How can I add a private key to my keychain? I am trying to add myRepositoryKey to my Mac keychain utility so . I exported this item in OpenRSA format from Putty. When I try to use Import Items, the file is unselectable. What do I need to do to import into my keychain? Does the file need a specific extension?

You have to create a .p12 file. In order to do that you need your private key and a certificate for that key. Then run the following on your console:

openssl pkcs12 -export -clcerts -inkey private.key -in certificate.crt -out MyPKCS12.p12 -name "Your Name"

where private.key is your existing private RSA key, certificate.crt is your existing certificate and MyPKCS12.p12 is the name of the file to create. This file can then be imported into your keychain.

If you need your key for SSH access (SFTP, SCP or similar), it doesn't have to be in your keychain. Simply copy your private key to ~/.ssh/ and edit/create the ~/.ssh/config file. There you would put something along these lines:

# replace the host, location of the private key and the remoteUserName
# with valid values.
Host remote.domain.com
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/private.key
    User remoteUserName


Retina 2012 15" Macbook Pro: Vertical Lines like dead pixels I recently purchased a used MacBook Pro 15" Retina (2012). Before I bought it, its screen was replaced entirely and so was its upper case. I am currently using Windows 10 on the laptop.

I started noticing intermittent vertical lines 1 pixel wide when using the machine. At first I thought it was a row of dead pixels, but the screen will sometimes go back to working properly for no reason what so ever. Sometimes the lines are a bright magenta or dark green. The most persistent line is a very subtle light gray. I take very good care of my electronics and I have never dropped the MacBook. What do you think could be causing this? I believe I am past the previous owner's 90 day warranty on the last repair and the AppleCare expired about a month ago.

Is this only happening when running Windows ? Do you have the same issue when you run MacOS, when your mac boots, or if you are running any other operating system ? It seems like a graphical driver problem. You could maybe try to update your bootcamp drivers if you're using bootcamp. The support of Windows 10 for macbook is very recent so it might be buggy... I had those sorts of problems when running Linux on mac.


How to delete a file with prefix `~$` I use the command ls in a terminal. I found this wired file with the prefix ~$.

When I was trying to remove it, the terminal responded No such file or directory.

I even tried renaming it, but it still showed the same error.

How do I successfully remove or file the file?

Because the filename contains $-, you need to quote the filename when using the rm command, and other commands, as the $- unquoted is being expanded to a name other then the actual filename and is why the file isn't been found.
Terminal command examples:
% touch '~$-foobar'
% ls ~$-foobar
zsh: no such user or named directory: 569XZilmsfoobar
% ls '~$-foobar'
~$-foobar
% rm ~foobar
zsh: no such user or named directory: foobar
% rm '~$-foobar'
%
% ls '~$-foobar'
ls: ~$-foobar: No such file or directory
%


Can I find out who is tracking my iPhone? I received 3 emails from Apple that my phone was tracked using Find My iPhone. It gave the dates and times.  Can I find out who is tracking me using Find My iPhone ?

Well it's someone who has you mail & password. You won't be able to know more.

If you don't know who did it, change immediately your password !


I need a delete button I also have an azerty keyboard, but am used to the qwerty and I want to know how I can modify the keyboard to have a "delete" function. Deleting using the backspace is laborious and I miss being able to delete from the front of the text. Any ideas?

If you have an Apple keyboard: fn-Backspace is a substitute for Delete. Depending on the application Ctrl-D works as well.


OS X Mavericks extra desktops (spaces) opening seemingly randomly I don't often use mission control, or extra desktops (spaces). Every so often, I do open mission control by mistake, and I have dozens of spaces showing at the top of the screen.

Is there a shortcut key or something that I am pressing accidentally in my workflow that is opening them? A google search doesn't show anything obvious. Is there a way I can prevent them from being opened at all?

Try to use Command + arrows (left, right) to move between your spaces and you always will be in right place.


What impact will a dropping Internet connection have on an in-progress iCloud backup? We are in an area where there is extensive construction going on so internet connectivity to our building is frequently interrupted. My iPhone 5 is set to backup to iCloud. I am connected to a local WiFi router in my office for said internet connectivity. If my iPhone 5 is in the middle of an iCloud backup will the backup fail outright and attempt to perform a backup at a later time (when internet connectivity is restored / present) or will it pause and resume when connectivity is restored.

iCloud backups are incremental. You'll continue to complete backups when connectivity is restored.


applescript CURL with authentication fails QUESTION: i need a working method to be used in applescript to get the right source of the page, WITHOUT loading the page.

sample link: https://www.idealista.it/immobile/16679597/

result: wrong html, it talks about authentication.

INITIAL CODE (always present for all the tries below):

set MyUser to username@dom.com
set MyPass to password
set UrlOfPage to "https://www.idealista.it/immobile/16679597/"

TRIES (all of the tries below are given in this webpage https://ec.haxx.se/http-auth.html):

works but need the page to be loaded in Safari

tell front document of application "Safari" to set StrHtml to (get source) as string

returns wrong html

set StrHtml to (do shell script "curl --user " & MyUser & ":" & MyPass & " " & UrlOfPage)

set StrHtml to (do shell script "curl --anyauth --user " & MyUser & ":" & MyPass & " " & UrlOfPage)

set StrHtml to (do shell script "curl --digest --user " & MyUser & ":" & MyPass & " " & cellurl)

set StrHtml to (do shell script "curl --negotiate --user " & MyUser & ":" & MyPass & " " & cellurl)

set StrHtml to (do shell script "curl --ntlm --user " & MyUser & ":" & MyPass & " " & cellurl)

doesn't work: unknown token

set StrHtml to (do shell script "curl --proxy-anyauth --proxy-user " & MyUser & ":" & MyPass & " https://www.idealista.it/immobile/16679597/ \ --proxy https://proxy.idealista.it/immobile/16679597:80/")

could somebody help me now please?

Dedicated Tools

Given the problems encountered with curl and AppleScript, consider using an alternative dedicated tool such as Beautiful Soup. See How To Scrape Web Pages with Beautiful Soup and Python 3 for a comprehensive introduction.

Alternatively, there are numerous tools other that can help, see Web scraping software on Wikipedia. Many of these tools are free, open-source, and can be called from the command line.

I have previously used Web::Scraper for extracting property listings.


Safari favicons mess I have been playing with Safari's favicon on my 2014 MacBook Pro (running Catalina) for a couple of days, replacing ugly or non existent icons of my bookmarks (mainly using this).

All of a sudden the database file and all the icons' images in /Users/(me)/Library/Safari/Touch Icons Cache got somehow locked.

The images in particular I cannot unlock or delete, even as root, even in recovery mode.

If I try to replace an icon, a new weird file show up in .../Touch Icons Cache/Images and I cannot erase it. The icon to be replaced has not changed or has become the new one only at the first launch of Safari.

I would like to continue to replace ugly icons of my bookmarks and I also would like to solve this locked folder mystery.

I managed to solve the problem by deleting the whole Touch Icons Cache folder.
I then replaced manually the icons.

If I try to use the safari-favicons.sh code the problem shows up again. I guess I'll adapt.


Macbook Pro won't power up My Macbook Pro will not boot normally or in safe mode. My power cable lights up green when it is connected. Pressing the power button does nothing. However, if I unplug the battery and wait a few seconds, the screen will light up, the apple and the progress/status bar comes on, as well. The working indicator starts to whirl but when the status indicator gets about a tenth across the bar, the screen goes black. There is no hard drive sounds.

I have had the same problem with my mac book pro. Maybe you could try booting from an external HDD?
In my case I tried everything from replacing the hard drive, reset PRam(hold cmd+shift+p+r right after pressing the power button), replacing the internal battery; all without success. So if none of those things won't work it's probably your motherboard having a serious issue. Only thing I could have done was replacing it.


My macbook air wont let me erase my disk? What the title says. I'm trying to delete all the data off my macbook air. I pressed command+r, went to disk utilities, selected my disk in the slot to the left, went to the erase tab. The "erase" button is faded so I can't click it. Format is at Mac OS Extended (Journaled) already, but it's also faded out. Almost every option is faded. What's wrong? Why won't it let me erase the disk?

You cannot erase the currently-running volume. Shut the computer down, restart while holding the option key, and choose the Recovery HD.

Find Disk Utility in the menus and you will now be able to erase your internal storage.


iPhone external speak with Bluetooth and AirPlay? Most of the external speakers I've seen have either AirPlay [B&W Zeppelin] or Bluetooth [Bose Soundlink, Jawbone Big Jambox] but not both.  Anyone know of an external speaker system that has both?

Samsung has announced some products that support both.

Have a look at the high-end Samsung Audio Dock DA-E750, and the (only) a bit cheaper DA-E670.

I have never listened to the Samsung speakers, but I do find them a bit expensive compared to the already 'premium' price of the B&W Zeppelin Air for example, which still has a better reputation regarding audio quality, although preliminary reviews speak well about the quality of the Samsung speakers.

Also AirPlay is technically the superior technology, as it has a much larger bandwidth than Bluetooth, and transmits the audio uncompressed to the speaker. Unless you have specific reasons for needing Bluetooth, perhaps traveling with your speakers or streaming from non-Apple devices, I'd prefer an AirPlay speaker.


Xcode 4.2 Snow Leopard Doesn't Install My mac crashed and I am trying to install Xcode 4.2 again, but it doesn't work.

The GUI shows an 'The Installation Failed' error.

In the console a few messages stick out to me. They are:

The domain/default pair of (com.apple.iPhoneSDKInstaller, showAdvancedInstaller) does not exist

The Package "OtherDevDocumentation,pkg" is untrusted. CSSMERR_TP_CERT_EXPIRED

Sometimes it says it can't find the developer tools as well.

When I press Get Info on the Xcode.mpkg inside the DMG file, It says it is only 520KB. Is that supposed to happen?

Can anyone help me fix this issue?

Thanks,
Ashley

Just change date to January 2012 or something, it will install just fine. The certificate expired in March.

Updated, steps:

turn off automatic synchronization of date & time
change actual date of the system to 01.01.2012 (for example, prior to
26.03.2012)
install the Xcode
turn the automatic synchronization back on.


In macOS, how to run a JNLP file with OpenJDK 8? Due to the new license of OracleJDK8, I have to use OpenJDK8.
I have installed AdoptOpenJDK8 from Homebrew and it works well.

The problem is that I have to launch a Java application from a JNLP link, what is called Java Web start. The problem is that this feature is not included in the OpenJDK8.

