a different credit card
  or complete the enclosed purchase form and fax it to us.

But I am not finding anywhere on the portal or their website the referenced form.
Can anyone please help me with this? Where can I obtain that form?

This issue is specific to your credit card details and Apple Developer Program Membership, and as such, may require an Apple Representative to investigate on your behalf.

The "purchase form" may be attached to a notification email that you have been sent from Developer Relations as a PDF, which can be printed off and faxed accordingly.

If you are unsure of where this form is, or have any other queries about your renewal, I would suggest that you visit the Contact section of the Apple Developer website and click on the Apple Developer Program Support link underneath the Enrollment and Account heading to get in touch with a Representative.


Sleeping screen (Cinema Display) keeps waking up. How can I make it sleep until mouse is moved? I have my Mac Pro (Cyrus) configured not to fall asleep completely but to let the screen sleep when not used for half an hour. I also use the keyboard shortcut for forcing the display to sleep.

However, sometimes, for a few weeks the screen just refuses to sleep and the login alert box appears immediately after the sleep is supposed to start as if somebody violently moved the mouse or pressed a key. After a few weeks the behaviour changes again and sleeping works, for another few weeks. It's periodic.

How can I force the screen to sleep without waking up all the time?

I have discovered that 100% of the times that this happened to me, it was because I either had:

A USB (or Firewire) peripheral connected that was pooling the bus and for some mysterious reason caused your behavior.
I accidentally moved the mouse (or the table where both mouse/key lie); small vibrations caused the mouse to register movement and that was enough to wake the box.

I don’t know if this is your case, but whenever you’re in the “it wakes up!” cycle, try to disconnect everything and use the keyboard shortcut with surgeon precision and softness and see if it changes.

Additionally you might want con check the Console Output of the logs to see if there’s an error going on while your invoke your sleep screen shortcut.


iPhone no longer syncs automatically when connected to PC I use my iPhone for work. Our IT technician formatted my hard drive and re-installed the operating system and now my iPhone no longer syncs automatically.  Any suggestions?

I'm guessing (since you do not state this in your question) that iTunes tells you something along the lines of "This iPhone has not been synced with this computer before so now I have to erase everything on your phone." This is because after the reformat, your iPhone and computer no longer recognise each other because the computer is seen as a different computer.

If this is the case, I don't think you have any choice but to setup your phone anew. Fortunately, you can at least transfer your iPhone content to your computer before you do this by following the instructions at iTunes Store: Transferring purchases from your iOS device or iPod to a computer and/or Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store. I hope this answers your question, but like I implied earlier: some more information would be nice :-)


AppleScript : searching for a tab on chrome and saving the tab as a variable I'm using this script which is finding the tab I want, then bring the tab to focus.

set searchString to "Tab I'm Looking FOR"

tell application "Google Chrome"
    set win_List to every window
    set win_MatchList to {}
    set tab_MatchList to {}
    set tab_NameMatchList to {}
    repeat with win in win_List
        set tab_list to every tab of win
        repeat with t in tab_list
            if searchString is in (title of t as string) then
                set end of win_MatchList to win
                set end of tab_MatchList to t
                set end of tab_NameMatchList to (id of win as string) & ".  " & (title of t as string)
            end if
        end repeat
    end repeat
    if (count of tab_MatchList) is equal to 1 then
        set w to item 1 of win_MatchList
        set index of w to 1
        my setActiveTabIndex(t, searchString)
    else if (count of tab_MatchList) is equal to 0 then
        display dialog "No match was found!" buttons {"OK"} default button 1
    else
        set which_Tab to choose from list of tab_NameMatchList with prompt "The following Tabs matched, please select one:"
        set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "."
        if which_Tab is not equal to false then
            set tmp to text items of (which_Tab as string)
            set w to (item 1 of tmp) as integer
            set index of window id w to 1
            my setActiveTabIndex(t, searchString)
        end if
    end if
end tell
on setActiveTabIndex(t, searchString)
    tell application "Google Chrome"
        set i to 0
        repeat with t in tabs of front window
            set i to i + 1
            if title of t contains searchString then
                set active tab index of front window to i
                return
            end if
        end repeat
    end tell

end setActiveTabIndex

This work fine, but how can I save the tab number as a variable so if I need to do more stuff in this actual tab I can just do something like this (imagining the tab number is saved as "TABNUMBER")

tell application "Google Chrome"
    set myTab to front window's tab TABNUMBER
    set URL of myTab to "https:..."
end tell

Summary (TL;DR)
Store a reference to a tab or window
Either by id (which is fixed):
    set T to the id of the current tab in the front window
    ...
    set the URL of tab id T of the front window to "https://apple.stackexchange.com/"

Or by object (which is fixed):
    set T to the current tab in the front window
    ...
    set the URL of T to "https://apple.stackexchange.com/"

BUT not by index (which changes).

You have a couple of options when storing references to objects (such as tabs) in AppleScript.  Specifically, you're asking about the id property of the tab.  You have to be mindful here: there are two ways of referencing Chrome tabs and windows using numbers:
Referencing Tabs/Windows by id/index

❶・By index: e.g. tab 2 of window 1

This refers to the ordered position of the tab from leftmost to rightmost, i.e. tab 1 refers to the left tab, tab 2 refers to tab to the right of tab 1, etc..
These indices change if tabs move, open and close.  For example, if you close the middle of three tabs, tab 3 then becomes tab 2.
With the windows collection, the index is the ordered position of the window from frontmost to rearmost, ordered by which window most recently received focus.  window 1 is synonymous with the front window, and currently has focus.  When you switch to a different Chrome window, this now becomes window 1, and the previous window 1 is now window 2.
Therefore, referencing an object and storing references to that object by its index property is a very unreliable method, with the exception of references to the front window or front tab where it only matters that the object currently has focus, regardless of which one it is.  Therefore, tell the front tab of the front window to... is perfectly reasonable use of the index, and probably the only one.
Note, that the index property is a named property for window objects, which can be read and set (set it to 1 to bring it to the front).  Although tab objects do get referred to by an index property, it is not a named property that one can read or set.

