‘Web Sharing’ won't turn off I'm trying to turn off the Web Sharing service from the Preferences panel, but everything I try, it just gets stuck on ‘Interrupting...’, with an orange icon, and it doesn't do anything. If I close the Preferences panel and come back, I find it turned on again.

(I reckon that it's not stopping due to the missing /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist, because when I try to stop it using the terminal, with sudo apachectl stop, I get an error that says that it can't find that file)

What could I do to fix it?

Did you delete /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist?  If so, either replace it with a copy from another Mac (so it can be disabled properly), or reboot the computer (since it doesn't exist, it won't get loaded on reboot).


Boot Camp - running OS X partition as a VM Now while many users know that it is possible to run a Windows Boot Camp partition as a VM under OS X via VMWare or Parallels - however is the opposite possible? That is, in my case - I would like to know if I can boot into Windows 8.1 on my Retina MBP then access my OS X partition as a VM.

There is a legal impediment to run Mac OS X on Non-Apple hardware [sic!].
VMware Player & VMware Workstation therefore officially don't support the installation of Mac OS X on any hardware.
Breaking several EULAs you might install a patch to circumvent this restriction (I will not provide a link for the patches)

  Then with Workstation and a patch, you can boot into your OS X partition from Windows.

  But in order to access your macintosh HD partition first, you must create a blank OS X virtual machine.

  Note that Macintosh HD here means your OS X partition in your internal hard drive.

  Source

I didn't test this! So a full Time Machine backup and a full Boot Camp-partition backup deems advisable.


When playing a TV in iTunes via AirPlay to Apple TV, it doesn't play the next episode I have some TV shows in iTunes that I am AirPlaying to my Apple TV, at the end of each episode AirPlay disconnects and iTunes doesn't play the next episode. Is this default behaviour or do I need to make sure that the names/meta data of the TV shows themselves 'flow'?

This is the default (and only) behavior.  Whether you play the TV show from the special TV Show section of iTunes or create a playlist, iTunes will only play on TV show and then stop.  Try the playlist approach - iTunes won't even play the playlist, but forces you to select one show and then start playing.


Encrypted sparse bundle disk image visible in the cloud? I have an encrypted sparse bundle disk image that I synchronize with Google Drive. When I mount this image on my local machine, is it's content also visible in the cloud (decrypted)?

No, it is only mounted locally. No one would be able to see it unless they can also see your computer.


Problem setting up Exchange server on Outlook 2011 I have an Exchange server account which works fine on my Windows Vista pc. I have set it up with no problem on my iPhone. However, on my MacBook Pro it does not work: the icon under "Default Account" (next to the account name) remains yellow.

I tried setting up a Gmail account on the Mac Outlook and that worked with no problem.

What could be wrong?

I have set up:

Account description
Full name
E-mail address
Method (User Name and Password)
User name
Password

Under "Advanced" I also entered the Server.

The OS is Mac OS X version 10.7.1.

Outlook 2011 requires an Exchange 2007 and above server. This is because Outlook 2011 works over the Exchange Web Services protocol (EWS). This wasn't Apple's decision, but Microsoft, as it is the latest form of the Exchange service as they are phasing out MAPI, the legacy Exchange protocol. Apple's Exchange implementation in 10.6 and 10.7 also uses EWS.

iOS devices however connect to Exchange via ActiveSync, which is supported all the way back to Exchange 2003. ActiveSync is designed for mobile devices and does not work on a desktop system.


I downloaded macOS 10.13.1 Beta 2 two times but it isn't installing Last night, I wanted to upgrade my system, so I downloaded macOS 10.13.1 Beta 2, but after downloading 2 GB files, it didn't do anything. I waited 10 mins but it was still the same, on App Store it just says "Update".

So I downloaded it again with press Update button, and it downloaded 2 GB again. But still it is just saying "Update". It didn't restart, didn't open the installer or anything.

What should I do?

In this case, the updater downloads to your Applications folder.  There you will see an icon there that you can click on to update.

You can use Launchpad to see the icon, or go directly to your Applications folder.


Is the Apple Music app for Android like the iTunes store? In other words, can I purchase movies, books, and audiobooks on the Apple Music app for Android? Or is the Apple Music app for Android just a portal to the paid streaming service?

Or is there another way to purchase movies, books, and audiobooks from the iTunes store using an Android device?

No, you can't buy apple movies, books etc except music. There is no way to do that via android device.But you can watch Apple TV on a smart tv.


Will screen sharing work across different ISPs and over the Internet? I’m just beginning to learn the use of screen sharing between two Macs.

Today I’ve successfully implemented it with two different computers on my desktop, using the "Sharing" section in System Preferences.

What I wonder about now is, once those two computers will be in places very far from each other and using completely unrelated internet providers, will the screen sharing feature automatically work the way it does when both computers use the same internet provider ? Or need I specify some data about servers, ip addresses or something like that to one of the computers ?

This question is quite broad, and there is no succinct answer. Many ISPs have filters on their networks and do not pass all IP protocols transparently.  I have experimented with Chrome Remote Desktop, however, and it seems to be work very well. I can access to my home iMac (on Verizon FiOS) through my school's firewall without a problem, and with my iOS devices, too! You might want to experiment to make sure it does what you need.


System Preferences keeps coming back to dock after every use following Big Sur update I don't want System Preferences in my dock (not just because of the annoying red badge that keeps showing, I just don't want it).  I move it to trash, but every time I open System Preferences again, it pins it back to the dock.  I have to 'remove from dock' each time.  Why?  How do I prevent this?

This area of the dock, separated by the lines, is your recent applications. It will show your three most recent applications, even if they're closed.
If you only want to hide System Preferences and not disable the feature entirely, you will need to open other applications (at least three) and System Preferences will be replaced.
Alternatively, you can hide this area of the dock in the Dock preferences. It is a checkbox called "Show recent applications in Dock.":


How do I resolve the MADCATZ R.A.T 9 cursor bug in El Capitan? As usual I wake up going to my computer playing some games. My mouse - a MADCATZ R.A.T 9 - is starting to be jerky and not working as I'd expect. Here is an example ---> youtube video.

How do I salvage my morning pleasure?

This helped to me:

  Update: I've loaded the Madcatz Software (for 10.9) against from here http://madcatz.com/downloads/ and now its working. No USB Overdrive or something like that installed, just the Madcatz software.
  These are the steps you have to do:
  Uninstall all other mouse drivers - USB-Overdrive, SteerMouse, Logitech, Razer, etc.
  Restart.
  Install the MadCatz driver/editor software.
  Restart.
  Add the Mad Catz Editor to the Accessibility permissions list. System Prefs -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy -> Accessibility. Click the lock to authenticate then drag the Mad Catz Editor into the list to give it permissions.
  Create/edit profiles and commands. Be sure to save the profile(s).
  Use the menubar item to assign a profile to the mouse.
  If it's not working, add that to your startup items:
  /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/MadCatzSmartTechnology.app

Discussion on Apple
Try it out!


Turn off 4g on iphone 4s Is there a way to turn off the 4g so I can use 3g on my iphone 4s? I am going to be in a area that has very poor 4g and decent 3g. I am using ios 7. Unfortunately the toggle to turn off 4g in settings, cellular is missing.

No, you cannot do this. I understand it would help a lot in your case.
There might be a jailbreak-tweak, but since my iPhone isn't jailbroken I cannot give you the right repo or even tweakname.

The carrier has updated your 3G switch to a 4G switch when they started to support 4G.


Moving an application window to another desktop or screen using the keyboard? In Windows, when I press the windows key + any arrow button the current application window moves. For example: windows key + left arrow key: the application window moves to the left of the display.

I want to know if this feature is available in OSX. If yes, how do I use it? If it's not a native feature, is there is a free third party application that might enable this feature?

Spectacle supports assigning a shortcut for resizing a window to fill the left or right half of a screen and for moving a window to another screen:

As does Slate:

bind left:ctrl;alt;cmd move screenOriginX;screenOriginY screenSizeX/2;screenSizeY
bind right:ctrl;alt;cmd move screenOriginX+screenSizeX/2;screenOriginY screenSizeX;screenSizeY
alias monitor-macbook 1280x800
alias monitor-dell 1440x900
bind up:ctrl;alt;cmd move screenOriginX;screenOriginY screenSizeX;screenSizeY ${monitor-macbook}
bind down:ctrl;alt;cmd move screenOriginX;screenOriginY screenSizeX;screenSizeY ${monitor-dell}

Amethyst also supports assigning a shortcut for moving a window to another space. throw-screen-2 (control-option-shift-e) moves a window to the second screen and throw-space-2 (control-option-shift-2) moves a window to the second space.


Macbook Pro using all the bandwidth My Macbook Pro is using all my bandwidth and making my entire network unstable.

I thought this could be the iCloud Photo Library, so I paused for a day, didn't change anything, turned off iPhoto process, no change. I disabled iCloud Drive, same issue.

Regarding Activity Monitor, this is most likely because of nsurlsessiond,
Regarding my router :

2015-12-21  10:39:48    Kevins-MBP  s3-3-w.amazonaws.com
2015-12-21  10:39:37    Kevins-MBP  gblon-edge.icloud-content.com.akadns.net
2015-12-21  10:39:31    Kevins-MBP  s3-3-w.amazonaws.com
2015-12-21  10:39:24    Kevins-MBP  gblon-edge.icloud-content.com.akadns.net
2015-12-21  10:39:21    Kevins-MBP  gblon-edge.icloud-content.com.akadns.net
2015-12-21  10:39:19    Kevins-MBP  gblon-edge.icloud-content.com.akadns.net
2015-12-21  10:38:41    Kevins-MBP  p04-ckdatabase-current.edge.icloud.apple-dns.net
2015-12-21  10:38:26    Kevins-MBP  p04-keyvalueservice-current.edge.icloud.apple-dns.net
2015-12-21  10:38:24    Kevins-MBP  p04-keyvalueservice-current.edge.icloud.apple-dns.net
2015-12-21  10:38:23    Kevins-MBP  p04-contacts.icloud.com
2015-12-21  10:38:21    Kevins-MBP  p04-keyvalueservice-current.edge.icloud.apple-dns.net
2015-12-21  10:38:11    Kevins-MBP  keyvalueservice.icloud.com
2015-12-21  10:38:10    Kevins-MBP  p04-sharedstreams.icloud.com
2015-12-21  10:38:09    Kevins-MBP  stats-public.grammarly.io
2015-12-21  10:38:04    Kevins-MBP  p04-escrowproxy.icloud.com
2015-12-21  10:38:00    Kevins-MBP  p04-escrowproxy.icloud.com
2015-12-21  10:37:59    Kevins-MBP  p04-streams.icloud.com
2015-12-21  10:37:59    Kevins-MBP  lcdn-locator.apple.com
2015-12-21  10:37:58    Kevins-MBP  p04-escrowproxy.icloud.com
2015-12-21  10:37:56    Kevins-MBP  p04-mailws.icloud.com
2015-12-21  10:37:56    Kevins-MBP  p04-quota-current.edge.icloud.apple-dns.net

I know amazon is probably because of Photo.app / iCloud Photo Library. So is my only option is to turn that off? or could I be wrong?

nsurlsessiond is used by other software to make requests on their behalf, the most common source of large amounts of data being transfered with it on workstations and end-user devices is iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Drive.

