How to remove .DS_Store from command-line auto-completion using cd?

export FIGNORE=DS_Store works for me.

The GNU Bash manual provides extensive information on programmable completion.

Specifically, from the documentation on bash variables

  FIGNORE [is a] colon-separated list of suffixes to ignore when performing
  filename completion. A file name whose suffix matches one of the
  entries in FIGNORE is excluded from the list of matched file names. A
  sample value is ‘.o:~’

If you are concerned that there might be existing suffixes in FIGNORE, then you can use:

export FIGNORE=$FIGNORE:DS_Store


How Should I Correct the Owners and Permissions in an OS X User Folder?

The first step I would recommend is to try resetting your home folder permissions with the Reset Password utility in Lion Recovery. (Despite the name of the utility, you won't actually be resetting any passwords.)

Resetting the home folder permissions with the Reset Password utility will reset both the owner and the permissions.

Restart your Mac holding ⌘+R to boot into Lion Recovery, which will bring you to the Repair Utilities screen.
Open Terminal from the Utilities menu.
In Terminal, enter resetpassword to open the Reset Password utility.
Choose your hard drive icon at the top, then choose your user from the drop-down menu below. Do not reset the password here.
At the bottom of the window, under "Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs", click the "Reset" button. This may take awhile if you have a lot of files in your home folder.

This should solve your permissions problems for most apps. However, it's possible you may have a few apps which had saved files with special permissions that are different from the user's default permissions (like preferences or application support files). For those apps, you may need to delete their preferences or reinstall the app.

If resetting your home folder permissions doesn't work, then you may need to try restoring from a backup or transferring your data to an external drive.


How do I import an MP4 video created using the GoPro Hero Camera into the iPad?

From Apple iPad 4 tech spec:

  MPEG‑4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second

So based on that info, FPS and resolution for mp4 are too high. Use Handbrake and convert to H.264 that supports HD on iPad.

Otherwise you can try Azul media player for iPad that can play almost all formats.


Dailymotion does not have a provision to download the videos for off line viewing.

There is no setting in the Sync to do that.

You will need a another 3d party app to download the videos so you can watch them off line.

There is a number off applications to download videos, example https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/video-downloader-download/id733735644?mt=8

or this one http://mediatapdownloader.blogspot.com/2013/03/how-to-download-videos-from-dailymotion.html

and so on....Search for "Dailymotion" "Video download" in Apple Store.


Uninstalled CleanMyMac still shows notifications

The interesting thing about uninstalling CleanMyMac is that the best application for the job is, in fact CleanMyMac.

If you set it to uninstall itself, it will tidily clean up its own leftovers before finally quitting & trashing itself.

It is, in fact, probably quicker to re-install it, then get it to uninstall itself than to pick apart where the leftovers are.

Ref: MacPaw FAQs
How To Uninstall CleanMyMac 2?  &
How to Uninstall CleanMyMac 3


You could start the download of the TV show on the iPad and then start watching it after a few minutes (depending in your connection speed) once its buffered enough.
To do this start the download in the iTunes app and the switch to the videos app and you can start watching, as it downloads it will fill in the time slider bar in white.
Then delete it after you've watched it. This is effectively streaming.

Hopefully the rumoured upcoming iTunes revamp, will include more natural streaming. It's likely though that there is no traditional streaming because of licensing issues.


List wireless connection information in terminal

Yes, with the following command:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport -I


What OS X signal strength test apps exist to measure Wi-Fi networking?

Apple provides two tools that most people find very adequate for normal network scanning and troubleshooting. One is graphical and the other command line based.

/System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Wireless\ Diagnostics.app (on newer OS) and /System/Library/CoreServices/Wi-Fi\ Diagnostics.app (on older OS)
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport

The former will draw a very nice graph of signal and noise for you and can perform wireless scans, Bonjour service mapping (both locally and across the internet IPv4 and IPv6), ARP, and just about anything that the normal network utility tool does except for port scanning.

I symlink the airport command into /usr/local/bin so that you can call it from any shell.

Air:~ me$ ls -l  /usr/local/bin/airport
lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel  89 Apr  4  2012 /usr/local/bin/airport -> /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport

The terminal command is more useful for scanning and changing the way your device joins networks than getting signal or noise information, but airport -I does dump details that normally are shown when you hold the option key and click on the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar (such as MCS, RSSI, Noise, and transmit rates).

If you want more powerful tools, start with these professional quality and reasonably priced apps:

WiFi Notifications - free and simple notifications to narrow down when significant events happen on WiFi
WiFi Signal - runs in your menu bar
WiFi Explorer - full analysis and nice graphs - slightly more expensive


Cannot find OSX El Capitan installer after installation

You'll have to download it again because it's gone! The OS X Installer application bundle is automatically deleted when the install is finished, when it's executed from a running occurrence of the OS.  In other words, when doing an in-place upgrade, one needs to first make a copy of the installer if needed to be used again.

As an example, when the Install OS X El Capitan.app was downloaded, it's saved in the Applications folder and a copy of it needs to be made, preferably to another location, first before proceeding with the upgrade.

Note that if you've been using Time Machine, there may be a copy of the Installer application bundle in the backup, however, timing is everything. That is to say, because of the size of the installer and the time of the last backup in conjunction with when the installer was downloaded and used to preform the upgrade, there is the possibility that the copy of the Installer application bundle is not a complete copy.


Straight from Microsoft editions of Windows are all the same size, the feature sets are unlocked by what edition you've paid for.

professional
enterprise
home and business
student
ultimate

All of them take up the same amount of space, but some have limited access to features.

I would install the windows partition to an external drive.
You might be able to squeak by with 30GB if you have less than 4GB of windows files.


How can I adjust the music in imovie for part of a movie?

⌥ alt/option-click on the volume adjustment to create new keyframes
Adjust the volume between these keyframes by dragging.


How can I hyper customize the MacBookPro Touch Bar?

MTMR , it's free but it does need some editing to get it fully customized


Add apps to "Files and Folders" permissions?

This is possible for MDM managed Macs by  pushing signed profiles to preemptively white-list signed applications.

The process is quite detailed, but it uses a well documented profile setup (175 pages to cover the basics). We currently push about 20 items this way, so if you need to manage a lot of apps and a lot of Macs, this is possible and once you have your tools in place, easy to add new profiles. This isn’t feasible for a few machines if you’re not running a MDM.

Look at the section on page 64

https://developer.apple.com/business/documentation/Configuration-Profile-Reference.pdf#page64

> Privacy Preferences Policy Control Payload

  The Privacy Preferences payload is designated by specifying com.apple.TCC.configuration-profile-policy value as the PayloadType value.
  It controls the settings that are displayed in the ”Privacy” tab of the ”Security & Privacy” pane in System Preferences. This profile must be delivered via a user approved MDM server in a device profile.

Here is a very not short (but as short as can be reasonably made) guide for an engineer or team thinking about adding this to your MDM.

https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2018/08/31/creating-privacy-preferences-policy-control-profiles-for-macos/

Here is an awesome tool for automating creation of your profiles:

https://github.com/carlashley/tccprofile


Where does an "Export to Apple Devices" file go to in Final Cut Pro X?

When you do this you need to have 'do nothing' selected in the 'when done' box in order to get the save dialogue. Otherwise the file will go into ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Music/Home\ Videos/ (yes this just confused me as well!)


Reuse a SSD MZ-JPV1280/0A4 as external SSD

To use any of the Apple SSDs as an external drive, you will need a USB Enclosure just as you would for any other drive.  You simply need to ensure that the enclosure is compatible with Apple's SSD interface - check the specs of the enclosure!
That said, given the extremely low price point of off-the-shelf SSDs (not proprietary Apple) and the very high prices Apple SSDs fetch on the secondary market (eBay, Gumtree, etc.), you are better off buying a new regular SSD and selling the Apple SSD to someone who needs it for their Apple machine.  You'll likely make a nice profit.


How do I disable this message: "the disk was not ejected properly"?

This applescript will close them for you. Paste it into Script Editor and then Save as an application. Then grant access to that application in (System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Accessibility)
Then you can use an application like ControlPlane https://www.controlplaneapp.com/ to run the application on wake thus closing them all automatically!
** Note: You will need to grant Accessibility access to ControlPlane as well.

tell application "System Events"
tell process "NotificationCenter"
    set numwins to (count windows)
    repeat with i from numwins to 1 by -1
        tell window i
            set temp to value of static text 1
        end tell
        if temp contains "Disk Not Ejected Properly" then
            click button "Close" of window i
        end if
    end repeat
end tell
end tell


Are there any alternative Windows audio drivers for the MacBook Pro 13 Mid 2012 to enable the subwoofer?

I know this is a rather old question, but by any chance have you found a fix? I wish I could provide more help... but I'm battling with this right now. A lot of other people resort to playing with the "enhancements" to increase volume, but that obviously does nothing to fix how terribly thin the speakers sound when using windows 10.
I wonder if apple does some specific equalizing and attenuation on four drivers to make them sound more full in the macbook enclosure.


Looks like Skitch employee, Keith, answered this question on GetSatisfaction.

The short answer is that you need to copy the following preferences files:

~/Library/Preferences/com.skitch.skitch.history
~/Library/Preferences/com.skitch.skitch.plist

This is in addition to copying the actual .skitch files located in:

~/Pictures/Skitch


High Sierra 10.13.4 will not install - "Some Updates Not Installed"

You may want to consider yourself lucky as there seems to be a lot of people reporting problems with this particular update of macOS.

If you just Google "Mac OS 10.13.4" you will get a number of articles showing problems with just the update, not to mention the things that it breaks.

Yeah it installed fine for me and probably a lot of people, but enough folks had enough issues with this update that I think your best bet is to not install this update and wait for 10.13.5 to be released.


