The simplest would be to just retype the pass. if you don't know it, then you cannot access the password saved. Here is an explanation. And if you can, configure a certificate authority and a key (That would be shared between your iPhone and iPad) to access the Wi-Fi.

Unfortunately, on the iPhone it is not possible to access this information. The passwords are kept on your phone in a safe place that is not accessible through any regular means on the phone. This is done for your protection, if you were to lose your iPhone and someone picked it up, the passwords that are stored on it would be up for grabs. This would lead to a lot of security problems.
I would recommend apps like 1password or the many other pieces of software out there that do the same thing to keep your passwords safe and backed up. I have way to many passwords to remember and it has been a life saver. 1Password even has the ability to back up your passwords to dropbox just in case something happens to your phone and you need to access it from somewhere else.
There are a lot of different password managing apps out there, just find the right one for you.
As gtm above me stated, there is a way to access your passwords but it is through jailbreaking. I do not recommend jailbreaking, that is something that you have to make the decision on for yourself. Jailbreaking is not for everyone.
I know this may not have been the answer you were looking for, we have all been there when we forget a password and there isn't a way to retrieve it. The easier thing you can do is just reset the password on your router and make sure to keep that password safe.
I hope this answer helps somewhat.

quotation from answer by @de_an777

Update:
I just noticed you seeing this quotation because of the link to the thread. You unfortunately cannot bypass it. At least nobody found out (ostensibly). You could be the first one to discover ;)


It's possible that there are hidden files in your Trash that are not being removed for some reason and are constantly being "deleted". If you are ABSOLUTELY sure there is nothing in your Trash you may want to recover, you have two options.

Secure Empty Trash:

Right (CMD) click your Trash
Press and hold CMD, you will notice "Empty Trash" changes to "Secure Empty Trash"
Click "Secure Empty Trash"

This forces Finder to remove files that may otherwise be stubborn. It may take a while depending on how many files need to be deleted as the reference to the data is not only deleted, but the addresses the data is stored at (on your disk) is also zeroed out. Be wary of doing this with a Solid State drive as it will shorten the life of your drive (generally only by a small fraction, but caution should still be taken). If you have a Solid State (or Fusion) drive, I would recommend the following instead:

Brute Force Erase:

Open "Terminal"
If you have altered your Terminal settings, type cd ~ and hit Return
Type sudo rm -rf .Trash and hit Return
Enter your password

Terminal will remove the .Trash folder that stores everything in your Trash. This folder will be rebuilt by OS X as needed. This doesn't securely erase your data (by overwriting with zeroes) and thus is safe for use on SSDs and Fusion Drives. You can also use this if "Secure Erase" fails for some reason.

As @patrix notes, this will not remove anything from your Trash that was originally stored on an external drive as each drive has its own .Trash folder. If you have multiple user accounts, this will also not remove anything that another user has Trashed as each user has their own .Trash folder too.

As a precautionary measure, I would then verify your disk in Disk Utility (in case some data tables have been corrupted) and repair if necessary.


System Preferences freezes when I go to "Security & Privacy"

First, try booting Safe Mode. This allows your Mac to check itself for issues. The way to do this is reboot and press Shift.

If that doesn't work, try running First Aid in Disk Utility.

If that doesn't work, try reinstalling macOS from the Recovery partition.

What do you mean by migrating? You can just install macOS Catalina on the USB drive and then use Migration Assistant to transfer data from your Mac to the USB with macOS Catalina. Since you are running macOS Mojave, you will need to first install macOS Mojave on the USB. Then, you can update to Catalina.

Good luck!


Unless I'm missing something, this is expected behaviour when your iPad battery is extremely low. Basically, the battery will need a certain amount of charge to allow your iPad to switch on, and a certain amount of charge to effectively boot up.

If your iPad mini works fine otherwise, then it's really probably just a case of not letting it get too low before placing it on charge.

Also, you need to ensure that you're connecting it to its original charger, or to a charger providing enough current to charge the iPad effectively. In the absence of doing this you may find the iPad takes a lot longer to charge before being able to boot it up again.

Finally, as you've had your iPad mini for a long time, the battery may have exceeded its expected charge cycle count. When this happens it won't maintain a charge for as long as you're used to and it will take a lot longer before it can reach a state of charge needed to work properly. Eventually, it will die altogether (although if it has enough charge then you can effectively use it while it's connected to a power source - but if it loses that state of charge, then even having it connected to a power source may not suffice).


To maximize long-term battery life, should I increase brightness during charging?

The short answer is no, although this depends on what you mean by battery life.

You are correct that placing more of a burden on your computer while it's being charged (e.g. upping the brightness level, converting videos, etc) will result in a longer charging time (how much will differ on what your MBP is doing at the time).

However, this doesn't increase the life of the battery itself. Of course, in terms of a human measurement of time (in terms of hours/days/weeks etc) there may be a perceived difference in the life of the battery, but the battery itself isn't lasting any longer in terms of its actual usage.

Put another way, it's common that two users buying the exact same model MBP with the exact same specs will have a different experience in terms of how long it is before they need to replace the battery. But one user may use their MBP on the road etc every day, while the other only uses it a few hours every couple of days. Or one user spends a lot of time compressing video, while the other only does basic browsing and word processing. The fact that one of these users may need to replace their battery in a couple of years doesn't mean the battery life was less, just that its battery life was used up sooner than the other.

For further info you may want to read the entirety of what Apple says about their batteries here.


How do I remove a "missing" MP3 file from my iPhone?

Do you or have you ever used iTunes to sync the phone?  If so, try another sync.


Where can I download the versions of Safari that are newer than what Apple ships?

Safari is Apple’s build of WebKit. Nightly WebKit builds are available at nightly.webkit.org.


To my knowledge, no such measure exists.

It is virtually impossible to say anything about the performance of an operating system that is fully independent on the processor and network. It really doesn't make much sense.

You can create benchmarks that measure the performance of "real life things", which includes stuff the operating system does - but you wouldn't be able to compare the OS performance across different processors and network devices.

It would make more sense to create a benchmark that tries to focus on operating system operations - trying to spend as much time in the OS as possible and as little in user code. Then you could compare that benchmark value to the same benchmark value on the same exact device (i.e. same processor, etc.) but with a different OS version.

This would tell you a little bit about the OS performance, but it would be very hard to create something that you gives you 1 abstract number that represents the OS performance in a meaningful way. It would depends very much on heuristics and how you want to weigh the performance of each of the many thousands things the particular OS does for you.

For example if iOS 11 is 20% faster at creating threads compared to iOS 12, but iOS 12 is 20% faster at compressing video - which one is the fastest?

If you never compress video, you might say iOS 11 is the fastest, but others might have a different opinion.


How can I see which of my iPhone apps support Siri Shortcuts?

Open Shortcuts app and tap in the search bar. Scroll down the options like scripting, favourites, and content types, you should see all useable apps.

The suggestion can be seen in Settings-> Siri and Search-> all shortcuts. This lists some possible candidates for suggestions.


What does "Add to Library" and "Remove from Library" mean in Podcasts?

If you stop listening to a show for a while, Apple Podcasts might pause your subscription. The shows and downloaded episodes stay in your library, but new episodes might not be updated. To continue getting new episodes, subscribe again.

and

  New episodes won't download to your device, but episodes that are already in your library won’t be deleted.

https://support.apple.com/en-in/HT201859#more

To me, this looks like a sweet spot with a collection of all relevant material, since you can search in your library separately(not globally) and it is synced across devices.

Also, not verified, but autoplay might be using library too.


Open a file that I double-click with app created with Script Editor

Going off the answer you provided:

on open fileName
        do shell script "PATH=/Library/TeX/texbin:$PATH ¬
            open -n -a /Applications/Xournal++.app " & ¬
            quoted form of POSIX path of fileName
end open

a simpler solution would have been:

on open {fileName}
        tell application "Xournal++" to open (fileName as «class furl»)
end open

which will work for even non-scriptable applications that accept high level Apple events.  For those that don't, then:

on open {fileName}
        tell application id "com.apple.Finder" to open fileName ¬
                using application file "/Applications/Xournal++.app"
end open

However, overall, it's curious where you're going through the effort of passing it a file to open, only to have it open the file in some other application.  This is a bit like mounting a mirror on the wall to look at your monitor while using the computer, unless this is actually just a small extract from a larger script.


How do I change the sheet color in Numbers 3.x?

This is currently not possible. The closest workaround as far as I'm aware is to fill the area with a locked rectangle of your desired colour.

You can provide feedback to Apple regarding this at the following page:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/numbers.html


Where is Remote Desktop Connection for Mac in Office 2011?

Well in my case it is right here

In your case it might be waiting for you in the "Downloads folder" to be installed.
If not get it from MS here http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=1350


Finder freezes when samba automount not found

This is one of the things I wish Apple either handled better or displayed a network blocking indication so users can know when things are being help up.

This is an issue even on the 10.11 beta builds. It is an issue with Apple network mounts, SMB mounts and other network interactions. Finder just blocks for network resolution by design.

If you can submit a reproducible situation where you can measure the delay to Apple - that might help them code in some more performance into Finder. I have filed about 5 bug reports at https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/ and it's not clear they are going to redesign anything from what I can tell.

Perhaps if enough people submit reproducible issues (mine are all slow downs and not complete blocks) with sysdiagnose showing the block then this might get addressed as a bug in the design.


How can I flip desktops between two displays in OSX

If what you want to do is just to swap your screens around, then you can do this with the Displays pane in System Preferences. More specifically:

Go to Apple Menu > System Preferences
Select Displays
Click the Arrangement tab
Click and drag the display(s) to rearrange them as you wish. You can also rearrange which one has the menu bar.

If instead you wanted to do something else, please clarify your question so I (or someone else) can help you.

In the meantime, you may want to read: use multiple displays with your Mac.


How do I build a charging station for 12 iPads?

Datamation offers a multi-charge/sync setup now, and apparently Parat solutions has one in the works.

