How to silently update OS X and reboot if necesary?

$ sudo softwareupdate --list
$ softwareupdate -a -i && shutdown -r now

The && shutdown -r now is purely optional - if you want to only reboot when needed (or never) you can process the output as softwareupdate will print out messages that a reboot is needed when appropriate. This tool - even if updates come from the App Store app, does not update any purchased apps. You need the GUI to update those apps at present time since Apple did not include a tool to automate those updates.

The first just scans for appropriate updates. The second installs all updates followed by a reboot of the Mac. Play around to see what works best for you. It's trivial to automate these using launchd if that suits your needs as well.

I've had better luck rebooting the Macs before the update. If I'm going to cut users off with unsaved data, I'd rather do that first and let the update go cleanly. Updating a program that is currently running is something I like to avoid.

Here is a nice article explaining the details from Apple. It works fine on non-server version of Mac OS X as noted at the end of the article.


Time Machine restore does not recognize sparsebundle password

Check if your password is longer than 15 characters, if it is just type the first 15.


Why is [dos] sometimes in the output of a save in "vim". such as: "foo.txt [dos] 38L, 193C"?

What flags a file as being a [dos] file?

Line endings. Windows uses CR (carrage return) and NL (newline) characters. Old Mac plain text files use CR and macOS command line editors use NL.


How To Sandbox Individual Applications On OS X Mavericks

Yes, Apple included a sandbox facility with the release of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard in 2006. This facility includes sandbox, sandboxd, sandbox_init, and sandbox-exec.


Customise Touch Bar for a specific application

Assuming I understand your question, you can set your Touch Bar to show the function keys as its default display on an app by app basis.

To do this:

Go to Apple > System Preferences
Select the Keyboard preference pane
Click on the Shortcuts tab
In the left sidebar, select the Function Keys option
On the right-hand side click on the plus + button
Select the JetBrains PhpStorm app
Add the app

Now, whenever you are using the JetBrains PhpStorm app, the Touch Bar should display all the function keys.


Does USB-C charge your device (laptop/phone) while connected to a plugged-in display?

If you want to run a TV or external display from a MacBook, you need an adaptor. And the Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adaptor has HDMI, USB and USB-C ports, so you can connect the MacBook's power adaptor to the USB-C port while you use the HDMI port to drive the external display. The external display won't power the MacBook itself.


Can the iCloud share app-specific data across devices?

The direct answer to your question is It depends.

Certain applications like iWork can store data in the cloud which is then synchronized across devices. However there is currently no interface to allow you to choice which document is the primary, as the data is synchronize on a last updated cycle.

If the game support using shared document via iCloud, you would be able to synchronize game data, however, by default it will not.


Find my Friends reveals neither the name nor the type of the device being used to share your location. So you could switch the device being used for location sharing to a different phone logged in to the same iCloud account, or even to an iPad.

To change this:

On iOS 11: Settings → Your Profile → iCloud → Share My Location → From.
On iOS 12: Settings → Your Profile → Share My Location → From.

Lots more details on how to block location: Can my son block me from finding him with my find my iphone app?


AnyBar with Text should do what you want. I have used the project it is forked from (AnyBar) to successfully monitor things.

This free app runs in the background and there are a variety of ways to issue it commands, including from the command line, AppleScript, or through programming languages like Go, Node, PHP, Ruby, Java, and Python.

Edited to add: Note that the text won't be in the center of the menubar, per se, but it will be toward the "inside" of the status icons on the right hand side, towards the middle.


You should be able to extract Mail.app from the OS X installer packages using Pacifist.

Re-installing Mail however is unlikely to solve your problem.

Mail has an option to scale images. When composing a message with an image attachment a pop-up appears in the header section to set the desired image size. Make sure that is set to “Actual Size”.

Next check if you have any Mail plugins installed that could cause the problem. Try removing plugins and adding them back one by one.

Next create a new account on your Mac and set up Mail there. If the problem does not appear, it is linked to settings in your account. Try resetting Mail preferences: trash the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.mail.plist file and restart you Mac. Mail will create a new preferences file. If that does not work, move the old file back in place and restart.


AppleScript How to return first n elements of item in list

Here's an example:

set theString to "Ask Different"
set theArray to text items 1 thru 10 of theString

  Result:
    {"A", "s", "k", " ", "D", "i", "f", "f", "e", "r"}

Since you are new to AppleScript, I encourage you to take the time to read though: AppleScript Language Guide

Just so you know, AppleScript does not have object designated with the name array, it uses list instead. It's a minor technicality however, since you're just starting to learn, its best you know what it's called within the AppleScript Language.

So, instead of using the variable theArray, I'd choose to name it theList, or more specifically I'd add an additional qualifier. For example, theCharList, or whatever is appropriate so as I read through the code I write, I readily know what the variable is for.


generate Keynote presentation from text or Markdown?

md2key

md2key is exactly what you want. md2key is an open source tool for converting markdown to Keynote presentations.

Install

Install md2key with the command:

gem install md2key

Usage

Create a keynote document
Create a first slide as a cover slide
Create a second slide to choose a slide layout
Then execute md2key markdown.md


How can I select text in Terminal.app using Ctrl+Shift+a and Ctrl+Shift+e?


Delete all data from MacBook except a certain folder?

Apple Support has some excellent documents on guidelines to follow before selling/giving away your Mac.

What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac.

As per this document, the best way to restore the Mac to factory settings and remove everything and reinstall macOS. This should really get rid of all user data and any user installed apps.

However, you do not wish to re-download and re-install macOS Mojave. This is what I would do if I were in your place and had similar requirement.

Start by uninstalling all the unnecessary app installed from Mac App Store and other places.
First of all, go to Launchpad, press and hold Option key and uninstall apps installed from the Mac App Store. The ones installed from the Mac App Store shows an x button towards the top left of the app icon. Simply click on the x button to uninstall it.
Download and install an app called AppCleaner. Use AppCleaner to look for and uninstall any user installed apps.
Restart the computer to make sure any recently uninstalled app is completely removed.
Uninstall any package manager such as Homebrew, MacPorts that you may have installed by following the respective uninstall instructions from their website.
You are now done uninstalling the apps. I am assuming you are an Admin user. Now proceed to delete any (all) other user account(s) that you may have on system. Select the delete the user Home folder to delete any files/data saved by them.
Create a new Admin user account by going to System Preferences app → Users & Groups → (Unlocking preference by clicking on Lock icon) → Clicking on + button and creating a new Administrator account.
Copy the folder that you wish to backup from the Desktop to a folder named Shared which is present in /Users directory alongside your current users Home directory.
Make sure to also copy any files to Shared folder that you may wish to backup.
Now go to System Preferences app → iCloud and turn off Find My Mac (if enabled). This will require your Apple ID credentials to be entered.
Under iCloud system preference, click on the Sign Out button to disconnect from iCloud. Make sure to remove local copy of any data (Contacts, Reminders, Notes).
Log out of the current user, we are done cleaning up.
Log in with the newly created account and perform any preliminary configuration.
First of all, copy the directory that you backed up from your Desktop to Shared folder to a suitable location in the new users account Home directory.
Once successfully backed up, delete the directory and any other files from the Shared directory.
Now go to System Preferences app → Users & Groups, unlock the preference by clicking on the lock icon, select and delete your original user account. To delete it, click on the account name and click on the - button shown towards the bottom. When prompted, choose to delete all the user data.
This should take care of your specific requirement and should give you a usable factory condition like macOS installation. You can now give it away to your friend.


Prevent macOS Messages.app from quitting when I close its window?

As far as I can see that's just another case of "Automatic Termination", similar to Preview, QuickTime Player, etc.

If you launch Terminal (from /Applications/Utilities/) and run the following command with Messages quit, Messages should stop terminating, when the window is closed:

defaults write com.apple.iChat NSDisableAutomaticTermination -bool yes

Then press enter.

To undo it again:
defaults delete com.apple.iChat NSDisableAutomaticTermination


WiFi or Bluetooth (or USB) for iPad Tethering

Range

Wifi is the best
Bluetooth shorter
USB length of cable (there are 10' USB cables for iPad)

Security

USB is the best assuming you have decent physical security
Wifi is pretty good if you use WPA2
Bluetooth is the lowest probably

Speed (usually all better than your 3G speeds so a moot point for 3G)

USB is the fastest @ 480 Mbps for USB 2.0
802.11n tops out @ 150 Mbps
Bluetooth is by far the slowest @ ~3 Mbps

Power Usage

USB is the most power efficient, however the iPad will try to charge off your laptop
Wifi and Bluetooth are less power efficient than USB but I don't know how they compare

Bottom Line: USB is the best if range isn't an issue, If distance is needed use Wifi with WPA2


How can I batch zip multiple folders without _macosx files?

Here is an Automator Service that uses as single Run Shell Script action to handle the process.

In Automator, select: File > New > Service
Set: Service receives selected folders in Finder
Add a Run Shell Script Action

Settings: Shell: /bin/bash and Pass input: as arguments
Replace all of the default code with the code show further below.

Save the Automator Service giving it an appropriate name, e.g.: Create CBZ Zip Archive

Now in Finder, select the target folder(s) that you want an individual zip archive, with a .cbz extension for each selected folder, then right-click and select Create CBZ Zip Archive, from the services section of the context menu.

Code for Run Shell Script Action:

for d in "$@"; do
    if ! cd "$(dirname "$d")"; then exit; fi
    if ! d="$(basename "$d")"; then exit; fi
    if [[ ! -e "${d}.cbz" ]]; then
        if ! zip -r "${d}.cbz" "$d" -x \*.DS_Store \*.localized; then exit; fi
    fi
done

Notes:

As coded, it only creates the filename.cbz zip archive file if the file does not already exist.
It creates the filename.cbz zip archive file in the same folder containing the selected folder(s).
It's written in a manner that if an error occurs with any of the steps taken, it exits the script without notification. Error handling can be modified as needed/wanted.
By default, zip will not include the __MACOSX folder and if you find there are other hidden files besides .DS_Store and .localized, although you shouldn't run in to the latter in this use case, you can add additional exclusions to the zip command.
As is, the only indication the script has finished is when the Automator Service Gear Icon on the Menu bar has disappeared. Some other form(s) of completion notification can be added to the script and or the workflow of the Automator Service extended with additional actions as appropriate, needed/wanted.
As is, it's no frills, however it does what it's programed to do.


