what happens if an Apple ID is never authenticated? Allan says that something smells rotten about the account, that something, somewhere, must be compromised.  Is that an absolute?

That, in order to create an Apple ID, that the e-mail must be authenticated?

Apple writes:

  My name is Jennifer, and I am one of the Senior Advisors here with the
  iTunes Store Support Team. After consulting with the adviser handling
  your request, I have taken ownership of your case so that I can work
  directly with you, and answer any questions you may have.

  I understand you’ve received an email about someone using your email
  to create an Apple ID using a device you do not having. I would want
  this reviewed as well if someone was using my email, allow me to help.

  As we have no means to contact out to the person who create the
  account, as this is only an ID in the system, not a full account to be
  associated to any downloads or purchases. I would use the site
  iforgot.apple.com to begin the process to gain access to this account
  and reset the password and associate it to your own device.

I ask because Wikipedia states:

  An Apple ID must be a valid email address, protected by a password
  that is an alphanumeric string of at least 8 characters, and
  case-sensitive.

and

  When a user creates a new Apple ID, Apple will send a verification
  email to the email address that the user provided during registration.
  The user is required to follow the URL that is included in the
  verification email to activate the account, then the user will be able
  to use their Apple ID. It is possible to create an Apple ID without
  specifying a credit card.

My question:  what happens if, in the best case scenario for me, some one got a nice iPhone for Christmas, and simply entered my e-mail by accident?

Is the account ever activated?  Is it in a sort of limbo?

Again, Alex's answer categorically states:

  Given the security process, your email must have been compromised when
  it was created

Which is concerning, to say the least.  So, to clarify, might it be possible that this is a mix-up?  Or, because I received the activation code the other day, that my e-mail has been compromised?

(Unfortunately, no iPhone for Christmas.)

A bit less concerned now that I seem to be speaking with a person at Apple.  Still, curious.

It occurs to me that I just received the e-mail about the iCloud account being created; not sure that's the same as an Apple ID creation.  It's not impossible that I created an account long ago, but unlikely.  I'll look for other e-mails from Apple.

In the answer to your previous question on this topic, it's answers the question directly in the verification email sent out by Apple; it's the very last sentence.

  If you did not make this request, you can ignore this email.  No Apple
  ID will be created without verification.

I've included the same picture here, but larger for your reference.


Will I be able to use an unlocked AT&T iPhone 3GS with European carriers? Moving to Austria in two weeks. I have an iPhone 3GS that has been unlocked by AT&T.

Will I be able to use my iPhone 3GS with European carrier sim cards once I get there?

Yes, having taken an unlocked American AT&T iPhone 3GS to Britain and Germany, I can confirm that you can just put in a European SIM card and it will work. Much cheaper there than here too!


How to disable updates for specific app in Mac app store? How can I disable updates of a particular app (in this case: iMovie) in the Mac App Store?  The method documented here (right click on update, select Hide Update) no longer works.

I have app Store version 2.2.1 (584), macOS Sierra version 10.12.6 (16G29).

In a few cases where the code signing allows, you can prevent this check.

In finder, right click each app and show package contents.
Locate a folder named _MASReceipt and delete it.

This removes the receipt that tells the App Store to manage the app. I would do a backup of all apps before you alter them in case you want them back without downloading the update you seek to avoid.

In many cases, this wrecks the app since it’s now been tampered with - How do I avoid update checks for third party software (cobook), dont want to "update" by mistake

The long term answer is to have the developer code sign their app in a manner that lets you can opt out of upgrades. Once you convince them why this is good, they will have the option to fix whatever issues you have with patching the app or allow their customers to control this.


Brand new external hard drive formatted exFAT is mounted read only I bought a new HDD, formatted as exFAT with mac.
I moved files from my laptop to the HDD (moved, I mean, I also deleted them).
It happened with a directory it got stucked. I quit the process of copying that directory.
I tried to trash and erase trash. I could not erase it.
I tried eject from Finder. It could not.
I unplugged - when there were no process active.

I tried to plug, and could not mount.
I discover apple run fsck automatically. I kill the process, used diskutil to mount the volume, unmount and eject.

I tried to plug and mount and again.
Now the volume is mounted, but Read only.
S.M.A.R.T. not verified.

So I launch fsck - I don't know when it will finish, there are (estimated) about million files, HDD is 4T.

I m confident disk is ok, since brand new.

Please advice on how get rid of read-only and steps to mount exFAT external HDD properly in mac, want to prevent automatic fsck - also because fsck is taking forever, and not sure it could repare anything if in read-only mode.
FSCK is stuck at checking system hierarchy:

    diskutil list

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.3 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            499.4 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *4.0 TB     disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:       Microsoft Basic Data myHDD                 4.0 TB     disk1s2

sudo fsck_exfat /dev/disk1s2
fsck_exfat: Opened /dev/rdisk1s2 read-only
** Checking volume.
** Checking main boot region.
** Checking system files.
** Volume name is luigi4T.
** Checking upper case translation table.
** Checking file system hierarchy.

Mac OS 1.9.5

If your exfat drive shows up as read-only, then all you need to do is unmount the drive and then use the "mount_exfat" utility to mount the drive. Once you do this, and right click on the drive → "Get Info" will tell that you have custom access to the drive, instead of "read-only". Here are the steps:

Open the terminal on your mac.
Type diskutil list and you will get a listing like this:

/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):    #:                       TYPE NAME SIZE       IDENTIFIER    0:      GUID_partition_scheme
*500.3 GB   disk0    1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1    2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         500.1 GB   disk0s2

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):    #:                       TYPE NAME        SIZE       IDENTIFIER    0:      APFS Container Scheme -
+500.1 GB   disk1
                             Physical Store disk0s2    1:                APFS Volume Untitled - Data         407.2 GB   disk1s1    2:           APFS Volume Preboot                 82.4 MB    disk1s2    3:           APFS Volume Recovery                528.5 MB   disk1s3    4:           APFS Volume VM                      3.2 GB     disk1s4    5:           APFS Volume Untitled                10.7 GB    disk1s5

/dev/disk2 (external, physical):    #:                       TYPE NAME SIZE       IDENTIFIER    0:      GUID_partition_scheme
*5.0 TB     disk2    1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1    2:       Microsoft Basic Data Backup Plus             5.0 TB     disk2s2

In the listing above, we notice that /dev/disk2s2 is our external drive. Unmount the drive by runningsudo umount /dev/disk2s2`.
Now create a directory in in /Volumes by running sudo mkdir -p /Volumes/<name of your volume>
Mount the hard drive to this directory your created by running sudo mount_exfat /dev/disk2s2 /Volumes/<name of your volume>.

Once this is done, you should be able to create new folders and write to your drive.


How can I see which processes are draining my macbook battery by percentage? Android devices have a screen that shows you approximately what applications and processes are using your battery, by percentage.

I'm wondering, in theory, can this be done on a MacBook? How do you think Android determines those numbers?

I'd say that what's really being measured there is average CPU usage per application. Then some maths is being done in the background to calculate based on CPU usage how many watts per hour are being consumed per app. Knowing current battery capacity/charge would make that pretty trivial in terms of calculation.

On a portable computer, similarly, if an app is really driving your CPU, then your battery is gonna run out faster.

I'd recommend getting hold of something like iStat Menus which can show you realtime CPU usage in the menu bar as well as a bunch of other stuff. Specifically, the CPU monitor in iStat breaks down CPU usage per application.


Cmd+Tab switches to the correct space, but doesn't bring app up to front I have a problem (bug?) with application switching on Lion.

I use two Spaces. Say one has Postbox open, and another has Firefox and Vim.

Vim is in the foreground, and Firefox's window is behind it.

When I Cmd+Tab from Postbox to Firefox, the space is switched correctly, but Firefox remains in the background.

If I Cmd+Tab to Firefox again, or select it in the Dock, the window comes up front normally.

The bug isn't limited to Firefox only, seen it with many apps.

What am I doing wrong?

It's a feature not a bug :-)

Start tabbing with Cmd-Tab until you get to the application you want to switch to, then press and hold Option before releasing Cmd-Tab.


How can I mirror my OS X screen and functionality to an Android tablet? Trying to create a cheap cockpit type chart plotter/navigation setup for my friends yacht. Thought the most cost effective way would be with an osx laptop we have running inavx (or similar) and an Android tablet mirror. Is this possible?

OS X has a built in VNC-compatible server (This is for 10.9, older versions have it but I'm not sure if some earlier ones have the controls somewhere else):

Check System Preferences > Sharing > Screen Sharing
Click Computer settings… > VNC viewers may control screen with password: (set a password)
Setup an ad-hoc WiFi connection between the tablet and the laptop: Click Create Network… from the Airport menu and connect to it from the tablet.
Using a VNC client on the tablet, such as: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=android.androidVNC&hl=en, connect to the laptop using the Bonjour address and the password you set above—Back on the Screen Sharing page, it will say something like Other users can access your computer's screen at vnc://mdryden-mbp.local.

With any luck, the laptop's screen should appear on the tablet and you'll be able to control it. I haven't tried the app above, but many tablet VNC clients can be configured to both move the cursor and click upon tapping, or else have a virtual trackpad on screen.


In Wiki Server 4 on OS X Server the first page includes four images that link to other pages. How do i add more? In Wiki Server 4 on OS X Server the first page includes four images that link to other pages. How do i add more?

You can click on them to go to another place in wiki server. How do i create more images that link to URLs? I know how to create text links to URLs... but i can't seem to be able to add more images just like the ones on the first page.

Anyone?

Apparently you can...

Upload any image using the Add image (not the attachment) button in edit mode.
Once uploaded. While still in edit mode. Click on the same line right "before" the image, not on the image itself... in the white space.

A new button will appear in the edit toolbar at the top it will say Link (down arrow).

Click that... it works just like normal links, and you can link that photo anywhere.

Click Save... now when you click the image... instead of getting another window with the preview... you get redirected to the URL you provided.


2007 macbook - trackpad stuck in scrolling mode I have a tank of a computer from 2007 (17 inch Macbook pro 3,1) which is still working fine, but a recent issue has me doubting how much time is left.

