Configuring iPad's to not require passwords routinely

I’d say - superficially you’re doing it wrong. I’m sure there were good intentions to start, but a little professional management would go a long way in your situation. You'll need automation and someone to learn and/or explain how these iPads will be managed securely:

There’s no fighting the inherent design of iOS to be tied closely to an AppleID.
You need MDM supervision to lock these devices to your business in supervised mode.
MDM allows easy purchasing and provisioning of iOS apps centrally and securely (no password required on the devices)

Here is the documentation on forcing updates which means people don't need to enter the password.

You don’t need to be so draconian on pass codes or local accounts now that you've decoupled management and automated setup / wiping.

MDM frees you to hand the devices to people that could break things by not being trained how to operate the iPad settings and updates. Don’t blame the vendor or the people, just make it free / inexpensive / reliable to get things back where they need to be. iOS devices can be managed, secured and ready to work like a refrigerator or espresso machine and not like a Mac or PC needing paid help desk and a lot of end user training.

If you’re budget constrained. I would dip your toes in with a free - hosted MDM like Jamf Now - You get three enrollments for free forever and can read up on how to assign devices and apps systematically.

https://www.jamf.com/products/jamf-now/

The reason I recommended that one is they specialize in MDM for teams without dedicated IT support and have extremely helpful user support and paid support for customers.

Another option would be Ground Control - they have a more “image” focused, so if you wanted to treat these iPads like a cart of devices all set up the same, explore their offering:

https://www.groundctl.com/

Once you’ve gotten one or two devices enrolled and played around a bit, you can decide if it’s time for you to manage the AppleID for this company using Apple Business Manager:

https://business.apple.com/

There is a cost you need to invest in terms of time you’ll spend learning to manage this, so I would make an estimate how much opportunity cost you’re losing by managing things and learning and making mistakes vs paying a team that knows how to run things to come in for a fixed period / fixed cost and get you stabilized. That way you’re happy with paying so you can make money elsewhere (or control budget elsewhere) or that you’re happy having you/your staff learn how to manage IT whether it’s your job or a side assignment.


Need printer driver for samsung ML-1210 compatible with Mac OS X 10.11.6

It’s unlikely you will find a printer driver for this model printer.

It’s not listed anywhere on Samsung’s support site
I found a review of the printer from 2001 making it about 20 years old
A service manual I found online confirms that as it’s copyrighted in 2001 (page 79)
The specs found on C|Net lists Mac OS 8 as a supported OS and the latest release was 1999.
The most recent Mac printer driver I was able to find was for Snow Leopard (10.6.8) for the PowerPC Mac; you have an Intel Mac.

However, there may be some hope...

Though the printer specifications list the only emulation as “PrintThru” (I’ve personally never heard of it) it was quite common for printers to emulate “HP LaserJet”.  It can’t hurt to try that generic driver.
Since it supports Linux, You can try a generic CUPS driver.  I found this article How to install the Samsung ML-1210 printer on Mac OS X Lion (and higher). It uses an open source driver (not supported/provided by Samsung).

Keep in mind this article is from 2011 making it 9 years old. It is technical, so you’ll want to get someone local to assist.  It's not feasible for us to test since we don't have access to that printer.

Bottom line... I’ll be the first to applaud your efforts to continue using “useful” equipment, but there comes a point of diminishing returns and if getting a printer working will cost more in time, labor and lost productivity than the price of new one, it’s time to go shopping.

As a buying tip, I suggest you stick with familiar names like HP, Lexmark, Xerox, etc. because you ensure the widest range of compatibility for the longest time.  For instance, I have a HP 2025dn (from 2008) that not only has current drivers, but emulates HP (obviously), PCL and PostScript.  If your printer can emulate any of these, you can get it to work.  Look in either the printer specifications page or in the user manual for confirmation.


"DatabaseError: database disk image is malformed" error dialog when re-opening Google Drive after re-installation

On my system (10.10.2), the corrupted Drive file was in $HOME/Library/Application Support/Google/ -- deleting that solved the problem.

Or for you command line wizards:

$ rm -rf '~/Library/Application Support/Google/Drive'


In finder in the top menu bar:

Click Go
Press and hold the shift-button on your keyboard
Library will show up, and you can click it.


Why does it appear that I apparently "do not have access to Command Line Tools" in ML?

It thankfully seems that this was a temporary issue, probably due to the increased load on the Apple servers on Mountain Lion's release day.

I am now able to download the Command Line Tools as before so it seems the issue has gone away.

Alternatively, if you're still having problems, this link worked for me when the "Install" button in Xcode didn't.


This is possible by opening the Settings.app on your iPhone, scrolling down, and selecting "iCloud". Scroll down, then tap Storage & Backup -> Manage Storage -> [Your iPhone Name] (This iPhone). You will then see a list of all the apps that are storing data in iCloud. Chances are the top one will be "Camera" and you can switch that off. Doing that will delete photos from iCloud, and if you were to ever restore your phone, photos would not be restored. However, it will not delete the photos that are on your device already.

Also, it is important to note that iCloud Shared photos, as well as your Photostream do not count toward your iCloud backup storage limit. There is an arbitrary limit of 1,000 photos on your Photostream. You can safely leave those on without affecting your storage use amount.


Phone app uses a single contact's image for all calls

Try a reset all settings it worked fine for me.
Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings.

The phone will reboot and the problem will be fixed but the custom settings like wallpaper and lock screen wallpaper will be reset to iOS 7 default.


Hard drive is failing, iMac is freezing?

Failing hard drives tend to cause freezing on your computer, as it takes longer for your Mac to read system files.  If you think your HD is failing (as it sounds), it should still be under warranty, so you should be able to get it replaced.  You can check your drive status in Disk Utility: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1896.html but this check is not always 100% accurate.


Mavericks: Can I create a second screen with keyboard shortcut like spaces allowed?

Do you actually have other spaces created? Ctrl+← and Ctrl+→ will work if you have spaces. To make a new space bring up Mission Control and hover the mouse in the top right, a + button will appear.


Wifi not connecting after erasing hard drive on Macbook Pro 13" 2019

The problem, as you’ve confirmed, is a DNS issue.  What’s happening is that your Mac has no way of finding the Recovery Host to connect to.

macOS Recovery Hosts and Ports

Normally, this is taken care of in the router.  What happens is one of the two scenarios:

The router acts as a DHCP relay.  In the DHCP offer, the DNS server value is the IP address of the router.  So any DNS request is sent to the router which is then sent to the actual DNS server(s) that are either automatically configured from the ISP or manually configured by you.
The router passes the DNS server addresses as part if the DHCP offer.  Whether automatically configured from the ISP or manually configured, the client (your Mac) gets the IPs of the actual DNS server(s) and makes the request directly.

If this is not happening...

check your router configuration and make sure the DNS values ate being set.
Manually set the DNS server in macOS with the command networksetup -setdnsservers Wi-Fi 8.8.8.8 (Google’s DNS server)

If fixing DNS proves fruitless, you may need use a working Mac to create a USB Installer.  This will allow you to at least install the OS without needing the Internet and then, you can use whatever work around that fixes your DNS.


Which microphone is compatible with Mac mini?

I have an older mac mini (2009) - and practically everything works out of the box. (and even some mics show up that I wouldn't even have guessed)

Tested:

line in (no name)
iPhone Headset through headphone plug
Logitech USB Micro
Samsung Bluetooth headset.
Mic of Sony Camcorder through Firewire

So more likely than not - all you get will work.

Suppose there might be troubles with professional audio equipment - but these should have good enough support to find out for you.


Any concerns in upgrading to El Capitan over Chrome Remote Desktop?

I personally would recommend staying away from anything that requires a restart of a remote computer you don't have easy access to. First I would hope that you have a backup of your computer since it sounds like it's important (aka more than just a web browser to you) whether or not you decide to proceed with this update. However why I recommend against you doing any restarts let alone an update is you are unable to control your computer from the moment you log off to the moment you log back on. If the update were to fail for some reason and the computer is unable to boot/log in you will be out of contact with it till someone can see what the issue is and fix anywhere from needing to type in a password to worst being go through a Time Machine restore of before the update. So basically to keep it simple if the worst case scenario of being unable to use your computer till someone can tend to it is not that bad of a thing to you, go ahead, a remote desktop connection does not put the computer at higher risk of something bad happening. If that is a bad thing then try to hold off till you have some safe down time. Hope this helps!


How to display photos during iOS Shortcuts script

Quick Look will preview passed photos in a modal popup, with Done and Share button.


Here are the things you will want to try:

Force the Music app to close.
Restart your device.
Update to the latest iOS version.

I do not recommend that you close every single app in the multitasking bar. Simply restarting will have the same effect on system resources and is much less inconvenient.


Are there any current Macs capable of running NVIDIA based CUDA SDK?

You could opt for an upgraded 6 or 12 core Intel Xeon 5690 3.46 GHz processor Mac Pro 5.1 and install a NVIDIA GTX 680 4GB graphics card running CUDA.

That can be done relatively cheap compared to the trashcan Mac Pro price tag, and it would do the job beautifully.


you can always try to find yourself from this FlickR Photos and set it up :)
Flickr SET
Flickr SET SlideShow

How I used the backlighting from a macbook air, to give my white macbook a backlit keyboard.
You couldn't just change the whole keyboard, they're not compatible, but the lighting sheet fits.
Then you have to get nearly 16 volts from a step-up-converter to power the 5 white LEDs and add some electronics for switching it on/off and regulate the keyboard-brightness by the screen-brightness.
If you wanna have a backlit keyboard and think about doing it on your own: forget it and buy a new macbook with integrated backlight.
You would almost destroy your macbook in the process...


How do I Change Force Touch "taptic" or haptic feedback on MacBook Pro?

I think the hardware has plenty of "weight to shake things more" because on the "Firm" click setting, the Force Touch vibrates quite a bit. I just wish that that was the default level of haptic feedback. (I could do without Force Touch; I just want a really solid "click" when I click.)

I really miss the mechanical button on my old Macbook Pro.


Yes, I know this isn't an iPad screenshot, but I don't currently have iOS 5 on my iPad :). Regardless, the function is the same, you can tap the route labels in order to view the alternative routes. You may need to zoom in or out to see them.


