From which year do MacBook keyboards have no issues?

Generally speaking, any Apple laptop available for sale from May 2020 comes with a comparatively reliable keyboard.

To elaborate, the distinction you should be looking for is whether the laptop comes with a Butterfly Switch key mechanism vs Scissor Switch key mechanism.

When it comes to recent generation of Apple laptops, there are basically categorized into three distinct classes (increasing order of performance, decreasing order of portability):

MacBook (marketed as New MacBook released between 2015-2019)
MacBook Air
MacBook Pro

Apple first introduced Butterly Switch keyboard design with 2015 MacBook. Butterfly Switch keyboard featured flatter key design with lesser key travel, and an entirely new internal mechanism. Butterfly Switch design was then incorporated in the re-designed 2016 MacBook Pro lineup (13" and 15") and subsequently into 2018 13" MacBook Air.

Apart from having difference in terms of tactile feedback, key travel and user experience compared to the predecessor Scissor Switch design, (which could be subjective) Butterly key design, in general, performed poorly in terms of reliability compared to their ancestor Scissor Switch design.

Due to growing user concerns, the Butterly Switch design saw iterations over four generations where the internal mechanism was tweaked and new materials were used, but the reliability issues still persisted to an extent, causing Apple to launch the Keyboard Service Program. Under the program, customers are eligible to get a service or even a replacement of keyboard if needed, free of cost.

However, starting recently with the introduction of Late 2019 16" MacBook Pro which was released in November 2019, Apple attempted to address the issue with an entirely overhauled and enhanced keyboard design based on Scissor Switch and re-branded it as New Magic Keyboard. The general response for the said Magic Keyboard has been

This scissor mechanism has been further adopted into Early 2020 13" MacBook Air, released in March 2020, and subsequently in Mid 2020 13" MacBook Pro release in May 2020.

With this last release, the transition of the entire lineup of Apple laptops to use scissor switch is complete and they are all re-branded as the New Magic Keyboard.

Apple has discontinued MacBook from its laptop lineup in June 2019.


iPhone: why is the Add Call button disabled for 15 seconds?

You can only make a second call once the first call is connected. That delay is to connect and set up the first call.


Guest User has keychain issues until I reboot

When you customise Guest User account by copying /Users/Guest folder into the localised Guest User Template you should check that template folder has an empty ./Library/Keychains/ directory.

This will make the system to create keychain during new Guest User initialisation.


Damaged Anti-reflective Layer on MacBook Pro

Apple has recently renewed replacing screens for the following MacBooks:
MacBook Pro (13“, early 2013)
MacBook Pro (15“, early 2013)
MacBook Pro (13“, late 2013)
MacBook Pro (15“, late 2013)
MacBook Pro (13“, mid 2014)
MacBook Pro (15“, mid 2014)
MacBook Pro (13“, early 2015)
MacBook Pro (15“, mid 2015)
MacBook Pro (13“, 2016)
MacBook Pro (15“, 2016)
MacBook Pro (13“, 2017)
MacBook Pro (15“, 2017)
MacBook (12“, early 2015)
MacBook (12“, early 2016)
MacBook (12“, early 2017)
even after warranty has ended for free! Just head on over to the nearest Apple Store or a certified Apple Service Provider and get a new screen.


Is this app doing nasty things if an unrelated calendar certificate won't verify?

At first glance, the app seems well enough reputable that it's not malicious, but I would send a support request to the vendor to ask how the password was stored/transmitted and if your version of the app is the latest.

Also, you don't explain which specific password was asked for? Perhaps you could edit the post to show that dialog (is it the normal asking for admin permissions - if so, that's an OS request and your password is safe on the Mac and the Mac is only as safe as the changes that were made on your behalf). If you went and changed that password, in almost all cases, you're closed the chance that you are vulnerable going forward assuming they don't harvest email and try that password on other accounts they have the potential to identify.

You could also use the Keychain Access -> Certificate Assistant to verify several certificates you know to be good so that you are comfortable that your keychain is intact. Having something show bad (false positive) is far less worrying than having a bad cert show good. Lots of things can have the former happen and that doesn't really put much at risk when communications are stopped due to a security check.


Is it possible make Preview not enhance thin lines?

Preview's preferences used to contain a setting "Smooth text and line art", but it was removed from the app (around Sierra/High Sierra, I think, but can't be sure).

The plist data key associated with the preference was PVPDFAntiAliasOption. It's possible that this key will still work. You may want to try:

defaults write -app 'Preview' PVPDFAntiAliasOption 0

and then relaunch Preview. If this doesn't work, then Apple have indeed decided to permanently hold lines at any zoom level, and you'll need to use another PDF viewer for this purpose.


Create extra dock item that runs a bash script

You can have files in the Dock, but they have to be the other side of the 'dividing line' from apps.
So a shell script file, with suffix .command, or .tool, could be in the Dock and would launch on a click.
There are other places to have scripts readily accessible in the Mac workspace, of course, such as the Scripts menulet.


According to OS X Daily, you can disable auto-terminate in Lion and Mountain Lion with the following terminal command:

defaults write -g NSDisableAutomaticTermination -bool yes

This sets the NSDisableAutomaticTermination flag in the defaults database that OS X consults to get various settings.

Note that this will disable automatic termination for all applications, not just Xcode.


uTorrent keeps crashing (after upgrade to Mavericks)

The 1.8 version of uTorrent isn't updated for Mountain Lion notifications and the malloc errors you posted indicate a fairly severe memory management problem. Unless an update past 1.8.4 gets released, you might try running the 1.9 beta version as it has memory leak corrections listed in the release notes.

It contemplates newer OS explicitly and the fix for this error might arrive there first or exclusively.

http://www.utorrent.com/downloads/mac


Automatically sync folder contents in the background

Have a look at the answers to this question: Auto sync local files to remote
many of those suggestions are also relevant to you.

Another approach, if all you are trying to do is get Spotlight to index the SAMBA share, is to try running the commands:

mdutil  /Volumes/x -i on
mdutil /Volumes/x -p on

where x is the Volume name of the drive.

I have heard that this will enable Spotlight to index the network share.

More info and discussion here:

http://forums.apple-group.com/archive/index.php?t-3679.html


You can use the same grep command as mentioned in the question, to search through the contents of .md files exported by Bear. For instance, use

grep pattern *.md

to search for pattern in .md files in the current directory. You can use -i option to ignore case or -n to print line number in file.


How can I change the volume of the notification sounds on the AirPods Pro?

The sounds used when switching between transparency modes don’t seem to be adjustable, but notifications can be adjusted.
You can adjust the notification volume used both when AirPods are connected and when they are not (the volume will be the same for both).
Go to “Sounds & Haptics” in settings, and adjust the volume slider to your desired volume (note that the ringer preview will come out of your phone even with your AirPods in).
You can test the volume in your AirPods by previewing one of the “sounds and vibration patterns” below.
—
For more control, you can set volume of ringer and alerts to be set by the volume buttons (directly below the slider).


Files and folders can have the ‘hidden’ flag set.

ls can show flags with ls -lO (capital letter O).
Set the hidden flag with chflags hidden /path/to/file.
Remove the hidden flag with

chflags nohidden /path/to/file


Where did the content of my Downlods folder disappear to?

Time Machine backs those files up. Have you checked your backup?

If you don’t have a backup, you might need to follow any of the several questions here about software that looks for deleted files and folders and shut down the Mac immediately to prevent further data loss from overwriting free space with new files.

How to recover a deleted file on Mac OS X?

If you don’t care about recovery of files, get a backup of what you still have and then boot to Recovery HD and check the disk for errors before recreating the folder.


Is there a way to bypass charge a 2019 MacBook Pro?

No.  Unless you disconnect the battery from the logic board, the battery is going to be charged (managed, actually) by the SMC on the logic board.
Apple enables battery health management by default, so the need for bypass is lessened greatly.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211094

You can opt out of this chemical aging countermeasure if needed, and even then Apple won’t apply charge to a mostly full battery so bypass happens automatically when mostly full.


From the Apple Developer Downloads page - https://developer.apple.com/xcode/download/

The App store doesn't have Xcode 7 yet since it's still Golden Master status and not released to the world via the App Store downloads.


Can I use iCloud Drive as a backup with non-macOS?

No single backup destination should be your only backup of important files. iCloud Drive is no exception.

iCloud Drive is supported on Windows as you've found. This folder is synchronised with iCloud Drive, so providing you have an internet connection, the files you add there will be copied to iCloud. Later, on another computer or if you erase your current computer, you can sign in to iCloud again and your files will still be there.

iCloud Drive is not meant to be a backup solution for your files in their current location. You shouldn't expect to store all your files in iCloud Drive on Windows as the integration just isn't there yet. You can add iCloud Drive as a library folder so it appears as part of Documents, but unlike macOS you can't replace your entire Documents folder on Windows with iCloud Drive.

An external drive is useful for backups since you take the files on your computer, copy them to the external drive, then remove the drive and place it elsewhere — that's a quintessential backup. iCloud Drive is a little different:

If you copy all your documents into iCloud Drive, you're using twice as much storage space on your computer.
If you move all your documents into iCloud Drive, they're no longer where you left them in your Documents folder or wherever.

iCloud Drive is great for files you want to synchronise, and can work as a backup solution, but it's not designed for that primarily.


