Compare any checksum with proposed checksum by website

Here are two different approaches that can be taken, one using Automator and AppleScript, and the other using a bash script and Terminal.

Using Automator and AppleScript

The following example AppleScript code, used in an Automator Service1, set to Service receives selected files or folders in Finder, with a Run AppleScript action, will allow one to paste a copied MD5, SHA1, SHA256 or SHA512 checksum value into a dialog box and verify it against the selected file in Finder.

In macOS High Sierra, I saved the Automator Service1 as Verify Pasted Checksum. Then in Finder selecting a downloaded file for which I had a checksum copied to the clipboard, I right-clicked it and selected Verify Pasted Checksum from the Services context menu. I then pasted in the copied checksum and pressed the Enter key. It then returned the appropriate message.

1 In macOS Mojave, and later, an Automator Service is called a Quick Action. There are also other minor nomenclature differences but they should be more obvious when comparing them to pre-macOS Mojave Automator workflows.

Example AppleScript code:

global pastedChecksum
global fileToCaculateChecksum

on run {input}

    set fileToCaculateChecksum to POSIX path of first item of input

    set pastedChecksum to text returned of (display dialog ¬
        "Paste checksum here:" buttons {"Cancel", "Verify Checksum"} default button ¬
        "Verify Checksum" default answer "" with title "Verify Checksum Matches Provided Value")

    set L to (length of pastedChecksum)

    if L = 32 then
        -- Validate MD5 checksum.
        set caculatedChecksum to do shell script "/sbin/md5 -q " & fileToCaculateChecksum's quoted form
        displayValidationMessage(caculatedChecksum)
    else if L = 40 then
        -- Validate SHA1 checksum.
        set caculatedChecksum to do shell script "/usr/bin/shasum " & fileToCaculateChecksum's quoted form & " | /usr/bin/awk '{print $1}'"
        displayValidationMessage(caculatedChecksum)
    else if L = 64 then
        -- Validate SHA256 checksum.
        set caculatedChecksum to do shell script "/usr/bin/shasum -a 256 " & fileToCaculateChecksum's quoted form & " | /usr/bin/awk '{print $1}'"
        displayValidationMessage(caculatedChecksum)
    else if L = 128 then
        -- Validate SHA512 checksum.
        set caculatedChecksum to do shell script "/usr/bin/shasum -a 512 " & fileToCaculateChecksum's quoted form & " | /usr/bin/awk '{print $1}'"
        displayValidationMessage(caculatedChecksum)
    else
        -- Unrecognized checksum.
        display dialog "The length of the pasted checksum was not recognized!" buttons {"OK"} ¬
            default button 1 with title "Unrecognized Checksum" with icon caution
    end if

end run

on displayValidationMessage(caculatedChecksum)
    if pastedChecksum is equal to caculatedChecksum then
        -- Checksum matched.
        display dialog "The checksum for '" & fileToCaculateChecksum & "' matched!" buttons {"OK"} ¬
            default button 1 with title "Valid Checksum"
    else
        -- Checksum did not match.
        display dialog "The checksum for '" & fileToCaculateChecksum & "' did not match!" buttons {"OK"} ¬
            default button 1 with title "Bad Checksum" with icon stop
    end if
end displayValidationMessage

Scroll to see additional code.

Note: The example AppleScript code is just that and does not contain any error handling as may be appropriate. The onus is upon the user to add any error handling as may be appropriate, needed or wanted. Have a look at the try statement and error statement in the AppleScript Language Guide. See also, Working with Errors.

Using bash and Terminal

If you want a bash solution for Terminal, use the following example bash code, saved to a file and made executable with chmod.

In Terminal:

touch vpc
open vpc

Copy and paste the example bash code, shown further below, into the opened document, then save and close it.

Back in Terminal:

chmod u+x vpc
./vpc

Note: I used vpc for: [V]erify [P]asted [C]hecksum

You can also place the, e.g., vpc executable in a directory that is within your PATH and be able to use it without ./ or its full qualified pathname.

Example bash code:

#!/bin/bash

if [[ $# -ne 2 ]]; then
    echo "  Missing argument!"
    echo "  Uasge: vpc pasted_checksum filename"
    echo "  Example: vpc 98d9402a8b446bdd57b4b6729b4d575e /path/to/filename"
    exit 1
fi

l=$(/usr/bin/awk -v var="$1" 'BEGIN {print length(var)}')
[ -f "$2" ] || l=0

case "$l" in
    32 )
                # Validate MD5 checksum.
            c="$(/sbin/md5 -q "$2")"
        ;;
    40 )
                # Validate SHA1 checksum.
            c="$(/usr/bin/shasum "$2" | /usr/bin/awk '{print $1}')"
        ;;
    64 )
                # ValidateSHA256 checksum.
            c="$(/usr/bin/shasum -a 256 "$2" | /usr/bin/awk '{print $1}')"
        ;;
    128 )
                # Validate SHA512checksum.
            c="$(/usr/bin/shasum -a 512 "$2" | /usr/bin/awk '{print $1}')"
        ;;
    0 )
            echo "  Bad Filename!"
            exit 1
        ;;
    * )
            echo "  Unreconized Checksum!"
            exit 1
        ;;
esac

    # Verify checksum matches provided value, using case insensitive matching.
shopt -s nocasematch
if [[ $1 == "$c" ]]; then
    echo "  The checksum for '""$2""' matched."
else
    echo "  The checksum for '""$2""' did not match!"
fi
shopt -u nocasematch

Scroll to see additional code.

Note: The example bash code contains some error handling. The onus is upon the user to add any additional error handling as may be appropriate, needed or wanted.


iPhone SE gets quite hot after replacing the protector casing

Use iOS devices where the ambient temperature is between 0º and 35º C (32º to 95º F).

source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201678
Some of the reasons I can think of:

Not having proper ventilation around the phone. Even though this is a prominent thing for laptops, phones also need to dissipate heat.

Low cellular connectivity. Poor Wi-Fi won't heat up the iPhone much, but cellular is the main culprit if it's poor. (personal experience)

When you use graphics-intensive or augmented-reality apps or features.

Which you're doing.  Camera also falls under this(personal experience).

If device overheats, some features will underperform, like flash or camera, dimming of display and other graphic intensive tasks. It might even get locked if temperature goes beyond a threshold.


How do I unhide and remove disk mounts from Login Items?

As shown in the following image, you can remove Login Items by selecting them (highlighting them) and clicking the "-" button. Hiding an item (by selecting the check box) in Login Items means that it is opened, but hidden.


What are some unusual uses of the MacBook trackpad?

In the "unusual" camp there's a program called Inklet that purports to turn your trackpad into a Wacom-like tablet. They also sell a special stylus and sketching software.

For music there's Trackpad Magic, which allows you to create music using trackpad for input, and djay, a DJ'ing app that lets you "scratch" records with your trackpad.


This looks like a well known hardware problem.

I had the same Problem after falling asleep on my Macbook, the pressure destroyed the Display.

You should contact Apple and get the Display replaced.


You can simply right-click /Applications/Mocha.app/Contents/Resources/Java/mocha.jar and launch it with the Java Launcher. I don't know if the JRE version contains this "app" - at least the JDK does.

After modifying the innards (e.g the info.plist & JavaApplicationStub) it may also be possible to launch the app itself without installing Java6, but I didn't get this to work.


Snapping Preview windows with BetterTouchTool make search buggy

If you uninstall this software does Preview behave?

It is likely an interaction with Preview and this software. And maybe something else on your system. I would suggest contacting support on this product directly.


Deploy iOS app directly from Xcode to iPad

Yes, it is possible to make the app work "perpetually" without recompiling and rebuilding it in Xcode. This can be done by re-signing the finished binary using command line tools (i.e. essentially just replacing the developer signature instead of remaking the whole binary over and over). However, this is probably not what you want as you will need to transfer that new binary to the iPad every week.

If you want to make it work "perpetually" without having to reinstall the app, you will need to get it signed by someone with a real developer certificate (i.e. obtained from either the Apple Developer Program or the Enterprise Developer Program).


MacBook Air Running Yosemite - Merge Two User Accounts?

From your main account open Finder and locate the user account for your pc files. (Macintosh HD/users/pcfiles)
Right or control click on that folder and select Get Info.
Under Sharing and Permissions click on the lock icon to unlock permissions.  Give admin password when asked.
Once unlocked, click on the + button and add your main ID to the user names
Set your permissions to Read & Write.
Click on the gear icon and make your main ID the "owner" of the folder.
Click on the gear again and apply to enclosed items.
Click on the lock icon to re-lock the folder.

Your main ID now owns the pc files.  You should be able to move files or folders to your main id file structure (no need to copy) or just access them as is.  You could import directly into iTunes or iPhoto etc.


Issue with iPhone to Google Photos backup

The best way to fix that is to use the web for uploading to Google Photos and not the iPhone since the iPhone needs to compress it, then Google Photos compresses it even more.

Use http://photos.google.com and make sure that you are signed in to your account. The quality of those images should also be much better as well.


Access and control home office network, iMacs, and XServes

The main thing to tackle is booting up the xServes. Luckily, Intel xServes (which yours should be if they're running 10.6) have Lights-out-Management (LOM) that should support this sort of thing (all Macs support Wake-on-LAN, but that only works on a local network).

Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) has support for this. It looks like you'll need to forward a few ports (looks like 623 for the LOM, and then a bunch for ARD - do a search), unless you have some sort of VPN access to your home network.

The basic method will be, use ARD to power up your xServes, then remotely connect via ARD or a VNC client, build your Mathematica app and run it. Then shut down the xServes.

If you have a Mac with you, all this can be done via ARD, but if you want to do it with an iPad, you'll need your desktop Mac running whenever you want to remotely access it. The process there would be to enable Screen Sharing (in the Sharing panel of System Prefs), forward the appropriate ports, then use an app like Screens to connect to your desktop Mac, run ARD and Mathematica remotely on it, and do the above.

If you don't have your desktop Mac running all the time, you could in theory use Wake-on-LAN to turn it on, then access it with Screens, but that requires some other device to be always on, remotely accessible and capable of sending the WoL packet to the Mac (some routers are capable of this, typically with 3rd party firmware).


Use Guided Access

Open Settings.app -> General -> Accessibility -> Guided Access (On)
Open your Photos app and choose the album you want to show your friends.
Triple-click the side lock button (or home button, if applicable).
Select Guided Access if menu appears
Choose to deactivate certain areas of the touch screen to prevent them from accessing navigation.
Set a password when prompted
Start guided access and hand your phone around.

