All Keyboard Shortcuts are selecting word backwards

Erasing the boot disk and installing OS X Mavericks from a flash drive solved the issue. I subsequently reinstalled the various keyboard modifications I had previously been using, including the 'select word' script, pop clip, keyremapformacbook and PCKeyboardHack. So far none of them have elicited the problem behaviour.


You have two options; either hold down fn as L2G suggested, or switch to the F1 etc. keys to work like that directly.

This can be setup in keyboard preferences here:

If you do that, F1 will work as the actual F1 key. If you want to use it for controlling the brightness, you'd hit fn with it.


IKEv2 VPN on macOS Sierra disconnects after eight minutes

The essence of the solution described there is plausible – that it has to do with the re-keying process which occurs periodically.  You ought to see something in the Console log, and perhaps also in logs on the server side, that will point you in the right direction.

At random times during the lifetime of the tunnel, the two sides will re-negotiate the symmetric-cipher keys that they are using, so that the conversation does not continue to use the same keys for too long.  If this process failed, the connection would be dropped, and if it consistently occurs "after eight minutes," this could well be it.  All of the parameters on both sides must match exactly, and there's nothing easy about debugging IPSec.  I'd start with Console as my starting point.  (There are several logs – look at 'em all.)


OS X 10.10.2 Grey screen and progress bar at start-up normal?

I'd run the 'usual suspects' before anything else.

Disk Utility > check/repair disk.

Then get OnyX (free/donationwear) & reset ACLs (Maintenance tab > permissions, check the box at the top.)

Then re-apply the 10.10.2 combo update.


How to remove username@hostname from terminal bar?

If you go into Terminal and press Cmd + ,, it will open up the preferences. Click the Profiles tab on the top.

Then click the Window tab.

Then you can set a title and uncheck the "Working directory", "Active Process", and everything else under the Title section.

This will make it look like this:


Apple is opening up Siri for third party app developers. It's rolling out slowly in which areas Siri could be used. This to ensure the quality. Every iOS major release Apple adds categories where Siri could be used by third party apps.

Siri works in these categories

iOS 11:

To-do lists
Notes
Reminders
Banking for account transfers and balances
Apps that display QR codes.

iOS 10:

Audio or video calling
Messaging
Payments
Searching photos
Workouts
Ride booking

Recognising

You can recognise which apps support Siri by looking for the Siri icon in the App Store.


How can I see what ports my hard drives are connected to?

You should be able to find this information in the System Information Utility. Did you try looking under Storage then selecting each of the listed items? On my system running 10.10.5 each of my connected external drives was listed and clicking on each showed what type of connection it was on under the Protocol type. Hope that helps.


Short answer

No, this is not possible with a standard installation of iOS.

Long answer

Yes, this is possible if your iPhone happens to be jailbroken. If so you can install software that allows you to create custom gestures. This is achieved through the installation of a couple of packages: Always on Proximity and Activator.

NOTE: This answer in no way supports or endorses jailbreaking your device.


If you are not using iCloud sync - game on. Hard link / sym link - unix filesystem is a unix filesystem.

If you are using iCloud, it intercepts the filesystem IO at a low level and I try not to mess with the folders Apple makes In this general case since as soon as you update the OS or some software makes assumptions about what folders exist, then things break.

I love storing my main photo library on secondary storage so you’re on the right track there.

What’s stopping you from making a pictures folder in the Documents folder and just using that? If I understand you have a Pictures folder as well already in iCloud so just updating your finder sidebar and recent locations to be there would get all the apps to use the new cloud pictures. Maybe I’m just not seeing the case where something can’t find your new Pictures folder or what’s failing in your mv command or attempts to remove the user folders.


Conditional highlighting of booleans in Apple Numbers

A boolean in Numbers seems to be represented internally as a String already. Setting "text is TRUE" and "text is FALSE" worked for me.


Quartz filters in ColorSync Utility: what is "Image Sampling" and Quality?

As Apple's documentation on Quartz Filters is almost non-existent, it's hard to be certain. However, given the nature of the component, the "Quality" of the re-sampling is likely to relate to what algorithm is used to re-resolve the image.

If you've ever re-sampled an image in Photoshop, different algorithms are used to perform the mathematical transformation, such as Bicubic, Bilinear, and Nearest Neighbour. The differences may be subtle, or not, depending on the nature of the image and the change in size.

Quality in Image Compression relates to how lossy the compression will be, i.e. how much data is thrown away to reduce file size.

(If the images in the PDF are already low-res and also JPEG, then you may not see much further reduction in file size or image quality.)


iOS 6 broke gmail email account (not imap type) - Send is extremely slow (5-10 minutes)

Two potential solutions are described in https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4367006

Replace standard SMTP server (smtp.gmail.com) with smtp.googlemail.com (using the same credentials/login details)
Reinstall iOS 6


Since I found no fix I wrote a small app that uses macOS components to display the HEIC instantly.


How do I reset my ipod touch 1st gen's password?

Found it and putting it here for reference, simply hold the home and power button down for 10 seconds (ignoring the power off slider when it comes up) then keep the home button pressed down and release the power button. This needs to be done while connected to iTunes. At that point iTunes will offer to restore it.


First try to restart the computer.

If the keyboard still responds try to get to terminal from quick search. (cmd space normally)

in terminal you can try to change the preferences via the command "defaults"
the folling command outputs the various settings.

defaults read com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad

The output for me is here. 1 means active (or true), 0 means not ative (or false).

{
    Clicking = 1;
    DragLock = 0;
    Dragging = 0;
    TrackpadCornerSecondaryClick = 0;
    TrackpadFiveFingerPinchGesture = 2;
    TrackpadFourFingerHorizSwipeGesture = 2;
    TrackpadFourFingerPinchGesture = 2;
    TrackpadFourFingerVertSwipeGesture = 2;
    TrackpadHandResting = 1;
    TrackpadHorizScroll = 1;
    TrackpadMomentumScroll = 1;
    TrackpadPinch = 1;
    TrackpadRightClick = 1;
    TrackpadRotate = 1;
    TrackpadScroll = 1;
    TrackpadThreeFingerDrag = 0;
    TrackpadThreeFingerHorizSwipeGesture = 2;
    TrackpadThreeFingerTapGesture = 0;
    TrackpadThreeFingerVertSwipeGesture = 0;
    TrackpadTwoFingerDoubleTapGesture = 1;
    TrackpadTwoFingerFromRightEdgeSwipeGesture = 3;
    USBMouseStopsTrackpad = 0;
    UserPreferences = 1;
    version = 5;
}

to set any of these keys type

defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad KeyFromAboveList -bool true


MacBook Pro (16" 2019) Does Not Recognize Correct Resolution

Confusingly, it does appear to be wire related. I found my original USB-C to USB-C cable which came with the monitor and it resolved the issue.
EDIT (26/03/2021): I spoke too soon. The issue has occured with this cable as well. However, as noted by Luciano, it appears to be a known bug by Apple and will therefore be resolved in a future release.


Can I use Apple Earphones with Mic on Mac Mini?

You cannot directly plug your headphones into the Audio Input jack and have it work, because, the microphone/button signal rides on the third ring, and the audio input jack only connects the first two. You have to have specially designed hardware to connect to that third ring. This is currently achieved via the Headphone/Audio Output ports of devices.

Only the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, 2010 MacBook Pros, and the modern body (smaller height) Mac Minis are the only pieces of hardware I am aware that do. Anything older will not support the microphone/button/volume buttons at all.


What tiny thing in iOS 5 makes you smile, or has caught you off guard?

Usage shows how much space each app is using

Settings -> General -> Usage

iOS 5 now collects the space used by apps and the data in the app - sorted by the largest size. If you need to free up some space quickly, this is a great way to easily identify and remove the largest burdens on your storage space.

Of specific tiny note, the edit button in the top right allows you to delete selective content from apps like Music.


Prevent email signature from being inserted when replying

I believe you can create a template for a new email (which would include you signature) and then leave signatures off everywhere else by setting our signature to none.

The template can be a draft message or a sent message. Either way you have the option of sending them again, which makes them de facto templates.


What does the dynamic global hostname option in sharing settings do?

All computers running Mac OS X contain a feature called Bonjour. It works by sending multicast DNS packets out onto your current network to advertise your computer’s available services. This is how iTunes Sharing works; your computer tells other computers that it has a shared iTunes library available, and gives the computers instructions on where to connect to it. Over the past few weeks, I have been experimenting with an extension of the service called Wide Area Bonjour. Instead of sending out multicast DNS packets to your local network, it sends out similar packets to an actual DNS server, which with the correct authentication, updates actual zones in the DNS server. This essentially allows you to use the magic of Bonjour across many networks, or even the Internet. All that’s required is that each computer that is interested in your Bonjour domain has the domain listed in its “Search Domains” (or “DNS Suffix”).
The service I have been testing out is Global Hostname, which will host a Wide Area Bonjour-enabled zone for you, either on your own domain, or a subdomain of globalhostname.org. Apple’s AirPort product range feature Wide Area Bonjour to enable you to control your AirPort from wherever you are.

Added:

Its purpose is to provide features similar to those offered by "Back to My Mac" without using the .Mac/MobileMe service. It requires that you have your own DNS server. If your service provider supports secure dynamic DNS update (RFC 3007), you can provide your Mac with a global DNS hostname so that other computers outside your local network can refer to it by name. Even if your computer’s IP address changes at regular intervals, your computer will automatically update its global DNS hostname to point to its current IP address. Your service provider or domain administrator will provide you with the necessary user name and password so your Mac can update its hostname every time its address changes. If your service provider supports Wide-Area Bonjour registrations, you can also select the “Advertise services in this domain using Bonjour” checkbox to advertise this computer’s active Sharing services in this domain. If the domain’s administrator enabled Bonjour browsing for this domain, other computers will see the services listed automatically in the respective application, based on the Search Domains entered in their Network preferences or based on information returned by DHCP. :)


Cannot drag and drop files from the Dock folders

Relaunching the finder fixed the problem.


iPhone 4 microphone not working in phone calls but working in other apps

2 mics

You have 2 microphones on your iPhone:

One for normal calls, this one is broken in your case
One for environment sounds. This one is used for video conference calls, video's, sound recordings. This one still works.

