iPhone SE bought on eBay no longer working I bought an unlocked iPhone SE on eBay Germany six months ago with no Apple guarantee but a 2 year Apple Agent guarantee. Here's what the offer said:

No Apple Garantie.
2 Jahr garantie vom Apple-Agent.

The iPhone is falling apart (the screen is popping out of the frame).  I have contacted Apple and did a warranty check and the iPhone is not under warranty.

I have the receipt and wonder why the warranty is not valid?

This should be easy to clear up.

Apple serializes products and the warranty starts when the device is first sold. Since you are in possession of a device, register the device to your Apple ID with Apple and then ask Apple when was the original sold date.

If the listing says an apple agent warrantee is in place, I would take the device to any Apple agent you choose and get in writing that they’ve denied you warranty service.

Now you have a paper trail to take to eBay if the listing was falsified. If the listing wasn’t falsified then you bought something without the knowledge the seller had. Unfortunately this is a “feature” of many “markets” when the seller has more information than the buyer.

Since eBay is the market here, hopefully the market will compensate you if in fact the seller took illegal advantage of the marketplace rules. Or they will educate you in how their market operates and then you decide if you want to pay for out of warranty repairs.

If the seller observed the rules, there is a saying for this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caveat_emptor


View files on PC from iphone backup without itunes? I need to view files from an old backup that i put a password on but cant for the life of remember the password. Is there anyway i can view these files on PC? I need text msgs and emails that where on the phone at time of backup.

You can try TotalSaver Encrypted Recovery Service from MyPhoneData


Using the extra SATA ports on a 2006 Mac Pro under Bootcamp i have a 2006 MacPro (Dual, Dual Core Xeon) which is currently running Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V. I have read (and checked in my case) that there are 2 extra SATA ports on the mother board of the MacPro (Found them too...). Anyway, i also read that the SATA ports are turned off in BootCamp, for reasons Apple only know (cough we all know why cough). Anyway, the post i read this on was quite old, and given my Mac Pro is not actually using BootCamp (just booted from the win2k8r2 disk, and there is no Mac Partition at all on this machine) does anyone know off hand if this should work? I am hoping to take apart the machine over the weekend to see if this will actually work, but before i do, any ideas?

You can use those ports once you installed the AHCI drivers. However, you'd still need to boot Windows from a disc connected to one of the drive sleds.

They got rid of this mess with the 2009 and later machines, btw.


Where the captured signature is stored in my mac? I just captured a signature using Preview. Where the signature image is stored? I want to have it.

They are stored in:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Preview/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Preview.signatures.plist

where ~ means your user's home folder (normally /Users/yourusername/).

Note that the signature is not stored as a typical JPEG/PNG image or as a PDF-file or similar, so you won't be able to directly use the file together with other programs.

Another thing to note is that the signature data is usually encrypted. In your Keychain you should be able to find a password entry named "Preview Signature Privacy" - this is the password used to encrypt the signature data.

If you wanted to take the stored signature data and move it to a different computer, you would need to not only transfer the plist file - but also copy over the password.


Airparrot 2.6.2 not running in macOS Sierra I have a late 2009 iMac '27 and as a result, I am unable to enjoy airplay to stream video to my Apple TV. When previously I have used El Capitan, I managed to bypass this by using AirParrot2, a nice piece of software that provided all the benefits of the airplay for older iMacs for only $12.

However, since upgrading to Sierra, the older version of Airparrot2 (2.3) stopped seeing my Apple TV and the newer version (2.6.2) which should be suitable for Sierra just wouldn't run (no icon in menu bar).

If anyone have experienced the same issues with Sierra I would much appreciate solutions / feedback.

Thank you.

I had an older version installed (1.5.3), just tried it under Sierra, connected to an ATV4, got this message on the ATV:

  This AirPlay connection requires iOS 7.1 or later, OS X 10.10 or > later, or iTunes 11.2 or later.

Then I tried AP 2.6.2, and it worked fine.


How do I set Command-Tab as the trigger for Witch? I'm using the app switcher, Witch, and I can't figure out how to set it to activate on Command-Tab. When I try to capture the keys, the OS switches apps on me. I can set Witch to activate on Option-Tab without issue.

I'm adding this because it took me a couple  weeks to find it:

Instead of trying to capture the key combination for Command-Tab, click the gear icons next to the Keyboard fields on the Witch preferences pane. It will give you options for setting the trigger to Command-Tab or Command-Shift-Tab.


How can I diagnose or fix the CalendarAgent occupying a whole CPU on Mountain Lion? Since I upgraded to Mountain Lion from Lion I see the CalendarAgent process occupying a large amount of 1 CPU on my late-2008 MacBook Pro. To fix this (as suggested by a Google result) I tried removing all online calendar accounts then re-adding them. This seemed to work for a while, but now the problem has returned (perhaps due to me either deleting some iCloud calendars or adding an additional Google calendar delegate). I don't really want to have to remove all my calendar accounts each time I add or remove a single calendar, so can anyone point me to the root cause of the problem?

In case it's useful, the call graph from the process is pasted here.

UPDATE: I removed one of the delegates from one of my Google calendar accounts, and that prevented this problem occurring. This isn't really a solution though, as I now can't access that calendar.

May have to kill and rebuild Calendar db:

Disable the Calendar service from your account in System Preferences → Internet Accounts
Remove the preferences/database files for Calendar:

rm -r ~/Library/Calendars/ ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iCal.plist

Re-enable the service.

Source: http://robert.accettura.com/blog/2012/08/19/how-to-stop-calendaragent-from-eating-cpu/


XLR Microphone not working with phantom power supply I'm using macbook air. My XLR mic works fine without phantom power supply in between, it's just that audio is low. When I use phantom power supply, macbook doesn't detect the microphone. Has anybody faced a similar problem? What's the solution?

You still need a microphone preamp.

As always seems to happen with these mics, they are bought by people for whom it is their first venture into the audio field, beyond a headset mic.

Unfortunately, nothing in any of these ads tells you precisely what you are going to need - nor do they even supply the right cables in the box to be able to do it.
Theoretically, you can get a signal out of them by using a PC's built-in low voltage supply that can power headsets.
In practise, that really doesn't work well at all - so then people buy a phantom supply, without realising they still really need something to get the signal into the computer at good levels.

If you can return that phantom power supply, do so, you don't need it.

Even on the picture for the supply it shows you need to connect it to a preamp.

Preamps are readily-available with built-in phantom power & USB connection.
They become the instant bridge between your mic & your computer. They supply the correct phantom power to the mic & become a useable input for the computer.

Instead, get anything like the following list obtained by Googling "USB Phantom" -
Random selection on Amazon
Example -

They run from approx £30 to many hundreds, depending on number of inputs/features etc. All you need as a basic starter kit is 1 mic input with phantom power.

You also need a male-female XLR cable which will connect to the pre-amp's mic input, which those mics are not supplied with.


How to reset the Master Password without current password on OS X? This is not the user or admin login password. Running OS X Yosemite 10.10.5.

To set or change the Master Password first click on the gear (1) and a new dialog box will open (2)

The Master Password is more a safety net than a security measure.

Without any user password you may reset or delete the Master Password by booting to your Recovery HD, starting Terminal, mounting your main volume, navigating to /Library/Keychains and deleting the files FileVaultMaster.cer and FileVaultMaster.keychain.

If your main volume is encrypted you won't be able to mount it without a proper FileVault password.


Prioritise Wi-Fi over GPS Location on iOS I am trying to find out a way I can prioritise WiFi via GPS location. I have got a BT Hub broadband router which is installed on the bottom level of my house and on the top floor i have got CISCO Meraki AP which is connected via TP Link 1200mbps network plug. I always have to switch the Wi-Fi manually due to poor signal strength when I am upstairs and downstairs in the house.

On the Meraki Dashboard go to Wireless -> Configure -> SSIDs and click "rename" under that specific SSID and make sure that it's set exactly as your other one from your downstairs and hit the Save Changes button. Then click on the "edit settings" button and mimic the same authentication settings as that one and that should cause your phone to roam from one to the other on the same band but what you do want to make sure is to go into your Radio settings menu on the dashboard and assign the upstairs AP a different channel as your downstairs so that it would roam seamlessly


Stuck on login for one user after migration assistant I recently got my MacBook Air 2018 fixed after having some cryptographic error.
I backed up all my data with time machine and I was able to transfer my data using migration assistant. I now have 3 users and I am only able to log in to two out of the 3. The third user is actually the only one I use and has everything on it. When I log in, (I know it’s the right password), I’m stuck on the loading page. I’ve been waiting for almost two hours.
I know there are threads that have a similar problem but the solutions offered didn’t really fit the criteria of my situation (meaning I was able to log in to other users except one). Please help I am so grateful it’s my university’s spring break I think I’d be having a panic attack if it wasn’t. Id really really appreciate simple and detailed instructions because I’m not knowledgeable on operating systems, etc. Thank you so much.
**I don’t know if this info is related to my problem but before I got my MacBook Air fixed, it  couldn’t update the OS due to that cryptographic error I mentioned before. So when I backed up my data it was on mojave. I didn’t realize my OS wasn’t updating until I needed to download XCode for class and it required the latest OS. I ended up wiping the whole disk after backing up my data and then going to a distribution center. Now I have the latest OS (Big Sur) and that is the backstory to my current problem after transferring my data back.
Here is the link to the spindump.txt file : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hscr19_0gnp_4TxW3XxtFgeirxVTIOy5/view?usp=sharing

