What kind of encryption does Mac OS X Extended (Journaled, Encrptyed) use?

Yes - it's the same whole disk encryption. In both instances you end up with a volume wrapper and key storage to unlocks the encrypted file system where the data is safely stored. Disk Utility is a bit of a chore to set up encryption of an external drive, so I usually just wipe the drive and set it for Backups and then tell Time Machine to encrypt the drive. It handles the formatting, generating the crypto keys and lets you choose a passphrase to unlock the keys.

You can use diskutil cs list from the command line (in terminal.app) to show the encryption status and details. There's nothing wrong with disk utility other than the steps involved to reach an equivalent drive setup.

Here is what a fully encrypted and locked USB drive looks like when you set up Time Machine and instruct it to encrypt backups to an external drive:

Air:~ bmike$ diskutil cs list
CoreStorage logical volume groups (1 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group 6FD6879D-EFBF-4F33-9FC2-13E32A0F7B28
    =========================================================
    Name:         Backups
    Status:       Online
    Size:         499730309120 B (499.7 GB)
    Free Space:   0 B (0 B)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume 3082BFED-D84E-48FA-AB4F-7FB0197FD653
    |   ----------------------------------------------------
    |   Index:    0
    |   Disk:     disk1s2
    |   Status:   Online
    |   Size:     499730309120 B (499.7 GB)
    |
    +-> Logical Volume Family DFD4DEB4-93A8-4DD5-8F73-6534AB408E4D
        ----------------------------------------------------------
        Encryption Status:       Locked
        Encryption Type:         AES-XTS
        Conversion Status:       Complete
        Conversion Direction:    -none-
        Has Encrypted Extents:   Yes
        Fully Secure:            Yes
        Passphrase Required:     Yes
        |
        +-> Logical Volume E9497C5B-4AAD-46E5-ACEE-4214D1CA11D8
            ---------------------------------------------------
            Disk:               -none-
            Status:             Locked
            Size (Total):       499411537920 B (499.4 GB)
            Size (Converted):   -none-
            Revertible:         Yes (unlock and decryption required)
            LV Name:            Backups
            Content Hint:       Apple_HFS


Macbook Pro: Why do colors vary on my macbook pro

Yes, that is completely normal. All monitors / displays fade over time and even vary out-of-the-box. All you need to do is color calibrate your monitor. If you are just using this for everyday use then go to system preferences. If you are using this for something like photography or printing then it is valuable to accurately profile your monitor with hardware calibration.

System Preferences > Displays > Color > Calibrate.


Apple Dual-Link DVI adapter doesn't work after upgrade to 10.9.2

I would probably install the old OS onto an external USB drive to be sure it's not a failure unrelated to the OS.

It's rare that the OS breaks an adapter that was working - even if the change happened at the same time as an OS update. Also, you can usually rule out software by updating to 10.9.3 (in your case) or to the next point update in case there was an error that was caught in the drivers or settings.


Assigning icons system-wide based on filename without extension

Setting Atom icon via command line for Makefile
There is no direct way to set icons based on filename only, but one can set them via command line and then apply to all makefiles on the Mac.
Here are the steps to set Atom's icon to a specific Makefile via command line (assuming you Developer Tools are installed).

Get the Atom icon file from /Applications/Atom.app/Contents/Resources/file.icns
Convert the image to icon
sips -i file.icns
Extract the icon to its own resource file
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/DeRez -only icns file.icns > tmpicns.rsrc
Append this resource to the file you want to icon-ize
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/Rez -append tmpicns.rsrc -o Makefile
Use the resource to set the icon
/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/SetFile -a C Makefile
Restart your Mac

you can run mdfind -name makefile to get all the makefiles in your system and write a script to do the above on them.


Setting up "HPN-SSH - High Performance SSH/SCP" on Mac OS X

I'll take a stab at #1.

It looks like the sandbox prevents the application from producing new threads.  From what I found online, the sandbox functionality was only recently introduced in OpenSSH 5.8 so if someone finds a bug in OpenSSH that is limited only by the sandbox, they could exploit this attack vector.

The question is, do you have a team of government spooks decided that this would be the easiest attack vector and would willing to dedicate resources to find an obscure bug in OpenSSH which would only be limited by this particular sandbox?

As for #2 ... I can't think of any reason why that wouldn't work.

Oh, and I just figured out that MacPorts has the hpn version: sudo port install openssh +hpn


Black console screen shows up during boot (verbose mode not turned on)

I know this may sound silly because it seems like you have a grasp with unix and Macs so you've already done this. try a pram reset and smc reset. I'm thinking something in nvram is doing this right? Could be way off and I know PRAM is so overused for the wrong reasons.


Change encrypted internal HD permissions to prevent password prompts

OK, I found a solution. If anybody would like to correct my approach please let me know.

With the storage drive (get info) ->
Sharing & Permisions ->
Checked 'Ignore ownership on this volume'

The next step might have been made redundant by the previous step, but I also did the following:

Directory on storage drive with user directories ->
Sharing & Permission ->
My User Profile, Read & Write

This appears to have done the job, can delete and move items as expected.


Why iterm2 keyboard shortcut settings don't work on window launched using F12

On the Preferences Window of iTerm choose keys and below on the left side you see the Hotkey Configuration. Choose your profile from the option Hotkey toggles a dedicated window with profile. And this should work.


iPhone storage is full while iCloud is empty

The biggest thing that takes up storage is photos. If you're running iOS 9 or later, then go to Settings -> iCloud -> Photos and enable iCloud Photo Library. Then, make sure optimize iPhone storage is checked. Also, delete any apps that you may not use. Pay close attention to games. They eat up the most space. Switching to a streaming music service like Music or Spotify will also let you free up space by deleting music on your device.


How can I get VMWare Fusion 4.0 to work on Mountain Lion?

Upgrade to the latest version of VMWare Fusion, in your situation you will need manually download it as indicated below for the situation you describe in your question:

I upgraded to Mountain Lion and now VMware Fusion 4 won’t start. What happened?
Mountain Lion appears to detect some older versions of VMware Fusion 4 and prevent them from launching. To resolve this issue, login to http://my.vmware.com/ (free product registration required) and download VMware Fusion 4.1.3. It can be found under “Products & Downloads > All Downloads > VMware Fusion”

According to VMware Fusion and OS X Mountain Lion FAQ


About how large is a clean install of OS X?

The Install OS X Mountain Lion.app I have is about 4 GB, but the uncompressed size shown by Pacifist is about 9 GB. My initial snapshot of a 10.8 VM was about 11 GB, but about 1 GB was taken up by /var/vm/swapfile.

If you have a laptop with 4 GiB of RAM, /var/vm/sleepimage will take up about 4 GiB after you put the laptop to sleep once.


This file is generally created by FileZilla on macOS. However, that’s not the only app to do so.

Check if you have any other FTP client app or remote file management app. A while ago, on one of our development Macs, I found this file to be created when the only non-bundled app that we installed was Xcode. The last modified time of the file used to change every time Xcode was launched.

It is advisable to delete the file from your Home directory and keep watching the location for any signs of it coming back.


Disk Partition failed -- invalid volume free block count

Have you tried running it a second time? Often with "File system check exit code is 8", others have had success repairing a second or third time.

You may also try booting from the recovery partition and running doing the repair. You can boot from the recovery partition by restarting and holding down the Option key, then select the Recovery partition.

If you don't have a recovery partition, you can do an Iternet Recovery by hold down the Command Option R keys.

Here is discussion on Apple's Communities forum.


I am using Macbook Pro 15" with Retina display and a 27" thunderbolt display. After upgrading to Yosemite the font on the macbook built-in display looks very clear, but that on the thunderbolt display looks blurry. I guess Apple did't consider the thunderbolt display users when they test the new font.


Slow Mac mini (mid 2011) no hardware issues, no software issues

It sounds like a lot of the speed problems you're having comes from running newer software, macOS 10.12, that usually requires more system resources on a computer that has insufficient RAM (2 GB just does not cut it practically) and a slower HDD. However I don't think that would normally cause quite the amount of speed reduction as you have reported.

Nevertheless, for a quick speed boost, I would definitely recommend upgrading to 8 GB of RAM. Apple has information on how to upgrade, just make sure that the RAM you get is compatible with Apple's specifications. For example an 8 GB RAM kit from Crucial should work.

Additionally, I do know that HDDs can be a speed bottle neck, especially as they get more full and are older. You can upgrade to an SSD (here's a guide by Crucial), however that is a far more complicated process, and you will also need to transfer all your software from the old HDD.

But your speeds are very slow, so there is probably some software problem. You can try to diagnose that by going to System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items and see if you have programs loading at boot. Also if you can check Activity Monitor, that may show if something is using a lot of your CPU. In the end, you may need to do a backup, wipe your hard drive, reinstall macOS or an older version of OS X, and transfer your documents and settings.


Bummer to hear!

Fortunately, Apple does a great job in allowing you transfer data between devices.

I'm not certain on your meaning of "backup of the files in specific apps"; however, I have two suggestions that may be of help.

Plug your iPad into a trusted computer. This refers to a computer which has been used to sync your iPad in the past. From here you can back up your device with iTunes
.
[PAID SOLUTION] Third party software is available which will allow you to backup a bit more data than iTunes allows, which is especially useful if you do not plan to purchase another iOS device. I've used a software like iSkySoft iTunes Recovery, which is expensive but does the job well. Search around, I'm sure there are cheapest (or free) solutions if you plan on going the third-party route.

Hope this is of some help to you.


sudo and some other system commands not working with platypus

You can also use the osascript to launch the application. This ensures sudo access.

osascript -e "do shell script \"/path2/shellscript.sh $*\" with administrator privileges"

You can put this in another shell script to call your script. Or directly run your required command within the quotes.

This is better since you don't have to rely on /usr/bin/sudo being run recently or not


Yes, but it's not worth it.

The screen in that iBook is basically worthless: it's a small, not very good screen. You're better off spending any money on a slightly better display that–if nothing else–is larger.

However, if you really feel like it, you can do so.

