How to remove "Start Dictation..." menu item from Word 2011?

The issue is in fact related to the "Start Dictation" menu entry of the 'Edit' menu, which is introduced by the OS wide dictation add-in.

A suggested workaround is to rearrange the top menu bar:

  My solution was to disguise the Edit menu. Changing its name did not
  work, but moving it in the menu bar from fourth to fifth position did.
  (For that I used View > Toolbars > Customize Toolbars and Menus.) Now
  Word no longer finds the "Edit" menu, does not mess with it and no
  longer generates garbage logs.

You can read more at Microsoft.


Display photos from iPad on TV without Internet connection

Here's one way...

If your TV supports HDMI then use a Lightning Digital AV Adapter.

  Use the Lightning Digital AV Adapter with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod
  with Lightning connector. The Lightning Digital AV Adapter supports
  mirroring of what is displayed on your device screen — including apps,
  presentations, websites, slideshows, and more — to your HDMI-equipped
  TV, display, projector, or other compatible display in up to 1080p HD.

  It also outputs video content — movies, TV shows, captured video — to
  your big screen in up to 1080p HD. Simply attach the Lightning Digital
  AV Adapter to the Lightning connector on your device and then to your
  TV or projector via an HDMI cable (sold separately).

You also need a HDMI Cable.

Another possible way is to use a Lightning to VGA Adapter.

  Use the Lightning to VGA Adapter with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with
  Lightning connector. The Lightning to VGA Adapter supports mirroring
  of what is displayed on your device screen — including apps,
  presentations, websites, slideshows, and more — to your VGA-equipped
  TV, display, projector, or other compatible display in up to 1080p HD.

  It also outputs video content — movies, TV shows, captured video — to
  your big screen in up to 1080p HD. Simply attach your Lightning to VGA
  Adapter to the Lightning connector on your device and then to your TV
  or projector via a VGA cable (sold separately).

You also need a VGA Cable.


How to make pages/word documents open in preview first?

If you do a right click on this file, but before that you can hold down the Option key  and click “Always open with”.  Then just select Preview.


Spotlight crashes when entering a specific query string

Old answer:

My first solution was simply reindexing all folders by running

sudo mdutil -E /

This did not help. I then renamed the folder in question, reindexed again, named it back and reindexed another time. The problem has now disappeared.

Update:

The bug seems to have been introduced with the update to Safari 12. As discussed in the apple product forums, a workaround is to disable Bookmarks & History in the Spotlight system preferences.


Why aren't all my garageband loops present?

Not everybody uses Garageband's wide spectrum of pre-recorded audio clips to use in their own mix. As they take up a lot of space on your harddrive, the average user will be very happy to save that extra space.

People who require more loops can download them via the Software Update:

Open the Mac App Store.
Click on the tab "Updates".

This is the normal procedure of getting the free, extra audio clips.

Wat you are experiencing could be an error. Are you seeing any error message that you could add to your question? This would give us more information to help you. Otherwise, you could take your Mac to an Apple Store and ask for a helping hand.


How to reinstall OS X on a wiped MacBook Pro mid 2010

That's a weird issue, your best bet is probably to download the "OS X Recovery Disk Assistant" to reinstall OS Lion.
From Apple's website:

"To create an external OS X Recovery, download the OS X Recovery Disk Assistant application. Insert an external drive, launch the OS X  Recovery Disk Assistant,  select the drive where you would like to install, and follow the on screen instructions.
When the OS X Recovery Disk Assistant completes, the new partition will not be visible in the Finder or Disk Utility. To access OS X Recovery, reboot the computer while holding the Option key. Select Recovery HD from the Startup Manager. "

Note: In order to create an external OS X  Recovery using the OS X Recovery Assistant, your Mac must have an existing Recovery HD, which in your case it most likely already does.


Most Compatible Software for MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014)

MacBook Air Early 2014 allows to update to macOS Catalina (10.15), even the yet unreleased macOS BigSur (11.0) will run on it.
I suggest to use macOS Recovery installer with
opt + cmd + R during a restart to upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.


AppleScript to copy cell range to clipboard as image is broken after Office Excel update 16.11

Any script and file that you don't change and that works on Excel 16.10 (or Excel 15.41 from before the code base was changed / unified in version 16) and then breaks is a regression bug you should file with Microsoft. Version 16.10 has about 20 bugs we're taking with Microsoft and not all of them are fixed in Version 16.11 - some of the bugs are so bad that the ~/Library and container files become corrupt and the application itself will not even launch in Finder.

Full stop - file a bug with them after you have exhausted their support channels. Support is getting some pretty decent workarounds for some bugs, but version 15 to version 16 was a massive change so there clearly were (and today are still) tons of regressions.

In that bug you need to tell them (and us) what license you are using. The same excel program works differently based on how you license it. Features turn on and off so you don't have the same behavior based on licensing.

Now - I did try to dig into the Dictionary and see if I can find an error in your usage above, but your code is correct as the calls are documented. The problem is Excel - not your script.

I don't like loading older software - so the first thing I would do is try opening your file in Numbers and scripting there until the Excel version 16.xx works out all the kinks.

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/release-notes-for-office-2016-for-mac-ed2da564-6d53-4542-9954-7e3209681a41

If you wanted to go back - here's the 15.41 installer - but you will need to consider cleaning everything potentially like Outlook identities, caches, preferences, etc... or installing this older Office on a new Mac OS or VM with a clean install or make a new user so you don't have old preferences that are from a newer version of the tool.


How can I quickly add a photo to an album in Photos app?

I'm assuming you're talking about the Photos app on Mac.

One option based on your description is to change the size of your thumbnail images so they're large enough to view the quality of images without having to manually open them up one by one. To change the thumbnail size drag the slider near the top left of the Photos app window.

Once you've got the size right, you can select multiple images (using the Command key) and then drag them across to the album you want. Of course, this assumes you've already created the album.

Another option, once you've selected the images you want, is to then go to File > New Album (or just use the CommandN keyboard shortcut) and this will automatically create a new album including all the photos you had selected.

If you're interested in the full list of keyboard shortcuts for the Photos app, just go to Help > Keyboard Shortcuts. This will give you quick access to a list of keyboard shortcuts as well as Magic Mouse or trackpad gestures.

Hope this helps!


After a lot of investigation, I've finally found the solution (so I decided to put it as an answer here).
You need to open Terminal (Spotlight search - type "terminal") and run the following command:
sudo rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/Chrome

It will remove Chrome user data so use it at your own risk, but at least it helped me to run Chrome on macOS. Other approaches that seemed safer didn't work for me. You need to back up the Chrome folder beforehand if you're worried about losing your data.


Is there any way to sync iPhone with Google contacts with custom labels?

Depends on how you sync  Google Contacts to iPhone. If you do it by setting up the gmail account on your iPhone using  the Exchange option, then fields in your Google contacts do not transfer to the phone. But the advantage of using the Exchange way is that syncing is instant--edit a contact on the phone and it changes in your Google account as well.
If you sync the contacts using the gmail option, the custom fields in Google contacts DO show up on your phone. The disadvantage is that syncing only happens when you sync the phone with iTunes on your computer.
That's my experience, anyway. I would like to know how to have both: sync custom field labels and sync instantly on the fly with every edit.


Using Software Update server without binding Mac to Lion Server domain

There is a way to do this, but it involves fiddling with DNS to make a 'transparent' software update server. When clients are on your network, their requests to "Apple's" SWU servers go to yours, without any modification of client settings, it truly is transparent.

Check this article out. It's a little old, but this is the general idea that you want to be going with.

  In your internal DNS set swquery.apple.com, swcdn.apple.com, and swscan.apple.com as CNAMEs for the server running SUS.


Disk space lost after quitting disk partition

You probably tried to manipulate a CoreStorage volume with Disk Utility. Core Storage volumes are built after enabling File Vault 2, creating a Fusion Drive or often after updating to Yosemite.

If you don't have a second internal hard disk attached, disk0 is usually mounted to /. In your case disk1 is mounted to / which is a typical hint for Core Storage Volume Group - in case of an internal Fusion Drive disk2 is mounted to / and disk0 and disk1 usually don't appear entering df -h.

Open Terminal and enter diskutil cs list to get all CoreStorage objects in a tree-like view.

Use this comprehensive list of documented and undocumented commands to manipulate your CoreStorage Volume Group.


Next/Prev buttons stopped working for the Music app on my 2015 MacBook Air

Here's an imperfect potential solution (depends on how you want to use the feature) – see problem 3 below.

I created an applescript that uses keystrokes to tell apple music to play/pause. This way, you can just use automator to trigger it based on shortcuts (you can similarly bind fast forward and rewind).

Script is below:

on run {input, parameters}

    tell application "System Events"
        tell application "Music" to activate
        key code 49
        key code 48 using {command down}
    end tell

    return input
end run

Pop this into an automator workflow using the "Run AppleScript" action and you can create a shortcut. I'm having issues doing this now, but it's something you can probably research. I use keyboard maestro, which makes setting up shortcuts significantly easier.

To change to rewind and fast forward, just change the line key code 49 to key code 123 and key code 124 respectively (this is left and right arrow keys)

There are a few problems:

you may want to hide music instead of tabbing back to your original program. In that case, just replace key code 48 using {command down} with set visible of process "Music" to false and it'll hide the progam
you can't actually use the f8 key as a shortcut, but you could maybe bind it to something like command 8. You could also probably use Karabiner to rebind the f8 key to something else
This doesn't really fix the "why" of what's going on. I still don't know what's happening for sure, but it is a way for you to get it up and running (I still think you should try messing around with Karabiner to change the f8 key to like the keycode for play/pause. It may add clarity to what's happening).


The -x option will prevent find from descending into directories that have a different device number.

 find -x / ...expressions


Can't write to Seagate external hard drive on other macbook pros

If the drive is NTFS the MacOS default driver is read/only.

You probably have installed a driver at one time on your old system that provide read/write.