My suggestion is to go to iFixit and replace your dock connecter. This replacement also fixes your mic.


I know if I ask Siri to set a timer, my phone will set the timer.

I'm assuming that you have "Hey Siri" enabled because I do this many times per day.

But, why not the iPad?

The iPad is fully capable of setting a timer via Siri.  I just set one on my iPad by invoking Siri with the home button.  It's also capable of doing so via "Hey Siri" as well. If yours isn't doing so - either via "Hey Siri" or manually, I suggest we look at this in another question, because that in and of itself is a technical issue.

If I ask Siri to open Google Chrome, which is on all three devices, which device responds?

I actually tested this.  Siri opens on the device that responds first.  Putting my iPhone next to my iPad and saying "Hey Siri" both devices responded however, it was always my iPhone that took control becuase it had the Siri "tone" first.  When that tone sounded, Siri on my iPad closed.  For the record, Handoff and Continuity was enabled.
For some reason, I don't have "Hey Siri" on my iMac with Catalina (10.15.5).  I can only invoke it by clicking the Siri icon or pressing the hot key assigned.  However, I would assume it functions in the same manner.
As for putting a priority on the device, decide which one you want to respond to "Hey Siri" enabled on one device and not on the others.  It's easy to invoke.  I have mine on my phone since I use it to control Apple Home (my lights, fans, etc.).  I don't enabled Hey Siri everywhere to avoid confusing things.


You can use Image Capture [in Applications] to dictate which photo app [or none at all] will open when you attach any photographic device, phone, camera, SD/CF card etc

I have mine set so that Image Capture itself launches when I insert a camera card, but ignores when my iPhone is connected.

[Drop menu artificially offset for visibility]

If you don't see the options at bottom left, click the little reveal icon, circled here in red.


When does a mac laptop startup automatically after a power failure?

Regardless of of the Mac model, the power settings determine if it will boot upon power failure.  If this option isn't set, it won't boot.


Create a LAN between Mac Mini and two MacBooks without internet

I think this is what you're looking for as a cheap and easy solution:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC704ZM/A/apple-usb-ethernet-adapter

or:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD463ZM/A/thunderbolt-to-gigabit-ethernet-adapter

Get a switch, plug your three computers into it via ethernet, and configure them all with static IPs on the same subnet. You can also run a DHCP server on the Mini if you want, but it's not required for this sort of setup.

If you really want the absolute fastest, you'd need to use IP over Thunderbolt directly, but that's getting rather more complicated: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1657957 Not even sure there are Thunderbolt networking switches available yet.


Please restore the device to a version of the OS listed below

The latest version is iOS 8.3. It would seem it's time to upgrade.


Merge two pdf to one with their pages merged alternatively

There is a 3rd party app named PDFsam. SAM stands for split and merger. It does exactly what you're looking for and there is a free basic version. This is a newer version than I have but my version has a link near title bar that read Alternate Mix that will do what you described.


HDMI to VGA with USB-C VGA adaptor on 2015 Retina Macbook

You won't know until you actually get it and test it.

HDMI specs say you should get 5v at 50mA.  That's not much to start with.

You can read about this more from here.  You could get more power but it would have to have MHL (mobile high definition link) support.  That will be able to give you up to 40 watts.

Now, I looked on the Apple site and it appears that the Adapter you selected isn't very highly rated.  I have rarely had success with genuine Apple adapters and instead had to rely on 3rd party adapters to get a reliable results.

You may want to save yourself the headache and just get the VGA adapter and be done with it.


Why "OS X Utilities" is showing instead of "macOS Utilities" whenever I perform recovery mode

I can guess what's happening, but not how to fix it, short of physically disconnecting the keyboard.
The startup commands are…

 Cmd ⌘  R
reinstall the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac, without upgrading to a later version

This first one is in fact loading from your existing recovery partition.
These next two go online for Internet Recovery

 Opt ⌥   Cmd ⌘  R
upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac
 Shift ⇧   Opt ⌥   Cmd ⌘  R
reinstall the macOS that came with your Mac, or the version nearest to it that is still available.

Pressing  Opt ⌥   Cmd ⌘  R for the latest OS is adding your stuck shift key (because Karabiner isn't loaded yet to prevent it), meaning you get  Shift ⇧   Opt ⌥   Cmd ⌘  R  which is trying to install a version of the OS (presumably 10.10) too old to read your APFS drive.
I can only guess that  Shift ⇧   Cmd ⌘  R is not being recognised as anything at all.


If you just want a simple way to record audio, you can use the QuickTime Player application. Just choose File > New Audio Recording, and hit record.

As was mentioned already, the quality of your recording is going to be highly dependent on your microphone. The internal one is likely to pick up a lot of extra noise -- but you never know until you try. If you do get an external microphone, QuickTime Player also lets you record from other input sources (use the pulldown menu on the right side).


The short answer is "no", I've been looking myself.

TexWriter is a decent LaTex editor and preview but I don't know of a MarkDown one with inline LaTex.

Further, you might want to check out Brett Terpstra's page devoted to iOS editors for a great list of editors and keep an eye out for any that add "LaTex" as an extra feature.


Weird storage declaration from my computer

I would ignore it. That graph is particularly unreliable and it's unclear sometimes, even when it's showing storage that is possible within the computer, what exactly it is counting. If you want a better overview of your storage, use something like DaisyDisk.


Looks like you need to import the framework in the swift file where you try to use JSON().

import SwiftyJSON


External monitor over the air with Macbook

Those extra four pins on your DVI to VGA adapter actually carry the VGA signal; the adapter doesn't actually do any adapting. (The terminology is: DVI-D is digital-only like your mini-DVI to DVI adapter, while DVI-I carries both DVI and VGA, like your cable.)

The hardware solution is to get a mini-DVI to VGA adapter (from Apple or elsewhere).


Defining some global GIT settings to be automatically inherited

This might help someone I found this config in the following location: /usr/local/git/etc/gitconfig


iPad 2 activation required and failed (out of nowhere, not activation lock)

The system caches a result that shows the device is activated. You likely have some corruption on the storage and if following the normal activation process fails, support or jailbreak or repair would be next steps.
Doing the activation from a computer lets you get diagnostic logs and may be the best next step if you can’t get it on wireless.
Worst case, try a restore and then consult support online.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201252
https://support.apple.com/

Online support is very good now that the stores have been shuttered for months in most places and staff cross trained to field the online support queues. Support will likely conclude if the device is vintage and for most effectively obsolete and refer to external vendors, though.

https://locate.apple.com/
obtaining support for vintage or obsolete products the iPad 2 is currently “vintage” and soon to be obsolete


Remote app on iPad regularly loses connection to Mac

Try the usual 'turn it off and on again' things first.
Turn on "Stay Connected" in the Remote app's setting

Try switching your wireless channel, frequency, or both.


My MacBook Pro (late 2013) whines when sound is triggered

What you are hearing is either capacitor squeal, or  coil noise.

Basically, it's just an audible sound of the electrons as they flow through components and they cause the nearby components to resonate enough to be audible.

Most of the time it's benign, but (obviously) can be really annoying.  In the case of capacitors, however, it may also be a sign of an imminent (or recent) failure.

There's a good article describing this:
Capacitor squeal & coil whine explained

Either way, if you are under warranty (for any device, not just Apple), you can get it resolved.  Even if you are not under AppleCare, I would definately take it in and see what they can do for you.

If you cannot get Apple to service it, have a look at Rossman Computers out of NYC.  He has been able to repair what Apple said couldn't be repaired.  I am not affiliated with him in anyway, I am just a satisfied client.


The verification code is available on all trusted devices. Since you're logged into iCloud in System Preferences, your Mac is a trusted device and can receive verification codes.

With other services that use 2FA, you've set up Authy, but you only have Authy on your phone. If you installed a 2FA code generator app on your computer, then you would be able to generate codes there too, as you can with iCloud.


If you still have the .ipsw file, press the Option key, then click Restore iPad. Navigate to the file and select it, and iTunes will use that for the restore.


Is there a difference in performance between a the default scaling option and selecting a resolution?

Changing your resolution doesn't really affect performance.  What will give the effect of improving or reducing performance is refresh rate.  A higher refresh rate will smooth things out giving you the "feeling" that things are much faster.  A lower one will make things look more "jumpy" thus giving the effect of lagging performance.
The default scaling is what macOS has determined to be the "best" optically for your particular setup.


You can change this option for any installed app in the Notifications section of the iOS Settings app. Tap on the appropriate app; at the bottom of the notifications setting screen, you can disable "Show Previews" (or set it to "When Unlocked") to prevent any details from being shown on your lock screen.


One can use pmset restoredefaults, or in System Preferences > Energy Saver, click the Restore Defaults button.

If you want to see what changed, one can use pmset -g custom before and after restoring the defaults.

This worked for me, and is documented in man pmset, in macOS Mojave 10.14.5.


Windows to Mac database connection intermittently available after Windows Security prompt

The issue appears to have been caused by the Mac going into Sleep mode.

It appears as though trying to connect using Windows Explorer from a Windows machine is issuing a Wake On Lan request, which wakes the target Mac for 30 seconds or so. During this 'wake' period I was then able to connect.

By implementing a Wake On Lan request from my application, I now seem to be able to reliably connect again to the target mac.

I would not have expected the target 'server' to be put into sleep mode, however, because we don't control the environment in which our software operates, we need to account for all possibilities really.

Because the target mac and windows computers are on different sub-nets, I've only been able to issue the wake on lan directly to the target mac's IP address, rather than completing a broadcast wake on lan.

I was able to modify the code available here to transmit the WOL to the target mac.


iOS6 on iPod: Facebook Messenger doesn't show notifications

You'll have to install the standalone Facebook Messenger app (different app in the app store from the facebook app) to get push notifications working with Facebook messenger.  Notifications from the main Facebook app don't seem to work at all for messages.