To End:

Triple-click side button
Tap Guided Access on menu if prompted
Enter Password
Select "End"

Tips: Restarting your phone will circumvent Guided Access so you will want to have a password on your phone. On iOS 9 you can swipe down on a photo to go back to the album view. To take care of this, make sure that you have only the photos that you want to be visible in a folder. Then disable the top, left, and bottom sections of the touch screen. Disable the left to prevent a swipe from moving them back to the main album photo listing.
After you setup Guided Access, it will remember your settings. If you just want to show one picture, just disable touch altogether.


How to dim screen on Mac before going to sleep

…so that I can hit a key to keep it unlocked if desired. Currently, there is no way to keep it from locking if it's started to turn off the screen.

It sounds like you don't need the old dimming action so much as you need a delay on the password lock following sleep or screensaver.

Open "System Preferences → Security & Privacy → General", and change the "Require password … after sleep or screen saver begins" dropdown from "immediately" to "5 seconds" or "1 minute" or longer even.


Same is happening to me. I'm on 10.1.1, downgraded from 10.2, but didn't notice if the issue started after upgrading to 10.2 or only after the downgrade.

I've found someone on the internet (couldn't find the link again) that suggested deleting and reinstalling each app, which I tested with one app and worked. But I'm still looking for a better solution, since it would be a real pain to delete and reinstall every single app...

For me, upgrading again to 10.2 and back to 10.1.1, but it didn't fix the problem.

Worst case, you can wipe all settings per this reddit thread which resolved my issues on this subject.

  I went to Settings > General > Reset > Reset all settings

Be careful not to reset settings and data The above option has similar wording, but only resets your settings without deleting apps content and data files / content.


Delays or skipping for single key on keyboard

It sounds like you have a defective keyboard. Yah it's difficult, nigh impossible, to diagnose hardware via messages on the internet but that is my guess.

It may be possible to find a used, working, keyboard on eBay or the like, if you feel up to replacing it yourself. iFixIt likely has a take apart guide that would show you how difficult it would be to do it.

If you are anywhere near an Apple Store I would make a full backup of your system. Create a new admin user for Apple to use and take it in to an Apple Store for diagnosis and/or repair.


Use hostnames from second network interface

To solve your problem you need to install a local DNS server.

The DNS server should then simply be setup to use your current DNS server for all lookups, except those that belong to the "custom hostnames" (*.myuni.co.uk for example) that you want to force to be looked up via the alternative DNS server.

For example here's the way to set it up with the the very popular "bind" DNS-server software:

You install "bind" by using HomeBrew. If you have HomeBrew installed already, you can open the Terminal and use this command to install it:

brew install bind

To configure bind, you need to edit the named.conf configuration file. First you need to define your local IPs (your own computers). This ensures that only you can do DNS lookups using your computer:

  acl mycomputers {
    localhost;
    localnets;
  }

This is a simple configuration that just allows your own computer to do lookups. If you have other devices that you want to use this computer for DNS as well, you can add their IPs or a whole subnet to the list as well.

Then in the existing "options" block, you make it look like this:

options {
  [...]
  recursion yes;
  allow-query { mycomputers };
  zone "myuni.co.uk" in { type forward; forward only; forwarders { 1.1.1.1; 2.2.2.2; }; };
  forwarders {
      8.8.8.8;
      8.8.4.4;
  }

}

Recursion means that you allow clients to lookup "other people's domains" - i.e. not just host names and IP addresses defined on your computer, but by looking other domain names up on the internet.

Allow-query restricts access to only your own computers.

The zone line means that the specific domain myuni.co.uk is going to be handled by a specific set of DNS-servers. I.e. all queries for *.myuni.co.uk is forwarded to these servers. You need to replace 1.1.1.1/2.2.2.2 with the IP addresses of your Uni's DNS servers.

The next line "forwarders" means that all other queries are forwarded to other DNS servers. In this case I just put in the IP addresses for Google's DNS service, but you can your existing DNS server IPs here.

Note that "bind" does come with lots of options and configuration possibilities - it might be a bit hard to grasp at first.

Another option would be install the more limited, but easier to setup "dnsmasq" software. It is also available from HomeBrew with brew install dnsmasq.

With dnsmasq you can essentially keep defaults to use your ordinary DNS servers, and then use the following option:

--server=/myuni.co.uk/1.1.1.1

to forward queries for *.myuni.co.uk to your Uni's DNS server (replace that IP for 1.1.1.1).

Note that dnsmasq also does other things than just DNS - like for example being a DHCP server. This functionality you do not want, so keep it disabled.


In the Terminal, at the start of the command line, tab completion is looking for an executable file that is on the PATH (unless a specific directory is indicated).

When you are looking in the Movies directory, and the current directory is likely not to be on the PATH so it will find the three files indicated.

In order to find out where these files are, you can use the which command:

$ which SetFile
/usr/bin/SetFile

To find the contents of the current directory, you would type the ls command. That should list the files that are in the directory. For more information about all the files, type ls -l.

Once you have a command shown, tab completion will look for a file in the current directory to use as an argument.

If you are looking to do something with a movie, you'll need a command. You might want to type open. So, type open Stab, and it should do the tab completion magic for you. The open command will open a file as if you double clicked on it. You can find out more about the open command by typing man open.


I can't restore my iPhone from the latest back up

You can issue "Forgot Apple ID or password?" on https://www.icloud.com/ open this link on your computer. Hope you get your password back!


If the plist file is in the XML format, you can edit it in any text editor like TextEdit. If the plist file is in the binary format, you can convert it to XML first by running:

plutil -convert xml1 file.plist

If you want to go back to binary format after editing:

plutil -convert binary1 file.plist

If you have Xcode 4.3 or later, you can use it to edit property lists in a graphical editor like this:

Xcode 4.2 and earlier came with a separate application for editing property lists (/Developer/Applications/Utilities/Property List Editor.app/).


Is there any documentation on the macOS Sierra new logging system?

Most of the logging that was being redirected into custom log files has defaulted back to the system log. As was mentioned in the post you referenced, the log command (man log) is the best way to access the information.

For netboot issues, looking at log messages from bootpd & tftp should give you useful info.

log stream --predicate  '(process == "bootpd") || (process == "tftp")' -info


Website URLs seem to refresh in the background

Many browsers do prerendering for often-visited sites.  It's possible Safari is preloading the URL as a top hit because you visit that URL a lot. Some browsers also prefetch sites to create image previews.

HTTP GETs are supposed to be safe and idempotent according to the W3C standards.  Many browsers (and proxy servers) make the assumption that it's safe to trigger and/or cache GETs. POSTs are supposed to be used for effect-inducing operations.


MacBook Air Running super slow after Catalina update

Step one is to open Activity Monitor and check if your drive is IO bound.

Next, once you're sure you're not waiting for storage to do work (by letting Spotlight and iCloud and all the expected programs to finish their work), then look at which programs are taking energy and finally look at the CPU to see what processes are busy.

After a day or two post install and letting the system clean up, it should be substantially faster or you should be able to razor focus on specific apps that are tripping up your Mac. We're seeing excellent performance after upgrading to Mojave and now Catalina across the board on our fleet of Macs. Comment or ask a follow on question if you need more help with pinpointing your blocking process or app.


Apps that are Chromium or Electron base crashes on Catalina beta 6 (19A536g)

Unfortunately, the best you can do is revert to Mojave. This is a bug in AppKit that Apple caused (and must soon fix). It persists in beta 7.

I can feel your pain. I need my Electron apps like VS Code and Insomnia. The bug also affects JetBrains apps like PyCharm and Android Studio (based off IntelliJ).


How do I regain my iTunes ratings and playlists?

You don’t mention by what means you transfered your music to the new computer so I don’t know if this will help or not but I’d recommend reviewing this page from apple that specifically addresses your use case, that is, How to move your iTunes library to a new computer.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204318

If you still have access to the “old” computer you may want to follow the directions on the above link.

I also found this page, about your itunes library files, may also shed some light on the missing ratings and playlists.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201610


How do I find where the file for a particular mp3 that I can see in iTunes is?

Select the song in iTunes and type ⇧+⌘+R to trigger Show in Finder.

Alternatively, you can also right-click the item in iTunes and choose this option from the contextual menu.

From there, you can navigate up the folder hierarchy by holding the ⌘-key and clicking on the folder in the window title bar. You might also want to enable Show Path bar in finder.


Assuming you installed gcc using brew, run brew info gcc. Find the path similar to /usr/local/Cellar/gcc/9.2.0. Go the that directory and find gcc file in bin. Copy the path name and paste it in Cmake (assuming GUI) as follows.

After cleaning cache in File -> Delete cache, start afresh in Tools -> Configure. Specify "Unix Makefiles" instead of Xcode and select "Specify native compilers."

In the compilers for C and C++, copy the full path found above. Similar to /usr/local/Cellar/gcc/9.2.0/bin/gcc-9.

And then try configuring. And update me with the log afterwards.


Get Instapaper to save blog comments with article

Instapaper uses various filters to figure out what to strip from the page and which content to keep (Coding Horror configuration is here).

My only suggestion would to be to write a script which takes the content + comments, puts them into a new page wrapped in a div which has the class instapaper_body and saves that to Instapaper.


From your photo, it looks like the disk has two Recovery Partitions for different updates of 10.11 (El Capitan).
It also looks to have an installer disk partition: like you would make for a USB stick in order to boot and install a version of MacOS.

I would select the first Recovery Partition (10.11.4), and from there launch Disk Utility and merge the other two partitions. Then install OS X from there.

If you've already tried installing from the Recovery Partition, and that's not working, then you could try Internet Recovery, which is what you do when the disk doesn't have a valid Recovery Partition. Option Command R.

Then try the same process from there: re-partition the disk and install the OS. It may install a different OS, but once it's done that, you can upgrade to whatever you like.


Does Apple Mail verify message has been moved to new folder before deleting it from old folder?

Through my own testing, I have been able to confirm that Apple Mail will return mail to the original folder if there are any issues moving it to the new account/folder.
At first, Apple Mail will show the mail message(s) as deleted from the original folder, then if/when an issue occurs that prevents the message(s) from being saved to the new account/folder, the message(s) will be returned to the original account/folder.


