How can I format a time to HHMM with AppleScript? Is it possible to get the hour and minute in 24 hour HHMM format so that 1:01 would be 0101

I figured out a way to do it for the month and year but can't find a way for the hour and minute.

Here is what I have so far.

set whichUrl to 0
set fileNames to "map"
set theStartDate to the date "Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 00:00:00"
set theEndDate to theStartDate + (60 * 60 * 24 * 365) --1 year
set theDate to theStartDate

repeat until theDate = theEndDate
        set theURL to "http://site.com/map.php?iso="

        set {year:y, month:m, day:d} to (theDate)
        set theModDate to (y * 10000 + m * 100 + d) as string

        set theURL to theURL & theModDate & hours of theDate
        set theURL to theURL & minutes of theDate

        tell application "Safari"
            activate
            set the URL of document 1 to theURL as text
            delay 2

        end tell
    set theDate to theDate + (600) --advance 10 minutes
    set whichUrl to whichUrl + 1
end repeat

Here's a script that takes the current time and makes it HHMM as you asked.

-- preserve the current text item delimiters so we can put them back
set oldDelims to AppleScript's text item delimiters

set right_now to current date
set the_time to time string of right_now -- something like "4:20:56 PM"
set am_pm to characters -2 thru -1 of the_time as string -- is it AM or PM

set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ":"
set the_hour to text item 1 of the_time as string -- in this example, "4"
set the_minute to text item 2 of the_time as string -- in this example, "20"

if (am_pm is "PM") then
    set the_hour to the_hour + 12
end if

if the_hour is "24" then
    set the_hour to "12"
end if
-- that could have been more graceful but it's nice and obvious this way

if (count of the_hour) is 1 then -- padding with a zero if necessary
    set the_hour to "0" & the_hour
end if

if (count of the_minute) is 1 then -- padding with a zero if necessary
    set the_minute to "0" & the_minute
end if

set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
set steves_string to the_hour & the_minute as string -- putting the pieces together

set AppleScript's text item delimiters to oldDelims -- cleaning up

return steves_string -- you would not need this line, but for testing it's nice

I am sure that this could be tightened up but I thought it was educational to see it step by step.

You could certainly pass in any time you wanted-- does not have to be "current date." (Note that current date includes the time too. You peel off the "time" part of a date by asking for "the time string" of it.


how to change "kind" of files in OSX mavericks? I have assigned Text Wrangler as the default app for all my .srt files (right click on one of the files -> get info -> open with Text Wrangler -> change all).

My confusion is that even though I have done this, in Finder some of the (.srt) files show as "Text file" while most show as "TextWrangler document".

I've remove all the .DS_Store files in my volume but still no change.

Does anyone know how to fix this?

In saying that, double-clicking on the .srt files marked as "text file" still opens them in Text Wrangler.

thanks a lot

File type associations are cached by LaunchServices and can become corrupt.

Try opening /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app and entering this command:

 /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

After the command finishes, log out of your user account, and log back in

srt files, which are SubRip Text (SRT) files, are actually plain text files. You can use the file command in /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app to see that this is so:

      chillin@stack:~$
      chillin@stack:~$
      chillin@stack:~$ curl -O http://www.sub-titles.net/static/podnapisi/a/6/d/a6d482118f7790cad9926336c3f667e87618040e.zip
      chillin@stack:~$ unzip a6d482118f7790cad9926336c3f667e87618040e.zip
      Archive:  a6d482118f7790cad9926336c3f667e87618040e.zip
      inflating: Snowpiercer.2013.720p.BluRay.DTS.x264-PublicHD.srt
      chillin@stack:~$ file Snowpiercer.2013.720p.BluRay.DTS.x264-PublicHD.srt
      Snowpiercer.2013.720p.BluRay.DTS.x264-PublicHD.srt: ASCII English text, with CRLF line terminators
      chillin@stack:~$
      chillin@stack:~$ echo; echo '     Stack Exchange RULES!'; echo

           Stack Exchange RULES!

      chillin@stack:~$
      chillin@stack:~$

Show and hide filename extensions

Two ways to do it

How to clear custom application associations in OS X


Mount external disk at the same mounting point in macOS I have an external disk, and I want to be mounted in the same mounting point (path) every time I connect.

In ubuntu I edited the file /etc/fstab, I added

UUID=5C2A-23AD /media/external1/    exfat        nofail,auto,noatime,rw,user 0 0

and is working. But I don't know how to do this in macOS 10.14.4

On Mac, drives automount with the name that the drive provides to the OS (usually as soon as you plug it in/turn it on). For example, a drive named external1 will always mount to /Volumes/external1 on macOS, even if the /dev/disk[n] is different


What does the orange keys mean in keyboard viewer? I use the keyboard viewer as a cheat sheet so I can guide myself in the horrible fields of OSX keymaps and I realised that pressing some keys will display a few keys in orange. What does that color indicate?

Those keys in orange are so-called dead keys. It's a key that does not necessarily generate a complete character by itself but may modify the character generated by the key struck immediately after.

The usage of those dead keys in a text editor or in the Terminal is usually indicated by a yellowish background. You may then enter the main character you want to modify to finally get the desired one.

Not all combinations of a dead key and a normal key are used. Typing altn (=~) n will result in a 'ñ'. But altn (=~) t just gives '~t'.


Can beta-features be added to the app on the App Store? We are working on an iOS app which is already on the App Store. We are planning some new features for the app. Can we add these unfinished features in a beta mode? Will Apple allow this?

No Demos, Betas, or Trial Versions

From the App Store Review Guidelines …

  2.2 Beta Testing

  Demos, betas, and trial versions of your app don’t belong on the App Store – use TestFlight instead.

Still unsure? Only Apple can answer this question authoritatively. Please contact Apple iTunes Connect team directly and ask.


Does Secure Empty Trash actually write random patterns of data? This works by writing random patterns of data over a trashed file
  immediately after it has been emptied,

http://osxdaily.com/2012/02/03/secure-empty-trash-mac-os-x/

Does Secure Empty Trash actually write random patterns of data? I find it odd because, as far as I'm concerned, writing a bunch of 0s is more than enough to make your data inaccessible.

I couldn't find an Apple document saying this, but it seems to me like a pretty strong statement so they probably had a source somewhere. Is there any truth to this?

tl;dr: I don’t know, but I have some interesting links.

An Apple security white paper from Oct 2012/Mountain Lion confirms that it’s only a single-pass erase:

  Users can also initiate sanitization while deleting files using the Secure Empty Trash command in the Finder. This command overwrites files as they are deleted using a single-pass erase.

but doesn’t say whether it’s a lot of zeroes, or random data.

In Disk Utility on Mavericks, the single-pass erase tool only uses a pass of zeroes:

  This option writes a single pass of zeros over the entire disk. It erases the information used to access your files and writes over the data 1 time.

It’s not clear if the two implementations are exactly the same.

It might be a little stronger than that. The tool underlying Secure Empty Trash is a command line tool called srm (Secure ReMove). According to the Wikipedia page:

  Mac OS X interfaces to srm, such as the "Secure Empty Trash" menu item in the Finder, use the DOD-recommended 7-pass algorithm, although srm uses the 35-pass version by default.

7-passes includes four passes of random data, and then there passes of repeating data. You can see the full list on the Wikipedia page about the Gutmann method, which is what srm uses. Unfortunately, that doesn’t come with a reference.

I have an old Mac OS X book (Mac OS X Power Tools, iirc) which also says that 7-pass overwrite is used for Secure Empty Trash, but again no mention of whether it’s zeroes or random data. It’s possible that the Wikipedia page is out-of-date, and that Apple has toned it back over the years.

Certainly, the most secure erasure option available in Disk Utility has been scaled back in the last few releases. A few versions ago, the full 35-pass option was available there:

In Mavericks, the best option only uses 7-passes:

However, the srm man page in Mavericks still makes reference to the 35-pass algorithm

  The -s option  overrides the -m option, if both are present. If neither is specified, the 35-pass Gutmann algorithm is used.

Presumably the option still exists, but you need to go to the command line to do it. (There’s more good discussion of this on the Security Stack Exchange site.)

  I find it odd because, as far as I'm concerned, writing a bunch of 0s is more than enough to make your data inaccessible.

It depends on how inaccessible you want your data to be. For a home user, that mine be fine. If you work for the military or the defence sector, perhaps less so. In theory, somebody with suitable equipment could read the original magnetic pattern from the disk if it’s not broken up properly. Using random data instead of zeroes makes it that much harder to read the original. (More information on the Wikipedia article on data remanence, or that Security.SE thread.)


Login loop after OS X 10.8 update (WindowServer problem?) The problem

I upgraded my macpro recently from OS X 10.6 to 10.8. Now (couple of weeks later) I ran an small update for OS X 10.8, and something not so funny happened.

The updater asked me to reboot my system. Before the reboot, it told me something like:

  “None of the updates could be installed. An Exception occurred.”

Since that moment, whenever I try to log in, I end up in the infamous “login loop”: I enter my password, see a gray screen for about 20 seconds, and end up on the login screen again.

OS X version

$ sw_vers
ProductName: Mac OS X
ProductVersion: 10.8.3
BuildVersion: 12D78

OS X update

The update consisted of four parts, one of them being iTunes (I think iTunes has never worked after I upgraded to OS X 10.8; this was probably an iTunes 10.6 - 10.8 upgrade or something?). The other three I don’t remember.

What I’ve already tried

I’ve tried to log in as another user. Same problem. So it doesn’t seem to be user-specific.
There are a lot of posts out there suggesting that it may have something to do with a corrupted launch service cache. There was indeed a file named “com.apple.LaunchServices-034501.csstore” (as suggested by posts below) on my machine. I removed it (in Single-User mode). Didn’t help...

http://dltj.org/article/macosx-launchservices-login-loop-fix/

File system check:

fsck_hfs -r -f -y /dev/disk1s2

Help!

The log files are too large to include here. I'll try to paste some (to my own judgement) relevant stuff in the comments below.

The OS X update took place around Mar 24 13:50. At 13:52:32 I see the first “Exit timeout elapsed (20 seconds).” (I think this is the log in timeout).

Some errors in the log file were there before Mar 24 13:50, so I guess they’re harmless (like “The following StartupItems failed to start properly”).