❷・By id: e.g. tab id 54 of window id 53

This is a unique, fixed property assigned to each object at the moment of its creation, and it typically ascends in value as each new object in a family of similar objects is created.  So, generally speaking, window id 2088 was created after window id 25.
Importantly, the id provides a fixed reference value with which you can reliably and safely store objects in variables for later use, knowing that they will still refer to the exact same object regardless of where in your script the variable is evaluated and how the arrangement of objects has changed (until the object is destroyed).
Setting and Getting The Variable
When you wish to assign a reference to a tab or a window to a variable, you can choose to:
either store its actual id property value, then reference the tab by its id later on, the value of which will be the value of the variable;
or you can store the entire object itself in an AppleScript variable.  This is often the easiest.
By id
To store by id, you can do so like this:
    set T to the id of the active tab of the front window

In Chrome, the active tab of the front window might return tab id 34 of window id 2045.  The id of that tab object is 34, so T gets assigned the value 34.
Then, later, to perform actions on that same tab, which may no longer be the active tab, you can do so like this:
    tell tab id T of the front window to execute JavaScript...

(assuming the front window is still window id 2045; otherwise, you'll have to store the window id value in a separate value too.)
Note that the reference is to a tab id T and not tab T, which would be tab 34 (i.e. index 34, if you had 34 tabs open).  The id label must be included.
By Object
To store the tab object itself, which is often preferable, you do so like this:
    set T to the front tab of the front window

Although I've implicitly used index values here, AppleScript actually references the tab and the window both by their id values (which it does so in almost all situations).  So if you evaluate T, you'll find it contains tab id 34 of window id 2045 and not tab 1 of window 1.
You can also assign the tab object to a variable like this:
    set T to the first tab of window id 2045 whose URL is "chrome://newtab/"

and T will contain tab id 30 of window id 2045, which you can later call on to perform actions within/upon:
    set the URL of T to "https://stackexchange.com"

or
    tell T to close


Mac OS Catalina, uneven battery drain in AirPods I have noticed something about my AirPods, and I want you to help me understand if this problem is due to AirPods or Mac OS.

Initially, my AirPods were charged to 100%. But After a few hours of usage, I noticed that the left one was at 27% and the right one was at 9%, this got me wondering what causes it, because it's a brand new pair of AirPods.

So, I went into Settings -> Bluetooth -> AirPods (clicked the "Options" button) here:

that brought me to this screen:

The "Microphone:" setting has 3 options:

I noticed that when I set it to "Automatically Switch AirPods", it only uses the right AirPod's microphone, I checked it by going into the Sounds settings here:

and then when I tapped on my left AirPod, the "Input level:" bar didn't budge, and it only moved, when I tapped on the right AirPod.

Could someone with AirPods and a Mac do the same test and confirm this for me? I'm trying to understand if going to Apple to fix this problem is going to be a waste of time for me or not, this could be a Mac OS issue after all.

I noticed last night that my left pod drains faster than my right, and doing your test just now, I can see that (with Automatically Switch AirPods selected) my left pod microphone shows input volume but my right does not.

Update: I have found that my AirPods (2nd Gen) are evenly charged with left and right double-tap turned off, and sound input set to internal microphone. I suspect that selecting AirPods for input source was the main issue.


Which key is denoted by a ^ on a Macbook? I have switched to Mac recently from Windows so I apologise if this question seems silly to experienced users. In various keyboard shortcuts, the ^ key is mentioned. Which key are we talking about here?

This is ^ CTRL key (or Control on some keyboards).

Here'e more info on Apple website.

  Mac menus and keyboards often use symbols for certain keys, including the modifier keys:

  Command ⌘
  Shift ⇧
  Option ⌥
  Control ⌃
  Caps Lock ⇪
  Fn


rsync cron job for backup not working I'm trying to run a backup from one HDD to another at 10pm everynight on a Mac Pro. I have tested the rsync and it backups just fine outside of the cron table. Here is what I have and it's not running

* 20 * * * rsync -av /Volumes/HDD1/* /Volumes/HDDbackup/

This is on a Mac Pro that doesn't get turned off nightly

Use 00 22 * * * rsync -av /Volumes/HDD1/* /Volumes/HDDbackup/ (instead of 20 - which is 8 pm!) and it will run - set up with the proper user and proper disk permissions.


GateKeeper allows me to install anything, no checks are done I can download applications from custom websites, and run them, even when my gatekeeper settings are at "AppStore Only". This is my application -- it's not even signed.

What could be the reason for that? I can reproduce this behavior on all my 3 macs.

Downloading a file over SMB will not trigger quarantining, and since the app is not quarantined the gatekeeper policy never gets checked. I'm not sure why it's being marked as quarantined on your other computers...

To check for quarantining at any point, use the ls -ld@ command to look for the com.apple.quarantine attribute:

$ ls -ld@ /Applications/TextWrangler.app
drwxrwxr-x@ 3 gordon  staff  102 Apr 30  2012 /Applications/TextWrangler.app
    com.apple.FinderInfo     32
    com.apple.quarantine     57

If that quarantine attribute is attached to the app, the gatekeeper policy will be checked; if not, it won't. The interesting question is why it got quarantined on your other computers, and if you use this command to check the application at various points as you distribute it, you can figure out when the attribute is getting attached (and therefore why it's getting attached).

EDIT: There's a note relating to this in the "Click here for more details" section of Apple's KB article #HT5290:

  Important: Developer ID signature applies to apps downloaded from the Internet. Apps from other sources, such as file servers, external drives, or optical discs are exempt, unless the apps were originally downloaded from the Internet.


Does upgrading Yosemite risk losing material on HD? What are the risks of losing what's on my hard disc--especially programs--when I update Yosemite?

Low as this does get tested before.

What is not tested as much is does each application work with the new OS. Apple can only test major apps it is the responsibility of the App's developer to test their app with the new OS and not all have the time to do this.

