So my question is this; is there some way that I can force launchd (or bash) to execute the script only as it was when the task began?

No.  It’s not a quirk of bash or launchd.  launchd loads the job (plist) into memory, not the script.  The script gets called per it’s “start” definition like RunAtLoad or CalendarInterval.

Also, the nuance here is when the task began.  Well, that depends on when the task was configured to be started.  Just because the job definition is loaded doesn’t mean the task has started.

If you define the job within the job definition using Program and ProgramArguments it can theoretically, do what you want. However, there’s no script logic; it’s just a command and it’s arguments.

Now if your script takes time or to put it another way, it is still running, modifying it will of course cause errors.  This would be like you executing your script, then simultaneously in another bash session modifying it.  It’s going to have issues.

launchd just executes the script like you would if you typed the command manually.


How to fix Photoshop CS3 startup error "One or more files in the Adobe Application Support folder" after upgrading to 10.6?

The problem is that /Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types.osax isn’t loading. It’s possible the file is actually missing, but it’s more likely that you’ve upgraded to Snow Leopard.

Snow Leopard requires 64-bit versions of every plug-in, including OSAXes. The versions of Adobe Unit Types that shipped with CS3 and CS4 are 32-bit.

To fix this:

Download the 64-bit version of Adobe Unit Types.
Delete the old /Library/ScriptingAdditions/Adobe Unit Types file (when it's there).
Drag the downloaded Adobe Unit Types.osax file to your /Library/ScriptingAdditions/ folder.
Launch Photoshop.

sources:

http://paulschreiber.com/blog/2010/11/02/howto-fix-photoshops-missing-application-support-files-error/
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb/unit-type-conversion-error-applescript.html


If your NVRAM was set to boot into safe mode, you need a boot-args variable set to -x.

Safe mode on: sudo nvram boot-args="-x"
Safe + verbose mode on: sudo nvram boot-args="-x -v"
Clear verbose and safe flags: sudo nvram boot-args=""

The details on these settings are straight from Apple Mac OS X: Starting up in Safe Mode.


Can I use Time Machine to Mirror two Macs?

Migration Assistant can 'copy' one machine to another.  I would ask your IT department first as this can really muck up management and other things.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204350


Why isn't new (erased/formatted) SSD showing anymore in Disk Utility (and can't install OS on it)?

I think you bought a NVMe SSD, did you ? What model is your new SSD ?
macOS High Sierra was the first to support NVMe SSDs, that would explain why El Capitan can't see yours.

You may want to try cmd-alt-R at boot in order to boot the latest macOS Recovery available for your Mac from the internet. It should be Catalina, which supports NVMe SSDs.


Boot Camp Windows fails to start after installation

If use the diskutil command to delete the BOOTCAMP partition, the partitioning will change from hybrid to protective. When installing Windows, you can create a new partition for the installation of Windows. So, you do not need gdisk. Also, you do not have to disable System Integrity Protection. Enter the commands given below to delete the BOOTCAMP partition.

sudo  diskutil  unmount  disk0s4
sudo  diskutil  eraseVolume  free  n  disk0s4

I sure hope you properly copied the Boot Camp Support Software to your USB Windows installer flash drive.

I would encourage you to also create a partition for the Windows Recovery Environment (WRE). Although, a WRE partition in not required when installing Windows.

Recommended Proceedure

This steps given below are estimated to take about a hour, but this really depends on how fast you drink coffee.

Find a coffee shop with high speed internet.
Buy a coffee.
Erase everything on your Mac.
Reinstall macOS.
Enjoy the coffee.
Install Windows 10.
Continue to enjoy the coffee.

If you need clarification regarding any part of my answer, let me know.


This could be a question that no-one here can answer unless they've previously tried to do this over the Christmas period, so my suggestion would be to call the Apple Developer Program Support number for your country.

To find the number, refer to: https://developer.apple.com/contact/phone/

I just feel this is the best way for you to get a definitive answer.


Painfully slow WiFi after Sierra update on Mac Mini

Apple has a post about reccomended wifi settings for your router, as they do not believe that it is their software being glitchy, but the interference between bands (I've had the issue as well. See https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202068 or see below)

  2.4 GHz channel width

    Channel width controls how large of a ”pipe” is available to transfer data. However, larger channels are more subject to interference and more likely to interfere with other devices. A 40 MHz channel is sometimes called a wide channel, and a 20 MHz channel is a narrow channel.

      Set to: 20 MHz

    Use 20 MHz channels in the 2.4 GHz band. Using 40 MHz channels in the 2.4 GHz band can cause performance and reliability issues with your network, especially in the presence of other Wi-Fi networks and other 2.4 GHz devices. A 40 MHz channel might also cause interference and issues with other devices that use this band, such as Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, and neighboring Wi-Fi networks. Routers that don't support 40 MHz channels in the 2.4 GHz band do support 20 MHz channels.

  5 GHz channel width

    Channel width controls how large of a "pipe" is available to transfer data. Larger channels are more susceptible to interference, and more likely to interfere with other devices. Interference is less of an issue in the 5 GHz band than in the 2.4 GHz band. A 40 MHz channel is sometimes called a wide channel, and a 20 MHz channel is a narrow channel.

      Set to:
      For 802.11n access points, set the 5GHz band to 20 MHz and 40 MHz.
      For 802.11ac access points, set the 5GHz band to 20 MHz, 40 MHz, and 80 MHz.

    For best performance and reliability, enable support for all channel widths. This allows devices to use the largest width they support, which results in optimal performance and compatibility. Not all client devices support 40 MHz channels, so don't enable 40 MHz-only mode. Devices that support only 20 MHz channels cant connect to a Wi-Fi router in 40 MHz-only mode. Similarly, don't enable 80 MHz-only mode, or only clients capable of 802.11ac will be able to connect. Routers that don't support 40 MHz or 80 MHz channels do support 20 MHz channels.

  WMM

    WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) prioritizes network traffic according to four access categories: voice, video, best effort, and background.

      Set to: Enabled

    All 802.11n and 802.11ac access points should have WMM enabled in their default configuration. Disabling WMM can cause issues for the entire network, not just Apple products on the network.

  MAC address authentication or filtering

    Restricts access to a Wi-Fi router to devices with specific MAC (Media Access Control) addresses.

      Set to: Disabled

    When enabled, this feature allows a user to configure a list of MAC addresses for the Wi-Fi router, and restrict access to devices with addresses that are on the list. Devices with MAC addresses not on the list will fail to associate with the Wi-Fi network. MAC addresses can be changed easily, so don't rely on them to prevent unauthorized access to the network.
    iOS 8 and later uses a randomized MAC address when running Wi-Fi scans. The scans are conducted when a device isn't associated with a Wi-Fi network and its processor is asleep. A device’s processor goes to sleep shortly after the screen is turned off. Wi-Fi scans are run to determine if a user can connect to a preferred Wi-Fi network. Enhanced Wi-Fi scans are run when a device uses Location Services for apps that use geofencing, such as location-based reminders, that determine if the device is near a specific location.


How to Add All Songs of Apple Music Playlist to My Music at Once?

Yes you can, on both iTunes and your Apple device. You didn't mention which device specifically, but on iTunes, look for the + icon or the ..., which you can click and Add to My Music as well.

Check out these screenshots below on iTunes. I boxed the + icon on both pictures because that is the simpler approach, but you can also click the ...:


The load script command loads a script as an object to be run, rather than as text to read or manipulate.

If you want to access the actual text of your script, you can use osadecompile:

do shell script "osadecompile ~/Library/Scripts/test.scpt"
word 2 of result

Compiled scripts saved with AppleScript Editor usually have LF line endings in strings but CR line endings in other places. osadecompile converts all line endings to LF. do shell script converts line endings to CR unless you add a without altering line endings specifier.


If you want to play music on your iPhone using the Music.app and you haven't purchased the music on the iTunes Music Store (iTMS), you have to sync your iPhone and the music with iTunes first.

Play music with the Music.app

You can play music with the Music.app if one of the following conditions are true:

You have purchased the song on the iTMS
you have subscribed to iTunes Match and your preferred song is available
you have added the song to your iTunes library on your computer and synced your iPhone with the same iTunes library (enable "sync music")
you have subscribed to iTunes Match, added the song in iTunes on your computer and turned on iTunes Match on your iPhone

Please let me know if this answers your question.

edit:

Alternative method

Play music on iPhones/iOS with alternative music players

You can download and play purchased music stored in your Dropbox if the following conditions are true:

The songs have no DRM applied (encrypted audio containers like "m4p")
you have downloaded an alternative music player from the App Store
you have already downloaded the song or a data connection to download it


Why cant I go to this path? it says I don't have permission but I am the administrator

Even as an admin, you cannot by default see inside another user's private area. As this particular user is a deleted account, you can just add yourself to the list of users with privileges, without having to worry about any other consequences.
Select the user folder (jayeshghandi) then  Cmd ⌘   i  or right click > Get Info.
At the bottom of the panel, click the lock, then type your admin password.
Click the  +  button bottom left & in the window that pops up, select your own account name & then click Select.
Back in the Info window you will see you name has been added to the list.
Make sure it's set to Read & Write & them from the little 'gear' icon at the bottom, select 'Apply to enclosed items.
After a few seconds you will then have full admin access to the entire jayeshghandi folder.


What you currently are doing is correct. In this case it is a good idea to quickly restore EVERY file you can find through a file recovery program. You are very lucky that the data was not completely erased. DO NOT WRITE anything else to the disc, as you risk loosing more data.

In my personal experience restoring lost data, I usually:
1. Backup ALL Data I can recover to an External HDD.
2. Restore from a Time Machine Backup.
3. Look for missing Data.
4. Copy from External HDD

Which is basically what you said above. There is no other way to recover all the data quickly. Good luck.


It's not likely that Apple would invest in ammeter circuitry in the usb power lines and connect it to the computer motherboard.

It's likely there is some form of current overload prevention (I wouldn't even know what. A polyfuse maybe?), but it wouldn't be something accessible to the operating system.

Current draw information will more likely than not require additional hardware to obtain.


