How to retrieve data from my old Apple ID?

First try changing your iTunes account password via your computer.

Then try logging in again.

If that doesn't work, then try changing the date on your phone temporarily. Go to Settings > General > Date and Time > Set Automatically > Off. Set the date one year ahead. Then try and see if it accepts your password.

If you still can't sign in, contact Apple Store Customer Service at 1-800-676-2775.


Boot in verbose mode to see what is so slow. Then check your backup, actually do a backup before anything else. Failing storage is a likely culprit and slowing io is the bellwether indicator if you get one at all.

Also, your isolation steps are superb. Remove all accessories, clean install, etc...

lastly, check for io errors in console.app. Verification can show no unrecoverable errors well past the point where rewrite and other mechanisms are compensating for failures in the storage.

If all that fails, start benchmarking RAM, network and CPU. Process List App

Also, check for swap: High memory usage, macbook pro retina feeling sluggish


Wiping the first 1.5 GB of a disk does rather a lot of damage, and data recovery may require a lot of effort. So if it is "just" a backup and you have no urgent need to access any deleted files, it might be easiest to just reformat the disk using Disk Utility and reconnect the disk to Time Machine afterwards.


Does windows installed via bootcamp only have access to the partitioned part of the HD?

You should be able to create a new partition within Windows 7, windows can see the whole disk, it can even access the files from you OS X partition using tools such as Paragon HFS+


Playing AVI file with XviD codec crashes my VLC and doesn't play on quick time

The problem had nothing to do with VLC or Xvid.. it was a problem with finder (I should have gotten a hint when I couldn't even install Xvid.. I finally found out there was something wrong with finder when I tried to install sublime text 2 and i got the same bogus behavior)

this problem is common with osx mavericks.. and the solution is to go to ~/Library/Preferences/ and delete com.apple.finder and com.apple.doc (the second one may or may not exist, but that's the instructions i got anyways).. then rebooting your computer..

after that everything works fine.


How can I play Blu Ray discs with my MacBook?

VLC 2 on Mac has experiment support for BD playback. That should work with an external drive of your choice. If you don't need a native player, you can always run a VM and have your pick of Linux or Windows Blu Ray player software.

Vlc can't play decoded commercial Blu-ray discs as I know. But Macgo have got the BDA license already and can decrypt Blu-ray codes legally.


A general explanation on how the Turbo Boost feature is supposed to work may provide you some insights.

Essentially, central processing units (CPUs) are designed to operate up to a certain thermal design power (TDP). The factors within a processor's TDP include power, temperature, etc. So, at the risk of oversimplifying things, the TDP is the maximum amount of power the processor is supposed to use.

Intel's Turbo Boost function is dynamic. That is, it can scale up the processor speeds depending on how much thermal headroom is available. This process works independently of operating system, so it's purely a function of the Intel CPU and works the same way regardless of operating system.

In theory then, if you're running a 3D rendering program it'll probably only operate at its base clock speed because all ten cores will be used. However, if you're going to run software that only needs/uses two cores, then the other eight cores go into a low power state and the ones actually being used can utilise the turbo boost function to run at faster clock speeds.

The other factor that can come into play is the type of computations being performed. These days our computers can allocate certain tasks to the GPU instead of the CPU because the GPUs are better placed to perform those types of computations.

Going back to your situation, without knowing what else the iMac Pro is doing, how close it is to its thermal design power, the specifics of your single-core computations, or the working environment (ambient temperatures, etc), no-one here can provide a 100% definitive answer as to why the Turbo Boost feature isn't kicking in, or reaching its maximum potential. There are just too many variables that could be at play.


Install Mac OSX on a new replacement hard drive

You need a USB stick with an OSX Installer loaded onto it.

Before you remove the old hard drive you need to prepare the USB stick so you can install it on the new drive.

Check out the Apple walk-through here.

After installing the OS you can restore your old files from a time machine backup.

The restore partition on the old hard drive could work but you need an enclosure or sled to connect the old drive externally.

Good luck!


Stop my phone from messaging "Good morning" and "Good afternoon" and "You have a new memory" to me

“Good Afternoon” is an example of “Siri Suggestions” and they can be turned off in Settings under “Siri & Search”.
The feature’s goal is to surface content/actions that it thinks will be useful to you in that moment.
Possibly this will get more useful over time, given that your previous OS may have not been recording how you use your phone.

—-
To turn off notifications about suggested Memories in Photos, visit Settings - Notifications - Photos - Memories:


Automatically Trigger Automator through mail

Yes it can:

You can use the normal Mail rules with a perform action: Run Applescript.

Create a normal  Mail rule applescript. But include code to call your automator workflow via the unix command /usr/bin/automator.

The /usr/bin/automator command will run the workflow you point it at and optionally can pass input  onto the workflow using the -i option.

Here is a quick example of a Applescript Mail rule which gets the subject of the email/s and runs a automator workflow that speaks any text passed on to it. In this case the email subject.

The script MUST be saved in: your ~/Library/Application Scripts/com.apple.mail  folder for mail.app to see them.

  You can attach a script to a Mail rule. For example, you could have an
  incoming message trigger a script that copies information from the
  message and pastes it into a database that works with AppleScript.

  Choose Mail > Preferences, then click Rules. Add a rule or select an
  existing rule to edit.

  Choose Run AppleScript from the “Perform the
  following actions” pop-up menu.

  Choose a script from the pop-up menu
  of scripts that are located in ~/Library/Application
  Scripts/com.apple.mail.

  Or choose “Open in Finder” to open the folder
  so you can copy a script into the folder first.

  If you later move or rename the
  script, your rule will not work.

  Click OK to save the rule.

The example Applescript for the Rule

(Change the  workFlowPath property to reflect the full path to your Automator workflow file)

property workFlowPath : quoted form of ("/Users/YourUserName/Library/Application Scripts/com.apple.mail/mailSpeakTest.workflow") --CHANGE THIS TO YOUR FULL WORKFLOW FILE PATH example  "/Users/joeblogs/Library/Application Scripts/com.apple.mail/mailSpeakTest.workflow"

    using terms from application "Mail"
        on perform mail action with messages theMessages for rule theRule
            repeat with eachMessage in theMessages
                (*Get the email Subject *)
                set input_Argument to subject of eachMessage
                (*Run subroutine for workflow *)
                my runAutomator(input_Argument)
            end repeat
        end perform mail action with messages
    end using terms from

    (*Workflow  Subroutine *)
    on runAutomator(input_Argument)

        (*Path to workflow *)

        (*Setup and Run the unix command *)
        set command to "/usr/bin/automator   -i " & quoted form of input_Argument & space & workFlowPath
        do shell script command
    end runAutomator

The Automator workflow is simply


I had an issue with backups not completing and I solved it by deleting the partially created backup folder.

First turn time machine off (System Preferences > Time Machine > Off)

Navigate to /Volumes/VOLUMENAME/Backups.backupdb/COMPUTERNAME/, where you will see a list of folders dated by when the backup was created. If you see a folder with .inProgress in the name, move it to the trash.

Turn time machine back on and complete a backup. If it fails again, I'd recommend taking a look at the resources here: http://pondini.org/TM/C10.html


Three options

use iTunes to sync. To do this, connect your iOS device to your Mac and launch iTunes. Locate your device from the list that appears on the left column. Now select the tab named "Books". Make sure the sync button is checked. Since Preview is installed by default on iMacs, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini, after syncing your PDFs will be accessible from Preview. Benefits of using iTunes to sync is you can manage what PDFs appear on your device (and how much space they take).
use email. Launch iBooks app on your iOS device and make sure you select the bookshelf view (where your PDFs are displayed on a "shelf"). That means, open the file you want to share. At the top you will see 3 buttons(left to right):  Library, Index and Share button. Touch the share button (looks like a folder with an arrow coming out) and then Email. Type in your email address and touch Send when done. Note: some email providers impose limits on attachments so you may have to email PDFs a few at a time.
use Dropbox (Dropbox account required). Sign up for a new account at Dropbox.com, then download the free Dropbox app onto your iOS device. Follow the helpful instruction to upload your photos. Note that these PDFs will be available/synced to all Dropbox client apps that log in using your username and password.


Mission Control Application Windows Not Updating

Through experimentation, I have learned this:

If you clear the recent items menu on an applications "File" menu these preview thumbnails remain along with recent items when you right-click on the applications icon in the Dock.

However, if you then "killall Dock" from the terminal both the preview thumbnails and the right-click menu in the Dock get cleared. I believe if you were to log out and back in or restart they would also be cleared.

I am speculating here, but it is possible if you clear the recent menu and wait a day there may be a cleanup script that runs and resets the preview thumbnails and the right-click icon menu.

Hopefully, this is helpful to someone else that finds this behavior irritating.


First, you can only merge pdf if they are not protected, if this is the okay :

Open both pdf
Enable the sidebar in each windows of Preview, then select "Thumbnails" view
Drag & drop the cover (inside the sidebar) of one pdf into the sidebar of the other pdf.

With this method, you can completely merge two pdf or selectively drag & drop the pages you want to merge to create a completely custom new pdf.

You can also extract pages from one pdf still using the same manipulation, but drag & drop to the Desktop.


Mac OS menu clicking slow, numbers down the side

You have accidentally enabled Catalina's new accessibility voice control feature, which lets you control the computer with your voice. The numbers you see are there to use as lables you can speak to exectute the commands. The same feature is also the cause of the slow-down in response.
To disable the feature, open System Preferences from the Apple Menu, go to Accessibility and disable it from there.


Unable to merge partitions or reinstall OSX

You've probably booted the recovery system from the recovery partition of the partition you're trying to merge/delete, so the recovery partition is getting in the way of repartitioning.

How I'd handle this situation depends on whether you've got another Mac and an appropriate macOS installer app handy.

Assuming this is your only Mac, as a safety net, I'd install macOS to an external drive of some kind. A spare USB HDD, or a large enough flash drive (USB stick, SD card, etc.) will do the trick - 32GB is plenty, 16GB is in theory enough too but I'm not sure the installer will allow it. Then I'd boot from that external OS instance and download the macOS installer app from the App Store, or check that the external OS has a working recovery environment. Wipe the internal drive - if Disk Utility won't cooperate, use the command line equivalent: diskutil erase (after checking the disk number, e.g. disk0, using diskutil list).