Such a driver frequently come with external harddisks. I have personally found this preloaded on recently purchased Seagate drives formatted as NTFS, but that only supported Seagate drives.  Paragon sells the full driver from https://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ (they also have for other filesystems).


If your main goal is to improve the performance of Photoshop and Lightroom I would focus on these specific applications. Put Photoshop files and the Lightroom lib, Photoshop and Lightroom swap/temp/history files and the Photoshop & Lightroom apps themselves on the SSD.

Moving the system swap file to the SSD will only help if memory used by Photoshop or Lightroom is overflowed to the swap file. But if this is the case extra RAM would improve their performance a lot more.

Moving anything else then the files directly used by Photoshop & Lightroom might result in a faster overall system, but will likely only marginally help improve the Photoshop & Lightroom experience.


I have experienced this behaviour if I use different screens with the same windows. Somehow Mac OS seems to save the colour profile with the monitor where the window has been initially opened. If I open the same window on a different screen e.g. green looks different than it should be.


You shouldn't be able to delete the Trash folder from your Dock. To put it back, reset your Dock settings:

Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app)
Run the following command to delete the Dock preferences file:

rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist

Log out and back in.


iTunes Match uploading slowness with eventual error -9810

According to a the Apple Discussion Forum, it's a sign on authentication error (SSL). You should try to sign out, sign on elsewhere and sign back on your iMac. When you do sign out, some flags on the Apple Servers are reset or restored, so you could sign on with the proper speed and permissions again.

Or you could change from WiFi to Ethernet or vice versa, this is also mentionned as a solution.

The article mentions more solutions, so I suggest you take a look at the article if above information doesn't help you out.


Does AppleCare care if I've modded my machine?

Generally all changes you made yourself are not liked at Apple. They cancel your guarantee. But I don't think I will be an issue other than that. They will probably just replace it. I wouldn't tell them though, that you made these changes, because depending on how nice the person you get to repair your MacBook is, he'll maybe just ignore that you modified it, and maybe you have to pay less.


Time limits on specific apps in macOS High Sierra

Note: I myself am a kid too, hopefully others don't see me as a traitor for providing this answer

Heres the start of my application. It is a work in progress. I will be editing very soon to include may new features such as

Remote editing of settings (like parental controls allows you to do)
Ability to get alerted if the kid tries to bypass the restriction
Ability to extend time (reward system?) with a parental password
Ability to bypass restriction completely with parental password
Multiple Alerts
More Logs
More comments in code
LaunchAgent and LaunchDemon
Many more features

Open this in Script Editor and export it as a read-only application and make sure stay open after run handler is checked off

After exporting follow this
 guide to prevent it from show up in the dock.

To quit, go to Activity Monitor, search for what ever you saved the application as and press the X in the upper left hand corner of the window.

 ## Time Limiter - Created by Josh Brown - Created June 8th 2018 - Last Modified June 8th 2018 ##
global applist
global timelimit
global timelimits
global day1
global day2

## Settings ##
set applist to {"Google Chrome", "App Store"} -- Apps to limit
set timelimit to 10 -- time to limit in min, this is cumulative between all application
set alert1 to 5 -- time when to give a warning (great for giving a 5 min warning so they know they should save and wrap up what they are doing)

## Alert Settings ##
set alertme to false
set bypassattempts to 0
set maxbypassattemtps to 3 -- If the kid trys to reopen application after timelimit has expired alert you

## Bypass/Extention Settings ## -- If you would like to give the kid an extesion or bypass the block
set allowbypass to false
set pass1 to ""

set timelimit to timelimit * 60 -- Make into a seconds
set alert1 to alert1 * 60

set timelimits to timelimit

on is_running(appName)
    tell application "System Events" to (name of processes) contains appName
end is_running

on checkapps()
    set x to false
    repeat with a from 1 to length of applist
        set b to item a of applist
        if is_running(b) then
            set x to true
        end if
    end repeat
    return x
end checkapps

on killall()
    tell application "System Events"
        repeat with myProcess in applist
            set theID to (unix id of processes whose name is myProcess)
            try
                do shell script "kill -9 " & theID
            end try
        end repeat
    end tell
end killall

on logme(msg)
    set time1 to do shell script "date"
    do shell script "echo \"" & msg & " " & time1 & "\" >> ~/Library/Logs/Time_Limit.log"
end logme

on checkday()
    if day of (current date) is not equal to day1 then
        set timelimit to timelimit + timelimits
        set day1 to day of (current date)
    end if
end checkday

logme("Begin Timer with Apps List: " & (applist as string))
set day1 to day of (current date)
repeat while 1 = 1
    checkday()
    if checkapps() then
        if timelimit > 0 then
            set timelimit to timelimit - 1
            if timelimit is alert1 then
                logme("Time Left:" & (timelimit as string) & "Displaying alert")
                display notification "Please finsh what you are doing and save your work" with title "Time Limit Almost Up" subtitle ((timelimit * 60) & " Minitues remaing") as string
            end if
        else
            (*
            tell application app1
                quit
            end tell
            delay 20
            *)
            if checkapps() then
                killall()
                logme("App Runnning after Limit, Killing")
            end if
        end if
    end if
    delay 1
end repeat


Has Arrow Key Navigation Changed for Skim in Yosemite?

According to the author of Skim, there is a bug in Yosemite that swapped the up and down arrow keys. Some versions of Skim had the fix, and the author later decided to remove it. In the newest version of Skim, 1.4.12, the author re-added the workaround. From the changelog:

Reinsert workaround for Page Up/Page Down bug Apple refuses to fix


OS X Yosemite multiple desktops with different files

Yes you can. Mac refers to the extra desktops as spaces. You can create up to 8 extra spaces I think and you can control them from Mission Control. The control key plus a digit will make that particular space active.

if you go to Mission Control (probably in your doc) a window opens showing all the spaces across the top. There is also a plus sign. Clicking the plus sign creates a new space. I find spaces very convenient. I have a space set up for one app and another space for a different app.


How to access a connected iPhone device from within Terminal?

This is probably not the answer you're looking for, but apparently this can't be done. Please see this question: iOS mount point in macOS


Recommended power bank capacity for iPhone 4S

The power bank capacity is just that, capacity. So the bigger the capacity, the more often you can recharge your iPhone before you need to recharge your power bank. Give or take a few mAh getting lost on the way, the number of recharges possible is basically Capacity of power bank divided by Capacity of iPhone.

This also means that there is no recommended capacity per se. Questions you may want to ask yourself before buying one include

do I need to recharge several time a day or is one recharge usually enough?
do I plan to take multi-day cross-country hikes without power outlets on the way
is low weight important for me (more capacity usually means more weight)
do I just want to recharge one device or is the goal to charge e.g. an iPad as well


Buy app after downloaded with promo code

There is no way to undo a purchase from the end user standpoint, and each user would need to contact apple for a manual adjustment to their account (which might not be something that is even done).

The thing you can control is for that user to set up a second Apple ID to complete a legitimate purchase that qualifies to submit a review. You could also gift the app and be in the clear since that doesn't have the review restrictions that a promotional code redemption does.


Google Calendar won't sync after update on 9.2.1

Guess it has something to do with latest iOS update, removing account(s) which have shared calendars solve my problem.


Can a MacBookPro6,1 drive a Dell U2713HM via DisplayPort?

The answer is yes - using the Monoprice 3ft DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort cable it works perfectly.

Before the cable arrived I used DVI, through the Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter - adapters with firmware version 1.03 work reliably though 1.02 did not. Apple replaced mine because of this, see support bulletin here. It's nice to put the bulky adapter and bulky DVI cable away.


The rainbow cursor indicates that the application in question is blocked because the system watches for it saying it’s ready for things like keyboard input.
The page you are visiting is causing an entire app to block so that’s a problem for sure if you need that page to work before it gets fixed. It’s normal and expected the system lets you know one app is blocked, so you can go do other tasks in other apps and eventually force Safari to quit when you tire of waiting for it.


Can I install downloaded app even if it's not available on the App Store

Yes. You can synchronise them by connecting your iPhone to iTunes on your Mac. It will synchronise all the apps that are in your iTunes library with your new iPhone.

That's why it's handy to download apps in iTunes as well. Also updates and keeping older versions from the app around. So you can go back to an older version when there is a bug introduced in the newer version.


Can someone read messages on my locked iPhone?

Your sending a lock doesn't change the settings you had on the phone prior to losing it.

If messages were showing on the screen - they will still show.

If not, they will not.

If you have find my phone enabled and are concerned about changing this, you could send a remote erase (and then lose all ability to track it again) and have it resort to the default behavior. I'm hesitant to erase my phone now to test, but am fairly certain the default is towards privacy and further messages would not be displayed on the lock screen when the phone reboots or is powered on again.


Apple Mail: Move thousands of locally stored mails to IMAP accounts

Whats the most efficient way to migrate such a large local archive to a single IMAP-Account?

Unfortunately, the most efficient way to do this is to migrate from one IMAP server to another.  I say unfortunately, because this is something that happens at the server level and not via the user.

In all of the migrations I've been involved with (all from something to Exchange), we kept migration to a minimum and archived everything.  That archive remained "online" for reference only (it didn't accept new mail) and new folders couldn't be created.  After a number of years (3, I believe) it went to permanent archive in which we took it offline and only went to it if there was reason to do so (like legal subpoena).

In the end, migration was simply too costly (time, labor, efficiency, dollars) so it's rarely done.

In your case, unless you have access to the back end of the servers, your service providers are not likely at all to accommodate the request.  So, unfortunately, getting those mails over to your new server is going to be a manual process.

With all that said, my recommendation is to move away from the (dated) IMAP severs and look at Exchange.  It's the gold standard.  You can get a hosted Exchange account from Microsoft for $8 per user per month and it's a much better solution than pretty much anything else offered.


ipod classic is not listed under source list in iTune after restore

Apple's Knowledgebase suggests a multi-step process for troubleshooting this issue.

  Try the iPod troubleshooting assistant: If you have not already done so, try the steps in the iPod Troubleshooting Assistant
  (choose your iPod model from the list).