First, you'll need to identify what display you have. Run the command ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6. This will output two strings. Copy the first one which should look something like "LP133WX2-TLC1", then search it. This will show you what panel it has. Using that info, search for it's controller. Using the same example here's a VGA controller for that panel.  This will allow you to  use it as a monitor.

Again, let me reiterate: this probably isn't worth it for that panel. You can get a larger, nicer panel for the same amount of money and time you'll invest. But if you feel like doing it, go ahead.


How to disable zoom-out in Safari in split-screen on El Capitan?

Just scale it yourself with ⌘+. With the split in the middle, ⌘++ will scale it to 100%.

FWIW I much prefer Safari's scaling—it should be a preference.


You're using the QuickLook Plugin with whatever app you've set as default to open text file. You can probably find that in Your_Application.app/Contents/Library/QuickLook.

As @Julien said:

  Generators embedded in applications are always preferred to plug-ins in ~/Library/QuickLook (which are preferred to the ones in /Library/QuickLook, which are preferred to the ones in /System/Library/QuickLook).

And there is no way to change that preference order. If you want to make sure it's the custom generator you can see the file with the default QL plugin with the following command in Terminal:

qlmanage -g /System/Library/QuickLook/Text.qlgenerator -c public.plain-text -p <path_to_text_file>

You can try to delete the app's QL plug-in, that could work but GateKeeper may stop you from opening the app, since it won't match it code signature.


To do a 100% accurate test your best bet would be to get an actual PowerPC Mac. Alternatively, you can install 10.6 (Server) in a Virtual Machine, which can test PPC Applications through Rosetta.


How can I *unlock* a CoreStorage logical-volume without mounting it?

Click the Unlock button in the top-right of DiskWarrior and enter the password to unlock the volume


Is it possible to export safari's reading list on Safari 5.1?

You can convert it into XML in a Terminal/command window using:

cd ~/Library/Safari/
cp Bookmarks.plist Bookmarks.plist.xml
plutil -convert xml1 Bookmarks.plist.xml


How can I verify if Apple is slowing down my phone because of an old battery?

iOS 11.3 brings iPhone Battery Health (Beta). This new feature made available in this update provides users with info about the health of their battery, allowing them to determine if the condition of their battery is affecting their iPhone's performance.

  Displays information on iPhone maximum battery capacity and peak performance capability
  Indicates if the performance management feature that dynamically manages maximum performance to prevent unexpected shutdowns is on and includes the option to disable it
  Recommends if a battery needs to be replaced

Go to Settings → Battery → Battery Health (Beta). If your battery is functioning correctly, you will see the left message. If not, you will see the right message and you can tap Disable to disable the performance management.

You can read more about this feature in the Apple KB article

iPhone Battery and Performance

Without updating to iOS 11.3, you can still determine battery health.

If you don't have one of these devices with at least this version of iOS, your device is not being slowed regardless of the state of the battery, unless you've enabled Low Power Mode either manually or when the battery reaches 20% (and disables at 80%).

iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE with iOS 10.2.1
iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2

If you have one of these devices, you can check if your battery is poor using an app:

 Battery Life

To know more accurately, you can run the Geekbench benchmark.

 Geekbench

Make sure Low Power Mode is disabled, then run the Geekbench benchmark (not the battery benchmark, that's for analysing your battery itself and not its effect on iOS) and note your score. If it's more than 500 points less than the expected number (given below), then this indicates a potential problem.

iPhone 6s: 2500
iPhone 7: 3500


How can I email multiple camera roll images at once on an iPod Touch?

Assuming this works the same as on my iPhone 3Gs, you´ll want to go into the photo roll (not show an actual photo) and then tap the "share" button in the upper right corner (the one that looks like an arrow pointing out of a square) - you will then be able to select up to five images and tap on "send" to send them as an e-Mail.


Lilliput USB mini Monitor & Mac monitor limit

I also have a second monitor attached to my MB Pro (big 25" Cinema display), and there's no conflict between it and the Lilliput. However, the only Snow Leopard driver I've found so far is beta, and the Lilliput gets all sqwinched up in portrait mode. Also, haven't found a touch driver yet. :P

Otherwise, works great!


I want to create a new calendar "on my mac" but the item is missing in calendar.app v. 8

To create local calendar on Yosemite (when no such option is available via File menu) navigate to calendar in Other section in the sidebar, select one and right click, then select New Calendar. This should create calendar in On My Mac section (local).


Third party USB Ethernet adapter won't wake up

You cannot allow the Mac to sleep. That is the fix. If you do, just make it standard operating procedure to unplug and re-plug. Been using Mac Pro's for music production for many, many years. This is not a problem, it is just how they work. Same as you can't hibernate a Mac, and you can't wake one up from LAN.
What seems to work on various systems (sometimes)is to have a Mac USB Keyboard directly connected to the computer and then have your items connected to the keyboard's ports. You need a powered HUB for you can't draw power from the keyboard.


Are number of desktops affecting memory?

Having various applications open (on the same or on different desktops/spaces) requires much more memory than the desktops/spaces themselves. Even with different background pictures on every desktop the memory impact will be low compared to whatever else is going on on your machine.


How to disable DNS over HTTPS (DoH) and DNS over TLS (DoT) network-wide for Apple iOS and macOS

There's no similar network-wide opt-out canary domain feature for iOS and macOS in general. However, if you use for example Firefox on macOS, you can use that feature to disable it for that one browser in particular - unless the user opts-in to DoH/DoT in which case the feature does not do anything.
You can usually block DoT in your OpenWrt router by blocking outgoing port 853. You can usually block DoH by blocking port 443, however that would also mean blocking most web sites.
Note that if you do block port 853 in your router, iOS will give the user a warning that encrypted DNS is being blocked by the network!
If there's a specific DNS server (or smaller list of servers) that you do not want to be used on your network, you can block all traffic to that IP address in your OpenWrt router. Similar warnings apply.
Finally if you have control over the Apple devices yourself, you can use MDM to change their DNS settings. In particular you could for example enable DoH and point it to your own server - or point it to a server that doesn't exist - effectively disabling it.


Bash executes only ~/.profile but neither of ~/.bash_profile and ~/.bashrc

I suggest that you read the bash manual under the heading INVOCATION which states:

   If bash is invoked with the name sh, it tries to mimic the startup behavior of historical versions of sh as  closely
   as  possible, while conforming to the POSIX standard as well.  When invoked as an interactive login shell, or a non-
   interactive shell with the --login option, it first attempts to read and  execute  commands  from  /etc/profile  and
   ~/.profile,  in that order.  The --noprofile option may be used to inhibit this behavior.  When invoked as an inter-
   active shell with the name sh, bash looks for the variable ENV, expands its value if it is  defined,  and  uses  the
   expanded  value as the name of a file to read and execute.  Since a shell invoked as sh does not attempt to read and
   execute commands from any other startup files, the --rcfile option has no effect.  A non-interactive  shell  invoked
   with the name sh does not attempt to read any other startup files.  When invoked as sh, bash enters posix mode after
   the startup files are read.

A new terminal session in OS X/macOS always starts as a login shell.


Reset Forgotten Restrictions Passcode (Updated For 2017)

You can still make use of iBackupBot to reset the restrictions passcode. Before you would just reset the restrictions passcode by inserting a line of code, however since that no longer works you have to find the encrypted version of the restrictions passcode and decrypt it using a website (http://ios7hash.derson.us/).

Here's the source and step-by-step procedure - https://www.techbout.com/reset-restrictions-passcode-iphone-ipad-ipod-8365/


Is it possible to download an app and install it on iPhone/iPad by using Finder

No.

Firstly, you can't access the iOS App Store on MacOS, so you can't download iOS apps onto your Mac. You can of course download apps from the Mac App Store, but they won't work on iOS.

Secondly, there's no general mechanism to 'side-load' apps onto iOS (well, there might be, but not without jail-breaking your iPad).

There may be methods that require the co-operation of the developer, or Enterprise device management tools.


Fastest way to split a video file into two?

You might also be able to do this using Quicktime X. Open the movie, then choose Edit -> Trim... Trim away the second part of the movie file and do a save as to get the first part in a separate file. Re-open the original file and trim away the first part, save as to get the second part in a separate file.

I've only been able to try it with a 5 minute long movie, which was quick enough, but I'm unsure of how quickly it'll work with a 2 hour movie.


iOS file chooser for iCloud drive can't find tags

Finder tags are specific to OS X.

I'm almost certain the "tags" tab in the iCloud Drive picker does nothing right now. Tapping on it in Pages on iPhone 6 simply rearranged the folders, and I don't have any tags assigned to any files in Drive (either on OS X or elsewhere - all I have in Drive is the example iWork documents).

Even if it did do anything, I don't think it would do what you're thinking - that's a tab bar, meaning you select one of the choices. It's for sorting the presented list of files/folders, given that it contains Name and Date as well.

I also can't find anything on tags in relation to iCloud Drive, even for developers.


Bootcamp to generate Windows 10 USB key - Needs NTFS partition

To change the drive partitioning to a pure GPT format, enter the following commands. The commands may not make any sense to you, but the volume format can change the type of partitioning.

sudo  diskutil  erasevolume  jhfs+  BootCamp  disk0s4
sudo  diskutil  erasevolume  FAT32  BOOTCAMP  disk0s4

From the description of your problem, below is what you need to do when you are asked about partitioning while installing Windows.

Select the partition labeled BOOTCAMP.
Click on the button labeled "Format". The BOOTCAMP label should disappear.
Proceed to install Windows.

You have assumed the Boot Camp Assistant application can NTFS format a partition. If fact, it can not. Instead, the partition is FAT32 formatted with the label BOOTCAMP. You must click on the Format button during the Windows installation to NTFS format the partition. This removes the BOOTCAMP label. Later, when the Boot Camp Support Software is installed, the NTFS partition will be labeled BOOTCAMP.

To be clear, Windows installations on this model Mac must use the EFI boot method. This requires the installation drive to contain partition entries in only the GUID Partition Table (GPT). Both Windows and macOS (OS X) will only see the the GPT entries. Therefore, both Windows and macOS (OS X) with think the drive is GPT partitioned.


Pages to pdf export results in a smaller page size, how can I make the page size as setup in Pages?

Very easy answer to this. The size is under Properties in the File menu. There the page size is listed.


