Steam has an automatic updating system. Games, and even the steam client will update automatically, if you are connected to the internet.

What seems to be happening to you, is that one of the games (or the actual client) has registered its intent to update, but it cannot, due to offline mode being enabled.

Try enabling online mode, and updating everything. This should negate the need for an update, and fix the problem.

However, if I have read your question wrong, this method will probably not work.


This thread on superuser discusses a similar problem. The accepted answer points to this key mapping program which you may find meets your needs.

The other, more robust but slightly more complex solution, would be to create your own custom keyboard layout using Ukelele. You can then install your custom layout in your  ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts folder, and activate it using the System Preferences -> International pane. (the best way to use Ukelele is to duplicate your existing Turkish keyboard layout file and modify just the single key in question).

As a fast solution, and if you don't mind changing other keys on the keyboard, you could use the International pane to switch to a US keyboard layout.


Issues with replacing the internal hard drive in a mid 2007 macbook

You're not the first person to have problems with this drive in a Mac - see http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-notebooks/217444-macbook-pro-hard-drive-replacement-wont-format.html

It's possible there is a compatibility issue, as you seem to be doing all the right things (and it is connected properly otherwise you wouldn't see it in Disk Utility at all).

The damaged hard drive bracket would not be the cause of the error above.

Try a non-AV drive (one designed for notebooks rather then surveillance/home theatre use) and see if that makes a difference.


Possible to independently use Macbook Pro and external monitor?

I have not seen this.  Two things I have tried that help me, however, are:
Pin windows that you want on the side monitor to all spaces
I've often treated my second monitor as more a static workspace that doesn't change no matter what space I'm in.  You can do this by
System Preferences --> Expose and Spaces --> Spaces -->
Click "+" under Application Assignments, and add the applications you want to stay on the second monitor to "Every Space".
Run a virtual machine in the second window
Using VMWare I sometimes run Windows or Lion on the second monitor in full screen.  Add that virtual machine to "Every Space" as described above, and then within that machine I can use spaces and have it run independently of the primary workspace.
Neither method gives you exactly what you want, but they provide a few other options you might try that will still give your working style a boost.


Lacie External Hardrive doesn't show up on Mac or in Disk utility

Spinning disk drives fail, and its clicking-then-silence and invisibility to the host computers both indicate that this one has given up the ghost.

Expensive disk-repair software such as DiskWarrior might be able to repair it, or to retrieve the data. Given the clicking noise followed by silence, however, this is very unlikely. I wouldn't expect DiskWarrior to be successful.

Hard drives aren't repairable. The data can be retrieved by specialist businesses, but at significant cost.


How should paths in /etc/paths.d get added to $PATH?

/usr/libexec/path_helper is used to build PATH from the default in /etc/paths and the entries in /etc/paths.d (see man path_helper for details). By default this is called in /etc/profile which is executed for each sh/bash/zsh style login shell.
On my system /etc/profile looks like this
# System-wide .profile for sh(1) and friends

if [ -x /usr/libexec/path_helper ]; then
    eval `/usr/libexec/path_helper -s`
fi

if [ "${BASH-no}" != "no" ]; then
    [ -r /etc/bashrc ] && . /etc/bashrc
fi


Import/Send Gmail and Work Email to iCloud Online?

That's possible! The Mail app is great for keeping track of more than one email account and also has rule features, so if you're worried about clutter, you can set them to automatically get deleted. macOS also automatically clears space (if you allow it, Apple Logo up the top -> About This Mac -> Storage) after time.


What is the latest iOS 8.3 baseband for iPhone 6?

2.23.03 for a european (Austria) GSM
Perhaps contact the vendor if it's compatible.


How do I prevent a menu extra from appearing at login?

Try this

  http://macs.about.com/od/macoperatingsystems/qt/ejectcdmenu.htm

or

Rename eject.menu in /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/ to something else "eject.menu.bak"

restart mac and then rename the file back to original.

Not sure if it works but trying doesnt hurt anyone.


The problem with your solution is that as far as I know PhotoBooth doesn't have a "next effect" command. One must click the "effects" button and choose. What you could do is create a new empty user, so people won't access your personal stuff, and lock the computer with PhotoBooth using a script.

Follow these steps, changing the application from Finder to PhotoBooth:
https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/337191/197509

People won't be able to do other stuff unless they can reach the keyboard.


For anyone who ends up here after installing the macOS Sierra release candidate. I had to disable Siri and then kill the Siri process using Activity Monitor.


More than a 'cloud drive' solution, you should be looking for a 'cloud backup' solution. Backblaze and Crashplan are popular options, but there are a variety of possibilities with different features , such as Arq or Tarsnap.

A bootable copy of your main drives would be an additional insurance against disaster; you can use a software like SuperDuper! or Carbon Copy Cloner.


Is there a way to selectively enable "Text Message Forwarding"?

I was totally sharing your concerns, hence my iPhone is forwarding any messages - including those from my bank accounts - although bluetooth on both Mac and iPhone is turned off (and so is wifi on the iPhone, so I assume the forwarding works via cellular data). According to a nice and helpful guy on the Apple-Hotline, there is no such option as filtering which messages will be forwarded and which not.

But after thinking about the issue for some while, I do not see it as such a big deal anymore. The 2-factor-authentication is based on the principle of knowing one information (like your password) and possessing something (e.g your phone) to receive a second piece of information which will, put together with the first bit, act as key. The situation with the message forwarding just differs in so far, that the "thing" you possess in this case are two things (the phone and the mac). So no breach, imho, since the guy who could possibly steal your Mac still has to know your password.

It just does not feel right to have the transaction no displayed on the same device that runs the session and thereby requested the number ;-)


Python interactive mode not registering changes made to file on disk

Use the execfile(...) built-in function, to reload the Python source file without quitting the interactive session.

  execfile(...)
      execfile(filename[, globals[, locals]])

  Read and execute a Python script from a file.
     The globals and locals are dictionaries, defaulting to the current
     globals and locals.  If only globals is given, locals defaults to it.


It's generally the practice that logs would be maintained on the system which is doing the mounting etc. On macOS the logs are typically located here: /var/log/system.log.

Matteo's answer here shows the various ways that mounting of devices or DMG image files will show up in this log after they're mounted/unmounted.

Where can I find the log of all mounted volumes?


can't create user account after reinstall

By not logging in with my Apple-ID I have been able to create a new user account.


How to make spotlight index files shared over AFP

I found (what seems to be) a good solution after messing around and observing another AFP share that is working correctly.  Turns out that the working folder has ACLs to allow spotlight indexing:

$ ls -led /Shared\ Items/Public/
drwxrwxr-x+ 19 root  admin  646 May  6 12:47 /Shared Items/Public/
 0: user:_spotlight inherited allow list,search,file_inherit,directory_inherit

New directories created inside a directory with this ACL will also inherit it. Files created inside the directory inherit a similar ACL: user:_spotlight inherited allow read,execute.  As it turns out, applying the allow list,search,file_inherit,directory_inherit ACL to a regular file results in the file getting the simplified ACL (allow read,execute).  So my solution was to add the inherit ACL recursively to the shared directory:

$ chmod -R +a 'user:_spotlight allow list,search,file_inherit,directory_inherit' /Shared

This solution worked perfectly. Now all my share content shows up in spotlight searches regardless of who owns them.


Should I worry that TimeMachine is making many backups during one night without me using my computer?

It is completely natural for Time Machine to keep backing up when noone is using the computer.

Usually those backups will contains almost no changes, and thus they take up almost no space on the external drive because only changes are backed up. They will eventually push out old backups, but it will probably take a long while because the changes are so small.

Even when not using the computer, there are constantly made small changes to log files, etc. that are transferred over. However note that some virtualisation programs for running Windows, Linux, etc. on the Mac can cause relatively large backups to be made even when almost no user visible changes have been made inside the virtual machine.


How can I figure out if a Safari extension is using unreasonable memory/cpu?

Disable the extension.  Run Safari for an hour (normal use) and note the kind of cpu/memory usages you get from it (using activity monitor or top).

Enable the extension.  Repeat.


Use Web browser and Latex using iPad, Monitor, Apple Mouse and keyboard

For your use case, I'd advise to take a systematic approach starting with researching if the desired workflow is possible to be performed on an iPad end-to-end.

By end-to-end I mean getting data onto iPad, checking on the availability and maturity of the tools/apps which will satisfactorily get the work done and getting data off the device to desired output (digital such as sharing it with other computer/people or physical such as hard copy).

I'd try to address your concerns one-by-one as asked for in the question.

First of all, unlike a desktop computer or a laptop, an external monitor cannot be simply used as an extended display for an iOS device (iPad/iPhone). You can however connect your iOS device to an external display using an adapter to mirror your device. For more details, you can get started with the following Apple Support document:

About Apple Digital AV Adapters for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

If you would not like to involve dangling and always connected cable, a slightly expensive solution could be to connect an Apple TV to your display and mirror your iOS device using Apple TV onto the display.

While extended display is not natively supported by iOS, certain apps are programmed to take advantage of an external display and show extended content.

Coming to keyboard, it's possible to use external keyboards with iOS devices. However, your typical wired/IrDA wireless keyboard won't work. Bluetooth keyboards can be paired and work fine. Apple Magic keyboard can be paired to work with an iOS device. Various 1st party and 3rd party keyboards are available for iPad with iPad Pro supporting Apple Smart keyboard.

Using a keyboard frees up screen real estate. Using Apple Magic keyboard would be recommended in your case as you are planning to use an external monitor to mirror content. This way you can use the keyboard detached from the device.

iOS user experience is based on touch, not click and is not designed/programmed keeping a pointing device in mind. Hence it's not possible to use a mouse with iPad.

Google Chrome is available on the App Store and can be installed on iPad alongside Safari which comes pre-installed. You'll need to research on the availability of Latex apps on the App Store.


Where are these ads on my lock-screen coming from and how can I get rid of it?

I just experienced the same thing, although with a different coupon and app. For me, it turns out that it is coming from the 'Wallet' app. If it is, go to the 'Wallet' app, click on the coupon, then the 'i' on the bottom left. You can select 'Remove Pass' and that should get rid of it.