How can I add all users to Print Administrator group but not full administrator?

I don't think there's a way to do this on a per-user-account basis, but you can do it per-computer.  The reason for this is that printer admin rights are controlled by membership in the _lpadmin group, which is a local group on each computer.  Since it's a local group, membership is controlled locally.

I can give you two ways to do it: first, change the _lpadmin group on all the computers to make everyone with an account (local or network) a member:

sudo dseditgroup -o edit -n /Local/Default -a staff -t group _lpadmin

Second, you could create a network group (I assume you're using Open Directory network/mobile accounts?) and make everyone in that group a member of _lpadmin:

sudo dseditgroup -o edit -n /Local/Default -a netprinteradmin -t group _lpadmin

Unfortunately, either of these would have to be run on each Mac individually.  If you have Apple Remote Desktop set up to admin the Macs, you could use its Sent Unix Command feature to push either command to all computers with a single operation...


What does this icon that looks like an askew wireless symbol mean in Calendar?

The icon means that the calendar is being shared. Click the icon for details:


What is wrong with my PHP on my apache2 web server (OS X 10.6)

You need to include the following directive in your httpd.conf file:
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

Edit
To make this answer more useful for others, the full configuration for php on apache2 is:
LoadModule php5_module libexec/apache2/libphp5.so

Or whatever your path is your php module. This is the default path which come with Mountain Lion. Al I had to do was uncomment it. This is followed in the apache2.conf file with:
<IfModule php5_module>
    AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
</IfModule>


All USB sticks mount as readonly, FAT32 or VFAT. Rebooting mounts them read-write

I read an apple forum about this, A user in the forum said that if you format the pen drive to FAT32 in Disk utility you might solve your problem. Make sure you have a backup of all the contents in the pendrive because erasing it will remove all files.


By default, your Mac will take the host name from the router when it received a DHCP reservation reply.

You can change this by not using DHCP or fixing the router or as a last resort over-writing the host name once you notice it's gone amok:

sudo scutil --set ComputerName whatever
sudo scutil --set LocalHostName whatever


Are the photos I share using the Photos app not really shared?

Yes - sharing the photo puts it in a cloud backed "truth" where that image is available for all participants of the album to download and modify their copy, but not to change the original.

You'll want to share the edited version and then clean old ones until such time editing directly that shared image is implemented.


Mountain Lion - Umlauts with english keyboard layout

There are a few means of typing diacritical marks.

Input Sources Method

You can enable a German Language layout by opening Language & Text in System Preferences, going to the Input Sources, and checking the box next to German. This isn't quite the same as your previous set up, but it allows you to quickly type ü, ö and ä with the [, ; and ' keys respectively. If you check the Show Input menu in menu bar box, you can quickly switch between different layouts, if you want the standard English layout most of the time. The menu also lets you open the Keyboard Viewer, which will show you all the changes of the German layout.

Create a Custom Keyboard Layout

If the German Layout isn't exactly to your taste, you can use Ukelele to create a custom layout.

Open Ukelele, and click File → New From Current Input Source to start a new layout based on your current one. To make the ' key be your umlaut key (so that you press it, followed by a vowel to create the character), click the Create button, click the ' key (or whichever key you want; you can add modifier keys if you wish), then in the dialog that pops up, select Choose an existing dead key state and select State 4. If you want to rebind another key so that you can still type the ' character, double click the key you want to change, and change the output to '.

You'll then want to change the name of your layout so you can distinguish it. Set Keyboard Name… under the Keyboard menu will do this for you. You can also set a custom icon if you want.

Once you've finished with your layout, save it to your the ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts/ folder (or the /Library/Keyboard Layouts/ folder if you want it to apply for every user on your system). You should then be able to select it in the Input Sources section, as above.

Other Methods

By default on Lion and Mountain Lion, you can hold down a vowel to get a pop-up menu that gives you the various diacritics you can apply to that letter, like so:

You can either click on the one you want, or type the corresponding letter. This functionality is enabled by default, but can be disabled by running defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false in Terminal. To enable it, replace false with true.

The other common method, as you have discovered, is to type option ⌥u, followed by the vowel you want. This works on OS X going back to at least 10.4, possibly earlier.


Cannot get Python perspective with Eclipse IDE

Found out from someone at work...

Turns out that PyDev 3.x needs Java 7. Since I have Java 6, I need PyDev 2.x. I uninstalled, and then re-installed (unchecking the box that shows only the latest version) and now the PyDev perspective appears.


AirPort Time Capsule Connection to Internet

First - download and read the setup guides for your Time Capsule. See help.apple.com for your location and your model of time capsule.

You should aim to replace your current WiFi (from your modem) with a new WiFi network (from the Time Capsule). You can extend your modem's WiFi with your Time Capsule's WiFi but this is usually more complicated and will not improve anything.

Your time capsule should be set to create a WiFi network, select that WiFi network on your Mac Mini and you will be able to use the Time Machine backup function.

Connect your Time Capsule to your modem router with an ethernet cable so that the Time Capsule can connect to the internet through your telephone company's modem.

You can choose to set your Time Capsule to 'bridge' mode so that the DHCP connection-sharing is handled by your modem router. Or you can set your modem router to bridge mode so that the DHCP connection-sharing is handled by your Time Capsule. You may need to check with your internet provider which method is the best in your area.

The Apple documentation includes guides on how to set it up correctly in either mode.

Your Time Capsule WiFi network may be quicker and faster than your modem WiFi network. This makes your local network faster, but it will not make your connection to the internet any faster.


Installation Software DVDs on Macbook Pro MC721ZA/A

If it has Lion pre-installed then you have no DVD's.  If you hold option while booting up, it will allow you to boot into a recovery HD to reinstall the OS.


Extracting data from iPhone backup on iCloud

If you don't want to use a third-party tool for an iCloud download, the only canonical Apple way is through a reset and restore.

As you say, it'd interrupt your workflow, but depending on the size of the backups involved you might be able to get it done in an hour. The greatest consequence of doing this is that you'd have to reauthenticate most apps on your device after restoring your backup.

Using iTunes backups as part of the switcheroo would make this as fast as possible, and you'd do something like this:

Use iTunes to back up your iPhone. (An iTunes backup will be fastest. Make sure it's an encrypted backup, as the unencrypted ones don't include everything.)
Back up your encrypted backup, or move it temporarily onto your desktop. It'll be in one of these folders.
Erase your iPhone. Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings.
Restore the iCloud backup that you want to examine to it.
Back up the newly restored phone with iTunes. (This will overwrite your earlier iTunes backup, as it's the same device. That's why it was important to back it up earlier.)
Move out the restored phone's iTunes backup, and switch your original iTunes backup into the backup folder.
Erase and restore your phone from the original iTunes backup so that you're back to where you started. Log back into your assorted apps on the phone.

Step 5 will have created an iTunes backup of the iCloud backup data you want to examine. You'll then be able to examine that with a bit of hacking around, or use of a third party tool. Good luck. As someone who built the first iPhone backup tool (and later, iCloud backup tool), I'd say it's important to choose the tool you use carefully!


There are other places in About this Mac, that can give you a hint, like Install date for applications.

Flash storage means SSD. Apple started selling MBP with 1Tb SSD from 2013. You can check your specific model using the serial number at Apple.

I did the check on Apple web site and it say you have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013)

Here is the full report:

And the full specs are here https://support.apple.com/kb/SP691?locale=en_US


Hotkey to start and stop an application?

You can start and stop it from any app by creating a Service in Automator. First, open Automator, then create a Service in the next dialog. To launch an application, drag the Run Shell Script command into the workflow. In the text box that then appears, type the Unix command you normally use to launch ChunkWM. Save this file and pick a memorable name. For quitting the application, do the same thing, but with a command for quitting the application. Save this as well.

Now go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services > Scroll to General. After finding the services you saved earlier, click the Add Shortcut button and create shortcuts for each one. (There will need to be 2 different shortcuts; using 1 shortcut requires more advanced Automator coding.)


As can be implied from the title of the right-hand side, this feature requires a Belkin USB-C LAN Adapter to work, and currently either an 11-inch or a 3rd gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro.


You will have far better luck syncing the iPhone to a computer or otherwise getting the media from a computer to Andriod.

The economics of the flow is such that people seem motivated to make quality tools for Andriod to iOS but not the other way.

On Mac, your first step at liberating data might be a tool like Phoneview. It hits your music sync, text history sync and can generate a list of apps I believe.


Why does my iMessage say I'm sending from my email instead of my phone number?

Assuming you did not change any other settings after the upgrade (like Restrictions), your iMessage may need to be reactivated. When you look at Settings > Messages, you would also see that it displays the message "Waiting for activation...".

There are several ways to get it activated, and sometimes it may take a few tries since Apple's servers may not respond in a timely fashion.

Turn off iMessage on Settings > Messages.
Turn off your iPhone (hold the power button until the slide to power off prompt appears and slide to power it off).
Turn on your iPhone after a minute or two.
Make sure you're connected to WiFi (usually more reliable than Cellular).
Go to Settings > Messages and turn it on. Accept the prompt for the warning that carrier fees may apply for the activation SMS.

If the above does not work, you can also follow the steps from iOS: Troubleshooting FaceTime and iMessage activation (edited steps below):

  If you see "Waiting for Activation" when trying to activate your phone number with iMessage or FaceTime on iPhone

  To resolve this issue:

  Ensure that you have an active Internet connection. You can complete activation using Wi-Fi or a cellular data connection.
  Ensure that your iPhone is set to the correct time zone: tap Settings > General > Date & Time.
  Note: If Set Automatically is on but the incorrect time zone appears, turn Set Automatically off and choose the correct time zone, date, and time.
  Verify that you can send SMS messages. You need a valid SMS messaging plan to activate FaceTime and iMessage.