The issue is happening to an unresponsive trackpad. The trackpad is not completely unresponsive, but instead gets stuck in 2 finger scrolling mode. What I mean by this is that the trackpad still works, but I am unable to use the pointer when it gets stuck in this mode. I am still able to scroll up and down on webpages etc, but the pointer is stuck. What happens is suddenly i am able to scroll with one finger instead of 2. The problem seems to be only initiated by using the 2 finger scrolling gesture.

My current workaround is to ALT-TAB to another program and this sometimes solves the issue, but not always. I have tried to search the internet about this but have come up empty handed. Hoping someone can guide me in the right direction.

To be clear, the trackpad is one of those that has only one large button (no left and right buttons).

Thanks

Sometimes issues like these can happen if there is water underneath the trackpad. Try blowing some air or warming it out in the sun or other dry area.

Try to use an external mouse and you should know if the USB bus is still working.

You can refer to iFixit to open your MBP and remove the small dust particles which maybe cause the issue or try to reinstall OS X and see if that fixes the issue.

There are mouse controls via keyboard if you need to get around or avoid a repair.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204434


What does "Service exited with abnormal code: 1" mean? I'm looking to see if a LaunchDaemon script is running at its assigned time. Looking at that time in the Console produces this result:

"mac-hostname com.apple.xpc.launchd[1] (com.user.delprofiles[48049]): Service exited with abnormal code:1"

The script is meant to remove all user profiles save a select few every night. It appears as if it is working as there are no unwanted profiles on the HDD. Just not sure what "abnormal code:1" means.

Thanks

When you run a program (such as your script that deletes user profiles) - it will leave behind an exit status code when done executing.

The exit status code is 0 when everything has gone according to plan. Anything other than 0 is an "abnormal code", usually indicating some kind of error or warning.

The exit status code 1 is just a "generic error" - it could mean anything. You'll have to look into the script you have to see which exit status codes it uses, and what the causes of them are.


I used to be able to use g++ from the terminal, but now it's missing. I still have XCode installed I used to be able to use g++ from the terminal to compile c++ programs, but now when I try to use it, I get

  -bash: g++: command not found

General advice on the internet was to install XCode, but I already have XCode installed. I'm not sure what has changed since being able to use it. I'm running OSX 10.6.8 and XCode 3.2.4.

I had the same problem at one point with gcc.  gcc and g++ usually link to a version-specific binary.  Look in /Developer/usr/bin for something like g++-x.y, where x.y is the installed version of g++.  You'll probably see gcov, gcc, etc. there as well.  Just create a symbolic link from the versioned g++ to g++.

For example, on my machine, I would type ln -sf g++-4.2 g++.

Hope this helps.  If the versioned compiler tools aren't there, you may need to reinstall the Developer Tools.


Problem with exchange email account aliases in Mail for Mac OS X Mavericks I've always used Mail in Mac OS X but one day I decided I would try Outlook 2011 so I could manage rules and filters without having to go to OWA. I was not very happy with Outlook 2011 so I removed it and decided to go back to Mail for Mac OS X. Since trying Outlook 2011, I'm having problems setting up the Exchange account in Mail.

My company uses first.last@company.com and flast@company.com for our email address/alias.

When I setup the account, auto discovery finds everything just fine and logs me in and downloads all the mail, rules, filters, etc. stored on the server. The problem is in Internet Accounts in System Preferences, I now see two Exchange accounts. One for first.last@ and another for flast@

I didn't think too much about this since mail seemed to be working fine, but one day I noticed something when I did a reply all to a mail message. It included myself in the reply to fields. I thought maybe it was a setting in Mail that I overlooked when setting up the Exchange account. As it turns out though, the problem is that the first.last@ account is now somehow the default mail account on Exchange and the flast@ is what I'm replying with.

Checking System Preferences, I noticed that the first.last@ Exchange account doesn't have checks in the selection boxes for Mail, Contacts or Notes, but it does for Calendars and Reminders.

However the flast@ is exactly the opposite; it has checks in the selection boxes for Mail, Contacts and Notes, but not Calendars or Reminders.

When I try to enable Mail, Contacts or Notes in the first.last@ Exchange account I get an error dialog stating "There was a problem setting up the account. An unknown error occurred."

I do not experience this behavior on my iPhone 4S or my iPad Air.

I'm using Mac OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 and iCloud for my home accounts and connecting to an Exchange 2010 work account. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

chflags nohidden ~/library
go to drive>users>XXXX>library>MAIL>V2>ACCOUNTS.plist
edit the email address and save.


Moving a folder with "sudo mv", how to preserve ACLs? I'm moving a whole folder from one volume to another (both HFS+), using sudo mv, and thought ACLs would be preserved. However at the end of transfer I see that they haven't been kept, and since mv deleted the files in the original volume I can't restore them.

Why did this happen, and how to do it right next time?

It would be better to use the ditto command since it is aware of resource forks, HFS attributes as well as ACL. You can alias it or just rewitpre your brain to use ditto as best fits your workflow.


Change Web Sharing "Sites" folder to SkyDrive? I'm building a web site. There are three Macs that I commonly use for development, depending upon my location: an iMac in San Diego, and iMac in Vegas, and a MacBook Air in all other places. As I move from place to place, I have to copy the contents of the  "[username]/Sites" folder from machine to machine so I can get my work done. It would be nice if I could just keep a master copy of the site files in one place.

So I signed up for the free cloud-based Skydrive storage. The pointer to the storage lives at "[username]/documents/SkyDrive". Anything inside that folder syncs across all of my Macs. Which leads me to my question…

How can I change the path that local web hosting uses (on OSX 10.8.2) to point to my SkyDrive folder instead of the default "[username]/sites"?

The goal is that when I navigate to "http://127.0.0.1/~[username]/index.html", the built-in OSX web server will pull in the index.html file from a SkyDrive folder. Hope this makes sense.

It's important to note that I won't actually be attempting to run a production website off of SkyDrive. No external users will be using the site in this manner. This is just to make my development processes a bit easier.

Yes, you can change your web server's user-specific directory to point to another location within your home directory.  Be aware there are security implications when doing this – aim to understand what they are before you proceed.

First, back up the configuration files mentioned below, then, use Terminal to edit the files as root; e.g. via sudo vi [filename].

Edit /etc/apache2/extra/httpd-userdir.conf, changing the UserDir value from 'Sites' to the new target folder within the home directory structure.  Note: This directive changes the Sites folder location for all users .. I'll assume there's just you and this is OK.
Edit the corresponding user-specific configuration file in /etc/apache2/users/[username].conf so the path mentioned in the Directory directive matches what you set above. This ensures the options that were originally being applied to your Sites folder will be applied to the new location.
Ensure permissions to the new folder (including directories leading to it) are permissive enough for the web server process to access.
Restart the apache web server; i.e. sudo apachectl restart

That should get it working.


Does Sidecar support sound? Apple Sidecar for Mac is a great way to use the iPad as a secondary screen.
However it appears that there is no support for sound. Is this correct, or am I doing something wrong?
I am on MacOS Catalina and iPadOS 14.1

Sidecar extends your display and audio is not a component of a display.

Use your iPad as a second display for your Mac with Sidecar

This is just another way to extend your desktop with another monitor.  When you do that, you don't extend your audio as well.  Audio is a different entity all together.  In the support document linked above, there's no mention, whatsoever of audio.
It's probably confusing that when you connect a monitor with built in speakers via an HDMI cable that the display supports audio.  That's not entirely accurate - as stated before, display and audio to macOS are two distinct entities.  It will see the speakers of the display as an audio device and you have the option to send audio there or to the internal speakers or to any other connected audio device.  So, while it's built in, they're not tied together.
Sidecar doesn't make the speakers of the iPad appear as audio devices to your Mac.


Mavericks is slow with 2GB of RAM using Xcode 5, should I upgrade to 4GB or 8GB? I have a 13 inch MacBook Pro from mid 2009 (5,5). It's really slow when I switch applications, I'm using Google Chrome, Xcode 5 (I already disabled "show live issues"), and not many other apps: Cog (simple audio player) and f.lux and the Terminal.

Right clicking often takes 5 sec, creating a new Finder window around 3 sec.

I'm just asking if 4GB will really be enough since I use Xcode to compile a C++ project, or if I should get 8GB. I'm not very concerned about battery life, I'm just worried that 4GB would not be enough to be comfortable, OS X seems to use a lot of memory.

I'm just wondering what are the best websites to buy memory that is compatible with my Mac. I've looked at macway but it seems they don't have RAM for my model. I don't think I'll buy from OWC, it seems very expensive... Corsair also seems to make RAM for Macs.

I'm also ready to buy good performing RAM, I don't know if there are better performing RAM out there, or if a 2009 MacBook would really benefit from it.

Any advice?

I also tried to check my page out value, could not find it in the new activity monitor, here is the memory thing anyways.

8Gb would be best if you can afford it. I've always used crucial.com for RAM and had no problems.

An SSD drive would also really speed up system performance.


How to tell if service centre installed tampered MacOS? I gave my MacBook to a service center that claims they are authorized apple service centre in Bangladesh (we don't have official apple inc in Bangladesh). They said they will reinstall Mac os Yosemite in my mid2012 MacBook which should solve my problem in the MacBook. After i received my MacBook back from the service center, i am noticing some lag and some tids and bits here and there which makes me feel like it's an altered version of Mac OS like those pirated BlackWndows installations. How do i confirm if they have given me untampered/unaltered mac os Yosemite or original Yosemite.

P.s. My "About This Mac" section doesn't even show which year-model my MacBook is whereas it did show the year-model properly before i sent it out to the service center. I feel that they have modified a lot of configuration files etc.

I want to challenge them if they are cheating like this and charging a lumpsome money for it?

You never did say what the problem with your MBP was that Yosemite would solve.

As for "altering" the OS, that makes no sense as it would be far easier to install malware since they are the ones who are doing the install.   They, by default, have all the Administrator credentials they need to do whatever they want.

It's just too easy at that point and not worth the extra effort of modifying the OS.