Offsite Backup Strategy for Multiple Macs

I think you're making this too complex.
The very first thing you need to do is decide what's more important - an image of your entire system or your data.  For all of the clients I've worked for, data was the most important factor.
Your settings and applications are important, don't get me wrong, but I'm sure you're much more concerned about your tax documents than you are about your custom shortcuts you've created.
Given that your Internet connection is metered, you can still use the cloud, you're just going to use it differently.  Here's what I suggest:

Time Machine
Cloud Service
NAS (with USB based backup)

Time Machine.
Use Time Machine for your whole system backup.  You can rotate disks if you like, but I've found this unnecessary over the last decade.
Cloud Service
I personally use OneDrive, but this will work well with DropBox or other similar services.  In my Documents folder, I put symlinks to various folders in my OneDrive folder (it's the one that gets synced).  I don't copy over Pictures (they're automatically uploaded from the phone) or Downloads, but you can if you want.
NAS or Network Attached Storage
I personally use a Synology NAS with a several USB drives attached to back up the NAS - one for music, another for documents, and one that backs up the whole NAS.  The beauty with a NAS is that all of your Macs can attach the NAS and benefit from it's features.
Now, here's where the magic happens...  The Synology NAS syncs with OneDrive.  The NAS backs up to at least two places (i.e. Documents and whole system).
So, what does this accomplish?  Let's look at that tax document...
Document
  → Backed up via Time Machine
  → Sync to One Drive
    → Sync to NAS
    → Backed up to USB (Documents)
         → Backed up to USB (Whole NAS)

With a setup like this, you have your data in 6 different places including off site.  By not backing up your entire system to the cloud, you're minimizing the data transfer as it will only sync the changes not the entire data directory and certainly not the entire drive.
You said you had a 100GB data cap on your Internet connection.  Once this is setup, I highly doubt you will transfer 10GB of documents and data per month.  I work from home with three other people in the house and don't hit that level.
Here's a similar answer where I didn't use OneDrive in the equation.  I backup my VMs to my NAS, but I don't sync them to OneDrive.  What this allowed me to do when my Mac crashed was to bring up my dev servers on an inexpensive Dell running FreeBSD (it could have been Windows) and VirtualBox and get back to work immediately.
Finally, the NAS setup allows you to centralize all of your backups for Macs because it acts as a Time Machine server, you'll just need to size it appropriately.


Apple TestFlight iOS 8 - What is the limit for external beta testers?

As of November 13. 2015. there are some changes occurred in iTunesConnect:

  To make your TestFlight experience even better, we’ve made some
  significant changes. You can now invite up to 2000 external testers
  and up to 25 internal testers per app. You can also test up to 100
  apps at the same time for up to 60 days, and submit up to 6 updates
  per day to your external testers.

So, right now we can invite 2000 external testers per app.


How to get rid of spell checker on macOS Mojave?

TextEdit has yet a 3rd place where you might need to turn this off, TextEdit > Preferences > New Document > Options


Can't route specified site traffic to direct WiFi connection, to avoid VPN

Your usage of the -interface option is faulty. As the router's man page man routerdescribes:

  If the destination is directly reachable via an interface requiring no
  intermediary system to act as a gateway, the -interface modifier should
  be specified; the gateway given is the address of this host on the common
  network, indicating the interface to be used for transmission.

The host music.yandex.ru (213.180.204.186) is no destination directly reachable via en0. It requires at least one intermediary system (your Wi-Fi router) to reach this host.

Compare this with your router:

192.168.43.63      0:a:f5:12:f9:98    UHLWIir        en0   1200

The router's Wi-Fi interface is "directly connected" to your Mac's Wi-Fi interface. 0:a:f5:12:f9:98 is your router's MAC-address (some Airgo/Qualcomm device).

Additional background: The MAC address is an address of a node on the data link layer (layer 2). Layer 2 has no routing capability. Routing is done on the network layer (layer 3) - nodes of the network layer have IP addresses!

If your VPN app doesn't provide the feature to route single IP-addresses to the system's default gateway (the IP address of your Wi-Fi router), you indeed have to create static routes.

To deal with changing networks (and thus changing default gateways) simply create different locations in System Preferences > Network > Location.


The latest iOS Development tools (as of mid-September 2012) no longer support iOS devices running a version below iOS 4.3.  So apps compatible with devices that can't run iOS 4.3 drop off a cliff as developers update their apps using the current Xcode, which use is required to fully support the iPhone 5.

Some developers support only down to iOS 5.1, as that's the highest supported OS for the 1st gen iPad.

Warning: If you have apps for such older iOS devices on iTunes on your Mac, don't update the apps unless the required minimum OS is appropriate.  Or make backups of your iTunes library before you update.  iTunes will throw working versions of apps in the trash after downloading a recent update, and may even delete these apps off of your older device (which is very bad).


You could buy a new (obviously) or used (probably this you want) iPhone and scrap it for parts (i.e. the original iPhone display).


How do I watch the US presidential debates live via AppleTV?

As the link you posted has several Pre-event streams scheduled, you can try things out before hand. I haven't seen a public announcement by either Google or Apple saying to tune in on your Apple TV, so you might plan on a second manner of streaming.

I'll likely use AirPlay mirroring to get the content onto my large screen via Apple TV.


If you can measure the iOPS in activity monitor you will likely see the trash is constrained by the access speed of the hard drive over the USB bus. The Mac is capable of asking for thousands of changes and it waiting for the physical drive to answer back.

This is expected, as solid-state drives (SSDs), are significantly faster than traditional hard drives (HDDs). The reason for this is that HDDs rely on writing data to a physical disk that spins around at an extremely fast rate, similar to a DVD. SSDs are able to be much faster since they instead store data digitally in chips which are written through electrical currents. These electrical currents are much faster than a spinning disk, which will make computer operations faster on SSDs and slower on HDDs. Because of this, processes such as emptying the trash will be slower on HDDs.

Fast for a hard drive is 100-300 iops and fast for an SSD is 10x as many operations per second or more in the Pro models.


App has photo access, but I never allowed it to access photos

Apps with photos access can access all photos in you library whenever the app chooses to in the background without your future confirmation, and can save pictures to the library.

Without photos access, the app can still ask the OS to get the user to choose a picture, at which point iOS can show a system-wide photo chooser and you can choose a single photo. Once you've chosen the photo, just that specific photo is provided by iOS back to the app.


flac terminal app no longer works - giving me libogg.0.dylib errors

Try this:

brew uninstall libogg

and then:

brew install libogg --universal


Energy usage when iMac not in sleep mode, but screen/HDD off/idle

You can find the power consumption specifications for your model in the respective Environment Report from Apple at https://www.apple.com/environment/reports/

For your Model, it states "Idle—Display on 37.7W 38.8W 38.3W" for "100V 115V 230V" respectively.

To get a rough idea about the effect of turning the screen off : on 230V, my iMac runs at 0.85A at full brightness, at 0.465A at minimum brightness and 0.4A with the screen turned off. You will save some power when you disconnect all USB devices and the network cable, but it's rather irrelevant.

No, not using sleep mode does not have any other major consequences afaik. Furthermore, in my experience, light CPU activity does not influence power uptake significantly.


You could try using the Console application to see if accountsd has recorded any errors. Just open Console and enter "accountsd" in the search filter in the top-right corner of the window.

accountsd doesn't just deal with iCloud accounts. It appears to handle all of the accounts listed in the "Internet Accounts" pane of System Preferences. You could try disabling them all, then enabling them one by one to see which one is causing the issue.


Word does not use apple's stuff for this, you set it up in word's own Tools > Autocorrect .


How to not let the system sleep when putting display to sleep with Ctrl+Shift+Eject in Mountain Lion?

Realised I answered a dupe of this here: How can I download something with display turned off (Ctrl+Shift+Eject)?

My answer to that question below:

I always use this combo as well, however this does not immediately sleep my machine in ML.

I believe this is a separate issue at play here. According to Siracusa's ML review, unlike in previous OS X versions, in 10.8 your system is eligible for sleep immediately upon "user inactivity" (the inactivity delay being set in your energy saver settings) unless the currently running apps make "power assertions".

In this case, that key combo is signalling to the OS that "user inactivity" should be triggered right away. In such a case, if your particular app that's downloading stuff does not make power assertions, your system will sleep.

I have come across the same issue generally (not necessarily related to triggering the screen sleep combo). See: Mountain Lion sleeps too aggressively


How can I capture a screenshot of an entire webpage in iPhone's Safari browser?

After searching a lot on this thing finally I got the solution.
Website Screenshot worked perfectly for me.


There's no way to combine user accounts. If one of the accounts is empty the best option is to delete it. Otherwise, move everything you want from one account's home folder to another and then get rid of the old one.


Is there a way to reduce the opening tab of safari

There is no setting to do this but if you press Command+L the cursor will move to the address bar.


iMac data recovery - file icon with ? mark

The folder with the question mark means your iMac can't find a bootable operating system. You can try the following:

Press and hold the power button for a few seconds to power down your iMac
Press the power button once to turn your Mac back on and immediately press and hold the ⌘R keys on your keyboard to try starting your iMac from Recovery. Keep them pressed down until you see an Apple logo or globe.
If prompted, select a Wi-Fi network to connect to the Internet as part of startup.
After the Utilities window appears, choose Startup Disk from the Apple menu.
Select your startup disk
Click Restart.

Hope this helps. Let me know how you go.

NOTE
If you don't see your startup disk in the Startup Disk window at Step 5 above, try the following steps:

From the Utilities window, open Disk Utility
Select your startup disk from the left-hand side of the window
Click on the First Aid tab.
Click on the Repair Disk button
When it's finished quit Disk Utility.
Choose Startup Disk from the Apple menu.
Select your startup disk
Click Restart.


Keyboard and Trackpad stop working on brand new Macbook Pro with Mavericks?

This is a known issue, and a fix is coming.

  Symptoms

  Apple is aware of rare circumstances where the built-in keyboard and
  Multi-Touch trackpad may become unresponsive on 13-inch MacBook Pro
  with Retina display (Late 2013) computers and is working on an update
  to resolve this behavior.

  Resolution

  If you experience this issue, reset the keyboard and trackpad by
  closing the computer’s display for approximately one minute and then
  open it.

Sources: MacRumors.com, Apple Knowledge Base


Macbook shut itself down during sleep and won't boot unless leave it for a few days

So lets see if I have this right... if you shut it down it turns back on no problem.  If it goes to sleep it takes 5 days to turn back on.

Just a suggestion... what if you turn off sleep in System Preferences -> Energy Saver?  I'm interested if it does the same thing if it stays on but just goes dead.

