Add Folder to Finder Favorites using Terminal

The information about what appears in the Favorites section of the finder windows is kept in the configuration file:

/home/<your_user_name_here>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sidebarlists.plist

there is an explanation of the file's contents here:
https://georgegarside.com/blog/macos/finder-sidebar-preferences-location/

and macOS includes a tool to manipulate the plists from terminal:
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy

You can find an introduction to the tool here:
http://fgimian.github.io/blog/2015/06/27/a-simple-plistbuddy-tutorial/

and a sample discussion about using it here:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/macenterprise/Ks-zHlY3h5I

However, if you don't want to figure out everything by yourself you can use an utility published on github that manages the sidebar contents from the terminal line:

https://github.com/mosen/mysides

OTH


When you use that method of mounting an NTFS volume as writeable, the icon no longer shows up in the Finder.

Navigate to /Volumes and you'll find the drive icon there.

I've experienced data loss using that method, so would recommend that you use ntfs-3g or one of the commercial solutions [Paragon or Tuxera]

Some discussion here:
Write to NTFS-formated drives on Yosemite


How to use Node.js without admin rights on a mac?

If ~/.bash_profile not editable by standard user, then  a temporary edit to PATH should work. It should be

PATH="a/b/c":"$PATH"

In this window, this PATH will be used. verify using echo $PATH


How can I record from my Nikon Coolpix S8200 direct to photobooth?

I think you're probably going to need Camera Control Pro 2 - the only one of their suite that isn't free. Though if you buy it from a retailer, not direct from Nikon, it's about ⅓ the price.

I have a Nikon D5500 & also a Logitech HD Pro C920 webcam - neither of which are natively supported by QuickTime.
Using an app called Webcam Settings it can persuade the Logitech to show as a source for QuickTime/Photo Booth etc - but it can't persuade the Nikon to show at all.

It's perfectly happy recording from Camera Control, though, including Live View to the Mac & also file transfer.


"Your system has run out of application memory." How is that possible?

In my experience, this occurs when my main system hard drive is running low on free space.  Operating Systems use the hard drive for extra memory storage, called "virtual memory". (I've definitely always wished that the OS could just reserve enough space for itself, but it just can't predict how many applications we'll be running).

On top of that, it's worth noting that regular web use now requires far more memory than it did in the past.  In activity monitor, you'll notice that every single tab & window (every open web page) is it's own process, taking up a significant chunk of memory.  On top of that, account for all the ads, movies, flash, scripts, plugins and 360 videos etc. that we expect to run smoothly.  New OS's and new web pages just use a lot of memory to provide us with the services we expect to "just work" (eg. syncing across devices, notifications, automatic updating etc. etc.).

In short, in my experience there usually isn't a single process that's suddenly taking up a huge amount of memory (although a leaky program could indeed be a culprit - Sketchup 2016 does this to me, for example).  More commonly, it's the additional functionality we expect of many programs/web plugins.

I believe restarting the computer always alleviates this problem for a short while - primarily by unloading all the webpages and apps we had launched over time.  But if our expectation of the computer and hardware constraints stay the same (and we run the same number of processes without changing anything else), eventually we'll run into the problem again.

Two solutions that work for me:

1) Open fewer tabs/pages and fewer programs at one time. Close some web-pages/programs before opening the hefty apps, such as MS Office, Parallels, 3D CAD, Adobe programs etc.

2) Free up more space on the system hard drive (eg. move all your music and photos to another drive), to allow the system to handle your typical virtual memory needs.  For me, this means my 1TB OS drive needs >20% free space (200GB)!  Your requirements may be different.
If you're on an older Apple laptop or iMac or Mini, the OWC Data-Doubler is a really fantastic way to accomplish this.

Method (1) is my temporary fix, so that when I eventually enact method (2) I will have restored the snappy performance I expect while running many heavy-duty programs simultaneously.


Could Not Activate Cellular Data Network

Your carrier is passing the buck. Apple has nothing to do with cellular activation unless you buy the phone directly from Apple. The carrier should know that and treat you to correct explanations.

Try reviewing the swappa article on IMEI / MEID / ESN

https://swappa.com/faq/answer/share_esn_numbers

You are likely buying blocked devices and should contact the seller if possible to arrange return and refund unless the listing says clearly these are for parts and not operational. Ebay might be of help if you can’t get the seller to assist or explain the device isn’t blocked if your research shows the issue is a blocked device.


Using the SUM(IF) function:

Because Numbers does not yet support certain Array functions, for example extracting MONTH(A1:A23), by parsing the date into a third column (which can be hidden) the function will work. This column can be in any table, not just the raw data table as long as the references are valid.

Hidden column formula:

=MONTH(A1)&YEAR(A1)

Where A1 is the cell with date.

Copy down then hide column if desired.  (Importing more data by adding rows should automatically bring the formula down but unhide the column to be sure.)

=SUMIF($'Month & Year',"="&MONTH($A1)&YEAR($A1),$Value)

From the documentation regarding SUMIF():

  The SUMIF function returns the sum of a collection of numbers, including only numbers that satisfy a specified condition.

  SUMIF(test-values, condition, sum-values)

  test-values: The collection containing the values to be tested.    test-values can contain any value.
  condition: An expression that can include comparison operators, constants, the ampersand concatenation operator, and references. The
  contents of the condition must be such that the result of comparing
  the condition to another value results in the boolean value of TRUE or
  FALSE.
  sum-values: An optional collection containing the values to be summed. sum-values can contain number values, date/time values, or
  duration values. It should have the same dimensions as test-values.


My Macbook Pro says I'm connected to a power source even when unplugged

this is how i fixed mine. I went to "energy saver preferences" in "system preferences", and went to "power adapter" at the top, then i clicked "show battery status in menu" option off then on again and that seemed to work for me.

Hope this helps!


