How do I set Google as Safari Homepage on my iPhone?

Unlike the desktop version of Safari, there is no concept of setting a Homepage in Safari for iOS. You can't set a Homepage to open automatically when you open a new tab in Safari for iOS.

But there's another approach that you can take to achieve the similar end-goal. The idea of using a Homepage in a browser, is to have a way to open the website that you visit very frequently and do so quickly.

Using Safari for iOS, you can add a shortcut to a website on your iPhone's Home Screen. It will appear just like a regular app icon, but tapping on it will open the corresponding webpage in a Safari tab, thereby serving similar purpose as a Homepage.

To add a websites to your iPhone Home Screen, simply start by opening the website (Google in your case) on your iPhone:

Now, tap on the share icon (rectangle with an upward facing arrow) shown in the toolbar at the bottom to reveal the share sheet:

Now, in the bottom row, tap on the Add to Home Screen item. The icon image is set to the website favicon and the name to the webpage title. You can change the name that will be displayed for the website. To confirm, tap on the Add button:

Upon tapping the Add button, Safari automatically goes to background and the recently added icon is shown on the iPhone Home Screen:

The icon behaves just like other app icons. You can move it to a different page on the Home Screen, move it into a folder etc. You can add as many website shortcuts on your iPhone Home Screen as you want. Technically, the icon is simply a bookmark for the website and thus occupy minuscule space on your iPhone.

You can easily remove them just like you remove any other app from your iPhone. Simply tap and hold on any icon until they all start to wiggle and cross button appears on the top left. Tap on the cross button to remove the website bookmark from your iPhone Home Screen:

Now, you can also do away with opening Google in Safari altogether. You can use Safari address bar itself to directly search for your query on Google or other select search engines. Simply open a new tab in Safari and start typing your query, and the search engine suggestions will be shown below:

You can tap on a suggestion to search for it directly, or tap on the Go button to search for the query that you have typed, using the configured search engine. By default, the search engine is set to Google. You can configure to use another search engine instead of Safari by going to Settings app → Safari → Search Engine and selecting the search engine of your choice from the available options:

Thus, technically speaking, by default, Google is already configured as your Homepage in Safari for iOS and you don't need to take any additional step (or do whatever is mentioned in the long post above ).


OS X El Capitan: Connected to Wi-Fi / Personal Hotspot network but not connected to Internet

Try setting a new network location. Network Preferences/edit top drop down/new location/apply If that doesn't work you may need to reinstall OS to resolve software issue.


Sync 6th generation iPod nano with iCloud Music Library

Songs from Apple Music (as in your iCloud Music Library) can only be used with iOS devices, Android phones and computers running macOS or Windows.

From apple.com, emphasis mine:

  Before you can download music to listen to offline, you need to add the songs, albums, or playlists to your Library. Then, in the Music app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch; in iTunes on your Mac or PC; or in the Apple Music app on your Android phone, find the song, album, or playlist that you want to download, and follow these steps: (...)


How do I quit multiple versions of Firefox with Apple Script?

I'm assuming that you made a physical. on-disk copy of Firefox.app, and renamed it in the Finder to "Firefox 2.app". Is that correct? If so, that is going to cause you headaches. The visible name in the Finder isn't really used by the system much. The system uses the app's bundle identifier — for Firefox, I believe that's something like 'org.mozilla.firefox' — which is found in the info.plist file within the app bundle, and draws display names and such from that plist also. Unix, on the other hand, tends to use the name of the executable, which is in the MacOS folder inside the app bundle. Since your physical copy will have the same bundle ID as the original, the system will get confused if you try to distinguish between the apps that way.

The normal way to run two instances of an application is to use the unix open command with the -n option, e.g., one of these:

open -n '/Applications/FireFox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox'

open -n -g org.mozilla.firefox

Each opened instance will have the same name and bundle id, but they will have different process identifiers (pid), and you can distinguish between them using those. There are a few different ways of doing that, depending on how you've set things up, but for a quick hack in AppleScript you can use something like:

tell application "System Events"
    set unixIDs to unix id of (every process whose name is "Firefox")
end tell

Whichever unix ID is lower should generally be the instance that was launched first.


Can I initiate a MacOS restart to Recovery mode solely from the command line?

You can do that using the following command:

sudo nvram "recovery-boot-mode=unused"
sudo reboot

This sets a firmware variable in nvram indicating that you want to start in Recovery mode on the next boot, and then reboots the machine.

When done in Recovery mode, run the following from the Terminal in Recovery mode:

nvram -d recovery-boot-mode

This deletes the firmware variable so that the next boot is a normal boot.

If Recovery boot fails and you cannot progress, you could also remove the firmware variable by holding down the keys Command, Option, P, and R during boot. This resets the nvram and thus the firmware variable.


In Mac Excel, how can I replace with newline?

Manually Adding a Line Break
You can do this by pressing Option Enter at the point you want to insert the line break.
It's best that you format the cell(s) as Text to ensure the best results.

Mass Insert Line Break (a.k.a Search/Replace)
You can do this on a mass basis with Search & Replace.  As before, it's important to format your cells as text.  In the replace field, use the generic formula
="Text1"&CHAR(10)&"Text2"&CHAR(10)"Text3..."

The text to be replaced in quotes (" ")
& as the concat (concatenate) function
CHAR(10) as the symbol for newline

Using this methodology, you can "fix" multiple lines of text (like an address).  See the animation below for an example:


Can I save some steps when burning same playlist over and over?

You should consider buying Toast from Roxio there's a light version on the AppStore that still allows you to choose the numbers of copies...


Why is the Mac OS volume button grayed out while connected to an external device?

Data, including video and audio, is sent over the HDMI cable in digital form, not analog.  The only way you could adjust that would be to adjust the content of the digital data, which is a destructive operation.

Depending on the software used it is also possible that your machine is sending compressed data, such as AC3 or DTS audio, directly to the receiver which decodes it.

Generally the solution is on the receiver side, which often has a "source volume" adjustment option.


OS X 10.9 - Home Directory for Share Only Account?

Sharing Only accounts do not have home folders. Home folders are really only used during a local login session, and Sharing Only users cannot log in locally, there's no real point to having one.

If you want a Sharing Only account to have a their own private file storage location, create a folder (where doesn't really matter), use System Preferences -> Sharing pane -> File Sharing service to add it to the shared folder list, then set the owner to the Sharing account (and optionally limit access for other users).


Will deleting photos from the Camera Roll also delete them from albums?

Yes, photos are not copied to the albums, just referenced, so if you delete the photo that the album references the photo from then the photo will be deleted from the album too.


If I delete the sound library from GarageBand on my Mac, can I reinstall it later for free?

You can download it from App Store here

It is free, but you will have to use your App Store ID to get it.

More Info from Apple


If I understand your question correctly, you've now removed the two 2GB RAM modules and now when you try to start up your iMac, the screen remains black and you hear a sound every second?

This model iMac only has two RAM slots, and since you've removed both modules, it now has no RAM at all. As a minimum, Mavericks requires 2GB RAM installed.

As a starting point, I would re-insert one of the modules into the first slot and try running the iMac to see how you go. If the problems return, swap the modules and test again.

If you get no joy from the above, then try it again with the second slot.

Either way, let me know how you go.


Handling permissions to run a bash script

AppleScript
Wrap the shell script in a do shell script AppleScript command:
do shell script "say \"hello world\""

If your script needs administrator rights, append with administrator privileges to the command:
do shell script "say \"goodbye moon\"" with administrator privileges

Using Script Editor.app in /Applications/Utilities, you can save the AppleScript as a .applescript text file that will launch in Script Editor on the host computer.
The end user will need to select the menu item:

Script (menu) > Run

Alternatively, you can Export as an Application and code sign the resulting application. This assumes you have a code signing certificate available.

Automator
An Automator workflow can also include shell scripts and AppleScripts. Automator can also save as an application, with the Export… menu item also prompting to code sign the result for you.


How much disk space do the "command line developer tools" take up?

The installer says it requires 2.72 Gb of space. It installs a variety of Unix tools for compiling software, and other advanced usage (such as git) on the command line, including 'many other useful commands that are usually found in default linux installations' (osxdaily.com). It also includes the SDK frameworks and header files for macOS APIs. And python3.
Separating out what it is exactly that you need and what you don't is not really feasible, and may cause errors. Presumably, you're doing some kind of scripting/programming, for which other tools in the CLDT might be useful.


Outgoing calls sometimes go straight to voicemail

These things would be controlled by the person you are calling, not yourself. For example, one could turn on Do Not Disturb (whether manually or by schedule) which would mean your call would go to voicemail if they have that configured.


iBook G4 opening procedure (for hard disk replacement)

Yes, it's necessary. Apple's designs aren't simple, and you need to keep track of the screws and which one fits in which position. Some of the screws feed into other components on the other side. Taking the bottom off is the easiest part! I once had a unit in where someone turned their computer over to "their next door neighbor, who knows all about computers." After he was done, they couldn't get a disk to load in the optical drive. I took it apart and he put a long screw in the wrong place and drove it right through the optical drive.

This might sound stupid, but you might want to print out each page where he's taking screws out, and when you take them out, use masking tape to tape them onto the position in the diagram they came out of. If you're not used to working on these units, it's very easy to put the wrong screw in the wrong place and either end up with a part that's not secured or driving the screw right through something else.

If you think an iBook is complicated, try replacing the optical drive on a 12" PowerBook G4 sometime. :-o

Hope this helps.


How does Google Voice access the microphone on the iOS through the browser?

It doesn't access the phone hardware directly. Instead, you enter the number and Google's servers call the number entered and simultaneously calls your iPhone on it's number.

Merging those two calls happens in google's servers, putting both you and your recipient in communication through their hardware.