Java Web Start is implemented in the project IcedTea-Web but I cannot find any binaries for macOS  and find I try to build it, I obtain the message:

configure: error: "OS darwin18.2.0 is not supported"

My question is : How can I run a JNLP file with OpenJDK 8? Do I need to use IcedTea-Web and if yes how to build it?

IcedTea-Web is a project that:

  provides a Free Software web browser plugin running applets written in the Java programming language and an implementation of Java Web Start, originally based on the NetX project.

but there is no build for macOS. However the important part of this application is written in Java so we can run it directly on macOS. Here is how:

Get the Debian build from the stable release:

wget http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/main/i/icedtea-web/icedtea-netx-common_1.6.2-3.1_all.deb

Extract the deb file:

tar xzvf icedtea-netx-common_1.6.2-3.1_all.deb

Extract the archive data.tar.xz which is inside the deb file:

tar xzvf data.tar.xz

Go to the directory where the main jar file is:

cd usr/share/icedtea-web/

and just run your jnlp file:

java -cp netx.jar net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.Boot -Xnofork -jnlp my_application.jnlp

Depending on your application you could have to change options. You can list them with:

java -cp netx.jar net.sourceforge.jnlp.runtime.Boot

which result in:

SYNOPSIS
    javaws [-run-options] jnlp file
    javaws [-control-options]

OPTIONS
    When specifying options, the name of the jnlp file can be after the command, the -jnlp option, an option with no arguments, or after an argument with an option that takes one argument. A html file that launches a jnlp can be specified after the -html option.
    The jnlp-file can either be a url or a local path.
    The JNLP file should only be specified once, whether as a main argument, after -jnlp or through an html file.
    Control options:
    -about               - Shows a sample application.(No argument expected)
    -help                - Prints out information about supported command and basic usage.(No argument expected)
    -license             - Display the GPL license and exit.(No argument expected)
    -viewer              - Shows the trusted certificate viewer.(No argument expected)
    -Xclearcache         - Clean the JNLP application cache.(No argument expected)
    Run options:
    -allowredirect       - Follows HTTP redirects.(No argument expected)
    -arg arg             - Adds an application argument before launching.(Expected one or more arguments)
    -headless            - Disables download window, other UIs.(No argument expected)
    -html                - Location of HTML file to launch (url or file). You can use parameter ALL  or numbers (like 1 2 5) to select applets on page. However experimental, this switch should keep you still in safety.(Expected one or more arguments)
    -jnlp                - Location of JNLP file to launch (url or file).(Exactly one argument expected)
    -nosecurity          - Disables the secure runtime environment.(No argument expected)
    -noupdate            - Disables checking for updates.(No argument expected)
    -param name=value    - Adds an applet parameter before launching.(Expected one or more arguments)
    -property name=value - Sets a system property before launching.(Expected one or more arguments)
    -strict              - Enables strict checking of JNLP file format.(No argument expected)
    -update seconds      - Check for updates.(Exactly one argument expected)
    -verbose             - Enable verbose output.(No argument expected)
    -version             - Print the IcedTea-Web version and exit.(No argument expected)
    -Xignoreheaders      - Skip jar header verification.(No argument expected)
    -xml                 - Uses a strict XML parser to parse the JNLP file.(No argument expected)
    -Xnofork             - Do not create another JVM.(No argument expected)
    -Xoffline            - Prevent ITW network connection. Only cache will be used. Application can still connect.(No argument expected)
    -Xtrustnone          - Instead of asking user, will foretold all answers as no.(No argument expected)

Update

In the future, you should be able to use Open Web Start which is an open source reimplementation of the Java Web Start technology. But for now the macOS installation is not ready. Check the corresponding GitHub issue for details.


Are there any security vulnerabilities that would allow an attacker to change the admin password? A good friend of mine woke up one day to discover that someone had changed the admin password on his mac. It seems the same attacker also broke into his Yahoo email. Assuming he was on an unsecured network is there some kind of Mac OS X vulnerability that would allow an attacker to login remotely and change the admin password, even if remote management and remote login were disabled? How could someone without physical access to the machine do this?

CVEdetails.com currently lists 783 vulnerabilities in Mac OS X, of which over 100 allow remote attacks, and many allow Admin access to be gained.

If you do want to ask about specifics, http://security.stackexchange.com welcomes a wide range of security questions.


Local Backup Solution for iOS Is there an enterprise solution for backing up iOS devices locally instead of the cloud and also does not use iTunes? The goal is to have pure backup and restore functionality without allowing users to transfer personal data onto the device.

I use iMazing fro Mac. It allows you to backup & restore individual iOS apps along with your custom saved data. You do that without going through iTunes.


macOS Big Sur and bash In Catalina, Apple made ZSH the default shell, however, macOS retained the (now deprecated) Bash. Despite my attempts to unearth something related to this, I couldn't find out whether Big Sur will keep Bash in fresh installations or remove it altogether.
Is there any official word out there regarding this? At the very least (...and FWIW), any anecdotal experience coming from beta installations? Thank you.

In Catalina, Apple made ZSH the default shell, however, macOS retained the (now deprecated) Bash.

There's some misconceptions that need to be cleared up:

ZSH is the default for shell for new users in Catalina, however, for existing users, the Bash shell remains the users' current shell.

Bash is not deprecated in any way. It is still current and the version that ships with macOS is perfectly fine.  The reason that Bash is "so old" is because of the GPL license version.  Apple switched to ZSH for this same reason.

Is there any official word out there regarding this? At the very least (...and FWIW), any anecdotal experience coming from beta installations?

There's no "official word" on something that's not even projected to happen.  As for anecdotal evidence, I cite cron;  it has been deprecated since Snow Leopard in favor of launchd. We're in Catalina now an cron is still around and fully functional.
It's also important to note that there is a difference between deprecated and no longer supported.

cron is deprecated meaning that while still supported, there's no more development on it and admins/users should start migrating to the new tool(s) (launchd).
AFP is no longer supported for file sharing.  You can use it as a client (connect to an old server with AFP support), but you cannot share a folder from Mojave/Catalina with AFP.

Just because Apple makes a move to support a more modern technology, doesn't mean they are going resect it from their base code so it's not longer available in future versions.


What's the practical difference between a 16GB and 32GB iPhone? I'm looking to close a deal on an iPhone. What I am having difficulty understanding is the difference between 16GB and 32GB. When does it matter if you have 32GB and 16GB?

I understand, of course, the technical difference (free space capacity on the internal storage). As a casual smartphone user (have an Android but don't have many apps on it), and a mobile developer, I'm not sure I need 32GB. (I think my Android phone as 8GB, and I'm not using more than half.)

So when does it really matter? What are the "use-cases," if you will, for someone needing or using 32GB but not 16GB?

I'm also not planning to get a data plan, if that matters.

There's no difference besides the storage capacity.
As the iPhone does not have an option to extend the memory after purchase, you have to choose the right amount of storage right from the beginning.
You can always manage how much space you use by manually choosing which data to sync (music, photos, movies, apps).
Generally more available space gives you the freedom of not having to manage your sync settings too much.

16GB should be fine for most people, especially if they are willing to make compromises regarding sync settings.
32GB is good if your like to take lots of photos or have a large music library.
64GB is good if you record HD movies which increase in size very quickly the longer you record.


Automate taking a screenshot of specified area I am trying to use automator to take a screen shot of a specified area. Though I can only find the option of taking a screenshot of a windows or the entire screen. Is there a option to to this with automator or with apple script?

screencapture has a -R option for specifying the area. It is not mentioned in the man page but it is mentioned in the help message:

$ screencapture -h
screencapture: illegal option -- h
usage: screencapture [-icMPmwsWxSCUtoa] [files]
  -c         force screen capture to go to the clipboard
  -C         capture the cursor as well as the screen. only in non-interactive modes
  -d         display errors to the user graphically
  -i         capture screen interactively, by selection or window
               control key - causes screen shot to go to clipboard
               space key   - toggle between mouse selection and
                             window selection modes
               escape key  - cancels interactive screen shot
  -m         only capture the main monitor, undefined if -i is set
  -M         screen capture output will go to a new Mail message
  -o         in window capture mode, do not capture the shadow of the window
  -P         screen capture output will open in Preview
  -s         only allow mouse selection mode
  -S         in window capture mode, capture the screen not the window
  -t<format> image format to create, default is png (other options include pdf, jpg, tiff and other formats)
  -T<seconds> Take the picture after a delay of <seconds>, default is 5
  -w         only allow window selection mode
  -W         start interaction in window selection mode
  -x         do not play sounds
  -a         do not include windows attached to selected windows
  -r         do not add dpi meta data to image
  -l<windowid> capture this windowsid
  -R<x,y,w,h> capture screen rect
  files   where to save the screen capture, 1 file per screen


How can I search the contents of PDF email attachments that are backed up to Time Machine? So I have quite a specific situation where I need to dig out an old email I have backed up to Time Machine, but I can't remember when I received it. Could be anywhere between 6 months to 1 year ago.

Following the advice here, I ran the following in Terminal:

find "/Volumes/Time Machine" -name "*.emlx" -exec grep -l "search term" {} \;

Which found me several thousand results matching "search term" (the subject line).

The problem is, the contents of the body of those messages are all identical. It's the contents of the attachment, a PDF document, I need to search for a specific term for.

Any idea how I can do a search similar to the above, but searching the contents of the PDF attachment?

To search the PDF contents embedded in an email using grep you are facing at least one if not two challenges.

The first is that files embedded in an email are not preserved in their raw form and instead are encoded into plain text for transmission in the email message.  The MIME format commonly used is Base64 but it's not always the case.  You can find more details on base64, including encode/decode methods here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base64

Assuming the attachment was encoded in base64, it's still not as simple as taking your search string and turing it into a base64 representation because the resulting encoding depends on where in the input string your target string appears. base64 takes every 6 bits of the input stream and turns it into a plain text character. Assuming the PDF document is using a simple 8-bit encoding for the string, 3 characters in the PDF will turn into 4 encoded characters.  A quick illustration of how character position can change things:

% echo "123456789" | base64
MTIzNDU2Nzg5Cg==
% echo "0123456789" | base64
MDEyMzQ1Njc4OQo=

In the first example, 123, 456, and 789 turn into MTIz, NDU2 and Nzg5 respectively. In the second, the encoded tuples are 012 => MDEy, 345 => MzQ1, ... etc.