The macOS installer should now make the freshly erased internal SSD available as an install target.

If you've got another Mac and an appropriate cable handy, the easiest solution is probably creating a macOS installer flash drive using the other Mac and then booting that installer on your MBP. You can then erase the disk using either Disk Utility or diskutil from the installer environment's Terminal, and select the freshly erased disk in the installer.


What is writing all these files and folders to my Documents?

A few things for you to try:

Per this SO link, do lsof path-to-filename to list all processes accessing that file. There's also a frontend to lsof called Sloth. The problem with this is if the programme doing the writes only edits the file momentarily (like if it did touch foldername) then you probably wouldn't see it, since lsof only lists current processes' access to the file.

Alternatively, get FSeventer (direct download link from archive.org - in my (klanomath's) opinion the only reliable source), which graphically monitors filesystem IO events. You could probably set it to run on your documents folder and then wait for one of those writes to happen, although based on your description that may take a while. The website for FSeventer seems to be down right now :(, but if/when it goes back up it may be able to solve your problem. FSeventer isn't really ElCap ready and often fails to work after the first launch - usually it works after launching it a second time.


Using Magsafe 1 85w 18.5v adapter for MacBook Pro 2015 15''

Apple says:

  The MagSafe to MagSafe 2 Converter allows you to use the MagSafe connector on your LED Cinema Display, Thunderbolt Display, or MagSafe Power Adapter to charge your MagSafe 2-equipped Mac computer.


There is a Terminal command to generally prefer plain text E-Mails over rich format. However, I haven't tested it under Catalina.

defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool TRUE


Here's some basic steps to try to get the update downloading again (via iGleeksBlog).  You didn't mention what you've already tried so I'm assuming you didn't try any of these yet:

1. Network Reset
One of the first things you should make sure of is a stable network.
If you’re on cellular or spotty Wi-Fi, there can be problems when your
iPhone tries to contact Apple’s servers to download the update.
Once you are stuck at “Update Requested…”, it’s best to turn off the
networks on your iPhone and reconnect it. If you are on a 3G or LTE
data network, try to switch to a stable Wi-Fi service before updating.
2. Hard Reset
If network is not the issue, you can try doing a hard-reset to get the
update working again. To hard-reset your iPhone/iPad:
Press and hold the Power and Home button till the screen goes black
Now, press the Power button to boot the iPhone/iPad After you
hard-reset, check the Software Update page again. Either the “Update
requested” changes to downloading or you get to start all over again
to download and install the update.
3. iTunes
If you see the “Update requested” for hours after you’ve initiated the
update, and all the above methods haven’t fixed it, there’s probably
only one way of getting the update done – via iTunes. Surely, this
beats the very purpose of an OTA (simplicity) but given that the
iPhone is stuck in the update, you might want to switch to the old
method.
Connect your iPhone to the PC/Mac, fire up iTunes and from the Summary
tab, click on Update. In most cases, iTunes will automatically show a
pop-up that says there’s an update for your iPhone/iPad.


Can't connect to any apple servers, third party apps have trouble connecting

Just found a solution to this after a call with Apple. Simply unchecking "Auto Proxy Discovery" did the trick.
Just go into System Preferences > Network > Wifi > Advanced > Proxies > and uncheck "Auto Proxy Discovery".
Seeing as you posted this 3 months ago I'm sure you found a solution, but surprisingly I couldn't find an answer to this anywhere so I thought I'd post for anybody else with this problem.


What formats does Quick Look for iOS support for presenting 3D information?

You probably should look at what is listed here: QLPreviewController
Clipped from the developer site:

A Quick Look preview controller can display previews for the following items:

iWork documents

Microsoft Office documents (Office ‘97 and newer)

Rich Text Format (RTF) documents

PDF files

Images

Text files whose uniform type identifier (UTI) conforms to the
public.text type (see Uniform Type Identifiers Reference)

Comma-separated value (csv) files

As far as I know, the only format that could embed 3D information in the format is the PDF file. But does QLPreviewController render it? I do not know.
Maybe an alternative for you would be to make a WebGL website that you link your customers to?


Multiple non-thunderbolt monitors to MBP-r '12

I've managed to get my hands on some screens now, and even though Apple representatives said it wasn't possible, it indeed is.

I have now 2 (two) Dell U2515H connected and a Lenovo at the same time. On top of that, the screen on the macbook pro is actually on.

The setup is as following!

MiniDP (thunderbolt) --> Dell U2515 DisplayPort
MiniDP (thunderbolt) --> VGA adapter --> Lenovo VGA
HDMI --> Dell U2515 HDMI

It also works with thunderbolt --> DVI and thunderbolt --> HDMI

I've attached a photo to documentate this functionality! Happy multi-monitoring!

Picture proof


How to turn off my speakers when no sound is being played?

You describe the problem as having 11.8 watt on the speakers while there is no sound coming from them.
Try using Mute, to make sure no sound output is send to the speakers.

You also say you have 2 sound outputs one to the monitor via HDMI for the system sounds on external monitor the other to your external speakers true the headphone jack.

That is possible but requires special settings in the System Audio or 3D party audio application.

It is not possible to have 11.8 watt (as measured by your wattmeter) of audio power going to speakers without them making any noise, unless the speakers audio amplifier is junk.

It is possible that your speakers draw power because they have defective audio amplifier. I suggest looking in to it or returning the product.


Why won't transferred video files get detected in PlayerXtreme iPad app?

File transfer doesn't work in iOS like other desktop and mobile platforms. In fact, generally speaking, iOS doesn't treat filesystem as a user accessible entity separate from the installed apps (which is a norm in almost all platforms, even macOS).

The user experience in iOS is focused on apps which are responsible for managing their own data. Inter-app data sharing is done using a concept called extensions.

Each app generally manage it's own data in it's own segregated/sandboxed storage space (which could go up to a maximum of available storage space on device) which is not accessible to other apps. File sharing is a iOS feature using which you can transfer data for an app to and from your computer using iTunes (which is available for macOS and Windows).

However, for File Sharing to work, you'll have to have the app pre-installed on your iOS device before connecting it to your computer. It appears that based on your experience with other platforms, you have assumed File Sharing to work like connected storage device, and transferred the files to a different app which also happens to support File Sharing feature.

Do note that not all iOS apps support File Sharing. It is available only if some of the app features require it and the developer of the app has programmed it.

To remedy your situation, start by installing the app, PlayerXtreme Media Player in your case on the iPad. Once the app is installed, connect your iPad to your computer and launch iTunes. Click on the iPad button shown in the toolbar and then click on File Sharing in the sidebar on the left. All the apps supporting File Sharing are listed under Apps list as shown:

Notice that in the above screenshot, none of the apps listed under Apps list is selected. Now select the desired app (PlayerXtreme in your case) by clicking it. Once you have the app selected, drag and drop the video files from Finder under the area titled PlayerXtreme Documents.

Each app manages its documents separately. If you have accidentally added the videos to a different app, you can't move it between apps directly on iPad. You'll need to delete the videos from the wrong apps documents first and re-add them into the Documents for the desired app (PlayerXtreme in your case). Here, for example, I have added a video and the corresponding subtitle file to VLC app documents:

The video will be available only in VLC app on my iPad and not in PlayerXtreme app. To make it available in PlayerXtreme app, I'll have to copy the files using iTunes into it's PlayerXtreme's documents. You may wish to delete them from VLC app if you do not wish to watch them using VLC.

Also, an important thing to note is that neither iOS or iTunes check if a file type is supported by the app. It lets you transfer any file type into app documents as long as storage space is available on iPad.

Coming from a different platform, you may find this kind of workflow quite cumbersome, but this is by design on iOS and made so keeping user data privacy and security in mind.


Is there a way to connect to office VPN using parallels (windows) but surf on host Mac OS X?

You may be able to share the connection from Windows to Mac, depending upon how it is implemented in Windows. Follow these steps, from this site:

Add a Host-Only network adapter to the guest (Windows).
Launch the Guest (Windows).
Go to a command prompt and type:

ipconfig /all

Note the IP Address of the Host Only adapter. Likely something like 10.37.129.2.
Assuming the VPN shows as a connection in Windows Network Connections, setup Internet Connection Sharing on this adapter. When setting up ICS, choose the Host Only adapter as the Private Network Adapter.
Once that’s done, connect to the VPN.
On the host, add a route to your VPN, specifying the IP address of the Host Only Adapter as the gateway. In this example, the subnet trying to be reached on the VPN is 192.168.40.0/24, and the IP address of the Host Only Adapter is 10.37.129.2, so in a Terminal window you would type the following:

sudo route -n add 192.168.40.0/24 10.37.129.3


How do I change the color in Terminal indicating the use of a dead key?

This isn't a clean fix, but here's a work around:

Keep the Terminal as Black on White but then go to:

System Preferences > Accessibility > Display > Invert Colors

Doing this will change your Terminal (and everything else) to White on Black, but also change the yellow dead key to blue.

You can also turn Invert Colors on and off using a keyboard shortcut if you turn it on in the keyboard preferences:


If iOS's filesystem is case-sensitive then why can't I save a.pages and A.pages?

HFS+ is not case-sensitive.  It is, however, case-preserving.

Your problem is not a problem, it is working as designed.


Sadly, there is no other way to make your phone work. It has to be unlocked first by the Apple ID mentioned on the screen. You should have checked iCloud activation lock status of the phone before purchasing.

If you have the original receipt of the phone from the seller, then you can approach Apple to reset your phone. Otherwise, there is no way to unlock it.


Preventing iPad Pro from getting hot during usage

A strange way that I've gotten around this issue is by placing the iPad on a large heat sink—basically anything that can conduct heat really easily. An example is a laptop (that is turned off!) which can take in a lot of the heat generated from the iPad's body. The iPad needs to be placed in direct contact with the heat sink.

This actually significantly cools down the screen of the iPad, which allows me to place my hand comfortable on the screen while writing. It's still warm, but at least not burning hot.