Dead characters on iMac Mojave, NOT keyboard-related

Sounds like you have accidentally activated Mouse Keys.  Turn it off

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18381


Facebook has a limit of 1 Gig or 20 minutes Video.

Also RECOMMEND uploading video files in .MP4 format.

So you definitely need to cut back.


How to restore previous version of iOS Video app

My answer addresses the OP issue with TV.app, not reverting to the previous Videos.app. The functionality the OP wishes to have is available in the TV.app and that is what my answer addresses.

I know this question is a little old, but I had the same issue with the new TV.app seeing my local Home Sharing library. This question is also addressed/answered here as well.

Home Sharing libraries under the library menu at the top of the TV.app do not appear until;

Home Sharing is setup on all devices. And...
Content is downloaded from the iTunes Store (e.g. a single free tv show.)

Step 2 seems to trigger the TV.app to make Home Sharing available. Once this is done your Home Sharing library will be visible in the menu and you will be able to access and view your content from the shared library on the device.

The below image is my iPad showing our local Home Sharing library iMac Library in the TV.app on iOS 10.3.1 - Hope this answer helps others.


How to switch focus to the app based on its PID from CLI?

Here is an example AppleScript code snippet that will bring the windows of the unix id (PID) for process showing Foo in its command to the front:

set thisUnixID to (do shell script "ps wx | awk '/[F]oo/{print $1}'") as integer

tell application "System Events"
    set frontmost of every process whose unix id is thisUnixID to true
end tell

Note that this example code can be reworked to ask for a profile name and go from there and can be done either as an AppleScript application or a bash script depending on your requirements.

Also note that the square braces around the first character of "Foo" are there so it only returns the PID for the appropriate target, not e.g. the PID of awk looking for "Foo" without the square braces.

Here is the slighty modified version which finds the Firefox window with specific profile name:

#!/usr/bin/env osascript
set PID to (do shell script "pgrep -f -- 'firefox -P Foo'") as integer

tell application "System Events"
  set frontmost of every process whose unix id is PID to true
end tell


Remove Gmail contacts from iPhone contacts list

Go to Settings → Contacts → Accounts → your Gmail account and turn off Contacts.
Choose ‘Delete from iPhone’ to remove them from your iPhone contacts list.


I have done this using the raw InstallESD.dmg image from the Mac App Store Lion installer (NOT the Recovery Disk Assistant) using the following steps:

Drag the InstallESD.dmg image to Disk Utility so that it appears on the side bar
Select your USB drive and partition the drive in to 2 or more GUID partitions
Once partitioning is complete, select the Restore tab
Drag that InstallESD.dmg image from the side bar to the source field
Drag the first partition from the USB drive on the side bar to the target field
Begin the restore process

Once finished you can leave things as they are or re-format the other partition as ExFAT or MS-DOS. However you should be aware the USB drive is GUID partitioned so only Windows 7 is likely to read it properly (I've never tried a GUID partioned USB drive on an XP system). You cannot use standard MBR partitions for the Lion Recovery Partition.


How to start a slideshow on the Mac quickly and easily?

In Leopard and later versions (up to El Capitan), select the files you want in the Finder and press the spacebar to invoke QuickLook. You can then use the arrow keys to cycle through them. If you click the full-screen icon, Finder and QuickLook displays the slideshow. You get extra animation in some os versions if Finder is showing files in cover-flow layout.

In OS X Yosemite 10.10 and later, the maximise (full-screen) button is in the upper left-hand corner. Then press "play" to start the slideshow.

For OS X 10.9 to 10.7 the full screen icon is top right.

In Tiger, there is a "Slideshow" option in the context menu in the Finder.

In Panther and earlier, it is indeed several steps before you can get a slideshow.


The Oracle Java ie 1.7 does not install itself in the same place as the Apple Java ie <= 1.6.

The java executable is in /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_11.jdk/Contents/Home/bin/java

This is possibly because only Apple supplied files should be under /System


Keyboard backlit light control from command line

I haven't found a great solution yet. Here is some information that can help:

Apparently there is a solution for Ubuntu on MacBooks.
Lab Tick runs on OS X but unfortunately not command-line (nor open source).
brightness is free software to control the display brightness.

This turns off automatic backlight in low light:

defaults write com.apple.BezelServices kDim -bool false

This turns off keyboard illumination when computer is not used for 1 second:

defaults write com.apple.BezelServices kDimTime -int 1

But ideally I would just turn off the illumination under all circumstances. And I haven't found a CLI solution for that - yet.


Why is networking slow to start up after exiting the screensaver?

It could be that when asleep your wifi become disconnected. When you then try to connect the 1st time it thinks there is no connection. After a few seconds, the wifi is restored and pages load. I don't know how to prevent it from disconnecting. I'm still working on that.


So, I was facing the same problem and it was super bugging me. I have "kind of a fix": instead of uploading the book through Mac OS, do it on the iPhone.

Delete the book from all devices and iCloud.
Put the .epub or .pdf file in a folder on iCloud (just like any other file, like on the Documents folder)
Click on it on your iPhone.

It will open Books and sync it with the cover! But I had the problem that, if I had Books open at the same time on my Mac, the book would disappear. So I just left Books open on iPhone, did all the books, and then opened on my Mac. It worked fine!!

Where I got it: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/dov3x4/books_wont_upload_book_covers_to_icloud/


The best way is to boot into your current OS X install, and download the Mountain Lion installer from the Mac App Store. When the installer asks which drive to install to, select your second partition.

Internet Recovery is different to the Recovery HD partition.

Generally…

  As long as you have a valid Recovery HD partition, trying to boot into Internet Recovery will instead boot your Mac into standard recovery mode.

Both recovery modes download OS X anyway…

  installing Mountain Lion from within recovery mode requires an Internet connection to download the actual OS.

…so I recommend using the Mac App Store to install Mountain Lion as I mentioned above.

Disk Utility shouldn't let you remove the Recovery HD partition unless you are in Debug mode. It is unlikely that you have accidentally deleted the Recovery HD partition, and since you can select it when holding alt to select a boot drive, I doubt very much that it's gone.

The App Store Mountain Lion installer is the universal installer capable of installing on any compatible Mac. There is no 'different installer' for Retina or otherwise.


Understanding Disk Utility: external drive returns I/O error but Disk Utility says it's OK

FWIW: As suggested by @Tetsujin, running a more 'aggressive' tool over the drive (in my case TechTool Pro) uncovered a number of bad blocks.


Internal hard disk requirements will not allow me to update to Maverick

Usually when there's a problem with upgrading you have to "re-bless" the HDD. This often comes from a permissions problem with something on the HDD. You can open the Disk Utility and do a full permissions check to find any problems.

In my experience I've found the best way to accomplish this is to create a boot-able USB device using something like "Disk Maker X" and then boot from that. Once in the installer Open the Utilities and run Disk Utility from there. This will allow the permissions to be accessed from outside the disk, which helps since you won't have anything dependent on your log in. After the permissions are fully repaired try rebooting to the USB device and re-installing.


Why does my MacBook Air occasionally become extremely dim after being idle?

With the information provided my Initial impression points to your "Energy Saver" preferences where the "Automatically reduce brightness before going to sleep" option is enabled. The dimming not occurring before 30 mins is likely due to the "Computer Sleep" settings your MacBook Air is set to.


Is there a more-accurate indicator of an app download's progress than what appears in Launchpad?

When you are in the App store, click on the "Purchases" button on the top bar. This will give you the total size of the app as well as how much has been downloaded. I think it even gives you an estimated time frame until completion.


My iMac has been hacked via sshd. What now?

If you are absolutely certain that your Mac has been hacked I'd strongly recommend that you erase your hard drive, reinstall OS X and manually copy you data back from Time Machine:

Back up your Mac.
Restart and hold Command+R to enter OS X Recovery (http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4718).
Select 'Disk Utility' and reformat your hard drive (http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5849).
Quit 'Disk Utility' and select 'Reinstall OS X'. Note that (from http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4718):

  Reinstalling OS X using Recovery requires broadband access to the
  Internet using a Wi-Fi or Ethernet connection. OS X is downloaded over
  the Internet from Apple when OS X Recovery is used for reinstallation.
  You must use DHCP on your Wi-Fi or Ethernet network to reinstall OS X
  using OS X Recovery. If you bought OS X from the Mac App Store, you
  may be prompted to enter the Apple ID and password you used to
  purchase OS X.

When OS X is up and running, plug your external Time Machine drive, open it in Finder, open the folder named after your Mac and then the 'Latest' folder (http://www.macissues.com/2014/04/14/how-to-restore-files-from-time-machine-manually/).
Browse to 'Applications' and copy non-Mac App Store applications back to '/Applications'. Note that some apps (for example VMware Fusion) won't work properly if copied, you must reinstall them with the installer provided by the manufacturer.
Install Mac App Store applications from the App Store.
Browse to 'Users/[your username]' and copy Documents, Pictures, Movies, Music, and any other folder that contains important data to your new home folder.
I would refrain from copying 'Library', although that's where your settings are located. If you have iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, Safari, Notes and Keychain synchronization enabled most of your settings will rebuild themselves just fine. You may want to selectively copy application settings from 'Library/Application Support' after checking the files' contents.
If you share your Mac with other people repeat steps 8. and 9. for their accounts.

iCloud synchronization is especially important for Keychain, and I talk from experience: I had a pretty hard time exporting and importing Keychain after installing OS X Yosemite from scratch without restoring from a Time Machine backup.

A piece of advice: It is best practice that the login account you use on a daily basis doesn't have administrative rights. You should create an administrative account instead. I usually call it admin:

while my account is 'Standard'. The side effect is that OS X will prompt you to type admin's password every now and then, for example to edit settings in System Preferences:

Good luck!


"Enter your passcode" without a passcode

It's an issue of f.lux, but it seems there's no solution for the problem. And sadly I don't think this issue will be patched soon as Apple stopped f.lux team developing the app for iOS.