Cannot drag an app from Launchpad to trash

Managed to delete it by opening the Applications folder in Finder and right clicking and selecting 'Move to trash'

The dragging operation is obviously different to the 'Move to trash' option in some way


One way to accomplish this is with Microsoft OneDrive. The main barriers to this method are:

You need a paid Office365 account to get the 1 TB storage
You need to be on Mac OS 10.12 or newer

It has the same functionality as Google Photos where you can have all your photos automatically upload from you phone. Then you can sync them to your computer using OneDrive for Mac.
Sounds like you weren't planning to upgrade Mac OS, but if you already have an Office365 subscription and the upgrade would make the difference, this could be an option.


Well, there are a lots of SIP based softphones (Vonage seams to use the SIP protocol) like

telephone
iSoftphone

And you have to setup your software to connect to Vonage - maybe the following link could help you.


Capturing screenshots on macOS Sierra is very slow

On High Sierra I faced the same problem, which had Google Backup & Sync as reason of failure (as Robert answered before). Instead of completely quitting Google Drive & Sync, I could also solve this problem via:

Go into System Preferences
Extensions
In the left sidebar, choose "Finder"
Disable Google Drive Extension


Clarify costs on my credit card printout when buying apps.

If you open iTunes and navigate to Store < Show account, there is a history of what you bought including the date and price for every transaction.

I'm sorry for the Dutch language in the screenshot:


I have found a solution (possibly temporarily), as part of our loginhook shell script I have entered the following:

UserName="$1"
UserGroup="$(sudo -u $UserName id)"
if [[ $UserGroup == *teachers* ]] ; then networksetup -setwebproxy Ethernet <hostname> <port> off ; else networksetup -setwebproxy Ethernet <hostname> <port> off ; fi
if [[ $UserGroup == *teachers* ]] ; then networksetup -setsecurewebproxy Ethernet <hostname> <port> off ; else networksetup -setsecurewebproxy Ethernet <hostname> <port> off ; fi

Essentially it sets the proxy to a specific hostname and port with no authentication if they are part of a particular group. If they are not then they go to a standard proxy port.


Why is iTunes 64 bit running as 32 bit application under Windows?

The 64-bit version of iTunes you downloaded contains 64-bit drivers for Windows 7, however the application itself is still a 32-bit application.  You should see your iTunes installed in (default) C:\Program Files (x86)\ and the iPod helper files installed in C:\Program Files.


Is there a Mac utility to create an executable Zip/archive?

Yes it is possible.  Is it worth the extra time to achieve what you want?  You'd have to be the judge.  My research hasn't turned up any point-and-click solutions so you'd need to use some standard UNIX tools to get the job done. It might take some effort, but you could do it yourself for free :D  If you're only going to need this once or twice, what I mention below might not be worth your time unless you are comfortable with command-line tools.

One option that I would use if I were in a pinch for time would be makeself. makeself is a command-line tool that strings together common UNIX programs to achieve the type of result you've mentioned in your question. I've seen this archiver used by companies that distribute software for Linux. The tools necessary for makeself to run are available on your Mac by default.

makeself will compress a directory into a self-extracting archive.  It will optionally run a script of your crafting after extraction.  If your presentation can be started by clicking on a single file in MacOS, then this script would be as simple as the command open FILENAME.

So your solution could be as simple as a putting the appropriate commands into a post-extraction script and running makeself on the directory you wish to compress.

As a quick example, suppose you have a directory of lots of html files that you would like to compress.  When the file is decompressed, you'd like the file index.html to be opened in Safari. The following would get the job done:

makeself /path/to/html_directory self_extract_html.sh "Example" open index.html

What would result is a self-extracting archive named "self_extract_html.sh" which (when double-clicked) would extract the files and launch Safari to view the index.html file in the unarchived directory.


stop an open Terminal from blocking overnight macOS update

The easy way to do this is to change settings and allow terminal to exit.

Look for Ask before closing in Profiles under the Shell tab.

select  Never

I prefer to list the processes I am willing to have killed without a dialog.  I should probably add bash and zsh to my list now that they are mixing use and not always default for me.  Another take on this list for older OS is here.


Unless you ran these commands in the directory /usr/bin, and with root privileges, you have not overwritten the real pbcopy - you've simply created a new file in your current working directory with the same name.

So - you most likely do not have to reinstall pbcopy. To verify, you can call the full program explicitly, like this:

cat foo | /usr/bin/pbcopy

which should work properly. If it does, you can delete the pbcopy you inadvertently created safely...


Can I get older (recent) versions of Keynote?

If you have a Time Machine backup of your drive, then the previous version will be on that.

The Mac App Store will give the date of the latest update: restore a version from earlier than that.


I use a app called OmniDisk Sweeper.

It allows me to find all files and delete the one I do not want.

In case of a application I use the AppCleaner application that not only deletes the app but all associated stuff with it.


How to get file sizes of large files in OS X Terminal?

Say you are looking for big files in your home directory, use this command:

find ~ -size +1G

Replace ~ with the directory of interest.

Update

My original response was wrong, but I'll keep it to remind myself. If you are trying to get the size of a file, try this:

stat -f '%z' filename  # Normal file
stat -L -f '%z' filename  # symbolic link file

I have not figure out how to do it for a directory yet.


How to create a Mac OS X Yosemite dmg bootable Installer Version?

It's inside the .pkg file (notice how large it is?). You'll need to unpack it using something like AnyToISO.


Mac boot menu not showing recently installed Linux OS

There are two methods which can be used when an installed Linux does not appear in the Mac Startup Manager. (The OP refers to the Mac Startup Manager as the "boot menu".)

Method 1: Create folders, copy files and rename files from the linux installation so the Linux will appear in the Mac Startup Manager.  This may not be possible will all Linux installations. The main problem with this method is that the Linux installation does not know of these changes. So future updates to Linux may cause an unstable boot environment.
Method 2: Basically this is the same as Method 1 except instead of harvesting files from the Linux installation, the necessary files are taken from the download of the rEFInd Boot Manger.

In the case of Kali Linux, the steps to implement Method 1 are given below.

Boot to macOS.

Mount the EFI volume. Open a Terminal application window and enter the command given below.
sudo diskutil mount disk0s1

Create folders, copy files and rename files. Enter the following commands in the Terminal application window.
mkdir -p /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT
cp /Volumes/EFI/EFI/kali/grubx64.efi /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/bootx64.efi

Unmount the EFI volume. Enter the command given below.
diskutil unmount disk0s1

The steps to implement Method 2 are given below.

Boot to macOS.

Use Safari to download rEFInd. Be default, the download should automatically unzip to the ~/Downloads/refind-bin-0.12.0 folder.

Mount the EFI volume. Open a Terminal application window and enter the command given below.
sudo diskutil mount disk0s1

Create folders, copy files and rename files. Enter the following commands in the Terminal application window.
cd ~/Downloads/refind-bin-0.12.0/refind
mkdir -p /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT
cp refind_x64.efi /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/boot_x64.efi
cp refind.conf-sample /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/refind.conf

Edit rEFInd configuration file. Enter the following command in the Terminal application window.
nano /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT/refind.conf

Add the following text to the end of the file. When finished press control+X key combination to save the modified buffer and exit the editor.
timeout -1
hideui all
scanfor manual
menuentry Kali {
loader /EFI/kali/grubx64.efi
}

Change the label which will appear on the Mac Startup Manager display. Enter the command given below.
bless --folder /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT --label Kali

(Optional.) Install a Kali icon to appear on the Mac Startup Manager display. Use Safari to download Mac icns. Enter the following commands to install the icon.
hdiutil attach ~/Downloads/mac-icns.dmg
cp /Volumes/mac-icns/OSX10.11.6/os_kali.icns /Volumes/EFI/.VolumeIcon.icns
diskutil eject mac-icns

Remove the ._* files.  Enter the command given below.
dot_clean /Volumes/EFI/EFI/BOOT

Unmount the EFI volume. Enter the command given below.
diskutil unmount disk0s1

I should point out that the Offensive Security macOS/Kali dual boot installation instructions replaced the Mac Startup Manager with the rEFInd Startup Manager. The installation procedure outlined by the OP seems to followed those of Offensive Security, but did not finish with the installation of rEFInd. The OP might consider continuing the installation by starting with the instructions in the section titled "Installing rEFInd using Kali Linux".


Can't format an external HDD :Error: -9944: File system formatter failed

maybe you can try using gparted on a linux livecd?


Find my iPhone: Can everyone who i've shared my location with see each other's location?

Can everyone who i've shared my location with see each other's location?

No. Find my Friends would not automatically show everyones location to everyone.

Will the extra person be kept separate?

Yes.


How to back up shsh blobs and APTicket in iOS 9.1 in order to be able to downgrade to it after update?

From your question, it seems you're mainly concerned with wanting to keep (or return to) iOS 9.1? If that's the case, then just don't update.

If, however, you're concerned with your data, such as contacts, text messages, photos, etc then updating to iOS 9.3.1 is not going to result in you losing any of this data.

If for some reason you've had to erase all data and start again with a newer version of iOS, then restoring data from a backup with an older iOS version works fine, so long as it is a backup from the same device.

So I guess what I'm saying is that as long as you have done a backup prior to updating iOS, then you will have no reason to ever go back to iOS 9.1. Even if you lost all your data, you'd be able to restore the data from your backup.

Also, I want to add there are a lot of reasons why you should update to the latest iOS version as Apple has recently resolved a number of serious (albeit rare) issues that could have bricked your device.

Hope this helps. Any questions, just ask.


Why is "recently added" playlist under iCloud control empty on iPhone?

You're not the only one suffering from this issue. A lot of people are complaining on the internet about this.

A solution would be to turn off iTunes Match on your iPhone, delete all your music on your iPhone (it's all in the iCloud, right? So you won't lose any) and then activate iTunes Match on your iPhone. You'll be able to download all your play-lists, including the recently added.
This should do the trick.


Have you installed the bootcamp drivers ? If you don't go there : http://www.apple.com/fr/support/bootcamp/


How can I get my MacBook Pro's sound back?

I have no idea if this will even work, but it's worth a try.