All help highly appreciated because I'm stuck. Also, if you know of a forum that's more suitable for this kind of problem, please let me know!

Cheers

I started OS X in recovery mode (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718) and chose "Reinstall OS X". This downloads OS X from the internet and reinstalls it. The download took me some 2 hours, installation another 40 minutes. Problem fixed.

I was afraid this reinstall would completely format my drive, and install OS X from scratch. But everything seems still intact. My (and all other users) home folder is still there, 3rd party apps in /Applications are still there. And everything is still working.

I never heard of this built-in Recovery System in OS X. Good to know it exists.


MacBook Air display to external projector I have a new 2012 MacBook Air (just a week old).  Today I tried to connect to an external LCD projector, using a mini-DisplayPort-to-VGA adaptor, to project my slides.

Something went wrong and I was unable to project.  My Mac detected the external projector, and I was able to mirror my main display, but nothing showed up on the LCD projector, despite trying two different mini-DisplayPort-to-VGA dongles.  In the end, I was able to successfully project from a different, older Mac using one of those dongles, so I don't think the dongle is broken.

What should be the troubleshooting procedure, if this happens again?  Does the new 2012 Air require any sort of different procedure or equipment for mirroring your display onto an external projector?

In a pinch, this usually works:

Connect your computer to the projector and turn the projector on.
Restart your Mac.
It should now work.


Podcast artwork shows in Apple Podcasts and iTunes but not on iPhone I submitted my first podcast to Apple Podcasts. The RSS feed has this tag for the icon:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd">
    <channel>
        <title><![CDATA[Ginja]]></title>
        <description><![CDATA[Um curso virtual que desenvolve a inteligência emocional nas crianças]]></description>
        <link>https://emocoes.org</link>
        <image>
            <url>http://emocoes.org/images/logo_podcast.png</url>
        ...

The artwork works, since I can see it on Apple Podcasts:

and on iTunes:

But syncing it on my iPhone 4S, I do not see the artwork when the podcast is playing:

nor when browsing the library:

The iOS version is 9.3.6.
How can I change the podcast feed or artwork to show on all iPhones?

One solution is to embed the artwork into each audio file. Command-line solutions include lame and ffmpeg, for example:
lame --ti /path/to/file.jpg audio.mp3
ffmpeg -i input.mp3 -i cover.jpg -map_metadata 0 -map 0 -map 1 output.mp3

See more at: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/84915/add-album-art-cover-to-mp3-ogg-file-from-command-line-in-batch-mode
You can also download dedicated software for this purpose, though I did not try it.
Either way, if you handle the low-level of podcast distribution, remember to update the length attribute to reflect the now larger file, or else the duration may be computed from the file size and display the wrong number.


My mic is not working on Skype (iOS) This morning I update my iPad 2 to iOS 7 and when I went to do a call on Skype, they are not hearing me. Is there something wrong with the settings or is it something else?

If you accidentially disallowed Skype app accessing your microphone on iOS7 you can change the setting via: Settings -> Privacy -> Microphone -> Skype


DRM Free Music With iTunes Match & Apple Music? If I'm right about this ... iTunes Match uploads files you already have and gives you back DRM free versions in a better quality?

and ...

Apple Music lets you download any file in iTunes library, but with DRM?

... I'm sure this won't be the case but, if you have both, do you get unlimited downloading of DRM-free music downloads from Apples library?

When using iTUnes Match you will be able to download a copy of your mp3 file (256 Kbps) from iTunes servers directly to your devices DRM-free.

If your file B.mp3 doesn't match any B.mp3 file on iTunes servers, then your file is uploaded to your iTunes Match account (same quality as local file) and it can be downloaded on other devices DRM-free.

Every file available on Apple Music has DRM, meaning: all the files you save for offline listening aren't DRM Free. Also, some files on Apple Music aren't available in every region.

Hope this helped!

EDIT

Corrected answer regarding the DRM state of iTunes Match files. Source.

Thanks to @fschoenm for correcting me!


How to add a reminder to a specific list and time via Siri I can say " Add call friend to my Work list " and Siri will add that reminder to the specific reminder list WORK. However, if I imply any time, it will add it as a calendar entry.
Yet when I say " remind me to call friend on Thursday ", Siri will add the reminder on that day and at 9AM ...

But I would like to choose my own date and time for reminders while specifying which reminder list it goes in, how can I accomplish this ?

EDIT

I managed to find this method :

Me : Remind me to call friend on thursday at 11am
Siri : Here is your reminder, shall I create it ?
Me : Move it to my name list

And then the reminder is moved to your specific list. However, I would rather avoid having to do this longwinded method, is there a way to skip step 2 and combine them all in one sentence ?

Found it!

  Add "list name" reminder "new item" on "date and time"

Example: "Add activities reminder basketball practice on friday at 2pm."

Odd and slightly backwards syntax but works!


How do I download a single song via iTunes Match in iOS 6 When my iOS device doesn't have synced music but instead shows songs that are matched and available from iCloud, I've noticed there are only buttons to download groups of songs and not one song.

What is the new way for downloading just one song from the cloud to the device?

There is no direct way to just download one song onto an iDevice from iTunes Match right now. You can either

request the whole album/playlist and cancel the unwanted tracks
create one-track playlists

Both options have their drawbacks of course (especially the second one).


Macbook Air recognizes battery while starting, but later says "no battery available" (battery icon X) I spilled a full glass of water on the keyboard of my Macbook Air 11" mid-2011 (running OS X Mavericks).

After drying everything out, etc., here's what happens when I start the laptop:

It has to be plugged in to start. The green LED on the magsafe plug doesn't light up any more.
As it starts, I can pull out the magsafe plug, and it continues to start.
If I leave the magsafe plug unplugged, then just before it reaches the main login screen, the screen goes totally blank (and I can dimly see the cover's apple logo behind it, indicating that the screen is off), but the keyboard stays lighted up. If I plug the magsafe back in, nothing changes.
If I don't pull out the magsafe plug in (2.), then the laptop reaches the login screen just fine, and after I log in, there's an X on the battery icon with the message "no battery found".

I've tried SMC, PRAM resets.

It's clear that the battery is being recognized for a while, so it's not some mechanical connection issue.

If this might be some firmware issue, is there some way to update the Macbook's firmware?

Unfortunately, intermittent battery connection failures can also be a result of spilling water on the computer.  It's not just a case of either it works or not.

You'll need to take the computer in to a service center. The technician will likely try swapping out the battery first to see if that does the trick. Otherwise, you might be looking at a full logic board replacement.


Weather apps that report snow accumulation Are there any weather apps for iOS that report the amount of snow accumulation, not just precipitation? Something like "3-5 inches of snow is expected".

I've tried the stock weather app and several others. All I seem to get is whether or not it will snow and the amount of precipitation which is merely a fraction of actual snow accumulation. Ideally I'd also like to know if ground/road conditions are expected to be icy.

Dark Sky shows expected accumulation... In my experience it is pretty inaccurate, but it tries. It has almost always forecasted more accumulation than actually accumulates. It is pretty accurate with its other predictions though.

The prediction engine that runs Dark Sky is available at http://forecast.io if you want to try it out for free. I can't remember for sure if it shows expected accumulation, but I think it does.


Why/how does the iOS 1970 bug work? There's been a lot of discussion lately about the 1970 iOS bug. How/why does it happen?

Is it due to the UNIX epoch at 00:00:00 1/1/1970, so anything negative causes a crash which Apple never accounted for since that date is way before the iPhone was even considered?

According to http://www.macrumors.com/2016/02/15/apple-to-fix-january-1-1970-date-bug-ios/:

  Apple has not provided a reason for the bug, but YouTube video maker
  and programmer Tom Scott speculates that setting the date close to
  January 1, 1970, which is 00:00:00 in Unix time, may be resulting in
  an integer underflow -- in this case, a date prior to January 1, 1970.

  iOS then handles the underflow by returning the negative integrer to
  the maximum value, which Scott says results in a date that is some 20
  times longer than the universe is expected to last. Scott believes iOS
  may have difficulties handling this large number, resulting in
  affected devices crashing.


Should I be worried if the newest Macbook Pro specs are lower than my older Macbook Pro spec? I just went to Apple's website (July 2019) to find the maximum processor spec of a 15-inch Macbook Pro to be: 2.4GHz 8‑core 9th‑generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz

However, my Macbook Pro (15-inch, 2018) has a processor spec of 2.9 GHz Intel Core i9. Update: After reading the answer where six cores is important, I found the more official spec from Apple: 2.9GHz 6-core Intel Core i9, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz

Why has the processor speed gone down? Does it have anything to do with the heat problems I heard about in 2018?

Your question is actually based on a wrong assumption, namely that you're interpreting the specs of the current 2019 MacBook Pros as being lower than those for the 2018 models.

Using your specific example, you're citing the 2.4GHz processor in the top 2019 model and comparing that to the 2.9GHz processor in the top 2018 model. However, you're only looking at part of the picture:

The top 2018 MacBook Pro has a 2.9GHz (Core i9) processor with six cores.
The top 2019 MacBook Pro has a 2.4GHz (Core i9) processor with eight cores.

At the risk of oversimplifying things with this analogy, having eight cores compared to six cores is like having eight people v six people trying to do some heavy lifting. In most cases, eight people each capable of lifting 50kg each is better than having six people each capable of lifting 60kg each. Worse, not all problems can be evenly or efficiently divided, so having 7 people standing idle while one works is more the norm and the entire system balance is far more important than any fractional increase or decrease in core count or speed measuremen. Those only matter when all the other primary factors are perfectly equal which usually happens only in benchmarks or hours long video rendering exercises.

To put this into perspective, testing both these MacBook Pros using the same benchmarking tests, we get the following results:

Information on how to interpret these results is available here

In summary, the above chart shows:

2018 MacBook Pro (2.9GHz) achieves a single core score of 5,335 and a multi-core score of 22,432
2019 MacBook Pro (2.4GHz) achieves a single core score of 5,658 and a multi-core score of 30,151

So, as you can see, the newest MacBook Pro specs are not lower than those of the 2018 models.


Using 3 External monitors on my macbook pro, problem with DVD player I am running 3 external monitors off of my macbook pro 10.6.8. When I try to watch a DVD, the player slides down to my macbook pro. Want to play it on a larger monitor. Possible?

