Stuck on Target Disk Mode due to Firmware Password

You'll need your firmware password to boot into anything other than macOS (which is why it's called a firmware password). If you can't remember your firmware password your only real option is to take your computer to the Apple Store. I believe I read online somewhere they'll have a special key or something like that so you can go in and reset your firmware password or remove it, then you'll be able to boot into target disk mode.


BetterTouchTool (free)

I don't have a multi-button mouse to test with, but it should support mapping gestures to arbitrary buttons.


External SSD contains GBs of memory even after data is removed from it

I am not sure if I completely understand what you're asking, but I'll try to answer your questions:

can we factory reset the device?

If you are talking about the SSD, then there is something like a factory reset. It is called formatting and you can do it in the disk-utility app (pre-installed on macOS)
You can follow Apple's guide or this guide. In short, I recommend formatting in MacOS Extended and using the GUID table, but I am no expert whatsoever.
This process will delete all files on the drive.

Also, the format it is using is ExFAT, does Mac uses it by default or
it depends on the SSD? The other ones are listed in the below
screenshot

ExFat is a format type. Formatting types are mentioned in the second article. In short, ExFat can be read from both windows and Mac, yet it doesn't always play nicely with Mac and may eventually lead to compatibility issues. Therefore, I would not recommend it, also because with compatability software like Paragon you can read MacOS Extended drives in Windows.


Full screen app on one monitor, Desktop on other

Ensure that "Displays have separate Spaces" is checked:

System Preferences > Mission Control > Displays have separate Spaces

This should fix the blank screen issue.


Remotely upgrading to El Capitan broke Screen Sharing

The three ways to connect are Apple Remote Desktop, ssh and remote Apple Events. If you have one of those enabled, you can kickstart screen sharing with a command line tool:

   sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/RemoteManagement/ARDAgent.app/Contents/Resources/kickstart -activate -configure -access -on -restart -agent -privs -all

See these for more details:

Restart Screen Sharing Service on Mac mini Server
Remotely turn on screen sharing
activating screen sharing remotely

If not, you will have to have the machine shipped to a human or a human shipped to the machine to take local corrective action and diagnose the failure.


I realized that the display was on but extremely faint (could barely make out some lines).

It’s your video mux and your back light.
This is a telltale symptom that your back light is out. However, you have additional symptoms, that compound this problem.
The LED back light is exactly what it sounds like - it's the light behind the LCD that makes what’s on it visible.  It could be the light itself, the fuse, or any of the electronic circuity that handles it.
Now, the video mux (multiplexer) is a chip that handles the “switching” of the video signal between the internal and external displays and where applicable the integrated and discrete video adapters.
This may be a coincidence or it could be some common components that have failed.  Either way, this is not a DIY fix - it’s something you’ll have to take it in for service.


Can I migrate power mac g5 settings and apps to a power book g4?

Yes your settings are transferable and will be transferred using Apple's Migration Assistant, Apps too and as the G5 and G4 are both Power PC apps your apps should transfer over as well.

You could even transfer your settings (but not your Apps) to a modern Intel-based Mac.


Take a look to this article:
http://osxdaily.com/2013/12/14/wake-on-lan-mac-iphone/
Let me know if it is useful


How can I put heavy load on my CPU for a long period of time?

At the command line, run this command:

cat < /dev/urandom > /dev/null

(Open up a terminal window and type that into the window.)

This should keep your CPU loaded nicely for as long as you allow the command to run.


The Auto-expand tabs preference must also be set for the Language mapping setting. Also, the setting won't be applied until you create or open a new document.

See Languages in BBEdit.


CommCenter (from CoreTelephony.framework) is eating 600+ MB of my RAM, why do I even need it?

I believe this has to do with Messages/FaceTime when sending or receiving calls or text messages from associated phone numbers over the internet. I can see this process making network requests to Verizon servers, which supports this theory, as my phone number is Verizon's.


What's the structure behind Apple version numbers / build numbers?

Paul Suh (formerly a consulting engineer and training developer at Apple, wrote the following (published on Joe Moreno's blog):

  For instance, Mac OS X 10.4.10 Intel is build 8R2232. Mac OS X Server
  10.4.11 Universal is 8S2169. These numbers have the following rough meanings:

  8 - This is the major version number of the software package. 10.5 =
  9, 10.4 = 8, ... 10.0 = 4. Prior to that was NextStep 3.3, from which
  we get the 3 series.

  R - This is the minor version number. It is always incremented for
  system updates (i.e. 10.4.10 to 10.4.11 is always a letter jump), but
  may be incremented as well for hardware-specific builds. R is the 18th
  letter, but only the 10th update to Tiger. The other 8 letter bumps
  were for hardware support for new releases. Security updates generally
  don't merit a letter bump.

  2232 - This is the sequential build number within the minor version.
  If it is a four-digit number, the first digit indicates a specific
  platform. In this case, 2 indicates that it is for Intel. A
  three-digit or shorter number indicates a unified build for all
  architectures. The remaining digits are the sequential build number.
  In this case, the R train had 232 builds before release, the first one
  being build 8R2001. Although the builds are roughly daily, you can't
  really go by that number. In the early stages builds may only happen
  once every two or three days; towards the end they may occur two or
  three times a day. The build trains of successive releases may overlap
  to a certain extent, based on what Apple Engineering sees as the
  priority vs. risk of various changes to the code. The earliest builds
  of 10.4.11 almost certainly overlapped with the last builds of
  10.4.10. The builds of Leopard definitely overlapped with builds of Tiger updates, going back to almost all the way to the day after Tiger
  was released.

  Note that different software packages have totally different build
  numbers, so you can't compare the build numbers to each other in a
  meaningful way. The exception is that Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server
  share the same build numbers.


it is normal.your devices won't actually use this e.g. for bt file exchange but when using services/features like continuity/handoff etc you will see they are somehow connected (transferring data).if both of your devices have the same iCloud account, then this is it.no need to worry.


The only time the machine will need the filevault key to unlock is at boot, at all other times the system is effectively decrypted with the key in ram.

As soon as the machine powered off, it will be locked again.

You do not need to be logged in, and waking the machine up from sleep is no issue.


Detect copy/paste done performed in guest OS running in a Virtual Machine on macOS host

No, it is not in general possible to detect whether a file or a text message has been copied from a virtual machine to a Windows or Mac computer.

An adversary could do this undetected even through such means as OCR'ing (optical character recognition) the text on the virtual display. The virtual machine cannot in any way detect whether it is a normal human being looking at the display, or it is a program that is silently recognising and copying text.

Files can also be copied by the host machine accessing the underlying disk storage directly without giving the guest virtual machine any way of detecting that the file system has been accessed, and file contents copied.


You cannot partition an external disk, a RAID disk or an internal disk on which FileVault encryption is in progress

Install the Aura SSD for Mac Pro driver and you should be good (direct d/l link).

It's obviously required for use with OS X Boot Camp utility.


You need to connect the USB separately, using a standard USB A -> B connector.

The USB input port on Dell monitors is usually underneath, near the video ports, example below...

Picture from Dell - USB Port on Flat Panel Monitor Non-Functional


Why does my iPhone say Activation Required?

Activation issues relating to the carrier are covered here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201407

This is also a distinct situation than when the device knows full well the servers are not reachable:

Your iPhone could not be activated because the activation server is temporarily unavailable

That being said, the device activation can also fail or hang for four reasons that are ranked in rough order of likelihood:

Network you are connected to can't get to Apple's Servers
Apple's servers are overloaded and you can wait 15 minutes to an hour and get activated without needing Customer Support to assist
Apple's servers are up and running and your device record needs Customer Service to intercede and correct a typo or sold date
Your device needs to be erased and restored

The first can usually be remedied by trying another WiFi network or making sure the network you are on isn't blocking traffic to Apple's Servers with filtering or firewall. The second item can also happen when your network is overloaded or there is general internet connection or routing issues.


Quickly Access Safari 6 Bookmark & History Address Bar Suggestions with the Keyboard?

Not a real solution, but a little faster then pure down.
You can jump over the different sections with command-down.


Yes, the game account is bound to your apple id. Seen as though the game center syncs,You will loze the data on all devices!


Separate User accounts, separate iCloud Music Library

The whole thing is described at View and remove your associated devices in iTunes.
It seems Apple allows to connect several devices, without any problem, but at the same time it has some restrictions and limitations.

  You can have ten devices (no more than five of them computers) associated with your Apple ID and iTunes at one time.

You are getting this message because of their AppleID policy:

  When you try to associate another Apple ID with a device that was already associated, you might see a message that says, "This device is associated with another Apple ID. You cannot associate this device with another Apple ID for [number] days." Depending on when you associated your device with your Apple ID, you might need to wait up to 90 days to associate the device with another Apple ID.

The iTunes account scenario and a 90 day wait between transfers is a seriously ridiculous constraint. But it feels there's no other way-around as per discussion here: Multiple Apple IDs on one Mac


At least one of OWC's 2 TB SSD is compatible with OS 10.13 and later. From the page for the OWC Aura Pro X2 SSD for the 2013-2015 Retina MBP:
"Aura Pro X2 is designed for the latest macOS versions (macOS High Sierra 10.13 and later), taking full advantage of the advanced features of APFS including: strong encryption, copy-on-write metadata, space sharing, cloning for files and directories, snapshots, fast directory sizing, atomic safe-save primitives, and improved file system fundamentals."


What's the best setting of iPad for senior grandma?

There is a maximum text size when changing the text size from Settings → Display & Brightness → Text Size, however larger text sizes are available. To enable these larger sizes, go to Settings → General → Accessibility → Larger Text and enable Larger Accessibility Sizes, then increase the text size even further using the slider.

To increase the contrast of certain elements which may make the text easier to read further, go to Settings → General → Accessibility → Increase Contrast and enable Reduce Transparency and Darken Colors.

You can also enable the Zoom function (also under Accessibility) which enables a three-finger double-tap for zooming in on the screen.

Furthermore, the Colour Filters allow for further customisation of the colours displayed. Accessible from Settings → General → Accessibility → Display Accommodations → Colour Filters, they "can be used to … aid users who have difficulty reading text on the display".

Screenshots ignore colour filters so the effect is not displayed above.

A good way to find such settings is by using the search functionality in the Settings app.