  If "Waiting for Activation" still appears after you perform these steps, turn FaceTime and iMessage off and on in Settings > Messages and Settings > FaceTime. You may need to wait up to 24 hours to complete activation. Most attempts will take less than an hour, but some attempts may take up to 24 hours. If your issue isn't resolved after 24 hours, please contact Apple for assistance. If you've recently performed a remote wipe on your iPhone, wait 24 hours from the time you performed the remote wipe, and then turn iMessage off then back on.


How to tell if an iPhone is hacked and how to prevent it?

I don't really know why people always think their device is being hacked after something weird is happening in their eyes.

If she made a backup on a computer, and someone put that version back - they have access to the complete iPhone after restoring it on another device. Can this be the case?

If not, he said things during fights on iMessage? Maybe he just said it and regret it afterwards claiming he didn't send it. I don't see why anyone would add extra text to a fight and not use it for something else (if they really have bad intentions.)

Backing up an iPhone to a Mac does not turn on iMessage by default unless the user activates this him/herself. It is impossible to get active just because of a backup.

Solution
Change the Apple ID password and all default Apple services will become useless because it will prompt for the new password.


It appears that the signatures were only on the initial run of the 128K Macs.

I dug this up from DigiBarn Weird Stuff

  These signatures were molded into the case and included here
  (gradually disappearing) for several generations of Macs through to
  the SE

And from the Obsolete Computer Museum..

  The first Macs had only 128k RAM and used single-sided, 400k floppy
  drives. The signatures of the original Mac designers are molded into
  the inside back of the case.

It's possible that this may be a latter generation 128K Mac without the signatures.

You also say that you're "pretty sure" the rear shell hasn't been replaced.  However, you didn't say that you were certain.  It's entirely possible it was replaced for service at some point.


copyfile errors and dot files using rsync

I was using the -E option to copy alias files on macOS (as without -E option alias files copy as executable files). The -E Options worked for copying the Alias files, but caused the same error as here on other files (COPYFILE_UNPACK failed:45). Therefore appears error is probably caused by using -E option in macOS.

Fortunately using Homebrew and running brew install rsync to install a more recent version of rsync fixed the problem.

Source: https://bayton.org/2018/07/how-to-update-rsync-on-mac-os-high-sierra/


TV app in Catalina does not search in local library

Use the Show Filter Field option to search your library:

Click Library at the top of the window
Click View in the menubar and select Show Filter Field
Use the filter field to search your library


Several options include:

Reflector 2
AirServer Universal

And if you feel brave and are able to compile Python, LeapCast may be an option.
Hope this helps.


Mac Pro early2008 El Cap. LOGIC BOARD compatibility w/ later models

No. The machines are totally different as soon as you take the side off, visually & electronically.

The top ⅓ is visually similar, though the 08 uses PATA connections in the optical bay, the 09 has SATAII.

As for the rest, these are just the visible highlights...

The 08 mounts the CPUs directly to the motherboard, 'sideways' like a standard PC, with separate removable RAM daughterboards onto which individual sticks are installed.
At the front is a large dual fan assembly.

08 pics EveryMac & OWC

The 2009 has an entirely different structure - both the CPUs & RAM are on a removable daughterboard, the huge front fan assembly has been replaced by a single fan & a nice PCI card release, far improved over the 08's 'fiddle around underneath like a PC' structure.

09 pic OWC

OWC's picture also hints at (well, advertises;-) one more thing about the 09.
It can reasonably simply be upgraded to 2012 5,1 firmware & will take dual 6-core Westmere's rather than the original Nehalems.
It can also be updated to Sierra 10.12 once the firmware has been upgraded.

I forgot to mention that the memory isn't compatible either.
The 08 takes DDR2 [expensive these days]
The 08 takes DDR3 [much cheaper]

Also, & you really can't tell without sitting two side by side, the drive sleds are different sizes. To move a drive from an 08 to an 09 you must use the correct sled or the pins don't match up to the motherboard when you slide them in.

The 08's still a good machine for its age, but the 09 upgraded to [actually higher than originally purchasable] 2012 spec is still quite the beast.

I have one of each, 08 & upgraded 09. Both going strong.

Purely my own opinion, but I'd be tempted to trade up the 08 to an 09 - you can get them very easily on eBay etc, fully upgraded & ready to go. [Mine is a dual 6-core 3.46GHz, 64GB RAM, cost £1600, UKP. I added a decent graphics card & still had change from 2 grand.]


Can I make macOS Sierra not notice when I turn off my monitor?

I suspect the best way to manage your situation is via some of your System Preference settings.

More specifically, try the following and let me know how you go:

Go to System Preferences
Select Energy Saver
Set your Computer Sleep to Never
Set your Display Sleep to a short period
Ensure that Put hard disks to sleep when possible is unchecked
Now exit Energy Saver and select Desktop & Screen Saver instead
Select the Screen Saver tab
Ensure that the Start after setting at bottom left is set to Never
Exit System Preferences

Now try using your Mac Mini as you want, but don't turn off your monitor until after it has gone to sleep. Let me know how you go.

Sleep

As an aside, is there a reason you want to physically turn your monitor off?

Your monitor uses less than 0.3W when it's in sleep mode, so you're not really saving much in terms of energy by shutting it off instead of letting it sleep. So, if you set your Energy Saver settings as above, the amount of energy consumption while your monitor sleeps is negligible and your Mac Mini can still perform what it has to.


iCloud storage reporting backups that do not exists

If you have two iOS devices, I would compare the Settings - iCloud - Storage - Manage Storage screens to ensure both agree. One device can get stale or cached data. If you don't have two, restart your device to check that it's updated.

If so, you will then want to go to iCloud.com on a computer and verify the number there. The web app allows you to clean or observe the rest of the backups. They are deleted photo albums (potentially) as well as backups of calendar, contacts, files and bookmarks.

IF at that point, you still think there's something missing - you'll want to escalate to Apple Support to http://apple.com/support/icloud


User.menu is but one of many missing on macOS Big Sur, namely Battery.menu, Bluetooth.menu, Clock.menu, Displays.menu, Eject.menu, IrDA.menu, UniversalAccess.menu, User.menu, and Volume.menu.
Assuming you have not changed the system default keyboard shortcut for Lock Screen, ⌃⌘Q, the following command in Terminal will lock the screen:
osascript -e 'tell app "System Events" to key code 12 using {control down, command down}'

The first time I executed that command it failed and I was prompted with two dialog boxes, the first being:

After clicking OK, the second one was:

Clicking Open System Preferences took me to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility, where I clicked the check box for Terminal after unlocking the pane.
I then executed the command again in Terminal and it locked the screen.
After unlocking the screen, I then created a shell script as lockscreen in /usr/local/bin, e.g:
cd /usr/local/bin
sudo nano lockscreen

Added the following code:
#!/bin/zsh

osascript -e 'tell app "System Events" to key code 12 using {control down, command down}'

Then pressed ⌃X followed by Y and then Enter, and back a the prompt:
sudo chmod +x lockscreen

I then executed the lockscreen command and it too worked, and without having to make any additional security changes. It also works when calling it from other shell scripts.

Note: If you prefer to use a osascript shebang, instead of zsh, use the following code:
#!/usr/bin/osascript

tell application "System Events" to key code 12 using {control down, command down}


Uninstalling old Mac OS apps in my Macbook Air

It is perfectly safe to delete unwanted macOS Installers - simply drag them to the trash [& empty it to recover the disk space], nothing further required.
You can always get them again if you need them.
Ordinarily, after a successful upgrade, the system would delete them itself.


Encrypto by MacPaw is a free file encryption app available for macOS and Windows. The app uses AES-256 with no configuration; provide a password for encryption and optional password hint.


Is it possible to play sound through both the headphone jack and my internal speakers?

In my experience, the answer is no. As soon as you plug in the headphones into the 3.5mm jack, it replaces the internal speakers as the default output (and vice versa when you unplug them). There are several discussions around as to whether this is actually a limitation in the hardware or the software, but the end result always seems to be the same.

Now this may not answer specifically what you're asking, but for interest, the only time I've had any success with simultaneous headphone and speaker output is when using a USB device, such as a headset or USB speakers. In order to get this to work, you'll need to plug in the USB device, then do the following:

Start the Apple "Audio MIDI Setup" utility (/Applications/Utilities/Audio MIDI Setup)
Select the "+" in the bottom-left and select "Create Multi-Output Device"

Select the Multi-Output Device that has been added and in the right-hand pane, select both the "Built-in Output" and your USB device. That should look something like this:

Start "System Preferences" → "Sound" and click the "Output" tab. Select the "Multi-Output Device" that's now there.

An unfortunate side-effect of this, as "The selected device has no output controls" eludes to, is that you now can't control the volume in the normal manner. To do this, you'll have to go back to Audio MIDI Setup and do it from there for each of the outputs. So be careful with those headset and speaker levels to begin with!!!

And that's it :) So, now when you play a song in iTunes, for instance, that should come out of both the headset and the speakers.

However, whilst all this may be largely academic without a USB headset or speakers, I did also come across the Griffin iMic which says:

  iMic supports both mic and line level inputs via a selectable switch,
  and provides a line-level output for connecting speakers or
  headphones.

I've not tried it, but if you're willing to spend the money, that may allow you to connect a pair of headphones with a normal 3.5mm jack then, using the method above, get audio out of both the internal speakers and the headphones simultaneously.


What is the difference between `open (-a) ` and double click in finder/spotlight?

Well, one difference is that via Command Line, you can pass the file to be opened as an argument, but I guess this is not the difference you are after.

The behaviour you speak of appears to be a bug which can be observed when running Yosemite. The issue is still open: https://github.com/leksah/leksah/issues/37


How do you hide users from Login and Fast User Switching under OS X 10.7 Lion?

This change didn't get implemented/respected/carried forward in Lion 10.7 initial release build. It's an open bug with no ETA on a fix or resolution.


Apple Mail: How to semi-automatically forward an email with default text and recipients

I would look into using Automator. For example, you could create a Service that is accessible from the Application menu (e.g. Mail > Services) that does what you want.