  If the issue remains after following your iPod's troubleshooting
  assistant, follow the steps below to continue troubleshooting your
  issue.

  Restart the iPod Service
  Restart the Apple Mobile Device Service
  Empty your Temp directory and restart
  Verify that the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver is installed
  Change your iPod's drive letter
  Remove and reinstall iTunes
  Disable conflicting System Services and Startup Items

Apple's iPod: Appears in Windows but not in iTunes contains more details about these steps.


Can I upgrade directly from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to 10.7 Lion?

According to this page, you need to get on Snow Leopard before installing Lion.  It also gives hardware compatibility requirements, which are basically that you have an Intel Core 2 Duo (note: NOT Intel Core Duo), Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon processor in your Mac.


Can I switch away from full-screen DVD Player on a second monitor without having it exit full screen mode?

With my MacBook Pro, I can use multitouch gestures like swipe to the Desktop or to another screen using four fingers with my trackpad, and it does keep the movie in fullscreen, but this does depend on which DVD player you are using.

In my case, I use VLC Media Player.


Error in opening Microsoft Word through Terminal

You are missing a space, it should be:

open -a Microsoft\ Word

Or:

open -a "Microsoft Word"

Program names that contain spaces need to be escaped with a \ backslash or use " quotes around the name, but not both.


What Bit Encryption does Apple Use on Mobile Devices?

As per page 11 of the iOS Security Guide:

  Every time a file on the data partition is created, Data Protection creates a new 256-bit
  key (the “per-file” key) and gives it to the hardware AES engine, which uses the key to
  encrypt the file as it is written to flash memory using AES CBC mode. (On devices with
  an A8 processor, AES-XTS is used.) The initialization vector (IV) is calculated with the
  block offset into the file, encrypted with the SHA-1 hash of the per-file key.

Emphasis mine


Problem with downloading HD movies to Mac when syncing with iPad 3

You're looking at the wrong file. Open iTunes and go to playback (iTunes > Preferences > Playback). Set it to play the HD (1080p) file by default. Just because it is the default downloaded HD version, doesn't mean that it will play that one by default.


You have to create a new volume prior re-installing OS X. Otherwise you can’t select your drive.

Select Disk Utility from the utilities window of macOS Recovery, then click Continue.
Select your harddrive in the sidebar
Click the Erase button (MAKE SURE YOU DO HAVE BACKUP)
Format: Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Scheme: Choose GUID Partition Map.
Go back to the OS X installation guide.


Stop Terminal from Making Irritating Noise

From Terminal.app's preferences (Terminal menu -> Preferences), go to the "Profile" tab in the top pane, make sure your profile is selected, then click the "Advanced" tab in the right-hand pane. Under the section "Bell" there's an option for "Audible bell" which you should deselect. There's also an option for "Visible bell", which is a very useful alternative.


Your main disk uses a Core Storage partition scheme:

disk0 is your main system disk.
disk1 is a "virtual" disk residing in disk0s2 containing the Macintosh HD volume visible on your desktop.

The first two sectors of a Logical Volume contain zeros only.
Examples:

disk2 is the Core Storage Volume pooling disk0s2 (SSD) and disk1s2 (HDD) of a 3.1 TB Fusion Drive

disk2 is the Core Storage Volume residing in disk0 - the 64 GB disk image of a Parallels VM (Yosemite)

With your command sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/rdisk1 bs=1024 count=1 you had luck and you just have overwritten 1024 zeros with 1024 zeros.
As a result you haven't lost any data and may continue working with your Mac without the need to restore any backup or to reinstall your system.


How to get calendar invites to come in as iCal and not as Google Calendar invites?

Or do I have to use a non-Google address as my Apple ID?

No, you need not change or create a new Apple ID. A calendar invite sent to an email address registered with Gmail will automatically get added to Google Calendar. Also, it won't automatically get added in Apple Calendar.

You can do subscribe to your Google Calendar in macOS Calendar app. The instructions to subscribe can be found in the following links:

https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/37648
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT202361

However, it is not possible to get the calendar invite via Apple ID in iCloud calendar.


How can I set the priority of Wi-Fi networks on my iOS device?

I'm pretty sure this is not possible to do on vanilla iOS, perhaps with a jailbreak.

However, your solution of running two separate WiFi networks is generally not what you want. It is much more common to extend one WiFi network (i.e. a single SSID) with multiple routers. Devices should then automatically switch to the access point with the stronger signal.

You can check this question which describes how to setup two APs for the same network (i.e. a single SSID).


Macbook Pro Retina 15.4" External Display wrong resolutions

Found SwitchResX 4 but also the keyboard shortcut.

While on the Monitor section, press the Option key when you choose the scaling option, it will show all resolutions.

No need for SwitchResX.


4th gen iPod Touch upgraded to iOS 5 doesn't play through dock connector when screen locks

This is a problem I had with my app as well. Since iOS 5 an app is paused as if you had hit the home button when the screen locks. Unless the developer of the app in question adopts background audio, there isn't anything you can do.

My recommendation would be to find a few mp3s to relax, since Apple's music app runs just fine even if the screen is locked.


Boot Camp - Can't download the software because of a network problem

I ran into this issue just now and fixed it. My computer used to be managed by my company and the catalogURL was changed to a company owned update server.

I fixed it by resetting it:

sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL


How can I read the video input from a game cube on the iMac screen

If you have an iMac with a Mini-DisplayPort or Thunderbolt port (21/27 inches) .

You can use your iMac in target screen mode using this kind of adapter : Mini-DisplayPort to Composite

If your iMac is older (20/24 inches) you won't be able to use your iMac with your GameCube.


How can I have Spotlight Comments actually get indexed by Spotlight?

The comments should normally show up in Spotlight results after you close an information window in Finder. You can tell Spotlight to reindex directories or files with mdimport, but it should do that automatically most of the time.

The Spotlight comments seem to be stored in both .DS_Store files and extended attributes. But if a file is owned by root, Finder doesn't write the comment to an extended attribute, and it won't be seen by Spotlight either.

If you use xattr to add the comments, they are picked up by Spotlight, but they aren't shown in Finder's information windows.

sudo touch test
sudo xattr -w com.apple.metadata:kMDItemFinderComment somecomment test

If you open Finder as root, they are saved in both extended attributes and .DS_Store files.

sudo /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder


What is deleted during a macOS reinstall?

In the past - Apple had three methods to install:

erase and install (now deprecated)
archive + install + migrate
upgrade install (now deprecated)

Now, when you run the installer - it is always archive, install, migrate. SO the existing system folder isn't touched (it gets archived) and a new system folder and library are created on the drive.

So some folders get erased entirely, some have modification scripts and most user folders don't change. The user folders might get a light script run to clean known issues, but in general - the things in the user home folder are left alone.

The system then reboots into the newly functioning system to run further installations and then kicks off the migration script. That script is responsible for the infamous "about a second" step where it actually goes over each user folder and migrates all the apps, settings and checks for known incompatible software and packages so they can be disabled before any user logs in to the newly made system. The whole process usually takes 5 to 25 minutes for the system tasks and then the last user step can take a few moments or a few hours in my experience. Past an hour, it is usually hung and you might need to do an erase / migration from backup.

How long can I expect my system to be unusable during an upgrade to OS X Lion?

The old system is then deleted unless the script detects a potential that it will be needed or the migration failed in some manner.

I you wan to do an erase instal, you need to erase the drive using internet recovery, target disk mode or similar and then run an installer on a blank volume.


My MacBook isn't charged since 2016, can I still charge now?

There's no other way to find out than to try it.

In general there's nothing that says that a battery must stop working because it hasn't been charged in two years - batteries like those really age more due to heavy use rather than lying around on a shelf. So unless something bad happened to the computer or the battery over those two years, it is probably going to work just fine.


Mac High Sierra not able to Set Touch ID - Canceled by another authentication

This is a Keychain error and you probably need to rebuild it. These steps should fix it.

Open Finder.
Hold the Option key and on the menu click Go.
Click on Library to open that in Finder.
Drag the Keychain folder to the trash.
Restart your machine.

You will have to re-enter all your passwords again but it should fix the Touch ID.


You can download the OS X Mavericks license agreement from Apple's Software License Agreements page. It's definitively not free of either license or copyright. The licensing terms stipulate only running it on Apple hardware and furthermore restricted on how to use it with virtual machines on top of Apple hardware. You need to also consider the App Store license terms for your country if you download the free-of-cost Mavericks software from that store.
Below is a relevant extract from the OS X Mavericks licence:

2. Permitted License Uses and Restrictions.
A. Preinstalled and Single-Copy Apple Software License. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, unless you obtained the Apple Software from the Mac App Store or under a volume license, maintenance or other written agreement from Apple, you are granted a limited, non- exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple- branded computer at any one time. For example, these single-copy license terms apply to you if you obtained the Apple Software preinstalled on Apple-branded hardware.
B. Mac App Store License. If you obtained a license for the Apple Software from the Mac App Store, then subject to the terms and conditions of this License and as permitted by the Mac App Store Usage Rules set forth in the App Store Terms and Conditions (http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/ww/) (“Usage Rules”), you are granted a limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive license:
(i) to download, install, use and run for personal, non-commercial use, one (1) copy of the Apple Software directly on each Apple-branded computer running OS X Mountain Lion, OS X Lion or OS X Snow Leopard (“Mac Computer”) that you own or control;
(ii) If you are a commercial enterprise or educational institution, to download, install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple Software for use either: (a) by a single individual on each of the Mac Computer(s) that you own or control, or (b) by multiple individuals on a single shared Mac Computer that you own or control. For example, a single employee may use the Apple Software on both the employee’s desktop Mac Computer and laptop Mac Computer, or multiple students may serially use the Apple Software on a single Mac Computer located at a resource center or library; and
(iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use.
The grant set forth in Section 2B(iii) above does not permit you to use the virtualized copies or instances of the Apple Software in connection with service bureau, time-sharing, terminal sharing or other similar types of services.