No sound from speakers on MacBook Pro except the startup chime

Gently pluginng the headphones in and out of the jack solved the issue.


Transfering Lion preinstalled license to new owner

Nothing needs to be done since the Mac's serial number is used to re-download Lion so no Apple ID is tied to that installation package for the OS.

This differs from purchasing a Lion upgrade from the App Store - that isn't intended to be sold, so you'd have to adjust the sale price or gift them a card if the deal was for them to get other software included with the sale.

I've seen people trip up over iLife since it does get tied to an Apple ID rather than tied to the CPU when selling a used Mac, so caveat venditor and caveat emptor is in order.


MacBook Pro with TouchBar - Compatibility with Ubuntu?

The Macbook Pro's Touchbar runs software similar to the Apple Watch's WatchOS (I'll call it TouchbarOS), entirely separate from the macOS the computer itself runs on. TouchbarOS automatically switches to standard function keys when the physical keyboard's function key is pressed.

I can only assume TouchbarOS sends the exact same message when a function key is pressed on the Touchbar than when it is pressed on a physical keyboard, so yes, the standard function keys (though almost definitely nothing else the Touchbar does) should work with Ubuntu.

For more on the Touchbar and standard function keys, see this Apple support page.


Is my Macbook Pro 15 Early 2011 Logic Board goosed?

Since you've paid for AppleCare - send it in. It doesn't make sense you would be charged for a repair unless there was some sort of external damage, so perhaps you misunderstand the quote.

Perhaps the pricing was for an estimate if the fault was not covered so you could be prepared in case that were the case.

Call back and ask to have your situation cleared up or drop by a store with if one with a Genius Bar is convenient. I would remove the third party RAM and accessories (as Apple will ask you and inspect for before beginning service) before presenting your Mac for service. Inform them you have had a second drive in the optibay and offer to let them have / evaluate the part if desired to ensure it didn't cause the malfunction.

Here are the North American terms of service - and you can see that Apple may charge you a diagnostic fee if you send them a Mac and the failure is due to third party parts being the cause.


Is there a Quick Look plug-in for ZIP files?


Disable preview of pdf in Mail under OS X Mavericks

I found this here to disable PDF preview in Apple Mail, and tested in on my Mavericks.

defaults write com.apple.mail DisableInlineAttachmentViewing -boolean true

So your were close.


Has anybody used Dragon Dictate on OS X with MacVIM

The setup in the video is quite impressive.  I imagine that there was a lot of customization necessary to have the software work that way. Dragon Dictate works with vim for inserting text (I just tested this myself), but it doesn't do as well at navigation or editing the text, and it certainly can't do all the fancy code insertion straight out of the box. I imagine that if you have a disability that prevented the use of your hands that you would be motivated to make such an environment work, but I imagine that for normally-abled people it would take more work than it's worth.


iPhone apps think they are under old iTunes username after it has changed

Have you tried removing the app from iTunes and and the iOS device and then downloading them again? iTunes should see that you had already bought it and just downloads it.

This way I changed some apps when I got the iOS device from my girlfriend, which were bought with her account.


SMC Fan Control Causing random freezing and crashing

Here is a short list of apps that you can try.  I've listed them by price (lowest to highest).  All of them specifically state that they support High Sierra.

SSD Fan Control (Free)
Macs Fan Control ($15)
TGPro ($18)
HDD Fan Control ($35)


Will my Bluetooth earbuds work with my Apple Watch even if I don't have my phone with me?

You can listen to music on the Apple Watch without your iPhone. In this answer, you'll learn how to sync a playlist and pair your bluetooth headphones.

Make a music playlist

You can keep one music playlist on your Apple Watch at a time.
Audiobooks and podcasts aren't compatible.

On your iPhone, go to the Music app.
Tap My Music > Playlists > New.
Give your playlist a name, and then tap Add Songs.
Search or tap to find songs, artists, or albums to add.
When you find something that you'd like to add, tap "+".
After you add the item, tap Done. You can then search for more music to add.
When you're done adding music, tap Done to save your playlist. (A)

Sync your playlist

Set your Apple Watch on its charger and make sure the device is charging.
On your iPhone, go to Settings > Bluetooth. Make sure Bluetooth is turned on.
From the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, tap My Watch > Music > Synced Playlist.
Tap the playlist you want to sync to your Apple Watch. When a message next to your playlist says Sync Pending, your playlist will
begin syncing from your iPhone to your Apple Watch.
Wait until the sync is finished before using your Apple Watch. To see the sync progress, open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and tap
Music. You might need to download any music stored in the cloud, such
as music from Apple Music or iTunes Match, to your iPhone before you
can sync it with the Watch. (B)

Pair Bluetooth headphones with your Apple Watch

To listen to music on your Apple Watch, you'll need to connect to
Bluetooth headphones:

Put your Bluetooth headphones in pairing mode using the instructions that came with them. You might need to enter a passkey or
PIN (Personal Identification Number).
On your Apple Watch, go to Settings > Bluetooth. Your Apple Watch will search for nearby Bluetooth devices.
Choose your Bluetooth headphones and enter a passkey or PIN if asked.

Listen to the playlist on your Apple Watch

After pairing your headphones, you can listen to your synced playlist
without an iPhone:

From the Home screen on your Apple Watch, tap the Music app.
Force Touch, then tap Source > Apple Watch.
Tap play to listen to your playlist.


Why does my MacBook audio output have no sound when connected to a stereo component?

You seem to have isolated the issue to the stereo component. If it expects line in signal, you might need a device like the Griffin iMic to provide line level sound.

Also, setting the volume lower might make the input low enough to not trip a protection on the stereo, but usually line level is higher than speaker/headphone level so that might not help at all.


It is likely that the drive is toast. Disk utility is designed to see everything on any bus that looks like a drive.

You could try zapping the PRAM, or as the kids call it these days, "resetting the SMC." Google will help you find instructions for that.

Failing that you could try putting the internal drive in an external enclosure, which will mostly tell you if there is something wrong with your internal bus. There is a slim chance that this will work, allow you to format the drive and put it back in the Mac and it will work. Depends on how skilled you are with hacking around in the hardware and how much time and effort you want to put into it to test a long shot.


How can I know which formula create this file

If the file was installed by Homebrew, it is a symlink to a file in /usr/local/Cellar/:

$ ls -l /usr/local/share/info/bash.info
lrwxr-xr-x  1 admin  wheel  45 Mar 15 15:25 /usr/local/share/info/bash.info -> ../../Cellar/bash/4.2.45/share/info/bash.info

It's also possible that the file was not installed by Homebrew. /usr/local/ is often the default installation target in makefiles, and it is also used by installers and by other package managers like pip.


iPhone 4S losing data connection while still showing 3G/EDGE symbol and appropriate reception

Same problem here ....Using a UK iphone 4s factory unlocked in mumbai with tata docomo sim card ..... Edge is working fine but suddenly it stops working ... I can see the full signal bar with the edge logo still it wont work then i need to on off airplane mode to make it start again .... Happens 3-4 times a day ... No idea whats causing this problem ...


Attempting to Disable Thunderbolt Extensions on Yosemite 10.10.5

You don't need to disable SIP to remove the extensions. All you'll need is an Admin account for the Finder popup when you move the extensions out of the System folder.


Notification Center preferences shows duplicate apps

Open terminal and run this command:

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

Or, if you have OnyX utility app, go to "Maintenance" > "Rebuild" > check on "LaunchServices" (leave the other options unchecked) > execute


Is it possible to backup my iCloud contents?

I discovered recently that TimeMachine backs up all iCloud data. As long as you use TimeMachine, it is safe to use iCloud. If you want to recover your old (accidentally) deleted files, simply open Pages.app for example in the iCloud view. Then, you can just browse through your file history.

E.g., if you deleted the file today, just go back to yesterday and recover the file in TimeMachine


If I replace an iPod Classic battery myself, will the music be preserved?

The iPod classic has no NVRAM/PRAM or settings that degrade when battery power is disconnected. Unless you want to roll the risk that opening the device causes irreparable harm into the definition of "replacing the battery" - you are safe to go. Just like you can pull a hard drive and place it in a new computer - same with the drives in a classic iPod - everything important is on the drive.

I would put this in the class of putting a spare tire on a car. Even if you've never done it before, you get out the manual and most people can do this themselves - especially if you are not in a rush. Likewise, those that really shouldn't attempt the operation generally have a good intuition that they are not up to the task.

I say, dive in and replace your battery once you've read up on which connectors are fragile for your specific model. Cracking the case is by far the hardest part of the surgery.


Inverse trigonometric functions in Calculator

Hit the shift key in Calculator in older versions of OS X to get all inverse trigonometric but also some other functions:

In El Capitan it works with the "2nd" button (the real keyboard's shift key should work as well):


Is there a list of pre-installed command-line tools for macOS?

Actually it looks like there is a simple way to know that.

At Terminal prompt hit the Escape (or TAB) twice

It will ask you if you want to Display all 1527 possibilities? (y or n).

Or here https://ss64.com/osx/


I think I can comfort you with the following statement on the website of Apple (Update: The information cited here has been removed, but you can still find it in this archived version)

  Time Machine automatically backs up your entire Mac, including system
  files, applications, accounts, preferences, email messages, music,
  photos, movies, and documents. But what makes Time Machine different
  from other backup applications is that it not only keeps a spare copy
  of every file, it remembers how your system looked on any given day—so
  you can revisit your Mac as it appeared in the past.

On the given page, there are even tutorials on how to restore your Mac from a Time Machine copy.

Please be aware those backups are not bootable. So you still have to manually install a fresh OS (from USB, DVD or other...)


In MacOS, how can I group the processes based on apps?

These Google Chrome Helper processes are sub-processes of the Google Chrome app. You'll notice that the highlighted sub-process is indeed at the top of all the other sub-processes in the list - the proper hierarchy. You did nothing wrong, nor is there a bug.


Change Spotlight weather forecast from Fahrenheit to degrees

I'm not really sure, but if you change Fahrenheit to degrees in the Notification Center add-ons ? (it's the case for Siri on iOS)

Or perhaps if you change your region :

Last chance in the Language & Region advanced section with the units parameter :


SSH, passphrases, keychains, Could not open a connection to your authentication agent

The ssh-add -K  command add the key to the Apple's Keychain, but there is a SSH specific keychain, unrelated do the Apple's one.