My external USB Keyboard types wrong Keys on Macbook Pro

I fixed it: STRG+Shift+ALT+N with the wrong mapped keyboard


How to get my old disk back that contains personal data?

I'd say don't worry.

Apple have a reputation to uphold & allowing customers' data to leak wouldn't do that reputation much good at all.

Assume they will safely recycle it.


To suppress the creation of AppleDouble ._ files, use: --disable-copyfile

Example: tar --disable-copyfile -cf file.tar file


It is likely directing you to the Go menu in Finder. It looks like this.

(source: macosxtips.co.uk)


How can I delete cookies for one site in Safari, without deleting local data?

Visit the website, open the developer tools (option-cmd-i, enabled in Preferences → Advanced), choose the Storage tab, then Cookies in the sidebar, and for each cookie, select it in the list and press backspace.


It really depends on the write speed of your flash drive. But it does sound right since (like Sirens pointed out) it's many small files and not one big one.


How to fix memory corruption on 2011 MacBook Air?

You have several options to fix this issue:

Have the board professionally repaired.  This is a common repair that can be done, but it's not economically feasible because the cost of the labor is very high in comparison to what you can get a new MacBook Air for
Swap out the logic board for a known working one (available on eBay for less than $200USD).  This may be a viable option, but keep in mind, your MBA is 8+ years old.  You will be expending money to get another 8 year old machine.
Buy a new machine and transfer your data using an external enclosure.  The 2011 MBAs had a removable SSD that you could remove and put into a replacement machine or you could put it into a USB enclosure so you can extract your data.

Personally, I would buy a new MacBook, MacBook Air/Pro.  I would remove the SSD from the dead machine, put it into an enclosure to extract the data and then sell the 2011 MBA as salvage parts.

  If I buy a new device I would still have to pay for data recovery and
  transfer service, as the old device is non functional

This is what Time Machine backups are for and it's extremely cheap insurance in case of a failure (see the section titled  "A Word About Backing up Your Data").  That enclosure could then serve as a USB drive for future Time Machine backups.


This should work, but might not be ideal - get a pay-as-you-go (i.e., non-contract) SIM with a small amount of credit on it (I suppose not everyone has them lying around) and activate it with that (it needs to be on the same network that the phone is locked to) and then disable all the 'phone' functions. It should then function just fine.


Why is it that my 2014 MacBook pro faster than my 2017 iMac

Pretty much any SSD is going to be much faster than an HDD.
You're looking at much faster read speeds on an SSD.
A typical 7200 RPM HDD will deliver a read/write speed of 80-160MB/s. On the other hand, a typical SSD will deliver read/write speed of between 200 MB/s to 550 MB/s.
Source
But, fret not! You can add an SSD to your iMac.
Here's a link from the Apple's website. Here. I'm sure you can find a DIY guide there somewhere. Or check with your local Apple Authorized Service Provider.
But answering your question, if your 2014 has an SSD and your 2017 has a HDD, the one with the SSD is going to be faster, regardless of the year.


How to type foreign currency symbols on iOS?

You get all the currency symbols except the Baht for free on the US keyboard.

Press and hold the $ symbol and you'll see all the alternates.

To get the Baht symbol - add the thai keyboard and the Baht symbol will be added to the US keyboard. You don't need to switch to that keyboard - just add it. Similarly, you can use this answer to make shortcuts if you please for often used symbols if changing a keyboard is too long for your needs.

How can I insert symbols on iPad or iPhone?


When I run "networksetup -getdnsservers airport" in Terminal, it says There aren't any DNS Servers set on Wi-Fi

First run:

networksetup -listallhardwareports

Look for the en0 or en1 for your WiFi under the Device:

Then run:

ipconfig getpacket en0

Of course if your Wi-Fi is en7, then you need that instead of en0 above. The broadcast DNS and search suffix are provided as output to the above ifconfig getpacket command towards the bottom of the options. If you don't get a packed in response to DHCP then you need to fix that on your network or log in to the router directly to retrieve the proper values.


My Launch Daemon doesn't work despite returning a 0 status

For those who don't want to read through the comments, it was a pretty simple fix after Mark gave me a bit of insight.

Initially, I wrote the vmstatus_startup script to call VM.sh which would then continually refresh the perl script (every 5 seconds). I was attempting to call the shell script from launchctl which just adds layers of complexity.

Instead, calling the perl script directly from the .plist and giving the keep alive key allowed it to run constantly after boot.

Finally, I had to make sure to add the perl directory to the .plist above the location of the script since launchd doens't have a PATH the same way a user does.


KERNEL PANIC recurring after reinstall for Macbook Pro OS X 10.6.8

First try 'verify disk permissions' using Disk utility and verify/repair disk. Also, have you tried with Apple Hardware Test?

The instructions for Hardware Test are detailed here:

Using Apple Hardware Test


How to clone an entire disk with Lion (+Rescue) & Bootcamp Partitions

I know this is not a fully integrated solution, but you can use the tools available on Mac OS X and on the Mac OS install DVD/FlashDrive. You will have to restore both systems separately, but it will save you from having to reinstall everything in Windows and OS X.

Note: If your drive is phisically damaged you might end up with corrupted data or being unable to clone your partitions.

There is a thread here explaining how you can save and restore your Bootcamp partition using only Disk utility and BootCamp: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=997823

It goes along the lines of (parts are just copied):

Use Disk Utility to backup your bootcamp partition to an external drive.
You can also use Disk Utility to backup your Mac OS partition if you didn't use Time Machine.
Install/Restore Mac OS to a new Hard Drive
Use Bootcamp to setup your drive for windows and to allocate the new space.
Use Disk Utility to restore your .dmg image to the new Boot Camp partition you just created. Be sure to run IMAGES --> SCAN IMAGE FOR RESTORE in Disk Utility before restoring. You may need to unmount the Boot Camp partition in Disk Utility before it begins to restore.
Use fdisk in Terminal to mark the Boot Camp partition active. First, enter the fdisk MBR edit mode by running the following:

$sudo fdisk -e /dev/disk0

Ignore the error "could not open MBR file /usr/standalone/i386/boot0: No such file or directory". Then, determine which partition number to mark active by running the following (in bold):

fdisk: 1> show

Your windows partition should be #3 labeled "Win95 FAT-32". Now, mark the partition active:

fdisk: 1> flag 3
Partition 3 marked active.
fdisk:*1> write
Device could not be accessed exclusively.
A reboot will be needed for changes to take effect. OK? [n] y
Writing MBR at offset 0.
fdisk: 1> exit

Now, reboot and hold the OPTION key and Windows should be listed as a bootable option."


A safer way to change the home folder associated with an account is to do so through System Preferences.

Click on the Apple menu, then System Preferences.
Select Users & Groups.
Click the lock at the bottom left and authenticate as an administrator.
Right-click on the account you want to change and select Advanced Options.
Change the "Home directory" path and click OK.


Can a casual user of my iPad set it up to have remote access

It's not really meaningful to provide a blanket "yes" or "no" answer. Instead, let's look at some scenarios.

Unsophisticated attacker -- probably no.

If there is a recent high-risk security problem and you have not yet installed the latest OS update, mmmmaybe.

Limited physical access -- probably no.

If you let the attacker out of your sight even briefly, be a little bit concerned. If they disappeared behind a corner and you catch them connecting your device to a laptop, be very concerned.

Sophisticated attacker -- now it's getting interesting.

Are you a high-profile target? If so, get professional security advice instead of googling random security-related questions. Chances are there's a team of security researchers who is eager to take you on as a research topic if you have reasons to believe you are under attack from a nation-state security agency or similar.
Could you be a "useful idiot" for someone trying to reach a high-profile target? Like, are you personal friends with Lois Lane and Clark Kent? Or are many of your friends the president of Lugunda, or guerrillas from the People's Liberation Front of Elbonia?

There are indications that cybersecurity ops from several countries are equipped to break into systems using "zero-day exploits". This means that there is a security problem which has not yet been communicated to the vendor, let alone fixed with a security update.  We can't rule out the possibility that there is an attacker right here right now who has access to your system using secret back doors. But they are unlikely to risk spending such valuable assets on a low-priority target -- every exposure increases the risk that they could get caught.

Of course, if any of this sounds even remotely plausible, you would not loan your device to strangers in the first place, let alone reveal your password to them.

Though really, there should never ever be a scenario where you reveal your password to anyone. If you did, by all means, yes, change it.


How do I prevent AppleScript from adding .0 to the end of a number?

I figured text 1 thru -3 of variable would work.


How do I use my macbook pro as a monitor for my HDMI device?

I won't say it is going to be impossible to ever use your MacBook Pro as a display for your Raspberry Pi, but I will say it will be impossible to use it as a monitor for a Raspberry Pi that's never been set up before.

Basically there is no hardware way of making the MBP display available to another device. You can use software to do this, but then you would need to have software compatible with whatever operating system you were going to install on the Raspberry Pi. That in itself is feasible enough, but you won't be able to set things up without a display to begin with.

If you have no available display to use, then my recommendation would be to buy a cheap used display from a garage sale or somewhere and use that to set up the Raspberry Pi. In the end it'll save you a lot of time and frustration. Only a few months ago I picked up an old 22" HDMI display for $5 from a garage sale and it's worked perfectly ever since.


There's something clogging up my Startup Disk space, I can't find it even using Disk Inventory X

Do you know how to use Terminal ?
You could install this:
https://github.com/wvangeit/duk
by executing 'pip install duk' using the Terminal.
Then execute 'sudo duk /', and it will show you the space usage on your disk.


Is there anyway to stop Microsoft Office 2016 on macOS prompting for update?

Remove the "/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0" folder, which to place the Microsoft Auto Update (MAU) program.

Update: I found ms-office applicaiton would create the MAU2.0 and Microsoft AutoUpdate.app automatically after some days. You can create a blank file named MAU2.0 in the "/Library/Application Support/Microsoft" folder.

sudo touch "/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0"


Deleted com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist in Mavericks, how to get it back?