What is the best practice for creating a daemon with launchd that runs at lower than default priority

Summarized from man launchd.plist:

LowPriorityBackgroundIO: Specifies whether the kernel should consider this daemon to be low priority when doing file system I/O when the process is throttled with Darwin-background classification.

ProcessType: This optional key describes, at a high level, the intended purpose of the job.  The system will apply resource limits based on what kind of job it is.  If left unspecified, the system will apply light resource limits to the job, throttling its CPU usage and I/O bandwidth.

ProcessType=Background: Background jobs are generally processes that do work that was not directly requested by the user.  The resource limits applied to the Background are intended to prevent them from disrupting the user experience.


Terminal: What does intermittent "cp: .: Invalid argument" mean?

Set your hard disks to never sleep in System Preferences and see if the issue still persists.


How to upgrade macOS minor update without updating Safari?

I am already on 10.14.6 so can't confirm this but have downloaded 10.14.6 Update (I didn't check the Combo Update) and looking the .pkg with Suspicious Package shows it includes Safari version 12 not version 13.  Note it is 12.1.2 not 12.1.1 as you now have.

Mojave 10.14.6 Supplemental Update also contains Safari 12.1.2.

It isn't clear why you aren't offered Safari 13 through Software Update.  The Safari 13 Release Notes say 10.14.5:

  Safari 13 ships with iOS 13 and macOS 10.15. It’s also available for macOS 10.14.5 and 10.13.6.

I seem to remember being offered the Safari update at the same time as 10.14.6 but it may have been a supplemental update or perhaps it changed.

In any case it appears Safari 13 isn't in the updater packages so you should be safe updating that way.

The Safari Package appears later.


If you have several partitions on that disk, then it is telling you that you will lose the partition that has the Mac OS system installed on it, including all the data on that partition and the Mac OS system you have installed on there.

My advice is that if you don't understand the warnings, then you really should not be in there - it really is SO easy to click a few buttons and lose all your data.


Sounds are not working on Mountain Lion Notification Center

I upgraded my mother's new iMac to Mountain Lion and noticed that the mail sending and receiving sounds were not occurring.  I found the following URL which was a temporary fix, but the problem comes back... so I think there's a bug here.

You might try the following to see if this helps:

http://applehelpwriter.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/no-sound-or-volume-after-upgrading/

Lynn


Fixing Night Shift incompatibility with external monitors

Unplug the cable and insert it again.

It works for me.

Update for Catalina (macOS 10.15): For secondary monitors, you may have to unplug primary monitor, so that the secondary monitor is the primary monitor. (Doing this once should be enough)

by @Michael_Scharf


If the battery is very old are there any disadvantages or danger to use notebook with power adapter only?

Short answer:

No.

Medium answer:

There is always a risk of something failing in a fantastic way, but the chances of a deadly situation are slim to none if the user is taking good care of their hardware (no frayed cords, no liquids near electronics, etc.).

Long answer:

Simply put, batteries are arrays of cells that consist of sandwiches of two metals and a chemical between them.  The reaction draws electrons from the negatively charged side of the cell, through the electronic device's circuitry, through the positively charged metal into the chemical compound, which eventually becomes saturated as the first metal's electrons are drained.

Recharging reverses this process, but flaws develop in the first metal's surface, causing it to resist or refuse additional inbound electron flow.  Eventually, the battery becomes unable to accept a new charge and has nothing left to give.

The battery's circuitry and charging circuitry have failsafe mechanisms to prevent shorting the battery (which can result in an explosion if there's enough current stored), shorting--and subsequently frying--the charger's power supply, and all the fun stuff in between.  With all of that safety equipment in place, it essentially means your battery's nothing but a brick that the charger refuses to touch.

So no, it is highly unlikely to explode.

All that being said, I have had old batteries swell and expand...

Check ifixit.com for what it would take to replace your laptop's battery, when the time comes.


Mac won't boot Windows partition after using disk utility

The following worked for me.  I have macOS 10.12.3 and Windows 10.

Boot to Recovery mode (restart, hold "command+R")
Utilities -> terminal
Run

fdisk -e /dev/disk0"
p
setpid 4
[press enter]
flag 4
p
write
y

Reboot


Why is iTunes account showing up in system services but I don't have an account

Go to iTunes and App Store in settings app and turn off "use cellular data".

The App Store use is bundled with iTunes use in that category.


How can I connect to the internet by sim card?

The first thing you should do is make sure that your model iPad supports the cellular network you're trying to connect to.

In America, we have two major cellular networks, GSM and CDMA. I suspect that this is the heart of your issue.

Apple's support website has a webpage that helps identify your model so you can continue troubleshooting.

If push comes to shove, you'll need to either call your cell provider or go into one of their stores to have them resolve the issue by either giving you a new SIM or reactivating the device on their network.


My computer wakes up at 5:59:39 every morning. How do I stop that from happening?

You should use the Terminal command pmset -g sched to determine if there is any repeated wake from sleep scheduled or some other app/system service which has set a wake event.


XQuartz: xterm command slow since last update

The last update of XQuartz ( 2.7.11_rc2 (xorg-server 1.18.4) ) seems to have corrected the problem.


iPhone iOS 12.2: music star ratings aren’t saved

I noticed that when I've done this on my iPhone, and then opened the Rate Song... dialog again, right afterwards it too showed 0 stars; however when I looked at the song in iTunes on my Mac it showed the appropriate rating. When I returned to the iOS dialog it was correct as well. So I think it's working. it's just taking a bit for the interface to catch up.


Has Apple released updates for its Airport base stations to protect against the KRACK vulnerability?

At present there are no updates for the AirPort product line.  Apple is notoriously tight lipped about security issues.

  For our customers' protection, Apple doesn't disclose, discuss, or
  confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and
  patches or releases are available. Recent releases are listed on the
  Apple security updates page.

If/when Apple releases an update that's security related, it will be listed on the Apple Security Updates page.  You can get more info about this from the question/answer "Has the WiFi KRACK vulnerability been patched for iOS?"

Additionally, you can check the AirPort Firmware Update page which will provide directions, links, and details on the updates and how to apply them.

At the time of this post, the most recent update were (dated Dec. 20, 2016)

7.7.8 for the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule 802.11ac products
7.6.8 for the Airport Extreme, Express and Time Capsule 802.11n products

Therefore, at the time of this answer/post there have been no updates to address the KRACK vulnerability.


Is it possible to hide an account from the login screen where you can see all the users?

sudo dscl . create /Users/username IsHidden 1

Replace username with the username of the user you wish to hide.
To unhide the user, replace 1 with 0.

You can still log in as a hidden user by pressing ⌥↩ on the login screen, then entering the username and password.

Additionally, you could delete each account and leave the home folders alone. Changing the permissions to let your user read them is pretty straightforward an if you ever want the other users back, add the same short name and system preferences will give the user back permissions on their home folders again.


Is JXA still supported by Apple? Does it have a future in macOS?

JXA is still supported.  In macOS Catalina, JavaScript is still an option for automation.  It's also present in Big Sur.  More importantly, there's been no indication or statement regarding it being deprecated † or removed as a feature from Apple.
Does it have a future in macOS?
In all practicality, only Apple can answer this. However, IMHO, it's likely to continue for a long time.  JavaScript is a very popular and widespread language meaning there's lots of resources available.  According to the Stack Overflow Developer Survey for 2020, it was the top in programming, scripting and markdown languages (eighth year in a row).  It would be short sighted to kill it from AppleScript.

Regarding the documentation, (again, IMHO), there's no need to update it.  What was linked there was an intro and nothing has changed since it's introduction.  Anything related to JavaScript is already well taken care of with the countless resources available.

† There's a distinction between being deprecated and dead.  Deprecated being "no further development but still supported" while "dead" means it's gone.


How do I revert my iPod touch 8 GB (2nd Generation) to ios 3.2?

As bckbck already said, you need the SHSH blob from the earlier version. If you don't have it for the desired OS version, it's too late.

And iOS 3.2 was only supported on the iPad, so it won't run on iPod touches.

Should the data on http://theiphonewiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=SHSH be correct, then you can downgrade to iOS 4.1 with your device.

And you can get all firmwares at http://www.felixbruns.de/iPod/firmware/.


Is it possible to create a compressed file protected by password that can be opened on Mac & PC?

The terminal command

zip -ejr [(path to) archive_name.zip] [path to folder to be zipped]

should do the trick. You will be prompted to enter and verify a password.

The encrypted file can be unzipped from the Finder, you'll be prompted for the password. The file should also be useable on Windows, 'nix OS's, and every other file system that supports zip:

  zip  is  a compression and file packaging utility for Unix, VMS, MSDOS,
         OS/2, Windows 9x/NT/XP, Minix, Atari, Macintosh, Amiga, and Acorn  RISC
         OS.   It  is analogous to a combination of the Unix commands tar(1) and
         compress(1) and is compatible with PKZIP (Phil  Katz's  ZIP  for  MSDOS
         systems).

source: zip man page

If you want a GUI solution, it shouldn't be too difficult to create an Automator workflow to automate this process.


Shadows on the top of my iPhone turn the screen off (iOS 10, 6+)

Restarting my phone (turning it off & back on) appears to have fixed this.

I'm guessing the Phone app was hanging in the background or had failed to end a call properly or something.


When using Private Browsing within Mobile Safari, is any data saved to the iOS filesystem?

Safari on iOS uses Private Browsing per tab, meaning the "Private" button just shows you the mode. When you open a new tab your browser will create a session isolated from the non-private mode (containing cookies, history...).

This session is temporary and will be deleted when you close the tab - not when you click on "Private".


Cryptomator allows you to encrypt data stored in the usual clouds and access it from both Mac and iPhone.


How to restart an iPhone with a broken Hold Button?

Phones that are off turn on when you plug them in. I just tried it, might be the easiest (or even only) way to turn it on again.


Slightly broken SD card is not readable on macbook

There's really no such thing as 'slightly broken' when it comes to electronics.

If it's just the contacts, it may be possible to replace them. If you cracked the circuit board, then at best you will have to send it to a professional data recovery company, who will be expensive & make no guarantees of recovery.

At worst, you now know why it is extremely unwise to ever trust something as delicate as an SD card or USB stick to be a repository for the only copy of any data. No important data should ever be kept in only one place, two at minimum & three to be sure; the third not in the same building as the other two.