You can watch for filesystem activity in ~/Library/Caches/CloudKit if photo sync doesn't seem to be the source. It is possible to have a condition where sync operations with iCloud Drive don't reconcile as expected and your workstation will be re-fetching data — you will see evidence of this in logs for bird(8) for the user.


Strange Process in Activity Monitor. Unable to search online I (somewhat) recently did a fresh install, and the system was feeling a bit sluggish after installing Chrome and some extensions so I checked the Activity Monitor and found the below process. Anyone know what it is? I can't seem to search for it as none of the search engines I tried would take the special characters.

In my experience, that's a Safari Web Content process, although since you seem to be a Chrome user, it could also be Spotlight Web Content.


sharedfilelistd and distnoted hog CPU I understand from my findings on the topic that sharedfilelistd is an "agent that is used by applications to read/modify recent documents/servers/hosts" and distnoted a "distributed notification services".

What I don't understand is why those two process very frequently start using between 130 and 200% of CPU (Monitor).

I tried various combinations of apps loaded or not that would be causing the problem, but I was unable to discern a pattern.

I can't tie this issue with any noticeable event (update, install, config tweak, ...).

Any idea ? (while I continue looking into possible causes)

Config:
MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
High Sierra 10.13.4
2,2 GHz Intel Core i7
8 Go 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 Mo

I had the same problem with sharedfilelistd consistently taking over 100% of my CPU. I don't have file sharing enabled.

I opened up Terminal and found the processes with pgrep -lf sharedfilelistd, noticing two of them running; that might have indicated a problem. I killed both with sudo pkill sharedfilelistd and they terminated and one restarted, presumably via launchd.

After the single process returned, it took between 30-75% of my CPU, perhaps averaging 50%, and my machine is back to normal. There might be some impact to some service I'm not aware of or do not use, but this worked for me.


Can I download Mac OS X for a used MacBook Pro? I want to by a used MacBook Pro i5 Mid 2010 edition, but there is no system DVD. The previous owner's stuff is on the hard drive, and I want to wipe it clean with a new OS. Can I boot into existing Mac OS and download an ISO of the latest Mac OS X or do I have to buy a install disk from Apple?

It depends.

If it's running Mac OS X 10.5.8 "Leopard" or earlier, then you must buy a Snow Leopard Install DVD from Apple (or barrow it from a fiend). You could also buy Lion , but it's the same price, $20 USD. Though, Snow Leopard comes through the mail and Lion is sent as a verification code through email.

If it's running Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" to Mac OS X 10.6.7 "Snow Leopard", then you will need to do an Apple Software Update, to update it to 10.6.8. Click the Apple logo in the top left of the desktop, then select Software Update.

If it's running OS X 10.6.8 "Snow Leopard", then you will have to update it through the Mac App Store. OS X 10.10 "Yosemite" runs amazingly on my 2009 MacBook Pro, so I'd strongly recommend updating to Yosemite (for free) no matter what you do, don't let anyone tell you it doesn't run well on older hardware, it's fine.

If it's currently running OS X 10.7 "Lion" or later, then yes. Just boot into Recovery Mode by holding the Option key down at startup. Two images of hard drives will appear, use the arrow keys to select Recovery, press the Enter key to make your selection. Once in Recovery, select Disk Utility and select the hard drive. Then select Erase from the bar and select Erase in the bottom right. After its erased, go back to the main window in Recovery and select Reinstall OS X, then just follow the onscreen instructions. Make sure to update to Yosemite using the Mac App Store afterwards.


Sync Services error on Windows 7 when iPhone 4S is plugged in I am currently running iTunes 10.5.1 on a Windows 7 Home PC and when I plug my iPhone 4S into my computer via the USB cable it freezes. iTunes in Task Manager shows up as not responding and after a few minutes it displays the following error:

  iTunes was unable to load data class information from Sync Services.
  Reconnect or try again later.

What causes this issue and how can I resolve it?

I googled your error message and I found this page and this apple support thread.

Hope this helps !

Edit:  Solution #2 in the Lei Mobile site seemed to resolve my issue.  I renamed the C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\AppleComputer\SyncSerivces to SyncServices_old.  I was at least able to plug in my iPhone and perform an initial back up.

I will continue to use to see if that is the permanent fix.


Restore default app icons from install disc? I (Candybar) deleted some of my app icons and they are completely gone.
Is it possible to extract the icons for the system applications (e.g. Address Book, TextEdit) from the installation disc?

Alternative can anyone upload the icns files for the following applications:

Activity Monitor*
Address Book*
Adobe Bridge CS5
Adobe Dreamweaver CS5
Adobe Flash CS5
Adobe Photoshop CS5
Calculator*
Firefox
Google chrome
iTunes
Mail*
Photo Booth*
Safari
System Preferences*
TextEdit*

where asterisk is the system applications.

Candy Bar has a restore feature for icons to be returned to the system default.


Magic Mouse Battery Plug In I'm new to mac and everything around, I just want to know if I can code a sort of plug-in to show the batterie of the magic mouse, in the menu bar.

What is the type of template i have to choose in Xcode to realize my idea.

The Magic Mouse battery level is shown under the device name in the Bluetooth menu. You can install an app such as iStat Menus for easier access to such information directly in the menu bar. Software development questions are off-topic here.


Shortcuts for the application switcher in OS X When I press Cmd + Tab in OS X (e.g. Catalina) I can access what I believe Apple calls "the application switcher".

Is there an entry for this shortcut in the System Preferences → Keyboard → Shortcuts menu ? (screenshot below). If so, under what name?
What about the shortcuts to actually go left / right (i.e. choose different applications) within the application switcher?

What about the shortcuts to actually go left / right (i.e. choose different applications) within the application switcher?

Release the Command+Tab keys when the highlight is on a selected app to switch to that highlighted app or with the Command key still pressed:

tab – move selection to the right in the app list
` – move selection to the left
h – hide the selected application
q – quit the selected application
mouse scrollwheel – move the selection back and forth
left arrow – move selection to the left
right arrow – move selection to the right
up arrow – enter expose (Mission Control) within the selected application
down arrow – enter expose (Mission Control) within the selected application

Source: http://osxdaily.com/2009/11/17/secrets-of-the-command-tab-mac-application-switcher/


Find original sales information of MacBook by serial number Is there any way to figure out where my MacBook was sold and what the price was, by serial number only?

I know how to get information from Apple based on a serial number, but they did not tell me where it was sold or how much it was sold for.

In addition to Max Ried's answer, several more sites share EveryMac.com's functionality, including the following:

PowerBookMedic
Apple Serial Number Info
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html (English translation is on the site)
Apple support website (this is really a search for tech specs, and I think you've already mentioned it in your question,  but you can also search by serial numbers here)


How to permently delete images from Photos? I've read online to delete images from a mac which you have imported through the Photo's app that you must

Launch the Photos app on your Mac.
Go to the File > Show recently deleted menu item.
Click on the pictures or videos you want to permanently delete.
Click on the Delete button at the top right.

But I do not seem to have the option to Show recently deleted menu item.

Also when I check in the terminal I can see the photos still exist in the below folders

$ ls Pictures/Photos\ Library.photoslibrary/Masters/2016/03/27/20160327-09
20160327-090437/ 20160327-091640/ 20160327-093058/
$ ls Pictures/Photos\ Library.photoslibrary/Masters/2016/03/27/20160327-090437/
./            IMG_0073.JPG  IMG_0176.JPG  IMG_0286.JPG  IMG_0372.JPG  IMG_0481.JPG  IMG_0565.JPG  IMG_0643.JPG  IMG_0689.JPG  IMG_0758.JPG  IMG_0803.JPG  IMG_0832.AAE
../           IMG_0075.JPG  IMG_0182.JPG  IMG_0288.JPG  IMG_0376.JPG  IMG_0482.JPG  IMG_0566.JPG  IMG_0644.JPG  IMG_0690.JPG  IMG_0759.JPG  IMG_0804.AAE  IMG_0832.JPG

I could just delete them from the terminal but their must be a better way?  If I delete them in the terminal am I missing other places were they need to be deleted.

Figured it out, seems recent versions of OSX put deleted photos into a Deleted Photos Album.

You need to click into this album and select Delete All in the top right hand corner.

Once I did this all the images were removed, I doubled checked in the terminal and confirmed they were deleted.


Using Apple's Screen Sharing, can I redirect gestures and keys for controlling Spaces to the shared machine? I'm using the built in Screen Sharing tool in El Capitan to control an iMac from a Macbook Pro in full screen mode. Everything works beautifully except that many special keys and gestures are intercepted by the local Mac and not sent to the shared Mac. Specifically:

Ctrl-Arrow (Desktops and Mission Control)
F3 (Mission Control)
F4 (LaunchPad)
Three finger swipe (Switch between Desktops, Mission Control, Exposé)
Two finger swipe from left side (Notification Center)
Pinch with four fingers (Launchpad)

I can't find any way to switch between desktops on the remote machine other than manually opening the Mission Control app from the Finder or Dock. Disabling the gestures on the local machine doesn't help; they still don't get sent to the remote machine.

Is there any way to get special keys and gestures passed to the shared machine?

Not truly a fix, but a possible workaround.

This picture has the remote key assignments to the left, & mine to the right.

By avoiding the same keys for Mission Control itself, I can get to the remote machine's 'screen list' by using  Ctrl ⌃   ↑  at least & click on the one I require.

It's not neat, but it does function.


Log software usage time on Mac OS 9 (Oct. 1999) I'm needing to log the time a user spends inside of an application in Mac OS 9. I created a simple bash script "launcher" to do this, but then discovered OS 9 doesn't have bash installed. Here is the bash script I wrote for reference.