I would also try a fresh OS install either from a thumb drive or internet recovery in case something in the OS is causing the issue.  It's easy and you can reproduce the issue quickly so its something to cross off the list pretty fast.

I assume you tried the obvious SMC, PRAM resets, etc... SMC controls a lot of the hardware so that's the one I would think is most likely.

Once I had a MacBook that had a bad thermal sensor.  It would turn itself off and take a few hours to turn back on but that was pretty obvious that it was hot and overheating so I would assume that is not the case here.  If it is getting hot then keep that in mind.  Also the MacStore replaced the motherboard and that did not fix the issue so they replaced the whole laptop.  I am not sure what the actual fix would have been.

CleanMyMac has thermal warnings that can tell you if its overheating.  This may also tell you if you have a bad thermal sensor.  If you just turned it on and it's reading 100c then there is something wrong.

Let us know if it may be overheating or if just plain going dead works and it's only sleep mode that does this.

Edit:  This stood out in an article about overheating...

Fake MacBook Charger
A normal charger for a MacBook Pro includes three main parts: AC power cord, MagSafe Power Adapter, and MagSafe connector. It’s always good practice to use the original ones that came with your Mac. If you bought one online, it could be fake and might not work well with your MacBook Pro, thereby causing overheating problem and other issues.
How to Fix It: Shop from the Apple Online Store or Local Retailers.
It’s often not so easy to spot a fake MacBook charger, but this YouTube video shares a few awesome tips. Check it out. Also, try to avoid shopping from online marketplaces, other than the official store, for Apple components. Don’t be lured in by lower prices. I can’t stress this enough.


iOS Simulator - Safari forcing WWW on URLs

www is only prepended in iOS if the URL without www fails without any response from the server. Double-check that everything is functioning correctly and you should be fine.


How do you turn on "Dark Mode" in OS X Yosemite?

System Preferences > General > Use dark menu bar and Dock


MobiControl Device Enrollment Profile Installation Failed with "The request timed out"

The profile information states that the profile contains a 'device enrollment challenge'. A device enrollment challenge requires connection to a device enrollment server—not Apple's servers, but another server that the payload is informed of.

When you press Install and enter your passcode if appropriate, all the payloads that are contained within a mobile configuration profile are activated. The device enrollment challenge payload attempts to connect to the aforementioned server at this point. It is at this stage that the error shows: "The request timed out". This is to inform you that the server that the payload is attempting to contact is unavailable and the request has timed out.

To fix this, you'll need to allow whatever is preventing the connection to succeed. The problem may not be the device though—the server itself may be unavailable. Unfortunately, a 'request timed out' error is very broad and could be caused by many different reasons, but the basis is that the server (again, not Apple's) is unavailable to the device requesting the connection.


Include backspace key in custom keyboard shortcut

This isn't possible as this keyboard short cut is used as part of the operating system to perform backward word delete, this is where it deletes all the characters from the cursor position to the start of the current word, this is a part of macOS so it is likely protected.


Internal vs. External Storage for a new Macbook

It all comes down to your convenience.

The MacBook Pro (MBP) uses a proprietary interface for their SSD; PCIe 2.0 x4.  This is why they are so expensive as you have noticed.

Upgrading the SSD in the MBP to a larger SSD, whether you get it at time of purchase or you get it later on, is going to be an expensive proposition and the only reason that you do this is because you want as many of your files with you at all times without having to connect a portable drive.  That's the convenience factor.

However, if not having all your files readily available on your MBP and toting around an external drive is not a problem, then going with a smaller SSD and an external drive is definitely a good choice.

As for what you want to do, there is no problem with keeping your files like photos, movies, music, etc. on an external drive.  As for performance, you probably won't notice much of a performance hit depending on exactly what you are doing.

One caveat... You will need at least 2 external drives.

Why?

You are going to back up your stuff, right?  If you are going to be toting around another drive, there is a greater possibility of data loss; physical damage, stolen, or just leaving it on a table somewhere in a coffee shop.  You are going to want this backed up.  A USB 3.0 drive with sufficient space should be more than adequate to do a Time Machine backup during the night (where performance isn't going to hamper anything).

To know how big of a backup drive to get, just make sure it is larger than the total of your internal SSD and external drive.  If you have a 128GB SSD and a 1TB external, get at least 1.5TB.  If you are closer to 2TB of internal and external combined, get a 4TB.  If more than that, you probably want to look at some pro level solutions.

Ultimately, the choice is up to you whether you want the convenient method of having all storage internal to the MBP or you don't mind having to plug in an external drive.


Go to settings>iCloud, and turn on contacts and everything else you want to come over from iCloud.  This should bring them all back.


Is there a standard format for HTML-emails?

HTML emails from companies are usually made using an online HTML builder, such as xact target, Dot mailer, Mail Chimp and the like.

The templates use HTML to create the emails. In the HTML there is code which will render differently in Mail, and outlook, Hotmail, yahoo mail, etc. The suppliers of email software will spend significant amounts of time making sure teh same version is seen in the same way by all email recipients

The HTML code in a lot of HTML email also defines whether you are using a desktop app, web mail, or even mobile.

The reason your emails fit onto your browser is down to the flood of people using mobile email, on iPhones, iPads, Android devices, etc. The email is built in columns, usually no more that 2. These columns can then be narrow or wide depending on whether the recipient is using a mobile device or a desktop email client.

Next time you get a HTML email have a look at it on your desktop email, and then compare it with how it looks on a mobile.

The hardest mobile to support is Blackberry, as most models do not support HTML, instead they often render a plain text version.

So to finish off and answer your question,

There is no design standard, and Apple did not have a say in it.


How is the System Keychain secured in OS X?

The system keychain is stored in /Library/Keychains/System.keychain and the key to unlock it is stored in /var/db/SystemKey (its default file permissions are readable by root only). The location of these files is referenced in the security-checksystem script (from the security_systemkeychain source). It is even possible to test to automatic locking/unlocking of the system keychain by using

systemkeychain -vt

The keychain security framework allows non-privileged programs to make requests for information provided they are in the ACL stored within the keychain entry. Obviously if a user has root they on a system they can directly access both the file storing the system keychain and the key to unlock it, thus they do not have make requests via the security framework and are not beholden to the ACLs stored within the keychain itself.

(I didn't actually answer the original questions so let's give this another go)

  How are the keys architected such that any administrative user can unlock the System Keychain?

The libsecurity keychain framework allows regular processes to interact with the system keychain in an authenticated manner using Apple's XPC interprocess communication framework (IPC).

Program A sends a request to access the system keychain information using IPC. A check is made that the requesting user is already in the wheel group and also knows the password of a user in the wheel group. Once authorization is confirmed, the privileged kcproxy daemon can be used to access material in /var/db/SystemKey, unlock the system keychain and return the requested information.

  Are there cryptographic restrictions that limit what an administrative user can do with information in the System Keychain in any way?

No - an administrative user is allowed to access/change anything in the system keychain. Even if they couldn't, they could copy the underlying files to another machine on which they have complete control and just unlock/access it there.

  Given an unencrypted system backup without /Users, how would you gain access to the keys in the System Keychain?

If the backup contained copies of /Library/Keychains/System.keychain and /var/db/SystemKey then I would copy them to their respective locations on a new OS X system and use systemkeychain to make the later unlock the former and dump the keychain database using security dump-keychain.


Is there a Notification Center icon cache? Trying to change Apple app icons but they change to default app icon

I found an answer to my issue using this AskDifferent post: Apps Icons not appearing.

I think what finally solved the issue was:

deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist and then
Enter this command killall -KILL Dock
Restart Mac

I hope this helps anyone who is having this or a similar issue. Thanks!


Can I directly record a video in iCloud Drive (/Google Drive)?

No, the built-in Camera app does not support recording directly to iCloud Drive or Google Drive.
A third party app could record directly to the cloud - similar to how apps like Facebook does live streaming that is not recorded in local storage, but only transmitted to a server (that you could then store it in cloud storage).


The closest thing is the "Recent Items" lists in the Apple menu.

There is more detailed information in /var/log/system.log but it's not easy to parse.


Wiping a stolen iPhone that wasn't connected to iCloud

If you didn't have Find My iPhone enabled on the phone there isn't anything you can do to wipe the phone now that it's no longer in your possession.

Your best bet is to get in contact with your wireless carrier, let them know the phone was stolen, and at least get them to put the IMEI number of the phone on the blacklist. Canadian carriers participate in a blacklist program so stolen phones cannot be used on their networks. See: http://www.protectyourdata.ca/ for more details on the Canadian IMEI blacklist program. Not all carriers participate in the program.

Your data on the phone, I'm afraid, is now available to the thief. Change your passwords on all your accounts like Twitter and Facebook. If the service allows it, do a "global log out" from the service to at least force apps like Dropbox and so on to log out from your account on the stolen phone.


Most likely the problem is is that that email is used as a recovery email for another Apple ID.

According to this Apple Support discussion:

  The issue was that I wanted to create an account with an address that
  was already listed as a secondary address for an another, older, Apple
  ID account.

  This situation blocks the Apple ID creation process (and because the
  email is not a primary address for any Apple ID yet, there is no
  birthdate associated with it and the recovery emails go nowhere)

  To solve the problem I went to id.apple.com, clicked "manage your ID"
  and logged in with my old account credentials.

  I then deleted the email address that I wanted to use to create an ID
  from the list of "alternate emails" associated with the old account
  and victory! After that the Apple ID creation process went fine.


When I purchase TV shows on my iPad 2, why are they automatically downloading on my Mac?

Perhaps you could try stopping iTunes from automatically checking for bought content to download. This way, if you buy something on your iPad you would have to manually download it on your Mac. This can be done by going to iTunes>Preferences..., then to the "Store" tab and unchecking "Always check for available files."

Hope it Helps!


Did my Time Machine backup copy over properly?

Time Machine does not make a 100% perfect copy, nor does it necessarily make a BOOTABLE copy should you need to swap it in suddenly one day.  A better way to upgrade to a new SSD (don't spend all that time only to put in another slow spinning drive that only lasts 2-3 years these days!), is to also purchase a usb-to-sata transfer cable for $10-$20, use Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) on the old mac to make a bootable mirror image, including the hidden recovery partition (and possibly update it!), then swap drives and go about your life.  Optionally wipe the old drive to use for testing or backups if it's still safe to use at all.. likely not if it's several years old.  CCC is a fantastic paid backup app, but I think you can get away with making a full bootable clone without buying it first.  This may have changed.