You're running an unsupported OS, things are likely to not work as expected. Just because you can squeeze Mojave onto an old Mac doesn't mean you should.
Mojave needs a Metal-capable GPU & iMovie is very probably using Metal.
Even a 5.1 can't run Mojave without one, let alone a 3,1.

The 3,1 isn't supposed to be able to run anything newer than El Cap, so why not try going back to that?


Can the AirPods info be shown on the iPhone bottom more reliably?

Open your case lid with your AirPods inside and hold your case close to your device. Wait a few seconds to see the charge status of your AirPods with a charging case. It appears as:

If you don't see info, then just take one Airpod and put back in case. Wait for a while and then it will appear again as shown in the picture. You don't need to reset to get the information back on your iPhone.


Position Dock stretched full width without increasing size proportionally

Was hoping to find an alternative solution but I was able to achieve what I wanted by

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '{"tile-type"="spacer-tile";}'

running that command several times (5 times actually) created 5 spaces in the dock which I just placed to one side to make it long enough to fill up the full height.

Now it looks like this


How can I automatically log out the guest account after a period of inactivity?

Maybe you could consider using SleepWatcher instead of the Security.prefPane; it´s a unix utility you could use to force a logout (or anything else via AppleScript) after a certain period of inactivity.


iPhone Not Showing Notification Content in Banner

In your screenshot of your current settings you are actually on the correct page, you just hadn't scrolled down far enough. If you go back to 'Settings > Notifications > Messages' and scroll down to below the "Messages Options" section the feature you want to enable to fix your problem is called "Show Previews".
Hope this helps! And if it does not fix the issue you're having could you post a new screenshot of what it shows below the "Messages Options" cutoff point in your original 'Settings' screenshot?


Search for link in Mail and click on it without using the mouse

I'm not sure if that is possible without additional software, but it definitely works if you use the tool Shortcat. With Shortcat, you can do a lot of things by keyboard that usually require a mouse.

I bought a license almost three years ago to support the project, but apparently you can still use it for free, because it has not officially left beta yet.


On iPad or iPhone, I take a snapshot of the screen looking at the screen sideway, but the snapshot is taken to be in Portrait mode?

You should be able to rotate images imported from a camera in iOS' Photos, so the functionality is there. For some reason it's not enabled for synced images or screenshots.

Instead of using a computer you can rotate images with an app providing the functionality. I think Myles also means this approach. Some free apps capable of image rotation:

PhotoPad
Adobe Photoshop Express


This is simply an option to allow people to change between filling the screen or showing the black bars.

It can be switched by double-tapping the video, or tapping the two arrows button on the toolbar.


New iTunes gives error: iTunes cannot verify the identity of the server "safebrowsing.clients.google.com"

I saw this same error on multiple occasions in iTunes 12.5.5.5 on Windows 10 when I tried to sync my iPhone.

I just upgraded to iTunes 12.6, and I no longer see that error.


pfctl config to only allow OpenVPN connection

The following works on Sierra.

Append the following lines to the end of /etc/pf.conf

anchor "org.vpnonly.pf"
load anchor "org.vpnonly.pf" from "/etc/pf.anchors/org.vpnonly.pf.rules"

Create this configuration file at /etc/pf.anchors/org.vpnonly.pf.rules

# Options
set block-policy drop
set fingerprints "/etc/pf.os"
set ruleset-optimization basic
set skip on lo0

# Interfaces
vpn_intf = "{ utun0 utun1 utun2 utun3 }"

# Ports
allowed_vpn_ports = "{ 1:65535 }"

# Table with allowed IPs
table <allowed_vpn_ips> persist file "/etc/pf.anchors/vpn.list" file "/etc/pf.anchors/custom.list"

# Block all outgoing packets
block out all

# Antispoof protection
#had to disable this to avoid error
#antispoof for $vpn_intf inet

# Allow outgoing packets to specified IPs only
pass out proto icmp from any to <allowed_vpn_ips>
pass out proto {tcp udp} from any to <allowed_vpn_ips> port $allowed_vpn_ports

# Allow traffic for VPN interfaces
pass out on $vpn_intf all

Create /etc/pf.anchors/vpn.list and /etc/pf.anchors/custom.list

sudo touch /etc/pf.anchors/vpn.list /etc/pf.anchors/custom.list

Add a list of allowed IP addresses (addresses of VPN servers) to /etc/pf.anchors/vpn.list

41.xxx.xxx.xxx
42.xxx.xxx.xxx

Add google DNS to custom /etc/pf.anchors/custom.list
    8.8.8.8
    8.8.4.4

sudo pfctl -e -f /etc/pf.conf and check for errors

To load at startup, edit to default pfctl at /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.pfctl.plist to set
<key>Disabled</key>
<true/>

ensure rootless mode is disabled. (boot to recovery terminal with Command+R at the chime and run csrutil disable run these commands, then return to recovery terminal afterwards to reenable rootless with csrutil enable

Create your LaunchDaemon at /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.pfctl.plist

<?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>com.apple.pfctl</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>pfctl</string>
        <string>-e</string>
        <string>-f</string>
        <string>/etc/pf.conf</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

finish with sudo chmod 644 /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.pfctl.plist, reboot with rootless mode enabled and you're set.


Does LED Cinema Display work with non Mac systems?

You can use the current version with other hardware, but it isn't trivial.

The LED Cinema Display connects to Macs using a Mini DisplayPort, which isn't popular on non-Apple hardware. However, you can get a converter like this one that lets you use the monitor with an HDMI connection. So, if the other machine has an HDMI out you could use that. I'm sure you can also find converters to use with VGA or DVI outputs.

The next version of the display will (almost certainly) use ThunderBolt instead of Mini DisplayPort. The physical connector is the same, but the data that travels over the cable is very different. These converters may or may not work with ThunderBolt; we'll have to wait for the product to come out and for someone to test.


Network Shares disappeared after adding shared volume to boot items

Well this turns out not to be a Mac issue after all!

Restarting my router fixes the problem. It seems to have DNS issues every now and then.


How to access Console Device log in macOS via terminal

log collect has --device/--device-name options.

--device Collect system logs from paired device (first device found).
--device-name name Collect system logs from paired device with the given name.
--device-udid UDID Collect system logs from paired device with the given UDID.

Collect some logs
log collect --device-name foo

wait, then ⌃C

Show the logs collected
log show --archive system_logs.logarchive


How to enable faster WiFi Roaming with Mac OS X & Airport base stations

You can change the system preferences for JoinMode and JoinModeFallback to be the following:

    JoinMode (String)
        Automatic
        Preferred
        Ranked
        Recent
        Strongest
    JoinModeFallback (String)
        Prompt
        JoinOpen
        KeepLooking
        DoNothing

Do this using the airport command:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/A/Resources/airport

Run the command to see the options, up the top you'll see a section on how to sec preferences.

For instance:

sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/A/Resources/airport prefs joinMode=Strongest

Note, this preference isn’t permanent, so you may need to automate this or issue it for specific problem situations or network providers.


How do I do the balloons effect in iOS 10's Messages?

1. Write your message (you'll add your effect when you're ready to send)
2. Hold down the blue, circular send icon—"Send with effect" options will show
3. Select the "Screen" tab and swipe between your five options. Press the blue icon to confirm and send!
It only plays once, on arrival, and does not replay so enjoy the moment. As of now, the effects can only be sent and played back on iOS. (They'll show as plain iMessages in the macOS app.)


pwd in bash is wrong after sending directory to trash

This behavior actually has nothing to do with the .Trash directory.  You can get into a similar situation by moving your current working directory to any other location.  The pwd command and echo $PWD will both be inaccurate.

What I have found is that starting a new bash process will correctly identify the new location of your current working directory.  Therefore a workaround would be to simply "refresh" your current bash process with a new one with the command exec bash.


Is is possible to prevent OS X firmware password removal?

In a word, no.  If you are concerned with the contents of your machine being compromised should the machine be stolen a better bet may be to encrypt your drive with FileVault (assuming you are or intend to upgrade to using Lion).  Even if the firmware passwords was irreversible, it would not stop someone simply taking your disk out and reading another way.  The only benefit I can see is preventing a theif from being able to ever use the mcahine he just stole, but frankly this won't help stop your laptop from being stolen in the first place, although it probably would result in it getting binned if it was, rather than re-used and potentially identified at a later date via it's serial number etc.


How do we extend trackpad touch area all the way to the edge in OS X?

Sadly, you can't. This is just a system software thing, and unfortunately, you can't go in and modify system software. There's no setting for it and I don't imagine there's a third-party app for this.


You can use Automator to create your droplet. The process of updating a file's time stamp is called touch; this superuser question explains more, How can I “touch” a file from the Mac UI?

Launch Automator.app
Create a new workflow
Add a Run Shell Script action
Set Pass input: to as arguments
Within the script, replace echo with touch
Save your workflow as an application

To learn more about using Automator, see Apple's Mac Basics: Automator.


How do I grant access in Files and Folders in Catalina for Chrome?

I found a workaround by triggering Chrome to add my Documents folder to Security and Privacy:

Initially, Chrome had no access granted in System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy tab -> 'Files and Folders', nor in 'Full Disk Access'.

I have an HTML file 'index.html' in my Documents folder.

Open a Terminal and run the command:

open ~/Documents/index.html
Chrome is my default browser, hence tries to open the HTML file
Chrome displays the following dialog box:

After granting permissions and opening the file, we can see in System Preferences that Chrome now has access to Documents.

In addition, my web page with the RFC1867 'Browse...' file upload button now works as expected.


Reverse image searches with tineye.com and Google Search by Image return no matches. This is not a widely used image with a common meaning.


Use EnableGlobbing:

<key>EnableGlobbing</key>
<true/>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
    <string>~/Library/Containers/com.mycompany.myproduct/myproduct.app/Contents/MacOS/myproduct</string>
</array>

It works with ProgramArguments but not with Program.


Just enable Show Developer Menu in Safari's Preferences, Advanced tab.

It will enable the option Inspect Element when you right click the page. You can also start it with Command+Option+I.

You can get more info about this option in Safari for Developers - Tools and Safari Web Inspector Guide: The Develop Menu.


How are images stored on the hard drive of an iPhone?

All the images are stored as jpegs in various locations. The camera roll, for example, is stored in /private/var/mobile/Media/ (unless they've moved it).