#!/bin/bash

APP="TextEdit"
LOG_LOCATION=~/Desktop/textedit-usage.log

run_app() {
    USER=`whoami`
    START_TIME=`date`
    echo "START - $APP - $USER - $START_TIME" >> $LOG_LOCATION
    Open -W -a $APP
    END_TIME=`date`
    echo "END - $APP - $USER - $END_TIME" >> $LOG_LOCATION
}

run_app &

It creates a simple log file that looks something like this:

START - TextEdit - john - Tue Jan  7 15:14:55 EST 2014
END - TextEdit - john - Tue Jan  7 15:15:48 EST 2014

Is there a way to port this script to OS 9? I was thinking AppleScript might work, but am having trouble finding documentation for the specific version used in OS 9. I don't even know where to start.

What I would do is install Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, on a PowerPC PowerMac and then install OS 9 into the Classic Environment, and have your user run their application there. You can still find new and full retail versions of Leopard with the licensing intact, and online support is still available.

Then, I'd use your bash script (with a possibly needed slight modification to track use of the entire Classic Environment rather than the specific application). ;-)


How to copy-paste in Finder when there's no right-click space? I'd be very surprised if this doesn't trouble anyone else.

Sometimes I want to paste a copied file in a Finder window, but there is just no "empty" space for me to right-click on and hit 'Paste item', as right-clicking anywhere on this window will open the right-click context menu for a file/folder.

Usually, I just resize the window till I can find some empty space below all the files/folders for me to right-click on, but sometimes (as in my screenshot below) there are way too many files/folders for to resize the finder window up to that point.

Basically:

How can I be able to right-click somewhere (to know exactly where I'm pasting) and hit 'Paste Item'?

As you can tell, I am currently using the column view, and hope there is a solution in this view.
I also do not just want to hit Cmd+V because it's hard to tell which is the target directory when I have a folder open in the column-view.

The settings-wheel ("Action") button on the Finder acts as a right-click on the current folder. If you left-click on it, you'll get all the options you would on right-clicking the current folder, including "Paste Item". I've indicated it with an arrow below:


Will Mac Mini i5 OSX 10.7.5 Boot in 64 Bit Mode Considering buying a mid 2011 Mini i5 OSX 10.7.5 (16GB) to run Lightroom 6/CC and Photoshop CC.  They require 64 bit systems.  My Air (4GB) doesn't have enough RAM to run efficiently. Will the Mini boot in 64 bit as is, will I need to hold down 6 + 4 during start up, or do I need to upgrade to Yosemite?

If you run this simple command in Terminal it will show you

system_profiler

Even more direct method is to use the:

sysctl hw.cpu64bit_capable

It will return 1=Yes, or 0 = no


Resize Viewport on Macbook Air Because part of screen is broken There's a thin black bar that doesn't show anything along the right side of my macbook air's screen (I dropped it). Is there a way to resize things so that osx doesn't use that part of the screen at all?

the short answer is no, there's no way to redo that in the OS so it assumes a smaller LCD.

the LCD Panels' I2C chip (IDED chipset) in the LCD panel tells the logic board (and firmware) what size display it is.  the OS responds by making settings accordingly.

The only option is to replace the display or have it repaired..


Transfer progress on Clash of Clans from iPad to iPad Mini Ai3 My son has Clash of Clans progress on an iPad1 with my Apple ID that we want to transfer to a iPad Mini 3 with a new Family Apple ID. Is this possible and if so how can I do it?

This question has been asked multiple times on the forum. Did you perform a good search?

The simplest way is to log into gamecenter using the old apple id used on the iPad. When downloaded CoC and after playing some missions ( 3 or 4 i think) there should be a pop up aski g if you want to import your current town.


Could not initialize an installer - Mac I have been trying to install BitTorrent and µTorrent on my Macbook, and it's been 3 days I am unable to install it and error is "Could not initialize a installer". I have searched multiple forums and applied whatever they were suggesting. Following is the screenshot attached I have been receiving.

What I have tried so far

Tried the "JFX14" comment,

Disable your Firewall by going to System Preferences>Security & Privacy. Click the Firewall tab then click the lock icon at the bottom of the window this will enable you to turn the Firewall on or off.
Be sure you're not connected to a VPN or Proxy. < (I was able to install the latest uTorrent when I disconnected from my VPN).
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5818206

Although I never got the answer, but I have found an alternative solution.
I've used Transmission for the Torrents.

Pros

torent works, almost every torrent
doesn't crash

Cons

UI sucks


What is meant by iTunes Barcode? Is it a kind of UPC Barcode or something else and what are it's uses?

Barcodes for iTunes are general use UPC barcodes not different from other products.
iTunes requires that all albums have a UPC and all individual songs have an ISRC. ISRC codes are a simple, internationally recognized numbering system for audio and music video recordings. The ISRC, in addition to tracking for Billboard charting, also allows you to get paid for digital music sales by ensuring that your royalties are tracked properly (particularly important for iTunes).
Source - http://simplybarcodes.net/barcode-itune.html


File sharing/AFP skips "connect as" I have two Macs, a Lion and a Yosemite. I have several accounts on each one, both user and admin. I activated file sharing on both Macs and selected AFP. I can connect from any account on one Mac to any account on the other one Mac as expected, with one exception.

"As expected" means: Select go->"connect to server" in the Finder menu, then enter one of the users names on the other Mac and its password when prompted, then choose which of the folders on the other Mac to mount.

The exception is that in one of the accounts the Yosemite Mac ("xyz" - unix name) I do not get the "connect as" prompt.  It connects directly as the user "xyz" (same name) on the Lion Mac, without giving me a choice or asking for a password.  It only asks me which folder I want to mount.

I signed out of iCloud in account xyz on the Lion Mac, changed the password, and deleted the keychain, restarted, etc.  Still, no "connect as" prompt.

Now, if I sign out of iCloud in the account xyz on the Yosemite Mac, too, I do get the expected "connect as" prompt. Sign in again, no prompt.

Thus there must a permission buried somewhere on the Lion Mac that grants access to the incoming connections via my Apple ID.
However, a brute force search (recursive grep) revealed no trace of my Apple ID.
Where can such a permission be buried and how can I reset it?

I tried to replicate this (unexpected) behavior in other accounts, using new Apple IDs, but I was not successful.  I always got the expected user name/password prompt.

Could be a number of things.  A few that come to mind:

If you're using Directory Services (e.g. Open Directory/Active Directory), the device could be authenticating using Single Sign-On (SSO).  This would most likely be if you setup Server.app or if it is a device from your work/office.

Potentially, you could be connecting as Guest.

To authenticate as a different user:  afp://<username>@server_address


Offline Maps application for Mac Can anyone recommend an offline mapping application for Mac (something similar to Google Maps, but that works when not connected to the internet)? Ten years ago, Microsoft Streets and Trips worked well for Windows, but I'm looking for something similar now for Mac.

Planito seems to be a good app for offline map viewing. It allows you to cache and view many different maps:

Planito does cost $4.99, but there is a trial available.


Are there any issues with having six disk drives in a Mac Pro? I've recently turned my old early 2009 quad core 2.66 GHz Mac Pro into a file and media server. I have four 4 TB hard drives with content on them, and soon I'll be adding a fifth. Add in a 2.5" SSD for my system and that's a total of six drives.

Currently several of these drives are in their own enclosures. But in order to maximize read and write speeds (especially since the 2009 Mac Pro doesn't have any USB 3 ports) I was thinking of putting all of these drives in the Mac Pro itself: four in the drive bays and then two in the optical drive bays.

However, I'm worried that my old Mac Pro may not properly handle dissipating the heat generated by all five hard drives in addition to heat from the CPU and motherboard. I haven't ever replaced any of its fans. I'm also curious if there are other reasons making all of these drives internal might shorten their life.

Is this a reasonable idea? What are the issues that I should be aware of so I can keep everything running smoothly?

Purely anecdotally - I've been running 4 HDs in Mac Pros since 2008 with no issues - but never tried 5.

Currently I've a 4,1 with 4 HDs & a boot SSD in the optical bay. I still have the optical in the other bay.

I find that normally the CPU fans run a little fast at stock settings, so I use iStat Menus to lift the Intake fan speed from its nominal 600 to 1000 rpm & that settles everything down.

Pure speculation, but that's because I'm running 2x3.46Ghz Westmere Xeons instead of the original Nehalems, so ymmv.

The only thing I'd beware of would be to give it enough room to breathe, plenty of exhaust space. I find my older 3,1 whilst perfectly capable of keeping its own temperatures down, really throws a lot of heat into the room, so I wouldn't ever put it in an enclosed space.

Potentially, with an HD in the optical bay, you might want to lift the Power Supply fan speed, as the HD will be pushing more heat than the opticals ever would & I'm not sure the system would automatically compensate for that.


Auto-changing focus with dual monitors I just setup dual monitors for my Mac and keep accidentally typing into an app in monitor 1 after I've moved my mouse to an app in monitor 2. I can't be the only one who runs into this with dual monitors so any advice for how to handle this?

Just make sure you remember to activate the text area you want to type in by clicking on it first, condition yourself to be aware of what is active.

Pay attention to which application is active

[insert image of Mac OS x application bar]
Pay attention to which window in an application is active, notice the differences in title bar color and transparency.

[insert image of window active differences in an os x app]
Pay attention to what and if any text input areas are selected and ready for text input.

[insert image of blinking input cursor -->| in text area ]
Be redundant and just click if you don't want to do the above observations.

This seems to crop up since scrolling works with out having to click on the window / content, and I think this leads us into a confused state that we have activated the app / window by placing the cursor over it and scrolling.

However that is not the case since scrolling a window by just mouse-ing over does not change which program was originally active. And to enter text or do other command actions that still requires that you tell Mac OS where your intending your input to go other wise it remembers the last active place selected.

And actually for other OS's this is a feature, called focus follow pointer or mouse but unfortunatly is not really implemented at a system wide level on OS X according to comments and feedback noted here Focus-follows-mouse (plus auto-raise) on Mac OS X. So it is not something you can easily enable in system preferences, and as far as I can tell no 3rd party App exist to add this functionality to OS X.

There are some defaults work arounds for certain apps to allow windows in those certain apps to be activated on mouse over, but unfortunately there does not seem to be a system wide option for OS X.


Force all applications to use system proxy in macOS Sierra I am forced to use the company's proxy, but some applications (apps) like Cisco VPN Client, Adobe, and others don't use system proxy, and I can't configure proxy settings in apps.

Is any way to force that alls apps use system proxy?