If you'd like to add wired network (Ethernet) ports to your MacBook Air you have the following options:

A single or dual Thunderbolt network adapter. Apple makes one, the MD463ZM, but only with a single network port. There are third party adapters that provided more than one port - for example the Sonnet Twin 10G. There are also Thunderbolt docks that contain single Ethernet ports (for example from Sonnet, Belkin, CalDigit, etc).
One or more USB ethernet adapters.

Note - as the MacBook Air only has a single Thunderbolt port, if you use that port for an Ethernet adapter you cannot use an external display at the same time. One way to work around that is by using one of the Thunderbolt docks described above.

The most cost effective route is probably to get a single port Thunderbolt adapter and a USB 3.0 Ethernet adapter. If you'd like to use an external display at the same time as the two Ethernet ports, get a Thunderbolt dock instead of a Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter.


There are 3 options I can think of, all of which rely on your setup/tools you have. For this, I am also assuming you are working with Mac servers.

Apple Remote Desktop and Scheduled Tasks
iCal and alarms
the bash 'at' command.

Apple Remote Desktop

ARD will allow you to run tasks on remote machines, and they can be either done instantly or at a scheduled future time. You could create your task that you need to run, click on the machine you want to run it on, select the task, then schedule it for when needed. This queues up the task for that time. More details on how to use ARD to do this are available on Apple's website under RemoteDesktop 3.0 help. I no longer have ARD to verify, but I think the remote task is queued on that machine, and therefore ARD does not need to be running on your machine to run the update.

iCal and Alarms

iCal will allow you to add an event that can execute a script at a defined time.

You do this by adding an event in iCal, and where the Alarm option is for the event, you can select Run Script, and then pull up the AppleScript you would like to run.

There are pitfalls with this. The local computer you are on (that had iCal) would need to be able to connect to the remote machine, and most likely be awake (I have not tested if this will wake the machine to run). This is also much less reliable than the ARD or 'at' option (I assume this was made for users to simply automate something on their machine, versus a sysadmin tool).

The 'at' command

The bash 'at' command will allow you to run a task at a specified time. You will need to make a bash shell script for your task, and then save it, as well as set the correct execution/permission settings. Once that is done, you can use the 'at' command to schedule it, using something like:

at -f updatesoftware.sh -v 10:30

The script should then execute and send you feedback if mail is set up correctly. According to this site, you need to make sure you enable 'at' on the Mac though, using the following command:

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

I would review the man page (using man at) to determine the exact configuration you prefer. Using this option though, you can schedule the task on the particular machine you want to run on, therefore taking extra machines (like the previous two examples) out of the equation.


The user account named ”root” is a superuser with read and write privileges to more areas of the system.

It is disabled by default since it can do a lots of irreparable damages, so use it with caution.

In Terminal use the Sudo to invoke that root user account, and you will be prompted to enter the password, which is usually your Administrator password. It is just a protection for some powerful commands making sure you want to do that by confirming it with password.

sudo tmutil delete …

Password: .....


How to prolong screenshot snippets time (Mac)

I had a look at the plist for Screen Capture and there doesn't seem to be a time period to extend the time the thumbnail stays on screen. But you can disable/enable the thumbnail and/or change the default location the screenshot is saved to. For me, I have all my screenshots saved to Desktop so it's easily accessible for editing and have thumbnails disabled.
To change these two settings open the app Screenshot by searching in Spotlight. You will then get a cropped window and bar with options at the bottom of the cropped window. Click on Options and you'll see "Show floating thumbnail" and "Save to" options. You can enable/disable floating thumbnail and/or save all screenshots to another file location by default.
See image below for an example:

By the way, behind the cropped area (on the left), you will see the plist file for screen capture that I was looking at. As you can see there isn't a value to change the thumbnail length.
Hope this may help somewhat for you :)


Mavericks: User no longer owner of Home folder and content

An erroneous extended attribute has been applied to this directory somehow, but it can only be removed using the xattr Terminal command. You should take a look at a brief explanation here.  A more detailed question and answer can be found at this StackOverflow page.


Change the permission of multiple files using the GUI

You can use Finder to change multiple files permissions. Command+Option+i will open the Multiple Item Info panel that should set the permissions for all files that have been selected (it also gives you total file size, and lets set label colors too).

Otherwise you can select the folder the files you want to change are in, and use the regular get info window to set permissions on all containing files.


How to list all available .plist keys on a certain domain application by defaults command?

This is not a trivial task, if I recall correctly people run the strings utility at the command-line against an Application, and look for things that match a structure similar to com.domain.FeatureName. (com.apple.iTunes, ch.cyberduck.CyberDuck, com.panic.Coda, etc.)

The likely easiest way to manage these overrides is by a System Preferences Pane by the name of Secrets. Using this installs a Preference Pane into System Preferences, and gives you an interface into choosing an application and changing their settings to your particular preference.


Pages docs from MacBookPro not working in MacBook Air

A list of steps to take in order to analyze and resolve the problems:

Does the pages app open at all? If not, it could be damaged.

Are you copying the app to the external HDD, and then back to your Macbook Air?
If so, that's probably destroying various file permissions within the app bundle.

Can you redownload it from the Mac App store instead? That would be easiest.
If not, try zipping the app on your work computer before copying to your personal computer.

Open the Applications folder on your MBP, right click Pages.app and click Compress. This will take a while, and you'll end up with a Pages.app.zip.

Then copy the Pages.app.zip file to your HDD, then to your Macbook Air.
Unzip it and that should work!

Are you not opening the files in the right app?

Try opening the Pages app first, and from there navigating to file -> Open, and then choosing your file.

Are the files corrupt?

Do you have copies on your work computer which still open in Pages?
Can you copy these to your personal computer without using the external HDD? (hint, try airdrop, or a HFS+ formatted USB Stick.)
People always say NTFS drivers for OS X work well, but I personally have lost data using them, so I don't trust them.

File repair

.pages files are actually zip files which contain all the images and text within the Pages document. If they wont open at all, which I suspect because preview should open them, you could try following these instructions to repair the files:

Copy all the affected files to a folder on your computer. Open this folder in Finder.
Type Command+space, type in Terminal and press Enter. This should open Terminal.
In Terminal, type in cd (including the trailing space). Then, drag the little folder icon from the title bar of the Finder window into Terminal.
The terminal should see cd ~/yourname/directorywithyourfiles/somethingelse/. Press Enter.
Then type in zip -F 'filename' --out 'filenamefixed', where filename is the name of one of your documents.

Probably clearer instructions here.
http://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-repair-damaged-zip-files-with-terminal--mac-49294


iPhone tethering not working via bluetooth

This fixes what i presume to be a corrupt internet sharing preference file. It will also remove all other network settings such as wifi access-points and their passwords so keep that in mind. Other data such as pictures and contacts will be completely safe.

On your iPhone, go to Settings -> General -> Reset and choose Reset Network Settings.
The iPhone will ask you to confirm and then restart.
In Settings -> Internet Sharing reenable it and choose to turn on bluetooth if a dialog asking to do so appears.
Reconnect to your wifi-network if applicable.
You're probably done, try connecting. If it doesn't work go on.
In Settings -> General -> Bluetooth tap the blue arrow beside your computer and choose to forget the device.
On your computer go to System Preferences -> Bluetooth and remove your iPhone from the list.
Go to System Preferences -> Network. In the Location drop down choose Edit Locations.... Add a new location and press done.
Make sure the new location is selected and press Apply.
Go back to System Preferences -> Bluetooth and re-pair your phone to the computer.
Connect to your iPhone's bluetooth network.
Back in System Preferences -> Network if you do not have a Bluetooth PAN interface add it by pressing the + button in the lower left.
Press Apply and cross your fingers.

Doing the first five solved it for me, after one year of broken bluetooth-tethering.


Cannot link X11 xQuartz 2.7.1, no architecture amd64?

There is a port of Xquartz to Apple Silicon - searching the web does give a few links
One I found https://github.com/XQuartz/XQuartz/issues/14#issuecomment-754400158 is by the person who maintains XQuartz

Yeah, it works fine and has since very early in our bringup of Apple Silicon Macs. There just isn't a package available because nobody has taken over managing releases, so your best bet is to use MacPorts.

and from https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/native-x11-support-on-apple-silicon.2274198/

X11 in MacPorts is functional and native on the M1. (I should know, I did some of the work to get it running.)

sudo port install xorg

MacPorts equivalent of Xquartz.app is X11.app.


How to solve the issue of "%" on Calculator giving different results on iPhone vs Mac?

Here's a short article that does a good job of describing the behaviour you're observing with OS X's in-built Calculator app: How does the calculator percent key work?

What's going on?

When performing an operation involving two values followed by the percent key, the product is first calculated (i.e. 2000 x 19 % = 380) and this then replaces the second value in the ongoing calculation, which becomes 2000 x 380. When you then press the division key ÷ the product of the ongoing operation is calculated (2000 x 380 = 760,000), as you described, before you input the divisor to perform another operation.

Working with percentages using OS X's in-built Calculator

To work with percentages in this instance you should express them in decimal form:

2000 × 0.19 ÷ 12
= 31.6666

This works with both iOS's and OS X's Calculator. I would advise against using the percent key in favour of working with decimals. The same can be said when using physical calculators, where the behaviour can differ between models.