If you navigate to the two folders below, you should be able to delete the file using Finder:

~/Library/PreferencePanes
/Library/PreferencePanes

Just use the Finder go menu and select Go to Folder... for the above locations.


You'll need to contact Apple support about this, as they have tools to help recover Apple IDs like security questions, backup emails, and simply verifying your biographic information against your Apple ID.


unable to boot my MacBook after FileVault 2 activation

You can press the option + R key to boot into recovery mode. Then using Disk utility and follow this guide to decrypt the partition:

http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/using-the-command-line-to-unlock-or-decrypt-your-filevault-2-encrypted-boot-drive/


You can try Moo Calendar, it supports iCalendar format. If you have a Google Calendar account, you can use it to sync calendar with Google Calendar.


Why does iOS remove aps from folders upon update?

I've seen similar issues on both my iPad and iPhone, so it is possible they may be in some way related, though my problem can occur with one app update or many.

I run into apps jumping out of their folders most when one app in particular has problems downloading or installing. (For example, I will often see an app in a perpetually installing state.) The only way to fix this reliably is to Respring or reboot, and that's when my apps jump out of their folders.

I'm not sure it has anything to do with being jailbroken, because I have seen similar behavior on my iDevices when I couldn't jailbreak them (though not as often). I suspect when an install or download goes awry and Springboard is restarted, it simply resets things on that app and treats it like a new install (which would explain why mine always end up after all the other icons and never intermixed).

A similar phenomenon is purely jailbreak related. If you have folder enhancers on your device (say, Infinifolder), and your device has to go to Safe Mode (or something else freaky happens), iOS puts the apps into a very funny order, and often out of folders. I think this is because the folder enhancers don't quite correctly keep iOS's own map of where things are up-to-date (and can't in some cases, especially if you have a folder in a folder or more than 12 or so apps in a folder), and iOS has to figure out somewhere to put them.

Definitely weird, odd, and even annoying (especially when all your apps jump folders and your well-ordered screens have to be rebuilt. sigh.)


How do I save iBooks pdf on iPhone to computer so I can delete them from iPhone?

To delete them only from your phone, follow these steps:

In the upper-right corner of the iBooks window, tap Select.
Scroll to find the item that you want to delete, then tap it.
In the upper-left corner of the iBooks window, tap Delete.
Tap Delete This Copy.

If you tap Delete from All Devices, it will remove it from iCloud, which will cause it to be deleted from all devices (including your computer).


How do I transfer the cellular service from one iPad to another?

I've always involved the carrier, but I don't know if you have to involve VZW in the switch.

If you have a shared data plan, then you will certainly want to get them involved to ensure you don't make a stand alone plan when the old SIM hits the new device. I've had no issues with exchanging a device and not had to pay the fee for enrolling the new device since it simply replaced the old one.

If you are on a month to month plan and don't mind re-paying the activation charge, you could simply set up the new device and let the old device's plan expire.

Much depends on if you use the device to set up the account or want to have verizon enter the details into their system as the different types of accounts have different manners of adding the new device to the plan.


Ruby on OS X 10.9 Ignoring gems because extensions are not built

In my case I start to see this errors after installing rvm

I resolve such problem with: gem pristine --all


Is handoff / continuity (iOS 8+) supported in iTunes to seamlessly switch playback between Mac and iOS?

Handoff is not supported in Music.app, however your use case (control media playback on your iPhone from a Mac) would be more along the lines of what the Apple Remote app does, just in reverse.

Tunes Remote allows you to control one device from another device or a Mac. I have not used the software, so YMMV.


Can you get SL "Today" folder behavior in Lion?

Phew! I decided to do more digging on my own.

I took a look at a computer still using Snow Leopard and right-clicked on its "Today" folder to reveal its path:
/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/CannedSearches

It turns out this directory still exists in Lion!

So go to Finder, and use the Go To Folder command (cmd-shift-g), and enter that path above. The "canned searches" are all still there. Drag and drop them to your sidebar.

Nirvana.


How can I remove iCloud data for a specific app

As detailed in Apple's support article,

Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage > Manage Storage (on your device)
Tap on the app's name, Pixel Gun 3D and tap "Delete Data"

This is for an iOS device, which I am assuming you are using. Mac instructions are detailed on the Apple Support article.


Siri seems to usually have network issues. Fix?

Siri is still in beta (as of today, 11 December 2011). If you have no trouble accessing other network services on your iPhone 4S, assume that the fault is on Apple's end.


Dark mode not appearing as an option on ipad, how to make it appear?

iOS 12 doesn't have Dark Mode. It was new to iOS 13.
You can achieve something similar by going to

Settings > General > Accessibility and choose Display Accommodations. Then click Invert Colours.

If you want to go all funhouse crazy, toggle the Classic Invert mode. But to get an inverted iOS that's closer to a true dark mode, you'll want to select Smart Invert. That way iOS 12 actually tries to keep things from going too crazy.

Courtesy of Forbes - iOS 12.4 Public Beta 4 Released, Is Boring, Here's How To Get Dark Mode Now
Your iPad Air ME898LL/A 4,1 unfortunately cannot use iOS 13, it is stuck at 12. Info: Everymac


How does it affect the performance if an iMac 1TB internal hard drive is mirrored on an external drive?

A mirrored RAID would operate only as fast as the slowest drive in the setup.  In this case, unless you are using thunderbolt I imagine the performance would be awful.  Another reason not to do a mirror with an external drive (if Disk Utility would even let you) is it'd be too easy have the mirror fail for a number of reasons.

I would use Time Machine to the external drive rather than mirroring.  Remember that RAID is NOT backup!  If you mess something up then you will lose data, a mirrored RAID is not going to save you at all.  Only Time Machine or a similar backup strategy will help prevent data loss.


Apple or the phone carrier won't likely give your friend any information about the owner, but I think that your only option for your friend is to turn it in to an Apple Store near him, tell them where/when he found it, and hope that Apple gets the phone back to the owner. Without any information about the phone other than the IMEI, there's not a lot he can do.


Disabling iCloud Drive sync on specific Wifi networks

Try TripMode. It's a third party app, but it's build to do exactly what you want. There's a free trial as well.

  TripMode activates itself on networks where you’ve turned it on before. Set it, then forget it.


Yes, it's doable!

Testing on a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Early 2013), as it's the oldest Mac I have access to today…

I went to https://clonezilla.org/downloads.php and clicked on alternative stable - 20200428-focal, then in the next window left 1, 2, 3 as set and clicked the DOWNLOAD button.

While the zip archive was downloading I prepared the USB drive in Disk Utility so it's a single FAT32 partition with an Master Boot Record. The output below from Terminal shows how it should look, although the disk number may vary on your system:

$ diskutil list disk3
/dev/disk3 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *8.0 GB     disk3
   1:                 DOS_FAT_32 UNTITLED                8.0 GB     disk3s1
$

Unzip the downloaded zip archive to the root of the USB drive while maintaining the hierarchical directory structure contained within the zip archive, as shown in Terminal using ls -al:

$ ls -al
total 128
drwxrwxrwx@ 1 me   staff   4096 May 31 07:22 .
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 root  wheel    136 May 31 07:02 ..
drwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff   4096 May 31 07:22 .disk
-rwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff    188 Apr 28 22:56 Clonezilla-Live-Version
drwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff   4096 May 31 07:22 EFI
-rwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff  18092 Aug 11  2015 GPL
drwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff   4096 May 31 07:22 boot
drwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff   4096 May 31 07:20 home
drwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff   4096 May 31 07:22 live
drwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff   4096 May 31 07:22 syslinux
drwxrwxrwx  1 me   staff   4096 May 31 07:20 utils
$

Then booted the Mac with Clonezilla Live on USB by pressing the Option key at startup, selecting EFI Boot and pressed Enter.

However …

That all said, while it is possible to boot a Mac with Clonezilla Live on USB; nonetheless, I would just use Disk Utility while booted from macOS Recovery from a macOS USB Installer, and use it to mirror the drives using the Restore button.


Is it possible to always show hidden/dotfiles in Open/Save dialogs?

Just adding the key to the global domain seems to work:

defaults write -g AppleShowAllFiles -bool true

You have to quit and reopen applications to apply changes as usual.


Apple devices using iOS8 (and presumably later) allocates random MAC when browsing hotspots to prevent phones being tracked. It is possible that some other device has already used that MAC.


How can I make a 3G video call (not Facetime) from an iPhone 4 to another brand's 3G phone?

Yes, you can use Skype for that, if the app allows 3G video-chat. Skype is available for a lot of platforms. When you are at home, you can also use Skype on your computer so you don't have to use your (probably limited) 3G network.


The server quit without updating PID file (/usr/local/var/mysql/NAME.pid)

YES.

Following homebrew caveats, did you setup launchd?

To have launchd start mysql at login:
    ln -sfv /usr/local/opt/mysql/*.plist ~/Library/LaunchAgents
Then to load mysql now:
    launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist

Well, now using mysql.server is pointless. It basically doesn't work, because (from my poor understanding) mysqld is now managed by launchd, and it is mysqld_safe. I don't know if actually because of that is different from what you control with mysql.server.

The solution I came up with is to not use launchd for mysql from brew.
Rather, I just use the  mysql.server tool to start, stop, and restart mysql.

If you want to follow my steps, this is what you need to do:

launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mysql.plist

And whenever you want to start the mysql server, use mysql.server start.

If you actually want to make mysql start at boot time, you can take that plist and copy it, delete the KeepAlice line, replace the string values under ProgramArguments with /usr/local/bin/mysql.server and start. After that do
launchctl load ~/path/to/com.file.plist


Why does an uninstalled Canon LBP 5050 printer keep reappearing?

Somewhat of a hidden feature, you might want to try resetting the printing system.

Go to the Print and Scan preference pane.
Right click in the list of available printers (mine's empty).
Select "Reset printing system...".