Download Virtualbox.
Download Ubuntu and install it in Virtualbox.
Check the sound preferences in Ubuntu and see if any audio devices show up.

Let me know if you need help with any of these steps. If you are able to get an audio device, more than likely, there's a problem with your install of OS X.


Is there a PDF reader that formats for mobile screens?

PDF files are popular precisely because the formatting is fixed. A PDF author can be sure that their document looks the same on any device that displays it. So I'm afraid you're asking for a feature that goes against one of the basic premises of the format.

That said, some PDFs have a text-only layer that can be displayed directly. On an iPhone, I'd recommend Goodreader for this. It will display the formatted PDF, then you can click to display the text-only version. That version may be bigger and more legible for you.

Having a text layer depends on the author of the PDF, but I would think Goodreader may be a step in the right direction for you.


Can I use TimeMachine with a Thunderbolt hard drive?

Yes. You can use Time Machine with any directly attached hard drive.  It is much faster, although if you have a laptop, it is somewhat less convenient to remember to plug the drive in than to use wireless.

The folks from Apple were probably recommending a Time Capsule, which is a wireless router with a built-in drive for backups. It's definitely an easy way to do it, but not required.


HDCP Error on MacBook Pro with no External Display

What programs are you running?  This can happen if, for instance, a VNC session is started, or one of the many airplay applications (servers) runs, or if a screen capture utility runs.  They create a third virtual monitor which isn't HDPC compliant, and if they happen to do it while you're watching your movie, you'll receive this error.

Check through your services and background apps to see what is running that might need or use display access.  If you don't notice anything, see if you can disable all your background apps and test it again.  If it's still happening you might need to reinstall OS X to get rid of any old drivers left behind from an installation of an old USB display adapter, for instance, or screen sharing application.


If you do not have a mail server running then there is nothing listening on port 25. Thus connection refused messages. So you need to run the mail server first.

Also unless you work for Amazon your hostname is not .ant.amazon.com  If you do ask your network admins.

And this bit is a comment - I think you need to learn what telnet does before you start trying to run services.


Did you try the final solution on that thread?

"Final update. Got my new 2014 Mac Mini now, works w/o problem with my 4k Hisense TV now.

Maybe, worth a note ...

Initially, boots in 4k but then switches to 1080p after the OS is loaded.
To get 4k at the OS level, one has to do this:
1. Switch to 24Hz, 25Hz or 30Hz under Scaling
2. Now, the 2160p resolution emerges in the list (3840x2160)
3. Select it
4. Note how 50Hz and 60Hz now disappeared from the list

It is straightforward to do. But maybe not as intuitive to everybody as Apple may think."


Found the solution: don’t use console.log or anything else. Instead of

console.log('something');

Simply

'something';

It will be output to stdout.


Using extra cells (which can be hidden) appears to be the only way I have found to control the Automatic formatting that Numbers applies.

In separate cells for each desired number, do the calculation.
A2*60 then in another cell, B2*60

In your Range column, concatenate the results.  So if the cells containing 20 and 30 are in E2 and F2 then Range would have this formula:

E2 & " - " & F2

or:

concatenate(E2," - ",F2)

Then if desired, hide E and F columns.


No. whited00r uses a heavily customized version of iOS 3.1.3 and 4.2.1.  They've tweaked the OS to look like iOS 7 and provide similar functionality.  They cannot backport Apple's proprietary and copyrighted iOS 7 APIs to older devices.

Additionally, the latest version of Xcode requires ARMv7 devices, which does not include any of the devices supported by whited00r.

You must have a device that can actually run iOS 7 if you want to develop apps on the device.


MySQL service is grey under Server Admin

The plist which serverAdmin uses to store the status of the service is missing some keys.

take a look at /Library/Preferences/com.apple.MySQLService.plist

it should look like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>activeDBPath</key>
    <string>/var/mysql</string>
    <key>selectedDBPath</key>
    <string>/var/mysql</string>
    <key>serviceRunning</key>
    <true/>
    <key>serviceStart</key>
    <date>2011-07-27T14:24:23Z</date>
</dict>
</plist>

Probably yours is missing the serviceStart key

I've had this happen before, though I don't know why.


“SQLDeveloper.app” can’t be opened because the identity of the developer cannot be confirmed

For any application which Gatekeeper doesn't trust, yet you deem to be safe...

Right click the app & Select Open from the menu.

This will leave Gatekeeper in place for other apps.


macOS keyboard shortcut for correcting misspelled words?

You can't correct them in a single click, but you can make it start to go though them in bulk, correcting each on the way.
 Cmd ⌘   :  [which on a UK keyboard is actually  Cmd ⌘   Shift ⇧   ;  ] will pop up the Spelling & Grammar checker, allowing you to select each error in turn & correct it [or ignore, learn etc]

Alternatively ... Edit Menu > Spelling and Grammar > Show Spelling and Grammar


What happens if I click "delete backup", do I still have my photos on the camera roll?

Yes! It will only delete your backup. Not your photos that are in the camera roll.

If you delete the iCloud backup for your iOS device, iCloud stops automatically backing up the device. You can also back up your device using iTunes.


iPhone6 running iOS 11 is eating my battery

iOS 11 has severe battery performance issues. Please see the discussion on Apple Communities. Most of the responses show that the problem is common and will not be solved in the short term. (Some users state that even iOS 11.1 beta didn't solve the problem)

For now, the only solution to the problem seems to be downgrading back to 10.3.3.

I hope Apple gets out of this mess as soon as possible.


App Store says Apple ID is disabled when updating apps

Asking anyone but Apple why your account is disabled is generally fruitless.

Why not start with the troubleshooting guide:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204106

In the end, you'll want to contact Apple support if it's not you that's locking your account. If someone else is compromising or has compromised your account - you may have to patiently and over time prove to Apple you're the owner and regain control of it.


I woudn't be concerned too much with those two since they are only 33 gigs total. The 90 GB space should be of more concern. I suggest you get Daisy Disk or Grand Perspective to give you a color graphical mapping of your disk drive. These color maps make it easy to see what is hogging your disk drive. Daisey Disk, if obtained from developers site has a free trial.  Grand Perspective is free.
I'm not familar with omnidisksweeper.


User send texts from their iphone to my email address. How do i set this up

So if I understand your problem correctly, a user is sending iMessages to your Apple ID or email. A feature used to be available to do this (I believe iOS 6 or 7), but I haven't seen anything in the latest iOS. For the older iOS you could go to Settings < Messages < Receive At and choose an email from there.


I saw this under the Downloads folder and later it moved under trash.

In Safari, downloads list, hit "clear".
In trash, select all .download files ( kind: "Safari Downloads") and right click > "delete immediately".
In Terminal, run

killall Dock


As a general rule, can you install publically released versions of iOS after installing a beta release?

I just asked a question regarding this and managed to figure out that it is possible. If you enter recovery mode you can force restore the device and iTunes will update it to the most recent public release for that device. See my question here: Can I undo the upgrade to iOS 7 by restoring to iOS 6.1.3?

So in conclusion, yes, I'd say as a general rule it is currently confirmed possible under current circumstances and software releases possible to downgrade back to the publicly approved version of iOS.


How do i fully delete an old account so that it stops asking for updates?

By the general term "app", you ostensibly mean App Store? And if you did delete his Apple ID, then it wouldn't ask for updates.

You can either use a third-party program to remove those apps, or first delete them from the applications directory, then from Application Support located at ~/Library/Application\ Support/. If you cannot find it, then go to Terminal, located in Applications/Utilities  and execute:

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/

Then you can just delete the folder under the name of that app
Then, simply logout of his Apple ID if you failed in deleting it, and login your Apple ID


If you can see the top left corner of the window, there should be a Red, Yellow and Green circle.

If you click the Green circle, the window should resize so that its entirety is visible.  You can then drag any side or corner to the desired size.


How to fix Macbook that did not completely install a new version of OS, so now its stuck in a error loop every time its turned on.

Your best bet is to just start over from scratch.

Hold down CommandR while powering on the Mac to get it into recovery mode.
Once the recovery mode menu comes up, choose disk utility, elect your Mac's hard drive and format it. If you have an SSD choose APFS, if not HFS+. If you are not sure, go with HFS+.
When that is done (we reformatted just to be safe) Quit out of Disk Utility and choose the option to install macOS.
You may need to either plug the Mac into your router with an Ethernet cable (fastest) or sign onto your WiFi network as the Mac will now download macOS.
Make sure it is plugged in and is getting power. Older (magsafe) power connectors) have lights on them. Green for charged, Orange for charging and let it do it's thing.
Follow the prompts to choose your language, etc. Note that your Mac will likely install the macOS it shipped with. You can upgrade to Mojave once you have a bootable Mac.
Now just let it do its thing. You will know it is done when it starts asking more questions about your User account, to sign into iCloud. Etc.

Note that in step to I have you reformat your drive. This assumes you already have a backup (Time Machine or other) to restore your data from. If not you have a whole 'nother set of problems. Let us know if that is the case.

I have you reformat your drive in case something (disk structure, files, etc.) is damaged. It's more of a precaution than anything else. you MAY be able to reinstall without this step. I would not do that unless I absolutely had to and had data on the disk I didn't have a copy of.

It would also be helpful if you included your Mac's model in questions like this. Depending on the age of the Mac some features are not available, like Recovery Mode...


System Files iMovie 10 & 8.0.6 Garage Band 10 & 5.1

So I did the test with iMovie 10

It shows following files associated with it:

Since Apple changed iMovie & Garageband significantly, it does not automatically uninstall the older version because there are still some people who want to stick with the older one. If you tried and liked the new one, you can simply put the older version in trash.


How to manually input data into a python script while running in Atom or VScode?

I figured out my answer for my question.

Atom
Load the Hydrogen package for Atom. this will print output to bottom of editor window. From the Hydrogen package, ude the Run Cell or Run All options. A blank screen appears for your input.

VScode
This problem only seems to appear when using the "Code Runner" extension. Running the code using other methods appears to work fine. If running the "Code Runner" extension using a method like num = int(input("Enter a number: ")) appears to work but when you try entering your input to get an error message popup that says "Cannot edit in read-only editor" It halts waiting for input which can't be entered. I have to kill the app to try another method. So best option is to avoid Code Runner for python scripts if input is required.