Speaking of Services, there's actually already one available for Mail that does part of what you want. More specifically:

In Mail, select an email
Then go to Mail > Services > New Email With Selection
A new email window opens with the contents of the email you selected already in the body of the message (however, there is no subject line and the message is not formatted as though you're forwarding it)

Also, with regards to Team A and Team B, if you haven't already you can create a Group in the Contacts app for each of your teams. That way you can forward the email to the group.

You could look at using AppleScript, but in this case Automator is probably the best/easiest option. There are many online resources that can help you get started. Below are three of them:

Automator Help
MacOSXAutomation.com
Automator World

Finally, feel free to come back here and ask questions if/when you get stuck.


Using on screen keyboard and barcode scanner with iPad.

It depends on the bar code manufacturer and which Bluetooth profile they use.

Most will use the HID (Human Interface Device) which will make it emulate a keyboard.  Some will have a button that triggers the on-screen keyboard to come up while others will use a different bluetooth profile (like SPP - serial port profile) that will allow data to come in via a different avenue.

The Socket Mobile Bluetooth scanner supports the extended Bluetooth profiles like SPP and MFi-SPP (Application Mode).  From their datasheet:

  Application Mode - Improves business productivity with faster,
  efficient and reliable data transfer over Bluetooth; leverages
  Application Mode functionality by integrating Socket Mobile’s SDK in
  app

Basically, that a fancy way of saying the BT scanner communicates directly with the App and not as an HID device meaning the on screen keyboard (or another BT keyboard) is free to be used.


AirPlay enabled speaker disappears from iTunes

This has been a common issue with the Zeppelin Air and upgrading your firmware should resolve the issue.

How to Upgrade the Zeppelin Air Firmware

You should check the firmware installed on your Zepplin Air. You can view the current firmware version on the screen of an attached iPhone and most iPods. Generally it can be found in the "About" section in the "Settings" in the iPod menu.

The latest firmware for your Zeppelin Air is available in the support section on the B&W website. Download the installer from their site and then follow the instructions found in the manual to upgrade the software via a USB 'B' cable.

Didn't help?

If this does not help can you please provide the following additional pieces of information: the firmware version of the software installed on your Zeppelin Air, the version of Mac OS running on your machine(s), the version of iTunes you are currently using.


Can I turn off swap and/or memory compression on macOS 10.12, Sierra?

Regardless of whether you use some version of "official" settings to turn off swap, it is never really safe to do so.

Quick refresher about "swap". Swap space is memory contents stored on disk. In order to run more programs than physical memory allows, the operating system can "swap out" some memory, meaning write the contents of memory to disk, freeing up physical memory for use by other programs. When a program needs to access memory that has been swapped out, the OS "swaps in" the memory, meaning it reads the data from the disk back into physical memory. If memory is still full, that means the OS has to swap out some other memory before swapping in the requested memory. This whole scheme only works if there are big chunks of memory not being used for big chunks of time, but that can be the case on Mac, where your word processor can take a break while you are reading your web browser.

With swap, the system can use as much "virtual memory" as you have available disk space, and performance will degrade gradually as a higher percentage of memory is on disk. Without swap, the system can abruptly run out of memory, and because swap has been available for decades, the systems really do not handle running out of memory well. Your system and applications can get into all kinds of weird and unhealthy states because running out of memory is just not something people plan for anymore, or more importantly, test for. So even if the OS and apps are supposed to handle out-of-memory conditions, you will very likely run into bugs. If you are going to turn off compressed memory, then it is even more likely you will need swap. You can read first-hand accounts of system freezes due to running out of memory and not having swap in Yosemite.

Swap is known (by the OS) to be slow, so the software in the OS and affected app software like media players know how to keep critical data in memory and out of swap. If you find the system is using swap and you don't like it, then quit some applications (or close some browser tabs) until you get your "memory used" well below your "physical memory" and then the swap will gradually be emptied back into real memory, because it has to be read into real memory for a program to use it, and the OS will not swap out that memory back out if there is plenty of free physical memory available. (It used to be that swap space, once allocated, was never released from disk, but that is no longer the case, and even when it was the case, it was still true that the allocated swap space would be "free" or unused memory once all the in-use memory would fit in real physical memory.) This is what you would have to do without swap, anyway.

So the answer is (a) no, there's no way turn off swap and (b) if there were a way, doing it would lead your system to freeze and/or crash, and so is not worth it.

As for turning off memory compression, or as you put it "Value 1 for vm.compressor_mode will this work on macOS 10.12 or crash like on macOS 10.11", the answer is much simpler: you cannot turn off memory compression. Starting with macOS 10.12 Sierra, if you try to turn off compression by setting vm.compressor_mode to 1, the kernel treats it as though you set vm.compressor_mode to 4 and turns memory compression on anyway. (See vm_pageout.c). So it won't crash, like with macOS 10.11, but it won't "work" to turn off compression, either. (AFAIK, the "freezer" modes are for iOS, to support fast resume when app switching. They require the kernel to be compiled with CONFIG_EMBEDDED which the desktop OS is not.)


Is there an alternative to Adress Book that works both on a Macbook or Imac *and* on Iphone?

What about Cobook?

http://www.cobookapp.com

There's a mac app and an iPhone app
AND
it's free!


Meaning of lines in "wcap" that don't have a MAC, and are not "beacon" or "wep" broadcasts?

Those remaining lines are very important metadata measured from the radio/baseband software to help troubleshooting issues with wireless that can crop up in cases of interference, lack of signal and to identify the hardware / media access layers of the network connection between the radio on your Mac and the radio on the access point.

In these specific lines, you have 802.11a (a less common protocol), and very good signal to noise ratios, the exact channel you are tuned in to and the basic data rate / encoding rate for the link between your Mac and the radio at the access point.

These data would be very helpful if you were seeing large numbers of errors or retransmits or didn’t know which base station you were connecting to.


Have you got iStat Menus 4 installed? This thread identified the iStat Menus network module as the cause of the problem. Another one blames the CPU module.


I am looking for this also. This answer claims: "AppleScript doesn't offer any means of getting a list of replies to a message. My workaround is to get the message id of the message being replied to and search it in the sent messages."

TimeToReply.com also provides a similar service, but they have locked out new users pending product updates (unfortunately, they are moving from a cloud service to client plugin model).


Fixed region/dimension screen snipping tool

You can use the screencapture tool, part of macOS:

screencapture -x -Rx,y,w,h /path/to/capture.png

x,y is the coordinates of the top-left point of the rectangle,
w,h is the dimensions of the rectangle,
-x mutes the capture.

You could wrap this in an Automator workflow or Keyboard Maestro macro and customise it to your desired output.


Can I "fix" Xserves' IP addresses on a local network?

Yes - set up a DHCP reservation on your TimeCapsule using the Airport Utility of your choice. I prefer using a client ID so you can easily change things when you get a new server, but typing the MAC address in also works.


AX88179 ethernet adapter keeps dropping connection

The fact that WiFi is working fine, tells you that the issue isn’t related to your OS.  Especially, your firewall can’t be an issue because a firewall won’t allow DHCP traffic then suddenly block it while simultaneously continuing to allow it for another interface.  The tcpdump is telling you that the DHCP client that requests the IP from the server is working fine.  The “oui unknown” means that the Organizational Unique Identifier (first 3 octets of the MAC address) can’t be found.  Which means it can’t identify the chipset.
That leads us to....
This chip, made by ASIX Corp is an off brand, low cost chip used in many discount peripherals also made by off brand and discount manufacturers.  In fact, a number of products based on this chip like this Plugable USB to Ethernet not only doesn’t list macOS as supported, it actually says not compatible with Catalina.
The problem then is the adapter and not your Mac.  Steer clear of off-brand products and look for adapters that use quality chipsets like Anker USB Ethernet Adapters (I personally use this brand due to their reliability and warranty; 18 months).  Generically speaking, look for chipsets from known, market leaders like Intel, Broadcom, Qualcom, Texas Instruments, etc.  Chances are, the WiFi adapter used by Apple for its AirPort adapter is a Broadcom.


iPhone does not get detected on older MacBook Pro

I've had the same problem before, and the following steps solved it for me:

Open iTunes
Plug the phone into the computer, and unlock the phone (Either with TouchID or Passcode Unlock)
A notification should popup on your phone saying "Trust This Computer?", click "Trust"
And finally, in iTunes and after a couple of seconds it should show up


Finally figured it out: in the Settings app, under Music, “iCloud Music Library” was somehow disabled. Problem solved!


On your Mac, open the Address Book and goto Card → Look for Duplicates.

You'll be prompted with something like this:

After merging the contacts in the Address Book you should choose to replace the contacts on the iPhone. This option can be found under the iPhone in the iTunes sidebar.


How do I get songs previously purchased on my old iPhone onto my new iPhone?

The iTunes store has a 'Purchased' section that you can use to view and re-download purchased music.

Open up iTunes on your computer and select iTunes Store in the sidebar. In the iTunes Store homepage, click the Purchased link in the Quick Links box on the right:

Once on the Purchased page, select the Music tab on the left and the 'Not on This Computer' tab on the right. Select All Songs in the list on the left and click the Download All button at the bottom of the page.

Once your downloads finish you should have all your music in your library, ready to be synced to your new iPhone.


Understanding directory permissions in UNIX

If I have r-- on a directory, I receive errors on attempting cd directory or touch directory/newfile, as expected. But if I run ls directory -- well, I don't get an error, but no files are listed, even if I know there are files that I own and/or have rights to within the directory. So, ls has run successfully but with no data to standard output. Why not?

If you just ls directory then the "files" inside directory should list but if you use ls -l which calls stat(2) the operation will silently fail as stat requires a full searchable path to the filesystem object.

  If I have -w- on a directory, I receive errors on cd and ls, as expected. But if I try to create a new file - touch directory/newfile - I also get an error. Why?

Once again touch calls open(2) system call which requires a full searchable path (all directories in the path are executable/searchable) or the operation will fail.


Why can Mac OS X 32-bit access all 4GB of memory, while Windows 32-bit can't?

