Changing Default Apache version on MacOS Sierra

To use a new version of Apache you need to disable the built in Apache version:

sudo launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/org.apache.httpd.plist

You need root access (an admin user and password for instance) to disable this. Then you can run your own apache - whatever source and location and version you want. This is better than replacing the shipping version since each macOS update can and will change the build in version. Side loading your preferred source of apache guarantees it will last outside the Apple update process. The only down side is you have to patch and secure this side loaded version.

One excellent way to side load a robust and easily patched version of apache https is with https://brew.sh homebrew package manager.

  $ brew info httpd
  httpd: stable 2.4.37 (bottled) Apache HTTP server
  https://httpd.apache.org/
  Not installed
  From: https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-core/blob/master/Formula/httpd.rb
  ==> Dependencies Required: apr ✘, apr-util ✘, brotli ✘, nghttp2 ✘, openssl ✔, pcre ✘.
  ==> Caveats DocumentRoot is /usr/local/var/www.

  The default ports have been set in /usr/local/etc/httpd/httpd.conf to
  8080 and in /usr/local/etc/httpd/extra/httpd-ssl.conf to 8443 so that
  httpd can run without sudo.

  To have launchd start httpd now and restart at login:
     brew services start httpd
  Or, if you don't want/need a background service you can
  just run:
     apachectl start

The other benefit is you can use brew services to set the daemon to launch at boot and it will respawn without you needing to make your own launchd / launchctl script or use crontab or equivalent.


How to disable Preview from opening up the last couple items viewed? osx lion

To stop only Preview from doing this open up Terminal.app and enter:

defaults write com.apple.Preview NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false

To re-enable this at any time enter:

defaults write com.apple.Preview NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool true

If you want to turn off the resume-on-load feature for all applications you can go to System Preferences -> General and at the bottom of the screen uncheck the option Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps to prevent any application from doing this.


What is the avqmd.plist and the _avqmd record in Users/Groups

You might be able to get some more details on the user by querying your directory database rather than looking at the record files on the filesystem:

dscl . -read /Users/_avqmd

Hopefully you'll find enough threads to pull on. It's not an account on any of the first few Macs I checked, but perhaps someone else has tracked it down already and has a more concrete answer.


What is the button in the upper right of windows?

Yes, it toggles the toolbar in all applications. In many applications, it's shortcut is Option+Command+T, but this is not true for all (Preview uses Command+B).


Replaced hardware (iPhone) has the same problem as the previous one.

That's is rare or improbable.

The chance are it is some malfunctioning app, that cripples the IOS.

Do not use restore (for now), use fresh install (clean install) to test for few days.

If nothing worked, take it back to the store.


How to remove date from Calendar.app dock tile?

Disclaimer: This is an untested (edit: now tested by OP) modification of the Calendar.app, you may do it at your on risk. Back up your computer to an external drive first.

Doing the following will stop the Calendar dock icon from having that date overlay.

If we right-click on Calendar in the Applications folder, an option comes up that says "Show Package Contents". That will reveal some (not all) of the inner workings of the Calendar app.
If you navigate to _CodeSignature and then CodeResources, you will find some of the resources the Calendar app uses to operate. Searching for dock inside that file reveals data keys including
<key>Resources/Calendar.docktileplugin/Contents/_CodeSignature/CodeResources</key>. This points us to a file that may well control the Calendar icon (notice Calendar.docktileplugin).
So let's go there. Follow the file tree: back up one step, go to resources, and find the Calendar.docktileplugin folder. Deleting this folder will stop the Calendar app from automatically putting the current date on top of your calendar icon (Edit you might want to save a backup of this plugin as I mention in Edit 2 below).

There you have what I believe is the solution to your problem.

Edit: If the Calendar app crashes on launch, try deleting the original key (from step 2). If that doesn't work, my solution might not be so good.

Edit 2: Save a backup of the Calendar.docktileplugin folder (like maybe on your Desktop) before deleting it and remember where it went so you can always put it back if the Calendar app just crashes or if you want to restore the Calendar icon to original anytime.

Let me know if this helps.


Web/PC interface for iPhone text Messaging

No web or PC interface are viable.

Just messages on macOS allows a non iOS interface, however all recent iOS devices have full keyboard support. Wired and wireless keyboards work great even on an iPhone and command tab app switching lets you rock keyboard shortcuts and navigate almost everything out of the box without a touch interface.

https://www.macstories.net/?s=Keyboard
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202041
Lightning to USB Camera Adapter - https://store.apple.com/xc/product/MD821AM/A

TLDR - hook you PC keyboard to your iPhone for fast messages texting and writing.


Stop my Apple devices and PC desktop syncing Mozilla bookmarks

I assume you're talking about your Firefox bookmarks. If your bookmarks from work are showing up on your personal devices, then it's most likely because you're signed into your Firefox account on all your devices.

If you don't want to sync these devices with the same Firefox account, you should either create a different Firefox account for your personal devices, or not use a Firefox account at all for your personal devices.

For example:

on your MacBook Air launch Firefox and go to Firefox > Preferences > Firefox Account to view your account settings.
on your iPhone launch Firefox and go to Settings. At the very top you'll see your Firefox Account details.


Cant install bootcamp in MBR after internal SSD upgrade

You could install rEFInd as by default this will automatically identify legacy Windows installations on internal or external disks.

Alternatively you could create a hybrid member on your internal SSD using gdisk and set at least one partition bootable.

This will cause the firmware to initialize the BIOS/CSM/legacy support.

You can pick any partitions as macOS will ignore it when booting.  If you have EFI, Macintosh HD and Recovery you could pick 2 and 3.  For example :

sudo gdisk /dev/disk0
take option r for recovery menu.
take option h to create hybrid member.  Here partitions 2 and 3 are chosen with 2 set bootable.

Type from one to three GPT partition numbers, separated by spaces, to be
added to the hybrid MBR, in sequence: 2 3
Place EFI GPT (0xEE) partition first in MBR (good for GRUB)? (Y/N): Y

Creating entry for GPT partition #2 (MBR partition #2)
Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): AF
Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): Y

Creating entry for GPT partition #3 (MBR partition #3)
Enter an MBR hex code (default AF): AF
Set the bootable flag? (Y/N): N

take option w to write changes and exit.

Depending on your version of macOS you may need to disable SIP to use either gdisk or install rEFInd but you can enable it again after.


Windows VM does not start in VMware Fusion after cloning old Mac to new hardware

After deleting "<user folder>/<directory for Windows VM files>/Windows 7 x64-disk1.vmdk.lck" the VM started working.


Can't locate App Store in iTunes for macOS

Please check that the iTunes Store is not disabled in the Restrictions pane in iTunes preferences (see screenshot below).

App Store functionality has been removed in iTunes 12.7 and later.

Apple provides a version of iTunes which still contains the App section and App Store.
Please see https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208079 for more info and download link.

This version (12.6.5) can be installed even if a newer version of iTunes exists on your machine (it replaces the newer version). It also stops iTunes from updating (e.g. after installing, iTunes stays at v12.6.5).
It does not work in macOS 10.14 Mojave, though.


Photos won't let me edit anything / Same problem on Sierra

I was having the same problem.  I do notice a (barely visible against light background) exclamation mark in a circle in the lower right corner of the photo, which indicates that my disk is full. (I'm using apple cloud storage.)  So that could be it.


How do I add an iframe whitelist to OS X Server 3.1.1

There is a fix to this problem --
Instead of changing the white list file in /Library/Server/Wiki/Config you have to change the whitelist.plist.default fine in the Server.app bundle (/Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/private/etc/collabd/whitelist.plist.default). I did and all works well, even after restart.

Hope that helps!

-Matt

From over on https://discussions.apple.com/message/25866041#25866041#25866041


How do I sync MobileMe with Outlook 2011?

Outlook, like Entourage before it, isn't setup to support MobileMe natively as an account that it will sync more than Mail with.  I understand you eventually want to get data to your iPhone, but Apple's central MobileMe service just can't talk to Outlook as you're hoping, which I will now attempt to explain:

In the past, syncing other types of data than mail was accomplished by setting up MobileMe in each of the corresponding apple apps(iCal, Address Book) and then enabling SyncServices in Entourage to have it push and pull updates to the data.  With Outlok 2011's release, only contacts were supported via Address Book, and mishaps were reported when Calendars were eventually turned on:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/224461/microsoft_blames_apple_for_outlook_2011_sync_snafu.html

The moral of the story is Microsoft has shown little excellence in the area of email clients besides the ones on its platform(Outlook for Windows) talking to its mail service(Exchange).  Apple will have the best clients for its service, even if it is spread across multiple apps(unless you choose to use the web interface for everything).

More background on what was available, and one report on using 2011 with sync services:
http://www.macworld.com/article/155727/2010/11/outlook2011faq.html
and
http://www.scrubly.com/blog/index.php/2011/01/how-to-sync-outlook-2011-for-mac-with-mac-address-book/


MacBookPro10,1 goes to gray screen when a USB is inserted

Based on this post and the other one at MacBookPro10,1 had problems booting, now some system images are pink and fuzzy :

I would say that you're probably looking at a faulty logic board. The system should be taken into a Genius Bar or an authorized Apple repair centre for further evaluation and/or repair.


I believe My Data Manger would solve your problem. ;)


~/Library/Logs/Homebrew/

Homebrew creates log files in your Library folder at: ~/Library/Logs/Homebrew/

You can view the log files by holding down Option and using the Finder menu item: Go > Library, then navigating to Logs > Homebrew.

Alternatively, you can use the Console.app application to browse to the log files.

Homebrew History

The default creation of individual log files was added during 2013 to Homebrew.

Homebrew issue #10430 talks about logging and build errors. The issue report mentions no log file is kept but explains that a log can be created with the command format:

brew install <formula> 2>&1 | tee install.log


How do I show a partition created gParted while booting my Mac?

fixed it by loading windows 7 (prepped by bootcamp) on a thumb drive then choosing th fix windows op


If you have no phone service check following:

Disable Airplane mode (if it is enabled)
Check that your SIM card is inserted properly.
Check if you see your phone service provider name.


The iPod touch 6 has a camera equivalent to that in the iPhone 6.

As such it is the first (and as of August 2017, the only) iPod that can record slo-mo video, at 120 frames per second in 720p resolution.