If you're looking to build your own, the Datamation unit uses a Cambrionix C3 board with 16 USB ports for charging and syncing. You could integrate it into your own solution.

You could also just get a 12+ port USB charger, however charging and syncing may take significantly longer this way. The Datamation site has some charge/sync time tech specs that support this.


How can I use Homebrew to install MongoDB 2.8 with "Wired Tiger" storage engine on my MacBook?

You might have to wait for whatever volunteer updates Homebrew recipes to adopt 2.8 or perhaps pitch in and submit an update to the repository to bump the development version to 2.8.

There aren't any other competing packaging services that are as active as homebrew so watching there might be your best bet if you don't care to DIY.

If you have brew show the recipe for mongodb you see this issue as to why --devel is pinned at 2.7.7: brew cat mongodb

# This can't be bumped past 2.7.7 until we decide what to do with
# https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/pull/33652

You could also weigh in there to see if there's something you could do to help unwedge this recipe. My guess is you'll need to just download the specific unstable 2.8 build you want from mongodb directly:

https://www.mongodb.org/downloads


Will migrating an SSD drive to APFS prolong its life?

Will switching the file system from HFS+ to APFS prolong the life of
  an SSD drive?

No.  APFS was optimized for flash (NAND) SSDs.  In other words, it was designed to fully utilize the capabilities of an SSD to provide better performance.  It wasn't implemented to prolong the life of an SSD.

In most respects, the life will be shortened. Why?  Increased write operations for

Encryption
Snapshots
Metadata

None of that matters however, because based on the calculated life expectancy of an SSD, you will run out of capacity, long before it dies from usage.  In other words, it's a moot point.

  What other advantages/disadvantages it might bring?

This is entirely opinionated question.  However, one thing to keep in mind is the initial premise of the answer - APFS was designed for SSDs. Meaning it wasn't designed for traditional spinning hard disks.  Quite frankly, I've never upgraded a file system and thought "gee...this new feature is a disadvantage."

So, a better way to look at this is the advantages/disadvantages of running APFS on spinning disks versus SSDs.

For example, APFS on an SSD has encryption at it's core rather than another layer on top of the file system so, it's faster and more secure (advantage).  On a spinning drive, this results in more read/writes on the physical media meaning slower performance, higher overhead, and shorter lifespan (disadvantage).

For an indepth look from a ZFS developers perspective, see this article


Please do not delete or move iMovie projects or events within the Finder. If you do you'll probably end up with a mess by breaking the links between your media and iMovie projects.

Your best approach is to delete any media you're not using from within iMovie itself.

Using iMovie to delete media is the safest way to preserve your projects as you can visually see if what you're deleting is being used in your project. In fact, if what you’re trying to delete is being used in a project, iMovie will prompt you to remove the clip from the project before deleting it. This safeguard obviously isn't available if you try to delete media manually from within the Finder.

The process for deleting media within iMovie will depend on the version of iMovie you're using. In some versions you have a Move to Trash option, while in others it's labeled as Delete Media from Event.

You may find iMovie for Mac: Organize media and events of interest. Alternatively, you can access the iMovie for Mac guide.

If the above links aren't useful because you're using a different version of iMovie, post a comment to advise what version of iMovie you're using and I can provide some steps for you to follow. Alternatively, now that you know it's best to delete your media directly from within iMovie, you can just use your search engine of choice to find the info you need.


Can't seem to remove or alter website blocking restrictions on iPhone 6

You are using the new ScreenTime for iCloud (this is different from the local ScreenTime you have disabled). It sounds like the local restrictions on the iPad has been passed on to the limited Apple-ID and then stored on iCloud. The limited Apple-ID has a builtin ScreenTime which stores its settings on iCloud and overrides the local ScreenTime.
There are two ways of controlling ScreenTime for iCloud.

From another iPhone with a parent account signed in with. Open settings app, click on parent name at the top. Scroll down to Family Sharing and select your child's limited Apple-ID. At the bottom you can turn off ScreenTime for iCloud. You may also from this screen change limits (e.g. allowing websites e.t.c.).
From the limited iPhone. Open settings app, click on the name of the child at the top. Scroll down to ScreenTime and select the child name again. Here you can control ScreenTime, but not disable it.

The setting you are looking to change is located in "Content & Privacy Restrictions"/"Content Restrictions"/"Web Content" user the subpage described above.
The name "ScreenTime for iCloud" is a name I made up in order to distinguish with the local ScreenTime in this answer.


How to automount sparsebundle for Time Machine backups?

These instructions assume you're using a sparsebundle file in 10.9 because you use an encrypted drive. If not, modify accordingly.

First, follow the instructions in the link below to figure out how to use security find-generic-password to grab the password to your encrypted drive out of your Keychain programmatically.

http://blog.joshdick.net/2012/10/14/programmatically_mounting_encrypted_disk_images_in_os_x.html

Then create a file called mounter in your local bin directory ~/bin that contains the following code (replace all paths with your paths, and in the security find-generic-password, use the name of the key in Keychain):

#!/usr/bin/env bash -e

PHYSICAL_DRIVE_PATH="/Volumes/Backup/"
SPARSEBUNDLE_PATH="/Volumes/Backup/TimeMachine.sparsebundle"
SPARSEBUNDLE_MOUNT_PATH="/Volumes/Time Machine/"

# Check existing states
if [ -e "$SPARSEBUNDLE_MOUNT_PATH" ]; then
    echo "Already mounted."
    exit 0
fi

if [ ! -e "$PHYSICAL_DRIVE_PATH" ]; then
    echo "Physical drive not attached"
    exit 0
fi

if [ ! -e "$SPARSEBUNDLE_PATH" ]; then
    echo "Virtual drive not found on physical drive"
    exit 1
fi

# The mount command uses security find-generic-password
# to get the password from the keychain store
MOUNT_PASSWORD=$(security find-generic-password -w -D "disk image password" -l TimeMachine.sparsebundle)
printf $MOUNT_PASSWORD | hdiutil attach -stdinpass -mountpoint "$SPARSEBUNDLE_MOUNT_PATH" "$SPARSEBUNDLE_PATH"

This is a bit verbose, but means no storing passwords anywhere but keychain. In any case, now we have to get it to run. Create a file in ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ like ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.martorana.dave.mounter.plist and put the following code in it, replacing, of course, the paths with your own paths:

<?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.martoranas.dave.mounter</string>
    <key>Program</key>
    <string>/Users/dave/bin/mounter</string>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>60</integer>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/Users/dave/bin/ldout.log</string>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/Users/dave/bin/lderr.log</string>
</dict>
</plist>

We're using launchd instead of cron for a host of reasons, the most important being access to your keychain.

Now load your launch daemon:

launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.martoranas.dave.mounter.plist

And that should do it. Now launchd will run your shell script every 60 seconds, and if not mounted and available, will mount your sparsebundle disk image.

Cheers,

Dave


Why does `ps -e` display information about the current user's processes?

The “e” or -e option was originally for every process.  It was deprecated with the -A for All processes.  It remains as a carry over for POSIX compliance with historical versions.
The difference between -a and -A is

-a only shows other users processes with a controlling terminal.
-A shows all process even if they are not attached to a terminal, like a daemon

According to the man page,

The ps utility supports the Version 3 of the Single UNIX Specification (``SUSv3'') standard.

macOS is one of the few certified POSIX compliant Unix operating systems that conform to the Single Unix Specification as such, all utilities included must also be POSIX compliant.
Additionally, in the man page, there is a section titled Legacy Description (IMO, bad wording) where it details the difference between POSIX ps and Legacy ps

In legacy mode, ps functions as described above, with the following differences:
-e      Display the environment as well. Same as -E.


Is there a restriction on the folder/directory-like function?

The Newstand app is built to be a more or less a folder of it's own. As you probably have noticed, you can't put folders inside other folders. Because this is a native app on iOS, we don't really know why they did this, but I'm confident it is indeed because of it's folder type style.


What is MobileAccessoryUpdater and why it runs on my MacBook?

It seems that fud is the firmware update daemon of com.apple.MobileAccessoryUpdater that presumably is responsible for firmware downloads for bluetooth peripherals and running the firmware update daemon
(hint for fud found here)

To unload/disable it run in a terminal (this will persist through restarts, but probably not OS updates):

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

To enable/load it again run in a terminal:

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


There are two places to enable it:

Open Settings → Keyboard and enable Predictive.

With the keyboard on the screen, long-press the  key (or  if you’ve only got 1 keyboard installed) and enable Predictive.


How to sort by size of output by du -sh ~/* | sort -r

This worked.
du -sh ~/* | sort -rh

sort has -h flag:
-h, --human-numeric-sort, --sort=human-numeric
             Sort by numerical value, but take into account the SI suffix, if present.
...


You need to contact the Sales department for VMWare, and come to an agreement with them.

Last year, I had bought Parallels a few weeks before a new version release, but (without my prompting) they simply tossed me an e-mail with authorization to install the newer version.

In general, a Sales department is sensitive to avoiding the impression that they're double-dipping their customers, such as a new customer buying the product, only for a new release to come out a few months later.

From the perspective of Sales, they are happy to complete sales, but they don't necessary have complete control over when a product release will occur.


Why can't I insert MathType Equation on Pages 2013?

This support question from the Apple Support Community might help.

  Install MathType (here)
  Open MathType
  Open Pages

Maybe Apple is fixing this in the future.


What can I do if the past purchases page does not load in iTunes store app on iPad?

Disconnect and reconnect one last time from Settings / iTunes and App Store
Reset your network settings from Settings General / Reset
Make a backup and restore as new, connect with the AppleID and see if you can reproduce the issue "as new"


Is it possible to update a jailbroken iOS 7 to a version Apple has stopped signing?

Nope. It's impossible to upgrade iOS firmware without connecting to the Apple servers.

Currently, there is a jailbreak for iOS 8.1 using Pangu which is being signed at the moment. iOS 8.1.1 update which is due in a few weeks will patch the jailbreak. It could be the right moment to upgrade your iOS version and re-jailbreak it.  @saurik confirmed that the current iOS 8 jailbreak is stable.