Dragging file at the Dock creates a copy of a file?

Dragging a file/folder into the Dock just creates a reference there, it does not duplicate the file/folder. In your case you can omit the "create a link" step.

The reference to said object is stored in the $HOME/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist file under the persistent-others key as a Dictionary labeled Item N where N is the next available number starting from 0.  Among the information stored about the object is its pathname so the object can be opened when its Dock Tile is clicked.

    <key>persistent-others</key>
    <array>
            <dict>
                    <key>GUID</key>
                    <integer>86167247</integer>
                    <key>tile-data</key>
                    <dict>
                            <key>arrangement</key>
                            <integer>2</integer>
                            <key>displayas</key>
                            <integer>1</integer>
                            <key>file-data</key>
                            <dict>
                                    <key>_CFURLAliasData</key>
                                    <data>
                                    AAAAAACkAAMAAQAA0HpGVwAASCsAAAAAABuw
                                    VwAxxNoAANB6bMcAAAAACSD//gAAAAAAAAAA
                                    /////wABAAgAG7BXABsCdgAOABQACQBEAG8A
                                    dwBuAGwAbwBhAGQAcwAPABoADABNAGEAYwBp
                                    AG4AdABvAHMAaAAgAEgARAASABNVc2Vycy9w
                                    c2UvRG93bmxvYWRzAAATAAEvAAAVAAIACv//
                                    AAA=
                                    </data>
                                    <key>_CFURLString</key>
                                    <string>file:///Users/pse/Downloads/</string>
                                    <key>_CFURLStringType</key>
                                    <integer>15</integer>
                            </dict>
                            <key>file-label</key>
                            <string>Downloads</string>
                            <key>file-mod-date</key>
                            <integer>3497684167</integer>
                            <key>file-type</key>
                            <integer>2</integer>
                            <key>parent-mod-date</key>
                            <integer>3497684167</integer>
                            <key>preferreditemsize</key>
                            <integer>-1</integer>
                            <key>showas</key>
                            <integer>1</integer>
                    </dict>
                    <key>tile-type</key>
                    <string>directory-tile</string>
            </dict>
    </array>


Why is my iPhone 4S running iOS 5 not showing in iTunes sidebar when using WiFi sync?

I had this problem with an iPad. I did the initial setup over USB, enabled Wi-Fi sync, but then when I removed the iPad, it disappeared from the iTunes sidebar, but my iPhone didn't have that problem.

Turned out that I had been disconnecting the USB end of the cable from my Mac first; disconnecting the dock connector end from the iPad (then removing the USB end) made it stay in the sidebar. Completely bonkers, really doesn't seem like it should be that way (or even that iTunes could discern what was disconnected when), but that's what fixed it for me.


Linked Folder in a shared folder in Dropbox

Most file systems know 2 types of linked files: Hard linked files and soft linked files (more here on SO and here on linuxgazette) By default, OS X and Windows use soft links (alias, symbolic links). Both types of links make it possible to acces the same folder from different locations.

Dropbox will treat each folder (original or linked) as an original folder on your system, as if it is the only folder with that content. Dropbox will not know if a folder is a symbolic link or not.

Modifications to the content of a linked folder will change the contents of that original folder. As I said, dropbox will treat that folder as any original 'normal' folder, so changing the content within dropbox will change the original.

In short. On each system there is only 1 original folder. You can create as many links as you like, the content of that folder only lives once on your system. Altering the content on any location (e.g. dropbox) will change the content of that original folder.


I think the issue you're facing is that the Character Viewer is no longer global, but is now per-app, so if you open it in, for instance, Safari, then switch to Finder, it will vanish.
Open it again in Finder & its stored size, position & last viewed will be different.

The advantage is you can keep it open in 2 different apps at the same time [with the one attached to any backgrounded app hidden] & be working on 2 different things.
The downside would be if that's not what you want to do ;-)

Simplest way to activate it is  Cmd ⌘   Ctrl ⌃   Space  but there's no 'close' command other than clicking the red dot, or temporarily, by switching to another app.


System fails to recognize main macos boot partition after Ubuntu dual booting attempt

From Ubuntu, you need to run the command gdisk.

Open a Terminal. Basically, press the control+alt/option key combination.
Enter the command given below to execute gdisk.

sudo gdisk /dev/sda

If the version is not at least 1.0.4, then enter the q command to exit gdisk. Next, enter the commands given below to update gdisk, then return to step 2. Otherwise, proceed to step 4.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gdisk

Enter the following when prompted by gdisk. This will change the type for the macOS partition to APFS.

t
2
af0a
w
y

References

GPT fdisk Tutorial
Man page of gdisk


Can't remove unknown symbol from menu bar

This is the icon for an old version of Adobe Application Manager or Adobe Updater. It wouldn't show up in the standard Force Quit dialog, so I would recommend the following steps:

Open Activity Monitor, either by searching in Spotlight (Command-Space) or opening it from /Applications/Utilities/Activity Monitor.
Search for "adobe".
Select each relevant result and click the "X" octagon in the top left, then confirm with the Force Quit option.
Reopen Adobe Application Manager or Adobe Updater, and use it to update or uninstall the two pieces of Adobe software which need to be updated.


Stop multiple alerts for incoming message etc. on iPhone

Settings → Notifications → Messages → Repeat Alerts and set it to Never.

For what it's worth, the default setting of repeat once means that an unread message notification will alert twice unless a subsequent message arrives or you read the message, the latter of which can be from the lock screen. This only applies to messages, not other alerts/events, and only once more than the normal notification, not continuously.

An important distinction from what you said about unlocking — you don't need to unlock, you just need to interact, so any of these will disable the second alert:

being the one to turn the phone on with the sleep/wake button
sleeping the phone after a notification with the sleep/wake button rather than letting the device time out
3D Touch on a notification
dismiss the notification


As far as I know, nobody has found a way to edit the system layouts directly. Making a custom layout via Ukelele is the way to go.


Photos App: iPhone Photos not showing up when attempting to import

When I plugged in my iPhone this morning, it asked me if I wanted to share my photos with this device (meaning my computer). I clicked on "Yes", and the problem was solved.

I thought the problem may be one where my iPhone didn't trust my computer to share the photos, but I couldn't find anything on the iPhone or my Mac. I checked iTunes too, but didn't see anything.

Once I gave my Mac permission to see my photos and everything is now fine.


How to reverse the F keys default functionality

System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard tab -> check "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys"

UPDATE: If you have a touch bar Mac you'll want System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Keyboard tab -> "Touch Bar shows" -> "F1, F2, etc. Keys"


How to share Family calendar with non-family member?

You can share a Calendar with anyone in your contacts list…

Right click the calendar in the list on the left > Sharing Settings…

Start to type the name & select from matching contacts

As I recall [it's been a long time since I set mine up], they must have an iCloud account to be able to actually use it, so you'd add their mac.com, me.com or iCloud.com address.


How to prevent terminal from printing passwords from keychain?

Well,

PASSWORD=$(get_pw)

assigns the password to PASSWORD so it shouldn't be a surprise that

echo "$PASSWORD"

actually prints it on the Terminal.

The idea here is not to print it but to use it in another command to pass it on (as the example in the page you've linked to does). Even then the password is still visible in ps -E though.


Bluetooth doesn't work after macOS Mojave update

I tried all available methods.

Deleting files from:

/Library/Preferences - com.apple.Bluetooth.plist
~/Library/Preferences/ByHost - com.apple.Bluetooth.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
and after reboot

To reset your Mac’s Bluetooth module
Tried through safe mode.
Created a new user.
Turned off the wifi
Made a clean install.
Install Catalina
Return from backup 10.14.5
After replacing the bluetooth board.

** Now everything works! **


Does Macbook Pro protect itself from heat?

Short answer

Yes.

Long answer

By Operating Temperature Apple are not referring to the internal temperature of the MacBook Pro. Instead, they are referring to the temperature of the environment in which you're using (i.e. operating) the MacBook Pro.

That's not to say you couldn't use your MBP outside on a hot 35ºC day, but you may run into problems and, if you do, that's when the System Management Controller (SMC) will kick in to protect your MBP.

By the way, your MBP temp of 95ºC is perfectly fine. MBP models usually range from about 40ºC (104ºF) to 100ºC (212ºF) depending on whether the CPU is idle or under load. The SMC is designed to monitor a range of sensors and to manage tasks such as fan speeds etc to ensure your MBP is protected from damage by overheating.

If you're interested, you can also refer to the Intel Mac Temperature Database to see the various temperature ranges reported by users.


Can a low-wattage adapter fully recharge the battery of a turned off MacBook?

Yes, it will charge from a lower-wattage adapter so long as the computer is not burning the energy faster than the charger is providing it.

I personally have a 15" 2016 MBP. It came with an 87W adapter, which I usually leave at work. At home, I have an Anker USB-PD 60W adapter. Typically lack of wattage isn't noticeable, but on a few occasions, while running the MacBook Pro hard, I have noticed the battery is not charging, or even draining. In that case I need to calm things down or plug in the 87W adapter.*

Anything with a USB-PD charger should be able to charge the battery, even the 30W model, though in that case your MacBook Pro may need to be asleep to charge.

*Fun fact, you don't actually need to unplug the 60W adapter in this case, the computer will draw from the higher wattage adapter, and stop drawing from the lower. See this question.

Update in 2020

I've now charged on low-power chargers countless times. I've even recharged overnight with a 3A phone charger when I didn't have anything better. It takes hours but you'll have a full charge in the morning.

Theoretically, the 15" Macbook's 7.2Ah battery would charge in 4 hours assuming 60% efficiency, that the charger actually puts out a full 3 amps, and there is no usage during that time. At 2.4A, you'd be around 5 hours and so forth.


MacBook Pro 2016 15" w/ Touch Bar battery and overheating problems

How did you reset the SMC? There are different processes depending on Mac model. Just to make sure, in your case the process is as follows:

Shut down your computer
Keep the power cable plugged in.
Press at the same time shiftoptioncontrol (on the left side of the keyboard) and the power button
Let go
Turn your computer back on with the power button.

Also, do you actually know what the temperature is? If so, please add this to your question as it's a bit hard for the community to help/comment without knowing what it is. You can use software such as Monit, Fanny (an unfortunate name!) or iStat Menus to measure temperature and fan speed.