I solved this by creating a separate iPhoto Library and storing that Library within a password-protected encrypted sparse image. (You create sparse images using Disk Utility.) I've appended a step-by-step tutorial to the end of this answer.
I then created an alias to the private library and stored that alias in my Pictures folder alongside my regular libraries.
To open the private Library, double click on the alias icon. You will be prompted for a password so that the encrypted image can mount on the desktop.  When you're done, be sure to "eject" the disk image.
iPhoto defaults to opening the last Library opened, so if you want the program to open the "regular" file next time, go ahead and open that Library. (You can either double click its Library icon or open iPhoto while holding down the Option key.) I've just developed the habit of opening iPhoto using the appropriate Library icon from my Pictures folder.
The disadvantage of this method is that you can't mix "private" images into your iPhone sync and it's possible that leaving iPhoto with the wrong "default" library could interfere with an iOS sync. (I use Aperture for my main photo collection/iOS sync anyway, so I haven't fully explored this.)
Creating an encrypted, Password-Protected iPhoto Library — Step-by-Step
The reality is that many of us have pictures we want to keep but don't necessarily want to share with partners, children or grandparents. What happens at Burning Man stays at Burning Man. Right? To keep those pictures from prying eyes — and inadvertently displaying them on your big screen TV via Apple TV — I advocate using a separate iPhoto library for your private pictures and protecting that library by storing it inside an encrypted container.
I'm keying this tutorial to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and iPhoto '11 (current at time of writing), but this system will work for previous versions of the software. (To a point — the encrypted disk image was added to the OS in 10.3.) You can use this method to safeguard Aperture libraries as well.
Open your existing iPhoto Library and select the images you want to put into the encrypted library. One way of doing this is to assign a unique keyword to those pictures. I used fmeo (short for for my eyes only). Next, create a smart album that includes the images you tagged.
Export or copy the tagged images into a folder on your desktop. Leave the images in your original iPhoto Library until you're sure you've successfully completed this entire process — but don't forget to go back and delete the images once you're satisfied with the results.
Next, you need to create a new iPhoto library for your private images. Quit iPhoto if it's open. Open iPhoto while holding the Option key down. Create a new library from the dialog box displayed. I named mine FMEO. I strongly suggest you not give it a name like Pictures I Don't Want My Spouse To See because the filename will be visible in the Finder if you follow my complete plan.
Import the images you want to protect into iPhoto (making sure you're using the FMEO library) and organize them as you see fit. When you're happy with the results, quit iPhoto. You can safely delete the Finder folder containing these images. Use Secure Empty Trash if you're concerned that someone will try to recover the deleted files.
So far, all you've done is created a separate library for your private photos. It isn't protected in any way. In fact, assuming the FMEO library was the last library used, iPhoto will display your private images the next time it's opened. The secret to keeping those images from prying eyes is to store the library inside an encrypted container. Fortunately, Apple provides everything you need to create this container free of charge in OS X (10.3+).
Open Disk Utility. (It's in your Utilities folder.) Create an encrypted sparse image:

Choose New > Blank Disk Image from the menu

Enter a name. Again, be discreet as this name will definitely be visible from the Finder.

Choose a size for your container. It must be big enough to contain the current library and, assuming you want the ability to add images in the future, should allow ample room for future growth. You can afford to be a little generous with this because you're going to use a sparse disk image format, meaning the container will initially only take up as much disk space as its contents plus a little overhead and will grow (but never shrink) as necessary up to its maximum formatted size. Don't worry too much about creating an image that you might outgrow someday as you can always create a new sparse image file and transfer the library into a bigger home if your library becomes too large.

For Format, just use the default Mac OS X Extended (Journaled) unless you have a compelling reason not to. Same for Partition settings, just leave them be unless you know better. Encryption:  I'd suggest 128-bit (more than adequate for most purposes) but you're free to use a higher level if you think it's necessary. Click Create button.

Enter a good password when prompted. Do not store the password in the Keychain because that would allow anyone browsing your computer to open your secret stash — rendering this entire exercise moot. Store your password securely through other means.

A brief interlude about organization. I've created a folder inside my ~/Pictures folder called iPhoto Libraries. Inside that folder, I've placed my non-sensitive iPhoto libraries and the encrypted image files containing my eyes only libraries. I have a shortcut to the iPhoto Libraries folder on my dock. This allows me to quickly open iPhoto by clicking on the library I want to use.
Once your encrypted sparse disk image is created and mounted on the desktop, copy your private iPhoto library into it. Leave the original copy of the library in place until you've tested the encrypted version to your satisfaction — you might want to rename the original at this point to avoid confusion.
Create an alias of the library file contained within the encrypted sparse image. Place that alias in a convenient place, I put it in ~/Pictures/iPhoto Libraries alongside my non-secure libraries.
Unmount (eject) the sparse disk image. Then open the private image library by double-clicking on the alias to the file. You should be prompted for the password to the encrypted sparse disk image. Once you've entered that password (again, do not save it in the Keychain), iPhoto should open and display your private photos. Once you're done working with those photos, close iPhoto and unmount (eject) the sparse disk image. It is critical that you unmount the encrypted image, otherwise anyone can come along and open your private library.
Once the sparse image is unmounted, if you try to open iPhoto you will again be prompted for the password. You can prevent this by opening your default iPhoto library after you've closed the private library. I do this by clicking on the appropriate library file from the shortcut in my dock.
Now that you've successfully created and tested your Eyes Only library, be sure to delete the version of that library that isn't inside the sparse image (again, using Secure Empty Trash if it makes you more comfortable) and open your original iPhoto Library and delete the private images still contained within.
That's how I do it. It's not as complicated as it seems. In fact, it took me more time to write this up than it did for me to create-do-test the first time (excluding selecting the pictures).


Ok, this is how I finally resolved it, though I am not sure if it is the properest way.

As @patrix pointed out, pwpolicy setaccountpolicies requires for the path of a XML file with the policies.

pwpolicy getaccountpolicies gives the current global policies in XML format, so I redirected the output to a file with
pwpolicy getaccountpolicies > file.plist , removing the possible info messages the command might write and leaving only the XML structure.

<?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>policyCategoryPasswordChange</key>
    <array>
    ...
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>

Then I changed the value I wanted to modify in my case, in the file I created (file.plist):

<key>policyIdentifier</key>
<string>ProfilePayload:[HASHED_VALUE]:pinHistory</string>
<key>policyParameters</key>
<dict>
  <key>policyAttributePasswordHistoryDepth</key>
  <integer>2</integer>
</dict>

Finally I used that file to update the policy:
pwpolicy setaccountpolicies /path/to/file.plist


How to identify application of hung menu bar icon

Use the Accessibility Inspector, accessible from Xcode → Open Developer Tool → Accessibility Inspector.

Click "Show" on the "Hierarchy" sub-section (which will show you the Application Name).

Click on the "Target Icon" at the top of the Inspector (Labeled: Start inspection follows point).

Hover over the item and the pane may show you enough information for you to determine what it is. For example, hovering the Dropbox menu bar item shows "Dropbox <version>" under AXHelp, and hovering Little Snitch shows "Little Snitch Agent" under AXTitle.


I have put of copy of the Croatian layout from an earlier MacOS, named "Old Croatian", here and a copy of the Croatian PC layout here. Hopefully one of them will help.


According to the xip manual page:

  A XIP file is an analog to zip(1), but allows for a digital signature to be applied and verified on the receiving system, before the archive is expanded. When a XIP file is opened (by double-clicking), Archive Utility will automatically expand it (but only if the digital signature is intact).

Essentially, an .xip file is just a .zip with a signature to verify that the file has not changed since its creator saved it. This protects from both damage from a disk error and from a third-party tampering with the file.


Is there a way to burn a Lion installation DVD-R from a new Mac mini or Macbook Pro?

You can easily create a bootable USB drive as long as it's at least 1gb by using Apple's Recovery Disk Assistant. This will create a recovery partition on the drive but still needs to download Lion if you need to reinstall it at a later date.

You can create a bootable image from the original Lion installer download if you kept a copy of it, but you need an 8gb drive, so unless you have dual layer blank DVDs, then this isn't really worth the hassle, and using a spare USB drive would probably be easier. A great guide for doing this can be found here.


Deleting srt files from vlc app in iPad Mini

So you have lot of subtitles hanging around loosely. There are two ways you can remove these annoying creatures. I will discuss both of them, use whichever suits you best.

Delete and re-install the VLC app.
Take a deep breath, this is going to be long. There is a work-around that I've found and works 9/10 times.

Theory:

What VLC does in the background is that, it deletes the subtitles files automatically  whenever you delete the parent video file, provided that the video and the subtitle have same name.

For example, if your video file is named "test.mkv" then the subtitle file should be "test.srt"

What you need:

A video clip, format doesn't matter, and smaller the size is
better as it will take less time to get copied.
iTunes

Procedure:

Connect your iPad to your computer and go to iTunes.
In iTunes, go the "Apps" section of your iPad and find your way to VLC.
Copy all the parent-less subtitles to one folder in your desktop.
Create copies of the video clip as many as the number of subtitles present in that folder. For example, If you have 4 subtitles, then you create 4 copies of the same video clip.
Rename each video clip to one of the subtitle. Take caution while renaming, don't change the extension/format of the video clip.
Once you have the video clips renamed, copy the video clips to back to VLC.
Save and eject the iPad from iTunes and computer.
Go the VLC app in your iPad and start deleting those renamed video clips.

So, as per the theory, when you delete the video clip, VLC will delete its subtitle as well simultaneously.


Only one way sync with MS Exchange server in OS X 10.9 Calendar

There clearly was a synchronization error between my Mac with my Exchange account and the Exchange server. Using another exchange account on my mac resulted in normal Calendar syncing.

With the help of the IT department and after making sufficient backups of my mail and calendar itemts, the IT department 'reseted' my account. With a reset everything is deleted from the server, except my username and password.

Now everything works fine again. But I still have not found the cause of this problem.


That’s a catch 22 situation. You want to create an Apple ID with an iCloud email address which is created when you create an Apple ID with an iCloud email address which is created…

If you mean a new Apple ID with an old iCloud email, then no, that’s not possible.


How to reset macOS v10.15 (Catalina) with apps that come from the store before I sell it

They belong to the owner of the Apple ID, so will be available to re-download once that ID is signed in. If you are wiping this to sell, then the new owner will be responsible for setting it up.

You shouldn't try to do it for them, or all the apps will again belong to your ID, not theirs.

See Apple KB - What to do before you sell, give away or trade in your Mac


Why would I want to turn on iTunes Match on an iOS device?

I agree that they make it confusing in their advertising. I think part of the problem is that they have blurred the lines quite a bit recently, leaving one key difference: music purchased with iTunes vs. that purchased elsewhere. iTunes Match uploads your music and puts it on all of your devices regardless of where you purchased it, while iTunes on iCloud just does that with music you purchased from iTunes.

For example, I have a number of songs that I purchased from Amazon, and they consequently don't sync to my iPhone even though they are on my computer. This would apply to music ripped from CDs as well.


Can you use a Thunderbolt 3 cable to connect two Macbook 12-inch in target disk mode?

The Macbooks connector is only USB-C (USB 3.1 Gen 1), which is not Thunderbolt 3.

You can't connect in target disk mode via a thunderbolt 3 cable.
You can use USB-C data cable to connect in USB target disk mode.