Your search string could start at the beginning, middle or end of one of these tuples.  If you search for a long enough string you could carve out 3 search strings from the middle that would be searchable, each must be a multiple of 3 characters long.  For example, if I wanted to search for the string 123456789, I could base64 encode three possible search candidates:  123456789, 234567 and 345678.  One of the base encodings should show up in the encoded PDF file if the plain text string 123456789 is present.

Now we get to the 2nd big problem.  Through this we've assumed that the unencoded contents of the PDF file is in UTF-8, plain text encoding.  If you look at the contents of an actual PDF file, you'll find it has all sorts of internal encodings that include font indicators, text encoded in UTF-16 or UTF-32 and so on.  It's quite likely that your simple search phrase wouldn't appear in the PDF data exactly as you expect. There can be extra content in the PDF between characters, between words, and then there are also line breaks so if you are searching for a phrase that crosses a line break, more complication in building your target search string.

There are a couple other things you could try though so all is not lost.

If you know the name of the PDF, you could search for that instead.  The file name should appear in the MIME text of the email message in UTF-8 and thus is searchable.

You might also get lucky and instead of searching the emails, search for PDF files.  OSX Mail extracts attachments and stores them to a mail download directory.  I'm running Mavericks and Mail v7.3 and my attachments get written to subdirectories under ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail

By the way, your grep command is looking for an exact match so if you are unsure of upper/lower case usage you should add the '-i' option for a case insensitive search.


How can I log edits to the hosts file? A guy I'm helping fix his Mac and he's got some process on there editing his host file to redirect queries to the Minecraft authentication servers (authserver.mojang.com and sessionserver.mojang.com) to it's own servers, basically it's a piracy program that he unknowingly installed and now we can't get rid of it. The only thing we know it's doing is editing the hosts file so if there is a way to log host file edits that would be great.
Any other recommendations for fixes would be nice too, of course.

Open terminal and run this command.
sudo fs_usage | grep hosts

Files that read / write / modify that should be logged clearly. Look at the last entry on the right for the program name. If you see nothing, in another window try these two commands. An edit implies a write to that file.
tail -2 /etc/hosts
cat /etc/hosts

As commented very clearly, if you can’t catch the change, you may have to set up a script to save the contents of the file periodically and then narrow down what can run during the time when it’s being messed with.


How can I mount an encrypted disk from the command line? When I type diskutil mount disk3 in the terminal, it says Volume(s) mounted successfully. However, the disk is not mounted and I can confirm this by opening the GUI of Disk Utility.app and also the disk does not show in the Finder.

I suspect this is because the disk is encrypted and the terminal command is not passing via "Keychain" to retrieve the password for the encrypted disk.

What do you think? Is there a way to mount encrypted disks via the command line?
Thanks.

You want to run diskutil coreStorage unlockVolume <UUID>, where the UUID is the Logical Volume UUID associated with your encrypted disk, /dev/disk3.  You can get the lvUUID by running diskutil cs list in the terminal and looking for the output related to /dev/disk3.  The identifier is a long string that would look something like this 'B807C2A0-577F-3DB0-9002-F82B9137696C'.

It will prompt you for a password at that point and if it's correct, unlock the disk.


OS X 10.10.2 Grey screen and progress bar at start-up normal? Running OS X 10.10.2 and has for a long time had a grey screen at start-up which occasionally freezes but most of the time just starts up after a while.
Is this normal?
At last upgrade the process froze after several hours and the above situation has been since then

I'd run the 'usual suspects' before anything else.

Disk Utility > check/repair disk.

Then get OnyX (free/donationwear) & reset ACLs (Maintenance tab > permissions, check the box at the top.)

Then re-apply the 10.10.2 combo update.


Macbook Air not detecting correct external display resolution My Macbook Air stopped detecting the resolution of my external display this morning and I'm not sure why because it was working fine last night. My display is 24" 1080p and in the past whenever I have connected my monitor to my Macbook, it's just used the 'Best for Display' resolution. Today though, this automatically defaults to 800x600 and looks like the picture on the left. Then when I change the resolution to 1920x1080 it looks like the picture on the right (click to enlarge).

Things that I've tried so far:

Rebooting the MacBook
Disconnecting and reconnecting the Mini DisplayPort
I've tried with another computer (Windows) and it displays fine.
Resetting the settings of the monitor and doing and auto adjustment.

The fact that it's limited to this computer means that it's not the monitor, I'm wondering if there is any way to reset the display/graphics controller or something? Thanks.

With the Display pane of System Preferences visible, hold down the Option key and the "Gather Windows" button in the lower right should turn into a "Detect Displays" button. Click on that button and your computer should take care of the rest.


keyboard shortcuts doesn't work on 'screen sharing' I'm using 'screen sharing' to control my remote personal macbook from the iMac @ work.

However, the shortcut for switching languages is not working (command + space), and i need to do it the hard way by going through 'system preferences -> keyboard'

perhaps there's a way to set a button to do this task, or any other simpler way ?

In short, you need to set it to something that won't be interpreted at the local machine first.

This same thing happens for such as the key to invoke Mission Control - if the key command is the same on both machines, the local one responds instead of the remote.

The only solution I've found is to change the local key command to something different, or to have to go the 'long way round' each time.


Cannot get max resolution out of Dell monitor from MacBook Pro Retina (early 2013) I purchased a Dell UltraSharp U2715H. This has a 2560x1440 resolution.

I have a MacBook Pro Retina (early 2013). I now have the following issue getting to this maximum resolution.

1) HDMI
If I attach the monitor through HDMI I only get a resolution of 2048 x 1152. I first thought it was the HDMI cable so I bought a new one, no effect. When connected through HDMI everything else (close lid etc) works perfectly.

2) DisplayPort cable
The Dell also came with a Mini DP to DP cable. If I use that cable it works perfectly when I startup the MacBook from scratch. So, the beautiful full resolution of 2560x1440 is there!
HOWEVER, when I close the lid or the MacBook goes to sleep it somehow "loses" the monitor. The Mac still thinks the Dell is there. It is there in the menu and you can even go with your mouse to the second monitor, the Dell itself however remains completely black. So the only way of getting the monitor to work again is fully power off the Mac and then power it on. This is of course not a workable situation.

So, does anybody now how to solve this, either through a working HDMI or a way to get the DP connection to work normally.

Thanks!

The early 2013 MacBook Pro models only officially supported an external resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (via HDMI) or up to 2560 x 1600 pixels (via Thunderbolt).

So, in terms of your first point about your HDMI connection, you're doing better than Apple's official specs.

As far as your second point, it's unclear to me whether you're trying to use the MacBook Pro in clamshell mode or not. I'm going to provide some generic advice that should help, but if not you may need to clarify your question. I'm also assuming your Computer is connected to a power socket and not running off battery.

I would reset both your NVRAM and your SMC. See below for instructions.

Reset your NVRAM

Newer Macs use Non-Volatile Random-Access Memory (NVRAM). It may be worth you resetting this. Here’s how to:

Shut down your machine. Yes, a full shut down, not just logging out.
Press the power button and then press the commandoptionpr keys. You have to make sure you press these keys before the gray screen appears or it won’t work.
Hold those keys down until your Mac reboots again and you here the startup chime.
Let go of the keys and let your Mac reboot normally.

Note: When you log back in you may need to readjust some of your system preferences (e.g. mouse speed, time and date/timezone, etc).

Reset the SMC

Your computer's System Management Controller (SMC) can also be reset. To reset this on your particular MacBook Pro, here’s what you do:

Shut down your computer
Keep the power cable plugged in.
Press at the same time shiftoptioncontrol (on the left side of the keyboard) and the power button
Let go
Turn your computer back on with the power button.

After doing both these, let us know how you go.


My Macbook Air's Charger will not charge when plugged in, I've already reset the SMC. I also just got it back from Apple...What can I do? I've drained my battery looking for the answer to my question even more... please help! The charger works some days. I had found a combination of keys that help turn the light on once, but I can't find it anymore. I've reset the SMC or whatever already and still nothing is happening. I hate this damn charger.

There are several reasons a MagSafe power adapter will intermittently show the Green/Amber LED charge status. If it comes and goes it may indicate a short or break in the thin DC line cable. This usually happens at the power brick end where it runs into the adapter itself. You may not even see a cut in the plastic wire cover but if it looks badly creased it may be a wire break internally that touches enough sometimes to work. The other end (where the MagSafe connector is) can have the same issue. If the MagSafe is the MagSafe 1 type (MagSafe 2 has a thinner connector profile) and it is the right-angled L-shape connector even if the cable looks fine it may be that it has twisted loose inside the metal connector. The cable running into the connector should not twist at all if you hold the metal connector in one hand and gently try to twist the cable running into it with the other hand. If it rotates at all that or a DC line break on the other end near the adapter itself means you need a new adapter. Otherwise try connecting the MagSafe connector the opposite direction you normally connect it and wiggle it when attached so the pins seat correctly. You will know it works if the LED lights.

If after all of this you still have issues and the computer itself in the upper right of the display continues to indicate it's not connected to power it may simply be a bad adapter needing replacement, the connector on the computer needs to be cleaned or replaced (MagSafe DC-in board) or worst case the charging subsystem on the logic board is defective. There are other possibilities but more rare. If a new adapter works consistently then getting a new adapter is your answer. Make sure is is a REAL Apple adapter. There are many many knockoffs that look like the real thing until you look closely. Typically they weigh less and of course cost less but they don't last very long. Hope something here helps.


Will Apple service an iPhone previously repaired by a third-party? If an iPhone previously had its screen/battery/camera repaired by a third-party but it works fine afterwards, will Apple service the iPhone?
For example, let's say that my iPhone battery went bad so I went to a cheaper third-party store to have it replaced (likely with a non-OEM battery). I use it for a few months but it degrades much faster than an OEM battery. Can I take it to Apple and pay them the money to replace the battery with their own OEM part?
I understand a third-party repair will void the warranty on an iPhone, but I have not been able to find any definite information about whether they void all future repairs/servicing from Apple.
The reason I am asking about this is because of an article on the Verge published in March 2019 linked here. Here are some snippets (my emphasis added):

iPhones with third-party batteries are now eligible to be repaired at Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP), according to internal Apple documents reportedly obtained by MacRumors and French outlet iGen. Before, Apple policies stated that customers were ineligible to receive any kind of repair service if their iPhones were previously repaired with any non-original, third-party components, meaning you’d be taking a big risk by replacing an iPhone battery yourself.