To isolate the issue, you can place the device in Airplane Mode and perform a normal slide to shutdown.

When the device reboots, you will have a controlled platform to test. Third party apps will not run until you launch them and Apple's sync services will be  prevented from downloading new data and potentially triggering a memory error.

You will quickly see if it's the OS that is complaining or some app in the background as you run things offline.

This is a fairly obscure error, so you'll want to check that there's some space on the filesystem when you restart the phone. Feel free to edit your question with more details if this alone doesn't resolve the issue for you.

I'd recommend making 500 MB of free space by deleting un-needed apps with no data to back up or deleting some songs if you have no apps to space. Some programs need more room to run, and you might even have several gigs free so it's some other cause that results in the dialog message. In that case, you'll have to pay attention and start things one by one to track down the process that is placing that error on your device.

Also - review the backup article below to be sure you understand what is backed up and what might be lost when you restore things. The over the air update isn't intended to erase anything, but if your device isn't working properly there's no guarantee you will have everything after an update.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1766


Making Conflicting UIDs across a LAN of MacOS and Linux hosts Consistent

I used this procedure to change uid's on macOS Tiger and Ubuntu. The info on passwords has changed.

  Ok, so how can I check my UID? I've heard that it's dangerous to
  change the UID, so how should I do if I want the permissions to work
  in both OSes?

You can change the permissions of files and directories in either OS.

I suggest that you make a complete backup of your system.  You should create a second administrator account from which you use to change your original account.  You should log out your original account before proceeding.

Mac OS X ... harddrive -> Applications -> Utilities -> terminal

Ubuntu ... Applications > Accessories > Terminal
or where ever the Terminal is today.

Your current user is:
echo $USER
Let's assume myuser

To find out your UID and GID do:

ls -ln
ls -l

Or, you can use the id command.

id

compare the output and write down what you find.

You best use the numeric value for your userid.  In this case it is 500.  To list all the files owned by a userid do:

sudo find / -user 500 -exec ls {} \;

adding a -x before the / limits the search to the current file system.

You need to adjust the uid and gid in your account definition.

In the Ubuntu terminal,

man 5 passwd

... will give you the format of the passwd file.

sudo nano /etc/passwd

... the format is user-name, password, uid, gid, ...

control-o
  ... to save
control-x
  ... to quit

The groups are defined in /etc/group

cat /etc/group

Now change the UID and GID of all files:
You best use the numeric value for your userid.  In this case it is 500.

sudo find / -user 500 -exec chown 1100:211 {} \;

/* Where chown has the format of chown uid:gid file-name */
/* adding -print before -exec lists the files that will be changed. */
/* You may want to leave off :211 if your uid & gid are not paired. */
/* Notice the -exec runs another command on the found file. */

sudo find / -group 20 -exec chgrp 211 {} \;

On the Mac you get into single user mode by holding down command-s when you poweron your machine. Just in case you run into problems.

On Mac OS, there are a few files that have the old uid as part of their name.  The .Trashes file will be used on removal media. Here are other directories.

/.Trashes/500
/Library/Caches/com.apple.IntlDataCache.500
/Library/Caches/com.apple.IntlDataCache.sbdl.500
/Library/Caches/com.apple.user500pictureCache.tiff

You will need to look on the external drives. All the trash is in a common folder with uid based subfolders. You can use the find command to do a search:

find -x /  -iname "*500*"

Be patient.  You can quit this command with a control-c

It similar in Linux, but based on the short user name.

On Linux, there are a few files that have the old user short name as part of their file and folder names.

Should some of the files be locked on macOS, you will need to unlock them. See  – Darf Nader comments below. The macOS lock flag corresponds to the Unix layer uchg flag.

#To display flags:
ls -lO <filename>
#Turn off the lock:
sudo chflags nouchg

Here is another explanation of the procedure. ( It misses some files because the author checks only the most likely places.
http://lissot.net/netinfo/change_user.html

Robert


Can I assign a keyboard shortcut to bring up the Mac OS X Login Window?

If you want to assign alt ⌥+cmd ⌘+L to lock screen without installing any programs, in 5 minutes, I suggest you doing these three steps:

Create a Service in Automator and set "Service receives selected" to "no input" instead of "text".
(Still in Automator) add 'Run AppleScript' (search on the left "apple" then double-click).
In the script in place of  (* Your script goes here *) you copy-paste:

do shell script "'/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/User.menu/Contents/Resources/CGSession' -suspend"
Save and exit. (You can name your service "Lock Screen".)
Open System Preferences, Keyboard then in Keyboard Shortcuts tab and under Services you will find your service "Lock Screen" towards the bottom of the list.
Now, click on "none" next to "Lock Screen" to assign ⌥⌘ L to
your service. Actually I suggest rather ⌃⌥⌘ L because ⌥⌘ L is assigned in Finder.

Done.

(For step 2 cudos goes to Lauri Ranta!)


Tab sharing through Safari is controlled by the "Safari" option in your iCloud syncing settings, so you have two different options if you want to keep this from happening:

Remove the iCloud account from one of the devices so that it is no longer aware of what's occurring on the other device.
Turn the feature off. On the iPad go to Settings > Click your account at the top of the app > iCloud > flip the "Safari" option to inactive. (If you're on an older version of iOS this will instead be in Settings > iCloud further down the page > Safari option)

You might also be talking about the Handoff functionality, which displays the app icon for the app that is active on another device, and if you tap on that icon, it opens with whatever you were doing on the other device. To turn that off go to Settings > General > Handoff and flip the switch so that it is inactive.


How to fix a user account screwed up by El Capitan?

Here's one way to fix (but I hope there's a better way):

In admin account,

sudo (cd /Users; tar cf  )
In Users pref pane, delete the account and the directory.  (Trying to keep the directory got an error and did not delete account)
Re-create the account.  Verify in Terminal that the numeric ID is the same.
Restore the directory contents from the tarball.
If necessary, use chown/chgrp/chmod to fix metadata.

I also hope (too late for me) that someone can explain how it could have been prevented.


Fixing: "There are no devices registered in your account" without a Lightning cable Xcode 11.0

I don't have a USB-C lightning cable with me, which seems to be a direct requirement to connect my iPhone to my Mac.
Is there any way to solve this issue?

You'd need to connect and pair your iPhone to your Mac at least once before you can perform wireless debugging.
If you do not have a USB-C to Lightning Cable cable, you'd need to either get one or use a USB-C to USB Adapter (like this) or a similar hub.
The iPhone (or any iOS device) needs to be connected physically to the Mac and you'd have to manually Trust the iOS device before it could be paired with Xcode. This security reason is why you'd need a cable to connect the iPhone in the first place, and there is no way to work around it wirelessly.

There is a secondary error that says that no profile was found for my bundle ID, but I'm pretty sure this stems from the previously mentioned one.

You can resolve this by going to Xcode Preferences → Accounts and add your Apple ID. If it is already added, you can try by removing and adding it again.


In addition to the answer of DDPWNAGE and user138479 you may try to update directly via the app site and click on "update" there instead of using the "update all" button in the update tab.

Click "App-Store" ➡ "Updates" ➡ Click on App Name ➡ In App Details click on "Update"

Another option might be to check if there is another download hanging which blocks all of the other updates.

Click "App-Store" ➡ "Updates" ➡ "Purchased" ➡ Check if any Apps have a running circle hence an update symbol and stop the update.

One more option is to connect your iPhone with a PC/MAC and switch it off. After that:
Press the "Power" and "Home" Button at the same time for exactly 10 seconds. The iphone switches into DFU mode and kills all the running processes. The display is supposed to be black. If the apple logo shows up a second time, youve pressed the buttons too long.
After the 10 seconds, release the "Power" button but remain pressing the "Home" button. Your PC/MAC should recognize your iphone and probably install the DFU drivers. After that press the "Power" and "Home" buttons again for another 20 seconds, which causes the iphone to leave the DFU mode and to restart.
Try again to update your Apps.

Those are the solutions I was able to find. Unfortunately for me none of them worked, but maybe you'll be successful.


Minimize all but the active of the current application's windows

Here is an AppleScript that achieves the results of what you originally explicitly and specifically asked for, before editing the question after it was answered.

tell application "Safari"
    activate
    tell application "System Events"
        keystroke "h" using {command down, option down}
    end tell
    set miniaturized of (windows whose index is not 1) to true
end tell

Note: The above AppleScript works for me under OS X 10.8.5 and Safari 6.2.8 however I have not tested it on any other version of OS X. That said, I believe it will work fine on other versions of OS X.

Update to address the edit of the original question:

I played around a bit with different methods and what I found was, within the ways I tried, most apps worked while some would not. In other words, I didn't find a universal method that worked with all the apps I normally run. So, I'm adding a block of code that you can try and see if it can work for you.

Ideally simply hiding all other apps and minimizing the non-active windows of the current app so as to have a smooth appearance in action it what's desired however Finder presented a challenge.  So in this example code Finder must minimize all it windows first and bring back what was the frontmost while other apps have a nice cascading effect to minimized non-active windows while leaving the frontmost windows as is.

tell application "System Events"
    set frontApp to name of first application process whose frontmost is true
    set windowName to name of first window of application process frontApp
end tell

if not frontApp is "Finder" then
    tell application frontApp
        activate
        tell application "System Events"
            keystroke "h" using {command down, option down}
        end tell
        set miniaturized of (windows whose name is not windowName) to true
    end tell
else
    tell application frontApp
        activate
        tell application "System Events"
            keystroke "h" using {command down, option down}
            keystroke "m" using {command down, option down}
            tell process frontApp to click menu item windowName of menu 1 of menu bar item "Window" of menu bar 1
        end tell
    end tell
end if


Simple: the batteries were weak .. but not dead. Thus the intermittent green light (but non functionality).


Currently. there isn't any free version of any software that you want that can do screen recording.  But there are two apps last I checked. Both are paid. The first one, last time I checked it was $1.99.  Its on Cydia, its called ScreenRecorder:

http://www.cultofmac.com/33585/record-your-iphone-screen-with-screenrecorder-jailbreak-superguide/

There is also Display Recorder on the Cydia App Store for $4.99:

http://www.jailbreaknation.com/record-your-iphone-screen-on-ios-5-with-displayrecorder

There was also a paid App Store Application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, called Display Recorder but it got pulled from the App Store and I can't find it anymore.