It runs as a deamon and interacts only with SSH.

I don't know if this will help you, but I have strong feeling that it will.

Keychain is available as a homebrew package so if you get nomebrew available at your system to install it just type brew install keychan. After that a man keychain will help a lot.


Software to produce plots for very large data sets?

I assume that you mean 5000 observations. R will work, and RStudio will get you to use R with a bit more GUI than the native application. Commercial solutions like Stata -- which has a soft learning curve, in comparison especially to R -- will also work that kind of sample without any difficulty (by statistical standards, 5000 observations is a relatively small dataset).

The learning curve will matter if you want to reach beyond a mere plot; otherwise, a quick look at the documentation for line graphs should suffice (for R, check there and there, for instance). HTH!


What can I do to stop Touch Bar overflowing to bottom of screen?

Found the answer here:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT207258
I think there must be a Mac bug.
I had never used Switch Control. It was off. But by switching it on then toggling the Switch Bar on and off via the Switch Control Home Panel > System I managed to finally disable the annoying thing.


Why do I keep getting a request to install JDK on mid 2015 MacBook Pro

You may need to download legacy Java that apple doesn't automatically ship anymore. That said, if you think you know which application may be what's requiring this, it may be a good idea to get rid of it if you don't need it. If you do need it, this should be the right download: https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1572?locale=en_US


Will the MAS prompt me to keep my Xcode 5?

No, Xcode 6 on the Mac App Store will replace the existing Xcode installation. Only the Xcode betas install separately (by default) and only downloading Xcode from developer.apple.com and doing the install manually (by copying Xcode from the DMG to /Applications) will prompt you to replace or keep both.


Automatic (or a quick) way to add page numbers to a pdf document

I do not know of a current possibility for the matter.
There is a website for this
https://www.ilovepdf.com/de/pdf_seitenzahlen


My battery is not charged. The only way to operate is to plug the computer in

Is your MacBook a plastic one made before 2008? Did you buy a new charger for it at some point after 2008? If so, the issue could be an outdated System Management Controller (SMC).

For some reason, the SMC's in the pre-'08 MacBooks will not allow charging via a Magsafe cable made after 2008. It will run off of it, but it will not charge.

Fortunately, Apple has a patch. Download the SMC firmware updated located here, and your MacBook should start charging from the newer charger.


iCloud storage doesn't add up on in iPhone's "Manage Storage" panel

Several days after I posted this question my phone started having problems (apps opening slowly and crashing) and I erased the phone and attempted to restore from the iCloud backup. The restore screen gave me a time estimate of 11 hours for a process that (for most people) takes about 10 minutes. It ran for about an hour and then failed with an error message that the wifi connection had failed (it hadn't).

After numerous unsuccessful attempts and several days of escalating phone support from Apple, a senior tech told me that my backup was "corrupted" and forwarded the request on to an engineer to see if my data could be retrieved.

So I believe the correct answer here is that this was not normal and was a sign that the phone contained some sort of corrupted data, which was being passed on to iCloud every time I backed up.


Proper way to reassign installed macOS to another Apple ID?

You will need to erase the disk to change ownership, not just reinstall macOS over the current install.

  You should erase your startup disk in these circumstances:

  You’re selling or giving away your Mac, so you’re clearing your Mac of anything associated with you, your data, or your Apple ID.

To do that, boot into Recovery Mode by holding ⌘ cmd r during boot. Then follow Apple’s instructions for Erasing your startup disk and Reinstalling macOS:

  Select Disk Utility from the utilities window of macOS Recovery, then click Continue.
  Select your startup disk in the sidebar of Disk Utility.
  Select the disk name, not the volume name indented beneath
  it.
  Click the Erase button or tab.   If you don’t see an erase button or tab, select the volume name indented beneath the disk name,
  then look again.
  Complete these fields:

  Name: Enter a name for your disk, such as “Macintosh HD”.
  Format: Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
  Scheme (if available): Choose GUID Partition Map.

  Click Erase to begin erasing your disk.
  When done, quit Disk Utility to return to the utilities window.
  Choose Reinstall macOS from the utilities window.
  Click Continue, then follow the onscreen instructions. You’ll be asked to select a startup disk and click Install.
  To verify eligibility to install macOS, your Mac serial number is sent to Apple, and you might be asked for your Apple
  ID.
  Your Mac restarts to a setup assistant after installation is complete.
  Complete the setup assistant with your son’s information.

Completing Setup Assistant is what will assign the OS license to the owner’s Apple ID.


As you mentioned - you will need to free up other disk space to see if you can keep the old software running without having a license to upgrade.
Are you able to post a disk usage summary so we could help advise what you can delete or move to another disk so FCP can limp along a bit longer?
Next time you’ll know to discount the purchase price so you can fund the software you need. I don’t have any good option and know gaining experience through unmet expectations can be painful sometimes.


Why doesn't iOS 4 have any apps to match Locale on Android?

While iOS doesn't support generic background tasks (i.e. doing whatever you want in the background), it does support taking some action when a user enters certain geographical bounds, so it seems like this could technically be possible when moving from work to home or elsewhere.

My guess is that it is because iOS is very restrictive about what an app can change about the phone interface. You mention changing the default calendar configuration, which an application cannot do currently with public APIs. Apps are mostly restricted to changing their own settings or firing their own events rather than having access to other apps on the phone.

Could this change in the future? Sure, if Apple adds more public APIs to change various system or app options. But it seems unlikely considering their interest in a consistent user experience.


Can't use keyboard when resuming from sleep

Sometimes it can take a while for the sleepimage to make the login/password field active (there should be a blue line round the inside of the box when its active). I've noticed this behaviour in both 10.7 and 10.8 (but not in 10.6) on occasion, but no consistently. Usually when it happens it takes about 10 secs or so before I can type.

However, if you're saying you can type some characters (from the right side of the keyb) but not others (those on the left) that sounds most definitely like a hardware issue.

Try connecting an external keyboard and seeing if the problem appears on that too. If no, you've a hardware issue. If yes, post back.


Why are some fonts listed with ls shown in red and with a star at the end of the filename?

It means the font files are marked as executable, i.e. they contain code which can be executed. This is clearly incorrect for what should be a font file with no concept of being executed.


How can I transcribe a Voice Memo to Text?

I would try using Soundflower, which allows one to virtually plug your sound output to input, and then use Dictation.


Why doesn't tap-clicking work often in Flash?

It's probably about that Flash object's design/development.

I haven't used Flash for development in a long time, but it must have attributes for allowing/disallowing such things. And since every developer behaves differently you are experiencing different things like that.


How to Prevent macbook from sleeping when the lid is closed?

Nope, closing the lid will automatically sleep your Mac. If you want your Mac's screen to be off but for it to continue downloading, download the Caffeine app from the Mac App Store and turn it on (Caffiene stops your Mac from sleeping temporarily) then dim your brightness all the way. The task will continue and the screen will stay off.


Taking care of your Mac (put into a sleep or shutting down)

I have a Macbook Air but I'm going to assume it's the same in Apple's laptops.

Yes, though unplugging a MacBook overnight won't drain much of the battery. It shouldn't overcharge/damage the Apple adapter will make sure of that.
Yes, you can store it vertically when you have it closed. It's okay to rotate any laptop with an SSD in it as long as you keep it away from being bumped or falling over, or really strong magnets. Bumps and falls may not damage your SSD, but it could affect your laptop's functionality.
It is totally idle, operations will resume once you open your MacBook and re-login (if needed). Though you may see some notifications when you open your MacBook, I assume these are notifications before your MacBook entirely goes to sleep. So don't worry about it making any notification sound when it's closed, I keep mine that way and haven't noticed any notification sound. The notifications are from sent to the Notification Center when you Login, the app that send them check the time, and if they would have sent them during the PC was asleep then they do what they were intent to do e.g Calendar etc. The PC does run maintenance script though they make no sound at all, also it can back up to Time Machine, if you have that on. There are few more things that can run, if you have Power Nap enabled (Energy Save Pref Pane).


Determine the location of a shared folder in Win7

In Finder the navigate so that the Win7 folder is the selected one. Then the folder name is in the title of the window and this is the path yo use in your script.

Note you can also use automator and applescript rather than shell scripts.


Backing up HDD to restore it on another SSD

Three ideas. First addresses your idea about Disk Utility. The next on the method I have used. The third is an idea to just do a switch of the disks & use an external enclosure.

You can use Disk Utility, but I’ve actually had better luck not
using it or any official Apple tools. With Disk Utility you would
simply make an image of your boot disk to another drive then boot up
your machine from some other device—a CD, DVD, USB, etc…—or even the
recovery partition. Once booted you go to Disk Utility & restore.
But like I said, I have had better luck with other methods.
I have done clones & migrations over the years using tools such as
SuperDuper!
or Carbon Copy Cloner. Just hook up an
external drive with an empty partition as big—or bigger—than the
source, clone the disk as a bootable copy to the new disk. Install
the new drive in your machine, but then boot up from the copy you
just made & clone it in reverse from the external drive to the
internal. Maybe Time Machine can do this, but I don’t use that for backups.
But I have a third solution I think would work well. Get an external
enclosure for the drive you are going to remove, place the drive in
that enclosure, place the new drive in your machine, boot from the
external drive & then clone it in reverse from the external drive to
the internal.

The last one has a slight risk since if you have no backup & you remove your internal drive & somehow damage it in the process, well… You have nothing. I recommend method 2 since it’s a tried & true way of imaging a machine. Works great!


MacWrite II (ver 1.1v3) runs in Sheepshaver ... I don't have MacWrite Pro in there, so that maybe means I tried it and it didn't run.


How do I delete music thats not downloaded?

In iTunes, when viewing the Album or Artist, click on the ... to the right of it and then click Remove From My Music.


How can I convert my GarageBand tune to an mp3 without the static noise increasing?

I suspect this is not a file compression issue but rather an audio compression issue. By default, GarageBand has "Auto Normalize" turned on (Preferences > Advanced). This reduces the volume difference between the softest and loudest sounds in the mix on export, so that the playback of the finished audio is louder. The problem is, when you've got quiet background noise in your source files, normalizing will make it louder. Try turning off "Auto Normalize" and exporting again. The file format shouldn't matter.