"Sign in to download from the App Store" with a different Apple ID

Shane Hsu's answer is correct, but there is also another way to do it if you don't want to delete the app: There is one file for each app that contains the "receipt" for that app's previous download from the Mac App Store. The file is named receipt. Here is how to find it and move it to a different location, so that the Mac App Store will allow you to enter a different Apple ID:

Find the app in your /Applications directory:

Right-click, and choose "Show Package Contents":

In the new window that has opened, double-click the Contents folder to go into that folder.

You will now probably see a folder named _MASReceipt. "MAS" stands for "Mac App Store." It should have a file inside of it named receipt:

Move the _MASReceipt folder to the trash:

Now, close the Mac App Store and then launch it again. Hopefully, at this point, when you try to update the app, its Apple ID field will be empty.

If this doesn't work, you will probably want to put the _MASReceipt folder back, by opening the Trash:


Battery life in Macbook Pro with Touchbar vs non-Touchbar model

Apple states that both 13″ MacBook Pro 2017 models, with or without Touch Bar, have the same battery life.

Up to 10 hours wireless web
The wireless web test measures battery life by wirelessly browsing 25 popular websites with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%.

Up to 10 hours iTunes film playback
The iTunes film playback test measures battery life by playing back HD 1080p content with display brightness set to 12 clicks from bottom or 75%.

Up to 30 days of standby time
The standby test measures battery life by allowing a system, connected to a wireless network and signed in to an iCloud account, to enter standby mode with Safari and Mail applications launched and all system settings left at default.

Testing conducted by Apple in May 2017 using pre-production 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with a 1TB SSD and 8GB of RAM; and pre-production 3.1GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-based 13-inch MacBook Pro systems with a 512GB SSD and 8GB of RAM.
Battery life varies by use and configuration. See https://www.apple.com/batteries for more information.

https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/, formatting changed and paragraphs rearranged
My experience is people get far superior run times on Macs with less powerful GPU and more economical CPU so the non touch bar Mac in practice won’t drain its battery nearly as fast as the touchbar model given an identical software setup and usage.
For the 2017 model year lineup and the 2018 model year lineup, the non-touch bar model has a more economical GPU, cache, and typically less SSD and certainly less wattage CPU both at idle and max frequency. For most people that don’t have software issues where they max 85% CPU the touch bar models seem to last 30 to 90 minutes less when working casually. For high workload, either will drain the battery in 3-4 hours with the maxed out models getting 30 to 90 minutes less run time.
The 2018 hardware changes seem to be about the same as 2017 on paper, but we don’t have good real-world data and usage to tell.


Can I put heavy keyboard on the macbook pro?

The weight of the keyboard is one thing.  I have seen students put a stack of textbooks on top of their MacBook laptops without any damage.  I can't tell you what the weight was nor do I want to embark on a testing procedure to find out what its weight tolerance is.

However, what I have found is that it's not so much the weight, but the activity that impacts the MacBook.  I have seen MacBook laptops used as everything from a cafeteria tray to a seat cushion to even a mirror for putting on makeup.  These machines were returned to our depot for repair because of what they was done to them, not what was placed on them.

In your case, you want to use this as a keyboard stand for a mechanical keyboard (gaming perhaps?) so you will be "pounding" on this keyboard for any length of time.

The (rethorical) question is - is this worth it?  Is a damaged top case worth this activity?  I can tell you that these assemblies (keyboard, case, track pad, etc.)  are not covered under Apple warranty when damaged and it's quite expensive to repair.  I'd find another solution.


Any way to force download from AFP as opposed to streaming?

I would suggest you zip the files and give your friends read-only access to the volume. So when they double click a ZIP file, they will be asked where to extract the file to (as they cannot just extract to your share), which usually by default is their home folder or desktop folder.


Terminal: command to show application folder

I have just created and uploaded a GitHub Gist GitHub Gist which may help you out.

The main functionality is:

function get_apps_folder () {
    mdfind -0 -onlyin / \
        'kMDItemKind=="Application" && kMDItemDisplayName="'"${1:-TextEdit}"'"' \
    | xargs -0 -I{} dirname {}
}

function open_apps_folder () {
    open $(get_apps_folder "$1")
}

You could take that and add the two functions to your ~/.bash_profile and they would be available for any interactive shell sessions you are using. (And yes, getting around mixed and embedded single and double quotes can be messy.) :-)

But, to give a better explanation, the main part is:

mdfind -0 -onlyin / 'kMDItemKind=="Application" && kMDItemDisplayName="VMware Fusion"' | xargs -0 -I{} open {}

The -onlyin /path limits the search to just the root volume, otherwise any “Spotlight-searchable” volume attached will most likely be searched as well, including Time Machine, which can get unwieldy and/or verbose, hence using -onlyin /.

In the Gist, each line output by mdfind is fed to xargs which calls open on what is passed to it. Note that there is no particularly robust checking of what is passed to xargs (ie. it is assuming it is getting a directory).

mdfind and mdls can be pretty handy for things like this, although they can take a little getting used to. I usually use mdls /path/to/file to get an idea of what metadata that type of file has. I can then take those keys and values to search using mdfind. You can find a lot of pages, examples and documentation out there, BTW.


Yes, you should get asked for your password when you use sudo, based on the entry in sudoers you've posted - it's asking for your password to raise privilege to make sure it is really you. This is expected behaviour.
If you enter your password, and it then works, your sudoers entries are valid.


If I turn off my phone for a few days, would it somehow restart the
  password count and I could try a few more times?.

In a word, no. You can try restoring your phone to factory settings using these steps at Apple Support.

If you backed up your device, you can restore your data and settings after restoring your device. If you never backed up your device before you forgot your passcode, you won't be able to save the data on your device.

Quoth Apple:

If you don't have iTunes, download and install iTunes on your Mac or PC. If you don't have a computer, borrow one from a friend, or go to an Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider.
Make sure that your device isn't connected to your computer, then choose your device below and follow the steps:

iPhone 6s or earlier, iPod touch (6th generation or earlier), or iPad with Home button: Press and hold the Side (or Top) button until the power off slider appears.
Drag the slider to turn off your device. Connect your device to your computer while holding the Home button.
Keep holding the Home button until you see the recovery-mode screen.

In iTunes, when you see the option to Restore or Update, choose Restore. iTunes will download software for your device. If it takes more than 15 minutes, your device will exit recovery mode and you'll need to repeat steps 2-4.
Wait for the process to finish. Then you can set up and use your device.


Can I tell itunes to download a specific podcast on Saturdays only?

You can use the following AppleScript:

tell application "iTunes"
    set aList to every track of playlist "Podcasts" whose album is "podcast_name"
    repeat with aTrack in aList
        set aDate to release date of aTrack
        set aWeekday to weekday of aDate as string
        if aWeekday is equal to "Saturday" then
            updatePodcast aTrack
        end if
    end repeat
end tell

I would save this AppleScript as application and execute it whenever you want:

Open the application "AppleScript Editor" in the Utility folder.
Paste the code above.
Set "podcast_name" to the name of the podcast
you want to update.
Save the Apple Script as application.

To schedule this AppleScript, you can get hints at the tutorial I found.


How to share photos with iOS users if you don't own any Apple products

Let your friends sign you up for a free iCloud account using their device.

Once you have a username/password in iCloud, you can upload photos and share things quite well using the web app.

https://icloud.com

There isn't a provision to pay for iCloud - so you need to sign up on the coattails of a hardware purchase.


How to allow standard user to install software in Sierra?

There is this jamf post. The solution there is to tweak 1th. the authorisation database an 2th. allow standard users to add/remove printers by adding them to the lpadmin group.

security authorizationdb write system.preferences allow

security authorizationdb write system.preferences.printing allow

dseditgroup -o edit -a $username -t user lpadmin

Refs:
JAMF
DSSW

terminal macos


I think you are talking about iOS folder. If so, touch and hold one icon till icons begin dithering. Then drag and drop one icon on an other icon which of two you want to folder together. Your ipad will suggest you a folder name. You may change or assume that. Then push the home button.


Can an admin account on Mac access user's data?

A user with administrator privileges can read all your unencrypted files. And you have to assume the access to your data can happen without you knowing it (an administrator can simply take backup of the system and access the backed up files offline leaving no trace on the system).

One exception is the keychain file (the one containing all your saved passwords). It is encrypted and, by default, protected with the same password as the one you use for login. An administrator cannot access the contents and cannot change the password to this file without knowing the current one. Thus the administrator cannot access your saved passwords, credentials, and other data which you store in the Keychain etc.

The above applies only to passive "attack". A rogue administrator can install a key logger and simply learn your password by  sniffing


How do I record changes to a cell in Numbers via AppleScript?