Yes.

When you are in DVD Player, <command>-F to exit full screen mode.  Then drag the window to the monitor you want to use and <command>-F to switch back to full screen mode.


Enabling Scroll Bars In Mountain Lion? In Mountain Lion scroll bars are turned off by default, and are only seen if actively scrolling.

How do you enable them, so that they are seen all the time ?

Terminal Command

Alternatively, if you like Terminal commands (for scripting or BetterTouchTool gestures), you can set scroll bars to always be shown with the following command:

defaults write -g AppleShowScrollBars -string Always

To reset this, you can use the following command:

defaults write -g AppleShowScrollBars -string WhenScrolling

You may have to restart the app (or Finder: killall -HUP Finder) for the change to take effect.

Per App Setting

As well as being set globally, these Terminal commands can be used to change the scroll bars specifically per app.

defaults write com.apple.Terminal AppleShowScrollBars -string Always

Replace com.apple.Terminal with the bundle identifier of the app that you want to change.


Does Time Machine fail gracefully if I eject the backup disk during a backup? I'm using an external USB HDD as my Time Machine backup disk for my MacBook. I have it plugged in as long as I'm working at my desk. I don't have it with me when I take the laptop somewhere else. However, I'm afraid that at some point I'm going to need to go to a meeting or something that requires me to bring my laptop, which means I'll have to unplug my backup disk. What if I can't wait for it to finish because a client is here? Time is money, you know!

My question for you is whether Time Machine fails gracefully if I do this while a backup is running. And I'm not talking unsafe unplugging; I would use the "eject" function.

Normally, I would try something like this myself, but a lot is at stake here if it fails!

In your assumption of properly ejecting the drive first, there'll be no issues: the partial backup will even be kept so that files which were already copied during this partial backup and you didn't change in the meanwhile won't have to be copied again.


List of all interfaces in my laptop Below is the machine:

$ uname -a
Darwin whatever 18.7.0 Darwin Kernel Version 18.7.0: Sun Dec  1 18:59:03 PST 2019; root:xnu-4903.278.19~1/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64
$

In ubuntu, ip addr or ip a gives list of all interfaces.

What is the similar command in mac?

networksetup -listallnetworkservices is the macOS command that I believe you are looking for.

Quoting from man networksetup:

  -listallnetworkservices

  Displays a list of all the network services on the server's hardware ports. An asterisk (*) denotes that a network service is disabled.

On my MacBook Air:

An asterisk (*) denotes that a network service is disabled.
Wi-Fi
iPhone USB
Bluetooth PAN
Thunderbolt Bridge

There's also ifconfig which will show you IP addresses and MAC addresses, if that is what you are looking for.


Speak typed keystrokes/letters on Mac I would like a way for my Mac to give me sound feedback with the letter I type when I type it. For example, if I press the letter "J", a voice should say "J". If I type the number "1", the voice should say "one".

Is this possible on macOS?

The reason I want to do this is because I am copying some numbers into a document from another document, and I want to ensure that I did not mistype a number.

You can achieve this by temporarily enabling VoiceOver.

Open System Preferences > Accessibility > VoiceOver and tick the checkbox to enable VoiceOver.
In the dialog that appears, click "Use VoiceOver".
Click on the text field where you would like to input data, and begin to type.

Each keystroke you press will be spoken aloud by default.

When you're done, simply uncheck the VoiceOver checkbox in System Preferences. VoiceOver can also be toggled with the  ⌘F5 shortcut.


How to change configure system.log file in macOS? This is my first time to using a Mac, some macOS settings need to edit due to Security Audit.

We are using macOS 10.9 to 10.12 version in 10 of iMac, we’ve had an problem is how to keep long time record for “system.log”?

Mar 13 09:18:44 BSHK001110.local authorizationhost[8125]: Failed to authenticate user <admin> (error: 9).
Mar 13 09:18:45 BSHK001110.local authorizationhost[8125]: Failed to authenticate user <admin> (error: 9).
Mar 13 09:18:45 BSHK001110.local authorizationhost[8125]: Failed to authenticate user <admin> (error: 9).

In my observation, system.log will rebuild by script if the Macs don't shutdown at night and log file only keep around one day data.

Is there any chance to change specific date (one month) to rebuild system.log file and keep one month data?

Remarks:
I have upgraded macOS 10.13.3 and found that there is no record about "Failed to authenticate". Is there any problem in macOS 10.13?

Your settings for for the syslog are found in /etc/asl.conf.

There's a section that governs how the system log operates.

# Rules for /var/log/system.log
> system.log mode=0640 format=bsd rotate=seq compress file_max=5M all_max=50M
? [= Sender kernel] file system.log
? [<= Level notice] file system.log
? [= Facility auth] [<= Level info] file system.log
? [= Facility authpriv] [<= Level info] file system.log

Specifically, the log will rotate (by default) when it hits 5M in size, not overnight and the whole set of log files will rotate when it hits 50M cumulatively (10 files in total).  If you wan to increase the size, just edit the line as you see fit.

> system.log mode=0640 format=bsd rotate=seq compress file_max=5M all_max=50M

I wouldn't increase the size of the individual files themselves, but rather the collective total.

That said, if you are collecting logs for a number of machines, you should be using a syslog server.


How to get Mac App Store to stop thinking app is installed on external drive? I ran into a problem where the Mac App Store said that a particular app (Numbers in this case) was up to date, but whenever I launched it I would get an older version.  I finally did a search across the entire computer and found Numbers.app in a folder on an external drive.  I have no idea how or why it was installed there instead of on the local hard drive. So I moved it from there to the Applications folder on the main internal drive and re-created the dock shortcut and now the correct version launches.

The problem is, now when I go to the App Store it says there is a new update available.  So it appears that the App Store wants to use the external drive location and now that I deleted it from there it wants to put it back.  Obviously I don't want this to happen: first of all, if the external drive goes away I would lose the app, and second, every time there is an upgrade it is going to cause more problems.

So, how do I get the App Store to correctly recognize that Numbers is installed in /Applications, not on the external drive?

Figures I found someone else that runs into the same problem as myself and no one has answered with a solution yet.

What I can offer is a work around for now until someone chimes in with a better fix, because I have an external drive that I use as backup by cloning my OS X partition. So when I decide to format and reinstall fresh I run into the same problem as you except I can't even install the apps because it says they're already installed.

Simple and Quick - Just disconnect the drive and restart the App Store, it will refresh with the correct information.

-Idea's I've been kicking around, but have not given it much more thought or a go.

I was going to make the drive hidden by putting a "." as the first character of the partition name, but I kept running into another problem (can't remember).

Anyways I hope this will work for you since anytime I've ever ran into the issue i've always resolved it by disconnecting the drive.

Good Luck!
-Mac


Smart Battery Case: Can't find notification center in ios11 I just got Apple's smart battery case for my iPhone 6S, but I'm having difficulty finding the charge status anywhere. It is supposed to be on the lock screen and the notification center. However, it doesn't show on the lock screen for me at all.

This is iOS 11, so when I swipe down from the top I get the same view as the lock screen. Still no battery charge status, of course. Swiping right takes me to the Today view, which has plenty of widgets but none for charge status.

From googling it seems you are supposed to be able to see yet another notification view by swiping up from the middle of the screen, but doing that doesn't do anything for me. I am on 11.0.3.

EDIT: It turns out that the battery status on the lock screen is only shown right when you plug or unplug the USB cable, for about 2 seconds. It doesn't normally show up. Man, I hate that.

The charging status a widget in the the Today View.

  If you already attached your iPhone to your case, look for the charging status in Today View on your iPhone.

Charge your iPhone with your Smart Battery Case

If the widget doesn't appear, tap the Edit button shown at the bottom of the screenshot and add it to the widgets you see.

To access Today View,

  swipe right over the Home screen, Lock screen, or while you're looking at your notifications.

Use widgets on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

In addition, the charging status is shown on the lock screen briefly when you connect/disconnect the case or power.

  As you attach your iPhone to your case, a charging status appears on the Lock screen. The status also appears when you connect the case to power or disconnect from power.

Charge your iPhone with your Smart Battery Case


How to import edited (cropped/filtered) photos from iPhone to Mac? I take photos with my iPhone SE running iOS 10.2.1.
I edit the photos in the native Photos app (cropping and filtering).
I sync to my MacBook Pro running OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan) using the native Photos app via USB.
Only original versions of the photos appear in Mac Photos. Where are the edited versions? They still appear as edited-only in iOS Photos.

My workaround is to view each photo individually and upload to Dropbox, then download to my Mac and import into Mac Photos, but this is extremely tedious.

Is there a better workaround, or even an actual solution?

Apple has a support page about this.

  Most programs will show the original, unedited version of the image.

  Images you import to your computer directly from your iOS device will show up as the original image in iPhoto, Aperture, and in the Finder.

To import edited photos to your computer

If you want to view the edited version of a photo on a Mac or PC that doesn’t automatically import the edited version:

AirDrop or email the photo to yourself.
Or, if you've enabled iCloud Photo Library, download it from the Photos web app at iCloud.com.

This will save a copy of the edited version on your computer, but you won't be able to revert to the original, unedited version.


Installing Windows 8 Preview on a Mac? I'm just wondering if anyone has figured this out yet. VMWare throws an ugly "internal monitor error" and there are apparently some graphics driver issues on the 2011 Macbook Pros.

Just my luck, VMWare Fusion 4 came out today and I was able to install Windows 8 on that. Boot Camp still has the graphics driver issues, but that's probably not going to resolve itself until Apple gets around to doing an update.

The latest Virtual Box also installs Windows 8 with no issues.


Can I charge my iPad and use a 30-pin accessory at the same time? I use iJam to record my guitar into GarageBand on my iPad. iJam connects via the 30-pin connector. Before long, my iPad's battery drains. Is there a way to charge the iPad and use iJam at the same time? It seems a male 30-pin to two female 30-pins splitter cable isn't so simple because I can't find one anywhere.

The cableJive dockStubz may do the trick. Designed to extend the port in bulky cases, it features a MicroUSB port on the side to charge with older accessories that don't support charging.