Charles not working on iPhone at Starbucks

Client isolation. It is your enemy and your friend here. This makes it so not only can you not access your iPhone from your MacBook, but other devices on the network cannot access your MacBook or your iPhone either. There are a number of ways to implement client isolation on an IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) network and even more ways on a IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) network, but they all essentially accomplish the same task - clients are only allowed to communicate with the access point and/or gateway.


macOS Sierra scrolling behavior in Terminal is really weird

This has been bothering me all during the Sierra betas and I couldn't get anyone to address it.

The issue is that there's a minimum scrolling speed now. You can really see it if you use inertia scrolling. You let go and it slows down but then when it gets to a certain speed, it never goes slower than that. And then it stops abruptly at the same time it would have if it had been slowing down normally.

What you're seeing is a side-effect of this. And I haven't found a solution yet.

And this scrolling behavior is ONLY in Terminal as far as I can tell.

Go to bugreport.apple.com. I am filing more reports.


How can I repair the scroll ball on an older Mighty Mouse?

Try flipping the mouse upside down and rolling the trackball on a piece of paper, giving it an occasional tap to help dislodge any debris. Since the trackball is depressed while rolling , this helps debris escape from inside the housing. The paper will also help absorb any oil from your fingers that have collected on the ball that may allow debris to collect inside the roller mechanisms.

The 'official' Apple fix is to first spray the paper with alcohol cleaner, then roll the ball over it. This has always worked for me, never had to take apart.


Do I get same charging speed when I use a MacBook's usb port to charge my iPad?

From the Apple iPad Charging Support Doc.

The fastest way to charge your iPad is with the included 10W USB Power Adapter. Your iPad will also charge, though more slowly, when attached to a computer with a high-power USB port (many recent Mac computers) or with an iPhone Power Adapter. When attached to a computer via a standard USB port (most PCs or older Mac computers) iPad will charge, but only when it's in sleep mode.

Your 10W iPad charger (which is different to your iPhone / iPod charger) is the fastest way to charge your iPad. It is faster than your Mac or PC's USB port.


Turn iPad into a one-click youtube player

Okay never mind. I'm making a Github page to do this.

Put the following code to a HTML page, which loads the YouTube app upon open:

<script>
window.location.href="youtube://www.youtube.com/watch?v=[videoId]";
</script>

Host the page somewhere, for example github.io, and then add a shortcut on the homescreen.


Mail on macOS Catalina: Disable "Load remote content in messages"

From https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/mail/cpmlprefview/13.0/mac/10.15

  Load remote content in messages
  When remote content is retrieved from a server, information about your Mac can be revealed. You can deselect the option for increased security, but some messages may not display correctly.

  Remote content isn’t displayed in messages that Mail marks as junk.

This is found in

  ... the Mail app  on your Mac, choose Mail > Preferences, then click Viewing.


How can I move Dashboard widgets to the desktop in Lion?

Go to System Preferences -> MIssion Control, and uncheck 'Show Dashboard as a space.'

Then do exactly what you did before.


Why is it better for an iPhone’s battery to NOT close down apps?

You’re not alone. People are just used to their desktop computer habits, and it’s understandable they carry these habits over to their iPhones and iPads.

However, let me try and explain this using an analogy:

Imagine it’s a hot day and you’re outside gardening. You get thirsty, so you go inside to the kitchen, grab a large glass, put some ice in it, and fill it with water. You then drink half of it and empty the rest in the sink before going back outside. Not long later, you get thirsty again, so you go back inside to the kitchen, grab the same glass, put some ice in it, and fill it with water. Again you only drink half of it and empty the rest in the sink!

The above workflow just doesn’t really make sense. Why wouldn’t you take the glass outside with you? And, you’re not only wasting water by emptying it, but you’re spending more time and energy getting that water again.

Likewise, when you quit an app you’re actually using some battery power in the process of doing so (e.g. clearing it from RAM, etc) and then again later when you have to launch it again and load it back into RAM.

So, for a great majority of the time it’s best to leave apps open. Even though they’re open, they’re really just sitting in a type of suspended mode that isn’t using any battery power whatsoever. Yes, the app is still loaded in RAM and taking space, but it’s not actually doing anything - it’s just lying there dormant. And, because it’s not using any battery power in this state, there’s no advantage to quitting it from a battery conservation point of view - especially if it’s an app you know you’re going to be using again and again throughout the day.

There’s also really no advantage to force quitting an app because iOS itself will do this for you if/when it needs to in order to free up RAM. So if you have 50 apps open and they stay open, then iOS hasn’t been pushed to the extent of needing to close any of them to free up memory.

Now, like anything, there are always exceptions to the rule (such as apps that have to perform background tasks). An example of this is one that plays music while you’re doing other things with your phone, or one that’s downloading content in the background, or one that’s counting how many steps you walk in a day, etc. However, iOS has an extremely efficient process for managing background apps/tasks and if you choose to quit these you’re basically saying you don’t trust the operating system to do its job properly.

So, feel free to quit your apps when you have to (e.g. because it’s frozen, etc), but don’t do it to conserve battery power. In fact, if you do, you’ll be achieving the opposite and using more battery power throughout the day!

Summary

You only need to quit apps if they're not working properly (e.g. an app has frozen, it isn't displaying properly, etc).
Apps listed in the App Switcher are not necessarily running - in fact most of them are not running at all.
Most apps in the App Switcher will be in a suspended state - this means they're not: visible on screen, executing code, using the CPU or GPU, or using the battery. However, they are still resident in memory until they are purged (if necessary) by the system to free up memory:

  Suspended - The app is in the background but is not executing code. The system moves apps to this state automatically and does not notify them before doing so. While suspended, an app remains in memory but does not execute any code. When a low-memory condition occurs, the system may purge suspended apps without notice to make more space for the foreground app.