By default, applications that don't have a build-in option to configure proxy settings will automatically use the system proxy. However, for certain applications (like Terminal), no proxy will be used. If you want to have a system-wide proxy that can't be circumnavigate, take a look at "VPN Plus". Basically it creates a "network tunnel" in the system preference, acting as a network device, and all traffic routes through it. I haven't done any research on that so I can't provide a lot a details about that, but that is a possible solution.

I can't find any reason to why would you want to use a proxy for Adobe or a VPN client. Adobe softwares generally don't require the internet to work, while VPN client connects you to a proxy.

One more thing - our school's IT manager sets up a school-wide proxy that allows us to access Google and Wikipedia (I'm in China). This is a far more efficient way than setting up on one's laptop.


Can I migrate all data from my MacBook to my iMac How can I migrate all data from my MacBook to my iMac without losing it from the Macbook?

Goto Application > Utilities > Migration Assistant on both the devices, they should be either on the same wifi network, or connected physically with a Cable like thunderbolt, Ethernet etc. It will guide you to transfer the data.


Is there open source or free software to use my touchpad as absolute touch? I'm running OS X Yosemite, and don't want to spend money on a Wacom tablet. Is there free software or code that can disable the acceleration of the touchpad so I can write effectively with a stylus?

I just found a app called Inklet.

I did not try it my self, but will consider it for any pen drawing work where the use of mouse or trackpad is difficult.

It does cost $20, but it might be worth, but there is a free demo version to try first.


What can someone access on my device if they have set up iCloud? My dad has given me an iPhone 5s and he has set up iCloud on it. Which he may access. Will he know about whatever I do?

If yes is it possible for me to stop this without him knowing about it? I am using an iPhone for the first time.

You can go to iCloud.com and login to check what can be seen. (Or don't you have access yourself to it?) Why did he login your iPhone? Couldn't you ask him to log out?

To summarize iCloud.com and what can be seen there:

Contacts (if you set them in iCloud via your iPhone)
iCal Calendar (if you set them in iCloud via your iPhone)
Email (if activated) - this will be an @icloud.com or @me.com address
Notes (if you set them in iCloud via your iPhone)
Reminders (To do stuff)
Find My iPhone (NEVER ever turn this off, except if you've sold your iPhone)
Documents saved in iCloud via Pages, Numbers and Keynote


How do I get names for devices connected to my hotspot? Once I turn on a hotspot in Settings > Personal Hotspot, on iOS, and a device connects, a blue banner at the top of the screen appears with the number of connected devices.  I would like to see the hostname and any other associated information about the devices connected. Where could I find this information?

With a network scanner app like Net Analyzer running on your iPhone, you can see who’s connected.

BlackMagic is my iPhone 7 - the host. The other two devices are Toshiba Flashair Cards connected to my personal hotspot.


Deactivate iCloud reminders I keep getting reminders to subscribe to the iCloud service, but read my words: I do not want iCloud! Is it possible to deactivate these annoying reminders? (I'm on Mac OS El Capitan 10.11.6).

Go to Apple ID and unchecking these items (if they were be selected):

In general, every message from Apple has an unsubscribe link, usually, at the end of a letter. Plesase, check it.

Finally, check out a message sender in your Mail app, perhaps, those messages are not from Apple, and they are just a spam.


How to increase the number of applications shown in the Recent Applications stack on the Dock I've enabled the 'Recent Applications' stack to appear in my Dock:
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add '{ "tile-data" = { "list-type" = 1; }; "tile-type" = "recents-tile"; }'

Is there any way to increase the number from 10 Recent Applications to 15, or preferably, omit specific applications from being in it?

Going to System Preferences > General > drop down box for recent documents, apps, and servers should do the trick.


Port forward (NAT) based on domain/URL I currently have my Time Capsule to forward all inbound requests on port 80 to my Mac Mini which runs a web server with its local ip address of 192.168.1.8. I also have DNS set up so that if I go to example.com then it will send the request to my static public IP which will in turn cause the Time Capsule to forward the request on port 80 to my Mac Mini.

However I now have a Raspberry Pi on the local network also, with the ip address of 192.168.1.5. I want to be able to access the web server on the Raspberry Pi by going to pi.example.com, but I'm not sure how I can get the Time Capsule to port forward based on the domain. What I'd like to be able to have is something that works like this:

example.com:80       -->   public IP   -->    192.168.1.8:80
pi.example.com:80    -->   public IP   -->    192.168.1.5:80

NB: Posted this on apple.stackexchange.com as it relates to the Time Capsule, however it may be better suited on ServerFault, if so I ask if the moderators could kindly move it there.

The Time Capsule cannot port forward based on incoming domain request. It is not aware of the domain requested, only the port you are attempting to access. You need software, like properly-configured Apache, to handle multiple virtual domains within a network. I am not knowledgeable enough of the topic to advise you specifics, but it would involve handing off DNS and/or routing duties to a server (such as the Pi or OS X Server) and putting the Time Capsule in bridge mode.

A better way to do this is to hit the Raspberry Pi at another public port, such as example.com:81. The Time Capsule can handle this with ease.


Synology as Time Capsule Replacement I need to find a replacement for our current network based Time Machine solution.  Currently we are using WD My Cloud devices plugged into the network, but they are small, getting full, and are scattered.  I'd like to deploy a rackmount solution.

Synology has a number of rackmount NAS's that claim to be good for MacOS backups.  Has anyone here used those?  When choosing your time machine backup drive does it show up as a choice?  When launching Migration Assistant, does it show up as a choice?

Just curious what others have found with Synology.  I am also open to any other good suggestions. Thanks!

I think Synology works very well as a Time Machine solution. It works as any other, and the Mac doesn't really know that its a Synology. You simply enable the Time Machine function of Synology, set up a Time Machine Folder, and then connect Time Machine on your Mac to that folder.

I have had issues with my Mac losing connection to the Synology from time to time, and there seems to be no particular reason for this, but disabling the power saving features on the Synology seemed to help. (keep it from sleeping)

You can migrate your data: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202380

Set up Synology: https://www.synology.com/en-global/knowledgebase/DSM/tutorial/Backup/How_to_back_up_files_from_Mac_to_Synology_NAS_with_Time_Machine

While the Synology is good, I found, it, just like nearly all such solutions seem to eventually get lost, especially with wifi-based backups. This often corrupts the backup. For systems that are always on and connected via ethernet, I have never had any issues with any device, but laptops, which get abruptly disconnected, seem to cause Time Machine issues over time.

Opinion: Cloud-based backups seem to handle these interruptions in stride and therefore I have migrated fully to a cloud solution. More expensive? yes, in the long run, but stable and dependable. Never a corruption in now 3 years of cloud backups.


WhatsApp Messages Missing after Reinstall I uninstalled and reinstalled WhatsApp on my iPhone 6S Plus.
It appears as if my iCloud backups have not been working for the past month (even though it was set to back up the messages weekly), so I am missing messages from pretty much the entire month of November (some of which were pretty important).
I would imagine that I am out of luck regarding those messages, but I was wondering if there is still a way to recover them?

Usually, there are two ways to backup WhatsApp chats to iCloud.

Within the WhatsApp settings, go to Chats and then Chat-Backup. There you have several options, e.g. automatically backup your Chats or exclude videos.
In the settings App, head to Apple-ID, iCloud and then you will find iCloud-Backup. There you can select which apps and documents you want to backup to iCloud, i.e. you can backup all phone data and apps.

If you haven't select/used either one of the above backup options, then you are out of luck. They should both display the date and time when the last backup has been completed, so you should be able to check both.
In your case I assume you have not selected the chat backup method in WhatsApp, but the second one, backing up your complete iPhone. Yet, if the last successful backup was completed one month ago, there is no way to retrieve newer Chats.

As a general rule: If you are not 100% that your data is in a backup, never modify important apps and documents. Especially if your work relies on that. It is definitely worth it spending a - comparatively to the harm it may cause - little money on iCloud Backup or a hard-drive for local backups than to risk losing the data forever.

How to backup Time Machine backup to a Cloud?
Offsite Backup Strategy for multiple Macs

I know this refers to Mac (and TM), but in general - deepening on how important your data on your phone is - the same general backup procedures could be applied to your phone.

Note: There is still the option to backup to a computer. If you have done that, you can also restore the data from there.


Levelator working with Catalina? One big app that we use constantly and is arguably the best (free & simple) tool to automatically adjust audio levels for podcasts and any kind of recording is Levelator. There's simply no directly comparable replacement and unfortunately it's a 32-bit app that won't run on Catalina.  This is just one app that I can't live without and using a virtual machine for this one thing with such consistency is really a showstopper for "upgrading" to Catalina.  Sadly since the app is no longer maintained, there doesn't seem to be any hope to get a 64-bit version from the now-defunct developers.

Does anyone have any method to update or hack Levelator so that it'll run with Catalina since it appears to be primarily a (compiled) Python script?

I'm wondering if perhaps the python bin can be updated and still execute Levelator's obfuscated script?

Perhaps not the solution you're looking for, in that it is not free (the "Basic" plan is $6/mo), but Landr offers a great online tool to "Master" all audio, add levels, tone, warmth, etc.  Hope some of this helps.


Can I upgrade my iPhone from iOS 4.2.1 to iOS 5? iTunes only shows iOS 6 I have an iPhone 4 with iOS 4.2.1. I want to upgrade my iPhone to iOS 5, but iTunes will only let me upgrade the iPhone to iOS 6. I'd prefer not to, since many important apps don't work in India, especially Maps. Is it possible to upgrade my iPhone to iOS 5?

You can download old versions of iOS from this page (the downloads are direct from Apple, this site just collects the links). Make sure to get the proper file for your phone (likely iPhone 4 (GSM)).

It's important to note that just having the old version isn't enough. Before installing any OS upgrades, the iPhone checks Apple's servers for an authorization code. Apple stops authorizing older versions some time after the next major version is released, so you may be out of luck.

You can try upgrading by going into iTunes, and option-clicking (shift-click in Windows) the Update button for your device. You should get a file dialog, from which you can select the .ipsw file you just downloaded. You should then be able to go through the usual updating process, assuming Apple authorizes it.


iPhone 5s - apps, contacts, calendar, and ... don't synch from iMac Relevant harware and software:

27" iMac (earliest version)
OS X 10.9.4 (latest version)
iPhone 5s (brand new)
iOS 7.1.2 (latest version)
iTunes 11.3 (54) (latest version)

Note: I have no back up of any previous phone, because I wanted a completely clean installation and configuration to try to avoid problems I had with earlier iPhones.