MicroUSB should also support an iPad charge, though it may be very slow. See here for someone saying they can charge their iPad with a MicroUSB adapter (admittedly officially supplied by Apple, but the point is the protocol and cable can handle it). Worst case it will say "not charging" and will charge in sleep, and when not charging the drain will at least be significantly slowed. You will probably need to plug the microUSB adapter into a high power USB port – ideally the iPad 10W charger itself.

I can't guarantee this would work but, were I in your situation, I'd give it a shot and let us know. You could always return the adapter if it didn't suit your needs.

Good luck!


Why does my monitor changes colors when the graphics adapter changes? Whenever my graphics adapter changes, whether intentionally or automatically, i notice the colors changing.They get definitely brighter, more blueish when on the high performance card.
Is this normal? Different graphics cards mean different color?

MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz (Late 2011) MBP Unibody 15"

AMD Radeon HD 6770M
Intel HD Graphics 3000

It's not normal, but a known issue. The problem appears each time your MacBook Pro switches to a Discrete Graphics Card.

There are a couple of things you could try, as a temporarily fix:

Turn Off the Automatic Graphics Switching in System Preferences / Energy Saver, Reboot, and then turn it On again. This will make the Discrete Card to be initialized correctly. This fix will work, though, until your next reboot.
Use gfxCardStatus to force the use of the Integrated Card only.

Some users got rid of it just by Rebooting, Repairing Permissions, Upgrading to the newest version or Reinstalling, though.


Simple audio recording software There are lot of questions regarding audio recording software on this forum, but I didn't find what I need. I am practicing speaking a foreign language, and I want to hear  how I speak. I do not want to save my recordings. Basically I want an application with  a record button and play button, such that as soon as I press record the previous recording gets erased and a new one starts. Quick Time works great, but it always offers to save an untitled file which is very annoying, and I don't find an option to turn that off.

Audacity

  Audacity® is free, open source, cross-platform software for recording and editing sounds.

You can click record, record the sound, stop and playback, then start again by clicking record. You can play only the latest recording by choosing to 'solo' the last selected track (which is the last track that you recorded to).


RAID storage drive failed - what to do? I have a macOS Server setup which is connected to two RAID (0, I think) systems. One of them does not work anymore.
Disk Utility shows that one drive is missing/damaged. It is not missing, thus it must be damaged.
This RAID system was used for Backups, which we currently are doing somewhere else and therefore it is not necessary to get the data back, but welcome.
The drives are two Seagate Barracuda with 3000GB storage each. Taking the drives out of the case and plugging only one of them into the Mac produces the following behaviour:
With both drives macOS shows this error prompt:
 (The inserted media could not be read from this computer; Initialize/Ignore/Eject)

Powering up the drive makes a weird chirping noise. Initializing faulty drive shows up in disk utility, but apparently is 4.14GB big:

I can't use it (i.e. look at files on it) and it does not appear in Finder.
After some time (maybe 10 minutes) the drive disconnects. Hitting eject and Ignore obviously doesn't do anything.
Initializing working drive shows up in disk utility as well, but seems ok to me:
Similarly though, I can't use it (i.e. look at files on it) and it does not appear in Finder.
It does not disconnect. Hitting eject and Ignore obviously doesn't do anything.

My question: What steps should I take next, to investigate this issue without harming the failed drive further?

I assume the drive failure is a hardware problem and it is gone and can't be used in future.
I hope, there is a possibility to recover the data.
I believe I can continue using the LaCie 2big enclosure with a new drive. Does this have to be a Seagate Barracuda 3TB or would something else work as well?

If you have read through all this: thank you so much!

What steps should I take next, to investigate this issue without
  harming the failed drive further?

Stop using, manipulating, testing, whatever you're doing to the drive immediately.

At this point, all you know is that your RAID array failed.  You don't know what in your RAID failed and it could be one of two components:

The enclosure
The drives

If it's the enclosure, your drives are likely fine.  Continued use of them, even if interrogating them for diagnostics could compromise the RAID table sending your data into oblivion.  You can test the enclosure by putting in two more drives; cheap, used ones are fine and they don't have to be large capacity as you're just testing functionality.  If things fail again, it's the enclosure.

If it is the drive, you don't want to keep testing them out or attempting data recovery, you could further damage them making recovery impossible.

If the drives are somewhat operational and if possible, make a bit-for-bit clone of your drive to a file.  You can use dd for this task and you will do it for each drive:

$ sudo dd if=/dev/rdiskX of=/path/do/imagefileY.img

You will end up with two image files, one for each disk.  rdiskX is the disk identifier of the disk you're copying.  You can then write those images to good disks to attempt to reconstruct your array as many times as you want without the risk of further data loss.

If the drives are physically damaged, you may still be able to recover them by sending them out to a shop that specializes in this type of recovery.  Many times, it's the PCB, the drive motor (the one that spins the platters) or the stepper motor (the one that moves the heads).  This company will replace the broken components so that you (or them) will be able to extract the data.

RAID Recovery Software

You mentioned that you don't know what RAID Level you were using.

  I have a macOS Server setup which is connected to two RAID (0, I think) systems.

This is not entirely critical.  If the drives can be remounted, the RAID table which holds the configuration can be read and recovery can proceed.  I have recovered RAID arrays in Windows several times using software made by Stellar Phoenix with excellent results.  There are a couple of RAID recovery vendors for Mac, though I haven't used them (because I changed my backup strategy long ago) - take a look at Prosoft Engineering and Easus.  I have heard (anecdotally) good things about each.

This brings us to the final point that needs mentioning...

RAID is not a backup!

RAID is for performance and/or redundancy, not for backups.  RAID 0, is striping data across at least 2 drives meaning the two drives are "combined" to serve as one big drive and both drives working in tandem means you get twice the performance (two drives reading one file).  RAID 1 is mirroring which is great for redundancy and uptime.  If a drive fails you continue to function lessening the impact of downtime.

PC Magazine has an excellent write up on the different RAID levels.

Backup Strategy

Going back to what I said about changing my backup strategy a long time ago, I architect everything (in my server rooms) for redundancy.  Multiple servers would connect to two mirrored disk arrays that was either RAID 5, RAID 10, or RAID 0+1.  Then we had two backups - one that did a differential every day and another that imaged the whole array weekly.

This is overkill for your purposes, but it illustrates the point of not relying on RAID for your backups.

In your case, you can use your RAID enclosure for backup.  However, I would also have a cheap USB drive (a second backup)  that backed up your system as well.  The chances of both failing are much smaller now.  I've written several answers on backup strategies:

How to backup Time Machine's backup to a cloud?
Offsite Backup Strategy for Multiple Macs
How to backup data from one external drive to another (one-way)


TWAIN Drivers on Mac I'm primarily a Windows admin, but I just got a new MacBook Air with Lion on it. I'm trying to use it with my Brother MFC-7820N printer/scanner/fax device.

I've installed drivers, and am able to both print and scan, BUT not via TWAIN (applications such as Image Capture and Preview do not show the scanner as a valid source for importing documents).

I've downloaded the TWAIN driver. It says it installs, but doesn't prompt me to do anything (like enter the IP address of my scanner) after installing. Arrgh.

Being so new to Lion, and somewhat new to Mac OS (relative to my 15 years as a Windows admin), I'd love some advice on how TWAIN works on Mac OS. I'd also love to know some of the popular newsgroups or places to submit this question.

Hamrick VueScan

This is a "Swiss-Army-knife" scanning application that supports hundreds and hundreds of makes and models of scanners, even many obsolete ones which don't have direct Mac OS X support.

Download and evaluate the trial version.

I use it with my Brother MFC-6490CW, which does have Mac OS X drivers, but I'd rather use VueScan than use the Brother or Apple scanning software. Although VueScan has TWAIN support, I use it as a stand-alone scanning solution to output PDF, TIFF and JPEG.


SSH to Macbook works when lid closed (and plugged in to power) I noticed that my PuTTY session to my MacBook (which is now on Mavericks 10.9.3) seems to stay alive with the clamshell closed so long as the power cable is plugged in to the laptop. This can be seen by unplugging the power, the terminal stops responding after 10 seconds or so, but comes back once I plug power back in, all while the cover is closed.

While this is extremely convenient given how my desk is set up, I can't help but wonder how overheating can be prevented. Obviously some reasonable level of CPU clock and power management would take care of it, but I would only be extremely impressed and remain incredulous that this is something that has been achieved.

So, what's going on here? Is this the "Power Nap" feature at work? If I start running some CPU loading benchmark from the command line now, what will happen?

I tested just now by running yes > /dev/null & yes > /dev/null & yes > /dev/null & yes > /dev/null &, and it sure did get the fans spinning, I open it up and it was definitely pretty toasty, so that would not have been good if I had the machine out of physical reach.

Yes, this is the Power Nap feature at work. On Mac notebooks, by default, Power Nap is configured as enabled when it's connected to AC power and configured as disabled when on battery (you can see this from System Preferences > Energy Saver). This is why you're seeing different behavior when connected to mains power and when on battery.

You don't have to worry about overheating since the Power Nap feature comes with built-in protection for it. Read the OS X: About Power Nap article for more information. It states (emphasis mine):

  Power Nap communicates and transfers data for a only a few minutes per Power Nap cycle when running on battery. When connected to a power adapter, communications and data transfers are continuous. When Power Nap is enabled your computer may be warm to the touch even if it is sleeping. Power Nap operations are suspended when your computer exceeds a predefined temperature so that your computer does not overheat.


Why can't I chmod to make a file executable without sudo? On OS X 10.6.8, I made a small script file in my home directory and tried to make it executable. Surprisingly, I found that chmod had no effect until I ran it as super-user. I own and have write access to my home directory directory and the script, so what prevents chmod from working?

my_mac:~ crowding$ ls -dle ~
drwxr-xr-x+ 214 crowding  staff  7276 Jul 28 16:30 /Users/crowding
 0: group:everyone deny delete
my_mac:~ crowding$ ls -le ~/my_script
-rw-r--r--  1 crowding  staff  22 Jul 28 16:25 /Users/crowding/my_script
my_mac:~ crowding$ chmod a+x ~/my_script
my_mac:~ crowding$ ls -le ~/my_script
-rw-r--r--  1 crowding  staff  22 Jul 28 16:25 /Users/crowding/my_script
my_mac:~ crowding$ sudo chmod a+x ~/my_script
Password:
my_mac:~ crowding$ ls -le ~/my_script
-rwxr-xr-x  1 crowding  staff  22 Jul 28 16:25 /Users/crowding/my_script
my_mac:~ crowding$

It turns out there was another exec "chmod" on the path, obscuring my own chmod.