Are AirPlay2 device retrocompatible with AirPlay

AirPlay 2 is backward compatible.  You can use AirPlay 2 to play to any AirPlay compatible device.

The main difference, but not the only difference, is that AirPlay is 1:1; you can play to only one device.

AirPlay 2 is 1:many; you can play from one device to multiple other devices.

Here's a good write-up on AirPlay 2 and the benefits it brings.


iTunes 12.4.3 (on OS X 10.11.6) : podcasts : issues with HTTP/1.1 redirect 302?

The problems turns out to come from my ESET Endpoint Antivirus 6.3.85 (and earlier) on OSX 10.11.6 (and earlier). More particularly ESET's Web Access Protection.

When I disable it, everything works fine.
To recap, the problem appears with any software accessing URLs like

http://rf.proxycast.org/1181578500855832576/14489-02.07.2016-ITEMA_21024836-0.mp3 (1)

That URL redirects to

http://media.radiofrance-podcast.net/podcast09/14489-02.07.2016-ITEMA_21024836-0.mp3 (2)

URL (1) actually breaks in iTunes, Safari, Chrome, Firefox.

URL (2) works fine anywhere.

I tried excluding the domain "proxycast.org" from the URL scanning list, but that does not solve the problem completely.
iTunes still fails to handle correctly the redirect it seems, as does Safari. Chrome and Firefox do play the URL.

Right now the only, temporarily acceptable workaround I can find is to exclude the IP address of (1) scanning by ESET.
This will only work of course until that IP changes.

So to conclude:

There is an issue linking HTTP redirects, ESET Endpoint Antivirus for Mac OS X, and iTunes for OSX (or Safari).

PS: I don't have this issue with those podcasts on other machines, Mac and PC, that do not run ESET.


There was an error connecting to Apple ID server

Old question: new answer.  Today I had the same problem on my iPad mini.  It turns out that a prior troubleshooting solution was to manually reset the date to an earlier time.  My date was 4 years (yes!) off.  I went to settings and changed to my iPad time to "set automatically" and everything worked.  Other symptoms besides this included the search function in the app store never returning any results.  That was also fixed once the correct time was set.


How can I create a morning routine with my HomePod that would read me today’s weather?

You can surely do it with the Shortcuts app. It's available on iOS and every shortcut you create will be synchronised with your other Apple products on the same iCloud account.

It works well with HomeKit, the default weather app and the Apple Music radio stations. You can trigger a shortcut with Siri, and you should check out the user guide for more infos.


I found this post to be very interesting:

http://osxdaily.com/2016/12/17/fix-mail-not-showing-attachments-mac/

Backup your computer
Rebuild your email mailbox(es) (this may take a long time to run, be sure your connected to internet because it's going to reload all the mails)
In your "Account Information", select Download Attachement that matters to you (all)
Restart Mail.

Hope that helps


Is there a way to open Mail.App from QuickMailer?

That's actually pretty easy, you just double click the icon in the Menubar.


Is there a way to purchase incompatible app from Mac App Store

Unfortunately, the only way I've found the App Store to cooperate with that was to create a user account on a compatible system from which to log into the App Store and download the now-compatible app. For example, on my Lion system with a 32-bit EFI, I was unable to download Mountain Lion or newer to install on my daughter's MBA. I had to log into her Air in my account to download the OS upgrade for her.

Not convenient.


If you download a pdf then click on the arrow on the downloaded file button at the bottom of the browser window and select "Always open files of this type", then pdf files will be automatically opened by the default application on download - in your case skim.

They will still be in the download folder however.

To undo this behaviour go into chrome advanced settings and under Download click "Clear auto-opening sett


Yes, it is possible to write such an app. It is actually very simple as what you're describing is really just a specialised form of an ordinary web browser. You'll find multiple browser apps on the App Store, so these apps are well established.

Yes, Apple could possibly deny such an app from being listed on the App Store. It is their store after all, so in theory they have the possibility of denying any app. This is not the same as saying that this app will be denied - not at all.

Yes, it is possible to create such a "token system". Apple explicitly details that in-app purchases can be used for in app currencies or "credits", and that these can be used to "tip" digital content providers.

All in all, from your description it seems unlikely that your app idea will be approved on the App Store. Apple explicitly forbids creating an app that is really just an interface for displaying third party apps similar to the App Store. Apple also explicitly forbids creating apps that download and run code for running other apps inside an app.

Whether or not your idea is a forbidden App Store competitor, or it is an allowed "curated web browser" really depends on the execution of your idea.


When I try to delete some old folders on my mac desktop I get error. I have tried some method but failed. Error is shown in description

Have you tried removing/deleting those files and folders through command line using terminal ?

Open Terminal
type rm -r followed by Space
Drop&Drag the files/folders to be deleted into the Terminal window (so the file path gets inserted)
Press Return


SSH to a remote station without port forwarding on my mac

are you referring to port forwarding or agent forwarding?  By default, port forwarding isn't enabled unless you use -L or -R options.

Agent forwarding (for authentication using keys in your local ssh-agent) can be enabled by using

ssh -A <user>@<host>

Let me know if this is helpful.


Creating bootable USB from "Install OS X El Capitan.iso"

All I did was wrote the image to USB Drive with dd command from the terminal and it booted like a charm. The command I used was:

$ diskutil list
$ cd /path/to/Install_OS_X_10.11_El_Capitan.iso
$ sudo dd if=Install_OS_X_10.11_El_Capitan.iso of=/dev/disk2 bs=1m

Replace disk2 with the appropriate drive listed in the output of the first command. For example, disk3 or disk4.


If I have family-sharing do I have to buy everything through it?

Once you have family sharing turned on all purchases that aren't covered by a store-credit get billed through the shared payment method which is one charge card entered by the "Family Organizer" Apple ID.

Quote from the Apple Support article:

  After you set up your family, any time a family member initiates a new purchase it will be billed directly to your account unless that family member has gift or store credit.

As a workaround @bmike recommends purchasing a gift card and/or refilling your iTunes balance so that no purchase ever is made on anything but store credit.

Discounted gift cards can be found at Costco and you can also store your iTunes account in iOS wallet app and recharge it at Apple Retail Stores.


Time Machine would be your best route. Boot the new computer up holding Command + R and then in the Recovery utility, select "Restore from Time Machine backup" - assuming it is a full backup, it should work OK.


How can I specify delimiters in Terminal for word and character selection before copying and pasting?

You might want to take a look at iTerm2, where you can set the word delimiter in the preferences. I'm a recent convert myself and like it a lot better than Terminal.app. There's a special Terminal.app keyboard shortcut compatibility set to make switching easier.


Catalina Mail super slow when composing new emails?

Open up a Finder app session
You will need access to your User library
Go to Folder Containers > com.apple.mail > Data > Library > Saved Application State

Go > Go To Folder and type in as shown above.
Move com.apple.mail.savedState to Trash

Move this folder to the trash
Next, in Finder app, press down the Option key and click on Go at the top of the menu
Type in ~/Library/Containers
Drag com.apple.mail and com.apple.MailServiceAgent out to your desktop
Similarly, remove the envelope files from ~/Library/Mail/MailData and drag them to trash

Envelope Index
Envelope Index-shm
Envelope Index-wal

Empty your Trash and Restart your Mac

If your Mail works without hiccups, you can move the files from your desktop into Trash ( file from step 8 above).


Activating screen saver from AppleScript in Mountain Lion

That is a nice way of starting a random screen saver.
If, however, you'd simply like to start the active screen saver, you can use this in Mountain Lion:

tell application "System Events"
    start current screen saver
end tell


how can i stop the thief from using my iPhone?

I believe in some country you can file a complain with your IMEI number and UDID (which you can have on your purchase proof or in iTunes in last device) and the police can then ask Apple to block the phone.

Anyway, the best practice here is to file the complain, you never know what happen with your data...

BTW, no need for internet connection because it's directly over GSM network


Create and set environment variable in MacOSX

In general, there is no one environment on macOS. Not all programs and not even all command line utilities respect the same common environment space.

On OS X - the launch daemon has been around and it spins up a sandboxed / isolated state for each app and each process, so you would edit into the preference / database entry for each process the variables it needs.

The current implementation would be to make a defaults write to write whatever values you want to your "global environment" and than have each program read those preferences as part of their startup or refresh script.

I would encourage you to ask a follow on question since no one really wants to sign variables, they want to write variables so some programs can do something with them. Let's dive into what one or three programs would read what specific variable to do some thing and explore if you are stuck with making a modification to each one or could set up some sort of shared database or call to make those changes effective.


rWhen you kill iTunes, do you kill iTunes Helper too?:

$ ps -cef | grep iTunes
1001  7878   243   0  8:30AM ??         0:05.38 iTunes
1001  7882   243   0  8:31AM ??         0:00.03 iTunesHelper

If you can't kill iTunesHelper also, you will need to add "intr" to the mount options. Having done that, you should be able to stop processes waiting on IO from the unavailable filesystem. Once you can get rid of processes using the filesystem, you should be able to umount it.


How can I check if Java is installed on my Mac?

If it's responding with No Java runtime present, requesting install.... well, it's not installed. I believe that Apple's default installer still installs Java 6; I'd recommend getting the latest version (right now Java 8u144) from here.

With Java 8, java -v fails with Unrecognized option: -v. Use java -version instead.


Importing Photos from Lion to Yosemite Photo Library to External Storage Device

From Apple Support:

  To migrate another photo library manually:

  Quit Photos.
  Hold down the Option key and open Photos.
  Select the library you want to open.
  If the library you want isn’t listed, click Other Library. Navigate to the library you want and click Open.

  You can also drag the library you’d like to open to the Photos icon in the Dock. Or you can click Create New to create an all-new, empty library.

  Photos can use libraries from iPhoto 8.0 or later and any version of Aperture. If you’d like to migrate a library from iPhoto 7 or earlier, use Apple’s free iPhoto Library Upgrader tool to prepare your library first.


How does Parallels' CPU and ram usage work? When to shutdown virtual machine?

Alright, let's see what we can do here!