Of course, the Jedi master-level fix for this problem would be to get a better recording (or better recording equipment) and to EQ/filter out the noise while mixing!


How can I use an Apple remote control with customized actions without having the button actions happen?

I've been looking for a solution to this for a long time everywhere. That is discussions.apple.com, various popular technology websites and mac forums. The only real solution that I've seen is a piece of software by Twisted Melon.
Mira: Remote Control any Mac
This applications rests in the system preferences and customizes the apple remote buttons on a per-app basis. You can download and try the software from their website.


"All My Files" option in Open/Save dialog get 100% CPU on Mountain Lion for a couple of minutes?

This might be caused by the general slow spotlight problems with OS 10.7.5 and 10.8.2.  What version of Mountain Lion are you running?  How long has this been a problem?  If you're running 10.8.2 you might try this workaround.


Can I use any USB charger with my iPhone?

If I am understanding you correctly...

A power adapter with a USB port on it will charge anything that that can be charged via USB. So, probably...

That said it is important to note that some USB chargers don't provide enough wattage to charge a device or charge it quickly enough. Also if the usb charger has just a mini/micro USB cable on it then no, as iPhones have *Lightning" connectors not USB connectors.

There is also the issue with cheap, knock-off chargers that are constructed poorly and will damage anything that are plugged into them.

That said a USB charger that is designed to charge a Samsung phone should work as long as it has a standard USB port on it that you can plug a lightning cable into.


Office 2016 does not work with MathType: Migration of Word documents with MathType equations

I just received this note from Mathtype, much more reassuring than I was expecting. In the meantime, I might try doing my word+mathtype work in Parallels.

Actually some versions of Office 2011 do work on High Sierra, but not if you continue to update to the latest version of Office 2011. Naturally updates are important for security reasons, so we don't recommend our customers stay with an early version of Office 2011 forever (I'm using 14.7.2, and it works fine).

It shouldn't be long though. We're hard at work on MathType 6.8 (which we think the version number will be) for Mac. We've been working together with Microsoft on this, and we have early betas now that we're using and testing within the company. It does integrate into Word 2016, with a MathType tab and commands on the tab similar to those on Word for Windows. We do have some things to work on, but our progress so far has been encouraging -- over the last couple of months anyway.

You may have read about our merger with Maths for More, the company behind the WIRIS equation editor (http://news.dessci.com/mathtype-and-wiris-join-forces). One result of the merger is that you will soon see more frequent releases of MathType (monthly is our goal), but our highest priority right now is releasing a version of MathType for Office 2016 on the Mac. The company isn't projecting a release date other than "in coming months". I'll be more specific than that and say I estimate it will be 8-12 more weeks. We're maintaining a list of customers who have asked about it, and those on the list will be among the first to know when we have news to report.


Which Airport to use for primary WiFi router, Express or Extreme?

If it works for you there's no need to change. I thought I'd read someone else say that you can't use the ethernet ports to extend from the wireless network on an airport extreme if it's in client mode but I gather you're only using it for wifi and it sounds like it's already working.

You can use 802.11n AE with time machine, from my experience I wouldn't recommend it though. The initial backup was expected to take ~20hrs and it kept restarting. In the end I plugged the HDD into my mac once a week to do a backup instead.


WiFi Diagnostics Keyboard Shortcut in macOS Catalina

It looks like cmd+ctrl+option+shift+w triggers a WiFi Diagnostics session.

Browse to /Private/var/tmp and you'll see 300MB+ files titled WiFiDiagnostics_YYYY-MM-DD_IP4-address_Mac OS X_MacModelName.tgz

I can't find any official documentation on this, and I believe this is new for Catalina.


"System Builder" Windows on VMWare Fusion?

The "System Builder" version is intended for OEMs.

Basically, the difference boils down to the fact that microsoft will not provide support (e.g. tech support calls or live-chat) for the OS.

It is perfectly legal, will still receive all the patches and service packs, etc...

Here are more details. It's worth noting that I have transfered OEM versions of Windows XP (though not 7) between multiple computers without any significant issues, and generally if it's not activating, you just call Microsoft and they give you a new code.

Furthermore, since you're sticking it in a VM anyways, you should never really have to worry about windows thinking you swapped the mobo, and trying to reactivate anyways.

Off-topic a bit, have you tried running Internet Explorer under WINE? I know WINE supports IE6, and you may be able to finangle IE7 or 8 into working as well.


How can I change the desktop wallpaper for a restricted, parental controlled account?

You can set the wallpaper to automatically show images from a certain folder, switching images every X amount of time. This way, your son can put the image he wants in the proper folder and remove the old picture, and the next time it is changed it will choose the only picture there.

Use the + button to select the proper folder, change the stretching rule to fit your needs, and check the box for automatically changing the picture. If you don't set it to automatically change pictures, it will look for the last picture used and show a blank screen when it doesn't find it. You can force the image to be reloaded by logging out and back in, or by executing killall Dock from the Terminal.


Spotlight can be slow and only returns partial results in some cases.

Solutions include:

Examining free space on the phone and deleting things so that there is about 1 GB of usable storage space.
Power down the iPhone and start it back up. Sometimes keeping a low CPU program running like stopwatch or count down timer can let the background process that updates spotlight get enough CPU time with the device awake to complete the indexing.
Uninstall the app and reinstall it.
Open a support request and they can gather diagnostic logs to determine why your spotlight database isn't updating.


Distorted, robotic-sounding audio on Google Meet from AirPods 2 (via microphone)

I have a similar issue and found that a sudo killall coreaudiod via Terminal fixes the issue. From what I understand this resets the audio.
My issue is exclusively with a Google Meet in Safari. A Meet in Chrome doesn't have the issue. Everyone's voice that I hear is garbled. They can hear me fine. Maybe about 25% of the time if I switch audio sources and back it's fixed.


How to disable codesign check on Logic Pro X plug-ins?

after some trial and error i managed to solve it easily with the following command in terminal

find . -name "*.bundle" -execdir sudo codesign -f -s - {} \;

find . -name "*.EXTENSION" is responsible for finding the certain file extension in a directory

-execdir YOUR COMMAND {} \; is responsible to executing the command.
using -execdir -> on the results of the previous find command ( {} )

fairly simple after all, hope this can help someone in the future


ports 80 and 443 suddenly closed on macos server

Turned out that the /Library/Server/Web/Config/Proxy/apache_serviceproxy_customsites.conf file became corrupted.

Luckily, there was a backup file in the same directory /Library/Server/Web/Config/Proxy/apache_serviceproxy_customsites.conf.previous and simple swap solved the problem! (remember to restart the Websites service)

Not sure if this is relevant but it might:
From Etrecheck report I’ve noticed that there was an MacOS update about the time when the problem occurred:
2019-02-19 Security Update 2019-001 (10.13.6)

Apple Support Communities thread that helped to track-down the issue: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250188369

EDIT

The problem came back today (after 10 days).

The trick described above didn't work.

(It might have had something to do with renewing the SSL certificate this time.)

EDIT 2

This time I’ve managed to repair Website service (and open ports 80 and 443) by commenting the last line of the following config file: /Library/Server/Web/Config/Proxy/apache_serviceproxy.conf

#IncludeOptional /Library/Server/Web/Config/Proxy/apache_serviceproxy_customsites*.conf`

Not sure how long that'll last this time ;-)

EDIT 3

Still don't have a clue what was happening. Recently needed to re-enable the cutomsites in order to park couple of new domains. Server still works fine... so far.


The DV format files are in a format designed in 1995, the compression of video has gotten, ahem, a bit better in the ensuing 20 years. That is why the file size looks so big. It is big.

.dv is a compressed format, but the audio remains uncompressed. What you need to do is go through the manual of the camcorder (usually available online) that shot the video (or something similar) and see what resolution it shot at.

Then you just convert the .dv file to an mp4 at the same bitrate and resolution and that will give you, probably, the best quality output. MPEG Streamclip and Handbrake should be able to do the conversion (if I recall correctly).

Or you can blow up the movie in Quicktime and choose the one that looks the best. It all depends on how much time you have to work on this.


macOS Catalina not allowing me to access full storage on my disc

I fixed this by doing the following:

I ran  diskutil list. Then from that list, I checked which part of my disk was the one apple was using in the GUI in my original question by checking which one's size was also 42.74 GB (Its identifier was disk0s2 in my case).

I ran sudo diskutil apfs resizeContainer [the identifier we retrieved above] [the size we want it to be, so 87G]

2.5 In case this does not work the first time, run diskutil repairDisk and try again.


iPhone 6 - What can cause the front camera, rear camera and the flash to stop working, all at the same time?

There is a power supply chip responsible for powering both cameras if you removed the display you may have accidentally have damaged this small and delicate chip, without power to the cameras the flashlight will also not work. You can see the chip pointed out by a pair of tweezers in the picture below. it is normally covered in the black substance like the parts around it, I removed it in order to give a clearer view of the chip in question.


If it says you're on the most recent version with no updates available, it's either jailbroken and specifically modified, or there isn't an update available for your device.

If you have an iPod touch 1st-generation, iOS (or iPhone OS) 3.1.3 really is the latest version you can install on your device, and will show that there are no updates available.


How to Open the Profile Management Window Every Time You Open Chrome?

Thanks User3439894 for guidance

The Command

open -a "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory="Guest Profile"

Does work when Chrome has been Quit but I needed a command which could do the same thing in running session

open -na "Google Chrome" --args --profile-directory="Guest Profile"

the '-na' prefix opens a new session of the browser and that helps my case.


Battlefield 2 via CrossOver: Graphic Bug With High Terrain

Unlike on a Windows gaming machine you don't have many choices to fix such issues on a Mac. As far as I know there are no dedicated drivers sections on the NVIDIA or ATI pages and no possible beta-drivers from Apple.

After a couple of years I ended up with a separate Bootcamp partition for the gaming fun because (forgive the harsh words) all the CrossOver, Wine, whatever crap sucks! Take a look in the AppStore and see the comments on Civ V as an example. Even the relatively smooth running and still good looking Eve Online has some glitches.