Failed time machine backup: volume not available anymore

This isn't definitive, but the first thing to check is whether your system can mount the Time Capsule drive at all. Eject the Time Capsule drive if mounted, reboot your system, reconnect it, and see if it shows up in Finder and Disk Utility.

If not, there's a disk mount problem. You need to figure that out first, because Time Machine will not run without a known disk target to write to.

If the disk does show up, then there's some issue with Time Machine. It could be corruption of your backups, or of your Time Machine binary, or something related.

Sorry this isn't definitive, but I'd recommend checking disk status first to isolate the problem.


How long should you wait before force shutting down your mac in case of a stuck upgrade/update?

I would wait as long as possible. When you force shut down a computer that’s in the middle of an update, you’re likely going to have to do recovery and reinstall the OS. I did hear of one case where that wasn’t necessary, but usually that’s the case.


If you are able to use Skype and uTorrent, but not able to use Safari or Chrome, I would recommend that you try resetting the SMC. In my comment above, I recommended trying to ping external addresses which would determine the status of your network connectivity.


Is it possible to develop an iOS app without a test device?

Clearly: No. The simulator does not offer hardware access (gyroscope, accelerometer, etc.) and also, you just don't get the feeling for your App, which is very important in iOS development. You can't use the gestures and you don't know how it reacts if you work with it. so it is definitely not advisable. I tried to use the simulator in the beginning, but some frameworks don't even run on it.


I've been experiencing the exact same issue.  Outlook 2013 which synchronizes with Office 365, I-Phone 6S Plus with IOS 9.1

If I modify or create a calendar entry on my I-phone, it changes the calendar entry to an invite in Outlook.  In Outlook the calendar entry is shown with a semi-colon and followed by my name.

If I open the calendar entry, the To... field is displayed empty and an information message: "You haven't sent this meeting invitation yet."

If I click on "Cancel Invitation", the entry becomes a calendar entry again and the Invite disappears...  Until I edit it with the I-Phone.

Hmmm...


How do I change Mac OS X's sleep behavior with respect to USB plugging/unplugging?

The reason why the Mac awakes is because the USB device is drawing power from the Mac’s USB port. When you disconnect it, there’s a change in the voltage and the Mac awakes (same goes when you plug one).

Curiously, there’s a way to do it in Windows.

According to the guys at Super User, this is not possible on a Mac. At least not that we’ve discovered yet.


How to login as a different bash user in terminal?

Use login:

$ login
login: username
Password:
Last login: Day Month Date HH:MM:SS on ttys000
$ whoami
username


git is installed by Xcode. I doubt you'll have any problems if you replace it, but I can't give you a definitive answer to that…

What I'd do is rename the old /usr/bin/git to git_old, then rely on your path to select the new one.
If that doesn't work, move the new one to /usr/bin. I doubt Xcode is picky about which version of git it's using.
If that still doesn't work, move git_old back to /usr/bin/git and use either a direct path, rename, or alias for your new one.

I doubt you'll have to go past #1 above, though. That should be enough.

Edit: I read your original post backwards. The first thing you should do is make sure your path includes the new git directory BEFORE the directory that contains the old git.


List all playlists that include a particular song

Okay so I have found that if I delete the track via Finder (and empty trash), then finding the track in my Library in iTunes as expected it will say the file is not found. This will then give you prompt to locate the file, after selecting the new file all instances of the track will be replaced with the new location automatically by iTunes


Is there a way to delete only documents/data of an app without deleting the app itself?

If the application doesn't provide a way to delete documents, uninstalling and reinstalling the app is definitively the best option here.


How do I change from English to my native language in Xcode?

As Tom pointed out, XCode is only available in english on the Mac App Store !

If you look on other apps you'll see the available localizations for example on Apple's Number.


Lost Gmail inbox, can't restore with TimeMachine

If it is an IMAP account (don't know if GMAIL accepts POP3) I'm afraid the Time Machine is useless because those mails were not in the local storage - your HDD or SDD, so there is no way Time Machine keep it in backup files. This emails was in a remote Google server and you will have to try their recovery tools.

Usually, the server will keep the deleted messages for a while, even not showing in the trash. This is good place to start: Google Support


You can use the USB drive plugged into the busted computer as a network drive with OS X's file sharing.

Mount the drive with USB. Go to System Preferences-> Sharing -> File Sharing. Turn it on and click the plus button. Click on your USB drive and click Add. Add your user account on the right.

Now, go to another computer on the network. The busted MacBook should appear in the Finder sidebar. Click it and click Connect As. Type in your username and password (the one you use on the busted MacBook). Let it log in. Click on the USB drive and let it load the list of files. You should now see your USB drive mounted on your desktop.

Now, to configuring Time Machine.
By default, TM doesn't let you use a network drive unless its a Time Capsule. But, you can allow it do so by changing a hidden preference.
Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities). Type this in and press enter:
defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1
Now, open System Preferences -> Time Machine. Turn it on and set it to use your network drive.
Backups will be slowish, but they should work.

If you want to use iTunes and Time Machine, you'll need to use Disk Utility to partition the drive into two partitions. Time Machine needs a whole partition to run...

If you do that, just make sure that you select both partitions on the busted MacBook's Sharing System Preferences pane. Set up Time Machine to use one partition, and add your iTunes folder on the other one.

Notes: The MacBook will have to be turned on for you to get at its files.
320GB is kinda small for a Time Machine disk, especially if you're partitioning to keep media on it. Just be careful...

Hope this helps.


I've managed to fix my problem :)

The root cause of the problem is that my external drive (WD My Book Raid 1) has my library on it and had gone into hibernation while the phone was restoring the ios.  This meant that when iTunes had finished installing the operating system on the phone and tried to reinstall the content it could no longer see the external drive.  Why my drive is doing this is a different problem.  Details of what I did to fix the problem...

Please note that these instructions are specific to my issue of an iPhone 3GS running IOS 6 with iTunes on a PC and the library on an external drive.  It worked for me but proceed at your own risk.

Set iTunes to play content from the library so it is constantly accessing the drive and stopping it hibernating.

Make sure the iPhone is disconnected and turn it off ( to turn off press and hold the Sleep/Wake button for a few seconds until the red "slide to power off" slider   appears, and then slide the slider).

In iTunes go to (menu bar) Edit, click preferences then devices in the top of the popup window.

In the device backups box is a list of the backups stored on your computer for your device with a device name and date.  In my case the several failed attempts to restore the phone had left a few backups that are newer than when the phone was last working.  I highlighted and deleted all backups FOR THAT DEVICE created since the phone was working.  NOTE - YOU WILL LOOSE ALL CONTACTS, TEXTS, LOCALLY STORED CALENDAR ENTRY'S ETC. CREATED SINCE THAT BACKUP

Once you've deleted any unwanted backups click OK to exit.

Connect the iPhone to your PC

Put the iPhone into DFU (recovery) mode.  There are various videos / guides online just search or try this one which is MAC specific but identical for a PC.

iTtunes will then guide you through recovering the phone.

For me, once the phone operating system had loaded (15 mins ish) this initially came up with an error message (100+ tracks couldn't be found...) but it did back up everything fine (took several hours).  I even got back all scores on games etc. so am very happy.  Of cause all progress, changes etc. made since the last backup were lost, but I'd rather loose a couple of weeks information than everything.

Note to self - backup more often!  (and did someone mention iCloud.....?)

Good luck.


macOS Recovery disk utility is way older than disk utility on my drive

Reinstalling is pretty easy these days:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

If the old recovery functions, I wouldn’t worry about it. If you can boot to internet recovery, that also means you don’t need it.

Make a backup - you may need to erase everything to fix this, so be ready now.
Boot to any recovery OS and reinstall your OS - this doesn’t delete anything but does overwrite the system and make a new OS install and migrate all your apps, data, settings to the new install.

If you decide you need this to be updated / perfectly clean, follow the erase install guide. You will need your backup since this deletes everything from your Mac:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208496


Changing tabs in Terminal is very slow with lots of output

Go to Terminal / Preferences / Profiles / Window / Scrollback / Limit the number of rows to:


How do I use iTunes' "Download Later" feature?

Ok, the problem here is that I have actually been looking for something in the iTunes application UI to do this. Rather, the solution seems to be in the web pages served by the iTunes Store.

Go to the iTunes Store.
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Under "Features", choose "Purchased"
Choose the media type you want (it may help to choose "Not on this computer").
Click the iCloud icon to (re-)download it.


Can't download facetime from cloud on my iPhone

If you are having trouble downloading it from the App Store try resigning in to your Apple ID and trying to download it again.

If you can’t make calls:

Go to Settings
Go to FaceTime
Turn the switch on:


How to tell Mac OS Messages.app to go online from the command line?

Here is the command for terminal:

osascript -e 'tell application "Messages" to log in'


If it hadn't been 10.11 Public Beta (2) on the main volume, I would have advised to boot to Internet Recovery Mode (IRM) (altcmdR) or a bootable thumb drive (BTD), just delete the 3rd partition with gpt remove -i 3 /dev/disk0 and fully expand the main partition with Disk Utility. After rebooting to the main volume I would have reinstalled the latest OS X (Yosemite 10.10.4 as of this writing) which recreates the Recovery HD while preserving all non-Apple apps and user-created data.

Instead you have to dd the Recovery HD from a second Mac running Yosemite. Copy the resulting file to the first Mac. Then boot Mac1 to IRM/BTD, delete the 3rd partition with gpt, reboot to IRM/BTD, resize the main volume with diskutil resizeVolume /dev/disk0s2 size, create a 3rd partition with:

 gpt add -b first_freeblock -i 3 -s 1269536 -t 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC /dev/disk0

and finally dd the previously made copy of Recovery HD (Mac2) back to /dev/dis0s3.

To get size in diskutil ... size you have to do some math considering that the last blocks of a Yosemite drive containing the Recovery HD usually look like this:

....                      2  GPT part - 53746F72-6167-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
975503592    1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
976773128          7
976773135         32         Sec GPT table
976773167          1         Sec GPT header

Recheck this with sudo gpt -r show /dev/disk0 on Mac2.
The example here is a 500.1 GiB (976773168 blocks à 512 B) disk.