(Not that this helps, but the Macbook Pro has native thunderbolt 3 support, and would work in this manner.)

You also can use migration assistant over ethernet if you have a usb-c ethernet on both ends or WiFi, if moving accounts is your ultimate goal.


SSD's improve the start-up and shut down speed and will load apps installed on it a bit faster.
More ram will be very useful if you are running multiple big apps like xCode at the same time.

I recently upgraded my SSD and I have upgraded my ram before that and both made my machine a lot faster, the SSD with booting and the ram with running apps.
It really depends on what you would like to speed up in your mac.
If you are not sure I would recommend more Ram since it is less of a hassle, cheaper and the performance boost is very noticeable especially when developing in Xcode


Here is a suggestion (Works on OSX 10.8)

Using Automator :

Create a new Service with automator
Select Service receives selected no input in any application
Add a Run AppleScript action

Copy this script :

on run {input, parameters}
    tell application "System Events"
        set processList to (every application process whose visible is true)
        repeat with appProc in processList
            set windowList to every window of appProc
            repeat with aWindow in windowList
                click (third button of aWindow)
            end repeat
        end repeat
    end tell
end run

Save your new service
In System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts > Services add a keyboard shortcut to your news ervice

Edit :

Other script :

on run {input, parameters}
    tell application "Finder"
        set visible of every process whose visible is true and name is not "Finder" to false
        close every window
    end tell
end run

It hides all apps but it closes all finder windows.


OSX Mavericks - Enabling Custom DHCP Options

As per: https://discussions.apple.com/message/26472927#26472927

This was the exact answer.

The file has moved to:

/System/Library/SystemConfiguration/IPConfiguration.bundle/Contents/Info.plist


Refreshing the category of an Automator service

The following steps solved the problem for me:

Export the workflow from Automator (e.g. to Desktop).
Click on the exported workflow. A dialog appears asking whether you want to open it or install it. Choose Install.
Another dialog appears asking whether you want to overwrite the existing service. Choose Overwrite.

Now the service appears in the proper category.


What is the way to copy text from Windows to iOS and vice-versa?

Dropbox, Box, email, email attachment, or one of the hundreds of other cloud services.


iPhone and MacBook Pro with a single wireless headset

I know there are some Bluetooth headphones (such as these ones that I can talk about from personal experience) that come with an optional audio cable, enabling them to be used as a standard pair of wired headphones in case the pairing malfunctions or something. It has the really awesome side effect of enabling the headphones to play two streams of audio at once: Pair them with one device wirelessly and plug them into another.

I know, it's not a perfect solution, but it's the best one I've seen so far.


External Hard Drive Not Showing Up after dragging it to Terminal?

I had the exact same issue. Here's the solution: open a Terminal and do the following:

open /Volumes/[Your external hard drive]

This will open up a Finder window which shows your Volumes, including the external drive. Just select and drag the drive back to the left panel, under Devices.


How does the Keychain identify executables?

The Keychain doesn't identify applications, the applications call the Keychain API

  The Keychain Services API provides a solution to this problem. By
  making a single call to this API, an app can store small bits of
  secret information on a keychain, from which the app can later
  retrieve the information—also with a single call. The keychain secures
  data by encrypting it before storing it in the file system, relieving
  you of the need to implement complicated encryption algorithms. The
  system also carefully controls access to stored items. The entire
  keychain can be locked, meaning no one can decrypt its protected
  contents until it is unlocked with a master password. Even with an
  unlocked keychain, the system’s Keychain Access policy ensures that
  only authorized apps gain access to a given item in the keychain. In
  the simplest case, the app that created an item is the only one that
  can access it later. However, Keychain Services also provides ways to
  share secrets among apps.


Download Install OS X Yosemite from the Mac App Store.
Use iesd to create a bootable dmg:

iesd -i "/Applications/Install OS X Yosemite.app"/ -o yosemite.dmg -t BaseSystem

Install VirtualBox for Mac Hosts

Create a new VirtualBox guest. Choose Type: [Mac OS X] and Version: [Mac OS X (64-bit)]. Don't choose a specific OS version.

After you create the guest, choose it and click Settings->System->Motherboard->Chipset and choose PIIX3. If you leave the default ICH9 set, the system will never boot. You'll just see a black screen in your guest window.

Choose the yosemite.dmg you created earlier for your guest's optical disk.

Start your guest.

You'll see a wall of text and eventually the OS X Installer screen.

Use disk utility to partition your disk into a single partition. Disk Utility will have proper defaults.

Exit disk utility and run the installer.

You'll find some steps like these below in other places, but they didn't work for me. iesd worked.

 #!/bin/bash

 # Mount the installer image
 hdiutil attach /Applications/Install\ OS\ X\ Yosemite.app/Contents/SharedSupport/InstallESD.dmg -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/install_app

 # Convert the boot image to a sparse bundle
 hdiutil convert /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.dmg -format UDSP -o /tmp/Yosemite

 # Increase the sparse bundle capacity to accommodate the packages
 hdiutil resize -size 8g /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage

 # Mount the sparse bundle for package addition
 hdiutil attach /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage -noverify -nobrowse -mountpoint /Volumes/install_build

 # Remove Package link and replace with actual files
 rm /Volumes/install_build/System/Installation/Packages
 cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/Packages /Volumes/install_build/System/Installation/

 # Copy Base System
 cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.dmg /Volumes/install_build/
 cp -rp /Volumes/install_app/BaseSystem.chunklist /Volumes/install_build/

 # Unmount the installer image
 hdiutil detach /Volumes/install_app

 # Unmount the sparse bundle
 hdiutil detach /Volumes/install_build

 # Resize the partition in the sparse bundle to remove any free space
 hdiutil resize -size `hdiutil resize -limits /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage | tail -n 1 | awk '{ print $1 }'`b /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage

 # Convert the sparse bundle to ISO/CD master
 hdiutil convert /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage -format UDTO -o /tmp/Yosemite

 # Remove the sparse bundle
 rm /tmp/Yosemite.sparseimage

 # Rename the ISO and move it to the desktop
 mv /tmp/Yosemite.cdr ~/Desktop/Yosemite.iso


No, guest data is not permanent.

From Apple docs

  Files created by a guest are stored in a temporary folder, but this folder and its contents are deleted when the guest logs out.


SSD for Mac Book Pro 2012 optical disc drive

SATA interfaces are backward compatible so you can use a SATA III drive on a SATA II/I port.

From the SanDisk Knowledgebase:

  SATA II specifications provide backward compatibility to function on
  SATA I ports. SATA III specifications provide backward compatibility
  to function on SATA I and SATA II ports. However, the maximum speed of
  the drive will be slower due to the lower speed limitations of the
  port.

I have actually done the upgrade you are describing (though with one SSD and a spinning drive in the optical bay).  There are no issues with SATA compatibility.


I am trying to compile Varnish caching on my Mac OS X

The easiest solution is to use a package manager like brew.

Download and install it using the installer on their website.

And then simply brew install varnish. It will download and install all the prerequisites for you.


Instagram app narrow on iPad with iOS 12 update

The Instagram app still hasn't turned on iPad sizing, and in iOS 11 the Instagram app would use the aspect ratio of the iPhone 8 (whether actual size or ‘zoomed’) but with iOS 12 the app is now iPhone X aspect ratio, with black bars on the left and right.

It doesn't look like there is a way to return to the previous aspect ratio, similar to how one of the iOS upgrades changed the aspect ratio from iPhone 4s to iPhone 5 on iPad in the past.

As iOS 12 has only just been released, you can still restore back to iOS 11, but I don't think an aspect ratio change to a single app is worth staying on an old iOS forever for.


App Store asking for other Apple ID when updating apps

If it's asking for a different Apple ID to update an app or apps, then they have been purchased on the other Apple account.

You can't change the Apple ID that an app has been purchased with. Instead, delete the app from the device and purchase it again with the Apple ID that you want the app registered to.


Other ID's appearing in my Mac Store account

Just in case anyone is interested, I think I solved this. Still not sure why it should be the case, but it seems related to an external USB drive. When that is mounted, I get the notices about app updates I haven't bought and therefore can't  download. Even when the drive is ejected, this persists. However, if I clean boot without the drive or re-boot, all is well.


Using dnsmasq when not connected to the Internet

The solution on https://serverfault.com/q/22419/92378 is working for me (OS X 10.9.4). Just make sure to do this step:

Create a file /etc/resolver/whatever:

nameserver 127.0.0.1
domain .


1) RAM Upgrade
As far as I'm aware, the laptop cannot be upgraded beyond 8GB. This is due to restrictions by the CPU and chipset architecture in that particular model. Unless you are a real power user who does lots of video editing or likes to have a lot of applications open at a single given point in time, 8GB should be perfectly fine.
DDR4 ram is NOT supported. It is only a new technology (literally only about a month old) and presently is only compatible with 3 CPU's that were released this year and certain motherboards with a specific chipset and socket for these new CPU's. Bottom line is, your 2010 laptop will not be able to use this type of memory. DDR3 is your only option given the type and generation of hardware inside the laptop.

2) Secondary HDD
It is possible to install a second hard drive, however this will involve removing the CD drive. This will also cause trouble if you ever take the laptop to a genius bar for technical assistance on an unrelated failed component as you have tinkered with the laptop beyond what is allowed. If you're willing to take the risk and do some DIY within the laptop, this is the part that will allow you to install a secondary drive.

3) Fresh Install of OSX
Yes. Wipe it clean now with Mavericks. Updating to Yosemite when it launches will be extremely simple so there's no need to wait for it. Use this guide to help you create a bootable installer USB drive to completely wipe the drive and put a fresh install of Mavericks on the computer.

4) Higher screen resolution
Unfortunately you cannot modify the screen resolution. No such third party screen exists. Generally speaking 15" laptops (especially around the 2010 time period) never had 1920x1080 resolutions and only few laptops today have them (commonly known as high density displays, or in the apple world, retina displays). Only the 17" model had a resolution that high (1920x1200 - 16:10 aspect ratio) and that model has been discontinued for a few years now. So I'm afraid that you're stuck with the resolution you've got.


How to put a application in fullscreen using shell command in Mavericks?

Here's an AppleScript that can do it. Pass true or false to switch mode. The script uses the value of AXFullScreen to determine whether the app is currently in full screen and will only switch if necessary.