But as always with any computer change take backups as there is always a chance of something going wrong.

I assume that changing something will break something else. When it does I have to work out if it is worth living with that problem or revert to the old version.

Another example is professionally in enterprise software when I install a new version of my program I have to provide a tested process that will reverse the change as stopping something working can cost money


Can't launch or uninstall Disk Drill I've got these two icons in my menu bar, which appear to be an application called Disk Drill (see red rectangle):

Basically, I want to uninstall Disk Drill and have these two icons removed from my menu bar. I've searched my Mac in Finder and cannot find Disk Drill my list of applications and cannot find any files related to Disk Drill, and therefore I cannot launch Disk Drill. How can I uninstall Disk Drill from my Mac?

From help.cleverfiles.com How to Uninstall Disk Drill

  What’s the correct way to uninstall all the components of Disk Drill? Usually, a Mac user will just move an app to the Trash, and consider the job done. But Disk Drill installs some low-core modules for effective data protection and recovery. So for this type of system-level software, dragging the app to the Trash is not enough.

  Here’s the one and only correct way to remove Disk Drill:

  Launch Disk Drill
  On the menu bar, go to Disk Drill -> Preferences -> General
  Click “Remove Disk Drill”
  That’s all there is to it. But we are already missing you, and hope you will give Disk Drill another try sometime.

  If for some reason you cannot get to Preferences, there are two ways to delete the Disk Drill components manually:

  Alternative #1:

  Delete Applications/Disk Drill.app
  Delete /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cleverfiles.cfbackd.plist
  Delete /Library/Application Support/CleverFiles
  (Optional) Go to System Preferences -> Fuse for OSX and click Remove OSXFUSE (Fuse would only have been installed if you opted to mount scanning results as a disk image. If you don’t see it in System Preferences, then it was not installed.)
  Restart your Mac

  Alternative #2:

  Go to http://www.cleverfiles.com/getdiskdrill to download the DiskDrill.dmg file.
  Once downloaded, double-click on the DiskDrill.dmg file.
  Do NOT drag the Disk Drill app icon to your Applications folder right now.
  Launch Terminal (Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app)
  Execute the following command in the Terminal:
  sudo /Volumes/DiskDrill/Disk\ Drill.app/Contents/Resources/uninstall
  No need to restart.
  (Optional) Go to System Preferences -> Fuse for OSX and click Remove OSXFUSE (Fuse would only have been installed if you opted to mount scanning results as a disk image. If you don’t see it in System Preferences, then it was not installed.)


CPU usage is too high with Yosemite and an external monitor I use Yosemite 10.10.4 on my MacBook Pro (2012).

I used to work with an external monitor: Apple Thunderbolt 27" monitor.

The issue is that, according to Activity Monitor, the kernel_task process consumes more than 600% of CPU even when no tasks are running! The computer becomes totally unusable.

The workaround is to disconnect the external monitor, but I really need this secondary screen to work.

Why didn't Apple fix this issue in the latest Yosemite update?

Is there a fix for this?

This is a design feature documented by Apple. See if cooling your Mac and the processor can then speed up again and do the work you want. See this post on ideas for cooling while in clamshell mode.

Any reason not to run my Macbook Pro upside-down in clamshell mode?

Some people have luck removing Intel kernel extensions, but if you disable safety and overheat your system, that might be out of warranty if the cpu fails.

rMBP kernel_task spikes when connecting more than one external monitor

I would watch things closely if you do that and try other cooling methods first, like buy a stand designed to cool your Mac.

http://www.svalt.com

If that doesn't work, try resetting the System Management Controller one time to ensure it's not a measurement error.

If you only need occasional cooling or to convince yourself, go ahead and open the clamshell and make sure there is good ventilation and you are not blocking the air inlet or outlet by the display hinges. The thermal management software reacts quite rapidly to changes in internal temperature.  could even use Magnets to force the display to sleep while it's actually open and allowing the entire keyboard surface to be exposed and cooling the Mac that thinks it's still working in closed clamshell mode.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203184

  Activity Monitor may show that a process named kernel_task is using a large percentage of your CPU, and during this time you may notice a lot of fan activity. This process helps manage temperature by making the CPU less available to processes that are using the CPU intensely. In other words, kernel_task responds to conditions that cause your CPU to become too hot. When the temperature decreases, kernel_task automatically reduces its activity.

So, also quit the other tasks and apps you don't need if you can't make the physical arrangement of the Mac more cool or more conducive to radiating the heat away if convection isn't working for you. The GPU will cause lots of heat if it's pushing many pixels. Decreasing resolution might help in an edge case, but you'll want to attack cooling in general as a first step.

You could also get some advanced tools to peek into the CPU rate to confirm it's reacting to heat:

kernel_task hundreds of % CPU yet cpu frequency is being lowered


Why does my Outlook BCC myself on all outgoing emails? I have Outlook, and use the same @outlook.com, on my Windows laptop and iPhone.

On my Windows laptop, when I email, Outlook doesn't BCC myself. Good!

Yet when I send emails on iPhone, Outlook BCCs myself. Why?

See settings > mail > always bcc myself.


Macbook Startup Freeze I have a mid-2013 Macbook Air (A1466) that has been freezing/hanging during the startup process. It is running Mojave 10.14.2.

This issue first began when I attempted to wake the computer from sleep by opening the lid. Instead of the normal login screen, everything stayed black. I held down the power button to shut everything down, and have been stuck with this freezing issue ever since.

I am usually able to type in my password and have a progress bar appear before it freezes about 1/3 of the way through. Occasionally it freezes immediately on the apple logo, other times it freezes at the login screen before I can type anything in.

I have tried the following solutions with no luck:

resetting the PRAM/NVRAM
resetting the SMC
booting in safe mode - freezes on progress bar
Diagnostics test - freezes on progress bar
Command-R - it freezes before the utility menu appears
Command-Option-R - it freezes before I can select a wifi network

In Verbose mode, it continues to freeze, although at different points. I've included a few pictures here since I have no idea what any of this stuff means.