Triple boot Catalina 10.15.7, windows 10 (not bootcamp but NTFS), Ubuntu 20.10

Installing Ubuntu 20.10 when macOS 10.15.7 Catalina and Windows 10 (version 20H2) have already been installed.
This answer assumes Windows is installed to BIOS boot. This can be verified by viewing the contents of the Windows Disk Management application window. Below is an example when Windows BIOS boots. Volume (Disk 0 partition 1) has a status of Healthy (GPT Protective Partition).

Note: To get a better look at an image, either click on the image or open the image in a new window.

Below is what would appear when Windows EFI boots. Volume (Disk 0 partition 1) has a status of Healthy (EFI System Partition).

Below are the basic steps.

Use the macOS Disk Utility application or diskutil command to create a ExFAT partition which will be to contain the Ubuntu installation. Below is an example for the use of the diskutil command.
The output from diskutil list disk0 is shown below. This shows the partitioning before adding the new ExFAT partition.
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.2 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         578.6 GB   disk0s2
   3:       Microsoft Basic Data OS                      578.6 GB   disk0s3

The command given below gives approximately have the space used by the APFS container to the new ExFAT partition. You may want to replace 289G with your desired new size for disk0s2 container partition occupied by macOS Catalina.
diskutil apfs resizecontainer disk0s2 289G exfat DUMMY 0

The output from diskutil list disk0 is shown below. This shows the partitioning after adding the new ExFAT partition.
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *1.2 TB     disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         289.0 GB   disk0s2
   3:       Microsoft Basic Data DUMMY                   289.6 GB   disk0s5
   4:       Microsoft Basic Data OS                      578.6 GB   disk0s3

Install Ubuntu. Below are some pointers.
When you reach the window shown below, use the following settings.

When you reach the window shown below, use the following settings.

When you reach the window shown below, highlight the /dev/sda3 device as shown below and then click on the Change... button.

In the Edit partition popup, use the following setting. When finished, click on the OK button.

Click on the Install Now button shown in the image below.

In the Write the changes to disks? popup shown below, click on the Continue button.

Continue and finish installing Ubuntu.

The installation of Ubuntu has changed the partition tables resulting in an unbootable Windows. This step will provide the commands needed to fix this problem. While booted to Ubuntu, press the control+option+T key combination to open a Terminal application window. Enter the following command.
sudo gdisk /dev/sda

The gdisk command is interactive. Below are the commands to enter.
t
3
8300
r
h
2 3 4
y
ff
n
83
n
07
y
w
y

When finished enter the command given below to close the Terminal application window.
exit


Does AppleScript's do shell script log in history?

If you run the following do shell script command in Script Editor:

do shell script "set"

Shown farther below is what's returned.

As one can see, there are no history related shell variables set and as such, to make a longer story short, there is no command history being saved.

If you want to read further, have a look at the HISTORY section in the bash manual page,

Also may be of interest, other command history Shell Variables e.g., HISTCONTROL, HISTFILE HISTFILESIZE, HISTIGNORE, HISTSIZE, HISTIGNORE, HISTSIZE and HISTTIMEFORMAT.

Also of note, when a Run Shell Script action in an Automator workflow is run, the same applies there as well, for the same reason as with the do shell script command in Script Editor, no history related shell variables are set.

Output of the set command from an AppleScript do shell script command:

Apple_PubSub_Socket_Render=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.HPRIi1Tsop/Render
BASH=/bin/sh
BASH_ARGC=()
BASH_ARGV=()
BASH_EXECUTION_STRING=set
BASH_LINENO=()
BASH_SOURCE=()
BASH_VERSINFO=([0]=\"3\" [1]=\"2\" [2]=\"57\" [3]=\"1\" [4]=\"release\" [5]=\"x86_64-apple-darwin17\")
BASH_VERSION='3.2.57(1)-release'
DIRSTACK=()
EUID=501
GROUPS=()
HOME=/Users/me
HOSTNAME=mes-Mac.local
HOSTTYPE=x86_64
IFS='
'
LOGNAME=me
MACHTYPE=x86_64-apple-darwin17
OPTERR=1
OPTIND=1
OSTYPE=darwin17
PATH=/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin
POSIXLY_CORRECT=y
PPID=4330
PS4='+ '
PWD=/
SHELL=/bin/bash
SHELLOPTS=braceexpand:hashall:interactive-comments:posix
SHLVL=1
SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/private/tmp/com.apple.launchd.WQb3vmbYE7/Listeners
TERM=dumb
TMPDIR=/var/folders/w0/lht0h70x06b8hdb5lx474pkc0000gn/T/
UID=501
USER=me
XPC_FLAGS=0x0
XPC_SERVICE_NAME=0
_=sh
__CF_USER_TEXT_ENCODING=0x1F5:0x0:0x0


iOS5 - Does the ActiveSync Pin code lock prevent the new camera shortcut?

No, the PIN Code doesn't prevent you from using the camera shortcut.

Just make sure to double-press the home button to show the camera shortcut.

Note: you can't access your old photos as long as the iPhone is locked.


Printing the current date/time with sub-second precision

As you said, BSD date doesn't support %N. So the straightforward solution is to download GNU's date and install it to either ~/bin or /usr/local/bin and call that when you need to use %N.

However, I would not advise replacing the version that ships with your Mac with the new one. Most of these coreutil programs are written such that their output can be understood by other programs, not necessarily humans, so reliability in output is a necessity. There might be several scripts in your mac that parse the output of BSD's date and any possible changes introduced by replacing with GNU's might or might not break things.

The simplest way to do this safely on a Mac is to use homebrew and install coreutils.

brew info coreutils
coreutils 8.16
http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils
...
==> Caveats
All commands have been installed with the prefix 'g'.

The GNU equivalent will be named gdate and is located in /usr/local/Cellar/coreutils/8.16/bin/. You can also set an alias in your .bashrc or its equivalent as

alias date='gdate'


GarageBand is basically a simple version Logic, in a similar way that iPhoto is a simple version of Aperture.

What you want to do is easily done in Logic, and it also has the functionality within it that you probably wouldn't even need to export it to Audacity at all.

You can import anything created in GarageBand directly into Logic.

(if it's something you can't justify buying Logic to do, you could get someone with Logic to export the GarageBand tracks for you)


Automator: Service to move files into new subfolders based on file extension *within any selected folder*

I've worked off the assumption that you will be selecting the actual folders in order to pass them to your Automator service workflow via, for example, the contextual right-click services menu.

Given this, here's what your service workflow would look like:

Here's the script that goes in the Run AppleScript action:

on run input
    set [input] to the input

    repeat with directory in the input
        organiseFilesOfFolder_(POSIX path of the directory)
    end repeat

end run

to organiseFilesOfFolder:f
    local f

    script SourceFolder
        use sys : application "System Events"

        property location : a reference to folder f of sys
        property name : (a reference to name of my location)

        script JPGs
            property folder : missing value
            property name extension : "jpg"
            property list : {}
            property id : "JPG"
        end script

        script RAWfiles
            property folder : missing value
            property name extension : "cr2"
            property list : {}
            property id : "RAW"
        end script

        script Videos
            property folder : missing value
            property name extension : "mov"
            property list : {}
            property id : "Video"
        end script

        script Edits
            property folder : missing value
            property id : "Edits"
        end script

        to make new "folder" given type:fileType
            [fileType's id, " - ", my name's contents]

            make new folder at my location ¬
                with properties {name:¬
                contents of result as text}

            set the folder of the fileType to the result
        end make

        on listOf:fileItems
            set the list of fileItems to (every file ¬
                of my location where its name extension ¬
                is the name extension of the fileItems)
        end listOf:
    end script

    tell the SourceFolder
        repeat with fileType in its [JPGs, RAWfiles, Videos, Edits]
            make new "folder" given type class:fileType
            if the contents of the fileType = its Edits then ¬
                exit repeat

            if (its listOf:fileType) is not {} then ¬
                tell application "System Events" to move ¬
                    list of fileType to the ¬
                    folder of the fileType
        end repeat
    end tell
end organiseFilesOfFolder:


Can I place a Western Digital RE3 WD1002FBYS in a MacPro1,1?

Yes, just like any other 3.5" SATA harddrive, provided you have a spare bay to populate.


The latest, currently 9.2
It ought to drop the older version & download the new, as it's released.

If that failed for any reason, then it would fetch the latest immediately [or soon] after you upgrade.

The simplest & safest method is always to do it via iTunes, assuming you already have iTunes linked to the phone.

Connect the phone
Download the update but don't install it.
Sync the phone with iTunes.
Switch to the Apps tab & get all pending updates.
Sync again.
Backup.
Disconnect & reconnect, then when it asks, run the update.


Unexpected app "Admin Alert" running on my machine

Admin Alert is related to Dell KACE, an "appliance-based approach to systems management", and the admin alert icon appearing in the dock is apparently a bug.


How can I tell that a certificate is a root certificate?

You may want to refer to Lists of available trusted root certificates in iOS on Apple's website. This resource also provides links to lists of root certificates for specific versions of iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS.

Typically, to remove a root certificate on an iOS device one would follow this process:

Open Settings
Tap on General
Tap on Profiles (NOTE: if the Profiles screen is empty then there’s nothing to delete)
Select the Profile you want to delete
Tap on Delete Profile
Enter your passcode
Tap on Delete again to confirm the deletion

Based on your screenshots and tags it's clear you're referring to a device that is controlled by a Mobile Device Management (MDM) process. If you can't remove the certificate(s) you want to with the above process you will need to contact your employer/school/etc to seek assistance.


You have changed the settings in iTunes to sync from Google contacts rather than sync from Address Book, so iTunes has done exactly that. It synced your Google contacts to your phone, and replaced the ones you already had.


I suggest getting Xcode on to your machine. Of course, you don't need to use Xcode itself, but you can use a companion app (it's bundled with Xcode) called iOS Simulator. They have a Safari app that you can open your webpage in.

And, it's free.


iPhone calendar error edit?usp=drive_web when opening attachment

If this is a shared calendar, this means that either the attachment has since been removed or that you do not have sufficient privileges to access it on your iPhone.


How do you change the Export DPI of Microsoft PowerPoint?