Batteries are the latest third-party components to be accepted by Apple’s rigid repair policy, as the company changed its policy to accept iPhones with third-party displays for repair in 2017.

So this article suggests (without a source) that only recently an iPhone with a third-party battery or screen replacement is eligible for repairs. Is there any more information, perhaps directly from Apple, about what is allowed for servicing?

Apple has always reserved the right to only cover under warranty (and their service plans like AppleCare) authorized repairs that use certified parts. I’ve seen this language in the legal agreements since the 90s and can’t source earlier documents to see when it actually started.

https://www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/terms/repair/

1.11.6 Disclosure of Unauthorized Modifications. During the service ordering process, you must notify Apple of any unauthorized modifications, or any repairs or replacements not performed by Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (“AASP”), that have been made to your product. Apple will not be responsible for any damage to the product that occurs during the repair process that is a result of any unauthorized modifications or repairs or replacements not performed by Apple or an AASP. If damage results, Apple will seek your authorization for any additional costs for completing service even if the product is covered by warranty or an AppleCare service plan. If you decline authorization, Apple may return your product unrepaired in the damaged condition without any responsibility.

In practice, the worst that happens is you get a call mid-repair and an explanation why the repair will cost more or why the repair isn’t being completed. So yes, Apple typically does all it can to cover a repair even when it has the clear right to not perform service in my experience.
With batteries and hardware, as long as there’s not case or connector damage and the part is scrapped, there’s little benefit to Apple not doing the repair. The technician is on the hook for a limited warranty so the only time when Apple or a certified center rejects a repair is when they can’t guarantee the repair for the time Apple specifies or they can’t complete the repair with the parts budgeted for that repair. Also, if Apple subsidizes the cost of the repair parts since they can rework a portion of the failed ones and then certify them for repair use later, it seems fair to not pass that cost savings off to someone that isn’t returning same quality parts back into the “repair pool”. The source of those quotes is likely service bulletins that leaked on how Apple trains their staff to qualify repairs and label parts for return and inspection. Apple engineers analyze all manner of failed parts and if the technicians send back non OEM parts, that wastes time and resources on the quality team and also needs to be tracked for failure rate analysis.
But the official stance is they may not service any gear they can’t verify has correct parts and a properly documented service history if the original parts are missing when the repair starts. Apple doesn’t usually grill customers “Did you have any unauthorized repairs?” but it’s in the terms you sign before you hand off your gear if you read all the words.


Able to open downloaded programs, but once closed need to download again In particular, I'm trying to use Calibre for eBook management. Interestingly, this has never happened with any other app before, but when I   quit the app (CommandQ), it's almost as if I never installed it in the first place.

Any insight into what is going on?

You might be running them from their DMG file, usually located in the folder where you set your downloads to go to.

Apps you want in your /Applications folder, you have to copy them there. That's why most DMGs provide Applications' alias in the DMG.

Use spotlight or  apps like Easyfind to find the relevant installer.


Disable zoom animation in Chrome when going to full screen video When switching back and forth between full-screen mode for YouTube videos in MacOX Mavericks, I find the zoom effect very annoying and jerky.  Is there a way to turn this off, so such videos can just snap in and out of full-screen without animation?

chrome://flags/#enable-simplified-fullscreen; Enable it and restart chrome


Final Cut X- Not Enough Media Error - for transitions I am on my trial here with version 10.2.3, its great but I get the above error when trying to put in transitions sometimes.

How to fix?

The error generally appears when the clips you are transitioning between do not have enough media to overlap. To avoid the message, trim the end of your clip(s) such that there is enough media to cover the transition.

The bug associated with this error message was fixed in Final Cut Pro X 10.3.


Can I use Helvetica if I have a Mac? Since Helvetica comes with all Macs, and I have bought a Mac, does that mean that I can use that font commercially? For example in a banner or website header?

Yes, buying the OS includes the license to use these fonts in derivative work, like graphics, even for commercial applications.

You can however not redistribute the font in any way. Font embedding in websites through the @font-face CSS feature for example qualifies as redistributing the font (even if it is in another format), and requires a seperate license.


>console login - changing the screen size so when I log into the terminal from my login screen (by typing >console as username), I get logged in to the terminal. However, when I try to use vim or anything useful, it only takes up around 1/4 of the screen, as seen in this photo (sorry for reflection!!):

How do I adjust the size of the terminal so it takes up the whole screen, rather than leaving most of the screen black? Also text colouring in vim doesn't work when in this mode, if anyone knows how to fix that too!

When I log in, the entire width of the screen is used so I'm not sure how to answer that part of the question. But as far as enabling text coloring in vim, add this line to your .bash_profile:

export TERM="xterm-256color"

Terminal does that automatically for you, but you have to do it yourself in this mode.

Edit - screen width in vim

To set the screen width in vim, add this line to your .vimrc file:

set columns=XXX

Where "XXX" is the number of columns you want.


How do i get project files back into imovie? my iMovie corrupted and the event went missing. i have found it in project files, but how to i get the project files back into an event?
i need the edit versions back into an event to continue editing them in iMovie

Once you find the specific folder/file location of the project files, use the Import tool to add those files to a new event.


Is it normal to have a MBP's temp at ~50? My MBP runs very hot and I thought the fans were broken because there's no air blowing out the back and no fan noise as I used to hear in my older MBP so I installed macs fan control
Apparently, the fans are running mostly at around ~1200rpm and the temps are 50-55c, is this normal? should I modify the settings?
I can even feel the heat just from using the keyboard.

As you have indicated that your ambient room temperature is easily 35 degrees C, possibly up to 42 degrees C - then I do not find it abnormal that the temperature of your MacBook Pro is 50 degrees C.
The CPU in your MacBook Pro is not hurt by the fact that the temperature is 50 degrees C.


Stateful Scripts in Automator? Is there a way to run stateful bash scripts in automator?

I'm trying to run something depending if a file does or does not exist. With bash script alone in terminal the code below works and will show the correct output, depending on wether the file exists or not.

Only one line of output per run of the script is displayed either way.

FILE="/Volumes/Canvio1TB/EyeTV Archive/sync.ffs_lock"
if test -f "$FILE"; then
    echo "$FILE exists"
else
  echo "$FILE does not exist"
fi

When I run this in automator as a "run shell script" action the output is:

/Volumes/Canvio1TB/EyeTV Archive/sync.ffs_lock exists

/Volumes/Canvio1TB/EyeTV Archive/sync.ffs_lock does not exist

Regardless of wether the file exists or not, the script generates both lines of output.

If there's a better approach I'd be open to using it - I haven't had success with the syntax of applescript running a command based on the (non)existence of a full path & file.

The following example works for me in a Run Shell Script action in Automator:

f="/Volumes/Canvio1TB/EyeTV Archive/sync.ffs_lock"

if [ -f "$f" ]; then
    echo "$f exists."
else
    echo "$f does not exist."
fi

Note: Shell is set to: /bin/bash

This also works:

f="/Volumes/Canvio1TB/EyeTV Archive/sync.ffs_lock"

[ -f "$f" ] && echo "$f exists." || echo "$f does not exist."

Here it is in AppleScript in a Run AppleScript action:

set f to "/Volumes/Canvio1TB/EyeTV Archive/sync.ffs_lock"

tell application "System Events"
    if exists file f then
        return f & " file exists." as string
    else
        return f & " file does not exist." as string
    end if
end tell


Any way to change recommended resolution for all users on a Mac (preferably via Terminal)? I work on a college campus with a number of iMacs hooked up to projectors. For some reason, after imaging, they all default to 800x600 resolution on both the iMacs and the projectors, despite their shared maximum display resolutions. Is there any way to automatically tell the Mac to default the resolution to something higher and maintain that for all users regardless of what it's hooked up to? Alternately, is there any way I can change the default resolution for all users after the imaging process is complete?

I've found the com.apple.preference.displays file in /Library/Preferences/ByHost, but because it relies on the machine's UUID I don't think it will allow me to push that out remotely...

I've used this little app before and it works quite well.

http://www.mowlem-enterprises.co.uk/screenutil/ScreenUtil_v1.0.zip

You'd just throw that into your image in your terminal path somewhere (/usr/sbin) then you can ARD shell command the terminal command you need or script it into the image.


Finder Sidebar ordering in Lion In OS X 10.6, the sidebar had the sections ordered:

Devices
Shared
Favorites

This worked very well for me, since I use the devices section most often. However, in Lion, apple has arbitrarily reordered the sidebar to have "Favorites" on top.

Is there any way to change this back? I don't know why it was changed at all.
While you can move items around withinsections, you cannot drag the sections themselves.

Also, is there any way to restore the old icons? Previously, I could use color-cues for fast navigation (Ex: Downloads is green, Desktop is purple, HomeDir is white). Now, I have to stop and actually read the labels every time I use the sidebar

Unfortunately you can not reorder sections in Lion as of 10.7.2. You can only reorder items within the sections. You can also remove items by holding Command and dragging the icon off the Finder window.

I'll create a Apple bug report about this because I think it would be nice to rearrange the sections too!

Update: It looks like you can hack a plist to enable this reordering functionality but do so at your own risk. This will also likely be overridden in a future OS X update.


iPhone 7 not being recognized by computer I have an iPhone 7.  My screen broke so I got it replaced.  It went underwater and then the home button started vibrating when I pressed it.  The screen flickered in and out.  The next day I could press the home button and it would vibrate but the screen was completely off.  I plugged it into my computer and iTunes recognized it but I couldn't type in my passcode.

How can I get a backup of my phone?

If you have a wired lightning keyboard, you can connect it to your iPhone, press the home button twice with 1 second delay to bring up the password screen, type in your password and press Enter. Your phone should unlock and you should be able to back it up. If you didn't sync it with the current computer before, your phone will ask you if you want to trust the current computer. You might be able to use the Tab key or the arrow keys to navigate between yes and no buttons and then press Enter to allow the computer to sync your iPhone (not tested).


Can't partition startup disk in Mavericks for Boot Camp I recently upgraded my computer to Mavericks (I believe I have the latest version, 10.9) and I've been trying for 2 days now to install Windows via Boot Camp on my computer, but it always fails at the Partitioning step.