Accordingly "size" has to be smaller than or the same size as (total blocks - 409640 - 1269576 blocks). The second term is block0 - block409639 containing PMBR, the primary GPT header and table and the EFI partition. The third term is the size of the Recovery HD and the secondary GPT header and table. Please consider that block counting starts with 0: block 0 is the the first block or block 975503592 is the 975503593rd block.

If you are to lazy to do the math, you may first create the third partition and dd the Recovery HD file and then - after a restart - expand the main volume using Disk Utility.

A second more risky method (not risky regarding your data on the main volume but I'm not sure if it is successful) is just moving the partition borders of disk0s3. This method presumes that no files of the old Recovery HD were moved "physically" on disk0s3 after deleting the Boot Camp partition with the Boot Camp assistant.

Boot to IRM/BTD and enter in Terminal:

gpt remove -i 3 /dev/disk0

and reboot to IRM/BTD. Then add a third partition with the following command (already adapted to the size of your disk!):

gpt add -b 975835488 -i 3 -s 1269536 -t 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC /dev/disk0

and reboot to IRM/BTD. Open Disk Utility and verify/repair the hard drive (and not the main volume!). Then enlarge the main volume to max size and verify /repair the main volume. Finally try to boot to Recovery Mode (cmdR).


itunes on PC autofills music on iphone 7 despite option settings

If you set the Summary page in to 'Manually manage'

and then also Enable sync and select 'Selected playlists…' then an option appears to automatically fill free space with songs.

These options are all very interactive so you don't necessarily see them all at the same time.


No, you most likely have the very same common GPU issue. Seeing the glitches multiple times is a sure tell sign.

Beneath all that drama caused by resetting and tweaking things, temperature variations on the GPU contacts were what caused the glitches and the inconsistent behaviors. Your laptop is probably in the initial phase of GPU(soldering) failure. Sooner or later the problem worsens and more severe graphic glitches will appear or the computer simply becomes unbootable.

You can try the simple steps below to stress-test the GPU, but by doing so you could be accelerating the problem and end up in an unusable state sooner. You can decide if it's in your interest to forcefully trigger the problem. Regardless, these steps are not beyond any normal operating parameters, so if your laptop is immune from the GPU problem you are not doing anything harmful by performing these steps, warranty-wise especially.

Get a temperature & fan speed monitoring app like iStat Menus that can show you fan speeds, CPU and GPU temperatures in real time.
Run a GPU benchmark app to stress the GPU. Valley or Heaven should work, for free. Keep running/looping so the GPU temperature stays around 70'C or higher, for as long as possible (hours).
You should pause the benchmark app periodically for the temperature to drop down (back to 45~50'C range). Or just turn it off at nights. Repeat the heating/cooling process until the symptoms appear.

This test might end up proving nothing, and yet it doesn't mean the GPU is trouble-free. It takes time and many temperature cycles for the solder joint problem to become apparent.


Can the Samsung Gear S2/S3 be charged with Apple Watch magnetic puck charger?

No it won't. I have gear S3 and my wife has apple watch series 4. Apple puck won't charge S3.


Restart with the same windows and programs open

This is a feature introduced back with Lion, and it is called Resume.
When you are restarting you mac there is a popup menu, that is asking you if you want to reopen windows when logging back.
If you check this box, all the programs and windows should come back as it was.


What terminal is the Mountain Lion Terminal app emulating?

As with many terminal emulators, Terminal emulates most of a VT100 plus some features from newer terminals, and some common extensions from xterm and other emulators.

There is no terminfo file that exactly corresponds to Terminal, but the closest match used to be xterm-color, which represents an older offshoot of xterm. However, in recent versions Terminal is more fully compatible with xterm and xterm-256color is the new default value for the TERM environment variable.

In Preferences > Settings > [profile] > Advanced > Emulation there is a popup menu Declare terminal as: that sets the value of TERM (and that's all it does—it does not alter which features Terminal supports). If you're using a Mac that you've upgraded from an older OS version, you may want/need to update the setting to match the new recommended default if it is still set to xterm-color. Using xterm-color is not recommended and it is possible for it to cause problems because it isn't as close a match to Terminal's current feature set.

Despite the fact that installations of ncurses should include all terminfo files, some Linux distros do not, and in particular some of them omit xterm-256color. If this is the case you'll see programs complain in various ways about not being able to find it, and the solution is to install the entire set of terminfo files, or at least all the xterm ones.

If xterm-256color isn't available, the next best thing is xterm-16color, followed by xterm. These three are compatible and represent the current xterm version with decreasing numbers of supported colors (xterm only declares the eight basic ANSI colors, though a lot of programs simply ignore that and assume that sixteen are supported, but xterm-16color is the one to choose if you want to explicitly declare support for sixteen colors).

It's difficult to say exactly what could be causing the problem you're seeing, but the first thing to try is to run the infocmp command on the remote host to see what it says. That will tell you which terminfo it is expecting and whether it was found.

If it's a generic ncurses or terminfo issue, it's likely to occur with other programs, like vim. You might try running vim or less, for example, to compare behaviors. If you're feeling motivated, you could run vttest http://invisible-island.net/vttest/ on the remote host and check that Terminal responds appropriately to the tests for drawing text attributes, resizing the display, and switching to/from the alternate screen.

When you resize a terminal window, the terminal program notifies the tty device, which sends a SIGWINCH signal to processes connected to it. Programs are responsible for responding to the signal appropriately. One thing to test is whether the LINES and COLUMNS variables get updated in bash when you resize the terminal window. If that's working, then the signal mechanism is behaving correctly.

Another possibility is that the program isn't switching to/from the alternate screen correctly (which could be caused by having an incompatible terminfo selected). You can check the View > Hide/Show Alternate Screen menu item to see which screen is currently active. If it's showing the wrong screen, you might try manually switching it with the menu item and see if that clears up the problem.


Force keyboard re-identification in Catalina MacOS

I had the issue where I could not find Change Keyboard Type in that interface after migrating to new Mac with Big Sur and wanted to force keyboard re-identification.
Deleting /Library/Preferences/com.apple.keyboardtype.plist (as suggested above by JMY1000) and rebooting solved it. After the reboot the system ran the keyboard setup again and I could set the correct type.


How to backup all iOS text messages to mac or DropBox

You can use something like Phone View or iExplorer to export messages from your iPhone to your computer.
Phone View:

Save your SMS, iMessages and WhatsApp messages
Search and view your texts, plus picture and video messages, even when your iPhone isn’t connected to your Mac.
Export messages as beautiful PDF files.

iExplorer:

Some text messages are meant to be saved. With iExplorer, you can keep any or all of your text messages easily, allowing you to remember special moments, preserve important data, and get more done across your devices with simple iPhone SMS backup. The beautiful, intuitive app interface lets you search and save iPhone text messages with ease.
Export to PDF, CSV, TXT, all Images, all Attachments


How can I transfer iPhone + iPad data to a new computer?

There's an Apple guide to this process

There's also this guide on HowToGeek.com


Application level volume control in OS X?

A free and open-source solution is BackgroundMusic.
A nicer and paid solution is Rogue Amoeba's SoundSource


The issue in your video looks like it could be the Digitizer that's going bad.

Disassembling iPad, especially the Air series, is a huge pain in the ass (it's Repairability score on iFitIt is 2/10). If you want to go that route here's the info from iFixIt:

https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iPad_Air_Wi-Fi

Unlike the iPhones Apple doesn't replace the screens/digitizers because of the complicated repair process. They will however offer you a new iPad (same kind as what you have) with a Out Of Warranty exchange:

https://support.apple.com/ipad/repair/other


Can you Manually copy User Folder to new Mac?

If the drive is fine and only the old Mac broken, then you have several options. These are the steps I would recommend:

With the drive attached to your new Mac, open disk utility, hit view and select show all devices. Then choose the parent volume of the drive and click first aid. Do the same with its volumes. If an error occurs try again multiple times and/or in Recovery Mode.
Try simply booting from this drive. Shut down the Mac. Disconnect everything, then only reconnect the old system drive. Start your Mac and hold the opt. If the boot loader detects your old system drive to be bootable it show up and you can select it to boot from that drive. You can then do a TM-Backup or even continue using it that way if you want.
As already suggested by @nohillside you can also try using Migration Assistant.
If you want to completely control what files will be on your new Mac, then I suggest only copying specific files from your old drive to the new Mac (e.g. only the Home folder and no Apps).

To restore your user account I would recommend creating a TM backup, since this will also restore settings and all programs for that user account.
If you only want to restore the data of your user account, it is
perfectly fine to just copy the contents of the Home folder (e.g. the
Movies folder).


Disable automatic "overview scan" in Image Capture

If you (remember to) set the scan mode to document feeder, it won't do the overview.


Choose the track in iTunes and choose get info (cmd-I)

The summary tab gives a description of the track including album, artist etc and the full path in the filesystem

The info tab gives the details of the album, artist, album artist ie what artist appears in the iTunes listing

The sorting tab might also be of interest for this issue

These artist and albums will also be the ones used on the iPod

Also you can change the recently added playlist to include more tracks by changing the number in the definition of the smart playlist


How to prevent safari from opening links in third party apps on macOS

I am still a fresh new contributor so I can't comment on every post yet. I found something interesting concerning your issue.
I hope your problem only affects this particular app BlueJeans being automatically opened by Safari and if not, I would be sorry that my answer could not help you.
Here is the link : https://support.bluejeans.com/s/article/BlueJeans-Detector-Service.

As you can see, the user is required to click on an additional popup
to allow the meeting to launch. The user may accidentally cancel this
dialog and then be confused as to why nothing happened. Alternately,
some users may not even notice the dialog and simply sit at this
screen, confused.
On top of that, an additional click may seem not so bad, but if the
user is frequently joining meetings, this adds significant friction to
the launch experience. In Chrome, as shown, the user can elect to
“Always Allow” but this option is not available in every browser (for
example in Safari).