We can try to approach this a few different ways. Let's start with the easiest and see if we can collect a sysdiagnose during the login process:

Log in to one of your working accounts.
Run the following Terminal command to enable kernel symbolication: sudo nvram boot-args="keepsyms=1". Make sure to copy-paste this so that you're entering straight quotes rather than curly/“smart” quotes. (If you get a permission error, you will first need to disable System Integrity Protection. You can re-enable it after you're done with this investigation.)
Reboot your machine normally.
Attempt to log in to your problematic user account.
As soon as you attempt to log in, press and hold the ShiftControlOptionCommand keys together, and while holding these keys press and release the period . key.
This is intended to silently initiate a sysdiagnose. Wait for at least 10 minutes to give it ample time to complete, then do a forced shutdown (press and hold the [POWER] button for 10 seconds).
Wait 10 more seconds with the machine off.
Press the [POWER] button. Immediately afterwards, press and hold CommandS in order to boot your machine into Single User Mode. We are doing this because otherwise the sysdiagnose report will get deleted when /tmp is cleaned during multiuser boot.
You can release the CommandS keys when you're at a command prompt and there is no more scrolling text.
From here, you need to move the sysdiagnose report to a location where it will not be deleted: mv /private/var/tmp/sysdiagnose* /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Desktop. Here you need to replace YOUR_USERNAME with the short username of one of your functioning users.
exit
Log in with the functioning user whose name you used in Step 10.
Locate the sysdiagnose archive on your Desktop. Double-click to decompress it.
Upload the spindump.txt file in the decompressed report directory using PasteBin or an equivalent service and add the link to your question.

UPDATE 1:
Looking at your spindump, there are several processes that are using significant CPU:
% grep "CPU Time:         " spindump.txt  | sort -d | tail -n 5
CPU Time:         0.330s (661.7M cycles, 244.5M instructions, 2.71c/i)
CPU Time:         0.792s (1615.4M cycles, 642.4M instructions, 2.51c/i)
CPU Time:         2.675s (5.9G cycles, 7.4G instructions, 0.80c/i)
CPU Time:         4.263s (9.6G cycles, 9.0G instructions, 1.07c/i)
CPU Time:         6.450s (12.6G cycles, 15.3G instructions, 0.82c/i)

The 6.45s one belongs to spindump, which is to be expected. The more interesting processes are
% grep -B 12 4.263s spindump.txt | grep Process:
Process:          ReportCrash [369]
% grep -B 12 2.675s spindump.txt | grep Process:
Process:          MRT [83]
% grep -B 12 0.792s spindump.txt | grep Process:
Process:          WindowServer [144]
% grep -B 12 0.330s spindump.txt | grep Process:
Process:          kernel_task [0]

First, it's surprising to see ReportCrash running. This suggests that there has been a recent process that's crashed and is now being analyzed and prepared for reporting to Apple. Although there are several possible explanations for why this is occurring right now, one theory is that either a login item or a launch agent is (repeatedly) crashing upon your attempted login. You can check this by examining (either from a working account or from Single User Mode) the /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports directory and sorting by timestamp (ls -lt in Terminal / command line). Check for crash logs around the time of your attempted login.
Next, MRT is using a lot of time. MRT is the Malware Removal Tool. Examining its stackshot, its main thread doesn't seem to be blocked and appears to just be doing a lot of normal I/O and analysis. I'm guessing it's doing its ordinary job of scanning your filesystem for malware. Nothing to indicate that it's involved in the failure chain.
Finally, coming to WindowServer and kernel_task, either of which can easily stall a login if they misbehave, I again don't see anything in either stackshot to indicate abnormal behavior.
So we have ruled out CPU starvation as a failure mode here. Now let's see if there's a blocked process within the critical login path. I notice prominently the absence of Finder from the list of running processes, so there is very clearly something preventing it from launching.
% grep -c "Process:          Finder" spindump.txt
0

Let's see if there are any processes that are trying to fork() and might be getting stalled:
% grep "Parent:           " spindump.txt | grep -v "launchd \[1\]" | sort -d
Parent:           UserAccountUpdater [363]
Parent:           UserAccountUpdater [363]
Parent:           UserAccountUpdater [363]
Parent:           kernel_task [0]
Parent:           loginwindow [147]
Parent:           sysdiagnose [404]
Parent:           systemstats [84]

That's interesting. UserAccountUpdater is running, suggesting that your user account is being upgraded. Given that you mentioned using Migration Assistant to bring your Mojave account into Big Sur, it makes sense that the upgrade has started and has not had a chance to complete. So is anything blocked on this?
% grep UserAccountUpdater spindump.txt | grep block
             *1000  ??? (kernel + 6600128) [0xffffff800085b5c0] (blocked by wait4 on UserAccountUpdater [363])

The answer is yes. This frame comes from a thread in loginwindow, which will also absolutely hang up the login process if something isn't right. There are three children of UserAccountHelper:
% grep -C 6 "Parent:           UserAccountUpdater" spindump.txt | grep "Process:          "
Process:          mbcachecleanup [396]
Process:          migrationhelper [389]
Process:          ReminderMigrationTool [390]

mbcachecleanup and migrationhelper both have healthy traces. ReminderMigrationTool, however, is blocked on an XPC transaction:
Thread 0xcf2    DispatchQueue "com.apple.main-thread"(1)    1000 samples (1-1000)    priority 31 (base 31)
1000  start + 1 (libdyld.dylib + 87585) [0x7fff20555621]
1000  ??? (ReminderMigrationTool + 15952) [0x101fa0e50]
  1000  -[CalInProcessReminderMigrator attemptMigrationWithHomeDirectory:] + 278 (ReminderMigration + 20449) [0x7fff732c0fe1]
    1000  -[CalTruthFilesReminderMigrator attemptMigrationWithHomeDirectory:] + 196 (ReminderMigration + 28484) [0x7fff732c2f44]
      1000  -[CalTruthFilesReminderMigrator _attemptMigrateRemindersDataWithCalendarDirectory:] + 175 (ReminderMigration + 28783) [0x7fff732c306f]
        1000  -[CalTruthFilesReminderMigrator _performMigrationInCalendarDirectory:withContext:] + 941 (ReminderMigration + 30684) [0x7fff732c37dc]
          1000  -[CalReminderMigrationContext ensureAccountsExist:] + 48 (ReminderMigration + 21943) [0x7fff732c15b7]
            1000  -[CalDefaultReminderKitDatabaseMigrationContext ensureAccountsExist:error:] + 142 (ReminderMigration + 9833) [0x7fff732be669]
              1000  -[REMDatabaseMigrationContext ensureAccountsExist:error:] + 64 (ReminderKit + 442631) [0x7fff3d851107]
                1000  -[REMDatabaseMigrationContext ensureAccountsExistWithMigrationAccountInfos:error:] + 219 (ReminderKit + 440075) [0x7fff3d85070b]
                  1000  -[REMDatabaseMigrationContext _cleanLocalDatabases:] + 100 (ReminderKit + 444147) [0x7fff3d8516f3]
                    1000  -[REMStore fetchAccountsIncludingInactive:error:] + 75 (ReminderKit + 107141) [0x7fff3d7ff285]
                      1000  -[REMAccountsDataView fetchAllAccountsForAccountManagementWithError:] + 114 (ReminderKit + 633685) [0x7fff3d87fb55]
                        1000  -[REMStore resultFromPerformingInvocation:error:] + 839 (ReminderKit + 119019) [0x7fff3d8020eb]
                          1000  -[REMStore _xpcSyncStorePerformerWithReason:errorHandler:] + 164 (ReminderKit + 124938) [0x7fff3d80380a]
                            1000  -[REMXPCDaemonController syncStorePerformerWithReason:errorHandler:] + 145 (ReminderKit + 466128) [0x7fff3d856cd0]
                              1000  -[REMXPCDaemonController _syncPerformerWithResolver:reason:errorHandler:] + 109 (ReminderKit + 467124) [0x7fff3d8570b4]
                                1000  -[REMXPCDaemonController _resolveAndCachePerformerWithResolver:reason:errorHandler:] + 482 (ReminderKit + 469269) [0x7fff3d857915]
                                  1000  -[REMXPCDaemonController _resolvePerformerWithResolver:reason:errorHandler:] + 544 (ReminderKit + 473070) [0x7fff3d8587ee]
                                    1000  -[REMXPCDaemonControllerPerformerResolver_store resolveWithDaemon:reason:completion:] + 209 (ReminderKit + 475082) [0x7fff3d858fca]
                                      1000  _NSXPCDistantObjectSimpleMessageSend4 + 42 (Foundation + 821239) [0x7fff214267f7]
                                        1000  -[NSXPCConnection _sendSelector:withProxy:arg1:arg2:arg3:arg4:] + 155 (Foundation + 821458) [0x7fff214268d2]
                                          1000  -[NSXPCConnection _sendInvocation:orArguments:count:methodSignature:selector:withProxy:] + 3090 (Foundation + 118889) [0x7fff2137b069]
                                            1000  __NSXPCCONNECTION_IS_WAITING_FOR_A_SYNCHRONOUS_REPLY__ + 9 (Foundation + 126953) [0x7fff2137cfe9]
                                              1000  xpc_connection_send_message_with_reply_sync + 238 (libxpc.dylib + 45484) [0x7fff2027c1ac]
                                                1000  dispatch_mach_send_with_result_and_wait_for_reply + 50 (libdispatch.dylib + 105326) [0x7fff203a5b6e]
                                                  1000  _dispatch_mach_send_and_wait_for_reply + 518 (libdispatch.dylib + 104310) [0x7fff203a5776]
                                                    1000  mach_msg_trap + 10 (libsystem_kernel.dylib + 3710) [0x7fff20505e7e]
                                                     *1000  ipc_mqueue_receive_continue + 0 (kernel + 573344) [0xffffff800029bfa0] (blocked by turnstile waiting for launchd [1] after 3 hops)