Assuming I understand your question correctly, you can change the DPI by altering the width and height upon export.

For example, if you want to export your slides in PNG format, you would:

Go to File > Export...
In the Export window that appears, select the PNG option from the File Format drop-down list (at bottom centre of window)
Now you will see options for Width and Height (see image below):

Now change the value of either option (this will automatically change the other value to ensure you keep the same ratio)

By changing the dimensions, you also change the DPI. For example, a 720x405 image exported from PowerPoint will only be about 54dpi, while doubling this upon export to 1,440x810 will also double the dpi to 108dpi.


Safari on my Mac won't open because "Safari cannot be opened because of a problem. Check with the developer"

Looks like you updated iTunes and this is the aftermath.

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/12/14/itunes-12-8-1-breaks-safari-on-osx-yosemite/

I hope this helps you


Error occurred while restoring Time Machine backup

I’ve had the same problem, error while trying to restore from Time Machine Backup. I’ve solved the problem by installing a fresh Mojave, and during the installation process i choose to use migration assistant from my Time Machine Backups in my external hard drive, and it worked. It took around 4 hours to restore 850 gb.


How do I get drivers for Windows 10 x64 installed on my Mac?

Remove the partition and installation you made and go back to the BootCamp way. Then, inside the Windows installer, format the partition BootCamp makes for you, that is an extra step that is needed. Then, you can install Windows 10. I'd suggest using a USB stick to prepare the Windows 10 installation so that Drivers are included automatically.

If you do not want to follow this strategy, there is an option to download the BootCamp drivers separately, either from Apple's site, or from within the BootCamp utility on OSX, from one of the top menu's or the default assistant screen. The menu is called Action and has only one option: Download Windows Support Software. Once you have it downloaded, copy it over to a FAT32 USB stick so Windows can read it and your Mac can write it. exFAT might possibly work too. Reboot in to Windows and then open the bootcamp setup program form the directory you just downloaded and follow the on-screen steps.


Is Apple MacBook Pro compatible with the LG LED PG60g projector?

If your MacBook Pro has a HDMI connection, you just need an HDMI cable. (The current MacBook Pro's have built in HDMI.)

If you don't have built in HDMI You need a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter and a HDMI cable. (If you have a ThunderBolt port, this can be used as a Mini DisplayPort connection)

You could could also us a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter. This will work for most applications and presentations. However, VGA will run into issues with rights managed video. DVD's, iTunes and many other video streaming services will not be allowed to display on a VGA connection.

If you actually have the new MacBook (non-Pro) with the USB-C connector, you will need a USB-C to HDMI adapter.


OSX El Capitan / Not Recognizing USB Hard Drive

I have a Seagate external drive and found that the NTFS for Mac OS X had to be removed and reinstalled. (Apple logo / Preferences / NTFS for Mac OS X - right click and remove)  This link will take you to the free update.  It worked for my Seagate drive but no my Octigen one.
http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/ntfs-driver-for-mac-os-master-dl/


To solve the problems we have to place the HDD on the original place. Then we place the SSD to the SuperDrive place.
Just install Yosemite as usual and everything is working now.


Network problem isolated to this macbook air, where to look next?

I advise you to download and run iStumbler http://istumbler.net/ on your Mac.
Run it around the place where you want to work and at peek hours
of the day (where your neighbours are also using their Wi-Fi PC and
routers).

This run should give you a clear indication of which channels are
received at a high power level. You should absolutely avoid these
overloaded channels (most probably 1, 6 & 11) and pick a channel which
is either free or received at the lowest signal level where and when you work.


How can I change my iPhone's camera's resolution?

Go to Settings > Camera.

You can select resolution and FPS for video & slo-mo. However, you cannot change the photo resolution.

You you will also be able to choose between high efficiency, using HEIF/HEVC, or most compatible, using JPEG/H.264. This does not directly affect the resolution, but does affect how large the photo and video files are.


Netspot

You can use netspot to basically create a 'map' of your location, and see network information around you. It will show you areas that network connectivity may suffer. You can then revisit the data points to possibly determine better locations for your router, or where the worst offending networks are to better decide which channels to use.


I want to make an Apple ID, but someone has already used my email to create their own. How do I kick them out completely?

You'd have to try negotiate that one with Apple.

I had the same issue with an Amazon account & the only way I persuaded them was by actually being the only one who could reply to mail sent to that email address.

[BTW, it's still not easy as their first assumption would be that you hijacked/phished someone else's email account.]

After comments, moving more info into this answer...

The way I did it was to ask them to send a specific message, that only the receiver of the email could reply to.
The possible responses could come from me, him, or possibly both of us.
In fact, as the other user was never going to receive that mail, the response only came from me.

Because I'd already been receiving emails intended for him, I could also provide details of the contents of those, too, including a list of his recent purchases.

Amazon [& me, because of the incorrect email address] already had his snail mail address, so presumably they could sort out a new, correct, email address with him using that method - or put a big banner on his account saying 'get in touch'.
I don't know how they did sort it out because, of course, I couldn't get into his Amazon account, I was just getting his Amazon email.


I've written a blog post on how to do this.

From Server Admin, make new Web > Realm and set appropriate ACLs.
Create a folder in location/volume where data for Share is physically located.
Change permissions of folder to _www:admin (that’s what works for me)

$ sudo chown _www:admin /Library/Server/Web/Data/Sites/host.domain.tld
Create a symlink to the share folder in the folder where your web server looks to for the domain’s data.

$ sudo ln -s /path/to/data /Library/WebServer/Documents/site_web_folder

I know there probably a bit of information missing and if I showed images of the actual steps it might make things a bit clearer but I’m a little paranoid about my server and I don’t want to risk opening it up to further attack.

All this needs to be done before OS X will allow a "Connect to Server..." and mount your WebDAV share.


I forgot the Password for WPA/WPA2 Personal where can I get it

Open the Keychain Access app (located in the Utilities folder, within the Applications folder).
In the search box (upper right corner), type in the name of your Wi-Fi network.
Double click the corresponding entry in the main panel. If there is more than one, look for the most recent one with a type matching "AirPort network password".
Click the checkbox labelled Show password, and enter your user account password when prompted. The password will be displayed in the text box, where you can copy it as needed.


Finder window, Save As prompt missing sidebar entries

You probably accidentally hid the favourites list. If you hover your mouse to the right of the Favorites text, you'll see a small Show text appear. Click it, and your favourites should reappear.


What is going on is that OS X (actually it’s the Finder and the I/O subsystem) is “waiting” for the drive to be readable.

Truth is, is not the “whole mac” but the Finder (and any Finder application) what freezes. For example, a Save/Open dialog, Time Machine starting, a Finder window, etc. However you can always cmd-tab and perform other actions.

There isn’t much you can do, except to tell OS X not to sleep your hard drives (or wait for the drive to spin up):

. Beware with that option, because it will mean that your hard drives are on all the time, thus degrading their lifespan.

I’m not 100% sure if that option affects Firewire/USB external drives, but I think it does.


It will depend entirely on the software. Some programs run from anywhere, some must be on the boot volume.

Also note that you will probably get better answers on a Windows forum. You are running Windows on Mac hardware, which basically makes it a windows machine.


Keynote - View slide as at end of all animations

This is not possible. A really quirky workaround would be to export the slides as PDF or images including all the animation phases and then insert the final animation phase into the new slide.


Click and Type Applecript code not working

I would suggest downloading AppleScript toolbox scripting addition.  Once installed in the proper locations, in Script Editor.app, , you will be able to use commands from the key and mouse suite from the AppleScript toolbox dictionary to…get, set, and click at mouse locations (coordinates)

Here is some sample code using commands from the AppleScript toolbox dictionary

EXAMPLE 1

set mousePointLocation1 to {745, 110} -- The Collapsed Menu
set mousePointLocation2 to {780, 340} -- TV Link In The Menu
set mousePointLocation3 to {885, 180} -- Apple TV 4K Icon

delay 1 -- For Demonstration Purposes
activate application "Safari"
delay 1 -- For Demonstration Purposes

AST click at mousePointLocation1 ¬
    number of clicks 1

delay 1 -- For Demonstration Purposes

AST click at mousePointLocation2 ¬
    number of clicks 1

delay 1 -- For Demonstration Purposes

AST click at mousePointLocation3 ¬
    number of clicks 1

EXAMPLE 2

-- For Demonstration Purposes
-- Gives Me Time To Put The Mouse Where I Want
delay 3

-- Gets Coordinates Of The Current Mouse Location
set currentMouseLocation to AST mouse point location

-- Mouse Click At Defined Location
AST click at currentMouseLocation ¬
    number of clicks 2 -- How Many Clicks

EXAMPLE 3

set mousePointLocation to {20.0, 20.0}

delay 1 -- For Demonstration Purposes

AST set mouse point location mousePointLocation ¬
    without holding mouse down

delay 1 -- For Demonstration Purposes

AST click at mousePointLocation ¬
    number of clicks 1


You can reset Spotlight to default settings by deleting the preference file at ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spotlight.plist and logging out and back in.


How much does an iMessage cost on Mobile data?

To answer your question as best as possible, lets look at the major points of where the data fluctuates. You didn't say if you had an SMS (Texting) plan with your carrier either, so if you do, just use that.

Media messages with pictures/video will be considerably higher than a basic message.
A basic message is kilobytes in size and very small.
iMessage was developed as a free messaging service between Apple devices via Wifi networks which wouldn't count toward you texts per month/data plan.

So the answer to how much it will cost you is not available from the AskDifferent community without knowing how much you'll be using it and what for.


Honestly the best bet is to copy the files on that disk elsewhere, reformat your disk and then copy the stuff back. That would be your cheapest and safest procedure.
The next thing to do would be a third party disk repair tool. I use DiskWarrior and as it is an HFS disk it will work fine (DW doesn't work on APFS disks) There is also TechTool Pro, Drive Genius and others. But I have no specific experience with those.


Catalina Messages app: run applescript on receive new message & when the message is read?

You could try Jared, which is an iMessage Chat Bot: https://github.com/ZekeSnider/Jared

There's a sample plugin in the repository, yet this requires some Xcode knowledge.