As you can see, the article says that the Launcher Service prevents your browser from asking if you want to Open in BlueJeans.app.
The most brutal way to get the alert box back would be to stop this Launcher Service process.


View youtube videos in 720p by default in Safari?

There should be an option in your Youtube settings to default to HD resolutions if they're available. It should be under Playback Settings>Video Playback Quality.


What is the Elo of the Mac Book chess engine at top strength?

The Mac chess app is based on the Sjeng engine.

A page on the Sjeng website says:

  Sjeng is probably a bit weaker in bughouse than it is in crazyhouse.
  Most Sjeng's on the FICS have a rating of about 2000 points in
  bughouse, with a top of over 2200 points.

  For standard chess, Sjeng's rating is probably about 2450 ELO [sic]. In
  suicide and losers chess Sjeng beats all but the very best humans, and
  will beat non-specialized programs easily.

So, according to the makers of the engine Apple uses, the Elo is around 2450 in standard mode.


After upgrading to Snow Leopard, don't I have to upgrade Chrome or Firefox and other programs to 64-bit version?

64-bit apps have been fully supported since Leopard (OS X v10.5), and 64-bit non-GUI programs since 10.3.  The only thing 10.6 added was that Apple included a 64-bit kernel (which is a completely separate thing), and included 64-bit code in (almost) all of the programs they ship with the OS.

OS X uses a "fat" binary format, which allows a single program to include multiple CPU-architecture versions of itself; when it's run, the OS picks the "best" version of the program, and runs that.  For instance, on a 64-bit capable Intel Mac, it'd look for a 64-bit Intel version first; if that wasn't available, it'd look for a 32-bit Intel version; if that wasn't available, it'd look for a 32-bit PowerPC version and run that under the Rosetta emulation/translation system.

Net result: many of your programs are probably already 64-bit capable, and have been running in that mode for a while now.  Some may not be, in which case they'll keep running just fine in 32-bit mode.  It's all remarkably transparent.

If you want to know which of your programs support 64-bit mode, run the System Profiler utility, and select Software -> Applications from the sidebar; it'll list all the programs it can find, along with whether they're Intel-only, PowerPC only, or Universal (both), and whether they have Intel 64-bit support.  You can also use Finder's Get Info on a program; if it has an "Open on 32-bit mode" option, that program includes both 32- and 64-bit versions of itself (and that option will let you override the OS's ideal of the "best" version).

Now, to answer your more direct question: I don't know about Chrome, but Firefox version 3.x comes in a 32-bit only binary; version 4 comes with both 32- and 64-bit.  Either one will work fine.


Macbook Pro Late-2011, Mountain Lion, when it sleeps, devices don't wake

Maybe you already found this, but ....
System Preferences/Energy Saver
has a checkbox "Wake for network access'
The help says:
Select this option if you want other users to be able to access your computer’s shared resources, such as shared printers or iTunes playlists, even when your computer is in sleep mode.


Mac mini bluetooth or multitouch failures after hibernating

As it turns out, the problem was one with either the iMate ADB/USB adapter or the Apple Extended Keyboard (AEK). Since the AEK requires an ADB/USB adapter, and I don't have another one around, I can't determine which component was the cause. Either way, since I replaced the AEK with an Apple USB Keyboard, the problem has not returned.


In general, this is a very safe, OS X boots other hardware in general situation.

However, when new hardware is released - often a special build is made and until the next revision or two of software, you can't boot that hardware so you'd need to take a hard drive from the specialized machine to an older one instead of the other way around.

It's far safer to migrate from a Time Machine or target mode or from running OS using file sharing / network. That way each machine has the correct OS and can flag apps or system files for non-transfer when there is a known problem migrating them.


Theres a drastic color change in my screen. (it's a drastic change in the rectangle)

Pressure on the display that changes the display contents indicates physical failure of the delicate connectors where the glass meets the metal wires running to the controller.

I would have an Apple certified tech let you know if it’s safe and get a quote to fix it. Unless there’s damage elsewhere internally, that sort of failure doesn’t damage other parts or represent a shock / fire risk vast majority of the time so you could opt to not repair it if you don’t feel the cost or time out of service matter to you.

This likely won’t get better or fix itself, though.


Can I clear my iPhone camera roll without losing any photo?

Some explanations about where your iPhone photos are stored:

the iPhone Camera Roll
Sure. This is the only standard thing that happens.
the iCloud photo stream
Happens only when you have enabled the My Photo Stream option in Settings->iCloud->Photos
iPhoto/Aperture projects
Will be the case if you connect your iPhone to you Mac and sync/export your photos.

Now based on the above, deleting photos from you Camera Roll do the follow in each case:

will simply... delete them from your Camera Roll. They may still be in the Recently Deleted Album of your phone for some days.
will also delete them from your Photo Steam since this is something for sharing, not storing/backing-up. Do not confuse this with the iCloud Photo Library (Beta)
will not affect your photos in the iPhoto projects, since these are not synced automatically or something.

Edit after your explanations:

Deleting a photo from your Camera Roll will also delete it from the Photo Stream. And this applies to all your linked devices.

One should think the Photo Stream as a single common Album that all the devices have access to. Hence, any change to it, is reflected to all devices.

Long story short, if you have your photos saved in your mac you can safely delete them from your iPhone. If you feel uneasy with that, you can simply try it with a couple of photos and make sure that everything worked as you expected


Mac OS X - Terminal window shows up but closes immediately

I recently had this issue because I uninstalled the version of bash installed by macports (/opt/local/bin/bash) not realizing it was my default shell. The solution was to change my default shell back to /bin/bash via the advanced user options in the Users & Groups System Preferences. (See @sdmeyers' comment on @Pyrolistical's answer for instructions.)


Run type rsync in Terminal and take note of the path (I assume /usr/local/bin/rsync but this may be different in your case)

Call this version of rsync in your AppleScript
do shell script "/usr/local/bin/rsync -azvp '/Volumes/MAC SSD X5' '/Volumes/Backup/MAC SSD X5' - ...

PS: --rsync-path is used to "specify the rsync to run on remote machine" which isn't relevant if you rsync between locally-mounted volumes.


How to run a command on open terminal via shortcut

Found the answer to this query so wanted to share.

The problem with the code in question was that it was opening the new temrinal window.

The solution was th prevent it from doing that by running the code in already open window, by mentioning the window 1 in it like this:

tell application "Terminal"
    do script "npm start" in window 1
end tell

We can also use keycode and keystroke technique discussed here: https://stackoverflow.com/q/1870270/953566 too, however that was too lengthy and complicated, but can be useful in someones situation.


How do I reset my iCloud credentials after entering an incorrect email address?

You seem to be in quite a pickle. Since the email address is either invalid or does not belong to you, you probably want to call Apple to sort this out. If you have not used the account for anything. you could just set up as usual, but I'm guessing you already started using that account.

Go to Apple ID Support for more info.


Cannot install rvictl to capture network

I had to do this:

sudo /usr/sbin/installer -pkg /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Resources/Packages/MobileDeviceDevelopment.pkg -target /


Mountain Lion no login field after booting

The problem is that OS X detects 2 monitors and thinks that the secondary monitor is the main one.

This can happen with a monitor connected to the Thunderbolt port or in your case, as you state in a comment above, using virtual monitor software Air Display.

Apparently, Air Display didn't detect that the built-in MacBook Air monitor was active, so it sent the video signal over WiFi to a peer Air Display device.

As a consequence you only saw the bare splash screen.


Upgrading RAM with 2 different memory modules

DDR memory must be 'matched pairs' to get optimum performance.  That being said, any performance increase (which depends on the kinds of tasks you're running) from that pairing effect would be vastly outpaced by increasing your RAM from 4 to 10 GB, thus minimizing swaps to disk.  I would not worry about it especially on such an old machine.
More technical info here


Converting FLAC into Apple Lossless [in Windows]

I found a great little script that seems to do the job:

iTunes Automation: Convert FLAC Audio Files to Apple Lossless

Although there's a tiny bug at present (v0.91) meaning it will only convert one file at a time. To fix it, just change line 275 from

fso.DeleteFile(tempWAVPath)

To

fso.DeleteFile(tempWAVPath, true)

And you're set.


Do the FireWire ports on the early 2011 MacBook Pros use 4-pin or 9-pin connectors?

Any Mac that has Firewire 800, including the 13-inch MacBook Pro, has the 9-pin connector. You will need a 6-pin to 9-pin cable.


When does macOS delete local iCloud Drive files?

“Your Mac keeps all of your recent files on your computer, but keeps your older ones only in iCloud, ready for you to download when you need them again”, Apple says.

So as long as you still have enough free space on your hard disk the files will stay there.


How can I play a midi file from terminal?

This turned out to be a more complicated problem than I originally expected.

QuickTime X cannot play MIDI files, although QuickTime 7 could.

As far as I can tell that means that there is no "built-in" solution to playing MIDI files on Mac OS X (for example, afplay does not work). Therefore I believe that any solution will involve downloading and installing some other program.

Option #1: Download and install QuickTime 7 which still works fine on Mavericks, and then you can play midi files by:

open -a QuickTime\ Player\ 7 /path/to/your/file.mid

however that will only autoplay if the user has enabled that preference, which I believe is off by default.

Option #2: Use FluidSynth

To install it, you have to be using either Fink, MacPorts, or (my recommendation) Homebrew. Once Homebrew is installed, type this in Terminal:

brew install fluidsynth

(MacPorts' command would be sudo port install fluidsynth and Fink's would be fink install fluidsynth.)

However, downloading fluidsynth only gets you part-way there. Then you need a "SoundFont" file, which I had never heard of before. There is information about them here

I downloaded one from S. Christian Collins called "GeneralUser" which is free. The current version (as of 2013-11-27) is FluidSynth version 1.44. {If that direct link breaks in the future, use the previous link which will take you to the regular web page for GeneralUser.}

Once you have downloaded and unzipped that, you will have a series of files including "GeneralUser GS FluidSynth v1.44.sf2" (obviously the name may change in the future). I renamed that file and moved it to /usr/local/share/fluidsynth/generaluser.v.1.44.sf2.