I have tried multiple different things, such as…

Partitioning via Disk Utility
Going into the Recovery HD and trying to repair the HD
/fsck/sbin -fy in Single-User mode
I have used a Mountain Lion USB install to use the Disk Utility there

…but I keep ending up with the same errors:

Partition map is broken
Verification of the file system failed

When I try to repair it using Recovery HD I keep getting "Live file system repair is not supported" and there is basically no way for me to partition, unless I want to downgrade to another version of OS X which I don't feel like doing. Any ideas?

This indicates that the partition map on the drive is corrupt and needs to be repaired.

Backup all your data (possibly with a disk image of your startup disk partition) and boot into a separate disk (not Recovery HD).
Select your drive in Disk Utility, and choose the Partition tab.

Change Partition Layout to 1 Partition or 2 Partitions. This will erase the entire disk, replacing the corrupt partition map with a new one.
Click Apply.


Connect automatically to VPN when connecting to wifi access point? Is it possible to automatically connect to a VPN when one is connected to a WIFI access point?

To manually connect to a VPN after connecting to a WIFI access point works, but it is so easy to forget.

I am using Mavericks on a Macbook Pro Retina.

ControlPlane
You want to have an automated action after you connect to a certain WiFi point. An easy way to do this, is using ControlPlane (formally known as MarcoPolo). This software makes your computer context aware and can execute scripts and programs when your location changes. Some examples that ControlPlane is aware of:

Current Audio Output device (headphones/internal speakers)
Discoverable Bluetooth devices
Advertised Bonjour (Zeroconf) services
Attached FireWire devices
Assigned IP addresses
Ambient Light level
Attached Monitors
Active Network Links
Power source (power adapter/battery)
Running Applications
Current Time Of Day
Attached USB devices
Visible WiFi networks

edit (21 aug 2014, thanks to @Rainer):
Marcopolo is now ControlPlane.
ControlPlane was created using code from version 2.5.1 of the MarcoPolo project still available at http://www.symonds.id.au/marcopolo/.  ControlPlane is a direct port of MarcoPolo and in fact, much of the configuration from MarcoPolo still works with ControlPlane, just better!
ControlPlane supports 32 and 64bit Intel based Macs running Snow Leopard through Lion.


CLI - how can I specify a screen saver with the following options? Through the CLI, I would like to select the flurry screen saver set to activate in 15 minutes and show the clock.

Firstly, set your screensaver to Flurry in System Preferences and check the checkbox to show the clock.

Open up the terminal and type

sleep 900;/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine&

In 15 minutes, the screensaver will activate with Flurry and show the clock.

The sleep 900 line controls the delay, so 900 is 15minutes in seconds (15*60).

You could add an alias for this command in your ~/.bash_profile so that you don't need to type this large command every time.  eg if you wanted to have ss be the command then enter this into the ~/.bash_profile

alias ss='sleep 900;/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine&'

Hope this helps.


Apps in Dock creating new icon I have just changed to Sierra - 10.12.4

Some apps (e.g. Aquamacs, Moneywell) in the Dock when you start them do not get a mark saying they are running but create a new icon that represents the running instance. This icon seems to have as its app one under /private/var/folders but with the correct app name not one in /Applications

Why is this happening and how can I get things back to how previous OSX versions worked.

The issue is caused by Gatekeeper. It uses "path randomization" to run applications, until the user moves the app in it's final destination (/Applications for example). This causes the app to be run from /private/var/.. and Dock treats this as a new app.

To remove the quarantine attribute execute (removes recursively com.apple.quarantine):

sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Application/SomeApp.app

Recursion (the -r flag) may be needed for apps that contain helpers.

To list the current attributes for an app execute:

sudo xattr /Application/SomeApp.app

or

ls -l@d /Application/SomeApp.app

Sources:

On Gatekeeper and the Lifespan of Little Snitch Rules


Is Xcode the ideal IDE for most development needs, or is app/web/shell/script development not as narrowly approached? I'm pretty fluent in the basics of web based languages i.e., HTML(5), CSS(3), php, MySQL, Javascript; although now I'm diving deeper and starting to tackle scripting (Mostly Python and Ruby) & compiler code (Objective-C, Cocoa, Swift, Metal).

What do you some of you recommend for someone who is embarking upon the higher tiers of programming, such as the ones I mentioned above (IMHO; no offense to web dev gurus ;-) ); should I use the basic text editor & up (BBEdit, TextWrangler, ATOM, Sublime Text) and create my own file hierarchy by hand, or should I learn with the assistance of an IDE like Xcode, Dreamweaver, Eclipse (I know it's java based, and rather not use on OS X just from hearing word of mouth), or is there any others that I don't even have any prior knowledge/experience with? If you prefer not to utilize IDE's what is your favorite syntax highlighting enabled text/file editor?

I know this may seem like a novice question, but I'm a "measure twice, cut once" kind of guy. Yet, don't let that confuse you with my expectations, because I know what a headache debugging can be, especially when you're twenty or so versions already down the line, and are now establishing a small to medium sized user base, and people are posting support comments/inquiries on your software's Git page/repository, and you're beginning to run out of answers...
:-O

I have broken down this into several parts:

For Scripting Languages

IDLE... It sucks!
Edit it any one of the text editors (your choice, but i suggest sublime or brackets) and the run in terminal
Use something like pycharm, it is a nice cross between something like xcode and just a text editor

For Programming Languages

For languages like Obj-C, C and C++ you have a couple of options like Codeblocks, Xcode and Eclipse. With Codeblocks, people either hate it or love it (I hate it). Eclipse is versatile but clunky, and Xcode... Xcode I really enjoy it, it is cool, easy-to-use and fun. Probably just starting out, go with Xcode.
For languages like swift, you have not many choices but Xcode.

Comparisons

Scripting Language Editors

Idle: Simple. Limited options and customization.

Sublime Text 2/3: More complex. Tons of extensions and customizations.

Brackets: Simple but complex. tons of themes. Still very new.

Atom: Large app size. Nice looking. Has a sublime-esk.

Programming Language IDE's

Xcode: Easy to use. tons of support. Large community.

Codeblocks: Clunky. * opinion * bad GUI. Has been around for a while.

Eclipse: Versatile, old,large community.

Conclusion

In the end, this question, boils down to opinion. What do you find is good?

For me I use brackets and sublime for scripting, and Xcode for programming.

For you as a beginner, start by looking at sublime text 2 or 3 and Xcode.


3/4 Icon in the status bar. What is that? Can you help me understand what application put  icon in the status bar ? it get disappears when Im trying to click on it to get the context menu.
Thank you !

That was "Habitify" app badge , application that track habits.


Some app or service block macbook from locking I have default settings for sleep mode. But still if go away and return to my macbook I see that it is not locked. I guess some app blocks it from locking. How can I find which one?

Okay, the first thing I'd do is boot your MacBook in Safe mode and test to see what happens.

Boot into Safe Mode

Follow these steps to boot your Mac into Safe Mode:

Fully shut down your Mac
Restart your Mac
Immediately press the Shift key and keep it down
Let go of the Shift key when you see the login window
Now log into your Mac and (NOTE: If you have FileVault enabled you may need to log in twice)
Now test to see if your MacBook goes to sleep or not
Exit Safe Mode by restarting your Mac as normal
Once again, test to see if your Mac goes to sleep

If you find that your MacBook still doesn't go to sleep while in Safe Mode or when logged in normally afterwards, then proceed below to resetting your SMC.

If on the other hand you find that your MacBook does go to sleep in Safe Mode, but still doesn't when you're logged in normally, then let me know and we'll troubleshoot further.

Resetting your SMC

Your System Management Controller (SMC) manages a whole range of functions relating to power, charging, your Mac's thermal environment, and so on. Since you're having problems with your Mac going to sleep, this is a good thing to try.

However, since you haven't specified your model of MacBook, refer to How to reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac on Apple's website. Please read through this page carefully as the instructions differ for different models of Mac.


Launchpad Search Field not working - cannot type The launchpad search field suddenly no longer accepts text input for me.

Any idea how to get this to accept text again?  Searching for an app was so very useful.

Hit the tab key a few times. Worked for me.

You need to hit Tab once the launchpad screen comes up. The tab will then put focus on the search bar, and then pressing it again will remove it. Pressing it ~20times seems to cause some sort of reset. Once you visibly notice the cursor, things should be good.

Other things to try:

terminal > defaults write com.apple.dock ResetLaunchPad -bool true; killall Dock
logout / login
restart


Iphone 3G internet disconnects frequently I have an Iphone 3G with ios 4.2.1. I am using internet on my phone using Cellular data turned ON. It works fine for some time, but after then it disconnects and does not work untill i restart my phone. What is the issue.

Some phones do not re-login to the celluar network once disconnected. That's why a restart helps.

However, try "Reset Network Settings" on the iphone.


iPhone home screen not showing after erasing network and content settings I have erased my network and content setting from iPhone 5s. Now my home screen does not show anything. I want my home screen icons and apps back. How can I do that, or how can I reinstall them? I want this screen, kindly help me out.

If you have not powered off the phone recently, try that. A reboot often works wonders. Also what happens if you swipe right to left, do you get other apps? Are there 2 or more dots centered just above the dock? What I am getting at is it may be that you just have a blank home screen and all your apps have somehow moved to other screens. Swiping might reveal them and allow you to move them back.

Wiping just the network setting should affect nothing else. I've done it many times and never an app out of place.

Hopefully you have backed up your phone recently, you may have to restore from backup.


Perform a destructive video trim in OSX Photos I would like to trim my videos in Photos app running on macOS Mojave, and consequently, reclaim valuable hard disk space.

Photos only appears to do a non-destructive trim, so it doesn't for up hard disk space.
When I edit with an external application such as quicktime, I am unable to save over the original video once my edits are complete.
I could export, and reimport the video into photos, however I would loose the metadata such as date, time, camera settings, and location.

Is there a solution to my problem?

The only way to reduce the file size of a Video is to change its resolution (quality).

For that you will use the Export command.

Once exported to a lower resolution, the process is not reversible.

Standard definition (480p) is good for standard-definition TV.

If the video will play on a high-definition TV or display, choose one of the high-definition formats: 720p or 1080p.

4K is used for ultra-high-definition TVs and displays.

720 is most common and a good balance between good picture at reasonable file size.


How can I extract multipart iso files in Mac OS X? E.g.:
part1.iso
part2.iso

I know The Unarchiver can extract a single ISO file, but how can I extract multipart ISO files?

If they are in fact multipart ISO images (instead of two independent ISO files), you can concatenate them at a Terminal prompt:

cat part1.iso part2.iso >part.iso

I have no idea how to do this from a GUI elegantly.  Perhaps wrap that shell command with Applescript?