It seems Apple removed the handler because they launched iMessage for Business https://developer.apple.com/business-chat/. If you look into the API, there‘s a „Message received“ handler, so it may be possible using that service, but probably not a good idea for personal stuff.

Edit2:
Back to the SQL solution, this article dives pretty deep in explaining: https://stmorse.github.io/journal/iMessage.html

Edit3:
I found the following repositories based on nodejs :
https://github.com/CamHenlin/imessageclient
https://github.com/CamHenlin/imessagebot


And solved: X11 builds a key mapping on install.  On my machine, I have another language installed, and my ~/.Xmodmap file was causing the issue.

By cross-referencing the virtual mapping for the keyboard located at /System/Library/Frameworks/Carbon.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/HIToolbox.framework/Versions/A/Headers/Events.h with the .Xmodmap as follows:

keycode   8 =
keycode   9 = Escape NoSymbol Escape
keycode  10 = 1 exclam 1 exclam
keycode  11 = 2 at 2 at
keycode  12 = 3 numbersign 3 numbersign
keycode  13 = 4 dollar 4 dollar
keycode  14 = 5 percent 5 percent
keycode  15 = 6 asciicircum 6 asciicircum
keycode  16 = 7 ampersand 7 ampersand
keycode  17 = 8 asterisk 8 asterisk
keycode  18 = 9 parenleft 9 parenleft
keycode  19 = 0 parenright 0 parenright
keycode  20 = minus underscore minus underscore
keycode  21 = equal plus equal plus
keycode  22 = BackSpace BackSpace BackSpace BackSpace
keycode  23 = Tab ISO_Left_Tab Tab ISO_Left_Tab
keycode  24 = q Q q Q
keycode  25 = w W w W
keycode  26 = e E e E
keycode  27 = r R r R
keycode  28 = t T t T
keycode  29 = y Y y Y
keycode  30 = u U u U
keycode  31 = i I i I
keycode  32 = o O o O
keycode  33 = p P p P
keycode  34 = bracketleft braceleft bracketleft braceleft
keycode  35 = bracketright braceright bracketright braceright
keycode  36 = Return NoSymbol Return
keycode  37 = Control_L NoSymbol Control_L
keycode  38 = a A a A
keycode  39 = s S s S
keycode  40 = d D d D
keycode  41 = f F f F
keycode  42 = g G g G
keycode  43 = h H h H
keycode  44 = j J j J
keycode  45 = k K k K
keycode  46 = l L l L
keycode  47 = semicolon colon semicolon colon
keycode  48 = apostrophe quotedbl apostrophe quotedbl
keycode  49 = grave asciitilde grave asciitilde
keycode  50 = Shift_L NoSymbol Shift_L
keycode  51 = backslash bar backslash bar
keycode  52 = z Z z Z
...

we can see mismatches.  I assume that the other applications that I tested disregard the user customization.


Mac booting loop, I can't recovery or boot from USB

You might want to try to boot into Verbose Mode. This is a regular boot process, however, the graphical screen is turned off in favour of a terminal-like screen logging everything that happens during boot. This may give you the chance to see an error message indicating the cause of your problem. It is not too likely yet still possible so do give it a try.

To boot verbose you need to press cmd-V upon startup. You may release the keys just after the boot chime has passed. The screen should immediately switch to a white font on a black background. You need a fast eye to read these (cryptic!) messages as you cannot hold them.

Good luck!


Macbook Pro.[Mid-2012] Sound isn't working

Something killed your coreaudio drivers, or the sound hardware/motherboard.

I would suggest to do following order of investigation (Fixes)

Open Activity monitor and look for following: (use sort by "Audio")

If found use terminal to reset the coreaudiod

sudo killall coreaudiod

Copy/paste following in Terminal to find out if the audio drivers are loaded

kextstat > ~/Desktop/kexts.txt

That will output a text file to your desktop. Use any text editor to search for "Audio"

You should have the

com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily   com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC

As reported the result is: AudioAUUC.kext is not been loaded?

Lets try to load it manually using Terminal sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AudioAUUC.kext/

UPDATE:

Based on new information I would suggest following (still trying to find out why your Audio is not loading in the profile.

Resetting the PRAM. Hold Down Cmd-Opt-P-R

Keep Holding until you have hear the "startup sound twice". If you do not hear the system sound then, you are on mute or your sound card is broken.

To un-mute use sudo nvram -d SystemAudioVolume

Test for start up sound!

If not run ioreg -i and look for the AudioAUUCDriver  <class AudioAUUCDriver, id 0x1000003af, registered, matched, active, busy 0 (0 ms), retain 5> (use Edit - Find AudioAUUCDriver)


Select a bunch of songs, pick File → New Playlist from Selection, name it, and pick File → Burn Playlist to Disc.


A managed account (despite being named managed) can only have Login Items set when logged in. It cannot be managed from a separate Admin account.
I had to promote the account to Admin, log in as that account and add the items to the Login Items, then demote the account back to manage.


In iOS 4.2, how do you search within a web page in Safari?

Searching in a page has been added on to the Google (or whatever you use) search facility. Just tap the search field and enter your search term. Instead of launching the search, scroll down to the bottom of the suggested searches and there will be a section labeled "On This Page". Tapping "Find "___________"" will launch the in-page search feature.


How do I open an iOS app that I transferred to my Mac?

I think there is a misunderstanding here. An iOS app (from your iPhone) cannot run on your MacBook Pro.

If you want to use a similar app on your Mac, I suggest you check if there is a Mac version of the application you want to use. You can search on the Mac App Store or on the app website.


Reduce the storage space taken up by "System" on my iPhone 6s without restoring and setting up iPhone as new

No need to backup or restore anything !
I just spent some time with a good Apple Care advisors : this problem is caused by iCloud Drive. If you deactivate it, no more problem. It worked for me.


Go to messages (if you can't find it anywhere just hit command+space bar and search for messages). When messages opens up hit Messages again. It's a the top of the left of your screen next to the Apple logo. Hit preferences, and hit Accounts. You should see that you are signed in. Just hit your account and hit sign out. That should work.


iPhone: Is it possible outside of jail breaking an iPhone device to access cache.db?

It's possible with iFunbox and iExplorer to view root files, but neither helps you edit them. It offers a sand-boxed version of iOS filesystem. You won’t be able to make any hard changes on your device without a proper jailbreak.

By default, the iOS is jailed. And jailbreaking removes the jailed status and allow us the full view of iOS filesystem with applications like iFunBox.

Here is iExplorer if you want to give it a try.

https://macroplant.com/iexplorer


Is there any way to automate the deployment of refurbished apple products?

Why not set up one Mac for content caching and boot to recovery HD?
This installs at gigabit ethernet speeds and works great for 10 at a time. It’s far less setup than imaging to USB and far better in terms of speed, security and in lining the latest firmware and OS updates effortlessly.
If you have even less time per machine to get the erase rolling, hire an Automaton and some inexpensive software to accelerate your erase and install.

https://twocanoes.com/knowledge-base/mds-admin-guide-version-2/

So in terms of time for technician interaction with the Mac, it takes just a few seconds to plug in the Automaton and the external drive, hold the option key to start the startup selector, and then return a few minutes later to disconnect the Automaton and external volume. This can dramatically reduce setup time and result in large savings of time and labor costs.

The Mac software is free and you can get professional / MDM support if you need that level of help.
https://twocanoes.com/products/mac/mac-deploy-stick/
The hardware is $40 if you need 5 helpers. You won’t need either the hardware or the support if you’re a small shop and Apple and Two Canoes give away the network setup software for free that does what you mention on your Windows option.
I list the prices since it’s very reasonable, but all the software from Two Canoes is open source, free and you only pay if you want to support them or need professional support. I am a happy customer of both Apple and Two Canoes - so consider that disclosure if that helps.


Where do Safari or Chrome store the flash media data

Poke around in the invisible folders /private/var/folders.


In Finder press Cmd-J to access display options:

The option is set individually per folder. If you want it applied by default, click the button at the bottom. Calculation folder sizes make take a long time though for big folders.

Alternatively you can open Terminal.app, type du -sm (followed by a Space), drag the folder you want to know to size of into the Terminal window and press Enter. Takes some time as well and gives you the size in Megabytes.


Bind Secondary Groups to Active Directory w/ Unix Extensions

It sounds like you have the user records' gid attribute mapped, but not the group records' gid. You can check this from the command line with dsconfigad:

$ sudo dsconfigad -show
[...]
Advanced Options - Mappings
  Mapping UID to attribute       = uidNumber
  Mapping user GID to attribute  = gidNumber
  Mapping group GID to attribute = gidNumber
  Generate Kerberos authority    = Enabled
[...]

Note the "Mapping group GID to attribute = gidNumber" -- that's what I think you're missing. You can set it from the command line with sudo dsconfigad -ggid gidNumber, on with the GUI program /System/Library/CoreServices/Directory Utility.app (click the padlock to authenticate as admin, double-click the Active Directory connector, click the triangle to "Show Advanced Options", click the Mappings tab, then enable "Map group HID to attribute" and set it to "gidNumber").


Generate TSV/CSV with multi-line cells that open in Numbers

CSV is kind of standardized with RFC 4180. For multi-line fields the rules are

MS-DOS-style lines that end with (CR/LF) characters (optional for the last line).
Any field may be quoted (with double quotes).
Fields containing a line-break, double-quote or commas should be quoted.
If double-quotes are used to enclose fields, then a double-quote must be represented by two double-quote characters.

If this doesn't work with Numbers, you can also create a Numbers file, add some multi-line fields, export the file as CSV/TSV and verify the encoding/quoting used with TextEdit afterwards.
From the comment of @user3439894:

When Numbers exports to CSV it uses CR/LF between rows but uses LF for multi-line cells and the value is in double-quotes.


"Helper" processes using up insane RAM amounts

With many of these 'multi-page' applications like web browsers, each open tab or window gets its own 'helper' app, which supports that open web page.

The only way to clear them is to close unused tabs.

For such as Steam or Unity, the helper app will be the one actually supporting & running the loaded game etc. The 'face' app/portal will just be running itself.