  The iPod touch features an 8MP rear iSight camera with video which can record in 1080p at 30fps, or 120fps in slow-motion mode that records at 720p.


Can I Delete My save game for something like PlunderNauts?

The easiest way to reset an app if it does not support removal of user content is to remove and then re-install the app.

Any purchase through the App Store can be re-downloaded for free.

In case the download is huge and you do not want to re-download it from the Internet, or in the event that the app is no longer offered on the App Store, you can also transfer the purchases to the computer you use to sync the iPad with and then delete the app from the iPad.  Use iTunes thereafter to re-install it.


Ridiculous number of unnecessary empty birthday calendars that can't be deleted

As Insomniac Software mentioned, the Birthday calendars come from the Contacts app.

In the Contacts app, it (confusingly) launches at a page that shows an aggregated view of contacts from different sources.  Tapping the "Groups" button at the top left of the screen takes you to the list of sources.

You mentioned that on your Groups screen, you have two sources of contacts:

Facebook.  Birthdays in this group show up in the Calendars app in the "Facebook" section, not in Other, so that's not the cause of the issue
On My iPhone.  Birthdays in "Other" come from here.

The problem is that, from what you've said, it sounds like your contacts are stored on your iPhone, not in iCloud - otherwise they would show up in an "ICLOUD" group, not an "On My iPhone" group.

To solve your calendar issue and to prevent potentially losing your contacts:

Select a place to store your contacts.  I'll give an example for iCloud because I suspect your contacts were there and got dumped on your phone while changing settings.  If you think you have them stored in gmail, post a comment and I'll update my answer.
Move the contacts to your selected location.  To merge them to iCloud: go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > iCloud, turn on "Contacts".  It should tell you "Your contacts will be merged with iCloud".  Tap ok to allow it.
Go back to the Contacts app, tap "Groups".  You should see an "ICLOUD" group.  It may take several minutes to sync - go get coffee and come back if you don't see it.  You should not see an "On My iPhone" group.

Now, you need to make sure your contacts are there.  In the Contacts app on the Groups page, to see what's in a particular source, tap the boxes under each group heading until the checkbox is only on the one you want to see.  So, to see what's in your iCloud contacts, there should only be a checkmark on the box under the "ICLOUD" group heading.  Then, tap "Done" in the upper right corner to see the contacts - it'll only show the contacts in the selected source (i.e. iCloud).

Then, open your Calendar app, wait a minute for it to sync, and tap Calendars.  If your 8 Birthday calendars are still there:

Close the app, wait 5 minutes, check again.
If they're still there, continue.  If they're gone, you're done!

If your Birthday calendars are still there:

Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > iCloud, turn off Contacts.  Tap "Delete contacts from my iPhone" (very important).
Wait a minute for it to sync, then go check your Calendar app.  The Birthday calendars should be gone.  If they're not, give it a couple more minutes.  If they're still not, turn your contacts back on anyway (next step) and comment.
Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > iCloud, turn on Contacts to get your contacts back.
Wait a minute, then go check your Calendar app.  The Birthday calendars should still be gone.


Using Automator to change the creation date of a folder in Mojave

Without seeing what you already have in your Automator workflow the only suggestion I can make is the following example shell script code is how I would set the creation date, to the date/time of execution (or current date/time), on a target folder containing the folders the creation date should be changed for:
find '/path/to/parent/folder' -type d -print0 | xargs -0 -I{} SetFile -d "$(date -j "+%m/%d/%Y %T")" {}

The example shell script code uses the find command to find all directories within '/path/to/parent/folder', passing a null terminated string (a list of the directories found) to xargs and executes SetFile with the strings as arguments. Thus changing the creation date on the directories (folders).
Obviously '/path/to/parent/folder' will need to be defined, literally or tokenized, and again without seeing what you already have, I'm not going to waste time guessing, to offer variations on the example shell script code.


Can the VRAM in my 2013 MacbookPro be used as RAM? Any other way to get more RAM?

Unfortunately, your question is based on a misunderstanding of how your particular MacBook Pro's VRAM works.

Based on your question details, I assume you have a Late-2013 13" Retina MBP. These models came with an on-board Intel Iris 5100 graphics card. This will actually use up to 1.5GB of your computer's 4GB RAM for its graphics processing.

In other words, the on-board Intel Iris 5100 graphics card does not actually have 1.5GB of VRAM that you could try to borrow as RAM.

Since your RAM is soldered on, if you were to keep this computer then your best bet would be to try and reduce the amount of VRAM being borrowed from your computer's RAM. Whether this is even possible will depend on how you use your computer (e.g. if you have a 4K external display connected then it'll be using more of your RAM as VRAM, if you have no external displays and do nothing but check email all day then you're probably already using as little RAM as possible for your VRAM).

There is also the option of using an external graphics card connected via your Thunderbolt port, but to be honest this may not free up much of your RAM if not much of it was being used as VRAM to begin with. And with only 4GB RAM, I'd be looking at the option implied by Steve Chamber's comment (i.e. sell your MBP and buy another one with more RAM).


I have had a similar problem in the past when upgrading OS. The easiest way to fix it I found was to disable iMessage on the faulty machine and then re-enable it.

To do this:

Messages > Preferences > Accounts > Click your iMessage account > uncheck "enable this account" > sign out > restart Messages > sign back in.

You may need to follow the steps above to recheck the "enable this account" box.


Icons got smaller in iOS 14, how to return them to normal size?

I honestly don't see something blatantly different, but if you feel bad about it I suggest you tell Apple directly through this link
Besides that there is no other options in display to change the icon size it's either the "default" or "big".


How can I force Mac OS X to treat my Mackie Onyx Blackjack as a mono input device?

whenever I record audio in QuickTime

This is the problem. QuickTime doesn't offer the ability to change the recording type or to pan inputs to a particular track in the recording when you're making it. It records stereo. And it captures one input left, the other input right. I just tried it out with my Duet and, no matter where I set the pan on the mic input in the Maestro mix console, QuickTime captured that signal input on the left channel only.

The solution, I'm afraid, is to stop using QuickTime.

Garageband, which is likely already on your Mac, will let you capture a mono source and then pan and bounce a master mix with the mono source placed in any location you like in the stereo field. It definitely is a more suitable interface for capturing and manipulating audio than QuickTime.


just had the same issue.
there are 3 Options:

you are connected to local LAN and able to log on remotely and can find the registry setting or slider in energy options
you connect a 2nd external monitor and with some luck it shows at least some Desktop
you reinstall windows :(


Finish current album and queue next album

You would need to create a playlist with those two albums, then when you play it, it will loop the whole playlist.

(I tested using the Up Next feature but it will not loop tracks played through Up Next.)


There are no known solutions for video input to the iPhone (other than the built-in camera of course). The AV cable you mentioned only provides video output and since there are no pins for video input on the dock connector (although the pinouts have often changed during the history of the dock connector), and the iPhone has no other inputs suitable for video input, this is very unlikely to happen with current iPhone/Pod/Pad models.

The closest solution I can think of would be to use an external recording device (a computer with a video capture device for example) and stream the resulting video the the iPhone over Wifi.


Syncing multiple iOS devices with the same iTunes installation on Windows 7

There shouldn't be a problem with this at all. Simply connect the devices and set them up as normal. I have an iPod, iPad, and several iPhones that sync with my Mac and I have not encountered any problems.

As far as using different email, contact, and sync info, you can set up all of that on the actual device itself in "Settings" > "Mail, Contacts, Calendars".

Syncing with iCloud
If you will be syncing email, contacts, and calendars using iCloud on each device, be sure to uncheck the following in the "Info" tab in iTunes:

-"Sync Address Book Contacts"
-"Sync iCal Calendars"
-"Sync Mail Accounts"

Syncing without iCloud, Using Sync Data from Your Mac
If you will be syncing email, contacts, and calendars using the info that is on your Mac, check off the following in the "Info" tab in iTunes, and then select which email account, contact list, and calendars you want to sync:

-"Sync Address Book Contacts"
-"Sync iCal Calendars"
-"Sync Mail Accounts"

Syncing Content from the iTunes Store
As far as syncing audio and video that was purchased from the iTunes Store, you will need to enter the proper account information on each device. This can be done in "Settings" > "Store". Changing the Apple ID in the "Store" settings will not affect the Apple ID used for iCloud.


Apple iPad is not turning on and my home button is broken to force restart

I found some software that might let you put your iPad into recovery mode: (Source: [Apple Support Communities thread])1

RecBoot

TinyUmbrella


Is my Apple Id under attack, and how do I fix it?

I would absolutely follow the “if you did not request this” instructions to the letter. Since you may have difficulty with security questions or past purchases, I would open a support case with Apple and take good notes what you trying anything seems odd.

Just be sure you don’t click the links in the mail - it’s getting hard to tell the scam mails from the real ones if you just look at font and spelling and not the address that links open.

Navigate to apple support site from https://apple.com

The main problem is if you don’t keep good records of all your security information when you signed up, you might need to be patient and dig up app purchases, review old credit cards systematically and work with support.

A typo in a year is something a computer won't validate and you know the year you were born, just that might not be what the keyboard typed. Worse, if you made up answers or answered the correct question in the wrong field (answer in the field above the question instead of below the question), you could easily lock yourself out.

That ends the thing you control, here are things you don't control:

There’s no way you can prevent someone else from trying to lock your account initially or even take it over. Until you validate to Apple support that you are the owner of the account, the account could be "flagged" for extra security. Hopefully it is just someone that is confused and not someone maliciously trying to make your life miserable.


Repair disk on Snow Leopard using a bootable USB, in order to upgrade to Lion

Using an installer image that is bootable, whether DVD or USB or simply an external partition, is always a good idea when repairing disc problems, because it allows the partition you need to check to be fully unused for the duration of the check.  Otherwise it's trying to fix itself, whilst running the OS and the fix actions at the same time.  So feel free to use whatever media you have to initiate a repair, the Disk Utility program is available in any OS X install media, just boot from it and select from the menu.


Does Pwned DFU mode allow an iPhone 4 to install any version of iOS?

You need those SHSH blobs. I've tried almost anything else available online, without success. Updating to the latest version via restore (without the blobs) is no problem ofcourse.