I hope that the first two help, sorry that they aren't free but they work and are pretty awesome, they also have their limitations though, so read up on their limits first before taking the plunge.


Is there a way to hide the title bar of applications?

I think the short answer is no.

TinkerTool is one of the best utilities out there for modifying the way your system appears/behaves. They do not have any options to remove the title bars from applications in general, although there is one setting to hide the title bar of windows in Quicktime X Player.

The longer answer would be for open-source applications you could potentially modify the code generating the UI.


Administrator password lost for late 2013 MacBook Pro with Yosemite

First of all - restart your computer. Press the Command and R keys at the same time when the grey screen appears and hold them until you see the Apple logo. A small loading bar will appear under the logo. Sit tight as your system boots into Recovery Mode.

Click the Utilities tab in the top menu bar, select Terminal, type resetpassword and press Enter. Close out the Terminal window and behind it you will find the Reset Password utility. All you have to do now is select the user account you want to reset, enter a new password or leave it blank and click Save. Then just simply restart the computer from the Apple menu and login with your new password.

However if the user was protected by FileVault or Firmware password, you will probably need to clean-install OSX.


How to enable dictation by voice on OS X?

Look at your first screenshot.
Enable the dictation keyword phrase

To activate dictation by voice command, just speak the phrase "Computer Start Dictation"


Restricting Command+tab options to only apps that are in the current space

control+F4.  Cycles through the applications in that Space.
 (I actually have this mapped to control+`; which I find easier to remember, being close to the cmd+`; to cycle through an application's windows.)

To change the keyboard shortcut, go to the Keyboard preferences, Keyboard Shortcuts, and Keyboard & Text Input.  It's the 'Move focus to active or next window' option.

(Edit to fix the keyboard shortcuts; I didn't realise that the backtick character wasn't showing up.)


Can I hot-plug a DVI monitor in a Mac Pro?

Absolutely!  At work we have multiple Mac Pro's that have 1 monitor between them hot-swapped and while there's up to 5 seconds of delay for the video to come through, it works great.

You can hot-swap displays, but not video cards - if that makes sense.


Note the time when you enter your password to login.

Once logged in, run the Console application from /Applications/Utilities and look at the All messages log. Look back to the time you entered your password and what messages appear between then and now.

Anything seem suspicious? Any entries citing errors connecting to a network share, internet resource, etc?


Launchpad Search Field not working - cannot type

Hit the tab key a few times. Worked for me.

You need to hit Tab once the launchpad screen comes up. The tab will then put focus on the search bar, and then pressing it again will remove it. Pressing it ~20times seems to cause some sort of reset. Once you visibly notice the cursor, things should be good.

Other things to try:

terminal > defaults write com.apple.dock ResetLaunchPad -bool true; killall Dock
logout / login
restart


iMac won’t power on. 24hrs later it did, but now dead again!

I strongly advise to never update when a new OS comes out. They always take at least one year to fix all the bugs. Here is a check list from Apple Support:

Check for display issues

If your Mac doesn't appear to turn on, it's possible that the computer is turning on but the display isn't working. To see if it's a display issue, press your computer's power button. Then check for these signs that your Mac is turning on, even if the display remains dark:

You might hear a startup chime.
You might hear fan or drive noise.
If your Mac has an LED sleep indicator, it might turn on.
If your Mac notebook has a backlit keyboard, it might turn on.
When you press the Caps Lock key, the key's light turns on.
If any of these things happens and your Mac is connected to an external display, get help with video issues on external displays connected to your Mac. Otherwise, continue to the next section.

Check for power issues

If your Mac won't turn on and you've ruled out display issues, try these steps:

Make sure that the power cord and adapter are securely connected to your Mac and plugged in to a working electrical outlet. Plug in a lamp or other device to make sure the outlet works.
Try another power cord or adapter if the outlet works but your Mac still has no power.
If you're using a Mac notebook, make sure that you're using the right power adapter and cable and learn about troubleshooting MagSafe adapters. Leave the power adapter connected long enough to provide an adequate charge to the battery.

Check for other issues

Try these steps if you've ruled out power and display issues:

Disconnect all accessories that are plugged in to your Mac. This includes things like printers, USB hubs, and mobile devices.
Hold down the power button for ten seconds. Then press the power button again to see if the Mac turns on.
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC).
If you recently installed memory or a drive in your Mac, make sure that it's compatible and installed correctly. If possible, reinstall the original memory or drive to see if the issue persists.
If your Mac still won't start up after you've tried these steps, contact Apple Support. You can also visit an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider for help.

Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204267


How do I copy my pics on icloud to an external hard drive?

I opened Photos on my iMac running High Sierra 10.13.5. I then selected multiple photos using shift-click. Now go to the file menu and select Export and follow the directions. The last step lets you choose where to save the photos.


How to disable itunes writing things to my music files?

I would go to apple store in London to ask them see what they say


Can I use my Mac to play music stores on an old iPod shuffle?

This should be fairly easy.

Simply select your iPod in the iTunes sidebar
Check the Manually manage music and videos box under "Options" (in the "Summary" screen).
Now you should be able to play your music from your iPod shuffle


Is there a service that allows distributing iOS builds per git branches?

This might not work for your use case, but because we try to merge to master frequently and not leave branches around for very long, we have had really good luck with this methodology.

We are using Azure DevOps as our build tool, and pushing builds into AppCenter.ms as our distribution tool for non-release builds. For release builds we push to the App Store directly.

AppCenter.ms allows you to create "Distribution Groups", which are basically a list of the email addresses you want to receive notifications when a new build is uploaded that "targets" that group. Each group has a unique GUID and if you use Azure DevOps and their .azure-pipelines.yml (or manually configure a build through the UI, though that is a very laborious process), you can  use the AppCenter task with a condition that checks the branch name and deploys to specific group IDs based on the branch being built.

One of the things that makes this easier for us is we are using "enterprise distribution certificates", since these don't require individual device enrollment like ad hoc or developer certificates do. The other piece that could be important, if a user may install versions of the app from different groups you MUST have a different Bundle ID (and therefore another provisioning profile) for each version, otherwise they will clobber each other on the user's device. This is an Apple requirement (but Android has a similar unique bundle naming requirement).

In our case because these live in our Enterprise (not public AppStore) account, we have com.company.appname.test and com.company.appname.prodtest which for our purposes execute the same code, but they target different backend environments(URLs) for our APIs.


How to add Mavericks Message into trusted devices in Facebook?

yes, you can generate an application specific password in security settings and type that in instead of your password. This is will ensure it works without pinging you again and again for the code.


iPhone recent calls list reappears after clear

it's a bug. not only Facetime on iPhone but iMac also. Apple have no solution!


Is there a script for downloading videos from YouTube utilising only Wget or curl on iPhone?

No, there is not, because YouTube is desperate to prevent people from downloading their videos, and if it was that easy, too many people would do it.

youtube-dl has to be regularly updated to deal with the changes that YouTube and other sites implement to keep people from downloading videos.


moving mail folders to gmail labels - sublabels and hierarchy is lost

The key is that this process doesn't seem to make the top-level folders appropriately.

1) In gmail settings add a label with the missing top level.  For example, for my example above, If I create a label called Group then instantly the sub-labels get properly moved to it automatically.

i.e.

Group (messages)
Group
|- SubGroup1
|- SubGroup2
   |- SubSubGroup
   |- SubSubGroup (messages)

2) Manually move the (messages) emails to the new label (i.e. move everything in Group (messages) to Group and from SubSubGroup (messages) to SubSubGroup ).  Repeat this for the missing labels further in the tree

You'll then be left with the appropriate

Group
|- SubGroup1
|- SubGroup2
   |- SubSubGroup


What is best after a clean install, copying Application Folder or reinstalling all the applications?

It really depends on the application, so there is no correct a) or b) solution that would encompass all your apps.

Many Mac apps are 'installed' by the simple expedient of copying the app from a disk image to the Applications folder.
So long as your new install uses the same Apple ID as your old &/or you have any required activation keys, all is good.

The issue arises with apps that needed to run as an Installer, asking permissions to modify System items, install background processes etc. For those you will need to correctly re-install.

I guess empirically, the 'suck it & see' method might be the simplest...
...copy the Applications folder across, see which ones work... [avoid copying any default Apple Apps]


Time Machine on slow drive to be ported to new drive

Finder knows how to do this, almost nothing else does.
Hard links &/or permissions are the downfall usually.
Don't attempt to manually trim it as part of the copy process, just copy the whole lot. If you need to trim by size or date, do it separately.
Apple guide on copying - Transfer Time Machine backups from one backup disk to another
In brief:
Format HFS+
Set correct permissions system rw wheel rw everyone r
Turn off Time Machine
Drag the entire Backups.backupdb folder to the new drive.
Ask Different guide on trimming for size - Remove unnecessary backups from TimeMachine to get space


Can I "use" my iPhone SE, through my MacBook Air?

This isn't a complete answer because there's no simple way to really control the phone via mouse and keyboard. I can get you past that screen though.

First, plug your phone into your computer.

Then open QuickTime Player and choose "New Movie Recording". Using the little drop down right next to the record button, switch it from the built in camera to the name of your phone. You don't have to actually record it, but this will allow you to see the full screen.

Next, go to iTunes and open the page for the device (this button: ). Then scroll down in that Options part and click "Configure Accessibility…". Under Seeing, choose VoiceOver, and then click OK.

Now you can use your phone, but it's going to be tedious to type.

To cycle through all the buttons on screen, swipe left and right. To click one, double tap on the screen. This includes the keyboard keys, so you can slowly type the wifi password. (However, you can hold off on typing that in, and skip this screen for now. You will be able to use the Mac's keyboard to type)

If you download Mocha Keyboard Lite to your computer, and on your phone, use VoiceOver to go through the Bluetooth settings, you can enable Bluetooth and connect to your computer. That way you can use your MacBook Air's keyboard to type on the phone. That's as close to normal usage of the phone as you can get with a half-broken screen.

 Note that the lite version of Mocha Keyboard does not allow you to use the delete or backspace key! Type carefully!