Mavericks menu bar Wi-Fi icon does not refresh

Here are few steps to try-

A- To check your functionality  run the

airport -s

in Terminal.

That should show you the scan results.

B- If there are no results check your hardware profile in About this Mac (this is mine)

Card Type: AirPort Extreme  (0x14E4, 0xE9)
  Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (5.106.98.100.22)
  MAC Address:  14:10:9f:f0:29:8c

Check the com.apple.airport.airportutility.plist for been up to date (recent) or just delete it.

C- If above worked then your WiFi Icon in the menu bar is broken.

Press and hold the cmd key and drag the WiFi Icon to desktop (and it will vanish).

Restart.

Go to

/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras

And click on

  AirPort.menu

That will bring your WiFi Icon back (hopefully working this time).


Use a plist like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>com.username.scriptname</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/usr/bin/python</string>
    <string>/path/to/script.py</string>
  </array>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key>
  <true/>
  <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
  <string>/tmp/com.username.scriptname.err</string>
  <key>StandardOutPath</key>
  <string>/tmp/com.username.scriptname.out</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Just make sure you replace the /path/to/script.py accordingly and then save it to your desktop. Then open up terminal and type sudo chown root:wheel /path/to/plistfile it will prompt for password type it in in and when you are typing it it won't give you any visual feedback then press enter. Then type sudo chmod 644 /path/to/.plistfile. Then just sudo mv ... the plist file in /Library/LaunchDaemons/ or /Library/LaunchAgents/ and finally sudo launchctl load ... the plist and your script will run.

And if you have any problem comment below and also tell me the OS your Mac is running.


How do I connect a device with a lighting connect to an iPad Pro that has a USB-C connector?

i recommend to use USB-C to Lightning Cable. Using Adapter isn't great idea especially if you want to synchronize data with Computer (iTunes).

Here's link: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MX0K2AM/A/usb-c-to-lightning-cable-1-m


The time and date format can be set according to the generally accepted usage in a particular region in iOS devices.

Regions are selected in Settings>General>International>Region Format.

Sorry I misunderstood the question, I'm adding in the following more details.

Independently from the region you can always set the 24-hour time format in: Settings>General>Date & Time>24-Hour Time, the temperature scale in Weather options and the distance scale in: Settings>Maps.

Anyway, as far as I know, you can't set date format and/or currency, in a different way from the specified region.


Apple Watch Series 2 is reporting way too much exercise

Turns out that this was being caused by a timer app I had installed, called "Intervals".  I'm not using it as a fitness timer, but it defaults to recording every use of the timer as exercise.  According to the developers of the app, there are individual settings within each timer to turn this off, but apparently those aren't quite enough. There is also a "low power" setting within the timer, that needs to be enabled to completely prevent fitness tracking within the app.


App for collecting (and categorizing) stuff from the web

I have been looking for something similar for a while now, though I am more interested in saving bits of text. So far, I've not found anything ideal, but there are two that I've come across that work pretty well.

Pearltrees seems to be the best, particularly for pictures and entire websites. There is an ios app for it, and you can add a button for it on your share menu. Additionally, Pearltrees is online, and both Firefox and Chrome (and probably Safari) have an extension for it. Your Pearltrees account has folders, so you can sort what you have-- there is also a "dropshelf" where you can put things until you have time to sort them later. The downside is that all of your folders and items are public with the free account-- should you want to make any of them private, you need to upgrade to a paid version.

Diigo seems to be a good way to save webpages and clips of text from a web browser. I have not explored it in detail, so I cannot speak as to its ability to save pictures. The filing system involves tags instead of files. I find this more difficult in some respects, but it may be to your liking. It also has a full version that requires payment, though you can do a lot with the free version.

If you've found anything else, I'd love to hear about it!


In AppleScript, how to open a URL location that contains a hash (#)?

This is because Alfred is encoding (UTF8) the URL.

Disable it and it will work.


How come terminal processes are paused when display sleeps?

In High Sierra there is a 2 setting in System Preferences > Energy for that. Enable Prevent computer from sleeping....or/and set Display sleep to Never.


From a technical point-of-view, how is the Apple Watch able to unlock doors?

To put it simply, the Apple watch acts like a key fob.

You've probably seen these credit card "keys" or these fobs on a key ring that people put up to a sensor on or next to a door to grant them access.  (HID is the dominant market player - I just grabbed a couple of images from their site).

These devices just a have a very simple RFID transmitter in them that sends out a code, usually Wiegand, when put close enough to a reader.  The reader communicates back to a server with the code that was presented and send either a "yes" or "no" back to the reader which then operates a door lock.  This is basic access control.. Below is a (very) simple block diagram of how a typical system is laid out.

The controller (blue box) handles the reading of the cards from the sensor (gold circles) and the (un)locking of the doors.  In fact, the controller has a large bit of memory stored so that permissions can be pushed to each door and the system will continue to function even if the server is down.

The Apple watch (and iPhone) has the ability to "read and write tags" with their NFC chip.  So, the NFC chip emulates a card or keyfob by transmitting the ID code.  The door reader still communicates back to a server to get authorization to grant/deny access.  So, just like the key fobs/cards don't need any special software or apps to function, neither does the Apple iPhone/Watch.


You are trying to install in /usr which is protected by SIP (System Integrity Protection), a feature introduced with 10.11 (see
What is the "rootless" feature in El Capitan, really? for details).

Use /usr/local instead, which is the location intended for user-side installations.


Option+. prints ≥ instead of being recognized as a shortcut

If you're on a different system, it may very well be nothing more than your Terminal preferences being amiss. Check Settings | Keyboard and make sure that 'Use option as meta key' is checked.


Can two almost identical apps be uploaded on Apple Store?

Similar apps can be uploaded if your app has (version based app) free, paid or in-app-purchase with clear description of each version of app will minimise the chances of rejection of the app.

Else the app can be rejected by Apple under:

  2.20 Developers "spamming" the App Store with many versions of similar Apps will be removed from the iOS Developer Program

App Store Review Guidelines


Get Phone Amego from the Mac AppStore. I was looking for the same thing this morning and it worked great! It was very easy to setup.


Why does my iPhone use so much "other" space after upgrade to iOS 5?

It may be leftover data from a failed upgrade/sync.  I noticed the same thing on my iPad, which then disappeared once I re-synced it.


Export only edited photos from iPhoto '11?

This is possible. You can use iPhoto Library Manager by Fat Cat Software, which  has saved my photos in many situations. It is frequently updated for newer versions of iPhoto.

Select your library in IPLM and Command-E or File > Extract Photos...

This results in an Extracted Photos folder and a Modified and Originals folder inside.

If you prefer not to use third-party software, an alternate method is available. Actually, each iPhoto library is actually a bundle that contains folders inside with its contents.  Navigate to your iPhoto library in ~/Pictures and it should show up as a file called Default with an icon with stacks of pictures.

Next, Control-click the file and select Show Package Contents.  If your iPhoto library is an older one, there will be folder shortcuts with "Modified" and "Originals."  Newer libraries remove these shortcuts, and the modified photos can be found in Previews.  Inside Previews, there will be several folders that outline date and time structures for iPhoto; you can just search for


External DVD Drive won't mount anymore after burning two disks

The USB port it was in was for the keyboard and mouse.


Are the OSX Mavericks tags visible from the command line?

Yes, you can find files that have a given user tag using mdfind.

Create a file and assign it a a custom tag in Finder.

Then go in a terminal; you will find it with:

mdfind "kMDItemUserTags == Math || kMDItemUserTags == Programming"

or

mdfind "kMDItemUserTags == Math && kMDItemUserTags == Programming"

See also -onlyin aFolder to restrict the search.

I didn't check how complex these boolean expressions can be, but these two examples work.

You can pipe the output to ls like this:

mdfind "kMDItemUserTags == mathTag || kMDItemUserTags == anotherTag" \
| while read f; do ls "$f"; md5 "$f"; done

Also, mdfind has an option "-0"

    -0                Use NUL (``\0'') as a path separator, for use with xargs -0.

which can be practical with nasty filenames.


GENKI Vocab Cards app doesn't play sound

Untoggle the mute switch at the top left of your iPhone. It will vibrate if it's muted. Unmuting won't make the device vibrate.

Make sure to increase the volume with the volume buttons.

Regarding Voice Memo.app

Tap the speaker icon at the top right to toggle the output (earpiece/loudspeaker).

Then adjust the volume with the volume buttons on the left of your iPhone.


How can I rename items in the Finder "Places" Sidebar?

They live in ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sidebarlists.plist.  The "Places" area corresponds to the useritems key.  If you have XCode (any version) installed you can use the Property List Editor to read and edit that file; otherwise you'll need to use plutil to convert it to XML and back.

I don't know if you can safely rename the entries in that file; they clearly have aliases defined which point back to the originals, but I don't know if the name is ever used for anything other than display or if the Finder will become confused when the alias and name don't match.  Copy the existing one to a backup before playing with it.  You may also need to restart the Finder after editing it or copying the backup back into place:  Option+right click the Finder icon in the Dock and select "Relaunch".


What is trying to launch 'java' on my Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Also check ~/Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/LaunchAgents, /Library/StartupItems, /System/Library/LaunchAgents, /System/Library/LaunchDaemons, to get a more complete picture of what might be running/starting up on boot and login.

Dunno about you, but my installation came default with some com.apple.java.* plist files.  I am running Mountain Lion.


Unfamiliar prompt when inserting new prepaid SIM card into iPhone in China

I just have the sim card of China Unicom.
The text is "尊敬的客户，欢迎您使用中国联通业务！"
Which means "Dear customers, welcome to use China Unicom business!"

I don't think there will be any security issues.
It is a sim application that can handle business（e.g. order data plan) with cellular data off.
Go Setting-Moblie Data-SIM Application you can find more.

I don’t know more technical aspects.You can see the wikiSIM Application Toolkit


Fast forward 7 years! iCal is now Apple Calendar.

You can now select multiple events and use the keyboard shortcuts:

⌃⌥ [ ↑ | ↓ ] to move the events 15min sooner or later.