Toggle an application from full screen to non full screen (or the reverse).
Parameters:
  1: application name(ie, Chrome)
  2: boolean (true/false).
     When true ensure that the application is in full screen mode (if not, make it so)
     When false ensure that the application is NOT in full screen mode (if not, make it so)

on run argv
  set theapp to item 1 of argv
    if item 2 of argv is "false"
    set toggleOnFull to true
    else
    set toggleOnFull to false
    end if

  tell application theapp
    activate
    delay 2
    (*
      Initially from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8215501/applescript-use-lion-fullscreen
    *)
    set isfullscreen to false
    tell application "System Events" to tell process theapp
      set isfullscreen to value of attribute "AXFullScreen" of window 1
    end tell
    --display dialog "var " & isfullscreen

    if isfullscreen is toggleOnFull then
      tell application "System Events" to keystroke "f" using { command down, control down }
      delay 2
    end if
  end tell
end run

Source: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/dsummersl/4175461/raw/36811eab78ca5e1a25fbd547a44b3d9c8d0d424d/makeFullScreen.applescript


Macbook pro “13” mid 2010 battery not holding charge.

According to the images you have provided, your battery is not holding its charge and will need to be replaced.

In the first image, it says replace now which indicates that it is time for a replacement. In the second image, it also says it is not charging.

  All rechargeable batteries have a limited lifespan and may eventually
  need to be serviced or recycled. Your own battery’s lifespan will vary
  depending on how you use your device as well as the settings you
  choose for it.

Replacement details are avaliable here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/mac/repair/service

The cost depends on what size mac you have and if you have apple care


To enable Tabs you need to set the "Open in Tabs" option in System Preferences -> Dock to "Always".


You need a Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter since your monitor doesn't support Mini DisplayPort.


How can I reduce the display resolution in Windows (Boot Camp) on a Retina 5k iMac?

I was able to solve this myself by realizing: (a) Windows 8.1 upgrade had changed my display adapter to a Windows Basic Display Adapter, (b) AMD's web site doesn't apparently host installers that work for the Retina iMac (yet?), and (c) the Boot Camp package that Boot Camp Assistant adds to your Windows installer contains a version of AMD Catalyst that will work and will replace the errant driver:

The installer is in <WININSTALL>:\Bootcamp\Drivers\ATI\ATIGraphics\Setup.exe
Run install
Verify in Device Manager that the Display adapter is AMD... M29{0,5}X

Finally, I was able to update resolution:


Mac mini with intermittent wifi connnectivity problems

Sometimes that is caused by WiFi Chanel overcrowding.

Try changing the WiFi channel for Mac Mini.


How do I turn off drawing mode in iOS 10's Messages?

To Turn off handwriting in landscape mode go turn your phone to the side to activate it. Then tap on the keyboard in the bottom right. This should keep the iPhone to a keyboard when you go to landscape.


Install an older version of MacOS onto an external drive without USB installer?

You don't need a USB stick, you can create a small partition on any existing drive & createinstallmedia to that, then select it with an alt-boot.

One thing you do not seem to be able to do is install a new OS to any other disk whilst there is a fully-bootable OS disk already present, it wants to 'update' the existing OS even if it's exactly the same OS.
You have to remove any current OS disk first, then it will ask you which to install to.

[Source of info - just spent the afternoon messing at this myself.]


Search in Apple Notes.app for MacOS does not work at all

For a search to work you have to tell the search function where to search. So if you put the notes on the icloud drive you want to click on that and then search. The search function works fine on Notes as it searches inside each note.


Syncing files not in Desktop / Documents via iCloud

I've come up with two solutions:

Using Google's Backup-and-Sync app, which allows you to select which folders to automatically sync with Google Drive (this doesn't use iCloud through)
Using cron, a MacOS / Linux command-line program, to automatically rsync your directory outside of iCloud path and its copy in the iCloud folder.


I use the free iPhone Explorer to mount my iPod touch in the Finder, and I can find individual files and copy them to the Mac or delete them without using iTunes or syncing. It is supposed to work with iPad as well. Give it a try.


How to use Shortcuts on my iPhone to call in to conferences?

I did something similar that works for me.  In my case, there's an optional attendee ID as well.  The conference number I'm showing here is 1-555-555-5555

Ask "Meeting access code" (Input type = Number)
Set variable {ConfNum} to {Provided Input}
Ask Attendee ID (Input type = Number, default = 0)
If Provided Input is 0
Text 1555-555-5555,,{ConfNum}#,#
Otherwise
Text 1555-555-5555,,{ConfNum}#,{Provided Input}#
End If
Call {If Result}

Also note that if you use a semicolon (;) instead of a comma (,) for the pause, it will wait until you press a button to dial the remaining string.


Geektool does exactly that

I think this is the correct download url https://www.tynsoe.org/v2/geektool/ but I‘ll recommend you to go find find it by yourself on Google or wait for someone to approve the link with an edit or a comment.


Keyboard shortcut to switch between applications in Mission Control

There is no keyboard shortcut to switch between applications within Mission Control.

In System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Mission Control you can see all of the built in keyboard shortcuts available:

Mission Control
Show Notification Center
Turn Do Not Disturb On/Off
Application Windows
Show Desktop
Show Dashboard
Mission Control

Move left a space
Move right a space
Switch to Desktop n

None of which allow you to move between applications in a space.

Mission Control is designed to be used with a mouse or trackpad. If you only use the keyboard, don't activate Mission Control, instead use command + tab to switch between apps.


Synchronizing iPhone and Mail.app inboxes

I don't think it's an iPhone configuration problem.

Maybe a Mail.app problem, it seems it's no syncing back the changes correctly. Except I don't think there's a preference to change that.

It's most likely a server configuration problem.
To be sure, we'll need more information about your mail servers. Do you have access to the configuration? What is maquib.com? From the look of it, it looks like your personal server (with a project to make a Mac OS Tiger app!)

Can you try to download Sparrow? (there's a free version)
Add your account on it and see if the problem is still there. That way we'll know if the problem is on the server or on the software side.


Troubleshooting is a process of elimination and often requires patience, but since it seems you don't have a way to bring on a freeze - and because of the time in between incidents of this happening -  it's going to be somewhat slower to diagnose.

While I understand your instinct that it could be a bug with WindowServer, it's actually much more likely to be an issue with how well one of your installed apps is communicating with WindowServer. I'm not familiar with all of the apps you have installed, but if you have anything that hasn't been updated in a long time it may be worth isolating that for a while (i.e. not using it) to see if that makes a difference.

One thing worth doing regardless is to boot your iMac into Safe Mode.

Boot into Safe Mode

Follow these steps to boot your iMac into Safe Mode:

Fully shut down your iMac
Restart your iMac
Immediately press the Shift key and keep it down
Let go of the Shift key when you see the login window (NOTE: If you have FileVault enabled you may need to log in twice).
Now use your iMac in Safe Mode until it crashes again or until you're satisfied it's not going to crash (i.e. you may be at this step for some days). Of course, some things don't work in Safe Mode, so you may need to exit Safe Mode earlier and boot normally anyway.
Exit Safe Mode by restarting your iMac as normal
Once again, test to see if your iMac still crashes

Let me know how you go, although it may take you quite some time to know if doing this has helped.

NOTE: Even just booting into Safe Mode temporarily can be enough to resolve some issues, so it's still worth doing even if you can't stay in Safe Mode for too long.


Yes, it is possible to give a user restricted access to your Mac. That's what parental controls are for (http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11471):

  You may not want all users to have unrestricted access to a computer,
  the apps on it, or content from the Internet. For example, you may
  want to prevent some users from changing their user settings or limit
  the apps they can use. To manage what a user can do on a computer, you
  use parental controls.

To configure it, as explained in the link above, create a new user for your colleague and turn on parental controls:

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Users & Groups, click the lock if it’s not unlocked, and enter an administrator name and password. Click Add (+) below the list of users, choose “Managed with Parental Controls”:

from the New Account pop-up menu, enter name and password information, and then click Create User. Click Open Parental Controls to set up the controls:

To restrict the apps the new user can open, click the App tab and limit the applications the new user can open. You also could select simple Finder to further restrict the new user's environment:

Now configure your Mac so that two people can use it at the same time:

Enable Screen Sharing in System Preferences>Sharing:

One of you must log in remotely using VNC. Install it on another computer and connect to your Mac. You will get best results if both computers are on the same network and if the apps you run don't need much graphic power.


Restoring data from Time Machine backup created on second Mac

⌥ alt/option-click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and keep the key held whilst selecting Browse Other Backup Disks….

From there, you can select the other Mac and copy files.


Yes, you can forward any email from your exchange account to icloud!

So you don't have to sync your exchange–emails sepperatly!

Go to the email settings in your exchange account,there must be an option where you can forward any incoming email to another address.

When you want to transfer all your old emails as well:use mail on Mac, create your two accounts and move all exchange emails to an icloud folder!

You can also send from your exchange-account: create your account in the settings, but disable the option to synchronise the emails.

When you now want to send a new email, you have the option from which account you want to send it.


Help Me Remember: A Developer Reference App

It sounds like you're talking about Dash. It has a global search keyboard shortcut feature as well as a host of others for searching developer documentation.
Here's an overview of the app from its website:

Dash is an API Documentation Browser and Code Snippet Manager. Dash instantly searches offline documentation sets for 200+ APIs, 100+ cheat sheets and more.

And a summary of the global shortcut feature:

The global search shortcut is an easy way to activate Dash in a similar style as the Spotlight shortcut. You can assign a search shortcut in Preferences > General and then use that hotkey in any app when you want to bring up Dash. You can also assign a shortcut to search using the selected text.


I am not sure I understand your problem. The functionality is there and works as expected. Go to System Preferences / Keyboard / Shortcuts / Keyboard and choose whatever key combination you want for switching windows in Move focus to next window setting, say Alt+Tab. This will switch application windows forward and Shift+Alt+Tab will switch application windows in reverse order, which is exactly what you wanted. The reverse order functionality is already implied by the Shift key and you don't need to set it separately. Mind you that if you choose combination that already includes the Shift key for forward order it will not imply the shortcut for reverse order without the Shift key.


I had the same problem. I was installing Win 8.1 by bootcamp on a MacBook 12" early-2016. The internal keyboard and trackpad did not work.