Attempting to setup Exchange account in System Preferences causes crash

I figured it out.. After looking more closely at the log and mulling over it for a moment I noticed in the log:

*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '*** setObjectForKey: object cannot be nil (key: serverName)'

So I attempted to setup the account in Preferences>Internet Accounts again but this time, I started the process with all of my internet connections disabled.  So I disabled the wifi and ethernet adapters beforehand.  Now, when after entering my info, and selecting continue instead of crashing it displayed a new window requesting that I manually enter the server address.  I manually entered the server, reactivated my network connection, and selected continue, at which point it completed successfully.

The problem must be that when the system attempts to find the server automatically it fails to find it, and rather than request it manually, it crashes.  But if there is no internet connection its forced to request the information since it is unable to search for it.


Finding iPad games that can be played over the internet

Go to Game Center.

Select the Games section.

You will see the "Find More Games" button there.

Or open App Store>Games>Game Center to see a list of Internet based multiplayer games.


iTunesConnect does not show submitted binary

The binary will appear, but it just takes time. Sometimes it'll be visible within minutes, sometimes a few hours, depending on a range of factors (network bandwidth, server congestion, processing times, etc).

Also, some people don't realise that they need to click on the '+' sign under the Build section. That is, when it's ready, it'll appear and clicking on this reveals the binary.

My personal experience has been that it usually takes about a half hour to appear, but once it did take almost 18hrs. I suspect at present there will be larger than usual demand on Apple's servers, reviewers, etc because many developers are updating apps, not just because of iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, but especially because of Xcode 8.1 and Swift 3.

Also useful is this site for checking average App Store Review times (I know it's not what you're actually asking about, but it's a useful resource nonetheless).


I want to clean install OS X (El Capitan) on my MacBook Pro with two internal hard drives

Answer to Question 1.

The only way to know for sure is for you to edit your answer and post the output from the commands below.

sudo  fdisk  /dev/disk0
sudo  fdisk  /dev/disk1

These commands will not change your computer. What I am looking for is a small partition on the SSD that can be used to boot Windows. Most likely you don't have this partition, which would mean you are booting Windows entirely from your HDD. Anyway, this is the only way to know the answer for sure.

Answer to Question 2.

I am not sure how to plan to clone a Windows partition. Personally, I use Winclone which is not free software. The OS X partition can be cloned using the Disk Utility. You can also save your files to a .dmg file on an external disk.  My preference would be to put the old drive in a USB enclosure. You then could not only boot OSX from this drive via the USB port, but you can copy necessary files back to your new internal SSD. As for using Time Machine, it has never been my choice, but other seem to prefer using it.

Answer to Question 3.

Same as question 1. Depends on how your disks are partitioned. If you do end up recreating Windows from scratch, how do you intend to do that? You no longer have a optical drive.

I will assume before doing anything, you have created a copy of your recovery partition to a USB flash drive. That way if every goes wrong, at least you can  boot from the flash drive and download Yosemite.


What are the benefits of transferring an iOS app from one to another account

Contact Apple's iTunes Connect Team

No-one but Apple can offer authoritative answers to these questions. Please contact Apple's iTunes Connect and they will be able to help.


Is there anything missing in an encrypted iPhone backup?

Got answer from Threema support. The keys actually are included in an encrypt iTunes backup but can only be restored to the same device. That is why they advise a separate backup.

  Hello,

  Yes, encrypted iOS backups include the iOS keychain and therefore also
  the Threema private key; however as it is stored with
  kSecAttrAccessibleWhenUnlockedThisDeviceOnly, it will additionally be
  encrypted with the device-specific UID key. Therefore, it will only be
  usable if restored to the same device that the backup was created on.

  Best Regards,

  Threema Support


Apple does not sell or distribute its OEM parts to consumers; Apple parts are only available to Apple stores and to Apple Authorized Service Providers. To get an Apple battery, you must either take your MacBook in for repair at an Apple store or to an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Neither of these sources will sell parts (here, a battery) by itself.

Thus, all MacBook batteries offered in the marketplace are non-OEM. They may be perfectly good (perhaps even taken from the same factory production line as Apple's parts), or they may be inferior.

As a consumer, the best you can do is to buy from a reputable source; one that offers its own warranty, and will replace the part if it is defective.

I've installed several MacBook and iPhone batteries from iFixit.com, using non-OEM replacements. They've worked fine.


Connecting to Mac Mini via SSH unreliable

Problem solved after disabling the screensaver and changing the energy saving options on the Mac Mini server.


How to make Spotlight ONLY index certain file types?

As there is no easy way (no GUI certainly) to exclude file types, your best bet might be to exclude specific directories from being indexed. Create/delete Your big files inside one directory (including subdirs) and go to Preferences -> Spotlight -> Privacy and choose Your excluded directory (You can also drag and drop it).


Considerations
For the partition, in its entirety, at the server you grant read and write privileges to everyone:

may be comparable to guest access, which does not require authentication.

Consider the following possibilities:

some communication, or attempted communication, by Windows 7 may be anonymous, without authentication (whether/how such communications would be logged by the server in a non-Server build of the OS, I don't know)
writes, or attempted writes, by Windows 7 are inappropriate for something at/around the root of the partition.

Suggestions
Increase the verbosity of logging for SMB
This may be easier to achieve with a Server build of the OS.
Diagnosis at the server when the client perceives a problem
Enable the stackshot daemon then use the key chord for sysdiagnose
Preparation: enable the daemon
sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.stackshot.plist

When the problem occurs: use the key chord for sysdiagnose.
For at least ten seconds after the chord, touch nothing.
After Finder brings to front the result of sysdiagnose: decompress the archive, consider the files that comprise the diagnosis.
References
stackshot(1) OS X Manual Page
sysdiagnose(1) OS X Manual Page


Long Press on Notifications on iPhone XR Not Working

It isn't that it is malfunctioning, Apple has not added support for long press on lock screen notifications. They have on the iPad, so there is future hope.


Can't boot Windows after installing Windows 10 with Boot Camp

This article might help: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204417

Section below:

Use these steps to choose a startup disk with Startup Manager:

Turn on or restart your Mac.
Immediately press and hold the Option
key. After a few seconds, the Startup Manager appears. If you don't
see the volume you want to use, wait a few moments for Startup
Manager to finish scanning connected drives.
Use your mouse or
trackpad, or left and right arrow keys to select the volume you want
to use.
Double-click or press the Return key to start up your Mac
from the volume you selected.


The system is clearly designed to take great pains to not lose your data, however whenever you rewrite the core part of the OS that is responsible for booting the system, that is the time when you are most likely to discover a problem:

Your hard drive or hardware could be flakey and the volume of changes exposes a pre-existing problem that was un-noticed since it was only affecting non-vital files.
Your unique set of software and settings has a bad effect when migrated to the new OS.
Your apps you depend upon don't work well yet or ever with the new OS.
Your command line tools might all get deactivated / moved so it really depends upon which package manager you use and how ready it is to use the new versions of the compiler tools from Yosemite. I would ask a second question with specific details if you want to research that aspect of the upgrade to 10.10.

If you don't have the time to back up fully and have tested your restore process, you might be better doing that and not upgrading to a new OS before upgrading. Or you can check the availability of help to assist in the very unlikely chance you have an issue and pay someone / recruit someone to help you over the bumps.


OSX cmd+tab behavior with multiple windows & monitors

System prefs > Mission Control... uncheck 'Displays have separate Spaces'
That would be my prime suspect. I switched that one off the day it appeared in the OS.

From comments, that will disable the ability to move the menu bar & dock to each screen on an ad-hoc basis, though - which may be best asked as a separate question requesting a possible 3rd party solution, as I know of no way to do that natively.


Do iCloud enabled iOS apps require consent from the user?

No, specific consent for your app is not required before the use of iCloud for documents and data. However, consent can be later be removed from your app in Settings.


WATCH determines a certain activity threshold beyond which it will consider an activity to be exercise. This threshold is specific to each individual, and takes into account your heart rate throughout the day vs. during an activity, your previous activities, etc.

Your average heart rate for that walk seems high enough to be considered exercise, although once again it is difficult to tell the exact threshold WATCH is using for your specifically. With that in mind, if we assume that the average heart rate is high enough, then that leaves us with the pace.

According to Apple, an activity needs to be at the level of a brisk walk or faster for it to grant credit. You may try checking periods where you might have walked faster or slower, and seeing if you can correlate those to the bars on the Exercise graph.

I hope this helps. I’m sorry if it can sound demoralizing to have an electronic device “judging” your activity level, but don’t get discouraged!


Why does Stellar Partition Manager insist on keeping 128 MB "free space" on the medium?

The reason to leave 128 MB after each partition is given in an Apple's Tech Note:

  Note: We leave free space after each partition to make it easier for future system software to manipulate the partition map in ways that we can't anticipate currently.

In reality they adhere to their own policy only in special cases:

Formatting a non-system disk to one or more partitions
creating a Boot Camp partition

On a system disk there neither are 128 MB free spaces between partitions (EFI – system partition / system partition – Recovery HD) nor at the end.


macOS counterpart of Windows startup batch file

The macOS counterpart is an AppleScript. You can create an AppleScript using Automator app and configure it to run upon system startup by going to System Preferences → Current User → Login Items.

To create the AppleScript, launch Automator.app. Under Library (in the left pane), select Utilities. From the centre pane, drag and drop Run Apple Script action into the pane shown towards right. Now enter the following script into the editor:

tell application "Safari"
    tell window 1
        set current tab to (make new tab with properties {URL:"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kob0G2hE8IY"})
    end tell
end tell

This is how the final result will look like:

Now save the workflow by selecting File → Save... command. When saving change the File Format to Application.

Now go to System Preferences → Users & Groups, select your user under Current User and click on the Login Items tab. Click on the + button shown at the bottom and select the app saved in the last step. This will add the workflow that we created to the list of items set to be opened automatically when you log in.