This is written as more of a proof of concept to show some logic in accomplishing the task. There may be a better way to code it, but I do not really do much AppleScript with Numbers, maybe someone else (CJK) can present some different code.
The following example AppleScript code was tested under macOS High Sierra and Numbers, version 5.1 (5683), with a default document using the basic blank template and as coded works per what was mentioned in the OP. The example AppleScript code assumes that Numbers is already running with the default document opened.
As coded, with set n to 1, if the value of, e.g., A1 is not missing value, then the value of the next cell in that  row whose value is missing value, then gets the value of the first cell of that row. In this case the value of, e.g., A1.
Setting set n to 2, and so on, acts on that row and the value of that rows first cell, if not missing value, then get set to the value of the next cell of that row whose value is missing value.
Note: The setting or changing the value of a cell is not set until focus is removed from that cell. This normally occurs when pressing a key, e.g., tab, enter, arrow or when clicking elsewhere in the document with the mouse. I'm mentioning this so when you go to test the code and you typed something in e.g. A1, its value is still missing value until focus is moved elsewhere.
tell application "Numbers"
    set n to 1
    tell row n of table 1 of sheet 1 of document 1
        if the value of its first cell is not missing value then
            set v to value of its first cell
            set c to its cell count
            set i to 2
            set flag to true
            repeat while flag is true and i is less than c + 1
                if the value of cell n of column i is missing value then
                    set its value of cell n of column i to v
                    set flag to false
                else
                    set i to i + 1
                end if
            end repeat
        end if
    end tell
end tell

Note: The example AppleScript code is just that and does not contain any additional error handling as may be appropriate. The onus is upon the user to add any error handling as may be appropriate, needed or wanted. Have a look at the try statement and error statement in the AppleScript Language Guide. See also, Working with Errors. Additionally, the use of the delay command may be necessary between events where appropriate, e.g. delay 0.5, with the value of the delay set appropriately.


Putting Stickers on Top MacBook Pro Lid - Recommendations

If you get something like a Macbook Vinyl Decal Sticker it should stay on very well but those are also very easy to remove, and people say no reside is left on the machine. So if you get one of those no layer/skin is needed.

Though if you want a skin, DBrand Macbook Skins, Wraps and Decals are the best looking and quality.


macOS High Sierra unable to natively play videos encoded with HandBrake's H.265 setting

High Sierra's H.265-capable apps want hvc1 instead of hev1. Handbrake's stable release as of now (September 26, 2017) does the latter. Nightly builds should do the former.

Relevant code change: https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/commit/67dfaca7ac3ec56cc4ab3c7f9f60ab3b7c43a0db


When I open an Open Dialog box in Catalina, it always displays in "Recent" view, showing items grouped by recently used

use the icon with the 3 columns to select how you want the Open Dialog box to display, choose the icon, then from the drop down select "Name" under "Group Items by"


How to show file extensions in finder for all files

Most likely the files you are wondering about do not have any extension associated with them. Unlike Windows and many other operating systems Mac OS does not require a file extension and can use meta data stored in the filesystem instead.

More about Resource Fork and File Type/Creator.

After some searching around it appears to be fairly complicated to take information from the meta data and use that to add extension to files.


How to set the percentage at which my MacBook warns about low battery?

Just in case you weren't aware and/or haven't tried this, you can:

click on the battery icon in the menu bar
in the dropdown menu that appears, click "Show"
select whether you want the remaining time or percentage displayed

This will display the remaing time or remaining percentage to the right of the battery icon. It is always visible in the menu bar, making it easy to glance at regularly.

With regard the warning, I'm a little surprised it's only triggering at 5%. However, it is designed to trigger once your MacBook is running on reserve power and perhaps in your case that's at 5% because of the overall battery life.


MBP retina 2015 with usb 3 to ethernet and active wifi sharing fails at iMessage

Open System Preferences > Network, click the tiny gear at the bottom of your services panel next to the + and - buttons, and select "Set Service Order". Drag your ethernet service (en3) to the top (or at least above en0/Wi-Fi) to send all outgoing network traffic through en3.


How do I get Apache to use the default pyenv Python version instead of the system one?

If the python version you want to use is:

/opt/local/bin/python

just replace the 1st line of the scripts you want to run with this
version of python to say you want to use this interpreter:

#!/opt/local/bin/python


Is it possible to automate changing some security settings in Catalina?

Yes. Set up a MDM and you can easily make configuration profiles so your peers or people you support don’t have to manage their Macs as much.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mdm/welcome/web
https://www.apple.com/macos/server/
https://www.fleetsmith.com/ or https://www.jamf.com/products/jamf-now/


I had this problem a while back. What was suggested and worked for me was a full uninstall of Silverlight, a reboot, and a reinstall. You may have to manually remove Silverlight files.

Here's a good explanation of the issue and how to fix it: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/mac/forum/macoffice2011-macother/netflix-silverlight-mac-problem-installation-says/0b71af78-cb94-46e3-9629-f97c8dda1361


Managing Virtual Macs on a closed network

Apple Remote Desktop turns out to be the answer.  It is important that ARD have a separate administrative user account, and I recommend that the account be hidden from users' view.


This is a known bug in Office for Mac 2011.  The icons represent temporary files that have been deleted.  (Probably before they were deleted they were invisible.) You cannot Get Info on the files or find the files via Terminal because they do not exists; the bug is that the Finder is still showing them.  If you force-quit the Finder it will restart and the file icons will be gone.

The best workaround to keep them from coming back seems to be to move files off the desktop and into a folder before opening them.


Send Photo as Mail attachment is Missing

When you are texting in the text box look to the left of the box and if you see anything there pull it to the right and it makes the camera icon visable. That is what my son showed me when I had the same question. I hope it works for you.


How to uninstall Linux from a MacBook properly?

Evidently, the tricky part is the removal of the Linux partitions (disk0s3 and disk0s4).

The last partition (disk0s4) is the Linux swap partition. The following command can be used to return this partition free space. This should also remove the hybrid partitioning in the Master Boot Record (MBR) Partition Table.

sudo diskutil eraseVolume free none disk0s4

The command below should return the remaining Linux partition (disk0s3) to free space. However, when tested under High Sierra (macOS 10.13.6), this command failed to work properly.

  Note: When tested under Catalina (macOS 10.15.2), command below did work properly. However, after participating in discussions posted at this question, I can report the command may still fail under Catalina.

sudo diskutil eraseVolume free none disk0s3

The alternative way to remove this partition is to boot to macOS Recovery and use the command shown below. I would recommend using the command below over the above command. After entering the command below, you can boot back to macOS.

gpt -f remove -i 3 disk0

The next command returns the free space back to the APFS container (disk0s2).

sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer disk0s2 0

The next command mounts the EFI volume (disk0s1).

sudo diskutil mount disk0s1

The next command removes the linux boot files from the EFI volume. This will prevent Linux from appearing in the Startup Manager. With some versions of Linux, this folder may not exist.

rm -r /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT

There will be other boot files remaining in the EFI volume. You do not have to remove these files if you do not wish to. The files will be in a folder named after the Linux that was installed. For example, with Ubuntu the command would be as follows.

rm -r /Volumes/EFI/EFI/Ubuntu

The next command unmounts the EFI volume (disk0s1).

sudo diskutil unmount disk0s1


How can I install Boot Camp drivers in Windows on an external SSD disk?

Open Bootcamp Assistant (In the Applications -> Utilities folder), then on the opening screen, click the 'Action' menu, then select 'Download Windows Support Software'.  You'll be prompted to select a location to save the downloaded files.  You can then put them onto a USB flash drive, restart into Windows and run the installer.

There are more details on the Apple Support website, here


Is it possible to use US English keyboard layout with dead keys in Mavericks similar to those from Windows and Linux?

The answer to your new question is the US International PC layout provided by Apple.


The path you gave rm to delete was /./*. Let’s break this down:

/ The root mount point, such as Macintosh HD. This is the root of the disk, therefore an absolute path was given rather than a relative path operating on the current directory.
./ The current directory, which is now / by the path given so far. /. is equivalent to /, so // is the path so far, except duplicate directory delimiters are combined to a single delimiter, so / so far, the same as step 1.
* Glob all files and folders at this level.

Therefore, the command given was to delete all files and folders starting at the root mount point, i.e. delete all files and folders on the entire volume.

macOS System Integrity Protection will prevent this mischief from causing much damage to the system’s core components, but your own files won’t be protected if you have given full disk access to the Terminal app. I hope you have a backup of the files you need, especially from the beginning of the disk depending when you stopped the command.


No devel block is defined for automake? Error when using Homebrew

This is because libmobiledevice is no longer on --devel branch, remove that and you should be all set.

brew install -v --fresh libimobiledevice


View → Show Preview ⇧⌘P / Hide Preview ⇧⌘P toggles the pane on the right.
You can alternatively…

drag the edge of the window right to make the window bigger so you can see more contents without hiding the preview pane.
choose View → Arrange By to choose an arrangement of items — any arrangement will automatically place the folder contents within the view with only vertical scrolling.


Disable autocomplete, that should help.
Xcode -> Preferences -> Text Editing
"Suggest completions while typing" - uncheck it.
If you feel your Xcode is still sluggish, disable the other options, too. You may want to keep "Turn on Use Escape key to show completion suggestions" on just incase you need some hints occasionally.


Why does Mail.app translate the :-) smiley into a computer icon?

For whatever reason, the people sending you emails are sending the smileys in Wingdings.  With the normal Microsoft encoding of Wingdings, the letters and punctuation map to the symbols.

Presumably, you have MS Office for Mac installed, because that installs a version of the font which includes these symbols in the normal character slots.  That's why you get the funny symbols.

By default, Mac OS X ships with a version of the font that does NOT have those symbols assigned to letters and punctuation.  In that case, apps will display normal letters.

The best solution would be to stop the sender from setting weird wingdings font on :-), but that may not be possible.

Another option is to remove the Microsoft version of the font and leave the OS X version. But that would mean that if you try to use Wingdings characters by typing letters, it wouldn't work. You'd need to add them from the character panel.