Bold added for highlighting purposes; the bolding is not present in the original licence.


Utility to move windows as a group for Mac OS X?

There are 5 apps on the App Store that match the search term "arrange windows" and I have heard good things about three of them (in reverse aplhabetical order):

WindowTiler
Cinch
BetterSnapTool

The one I use is also on the app store, but doesn't show in that search term but it's fabulous.

Divvy


where can i find my back up for my ipod?

In normal situations you can just connect your iPod with your mac and there should be a restore button.

Furthermore iTunes in general does not backup music in the normal backup since it is just copying the music out of your iTunes library.

Nevertheless the folder where your backups are is in

 /Users/USERNAME/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup


Is it safe to mount 2.5" SSD in Mac Pro w/o bracket?

If you plan on "plugging in straight into the socket" that would be a very bad idea. The SSD is light, but all of that weight will now be supported entirely by the two SATA sockets on the computer and drive. Over time the small amount of weight on the SSD will brake the bracket on the Mac Pro (expensive), or worse the drive (data loss).

If you can find the correct cable you could run a cable from the socket to the hard drive, and double stick tape the drive like the above answer said.

Or just buy a 3.5 to 2.5 adapter and install it in the drive carrier. It is cheaper than repair.


Tagged items not appearing correctly in Mavericks?

After reindexing my drive with sudo mdutil -E /path/to/volume the files showed in the tag list correctly, so it was clearly an issue with the Spotlight index; hopefully this helps someone else in the future.


Can I transmit audio from iPhone to Mac via a Bluetooth A2DP profile?

While browsing the this site, I found a link to another answer that might be useful. So, it looks like a Sony Ericsson MBR-100 wireless dongle attached to the computer should do the trick. I've never used it (or even heard of it before today) but it sounds like it should work.

The reason the computer doesn't work is that both the computer support the A2DP profile but both as a server but not as a receiver. There might be a software solution to get the Mac to support A2DP as a client but I don't know of one.

Another option which doesn't quite do what you want but might be useful would be to use the Remote app on your iPhone to control your iTunes library remotely. This allows you to uses the iPhone as a remote control for your iTunes.


Left third of iPad screen is blocked with bookmarks column

Tap the bookmarks icon in the toolbar to hide the bookmarks. The button is blue when the bookmarks list is shown.

https://www.howtoisolve.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2-Bookmark-panel-in-safari.jpg


How do I create a Mac bootable USB drive using Windows?

According to the first answer here, https://superuser.com/questions/383235/create-a-bootable-usb-drive-from-a-dmg-file-on-windows, there's a tool with a free trial called TransMac that can do it. Just make sure the USB drive is formatted with GPT and not MBR.

What might be easier, however, is that that model has support for Internet Recovery. If you boot holding Command-R and you have a WiFi connection, it can actually boot into recovery mode without a recovery partition on a drive (or even without a working drive).

Having said that, your description of a crash right after the boot chime could signify a more serious hardware problem and you may not be able to boot anything. If you boot holding the option key down, the startup disk selection screen should appear. If it crashes anyways, you may be looking at a hardware problem.


Connecting AirPort Express Base Station to Time Capsule

I do not have an Airport express (or Time Capsule...), but the method is not as scary as you might be worried about.  First, setup your wireless network on the Time Capsule, make sure the settings with regards to B/G/N etc are ones that your Airport Express can read (you don't mention model numbers), so ensure you are not using N only if your Express cannot do N also.  Network mode should be "Create a Wireless Network".  Then, on your Express, set the mode to be "Extend a Wireless Network" - it will list the networks it can see (that it is capable of extending, hopefully), and with luck you will find that they are within range of each other.  You just need to apply the same settings re passwords and security etc here, and hey presto it should repeat the same wireless network, thus extending it's range.  The network settings tab within Airport Utility should be greyed out, as the device should just be passing on what the Time Capsule presents, and it's not capable of overriding them.  Anything you subsequently plus into the ethernet port should effectively drop you into the same LAN, using Wireless connection between the TC and AE to allow communication from your telly to the internet.


What is the difference between "restore backup" and "restore iPhone" in iTunes?

Restore Backup restores the contents of an iPhone backup performed sometime in the past. It restores content and stored data such as app settings, home-screen layouts, etc. Saved account login information is restored if the backup was encrypted.

Restore iPhone wipes the iPhone of all data & apps and reinstalls iOS, leaving the iPhone reset to factory settings. The iPhone is left with just the latest iOS and the Apple default apps.

Find My iPhone must be turned off for either to work.


Dock process creates lock screen images continuously

After changing my desktop background, it stopped all of a sudden


How to make battery indicator show battery status instead of UPS battery on MacBook Air

You can disable the UPS status by turning it off in the System Preferences > Energy Saver > UPS settings:

Just uncheck "Show UPS status in the menu bar" and you should have only your internal battery being displayed.

Update:  That check box shows in either the "Power" or "UPS" tab; not just the UPS Tab as described above.  It's still in exactly the same place as the image above, but I wanted to be accurate.


How do I select a song in a playlist in my library in iTunes 10?

One way to do this is through the context menu on the selected song. Ctrl + Click (right click), go to the "Show in Playlist" item, and select the "Music" option. You should then be taken to the song in the main library list.


Downloading Xcode libraries with slow internet connection

Sorry, you cannot do it, or at least not in a way that would pay off.

I would be much easier to go with your laptop to a McDonalds and get it from there.

Trust me, I've been there ;)


Are App Store elements (eg app store copy, preview images) perserved when you transfer an app

The data is retained when transferring the app.


AppleCare Status On My Mac: Ways to Check?

With Mountain Lion, it's possible to check from the machine itself. From the Apple Menu, select About this Mac, then More Info.... On the next screen, select Service and then Check my service and support coverage status and you should find all the information you need.

The above was taken from The Mac Observer


How can I turn off a Mac's display without sleeping the Mac itself?

Ctrl+Shift+Eject will turn off the displays but leave the computer active.

Control ⌃+Shift ⇧+Power ⌽ for some Macbook


com.apple.WebKit.Networking continually asking to sign using "privateKey"

I had the same issue with my company SSO certificate, it's a known issue in MacOS Sierra 10.12

Temporary workaround available:

Open Keychain Access.
Select your login keychain and then the private key "YOUR ID/Company SSO Server" (Do not search for the item but find and select ... searching will not work properly to access the ACL option)

Open Keychain Access.
Select your login keychain and then the private key "" (Do not search for the item but find and select ... searching will not work properly to access the ACL option)
Double-click the key to show the key's info window select the tab "Access Control"
Click the + button at the bottom of the window and add /Applications/Safari.app
Click the + button at the bottom of the window and add /System/Library/Frameworks/WebKit.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.WebKit.Networking.xpc
Click Save Changes and authenticate to allow those changes
Quit Keychain Access.


Why can't I remove this top entry in the firewall options?

OS X automatically creates firewall entries when a service (like AFP or SSH) is started through System Preferences.

That's handy, because you don't have to bother with firewall rules. The OS configures the firewall as necessary for the selected services to work. The downside is that those entries can't be edited or removed from within the Firewall pane, you need to stop the service instead, which is somewhat counterintuitive.

Could it be that you have enabled FTP file sharing in System Preferences > Sharing?

If you are using Mac OS X Leopard or Snow Leopard you need to uncheck "Share files and folders using FTP", the firewall entry will then go away (credit: picture from eHow):

(Apple dropped FTP support on OS X Lion, though it can be enabled and disabled through the command line:

To enable and start the service:

sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ftp.plist

To disable and stop it:

sudo launchctl unload /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ftp.plist

To start/stop it when the system is running:

sudo launchctl start com.apple.ftpd
sudo launchctl stop com.apple.ftpd

)


Where is the folder icon of dark mode located?

All system icons are located at: /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/

To get there go to the Finder and select the Go menu option. From there select Go to Folder. This brings up a box and you can paste the above site into the box and hit return.


How do you save an environmental variable?

‘export’ doesn't write anything to file. It's for making variables available to subprocesses.

If you've never written anything to .bash_profile, it's unsurprising that it doesn't exist, since it's not created for you. You'll need to create it yourself and write that line within.

For example, touch ~/.bash_profile (to create the file) then edit it in an editor of your choice such as TextEdit (open using Finder or open -e ~/.bash_profile). Alternatively, nano ~/.bash_profile. Paste in export PROJDIR=/Users/$USER/Projects and save the file, then reopen your shell or source the profile.


Enable Finder "Calculate all sizes" checkbox by default

On macOS Big Sur, in Finder, when you 'Show View Options' you get the following window where you can see there is a button at the bottom to use the settings as default. After adjusting the settings, press that button and see if it solves your problem.


Select the first or last file in finder with the keyboard, or disable filename sort in finder

In column view and list view you can use ⌥↑ and ⌥↓.

You could also set arrange by to none (⌃⌘0) and sort by to size (⌃⌥⌘6).


How do I share a chrome tab via AirDrop?

Open the 'File' menu in Chrome, choose 'Share', then 'AirDrop'.


Download the Mac OS X Snow Leopard Update.

Apple released an "App Store" Update for Mac OS X Snow Leopard users on January 27th, 2016. This update appears to handle new certificate changes that will render out-dated apps "damaged." Downloading and installing this update should solve the problem.

This is the link to manually update the software from Apple's website.


Can I repurpose a 2TB Time Capsule as an external drive?

Does any way exist to repurpose the device as just an external hard drive?

Yes, if you want it just to be an external drive. Following this iFixit guide to Disassembling a Time Capsule.

You can remove the internal Hard Drive and place it into a dedicated USB external drive enclosure.

As far as I am aware, you cannot disable the core functionality without also disabling access to the drive.


