Macbook Pro early 2012 SSD retire block count I've recently bought an OCZ Vertex3 480 GB SSD (VTX3-25SAT3-480G) for a drive upgrade.

This is what I did after I purchased the drive:

Backed up my system with Carbon copy cloner
Installed the SSD drive
Install OSX Mountain Lion (fresh install from USB drive)
Installed some basic apps and tested the speed (500m read, 250m write)
(I've enabled TRIM via TrimEnabler)
Attach my backup drive (where I backed up my earlier system) and started copying my data (something like 130GB)
OSX turned the screen off after 5 min (not sleep)
Went back to check and the system froze (beach ball + black screen)
Force shutdown pressing the power for 5 sec
Reboot and found out that: my brand new SSD had 19 "retired block" and 3325114 of "total error"

(10?). I've upgraded my firmware from 2.15 to 2.22 after I discovered the 19 bad blocks just to make sure it's not faulty firmware.

I got 0 of both when I first booted into the system, after a forced shutdown, I got 19 bad blocks and a bunch of errors.....

Is this normal? Is there something wrong with my SSD? should I send it for warranty?

SSD info:

OCZ-VERTEX3:

Capacity:   480.1 GB (480,103,981,056 bytes)
Model:  OCZ-VERTEX3
Revision:   2.220000
Serial Number:  OCZ-1M53V336YLR07271
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth:    32
Removable Media:    No
Detachable Drive:   No
BSD Name:   disk0
Medium Type:    Solid State
TRIM Support:   Yes
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status:  Verified

The Block count number you have should not be a problem.
Taking some information from The SSD Anthology: Understanding SSDs and New Drives from OCZ
If your SSD has a 20KB block size, that means that there are about about 25,165,824 blocks for a 480GB SDD and thats not including any of the extra storage that some SSD manufactures include. So only haveing 16 bad blocks out all those block does not look like a problem at all, as for a number that would indicate a failing drive, I am not sure what that would be but I can assume that would be the number of extra block the Manufacture provides, once your SSD uses that up, then you start loosing storage capacity.
According to OCZ Product sheet

Vertex 3 2.5” SSD  512GB 480GB VTX3-25SAT3-480G 842024025559

Of Note the 512GB is the Raw Capacity, so it looks like there is 32GB of extra space for block failures, so that works out to about 1,677,721 total extra blocks of storage.
If the drive is causing problems like spinning cursors, slowness or crashes see below for more suggestions.

A possible solution try formatting the SSD 1 more time and try running it with out TRIM enabled or any other 3rd party SSD tools software. See if the drive can work on its own with just a clean install of OS X, with out any weird crashes.

If the drive starts acting up again after the clean install and no 3rd party trim enabler on, it could be that there may be a hardware / software incompatibility between the SATA controller on the Mac and that particular drive. I would try to verify the drive is working OK by placing it in another computer or external hard drive case, etc.
And also try searching around on the web for issues between MacBooks and your particular brand of SSD.

If the drive is acting weird on all testing computers and interfaces, then you would have a confirmed failed drive and would have an evident need of a getting the drive replaced under warranty.

Note: If your having a rough time with the SSD drive it would not be a bad idea contacting OCZ support and explaining to them the issue you are having, they may already have a solution figured out.


How to control your iPad with your Mac remotely? I would like to know, is there a way to control your iPad with your Mac remotely (be able to see and manipulate iPad's desktop on your Mac)? I know that with the TeamViewer or other programs you can control your Mac with your iPad but not vice versa.

It is not possible to remotely control the screen of an iPad unless you jailbreak and install a VNC server as MattDMo suggested. This is because the security model in iOS does not allow an app to reach outside of its sandbox to control other apps or the springboard home screen. Apple does not provide any remote control functionality at the iOS level either. There is no way to do what you are asking for without jailbreaking.

Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions do not allow remote control of the screen on iOS either. MDM can push configuration profiles to control settings on an iPad, or prompt the user to install an app from the app store, but they can't control the screen. Airwatch offers a screen control option, but this only works on platforms that support it (not iOS). I work with several MDM vendors, including Airwatch, and this is not possible because Apple does not make this functionality available in iOS.


Loop. Can't installing High Sierra clean from USB I recently installed an SSD hard drive for my Mac Mini, and all fine until I've tried to do a clean installation of High Sierra via USB. What I've done is download the installer to usb memory stick by following the steps described in this tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVkMvO60SAs

that is, configuring the pen through Terminal, etc, etc ...

Once formatted the new SSD in APSC format, from the Utilities menu of MacOs I click "install High Sierra" and after several minutes of loading bars with apparent normality, finally it goes to a black screen with the apple and a load bar that never complete, and after that, it comes back to the previous menu of MacOs Utilities as if nothing had happened. And so in loop again and again.

How can I proceed with the installation from here?

I had the identical issue on any old Mac I replace drive with SSD.

Workaround I got is to install Sierra and upgrade to High Sierra, but it takes ages.

A better solution: disk cannot be APFS, so erase with JHFS+ and it works fine.

diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ …


White banding on iMac while logging in. What does it mean? I have a late 2012 iMac which is behaving sluggishly.

I rebooted, and when I try to log in, it hangs for a long time (it’s hard to make out, but it’s rainbow pinwheeling), and then I get a weird whitewash on the screen.

It goes all white, and then the login screen gradually fills in from the bottom. Here’s a picture of it; click through for an animated GIF showing the whole thing:

I suspect this Mac has a hardware problem, but trying to diagnose it with Apple Hardware Test has been unsuccessful.

I haven’t been able to find anything similar on Google for this behaviour, although perhaps I’m not using the right search terms.

Does anybody recognise this behaviour, and know what problem it might indicate?

Brief follow-up note: it turns out this Mac did have hardware problems.

I took it to the Apple Store a few days after writing the original post, and their more thorough diagnostics discovered a problem with the disk (specifically, the hard drive portion of the Fusion Drive). I got the hard drive replaced under warranty, and after a year I haven‘t seen the symptoms again – I assume this was just an artefact of a failing disk.


How to hide files found in spotlight? I want to hide TOP HIT, FOLDERS and DEVELOPER catalogues. The only item I expect is DEFINITION. Is there any way to do this? Here is my current preference, but it doesn't work.

This post can't solve my question, because

I haven't installed Xcode, and I don't want to install such a huge application on my 128G MBA.
I don't want to search files on my disk at all.

Open the terminal, and execute

touch /Applications/Xcode.app

A zero-sized file named Xcode.app will be created under that path. Now you are able to see and hide the DEVELOPER catalogue in System Preferences -> Spotlight. Just like this:


How can I rotate a slo-mo video? I have a slow motion video I took on an iPhone using the "SLO-MO" setting. Unfortunately it recorded in portrait mode, and I want it in landscape. I want to rotate it, but I don't want to lose the ability to change what part of it plays in slow motion.

I tried exporting the original file and rotating it with Quicktime (on a Mac). It worked, but when I import it back to Photos (with or without the original .xmp metadata file) it shows up as a plain video file that's slow all the way through.

I tried opening it in iMovie (on an iPhone) and rotating it. It worked, but I can only output it as a fixed-speed video.

There's got to be a way to rotate a slo-mo video without turning it into a regular video, right?

Hey it turns out if you're using Mojave you can use Quick Look to rotate a video right in the Finder, then import back to Photos and still have Slo-Mo!

Select your video in Photos and from the menu bar choose:

File > Export > Export Unmodified Original For 1 Video...

Make sure "Export IPTC as XMP" is checked. Save your video to a folder. There will be two files, one for the video and one .xmp for the metadata.

In the finder, select the video file and hit space to bring up a Quick Look window. At the middle right of the title bar there should be a little button with a rectangle and a curved arrow for "rotate counter-clockwise". Click it, or option-click for clockwise.

The video will rotate. If it's large, it may show an "exporting" notice and take a moment. When it's done, use Quick Look again to verify that it has rotated. It'll play without any slo-mo, but that's alright.

Grab the folder containing both the video and the .xmp and drag it back into Photos. Photos will import the rotated video and give it all the right metadata, including slo-mo! Now you can delete the original un-rotated version.

I don't know why this works using Quick Look to rotate but not Quicktime Player. I don't know why they didn't just build rotating videos right into Photos. But at least it works!


Shut Down or Reboot Your RETINA Mac with a Keyboard Command I have seen a shortcut to shutdown mac using key combinations. It includes the use of eject key. But since retina macbooks dont have eject key how do I shutdown/reboot the retina mac.
This link is having query regarding puting it to sleep but I cannot see shutdown/reboot. Is pressing power button and selecting the choice the only option I have ??

Just use the power button in place of eject for any keyboard shortcut that worked with eject (this also applies to older MacBooks, by the way).


WD Passport 1TB USB 3.0 Time Machine external HD not being recognized on Yosemite After upgrading to Yosemite my external HD is not being recognized. My HD is a WD My Passport 1TB USB 3.0 and I have a MacBook Pro Late 2011

It does not show on Finder
It does not show on System Information
It does not show on Disk Utility (even after using the Debug menu)
It does not show on /Volumes

Do you have any ideas why is this happening? Should I reformat my drive?

Thanks!

Reboot your computer.

Login to your desktop

open up activity monitor.

Check to see if fsck is running
if fsck is running...

Your computer is attempting to repair the drive, so that is WHY it is not showing up in any of the places you are looking beacuse fsck has already unmounted it.
You have two options (both are risking or dealing with data loss so proceed at your own risk!! )
Option a: You can force quit fsck from activity monitor - then OSX should mount your drive with an error that looks like this...

Next steps for option a:
a1. you can attempt to backup and data that you do not have a copy of. Keep in mind the finder might hate copying large files out
a2. If the finder cannot copy files off, you can attempt to repair your file structure or "preview" your drive with disk warrior. To help you copy your files off.
Then assuming option a fails / succeeds and you do not need any data.
Option b:
version 1: If the drive is business critical, then replace it.
version 2: If this drive is for home use and not a huge deal if might die on you randomly then your best bet is to reformat your entire drive and then keeping a eye on it.


Alternative to cp --parents in terminal I was trying to use the --parents option with cp (to create the non-existing directories in the target path) in the terminal but that option does not seem to be working in MacOS.

>cp --parents src_dir trgt_dir
cp: illegal option -- -
usage: cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file target_file
       cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file ... target_directory

Any alternative?

rsync -R (--relative) is like cp --parents. So rsync -rR a/b c copies to c/a/b instead of c/b.