When you jailbreak your device it will store the SHSH blob on Cydia server, as you can fetch them from their servers with your current device UID if lost.

A SHSH blob is a small piece of data with Apple's signature connected to your device ID.
Since you can only validate iOS versions with your own device ID, there's currently no way to install previous versions without having "your" blob.

Good luck!


Connect NAS with static ip over ethernet with MBP

Does system preferences show a network connection?  You'll be counting on it switching to crossover mode - it's possible the NAS is interfering with that.  Are you defining a router IP within system preferences?  Make your machine ip 192.168.0.100, router 192.168.0.1, subnet 255.255.255.0, then try a ping.

If that doesn't work, post the output of this command:
route -v get 192.168.0.102


What is the dotted blue underlining when I use dictation on OS X?

This highlighting "hyperlinks" the text, if the system is unsure of what you said. It will typically take a couple of best guesses, and display them as options from which you can choose from. You can see the suggestions by right-clicking the word or control clicking it.

It also selects the text when you click on it, which allows you to simply type a replacement if the options provided aren't correct.

This article may provide helpful information on dictation.


if I purchase Apple watch series 3 or 4 (GPS only) from USA, will it work in India?

The Watch will function perfectly fine in India, however some functionalities will not work or be limited. This is for example the ECG feature, turn-by-turn navigation, the News app, etc.

There's no reason to buy the Watch in the US in hope of getting access to US-only functionality, as that functionality most probably will not be available in India and will cease to function when you get back, or at a later time when the software is updated.

You enquire about the GPS - it will work fine all over the world. Also in India. Other answers here focus on other positioning systems such as the Indian IRNSS (NAVIC). It is not supported on the Apple Watch, no matter if you buy the watch in India or in the US. It is also not supported on iPhones or any other Apple device. The Apple Watch supports GPS (US operated), GLONASS (Russian operated), Galileo (EU operated) and QZSS (Japan operated).

As you're looking at the model without cellular, you do not have to worry about cell coverage. The other answers that talk about LTE bands, etc. are irrelevant when the watch does not have cellular. The Watch will use your iPhone for calls, SMS, etc. and automatically supports whatever iPhone you have with the LTE bands, etc. it is using for communication.

The last thing to note is that the Watch in the US comes with a US charger. I.e. they are 110V/60Hz and a different type of plug, compared to the 230V/50Hz system and plugs used in India. You will need an adapter to be able to use the charger, or you could substitute any ordinary USB charger. The magnetic charging puck for the Apple Watch comes as a seperate cable that is plugged into the charger, so you will be able to use a different charger very easily.


You're in a search screen and it's currently listing all of the files on "This Mac" (your Mac).  It's literally (not figuratively) every single one of your files listed alphabetically in a search window; it's nothing harmful.

Just close out of the search and you'll be fine.  You might want to take a quick read of the Apple document, Get to know the Finder on your Mac.


Automatically try to join hidden network if no preferred network available

I have a network with hidden SSID, which I configured using the "Join Other Network".

This was done years ago, and the network is joined when necessary.

You can see (and reorder) "remembered" networks in "Open Network Preferences" Advanced tab


How to make MacPorts reinstall requested ports from a different boot drive?

Actually, I think you want the results of port -qv installed to restore your installation but I'll show you how to produce both files.
Mount the old hard drive and copy this file into a folder in your home folder- /opt/local/var/macports/registry/registry.db. Now navigate to that folder.
To produce the requested.txt file:
sqlite3 registry.db 'select name, requested from ports' |
awk -F '|' '{ if ( $2 == 1 ) print $1 }' >requested.txt

To produce the myports.txt file:
sqlite3 registry.db \
'select name,  version, revision, state, os_platform, os_major, archs, date from ports' |
sort |
awk -F'|' '{ if ( $4 == "installed") {act="(active)"} else {act=""} }
{ cmd = "date -r" $8 " +%Y-%m-%dT%T%z"; cmd | getline mydate; close(cmd) }
{ printf ("%s @%s_%s %s platform=%s %s archs=%s date=%s\n",
    $1, $2, $3, act,$5, $6, $7, mydate)
}' >myports.txt


Boot to recovery HD and just reinstall the OS.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201314

This is done by Holding the Command and r keys down while turning on the Mac. You will then be given the option for reinstalling Mac OS. This will not delete any of your files, merely replace just the damaged Mac OS files.

All permissions will be fixed on the system side - no apps get deleted, no user accounts or date is deleted.

Worst case, you'll need to set up a new admin user on the machine once it's reinstalled (boot to single user move and delete /var/db/.AppleSetupDone) to finish changing permissions on your user folder.

You could also boot to internet recovery if normal recovery fails.


Which would be better for FCP and Pro Tools? Mac Mini 2.3GHz i7Quad or iMac 2.9GHz i5 Quad?

Actually, the most important hardware component in video rendering is videocard (GPU).

iMac has discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M adapter with dedicated memory, while Mac Mini has integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 card. The difference is jaw-dropping. Some benchmarks to prove this:

3DMark 11: 2320 points in 650M, only 604 points in HD 4000.
3DMark 11 (GPU): 2112 points in 650M, only 524 points in HD 4000.
3DMark 06: 13453 points in 650M, only 4410 points in HD 4000.

I believe, you got the point. HD 4000 is a bit less powerful than NVIDIA 610M. Quad-core processor will not matter when integrated graphics will render every frame for 2 seconds.

  Geekbench is more about CPU, than GPU. Video editing is more about
  GPU, than CPU.

8 Gb of RAM is enough for working with 4K@24fps projects.

This fall new Macs will be released with better hardware and the new OS X Mavericks will roll out with performance (CPU and memory) improvements (more free RAM for FCPX).

So I advice you to wait for a while with buying new Mac. Get better.


There is no separate window manager on macOS, the windowing environment is part of the OS itself.


I am not a company but am trying to avoid having to buy multiple individual iOS licenses

You can add a member to Your developer program if You enroll as company. You won't have to buy another account.

Here's the info from Apple (You need to have developer account in order to enter this link).

  If you are enrolled in the iOS Developer Program as a company and hold either the Agent or Admin role, you can invite co-workers to join your development team by visiting the People tab in Member Center.


Autofocus on the iPhone is done via an electrical motor, moving the front lens backward and forward, and software that captures and analyses the image for best sharpness, which usually is the "sweet" spot. Recent versions of iOS probably offload the analysis to the image signal processor available since the Apple A5 chip.


How do I recover free space from my logical volume group?

CoreStorage is a Logical Volume Manager. It's based on Physical Volume(s) on the physical side and assigns Logical Volume(s) on the "logical side", which can be formatted with a file system.

Your Physical Volumes are disk0s2 and disk1s2 (which itself are slices of the physical disks disk0 and disk1).

The total size of your Logical Volume Group is 2120 GB. Only 1818 GB are assigned to a Logical Volume (disk2/Macintosh HD/JHFS+). So 302 GB of the Logical Volume Group are "free space". Some of this free space is reserved for management purposes. The net free space in the LVG is 296.6 GB or less.

You now can either expand the existing Logical Volume disk2 to fill the LVG or add a 2nd Logical Volume.

Check the disks first:

diskutil verifyVolume disk0s2

To resize a Logical Volume you have to execute the following command in Terminal.app:

diskutil cs resizeVolume lvUUID size

with lvUUID: the UUID of the Logical Volume (in your case C4D9F5AA-BA5F-4286-A630-FE8CAF4C913F)
and size: a size in (t|g|m|k|b)  e.g. 2114g or magic sizes like R or 0 (which should resize the logical volume to the possible max).

In my opinion you already tried to resize the LV or LVG in the past and Boot Camp Assistant cannot cope with it or some error occurred while the BC Assistant was trying to shrink the LVG by 300 GB to free up space for the Boot Camp partition.

Usually this can't be fixed and you have to recreate the Fusion Drive from scratch and restore your whole system from a backup.


Word for mac: shortcuts to access Quick Access Toolbar and Ribbon

Unfortunately, the Mac version of Office/PowerPoint doesn't have nearly the number of shortcut keys that the Windows version.

However, On Mac, The option key on many Mac Keyboards are double-labeled Option / Alt. Try Holding down option Key in place of the alternate key.   On a Laptop Machine, you might have to use the Fn (Function key) then the rest of the shortcut.

If the above suggestion doesn't work for you, it's likely that you've run into shortcut keys that just don't work on Mac.

Other Alternavites are:

Alt Key Shortcuts on Office for Mac
Shortcut key on Words for Mac
Shortcut key on Excel for Mac


How to switch from from the active application on monitor 1 to the active application on monitor 2 via keyboard

Based on your original question here is the answer to that.

  switch from one active desktop to next visible desktop on other
  monitor

On High Sierra the keyboard shortcut to switch Desktops already exists.

In my case it only shows 1 since I only have one Desktop.

In your case it should show 8 Desktops (numbers)


I'm wouldn't be so sure there are better alternatives. AirFoil is still updated regularly, and as its a rather rare need to stream from a computer to an iDevice (and not an AppleTV, HomePod, Miracast, Chromecast, Bluetooth speakers), it's a safe a reliable bet. You could also take a look at the AirSquirrels programs, (Reflector, AirParrot, etc.), but I'm not sure they actually do what you want precisely.


Searching Apple Support for iWork for OS X 10.10 turned up a download link for iWork 9.3 however, from what I can tell, it may just be an update installer.  But searching Apple Support is a good place to start.  In order to use the App Store version, one would have to update to OS X 10.12 or higher as noted in the OP's question.


How to enable arrows in landscape keyboard in iOS 11?

This feature was removed by Apple on all known iPhone screen sizes (4.7" (iPhone 6, 6s, 7, 8) as well as 5.5" inch (iPhone 6 Plus, 6s Plus, 7 Plus, 8 Plus).

Unfortunately there is no way to turn it back on in iOS 11.0.

If you miss the arrow keys from iOS 10 please provide feedback to Apple using the feedback form. Apple actually reads these messages. :)

iPhone/iOS Feedback (Apple)


In Automator, how to get the folder contents after a "Run Shell Script" action

It is generally advisable to enclose a variable in double quotes.