Recommended reading: Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: 64-bits, Santa Rosa, and more (and the rest of Prince McLean's Road to Snow Leopard series).  If you don't want that much reading, I'll summarize:

First, you have to realize that OS X doesn't have a single 32/64-bit mode switch like Windows does; It'll happily run 64-bit apps under a 32-bit kernel, or vice versa, and both of those are independent of what the physical memory subsystem can support.  Mind you, the bitness of apps and kernel do impose memory limits: an app running in 32-bit mode can only address 4GB of virtual memory no matter how much is installed/supported in the machine (although a Mac with lots of RAM can run several fully-resident 4GB processes at once); and if the kernel is in 32-bit mode it can only allocate up to 4GB for its various data structures (page table, process table, open file table, etc).  This is already a bit different from the way Windows does it, as it shares address space between the kernel and the running process, so they each only get 2GB.  The advantage of the Windows method is that it doesn't require a cache flush to switch in and out of the kernel, making it faster.  But OS X only needs to flush the cache if both the program and kernel are in 32-bit mode; if either is 64-bit, they share space and avoid the speed penalty.

Now, on to the question you're asking about: physical RAM limits.  Many early Intel Macs actually have the same ~3GB memory limit that 32-bit Windows has, for the same reason: some of the 4GB physical address space is taken up by memory mapped I/O, especially the video card.  Some later Macs used the Santa Rosa support chipset, which allowed them to put the I/O in a separate address space, and use up to 4GB of physical RAM.  Higher-end (/even newer) Macs have PAE, which allows much more physical RAM.  Rumor is that Windows doesn't support PAE in most of their 32-bit OSes because of driver compatibility problems.  Apple controls most of the relevant drivers anyway, so they made it work; if the hardware supports it, the OS just uses it.


Disable line wrapping for output in the Terminal

tput did the trick for me:

tput rmam

disables line wrapping.

tput smam

enables line wrapping.


Can I connect to wifi but still use cellular?

Actually this is possible!...

Use the following instructions:
1. Tap the blue arrow next to the name of the AirPort Express WiFi network to view more options.
2. Select "Static" as the type of IP address, and then enter the following IP address and Subnet Mask :

IP Address : 10.0.1.4 (for example)
Subnet Mask: 255.255.0.0

Make sure you leave Router, DNS, and Search Domains blank! This tells the iPhone that it should use its cellular network to route internet traffic rather than trying to do it via WiFi.


Tried factory resetting my Macbook Air but won't erase disk

Try erasing the entire drive, not just the volumes.
In Disk Utility, Hit  Cmd ⌘   2   (or see the View menu) to show Devices instead of just Volumes.  Select the overall drive you will now see over the volumes (now in a disclosure triangle instead of separate) and Erase that, GUID/APFS.
If you aren’t following an internet recovery factory erase, here is the best one:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

Click through to the erase portion.
Selecting the correct item in Disk Utility almost always gets an erase completed without reverting to the terminal app and command-line tools.  Also, Apple Support is now delivered almost entirely without Genius Bar visits.


How to check if EarPods are fake or not?

Apple has a page to assist in verifying authenticity for some of their products.

For EarPods, there's no easy way to check.

A few years ago, someone on LinkedIn wrote a nice article with pictures to help people identify real products vs fake.

It comes down to quality of materials and workmanship.  If you look at the pictures and explanations in that link, you can easily see the type of quality Apple puts into the design and manufacture of their products. Use this only as a guide for things to look for.  They're not the only ways to spot a fake but it's a good start.

For example:

  Check the bass holes in the EarPod (Clearest Way)

  The OEM EarPods will conduct an airflow to the bass holes at the
  bottom of it which be designed for better bass sound. If you cover
  these holes with your fingers, less bass music can be heard.

  For fake ones, the “bass holes” are just for “decorating” purposes.

As mentioned in the comments, the best way to ensure you have a genuine product is to buy directly from Apple or a licensed reseller.


While taking the selfie, the displayed image is mirrored so you can line things up easier. This is demonstrated in the first image.

After the photo is taken, the image is unmirrored and displayed naturally. This is demonstrated in the second image.


Setting up environment variables for GUI apps?

I don't believe variables set in the environment are going to work in the Open & Save dialog box (OSDB). It's a nice idea, but you'd have to admit, kinda neckbeardy.

The Macintosh way would be to use the Favorites list presented on the left of the OSDB. Drag your often used directories there and you have one-click access.

A much more powerful alternative is Default Folder X. This gives you an incredible degree of short-cutting and changes of default behaviors in the OSDB.


Keyboard goes blank when trying to type special character on iPhone

It's part of the new 3D Touch feature.  Try putting it on the "firm" setting and don't push too hard when trying to get special characters.


Failed MacOS file sharing using wrong user account - how to reset?

Network share credentials are stored in Keychain Access.app. Take a look there. You may search for ABCD to quickly find any credentials containing this login. You can then just delete the wrong items.
Please note, when using ⌘ K in Finder, your connection string needs to look like this:
smb://<ip address> e.g. smb://192.168.0.123
or
smb://<local hostname> e.g. smb://targetMacName.local (how to find/change local hostname)


I'm using a Samsung 850 EVO in my MacBook Pro. If you prefer a method that uses the GUI, I recommend Trim Enabler (it's $9.99, works well, and supports the EVO 850):

You also asked why they mentioned that trimforce might not be safe. This article in their FAQ might answer your question: Why should I not use Terminal commands like trimforce?


Spotlight is disabled for my main volume

I noticed a similar error once in console.  If I recall, very similar errors start occurring regularly above 80% capacity, meaning you haven't freed up nearly enough yet.

There are several system activities that potentially eat a significant amount of space, like creating a new swap file. To protect such activities, Apple deactivates some space consuming activities, including indexing, once the drive is 80% full.

There might be system tuning parameters which you could tweak that control this.  In fact, those errors get seen vastly more often than mdutil's errors, meaning you might learn more by opening console, identify the related errors, and google them.

I've learned to consider all those annoying log messages a "feature" myself though since leaving 50ish gigs free for temporary emergency usage has more "utility" than filling that space with infrequently used junk.


How do I fix this Smart Folder problem? It keeps switching off of "This Mac"

Here's the steps I used to do what you're looking for which seem to be working the way you want.

Open Finder and click File > New Smart Folder - or press ⌥⌘N

Then setup as I have in the screenshot below and click 'Save' near the top right.

Then, when the little drop-down menu appears for you to save, select the options like I have below.

Now, you'll get a window left behind like this.

Now, close your new Smart Folder.  Then in Finder, open a normal finder window with either File > New Finder Window or ⌘N

Your 'TV' Smart Folder will be listed under the 'Search For' section on the bottom-left if you expand it out, like so


Technical Limits

No, it is not possible to tell one application to ignore the zoom state of the screen.

By complaining the application is taking additional steps to both detect and notify you of the zoom condition; this is not normal.

That the application complains, suggests the developers encountered problems when the screen was zoomed.

It is possible the "Decoder" application is using the screen buffer in some way intrinsic to its purpose. It may be writing directly to memory buffers or using other techniques to display video that rely on the display resolution being understood and constant.

Contacting Support

Have you tried contacting the developers of Decoder directly? Have you logged a bug with their support?

Most enterprise software is highly configurable and may include hidden options to support what you need.


Using ARD to set SSID, but users get keychain login prompt

The easiest way to add a WiFi network with authentication to a number of Macs is to use a profile.

You can build the profile with Apple Configurator 2, copy it onto the Mac and then install it using the profiles command. So long as you are not targeting macOS 10.13 it is quite easy. For 10.13 it gets harder.


Using PhotoStream on the Mac for pics transfer

Once Photostream images are exported to the Mac, they can safely be removed from your iPhone camera roll or from the Photostream itself. The images on the computer are local copies and are no longer directly tied to the Photostream. The photos will remain on your computer until you delete them.

  Since your Mac and PC have more storage than your iOS devices, you can choose to have all of your My Photo Stream photos automatically downloaded. In iPhoto or Aperture preferences on your Mac, be sure to select Photo Stream > My Photo Stream > Automatic Import. All of your photo stream photos will be imported into your Events, Projects, Photos, Faces, and Places folders in iPhoto or Aperture. On your PC with Photo Stream enabled in the Control Panel, all of your photos will be imported into C:\Users\\Pictures\Photo Stream\My Photo Stream.

ᔥ Apple Knowledgebase: iCloud: Photo Stream FAQ


Choose a default app for opening files with no extension?

You can add a default application for public.plain-text in ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.plist.

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

Restart to apply the changes (logging out and back in isn't enough).

I've added this to a duti configuration file:

com.apple.textedit public.plain-text all
com.macromates.textmate public.unix-executable all


How to automate execution locate.updatedb by using a bash script

After additional (re)search I found an easy solution:

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

This is also persistent, so it will run updatedb daily.


Mac OS includes support for RAM-based filesystems via ramfs. Everything is RAM backed so it's incredibly fast with near zero latency, but the contents are lost upon reboot.

To create one and mount it under /tmp/mymount, create a script with the following contents and run it:

#!/bin/sh
NUMSECTORS=128000       # a sector is 512 bytes
mydev=`hdiutil attach -nomount ram://$NUMSECTORS`
newfs_hfs $mydev
mkdir /tmp/mymount
mount -t hfs $mydev /tmp/mymount

The above was adapted from the hdiutil manual page

You can also do it in a one-liner (adapted from here):

diskutil erasevolume HFS+ 'RAM Disk' $(hdiutil attach -nomount ram://XXXXX)

Where XXXXX is the size in 2048 byte blocks. There is also a useful script in this post on Superuser.


Apple do not publish information about the technology behind their web site or online services.

It is believed much of Apple's sites are backed by Java based processes stemming from Apple's WebObjects era.


New to OS X - How do I navigate through finder?

You can drag the home and root folders to the sidebar. They used to be there by default, but they were removed in 10.7.

I have also removed all of the default locations, so the root folder of column view windows is always ~/ or /.

⇧⌘G opens a Go to Folder sheet. It can also be opened by pressing ~ or / in file dialogs.