Here is the contents of my /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.mDNSResponder.plist from OS X 10.9.1:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.apple.mDNSResponder</string>
    <key>OnDemand</key>
    <false/>
    <key>InitGroups</key>
    <false/>
    <key>UserName</key>
    <string>_mdnsresponder</string>
    <key>GroupName</key>
    <string>_mdnsresponder</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/sbin/mDNSResponder</string>
    </array>
    <key>MachServices</key>
    <dict>
        <key>com.apple.mDNSResponder</key>
        <true/>
               <key>com.apple.mDNSResponder.dnsproxy</key>
               <true/>
    </dict>
    <key>Sockets</key>
    <dict>
        <key>Listeners</key>
        <dict>
            <key>SockFamily</key>
            <string>Unix</string>
            <key>SockPathName</key>
            <string>/var/run/mDNSResponder</string>
            <key>SockPathMode</key>
            <integer>438</integer>
        </dict>
    </dict>
    <key>EnableTransactions</key>
    <true/>
    <key>BeginTransactionAtShutdown</key>
    <true/>
    <key>POSIXSpawnType</key>
    <string>Interactive</string>
</dict>
</plist>

It'd probably be worth running a permissions repair after restoring the file.


How to login when I can't enter my password because "e" key on keyboard doesn't work

Try entering ⌘+option+F5 to bring up the "Accessibility Options" popup window. This window will appear similar to what is shown below.

Select "Enable Accessibility Keyboard", then click on the "Done" button. The on-screen keyboard should appear, as shown below.

Use the keyboard to enter the "E" key or the entire password.


Is there a way to perform integer division in the iOS Shortcuts app?

I haven't found any other way than your suggestion with the module round numbers. I personally think it's a good compromise, because you only need one additional module to the calculation module for your routine.

In the routine you define the method to always round down with 0 decimal places.


make textedit the default app for new file types

macOS is a derivative of Unix, in which all things are represented as a text file, and which program is used to open those files is determined by a "mime type". On macOS mime type associations are stored inside of the corresponding .app file. For example, the data that describes a Microsoft Word Document's (.doc) attributes (i.e. what type of file it is, what the default icon is, etc.) is stored in Word.app>Contents>Info.plist.

The problem this creates is that in order to make all unknown mime types associate with Text Edit.app you would have to manually add their attributes to the Text Edit.app>Contents>Info.plist file, and any new file types you hadn't added would continue to go unrecognized, and would still have no default app to open them.

The benefit this has is that since all things in Unix are represented as text files, you can simply Right Click>Open With>Other...>Text Edit.app, and they will always open as a normal text file, regardless of what extension it has. This is of course less convenient than the solution you asked for, but I'm afraid it is, to my knowledge, the closest thing you will be able to achieve.

Edit: For example, lets say the file type is .foo, you can use Get Info on file.foo, and under the Open With tab use the drop-down menu, and choose Other.... Select TextEdit.app in the Choose Application dialogue. After file.foo's default app has been set, click the Change All... button. From now on all files with the .foo extension will open in TextEdit by default. However, this method presents the same problem as editing the mime-type information directly, in that you will still have to do this for every unknown file type.

For TextEdit to show up in the Open With dialogue at all there has to be information about the file type in TextEdit's Info.plist file. When you open the Open With dialogue it reads "Fetching..." for a short moment. This is because the system is scanning the Info.plist files of all the apps it knows are installed (or rather, it is scanning the index of those files it made the first time each of those apps were run.) to see if any of them contain info about the type of file you clicked on. It then makes a link to each of the apps whose Info.plist files were found to contain that mime-type, which is the list in the Open With menu.

Unix systems do not have the ability to set all unrecognized file types to open with a certain app, because by its very nature this would include files with no extension at all. As previously mentioned in Unix all things are seen by the system as text files, meaning if you set all unknown file types to open with TextEdit.app this would include things like the system programmes stored in the /bin/ and /sbin/ folders, and even certain hardware like the HDD. Now suddenly whenever you try to do anything involving system programmes that don't have an extension at best it just opens a TextEdit window full of gibberish, and at worst the system outright stops responding to any input (locks up), stops booting at all, and has to be reinstalled.


how to see all media in one place in an iphone

Apple iOS runs each app in a sandbox, so in general, no app can see data from any other app. Enhanced security and privacy on iOS over android does come at a cost of data interchange. This design decision also enhances performance and saves battery life since every app isn’t trolling all the others for updates or plundering data it can then upload in efforts to track everything you do and store on your device.

That being said, there are several common file storage API on iOS. If every app you use did store the video/image/data in a common place, there’s no technical reason why you couldn’t have the same unified view.

In practice, you’ll need to manually curate or save off media you want on a case by case basis since most “free” apps like Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook have business models that make sharing content against their best interest. Since consumers are the product instead of the customer of those apps, I don’t foresee huge or quick adoption of common storage on iOS anytime soon - even with iOS 11 making it far easier to use the “generic searchable file system” idiom you mention that common on computers and android os.


View local HTML files using web browser on iPad

Since the files are always local to the app in iOS. You can't open a html with apps like Safari and Chrome to load associated assets (js/images/css).

However, You could use apps like Documents to upload the folder and open in app browser (uiwebview).

Should work if the URL to assets in the html are relative.


Apple Music play count not syncing between iPhone and iTunes

I can only get it to sync when I plug my iPhone to iTunes and sync it manually.


When it gives you the advanced settings option after 2 failed reboots, choose "Restart with Low-Res Video"


How to sync podcasts from iPod Classic to iTunes on other PC?

Found a tedious solution on the Internet:
Add all downloaded episodes to the new iTunes by copying the iTunes library and then select from the File menu "Add files to library". Go into each podcast's folder and select all files to add them to iTunes. Then iTunes will create the podcast with all these episodes, but you then have to subscribe to it again using the context menu on each podcast, so that it will be updated by iTunes.


How can I add a new application to the Open With menu?

Add this to the CFBundleDocumentTypes array in /Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/Info.plist:

<dict>
    <key>CFBundleTypeExtensions</key>
    <array>
        <string>url</string>
    </array>
</dict>

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -f /Applications/TextEdit.app/
killall Finder
Change the default application back to Safari in Finder

If the application is signed, modifying an Info.plist invalidates the code signature. It also makes a few applications like TextEdit and WriteRoom crash on launch on 10.8.


No, Apple won't let you do that, in part because of the way they cache the downloads.


Is using my iPod touch always plugged in an OK thing to do?

It'll probably be fine.

If it's always plugged in, you won't notice any battery decay because the device will always be charged (or pulling off mains power) when you need it.
Any battery decay will probably take long enough that it'll be time to buy a new iPod by the time you notice anything severe.

The easiest way to mitigate this I can think of is to unplug the device over the weekend, remove it from the car, and let it discharge on its own. Then, on Monday, plug it back in and go. This has the added advantage that it's not subjected to the temperature extremes the interior of a car can see over a period of extended non-use.


Surprisingly many network interfaces on macOS: are these legitimate?

These are perfectly normal.

lo is the loopback interface
en0 and en1 are your hardware interfaces (usually Ethernet and WiFi)
p2p0 is a point to point link (usually VPN)
stf0 is a "six to four"  interface (IPv6 to IPv4)
gif01 is a software interface
bridge0 is a software bridge between other interfaces
utun0 is used for "Back to My Mac"
XHC20 is a USB network interface
awdl0 is Apple Wireless Direct Link (Bluetooth) to iOS devices

In my personal setup I have 2 addtional en interfaces (en2 and en3), as well as two software interfaces specific to VirtualBox, vboxnet0 and vboxnet1.  Other virtualization applications like VMware, Parallels, and Docker will create their own interfaces as will VPN clients.


Unknown Error Occurred (-54) Enabling iTunes Match

According to this discussion or this one it seems (-54) is a file-lock problem. The proposed solutions are:

an AppleScript to remove locks

  Open the Script Editor in the /Applications/Utilities folder and run the following:
  tell application "Finder"
  set locked of every item of entire contents of folder "Music:iTunes" of home to false
  end tell

use Terminal to ensure ownership, group, and permissions are correct

use sudo chown your-username your-filename if you don't own the file/folder
use sudo chgrp staff your-filename if it isn't set to the same group as other iTunes items
use chmod 666 your-filename and/or chmod 777 your-folder-name to make sure everyone (and thing) can edit

disabling FileVault if used

In particular, check the permissions on the iTunes/Download folder which is where iTunes will first attempt to download "matched" songs.


Japanese MacBook Stop Switching to Japanese Language

Could it be that you are accidentally hitting the input source switching shortcuts? If so, you can disable them in the System Preferences.

Also, if you find that the input language changes when you switch apps, this is actually normal behavior. By choosing “Use the same one in all documents” in the input source options, you can greatly decrease the chances of this happening. (With the exception of a few apps that seem to ignore/override this setting. Very annoying.)

If you've experienced this problem only when using Japanese keyboards, then I guess there is a different cause. I use US keyboards, but this unintended switching happens to me too. Mostly when switching to Adobe apps.


How do I manually uninstall the Developer Tools?

Yes, simply run the following in Terminal:

sudo <Xcode>/Library/uninstall-devtools --mode=all

Where <Xcode> is the default installation of Xcode, typically:

sudo /Developer/Library/uninstall-devtools --mode=all


Applescript: Comparing variable to string is failing

When you have a list/array of variables and you iterate(repeat) over them, you are getting references to each item - such as "item 1 of names". In other words, you don't directly get the value, you get a pointer to the item in the array. You have to coerce the item reference to it's actual value to compare it.

Try:
if ((currentName as string) is equal to "Top_CPU_Processes) then

Also, if you are using Script Debugger, it's a lot easier to see what goes on with the script, it has much much better debug capability than the Applescript Editor.


I don't know why this is the case, but the USB keyboard does work on boot but only if it's in the second USB port on the back of the iMac.  It's the second from the center of the mac, so the third from the outside.  Every other USB port doesn't work before the Mac has booted up.

Confirmed with other USB devices as well, that port is the only functioning USB port before I boot into macOS.

It might be a hardware issue with this iMac, I don't have any other 2017 iMacs around me to test.

Thanks for the help guys!


iOS App That Delivers Push Notifications for Twitter Hanshtags

iOS apps don't work to filter based on keyword, so you would need an app that has a server side component that reads your stream continually and then sends a push notification to your device.