Cannot copy directory in MacOS with terminal Input
$ pwd /Users/kylefoley/library/containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/data/library/Autosave Information

$cp /Users/kylefoley/library/containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/data/library/Autosave\ Information /Volumes/old/QT_screen_recs

Output
/Users/kylefoley/library/containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/data/library/Autosave Information is a directory (not copied).

I don't understand why this is not working.  I've also tried:
$cp /Users/kylefoley/library/containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/data/library/Autosave\ Information/* /Volumes/old/QT_screen_recs

Which yields:
/Users/kylefoley/library/containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/data/library/Autosave Information/*: No such file or directory

When you want copy a directory with command cp you need add option -r or -a.
-a is best because it preserves the structure and attributes of files as indicated in the man command :
man cp

In your case if QT_screen_recs is a directory the corrects commands are :
cp -r /Users/kylefoley/library/containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/data/library/Autosave\ Information /Volumes/old/QT_screen_recs

or
cp -a /Users/kylefoley/library/containers/com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX/data/library/Autosave\ Information /Volumes/old/QT_screen_recs


iPhoto isn't working on my 2011 MacBook Pro with OS X Lion I don't know why but my iPhoto on my dock just has a picture of some pencils and an ø through everything and it was the same thing when I looked at it in the applications. When I try to open it, it says that it is probably damaged but it worked just last week. Btw my MacBook Pro was shipped with OS X Lion so I don't have any startup disks or anything like that and I never set up Time Machine and I still don't know how to set it up, so anything involving those 2 are out of the question.

You need to reinstall:

First: make a backup. Any kind of back up. Always have an up-to-date back up of your iPhoto Library.

To re-install iPhoto

1. Put the iPhoto.app in the trash (Drag it from your Applications Folder to the trash)

2: Trash the Receipts: In the Finder use the Go menu and select Go To Folder. In the resulting window type

/private/var/db/receipts

A Finder Window will open at that location and you can remove files that you see with iPhoto on the name.

Re-install.

As you have a recent make you do this via the Purchases List at the App Store.


Control stays with previous app after four-finger swipe? On my mac (Sierra, OS 10.12.6), I have it set so that I can swipe between different desktop screens with four fingers on the trackpad. But when I do this, the "control" stays with the app that was in use on the previous screen.

I.e., if I am using the Messages app, but then four-finger swipe to change to the screen where Google Chrome is open, and then I start typing, the text is entered into a conversation in Messages (only noticeable after scrolling back to the previous screen), not into Chrome.

Is there a setting that can change this behavior? It is always counterintuitive to have the app that's visible on my current desktop not actually be the one I'm controlling.

EDIT

I just found that this issue occurs consistently when switching between screens with Messages and Chrome, but doesn't seem to happen for all apps. E.g., when I switch between screens with Notes and Chrome, the control switches to the new app as desired.

This is unexpected behaviour. There is no setting for this. Does this also happen when you switch to a different virtual desktop with the keyboard shortcut ctrl + left/right arrow key?

I would usually tell people to trash the plist that holds any related settings but it seems that com.apple.desktop.plist doesn't exist anymore in Sierra.

Installing sierra over the current install could mend your issue. Best to have the latest installer for sierra in that case and not an older version than you already have installed. This will, by the way, not delete you stuff. It will install the OS over whatever is already there. You can only loose stuff if you go erase the disk first before installing.
Talking about re-installing, can you not install a later version of OSX? Maybe High sierra?


Accessing the Apps Store from 10.5.8 I'm running Mac OS X 10.5.8 on my MacBook with the Core 2 Duo processor.

I want to use iBooks Author and as I understand I need to upgrade my OS so I can access the App Store to download iBooks Author.

iBooks Author says it needs at least 10.6.6.

If I upgrade to something above 10.6.6, do I first need to upgrade to 10.6.6?
Can I download an upgrade instead of buying physical product?

The way I interpret the "Requires 10.6.6" requirement is that any of the 10.6 releases (currently 10.6.6, 10.6.7, 10.6.8) are supported, along with any of the 10.7 releases (currently 10.7, 10.7.1, 10.7.2, 10.7.3). It doesn't matter which version you start or end with; just end up with 10.6.6 or newer.

Apple only sells SnowLeopard (10.6) on DVD. I'm not aware of a legal download for SnowLeopard. I recently bought the DVD for a relative and it had an older version, like 10.6.3. I installed from the DVD, then updated to 10.6.8 with Software Update. (My assumption is that Apple only updates the OS on the packaged media when they deem it necessary.)


Running script from BBEdit/TextWrangler gives "tput: No value for $TERM and no -T specified" If I write a script in BBEdit/TextWrangler, e.g.

#!/usr/bin/env python
print 1234

and choose "Run" from the #! menu, I get this in a new document:

1234
tput: No value for $TERM and no -T specified
tput: No value for $TERM and no -T specified
tput: No value for $TERM and no -T specified

How do I get rid of those 3 extra lines?

The solution is to enclose any use of tput in .bash_profile within a test for interactive shell, i.e.:

if [[ $- == *i* ]]; then
  #tput command
  #tput command
  #tput command
  #etc
fi


Speed up Automator workflow I've recorded some actions and made an Automator workflow out of it. It's basically some clicks, selecting something in drop-down menues and quitting the app. I run the workflow at 10x speed, but it's still fairly slow. Is there a way to speed it up beyond 10x? It can also run in the background, invisibly, I don't need to see the steps. I don't know if it's possible.

Try this alternative approach in Automator. Be sure to back up any PDFs before applying this workflow – the originals will be overwritten.

In Automator.app, create a new workflow and add the following actions:

Ask for Finder Items, with Allow Multiple Selection
Apply Quartz Filter to PDF Documents, selecting the Reduce File Size option

When run this workflow will let you select multiple PDFs and then overwrite those files with reduced file size versions. It performs the equivalent steps as the original workflow, but is faster than scripting Preview.app.


Can I downgrade from iOS 11 developer beta? I'm not worried about data preservation I simply want to get rid of this buggy beta.

I regretfully installed the beta on my dailydrive/main device.

I'm aware that I may not be able to preserve all of my data because I didn't make any backups whatsoever, therefore I've performed manual backups of my most precious files.

I just want to go from iOS 11 Beta 2 to a clean and completely-reset latest-version of iOS 10.

I have the developer beta if that makes a difference.

Yes! You can always downgrade from iOS developer beta to stable version signed by Apple. Just follow these steps and you are good to go!

First of all make sure you have latest version of iTunes if not
update your iTunes to latest version.
Then you have to download stable iOS file for your device. Use this website to download appropriate version (10.3.2) for your device.
Turn of find my iPhone feature by going to Settings on your phone.
Connect your device to computer and put your device in recovery mode. If you don't know how to put your device in recovery mode just google it or search it on youtube you will find tons of videos.
Once your device is in recovery mode iTunes will pop up letting you know your device is in recovery mode. Press and hold the OPTION key if you are using Mac or SHIFT key on Windows and click on Restore iPhone .Browse the firmware you downloaded.
Now sit back and relax your phone will be restored to iOS 10.3.2


Disk Utility info shows encrypted disk is not encrypted! Using macOS Sierra: Disk Utility > File > New Image > Blank Image..., I created an encrypted .dmg file.

However when I open this .dmg (by entering password) and click "Info" in disk utility, it says:

  Is encrypted:    No

As I want to store some sensitive info (Credit Card info etc) in this disk and then upload it to cloud storage, I am worried if there is a bug in Sierra causing .dmg files to not be encrypted at all!

Is this normal? How can we verify if the disk is actually encrypted?

P.S. My filevault is On, and for my own Macintosh HD disk utility info says Is encrypted: Yes

The proper command to check if a dmg is encrypted or not is:

hdiutil isencrypted /../../encrypted.dmg

or more detailed with the encryption type:

hdiutil imageinfo /../../encrypted.dmg

Examples:

hdiutil isencrypted /Users/user/Desktop/Untitled.dmg
encrypted: YES
blocksize: 512
uuid: 24895029-49B1-469D-A154-B8344B7CD6EB
private-key-count: 0
passphrase-count: 1
max-key-count: 1
version: 2

and/or

hdiutil imageinfo /Users/user/Desktop/Untitled.dmg
<Enter disk's password>
Backing Store Information:
    URL: file:///Users/user/Desktop/Untitled.dmg
    Name: Untitled.dmg
    Class Name: CEncryptedEncoding
    Encryption: AES-256
    Backing Store Information:
        URL: file:///Users/user/Desktop/Untitled.dmg
        Name: Untitled.dmg
        Class Name: CBSDBackingStore
Class Name: CRawDiskImage
Checksum Type: none
Size Information:
    Total Bytes: 100020736
    Compressed Ratio: 1
    Sector Count: 195353
    Total Non-Empty Bytes: 100020736
    Compressed Bytes: 100020736
    Total Empty Bytes: 0
Format: UDRW
Format Description: raw read/write
Checksum Value:
Properties:
    Encrypted: true
    Kernel Compatible: false
    Checksummed: false
    Software License Agreement: false
    Partitioned: false
    Compressed: no
Segments:
    0: /Users/user/Desktop/Untitled.dmg
partitions:
    partition-scheme: GUID
    block-size: 512
    partitions:
        0:
            partition-name: Protective Master Boot Record
            partition-start: 0
            partition-synthesized: true
            partition-length: 1
            partition-hint: MBR
        1:
            partition-name: GPT Header
            partition-start: 1
            partition-synthesized: true
            partition-length: 1
            partition-hint: Primary GPT Header
        2:
            partition-name: GPT Partition Data
            partition-start: 2
            partition-synthesized: true
            partition-length: 32
            partition-hint: Primary GPT Table
        3:
            partition-name:
            partition-start: 34
            partition-synthesized: true
            partition-length: 6
            partition-hint: Apple_Free
        4:
            partition-UUID: 17698BE2-A406-43AA-9195-8D1F1AAECE6B
            partition-name: disk image
            partition-hint-UUID: 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
            partition-start: 40
            partition-number: 1
            partition-length: 195280
            partition-hint: Apple_HFS
            partition-filesystems:
                HFS+:
        5:
            partition-name: GPT Partition Data
            partition-start: 195320
            partition-synthesized: true
            partition-length: 32
            partition-hint: Backup GPT Table
        6:
            partition-name: GPT Header
            partition-start: 195352
            partition-synthesized: true
            partition-length: 1
            partition-hint: Backup GPT Header
    burnable: false
Resize limits (per hdiutil resize -limits):
 min     cur     max
36072   195280  60572704

I can only guess why diskutil doesn't show that the image is encrypted. It's either a glitch or diskutil only rates FileVault as disk encryption.