Single DIMMs might not be supported, depending on the model of iMac you have. According to this Apple KB:

  Additional notes i5 and i7 Quad Core iMac computers come with both top memory slots populated. These computers will not start up if only
  a single DIMM is installed in any bottom slot; these computers should
  operate normally with a single DIMM installed in any top slot. Core
  Duo iMac computers should operate normally with a single DIMM
  installed in any slot, top or bottom. ("Top" and "bottom" slots refer
  to the orientation of the slots in the pictures below. "Top" refers to
  the slots closest to the display; "bottom" refers to the slots closest
  to the stand)

As a side note, 8GB DIMMS are not officially supported - only 2 or 4 GB SO-DIMMs. However, according to this OWC page, 8GB DIMMs do work (4 x 8GB).


Will downloading Mountain Lion from Mac AppStore resume if I restarted/shut down the computer?

I'm not sure if this is done automatically when shutting down, but you can manually pause downloads in the purchases tab:

The Mac App Store allows to pause and resume downloads.

Also see the Apple support documentation:Mac App Store: How to resume interrupted downloads


Is shutting down an iMac or Mac mini really necessary?

The benefits of shutting down vs. sleeping is an oft-asked question. Over time, reasons to prefer shutting down have either been resolved or significantly ameliorated.

For instance:

It used to be that shutting down early macOS (then OS X) machines caused issues with timed log clean-up routines. This has been resolved with the OS recognizing when routines haven't run and rescheduling them.
Similarly, long-running systems used to exhibit instability relating to memory issues. Shutting down the computer cleared the memory, temporarily resetting things. However, memory management has subsequently improved in later versions of macOS and this is no longer a significant issue.
A shut down system used to be significantly cheaper. However, advances in hardware and software have improved the ability of Macs to sleep efficiently. In 2020, a 27" iMac with Retina 5K draws 0.27W when shutdown and 1.25W when asleep (compared to 40W when idle) (source). Apple prepares environmental reports on all its devices extending back several years that you can check. Copies are available from the Environment section of Apple's website.

In addition to these changes, features like Power Nap improve the utility of sleeping Macs.

For me, I set automated sleep and wake times and almost never reboot.


How to upload photos to iCloud Photo Library on iPhone without Wi-Fi?

Unfortunately, the answer is no:

  When you turn on iCloud Photo Library on your iOS device or Mac, your photos and videos will upload after you connect to the Internet with Wi-Fi and your battery is charged.

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204264#upload [emphasis mine]


Need to know how to set up WiFi for FireHD 7 on hardwired iMAC desktop

If you have working internet over ethernet into your iMac then all you need to do is to switch on Internet Sharing from the System Settings app and presumably your Fire HD will be able to connect to that (I don't have a Fire HD so cannot explain that end of it).

Check out http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13855


Finder folders have no triangle to twirl

I think you have set the folder to be "Arranged By..." something e.g. name.  Go to the View menu; choose "Arrange By", then "None".  You can still sort the columns.


Why am I getting bad distortion on my MacBook Pro 15, mid 2015 right speaker?

I impatiently decided to check the other speaker and managed to bust the plug (Doh!) trying to pull it off so I could test the "bad" one. That left me having to actually install the "bad" one anyway, which I did, and lo and behold, it seems to be working.
Looks like I was indeed more of a screw up than usual, in that I somehow managed to label the new one "bad."
So anyway, never mind.


iphone showing strange dates in all apps

A quick search into your issue shows you may have your Calendar set as "Buddhist".

You can check this and change that setting by going to the Settings app -> General -> Language & Region -> Scroll down to Region Formats -> Tap Calendar -> Make sure it's set to Gregorian.

Try that and see if that fixes it?

Answer found here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4679590?tstart=0


Use custom .M4A as an alert tone in iOS 12

To make a custom ringtone or text-tone:

Open clip/song/sound using iTunes. Use the Song Info options panel to trim the start and stop time if you would like.
Select the song in iTunes and go to File -> Convert -> Create AAC Version
Right click on the new version and select Show in Finder
Change the extension from .m4a to .m4r
Delete the song from your library. Make sure to not let iTunes move the original version to the trash.
Double click on the .m4r version of the song. It will appear in your ringtone section.
Change your song's start and stop times if you need to reset them to normal.

Since you already have an .m4a, you should be able to make a new copy and change the extension to .m4r and open it in iTunes.

edit It's important to note that to find the Tones section your phone should be connected to iTunes, then go to the overview of your phone, and select the Tones section from the left panel. The Tones section will generally not show up in your normal library.


Why are "spindump" and "sandboxd" eating up all my CPU?

I would say these are expected processes and they are designed to capture logs for analysis in the case of spin dump. I would focus on what apps are non-responsive and open a support case with each app owner.
The sandbox is odd, so unless MATLAB has configuration to minimize that, I would start with Apple support to see about what is driving that CPU usage. Both of those processes are needed and just like kernel_task, they respond to what is happening on the computer so you don’t “fix” them as much as understand why your workload is causing them to consume resources.  Once you nail that, you can have your battery life, heat generation and performance back. They are valuable clues as to what is happening on the system.


Try to close Notes  and delete ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Notes.plist.

Relaunch Notes to see if the same problem exits.

Update

This method suggested will remove all your local Notes and resync with the notes stored in iCloud. Just for record:

Open your favorite Terminal. (If that sounded weird, just open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app)
Quit Notes.app.
Enter rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Notes. and press Enter.


Kill all internet connections with one button on Mac

Launch System Preferences

Go to "Network" pane and click on "Location" dropdown:

Choose "Edit Locations…" from the dropdown, and then the + in the small window which appears. This will create an "Untitled" location. I recommend renaming it to "Offline" or something similar. Click "Done"

With the "Offline" location now active, select each connection/service in the left column (WiFi, Ethernet, etc). Then click the circle icon at the bottom of the left column and choose "Make Service Inactive" as shown below:

After you have repeated that for each action, click "Apply" at the bottom-right of the window.

Once that is done, you can "kill" all of your network connections by switching to the "Offline" location, and re-enable them by switching back the "Automatic" location (or equivalent).
You can switch to that location by any number of methods. My preferred way would be to use a Keyboard Maestro macro, as Keyboard Maestro has a built-in feature to switch locations, and you can easily bind such a macro to a keyboard shortcut.
You could also do it with a shell script which ran
/usr/sbin/networksetup -switchtolocation 'Offline'
(Replace Offline with whatever you named your location.)
Note that many of /usr/sbin/networksetup's features require sudo but -switchtolocation does not.
To get back online, you would need to run /usr/sbin/networksetup -switchtolocation 'Automatic'
Or whatever your default location is called.
You can also quickly switch locations via "the  menu" which will add a "Locations" sub-menu once there is more than one location defined.


I can't turn off my apps cellular data on my iphone, Help!

I had this same problem. The apps that I didn't want to use for cellular and every time I would close out of settings or disable cellular data the apps would re-enable again, but I managed to restore my iPhone I had to set it up as a new iPhone. I advise if you are having a problem like this to write down all your apps or contacts or important stuff down, So you can use for reference. Or you can backup important stuff via iTunes and iCloud. But by me restoring my iPhone and setting it as a new phone resolved the problem. I hope this helps.


Error Relating to AppTranslocation in macOS Sierra

Well, after a fairly significant amount of trial and error (and a bit of reading about how AppTranslocation works in macOS 10.12 Sierra), I've discovered a fix.
In essence, you have to open the *.dmg and then move the contents to some other folder in Finder. The catch: If you move both simultaneously, AppTranslocation may 'tag' them (seemingly permanently) and continue to run every time you try to launch either *.app); this seems like a bug, and I intend to report it to Apple.
The Solution
Re-download the *.dmg (as others have stated) and move the two files it contains one at a time into a folder (preferably Utilities, but it's up to you where you want them to reside). Once you've done this, run the Launcher and everything should work as before.


Alternative to additemtodock from Henri Shustak

Open Applications / Utilities / AppleScript Editor and paste this:

my add_item_to_dock(choose file of type {"APPL"} with prompt "Choose an application to add to the Dock:")
on add_item_to_dock(item_path)
try
        get item_path as alias -- you need a POSIX path so this coerces the path in case it's an HFS path, alias, file ref, etc.
        set item_path to POSIX path of item_path
    end try
    try
        tell application "Dock" to quit
    end try
    do shell script "defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add '<dict><key>tile-data</key><dict><key>file-data</key><dict><key>_CFURLString</key><string>" & item_path & "</string><key>_CFURLStringType</key><integer>0</integer></dict></dict></dict>'"
    try
        tell application "Dock" to activate
    end try
end add_item_to_dock

Save it as Script or Application.


How to change the path of application in OSX

I can't speak to the odd path you've installed this software into, but the reason the shell says it can't find it is that bash (and other shells) maintain a hash table with the locations of executable binaries that have been run before.  The reason behind this is so that the shell doesn't have to actually search for it each time it needs to execute it.

See: http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bash.html#Command-Search-and-Execution

To force bash to re-hash the table, use 'hash -r' .


Mavericks: notifications no longer displaying

First, check your settings in System Preferences > Notifications. You may have Do Not Disturb enabled.

  For com.apple.notificationcenterui.plist. It's located in your user library, not root level where you may be looking.

  Open the Finder. From the Finder menu bar click Go > Go to Folder

  Type or copy paste the following:

  ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.notificationcenterui.plist

  Click Go then move the com.apple.notificationcenterui.plist file to the Trash.

  Restart your Mac.

  I can't locate the com.apple.soagent.plist in either user or root.

  If deleting the com.apple.notificationui.plist file did not help, reinstall OS X >  OS X Mavericks: Reinstall OS X

  That will reinstall any missing system files required for the Notification center.

From https://discussions.apple.com/message/25351691#25351691


Looking for a combined Clock/News/Weather/Calendar iPad app

Consider Panic's Status Board app: it includes configurable modules for everything you've asked for.


AppleScript to identify the current status of Network Connection?

If you have Network menu bar item/icon in top right menu bar. You can do:

tell application "System Events" to tell process "SystemUIServer"
    value of attribute "AXDescription" of menu bar items of menu bar 1
end tell

To get connection status. For example:

{"Wi-Fi, four of four bars, with WiFiNetworkName.", "Battery: Charged ", "Clock"}

Then you can parse the string/list to check if a certain word is present.