Also relevant is that this is not the first time this has happened. I'm now running Mojave, but this issue occurred in High Sierra as well. In the past, I kept trying to login over the course of a few days and eventually was able to log in successfully. That was approximately 6 months ago, and everything was normal up until this latest incident.

I know the battery is due to be replaced soon, though I'm not sure if that's important.

Any insight into what could be causing this would be very appreciated! Thank you!

This issue first began when I attempted to wake the computer from
  sleep by opening the lid. Instead of the normal login screen,
  everything stayed black.

The Black screen was caused by this error.

It tried to load your Screen lock .png but failed to do so.

Remove Screen lock settings, reboot and see if it works. Reset Screen lock with new message.

Since the Screen lock settings resides in NVRAM it will remain unchanged even if you upgrade to new OSX or Reset NVRAM.


how to make different apps use wifi vs ethernet? I'd like to route some apps through WiFi and other apps through ethernet.  Given that OSX has a wide array of system tools and utilities as well as a rich ecosphere of apps, how can I make that happen?*

I'd like to route some apps through WiFi and other apps through
  ethernet.

Unfortunately, this is not the way it (networking) works.  You can't say that you want Safari to go through one network port and iTunes to come through another.  The problem with this lies in the fact the applications themselves don't make the network connection - it makes a call to the networking (Berkeley sockets) API that makes the connection and binds the process to the socket itself.

In the simplest terms, the flow looks like this

When your local process (the application in question) wants to make a connection, it requests that a socket be created.  Part of that request includes the IP address, the connection is then made, and the app is bound to it.  The app then sends and receives data through that socket.

The key to remember here is that the application asks for a socket based on the network address.  Other than (assuming you're on a network with a single segment), you have only two routes:

your local network
everything else (i.e. Internet)

If you have two interfaces connected to this single network, your routes will overlap and the interface with priority will be the primary.

Whatever your application running, it's going to say, "I want to go to foo.bar.com" which will translate to an IP address and a socket will be created over the route that gets you there.  The point is, your app has no control over the matter.

However, let's say you're connected to two different networks:

Ethernet (en0) -> 1.2.3.0
WiFi (en1)     -> 5.6.7.0

If there is a file server with an IP of 1.2.3.4, all traffic bound for that address will go through the Ethernet.  If your WiFi is configured for Internet access, all calls to 1.2.3.0 and every other address will go through en1.  Again, your app has no say in the matter and the socket will be made based on destination.

Can an application use a specific network interfcace?

Yes, of course it can, but this is something done at the source level of the application because it's the one making the call to the API.  If you code it to use a specific interface, it will do so (it's not practical in any sense, but you have the ability).

Bottom line:  For an external application to re-route traffic based on the application you use, it would have to insert itself between the application and the protocol stack of the OS and that is just not going to happen.


How do I separate iMovie projects for backup and sharing? Whenever I create a movie in iMovie, it seems to lump it all into a single iMovie Library file.

This means I can't easily backup or share individual projects.

I realize I can "Show Package Contents" on iMovie Library and try copying individual projects that way, but that is problematic... If I duplicate a project, for example, it doesn't copy Original Media. So I may think that I copied out the project when in fact it doesn't have all the files that are actually necessary to export/backup the project.

For example, if I have a single project, the structure might look like:

iMovie Library

Project A

CurrentVersion.imovieevent
Original Media

If I copy Project A through the iMovie interface, it would generate:

iMovie Library

Project A

CurrentVersion.imovieevent
Original Media

Project B

CurrentVersion.imovieevent

Notice how there is no "Original Media" folder under Project B. Probably because we don't want to copy gigabytes of data.

Problem is I might open up the iMovie Library, attempt to backup all of Project B's file by copying the Project B folder, and then end up only later on noticing that it didn't actually backup all the Original Media for the project.

Is there a safer/more reliable way to use iMovie Libraries such that separate projects can be backed up or shared reliably?

iMovie does support multiple libraries.

How to create a new library:

Launch iMovie
Click on "File"
Hover on "Open library"
Click on "New…"
Select where you want that library to be stored.

Now you got an extra library to which you can move any iMovie project, and then you'll be able to share what need to...


if I purchase Apple watch series 3 or 4 (GPS only) from USA, will it work in India? I am going to USA for 15 days next month. I am thinking to buy an Apple watch series 3 or 4 only GPS, no requirement for cellular for me. Will it work when I come back to India? I am living in India permanently.

The Watch will function perfectly fine in India, however some functionalities will not work or be limited. This is for example the ECG feature, turn-by-turn navigation, the News app, etc.

There's no reason to buy the Watch in the US in hope of getting access to US-only functionality, as that functionality most probably will not be available in India and will cease to function when you get back, or at a later time when the software is updated.

You enquire about the GPS - it will work fine all over the world. Also in India. Other answers here focus on other positioning systems such as the Indian IRNSS (NAVIC). It is not supported on the Apple Watch, no matter if you buy the watch in India or in the US. It is also not supported on iPhones or any other Apple device. The Apple Watch supports GPS (US operated), GLONASS (Russian operated), Galileo (EU operated) and QZSS (Japan operated).

As you're looking at the model without cellular, you do not have to worry about cell coverage. The other answers that talk about LTE bands, etc. are irrelevant when the watch does not have cellular. The Watch will use your iPhone for calls, SMS, etc. and automatically supports whatever iPhone you have with the LTE bands, etc. it is using for communication.

The last thing to note is that the Watch in the US comes with a US charger. I.e. they are 110V/60Hz and a different type of plug, compared to the 230V/50Hz system and plugs used in India. You will need an adapter to be able to use the charger, or you could substitute any ordinary USB charger. The magnetic charging puck for the Apple Watch comes as a seperate cable that is plugged into the charger, so you will be able to use a different charger very easily.


MacBook Pro Battery Life Problems - only 2 hours with light usage At some point in the past 2 weeks, my MacBook Pro (13", early 2011) began running hot and getting poor battery life.  The battery life used to last 4-5 hours even when I was using it regularly.  Now, it will die within 2 hours of idling.