The canonical unix tool for this job is expect.

Here is a short tutorial that should get you going on scripting a series of passwords to be entered when the appropriate prompt is detected by the tool.


Suspicious warning about a Kernel Extension

Without knowing anything about your machine (i.e. what OS are you on?  possibly not El Capitan (OS 10.11.x), but that's an educated guess...) it is difficult to say, BUT Apple would update your computer through the Apple Store, and it would not just dump a Kernel Extension like that.  About your Kext there, I would not have a clue, but a quick google does not come up with exctitingly good news.  I trust you have a backup of your data.


Upgrading from Snow Leopard (10.6.3) to Mountain Lion

Step Zero: consider your backup and if you want to do a two-step upgrade per http://apple.blogoverflow.com/2015/09/back-up-then-step-up-to-el-capitan/

Step One: Download the 10.6.8 combo updater at https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1399

Step Two: Use the App Store to install OS X and be aware you might need to jump 10.7 to 10.8 to 10.9 to ....


Here's my attempt:

#!/bin/bash
# list Time Machine backups of a file starting with most recent

if [ "$#" -ne 1 ]; then
    echo "Usage: list_backups.sh filename"
    exit
fi

filename=`realpath "$1"`

# find root volume path
for vol in /Volumes/*; do
    if [ "$(readlink "$vol")" = / ]; then
        root_vol=$vol
    fi
done

# prepend it to input path if necessary
if [[ "$filename" != /Volumes* ]]; then
    filename="$root_vol$filename"
fi

# remove /Volumes from input path
filename="${filename///Volumes}"

# loop over backups in reverse order
tmutil listbackups | tail -1000 -r |
while IFS= read -r line; do
    if [ -e "$line$filename" ]; then
        ls -ald "$line$filename"
    else
        echo "not in $line"
    fi
done


I strongly recommend Subler, with which you can not only soft bake the subtitles but easily add metadata as well. This allows playback with subtitles on iTunes and iOS devices as well, and even swiftly converts .mkv files for playback on these devices as well.

Small tutorial:

Drag a movie file on Subler, then drag the .srt-file on the newly opened window
Optionally choose a language and set as default to autoload
Optionally click the search icon on the top right to add metadata
Click the share icon right next to the search icon to merge the files


Can I use the screen (and keyboard) of a separate laptop with a Mac Mini?

There are many VNC applications that could accomplish this, and OSX has VNC support built in.

However, I really think you're better off buying a monitor, mouse, and keyboard for the Mac Mini.  Get something used if necessary.  You don't need to buy them from Apple - any standard monitor, mouse, or keyboard will work fine.


How to resolve Apple Mail issue where message list doesn't match full message?

I was able to solve the problem by deleting (make a backup first, just in case) the Envelope files under the MailData folder:
~/Library/Mail/V8/MailData/{Envelope}*
This will result in Mail reimporting all your mail messages, but after that, the message list and full messages were correct for me.


How can I fix '"HPDM.framework" will damage your computer' on macOS Big Sur?

After much trial and error, I was finally able to get my HP DeskJet 1010 printer working again with the following steps:

Download and run the HP Uninstaller app
Download and install HP Printer Drivers v5.1 for macOS
Open 'System Preferences' -> 'Printers & Scanners', right-click the box labeled 'Printers' and select 'Reset printing system...' (if you have more than one printer, you may want to remove just the non-functioning profile by selecting it and clicking the '-' button).
Click the '+' button to add a new printer, select 'HP DeskJet Series', and follow the prompts.

It is my suspicion that this will work with other HP printers affected by their revoked developer certificate.


Completely deleting an app from my iPhone to download a clean copy

That arrow just means that you have downloaded that app before and it is linked to your purchase history.

  But you may have also found apps that have a cloud icon in place of the price, and you might be wondering why. This indicates that the app has already been purchased with your Apple ID (This includes free apps. Even free apps are “purchased”, they just have no cost.) Once you have purchased an app with your Apple ID, you own that app forever, whether you choose to delete it at some point in the future or not.

https://www.solveyourtech.com/cloud-icon-next-app-app-store/


In MacOS, how can I bypass a VPN for a specific site using its hostname?

The most simple way to create a static and persistent route to a host is creating a script addroute.sh (root:wheel 755) in /usr/local/bin. Replace the host name and the gateway though.

#!/bin/bash

sleep 10
route -n add -host $(dig +short example.com) 192.168.0.1

and load the script with a launch daemon usr.addroute.plist (root:wheel 644) in /Library/LaunchDaemon/:

<?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>usr.addroute</string>
        <key>ProgramArguments</key>
            <array>
                <string>/bin/sh</string>
                <string>-c</string>
                <string>/usr/local/bin/addroute.sh</string>
            </array>
        <key>RunAtLoad</key>
        <true/>
        <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/usr.addroute.err</string>
        <key>StandardOutPath</key>
        <string>/tmp/usr.addroute.out</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Load it with: sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemon/usr.addroute.plist.

If everything works remove the Standard* keys/strings in the plist and the related files in /tmp.

The sleep 10 line is a sledgehammer approach - a route can only be added after a certain point in time: network has to be up for the specific interface - and may be replaced with something more elegant outlined in this answer here.

Depending on the VPN's or your default environment's DNS capabilities you may also have to add a route for a DNS server (e.g. Google's 8.8.8.8) and modify the dig command to dig @8.8.8.8 +short example.com.

If you reboot your host rarely and the remote hosts' IPs change often, use the following script (which can be improved probably):

#!/bin/bash

sleep 10

Hostname=hostname
GateWay=gateway_IP
IPHost=$(dig +short $Hostname)
RouteExist=$(netstat -nr -f inet | grep $IPHost | wc -l)
NewRoute=$(netstat -nr -f inet | grep $IPHost | awk '{print $1}')
OldHost=$(cat /usr/local/bin/addroute)

if [ $RouteExist -eq 0 ]
then
    route -n add -host $IPHost $GateWay
    RouteExist=1
    NewRoute=$(netstat -nr -f inet | grep $IPHost | awk '{print $1}')
    echo $NewRoute > /usr/local/bin/addroute
fi

if [ $IPHost != $OldHost ]

then
    route -n delete -host $OldHost $GateWay
    NewRoute=$(netstat -nr -f inet | grep $IPHost | awk '{print $1}')
    echo $NewRoute > /usr/local/bin/addroute
fi

and plist:

<?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>usr.addroute</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/bin/sh</string>
        <string>-c</string>
        <string>/usr/local/bin/addroute.sh</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/usr.addroute.err</string>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/tmp/usr.addroute.out</string>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>60</integer>
</dict>
</plist>

An additional proxy file is needed:

sudo touch /usr/local/bin/addroute

Please adjust the StartInterval (in seconds) in your plist as required and enter a proper host name and gateway IP in the shell script.

The first if routine adds a route to a remote host after booting your host and - later - a new route if the remote host's IP changes. The second if routine removes an outdated route.


Since people are still commenting on this, I will post what happened as my answer:
I took the MBP to a different store where they concluded that it was a faulty HDD cable since I had installed the SSD myself and they assumed it got some kind of shock for me not wearing an ESD bracelet. (Although as far as I can remember, the friend of mine who installed the SSD for me did indeed wear the bracelet, however I probably didn't use it when I installed RAM 1,5 years ago)

It seemed to work fine for a while but after that, the glitches started to reappear, and it became so bad that the MBP couldn't boot into OS X or Windows (stuck on grey screen with glitchy stripes).

Once again, I took it to the shop, they concluded that it was a faulty logic board, which would cost me a fortune to replace. However, thanks to EU consumer laws, I have the right of up to 3 years warranty if I could prove that it's the manufacturer's fault. So they let me fill in a form and send it in along with my receipt. By the beginning of July, Apple finally approved to replace the logic board for free. For now, the MBP is working properly again.


how to play local video files in thumbnail overlay (similar to skype video calls)?

VLC : Go to Settings ->  Video -> Always on top [check]
QuickTime  : Not possible without Extra Applications like this.


What should I do for iTunes before reinstall win7?

You can save the whole iTunes folder(it should be at ../Music/iTunes directory) and just put it back after you reinstall iTunes on your new Windows system (new iTunes installation will put it's new "blank" folder in /Music, just replace with your backup copy).

By doing so iDevices will recognise your library as the one they had synced with before and will continue to sync with it like nothing happened, hence keeping all the saves on the devices.


Did Apple drop the keyword 'Server' from the Mac Mini category?

They haven't announced a Server version, it may come later.
Only Apple can know that.

The 'Server' version was not the same as the regular version, it had 2 HDs, no optical drive & had OS X Server installed, rather than the desktop OS.

From EveryMac

  For all practical purposes, the "Server" configuration is identical to its non-server contemporary, but ships with dual hard drives and a pre-installed copy of OS X Server for Mountain Lion.


Applescript/Automator task to change default downloads folder

Open Automator and create a new service:

Choose: Service receives selected text in Safari like in the screenshot below.

Then add an item Run AppleScript with the content:

on run {input} -- create folder from text

    display dialog " —Create folder from chosen text—
This AppleScript will create  a folder from text you specify."
    set destination to (choose folder with prompt "Where would you like to make the folder?")

    tell application "Safari"
        activate
        if (input exists) then
            set folderName to input
            -- of text of document
        else
            beep
        end if
    end tell
    tell application "Finder"
        activate
        make folder in destination with properties {name:folderName}
        --select folder "untitled folder" in the destination
        --set the name of the selection to folderName
    end tell

    tell application "Safari"
        activate
    end tell

end run

Save the service as Create Folder from Text.

Then in Safari choose some text and right-click it -> Services -> Create Folder from Text.

If the destination folder already contains a folder with the same name the service fails without any further notice.

If you don't like the dialog "—Create folder from ..." add a # in front of it or remove the two lines.