Now, all that said, if you believe that your OS has been tampered with, assume that it has been.  This will bug and haunt you until you address the problem fully.  You can address this by installing a new version of the OS yourself:

You can download a copy of Yosemite for free directly from Apple.
Make a USB Key or DVD installer (Macworld has a great tutorial
for this)
Use the new USB or DVD and reinstall Yosemite (format your drives,
don't upgrade)
Put that DVD or USB Key away in a safe place.

As for your hardware, there is no way possible for anyone to determine if they did anything nefarious to it; like swap out good components for bad.  The one exception is your serial number that's embedded in the firmware of the logic board.  When you click "About This Mac" the Serial Number displayed should match the serial number on the bottom of the machine.  I added pictures for your reference.  Those numbers should match.

If they don't match, then you have something to go on.  But they are going to say that this is how they got it.  If you purchased directly from Apple, then you are going to need all the documentation you can get that identifies your SN#.  This is going to be a tough hill to climb, unfortunately, if this is in fact, the case.

Now...what was the problem that you were initially experiencing?  If it is still present, then you need to search for it here on Stackexchange and if it doesn't exist or no suitable answer exists, open up a new question.  There are some super friendly and helpful people here.


SSD performance of different sizes MacBook or iMac, is there any speed difference between that 256GB, 512GB and 1TB options? And what about SSD endurance, does it differ in any way?

Assuming that you're talking about SSDs within the same generations of Mac, then capacity has no bearing on the speed, quality and/or expected lifespan of the components being used.

For example, the 1TB, 2TB and 4TB options of SSDs in an iMac Pro are the same as each other in terms of quality and performance. Likewise for the various SSD options in current models of 15" MacBook Pro and so on.

Where you will see differences are when you're comparing different drives, either because they're in different generations (or even types) of Mac models (e.g. 13" MBP v 15" MBP) or because they're a different type of storage device (e.g. traditional v fusion v solid state drives).


Stop menu closing when clicked Im a new OSX user, and coming from Windows if I click a menu item which has a child popout menu I expect it to open the child not close the whole menu.

This seems to be system wide This seems to be within the main menu bar and not context menus, is there a setting I can change to stop the click closing the menu?

No, there is no such setting. If it existed, it would most probably be in System Preferences > Appearance.

However, this behavior seems to depend on the application. On my 10.6 system, the Finder and iTunes indeed present it, but iCal, Mail and Safari don't.

I unfortunately have no idea as to the root cause for this difference, and which programs might behave in which way.


How can I view blue "replace" suggestions in Preview? In Preview, how can I see the suggested replacements noted by blue strikethroughs? Do I need adobe acrobat to view these?

It doesn't seem to work. I used Adobe Reader DC, it's free.


iTunes refuses to authorise with my UK iTunes account now that I'm in Ireland While I was in the UK on holiday I purchased a TV show from the iTunes UK site and got this on my iPod. It plays fine on the iPod. I would like to play these on my computer now I am back home in Ireland.

I have managed to get the files on to my PC's hard drive but when I go to play them, iTunes launches and says "this computer is not authorised to play this file". Even when I use my UK iTunes account to authorise it keeps saying "iTunes is unavailable at this time please try later" over and over again. Is it because I have an Engligh and Irish iTunes account?

You can have multiple iTunes Store Accounts across different countries or regions. That's not causing the issue for you.

In iTunes, go to the "Store > Authorize This Computer..." menu option and sign in with the UK account to authorize the computer to play content from that store.

If it still does not work (or you have already authorized the computer), then it's likely a temporary error with connecting to the Apple iTunes server.

For more information, see:
iTunes 11 for Windows: Authorize a computer to play iTunes Store purchases


Why does my Macbook automatically open a browser Window at Starbucks? When I open my laptop at Starbucks a Chrome-window is automatically opened. It shows the login-page that allows me to log on to BT OpenZone for free Starbucks-wifi.

What kind of mechanism is used to achieve this? After all I don't get the same effect with my Ubuntu-computer or my Android phone.

This is a new feature of OS X Lion.
Lion automatically opens a web browser window when it detects that you need to agree to terms and conditions or log in to use the Internet.

It's worth mentioning that the window isn't actually Google Chrome, but an operating system window that includes a WebKit-based browser.


How to play every album of an artist in sequence with the new music app? With the old music app I was able to select an artist and listen to every music by album. Now it orders the musics alphabetically and unless I want to hear the same music N times I have to use shuffle.

Is is possible to just select an artist and play every album with making a playlist?

There's no way to do this natively without playlists or queuing, but Picky (https://appsto.re/us/e-uOD.i) can do it.


OS X 10.9 crashes after Xcode 3 installation I've tried to install Xcode 3.2 on my MacBook Pro with OS X 10.9, but during the installation (when it's almost finished) OS X had a kernel panic and keeps crashing immediately after login.

Xcode 3 is required to build Android 2.3 from the source code. How to fix it?

Why not just install the latest version of Xcode?

Xcode 3.2 was originally released all the way back in 2009 and since it's a very technical product by nature, it's not really a surprise that it crashes on a OS that was released 5 years later.

If you really, really need v. 3.2, I'd suggest looking into virtualization (Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion are popular choices). You could then install Leopard (10.5) and Xcode 3.2 and compile via the virtual machine.


How can I force Terminal.app to take up exactly half of my screen? I'm using Spectacle for Window Management and I regularly use the commands to split my screen horizontally for exactly two windows. It works quite well for most things, but not for applications like Terminal.app or Emacs, which size themselves down just a little bit so that the window size goes together with their monospaced text view. I see Spectacle resizing them to exactly half of the screen, and then the windows resizing just a tad right after.

Emacs on the left, Terminal.app on the right:

Is there any way to force these windows to stay the size that Spectacle is trying to set?

This seems like a non-issue, but it quickly becomes one when I have a more colorful desktop background. It's then quite distracting to have e.g. bright orange pixels all around those windows.

Terminal windows can only be expanded based on the width/height of a single character in the font that is used. You might be able to experiment and find a size that is easy to read while allowing the window to resize perfectly.


Deleted 600mb Partition on Bootcamp-ed MBP while logged into Windows 8 using Disk Manager. No longer boots into OS X On Mac Book Pro retina ( 2014 ) Mavericks running Boot Camp, one hard drive partitioned to dual boot OS X and Windows 8.

While messing on Windows 8 I mistakenly deleted a partition which is now showing unallocated 621 MB, using Disk Management. ( it was showing a weird phantom SD drive which i thought was some improperly mounted ).

OS X won't boot and won't show in Boot Camp. Cmnd + R goes into internet recovery. My main data HD Mac partition is fine and accessible ( can copy data at least to backup my files).

I never attempted any formatting and stopped a Windows partition recovery utility as i googled further and turned out it is(maybe) a bad idea.

How can I recover this partition/get back into OS X without losing data, having to reinstall both OS X and Windows?

Edit: Just run diskutil list and this is what I get.

Presumably you deleted the recovery partition, which is about that size. Boot into Internet Recovery, start the terminal and type diskutil list. If the OS X partition is still there, you should see it as formatted with CoreStorage (OS X doesn't require the recovery partition for a normal HFS+ formatted partition). If it exists, then the solution is to do a reinstall of the OS. This will not erase anything, but it will recreate the recovery partition. Note that you'll have to unlock your disk first if it's locked by FileVault 2.

Lesson for the future: Windows doesn't know anything about CoreStorage volumes, even with all the BootCamp drivers installed. Do not trust anything you see regarding your disks from within Windows, unless it identifies the disk as a format it knows.


MacBook as a handsfree headset Is there any way how to use laptop as a hands-free "headset" for my Android phone via Bluetooth?

Actually it's very nice to answer on calls directly from computer.

I have tried BluePhoneElite2 for that, but it is a bit slow. I'm thinking that for just a hands free headset, I should be able to use Snow Leopard without any additional software.

I have connected my phone and laptop over Bluetooth already, but what should I do to receive calls on the laptop?

OS X does not natively support the bluetooth headset profile, which is what a bluetooth device needs to support in order to act as a hands free device.

BluePhoneElite2 loads a special driver onto select phones that gets around this - likely by using a different bluetooth profile to deliver audio and phone actions.

There is currently no native solution in any version of OS X.


Unable to log into any accounts (regular or root) After starting up macOS Sierra, I am unable to log into any accounts (regular or root). I don't recall making any changes to system files or user accounts, so am generally puzzled by this.

The issue seems to have been that I accidentally added a tag (in Finder) to the root user's home directory (`/private/root). Removing it fixed the issue.


Why should I use something other than Parallels I am looking to use Master Genealogist on my Mac Pro with Parallels. Does anyone have experience using this program for Windows on a Mac? Any suggestions for a better setup than Parallels?

You might find an easier solution in Crossover because it doesn't require a complete instance of the Windows Operating System.  I don't know that Master Geneologist is tested, but it would be worth trying. The Codeweavers community is very helpful and supportive of new software packages.


Time Machine backup constantly transferring 30gb+ I have mac book pro mid 2015 with high sierra.  I backup to time capsule network drive.  Initial backs ups transferred like this.

day 1 250gb
day 2 80gb
day 3 60gb

It would then do small backups regularly with no issues, which corelates with my daily usage but on day 15, it started transferring 30gb+ again.  So whenever I do have laptop open, it never completes transfer or backup. Latest complete backup is maybe a week ago.

I use the laptop every day, but apart from a few music album downloads, I'm not a heavy downloader.

My total space used is currently 257gb (500gb total).  Only thing I can think might cause it to act up, is I have some VMs on my machine that might cause it to think it needs to transfer those images constantly.  I have google drive, and icloud for offline backups.

Edit: How can I stop this from happening, and create a backup.

I  use the application BackupLoupe to examine my Time Machine Backups. This enables me to see what is in each backup and then set exclusions as appropriate to meet my needs.

The biggest exclusion is the folder my virtual machines are stored in. I never allow Time Machine to backup my VM's.

System Preferences > Time Machine > Options... > Exclude these items from backups:

Note: I have no affiliation with soma-zone the developer of BackupLoupe.


Macbook Pro 15" bad hissing sounds when connecting external monitor and external speakers i'm using a Macbook pro 15" i5 and I'm hearing bad statics sounds when connecting my external speaker while connecting an external monitor through the vga displayport.