When I say 'running hot' - I have noticed it on my lap and the fan comes on more often.

I have been checking Activity Monitor, but I cannot find a particular culprit.  Here is the battery info from running Coconutbattery.

Current Charge: 1068
Maximum Charge: 5292
Current Capacity: 5292
Design Capacity: 5770
Percent: 91%

Mac Model: MacBookPro8,1
Age of Your Mac: 15 Months
Battery Load Cycles: 320
Battery Temperature: 31.2 C

I uninstalled Chrome & Dropbox, which I thought might be the problem, but it still exists.  I've also calibrated my battery according to these instructions

How do I begin to troubleshoot this problem?

UPDATE:

Found a culprit.  I haven't tested yet, so I'm not sure if this is THE culprit, or even if I've completely kicked it...

With some extensive googling, I found a bunch of users have issues with Adobe Version Cue CS3 or CS4.  I had CS3.  I made the HUGE mistake of uninstalling it manually (dragging system prefs to the trash).  This caused CrashReporter to run at > 100% CPU constantly and caused Console to light up with Bus Errors.

However, by right clicking the prefs pane and disabling it, I was able to get "launchd" down from 7-8% to 1-2%.

I'll update as I learn more.

I found the problem, so I thought I'd update here in case anyone else has this issue.

I'm running a 13", MBP with OS X 10.6.8.  This problem will not present itself for previous versions of OS X but will likely appear in later versions.

A few weeks ago I installed some Adobe CS3 software - particularly the Design Suite, although I had later versions of photoshop and dreamweaver already installed.  As part of the CS3 suite, I installed Adobe Version Cue CS3.  This software does NOT play nice with OS X.

At first, I tried manually removing it (easier for most uninstalls in my opinion).  This was a big mistake.  When I deleted the preference files, my CPU began running at over 100% for "CrashReport".  This didn't stop until I restored via Time Machine (thank God for Time Machine!)

Secondly, I disabled it, which did lower launchd and others by 5% or so, but did not ultimately result in my machine running cooler, or my battery lasting longer.

Note: my fans would come on full speed even while the computer was idling!

Finally, I ran the complete Adobe uninstaller for CS3 suite which cleaned up my problem completely.  Turns out Adobe CS3 is Unsupported for Snow Leopard although quietly.  You can barely find any mention of this on adobe.com and the software still seems to install quite fine.

Bottom line - if you have a Snow Leopard Macbook Pro - do NOT install Adobe CS3 software - in particular Version Cue.


MacBook Pro won't connect to Wi-Fi, with correct password. Error: "The Wi-Fi network requires a WPA2 password" I'm trying to connect to my home Wi-Fi. When I enter the correct password, I get the message

The Wi-Fi network requires a WPA2 password

I verified the password is correct in my router configuration.
I am using a 2017 MacBook Pro, running macOS Mojave 10.14.2.
I restarted my modem/router combo, restarted my MacBook, tried removing the home Wi-Fi and re-adding it (under System Preferences → Networks → Advanced → Preferred Networks), and changed the Wi-Fi password. Nothing works. My Wi-Fi name (SSID) doesn't have any special characters either.
I have another 2015 MacBook Pro and an iPhone that can connect to my home Wi-Fi with no problems. So, it seems issue seems to be particular to this device (the 2017 MacBook Pro) in combination with my home network. This device has no problems connecting to other Wi-Fi networks (it works successfully at my office, at the airport, other homes, etc.)
How do I resolve it?

I just had the same issue.  The answer I found online said to go to system preferences, then network, then click advanced and then click TCP/IP and click the Renew DHCP Lease; but I don't think that did anything.

However, instead of clicking TCP/IP, stay on the Wi-Fi page (or go back to it by clicking the tab) and click the + button to add the network.  You need the network name and password, and for security I chose WPA2 personal.  Apply or Click OK and that should do it.  It worked for me and now I get connected automatically.


man -k and apropos cannot find pages in section 3 in Catalina For example, run apropos printf:

Printf(3o)               - Formatted output functions
Stdlib.Printf(3o)        - no description
gprintf(1), printf(1)    - format and print data
format(ntcl)             - Format a string in the style of sprintf
fwkpfv(1)                - FireWire kprintf viewer
printf(1)                - formatted output
xprintf(5)               - extensible printf

printf(3) is not listed, but man 3 printf can find that man page.

Meanwhile, stderr prints many errors like this one:

makewhatis: /usr/lib/libgcc_s.1.dylib: Not a directory

What should I do to make apropos and man -k work properly?

Saw a handy shell trick posted in Apple Discussions to get rid of the hundreds of error messages whenever doing a man -k or apropos type inquiry:

apo() { apropos "$@" 2> /dev/null; }

myman() { man "$@" 2> /dev/null; }

See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250812698 for the discussion.


Implications of giving app access to camera roll If I give an app access to my camera roll, what exactly does that imply? Can the app in theory upload all my photos to their server? E.g. when I upload an image to Instagram I can scroll through my camera roll and choose a photo to share. Even though I only press share on this one photo, can Instagram in theory upload my other private photos to their server? (Please add sources for your statements)

You have nothing to worry about.

An app will always be required to ask permission to access your Camera Roll - no matter what it needs it for. Apple's photos system is built in a way that prevents an app from simply retrieving a photo and sending it to any remote service without first having your consent to do this AND it will have to display the process to the user.

Every app that is the App Store has been thoroughly examined by Apple and the binary (the code) is tested to ensure it doesn't do anything sketchy - in which case Apple would simply not allow it to be published on the App Store.

An app will only ask permission to access your Camera Roll if it wants to save a photo, or retrieve a photo for a specific use case (for example, for a profile picture). In most cases, the app will show you what it is doing with your image(s) as that is how Apple wants developers to build apps - so that they're user friendly and the user has as much control as possible. However, even if the app was built in a way that meant it would fetch images in the background (for example, Google Photos), you will always have to provide consent before it initiates anything.