Source: See Table 2-3 within the first reference link at end of this answer.
The only apps actually running on your iPhone at any given point in time are the active app (i.e. the one visible on screen) and any others working in the background. (Note: There are some temporary exceptions to this in the case of apps that still need time to complete executing code they already started while they were active - typically this is only in the order of seconds but could theoretically extend to over a minute.).
In terms of apps running in the background, you can control which apps are permitted to do so (if they're open) by going to Settings > General > Background App Refresh. (Note: Just because you see an app listed here doesn't mean it will run in the background, but disabling it here means it definitely won't!)
If your iPhone is locked, then the app that was active (i.e. it was visible on screen) when you locked your device is now inactive. However, unless you've only just locked your iPhone and it's still finishing executing code or it's running in the background (e.g. playing music, etc) then it's not using the CPU, GPU or battery.

References

For more info about the various states an app can be in, refer to Apple's App Programming Guide for iOS: Execution States for Apps.
For more info about apps running in the background, refer to Apple's App Programming Guide for iOS: Background Execution.


Direct Analog Video conversion for iPad?

None that I'm aware of. Why couldn't the iPads be updated over the air to all download the same pre-converted video? It would take much longer and be extremely redundant to perform this task in the way you describe, over and over again for each iPad, even if a device that could do this existed.


How do I send a file by Bluetooth from Android smartphone to an iMac running OS X Lion?

Provided you have done what Vlad said (enable the Bluetooth sharing) and paired the devices (which you seem to have done), I have absolutely no problem to send files via bluetooth using my Nexus-S. I have ICS 4.03 now, but I had 2.3.x (where X is 3, 4, 5 and 6 if I'm not mistaken).

Once you have the devices Paired, if the Mac is in range and with BT enabled, the phone can send files because the Mac should be on the phone's list of paired devices. I recall that in 2.3.x sometimes it won't work, but retrying to turning on/off BT was usually enough. I don't use it a lot, but I just tried (after months of probably never touching bluetooth on either device) and I got this:

Here's my preference pane:

and Finally, this is my Phone's paired list (two are intentionally blurred), but you can see my Macbook Air:

Hope you can double-check your settings.

For reference:

I have Firewall ON
I have Firewall Stealth ON.

Here's my Firewall Screen (app list blurred by me):


how to remove "/"s from my text in a variable

This code should do it. Adapt it for your needs:

set x to "/1/2/3/4/5/6"
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "/"
set y to (words of x)
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
get y as string


If it is an executable, open Terminal.app, drag and drop the  file in the window and hit enter.
To change the default opener, right click on the file > get info > open with.


Is it possible to temporarily remove margin from iTerm2 window?

I think you have to fork and build iterm yourself. Here's a project where somebody did that: https://github.com/jaredculp/iterm2-borderless-padding


Is there a tool for Monitoring IP addresses and network activity on MAC OS - similiar to resource monitor on windows 10

I recommend Wireshark, if you want detailed information about your network traffic. It works on Windows and MacOS and is even more detailed than Windows Resource Monitor.

If you just want to temporarily monitor the amount of network traffic for a process, the build in MacOS Activity Monitor is sufficient. Though, Activity Monitor does not show which IP each process is connected to and only logs when it is opened.


Safari not opening local html files after upgrading to macOS Catalina Beta

It turns out that Safari did not have permission to read my html files. Go to

System Preference > Security & Privacy > Privacy > Full Disk Access

and add safari. (Answer taken from comment.)


In short, no.

Android does not sandbox apps like iOS does. There are many apps that expose the filesystem without jailbreaking, but every iOS app doesn’t look outside it’s own sandbox for files.

Workarounds:

use a filer app like Dropbox, box, documents (I believe by readdle) and iTunes to transfer all your files to that app sandbox.
wait for iOS 11 when general file management arrives
use any of the dozens of cloud sync options. (Some of these even have the ability to set up a local cache so the Mac uploads to a server on your network and the iPad downloads from that local server the content but almost all end up,putting a copy of your file in the cloud somewhere outside your local network)

As to your points.

iTunes will write just about any file to the container apps. If the iOS app tells iTunes to restrict files to a pattern, that’s more on the iOS app you choose to contain the files than iTunes which will transfer any file to a general storage app.
Not a good idea as jailbreak aren’t widely shared anymore and also, you can get official apps that do most of what jailbrreaking used to provide.
most apps on iOS just play by the rules and use document share scheme and the upcoming filer API with iOS 11. Since iOS implemented legitimate doc sharing, all the apps that used to do this (sugar sync, cubby, all manner of WebDAV and filer apps ) have withered or died.


Why am I having trouble entering a new Gmail password in Mail (and Internet Accounts)?

I had this issue recently. There are some answers here, but what worked for me was I had to sign out of my iCloud account first. Add/Update the Google password (should now work) then sign back into iCloud.


How can I add custom error bars to a graph in Numbers

Double clicking on the error bars will let you change the values (as a formula).  I found that after a lot of rage clicking.


Finder crashing about once a minute: Segmentation Fault

It seems like the Google Drive sync app was causing the problem. This was something that was enabled before sending my laptop in for repairs. Disabling it now, the crashes have stopped.

I don't know what's wrong with it and I haven't tried reinstalling it to fix it.


Error saving credit card information. Try again later.

If you're using the store for the first time with an existing Apple ID, you must provide a payment method. After you create the account, you can change your payment information to "None."
If you're creating a new Apple ID, you might be able to create an account without entering your credit card details.


Is it possible to apply Mavericks side-only dock style to the bottom dock?

They removed this feature from 10.9 for some reason. Just something everyone's gonna have to get used to until a third-party "fix" comes out, or Apple gives in and puts the setting back. There is no way to do this from the dock settings or the Terminal, as was possible with 10.8 and prior.


There are many ways to achieve this.

Exclude such folders in the Spotlight search. Any one else using the Mac can easily find and go through the content.
Create a new Disk Image (preferably encrypt it) in Disk Utility and it is a separate disk which grows and shrinks based on the contents. You could also use apps like Knox to achieve the same.
Try apps like Skedaddle to hide from Finder. Skedaddle protects the files with a password and Spotlight cannot find it. It does not encrypt the data.