Or just install the GNU cp with brew install coreutils or sudo port install coreutils and use gcp -r --parents a/b c.


After upgrading to iOS 5, I lost my all calendars, contacts, and message data Today I upgraded my iPhone 4 to the newest iOS. In the process steps it asked something like start from new iOS, or start from your back-up in iTunes, I selected the first one and then noticed there are no contacts, nor messages!

My iTunes had a problem and I thought I had backed up the files in my iTunes but I checked ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup

This is what you do:

Go to settings
Click on Mail, Contacts and Calendars
Scroll down and go to Calendars
Open the Sync screen
Check the box which says All Events
In about five minutes time, go back to your calendar which should have all of your previous events restored.

Happy days.


time-machine: selective file restore - I just want a few things from a TM backup that was made of another MacBook So I have a Time Machine backup (on an external USB hard drive) that was made from a 2010 MacBook Pro.  I think the computer was running the latest OS at the time the last backup was made -- Nov 2013, probably Mavericks, but maybe Mountain Lion.

There are some pictures in that backup as well as a lot of personal files.  I would like to recover these pictures and personal files.  The computer from which the backup was made has since been completely erased and reformated and sold.  My only hope is recovering the files from TimeMachine.

I am now working from a 2014 MacBook Pro. I can connect the TimeMachine disk via USB and see it appear in finder, etc., but I can't seem to browse the backup and select the pictures and personal files that I would like to duplicate onto my new machine.

When you click the time machine icon in the menu bar, hold the option key. The menu will change to "Browse other time machine backups", and you should be able to access the old machine's backup in that manner.


Wifi drops when screen is locked I have a Mid 2010 MBP, running 10.7.1.

Ever since I upgraded to Lion, I have noticed that Wi-Fi connections that require 802.1x authentication are dropping whenever I lock the screen. The connections remain down until I unlock, at which point they quickly start passing traffic again.

This behavior is new as of 10.7.

As I mentioned earlier, this only applies to 802.1x connections. Unencrypted Wifi and non-802.1x connections are not affected. My guess is that the keychain is de-authenticating my 802.1x session when I lock the machine and then re-authenticating when I unlock.

Do you know of any way to prevent this behavior?

Edit:
I'm using username/password auth for 802.1x, not certificate auth.

I had this exact problem, and I was pretty annoyed by it. I stopped "locking" my screen, and instead started "sleeping" display. The wifi stays connected when screen is asleep. I assigned "Sleep Display" to a hotkey using BetterTouchTool (http://blog.boastr.net/).

Then, I went to System Preferences > Security > Require Password after sleep or screensaver begins.

Now my hotkey puts my display to sleep, and then the computer requires password when I wake it up. So it's the same functionality of Locking my computer without losing wifi.


My iPhone calendar icon missing. How do  I retrieve my iPhone calendar? The icon disappeared off my screen. I thought this was a permanent icon? Help!

If you somehow did uninstall the Calendar app from your phone like my father did, an easy way to get it back is to have someone text you a date, like "December 1st". This will automatically be converted to a link, which you can tap, which will then open a prompt with a message asking if you'd like to re-install Calendar.


Mac Mini 2011 extremely hot and surprisingly slow I just bought a Mac Mini (mid 2011) secondhand with the following specifications:

2,3 GHz Intel Core i5
8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
512 GB SSD
Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB

I used to have a iMac 2006 earlier, and to my surprise the Mini 2011 seems to be much, much slower. Notice the following observations:

Playing mp4 movies in both QuickTime, VLC and in webpages in Safari works fine for some time, but after a while starts lagging.
The machine gets extremely hot, at most CPU temperature 101 degrees according to my temperature utility. The iMac (and previous Minis) never got anywhere near as hot.
Indicated CPU usage in Activity Monitor seems to increase proportionately with CPU temperature (and how long the machine has been on), but this is somewhat unsure.
The process VTDecoderXPCService sometimes takes several hundred percent while playing video. But sometimes it takes nothing at all.
Encoding PAL videos to mp4 with ffmpeg goes extremely slow (around 1 second of footage per second, while for comparison my MacBook Air 2014 manages 5 seconds per second)

Apple said "80% of the times doing a full format and reinstall solves problems like this". The guy who sold me the thing said he already reinstalled it, but he may not have done a full format first.

Before I go through the trouble of formatting and reinstalling, does anyone have experiences and tips to share of similar situations?

Questions:

Is the Mini actually designed for and supposed to get so warm (100 degrees celsius)?
Is the problem simply due to the CPU being a i5? Are i5's ridiculously much slower than i7's?
Is a full and reinstall likely to fix the problem?
Are there other causes and solutions I should fix? (Save hardware problems and repairs)

Notice that VLC is set to use hardware acceleration and QuickTime runs accelerated by default as far as I know, so the problem is probably not related to this.

The Core i5 processor will throttle it's speed if it gets over what Intel refers to as the 'TJ Max' which is somewhere around 90C. If your software is telling you that you're hitting 100C, then you've obviously got a cooling issue.

Unless you suspect the previous owner tried replacing the CPU or heatsink (unlikely), it might just be that the vents are clogged or the fan is clogged or not working. Fortunately, this should be easy to get to the fan as per the iFixit guide here. You can probably confirm the fan performance by putting your hand over the vent in the back when it is running hot and see if it is blowing a lot of hot air on you; I imagine you'd barely feel anything when you should feel something relatively significant (think: it should blow/flap a piece of paper you hold over it like if you used your mouth to blow air onto it).

Before buying a new fan, you could try seeing if the fan spins easily with your finger (and keeps rotating for a short moment). What I've found in the past is that these little fans can get dust either built up on the fins (easy to clean) or the bearing and/or rotation points could have dust buildup that is causing the fan to be difficult to rotate. What you need to do is clean out the dust (perhaps with some tweezers) and see if you can make it spin with more ease again. Further that, if you are comfortable enough with somewhat disassembling the fan and could get some oil into the fan's bearing, that might make it as good as new. Typical good oil for this is along the lines of "sewing machine oil" or perhaps if you have a RC Car shop nearby, they have nice oils with needle applicators that works great. Reinstall fan and things should be good.

As far as the performance degredations you're seeing and the higher CPU usage, that is certainly inline with the throttled i5 speed; if the chip is running slower, it isn't getting tasks done as fast which means these tasks are taking more of the CPU time (if you look at it as a measurement of time, not capacity).

Hope this works for you!


Stackshot Apple Tv 4 I was watching some Netflix on my Apple TV 4th generation, when I by mistake sat on my remote, suddenly a message appeared in the upper right corner, the message was like “Hold the button to activate stackshot in X seconds”, I can’t remember the specific text but it was something like the above mentioned.

So what is Stackshot? What is it used for,? And how do I activate it again?

Apple TV 4th gen. tvOS 11

According to the Apple Developer documentation stack shot is to used collect all kind of information about a crashed process.

Apparently you used a button combination that activates Stackshots. On iOS it’s works like this (assuming tvOS works almost the same);

  Stackshots

  For freezes or hangs with your iOS device, or when stackshots are requested, please follow the instructions below to capture and attach them.

  Press the Home button and either volume button on the device at the same time

  Note: Press the button combo several times to capture a series of stackshots

https://download.developer.apple.com/iOS/iOS_Logs/Stackshot_Logging_Instructions_iOS.pdf


MacOS make etc/resolv-conf use secondary dns or rotate I have a local DNS server (bind9) configured to resolve the fqdm of several servers that I have in my local network, until here everything OK.
I put the ip of my local dns server and I can resolve the fqdm of my servers in my local network, but I can't surf the internet. I put the DNS of my internet provider next to the ip of my local DNS server (Bind9) , and I can only surf the internet I cannot resolve the names of any of my local servers.
I try to configure my mac the file resolv.conf (/etc/resolv.conf) adding the line:
-options timeout: 1 rotate attempts: 1
But this has no effect, I still can't resolve the fqdms of my local servers but I can navigate.
I restart the mac and I still cannot resolve the fqdm and also the entry created in resolv.conf has been deleted :(. Any idea how to configure the DNS in macOS so that they rotate and can use the two DNS servers.

The /etc/resolv.conf file is not used for configuring the system resolver, like you would probably be used to on other systems like Linux.
However, the configuration you're trying to make is actually not an ideal one - far from it. You're trying to fix a broken DNS resolver by rotating requests between two different DNS servers. This will add extra time to most name lookups, as well as generate unnecessary errors that for will give you problems with some programs.
The best way to solve this is to change your Bind server to do recursive lookups for your internal clients - either by handling them by itself or by forwarding the recursive queries to your ISPs names server.
In either case you want to limit recursive lookups to your internal clients. This can be done via adding an access-control list to your named.conf configuration file that specifies what you consider internal, like this:
acl internal {
  localhost;
  localnets;
  192.168.0.0/24;
}

This assumes that your local computers have IP-addresses in the 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.254 range. Adapt as necessary.
If you want the server to handle recursive queries by itself, you'll to add the following to the options part of your configuration:
 options {
   recursion: yes;
   allow-query { internal; };
 };

If you want to forward the queries to your ISPs name servers, do it like this instead:
 options {
   recursion: yes;
   allow-query { internal; };
   forwarders {
      1.2.3.4;
      5.6.7.8;
   };
 };

You'll want to replace 1.2.3.4 and 5.6.7.8 with the actual IPs of your ISPs name servers.
Remember to reload or restart bind after making changes to the configuration file.


Is there a way to change the language for Wikipedia searches in iBooks on iOS, without changing the language settings for the device? I live in Norway so I have my iPad 2 language set to Norwegian.
Most of the books I read in iBooks are english. The dictionary is English which is great, however I often try to look up words that are not part of the dictionary. I am then provided with a "search on Wikipedia" option.

Unfortunately this option uses no.wikipedia.org (Norwegian Wikipedia). I wonder if there is a way to change which Wikipedia version iBooks uses? (Without changing the language of the device.)

Yes there is, although you have to modify the iPad's files, so you either have to jailbreak your iPad, then use an app called iFile (paid with a free trial) or openSSH (free but more complicated - I used iFile), or find some way to modify your files without a jailbreak.

An explanation

iOS apps store data on "property list" files. To localise an app they have a property list file that stores all the stuff in the app that they want to change, and what to change it to. The one we are interested in has a field dealing with the Wikipidea search URL, all we have to do is change that URL to go to the English Wikipidea instead of the Norwegian one.