The static sounds that come out through the speaker changes depending on the brightness of the external display. When the external display displays a dark output, the static pitch is high; when the external monitor diplays a bright output, the static coming through the speakers is low pitched.

If I don't plug the external monitor, just the external speaker, there is no static sound.

Please help me.

What you're hearing is just electrical noise interference. The reason it depends on what's on the display is probably because it takes the display more power to show white than black.

To fix/help this problem:

Make sure that everything is plugged in all the way to its proper connector.
Make sure that you're using high- or
medium-quality cables, connectors,
and other components.
Use an external sound card like this one or USB speakers like these.


Interrupted Mac App Store Download - Xcode After losing my connection while downloading Xcode 4.2.1, the App Store has removed it from available updates and under purchases it says I am up to date (even though the date of the my installed version is before the latest update date). I have tried to do:

defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool true

And then use the Debug menu item after restarting the App Store using these instructions:

http://www.ryanragle.com/index.php?/site/comments/where-does-the-mac-app-store-download-temp-files-to

Is there any other way to directly download 4.2.1 or to force the App Store to clear its cache, short of removing Xcode entirely?

Click on Purchases by keeping the ⌥ key pressed (option key). It will need 10 seconds to initiate the tab (more or less), but afterwards you'll be able to re-download any purchased app.


Install El Capitan OS on a new SSD without USB driver I have a hard disk and I would like to install an SSD on my MacBook.
However I don't have any USB driver for installing El Capitan OS.

Is it possible to install the SSD and then install El Capitan OS when I use it for the first time? (install after first turning on the computer)

No, you need disk or USB stick to install it.

Why can't you use a USB stick? If that's because you can't buy it from Apple Store, you could use any 8GB+ stick to install drive.

It's very simple, you only need an Install OSX *version*.app file and a USB stick.

Prepare stick

Plug it into your MacBook
Open Disk Utility (Launchpad -> Other)
Choose your stick in left hand side (It should be under External label)
Click on Erase button at top
Choose GUID Partition Map under Scheme, OS X Extended (Journaled) under Format, and name it OSXInstall (You can give it any name, but you'll need to change terminal commands too)
Click on Erase

Get OSX Installer App

For El Capitan open this link, and download it (You may need to click on View in Mac App Store

You do not need to install it, just download.

Create bootable installer

Be sure to check that stick is plugged in and shows up in Finder.
If you have no password, set it temporarily
Open Terminal app (Launchpad -> Other)
Copy and paste this text into Terminal and hit Return:

sudo /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/OSXInstall --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ El\ Capitan.app --nointeraction

Type you password (It would be hidden, and cursor would not move)
Now just wait till it says Done.

Installation

To boot from the installer stick, hold down the Option key during Mac system start, and select it from the startup volume menu.


If I make a bootable pendrive running macOS, will downloaded apps and data persist on each boot? Sorry if this seems like a basic question, but I couldn't find a clear statement on this anywhere: I wish to make a bootable pendrive running macOS Mojave, so that I can run some 32-bit apps. So I want whatever apps and data I download to persist on the pendrive, on each boot. Is this the case by default, when I use the createinstallmedia command on Terminal, as suggested in Apple Support, to create the bootable drive?

The createinstallmedia command creates a startup disk whose purpose is installing MacOS onto another drive.
If you just want to install MacOS onto a USB thumb drive, then just run the OS installer app and select the drive as the target. (It will present you with the current system volume by default, but there's an "Other Volumes" button.)
Once you've installed the OS onto your USB drive, yes, it will be a read-write volume, so things will get saved there and stay there. (Though remember to keep a backup as thumb drives can fail suddenly.)
An alternative strategy might be to host Mojave inside a Virtual Machine (VM), which is "an OS as an app". So you launch the VM and Mojave runs in a window, inside your Catalina (or later) OS! Parallels or VirtualBox are the two main VMs.


Dwell clicking software that supports right-dragging and allows to define shortcuts I am looking for a dwell clicking software that supports as many following features as possible:

left and right-dragging
double/triple click
a shortcut can be defined to change the mouse mode
the mouse mode window is always on Top
customizable dwell clicking time (i.e. the time one needs to hold the mouse steady in an area before the mouse click is sent)

A few definitions:

Right-dragging = you click the right mouse button while pointing at something, hold down the right mouse button and drag the object somewhere
Dwell clicking = Instead of having to press a mouse button or a switch the user needs to simply hold the mouse steady in an area for a predefined amount of time. This action issues the computer with a 'virtual' click and provides the same function as if someone had pressed the mouse button.

On Windows I use Point-N-Click dwell clicking software: it has all the above-mentioned features (and is free).

DwellClick is a nice dwell clicking app on mac that is customizable, versatile, as well as nice-looking. The following pictures show the hands-free panel and the pop-up panel of the app.

It supports most of the features you mentioned:

single/double click, drag, drag & hold
keyboard shortcuts for changing modes
hands-free panel that stays on top
customizable dwell clicking time

In addition, there are other features such as:

modified click with ⇧, ⌃, ⌥ or ⌘
pop-up panel near the mouse pointer to select different modes

The only modes missing from your inquiry are triple click and right drag, but I don't think Mac OS uses these modes. However, it should be easy to configure a desired short cut or action to the modified clicks using BetterTouchTool mentioned above, so that you can use them instead.


Non-modal dialog in full-screen Mail.app When used in full-screen mode, Lion’s new Mail.app has a modal (= always in foreground, disables rest of application) dialog for composing and viewing messages.

Can I disable this? It’s quite annoying since I often need to make reference to previous messages in a conversation so I need to go to and fro different messages while composing a new message.

The full-screen mode itself is quite handy so I’d be sorry to ditch it just to have non-modal dialogs. Other applications (I’ve tried Pages.app) don’t behave that way …

You can use AppleScript to create a new message in a new, non-modal window, however, the window will be placed in one of your Desktop spaces, not in Mail's fullscreen space. You can save each of these as an application and access them through the Dock or the Script menu in the menu bar (enabled in AppleScript Editor's prefs).

New Message

tell application "Mail"
    make new outgoing message with properties {visible:true}
    activate
end tell

Reply to Sender

tell application "Mail"
    set theMessage to item 1 of (selection as list)
reply theMessage with opening window
    activate
end tell

Reply to All

tell application "Mail"
    set theMessage to item 1 of (selection as list)
    reply theMessage with opening window and reply to all
    activate
end tell

If you need to have the message viewer showing behind your message (e.g. to be able to copy something from an open email), then you can add the following lines to these scripts, immediately after the tell application "Mail" line:

set theMessage to selected messages of message viewer 1
set theMailBox to selected mailboxes of message viewer 1
set newViewer to make new message viewer
set selected mailboxes of newViewer to theMailBox
set selected messages of newViewer to theMessage
delay 1

This will create a new non-fullscreen mail viewer window, leaving the fullscreen window where it is. Then, after you send your message, you can simply close this new viewer.

Note: Depending on how quickly the new viewer opens, you may need to adjust the delay number. This delay (in seconds) allows the new viewer window enough time to finish opening before the script continues. If your machine is fast enough, you may be able to delete that line altogether.


OS X Terminal: 'ls' with 'grep !' I would like to list all files in folder without one. I created this command ls /Users/MyName/Library/Safari | grep ! "Extensions". The problem is that the Terminal doesn't understand the not (!). How to change that it works?

Thanks!

You might do it like this:

ls /path/to/folder | grep -v "Extensions"

grep -v "Extensions" excludes "Extensions" from the listing.


What is the optimal AirPlay configuration when using two Airports Express? I have two Airport Express base stations in my abode:

an AirPort Express 802.11n (2nd Generation) – A1392, and
an AirPort Express 802.11n (1st Generation) – A1264

Call the former (the newer model) A and the latter B. They are in the following configuration: A is wired to the cable modem and is the primary wireless base station; B is in a different room, configured to join that wireless network, and is connected to a stereo system. The goal of this setup is to provide the fastest possible internet to laptops, iPhones, etc. while enabling AirPlay music streaming to the stereo.

Unfortunately, I can't run a long ethernet cable between rooms (in a practical manner) – though if I could, of course I'd be able to remove one of the base stations from the setup entirely. Naturally, I would also like to keep the two base stations as part of the same wireless network, so I can use the internet while also playing music over AirPlay.

This Apple Knowledge Base document suggests that B joining A's network (the current configuration) is better than B extending A's network, for "overhead" reasons:

  Connecting to an existing Wi-Fi network as part of a legacy WDS or Extended Network

  AirPort Express extends Wi-Fi network range and streams iTunes music simultaneously using Extended Network for AirPort Express with 802.11n, or legacy WDS with AirPort Express 802.11g from another Wi-Fi base station.

  Due to the overhead required for this configuration, you may expect AirPlay drop-outs such as intermittent loss of audio.

I'm not sure if that's really an issue since they're both 802.11n routers. Then again, B is a "Draft 802.11n" device. I'm not sure how that affects things.

Problem

Streaming music from a laptop, regardless of the source (iTunes, Pandora, etc.) tends to stutter, intermittently cutting out for a few seconds. This seems to be a common issue. I haven't tested whether higher-bitrate songs causes the audio to cut out more frequently.

Question

How should I configure my wireless network(s) to reduce, and ideally prevent entirely, the audio from cutting out when I play music to my stereo using AirPlay? All of the hardware involved is Apple-made, so I can only imagine this is not a terribly exotic setup.

I haven't tried swapping the base stations yet. I'm willing to do that, but I'd really prefer to avoid trial-and-error with every combination of physical and software configurations. What can I say – it's not exactly my idea of a fun weekend project.

I have tried setting up a 5GHz wireless network on A, and having B join that, but it doesn't appear that B can. It looks like A1264 can broadcast at 5GHz, though I don't know if that implies it should be able to join a 5GHz network. Either way, it sure doesn't seem to be able to join my 5GHz network.

Potentially relevant details

There is a printer connected to B with USB.
No computers in the room have Bluetooth enabled, though there is an iPhone 5 and Pebble watch that are paired with Bluetooth. I mention this because BT supposedly can cause problems with AirPlay.

Funny story.

Switching B from "Join a wireless network" to "Extend a wireless network" seemed to fix the problem instantly, despite the caveat in that Apple KB doc.