1) Suspending vs. Shutting Down in Parallels
a) How it affects the host OS
Both options do not affect the host operating system - in your case, OS X - from a resource usage standpoint. Rather, they only affect how the guest OS will boot next time - (i.e. waking up from sleep vs. a cold boot).
When suspending, it works just like a physical Windows machine: it saves the current state of the operating system for later use. Unlike a physical machine, however, it uses no extra battery power, RAM, or CPU cycles to do so; Parallels unloads it from RAM and stores it purely on the hard disk (think of it closer to a Windows laptop "hibernating" than "sleeping").
b) How it affects the guest OS
On the other hand, both of these options have a more prominent effect on the guest OS. Aside from the standard reasons one might want to shut down a computer versus letting it sleep (updates, troubleshooting, etc.), there's one other reason to shut down the virtual machine: Parallels locks down quite a few of the guest OS settings (boot order, coherence mode, shared apps, etc.) and prevents them from being changed if the virtual machine state is anything other than shut down.
c) Which should be used?
In my personal experience with Parallels, I have found no issues with using sleep consistently between sessions. The only time I shut down virtual machines is if I want to change some of the Parallels settings for that particular guest OS or if I encounter an odd bug that can pop up in Windows from time to time.
2) Resource Usage
a) RAM
A set amount of RAM is reserved specifically for the guest OS - which you indicated to be 2GB; Parallels will not use significantly more or less.
b) CPU
i) Usage
CPU, like the guest OS hard disk, is used on an "as-needed" basis and is accurately reported in the Activity Monitor.
ii) Reservation or parking
Parallels will not reserve (or "park") cores; the option you see in the guest OS options (Hardware > CPU & Memory > CPUs) merely limits the number cores that the guest OS will have access to rather than purely reserving them exclusively. This way the guest OS can extensively use these assigned cores, and if the guest OS begins to have a large work load, the host OS can use the remaining cores to continue its business without having processes choked from the guest OS.

Hopefully that helps you out! If you have any questions or need clarification on any of that, comment and let me know!


It appears that a jailbreak has been developed for non-A5 iDevices running iOS 5.0.1, but no jailbreak yet exists for the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S, which use the A5 chip.

Note that this is a rather localized answer; it seems quite likely that a jailbreak will eventually be developed, but as of January 2, 2012, this seems to be the state of things.


Are rc.shutdown and rc.shutdown.local still usable on OS X Lion?

I have no idea, really. There is a mention of /etc/rc.shutdown.local in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.SystemStarter.plist, but I am not at all sure what it means. The manual page for SystemStarter is not a great help, beyond informing us that it is deprecated. The program is running on my system, though. Oh, and the string /etc/rc.shutdown.local is found inside the SystemStarter binary as well. My guess is that files there will be run at shutdown.

But if I may answer your implicit question of how to run something at shutdown: Here is what I have done. First, I wrote and compiled this little C program. What it does is simply to sleep until it receives a SIGTERM, at which point it exec's its arguments:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <signal.h>

char **args;

void sigterm(int s) {
  execvp(args[1],args+1);
  fprintf(stderr, "%s: exec failed: ", args[0]);
  perror(args[1]);
  exit(1);
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
  args=argv;
  signal(SIGTERM,sigterm);
  for (;;) sleep(0x7FFFFFFF);
}

I have a launch daemon set up to run this program at startup. Come shutdown time, launchd will send the SIGTERM that causes the program to do its thing. Of course, it has to do so fairly quickly, or launchd will apply a bigger sledgehammer.

Here is my launchctl plist, named no.ntnu.math.hanche.quietboot.plist and placed in /Library/LaunchDaemons/. Its sole purpose is to run `nvram SystemAdioVolume=%01' at shutdown, so I can reboot without the chime.

<?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>no.ntnu.math.hanche.quietboot</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/local/bin/atshutdown</string>
        <string>/usr/sbin/nvram</string>
        <string>SystemAudioVolume=%01</string>
    </array>
    <key>Disabled</key>
    <false/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <false/>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>


How can I change the resolution on my Mac to 720p (1280x720)?

One quick tip for finding more resolutions is to hold the Option key while clicking Scaled in System Preferences > Displays. This definitely works in OS X El Capitan and I think it worked in Yosemite at least.

For example, without Option, my 1440x900 macbook air screen gives me 1440 x 900, 1280 x 800, 1152 x 720, and 1024 x 640. But when I add Option, it adds 1140 x 810, 1280 x 720 (the one you want), and 800 x 600.


Can I turn to Dark Mode only for specific apps in macOS Mojave?

There's a command that works for this:

defaults write <Bundle-Identifier> NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool yes

It's explained here: https://www.tekrevue.com/tip/exclude-app-dark-mode-macos-mojave/

If you don't know the app's bundle id, you can query it using AppleScript, which you can run from the command line with osascript:

osascript -e 'id of app "<App-Name>"'


How do you type ~ on the iPhone's keyboard?

On keyboard, press the 123 button to bring up numbers. From here press #+= to bring up more characters. ~ is the 4th from the left, second row.

Answered on an iPhone :D


Why are some Mail messages shown as empty with "This message has no content"?

I don't know why this happens either, but did I find a workaround that's a bit more lightweight than restarting Mail.app:

  Delete the message, and hit CMD-Z (undo delete) immediately after that. This brings back the message, including its lost content.


iCloud is a sync solution, not a backup solution. Deleting from one device deletes from all, by design.
If you used two separate IDs, they would not sync at all. Each would be completely independent.
If you don't want syncing, you'd be best to disable it rather than attempt to use two separate IDs.
System Prefs > iCloud > iCloud Drive > Options…
Disable everything except essentials like Contacts etc.
As it's a structure I've never used, precisely because I don't want the same data on all machines, I don't know what warnings you will get if you disable. Make sure at least one machine keeps the original data & make sure Time Machine is up to date.


Is it possible to migrate keyboard shortcuts for all my applications via an export?

It depends on how you have defined the shortcut keys. The files responsible for storing these preferences are in the usual place: ~/Library/Preferences

You could simply move the files that store the preferences over to the new Mac:

com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist
com.apple.universalaccess.plist
com.apple.iWork.Keynote.plist
com.apple.iWork.Pages.plist

If you were good at parsing JSON or XML, you could do the export to a text file as well using the plutil tool.


How can I backup and restore Wi-Fi profiles in Lion?

If you backup your keychain as well as the file /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
and restore them on a new installed Lion, you won't lose them.

Another way would be to use the Migration Assistant on a Time Machine Backup of your old system, but this would restore ALL your system settings. That's probably not what you want, otherwise you wouldn't consider reinstalling.


Can I publish a "coming soon" version of my application? (e.g. information regarding the upcoming service, ability to reserve a spot)

As long as you're releasing a functioning app that works, I can't see a reason why it wouldn't be approved.

However, this assumes that the app actually serves a purpose in its current state and that all you're doing is including additional info such as Coming soon etc.

If Apple does have an issue with the current version, you'll receive an email from iTunes Connect advising you that the App Store Review team have sent you a message and you can view and respond to it via the Resolution Centre. Typically this gives you the chance to address their concerns and, if necessary, to make changes.

Even if they didn't give you this opportunity, you can always resubmit the app once you've updated it.


How to tell if certain pre-2015 app is 64 bit?

The easy way for me is to install the app on iOS 10.3 (or later) device.

Then open the settings app.

tap general
tap About
tap Applications

iOS will report on the possibility to update all 32 bit apps you have installed on the device by letting you tap to each entry in the App Store where the developer web site is another tap away.


In my google chrome for mac, CMD + Shift + r to reload the current webpage does not work?

In most cases, the reason is, that another application does already listening to the same shortcut.

  In my case it was another running application called Be Focused (Pro) which uses the same shortcut (CTRL+CMD+R) defined as a global shortcut per default.

1.) Try to close a bunch of running applications

Try closing all other running applications. Even the apps which has only an icon in the macOS tray area.
Try the problematic shortcut after a restart of Google Chrome (chrome://restart)
If the shortcut works now, you know that at least one of the closed applications listening to that shortcut and prevents it from working in Google Chrome.

2.) Try to open program for program and test the problematic shortcut in Google Chrome (after a restart) if it still works.

  When you found the responsible application, try to adjust their shortcut configuration.


How to download Mojave now that Catalina is available?

Open the link in Safari so that it finds the Mac App Store to open the application.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210190

If you have failures after getting the Mac App Store to receive the link or the installer is too small or doesn’t work, this post is amazing and can help with different issues specific to machines and OS versions.

How can I download an older version of OS X/macOS?


Can. MacBook Pro run in closed-display mode without physically. closing the lid?

So, basically, you want to be in closed clam shell mode but keep the lid open so you can hear the speakers better.
Unfortunately, there's no command that will disable a monitor.
Use a magnet to trigger the lid sensor
You didn't identify which MacBook Pro, but it's not really necessary.  Simply slide a small magnet (a refrigerator magnet will suffice) around the the outer rim of the top case (where the keyboard is) until the screen shuts off.  That's where the sensor is located.  This will work will all Mac laptops.
Use External Speakers
A better option, IMO, is to use quality external speakers.  There's a limit to how "good" internal speakers sound and a speaker no more than 2 inches (5cm) in diameter driven at a few measly watts isn't going to give you quality sound.  Get a USB DAC (Digital to Audio Converter) and connect some quality speakers - it will make a substantial difference in what you're hearing.


What procedure should be followed post spilling fluids onto a MacBook keyboard?

I'm writing this answer in the hopes to dispel the myths surrounding liquid damage repair.  Putting the device in a bag of rice, in the oven, in the sunlight, next to a radiator, heater vent, use a blow dryer, etc. are all nonsense "fixes" that gives you a false sense of security.  You can actually do more damage after drying things out and powering things on following these internet fixes.
No. Do NONE of this.
The only exception is to turn it off, immediately.

Do not use a towel to "wipe" it up as you're going to spread and "push" liquid deeper into cracks and crevices.  Put it on a towel and pat it dry with (preferably) paper towels.

Do not turn it upside down as gravity will pull that liquid across unaffected areas of the machine

Do not put it in rice or some other desiccant hoping that it will somehow fix the problem.  Rice can't fix anything but hunger pangs.

Do not put it next to a radiator, in the sunlight, or use a hair dryer.  Once you evaporate the liquid, whether by heating or just though the natural evaporation process, contaminants are still left over.