Steps (note that I am using iFile)

Using your chosen file manager navigate to /var/mobile/Applications
You should see the names of your apps as well as some random characters, if you only see the random characters then click the settings button (bottom left), go to preferences and turn on "App names"
Scroll down until you see the "iBooks" folder
In the iBooks folder, click "iBooks.app"
Scroll down until you see the folder "no.lproj" - this is the Norwegian language folder
Click on the file "Localizable.strings" open it with the property list viewer - this is the main file that deals with localisation
Scroll down to near the bottom until you find the field called "Search_Wikipidea_URL", tap on it
You should see a text box with the URL "http://%2$@.wikipedia.org/wiki/%1$@", change it to "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%1$@"
Click "Done", then exit iFile
That's it!

Now to test it go to iBooks. When you search Wikipidia it will show the English version. I tested this on my iPod (yes, I put my iPod into Norwegian!) and it worked, so if you have a problem and want me to post pictures for the steps then just leave a comment!


How to install old iWork on a MacBook with MacOS High Sierra? I have a new MacBook Pro running High Sierra (10.13.2) and installed current versions of Pages and Numbers. But I need also the old versions (from iWork 9 I think) with mail merge support. I had those installed in parallel on the former Mac also using MacOS 10.13 but that one is broken (main board failure).

Is there any official way to download the installer for iWork still running on current machines? I only found update packages on apple support so far.

Didn't you have any problem installing from cd in High Sierra?
Since Yosemite it says the new OS does not support installation of the old iWork 09.

My thinking is you have to (re)install Mavericks, install iWork from cd and then upgrade to Yosemite to make this work.


Repackaging .pkg files without installing/unpacking Recently I was tasked with finding out a way to prepare OS X applications for automatic distribution to multiple machines.

Most applications require some tampering with their preferences before deploying. I have done it for Windows machines before, and usually I could just replace the preference files/registry entries right inside the .msi installer, using tools like Orca, Wise Package Studio and so on.

I am new to macs, but when I try to look for something similar for OS X, all I find is software to make packages from scratch (PackageMaker, Iceberg, etc.), but nothing for editing already created .pkg files.

So here is the question: is there a way to easily edit the content of .pkg file (replace some files, add a script, etc.), without having to install/unpackage it and then package the configured stuff back?

You can use the Flat Package Editor from Apple.

Go to Apple's Developer downloads site and download the Auxiliary Tools for Xcode - Late July 2012.
Once downloaded, open the DMG.
Find PackageMaker.app and open the package contents, then navigate to Contents/Resources.
Copy Flat Package Editor.app to /Applications or elsewhere then open it.

From this app you can open a .pkg and edit the contents by dragging files out, editing them and dragging them back in, then saving the package.

Packages can be resigned using the button on the title bar:


Show Results of Automator-Terminal command TL;DR If I create a .app via Automator, how can I show results of a shell script in a dialog or terminal window?

I am using Automator to run a shell script

adb install /Directory/$1.apk

and if I run it via Automator, I can see the results (install successful or can't find filname.apk or whatever else terminal would tell me). If I save as app and double click to run, then I do not get to see these results.

What can I do to show a dialog or terminal window that would display the results of the script I run?

If you only have a few lines of output, you'd want to assign it to a variable and then display a confirmation dialog showing the output.

add Action "Set Value of Variable"
enter a new variable, e.g. output
add Action "Ask for Confirmation"
in the message field, enter the variable name declared above. While typing the variable name, Automator will suggest to complete the variable name. Accept by pressing Enter key. This prevents Automator from interpreting the variable name as a plain text message.

This will look like this:

NB: I also tried the $1 approach, but did not succeed.

If you have a lot of lines of output, you should direct all output into a new TextEdit document. To do so, just add the "New TextEdit Document" Action after your script action.

This may look like this:

Hint: diagnostic messages are often output to standard error. To also collect text send to standard error, add exec 2>&1 at the top of your bash script.


How to disable auto-exposure adjusting for my webcam? I have an external display plugged into my MacBook Pro.  The external display has a webcam built in.
In some lighting situations, macOS struggles to determine the correct exposure/gamma, and jumps it around trying to find an appropriate setting in a way that is very distracting on video calls.
I've used the "Manual Camera - Webcam Control" app in the past, but it stopped working recently (either a broken app update or due to upgrading to Big Sur, I'm not sure which).
What is the best way to manually lock my camera settings so that my picture stays consistent during video calls?
Edit: I am looking for a solution that works on Big Sur, for either external or built-in displays (though based on previous experience I would expect a solution that works for one to work for the other).

I use Webcam Settings which works fine for me on Big Sur (although not specifically updated for it yet), but I use an external webcam.
I'm not sure if it would work for you or not. It does provide some controls for the built-in webcam on my M1 MacBook Air.
It sells for $8 on the US version of the Mac App Store, and you could always request a refund if it did not work (although this is a clear example of a case where it would be helpful if Apple allowed for demo apps on the Mac App Store, that does not seem like something they are ever going to do).


Can the Finder be tricked into assigning symlinks and aliases different icons? It seems to me that the Finder does not (on the surface) distinguish between aliases and symbolic links. (In particular, in the Get Info window for a symlink the Finder claims the symlink is an alias.) But is there a way to force symlinks all to be assigned a certain icon (that isn't the standard folder-with-a-little-arrow alias icon)? That is, is the global 'alias' icon file different from the global 'symlink' icon file, or can one instruct the Finder to use a different icon file for symlinks?

I imagine that one could write a script that would create a symlink and assign the created link a certain icon. But I'm hoping to change the icons of all existing symlinks, so I don't have to change all the icons manually.

I'd like to know because I use both (aliases when I'm lazy and just need a quick shortcut, and symlinks when I need something more robust), and it would be nice to be able to see the difference in the icons.

Symlinks are a Unix concept. They are special files that point to other files, so that, in many cases, accessing the symlink (for instance if it points to a shell script) really access the underlying file (running the script).

Aliases are a Mac concept (though OS/2 had something similar, I forget what it was called).

As far as I can tell aliases can be made only from the finder whereas symbolic links can be made from a terminal window. (It is possible to make an alias from the command line but you have to write applescript to do so).

Aliases have one advantage over symbolic links. If the underlying file that the alias points to is moved the alias is automatically updated. Not so with symbolic links; they break (i.e. point to nowhere) if the underlying file is moved.

I've been interested in this question because I'm trying to write a script that will bring up a getinfo window when typed from the command line. So far the best I've been able to do is to copy some scripts that do this from other web sites. The drawback is that, unlike selecting Get Information on a symbolic link from a finder window these scripts show get getinfo window for the underlying file, not for the symbolic link.

It is definitely a side project for me, but if I find the answer I'll post it.


How do I change the speed in my timelapse intervals? I've looked everywhere online for this answer, but I could only find a 503k words blog on what a time-lapse is on Google.

I want to be able to slow certain parts of a time lapse down to regular recording speed, post or during the filming.

I've tried with Splice, but since a timelapse itself is just a load of photos, it just shows me the photos one by one.

Does anybody have a soloution?

There is - as far as I know - no option to do exactly what you want to achieve.

How the iPhone camera app makes a time-lapse and what it means for you:

I will quote from an apple community thread since this explanation is very good I think:

  The iPhone's time lapse camera will condense to about 20-40 seconds regardless of how long you record your time-lapse. If you record for less than 10 minutes then the frame capture is 2fps, after 10 minutes it reduces to 1fps, and reduces further at 40 minutes, 80 minutes, and so on.

In that process, all the images in between get lost. You end up with a 30fps video and no frames in between (which you would need for smoothly slowing it back down to real-time) are saved. Therefore, when slowing down your video, it will get choppy until you can see every single frame.

Possible workarounds:

Record a normal video, then quickly change to time-lapse mode
If you do this, you can put the clips together later on. Depending of the length of your time-lapse (which determines how fast real-time has been sped-up) you might not notice the missing part.
Example: Record a normal clip. Quickly change to time-lapse and start recording for more than 40 minutes. As explained above, the iPhone will take 1fp2s, meaning your transition time from switching recording modes could be up to 2 seconds and you would not notice (on iPhone 6s 4K 30fps should be 350mb/min)
Take a normal video and speed the parts up in post
This is possible and somewhat suitable for shorter clips, but you create huge files, filling up your smartphone very quickly.
(Suitable) Example: Take a 10 min 4K 30fps video (already about 3,5GB!) . In post adapt your speed as you wish. If you don't need the flexibility of changing something afterwards, I highly suggest you export the new file and then delete the original 10 min video.

Other than that, I haven't heard of any app that does what you want.

As a note: There are apps though, where you can adjust the frame rate of video recording exactly how you want it and not make the phone decide.


Update bootcamp drivers I have a new imac with the Radeon 580 Pro. I'm getting this error message when trying to play games in bootcamp.

Is there any way to get the new driver or am I stuck here?

You can download the latest drivers with Boot Camp Assistant. Instructions for that here.

TLDR version:

Boot into MacOS
Connect a USB drive and format it as MS-DOS (FAT) with MBR
Open Boot Camp Assistant and select only the middle option (Download the latest Windows support software from Apple) or select Actions -> Download Windows Support Software from the menu bar
Select the USB drive as the destination
Restart in Windows
Open the USB drive and the WindowsSupport folder
Run setup.exe and select repair if needed


Can't add Quicksilver keyboard shortcut trigger I'm setting up a new mac and I can't seem to set the keyboard shortcut to triggers I'm creating, as I've always been able to do before.

I'm able to create the trigger, but then when trying to edit it, after clicking the (i) and attempting to click either the (empty) shortcut box, or the "edit" button next to it, the box flashes "Set Keys" for an instant, but then it disappears and I'm not able to set the shortcut.

See here (you might not be able to see the flash of "Set Keys" because of the gif encoding, but it's there albeit very brief:

This is a known issue.

https://github.com/quicksilver/Quicksilver/issues/2361

It has been fixed and a new version will be released this week sometime.

Until then, you can download an older version to customize the keyboard shortcuts. Once they’re set, you can go back to the latest version, or wait for the next update.


Cannot Drop Footage Into Final Cut Pro I've just bought a second-handed MacBook Pro (late 2013 - Catalina 10.15.1,) and with the deal it comes with FCP 10.4.4.