I would start with IFTTT - https://ifttt.com/ and then look at Pushover - https://pushover.net - if the former doesn't meet your tastes or needs.


how to print or export annotations in a pdf file?

This is probably too late but I think I know the answer, so maybe it'll help someone. What you probably want to do is

Convert notes to skim notes
Go to File > Export > choose File format either Notes as RTF or Notes as text.

This answers your 'export to text document' questions. I don't see how you could print the PDF together with the text in the anchored notes, though.


Where can I find and download of old Garageband loops online?

try icompositions.com and macjams.com they both had some of the previous loops and other loops for free. If the loops were part of GB or logic or final cut pro then you can retrieve them from that software. Old versions of final cut studio 1 and 2 included the jam packs. As did logic among others. You can also try apple through a google search as they did have multiple free loops. eBay is another source or local stores.Local mac user clubs amy also be able to help. Since you owned the content you might try torrents or macserialjunkie.com


Will a Macbook Pro retina 15" from 2012 support WQHD resolution (3440 x 1440)?

I actually tried it, and it worked! Full 3440 x 1440 resolution at 60 Hz using thunderbolt to mini display port.


Why can't I update my iPad to iOS 6 or 7?

Which version of the iPad do you have? Not every version is compatible with every version of iOS; in particular, the first-generation iPad cannot be upgraded to iOS 6+. If that's what you've got, 5.1.1 is the latest version your device supports.

See this table on EveryMac for details of which versions are compatible with which operating systems.


If you haven't already, turn on the sidebar - Option-Command-S - then look towards the top and under Shared, click Activity. Likely there is some activity on a shared album or Photo Stream. It may also be someone inviting you to join a shared album or Photo Stream. (I'm not sure how that would show up in Photos, as I haven't had any invitations since Photos was released.)

Either way I'm guessing once you take a look at that area, the badge will disappear.


How to cd into my local git repo from an AppleScript?

Basically you can use

do shell script "cd my-directory && git init"
do shell script "cd my-directory && git add README.md"
...


Is there a way to change the default save/export format in Preview?

Normally, Preview saves a document in whatever format the graphic image was imported. The only circumstance when a document in Preview has no pre-existing file format is when data is pasted from the clipboard.

There does not seem to be a known preference key for changing the default file format in Preview under this circumstance.

For me (on Mojave 10.14.5), Preview exports JPEG files as .jpg.

Both .jpg and .jpeg are valid file extensions, and there should be no difficulty in having both in a website. If you can't stand the chaos, you can easily batch process files in the Terminal with a script like this:

for file in *.jpeg; do mv "$file" "${file%.jpeg}.jpg"; done

which will work on all files in the current working directory.


Why is adding adding sites to /etc/hosts not blocking them on BigSur?

When this happens, the app you’re using might not be asking Big Sur to look up DNS. For an easy case, you should be able to get Safari to block.  Depending on your browser history and what exactly you type - you may need to block more than “cnn.com”:
127.0.0.1 cnn.com
::1 cnn.com
127.0.0.1 www.cnn.com
::1 www.cnn.com
127.0.0.1 web.cnn.com
::1 web.cnn.com
127.0.0.1 cdn.cnn.com
::1 cdn.cnn.com

You also will have to disable most of the search bar functionality since you may be typing a web search in your address bar and then Google, Duck Duck Go, Ecosia will look up CNN's IP address for you based on your typing cnn and pre-load from the IP address - not the DNS lookup...

The above image provides suggested settings for Safari on Big Sur if you implement the block list I provided above for https://cnn.com

Web browsers and some security apps in some cases no longer only call the OS for DNS. Malware, potentially unwanted software and even legitimate programs are starting to hard code IP addresses to get to their servers - and this can be good in the case where they are testing for broken or malicious DNS - not so good when you're unaware what they are doing.
The days of hosts ruling to roost may be long gone unless Apple forces all apps to use system calls. You should be able to get Safari on Big Sur to block sites out of hosts - be sure you open an incognito / private tab or quit the app after making changes.
Even trying to block sites and network ranges network wide using tools like Pi-hole are being lessened in the ever escalating war between people that want to track and monetize your use of the internet and people that are working towards network neutrality and preserving privacy.
You may have to work with Chrome to ensure it’s using system DNS or install an extension that can help block a site or implement a network block on your router outside the app and outside the OS.


You can't update an alpha or beta macOS with a final updater!

Simply visit the App Store and download the latest macOS installer and install it.

You might have to unenroll from the Beta Program or remove a configuration profile in macOS before you can install the current 10.15.3 (Catalina) successfully.


How do I clear data listed as "Other" on my iPhone?

I cleared 2gb of "other" space by using DiskAid to dig into the file system of the phone and clear out corrupted data.

WARNING - this may be dangerous, use extreme caution. If in doubt, don't.

Once diskaid is installed and running, click the file system menu on the left to expand the folders on the right. When looking around, I found a 2gb file in applicationarchives related to a program that I know didn't download correctly, and had since been deleted. Removing the file freed up the "other" space.


tmutil command to install a new larger Time Machine disk, copying old backups to it

First, to migrate the data, the only thing you can use is Finder (in case you are copying using another method). No other application has been able to copy and preserve the folder hard links. Just drag the backups.backupdb folder from the old drive to the new drive.
To associate the disk with your mac, use tmutil setdestination /volumes/NewTMDisk and then tmutil inheritbackup /volumes/NewTMDisk/backups.backupdb/(your mac name). You shouldn't need to use tmutil associatedisk because you have not changed your internal hard disk.


Is it possible to give/remove permissions to/from apps via the command line?

The short answer is no - these are designed by Apple to be user granted, at the last moment, when you decide you wish to cede control to an app as opposed to pre-cleared and scripted. The better fix is to sort out why that App keeps changing or your OS is dropping the entitlements - you should be able to set it once.
It’s pretty easy to read the database to see what settings have been configured, not designed to change the settings directly via shell. (If you find a way, it might be worth $$ to report that to Apple - https://developer.apple.com/security-bounty/)
A longer answer is, kind-of - if you have MDM, and set up a framework, supervise the device (or opt in to the MDM automating these settings) and then craft configuration profiles that once signed and trusted, can be installed by script.
To get started on this takes quite a bit of time. Here’s a 30+ minute video that covers the basics and two pretty substantial web pages by Apple documenting the overall ideas and sample implementations.

https://www.jamf.com/resources/videos/a-rose-by-any-other-name-pppc-tcc-user-data-protection-and-you/ (The slide notes are very good to skim before you watch the video)
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mdm/mdmbf9e668/web
https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment-reference-macos/welcome/web (for reference once you’ve gotten the majority of the items in the previous two links sorted out)


Can Node.js version be checked with AppleScript?

I have node installed in the directory /usr/local/bin, so this command will return the version:

do shell script "/usr/local/bin/node -v"

A couple other scripting points:

You needn't use System Events to obtain the user's username.  If all you need is the username, you can use

short user name of (system info)

However, it looks like you were trying to get the path to your user home folder.  In AppleScript, this can be done like so:

POSIX path of (path to home folder)

However, as that was all going to be plugged in to a do shell script command, none of that is necessary, as you can use ~ to denote your home folder, and the shell will automatically expand this for you (provided it's not inside any quotes):

do shell script "cd ~/.nvm/"

There's no need to set result to.  result will automatically contain the result of the previous AppleScript command.  return result will work fine without needing to set result to.


Can you verify your keyboard is set to the correct language?
Many "wrong password" inputs come from non-english keyboard layouts, e.g. z and y are switched on german keyboards, usually not a problem, but in recovery or single user mode the OS only understands english if not set otherwise.


This has been happening to me recently and I believe it is Apple reminding you (over and over and over and over....) to set up two factor authentication in iCloud. On my Mac (High Sierra 10.13.4) it eventually stopped asking me.

But to get to System Preferences and out of the iCloud Pref pane click on the button that looks like a grid of dots, as below.


Which specs to consider when searching for graphics card compatible with Mac Pro 3.1

The Mac Pro 3,1 is an aging computer and your video card choices are limited. Using Photoshop on it doesn't effect that use much. Of greater concern would be a good monitor with accurate color reproduction.

That said if you start looking for PCI Express x16 video cards that is a good start. You will, however, need to verify with the manufacturer if it is compatible with your O/S and system.

Unless you were getting unacceptable performance out of the old one, I would just buy a direct replacement, same for same.


Requirements for restoring a Time Machine backup from a sparsebundle?

I have experienced problems using sparsebundles on APFS volumes, whereby writing ~50gb lead to a backup that had incorrect checksums (determined by running tmutil verifychecksums and seeing a failure).

I then switch to using sparsebundles on HFS+ volumes, and no more problems.

Worth mentioning that you are probably using sparsebundles that are themselves HFS+ formatted, if you are using them for Time Machine.

If I had to take a guess, I would say it probably has more to do with the filesystem that the sparsebundle lives on (not the filesystem internal to the sparsebundle)... and less to do with the read/write vs read-only issue.  You can test this simply...  try to mount your sparsebundle while it lives on a read-only HFS+ volume... does that work? (can you mount?)

Yes, I realize that the filesystem where the sparsebundle lives should not matter, but I have myself seen that sometimes it does.  One reason is quite simply that filesystems themselves have bugs.  APFS, NTFS, and HFS are no exception to this.

As some further detail, I noticed that verifying checksums for a sparsebundle on an APFS volume took significantly longer than performing the same operation on a similar sparsebundle on an HFS+ volume.


If you go to "Preferences" and select "Composing" make sure that "Check spelling" is set to "as I type" rather than "when I send".

This should fix it.


Does MacOS Support a Snapshot-Style Filesystem?

Apple's new file system, APFS, supports snapshots.  Per their documentation:

APFS is available in 10.12.x (Sierra) as a Developer Preview and as a released product in 10.13.x (High Sierra).

Earlier than Sierra, if you need to make a "point in time" backup, it's best to run Time Machine to ensure a good backup.