Can't see other Mac workstation via ethernet but OK over Wi-Fi

so it seems the problem is in the DD-WRT firmare upgrade. I downgraded to a previous DD-WRT and the issue is gone. It was a matter of lan switching not working.

Downgrading back to DD-WRT firmware SVN revision 23919 fixed it.


Open Notes on your MacBook and in the top menu, select:

Notes -> Preferences

You will see a drop-down selector labelled "Default Account:".

Make sure to select the iCloud account.

Then, while still on your MacBook, look at the left bar of your "Notes" app. You should see your IMAP and iCloud accounts there. If you do not see a left bar, then click the "sidebar" icon in the Notes toolbar.

Click on each of those sections and drag the notes into the iCloud -> Notes section.

Now, all of your notes should be on your iCloud account.

Then, on your iPad, go to Settings -> Notes -> Default Account, and set "iCloud" as your default account.

If this fails, please post a comment with details, and I will try to assist further.


Whole disk encryption with a Windows only Bootcamp

It's worth noting that BitLocker can be run without needing a USB key. More information can be found here, scroll down to "Use BitLocker on a Drive Without TPM."


The external data drive is probably formatted Mac OS Extended (journaled), on which Windows can not write.
Choose a format that can be used by both OS for read and write, like MSDOS FAT or EXFAT.


iPhone not getting audio alerts from texts and other notification events

When your Apple Watch is connected to your phone notifications do not light up or make sound on your iPhone: this is unnecessary because you are getting the notification on your watch, so a phone vibrate/sound would be superfluous given that the notification is on your wrist. Thus, the issue is not with your iPhone (as it is not supposed to vibrate when it gets a notification with Watch connected).

So, why is your Apple Watch not vibrating?

Make sure you have not turned off haptics.

Make sure you are not in Silent Mode on your watch.

Turn up the intensity of the haptic vibration alerts on your Apple Watch to ensure that you can feel it when it vibrates.

If you're still having an issue, try restarting your phone and watch  or unpair and repair your watch from your phone (this has helped many users solve this problem).

It's also possible that your Apple Watch's haptic (vibration) engine is broken or weak. Apple acknowledges that this can happen sometimes. Head to apple support at getsupport.apple.com, go to Apple Watch, and press the issue section "Repairs and Physical Damage". Then go to the issue "Taptic Engine or haptic feedback is not working as expected," where you can mail in your Watch for repair or talk to Support on the phone about misfunctioning vibrations.


iMac FaceTime HD camera shows no image/black image

I have had this problem in the past. I found my answer here. http://osxdaily.com/2013/12/27/fix-there-is-no-connected-camera-error-mac/
Open terminal from the utilities folder in the applications folder. Type sudo killall VDCAssistant into terminal and click enter.
Then, enter sudo killall AppleCameraAssistant (may say "No matching processes were found", this should be fine). That should do the trick.


iTunes Home Sharing never updates Play Counts or Ratings from iPhone

This has always worked for me and here is a test I just performed on iOS 5.0.1 (9A405) and iTunes 10.5 (141).

make a smart playlist of songs rated higher than three stars and browse it on your iOS device
the only bug I see is sometimes when you go to settings, the current stars don't show, but when I change the rating it is reflected in the iTunes listing almost instantly (the change pushes over WiFi back to the iTunes and causes the display to refresh after each change).
play counts get updated at the end of the song, last played is updated correctly.

If this doesn't work for you, you may have to isolate the error in your setup. I would start with a new user account and moving 5 songs to a clean iTunes library. Be sure you quit iTunes on the "main" account if you use fast user switching - home sharing might not handle two copies of iTunes running on the same computer well. Another quick check might be to disable any firewall software on your mac. Something is off on your setup and without more testing, it's hard to guess exactly what.


On iOS 11, go to Settings > iTunes & App Stores > and deselect Offload Unused Apps. You may have to redownload already offloaded apps, but it should stop doing it automatically after you change this setting.


What should I do if Bootcamp keeps saying my disk cannot be partitioned?

You may have some space taken up by local Time Machine snapshots. Run tmutil listlocalsnapshots / to see if you have any, and if you do, remove them with
for d in $(tmutil listlocalsnapshotdates | grep "-"); do sudo tmutil deletelocalsnapshots $d; done.


Displaying email size in apple mail Version 13.4?

Thanks to @jaume, the solution is in fact fairly trivial:

View>Show Message Size in Mail

will display the size of each message.
I hope this post will be useful to someone like me who did not look at the correct place for the answer.


What is the netstat command for particular port if that's connected or not?

Probably the best you can get is

netstat -f inet -n | grep .port

or

netstat -f inet | grep .servicename

Examples:

machine:~ user$ netstat -f inet -n | grep .443
tcp4       0      0  192.168.114.5.58471       192.111.0.25.443       ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  192.168.114.5.57990       192.111.0.25.443       ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  192.168.114.5.56813       192.111.0.25.443       ESTABLISHED

machine:~ user$ netstat -f inet | grep .https
tcp4       0      0  machine.example.co.58471 stackoverflow.co.https ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  machine.example.co.57990 stackoverflow.co.https ESTABLISHED
tcp4       0      0  machine.example.co.56813 stackoverflow.co.https ESTABLISHED

Please consider that using port numbers below 256 in the first command may collide with one or more of the 4 octets of IP-numbers.


What are the requisites for RAM in a MacBook?

Any 1600 MHz DDR3 SODIMM will work.  You do not need to buy one from OWC or any Mac specialty shop.


This is a known issue for Retina MacBooks and Apple is aware of this.
You can search for 'staingate' for more info.
There is a replacement program going on, you can read about that at MacRumors website.
You'll have to make an appointment at a genius bar where they will check if it is still covered.

Apple will replace Retina displays on affected MacBook or MacBook Pro models for free within three years from the date of original purchase, or one year from October 16, 2015, whichever is longer. Affected customers that have already incurred out-of-warranty costs may be eligible for a refund through AppleCare support.
Affected customers can book an appointment with a Genius Bar or visit an Apple Authorized Service Provider to determine if their MacBook is eligible for coverage. Apple does not currently plan on announcing the Quality Program publicly on its support website, according to sources, but may contact some customers directly.


/usr/bin is, as a lot of directories installed by default, protected by SIP and can't be modified by any user. There are ways to disable SIP, but the better approach is to use the directories beneath /usr/local for user-installed things

sudo mkdir /usr/local/bin
sudo ln -s /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.7/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/
sudo sh -c 'grep -q "/usr/local/bin" /etc/paths || echo "/usr/local/bin" >> /etc/paths'

The last line will make sure that /usr/local/bin is part of PATH for all shells started/Terminal tabs created after the line has been executed.


Create hyperlink on Mail.app/Notes.app on iOS

EDIT: I found the direct link to the Shortcut discussed below. Personally tried the Shortcut and it works flawlessly!
There seems to be a way to do it using Shortcuts. Visit this link and then use Find on Page to look for "Create Hyperlink". It looks like it will take a little effort to get it up and running, but once it's created should be fairly easy to use as long as you have the Shortcut enabled in the Share menu. I'll keep searching for an easier option/Shortcut method.


The issue is how you have uninstalled python. Deleting the app does remove the code but does not affect anything you have changed elsewhere will not have been undone. In this case the changes to the path have not been undone and as the installer is a simple one it keeps adding the new bit of the path to the existing path.

To fix the path you need to find the file where the PATH environment variable is altered. If you are using the bash shell (the default in recent OSX) then. . ideally it should be ~/.bashrc but probably ~/.profile or ~/.bash_profile. See other questions or manuals on what startup file bash uses) Then edit this file so that you have only one Python in it, the lines changing PATH will begin export PATH=

In general things are uninstallable if only you know exactly what they changed in install and what they write to at run time. There is no generic way to do this. The best apps have uninstallers which will do the best. You can stop the app running by deleting the .app bundle and most configuration takes up little disk space so the cost of leaving it is not high. Also most .apps do not need edits in bash files so are more self contained.


How to get tab completion for LaTeX in TextMate?

TextMate generally uses esc for completion, though certain triggers can be specified in the Bundle for tab 'completion', you can see what the triggers are by going to the Bundles menu > Bundle Editor > Show Bundle Editor.


Terminal: how to make tab notify somehow when new text received

If you are running Yosemite, you should see an ellipsis (three dots) on the extreme right side of a tab if that tab has been updated while not in the foreground. See the left-hand tab in the screenshot below.


How to fix sync issues in multi-output device?

The only solution I've found is to use the third party app AirFoil Speakers and use my iPad as the receiver for my "rear channel" audio (the BT Speaker).  I found an article documenting some debug settings that include per-device sync adjustments:

  To enable the sync adjustment, follow these steps:

  1) Quit and re-launch Airfoil while holding down the option key. This
  will bring up the debugging window.

  2) Turn the Sync Adjustment debugger to On, and click Done.

  Now each remote speaker will have an additional slider below the
  volume slider - that's the sync adjustment. The center is 0 offset,
  and the ends are +/-1 second. Adjustments only take effect when
  connecting, so if you're experimenting with it, you'll need to
  disconnect, adjust, and then reconnect to see how well it worked.

Very handy and works well once dialed in!  It's unfortunate that in addition to the BT speaker already purchased, this solution also needs both a commercial 3rd party app as well as an expensive iOS device, but unless there is an option somewhere within the Mac OS to adjust sync in a similar fashion but for hardware audio devices, this is going to have to do (and I'm fortunate to already have the iOS device).


Implement feature not available in Parental Controls?

I'm far too lazy to implement this, and I don't have kids so have no need, but it would seem imminently possible with a cute python or Terminal script set to start running at login. This post seems to go over pretty well the Terminal logout commands. Couple that with the system time, date, is what you'll want and choose whichever output works best for you. Past that, it's somewhat unclear if you should be able to log in as a user again (just put a password on that account with no admin privileges) or if you want to have an admin log a user with no password in. The latter is probably slightly more difficult to do, but assuredly not impossible.