Yeah, ok.  I can solve this with Applescript.  Thanks to patrix for getting me to look in the right direction.

tell application "Finder"
    restart
end tell

Saved as restart.scpt, run with osascript restart.scpt. I've tested running it remotely with the screen locked, and it restarted cleanly perfectly. I need to remember that Applescript exists whenever I want to automate Finder interactions..


You go to apple menu -> about this mac, and there is a Displays tab with the information.


Depending on your setup, you have two options.

OPTION 1 - Use iTunes 12.6.3 instead. Refer to this answer for more details!
OPTION 2 - Use Apple Configurator 2. Download and install Apple Configurator.

Since you're saying that iTunes 12.6.3 isn't working for you, than give Apple Configurator 2 a go. Apple Configurator 2 provides much more advanced features in terms of managing your iOS devices.


Is 64GB the max amount of memory for an Apple computer?

Depends what you mean by "current". The discontinued Xserve range of Apple servers maxed out at 96GB (although Apple only claimed 48GB).

More currently, the answer continues to be Yes and No.

Yes, Apple only will support or sell 64 gig of RAM on the MacPro and iMac.
No, the MacPro newer than 5,1 and most newer 27 inch iMac will accept and run quality memory that add up to 128 GB reliably.
https://www.macmemory.com/

I would expect the next iMac Pro and Mac Pro to raise the ceiling for both the official limit and unnoficial limit.


Command to collect windows of one or all apps in one monitor?

You can use a third party window manager like Stay to assign windows to the display where you'd like them to reside. By using Stay to restore windows, all of them move to their designated spot. For example, you could set your windows to the display that you're currently viewing.


Shouldn't Siri be able to run on the new iPad?

The short answer is no, not yet. The long answer is because the only (reliable/legal) way to get Siri on a non-iPhone 4S device is to use a package found in Cydia called Spire. This requires you to have access to a Siri proxy server or an iPhone 4S for the tokens. However, @chpwn (the developer of the package) has stated many times that it will not run on iOS 5.1, because the iPhone 4S IPSW (the actual firmware downloaded from Apple) cannot be unencrypted at this time. This IPSW is needed to harvest the Siri files for use on other devices. He could port it illegally, but he doesn't plan on it. Because the new iPad is running iOS 5.1, Siri cannot be run on it, plus a public JailBreak for the new iPad hasn't been released yet.


Running 10.13.4 Beta (17E182a), what is "Messages in iCloud currently disabled" message I am getting?

Go to your settings and confirm your iCloud password, this worked for me, I had the same problem.Hope this works if you haven’t already figured it out!


Restrict an iOS app from using Wi-Fi internet

I'm sorry for it's not possible but you can disabled the app from running.
These are the steps to follow:

Go to General,

Click on Restrictions,

Enter your device password,

Switch off the App you want to disconnect.

I use it to stop Facebook from consuming Data at the background.

FOR NEWER OS VERSION 12.4.6, YOU CAN FIND SIMILAR OPTION IN:

Go to Screen Time,

Click Content & Privacy Restrictions,

Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions,

Then select what you want to restrict e.g Background App Activities.


How to get data on HW RAID 5 without initializing disk? RocketRAID eSATA connection died but USB3 works and shows RAID5 OK?

Here is a dead RAID post-mortem (hopefully this will help my fellow AskDifferent friends)...

I provide my experience here to help you move on from a bad hardware dependency and to confirm that eSATA is not for serious business critical applications.

Hardware RAID is like the Honey Badger - - it don't give a shit - - bad data is bad data.

First, if your RAID dies, focus on preserving the data.  Clone the RAID drives ASAP.  Use a separate system for recovery.
   In the meantime, replace all of the hardware involved rather than trying to piecemeal troubleshooting the internal card, the eSATA cable, and the external RAID enclosure.  New problems popped up for me as I went along because I drank the Kool-Aid of "it will be ok, my RAID hardware says my RAID is normal and intact".
   I learned that the term "Initialize" in the Highpoint hardware RAID utilities does not mean the same as Mac hard drive initialize.  The enclosure I was relying on had hardware RAID inside, but because the internal eSATA card was intermittently working a while before it completely failed, a majority of my drive data was corrupted.
   Do not try to change the RAID settings with any utilities, including the Highpoint utilities, just clone the drives, recover the data, and come back to the problem system later.
   My internal eSATA card had failed, but my enclosure had hardware RAID, so if you are in the same situation, do not treat it the same as a RAID pass-through card or a card-based RAID.  Do not take apart the RAID logically with utilities.  Do not pull even one drive out of the Sans Digital box or you will lose the RAID, period. Do not use DiskWarrior on the volume, it will break the file and folder structure beyond recovery in this situation.
   Highpoint driver support for Mac is absolutely horrible for anything before Mac OS X 10.10, so let me save you the days of frustration and hours of your life from being wasted in dealing with Highpoint as I have. The Highpoint driver did not fail gracefully - - it dismounted my volume, froze my system for about twenty minutes, then when it came back, all of my launch services were trashed, and the keychain corrupted - - unreal.  I could not find any RAID settings within the settings files as they were before. I never backed up the external enclosure settings or the settings for the RAID card as I should have.  Other things were broken in my admin and my root accounts, so this became a complete OS recovery / reload as well.
   Never throw away and driver CD or DVD for any piece of hardware you own.  I replaced the dead card with an exact replacement from Highpoint online, but the CD had changed, and the Highpoint Mac installer on the DVD did not work for Lion!  Yes, you heard me, the original card, same exact version, came with a CD that was different in that Highpoint had abandoned any version of Mac prior to OS X 10.8 - - all of the GUI for the web interface was there, but the HWRaidManager utility was not, and nothing worked as before.
   Some more process monitoring on startup and comparison with data from the original drive content allowed me to trace the issue back to a couple of kext files.  Found some replacements online (even though the Highpoint tech support could not), and modified one of their newer installers to work with Lion.
   Do not expect the drivers for the Highpoint RAID cards to work consistently on Lion.  Highpoint rebrands their hardware RAID utility for other vendors in the RAID market, and is so lazy they did not bother to make a different interface for Mac users.
   The good news is Highpoint started reworking their drivers and Mac installer packages when they started having Mac OS X 10.8 permission issues.
   Third, I started data recovery with third-party software.  I monitored how pathetic the external hardware was behaving by this point in the recovery process.
   As I confirmed the last bits of data from the RAID volume were recovered, I promised myself that I will never buy another Highpoint product or any product which bundles a Highpoint card with it (such as the Sans Digital product line) again.
   Going with a $5K setup in a 2U rackmount solution in a mini-SAS combo from ATTO and OWC instead.