For this version, I cannot drop the footage from the Finder to the program, I also cannot import the sound effects (with built-in ) into the timeline. The warning is "not enough disk space" even though I gave FCP full disk access and there are plenty of space in my Mac.

I cannot update it because it was purchased by the previous owner. I don't want to have to purchase it again.

As you mentioned - you will need to free up other disk space to see if you can keep the old software running without having a license to upgrade.
Are you able to post a disk usage summary so we could help advise what you can delete or move to another disk so FCP can limp along a bit longer?
Next time you’ll know to discount the purchase price so you can fund the software you need. I don’t have any good option and know gaining experience through unmet expectations can be painful sometimes.


Iphone 5s black screen I have an Iphone 5s, the screen randomly went black and shut off, it wont turn back on, I cant hard boot it because my home button is broken and it wont turn on through charge. Any suggestions?

You should bring it to Best Buy, or version wireless, they can take it and fix it it might take a day or two depending on how bad it is and it will cost money but not a lot, when I broke my phone I brought it to Verizon wireless and they fixed it it was cheap and quick


Xcode.app gets scanned by socketfilterfw (OS X Firewall) at every launch Situation:

When I launch Xcode, socketfilterfw, OS X's application based firewall,  starts using a lot of CPU.

After some research I narrowed it down to this: socketfilterfw reads all the files in Xcode.app's bundle and does this every time Xcode launches. Gigabytes of data, every time.

It doesn't matter what settings the firewall has, I tried them all. The only thing that stops this is to deactivate the firewall (before launching Xcode).

Has anyone else this effect or an idea what this is about?

Update
I just tried Xcode on a clean install (OS X and Xcode from ADC) and it did not solve it. But it started the scan not when Xcode launches but when a project gets executed (CMD-R). So it starts scanning either when Xcode launches or when executing a project.

Xcode is likely trying to use the network. This is triggering a rule in your firewall that results in Xcode's code signature being checked – requiring a read of the complete application bundle.

Experiment with the following option in OS X's firewall settings:

System Preferences.app >
Security & Privacy >
Firewall >
Firewall Options… >
Automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections

I have this option disabled. As a result, I am frequently prompted to allow Xcode incoming network access. I always deny access as doing so still allows local connections between Xcode and underlying development tools.

As a side note, I am unable to reproduce the behaviour you are seeing on OS X 10.10.3 and Xcode 6.3.2.

Alternative Firewalls

If you do decide to disable your Mac's built-in firewall, investigate using a third party alternative such as Little Snitch:  Reasons to prefer Little Snitch over the built-in firewall


Hack to hide TeamViewer dock icon, issue with restarting app I don't like TeamViewer taking up space on the Dock. I followed this tutorial to hide the dock icon, leaving me with only a menubar icon, which works great. TeamViewer is set to start at login.

However, in a MacBook Pro with discrete graphics, when logging into another computer, TeamViewer forces a switch to discrete graphics, and even after logging out of said computer, it stays that way, which is of course awful for battery life.

I am forced to quit TeamViewer so I can go back to integrated graphics and decent battery life. However, if I try to launch TeamViewer again, it doesn't work -- I get a request to type my password to install a helper tool, and then nothing.

What should I do to simulate whatever procedure is performed during system boot that allows TeamViewer to start?

I solved the problem by running the following command in Terminal after killing the previous TeamViewer instance:

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist

Next, I launch TeamViewer as usual. It shows up in the menu bar, as expected.

For those unfamiliar or uncomfortable with Terminal, the following AppleScript could be used, assuming TeamViewer is installed in /Applications:

do shell script "launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.teamviewer.teamviewer_service.plist" with administrator privileges
do shell script "open /Applications/TeamViewer.app"


Can you add more than one iMovie Theater account to an Apple TV? I have a 3rd generation Apple TV and typically have the iCloud account set to mine. However, another member of my family is starting to use iMovie Theater and their videos do not appear on the Apple TV as we have separate iCloud accounts. It seems that the iMovie Theater app on the TV is tied to a single iCloud account.

I know that you can add multiple iTunes accounts to the device, but is it possible to add multiple iCloud accounts? Ultimately, I'm looking to have the iMovie Theater show videos from both of our accounts.

As of June 2019, iMovie Theater is no longer supported and people are being moved to using iCloud Photos instead.

That being said, it appears that there is no way to add an additional account to the 3rd generation Apple TV, only the one iCloud account is allowed and thus only one iMovie Theater account can be used at a time. If you want to switch, you need to log out/in with the other account.


Mac Pro 1,1 Ethernet not working, How do diagnose the problem I have a Mac Pro model 1,1 which used to work with Ethernet pluged into either RJ45 socket. It now does not recognize either connection.

Since this could be physical or sortware, how can I further diagnose the problem?

Since you don't have the original disks (and therefore don't have Apple Hardware Test), I would try downloading AHT and running it from a USB. The steps to do this are as follows:

Create a bootable USB flash drive by using Disk Utility's Erase function. Make sure you choose OS X Extended for the format and the GUID Partition Map for the scheme. For the purposes of these steps, also give your USB the name AHT when you're erasing it.
Download the AHT for your particular Mac Pro 1,1 here
Mount the downloaded image (it should mount as AppleHardwareTest)
Now you will need to copy the AHT to your USB flash drive. To start, Launch the Terminal app (usually found within the Utilities folder)
In the Terminal window, enter the following:

cp -r /Volumes/AppleHardwareTest/System /Volumes/AHT/
Now we need to make the USB flash drive bootable, so enter the following line in Terminal:

sudo bless --folder /Volumes/AHT/ --file /Volumes/AHT/System/Library/CoreServices/.diagnostics/diags.efi --label AHT
Enter your Admin password
Leave the USB flash drive plugged in and restart the Mac Pro
Immediately hold down the Option key
Select the AHT from the list and boot up

NOTE for other readers: - Both the Terminal commands and the download link used here were written for this specific question. Please do not follow these steps unless you're also wanting to download and use AHT for the Mac Pro 1,1 (i.e. these instructions will not work for other Mac Pro models).


What is the software to move screen/laptop to apple TV screen I have seen users that drag their screen to AppleTV on WiFi for presentations and such. I want to be able to do this but can't find the software. I ask and they say it is built in.

I have MacBook Pro with OS X 10.7.5 I have the most recent updates. Is this software available?

This is called AirPlay Mirroring.
How to use it on a second generation Apple TV or higher can be found on Apple's site here and here


How come Trello boards no longer addapt to Fluid App to scoll vertically only? Up to today using Trello with Fluid was the best thing of my day! Super awesome match between the two apps. The most best part was that when I scale the fluid window to be narrow all Trello lists lined up vertically one below another, which is so much better when you are working on one swim lane at a time. This way I can focus only on the cards inside a particular line. Very very helpful! Trello is great to give you the big picture (the board) and lets you narrow down your focus to the small piece (the card), but it's lacking a middle ground (focus on a list). This is where Fluid brought Trello to a whole other level.

Since today this is no longer an option. Even when I make the Fluid window to has the smallest width the Trello board still scrolls left right up down all over the place...

Is there a way to get this back? I tried everything, clearing my Safari cache, restarting my computer, etc. I would be very grateful to anyone who can help me fix this bug.

There was an update to fluid app today, you might email their support. They helped me figure out a problem pretty quick when I last had one with it.

  support@fluidapp.com


Is it possible to specify a different root device to a MacOS kernel? I have an old iBook (2003, G4) with a burnt-out harddrive.  Being a poor academic, I don't want to bother with replacing the drive.  I'd like to use an external USB drive in place of the harddrive.  I managed to get a copy of MacOSX (it was Tiger at the time of the burnout) onto a USB before the harddrive completely gave out (it seemed to be a problem with overheating so I took it into the coldest part of the house and copied it there).  But all my experiments in the open firmware came to naught: it seems that my iBook is too old to be able to boot directly from a USB.

Under Linux, this is not a problem.  I can put the kernel and boot stuff onto a CD.  The iBook will happily boot from a CD.  Then I can tell the kernel to find its root device from the USB stick (via a UUID).  This works well, and is my current system.

But I miss Mac OSX ... a little.  More so now that I have an iPad and don't want to have to use Windows to sync stuff with it.  Plus, I hate the fact that I got so close and yet couldn't quite get it to work.

So ... is it possible to specify a different root device to a MacOSX kernel than the device it is booted from?

If your USB drive is partitioned with Apple Partition Map and the volume with Mac OS X is HFS+ formatted it will probably boot iBook G4 by simply holding Alt/Optn at startup and choosing said disk.

This may not work on occasion of USB chipset in external box is not compatible.

It will probably not work if you just copied content of your hard drive and not restored it through Disk Utility (or cloned by other means).

If you cloned it properly and it still not booting try this Open Firmware trick.

P.S. Here is a link on how to change HDD if you will decide to go that route. I've done it few times. I've been putting this drive inside. But now I would definitely buy IDE 2.5 32GB SSD from ebay for the same money but better speed. Still I'm not sure if it worth it if you have one of the slowest of iBook G4 models.


Stop my Apple devices and PC desktop syncing Mozilla bookmarks I have a MacBook Air and iPhone 7. I have a Dell desktop at work, and for some reason my Firefox bookmarks from my work PC are showing up on my Apple devices and I would like to remove them. At work I use Firefox, IE, and Chrome. On my Apple devices I use Safari and Chrome. I assume iCloud might be the problem here. I am wondering if (since I use it on all three devices, it is somehow syncing them. The shortcuts from my Firefox toolbar show up in my favorites on my Apple devices, and the bookmarks from my Firefox bookmark menu show up in my Safari bookmarks folder.

I assume you're talking about your Firefox bookmarks. If your bookmarks from work are showing up on your personal devices, then it's most likely because you're signed into your Firefox account on all your devices.

If you don't want to sync these devices with the same Firefox account, you should either create a different Firefox account for your personal devices, or not use a Firefox account at all for your personal devices.

For example:

on your MacBook Air launch Firefox and go to Firefox > Preferences > Firefox Account to view your account settings.
on your iPhone launch Firefox and go to Settings. At the very top you'll see your Firefox Account details.


Progress bar for transferring files to iDevice on macOS 10.15 There used to be a progress bar in iTunes, when transferring files to iDevices (Apps with file sharing). However, with the new Finder interface on Catalina, no such progress bar can be found when copying those files.

Is there any way to check the progress? This is particularly annoying as transfer of large folders usually fails in the middle.