Also, remember you always have the ability to decline access to your Camera Roll when the app asks, or you can go to settings and remove access from there.

If you have any further questions let me know.

I don't have any sources to list, but I'm an app developer myself.


How to download Sierra DMG file if mac can't support it How do I download a .dmg file or Sierra (or any recent macOS)?

I have one very broken MacBook pro, and I want to make a bootable usb drive to try and fix it. I have another, older, MacBook, which unfortunately does not support Sierra, but it is the only macOS that I can find in the app store. It won't let me download it, because it doesn't run on my MacBook.

I want to either force the app store to let me download it (on my MacBook, even though it can't run it), or I want to download the file from somewhere else.

Is there no way that I can just download Sierra on my Mac that does not support it?

The only legal way to download it is probably to make a usb drive on a friends Macbook that supports Sierra. Otherwise you can try to reinstall macOS through the recovery if your MacBook Pro supports Sierra.


How can I upload all photos from a burst on the iPhone? I use Dropbox's automatic upload on the iPhone. Whenever I take a photo, it gets uploaded.

But when I take a burst of photos on the iPhone 5s, only one of them is uploaded. I have to go in and tap Select Favorites and mark each one. How can I change it to mark all photos in the burst as Favorites, or get Dropbox to upload all of them?

I find a computer with a big screen much better suited to the task of comparing photos and picking one.

For now, the only way to upload all burst photos to Dropbox natively is to connect your iPhone to a computer with a cable, and let Dropbox Camera Upload sync. There it uploads all the photos, and not just the single image as it does while syncing wirelessly.

I too have struggled with a solution to this problem, and pray that in the future it will be resolved...


How can I change the iTunes U folder on Mac? I want save all files from iTunes U in a device. How can I change the destination folder only for iTunes U and continue using the actual folder for all other files?

I made a symbolic link.

    ln -s /path/to/iTunes U/content /path/to/where/iTunes/is/looking


How do I turn off AirPlay on Apple Watch? On the control center screen on my Apple Watch I accidentally turned on AirPlay. When I tap on it it gives me an option to cancel or select "Apple Watch...". I've tried both and neither option toggles AirPlay off. How do I turn off AirPlay?

I turned my watch off, let it reboot, problem solved.


I need to swap a colour with transparency I have an image and I would like to be able to make white transparent, is this possible using Preview in Mac OSX Catalina?

Preview is designed for viewing image files, making simple image adjustments, and annotations, not for full-on image editing. You cannot swap a color with transparency in Preview.

What you are looking to do could be accomplished in paid apps like Adobe Photoshop or free and open-source apps like GIMP.

Depending on a number of different factors, like image type and compression, making white transparent in image editing software can be as simple as selecting all pixels of a single color and setting them to transparent, or as complex as manually selecting and setting pixels to transparent outside of an object's boundary.


Clicking on Activity Monitor's Dock icon won't maximize the window I've got an early 2011 13" MBP running OS X 10.10.4 PB, but this issue has been happening on literally every version of Yosemite, stable and public beta, since the initial PB release. You know how if an app has no active windows but some windows minimized, clicking on that app's Dock icon will open a minimized window? Well, that just doesn't happen on Activity Monitor.

I've found no other apps, Apple or third-party, that have this glitch, but clicking on Activity Monitor's Dock icon will change the menu bar to Activity Monitor but leave the app's window in the Dock. How can I fix this?

I've confirmed this behavior as well on 10.10.4 on a MacBook Air.  Drove me nuts until I came across this post confirming others are experiencing the same behavior.

Fortunately there is a workaround.

If Activity Monitor has been minimized to the Dock and you need to un-minimize it, click its Dock icon to bring the app to the foreground.  Then, to actually reveal the Activity Monitor window, press Command-1.  Command-1 is a keyboard shortcut listed in AM's "Window" menu purposed to give focus to the "Activity Monitor" window.

Alternatively, instead of minimizing AM to the Dock, you could hide it with Command-h.  Unhiding by clicking AM's icon in the Dock doesn't appear to be an issue.


My mac keyboard print ˜ instead of ~ when I press delta key a ˜ instead of ~, I have to hit space every time after printing ˜ to get ~.

How to print ~ directly without clicking space after it?

my system is Mojave 10.14.4
my keyboard is U.S. International - PC

Get rid of “us international pc” and use “us”or “abc” instead.  You do this in system preferences/keyboard/input sources.


Shutdown MacMini with hardware button I have a MacMini (Intel Core Solo with OSX 10.6.8) running as an iTunes Server with an external USB Storage without Keybord/Mouse/Monitor. Starting the MacMini is fairly easy, power on the USB storage, then push the power button on the MacMini.

But how can I shutdown the MacMini with this button? Activating sleep is possible, but I want a clean shutdown if I push the hardware button.

For a clean shutdown (the button solution is not clean and there is no way around it, i am afraid) i suggest you to connect to your iTunes Server via ssh from a second machine and shut it down this way.

Another option would be through Apple Script. If you have a specific time that you want to shutdown your iTunes Server, or if there is no request inbound to this server for a specific time a script could be auto-activated to archive this.

Though the first option is much easier to accomplish!


Drive missing in Disk utility I have a 2012 Mac Mini with an OWC disk doubler installed with the OS on an SSD and Time Machine on the original HDD. I was attempting to install a fresh copy of El Capitan from an installer image on the desktop to an external drive. When the install failed the first internal drive (the SSD with the installed MacOS) has disappeared from Disk Utility and the diskutil list in the Terminal.

Last login: Sun Feb 23 17:19:14 on ttys000
El-Capitan-on-HDMI-Mini:~ dougandlynn$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS TM Backup               999.9 GB   disk0s2
/dev/disk1 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *4.0 TB     disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     314.6 MB   disk1s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS All Media               4.0 TB     disk1s2
/dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *480.1 GB   disk2
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS MacMini QC HD           479.1 GB   disk2s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk2s3
/dev/disk3 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk3
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk3s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS WD 1TB                  999.8 GB   disk3s2
/dev/disk4 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *4.0 TB     disk4
   1:                        EFI EFI                     314.6 MB   disk4s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS BU All Media            4.0 TB     disk4s2

This happened once before and I got the internal SSD back by erasing the drive which I had installed the new OS on. I tried that process and this time I still am missing the drive. I'm positive the SSD has not failed it's just missing. Any idea on how to make it reappear?

