Make sure that there is no spinning wheel on top of the "Manage Storage" settings for if there is such a wheel, it indicates the loading of extra elements i.e. Music, Photos, etc. If you have lot's of Music i.e. above 4 or 5 GB, it could take time for the "Manage Storage" settings to bring the Music element on top.

As a last resort, you can simply sync an empty iTunes library with your iPhone and iTunes would do what it does best - it will wipe out the iPhone music library in no time. If you wonder how to open an empty iTunes library on your computer, see this: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201596


What is the highest resolution external display that can be driven by the Late 2012 13" Retina MacBook Pro

If you are talking about the non-Retina version, then the highest it can go is 2560 x 1600 pixels for one display. (Source (under "Graphics and Video Support")).

If you are talking about the Retina version, then it can also go up to 2560 x 1600 pixels, but up to two displays. (Source (under "Graphics and Video Support"))

Conclusion: you should still be able to use the display in question, but your Mac will only let your monitor go up to 2560 x 1600.


Can I select music from my iPhone/iPad and it plays on my Samsung Smart TV

Yes, you can. I use ArkMC to stream all my music to Samsung Smart TV. I even can browse artists, playlists, albums from Samsung TV.  For me,  it's more convenient.


How do I get purchased and ripped music from my iPhone to iTunes when it won't sync the traditional ways

This can definitely be done, one of two ways.

Free way and non-free way

FREE WAY

Download MediaMonkey, free version
Install and in preferences or settings modify (if needed) where you want things to be sync'd (from phone to pc).
Plug your phone in, sync.  It's not made by Apple so it'll pull every song off your phone and onto your harddrive
May need to move songs from the MediaMonkey location to iTunes location
May need to deal with some dupes

NON-FREE WAY

Read this article how-to-copy-music-from-your-iphone-ipad-or-ipod-touch-to-your-computer-for-free
Buy referenced software and follow their instrux.  Likely very similar to above steps

If you're going the buy route, check out this company as they make good stuff Macroplant iExplorer

Finally if you're on a Mac you'll need to substitute Doubletwist for MediaMonkey


What SMS apps exist on the iPhone that support ascii emoticons, not emoji?

Apple does not allow SMS nor Phone replacement apps in the App Store, so this will never be possible without jailbreaking. Since you indicated you would prefer not to jailbreak, you will not be able to do this.

The closest you will be able to get would be to use a third-party SMS service which may either cost or perhaps force you into using a different phone number for SMS specifically with that app. You will need to review third-party apps available to see if they provide a custom keyboard to do what you wish to do.

Long story short: Built-in? Not possible outside of jmlumpkin's suggestion.


What you are seeing is expected behavior and how all Macs with built-in SD card readers are treated by the OS.

If you want to split hairs it is indeed "internal" as the card itself is inserted into the Mac, even though a bit of it still stacks out.

Regardless of that it is still expected behavior and not a problem. As to why? well only Apple hardware and software engineers can give you a definitive answer on that and they aren't allowed to say


TexShop typing German umlauts with US keyboard

Alt+u for umlaut, then needed letter for putting under. Also Alt+y for acute, Alt+` for grave. You can see all combos on onscreen keyboard ("Show Keyboard Viewer").


What is 10.5.8 (Users) preference file for video?

First, try resetting the PRAM. That is supposed to be where the screen resolution is stored. If that fails, try starting up in safe mode, which can be done by holding shift at startup. Once you're in Safe Mode, try changing the resolution in the Displays preference pane. Then restart without holding shift, and see if it works. If that doesn't do it, then try following these steps at Apple support. Hopefully one of these will do the trick.


Yosemite (10.10) Finder Freezes in Column View

I was able to resolve my own issue, after finding Quicklook crashing finder in Mavericks:

  Rename/remove the com.apple.quicklook.ui.helper folder in ~/Library/Containers. Logout/in or reboot, and the problem is resolved for me.


How to launch jar the same way Jar Launcher does

The problem is that you need to specify the class paths with the cp option to java and the library paths with the D option. The Minecraft launcher under /Applications handles this if you have a default install.  If you want to run the default configuration from the commandline, just run something like the following with the memory values of your choosing:

java -Xmx2048M -Xms512M -jar \
/Applications/Minecraft.app/Contents/Resources/Java/MinecraftLauncher.jar

Here's an example of how I run Minecraft from the command-line for ad-hoc mode.  I put the following in a script, name it and run it by name:

MCHOME="$HOME/Library/Application Support/minecraft/bin"
CP="$MCHOME/minecraft.jar:$MCHOME/lwjgl.jar:$MCHOME/lwjgl_util.jar:$MCHOME/jinput.jar"

java -Xmx2048M -Xms512M -cp "$CP" \
    -Djava.library.path="$MCHOME/natives" \
    net.minecraft.client.Minecraft


Catalina: backup iOS devices programatically

Apple Configurator 21  has a command line utility cfgutil, which can be installed from the menubar in Apple Configurator
.

With cfgutil installed, you can run the command: cfgutil backup

Apple Configurator 2 includes an Automator action too, which does the same as the above command.

1Currently requires macOS version 10.14.6 or later.


MacBook Pro before 2012 don't really support USB boot (that's why when you install Bootcamp on these machine it requires the Windows CD). You needs to burn it into a CD, if you want to make changes to that Linux, you have to install the system into a partition of your 2011 Mac hard drive, then make change to that partition.


Can iPhone's Handoff be configured to be more reliable?

No, it cannot be configured to be more reliable.

In practical terms, you'll need to ensure that the devices are within range of WiFi and Bluetooth. Besides that, there's not more that can be done.

As you have indicated in comments that you do not want suggestions for alternative solutions, I'll refrain from that.


Will the OEM version of Windows 7 install okay on a Macbook Pro

The OEM version has only three differences compared to the retail versions:

1) Retail versions come with both 32-bit and 64-bit installations.  OEM versions are one or the other, so you will want to make sure you're ordering the right version - for a new MBP, 64-bit unless you have a compelling reason to go with 32-bit.

2) OEM versions are tied to the hardware they are installed on and cannot be moved, ever.  This MAY be an issue if you are planning on using virtualization software against your bootcamp installation, since the VM "hardware" looks different from the real hardware.

3) OEM versions do not come with telephone support from MS.

There is NO difference in the actual executable code, and so it would work just fine on an MBP.  As for the SKUs, again, it would make no difference.  The higher-end SKUs add additional features, not additional hardware support.

I do have a few questions for you.  Which Windows application(s) are you tied to?    What are the specs of the hardware you are ordering?  Depending on your answers, it MAY make more sense to consider virtualization so that you can run that one or two Windows applications "on top" of MacOS and have access to both sets of applications at the same time.


Reminders in notification center/lock screen without time/day set

I don't think there is a way to get reminders to appear on the lock screen without putting either a time or a location stamp on them.

However, if you know where you will be doing this shopping, then the location-based reminders will actually work well for you. Just set up a new contact with the store's name and address (and, optionally, the phone number if there's any chance you might ever need to call them). Then you can use the "Remind me at a location" option and select the name of that store. Make sure you select "Arriving at" rather than "When I leave". Your reminder will go off the next time you go to that store regardless of what day it is.

Unfortunately this will only work if you do know where you will be doing this shopping. If you were thinking of something like "Remind me to check the oil next time I gas the car", then I'm not sure what to suggest aside from doing a "when I leave home" reminder (which would have to be refreshed every time you leave home for a different purpose and which therefore would probably be more trouble than it's worth.)

I've used this technique several times, simply by entering the names and addresses of my local shopping mall and local grocery store into Contacts, then hitting a location-based reminder. This is actually how I do my grocery lists: whenever I need to add something I just edit the reminder. Next time I go to the grocery store, there's my list right on my lock screen. If it's a long list I might need to unlock the phone to see the whole thing, but overall I've found it works great. (Certainly much easier than working with a handwritten list which I had a bad habit of forgetting to take with me when I went shopping....)

** Please note, though, that the size of the geofence depends on many factors and your phone might consider you to have "arrived at" a particular location when you are actually a few blocks away. This has occasionally caused my grocery list to pop up prematurely if I'm just passing by the store rather than going in.

Hope this helps!


How to disable profanity filtering on iOS 7?

iOS does not do profanity filtering in incoming emails like your example.

Such filtering will be done elsewhere, either by the sender's mail server or your mail server, before the email gets to your device.


I'm guessing that you are talking about the setting that, for me (British English) shows in Settings > Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom > "Scroll direction: natural".

This discussion talks about this issue, and several people mention Scroll Reverser.  It has separate options for "Reverse Trackpad" and "Reverse Mouse".  (I haven't tested your scenario, but I have used this software for other reasons.)


how to make different apps use wifi vs ethernet?

I'd like to route some apps through WiFi and other apps through
  ethernet.

Unfortunately, this is not the way it (networking) works.  You can't say that you want Safari to go through one network port and iTunes to come through another.  The problem with this lies in the fact the applications themselves don't make the network connection - it makes a call to the networking (Berkeley sockets) API that makes the connection and binds the process to the socket itself.

In the simplest terms, the flow looks like this

When your local process (the application in question) wants to make a connection, it requests that a socket be created.  Part of that request includes the IP address, the connection is then made, and the app is bound to it.  The app then sends and receives data through that socket.

The key to remember here is that the application asks for a socket based on the network address.  Other than (assuming you're on a network with a single segment), you have only two routes:

your local network
everything else (i.e. Internet)

If you have two interfaces connected to this single network, your routes will overlap and the interface with priority will be the primary.

Whatever your application running, it's going to say, "I want to go to foo.bar.com" which will translate to an IP address and a socket will be created over the route that gets you there.  The point is, your app has no control over the matter.

However, let's say you're connected to two different networks:

Ethernet (en0) -> 1.2.3.0
WiFi (en1)     -> 5.6.7.0

If there is a file server with an IP of 1.2.3.4, all traffic bound for that address will go through the Ethernet.  If your WiFi is configured for Internet access, all calls to 1.2.3.0 and every other address will go through en1.  Again, your app has no say in the matter and the socket will be made based on destination.