Alternatives of BitThief to Download Torrent Files Sequentially

I highly recommend Transmission (https://www.transmissionbt.com/). Best BitTorrent client on Mac.
There is no sequential download option, but you don't want that, it is not only damaging to the BitTorrent network, but downloading sequentially also should result in slower download speed for you in general.

If it is about streaming the videos you download, aka start watching while downloading, give Popcorn Time a try. It is a streaming client based on the BT protocol and works nicely.


What is an easy way to back up MacBook running 10.5.8?

TimeMachine might be the easiest way to back things up on a regular basis. You'll need any old external drive and a few clicks of the mouse.

If you have more specific needs, feel free to edit your question to refine for what you are looking.


Without add on software there is no command to get the disk temperature, after:

$ brew install smartmontools

One can run the command:

$ smartctl -a disk0 | grep Temperature

To retrieve de disk temperature, like:

194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   044   044   000    Old_age   Always       -       56 (Min/Max 17/70)


Apple Preview Program messed up the shortcuts after the Yosemite update

I spoke with Apple support and was informed that it's a bug in the initial release 10.10 build (14A389). It's not yet clear if the 10.10.1 (14B25) update has fixed this bug.


My Macbook Air won't connect to the internet

Things to check:

If you are using WIFI only, you need to set the Service Order and the first will be your WIFI.

From System Preferences > Network

Then Click "Set Service Order"

Drag and drop the WIFI connection to the top of the order list

On your Network Settings > Wifi > Advanced > DNS, add your Router IP there.

HTH


Boot Camp - running OS X partition as a VM

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

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

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

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

  Source

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


How can I remove the window shadow in El Capitan?

copied from my question about the same issue:

edit 01-11-2019: Works on Mojave.

There is a solution - plugin called winBuddy which is available through MacForge (previously known as mySIMBL).

It allows you to turn off window shadow and/or window borders for every app.

I've just tested it and it seems to work properly, there are some minor glitches here and there but nothing major.

Minor glitches include:

You can't change window options for apps which don't have menu - like Bartender for example
You can't change window options for some apps, as winBuddy does not show up under 'Window' in menu.


I found the answer in this Apple Support Communities thread.

This is what I did:

In terminal executed diskutil list and the output was

#:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            542.3 GB   disk0s2
3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s4
4:                  Apple_HFS BOOTCAMP                449.0 MB   disk0s4
5:                 Apple_Boot                         650.0 MB   disk0s5

Then I executed the following commands:

diskutil eraseVolume jhfs+ BC1 disk0s4
diskutil list

And the output was:

#:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.0 TB     disk0
1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
2:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            542.3 GB   disk0s2
3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s4
4:                  Apple_HFS BC1                     449.0 MB   disk0s4

then:

diskutil eraseVolume fat32 BOOTCAMP disk0s4

After that I opened Boot Camp Assistant and I was able to restore the HD to a single partition.


How can I automount a network share on macOS Catalina?

This is the article that i used
https://useyourloaf.com/blog/using-the-mac-os-x-automounter/
and my code:
networkPath
persistent="true"
username
password

function debugEcho () {
  if (true) then
   echo -e $1
  fi
}

shareName=${networkPath##*/}
debugEcho "$shareName"
userPersistent=$username
userPersistent=$(echo "$username" | tr "\\" ";")
if [[ $username == *"@"* ]]; then
  OIFS=$IFS
  IFS=@
  set -- $username
  user=$1
  domain=$2
  debugEcho "$user $domain"
  userPersistent="$domain;$user"
  IFS=$OIFS
  debugEcho "$userPersistent"
fi

username=${username//@/"%40"}
debugEcho $username
shareName="TEST7"

if [[ "$persistent" == "true" ]]; then
  mkdir -p /System/Volumes/Data/mnt
  LINE="/System/Volumes/Data/mnt/Resources auto_resources"
  FILE='/etc/auto_master'
  grep -qF -- "$LINE" "$FILE" || echo "$LINE" >> "$FILE"
  touch /etc/auto_resources
  LINE="$shareName -fstype=smbfs ://$userPersistent:$password@$networkPath"
  FILE='/etc/auto_resources'
  grep -qF -- "$LINE" "$FILE" || echo "$LINE" >> "$FILE"
  automount -cv
  open "/System/Volumes/Data/mnt/Resources/"
  path1="/System/Volumes/Data/mnt/Resources/"
  path2="~/Desktop/"
  debugEcho "$path1"
  ln -s $path1 $path2

else
  open "smb://$username:$password@$networkPath"

fi


It appears unlikely an OS X driver is available but you may have success with Linux.

You could use a virtual machine such as VMWare Fusion or VirtualBox to test the approaches linked below:

  Television with Linux

  The LinuxTV community develops and maintains the Linux Kernel Media Subsystems and several userspace libraries and applications.

  The Linux Kernel Media Subsystems provides support for devices like webcams, streaming capture and output, analog TV, digital TV, AM/FM radio, Sofware Digital Radio (SDR) and remote controllers. It offers native support for a large number of drivers for commonly available PCI cards and USB devices, but the subsystems are also targeted towards Linux based set-top-boxes and embedded devices, like mobile phones.

Linux TV: Talk:Afatech AF9015
Can anybody help me to make Kworld UB445-Q TV tuner work?


configtest error AH00526: Syntax error in httpd-autoindex.conf

TL;DR I turned the offending line into a comment by adding a ˋ#ˋ in the first column and restarted Apache.

To fix this, I followed the Youtube tutorial and opened up the file "httpd-autoindex.conf" using Finder and navigated down to line 21 which has the error. It reads Alias /icons/ "/usr/share/httpd/icons/".

Then I found this tutorial by just searching the erroring line in the file on Google. I followed the instructions up until the fourth step because upon trying that line in the terminal I get the message "-bash: service: command not found". So then I simply restarted the apache web server by entering sudo apachectl restart.

Finally, I tried writing sudo /usr/sbin/apachectl configtest and received the "Syntax OK" message, so I went back to the final step in the first tutorial. I entered

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist

At last, I type "localhost" into the search bar, hit enter, and get the "It works!" message.


Is there a MariaDB server package for Macos?

You can download the latest (November 2018) release with an official macOS build here:

http://archive.mariadb.org/mariadb-10.1.37/macOS/

They do not provide macOS pkg builds for later versions such as 10.2, 10.3 or (alpha) 10.4.


Prevent iOS 11 from closing background apps?

This is a known bug in iOS 11 and should be fixed with iOS 11.1
Most of the Apps are using the BackgroundFetch functionality, which is totally broken in iOS 11

Currently there is iOS 11.1 beta 4 released. It seems that Apple will release the final version within the delivery of the iPhone X.

If you want to have more technical details you can have a look at the technical topics in StackOverflow: iOS11 swift silent push (background fetch, didReceiveRemoteNotification) is not working anymore

UPDATE 2017-10-31

Just FYI: Apple released today iOS11.1 -> the issue should be now resolved from a operating system point of view.


osascript bug: AppleScript's initial "choose from list" dialog is unselected

This is weird..  For now, I'd recommend that you save your script as an executable. This can be done by opening your Applescript in the Script Editor, then clicking the File menu, then Export, then choosing "Application" in the File Format dropdown box.  You could then create an Applescript that executes this application.


LibreOffice error: "Either another instance of LibreOffice is accessing your personal settings or your personal settings are locked"

According to the LibreOffice docs and this similar Ask Ubuntu Q&A, it stores a .lock file ~/Library/Application Support/libreoffice/4/user on OS X to indicate a session is active and running.

To clean it up:

Make sure no instances of LibreOffice are currently running.
Open the Terminal application
Optional: Check to see if lock file exists, at the prompt type: ls -l ~/Library/Application\ Support/LibreOffice/?/user/.lock
If you see "cannot access" this means the lock file is not present.
At the prompt type: rm -f ~/Library/Application\ Support/LibreOffice/?/user/.lock
Close the Terminal application
Start LibreOffice


Can my son block me from finding him with my find my iphone app?

Yes - your son can block sharing of location in several ways.

The best you can do is enforce restrictions on the device to prevent changes to Find My Friend / Location settings, but if your son is savvy enough to know to hide location, they will be savvy enough to:

google a faraday cage and put the phone in aluminum foil
enable airplane mode
powered off the phone
sign in to an iPad somewhere else and shift that to report their location when they choose

Here's what the restrictions look like and I've heard of good luck just talking over the restrictions with a minor and then agreeing jointly which will help them avoid temptation and which you can graduate them past with trust in the relationship.

At some point you'll need to find another avenue than technical measures for tracking or have an agreement that if you text he has so many minutes to get back to you, etc...


You are asking the open command to open content from stdin.  open can be made to read from stdin but it will open the contents in at text editor--which isn't what you want.

Try using osascript directly:
If the zipped file is simply AppleScript, then you accomplish this with the following.

unzip -p file.zip | osascript -

From the osascript manpage:

  osascript will look for the script in one of the following three places:

  Specified line by line using -e switches on the command line.
  Contained in the file specified by the first filename on the command line.  This file may be plain text or a compiled script.
  Passed in using standard input.  This works only if there are no filename arguments; to pass arguments to a STDIN-read script, you must explicitly specify '-' for the script name.