Either the SSD, or its connecting cable, or the underlying Mac Mini (either hardware or software) has a problem.

Isolate the issue by taking the SSD out of the Mini, and connecting it to another Mac. If the drive mounts, that suggests the connecting cable or the underlying Mac Mini is the problem. Keep swapping parts until you find the bad link in the chain.

Cables are fragile. If there are now two drives in the Mini and the other drive works, try swapping the two drives' cables to see if the SSD's cable is the problem.


What is the criteria for auto updating of iOS apps? For eg: for automatic iCloud backups, the iPhone must be connected to WiFi, plugged in and locked, and backup takes place once a day. Similarly, what would be the conditions for auto updating of iOS apps?

The conditions for iOS apps auto update are mentioned below.

The app is purchased by you (or any family member if Family Sharing is ON)
In Settings ->iTunes & App Store, in the Automatic Downloads section, Updates is turned on.
If you want to update the apps on Cellular data, you can enable it on the same screen.


iPhone 4, only emergency calls I bought new Neverlock (sim free) iPhone 4 with 4.3.5 firmware. Then I would like to return it to factory settings and click "Restore" in iTunes. But after restoring i received unlocking device with "only emergency calls" message. What can i do now?

You bought one? From where? I ask because once you've restored in iTunes if it's a properly unlocked device it'll let you straight back in, emergency calls only means it's not been registered against a network, or unlocked.


Install MS Office (home and student edition) on more than one Mac? If you purchased the home and student edition of Microsoft office, can you legally install the software on more than one computer?

According to this Microsoft page you can only install/use Office Home & Student on one computer.


How do I get Sublime Text's open-file GUI to show hidden files? I know how to tell Finder to show hidden files, but when I try to open a file in Sublime Text, the GUI that pops up do not let me see hidden files.  How do I tell it to show me hidden files?

You can press ⌘ cmd + ⇧ shift + . while the dialog is open, which will toggle show/hide hidden files.

In OSX 10.9 and up (Mavericks, Yosemite, ...) you need to be in the List View of Finder.


I can't restore my iPhone from the latest back up I'm unable to restore my iPhone.  I'm getting an error about an incorrect password.  First it backed up some stuff and not other stuff.  I went to the Apple store and they told me to delete this iPhone and try to back it up again because it never finished restoring.

Now it tells me I need a password and every password I've entered has been wrong.

You can issue "Forgot Apple ID or password?" on https://www.icloud.com/ open this link on your computer. Hope you get your password back!


After installing openssh 8.2 via brew, how do I add keys to keychain? I installed openssh 8.2 via brew install openssh. I added the following to my .profile:
export SSH_AUTH_SOCK="~/.ssh/agent.$HOST.sock"
ssh-add -l 2>/dev/null >/dev/null
if [ $? -ge 2 ]; then
  ssh-agent -a "$SSH_AUTH_SOCK" >/dev/null
fi

And, then I have to do the following:
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk
Enter passphrase for /Users/myuser/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk:
Identity added: /Users/myuser/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk

even though I have the following in my ~/.ssh/config:
Host *
    IgnoreUnknown UseKeychain
    UseKeychain yes
    AddKeysToAgent yes
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk

(I had to add the IgnoreUnknown bit, because the install from brew installs a version that breaks the UseKeychain bit.) But now: How do I wire it up so it adds the key to my keychain?

Keychain integration is a feature added by Apple that is not in the standard release of OpenSSH. As you have now installed the standard OpenSSH release from HomeBrew, you won't have this functionality anymore. You have discovered this as the UseKeychain option now gives configuration errors - adding the IgnoreUnknown configuration only makes the error message go away, it won't actually bring back any functionality.
In order to get Keychain integration, you will want to uninstall the HomeBrew version of OpenSSH and use the version supplied by Apple.
The version in HomeBrew will not for the foreseeable future have Keychain integration - it's not that they can't make it work at all, but rather that they have found the implementation that was made to be too big a risk for the project, as it's a big change that doesn't come from the OpenSSH project itself. You can read about that discussion here.
If you look at the link, you'll see that you can still download the old patch, and try that out if you like. However, as it is no longer maintained, it is a security risk.
Similarly you can download a third party mod to add Keychain support here. However that hasn't been updated since 2017 it seems, and as such would also be a security risk.


Switching terminal styles in iTerm 2 Recently I've been trying to become more efficient at the command line, and stumbled upon iTerm 2 a couple days ago.  One feature of iTerm 2 is that windows can appear from the top of the screen, so if I press Contol-Command-T while I'm using any other application, I can have a transparent command line appear from the top, which has proven itself to be quite useful.

However, I have often brought up the terminal window from the top of the screen, and later, while editing some code in vim or during an ssh session, wanted to switch to fullscreen or a normal window, while keeping my current window's state.  Is there a built-in way to switch the style from top of the screen to normal window without having to type in all of my previous commands to get to where I was before?

Thanks in advance for any help.

If you're serious about terminal work, I would suggest looking at tmux, especially as new builds of iTerm 2 come with it precompiled in (though I use the 'vanilla' version). In your case, if you were using tmux you could detach the current session from the window you're in, and then reattach in a new one (i.e., full screen), or just have multiple windows attached to the same session. There are some other advantages to using tmux, but I'm sure you'll discover them as you're using the program more.

Alternatively, have iTerm show the tab bar even if you only have one tab (make sure Appearance > Hide tab bar… is unchecked), and then you can 'pull' the tab out into its own window to continue using it.


In Keynote, what are chapters and how do I create them? I would like to know what chapters in keynote are and how you generate them.