Edit: if you really need to use backspace with Mocha Keyboard Lite, just press Control+Shift+B, then Control+K. Don't ask me how I know this!


If I delete a paid app purchased through the Mac App Store, can I redownload without paying?

Yes. Just go to the "Purchases" tab and click "Install" by the app you wish to reinstall:

Well-behaved apps should retain settings, etc upon reinstall, as merely deleting the app from /Applications is not sufficient to remove that information from your system. This may not be the case if an app cleaner is used.


You can find your Back To My Mac hostname by doing this:

% dns-sd -E
Looking for recommended registration domains:
DATE: ---Fri 15 Nov 2013---
12:00:39.211  ...STARTING...
Timestamp     Recommended Registration domain
12:00:39.212  Added     (More)               local
12:00:39.212  Added                          icloud.com
                                             - > btmm
                                             - - > members
                                             - - - > 1234567

Using that you can derive the hostname as computer_name.1234567.members.btmm.icloud.com. Now use Finder's "Connect To Server..." command and enter afp://computer_name.1234567..members.btmm.icloud.com in the dialog box. It works! If your computer name has a space in it, replace it with a hyphen. The hostname should be all lower-case, so if your computer name is "My Mac" use my-mac.1234567.members.btmm.icloud.com.

(If your mac is running ssh, you can ssh to it as well, which opens a whole world of secure-tunnelling possibility!)


Removing your iCloud account from the iPhone 6S from icloud.com or any other Apple device on Find My will mean that your iCloud account has been removed. Was Find My iPhone enabled on the iPhone 6S? If it was, then that means that the iCloud account was automatically removed when erasing the device (your device should have prompted for your Apple ID and Password). If you still have access to the iPhone 6S and want to make sure that it is removed completely, you should probably set up the phone again and use your Apple ID. Then, remove it from Settings > Your Name > Sign Out (at the bottom) and erase the device (Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings).


Tap with two fingers for a "right-click" or secondary click

There are 3 checkboxes in the top of the Preference pane you show as a screenshot. The third one, which you have unchecked, enables "tap to click" - turn this option on and you'll be set. If that one is off, you must click (rather than tap) for all other options shown.


How can you print an email in gmail app on iPad

It appears that you can't print from the app on iOS.

  Unfortunately, you can no longer print using the Google Cloud Print.

You would have to go to the site and print it from there.


Create Windows 7 installation disk option

I ran into this problem this afternoon. Your Mac's model must be in Boot Camp Assistant's list of supported models for the "Create a Windows 7 install disk" option to be available, so you must find out if your model is there and add it if it's not.

Go to Applications > Utilities and right-click on the Boot Camp Assistant app; select Show Package Contents, and open the Contents folder where you should see a file called info.plist.

**By default you don't have permission to edit info.plist. My preferred way around this is to copy it to my desktop (opt-drag and drop), then rename the original to info_OLD.plist (not necessary to rename it, but if you screw up, at least you'll have the original backed up). Authentification will be required... just enter your password when asked.
Open the info.plist file on the desktop with Property List Editor (right-click, Open with > Property List Editor).
At the botton of the window is a list called USBBootSupportedModels. Click on the list and then click the Add Child button on the tool bar. Apparently your model must be the first or last item in the list – this didn't work for me when I accidentally added it to the middle, but it did when it was at the top. If you don't know your model number, click on the Apple menu and click About This Mac, where you should find the information. In Lion I believe you have to click "System Report" to get the proper information. My model was MacBook2,1 so the item I added to the top of the list was MB21.
Save the file when you're done. Now drag it back to the folder where the original file is (replacing the older file if you chose not to rename it).

When you open Boot Camp Assistant now it should give you the option to create an install disk.

**I haven't completed anything beyond actually getting the option available, so I can't comment on if the install disk will actually be created properly.


Son changed password on iPad, need to recover Pages document

Since necessity is the mother of invention, I've found my own solution...

Sync'd iPad with iTunes as usual, restored iPad to factory settings, then restored iPad from backup.

I feel like a fool for not seeing this off the bat, but if you knew this boy, you'd know what was at stake with him losing his work.  I have a feeling that he won't set anymore passcodes on his iPad nor will he forget to backup to iDisk.


How does one upgrade a jailbroken iOS device?

You will require iTunes. Connect the device, then right click on it in the iTunes side bar. Select "Back Up." Allow it to runs its course. Close iTunes.

Then put the device into DFU mode:

1) Power off the device.
2) Disconnect it.
3) Hold the power button for 2 secs.
4) Without letting go of the power button, press and hold the home button for 10 secs.
5) Let go of the power button but not the home button for another 10 secs.

Reconnect the device and launch iTunes. It will detect your iPad and inform you it is in recovery mode. From there, it will check for the newest available update (5.1), download it and install it. When that completes, simply restore your device from the backup you made earlier.


Switching back to iOS12.3 from iOS 13 beta 3

If you have ran a backup using iCloud while on iOS 13, and you don't have iTunes, there is unfortunately nothing you can do. If you have iTunes, you could restore from an old backup if you have one, or you can set up as a brand new phone on iOS 12.3 if you download the .ipsw file for your phone model and correct iOS.


Using WPS with Airport Utility for other then adding Printers

Yes, you can!

I tested this with:

Airport Utility v6.3.8 (on macOS 10.13.2)
With a Airport Extreme 802.11ac

Devices Tested & Working

TV Sony Bravia (via First Attempt)
TV LG WebOS v3.5 (via PIN)
Printer Brother MFC9320CW (via PIN)

Although I'm not sure if it works with everything, I'm fairly positive it will work for many other devices that support WPS.


"Could not load Vox Preferences preference pane." Solutions?

Yes, please try as me

Step 1: Menu bar Apple > Preferences > Users & Group > Choose your account > select tab "Login items". Then keep the windows where you can easy-to-see

Step 2: Enable "Show hide items" for your Finder (in this step please search Google)

Step 3: You are using Finder to browse into /Library/PreferencePanes/. Then right click item "VOX Preferences.prefPane" and choose "Show contens package". Browsing into Contents > MacOS, at here you will see "VOXHelper.app"

Step 4: Drag "VOXHelper.app" and drop into "Login items" at Step 1

Step 5: Reboot your Mac. If not work, retry with "VOX Preferences" file.


Is it possible to reset FileVault password in recovery mode?

If you have the recovery key (assuming it's the alphanumeric kind), you can reset your account password in the following way:

Boot your Mac to the FileVault 2 login window.
Enter your password incorrectly three times
It should prompt you for your recovery key. Enter it and hit return.

Your Mac should boot and stop at the OS's login window.

When prompted, reset your account's password.

If your Mac isn't able to boot from its regular boot drive and you can only start from the recovery drive, you should unlock and then decrypt your Mac prior to trying to fix your Mac. I have a post available here showing how to unlock and decrypt your Mac using your recovery key:

Unlock or decrypt your FileVault 2-encrypted boot drive from the command line


Connected phone to mac using usb0, but IP address attached to the device is linked to my mac

Try changing your Mac's IP to match the screen below (default route and net mask are likely wrong).

Then run nmap -sV 192.168.2.18


Automator "Set PDF metadata" window size?

Yes, it is possible to set the position and size of the Set PDF Metadata action's window when run from an Automator Service, however it requires a bit of a creative workaround.

I have tested the following and it works for me under macOS High Sierra.

There are two primary components for this process, one being the Automator Service named Edit PDF Metadata, and the other, an AppleScript application that sets the position and size of the Set PDF Metadata action's window.

For the Automator Service, which I saved as Edit PDF Metadata, the image below shows the settings.

Note that the PDF document does not first have to be opened to set the metadata and why there is no Open Finder Items action. If you were doing it the see information in the document as a reference to be used in the Set PDF Metadata action, you can add it back in.

Example code for the Run Shell Script action:

open -a "/Applications/Resize Set PDF Metadata Window.app"
echo "$1"

Note that the fully qualified pathname to the app does not necessarily need to be used and the open command could be shortened to open -a "Resize Set PDF Metadata Window". Then it doesn't matter where the Resize Set PDF Metadata Window.app is saved, it's found automatically. I've include the fully qualified pathname just so there was no ambiguity.

Next, the desired position and size of the window for the Set PDF Metadata action needs to be determined:

In Script Editor, open a new document with the following AppleScript code, but do not run it yet, just have it ready.

tell application "System Events" to ¬
    get {position, size} of window 1 ¬
        of process "com.apple.automator.runner"

Now in Finder, select a PDF document and right-click selecting Edit PDF Metadata from the Services section of the context menu.

Then position and resize the Set PDF Metadata action's window on the screen as wanted, leaving it on screen for the time being, then back in Script Editor, run the code you prepped to get the desired position and size of the window for the Set PDF Metadata action.

On my system it returned, e.g.: {{870, 280}, {700, 290}}, on my 27" Thunderbolt Display.

Make note of the results for use with the code, which is used next, to create the Resize Set PDF Metadata Window.app in Script Editor.

You can now click the Cancel button on the Set PDF Metadata action's window, as it has served its purpose to this point.

Now create the Resize Set PDF Metadata Window.app in Script Editor using the following example AppleScript code:

tell application "System Events"
    set i to 0
    repeat until (exists window 1 of process "com.apple.automator.runner")
        delay 0.1
        set i to i + 1
        if i > 30 then return
    end repeat
    tell window 1 of process "com.apple.automator.runner"
        set position to {870, 280}
        set size to {700, 290}
    end tell
end tell

Change the value of set position to and set size to as appropriate and save as an application named Resize Set PDF Metadata Window in the /Applications folder.
Note that on my system 30, in if i > 30 then return, equates to ~5 seconds and is used so repeat until is not an endless loop, if something happens and window 1 of process "com.apple.automator.runner" doesn't appear for some reason.

Before really using the new Automator Service for the first time, you need to add Resize Set PDF Metadata Window.app to: System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Accessibility

With that done, Edit PDF Metadata is ready to used on a PDF document in Finder from the Services section of the context menu. It is also available from the Finder > Services menu as well. Also a keyboard shortcut can be assigned to the service in: System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Services > Files and Folders

Also note that by default, the metadata added to the selected PDF document is automatically saved upon pressing the Continue button, so there is no need to use the Quit Application action set to Preview with the [√] Ask to save changes check box clicked. That is unless you added the Open Finder Items action, then add back the Quit Application action set to Preview too. (Note that Ask to save changes did not work in my testing.)