My Mac 3,1 isn't recognizing one CPU - Dual Xeon

This is almost certainly a hardware problem. As you're not sure that your second CPU was recognized after you unplugged and replugged it, it is likely that this is the event that caused the problem.
I would suggest shutting down the Mac, unplug power - and then remove the second CPU. Boot the system up and check that it works, and that System Information says 1 processor.
Then shut the Mac down again, unplug power - and carefully replug the second CPU. Boot up again and check System Information for the Processor Count.
If it still says 1 CPU, your problem is most likely either a defective CPU or a defective socket. The easiest way to check if to try with a different CPU. Perhaps you can get one cheap off eBay or perhaps you have access to one.
If it is a defective socket, then your options are very limited. With reasonable cost the only you can really do is to exchange the whole board.


Why does SwiftKey lose "full access" on a phone reboot?

Seems that 8.0.2's update for iOS fixed the problem for me.


Macbook Pro OSX 10.11.2 random freezing and spinning beachball - possible chrome

The bible for troubleshooting software is:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201516

You might want to jump to making a new user account and seeing if you can reproduce the hang there. If it's a pure incompatibility with google chrome your version and OS X your version, you should be able to replicate it in short order.

Also, keep some sort of log with:

what you change, when you do it, what you're trying to do
when you notice the hangs - date/time to the second if possible

After about 20 or 30 events, you'll start having enough data for a second person to look over things with you and help isolate things.

If you want to collect log files for each hang - you can use sudo sysdiagnose from terminal or use Activity Monitor to diagnose whatever app isn't responding or just use the key shortcut: Shift-Control-Option-Command-Period to trigger the collection. It might take 5 minutes, but that lets you take actionable data to Apple or Google if you can show a repeated hang. It also leaves diagnostic files on the drive so you can review the times with your paper list if needed.

Sorry for the general answer, but this procedure has helped me countless times both as the initial troubleshooter and the "helper" that comes in once some data is recorded.


Apple 1 year warranty - What type of issues are covered for Macbook Pro UK?

First of all, I'm glad you asked about it before hitting your MacBook with a sledgehammer. The 1-year limited warranty only covers damage that was caused by a manufacturer defect. Water and/or physical damage is not covered. No exceptions. The only damage that is covered is if the battery drains super quick or whenever you use it it gets way too hot. Or the software does not work properly and you have tried all remedies possible.

Secondly, the only way to get a new receipt is to purchase a new computer. That's really the only way. I broke my iPhone twice, and no new receipt was ever given.

The only way that is possible is to sell your computer and then buy a new/used MacBook.


I can confirm this is fixed with Big Sur 11.4


Can't gain write access to secondary hard drive root-level folder

Do you need permissions to exist on this volume?  If not use the "Ignore permissions on this volume" checkbox, and that will take care of all of the problems.

Also - I would run disk utility's verify to see if there are any problems with it.


What happens to Kernel Extensions when macOS is reinstalled?

The kernel extensions stuck around.

...was what happened. (not reformatting the drive)


if I restore from my cousins backup would it change my iOS?

No. The back up does not contain the operating system.


the article currently titled "AirPort Utility 6.x: Set NAT options for your base station or AirPort Time Capsule" and currently available at http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5103 has:

To set NAT options, your base station or AirPort Time Capsule must be set up to share its Internet connection using DHCP and NAT.

Open AirPort Utility, located in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder. Select the base station you want to set up, then click Edit. Enter the password if necessary.
Click Network and then choose DHCP and NAT from the Router Mode pop-up menu.
Select Enable NAT Port Mapping Protocol.

NAT Port Mapping Protocol (NAT-PMP) is an Internet Engineering Task Force Internet Draft, an alternative to the more common

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) protocol implemented in many NAT routers. NAT-PMP allows a computer in a private network (behind a NAT router) to automatically configure the router to allow clients outside the private network to contact this computer.

Included in the protocol is a method for retrieving the public IP address of a NAT gateway, which allows a client to make this public IP address and port number known to peers that may wish to communicate with it. This protocol is implemented in current Apple products, including Mac OS X 10.4 or later, AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express networking products, AirPort Time Capsule, and Bonjour for Windows.
Select “Enable default host,” and enter the IP address of the host.

A default host is a computer on your network that is exposed to the Internet and receives all inbound traffic. A default host may be useful if you use a computer on your AirPort network to play network games, or want to route all Internet traffic through a single computer.

You can also set up port mapping to direct network traffic to a specific computer on your network.

the article currently titled "AirPort Utility software and firmware downloads" and currently available at http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1998 tells you where to get Airport Utility.


SD card left with barely any space after formatting it to ExFAT

That card is 32 MB not 32 GB - unfortunately you misread the capacity by a factor of 1000


Yes, buying the OS includes the license to use these fonts in derivative work, like graphics, even for commercial applications.

You can however not redistribute the font in any way. Font embedding in websites through the @font-face CSS feature for example qualifies as redistributing the font (even if it is in another format), and requires a seperate license.


Does migrating to Apple's new Photos app actually double my storage requirements?

Short answer, no. The measuring tool you are using doesn't take the time to deduct the space saved when files are hard linked, so it over-counts the space used.

The Libraries are using 'hard links' to the real location of the files, so both appear to be approximately the same size, but each actual photo is only located in one place on your hard drive, with pointers from both Libraries.

Deleting either Library will not affect the storage space, only deleting both would actually remove the 50GB of data from your drive.

See: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries

More on hard links from Ars Technica:

  A hard link is simply a reference to some data on disk. Think of a file as a combination of a name and a pointer to some data. Deleting a file really means deleting the name portion of that duo. When there are no more names pointing to a particular piece of data disk, then that disk space can be reused."


How to get the wi-fi connection status from terminal?

You do not need a script for tuning the WiFi on and connecting you, the OS X system does that already for you. If you look in Console (look for line containing Airport) and the lines after that will show it in action.
Best is if you could publish that log in here to see why is it not working for you.

Here are some choices for you:

If you want a Scrip to continuously test if you are connected you could use this:

repeat
    try
        do shell script "ping -c 5 google.com"
    on error
        display dialog "You are not connected to the internet"
    end try
end repeat
One of the simplest Terminal commands to see if you are connected and all connections that are active is the Netstat.
To see the details of your current connection use Airport-I in Terminal.
Now if you want to use the Terminal to connect to your WiFi use following:

Manually connect to WiFi

Turn On

networksetup -setairportpower en0 on

Turn OFF networksetup -setairportpower en0 off

Find

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/A/Resources/airport scan

Connect

networksetup -setairportnetwork en0 WIFI_SSID_I_WANT_TO_JOIN WIFI_PASSWORD

If you do not know it use the Find the SSID- BSSID

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/A/Resources/airport -s

Finlay, if you do this frequently create a script in Apple Script app.

Save the following apple script as application. Pull it to your dock for fast access.

--
-- Toggle Airport Power On and Off
--
if (offset of "On" in (do shell script "networksetup -getairportpower en0")) > 0 then
    do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en0 off"
else
    do shell script "networksetup -setairportpower en0 on"
end if


Preferences -> Spotlight -> Search Results allows you to change the order of results by reordering categories.  As far as specific items within a category, this answer suggests that Spotlight is supposed to learn the Top Hit from what you choose over time: Changing OS X Spotlight priorities for specific applications.


Apple recommends using APFS for SSDs. You cannot use APFS with a Time Machine Backup Drive. If you are planning on using it for two things, storing files, and Time Machine, then I would recommend partitioning the SSD and then making the one for storing your music, etc. APFS and to use Time Machine, simply go into Time Machine Preferences and then select the partition meant for Time Machine. Time Machine will automatically format the partition as HFS (macOS Extended).


Where can I buy a replacement MagSafe female chip for my MacBook Pro?

Check http://www.ifixit.com/MacBook-Parts/MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody-MagSafe-DC-In-Board/IF163-011, it looks to be what you're looking for.


MacBook Pro randomly freezes, can't do anything

I had the same exact problems with my 2010 iMac 21.5 running 10.10.4.

Open up Activity Monitor and have it run behind you to check memory pressures and CPU usage. My guess would be your RAM is overloaded, so it cannot make any changes to your system.

Downloading the trial version of CleanMyMac 3 lets you have a nice little memory checker in your status bar. I would recommend (since you cannot upgrade RAM) look for software to optimize your memory usage or alert you when you use too much so you can close needed applications. The internet is full of guides to help lower RAM usage.

Hope that helps


How to load a 2nd copy of OneCast with a new license?

This is a clear violation of their licensing terms.

  Our single-user licenses provide access to the software on one or more
  personally owned machines. Each user needs just one single-user
  license, regardless of how many machines the software will be used on.
  Please note that there is also a limit of how many different Xbox One
  consoles may be used with each license key, so don’t share your
  license key with others. Licenses found to have been shared will be
  restricted.

So, based on the behavior of the application you are describing, it is working as described - on a per user basis. You can install it on as many Macs as you like, but if the users are different, you're in violation.

I don't advise trying to circumvent this restriction as they seem to imply the ability to disable the software. If you need additional XBox connections or additional functionality, it's best to contact the developer.


Is it possible/a good idea to use an ExpressCard SSD for swap?

This seems like a lot of work to me since your swap rates are easily measured and generally not at all the bottleneck that needs alleviating on OS X systems I've managed.

Losing swap will be highly destructive to data integrity so you should have your system backed up regularly and able to be restored and files reconstructed if they become corrupt during a write operation. There are several guides here on how to move swap elsewhere, but I would say it's categorically a bad idea.

If you can post back what your exact hardware model is, perhaps there are better ways to accelerate your workload. I would post about 15 minutes of vm_stat 60 and a picture of your Activity Monitor memory when the system is fullly loaded and stable running your desired workload.

My initial thoughts are that you should install your OS onto the SSD and have the home folder on the normal "boot drive" rather than messing with swap. Apps will run properly, you can remove just about all installed apps from /Volumes/SSD/Applications and let the Library there and core OS have the entire space for swap and OS. Moving some highly used data files there might make the most sense as well. Again, these are educated guesses and without knowing the CPU / RAM / internals of your specific Mac, there might be better solutions as well.


When I buy a Mac, does it come with reinstallation media?

There's no such thing as an "OEM" version of OS X, since there are of course no OEMs for Macs other than Apple themselves.