External Display "static" on MacBook Pro 15″ 2014

It was completely the cable. I used a Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable and it works perfectly.


In the OS X Server app interface. Under users you can select the user then click the button next to the plus button at the bottom and click Edit User Access to Services. Deselect everything and leave only Wiki.


Mac shows desktop without menu bar or Dock after updating Snow Leopard

A few of things for you to try...

First, try starting in Safe Boot by holding the Shift key when you hear the startup chime. If you manage to successfully boot in this way and you can access the internet, download and install OS X 10.6.8 Combo Update V1.1. Restart and see what happens...

If that doesn't work - and you have the original discs that shipped with your Mac - start your Mac from disc 1, OS X Install Disc. Once it has started up find Disk Utility from the menu bar and select Repair Disk. When that has done select Repair Permissions. Finally, restart and see what happens...

If you installed from a retail copy of 10.6, follow the same steps above.

If you don't have the original discs, start your Mac and hold command + S to boot into single user mode. When it has booted you will see a command prompt, type in /sbin/fsck –fy, press the Enter key when done. A disk check will then be performed. When that's finished, type shutdown -r now at the command prompt. Wait for it to restart and see what happens...


Why safari hangs right after installation on Windows XP?

Safari hangs when it cannot find a network, like when you need to specify proxy settings. Try on a network that doesn't need a proxy; it will not hang there.


Use.  Streamtomeme

It is much better than airplayit and has windows server software.

http://zqueue.com/streamtome/

The app is $2.99.  But we'll worth it.   Server is free


How can I monitor an installer as it modifies the filesystem on Yosemite?

This not application specific (it will show all) but you can find the one you are looking for.

iosnoop

This “traces” disk I/O execution live. Each time a disk I/O completes, a line of output is printed to summarize it, including process name and filename details:

Example:

sudo iosnoop

UID   PID D    BLOCK   SIZE       COMM PATHNAME

  503 54079 R 286522800   4096 Google Chrome ??/Cache/data_2


is it possible to cast from iPhone to apple TV and HomePod?

Yes.

iPhone will airplay to the AppleTV which can select the HomePod(s) as the audio from AppleTV.


Which countries can an individual iOS developer reside in in order to receive payments from Apple?

Apple sells the developer program from the online stores in these countries:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/open/country_selector

You could assume that if the developer program is for sale on your country's specific Apple online store, then you are good to go as far as selling apps from that country to anywhere Apple sells apps. I've not heard of anyone having issues, but maybe there are some bizarre edge cases where you can't sell apps everywhere if you are registered in a specific country.

Also, each country has local pre-sales support, so you can contact them before ordering if you have reservations about proceeding with payment. They will get you a specific answer if you ask. Lastly, You can even pay for the developer program and then you get to review the terms and conditions. If they are not to your liking, the developer support phone number and contact information is available to you to request a refund which you could figure out within a week or two of reviewing the T&C.


Can I boot from a "bootable clone" on different Mac models?

The short answer is "yes".

So long as the Mac model was supported for that version of Mac OS X then you can boot it off a system built on any other Mac. This means that extremely old machines may not work with a recent OS X and brand new machines won't work with older versions of OS X but generally you will be OK.


Changing Apple ID on second hand Macbook Pro

Can you go back to the seller? I'd try to contact them and have them remove it. Or contact the original owner.

Also check and see if its firmware locked.


Mail/iCal: How to decline with text / answer mail?

At least on iOS devices, version 8.1.3, this is now directly possible when tapping "decline" using the provided comment field.


Save an image (PNG) with annotations as a PDF

You can always use File > "Export as PDF…" or even File > Print… > click PDF options in lower-left corner as a way to convert anything open in Preview to PDF. However, any annotations made to an image format such as PNG without converting will be flattened/rasterized when saved or converted to PDF and can't be edited. You will need to first convert the image to PDF  then annotate in order to be able to edit annotations later.


Can't disable 'Check spelling while typing' in 'Notes' in OSX El Capitan 10.11.6

Quit all applications.

System Preferences > Keyboard > Text Tab. On the right side you should see "Spelling : Automatic by Language". In drop down list, choose "Set Up..." then uncheck English.

Nightmare free from those red underlines :D

Drawback: doing so will disable Spelling checking in system wide, while you may want to disable in one specific app only.


Is there a way to create a polar plot in Numbers?

An app called Radars on the Apple App Store generates polar plots for you to import to your Numbers documents. That's what it says in the description, I however have not tried it yet.


Connect your iPhone to iTunes and select it when it shows up in the sidebar.
Scroll down in the Summary Pane until you see the "Options"
Assure that the "Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi" option is checked.
Click the "Apply" button and you're done.


Can I update to iOS 7.1.2, instead of iOS 8.1, on iPhone 5S?

You can't. Apple has stopped signing iOS 7.1.2 but they are currently signing iOS 8.1. Your two choices are to stay put on 7.1.1 or upgrade to 8.1


Safari can handle HTML5.

What makes you think they won't work anyway?


Where are my iPhone Messages notifications?

Often a hard reset of the device will fix problems. Powering off and back on doesn't do the same thing as it does for a computer - it's more akin to hibernate mode in that its drawing no power, but nothing (RAM etc) is cleared.

To do a hard reset, on iPhone 6s and below, press and hold Sleep and Home until the Apple logo appears. On iPhone 7 and higher, press and hold Volume Down and Home.