IOS 7, enable to setup personal hot spot

setting- cellular- cellular data network.
Cellular data
apn: test
username: test
password: 12345678
Personal hotspot
apn: test
username: test
password: 123456789

have good day


In terminal (bash), should I be in a folder to move it to another?

Assuming You are in World directory (check with pwd command) and dir tree looks like:

World
 |___ South_America
 |
 |___ North_America

You simply do:

mv South_America North_America/

When You are in South_America already, You can:

mv ../South_America ../North_America/


sudo apachectl start starts Apache and enables /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist.

To make http://localhost/~username/ work, save something like this as /etc/apache2/users/username.conf:

<Directory "/Users/username/Sites/">
    Options Indexes MultiViews
    AllowOverride All
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

I didn't have to edit any other files or httpd.conf.


Local hostname changes every few seconds when NOT connected to a network

I looked in the logs via the console app and found the following logs are generated every time I am disconnected from a network:

8/29/14 10:07:59.087 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7647.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:07:59.087 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: ProbeCount 2; will deregister    4 sojourner-7647.local. Addr 127.0.0.1
8/29/14 10:07:59.087 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Local Hostname sojourner-7647.local already in use; will try sojourner-7743.local instead
8/29/14 10:08:00.923 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Name Conflict: Updated Local Hostname from "sojourner-7647.local" to "sojourner-7743.local"
8/29/14 10:08:00.944 PM configd[26]: setting hostname to "sojourner-7743.local"
8/29/14 10:08:02.145 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7743.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:02.145 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing:    4 sojourner-7743.local. Addr 127.0.0.1
8/29/14 10:08:02.145 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7743.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:02.146 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing:   16 sojourner-7743.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:02.456 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7743.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:02.457 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: ProbeCount 2; will deregister    4 sojourner-7743.local. Addr 127.0.0.1
8/29/14 10:08:02.457 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Local Hostname sojourner-7743.local already in use; will try sojourner-7765.local instead
8/29/14 10:08:04.365 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Name Conflict: Updated Local Hostname from "sojourner-7743.local" to "sojourner-7765.local"
8/29/14 10:08:04.375 PM configd[26]: setting hostname to "sojourner-7765.local"
8/29/14 10:08:04.633 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   22 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa. PTR sojourner-7743.local.
8/29/14 10:08:04.633 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Unexpected conflict discarding   22 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa. PTR sojourner-7765.local.
8/29/14 10:08:04.734 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   22 1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.8.e.f.ip6.arpa. PTR sojourner-7743.local.
8/29/14 10:08:04.734 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Unexpected conflict discarding   22 1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.8.E.F.ip6.arpa. PTR sojourner-7765.local.
8/29/14 10:08:05.839 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7765.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:05.840 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing:    4 sojourner-7765.local. Addr 127.0.0.1
8/29/14 10:08:05.840 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7765.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:05.840 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing:   16 sojourner-7765.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:06.141 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7765.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:06.141 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: ProbeCount 2; will deregister    4 sojourner-7765.local. Addr 127.0.0.1
8/29/14 10:08:06.141 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Local Hostname sojourner-7765.local already in use; will try sojourner-7802.local instead
8/29/14 10:08:08.006 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Name Conflict: Updated Local Hostname from "sojourner-7765.local" to "sojourner-7802.local"
8/29/14 10:08:08.016 PM configd[26]: setting hostname to "sojourner-7802.local"
8/29/14 10:08:08.268 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   22 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa. PTR sojourner-7765.local.
8/29/14 10:08:08.268 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Unexpected conflict discarding   22 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa. PTR sojourner-7802.local.
8/29/14 10:08:08.357 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   22 1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.8.e.f.ip6.arpa. PTR sojourner-7765.local.
8/29/14 10:08:08.357 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Unexpected conflict discarding   22 1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.8.E.F.ip6.arpa. PTR sojourner-7802.local.
8/29/14 10:08:09.465 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7802.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:09.465 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing:    4 sojourner-7802.local. Addr 127.0.0.1
8/29/14 10:08:09.465 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7802.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:09.465 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing:   16 sojourner-7802.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:09.733 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7802.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:09.733 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: ProbeCount 2; will deregister    4 sojourner-7802.local. Addr 127.0.0.1
8/29/14 10:08:09.733 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Local Hostname sojourner-7802.local already in use; will try sojourner-7837.local instead
8/29/14 10:08:11.578 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Name Conflict: Updated Local Hostname from "sojourner-7802.local" to "sojourner-7837.local"
8/29/14 10:08:11.588 PM configd[26]: setting hostname to "sojourner-7837.local"
8/29/14 10:08:11.815 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   22 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa. PTR sojourner-7802.local.
8/29/14 10:08:11.815 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Unexpected conflict discarding   22 1.0.0.127.in-addr.arpa. PTR sojourner-7837.local.
8/29/14 10:08:11.915 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   22 1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.8.e.f.ip6.arpa. PTR sojourner-7802.local.
8/29/14 10:08:11.915 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Unexpected conflict discarding   22 1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.8.E.F.ip6.arpa. PTR sojourner-7837.local.
8/29/14 10:08:12.786 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:12.786 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing:    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 127.0.0.1
8/29/14 10:08:12.786 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Excessive name conflicts (17) for sojourner-7837.local. (Addr); rate limiting in effect
8/29/14 10:08:12.786 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Received from 127.0.0.1:5353   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA 0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:12.786 PM mDNSResponder[414]: mDNSCoreReceiveResponse: Resetting to Probing:   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001
8/29/14 10:08:12.786 PM mDNSResponder[414]: Excessive name conflicts (18) for sojourner-7837.local. (AAAA); rate limiting in effect
8/29/14 10:08:14.193 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:14.194 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:14.497 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:14.497 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:14.914 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:14.914 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:14.914 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:14.914 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 002B5510    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 172.20.10.2
8/29/14 10:08:14.915 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:14.915 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:14.915 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:14.915 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 002B5510    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 172.20.10.2
8/29/14 10:08:15.504 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:15.504 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:15.504 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:15.504 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 002B5510    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 172.20.10.2
8/29/14 10:08:15.504 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:15.505 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:15.505 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:15.505 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 002B5510    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 172.20.10.2
8/29/14 10:08:15.911 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:15.911 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:15.911 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:15.911 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 002B5510    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 172.20.10.2
8/29/14 10:08:15.911 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:15.911 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:15.911 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:15.911 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 002B5510    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 172.20.10.2
8/29/14 10:08:16.212 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:16.213 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:16.213 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:16.213 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 002B5510    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 172.20.10.2
8/29/14 10:08:16.213 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:16.213 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 8323688E   16 sojourner-7837.local. AAAA FE80:0000:0000:0000:2CBE:08FF:FE8F:BCBA
8/29/14 10:08:16.213 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Pkt Record:        00004008    4 sojourner-7837.local. NSEC Addr
8/29/14 10:08:16.213 PM mDNSResponder[414]: ResolveSimultaneousProbe: 000000000000000A Our Record 3 lost: 002B5510    4 sojourner-7837.local. Addr 172.20.10.2
8/29/14 10:08:19.916 PM digest-service[701]: digest-request: init return domain: SOJOURNER-7647 server: SOJOURNER-7837 indomain was: <NULL>
8/29/14 10:08:19.937 PM digest-service[701]: digest-request: init return domain: SOJOURNER-7837 server: SOJOURNER-7837 indomain was: <NULL>

I re-enabled the network around second 10:08:14.

The actual process which was changing the hostname is configd. The man page for configd states that

The configd daemon is responsible for many configuration aspects of the
local system. configd maintains data reflecting the desired and current
state of the system, provides notifications to applications when this data
changes, and hosts a number of configuration agents in the form of loadable
bundles.

and

At the present time, the majority of the configuration agents (or bundles)
hosted by configd are used to establish and maintain the network
configuration.

The man pages lists the following related files:

 /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/preferences.plist
 /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/NetworkInterfaces.plist
 /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/VirtualNetworkInterfaces.plist

The file preferences.plist appears to have the network preferences as specified by the Network preference panel in System Preference.  I made a backup, deleted it, killed configd, and performed a low level reboot:

cd /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/
cp preferences.plist ~/Desktop/preferences.plist
sudo rm -f preferences.plist
sudo killall configd
sudo killall configd
sudo reboot

After the system rebooted, the system no longer changed the host name every few seconds when NOT connected to a network.


My Macbook Air's Charger will not charge when plugged in, I've already reset the SMC. I also just got it back from Apple...What can I do?

There are several reasons a MagSafe power adapter will intermittently show the Green/Amber LED charge status. If it comes and goes it may indicate a short or break in the thin DC line cable. This usually happens at the power brick end where it runs into the adapter itself. You may not even see a cut in the plastic wire cover but if it looks badly creased it may be a wire break internally that touches enough sometimes to work. The other end (where the MagSafe connector is) can have the same issue. If the MagSafe is the MagSafe 1 type (MagSafe 2 has a thinner connector profile) and it is the right-angled L-shape connector even if the cable looks fine it may be that it has twisted loose inside the metal connector. The cable running into the connector should not twist at all if you hold the metal connector in one hand and gently try to twist the cable running into it with the other hand. If it rotates at all that or a DC line break on the other end near the adapter itself means you need a new adapter. Otherwise try connecting the MagSafe connector the opposite direction you normally connect it and wiggle it when attached so the pins seat correctly. You will know it works if the LED lights.