I reported this to Apple in August 2019 during Catalina beta; the issue is still present in release and yet to be fixed. FB7102998


How do I disable the "theme loaded" message in zsh Im using zsh as my default shell and loving it. I have random themes enabled, and whenever I load a theme it displays a message on my terminal. How do I disable this message?

Im talking about
[oh-my-zsh] Random theme '/Users/r3dsm0k3/.oh-my-zsh/themes/ys.zsh-theme' loaded...

How to disable it from showing in the terminal ?

Comment out:

line 77 of ~/.oh-my-zsh/oh-my-zsh.sh (beginning with echo)
line 9 of ~/.oh-my-zsh/plugins/themes/themes.plugin.zsh (beginning with echo)


Can I safely remove the QuarantineRoot folder? in El Capitan there is a nice folder called QuarantineRoot (the Ars review on this matter) that contains stuff that was in /usr in Yosemite but had to be moved (because /usris now protected by SIP).

/Library/SystemMigration/History/Migration-(some UUID)/QuarantineRoot/

Can I safely delete it?  I sorted the symlinks to texbin that are there, reinstalled Prey etc... is there any risk of a snafu later on?

I see to have posted a duplicate of Can I delete /Library/SystemMigration, so I consider this question closed.


Executing commands in PS1 on macOS Sierra not working? Recently I had to switch to a Mac for my work. Since I'm used to Unix-like environments, I brought over my PS1 prompt generator from Ubuntu.

I had enough trouble customizing the terminal for it to look somewhat usable (who thought that black letters on white background are an okay solution in 2017?). However one thing won't work...

Namely, the git ps1 extension. Yes, I installed the bash-completion and git packages via Homebrew, and sourced both the git-completion.bash and git-prompt.sh before assigning PS1.

My .bash_profile looks like this:

build_prompt () {
  clear="\[$(tput sgr0)\]"
  blue="\[\033[38;5;27m\]"
  green="\[\033[38;5;2m\]"
  yellow="\[\033[38;5;11m\]"

  export PS1="[${blue}\u${clear}@${green}\h${clear}] ${yellow}\w${clear}$(__git_ps1 " (%s)") \\$ > "
}

source /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/git-completion.bash
source /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d/git-prompt.sh

export GIT_PS1_SHOWDIRTYSTATE=yes
export GIT_PS1_SHOWCOLORHINTS=true
export CLICOLOR=1

alias ls='ls -GFhAl'
build_prompt

As you can see I add the __git_ps1 to the end of my PS1 value, and in theory it should display Git tree info whenever in a git repo folder.

However this script is only ran once, when bash starts up. The same code however works on Ubuntu just fine, dynamically displaying git tree info no matter where I start bash. On this Mac, however, it only displays the value it picks up on launch, so if I start a bash prompt in a git folder, I'll be stuck with its info display until I close the terminal instance.

What am I doing wrong here?

With a minimal test case (minus, of course, the frivolous colors) it appears that the quoting of PS1 is important:

gitfoo () {
    echo >&2 "was run"
    git status -bs 2>/dev/null | head -1
}
#PS1="x$(gitfoo)x "
PS1='x$(gitfoo)x '


Apple Configurator's Whitelist Option (only allow specific apps) preventing making calls We use Apple Configurator to generate profiles and import them to MDM.

Suddenly after updating to iOS 10 (and using only allow the apps in the section  - whitelistedAppBundleIDs - we can't make outgoing calls. Tapping the green button is not working.

Any ideas what happened after updating to iOS 10?

Please try adding "com.apple.InCallService" identifier as white listed.


How to upgrade system default vim? Finally, vim 8.0 has been released! However, the pre-installed vim is vim 7.3 on my system(OS X El Capitan), and I want to upgrade it to the newest 8.0 version.

So how can I do this without messing things up? Would it be a good idea to simply override the vim in /usr/bin/vim? And what about compiling it from source?

Get the Homebrew* package manager.

Install vim formula (as of today it is Vim 8.0.2) with:

brew install vim

Check the messages it produced for any manual actions you might be required to perform, although with Vim formula there should be no issues.

One more thing you should do is to check your environment variables for those that might contain a full path to the system vi/vim, like EDITOR and update them to use the /usr/local/bin/vim.

If you had Homebrew already installed, before running the install command, update the local repository with:

brew update

If you had Vim already installed with Homebrew (or if in the future you'd like to upgrade the Vim version), then run:

brew upgrade vim

* Homebrew is an open-source, actively maintained package manager for Mac OS X. It keeps the packages in /usr/local/Cellar folder by default. It stores links to the executable files /usr/local/bin and puts this directory ahead of system directories in the PATH environment variable. Your /usr/bin/vim can thus be left alone.

Homebrew will also take care of all the paths and dependencies for installed packages.


Bootcamp HD monitor overscan problem on MBP I've got a MacBook Pro (Early 2011) set up with Windows 7 64-bit on a Boot Camp partition.  I'm using a mini DisplayPort adapter and an HDMI cable to connect to an Asus VH232H monitor.  The problem is that using the native resolution (1920x1080) in Windows results in a black band appearing around the edges of the screen.  I know a lot of people seem to have run into this in the past. How do I actually fix it?

Some additional info:

My research tells me I need to adjust an "overscan" setting, but can find no way to do this with the display drivers provided by Apple.
I've seen many references to people fixing the problem by installing AMD's Catalyst Control Center, which does have an 'overscan' or 'scaling' option you can adjust.  However, because I'm using a MacBook Pro, none of the AMD install packages I've tried will actually install the Control Center on my machine.

Try adjusting the overscan settings on the TV. There might be a "monitor" or "computer" or "pixel" or some other strangely named setting that (essentially) turns off the TV's built-in overscan allowances.


Using an iMac as a display for PC laptop in dual mointor configuration My goal is to have two large monitors for my PC laptop without having to purchase new monitors. My current setup is a late 2013 27” iMac with a 27” Thunderbolt Display. For work I was given a Lenovo T480 which has a Thunderbolt 3 port on it.

I want to know if I’ll be able to use my iMac in Target Display Mode as one Monitor, plus my Thunderbolt Display as the second monitor? I can use the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter from the laptop to the iMac, but will it recognize the Thunderbolt Display as the second one? It’s about $100 of cables and adapters to try this so I wanted to ask first.

Anyone tried this?

The iMac will connect to a Thunderbolt port. (But no other.) Also, you can't 'daisy-chain' the iMac in Target Display mode to another monitor.

And the TB Display also can't be daisy-chained, but it can connect to other video ports. So you'll need to use another video out port on the Lenovo, with all the necessary adaptors to get it to the TB's connector.


Not getting white boot screen background on white iPad/iPhone (iOS 7)? Is this a bug I need to report or is this normal or what? On both my white iPad 2 and my white iPhone 4S running iOS 7, I thought the boot screen was supposed to be white/gray with a dark Apple logo, but I'm getting the black screen with the white logo. But since it's the same on both devices maybe I'm missing something. Any ideas?

The color-specifc boot screens are only available on the iPhone 5 and later.

On these devices, the boot screen will match the colour of the front panel e.g. a white iPhone 5 will display a white screen with a black Apple logo.


Derive the launchd config plist based on a launch label When I list the currently running services, I see a service I'd like to remove:

% launchctl list | grep -i spotify
 -  13  com.spotify.webhelper

Launchctl allows me to stop it via launchctl stop com.spotify.webhelper but it does not allow me to completely remove it (uninstall it) unless I specify the .plist file.

How can I derive the plist based on the label?

locate com.spotify.webhelper should do the trick as long as the plist is properly named (and the update process for the locate db has at least run once since you installed Spotify). Otherwise have a look at /Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchDaemons and their equivalents in your own Library folder.


Phantom unread message in Mail.app I have a smart mailbox with only one rule: messages that are unread.
Right now I have no unread messages in any of my acccounts, yet the smart mailbox shows a counter of 1.
Opening the smart mailbox shows no messages (this is correct). If a new message arrives, the counter goes up to 2, then as soon as I read that message it goes back to 1.
I tried:

Rebuilding my inboxes
Rebuilding my smart mailbox. Logs this error:

  27/10/13 11:42:18,753 Mail[16057]: * Assertion failure in
  +[MFLibrary mailboxIDForMailbox:loadIfNotPresent:], /SourceCache/Mail/Mail-1816/FrameworkTargets/MailFramework/Library/MFLibrary.m:9814
  Called on smart mailbox Unread (  0   MailCore
  0x00007fff8c6ecc8c -[MCAssertionHandler
  _handleFailureWithPreamble:description:arguments:] + 141  1   MailCore                            0x00007fff8c6ecafd -[MCAssertionHandler
  handleFailureInMethod:object:file:lineNumber:description:] + 215  2
  Mail                                0x00007fff8cdf105d +[MFLibrary
  mailboxIDForMailbox:loadIfNotPresent:] + 170  3   Mail
  0x00007fff8ce0ea24 -[MFLibraryStore
  rebuildTableOfContentsSynchronously] + 533   4   CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff921f3dec invoking + 140  5   CoreFoundation
  0x00007fff921f3c54 -[NSInvocation invoke] + 308   6   MailCore
  0x00007fff8c73db74 -[MCMonitoredInvocation invoke] + 211  7   MailCore
  0x00007fff8c760808 -[MCThrowingInvocationOperation main] + 40     8
  MailCore                            0x00007fff8c704f08
  -[MCInvocationOperation main] + 332  9   Foundation                          0x00007fff86da9591 -[_NSOperationInternal _start:] + 631   10
  Foundation                          0x00007fff86da923b
  __NSOQSchedule_f + 64     11  libdispatch.dylib                   0x00007fff8f3212ad _dispatch_client_callout + 8     12  libdispatch.dylib
  0x00007fff8f3257ff _dispatch_async_redirect_invoke + 154  13
  libdispatch.dylib                   0x00007fff8f3212ad
  _dispatch_client_callout + 8  14  libdispatch.dylib                   0x00007fff8f32309e _dispatch_root_queue_drain + 326     15
  libdispatch.dylib                   0x00007fff8f324193
  _dispatch_worker_thread2 + 40     16  libsystem_pthread.dylib             0x00007fff8c3dfef8 _pthread_wqthread + 314  17
  libsystem_pthread.dylib             0x00007fff8c3e2fb9 start_wqthread
  + 13 )

Deleting and recreating my smart mailbox
Adding a rule restricting the smart mailbox to one account (if the rule is added, it works correctly)
Relaunching mail, rebooting
Looking in the logs. Only line from mail: 27/10/13 11:38:19,956 Mail[1174]: View Based NSTableView error: preparedCellAtColumn:row: was called. Please log a bug with the backtrace from this log, or stop using the method.