Once the SoundFont file is place and fluidsynth is installed, you can play a midi by using this command:

fluidsynth -i /usr/local/share/fluidsynth/generaluser.v.1.44.sf2 ~/Music/example.mid

n.b. There are some (seemingly harmless) error messages which get displayed when you do that. If you want to suppress them use:

(fluidsynth -i /usr/local/share/fluidsynth/generaluser.v.1.44.sf2 ~/Music/example.mid 2>&1) >/dev/null

instead.

Obviously I'm never going to remember all of that, so I made a zsh function called playmidi

function playmidi {

    SOUNDFONT='/usr/local/share/fluidsynth/generaluser.v.1.44.sf2'

    if [ -e "$SOUNDFONT" ]
    then

        for i in "$@"
        do
            if [ -e "$i" ]
            then
                (fluidsynth -i "$SOUNDFONT" "$i"  2>&1) >/dev/null
            else
                echo "[playmidi]: cannot find file at $i"
                return 1
            fi
        done
    else
            echo "[playmidi]: SOUNDFONT file not found at $SOUNDFONT"
            return 1
    fi
}

(That should work for bash too I believe.)

Now all I have to do is type:

playmidi example.mid

and example.mid will play.


Is it possible to switch from Safe Mode to Normal and back without a reboot?

No.

To start at the beginning, Mac OS X loads certain kernel extensions very early in the boot process. And, intrinsically, kernel extensions will only function if they are loaded at the start of the boot process.

The purpose of Safe Mode is to boot the computer without these kernel extensions.

In Normal mode, these kernel extensions are permitted to load right at the beginning of the boot.

So, by definition, the only way to have Normal mode is to load all the kernel extensions at boot time. Hence, if you are in Safe Mode, you must reboot to create Normal Mode.


MacBook Pro integrated GPU drawing too much power when CPU monitoring app is running

Fixed it! Driver issue. I was using an older version.


How long does it take for Apple to bill me for purchases on iTunes?

Per the iTunes Store — Terms and Conditions

  If a credit card or your PayPal account is being used for a transaction, Apple may obtain preapproval for an amount up to the amount of the order. Billing occurs at the time of or shortly after your transaction. If you are using 1-Click purchasing or your PayPal account, your order may be authorized and billed in increments during one purchasing session, so it may appear as multiple orders on your statement. If an iTunes Card, iTunes Store Gift Certificate, or Allowance Account is used for a transaction, the amount is deducted at the time of your transaction. When making purchases, content credits are used first, followed by Gift Certificate, iTunes Card, or Allowance Account credits; your credit card or PayPal account is then charged for any remaining balance.


Boot Camp not burning Windows support DVD

Okay, so I think I figured it out. Apparently it's a problem with Boot Camp 3.0.4 that came with the 1.6.6 update. I found a link to the discussion on Apple's forums and I'll post it as soon as I can use the MacBook again (it's installing Windows right now and I'm typing this on an iPad...).

UPDATE

Here's the link to the Apple forum discussion.


This isn't possible. You can either show all hidden files or hide all hidden files. This setting can't be set for individual folders.

See this Super User question regarding .htaccess


Can you batch rename files if they contain certain criteria?

From the Finder, select all the files you want to rename, and under the file menu select rename. This brings up a pane with options to rename. For your files, you can put .srt in the find box and replace with _bg.srt. Then you can replace 'File1' with 'Facebook'. This will quickly rename the files for you. Looking around the rename panel, under the first pulldown on the left is the option to reformat. This option may come in handy as well.


Why does the brightness still automatically adjust after turning it off (Mavericks)

Normally if the preference settings do not obey your wishes means your user profile needs repair.

Try using different user to test.

Try the safe mode to test.

Reset your user profile ACL's


Can I make the UI text on iPhone/iOS smaller?

Sorry, but no. As of iOS 5, there's no method for the user to adjust font/interface sizes unless the app gives you a specific control for it. iOS Mail does have a setting for minimum font size, but it only applies to the body of the message, not the message lists.


Windows key when running windows through virtual box on a mac

By default it's the right ⌘ (Command) Key.

The left ⌘ (Command) Key does not work because it is set as the Host (Meta) Key in VirtualBox.

And they can be swapped simply by replacing the Host Key with the right ⌘ (Command) Key, in Preferences > Input > Virtual Machine > Host Key Combination.


This daemon doesn't start by default on OS X, so the stop procedure depends a bit on how yours is configured to start. Have you tried issuing apachectl stop to see if that is sufficient to unload the launchd job?

You can read up on the default starting and stopping of httpd via the apachectl tool on the manual pages (locally or online) .


Is it possible that a photo went through without me knowing?

iOS will always tell you if a message is sent or not. It only won't show up if you delete the message yourself. Of course, there is always a chance of there being bugs, but this is unlikely. If you didn't hit send, there is very little chance it actually sent.

If you have a Mac or another iOS device, you can open up the Messages thread on that device to see if it sent.

In the future, if you accidentally send a message, shut down the device immediately, and when you power it on, turn on airplane mode. If you go to the message thread, it should show an error with sending the message.


I run launchd and I get an error that says "invalid property list"

Your plist is missing at least the line <true/> (or <false/>) after the line <key>RunAtLoad</key>.

The line <string>/Applications/Python 3.6</string> is useless because this is just a folder but no app/binary. Your Python script may work nevertheless, provided the shebang is set properly.


Make my password protected SSH key expire or timeout after a while

Note: in newer versions of OS X you must disable System Integrity Protection for this answer to work. (Thanks to @Dave Gregory and @Jaap for pointing this out.)

Open /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.openssh.ssh-agent.plist (in older versions: org.openbsd.ssh-agent.plist) in a text editor. Replace:

<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
    <string>/usr/bin/ssh-agent</string>
    <string>-l</string>
</array>

with:

<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
    <string>/usr/bin/ssh-agent</string>
    <string>-l</string>
    <string>-t</string>
    <string>30m</string>
</array>

This will expire the key after 30 minutes.

Reboot. Wait, reboot?!? This isn't Windows! Yes, reboot.

Well, you can try to decipher the instructions for changing the setting on the fly, but good luck.


Returning to First Screen from last Screen in Mission Control

The only way I know to do this is to 3- or 4-finger swipe up for Mission Control (depending on your settings) or use the keyboard shortcut (on my MBP it shares a key with F3), and then select the space that you want.


How Many USB Controllers Are in the Late 2014 Mac Mini?

The 2011 Mac Mini only have USB2 ports.
Since 2012, the Mac Minis have USB3 ports.

That probably the reason.

Also, there is only one physical USB controller the Mac Minis ref1,ref2, that never changed (note: On the 2014 Mac mini, it's integrated in the processor ref,ref)


How can I bulk-change the folder permissions on macOS?

chmod has an -R option to apply changes recursively to a whole directory tree but I strongly recommend to not use it for your scenario as you can break quite a lot of things by applying it in places where you shouldn't.

Instead

Log into your Mac as an administrative user and rerun JDisk. Not sure it will solve all your issues though as the tool seems to be cross-plattform and may not be aware of access right handling on macOS
Check out the answers in How can I figure out what's slowly eating my HD space? for other tools


Can't restore iPhone in order to downgrade

I might have idea but that’s risky - you need to JB your iphone, then use official JB uninstaller (this one in cydia) - it automatically makes factory reset and bypasses even configuration profiles (it just deletes all user’s files - settings, apps, etc. , same as factory reset) .


How much power can be drawn from the lightning connector by a external device?

Since Apple doesn't publicly commit to power levels or even pin compatibility on the lightning connector, anyone interested in learning how hardware should be designed to work with Apple's dock connectors could choose to join the MFI program:

https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/

As a developer, Apple will provide you with detailed hardware requirements, schematics and even technical support. I haven't seen anyone take a current meter and volt meter to the devices and post publicly, but wanted to make you aware of one official avenue to get this sort of information across all of Apple's iOS product line wether they use the 30 pin dock connector, the lightning dock connector or some of the other specific iPod connectors.

Additionally, the pin out for lightning connectors requires an authentication chip according to wikipedia, so getting power out of a lightning device involves software authentication before power will flow.

The article describing 8 pins that are active (both above images are from wikipedia) indicates that when power flows into the phone (the opposite of your use), pins 1 and 5 are ground and power respectively. However, until your cable identifies itself to iOS, no power will be provided.


The Preview app should be in /Applications, with all the other apps. It cannot be deleted normally, so it is strange that it is missing. What happens if you double click on an image file or PDF? What happens if you type "Preview" into Spotlight? Is it missing from Launchpad?

Firstly, you should be able to restore it from your backup. Go into Time Machine app, navigate to the Applications folder, and then scroll 'back in time' until you can see it. Then Restore.

If that fails, then I would be incline to reinstall MacOS, because there may well be all sorts of other issues that you have not discovered. You can re-install MacOS and keep your (existing) applications and user data intact.


How much overhead (%) space requires migrating a iPhoto library to a Photo library?

No overhead at all.

The Photos library created by migrating uses "hard links" that point to the actual files. This causes it effectively just point to the exact same files as the iPhoto library contained.

In my case, my iPhoto library was 40 GB. So is my Photos library. But I only had 10 GB free space. After doing the migration, I still have 10 GB free space.

(Note that you can then safely delete the iPhoto library afterwards, the file system is smart enough. See https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/182799/172153.)


What is causing a black screen while switching spaces on Mountain Lion?

Its now resolved. It was not an issue with OSX. I was using a software called ScreenShade which was causing this issue. Disabling ScreenShade resolved the issue.


What control character do I send to the terminal to make it delete a full word at a time?


This seems to have been a transient issue on Apple's end which has now been resolved.


There is autossh doing exactly what you need:

autossh -M 12345 -N -R 2000:localhost:22 root@my_server_ip

But you should certainly reconsider running the tunnel using root account, when it is password-less (unless you have the key limited using authorized_commands).


Mac OSX Recovery Mode Terminal: rm -rf doesn't delete anything

Using -f hides errors. Try running the command without the f option: rm -r ….

Without the actual error message, I can guess what the problem is: you're trying to delete files by providing a path you expect to the files but do not match the actual path.