Connecting external displays over HDMI to 2016 MBP Touch Bar requires a restart

I found a workaround for my setup with HDMI-USB-C-conversion: first plug the adapter to the computer, then the display cable to the adapter. Then the display works immediately.

If I plugged the monitor first into the adapter, it already "gives a signal" by showing a black screen instead of the "no signal" message. If I then connect the adapter to the computer with the monitor cable plugged into the adapter already, the display would detect, but the black screen would remain on the external display.

Not perfect for workstation use, but for meeting room situations, it's acceptable.


Is imklaunchagent virus or Apple system file?

I think my research already answers the question. Just to let my client feel safe and make sure the result is correct. I will keep this thread for other users.


It's possible. You can run one monitor off the HDMI port and another 2 off of the  Thunderbolt ports. You can get adapters for both of these.

There's more out there than this but here's one Apple sells.

http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MB570LL/B/mini-displayport-to-dvi-adapter

BTW: Thunderbolt ports can work Mini Display port adapters.


Need help to install software on a Mac Mini I have one Macbook

You need to share the optical drive from the MacBook. Go to System Preferences -> Sharing -> and turn on "DVD or CD sharing". There's more information in this Apple support article.


How do I install SciPy and VisualPython on OSX Mavericks?

When you install Anaconda, it installs a different version of Python, which has SciPy, NumPy, pandas, matplotlib, and whole lot of goodness bundled with it. However, those libraries won't automatically become usable by your other Python version that comes pre-installed on your computer (or any other Python version that you installed yourself).

From the command line, try which python - this will tell you which Python you're using on the command line right now. If what is printed has the word 'Anaconda' in it, you are fine, and you should be able to use scipy. If not, then that is not the right Python associated with scipy.

In your shell configuration file (typically .bashrc or .bash_profile) Anaconda makes the required change to make sure that you start using the Anaconda version of Python. From your output, it seems that it didn't get your username right. In the path, the username should be your actual username on the computer. Try to make that change, restart your terminal or a shell session, and try again. It might also simply be that you never restarted your terminal. Let us know what you find.


I've had a support case at Apple for over a year about this issue. They finally answered that it's a software issue and they are looking into it.
We have spent a lot of money in our business on original adapters and good technics to have a good setup. Several of our MBPs with USB have this flickering problem on 1 of the 2 screens (always the screen you attached last).
I really hope that Apple can find this seriously soon or they will probably lose more customers. We are not very satisfied. After all, we have spent lots of money at Apple to get this sorted with no result more than an answer 1 year after - the answer "it's an Apple software problem".


How do I save multiple images from my Dropbox app to my Camera Roll

Maybe try the Carousel app? They're about to discontinue it in March, but it should still be available. From what I recall, you should be able to select multiple images in that app, and you might be able to save them to your Camera Roll from there.


Mercury Elite Pro Dual mini only getting 250MB/s read and write

These are HDDs not SSDs inside? 250 MB/sec is good speed for a RAID 0 on two hard disk drives. The 860 MB number is probably calculated using maximum speeds reading data that is already in the hard drive's disk cache. Meaning you'll his that number for a millisecond, but once you start reading from the platter, you're limited to the maximum read speed of a physical disk.... times two.

I've had good lock with Mediasonic USB3 drive towers. I have their 8 bay but they make 4 bay too. four 2 TB drives in a RAID 0 (hardware or software) should give you much faster throughput.


NB: the account home folder at /var/teamsserver is misspelled by apple. Check it out carefully - it only has one "s". Create a properly spelled folder in var, then run chown to make sure it's owned by teamsserver and you'll be good to go.


How do I uninstall Korg audio drivers from a Mac

Typical - no sooner have I posted the question than we realise that the download also contains an uninstaller.

But, according to Korg's 2015.11.09 news

  We can inform you today that DS-DAC-100 and DS-DAC-100m are not compatible with El Capitan and advise you not to update your operating system until compatible versions has been released.

So we're stuffed anyway.


How to turn on the hotspot remotely (e.g. bluetooth)?

Yes, you can turn on the hotspot from the MacBook by choosing the phone in the WiFi menu, where it is displayed with a special icon. The feature is called "Instant Hotspot" and is accomplished using Bluetooth.

sign in to iCloud on both devices
Enable continuity (a.k.a. Handoff) on both - https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204681
Enable wifi and Bluetooth on both macOS and iOS

This requires you to be using the same AppleID on the phone as on the MacBook. You'll also need at least iOS 8.1 on the phone and OS X Yosemite or later on the MacBook.

If you open System Report on your Mac and select "Bluetooth", it should be listed whether Instant Hotspot is supposed by your hardare.


unable to indent / shift right multiple lines of text in textedit

I don’t think this feature or function is coming back to TextEdit on 10.14 so I’d look to another editor if you need this super useful feature.

I’m a big fan of vi or more technically correct vim in the terminal since it’s free and included with each and every Mac (and because my initial learning curve for that peculiar editor is behind me). If you want a more graphical and super powerful free text editor - go get BBEdit which allows free usage of the core editing functions after the free trial of the licensed portion expires:

http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit

You’ll spend a little time getting either of these set up, but if you indent regularly - text edit isn’t worth all the time you’ll waste on it without more powerful features. I think the new Xcode beta has this feature from watching the 2018 WWDC videos, but I don’t think that’s released to non-paid developers quite yet.

Also, I would recommend spending a good amount of time learning the bookmark functionality on macOS in terminal app to get the full benefit (or choose and use tmux / screen / docker) to extend and run linux as needed if the Apple tools aren't making you feel super productive to edit and work from the command line (like the command open . to open a finder window from the current working directory).

https://pragprog.com/book/bhtmux2/tmux-2
https://support.apple.com/guide/terminal/keyboard-shortcuts-trmlshtcts/mac


Struggling to troubleshoot permanently crashing Dock, Mission Control, Launchbar

Very Long Story Short
BitBar script for automatically changing desktop background somehow got run without my intent and set my desktop background image to a broken URL string. My desktop background was black so there was no visual change that alerted me to this being the culprit, but looking through ~/Library/Application Support/Dock/, I catted everything inside it just in case and turns out that desktoppicture.db was not gibberish but instead a URL.
This had the effect of keeping the Dock process stuck in limbo, where I could not kill or run it, nor could I actually witness it in any system diagnosis or crash report. It never crashed but it also wasn't running; a ghost.