Example of 'greedy' web browser in action... The 'total' figure shown for Safari itself does not include the other sub-process below, they are in addition to Safari's own memory usage.


netstat: n: unknown or uninstrumented protocol

Linux's netstat command options and OS X(/BSD)'s have almost nothing to do with each other. Of the options you're invoking, only -n means the same on both, and some of the others (-l and -p) have no equivalent on OS X's netstat. What I habitually use on OS X is netstat -an | grep LISTEN, but that doesn't show UDP or the program involved. I suppose you could use netstat -an | egrep '^udp|LISTEN' to include UDP, but that's rather verbose (and you'll also see quite a bit of nonsense UDP stuff, since there isn't really a concept of UDP listening vs. other states).  If you need to know the program, you need to go to the lsof (list open files) command, and that requires root access to check processes you don't own. Try something like sudo lsof -nPi -sTCP:LISTEN

Edit: as @loic.jaouen pointed out in another answer, while OS X's netstat doesn't have a direct equivalent to the Linux's -p option, the -v (verbose) display does include the PID of the process, and you can get the program name from that with ps.


How do I get detailed SMART disk information on OS X (Mavericks or later)

I recently had the same question and found a command line tool www.smartmontools.org which can be installed via brew:
brew install smartmontools

you can then run it
smartctl -a disk0s3

for the full report where disk0s3 is the disks physical backing which can be found in Disk Utility.app by getting info on the drive. (or via diskutil list on command line.) Here is an example of the output:
smartctl 6.2 2013-07-26 r3841 [x86_64-apple-darwin13.1.0] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-13, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Samsung based SSDs
Device Model:     Samsung SSD 840 Series
Serial Number:    S14LNEAD609248A
LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 5503acd2e
Firmware Version: DXT08B0Q
User Capacity:    500,107,862,016 bytes [500 GB]
Sector Size:      512 bytes logical/physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ACS-2, ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4c
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.1, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Thu Jun 19 16:34:10 2014 MDT
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00) Offline data collection activity
                    was never started.
                    Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0) The previous self-test routine completed
                    without error or no self-test has ever
                    been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection:        (53956) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:            (0x53) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                    Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
                    Suspend Offline collection upon new
                    command.
                    No Offline surface scan supported.
                    Self-test supported.
                    No Conveyance Self-test supported.
                    Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
                    power-saving mode.
                    Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01) Error logging supported.
                    General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time:    (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:    (  70) minutes.
SCT capabilities:          (0x003d) SCT Status supported.
                    SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
                    SCT Feature Control supported.
                    SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 1
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       2379
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   098   098   000    Old_age   Always       -       1579
177 Wear_Leveling_Count     0x0013   096   096   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       38
179 Used_Rsvd_Blk_Cnt_Tot   0x0013   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
181 Program_Fail_Cnt_Total  0x0032   100   100   010    Old_age   Always       -       0
182 Erase_Fail_Count_Total  0x0032   100   100   010    Old_age   Always       -       0
183 Runtime_Bad_Block       0x0013   100   100   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
187 Uncorrectable_Error_Cnt 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
190 Airflow_Temperature_Cel 0x0032   059   039   000    Old_age   Always       -       41
195 ECC_Error_Rate          0x001a   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
199 CRC_Error_Count         0x003e   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
235 POR_Recovery_Count      0x0012   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       1571
241 Total_LBAs_Written      0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       14090964124

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged.  [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
  255        0    65535  Read_scanning was never started
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.


Answer from Patrix's link here.

dd

To create binary file of 1GB by

dd if=/dev/urandom of=sample.bin bs=64m count=16

giving

which is preferred by the linked answer but is slow with records in my Macbook Air mid-2013 on Yosemite 10.10.3 1073741824 bytes (1.1 GB) copied, 116.436 s, 9.2 MB/s.

openssl

The following command is faster but does not create a binary file

openssl rand -out sample.txt -base64 $(( 2**30 * 3/4 ))

giving

head sample.txt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or

xxd sample.txt | head -10
0000000: 3357 7164 6659 4442 3858 656a 496b 3256  3WqdfYDB8XejIk2V
0000010: 7a64 734c 4a38 5375 784e 6848 2f6f 434a  zdsLJ8SuxNhH/oCJ
0000020: 386d 4b58 6272 7356 6d54 3575 5a61 4347  8mKXbrsVmT5uZaCG
0000030: 6d57 3759 5a4e 3350 4162 5939 6c56 7163  mW7YZN3PAbY9lVqc
0000040: 0a30 5472 3273 5834 5258 6c4a 3550 557a  .0Tr2sX4RXlJ5PUz
0000050: 756a 4a32 5355 662f 786a 4933 7065 546c  ujJ2SUf/xjI3peTl
0000060: 7045 5954 6e78 4a4b 6944 5334 4344 6f2b  pEYTnxJKiDS4CDo+
0000070: 5442 736b 5642 6769 4532 2f4a 382b 3943  TBskVBgiE2/J8+9C
0000080: 790a 4363 536e 6b6b 7548 4c4a 6754 4378  y.CcSnkkuHLJgTCx
0000090: 716a 3974 5942 3365 3362 6b7a 494d 7536  qj9tYB3e3bkzIMu6

Or you run

openssl rand -out sample.bin $(( 2**30 * 3/4 ))

which does create a file using the full byte range

xxd sample.bin | head -10
0000000: 9084 48bf dc6c 21d3 579f 6153 6b3d e62f  ..H..l!.W.aSk=./
0000010: 9460 0228 5e1e b531 3bb4 223a 120b 0273  .`.(^..1;.":...s
0000020: 27e2 de7c b9e8 63b8 6333 9702 05cc 2fe1  '..|..c.c3..../.
0000030: 5aab fed9 1732 246d 59c8 de14 6b04 907d  Z....2$mY...k..}
0000040: f164 81c4 7065 9798 71b7 891b dbe1 f06b  .d..pe..q......k
0000050: 24ad 9749 b596 4dad a4a9 b415 64a7 6ccb  $..I..M.....d.l.
0000060: 8463 a125 9abe 9a7b 7f70 f3ea 9acf 1eb0  .c.%...{.p......
0000070: ebe0 9f0d 87dd ffce 4e20 9793 eda8 1872  ........N .....r
0000080: f08a 3aa3 d3e7 5bca 6b84 b44d 1650 4b9e  ..:...[.k..M.PK.
0000090: 282f c9c3 1e8c b423 472e 857c 134e 18ca  (/.....#G..|.N..


Unfortunately Supercell does not use Game Center to store progress or files of your CoC account. I recommend installing a program called Ifunbox and going into your iPod and copying all the files in the CoC app and paste them into your iPad's CoC app. If you don't understand how to do what I just told you ask for further instructions and ill make a youtube video to help.


Daisy-Chaining a DVI Monitor on a Thunderbolt Display?

I would just like to chime in here and note that it is possible to get that DVI display to daisy-chain, but the caveat is that you have to put another Thunderbolt device in between the Thunderbolt display and the Mini DisplayPort->DVI converter.

  Apple's notes one other caveat about the Thunderbolt display: older
  Mini DisplayPort displays won't light up if they're hooked directly
  into the Thunderbolt port on the newer LCD. Macworld's testing found
  that Mini DisplayPort LCDs can be added to a Thunderbolt chain and
  work as normal by hooking them into another Thunderbolt peripheral.

See: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/09/18/thunderbolt-display-daisy-chaining-spec-cleared-up/


iOS data usage specifics - iTunes Accounts

Probably iTunes & App Store background downloads.

You can prevent these, so it only updates when you're connected to wifi, in
Settings > iTunes & App Store…  by disabling Cellular Data
[I also prevent all automatic downloads, so mine only updates from iTunes itself, on my Mac]


How can I create a Saved Search that excludes a specific folder from the results?

If you hold option the (+) button to add a search criteria will become a (…) and an Any/All/None block. Set this to None.

For the criteria select Document Container. It won't be in the default list alongside Name, Kind, etc. Select Other… to select it from a list of additional criteria so long it has its own search feature:

Set this to the name of the folder that you'd like to exclude using whatever is/contains/begins with/ends with you find suitable.

The end result should look something like this:


Did you completely wiped it via the Apple Disk utilities and formatted it Mac Journaled? It might look like you kept a partition of the disk (FAT32 or NTFS)


iCloud Two Factor Authorisation doesn't show code on trusted devices

There are a view things you should check:

1) Are both devices marked as 'trusted' in icloud.com (login, go to settings and see 'my devices'.

2) You have to be signed in with both devices with your iCloud account. Did you check both are correctly activated.


No.  They are gone.  iCloud, for a lack of a better word is a "sync conduit" between your devices; it's not a backup.    This means that a change you make on any of your devices is what gets synced.

When you restored the 1 week old backup from Time Machine, more than likely, Notes did a sync which overwrote what was on iCloud because it "assumed" that was the latest data to be synced.

What you should do in the future....prior to upgrading your OS do a manual Time Machine backup so it saves the latest state. This way you know for a fact that what you restore is your most recent version.


Quit the app after the last tab/window is closed

Here's an incomplete solution: Use Script Editor app, and in its preferences, get its icon visible in the Menu bar. Write a script that checks all the apps' open windows and closes them if there is none, neither minimised or hidden or in full screen or split. Whitelist some apps, like Spotify.  Put the script in /Library/Scripts/ so that it is accessible directly under this menu. Use this periodically yourself when you feel to do so. If you use it rarely, better discard it.

In addition to that, keep these preferences as suggested:

In System Preferences → Mission Control, Tick "When switching to an app, switch to a space with open windows for the application"
In General, untick "Close windows when quitting an app" to prevent accidental losses.
In every app you come across, tick "ask before quitting". In "General", Tick "Ask to keep changes when closing documents"

Now gimme the script!!

Search the site for such questions, put together a script, ask a new question/ update this.


How can I watch an AVI file on my iPhone?

Use HandBrake to easily convert the AVI files to an iPhone compatible format then sync those converted files with your iPhone

Or, email/post them to Posterous, and they'll be auto-converted into a format watchable on your iPhone


Imported Aperture library into Photos, "Show Referenced File in Finder" does nothing

I had a similar issue, which seemed like it had something to do with access permissions. Try the following:

Pick a random photo for which "Show Referenced File in Finder" does nothing.
Select it and hit space to view it.
Photos will pop up a dialog saying that it can't access some files outside the Photos library and will ask you to select a certain folder (for me it was the root of all my referenced files).