Can an application use a specific network interfcace?

Yes, of course it can, but this is something done at the source level of the application because it's the one making the call to the API.  If you code it to use a specific interface, it will do so (it's not practical in any sense, but you have the ability).

Bottom line:  For an external application to re-route traffic based on the application you use, it would have to insert itself between the application and the protocol stack of the OS and that is just not going to happen.


Uninstall app
Force restart iPhone
Reinstall app
Bingo bango


External USB3 hard drive has suddenly become slow

Addressing your questions in order...

  what may have caused that [backup to take 1:45]?
  is it a signal of imminent failure?
  what tools may I use to investigate the issue?

Cause

Since you didn't get any read/write errors on CCC, it's entirely possible that you didn't have enough USB bandwidth to copy files at the speed it normally does.  I've had instances on several Macs, all running different versions of macOS suddenly lose connectivity to USB audio devices, and have slow transfers to USB drives.  A simple reboot and the problem goes away. (Normally, I would reset the USB bus, but found it easier to simply perform a system reboot).

Now, for me, this always occurred with bus powered devices.  Devices connected to a USB hub with external power supplies or devices that had their own power adapters never exhibited these problems so I chalked it up to too much power draw on the USB bus.

Imminent Failure?

Is this a signal of imminent failure?  Not exactly.  Read/Write errors are symptomatic of imminent failure.  It's entirely possible that the USB controller on the external drive simply "glitched" or pulled to much power thus improperly resetting the USB bus.  If the problem exists after a reboot, you should start paying closer attention because it could be the USB port on the Mac mini equally likely as the USB interface of the external drive.

Diagnostic Tools

What tools can you use?  Unfortunately, none.  Getting disk status is limited to what ATA commands the USB to SATA controller on the enclosure is capable of delivering.  The WD Elements Portable is Western Digital's entry level line of external drives so they don't have any software available for diagnosis.  However, one step up, the Elements SE line,  does have Windows/Mac software specifically for diagnosing those drives.    You could give the software a go; the worst that can happen is it doesn't work for your drive.

Going Forward

Your Mac mini is in a remote location that's now almost impossible to access.  When selecting your backup hardware, go for more "robust" products like the WD Passport or even the larger "desktop" drives with their own power supply.  You also want to have more than one in the event one fails.

If you go this route, don't back up the backup.  Let it make it's own backup because if you happen to back up garbage onto the first, you don't want the second to be garbage as well.  I would even look to backup to the cloud for good measure.


songs list under albums is absent in new ios 8.4 music app

Seems like it depends on how many songs/albums you have for each artist. Some artists that I have only a few songs from have the same old style. If I have like every song from every album, then I have your problem. I think it just depends on the amount of songs you have.


OpenVPN JSON error after upgrading to El Capitan

Short answer, you can't.

However, at work we had this issue.  Some machines that previously had OpenVPN installed prior to upgrading to El Capitan had no problem.

Others required that we run the uninstall script for OpenVPN.  Then disable SIP, install OpenVPN, then re-enable SIP when you are done.  Annoying, and a bit time consuming, but the end result is that you have OpenVPN installed and SIP is enabled.

This has worked on multiple Mac's at our office.

The other alternative was to use Viscosity which does not require SIP to be disabled, but has a small licensing fee.  I have heard that Tunnelblick also works, but have not personally tried it.


After backing up your system, insert your shiny OS X DVD into your Mac and restart the computer, holding down C, so that the Mac boots off of the DVD-ROM.

After a few moments, you will be presented with a installation screen and presented with a number of options.


What is the partial red in dot top left of screen?

Rebooting my phone fixed the problem. Turns out it's related to the way you close windows with the iPhone X. Has anyone seen this that doesn't have an iPhone X?


Can playing music at full volume on a 15" MBP (2017) damage the speaker irreversibly?

Yes, high volume on an underpowered amp, can damage your speakers.

The problem comes in when the audio starts to clip or distort - the loud "pop" you heard is a good example of what can damage a speaker.

There's lots of discussion about this on AV forums.

  Are the 2017 15" MacBook Pro's speakers designed to withstand playing
  music (primarily Electronic Dance Music in my case) at the maximum
  volume with negligible wear to the speaker?

That depends.  At what input level was the music recorded?  If you must crank up the volume because you can't hear it (assuming your hearing is good), then it was recorded to low.  If you simply need more volume on a consistent basis requiring you to be at max, it's time for an external amplifier and speaker setup.

  Given that I generally play music no louder than at 50% volume, will
  this reduce the risk of damage to the speaker to a negligible level
  such that long-term use is unlikely to affect the speaker?

That depends.  At what input level was the music recorded?  If the input was very high, playing at 50% might still be "too loud" for the speakers.  The key here is clipping and distortion.  If the sound begins to distort but you need the volume at that level, it's time to get an external amplifier and speaker setup.

I personally had noise (pops and distortion) on my speakers and I solved it by using an external DAC (digital audio converter) and external speakers (Bose Wave Radio).

Finally, the one thing that I learned (from an audio engineer) from trying to set up an audio presentation in a gymnasium (worst case scenario) is it's better to have more "larger" amplified speakers at lower volume than to have fewer speakers driven at or near maximum volume.  The quality of the sound is just immensely better and you don't risk damaging your equipment


Can I use TimeMachine only when on wired connection?

I use this: https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/26341/timemachinescheduler

Solved all of my TM and corrupt sparse bundle issues (backing up to a Synology NAS)


Will iOS app accepted on App Store if 80% of UI is rendered on UIWebView and 20% being native OCR

This is walking into a grey area I don't know about. According to the Apple App guidelines, an app cannot just be a mobile version of a website. Since it seems as if you are just adding device capabilities, it will probably be rejected. Think of the Stack Overflow app. If it was just converting a website to an app without a address bar, it would not exist. They had to app-ify most(if not all) of the UI elements. You might be able to get away with leaving some things like a login form in the website form, but it has to look seamless.


I had the same problem but with an iMac and a second monitor, where the second monitor, on applying a custom resolution, shifted the screen 2 inches right.

Unplugging the monitor from the back of the iMac, and plugging it back in adjusted the shifted screen back into place.


From what you posted up it looks like you have the program installed on your desktop, is that correct? Is Powerpoint located in the same place as Word? This could be causing some issues as Yosemite would have reset some of the permission settings on your desktop during the upgrade.


Transferring Keynote to Youtube or Quicktime with delay in music and timing of slides

When exporting a Keynote prevention to video, be sure first to set all transitions to the timing that you wish.  All click events will be set to the defaults in the dialog shown below.  Change this to 0 seconds for timing and export again.  By working between the timing of your automatic transitions (usually the length of your song) along with looking at your click transitions, you should be able to get the timing right.


Does downloading torrents to an AirDisk affect my internal SSD?

Most torrent software will buffer files to local storage so you might not get it off the SSD even if you specify writing to an external space. Adding lots of RAM will allow files to stay in RAM while mapped in virtual memory and reduce the IO to the SSD on a theoretical level.

In pracice, I'd say get the SSD you like - it should have a 3-4 year OEM warranty or you can buy up AppleCare if you feel you have any chance of wearing out the drive. You'll have maybe spend a few $$ in exchange for driving your hot new mac. If you feel it will wear out soon, get a service plan that you like. It would be like not buying a new hot rod since you might need a new clutch if you drive it hard. You might, you might not, there's only one way to find out.


I bought my Macbook Pro 15" 2016 and restored the Time Machine back-up of the MacBook 12" 2016 everything seems messed up

Since you have a backup, why not boot to Internet Recovery and reinstall a brand new OS and test things. If there is something wrong with the hardware, you surely can get a feeling of that with a clean install.

The reliable retailer would likely help you if you can show that a clean install causes issues. If the system is stable, you could run Migration Assistant to move things over more slowly than just restoring all the programs and user data. First do one, then the other to see if there was a problem with the migration or just a bad migration.


How to show "only mails with attachments" in MacOS Mail?

Just start typing "attachment" in the same search box and then select it when the prompt comes up. It will then show only those mails that have attachments.


You do not have to just wait, you can see what is it doing.

From the Mac App Store, click on the “Purchases” tab to see the active list
Locate the app(s) you are downloading that you want to check

This will show you the download progress bar, the total downloaded out of the total download size, and an estimation of time remaining until the app has completed downloading and is ready for use.

Meanwhile you can clean the temporary download:

Run this command on the terminal: open $TMPDIR../C/ ...

It will open up Finder in a specific folder, you select com.apple.appstore and delete this folder.


Can Apple Mail be optimized to perform well when I have 30k messages in my inboxes?

The easiest thing to do is clean up the index file Mail uses to track the messages:

  sqlite3 ~/Library/Mail/V2/MailData/Envelope\ Index vacuum;

Thanks for this tip to the estimable Brett Terpstra. The linked article explains how to make an AppleScript file to measure things before and after to see if the operation thinned out the size of the file Mail uses to store the pointers to the messages. I would add, quit Mail and make a backup before trying to clean the file. A vacuum operation is normally harmless, but why not get a backup just in case.

Also, this thread probably goes back to @bbum and his weblog-o-mat and perhaps even deeper back...


What software can play FLAC files and has basic playlist support?

I hope you have a secondary storage solution for FLAC audio files. I do :). I understand the allure of FLAC, I do everything I can to get my media in FLAC or at least some lossless format that I archive. There are a lot of benefits to keeping lossless files around, but playing them via any conventional player is (in my own opinion, of course) not one of them.

I use Max to convert my FLAC files to Variable 256Kbit AAC audio.

Once that's done, I archive the FLAC files elsewhere, and import the converted files into iTunes. Sweet, compatible, bliss.


80+ Mail console messages per seconds: "no entry for mailbox id  in the cache; this should never happen"

Same problem for me and this have solved :

Quit Apple Mail

Go to folder : ~/Library/Mail/V7/MailData (you should use the Finder "Go" menu then "Go to folder" because this folder is normally hidden.
~ is your user home folder.