How to use LaunchPad and Mission Control on Mountain Lion with an external keyboard

Open System Preferences and click on "Mission Control". You'll see the keyboard shortcuts for expose and mission control at the bottom of this panel.

For other keyboard shortcuts you can open the keyboard panel and then click on "keyboard shortcuts"


Is there a way to permanently remove the iBooks app from a device?

Unfortunately Apple does not allow you to remove the app completely, however if you go inside the app and delete all the books and PDF's the app should be less than 5mb.

(Which even on a 16gb phone is negligible)

To delete all books/PDFs:

Open iBooks
Make sure all books is selected in the top dropdown menu.
Click Select and select all books
Then delete

Then go to Settings -> General -> Storage and iCloud Usage -> Storage: Manage storage -> Find iBooks and it should be <5mb

If you would like to hide the app completely iOS 9.3 has a new glitch that allows you to do this, video for that is HERE.


Speaker on iPhone not working with Skype or Viber

This is a member of the Viber Development Team! :)

Please see our Help Desk at: http://helpme.viber.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/25/0/iphone-viber-connection-issues  for information concerning connection and audio issues.

If the issue persists it might be related to your own specific device. (You can contact Apple support).

If you have any question about Viber - please feel free to ask.

Thank you,
Viber Team.


Disabling Notification Center pull-down (or re-enabling Safari swipe action)

To return to the top of a long web page, just tap the Status Bar (at the top that also display the current time and battery status) instead of swiping. It works in many other apps too.


Time Machine - How can I backup only Documents folder

The estimates are often off to be conservative, make sure enough space is there to not run out if the estimate is not perfect.  Just exclude every folder and allow a token empty one to back up. After several intervals, the estimate will be better and you can add documents back by removing it from the exclusion list.


Much of iCloud will synchronize when you are connected to WiFi and not cellular data.

Check in the settings app and be sure to turn off iCloud backups (or restrict severely the parts of the data that backup). Also, look at things like iCloud photo library, podcast apps, My Photo Stream and others that wait until you connect to WiFi to avoid burning cellular data.

Can you take it to a proper WiFi temporarily to see if after 30 minutes whatever backup and sync are needed complete and then you will have lower usage going forward?


Finder image icons don't display at size 16x16 but load fine at 20x20 pixels

You can modify the minimum thumbnail size in the info.plist (in .../DropboxQL.qlgenerator/Contents/):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    ...
    <key>QLSupportsConcurrentRequests</key>
    <false/>
    <key>QLThumbnailMinimumSize</key>
    <real>17</real>
</dict>
</plist>

After editing in a smaller size in the plist and a reboot, you will get a preview for 16x16 pixel icons in the Finder again.

The DropboxQL.qlgenerator usually is located in /Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/

Also check for older DropboxQL.qlgenerator in other places and either remove them or also modify the Info.plist.

The priority order from first to least seems to be:

app embedded qlgenerators
~/Library/QuickLook/
/Library/QuickLook/
/System/Library/QuickLook/


Cannot create a file with sudo in Apache web directory

sudo echo "" > newfile should never have worked, because sudo only applies to the echo command and not to the redirection. Try using sudo touch newfile or echo "" | sudo tee newfile.

Sublime Text doesn't seem to support creating new files to a directory you don't have write permission to. It does support authenticating as root when modifying an existing file though. See http://sublimetext.userecho.com/topic/27820-prompt-if-need-elevated-permission-to-save/.

Maybe you did have write permission to the directory earlier but something (like upgrading to 10.9) removed it.


When iOS Notes creates a PDF, it will scan the page to only print the content it needs to and not a lot of blank space. The fact that you do have a lot of blank space indicates that there is something on the right side of the page that has been drawn (maybe a small dot or line) and Notes will see it as content to be converted, giving you the large white space.

Ensure that there is absolutely no content on the right hand side of the page (use the eraser tool) and try again.


Could the padlock icon shown in the Safari address bar in macOS, be moved or removed?

The padlock (lock) icon shown in the Safari address bar cannot be moved or remove. But if it's getting in the way, you can try one of the following approaches.

Instead of clicking using Mouse/Trackpad, you can use the keyboard shortcut Command + L to move focus to the address bar. Doing so also selects the current website address, so you can immediately start typing to enter new website address or search query.

You may consider enabling Show full website address setting under Advanced tab of Safari preferences. This would show the full address of the current webpage and may also move the padlock towards left in the Smart Search Field/Safari Address Bar thereby reducing the possibility of accidental click.

P.S.: The lock icon is shown in the address bar (officially named the Smart Search Field) for a good reason. You should be cautious when the padlock icon is missing. To learn more, refer to this official document from Safari guide from Apple:

https://support.apple.com/guide/safari/sfri40697/mac


Smart Playlist song count incorrect on music app

The most like answer for that is that not all songs may have been transferd to your device maybe do to unsupported format or maybe you have duplicates in your itunes library.


Assuming you have a recent version of the Kindle app, the simplest way is through the iTunes file sharing:  http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4094 has details on how to do it.

You can also mail books to your kindle address (if you choose the settings icon in the kindle app, you can see your "Send-to-Kindle Email Address"), and then it will sync to Amazon's cloud.

(edit)
Note that the book needs to be compatible with the Kindle app, and not DRM protected etc.


Will OTA (Over-the-Air) updates download when tethered?

Yes, you can download the update while tethered to the iPhone via WiFi.  But to clarify, it won't ever automatically download the update without user intervention.

This article from OSXDaily details some further workarounds to this issue.


How to prevent someone accessing my iMac

You can't make it truly secure; there is a saying that says given enough time, physical access is root access. That being said, there are some steps you can take to get as close as possible.

FileVault

Enable filevalult. This will keep people from accessing your data if they boot from an external drive.
To do this, go to System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> FileVault, and click Turn On FileVault. This will most likely require an admin password, and will probably take a very long time, depending on how much stuff is on your computer. That being said, it's worth it.

Screen lock

Enable auto-locking of your computer after a set amount of time. This can be done in System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> General. Check the box that says require password [5 minutes] after sleep or screensaver begins and change it to your desired amount of time.

Firmware lock

To prevent booting into single user mode or from an external disk without a password, enable firmware lock.

WARNING: THIS IS VERY HARD TO RECOVER FROM IF YOU LOSE YOUR PASSWORD. DON'T LOSE IT.

To do this, shut down your computer and turn it on while holding the Command+R keys. This will put you in recovery mode. Click the Utilities menu, and select the Firmware Password Utility. Click Turn On Firmware Password... and set a password. You will need it to boot from anything other than your main partition, so keep it safe! If you have an older Mac (Pre-2011, I think) there is a trick to get around this, but it requires removing the RAM, so it's pretty unlikely.


how can i get imessages that i missed when imessage was off?

They should automatically appear after you turn iMessage back on.


Mobile Safari updates for older iOS versions

No. Safari only updates with iOS releases. If there is a very serious security concern Apple might release another (iOS) update to a previous version, that adds security fixes to Safari, but never Safari by itself, and no new features.

On MacOS however you can still download Safari updates for newer OSs.


If I change the sim in my iPad4 (retina) will I have to set it up again?

Normally you would have to just set up the new provider stuff.

Account with them, email if you have one, the data plan, the payment service ect.


Did Oracle remove the Java System Preference in macOS?

It looks like the Java Control Panel was removed in Java 11.

  Please note that the Java Control Panel, which was used for configuring the deployment technologies, has also been removed along with the shared system JRE (but not the server JRE) and the JRE Auto Update mechanism

JDK 11 Release Notes

Check out the answer karma4917 provided on Stack Overflow:
MacOS Java Control Panel Missing on Mojave


Files are hidden after reinstalling OS X

One way to do this is to open your hard drive (not your user home folder).

In that window you should see all users on your computer. The one with home icon is the main user folder.

Also you could run this in terminal to unhide the folders/files

sudo chflags nohidden /Users


Wifi seems really unstable since getting new iMac

OK well if your problem affects internal traffic (streaming AirPlay) and external traffic (website access) then that points the finger at your Time Capsule.  The fact that you've only noticed this since you connected your new iMac might be a red herring but may also be a hint at the cause.  I'd start with pinging the time capsule and see if you have periods where you can't ping it.  So open Network Utility > Ping and enter the IP address of the time capsule (probably 192.168.1.1) and set it to ping an unlimited amount of times, you'll see output like that below:

Ping has started…

PING 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=1.197 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.158 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.996 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.970 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=1.103 ms

This, in case you don't know, is just sending a packet to the IP address of your time capsule and the time=xxxx on the right is a measure of how long it took to get a response.  Now, if something is happening to slow down the network response time, you'll see it here.  As you can see there is very small fluctuations (the units are milliseconds) in the response time but you'll be looking for larger differences, such as 1000ms or even dropped packets.  Obviously this is only useful if you're seeing the issue every few minutes rather than once a day.  Once you prove that you have captured an issue, try the same thing while plugged directly into the time capsule by cable.  If you get similar symptoms then I'd point the finger at the router.  See how you get on with that and I'll update the answer when you come back if I can suggest some other steps.  Good luck!


Will Mountain Lion install and run on a second drive (SSD) inside a MacBook Pro?

If you are using something like the Optibay drive from MCE Tech, you an put either drive in the caddy. I prefer to make a single change at a time, so when I did this I put the new drive in the caddy and left the old working boot drive alone.

As for installing from a USB thumb drive (I assume this is what you meant since you weren't clear), you shouldn't have to. You can download the Mountain Lion installer and run the app. During the install process you can choose what drive to install the OS on, simple choose the newly installed and formatted SSD.

Once you have both OS installed, the system will remember the last drive that was selected in the Startup Disk preferences and store that choice in NVRAM so that it will continue to start from the preferred drive. You can hold the option key at boot to prevent this choice and pick from all bootable drives when you want to switch things on a specific boot.

Most people find that having two OS internally is confusing. Spotlight will try to find the correct version of Safari if you don't keep them both updated, but sometimes you end up running the wrong version of an app. This is confusing at best, and troublesome most of the time and can cause data issues when the wrong version of an app opens data it didn't expect from a newer version of iPhoto for instance.


AppleScript to Rename file list to Specific Names

– user3439894, Thanks for the Help!  This got me really close!