Regardless, as a point of reference, this resource (which can be filtered) will give you an idea of the wide range of temperatures that Macs can work with. It may be a bit too early to include any data for your model, but there is a lot of data for MacBook Pro models listed. As an aside, my MBP temp is regularly between 66 and 81 degrees, and my fans are regularly at 6200 RPM when my CPU usage is high.

All that said, if I was in your shoes and confident that it's overheating and the fans aren't activating as they should, then I'd be making a Genius Bar appointment to have them test it. If a Genius Bar appointment isn't possible, and you have the option of returning it, then maybe that's what you should do and buy another one.

Finally, in terms of your battery life, was the 4hr-5hr range just your initial range, or has it only lasted that long consistently? I ask because downloading and copying all the data you needed on your MBP is likely to be a much greater burden on your battery than normal everyday usage.

Feel free to post back if you get any more info or have any other questions.


2015 MBP shutdown/boot problems - "X86PlatformPlugin Result 0" messages

I've had this problem for 2 years across 3 different Macbook Pros. I think it has something to do with the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock.
If I unplug the dock during boot or shutdown, all those X86PlatformPlugin Result 0 messages go away and everything speeds up.

[edit]

I found the problem!

I have a collection of OWC USB3-to-eSATA adapters. One (older Western Digital) drive enclosure is very fussy and apparently had a particular issue with one of the adapter-cable combinations. I swapped out the eSATA cable & adapter for a different set, rebooted the enclosure and viola, everything is happy again.
My theory is that this error at boot/shutdown is indicating an external hardware fault.

The troublesome device tree in my case is Mac > TB3 Dock > USB3 Hub > eSATA Adapter > WD Drive bay

This discovery was after I removed all the 3rd party extensions from my system on a brand new (1 day old) 2019 MBP to no avail.

It should be noted that the WD drive bay was powered down while all this trouble was happening, which suggests that there's still a keep-alive charge running for active sensing to detect plug-replug behaviour


Terminal/iTerm Autocomplete "greyed" functionality?

This is a feature of the fish shell (Friendly Interactive Shell).

fish's scripting syntax is also quite a bit different from bash and zsh's. If you use zsh, you can also try the zsh-autosuggestions plugin on Github.


Does syncing iphone to a new computer erases notes linked to the gmail account?

The erase and sync function is only for items synced from the previous computer in regards to media.
Outlook would have been the only application on a PC that would sync your notes.
So if you haven't used outlook on your PC, then you should be fine to erase and sync.
Also, if they are through your gmail account this will be unaffected even if they are erased, because by signing into the gmail account it will sync the notes over the air which is separate from any syncing with a computer.
Best wishes!


How to stop images in apple mail signature is being magnified

It sounds like there is a DPI limitation in Mail for images in signatures.

This thread on Apple's discussion forums details what one user did to resolve the issue:

  I had 2 things too big in my image settings; the canvas size (which was 14cm long!) and the DPI (which was 300dpi) I have since changed to approx 8cm long and 100DPI and it now displays the logo in the signature without increasing the size of it to fit the size of the window.

I would recommend instead converting to 72 DPI, which is a standard; based on comments I've read elsewhere I believe it's converting higher DPI images to 72 DPI, which in turn causes the image size on-screen to increase.


How to check which files are not in iTunes library, but are in iTunes folder?

You could move the location of your iTunes Media folder, which will only move those files actually in the iTunes library.

It may take a while, even if the source and destination are both on the same drive (it's still got to tell the OS to move each file individually), but should leave behind any files that aren't in the library.

The iTunes Media folder location is set in iTunes Preferences, under the Advanced tab. This will of course only work if you have "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" checked (which judging by your question is the case).

I would suggest something as simple as changing just the name of the folder it's currently set to (i.e. keep it somewhere in your home folder, or whatever drive it's currently on), and then move it back after you've cleaned out the 'orphaned' files.


Disk diagnostic and repair utility for Mac that works with all kinds of storage devices?

Drive Genius

A personal favorite of mine, Drive Genius will do everything you're looking for with style. It's also used by the Apple Store folks, just so you know.


Starting from a working setup

A working setup is disk, or full-disk image with multiple partitions (FDI hereafter), where the OS and its recovery partition is known to be correct, most likely because it was created by the OS Installer. As mentioned in the comment, asr is enough to handle copying both partitions in this case.

Assuming the source OS and recovery partitions are disk3s11 and disk3s12, respectively, I recommend the following procedure:

Shrink the OS partition to its minimum size. This isn't necessary, but I suggest doing it when you can never be sure if the user's target partition will be as big as the one you're using.

$ diskutil resizeVolume disk3s11 limits

... (minimum size will be mentioned here) ...

$ diskutil resizeVolume disk3s11 24GB

Create appropriately-sized temporary FDI as a sparsebundle. Remember, the Recovery takes extra 650 MB over the system partition, and EFI takes another 210 MB. So I'll add an extra GB to the size used in step 1 just to be safe. The catch here is, hdiudil support only binary prefixes (1024 for k, etc.). In this example, 25 GB = 23.29 GiB.

$ hdiutil create -layout GPTSPUD -type SPARSEBUNDLE -size 23.29g /tmp/temp_FDI

created: /tmp/temp_FDI.sparsebundle

Attach the image without mounting it (it would fail, since the partition was not formatted). Take note of the /dev/ entry for the Apple_HFS partition.

$ hdiutil attach /tmp/temp_FDI.sparsebundle -nomount

/dev/disk5              GUID_partition_scheme
/dev/disk5s1            EFI
/dev/disk5s2            Apple_HFS

Run asr with the image's empty partition as the target. You'll have to enter full path to /dev/... entries. Also, since the source is a physical disk, elevated privileges are necessary. You should see the tool finish with 2 rows of Restoring... progress.

$ sudo asr restore --source /dev/disk3s11 --target /dev/disk5s2 --erase  --noverify

    Validating target...done
    Validating source...done
    Erase contents of /dev/disk5s2 ()? [ny]: y
    Validating sizes...done
    Restoring  ....10....20....30....40....50....60....70....80....90....100
    Restoring  ....10....20....30....40....50....60....70....80....90....100

Finally, create a compressed read-only image from the sparsebundle. Use the sparsebundle's "whole disk" /dev/ entry (/dev/disk5).

$ hdiutil create -format ULFO -srcdevice /dev/disk5 -o /tmp/OS_X_10.11-combined_FDI2.dmg

...
Elapsed Time:  2m 33.743s
File size: 8000565446 bytes, Checksum: CRC32 $5D496986
Sectors processed: 48842670, 38032196 compressed
Speed: 120.8Mbytes/sec
Savings: 68.0%
created: /tmp/OS_X_10.11-combined_FDI2.dmg

You may wish to use UDZO format if you need your image to be compatible with older versions of OS X and their respective Recovery environments (ULFO was only introduced in 10.11).

Working from the ground up

It is possible to assemble a "working setup" from single-partition images (images which don't have partition table, and therefore no hint for asr that a particular partition is a Recovery; SPI hereafter). The procedure is not for the faint of heart.

I'm going to assume that I have a compressed, read-only SPIs of both the system partition, and the recovery partition. Shrinking the partitions to minimum size is a whole another can of worms, where using a full-blown UDRW image seems unavoidable. Feel free to suggest a simpler solution.

With that in mind, do a pre-shrink of the system partition image. Readonly image can only be shrunk with a shadow.

$ hdiutil resize -sectors min  OS_X_10.11-system.dmg -shadow /tmp/pre-shrink.shadow

Check the image size, then attach it

$ hdiutil imageinfo OS_X_10.11-system.dmg -shadow /tmp/pre-shrink.shadow

...
    Total Bytes: 27648868352

$ hdiutil attach OS_X_10.11-system.dmg -shadow /tmp/pre-shrink.shadow -nomount

...
/dev/disk7

The size is about 27.65 GB.

Create a sparse image big enough to hold the system and recovery partitions in full size - AFAICT, SPIs cannot be resized and that must be done inside an FDI. With extra space needed for EFI and recovery, we'll need 28.6 GB = 26.64 GiB.

$ hdiutil create -layout GPTSPUD -type SPARSEBUNDLE -size 26.64g /tmp/temp_FDI
$ hdiutil attach /tmp/temp_FDI.sparsebundle -nomount
/dev/disk5              GUID_partition_scheme
/dev/disk5s1            EFI
/dev/disk5s2            Apple_HFS

Do an asr restore from the system SPI's /dev/ node into the sparsebundle's data partition.

$ asr restore --source /dev/disk7 --target /dev/disk5s2 --erase --noverify

Now, check the minimum size of the partition using diskutil. Then use resizeVolume to shrink the partition and create the recovery partition in a single step.

$ diskutil mount disk5s2
$ diskutil resizeVolume disk5s2 limits

... (minimum size will be mentioned here) ...

$ diskutil resizeVolume disk5s2 24GB JHFS+ Recovery %recovery% Free\ Space dummy 1m

Restore the recovery SPI into the new  partition on the FDI. It will probably get mounted, so unmount it. You can work with the image directly.

$ asr restoreexact --source /path/to/OS_X_10.11-recovery.dmg --target /dev/disk5s3 --erase --noverify

...
$ diskutil umount disk5s3

Here's the tricky bit - dump the partition table using the gpt utility, taking note of the recovery partition's start and size values. Delete the record for the recovery partition, and re-add it with modified type GUID. You will know which record is for the recovery partition by the index ("disk5s3"), and by its size (shown here in 512 B sectors).

$ gpt show disk5
...
   47546784    1269536      3  GPT part - "Recovery"
...
$ gpt remove -i 3 disk5
$ gpt add -b 47546784 -s 1269536 -t 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC disk5

Optional: I also recommend changing the partition name (set to "disk image" by default) to match the system partition's volume name.