Are there others?
% grep -c "1000  __NSXPCCONNECTION_IS_WAITING_FOR_A_SYNCHRONOUS_REPLY__" spindump.txt
6

Yes: There are six frames that are similarly blocked. One was accounted for above. Another is in UserAccountHelper, blocking access to the font registry. Very interestingly, fontworker and fontd are both also blocked this way. fontd's instance is in the com.apple.xtype.ScannerQueue dispatch queue. This immediately leads me to suspect that the font manager is hanging while scanning your local font library. Perhaps there is a corrupted font and/or font collection installed in your user ~/Library/Fonts and/or ~/Library/FontCollections. You should rename these directories and try logging in again.
Two more frames are in WiFiAgent and otherbsd. I also saw blocked frames in securityd and secinitd which may be relevant, but let's investigate what we've discussed so far.
To summarize:

Rename your user's Fonts and FontCollections directories (probably easiest to boot into Single User Mode and do this from the command line, e.g., cd /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Library && mv Fonts FontsDISABLED && mv FontCollections FontCollectionsDISABLED).
Check if there's anything in that user's ~/Library/LaunchAgents.
Check in /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports for crash reports around the time of failure.


Will encrypting the Windows partition with BitLocker wipe out the macOS partition? I am running macOS and Windows on a macbook pro using bootcamp.

I have encrypted my macOS partition using FileVault.

I have read, that BitLocker on Windows on Mac would wipe the macOS partition. Is there any truth to that?

What is the best way to also encrypt the Windows partition?

I am running macOS sierra.

On a Mac, via BootCamp, BitLocker will only encrypt the Windows' system volume (drive C:). So MacOS will not be modified.

Of course, accessing your BitLocker encrypted volume when you are using your computer with MacOS is another matter. There are software doing this.


If I already set up Apple Pay in USA, can I use it when in other countries and will there be any foreign transaction fee? For example, Apple Pay is just beginning to work in Taiwan.

But can it work if I set up Apply Pay using a USA credit card?
Will there be any foreign transaction fee (of 3% by the credit card)
Same as (2) but what if it is a credit card like Capital One that doesn't have any foreign transaction fee when you use the physical card?

Yes. Assuming the card you linked to Apple Pay allows foreign transactions.

Once setup you can use an Apple Pay-linked credit card in any country with a contactless payment terminal when they accept your credit card. Your linked card will be charged in the currency of the vendor where you use Apple Pay and you may incur foreign transaction fees on the transactions.

Consult your card holder agreement to determine if your card functions outside of the country of issuance and whether foreign transaction fees will be charged.

Apple Pay is a means of presenting a credit card to complete a transaction. It doesn't replace the credit card and your credit agreement with the card issuing bank. All of that still applies when you use Apple Pay.


How to stream a M3U file on iOS devices? I'm managing a lot of favourite internet radio stations in a m3u file that is stored on my Dropbox to use it on several devices, but I have problems to play this on my iOS device.

So far, I was unable to find any app that does the job for me. On Android there are many apps like Total Commander that can play m3u files with radio streams.

Here is an example content of such a m3u file:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1,Epic Sounds FM
http://stream3.laut.fm:8080/epicsoundsfm

Is there any way to play this file without jailbreaking the device?

GSE SMART IPTV app is recommended to playback M3U streams on iOS devices.


Custom keyboard shortcuts/mapping I have been fiddling around with the keyboard shortcuts in sys preferences, and have to say the options seem limitless, and fantastic. I'm a huge keyboard user and will do everything I can without using a pointing device.

I have however a huge preference for using the bottom-left-most button for all modifier actions (instead of the default  Cmd ⌘  ). This is not even related to "being used to how Windows works", I simply find it very uncomfortable to use  Cmd ⌘   - the  Fn  button on my laptop is actually what I've been using.

So - I could not find any other way than to use the custom shortcuts, and had to map each action one by one. I set most of them to "All Applications" (Copy, Paste, Cut, Save, Select All, Undo, Redo, Refresh, Close Tab, etc.)

My issue is this : because we have to use the exact Menu Name, it turns out that setting  Ctrl ⌃   W   to "Close Tab" in Google Chrome, will not "Close tab" in Filezilla.

It also turns out that I cannot re-use  Ctrl ⌃   W  for more than one action. In other words, I can't use custom shortcuts if the action has a different name in different software.

Is there a way around this?
Much appreciated,

You can actually just remap the Modifier keys, if that would help - it would save you having to try modifying all the standard shortcuts.

System Prefs > Keyboard > Keyboard > Modifier Keys…
Below is an example showing  Cmd ⌘  &  Ctrl ⌃  swapped


How do I get the 'Calendar' app to display on the Dashboard? [MacOS C-Error]

As per the title.  I've tried using ctrl up-arrow and dragging onto that 'desktop' but my drag is rejected...

I want to be able to see my appointments at a glance in the Dashboard, not just a static calendar with a clock.

While looking for answers to this question, I came across something called DashCode, which I understand does not exist for MacOS Sierra.  Can this be used to wrap the calendar app into a widget?

Use this widget, hope it can help you :)

Download link


Is there a way to prevent SIGKILL after SIGTERM for a daemon\agent during shutdown\restart? i have a daemon that must be finished gracefully. It should have CUSTOM amount of time before system sends SIGKILL and kills it.

Is there a possibility to do such thing on MAC?

No - this isn't the decision idiom on macOS so your development requirements are conflicting with the system design intention.

Your daemon should be dealing with this and timing and technical ways to do this are built in to MacOS as well as documented fairly well by Apple.

macOS does not shutdown daemons by just sending a SIGKILL it first sends a SIGTERM and then only if the process is still there a SIGKILL. You have some control to delay this by using the disableSuddenTermination method on NSProcessInfo see  https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/nsprocessinfo/1412841-disablesuddentermination?language=objc

Thus your daemon should be shutting down on receipt of a SIGTERM and so the SIGKILL will have no effect.

This was documented in Apple's The Life Cycle of a Daemon

It is also the normal BSD and Linux way of shutdown except that launchd is not involved.


Can I use a normal USB-keyboard on an iPad3 with iOS6.0? Is there any way to use a normal USB-keyboard on an iPad3 with iOS6?

I saw a demo on YouTube where a normal USB-keyboard was connected to an iPad using the USB-connector. This iPad had iOS 5 on board.  I later read that this wouldn't function anymore under iOS 6.

I consider buying a connection set, but am reluctant since I want to use it to connect my normal USB keyboard. No use buying it if it won't work.

Absolutely bizarre! I've just tried it with an Apple USB Keyboard on an iPad3 running iOS6 and it gives me an error saying the device draws too much power! So the answer is no! Another bizarre move by Apple.


Macbook pro doesn't go to sleep after left inactive In Energy Saver settings (System Preferences -> Hardware section) the Mac is set to sleep after 15 minutes, but nothing happens.

Mac drains battery and automatically turns off when battery is low.

If I type pmset -g assertions in terminal, I get this:

3/31/14 5:46:52 AM EDT
Assertion status system-wide:
PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep    0
PreventSystemSleep             0
PreventUserIdleSystemSleep     1
InternalPreventDisplaySleep    0
ExternalMedia                  0
UserIsActive                   0
ApplePushServiceTask           0
BackgroundTask                 0

Listed by owning process:
  pid 251(coreaudiod): [0x0000000100000d01] 00:17:27 NoIdleSleepAssertion named: "com.apple.audio.'AppleHDAEngineOutput:1B,0,1,1:0'.noidlesleep"
  pid 251(coreaudiod): [0x0000000100000929] 01:11:47 NoIdleSleepAssertion named: "com.apple.audio.'BoomEngine:0'.noidlesleep"
  pid 269(helpd): [0x0000000c00000159] 02:37:33 BackgroundTask named:     "com.apple.helpd.sdmbuilding"

Kernel Assertions: None

How should I read this? Why PreventUserIdleSystemSleep is set to one?
How I can set up Mac go to sleep after certain time of inactivity?

In this instance, use Activity Monitor.app to kill process pid 251(coreaudiod).

Tracking Down Idle Sleep Problems

Below is an overview for tracking down why your Mac will not idle sleep.

No Idle Sleep Assertion

A NoIdleSleepAssertion assertion is the most likely reason your Mac is not sleeping.

To see more about which processes are blocking sleep, run this command in Terminal.app:

pmset -g assertions

This will list active assertions and their owning application or process. Expect to see audio visual, network sharing, or printing related responses.

If a hidden process, such as pid 251(coreaudiod), is responsible, you can kill it using Activity Monitor.app. Afterwards rerun the pmset command above to check the assertion has been removed.

Common Causes

This Apple Discussion forum thread, My Mac don't go sleeping since Lion Update, contains numerous people who also encountered this problem. The same causes will affect OS X 10.9.