I was using the USB-C to 3 ports adater with only one standard USB. So I tried to unplug the installation flash drive and plug a usb mouse. It worked, though obviously I cannot continue to install without the flash drive. So option 1 is use a USB hub and a external mouse.

Another option is to install Win 10. The internal trackpad works in the installation screen.


Why does Apple Watch keep installing apps I didn't ask it to?

That setting is not working.
This is Apple's Bug.
I confirmed with Apple support.
Latest watch os 1.0.1 still Buggy.


Sort order tiebreaker for "Album by Artist"

You need to set the Track Number tag for each file. That's the only way iTunes determines track order. If there is no track number, it defaults to either alphabetical, or to the order in which the tracks were added. (I've seen both, and don't understand why it chooses one or the other.)


Why is the RAM usage of my system smaller on startup than it is after using (and closing) software?

It is not something you want "fixed", as this is intended behavior.

It is "costly" (in terms of time) to load new data into RAM, as is done for example when opening applications such as Photoshop and InDesign.

However, it doesn't cost anything to keep the data in RAM, and there's no process of "erasing" stuff from RAM before you load new stuff in.

Therefore it makes sense to keep for example Photoshop in RAM after you close it - in case you want to open it again soon. In that case, there would be parts of Photoshop already in RAM that do not need to be loaded again - saving you time.

If you go ahead and open up other stuff that need more RAM, those Photoshop parts would eventually be overwritten with new stuff.


You can not install older OS X versions on newer models, the old OS X version are missing the required drivers for hardware not even available when the OS X version was released.

I see several options:

You may (legally) install 10.6.8 Server in a VM (Parallels or VMware) though.
The latest MacMini supporting 10.6.8 is the MacMini4,1: Apple Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.4, Apple Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 & Apple Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 (Server)
With some workarounds and hazzle you will get 10.6.8 working on MacMini5,1 and MacMini5,2. In the comments there (March 12, 2013 Gregg Tomlinson) even a working MacMini6,1 is mentioned:

  I believe it does – I am using this on a 2012 MacMini that came with Snow Leopard [sic!], and reverse-engineered it to use 10.6 with this methodology.


Is there shortcut to switch between visible windows (apps) within current desktop?

If you go to Settings -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts in this area you can set the following keyboard shortcuts to achieve the toggle focus between windows on your current desktop. Please see this screenshot for further instructions. I use macOS 10.12.2 (Sierra) on a late 2015 Macbook Pro 15.


On GSM (All but Verizon/Sprint):

4G = LTE (or HSPA+ on AT&T)
3G = UTMS/HSDPA
E = EDGE
o = GPRS

On CDMA (Verizon or Sprint in the USA):

4G = LTE
3G = EV-DO
E = no equivalent - not possible
o = 1xRTT


Is there a way to remove the gap between window edge and the screen edge when the Dock is hidden?

Not yet (as of macOS Sierra 10.12.6). When hiding the dock, the OS still leaves ~4 pixels of visible space presumably reserved for some part of the dock behavior. Third party window resizing doesn't seem to help either. Creator fifafu of BetterTouchTool wrote:

  You mean the gap when the dock is hidden? Unfortunately this is a
  limitation given by the system :-(. I haven't found a way to
  workaround that.

Note: This is more noticeable on lower resolution external displays (4px on a retina display is barely visible).

Some workarounds:

Move the window over the visible pixels, then drag from the opposite side (but also notice the additional delay in showing the dock)
Use an external display and set a different monitor as primary (drag the white menubar in the display arrangement in sys prefs), allowing full sizing on the non-primary display.

Related Apple SE but for visible docks: Force windows to be maximized but not fullscreen?

Have others noticed? Yes, lots. Macrumors dead ends:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/bottom-dead-space-with-automatic-hidden-dock.1716910/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/hiding-dock-still-leaves-a-few-pixels-unused.1208427/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-remove-space-between-window-and-dock.1094679/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/hidden-dock-small-space-in-the-bottom-of-the-screen.931858/

It's even caused bug reports for OS X app developers:

https://github.com/eczarny/spectacle/issues/555
https://github.com/fifafu/BetterTouchTool/issues/672
https://github.com/search?q=mac+dock+gap&type=Issues&utf8=%E2%9C%93

I'll add that this issue exists vertically as well:

Manual workaround


How to disable Acrobat Reader in Safari?

Go to the "Help" menu in Safari and select "Installed Plug-ins". This will open a new tab displaying information about all of the currently installed plug-ins. Find the entry for Adobe Acrobat. Below it will be a line that reads something like:

Adobe® Acrobat® Plug-in for Web Browsers — from file “AdobePDFViewer.plugin”.

Note the name of the file from that line.

On your hard drive you will find a Library folder.  In that folder will be another folder called Internet Plug-Ins. Inside that folder you should find the file that was shown in the "Installed Plug-ins" tab. The full path should be /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/AdobePDFViewer.plugin. That file needs to be deleted.  Dragging it to the trash will do the trick.

If you are not sure you want to delete the file, you can move it to another location. For instance, you could create a new folder named "Disabled Plug-Ins" in the "Installed Plug-Ins" folder, and move the file to the new folder.

Then quit & relaunch Safari.

Adobe acknowledges this is a "known issue" and recommends this procedure.


How can I add more then one calendar from a same google account?

You can choose which calendars to sync by going to: http://www.google.com/calendar/iphoneselect

For more info, you can read Google's support doc about CalDAV Calendar Sync.


Where do offline synced google docs get stored on Mac OS X?

It is stored in:

~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/IndexedDB

where "Default" might need to be substituted by your profile name.


Having stumbled upon this article, I tried unchecking "Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices" and that seemed to work.  Even when I checked it back on the connection seems to be holding.  I fail to see what Handoff has to do with Bluetooth but at least it works, for now.


"Soft Return" character (Shift-Enter) on iOS?

There is actually a way by using the microphone symbol on your keyboard and then saying “nieuwe regel”. That is Dutch for “new line” but I am not sure what the exact english equivolant is. But it works, it creates a soft return.


Are there any differences, feature-wise, between Safari for Mac and Safari for Windows?

Anything involving the multi-touch track pad is going to be different, since that is an OS X feature. Including the double finger gesture to scroll back or forward.

In fact that feature works so seamlessly in Safari for Mac that that's one of the reasons I might switch to Safari from Chrome. It integrates beautifully with all the latest features of OS X.


How do I make keyboard viewer to automatically show up only when I'm holding the option key?

You could use a private.xml like this with KeyRemap4MacBook:

<root>
  <vkopenurldef>
    <name>KeyCode::VK_OPEN_URL_KEYBOARDVIEWER</name>
    <url>file:///System/Library/Input%20Methods/KeyboardViewer.app</url>
  </vkopenurldef>
  <vkopenurldef>
    <name>KeyCode::VK_OPEN_URL_QUITKEYBOARDVIEWER</name>
    <url>file:///Applications/QuitKeyboardViewer.app</url>
  </vkopenurldef>
  <item>
    <name>test</name>
    <identifier>test</identifier>
    <autogen>
    __KeyToKey__ KeyCode::OPTION_L,
    ModifierFlag::OPTION_L | ModifierFlag::NONE,
    KeyCode::OPTION_L,
    Option::KEYTOKEY_BEFORE_KEYDOWN,
    KeyCode::VK_OPEN_URL_KEYBOARDVIEWER,
    Option::KEYTOKEY_AFTER_KEYUP,
    KeyCode::VK_OPEN_URL_QUITKEYBOARDVIEWER
    </autogen>
    <autogen>
    __KeyToKey__ KeyCode::OPTION_R,
    ModifierFlag::OPTION_R | ModifierFlag::NONE,
    KeyCode::OPTION_R,
    Option::KEYTOKEY_BEFORE_KEYDOWN,
    KeyCode::VK_OPEN_URL_KEYBOARDVIEWER,
    Option::KEYTOKEY_AFTER_KEYUP,
    KeyCode::VK_OPEN_URL_QUITKEYBOARDVIEWER
    </autogen>
  </item>
</root>

Save this script as /Applications/QuitKeyboardViewer.app in AppleScript Editor:

quit application "KeyboardViewer"

There is a noticeable (but not that long) delay before KeyboardViewer is opened or closed. If for example you hold option and command simultaneously, KeyboardViewer is shown if you press option first but not if you press command first.


Using Console.app - how to find disk force eject logs?

Choose All messages on the sidebar.

Filter by mount (or unmount)

and that is it

for example on my OS X 10.10.2 Mac mini


/usr/local/sbin is not in your user's PATH variable. The most simple method is adding the path /usr/local/sbin to the file /private/etc/paths:

sudo nano /private/etc/paths

Modify:

/usr/local/bin
/usr/bin
/bin
/usr/sbin
/sbin

to

/usr/local/bin
/usr/bin
/bin
/usr/local/sbin
/usr/sbin
/sbin

and save the file to disk with ctrlO and  ctrlX. Then exit the shell or restart Terminal. This will change the PATH for all users.

If you want to restrict it to your user create and/or edit the file ~/.bash_profile with nano and add the line:

export PATH="/usr/local/sbin:$PATH"

Save the file to disk with ctrlO and  ctrlX. Then exit the shell or restart Terminal. This will change the PATH for your user only.

To install iftop with brew from scratch in High Sierra with prerequisites (Xcode | Xcode Command Line Tools) already installed , open Terminal.app and enter:

/usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"
brew analytics off #optional
brew doctor #optional
brew install iftop

and add the /usr/local/sbin to the PATH as described earlier.


Is there an iOS equivalent of Fluid for Mac?

See here. Google basically reloads the page, and then stops it reloading.

iosSleepPreventInterval = setInterval(function () {
window.location.href = "/new/page";
window.setTimeout(function () {
    window.stop()
}, 0);
}, 30000);


How to put animated gif or 'giffy' in imessage?

There are a couple of ways.

One, copy then paste from the Internet.
use the #images app in
iMessage


Airport Extreme & Airport Utility 6.3, "Port Settings" (i.e. port mapping) Unavailable

Sorted out my own question. To resolve this kind of issue one needs to change the "Router Mode" setting from "DHCP Only" to "DHCP and NAT."


Simple 'drag and drop style' video compressor

It is not free, but Apple itself has an app called Compressor.

You can see its information here: Compressor

Usually it is used together with Final Cut Pro, but can as well be used standalone.