NOTE: Use caution with the Rename PDF Documents action, because if the Title check box is checked in the Set PDF Metadata action's window but text box is left blank, it will delete the PDF document upon clicking the Continue button! (This appears to be a bug in this action under macOS High Sierra.) Additionally, if you set the Title to the name of an existing PDF document, while the metadata is changed, nonetheless the target file is not renamed. As always, insure you have proper backups before running automated services upon your files.

The only drawback to this method that I can think of, is that only one Automator Service can be run at a time, this one, otherwise it will not be able to get window 1 of process "com.apple.automator.runner" if there is more than one "com.apple.automator.runner" process running. But how often does one really need to have more then one Automator Service run at a time.

If you do not want to have the Dock Tile for the Resize Set PDF Metadata Window.app show on the Dock, then in Terminal use the following command:

defaults write '/Applications/Resize Set PDF Metadata Window.app/Contents/Info.plist' LSUIElement -bool yes

Afterwards, you can use the command with -bool no to have to have the app's Dock Tile show on the Dock.

Note: The example AppleScript code is just that and does not employ any error handling and is meant only to show one of many ways accomplish a task. The onus is always upon the User to add/use appropriate error handling as needed/wanted.


Is Private Browsing broken in Safari 5.1.4?

There was a bug that prevented cookies set begore going into safe mode from working again after the safe period had ended.

Imagine a truck with four wheel drive and when you were done and switched back to two wheel mode. It would be a problem if the indicators said two wheel but four was still engaged.

This text you quoted indicates the getting out of safe mode was tweaked so more things work again post safe mode.


Is launchd still being actively developed?

If the last time Apple publicly posted sources to launchd was when Snow Leopard shipped, it may be that there were no critical bugs in launchd that were worth fixing in Snow Leopard software updates, so none of the post-Snow-Leopard updates to the Darwin sources would contain any launchd changes.

When Lion ships, you can expect to see a huge new drop of Darwin sources based on Lion.  You may find that a lot has been going on behind the scenes over the last 2 years. Or not. But given that Apple has said Lion will ship sometime this month, your question might be 2 weeks premature.


It is possible that this last one is causing the black screen at boot? - I don't know yet. With verbose mode enable at some point it appears a message relating the reboot to a kernel panic.

Should I move it to another folder? - I've moved it. Don't know if it effects the boot sequence, but the behavior got regular.

Boot to a black screen, press power button to shutdown. Repeat 4 or 5 times. When the message about the panic shows, the boot process runs successfully.


Is there a way to automatically sync iTunes to my music folder (which is on a different hd)?

No, iTunes will not "listen" for music in a given folder (like the popular BT program Transmission, which will load torrent files once they've been downloaded to a given directory).

You have to manually add music by dragging it in the iTunes window or going through the file menu (CMD + O).

However, you could achieve what you are after perhaps with some voodoo in Apple Script. Or simply sort the contents of your music folder by "date added" (provided you are using Lion) and manually add the songs as they arrive.

But then if you are going through all this trouble of manually managing files, you may wish to ask yourself, "why"? It might be less of a burden to just let iTunes do its thing (like it was mentioned before, you can tell iTunes to copy the music anywhere you like, on any drive connected to your system, even on a network) than micro-manage a bunch of files.


Weird output from ls command in Terminal

noremap - command from vim, so when saving file, the name has been assigned. A detailed ls would help or installing something like Midnight Commander, which runs with as simple mc command and helps to evaluate it visually.


How do you diagnose why a keyboard shortcut does not work?

There is app called KeyCue that will help you find the keyboard shortcuts in use by your system.

It is shareware.

More info and to download : http://www.ergonis.com/products/keycue/


Setting up my family sharing : what will happen to the content previously purchased by the children?

Content from any member account is sharable, whether old or new - Apps, Books, Tunes etc.

Specific data points from those apps, though, will be lost if the account using them is not the same as previously.

For example, UserA was the original account. UserB & UserC are added as family members. UserA & UserB had previous purchases, different to each other. UserC is new & 'virgin' but is the new Family Organiser account.

UserC can regain any & all previous purchases made by Users A & B, but will lose account-specific data such as email [including the userA@icloud.com account entirely], iMessages, any game progress or reading bookmarks etc they had prior to the 'handover', as they all still belong to UserA.

Similarly for UserB, but they will retain their existing user-specific data on existing apps etc.


Lion/Mountain Lion Mission Control used with CTRL+# (10.6 Spaces-like)

In Lion, by default, will switch to a particular Desktop if you hit Control+Desktop's Number. Go to System Preferences / Keyboard / Shortcuts / Mission Control and check if you've overwritten this shortcut.

Yes, you can configure a particular App to open in a particular Desktop. To do so just:

Navigate to that particular Desktop.
Open the App you want to assign, if its already not on the Dock, and right click on it.
A contextual menú will show up. Under Options you'll see a submenu called Assign to and three different options. All Desktops, This Desktop or None. Select This Desktop.


Replaced /usr/bin/vim - now I get error messages

This is a known issue. From :help MacVim:

Note: Starting MacVim by creating a symlink to >
    .../MacVim.app/Contents/MacOS/Vim with 'ln -s' does not work.

I found a lot of people getting a string of E254 errors from using a symlink. See this ticket on the MacVim issue repository. The solution follows:

    Most likely this is because you have symlinked directly to
    the Vim binary, which Cocoa does not allow.  Please use an
    alias or the mvim shell script instead.

MacVim comes with a startup shell script, mvim. You can alias it to vim if you'd prefer to use it instead of the system vim. If you want to start vim in the terminal rather than as a gui application, set the alias to mvim -v. Add export EDITOR=vim to your ~/.bash_profile to make sure that any terminal applications are using the now-aliased vim. This should cover all your bases.


How may an Apple's USB port be used to control simple electronic devices e.g. LED(s)?

Arduino ftw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino

You can get simpler than this, and just use the power from the usb port to power a breadboard LED device. You should really have a basic understanding of electronics, be able to read a schematic, etc., before you do this. Its not that you will electrocute yourself, but you may lose the use of the usb port.


Why is my OSX client having so much trouble connecting to our SMB server?

I'm having the exact same problem on my client.  Looking at a WireShark trace, there is always a 45 second delay in opening the connection the the file share (OSX Server 3.1.2).  Using SMB1 (CIFS) does the same thing and WireShark confirms SMB vs. SMB2.  Any other ideas out there?


Fixing broken Messages on OS X Mavericks

Yes, copying the files from another computer should be fine, providing both computers have the same version of Messages.

There is a certain amount of leniency with this though, depending on where the files are that you deleted. For example, files in your home folder are expected to be backward-compatible since if you've upgraded your OS then it must know how to update the files.

Also, once you've copied the files, make sure you set the permissions correctly…

If you've copied files to /Library, use Disk Utility to repair permissions.
If you've copied files to ~/Library, use the ACL tool on the Recovery HD.


How to report spam that appeared in Messages on iPhone that's marked "Text Message" & thus sent via my carrier, NOT Apple, & NOT from a phone #?

This kind of thing is almost impossible to block because, as you pointed out, the e-mail address is almost always forged.  I have hundreds of e-mails blocked on my account.  That being said...
How to block someone via the Messages on the iPhone or iPad

Launch the Messages app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
Tap the conversation of the person you're trying to block.
Tap the info button in the top right corner.
Tap the name of the contact.
Tap Block Caller. ...
Tap Block Contact.

This is courtesy of https://www.imore.com/how-mute-block-and-report-imessage-spam-iphone-and-ipad
Or...

How do I stop spam texts AT&T?
To report a spam SMS message received on your iPhone, you can forward the text to the number SPAM (7726). AT&T will reply with a text asking for the phone number of the person who sent the spam text message. Reply with the phone number and that's it.
To block a specific email address
Sign in to your AT&T Mobility account and create a Message Preferences account. Add email addresses to the block list by replying to the spam text with BLOCK in the reply message.

From... https://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/971823


How do I find the application name to open a file using AppleScript?

You can use -b option and use Bundle Identifier instead of using Application name. For example, to get Bundle Identifier from Safari:

plutil -p /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/Info.plist | grep BundleIdentifier

as a result You'll get "CFBundleIdentifier" => "com.apple.Safari"

Then You use it like this:

open -b com.apple.Safari /path/to/file

Generally, You'll need to get Bundle Indentifier from Info.plist file located inside Application.app/Contents/ directory.

Or if You want, You can get the app name with this:

plutil -p /Applications/PaintCode\ Trial.app/Contents/Info.plist | grep BundleName

output:

"CFBundleName" => "PaintCode Trial"


Given your budget (512GB SSD is quite expensive) I'd buy 8GB RAM + 256SSD and keep the 500GB HDD as a storage volume instead of the super drive. Depending on your country, it'll cost you around 200$ which is less expensive than a 500SSD and will bring you a lot of speed.


iPhoto isn't working on my 2011 MacBook Pro with OS X Lion

You need to reinstall:

First: make a backup. Any kind of back up. Always have an up-to-date back up of your iPhoto Library.

To re-install iPhoto

1. Put the iPhoto.app in the trash (Drag it from your Applications Folder to the trash)

2: Trash the Receipts: In the Finder use the Go menu and select Go To Folder. In the resulting window type

/private/var/db/receipts

A Finder Window will open at that location and you can remove files that you see with iPhoto on the name.

Re-install.

As you have a recent make you do this via the Purchases List at the App Store.


How do I delete thousands of .jpg files, each a duplicate of a .heic file?