NOTE: I first encountered these options when I made a keynote recording and it asked me stuff about making chapters.

An other application where I encountered the chapter option was in podcast producer where it askes me if I want to integrate chapters.

I am trying to make a podcast. Inserting chapters like the ones found in some youtube videos would be great for making it easier for the audience to skip stuff they already know.

Chapters in an audio recording are exactly like chapters on a DVD. Many podcasts use chapters in the audio file to allow the listener to listen to specific topics or sections of the show. If you made a keynote podcast about programming an iOS app, you could chapter each project, or a unique aspect of using Xcode, or more.


Hostfile not working for subdomain I'm trying to setup custom A records for domains via /etc/hosts on my OSX 10.13.2 MBP.

It usually works just fine, first time that it works only for 1 of the 2 domains:

1.2.3.4 dev.com (works; points to 1.2.3.4)
1.2.3.4 admin.dev.com (doesn't work; points to live IP 5.6.7.8)

I tried flushing DNS cache as well without success using:

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache

Pinging both domains returns 100% packet loss

PING dev.com (1.2.3.4): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
Request timeout for icmp_seq 2
Request timeout for icmp_seq 3
Request timeout for icmp_seq 4
Request timeout for icmp_seq 5

Also tried different browsers (Opera, Firefox, Safari) as I know Chrome is pretty agressive with DNS caching.

Any idea?

EDIT: IP adresses and domains are pure fiction here.

Based on @user3439894 comment to the original question, directly killing mDNSResponder processes fixed the issue for me.
Command used was:
sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

From the killall manual page:

killall sends a signal to all processes running any of the specified commands. If no signal name is specified, SIGTERM is sent.
Signals can be specified either by name (e.g. -HUP or -SIGHUP ) or by number (e.g. -1) or by option -s.


How can I hook up a PHP server? I have a php page I want to test on a server. Is there a server that runs through Terminal.app that supports PHP? I read this tutorial, but either I did it wrong or it didn't work. How can I start up a server?

The simplest way to set this up is to use MAMP. You can download it for free from here: https://www.mamp.info

It sets up a local and isolated PHP/MySQL/Apache server that you can start and stop at any time.

It's a web developers friend if you want to keep your Mac system somewhat isolated from the development work.


Mail App keeps popping up in the background in Mac OS Mojave When I am doing some work on my macbook pro, Mail app's main window keeps popping up in the background, it even pops up when I watch movies by interrupting full screen. This is so frustrating, I can't find out solution to this, googled and went to many discussion forums, no luck, suggestions that I found are very old and outdated.
Has anyone faced similar issues or does anyone knows solution to this?

I have the same issue:
The google calendar stuff is nonsense. The notification settings suggestion doesn't work.

I've narrowed it down to the following:

I normally hit the red cross button on the viewer window once I have finished looking at my mail, this closes open viewer windows but leaves the mail app active in the dock:

So if I have mail running, but no viewer windows open, then I get a viewer window randomly popping up to the foreground a few times an hour.

If instead of hitting the red cross button, I minimise mail using the minus button, then I don't get any viewer windows randomly opening. In this scenario, the mail viewer window is minimised either on the right hand side of the dock or into the application icon itself, depending on your settings (System Preferences > Dock > "Minimize windows into application icon").

So I have changed my habits to work around this annoying bug...


Can autologin be set up from the command line? how? I am attempting to automate the setup of a vsts 'build agent' for mac, as documented here:
https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/docs/build/admin/agents/v2-osx

One recommended step, that is definitely useful in our usecase is to configure autologin (and lock), and the step links to this guide:

https://www.engadget.com/2011/03/07/terminally-geeky-use-automatic-login-more-securely/

I've found many references to the system preferences GUI approach, which did work when I tested by hand, but few to the command line approach, which is what I would like to do for my script. Some command line approaches are outdated, with references to 'systemsetup' which is no longer available. We are currently on 10.11, and planning to move to 10.12 at some point, so any approach for these systems would be appreciated.

I have found reference to the 'autoLoginUser' plist setting, which I have tested. It can be set with commands like:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow autoLoginUser "buildagent"

This value IS set when the preferences are set, but it is not sufficient by itself.

Can this be done entirely from the command line, such as via a script? if so, how?

You need to create the /etc/kcpassword file.

There is a small utility that will do this for you: https://github.com/xfreebird/kcpassword.

This is just a simple wrapper around this script: https://github.com/timsutton/osx-vm-templates/blob/master/scripts/support/set_kcpassword.py

which is itself a python translation of the original perl script from Gavin Brock: http://www.brock-family.org/gavin/perl/kcpassword.html


Allow Wallet access on lock screen "only" when the device is unlocked When using the Apple Wallet app shortcut from the lock screen (double press the home button to bring Wallet up), I noticed that it was possible to bring up the Wallet even when the device is locked. This means that any cards added to Apple Wallet can be seen even if the device is locked.

Is it possible to either hide these cards or to prevent the shortcut from working, when the device is locked? This shortcut is very useful in situations when accessing the Wallet is necessary (and it's useful to be able to quickly get to all the passes), but I do not want anyone else to access my ID cards and/or travel information if they have access to my device while it's locked.

On your iPhone running iOS 11:

Go to Setting app → Touch ID & Passcode.
Scroll down to Allow Access When Locked section.
Turn off the switch against Wallet.

This will disable Wallet access when the device is locked.


Mail.app doesn't detect address in address book I have a Company name in my Address Book with an e-mail address assigned to it.

The name is Blast Corporation and I want to enter that into the "TO" field in Mail.

Even though Address Book clearly shows it, it does not appear as a suggested address in Mail.app

How can I fix this?

This is in OS X Lion.

Which field is the name "Blast Corporation" in your address book? Supposedly by default Mail only auto-completes addresses that have been used before through Mail. I'm not sure if that is exactly true though, since I just now setup a contact in my address book which I've never used in mail and it auto-completed the company name. It's possible that you need to check a few settings in Mail.app preferences:

Here's another example of a company in my address book, which auto-completes in Mail.app