Wifi Calling Configuratble Provisioning Items

Zero configuration is needed on iOS past turning it on or turning it off.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203032

All configuration on iOS is about extending the calling that works on your iPhone to other non phone devices.

Hit up your carrier if you can’t turn on WiFi calling.


Why do menu items blink twice when selected?

It is simply a visual cue that you have selected that menu item.
It is described in Apple's "OS X Human Interface Guidelines" under Menu Behavior (page 134):

When the user chooses a menu item, it blinks briefly to confirm the
user’s choice and then performs the action.

(Note that this document has been retired and is no longer available for download, but a copy is available at https://issuu.com/hyungjoonjun/docs/osxhiguidelines)
OS X provides other visual cues: when you press a key shortcut, for example ⌘+C, the menu bar menu where that key shortcut is listed, in our example Edit:

is highlighted for a fraction of a second.


Why is are the keys on my MacBook Air so stiff?

I doubt it, it's the first I've heard of any keyboard issues on any MacBook that I recall—the keyboards are traditionally highly regarded for quality.

I think sadly you've probably just had some bad luck. No matter how well designed it is, something as complicated and mass-produced as a MacBook Air is going to have some bad units.

You may want to try blowing some compressed air under that key though, it's possible that something is physically stuck under there, impeding the movement. Someone (ahem, possibly me) once ate a poppyseed bagel near my keyboard and a loose poppyseed caused some issues for a while before it got knocked loose.


There are two most likely reasons for this:

One of the installed Chrome extensions is accessing the camera.
You have tabs to websites opening automatically which access the camera

In both cases, a bit trial and error is required to identify the cause.


I solved same issue with Turn on System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Automation -> Go2Shell.app with Finder, iTerm.app or Terminal


Which OS X Lion or ML more stable on Macbook Pro 2010 Mid 15"

Your problem is more likely how you would get hold of Lion or Mountain Lion.

Unless you have previously 'bought' them from the Apple Store, they are no longer available. Apple removes old versions very soon after a new one is released.


it was divvy which i use to maximize windows. so my fault as i chose this shortcut a while ago .... shame on me.


SFTP - how to tunnel to private AWS server behind AWS NAT

You can use local TCP forwarding in ssh, for example:

ssh -L 2222:private:22 user@gateway

And then connect any of your graphical tools to the private server by connecting to localhost:2222, or just use again command line sftp:

sftp private_user@localhost -P 2222


Messages and FaceTime stuck with temporary number

I managed to fix this by switching off Messages and FaceTime, removing the SIM, turning off, switching back on, reinserting the SIM and then manually tweaking the Apple Account contacts (removing the manually added number, which was a duplicate once the reinserted SIM was recognised).

I don’t know which of the above steps are necessary and which are optional, but it seems to have worked for me!


Well I realised the folder ~/Library/LaunchAgents was locked -- I changed that and I could remove the file.  Mystery solved.


Show list of clients of wifi hotspot Mac OS X

I get the list using arp command at Terminal.

first, get your WiFi sharing interface name, I get it by typing ifconfig on terminal.

It should be something like bridgexxx, for me, it's bridge100

Then type this on terminal:

arp -i interfacename -a

for me the command was like:

arp -i bridge100 -a

it shows the internal ip addresses and mac addresses of the devices connected.


Is there a way to disable Facetime from starting?

Navigate to: System Preferences -> Users & Groups -> Login Items.

On this screen you can choose which programs will open automatically upon startup. You can remove FaceTime from this list to disable it opening on startup.

You can also add any programs you would actually like to start when you boot up.


Mission Control freezes. Restarting Dock doesn't help

The solution/workaround so far.
Thanks to Shaded, who posted a comment with this workaround.

TL;DR

To unfreeze Mission Control without restarting MacBook

Disconnect external monitor
Close MacBook and let it sleep (optionally: Click "Apple" menu -> Sleep)
Open MacBook - now everything work again (monitor can be connected as well)

Details

It seems, that the problem is caused by some configuration issues when MacBook works with an external monitor.
After disconnecting the monitor, a display driver(?) is being reset(?), Mission Control doesn't freeze anymore, and monitor can be connected again.

Important note: The MacBook should go to standby mode (sleep) after disconnecting monitor. There is a 'Sleep' item in the Mac system menu. I didn't test if it works. I have just closed a lid and went to drink a coffee.

Another note: At the moment of freezing - CPU load is 100%. MacBook is getting hot and turns cooling fans at maximum speed.


Simple way to disable Cellphone (data & call) without disabling WiFi & Bluetooth on iPhone

Turn on airplane mode, then re-enabling Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is currently the only option.

You can send feedback to Apple here about wanting the ability to turn of Cellular.


When buying online, how do I know the exact CPU type?

Though Apple doesn't provide the info on their website, there are a number of tools that allow you to easily find what CPU is being used.

Let's take a look at the highest configuration of the iMac 27" 5K for our example.

Apple's website lists a 3.3GHz quad-core i5 and a 4.0 GHz i7. Viewing ark.intel.com, we can see the current Skylake generation (6th gen) of processors has two processors that align with what's in the iMac: the i5 6600 and the i7 6700K.

However, this method requires some guesswork and a little bit of searching. There are easier methods.

The app MacTracker provides a slick interface for viewing the specs of almost every Apple product to date. Looking at the entry for the 5K 27" Late 2015 iMac, we can see the available CPU options.

If an app isn't quite your style, everymac.com has a list of almost every Mac with specifications as well.


Help converting Apple Script to Shell Script

Below is a starting point.

username=`whoami`
homepath=`dscl '/Active Directory/CAMPUS/All Domains/' -read /Users/$username |grep SMBHome: | cut -c 10- | sed 's/\\\\/\\//g'`

mount_smbfs $homepath <mount_point>

I'm not really sure of the mount syntax.  This answer may help with mount syntax.


My spacebar is broken, want help remapping it to my Option key

Using Karabiner is fairly simple if what you're trying to accomplish has a built-in remap option. You create a profile for the keyboard you want to remap (from the menu bar icon) and then open Karabiner’s Preferences page. From there go to the “Change Key” tab and select the remaps that you want to include.

If there are no built-in options to swap/remap the space bar to suit your preference (it's been a little while since I've had to use Karabiner so I can't remember the complete list of swaps) there is an extensive guide here which will show you how to create your own key-swap option by editing an .xml file:

https://www.keychatter.com/2014/08/04/how-to-remap-keys-in-osx-using-keyremap4macbook-now-karabiner/ -- (Scroll down to the "Advanced Remapping" Section)

(I included the link only as the full article steps are too long to post in a stackexchange answer)


iPod classic 160gb showing NO music or any files at all

It sounds like your database is corrupted. This has happened to me twice and I did this to fix it both times:

Plug your Ipod into your pc / mac
Find the Ipod in Windows Explorer / Finder
"Unhide" Hidden files & Folders in Windows (if you have Mac follow these instructions: http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/how-show-hidden-files-in-mac-os-x-finder-3520878/)
Go to: iPod_Controls > iTunes (the hidden folders).
Locate "itunesDB" and rename it: "itunesDB.old" (this is the newly corrupted database).
Locate "itunesDB.old_mlpmp" and rename it: "itunesDB" (no file extension). This will restore the automatic backup of your database.

If you added music since your last sync, you'll probably have to add the music again, but this is way better than restoring and syncing your entire library.


Java uninstalled but still cannot install java 6 macOS

First, try to download listed Java and if that didn't go straightway, use the following script to install it.

Here is a simpler way, an AppleScript that removes the installation limits from Java for macOS 2017-001.

set theDMG to choose file with prompt "Please select javaforosx.dmg:" of type {"dmg"}
do shell script "hdiutil mount " & quoted form of POSIX path of theDMG
do shell script "pkgutil --expand /Volumes/Java\\ for\\ macOS\\ 2017-001/JavaForOSX.pkg ~/tmp"
do shell script "hdiutil unmount /Volumes/Java\\ for\\ macOS\\ 2017-001/"
do shell script "sed -i '' 's/return false/return true/g' ~/tmp/Distribution"
do shell script "pkgutil --flatten ~/tmp ~/Desktop/Java.pkg"
do shell script "rm -rf ~/tmp"
display dialog "Modified Java.pkg saved on desktop" buttons {"Ok"}

The script asks you to select the dmg file, opens the file, unpacks JavaForOSX.pkg, modifies the Distribution file and saves a new pkg file on Desktop, Java.pkg, that can be installed on Catalina.

For those who prefer doing this directly in Terminal:

t=${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/java
hdiutil mount /path/to/javaforosx.dmg
pkgutil --expand /Volumes/Java\ for\ macOS\ 2017-001/JavaForOSX.pkg "$t"
hdiutil unmount /Volumes/Java\ for\ macOS\ 2017-001
sed -i '' 's/return false/return true/g' "$t"/Distribution
pkgutil --flatten "$t" ~/Desktop/Java.pkg
rm -rf "$t"
open ~/Desktop/Java.pkg


Is there a way to disable this "often used with" prompt on an iPhone?

I believe if you turn off “Siri Suggestions” you will not see those.

https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/about-siri-suggestions-iph6f94af287/ios

Option in on app usage patterns lets the “neural engine” process app history and look for patterns to suggest. I also find if you dismiss these, Siri sometimes takes the hint and stops suggesting things if you never tap in to use a class of recommendations.
I’ve also found it handy to leave these enabled but “bench” a few specific apps I never want suggested, indexed or searched.


Can't download anything with enough storage?

You actually don't have the required space.

Apps are shipped in containers called IPAs. An IPA is actually just a zip file, and compresses some of the content. Each app, depending on how they are built, can achieve varying degrees of compression.

In the above image, you can see just how much disparity exists between the App Store's reported size and the actual install size.

Infinity Blade 3 is listed at 1.7GB by the App Store, but installs to 2.6GB. Additionally, Bastion reports requiring 534MB, but actually needs more than twice that amount of space (1.2GB).

Since it would be impossible for Apple to gather the required information from actual install size, they offer the size of the IPA as a guideline. To be safe, one should allow for 3x the existing space. In your case, you may require about 800MB free (ballpark).

And remember, you need some free space (for caches, app data, etc.). It's unwise to operate with absolutely no free space, typically leading to a negative impact on performance.