The thing that made this difficult to see was that I'd used the metacharacter "~" in my PATH variable. Only some things will interpret a tilde in the PATH. The which program does not expand the tilde, so which chmod told me that /bin/chmod was the chmod on the path, but bash does expand the tilde, so it tried to run the other chmod (which did nothing.) Meanwhile, sudo does not expand the tilde so it worked, and gave the impression of a permissions problem.

Resolution: when adding subdirectories of your home directory to your PATH, use $HOME instead of ~.


How to set Title in Contacts but not display it? Is there a way to set the 'Title' field in Contacts, but to not display it?  i.e., in Mail I want to see "John Doe", but have the contact card display "Captain John Doe".

Can I do this?

Set it as a Nickname instead. Then it would only be seen by you.

Don't hand the contact card to anyone, though, as it would be in that.

See Does a Contacts Nickname transmit to anyone else; iMessage or email? for a cautionary tale ;-)

A friend of mine has been "Young Master Johnson" [fake name] for 15 years without anyone else knowing.


Is it safe to connect external screen to MacBook via USB-C from the warranty perspective Since power is supplied to the MacBook there is a (small) risk to damage the laptop.
How does it stand from Apple's warranty perspective? Do screen manufacturers such as Dell or LG have any agreement with Apple?
Technically, we're plugging in a non-standard power adapter; can it void the warranty?
Edit: By "non-standard" I meant "non-Apple".

Safety and reliability
In this context, "safety" refers to a products ability to function as advertised with no adverse affects to it nor the device in which it interfaces.

Is it safe to connect external screen to the MacBook via USB-C from the warranty perspective?

Why wouldn't it be safe?
The idea behind standardizing on USB is so that you can plug in 3rd party devices to expand and enhance the functionality of your computer.  If plugging in devices voided your warranty, they wouldn't put the port there and instead we'd still have (our cherished) MagSafe power connectors.
If it wasn't safe to do something, the manufacturer wouldn't market that function as a feature of the product.

Power Delivery

Since power is supplied to MacBook there is a (small) risk to damage the laptop.

Technically speaking, anything you plug into your laptop has the potential of damaging it.
Since USB 1.0, power has always been supplied - 5V @ 500mA.  It is only since the USB Power Delivery Specification was implemented that more power can be delivered; up to 100W or 20V @ 5A.
This is why you should always stick to known brands and avoid the cheap knockoffs.1  It's a timeless adage -  you get what you pay for -  but it still holds true today.  That said, it still doesn't rule out the possibility of a manufacturer defects.  While very rare, they do happen; your expensive Dell or LG could potentially damage your MacBook.

Technically, we're plugging in a non-standard power adapter; can it void the warranty?

If you are plugging in a display that provides power  and conforms to the USB PD specification, especially if it's USB-IF certified  it's not "non-standard."  That device is designed to connect, interface with, negotiate, and accept power.  You plugging in this device, does not void your warranty.
Apple decided to go from a (beloved) proprietary power connector - the MagSafe - to a widely adopted industry standard connector that literally has "universal" in the name: USB-C.  Simply using a different charger doesn't void your warranty.  If damages arise because it was defective, that's a different story.
Is the Macbook 12 inch's USB-C charger interchangeable with other USB-C chargers or devices?
From a pragmatic point of view using your Dell or LG monitors as the basis of your postulate, how can you possibly have a "genuine Apple" charger coming out of a third party monitor?  This would mean that the moment you connect a non-Apple monitor you void the warranty.   Until recently, Apple had exited the display business when they ceased production of the Thunderbolt Display in June of 2016.3  The display provided charging via a MagSafe connector; the Thunderbolt port didn't supply power. Therefore, it would be virtually impossible to "officially" charge a later model MacBook with this display.

Warranties

Do screen manufacturers such as Dell or LG have any agreement with Apple?

Speaking as someone who worked in product management for a hardware manufacturer (in a past life), there are no agreements between companies that spell out any sort of liability assignment or otherwise with respect to each other's hardware.  From a practicality standpoint, this would be absurd - think about how many display vendors there are.  That alone would be next to impossible to manage.  Now, expand that to all the different USB devices and accessories.  There's no way to manage warranty reciprocity agreements to that scale thus making it totally unfeasible.
From the perspective of the manufacturer, the warranty generally covers the products fitness or in other words, it's ability to do what it says it will do.  If you read the fine print, there will always be a clause exempting coverage for misuse/abuse.
From Apple's own warranty language, they basically say this:

This Warranty does not apply to any non-Apple branded hardware products or any software, even if packaged or sold with Apple hardware. Manufacturers, suppliers, or publishers, other than Apple, may provide their own warranties to you – please contact them for further information. 2

What Voids Your Warranty
In short, misuse, abuse, and anything that's covered in the warranty language.  Ultimately, it comes down to what you can prove.  Here's a short excerpt from the hardware warranty; I encourage you to review the whole section at the link provided.

Software distributed by Apple with or without the Apple brand (including, but not limited to system software) is not covered by this Warranty. ... Apple does not warrant that the operation of the Apple Product will be uninterrupted or error-free. Apple is not responsible for damage arising from failure to follow instructions relating to the Apple Product’s use. 2

Can Apple Void Your Warranty Solely for Using a Third Party Accessory?
No.  The Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act4 (in the US, your country's laws may differ) gives protection to consumers in that installation or use of third party accessories cannot void the warranty unless they it can be proven that the part or accessory in question is the reason for the failure.
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) specifically addresses this in warning letters sent to several companies5:

...companies can’t void a consumer’s warranty or deny warranty coverage solely because the consumer uses a part made by someone else or gets someone not authorized by the company to perform service on the product.

(Hover for  Opinion)

 This means that warranty void stickers6 and using your Dell monitor that conveniently supplies power to your MacBook Pro for charging cannot void your warranty.  Period.

Legal Disclaimer
I am not a lawyer; more importantly I'm not YOUR lawyer.   I don't play one on or for any content provider.  While many references have been made to legislation as well as agency opinion in this answer, my opinions are my own and should not be construed as legal advice. Seek out your own lawyer if you have a specific and/or real world question.

1 Cheap USB-C Cables Could Kill Your Phone or Laptop; Gizmodo, Feb. 2016.
2 Apple One Year Limited Warranty- US ; https://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/products/embedded-mac-warranty-us.html
3 Wikipedia:  Apple Thunderbolt Display
4 US Code - Title 15, Chapter 50, Sections 2301-2312
5 FTC staff sends warranty warnings; Federal Trade Commission Business Blog; Fair, Leslie; April 10, 2018.
6 FTC: Ignore That Sticker Saying Your Warranty Will Be Voided; Laptop Mag; April 11, 2018


How to open a HTML file of my PC in iphone's browser? I make mobile optimized websites and I develop websites on my Windows 7 Desktop. Whenever I want to see any .html file on iphone to check compatibility I upload the file to an online FTP then I open the file from that url.

But the whole thing takes so long each time.

I've got XAMPP installed but no wifi on my desktop - just on the router.

Is there any way to open on iPhone's Safari browser a .html file located at my PC's Desktop?

If you're willing to install ruby (already installed by default on OS X), you might want to check out Annyong. You can basically point it at any folder and tell it to serve it on an odd port.

If python is more your style (also installed by default on OS X), you can simply type python -m SimpleHTTPServer to serve the current directory on port 8080.

Otherwise, I sometimes use Dropbox for quick transfer to my iOS stuff.


How to save on iCloud a WhatsApp call record? I was wondering if it was possible to save on iCloud a WhatsApp call record.

I have an iPhone 6s.

The best solution is to put the call into speaker mode and use a voice recording app:

  Then when you want to record the call, open your voice recorder app, start recording. Then also open whatsapp, call your contact and put the phone on speaker mode, this will then record the call at highest voice quality for you without any Automatic call recording apps.

Then you can add the file to iCloud Drive. On iOS you can access iCloud Drive in the Files app.


How to view Software Update history? In OS X 10.8, for system updates that were installed without being signed into an Apple ID, how can I view the update history?

I looked in Library/Logs for an update log, and also in the Software Update for an Installed Software pane, but I don't have either.

Where can I see the updates?

It can be found in an easy to read format using the system information app:

System Information.app > Software > Installations

System information can be found in /Applications/Utilities/System Information.app or via Spotlight.


Did Apple drop the keyword 'Server' from the Mac Mini category? With the new line up of Mac Minis we can have up to 16 GB of RAM, and 3.0 GHz CPU, and therefore they can act as a server. But why did Apple just drop the 'Server' keyword from the Mac Mini category?

They haven't announced a Server version, it may come later.
Only Apple can know that.

The 'Server' version was not the same as the regular version, it had 2 HDs, no optical drive & had OS X Server installed, rather than the desktop OS.

From EveryMac

  For all practical purposes, the "Server" configuration is identical to its non-server contemporary, but ships with dual hard drives and a pre-installed copy of OS X Server for Mountain Lion.


Is there WindowTabs like app on Mac OS X? On Windows, I love to use an app called WindowsTabs.

  WindowTabs runs in the background and attaches a tab to each of your application windows. Drag one tab onto another and create a tabbed group. By organizing your windows into logically related groups, you can more easily manage a large number of open windows.

I searched google for Mac equivalent, but got nothing so far.

Does anyone know a similar app?

StickyWindows creates a tab for every window that sits on the desktop. Its not exactly what WindowsTabs do but it is something ;)
It seems to only work with Leopard though :(


Cannot connect to Apple file servers after upgrading to 10.8 Since I can't find thousands of other users reporting this I'm thinking it's got to be something wrong with my system, but after I updated to Mountain Lion I can't connect to Apple file servers anymore.

Not even a Drobo FS.

The servers still show up in my sidebar but they never successfully connect.

I tried creating a new user and connecting from that one, but still had the same problem.

The OSX servers are running 10.6 & 10.7.

Really? No one else is having this problem?

It seems that obsolete iDisk settings in OSX 10.8 may prevent you to connect to a file server.