I'm kinda out of ideas. Is there anything else I can try, any debug info I can access?

I fixed this for my smart mailboxes (Mail.app v7.0 1822) by following these steps:

Open a terminal
Re-index Spotlight

sudo mdutil -E /

I suspect this is related to Mavericks improvements in Spotlight, as it now indexes Mail.app messages much better than in previous releases.


My macbook pro mid 2012 turn off when i unplug charger Battery information is given below?? What should i do now??

Battery Information:

  Model Information:
  Manufacturer: SMP
  Device Name:  bq20z451
  Pack Lot Code:    0
  PCB Lot Code: 0
  Firmware Version: 201
  Hardware Revision:    000a
  Cell Revision:    165
  Charge Information:
  Charge Remaining (mAh):   4042
  Fully Charged:    Yes
  Charging: No
  Full Charge Capacity (mAh):   4226
  Health Information:
  Cycle Count:  1050
  Condition:    Replace Now
  Battery Installed:    Yes
  Amperage (mA):    0
  Voltage (mV): 12304

You're going to have to replace the battery I'm afraid.

Your battery is gone past it's lifetime and cannot function without a constant power supply.

This can be seen in the message you pasted - "Condition: Replace Now".

You can either buy a new battery and follow a guide to replace it yourself, bring it to a computer repair shop or bring it to an Apple Store.


Unable to convert certain keywords in record to JSON I am using JSON Helper to convert record to JSON. I have run into difficulty that using certain words inside the record produces empty JSON. As you can see from the screenshot, first two variables (test1 and test2) silently fail and produce empty JSON. Here's source to the script in question - link. My question is simple - why test1 and test2 produce empty JSON?

Ps. I am using these names as a part of 3rd party API which I have no control of (including naming conventions for variables) - link.

data and id are both keywords within the AppleScript language.

It may be possible to quote these words to avoid their being interpreted as special cases. Try using the pipe character or double angle brackets/chevrons to wrap these keys.


How to Copy Current URL of Web Page in Fluid App with AppleScript/Service and Bind on Keyboard Shortcut? I'm using FluidApp Version 1.8.6 (2331) on MacOS Sierra 10.12.3. Sometimes I need to copy current URL of Web page in FluidApp. I want to do it with keyboard shortcut and I know I need to use a service for it.

So how do I create a service for this job?

If you're having issues using ⌘L, ⌘C and Esc and you want an AppleScript script that runs as an Automator Service, in order to copy the URL of a Fluid App, created with Fluid, then here is an example scenario you could implement.

Under macOS 10.12.3 using Fluid (Version 1.8.6 (206)) and the URL of this question, I created a Fluid App named Ask Different Question.

I them made an Automator Service workflow using a Run AppleScript action and the AppleScript code below.

set appName to "Ask Different Question"

tell application appName
    activate
    tell application "System Events"
        set toolbarState to (name of every menu item of menu 1 of menu bar item 5 of menu bar 1 of application process appName)
        if toolbarState contains "Show Toolbar" then
            keystroke "t" using {option down, command down}
            set the clipboard to (get value of text field 1 of group 1 of toolbar 1 of window 1 of application process appName)
            keystroke "t" using {option down, command down}
        else
            set the clipboard to (get value of text field 1 of group 1 of toolbar 1 of window 1 of application process appName)
        end if
    end tell
end tell

Note that all you should have to change in the code above is the first line, set appName to ... where ... is the name of your Fluid App. The rest of the code should then work as is.

In Automator, create a new Service workflow, adding a Run AppleScript action to it. Then replace the default code with the code above. Also change the value for Service receives to no input while selecting the target Fluid App for in, as shown in the image below. Then save the Automator Service workflow.

The next step is to assign a keyboard shortcut for the Automator Service workflow you've just created.

In System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services, find your service and set its shortcut.

I used ⌘U as that was easy to remember using U for URL.

The last thing you'll need to do, is add the Fluid App you created that will use the Automator Service workflow you've just created to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility as shown in the image below for the Ask Different Question app I created in Fluid.

Now when you're in the Fluid App you created and press ⌘U, the URL will be copied to the Clipboard and from there you can paste it wherever you'd like.


How to save the contact from who I received an SMS? I received an SMS from a phone nr that I don't have saved in my iPhone. How do I save that number as a new contact?

Scroll to the top of the thread in Messages
Tap on "Contact" (button at top right)
Create new contact


How to change master of an existing slide in Keynote 6.0? In Keynote 5.x there was a toolbar button where I could change the master of an existing slide. This would keep the content of the slide, but would change the layout to the new master.

I can not find this functionality in Keynote 6.x anymore. I tried to configure the toolbar - but no "Master" button is there. I looked through all menues. And even the context menu of the slide.

Any hints where this functionality is gone?

Ah! A few more minutes of "seeking" - and I found out where Apple moved the functionality.

For all desperate - here the solution:

Make sure you clicked on the slide-overview (on the left), so that the slide gets a yellow border

Then far-away on the right select the "Format" button. Then below it you will see the current master slide for the selected slide. With a small grey triangle on the right. Click this triangle and a pop over will allow you to change the master of the current slide.

Hope this helps someone in the future...


Xcode 8: Unable to Accept License Agreement on OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 I have downloaded Xcode 8 from App Store. on clicking Xcode icon it is showing the following:

After clicking on Agree button it asks for the username and password. On entering the username and password nothing is happening.

Try using xcodebuild to accept the license. Quit Xcode and run the following:

sudo xcodebuild -license accept

You may need to use xcode-select --switch first to switch Xcode version if you have multiple Xcode apps on your system.


Terminal not recognising commands I have tried to add TextWrangler to the path environment modifying the file .bash_profile. This is what I have added:

# Just a comment
PATH=/Applications/TextWrangler.app/Contents/MacOS
export PATH

I am not sure if it was exactly like this, but I am sure it was not so different. I must admit I do not know exactly what I was doing with the commands above, but by suggestions of other people and content on the web, I decided to add it to the .bash_profile file.

Now, when I type for example ls or open or nano it does not work. I have seen on the web that this has already happened to other people.

I am not able to open the .bash_profile file with TextWrangler to restore it as it was, so this is a big problem, I might say.

Perhaps you can modify the .bash_profile with textedit or textmate? You can download textmate from http://www.macromates.com/download. I like it a lot better than TextWrangler.


Apple in-store configuration options (for a MacBook Air) Does someone know if the top 13" MB Air model (the one with 256GB SSD and a 1.8 i5 if I remember correctly) is physically sold (in Apple Stores) also with the RAM upgraded to 8 gigs? Or is only it an on-order option?

Apple Retail stores carry the four "stock" configurations of MacBook Air, as well as what they call the "ultimate" model. The "ultimate model" is the 2.0GHz i7, 512SSD and 8GB RAM.

The model you desire (1.8GHz i5, 256SSD, 8GB RAM) is not sold in stores. You would have to choose between the "ultimate" model and the base configuration (which has 4GB RAM).


How to send predefined/canned SMS/iMessages? Is there a way to prepare predefined/canned messages in order to quickly send them by SMS/iMessage on the iPhone or iPad? I find myself quite often using the same 4-5 templates:

I'm in a meeting, I will call you later!
I'm on my way
Ok, drop me an email!
Is it a good time to talk?

You can use the Keyboard shortcuts.

Go to

  Settings • General • Keyboard • Shortcuts

From there, you can add shortcuts, like omw for "On my way."


How do I boot up my laptop from an external backup drive, or how do I verify that a backup is good? I want to upgrade my Mac to at least OS 10.9. It's running 10.6.8 now and has an Intel Core i5 processor. I've been making backups to an external drive via Time Machine, and I read that one step before upgrading is making sure my backups are good. One way to check is to boot up my laptop from the backup drive. But I was recently told that my current OS doesn't support booting up from my external drive, which I confirmed (the drive doesn't show on the screen while I have Option pressed during startup). What are my options for making sure the backups are good?

Head over to System Preferences < Time Machine and then select the "Show Time Machine in menu bar checkbox". From the menu bar, select time machine and select "Enter Time Machine". Now make sure your latest backup is visible there and you can see your files, this will ensure you have performed your backup correctly. To be safe, navigate to the disc and make sure you can see all files there.


"slash trick" Accessing arbitrary paths in open dialogs in Sierra In previous versions of mac/os/x you could type a slash in a open dialog, and the dialog would then let you enter an arbitrary path, such as /tmp. In Sierra, the slash key does nothing in open dialogs. Is there a way to re-enable that feature, or another way to get to an arbitrary path (preferably with the keyboard) in an open dialog?

Pressing Command-Shift-G in a standard open (or save) dialog will open a "Go to the folder" dialog that accepts unix-style paths (and does tab-completion). If you want to open a hidden file, pressing Command-Shift-Period in the open/save dialog will show hidden items.

(BTW, the Command-Shift-G shortcut also works in the Finder, and is equivalent to choosing Go menu > Go to Folder. Unfortunately, Command-Shift-Period doesn't work in Finder, only in open/save dialogs.)


How to wirelessly mirror a MacBook onto a smart tv without Apple TV? It seems like Apple wants me to spend 200 USD on an Apple TV just to wirelessly mirror my MacBook's display onto my smart tv.

Is there really no way to get around this? I'm not afraid of technical solutions.

After I did upgrade to Catalina, I can use AirPlay button in the menu bar.

The only requirement is that TV and MBP are on the same network. Picture quality on Macbook will be lower than on TV actually.
Tested with MBP Late 2016 (10.15.3) and LG 43um7500pla (4K TV).


iBooks does not read modified epubs I recently modified several epubs. I just turned "..." ellipses into the "…" type. Calibre has no problem with the modified epubs, and Sigil validates them. They can be imported to iTunes, only the metadata gets a bit messed up, and sychronized to my iPad.

But on the iPad, iBooks will throw these files out of its library. What is wrong? Is there some kind of hash value saved somewhere?

I installed Stanza on the iPad and tried to load the epub files into that. It failed, but stated that container.xml was missing. That was the right clue: I had created zip files from the modified text files that contained a directory, and that directory contained all the epub files: mimetype, META-INF with container.xml and OEBPS.
Repacking the zip with the files at the root of the archive brought order & peace back.