Sorry for the negative mood, but I think we'll have to wait some more years to see more 'native' mainstream games like Starcraft.


How to recover an accidentally deleted new pages document

For anyone else that might have done this, here is my solution:

I created another new document with a unique string and searched spotlight to find the directory where autosaved Pages files live. With that directory open in Finder, I could use Time Machine to find the old autosaved file ("Unsaved Pages Document.pages") from an hour ago.

For me the directory was:

  ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.iWork.Pages/Data/Library/Autosave
  Information


How can I upgrade Silverlight so that I can stream Netflix /

Go to this Microsoft link: http://www.microsoft.com/getsilverlight, and follow the instructions there.

It will auto-download a silverlight.dmg installation file, which you double-click to launch.


If you go to Preference inside Terminal, then inside Profiles and then Window you can set the default windows size.

Knowing that you are setting the size for the default window, every time you open it all the default settings will be applied.


How can I print a PDF X-1A from a iWork Pages document?

If they can take PDF-X1/a, then they can take any of the others as well; you shouldn't have any problems.

PDF-X1/a was simply the first in a long line of iterations of a new PDF schema that basically does a lot of preflighting for you (it's one of the best things to happen in the printing industry in a long time). It means your document is "press ready", which mainly applies to SWOP presses but can apply to small printers as well.

As a footnote to all of that...   You can also output press-ready PDFs using the Mac OS X-supplied "Save as PDF" button in the print dialog box from just about any application.


Can't see Macbook WiFi-access point on Android smartphone

Sadly, most versions of Android do not support adhoc networking (only infrastructure), which is almost certainly what your Macbook is broadcasting. There is a program called Wifi Adhoc Enabler on the Play Store, which will allow the device to see adhoc networks. I think it requires root access though.


How to extract applications as IPA files on iOS9?

If you are jailbroken, there is a solution that can be batch scripted.

Install sbutils and ipainstaller from cydia

ssh to phone and run these commands:

sbbundleids > backup.txt
while read line; do
ipainstaller -b $line
done < backup.txt

and then to install the apps:

ipainstaller *.ipa

I tested a few and it allows to upgrade apps directly from app store without fuss. (same appleid, obviously)


High memory usage is not a reason for a machine to randomly restart, but if you say the memory usage has an effect on the frequency of it happening, the issue might be a defective RAM. There are several tools to test your RAM, a free example would be MemTest86.


There was a known issue with upgrading or installing the OS on Macs with a T2 chip to macOS 10.15.6. Apple have yet to acknowledge the problem but have rolled out (about 3 hours ago) a new update to the software catalog that is reported to fix the problem.
Give it another try after 0000 UTC Thursday Aug 6 as Apple has replaced a wrong installer for most T2 Macs.


FYI, LC_ALL is an env var you DO NOT want to set from what I have been reading.  It is there for developers for debugging purposes when they need to quickly change all the locale settings ie. env vars you listed above for a particular environment as it overwrites / supersedes all the other locale env vars, thus that is why it is left unset.

cheers
Chris


Regional Screenshot Capture: Freeze Screen Before Capture?

Don't know any applications that do what you're after but here's a couple of alternative options for you. Second two won't pause the video but will give you instant capture.

Pause the video then capture at will? Sorry if that sounds too obvious! Guess that you might be viewing live footage so that might not work...
Shift+command+4 will give you a regional marquee grab (takes grab on mouse-up) saved to the desktop (or add the control key to add to the paste buffer).
Use Grab - its the OSX 10.6 native screen capture app under /applications/utilities. It has the option to grab the current window (or selected region or entire screen).

Choose the option you want
Make the screen ready (ie video playing)
Choose it with a click
You may be able to set this up as a keyboard shortcut under /system preferences/keyboard/keyboard shortcuts - I've not tried.

I hope that helps!


Secure emptying takes long because instead of marking the areas of your disk which stored the files you're deleting as "available", it overwrites them with junk in order to make difficult recovering those data.

What you say happens to me too, I think it's pretty normal. i.e. it could be deleting .DS_Stores when you delete a directory.


Applescript Invoke Specific User and Password

Updated answer:

There is an Apple doc which shows the correct way of doing it. You was close.

(I have not tried it myself)

do shell script "rm -rf /$HOME/Downloads/*"  user name "USERNAME" password "THEPASSWORD" with administrator privileges

From the doc:

  How do I get administrator privileges for a command?

  Use the administrator privileges, user name and password parameters
  like this:

  do shell script "command" user name "me" password "mypassword" with
  administrator privileges user name and password are optional; if you
  omit the user name, do shell script assumes it to be the current user;
  if you omit the password, it will ask for a password when it runs.
  Once a script is correctly authenticated, it will not ask for
  authentication again for five minutes. As of Mac OS X 10.4, this grace
  period does not extend to any other scripts or to the rest of the
  system; manually calling sudo -k is unnecessary.

  For security reasons, you may not tell another application to do shell
  script with administrator privileges. Put the command outside of any
  tell block, or put it inside a tell me block.

  Bear in mind that administrator privileges allow you to change any
  file anywhere in the system. You can render your system unbootable or
  even erase the entire disk with a few well-placed commands, so
  exercise caution. Better yet, don’t use administrator privileges
  unless you absolutely have to. Unless you are doing system-level
  development, you should never need to change anything in /System —
  changing /Library should suffice.

  Note: Using sudo(8) with with administrator privileges is generally
  unnecessary and creates security holes; simply remove the "sudo".

IMPORTANT UPDATE 2

*You can save the app as "run only" (Save an editable copy for yourself first)

( If you only save it as a Run Only even you will not be able to open it and edit it later on once you have closed the script window.)

Then use the File->Export menu which will give you the option in the save dialogue to save as "Run Only"

Attempt to open main.scpt file in application package:

A Run only will stop someone from opening the script embedded in the Application by double clicking on it to open it in Script Editor and discover your password. But there is a way of finding the user name and password from a  Run Only and it is not that hard to figure out even for a casual user.

I WOULD THINK TWICE ABOUT PUTTING YOUR USER NAME AND PASSWORD IN THE APP.

UPDATE 3

A little idea to help if you must do this is to break up the password text by creating nonsensical  variable  name to hold it and jumble them.

When the code runs it will reassemble them in the correct order.

For example.

if the password is 88>0TpFpax

I will use:

    set T to "Tp"
    set Po to "88"
    set TC to "Fpax"
    set TEH to ">0"
do shell script "say blahbla" user name "markhunte" password (Po & TEH & T & TC as string) with administrator privileges

Notice that not only do the variable not mean anything or show any sense of order but the bits of password are also jumbled within them.

All until the code runs.

So even if they do stumble on how to do what I am talking about the password will not be assembled in any order that it can just be used.


Recommendations on launching applications and setting up workspace based on location?

For this problem, I use https://github.com/jigish/slate, as this allows to position windows based on the current monitor configuration which is currently attached. The monitor configuration can be recognised by the resolutions of the the screens. A simple example with configurations for "laptop+external monitor" and "laptop only":

# Configs
config defaultToCurrentScreen true
config menuBarIconHidden true
config checkDefaultsOnLoad true

# Monitor Aliases
alias mon-extern 1920x1080
alias mon-laptop 1280x800

# Concrete positions
alias 0-mail        move screenOriginX;screenOriginY       screenSizeX;screenSizeY          ${mon-extern}
alias 1-mail        move screenOriginX+0.17*screenSizeX;screenOriginY       0.83*screenSizeX;screenSizeY         ${mon-laptop}

# layouts
layout 2monitor 'Calendar':REPEAT              ${1-mail}
layout 1monitor 'Calendar':REPEAT               ${0-mail}

# Default Layouts
default 2monitor resolutions:${mon-laptop};${mon-extern};
default 1monitor  resolutions:${mon-laptop}

This will move the window of mail from full screen to part of the screen. But see the documentation of the program for more features and examples.


Huawei E3372 Hi-Link doesn't work with macOS Catalina

Huwei has posted an update for mobile sticks drivers for Hilink products you can use this : https://consumer-tkb.huawei.com/tkbapp/downloadWebsiteService?websiteId=1697201

for the other devices (that use mobile partner or mobile wifi): visit this link https://consumer.huawei.com/en/support/search/ and then click software section you'll find the driver for your device


Default to ActiveSync for Exchange Calendar

Choose a default calendar in Settings → Mail, Contacts & Calendars → Default Calendar (right at the bottom).


Why don't .ico files created in Icon Composer work on Windows?

Do you get the same issue if you try Hobiconer to export your icons? Superior to Icon Composer in every way, and free.

The commercial successor of Hobiconer called Icon Slate is $4.99 in the App Store, however Hobiconer is still out there for grabs (hence the link to Softpedia's mirrored file)


Strange problems installing operating systems on old MacBook air?

I see clear indications you are not thinking through what you are doing. Rather, you are throwing stuff at a wall hoping something sticks.

Normally, I would expect either macOS or OS X is installed. From the operating system, you can determine the model identifier and current firmware version. If necessary, the firmware can be updated by a download or by upgrading the operating system.
The model identifier allows us to determine if the EFI is 32 bit or 64 bit. Whether or not your Mac has a BIOS. If the processors are 32 bit or 64 bit. How to properly download the Windows Support Software. Which versions of Windows will run on your Mac. The type of booting (EFI vs BIOS) available for Linux installations.
You failed to include if you are partitioning using a MBR or GPT scheme. Maybe you are using a Hybrid scheme? Who knows?
You failed to include which version of Lubuntu you tried to install. From a quick check of Lubuntu's download page, I see there are many versions to choose from. From the information you have posted, I would have no idea which one to choose.

Take your installation of Windows. How did you determine which Boot Camp Support Software to install? Obvious you picked the wrong one, since some of the hardware failed to work. I could not possible tell you how to acquire the Boot Camp Support Software based on the information you posted. I have no idea which version of Windows you choose or if the version was 32 bit or 64 bit.

Where to go from here? Get some version of OS X or macOS installed. Maybe this is the question you should have asked in the first place. For now, an answer to this question will have to wait.


Is there a mail merge solution on OS X besides Microsoft Office?