You need to run those commands in Terminal

defaults delete -g iToolsMember
defaults delete -g iToolsMemberDomain

to get rid of those settings.

Source: http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/odd-afp-and-smb-connection-problem-caused-by-idisk-going-away/


Can I update to iOS 7.1.2, instead of iOS 8.1, on iPhone 5S? Can anyone help me? My iPhone 5S is on iOS 7.1.1. Can i still update to 7.1.2 without Apple forcing me to update to iOS 8.1?

You can't. Apple has stopped signing iOS 7.1.2 but they are currently signing iOS 8.1. Your two choices are to stay put on 7.1.1 or upgrade to 8.1


iPad 3rd gen won't turn on just black screen I unplugged my iPad at 25% charge and used it. Suddenly my iPad froze at 19%.  I rebooted it by pressing both home and wake/sleep button. It was stuck on the booting-up screen so I decided to charge it. After plugging in my iPad for 30 minutes, I came back to check it but then it was turned off.

After that, I turned on my iPad but after the apple logo appears, the screen goes black.  I tried turning it on again but it just repeats the cycle. I already connected my iPad to iTunes to the PC to recover and restore it but still it won't turn on; it just keeps showing the Apple logo then black screen again.

What should I do? Does this need a reformat?

Press and hold the Home button and power for 10 seconds. If this does not work, then hold down the home button and plug the charger into computer


Can I prevent SMS alerts from showing on the Lock Screen in iOS 4? Possible Duplicate:
  How can I prevent SMS messages from being shown on the iPhone lock screen?

I am aware that the text message preview can be disabled so that the actual message is not displayed. However, there is still an alert that a text has been received and from whom that can be openly seen on the lock screen. Therefore full privacy is compromised.

Can I disable this alert completely on the iPhone 4?

Thank you

Go to Settings. Then Notifications. Then Messages from the list. There you'll see several options. One of them being "View in Lock Screen." Set that to "off."


How to configure Dragon Dictate so that it does not scan files upon opening? When I open a text file with TextEdit, Dragon Dictate scan the file:

It often ends up being unresponsive if the file is large. How to configure Dragon Dictate so that it does not scan files upon opening?

I use Dragon Dictate 5 with OS X 10.10. If I open the file SublimeText, I do not have this issue.

I was able to replicate that behavior in an earlier major version and to stop it, this is what I did.

Go to Dragon Dictate > Preferences... > Dictation and uncheck the TextEdit check box, as shown in the image below.

Note: This is from Dragon Dictate 3.0.2 and may be somewhat different in version 5, however hopefully this will help to resolve the issue.


Shuffling Voice Memos I've created a playlist of a selection of Voice Memos.  I want to use it as a kind of audio flash card system.  However, when I press "Shuffle" on the iPhone playlist, it always plays the same voice memo and it never plays more than one.  I want it to play all of them in a random order.  Is this possible?  If so, how would I do it?

I've been working on the same issue and I just found something that worked.

Once you've created your playlist of voice memos and converted them into the AAC format, then sync your iphone/ipod.

To listen to the voice memo's in shuffle: go into your music app and click artists. All your voice memo's will be under one artist and click shuffle.


El capitan upgrade takes forever (>48 hours) Problem

I am currently updating a computer at work to El Capitan. After downloading, I started the installation almost 48 hours ago and it hasn't finished yet. I know (by experience and through reading various threads) that El Capitan is pretty slow to be upgraded but 48 feels dangerously too slow.

Machine

Note that the machine has 500GB of storage and has been used in the past mostly for storing things and for running various processes coded in C, C++ and R.

How it looks like

The screen is blue and empty with only the below loading sign at one third of the height from the bottom. I did not stare at this computer for the past 48 hours of course, but I would tend to think that it reached this screen in a matter of minutes and then jsut got stuck there for the past 48 hours.

The chance that something useful is happening is low. If you are comfortable with terminal or have a second Mac I would power off the Mac and then examine the /var/log/install.log and /var/log/system.log to see what has transpired to get stuck.

Restarting the upgrade or reinstalling the OS from Recovery HD should be harmless and would very likely succeed.

You could also power off the Mac and connect it to another in Target Disk Mode and get a backup if you have none / don't trust the backup / it's not current. That way you can erase and install and migrate your user, settings and apps back using Migration Assistant or do it by hand.

Unless you can ssh in or use remote desktop to get the files mentioned above, you have few options but to pull the plug and pick up the pieces.


Trying to backup MacOS on a USB key get error 254? I'm trying to backup my MacOS computer onto an USB key, and when I run the restore command from the Disk Utility app, I get an error 254 :

Validating target...
Validating source...
Source volumt format on device "/dev/disk0" is not valid for restoring
Could not validate source - error 254
The operation failed

For information, the title is really odd since it shows Restoring to "My Usb Key" from "(null)" (sorry the text is approximative (it's originally in French), but the main point here is the "from null")

What is wrong with my usb key? (it's a 8Gb, Apple asked for a "more than 1gb").

Thank you for your help.

Make sure you've selected the volume, not the disk, in the list on the left. I saw the same error when I tried using the disk selected.  Also note, making a copy of a booted system may not produce the best results...


Recover Deleted Exchange Account Contact from iPhone So I removed an Exchange account from my iPhone not realizing that the phone had been saving new contacts there by default (instead of to my gmail account).  I no longer have access to that Exchange account, so re-adding it is not an option.

Is there any way to recover the contacts (and export them to a CSV or some other format so I can add them to Gmail)?

Also, the phone was never upgraded to iOS 6, so it's still running iOS 5

If I am understanding the question correctly:

You had an Exchange account set up on iPhone.
Contacts were being saved to the Exchange account instead of your Google account (also set up on the phone)
You removed the Exchange account and no longer have access to it
You need a contact you added to the Exchange account

Assuming all of the above is accurate, then no, there is no way to retrieve it.


How do I get the latest drivers for boot camp and windows 7 I have read the setup guide, but what is either not clear or I just missed, is how the updated drivers that I download via the apple update get to my windows partition.  All I read is that I have to have the original Mac OSX DVD and that I get the drivers from that.

I know that my Mac is up to date and I have both my windows 7 ultimate and OSX 10.6 DVD in hand and USB keyboard and mouse.  The partitioning is proceeding as advertised.  But I am skeptical of what should happen next.

How do get the latest apple drivers.

(mac mini 4gb from 02/2010)

Ralph - drivers are on the OS X DVD.  So once the OS is installed, boot into it and if you need drivers, you can point your OS to the OS X DVD.  Win 7 however, does a lot better with drivers than XP - I would think it will auto-update as needed.  You will have fewer problems than it seems you're currently expecting;  don't sweat it.  :-)


Can I resume an interrupted download of Mac OS X Mountain Lion? I have a slow internet connection. I want to download Mountain Lion (Mac OS X 10.8) from the Mac App Store and resume the download if it gets interrupted because of my internet connection.

Does the Mac App Store allow resuming broken downloads?

Yes - the App store handles interrupted purchases without intervention in most cases. There is a support article if you want to nudge things or it manages to wedge itself.

You don't have to let the download complete on iOS or Mac OS X and can control things on the Mac side of the store much better than on iOS.


Does iPhone 4S have a region lock? All phones in South Africa are sold unlocked, and I can use my iPhone 4S with any carrier's SIM cards in South Africa. However, when I visited Australia, I found that SIM activation failed after I inserted the SIM cards for Australian networks. The person at the cellphone shop in Australia said that this was a common problem with South African phones. My wife's iPhone 5S worked fine with an Australian SIM card though.

The phone is fine. I returned to South Africa, and the local SIMs have no issues.

The South African carrier that sold me the phone has no idea how to solve the problem, as they say that the phone is unlocked. Is there a region lock that affects the iPhone 4s?

Strange. That South African iPhone 4S should definitely work in Australia. I believe that the only region lock is on Chinese iPhones (typically, they have a whole different model number), was the Australian carrier using the same cellular technology as your carrier in South Africa (GSM vs CDMA)?


How can I turn off “iTunes incoming connection” warning? I have enabled my firewall on Mac OS X Lion. And now every single time I open iTunes I get this warning:

System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Firewall > Firewall Options

Make sure iTunes is on the list and set to "Allow Incoming Connections" and that you check "Automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections". If iTunes is not on that list, click the + at the bottom left of the list of programs.


Is my Verizon iPhone 5c unlocked? I have a Verizon iPhone 5c. Is it unlocked so that I can just go to T-Mobile or AT&T prepaid, by just popping in the SIM card?

If you bought the iPhone at full price ($549 or $649) then yes it is unlocked.

If you and bought it subsidised (where the price is $99 or $199), no it is not.

This restriction is required by the carrier, because they paid the remainder of the price, and will claim it back from you (with a tasty profit!) over the duration of your contract with them.


How can I save my web access login on the iPod Touch? Whenever I try to use the internet on my iPod Touch the Log In screen slides up displaying the log in page for the internet service I'm utilizing (like you'd typically get at hotels, airports, etc). How can I save my login so I don't have to log in every time I wake my device?

This is included by Apple in the latest iOS. You want to list that network as Auto-Login in the preferences for that network.

When you are in range, you first have to go to the Wi-Fi Networks sheet in Settings.app, Press the white > with the blue circle and set your preferences for each network:

Auto-Login controls whether the log in credentials are saved, so turn that on. You don't need to enable auto-join, but it will reduce the taps to re-join this saved network if the device sleeps or is really out of range.

Turning on Auto-Login makes the device attempt to load www.apple.com and watches as you enter the wifi credentials needed for whatever web site is used to join the wifi network. Many open public sites are automated so don't worry if it sets itself up without prompting you at this point.


Access hidden account from login screen After I set a blank password to my admin account, My account icon was removed from login screen and I'm completely locked out of my Mac. Any ideas?

Do you have auto-login enabled for this user? If so you can probably reboot and get back in.

If you see the 'Other' user at the Login Window you can use that, too.

If all else fails you try ssh'ing in from another system (ssh user@computer.local) or booting up in single user mode (Command-S on startup).


Do I need to implement anything special to enable VPN access within my iPhone app? I have an iPhone application that I would like to use to access a VPN.  I've configured the VPN through the Settings app on the iPhone, but my app still can't access the VPN to get data.   A similar Mac application I developed worked without issues through this VPN.