All new Macs have recovery partitions on their hard drives that can be booted and used to reinstall OS X, so you can format your main partition and reinstall OS X. Failing that, they will also do a network boot over the Internet and reinstall OS X from Apple's servers. OS X also includes a program called Lion Recovery Disk Assistant that lets you create your own bootable recovery media on external drives, so you can make as many recovery disks as you want.

Failing all of these options, you can purchase Lion on a USB drive for US$69 (if you're in the US).


Facebook Video Chat plugin no longer works on Mavericks

Perhaps you accidentally blocked a required plugin through Safari's new "power-saving" feature?

Go to Safari Preferences -> Security -> Check "Allow Plug-ins" and click "Manage Website Settings..." -> Make sure www.facebook.com is not blocked from any of the listed plugins.


How do I show an application only in the dock assigned to a desktop?


Does anyone know how iOS Safari 9 handles page crashes or freezing?

Apple engineers wrote the code, but it's not available for inspection so the larger context is yes there is a system but we don't get to see it.

You can look at the logs an iOS device generates by plugging it into Xcode on a Mac or the Apple Configurator. If you do that, you will see that when an application crashes entirely - there will be a log file (that optionally is sent to Apple) explaining what crashed on a technical level.

The second level of logging is when an app (Safari in this case) burns too much CPU. This is likely what you want - when a web page has excessive javascript, buggy javascript, continual tracking and acts more like a program than a short document to be rendered once - you will get a spin dump that again is mostly engineering data - but you will know the OS noticed the app was nor behaving like a short, quick efficient worker. The have spin in the file names.

Lastly, you can avail yourself of the well documented and very powerful Safari development tools by enabling debug and inspecting what Safari is doing on an extremely granular level to include errors, warnings, code inspection, timing to the millisecond, etc...

https://developer.apple.com/safari/tools/


Search file system for multiple search terms (bulk search finder)

You can place "OR" between names and do a regular Finder or Spotlight search. As you can see File4 is missing. Then you can click 'Save' and get a XML of the results.


List of all dates+times when I used my MacBook?

If it is sufficient to have a list of all sleep/wake cycles (lid-open, lid-close), you can run:

pmset -g log | grep ' Wake '

or

pmset -g log | grep ' sleep '

Play around with the string passed to grep to get the information that you need.


Go to Settings -> General -> Storage & iCloud Usage -> Manage Storage.

It will show you Used and Available Space on your iPhone.


How do I get iTunes to play the albums of an artist chronologically?

As of iTunes 10 (or possibly 9), the main library window has the option to do exactly what you want. You need to have it in Album List mode (View menu -> as Album list; or the 2nd option in the view controller:

Then select the "Album by ..." pulldown and select Album by Artist/Year:

You should be all set and have a nice organized list of albums sorted by artist and year.


How do I read developer responses to my app reviews?

I was wondering this too, check your junk mail I found the response in there :)


You could create a program that uses Apple's FSEvents to be signalled every time a new file is created - then it could use a standard move command to give the file a new name.

Another options is using Folder Actions, but that would require you knowing which folders you want to monitor. The folder action could execute a small script you put together, that simply append the date and initials to the file name.


Changing OS X's Apache settings to replicate Ubuntu's Apache environment

You can always do a clean install, from source, of Apache HTTPD, with whatever settings appeal to you. If you want it to walk, talk, and quack like Ubuntu, choose pathnames, user-ids, and everything else to match as part of the 'configure' process. All you need to do to your stock Apple deployment is turn it off to avoid avoid port conflicts.

You could try to reconfigure the Apple default install to be more Ubuntu-ish, but you risk getting tripped up by some obscure decision made by Apple, up to and including source mods. So I suggest that your best best is to use the source, as its authors intend.


How can I stop my Mac from automatically upgrading to High Sierra?

I'm not aware that anything has changed in terms of macOS upgrades.

The only Mac I have with macOS High Sierra actually shipped with it, while all the others regularly inform me of the upgrade, but none have actually been upgraded to macOS High Sierra. The ones that support macOS High Sierra but haven't upgraded are either running El Capitan 10.11.6 or Sierra 10.12.6.

So, based on your settings, you should be fine.


Is there any way to speed up my iPhone 3G since upgrading to iOS4

According to this post on Gizmodo you can edit the preferences for the Spotlight search feature for a speed boost:

Go to Settings->General->Home->Search Results (Settings->General->Spotlight Search on later iOS levels), and shut off everything you don't need (I disabled Music, Podcasts, Video and Audiobooks; leaving Contacts, apps, Notes, Mail and Calendar checked). Made my phone a lot quicker, more like it was with v2 (I'm still running v3.1.2, jailbroken).

Before, there was a good 2-4 second lag when exiting or loading an app. Now it's back to it's old speediness


Fundamental difference between OS X 10.6 Install Disc that come with New MacBooks one that comes in Retail Box-Pack

Retail discs are usually early releases (10.6.0 or 10.6.3) lacking driver support for newer hardware models.

Discs bundled with specific hardware models have full driver support and are usully more recent versions (10.6.5 or 10.6.6) but are also restricted to running on just that model or release series. They also contain install packages for any bundled applications such as iLife or iWork.

In most cases the retail disc should work and you should immediately apply the latest Combo update to add any missing drivers or feature support. If the retail disc gives you any errors you'll need the bundled disc.


Install Windows 10 Creators Update on iMac11,2 without first installing Windows 8

There's a difference between the Microsoft & Apple definitions of "support".

If Apple says it's unsupported that means there are no Windows 10 drivers for your hardware.

Whether that is a minor inconvenience or a catastrophic fail you'd have to try it to see.

The difference in definition isn't only an Apple/MS distinction... MS allowed people on regular Windows PCs to update to WIn10 even though Intel themselves weren't making drivers available for their hardware.
At least Apple are telling you up front you will have no proper hardware support.


If the purpose is only to support a single application which does all of its input via STDIN/STDOUT, you should be able to use the old UNIX trick of specifying that program as the user's shell.

First off, you would need to create a user account for the person; I don't believe you would be able to use the built in "Guest account" since not only do I think it exists only when someone uses the GUI login (read: SSH won't trigger it), but also I don't think there is a concept of default shell for guest.

Second, you need to add the specific program (say /bin/ttychat) to the /etc/shells file. Finally, you need to specify that "shell" as the default for the account you created.

The idea is that when the SSH account logs in, it will redirect all STDIN/STDOUT for the session to the shell you specified. When the program terminates, it should close the connection as well.

I found an unrelated question on Stack Exchange showing how to add custom shells to OSX here.


Is it possible to upgrade the drive in a Time Capsule?

By all means - vote with your wallet. It's trivial for a trained technician to replace the hard drive on a Time Capsule. Rather than put the rubber covering back on the base, you can use inexpensive silicone bumpers to raise the capsule up from it's shelf. Most feel iFixit has decent repair guides if you care to DIY.


Seems to be a bug that shows if you plug an external display, etc.

Open Terminal.app and type:

killall ControlStrip


How can I remove GPG-AGENT setting from Enigmail?

I don't use macs, nor do I know if this will work for you, but I came across this question when searching for why I don't get a passphrase prompt.

Take a look at Thunderbird Preferences -> Advanced page -> General tab -> Bottom-right 'Config Editor...' button to get to the usual Mozilla about:config dialog, then search on extensions.enigmail.useGpgAgent.


How do I (re)mount missing Firewire drives? Why do they vanish?

I can't see a way to change the OS directly, but here's how you would mitigate it:

set up a script to parse diskutil list and possible diskutil cs list and have it mount any volumes that are connected and unmounted
use a tool like Launch Control or Lingon to wrap that script in a launchd trigger mechanism to call it periodically.


macOS Photos Library size is 700MB but I don't see any picture running Photos?

If you upgraded to macOS Catalina it does a number of conversions during the install and then during the first time some apps are used. In your case that would be the old (iPhoto) .photolibrary would be converted to the different (but similar) Photos Library.photolibrary format.
And yes you can't just open a .photolibrary file in the Finder and yes it is a directory that macOS treats as a file. Apps are the same kind of thing, a directory (or folder) that contains all of the code, images, configurations and other things that an app needs to run.
A .photolibrary can be opened in the Finder. To do so either Ctrl - click on the .photoslibrary file (in your Pictures folder) or, if you have your trackpad set up to right click or have a two button mouse, right-click on the file (called a "package file") and select "Show Package Contents" from the menu that pops-up.
Inside is a bunch more folders that the photos.app uses to keep track of all the pictures it catalogs. But if you look in the "originals" folder your pictures will be there, but with names that only photos.app understands. So you may have to go through any and all photos there to find the one(s) you need.
And if you look for a "Recently Deleted" item in the Photos that will contain any photos that have been deleted in the last 30 days. So if a picture was deleted more than 30 days ago, it's gone.
And if you want to recover all the space that the photoslibrary takes up you can just delete it. When Photos.app launches again it will create a new, empty, library.
Does that answer your question?


This is work around, but it works for me, and it travels through all MacOS versions from I guess Mountain Lion (not sure when, made it long time ago). Not sure if it is still relevant, but since I found question without answer in search for the same, decided to contribute.
Here what I did: with automator create new service for Mail app, "Get Selected mail message". In code I have put:

on run {input, parameters}
  set theSource to {}
  tell application "Mail"
    repeat with msg in input
      set t_myFolder to POSIX path of (account directory of account of mailbox of msg as rich text)
      set len to length of t_myFolder
      set myFolder to rich text 1 thru (len - 1) of t_myFolder
      set messageId to (get id of msg as rich text)
      set myfile to (do shell script "find " & quoted form of myFolder & " -name \"" & messageId & "*.emlx\"") as rich text
      try
        set myalias to (POSIX file myfile) as alias
        if myalias is not missing value then
          tell application "Finder"
            activate
            reveal myalias
          end tell
        end if
      on error
        set debugInfo to "messageID: " & messageId & "
        myFolder: " & myFolder & "
" & "myFile: " & myfile
        display alert "Error ocured. Some Debug info bellow:
        " & debugInfo
        return
      end try
    end repeat
  end tell
end run

What it does - is finds mail message file in Finder and selects it. Then you can add tags to that particular file. After only thing remains is to assign a shortcut in the services (under keyboard).