I have a new iPhone 5s, I plugged into my computer, opened iTunes, configured it, selected everything I wanted to sync to it from my iMac and proceeded to sync it.

hmmmm....? ;-(

None of the following synched to the iPhone.

contacts
calendars
notes
email or email accounts
bookmarks for Safari

I haven't checked everything else, but this doesn't look friendly.

Oddly, apps, music and photos did sync to the iPhone from the computer.

In iTunes (with the iPhone connected to my iMac, I selected the device and checked the following under the Info tab and clicked on Sync.  Still nothing.

Any ideas?

Late addition, apparently iOS and an iPhone 5s will no longer configure email settings from Apple mail.  If anyone is listening from Apple - this is silly.

Just found this which points to part of the answer:

http://www.macworld.com/article/2057971/sync-contacts-and-calendars-with-your-iphone-via-itunes-not-in-mavericks-you-dont.html

Sync contacts and calendars with your iPhone via iTunes? Not in Mavericks you don't

There may be more than 200 new feature in OS X Mavericks, the latest version of the Mac OS. But while Apple giveth it also taketh away: The ability to sync contact and calendars stored locally on your Mac with an iOS device is gone.

...

Is this an insidious plot to get everyone to use iCloud for syncing? Well yes, sort of. A tech note on Apple’s website explains:

 If you use OS X Mavericks v.10.9 or later, your contacts, calendars, and other info are updated on your computers and iOS devices via iCloud.

So there you have it.


How can I let apps make changes using TouchID on MacBook Pro? How can I allow an app to make changes without typing in the password, but using TouchID on the Touch Bar instead?

MacBook Pro, 13", 2016, macOS Sierra 10.12.6

Example:

This is not one of the supported features of Touch ID on macOS - at least not yet.

With Touch ID on your MBP, you can:

unlock your Mac
make purchases using your Apple ID (i.e. from the App Store and iTunes)
use Apple Pay

Undoubtedly as time goes by, more functionality will be added to Touch ID on macOS - but the ability to use it to allow apps to make changes to macOS isn't available yet.


Transferring photos from my new iPad to 2008 refurbished MacBook 13" Can I use iCloud to transfer photos from my new iPad to 2008 refurbished MacBook 13"?

You've tagged that you're running Snow Leopard so no, not really. iCloud was introduced with OS X Lion (which is no longer available) and unless you upgrade to the maximum RAM for your system (Apple lists it as 4GB), I wouldn't recommend updating to OS X Yosemite just yet.

However, you should still be able to access iCloud from the website through Safari to access your Reminders, Calendars, Photos and Contacts, and Mail will allow you to set up  your iCloud email account. You can also use Image Capture and iPhoto to copy photos from your iPad to your MacBook, so long as they were saved to the device's Camera Roll (that is, weren't copied to it from another computer via iTunes).


How to change Mission Control window highlighting Is there a way to change how the selected window in Mission Control is highlighted in Yosemite? Between my aging eyes and background image, it's just a little too subtle for me to easily notice.

There is not an explicit Mission Control picker for the highlight, nor a slider to increase the highlight size.

However, if you go System Preferences >> Accessibility >> Display, then you will find a number of adjustments that can help you to distinguish the display elements.

The Increase contrast is a good one because it makes everything a little "sharper."

You can further increase the Display contrast, though a little goes a long way.

Increasing the Cursor size might also help, since you'll have an easier time spotting which window is beneath the cursor.

If this still doesn't help, then I'd recommend submitting a feature request to Apple.


Is there a way to share two internet connections simultaneously? The Sharing pane of System Preferences allows one internet connection from one interface to be shared to one other interface, e.g., share your connection from Ethernet 1 to computers using Wi-Fi.

Is there a way outside of the Sharing GUI to simultaneously share two different internet connections out to two other interfaces (e.g., if A,B,C,D are interfaces: share A to B, and C to D).

No - this will be hard on two levels.

Your default routes and network routing would be quite involved to set up the correct paths for the Mac OS to route traffic along the paths you defined as opposed to the route each network would prefer.
The graphical interface has no design / affordance to set up more than one route (currently)

The closest way I could see to accomplish this would be to run a second Mac OS virtually and move C and D to the virtual machine with networking set up in bridge mode. That way you would be close to just having a pair of OS with a pair of forwards in place - one per OS.


Does SSH on Mac keep a local cache of data? If I'm say, editing a file in VIM, the state of the remote machine needs to be sent to my Mac. I know that browsers cache images and such. Does SSH do the same? Are there any programs for Mac that do that? Would I be able to use that data to recover remote files?

SSH simply allows you to use a shell (command line) on a remote machine; it doesn't cache the data that you access.

If you're looking for a solution to back up files from another machine, and Time Machine isn't what you want, perhaps check out rsync.


Change background color of a folder in Finder I have many white icons in a folder and they are not visible on white background of folder, how can I change background color of a folder in Finder?

You can use a color or photo as the background of a Finder window.

Open the window and choose View > As Icons. Pictures and colored
backgrounds are visible only when items in a window are viewed as
icons.
Choose View > Show View Options.
Under Background, select either Color or Picture.
Option  Description Color:   Click the color box and select a
background color. Picture:   Click Select and choose the picture
you want to use. White:  Return the background to normal.
To have every Finder window on your computer use this color or
picture as its background, click “Use as Defaults.” To reverse your
changes, press the Option key and click “Restore to Defaults.”

Note: The “Use as Defaults” and “Restore to Defaults” buttons do not appear if you’re adjusting icons for the desktop or for the “All My Files” folder.
If a picture is large, you may need to resize the window to see the entire picture.

as found in this article

reference picture:


How to restore default iTunes media organization? I have iTunes running on my El Capitan Mac Mini. I have the iTunes Media folder linked to a NAS using NFS. This has worked for me quite well in the past. However after upgrading the storage on my Mac and reconnecting it to iTunes things have stopped working as well.
For some reason iTunes will organize the files in the way it would before. It will no longer put movies in a separate subfolder (which I like actually), for TV Shows it will no longer create season subfolders and most annoyingly it will put all the music in the iTunes Media root folder.
What's even stranger is that when I use a local iTunes Media folder everything seems to working as it should. But when I point iTunes back to my remote folder it resumes with the weirdness.
Is there any way I can check and restore the iTunes media organization behavior?

Edit:
I've also tried using a different remote location. Both through NFS and through AFP/SMB. All remote locations had the same behavior. Also tried having the iTunes Media folder local and have the subfolders point to remote locations.

In iTunes, select File > Library > Organize Library and check the second box, 'Reorganize files in the folder "iTunes"'. This should move all of your files into the proper (previous) subfolders.


iCloud login loading I changed my Apple ID password and want to login to iCloud with my Mac.
Entered password, and now it shows me loading and I can't do anything: neither restart the computer nor cancel the request.

Please help, it has been over 10 minutes . . .

Force restart it either by holding down the power button or using command+control+power button.


Can't connect second external display (but only at home) The setup:

a late-2013 15-inch MacBook Pro; no dGPU
at work: two identical 1080p monitors. One connected via HDMI through a Belkin Thunderbolt 2 dock, another directly via HDMI
at home: two identical 1680x1050 monitors. One connected via HDMI to DVI cable, another via mini-DisplayPort to DVI cable.
10.5.5 Beta (19F83c)

My work setup works fine.

But with my home setup, no matter which external monitor I connect first, as soon as I connect the second, I don't get a stable image. Instead, I mostly get three black screens, but every ~5 seconds, I briefly get either some or all of the displays briefly displaying an image; then it disappears again. Connect just one of the two, and it works fine.

It can't be bandwidth, because surely, 1680x1050 monitors take up less bandwidth than 1080p ones. I've also tried reducing one monitor's resolution before connecting the other, to no avail. It really feels more like one of them pesky Catalina issues.

I've tried:

resetting the PRAM
resetting the PMU
deleting the ByHost preferences (which did contain many of the display setups)
closing the lid so only the two externals are connected

Nothing can get both of those to show a stable image.

You need an active HDMI adapter.

The signal that comes out of your Mac is DisplayPort.  It has to convert the signal to HDMI to make it work.

At work, your dock is creating that HDMI signal so in effect, it's got an active adapter built in.
At home, you've got an "HDMI to DVI" cable meaning the pins just get re-orderd, but the signal doesn't get properly recreated.

To get the best reliability, try to avoid HDMI altogether.  It's a "consumer electronics" standard and (IMO) not up to the bar with respect for computing.

As for connecting/converting signals, the order or reliability is as follows:

DisplayPort → DisplayPort.  It's the native signal coming out of your Mac, so no conversions mean better reliability
DisplayPort → DVI.  DVI signaling is very compatible with DisplayPort and many times an active adapter isn't necessary, though I personally still use one because I don't like dealing with these issues once I have all my cabling in place.
DisplayPort → DVI. The signals are different, especially the clock signal, which is where a number of issues arise.  You can "fix" it with a reboot which allows the signals to "sync" up.  But disconnect/reconnect and a reboot is again necessary.
HDMI → DVI.  IMO, this should be avoided, but if you must convert these signals, an active adapter is really the only way to ensure reliable connections.

Note:  These issues aren't as prevelant in Windows because the drivers for the adapters seem to have more tolerance for the signaling discrepancies.  macOS, has much less tolerance, thus the need for quality active adapters.

If you can swing it, I would get a dock similar to the one you have at work.  It will get you the best reliability and most flexibility.

Additional Reading

Second monitor turns blue problem
External monitors show blank screen until restart
HDMI to DisplayPort Not Working
External Monitors Flicker when plugged into my Mac


Imac stuck on boot screen I know that this is a recurring topic but wondered if any one of you is experiencing this issue with mac os high sierra?

I don’t know what really happened on the eve; but the day after when i switched it on i got stuck on the boot screen with the apple logo and progress bar completed.

I did run the disk utility tool and found no issues with the hard disks. I also notice that holding down the shift key to enter the safe mode does nothing to it; still same screen.

Other key combinations are failing like resetting nvram.

I got work to complete and this is costing me too much time.

Thanks and kind regards,
Avinash

I had to format the Mac and did a clean install. This solved it.


How to mute the camera shutter sound effect? It used to be that I was able to use the lock switch on my iPhone to mute all alerts and sounds (with the exception of any music, video, etc.); and this included the camera's shutter noise. Then when I went to set the switch to the un-mute setting, I could get the camera's shutter noise back.

This was especially useful when I needed to inconspicuously take photographs.