How to set-up Airport Timed Access Control such that Airplay keeps working?

Unfortunately not; Not without using another router with network Access Control Lists (ACL).

Airport's Timed Access Control rejects all connection attempts to the access point from selected device based on it's MAC address. It doesn't give you any options for more  granular Access Level Control in order to specify network resources the device will have access to; as you have probably noticed by now, you only have control over scheduling.

A solution to your issue would unfortunately involve buying another router that will allow for configuring ACL to the degree you need it to.


Accessing network created by Internet Sharing

The issue was my proxy settings. I had proxy setting configured which were not valid for the network my host machine was connected to. For some reason this was not an issue over HTTP but HTTPS refused connections...


How do I repair a hard drive that was being written to while my MacBook Air crashed? (Drive will not mount)

I'm assuming that the port in your macbook air has been confirmed to be in working condition. Another consideration is that the hard drive's port has been damaged.

Are you able (perhaps through a friend) to test the hard drive functionality on another mac or windows system? Even if you had to reformat on a windows system, that would (hopefully) get the drive functioning, and then you could thereafter reformat for mac.


Where can I find the Mountain Lion (Notification Center) notification sound?

In OS X 10.8 it's called burn complete.aif (or burn failed.aif–they are the same sound) and is found in /System/Library/Components/CoreAudio.component/Contents/SharedSupport/SystemSounds/system/.

To get into CoreAudio.component, right-click the file and select Show Package Contents.


Is there a better photo application than iPhoto for managing iPhone videos and photos?

The only other app on the Mac that can access photostream is Aperture. So your choices are migrate to Aperture - and that's even less designed with sharing in mind - or fix iPhoto. Performance issues like you describe can be down to a number of issues - Disk Space, Ram, bunged up caches and so on. What fixes have you tried?


How do I select a table style for table cells in pages?

Text from the clipboard can be pasted without its original formatting.

To do so:

Select the cell you wish to paste information to
From the Menu Edit > Paste and Match Style [ ⌥⇧⌘V ]

This will preserve the styling in the table, regardless of the style from the source copied from.

This will save you from having to try to restore the original table's formatting.

If you've already copy/pasted everything without regarding the style then you can create a new table and copy/paste all the elements into it using the "Paste and Match Style" method described above.

You may have to resize the table before or afterwards (if you create a smaller table then the size is adjusted automatically to the right number of rows and columns).


You can't.
Due to the limitations of the iPhone 3GS and the design of Apple's iOS, you are unable to update any iPhone 3GS past iOS 6.1.6.
The only way you will be able to test you app is using the iOS simulator on your computer, or using a different iPhone.
In addition, it appears that you will no longer be able to upload 32-bit apps to the App Store, and the 3GS is a 32-bit device. Sorry!


If you look at the Bluetooth diagnostics in System Profiler on a Mac, you'll find that the AirPods are listed as offering the "Handsfree" service, not the "Hand-set" service.

The full list of services supported are: Handsfree, Wireless iAP, AVRCP Controller, Audio Sink, AVRCP Target, AAP Server.

For the Pro model things are a bit different.


Music Home Sharing not visible in iOS 10

I hadn't actually opened the Music app since I upgraded to iOS 10, but I did so to see what I could find for this question. On the main screen, I immediately have a Home Sharing option, and tapping on it goes to a screen with my computer's name. See screenshot below.

I'd suggest logging out of Home Sharing on your iPhone, waiting 15 minutes, and logging back in. Also make sure you're running the latest version of iTunes (12.1.5.21 as of this writing).


Can't install OS X on MacBook Pro after installing Windows 8

Boot with ⌘R, use Disk Utility to partition the disk, then use the OS X Utilities to reinstall OS X, selecting the new partition as the destination.


Set keyboard shortcut for nested menu selection

Since Mountain Lion you can assign keyboard shortcuts to nested menu items using the following format:

File->Export->Sub-item

I found the answer in this post on the Apple Support Communities by the user macNtouch.

Please notice:

you have to insert the full path: partial paths will not work
you must not leave any space between the menu title and the arrow


How to install OS X on a Windows only Mac?

Turn your Mac off.
Turn it on, but hold down the Option key until you see images of two hard drives on screen.
Use the arrow keys to select "Recovery", press enter when you have selected it.

If you wish to erase Windows and your Windows data, if not, skip to step 9:

Click Disk Utility.
Click the partition under whatever your internal SSD is called, typically the brand name followed by some seemingly meaningless characters.
Select Erase in the toolbar
Confirm you wish to erase the drive
Upon completion of the wipe of your drive, close the window.
Select Install OS X and follow the on-screen instructions.


Repeated errors of “there was a problem connecting to the server”

Try checking your Time Machine settings under System Preferences -> Time Machine. Look for a network disk that you are not using or is not reachable, and delete it. This solved this issue for me.


Is there a keyboard shortcut to navigate one level up in Finder?

The one you're probably looking for is the command ⬆ keyboard shortcut, as this is the one that takes you back to the parent folder.

To do the same thing, but within a new window, use command control ⬆.

However, some views offer additional options. For example, in Columns view you can just use the ⬅ key to go back to the parent folder.

In addition, you can use the command [ keyboard shortcut to take you back to the previous folder you were actually in (which may not necessarily be the parent folder).

You can also right-click on the title in the Finder's window to select anywhere in the file's path to go straight to that location.

Finally, you can also customise the Toolbar to add the Path button.


Recover Time Machine without the password

Have a look at libfvde. It doesn't explicitly say it supports Mavericks, but might be worth a try.