Apple has very strict guidelines for how—and when—apps can run in the background.
The following are the only scenarios in which a third-party iOS app can use CPU in the background.
Background Fetch
Any app can use "Background Fetch" (aka Background app refresh) to fetch content in the background for a few seconds, about once a day (on a timeframe regulated by iOS, out of the developer's control). Background Fetch takes up very little battery and CPU, and is mainly used by news/weather/social media/mail apps to update your feed so that when you open the app it won't be completely out of date.
Audio, Voice over IP, Bluetooth Communications
If an app plays audio in the background (over AirPlay or through the phone's speakers), iOS permits it to run in the background until it ceases to play the music; if an app allows you to make data-based phone calls (like Whatsapp or Skype calls) in the background, it can stay active, using CPU for the duration of the call; and if an app communicates to Bluetooth Accessories (like the Pebble app communicating with the Pebble Smartwatch), it can stay awake permanently in the background.
Newsstand downloads, remote notifications
Newsstand apps (as long as they are approved by Apple to be a  major news organization and show up in the Newsstand part of the App Store) are permitted to download new content in the background; any app (like The New York Times app) that needs to display notifications generated outside the app (for example, breaking news notifications), can stay awake in the background to recieve such "remote" notifications.
Location Updates
If you allow an app to "always" use your location (i.e. in the background), then it can be active at any time in the background. Apps like Facebook, Find Friends, and others use this to update location-related information, though other apps can use it to surreptitiously use it to do tasks in the background (but only if you specifically allow them to access your location).

A very common misconception is that "swiping up" on an app to kill it stops it from operating in the background: this is wholly untrue. Apps that have one of the above seven reasons to operate in the background can operate in the background regardless of you "swiping up" on them, and apps that don't have one of these seven reasons can't operate when they're not on the screen even if you don't kill them.
Another misconception (that you seem to have!) is that switching off "Background App Refresh" will stop an app from operating in the background; in fact, that only disables an app from using Background Fetch, but it can operate in the background if it has one of the other six reasons too regardless of the Background App Refresh toggle.

So are the apps you have installed using CPU, memory, battery, or data in the background? You can easily find out! Go to Settings on your iPhone, find the Battery section, and take a peek. If an app shows "Background Activity" under its name, then it's been using CPU in the background; otherwise, it has not been doing anything in the background.
Here's an example screenshot:

On this iPhone, Podcasts has been operating in the background but none of the other apps have. Going into Battery Settings is a simple way to tell if Angry Birds has been running in the background.

So, to answer your questions directly:

When the iPhone restarts, can all these apps start up as well and take up valuable processor time and system resources?

Only if they are specifically configured to run in the background, you can check if they've been doing that in your iPhone's Battery settings.

What if I start an app, and then explicitly double tap on the Home button, and then slide the app out (to exit it). Can it or part of it still run in the background now or later?

Yes. For example, if Facebook uses location services (as it does), then swiping up to kill the Facebook app will not stop it from using your location in the background, and while it's using your location, it can perform just about any other task in the background too.

Since WhatsApp, WeChat, Line, and Facebook Messages all notify me of new messages, it looks like they will be running as soon as I restart my iPhone. Are the using my CPU in the background? Also, it seems that even if I turn off App Refresh in Settings, the apps can possibly still run in the background. Is that true?

Whatsapp, WeChat, Line, Hangouts, FB Messenger, and other chat apps use the remote notifications capability to check for new messages in the background every once in a while. This is expected behavior (and you can check how much they're doing it by checking their app-by-app battery usage, again in Battery settings), and shouldn't drain your battery too much. And indeed, turning off App Refresh for those apps will not have any effect, as the apps use remote notifications and not background fetch to operate in the background.

TL;DR: Apps can use your phone's resources in the background, you can see how much they're doing in Settings -> Battery.

Sources of information:

I am an iOS and Mac Developer with 2 apps on the App Store
Article: Swiping up on apps doesn't affect whether they're running in the background
Post: What turning off Background App Refresh really does
Image: Background modes in Xcode
Stack Overflow Answer: Strict rules on running iOS apps in the background
Stack Overflow Answer: How WhatsApp and Skype run in the background on iOS


How do I remove "nearby cocktail bars" on iOS 9?

You can open settings -> general -> Spotlight Search, then turn off maps. This is a workaround, but it will not give you gas stations or anything of that type either.


Xcode C++ project adds C style header formate to new files

The Xcode template for C++ files does have #include <stdio.h>. To change this you have to create a template of your own - See several Stack Overflow questions here or here


Retrieve the Apple ID used to download a given app (in iTunes)

If you can copy something.ipa file to a temporary location and rename it to something.zip, then a standard unzip program will be able to show you the contents of the archive.  In the top folder is iTunesMetatdata.plist, which you should be able to open in a text editor.  Near the top would be a line for appleId, followed by the appleId which was used to download this version of this application.

If multiple IDs have purchased the same application, you would still only have one version on the computer.


apply a terminal conversion command to each file in a folder

Why AppleScript or Automator when this can be done in just Terminal? Are all the files in the same folder? What type of file is been converted, its extension, e.g .mp4?

If all the files are in the same folder and only the target files, then in Terminal, use to following commands:

cd /path/to/target_files
for f in *.*; do echo ffmpeg -i "$f" -ac 2 -codec:a libmp3lame -b:a 48k -ar 24000 -write_xing 0 "${f%.*}"_converted"${f##*.}"; done

Note: The for in do command has an intentional echo command so as to run one time to see what the output of the formed command line will look like in order to see if it looks proper. Run it a second time without the echo command to do the actual processing. If the target file type is e.g. .mp4, you can change *.* to *.mp4 or *.[mM][pP]4, where the latter handles both .mp4 and .MP4.

If you are using e.g. Automator with some Finder actions to get the target files to then run this in a Run Shell Script action, then set Pass input: to as arguments and use the following for the command:

for f in "$@"
do
    ffmpeg -i "$f" -ac 2 -codec:a libmp3lame -b:a 48k -ar 24000 -write_xing 0 "${f%.*}"_converted"${f##*.}"
done

"${f%.*}" expands to just the filename portion, without the file extension.
"${f##*.}" expands to just the extension portion, without the filename portion.


Leave out the sudo, -u and _postgres in ProgramArguments. launchd takes care of this with the UserName key.


Reboot or Force Reboot

Rebooting fixed it for me. If that doesn't work take the device to Apple.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208186


OSX Preview: is able to display DRM protected PDF files? (mainly concerned about Adobe DRM)

Preview.app cannot view DRM protected PDFs, the only way to view these files is to change the Default Program for PDFs to Acrobat.

Personally, I would not advocate this due to the unsecure nature of Adobe Reader on OSX (and Windows) and would go through the onetime process to remove the DRM restrictions on each PDF


Is there an app that will scan a document and upload it to Google Docs?

Scanner Pro [iTunes link] from Readdle. According to the product's Web page, it integrates with Google Docs and

  lets you use Google Docs OCR to convert scans into editable text files on your Google account.


Can I have multiple mice & keyboards for one Mac?

You can achieve something very close to this with a virtual PC solution. I tried it with Parallels. For simplicity I'll assume you run Mac OS X on the "real" computer and Windows in Parallels (of course you can run another OS too, I just picked one to keep the story simple).

In the Parallels settings, you can choose which USB devices should be connected to the Mac and which to Windows. If you connect your external keyboard and mouse to Windows, you get a warning that this will disable input from them on the Mac, but this is exactly what you want. Be sure to disable mouse pointer synchronization (in version 5 it's called "SmartMouse"), otherwise you won't see the Windows mouse pointer.

Now you can use the external keyboard and mouse only in Windows, and the main keyboard and mouse anywhere. This is also useful if you want to override something your brother is doing :-)

Doing this in a Mac only environment is currently not possible because it would require changes in the window manager, which is part of the OS. There is a project that does this for the X window manager, but this will not work to control every window on your Mac. TeamPlayer is software that allows you to control Windows with multiple mice, but with the exception of their own programs, you control the computer in turns: only one mouse can give real clicks, the others must wait for their turn.

A complete solution is Userful, but this runs only on Linux, because, as I said, it requires modifications at different places in the software stack and only Linux is open enough to allow this. Microsoft created a similar project: Windows MultiPoint Server, but this is targets to schools and I doubt you can get it. And of course, it only runs on Windows.


MacBook Pro 15" 2011 - missing audio device (no sound driver)

I've resolved this before (grey icon, no sound) by resetting the PRAM.

Turn off your Mac
Turn on your Mac
Hold Down Cmd-Opt-P-R
Keep Holding until you have heard the startup sound twice

Apple Support Document HT1379


What cable to connect 13-inch Macbook Pro 2018 and 34-inch 3440x1440 monitor?

Your Mac can easily handle a 3440x1440 monitor (in terms of resolution), using Thunderbolt-C to DisplayPort as linked in your question.
For information about the specifications of your computer, see Apple's Website.
You can have one monitor at 5120x2880x60Hz (billions of colours), up to two monitors at 4096x2304x60Hz (millions of colours), or up to two displays at 3840x2160x60Hz (Billions of colours)
Also, the MacBook Pro is listed as a compatible device on the listing for that cable


Remove app on App Store created by previous developer for our company

Send a real letter in a friendly tone to ask them to delist the app.

If that doesn't work, contact a lawyer and get them to send a letter.

If that doesn't work, discuss legal possibilities with the lawyer. This could include letting the developer know that the rights for the app's are yours and thus they have no right to distribute it on the app store (but only if that is really so), and it could include warning the developer that he's infringing on your trade marks or company name (if he is really doing so).


Cannot Serial/Screen into things error "Cannot open line '/dev/ttyUSBtoSerial for r/w: resource busy" "Sorry, could not find a PTY"

Job #1 - is to determine if the USB device is being recognized in any form, you can do that by looking for the USB VID and PID (described below).  When you plug the cable in, you should see the device appear in the list, and go away when you unplug.