1-use Mailchimp (mailchimp.com) it has all the bells and whistles: address list management, import lists from a variety of formats, reports, subscribe/unsubscribe, drag & drop html layouts, etc. etc. All of this in their free product.

2-Go LibreOffice (https://help.libreoffice.org/Writer/Mail_Merge_Wizard). It compares nicely with what Office can do and it is a lot more flexible in the char encoding area. It looks clunkier than Office, but it is free.

Hope it helps


Yep, there's an app for that.. (or two)

"ScreenRecycler" http://www.screenrecycler.com/ScreenRecycler.html
"AirDisplay" http://avatron.com/apps/air-display

I have used it, it works, but it's much better over an Ethernet connection instead of WiFi just be forewarned.

Also, you could use a (~$50) USB -> DVI adapter with the DisplayLink software for Mac and just add the monitor to your computer via USB, but honestly the performance is going to be about the same as AirDisplay over Ethernet (you just wouldn't have to run the other computer)

Anyway I have used both methods and found them to be very useable for mostly text-based work as a secondary screen.


How can I prevent Always Allowed apps from counting towards App Limits

The text for "Always Allowed" says that it lets you use certain apps during Downtime or when the "All Apps and Categories" limit has passed. Unfortunately it doesn't say anything about not counting those apps towards any limits.

You could make a new limit that affects every app except Facetime, like this:

(Here I used the Camera app as an example, but you would uncheck Facetime instead.)

This does have the disadvantage that any new downloaded app under Social Networking would also not be limited, but you could monitor for that pretty easily.


You need to check inside the featured section of the Mac App Store because new versions of OS X do not always show up in the updates and you have to purchase it (the last three versions have been free) from the Mac App Store and install it. If 10.11 is okay, than that is still available in the App Store. It should be in the featured section or if you search, you will have no trouble finding it. It is only possible to get 10.10 if you purchased it while it is still available, in which case it would be in your purchased tab.


Photo library won't import back on Mojave after Catalina

I can offer you a work around.

Go to you Pictures folder
Right click your Photos library, "Show Package Contents"
All photos are in the "Masters" folder. Create a new Photo library and import.

At 178GB I'm guessing you have some level of organization, folders, etc. I'm unsure if that's recoverable.


Boot Camp Assistant: "This Mac does not support Boot Camp"

The solution for fixing Boot Camp Assistant was the same as with previous versions of the OS: reset the NVRAM.

I found a discussion mentioning a similar problem with an upgrade to Yosemite here that I intiially disregarded as it referenced repairing permissions and running a Disk Verify, neither of which Disk Utility appears to support anymore.

As for BootChamp, it is no longer supported as of El Capitan.  System Integrity Protection prevents it from running.


Unable to find my Mac OS operating system in /dev/disk0

According to your screenshot, it looks like you deleted your main OS X partition and the recovery partition. You may very well have destroyed your data.

There is a glimmer of hope though. The numbers don't add up. It's a 250GB drive but the Windows partition is only 70GB. There's ~180GB of space unaccounted for, which might be the partitions you deleted. It's tough to say without knowing the exact steps you took.

You can try to use a partition recovery program like TestDisk to get them back.

I could tell you more of you post a screenshot of the output of the following command:

sudo gpt show /dev/disk0


How To Include External Microphone Audio In Headphones?

I'm going to end up sounding like a one-man advertising campaign for Rogue Amoeba ;-)
No affiliation, merely a satisfied user, for many years

Unless you want to mess with the highly unreliable Soundflower - originally made by Cycling 74, once maintained by Rogue Amoeba but now open-sourced at GitHub - then the only way to go is something made & still supported by Rogue Amoeba.

Audio Hijack, LoopBack & SoundSource are all based on the same [reliable] technology, but tweaked for different sets of user requirements.
SoundSource is the latest - & cheapest - of their offerings.

If it does all that you need, then it's the one to go for.


FileVault 2 Encrypted drive was reformatted by thief then returned. Is the original encrypted data salvageable?

I'm afraid there are not many options given an ordinary, "home user" budget.

Theoretically you could send the drive in to a recovery service such as IBAS to get them to recover the original data on the drive. If this is even remotely possible depends on what kind of physical medium you had (i.e. is it SSD or spinning-platter hard drive). If they can recover everything, you can use the standard Apple tools to access the encrypted drive with your password or recovery key.

If you can't recover the full data set, you would have to inspect the data manually and probably create new tools for decrypting blocks of data using your recovery key. This will require specialized knowledge and skills, considerable amount of time - and with no guarantee of success. It is out of range for ordinary, home user purposes. FileVault 2 uses AES-XTS encryption - if you haven't got the recovery key and/or volume master key it is going to very hard (next to impossible) to decrypt.


How can I clear pending iCloud Downloads?

From this article:

Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your Mac's screen.
Click System Preferences in the drop down menu.
Click on iCloud.
Click on Options next to iCloud Drive.
Click to uncheck the checkbox for Desktop & Documents Folders.

Alternatively, try signing out of iCloud.


I believe it should work by getting a Mini DisplayPort cable going from the 2009 to the 27" (into its Thunderbolt jack, which supports Mini DisplayPort cables).

I just did something like what you did recently.  Well, I have a 27" Late 2009 iMac running High Sierra and a 21.5" Late 2012 iMac running Mojave.

There are only a few specific models of older Macs that will support that's called Target Display Mode, which is what I've ustilized here: I got a Mini DisplayPort cable online (3' is all I needed for just over $7 shipped and it came in white!), plugged one end into one of the 2012's two Thunderbolt jacks and the other end into the 2009's lone Mini DisplayPort jack.  The second I did that, the display from the 21.5" immediately extended to the 27".  Audio came with it, too.  In most cases, the keyboard command for target display mode is CMD + F2.

From there, I went into System Preferences > Display > Arrangement tab> then click-and-drag arrange your monitors as you want to use them.  Tip:  See the little thin white bar along the top of one of them? That's your PRIMARY monitor (often your source monitor).  Click and drag just THAT little white bar and move it over to the other monitor if you want all of your default notifications and etc to show up there.

Read up on this.  Great guide: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592


I recently ran into this issue as well. I originally suspected a damaged SATA cable, but swapping the SSD into the optical drive bay and the HD into the primary hard drive bay solved the issue for me.


Office 2011 - option + left / right keyboard shortcut not working

I had my keyboard set to Unicode Hex Input. Setting this to Australian or English resolved the problem.


How can one determine which user deleted a shared file on OS X Mountain Lion Server

Yes - by default, file deletions are logged along with many other important file sharing events.

Install the Server app on any Mac (or log into the server to run the app there or inspect the log file locally).

Select logs on the left, select AFP Access Log on the bottom and search for the word Delete. Once you've found the file deletion you care about, note the IP address and timestamp. Then search backwards in this log to see what user logged in using that IP immediately prior to that delete event.

You might also seek professional help if you want a forensic analysis rather than performing it yourself. Anyone that can look at the logs can change the logs and how you use this knowledge is more of a social problem than a technical problem. There should be Time Machine or better backups of the server shares, so you should be able to trivially determine the times files are deleted there as well with tools like Backup Loupe and hopefully you find that someone was careless rather than deliberate. Either way, OS X server has sufficient logging to determine a file access oddity if it came from a user that connected to the share as opposed to logging in directly to the server and deleting the file. That event would need additional auditing and logging, but I would start with analyzing the AFP access log since that's normally how files are accessed from a server.


Yes. The iTunes Match Library icon shows up from time to time (I haven't figured out what the exact requirements are) and you can re-scan your library.

Once you changed your id3 data, select the songs, right-click and select "Add to iCloud". This initiates a re-scan in iTunes Match as well.

If you add music, it will by added to iCloud instantly.


This are the steps I've follow to use my keyboard, I've tried so many things that I don't know which step is mandatory:

Shut down Mac and wireless keyboard
Plug in the keyboard with the PS/2 USB adapter
Switch on Mac

If Mac is stuck to the first gray window try to use a different USB in my case if I use the first USB the keyboard doesn't work but if I use the fourth it  works.

If the keyboard still doesn't work I've try to install PS/2 driver with the Kext Utility.

Maybe first you should remove:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.keyboardtype.plist

At the login the keyboard should be operative so you can write the password with your PS/2 keyboard. I simply ignore the Identify keyboard window that appear after login.


Mac Mail: Add other message as attachment

Attaching other Messages in Mail.app (OS X Lion)

Create a new message (⌘N)
Return to your inbox
Click and hold on the message you want to attach until it turns into a letter icon
(Still holding down) drag and drop the icon into the new message window

Repeat steps 2 through 4 for as many messages as you want to attach.


Message reply on Mac goes to wrong person

At the top of the conversation of the Messages app the contact should be listed under the To: header. You can use the arrow by the name to select more details and change which number you are replying to.

As an alternative you could delete their work numbers, or put it in the notes section of the contact to prevent Messages from mixing them up.

It's best to delete the conversation and start a new one after making changes like these to make sure that messages is using the proper contact info.


What exactly enforces secure boot on the iMac Pro?

The T2 enforces secure boot. At the highest level on all Macs before the iMac Pro - High Sierra and the OS runs on the main CPU so there is no separation of power to check that the CPU / code is executing properly (or even that the parts of the OS Apple wants to protect is signed / verified with a checksum type calculation).

The T2 has it's own operating system and performs all storage operations so it's perfectly placed to enforce code signing / kernel extensions / system integrity protection.