Two days later, the problem has returned. It seems that I can deliberately exacerbate the problem by using extra bandwidth, such as by running a speed test (over WiFi, of course).


iPhone 4 doesn't show up on devices list According to this page: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT205064
and this:

  To see any devices running iOS 7 or OS X Mavericks or earlier, you need to be signed in to iCloud on the device and you need Find My iPhone turned on.

I need to be signed into iCloud and have Find my iPhone turned on. I have done both of those things and Find my iPhone locates it as well, but the device doesn't show up on my iCloud or AppleID account even though it backs up on iCloud.

What can I do to fix this?

I was having the same problem and in iCloud.com now it appears to be requiring iOS 8 or higher.


How can I sync Reminders with Google Tasks? I was looking for a way to sync my reminders from Google Calendar with the reminders app in iOS 5.

I have Google Sync set up, and on my "Mail, Contacts, Calendars" settings page, it says "Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders" are being synced with Google Sync, but reminders created on the gmail tasks (or google calendar tasks) do not show up on the phone, and vice versa.

What can I do to get them to sync?

--update:

Macworld says:

  You can also save your tasks to Google Calendar or Exchange servers,
  which then handle the syncing separately.

But it doesn't say how to do it...

As I understand it from http://www.google.com/mobile/sync/ the Google Sync (push-email) doesn't currently support Tasks, so even if the iPhone page says Tasks (as it's using the Exchange protocol) Google won't actually do anything with tasks yet


How can I automatically download trailers in iTunes? Apple gets the latest trailers. Is there any way I can automate iTunes to download the newest trailers? Similar to how it automatically downloads the latest podcasts?

Unfortunately, Apple is not using itunes-aware tags in its RSS feed for the latest movie trailers.

        <content:encoded><![CDATA[

         &nbsp;
        Red State - Trailer 2

        The 10th film from writer/director Kevin Smith ("Clerks", "Chasing Amy", "Dogma", "Clerks 2", "Zack & Miri Make a Porno"), RED STATE unfolds in a small town dominated by a fundamentalist preacher, Abin Cooper. It tells the story of three high school boys who, on their way to an internet arranged meeting with a woman, end up crossing paths with Cooper. The encounter sets into motion a series of events that causes all hell to break loose. A horror thriller that could only come from the imagination of Smith, RED STATE stars Tarantino and Rodriguez favorite Michael Parks ("From Dusk Till Dawn", "Kill Bill Vols. 1 & 2"), Oscar Nominee for Best Actress Melissa Leo ("The Fighter," "Frozen River") and John Goodman, Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner and Nicholas Braun.
Directed by: Kevin Smith
Starring: Michael Angarano, Kerry Bish&#x00E9;, Nicholas Braun, Kyle Gallner, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Michael Parks, Kevin Pollak, Stephen Root

        ]]></content:encoded>

instead of something like

<item>
  <title>Car Talk #1110: Another Dodge Dart!</title>
  <description><![CDATA[What's the best spare part to bring along on an extended road trip in your '64 Dodge Dart? Aside from our Show Title, we mean. Also, a case study in you should drive now, jelly later; a noxious Saab prompts a game of "Who farted" between mother and son; and is it worth it to each a teenager how to drive a stick shift?]]></description>
  <pubDate>Sat, 05 Mar 2011 15:21:06 -0500</pubDate>
  <link>http://www.cartalk.com</link>
  <guid>http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/510208/134294214/npr_134294214.mp3</guid>
  <itunes:summary><![CDATA[What's the best spare part to bring along on an extended road trip in your '64 Dodge Dart? Aside from our Show Title, we mean. Also, a case study in you should drive now, jelly later; a noxious Saab prompts a game of "Who farted" between mother and son; and is it worth it to each a teenager how to drive a stick shift?]]></itunes:summary>
  <itunes:keywords>car,talk,car talk,click,clack,tom,ray,magliozzi,npr,public radio,advice,repair,fresh air,wait wait,puzzler,NPR,National Public Radio,Car Talk,Washington,District of Columbia,Morning Edition,All Things Considered,Fresh Air</itunes:keywords>

  <itunes:duration>53:45</itunes:duration>
  <itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>
  <enclosure url="http://podcastdownload.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/510208/134294214/npr_134294214.mp3" length="25861894" type="audio/mpeg"/>
</item>

So, when you try to subscribe to feed://trailers.apple.com/trailers/home/rss/newtrailers.rss, iTunes claims the content is text-only or missing.

However, if you are using Apple Mail, you can add this feed to Apple Mail and it handles it quite nicely. It doesn't download the movies automatically but at least you see when there are new ones.


Is there a limit for devices where I can download my purchased apps? I'm thinking about renting an iPad for use. And I would like to know if I can put my password to download my apps every time I rent an iPad, or is there a limit?

You can download any app and other media purchased with your apple ID to a new device - as long as you authorize your new device with that apple ID.
This is what the official Apple documentation says:

Your Apple ID can have up to 10 devices and computers (combined)
associated with it. Each computer must also be authorized using the
same Apple ID. Once a device or computer is associated with your Apple
ID, you cannot associate that device or computer with another Apple ID
for 90 days. You can view which devices or computers are currently
associated, remove unused devices or computers, and see how long
before they can be associated with a different Apple ID from the
Account Information page in iTunes on your computer.
Last Modified: November 14, 2011


Can I use my UK MAC desktop in the Cayman Islands I am moving to the Cayman Islands, which uses the same power source as the US, will I be able to use my MAC desktop there using a US adapter?

Thanks

Without knowing the computer you're using it's hard to say, but probably Yes, there should be no problem.

Most Apple products have an auto-switching power supply which monitors the incoming voltage and automatically switches itself accordingly, others don't, and must be changed manually, and others, are regional specific.

Here you can find a list of the Apple products and whether if they've got this auto-switching feature.

Checking your computer's manual should shed some light on this, too.


Bridge non-adjacent monitors in three monitor setup I would like to use the following 3 monitor setup because the arrangement aligns logically with the physical placement of the monitors.

Is it possible to bridge the gap between the left and right monitors, above the primary?

OR

Is it possible to detect and move the mouse via scripting?

Just thinking outside the box a minute…

…wouldn't this achieve something close to what you want, without the need for any external solution.

It would give you a clean 'jump' between the external screens, balanced against a slight loss of accuracy in the transition between the top left & your main screen.


How can I manually force a file of a Fusion Drive to the SSD? From what I understand, the implementation of the Fusion Drive is at the OS level (coreStorage). Yet, I want to know if it's possible to manually interfere in the management for a specific file or directory.

E.g. Most Photos in iPhoto are rarely used, yet I would like to push the entire directory ~/Pictures/iPhoto Library.photolibrary to the SSD.

I am aware this may not be the technical answer you seek, but it's the pragmatic solution at present. Hopefully, a non-buggy way to micro manage the tiered storage will become known, but here are things you can do today, out of the box.

ensure all data fits on the SSD so that no tiering takes place.
manually access these files to ensure the algorithm sees them as being read more than the rest. Using dd to read the files would be a good start and rebuilding the iPhoto library databases should also force a full read of the contents. It's not clear reads only will affect tiering in a "mandatory promotion to SSD storage" sense.


How do I get find my iPhone off a iPhone I have bought second hand Please help Me get find my iPhone off a second hand iPhone 5 need to get this off before I can use it for my son

The only way to achieve this is by contacting the person you bought the iphone from. They need to delete the iphone from their icloud's "find my iphone"


Adding functionality to macOS pre-boot process Is anyone familiar with adding functionality to the macOS pre-boot process? I'm trying to supplement FileVault's functionality so that it can integrate with a user directory service, which isn't really an Apple-supported or well-documented type of task.

My goal is to allow remote users to unlock and login to the device without having a local account setup yet. FileVault currently only allows users with existing local accounts to unlock a device. I'm working on a Mac Pro running macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 with APFS.

Based on Apple's documentation of the boot process and Eclectic Light Co's articles on the topic, my understanding is that pre-boot procedures such as kernel loading and FileVault decryption are handled by the boot.efi file in the Preboot APFS disk partition.

So as far as I can tell, I need to modify how boot.efi works to achieve my goals. Is there a way I can build my own boot.efi with additional functionality and then safely replace the existing one, or can I add a supplemental EFI file with additional functionality that is run in conjunction with boot.efi?

Along those lines, the only resource I have found so far is Piker Alpha's boot loader source tree, but I'm hesitant to use this project since it appears to be outdated/only for HFS+ based Macs (and also only builds using Visual Studio).

Does anyone have other resources or suggestions on how I can modify macOS pre-boot procedures?

Apple doesn’t prevent you from running other EFI unless you have trusted OS / T2 chips. You can disable these security steps on Mojave and current T2, but that’s pretty manual and not automated.

You’ll want to look at tools like BootRunner or the two canoes MDS with automaton to automate the pre-boot environment for all modern Mac hardware and modern macOS.

Much easier to handle things with the tools Apple gives than trying to re-engineer EFI / customize things that don’t have sanctioned support. Extending PAM / authentication is long supported, but changing EFI is not something most enterprises take on in my experience.


MacBook Air 13 (mid 2012) shuts down at 50% battery without warning, SMC chip broken? Some weeks ago I bought a second hand MacBook Air. The MacBook Air runs fine but always shuts down without any warning at around 40-50% in battery mode. After restarting battery is at 0%. First I thought the battery is broken. It was the original battery with ca. 500 cycles. So I bought a new battery and replaced it. But surprisingly the MacBook still shuts down at ca. 40-50%. I tried different things found searching through the internet including SMC reset, NVRAM reset, different OS installations (Sierra, high Sierra, Mojave and also running with a LinuxLive Usb stick), and battery calibration. All of these steps didn't help. So anyone maybe know what could that be?
Thank you

2018-10-18 22:01:47 +0200 Sleep    Entering Sleep state due to 'Low Power Sleep': Using Batt (Charge:39%)

Charge Information:
Charge Remaining (mAh): 735
Fully Charged:  No
Charging:   No
Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 5855
Health Information:
Cycle Count:    6
Condition:  Normal
Battery Installed:  Yes
Amperage (mA):  -927
Voltage (mV):   7586

System-wide power settings:
Currently in use:
standbydelay         4200
standby              1
halfdim              1
hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage
powernap             0
disksleep            10
sleep                0
autopoweroffdelay    28800
hibernatemode        3
autopoweroff         1
ttyskeepawake        1
displaysleep         5
acwake               0
lidwake              1

UPDATE
I just charged the battery (in safe-mode) and the percentage changed from 47 to 100% during one minute...strange

Verify your Battery information in Applications > Utility > System Information > Power and report the result in your post.