For anyone who needs to do the same thing, here's what I did to make it work. In my circumstance, I needed an application, so I can save it on a hard drive and use it on whatever Mac I'm working on at the time.  I didn't need another service to clutter up my menus.

Here's how it's done:

1) Using Automator, create a "new document" type: "Application"

2) Insert "Ask for Finder Items" box and select Type: "Folders".

3) Insert "Get Selected Finder Items" box (below "Ask for Finder Items" box)

4) Insert "Run Shell Script" box.  Set Shell: "/bin/bash" set Pass input: "as arguments".

5) Type:

cd "$1" || exit 1

mv TRK01.WAV 01_Lav.WAV
mv TRK02.WAV 02_HH1.WAV
mv TRK03.WAV 03_Piano.WAV
mv TRK04.WAV "04_TR AC.WAV"
mv TRK05.WAV "05_MX AC.WAV"
mv TRK06.WAV 06_Bass.WAV
mv TRK07.WAV 07_ElectG.WAV
mv TRK08.WAV 08_KickD.WAV
mv TRK09.WAV 09_Vox1.WAV
mv TRK10.WAV 10_Vox2.WAV
mv TRK11.WAV 11_Vox3.WAV
mv TRK12.WAV 12_Vox4.WAV
mv TRK13.WAV 13_CrowdL.WAV
mv TRK14.WAV 14_CrowdR.WAV
mv TRK15.WAV 15_Aux7_R.WAV
mv TRK16.WAV 16_MainLR_R.WAV

Save the Application to desired location and you're done!


Hold ⌘ and drag it out of the menubar. Also, in the networking system preference, you can often find a show icon in the menu bar preference. I can't recall if this checkbox is easily shown when the hardware is no longer present, but it's an alternative to dragging the icon out directly in some cases.


I find solution that works for me and I want to share it with you.

My gmail notification sound has to even wake me up so I need my custom sound that Gmail app doesn't have.

However iOS Mail app allow you to change notification even with your custom sound - how to make your own notification you can find everywhere on the internet.

When you use Gmail in iOS Mail you will find out that you can't get push notification with Gmail unless you have paid plan with Google.

If you want custom notification sound of your Gmail with push notification you have to do this:

  Make email account which iOS Mail can provide with Push notification (iCloud for instance).
  Forward your Gmail to your new email with push (iCloud)
  Change the notification sound in Settings > Notifications > Mail
  You can change the Alert style on None and you can use Gmail app as you did before only with sound notifications from different app.

It's quite easy and it works for me just fine. I do know however, that it won't be ideal solution for everyone.


What available methods are there to boot a Macbook Pro

I would follow these steps to get Ubuntu on a freshly erased USB drive.

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-mac-osx

No need for rEFIt or other hybrid boot tools so you can get your feet wet booting with the option key held down and choosing the USB drive. Once you have a working linux, you can easily bootstrap to other OS if they don't have instructions that are as Mac friendly as Ubuntu.


How to use the programming calculator in OS X?

Flipping

Byte flip and word flip will swap bytes or words.
Technically it works like this:

Let's say we have a two byte value (hexadecimal): 0x3344

The number consists of two bytes, the lower one is 0x44, and the higher one is 0x33, so let's put them into two imaginary cells of one byte size:

[33][44]

Now, flip the cells:

[44][33]

Therefore byte flipped value will be 0x4433

Same way with words, considering word consists of two bytes.
Let's assume we have a two-word value: 0x12345678

Split them into two imaginary cells, now containing one word (2 bytes) each:

[1234][5678]

Now, flip the cells:

[5678][1234]

Therefore word flipped value will be 0x56781234

Shifting

Shifting shifts values bitwise.
What does it mean?

Let's take a very simple decimal number: 5
Then, let's convert it to its binary representation: 101
Then, let's shift it left by 1:

[101] << [1010]

We basically moved the whole binary sequence left one position and filled the empty space with zero.

Now do the same, but with shifting right:

[101] >> [010]

our number is 10 now. The lower 1 is lost by shifting right. The zero on the left is just for display and has no value.
// Technically there's a CPU flag which indicates that the bit was lost, but it is not relevant to the calculator.

Rotating

Rotating works absolutely same as shifting with one exception: bits are never lost.
So, we take the same decimal value 5 and its binary representation 101.
Then we rotate it right within a byte:

[00000101] ROR [10000010]

As you can see, the [1] which was lost on the shifting right was carried on the beginning of our byte.

Same with shifting left, let's perform series of rotations by 1 bit left until we carry one bit:

[00000101] ROL [00001010]
[00001010] ROL [00010100]
[00010100] ROL [00101000]
[00101000] ROL [01010000]
[01010000] ROL [10100000]
[10100000] ROL [01000001]


Problem sovled

This issue was caused because I had imported a time machine back which was made using snow lepoard. Doing this had overwrote the mountain lion libraries.

I just had to reinstall mountain lion over the existing install and then xcode and homebrew and it worked fine.


Do as follows:

Open the image you want to paste in Preview.app
Select All (Command-A)
Copy (Command-C)
Paste (Command-V)

Now you have a copy of your image pasted above your old image. This is apparently meaningless, but the new copy is not just an image, but an object.

Click on the new image (round blue corners appear, no marching ants)
Copy (Command-C)
Paste on your PDF document. The image is an object, moveable and resizable. The original PDF is still a PDF, editable and all.


How to access Greek symbols on macOS from a basic keyboard without copy/paste?

In the top left-hand corner of the Character Viewer, there’s a gear icon. The first option is “Customise List…”.

This gives you a selectable list of all the character sets available in the sidebar. If you scroll down, you’ll find Greek as one of the options:

I don’t have a Mavericks machine to hand to check, but I’m fairly sure this feature existed before Yosemite.


Why is delete items after import so slow?

Use image capture to get the photos to your Mac. Then import from a fast storage location. The delay is cleanup data to the SD cards.

Get all the data off fast so you can let photos import rapidly and decouple the delete of the card till later.


How do I remove my visa from the App Store which has been declined?

You will have to add a functioning payment method to get past that. Even if you never intend to buy anything, if the account was originally set up with a credit card, a valid credit card has to be on file to download anything (including updates and free apps).


Intellipoint software on OS X Mavericks not recognizing Intellimouse

I resolved this by uninstalling the Intellipoint Software (using the provided uninstaller) , rebooting (as requested by the uninstaller), reinstalling, and rebooting (as requested by the installer).  I suspect something went wrong in my prior in-place upgrade of the Intellipoint Software.  I did lose my Intellipoint settings, but I had made note of them prior to uninstalling.


Connecting two MacBooks over USB-C for transferring video signal from one to the other

No, target display mode doesn’t work over USB-C.
You’ll want to screen share over point to point network for this.

https://www.airsquirrels.com/airparrot/

The latency for screen sharing is very good now. You might have better luck with an iPad for this and sidecar or dedicated hardware to get it into OBS.

https://shop.astropad.com/collections/luna-display-mac-and-pc


I have the exact same problem all of the time. The only solution I have found is to try different PDF readers such as Tom has suggested and use Adobe Reader. PDFPen, Wondershare PDF Editor, and Skim are other options.


Connected to internet and can browsing but can't play some games

Looking at your connection it does not shows full WiFi signal strength?! Why is that?, Try getting closer to the source.

After reading the game requirement, you would be connecting to they game server.

So most probably the problem is not your Internet setting but they server, since your friends Android works on your network.

Try Pinging they server to see if that works.

Reset your DNS settings to standard, thus remove any other settings but your router. The DNS should be issued by your ISP provider.

Go to Starbucks and try it there.

If not, try using a proxy server.


Does the time zone in a mail header help me to identify the country of origin?

All we can deduce from this is that the sender is using a computer (or an iPad) on which the time zone is set to GMT+1. If accurate this means western Europe or parts of Africa. But as everybody can set their computer to whatever time zone they like it could be from anywhere.

For more information about time zones see the Time Zone Map or the Time Zone entry on Wikipedia.


Does TimeMachine compress iPhoto library?

No, it does not compress it, but the size of the library is in fact different:

The iPhoto Library is not a monolithic file, but a so called bundle (a folder disguised as a file). If you call file > Info (cmd-i), then it's size needs to be calculated, it's subfolder and files can be seen by the usual developer tools.

So, from the POV of time machine, or the file system in general, the iPhoto library is a huge folder with thousands of files.

Now comes another issue into play: Storage media are organized in file sectors of fixed size. The size a file takes on disk is not the number of bytes of this file, but the number of sectors which the file occupies by the number of bytes per sector.
The sector size usually depends on the specific file system and media capacity.

Even a 1-byte file takes one sector, so on a hard drive the smallest file size might be 4 KB, on a flash drive 16 kB.

In consequence that means that the sector size of the medium you save to has a huge impact on the overall size of your iPhoto library. I take an educated guess that the sector size of your SSD is bigger than on your backup drive.


An iOS GPS application that shows satellite locations and lock-on details?

There is no such interface available for iOS, since everything is enclosed within the CoreLocation framework (no way to access NMEA data).

You can monitor some variables (like horizontalAccuracy, verticalAccuracy) but that's it. The easiest way to obtain this information is to run some GPS application that displays this information, such as "GPS Status-".

(Be aware of multiple apps with very similar 'GPS Status' names are not all identical.

At the time of this edit, "GPS Status-" by Fawkes Wei is much more positively reviewed and kept up to date (last update 25 May 2019) than the "GPS Status" by PocketGPSWorld.com Ltd (last update 5 June 2011).)


It appears to be the 'home' button/swipe area for the iPhone X.  Because there is no Home button, Apple added a section of the screen for swiping up to access 'Home' as well as unlocking the iPhone.

It will have no use to you or anyone else who isn't on an iPhone X.  As clarified in the comments by @grgarside, the fact that you can see it at all (on a non-iPhone X) is due to a bug in the iOS 11.1 beta.

Here's an image of the iPhone X and you can see the Home bar at the bottom of the screen.


Sure you can. On System Preferences → Users & Groups under Login Options you have Automatic login where you can chose an user.

When you select an user there, It will automatically login when you switch your Mac.