Unable to change function keys like before

It's there under Keyboard Settings (assuming using are using mac keyboard):


Double tap to zoom stopped working after upgrading to iOS 13

It appears that you now have to triple-tap to zoom in on things like paragraphs in Safari.


Apple Remote Desktop multiple ports on one address / ip

I'm not specifically familiar with ARD, but in general Apple assumes one IP = one computer.  You'll be less likely to have these kinds of compatibility and interoperability issues if you give each VM its own IP address by using "bridged" networking on ESXi instead of NAT.


My apple account and gmail account are messing up my email

As far as I know, MobileMe (@me) has been changed to iCloud. Update your settings in Mail, Contacts, and Calendars. If you don't use the iCloud (MobileMe) account for email, just switch off email and leave Calendars and Contacts selected.


How can I completely disable SW updates on iPhone?

Use Guided Access to restrict their access to the single app during the QA session.

It'll prevent them from accessing anything but that app, but from what it sounds like, that's not a problem, and might even be a boon.

To enable Guided Access:

Open Settings and go to General > Accessibility > Guided Access to set up Guided Access.

To start a Guided Access session:

Open the app you want to use.
Triple-click the Home button.
Adjust settings for the session, and then tap Start.


If your mouse cursor has mysteriously disappeared in OS X, try the following tricks in descending order to bring it back:

Hit Command+Tab to switch back to the Finder or to another app, then switch back to the active app
Summon the Force Quit menu by hitting Command+Option+Escape, there is often no need to actually force quit anything as just summoning the menu is often enough to make the cursor return
Quit and relaunch the app, or quit all apps if the cursor is gone everywhere
Adjust the size of the cursor, found in System Preferences > Accessibility > Display to make it reappear

Reboot

Let me know if problem remains.


How can we force MacOS to forget that a specific file was downloaded from the web?

You can delete the download source by running

xattr -d com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms FILENAME

To also remove the quarantine flag use

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine FILENAME

PS: If FILENAME is an application (ends in .app), add -r to have the attributes removed from all files within the application.


Is there a way to download the iOS 13 public beta IPSW?

No, it's not possible to download the IPSW files for public betas of iOS/iPadOS 13. You can, however, download the IPSW of the developer betas.

To do so, you should be a registered member of the Apple Developer program enrolled into a paid membership. Once you have the paid membership, visit the Apple Developer Download page(s) below to access and download the respective IPSWs:

https://developer.apple.com/download/#ios-restore-images-iphone-new
https://developer.apple.com/download/#ios-restore-images-ipad-new


What makes a MacBook much thicker or thinner?

The case is tapered.

It's thicker at the back than the front.

Pic from Apple Store - Macbook


Why don't I see a significant boost in performance moving to SSD on MacBook7,1?

I had the same issue with the Samsung SSD. The main issue appeared to be with spotlight indexing. After installing the SSD the drive would not index. If you click on the spotlight search does it show indexing with a progress bar and estimated time with no estimate? If so this answer will help fix your issue. I tried several fixes before I solved the issue.

To turn off indexing you can do the following:

open the terminal app
type sudo mdutil -Ea -i off

This should help with performance issue if indexing is the cause. Thanks svenper for the "E" addition.


How to set up ZEVO / ZFS on an internal disk while maintaining full disk encryption?

Short answer … two Core Storage logical volumes, both encrypted:

one LV, HFS Plus
the other LV, give to ZEVO.

You'll need ZEVO Community Edition 1.1.1 (1.1 is outdated).

In the answer to the linked question there's a note about Mountain Lion; OS X 10.8.5 makes things a little more difficult.


Terminal - Weird spaces included when typing fast

You aren't releasing the Alt key (aka Option) quickly enough after typing the "|", so you're getting Option-Space, which is a non-breaking space. This looks like a normal space but gets treated as part of the command name rather than as a separator. See this SuperUser question for some options to disable the Option-Space key combo.


How to get rid of system is low in storage space notification (MacOS High Sierra 10.13.6)

Since macOS Mojave, you can no longer stop this Agent with launchctl, nor can you edit the plist file. However, you can add an override to prevent it starting by following these steps:

Restart your Mac, and hold down Cmd+R to enter recovery mode
At the recovery mode screen after it loads, select Utilities > Terminal
Execute the command "csrutil disable"
Reboot your Mac, and launch Terminal
Edit the file /var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd/overrides.plist using any text editor (I use vi). You will need to sudo this!
Add the following text

<key>com.apple.diskspaced</key>
<dict>
        <key>Disabled</key>
        <true/>
</dict>

Reboot your Mac again, and once again go into Recovery mode. This time, launch Terminal and enter the command "csrutil enable" before rebooting.

diskspaced will now no longer start, as launchd will see an override that forcibly disables it. Voila.


How to find the speed and CL settings of DDR3 SODIMM?

The RAM does appear to be counterfeit as far as I can see.

I have that type of genuine Crucial memory (CT102464BF186D.C16FN) here - but it doesn't look like your picture.

The PCB is almost identical, but some markings on it are off. The number of components mounted at the top of the board are very much different. The actual DRAM IC on my memory has FPGA code C9BCM, which according to Micron is a 1.07 nsec rating - equalling a 1866 Mhz speed.

To top it off, the label looks very much the same - but instead of "Product of China", mine says "Assembled in USA".

I can't say for sure that this means that it is counterfeit - it could be some kind of labelling/production error, or another revision of the same product or similar.


Is there a way to find the timestamp of a photo in an iPhone4, without syncing with a computer?

Since the available photo options within iOS are limited, I don't think it's possible without any 3th party software.

King Camera is such an app. It shows some meta data about every photo you took with the app.


No. Currently there is no native way to do this and I doubt any third parties have managed to.

Each app has to build its own specific functionality for the touch bar. Depending on what view you’re on (i.e. composing vs reading email) on which app (mail vs safari) there is typically an option to "customize touch bar" in the menu on the top left of your screen that will be specific to that view.

Customize allows you to pick certain things you can add to your touch bar. Emojis are available in Mail and Safari (in addition to messages).

"Customize control strip" (in System Preferences) lets you edit the 4 slots that are always present on the right of the touch bar in addition to the view of the whole touch bar when you click the expansion arrow. These interact with the computer directly, not the app that you are using.

Update: Chrome now supports touch bar! Still no emoji button on the Mac or chrome strip...hopefully it will arrive soon.

Mac Emoji Keyboard Shortcut: ctrl + cmd + space


Stop asking Touch ID to Open Voice Memos

Your phone is locking, and it needs to unlock to go back to the Voice Memos app.  Like any other app.  The only way to change this is to change the global Passcode/TouchID settings in Settings > Passcode/TouchID, but note that this will affect the behaviour of the whole phone, not just the Voice Memos app.


How Do I Change The Desktop Order in Mission Control?

Well i guess you're asking this because mission control 'automatically' changed the order you set up for your spaces.

You can't move them right in Mission Control but what you can do is disable that 'magic automatic ordering' in System Preferences => Mission Control => Disable Checkbox "Automatically rearrange spaces based on most recent use"
Then you can order them again using the Spaces Preference Panel.

Enjoy!


Software to sync external HD and NAS - must work with FAT32

I used the Intego sync software that comes with LaCie drives. It wasn't great, but it did the job. It is FAT32 compatible. You can get the free LaCie version here (version depends on the drive; you need the code that came with it). LaCie's instructional article is here.


How to audio out to iPad Pro when connected to HDMI?

Unfortunately not. As far as iOS is concerned, HDMI works at the device level, and responds according to the EDID of the display device - if the display announces via its EDID it handles audio as well, then the iPad will switch audio over to the display device, in accordance with HDCP and the HDMI spec.


How to remove word suggestion bar in text messages in ios10?

Turn off "Predictive" in Settings --> General --> Keyboard.


This was a bug in a recent Adobe Creative Cloud update (version 3.5.0.206), causing the first folder, alphabetically, to be deleted from the user's boot drive.

It was first noticed by Backblaze, as their backup structure creates a folder that is often at the top of the list, .bzvol

As your folder was called Workwith a space at the head, that will have filed it to the top instead of any 'dot' folder.

Backblaze recommends creating a new folder called .adobedontdeletemybzvol by typing the following in Terminal sudo mkdir /.adobedontdeletemybzvol, however, this wouldn't work in your case, as space will file above a .

The bug has been fixed & a new update released by Adobe, but in the meantime, creating a new folder starting 'space a' would be safe… maybe adobedontdeletemywork would be appropriate ;-)

Refs:
ArsTechnica - Warning: Bug in Adobe Creative Cloud deletes Mac user data without warning
Backblaze helpdesk - .bzvol is missing


Multiple Words Search in a single PDF with Mac

Adobe originally developed the Portable Document Format (PDF). The viewer for these types of documents is a free product called Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. This has an advance search where you can search for the occurrences of "apple" or "orange" or "banana". Below is an illustration of the search window.


How can I change audio output device for applications already running?

If you alt-click on the speaker icon in your toolbar you can select output and input devices.


Shortcut for search bar in Dictionary.app

You don't need a shortcut. You can just start typing and it'll automatically replace whatever's in the search box with what you've just typed.


Java class file could not be launched on startup

Finally found it in System Preferences -> Users -> Login items.


After disabling Filevault 1, is it possible to enable it again in Lion?

Even if the creation tools are gone or hidden very well from us, you point out Lion is happy to keep running a user that has been migrated in so you can take advantage of that to get what you had back again.

Lion makes it several steps with some minor "complications" - but you should be able to Migrate another user shell in and move your current data into that older style account.

It's slightly tricky to juggle the users - you'll want a backup and need to set up a second admin account to do the move. You'll delete the user, but not the files and import the old user (clear the old data) and finally move the new data into place using the old storage mechanism.
You'll need one of

a running Snow Leopard system or boot disk (to make and then migrate a FileVault 1 user)
a backup of the system from Snow Leopard days (even if the user data is wrong - you just need the account settings and shell sparse bundle to migrate in again)

I keep an external USB drive with 15G partitions around with the last OS but no real user data. You could install Snow Leopard onto an external disk or partition and make shell user with FileVault 1 enabled or you could use any backup from your Snow Leopard time to move in another copy of your user with FV1 - and simply move the current contents into the old encrypted sparse bundle storage.

Let's start a new question if you want advice HOW to actually do this (since it will depend on your specifics) - this question stands well just with the simple fact that the built in tool to do this isn't available on Lion.