⌃⌥ [ ← | → ] to move the events 1 day (in day/week view) or 1 week (in month view) sooner or later.


Installed application using brew, but now it's saying it can't find it?

Dsniff links its programs in to /usr/local/sbin instead of /usr/local/bin. The sbin/ directory is for more sysadmin-oriented stuff and isn't on the path for non-root accounts. Most other Homebrew formulae don't link there.

Dsniff will even warn you about this during the installation.

$ brew install dsniff
==> Downloading http://monkey.org/~dugsong/dsniff/beta/dsniff-2.4b1.tar.gz
#
[ ... ]
==> make install
Warning: /usr/local/sbin is not in your PATH
You can amend this by altering your ~/.bashrc file
==> Summary
/usr/local/Cellar/dsniff/2.4b1: 35 files, 420K, built in 11 seconds

So, add /usr/local/sbin to your path in the same place that you add /usr/local/bin, probably in ~/.bashrc, and you'll pick up dsniff.

In general, when you run in to things like this, and you're not sure where the files went, you can use find to search for them. For Homebrew, they'll always be somewhere under /usr/local, if they're anywhere.

$ find /usr/local -name dsniff
/usr/local/Cellar/dsniff
/usr/local/Cellar/dsniff/2.4b1/sbin/dsniff
/usr/local/Library/LinkedKegs/dsniff
/usr/local/opt/dsniff
/usr/local/sbin/dsniff


So if you look in the Keychain Access, there is a "Keychain" column, and initially your password ends up in both System and iCloud keychains. You should delete the iCloud entry, this will remove the password form the other devices, but the one with System will stay and will be used by your machine


Can I use an unlocked AT&T iPhone with T-Mobile?

AT&T and T-Mobile both use GSM networks.

So yes, you will be able to use your iPhone with T-Mobile.


Can't mount back up drive on MacBook Pro

Running First Aid from inside Disk Utility might be the way to go. If it successfully repairs the volume it will mount it straight away. If it can't successfully repair the volume, it will attempt to mount it in a ready only form, and if it can you'll be able to copy things back off it before reformatting.

Depending how important your data on there is, you may want to look into software for data recovery first, or use the dd command to make a bit-for-bit copy of the whole disk so that if you can't get the disk to mount again, you have a copy of it's state, and you can run data recovery software over that to try put your files back together and recover them. dd will make a disk image the size of the whole disk though, so you will need somewhere with at least 500gb of space to store that.
An example of a dd to run in the terminal:

dd if=/dev/rdisk2 of=/Volumes/OtherExternalDrive/diskImage.img conv=noerror

if= is input file, which in this case is disk2 (based on your screenshot above). I use rdisk instead of just disk as it usually runs a bit faster (I looked into why a while back but can't remember now, but did test it out when I had an explanation and found it usually was about 40% faster at the time).
of= is the output file, which I've given the example of being on an external disk. (I'm assuming since this 500gb disk was your time machine backup, that your internal disk is also 500gb or less).
The output disk image will always be a .img file, if you specify for example .dmg, you when up with diskimage.dmg.img. .img is pretty standard so you shouldn't have much trouble with software reading it.
conv=noerror means if it received an I/O Error while reading the disk, it will continue trying to read the rest, instead of quoting halfway through. If you are getting a bunch of these, it may be worth trying a new USB cable, but if you still get them, the Hard Drive is failing.

If this is the second time the drive has become unmountable, then it does sound like something hardware might be going on, so if your USB cable if looking funky, you might need a new one, or the hard drive might be finally giving up.

Unless of course you often disconnect it without hitting eject, that will easily lead to filesystem issues ^_^

good luck!


safari to open external links in new window

I've experienced the same thing, new windows instead of tabs opening when control clicking, and it has seemed totally random to me, too.

The Safari Extension 'Link Thing' (maybe 'LinkThing' -?) will, by default, open all links in a new tab without your having to hit control unless the page (e.g. DuckDuckGo) disables and overrides the user's browser preferences.


El Capitan Safari can't open http://localhost/ after starting Apache

Turns out that there is evidence that upgrading from Snow Leopard to El Capitan upgrades the apache2 binaries, but not its configuration. Please get the original apache2 config from a El Capitan clean-install and replace yours with it. It's located at /private/etc/apache2/original. Replace your httpd.conf and the folder extra with those you got from the clean install. Restart apache2 afterwards.


How to update Java from 8 Update 31 to 8 Update 51 when install fails?

No need to uninstall the current version. From the Java website just download the Java 8 update 51 (JDK)from Oracle site and install manually. After installation, no need to reboot the machine. Check version in Terminal or Java panel. It will show the updated version.


Macbook 15" showing green distorted logo and wont start

I would say that you have a dying/dead discreet GPU, as that's a known problem with your model of MacBook Pro. Booting into safe mode may be doing something to help your GPU (I have an Xserve with a confirmed dying GPU that boots in safe mode but not without it) so it boots properly. I would highly recommend getting your MacBook Pro replaced as soon as possible via the Apple program. I would suggest you run Apple Hardware Test and verify that your GPU is dead/dying, but this may not be possible given your current state. Similarly, you can run a GPU stress test program like Unigine Heaven and see if your GPU quits.

In any case, seeing if you can get your computer replaced probably isn't a bad idea since it's pretty likely your GPU is dying. Go to an Apple store, explain the issue, and they'll probably give you a new computer.


PhoneView can access pretty much any file on any iOS device, it doesn't matter what version of iOS you are running.

1...Launch PhoneView and go to preferences and make sure that (Show entire disk (Advanced Disk Mode), is checked).

2...In the window to your left select "Disk" Then go to Library -> Ringtones. This is where the ringtones are stored.

3...For the alert sounds go to System -> Library -> Audio -> UISounds. This is where all of the alert sounds are stored.

If you have custom made or downloaded any ringtones in iTunes or other programs, you can find them in the window to your left under Ringtones.


Can I stop migration from my PC to new MacBook Pro without loosing what has already migrated?

Since Migration Assistant tool has no pause / suspend button (and in the past when it did, it deleted the files and cleaned up if my memory is correct) you might get unexpected results on one or more files if you abort things.

Cancelled wireless Migration Assistant... best way to start over?
iMac-to-iMac Migration was interrupted; Now, source iMac is reading as 0.0GB
Migration Assistant moved files to inaccesible new account, how to get to my old files?

As you can see, even Mac to Mac transfers which are supposed to survive a disconnect are sometimes not resilient. I believe a PC to Mac transfer is much simpler and akin to copying files, so you might only have one file that got corrupted if you interrupt things.

If you abort the transfer, all the files will be copied, but there is no guarantee they left a workable user account. In almost all cases, you can then log in and get to the files that have transferred, but you will want to clean things up / hand move things to the correct location.

Since Migration Assistant doesn't move an entire PC user over, you might be fine with what transferred, but you have no way of knowing what has been transferred without puling the plug (so to speak).


Incoming phone call is going to the phone audio instead of my blueetooth connected headset

I have had this happen throughout the iOS 14, even back to the betas. I reported it using the “Feedback” app but it still persists even in 14.2.1.
Your best option is to report the bug using this webpage:
https://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html


Most similar Apple TV software for OS X ?

I'd say go with Plex. I've been using and testing different media center apps for years, and, like you, stuck with Front Row until Lion came out, because nothing else felt quite right. Since then, Plex has won me over, especially with the huge progress made in the last year or so.

In terms of user experience, Plex is the closest thing to Snow Leopard's Front Row. I always disliked the visual clutter of XBMC and Boxee, and even earlier Plex versions. But the current Plex version has a VERY clean interface and works great with the Apple Remote.

It can handle almost any file format (without installing extra codecs), unlike Front Row, and you can have it watch any folder on your machine (or network), not just the ~/Movies, ~/Videos and iTunes.

It automatically downloads artwork and metadata for movies and TV shows in your library based on their filenames, and there are many high-quality channels (plugins for streaming content) that you can install right inside the client.

The channels have to present their data in the same layout as the native Plex library, so the interface is consistent. Plex integrates with iPhoto and iTunes as well, showing them as available channels.

Finally, since Plex is really a two-part setup (client and server, both of which can easily run on the same machine), it's expandable. Once you set up the server, you can use it with the client on that machine, and you can also view your library on other Macs, PCs, iOS devices, Android devices, Google TV, Roku, LG Smart TVs, and DLNA TVs. I think they even released a WebOS client too.

Most of the client apps work with absolutely zero configuration. As long as you're on the same network, all available Plex servers and their libraries just show up. Start playing something, and the server will even transcode the video or audio (in realtime) if the client device doesn't have the necessary codecs to handle it.

Plex isn't perfect, but it's under very active development, and constantly improving. And the UI finally looks and feels natural.

Also, it's everywhere. Practically every screen in my house has access to my Plex library. Some of the apps (iOS, Android etc.) cost money, which is good for the long-term survival of Plex as a platform, but the Linux (server only), Mac (client + server), Win (client + server) are all free.


Best file system for USB stick for backup purposes

From Apple KB : Backup disks you can use with Time Machine

  Formatting a backup disk for use with Time Machine

  The most common format for a Time Machine backup disk is Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format.

  Time Machine also supports Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled), Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled, Encrypted), and Xsan formats.
  If your disk uses the Master Boot Record (MBR) partition type, some partitions might not be available for use with Time Machine.

In short, use a Journaled HFS+ partition on a GUID[GPT] formatted disk for best results.


I updated Sophos now I am getting these errors popping up repeatedly

Golden Rule - don't try to just "delete" an antivirus, they don't like it.

Use the Uninstaller - there is [was] one in the Applications folder. If you deleted that too, then you'll need to re-download it from Sophos

Note: If you have a business install, it will be protected by a Tamper Protection  layer & will need the password, which is not the same as your login/admin password.

Ref: Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac: How to uninstall


Boot to the Recovery HD by holding ⌘R on boot. Choose Disk Utility, select your system partition from the sidebar, then select File → New Image → Image from "<partition name>". Follow the instructions to choose a save location.

To restore your image, boot to Recovery, create a partition of equal size or larger than the image you saved (if necessary), then select that partition and choose the Restore button on the toolbar.