Why?
It needs to be cleaned.
A simple water spill isn't so simple.  The impurities in water are what makes water electrically conductive.  Pure (distilled) water cannot conduct electricity so it actually cannot harm your computer. The problem is water has salts and contaminants and it's this that causes damage to your Mac.
Removing all power and getting it to a competent technician within hours of the spill - not days is the only sure fire way to protect and contain liquid damage. Any other action rolls the dice and can allow capillary action to let liquid seep to every crack, crevice and corner of the device and cause corrosion and short circuits since the battery is still powering parts of the machine when off.
This also is a safety issue if the water gets into the charged battery.
Beverages of different sorts can wreak havoc, salts (metals) are conductive so thing can short out.  There can be acids (juice) or bases (milk) that can cause corrosion.  Corroded circuits can actually destroy components and the traces embedded within the PCB.  For a refresher, take a look at the Mythbusters episode "Salsa Escape" and see what running a small current through the acidic salsa mixture can do to steel.  Now apply that to the tiny "width of a hair" copper traces on a PCB.

How to clean a liquid damaged MacBook
If you don't have the technical skills, don't do this!  Take it in for service.
This needs to be professionally cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner and electrical solvent.  This requires the logic board to removed, cleaned in the solvent and rinsed in 90% isopropyl  alcohol (not the 70% stuff as there's too much water content).  Then it needs to be dried and subsequently tested.
Can you use cotton swabs and isopropyl alcohol?  Possibly, but it's not reliable.  You'll have better results cleaning the case with this method than you will the PCB or electronic components.  Using alcohol or electrical solvent with a soft nylon bristle brush (toothbrush) will be much better.  You still will want to wash it completely with alcohol and dry with compressed air.
Now, while this will help with the logic board, liquid that happened to get into and in between components (i.e. the glass panes in a track pad) and subsequently evaporated will leave behind whatever residue was in the liquid. This may cause the component to become inoperable. The part might need to be individually cleaned or replaced.
TL;DR

Stay calm.  I know you've just watched your $3,000 baby get a shower from a $6 Starbucks Frap-a-something-chino, but a clear head will help you by not making the problem worse.

Turn off the machine.  No power, nothing to short circuit.

Using lots of paper towels, attempt to absorb as much as the liquid as you can.  Don't wipe; pat or blot; wiping can "push" the liquid making things worse.

Take it for service right away - time is a factor here.  Give the tech full details.  He/she has seen it all and there's no reason to be embarrassed - the more info they have, the better they can get right to the problem and rescue your Mac with a high degree of success.


Flash doesn't appear in my Chromium "chrome://plugins" page

You can try to use the system-flashplayer, but you have to enable "Enable NPAPI Mac, Windows" in about:flags first.


How to remove windows partition without having to erase the other one?

I had this same issue about 2 years ago and had to take it in to Apple to have mine fixed. The long and short of it is that your computers HD is really locked up and without the help of the Genius Bar it wont get fixed on your own. They had to work their magic for 5 days before they got it back to normal. Good luck.


Stop iTunes from opening when a device is plugged in?

Under System Preferences → Users → [you] → Login Items → select iTunesHelper, then click the minus sign and log out/into your Mac.

No devices will cause iTunes to launch (that's the whole purpose of iTunesHelper).


Depends on which version of iOS you're on. You gain all features and bug fixes implemented since then and possibly support running more software, or get more features with the software you have. The same as with any computer, really. This Wikipedia article might give you an idea.

If you're happy as-is, you might not want to bother. But don't come crying when a long-fixed bug, or maybe a hardware problem (no backups?), eats your music and apps.


What is the difference between shutdown command and doing shutdown from apple menu?

From the shutdown man page:

 Upon shutdown, all running processes are sent a SIGTERM followed by a
 SIGKILL.  The SIGKILL will follow the SIGTERM by an intentionally inde-
 terminate period of time.  Programs are expected to take only enough time
 to flush all dirty data and exit.  Developers are encouraged to file a
 bug with the OS vendor, should they encounter an issue with this func-
 tionality.

So from what I understand, processes may be killed before they have properly cleaned up.

From the launchctl man page:

  reboot [system|userspace|halt|logout|apps|reroot <mount-point>]
              Instructs launchd to begin tearing down userspace. With no argu-
              ment given or with the system argument given, launchd will make
              the reboot(2) system call when userspace has been completely
              torn down. With the halt argument given, launchd will make the
              reboot(2) system call when userspace has been completely torn
              down and pass the RB_HALT flag, halting the system and not ini-
              tiating a reboot.

This is what I think shutting down via the menu does, it is better as it ensures that all userland processes are exited cleanly before halting/rebooting the system.

I would be tempted to say that the launchctl method is better, and the shutdown -h now method could possibly result in some oddities should a process be killed before properly cleaning itself up.


"Last Import" in Photos shows 1,000s of photos, not just last import

You could try rebuilding your Photos Library. However, ensure you have a backup of your Photos Library (e.g. a Time Machine backup) before rebuilding the library!

To rebuild the library, follow these steps:

Make sure that Photos is not running
While holding down the optioncommand keys, launch the Photos app
The Repair Library window should appear
Click on Repair to rebuild your photo library

Depending on the size of your library, this may take some time.


Install my ATI graphics card in Parallels

I doubt you'll get a graphics driver to install in Parallels, as it's using Parallels own driver. Even if you did, it would only disable AA in Windows, not in the Mac.
You might have a better chance in Boot Camp, as at least you can install the drivers to that.

Alternatively, did you try just disabling font smoothing in System Prefs > General ?


How can I remap mousebuttons in macos mojave

This works like a charm and is free software: https://sensible-side-buttons.archagon.net/


How to stop mac from moving windows from external display to laptop when opening laptop lid

Welcome to Ask Different. I think your experimentation has you on the right track. If you drag a window to the external monitor before closing the lid on your laptop, it should stay on the external monitor after opening the lid again. You may also want to check which monitor you have as primary - that's where your desktop icons will first appear. In System Preferences, go to Displays and then click on the Arrangement tab. The display with the white bar on top is primary. You can drag that bar to the other display to make it primary.


The easiest way to play a MIDI file with a VST plugin is to load it in some VST host (see here for a random list).

If you want to use a virtual MIDI port, you can create one with the IAC driver.


If I symlink an iCloud folder to my OS X drive, will the files only be accessible while I'm online?

Any alias needs the real data available in order to work with it.  There are two aliases available in Mac OS X:

Finder alias
Symbolic link

FINDER ALIAS
A Finder alias stores some information, like where a file is to be found and what login information is required to access the file share that file is located on. It does not store the login information, but knows which they use (in case it is stored in your keychain). If it is opened, a Finder alias will see, if the file is already available and if not will try to establish the connection of the remote drive, if possible, then open the file.

SYMBOLIC LINK
A symbolic link is simply a link information on where a file is to be looked for. If that file is moved, renamed or the remote share is disconnected a symbolic link becomes broken. A broken symbolic link can be "repaired" by moving that file back into place, renaming it back to how it was named before or reconnecting the remote share again. Otherwise, you would need to delete and recreate the symbolic link with the new location or name.

At any rate, for working with a file's information offline, you would need to have that information available offline and not just a link.


Sync only accepted Facebook events in iOS calendar

You can use Facebook Event Calendar. Simple, efficient, clever, with options. Read every step carefully, and you'll be able to customize your calendar synchronisation and it works perfectly.


Notes on a different account (@gmail) and have icloud account. Unable to see the notes on icloud

I just found and fixed an issue that I had that may be related.  Somehow in settings on my iPhone I had Notes set with a default account of gmail.  I changed it to cloud and magically everything started synching again.  I have no idea how gmail became the default account as I don't use it for notes, but that worked...


How to programmatically get the path to the wallpaper on the active desktop?

tell application "System Events" to picture of desktop 1

View all properties:

tell application "System Events" to get properties of every desktop


I can't trash files anymore, but only delete them directly

Check the ownership and permissions on ~/.Trash.

mress:10039 Z$ ls -ld ~/.Trash
drwx------  285 allbery  staff  9690 Jun 28 16:53 /Users/allbery/.Trash/

My guess is it somehow ended up being owned by root, but there are other possibilities.  If it's the owner, the fix is sudo chown $USER ~/.Trash ~/.Trash/.DS_Store.


Bash or sh cannot execute any binary files

When you call /bin/bash with only one argument, you can only run scripts. Not binaries. This has nothing to do with the tools you installed, it's just the behavior described in the man page.

/bin/bash -c ls should do what you want.


SSH not working after macOS 10.15.6 update

Somehow resetting NVRAM solved the issue. I am still puzzled about the cause of the bug, but at least I got ssh working properly again.
Here is a link to an Apple help-document on how to do this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063


Move windows around a desktop -- and to different desktops -- using only the keyboard?

Moving windows to another space:

SizeUp (still works for me in 10.8)
Spacey (stopped working in 10.7)

Moving windows to another display:

BetterSnapTool
BetterTouchTool
Flexiglass
Moom
Optimal Layout
SizeUp
Spectacle
Window Mover


Force to install a software on older macos version

Your best bet is a Virtual Machine using VMWare or Parallels, as historystamp suggested.

In most cases, if the app won't install on a given version of macOS, there's probably a good reason for it. I wouldn't be surprised if it failed to run even if you managed to get it running.

That being said, if you are determined to try, there are two free tools to help:

unpkg
Suspicious Package

Both will let you “extract” the contents of a package file. From there you can move them into the proper places and see if it runs.