Example:

Charge Information:
  Charge Remaining (mAh):   6206
  Fully Charged:    No
  Charging: Yes
  Full Charge Capacity (mAh):   6451
  Health Information:
  Cycle Count:  208
  Condition:    Normal
  Battery Installed:    Yes
  Amperage (mA):    879
  Voltage (mV): 8548

The Charge Remaining (mAh) is the actual % you see.
The Full Charge Capacity (mAh) is the health and age indicator, that number goes down over the life.
The cycle count is specified up to 1000 cycles.
The Amperage (mA) reports the current consumption.

Run pmset -g in Terminal to get System-wide power settings and report the result in your post.

These additional steps may help identify or resolve the issue:

Reset the SMC

Reset NVRAM

Start up in Safe Mode to see if the issue is related to non-Apple startup items, login items, or kernel extensions.

Try to isolate the issue by using another user account.


Archived mail keeps reappearing in Inbox on OS X I have a problem with Mail in OS X El Capitan (10.11.5).
If I archive messages from my Inbox, go to another folder, then back to my Inbox, the messages are there again.
Quitting mail and starting it again doesn't solve this..
I rebuilt the mail database by deleting the Envelope Index files from /Users//Library/Mail/V3/MailData/, but that didn't solve the problem either.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Richard

ps I know there's a comparable thread on this forum, but it's specifically about Mail on the iPhone and Gmail.

Archived mail keeps reappearing in Inbox …

Smells of a database inconsistency.

  I rebuilt the mail database by deleting the Envelope Index files from /Users//Library/Mail/V3/MailData/

Critically:

did you quit Mail – and allow time for completion of that quit – before those deletions?

Some of the many articles about Envelope Index lack that recommendation. Here's one of the better articles: SpamSieve Manual: How can I rebuild Apple Mail’s database?

Cross reference

My reply to a MacRumors Forums topic that appears to involve a database inconsistency.


Mid-2011 27" iMac random reboots, GPU defective? As the neighborhood computer repair guy, my friend gave me a broken iMac and told me that if I could fix it I could keep it. The exact details are:

iMac mid-2011 27"

3.1GHz i5

1TB HDD

8GB RAM

AMD Radeon HD 6970m 2GB graphics card

It is randomly rebooting, often just seconds after power up (e.g. it can't make it to the login screen). Its as if someone completely pulled the plug on it and then the computer tries to turn back on.

When the issue first came up, he brought to to Apple and they replaced the PSU. The problem still happened. Then they replaced the logic board. No luck. They gave up at this point, and he gave it to me.

The first thing I thought, if it wasn't the PSU or logic board, is that I should try just simply swapping the RAM. No luck. Then I tried replacing the HDD with an SSD. The computer made it through the OSX install just fine, and when it boots its wicked fast. I thought I had fixed it. Then the next morning I got up, powered it up, and it very rarely makes it to the login screen - the problem was still there.

At this point, every single part in this computer has been replaced and/or tested except the graphics card (Radeon HD 6970m 2GB) and the optical drive. I am also aware of a defective line of these exact iMacs with the exact same graphics card that Apple actually issued a recall on (see here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203787) Unfortunately this particular iMac was purchased more than 4 years ago so Apple won't replace it.

Is my problem most likely the video card? Am I stupid to go and spend $250 on another one off eBay, or is this computer simply cursed.

Thanks for any help. I would really like to get this working - its a very nice computer and as an amateur video editor it would be wonderful to have a decently powerful Mac (also 4K displays are nice!).

TL;DR

Got a 27" iMac free. It randomly reboots. Have tried replacing every component except graphics card. Can a graphics card cause random reboots, and is it worth replacing?

You may find this question of interest to you.

Unfortunately, this iMac still has intermittent problems and sometimes boots and sometimes doesn't. When it doesn't it just keeps restarting, and even when it does boot it will randomly reboot at some point.

However, to answer your question, yes, a graphics card can cause random reboots. Whether or not it's worth $250 to replace only you can answer. Obviously, if it fixes the problem it's money well spent. If it doesn't, then not.

But it's what I wanted to do next on the iMac I was troubleshooting, but the owner decided to call it quits. If it was me, I'd personally take the plunge and if it didn't resolve the problem I'd try and resell the graphics card. But that's a personal choice on my behalf and you need to do what you're comfortable doing.


How to put Desktop on External Drive/Non-System Partition? Is it possible to get something like a symbolic link/alias to direct to another folder on an external hard drive and still have the files display on the desktop?

I used:

sudo rm -rf ~/Desktop
sudo ln -s /Volumes/<partition_label>/Desktop ~/Desktop

But the Desktop is just blank, and when I drag files onto the Desktop, they disappear and are copied to /Volumes/<partition_label>/Desktop

I recently tried replacing the Desktop with an alias instead, but I now only get a cancel icon popping up next to the cursor when I drag a file over it.  The partition is exFat so it's compatible with my tri-boot. I'm doing this so files are automatically available on each Desktop.

Any ideas to get this working?

I was also thinking about an alternative, something that automatically moved a file to /Volumes/<partition_label>/Desktop/<file_name> when it was dragged to ~/Desktop and replaced with a symbolic link or alias on ~/Desktop.  Is that a viable alternative?

You can create a folder hard link using coreutils. Remove the symlink you created and install Homebrew if you don't already have it, then brew install coreutils and use:

sudo gln /Volumes/<partition_label>/Desktop ~/Desktop

(Be careful with removing hard links, since the destination will be deleted if you delete normally. To delete a hard link, use unlink ~/Desktop.)


Configuring iPad Mail app & Gmail app with different accounts? I prefer to use the Gmail app over the standard Mail app on my iPad for reading my personal Gmail (I delete a lot of mails, newsletters, etc., after reading and this is one tap in Gmail and several in Mail).

I have them set up so my personal Gmail uses the Gmail app and my work email is set up to use the standard Mail app. This all works fine except for one problem. If I'm in Gmail or Mail and send an email it sends from the relevant email address as expected. My problem is that when I share something via email from Safari or another app it sends from the email address configured in Settings for Mail (the work one) and I would prefer to do such sharing from my personal email address.

Does anyone know if there is a way to achieve this? I could switch the addresses to use the other app but as I never delete work email and delete personal mail at least 50% of the time, the behaviour of the apps is perfect the way I have them set up; if only I could solve that one little problem of controlling where shared items are sent from.

I am using an iPad 2 with iOS 5.1 should that be relevant.

I have figured out a way to do this that will work for me.

I already had my Gmail account added in Mail, calendar & contacts settings but with mail turned off. Once I turned mail on and did a test of sharing a page from Safari, I noticed that I now had access to the From header; the default was my work address but I could change it to my personal one. Checked settings again and found a Default Account setting; changed it to my personal account and now it's using that as the default for sharing via email. I can still use the Gmail app to work with my personal mail, while the Mail app has access to both accounts.


Scripted SFTP command line file transfer Mac OS X I'm working with someone who's been doing simulations on various computers and FTPing the results to a website using a script and the basic mac ftp command basically something like (this is not exact just what i remember from when i last looked at it)

ftp -i username@host password
cd /dir/
put file 1
put file 2
...

and so on...

I need to upgrade this process to use SFTP for security purposes, but there's no way that I can tell to put the password in a single line script for the SFTP program that's built into mac OS X.  Is there some other way to do this?  I tried using something called LFTP which seemed to connect to the server but the files would always stay at 0% when they were trying to transfer.  Any help would be appreciated.

I guess i need to generate a key from the server itself and provide it to the user then they can connect just using the username and the key will authenticate them right?

No. Generate the key on client (ssh-keygen) and upload the public key to server. For example using ssh-copy-id, if the ssh is allowed on the server. There are many how-to's around the internet, so I believe you will be able to figure out.

Then connecting would work like sftp username@host (without password). If you have some batch, you can provide it to sftp using -b option. For more info, consult manual pages for sftp or the other above mentioned tools.


From a technical point-of-view, how is the Apple Watch able to unlock doors? When the original Apple Watch was released back in April 2015, one of the features that appeared to get lots of attention at the time was the ability for the Watch to unlock doors (https://9to5mac.com/2015/04/24/apple-watch-hotel-room-key/ is a good example of this). From a technical point-of-view, how is the Watch able to unlock doors in this way - is it purely based on the NFC chip inside the Watch, or does it rely on a companion iOS app running in the background on the paired iPhone?

To put it simply, the Apple watch acts like a key fob.

You've probably seen these credit card "keys" or these fobs on a key ring that people put up to a sensor on or next to a door to grant them access.  (HID is the dominant market player - I just grabbed a couple of images from their site).

These devices just a have a very simple RFID transmitter in them that sends out a code, usually Wiegand, when put close enough to a reader.  The reader communicates back to a server with the code that was presented and send either a "yes" or "no" back to the reader which then operates a door lock.  This is basic access control.. Below is a (very) simple block diagram of how a typical system is laid out.

The controller (blue box) handles the reading of the cards from the sensor (gold circles) and the (un)locking of the doors.  In fact, the controller has a large bit of memory stored so that permissions can be pushed to each door and the system will continue to function even if the server is down.

The Apple watch (and iPhone) has the ability to "read and write tags" with their NFC chip.  So, the NFC chip emulates a card or keyfob by transmitting the ID code.  The door reader still communicates back to a server to get authorization to grant/deny access.  So, just like the key fobs/cards don't need any special software or apps to function, neither does the Apple iPhone/Watch.


Highlight and copy text within hyperlink in a pdf Say there is a phrase in a pdf file that is a hyperlink: "This is a hyperlink". How can I select/highlight just the text in the middle in order to copy and paste it elsewhere without opening the link? That is, how can I just copy and paste "is a" from the example without triggering the hyperlink to open?