The options are greyed out in the above screenshots as I am not booted to Recovery.

The Recovery System is part of macOS and should already be a separate partition on your startup disk (hidden in Disk Utility). You can use Internet Recovery with ⌥⌘R on most Macs to perform a NetBoot-esque recovery using Apple's server, for example if you have a fresh HDD that you want to restore on to.

If you want to put a Recovery System on an external disk or secondary internal disk, you can use Recovery Disk Assistant (1 GB required).


It depends on how this was set up to launch.  From boot, Go > Connect to Server > (click the dropbox) and select clear recent servers, if not using any.  Then go to System Preferences > Accounts and see if there is something set up in the Login Items tab related to the server and clear.  Restart and test.  If it continues I'd check Macintosh HD > Library > LaunchDaemons for a file related to mounting the server.


Force windows to be maximized but not fullscreen?

I believe this happens when dock scales up depending on a number of apps running and icons become a little big bigger. I was annoyed by this too and disabled [ ] Magnification.


OS X Calendar - view shared Google calendars

Yes, this question is answered by google here:

https://www.google.com/calendar/syncselect

You can click on the link and select shared calendars you wanna sync with your device.


Moving from Stanza to another eBook reader on my iPad Air

MegaReader will do all that you've asked for here. It's not free, but it's not very expensive. It's what I replaced Stanza with on my own iPhone.


Apple Magic Trackpad issue: occasionally it interprets one-finger click as two-finger ("right") click

Do you have checked this in the SystemPreferences -> Trackpad?

That's mean, than when you do a full-click on the right(left) bottom corner thats mean right-click. For the disable, simple uncheck.


iBooks are not synchronized via iCloud between my Apple devices

Open Settings app on both devices and verify both have an iCloud backup (or connect to iTunes and back up both)
Sign out of iTunes & App Store and then reboot both devices
Sign back in to the iTunes & App store on one device
Open iBooks and see what it shows for your purchases / books.
Tap to download one of each (a purchased book and a synced book)
Then review the iBooks settings in the settings app for this device

Repeat the sign in steps for the second iOS device. Pay attention to the "Sync Collections" setting for iBooks.


Is it possible to disable Versions for all applications?

I guess you're rather referring to Autosave. This post describes the difference.

To disable Versions, I posted the (maybe risky) procedure here:

How to disable Versions in OS X Lion

However for Autosave the easiest work-around might be to use "System Preferences" → "Keyboard" → "Keyboard Shortcus" to define a keyboard shortcut (I used  ⌘ ⇧ S) for the programs that have Autosave support and the "Duplicate" option in the menu:

For Textedit it will then look like this:

So you would press ⌘+⇧+S, which gives you a new duplicate window and then ⌘+S to save as new filename.

However, you original document will also (continuously) be saved and end up in the state where you created the duplicate - and without Versions (or Time Machine) you won't be able to recover earlier states as soon as you close your original document or the program.


Will a factory unlocked French iPhone 4S work on Verizon in the US?

Probably not. Verizon (like Sprint) uses CDMA, not GSM. Your phone will probably work on AT&T, T-Mobile, or one of the smaller regional GSM carriers around here. All of the above have prepaid SIM plans available with and without data so you can compare options before you arrive.


How to reset Mac user password while having working TouchID access

Proceed at your own risk
You can try to add TouchId as a method to authenticate sudo.
In Finder go /etc/pam.d/, copy sudo to your desktop.
Edit this file in a text editor and add auth       sufficient     pam_tid.so as top line. It should look like:
# sudo: auth account password session
auth       sufficient     pam_tid.so
auth       sufficient     pam_smartcard.so
auth       required       pam_opendirectory.so
account    required       pam_permit.so
password   required       pam_deny.so
session    required       pam_permit.so

Now copy this sudo file to /etc/pam.d/. Finder will ask you if you want to replace the existing file. If you select replace, Finder will ask you to authorise the action via TouchID.
From that point on you can invoke sudo with TouchID.


how to view Apple TV purchases in iTunes?

Found the answer here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

I must say I found this all very confusing.

Apple devices normally work so seamlessly together.  Why hide this functionality by a checkbox deep inside a preference pane?


Should I install X11 on my Mac Book Pro?

If you install the X11 subsystem, it will only run when you have an X11 program running.

Much the same as when installing the JVM - that will only run when you run a Java program.


Are there any features like Winamp's auto tag exist for iTunes?

MusicBrainz Picard works quite well, it uses the same database as iEatBrainz but is still actively developed.  It's free, and I've had great luck with it fixing tags on some 40GB of music I had laying around from my Windows days.

The interface is somewhat arcane unfortunately.  Check out this link that will give you some other alternative ideas.

on edit:
I went back to check out the newer version of Picard (0.12 vs 0.11), and the workflow is much improved.  A lot of the annoying things from before have been automated.  If you take a few minutes to set all the preferences to your tastes using the online help as reference, this really is a great automated tagging app.


Selling my broken Macbook. How to make sure there's no personal information on the hard drive?

Depending on what model it is, if it has an Optical drive then you can insert the install disc that came with the machine and boot to the disc where you can use Disk utility to erase the drive.


What are the secret options of the PDF convert tool from OS X?

The options for the CUPS system are mainly for specifying borders, margins, how many pages per sheet, etc. They are documented on the CUPS website:

http://www.cups.org/documentation.php/options.html


No, rm -rf will not delete any files because you did not supply an argument to the command.


Video player for macOS with persistent playback speed setting

VLC for macOS is the video player you are looking for. It includes support for wide variety of audio and video codecs. Get the latest version from the download page or install via Homebrew by running:

brew cask install vlc

Once installed, open VLC Preferences by going to VLC → Preferences in the Menu bar or using the keyboard shortcut Command + ,. Click Show All button in the bottom left corner of the preferences window, click on Input/Codecs item in the left sidebar, and set the desired value for Playback speed. Once entered, click on the Save button in the bottom right to finalize your changes.

The playback speed will now persist for any subsequent media file that you will play.

Alternatively, if you do not wish to have a persistent speed setting, and wish to tweak it while a audio/video file is playing, do so in realtime via Playback → Playback Speed VLC Menu bar item.


Are there any Terminal commands that would be interesting for a young child?

If you have an older computer with "X" pre-installed, xeyes is mildly entertaining.

But, you could also create an alias or a shell script that does just about anything, using applescript, etc.


Automate removing the first page of a bunch of PDFs

I've done this using the Coherent PDF Command Line Tools Community Release.

You can download either the pre-built tools or the source code to compile the later on your own, however the latter requires OCaml be installed when compiling. So the pre-built tools are the easiest way to go. The downloaded distribution file, e.g. cpdf-binaries-master.zip, contains binaries for Linux, OS X/macOS and Windows and is ~5 MB in size.

Once downloaded and extracted (double-clicking the .zip file) you'd copy the, e.g. ~/Downloads/cpdf-binaries-master/OSX-Intel/cpdf, file to a location that is defined in the PATH environment variable, e.g. /usr/local/bin/ to make it globally available on the command line in Terminal. If it's not in the PATH then you'll have to use the fully qualified pathname to the cpdf executable or ./cpdf if it's in the present working directory (pwd). In Terminal, type echo $PATHso show the PATH.

The syntax for removing the first page when the PDF file has 2 or more  pages is:

cpdf in.pdf 2-end -o out.pdf

Because cpdf reads the original file (in.pdf) and writes to a new file (out.pdf) the out.pdf filename needs to be different if saved to the same location as the in.pdf file, or save it to a different location with the same in.pdf filename as the out.pdf filename, or whatever out.pdf filename you want.

Below, I'll show two examples of automation using cpdf to remove the first page of a PDF file, assuming it has two or more pages. One using an Automator workflow as a Service available in Finder on the Services Context Menu and the other as a bash script, to use in Terminal.

As an Automator Service Workflow available in Finder on the Services Context Menu:

In Automator create a new service workflow using the settings as shown in the image below and copy and paste the code below the image into the Run Shell Script action and save as e.g.: Remove First Page from PDF

To use Remove First Page from PDF, in Finder select the PDF files you want to remove the first page from and then select Remove First Page from PDF from the Context Menu via right-click or control-click, or from Finder > Services > Remove First Page from PDF

for f in "$@"; do
            # Get Page Count.
        p="$(/usr/local/bin/cpdf -info "$f" | awk '/Pages:/{print $2}')"
            # Get file extension.
        ext="${f##*.}"
            # Get filename without extension.
        fn="${f%.*}"
            # Rename original file to "filename (original).pdf".
            # Use '-n' to not overwrite an existing file.
        mv -n "$f" "${fn} (original).${ext}"
        case "$p" in
            1)
                    # PDF file has 1 page. Make a copy to the
                    # original name for consistency of output.
                    # Use '-n' to not overwrite an existing file.
                cp -n "${fn} (original).${ext}" "$f"
                ;;
            *)
                    # PDF file has 2 or more pages.
                    # Remove the first page.
                /usr/local/bin/cpdf "${fn} (original).${ext}" 2-end -o "$f"
                ;;
        esac
            # If you don't want to keep the original
            #  file, remove '#' from the next line.
        # rm "${fn} (original).${ext}"
done

Note that the PATH passed a Run Shell Script action in Automator is, /usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin. So the code above is using the fully qualified pathname to the cpdf executable, /usr/local/bin/cpdf as that is where I placed it so as to be available in Terminal by way of using its name cpdf, only.

Also note that if you do not want to keep the original files, then uncomment (remove the # from in front of) the # rm "${fn} (original).${ext}" command, just above the last line of code done.

As a bash script to use in Terminal:

Create the bash script in the following manner:

In Terminal:

touch rfpfpdf
open rfpfpdf

Copy the code block, starting with #!/bin/bash, below into the opened rfpfpdf document and then save it.

Back in Terminal:

Make the script executable:

chmod u+x rfpfpdf

Now move the rfpfpdf script to, e.g.: /usr/local/bin/

sudo mv rfpfpdf /usr/local/bin/

You can then change directory cd ... to a directory that has the PDF files that you want to remove the first page from and then simply type rfpfpdf and press enter.