Choose Service receives selected, "files or folders" in "Mail.app" when creating your Automator Service.

Regards
Justas


Your external drive is most probably formatted on Windows and is then in NTFS format.
Check this question which will give you the different possibilities you have.


How to allow the Files app to save to "On My iPhone" (or to "On My iPad") in iOS 11

According to the iPhone User Guide, this requires a third-party app with Files integration support. If you don't want to install one, it's actually quite easy to make one yourself.

Install Xcode if you don't have it already. You'll need version 9 or above.
Sign in using your Apple ID in the preferences. You have to do this in order to run your apps on an actual device.
Create a new project and select the "Document Based App" template in the iOS tab. Name it "Files Local Storage" or something.
Connect your device using a USB cable.
Install it on your device! Select your iPhone out of the list in the toolbar, and click the big "play" button in the top left.

It won't have an icon, unless you go to the trouble of adding one. You'll also need to go into Settings and switch the storage location from "iCloud Drive" to "On My iPhone".

Also, unless you have a Developer ID, which costs $99/yr at the time of writing, you may need to reinstall your app every week or so.

If you don't want to do this, I've heard that Documents by Readdle supports Files integration. I've never tried it, and I'm not absolutely sure that it does.

On the other hand, I have tried GoodReader. It doesn't support Files integration. (update: now it does!) It is also fantastic for file management, and has some good PDF features as well. It can even zip/unzip files and connect to various types of network servers, like SFTP. It's $4.99 (with 4.5 stars and 1,458 reviews) at the time of writing. Please be aware that it does have a built-in web browser.

(I don't have any affiliation with either of these apps.)


Today I used the free software iBrowse on my Mac (PC version also available) to view my iPhone 5 file sytem. I opened the Recordings folder and found all my Voice Memos.

The interesting part is, a Voice Memo I had Trimmed and sent to someone via iMessage, was there in both its original filename and full size, as well as another copy with .trimmed appended to its filename, evidently this is the shortened version I sent my friend.

So if you use iBrowse to view your Recordings, there's a good chance you'll find your original Voice Memo inside there.

PS: I am using iOS 6.1.4 on my iPhone 5.


How do I get my iPod touch to change the locked screen wallpaper?

Have you tried:

Select your iPod under the Devices section in the iTunes Source pane.
Select the Music tab of the iPod settings. The iPod settings are displayed to the right in the main iTunes window.
Select the "Display album artwork on your iPod" checkbox.
Click Apply to save the changes. The iPod begins to update as soon as Apply is clicked.


How to remove preinstalled Apache and PHP from Mac OS Sierra

Removing system macOS binaries is not a good idea, they will be reinstalled during a next system upgrade and they could be needed by some system scripts.

To enable the homebrew php from the command line, read the output of brew info php70:

  If you wish to swap the PHP you use on the command line, you should add the following to ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, ~/.profile or your shell's equivalent configuration file:
    export PATH="$(brew --prefix homebrew/php/php70)/bin:$PATH"

If you have installed php 7.2, check the output of brew info php72.


Applescript Replace sub-procedure doesn't work with '@'

I tried running the first example:

set theBody to "Dear %%FirstName%%-
...
This message was sent to %%EmailAddress%%."

set theBody to my replace(theBody, "%%FirstName%%", "First")
set theBody to my replace(theBody, "%%EmailAddress%%", "first.last@company.com")

on replace(this_text, search_string, replacement_string)
    set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the search_string
    set the item_list to every text item of this_text
    set AppleScript's text item delimiters to the replacement_string
    set this_text to the item_list as string
    set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
    return this_text
end replace

The result was:

Dear First-
...
This message was sent to first.last@company.com.

So it seemed to work just fine. The replace handler shouldn't have any problems with strings that contain special characters, so there might be something else you're missing.

Also restoring text item delimiters is not necessary as far as I know, and you don't need AppleScript's outside tell blocks, so the replace handler can be simplified to something like this:

on replace(input, x, y)
    set text item delimiters to x
    set ti to text items of input
    set text item delimiters to y
    ti as text
end replace


From here

(specifically noted to help with Snow Leopard / SMB / Windows Server 2008)

Launch the Terminal (Applications/Utilities/Terminal).

You can use the vi or the pico editors included with Mac OS X to edit the smb.conf file by typing sudo vi /etc/smb.conf or sudo pico /etc/smb.conf. [Note, as always when changing system files, back up the original first]

You will be prompted for a password, utilize the password for your admin account.

I used vi. In order to change anything within the file you will need to put vi into insert mode by typing the letter i (at the bottom you will see the word insert).

Some handy vi editor tips: vi has 2 modes: 'Command Mode' and 'Insert Mode.' To switch between modes you use the letter i in Command Mode to switch to Insert Mode and when in Insert Mode you use the Escape key to switch to Command Mode. File saves are done in Command Mode and edits to the file are done in Insert Mode. You can search the file you are editing in Command Mode by typing /searchstring where searchtring is what you are looking for in the file.

Scroll down to the line use spnego = yes and change the yes to a no.

Continue to scroll down to stream support = yes and change this to no, on the line immediately below that says ea support = yes change this to no.

In the next group that says darwin_streams:brlm = yes change this to no.

Save the file by first taking vi out of insert mode by pressing the Escape key. Then to save the file and quit vi type :wq and press Return.

Restart your Mac.


What is the minimum Mac OS Partition size when using Boot Camp on a Macbook Air?

I don't see how this would depend on the type of Mac or hard drive. Instead, it should only depend on the version of OS X that you're running.

While Apple's documentations for OS X 10.7 Lion state 7 GB as a required minimum, BootCamp 4.0.3 allows a minimum of 8GB for the OS X partition. Probably, because this includes the 650 MB for the recovery partition (end of page).


make airpods microphones disabled by default when pairing with a mac

Ok, here is a script that would select Internal Microphone..

Copy Paste following in the Script Editor in Utility folder.

Run it, if you like it we can make it a keyboard short cut.

tell application "System Preferences" to activate
tell application "System Preferences"
    reveal anchor "input" of pane id "com.apple.preference.sound"
end tell

tell application "System Events" to tell process "System Preferences"
    tell table 1 of scroll area 1 of tab group 1 of window 1
        delay 10
        select row 1
        tell application "System Preferences" to quit
    end tell
end tell


Copy Selected Text, Paste on Google Translate App (Fluid App) and Translate It with Automater/Service

Here is the AppleScript code I use in a Run AppleScript action, in an Automator Service workflow in conjunction with my Google Translate Fluid App, which is named Google Translate.

Create an Automator Service workflow with the settings as shown in the image below, while replacing the default AppleScript code with the AppleScript code found below the Automator image. Note that I saved it as Translate with Google Translate and this is what shows on the Services menu and context menu when I have selected text that I want to translate.

AppleScript Code:

on run {input, parameters}

    set textToTranslate to item 1 of input as string
    set windowName to "Google Translate"
    set targetURL to "https://translate.google.com/"

    tell current application
        do shell script "open -a " & quoted form of windowName
    end tell

    tell application "Google Translate"
        repeat while (loading) of front browser window
            delay 0.5
        end repeat
        if (get title of front window) does not contain windowName then
            open location targetURL
            repeat while (loading) of front browser window
                delay 0.5
            end repeat
        end if
        tell front browser window
            activate
            try
                do JavaScript "document.getElementById('source').value = \"" & textToTranslate & "\";"
            on error
                set the clipboard to textToTranslate as string
                delay 1
                activate
                do JavaScript "document.getElementById('source').value = ''; document.getElementById('source').focus();"
                tell application "System Events"
                    keystroke "v" using command down
                end tell
            end try
        end tell
    end tell

end run

Note: My Translate with Google Translate Automator Service tries to use JavaScript to change the value of the source text area, as this is IMO a better method then literally programmatically pasting the text to translate to the source text area, however if it can't, it then copies the selected text to the clipboard and then pastes it to the source text area. Before pasting, via programmatically pressing ⌘V, JavaScript is used to both clear the source text area and set focus to it, so the paste will occur as intended in the right location.

The use of do shell script "open -a " ... is necessary because a Fluid App with default Preferences, one created with Fluid, by default when opened from the macOS UI shows its Home Page. However, when programmatically opened via AppleScript, example case, tell application "Google Translate" to activate, only the Dock Tile appears, no browser window, i.e. no Home Page is displayed. This is in part why I originally coded it the way I did. However, since your comment, I found out that if I programmatically opened via AppleScript using do shell script "open -a " ..., it opens with a browser window, not just the Dock Tile and as such was able to recode the Service differently because the use of do shell script "open -a " ... also would bring a minimize window back up without the need to account for that with additional coding.

Hopefully the new code will eliminate two Google Translate tabs from appearing when starting from a closed state. (Although depending on timings, it may occasionally happen.)


The is to change the default coulor scheme for your dark mode in preview.
MacOS Mojave and Dark Theme - Preview for .png file with transparent background not white


Go through photos and delete smaller ones

Open finder and navigate to that folder
cmd + F
Search "in this folder"
Add in the search option "other"
When the option menu pop up, select "Pixel Height"
Add another "other", "Pixel Width"

Then search, and delete.


Your voice memo is being played through the earpiece speaker. You can listen to it, just tap play and put your iPhone up to your ear, as if you were taking a phone call.

To play through the loud speaker, like almost everything else, tap the speaker icon in the top right, it should turn blue. Now play your voice memo like you normally would and it will play through the loud speaker, as opposed to the earpiece speaker. If it doesn't, ensure that the silence switch on the left side of your iPhone is up and that the volume is on.


Can i sell a phone that has been previously jailbroken, but restored, back to my carrier?

Sure; provided that you don't brick it accidentally, restoring it in iTunes will remove any evidence that it was ever jailbroken.  When I bought my 6+, the 5S I sent back to the carrier had been jailbroken the entire time I owned it.  I restored it to factory before sending it back and no one mentioned anything.  Same thing when I updated from the 6+ to the 6S+.  Restored the 6+ and the carrier didn't complain.