How can I save a Facebook video from their PR site to my Mac?

There is an extension that runs on Firefox that can easily snag that video.

I use Firefox 20.0 with http://www.ant.com/video-downloader

It does not work with Safari, but I've tested the Facebook link for you and it will get you the entire 2 GB video file if you have a fast network connection.

You will get an unsigned extension warning when installing the add-on, since the video downloader isn't signed by the developer. You also need flash player since it grabs the flash file.


If I encrypt my HD using FireVault, what happens to my (previously unencrypted) TimeMachine backups?

Your backups don't get encrypted unless you explicitly convert or set them up. Time Machine will probably warn you when you have an encrypted source and a non-encrypted destination, but you can choose whether the source or destination or both are encrypted or non-encrypted to suit your needs.

Apple's FileVault and encryption is reversible so you can keep your history and go forward and back (assuming you don't mind the delay to process every block on the storage each time you convert or revert the encryption status)


Is there a way to have different songs on your iPod Touch with different fonts for each one of them?

No, there isn't such a tweak which allows to add them just to some songs. Only for the whole app.


Internal iOS update server for iPads (any/all iOS)

Yes - both iTunes and the Apple Configurator act as a single download point that can then apply one update over USB to an unlimited number of iOS devices.

No - iOS devices do not apply for OTA updates from any update server in an analogous manner to Lion's SUS.

It is notable that Mountain Lion is announces to not ship with a SUS and instead have updates arrive from the Mac App store - so Macs are becoming more like iOS rather than the other way which seems to be the foundational premise of your question.


Okay, so you've got a good understanding of $PATH and how it's used, but you're mistaken in thinking that it's a command. In Bash (and other shells), words prefaced by a dollarsign are variables. You can change the value of $PATH with the export command (as you probably already know).

export PATH=$PATH:/path/to/something/you/need/bin

So in your shell when you just type $PATH you're basically telling your shell to run the command /usr/bin/:/bin/:/usr/local/bin:/etc//etc//etc/ which isn't a valid shell command.

@patrix was right, you should use echo to inspect your $PATH. I suspect that the "zsh: no such file or directory" is just your shell telling you that your command doesn't make sense.


Parallels creates /Users/Shared/Parallels on boot, blocks ZFS /Users from mounting

Two commands to discover more about the two loaded items:

sudo launchctl list com.parallels.vm.prl_naptd

sudo launchctl list com.parallels.desktop.launchdaemon

I can't guess the meaning of prl_naptd but http://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22com.parallels.vm.prl_naptd%22+%22addPaths%22 suggests some relationship between com.parallels.vm.prl_naptd and addPaths so maybe focus attention on this launch agent.

An early guess: a workaround might involve wait4path

wait4path(1) OS X Manual Page


How to monitor and control thermal CPU throttling in OS X?

To monitor throttling, you may run:

pmset -g thermlog

in terminal and watch output:

If CPU_Speed_Limit is less than 100 at some moments, then it means CPU is throttled.


Most likely, cable nr. 2 (responsible for the touch-input) isn't connected properly. Try to re-open your iPhone, disconnect an re-connect the cable.

If that's not working, you have probably damaged the cable or something else.
It's, like Gerry said in the comment, next to impossible to determine a cause without physical access to the device.


Try using Mac's Image Capture (in Applications folder). Then import video to iPhoto instead of iMovie. Then iMovie will automatically import your video from iPhoto.

It's the long way around, I know, but it worked for me.

Daniel


iCloud sign into new device triggers notification or email?

Yes.

They will get an email with the details which Device is used to login with their iCloud account.

If that iCloud account uses Two Factor Authentication they also get a notification including the location where the request is made.


Native option

You're most likely aware of this, but for the benefit of others I thought it worth mentioning even though it's not exactly what you're after anyway.

By going to Apple > System Preferences > Energy Saver users will have a checkbox at bottom left of the window that they can tick to enable access via the menu bar. The option provided here differs depending on whether you have a MacBook model of some sort or a desktop computer, and also depending on the version of macOS you're running. In summary:

MacBooks will have a Show battery status in menu bar option
Desktop Macs may have no option at all, or they may have an option for Show UPS status in the menu bar (this depends on the version of macOS you're running and whether you have a compatible UPS connected)

Enabling one of the above options doesn't give the one click solution you're after, but will give you quicker access to the Energy Saver preference pane, effectively making it a two click solution instead of the usual three clicks.

3rd party options

Since there's no perfect native option I think you're best bet is to use a 3rd party menu bar utility that allows you to override your Mac's sleep settings whenever you need.

There are numerous options (both free and paid) and ones available on the Mac App Store or not. The option you go for depends somewhat on the version of macOS you're running and personal preference.

To start with, open the Mac App Store app and conduct a search for "caffeine". This will return a number of options you can choose from. One notable option that doesn't appear on the list of search results is Amphetamine (so I link to it here separately - last time I checked it was free).

Another option not available on the Mac App Store is KeepingYouAwake. This is basically a wrapper around Apple's native “Caffeinate” Terminal command which can be used to alter your Mac’s sleep behavior. Caffeinate is Apple’s official command line utility - if you haven't heard of it and are comfortable using Terminal, then you can view more information by launching Terminal and running the man caffeinate command. Otherwise, KeepingYouAwake is a GUI version that runs it for you without having to use Terminal. Just keep in mind that the version you run will depend on the version of macOS you're using.

In summary, I'd probably start with the Mac App Store search and go from there.

NOTE: I am not affiliated with any of the products mentioned in this answer.


AppleTV's Netflix browse menu is no longer accessible

By 'browse interface' do you mean the view where you have a grid of cover art thumbnails?

After you log in to Netflix, you can go to "Suggestions for you" from the menu, and you'd be presented with the grid, customised to your favourite genres and recommendations based on what you've watched and liked. The TV Genres and Movie Genres are similar but each row is a different genre.


I'm assuming you dragged this icon, from the Sidebar of a Finder window…
That, as you discovered, will remove it from the Sidebar rather than add it to the Dock.

You can get that back from Finder Menu > Prefs > Sidebar.
Re-check the Applications icon

To then add Applications to the dock, start by clicking the sidebar element you just restored, in any Finder window.
Then drag the icon from the top of that window down into the right side of the Dock [I've moved my window right to the bottom of the screen to get these pics]


Connecting Macbook to WiFi network breaks internet for everyone

If I were you, I would backup all your important files, reformat the disk and reinstall the macOS unless you would have a better clue of what the problem is. It might be something as simple as a corrupted preferences file or as difficult as a faulty hardware component. If you try this approach and you find out that everything is working as it should then at least you can exclude any hardware problem.


None of the groupings allows you to collapse/expand folder in List view. So to facilitate quick grouping, (I forgot defaults) go to View menu -> customise toolbar and include the  icon in toolbar.

You can group by None and then later set Sort by to Kind. It will not allow "Kind" groups to be collapsed, but allows the same for folders, at least.

After your edit, I am prompted to suggest the Icon view and Group by Kind. It has collapse and expand groups of a particular kind.


What can I do when my Time Machine password is not accepted, although it's correct?

I would delete the existing keychain entry for your backup and re-enter.  It is very possible that you have saved an incorrect value to your keychain.


No need to look for an equivalent. It's available for the Mac. You can quickly and easily install it using the excellent Homebrew package manager. Once you have Homebrew installed, just type brew install byobu from the Terminal. It'll download the source, configure and install it.


Is there any keyboard shortcut for Play Later option in iTunes?

Simply create an app shortcut via System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > App Shortcuts, which allows you to assign a hotkey to the menu item as I've done here:

Now the shortcut is displayed next to the menu item when you right-click on a song, which you won't need to do anymore because you can simply use your hotkey:


Cannot reach a .local domain without setting an option with discoveryutil

There was an answer posted to this discussion.

  Linc Davis

  The "local" TLD is reserved for Bonjour. The restriction was not
  enforced in older versions of OS X, but it is in Yosemite. Unicast
  domain names with that TLD will not resolve by default. To make your
  configuration change permanent (not recommended), create your own
  launch daemon. Don't modify an existing one. See the launchd.plist(5)
  man page for details. A much better solution would be to change the
  domain name.

There is a wikipedia article on the .local domain which does state:

  Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards-track RFC 6762, which
  has been approved and was officially published on February 20, 2013,
  essentially reserves the use of .local as a pseudo-TLD for link-local
  hostnames that can be resolved via the Multicast DNS name resolution
  protocol.

So, the answer is that I should not be using .local in the way I am currently using it in order to comply with current standards.


IMHO the easiest way is in terminal:

First run diskutil list
then insert your usb stick
and run diskutil list again to see the disk node (e.g. /dev/disk2).
Now run diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN
and do sudo dd if=/path-to.iso of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1m (or bs=1M with homebrew)
When finished diskutil eject /dev/diskN


The Alt key is a Windows term for the alternate function key, in this case macOS calls this the option key, with the symbol ⌥.

It sits on most keyboard layouts between the control and command keys to the left of the space bar, and between the arrow keys and the command key on the right of the space bar.

  Note: On a Windows keyboard connected to a Mac it is likely the Windows key will act as option as these two keys are swapped in most layouts.

I can confirm the steps mentioned do work for mixed mirroring and extending of displays, although I am unsure if this works with Sidecar.


What adapters are available for a connecting a secondary SSD to the Superdrive's SATA cable?

Should be similar to the one I got for my MacBookPro, actually here is one especially for iMacs:
OWC Data Doubler

I got another one from ebay for ~20 $ - does not fit perfectly, but is good enough for me. Up to you which way you go.

MacBookPro installation was not too difficult, don't know about difficulty for iMacs.


Ended up formatting the whole thing after doing a back-up


Anyone knows how many mAh in iPod Touch 4th generation battery?

930 mAh (3.44 watt hours). Up from the previous generation's 789 mAh (2.92 watt hours) battery.

Sources: [1] [2]


How To Get Rid Of "Upgrade to OS X El Capitan" Notification?

According to this link which specifies how to disable the Yosemite update,  go to the App Store, click the Updates tab, then Right-click on the El Capitan update banner at the top and select Hide Update.