Check for stuck print jobs; a pending print job will keep your Mac awake
Check for audio visual or presentation programs that may restrict sleep while playing


Why can't I access Server.app in Lion Server? I can't access Server.app in my mac mini server, i don't know why.
The username and password are correct.

How can I solve this problem?

I found a problem, the servermgrd was not running, I was search in Active Monitor and no found it.

To resolve just run:

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.servermgrd.plist


iPhone 4S with GPS and GLONASS receiver I have a little understanding of GLONASS receiver and together with GPS, it's more accurate than the phones equipped only with A-GPS.

Here you have a video which compares A-GPS only iPhone 4 with iPhone 4S that has A-GPS+GLONASS. My question is, if I buy an iPhone 4S (as iPhone 5 Maps in India is next to useless), will I be able to see my current location on an offline map if both these receivers are present? (say for example CityMapsToGo)

Nokia is claiming the same with its Lumia 820 and 920, as it is equipped with both GPS and GLONASS receivers.

"These two smartphones also include autonomous assisted GPS and GLONASS receivers. In plain English, this means that you can see yourself on a map within seconds, even when you’re offline."

GPS and GLONASS are almost the same things, one operated from the USA and the other from Russia, respectively. The differences are too technical for this question and I won’t get into them.

Also, if your new iPhone 4S ships with iOS 6, you won’t be able to downgrade to iOS 5.

And yes, you can see your location in offline maps.


blank Parental Controls log display After setting up a managed user on my daughter's laptop [2008 macbook pro, OSX 10.9.1], I tested that application and website logging worked - I was able to go into Parental Controls, bring up the Logs... window, and view activity for that account.

A week later, when I open the same Logs... dialog up it's always blank.  No applications, websites, etc. are displayed regardless of the time period I select.

It's possible but unlikely that she did something deliberate to break parental controls.  For instance, maybe one of her friends showed her a "hack" that uses root access via Single User Mode to break logging?  But I don't think this is the case.

I've also read Apple community forum posts that suggest that Parental Controls is broken, but they appear to be for prior versions of the OS.

Other clues, possibly related:

Event logs are present in the appropriate place but nothing new is being logged (latest directory is 2013/12, it's now 2014/01)
I have the computer set up to do remote management of parental controls, but when I open parental controls on my own mac it does not show her laptop as an "other computer" to be managed.
There's no evidence of parentalcontrol service failures in system.log

Is there any comprehensive list of files, chmods, etc. that I can use to verify that parental controls are working and/or watch its operation for errors?

I ran into this same problem with my son, I googled and found a post where someone suggested to check

MacintoshHD/Library/Application Support/Apple/ParentalControls/Users

But when I did I found that "Users" was locked.  I tried to chmod the settings to 777 and was blocked, so I sudo changed the settings with:

$ sudo chmod 777 Users/

For the non-native terminal user, first open the terminal by searching for it with Command SpaceBar.  Type terminal and open it.  Then type (hitting enter between each line):

cd "/Library/Application Support/Apple/ParentalControls"
sudo chmod 777 Users/

Then access the parental controls through Settings.  You should see the webpages now when you click Parental Controls, then the child's account, then Logs (lower right corner), then Web.


Why does iTunes continually reset the play count of select songs to zero? Many of the recent additions to my iTunes library, including songs that I have bought in the iTunes store and Amazon, keep having their play counts reset to zero. All are songs that I know I have listened to, and iTunes knows this as well; even though the play count has been reset, the "last played" field notes when I last listened to the song. This seemingly has only happened with songs I have added to my library after I installed iTunes Match.

One song in particular, for example, I purchased a week ago in the iTunes store. I listened to it 8 times and that play count appeared. A few days/syncs later, the play count was reset to 0. I listened to it a few more times, the play count then being 5, and after a few more days/syncs it was again reset to 0. The same thing happened again last night after I had listened to the song 5 times in a day (yes, the song is awesome).

I've turned off iTunes Match, and have yet to test to see if this is the real solution. Apple's forums don't seem to have any solid information on this, aside from people just griping that it is happening. Is there any information on why this is happening? Is there a way to override it? Is there a way to restore all my missed play counts?

This is an ongoing bug in iTunes Match. The few users that seem to have any success at all manually update by going to Store > Update iTunes Match. This may or may not work for you because it really is a bug. Play count updates also appear to be delayed by days for some users.


Adding page break to tables in Pages 5.5 In Pages 5.5 on Yosemite how can I add a page break into a table?

You can't add a page break within a table. You can provide feedback to Apple regarding this:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/pages.html


How can I change the title of a boot image? I have an external Hard Drive with two bootable partitions on it. The first is an image of a Mac OS X 10.6 Install DVD, and the second is an image of a Mac OS X 10.6.3 Install DVD.

When I plug the hard drive into a Mac Mini, and turn it on holding down the Alt key, I get the option to select which boot device to use. However both my bootable images are named "Mac OS X Install DVD".

How would I change the name of the bootable image?

I have already tried changing the partition names but this has no effect.

Any ideas?

Note: I originally asked this on SuperUser, but upon discovering this site, I asked it here also.

Edit: Here are some related pictures:

The Partition in Finder

Disk Information in Disk Utility

Volume Information in Disk Utility

This is an older post, but I came across it today and figured I'd share what I found.

The 'bless' command seems to make this work. First make sure the disk is mounted, find out which folder it is mounted to, and:

sudo bless --folder <mount_path> -label <desired_label>

For example:

sudo bless --folder "/Volumes/Mac OS X Lion Install ESD" -label "Lion Install"

Whatever you put for the label is what should show up at the choose disk screen when holding option during a boot.

Note that you'll probably want to do this in addition to renaming in Finder or Get Info just to keep them somewhat in sync and make them easier to identify in either case.


Watching personal 4K videos on Apple TV 4K It seems I'm not able to watch 4k/60 FPS personal videos on an Apple TV 4K. I put them in photos and while I'm sure they're 4K, I only get to stream HD from my Apple TV 4K.

I have a gigabit connection, so it should be able to stream from wherever.

I also tried to stream from "computers" with family share, but the same videos I made with iMovie are not supported by the Apple TV.

The only 4K videos I am able to watch are the ones bought from iTunes.

Is there a way to watch personal 4K videos on an Apple TV 4K?

 <- this file here is played HD on the tv, no matter what I try.

Apple limits the resolution of airplay.
You need to install a player and transfer the video to the player documents folder.
Use itunes or imazing, wired  or wireless transmission.Then you can open the video in the player.

Another method is to install a player that supports network sharing, turn on file sharing(SMB NFS DLNA) on the device where the video is located(PC MAC NAS). Mount the network sharing folder, you can stream it at 4K.


Line Height with the built in OSX Font Panel I am using an invoiving application, and would like to adjust some text properties including line height, but the only options available are show in the attached screenshot.  Does anyone have an idea how to adjust line height when the only tool you have is this font-chooser thingy (Is there a name for this)?

Thank you.

This is Fontbook. It is simply a font library, not where you manipulate fonts. You do not define font properties there:

  The Font Book application lets you install, remove, view, organize,
  validate, enable, and disable fonts. Fonts are styles of type that
  your computer uses to display and print text. OS X comes with many
  preinstalled fonts.

The programme you are using will (or will not) have the tools to format fonts. If your programme does not have this, you cannot set this in Fontbook.


iCloud Drive - Why am I running out of space, when my account shows 100_gb free? I have expanded my iCloud drive storage to 200GB. Right now, I have 170GB free. I want to offload some large folders from my ailing laptop to iCloud. When I try to do that, I'm told there is not enough space. The folder I want to move is about 30GB.

This is on 10.10.3

Is there anything I need to set to be able to use this extra space. Thanks for any tips.

This doesn't answer the question, but moving gigabytes of data to any cloud service (and back) is going to take a while. An external drive will be much faster, and you can re-use it for the backup you don't have.


Sent emails not syncing properly When I send an email from my iPhone the sent email does not end up in the "sent" box on my Mac, in my mail.  It ends up going into a different box, named"sent messages" under "mobile Me.  I want it to sync properly so all of my devices are the same.  Does anyone know what I need to do to make this happen?

I believe what you would want to do in this case, is to click on the Sent box on your Mac, then go to the Mailbox menu and select 'Use This Mailbox For >' and select Sent.


An Calendar event seems to be locked when participants has accepted the invite using Exchange? I'm using the Calendar app in OS X Maverick to access my Office 365 hosted Exchange calendar. When I create an event with participants (be it people or rooms), the event title, location and participant list seems to be locked.

This only happens when a participant has accepted the invitation. I can still change the date and time, but an updated event isn't send the the participants.

I have tried to search for any documentation, that states this is limitation in the current synchronization methods between Calendar and Exchange, but to no avail.

Is something wrong in my setup or is this indeed a limitation in the synchronization between my Mac and Exchange?

This is a compatibility issue between Apple and Microsoft. There's not much you can do about that except using Outlook 2011 for Mac can help you out in this case.
As it is specific Microsoft software for Mac, you don't have all the limitations you have using the default (native) Mac Mail.app.

SideNote: A similar thing between Apple and Microsoft is when you flag an e-mail, it will be flagged as Outlook 2003, which is very pointless if your Exchange is 2007 or up.


Heatmap in Numbers (colouring cells by their numeric value) In Excel, it's possible to display a "heatmap", i.e. colouring a group of cells depending on each cell's numeric value:

I'm looking to do the exact same thing in Numbers, but surprisingly I couldn't find how to do so. It seems like a very, very standard and reasonable feature to expect from a spreadsheet and I'd be very surprised if Numbers can't do it.