Use the echo command to return the "renamed-svgs" folder

rm -rf "$@"/../renamed-svgs
cp -rf "$@"/ "$@"/../renamed-svgs
echo "$@"/../renamed-svgs/

Or use the find command to return files whose name start with icons_

rm -rf "$@"/../renamed-svgs
cp -rf "$@"/ "$@"/../renamed-svgs
find "$@/../renamed-svgs/" -type f -maxdepth 1 -iname 'icons_*' -print


Can an app requiring ios 7+ be installed on a device that cannot update further than ios 6?

No, you wouldn't be able to install the app. Depending on what the app is, it might need specific functionality that is not offered in iOS 6, but is offered in iOS 7+.


Find-my-iphone without internet connection

Nope.  Find My iPhone feature requires internet connectivity to be activated.  If your iDevice is stolen, you can flag it as stolen and set up a remote wipe from icloud.com.  Next time it is connected to a WiFi or to iTunes, it will check icould and be disabled/wiped.

If it never connects or they wipe it before connecting, there is no way to track it.


Unchecking "Restore windows when quitting and re-opening apps" doesn't work

It's a bug. According to the release notes, it was fixed by 10.7.4 which came out a few days ago:

  The OS X Lion v10.7.4 Update includes fixes that:

  Resolve an issue in which the "Reopen windows when logging back in" setting is always enabled.


Use Image Capture to import the pictures to your computer.
In iTunes, connect and select your device, then in the Photos tab select the folder that you put the photos when you imported them.
Press Sync.

Once you've done this once, it become easier. You already have the folder set up in Image Capture and in iTunes, so all you have to do is…

Connect your iPhone (you can set up Image Capture to open automatically when you connect your iPhone in System Preferences).
Click Import.
Connect your iPad and click Sync.

Alternatively, you could purchase an iPad Camera Connection Kit, then use a USB cable to connect the iPhone directly to your iPad and use your iPad to import the photos.


I've never used it any of them, but there is a port of Mono for Mac that allows you to run ASP.NET on the Mac, and as other users answered there is XAMPP for Mac also.

http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:OSX


Enable autocorrect in Chrome on OSX Sierra?

Another solution I have seen many used is to use a Chrome extension like Grammarly.

Just be aware that their privacy terms and/or security posture may not suit many users. See for example source 1, source 2, and much more info out there if you search for it.


Spotlight index has ghost app that I cannot get rid of

The indexing is not finished, I would wait until it is finished before considering an error.

If the indexing is still going on 2 days after the clean install, you either have a big drive with a lot of files or it's hung on something. That usually happens with wrong permissions on some files and in worse cases because of I/O errors of the drive.

In order to check that you should take the following steps:

First: run the Disc Utility found in /Applications/Utilities/ to check your drive and repair permissions. Details for usage can be found on the Apple Support Pages found here

Next: I strongly suggest you rebuild the Spotlight Index in any case. A guide to do that can be found on the Apple Support Page here (In short: Click on the Apple Icon > Privacy > add your drive, confirm, then remove it again)

Most likely your problems will be solved after these steps.


touchbar and keyboard brightness adjustment

Yes, first expand the control strip by clicking on the arrow next to the 4 control buttons on the right (or 5 if you set it). Now there should be two icon similar to the one on the F5 and F6 key (unless you got rid of it in Keyboard Settings -> Customize Control Strip it should be there).


You have to make a backup of the loaner phone to have it available to restore on your repaired phone.

You already appear to have done so on your phone, but if needed, steps described by Apple are:

  Make a backup using iTunes

  Open iTunes and connect your device to your computer.
  Save content that you downloaded from the iTunes Store or App Store by clicking File > Devices > Transfer Purchases. If you're using Windows and you don't see a File menu, press the Alt key.

  Wait for iTunes to finish transferring your purchases. Then, click File > Devices > Back up. If you're using Windows and you don't see a File menu, press the Alt key.

  After the process ends, you can see if your backup finished successfully by clicking iTunes Preferences > Devices. You should see the name of your device with the date and time that iTunes created the backup.

  Follow more steps if you need help making an iTunes backup. Learn how to encrypt your backup.


Xcode 10.1: Profile is not an "iOS In House" profile

When you create your provisioning profile and certificate in "Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles" on Apple's Developer web site - you have chosen the wrong type of provisioning profile. You'll need to choose "In House" from under the "Distribution" headline in order to get the right kind of profile.


The AirPort Time Capsule (the official name, with my emphasis added on AirPort - see below for the reason), runs NetBSD, according to the Examples of use section for NetBSD on Wikipedia. It cites two sources - one being an answer from superuser.com (not very useful in this case), and another an article on wifinetnews.com, that states:

  A source unconnected with Apple provided convincing proof that the AirPort Extreme uses NetBSD as its embedded operating system...

The AirPort Extreme Base Station, AirPort Express Base Station and the AirPort Time Capsule all run the same firmware (that's why the AirPort in all the names). This can be seen in the firmware downloads available for these products - it's the same download for all these devices. Of course, nobody has jailbroken these devices yet, so we do not know if or how the installation process chooses specific bits for the underlying hardware. But the OS cannot be different with the same firmware download (it does not make sense for these devices to have such a scheme).

See the recent AirPort update 7.6.4 page for understanding the above correlation.


How to repair a drive after accidentally changing the partition scheme?

The output from the gpt command indicates the following.

While there is no indication that there is a problem with the primary
GUID Partition Table (GPT) header, the entries appear to have been
corrupted.
The secondary (backup) GPT header and entries are intact.
The MBR tables contains at least two partition entries. One entry is
a OS X partition (type 175=0xAF). Another entry is an OS X recovery
partition (type 171=0xAB).

Under normal circumstances, the following is true.

The gpt command does not display MBR partition entry for partitions
of type 0xEE.
Some of the primary and secondary GPT headers values differ,
therefore the headers not identical.
The primary and secondary GPT entries themselves are actually
identical.

Therefore, copying the entries, from the secondary GPT to the primary GPT, should fix the partition table errors. The commands give below will do this. (I assume the external drive is still disk1).

diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1
sudo dd if=/dev/disk1 of=/dev/disk1 count=32 conv=notrunc seek=2 skip=1953525135

  Even if the above commands fix the partition table errors, there is no guarantee the data, stored in the partitions, has not been corrupted.


Can I install / downgrade to Mojave on a new MacBook Pro 2020 that comes with Catalina?

As of this writing, all the models of MacBook Pro lineup available for purchase currently from Apple or any 3rd party resellers (13" or 15") can be downgraded to run macOS Mojave 10.14.5 or a later release, except the 16" MacBook Pro which cannot be downgraded to run macOS Mojave.

P.S.: No new MacBook Pro model has been released in the year 2020 so far (as of this writing). So there's no 2020 MacBook Pro yet. So essentially what you can get is either a Late 2019 16" MacBook Pro or a Mid 2019 13" or 15" model (assuming you are purchasing a brand new one, and if some resellers are still selling the discontinued but last released 15" ones)


Snow Leopard and Windows 7 on MacBook White

If you are installing windows via bootcamp the two systems will have exclusive use of all resources. You won't have any restrictions on the apps you install other than your existing restrictions of disk space, ram or your graphics processor.

I would suggest upgrading your machine to 4GB of ram as both Snow Leopard and windows 7 like at least 4GB of ram.


How do you find a developer of an app that hasn't been updated?

Open your App Store purchase list and find the app on that list. From there you can find the developer information and try to download it again (or see why it disappeared).


Siri spells my child’s name wrong in texts

If a person is a contact and Siri doesn’t pronounce it correctly, you can ask Siri to show you their contact. After  she shows it to you, you can say “that’s not how you say that”, and Siri should ask you how to pronounce it.


Why am I receiving this error code, when trying to rename a flash drive?

Have you tried reformatting the unit to FAT using disk utility and then trying to rename? FAT is the default filesystem for most USB sticks. I had this problem, reformatted it with disk util and it started working.


You could start with Apple's free training videos at Aperture 3 video tutorials. Also see the list of Aperture training resources and general Aperture resources (including downloads, extras and training).

There are other paid video tutorials from VTC, Lynda, Kelby Training, etc.


OS X server taking up tons of disk space

This is an index of the files stored in any file share point which has "iOS" turned on as a protocol. Disabling iOS sharing will prevent this folder from filling up, though I've yet to find the "by the book" way to clear this folder.


What is the difference between Trailer and Movie when creating a new one in iMovie?

The Trailers methodology was designed for brief (~1 minute) movies, and it provides lots of pre-designed visual and audio templates (background music, essentially) to help make the process simpler.

These links may help: How to create iMovie 10 trailers, Apple's convert trailers to movies, and How to Create a Movie Trailer in iMovie.


What is the default partition type (case sensitive or insensitive) in Macbook pro 2020 (BigSur)?

What is the default or recommended partition type for the latest MacOS (Big Sur)? APFS case sensitive or case insensitive?

case insensitive

What is the partition type if I buy a latest Macbook Pro (2020)? APFS case sensitive or case insensitive?

case insensitive

While I do not have a 2020 MacBook Pro to verify my answer, I would assume that since Intel Macs are case insensitive, that the M1 Macs would be also.
If you need a case-sensitive volume, you can just add one to the existing APFS container. Adding or removing a APFS volume does not require repartitioning.


Power Nap is not an application, it is a set of hardware-level functionality that causes the Mac to wake from sleep, but only with disk, CPU, and networking hardware active - no video or audio. However, third-party applications run as normal during this "DarkWake" period (Apple's term). Therefore, Little Snitch should use whatever rules you have in place while the computer is fully awake.

This appears to be confirmed by the mention of Power Nap on Little Snitch developer objective development's blog, in an article about Automatic Profile Switching. That functionality found in Little Snitch allows the system to automatically switch rules based on what network your Mac finds itself on. As long as you're on a network that you've previously used, and have rules set up for, Little Snitch should use those same rules during DarkWake. Presumably you allow all of the things that Apple would do during DarkWake when you're actively using your computer (checking email, App Store updates, Photo Stream updates, iCloud document sync, etc.) so the rules already in place should suffice for use during DarkWake.