How to share files between OSX and Windows 8 dual boot?

Just create a bigger partition for Windows (~200GB) then once windows is installed split the windows partition in two parts (150GB - 50GB) then format the little one in Exfat (which works with OsX > 10.6.8 and Wxp > SP2 and allow the use of big files).


Turn off the Machine by holding the power-button.
Start again while holding the alt-key, there should be a recovery-partition that lets you reinstall


URL of calendar running on mac server (to subscribe in google calendar)

Subscribing to a Calendar and accessing a Calendar account are two very different things. As you mentioned above, you can access this calendar from a Mac by visiting "Mail, Contacts & Calendars". However, to subscribe to a calendar there is a slightly more involved process.

First, go to your primary Mac that you use this account from. Open the Calendar or iCal app. Locate the calendar you'd like to access from Google from the Calendars sidebar. Right-click this calendar and select Publish... You can now enter a website U RL, user ID and password, choose your settings and click "Publish" to publish your calendar.

Take the URL that it published to and you can now subscribe to this published calendar in Google Calendar (via add via URL).

Keep in mind... when you publish a calendar, it essentially sits on a Web Server. That means you will need to have a web hosting provider to publish to. If you do not, you can always start the Web Service on your OS X Server and publish to that.


How to get details of running applications on Terminal?

The terminal command top will give you a list of running processes biggest ones first. Do man top and you will have a complete explanation of the syntax for your version.

Also of interest might be ps, especially if used in scripts. Run man ps for the details.

So, just to add this will give the initial information without any processes shown:

top -o cpu -O +rsize -s 5 -n 0

Based on the example shown in the man page for top.
And this is what it looks like :


Use ImageMagick.  Instructions for macOS binary installation are on the linked page.

compress -quality X% source.jpg result.jpg

X is a positive integer value (i.e. 85 for 85%); source and result are the original filename and the output filename.


How can I find the source of a Mac desktop notification?

I may have found the solution, which involves manually deleting a record from an SQL database.

Using Ralf Westphal's answer here and Oscar Zhang's answer here to solve my issue by editing the db file in the db2 folder. I found the app_id in the app table and then deleted it (which causes the 'app_deleted' trigger to delete the app from all the other tables). This is for Mojave. I used an SQLite editor for this (DB Browser for SQLite].

I will have to wait a while to confirm this works.


Long press some key in ios is not working

The API for apps to be able to detect keys being held on external keyboards is new with iOS 13.4. Apps need to be updated to support this. Contact the developer of the app you’re using to add this.


How do I run VLC with command-line parameters when clicking the icon?

Your best bet would be to create an applescript wrapper like:

do shell script "/Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC --fullscreen"

for example.  Save the script as an application.


How can I redial using Voice Control or Siri?

Sorry, but not yet.  Apple could add this in the future, but it isn't in iOS under Voice Control or Siri currently.  If you know who called, you could ask for them by name.  Unfortunately, that's the only solution with Siri.


The culprit was a yubikey that was checking something every minute so it interrupted the sleep and the fans continued to work.


How to know what nsurlsessiond is downloading

That daemon (or system process) is invoked and handles network download requests from many apps and many other services on macOS. (And iOS and tvOS and watchOS)
I haven't found an easy way to get summary details or statistics from the session manager, but since it works on a queue to upload or download things, my guess is you have one or more job(s) timing out.
Here are some ways to pick apart the activity on your system:
sudo lsof | grep nsurl
ps -ef|grep nsurl
sudo fs_usage -w | grep nsurl

The first lists open files and sorts for matches of “nsurl”. The second lists all processes and sorts again. The third lists file system activity.
That will let you monitor things and see which of the several nsurl daemons is running when you measure 400 mb of transfer. You can also get a dump of the system activity with sysdiagnose nsurlsessiond
If you determine that it's really iCloud Documents, you'll likely need brctl log -w to watch that subsystem instead of monitoring the worker threads that do the lifting.


I can't change langauge with my Logitech Bluetooth keyboard using custom keyboard app

Only Apple keyboards let you use different hardware layouts in iOS.  No 3rd party keyboards allow for that feature yet as far as I know.


So since I know the real passcode I will make a iTunes backup of the device, and then I will restore that backup hopefully letting me input another PIN code. :)


Docker for Mac 10.11.6 will not start, uninstall hangs and docker menu will not open when running

I'd give AppCleaner a try.
Drop the errant app onto its open window (or you can set it to auto-launch if you throw an app in the Trash) & it will offer to clean out any associated files, allowing you to have a clean start.


Try the one from dtrace that apple ships

https://opensource.apple.com/source/dtrace/dtrace-96/sys/elf.h


Suddenly all my files have a null kMDItemDateAdded (Date Added) field

I don't think its a bug. An update in Apples mdimport schema will cause this. I checked this file /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/Metadata.framework/Resources/MetadataSchema.xsd on OSX 10.6.8 and OSX 10.9 and found kMDItemDateAdded only in 10.9.

When your mdworker will update your existing Meta Data using the new schema, it will fill kMDItemDateAdded with null, because PDF.mdimporter is not taking care of this attribute. How should the pdf know, when it is added?

If your mds is consuming lots of CPU time ou should re-index your Spotlight Database like mentioned here


Can I share network access from Ethernet over WiFi?

It sounds like you are looking to share your ethernet connection to Wi-Fi devices, this is possible although there is an exception where your ethernet connection implements authentication, but your Mac will state this.

To get started:

Open System Preferences
Navigate to Sharing
Enable Internet Sharing (left hand list)
Set the "Share your connection from:" dropdown to your ethernet port
Check the "Wi-Fi" option in the list "To computers using:"
Click "Wi-Fi Options" and configure the options for the network you'd like to create
Press "OK"

Now try connecting a device to the newly created Wi-Fi network.


iPod Touch 9.3.5: Noting app that zeroes in/highlights the word upon search

You can do this with the built-in Notes app. Choose Share → Find in Note, type in your search term and matches are highlighted. Use the up and down arrows to scroll to other matches.


It's been moved into one of the add-on packages for Xcode, and is now part of the Graphics Tools for Xcode package.

Apparently this is (at least partly?) because this is no longer the 'officially recommended' way to generate (high resolution) icons. See the OS X Human Interface Guidelines and the High Resolution Guidelines for more info.

I believe Icon Composer doesn't support the highest resolution icons required these days (1024x1024), and you're encouraged to use iconutil instead, which does, and allows you to convert between ICNS and "iconsets" (effectively just a folder containing a collection of PNG files of different resolutions).

If you still want it, you can get it as follows:

In Xcode, go to the Xcode > Open Developer Tool > More Developer tools....

You'll need to log in (or register) with your (free) Apple Developer account, and then you'll be shown a list of available packages for Xcode, including the Graphics Tools for Xcode. Grab the latest one and install.

This DMG of Graphics Tools contains:

CI Filter Browser
Icon Composer
OpenGL Driver Monitor
OpenGL Profiler
OpenGL Shader Builder
Pixie
Quartz Composer
Quartz Composer Visualizer
Quartz Debug


Every time I turn on macbook pro I get menu for choosing startup disk

Going out on a limb here due to lack of information, just trying to help.

Your Mac is 4 Years old, and probably (if you are like me) you have a "lunch" stuck under the right Option key.

Clean it.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+To+Fix+Sticky+Keyboard+Keys+on+a+MacBook/37709

If that did not help you might have to replace the key.


Charger cable vs Lighting to USB Camera Adapter

I use an apple camera connection kit adaptor to connect my iPad to both my RolandRD800 & Kurzweil Forte keyboards. My iPad runs the Unrealbook app which contains all my set lists & songs, and behind each song PDF is a midi HEX string which is sent to both keyboards automatically when I select a song, and this midi HEX string selects the correct patches on each keyboard I require to play the song.

Here is exactly how I set up my connections:

My iPad has the iPad camera connection adaptor plugged directly into it
Plugged into the other end of the iPad camera connection adaptor is a mini-USB 4 port HUB
Into the mini-USB hub I blug two standard printer cables (usb type 'a' to usb type 'b')
Then I plug the other ends 'usb type b' into the keyboards computer ports (one into the Roland and one into the Kurzweil)

There you go. All good. Works a treat. You should now be connected.

NOTE: Your iPad will not charge from your Roland. There is no voltage at the Roland computer port connection to provide a charge. Also the iPad camera connection adaptor is not configured to provide charge to your iPad. It is made purely to connect to a camera and transfer photos.


After market upgrade of the new MacPro (late 2013) CPU?

While there is no teardown of the 2013 MacPro yet, digging into Intel's Ark DB might be useful.

For example the i7 processor used in the MacBook Pro Retina late 2013 is a 4750HQ registered as using the BGA "socket" (Ball grid array) which is synonym of soldered to the mainboard.

For the MacPro Apple tells us there is either a 3.7Ghz w/ 4cores or a 3.5GHz w/ 6cores or a 3.0GHz w/ 8-cores or a 2.7GHz w/ 12-cores. All the processors that have these specs in ark are listed to only using the FCLGA2011 socket (see here the Xeon E5 v2 spec sheet).

So to me it's pretty sure that yes the cpu is not soldered to the mainboard and is therefore upgradable.


How to stream videos from icloud to iphone

iCloud is a file synchronization service, not a streaming service.  So, the short answer is - you cannot.
There's a big difference between opening a file and streaming a file.
When you open files, whether it be on your local device like your computer or your phone, across the network to/from  a shared folder on a friends computer or from a file server or even across the Internet, it is copying the file to a local store before it opens it to play it.
When you stream a file, a service on the server (remote) will open the file and broadcast the contents of the file (audio/video) over the network. The (local) client will then "listen" for this network traffic, capture it, then play it.
iCloud doesn't do this; it's not AppleTV.  Even Apple Music synchronizes your music files


How to monitor iphone bandwidth for app testing?

If your developer has given you the source code you could use Instruments.app which can be used to monitor network activity.