So iBooks was right after all. I have to take a look at what Sigil validated…

The validator that Mark mentioned has been installed by the IDPF and is available on their web page for online usage. Sure enough, it mentions that container.xml and mimetype are missing. Strange that calibre and iTunes accepted these files.

Last update: Sigil loads the malformed epub files, but saves them in the right format. I guess it validates the format stored in its memory.


Mac cannot detect external audio driver A little while back I updated my OS to El Capitan 10.11.6. Ever since upgrading from Yosemite the OS has not been able to detect any audio device. In safe mode, it can detect so them and runs no problem has to be a software issue (as identified by apple). I don't want to manually add everything back to a new system to find the issue.

Any help would be hugely appreciated!

The fact that Safe Mode works suggests that the old drivers for your external audio interface are no longer compatible with the newer OS. Check on the manufacturer's website for a new version, and/or follow any instructions for uninstalling the old driver.

Some audio interfaces are "CoreAudio compliant" and can actually work fine without any additional drivers to those built-in to MacOS. After you've removed the old drivers, it's worth seeing if it will work without installing new ones.


Can I use Applescript to go to the end of a text document? I have a very, very basic question: I have a little Applescript file that cleans up the html tags in a Textwrangler document. At the last stop, I'd like it to go to the end of document and add a line of text within an em html tag. I don't know applscript. To get this far I simply used the record-macro button in the script editor, but now I need to do something like "Goto EOF, write XYZ.

Any help?

Thanks!

This will work-- it operates on the current TextWrangler document. Change "XYZ" to whatever you want.

tell application "TextWrangler"
    set the_text to text of document 1
    set text of document 1 to the_text & return & "XYZ"
end tell


Setting up Airport Base Station with Uverse AND Sprint Airave I'm trying to configure my home network so that I can use a drive attached to my airport base station as the Time Machine drive. I think that to do this the Airport needs to control the DHCP and the NAT. I'm not sure I really understand DMZ settings, or if it's possible to push that to a third router...

Current setup includes:

ATT Uverse's 2Wire Modem/Router > Sprint Airave  > Apple Airport Extreme.

Everything I've read about this doesn't seem to use three routers. I can connect to the internet, but not able to use Time Machine with my networked drive.

Is Double NAT error that big a deal?

Any thoughts? Any place to read layman's DMZ info? Anyone using a third router as the main DHCP server? Why does everything come with a router? Is my setup just too complicated?

Pre-AiRave, the Airport Base Station was the only thing connected to the ATT 2Wire, and it worked fine. Unfortunately, I sprint says the Airave must be in front of the router. The main concern is to get Time Machine working. That being said, Finder no longer sees the Airport Base station as a 'server' to connect to and simply access the networked drive. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Airrave WAN Settings Screenshot
Airrave LAN Settings Screenshot

The definitive steps that worked for me. I would like to spell them out as much as possible, since many forum posts will say "Set this to that" but in no way tell you how to get to a setting screen.

Set Airport to use WPA2 security (not WPA/WPA2)

Airport Utility > Airport > Wireless > Wireless Security > WPA2 Personal
This may not work for everyone, especially if you have older devices

Set Airport to do DHCP and NAT

Airport Utility > Airport > Network > Router Mode > DHCP and NAT

Set Airport to reserve an IP for your AiRave/Airvana

Airport Utility > Airport > Network > "+" under "DHCP Reservations"
Choose a high number

Setup the Uverse Modem/Router

Turn off the wireless network

Settings > LAN > Wireless > Wireless Interface > Disabled

Verify your Apple Airport is the only thing using your Uverse Modem's Router

Settings > LAN > Status
Devices > Clear List
You want to only see one device.

Set Airport in the Uverse DMZ

Settings > LAN > IP Address Allocation

Firewall > Disabled
Address assignment > Public
WAN IP Mapping > Router WAN IP Address

Verify this worked

Settings > Firewall > Applications, Pinholes, DMZ
You should only see your Airport as the  'computer' in step 1.
Since it is selected, you see the radial button pressed for DMZ

Set up the Airvana/Airave

Manually set the IP to reserved

Advanced > LAN
(May not be necessary)

Set to use it's own MAC address

Settings > Status

Ultimately, I resolved the Airport/Uverse DMZ issue by switching the Airport Extreme from WPA/WPA2 to strictly WPA2. Initially, I didn't have much faith in this approach, but I tried it based on ouquinn's comment. This allowed me to set the Airport in the Uverse DMZ, which I had struggled for hours to do.


copy address from email search window I often have to find email addresses using the 'search' window in OSX mail.
The search function will frequently find an address for someone, and show it in the popup window below the search window.

But it often fails to find the underlying message, so I cannot open an actual existing message from the person.

And, I cannot copy from the popup window, so I can see the address I need, on my screen, but I have to write it down, and repaste it into the message I am composing.
This is beyond ridiculous.

Is there a solution?

When you search for an email address in the OSX Mail search bar, if you select the address from the dropdown, the mail app will automatically add the option From: in front of the email address in the search bar. Thus, the mail messages that show up in the left mail list will change so that only emails from the selected email address are displayed.

If you do not have any messages that are actually From: the email address selected, no emails will be displayed in the list. You may need to change the From: option in the search bar to Entire Message in order to see messages where a certain email address was CC'ed or if it was written in the email message text.


I can't boot into macOS Mojave on a Catalina laptop I have Mojave 10.14.6 on an external drive. When I plug it into my T2 MacBook Pro 16 inch running Catalina I get the prohibitory symbol instead of the Apple symbol and it can't boot. Is this issue solvable? Or does it mean I have to resort to other measures like bootcamp for instance?

You usually can't boot a Mac with an OS version which is older than the release date of the hardware. The old OS lacks some drivers required for new hardware.

You can still run Mojave etc. within a VM (using VMWare or Parallels).


iPhone Today View for Apple calendar Whats Up Next showing wrong time so I use apple calendar set to local time and keep events in local time.  I've noticed when using the Today View from the home screen, events that show the correct time in the calendar app show the incorrect time in the Today View.  Below are screen shots - 1 from the calendar screen, look at the AA 1455 flight that shows the correct time of 2048 then the Today View that's 2 hours off, 1848.  Does the Today View get its time from a different source than the calendar ?  How can I get the Today View to show the correct time?  This seems to happen when im traveling....  iOS 13.3

I suspect there's a time zone issue if you're travelling a lot between time zones.

Does it help to go into the Calendar settings in iOS and set Time Zone Override? I'm not sure how it works, but worth having a look at it. Additionally, you can also set the time zone for individual events for particular time zones.

I've attached a screenshot of the Time Zone Override screen in the Calendar settings on iOS.


How to Unset iTunes Track Start And Stop Time For Multiple Tracks? For some reason a lot of tracks in my iTunes library have senseless start and stop times set. This is really annoying as some tracks get skipped after a few seconds. There are Apple Script commands for setting them but I didn't find a way to clear all times. How can I batch clear them?

I just tried this script from dougs scripts on latest iTunes and it worked on the few tracks I selected.

http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=resettracksstartstop


Repair a damaged partition after a (partitionDisk) action in Recovery Mode, macOS? There's some back story to this, so bare with me for a bit.

In an attempt the create a free space partition for Ubuntu without using the disk utility applicatition I booted into recovery mode and tested

diskutil partitionDisk /dev/disk0 GPT free Linux 100G
just to see if I could create a free space partition to install Ubuntu on.

1st, I am not even all that sure if that was the proper syntax to use, although the command seemed to work, but when I tried to boot back into macos, I got the folder with a question mark picture.

I went back into recovery mode and found that the volume /dev/disk0s2 was giving an error.

so i removed the volume /dev/disk0s2.

gpt remove -i 2 disk0

then used gpt -r show disk0

I am was left with

# gpt -r show disk0
     start        size     index      contents
         0           1                PMBR
         1           1                Pri GPT header
         2          32                Pri GPT table
        34           6
        40      409600         1      GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
    409640  1953115495
1953115495          32                Sec GPT table
1953115167           1                Sec GPT header

(there is no C&P in recovery mode)

then tried to add the partition back since I'm sure of whatfile system I've been using.

gpt add -i 2 -b 409640 -s 195311549 -t 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC disk0

it is an Apple APFS partition.

but even with that, when I try to verify the volume

diskutil verifyVolume disk0s2

i get the error

starting file system verification for disk0s2: Unrecognized file system (-69846)

Any help in repairing my volume and the proper syntax for partitioning free space would help.

P.S.

diskutil list

  /dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
 #:                    TYPE NAME                  SIZE        IDENTIFIER
 0:  GUID_paritition_scheme                      *1.0 TB      disk0
 1:                     EFI EFI                   209.7 MB    disk0s1
 2: 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC          1000.0 GB   disk0s2

but I still cannot boot into macOS without seeing the question mark folder.

EDIT

After David Anderson's explanation of my blunder, and me backtracking as a result of Klanomath's reply of what the proper command should have been...

gpt -r show disk0
now shows up as follows

# gpt -r show disk0
         start        size     index      contents
             0           1                PMBR
             1           1                Pri GPT header
             2          32                Pri GPT table
            34           6
            40      409600         1      GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
        409640  1953115488         2      GPT part - 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
    1953525128           7
    1953525135          32                Sec GPT table
    1953525167           1                Sec GPT header

Basically, you were doomed after entering the first command. Below is an explanation of what happened.

The first common you entered is repeated below.

diskutil partitionDisk /dev/disk0 GPT free Linux 100G

This command erased the contents of EFI partition (disk0s1) and created a new EFI partition. Next, the command created a 100 GB partition of free space. This free space is created destructively. This means that at least the beginning of the free space is zeroed out. Unfortunately, this happened to be where the header of the APFS container for your macOS resided. At this point, recovery becomes somewhere between extremely difficult to impossible.

  Note: The diskutil command was destructive because disk0s2 already existed. This is done so a gpt (or other command) could not create a partition containing a volume which could be corrupted and/or potentially overlap another existing partition.

The next command you entered is given below.

gpt remove -i 2 disk0

This command did nothing. Basically, the command replaced the GUID type value of the second entry in the GPT with zeros, but the type was already zero.

The third command is shown below.

gpt -r show disk0

This command shows you just have the EFI partition (disk0s1).