If you replace:

        tell application "Safari"
            activate
        end tell

by

        tell application "Safari"
            activate
            set destination to (choose folder with prompt "Where would you like to save the new file(s)?")
        end tell

the Automator service will open the new folder and ask you to choose the new folder as new download folder. Simply hit Choose. If you then right-click the download link -> Download linked file as…, the file will be downloaded to the new folder.

The script may be improved further, because I didn't get it to work to set the new folder as new download destination automatically.


How to print duplex with Epson AL-MX200 printer?

Here is a driver that may help. https://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/epson_al_mx200.html


Why does the folder icon in my Terminal have a question mark overlaid?

The question mark (and disabled popup menu items) indicates that Terminal thinks the working directory is on a remote computer, and therefore you cannot navigate to it in Finder using the popup menu. If you look at the last item in the popup menu (Command-Click on the “proxy” icon) you'll see the computer/host that Terminal thinks the working directory is on. You should find that it is not the computer’s current name.

If you’re using bash (the default shell on macOS), by default it sends a control sequence to the terminal at each prompt to tell Terminal the current working directory. Since control sequences can come from local or remote computers, it sends a “file:” scheme URL including the hostname, and Terminal verifies that the name maps to the current machine. If it doesn’t, Terminal disables the path popup menu items, because they don't correspond to local directories.

You can see the code that sends the control sequence in /etc/bashrc_Apple_Terminal (or /etc/bashrc on older versions of macOS).

[Note that if you’re not using bash, or you’ve customized it so the default behavior doesn’t occur, but your shell (or some other program you’re running) is sending control sequences to set the window or tab (icon) title, Terminal will examine it to see if it contains what looks like a pathname, and then it checks whether that corresponds to a valid local pathname. If not, it doesn’t display the window proxy icon at all.]

A scenario where Terminal can fail to recognize that the “file:” URL is on the current host is if you change your network configuration while a shell is running. A common case is putting a portable computer to sleep and moving to another location, then waking it. The local host name and address will have changed, but the shell’s $HOSTNAME environment variable still has the old host name, and that’s what it sends in the control sequence. To fix this, update the environment variable with:

 HOSTNAME=$(hostname)

Another scenario is where you quit Terminal, change network configurations, then open Terminal with Resume enabled. Terminal will restore the windows and tabs, along with the last working directory URL that each was sent. If you run into this case, $HOSTNAME will be up to date—since it starts a new shell—but Terminal can still have a stale URL until you get the shell to update it again. If displaying the command prompt doesn’t clear up the problem, try changing directories with cd to get the shell to update it.


Try deleting interactively to avoid deleting too much since these characters match one or many/no characters - you can answer y or n as needed as each file comes up for deletion...

e.g.

sudo rm -i 2011.09.0?*

If you can't get the wildcard right, move everything else out of the folder in question, go one directory level up and rm -r <foldername>.


Automatically Add To iTunes sending .m4v to Home Movies folder

There's a setting in Get Info > Options to change it from being a Home Movie into being a Movie.


Strange Clipboard behaviour on OS X El Capitan

HO! Just moments ago,   four different copies appeared in various software on my macbook

AAA: Clipboard
BBB: SecureCRT   iTerm   Evernote
CCC: Chrome
DDD: Sublime

I have two solutions.

Open the Terminal application（found in /Applications/Utilities/），Type the command  killall pboard ， Hit Return(Recommend)；
copy different text and paste it；

But I still don't know why....

macOS 10.13.6 (17G65)


iPad Air unable to run IOS 8.3 update despite over 19GB iCloud storage available

iCloud storage has no correlation to a Device's available space to allow installation of an update.

To show how much space is free on the device:

 Settings > General > Usage > Under 'Storage' > Manage Storage

From here you can see what is Used vs Available, and you can even see what apps are using the most.

You can always update via iTunes by directly connecting the iPad to a PC/Mac, this will by pass any space issues on the device usually.


How to check if a USB hub supports USB 3.0?

Open System Information app before you plug in your hub.
Navigate to "USB" in the list and click.
Note which information isn’t about the device you’re about to test.
Then plug in the hub and refresh the window contents.

Here is an example of mine. You can see it is identified as USB 3.0 capable, speed up to 5Gb/sec:


iPhone and iCloud storage not fill but isn't allowing me to take a picture

That is iCloud online storage and not the actual device storage.

See My storage was not updated

You need the storage on the device to take a photo. Check it in Settings -> General -> iPhone Storage.

  The iPhone itself has a fixed hardware memory, or space, which can only be chosen when you buy it, in 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, or 256 GB configurations.
  The total you see in Settings > General > Storage will never be quite this figure, as some of that is needed for the formatting of the memory & the data structure itself.
  This memory is where it stores all apps, music, documents etc that your phone can use.


Try the following:

Open the Terminal application (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app)
Type qlmanage -r and hit enter
Type qlmanage -r cache and hit enter
Close Terminal and restart your system

This should force QuickLook to reload the generator lists and reset the disk cache.

Source: https://www.macissues.com/2014/03/22/fix-quicklook-errors-in-os-x/


Messed up fonts on Mavericks retina Macbook Pro secondary monitor

You're moving from a retina display to a non-retina display, which changes how things are rendered.

If you didn't have this issue pre-Mavericks, it might have to do with the new "Displays have separate Spaces" setting. Try disabling this in System Preferences => Mission Control.


How to prevent the media keys from waking the MacBook Pro screen?

There is no way to disable the screen from waking on keyboard input, unfortunately.


Is there a way to bring back search the web for spotlight?

You can use Flashlight Spotight plugin and install Google Search plugin. Then You'll be able to search Google inside Spotlight (just add g as a prefix). When You'll want to see the results in web browser, press ⏎ return. Here's an example:


You can convert it to the mp4 and insert it. I use handbrake to convert or fix indexes.

Also you can give a try to Perian if it'll work in your OS.


How to force iPhone to upload to iCloud over mobile data

Go to:
Settings -> Photos -> Mobile Data
Then turn on the mobile data switch:

This will allow upload and download using mobile data.
Turn on Unlimited Updates to allow unlimited use of data to upload and download from iCloud when not connected to WiFi.
Beware to go exceed your mobile data plan.


(find: *.png: No such file or directory) terminal

Did you specify the name of the directory containing the files: where the placeholder <directoryname> is? Is there at least one file ending in .png in that directory?

Try with the first part of the command:

find <directoryname> -name \*.png

to see if you get the list of files.


Are iOS 14 widgets animated / distracting?

I am using iOS 14 with widgets on the home screen, & I don't find them at all distracting.
Firstly, widgets are only on the home screen if you put them there. If you don't they're all on the screen to the left of the home screen as in iOS 13.
I have the Music, Photos, Calendar, & Weather widgets on my home screen, with all but Music as a stack. The closest to animation that I've seen is that sometimes the top widget of the stack changes as I wake my iPhone. Of course widgets do live update, so there would be a momentary animation when one updates. If those updates are frequent enough I imagine it could look like animation, but I can't imagine why a widget would be updating so much.


You can reveal a particular photo by control-clicking it within iPhoto, and selecting the "Show File" menu item in the contextual menu that pops up. That will reveal the actual image file for that photo in the Finder. I highly recommend not moving that file anywhere, since that will cause iPhoto to lose track of it, but you can copy it to another folder, attach to an e-mail, upload to a website, etc.


MacBook Pro 2012 - Lagging and slow boot-up

disk seems fine, as your tests indicate.
first, best chance:

have you done a safeboot to clear out some caches and repair the hard drive?
shift key down at boot up.  then when it comes up, do a regular reboot.


If you have hybrid partitioning, then Windows will only see the partitions defined in the MBR table. There is no workaround for this. High Sierra removes hybrid partitioning in favor of a fully protected MBR. Yosemite can convert to hybrid, especially if partitions 2, 3 and/or 4 in the GPT are type EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7.

  Note: Type EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7 will appear as Microsoft Basic Data in output from diskutil list.


Creating a OS backup image for an easy restore on a new system

The easiest way to copy your old setup (including your data) onto your new machine is to use Migration Assistant on the new model. This requires both computers to be connected "somehow" (with this "somehow" being as fast as possible, so a LAN is usually better than WLAN for instance).

If you don't have access to both machines simultaneously, I would use an external drive, use Disk Utility (or CCC or SuperDuper!) to create a full backup of the old computer and then use this backup as the data source for Migration Assistant. Creating a full image usually is faster than using Time Machine, you can then use the drive as a Time Machine destination after the migration.


I solved this issue:

Export your AddressBook information if necessary.(I did not, because I have no import information in AddressBook)
Go to this directory /Users/luowensheng/Library/Application\ Support/
Delete the AddressBook directory, if there is synchronization, it may come back, do not care of that.
So, you can see the Activity monitor, does the AddressBookManager still high? if still high,  delete the AddressBook directory more times.


Why is there a duplicate entry for my TextMate?

Mac OS X automatically keeps a database of all applications and their corresponding file-types called the LaunchServices database. You can examine where both of your TextMate executables are located by opening Terminal.app from /Applications/Utilities and entering:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -dump |  /Applications/TextMate.app/Contents/Resources/mate

This will open a long file full of all Applications that your LaunchService DB "knows" on your Mac in TextMate. Examine this file for the "path:" of your duplicate entires of "TextMate".

It´s quite likely that you´ve already removed the second "TextMate" but your LaunchServices still remembers it. I guess you should tell the Datatbase to rebuild by entering:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

into the Terminal and then restarting your computer. This may lead to your Mac forgetting some custom "open with.." assignments though.


Magic Mouse 2 vertical tracking issue on iMac 27

researching internet a minute ago with the exact same problem in the same hardware - iMac 27 late 2015 + Magic Mouse 2
I found the answer that solved my problem - just blew the optics's and vertical tracking speed is ok again. I should use an air compressed can but used my lungs instead but away from the mouse to avoid humidity as much as possible.it worked for me.


unknown option: mode-mouse with iterm, tmux

This looks like a change in tmux in 2.0 -> 2.1

I've replaced

setw -g mode-mouse on
set -g mouse-select-pane on
set -g mouse-resize-pane on
set -g mouse-select-window off

with just

set-option -g mouse on

and everything seems ok


Imported 32GB of images into iPhoto, 65GB library is the result - Huh?