You can show the path at the bottom by checking View > Show Path Bar:

There is also a hidden preference for showing the path on the title bar:

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true
killall Finder


iPhone stuck at Apple bootup after attempted evasi0n deletion

Put your device into DFU mode following these instructions:

Connect the iPhone to your computer and open iTunes
Hold the power and home buttons for ten seconds
Release the power button but keep on holding the power button
iTunes should pop up saying that it detected an iPhone in Recovery Mode. At this point, the screen should be black. If you see anything, start over
Restore the iPhone

You should never delete jailbreak files. They are essential to your device. The only official way to remove your jailbreak is to backup files and then restore.


Is there any good alternative to winrar archiving utility for mac with ability to browse files before extracting them?

I know you said free.. but The Archive Browser is great and will allow you to preview the items before extracting. In my opinion, this is worth the $3.99.


/etc/hosts entries blocking annoying game site (slither.io) in Chrome & Firefox, but not Safari

It's a simple solution. You don't need to mess with /etc/hosts file. Just use openDNS, sign-up, sign-in then goto the "Web Content Filtering" on the settings and tick the "Games" box.

Don't forget to change the DNS server on your computer to openDNS:

1) Unencrypted DNS: 208.67.222.222 and 208.67.220.220

2) Encrypted DNS: https://doh.opendns.com/dns-query

Check whether you have setup the DNS correctly through:

https://welcome.opendns.com

Good luck!


My wife  and i have been fussing with this all week.
Here is her solution.
Fixing Mail Problems After Upgrade to Yosemite

Open System Preferences – Internet Accounts
a.  Highlight the mailbox you want to fix and click the minus button at the bottom of the page
Open Mail Preferences – Accounts
a.  Click the + sign to add an account
b.  Enter all the information according to what your ISP requires
After you hit Create to finish entering information and the account shows up in your Mail Preferences list, highlight the new account and:
a.  Go to the Advanced Tab and uncheck the box that says “Automatically detect and maintain account settings
b.  Go back to the Account Information tab – Outgoing Server (SMTP) box, click the down arrow and “edit smtp list”
c.  Delete the old smtp account (from when the account was originally set up)
d.  Find and highlight the new smtp server that you just entered and go to the Advanced Tab
e.  Uncheck the “Automatically detect and maintain account settings” and double check to make sure that the settings for your outgoing port, whether or not to use SSL and your authentication method are correct
f.  Go to the Account Information tab and enter the description you want for this smtp server
g.  Hit OK
On the Account Information tab for the mailbox you just set up, enter the description you want it to have in your mailbox list.  It defaults to the email address, but you can change that if you want.
Also double-check in the Advanced Tab to make sure the incoming port is set correctly.
Click to exit Accounts in Mail Preferences and click Save on the drop down box.
Go back to System Preferences – Internet Accounts and highlight the account you just set up.
a.  If you changed the description of the account in Mail Preferences, change the name of the account to match it.
b.  If you want to sync Notes as well as Mail, check that box.


Why is "System" taking over 100 gigs of storage on my Mac?

System is everything on the disk that takes up space and does not fall under other named categories. Unless you have a spotlight issue or the system is still indexing, I would use a tool like Daisy Disk to get a second opinion on system.  Have seen it where a category doesn’t finish indexing so perhaps you have 80 GB of documents, but the indexer crashed at 80 MB and system looks bloated when it’s not.
While that’s running, be sure to take advantage of all the Apple steps to clean things you don’t need: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206996
If system remains larger than you like, back up and do an erase install. When you log in, you convince yourself the system is not bloated, but the things you've brought to the Mac are what use the disk space. After that, migrate your data or import things again.
To save a double erase, here are sizes of a survey of system sizing per system after importing apps and setting up users and using them for a week to a month:

Mojave: 23.17 GB
Catalina: 11.31 GB
Big Sur: 14.95 GB (M1 with Rosetta)

After an erase install, you should be even slimmer on the system sizes than listed above.


Can I used the command line to disable settings in Yosemite that have made my Mac visible?

Bonjour
Prior, to Yosemite this could be done via launchctl, so using:
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist

would turn Bonjour off, and to turn it back on:
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist

Unfortunately /usr/sbin/mDNSResponder is not found on Yosemite.
A bit of digging and this seems to work for Bonjour:
sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.discoveryd.plist
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.discoveryd.plist

NB: I'm not clear if this means it stays off, it should given launchctl behaviour but I've have not had time to test it and determine if anything else in the system will turn it back on.
Bluetooth
Presuming you're talking about your Mac's built-in bluetooth and not a third party adaptor, then:
networksetup -listallnetworkservices

Lists all services, usually show Bluetooth as 'Bluetooth DUN'
killall blued

Kills the bluetooth server process
Launchctl commands
launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.blued.plist

Unload the bt daemon
launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.blued.plist

Reload the bt daemon
launchctl start com.apple.blued

Restart blued daemon


Copy recursively files and folders, but preserving everything while gaining ownership?

In order to successfully copy the files in the first place, you need at least have read access to the files at the original location.

To make sure that you can read them, you can either change their permissions with sudo chmod -R o+rx /drag/your/original/folder/from/Finder/here or as suggested in the comments of your question have ownership of the drive ignored for the time-being, which leaves the original files unchanged.

To actually copy the files over, use the following command:

cp -R /drag/your/original/folder/from/Finder/here /drag/your/target/folder/from/Finder/here/

For more information during the copy process, use the following command:

cp -Rv /drag/your/original/folder/from/Finder/here /drag/your/target/folder/from/Finder/here/

Mind the slash at the end of the target folder or the target folder itself will be overwritten by the contents.

Understanding permissions when moving/copying files in UNIX/BSD (Mac OS X's underlying system is based on BSD):

When moving a file from A to B on the same partition/volume, the ownership of the files will not change
When moving a file from A to B between different partitions/volumes, the ownership of the files will change to the user moving them (applying sudo to the copy command will have the target files ownership set to root)
When copying a file from A to B regardless of the location will apply the ownership of the target files to the user copying them (applying sudo to the copy command will have the target files ownership set to root)

With number 1 only the file descriptors will change internally, but no file will be physically moved.  With 2 and 3 the files are physically copied over to the new location with step 2 doing a second step and deleting them from the original location after each copy.

UPDATE (to address comment):

If you copied over the files using sudo, you can modify the permissions of the target files using chown and chmod.

Commands are:

sudo chown -R <user>[:group] /drag/your/target/folder/from/Finder/here

<user> is the account name of your user (not the full name)
:group is a group, which by default for any user is staff and for any admin is admin.  Since it is not required, you can omit to leave it as is (hence the square brackets)

sudo chmod -R 770 /drag/your/target/folder/from/Finder/here

This will give you and the primary group r/w and execution/traversal rights on the files.


Logic Remote iPad app no longer able to control Logic Pro X

I found that deleting the Logic Remote device in Logic Pro X's Control Surface Setup screen fixes the issue:

In Logic Pro X, go to Logic Pro X > Control Surfaces > Setup...
Find the device that is representing the iPad's Logic Remote app.
Right-click the entry and select Delete
Close down the iPad's Logic Remote app and restart it.
Wait for it to connect to Logic Pro X and the mixing controls will work fine again.


Since your MacBook Pro is only 3 months old, it is under warranty. Take it to an Apple Store or other Apple authorized repair center immediately and let them diagnose and fix the problem.

You might have a faulty Mac motherboard, or you might have a faulty MagSafe power adapter, or, worse, the electrical current in the house where you plug in the power adapter may have substandard "dirty" power that is preventing the power adapter from properly powering the computer.

But since it is under warranty, the authorized Apple repair people will diagnose the problem for you. If it is the fault of Apple equipment, they should repair it for you at no charge.


Use the Snipping Tool that ships with Windows, it's made for that exact purpose. The Windows help page is here, info found using this search tool ;-)


iPhone 3g; iOS 4.2 to iOS 5 performance?

Sorry, but the Wikipedia article for iOS 5 indicates that iOS 5 does not support the iPhone 3G.


Why has my hard drive started spinning-up each time I eject it?

I updated to macOS 10.14.4 and the issue has mysteriously resolved itself. A software update caused the problem and a software update fixed it.


I need to swap a colour with transparency

Preview is designed for viewing image files, making simple image adjustments, and annotations, not for full-on image editing. You cannot swap a color with transparency in Preview.

What you are looking to do could be accomplished in paid apps like Adobe Photoshop or free and open-source apps like GIMP.

Depending on a number of different factors, like image type and compression, making white transparent in image editing software can be as simple as selecting all pixels of a single color and setting them to transparent, or as complex as manually selecting and setting pixels to transparent outside of an object's boundary.


If I delete Clash of Clans on one iPad, and download it on another using the same Apple ID, will it save my progress?

Extracted from the Clash of Clans FAQ:

  Can I continue my game on a new device?

  Yes you can, but it requires the use of GameCenter. The only way to transfer your account to a new device is to have the original village linked to a Game Center account. Login to that Game Center account on your new device and you will prompted to load your previous village.

This post which requires a login, has some helpful instructions on setting up your game on a new device.


Write in English using a foreign keyboard layout on iPad

With the keyboard connected, Go to settings/general/keyboard/hardware keyboard and for English tap over at the right edge.  You will get a list of layouts to choose from.  Instead of “automatic”, select Norwegian or whatever layout you prefer.  Do the same for other languages you need to spellcheck.


Should I use an extension power cord instead?

The extension cord is the part on the right. One came with your power adapter, and it goes between the adapter and the wall. A new one would work fine with your current power adapter but won't do anything by itself.


How to Rescue OS X without Visible Startup Disc?

My solution was to delete OS X because I did not get help enough fast. I needed my computer. Klanomath's proposal seems to be forward

Boot to Recovery Mode please
Do diskutil list
Do gpt -r show disk0 in Terminal.app
Add output/screenshot here


Looks like the -fit option on this command line utility will do exactly what you want:

https://github.com/vieron/svg-resizer

If you need help with brew, look here: http://coolestguidesontheplanet.com/installing-homebrew-os-x-yosemite-10-10-package-manager-unix-apps/

If your not comfortable with the command line, don't let it intimidate you - it's really not that hard.  Post back if you get stuck or something just doesn't make sense.