Rename all "Envelope Index xxx" on "--Envelope Index xxx". You should normally have 3 (on the screenshot I have 5 files but it's because Apple Mail was launched when I take it).

Launch Apple Mail

Normally, Apple Mail will re-create this files that are cached data and all could be solved.
Jérôme.


What is the difference between formatting a volume partition and a disk of which the volume partition is a part of?

The question answers itself - one is formatting (erasing) the whole disk and the other is formatting just the partition. If you have more than one partition, the first will wipe them all, the second will only wipe the one you selected.


Why can't I add more options to the search in Finder?

Start your Search from anywhere else except "All My Files"

I don't know why, but that has no +
possibly because it's already a smart list, under the skin


Is it useful to update the OS in my old MAcBook Pro?

It is a tough question to estimate if you will get a performance boost from MacOS Sierra, as every system responds differently.

I have a mid 2011 iMac that I upgraded from El Capitan to Sierra, and I  found a noticeable decrease in performance. So much so that I rolled back and made a clean install of El Capitan.

There are however a number of good reasons to update. The first and most important being security. Apple will stop supporting and producing updates fro El Capitan soon. When this happens your system will become more vulnerable over time

I would recommend that if you do want to upgrade, back up your system to a Time Machine drive and disconnect it from the system before the update. If you decide that you want to roll back, you can follow a guide on making a clean El Capitan install here. Once you have done that, you can then restore from the Time Machine backup.


From the Finder, select a PDF file, open the Info panel (File ➔ Get Info or ⌘I), select your preferred application and then click Change All…


Looking for Software to Scan or Convert to Searchable and Signable PDF

I know of a website that people have used that is supposed to be very good (there is no software to download) and everything is carried out online. It is called FillAnyPDF:

https://www.fillanypdf.com/default.aspx

which includes digital signature. I have never used it myself, but it may turn out to be what you are looking for, but it might just be for form filling.

Alternatively Wondershares PDF Editor for Mac maybe cheaper than Adobe:

http://www.wondershare.com/mac-pdf-editor/?icn=pem01&ici=top_side

I left another suggestion in the comments below however this article by OSXDaily (particularly the comments section) should provide more insight to your needs:

http://osxdaily.com/2009/09/12/pdf-editors-for-mac-os-x-whats-the-best-way-to-edit-a-pdf-on-your-mac/


How to decrease timeout after which Touch Bar goes to sleep?

It's currently not possible to adjust the Touch Bar timeout.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7820539


Using dd on video DVDs gets permission denied after about 700MB

While writing this question, I remembered something I did different with the first disk and think I figured it out. For the second two disks I was using sudo umount /Volumes/DISK_NAME to unmount the DVD before running dd, which generated the permissions error, so I tried sudo umount /dev/diskX. This works, but only once per boot (it would fail again after one successful dd, until I rebooted). But can anyone explain why it worked? I thought the two invocations of umount were equivalent.


iPhone 5 stuck on "your iPhone is being restored"

Check to make sure it is not downloading any apps still (check all folders and pages to see if any apps are still greyed out to show not yet downloaded) and not downloading any songs either (check under downloading in iTunes). If it isn't, try turning off your phone, then turn it back on. If that doesn't work, hold the power and home button until you see the Apple logo to do a restart.


Loopback traffic from Time Machine process

Time Machine makes a local snapshot during its normal operation - Mobile Time Machine File System (MTMFS) is the process responsible and that is most likely what you're seeing.  You can check Activity Monitor during this time to see the CPU usage from this process (mtmfs).  So yes, it can affect your machine's performance if it's using a lot of your CPU.  (For example, an unrestricted find command on the root will churn through these hidden snapshots causing the process to go nuts.)

You can check for local snapshots with the tmutil command (which has a lot of other uses as well)

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /


How can I delete old messages on my iPhone to free up space (NOT the whole message thread)

You can do exactly what you want as follows:

Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage
Wait a little while as the screen starts populating with data for each of your apps
Within the list that appears, tap on the Messages icon
Now you’ll be presented with a number of options for saving storage space
Select one or more of those options (see below)

Options

Enabling Auto Delete Old Conversations will automatically delete all messages (and their content, incl. photos etc) that were sent or received over 12 months ago
Tapping on Review Large Attachments will allow you to view all attachments. You can also swipe left to delete them. Likewise, you can tap on the Edit option at top left of screen to select multiple attachments to delete.
You can actually choose to delete individual items by reviewing them within the Documents & Data section at the bottom of the screen. This allows you to review Conversations, Photos, Videos, GIFs, Stickers and other items (e.g. tapping on Photos will allow you to review and/or delete each one individually).


Determining The Complete Size Of A Folder & Its Sub-Folders in Finder?

In Finder:

Either:

Option + click a folder.
Or: Click the gear icon in the header.
Or: Select the View menu, and then "Show View Options".
Or: Command + J

Select "Show View Options"
In the 4th subset of options select the box "Calculate all sizes".

If a folder is empty it will only show "--" like all the folders previously did.


The Reset cache solved my problem in the iTunes advanced preferences:

Since then I can install and upgrade applications from AppStore.


What does this icon in available wifi mean?

That just means your Mac does not know how to display the network name. It could be an emoji that your computer doesn't know about.


Can I mirror my iPad's display using the VGA adapter for use in a presentation?

There's no official way to achieve this.

You have to jailbreak your iPad and use a software like DisplayOut (works on all iDevices) to do this.


Photo viewer for Mac that can rotate (and save) pics while browsing folders

So if you only want to spend $2 for such an app, you definitely will be disappointed in every direction you will take a look at.

Regarding my most famous and favourite graphics manipulation and imaging software "Graphicconverter", which can do everything you want and described, you would pay 35€. But if you want to, you can try it out.

http://www.lemkesoft.de/en/products/


Mac showing special characters in menu items

The easiest way to clear the font cache is to boot into Safe Mode. Restart your Mac while holding down Shift.

Once the restart has completed, then restart normally.

Alternatively, you can run the following Terminal command, and then Restart:

sudo atsutil databases -remove

You will need to supply an admin password.


Cannot download fonts on Fontbook In Catalina

You might be able to install it from

  System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/FontServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Fonts/Subsets/

The filenames are Yuanti.ttc for 圆体 and Hannotate.ttc for 手札体.


On iOS, the short answer is no. There is, unfortunately, no app that allows you to manage the file system, in the manner that you are speaking, in iCloud.


Lion Server DHCP randomly loses settings and reverts to defaults

Just shooting a few ideas here: a router on your network that has a DHCP server activated. Permissions on the settings files are wrong. Deleting all settings and prefs and starting from scratch. Make sure the OS is up-to-date.

And you say the logs only show that the settings files disappeared? Nothing else?


sudo: setrlimit(8): Invalid argument after switching Mac OS shell from BASH to ZSH

I had this message as well.

I think I've might have worked out a solution to it.

Check which version of sudo you have installed with sudo -V and if it isn't 1.8.31 download the newest version from here GitHub
You'll have to download this one here "sudo-1.8.31.mac1015.pkg"

Let me know if it worked out for you!


Wireless Diagnostics: what does "_handleLinkEvent: Got an error trying to queyer WiFi for power. Resetting state variables" mean?

Example on my MBA 10.9.3

6/18/14 01:48:14.000 kernel[0]: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Sleep
6/18/14 01:48:16.000 kernel[0]: AirPort: Link Down on en0. Reason 8 (Disassociated because station leaving).
6/18/14 01:48:16.579 airportd[80]: _handleLinkEvent: WiFi is not powered. Resetting state variables.

So that is a normal message following a drooped connection or closing the lid.

Open your console and report the lines before that message to see who is shutting your airport down.

Run netstat -i to get a overview of all ongoing activity

sample

Name  Mtu   Network       Address            Ipkts Ierrs    Opkts Oerrs  Coll
lo0   16384 <Link#1>                          7925     0     7925     0     0
lo0   16384 localhost   ::1                   7925     -     7925     -     -
lo0   16384 127           localhost           7925     -     7925     -     -
lo0   16384 localhost   fe80:1::1             7925     -     7925     -     -
gif0* 1280  <Link#2>                             0     0        0     0     0
stf0* 1280  <Link#3>                             0     0        0     0     0
en0   1500  <Link#4>    14:10:9f:f0:29:8c   830672     0   665716     0     0
en0   1500  mba-host.lo fe80:4::1610:9fff   830672     -   665716     -     -
en0   1500  10.5.50/24    10.5.50.95        830672     -   665716     -     -
en3   1500  <Link#5>    32:00:1a:e9:a9:a0        0     0        0     0     0
bridg 1500  <Link#6>    16:10:9f:0f:1e:00        0     0        0     0     0
p2p0  2304  <Link#7>    06:10:9f:f0:29:8c        0     0        0     0     0

Run Airport -I to get more information on the current connection.

sample

agrCtlRSSI: -33
     agrExtRSSI: 0
    agrCtlNoise: -86
    agrExtNoise: 0
          state: running
        op mode: station
     lastTxRate: 130
        maxRate: 144
lastAssocStatus: 0
    802.11 auth: open
      link auth: none
          BSSID: 9c:d3:6d:b3:75:f0
           SSID: Mijas900850808-80_EXT
            MCS: 15
        channel: 8

For debugging and monitoring you can use the build in tool.

Hold the alt key and click on the WiFi icon

at the bottom of the pop up you will find the Open Wireless Diagnostics

In the new window that opens select Utilities in the Window tab.

Run test like Performances to see the signal stability


Since you're having problems with the drive after using it for a while, no tool may be of help completely. Depending on what's actually failing on the drive, trying to re-read the same sections for a long time could possibly aggravate and expand the problem to other areas. So I would not recommend ddrescue as the first option.