Open the project in Xcode
Select Product->Profile from the menu
When Instruments opens select 'Activity Monitor' and then hit record


How to get Mac OS X to run in a VM on Windows

You can technically run Lion in a VM, but I really really really wouldn't recommend it. Here's why:

You're basically entering the murky world of Hackintoshes
Hackintoshes are inherently "hacky". The performance is rarely going to be as reliable as running OSX on mac hardware.
You're violating Apple's EULA.

If you really want to do it, here's a link, but I really think it's a fool's game.

Recommendation

You'd be better off just getting a Mac Mini or something and if you really want to run Windows natively, then remote desktop from Windows to your Mac mini. I'd recommend that.


What are these characters from the OS X keyboard?

These are U+fb01 and fb02, Latin Small Ligature Fl and Fi.  They are in Unicode really only because they were contained in legacy 8 bit character sets like MacRoman, but should no longer be used for anything.  In modern technology such ligatures are created by fonts on the basis of the underlying codes for the separate characters, which is what should aways be input in place of option shift 5/6.


Keynote: is there an automated way to batch replace images in presentations?

Yes, there is. The bulk of the script would be this:

--ImageTemp would from your csv file in a repeat loop, but here's an image from the desktop for demonstration:
set ImageTemp to ((path to desktop as text) & "Screen Shot 2018-04-29 at 2.55.28 PM.png") as alias

tell application "Keynote"
    activate
    --Replace an image
    set SlidesCol to slides of document 1
    set SlidesColcount to (count of SlidesCol)
    (*Assuming here that you are going to replace an image in every slide of the presentation with the same image, ImageTemp, which is unlikely, but to not complicate matters:*)
    repeat with i from 1 to count of SlidesCol
        set slideItem to item i of SlidesCol
        set ImagesItem to image 1 of slideItem
        set file name of ImagesItem to ImageTemp
    end repeat

    --Finally, export File as a movie
    set ReceiveV to (path to desktop as text) & "ReceiverContainer.m4v" as string
    export document 1 as QuickTime movie to file ReceiveV
end tell

Of course you will need to edit to fit your presentation (here, for example, the script replaces the first image of each slide) and it assumes that the presentation is open, but you will need to open and close as you duplicate and repeat. But the rest of the script is much simpler: duplicate the file with the finder and put what you need in a repeat loop.


What is the native program OSX load to edit the screenshots?

The editor is part of the QuickLook functionality. You can also start it by activiting QuickLook on any image (usually by pressing Space) and then clicking on the Pencil tip icon at top right.


How can I convert iPhone .m4a recordings to a more common and lossless format?

If the song is already in iTunes, it's easy to do it right within it. Go to the iTunes Preferences and choose "Import Settings" on the "General" page. You can set the desired output format here. Afterwards, select the songs you would like to convert and choose Advanced > Create XY Version, where XY is the file format you specified in the Import Settings. When iTunes has finished converting the files, you will have each track twice - you could use a smart playlist to filter the ones in the new format.

Bear in mind that converting from one lossy format to another lossy format will always result in a lower quality.


Sync iOS app using Wi-Fi network in Windows 7

You will need to connect the device over USB the first time before you can use iTunes Wi-Fi Sync. For installing an IPA on your iOS device, iTunes manifests can be used to install IPAs directly on the iOS device. Alternatively, the developer can distribute the app to you using TestFlight.


How do I get the original finder view back?

Show the Toolbar with ⌥⌘T or View → Show Toolbar
Show the Sidebar with ⌥⌘S or View → Show Sidebar


For some reason your songs are greyed out. That's why it doesn't work a you expect it.

Try following : Select all these songs then under right mouse click => Check selection.


Why my Mac OS X Startup Disk used space is around 30 GB

Ok you've got iLife for free, and installed which means you have:
Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iPhoto, GarageBand.
I suspect that this adds upto just under 5GB.
Delete them from the application folder if you don't need them.

This is the link to grandperspective, it's free and really great.

And as I said in the comments Xcode is big 3-5GB, the iOS Simulators are big.

If you are going to develop in the start-up partition, I would get your development environment set up now and then afterwards add the 2nd data partition in.

Oh and I forgot the sleep image - if you have 4GB RAM then you'll have a sleep image that mirrors the memory.  If your Mac battery dies when you power it up it recovers the exact state it was in when it shut down. It's the same when it sleeps.  If you have 8GB then you'll have even less drive space.

Something to bear in mind when creating bootable partition.

This can be turned off, but not a great idea


Can iOS be configured so apps do not create screenshots when the app suspends?

There's no global switch in iOS 9 or earlier. The app developers can decide, what the app show during loading.

If you see security issues or just feel that the experience using this feature is poor, the only remedy today is to contact the developer. Many professional apps like 1Password and Apple notes are coded to not disclose secure information in a temporary app image.

Another option would to be to send feedback to Apple or a bug report detailing any lapses or explaining how this should be an optional control. Apple could change this in future OS if a case were made well enough or by enough people.


do you ever try Relaunch application:

Relaunch saves you time by taking Snapshots of which applications you are using, and starts them back up for you. Think of it as a launcher on steroids that lets you switch between work contexts with one click.

you can take a snapshot before restart your system and after that double click on the snapshot you created then it restored all your files and application you worked on.


How does Time Machine behave when the backup drive becomes full?

Roughly speaking, Time Machine deletes files in the same order you do. (The roughly speaking part has to do with it deleting hourly backups even when there are older daily backups, and daily even when there are older weekly backups.)

For example, suppose you create a file in January and delete it in July, and TM is backing up all this time. TM will first see and back up the file in January. From then until you delete the file in July, every time TM does a backup it notices that you have the file but it's already backed up, so it doesn't copy it again. It does, however, put it into every single one of those snapshots. How it does that without copying the file again is fascinating but not important here. The point is, the file is in every one of those snapshots, and won't be deleted until all of them are. Unless you're micro-managine TM, that won't happen until the disk is so full that TM has had to delete everything thru July.

Another way to say it: Even though it copied the file only once, it saw it many times, and won't delete it as long as it remembers any of those sightings.

More precise rules:

Time Machine does not backup any file it has never seen. (Duh!) If you create a file and immediately delete it, before TM takes its next snapshot, it doesn't get backed up. This can be summarized as If you don't keep it, neither does TM.

Time Machine defines an hourly backup as any snapshot that is not the first snapshot of its day. It deletes it when it is 24 hours old, or when you've used "Backup now" to force 24 newer hourly backups after it. If you create a file, keep it around until TM takes at least one snapshot (let's call it an hour) but delete it later that same day (or at least before the first snapshot of the following day), TM will keep it for 24 hours. This can be summarized as If you keep it for an hour, TM keeps it for 24 hours.

Time Machine defines a daily backup as the first snapshot of a day that is not also the first day of the week. TM will keep it for a month. This can be summarized as If you keep it for a day, TM keeps it for a month.

Time Machine defines a weekly backup as the first snapshot of the week. Rather than get into a religious war about when a week begins, TM defers the decision of whether a snapshot is a daily or a weekly backup until the snapshot is at least a month old. Until then, it doesn't matter, because it'll keep it either way. When a snapshot becomes more than a month old, if there is another snapshot less than 7 days prior, then the newer one is a daily backup, and gets deleted. Otherwise it's a weekly backup and gets retained. This can be summarized as If you keep it for a week, TM keeps it until the disk is full.

By the above rules, your initial backup is therefore on the first day of its week, no matter what day that is. Successive "weeks" will be at least 7 days long, and may be longer if you don't let TM make regular backups.

TM is in effect watching what you do with the file to see how aggressively it should preserve it. The longer you keep it before deleting it, the longer TM keeps it before deleting it. Your actions give TM guidance how to put your files into one of four classes: files you deleted before TM saw them, files you deleted before the next day's first snapshot, files you deleted before the next week's first snapshot, and files you kept across a weekend. These groups have successively longer retention periods, matching the fact that they contain files you kept for successively longer times before deleting them.

In each group, TM backs up the files in the same order you created them, and deletes them in the same order you deleted them.

TM never deletes your only snapshot. If it has deleted all but one snapshot to make room, and still does not have enough, it will abort the backup. It's better to have an old backup than none at all. This can be summarized as If you never delete it, neither will TM.


Is there a solar panel to charge a MacBook Pro 2016?

What I would recommend is going iPad Pro and keep a Mac mini somewhere else for things you simply cannot do locally. Since you are looking at the new models that accept USB C charging, you have lots more flexibility to use solar / iOS type chargers than before. The early 2017 lineup has 4W to 35W processors instead of the much higher wattage ones from 2016 and older.

Even so, running LTE network and remote access to where you have AC power for your Mac keeps your bicycle build light and reduces your cost for solar 10x or more.

I personally wouldn't bike with anything bigger than the MacBook with USB-C charging or iPad, but you could be thinking of a trailer where 35 pounds of gear and Arizona type sunlight would make a MacSafe MacBook possible. Also, the MacBook come with 29W, 61W, or 87W USB-C Power Adapters so you can pick a solar panel that would mimic those recharge rates. It's possible you could get away with a 29W charge on the biggest MacBook if you didn't run down the battery but 1/5 of the way each day and had good times to charge it (i.e. all day on the back of the bike in clear conditions).

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204360

I have heard of people using the 13" and 15" MBP for light work and running all day on a 10W range iPad charger. They lost battery charge all day and watched CPU intensive tasks, but for email, light web, no video or no encoding work - they made it most of the day with less than 10% battery loss and regained 25% battery charge with the Mac sleeping all night on the iPad charger. Now you have USB-A to USB-C charge capability with a small cable instead of lugging a MagSafe AC to DC transformer.

http://www.goalzero.com/p/179/nomad-20-solar-panel
http://www.belkin.com/us/Resource-Center/power-delivery/
https://www.amazon.com/ALEKO-85W-85-Watt-Monocrystalline-Solar/dp/B007YT9WHC/


mid-2015 MBP, 16GB, upgraded from 2.5 to 2.8 model. Benchmarks are almost the same, even worse for the 2.8 in some tests

Have Intel Power Gadget running while benchmarking, and watch the temperature and frequency charts on both macs. If your 2.8Ghz Mac has cooling issues (poor airflow due to dust build-up, bad/failed thermal interface between chips and cooling system) then you'll probably the clockspeed (frequency) drop under load to keep temps under control.