Remap Control+Command+F from Facebook to Full Screen

I had this problem too.  Turns out the PandaBar app was to blame.  It had overridden the Control-Command-F keyboard shortcut for posting to Facebook what I was listening to.

Go into PandaBar Preferences -> Shortcuts and change or clear the "Post to Facebook" shortcut.

Then the full screen shortcut will work as expected in all your other apps, without having to override it with System Preferences changes.


1 Apple ID is the problem.

You'd need to remove the ID as a contact source & just use the phone numbers.
Settings > Facetime

 Same settings for iPad, just laid out slightly differently


This is actually a lot easier in OSX El Capitan now because there is an option to not show the toolbar in fullscreen mode.

However, in Lion, I believe you can still do this:

Enter Full Screen mode
Secondary click on the grey area above the address bar and choose "Hide Toolbar" in the Contextual Menu displayed.

That should get you what you need.


Just because you can get on facebook doesnt mean you have wi-fi. You could be runnung off of 3g. Wi-fi is three bars on top left of the screen next to your moible network company. If it says 3g then you dont have wi-fi.


Reliable software to record webcam videos longer than 5 hours?

I tested a few last year when I had to keep a watch on some people who were blocking my driveway (yeah, ikr;)
I tried a few, but the one that seemed to behave the best was SecuritySpy [approx £34, with free 30-day trial]. It can do a lot more than you need it to do, multi-camera, motion sensing, etc, but one of the simplest tasks it can do is just 'record until you tell it to stop', or you can preset 'record 5 hours' etc. It also timestamps in the corner of the video.
You can set it to a low refresh & low fps so it doesn't eat your drive making cinematic quality movies, if all you need is a record of you not sneaking off to the local library or having the answers written down right next to you.


Is it possible to enter letters in iPhone native calculator app?

No, you cannot enter letters into the calculator on the iPhone or iPad.  The image was most likely photo-shopped!  You can copy what appears in the calculator window but you can only paste digits back into display.


There's a ton of different ToDo list apps out there. Personally I have used OmniFocus and ToDoIst.
OmniFocus

(subjectively) the nicest interface
sync between platforms with the free OmniSync Service
"Apple" (iOS and OSX) only; not on Windows or Linux; no web interface
not cheap
ToDoIst:
available for all kinds of platforms, including a web interface
free version to get started; premium version with add. features
"template" feature might help you implement and re-use your checklists
tasks can be shared between / assigned to ToDoIst users


Why would MacBook Pro indicate "not on same network" as iPhone...when that is not the case?

Network might me blocking required protocols.

UDP ports 500 and 4500 are required for Wifi Calling.

Other ports and protocols might be needed.

There is a list here.


Time as x-axis in chart with Apple Numbers

This can't be done with an area graph. You need to use a scatter graph, or to insert hidden rows for each increment missing. This has been an annoyance of mine for a long time — I have provided feedback to Apple and you may do so too.


Trackpad not working on Macbook pro 2009 running Windows 8

I think your MBP will handle Bootcamp v4 - you could try installing it from Windows, it runs as Bootcamp Services, and may alleviate some of your problems. I have done a similar thing on my 2009 13" MBP - all works fine apart from tapping (not clicking) the touchpad. Two finger scroll works but not tap-clicks. All very frustrating.


AppleTV Remote Controlling iTunes on Laptop

This is because they both use similar technology. You need to pair the remote with the device you wish to use it on if you have multiple devices.

You can do this on the Apple TV by:

going to Settings
General
Remotes
Pair Remote

More info is available in the Setup Guide as well.

If you want to pair it with the Mac, you can do the following steps (From an Apple KB):

Log in on your Mac as an Admin user.
Get very close to your Mac (about 3 or 4 inches away).
Point the remote at the infrared sensor on the front of your Mac.
Press and hold the Menu and Next/Fast-forward buttons simultaneously on the remote for 5 seconds.
Your Apple Remote is now paired with your computer. You should see a chain-link style lock appear in the center of your screen for a moment.

If you never want the Mac to be controled with the remote, then you can:

Go to System Preferences
Go to Security
Select  "Disable remote control infrared receiver"


That is only possible for the last 24 hours

  If the device was recently online, you also see the time it was last located. If the device has been offline for over 24 hours, you see “Offline.”

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH2698?locale=en_US


Connecting a FireWire 800 external hard drive to MacBook Pro early 2013 through its USB 2 port

The Apple Thunderbolt to Firewire adapter is $29, and I don’t think you’ll find much cheaper that that for adapter cables. However if the external Firewire drive is just a normal drive in a Firewire enclosure then you could pull the drive from it and use either a USB3 hard drive case or even a laptop hard drive SATA to USB3 cable. Those cables and enclosures start at around the $10 mark on big ecommerce sites.


How are you actually invoking the script? If you run a script like sudo script.sh, all commands inside the script are run as superuser and you should never have it time out. If you're running a script that has sudo commands inside it, then it could ask for a password more than once if it takes too long between sudo commands. The sudo timeout only applies to new invocations of the sudo command. If your case is the latter, you do have the option of using the command sudo -v in your script which will extend the timeout by its default value (normally 5 minutes, but see below for how to change it), but if everything inside needs superuser permissions anyways, it makes more sense to invoke the entire script with sudo.

If you do want to change the sudo time out, you need to edit the sudoers file:

Bring up the sudoers file:

sudo visudo

Find the line that starts with:

Defaults    env_reset

Add a comma and the command timestamp_timeout=minutes to the end
(replace minutes with the number of minutes desired, 0 will always
ask for a password, a negative number will never time out -
dangerous):

Defaults    env_reset,timestamp_timeout=10

Save and close the file.


Will erasing all data and settings affect my previous upgrade?

No. The OS updates exist apart from any user data that would (or would not) get cleared by an erase all content and settings operation.

A restore will also restore the same OS as was on the device unless iTunes both sees a newer version of the iOS and you have told it to upgrade to that newer OS. Anything you do on the device in terms of resetting and erasing will not revert an iOS update or upgrade.


Ignore "prevent sleep" request from a specific app

Your MacBook should always sleep when the lid is closed. If your Mac is not sleeping with the lid closed, this suggests a problem.

There are exceptions:

Some MacBooks can be plugged into external displays and, once connected, the MacBook's lid can be safely closed without triggering system wide sleep.
Previously it has been possible to install a third party kernel extension to override macOS's behaviour and stop sleep with the lid closed. Doing this carries risk and should be avoided.

Blocking Sleep

It is difficult for user space processes to block sleep. Sleep assertions should never block a user initiated sleep, either via closing the lid or requesting sleep from the Finder. Use pmset to view current power assertions:

pmset -g assertions


Try putting your main screen in the slot that does not work. If you still get no video i think the port on the video card is dead.

What size screens are you using though?


How to create your own wifi network in mac without internet cable

Unfortunately you can't use your Macbook to extend your wireless network in this way. It seems to only be able to connect to an existing Wi-Fi network or create its own. It can't extend an existing Wi-Fi.

Three options are:

1) Purchase a Thunderbird to Ethernet adapter so you can connect the Macbook to the network over ethernet and then share the ethernet connection over wireless.

2) Connect your iPad to your Macbook by USB cable and then share the Wi-Fi connection over "iPhone USB".

3) Share the Wi-Fi connection on your Macbook over "Bluetooth PAN". This last one is probably the most attractive as it doesn't involve using a cable of some sort.


Mounting password-protected sparsebundle doesn't ask for password

Your password is probably stored in your Keychain. Remove that entry and you will be forced to enter the password every time.


I've bought Mountain Lion, but where can I download it now?

OS X Mountain Lion should still be listed in list of purchased applications in the OS X App Store application. You can download it from there.


Can not find the Homebrew in the terminal

you should try locate Homebrew or locate homebrew.  The find command will help too.

type:  locate homebrew
or:    locate Homebrew


Is it possible to do a factory reset of iPhone 5 and keep iOS 6?

You cannot reset your phone, or it will need you to change to latest iOS 8. Apple doesn't sign old iOS versions which means it's impossible to restore an old iOS version.
If you want to just wipe the texts and contacts, that's an easier task.

If you have ever synced your iPhone with iTunes, you just need to sync it in the following fashion:

if you usually sync the contacts and texts, you could uncheck the contacts and texts sync and erase those manually.
if you don't usually use iTunes, or need a faster approach to delete everything, I'd recommend using iTools PC/Mac app. (Just Google it).

Finally, you should use a blank space wipe tool (such as Battery Doctor) to assure that no erased data remains on the device.


if you can use pkgutil on a file you know for sure came from the python 2.7 you installed you can do

pkgutil --file-info /path/to/the/file

Copy/paste the pkgid in

pkgutil --file pkgid

That will spit out a list of files that came with python 2.7 -- you can now go ahead and remove them (with all due care not to remove any unrelated file in the same directories etc).


Changed user name but files are now unaccessible

Make sure that all the permissions are correct on your home folder.
You can use the ACL tool on the Recovery HD to do this:

Boot into the Recovery HD using ⌘R.
Run resetpassword in Terminal (available from Utilities → Terminal).
Select your account from the drop-down list.
Click the Reset button for Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs.


what is DELUXE-USR-LOCAL-BIN-INSERT in ~/.profile file?

It's there as a placeholder so that scripts that look for it know where to insert their changes into the profile file.

I beleive this was from the default profile created on much older versions of OSX, since my .profile which has moved with me from Panther has this, but my work machine which is from the Leopard/Snow Leopard era does not.

I have seen links to such articles going back to 2005.

It could also have been added by a third party installer, but finding out which one is probably a zero-sum game.


One of the many useful scripts in Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes is Music Folder Files Not Added, which will do exactly what you're looking for. Just download and run it, and it will give you a list of all files in your iTunes folders that aren't in the library.