$ gpt label -i 2 -l "OS X 10.11" disk5

Now, since hdiutil resize doesn't work with sparsebundles the way we'd need, you can either:

Leave it at that. It's not like the free space consumes anything. Continue with step 5 in the Working setup scenario.
Convert the temp_FDI.sparsebundle image to UDRW, and try to properly shrink that. I haven't tested that and the need to write out the entire size image for this step makes the whole exercise pointless.
Treat the sparsebundle existing at this point as a disk with optimally-shrunk system, and perform the first scenario on it, skipping step 1. Ie. create another sparsebundle image, and run asr, which will this time copy both partitions into the new image, and convert that to ULFO image.

Restoring

Steps for restoring from the created image:

Mount the image using

# hdiutil attach /tmp/backup_image.dmg -nomount

Start the restore, either by:

Use the "Disk Utility" app, restoring from the partition in the backup_image to the partition on your drive (the one in Sierra just works, restoring the Recovery partition too: you will see two Restoring/Verifying steps)
Use asr, similarly as described above:

$ asr restore --source /dev/disk1s2 --target /dev/disk0s4 --erase  --noverify


Can you see notification messages again once you tapped on the messages?

Once a notification is removed from Notification Center, it is no longer available. Notifications are not stored historically elsewhere.


Completely reinstall everything on Mac mini

Restart the machine, while holding ⌘ Command⌥ Option R. The option key gives you the latest supported version of macOS rather than what it shipped with. Then follow the prompts to reinstall a new macOS.

As long as you have a backup of your needed documents and settings I would also erase the drive with disk utility within the process of reinstalling, that will ensure nothing is left over from a potentially damaged OS install.


2011 MacBook Pro display shows vertical lines and then reboots

Is this the indication of failing graphics card?

It could be, yes. The reboot is most likely a kernel panic due to the failing GPU. This, along with the screen distortion, constitute classic signs of failure. It's not the only possible diagnosis though. Though unlikely, it could still be that your GPU is fine and the Display is broken.

  How do I diagnose?

As soon as you log in, take a screen shot. If the distortion appears on your screenshot, then the problem is with your graphics processor and you to get your logic board replaced. If the distortion does not appear on the screenshot, then the issue is with your display and you need to get your display replaced.

  How do I resolve?

This is either a graphics processor issue or a display issue. I highly suspect the former. Either way, it is a hardware issue for which no online troubleshoot exists. Since this machine is well out of the warranty (and AppleCare) timeframe, it would cost $500-1000 to fix it directly through Apple if you elect to do so. Best of luck.


How to copy files to an SD Card without macOS metadata files?

These days most systems ought to be smart enough to simply ignore them if they don't know what they are.

macOS will put those 3 files [& more in some circumstances] on every disk it ever sees, whether you want it to or not. There is, as far as I'm aware, no way to prevent this - all you can do is try to delete them right before ejecting the disk.

There's a bash script on Superuser - How do I keep Mac OS X from saving hidden files on my flash drive?
 which would appear to do this, though idk how many times you are going to have to authorise the sudo command; hopefully once per session not once per disk.

Personally, I invested in the paid alternative, BlueHarvest, which does the same thing in a 'set & forget' manner & is customisable for different drive types & purposes..

  Built-in support for deleting: .DS_Store, ._AppleDouble, .apdisk, .AppleDouble (folders via smb), .com.apple.timemachine.donotpresent, .fseventsd, .Spotlight-V100, .TemporaryItems, .VolumeIcon.icns, $Recycle.bin, Desktop.ini, Icon?, Thumbs.db


How to make a bootable disc in Yosemite?

Locate the .iso file you want to burn and place it on your Desktop:

Navigate to to Disc Utility (Applications -> Utilities -> Disc Utility)

Once Disc Utility is opened, drag and drop the .iso file into the side panel and highlight the .iso file:

Click Convert located at the top:

Under Convert use the settings of Where: Desktop, Image Format: DVD/CD master and Encryption: none and choose Save:

Drag and drop the .cdr file from your desktop into the side panel and select the .cdr file:

Enter a new disc
Click Burn located at the top and you should be prompted to burn the .cdr to the disc:


Yes if you use it, it takes longer to charge because your usage consumes power as well. OTOH I doubt whether you will notice a huge difference when you only have 20 minutes left to charge.


iMessage and FaceTime won't activate IOS 7

Attempt to reset your settings via Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings. It will not erase your data, but you should have a backup before your attempt it. If the issue persists, "Erase all content and settings" from the same menu, which will erase all of your data. You would have to then restore from a backup.


Can I download a song twice without paying a second time in iTunes?

If you log in to the iTunes Store with the same Apple ID, you can. Go to the Purchased section (located in the sidebar on the main page) and re-download any songs you wish.


How can I quickly navigate through man pages in the Terminal

If I understood you correctly, you want to skim through manual pages more efficiently.

By default, man uses less as its pager. In less, you can use:

Space or f or Control ⌃-f to advance one page
d or Control ⌃-d to advance half a page
b or Control ⌃-b to go back one page
u or Control ⌃-u to go back half a page

You can get the full list of less keyboard commands in its manual page. If you don't like the default pager, you can set MANPAGER or PAGER environment variables to specify a different program for controlling the pagination of man pages that are longer than one screen.


The files cannot be "converted," but you can extract them; if the .exe was originally written in Java, this SO question should help. Basically, it explains that some Java to EXE packagers/compilers make them difficult to extract for various reasons.

Note that extracting the .jar files may or may not be legal, depending on the license included with the application.

JAR files are Java ARchives that contain a Java program's resources and class files, and EXE files are compiled executables. Already-compiled EXE files cannot be extracted of their original .jar files, but if they were only wrapped, you should check out JSmooth.

If you merely want to run the EXE file on your Air, WineBottler is an excellent Wine wrapper that allows you to run Windows EXE files, or you can install Windows on a virtual machine or using Boot Camp.


Is there a Macbook (or pro) with TB3 USB C ports without butterfly keys

The 2019 MacBook Pro 16-inch computer does not have butterfly keys and includes Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports. There is currently no other model, older or recent, that meets these criteria.


How to connect an iMac 21.7 inch 2009 as a monitor to a MacBook Pro late 2013

You can't.

Only the 27" iMac's from 2009 were able to use Target Display Mode via mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt

How do I connect my Mid-2010 iMac to my Late 2015 Macbook Pro
Use your iMac as a display with target display mode


I think Jaikoz might be a good choice for you. This article also has a pretty detailed list of other options: http://lifehacker.com/the-best-apps-for-automatically-cleaning-up-your-music-1561265062


Mechanical Keyboard stopped working after upgrading to El Capitan

It's related to negotiating USB power requirements I think. I was able to use mine by running it through a powered USB hub.


I'd try putting the phone in DFU mode (Device Firmware Update). It's a method of last resort, but it's worth a try since it's not working now.

http://m.imore.com/how-to-iphone-ipad-dfu-mode


How do I move a folder and contained files in an external volume to another external volume using Terminal

Assuming the mount points are correct

ditto /Volumes/Behemoth/A /Volumes/Galactus/

should work (you had an extra ~ on the source side).

In case you want to move the data (as the text in your question implies)

mv /Volumes/Behemoth/A /Volumes/Galactus/

will work as well (or you just rm -r /Volumes/Behemoth/A after you've successfully copied with ditto).


When you refer to the two options: windows or efi, I assume each is a label given to separate icons that can appear when you hold down the alt/option key at startup. In this context, the label windows is a legacy term. It means you will be doing a BIOS boot of an operating system or operating system installer.

EFI is obviously an EFI boot. The version of EFI is uncertain. I had an interesting discussion with Rod Smith (of rEFInd fame) over at Ask Ubuntu and he was able to convince me that no Mac's have a UEFI. This includes your early 2015 mac book pro. So if you do an EFI boot and everything works, this just means the kali linux distribution was designed to work with your Mac.

As for the USB2 verses USB3 issue, I suppose kali does have USB3 support for a BIOS boot but, does not for an EFI boot. When using a USB2 flash drive, your Mac's USB3 ports operate in legacy USB2 mode.

Funny thing, I have read here at Ask Different where others claim 2015 Mac's can not do Microsoft Windows operating system BIOS boots. I find it interesting that you can with linux.


How do I completely disable HTML5 Video playback on Safari?

My prev attempt at fixing this with AdGuard failed miserably. However, I just found an option in-built in Safari that solves my problem.
My initial frustrations were relating to HTML5 videos, mainly relating to the fact that they continue to auto-play even when Safari was set to not let them. And so I figured let's just disable them altogether. But maybe that was too extreme of an option. This one is a lot better!
The solution

Enable Safari Debug Menu

Run this in a Terminal window. To disable the menu replace the 1 with a 0
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu 1

Restart Safari

Open the Debug Menu, and head over to Media Flags

Enable the Video Needs User Action & Audio Needs User Action

Restart Safari

Now laugh at the puny websites trying their futile attempts to auto-play videos BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

PS: If you are a reddit user, you might just wanna head over to their website and just try it out with these options enabled
Tested on Safari Version 14.0.2 (16610.3.7.1.9)


Yes, frequency spikes like that are normal - it is a feature of these CPU. Intel calls this "Turbo Boost", and allows for for example your 2.8 Ghz Core i7 processor to Turbo Boost up to 3.8 Ghz for peak loads. The CPU automatically handles Turbo Boost, and it is only allowed to happen when all necessary conditions are fulfilled - amongst those are that the temperature is not too high, the power consumption is not too high, and not all cores are actively "busy".

Temperature spikes are also perfectly normal. When the CPU is idle, it uses less power - and thus has a lower temperature than when fully utilizes. The maximum temperature you have recorded is 90 degrees - this is perfectly normal and well within the operating temperature range of the CPU.

As for the abrupt shutdowns of the computer - there are multiple possible causes of this - you haven't really demonstrated that overheating has anything to do with your problem, but check your fans and generally that the machine isn't full of dust. Other possible causes could be battery problems, a faulty sensor, etc.


The slow-motion effect applied to the video in Photos.app is not actually applied to the video file. This means that the 120 fps video remains at 120 fps and is played at this higher fps in Windows.

To slow down the video, use a video editor, either on Windows or on the iOS device (such as iMovie which is free on the 5s) to save the slowed video file.


Is there some kind of certification for Apple developers?

There is no official certification. There are, though, non-Apple-official courses which are highly reputed, such as Big Nerd Ranch's, for instance.


Is there an efficient way to recover un-synced Photo Stream images?