Since there may not be a single solution that is guaranteed to work for this case, I would suggest a combination of different approaches:

Try to copy small sections at a time (starting with the most valuable data, leaving aside OS, Applications and Application Preferences that can be redone later with some time on hand) and give it some rest in between.
Try the freezer trick to see if it helps

  Remove the hard drive from the computer.
  Place the hard drive inside of a zip top freezer bag. (don't buy a
  cheap bag.)
  Place the wrapped hard drive inside of ANOTHER zip top freezer bag.
  (yes, you need to do this)
  Place the double wrapped hard drive in the coldest part of your
  freezer.
  Leave the hard drive in the freezer for 12 hours at least. You want
  it good and cold! (see figure 2 below)
  Once very chilled, install the hard drive in your computer and
  start pulling off data. Begin with the most valuable data.
  At some point, the hard drive will fail again. When it does, mark
  the last successfully copied data, pull out the hard drive, double wrap
  it again and stick it in the Chill Chest for another 12 hours.
  You may need to do this a number of times to get all the data you
  want, or until the hard drive stops working completely.

For any data that you are able to copy out, do a quick verification and back it up elsewhere. You can never have too many backups!
Depending on the drive's manufacturer, download the hard drive test tool from the manufacturer's site, install it on a USB thumb drive and run it. This may help in detecting the actual issue better while at the same time marking bad sectors so that they're hidden (the latter is possible without these tools as well).
As a final measure, use ddrescue to see what you can recover before throwing or recycling the drive.

In the future, ensure you regularly use Time Machine in conjunction with a disk cloning utility (Clonezilla, Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper!)


Replace my MacBook Pro 15" 2009 hard drive

According to Other World Computing, which specializes in Mac accessories & parts, that hard drive fits "all Apple MacBook/MacBook Pro 'Unibody' Models (13/15/17"), MacBook Pro 'pre-unibody' 17", and PC Laptops which support 12.5mm SATA Drives".

So I'd say you're good to go.


There's a setting in iTunes to remember position…

Select all chapters, or books etc.
Get Info  Cmd ⌘   i   > Options tab.


What's the difference between MBP 2016 and 2017 Thunderbolt 3?

You gotta love the heightened level of complexity that simplifying things down to one connector has made things.  Let's sort it out....

USB-C is the connector type.  It's the physical interface specification just as USB-A, USB-B, USB-Micro, USB-Mini are all physical connectors.  It's not a USB port, nor is it a Thunderbolt port.
USB 3.0/3.1 is the USB specification and port type.  It sets the standard for how USB will communicate on your machine.  It's backward compatible with USB 2.0, 1.1, and 1.0
Thunderbolt 3 is the Thunderbolt specification that supplies DisplayPort, PCIe, USB 3.0 and power.  It's backward compatible with Thunderbolt 2 and 1.  Thunderbolt 3 utilizes the USB-C interface and Thunderbolt 1/2 utilize a mini DisplayPort interface connector.
Daisy Chaining - Thunderbolt can be daisy chained, while DisplayPort cannot.  Usually, displays are last in the Thunderbolt chain.

As for the Macs...

MacBook Pros from 2016 onward have 2 or 4 Thunderbolt ports that utilize USB-C interfaces
MacBooks have USB 3.1 ports with DisplayPort support that utilize USB-C interfaces.

So, when you are picking your adapter, you have to determine what port you have on your machine first.  Then you pick the physical inteface type that works for you.

For example if you have a MacBook, you will have a USB port with DisplayPort support on a USB-C interface.  This means you can use a USB to DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort adapter or you can use a USB-C DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable.  What you can't use is a Thunderbolt cable/adapter

If you have a MacBook, you have a few more options because of the inclusion of Thunderbolt.

As for the iMac... Thunderbolt is Thunderbolt.  It doesn't change from MacBook to iMac to PC.  A Thunderbolt adapter for the MacBook Pro will work on an iMac because, after all, an iMac is a MacBook Pro in a different form factor.


Why does Yosemite Safari never time out trying to go to *.local?

I suppose it's because looking up a .local hostname is basically a browsing request for Bonjour services; devices & services register themselves through multicast, so since foobar.local points to no IP (unless you create it), Safari probably never reaches the stage of testing a site's reachability.

In your situation I'd rather a) setup a simple DNS server to reroute requests or b) announce your services through dns-sd:

dns-sd -P Webservice _http._tcp local 80 foobar.local 127.0.0.1 path=/webservicename

This should announce a proxy website within your network with name "Webservice" for the hostname foobar.local to be reached at http://127.0.0.1/webservicename


That usually happens when the disc is damaged or dirty and can’t be mounted. Physically inspect the surface of your disc for scratches or residue, and if necessary clean it with a microfiber cloth (wiping radially, outward). It’s okay to use water or a damp cloth if necessary, but avoid harsh chemicals. And of course wipe your disc dry before trying again.

If this doesn’t work, make sure your DVD drive isn’t the culprit by inserting another DVD and making sure it mounts properly.


I had the same issue, had to turn off and on the printer to get it to print every time even if the jobs were only a few minutes apart.   I was not thrilled about changing the 5GHz name as suggested above.

I resolved my issue by going into the Airport Utility on my iphone, go to Edit->Advanced->Add WPS Printer->With pin

Now my Epson Workforce 845 works as it should.  I assume there is something in the router that treats a printer different than a general client and adding it as I did above solves it...at least it did for me.


AppleScript: Check if "System Events" has loaded

The System Events process does not start at login, so the delay might be needed for some other reason. System Events also teriminates automatically if it is not used for a few minutes.

It probably won't help, but you could try launching System Events at the start of the script:

launch application "System Events"

You could also try using a launchd agent like this to launch a System Events process at login:

<?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>test</string>
  <key>Program</key>
  <string>/System/Library/CoreServices/System Events.app/Contents/MacOS/System Events</string>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key> <!-- run at login -->
  <true/>
  <key>KeepAlive</key> <!-- run the program again if the previous program terminates -->
  <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

You can normally use something like tell application "System Events" to exists process "Finder" to check if a process exists, but it obviously requires talking to System Events. In this case you might also use a shell script like this:

repeat 100 times
    do shell script "ps -eco comm= | grep -x 'System Events'; exit 0"
    if result is not "" then exit repeat
    delay 0.1
end repeat

ps -e is identical to -ax (include processes from all users and processes without a controlling terminals), -c prints command names instead of absolute paths in OS X, and -o comm= prints only command names without the header row. You can replace the shell command with pgrep -x 'System Events'; exit 0 in 10.8 and later.


How to show all annotations at once in Preview?

This is a workaround, as I couldn't find a hotkey or menu option to do this. Still, clicking

View > Hide Notes

and then

View > Show Notes

Will show all anotations. I can now see all the annotations without manually clicking them. This worked on Preview 5.5.1.


Can an Airport Express act as AP and AirPlay at the same time?

Yes, that is in fact the purpose of the AirPlay feature. Just plug it to your stereo or active speaker with the jack on the rear. A small "airplay" icon (see the example on the Apple homepage) will appear appear in iTunes or iPhone/iPad when you play music. You can then select whether you want your music on the Airport Express router or on your computer / iDevice.


LINE indicates the TTY the process is running on. It is correct about you being logged into your computer twice, as you are logged in once to Cocoa (the OS X desktop), console, full path: /dev/console, and again in the terminal, ttysXXX, full path: /dev/ttysXXX (where "XXX" is a three-digit number, starting from 001).

console is Darwin's (OS X kernel) only 'real' TTY, the only one that isn't running in a terminal emulator. console, being the only non-emulated TTY is therefore the only one GUIs can run on.

The Apple logo that appears when Cocoa is not running (booting and shut-down) is generated by the kernel except when in verbose mode (start the Mac with the boot argument -V either by holding ctrl-V while booting or running nvram boot-args="-v" as root, however that will make your Mac always boot in verbose mode until you run nvram boot-args="" or clear nvram).

When boot in verbose mode instead of an Apple logo the kernel will log any boot messages and related to /dev/console and anything written to /dev/console will show up on the console and therefore on-screen (since nothing is generating a GUI on it, whether that be Cocoa or the Kernel). The main part of this is how other Unix-like/POSIX systems work.

I know this answer is kind of crappy but I hope it helps.


New uninitialised SSD not showing in Disk Utility

Old thread, but just run to similar problem myself. My old HDD broke up, and had no chance to format my new SSD anywhere.

New disk was not listed on Disk Utility, when booted the machine with USB-installer and so that I was not able to format the disk and I was not getting nowhere.

I noticed that I was able to run Terminal during installer (Top ribbon)

I checked all devices with command-line Disk Utility:

diskutil list

And the new Disk was listed there.

Then format using diskutil:

diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ NewDisk /dev/<disk id>

The new disk was formatted and reboot. Disk was now listed on Disk Utility and I was able to install the macOS without issues.


How can I find out how much toner is left in my printer, which is connected to an Airport Express via USB?

Attaching a printer using Airport does not provide the same capabilities as attaching through USB, and one of the things that will not work is querying the printer for paper/ink levels etc.

When you have the printer attached locally, the driver has the ability to talk over USB for lots of things, including these services, reading from a card reader that may be on the printer etc.  Once the printer is made wireless, these facilities are lost, and it effectively just becomes a dumb queue that you can drop a print into.  About the only feedback it can give is if the printer is offline or not.  If your printer is multifunction, you'll likewise lose the scanning/fax stuff also.

So unfortunately the only way is to hit up the printer direct, walk on over there and take a peek.


How to recover from Time Machine "error creating the backup folder"

I had this problem before as well & I need to admit, I just formatted the drive - which is probably the easiest way. If you don't really need any of the old backups, maybe consider this again.

Alternatively you could try to run the Disk Utility App and try to repair your Backup Drive!


Is it possible to zoom out in Safari on iPad 2?

It sounds to me like your only option will be to have the webpage redesigned a little. Chances are there are some CSS styles that are sending parts of the text off the screen.

For the site, sometimes they include a meta "viewport" tag, which could be causing some problems for you. If this is the case, they should be able to easily remove this tag. However, it is very likely this is not causing the problem.