If after all of this you still have issues and the computer itself in the upper right of the display continues to indicate it's not connected to power it may simply be a bad adapter needing replacement, the connector on the computer needs to be cleaned or replaced (MagSafe DC-in board) or worst case the charging subsystem on the logic board is defective. There are other possibilities but more rare. If a new adapter works consistently then getting a new adapter is your answer. Make sure is is a REAL Apple adapter. There are many many knockoffs that look like the real thing until you look closely. Typically they weigh less and of course cost less but they don't last very long. Hope something here helps.


How do I fix interlacing lines going up and down on iPhone SE display

As it turns out, it was something in the display assembly. I purchased an iPhone SE LCD Screen and Digitizer Full Assembly from iFixIt, then followed the meticulously-detailed iPhone SE Display Assembly Replacement guide, and after another hard reset, the display was back to its former glory!

One caveat for those replacing the display assembly: When re-assembling, if it's hard to snap the top part of the display into the body of the iPhone, check if there are extra bits of glue or plastic on the new assembly. It seems the iFixIt replacement parts sometimes have an extra bit of goop that needs to be shaved off in order to fit well.

If the display doesn't snap in snugly like the old one, you could end up putting pressure on both the earpiece and vibration motor, which can make sound and vibration features a bit strange (tinny or even nonexistent!) until you fix the problem.


Huge TM backups - LaunchServices csstore file too big?

The launch services database is there to speed up the execution of things like telling which apps can open which file. On a clean system, one that you install an OS and don't import apps or settings or data, this database is very small.

You can inspect the contents of this database indirectly by calling a command lsregister which I make a symbolic link in /usr/local/bin so it's easy to call without typing the long System Library path to the framework tool:

ln -s /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister /usr/local/bin

On my work machine, the database is 85 meg when stored to the filesystem and I have a second account with a much smaller database (probably an admin account I never log in to lately and the system had fewer apps installed when I last triggered a rebuild of the caching database for that user).

sudo find /private/var/folders/zz/ -name com.apple.LaunchServices* -exec du -sm {} +

12  /private/var/folders/zz//zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/0/com.apple.LaunchServices-175-v2.csstore
75  /private/var/folders/zz//zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n0000000000000/0/com.apple.LaunchServices-221-v2.csstore

This matches up with the information that lsregister will dump (for me it's 137 thousand lines of text to dump the database and you can look through yours and see which apps take tons of space if you really need to know who is using the space by registering for every file type known to mankind and ruining your backup speeds)

lsregister -dump|head -9
Checking data integrity......done.
Status: Database is seeded.
Status: Preferences are loaded.
Seeded System Version: 10.13.6 (17G65)
Seeded Model Code: MacBookPro13,2
CacheGUID: CD230C46-C259-4B2C-BA4B-88AE7FE74557
CacheSequenceNum: 7684
Date Initialized: 7/10/18, 12:35:16 PM HST (POSIX 1531262116.000)
Path: /var/folders/p6/w8svns2s6pd8vj2gx04pc97h0000gr/0/com.apple.LaunchServices-221-v2.csstore

Or, you could purge some apps you might know are large in terms of mapping to file types or open a support case and provide a sysdiagnose to Apple for analysis if you have an incident / support engineering agreement - it appears to dump all the launch services data and one other app info text file that might be helpful to count apps that have registered (look for lsappinfo.txt inside the sysdiagnose results file).

The TL;DR answer will be:

Just skip backing these up if you are sure they are large and you don't care to dive into why. Add the folder to the exclusions graphically or by command line.
Remove any apps you don't need - then keep removing apps you can reinstall until the database size is more in line with what you want. You may need to manually rebuild the file to test if you don't want to wait for the next trigger to rebuild it.
Open a support case with Apple to determine if you have a bug or just need help identifying which apps are causing the slow performance of Time Machine due to a busy / changing / large file.

I've never seen this slow down a backup or cause issues, but enough people have reported it there's got to be some programs or situations where this would be a good thing to do.


How do I create a loopback adapter for Parallels VMs?

If you are using Shared Networking for your Parallels VM, there is an IP address allocated for the host OSX machine as well as the VM. By default, shared machines use the 10.211.55.x subnet, and 10.211.55.2 is the host. You can use this IP to access the OSX host from your Windows VM. This subnet can be adjusted in Parallels Preferences:

If you check the box Show in System Preferences, you will see the host IP:

Shared networking is independent of the LAN that the host machine uses, so it can be used while disconnected from a network.

An additional networking type is Host-Only, which  will work similarly, though with a different subnet: 10.37.129.x. By default, host-only disallows connectivity from your VM to the external network.

The 3rd networking type is Bridged, which will use your network adapter (ethernet or WiFi) directly, so this networking type will not work for the setup you are asking for.

For reference - here is a description of the networking modes that Parallels uses.


New iCloud email added to iPhone5 without changing Apple ID,in order to automatically copy all iMessages that uses that new iCloud email to said email

Yes, it is possible to have several iCloud email account on your single iPhone 5. You cannot have multiple Apple ID's on the same phone, but can have many email accounts.
No, you really cannot iMessage from multiple iCloud email accounts. That said, it is technically possible, but would require going into the Settings app every time you wanted to message from a different email account and would prove to be quite cumbersome to setup. Even then, they could easily message your other iCloud accounts that were linked to messages. This could quickly result in your having several message threads from the same recipient - an unfortunate situation.
Yes, you could technically set up a rule that would forward emails received from the Coworker to another email. Then you could set up that email to automatically tag or mark emails from that iCloud account as read or whatever was needed. It would not be possible with iMessage.

Honestly, it sounds like coercing iCloud and iMessage into what you need is a little too much for what it was designed for. While it may be possible to figure a solution out, it is more likely that you could find a third-party solution that would suit you well. Case in point, Google offers Gmail and Hangouts which would allow for emailing and instant messaging - all for free and with associated apps if desired. There is chat history and emails can be archived forever.


Can a mac be infected by a microsoft trojan?

It seems that this particular trojan horse works by downloading and then executing an .exe file. Those files are not executable on macOS (in general), and thus wouldn't work.

However, if you copy the .exe file to a Windows computer, open it from Bootcamp on your computer or copy it to a virtual machine running Windows on your computer - then you could potentially execute it and get infected.

Note that there is a (slight) risk that the .doc file you've received was specifically tailored for macOS. I haven't heard of such a variant of the W97M/Downloader, so it is probably not the case.

I would advise removing the .doc and the .exe (and other files downloaded) - and then running a full virus scan. If you have backups of the machine, I would also advise comparing your current hard drive contents with the contents of the backup to detect any other alterations that might have been done.

The best advise regarding these types of malware that comes through email is simply to never open attachments in emails, unless you have verified that the email was sent by someone you know.


I can't restore back up from PC. I returned to iOS 10.3.3.from iOS 11.

Backups of a newer version of iOS can’t be restored onto a device with an older version of iOS. To restore your iOS 11 backup, you’ll need iOS 11 running on the device.


To connect to your phones hotspot you will need to set Configure IPv4 to Use DHCP.

To have different network settings for the same interface you can set up network locations. For instance, add a new location for college with the IPv4 settings you've specified, and when you're using your phones hotspot or somewhere that doesn't require manual setup, use the default Automatic location.


System Preferences keeps coming back to dock after every use following Big Sur update

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


How can I increase battery life with iOS 4?

Restart the iPhone (press and hold Home and the top button simultaneously till you see the slider to turn it off, and then slide the slider. Once off, press and hold the top button to turn it back on)
Turn off Bluetooth (Settings > General > Bluetooth) if you're not using it.
Turn off the WiFi option "Ask to join networks" (Settings > WiFi) to keep the WiFi radio from constantly scanning for new networks when you're not connected. It will still remember and auto-connect to networks that you've connected to before, but you'll have to manually connect to any new networks.
Turn "auto-brightness" off (Settings > Brightness) and set the brightness level lower. I would only do this as a last resort if nothing else seems to work.
Let the battery run all the way down to zero (i.e. let the phone run till it won't turn on anymore), and then recharge it all the way to full.


Thanks to all.
I was able to solve this puzzle:)

Observation/solution:

When we shutdown the Mac, the mouse and the keyboard go to sleep mode(this is instructed by the mac to the mouse/keyboard controllers) to conserve battery. I usually switch them off at this moment.

For the mouse and the keyboard to work with the mac there is a bluetooth setup done by the mac. Likewise, the mouse and the keyboard will have some controller working in sync with the mac. As I had this habit of turning the devices off, right when their controllers were instructing them to sleep, some configuration in the magic mouse could have gone wrong making it stay in sleep mode even when you switch ON and go out of sync with the mac.

So, what I did this time when it turned ON somehow is shutdown the mac, leaving the devices to sleep as designed and turned ON the mac back again.
The mouse and keyboard powered back with green lights. Later, while the mac was running, I tried all combinations of turning the mouse ON and OFF through batteries and the button, but the mouse responded well.

I now understand that to avoid this rare problem, which could happen at some point when you turn off the mouse while it goes to sleep through an instruction from mac which is shutting down, is to wait. Wait till the mouse sleeps completely, i.e, the green light goes off plus 2-5 seconds more for its controller to sleep and then turn the slide button off. Same with the keyboard.