First thing to know : There is no possibility to reduce the size of an iPhoto library without corrupting it.

What you can do is explore your iPhoto library in ~/Picture/iPhoto Library => right click => show package content.

In this directory you'll see multiple directories :

Masters : holds in the original of your pictures
Preview : holds in a low resolution preview of your pictures
Thumbnails : holds in thumbnails like the ones used on faces.

These 3 directories are the main reason of the weight of your library. The other files/directories are way lighter.


How to open FrameMaker files on a Mac with OS X?

Adobe provides an online pdf creator which they state handles FrameMaker files.

However, it costs $10 a month to use it, but it might be worth a shot. (Albeit, you may convert 5 files to pdfs before you have to pay).

http://createpdf.adobe.com


Mac mini sleep LED fades on once and won't boot

Based on what you described, you most likely have a logic board issue.

The SIL (Sleep Indicator Light) will normally come on and stay on until the GPU is initialized at which point the display turns on.

From Apple Support:

  When you press the power button to turn on the computer, the SIL will also turn on. As the computer starts up, the SIL stays on until the processor (GPU) has initialized and the display turns on. When the GPU initializes properly, the display will turn on and the SIL will turn off simultaneously.

If you have a problem, the SIL will blink out a "code" which you can use for diagnostics.  Since it's shutting down, prior to an error code or a boot, the most likely cause is your logic board.

It's time to take it in for service.


How can I use an iPhone on the TracFone network?

You should be aware that changing the SIM card is not a solution because when you go to activate, Tracfone will ask for the IMEI of the phone and this is a unique to each phone. They have a list of those numbers associated with all the phones they typically sell to the public and the one on your iPhone is not on their list so you cannot activate the service. You should also be advised that changing the IMEI number is a felony. Basically you are not going to meet with success and it is a pity since the Tracfone service is great but the stock phones that go with it are outdated, underpowered and not what many people are willing to settle for.


How can I take a screenshot on an iPhone while Guided Access is on?

You can use the AssistiveTouch feature built into iOS. AssistiveTouch gives you a software equivalent of Home button which can be used to perform a variety of device operations.

To enable AssistiveTouch go to Settings app → General → Accessibility → AssistiveTouch.

Once enabled, you'll notice a gray colored translucent overlay button on your device screen. Tap on the AssistiveTouch button → Device → More → Screenshot to capture a screenshot without touching any physical button on your device.

The captured screenshot can be viewed in the Photos app normally.


After having issues with my home, office, and school networks (i.e. all networks I tried connecting to), I realized that the only thing these networks all had in common (besides my computer) was that they were all secured networks.

When I tried connecting to an open network, I had no issues at all - thus my realization that some settings on my MBA got screwed up somehow, and the security authorization was screwing things up.

Resolution: To do a hard reset on your WIFI settings, go into Macintosh HD -> Library -> Preferences (see screenshot below). Remove the SystemConfiguration  folder (place it on your Desktop for now). Reboot your MBA.

At this point, I had no issues connecting to any WIFI networks - I hope you have the same result.


On Mac Pro, on Safari, is there an option to link my account?

Safari relies on iCloud to sync the keychain, bookmarks, open tabs, etc. Most employers block iCloud for security reasons. iCloud Drive is something they do not wish to allow. For a given user account on macOS you have one login keychain and an iCloud keychain. You cannot login to Safari with a different user account and sync data like you can with Chrome or Microsoft Edge or FireFox.  However, employers can definitely block you from doing even that. There are enterprise management features in every browser that allows the employer to restrict browser extensions and the ability to login as a different user to the browser, etc.
The computer is owned by your employer and they are managing the device remotely.  Normally users are not granted local administrative privileges. Developers, engineers, technicians and SysAdmins might have an extra user account with local admin but everything they do with it is logged in depth. Some employers might require a user to request local admin privileges for a limited period of time and they need to justify the business reason for the elevated access privileges.  The company Mac will be checking in with an MDM (Mobile Device Management) Server where it receives instructions in the form of Configuration Profiles, policies that run scripts, software updates, and there is typically a company AppStore solution.  The Mac may connect to Apple using a company Apple ID. In most cases, a company will block iCloud entirely. They may block the Apple AppStore.  They may block browser extensions even on Chrome / Edge / FireFox. There's been a lot of nasty evil browser extensions that spy on you or could otherwise compromise company security. There's a lot of malware that uses browser extensions. They might force the Mac to connect to a cloud proxy such as Zscaler that forces you to authenticate before you can browse the Internet without VPN. This has become popular since the pandemic sent everyone to work from home. They might restrict connecting external storage over USB/Thunderbolt and connecting to non-company controlled network shares.  They most certainly will prevent incoming SSH connections.
Read your Employee Manual and Information Technology usage policies. You are only to use the device for work purposes.  The company can and probably does monitor your activity for suspicious behavior and even productivity. They can see absolutely everything. Every email you send and receive is kept in a vault and it doesn't matter if you deleted the email on your Mac. Internal chat systems are also logged. Some countries and regulatory agencies actually require logging of email and chats and if a court demanded that data and the company could not provide it there will be hefty financial penalties. Many industries are regulated to retain data for differing periods of time.
Most employers are rather relaxed but some can be downright draconian.  Other employers might not be tracking everything but if you were to raise a red flag that in some way made them feel you were putting the company at risk then they most certainly could open an investigative case and start collecting a lot more data. Those that work for defense contractors or large financial firms with access to customer private data or other proprietary secret data have to be extra cautious what they do on the company computers. Not only can you get fired, you can be legally prosecuted.
Companies will monitor their computers for unapproved usage, hacking activity, data loss / leakage of intellectual property and private customer data. Error logs can be sent to a centralized server for analysis. They can collect your browser history both from your Mac but also at the network level. Even if you clear your cache on the browser they still know where and when you were surfing every website you connected to.
Most employers will respect their employees privacy while others will not. There should be zero expectation of any privacy while using a company issued computer. Big Brother is watching you if not in real time they will still have logs and history they can review if you draw their attention.  In large companies there are IT security departments and they keep things confidential when running an investigation.  On top of protecting the company and customer data they also look for fraudulent activity such as theft or money laundering.
IT security departments do not talk about their investigations but you would be amazed at what happens on a regular basis. Employees do remarkably dumb things all the time.
Do not put personal data of any kind on work computers that you do not wish the company to see. Again, there is ZERO PRIVACY on a work issued computer.
Just use your personal devices for personal use. Keep work on work devices. Use an iPad or something instead of the work issued computer.


Music files don't copy from iTunes to iPhone, appear grey with a dotted circle

Ignore all the rest of this crap, all I did was change the name of one of the songs that wasn't syncing.  After I did that I hit sync and they all started syncing.  Hope this works for whoever reads.


When I save a document, can I enter the location with path input?

Basically, just start typing the path you want to use in the Save As: field. The Go to Folder dialog will appear when you type / or ~ and let you type your path. Type your path and press return. You can include the filename at the end of the path and it will update the name automatically.
You can also access the Go to Folder dialog manually using  ⌘-⇧-G.

You can't create a new folder by typing the path, but you can use a keyboard shortcut to create the folder. Use Go to Folder to get as deep as you can into existing folders, then type ⌘-⇧-N. Type the name of the folder and press enter.

The field with the filename will selected, so you can just type your name and press return.

This question has inspired a post on the Ask Different Blog that contains the answer, as well as other tips for working with open/save dialogs.


Factory reset an iPad without knowing the iCloud password?

Just put the iPad in the DFU-Mode. Here's a tutorial: http://www.iclarified.com/1034/how-to-put-an-iphone-into-dfu-mode

After that you can restore your iPad in iTunes.


I don’t believe it is possible to reference the image in a cell of another table but you can simulate the effect with an appropriately filtered overlapping table.

One solution is to copy each of your images into a row or column with formulas in each cell deciding if the picture should be shown and use filter/sort options to show only the chosen sets. The formula results can be made transparent so only the image is seen. Conditional highlighting with custom transparent background can also be used to knock some sets out of view while preserving absential space so the images line up as they should, or alternatively to have a toggle switch to show/hide the picture.

Here are some tips I’ve found useful:
If your images change frequently it’s helpful to use the same formulas for all cells using col() or row() as index holders for one dimension and a reference to header column or row as an index in another dimension. This minimizes maintenance time when new images are added. In this example, the 11 columns with olive-toned headers are all separate tables of one column and many rows. The formulas in each cell checks if a given title (represented by the position index) is present in a column of a book display (in the yellow table identified by the number in each olive header row) and the tables are then filtered for true values.

BTW, Here is the formula in each picture cell:
CHOOSE(IFERROR(MATCH(LOOKUP(ROW()−1,Paperback Lookup::Table 1::$A,Paperback Lookup::Table 1::$B),CHOOSE(A$1,Book Plan::B,Book Plan::C,Book Plan::D,Book Plan::E,Book Plan::F,Book Plan::G,Book Plan::H,Book Plan::I,Book Plan::J,Book Plan::K,Book Plan::L),0)^0,2),TRUE,FALSE)


Macbook Pro 2008 Gigabit Ethernet has become 100Mbps with Mavericks

Try another cable, or another port on the other end of the ethernet cable if available.


Mouse not reacting to hover when bamboo tablet unplugged

Have you installed the latest 10.8 compatible driver for the Bamboo?

You can find it here: http://cdn.wacom.com/U/Drivers/Mac/Consumer/530/PenTablet_5.3.0-3.dmg


If you can't erase the card from your camera does the camera at least recognize the card? Can you take a picture and have it saved to the card? If not the card may be damaged or your camera's card reader may be damaged.