The next command is shown below.

gpt add -i 2 -b 409640 -s 195311549 -t 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC disk0

This command did create a new partition (disk0s2) of type APFS. However, the header of the original APFS partition was replaced with zeros when you entered the first command.

The next command you entered is shown below.

diskutil verifyVolume disk0s2

Even if you had a valid APFS container, there would have been some sort of error message. This is because you have booted to a version of macOS recovery that has no knowledge of the APFS.

The final command is given below.

diskutil list

The output does not show Apple_APFS for disk0s2. Instead what is shown is 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC, which is the GUID type for a APFS container partition. This happed because the version of macOS recovery you booted to predates the introduction of APFS.

What you should have entered.

diskutil apfs resizecontainer disk0s2 899.8G free none 0

The value of 899.8G is computed below.

1000.0 G Bytes = Drive size
   0.2 G Bytes = EFI partition size
 100.0 G Bytes = Desired free space for Linux
--------
 899.8 G Bytes


Bootcamp (and laptop) freeze during partition on High Sierra I don't know if this is a problem specific to Windows 10 (which I'm trying to install), or High Sierra, but here it goes.

I am trying to install Windows 10 Anniversary Edition on a Macbook Air (early 2015) which is running High Sierra (10.13). I first freed up around 40 GB, which meant that I had 65 GB free, which was more than sufficient for Bootcamp.

Bootcamp runs, downloads the Windows support software, and says it's partitioning. Now, the problem is, the Bootcamp disappears while partitioning, and the system hangs completely. Only the cursor works. I can't even change the brightness. When I hard reboot, the system functions as normal, but in the Disk Utility, no space has even been allocated.

Looking around on the Web and here, the same problem has been reported by a ton of people, but all of the answers are outdated, dating back to the age of Mountain Lion and Snow Leopard - "simply partition a volume named BOOTCAMP of size 35-40 GB", which simply doesn't work here.

If anybody could guide me towards setting up Windows, it would be really helpful.

Never mind, figured it out.

Asked the same question on Apple Communities, got an answer saying

  Hi,
  Bootcamp is not compatible (yet) with the new APFS shipped with High Sierra.

Which (probably) means that I'll have to wait for a new software update.


Get values from Numbers.app into AppleScript's variables I have a .numbers file in following format:

Product Quantity Price
Apple   5        3
Banana  7        2
Orange  3        4

I need to get three variables with new-line separated values, e.g. identical to what I entered in script for testing:

set Products to "Apple
Banana
Orange"

set Quantities to "5
7
3"

set Prices to "3
2
4"

At best loading the file with closed Numbers.app, but selecting a range is also OK.

In the process of doing this exercise I understood lists are much better for storing read data. So here is the working code:

tell application "Numbers" to tell the front document to tell the active sheet to tell table 1
    repeat with i from 2 to the count of cells of column "A" -- row 1 is a header
        set theProduct to formatted value of cell i of column "A"
        set theQuamtity to formatted value of cell i of column "B"
        set thePrice to formatted value of cell i of column "C"

        set the end of Products to theProduct
        set the end of Quantities theQuantity
        set the end of Prices to thePrice
    end repeat
end tell


Get List of Purchased Items on App Store Is there a way of downloading a list of all purchases from the Mac App Store?

I know I can see them, and I know I can get a list of apps currently on my system, but I would like to have a list of all purchases ever made.

Unfortunately the only way to do this is if you have access to a Mac (or Virtual Machine) running OS X El Capitan (10.11). I have an iMac that can't be upgraded beyond 10.11 so I'm able to do this pretty easily. I'll explain how for anyone who might be interested enough to do this in 2019 or beyond.

The App Store in El Capitan had a "Debug" menu, (which was removed in 10.12), which you can enable by entering this command in Terminal.app:

defaults write com.apple.appstore ShowDebugMenu -bool true

Once enabled, you will find the Debug menu at the far right of the App Store menus. One of its options is: "Save page source to disk"

If you open the "Purchased" tab in the App Store app, and then select "Save page source to disk" it will save the HTML to:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.appstore/Data/Library/Documentation/pageSource.html

(I think it was /tmp/pageSource.html in an earlier version of OS X, but I'm not sure.)

From there you can use the HTML file to produce a list, or just use the HTML file if you prefer. I have a script that transforms the pageSource.html into https://mas.luo.ma for me.

I don't know how long Apple will support El Capitan accessing the App Store, but I believe they still support back to 10.7 / Lion, so I'm hopeful it will continue for a good long time.


What is the difference between console.log and system.log? I am checking system logs via the Console utility.  I am wondering what the difference is between the console.log and system.log file?

Console.log is usually written to by calls to Apple's NSLog() function call. (I can't find any other way to write to it so might be the only way) This writes to the log of the user that the app is running as

system.log is written to by the unix call syslog. syslog can be configured to write to different files and machines. system.log is a central file written to by all users.

Thus only code written specifically for OSX will write to console.log and only by the current user.

syslog is used by pure unix apps and if you want central logging.

OSX since 10.4 actually writes the logs to a database using asl


Need to install minimum 10.9.4 for XCode, but running 2009 iMac with 2GB Ram, only option now is Yosemite been given a iMac to configure for my new job.

Its a 2009 20" iMac. I recently clean installed Mountain Lion, as I knew it was stable and I had a boot USB.

I thought Mountain Lion would be enough but now it turns out I need to upgrade and can only now be Yosemite....

My question is, will Yosemite be too much for my 2009 older iMac with 2GB Ram?

Currently it runs fine, and ram can be upgraded to 4GB but not for a while.

Thanks. Craig,

A friend of mine recently upgraded his MacBook5,1 (2009 core 2 duo) with 2GB to Mavericks. It wasn't the most pleasant thing, but it actually didn't work out too bad for him and he even thinks there was a slight performance increase (I'm assuming due to the memory compression stuff being a touch faster than swap). I'm assuming that Yosemite isn't going to be much more stressful than Mavericks, so you can probably get away with it.

That being said, 2GB is absolutely too little for a machine that you're going to run Xcode on. Regardless of Mountain Lion, Mavericks or Yosemite, you need more RAM. Period.


How to import contacts from Samsung E1170? I have a Samsung E1170 mobile phone and a USB datacable for it.

How can I import/copy the contacts from the phone to my computer?
Is there any application for Mac which can do that?
If not, how can I do that at all in principle?

(Question on Superuser.)

Before 10.7 Mac OS included an application called iSync for exactly that. If you're still running Snow Leopard or lower you might want to look for an iSync plugin for your phone.


How to read mail via command on Mac? I set my mail agent tool to send and to receive mails with many accounts such as a gmail account.

I want to read the mail via command line for triggering cronjob purpose.

For example,  | grep "Subject: " && echo "I got it." this one is my purpose.

Is there also a way to switch among those accounts' mail box for reading purpose?

This is to me to know AppleScript with shell script.

My purpose is to use this to check the hard drive size.

I answer here.

#!/bin/bash
var=$(df -h / | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $4}' | sed 's|Gi||g');
checker=;

if [ ${var} -lt 40 ]; then
  checker=0;
  echo "The space is less than 40 Gb."
else
  checker=1;
  echo "The space is more than 40 Gb."
fi

if [ ${checker}=1 ]; then
  osascript <<'EOD'
tell application "Mail"
    set theFrom to “someone@gmail.com"
    set recipientName to ""
    set recipientAddress to “nobody@gmail.com"
    set theSubject to "The rest of hard drive space is less 40Gb"
    set theMessage to make new outgoing message with properties {sender:theFrom, subject:theSubject, visible:false}
    tell theMessage
        make new to recipient with properties {name:recipientName, address:recipientAddress}
        send
    end tell
end tell
EOD
fi


Suggestions on how to configure the settings for podcasts I have a Mac running the latest (10.14) along with an iPhone also running the latest (12.4).  I also have a couple iPads (12.4).  I also have a Watch.

I think I have 7 podcasts that I subscribe to via iTunes on the Mac and Podcasts on the iOS devices.  I tend to listen to them on the iPhone but sometimes listen to them on the Mac and very rarely on one of the iPads.

Lets just pretend there is just the Mac and iPhone if that simplifies things.

Long story short, things do not stay synced very well at all.  Right now, my iPhone has two copies of two episodes.

I'm wondering if perhaps the "downloads" should be set on the Mac only and off everywhere else so that the Mac will download the episods and then sync them to the other devices.  I've tried lots of various settings and I didn't keep track but I think I tried that but I'm not sure.  I think I also tried subscribe on the Mac and don't subscribe on the iOS devices but that causes the whole channel to disappear.

The basic question is -- how do you get your Podcasts to sync up?  Or... perhaps I should abandon iTunes / Podcasts and use a different set of apps?  Listening anywhere besides the iPhone is very secondary since it is always with me and I can control it from my watch.  But it just seems like a relatively simple problem to solve, I'm surprised its this hard to get things to work right.

I suggest starting over -- that is

1) unsubscribe from all podcasts, and restart all devices. Then,
2) do Settings -> Podcasts -> Sync Podcasts and/or Preferences => Store => Sync Playback as described in the notes below your question. Then,
3) Plug in each device to your computer with iTunes open, select the device as shown in the first image, go to the `Summary` section for that device and make sure `Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi` is checked.

4) Finally, subscribe one at a time just from one iOS device only
5) After the above is working, subscribe from the other devices

I say this first because I've been subscribing to podcasts using iTunes on my Mac and my iPhone for about a decade without problems like you describe, and in the last several years I never even go to iTunes on my computer anymore.  I just subscribe to new Podcasts from my iPhone and things sync fine. Second, my experience is "starting fresh" tends to solve most computer-related problems.


How to get back Exchange history in my iPhone XS I have deleted an Exchange account from my iPhone. It was corporate email address. There was a lot of emails. I don't work for the company any longer.

How can I get all those emails back or get them as a history? Do those emails all live on corporate servers, so that no message is being saved locally?

With Microsoft Exchange server all information is stored on the server itself, the only thing that is stored on your iOS device are the message headers and a few of the most recent messages that you have recently read.

Once you delete an email account (of any kind) from the iPhone the message headers and messages stored there are deleted. I suppose that if you have a backup of your device from before that time on your Mac you could use one of the many iOS backup extraction apps might be able to get some of that info off of the backup, assuming it is not encrypted.

And like IconDaemon pointed out you have no legal right to the messages without the permission of your former employer. The best way to get needed info out of emails is to contact them and request the specific messages you need.