Deleted (but not cleared) voicemails not visible on iPhone 5

I solved my problem by resetting the network settings from Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings (this course of action is actually recommended in the igeeksblog post I linked, but for the circumstance where Clear All is disabled rather than for the particular circumstance my phone was in). After this, I was able to call my phone and successfully leave a voicemail. I also tested out deleting a new voicemail, and it went into a Deleted Messages queue that is now visible at the bottom of my Voicemail Tab, as usual.


Is there a htop-on-linux like alternative for top / Activity Monitor on OS X?

You can install htop on Mac through brew with the following command:

brew install htop-osx

Don' t forget to grant root privileges after the installation.


Issue with my launchpad on MBP Retina 13"

A simple Google search gave this article on OS X Daily, which is interestingly based on this Stack Exchange answer. Here are the relevant bits:

  Open the Terminal application and enter the following defaults write command string:
  defaults write com.apple.dock ResetLaunchPad -bool true; killall Dock
  Hit return and wait for the Dock to relaunch and Launchpad to reset

  When you open Launchpad again, the layout will have returned to the
  default, placing all bundled apps onto the first screen of Launchpad,
  and third party apps onto the secondary (and third, if applicable)
  screens.


Hidden Documents folder after turning off iCloud Drive

Try run this in Terminal:

chflags nohidden ~/Documents


Does the presence of Diagnostic Data mean someone unauthorized is checking my phone?

Nobody is watching your phone (at least from this specific point).
The setting you are talking about is called Diagnostics & Usage. It looks like this:

It explicitly says what it does:

Help Apple improve its products and services by automatically sending daily diagnostic and usage data. Diagnostic data may include location information.

If you feel like you do not want to share your iPhone application usage data then just check Don't Send.
Note that diagnostic data will be saved, but not sent to Apple, on your device in any case even if you choose Don't Send.
If you proceed into Diagnostics & Usage Data then you can see what application and when saved its data on your phone. What looks something like this:

In case you want to find more information about this topic, consider visiting this official Apple page.


How to remove Windows Operating system from Bootcamp?

Apple helps:

  Boot Camp: Remove Windows from your Mac

  How you remove Windows from your Mac depends on whether you installed Windows on a disk that has multiple partitions or one that has a single partition.

  Important: Back up all important data stored on your Windows partition.

  If you installed Windows on a disk that has multiple partitions

  Start up your Mac in OS X.
  Quit all open apps and log out any other users.
  Open Boot Camp Assistant, then click Continue.
  Select “Remove Windows 7 or later version,” then click Continue.
  Do one of the following:

  If your Mac has a single internal disk, click Restore.
  If your Mac has multiple internal disks, select the Windows disk, select “Restore disk to a single OS X partition,” then click Continue.

  If you installed Windows on a disk that has a single partition

  Start up your Mac in OS X.
  Open Disk Utility, located in the Other folder in Launchpad.
  Select the Windows disk, click Erase, choose the Mac OS Extended (Journaled) >format, then click the Erase button.


OS X generates a programmatic directory stored in /private/var and defines the $TMPDIR environment variable for locating the system temporary folder.

Using Terminal.app, type echo $TMPDIR or open $TMPDIR (to open Finder on that folder).

There you will find temp files stored by the Applications running.

Source: https://superuser.com/questions/581347/where-is-the-temp-folder-inos-x

Since OS X is based on UNIX, there are several types of temporary directories, in addition the the "system" one where it stores things.

$TMPDIR which is generated like /var/folders/xl/84p38nhj405frmrkdpqb3v9c0000gn/T/
/private/tmp
/private/var/tmp
/private/var/at/tmp
/private/var/spool/cups/tmp


Converting between a Mac file path to a Windows file path

Stay with the Windows path style and install WinShortcutter 3.5 (Freeware) on the Mac side. Since you are using mapped drives on the Windows PCs: e.g. S:\Main Folder\Folder1... you have to configure the proper mappings e.g \\Share\pictures\ -> S:\ in the app on every Mac though.


How to connect my iphone to PC and edit my contacts and other things like I can do with my Nokia phone?

You can in iTunes define which online Service or PC program you want to use.

In the iPhone User Guide on page 55, are the below written.

  Info Pane

  The Info pane lets you
  configure the sync settings for your
  contacts, calendars, email accounts,
  and web browser.

  Contacts

  Sync contacts with applications such as Mac
  OS X Address Book, Yahoo! Address
  Book, and Google Contacts on a Mac, or
  with Yahoo! Address Book, Google
  Contacts, Windows Address Book
  (Outlook Express), Windows Contacts
  (Vista and Windows 7), or Microsoft
  Outlook 2003, 2007, or 2010 on a PC.
  (On a Mac, you can sync contacts with
  multiple applications. On a PC, you
  can sync contacts with one application
  at a time.)

  If you sync with Yahoo!
  Address Book, you only need to click
  Configure to enter your new login
  information when you change your
  Yahoo! ID or password after you’ve set
  up syncing.


Any way to never update an iOS device / not download the image?

What do you mean it has downloaded the seed? iOS 4.3 does not have an OTA update mechanism, so there's no way it could have downloaded the update.

I think it is possible to remove the OTA files, it they were downloaded, but only if the iOS device is jailbroken


Keyboard shortcut for prev/next sheet in Numbers 3

This feature has been added in Numbers 3.2, released 2014-04-01.  Numbers now honors the ⌘-{ and ⌘-} keystrokes for previous and next sheet, respectively.  Additionally, the menu items are now under the Window menu to be remapped.

Numbers 3.0 and 3.1 did not have this feature.


Iphone 5s unlock to make all providers available

If your iPhone was purchased on a contract, you must contact your provider for them to release your iPhone from their network lock. This is generally put in place to ensure users on a contract do not switch carriers after paying only one or so instalment for the phone.

If you have finished your contract, purchased the phone outright, or come to an agreement with your carrier to unlock your device you'll need to backup (if needed) and restore your device through iTunes to apply the new unlocked carrier settings. You can contact Apple to see if your device will be unlocked after restoring if you're not sure.

There may be other ways around this unlocking process, however none are official or supported by Apple. Nor are they guaranteed to work.


Can you spoof your iOS to pair an Apple Watch with an older iOS?

The Apple Watch relies heavily on support from the phone for a lot of common tasks, especially features like cellular data, notifications, and iMessage. It’s possible there would be a way to spoof the version the watch sees, but without a few copyrighted frameworks from iOS 11 or 10, it’d probably crash before you finished pairing.


Cannot symlink gcc-5 instead of clang on OS X 10.10.5?

ln -sf gcc-5 gcc

You might be thinking of an alias, but that symbolic link doesn't really do anything unless you're in /usr/local/bin. You need

ln -sf /usr/local/bin/gcc-5 /usr/local/bin/gcc


Can I safely charge a Galaxy S9 with a USB-C MacBook Pro charger?

All devices (Phones) are 5 Volt technology.

How fast it charges depends on....

Can the charger provide the power the battery is asking for.

Battery is a SMART battery type (it has a chip build in) so it will regulate the charging process safely.


Mouse clicking not working on Disk Utility screen. How do I select erase button?

If I understand your question correctly, you want to select a drive and erase it. However, while you've worked out how to select the drive using the keyboard, you're not able to select the Erase button.

In your situation you can do this with by using the ShiftCommandE keyboard shortcut.

Hope this helps. If I've misunderstood your question, please let me know.


Gift cards are tied to iTunes accounts so if you want to let the store keep track of the different gift cards you will at least have to set up individual iTunes accounts for each of them (and yourself). Of course this also means that you have to switch the user in iTunes accordingly each time you want to make a purchase.

Thinking ahead, this approach is somewhat future-proof as well. In a few years your kids will switch to their own computer account with their individual iTunes installation etc. If they already have an individual iTunes account as well they can keep using their apps without having to bother you in case of upgrades etc.


The latest Xcode version that is documented by Apple to include the iOS 5 SDK is Xcode 4.3.3 for Lion. Apple doesn't document in the release notes whether it is also included in Xcode 4.4 and Xcode 4.4.1. However, by Xcode 4.5 it is definitely not included anymore.

The important thing to notice here is that you actually do not need to have the iOS 5 SDK in order to build an app for iOS 5. This means that you can build apps for iOS 5 with an Xcode that is newer, and doesn't as such include the iOS 5 SDK.

You do this by setting the deployment target of your project. Inside Xcode you click on your project (the blueprint icon), select the Info tab and then you have a drop-down named "iOS Deployment Target". You'll want to set it to 5.1.

With modern Xcode releases, you can download simulators, etc. directly from within the latest Xcode - however this only goes back to iOS 8 for Xcode 10. This also goes for the deployment target.

The end result is that you can use a much newer Xcode than Xcode 4.3, although not the latest Xcode 10 releases. You just need to remember to set your deployment target for the project!


Armenian HM QWERTY keyboard - where's Շշ (sh)?

Շ is at option + shift + s on HM Qwerty.  շ is at option + s.

You can use Keyboard Viewer to find such things

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH13746


It works if you create a JHFS+ volume first and convert it to APFS in a second step:

DISK_ID=$(hdiutil attach -nomount ram://$((<number_of_blocks>)))
diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ "RAM Disk" $DISK_ID
diskutil apfs convert $(tr -d ' '<<<${DISK_ID}s2)

If the RAM disk has a size of 2 GiB (4 * 1024 * 1024)(block_size) or smaller no EFI partition is created and the 3rd command is: diskutil apfs convert $(tr -d ' '<<<${DISK_ID}s1) or more generally:

DISK_ID=$(hdiutil attach -nomount ram://$((<number_of_blocks>)))
SIZE=$(diskutil info $DISK_ID | awk -F'[^0-9]*' '/Disk Size/ {print$4}')
diskutil eraseDisk JHFS+ "RAM Disk" $DISK_ID
if [ $SIZE -le 2147483648 ]; then diskutil apfs convert $(tr -d ' '<<<${DISK_ID}s1); else diskutil apfs convert $(tr -d ' '<<<${DISK_ID}s2); fi

Result:

...
/dev/disk2 (disk image):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        +4.3 GB     disk2
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk2s1
   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk3         4.0 GB     disk2s2

/dev/disk3 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +4.0 GB     disk3
                                 Physical Store disk2s2
   1:                APFS Volume RAM Disk                32.8 KB    disk3s1


A common issue is the output selection in the media apps:

Make sure that on your phone, in the media screen, you have selected the correct output source (Bluetooth - Mercedes name) to play the audio (assuming audio is coming from the phone when it doesn't work)

If no audio comes (make sure volume is up) .. However, the Mercedes model / year may not support music playback.