Either way, try putting the card in a card reader attached to your Mac's USB port (or if you have a later model MacBook Pro or iMac, in the computer's built in SD card reader) and see if the Mac recognizes it and mounts it on the desktop or in a Finder window. If it does, run Disk Utility and erase it there. Generally these cards are formatted MS-DOS (FAT) for use in Canon and other brand cameras and you can choose that format in Disk Tools.

If you want a more secure erase you can use Disk Utility "Security Options..." to accomplish that.

If you can accomplish this with your computer, put the card back in your camera to see if it is recognized. If it isn't there may be something going on with the card reader on your camera.

Just to be thorough, what brand, size, and speed is this SD card? Some off-brand cards can develop issues like this (directory or database problems during a shoot, don't format correctly, etc.) and it's worth noting here that there are differences between brands of these cards. I've never had a problem with dozens of Sandisk, Lexar, or Kingston brand cards of all types: compact flash and SD of all types, sizes and speeds.


MacBook brightness set to zero suddenly resets itself to one. Any ideas why?

The 2007 MacBook (without "Pro") doesn't even have an ambient light sensor, so that one can be ruled out. My guess would be that some software, maybe even the system itself, turns the background light back on to let you know that the machine is still running.
If you're on Snow Leopard or Lion, you could use the Screen Saver prefs to assign a "Hot Corner" to "Display Sleep" which turns off the display without putting the computer to sleep.


Try this:

#power management settings
pmset -g | grep hibernatemode

#remove forcefully
sudo rm -f /var/vm/sleepimage

#0 means normal sleep and is the default for desktops
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

#1 means hibernate mode and is the default for older portables (pre 2005)
sudo pmset hibernatemode 1

#3 means safe sleep and is the default for portables made after 2005
sudo pmset hibernatemode 3

#25 is the same as hibernate mode, but is the setting used for newer (post 2005) Mac portables
sudo pmset hibernatemode 25


How is audio transmitted with wireless Carplay?

Apple’s consumer documentation says you need a unit with Bluetooth or WiFi for wireless and I expect it uses both when paired and available. You’d need to measure the RF to tell which is being used from moment to moment or check console logs for any debug messages.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205634

A slightly longer answer is that the technical details are not public and neither is the API / SDK other than this technical detail that explains the app simply hands off the media container or media with title, streaming Boolean, artwork and percentage played...

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/mediaplayer/mpcontentitem

The details on the SDK are shared with MFI partners.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22372095/is-ios-carplay-api-public-how-to-integrate-carplay/38541642#38541642

As a developer, you don’t need to be MFI, just hand off your media to the player and it will play through. As a user, you can control what media you ask to play but probably not affect the delivery process in any meaningful way other than choosing your source media to be of a quality you expect to hear.


How do I only optimise storage for videos over 1 year old?

There's no built-in iOS feature that allows you to do exactly this. Nor do I know of any jailbreak tweak that enables this feature.
Building such a tweak would require software development experience along with specific knowledge about the iCloud Photos metadata storage.


Graphical man pages viewer in Terminal.app

Instead of that you can use Dash. It is an application for having and reading different programming languages docsets offline. It also has the ability to read the man pages available on your system.


Is my iPhone hacked based on SysSecInfo anomalies?

The app hasn't been updated for iOS 10.2. It expects a previous system, so changes that have occurred as part of Apple's iOS updates are detected as anomalies. Everything looks normal in your screenshots. Furthermore, the AccessibilityBundles was always a known bug as that was shown even when they were expected.


Time Machine can't find Time Capsule - but can mount it

Turns out for some reason "Use dynamic global hostname" was checked under System Preferences > Sharing > Edit (computer name). Disabling this made everything a-ok.


Genius external keyboard working improperly on Macbook Pro

The behavior sounds like a Num Lock or Fn key is stuck on. Does the keyboard behave this way on a PC without the Genius keyboard driver installed?

I don't know how much effort you want to put into this, but Karabiner is a general-purpose tool for remapping just about anything about a keyboard attached to a Mac. You can make rules which only affect a single device. How much do you like this keyboard?


How to avoid iTunes asking for iCloud account?

iTunes is requesting that you sign in with your Apple ID. Your Apple ID is used to associate your iTunes purchases and credit details with iTunes.

An iCloud account is not the same as an iTunes account, but typically, one uses the same Apple ID for both. However, it is possible for one to use a DIFFERENT Apple ID for iCloud and iTunes. In fact, this is quite normal for those that shared iTunes purchases with other family members before Apple implemented Family Sharing.

The answer is simple: create separate Apple IDs for iCloud or iTunes. If your Apple ID is currently used for iCloud, feel free to create a new one just for iTunes.

Note that iTunes doesn't use iCloud for music, or storage, or really anything, so it is not clear what is the basis for your objection.


Import music into iPhone without deleting everything

If you never synced the iPhone with your PC/Mac, you cannot manually add songs without first deleting the iPhone (I am 99% sure about this).

You can use third party iTunes alternatives (i.e. CopyTrans Manager for PC and Sharepod for Mac to add songs to the iPhone without the need to sync with iTunes.


32-bit or 64-bit version of Microsoft Office on Windows 7 64-bit bootcamp?

The Microsoft support page describes the limitations of the 64bit office.

They are the following:

Solutions using ActiveX controls library, ComCtl controls won’t work.
Third-party ActiveX controls and add-ins won’t work.
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) that contain Declare statements won’t work in the 64-bit version of Office without being updated.
Compiled Access databases, like .MDE and .ACCDE files, won’t work unless they’re specifically written for the 64-bit version of Office.
In SharePoint, the list view won’t be available.
If you have specific add-ins that you use in the 32-bit version of Office, they may not work in 64-bit Office, and vice versa. If you’re concerned, check your current version of Office before installing the new one. Considering testing the add-in with 64-bit Office, or finding out if a 64-bit version of the add-in is available from the developer.

If these limitations do not apply to you (they seem quite advanced and/or obscure to me) then you should choose the 64bit option.

The 32bit version will work as Microsoft is usually quite good in support of older windows versions and architectures, but there is really no benefit to it.


Where is Preview storing the data to reopen a PDF at the last page ? OS X Lion

I’ve got it. I think. Took me a long time but I think I have worked out what’s happening. Hopefully this might be helpful to someone else.

First of all I noticed locking the file in the Finder seemed to stop Preview remembering a different page. So if I opened the PDF on page 1 and then scrolled to page 10 it wouldn’t remember the PDF was on page 10 anymore when the file was closed then reopened. That was the first clue.

I then used  fseventer which monitors file changes in real time and I was surprised to see that opening a PDF in Preview, scrolling to a different page and then closing the PDF updated the file itself.  It doesn’t literally register a time change in the Finder, the date stays the same, but fseventer threw up the clue ‘Modified xattr’.

Ok, I dimly remembered some mention of this feature called extended attributes from years back, it seems to function like yet another kind of metadata but that’s quite separate from ‘normal metadata’, and now I'm reading was a replacement for the old resource forks in OS 9. Running $mdls (used for normal 'metadata') in Terminal won’t show extended attributes.

You have to use the command $xattr to see these attributes.

When I ran $xattr /Volumes/mydisk/mypdf.pdf I got this:

/Volumes/mydisk/mypdf.pdf: com.apple.Preview.UIstate.v1:
And another line about a quarantine bit

You have to do $ xattr -lv  to see the full data of these extended attributes. It produces a blob of hexadecimal output for com.apple.Preview.UIstate.v1.

So I ran $ xattr -lv /Volumes/mydisk/mypdf.pdf

And copied the output. Then I opened the PDF in Preview, changed the page and closed Preview.

Then I ran $ xattr -lv /Volumes/mydisk/mypdf.pdf  again

And then compared the blobs of hexadecimal output for com.apple.Preview.UIstate.v1, which were different between the two occasions.

The final test was to delete the extended attribute data:

$ xattr -c /Volumes/mydisk/mypdf.pdf

And that’s it! It’s back to page 1 when you open it in Preview

It appears the last page viewed of a PDF is stored in these extended attributes. I’m so happy!!


Remove Quicklook Syntax Highlighting with TextMate2?

You can run

rm -r /Applications/TextMate.app/Contents/Library/QuickLook/TextMateQL.qlgenerator

but you'll have to do that again every time TextMate is updated.


The passwords are still saved in the Keychain, and not a separate 'new' location. Safari 6 just includes a new front end for accessing them directly without having to go to the Keychain Access application.


Is it possible to terminal login remotely (outside local network) to my mac at home via SSH + VPN?

Yes, you can use the iCloud Back to My Mac address to SSH/VNC in. You can obtain your address using the following command.

dns-sd -E

The final line shows the account number.
Use the following syntax for determining the address:

computername.number.members.btmm.icloud.com

Providing you have port forwarded correctly, you can use this address to connect over SSH/VNC.


PSA: Random freezes/kernel panic on 2013-2015 retina MBP

After a while tinkering and the sudden realization the panics were precipitated by moving the laptop; I realized there is a small screw right underneath the SSD. With time, vibration and possibly hits/falls, the screw can come loose.

The problem with this is the screw's head can make contact on some of the SSD components effectively shorting them out. AFAICT, the shorts are benign and have no consequences other than a kernel panic.

Of course, I wouldn't hold my breath nor bet on it not having the potential to leave permanent damage in the drive.

So... what's the point of the question? This issue can be easily solved by adding one or three strips of Kapton tape (or similar) in order to insulate the screw head from the SSD; as seen here:

This happened to me on the aforementioned model but I wouldn't be surprised if this problem is common to all MBP models sharing this design.


It appears as though to embed a font in Preview (or at least to ensure that it shows up on an iPad when the iPad does not have the same font installed), you need to perform the following:

Go to File > Print...
Click PDF on the bottom let, and click Save as PDF
Save as a new PDF file

The new PDF file will have the font correctly embedded in it. You may also be able to export as a PDF (again) directly from Preview, although I have not tried this.
The reason that it doesn't get "embedded" upon saving likely has something to do with the text fields staying editable in the PDF. Once you export the PDF, you are unable to edit the text fields any longer in Preview, but the fonts are embedded.