How to get the iPod Nano 5th gen battery health

Apple have software at the Genius Bars which can diagnose faults, read the current voltage, and assess the health of devices but I've never been able to find a copy before.

There is a diagnostic mode for iPods which you can access by resetting the device with Menu+Select and then upon seeing the Apple logo, press Rewind+Select. There are many tests on there including some battery ones within the Power section, however I doubt this will tell you much without a lot of research.

Basically, no, there's no easy way to test the battery other than playing a song over and over as you've stated. Perhaps you could get a quick written agreement with the seller that you'd expect the battery to be at least 80% as good as the expected battery life or something along those lines, and if not they will refund you?


Problem saving settings in OSX Control Panel after SSD installation

I found the solution:

There were some ACLs gone wil. After resetting ACLs using

chmod -RN ~/Library/Preferences

Preferences are stored are desired.


improving wi-fi connection/reception no router or modem being used

I'd try one of these:

http://www.radiolabs.com/products/antennas/2.4gig/2.4-aluminum-parabolic.php

If you are not moving around, and can lock on to one of the towers visually, you could point this antenna at it and try to maximize the weak signal. Kind of like a shotgun microphone or a telephoto lens.


snippet.cgi — as many as 10 at a time in rapid succession…

This is a problem at the web server end, most likely. This meta-Google search link will show you that the problem has existed for a while in many different places. Delve deeper & report back your findings.

Note: The cliftonchilliclub site is mentioned at the Apple Support Communities as a site which triggers the same behavior you are experiencing.

All this being said, I believe the files are harmless.


Create a Terminal command to open file with Chrome

You can use the open command with the -a flag to open a file or location in Chrome:

open -a "Google Chrome" index.html

This also works with URLs, i.e. open -a "Google Chrome" http://www.apple.com.


Add currently playing song to Apple Music using AppleScript Editor

I had the same question today. I don't know AppleScript (first time using it was to make this) so this code is probably very inefficient syntax-wise, but didn't want to risk breaking it by refactoring.

It turns out the only way to add a song to the library in every scenario using AppleScript is to force the application to go into the mini player and then use the "Add to Library" button in the menu bar. You can remove the mini player part of the script if you don't need this script to work with songs that aren't in playlists (e.g a radio).

tell application "System Events"
    set frontmostApplicationName to name of 1st process whose frontmost is true
end tell

tell application "System Events"
    tell process "iTunes"
        try
            tell menu bar 1
                tell menu bar item "View"
                    tell menu "View"
                        click menu item "Exit Full Screen"
                    end tell
                end tell
            end tell
        end try
    end tell
    tell process "iTunes"
        set frontmost to true
        try
            tell menu bar 1
                tell menu bar item "Window"
                    tell menu "Window"
                        click menu item "Switch to Mini Player"
                    end tell
                end tell
            end tell
        end try
    end tell
    tell process "iTunes"
        try
            tell menu bar 1
                tell menu bar item "Song"
                    tell menu "Song"
                        click menu item "Add to Library"
                    end tell
                end tell
            end tell
        end try
    end tell
    delay 0.5
    tell process "iTunes"
        set frontmost to true
        try
            tell menu bar 1
                tell menu bar item "Window"
                    tell menu "Window"
                        click menu item "Switch from Mini Player"
                    end tell
                end tell
            end tell
        end try
    end tell
end tell

tell application "iTunes"
    next track -- if you listen to another person's playlist and add the current playing track, sometimes apple music will completely stop playback (bug), so we have to skip song to avoid this
end tell

tell application frontmostApplicationName
    activate
end tell


Change user password by providing new password as hash in a script

yes you can change the password by providing a hash to a script.  This works for 10.7 and later (up to at least 10.9.1).

You need the hash you want to set it to.  The easiest way to do this is create an account with the password you want and read the hash. The hash is stored in /var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/users/[username].plist in the ShadowHashData field
Create the user the standard way (using dscl) but don't set the password using dscl instead use the defaults command.

Example for user called 'lana':

#!/bin/bash

#hash to set obtained from:
#defaults read /var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/users/lana.plist ShadowHashData
pw_hash='(<10145341 4c544544 ...really long...2d534841>)'

#needs to be unique
$uid=510

#gid of an existing group
$gid=510

dscl . -create /Users/lana
dscl . -create /Users/lana UserShell /bin/bash
dscl . -create /Users/lana RealName "Lana May"
dscl . -create /Users/lana UniqueID $uid
dscl . -create /Users/lana PrimaryGroupID $gid
dscl . -create /Users/lana NFSHomeDirectory /Users/lana
dscl . -merge /Groups/admin GroupMembership lana
defaults write "/var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/users/lana.plist" ShadowHashData "$pw_hash"


There is a freeware software called Burn:

  Made your own movies and want to share them with family and friends? No problem. Burn can create a wide range of video discs. From VideoCD to DVD-Video discs. And DivX discs to fit more of your videos on a disc.

I use it all the time for burning mp4s to DVDs, the finished product will also work with DVD Players too.


How do I switch the font back to previous in El Capitan?

You can try installing a third party application called TinkerTool.

TinkerTool is an application that gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into OS X. This allows to activate hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications delivered with the system. You can download the product free of charge.

You will find the new available options in System Preferences and thus you can change the font in the Font tab as in the figure below:


Have you pointed iPhoto to your old library (In iPhoto: File>Switch to Library)?

I also recall that it said: "The photo library needs to be upgraded to work with this version of iPhoto." when I updated. Did yours do this? I notice also that there is a quit option, did you just click through thinking it was junk?


External display with pixel density similar to macbook pro 17" (132 ppi)

Unfortunately I think you're out of luck. The LCD panels that get put into computer displays are made by a relatively small number of companies. For various reasons (but primarily economies of scale) the manufacturers have settled onto a relatively small number of different panel sizes and resolutions (particularly at large resolutions), so it's pretty tough, if not impossible, to match pixel densities across different displays.

For resolutions higher than your MBP (1920x1200), there are really only two options on the market today:

2560x1600 — used in 30" monitors, ~101 PPI
2560x1440 — used in 27" monitors, ~109 PPI

Even if you go for a resolution around the same size as your MBP (1920x1200 or x1080), you can't get a similar density, as that resolution is typically only used in 21" - 24" external displays, resulting in PPI between 94 and 105.

The one device out there that does have a PPI close to your MBP is the non-retina iPad, which is pretty close to 132 PPI, but obviously you're giving up size and resolution there.

The next likely bump in resolution for desktop displays is probably going to be 3840x2160, which is 147 PPI in a 30" display, so still not that close.

You may find this page on Wikipedia informative.


Macbook Air Early-2015 Service Recommended Warning

Have you contacted Apple to get a quote on the battery? They can run diagnostics remotely and send a box. It’s worth the time in case they want to service the battery due to a service program at no cost to you. Once they ask for service, it could be a short time till it stops working entirely. Or you could run on wall power at slower speeds until you want to replace or repair it.


How to change the stores in the App Store after having added funds?

If you do not have an USA credit card tying you to an USA address, you won´t be able to buy anything from the USA store.

You might get away changing the store with a new free account, and only with a free account.

As your purpose is buying something from the USA store, I would forget the idea.


How do I resolve the MADCATZ R.A.T 9 cursor bug in El Capitan?

This helped to me:

  Update: I've loaded the Madcatz Software (for 10.9) against from here http://madcatz.com/downloads/ and now its working. No USB Overdrive or something like that installed, just the Madcatz software.
  These are the steps you have to do:
  Uninstall all other mouse drivers - USB-Overdrive, SteerMouse, Logitech, Razer, etc.
  Restart.
  Install the MadCatz driver/editor software.
  Restart.
  Add the Mad Catz Editor to the Accessibility permissions list. System Prefs -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy -> Accessibility. Click the lock to authenticate then drag the Mad Catz Editor into the list to give it permissions.
  Create/edit profiles and commands. Be sure to save the profile(s).
  Use the menubar item to assign a profile to the mouse.
  If it's not working, add that to your startup items:
  /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/MadCatzSmartTechnology.app

Discussion on Apple
Try it out!


Where are TextEdit files that are not moved to iCloud Drive stored?

If you haven't migrated to iCloud Documents then they are still stored in the iCloud Documents folder in

~/Library/Mobile Documents/com.apple.textedit/


Preparing my Mac for sale: deleting/clearing disk in Disk Utility

That is the recovery image that you reinstall macOS from in recovery mode (assuming you don't have anything else plugged into your Mac).

You can safely ignore it as it is just an installer.

You have wiped the drive. Boot into recovery mode and reinstall macOS. That will have the added benefit of overwriting the disk with new data making recovering your personal data all that more difficult to recover by the next owner.


I can't use the iPhoto library as desktop backgrounds on Mavericks

I solved my problem by using iPhoto's Photo Library First Aid and repairing the permissions of the iPhoto library.

To activate the Photo Library First Aid

Hold down Option+ Command  while starting iPhoto.

A Window with several options will appear.

To repair the permissions check Repair Permissions and click the Repair button

If that does not solve the problem, again activate Photo Library First Aid and try the next repair option, "Rebuild Thumbnails." Continue through repair options until problem is solved. (In my case, "repair permissions" was not sufficient, but "rebuild thumbnails" solved the problem, so that "Photo Library" appeared in selection list for screen saver.)


CoreStorage logic volume failed to mount

I ran into this. In my case it seems the problem was the mac wanted to run a filesystem check on it. After finding the fsck process and killing it, I could then mount the drive properly.

$ ps -ef | grep fsck
$ kill [pid from above]


Apple wireless keyboard is outputting an " character when I expect an @ character

For some reason your mini thinks the keyboard is a JIS (Japanese) keyboard "type".  This note might help:

http://m10lmac.blogspot.com/2009/12/fixing-keyboard-type-problems.html


Apple Macbook Pro Retina display turns off automatically

First thing is to try to work out what is causing the screen to power down. Does the console give up any messages when the display shuts off?