As @tyson mentioned, inquire with the car manual for Bluetooth settings


You can't use Airport Utility without Airport Extreme?

Airport Utility is only for Apple's line of Airport wireless routers. This includes Airport Express, Airport Extreme, and Time Capsule. It does not support other routers.


How to permanently allow location access for a website in Safari 11?

Open the website you want to permanently allow.

Go to Safari preferences at top left under Safari.
Click on Website tab.
Click on Locations tab on left side.
On currently opened websites, select Allow on the one that you want to permanently allow.


Using crashplan to backup a time machine disk

Do not attempt to prove crashplan wrong. Many bad things can happen.
Use the new Time Machine (since Mountain Lion) instead.
Problem solved.


Installing Xcode command line tools error: The package “DeveloperToolsCLI.pkg” is untrusted

Probably the certificate is outdated. To circumvent this the following procedure should work:

Open "System Preferences"
Hit "Security & Privacy"
Hit the tab "General"
Click the lock and enter your admin password
at "Allow applications from anywhere" mark the radio button "Anywhere"
then click the button "Allow from anywhere"

or like indicated in the screenshot above control-click individual apps/installer-apps and select "Open". This probably doesn't work for the DeveloperToolsCLI.pkg but for other apps.


Send "soft power off" signal from a Mac via HDMI to a TV

How can I make a TV (a Sony W755C in my case) do a "soft power off"
(same as when pressing the ON/OFF on the remote) by sending HDMI
signals from a connected Mac?

You can't.
According to Apple:

Do Mac computers with HDMI support CEC (Consumer Electronics Control)?
Mac computers don't support (and can't control) other devices via CEC
connections and HDMI.

Basically, the controls are simply not there to send to your TV.  To do so, you need the USB adapter.


Any way to get back itunes music after losing it?

Send Apple a support email to the iTunes Store (e.g. by using this form). Tell them what happened and they should allow you to redownload all of your old purchases. That's what they did for me. You won't be able to redownload content that has changed on the store. It seems as though some songs get removed and then readded so their IDs won't match the same ones you purchased. I was able to redownload about 95% of my purchases.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with their policy of not allowing you to redownload purchased content; please don't abuse their generosity, and try to back it up yourself next time.


mail client for Mac with these characteristics?

I would suggest taking a look at Nylas Mail. It's open source, has a wealth of plugins and themes on GitHub, and is relatively "fast and robust." As for your other criteria:

It allows for messages to only be marked as read manually, as can be seen below:

All shortcuts (including "mark as read") are completely customizable through JSON. For instance, one could have the r key mark messages as read by putting the following in one's keymap.json:

{
    "core:mark-as-read": "r"
}

Nylas supports a dual-pane mode (similar to Apple Mail), allowing one to preview a message without having to open it in a separate window.

Unfortunately, while Nylas does have built-in spell-check, it does not use Apple's native solution.

Nylas also boasts a host of other features, including read receipts, link tracking, message snoozing, and templated quick replies. There is a Pro version, but all of these features are in the free version (which I use).

For the record, I am not affiliated in any way with Nylas—I just like their mail client.


Can you still track it's location after it has been wiped/erased?

No, an iOS device is no longer associated with an iCloud account after it has been restored.

In iOS7, there is a new feature called Activation Lock[1] which prevents devices from being restored once they are associated with an account unless the correct password is used to disable the lock.

[1]http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5818

After being erased, either by you via find my phone, or buy the 'new owner' via a DFU forced restore, tracking is no longer available.

If the phone is put into DFU mode then iTunes will restore the phone.  However during activation, it will still require the original apple ID to activate, so the phone is useless, apart from selling for spare parts.


How do I add folders to spotlight search priority?

A Finder alias (not a symlink) will be added to spotlight, if it's sitting in a visible folder, like Applications.

You can create them programmatically using AppleScript (use osascript to integrate with other shell scripts.)

To create an alias use make alias file to {file to alias} at {destination of alias}.

By default (ie. if destination isn't specified) the alias is created on the current user's Desktop, ie. ~/Desktop.

Here's an example script to create an alias of a file in /Applications

set target_app to POSIX file "/usr/path/to/app"
set alias_dest to POSIX file "/Applications"

tell application "Finder"
  make alias file to target_app at alias_dest
end tell

By the way, osascript accepts input from stdin, so to run an AppleScript in a shell script, using a heredoc will work.  It may make it easier for you to setup the target file better:

#!/bin/bash
TARGET=/usr/path/to/app
osascript <<EOS

set target_app to POSIX file "$TARGET"
set alias_dest to POSIX file "/Applications"

tell application "Finder"
  make alias file to target_app at alias_dest
end tell

EOS


Manually sync multiple devices through iCloud

No, it won't affect your ability to manually sync the iPods.  Although you should clarify precisely what you m ean by "manually sync", as this could mean numerous things: an iTunes data backup of the device, music & media transfers, metadata syncing, purchase syncing, Contact syncing, etc.


iPhone + Messages Beta: prevent iPhone from vibrating for every message?

I'm afraid that's not possible in the current iOS.

But there are a few work-arounds:

You can define a specific vibrating tone for that specific contact person which will do almost nothing (unlike the default long and hard vibrating)
or you can disable vibrating when you enter Silent Mode and when you start having this rapid-fire conversation, just switch your iPhone to silent mode and no vibrating will happen!


"USB Accessories Disabled" notification from Thunderbolt 3 network connection?

Is the Air trying to charge itself from the MBP over Thunderbolt?

That is quite possible.

How can I get it to stop, or at least to stop the notification from
appearing?

As I recall a MBP can source up to 15 watts to no more than two USB-C ports, and no more than 7.5 watts to the other two ports.  Apple laptops can sink power from only one USB-C port at a time.  If there is more than one power source connected then the laptop will choose to sink power from the source that is advertising the ability to source the most power.  If there's two sources advertising the same power output capability then it will choose one at random.  An Apple laptop will not typically switch from one source to another if both are of equal capability but if something should interrupt the connection to the first choice then it might flip.  An interruption might be from the laptop being put to sleep and reawakened, a reboot, a loose cable, a utility power glitch, or something else attached to the power source taking enough power that it changes it's advertised power ability.
Considering the MBA side of this connection first there's looking at where it should be getting power.  The first obvious thing to check is for loose cables.  I'll see docks and displays with more than one usable USB-C port to the host, where one supplies more power than the others.  Is the MBA connected to the high power port?  A low power port will supply 15 watts just like the MBP would, it wouldn't take much to trigger the MBA to flip to take power from the MBP.  Even if the MBA is connected to a dock, power brick, or display that advertises 60 watts of power available a glitch in the system could cause a flip.
On the MBP side there could be USB power issues other than the power hungry drives and video camera.  Consider what else is plugged in.  Consider that if the MBA is drawing power that it's going to want to take all 15 watts the MBP could give.  Given that you are not seeing the MBP try to sink power from the MBA it's likely that the MBP has a solid power source.  Or, it has a 96 watt power brick and a display capable of sourcing 60 watts connected that it's not likely to try getting 15 watts from the MBA.
I can certainly agree that it's not certain that the connection to the MBA is the problem but you did make a case on that being a place to look.  What would be helpful is to find a way to maintain this Thunderbolt connection but in a way that no power can travel down that wire.  That's not going to be easy, or at least not cheap.
One way to break that power connection and keep the Thunderbolt connection is with two Thunderbolt 2 adapters and a Thunderbolt 2 cable.  That's putting what is likely a $15 cable into a drawer and replacing it with a cable and adapters that would cost about $150.  Oh, and it would cut the bandwidth of the connection in half.  Perhaps with a steady hand and a sharp knife someone could do surgery on a $15 cable to remove the wires that transfer power and not disturb the wires needed for a Thunderbolt connection.  An optical Thunderbolt 3 cable would give full bandwidth and have no power transfer.  An optical Thunderbolt 3 cable would cost a lot of money too.  Is there a means to get Thunderbolt without power delivery that I'm missing?  If it's possible to borrow a couple Thunderbolt 2 adapters and a cable then you could at least test the theory.  Borrowing an optical cable would also work but likely be far more difficult.
I suspect that using anything other than a Thunderbolt cable to connect the two laptops is undesirable.  A Thunderbolt 3 cable is a very cheap and very fast way to connect two Apple computers.  There's just nothing else like it.  Opening up the set of acceptable solutions to those that include removing the Thunderbolt connection will likely bring a solution faster.  But then that makes it so trivial that there's not much to discuss.


Cannot print anymore since upgrade to Macos 10.13.6

I had kind of the same issue with an epson printer, and I tried several times to make it work by downloading driver from different websites with non results. The solution is downloading even an "old" drive from the apple support website https://support.apple.com/downloads/drivers and It really does work. I wasn't really sure at first because it didn't said that support Mac Sierra but in the end it worked perfectly!!!


Which Mac for Web development + iOS development

The 11-inch MacBook Air would more than suit your needs as far as specs go.

But, the screen size makes it hard for developers who are used to multiple monitors or windows side-by-side.

On my 11-inch Air, I normally use apps in full-screen mode and use gestures to switch between them quickly, but I sacrifice being able to have side-by-side applications.

You might consider an 11-inch Air with an alternate monitor (or more than one) for when you can sit at a desk and get serious.


Running GUI application from Console Login

Safari won't run under Xquartz/X11 which themselves need a non-console session to run.

You could select a web browser that runs under X11 exclusively and boot to a unix OS other than OS X and accomplish your needs.

Alternatively, you could set up a managed user on the Mac and have it launch Safari. Depending on what you need, parental controls or simple finder and dock hiding might be able to accomplish your goals - but the kiosk software is sold since they've engineered a solution where the OS doesn't have a setting to simply enable equivalent functionality.


How to make the "Don't save" or "delete" options the default?

The options you want to make the default, are the options that are the most likely to cause data loss, and so they are not the default for a reason. However, you mentioned quitting using the ⌘Q key, so you’re not afraid to use keyboard shortcuts.