I lost my iPhone and need help figuring out my iCloud email

I actually called them and this is what they suggested:

Check if you received an email from Apple on emails that you use.
You can ask your friends if you ever talked with them on Face Time.

My personal recommendation would be to call them yourself and ask them. I am sure they will be able to find a way.

Also, I found this. Hope it helps!


Boot holding  Command ⌘    R  at the chimes to boot into Recovery Mode, run Disk Utility & Repair Disk.


Keyboard Shortcut to focus on these windows

I don't know any shortcut, but there is a workaround how you can use keyboard only to focus it. You may enable mouse keys - press 5 times Alt key and then use keyboard to move the cursor.
Alternatively you may install some third party tool to control the mouse. My recommendation goes to Karabiner Elements, because I use it for bunch of other useful staff. Once you install it you should  add Mouse Keys Mode.
There is also https://github.com/h2ero/XEasyMotion   but I haven't used it personally.


How can I remove the bluetooth setup wizard on a headless Mac Mini?

You can disable the Bluetooth Setup Wizard by:

Go to System Preferences
Click Bluetooth
Click Advanced
Un-check 'Open Bluetooth Setup Assistant at start up when no input device is present'.

The screen should look like this (the checkbox above the highlighted section):

More information in this Apple KB - Wireless Input Devices

Also, if you are not using Bluetooth at all, you can disable it as well.


I don't know why my retina MacbookPro keeps crashing and how to fix

This is a Diagnostic not a repair

Following might show what is making it crush.

Copy/Paste the following in to your Terminal (located in the utility folder).

syslog -k Sender kernel -k Message CSeq 'n Cause: -' | tail | awk '/:/{$4=""; print}' | pbcopy

The output will be copied to your clip board.


TextEdit key bindings modified in DefaultKeyBinding.dict stopped working

The problem was that I had moved the actual DefaultKeyBinding.dict file somewhere else for version-control purposes and symlinked to it.

Most apps were loading the file through the symlink, but TextEdit (and, it turns out, a couple other apps that I thought just didn't support key bindings) must do something different and didn't see it.

So, oops, lesson learned. Don't symlink your system configuration files.


Is it normal to hear the MacBook fans all the time even if they run at 2000rpm?

What you can do is use the laptop on a solid underground. Especially if you use a pillow (which where you laptop completely sink in), the pillow is covering the laptop's ventilation holes. And it's even stated in the user manual:

  Do not push objects into the ventilation openings.

The exhaust is the screen hinge, but the intake is most likely all the other cracks and holes in the case. And if the laptop can't take enough fresh air (since you're covering most of the cracks and holes with your pillow/blanket/lap), the fans have to work very hard to get all the hot air out.
Try to lift up your Mac as you're sitting on your bed, does that improve the activity of the fans?

But no worries, you're laptop won't suffer from the heating. And if it get's too hot, it will shut itself down (to prevent damage), so then you'll know you've gone too far :)

Another thing what makes your Mac blow like a turbine is playing flash-files or converting stuff, but I guess you're not doing that since you haven't got any high CPU or HDD activity.


Why can an app create daemons on the fly without sudo permission and how to stop it?

The general security model is that normal users can add any startup items to their realm (user library for them) and not for the system, so don’t let people have admin accounts if you don’t trust them to not run software that installer system level startup items.

There is no easy way to stop an admin user from changing the system. You can enforce gatekeeper or signed apps, but most admin users can bypass that setting so at best, you slow down an uneducated admin user for a bit.

Per-user and Computer Wide Jobs

On macOS, launchd can manage background processes per-user and computer wide.

Per-user jobs exist within your user session. They start and stop with your logging in and out of the computer. If the jobs have associated job tickets, you will find them with the folder ~/Library/LaunchAgents and ~/Library/LaunchDaemons

Computer wide jobs start and stop with the computer. These jobs are stored in /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons.

Computer wide jobs managed by Apple are stored in /System/Library/LaunchAgents and /System/Library/LaunchDaemons.

Per-user jobs do not need super user permission. Thus you did not need sudo to stop jobs installed at the user level by vox.app.

Disabling a launchd job

You can unload a launchd job to block it returning:

  Usage: launchctl unload <service-path, service-path2, ...>

  -w Additionally disables the service such that future load operations will result in a service which launchd tracks but cannot be launched or discovered in any way.
  -S <session> Only unloads the services associated with the specified session.
  -D <domain> Unloads launchd.plist(5) files from the specified domain. See the discussion regarding this same flag when given to the load subcommand for further details.

The -w causes the unload to be written to disk and to persist across sessions.

For more about stopping, unloading, and overriding jobs see:

Launchctl difference between load and start, unload and stop
Disable Services in OSX (services.msc)
launchctl - remove enabled/disabled override


For ffmpeg use the following command.

for i in *.mkv; do ffmpeg -i "$i" -codec copy "${i/${i##*.}/mp4}"; done

This should create copies of all your MKV videos, converting the containers to MP4 format but not re-encoding the video and audio data within them and keeping the same filename but changing the extension from mkv to mp4.


Your Apple Watch will only upload that data to the paired iPhone. Check whether the watch shows up in the "Watch" app on your iPhone. If it does, you may be able to get them talking again by going to the Bluetooth settings, tapping the "circle i" and connecting the watch again. If so, they will sync and all is well.

If not, retrieving your last 2 weeks of data is not possible since pairing with another phone will cause the loss of the data on the phone.


How do I keep QTKitServer (QuickLook Helper) CPU usage from exploding out of control? OR How do I disable QuickLook entirely?

Open Terminal, type:

sudo nano /System/Library/Sandbox/Profiles/com.apple.qtkitserver.sb

This will open the nano editor with the rules file. Scroll right to the bottom of this file and enter:

(deny file-read* (regex #"^.*\.mkv$"))

After this do Ctrl-O and then Ctrl-X to save and exit the application.

Reference: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1463364


Where are iTunes music files located, if they are not in Music/iTunes/iTunes Media?

The iTunes Library .xml file located at ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.xml contains location information for your media files. I just checked and I can pull up locations (or last known locations) of all my tunes from there, even if the files themselves have been moved.


Empty folders with mangled names being put in my user directory

That is one of the strangest things I have ever seen and my introduction to Macintosh was with System 4 on a 512K Mac.

There could be a number of things causing that. A runaway/damaged process running in the background seems the most likely, but I suppose there could also be some disk corruption.

I would boot the system into recovery mode and run a repair on the startup volume using disk utility. If it finds no issue then it is more likely that it is a runaway/damaged process of some sort.

Booting into safe Mode (Hold Shift while starting up the Mac) will disable 3rd party applications that run at startup and if the problem goes away in safe mode it is something that was installed on the Mac that is now damaged. uninstalling the application, turning off any login items (system preferences > Users & Groups > [your user] > login items) and looking for other things that run at startup are a place to start.

If it is still happening it is likely an issue with macOS. In that case you could try downloading and installing the latest combo update, the latest for Sierra is here.

Failing that I would reinstall macOS right over top of what you already have. While that shouldn't delete any data I would make sure you have a good backup first.


Do I have to turn on find my Mac on my computer?

You are out of luck. If you didn't turn on Find My Mac in System Preferences > iCloud your MacBook was never registered, and cannot broadcast its location, or respond to location pings. If you have all the important information about the computer (serial number & whatnot) you should report the theft to your local police station, constabulary, gendarmerie, etc.


Is it possible to upload iPhone apps to iPhone on an expired dev certificate?

You will need to renew your dev certificate and your provisions to upload apps from Xcode to stock iOS devices.


How to make the Wifi of Airport Extreme and Macbook go back to 802.11ac?

You can try simply turning WiFi off and then on again from the WiFi icon in the top bar.
If it still doesn't work, you'll need to check if you've made settings changes on the router - or if some source of interference has been introduced to the environment (such as another WiFi access point, or other electronical equipment). If this is the case, you can sometimes work around it by changing the WiFi channel used on the Airport Extreme from its settings.


New top-of-the-line MacBook Pro suddenly starts acting old

Have you tried using Activity Monitor to see what fishy processes are running? Also, you can try creating a new account and use it for a while to see if it's something that only happens on your main account. I'd recommend you to use something like iStat Menus to check on what's clogging your processing power, network, etc


Is it possible to see the source code of a Safari Extension?

Source of information:

Locate the extension. It should be living in your library folder. Note this is a hidden folder so in the finder use Command+Shift+G to put in this location ~/Library/Safari/Extensions.  Here you’ll see the Safari extensions you have installed. They have a .safariext file extension, but this is really just a xar file.

To extract the extension’s files, use this command (replacing the '/path/to' with the correct path and the 'extension.safariextz' with the correct name) xar -xf /path/to/extension.safariextz The extension will be extracted into a folder, with the source and resources contained within.

If you want to change something and then package it back up for
reinstallation, you can xar the folder back into a single file using xar -c -f output.safariextz extensionFolder.

I'm running 10.15.6 and these steps worked for me.
Since Safari 13, all extensions must be downloaded from the App Store as .app bundles with .appex files inside them. Both of them are built in Xcode thus you only get the final executable. So if the extension is not open source, you cannot see what's in the binary
A simple way to understand how the app and extension interact, see the following. (Note that it's an Xcode extension, not Safari. )

https://github.com/mapbox/XcodeClangFormat/blob/master/XcodeClangFormat/AppDelegate.m

https://github.com/mapbox/XcodeClangFormat/blob/master/clang-format/ClangFormatCommand.mm


Restoring track information for iTunes Match files

You must fix the track data yourself, however, that doesn't mean that you have to do it manually (but of course you can).

There is a myriad of software that aims to do this for you automatically. One that I can think of off the top of my head for Windows is TuneUp. It's a bit expensive, $40 for a year or $50 for "Lifetime". It runs along side iTunes and fixes it up when requested, or even automatically if configured.

There is plenty of other software I'm sure, some that aids the process of doing it manually, others that try to do it completely on it's own ala. TuneUp.