The connection for VPN used is "PPTP".  In Safari on the devices, typing the url as http://vpnip shows a page with IIS.

Is there anything I have to programmatically enable or configure inside the app to look for the virtual private network?

Most likely, it has to do with name resolution. Try providing a URL with a fully qualified domain name to your server - http://vpnip.mydomain.com or something. Something that is resolvable via the DNS. If no such name exists, try that server's IP address (as the first troubleshooting step).


iOS: Does disabling Safari restrict all web browsers? If Safari is disabled under restrictions in the settings app, will that prevent the launch of third party browsers as well, or is it pointless without also disabling the App Store app?

It does not restrict other browsers, you would have to set controls on the app store to prevent the download of 3rd party browsers.


macOS "USB Accessories Disabled" pop-up I'm getting the following pop-up on my 2019 MacBook Pro 13".

USB Accessories Disabled
Unplug the accessory using too much power to re-enable USB devices.

I have tried unplugging all USB and any HDMI for good measure but nothing seems to work.
Am I damaging my laptop by using it while I have this problem? Any advice how I can fix this?

You get this error message because whatever device you have plugged in wants more power than the USB bus on Mac can deliver - this is about 500mA or half an Ampre.
Can you damage your Mac?  No.
You can't damage it because macOS is letting you know it disabled the port.  This is the safety feature built into the system to prevent you from damaging your Mac.
To solve this, you want to get a powered USB hub.
Would a powered USB hub solve the problem of two external disks randomly losing connection or being slow?.
In that and your scenario, the issue can be solved by supplementing the limited power from the USB port with a hub that has an external power supply.


Acrobat Pro DC launches multiple times on Mac I'm working with a system that has Adobe Acrobat Pro DC 19.010.20069 installed, on a Mac running High Sierra 10.13.6. When Acrobat is launched it proceeds to open multiple copies of itself, repeatedly, until the system has to be force rebooted. Other Adobe apps run fine, including the free Acrobat DC Reader and the entire Creative Cloud suite.

To troubleshoot, I first tried removing all Acrobat preferences and support files in the following locations:

 ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/
 ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe/

 /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/
 /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat DC AMT/
 /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat DC Helper Frameworks/
 /Library/Preferences

This had no effect. We then completely uninstalled and reinstalled Acrobat, also to no effect. Does anybody have any suggestions as to what to try next?

uninstall/reinstall rarely fixes anything at all, as it doesn't touch the prefs, only the application.

See if clearing the application saved state helps - ~/Library/Saved Application State/com.adobe.[acrobat].savedState

I don't have Acrobat, so that file path is generic for Adobe products.


Unable to install software using brew install I am unable to install software using brew install. I have tried brew cleanup & brew update, and deleting the file, but it just does not work!

This is the error message:

==> Downloading http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake/automake-1.14.tar.gz
######################################################################## 100.0%
Error: SHA1 mismatch
Expected: 648f7a3cf8473ff6aa433c7721cab1c7fae8d06c
Actual: 3432ee773dd67c6333bdeda956bd364497630fab
Archive: /Library/Caches/Homebrew/automake-1.14.tar.gz
(To retry an incomplete download, remove the file above.)

The problem is that gnu have moved the file so you do not get the source of automake when homebrew downloads it.

If you download the file http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/automake/automake-1.14.tar.gz you get

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN">

<title>302 Found</title>

Found

The document has moved here.

<address>Apache/2.2.16 (Debian) Server at ftpmirror.gnu.org Port 80</address>


Copy to network share using local disk cache in Mac OS X Lion I'm using rsync in Mac OS X Lion to copy a backup directory from my local HD to a network mounted share (local LAN).  My goal is to archive the local backup to the network drive, thereby freeing up local disk space.

The rsync command I  am using is:

rsync -aPW * /Volumes/netshare/path

For some reason, my free disk space is decreasing as rsync runs, and I eventually run out of space.  After killing the rsync process and waiting, the consumed disk space is eventually freed and returns as free space.

It seems as if the copied files are being cached locally (even though they're already on the local drive) prior to being copied by rsync.  I've checked and it's not swap space, and I have 1.5 GB of free RAM as rsync is running.

Has anyone else noticed this and is there a way to disable this caching in rsync?

Update:

I've tested with rsync, cp, and copying a file in Finder, and free disk space decreases in all 3 scenarios, so it's a general OS issue.  I've been using lsof to see which files rsync has open, and nothing there appears to be growing in size.  My theory has been that the files are being cached somewhere on the drive as the copy progresses.  I have > 2GB RAM free and 0 swap space being used, so it doesn't appear to be a virtual memory usage issue.

As I mention below, disabling local snapshots also had no effect on the growing disk space.

My first guess would be that you got a typo in the target path (/Volumes/netshare/path, especially the netshare part) and are actually duplicating the data onto the source drive.

If not, I don't really see the benefit of using rsyncfor a one-off copy operation with limited risk of interruption -> just use cp instead, OSX takes care of the network part anyway if you copy something to a share mounted under /Volumes.

If you absolutely want to use rsync leave off the -PW options for a starter. -W is used anyway unless you sync directly to another server by specifying the target as remotehost:path/to/dir, -P is only needed if the sync runs the risk of getting interrupted.


AirPort Extreme is disconnected from the internet when in bridge mode I have to use the router provided by my ISP to connect to the internet, but I also want to use my AirPort Extreme.

DHCP is set to on in the ISP's router. When I connect the router to the AirPort, and set the AirPort to DHCP and NAT, it seems to work fine, but it also says Double NAT.

So I found out that I needed to turn off one of the DHCP servers, and decided to put the AirPort Extreme to Bridge mode. But when I do that, I get no internet connection. In the AirPort Utility, the Internet light is yellow and it says connection disconnected. It also shows the DNS servers as 192.168.1.1 which I guess is the router's IP address.

Why does this happen? What could be causing the problem?

This is not a real solution, but it might help if you have the same issue.

I still get the problem, and every time I get it, I restart the AirPort Extreme (by unplugging it from the outlet, waiting a bit, and plugging it back), and it works (until it stops working again). This happens around once a month or every other month, so it is not a big deal for me now.


When running a command from terminal, how can I know the full path of the command? Assuming I'm writing in Terminal: 'ctags', how can I know the full path of the command 'ctags?

$ type ctags
ctags is /usr/bin/ctags
$ type -p ctags
/usr/bin/ctags

The second form is useful for doing things like

$ file $(type -p ctags)
$ ls -l $(type -p ctags)

and is often aliased to which.

If you don't want to rely on bash functionality and prefer an external command, /usr/bin/whereis serves a similar purpose:

  The whereis utility checks the standard binary directories for the specified programs, printing out the paths of any it finds.

Because whereis doesn't use $PATH but rather the result of sysctl user.cs_path it may lead to different results.


Mac Mini 2018 maximum carry weight? What is the maximum weight of "stuff" that I can place on top of a 2018 Mac Mini without damaging it?

This is not the weight of the unit itself — but the maximum weight of other units that can be placed on top of it to save desk space. I'm thinking to put a monitor on it (literally).

Apple officially stacks 4 on 1. So at least 4*1.3kg=5.2kg I thought.


What happens when I reset my iPod? I heard that if I reset my iPod, I will lose everything.

Is there anything I can do to not lose all my apps, information, etcetera?

Yes, you will lose all your settings. That is the whole purpose of reseting a device. If instead, you just want to restart your device, you hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button at the same time for at least 10 seconds. For clarification: Reseting will erase your data, restarting will not erase your data.

The easiest way to backup an iPod Touch these days is to use iCloud backup. Apple has all the directions on this page. Basically all you do is go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup > Backup Now.

Then once it's done with the backup (it may take several hours), you will be able to use it to restore your device. Restoring all the data is simple as well. All you do is choose the Restore from iCloud Backup option when it asks you to set up the new device.

Make sure you keep your username and password for iCloud in a safe place, because you will need it again after you restore your device.


Can't close tabs on browsers using middle-click unless the browser has focus I have just recently acquired a Mac Pro 3.1 and have been a strictly Windows/Linux guy my whole life. But I'm really liking Mac and starting to get used to it.

I imagine that I'll be on this stackexchange a bit more in the near future, and so I had one basic question to get started.

Basically, as the title says, when my browser doesn't have focus e.g. chrome/safari in the background while using iMessage, I can't move my mouse over a tab and middle click to close a tab, which I was used to being able to do in windows. The middle click does work to close tabs when the browser has focus. Obviously, this is a very minor issue, and I was just wondering as to whether or not this is supposed to happen.

Another little issue is that I can't middle click and drag or middle click then move mouse to scroll on pages and I was wondering if there is another function for that or if it's my mouse (Asus Reign of Gaming mouse from my PC).

Any help/advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Unfortunately, I'm afraid you're out of luck here. OSX never gives focus to a window unless you left-click on it or Cmd-Tab to it. There were some older solutions that could provide focus-follows-mouse, though they're not supported in the newest versions of OSX.

Sadly, middle-clicking non-focused Chrome tabs used to close them. But I believe this feature was lost once Mavericks came out. You can middle-click on some other apps (like Terminal), and they'll respond appropriately. But no browser seems to do so.

As for your question about using middle-click-and-drag to scroll, that's something I dearly miss from Windows, but I haven't found a free way to get it on Chrome in OSX (it works in Firefox, though). Smart Scroll is an app that offers "Vector Scroll", which works like the feature we want. But it costs $15.


Why is the VPN switch sometimes missing from settings on my iPad? There is a VPN switch in settings that often appears below the wifi option in settings on iOS:

(the above image is from a website and not my iPad, as I can't seem to get my iPad to show VPN right now)

The trouble is, it seems to be missing:

(this image is from my iPad)

VPN switch present:

in all circumstances prior to installing an AT&T sim card, including when a Telus sim card was installed
while using wifi with an AT&T sim card installed but in a region with no AT&T coverage and no data roaming disable by AT&T (ie. "searching..." shown in connection status area)

VPN switch missing:

while connected to AT&T LTE/4G using iPad sim
while connected to my AT&T iPhone using personal hotspot (via either Bluetooth or wifi) even though VPN is available from the settings screen of my iPhone whether or not cellular data is enabled on iPad
while connected to WIFI whether or not cellular data is enabled on my iPad

What is going on here?  Does the connection/sim card/network somehow determine whether VPN is available?  Is there something else altogether I need to check?