Download the 1.69f3 SMC 1.5 Update from (MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.5). This gives you the file "MacBookProSMCUpdate.dmg", mount that and look for the file "MBP15.pkg" and copy that to your HD.
Download unpkg from (http://www.timdoug.com/unpkg/) and install it.
Open unpkg and drop the file "MBP15.pkg" on it. This unpacks that file into a folder called MBP15. Open MBP15 ▸ System ▸ Library ▸ CoreServices ▸ Firmware Updates and locate the file "MBP15SMC15.smc". Copy this to a folder on your desktop called SMC or something like that.
Now download the 1.69f4 SMC 1.7 Update from (MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.7). This files is also called "MacBookProSMCUpdate.dmg" so mine was renamed "MacBookProSMCUpdate (1).dmg" this may vary on your system so make sure you know which file is which. Mount this file and look fot the file "MacBookProSMCUpdate.pkg" and copy that to your HD.
Open unpkg again and drop the file "MacBookProSMCUpdate.pkg" on it. This gives you a folder called MacBookProSMCUpdate. Open MacBookProSMCUpdate ▸ MBP91 ▸ System ▸ Library ▸ CoreServices ▸ Firmware Updates and locate the file "SmcFlasher.efi" and "VerifyRequirements". Copy those to the SMC folder you created earlier. That folder should now contain 3 files "MBP15SMC15.smc, SmcFlasher.efi and VerifyRequirements". I´m not sure if that last file is needed but this worked for me. I also renamed the file "MBP15SMC15.smc" to "2011MBP15.smc" because that is the name of the 1.7 SMC that is used with that version of SmcFlasher.efi, again i´m not sure if this is needed.
We need a way to boot into an EFI shell. Download the disk image for rEFIt from (http://refit.sourceforge.net/). Mount that and copy the folder "efi" to the same place as your "SMC" folder, for me this was my desktop.
Use a USB drive, i used a simple 2GB stick, format that as HFS+ journaled extended, GUID partition table. Copy the two folders "SMC" and "efi" onto that drive. Start Terminal and run the script "enable.sh" that is located in "efi/refit" on your USB drive. Once again i´m not sure if that script is needed but this is how i did it =)
Boot your MacBook Pro and hold down "Alt", choose to boot from your USB drive. This brings up the rEFIt user interface, choose the icon that looks like the Terminal. This boots up your EFI shell. It will show you a list of your available drives. My thumb drive was fs2 so i just typed fs2: to mount that. If you mount the wrong one you can just type that command again, for example fs3: and so on. When you find the right one you can type "ls" and it should show you that you have the folders "efi" and "SMC". Type "cd SMC" to go into that folder. Type "ls" again and make sure your 3 files are there.
Now the fun part =) MAKE SURE YOU ARE CONNECTED TO A POWER SUPPLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!
Type "SmcFlasher.efi -reset 1" and then type "SmcFlasher.efi -force -LoadApp 2011MBP15.smc", your fans should now go to max and it will start flashing you SMC. Reboot when finished by typing "reset".
Enjoy 1.69f3, this made my fan controller work again, the fans now kick in as they are supposed to.


Email address deleted cannot change iCloud settings on iPhone 5s and 6

Your Apple ID is not your email address… it it your AppleID.

That never changes.

It doesn't even have to be an email address, strictly speaking.

If you change the primary email address associated with it, that doesn't change the AppleID you sign in with - so if it used to be fred@xyz.com with a password of 123 & you changed the primary email address to fred@abc.net…

...you still sign in as fred@xyz.com, password 123
yet if Apple ever need to write to you, they'll write to fred@abc.net


How to determine what is modifying com.apple.loginitems.plist?

The only other 2 locations I can think of that are Mac related and not within the app settings itself are /Library/LaunchDaemons (which you may have already checked when you checked /Library/LaunchAgents) and the preferences files for the app. If you have an appropriate application to examine them (like Xcode) you could take a look at:

~/Library/Preferences/com.slingmedia.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.slingmedia.setupassistant.plist
~/Library/Preferences/com.slingmedia.slingplayer.plist

I personally do not have a slingbox or the app installed so I can't examine them myself but it would be a really 'crappy stunt' - as you put it so elegantly :) - if the app is designed to execute some code every time it launches to re-initiate the login item settings.


Can Turbo Booster (3rd Party Application) damage your CPU?

No, using Turbo Boost will not damage your CPU or any other hardware components.

You seem to be confused about how Turbo Boost actually works. When you install a third-party application to disable/enable the Turbo Boost feature, you're not actually enabling the boosting of the CPU. Instead you're enabling the feature where the CPU decides by itself when and if to boost.

So in essence: You're not really turbo boosting all the time, and the CPU will by itself make sure to only turbo boost when it is safe to do so.

The rationale behind the third party applications is mainly to disable Turbo Boost for those that prefer increased battery time over performance.


Can I replace my old model MBA battery with a 54-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery (12 hrs) for the newest model MBA?

This won't work. See Geek.com's teardown for details, but the battery looks physically larger and differently shaped than the old MBA battery.


Issue with LCD screen colors after Mac was dropped

The color changes indicates the possibility of a loose, flat-band cable connection between the LCD display and the mainboard.

That DIY does not cost anything (but it is not easy to do) and might help in your case to make sure the cable connection is firm on both sides.

Go to ifixit and find your Macs instructions (or similar model) if not available.

If it is not the cable, you have 2 choices:

Replace the screen your self to save money.
Use the ColorSync app in the Utility folder and modify the colors profiles there.


How to change "Nov 9 03:21:11" to yymmdd mmhhss using AppleScript/Unix?

I don't have a mac to test with, but the OSX date man page suggests:

old="Nov 9 03:21:11"
new=$( date -j -f "%b %e %T" "$old" "+%Y%m%d %H%M%S" )
echo "$new"

I stongly recommend using 4-digit years. Have we learned nothing from Y2K?


sending texts messages to my own cell number and it always dupicates it why

You send one message (it's on the right side) and you recieve one (it's on the left side).


Why isn't my shortcut for accessing desktop not working?

Whether or not you should use the Fn key depends on whether you have enabled "Use F1, F2 etc. keys as standard function keys" in Keyboard preferences. Try just pressing F11, without pressing Fn. And then look in the Mission Control system preference pane and see what key is assigned to Show Desktop.


MacBook no longer mirrors audio to external screen when it is closed

I would recommend looking at the System Preferences/Sound/
Look for the available audio sources. If your available audio source is available, you might have to double check all of the volumes associated with the expected output. For example, the volume on my iphone changes if I play from the speakers versus a bluetooth device.

Additionally, you might try connecting with airplay 2, just to see if the audio is actually getting to the television and if there is any latency, or the bluetooth version for this tv.

I run my Macbook Pro's 2017 audio to a Bose S1 Speaker. I don't use an HDMI port to access the speaker but rather my bluetooth. There is no latency as far as I can tell. I have heard the airplay 2 for those televisions is pretty good.


Why is my iTunes Music app suddenly skipping every track?

It was reported earlier today on multiple sources that Apple services were experiencing outages throughout the day. Service seems to have been restored after about an hour or so of outage, and Apple has yet to officially respond as the reasons why but it did correspond during the VMA announcement.

For future status of their online services don't forget to check - https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/


How to "Secure Empty Trash..." (wipe free space) on OS X El Capitan?

The secure delete option was removed from El Capitan, but as explained in this article, there may be some alternatives you may wish to use (see below for notes if the Mac has an SSD).

You can use the disk utility to overwrite the free space on the drive;

diskutil secureErase freespace LEVEL /Volumes/DRIVENAME

Where;

  In this command, change LEVEL to a number of 0 through 4, where 0 is a single-pass of zeros, 1 is a single-pass of random numbers, 2 is a 7-pass erase, 3 is a 35-pass erase, and 4 is a 3-pass erase (note all non single-pass options may take a while to complete).

You can consult the man page for more detail on the command usage.
Overwrite the contents before the deletion (from the terminal);

rm -rP /path/to/file-or-folder

Where r is to recurse over the folders and P will overwrite their contents.
The srm utility provides a mechanism (from at least Yosemite) to overwrite and remove files, lifehacker has an article on its use;

srm -v ~/Path/To/file.remove

The -v indicates verbose mode.
Consider using the "Delete Immediately" option that was added to El Capitan. Whilst this may not be the "secure delete" you are looking for, it does skip the trash.

It is important to bear in mind that with modern SSD wear levelling, writing to the same location in a file isn't necessarily going to write to the same location on the disk, hence the secure deletion would not always achieve what you wanted (see CVE-2015-5901 and hence removed in El Capitan). Given an SSD, the "erase"-ing of the free space is probably the best option, once the files have been deleted and removed from the trash.

For those with mechanical disks (non-SSD), the srm option may be the easiest alternative.


From the list of mails, change the mail and come back to the previous one. It automatically folds all the quotes, when you revisit it.


Customizing iTerm. Creating a display profile with Pastel color

I recommend Solarized if you're looking for a fully-realized lower contrast pastel(-ish) colour scheme. Setting files for iTerm are included in the package.


How can I tell if all USB-C ports on a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro are the same speed, or if one or more will be faster than others?

Apple Menu, "About this Mac", "System Report", "Hardware", "USB" and you get a list of all USB devices connected with their speeds. If a device is not connected directly but through a hub, that will cause a little bit of time. If multiple devices are connected to the same hub, they will have to share the bandwidth - they will slow down if they are used simultaneously.
And one trap that might be misleading you: If a hub has only slow devices connected, then it will often report that it has the slow speed itself. So a USB 3 hub with only USB 2 devices plugged in may report that it is a USB 2 hub itself; plug in a USB 3 device and it changes to a USB 3 hub.


When I upgrade from 10.12 to 10.13 High Sierra - where do incompatible items go?

Incompatible items are moved into a folder at the root of the drive when migration or upgrades happen.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201861

  The software is moved to a folder named Incompatible Software, at the top level of your Mac startup disk.


icloud.com does not have a notes feature at this time. It is rumored that around the time that iOS 6 is released, icloud.com will be updated to include notes and reminders. Previews of these features might be available to you already, if you are an Apple registered developer and have updated your iOS device to an iOS 6 beta, by visiting beta.icloud.com


What documentation is included in the box with the iPad 3?

I just checked the box for my iPad 2. There is essentially nothing other than:

a tiny card with minimal instructions. This tells you that there is further documentation at help.apple.com/ipad, along with information about needing to download iTunes, etc.
The obligatory "Important Product Information Guide" containing a whole lot of legal stuff.
Some Apple stickers.

So I think your best bet for information would be the iPad user manual linked in the other answer.

A couple of photos of the card are shown below:

Please note that this is from the iPad 2 so this may have changed since I bought mine. Although Apple has been moving towards less and less documentation over the years.


Location of login/autostart apps setting file in macOS

Part of the list is stored in ~/Library/Preferences/loginwindow.plist under the LoginHook key.

Also you'll find a set of LaunchAgents stored in this folder:

~/Library/LaunchAgents/

Each of the files in there detail a program that is started when your user account logs in.

There's also a similar list in /Library/LaunchAgents and /System/Library/LaunchAgents that are run when any user logs in, so they're not specific to your user.

In earlier versions of macOS it was also usual to place startup items in /Library/StartupItems and /System/Library/StartupItems. But they're usually not in use anymore.


where are the pictures of the skype contacts saved (see if someone is invisible)

On Skype 6.3.xx the avatars are stored in

~/Library/Caches/com.skype.skype/(your skype name)/SKAvatarCache

in TIFF format. You can view them by in Preview by opening Terminal and running

open ~/Library/Caches/com.skype.skype/(your skype name)/SKAvatarCache/(name of the file)


What is OS X's equivalent of Linux's NSS?