You could also request they use a media query to make adjustments based off of your iPad. This often works very well for mobile devices.


Setting up CrashPlan with NAS drive attached to Airport Extreme?

You should be able to use the drive on the Airport Extreme as a destination folder for your CrashPlan backups. CrashPlan can backup to a local folder, or to an external hard disk in addition to their online service. You should be able to treat the NAS in the same way as you treat an external hard drive, from CrashPlan's point of view. At least, that's my guess, but I haven't tested this.

This assumes you want to backup from your computer TO the NAS, and not that you want to backup FROM the NAS to CrashPlan's servers (although I'd imagine both are possible).


It took me a while to narrow down the file that contains the list of apps shown in that system pref pane, but I finally found.  The list of apps is stored in /var/db/locationd/clients.plist. Once I found that juicy bit of info a quick Google search revealed this related posting on superuser.com: Remove Applications from Location Services in Security & Privacy on Mac OS X 10.8. That post is more of an answer than a question. It contains detailed step-by-step instructions on how to remove the no longer installed app from the list.


Apple iPad does not use an SSD. It uses a flash based drive.

UPDATE: In response to the differences between SSD's and Flash Drives, here is the following excerpt explaining the difference.

‘Flash Drives’ are a generic term which used for anything from USB memory sticks to SSDs. An USB flash drive uses lower quality low performance NAND flash with just 1 or 2 channels. Its durable, cheap but slow. An SSD on the other hand uses high performance NAND with mutliple channels. ( 12 or 8 is not uncommon), and there is a  memory controller on a SSD which is much better and both can store data even if its not powered.
Flash drives (USB) are slow storage devices where as SSDs are high performance drives. They’re much faster than normal HDDs.

A USB flash drive uses USB, which is generally a slower interface than the Serial ATA interface. A USB flash drive is generally thought of as a removable device by the OS and is managed as such. A SSD is treated similarly to a hard drive, and is often recognized by your OS as a type of fixed disk.

USB flash drives and solid-state drives are both based on flash memory. Most of the flash memory use  NAND memory, which are available as single-level cells (SLC) and multi-level cells (MLC). Single-level cells store a single bit in a single memory cell, whereas multi-level cells store more than a single bit in a single memory cell. The MLC accomplishes this by allowing each memory cell to store multiple electrical states, therefore, allow one MLC cell to store more information than one SLC cell. For example, a MLC that uses 4-levels can store 2 bits of information.  MLC are cheaper, as they can store more information per memory cell than SLC. Cheap, large SSDs and USB flash memory use MLC disks, although not necessarily. MLCs sounds great in terms of storage density, but it does have a catch. MLCs are  slower than SLC. Therefore, the large capacity USB flash drives and SSDs tend to be slower. Solid-State Drives (SSDs) have no moving parts, high reliability and longer life-span than traditional hard drives

Taken from here


Date is wrong by months when set to automatically

Excellent question. There is a lot that you can do to inspect this process.

How can I tell if my Mac is keeping the clock updated properly?

Some things to point out:

Check which time servers you have selected
Change them and retest
If you have a VPN, try that and be sure you try without
Look over your time zone (set it if it’s not correct while you sort out the time servers

Some computer is telling yours the wrong time, so think about networks and then dig into the command line tools if needed.


How to display the location of files with Spotlight?

You can press ⌘+⌥ to see filepath in Quicklook pop-up.


How to view iPhone Safari developer tools on Mac over WiFi?

Connect your iPhone to your Mac via USB
Go to Safari on your Mac
Mac: Safari > Preferences > Advanced > Show Developer menu in menu bar
iPhone: Settings > Safari > Advanced > Web Inspector
Mac: Safari > Develop > [iPhone Name] > Connect via Network
Unplug the iPhone form USB. You should still see it in the menu
Go to the website on iPhone Safari
On your Mac select the website. A window should open with console, inspect element and a bunch of other developer tools.


You have two ways to copy the Keychains directory

Finder -> Go -> Go to folder... -> /Library/Keychains

or something like

cp -r /Library/Keychains ~/Desktop/MyKeychainsBackup [in terminal window]

However, the Keychains is saved with iCloud; you don't really need to make a local backup.


This works for me in the latest version of macOS Sierra...

tell application "System Events"
    set dockPrefs to dock preferences
    set appearancePrefs to appearance preferences
end tell


Can you recommend a numeracy iphone application where you 'write' answers on the screen?

Unfortunately, the only app that contains everything you want so far seems to be MathBoard, which is iPad-only (it does however, look really well done). I didn't see anything for the iPhone that uses writing input rather than a number pad or buttons.


Got a workaround that worked in our organization.
This changes for macOS the SMB behavior to v2.
Changed the following setting in the /etc/nsmb.con file.

#!/bin/sh

echo "[default]" >> /etc/nsmb.conf
echo "protocol_vers_map=2" >> /etc/nsmb.conf

exit 0


How to view photo ratings done in Capture One in Finder

Capture One [& many other photo apps] usually store that data in a sidecar XMP file along with RAW edits etc, not in the photo itself. Usually, only another similar app will be able to read them, by associating the sidecars with the originals.
I don't ever edit in Capture One, I only ever use it as a tethering solution then hand off to ViewNX, so I've not tested which other apps can read those particular XMP files.
For comparison, I've never found anything which can read the star ratings from Nikon's ViewNX-i other than other Nikon apps.


switch usb port. Or just restart your Mac. It is easier than upgrade.It will work 100 procent. I have no idea why ports are not working after couple of transfer. Can be a memory related problem. or permission to write from transfer threat. God knows.


How I can browse servers over SSH in visually?

You could connect to your remote host via sshfs over fuse. An implementation for OSX is MacFUSE. A nice fronted for macfuse is MacFusion.
A crossplatform solution for accessing ssh/sftp enabled hosts is MuCommander which provides a commander-like interface to your remote host.


Did Apple kill iCloud Keychain wifi password sync?

I bumped into this question when searching for the problem.

And I figured out iCloud didn't set up (or logged in) on my Mac OS X. When I logged in to icloud, KeyChain access created a new tab for iCloud just under the Login tab.

Please be sure, you set up iCloud on your Mac OS X.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208682


Why won't my iPhone switch to 3G when I'm out of WiFi range?

The expected behavior is probably for the phone to stay on WiFi as long as it can connect, and then switch to 3G; as of iOS 5, I don't think the capability is there to automatically notice a dead WiFi connection and switch to 3G.  So what you're seeing is perhaps a lack of functionality, but it's not strictly speaking a bug.

I can't really see Apple making that the default functionality, though.  They'd get a lot of flak for making the iPhone too smart; nerds would complain that they don't have control.  If it was done, it would probably be an option.

It also would be very difficult to do well automatically.  How does iOS know a connection is bad?  What exactly does "when WiFi stops working" mean?

Lack of public internet access?  Windows 7 (and maybe Vista) does this by requesting a text file from Microsoft's website with predetermined content; that's how it knows if your connection has internet access or not.  But what if you're on a network at work that only offers access to intranet sites, and not the public internet?
Lack of data transfer despite network requests going out?  What if you're repeatedly trying a site that's experiencing a lot of traffic?  How many repeated failed requests mean a bad connection?
Long response times for outgoing requests? How long is too long? It could be averaged over time, but where's the threshold?

It could probably be done, but it would be difficult to do well, and the gain in widespread user satisfaction probably isn't that huge in comparison to other things.


How to reset spaces assignments after upgrading to Lion?

I was just looking into this myself. The settings are still accessible via the Dock, when you have more than one space set up:

As far as removing these associations entirely, try removing ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.spaces.plist.


Trouble with importing photos from iPhone to Mac when I have enabled iCloud Photo Library and selected "Optimize iPhone Storage"

I’m not sure I can address everything in your post, but here are some things that might help narrow down some options.

If you have “optimize photos” on your iOS device/iPhone - then it is designed to upload the full, original images to iCloud. Full stop.
Then you are expected to download those photos to all other devices from the ful version in iCloud.
At best - you always get the perfect version and the downsampling only happens to the local / non-permanent copy that’s on a device with low storage space internally.
At worst - you fill up the iCloud space and have to buy more to store all the originals - and you still retain the full size versions online, but at a cost.

Depending on where you split from this general idea - you may or may not have some issues that I didn’t anticipate, but I would probably reach out to Apple Support to verify your iCloud is correct and full and see options to get everything from the phone to iCloud, everything from the Mac to iCloud and then sort out the options.

Getting the local cached copy from the iPhone is very against the design so I would think you’d need specialized skills or software much more involved and time consuming than just fitting into the intended use pattern.


Impossible to downgrade Mac Pro's operating system to original system

You do need Snow Leapord or Tiger and below to run PowerPC apps. That is how I also got into trouble, but in my case, my iMac is no longer usable.

I bought a spring 2008 iMAC that came with the Tiger OS which I upgraded to Snow Leapord. I also like Snow Leapord because it still runs all the old software based on technology no longer used.

After I upgraded to El Capitan, I too could not install an older release. Like you, not even with a new hard drive.

I also found out, as you may have noticed, you can't install Sierra either. That is because of an upgrade to your current OS that tells it your hardware is obsolete.

I found this in the macrumors forum: "Apple Obsoletes Select Early 2008 to Late 2009 Macs"

Here is  "Apple's Official List of Vintage and Obsolete Products."

Both of our computers are on the list.

Since I tried to install Snow Leapord, my iMAC refuses to boot, even in safe mode.

However, I found this post on the Apple website. It is from 2013, and it may be able to help you. The article also provides the update link from Apple Support.

The post is "OS X 10.4/10.5 need to upgrade, 10.6.8 ok still" and it is by a level 7 user DS_Store.

I hope this helps, for all my attempts at dual boot disks, external boot disk, VM's and such may have doomed my iMac for good, which means 6-8 months before I can finish designing the apps I have been developing.


Photos (OS X Yosemite / El Capitan) – show original in Finder?