When you're booted into Recovery, the Recovery environment is mounted at /, so paths like /Users are actually pointing to the Recovery HD. For example, instead of

rm -rf /Users/…

you should prepend to your paths the correct path to the volume

rm -rf /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/Users/…

where Macintosh HD is your startup disk volume. Try ls /Volumes to see what's available.


What are these giant files in ~/Library/Autosave Information/?

Delete them, they are just caches for an app or an installer.

A lock file indicates that a process was using them while it was forcibly quit or crashed. Normally, when system processes modify files, they create a lock file for it so that no other process can access it. These files are deleted when the process exits or stops modifying the said file.

The presence of the lock files indicates that their process has not accessed them since they were created. That means you have probably not used the app involved.

Source: https://superuser.com/questions/313878/what-is-a-lockfile


Sounds like the partitioning is damaged.  If you can boot from OS X on an external drive, use Disk Utility to "Repair Disk".  If that reports OK, the Repair the partition with the OS X installation.

The particular kind of Mac might be helpful, and the OS versions.

Also, for Intel Macs, the disk must be partitioned with GUID.  If its gotten to be Master Boot Record or Apple Partition, it won't see the disk as a boot source.


How to unsubscribe from subscriptions in Find Friends App

Go to Find my Friends app’s contacts ( these are the people you are sharing your location with right now-as we speak).  Then select the contact you want to stop sharing your location with. Then on top Right there is a “More” option. Select “More “ & select “Stop sharing my Location “.
You’re all set. Cheers.


Advice to minimize memory usage in iPod Touch 2G with iOS 4.2.1

Free Memory apps are a rip off and really dont make your ipod any faster. Try rebooting your device 2 times in a row. And disable any Notifications you have. Disable Bluetooth. And if you aren't using WiFi turn it off.


If you create a playable CD with iTunes, then the software converts them to a format that can be played through any hi-fi or CD player and burns that to a disc. If it was a data CD you used, then that works in a similar way to a USB flash drive, just copying the files and burning them to a CD. These will not be playable in a CD player, but you can get the files off from a computer.
Hope this helps.


Is a me.com address only used for email in iCloud (outside of brand new accounts)?

Yes, it is only used for email. My Apple ID is an old .mac username which wasn't associated with a MobileMe account. It allowed me to set up iCloud using only that account name. When I turned on iCloud email, it prompted me to set up a new @me.com email address, which I did. But I still use my .mac username to log into icloud.com and access the iTunes store. The new email is only used to send and receive emails.


Transfer Windows Apache Configuration to OS X

You should probably not blindly copy the entire Apache config directory. To start there will be several parts of the configuration that point to various files and folders that will be different.

The Mac stores the Apache config files in /etc/apache2 so I suggest you have a look at the files in there and compare them to your existing Windows files so that you can make the required changes.

Then before you make any changes copy the entire /etc/apache2 directory to somewhere safe so you can always roll back if you fail.


How can I exclude the photos that are in iCloud Photo Library from my iPhone’s iTunes backup?

After searching some more, I came across the Macworld article “How to exclude your iCloud Photo Library from an iTunes backup”. The article points out that iTunes backups are not supposed to include the iCloud Photo Library data in the first place, as documented by Apple Support:

  An iTunes backup doesn't include:

  Photos already stored in the cloud, like My Photo Stream, and iCloud Photo Library

The article reports that others have experienced the same problem where the backup does include the iCloud Photo Library data, and suggests disabling and re-enabling iCloud Photo Library on the iPhone.

I think I will wait for the upload from my MacBook to finish before trying this. Perhaps the problem will resolve itself after the initial upload is complete. I will edit my answer later.

Edit: The above tip may be helpful to others, though unfortunately I have to report it didn’t resolve the issue for me. Apart from disabling and re-enabling iCloud Photo Library on my iPhone, I have also tried deleting its backup in iTunes before making a new backup. But I find that the iTunes backups are still taking up a few gigabytes of additional space with iCloud Photo Library turned on compared to when it’s turned off. I’m not sure what else to try; other tips, or confirmation from others experiencing the same issue would be welcome.


Is there any way to set a MacBook Pro to not sleep when you close the lid?

You can use InsomniaX. It sits in your menu bar, and upon activating it, your laptop won't sleep if you close it.


A bit better of a workaround is to hide the app with the dialog, then showing it again. That typically puts the dialog on top of the z axis, I noticed. Still annoying. The OS-X window manager is the worst PoS I've ever worked with. And just because Steve "believes" in the 1983 Mac window policy...


Safari can't open the page because Safari can't establish a secure connection

That's because developer.apple.com no longer supports older TLS and SSL protocols - it only supports TLS 1.2 (see https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=developer.apple.com). Older Safari versions (before version 7) do not support TLS 1.2  (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:TLS/SSL_support_history_of_web_browsers) .

You could try installing Firefox or another browser in the VM to access the site.


Is there a way to get a modal display when ⌘-⌥-→ and ⌘-⌥-←?

Witch can do this, but its development has been a bit stale (I don't know if it still works).

Window switching is fast and fun
With Witch installed, a pop-up panel shows all open windows—even windows in other Spaces, if you're running 10.6. From the panel, simply select the window you'd like to activate. There is no step two!


Updating the Apple Multiport USB-C Adapter (HDMI Dongle) on High Sierra

If you know your way around a terminal follow this guide to get it solved. First off, make three checks; first that you are on Mac OS X High Sierra (Build 10.13 or greater), that your Multiport Adapter reports a firmware version below 2.33 (around 1.53 is old), and finally that the folder "/System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware Updates" is empty.

At a high-level, I guessed that I would find the firmware update package in an old Mac OS Combo Update file. Hunch turned out to be right, and I was able to install the firmware update. Lets trace those steps so you can do the same.

First up, kick off the download (around 1.5gb) of the macOS Sierra 10.12.6 Combo Update: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1931

At the same time, ensure Homebrew & XCode utils are installed on your system from brew.sh

Install pbzx, for extraction of update pkg Payloads.

brew install xz && brew link xz
git clone https://github.com/NiklasRosenstein/pbzx.git
cd pbzx
clang -llzma -lxar -I /usr/local/include pbzx.c -o pbzx
#Install pbzx to path
mv pbzx /usr/local/bin/

Once the download has completed, mount & extract the update dmg.

open macosupdcombo10.12.6.dmg
#Expand pkg contents to tmp folder.
pkgutil --expand /Volumes/macOS\ Sierra\ Update/macOSUpdCombo10.12.6.pkg /tmp/sierra/
cd /tmp/sierra
#Extract payload contents to current directory
pbzx -n macOSUpdCombo10.12.6.pkg/Payload| cpio -i

Move the firmware update package from the extracted files to a local path, we'll use the user's home directory.

mv System/Library/CoreServices/Firmware\ Updates/USB-C\ Multiport\ Adapter/adapterupdate1.pkg ~/

Finally, execute the installer and reboot. Before you execute the installer - ensure that the Multiport adapter is plugged in, with nothing else plugged into it. Ensure that you have power connected to one USB-C port, and the Multiport adapter to the other. Apple's article recommends doing USB-C power-pass through, this did not work for me. You can try different configurations if this doesn't work.

#Kick off the install
sudo installer -pkg ~/adapterupdate1.pkg -target /
#Then reboot
sudo reboot

If all went well, System Information should report your USB-C Multiport Adapter is at firmware version 2.33.


Why speed of SSD is increased after enabling FileVault?

SSD performance is known to degrade over time, if no or poor garbage collection is enabled or not working. The later can occur if TRIM is inactive, the disk is very full or it has no time to do garbage collection. So if the SSD wants to write data, it will need to delete old data first, slowing down the process.

When encrypting the SSD, all its contents gets re-written and free blocks are liberated. This will result in faster write speeds. Reformatting a disk is an effective way of restoring write speeds.

Just a theory however...


Can a FileVault-encrypted partition be accessed using a password I supplied during OS X install?

Once you change the password, it has been charged and the old password can not access the FileVault decryption protocol. It would be nightmarish if you had to always remember any and all passwords ever used by the FileVault account(s).

If you want really great info to FileVault please watch: http://docs.macsysadmin.se/2013/video/Day2Session5.mp4


How to create multi-field dialog box in AppleScript (to request time from user)?

It can't be done in AppleScript.

However, I did find this workaround, where text entered on each line of one field is interpreted as a separate answer:

-- multiple input dialog

on run -- example
    set {firstName, lastName} to (inputItems for {"• First Name", "• Last Name"} with title given prompt:"Enter the following items separated by a carriage return:")
    display dialog "First Name:  \"" & firstName & "\"" & return & "Last Name:  \"" & lastName & "\""
end run

to inputItems for someItems given title:theTitle, prompt:thePrompt
    (*
    displays a dialog for multiple item entry - a carriage return is used between each input item
    for each item in someItems, a line of text is displayed in the dialog and a line is reserved for the input
        the number of items returned are padded or truncated to match the number of items in someItems
    to fit the size of the dialog, items should be limited in length (~30) and number (~15)
        parameters -        someItems [list/integer]: a list or count of items to get from the dialog
                        theTitle [boolean/text]: use a default or the given dialog title
                        thePrompt [boolean/text]: use a default or the given prompt text
        returns [list]:     a list of the input items
    *)
    if thePrompt is in {true, false} then -- "with" or "without" prompt
        if thePrompt then
            set thePrompt to "Input the following items:" & return & return -- default
        else
            set thePrompt to ""
        end if
    else -- fix up the prompt a bit
        set thePrompt to thePrompt & return & return
    end if

    if theTitle is in {true, false} then if theTitle then -- "with" or "without" title
        set theTitle to "Multiple Input Dialog" -- default
    else
        set theTitle to ""
    end if

    if class of someItems is integer then -- no item list
        set {theCount, someItems} to {someItems, ""}
        if thePrompt is not "" then set thePrompt to text 1 thru -2 of thePrompt
    else
        set theCount to (count someItems)
    end if
    if theCount is less than 1 then error "inputItems handler:  empty input list"
    set {theItems, theInput} to {{}, {}}

    repeat theCount times -- set the number of lines in the input
        set the end of theInput to ""
    end repeat
    set {tempTID, AppleScript's text item delimiters} to {AppleScript's text item delimiters, return}
    set {someItems, theInput} to {someItems as text, theInput as text}
    set AppleScript's text item delimiters to tempTID

    set theInput to paragraphs of text returned of (display dialog thePrompt & someItems with title theTitle default answer theInput)

    repeat with anItem from 1 to theCount -- pad/truncate entered items
        try
            set the end of theItems to (item anItem of theInput)
        on error
            set the end of theItems to ""
        end try
    end repeat
    return theItems
end inputItems


iPhone 4 camera roll "time created" information

Time created means time transferred to your computer. It is the time when the photo landed to whichever folder you downloaded it to, on your computer.