Is there any way to achieve this in Numbers?

Yes, you can do it in Numbers but it's not a simple command as far as I know. Your spreadsheet should have numbers in each cell and that represents the size and shape of your color map. Select your matrix and under the Format menu of Numbers, click on Conditional Highlighting. That gives you a pane that looks like so:

In the top right you see a button for Add a Rule. Click this button and set up your rules for your heat map. See next image.

I used only 4 colors but I just set up this quick example. You can have as many as you want, you just have to set the rules correctly. It the Add a rule your get a pane like shown below to select your rules.

I used the rule "Between two numbers" because it was easiest for this example...


'mdls' and 'mdimport' interaction: good practice question Am I correct to assume that, in order to ensure a query in the terminal such as:

mdls -name kMDItemContentCreationDate /var/log/system.log

always returns the actual creation date of said file (provided it exists), I should always force Spotlight to import this information first via:

mdimport -r /var/log/system.log

?

I am interested strictly in obtaining, from the Terminal, that specific piece of data.

This seems to be the conclusion based on another SOV post, especially since the Spotlight indexing may ignore some folders.

I would use stat instead of mdls on a system running the 64bit kernel.

stat -f "%B" file

will return the creation date or birthtime in seconds since epoch (Unix/Epoch time). A human readable output can be produced with

stat -f "%SB" file

You can also format the output of this command by adding the -t option (see man 3 strftime).

On a system running the 32bit kernel, you need to use GetFileInfo.

GetFileInfo -d file

The output from GetFileInfo can be converted to Epoch time by running the output though the date command.

cdate=$(GetFileInfo -d file)
date -j -f "%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S" "$cdate" +%s


How can I set 'fit to screen' as the default behaviour when changing my desktop background (wallpaper) Every time I want to set a picture as my desktop background it sets it so big that half of it is gone. I then have to go to the settings and choose desktop then choose a setting.

It is so annoying to have to go into settings every time I change a wallpaper!

Is there a way to set it so that whenever I right click and scroll to set a wallpaper, that it will automatically make it fit to screen?

Go to system preferences, then "desktop & screen saver", then select the image. You should see a dropdown menu that allows you to "fit to screen."


Is my BootCamp-ed Windows seeing less VRAM than my Macbook (Pro, 13", mid-2014) actually has? If so, how can I make it see that it has more? (TL;DR below)

So I've recently installed Windows on my mid-2014 Macbook Pro Retina 13" to play some games. I never expected super incredible performance in 3D games, but nevertheless I have been severely disappointed with it and I wonder if there's something wrong with my hardware or drivers.

Games such as The Witness (a puzzle game in 3D with stylized graphics and no action) and Spec Ops: The Line (a shooter that wasn't super graphically flashy even when it was released, in 2012), barely even ran, and had to be configured with the absolute minimum graphics settings for them to reach 20—30fps. Same thing with Rocket League, a super accessible sports-racing hybrid that any half-decent budget machine can run decently. The worst, though, was Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, a flat 2D game — it ran more smoothly on my friend's much, much older and weaker non-Apple laptop.

  I had to lower my resolution for this.

Knowing next to nothing about hardware, I did a bit of research and found out that my machine has Intel Iris Graphics and, most interestingly, that macOS dynamically allocates up to 1.5GB of system memory to the graphics card.

However, when I was on Windows, I went into Can You Run It? and used its system diagnosis tools to test my specs against the minimum requirements for some games (nothing fancy, I didn't check against the new 2016 Doom game or even GTA V). Every result said that I didn't meet even the minimum requirements for the games (even for games that I had actually ran already) because, according to it, I only have 112.5 MB of available video RAM on Windows.

So I'm thinking that that is actually the problem.

Is this really all the memory I can have?

TL;DR: Actual question(s)

Can Windows allocate more than 112.5 MB of RAM to graphics?

Is it capable of doing that dynamically the way macOS does? If not, is there a way to force this to a different amount of RAM, since it's apparently using the minimum possible amount? (My machine has 8GB, it would be no problem dedicating 2GB of those to graphics, maybe even more since all I do on Windows is open Steam.)

I'm using Windows 10 with the Bootcamp-provided drivers. Didn't manually update a thing, for fear of breaking compatibility.

Even if I'm completely off-track here and my entire line of reasoning is faulty, is there anything else I can do to eek more graphical performance from my machine under Bootcamped Windows?

Thanks so much for your time.

Windows can allocate as much video memory as the driver allows. So the problem is not really with Windows, but the driver that Apple provides for that system. Yes Apple wrote the Windows driver for bootcamp on your Mac.

I don't have specific experiences with this but I have heard of people going directly to the manufacturers web site and downloading the drivers for the specific version of Windows and the graphics card in your Mac. Often this will work for other system hardware as well.

The worst that should happen is that you'll have to boot into safe mode to remove the driver, assuming you can find it on Intel's web site and get it to install.


When I export video from Final Cut Pro, how to set the export directory? This is my video I edit in Final Cut Pro, but I don't know where to set the export place when I share my video. If I share it, I don't know where to find my exported video.

Add information

Some sharing methods have a default action.

If that is set to Add to playlist: then it will simply put it into your appropriate media folder in your user folder. Many sharing methods have this as the default.

If you set that to Do Nothing, then the Share button will turn to Next... indicating that it will ask you where you want to Export the media to when you click that. For Example:

or...


Is it safe for me to delete this profile? Can I delete the Apple beta program profile? I've signed up for the beta, and I want to get rid of it now that I'm on the official release. Is this ok to do? I'm on iPhone 6 running iOS 10.0.1.

Yes it's safe, when you delete it and restart your phone, you'll just get into the normal update cycle.


How to create a VPN connection via terminal? I have a macbook pro with mavericks running. I am looking for a way to connect to a VPN network in terminal.

The reason why I want to do this is that I want to write a small program in Python which automatically detects the fastest VPN server among 30 servers. This is a self-motivated practicing project so I think I'll stick to Python language. So I break down the task and think the program may need to connect to one of the server first and after that, run a speed test.

So I'm now stuck in this first step because I realised establishing a VPN connection seems to be under system level because I can't find pre-written VPN module in python. So I guess it will be like I tell Python to tell system shell to connect to a VPN server.

As I poking around and I found a command by typing apropos vpn. It's called vpnagent. But man vpnagent doesn't provide useful information nor which vpnagent tells me the utility is not installed in my Mac. Another interesting thing I found was pppd but setting up the configuration file was very frustrating. I didn't manage to do that.

So is there a way of connecting to VPN using terminal? In addition, since I'm new to programming, any comment on my project is also welcome. Thank you in advance.

You can use these wonderful bash functions from @slhck at Super User:

To connect to different VPNs, have multiple VPNs in Network.prefpane.

function vpn-connect {
/usr/bin/env osascript <<-EOF
tell application "System Events"
        tell current location of network preferences
                set VPN to service "UniVPN" -- your VPN name here
                if exists VPN then connect VPN
                repeat while (current configuration of VPN is not connected)
                    delay 1
                end repeat
        end tell
end tell
EOF
}

function vpn-disconnect {
/usr/bin/env osascript <<-EOF
tell application "System Events"
        tell current location of network preferences
                set VPN to service "UniVPN" -- your VPN name here
                if exists VPN then disconnect VPN
        end tell
end tell
return
EOF
}

Don't forget to change the name of the VPN.


How do i cancel a purchase in the App Store? I purchase an App (Master Record) it is very low quality (recording always clipped, cannot control input level or find any help)

I would like to cancel my purchase?

Is it possible? how?

NOTE: there is not demo/trial mode for this app

Purchases are considered final.

However, the same has happened to me and I’ve found Apple to be quite forgiving if you explain the situation and ask nicely.

Contact iTunes Support and see if they will refund or credit you. Go to https://reportaproblem.apple.com in your browser, log in, locate the purchase and explain the situation.

Good luck!


How to solve blank Safari Window / Safari crash (10.1.2)? Running Yosemite 10.10.5 on MacBook Air (early 2014), with Safari v. 10.1.2.

New Safari windows come up blank. Typing a URL into them doesn't load the pages.

Quitting Safari and relaunching causes System error:

  Safari cannot be opened because of a problem.

  Check with the developer to make sure Safari works with this version of Mac OSX. You may have to reinstall the application. Be sure to sure to install any available updates for the application and Mac OSX."

Crash report (and launching Safari from Terminal) shows this error:

dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/lib/libcrypto.35.dylib
  Referenced from:     /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Versions/A/MobileDevice
  Reason: image not found
Trace/BPT trap

Listing the directory shows that files were updated here (presumably because of iTunes update) that are proximate to this problem:

drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel      102 Dec 14 08:52 AppleMobileDeviceHelper.app
drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel      102 Dec 14 08:52 AppleMobileSync.app
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel  4119552 Oct 16 21:31 MobileDevice
drwxr-xr-x  45 root  wheel     1530 Oct 16 21:31 Resources
drwxr-xr-x   3 root  wheel      102 Oct 16 20:49 _CodeSignature
-rwxr-xr-x   1 root  wheel    43936 Oct 16 21:31 reenumerate_ios_devices

(two December 14th files indicate recent update compared to older files)

Timestamps of those updated files coincide with iTunes being updated to 12.8.1.2.