Photos expects you to export unmodified originals as copies, to preserve the integrity of the internal file management and for collection protection in the same way a database works – it's central to keeping the iCloud storage of your photo collection synced, stable, and functional.

Once you have exported a photo, you can then use mdls and mdfind to see what the "copy" looks like and where the original was stored.

In my case, they are all in ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/Masters/2015/04/08 and such stored by year, month and date for my US locale computer. You'll only have to do this exercise a few times to nail down the internal storage for each time Apple chooses to change it going forward.


Can not get the phone to accept a password

Usually two things cause this (or more precisely, one of the two):

corrupt keychain items or corrupt software install
wrong date/time on the iOS device

The date/time is far easier to fix, so ensure the clock is accurate within a minute of reality / the PC that's working.

Corruption is harder, so try powering off the device and back on, then try a backup and reset all settings. If that doesn't work, then a restore is next. Once you have a working sign in, you can erase again and then restore the backup or just reload the things you need and forget the backup eventually.


iPad boot loop only when powered - brief flash loop when connected to USB - jailbreak gone awry?

Jailbreaking only affects the operating system level of an iPad; it can't damage a device more than can be fixed by putting it into DFU mode and restoring it with iTunes.

In other words, it sounds like this device has a hardware problem of some kind.


Graphics performance drop after waking from sleep in Catalina (MacBook Pro)

Start with:

Reset NVRAM / PRAM
Reset the SMC

If your Mac has a double GPU:

Disable the Automatic graphics switching located under System Preferences -> Energy Saver.

If this does not solve the issue:

Boot in safe mode

If the problem persists also there it could be caused by an installed software. At that point you can proceed by exclusion.


Tags are not 100% portable in that they don't always survive mailing or copying to other computers such as Linux or Windows. On that respect, it's more about those OS supporting the Apple filesystem. I am impressed that even copying tagged files to a SMB formatted USB drive preserves the tag metadata and most copy operations from and to another Mac via an HFS+ hard drive or share does preserve the tags well in practice. (Even copying the file to a 10.8 or older Mac didn't strip tags in my tests).

Apple's article covering tags, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5839, recommends:

  If you want to include your Tags when sending files through Mail, Messages, or other apps, compress your files and folders before sending them.


AppleScript runs, but does not seem to work

Why your script seems to run without errors

Your script runs without errors because it swallows any error that may occur in the do shell script line.

Temporarily remove the surrounding try and end try lines to un-mute the errors. This will likely lead to an error message that ends with No such file or directory.

Why your script does not rename files

The issue is that your script hands the value of theDirectory directly to the shell command without quoting it. Because that value contains spaces, the shell interprets the directory &[…]theItem part as two separate arguments, which causes mv to fail.

Solution

In the do shell script line, replace both occurrences of

  theDirectory

with:

  quoted form of theDirectory

(Optional) Making your script more robust

Additionally, I suggest that you either lose the surrounding try/end try altogether, or alternatively insert an on error statement to handle possible errors that can occur in the do shell script part.

Writing scripts that don’t swallow errors means you’ll save time in the long run.


How can I reset AirPort Express to factory defaults?

I believe the full procedure is

Unplug the unit
Press and hold reset (e.g. with paper clip)
Plug the unit back into power outlet (while pressing reset)
Wait for rapid green flashing
Release reset button

From your description, it's not clear how you were managing the AC power


Can I play Blu-ray discs directly on a MacBook using an external drive?

Yes it is possible. VLC will play Blu-ray discs once you have installed the necessary extras. Info and links to the files you need here...


If I sign a JAR with a certificate from Comodo, will I still get warnings?

After biting the bullet and purchasing a code signing certificate, I can now answer my own question with all certainty:

Short answer: No, the warnings don't go on OS X - although they do in web browsers.

Long(er) answer: Technically certificates from Comodo or any other certificate authority that is trusted do work on Mac and you can absolutely sign .apps with them, however how useful this is another matter. I suppose that for more advanced users it is still beneficial in that you can verify whether or not an application has been tampered with, but Apple still won't see it as being from a trusted developer - and that's where the confusion starts.

The warnings that I mentioned in my original question originate from Gatekeeper. Now, if I would have known that I wouldn't have needed to start this question but I guess if I didn't know other people won't either. Anyway Gatekeeper is something that Apple have designed to keep Mac's safe and to avoid unwanted, malicious software from entering the system. It does this by restricting what apps can be executed based upon their origin, and by default in OS X Mountain Lion and later Gatekeeper only allows the execution of Apps from the Mac App Store and trusted developers.

To become a trusted developer however, it takes more than just signing code with any old certificate. Trusted developers have Developer ID's, given to them by Apple, and their code signing certificate contains this Developer ID; again the only certificates to be able to hold a Developer ID are those issued by Apple.

So, when people tell you that Apple only trust themselves, that's not true. They trust certificates issued by most certificate authorities just not in the same way as Windows and signing you app does not mean you're a trusted developer. For that, you have to pay Apple $99/year.

In all fairness, you do get a lot for that $99 and it does make some sense for it to be this way. It's frustrating for developers, but  safer for users! Users can bypass Gatekeeper for individual apps, so if you're only planning on releasing one app for OS X or something then perhaps providing instructions on how to this might be a better option for you.

PS: After a lot of emails to the Comodo support team, I finally received this statement from them to confirm all of this:

  While our certificates work perfectly fine with signing .app files, it
  does not give you an Apple Developer ID to designate that you are an
  Identified Developer by Apple, as only Apple provides developer IDs
  for Mac and iOS applications.


Welcome to Ask Different. This is something I encounter a lot. You should try these tricks from the finder. You can open the trash and ctrl-click the file you want to delete and select delete immediately. You can also try holdind down the option key while emptying trash.  These methods were recommended by this reference, I don't know the corresponding terminal command if there is one.


How can I launch screensaver with a keyboard shortcut?

I don't believe there is a built-in, system wide Keyboard Shortcut. The quickest way to activating the screensaver via the keyboard is either via a "Start Screensaver" command using a launching applications such as Quicksilver, Alfred, or Launchbar.

The quickest way of starting the screensaver using your mouse is via Hot Corners. Open System Preferences, click "Desktop & Screen Saver", click over to the "Screen Saver" tab and click the "Hot Corners" button in the bottom left. There you can specify a corner to roll over in order to start the screensaver.

If you want to start the screensaver quickly, because you want an easy way to lock your computer, a possible answer is located in the high-view "Mac OS X Hidden Features Tips & Tricks" question that remains active.

And specifically, this answer.

  shift + control + eject    send display only to sleep (great for locking your computer instantly)


How to upgrade jailbroken iPhone 4 with iOS 6.1.3 to iOS 7.0.4?

Restore the device with iTunes (connect the device and click Restore in iTunes).
Once the device is restored, set up the device using an iTunes backup and select the iTunes backup that you made before you restored the device.
If you want the device jailbroken, jailbreak the device using evasi0n 7.


Can't format o repartition any USB or Flash Drive

This may be a problem with Disk Utility.app and diskutil. I would recommend booting into recovery mode (CMD + R at startup) and verifying the main hard disk. If this turns up fine then a reinstall or restoring from a backup where the problem did not take place is the way to go.


iPhone does not respond to DHCP request/discover from our Linux-based system

Thank you all,

The problem was solved by setting the MAC address manually right after the TAP interface was created


OS X unusably unresponsive after upgrading 10.6 to 10.8

Ultimately I discovered that there exists a Safe Mode, which you can access by pressing and holding Shift after the gray boot screen appears. In this mode the system was responsive again, and I could actually copy my data off.

There also exists a more restrictive Recovery Mode, which you can access by pressing and holding Command+R, and you can use Disk Utility there to copy entire disks around. However, that wasn't necessary for me (until it came time to wipe out and reinstall the OS).


Does Mail Quick Look follow redirects when viewing webpages?

The simple answer is no, QuickLook will not follow links.

The more complex answer is as follows and excuse the exposition and some of the generalisations, it's a bit of a minefield is email.

If you think of QuickLook in general, applications provide an interface to their core logic to allow QuickLook to provide its functionality to the user, i.e. preview of different files types.

QuickLook on emails within Mail.app may differ to what is seen within Entourage or Outlook simply because the email is stored within the data storage of those applications, and QuickLook will use the registered app for that type to provide the preview functionality.

So in general, it is the registered email application doing the work of providing the preview.

Email applications regularly provide a certain level of protection for rich text and HTML formatted emails (unless you were using Outlook Express in the last 10 years haha) as follows:

Image preview turned off for unknown senders/email marked spam (sometimes a configurable option)
Non-execution of Javascript
Non-execution of Flash (Mail.app - bad, bad app allows this)
Non-rendering of embedded images/files
Detection of obfuscated content

Links within the email are part of the text content of the email, spam filters may validate the link URL against the domain the email was sent from but will never crawl the link to determine the links validity.

Any links that are not pure HTML anchors and are Javascript based will not be executed and therefore not followed either.

Some corporate email gateways will crawl standard links to determine link validity which cause some major nightmares for those people whose business is to track valid commercially sent emails, but the process they use just records the HTTP response from the link URL rather than the HTTP content of the response.

So as you can see from the above, the answer is categorically no, QuickLook will never follow the links in a previewed email, as long the the QuickLook provider for the email provides the minimum amount of security for reading emails.

Just for context, I worked for 3 years for an ESP (Email Service Provider), one of those companies that send emails on the behalf of major corporations and retailers.

A lot of the time, marketing departments would ask these same questions and ask us how to work round them. Naughty naughty people that they were :p


If I've lost access to my Apple ID, are there downsides to creating a new ID?

Have you read the Apple FAQ about Apple ID here?

There is various information on how to retrieve access to an ID, could be a good place to start rather than abandoning the ID as previous purchases will be linked to that ID.

As covered in the FAQ, since you have never been able to merge Apple ID - it's probably worth the effort to contact Apple to get the original account unlocked / password reset.

Q: I have multiple Apple IDs. Is there a way for me to merge them into a single Apple ID?