Some additional details on this technically are presented below:

  In essence, it’s a two-stage process, first driven by the T2, then driven by the more traditional system boot process.

https://www.macworld.com/article/3245764/macs/the-t2-chip-makes-the-imac-pro-the-start-of-a-mac-revolution.html#toc-4

Startup Security Utility configures the operation of the T2, so that when Full Security is enabled…

  The boot.efi bootloader is copied from the selected macOS in /System/Library/CoreServices/boot.efi to the PreBoot APFS partition in /usr/standalone/i386/boot.efi.
  The efi-boot-device variable in EFI is set to the path to the copied boot.efi.

https://twocanoes.com/secureboot-imac-pro/

The T2 is the first step of any boot thereafter:

  Once the Mac is rebooted, the signature on the boot.efi specified in NVRAM on the PreBoot partition is verified.

https://twocanoes.com/secureboot-imac-pro/

  When you start up the iMac Pro, the familiar Apple logo appears almost immediately. This is a sign that the T2 is taking control. For security reasons, the T2 is the iMac Pro hardware’s “root of trust,” and it validates the entire boot process when the power comes on. The T2 starts up, checks things out, loads its bootloader, verifies that it’s legitimate and cryptographically signed by Apple, and then moves on to the next part of the boot process.

https://www.macworld.com/article/3245764/macs/the-t2-chip-makes-the-imac-pro-the-start-of-a-mac-revolution.html#toc-4

Once the T2 is happy, EFI continues as usual:

  If the bootloader signature check succeeds, then control is passed to the boot.efi and the Mac boots normally.

https://twocanoes.com/secureboot-imac-pro/


External Hard Drive last used / files copied on another computer?

In short, No.
There's no way to be absolutely certain.

Files could have been copied from it, the entire drive could have been cloned without leaving a trace.

You can have a look at the Last Opened data, but it's not conclusive proof of a negative.
You'd have to check a folder at a time [Search ought to be able to do it, but it never seems to work properly other than on "This Mac" which would show you too much other data]

Open a folder on the drive, set it to View > As List.
Right click the columns bar at the top & add Date Last Opened.

Click the new column to sort on it.
Check folder by folder...

Of course, anything you have opened since will confuse the results.


Reopen windows when logging back in does not work

Well, all of the information for the restoration is kept in ~/Library/Saved Application State, so maybe looking there would lend a clue.  You should see a whole lot of folders ending in .savedState.


Signature image not appearing in sent email

This is the right (and best) way to create an HTML signature that includes images:
http://matt.coneybeare.me/how-to-make-and-html-signature-in-apple-mail/


How to upload many iPhone photo albums to iPhoto, Picasa or Google+?

As a starting point you can export the photos into iPhoto and create events defined by date. You can then split the event as necessary to break out specific locations. Or use tags and smart albums to create subsets of photos for specific locations.


1st way: Hold Alt/Option while dragging.

2nd way: Select file in Finder and press your clippings shortcut


I believe that the Dock is the process responsible for running the application switcher. It might help to remove the Dock preferences (~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Dock.plist), and log out/in. However, this may require you to repopulate your Dock with the current Applications and settings.


When you say "boots automatically into disk utilities" do you see this screen?

If so, try closing the window by either pressing the Command and Q keys simultaneously or by clicking the red button in the top left corner of the window. It should prompt you to either shut down, restart, or select a startup disk. Choose to select a startup disk, then chose "Macintosh HD" (unless when you erased your disk and installed OS X again you replaced Macintosh HD with another name, in which case you should select that disk instead). Then click "Restart".


Replace "Compress" in Finder context menu with other compression app

BetterZip includes a service for compressing files:

You might also just use zip or tar from the command line:

zip directory.zip directory
COPYFILE_DISABLE= tar -czf directory.tgz directory

Note that zip currently removes extended attributes and ACLs.


Is it possible to publish a movie from iMovie to youtube if you have two factor authentication on?

For apps that don't support two-factor authentication, such as iMovie, you need to generate an application-specific password. This is a computer generated password that can be used to give an app access to Google services, but is intended for use in a single app.

Go here to manage your connected apps and application-specific passwords. Once you generate one (be sure to label it as "iMovie password" or similar), copy it into iMovie making sure to use your full Gmail address as the "Account Name", then you're done with it.

There's intentionally no way to view the password again, the only possible action is to revoke it. This way your account still stays secure as long as the app stores the password securely (and if it doesn't, you can always revoke that one password without causing problems for the rest of the account).


Force relaunch of Finder from terminal into background

The open command exits after it opens Finder. Even if it didn't, closing a shell would close background processes. You could try using disown:

/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder & disown $!

Or launchctl submit:

launchctl submit -l my.finder /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder

launchctl remove my.finder removes the job.

Have you looked at log messages or crash reports? If you have tried to load or unload /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.Finder.plist, try removing entries for Finder in /var/db/launchd.db/com.apple.launchd{,.peruser.501}/overrides.plist.


My MacBook Pro periodically displays ads in a banner on the top right that says "Breaking Apple News"

You may have accidentally allowed a website to send you push notifications. If you use Safari, go into Preferences > Notifications, and see if you've allowed any sites to give you notifications.


On your phone, navigate to Settings > iTunes and App Store and turn off the switch for automatic downloads for apps.  This will stop the auto download, but if you have purchased the app on one device you can still download it on the second device if you want to, it just won't happen automatically.

As is typically the case there are two lines of text following that section of the settings that read "Automatically download new purchases (including free) made on other devices."  So that is specifically what you are turning off.


What media player can handle both music libraries (AAC, MP3) and videos (AVI, MKV,...)?

This only hits your second requirement but, if you ask me, it's the more important of the two by a long shot: VLC. It can play just about anything you throw at it. It has support for play lists (both building and saving them) but it does not do any organization of your media. It is strictly a player.


Can I not share external hard drives through my Macbook's standard file sharing system?

To add to @nohillside answer you can share a FAT32 formatted drive but not set  permissions as the filesystem doesn't support it.

If you want to control access to files on the USB by permissions then format it using a filesystem that supports it (such as HFS) and changes will be avaliable in File Sharing.


Trouble with photo syncing between iPhone and iPad

Two options:

Using iCloud:
- On your iPhone go to Settings > iCloud > Storage & Backup
- Turn iCloud Backup on and wait for it to back up completely
- If you've already used your iPad, on there go to Settings > General > Reset, tap Erase All Content and Settings
- When you're setting up the iPad, it will ask if you want to restore from an iCloud backup—just choose the iPhone backup

Using a computer with iTunes:
- Sync your iPhone with iTunes—this will also make a backup
- If you've already used your iPad, on there go to Settings > General > Reset, tap Erase All Content and Settings
- Connect your iPad to your computer and follow the steps in iTunes to restore from the iPhone backup

Follow this guide with steps and demo if you need it:
How to Transfer Photos from iPhone to iPad


How can I fix Virtualization not being available in bootcamp windows?

Okay so I got it working with virtualbox with the help of VMWare. I tried AnonymousAppDev's answer but it didn't have any effect on my machine (at least not after the first reboot).

I read that VMWare may be able to turn on VT-x, so I installed VMWare workstation. That in turn asked me to remove Hyper-v since there's a conflict. After rebooting securable now says I have VT-x enabled and I'm able to run Virtualbox.


The md5 command will check multiple files for you. Simply list all the files you want after the command. I.e. md5 md1.gz md2.gz md3.gz. It will output the md5 hashes like so:

MD5 (md1.gz) = 1c2c02b085a1bc2fed683eca86c0df02
MD5 (md1.gz) = c5515451d8f90a822457a4a8e4bf1791

If you want just the hashes, use the -q flag, it will print only the hash, without the identifying information.

I'm guessing that you want to compare the hash of the files against that in the corresponding .md5 file. You could write a quick shell script to check each generated hash against the one stored in the .md5 file.

Something like this should work:

#!/bin/bash

for file in "$@"; do
  generatedhash=$(md5 -q "$file")
  storedhash=$(< "$file".md5)
  if [[ $generatedhash != $storedhash ]]; then
    echo "Hash for file '$file 'does not match"
  fi
done

Save that to a text file, call it something like checkmd5.sh and do chmod +x checkmd5.sh in the terminal.

It will print out a warning for all files that don't have a matching hash. It prints nothing if the hashes do match. It's quick and dirty, so apologies if it doesn't work for your particular case. But based on the examples you gave, if you run ./checkmd5.sh md*.gz it should check the hashes of the .gz files against the corresponding .md5 files and tell you if any are bad.


How to change this terminal customization tutorial for usage in zsh rather than bash?

Is there a way to adapt the tutorial for use in zsh rather than Bash,

No, not really. Customizing Zsh is fairly different from customizing Bash. It would be quite a lot of work.

or is there a tutorial for customizing your zsh shell?

Yes, there is!  There’s quite a few of them, in fact, but I found this one by far the best: https://scriptingosx.com/2019/06/moving-to-zsh/
However, instead of doing everything by hand, you might just want to copy-paste an existing config to get you started quickly. Here’s one I’ve been working on, with input from the Zsh development group, which has zero external dependencies, and thus should work out of the box for any Zsh installation: https://gitlab.com/marlonrichert/zsh-sensible/-/blob/master/zshrc
Just save that as ~/.zshrc and restart your shell. Please try it out and let me know what you think. Ideas for improvement are welcome.


AppleScript or Automator Workflow for Bulk-Converting Powerpoint Presentations to Keynote

I couldn't figure out how to get Automator to do it, but I was able to beat AppleScript into submission.  Just save the following as an Application in the AppleScript Editor, then drag the files you want to convert onto the icon.  It will prompt you to choose a folder where the converted files will be placed.

on open droppedFiles
    set theDestinationFolder to (choose folder with prompt "Choose destination folder") as Unicode text
    repeat with theFile in droppedFiles
        tell application "Keynote"
            open theFile
            set theSlideshow to slideshow 1
            set theDestinationPath to theDestinationFolder & (name of theSlideshow)
            save theSlideshow in theDestinationPath
            close theSlideshow
        end tell
    end repeat
end open

(I don't really know what I'm doing with AppleScript. If there are improvements that can be made here, I'd like to know about them.)


Settings → Wi-Fi, tap the i on the currently-connected network, choose Configure IP and set to Manual, then set the IP Address, Subnet Mask and Router.


Why won't iBooks wirelessly sync epubs or PDFs to my iPad?

I don't know if you still need this issued solved, but I struggled a lot to sync my ePubs (not bought through Apple) between my Apple Devices.

Here is the solution I've come up with (This can be done on both OSX or iOS):

Save your ePub/PDF file on iCloud Drive (inside a folder, just for organizational purposes);
Then open that file from the iCloud Drive folder into iBooks.

This way, the instance  of your ePub/PDF will be the same running on both your iDevice iBooks and your Mac iBooks.

All changes that you make (add bookmarks, highlights and current page) will also sync.

Regarding your collections, they will behave as they should syncing normally between devices.