After I'd done that, "Show Referenced File in Finder" now works for all my images.


Why does iPod 3G show exclamation mark / folder icon after CF upgrade?

I think the issue may have been an incomplete "update" process via FireWire on iTunes. I received error messages like:

The iPod "Josh's iPod" cannot be synced. The required file is locked.
The iPod "Josh's iPod" cannot be updated because it contains files that are in use by another application.

Ultimately, I found that the /Music/iTunes/ folder on this Mac had permissions that were causing these errors. The folder (and some files inside) was set to "Read & Write" for the user, but "No Access" for the group or the world. I changed the permissions for group and world to "Read only".

After that I was able to successfully update/restore the iPod, and now it works but with the same quirks described in the blog post I cited above.


I don’t have the unit to test, but would connect all the displays to the puck since it’s likely going to be the only active GPU.

The good news is it supports 4x 4K displays through one cable from the Mac to the puck - so a quick call to the vendor to clear your case (or Apple) might let you know.

I would worry about the LG display since it can’t take DP or HDMI input which is all the puck puts out, so you might need to connect it to the Mac and either hope it can drive it over TB3 or the integrated GPU can run the internal screen and 5K while the EGPU takes over the two 4K.

Sorry this isn’t definitiave, but I wanted to relay the research I have on this and clarify the issue on connectors according to the official specs:

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMT22ZM/A/sonnet-egfx-breakaway-puck-radeon-rx-560-external-gpu


It is the 2020 Macbook Air good for Adobe suite?

I'm not trying to be flippant, but you're wanting to use the model computer that is literally one step above the least powerful they make with some of the most resource hungry applications on the market.  Normally, this type of question would be closed because it's opinionated, but in this instance, I think a preponderance of people would resoundingly say "no, that model Mac is not appropriate for that type of work."
So, instead of providing you an opinionated answer on what I think would be best, instead, I'm going to provide you with the salient points you need to consider when selecting a computer to fit your work - in this case video editing.

This workflow is hard on a computer; it's resource hungry.  The less resources you give it, the less efficient you'll be and the more frustrated you'll become.  Editing video requires lots of CPU, lots of GPU, tons of memory and storage (scratch space as well as archival).
CPU
More is better.  However, there's only so much CPU you can dump into a laptop form factor before you hit the wall in terms of diminishing returns.  What do I mean by that?  Faster CPU = more heat.  Heat is detrimental to a CPU so cooling is paramount and laptops are horrible at it. So, macOS with throttle your CPU to keep it cool but that ends up being CPU power you paid for that you can't use.  It's like buying a V8 but it throttles down to the power of a 4 cylinder to keep it cool.  So, more is good, too much (in a laptop) is a waste.
Memory
In video editing you can't have enough memory.  Get as much as you can.  32GB should be your minimum.  Nobody has ever uttered the words, "Gee, I wish I had less memory."  You might find that 64GB or even 96GB or 128GB of RAM is what you need, depending on the videos you're creating.
GPU
All MacBook Air models comes with integrated graphics meaning it doesn't actually have a GPU.  This is needing a pickup truck to haul products but you go out and buy a Prius because the cost was good and gas mileage was even better.  Can you haul product in that Prius?  Sure, but you won't get nearly the same amount of work done if you would have bought the truck.
Storage
It's important but not as critical as you'd think.  You need enough storage for what you're working on currently.  Everything else can be put on offline storage (external drives).  You may only need 256GB or 512GB.  This is where a little planning can save you money because Apple storage isn't cheap.
Convenience Items
Everything else is ancillary.  Touchbar, Magic Keyboard/Mouse TouchID, etc. are all conveniences.  Get what you think will make your computing experience easier.  None of it will have an impact on your video editing workflow - positive or negative.
Bottom Line
What all this means you shouldn't be looking at anything that doesn't have the word "Pro" in it.  This means it's going to be expensive.  As for some financial advice, I would look at the secondary (used) market before dropping a credit card on a shiny new Mac.  If what you purchase isn't the right fit, you can sell it on that same market (eBay, Craigslist, etc.) and try something else.  You might find that the desktop models (iMac or Mac Pro) are a better fit.  You may even find that you need a "good" (but not the best) laptop and a desktop.
My advice here is to start small (financially) and find out what works for you before committing to a product that simply doesn't fit.


AppStoreConnect - Cant Submit App For Review ?

The most likely cause for this is the holiday schedule. As per Apple:

  App Store Connect Holiday Schedule: Dec 23–27

  Make sure your apps are
  up to date and ready for the holidays. New apps and app updates will
  not be accepted December 23 to 27 (Pacific Time), so any releases
  should be submitted, approved, and scheduled in advance. Other App
  Store Connect and developer account features will remain available.

If you feel this isn't the cause for your issue, then the next thing to check is that you haven't forgotten to provide some info in one of the required fields. Any fields with missing data will be highlighted for your convenience.

One thing that also catches people out is the Build. Make sure you've clicked on the + symbol to choose the build you want to submit.


Downgrading from macOS Catalina to macOS High Sierra

Did you try the following Recovery key combination as in your case Shift-Option-command-R may help

Command - R: Install the latest macOS that was installed on your Mac.
Option - Command - R: Upgrade to the latest macOS that is compatible with your Mac.
Shift - Option - Command - R:
 Install the macOS that came with your Mac, or the closest version still available.

See if your High Serria is still available from it. I think it should be as you can still get it from App Store.


Why can't I see my latest photos when I try to add a picture to facebook?


Is there a limit to the number of attempts to logon to an iPhone 8?

By default, there is no limit. One can be set - usually on sensitive business phones rather than consumer devices - where after 10 unsuccessful attempts the phone will wipe itself, permanently.

However, without that parameter set, each successive failed attempt will lengthen the time before another attempt can be made. If you keep trying, eventually the time can become months or even years, so be careful.

There is no way to force an iPhone to let you in. If you really cannot remember the passcode, you will eventually have no choice but to wipe it & start over.
At that point, you will also need to be able to correctly login to the Apple ID that 'owns' the phone to release the activation lock.

See Apple KB - If you've forgotten the passcode on your iPhone, or your iPhone is disabled for further detail.


The bottom of my iPhone won't accept touches. Can I fix that?

Turns the phone upside down and hope that the app you are using supports that orientation :)


Can I convert a HFS+ volume to HFSX (case sensitive) without extra software tools?

Sadly, no.

Your money or your time surely will soon be spent.


Airplay mirroring with extended desktop: how to choose which apps end up on Apple TV?

When you switch from Mirroring to Extended Desktop

  To move open windows, or Applications, to the Apple TV display simply
  click and drag the window by the Title Bar to the left hand side of
  your display (keep dragging over the screen edge). As you do this the window will appear in a transparent
  view on the Apple TV display. Once the entire window is on the new
  display, it will become active and can be interacted with in your
  second workspace........

You can also use Mission control and just drag the allocations between the displays.

And the cmd left arrow


How can I mount the root Data volume as writable on macOS 10.15 Beta 1 when booted into Single User Mode?

I remounted the root first with mount -uw / followed by mount -uw /System/Volumes/Data to remount the data overlay. Be careful not to add a trailing / because it'll fail with "unknown special file or file system" /System/Volumes/Data/
Both issued a bunch of error messages, but everything was writable after that (as verified by the output of mount and also by touching some files in / and ~.


How to play music on both Hearphone connector and Bluetooth on iPad?

Its no posible (whitout jailbreack). The cheapest form to do that is: buy two "airport express" (off second hand because Apple dont sales any more), and use airplay. In that way, connect the plug off audio to airport, &, in your iphone can see the two devices (or the cuantity thath you showld buy) to send music at all them.


Batch update Apple Keychain passwords using terminal

This should be possible with security(1).

The command should like something like this:

security add-generic-password -a 10.18.124.1 -w "newpw" -j "Password Updated 2017-05-17 12:04" -U

-a Specify account name (required)
-w Specify password to be added
-j Specify comment string (optional)
-U Update item if it already exists

I don't think there is a "contains" feature so you maybe have to loop this.


Internal MacBook Wi-Fi only working after Safe Boot

I had the exact same problem. Are you by any chance running BBEdit? I found that the preference files were being stored as BBEdit text files rather than as ‘property list’. Trashed BBEdit and restarted... WiFi is now working


type of emails from Contacts.app in AppleScript (on El Capitan)

allEmails is a list that contains several lists, each sublist contains emails of a contact.

email is an object, you need to get the value of this object.

So, you need a loop for each list, and another loop for each value.

tell application "Contacts"
    set myList to value of emails of people
end tell
repeat with aList in myList
    repeat with anEmail in aList
        display dialog anEmail
    end repeat
end repeat


How to create USB Ubuntu boot disk in OS X so that it boots on *non-Apple* computer?

For me it has always worked (albeit building Mint install usb pen drives DOS MBR partitioned) using Terminal , and as per the instructions on the Linux Mint website (http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/744), which I copy below:

  Using the Terminal

  It is really simple. Go to a Terminal and type:

  sudo dd if=~/Desktop/linuxmint.iso of=/dev/sdx oflag=direct  bs=1048576
  Where '~/Desktop/linuxmint.iso' is the name and location of your downloaded image (located at the desktop in this example) and '/dev/sdx' is the target USB drive. If your system doesn't support 'oflag=direct', you can just leave it out as it is simply intended to speed up the process a bit.

  Remember, don't include an integer for the USB drive, e.g. '/dev/sdx1', as it would refer to the existing partition on that drive and not the drive itself.

  When the USB has been properly created by 'dd', there should be an output similar to this:

  sudo dd if=~/Desktop/linuxmint.iso of=/dev/sdb oflag=direct bs=1048576

  706+1 records in

  706+1 records out

  740601856 bytes (741 MB) copied, 91.7024 s, 8.1 MB/s

Hope it helps


How do I mark songs as Explicit in iTunes to make them match correctly in iTunes Match

Subler
...allows to edit (almost?) any metadata to a song manually.
You can use this tool add the explicit label to a song.
I've successfully tested version 0.14 in Lion.