Check for a VPN Profile
Turns out the missing VPN switch had nothing to do with which connection was used.  What seems to have happened is that all the VPN profiles were deleted.  When that happens, the VPN switch seems to disappear.  To check for or create a new VPN profile, go to settings->general->network->VPN:

Once you create a VPN profile, the VPN switch reappears in the root of the settings screen:


Is there a QuickLook preview for plain-text files with unknown extensions? A similar question was asked here but the answer refers to something called QL Stephen, which only claims to preview files with no extension.  I need something that will show previews of files with extensions that are unknown to the Finder.  They are all plain-text files.  And, it needs to run on Lion (10.7).

To clarify: I'm not looking for a default QL for any unknown extension, but rather for one that will preview certain specific extensions (e.g., .sps, .fort) as plain text.

You can use QuicklookStephen (https://github.com/whomwah/qlstephen).
Install via Brew:

brew cask install qlstephen

and then reset the Quicklook plugins:

qlmanage -r

and you should be good to go!

Tested with both files without extension and files with "unknown" extension (e.g. .nfo)


Apple Music Membership If I cancel my apple music membership will I lose all my music that i downloaded from the app? Is there any way I could keep the music ? I only need to switch my App Store country since I am moving to Boston from Indonesia..

You won’t lose the music you have downloaded, but you also won’t be able to play the music (unlesss you have purchased them separately on the iTunes Store).


Can you search Filenames in Spotlight as opposed to all metadata and contents by default? I understand there is a dropdown menu in the spotlight search to select "Filenames"  in spotlight, but is there a way to make this your default when searching?

Apple has search keys, so it's not changing a default, but it does let you specify file names (here they would contain the string "test"):

name:test

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204014
Can I use Spotlight to search for files by name?
https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/12056/5472 has a picture of entering this quite a few versions back - so here's a newer screen image of this in practice.


iTunes doesn't start When I try to open my iTunes on Windows 7 it opens in the Podcasts section and asks for a Userid/Pass for trancemix.org. This was a free Podcast I subscribed to last time I used iTunes. When I cancel the Login request my iTunes Hangs and I am forced to kill it. Is there a way via command line I can unsubscribe this Podcast Or any other way to get rid of this error.

Thanks.

You could try the detailed procedure outlined by Apple on iTunes for Windows Vista or Windows 7: Troubleshooting unexpected quits, freezes, or launch issues.

It begins with starting iTunes in Safe Mode and then proceeds to other steps like removing iTunes Preference files, creating a new library, recreating a library and so on.

If you seem to get stuck in this process, I would suggest creating a new library and adding your existing content to it. You would lose your playlists, ratings, etc. Here are the steps:

Hold the Shift key when launching iTunes (from the Start Menu or Task Bar or Windows Explorer).
Click on the Create Library... button and start iTunes.
Drag and drop all your media folders into the iTunes window. If you configured iTunes to organize and copy media, your media files would be under the %userprofile%\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media folder. You can also do this by going to the File > Add Folder to Library... menu option and choosing the folders.


Animate textual changes in keynote I have some bullet points and I want to animate a change to some of them. For example:

first bullet point
the second one
this is the third

Then I want the first to animate off the screen and be replaced by some different text, then the third one (the second one would stay the same).

Should I create a second set of bullet points representing the end-state and try to build it in as the other one builds out? Or split the bullets into separate objects? Or is there a way to animate text changes?

I also want to animate some similar text changes in non-bullet text (inserting/removing/changing words/lines) - can this be done easily or again would I need to somehow have two overlapping versions and animate one in and the other out simultaneously, or split the bits I want to move around into different objects?

I can figure out the details but I need some steer on the best overall approach.

If I understand you correctly, you want the first bullet point to exit stage left, and have its replacement arrive from stage right. Then repeat wi point three.

Create each bullet point in its own text box. You can manually mimic the build in to match the rest of your presentation. Once the slide's build is complete, the easiest animation might be with a couple of additional slides set to Magic Move.

slide 1, original text in place; bullet 1 replacement off screen
slide 2, bullet 1 replacement in-line, original off screen, bullet 3 replacement off screen
slide 3, bullet 3 original off screen, mullet 3 replacement in-line

If you're familiar with the Magic Move transition, this should make sense. If you're not accustomed to it, play and discover some fun!


"System Extension Blocked" after upgrade to macOS 10.14 Beta (18A293u) Keep popping up this window if I don't click "Allow". How can I disable it if I don't click "Allow"?

After a period of time, will collapse to restart.

Anonymous UUID:       A82E64D9-FCAE-DEF8-9400-AFFFC3CB8A33

Thu Jun 14 13:35:26 2018

*** Panic Report ***
panic(cpu 2 caller 0xffffff800f10d08d): Kernel trap at 0xffffff800f611e7b, type 14=page fault, registers:
CR0: 0x000000008001003b, CR2: 0xffffff7f92537768, CR3: 0x0000000012e45000, CR4: 0x00000000001627e0
RAX: 0xffffff91ffc053e0, RBX: 0x0000000000007d3e, RCX: 0xffffff7f92537768, RDX: 0x0000000000030360
RSP: 0xffffff922a893c40, RBP: 0xffffff922a893c80, RSI: 0xffffff802f57f3a0, RDI: 0xffffff802f14b8e0
R8:  0x000000000056e1e0, R9:  0x0000000000000000, R10: 0x0000000002e3e614, R11: 0xffffff81adfb8360
R12: 0x0000000000000000, R13: 0xffffff802f57f3a0, R14: 0xffffff802f14b8e0, R15: 0xffffff802f14b8e0
RFL: 0x0000000000010282, RIP: 0xffffff800f611e7b, CS:  0x0000000000000008, SS:  0x0000000000000010
Fault CR2: 0xffffff7f92537768, Error code: 0x0000000000000000, Fault CPU: 0x2, PL: 0, VF: 1

Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address
0xffffff922a8936f0 : 0xffffff800efe2c3d
0xffffff922a893740 : 0xffffff800f11b373
0xffffff922a893780 : 0xffffff800f10ceb4
0xffffff922a893800 : 0xffffff800ef90c80
0xffffff922a893820 : 0xffffff800efe2657
0xffffff922a893940 : 0xffffff800efe24a3
0xffffff922a8939b0 : 0xffffff800f10d08d
0xffffff922a893b30 : 0xffffff800ef90c80
0xffffff922a893b50 : 0xffffff800f611e7b
0xffffff922a893c80 : 0xffffff800f611df8
0xffffff922a893ce0 : 0xffffff800f611758
0xffffff922a893d00 : 0xffffff800f611721
0xffffff922a893d30 : 0xffffff800f5f1e41
0xffffff922a893d60 : 0xffffff800f5f1c06
0xffffff922a893d80 : 0xffffff800f5f1e53
0xffffff922a893db0 : 0xffffff800f5f1c06
0xffffff922a893dd0 : 0xffffff800f5f41e6
0xffffff922a893e10 : 0xffffff800f5f1e53
0xffffff922a893e40 : 0xffffff800f602dd2
0xffffff922a893e90 : 0xffffff800f606696
0xffffff922a893ed0 : 0xffffff800f01e4e4
0xffffff922a893f40 : 0xffffff800f01e075
0xffffff922a893fa0 : 0xffffff800ef8fffe

BSD process name corresponding to current thread: kernel_task

Mac OS version:
18A293u

Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 18.0.0: Fri May 25 16:54:22 PDT 2018; root:xnu-4903.200.199.11.1~1/RELEASE_X86_64
Kernel UUID: A7F4AE1A-A080-3185-9F4C-75CC93A456D0
Kernel slide:     0x000000000ec00000
Kernel text base: 0xffffff800ee00000
__HIB  text base: 0xffffff800ed00000
System model name: MacBookPro11,2 (Mac-3CBD00234E554E41)

System uptime in nanoseconds: 593821175757
last loaded kext at 259044968492: com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs 1.10 (addr 0xffffff7f9250b000, size 69632)
last unloaded kext at 20778300123: com.netease.nemu.kext.NemuDrv    5.0.20 (addr 0xffffff7f92501000, size 401408)
loaded kexts:
com.cisco.kext.acsock   1.1.0
com.intel.kext.intelhaxm    6.2.1
com.splashtop.driver.SRXFrameBufferConnector    1.6
com.splashtop.driver.SRXDisplayCard 1.6
com.apple.filesystems.msdosfs   1.10
com.apple.filesystems.smbfs 3.3
com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC  1.70
com.apple.driver.AGPM   110.23.39
...

There is a workaround for this. I don't recommend it from a security perspective, but it does get you back to the behavior of macOS 10.12 until Cisco  gets around signing the kernel extension for your VPN client.

Basically, you can turn off the security feature requiring user approval of Kernel Extensions.

First, boot into Recovery Mode by rebooting and pressing and holding command-R as soon as you see the Apple logo.

Eventually you will see a screen that gives you a couple of options, including reinstalling or running Disk Utility.

If you look at the menubar at the top, you will see a "Utilities" drop-down menu. Click on that and select Terminal. A window will open up that allows you to type text-based terminal commands.

You will see a "$" prompt in the terminal window. Type the following:

  spctl kext-consent disable

then press Return. You should see:

  Kernel Extension User Consent: DISABLED

  Please restart for changes to take effect.

Then reboot your Mac, and you should be good. You will no longer see the notification panes telling you a Kernel Extension was blocked; they will all be automatically allowed, just as they were in macOS 10.12.

Don't forget to re-enable kernel extension verfication after the full release of macOS 10.14.

  spctl kext-consent enable

For more information, see the following User Approved Kernel Extension:


How to enroll developer.apple program for multiple years Yesterday, I enrolled in the developer.apple program for one year, for 99 USD. But I want to increase this for more 3 years. Yesterday, I didn't find any option where I can increase the time period. It had only one option: 1 year 99.0 USD What is the process if I want to enroll in the program for next 3 years?

Thanks a lot in advance.

You can't enroll for multiple years at one time.  You can only enroll 1 year at a time.  You can read more about renewing your membership here.

You can sign-up for automatic renewal, if you're worried about forgetting to renew.  Just go to your Membership page and check the box for Auto-Renew Membership.