One option is to use an AppleScript (or JavaScript for Automation, rather) such as the one I posted about here. I've copied its contents below*, and I've tried to include a fair amount of instructions between the post and comments in the code.
#!/usr/bin/osascript -l JavaScript
// findJpgHeicDuplicates.js
// https://n8henrie.com/2021/02/remove-duplicate-jpg-or-heic-photos-from-macos-photosapp/
//
// Quickstart:
//   - Copy this into a file, e.g. `findJpgHeicDuplicates.js`
//      - Alternatively, check the post above for a download link
//   - Make executable: `chmod +x findJpgHeicDuplicates.js`
//   - Modify the configuration in the `CUSTOMIZE` section if desired
//     - This is where you can configure getting rid of `.jpg` vs `.heic`
//   - Select a set of photos in Photos.app
//   - Run `./findJpgHeicDuplicates.js`
//   - Process the suspected duplicates in `Duplicates/timestamp`
//
//  Alternatively, users not comfortable with the command line can:
//    - open `Script Editor.app` on their Mac
//      - `/System/Applications/Utilities/Script Editor.app` on Big Sur
//    - create a new script
//    - Change the language to JavaScript (if `AppleScript` is displayed near
//      the top left)
//    - Copy and paste the contents of this script
//    - You will need to compile with `command` + `k` (or the hammer button) in
//      between each run or else you will get `Error: SyntaxError: Can't create
//      duplicate variable:`
//
// Apple's newish `.heic` image format compresses photos somewhat smaller than
// jpg with some loss of minor details. Unfortunately, many users like myself
// end up with numerous duplicate photos as a result -- half .jpg and half
// .heic -- which nullifies the space savings.
//
// This script uses filename (sans extension), the photo's timestamp*, and
// configurable fields in `criteria` (found in the `CUSTOMIZE` section) to find
// likely .heic/.jpg duplicates from a selected set of photos in MacOS
// Photos.app. If it finds a likely duplicate with at least one copy of the
// desired extension, it then moves all copies of the UNdesired filetype to an
// album named by the unix timestamp at the time of running within a folder
// named `Duplicates`. These can then be inspected, and if desired batch
// deleted with `command` + `delete`.
//
// * +/- 10 seconds, since most of my `.heic` files are timestamped ~1 second
//   after the `.jpg`
//
// Note that if adding many photos to an album at once, Photos.app may prompt
// for confirmation before doing so. Therefore, if you leave this script
// running and aren't there to accept the confirmation prompt, the script may
// time out while waiting for a response. Additionally, if your Mac sleeps
// while this is running, it may not work properly -- I recommend running
// `caffeinate -d` from the command prompt or using an application like
// `Caffeine` to disable sleep if you're going to run it while AFK. Thankfully,
// it seems that as long as you confirm the action it will often still work.
//
// I don't write much JavaScript, but I much prefer it to AppleScript. This
// should be non-destructive, but use it at your own risk. Make sure you have
// tested and working backups.
//
// Runs in about 19 minutes for my library of 20,233 pictures on my 2014 MBA.
//
// Tested on MacOS 11.1, Photos 6.0

'use strict'

// CUSTOMIZE
let getRidOfExtension = "jpg" // Only get rid of photos with this extension
let dupFolderName = "Duplicates"
let logInterval = 1000

let criteria = [
    // "favorite",
    "width",
    // "pcls", // not sure what this is
    // "size", // not recommended -- heic and jpg will have different sizes
    // "location", // [123.456, -78.9]
    // "keywords",
    "height",
    // "description",
    // "altitude",
    // "name", // often not set, not the same as filename
]
// END CUSTOMIZE

function getDetails(photo) {
    let properties = photo.properties()

    var details = {
        "extension": properties["filename"].toLowerCase().split(".").slice(-1)[0],
        "timestamp": properties["date"].getTime() / 1000, // in seconds
    }

    for (let criterion of criteria) {
        details[criterion] = properties[criterion]
    }
    return details
}

function run(argv) {
    let tsForAlbum = Date.now().toString()

    const photos = Application('Photos')
    let selection = photos.selection()
    let selectionLength = selection.length
    if (selectionLength < 2) {
        throw new Error("Not enough photos selected")
    }

    let getRidOfExtensionLower = getRidOfExtension.toLowerCase()
    // { filename-sans-extension: [ {'selectionIdx': idx1, 'timestamp': ts, "extension": ext } ] }
    var photomap = {}
    var duplicates = []
    for (let selectionIdx in selection) {
        if (selectionIdx % logInterval == 0) {
            console.log("Processing " + selectionIdx + " of " + selectionLength)
        }
        let photo = selection[selectionIdx]

        // This script only intended for jpg and heic
        let filename = photo.filename()
        let lowername = filename.toLowerCase()
        if (!(lowername.endsWith(".jpg") || lowername.endsWith(".heic"))) {
            continue
        }

        var details = getDetails(photo)
        details['selectionIdx'] = selectionIdx

        let stem = filename.replace(/(\.JPG$)|(\.HEIC$)/i, "")
        if (!(stem in photomap)) {
            photomap[stem] = [details]
            continue
        }

        photomap[stem].push(details)
        let sameStem = photomap[stem]

        // filter for timestamps within 10 seconds of the current photo
        let timestamp = details['timestamp']
        let similarTimes = sameStem.filter(otherDetails => {
            let ts = otherDetails['timestamp']
            if (Math.abs(timestamp - ts) < 10) {
                return true
            }
            return false
        })
        let detailsMatch = similarTimes.filter(otherDetails => {
            let keys = Object
                .keys(otherDetails)
                .filter(key => !(["timestamp", "extension", "selectionIdx"].includes(key)))
            for (let key of keys) {
                if (details[key] != otherDetails[key]) {
                    return false
                }
            }
            return true
        })

        // If filtering heic / jpg duplicates, we want to make sure there is at
        // least one of each filetype before we decide to filter the other out,
        // otherwise we might e.g. end up filtering both copies of duplicate
        // [jpg, jpg] (if configured to keep heic). Because this script only
        // puts *one* copy into the duplicates folder, which facilitates mass
        // deletion, this otherwise could end up causing unexpected data loss
        // if users aren't paying attention.
        let keepPhotos = detailsMatch.filter(each => each["extension"] != getRidOfExtensionLower)
        if (keepPhotos.length < 1) {
            continue
        }

        // Should always match itself
        if (detailsMatch.length > 1) {
            (
                detailsMatch
                    .filter(details => details['extension'] == getRidOfExtensionLower)
                    .map(details => {
                        let sidx = details['selectionIdx']
                        duplicates.push(selection[sidx])
                })
            )
        }
    }

    console.log("Found " + duplicates.length + " suspected duplicate[s]")
    if (duplicates.length == 0) {
        return
    }

    let duplicatesFolder = photos.folders.byName(dupFolderName)
    if (!duplicatesFolder.exists()) {
        photos.make({new: "folder", named: dupFolderName})
    }
    let album = duplicatesFolder.albums.byName(tsForAlbum)
    if (!album.exists()) {
        photos.make({new: "album", named: tsForAlbum, at: duplicatesFolder})
    }
    photos.add(duplicates, {to: album})
    console.log("Duplicates added to " + dupFolderName + "/" + tsForAlbum)
}


Should I be worried about doing a hard reset on my iPhone?

A hard-resart is perfectly okay to do. However, I believe some may be mistaking this for a DFU (Device Firmware Upgrade) which has a similar process of initiating and will essentially force you to restore or wipe your device.


MacBookPro stopped booting what should I try?

If this is an early 2008 Macbook pro (4,1) then you may finally have encounted the infamous horrible Nvidia 8600 hardwarelproblem that everyone with this model is waiting for.

Nvidia problems

Possibly affected systems include 17-inch, 2.4GHz MacBook Pros, 15-inch, 2.4 and 2.2GHz MacBook Pros, and MacBook Pros manufactured in early 2008, all with Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics chips. All such systems were made between May 2007 and September 2008.Macworld | Apple offers MacBook Pro Nvidia graphics repair

MacBook Pro: Distorted video or no video issues


How to download OS X El Capitan without Apple hardware

There is no OS X El Capitan install disk. OS X is distributed through the App Store now.

Yes, ask your friend to create a bootable installer for OS X El Capitan. It should be a fairly straightforward process.

Once you have the drive, hold down the option key while restarting your Mac to boot from the installer USB.


How to get designated apps to open on designated desktops

When you have at least two spaces in Mission Control, you can access the necessary options via right-click on the app icon in the dock:


Is El Capitan preventing me from getting the Perl module DBD::Oracle working?

I am using
  Mac OS X 10.11.3 El Capitan,
  perlbrew 1.74 installed with cpanm & App::perlbrew/0.74
  Perl revision 5 version 22 subversion 1 (installed via perlbrew)
  DBI -- 1.631
  DBD::Oracle VERSION: 1.74
  Oracle InstantClient 11.2.0.4.0 installed at /usr/local/lib/oracle/instantclient_11_2

I can confirm that the only way, so far, I have been able to get DBD::Oracle to work is by disabling SIP (http://osxdaily.com/2015/10/05/disable-rootless-system-integrity-protection-mac-os-x/). Any other way I've tried results in the error "failed: ERROR OCIEnvNlsCreate. Check ORACLE_HOME (Linux) env var ...".


You could email tech support for Photorec (and others) to see if they can recover from this particular situation. If they say no then your only recourse is a data recovery specialist like OnTrack.

Generally formatting/partitioning a drive does not wipe the data just the partition map and catalog, so it is possible that this might be recoverable.


Does mac OS install process erase flashdrive data DURING the install?

In my experience you can indeed put files on a flash drive that you made to boot and install macOS. The install process only reads from the flash drive. So your utilities should be safe.


Enable Guest Account via Profile Manager

You can distribute a configuration profile to enable it, courtesy of @gregneagle on GitHub. The following is a stripped down version to just the payload for setting the guest account on.

<?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>PayloadContent</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>DisableGuestAccount</key>
            <true/>
            <key>EnableGuestAccount</key>
            <false/>
            <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
            <string>Login Window:  MCX Preferences</string>
            <key>PayloadEnabled</key>
            <true/>
            <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
            <string>com.github.gregneagle.loginwindow.MCX</string>
            <key>PayloadType</key>
            <string>com.apple.MCX</string>
            <key>PayloadUUID</key>
            <string>497c36d1-422c-b5e0-c23e-b1138b2d490a</string>
            <key>PayloadVersion</key>
            <integer>1</integer>
            <key>SleepDisabled</key>
            <false/>
        </dict>
    </array>
    <key>PayloadDescription</key>
    <string>Loginwindow configuration settings</string>
    <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
    <string>Loginwindow Configuration</string>
    <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
    <string>com.github.gregneagle.loginwindow</string>
    <key>PayloadOrganization</key>
    <string></string>
    <key>PayloadRemovalDisallowed</key>
    <true/>
    <key>PayloadScope</key>
    <string>System</string>
    <key>PayloadType</key>
    <string>Configuration</string>
    <key>PayloadUUID</key>
    <string>0dc319a0-c331-0131-eeb5-000c294ab81b</string>
    <key>PayloadVersion</key>
    <integer>1</integer>
</dict>
</plist>


Free tool to create a screencast to upload on hosting video platforms

This can be accomplished with QuickTime Player in Snow Leopard. From the File menu, select New Screen Recording. When you have finished recording, the video file will be opened for playback and from the Share menu, you can select YouTube....