Hide a user account from the login screen of macOS Catalina I have a Mac running macOS Catalina that has two users accounts, 'foo' and 'admin'. Both appear on the login screen. I'd like to hide the 'admin' account from the login screen.

The following tricks that used to work on earlier versions of macOS aren't working anymore:

sudo dscl . create /Users/admin IsHidden 1
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow HiddenUsersList -array-add admin

The trick still works in Catalina:

Log out as admin (below "admin" is meant as name of the admin user account - adapt accordingly) and login as foo.
Open the Terminal and enter:

su admin
sudo dscl . create /Users/admin IsHidden 1

If you want to remove the login screen's "Others..." option, which appears after disabling the admin account, enter:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow SHOWOTHERUSERS_MANAGED -bool FALSE

To reverse the hidden admin user and enable "Others..." again enter:

su admin
sudo dscl . create /Users/admin IsHidden 0
sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow SHOWOTHERUSERS_MANAGED

Tested in a Catalina VM. This might not work for T2-equipped Macs and definitely not if FileVault is enabled.

To remove the user admin from the login screen on a filevaulted Mac you can simply remove this account from the FileVault enabled users:

Log out as admin and login as foo
Open the Terminal and enter:

su admin

List all users to be sure that user admin and foo are FV enabled:

sudo fdesetup list
sudo fdesetup remove -user admin

After removing admin only one user is left to unlock the system volume!
To remove the user admin from the intermediate login screen (i.e. volume still unlocked and after logging out as foo)

su admin
sudo dscl . create /Users/admin IsHidden 1
sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow SHOWOTHERUSERS_MANAGED

Use at your own risk! Tested in a Catalina VM. This might not work for T2-equipped Macs.


iTunes 12.5.1.21 on Windows 10 Version 1607 cannot detect iPhone 6s and iPod Touch (5th Generation) I have an iPhone 6s and iPod Nano 5th generation which I use with a Dell PC (15R 5521) running Windows 10 version 1607 (updated to the latest version).

The latest version of iTunes (12.5.1.21) is installed but it does not detect either of the devices.

I have tried reinstalling iTunes (doesn't work), trying to update drivers for iPhone and iPod (from Device Manager, doesn't do anything).

Any help or suggestions because I'm at a loss.

Thanks!

If you are on Windows 10 N or KN, try installing the latest version of the "Media Feature Pack".

The latest version at present for Windows 10 v. 1607 is the Aug 2, 2016 version, which you can download here.


Is it possible to modify OS X default MIDI sounds? I've been looking around to find out how to change MIDI sounds for the Built-in MIDI synthesizer inside Mac OS X, haven't found anything, is there a way to do that?

Louis Boux wants to substitute the default DLS soundfont of General MIDI sounds used by QuickTime to another DLS soundfont. Such soundfonts are files that end in .sf2 format.

It was possible to do this in earlier versions of QuickTime, such as QuickTime 5 or QuickTime 6, back around the year 2002 and earlier. In fact, I did this myself on older systems. However, QuickTime X cannot read an .sf2 file directly. It must be converted into .dls format.

By way of background, when you click on a standard MIDI file linked to a Web page, for instance, QuickTime plays it back inside your Web browser using QuickTime's built-in MIDI sound library, which is of poor quality. This sound library was licensed from the Roland company some 15 years ago and has never been improved upon.

The soundfont that I was able to use as a substitute in older systems is a GeneralMIDI soundfont which is provided with MakeMusic Finale Reader, which is free.


If MacbookPro has BIOS emulation, why the need for ELILO for Linux? I'm not fully versed in how the EFI booting process happens. If I want to install Linux in a partition formerly used by Windows, why can I not simply use LILO, installing the boot section in the "root" instead the MBR?
Thanks.

The BIOS emulation only kicks in if you use MBR or hybrid GUID + MBR partitioning. By default, Macs only use GUID partitioning. Installing Windows via Boot Camp enables this hybrid partitioning, but you can in principle also do it manually for Linux. The downside is that you then have to maintain two partition tables and make sure to keep them in sync.

It is rumoured that you can still boot Mac OS X from a pure MBR, too. I've never tried this, and even if it does work, I suspect things like firmware updates and FileVault 2 FDE will not work in such a configuration. You'll probably also have problems with multi-booting unless your bootloader supports OSX directly.


How to toggle dark mode on and invert colors using Automator I am using Automator for the first time and I wonder if it possible to create a quick action to toggle dark mode on and invert colors using a shortcut.

I don't know about invert colors, but to quickly toggle Dark/Light Mode, In Automator:

Make a new Application document:

Simply add the chunk for Change System Appearance > Toggle Light/Dark:

Save and name the application somewhere you can easily activate it, such as the Desktop so you can double-click it to toggle Dark Mode. Alternatively, you can simply search for it in Spotlight search and hit Enter to activate it.

I'll also plug a great app I came across called Night Owl, which is a menu bar app that toggles Dark Mode and you can assign a keyboard shortcut to it. This is what I use now after previously using the Automator solution.


Can't launch an app after creation by Platypus. Error: ....app/Contents/Resources/script: is a directory In my project I have a number of jar-files, resources, h2 database, etc. I launch my application by executing a shell-script with configuration params.

I would like to create Mac app by using Platypus. However after creation I can't launch it. Could anyone help me?

I set script path and add all my resources like this:

After I create an app (Optimize Application) and try to launch it I receive the following error:

  /Users/Mac/SPI/Reader Plat/Start Irule
  Client.app/Contents/Resources/script: /Users/Mac/SPI/Reader Plat/Start
  Irule Client.app/Contents/Resources/script: is a directory

My shell-script is the following:

#!/bin/bash

export IRULE_HOME="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd -P)"

export IRULE_LANG=en
export IRULE_REGION=EN
export IRULE_XMS=-Xms256m
export IRULE_XMX=-Xmx1024m
export LOG4J_CONFIGURATION=${IRULE_HOME}/conf/log4j2.xml
export JAVA_HOME="${IRULE_HOME}/jre/Contents/Home"

export DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS="$IRULE_XMS \
              $IRULE_XMX \
              -Dlog4j.configuration=file:"${LOG4J_CONFIGURATION}" \
              -Dirule.home=${IRULE_HOME} \
              -Dirule.client.logs.path=${IRULE_HOME}/logs \
              -Duser.language="${IRULE_LANG}" \
              -Duser.region="${IRULE_REGION}" \
              $JAVA_OPTS"

export PATH=${JAVA_HOME}/bin:${JAVA_HOME}:${PATH}
export CLASSPATH=${IRULE_HOME}/lib/*:${IRULE_HOME}/conf:${JAVA_HOME}/lib/jfxrt.jar;

echo "IRULE_HOME="${IRULE_HOME}
echo "IRULE_XMS="${IRULE_XMS}
echo "IRULE_XMX="${IRULE_XMX}

${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java -version
exec ${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java -Xdock:name="iRule Reader" -Xdock:icon=${IRULE_HOME}/image/irule.png ${DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS} -classpath "${CLASSPATH}" com.spi2.Main $*

How to solve the issue and successfully launch the app?

The issue was with the name of the directories and app that are separated by spaces.

  Reader Plat/Start Irule Client

For some reasons removing spaces solve the issue.


Find filename of picture inserted in a Word Document on a Mac In a word document I included a pdf, that is a picture.

However I forgot where is the source location and how it is called.

Is there any way to find that out?

I use Mac OS Mojave 10.14.5 on a Mac Book Pro and Microsoft Word for Mac Version 16.26.

There is a slight possibility that if you export your current document to a PDF, open it on Acrobat Reader, put your mouse over that image for a few seconds, a tooltip will come up and prompting you the original location of the image.

However, since your image was imported through a PDF but not a direct file, this method may not 100% work.


Terminal command to move all loose files into a directory with the file name I have a folder containing thousands of files and directories. I would like to move all the files that are not contained in a sub directory into a directory and name it the file name, while leaving the files already inside of directories alone, ie:

create 'newdir'
move 123.mp4 into 'newdir'
change name 'newdir' to '123'
repeat

Command

This command was tested in a bash shell.

for x in *;do if [[ -f $x ]];then mkdir newdir;mv "$x" newdir/.;mv newdir "${x%.*}";fi;done

Explanation

The code shown below is not necessary commands you can execute. Rather, what is shown is an explanation of various parts of the code shown above.

Loop through all file names in current directory.

for x in *;do ... done

Only do regular files. (Skip the directories.)

if [[ -f $x ]];then ... fi;

Make new directory newdir.

mkdir "newdir";

Move file x to new directory newdir.

mv "$x" newdir/.;

Rename newdir to the name of the desired new directory. (Set newdir to file name x after removing the last . and all characters that follow.)

mv newdir "${x%.*}";

Comments

If the desired directory already exists, then the newdir folder (containing the file) will be moved to the desired directory. For example, if the file 123.mp4 and directory 123 both already exist, then file 123.mp4 will end up in 123/newdir. You can test to see if this occurred by entering the command given below.

find . -name newdir

For example, if 123/newdir/123.mp4 existed, then the follow output would appear.

./123/newdir


Does memory size increase the weight of the iPhone 6 Plus? Are the 16, 32 and 64GB models the same weight or does increased memory increase the weight?

As a general answer normally an increase in memory capacity of that order won't have a significant effect on weight. I'm not sure exactly what memory chips Apple use in the iPhone 6 Plus but 16GB is in the realm where a single chip can be used. As an example a TSSOP-56 package is pretty common for FLASH memory  and if you read a typical Package Material Disclosure the total maximum weight is 221 milligrams each.

If they added an additional three and you allowed a little extra for solder it would still come in under a gram. So when Apple don't list a seperate weight based on memory capacity they probably either use higher density FLASH or don't consider the weight significant enough to list.


Avoiding having SIP permanently disabled to permit kernel extension I'm looking to work around the lack of support for a wireless adapter in Big Sur by using https://github.com/chris1111/Wireless-USB-Big-Sur-Adapter/. Unfortunately it requires SIP to be disabled not just during installation, but permanently. I'm trying to understand why that is, and whether there might be alternatives?
For instance, HoRDNS which faced similar problems you only need to temporarily disable it (https://github.com/jwise/HoRNDIS/issues/132)
Does anyone have any suggestions? My understanding of how all the kext stuff works is a little limited.