Multiuser - can process of background user kept running?

I'm confident your premise is false.  When another user logs in to Mac OS X using the fast user switching, the GUI processes of other users are not suspended, but do continue to run in the background.  As long as you don't log out of the other accounts, their Finder process and programs launched as that user should continue to run in the background.

For instance, as I type this with my primary cwrea account on my Mac mini, I have another sampleuser account logged in (at the same time), and that user has a Safari window open that is playing a YouTube video.  Right now.

Then, if I load Activity Monitor while having my account cwrea in the foreground and select to view "Other User Processes", Activity Monitor is reporting consistent ~8% CPU usage by a specific process named "PluginProcess" owned by the sampleuser account.

Moreover, if I switch back to sampleuser's login session via fast user switching, the video is at a time location beyond where I left it, consistent with where it would be if I hadn't switched to my main account in the interim.

For what it's worth, the sound (and video, obviously) of the other background login session are suppressed, in that I don't hear or see either, but I can't find any evidence that graphical programs necessarily are suspended or cease operating in the background.


I personally use Sophos Antivirus. You can disable On-access Scanning from within the configuration settings.


MacBook keeps showing question mark on startup

Sounds like your hard disk could be on its way out.

A folder icon with a question mark means that the Mac can not find a valid Operating System on the disk (or the OS which was on there has become corrupted).

Booting with your finger on shift boots the Mac into, what is called, Safe Mode (or Safe Boot). That is to say no extra software is loaded at boot time, only the essentials, as well as some checks being performed. Quoting the Apple web site for Safe Mode:

  Starting up in Safe Mode does several things:

  It verifies your startup disk, and attempts to repair directory    issues if needed.
  Only required kernel extensions are loaded.
  All user installed fonts are disabled while you are in Safe Mode.
  Startup Items and Login Items are not opened during startup and login    on OS X v10.4 or later.
  In OS X 10.4 and later, font caches that are stored in    /Library/Caches/com.apple.ATS/uid/ are moved to the Trash (where uid
  is a user ID number).
  In OS X v10.3.9 or earlier, Safe Mode opens only Apple-installed    startup items. These items are usually located in
  /Library/StartupItems. These items are different from user-selected
  account login items.

  Together, these changes can help resolve or isolate certain issues on
  your startup disk.

Your best bet is to start your Mac using an install OS X CD (or USB stick) or an external disk drive containing another installation of Mac OS X, and run Disk Utility (or preferably Disk Doctor) from that and/or reinstall the OS. Better still, maybe seriously consider replacing the hard disk, if it is getting old, and failing.

Also, it maybe worth copying off any data that you require (or do not  wish to lose).  However, saying that, you can always use your [time machine] backup to recover any lost files. You have been making regular backups, haven't you?


Does the Apple Watch have more processing power than a Cray 2 Supercomputer?

Thanks to the table on Experts Exchange, it would appear to be safe to say that the Apple Watch is more powerful than a Cray-2: Twice as fast, twice the memory.

2 excerpts from that table well worth a look in its entirety:


Black Screen of Semi-Death after Sleep/Fast User Switching

Much to my surprise, holding Command-Control-Eject pulls my machine out of this state, without rebooting it.  At that point I can simply log in.  Command-Option-Escape may help also.


Scrolling doesn't work in Terminal for commands like less

it is weird, I had the exact issue this morning with iterm2.

I ended up adding the following to my ~/.zshrc:

export LESS=-R

Important: you might want to take a look at the flags you are using before running this command and understanding what each of them do.

Sources I looked at to arrive to this conclusion:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/803486/can-i-scroll-to-new-lines-using-mouse-wheel-inside-git-diff
https://superuser.com/questions/455212/how-to-make-mouse-wheel-scroll-the-less-pager-using-bash-and-gnome-terminal

Let me know if this helped.


Can't copy to FAT32 MBR file size more than 2 GB

The issue here is actually OSX Finder for High Sierra.
It's a bug that they limit file size to 2GB.
I've managed to transfer the file using Commander One third party app.
I hope they fix this soon.


Some apps in iOS 7 have white text in top bar

I don't think there is any way to change it in your iPhone. It is up to the programmer to set the colour of status bar that will be shown. What you can do is to write a review for the app, and it might get corrected in the next version of the app.


How can I find the product key of Office 2011 after restoring from backup?

This thread is a bit old, but in case someone else finds themselves looking for the answer, this just worked for me:
To move / re-install your licensed copy of Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac on a different computer / OSX installation, and re-authorize it without the license / serial / key available, copy the following from the old machine to the corresponding (same) spot on the new computer.
Please note that you should be looking for these folders in the root directory of the drive on which OSX is installed-- NOT in your user directory. To get there, in the Finder click Go-->Computer-->[name of the hard drive that has OSX installed...usually "Macintosh HD"]...then look for the following folders:

/Applications/Microsoft Office 2011 folder (copy the entire folder, with all its contents)
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist
/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper
/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist

From:
http://cwl.cc/2012/02/easy-way-to-move-your-microsoft-office.html
Note NOV2020: If you just copy/paste the last file "/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.office.licensing.plist" as instructed above, it should work as well. For transparency, this was tested on an old mbp with El Capitan and incoming connections blocked with Firewall (unsure if Firewall would affect outcome).


Can't update Boot Camp in Windows 7 (MacbookPro9,1)

So my first guess was right, the WindowsSupport.dmg downloaded from the post's links installed Boot Camp 4.0.0.1. I just checked the details tab on the Bootcamp executable (Program Files\Boot Camp), didn't think of that before.

Nonetheless, I still believe the updates should be prepared to check for more recent versions and throw a different message.


Auto Unlock on Mac doesn't work if iPhone is in range

I tried many things but what seemed to help the most was toggling AirDrop on my mac from "Everyone" to "No One" and then to "Contacts Only".


Is it possible to disable (or reduce the volume of) of the AirPods connection sound?

Try skipping the connect sound by playing something on the phone music or youtube video first before connecting your AirPods to the bluetooth.  I also find the connect sound a bit too loud in my ears. Hope this helps before Apple introduce the feature to adjust the volume of the connect sound. :)


MacBook Pro 2018 in 24/7 nightmode - cursor on external monitor not in nightmode

One quick thing you could try is resetting the NVRAM.

To reset the NVRAM on your model MacBook Pro follow these steps:

Shut down your machine. Yes, a full shut down, not just logging out.
Press the power button and then immediately press the commandoptionpr keys.
Keep these keys pressed down for at least 20 seconds!
Let go of the keys and let your MBP reboot normally.

Note: When you log back in you may need to readjust some of your system preferences (e.g. speaker volume, screen resolution, startup disk selection, time zone information, etc).


Odd keystroke sequence cant be deactivated?

So I wasnt able to find the cause, and last time I tried to use a clean account and bring over library prefs, etc it brought the problem back with it. I went nuclear and wiped my computer and started new. Pain in the ass but fixed the problem.


Try formatting your Time Machine drive/partition and then add it back to TM. Time Machine's backups are device-specific so you can't overwrite/continue using a backup on another machine.

You could also try deleting your current backups manually, and then clean the .Trashes folder, however formatting is faster. If emptying the trash doesn't help, try cd /Volumes/drivename and then sudo rm -rf .Trashes


Can Word documents from Mac be opened in Windows?

Knowing that you are a student, you can download Microsoft Office for Mac for free from the Microsoft website (only your university email address will be necessary).

This will provide access to your work from your new MacBook Air.


Mac OS X Lion Safari Doesn't Display Tab Bar in Full Screen Mode

If you work with keybord mainly try Cmd + Shift + Arrow Keys or [ and ]. You should be able to cycle your tabs like that. I dont have the Developer Preview, so I dont know if there is any quick fix, and I dont think Apple will change it in its final version. After all this is how all major browsers work in fullscreen mode: they all hide the tab bar so you focus on the content... :/

Anyway, Hope it helps!
Kevin


How does Mountain Lion set the default text editor for the "open -t" terminal command?

It's the default application for plain text (public.plain-text) files. You can change it from Finder's information panels or with duti.

You can also edit ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.launchservices.plist, but it requires restarting to apply the changes.

defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSHandlers -array-add '{LSHandlerContentType=public.plain-text;LSHandlerRoleAll=com.macromates.textmate;}'


What happens to iPhoto originals in Aperture?

See this link for how Aperture handles master images.

  Masters for images that you import as referenced images may reside in many different locations on your hard disk storage devices instead of in the single location of your main Aperture Library file.


Create Yosemite install disk on a Windows machine

It is not possible without access to an OSX machine. If you have the old disk from your Mac it might have the recovery partition on it. If you can put it back in, boot while holding down command-R. You can put the SSD in an external enclosure and use the recovery partition to install Yosemite on to it.

Maybe if you go to an Apple Store and ask nicely they will let you install Yosemite onto the SSD? Or at least get the installer onto a USB stick.


Safari not accepting website certificate

I've since solved the problem, though I'm not sure if this is the right answer for everyone.

The problem seemed to come from the certificate automatically generated from apple (com.apple.idms.appleid.prd.[large character string]). A quick Google search didn't tell me what this certificate was for, but I'm sure that deleting it was probably not the best solution. Ignoring that thought, I deleted it anyway and now I can log in without a problem. I'm sure that something bad will happen with other things on my computer (private key, other certificates, something), but it hasn't happened yet so I'm calling it a win.