Hypothesis: Updating iTunes to 12.8.1.2
updated /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework to a version incompatible with Safari 10.1.2. Workaround 2 (below) supports hypothesis.

WORKAROUND 1: Install/Use Firefox

WORKAROUND 2: Move /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework to the trash (or somewhere else)
WORKAROUND 3 (not yet verified but presumed to work): Install macOS Mojave.

Posted here in case someone has a direct fix for users who can't update to Mojave, don't want to lose capabilities that MobileDevice.framework provides, and can't (or don't want to be forced to) switch to Firefox.

Same happened to me--same error, same OS X and same Safari version. The following files in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ had today's timestamp on my computer. I restored these files from my backup in Time Machine. Safari is working again.

drwxr-xr-x  5 root  wheel  170 Dec 14 12:30 iTunesAccess.framework
drwxr-xr-x  6 root  wheel  204 Dec 14 12:30 CoreFP.framework
drwxr-xr-x  6 root  wheel  204 Dec 14 12:30 CoreADI.framework
drwxr-xr-x  5 root  wheel  170 Dec 14 12:30 MobileDevice.framework
drwxr-xr-x  5 root  wheel  170 Dec 14 12:30 DeviceLink.framework
drwxr-xr-x  6 root  wheel  204 Dec 14 12:30 AirTrafficHost.framework


Automatically mounting an external Firewire drive after reboot, without login I have an iMac that is running Mavericks with OS X Server. I have the Time Machine service set up on that machine, referring to a directory on an external drive that is connected via Firewire. Other Macs in the house use this as the Time Machine backup location.

All works fine as long as someone is logged into the server. However, if the server is rebooted, and nobody logs in, then all client machines' Time Machine backups fail with an "unable to connect to disk" error. As soon as anyone logs into the server, everything starts working again.

So, apparently the external drive is not mounted until somebody logs in. What is the easiest way to fix this?

I have found various pages around the net showing how to use automount and the /etc/auto_master configuration file to mount remote NFS and SMB shares automatically. Is this the way to do it, and if so, what do I put in /etc/auto_master for an external local drive?

Or do I need to create an /etc/fstab file and put something in it? (I find conflicting information about whether that is still used or has been deprecated.)

Or do I need to do something with launchd?

FWIW, here is the output of mount -v when the external drive "My Book" is mounted:

/dev/disk1s3 on /Volumes/My Book (hfs, local, journaled)

Update: After experimenting more, it seems that sometimes everything works as expected (that is, external disk gets mounted and clients can backup), and sometimes it doesn't.  Maybe there is a race condition between when services start and when external-drive mounting completes?

I just upgraded one of my servers from Snow Leopard to Mavericks and I ran into a similar problem. I knew that I had fixed it before and the method still seems to work in Mavericks.

In /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/ you need to add the file autodiskmount.plist with the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>AutomountDisksWithoutUserLogin</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

It should go without saying, but you will need admin privileges to do this. I believe you will also need to reboot. Then, without logging in on your server, check if the other computers on your network can see the external drive.


Copy Crucial SSD Firmware Update ISO to Bootable USB I want to start with the Crucial SSD Firmware Update and copy the ISO to a bootable Mac USB stick, using a minimal set of tools. I hope that means using only built-in Mac software, such as Disk Utility and Terminal for commands. If necessary, I will reluctantly use a commercial tool. (As of this writing, the latest is Crucial_m4_040H-04-00.zip.)

I've have waded through a muck of articles about how to copy an ISO to a bootable USB stick, but I have not found a solution that works and that I'm comfortable trying.

For example, I read How do I burn an ISO on a USB drive on Mac OS X? and followed the steps. The steps seemed to work, but the resulting USB stick would not boot. I tried two different sticks to reduce the chances that it was a hardware issue.
I've also read Updating firmware on Macs without a superdrive too. One part recommends using rEFIt-Syslinux.dmg_.zip. But how do I know if that DMG is up-to-date, reliable, and trustworthy? Even if it is, that route seems unnecessarily complicated. Why is there not a simpler option?

I downloaded the Crucial_m4_040H-04-00.zip and followed this tutorial and everything seemed to work for me. I hope this helps.


Unmap key combinations in KeyRemap4Macbook This is a follow up to How can I map the Windows key to option in Microsoft Remote Desktop version 8?. The answers to that question are a huge timesavers for OSX RDC users; however, there are some key combinations I don't want remapped. For example, Command+Q and Command+W would ideally still function the same as they do before remapping.

I tried adding this definition:

<autogen>
    __KeyToKey__
    KeyCode::Q, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L,
    KeyCode::Q, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L
</autogen>

But to no effect.

Update: here is the full private.xml:

<root>
    <appdef>
        <appname>Microsoft Remote Desktop</appname>
        <equal>com.microsoft.rdc.mac</equal>
    </appdef>
    <item>
        <name>Swap command and option in Remote Desktop</name>
        <identifier>private.remotedesktopswapcommandandcontrol</identifier>
        <only>Microsoft Remote Desktop</only>
        <autogen>
            __KeyToKey__
            KeyCode::Q, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L,
            KeyCode::Q, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L
        </autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::TAB, MODIFIERFLAG_EITHER_LEFT_OR_RIGHT_OPTION, KeyCode::TAB, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L</autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::OPTION_L, KeyCode::COMMAND_L</autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::COMMAND_L, KeyCode::OPTION_L</autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::OPTION_R, KeyCode::COMMAND_R</autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::COMMAND_R, KeyCode::OPTION_R</autogen>
    </item>
</root>

The documentation suggests that these shouldn't conflict:

<autogen>
   __KeyToKey__
   KeyCode::Q, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L | ModifierFlag::NONE,
   KeyCode::Q, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L | ModifierFlag::NONE,
</autogen>
<autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::COMMAND_L, KeyCode::OPTION_L</autogen>

However, the second <autogen> will override the COMMAND_L of the first. The solution is counterintuitive:

<root>
    <appdef>
        <appname>Microsoft Remote Desktop</appname>
        <equal>com.microsoft.rdc.mac</equal>
    </appdef>
    <item>
        <name>Swap command and option in Remote Desktop</name>
        <identifier>private.remotedesktopswapcommandandcontrol</identifier>
        <only>Microsoft Remote Desktop</only>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::TAB, MODIFIERFLAG_EITHER_LEFT_OR_RIGHT_OPTION, KeyCode::TAB, ModifierFlag::COMMAND_L</autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::OPTION_L, KeyCode::COMMAND_L</autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::COMMAND_L, KeyCode::OPTION_L</autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::OPTION_R, KeyCode::COMMAND_R</autogen>
        <autogen>__KeyToKey__ KeyCode::COMMAND_R, KeyCode::OPTION_R</autogen>
        <autogen>
            __KeyToKey__
            KeyCode::Q, VK_OPTION | ModifierFlag::NONE,
            KeyCode::Q, VK_COMMAND | ModifierFlag::NONE,
        </autogen>
    </item>
</root>

In this case Cmd+Q is remapped to Opt+Q but then Opt+Q is remapped back to `Cmd+Q'.


Combine multiple txts into one I'm trying to combine multiple txts into a big file. I want them to be put in sequence but this seems not to work properly.

At this time I tried from the terminal:cat *.txt >merged.txt but this seems to concatenate the files randomly.

In my folder I have all the files named with sequential numbers (from 1.txt to 10000.txt). Am I missing anything?

Globbing isn't random, it's guaranteed to be alphabetical (a.k.a. lexicographic order according to your locale), which is different from numeric sorting order.

You can use brace expansion for this.  Replace '10' with the number of the last file.

cat {1..10}.txt > merged.txt

This uses bash brace expansion, which you can read about at LESS='+/Brace Expansion' man bash.

Note that unlike file globs, the brace expansion will generate arbitrary strings which need not be existing files; in this case that means you will get errors if there are files missing from the sequence (e.g. if 7.txt does not exist).  However, this won't affect the contents of merged.txt which will be produced as expected.


"dscacheutil -q group -a name admin" returns a user that I can't find I ran a script that was checking for any other admin users on my mac.

dscacheutil -q group -a name admin

It returned: root administrator Temp10

I can't find the Temp10 user account anywhere. I tried listing all the users using dscl . list users but I couldn't find the user account there either.

Maybe it's just a remnant of an old user somewhere? If so how can I remove it from that dscacheutil list?

After trying a bunch of different things I had the idea to create a new admin user account called Temp10 manually. And then delete that account. That seems to have resolved the problem. There must have been some remnant of the account left over from something that didn't clean up after it got deleted.


Syntax highlighting in emails? I'd like Mail to pick up on syntax

I'm copying mostly from an app that does highlight syntax, but it doesn't seem to apply any sort of "formatting" to the text itself on pasting (e.g. color, font, size, etc.)

For code, I mostly send MySQL queries in emails

Though I was really looking for a way to copy from say TextMate into an email and preserve highlighting...

Since there are no answers, I found this answer as a decent workaround somewhere so I thought I'd share:

Head to an online syntax highlighting tool like tohtml.com and then copy and paste the text into your email

Fairly quick and easy to use :)


Why is my MacBook Pro showing the low battery screen while at 100%? Yesterday my MacBook shut down, a few seconds after I turned it on, and showed this screen when I wanted to turn it on again:

When I plugged in my Mac, the battery level was at 100%!

The same scenario happened today when I turned on my Mac, it was showing around 20% battery left and a few seconds after I logged in, it shut down and was showing the same low battery screen.