You can selectively enable parts of System Integrity Protection.
For example, you can enable all of SIP except kernel extension protection with
csrutil enable --without kext

Some other options to try listed in https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/17452, but the kext option sounds the most promising.


App store update page doesn't seem to be loading properly on Mac OS El Capitan 10.11.6 Basically the "updates page" loads in a non rich html format, and if theres an update it's missing the tabs on the update page as well.  I can't figure out if this is just because apple may have stopped supporting El Capitan or if I have something else going on.  Any help would be appreciated.  I've trashed the caches in library and the user profile. But this page is the only one that still loads like this (see pic below) on my app store.

It's been that way for quite a while - I'd assume it's simply no longer supported for El Cap, but I have no citation for that.
You have to bear in mind that there will no longer be any updates for any apps on El Capitan [nor indeed for the OS itself] - many apps are now minimum spec Mojave, some a little older some newer, but no-one is going to be testing against El Capitan any more. It was superseded 5 years ago & generally support is to 3 years.
As noted, this applies up to High Sierra - the only difference on High Sierra is it lists all the updates you can't have, also in plain text ;)


did the following steps now disk is not recognized! So I did this for a flashdrive and it worked perfectly then I tried it for an external harddrive and it will not work. After entering:

sudo mount -w -t msdos /dev/disk3s1 /Volumes/MIXTAPE

I get this output:

mount [-dfruvw] [-o options] [-t external_type] special node
       mount [-adfruvw] [-t external_type]
       mount [-dfruvw] special | node

Please help! it will not let me recognize any disk at all when plugged in

Steps followed and worked for flashdrive but failed for other...
From the terminal:

Identify your USB by NAME and IDENTIFIER:

diskutil list

Output is:

/dev/disk3 (external, physical):
#:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE    IDENTIFIER
0:               FDisk_partition_scheme              *2.0 GB     disk3
1:                 DOS_FAT_32 MIXTAPE                 2.0 GB   disk3s1

In this case, NAME=MIXTAPE and the IDENTIFIER=/dev/disk3s1

Now unmount the USB:

sudo diskutil unmount /dev/$IDENTIFIER

Example:

sudo diskutil unmount /dev/disk3s1

Output is:

Volume MIXTAPE on disk3s1 unmounted

Now create the Volume directory - this appears to be the key!

sudo mkdir /Volumes/$NAME

Example:

sudo mkdir /Volumes/MIXTAPE

No output.

Now mount the USB to the Volume:

sudo mount -w -t msdos /dev/disk3s1 /Volumes/$NAME

Example:

sudo mount -w -t msdos /dev/disk3s1 /Volumes/MIXTAPE

No output.

Validate that the USB is now writeable:

touch /Volumes/$NAME/tmp.txt

Example:

touch /Volumes/MIXTAPE/tmp.txt

You should now be able to see that you were able to create the tmp.txt file on your USB in the Finder app or by:

ls -al /Volumes/$NAME

Example:

ls -al /Volumes/MIXTAPE

You could be experiencing a hardware issue.  It could be a problem with your hd enclosure.  But, let's try this. Maybe the format didn't take and you still have the disk formatted for NTFS.  In terminal, run:

 diskutil list

Run this command before and after you attempt to format the drive. Post back the before and after lists.

Do you want to share with Windows?  For now, let's set it up for the mac. I suggest going with the most common setup for an external disk.


Time Machine Restore Failure I have been trying to do a restore for a week and it continues to fail. I will post pictures below but in a nutshell I had a 1 TB drive in my MBP that was almost full. While it was taking an update a few weeks ago it became corrupt. I used the Time Capsule sucessfully to restore the drive and used it for about two weeks before attempting this HDD upgrade to the two TB.

This time the restore will run overnight or 1 hour or any random amount of time before I get the error message. I thought perhaps that I had a heat issue so I’ve moved things around to keep both the MBP and the TC cool.

It almost finished last night after placing the old HDD in and doing a inspection of the backup on the TM. It was actually doing a “clean up to the restore” when I went to bed only to fail again.

I am trying this using the Ethernet port although the back ups were done via wireless. My MBP is a late 2011 model and the TC was purchased in 2012. I still have the complete 1 TB HDD that I can fall back on if need be. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I find it quite odd that Time Machine refuses to completely restore a backup onto your Mac. I do not know the reason for this, but try these methods (I honestly do not think it is a hardware problem):

Restore from a older backup.
Install MacOS completely, and try to backup with migration assistant.

These methods may take some time, but hopefully they work.


How to set a folder view as default for all folders in Finder? I'd like to get the same folder view for every folder, that means, to have my stuff being sorted always by type and then by name. is that possible with automator?

Till yet, I set my view via cmd+j (List view, sort it by type and name) and set it as "default". It just sets the view as default for this particular folder. But I'd like to set it for all the subfolders too. When I change the folder, the documents are sorted different and not as I set it as default for the previous folder before...

So I tried to make a workflow with Automator, but it doesn't work. Or I just can't handle this program.

First I clicked on "workflow" (is that right or should I have chosen another icon?)
define the automation: "Get Folder Contents" --> "Sort Finder Items" (Type) --> "Sort Finder Items" (name) --> "Repeat for each subfolder found",

That's how it looks: (sry for the german, but the description is in (2))

--> Or is it possible to do it apart from automator?

As bmike mentioned, the default settings are not used for folders that have folder-specific settings saved in a .DS_Store file. You can just delete .DS_Store files though:

sudo find / -name .DS_Store -delete; killall Finder


How do I correctly use applescript 2.3 script library "use" rather than "tell" When I use my library this way applescript will not parse the display dialog line, treating dialog as an identifier!

Can anyone explain why this is not being understood in the way I want it to be? Many thanks!
** UPDATE ** Both the scripts below will now compile and work properly

use myLib : script "IHDatabase" -- the name of the library
-- UPDATE -- See also my answer below
use scripting additions
-- UPDATE -- without the above statement this script will not compile
set db to IHDatabase of myLib at "~/Desktop/TestDB.db"
-- IHDatabase handler returns an IHDB script object
tell db
    add_sql("drop table if exists testtable;")
    add_sql("create table testtable (firstname, lastname, country);")
    add_sql("insert into testtable values('Ray', 'Barber', 'USA');")
    add_sql("insert into testtable values('jj', 'Sancho', 'Spain');")
    add_sql("insert into testtable values('Adam', 'Bell', 'Canada');")
    add_sql("insert into testtable values('Bruce', 'Phillips', 'USA');")
    add_sql("insert into testtable values('Kim', 'Hunter', 'USA');")
    add_sql("insert into testtable values('Kevin', 'Bradley', 'USA');")
    add_sql("select * from testtable;") -- columns are separated by pipes ("|") in the result.
    set testtable_result to run_sql()
    log testtable_result & return & return
    set title to "So far, the table contents are: " & return & return
    display dialog title & testtable_result buttons {"Done"} default button 1 with icon 1
end tell

But if I write it like this, with an extra level of tell nesting, it works OK:

tell script "IHDatabase" -- the name of the library
    set db to IHDatabase at "~/Desktop/TestDB.db"
    -- IHDatabase handler returns an IHDB script object
    tell db
        add_sql("drop table if exists testtable;")
        add_sql("create table testtable (firstname, lastname, country);")
        add_sql("insert into testtable values('Ray', 'Barber', 'USA');")
        add_sql("insert into testtable values('jj', 'Sancho', 'Spain');")
        add_sql("insert into testtable values('Adam', 'Bell', 'Canada');")
        add_sql("insert into testtable values('Bruce', 'Phillips', 'USA');")
        add_sql("insert into testtable values('Kim', 'Hunter', 'USA');")
        add_sql("insert into testtable values('Kevin', 'Bradley', 'USA');")
        add_sql("select * from testtable;") -- columns are separated by pipes ("|") in the result.
        set testtable_result to run_sql()
        log testtable_result & return & return
        set title to "So far, the table contents are: " & return & return
        display dialog title & testtable_result buttons {"Done"} default button 1 with icon 1
    end tell
end tell

FYI the library is:

property name : "IHDatabase"
property version : "1.0"

--IHDatabase class
on IHDatabase at dbname
    script IHDB
        property loc : missing value -- tells SQLite where to put our db if it doesn't exist, identifies it if it does.
        property head : missing value -- the opening statement of every future command to our db.
        property tail : missing value --ends every query started with "head".
        property sql_stmt_list : missing value -- we build up a SQL program here

        on init(dbname)
            set loc to space & dbname & space
            set head to "sqlite3" & loc & quote
            set tail to quote
            set sql_stmt_list to {}
            return me
        end init

        on add_sql(stmt)
            set stmt_space to stmt & space
            set sql_stmt_list to sql_stmt_list & stmt_space
        end add_sql

        on run_sql()
            set rows to do shell script head & sql_stmt_list & tail
            set sql_stmt_list to {}
            return rows
        end run_sql

    end script
    return IHDB's init(dbname)
end IHDatabase

I have just discovered that you need to add explicitly use scripting additions to have the display dialog command recognised properly.
Once you start using use then apparently other libraries, otherwise normally available by default, have to be explicitly included by their own use statements.

So add

use scripting additions

to the client of the library (my first file above) and it will compile and run as intended.


Are there any hacks that allow a late 2008 macbook pro unibody to use Airplay Mirroring Apple says only 2011 Macs/MacBooks Pro can use this feature, but I'm hopeful that there is a way to bypass this.

I'm not sure why you claim to be "sure there is a way to by pass this".  If you know something we don't, then you tell us!

Airplay Mirroring uses Intel Quick Sync Video, a hardware feature of newer Intel CPUs.  This consists of CPU support, and a separate ASIC on the motherboard, neither of which your 2008 Macbook has.

If you really needed to do it, my first thought would be to replace your motherboard and CPU with those from a newer Macbook, but generally they're designed specifically for their case, so I don't think this would be feasible.

Slightly more realistically, you could reverse-engineer the Airplay Mirroring program, find the code that uses Intel Quick Sync, and write your own version that works without it, perhaps using the GPU (which would be 5-10 times slower but depending on the CPU and GPU could potentially work).

This would be exceptionally difficult, and of course far more expensive than simply buying a new Mac.