It seems now, though—perhaps even as early as iOS 5.1, I can't recall—the camera noise goes off each time I take a photo, regardless of other mute settings.

And I've already toggling the Settings » Change with Buttons setting, it has no effect.

Is there some sort of hidden option I've lost track of to let me regain this functionality?

Some countries (notably Japan and South Korea) have laws requiring camera phones to make audible shutter sounds.

I can't find a definitive reference for this (at least not one in English), but there are many second-hand references if you Google.


Can the document desktop stacks be split for a specific file extension? I have documents I would like to have stacked
on my desktop.

Specifically, to group all files with a particular extension all together using Mojave's new Stacks feature.

Is there a way to register a new stacks kind?

No - Apple designed the default configuration but does allow you to stack on tags, which are user definable.

You could also make a smart folder to locate all the specific files you want, and then curate the tags easily, but not automatically out of the box.

Source:

Here's how to use tags for custom desktop Finder stacks.

In the image below, you can see the option under Group Stacks by -> Tags.

Each of the files you want to put in this Stack must have the same Tag.  When you do this, macOS will create a custom Stack for you for all files that contain that Tag.

This is the only way that I'm aware to create a custom Stack.


Keeping mail accounts with separate Mail apps on iOS I have three email accounts that I use two different Mail apps to manage on my iPhone 5 (iOS 10.3.4). I read two accounts with Apple Mail, and one with myMail. This allows me to keep work and personal accounts separate. Unfortunately all three accounts are always available as the sender in Mail even though myMail only sends from the accounts it manages. This means that I sometimes accidentally send mail from the wrong account when using Mail. Is there any way to restrict the accounts that Apple Mail can use, so that Mail can only use the accounts it manages like myMail  only uses the account it manages?

As resolved in comments, the account got added in mail app too. It can be removed from Settings → Passwords and Accounts.

For temporary fix, setting a default account under Mail Preferences can help.

Outgoing server's settings can be also disoriented under the Account's Server settings IF it is a work account and allows interface like:


Show iPhone as non-iPhone on network I want to give my older iPhone to someone else, but they only want to use it as a basic phone, and use data only over WiFi, not over the 3G / LTE network.

However, when their SIM card is put into my phone, the network charges me automatically for a data plan.

How do I show a iPhone as a non-smartphone to the network?

Go to Settings > Date > Mobile Data and change to Off. This will stop you using the 3G / LTE network, while letting you download data over WiFi.


Wrong line-drawing characters when write "tree" command output to file Under macOS Catalina 10.15.1, Using the standard "tree" command (as supplied by MacPorts), if at the Terminal prompt I cd to a folder and then execute tree there,  I get output like this:

.
├── Activity\ Monitor.app
├── ApplicationsFolderIcon.icns
├── BBEdit.app
├── Backup
│   ├── Backup\ and\ Sync\ from\ Google.app
│   ├── Carbon\ Copy\ Cloner.app
│   ├── Dropbox.app\
│   ├── ForeverSave\ 2.app
│   ├── Get\ Backup\ Pro\ 3.app

However, if I redirect the output to a text file, as in

tree > myapps.txt

then I get wrong characters when I view the file in TextEdit:

.
‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ Activity\ Monitor.app
‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ ApplicationsFolderIcon.icns
‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ BBEdit.app
‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ Backup
‚îÇ¬†¬† ‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ Backup\ and\ Sync\ from\ Google.app
‚îÇ¬†¬† ‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ Carbon\ Copy\ Cloner.app
‚îÇ¬†¬† ‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ Dropbox.app\
‚îÇ¬†¬† ‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ ForeverSave\ 2.app
‚îÇ¬†¬† ‚îú‚îÄ‚îÄ Get\ Backup\ Pro\ 3.app

What's wrong?

Use either of these to get compatible characters.

tree --charset=ascii > a.txt
tree --charset unicode > a.txt

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/127063/tree-command-output-with-pure-7-bit-ascii-output


Keyboard navigation of Mac OS X Finder window's search options toolbar When I'm in a Finder window and enter terms in the spotlight search box (top right of window) and then press the TAB key the search location bar appears just below and the focus moves to the first location (usually "This Mac") shown (as it should).  But then the focus seems locked in place and no keyboard key or combination I've found will get it to move (most of the time, that is; at times it's possible to select one of the shown locations with the keyboard and sometimes I've found it possible to tab to the Save button or Add Option [+] button and on to the options themselves but most times it just gets stuck [like now!] and I need to use the mouse).  I've been annoyed by this for years now and am running out of new key combinations to try!  Is there a way to continue with specifying the search info using the keyboard?

The Spotlight search box is the one in the top-right of the menu bar (commandspace). The Find search box is the one I think you're talking about, within a Finder window.

To get focus back to the search field, hit controltab or commandf.

Another option is found in System Prefs > Keyboard > Shortcuts. There's a radio button near the bottom labeled "Full Keyboard Access". "All Controls" will let you tab through the other search fields without modifier keys.

That said, in my testing, there're some flaws. Some of the fields aren't selectable, and if you try to select one of those and then hit commandf, you can no longer tab through the other fields anymore—you have to open a new Finder window and start over.


Apple TV to Projector via HDMI-VGA adapter works - optical audio-RCA converter to projector does not I bought a digital optical audio to RCA analog audio converter to go from my Apple TV to get sound out of the Projector.  The projector does not get sound.

I also bought an HDMI-VGA converter to go from my Apple TV to the Projector - that does work.

I get sound from the Apple TV only when it is connected via HDMI directly to a digital video/audio device.

Can I get this to work?  Have unhooked power, upgraded software, checked & rechecked settings.

Thanks, Dawn

We had the same issue in our school environment, with teachers wanting to hook Apple TV devices to their projectors. Instead of buying new projectors, we used the Kanex ATVPRO, which allowed for both audio and video. This allows them to AirPlay from iOS or the MacBooks. We can also stream content from Netflix this way.

As for your specific configuration, I tried several combinations of digital optical to analog RCA, and never got what I wanted. Only the Kanex has worked for me.


If the Dock fails to relaunch after killing it, is there any way to force it to relaunch? Every now and then I encounter an issue or bug in macOS that requires me to kill the Dock process. (For example, oftentimes some of my keyboard shortcuts for switching spaces stop working and the only way to fix it is to restart the Dock.)

However, sometimes when I kill the Dock it will fail to automatically relaunch, leaving my system in an unusable state. Aside from something like rebooting or logging out of my user account and logging back in again, is there anyway I can force the Dock process to launch again?

I have finally found the answer to this question. If the Dock fails to relaunch, execute the following shell commands:
launchctl stop com.apple.Dock.agent
launchctl start com.apple.Dock.agent

The second command may not be necessary but should probably be included anyway just to be safe. This is probably a much safer way to restart the Dock than simply killing it.


How can I find my IP address - not my company's router, but my local machines I run rails servers at ports 3000 and 5000.

What do I use (or how do I find) the IP address of my Mac?

Not the one used for web browsing which is my companies host supplied IP but rather my local machine one.

I imagine it would be 192.168.x.x?


Different hibernate modes on MacBook Pro? Sorry if this question will appear to be stupid.
Is it possible to set one hibernate mode (for example 3) when macbook is on power adapter and another hibernate mode (25) when it’s on battery. Is it absolutely nonsense or...? hehe
Thanks in advance

Yes, you can set different hibernation modes with pmset.
Most articles on the subject give the command pmset -a hibernatemode X (where X is a number). The -a flag is for 'all' modes: you can alternatively set -b for battery and -c for charger.
Whether there's any benefit in doing so, is another matter! Modern RAM is quite efficient, and you're not likely to reap significant battery time savings: you'll just slow down the sleep and wake processes. The 25 setting was used in much older laptops.


iPad Mini Retina with yellow tint I just got a new Space Gray iPad Mini Retina 32GB Wi-fi and today I noticed that the whole screen has a yellow tint. This seems to be a common issue and I will go to an Apple Store as soon as possible to get a new one. Is there a recommended serial number or part number I should look for?

I currently have Part No. ME277KS/A and Serial No. F4KLV1G7FCM6.

Don't bother getting a replacement, get a refund as it'll likely be the same and you'll see the same issues on their demo units if you have a keen eye like I do.  Detailed reply below...

I have a space grey iPad Mini Retina 32GB WiFi/3G.  I also have the yellow tint on the lower half of the screen by the home button.  I've tried leaving it plugged in and set at 100% brightness for 4 days and the issue persists 6 weeks later.  I went into my local Apple Store and I could see that all the others on display were the same or even worse regardless if they were black or white bezels or what the serial number started with (mine is F4KM...).  It is a production issue that had been around for ages and Apple think it's now good enough for us not to notice but, a lot of us do!  It's not a glue curing issue and will not go away over time.

I've even been to the genius bar and they can't acknowledge (or refuse to) the problem even after showing them photos, a clear white screen and the greyscale test which clearly shows the issue even under the store's lighting.

I think Apple are clearly aware of this problem and just don't want to go through the expense and embarrassment of a recall affecting millions of units as only a few of us can see this widespread problem that appears to affect ALL retina iPads.  However, they will be forced to act once major magazines and consumer media start publishing these problems.


Automatically refreshing my WiFi connection via a script? I'm using Mac 10.9.5.  When I'm at a Starbucks, my computer will automatically connect to their WiFi network.  However, after an hour, they kick you off and although you are still connected to their network, beneath your "WiFi" icon in your Network System preferences, you now have a "Self Assigned IP" and are unable to connect to the Internet.  The only way to reconnect is to click the "Turn Wi-Fi Off" button and then click "Turn Wi-Fi On" button to re-enable things.

My question is, how do I write a script to automatically do this for me?  What I woudl like is some script run in the background if I'm connected to a network named "Google Starbucks" and then if the script notcied I have a "Self Assigned IP", it woudl turn wi-fi off and turn it back on again without my having to do anything.

In AppleScript use: do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en0 off; sleep 2; networksetup -setairportpower en0 on" although you might have to change en0 to the appropriate adapter which you can get from the Network Utility.

If you want it in a BASH script don't use the do shell script part and the rest can be on one line or remove the ; adding a newline in there place.  You could swap the display dialog ... in Buscar웃's script with this if you want.