If you're trying to copy just the beginning or the end of the url, you can begin your click and drag to select the text on either side of the active hyperlink.

If you're trying to select text that is in the center of the hyperlink, your best bet may be to right click the hyperlink and choose "copy", then edit the link after you've pasted it elsewhere.


Why does Google Chrome Helper spike my CPU? This has been happening on and off since I switched to a mac at work. Google Chome Helper occasionally runs my cpu into the red and has the fan spinning madly.  Sometimes restarting Chrome fixes the problem, sometimes not. Eventually it always surfaces again.

The problem, in my case, seems to have been one of the tabs I always have open runs some crazy cpu-intensive plugin for ads (I suspect Grooveshark, but am not positive).

The fix was to go into Chrome settings (settings > content settings > plugins) and choose Click To Play.  By default Chrome runs all plugin content as soon as the page is loaded - regardless of what is is, or how much memory it takes.


How do I install Windows on separate disk using GPT/EFI and BootCamp? I have a Late 2012 27 inches iMac with an internal HDD (that has a Macintosh HD partition, an EFI partition and a Recovery partition) and an SSD.

I installed Windows 10 on using BootCamp Assistant; the SSD has only the BOOTCAMP partition (relabeled by me as "Windows" to make it look better) and the EFI partition. Even if Windows might seem to be installed as EFI (EFI partition, GPT scheme etc...), I mounted the EFI and found out that there is no boot loader on it. I then searched on the Internet, and on some sites they say Bootcamp uses "MBR Hybrid", in the sense the drive appears as GPT but behaves as MBR on the Windows side.

I have intention to install Ubuntu and a custom EFI bootloader (rEFInd) on my Mac, so - to simplify things a little - how do I make sure Windows is ACTUALLY installed as EFI on my second internal volume? Also, I'd like to know if doing so compromises in any way how the BootCamp Support Software (aka BCA Drivers) works.

With respect to Microsoft Windows, 2012, through 2014 were translational years for Apple Macs. For the 2011 and older Macs, Windows is installed in BIOS/MBR mode using a Windows installer DVD. In 2012, Apple started to drop the optical drive from its Mac models. To allow Windows to be installed, the Boot Camp Assistant application copied the files from the Windows installer iso, to a USB flash drive. The "Boot Camp Support Software" was also included on the flash drive. To install older Windows versions, the "Boot Camp Support Software" files had to be manually copied to the flash drive.

Staring in 2015, Apple dropped the ability to install operating systems that require a BIOS/MBR boot method. This eliminated the possibility of installing Windows 7 on these Mac models. This change brought Macs update to date with the reset of the industry, which converted to EFI/GPT booting of Microsoft Windows in 2011. Also, with the release of El Capitan (OS X 10.11), the Boot Camp Assistant can now install Windows on certain Mac models without the use of a DVD or USB flash drive.

So where does this leave the transitional 2012 through 2014 model year Macs? I wish I had an absolute answer. Consider the following.

If one had Windows 7 installed in BIOS/MBR mode and upgraded to
Windows 10, then the result would be Windows 10 running in BIOS/MBR
mode using the "Boot Camp Support Software" intended for a Windows 7
installation. Some people have reported that running "Apple Software
Update" afterwards will result in the downloading and installing of
newer "Boot Camp Support Software".
Some people have installed Windows 8/8.1/10 from scratch on their
model Mac in BIOS/MBR mode with any problems, while others have
done the same on their model Mac in EFI/GPT mode without problems.
I do not remember anyone trying both methods. Usually, once one method
works, they quit trying.

So, it really depends on what the "Boot Camp Support Software" for you model Mac will allow. You have reported that the Boot Camp Assistant installed Windows 10 on your Mac using a BIOS/MBR boot method. So I assume this is what is right for your model Mac. However, if you have created the Windows 10 USB flash drive installer, then you could try both methods. Insert the flash drive and restart the Mac. Hold down the option key at startup. If an icon labeled "Windows" appears you can try a BIOS/MBR install. If a icon labeled "EFI Boot" appears, then you can try a EFI/GPT install.

In the end from the user perspective. it really does not matter which method is employed to boot Windows. Ubuntu is installed in EFI/GPT mode which works independent of either Windows boot method. I guess the Windows EFI/GPT method offers a fast boot option, but this can only be used when Windows is the sole operating system on a computer. You intend to include both OS X and Ubuntu Linux.

Note: Some Linux installers will not install in EFI/GPT mode to a hybrid GPT. To solve this problem, you may need to:

(Optional) Make a backup copy of your Protective MBR (PMBR).
Use the Boot Camp Assistant, Disk Utility or other application(s) to
create a hybrid GPT.
Install Windows. (Usually to partition 4)
Save a copy of the hybrid MBR.
Covert the MBR back to a Protective MBR (PMBR) or restore from backup.
Install Linux to new partitions without changing the existing partitions.
Restore the hybrid MBR from the backup.

Another solution, would be to install Linux first, leaving a space for Windows to be installed after Linux. In this case, format the Windows partition HFS before installing Linux and FAT before installing Windows.

If you intend to install Windows on a second disk, you may want to read the posts made to the question: "Problem Installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp".


iPad photos missing from folder view in Windows I have my iPad plugged into my Windows 7 computer, and I can see the Internal Storage of the iPad but most of the photos are missing. I have many different albums on the iPad and none of them are visible inside explorer view. How can I get these photos off my iPad?

You can only access photos in your camera roll via USB, I suspect you added those other albums via iTunes (as opposed to created them on you device with iOS 5). There is no official way to get those photos off your device.

You can try to find an app that can access your photos and save them to your camera roll (e.g. Photoshop Express, free). This might be a lot a work depending on how many photos you need to copy.
You could use Dropbox to upload your photos to their servers and download them on your PC. You'll need an dropbox account, but up to 2GB is free. Dropbox allows you to select multiple photos to upload at once.
If your device is jailbroken you can get access to the filesystem and copy your phones that way.


How to reinstall Viber with no connection with my previous Viber usage? I used to use Viber on iPhone for a while with one set of Viber credentials.

Now I want to reinstall Viber on the same device "erasing its memory" completely: to use it with completely different identity (phone number, name, chat history) -- in a manner that Viber has no way of knowing that it was previously used with a different number on this device / for this Apple ID etc.

iOS 12.x throughout my Viber usage; currently 12.1.2.

Update (2019-02-07): Here what I tried so far, with no success:

Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Viber > Delete App (per 1)
Privacy > Advertising > Limit Ad Tracking; followed by > Reset Advertising Identifier
AppleID > iCloud > Viber > Off
disabling backups for Viber (per 2)
AppleID > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups > (my phone) > Delete Backup
rebooting between the above cleanup steps and installing a new copy of Viber
completely signing out of AppleID, which includes removing all AppleID account-connected data including Keychain and disabling access to any backups
starting a newly installed Viber when the phone is in Airplane mode (per 3)

This can be fixed by Deactivating the account. Settings -> Account -> Deactivate account. Then type in your phone number and click deactivate. This will remove all data from the old account and allow you to setup as new.


System 7: How to unlock screensaver? I own a vintage "LC II" (a.k.a. "Macintosh Performa 400") with System 7.x installed years ago. Unfortunately I'm not able to log in anymore, because after the initial boot the screensaver fires up and locks the screen with a password.

I would like to know either if:

there are any key combinations or such to "unlock" screensaver/log in?
there are any key combinations to "reset things"?
there is a easy–to–follow guide to create installation floppies to re-install from scratch?

There are a couple options.

lhf is right -- holding down shift will disable all extensions on startup in System 7.x. If you are running OS 7.5, holding the shift key will bring up the extensions manager, allowing you to choose the extension you want to shut off.

If that does not work, you can boot from a disk as if you were going to install software. You can download Mac OS 7.5.3 from Apple. You technically only need the first disk to boot. Once you create the disk from the first image, boot from it by holding down command and option.

That should boot into a very minimal version of System 7.5 and bypass the screensaver.


Using an iMac to extend a Wireless network I'm right on the edge of my WiFi range, but my iMac is hard-wired with Gigabit Ethernet. Is it possible to use my iMac's Wifi to extend the range of my wireless network to provide better connections to my mobile devices?

I know I can setup a separate network with my iMac, but it would be ideal to stay on a single network in various parts of the building.

I'm using a Late 2012 iMac.

Is this what you're looking for? WiFi Sharing

If so, you can create a network with the same SSID and password as your existing network


How can I upgrade my jailbroken and unlocked iPhone 3GS to 4.2? I have an iPhone 3GS running on 4.0.1 and I want to upgrade it to 4.2 with my Mac. How can I go about doing this?

Current Version: 4.0.1 (8A306)
Model: MB7...
Modem Firmware: 05.13.04

There is nothing special to upgrading when jailbroken or not. You must use the official upgrade path which means losing unlock and jailbreak, and then re-jailbreak and re-unlock if you want and if it is possible with the new firmware. So...

Plug it in
Follow the prompts in iTunes


Need to automate an SMB path into a UNC path before sending to Win10 clients New here, but I'm having difficulty putting together an AppleScript that will basically take an SMB link and turn it into a UNC link before I send it over to a couple of Win10 clients.

All same network, we're all using a SNS NAS and it's for Adobe Premiere links. We can do this all manually, but the editors don't have time/patience to convert each link. We're looking for an automated script that we could integrate as a service that will convert selected text.

I found the article below, but it's the reverse to what we're looking for. I tried reversing all of the functions in it but wasn't able to get it to run properly.

https://gist.github.com/anonymous/2211017

It'd also be awesome if the 'service' that is created simple copies the entry into the clipboard so that the end-user can paste it into a couple of different things like email and Slack messenger.

Hopefully someone can help or steer me in the right direction. I've been scouring Google for this for about a week.

EDIT** Examples below

Old path
'smb://server/folder'

New path
'\\server\folder'

NOTE: This answer is intended only as an example when the SMB Path, aside from the colon, slashes and backslashes and without spaces, only contains alphanumeric characters in the name! If you need to account for anything else, i.e. read the comments to this answer, you'll need to modify the code according to your needs. That said, in all of my years as a Network Systems Administrator and Network Systems Engineer I never created shares containing spaces or other then the need for colons, slashes, backslashes and alphanumeric characters and therefore this simple example is all that I'd need to translate any, e.g. smb://server/folder to \\server\folder, SMB Path I ever used to a UNC Path. YMMV!