  Apple IDs cannot be merged. You should use your preferred Apple ID from now on, but you can still access your purchased items such as music, movies, or software using your other Apple IDs.


throughout repairing, Apple provide a macbook?

Apple doesn't offer warranty replacement Macs during service unless you are paying / participating in the Joint Venture program. It's basically premium service that you pay for as an add-on similar to how AppleCare is an add on that can reduce your repair costs in some cases. I don't know how many countries it is offered, so contact your store's Business team to check. From the USA web site, the program has this as one of it's benefits:

  Premium access to Apple Support.

  You’ll get your own website with easy access to every service we offer
  — custom training, Genius Bar reservations, tech support, and
  workshops. And you can speak by phone to an Apple Genius who can help
  resolve your issue, check into necessary parts, and estimate repair
  turnaround time. We’ll even loan you a computer while yours is being
  repaired. If you prefer to meet in person, you can make a Genius Bar
  appointment at any Apple Store in the world.

You'll need to rent a replacement elsewhere before you turn in your computer or time the repair to when you can afford to lose the days it takes to do the work on it.


It turns out the solution was to bounce mDNSResponder:

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

This was obtained by a different coworker from this Server Fault question.

OS X 10.10.0 – 10.10.3, Yosemite

Apparently, mDNSResponder doesn't exist in Yosemite (OS X 10.10). You can restart descoveryd instead to fix these issues.

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

OS X 10.10.4+, Yosemite

In OSX 10.10.4 the mDNSResponder has been reintroduced. So use the first one will work again.


iPhone Keeps Asking for Other User iTunes Store Creds - Which Content is Causing this?

I think you're on the right track.  If you checked every app and know for sure that it was downloaded from your iCloud account, then it's probably the music.

You mentioned you used Family Sharing.  If you're the organizer, you can remove her from the group or disband the family group.  According to Apple:

  When you leave Family Sharing, your Apple ID is removed from the family group, and you stop sharing music, movies, TV shows, books, and apps with any remaining family members. In addition, any photos, calendars, and reminders shared by the family group will be removed from your devices. If you chose to share your location, you'll stop sharing your location with other family members, and your devices will be removed from the family Find My iPhone device list.

  Any content that your family shared with you isn't automatically removed from your device. You can purchase it again or remove it to free up space on your device. If you downloaded an app from a family member’s purchase history and made In-App Purchases, you'll need to purchase the app yourself to access your In-App Purchases.

  Any DRM-protected music, movies, TV shows, books, or apps that you previously downloaded from other family member's collections will no longer be usable, and other family members won't be able to use content downloaded from your collection.

The family organizer can remove anyone over 13 from the family group at any time.

Go to Settings > [your name] > Family Sharing, tap the name of the family member you want to remove, then tap Remove. If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Family.

Can the family organizer leave or disband a family group?

Yes. If the family organizer stops Family Sharing, it removes all family members from the family group at once.
Go to Settings > [your name] > Family Sharing, tap your name as the organizer, then tap Stop Family Sharing.  If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Family.


Can I prevent a whatsapp text from being sent, if it hasn't yet been delivered?

If it hasn't yet got through you can... though you'd have to be quick

If your message is still showing a clock icon in the bottom-right corner, and you realize that you did not want to send that message - you’re in luck! You should immediately turn off Internet connection on your mobile phone. This will block the channel and the message will remain in your mobile. Then delete the message from WhatsApp before connecting to the Internet again.

However, as soon as the message leaves your mobile and reaches WhatsApp server, the clock icon will change into single tick sign. And once the clock icon is gone, there is no way to hold your message back. It will reach the recipient as and when their mobile device connects to the Internet.

Edit Found this reference - https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/38129/can-i-stop-a-whatsapp-message-from-being-delivered which confirms that, & also that blocking the user does not work.


How to add keyboard shortcut for "Move to Predicted Mailbox" in Apple Mail?

There are built in shortcuts for the Favorites bar – the bar shown here that has "Mailboxes Inbox (5) 2021Q1 2020Q4 (1)".

The shortcuts are ⌘+Control+<number>, where number is the position on the bar with "inbox" getting position 1. So to move to 2021Q1 on my favorites bar, I hit ⌘+Control+2 (probably my most hit keyboard shortcut since my current archive folder also holds this spot on my favorites bar).
If you don't see the favorites bar, show it from the View menu, "Show Favorites Bar." Then drag your preferred folders from the folder list on the left onto the favorites bar.


Facebook Messenger for iPhone: How to hide active status?

How do you know your friend was using the iOS app (this may be a question for Web Apps)?
A blue circle with the white check means it was sent successfully, doesn't mean your friend was active or even read your message.
If you go to facebook.com/messages or messenger.com and navigate to the settings, you can toggle your online/offline status. Not sure how this carries over to the iPhone app showing active/not active. Gear Icon (top left) → Settings → Account → Green Toggle.

Asking your friend for more detail would be helpful.


What are all of the URI Schemes Available on macOS

Use lsregister
The command can be found in /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister. I suggest creating a symlink to one of the directories in your PATH for easy access.  You can copy and past the following command for simplicity
% sudo ln -s /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister /usr/local/bin/lsregister

Now, you can run lsregister from anywhere.
Dump the URL Binding Table
lsregister has a number of database tables that contain various application registration details.  The table that we're interested in is URLSchemeBinding
% lsregister -dump URLSchemeBinding

This will give you the full list from afp:// to x-man-page://.
To find the URL scheme used for the dictionary we can grep for it:
% lsregister -dump URLSchemeBinding | grep "dict*"
dict:               35608 (0x8b18) (0x8b1a)
x-dictionary:       35604 (0x8b14) (0x8b16)


Short answer:

The lowest end Mac Pro that can be upgraded to a 2.93 12-core Westmere is the 2.66GHz 12-core Westmere.

Long answer:

The single socket Nehalem and Westmere Mac Pros literally have one socket. Aside from that, most of the lower end configs ship with a 1066MHz memory bus instead of a 1333MHz bus. In order to upgrade to a part that uses faster ram you will need to replace all your ram, and probably solder some resistors to change the clock multipliers on the board.

Without SMD soldering you will need to match the bus speed of the processor, which means if you have a 1066MHz memory interface the highest end part you will be able to install is are quad core 2.66GHz Xeon E5640s. There is also no guarantee the firmware will actually initialize it correctly, though odds are good that it will.


Fastest way to get picture from iOS camera to desktop "file upload" dialog?

If you enabled photo stream on iPhone and have iPhoto/Aperture on your mac, you can try enabling photo stream on mac. If you didn't install iPhoto/Aperture,  maybe you can try MyPhotoStream.
I strongly recommend flick., which is really easy to use and covered all platforms. It's free and cool!
Share to iMessage and send to yourself after taking the photo if your iMessage on iPhone is synced with mac.

the geeky way: If your iPad has been jailbreaked, try sshfs in Mac's homebrew. Assume that you have installed homebrew and got root privilege of iPad. Just type

  brew install sshfs

in Mac's terminal, and then

  mkdir /Volumes/iPad  && ln -s /Volumes/iPad ~/Documents/iPad && sshfs root@youripad:/var/mobile/Media/DCIM/100APPLE /Volumes/iPad

(I tried to directly mkdir in Documents and mount iPad's photo directory there but failed. It just didn't appear in the open_file_dialog.)

Last, just choose the photos you want from the open_file_dialog->Documents->iPad.

If you want to unmount your iPad from mac, type

  umount /Volumes/iPad

in your terminal.

Enjoy!


How to Set up WiFi Access Point to Share Folder of Files for Download?

You can probably do this on your Mac book with an Ad-Hoc network, but I don't know how the performance will be with 20 users so purchasing a separate wifi access point (AP) is probably a good idea (Apple's Airport Express is very portable).  In either case, you will want to setup a web (Apache) and DNS (Bind) server on your laptop.  That is pretty easy to do if you purchase Apple's server application.  (It is possible to do both without purchasing the server, but requires more technical skill.)  Configure the dhcp settings on your AP to give out your computers IP for DNS.  For that to work, you'll also need to configure the AP to always give your computer the same IP address when it connects.  Then, when clients connect to the AP, you can give them your website and they will be able to download files.

Total cost, approximately $120.

This is really only a high level description.  You may need to ask more specific questions as you get into it and need help.


Copy and paste between Mac and Ubuntu using keyboard shortcuts via VMware Fusion

Look under the settings for that particular VM, not the "App Preferences."  Each specific VM has it's own settings, and there are granular controls for Host <--> Guest sharing.

I only have Parallels, or I would post screenshots, but it is quite similar, from what I remember of previous VMWare Fusion versions that I used at my old job.

In the "Launch" screen, there should be a gear or some settings button for that specific VM.

Here it is in Parallels, FWIW.


Battery warning "Service Battery" goes away by itself

I believe this is fairly common behaviour. You may want to calibrate your MacBook Pro's battery to help Mac OS X better gauge its health.

I have a MacBook with an older battery. The battery is suffering and frequently shows the "Service Battery" message in the battery status menu. It too will alternate between asking for a service to being in good health.

  Apple Portables: Calibrating your computer's battery for best performance

  Plug in the power adapter and fully charge your PowerBook's battery until the light ring or LED on the power adapter plug changes to green and the onscreen meter in the menu bar indicates that the battery is fully charged.
  Allow the battery to rest in the fully charged state for at least two hours. You may use your computer during this time as long as the adapter is plugged in.
  Disconnect the power adapter while the computer still on and start running the computer off battery power. You may use your computer during this time. When your battery gets low, the low battery warning dialog appears on the screen.
  At this point, save your work.  Continue to use your computer; when the battery gets very low, the computer will automatically go to sleep.
  Turn off the computer or allow it to sleep for five hours or more.
  Connect the power adapter and leave it connected until the battery is fully charged again.


"Set time zone automatically using current location" is not working. Why?

Apple uses one or more databases (I don't know how many) to map your ISP internet connection to a location in the world.