I have a MacBook Pro mid-2015 with macOS Sierra.

Here is some information about the battery (while Mac charging):

  Informations sur la charge :
      Charge restante (mAh) :             3113
      Charge complète :                   Non
      En cours de chargement :            Oui
      Capacité de charge complète (mAh) : 7496
  Informations sur la santé :
      Comptage de cycles : 451
      Conditions :         Normal
  Batterie installée :        Oui
  Intensité de courant (mA) : 4590
  Tension (mV) :              12269

Has anyone ever experienced this?

Your battery is failing; it's not holding a charge  It's time to have it replaced.

The symptoms you've described is indicative of  one or more failed cells.  Your battery is going to "report" back to the SMC that it has:

7496 milliampe hours at full charge
3113 milliampe hours remaining (calculated value)
451 charge cycles
it's putting out approximately 12.3 volts (measured value)

As much as it can measure at a single point in time, it cannot "look into" the battery to see if there's capacity to hold a charge - in other words, there's no "dipstick" to measure capacity within the cells themselves.

When there's a bad cell, your charge will go from "good" to "bad" with no warning (i.e. 20% to nothing) because it cannot account for the missing capacity.

Also, given the age of the MacBook (3+ years) it's well within it's lifespan of 3 to 5 years.


How does the iPhone handle connection priority? Suppose I'm in the range of a wifi network and I check my email on my iPhone.

Will it try to use the wifi network first and only if that fails attempt to connect to 3G? Or will it always use 3G (with the charges that carries) regardless of other mediums?

Is it automatic? Do I have to manually disable 3G connection if I want it to use wifi?

The iPhone will always try to connect to the wifi if it is in range. If it already knows how to connect it will do so automatically. If it does not know it will notify you that there are wifi networks available.

But to come back to the situation you described:
If it is already connected to the wifi it will use that for all data even if it is also connected to a 3G network.


Does TimeMachine compress iPhoto library? I'm getting TM backups whose sizes don't match the target. My 260GB content on MBA SSD may produce a 220GB backup. My ~125GB IPhoto lib may produce a 95GB backup. Yet the other 30GBs of photos in the pictures folder back up to precisely the same size as on the SSD.

I've read TM does no compression. and I've had a tech support guy tell me that much difference (~25%) in the iPhoto lib is normal. But he hasnt explained why the size of the other pix (or music or movies, for that matter) isn't reduced. I'm left worrying My iPhoto lib isn't being backed up properly.

No, it does not compress it, but the size of the library is in fact different:

The iPhoto Library is not a monolithic file, but a so called bundle (a folder disguised as a file). If you call file > Info (cmd-i), then it's size needs to be calculated, it's subfolder and files can be seen by the usual developer tools.

So, from the POV of time machine, or the file system in general, the iPhoto library is a huge folder with thousands of files.

Now comes another issue into play: Storage media are organized in file sectors of fixed size. The size a file takes on disk is not the number of bytes of this file, but the number of sectors which the file occupies by the number of bytes per sector.
The sector size usually depends on the specific file system and media capacity.

Even a 1-byte file takes one sector, so on a hard drive the smallest file size might be 4 KB, on a flash drive 16 kB.

In consequence that means that the sector size of the medium you save to has a huge impact on the overall size of your iPhoto library. I take an educated guess that the sector size of your SSD is bigger than on your backup drive.


How can i restore the info.plist files of Safari? I accidentally edited the info.plist file of Safari and now Safari does not start up giving the error "quit unexpectedly". How can i restore this file?

You could try using this one I took from my copy of Safari, the latest version available on OS X 10.10...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Application-Group</key>
    <array>
        <string>dot-mac</string>
        <string>InternetAccounts</string>
    </array>
    <key>BuildMachineOSBuild</key>
    <string>14E39</string>
    <key>CFBundleDevelopmentRegion</key>
    <string>English</string>
    <key>CFBundleDocumentTypes</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>css</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>css.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>text/css</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>CSS style sheet</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>pdf</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>pdf.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>application/pdf</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>PDF document</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>webarchive</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>webarchive.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>application/x-webarchive</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Web archive</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>ICExtension</key>
            <string>ARCHIVE</string>
            <key>LSIsAppleDefaultForType</key>
            <true/>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>webbookmark</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>webbookmark.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Safari bookmark</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>webhistory</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>webhistory.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Safari history item</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>webloc</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>webloc.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Web internet location</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>ilht</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>download</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>download10.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Safari download</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Editor</string>
            <key>LSTypeIsPackage</key>
            <true/>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>safariextz</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>safariextz.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>application/x-safari-extension</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Safari extension</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>LSHandlerRank</key>
            <string>Owner</string>
            <key>LSTypeIsPackage</key>
            <false/>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>gif</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>gif.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>image/gif</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>GIF image</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>GIFf</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>html</string>
                <string>htm</string>
                <string>shtml</string>
                <string>jhtml</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>html.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>text/html</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>HTML document</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>HTML</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>ICExtension</key>
            <string>HTML</string>
            <key>LSIsAppleDefaultForType</key>
            <true/>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>js</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>js.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>application/x-javascript</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>JavaScript script</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>jpg</string>
                <string>jpeg</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>jpeg.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>image/jpeg</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>JPEG image</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>JPEG</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>ICExtension</key>
            <string>JPEG</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>jp2</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>jp2.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>image/jp2</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>JPEG 2000 image</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>jp2 </string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>txt</string>
                <string>text</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>txt.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>text/plain</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Plain text document</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>TEXT</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>ICExtension</key>
            <string>TXT</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>png</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>png.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>image/png</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>PNG image</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>PNGf</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>tiff</string>
                <string>tif</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>tiff.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>image/tiff</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>TIFF image</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>TIFF</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>ICExtension</key>
            <string>TIFF</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>url</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>url.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Web site location</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>LINK</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>LSIsAppleDefaultForType</key>
            <true/>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>ico</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>ico.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>image/x-icon</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>Windows icon image</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeOSTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>ICO </string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>xhtml</string>
                <string>xht</string>
                <string>xhtm</string>
                <string>xht</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>xhtml.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>application/xhtml+xml</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>XHTML document</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>ICExtension</key>
            <string>XHTML</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>xml</string>
                <string>xbl</string>
                <string>xsl</string>
                <string>xslt</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>xml.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>application/xml</string>
                <string>text/xml</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>XML document</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>ICExtension</key>
            <string>XML</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
            <array>
                <string>svg</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeIconFile</key>
            <string>svg.icns</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeMIMETypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>image/svg+xml</string>
            </array>
            <key>CFBundleTypeName</key>
            <string>SVG document</string>
            <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
            <string>Viewer</string>
            <key>NSDocumentClass</key>
            <string>BrowserDocument</string>
        </dict>
    </array>
    <key>CFBundleExecutable</key>
    <string>Safari</string>
    <key>CFBundleGetInfoString</key>
    <string>8.0.7, Copyright © 2003-2015 Apple Inc.</string>
    <key>CFBundleHelpBookFolder</key>
    <string>Safari.help</string>
    <key>CFBundleHelpBookName</key>
    <string>com.apple.Safari.help</string>
    <key>CFBundleIconFile</key>
    <string>compass</string>
    <key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>
    <string>com.apple.Safari</string>
    <key>CFBundleInfoDictionaryVersion</key>
    <string>6.0</string>
    <key>CFBundleName</key>
    <string>Safari</string>
    <key>CFBundlePackageType</key>
    <string>APPL</string>
    <key>CFBundleShortVersionString</key>
    <string>8.0.7</string>
    <key>CFBundleSignature</key>
    <string>sfri</string>
    <key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleURLName</key>
            <string>Web site URL</string>
            <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
            <array>
                <string>http</string>
                <string>https</string>
            </array>
            <key>LSIsAppleDefaultForScheme</key>
            <true/>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>CFBundleURLName</key>
            <string>Local file URL</string>
            <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
            <array>
                <string>file</string>
            </array>
        </dict>
    </array>
    <key>CFBundleVersion</key>
    <string>10600.7.12</string>
    <key>DTCompiler</key>
    <string>com.apple.compilers.llvm.clang.1_0</string>
    <key>DTPlatformBuild</key>
    <string>6D543f</string>
    <key>DTPlatformVersion</key>
    <string>GM</string>
    <key>DTSDKBuild</key>
    <string>14D2125</string>
    <key>DTSDKName</key>
    <string>macosx10.10internal</string>
    <key>DTXcode</key>
    <string>0630</string>
    <key>DTXcodeBuild</key>
    <string>6D543f</string>
    <key>LSApplicationCategoryType</key>
    <string>public.app-category.productivity</string>
    <key>LSFileQuarantineEnabled</key>
    <true/>
    <key>LSMinimumSystemVersion</key>
    <string>10.10.0</string>
    <key>NSAppleScriptEnabled</key>
    <string>Yes</string>
    <key>NSLocationUsageDescription</key>
    <string>Websites you visit may request your location.</string>
    <key>NSMainNibFile</key>
    <string>MainMenu</string>
    <key>NSPrincipalClass</key>
    <string>BrowserApplication</string>
    <key>NSServices</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>NSKeyEquivalent</key>
            <dict>
                <key>default</key>
                <string>L</string>
            </dict>
            <key>NSMenuItem</key>
            <dict>
                <key>default</key>
                <string>Search With %WebSearchProvider@</string>
            </dict>
            <key>NSMessage</key>
            <string>searchWithWebSearchProvider</string>
            <key>NSPortName</key>
            <string>Safari</string>
            <key>NSSendTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>public.utf8-plain-text</string>
            </array>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>NSMenuItem</key>
            <dict>
                <key>default</key>
                <string>Add to Reading List</string>
            </dict>
            <key>NSMessage</key>
            <string>addToReadingList</string>
            <key>NSPortName</key>
            <string>Safari</string>
            <key>NSRequiredContext</key>
            <array>
                <dict>
                    <key>NSTextContent</key>
                    <string>URL</string>
                </dict>
                <dict>
                    <key>NSLinkSchemes</key>
                    <array>
                        <string>http</string>
                        <string>https</string>
                    </array>
                </dict>
            </array>
            <key>NSSendTypes</key>
            <array>
                <string>public.rtf</string>
                <string>public.utf8-plain-text</string>
            </array>
        </dict>
    </array>
    <key>NSSupportsAutomaticTermination</key>
    <true/>
    <key>NSSupportsSuddenTermination</key>
    <true/>
    <key>NSUserActivityTypes</key>
    <array>
        <string>NSUserActivityTypeBrowsingWeb</string>
    </array>
    <key>UTExportedTypeDeclarations</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>UTTypeConformsTo</key>
            <array>
                <string>public.data</string>
            </array>
            <key>UTTypeDescription</key>
            <string>Safari bookmark</string>
            <key>UTTypeIdentifier</key>
            <string>com.apple.safari.bookmark</string>
            <key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key>
            <dict>
                <key>public.filename-extension</key>
                <array>
                    <string>webbookmark</string>
                </array>
            </dict>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UTTypeConformsTo</key>
            <array>
                <string>public.data</string>
            </array>
            <key>UTTypeDescription</key>
            <string>Safari extension</string>
            <key>UTTypeIdentifier</key>
            <string>com.apple.safari.extension</string>
            <key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key>
            <dict>
                <key>public.filename-extension</key>
                <array>
                    <string>safariextz</string>
                </array>
            </dict>
        </dict>
        <dict>
            <key>UTTypeConformsTo</key>
            <array>
                <string>public.data</string>
            </array>
            <key>UTTypeDescription</key>
            <string>Safari history item</string>
            <key>UTTypeIdentifier</key>
            <string>com.apple.safari.history</string>
            <key>UTTypeTagSpecification</key>
            <dict>
                <key>public.filename-extension</key>
                <array>
                    <string>webhistory</string>
                </array>
            </dict>
        </dict>
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>