I mention this because the Mac OS usually allows you to select a button in a dialog by hitting ⌘ and the first letter of the button’s text. In the ‘Delete’ or ‘Don’t save’ case, this would mean you can dismiss the dialog and not save by hitting ⌘D. For ‘Revert’, hit ⌘R.

It’s not as convenient as ⌘Q and Enter, but it’s still two keystrokes. And without opening you up to potential data loss by default.


As you've discovered, the Remote app can really only be used to remotely control playback on other devices.

If you don't wish to sync the playlists from your computer to your iPad via iTunes, then you'll have to stream them some other way. Unfortunately, for whatever (probably music industry-enforced) reason, Apple's own AirPlay technology does not allow sending audio from a Mac or Windows PC to an iOS device. Fortunately, there are 3rd-party solutions that do allow this, like AirFoil.


Is there software that allows multiple users to simultaneously and independently share a personal computer running Mac Os?

Not aware of anything quite like BeTwin, but you may not be aware that is is possible to run 2 user accounts simultaeniously out of the box without the need for any extra software, at least in Lion (And I have seen, but cannot find, that this can be retroconfigured on SL).  You mention SLin your question, but have also tagged, Lion, so I will reply anyway.

When you use screen sharing, you are able to choose which display to connect to, either the physical or the virtual display.  Connecting to the physical display will allow you to take over the screen of the target computer, taking control of the kb/mouse etc.  But if you use the virtual display, you are able to log in as a new user, and run processes entirely independently of the peron who is physically logged onto the machine.

Whilst I have only tested this with a a Mac initiating the screen sharing, there is no reason why with an up to date VNC client any old netbook, or thin client etc shouldn't be able to connect in this way, as the Screen Sharing technology is only VNC under the hood.

Edit: Read this for more information on getting this working using Snow Leopard


iCloud backup does not show up in restore list

Not all versions of iOS can back up from backups made using more recent versions (i.e. the backups are not necessarily forwards-compatible).  Confusingly, rather than show these unusable backups in some way (e.g. disabled with an error message available on tap) they simply don't show up at all (at least with iOS 5.0.1).

A new-from-the-box iPhone isn't necessarily running the latest version of iOS; it's running what was latest (or close) when it was boxed.  If the version on the phone is older than the version that was used to make the backup (which is actually quite likely now that iOS updates can be done over-the-air).

Thankfully, there is a simple fix: choose to set up the phone as a new phone, rather than from a backup.  Skip the step where you are asked for an Apple ID, since you won't actually be using the phone like this.

Once the initial setup is done, plug the phone in to iTunes and choose "Restore" (you can skip the backup of the clean-state phone).  This will download the latest version of iOS and install that first, and then offer to restore (either from backups on the computer or iCloud).


Is there a way to force Google Chrome to open in full screen?

I was having the same problem BUT i think i found out how to make google chrome always open full screen. go to the wrench on the right hand side of the task bar when you have chrome open. go to settings, under the on start up section click "continue where i left off." BAM google chrome should now open full screen... well it does for me anyways. hope this helps.


Why Safari 10 bar search is so slow in Mac OS Sierra?

Try selecting from the Menu Bar, Safari/Preferences/Search and deselect "Enable Quick Website Search". That appears to have solved some of my issues, although it can still be slow at times.


Rollback possibility reg. MacPro5,1 firmware update (High Sierra)

In general, no. Apple doesn’t release tools to reverse an EFI update publicly. In general, these aren’t needed since the drivers for GPU and other functional aspects of running the system exist at the OS level which you can revert to freely. Also, EFI updates now arrive with normal OS updates, so most people get these updates when you apply normal updates and not needing to run a separate EFI update.

Technically, Apple service providers can get access to tools to revert firmware but that is more geared to when an update hangs as opposed to there being a known regression.

Known regresssions generally are resolved with a newer patch on top, always advancing EFI versions as opposed to reverting.

Now - hardware like the Mac Pro (Early 2009) may have other worries due to being classified Vintage and Obsolete products as defined by Apple: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201624

Also - there is a nice paper by some long time Mac administrators that work for a security firm now with research on EFI updates and what happens without a check and users being shown when they are down level:

https://duo.com/blog/the-apple-of-your-efi-mac-firmware-security-research

It's getting a fair bit of mainstream coverage - but the headlines there are a bit click bait / overblown in my experience so far. The risk to home users is very low and EFI is generally only needed to exploit systems when they are already running 10.12.6 and have all updates applied and you can grant local physical access by a skilled technician of the hardware that's being attacked.

In specific, the Mac Pro 5,1 is listed as never having an update in the DuoSec research paper  - so all this might be a moot point if all you care about is Mac Pro 5,1.


IntelliJ IDEA - how to enable keyboard shortcuts

Maybe this shortcut is not assigned in IntelliJ (at least not for the italian keymap) or a different shortcut is mapped to block comments.

First you can lookup if this shortcut is mapped (Preferences -> Keymap (or search for keymap). The keymap preferences dialog contains a search field (top right). If you search for 'block', you will get all mappings.

You may assign your desired shortcuts (double click on "Comment with Block Comment") and IntelliJ even warns you if your shortcut is already assigned.

Additionally there is an open issue in their issue tracker for "screwed up shortcuts" for many non-US keyboard layouts (see https://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-167193)


How to go back to "All Artists" in iTunes

The only way I know short of scrolling with the mouse is, after having pressed Command-L, you can press the following key sequence to get to All Artists: Tab, Tab, A, ↑, ↑

This assumes you have an artist's name starting with the letter A. If not, then substitute A with the first character of the artist's name that's directly under Compilations in the sidebar.

In other words, after having pressed Command-L, pressing Tab twice sets focus to the now playing artist in the sidebar. If it's not the artist directly under Compilations then pressing the appropriate key to get there plus ↑ twice takes you back to All Artists.


I have several memory questions regarding OS X 10.9.5

It looks like you're running Mavericks (10.9.5) based on the screenshot you provided. That being said, why would you want to downgrade to Snow Leopard (10.6.x)? Yes, it is probably a touch faster than Mavericks, but it isn't supported anymore and doesn't have the memory compression feature that might help a bit for a memory hungry application like CS3.

Either way, you have 4GB of RAM which is enough to do basic things on the machine but with CS3 it is probably going to be a potentially sluggish experience if you use it heavily and have more than one application open. I would suggest upgrading your RAM to at least 8GB if you can. What kind of Mac do you have?


How to turn off screen saver for remote desktop sessions in macOS Catalina?

I think I found the solution. I noticed an energy saver plist with a UID appended to it.
 /Library/Preferences/com.apple.PowerManagement.{UID}.plist

In addition to the default
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist

Reading the default plist with my correct system settings gave me
{
"AC Power" =     {
    "Automatic Restart On Power Loss" = 1;
    DarkWakeBackgroundTasks = 1;
    "Disk Sleep Timer" = 10;
    "Display Sleep Timer" = 0;
    "System Sleep Timer" = 0;
    "Wake On LAN" = 1;
};
SystemPowerSettings =     {
    "Update DarkWakeBG Setting" = 1;
};
}

Reading the plist with the UID gave me
{
"AC Power" =     {
    PrioritizeNetworkReachabilityOverSleep = 0;
    "Sleep On Power Button" = 1;
    "Standby Enabled" = 0;
    TCPKeepAlivePref = 1;
    TTYSPreventSleep = 1;
};
}

So I added the "System Sleep Timer" = 0 and "Display Sleep Timer" 0 by the following linesp.
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.PowerManagement.{UID}.plist "AC Power" -dict-add "System Sleep Timer" 0

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.PowerManagement.{UID}.plist "AC Power" -dict-add "Display Sleep Timer" 0


Scanning External Drives (USB keys in particular) before mounting them

Under Unix, the user has to start the malware. The malware cannot start by itself when you open the USB stick.
Above all, only those programs start that can also be executed, so something like ".jpg" .mp4 "" .txt "falls out.
You should stay away from external software that says it is scanning the USB stick, because most software itself can contain malware and it also sees the contents of the removable media and can intrude on your privacy
In addition, a virus scanner is technically not feasible. See (Theoretical Computer Science)


Unfortunately, the magnet damaged the data on internal hard disk, which is located near the trackpad inside your MacBook Pro. Data on standard Hard Disks is stored on the disk using patterns of magnetization.

You will have to erase and restore from a backup if you have one.


It can't be done, because only the iPad can read the .ibooks format.  To let Apple know you want this expanded, tell them at

http://www.apple.com/feedback


How to remove apps from the "Purchased" list in the Mac OSX App Store?

I am running Lion (10.7.2), and there is an x just to the left of the Install / Installed button when you hover over the item in the purchased list. Click it for each App you do not want listed. I don't believe this uninstalls the App, merely removes it from the list. I did this to a program I actually wanted in the list, I don't recall even being asked for confirmation.

Now as far as getting a purchased App back onto your purchased list, that is another issue, and another question.


Where are all these ipfw rules coming from?

I cleared them out with:

$ sudo ipfw -f flush

But this is only a temporary fix, and I have no idea where these rules are coming from.

I've discovered that disabling the ruleset they belong to lasts longer:

$ sudo ipfw set disable 0

But they still get re-enabled after a reboot.


How do I disable double-click to launch iTunes and play song in OS X Mavericks

In the Finder?  You can't.  That's what double-clicking does.  To rename, single-click after selecting the file, or press return.


How do I import photos from my iPhone into a directory?

The Image Capture application allows you to import photos and videos from connected devices into any folder you specify. (see: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH17894)

For organization, I use Adobe Lightroom, which also has the ability to import directly from iPhone.

Either way would be better than using Photos.


Where do Macs from before 2011 store their recovery and startup disk menu?

There really isn’t any difference between where the EFI holds the boot info from pre 2009 and post 2009 Macs
Basically, the boot manager resides in the EFI which of similar to the BIOS in a PC. It’s just the bootable part that loads the kernel is located on the drive itself.  So, you can put a blank SSD into a Mac and the boot loader will work, it just won’t find anything to load.
Now the difference in pre and post 2011 Macs (generally speaking) is if the Mac supported Internet Recovery or not. If it did, you could load an operating system (Recovery) off the Internet even with a blank SSD. If you can’t use Internet Recovery, you’ll need bootable media like a DVD or USB stick to install the OS. Once the OS is installed, you’ll her a boot partition and a Recovery partition that you’ll be able to see and select with the boot manager (by holding Option  when booting).
So bottom line, even if you have a blank SSD in your Mac, if you have a bootable volume attached (like to USB) the boot manager will find it and boot from it or display it as an option (holding Option when booting )


Can I copy apps and settings from an old to new laptop, but exclude my iTunes libraray?