The original files will be moved to "filename (original).pdf" and the newly create PDF file sans the first page, if 2 or more pages, will have the original filename.pdf name.

#!/bin/bash

for f in *.pdf *.PDF; do
    if [[ -f $f ]]; then
            # Get Page Count.
        p="$(cpdf -info "$f" | awk '/Pages:/{print $2}')"
            # Get file extension.
        ext="${f##*.}"
            # Get filename without extension.
        fn="${f%.*}"
            # Rename original file to "filename (original).pdf".
            # Use '-n' to not overwrite an existing file.
        mv -n "$f" "${fn} (original).${ext}"
        case "$p" in
            1)
                    # PDF file has 1 page. Make a copy to the
                    # original name for consistency of output.
                    # Use '-n' to not overwrite an existing file.
                cp -n "${fn} (original).${ext}" "$f"
                ;;
            *)
                    # PDF file has 2 or more pages.
                    # Remove the first page.
                cpdf "${fn} (original).${ext}" 2-end -o "$f"
                ;;
        esac
            # If you don't want to keep the original
            #  file, remove '#' from the next line.
        # rm "${fn} (original).${ext}"
    fi
done

Note that the code above assumes the cpdf executable is in a directory that is within the PATH environment variable, e.g.: /usr/local/bin/

Also note that if you do not want to keep the original files, then uncomment (remove the # from in front of) the # rm "${fn} (original).${ext}" command, just above the last line of code done.


Why does a Java based app in OS X have 2 different user interface designs?

The same Java code (mostly) runs on all OS/architectures. It has several different  APIs to draw forms/windows. Some of these APIs e.g. Swing allow you to change look and feel between emulating different widget sets. So a program can be written so that it allows the user to change the look and feel.

The look and feel that is supplied includes OSX (as in the top screenshot) and Windows(several forms) or Motif or GTK. The way to set this in Swing and for more information see this Oracle document Note that even the OSX Look and feel does not full match Apple's guidelines e.g. positioning of the menu in the window and not at the top of the display.

Like any Windowing system you can always write programs that behave and look different to the expected standard. It happens that for OSX most developers stick to Apple's guidelines, but even using Apple's supplied APIs you can have a different feel between Carbon(originally Mac OS <= 9) and Cocoa programs(originally NeXT). The AppStore allows Apple to have a bit more control but I do not know if meeting display guidelines is actually checked.


Preview.app Find -> Done keyboard shortcut

Esc  works for me - no Karabiner necessary.


Removing a news source from iOS Spotlight Search

Unfortunately, no. Apple doesn't give us a way to adjust the news sources for spotlight search. There's rumors that it takes your preferences into consideration when you read and swipe-away articles in the News app, but I haven't seen that happen yet with my preferences.


A blinking webcam light means there’s a fault with your webcam.  It could range from a simple hang up of the hardware or driver to an out of date firmware update or the webcam has failed altogether.

The first thing you want to do is reboot.
If the issue still persists, reboot in Safe Mode (hold Shift while booting).  This will make it so only Apple drivers and software is loaded to remove possible conflicts
Make sure your system is fully up to date
Run Apple Diagnostics (hold D while booting)
Try a USB webcam.  If you get to this point and the USB webcam works, it’s a hardware failure of the webcam itself. You’ll have to decide if you want to replace the webcam which requires disassembly of the display or get use a USB webcam.


How do I close a password-protected numbers spreadsheet on iPad to preserve security?

In short - if going back to the linen background doesn't ask for the password again, you may have to force the issue in the same manner as killing a program that is crashing and needs a clean start.

Using multitasking, you can try to force the Numbers app to quit on iOS and see if that requires entering the password before viewing that spreadsheet.

Close out any spreadsheets you have open so you are at the main screen in Numbers with the linen background.
Double tap the home button to bring up the multitasking bar
Swipe left or right (if needed) until you see the numbers icon
Tap and hold the numbers icon until they all shake and have a small red circle icon with a minus sign in the left corner of the icons
Tap the minus icon on numbers to cause iOS to terminate numbers and force it to launch from a clean start the next time (rather than resuming the prior state)

This shows how iOS behavior of normally resuming exactly where you left off can have unintended consequences if the app should also have a check against a password and a time out period.


How to see how much storage is used per app on OS X?

If you are not afraid of using Terminal.app, you can run

sudo du -sh /Applications/* /Applications/Utilities/*

to get the size of each application.


Time capsule - external drive via Ethernet

It sounds like your external HD is actually a Network Attached Storage device. If it somehow supports simultaneous access via the network (SMB which is windows file sharing) AND plugged in to USB (to your TV) then that might work out really well. Unfortunately I don't believe that there are devices that can do that.


Low/no-cost, cross-platform alternatives to iSCSI and Fibre Channel

There is known workaround which uses an older version of Droboshare Dashboard software which includes an CLI Xtend SAN iSCSI Initiator written in Java:

Download and install Droboshare Dashboard 2.6.2 which is the last version containing the Atto iSCSI Initiator. Download and install Java.

Remove/rename the file /usr/sbin/xtendsan/.iqn.filter or replace the content/add a line with the beginning of your target name:

The content of the original file looks like this:

iqn.2005-06.com.datarobotics
iqn.2005-06.com.drobo

The main app to use is "xtendsancli" as superuser. Enter sudo xtendsancli to get a list of possible commands.

And here is a basic script to connect to your iSCSI-targets:

#!/bin/bash

serverAddress="${1:-127.0.0.1}"

if [ -x /usr/sbin/xtendsancli ] ; then
  for target in $(/usr/sbin/xtendsancli discoverTargets -address $serverAddress -verbose | grep ^iqn); do
    /usr/sbin/xtendsancli logoutTargets -verbose -address $serverAddress "$target"
    /usr/sbin/xtendsancli removeTargets -verbose -address $serverAddress "$target"
    /usr/sbin/xtendsancli addTargets -address $serverAddress "$target" -autoLogin Yes
    # works even if no security is set on server
    /usr/sbin/xtendsancli loginTargets -address $serverAddress "$target" -autoLogin Yes -security CHAP,TargetUserName=username,TargetSecret=password
  done
else
  echo "no file"
fi

Replace the x.x.x.x by the real IP-address of your server. Make the script executable with sudo chmod +x scriptname.sh and run it with sudo scriptname.sh.
If you have CHAP enabled replace "-security NONE" with "-security CHAP,TargetUserName=username,TargetSecret=password".

Tested with 10.9.5 Mavericks/Java SE Runtime Environment 1.7.0_71/Java for OS X 2014-001.

Addendum for OS X 10.11 El Capitan

To install  Droboshare Dashboard 2.6.2 and use the Atto iSCSI Initiator you have to download and install Java for OS X 2015-001 Beta.

Then you have to disable rootless mode to be able to modify /usr/sbin/ with the following command:

sudo nvram boot-args="rootless=0";sudo reboot

After the reboot install Droboshare Dashboard 2.6.2 and reboot again.

Atfer modifying  /usr/sbin/xtendsan/.iqn.filter as described above you should be able to use the iSCSI Initiator like in  Mavericks or Yosemite.

Tested with 10.11 El Capitan Public Beta/Java for OS X 2015-001 beta.


How to open the Preview window maximised by default?

Only option is to use the key combination option (alt) + space to fullscreen the document.

**update: If you do alt+space you will go fullscreen, hold the alt button and you zoom 100% of the file


Terminal opens new tab instead of new window with Command-N

Yes, and this was very frustrating when I noticed it since I only ever use tabs in a browser, not to mention opening the tab bar resizes the window >:O

Go into System Preferences -> Dock, then make sure that "Prefer tabs when opening documents" is NOT set to "Always".


Allow only specific AD users/groups to login

You can modify the properties of com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts and com.apple.access_loginwindow to create custom login access.  This can also be achieve through third party vendors.  Centrify is a good third party mac AD plugin that allows to set Zones(AD Users/groups) for login access.  There are also MCX and profile options to set login window access.  Below is the way I have gotten to work using the modifying com.apple files for custom access.

Centrify Link

Original Link to guide I used   ---> Answer is about half way down in the comments.

You can manually edit and add AD groups with dseditgroup.  First check to see if the two files exist:

/private/var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/groups/com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts

and

/private/var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/groups/com.apple.access_loginwindow

If those files exist then move on to "Adding the groups to the access_loginwindow" below.  If they don't exist you will need to create them with:

dscl . -create /Groups/com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts
dscl . -create /Groups/com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts PrimaryGroupID $GID1
dscl . -create /Groups/com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts Password \*
dscl . -create /Groups/com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts RealName "Login Window's custom net accounts"

dscl . -create /Groups/com.apple.access_loginwindow
dscl . -create /Groups/com.apple.access_loginwindow PrimaryGroupID $GID2
dscl . -create /Groups/com.apple.access_loginwindow Password \*
dscl . -create /Groups/com.apple.access_loginwindow RealName "Login Window ACL"

You will need to change $GID1 and $GID2 in the above script to a free GID number, for both the com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts and com.apple.access_loginwindow files.  You can use this script to check if a GID is being used by the system.

dscl . -list /Groups PrimaryGroupID | grep $desiredGID

Change $desiredGID to a number you want to check is free. (I used 206 for netaccounts and 235 for acess_loginwindow from the guide linked above, and they were always open)

"Adding the groups to the access_loginwindow"

dseditgroup -o edit -n /Local/Default -u admin -p -a ADgroup -t group com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts

Change ADgroup to the name of the Active Directory group you want to allow access to at the login window.  (ex. "Sales Team").  Also change admin to your local user admin account.  It will prompt for password.

Then add the com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts to the com.apple.access_loginwindow file.

dseditgroup -o edit -n /Local/Default -u admin -p -a com.apple.loginwindow.netaccounts -t group com.apple.access_loginwindow

dseditgroup -o edit -n /Local/Default -a localaccounts -t group com.apple.access_loginwindow

Again change admin to your local admin account.  The first one adds the file that holds the AD groups nested in it, the second line allows for your local accounts on the computer to log in.  Now if you go to System Preferences-->Users & Groups-->Login Options-->Options  next to "Allow network users to log in at login window".  You should see the AD groups listed that you want allowed to access the computer.