Icons for Facetime and the App Store keep re-appearing in my dock after a restart. How can I get rid of them? I’m running Mac OS X 10.6.8. I like my dock to contain only running apps, so I’ve removed all other icons from there (by clicking and dragging them out of the dock).

However, every time I restart my computer, the icons for Facetime and the App Store re-appear in the dock, even though the apps aren’t running.

How can I remove them from the dock permanently?

Do other apps remain in the dock after being removed and restarted?
Does this behavior also occur when you log out and back in?

I'll assume yes on both until more information is supplied:

Barring some extraneous application modifying the dock .plist (which is unlikely that you're unaware of) it might be locked or otherwise unwritable for you.  Check the permissions on your ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist file, making sure you have Read/Write.

If you want, you can modify the file directly to see if you have the rights to do so, but theres a whole lot that can go wrong with that.  Instead, modify your dock and see if the file's date modified changes.  If it doesn't, your dock isn't writing the plist correctly.

If it's not a big issue, you can simply back-up and delete the com.apple.plist file and reconfigure the dock to your liking.


Same app version but different size on iPhones on TestFlight We have an app released on TestFlight to External Testing.

When looking at the info about the app in the TestFlight app, it displays the same (correct) version on two different iPhone devices, but the "Size" is different:

One displays 88.4 MB
on the other device it displays 93.9 MB

All other information is also the same, only the download size is displayed differently - the only difference we can see from the screenshots the external testers sent us is that the one iPhone that displays the bigger size also has a Send Feedback button at the top, the other does not.

What could be causing this?

Apple servers are able to re-pack your application. For each device Apple determines which resources will be actually used. They prepare package for the given device (for example only images with correct scale for given device will be included in package). Also, if bitcode option is enabled, they are able to re-compile your app in order to provide optimized binary for each device. All of the above might change the size of your application.

A universal .ipa is a compressed app bundle that contains all of the resources to run the app on any device. Bitcode has been recompiled, and additional resources needed by the App Store, such as .dSYM files and On Demand Resources, are removed. For App Store apps, this .ipa is downloaded to devices running iOS 8 or earlier.
A thinned .ipa is a compressed app bundle that contains only the resources needed to run the app on a specific device. Bitcode has been recompiled, and additional resources needed by the App Store, such as .dSYM files and On Demand Resources, are removed. For App Store apps, this .ipa is downloaded to devices running iOS 9 or later.
source

You can check the size of the executable for each build in app section of iTunesConnect. Just enter Activity-> Click your most recent build ->App Store File Sizes.


Is there a reliable, automatic subtitle downloader for Mac OS X? On Ubuntu I use SMPlayer or SubDownloader, which both reliably retrieve subtitles from opensubtitles.org. SMplayer even does this automatically for the file you are currently viewing.

So far I've tried SolEol, FileBot, SubDownloader (which is a bit behind on versions for Mac OS; seems like the API URL for opensubtitles.org changed) and Undertext. None of them work reliably, some of them not at all.

I know this is an old question, but I was searching for this same answer, and found a great solution.

Subliminal will allow you to set up a cron job, (or manually enter from CLI) whole directory trees, and download subtitles. You can also set it up as a post processor for SABNzbd or SickBeard or CouchPotato.

It's working great for me.


Play mp4 with subtitle on iOS device I added a subtitle to a mp4 file use ffmpeg, I can turn on/off the subtitle with quickplayer on MacOS. However, the native player on iOS Photos app no longer have subtitle control/support for mp4 video file.

I try to use VLC but found VLC even does not have access to Camera Roll on iOS device.

https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=148089&p=486194&hilit=ios#p486194

Then I try to use PlayerXtreme to do the same thing, although it claims to have subtitle support in a paid upgrade version, but it still cannot load the subtitle correctly. I upload the video file in case anyone want to test.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uzdf10m4xqw7bmr/outfile.mp4?dl=0

Try to put the file into the Files app, either by exporting it from the Photos app via share menu > Save to Files or by putting it into the iCloud Drive folder on the Mac.

Them, in the Files app, select the movie file, choose the share menu here again and select "Open in VLC" (somewhere in first row of icons below the AirDrop area).

Btw. the excellent Subler macOS app allows modifying the track metadata inside the video, so the subtitle track could be shown as "English" instead of generic info.

https://subler.org


After using fake charger with my Macbook Pro Retina 13, an original new one won't light up I bought by mistake a fake MagSafe 2 charger for my Macbook Pro 13 Retina. After using it for around a month I decided to pay more and buy the original one for the sake of my battery health. After opening the box and plugin it in, it just didn't light up, I've tried many times and nothing.

The new charger works on my girlfriends MacBook without any problems and the fake one still works on mine! Both chargers are 60W MagSafe 2 (the proper one).

I tried reseting SMC and PRAM, but no luck.

Did anyone have this problem, what could it be?

Sounds like a DC-In board or logic board issue. It could be possible that the fake one cooked the parts of the logic board which provide the onewire communication between the SMC and adapter. Before you go replacing parts, make sure the contacts are clean on both the rMBP and MS2 adapter. Ensure no pins are pushed in and stuck on the adapter. Also ensure that the DC-In board did not get pushed in.

If it is new enough, it should still be covered under AppleCare, and you can take it into a ACSP for them to take a look at. Don't mention any fake charger should you take it in for service. If you're lucky, it's just a DC board, so here's hoping.

Sorry I can't provide much more help, it's hard to diagnose HW problems without having the machine in front of me with known-good parts to swap and test.


How can I know if my MacBook pro supports 8 gb or not? Here is my serial number:

This is your mac: http://support.apple.com/kb/SP544

4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 memory; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 8GB

A cool trick in case you want to find more about it is you can type your serial number right into the support search on the apple site and it will bring up your model and specification article. Take a look: http://support.apple.com/specs/#w89253hx64c


A5 Printing on A4 with custom flips and unique layout / flow direction How do I get the following print layout?

I would like to be able to print from anything, be that notes or a website or anything else.

My mac has only the following layout settings none of which satisfy my criteria. Do you know a way?

This looks like a specialized booklet output that you could assemble and then staple in the middle.

That usually requires either a printer with that function built-in (we have these at work) or a specialized "Imposition" program that will send a document like this to a printer that does not have this feature built in.

This is referred to as "imposition." Since your printer does not support imposition  you need to get an application that will impose this particular layout for you and then send it to your printer. Sorry, but I have no idea what form such an app would take, but I do know that such add-ons are available for the likes Adobe InDesign or Quark Express.

Taking a PDF to a printing service provider would work. Office Supply stores often also offer these services.


Connecting two HDMI monitors to Late 2012 Mac mini I have two Samsung monitors with HDMI input.

Is it possible to connect them simultaneously to my Mac mini using HDMI? I wish to have a extended desktop setup.

Yes! Get a mDP (Mini DisplayPort) to HDMI cable. Then plug that into the Thunderbolt port, and run the other monitor from the HDMI port.

Here’s an arbitrary example of a mDP-HDMI cable.