If there's nothing showing, try going into the System Preferences, to the Energy Saver settings and disable the sleep mode for both the display and the laptop. It will complain when you do this, and you WILL want to be mindful of it not going to low-energy use esp. when you're on battery power - and see if it stops the issue. (This was a recurrent issue when I updated my first macbook to Snow Leopard, so it can be a glitched software install)

If it does, then you know it is a sleep-related issue that may best be solved with a reinstall of the OS. If not, then your best bet is to find a Certified Apple Service center and have them put a diagnostic test to the hardware.

Good luck!


Why does tcpdump not recognise piped input?

This is still an issue with OS X Mojave 10.14.2 (libpcap 1.0.1 Apple 79.200.4, tcpdump 4.9.2 Apple 83.200.2). It's ultimately a bug in Apple's patches to libpcap and tcpdump.

In addition to using upstream tcpdump (which is available in Homebrew), you could also:

Use tshark (part of Wireshark), which works similarly to tcpdump.
Write the packets to a temporary file.
Prefix the stream with 4 null bytes:

sudo tcpdump -i en0 -w - | cat <(printf "\0\0\0\0") - | tcpdump -nvr -

Cause (and why inserting nulls works)

Apple has patched their tcpdump such that it tries to read files as PCAP-NG format first:

#else /* __APPLE__ */
        pd = pcap_ng_open_offline(RFileName, ebuf);

They also added a -P option to emit packets in pcapng format.

pcap_ng_open_offline ends up in pcap_fopen_offline_internal(..., isng=1).  This flow calls pcap_ng_check_header early (see if (isng) in pcap_fopen_offline_internal), and on failure, jumps into the bad: label.

That bad: label attempts to fseeko to seek the file back to the start:

 bad:
    fseeko(fp, offset, SEEK_SET);
    if (p != NULL)
        free(p);
    return (NULL);

But you can't seek a FIFO, so we're still reading from the same spot!  fseeko would return an error, but this error is ignored.

On pcap_ng_open_offline returning an error, Apple's patch then calls pcap_open_offline, which follows a similar control flow to normal pcap. However, because the file pointer on the FIFO is still forward by 4 bytes, the next set of headers have the fifo's magics, and so tcpdump gives up.

You can work around this by inserting 4 extra NULL bytes at the start of your pipe, with a little shell-script trickery:

tcpdump -i en0 -w - | cat <(printf "\0\0\0\0") - | tcpdump -nvr -

This means that when fseeko fails, you'll be in the correct spot in the FIFO for the "actual" magic.

However, there are still some limitations:

tcpdump -P (Apple-specific pcapng flag) still doesn't work.
These files are no longer valid pcap files. If you wanted to read it with another tool (or even a non-Apple tcpdump), you'll need to tee the output before cat.

This also works with tshark (which can output pcapng, and doesn't work as a source without this work-around):

tshark -F pcapng -w - | cat <(printf "\0\0\0\0") - | tcpdump -nvr -

However, I wouldn't suggest putting this work-around in anything long term.
It will break once Apple fixes this bug, or if your users have a non-Apple tcpdump on OSX (such as with Homebrew).


How to show a Keynote presentation on other platforms?

From your Keynote document select:

File > Export > PPT...

or better (to avoid most problems with PowerPoint format):

File > Export > PDF...

This last format will work perfectly on any Unix and any Windows.

Warning: test these formats on the target system before a serious presentation.

With both formats, video, animation, transitions and presenter notes will be lost.

If your projector is of the VGA era (see https://www.google.fr/search?q=vga&source=lnms&tbm=isch) then I would advise you to:

Stay with Keynote (this software is still many years ahead of many others and mostly of PowerPoint).
Buy a Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter.


How to create smart playlists on iPhone?

Either you have on your library same album and different artists or, most likely, you're creating some weird rules that generate that behavior, like other folks did. If that's the case, seems like you'd have to change + to ... in any rule that uses the plus sign. Granted, it is inconsistent behavior in this second case and it might get fixed in the future. And, who knows, there might be few other little bugs like this as well.


MGEM2**/A is the marketing number of the base model: Mac mini (Late 2014) 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5/4GB. MGEM2GU/A is the number for the Greek?/former Commonwealth of Independent States (except Russia) market and MGEM2D/A is for the German market.

Some more country/market identifiers: LL = US/Canada, B = UK, BZ = Brazil, C = Canada, CH = China, E = most spanish countries (Mexico, Spain, Argentina), J = Japan, RU = Russia, X = Australia/New Zealand etc.


macOS closes all my applications when I lock my screen

Open System Preferences from the Apple menu in the top-left corner. Open the "Security & Privacy" preference pane. Click on the "Advanced..." button in the bottom-right corner. You may need to unlock the pane using the padlock icon in the bottom-left corner.
I think you'll find "Log out after XX minutes of inactivity" ticked. Untick it.

Reference: https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/140077


Access messages in Outlook's 'Drafts' folder

The corrected code:

-- locate the message
set theMessage to the first message in drafts

-- show subject (testing)
display dialog of the (subject of theMessage as text)


Can you boot into recovery mode on an older iMac running a newer version of OS X (10.8)?

I believe the issue is that recovery mode was introduced in 2011, you are indeed correct.

If you have access to another Mac you could create a bootable macOS installer and boot from that


Microsoft Office 2011 right-to-left (Arabic) doesn't work

If you want type RTL in Mac OS X I suggest you NeoOffice (it's not 100% like MS Word but it can done most of MS Word Job) or you can use OpenOffice and iWork.

If you want use MS Word 2011 (not earlier version) you can use some trick to solve your problem. make one document in RTL language in Windows MS Word (in your case you must use Arabic) then bring it to mac and open the document and delete the text and save the document as a MS Word Template (your desired name), then each time you need to write text open your template in MS Word 2011 (when you want open the document you have ability to open the desire template).

But you must consider that this solution is not bug free, if you want use RTL and LTR at the same time you will encounter some bugs.


Lost files on hard drive after Time Machine back up

First things first, switch off Time Machine. Any further backups to that drive will hamper your ability to recover your files.

You're going to need some sort of data recovery app to dig down through your hard drive to recover the data that was there which has hopefully not been overwritten.

EaseUS is a pretty good recovery program that I have used to recover data in the past. Their Mac version is a little pricey, at $89.95, but you will have to gauge the value of your data you need to recover and see if it works out worth it.

I doubt you will find any decent free application that can properly recover your data. EaseUS do have a trial version available that will allow you to recover up to 2GB of lost data so you can try it out risk free.


Timing for Mac provides at least part of the functionality you are looking for.

Timing is the best way to keep track of the time you spend with your Mac. Find out where your time goes - without ever having to start a timer again!
Timing automatically tracks which documents you are editing, which applications you use, and the domains of the websites you visit. Afterwards, just drag and drop activities into projects. There are some default categories, but you are free to customize them!


Enabling password free software installation with parental controls on to block adult content

The password window shows up when an app needs administrator access to access certain files or folders not in the user's home directory.

You may be able to bypass this, depending on how the application is distributed.

If the application is distributed by itself or in an archive(such as a .dmg or .zip) that just contains the app with no installer, you can drag-and-drop the application to the user's Applications folder(/Users/[your username]/Applications/) instead of the system Applications folder(/Applications/). If the user's Applications folder doesn't exist, you can create it yourself.
If the application is distributed as .pkg installer, it may provide the option for you during installation to "Install for me only" which will not require an administrator password.


Really Strange Behaviour on Trackpad/Keyboard

This happens all the time for various reasons. Typically, you want to disable Bluetooth and disconnect all usb devices. Then verify that you only pair or connect one device at a a time.

  if one device has left mouse pressed down, you can’t ever get a left mouse up event from any other device.

Bluetooth interference or less commonly, faulty usb devices can overload the communications channel and you can isolate this by connecting devices one by one.

Why can't I left click on my Macbook Pro?

The last two times I had this affect me was a second Magic Trackpad pinned under a book on a bookshelf and an old but reliable (up to when it failed) USB 2.0 hub.


Try to completely disable Notification Center, reboot, then reenable.

To do so, (with caution, of course) try the following:

Launch the Terminal app from /Applications/Utilities, enter the following command, and press Return:

launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.notificationcenterui.plist

Reboot
Now re-enable Notification center:

launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.notificationcenterui.plist

I have searched in vain to find any information regarding a .plist or other file containing appearance settings for notifications thinking that somehow these had become corrupt.


How to share/broadcast the screen of the iPad to a distant computer?

If you can use a computer what you can do is  connect the iPad to the computer through a USB cable then view the iPad screen using QuickTime. Then use screen sharing software so the person in the other place can view your computers which will have you iPads screen.


Why is AppleScript not ejecting my volume?

I had the same issue. The Finder command eject seems to be unable to eject volumes although according to what I found on the internet it worked in times from 10.4 to 10.6.

The following script works. I have saved is as an Application in the Script Editor and have added it as a start object. Works well in my case.

tell application "Finder"
    set d to disk "Photos"

    if (exists d) then
        say "Disk exists"
    else
        say "Disk does not exist"
    end if
    if (d is local volume) then
        say "Disk is a local volume"
    else
        say "Disk is not a local volume"
    end if

    if (d is ejectable) then
        say "Disk is ejectable"
    else
        say "Disk is not ejectable"
    end if

    -- This fails because the disk is not ejectable
    eject d
end tell

-- Solution: Use Disk Utility directly
tell application "Terminal"
    do shell script "d=\"/Volumes/Photos\"; if [ -d \"$d\" ]; then diskutil eject $d; fi"
end tell


How to prevent app falling in sleeping status on Mac?

You can disable the App Nap feature on any app by finding it in Applications, Get Info, then uncheck App Nap.

The App Nap checkbox doesn't appear for all apps - & I can't figure out what determines that.

Otherwise, you can disable it globally from Terminal using the command
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAppSleepDisabled -bool YES