I'm not very familiar with Linux, but it sounds like you're looking for Open Directory.  Warning: Apple uses this term to refer to all of the various parts of their directory service architecture, so if you google "Open Directory" you'll find both Apple's LDAP-based directory server, and the daemon that runs on OS X and does the function you're looking for.

Let me try to give you a historical overview of its development (and hopefully I'll remember which changes happened in which version):

NextSTEP (the OS that OS X was based on) had a daemon called lookupd that was, as I understand it, very similar to NSS.  Most of the actual data was stored in NetInfo databases (which could be either local on the computer, or accessed over the net from a server).

Early versions of OS X added another deamon, named DirectoryService, which did similar things (but a little differently); since it didn't do everything lookupd did, any query it couldn't find an answer to would get handed off to lookupd.  Result: a certain amount of redundancy and confusion.  IIRC, there were actually some queries that got directed to lookupd first, and them it might have to hand them off to DirectoryService.  There were also two different sets of plug-ins (equiv to NSS modules): those for DirectoryService and those for lookupd. Local users & groups were still stored in NetInfo, but it was deprecated for network accounts in favor of LDAP.

I don't remember the details anymore, but over the versions responsibilities gradually got shifted from lookupd to DirectoryService.

In 10.5, NetInfo was removed; local users, groups, etc were stored in XML property list files under /var/db/dslocal/.  The plug-in (excuse me, they're called "connectors" now) to access them has the not-at-all-generic name "Local" (it's sometimes referred to as "dslocal" to disambiguate it a bit).  At this point, the only thing lookupd is still responsible for is DNS lookups (although it hands off multicast lookups to mDNSResponder).

In 10.6, lookupd was removed; mDNSResponder now handles all DNS lookups, both standard (unicast) and multicast.

In 10.7, the Open Directory daemon was renamed from DirectoryService to opendirectoryd.


Overcast Podcast App: How to Play from Oldest to Newest?

I was looking for this also and stumbled on a solution. In the podcast playlist, tap on the UNPLAYED or ALL toggle to reverse the sort order of the feed. So you would tap it once to sort episodes from oldest to newest, then episodes will play from the top of the feed i.e. Oldest to newest


Maintain an email group on iPad - no Mac involved

May I suggest our unique "MailShot Pro" app, which is the ONLY app on the store that lets you create contact groups in your address book that you can use from any app to send email, just as you would use a single contact.

We have tens of thousands of users using it for exactly the sort of thing you describe

You can protect privacy by adding the contact group to the Bcc line.
You can edit the group permanently in the MailShot app, or temporarily just before you send an email (simply by saving and retrieving the email from Drafts)
And you can share groups between multiple devices using iCloud contact sharing.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mailshot-pro-group-email-done/id445996226?ls=1&mt=8. (A free trial version is also available.)

Peter

Soluble Apps

Full Disclosure:I am the developer of MailShot and will benefit from its sale, but so might you :)


In OS X Yosemite, just click the green plus (+) icon while holding Shift (⇧) + Option (⌥) keys.

Or double click on the window's title bar while holding Shift(⇧) key (this won't work if System Preferences > Dock > Double-click a window's title bar to minimize is checked).

UPDATE

Here are proofs for those who voted down my answer before even trying if it works:

http://www.raymondcamden.com/2015/03/22/osx-yosemite-tip-maximizing-windows

  If you Google for this, you’ll see lots of people recommending holding
  alt-shift before clicking the green button.

Make the green full screen window icon on Yosemite maximize windows

  In order to maximize the window so that it fills the visible window
  content, use:

  ⌥ + Click on green icon

  In order to maximize the window both in width and height to the
  current desktop for applications like Google Chrome use:

  ⌥ + ⇧ + Click on green icon

How to change the default behaviour of the fullscreen/maximize button?

  ...by doing:

  ⌥ + ⇧ + Click on green or outer right icon (plus
  icon)

  I can maximize a window in both width and height to the current
  screen.

I tried it and it works on my MacBook Pro 13" Retina with Mac OS X Yosemite.

SUMMARY

There is no need to buy or hack something to do the following things:

Fullscreen mode: click on green icon
Resize window to it's content: ⌥ + click on green icon
Maximize window to screen size: ⌥ + ⇧ + click on green icon


How to avoid iTerm2 switching screens before opening hotkey window

You need to make it a floating window so it can overlap fullscreen windows of other apps:

@gnachman


iMessages on Mac consistently disappearing

In the messages prefs, under the messages tab do you have the "save history when conversations are closed" checked or not?

I generally don't close my conversations so I haven't lost any of my messages but if you regularly close them then this might be the option to check, if you haven't already done so.

Also if you have your main (Apple ID) account listed at the top of all your accounts, and make sure that you have your mobile number listed as the "start new conversations from:" section this, hopefully should solve your problems.

I use messages for iMessage and for Facebook chat but it is also set up for gmail...

Hope that helps


Issue with Finder on iMac running OS X 10.10.5 "Yosemite"

From this Apple Support article it's clear that the Finder Preferences are overridden by the preference in
System Preferences > Dock > Prefer tabs when opening documents.

This seems oddly clunky to me. Apple's GUIs are usually thought out very carefully, but they seem to have made a mess of this. (Well, unless I'm missing something.)


Content of folders vanished when moved to Macintosh HD

Go into Disk Utility, select your hard drive, and then select repair on the right, then select repair disk permissions.

Keep Calm and Repair Disk Permissions


how to stretch a single wallpaper image across multiple monitors

Your picture actually is the perfect example of why this is incredibly difficult to do automatically.

You have 3 totally different screens [& for this the actual distinction as to whether one is a Retina or not is moot]

Visually you have one small, one large & one in portrait.

Bear in mind this is extremely rough...

If you divide the picture into 3rds, one third to each screen, then you get this...

The left monitor has what was a 'tall' ⅓ now squished to fit the screen.
Same for the centre monitor.
The right monitor has it's ⅓ give or take, about right.

The alternatives would be to eliminate any portion that doesn't fit,

or shrink it & leave blank space around it.... (but I'm sure you get the idea by now ;)

Really, the only way to do this & have reasonable control over it is to do it manually, then set each portion to each screen.


Can't install Mountain Lion on a machine that has Mavericks installed, even on a separate disk/partition

The only thing you can do is install ML on an external drive on another mac running 10.8.x then copy the partition using SuperDuper on your 10.9 mac

Let's say your mac is A, 10.8 mac is B and usb HDD is C :

Install Mac Os 10.8 on C using B computer
Create a partition on A (with ± 50GB)
Duplicate C on the A new partition using SuperDuper

And voilà !


Output of "${OSTYPE:6}" on old releases of Mac OS X

That sounds very much like it's returning the Darwin version.

Your theory works well from 10.15 Mojave [18] back to 10.2 Jaguar [6] but fails before that, as Darwin was 1.x.x at that point.

There's a full list at Wikipedia - macOS


How do I save everything on my phone and clear iCloud storage?

Although I am unfamiliar with the workings of parental controls, I would imagine it's possible to access (a part of) the data stored on iCloud Drive via the Files app. It is then possible to move said data to your "On my iPhone" folder, which will save it to your local file system.
As for the other data: Have you asked your parents for help with removing the data from iCloud? They will most likely have to (temporarily) disable your parental controls, after which you should be able to choose what is synced to iCloud. It should then also be possible to delete said data.
On an unrelated note: I would recommend creating a backup of your iPhone to your laptop. However unlikely, iPhones (as all electronic devices) can die unexpectedly. Having a backup is useful in such cases. If you give more information on the "cutoff" as you described, I would be happy to help with that as well.


Split a column in Numbers by extracting text in parenthesis

In order to accomplish this task, we need to use a combination of Text functions in our formulas. See Apple's documentaiton for more details on using these functions.

TL;DR the formulas are beneath the explanation.

So we need to identify the (XX) in each text string.  In one column, display only the parens and numbers between them, and in the other column, omit them.  This will require combining several text functions into a single fomula.

'Split A' Column

In the original 'string' each character has a position starting at 1.  So for example in the following string, the ( has a position of 3.

1 (23) Large Broom

So what we need to determine is at what position is ( and ) in each string.  We can use Find() to do this.
FIND(search-string, source-string, start-pos)

So using the example string above:
=FIND("(", "1 (23) Large Broom")
returns: 3

Then we can use FIND() to get the positon of ) too.  In this case it returns the position of 6.
We can now use this with the MID() function to retreive the number with parens.

MID(A2,FIND("(",A2),FIND(")",A2,)
// Where A2 contains our original text
result: (23)

Now, if there are no () we will get an error so to handle this we wrap the whole formula in the IFERROR() function.  If there is an error return an empty string.  (or anything you wish)

IFERROR(MID(A2,FIND("(",A2),FIND(")",A2,),"")

Paste this formula in your 'Split A' column.

'Split B' Column

We can use the REPLACE() function to substitue an empty string for our number in parens.  So this: (23) becomes this: "". (The quotes won't show.)
REPLACE(source-string, start-pos, replace-length, new-string)

To remove the (23), we need to add 1 to the position of ) then subtract the position of (.  So in this case 7 - 3 to get 4, the length of our number/parens string.
REPLACE(A2,FIND("(",A2,),(FIND(")",A2,)+1−FIND("(",A2,)),"")Breakdown:

REPLACE(
  A2, ← the source string cell reference
  FIND("(",A2,),
    (FIND(")",A2,)+1−FIND("(",A2,)), ← resulting in 4
"") ← replace with empty string

Wrap this also in a IFERROR() and now the result is 1  Large Broom  (Note the extra space.  This can be eliminated if we add 2 instead of 1)

TL;DR - So here we are. Whew! the formulas with our nested functions to solve this:

Split A

IFERROR(MID(A2,FIND("(",A2),FIND(")",A2,),"")

Split B

IFERROR(REPLACE(A2,FIND("(",A2,),(FIND(")",A2,)+1−FIND("(",A2,)),""),"")


Separating podcast mp3 files from music files?

Add the tracks to iTunes as usual, then right click on the track and select "Get info". There will be a tab named "Options" in the window that shows up, click on that and you will see an option named "Media kind". If you set the media kind to "Podcast" the file will show up in the Podcast section of iTunes and your iPhone.