Does clamshell mode reduce lifespan due to heat?

I doubt that the heat will damage the screen, but considering how MB and MBP feed the fan, I'd be concerned more of airflow cutoff as lots of the air comes through the keyboard itself. You could look into placing a small magnet over the reed switch area and leave the lid open, it's near the Battery Indicator Light. Be careful though, don't swipe a magnet over your HDD.


Did you try double-clicking on the actual keyboard short cut for that function in System Preferences/Keyboard/Keyboard Shortcuts?  You can change the key combo at will.  Of course there is no guarantee they will take, just as your "Restore Defaults" did not take.

I use Spark, a free app that lets me map anything I want, and overrides the OS settings.  If there is a con flit (which shows as the yellow triangle/traffic cone), I change the OS conflict to some unused combo.

I complained to Apple that I could not change those keyboard shortcuts to "Open app X".  The response was that I should not try to do that, as the existing system was working as designed.

This is not a built-in cure using the native OS options, but it works.


How do I use Applescript to click the Replace button in the Photoshop Save As dialog?

This works for me on the latest version of High Sierra and Adobe Photoshop CC 2018...

delay 1
tell application "System Events"
    click UI element "Replace" of sheet 1 of window ¬
        "Save As" of application process "Adobe Photoshop CC 2018"
    delay 0.3
    click UI element "Large file size (Fastest saving)" of window ¬
        "PNG Format Options" of application process "Adobe Photoshop CC 2018"
    delay 0.3
    click UI element "OK" of window "PNG Format Options" of ¬
        application process "Adobe Photoshop CC 2018"
end tell


APFS/High Sierra - tmutil deletelocalsnapshots will not delete snapshots - Error parsing argument

I discovered, after hints on the linked thread, that quotes will do it...

TetsMac:~ glee$ tmutil deletelocalsnapshots "2018-07-26-93812 am"
Deleted local snapshot '2018-07-26-93812 am'
TetsMac:~ glee$ tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
TetsMac:~ glee$

& it's finally gone.


How to remove Terminal shortcut for Show Next Tab (Control+Tab)

So I found this forum post that says how to do this you need to execute

defaults write com.apple.Terminal NSUserKeyEquivalents -dict-add "Show Next Tab" "nil"

in Terminal and restart it. It doesn't set it to nil (empty shortcut?) but says N in menu. However N letter continue to work fine and does not switch tabs.


How to allow non-identified developpers'app

You can right-click on the unidentified app and choose open.

You can completely disable gatekeeper with the command:

sudo spctl --master-disable


The easiest solution for your problem is: (I don't know you experience with the terminal so just humor me if I take you for an unexperienced user)

which php

This will give you the php binary that is used. Use your Terminal and go to that folder:

cd /path/that/whichphp/gives/you

When you punch you way to the folder do this:

sudo mv php php.old <- rename the old php binary to back it up (just in case :) )
sudo ln -s /path/to/the/new/php/binary php <- This will create a symlink that points to your new php binary

Easiest way to locate all your php instances and identifying the new one would be:

sudo find / -name php

After you create the symlink write php -v again into the console and you should see the version output from you new instance.

If you still have problems just contact me.

I hope this helped you : had the same problem as you once :)


Test ([) if the output of networksetup is the same as the string CompanyA if so then change the SSID to CompanyB.

curssid=$(networksetup -getairportnetwork en0 | cut -d ' ' -f4-)

if [ "$curssid" = CompanyA ]
then
networksetup -setairportnetwork en0 "CompanyB"
fi


How to remove leading or trailing spaces from copy/paste operations?

There´s an app for that.
ClipMenu besides keeping a clipboard history it is possible to assign scripts to the entries.
(1) You copy as usual
(2) click on ClipMenu's status bar icon, select your latest entry, and use a user-selectable key-click command to perform LTrim or RTrim on the entry.
ClipMenu is freeware.


When would upgrading the processor of the top of the line Macbook Pro make sense?

Turbo Boost is good for anything that uses a lot of CPU. It basically over clocks the CPU while it's needed and when it's not needed it doesn't run.

It would help with anything that runs weighs down the CPU. I don't believe that it does anything with the graphics card (but I could be wrong).


Can system logs tell me when I closed my Macbook?

The last message before I opened my MacBook this morning was

5/19/19 22:43:36.000 kernel[0]: AirPort_Brcm43xx::powerChange: System Sleep

I'm not sure I closed it at that time exactly last night but it was close.

I've just run an experiment now and it took about 15 seconds from my last activity before I close the lid until that message appears.


Which user name do I need to remotely log into my Mac?

Either works. You have a short-name and a long name. Here's a great article about it.

http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201548


Just open you Library folder by holding down the option key (alt) and select Library from the Go menu in Finder.
Navigate to the Preferences folder and delete com.apple.systempreferences.plist

Empty your trash then restart.  Then try adding the folder and changing your wallpaper again.  There's a stuck setting.

*Apple Certified Mac Technician


Macbook pro 15", late 2013: internet stopped working

Thanks to Allan I found the answer. I had to change my dns with the following command:
networksetup -setdnsservers Wi-Fi 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4
after that internet was back!


How big is the apple on the back of your MacBook?

On Macbook Pro 15 and Air 13, both mid-2012 : 47mm x 38mm


Can I use an AppleTV when I travel off my home network?

You may have an issue with the hotel wifi. Oftentimes hotel wifi networks require you to open a web browser to login and use the internet. The Apple TV doesn't have a web browser so you might not be able to login and use their wifi network

@The Disco Spider

Heres my WAY OVER complicated explanation to solve the issue of Hotel/Plane WiFi requiring you to use a Web Browser to login on a device that does not allow this type of authentication

Some Info

Most (All) Hotel WiFi networks that require you to login on a webpage by either agreeing to TOS, inputing your room number and last name, etc. authenticate using a MAC Address
It remembers that you were logged in by using a MAC address so if you leave for the day (disconnect) and come back later (reconnect) you do not have to login
MAC Addresses can be easily spoofed, allowing us to authenticate with the same MAC Address on a compatible device
This method could also be used to steal paid WiFi, so take the moral route and don't STEAL`

Get MAC Address of the Apple TV (or other device)

Settings -> General -> About -> WiFi Address

Get WiFi interface and MAC Address (on your Mac)

Hold Down Option key
Click on the WiFi Button in the Menu Bar
Write down the Address
Remember the Interface Name (either en0 or en1)

Note: Disconnect the Apple TV/Device

Begin the Hack

sudo ifconfig [INTERFACE NAME] ether [APPLE TV/DEVICE MAC ADDRESS] //Spoofs MAC address to Apple TV's MAC address
Turn off WiFi and turn WiFi back on
If a webpage does not open, open Safari and navigate to captive.apple.com to force the sign in page
After logging in, once more navigate to captive.apple.com if you receive a Success then you are good to go
sudo ifconfig [INTERFACE NAME] ether [ORIGINAL Mac's MAC ADDRESS] \ Put back MAC address or you will have EXTREME connectivity issues
Turn off WiFI and turn WiFi back on
Turn WiFI on, on your Apple TV/Device

This should work as I have tested with an Apple TV, PS4, and many other devices.

Note: This may not work in WPA3


You might also find Wireshark useful.  I found a good video on Youtube to getting it setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxeHm0BKdwc

All the steps in the video may no longer be necessary as the changelog for version 1.6.0 says the following:

  Wireshark is now distributed as an installation package rather than a drag-installer on OS X. The installer adds a startup item that should make it easier to capture packets.


Turn Do Not Disturb on or off in an Applescript app (macOS Catalina)

This is not as elegant as I was hoping for but it seems to work.
After playing with the Record feature for a while, I seem to be able to turn DND on when it's off:
-- Click the “Notification Center” menu bar item.
delay 1.109957
set timeoutSeconds to 0.0
set uiScript to "click menu bar item \"Notification Center\" of menu bar 1 of application process \"SystemUIServer\""
my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)

-- Click the “<fill in title>” button.
delay 2.096055
set timeoutSeconds to 0.0
set uiScript to "click UI Element 3 of group \"Do Not Disturb\" of scroll area 1 of window \"Notification Center\" of application process \"Notification Center\""
my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)

on doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)
    set endDate to (current date) + timeoutSeconds
    repeat
        try
            run script "tell application \"System Events\"
" & uiScript & "
end tell"
            exit repeat
        on error errorMessage
            if ((current date) > endDate) then
                error "Can not " & uiScript
            end if
        end try
    end repeat
end doWithTimeout

and vice versa:
-- Click the “Notification Center” menu bar item.
delay 2.508349
set timeoutSeconds to 2.0
set uiScript to "click menu bar item \"Notification Center, Do Not Disturb enabled\" of menu bar 1 of application process \"SystemUIServer\""
my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)

-- Click the “<fill in title>” button.
delay 1.176098
set timeoutSeconds to 2.0
set uiScript to "click UI Element 3 of group \"Do Not Disturb\" of scroll area 1 of window \"Notification Center\" of application process \"Notification Center\""
my doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)

on doWithTimeout(uiScript, timeoutSeconds)
    set endDate to (current date) + timeoutSeconds
    repeat
        try
            run script "tell application \"System Events\"
" & uiScript & "
end tell"
            exit repeat
        on error errorMessage
            if ((current date) > endDate) then
                error "Can not " & uiScript
            end if
        end try
    end repeat
end doWithTimeout

It would be better if there were a solution that checked its state or explicitly specified the desired new state instead of just toggling. There is a small difference between the "on" and "off" scripts so it's not exactly toggling but it works by clicking the button.


How do I access the built-in dictionaries on iOS without hitting "Define..."?

This is currently not possible. Apple also forbids third party developers to create a simple wrapper around the dictionary, which means that there will probably not be any applications that do just that. There are, however, several other third party dictionaries which are quite good.

A UIReferenceLibraryViewController object provides a dictionary service to look up the definition of a word or term from within an app. It should not be used to display wordlists, create a standalone dictionary app, or republish the content in any form.

According to this answer Can iOS' builtin dictionary be accessed/browsed as an independent app? you can download the application DictionaryPlusPlus, which does just that, here https://github.com/josh-/DictionaryPlusPlus, it is open source and you will have to compile and sign it yourself.