OpenVPN missing parameter on OSX 10.11 El Capitan I have a problem setting up VPN connection between my MacBook Pro with OSX 10.11 and my VPS with OpenVPN. The server is working correctly because I am using in on my iPhone with iOS 9.0.2, android 4.2 box and iMac with OSX 10.10. On OSX 10.11 I am getting this error using Tunnelblick:

  2015-10-12 21:13:27 *Tunnelblick: OS X 10.11.0; Tunnelblick 3.6beta10 (build 4400); prior version 3.5.4 (build 4270.4395)

  2015-10-12 21:13:28 *Tunnelblick: Attempting connection with macbook-pro; Set nameserver = 1; monitoring connection

  2015-10-12 21:13:28 *Tunnelblick: openvpnstart start macbook-pro.tblk 1337 1 0 3 0 16688 -ptADGNWradsgnw 2.3.7

  Options error: Unrecognized option or missing parameter(s) in /Library/Application Support/Tunnelblick/Shared/macbook-pro.tblk/Contents/Resources/config.ovpn:1: macbook-pro (2.3.7)
                                          Use --help for more information.

  2015-10-12 21:13:28 *Tunnelblick: openvpnstart starting OpenVPN

The config.ovpn that is causing the problem looks like this:

macbook-pro
dev tun
proto udp
remote vps-server-ip 1194
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
comp-lzo
verb 3
tls-server

<ca>
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
</ca>
<key>
-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----
</key>

<cert>
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
-----END CERTIFICATE-----
</cert>

Of course certificates are populated with proper certs and IP is also correct.

Have you got any suggestions?

Seems like the macbook-pro "option" is not recognised by openvpn...

Remove this line or comment it out.


General Autocompletion Does anyone know of a good way to have autocompletion of custom items on a mac?  I know this is built into different programs, but what I would like would be independent of the program being used.  For example, if I need to type my email address somewhere I would like to be able to enter the first few letters and then have it completed for me.

Basic autocompletion is built into macOS.  For example, you can type bjbk@ to get bjbk@example.com or similar.

Go to System Preferences... (From  Menu or your Dock or Spotlight)
Go to Keyboard
Select Text tab
Click the + button
Add text to replace, followed by the text you wish to replace it with.  The shortcuts work in most applications. (Tested MS Office and others on my system. OS X 10.10.x; Office 2011 v14.5.x)

Alternative to built in text replace:
aText (not free but very inexpensive) on the App Store is a great 3rd party alternative too.  Great for code completion or adding dates, times, etc.  (I am on no way affiliated with the developer, just a user.)
UPDATE:
Developer's note on the App Store version.

About Mac App Store version.
aText Mac App Store version can no longer fully work on OS X 10.11 El Capitan and later because of new App Sandboxing restrictions. This is not fixable.
If you purchased aText on Mac App Store, please switch to non-MAS (non sandboxed) version for free.


Generating Safari developer certificate from Windows? The old instructions that have since been removed NOTE: not sure if this is best forum among the StackExchange group of forums/sites for this question. Please recommend a better one if this is not the best one.

I worked with generating Safari developer certificate from Windows before, when it was actually supported (and as such building a Safari extension on Windows as well with Safari 5). Too bad that I didn't foresee Apple dropping Windows support with Safari 6 and along with that the instructions for generating Safari developer certificate from Windows. I never did save those instructions. Wish I did.

If I'm not mistaken (since I don't have the actual instructions), I believe from Windows, if one had the instructions, it likely should still be possible to generate the certificate request file to then submit on Apple's Safari developer portal to then generate/get the final developer certificate. So that one could build extensions on Windows Safari 5, if the extension need not be Safari version targeted/specific.

So if I'm not mistaken, I was just wondering if anyone had (archived) the old Windows instructions for generating the certificate request. Sure would be nice to see/read them, even if it doesn't work anymore, as a point of reference at least.

This how-to might contain all necessary information provided by Apple in the past or help otherwise:

The Apple Safari extension development guide describes how to generate CSR(Certificate Signing Request) file for Mac. But, if we want to develop the Safari extensions on windows 7, we don’t have any resource to guide us. Here, I am providing steps to create  developer certificate for windows.

Register on Apple Safari developer program here
Download and install X Certificate and key management (XCA)
Generate a new private key in XCA. - After installing the XCA, go to File ->New Database. Give database name and password. Now, the new key option will be enabled.
Choose new key and give the name for private key and give size as 2048 Bytes.
From the XCA, choose “certificate signing requests” tab. Click on “New Request”  and fill the necessary details.
Export the Certificate Signing Request(CSR).
Request a certificate at apple here using the Certificate Signing Request(CSR).
Download the certificate from Apple account.
Click on “Certificates” tab on XCA and import the certificate which is downloaded from Apple into  XCA.
Export the certificate as p12 file.
Double click on *.p12 file. The certificate will import into the windows Certiciate-Manager.
Now, open the safari browser and click on Develop -> Show Extension builder. You are able to see that the certificate got detected.


Copying data from PC to MacBook Pro I am going to purchase a 15.4" Macbook Pro by this month. I have a Windows laptop at this moment. Can I transfer my data from from a NTFS formatted disk on my PC to a Mac?

Yes, files can be transferred from a NTFS drive to a Mac.  Apple provides documentation on the process. This is a relatively straightforward process.

The bigger challenge is not reading files from a different disk operating system, but rather proprietary formats used by particular programs. Common formats like jpeg, html, etc. will pose no problem, and programs like Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop are available on both platforms. Files from Microsoft Publisher, however, or other more obscure Windows programs can be ported to the Mac, but you may find yourself without a program on the Mac that can read or edit those particular files.


Added myself to /etc/sudoers but sudo still asks for password This is my /etc/sudoers file edited with visudo, but I'm still asked to enter my password when doing sudo.

root ALL=(ALL) ALL
%admin  ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL
petruza  ALL=(ALL) ALL
petruza  ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL

## Uncomment to allow members of group wheel to execute any command
%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL

## Same thing without a password
%wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

I had this running in previous OS installs but now it doesn't work.

My main need for this is to automatically execute xampp at startup and not having it asking me for the password.

None of your modifications of the sudoers file is needed if you start xampp with a launch daemon:

Create a file org.xampp.startup.plist  in /Library/LaunchDaemons with sudo touch/nano ... and 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>Label</key>
        <string>org.xampp.startup</string>
        <key>ProgramArguments</key>
        <array>
                <string>/bin/bash</string>
                <string>/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/xampp</string>
                <string>start</string>
        </array>
        <key>RunAtLoad</key>
        <true/>
        <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/org.xampp.startup.stderr</string>
        <key>StandardOutPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/org.xampp.startup.stdout</string>
</dict>
</plist>

If you installed XAMPP somewhere else please modify <string>/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/xampp</string> accordingly.
chown/chmod the file:

sudo chown root:wheel /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.xampp.startup.plist
sudo chmod 644 /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.xampp.startup.plist

Load the daemon with:

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.xampp.startup.plist

If everything runs well, you may remove the following part of the plist:

        <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/org.xampp.startup.stderr</string>
        <key>StandardOutPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/org.xampp.startup.stdout</string>

Restore the default sudoers file with visudo:

...
root ALL=(ALL) ALL
%admin  ALL=(ALL) ALL

## Uncomment to allow members of group wheel to execute any command
#%wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL

## Same thing without a password
#%wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
...


Problem with alert setting on Iphone since 9.0.1 update Problem with calendar alerts since I updated to IOS 9.0.1- When I enter or edit an event in Calendar I was getting a problem where when you selected a first alert (say 1 day before) then selected a second alert (say 2 hours before) they would sometimes switch order. You could then select them again and they would be stay in the correct order. Now when you choose a second alert time it becomes the time for both alerts and there is no way to correct them. I tried with the default alerts set to None and to 1 Day doesn't make any difference.

I was able to duplicate this issue on iOS 9.0.2, and these steps worked for me:

Tap "Second Alert"
Set it to "None" (at the top)
Tap "Second Alert" again
Set it to the desired time.


Web Visit Generator - Similar to JingLing I would like to know if there is a software for Mac similar to JingLing for Windows. I am looking for a free desktop software to generate automatic visits to my websites.

If you know something online it would be OK also.

A quick Google Search shows that a lot of others have asked this question before, but with no real answers. Instead people are suggesting using Bootcamp.


How do I view a previous day's steps in the Health app? The iOS 8 Health app shows the current day's data for steps in the Dashboard and when viewing Steps individually. If you pick View Data, you can see individual recording of steps; there are many of these per day, usually 5-10 steps at a time. However, I see no way to view the totals for a previous day, i.e. if I walked 10000 steps yesterday, is it possible to see that within the app?

I don't believe there is a way to do it through the Health app, but 3rd party apps do have the ability to show this. I use Pedometer++ from the App Store (no affiliation, free app with ads). Here is a screenshot of my steps.


PF Firewall : Every time I use `pfctl`, I get errors about ALTQ support I have a slightly elaborate firewall setup where my server usually has between 400 and 800 ip addresses firewalled. It switches back and forth between two different pf tables. Every day it rebuilds the firewall list in the new table and flushes the old one. It does this all via script and it works very well.

But the problem is this ALTQ error. Every time you use pfctl for anything, the first thing it does is output two error lines:

No ALTQ support in kernel
ALTQ related functions disabled

Problem is my script runs pfctl hundreds of times per day. The error log for my script is growing WAY too fast.

Is there any way to suppress these error messages? pfctl does have a -q flag but that's only for ignoring non-error output. Is there a way I can more fully disable ALTQ in the config file so it won't even try to use it?

Note that I don't know what ALTQ is, but I know I don't need it. My firewall works perfectly aside from the log flood.

I am probably missing something, because this does not seem to be a complex question. If you what to screen out these 2 error messages, then enter the command given below.

pfctl >2 >(grep -v -e "No ALTQ support in kernel" -e "ALTQ related functions disabled" 1>&2)

I omitted any parameters that would normally occur between pfctl and >2. A function could be defined which would simplify the use of this command. One such function implementation is shown below.

pfctl() {
    command pfctl "$@" >2 >(grep -v -e "No ALTQ support in kernel" -e "ALTQ related functions disabled" 1>&2)
}

Under certain conditions, the above solution could result in the output appearing "out of order". This could be corrected by piping the output through the cat command. In other words, you could use the command given below.

pfctl >2 >(grep -v -e "No ALTQ support in kernel" -e "ALTQ related functions disabled" 1>&2) | cat

Also the function could be replaced with the one given below.

pfctl() {
    command pfctl "$@" >2 >(grep -v -e "No ALTQ support in kernel" -e "ALTQ related functions disabled" 1>&2) | cat
}

References
Bash Redirections Cheat Sheet


Tagging system files I noticed that system files and folders cannot be tagged using the UI in Finder and I am wondering whether there is a workaround – Terminal based or otherwise.