In Automator, create a new Service workflow, then add a Run AppleScript action to it while replacing the default AppleScript code with the code below:

on searchReplace(theText, SearchString, ReplaceString)
    set OldDelims to AppleScript's text item delimiters
    set AppleScript's text item delimiters to SearchString
    set newText to text items of theText
    set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ReplaceString
    set newText to newText as text
    set AppleScript's text item delimiters to OldDelims
    return newText
end searchReplace

on run {input, parameters}
    set selectedText to item 1 of input as string
    set convertedText to searchReplace(selectedText, "smb://", "\\\\")
    set convertedText to searchReplace(convertedText, "/", "\\")
    set the clipboard to convertedText as string
    return convertedText
end run

Then save the Service as: Convert SMB Path to UNC Path

Now Convert SMB Path to UNC Path will appear on the Services menu or Services context menu when text is selected and when the Service is used, the UNC Path is placed on the Clipboard. (This of course assumes the selected text was actually an SMB Path, otherwise what's placed there is just whatever text was selected when the Service was run which will include any substitutions made.)

Example SMB Path smb://server/folder will be converted to UNC Path \\server\folder and placed on the Clipboard.

Note: Note the settings of the Service in the image below. The Output replaces selected text checkbox is unchecked. You may check it, if that's what you want, however, if the selected text is not actually replaceable then the Service will not appear on the Services menu or Services context menu.


When looking in "All My Files", I see multiple instances of the same file In finder (OS X 10.12), when browsing the "All My Files" section I see usually 3 instances of each file. Even after deleting the real file the duplicates exist, and Finder tells me they are all the same size.

When I try to move these duplicates to my trash can, it turns into a eject symbol and I cannot delete them.

Do you have an external (or network) Time Machine drive set up? If so it is possible that you are seeing the backed up copies of your files.

Open System Preferences and click on the Spotlight icon and then the Privacy tab. Click the "+" button at the bottom of that window and add the Time Machine drive(s). You can then quit out of System preferences.

Something similar was happening to me where I was getting seemingly duplicate items in searches. Excluding my Time Machine drive eliminated that issue.

Just realize that now if you need a file from a Time Machine backup you cant just search for it, you'll have to enter Time Machine to find the file.


How can I get rid of excel files that I can't delete I run OSX Lion and I have an excel spreadsheet 2011 sitting on my desktop that I regularly open, update, and save.  Whenever I open, edit, and save the excel spreadsheet, a new file is created on the desktop that I can't delete (even when excel is closed). The files have names "BEE05630", "D5A1F120", etc. I have to restart for the files to disappear from my desktop.

Any way to fix this?

Force quitting finder "fixes" this but is a work-around. If no one has a better fix, I'm going to have to mark this as the answer.

Press option down while right-clicking the finder in the dock, then click "Relaunch". It relaunched the desktop and the random excel file went away.


Are wireless speeds on Laptop and iPhone the same? This might be a network forum question, nor sure but here is my question:
My router is AirPort Time Capsule, the new model that has wireless ac.
My laptop is Retina Macbook pro and looks like it also supports wireless ac
and my phone is iPhone 6 and I think that one is also wireless ac.

Why when I go to SpeedTest application on the iPhone my speed does not show higher than 20 or 30 Mbps but when I do speediest on browser on MacBook then it goes to 50, 60, or 70 Mbps?

It would largely come down to the hardware components (i.e., related to wireless communication) that each device is composed of.

From the Apple store, you can inspect the list of components within a given device. You want to identify the specific part number/name and the manufacturer. Some device review sites might provide that info as well.

You can then go to manufacturer sites and reference the specific parts, and learn more about the specifications for each part. Doing this comparison, this should answer your questions about the varying performance that you're observing.

Also keep in mind that newer versions of the same hardware model can have more advanced wireless components, which improves performance in the newer product (even though it appears identical to the older model).


How to move window to different desktop via keyboard in Lion? In Snow Leopard, to move a window to a different space, I had to use the mouse to select the window and use the keyboard to select the target space (e.g., ctrl + 1,2,3).

In Lion, what keyboard (maybe in slight conjunction with mouse as before) shortcuts can I use to move a window to a different desktop?

Pressing the shortcuts for changing desktops while dragging a window should still work, but the shortcuts have to be enabled in System Preferences.

SizeUp supports for example assigning ⌃⇧→ to moving a window to the next desktop.


Change Default Location for All User Home Directories in Mac OS X 10.10.5 How can I change the default location for all user home directories in Mac OS X 10.10.5?

I have found plenty of articles about moving a single folder at a time, but no instructions on how to change the default on all new users that are created.

Copy the existing user folder to a new location

ditto /Users /newpath

Setup a symlink to redirect to the new path

ln -s /newpath /Users

Or you can do it all in one line

ln -s -F /newpath /Users


I stopped Time Machine and I lost my files I have a huge problem. It seems that I erased 1TB of my husband´s pictures (he is a photographer).

He has a 2TB Verbatim external disk and today I was kind of playing with Time Machine. I don´t really know how I clicked into "selected the backup disk" and I clicked the Verbatim one. The backup started saying "preparing disk..."but immediately I thought that something is going wrong so I switched off this external disk.

Now the problem is that if I open the external disk, Finder says that "can´t read this disk". In finder it looks empty, except a new folder created by Time Machine called backup.backupbd or something like that.
Time Machine didn´t ask me at any moment something like "are you sure you want to format/erase the content?". So I presume the files are still there!

Please help!!!
Thanks for your patience!

Here is what might have happened:

You had a drive that was formatted as a PC drive and the Mac OS, thinking it was helpful, offered to back itself up to that drive. If someone clicked yes several times, that would prompt you to erase the drive (and since you didn't list the OS running on the Mac, the exact terms might be different if you have Lion versus Mountain Lion vs another OS version).

At that point, the drive would get reformatted, but the vast majority (perhaps all) of the files on the drive would be still intact, but no longer linked to a directory.

If the drive was ejected before it could write the first backup, you would have great luck using a commercial file recovery program. On Mac, you would get Data Rescue 3 or similar to undelete the files.

If the Mac couldn't erase the drive, that might be the best case for you since it wouldn't start backing up (which will begin to write new files on all the "free space" that it thinks contains no old files). If you see a empty disk with a directory Backups.backupdb - that implies that the format was successful and the Mac is ready to write files which will over-write free space and in time ensure that none of the old pictures are recoverable.

I'd say - get a hold of someone that has done drive recovery before and/or get a quote from a company like Kroll Ontrack so that you know what your options are.

The more data that gets written to the drive and the more uncertain you are about exactly what happened will increase the work needed to recover the files, but I would guess you only have to pay for software and time to get some if not most of the pictures back. If you performed the recovery yourself, you'll need a third hard drive to store the recovered files (or store them on the Mac if there is space) and the $99 software which you might be able to download and try for free.

If these files were PC formatted, you might have better luck with a PC recovery software, but I've used Data Rescue on many PC drives in the past and had good luck and not needed to send the drive out for professional recovery - so you may not need anything other than what I have listed above.


Internal keyboard randomly stops working (after upgrade to Catalina) - any way to reset it? Is there anything like a reset of the internal keyboard device that I can try doing instead of having to restart my MacBook completely?

The internal keyboard on my MacBook Pro just stops responding to key presses at a random moment (and stays like that). After restarting, it works again.
it happened 7-8 times already, every time in the middle of typing
something. It also happened twice while I was typing this question.
Trackpad continues to work normally.
It happened while I had an external keyboard connected, as well. Actually, two of them, both Apple keyboards -- one wireless and the other USB. Both of them, and the internal keyboard, stopped working at that point. When I re-connected a keyboard, it continued working again (only the reconnected one).

This appears to be a Karabiner bug (at least in my case).


Is there any AirPort product that supports to receive audio streaming and share a hard drive on USB? My impression is that I need both an Airport Express for sound, and an AirPort Extreme for sharing the hard drive.

Is this true, or there are alternatives?

Your impression is correct. AirPort Express's USB port does not support hard drives, and AirPort Extreme doesn't have an audio output jack:

Sucks, don't it?


Can I run a virtualized OS X operating system (bought on eBay) on my PC via VMware Player I am considering running a virtualized OS X running system within my PC on VMware Player. I want to do this so that I can run Xcode.

Can I do this?

Actually, it's a complicated little issue. While it isn't supported by Apple's Terms and Agreement, it is possible to run Mac OS X in VMware. However, you would need an unlocker of some sort, that provides a copy of Darwin.iso, and a few other tools for debugging and overall performance on virtual hardware. From there, you would then need to modify VMware as well (also done via an unlocker), seeing that it doesn't support Apple software by default. It's also noted that using an AMD cpu/apu will require additional kexts and verbose-mode commands during boot-time to run properly. When this is all handled, you should be able to run almost any version of Mac OS X, as demonstrated here (in fact, I'm currently using this vm on an Intel Core i5 to post this answer online - for testing purposes):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-r8CvCnen4

In fact, this exact video uses VMware Player. I haven't gotten this to work for Workstation 12 (after weeks of debugging and trial-and-error), so I would assume that there is a compatibility issue with Workstation in the current version.

WARNING: I do not endorse the misuse of Apple products. I am simply answering a question from knowledge and experience, to correct a widely-supported assumption that is untrue.

As such, yes - it is possible. But NO, you should not do this for anything beyond testing purposes (even if it is FREE with an AppleID).


ios 12.0 how can I delete specific plug in applications within the Message app? I don't want Message apps except for photos to show up in the bottom when I'm composing a message.

How can I delete them from Message so I can't tap them accidentally or see them?

Finally figured it out - in imessage conversation area, scroll the line of apps to the left, select the three dots, scroll thru both favorite and all apps, swipe left on each unwanted app. As usual in ios, a 'small swipe' left shows a 'delete' selection, a 'big swipe' just deletes it. Be sure to select 'done' to save all your changes