Standard macOS fonts can't be removed since they are components of macOS. Built-in fonts are protected by SIP, and even if you manually remove the font files, they will be restored on macOS update.


I don't want to receive work messages and calls on my personal phone and vice versa. And I don't want to create another Apple ID.

These two things cannot occur simultaneously. If you want to separate the devices completely, you'll need two Apple IDs. Once you have two Apple IDs, the devices are essentially separate.


Add samba folder to favorite into finder sidebar

I found out, that the following process adds a folder mounted on a samba share to the sidebar/favorites in my finder. They 'survive' a restart of my mac. I guess they also work as intended if you reboot the NAS/server/whatever. To achieve that, do execute the following steps:

Mount the shared folder (it should be listed in the sidebar under 'Shared' within the finder).
Within the finder, go to View -> Show Path Bar
Navigate to the folder within your SMB share so that you are in the folder that you wish to add to the sidebar.
Grab the icon at the bottom above your status bar left of the name of the folder you are in and drag it to your sidebar.
With a click on this sidebar folder you should land/stay in your desired folder on your samba share.
(optional step) Go to View -> 'Hide Path Bar' if you don't like this additional information.


You can seek to the end of the target file:

sudo echo "# New data" |
    dd of=/etc/config_file conv=notrunc bs=1 seek=$(stat -f "%z" /etc/config_file)


Disk Utility stuck around 50% when formatting SSD

Don't be afraid to restart the process with the keyboard shortcut Command+Q. The disk will eventually be formatted on the 2nd or 3rd try.


Best way to do is, is using an cloudsharing app, like Instashare (There are a bunch of them, just search the App store and you'll find a lot of them).

Concidering you'll use Instashare, download the app and set it up. Open your voice memo app and click on the share button. Your familiar share screen will popup. If it isn't listed yet, click on the more button next to Messages & Mail. Enable instashare or any app you want to use, close it by clicking done. Then click yours app its icon. Depending on the app, you have to choose where to place it, but after that it's stored for you. Just now download on you're pc and you're done.

For this method you'll need IOS 8, which is supported for the 4S. Otherwise it'll become really complicated to share it, then you'd better use mail or USB.


Why does my Mac (OS X 10.9) try to log into our fileserver as GUEST?

The two places that come immediately to mind are the favorites section of Go to Server... so you might clear that out. Secondly, look in the Login Items pane of Users & Groups preference pane.

Also, if more than one user logs in to the Mac, be sure to eject the share before fast user switching (or logging out all users but one) to prevent their mount from controlling the access.

Apple is in the process of switching from AFP to SMB2 as the default share - so perhaps some changes there are not completely done or documented.


My iPhone thinks it's always docked -- Volume slider disappeared with no audio output

I found a method that worked for me. If you're having a problem similar to mine and cleaning the dock did NOT work for you, try this at your own risk.
Disclaimer : This method might permanently damage your iPhone, mine is out of warranty so it wasn't a big deal if I damaged it, I would still need to pay for replacement.

I don't know what may have caused the phone to lock at the docked state, but my first thought is that there is a switch mechanism inside the dock connector. All I did was get a key and jam it there, and rotate it a bit until it got fixed.
Note: If I inserted the key there and did not rotate it, the problem is fixed temporarily until the key is removed. The only way I got rid of the problem completely is to rotate the key and push the pins downward.

If you try to insert the key and remove it, the problem still persists. I had to jam the key in deep and rotate it a few times (gently) to permanently fix this issue.

Make sure you insert the key in the middle - left part of the dock connector, that's where  pin 11 is located (I think).

After placing my phone on a dock again, I lost control over the sound. I did the same method with a bit more rotations using the key and now the problem is gone 100%. Not sure how, not sure why, but it worked.

If using a Key seems too risky for you, read below

Use cotton wool from the end of a qtip (but not the qtip it's too wide to go in) use a nail file or a very thin screw driver to put the cotton wool inside the docking part and gently move back and forth. If you use alcohol even better.

(PS i tried a lot of compressed air and a toothbrush and it didn't work - the iPhone was about 3 years old so it was filthy inside. The cotton wool came out surprisingly dirty - ie the tooth brush and the compressed air will work if it's a little dirty or there is a little bit of lint - but not if its very dirty.)

Good luck.


Any way to get the "Open With..." list via AppleScript?

One option would be to use AllApplications in a shell script:

tell application "Finder"
    set p to POSIX path of (item 1 of (get selection) as text)
end tell
set l to do shell script "~/bin/AllApplications -path " & quoted form of p & " | sed 's/.*\\///g;s/\\.app$//g' | sort -f | uniq"
set answer to choose from list (paragraphs of l) without multiple selections allowed
if answer is false then return
set a to item 1 of answer
set p to path to application a
tell application "Finder" to open selection using p

You could also use System Events to get the applications from the Open With menu:

tell application "System Events" to tell process "Finder"
    set l to name of menu items of menu 1 of menu item "Open With" of menu 3 of menu bar 1
end tell
set text item delimiters to linefeed
set l2 to do shell script "grep -vx 'missing value' <<< " & quoted form of (l as text) & " | grep -vx Other… | sed -E 's/ \\([^)]*\\)$//g;s/ \\(default\\)$//g;s/\\.app$//g' | sort -f | uniq"
set answer to choose from list (paragraphs of l2) without multiple selections allowed
if answer is false then return
set a to item 1 of answer
set p to (path to application a)
tell application "Finder" to open selection using p

I didn't really test the scripts, but they're probably affected by rdar://9406282: Finder scripting selection may refer to bogus value not correlated with UI.

Related questions at Super User:

Access Finder's "Open With" menu from the commandline (for tab completion)
Is it possible to query the launch services database for applications that will open an arbitrary file or UTI type?


How to navigate spaces in a dual monitor setup?

Here's a shell one-liner that will do what you ask:

cliclick -r m:=-50,300 w:50 kd:ctrl kp:arrow-left ku:ctrl w:50

cliclick is a tool to move the mouse and is unfortunately necessary for this
-r: When done, move the mouse back to where it was when it started
m:=-50,300: move the mouse to the coordinates (-50, 300). The = is to actually do negative x values (for another monitor) rather than relative
w:50: wait 50 milliseconds
kd:ctrl: Press control key
kp:arrow-left: Press and release the left arrow
ku:ctrl: Release control key
w:50: wait 50 milliseconds

(0,0) is the upper left corner of the primary monitor.


How does Time Machine work for a photographer

Could someone explain, in detail, how the back-up process works?

Yes. Nobody better than the late Pondini, however: How Time Machine Works its Magic. Essentially, the first time you backup a machine, a full clone of the internal drive (with the exception of a few unneeded directories) occurs. Thereafter, every hour an incremental backup occurs, where all changes to the drive are backed up. For everything that hasn't changed, hard links are created to the full version . After 24 hours, hourly backups are pruned and consolidated into a daily backup. The same process extends to daily backups after a week (all daily backups from that week are consolidated to one week).

  I'd like to be able to figure out how large of a back up drive I should get.

It is recommended to purchase a drive at least twice the size of the drive (or cumulative size of drives) you are backing up.

  Is it backing up/creating a new image file after every tweak of every knob I make in LightRoom?

No, not Time Machine at least. Only hourly. Every hour, time machine reads changes from the file system events store and backs up any folder in which file changes within it have occurred.

  is this how lightroom works? It comes with a "history" feature and I
  wonder how it is I can revert a photo on lightroom if it was to not
  create a copy over and over while I'm editing.

I can't speak to exactly how lightroom works, but in doing so it's taking advantage of the same features Time Machine is taking advantage of: an HFS+ (journaled) file system in which changes are routinely catalogued by OS X itself. This allows programs to retain previous versions of files in their cache. Even TextEdit, for example, allows one to revert to previous versions without Time machine even enabled.


iPhone auto-power-off after power disconnection

Without jailbreaking, this is not possible as Apple does not provide a feature for this, and apps can't control the system in this manner.

If the device is jailbroken, you can use an Activator action to Power Down on Disconnect.


Preview assigned on all desktop on BigSur

Right click Preview in the Dock > Options.
Check it is not set to All Desktops. Default is 'None'.


Macbook Retina 15" camera - hardware, firmware or software issue?

The green LED is hardwired to the camera. If the green light is on, the camera is on. If the green light is off, the camera is off. So, I believe your camera is turning on and off, on and off, on and off…

There are a couple other things you can try:

Try a different user account: if you have another user account on your MacBook, log in to it and try to use the camera. If not, first create a new user account via the System Preferences. If the camera works in the alternate user account, then you can safely say that something with your account's settings aren't quite right.
Determine whether your MacBook properly recognizes the camera: Check System Profiler (in the Utilities folder, inside the Applications folder). Under the USB header, check to see if the iSight camera is detected.

(I found these troubleshooting steps on Apple's Support Website:
How to Troubleshoot iSight.)

If these don't help, then it's probably a hardware issue: you'll need to take your MacBook to a local Apple Store Genius Bar (or other authorized Apple Service Provider) for further help.


Why can't my iPad connect to any other machines on the same LAN?

This turned out to be a feature of Google Wifi :-| The missing detail above is that I was using the guest net feature of Google Wifi, since the password was easier to type ... The guest net feature has a security feature that no guest devices are able to see each other, meaning web dev and pinging devices is a no-go.


Most purchased iOS apps with number of purchases?

Nowhere, unfortunately, because the information isn't reported anywhere. Individual publishers sometimes announce their sales and/or number of purchases, but it's uncommon and there's no reporting at all from the majority of the most successful publishers.


Is there an iPad app like Snagit for marking up screenshots or pictures with arrows, callouts, dropshadows, torn edges, etc.?

I you are looking mainly for annotation then Skitch could be worth a look.
It lacks the more fancy features you asked for (torn edges, blur, etc.) but for basic annotation (arrows, text, freehand) it is quite good.
Although it was acquired by Evernote it is possible to save the annotated image back to the camera roll.