There are a number of system files I'd like easy access to and tags would serve that purposes.

I would suggest doing what @Lauri Ranta proposes : doing this with xattr

Using xattr -wx com.apple.FinderInfo "$(xattr -px com.apple.FinderInfo 'file1')" "file2"
you can copy the tag from file 1 to file 2.
Since /System/ is not writable for users, you just going to need to use sudo.

Edit:  To see the tagged files, you'll need a Finder with root access.
You can get it as using :

killall Finder &&udo /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder

/!\ But Warning. A Finder with Root access is very dangerous and you could easily destroy your system.

Edit2: With the Root Finder you can directly change the tag without using the command line. But Again, root Finder is baaaad.


How to restore apps with iPhone restore? (in year 2020) All Apple questions are stale after one year. Why? Because iTunes is gone and other big changes this year. So I am re-asking.

I have a new phone and backed up my old phone with Finder. Now when the new phone is restored, none of the apps are there. I know how to install the apps and set them up. But this would require considerable time for dozens of apps, so I am seeing other options.

The backup with Finder is the same as with iTunes, same is for restore. When you restore an iTunes backup, app data is restored from the backup and apps are downloaded from the AppStore. If you don't see any apps, make sure that you are logged in to your Apple ID and that you are connected to a good Wi-Fi.


Download songs from iTunes to iPhone When trying to download songs from iTunes to my iPhone, a message pops up saying I have to delete and sync. Will this delete all my photos, contacts, and apps from my phone? Or just the music part of my iPhone?

Go to the iTunes preferences then the devices tab and tick the box about automatic syncing.


Is there a way to auto-complete the open command in Terminal? I frequently use the open -a  command in Terminal to open applications via ssh. How do I make it auto-complete an application's name?

_complete_open() {
        COMPREPLY=()
        local cur="${COMP_WORDS[$COMP_CWORD]}"
        local prev="${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD-1]}"
        [[ "$cur" == -* || "$prev" != '-a' ]] && return
        apps="$(mdfind kMDItemKind==Application -onlyin /Applications -onlyin ~/Applications -onlyin /Developer -onlyin ~/Developer | grep -v '/.*/.*/.*/.*/' | sed -E 's|.*/||g;s|\.app$||g' | uniq)"$'Finder\nArchive Utility\nCharacterPalette\nKeyboardViewer'
        local IFS=$'\n'
        if [[ "${cur:0:1}" = '"' || "${cur:0:1}" = "'" ]]; then
            quote="${cur:0:1}"
            cur="${cur:1}"
        fi
        local found="$(grep -i "^$cur" <<< "$apps")"
        if [[ "$quote" == '"' ]]; then
            found="$(sed "s|^|\"|g;s|$|\"|g" <<< "$found")"
        elif [[ "$quote" == "'" ]]; then
            found="$(sed "s|^|'|g;s|$|'|g" <<< "$found")"
        else
            found="$(sed 's| |\\ |g' <<< "$found")"
        fi
        COMPREPLY=($found)
}

complete -o default -F _complete_open open

Third version, which should now both be case insensitive and work within quotes.


How to ensure separate pathways of each instance of Python I recently upgraded to High Sierra on my Macbook Air.
I installed the latest upgrade of Python: 2.7.14 from python.org. There is documentation and a Read Me file for 2.7.14 in the Applications folder.  The Read Me file for the user-installed python states:

  As of Python 2.7.0, user-installed Python 2.7 versions from python.org installers added the system-wide site-packages directory for the Apple-supplied Python 2.7 to the end of their search path. This meant that packages installed with the system Python 2.7 could also be used by the user-installed Python 2.7. While sometimes convenient, this also often caused confusion with the implicit coupling between the two Python instances. Separately, as of macOS 10.12, Apple changed the layout of the system site-packages directory, /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages, in a way that can now cause installation of pip components to fail. To avoid the confusion and the installation failures, as of 2.7.13 user-installed pythons no longer add /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages to sys.path. If you are using a package with both a user-installed Python 2.7 and the system Python 2.7, you will now need to ensure that separate copies of the package are installed for each instance.

I am not fully comprehending the meaning of this. I want to be sure that I have everything set up properly before proceeding. Is there a command I can type into my terminal that will point to the pathway of the Python 2.7.14 I just installed?  I want to be sure there are separate pathways for each instance of Python.

You should set up virtual environments so each python version will be independent of others. Setting these up is fairly easy and you can find instructions on the internet here and  here as well as many other places.  I run virtual environments and this allows me to run 2.7.13 or 3.6 without any problems. I just activate wich environment I want and then start running that version of python.


Native RSS reader which allows to set explizit the status of an article I am looking for a native RSS reader for Mac OS which allows me to mark an article as read or unread explicitly by a short cut. All RSS reader I found mark an article as read immediately after viewing them. So I lose the overview which articles I have read and which not.

Thank you for your answers. After trying different web-based tools and native applications I returned to Thunderbird. Thunderbird supports RSS-Feeds as well and allows you to specify the amount of time you have to view a mail or article until it marks it as read. It also allows you to disable this at all and to mark articles manually as read.


How do I get Safari on OS X to stop ignoring the protocol part of a URL when the hostname starts with "ftp"? I'm using Safari 8.0.5 on OS X 10.10.3. We have a server that's accessible over both FTP and HTTP. This server's name begins with "ftp." Whenever I try to connect to this server over HTTP, Safari dumps the connection attempt off to an FTP client, even if I use "http://ftp.example.com" (for the sake of an example) in the URL. This is super annoying. The only way I can get the correct behavior is to use a different web browser, such as Chrome or Firefox.

Can anyone suggest a way around this?

Thanks,
Sigsegv

Unfortunately, you can't without editing some plist files. Please refer to this older question (not marked as dupe since the overall issue/question was different) for a few answers on this issue.


My iPhone 6 screen is not showing all my apps, they are half way down the screen My apps on the screen are not showing all the way at the top. They are showing only on half the screen and I can't see all the apps.

That’s Reachability. Double-tap the home button to move the screen down (on iPhone 6 and 6 Plus size displays) so you can reach the top of the display one-handed. You can tap the area above or double-tap the home button again to return to normal.


OSX Yosemite suggesting updates, I don't want to upgrade, but need to upgrade iTunes My oldish MacMini has a fresh install of Yosemite (OSX 10.10.5). I go to iTunes, check for updates, and request to download 12.8.1.

MacOS then sends my to app store updates, suggesting an update which includes macOS High Sierra (see screenshot).

Is there a way to install the new iTunes without installing all these updates?

Always check out Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1977?locale=en_US

There is a link to a 10.10.5 compatible version of iTunes 12.8.2. You must click this link for the 10.10.5 compatible version.

https://secure-appldnld.apple.com/itunes12/041-37721-20190206-950874F8-AAA0-4373-96E9-A995A9B354C7/iTunes12.8.1.dmg

The 'Read before you install iTunes' document that is within the DMG states that 10.10.5 is supported on this version of iTunes.


Terminal move cursor with mouse in any way? Is there any way at all to use the mouse cursor to move the cursor in terminal, like click where you want it and press a key to move it there?

This is one of the most annoying things I've ever found using the terminal

I know Ctrl+A will move to the beginning of the line but sometimes these commands are so long

Try option-click, that is, click with option pressed.

This works on the command line and also in screen editors, such as vi and nano.

option-click just sends the appropriate escape sequences to move the cursor to anywhere in the terminal screen. (To see this working, try it with cat.)


2nd SSD as main boot disk, what do I do with old filesystem? Hello StackExchange!

After a couple years of using my macbook pro, performance has deteriorated with each update to OSX. I've tried a few things to improve it, and with no results, I decided to get a 128G SSD and a drive caddy for the CD drive, and install a clean install on it.

Using the SSD as my main boot drive, and wahla, great experience. Now, I just need my old stuff. Migration assistant isn't ideal because:

A) the SSD is 128G, and the HDD is 500G. Lots of applications.
B) I don't want to blindly copy over batches of filesystems, mostly because it's likely that I will copy over whatever caused performance deterioration in the first place (most likely my tinkering).

So, my questions are:
What's the best way to access and organize the files and applications on my HDD?
Can I just copy over specific applications? How do I copy their settings?
Are there things I should remove from the HDD? Like the old User Account?

Thanks in advance.

If you want to put your most-used files on the SSD and the less-frequently-used files on the HDD, you could make your own Fusion Drive. I'm paraphrasing the instructions here:

Take a Time Machine backup of everything. THE FUSION DRIVE-MAKING PROCESS WILL WIPE BOTH DRIVES!
Make a bootable OS X USB drive. If you can't, that's fine, but doing so will let Recovery HD live on the SSD. If you don't care about that, you can skip this step.
Boot into your brand-new bootable drive (or Recovery HD, if you don't care if Recovery HD lives on the SSD or the HDD).
Open Terminal and run diskutil list
Take note of the identifiers (the "disk#s#" designations) of the drives you want to use as part of the Fusion Drive. If you're in a bootable drive, you can use the entire HHD, but if you're in Recovery HD, you'll have to only use the partition that is neither EFI nor Recovery HD.
Enter the command diskutil coreStorage create [arbitrary name that you won't have to look at anywhere but in Terminal] [the disk identifiers, separated by a space]
When that process is done, one of the last lines of the output should be Core Storage LVG UUID: [long string of letters and numbers]. That long string is your Logical Volume Group's UUID, and you'll need it for the next step.
Now run the command diskutil coreStorage createVolume [the UUID from the last step] jhfs+ "Macintosh HD" 100%
Once that's done, your computer will officially have a single "volume" named Macintosh HD! Now you can reinstall OS X on it and restore it from your Time Machine backup, and it'll automatically migrate files between the SSD and the HDD based on the frequency of their use.

Good luck!


SophosAV slows the dictionary pop-up I've got the virus scanner from Sophos installed on my Mac with on-access-scan enabled.

The on-access-scan delays the dictionary pop-up for several seconds for every first prompt after boot up.

You can prompt the dictionary pop-up by using either ctrl+⌘+D or three fingers double-tab.

I can choose to disable on-access-scan for /Applications/Dictionary.app in the SophosAV preferences. However, this does not solve the problem. What should I do?

I'm stupid. Of course one has to exclude the location where the actual dictionaries are located.

In the Sophos preferences you need to exclude the following locations from your on-access-scan:

 1. /Library/Dictionaries

 2. /Users/your_username/Library/Dictionaries