The VID number will tell you the ACTUAL chip type, ie: FTDI, SiLAB, Prolific, or Microchip there are many chips in these cables. Your comments imply you believe this is an FTDI cable, this will confirm. Otherwise you are going after the WRONG driver.

Job #2 - Using the VENDOR ID - determine if the driver is loaded or not, or is present. For example once you confirm it is an FTDI cable, then the existing Apple provided driver should be present, same with SiLABs (apple provides this driver).

To do the above:

First verify that this is an FTDI cable, there are many other chips (Microchip, SiLab, and Prolific) - some vendors (example: Adafruit, and others) have been known to change the chip inside with different cable builds.

The GUI method on macOS is:
 -> About this Mac -> System Report, under hardware click on USB.

There are multiple "root hubs" - my MacPro has a total of 5 (some hubs are built in and hidden inside your Mac and not exposed externally)

Plug & Unplug your device, in the menubar of System Information -> File -> Refresh (CMD-R) to update the list displayed.

Look for the "Vendor ID (VID)" (who makes the USB device) and "Product ID (PID)".
for example FTDI = VID: 0403, PID = 6010 (for the FTD2232H, the PID might vary depending on the chip).

As an alternative you can open Terminal and type: ioreg -p IOUSB -l -w 0 and get a lot of of details.

You can do the same thing with Windows in the Device Manager.
On Linux, you can use lsusb to print the USB devices.

This will verify that your device is even "half recognized".

Part 1 - is that the OS can find the VID and PID

Part 2 - is the driver for that USB device

Note that FTDI has a built in driver in Catalina, no external driver required.


If you ensure that each device has a distinct iCloud account so that the Documents and Data for each device is stored in a separate account, you can have the 4 devices all share one Apple ID for purchasing and have a separate account for each child's mail, contacts, messages, etc...


Moutain Lion - New line character in notification

It's not clear how you are trying to display the notifications, but this works for me:

terminal-notifier -message $'a\nb'

-title $'a\nb' is not displayed on multiple lines though (even if you replace \n with NEXT LINE (NEL)).


Is it possible to reset launchpad layout?

To reset Launchpad to the default, delete the following file:

/Users/$USER/Library/Application Support/Dock/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.db

Where "xxxx..." in the file name is an alphanumeric string.

And then run the following command in a Terminal:

 killall Dock

The Launchpad is now reset to the default and a new database (.db file) will be created with the default settings.

Note:  If you want to examine the contents of the database you can use an app like Liya.


To enable cd'ing into a folder alias I've found the following at Mac OS X Hints.

Compile the source code below with the following command:

gcc -o getTrueName -framework Carbon getTrueName.c

This will create the ‘getTrueName’ executable in the same directory as the source. You can add it to your PATH, or just copy it directly to /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin so it’s easy to access.

C source code for getTrueName (copy the text and save the file as getTrueName.c in your home directory):

// getTrueName.c
//
// DESCRIPTION
//   Resolve HFS and HFS+ aliased files (and soft links), and return the
//   name of the "Original" or actual file. Directories have a "/"
//   appended. The error number returned is 255 on error, 0 if the file
//   was an alias, or 1 if the argument given was not an alias
//
// BUILD INSTRUCTIONS
//   gcc-3.3 -o getTrueName -framework Carbon getTrueName.c
//
//     Note: gcc version 4 reports the following warning
//     warning: pointer targets in passing argument 1 of 'FSPathMakeRef'
//       differ in signedness
//
// COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
//   Copyright 2005 by Thos Davis. All rights reserved.
//   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
//   modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
//   published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the
//   License, or (at your option) any later version.
//
//   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
//   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
//   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
//   General Public License for more details.
//
//   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
//   License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
//   Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston,
//   MA 02111-1307 USA

#include <Carbon/Carbon.h>
#define MAX_PATH_SIZE 1024
#define CHECK(rc,check_value) if ((check_value) != noErr) exit((rc))

int main ( int argc, char * argv[] )
  {
    FSRef               fsRef;
    Boolean             targetIsFolder;
    Boolean             wasAliased;
    UInt8               targetPath[MAX_PATH_SIZE+1];
    char *              marker;

    // if there are no arguments, go away
    if (argc < 2 ) exit(255);

    CHECK( 255,
      FSPathMakeRef( argv[1], &fsRef, NULL ));

    CHECK( 1,
      FSResolveAliasFile( &fsRef, TRUE, &targetIsFolder, &wasAliased));

    CHECK( 255,
      FSRefMakePath( &fsRef, targetPath, MAX_PATH_SIZE));

    marker = targetIsFolder ? "/" : "" ;
    printf( "%s%s\n", targetPath, marker );

    exit( 1 - wasAliased );
  }

Include the following in ~/.bash_profile or create a new file ~/.bash_profile with the following content:

function cd {
  if [ ${#1} == 0 ]; then
    builtin cd
  elif [ -d "${1}" ]; then
    builtin cd "${1}"
  elif [[ -f "${1}" || -L "${1}" ]]; then
    path=$(getTrueName "$1")
    builtin cd "$path"
  else
    builtin cd "${1}"
  fi
}

You probably have to restart Terminal to load your modified .bash_profile.

Tested in Yosemite 10.10.2 & gcc 4.2 (Xcode 6.2) and it works.

A similar approach is available at superuser.com


Install ResetMusicAndVideosLibraries Configuration Profile

You can email ResetMusicAndVideosLibraries.mobileconfig on your iPhone and install it from the mail message.

After that:

Tap on Reset Library in Setting -> Music (it'll delete all your contents in Music and Video apps).

Restart your device.

Now you can reinsert your music and video using iTunes.


I cannot turn off iCloud Keychain, please help

This is not Apple's two-factor-authentication — this is iCloud keychain. To sync your keychain, you need to enter the password for the device asked. Other iCloud functionality will continue to work, since you've already passed 2FA.


Confused by location of spinning circles on iphone6

I see this on my phone when the carrier name on the left is quite long, and icons on the left can get "pushed out" to the right of the time display.


Do iCloud email addresses ignore periods like Gmail?

No, this doesn't work for iCloud email addresses. Just tried it and the email failed to deliver — the email must be exactly correct.


What screen capture tools can copy the image path to the clipboard after a snap?

You could just assign a shortcut to a script like this:

#!/bin/bash

f=~/"Desktop/$(date '+%Y%m%d%H%M%S').png"
screencapture -i "$f"
echo -n "$f" | LC_CTYPE=UTF-8 pbcopy

See man strftime for a reference of the date format.


how to use different port for dns on Yosemite?

So, the reason for this was that my ISP is filtering DNS requests on port 53. What I did in order to circumvent this hideous action by Vodafone was to install dnsmasq on my mac and add this line to the dnsmasq.conf file:

server=208.67.222.222#5353

as you can see I'm now happily using open dns' DNS on port 5353


Unable to unlock screen if QuickTime was the last app open in fullscreen view

command+option+esc, than force quit QT Player


installation stuck in a loop due to damaged HD

If you haven't already made backups, you can start up from the recovery partition and save a disk image of the main OS X volume (or other volumes you use) to a different drive in Disk Utility.

The first thing I'd try would be to do an upgrade install of 10.7 by choosing Reinstall OS X without erasing anything first. If that wouldn't work, I'd do a clean reinstall and restore files manually.

See these Apple KB articles:

Mac OS X v10.5, v10.6: How to back up and restore your files
OS X Mountain Lion: Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion: Erase and reinstall OS X


Can I disable automatic "copy/look up/share" on my iPhone SE?

It's not automatic, it shows when you highlight some text, by holding down on a paragraph of selectable text. It's not possible to disable this action.

One failure mode of the digitizer is that it will select areas on the screen randomly - if you open up an app like the calculator - if buttons there get pressed randomly when you aren’t actively moving a digit on the screen, that’s a good indicator your hardware is failing.


Can't share Internet connection from MacBook to iPhone

The question you are asking seems unclear, but I think you are asking if you can share internet connectivity from your computer to your iPhone (or other iOS devices) via Bluetooth.

In this case the answer is no this is not possible, however you can share via Wi-Fi.

You can share (tether) your iPhone, or Cellular iPad's data connections to your computer via Bluetooth, USB or Wi-Fi but not the reverse.

This article on Apple.com explains the later option


Is OS X 10.10.2 faster than Windows 8.1 on same hardware?

I personally feel that speed tests such as these are of theoretical interest but not of any value in the real world.  After years of faffing around with windows and comparing to Mac after I saw the light, speed issues become a moot point:

Work flow windows: switch on-> wait 20 minutes for latest update to install->spend a further 20 minutes repairing the issues the update created->have a cup of tea to unwind->back to windows and with any luck the thing would work (about an hour total + time to complete initial intended task)

:Mac OSX workflow: click mouse to fire up (1 second)->open app ->  good to go (about 4 seconds+time to complete intended task)

In light of this, who cares if 1 machine takes 1 or 2 more miiliseconds to "theoretically" complete a given set of CPU calculations?


iPad 2 restarting intermittently and very slow to operate and charge

Just to cover the basics, I'd try a restore before taking it to the Apple Store for service. Sounds like hardware though, IMO.


What are all possible ways a keyboard shortcut could be bound in Safari?

I've run across this post on StackOverflow that addresses this.  Basically, there's no central repository of all the shortcuts created because, in the end, the application isn't required to register the event with the system.

However, they did recommend an application (KeyCue from Ergonis, €19; Free Trial) that has the ability to find all of the shortcuts that are assigned to an application (i.e. Firefox).  I downloaded and tested the application and it seems promising.

(Thanks to user Nimesh Neema - see comments below), you can also use CheatSheet ($0; free as in beer).  Both work in the same manner with roughly the same output (KeyCue is shown below).

Holding down the ⌘ Command key for a couple of seconds brings up an overlay showing all of the keyboard shortcuts that are assigned to the "front most" App - in this case, Firefox.

If you're searching for a particular shortcut you'll have to go through each running app manually to find it.  So, as stated in the SO answer, while not perfect, this will get you close to what you're looking for.