Mac Terminal or iTerm: Copy the current command but exclude prompt?

Just use the command

 echo !! | pbcopy

The double exclamation points is “last command”. It’s then piped to the pbcopy command which puts it in your clipboard.

There’s no shortcut, but you can make an alias in your ~/.bash_profile or in your ~/.zprofile files, depending on your shell, that will execute the command with as easy to remember name

alias cplastcmd=‘echo !! | pbcopy’

If you want to copy text that you’ve entered but not executed you can use the following

^ ControlU :  Cut the line before the cursor and put it in the clipboard.
^ ControlK : Cut the line after the cursor and put it in the clipboard. Use with ^ ControlA to move to the beginning of the line.
^ ControlY : Paste the last command from the clipboard

Note:  The standard copy/paste keyboard shortcuts  ⌘ Command or ^ Control C and V don’t work in Terminal.

Finally, if you have a mouse with a third/middle button, you can simply select the text and press the middle button to copy and paste the selected text.


Display emoji faces for correct & wrong commands in terminals

Building on Maghin's post.

# Use echo -n to leave out the line end.
# Use -C option with hexdump to avoid big endian/little
# endian confusion.
mac $  echo -n  | hexdump -C
00000000  f0 9f 98 80                                       |....|
00000004
mac $  echo -n   | hexdump -C
00000000  f0 9f 98 b1                                       |....|
00000004

"Include non-0 exit codes in the subsequent bash prompt"
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5946873/include-non-0-exit-codes-in-the-subsequent-bash-prompt

Here is what I ended up with:

export PS1='\u $(highlightExitCode) \$ '

highlightExitCode()
    {
        exit_code=$?
        if [ $exit_code -ne 0 ]
        then
           echo -en '\xf0\x9f\x98\xb1 '
        else
           echo -en '\xf0\x9f\x98\x80 '
        fi

    }

A more straight forward alternative for the highlightExitCode function:

 highlightExitCode ()  {
   if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
     echo -n ' ';
   else
     echo -n ' ';
   fi
 }

The only problem is that the bad image appears until to you run a succesful command.


How can I prevent opening new tab will get same URL as existing tab

Ok, so after searching a little more, I found that this is the normal behaviour and it cannot be changed. So the only solution so far is to either accept it or switch browsers. If a better answer is posted, I will approve it.


ePub book not showing up in iBook bookshelf on first generation iPad

Following @bmike's suggestion in a comment I tried copying the book from iTunes on my Mac onto my iPhone. That worked. Having established that the copy of the book on my Mac worked, I unchecked the book in the book synchronization tab for my iPad in iTunes, synched, so that the book was removed from the iPad, then rechecked the box and synchronized again. The book then showed up in iBooks and I was able to access it.


Is it possible to use 2 different keyboards without having to switch the layout manually?

I don't think this is possible, but you might have a look at the Karabiner app, which I've heard has ways of distinguishing hardware keyboards.

Manual switching is in any case very fast using the Command plus space shortcut.


It looks like Pages overwrites the command + < shortcut to zoom out the view even though that's the default shortcut for moving focus between windows on a German keyboard.

You can go in to System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortucts to redefine that shortcut in Pages. Click App Shortcuts, click the + button, select Pages from the Application list, enter your equivalent of "Zoom Out" for the menu title, and enter a new keyboard shortcut.

In my example, I assigned command + back tick to Zoom Out and now in Pages that shortcut zooms out the view instead of switching windows.


How Can I Send Text (and Not a Text File) to My Printer on OS X?

lp is able to read data from standard input, see man lp:

  lp  submits  files for printing or alters a pending job. Use a filename of "-" to force printing from the standard input.

So if you followed the advice given in the referenced question to install a "raw" printer you should be able to run

echo "whatever text you want to print" | lp -d Generic_usbtb -


My iPad keeps asking me for my iTunes account password

Try a reset - hold the home and power buttons down until the apple logo appears.

I had a similar problem when I'd downloaded an app update, but lost wifi, and it got caught in a loop, and the reset seemed to resolve it.


Security Q:A new app fails signature verification. What steps are appropriate to address this?

w/o guidance, my plan is:

report it as a security issue to security@ (per
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201909140),
try to get codesign to show me what's missing,
Pick apart the .ini


Moving iTunes library from Macs with different OS

Though maybe a bit hard to locate the relevant information in this this support article, once found, it's easy to follow.

I would proceed as follows:

Consolidate your iTunes Library on your old machine.

Make sure the following is checked: iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > Copy files to iTunes Media Folder when adding to Library. Click OK. Note you can also see the path of to your library in this pane.
Next, File > Library > Organize Library... > Consolidate Files. For earlier versions of iTunes, this may be File > Library > Consolidate.

Copy iTunes Library to an external Hard-drive

You can find the location of your iTunes Library from the "Advanced" pane mentioned earlier. By default, the location is ~/Music/iTunes/. Find the path from this pane, select it, and copy it using Command+C
Open Finder. Use the key combination  Shift+Command+G to bring up a "Go to folder" window. Paste the copied path here and click ok.
Drag the folder named "iTunes" to the external HDD. Let it copy. Depending on the size of your Library, this could take a bit. Once it has completed, eject the external Hard drive

Copy iTunes Library to new computer

Connect the external hard drive to your new machine.
Open Finder. Use the key combination  Shift+Command+G again and copy the following path, exactly as shown, into the pop-up window: ~/Music/
You will see an iTunes Folder present. Drag it into your trash.
Next, open the external drive, and drag the iTunes folder from the external drive to the same (now empty) Music folder on the new machine.
Open iTunes. Your original library, including the metadata (playlists, etc), should now be present on the new machine.


How to upgrade Xcode 9 to Xcode 10.1 in mac OS Sierra 10.12.6 (16G1815)

Xcode 10.1 is not supported in macOS Sierra. You’ll need macOS High Sierra it later to run Xcode 10.1.

Since your model of MacBook Pro supports running macOS High Sierra, it's recommended that you upgrade to it. You can install current latest version of Xcode 10.2 in macOS High Sierra 10.13.6.


Look if you have red glow coming of it. And if it is showing digital Out in Sound Preferences.

If it is the case take a toothpick to the rescue!


Are there issues inherent to running dual 6-core processors on a 2009 Mac Pro vs a 2010?

Too long to be a comment, yet not conclusive enough to be an answer - but I'd like to throw in a couple of my experiences, even if I have no comparison.
I've never had a 'real' 5,1 but I do have a 3.46GHz Westmere upgraded 4,1.

To all intents & purposes everything except the front page of About this Mac considers it a 5,1.

I've always noticed a temperature discrepancy between the two processors - ref Mac Pro CPU temperature discrepancy - [which reached no solid conclusion] though it's never seemed to cause any problems, it just bothers my inner geek a bit.

I think the CPU fans always run a little fast, though again not enough to cause issues & it can be compensated by running the intake fans a little faster.

Intake at default 600

Intake at 800

Intake at 1000

I also had an issue with the Security update last year - Security update 2016-003 10.11.6 issues - [which again has no actual answer] I have no idea if it's related, but I ended up not having the update installed.
I have yet to dare attempt the recent 2017 security update. I might bite the bullet today & risk it.

It will run Sierra with no apparent issues, except that it's Sierra :/ [I really don't like that it breaks more than it fixes & it adds no user benefit for me.]


Is there a way to download or save voice recordings from messenger?

You can't do this on your iPhone itself, but you can on messenger.com on a Mac.

Open messenger.com in Safari and navigate to the voice recording.
Open the Web Inspector from the Develop menu (enable from Preferences → Advanced) and choose the Network tab.
Play the voice recording.
A new row will be added to the Network tab. Double-click the file and it will download.


Only display on Thunderbolt works. Camera, audio and USB ports do not

There is a known similar issue with certain 27' Thunderbolt displays going black, and having connection issues. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204450

Can you check the firmware version of the Thunderbolt display?

Apple Menu > About this Mac > System Report > Thunderbolt (from left sidebar) > Thunderbolt Display.

The latest firmware version should be 26.2 and the latest Port Micro Firmware Version should be 2.0.7.


You get the three options shown. That's it. macOS makes no provision for your particular desire in its design.

You should make an enhancement request at Apple's Product Feedback site.


How can I choose a specific location for Logic's 40GB of additional content?

Answer stolen borrowed here:

Download this for free: symbolic linker
Copy original 'Logic' Folder located in /Volumes/"SSDVolumeName"/Library/Application Support/ on the desired external drive and location.This is the location where all your additional content is beeing installed to.
You can delete the original folder or rename it and use it as a backup.
Use the symbolic link tool to create a symbolic link from the 'Logic' file which has been copied to your external drive.
Place the link (which looks like an alias) to its previous destination (/Volumes/"SSDVolumeName"/Library/Application Support/) and rename it to 'Logic'.
After this you will be able to download additional content.
Be aware if you want to download 30 GB of content and your SSD has just 20GB free space, it will show you the same error message because it stores the download file still on your SSD until installation is done. The solution for this is to download everything part by part."

or:

Using the Finders 'Go to Folder' menu option, enter:

/private/var/folders/

A look in the various folders there will reveal a folder called "com.apple.MusicApps/audiocontentdownload.apple.com/".
Copy the folder "lp10_ms3_content_2013" to your external drive, delete the original and symlink this folder on your external drive back to /private/var/folders/../com.apple.MusicApps/audiocontentdownload.apple.com/
If the folder "lp10_ms3_content_2013" is missing in the original just create it on your external drive and link it back.
(not tested)