Everything should work smoothly from snow leopard to Lion.  As from itunes library, my advise would be to move it temporary to a non user related location (not under any user 'users' folder) during the copy.


Check the lighting port on your iPhone 5, make sure there's no signs of corrosion/broken pins/debris/accumulated lint or dust. When your cable is connected it should sit flushed with no pivoting space, if it doesn't chancing are there are lint or dust stuck in there, carefully remove them using a small tool.


This is intended behavior when the device doesn’t respond to Apple Push Notifications to confirm locking and deactivation of the cards. It could be out of battery or off network or just unable to process the erasure of the cards.

Normally when there is a good cellular data connection setting your iPhone to Lost Mode both disables Apple Pay and suspends and confirms deactivation Apple Pay cards.

In your situation, provided you received an email confirming your iPhone is in Lost Mode, Apple Pay will be disabled and unusable on this device until Lost Mode is turned off.

Entering your device password on the device will turn off Lost Mode and re-enable Apple Pay, but won't un-suspend suspended cards. Normally you have to un-suspend the cards by entering your Apple ID username and Apple ID password. Since your cards were not suspended, they may be usable after entering only your device password.

If you have a weak password or someone else knows your password, then you may want to contact your card provider to suspend these cards.


2015 Retina iMac Unable to Display 4k@60 Hz on My External Monitor

The late 2015 21.5-inch Retina 4K iMac is fully able to drive a 4k display at 60 Hz. The monitor you have also lists that it supports 4k at 60 Hz.

The problem here must then either be your HDMI cable or your DisplayPort to HDMI converter.

I would suggest simply trying a different cable/converter.

The easiest to get working is to get a simple mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable, as the monitor has a DisplayPort input. This way you haven't got the converter as an extra point of failure.


Stop iPhone from sending iMessages to OS X

Go to Messages on your Mac, open Preferences (in the menu bar, it's Messages > Preferences), click on Accounts, click on your Apple ID in the list of messaging accounts, and uncheck "Enable this account."


There are no legal issues in syncing purchased apps to more than one iPad as long as you are the owner, which in this case is the school. All you will need to do is to verify in each iPad your iTunes account so that you can sync the apps to each iPad. It has to be same account on all the iPads.


Do I need to reinstall OS after macbook upgrade?

This might help:

Does restoring from Time Machine also restore installed applications?

When you boot up on a fresh install you can run the OS X migration process to restore from Time Machine.

Unlike Windows you should be fine just restarting from the system disk though. All the necessary drivers are built in.

If your new disk has stuff on it, you can boot from it and run Migration Assistant from Utilities to copy your user directory from Time Machine.

Also, you should clarify, are you adding an SSD (e.g. into the optical slot) or are you replacing the existing drive? If you're replacing it you'll need a way to copy the data, i.e. from Time Machine.


What is the best way to move Microsoft Office 2011 to a new Mac?

There are no special steps. Install it using the installer just like you did on your old Mac. When prompted for the activation key, select "activate by phone" and input nothing, keep trying and it should provide a number to call.

Microsoft (unlike Adobe) does not have an automated system for licence deactivation. This has been a point of great angst among Mac users as it requires them to call Microsoft each and every time they move the Office application from one machine to another.

I believe the number in the US is: +1 (800) 936-5700. Your product support number may vary.

Here is a rundown on activation and product key information.


facetime with same apple id and on different devices

You can use the same apple id.  Just add unique special email addresses to your apple id.
This link explains it nicely.  http://ipad.about.com/od/iPad_Guide/ss/How-To-Use-FaceTime-On-The-iPad_2.htm

Do you want to place calls between two iDevices using the same Apple ID? By default, all devices connected to the same Apple ID utilize the primary email address associated with that Apple ID. This emails they'll all ring if a FaceTime call is placed to that email address. It also means you can't place a class between two devices, just as you can't use one home phone to place a call to your house and answer it with another phone. But luckily, Apple has provided a rather easy workaround for placing FaceTime calls on the same Apple ID.
To place a FaceTime call between two of your Apple devices, you will simply need to add a new email address to one of the devices. This will allow FaceTime to differentiate between the two and place a call to a specific device.


Backing up huge iCloud photo library to external HDD

I think you have two options here:

Download the images and save them to your external hard drive
Create a photo library on the external drive and use that one with iCloud enabled (however iCloud is not a backup service, only a syncing service, so you'd then also want to backup that drive)

For the first option there are multiple online guides:

iCloud to Mac
iCloud to PC
iCloud to iPhone

I assume you are one a Mac. You should be able to simply hit cmd + a and be able to download all of the images. If not select an image, then scroll down as far as you want, hit shift and select the last image.
There is a download limit of 999 images in iCloud.com, so you'd need to select a certain range of images with shift. This will - for 30000 images - take quite some time but is technically possible.

I would however encourage you to pursue option two for multiple reasons. What you'd want to do:

get another external hard drive with at least the size of both your current external drive and the MacBooks internal drive combined
Create a new photos library on your MacBook, store it on the current external drive
Enable iCloud on that photos library (go into the photos app settings with this library opened and open the iCloud preference pane). After some wait time, you should have all the images synced across your iCloud devices, including the photos library stored on your external drive
Connect your newer and bigger hard drive as well and enable Time Machine in your mac settings including a backup of your external drive. That way you ensure you have both your Mac and your photos on the external drive backed up with history.
If you don't want a TM backup you could also open the library package (right click on the .photoslibrary file and the show package contents) and copy the images to somewhere else. All images excluding deleted ones are in the Master and originals folder inside the library package.

This article may also help you: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204264
Some advantages of option two:

both your Mac and the external drive are backed up
You can work with the photos app offline and don't need to use the web interface on your Mac
You get a backup history of your photoslibrary and mac files
If iCloud at some point fails, you can get the actual library back (including albums, face recognition data,...) and not only the raw images

I know that you would need to buy a second drive to achieve this, yet even multiple TBs of storage capacity these days often costs less than 100€. I just recently had to restore my photoslibrary due to some bug I suspect in macOS BigSur and - trust me - it is not worth it taking that risk.

Note: For option two you could theoretically also partition the one disk you have and use the second partition as backup partition, yet a phyiscal failure of that drive will mean you lose the data on the external drive, but not the data in iCloud, which includes the photos.


"This is a startup partition. You can't erase it" On Disk Utility

In order to increase your Windows partition, you will need to first free up disk space on your Macintosh HD partition, as it appears to be full.  128GB isn't very much these days, I would recommend getting a larger hard drive, but transferring larger, less frequently used items such as movies or videos can often help free up large amount of space.


This problem happens only for Hotmail accounts in MacOS Mail app. I also had this problem once.
While to setting up hotmail account in mail app try to add it as Exchange account instead of using "Add another account".
This process resolved my duplicate mails in sent folder issue for Hotmail account.


How to explicitly password-lock an iPhone regardless of timeout setting?

There are 2 types of locking mechanism (certainly in iOS 5 and iOS 4.2.1).

Firstly, in Settings > General there is Auto-Lock, with settings of 1-5 minutes, or Never.

Secondly, same place, there is Passcode Lock, which if set has options of Immediately, after 1, 5, 15 minutes, or 1, 4 hours.

The first of these locks your screen after a period of inactivity (for the purposes of saving battery hence the max of 5 minutes), but the second refers to the amount of time that must pass after the screen it locked before the passcode is required to unlock (for the purpose of security).

A common mistake it to confuse the two, and the wonder why it does (or doesn't) ask for your passcode each time.  You might have the auto-lock set to 5 minutes, thinking it is the correct setting, leaving the passcode lock to immediate which is the default.  This is why you might need to re-enter your pin even if you try it only seconds after locking when you think it's set to 5 minutes.

To go back to the original question, without your passcode lock being set to immediate, there is no way to immediately lock your phone without waiting for whatever setting you have got instead.  It would be nice if something like a double tap on the power button when locking did it, or if holding it down to get the slide to power off screen also had a slide to lock now section, and I may well head over to Apple feedback now to suggest same, but to answer the OP question directly and finally, the answer is no.


I'd start with a spotlight search from terminal mdfind valgrind as well as checking your path variable to rule out some simple errors before digging deeper. You will want to ensure you have Release 3.7.0 of valgrind as it's the first that states compatibility with Lion in the release notes.


Advantages of using MAMP stack over Mac's native Web Sharing and downloaded MySQL

I'd say unified GUI integration.

With MAMP, you've got a single window to manage Apache, PHP, and MySQL. Whereas with the built-in stack, you have to active PHP manually and have another interface for MySQL (with no easy way to turn it on or off)


Config a function key to activate the [App : Show All] command

Check out the Keyboard preference pane:

In the Keyboard shortcuts tab, click the plus to add a new shortcut. Set the dropdown to "All Applications" and then type "Show All" (case sensitive!) as the menu item. Map it to whatever you like.


Superduper, if you can connect the SSD as an external HD before installing it.


How to get iLife '13 for free (update from iLife '11)?

You thought right, the update to new iLife is free.

However, Apple had dropped the "iLife" name a while ago, now the apps are just being called iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand.

To get the new versions of the apps, follow these steps:

Upgrade to Mavericks via App Store. This requires at least OS X 10.6.8 to be installed.
Change system preferred language to English and reboot your Mac.
Open App Store and search for GarageBand. It is free now, no matter if you had iLife before.
Go to Updates tab and wait for a minute. Newest versions of iPhoto (9.5) and iMovie (10.0) should appear.

Note, that even pirated and demo versions of Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iMovie, iPhoto and Aperture can be upgraded via App Store. They will appear in Purchases tab a few minutes after the upgrade.

Troubleshooting

If you do not see a response to Update button click, check your
Launchpad. Upgrades are downloading in background.
If you are getting an error about wrong Apple ID when trying to
upgrade, try installing OS X Mavericks in a virtual machine
(VMWare Workstation or VirtualBox) and repeating the fourth step.