Clicking on a link in text no longer goes to my Chrome Incognito window, opens a new one instead

This was an intentional change introduced in Chrome 68 to bring the macOS behavior in line with that of Chrome on other operating systems. Prior to Chrome 68, links opened externally would open in an Incognito window if one was open, which was the opposite of the behavior on other platforms (e.g., on Windows, external links would always open in a non-Incognito window). This has been discussed at length in this Chromium bug report thread, as well as on the Google Chrome Help Forum.

Essentially, the old behavior was deemed incorrect by the Chromium team and Chrome 68 "corrected" this discrepancy. There appears to be no way to revert this change within Chrome. However, one workaround is to drag an external link into the tab bar of an Incognito widow, which will open the link in that window.


Why am I getting Universal Clipboard popups when I'm not typing anything?

You are likely correct. If you get a UI that says that the system is "Pasting from [my MacBook's Name]", then this likely means that the application in the foreground of your iPhone is reading from the universal clipboard.  It is unlikely that it is being read by another program in the background. So it is likely that Weather Underground is attempting to read from the Clipboard.

See:
* https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/copy-and-paste-between-devices-mchl70368996/mac

My suggestion is that you test by doing the following:

Repeatedly copy something on your macbook, kill the Weather app, then exercise the weather app.
Take your Macbook off the network and repeatedly run and kill the Weather app.


"iPad Not Charging" Notification is annoying - Mavericks

To turn off notifications:

sudo defaults write com.apple.usbd NoiPadNotifications -bool YES
sudo killall usbd

To turn them back on:

sudo defaults delete com.apple.usbd NoiPadNotifications

Via Craig Hockenberry


Yes, you do have a 16 GB iPhone. The other 2.2 GB are taken up by iOS, etc. See here for more information.

Your model, MC676LL, confirms this: it indicates that you have a Black 16 GB iPhone on Verizon. See this Bestbuy page for more info. The 8 GB phones have different model numbers.


camera roll "usage" number does not match photos in the app

Go to Settings > General > Date & Time
Untoggle "Set Automatically"
Manually set the date a year or two in the past
Open "Photos"
Select "Albums"
If, like me, you had already cleared out everything from the Camera Roll and "Recently Deleted" folder, you'll smile to see that your "Recently Deleted" folder now has thousands of images back. Those are your phantom photos
Open it, "Select" and start deleting
Return to "Date & Time" and fix your clock
Now, go back into Settings > General > Usage > Storage > Manage Storage. You'll notice your Photo & Camera is empty if you deleted everything

Via the official Apple forums.


Will MacBook (Mid 2010) work with 1333MHz RAM instead of 1066MHz RAM?

Usually there is no issue with using faster-rated RAM as long as all the other specs of the RAM match what is required. It will run at the speed of the onboard memory controller.


There is a product called Deep that allows you to search by color pallette.

  Deep calculates the range of colors used in each of your images by analyzing the pixels and calculating the most popular colors. This is what makes the palettes in Deep powerful, you can find images that have similar colors, which is great when you are looking for the perfect picture to go on your web site. In fact, just drag any image on to Deep and it will find and rank all the images on your computer that are similar.

There is even a YouTube video demoing its usage so you can get an idea of how it works prior to downloading, installing, and purchasing.


iTunes keeps syncing my unchecked songs to my iPhone

Have you got Autofill activated?

Autofill can be used with either automatic sync or managing your content manually. When using automatic sync, simply select/deselect the Automatically fill free space with songs option found on the Music sync settings.

This option automatically selects music to fill the remaining space on your device. It does this by filling up the space that isn’t already being used up by the music, videos, books, apps, podcasts, etc you’ve manually selected.

This random selection will also adjust automatically as you make changes in the future. For example, iTunes will automatically remove some of the “autofilled” songs to make room for other things you manually select as wanting to sync in the future.

NOTES:

Each time you select/deselect the Automatically fill free space with songs option found on the Music sync settings option, you need to perform another sync for it to take effect on your iPhone.
If you've been managing music manually, the Autofill option is found in the On This iPhone section of your iTunes device sync settings. It appears as a button that does the same thing I described above but also provides an additional drop-down menu to the left that allows you to limit the Autofilled music to a specific playlist rather than randomly selecting content from your entire music library.


Nothing wrong with your Memory, but if you wish to upgrade do so.

The slow computer has other reason, so we need to see your full activity monitor to help you.

Here is a sample of my memory (at about same levels as yours) without slow computer part.


Can I stream media from one Plex server to another Plex server?

Yes.

For more complete information:  http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/Plex_Nine_Configurations_test


Is there any known problem of using SIMBL?

Your question is too generic if anything. SIMBL have been the cause of past problems, specially when Snow Leopard was out; the infamous “blue screen of death” that made Windows very famous, affected OS X for a little bit on some machines that had “hacks” like SIMBL (But it was usually caused by APE if I am not mistaken)

With that said, it’s possibly “impossible” to measure if there’s any performance degradation or “anything else”.

I’ve used SIMBL for a few years and I have no idea if I had run into issues that wouldn’t have been caused should I not have it, however, for the most part it performs ok. There are a lot of plugins already written, one of them being the excellent Total Finder by BinaryRage. I’d say that if there’s a problem with SIMBL, it would be most of the times, caused by a bad plugin that is doing “more than it should”.

With that said, I doubt Apple likes it when it’s time to diagnose a problem. ;)

When you create a Plug-in using SIMBL, there are a few recommendations that a lot of developers do not follow and that is what usually causes the problem. Most notably is the Version Checking. You are “entitled” to make sure that the version of the application you’re going to “hack”, is compatible with whatever you’re going to do. A lot of developers never did this in the past and the results were headaches for everybody.

Suppose you’re patching Safari 1.0. A software update comes and it’s now Safari 1.1 and your plug-in doesn’t work. You shouldn’t try to patch that version of Safari until you fix your plugin. Failure to perform that check caused innumerable failures and rage wars :)

You can try it and if you detect issues, removing SIMBL later is pretty simple.

But after a few long years of having it, I can tell you that it’s relatively safe; with that in mind, understand that SIMBL allows other applications to “inject” code into other Cocoa applications. A malicious user could attempt to cause damage though it.

You should keep an eye in the SIMBL Bug List to make sure you don’t come across something that affects you and -of course- use known plug-ins and not something that came from “p0rn.com”. ;)

Now if you’re super worried about all you install and do, then stay away from it. :)


The third pin is a ground pin. It is required in some countries for devices with a metal surface to prevent shocks in case of a short-circuit.
Since they also delivered a plug with only two pins to you, in your country it seems to be ok to use without grounding. If you want to be absolutely on the safe side, use the three pin cable.

More info.


I've been using this case since the day I got mine back in June of 2011.

Its very robust, it completely covers the screen, and I have never had problems tapping the edge.
One thing you do need to be aware of though is the clip. In the picture its shown as being on the back, however I've found that to be somewhat unreliable. If you switch it around to the front (so the clip is covering the screen), its much better.
One of the (in my opinion nice) side benefits of using this case is it adds enough mass to it that you don't have to worry about the iPod just slipping out of your hand - for the week I used mine without a case, I found that it was almost too light and thin, and I kept fearing that the iPod would just fly out of my hand. Its a full body case (as you can see), so while you can't drop it into water (or a blender) and have it be fine, you can drop it a few times and it'll still be OK (handy for those first few times the belt clip fails until you learn the best way to use it! ;)


Connecting an old Mac to home entertainment system

Yes.  It's very easy.  You need to get a "DVI to HDMI with audio" adapter.  The way it works is that it takes the two separate signals, digital video and audio, and combines them on the HDMI signal which supports the audio.

Here's one from Startech that worked really well for me.

If you notice, the DVI and RCA Audio is on the Input side and the HDMI is on the Output side.  These are not bidirectional; meaning it will not work in reverse.  So, it will take a DVI and audio and convert to HDMI.  It won't "break out" HDMI to DVI and audio.


Why does a Double Hard Reset help with iPhone issues?

It sounds like you’re no doing the reset correctly. You’re supposed to keep holding the Home and Sleep buttons until the Apple logo appears.

The reason your iPhone isn’t coming back up is you’re stopping before the reset is completed.


Where does the huge amount of "" iCloud Keychain items come from and what is their purpose?

Messages and FaceTime does per device encryption, so these would map to key pairs generated for device to cloud encrypted devices.

The com.apple is simply a naming convention for the subsystem that claims the entry - and not an actual dns name.

I wouldn’t worry about them till you have tens of thousands and you can always sign out of messaging on all your devices and then try and clean things, but in my experience these self regulate and don’t impair performance if you just focus on the items you know and interact with.


High Sierra's Finder don't index files in storage unit

I am not sure whether you have tried this or not. I would suggest running the following command on Terminal to enhance the feature of SMB first.

Speed up browsing on network shares

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool TRUE

Force the Finder to gather all metadata first

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices UseBareEnumeration -bool FALSE

Logout and login back from your Mac machine, and give a try to find the files from your SMB Shared Network.


Trick Mavericks into letting me use Windows 7 for Boot Camp

This one:

  Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR
  partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed on GPT
  disks.

Can be worked around like this:

  Using the Bootcamp assistant, revert the HD to a single OSX partition
  layout. Then use the Disk utility to shrink the OSX parition, leaving
  "free space" for the planned Windows installation.

Then, boot from yor Windows USB stick ("EFI boot") and select the free space as target for the installation.

This worked for me.

Regarding Windows 7: I don't know. I'd like to install Windows 7 as well...


How do I sync contacts with Gmail on an iPhone 5?

This Google help document shows the normal setup steps, as well as some troubleshooting steps.

For troubleshooting, ensure that Contacts is turned on, and then click on the account information above the list of mail, contacts, calendar and notes. This will show your Gmail account information.

Click on advanced, and ensure that SSL is enabled.

It may be helpful to create a new contact locally on the device and see if it syncs up to Gmail.


That's an easy one

osascript -e 'tell application "VLC" to get path of current item'

That returns the path to the currently playing movie. If you want more I suggest you select "Open Dictionary.." in the File menu of "Script Editor", select VLC and have a good look. Then do man osascript on the command line for the man page of osascript.