Directly no.

You can go the indirect route. Get all the photos to a computer, clear the photo stream manually, then enroll the computer into Photo Stream to inject the photos back into the stream in whatever order you prefer.

At that point, you can re-attach the iOS devices to the stream.

You might want to poke at the iOS side (restore or otherwise isolate the issue as it might be a software or network issue there - I've tried to break photo stream with bad network connections - lots of photos taken when offline or switching network from WiFi to 3G and back while taking pictures and it seems pretty robust to me and unbreakable when the software is working properly)


How do I get rid of "movies" taking up so much space?

Firstly - do not worry about "Other". This is a catch-all category and will include lots of system-only files, uncategorizable files etc. Unless these are stored within your user home directories then don't worry about them.

According to OSX Daily, the summary overview in Disk Utility will give a total for all video files - anywhere on the disk. Some of these may be in iTunes locations (including podcasts and iTunes U). A small few will be videos within system locations such as /System/Library/Compositions. You may find that a large number are part of your installed applications and their support libraries (this will depend on which applications you have installed, of course).

One way of searching for these video files is to use the Finder search box and type 'movie', then select 'kind = movie' from the system suggestions dropdown. Make sure that you select 'This Mac' for your search scope, and you should see all the files and their locations. There are lots of disk usage-reporting apps available to make this process simpler.

Don't delete any files within /System or /Library.
Don't delete any
files within /Applications or /Library/Application Support unless you
accept the risk of breaking those apps and reinstalling them.


How to disable default alt-left / alt-right keyboard shortcuts for Numbers.app

You can edit the plist directly:

defaults write com.apple.iWork.Numbers NSUserKeyEquivalents '{"Add Column Before"="\0";"Add Column After"="\0";}'

It overwrites custom shortcuts set in System Preferences, but you could also edit the plist in a text editor after converting it to XML:

plutil -convert xml1 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iWork.Numbers.plist


Whatever development environment you're using, you can probably explicitly set it to use JDK 6, by setting $JAVA_HOME or changing preferences in an IDE like tor commented. But if that doesn't work for you, here's how to get JDK 6 back as the system default.

The Apple JDK 6 is installed on your machine; it's just being masked by the newer JDK 7. OS X's Java indirection layer will prefer newer versions. You can verify that it's there by doing /usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.6.

The Oracle JDKs live in /Library/Frameworks. You can remove them by just deleting them.

sudo rm -rf /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/*.jdk
sudo rm -rf /Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin
sudo rm -rf /Library/PreferencePanes/JavaControlPanel.prefpane

You're out of luck on the Java Preferences. Apple removed it in an update. But when you eventually install a newer Oracle JDK again, you'll get a Java control panel with similar functionality.


Kernel task takes about 500% CPU after connecting external monitor

I would suggest moving your charging plug from the left side of the MacBook Pro to the right side. Similarly you can experiment with plugging in the monitor on the other side.
The two sides have different reactions in terms of temperature, so on one side it might not make much difference - and on the other side it could be just above the threshold that triggers an attempt to lower the temperature by making kernel_task occupy the CPU (in idle mode) to save power.


Launch Terminal, and type or paste the following command:

sudo mdutil -E /

reindex the spotlight database for everything on the computer, (it might take a while)

Terminal may ask you for your password


How can I install OS X Lion on a new HDD?

If you have a copy of Lion already downloaded you can use the instructions here to create your own. The installation image is in the downloaded package and can be restore using Disk Utility.

  Add the InstallESD.dmg image to Disk Utility
  Select empty USB drive and go to restore tab
  Make the InstallESD the source
  Make the USB Drive the target
  Click Restore

Alternatively you can purchase a Lion install USB drive from your local Apple Store or online here for $ 70.00.

If you only redoing the actual OSX partition and already had Lion installed, you can use Cmd+R during boot to access the Recovery partition which will allow you to download OSX Lion or restore from Time Machine.

Mountain Lion is only available to registered developers with access to the Mac Developer Section, but the manual process above works exactly the same.


Function to turn text into voice while using skype or similar on iPhone

A cursory search of the App Store reveals iSpeech, which is basic and doesn't have the greatest reviews, but looks like it will suffice. There are many more applications available simply search "text to speech" on the App Store.


Meaning of Time Machine configuration keys Interval, Delay and GracePeriod

From https://www.baligu.com/pondini/TM/13.html and based on the default values of Interval, Delay and GracePeriod one could conclude that:

GracePeriod (with default of 30 minutes) determines the following effect: Restarting your Mac will reset the TM schedule, but it won't run a backup immediately, even if it's more than an hour since the last one. It will wait about 30 minutes, to avoid conflicts with other things that may run automatically, or manually by the user, after startup.
Delay (with a default of one hour): When your Mac wakes from sleep, it will do a backup immediately, unless one was done within the previous hour. That will reset the schedule.
Interval (with a default of one hour): TM will start the next backup an hour after the start of the previous backup, if your Mac is awake and the backup drive is available.


iTunes Home Sharing: Shares Entire Library Instead of Selected Playlists

Confusingly, the Sharing preferences have no effect on Home Sharing, which is a separate sharing mechanism altogether.

The main advantage of Home Sharing is that it allows copying from one Library to another; the disadvantage is that as yet, you don't get to control which playlists are shared.


Accessing Gmail via IMAP using Lion's Mail client

Firstly, if you're using Gmails two-factor authentication, you'll need to setup a one-time password for Mail.app to use.  From the look of it, you are not using this feature but you probably should and so should everybody else so I'll include the steps for completeness.  You can create a new one-time password by going to your Google Account settings (not Gmail settings).  You'll see a section like the one in the image below.

Click on the 'Edit' beside 'Authorising applications & sites' and enter your google account password when prompted.  You'll be brought to a page where near the bottom you can name the app you're creating a one-time password for and then click create password.  See image below.

Your password will be generated, spaces in it don't matter so you can just select it and copy to the clipboard.  Then open the Mail.app and if you don't get the dialog for adding an account, you can bring it up by clicking Mail > Preferences and you can click the '+' symbol at the bottom-left to add a new account.  Put your gmail address, including 'gmail.com' in the 'Email Address' field and you newly generated one-time password in the 'Password' field and hit Enter.
Mail will connect to the server and validate then setup your account.
Click 'Create' when prompted and you're ready to go.

Now, to manage the mail that your Mac will download and store locally you go to the Advanced tab for the account.  There is a dropdown (pictured below) which allows you to select what Mail will download.

If you don't want to download all mail and attachments, change the default to one of the other options shown below.

If you select 'All messages and their attachments' this will download every email you've ever sent/received which still exists in your online gmail account.  This is the default and probably the reason you exceeded your limit.  This should be a one-off problem though if you downloaded them all and this is what you want.
If you select 'All messages but omit attachments', it will still download every mail you've ever sent as above, just without the additional bulk of attachments.
If you select 'Only messages I've read' then Mail won't download unread messages, leaving you to read your unread mail on gmail in your web browser.
If you select 'Don't keep copies of any messages' then you will only ever see mail in your Mail app when you are online.  Essentially this will function as if you're using your web-based email account on gmail.com but through the Mail app.  This means you don't use lots of storage on your Mac, but it also means you need to have an internet connection to use your account.

I hope that clarifies your choices and helps you choose the best option which suits your needs.  Also, if you're going to use IMAP, which you probably should, you should stop using POP.

In GMail settings, you can also limit the number of mails which can be held in an IMAP folder to various limits between 1000 and 10000


Auto Proxy Discovery works either via DHCP or via DNS queries to find out where to fetch a special file called "wpad.dat" or "proxy.pac".

Further reading: Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Protocol

Neither your localhost nor the remote AWS instance is configured as valid proxy in your DHCP or DNS-server (if you run any of them at all - most routers don't count because you can't configure DHCP options and/or it's only a DNS-proxy server).

You have to configure the proxy manually - either in the browser settings or in System Preferences > Network > choose interface > Advanced... > Proxies.


Weird LCD / Boot problems on my MacBook Pro Late 2011

This is probably caused by the famous GPU problem these MacBook have. Do a search on Google for Late 2011 MacBook GPU problems and you will find loads of information about this. Apple finally recognized the manufacturing error and has a program in place to replace the logic board under warranty.
I had mine replaced a couple months ago with no costs at all.


Contact's numbers not formatted correctly on my Verizon iPhone 4S

My Verizon iPhone 4S appears to have been in some sort of international mode by default.

The fix is to 'Program' the phone via Verizon's system:

Open Phone and dial *228. This is the Verizon over-the-air
programming number.
When the system answers, press 1 for "Program or activate your phone"
Wait through the music for the call to disconnect. You should get a prompt stating something like, "Service Update Complete"
Open the Task Manager and kill the Phone, Message, and Contacts Applications
Wait a few minutes (I waited 3 just to be extra safe)
Open the Message App to verify the fix.

Source

Edit: I had to do this again on December 2nd (perhaps because my carrier profile was updated?).


If you just typed in the  exports into the terminal as noted above then the variables in the environment will only last until you exit that terminal session. So simply typing exit and then reopening another terminal will remove any setting that you applied with the noted exports performed in your question.

export MAGICK_HOME="/Library/ImageMagick-6.7.5/"
export PATH="$MAGICK_HOME/bin:$PATH"
export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH="$MAGICK_HOME/lib/"

Additionally you can un set variables from the environment by using the unset command.

For example:

unset MAGICK_HOME # will remove MAGICK_HOME from the environment.

You can do it for the others as well but if you do it for PATH you will lose your path setting until you close this terminal session and reopen a new window,etc.

As an experiment try typing:

env | grep MAGICK_HOME

You should see MAGICK_HOME=/Library/ImageMagick-6.7.5/ echoed back if its still in the environment. If its not then the settings have already been lost by a windows close. etc re-enter your export of MAGICK_HOME and try the above command again.

then

exit

and then finally re open a new terminal window and enter:

env | grep MAGICK_HOME

Your settings should be gone for MAGICK_HOME. The same is true for the modification done to all the other environment variables set with the export command right in a terminal session. They will just return to their default values if you have not set them in a start-up invocation file as required for your shell environment variables to have a more permanent place in your shell enviorment.