So if you transferred the photo on Monday 1st August 2015, then that is the Date Created shown.

Try downloading an mp3 file from the internet to your computer. You will see that the Date Created is the date that the file enters your computer. While the date of its creation was (obviously) earlier.


I encountered this problem, it was fixed in a later macOS update.


Type command + shift + g in the Finder and enter "/Library/Desktop Pictures/" and click "Go". Add any pictures you want into this folder, and they'll appear in System Preferences as an option. You'll have to enter your password to add anything. You may have to restart System Preferences to see the changes though.


Unable to use Boot Camp to switch boot device between MacOS/Windows 10

You could try creating a USB flash drive with rEFInd installed. Make this your default boot drive. Next, see if rEFInd can be used to boot both operating systems. If so, then you could install rEFInd on your HDD or SSD to silently boot macOS.


Apple Watch 2/FaceTime is possibly hacked?

That is not any threat. I think you signed into FaceTime on your Apple Watch using your Apple ID. So all your other apple devices will notify you. But your device doesn't know whether your Apple Watch is new or old. Even I got that message on my MacBook after signing in into FaceTime on my iPad. It is not a threatening message!


Force wider viewport size in iOS Safari?

You can use the aptly named iOS app, Desktop Browser to do this. Here's what a site looks like in Safari on an iPhone:

Here's what the same site looks like in the aforementioned app on the same iPhone:

I'll bet there are other apps out there that do this. Albeit a little rough around the edges and ad-supported, this one is free and gets the job done.


Finder Icon to Go to Enclosing Directory

You must have at some point removed this, as it's there by default.
You've also changed the toolbar to text view only, so it may have happened at that time.

Right click anywhere in that top bar & select Customise Toolbar... [It's also in the Finder View Menu.]

Drag "Path" back into the toolbar.

Clicking on it reveals the entire hierarchy.

You can also Cmd/click on the folder name/icon, top centre of the Finder window.


What is the criteria for auto updating of iOS apps?

The conditions for iOS apps auto update are mentioned below.

The app is purchased by you (or any family member if Family Sharing is ON)
In Settings ->iTunes & App Store, in the Automatic Downloads section, Updates is turned on.
If you want to update the apps on Cellular data, you can enable it on the same screen.


Disable Inverted Scrolling using Mighty Mouse

Simon, assuming your mouse is connected, the screen should look like the one below.

Uncheck "Move content in the direction of finger movement when scrolling or navigating."


is there a notification on find my macbook?

Tested empirically...
No, not until I "Played a sound", which played & put up a dialog on the Mac, then I was sent an email, within 2 seconds, which of course arrived on both my iPhone & Mac simultaneously, telling me I'd 'Played a sound'.

So, you can check the location without any notification, provided that's all you do.


What are the different internet connection types used by ifconfig and ipconfig?

These are properly known as BSD names, so you can look at the BSD / Darwin source code to see what these mean.

en is Ethernet
lo is loop back or local host
awdl is air drop peer to peer (a type of mesh network)
bridge is a connection between networks
p2p is sometimes a virtualization link and also some people have reported it being used with AirDrop before that changed to be awdl0

The numbers added to the end just increment as you add a second interface of the same type. The rest are tunneling interfaces for VPN and bridging between IPv4 and IPv6:

see Ian's answer on question Unexpected interfaces in ifconfig


How to mount an APFS volume as a user's home directory?

I found the workaround was to mount the volume on /home and create a subdirectory as my new home directory. As

sudo mount_apfs -o noauto,nobrowse VOLUME_UUID /home
sudo rsync -a /Users/myhome /home

Then change the user's home directory in User & Groups Preference Pane Advanced Options to /home/myhome

I have updated my gist with the complete instructions for mounting an encrypted external drive as a home directory.

UPDATE: After using this for a while I discovered problems with backup software. Notably, Backblaze will not backup custom mount points, and Time Machine will back it up, but the volume is not visible in the restore GUI. In fact, it confusingly displays localsnapshots of the files "underneath" the mount point in /home.

So I caved and just decided to mount the thing in the default /Volumes. I works swimmingly and the gist has all the details.

Oh and by the way, I used Carbon Copy Cloner to copy the home directory. I recommend using that or equivalent (SuperDuper) as opposed to rsync as the developers of these apps are up-to-date on how to copy all the myriad Apple file attributes, extended attributes, ACLs, flags, etc., etc.


Have you tried to reset PRAM?

Shut down computer
Turn on computer
Hold down command, option, p, and r keys
Release keys after power on sound and apple logo appears


Is it possible to run Mountain Lion on older hardware by using a virtualization solution?

10.7.x or 10.8 (Build 12A269) in VirtualBox

There's an answer under How can I install Mac OS X Lion in VirtualBox, or any other type of virtual machine?.

I guess, a .vdi of Mountain Lion produced in that way will be usable with at least some Macs that might not otherwise run the OS.

Example

Physical machine:

MacBookPro5,2 with 8 GB memory
VirtualBox 4.2.0 Beta 1.

In the VirtualBoxVM:

Build 12A269 of OS X 10.8
without FileVault 2
with Core Storage encryption of something other than the startup volume
dynamic_pager disabled:

Alongside an answer to Why would I disable swap file in Mac OS X?, note that without swap files, Activity Monitor measures both:

virtual memory size
page ins.


There is no built-in way to do it, but Exposé (Wikipedia link) is pretty good.

Alternatively there are some third-party apps which are might help.


Upgrading from sierra to catalina while maintaining dual boot with kali

the mac reboots at the upgrade installation, some installation routines happens after this reboot. With re-booting into grub you canceled the installtion. Deacitvate grub to do a full installtion with maybe needed firmware upgrade...


Acorn doesn't really have native support for complex shapes / arrows like Skitch does - however, you can make an arrow using the Bezier pen tool.  You'd select it from the vector tools palette, and click around until you got your arrow.  It'll be super annoying to rotate or resize however, and it probably won't look as good.

Adding something like this has been on the todo list for a long long time, so hopefully it'll happen in a future release.

-gus


If you want GUI support, GPGSuite is the way to go.
To use GPG in Terminal, install Homebrew first and then use it to install the gpg package


Your GPT Structure looks ok but just to be sure, there are a few things you can do. However, before proceeding, back up all of your data (time machine works well). Then proceed to

Download Gdisk for mac
Install the package
Open up your terminal application
enter the command sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
Enter your administrator password
A message will appear. If something is broken it should auto-repair itself and look something like this

  GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.3

Warning: Devices opened with shared
lock will not have their partition table automatically reloaded! The
protective MBR's 0xEE partition is oversized! Auto-repairing.

Press x, hit enter
Press p, hit enter
Press o, hit enter
Press q
Copy and paste the results in your answer.
Close terminal
Go to the App store
Download Mac OS High Sierra
Get a USB stick
Go to https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372 and follow the instructions on the site.
Restart your mac with your newly created bootable USB of High Sierra (or corresponding OS)plugged in, while holding down the 'Alt' key.
A boot screen will appear.
Select the option "Install Mac OS High Sierra"
Once in your installation screen, go to the "Utilities" menu and select "Disk Utility"
Click on your hard drive and hit the "First Aid" button. Then use the first aid button/tool on each of it's partitions/containters.
Exit Disk Utility. Reboot. Check if things are fixed. If not, continue with instructions....
Reboot with USB inserted again, and go back to "Install Mac OS High Sierra".
Once in the install screen, click the "Install Mac OS"
!IMPORTANT! - DO NOT FORMAT THE HARD DRIVE OR ITS PARTITIONS.
At the "Select the disk in which to install" screen, select your disk, but DO NOT FORMAT. Then hit the "Install" button.
Wait for the installer to finish.
Reboot.
Check and see if things are working. They should be. Done.


Is it possible to configure an Airport Extreme Base Station to forward to an external IP address?

I don't think this is possible.

Possibly you could turn on a web server on one of your computers and forward the requests to that from the airport basestation. It then could be forwarded from that computer to the address.


LG UltraFine & replacement Belkin USB-C cable gives blurry text

Looking at the specs of the the LG 5K Display and the accessories (cable) it comes with, you can't just use any plain USB-3 cable.

You need a Thunderbolt 3 Active Cable.  Thunderbolt 1 and 2, natively, were active meaning power was required to operate properly.  Normally, Thunderbolt 3 is a passive, meaning power isn't present. Any quality USB-3 cable will carry Thunderbolt 3 (and vice versa).
However, to drive this particular monitor, it appears LG requires an active cable.


Launch default browser spotlight shortcut?

I'd make a little AppleScript that does this:

on GetDefaultWebBrowser()
    set _scpt to "export VERSIONER_PERL_PREFER_32_BIT=yes; " & "perl -MMac::InternetConfig -le " & "'print +(GetICHelper \"http\")[1]'"
    return (do shell script _scpt)
end GetDefaultWebBrowser
do shell script "open -a \"" & GetDefaultWebBrowser() & "\""

Replace the URL (in quotes) with your homepage.
The rest of the code serves to figure out what your default browser is, and make it the active application. That part lifted from a Daring Fireball article.

Save it as an app called Browser and put it somewhere. Once Spotlight indexes it, you can type Browser in and hit enter. This will open the URL in your default browser.

Directions:

Open AppleScript Editor from your Applications/Utilities folder (if you have older than 10.6, it will be Script Editor in your Applications folder). Paste that line in. Go to File-> Save As. Set the File Format: menu to Application. Choose a location and save.