UPDATE:

A couple of months on, I still haven't had anything bad happen so I guess this solution didn't break anything else.

UPDATE 2:

About a year on, this problem still comes up from time to time (even with 10.10). I keep deleting the certificate in the keychain and it keeps working for a while.


broken partition table after formatting drive with apple file system (apfs)

I've done this, on an SSD at least.

Probably on your drive right now there's some kind of corruption going on; I'd bet that Untitled and CRE are sharing the same UUID... I've had that happen with some interesting results.

If you want two partitions, with one as APFS:

Reformat the whole disk, creating two partitions - the one you want to be APFS should be formatted as HFS+.
Once that's done, format the HFS+ volume as APFS. That will create a container, and then the final volume will be inside that.

In the pictures, you can see I have three partitions. In the first image, it's apparent that there are four volumes, and the two under "Container disk1" are APFS.

If you want two APFS volumes:

Reformat the whole disk - that the disk level, as in disky, not disky1 - with one HFS+ partition. You could go straight to APFS but I think this will prevent potential issues...
Format the whole disk as APFS. You should then have a three level tree - disk, container, and volume.
Now you can create your second APFS volume. Select the "Container" disk, click on the "Edit" menu in the menu bar, and click "Add APFS volume." That will create what behaves as a second partition, but it will share available disk space with the first APFS volume.

You can set minimum and maximum sizes for the volumes too if you like.


Is it possible to access and modify iCloud keychain from command line (or automation)

iCloud Keychain is stored on disk in a different format than a traditional keychain ref1, ref2. It's located at ~/Library/Keychains/ in a folder named as a long UUID. You can see the modified timestamp change on the contents of that folder as you change something in your iCloud keychain.

Whilst you can use AppleScript and Usable Keychain Scripting to work with the system and login keychains, there's no way to access the iCloud keychain.

So the only option you're left with is to AppleScript GUI operation of the Keychain Access app.


Given ouc is not a process that ships with Mac OS X it appears a third party product is causing the problem.

Searching the web suggests ouc is embedded within an application called "Mobile Partner.app".

If you have this application, please report the problem to the developers.

Manual Removal

It is always better to use the removal process provided by the developer; however, if Mobile Partner does not provide a removal tool, you might like to disable the ouc process manually.

You mention force quitting results in an immediate relaunching. This suggests the ouc process is managed by a launchd job ticket. launchd is a watchdog process that will monitor processes and relaunch any that run into trouble - such as crashing or being force quit.

Take a look in the following folders for a launchd job ticket associated with ouc:

~/Library/LaunchAgents
~/Library/LaunchDaemons
/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons

The files in these folders are text files and can be read using TextEdit or a dedicated text editing tool, such as TextWrangler.

If you find a file mentioning ouc, move it out of the parent folder and restart.

As @oma mentions, if you can not find a launchd job ticket, look inside /Library/StartupItems for a folder or file containing ouc. Delete the ouc folder and restart.


Applescript to retrieve account and password using keychain scripting

If you know the exact name of the keychain item, you could use the following:

tell application "Keychain Scripting" to tell keychain "login.keychain" to get {account, password} of (first Internet key whose name is "www.google.com")

Thing is, Keychain Scripting is slow and quite buggy. For example, searching for a specific keychain item in the example above using name contains instead of name is does not work. You would have to use a repeat statement similar to what @Philip posted:

tell application "Keychain Scripting" to tell keychain "login.keychain"

    repeat with x from 1 to (count every Internet key)
        if name of Internet key x contains "Google" then
            return {account, password} of Internet key x
        end if

    end repeat
end tell

If you´re okay to use the command line and just want to look up stuff, I´d rather use:
security find-internet-password -g -s www.google.com and then grep what you want.


logitech unifying software mac not detecting

The system information is showing that the hardware is not being detected. The drivers are probably fine but idle since they don’t see the USB hardware for Logitech.

You can confirm this by removing logitech, then plugging in another usb mouse or something and refreshing the System Information. You should see that device be listed and know your Mac and USB are fine.

Once you’re sure the Logitech dongle is not working, here is a DIY repair you could try if you can’t get a repair / replacement part:

The fix is to remove the black cover, remove the chip, insert a piece of paper that raises the metal connectors of the chip closer to your laptop's USB connector. Reassemble everything. Once the chip and the USB port are properly touching again you will see the receiver show up in the Mac Systems USB panel and in Logitech Control Center, as others pointed out. You can also look for a visual tutorial of this on youtube / google.

As these age, this is, sadly, a widespread problem with the Logitech receiver.


Use the HYPERLINK() function.

HYPERLINK(url,link-text)

The first parameter is the URL as a string in quotes, the second is the tracking number as a string also in quotes.

From the documentation:

  HYPERLINK

  The HYPERLINK function creates a clickable link that opens a webpage
  or new email message.

  HYPERLINK(url, link-text) url: A standard universal resource locator.
  url is a string value that must contain a properly formatted universal
  resource locator string.

  link-text: An optional string value that specifies the text that
  appears as a clickable link in the cell. If link-text is omitted, url
  is used as link-text.

  Examples
  =HYPERLINK(“http://www.apple.com”, “Apple”) creates a link with the text Apple that, when clicked, opens the default web browser to the
  Apple homepage.

  =HYPERLINK(“mailto:janedoe@example.com?subject=Quote Request”, “Get Quote”) creates a link with the text Get Quote that, when clicked,
  opens the default email application and addresses a new message to
  janedoe@example.com with the subject line Quote Request.


If you continue to be unable to guess the passcode by brute force attempts, you can connect the device to a computer that has synced the device and unlock things with a sync.

Also, this article shows an alternate method involving a reboot, force quit, and other manipulation of settings in a specified order. Hopefully it helps if you can't use the two "approved" methods above.

http://blog.technguide.net/2012/08/how-to-get-out-of-guided-access-on-ios6/

  Hold the Lock Button
  Slide the Slide To Power Off slider [If touch is disabled/you're unable to slide it, do a hard reset — hold the lock and home button for 8 seconds until the Apple Logo appears]
  When your iDevices powers up, immediately exit the app that automatic open.
  Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access
  Click Set Passcode
  Enter new password
  Reboot again.
  Wait for the app to automatically open and Triple tap the home button
  Enter the new password
  Unlocked!


Is there a Mac equivalent to Windows 7's library feature?

Easiest way I can think of to do it is if you bring up the file info window by pressing ⌘ + i keys, and then add something into the Spotlight Comments field that you keep the same through the files you want. Rinse and repeat for the files. Create a new Smart Folder, for the search option go to Other... and it'll bring up the full list, which will include Spotlight Comments.


AirPort Extreme: slow upload via ethernet, but fast via wireless

I fixed this by playing around with my network settings. In System Preferences > Network > Ethernet 1 > Advanced > Hardware I manually set the Speed to "100baseTX" and Duplex to "full-duplex" and my upload speeds have returned to normal.


MacBook Pro 2011 shows grey screen during boot

I had the same problem. Your GPU is dead. There was a recall awhile back for my late 2011 model. Maybe Apple will honor it and repair yours for free.


You can disable or "reduce" motion throughout iOS. Disadvantage: Not only iMessage will deactivate special effects, but Apps will also open in a "not so flashy" way.

To try it out:

  Open Settings.
  Tap on General.
  Tap on Accessibility.
  Tap on Reduce Motion.
  Tap the switch on the right side of Reduce Motion to turn it on and disable iMessage effects in the Messages app on your iPhone, iPad, or
  iPod.


killall kills by process name (which is definitively not 77439 and most probably also not Mathematica). You can use kill 77439 or (if this fails) kill -9 77439 instead (but if the process is really stuck, only a reboot will solve the problem).

Also, due the the way sending/processing of signals (like kill -9) works in Unix/OS X, there are situations where a process will be unkillable. One typical example for this is if a process gets stuck while accessing some external device and never actually gets control back. In such situations a reboot is the only way to get rid of the process.


Disk Utility won't Unmount HD for formatting

You can force unmount a drive by running the following Terminal command:

diskutil unmountDisk force /Volumes/VOLUMENAME

Replace VOLUMENAME with the name of a volume on the disk you are trying to unmount.

Following this, attempt to Erase/Partition the drive again in Disk Utility. Using the above command can interrupt file read/writes, which can cause file corruption. However, since you are erasing the drive anyway, this doesn't really matter in your situation.


What is the difference between a 2011 i5, and a more recent i5?

So lets compare the i5 family of CPU on MBP.

The i5 is a brand name for a family of processor, that is why is it still called i5.

Core i5" 2.4 13-Inch (Late 2011) features a 32 nm "Sandy Bridge" 2.4 GHz Intel "Core i5" processor (2435M), with two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip with a 3 MB shared level 3 cache.

The 2015 MBP has up to 2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache.

Based on this alone the 2015 model is >30% faster.


Is there a way to temporarily allow popups in Safari 6 without going into Preferences?

At least in Safari 5.1.7 it's under Safari menu


MacOS: Rationalising Fonts — Cannot disable fonts

The fonts you are trying to disable are used by the System and hence are protected. You could still try to delete those fonts but I would not advise that.

I suggest you start over and try deleting one font at a time. if the font you try to disable is dimmed out then it is a system font. Use the disable button in font book to diable the fonts. This is shown below.