If you use the network utility to traceroute to that time server, you will see all the routers between you and that apple server. This software does the same thing and reports the hops - if Apple knows where any of the routers close to your mac are located, it will update the location. What it's telling you is it can't pin down where you are based on this information only.

If you can try connecting to a different network or a public network it might be more likely to know where you are. Many business internet connections pool the public internet access and the database is told to ignore that since the traffic isn't coming to apple close to your physical location.

Are you on a home network? Can you call your ISP to see if they allow or prevent location of their customers? It's a problem with the people supplying you with internet and not anything on your computer, so you can't do anything directly to correct it other than change your ISP or figure out how to get it mapped.


macOS High Sierra use almost all the hard drive space each time it's upgraded

After contacting Apple's manual customer service, they told me to rebuilt the index of Spotlight, just add the Whole Macintosh HD to the exclude and then remove it, this solved the problem !


Steps to ensuring data integrity / security of Mac mini prior to sale?

RAM is volatile, meaning it loses its data when powered off.

The same for the other components, and they don't really 'store' data, and it's likely to be in a form that doesn't lend itself to useful 'human' level data.

If you're wiping or replacing the storage device with a new/clean volume, then that won't contain any info associated with your AppleID. However, you'll need to remove the Mac from your ID's list of known (and therefore trusted) devices.

All the serial number records are tied at Apple - and Apple is designed to let a new owner “claim” that serial number but not snitch on who had it last. There’s never any reason for Apple to disclose who had gear other than a legal proceeding - they just register the gear to the new owner and that’s who “owns” that serial for now.

You could just perform a Secure Erase on the disks, though at their age that might be the final straw.


Web Sharing does not work with FileVault?

I'm assuming you aren't using Lion, since your description sounds more like FileVault 1 (through Snow Leopard) than FileVault 2 (Lion).

FileVault 1 protects the entire home folder, with encryption when you aren't logged in and permissions when you are. In order to get to files in your Sites folder, the web server process would have to go through your home folder -- since it can't get into your home folder, it also can't get at anything inside it, so the permissions on your Sites folder are irrelevant.  (I'd recommend setting the perms on Sites back to 755, though -- 777 is just a bad idea.)

As a result of this, ~/Sites is pretty much useless in FileVault accounts.  Same with ~/Public -- normally, it's for sharing files both locally and (if the services are enabled) over AFP and/or SMB, but with FV it's not reachable.

But you do have an alternative: the top level web directory, /Library/WebServer/Documents.  Just replace the default files with your own and you should be good to go.


I had the same issue with a 4 and a 3GS, the solution? it was dust, I had to use a pin to get dust out, after that it worked.

If that is not the issue, try using the headphones in another device. Also try using other headphones in the iPhone.


What is the maximum wattage/amperage the Magic Mouse 2 can consume?

Using a USB voltmeter (at @n1000's recommendation), this is the Magic Mouse 2 consumption rounded to the nearest 10th:

0.5 Amps (2.5 Watts) while switched off

1.5 Amps (7.5 Watts) while switch on


what is the app for seeing text being typed on a messenger


Deleted Bootcamp Partition and Mac boots into broken windows

I assume you have a model Mac that Apple has documented to officially support Windows 10. If not, then this answer may not apply.

After holding down the option key until the icons appear, you can permanently select default operating system to boot from by holding down the control key before selecting label below the desired icon.

Next, you have not completely deleted Windows 10. The Windows 10 boot files do not reside in the partition you deleted. The files actually reside in the first partition of the internal drive. This partition contains the volume labeled EFI.

Step to remove Windows files from EFI volume:

Enter the following command in a Terminal application window. This will mount the EFI volume. This volume will appear as the device labeled EFI in the Finder application.

diskutil  mount  disk0s1

Remove the folders labeled Boot and Microsoft from the mounted EFI volume. The image below shows the location of these folders.

Enter the following command in a Terminal application window. This will unmount the EFI volume.

diskutil  unmount  disk0s1


Thanks for the suggestions but here is the answer:

  The reason this happens is because every time a downloaded app is opened it checks for your itunes password for validation that you are authorized to open that app (as it may contain personal info). From time to time the iphone “forgets” your itunes password. You can fix the missing password by syncing the iphone with itunes or downloading an app from the app store and entering your password that way.

I am up and running with all my 3rd party apps now.


How do I delete sites from Safari reading list?

Click on “Safari” to launch it.
Select the “View” menu. It is the one, which has the book icon.
Choose “Show Reading list Sidebar” You can also press Command + Control + 2. You will see your Reading List.
Select the item you wish to delete. Then right-click on it and select Remove Item.


Stop public betas from downloading on iPhone

I don't believe it is an option without an MDM, but if you use an MDM you should be able to Defer Software Updates for a set number of days.

If you are running macOS Server you can use Apple's Profile Manager, if not I believe there are a few free MDM's if you only have a handful of devices.

Alternatively, you could remove the profile that opts you in to betas. That freezes your device and when you're ready to upgrade, then add the profile back and do the deed, repeating the removal as soon as you restart to prevent the next from arriving.


identifying devices using find my phone app

In general, no. Apple won’t tell a consumer about another consumer’s details.

If you followed the advice of the email and changed your password after the time of the alert, then you have done what you need to secure your privacy.

In the past, Apple didn't send those emails and there was no easy way to know if someone had gotten a hold of your AppleID and your password for the ID.

It could be someone who is trying common passwords and stumbled across your account by chance to use it for fake reviews on the app store or it could be someone who you know and they guessed or were provided the password when you trusted them.

There's no way you can track things unless you were to get a law enforcement order sent to Apple's legal department and even then, you might not be able to get a satisfactory answer as to who accessed your account. That or a lawyer contacting Apple is the best way to get information about who may have your property to your credentials.


Migrate a Time Machine backup in terminal

Apple has fixed Finder in macOS 10.13.4 to preserve hard links so my answer is to use Finder to migrate your TM backup. They did not, however, fix cp. It still does not preserve hard links and doesn't have an option to do so.

I know the OP requested a way of doing it from the terminal but all my efforts to do so in macOS 10.13.3, where I had given up on Finder because it did not then preserve hard links, failed.

The rsync command suggested by @n1000 failed after more than 12 hours with out of memory, even though I have 16GB of memory. This is a known problem fixed in rsync v3+. However v3 sets all the user and group ids to 99 and was painfully slow. There were long periods with no disk and no significant CPU activity. I've found rsync very slow on other platforms too.

cpio did not preserve ownership.

pax got strange errors.

I came closest to success with tar:

cd /Volumes/My\ Passport
sudo bash
tar -cf - -T ~/TMFileList | (cd ../My\ Canvio;tar -xpvSf -)

where ~/TMFileList was created with

cd /Volumes/My\ Passport
sudo bash
find -d Backups.backupdb -print > ~/TMFileList

[I tried a tar -c | tar -x thing first but that was copying some hard links as separate files for reasons related, I guessed, to the order it was seeing the files. Which led to me making the depth-first list.]

However tar was taking an impractically long time. I killed it after 3 days. Some of this was because it was extracting files multiple times. The majority of this was, like rsync, due to long periods of inactivity for reasons I could not determine. What it managed to complete had correct ownership and hard links were preserved.

So I strongly recommend using Finder. Just make sure you have macOS 10.13.4. Follow the Apple support instructions in the link at the end of @n1000's answer.


If choosing to disable the Notification Center toggle for an iOS app, does this mean that notifications can't be located after they've disappeared?

What that switch does is reject the push from the server. One message might still get delivered if the server side doesn’t receive the message but the device send back a “we’re not subscribed anymore” message until you re-enable notifications.

Notifications can come from apps on the device or from the Apple Push Notification Service - so either way - those messages literally are stopped and discarded as opposed for them all to keep piling up and not being visible.


How to delete a Catalina Beta from a disk with Dual-Boot Mojave and Catalina Beta

Yes, APFS containers make it trivial to erase a volume since the free space commingles, you can walk away from the data once you’re sure you have a back up or don’t need one.


It might have to do with the order of keys that you were typing that prevented q from working when you were trying to find the key to exit out of the manual.

If you press the ESC key it writes to the screen and the last line goes from END to ESC. If you then press q it doesn't close the manual but it will switch it back to END. Press q again and it should exit you out. Keep pressing q.


inverter for lcd-display is likely going (which is part of the logic-board).  Or the backlight (part of the lcd-assembly).  Bring it in.


Do MacBook Pros have support for the Remote Control?

From the Manual for the 13inch, here is a picture that shows you where the IR port is located.


How can I edit the Calendars shown on the Mac notification sidebar?

Did you tried to open the settings of the calendar?
Calendar > Preferences... > Account

[x] Enlable this account


Cannot `brew install` from a `bash` script

It appears this error comes from Python being misconfigured.

The answer is to brew postinstall python3.

When Googling around, I found a separate project demonstrating a similar issue.

Here is what I saw on my machine:

$ python --version
Python 2.7.10

$ brew install python
Warning: python 3.7.4 is already installed, it's just not linked
You can use `brew link python` to link this version.

$ brew postinstall python3
==> Postinstalling python
==> /usr/local/Cellar/python/3.7.4/bin/python3 -s setup.py --no-user-cfg install
==> /usr/local/Cellar/python/3.7.4/bin/python3 -s setup.py --no-user-cfg install
==> /usr/local/Cellar/python/3.7.4/bin/python3 -s setup.py --no-user-cfg install

After running postinstall, it didn't appear to change Python

$ python --version
Python 2.7.10

However, it did postively affect Homebrew, and allowed the script to run successfully!

$ ./install
Updating Homebrew...
==> Auto-updated Homebrew!
Updated 1 tap (homebrew/cask).
No changes to formulae.

Warning: gcovr 4.1 is already installed and up-to-date
To reinstall 4.1, run `brew reinstall gcovr`
gcovr 4.1

Copyright 2013-2018 the gcovr authors
Copyright 2013 Sandia Corporation
Under the terms of Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000 with Sandia Corporation,
the U.S. Government retains certain rights in this software.