Can't enable spell checker option in Xcode

I believe this is a bug. I am not sure if it has been fixed. Try make sure you’re on the latest Xcode version.

From Stack Overflow:

  I believe this is a duplicate post but I'll answer anyway.
  This is an Xcode bug. There have been radars filed. As far as I am unaware there is no work around or fix currently.

That was posted at a similar time to when this was posted.


How can I get my 13" MacBook Pro to detect the NVMe m.2 drive that I installed?

Make sure in disk utility you have shown all disks/drives/volumes and not just volumes as is the default view.... A bare unformatted drive is usually not shown especially in High Sierra+ where they introduced APFS because of the new file structure. Click on the gear or down arrow and show all devices in the left side are of disk utility and see if you can then see the nvme, click on the very root of the drive not a volume and format it to apfs. If you don't see it to do this, then you have a bad adapter probably and should buy the one that's most recommended. Nvme support isn't as great as I'd hoped on my 2014 MBP either. I fixed the slow to restart and sleep issue but the system still doesn't recognize it at boot for almost 20 seconds (even after selecting it as the startup disk as many have suggested, that didn't help a thing for me) it simply takes several seconds to see it unless I boot and hold option key and then select it which is much faster to show it but still a pain to have to do. I actually pulled mine and use it in my m. 2 slot on my Windows Z390 Mobo instead as I restart and or sleep the Mac alot in my work (I'm in and out of car a lot) so it really wasn't practical for me. But try showing all devices in the left pane.... It should be there if you don't have a bad adapter.

the attached is what you want to see in order to do the proper formatting etc.


My friend installed something called Jamf on my MacBook

Jamf is a device management/mobile device management solution. It enables remote control and management of the configured device.

Due to the nature of the software, it can restrict users of the machine (even the admin users) from performing certain administrative operations (depending on the applied configuration). It is thus obvious that the end-users cannot uninstall and/or quit the Jamf app.

Jamf is one of the well-known among many remote/mobile device management solutions, generally used in enterprise/school environment to centrally manage a large number of mobile devices (laptops/tablets/phones). Jamf is absolutely not a virus, nor is it a ransomware.

You can learn more about Jamf product offerings here:

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

There is absolutely no reason to throw away your MacBook. I'd advise you to get in touch with your friend and ask him for the reason why it was installed in first place. You can also ask to remove it, if it was installed in accident, or just out of curiosity.

A mobile device management solution is generally not required for personal devices.


How do you enable retina display support on Firefox?

Launch firefox.
Type about:config in the URL bar
Type layers.acceleration.disabled in the Search field that shows up and hit enter
Change the value to true and restart


I was able to solve the problem myself, in few super easy steps, here's how:

-Right click on user1.sparsebundle -> get info, then make sure your user has the permission to open it
     (if not then click on the lock at lower right of "user1.sparsebundle" info window enter your password and add the user you want it to be shared with.)

-hook up a new external disk to mac and set it up as a time machine disk.

-copy the "user1.sparsebundle" into it

-once files are copied, open external hard drive and open "user1.sparsebundle" file
( you may need to enter your password do so and files will be mounted as a disk in your finder )

I think the key point is to have an external hard drive set as time machine and copy sparsebundle file into it.


[Edited - it looks like the original pictures are gone - some of this may not make the most sense without the original pictures - my apologies]

Awesome screen shot - that shows the software settings are perfect. You can be sure of that by opening the System Profiler app and looking at the Graphics / Displays data when the external is connected.

Your screen shot is nearly identical to mine - I am not using LCD font smoothing and the slight difference in color values could easily be color calibration differences. The pixels two above and two below the one selected are one or two darker on my display as compared to your screenshot.

Here is a magnification of both - mine on the bottom and your picture on the top.

Even though it's unlikely - I would make sure it's not a timing issue by the following.

disconnect the cable, adapter and power off the monitor
power on the external monitor
connect the cables and adapter to the monitor
plug in the whole works to the mac

Sometimes when a mac wakes from sleep, you get snow or other artifacts on rare occasion if the mac detects the monitor capabilities from the adapter and sends signal before the monitor can react (or is still scanning other ports if it's got multiple inputs).

Now - the real cause is likely cabling / adapter / monitor. You'll have to test that by eliminating / borrowing / replacing them one by one. :-( Either that or some bizarre software driver issue. That also will be a tough one to pin down unless it's a popular monitor and you just updated software.

Did this display ever work well for you with your mac?
Does the pixelated font rendering move or os it perfectly static and repeatable each time the menu is drawn?

I have seen electrical noise cause that - bad shielding or cables/connectors or more likely noise on the ac power from a large motor or wiring issues.

This is a real stumper since it happening on multiple macs and multiple monitors.


How to forward an email containing multiple threads with multiple pictures in Mail?

Mail does not have the ability to search through an email thread and automatically reinsert stripped photos in-place. Doing so would likely result in emails too large to either send or receive (not to mention the amount of development effort involved in implementing such logic).

Your options are:

Go and find every “missing” photo yourself, save them to your desktop (macOS) or camera roll (iOS) then manually attach them all to your forwarded email.
Select each individual email that contains photos, then click Message → Forward as Attachment from the menu bar (also available from the right-click menu). This solution requires a Mac.


How can I use the system information to locate 48 GB of photos?

In another forum they suggested to use a tool like OmniDiskSweeper
(it can be downloaded here: https://www.omnigroup.com/more/)
that can show you where the files that take up the space in your disk are.

Start by using the "File|Size Home Folder" and then explore further in the other directories if the images are not there.


your iCloud music library session has expired

I may have found an answer. Navigate to iTunes and on the top menu items navigate to the STORE tab. From there sign out of iTunes, and then log in again.

I restarted Itunes just to double check and everything looks good. I haven't been prompted by the annoying message!


How can I switch terminal settings using a keyboard shortcut?

You can do this via Terminal's AppleScript interface, for example to set the background colour of the first tab in the first window to green:

tell application "Terminal"
    set tabsettings to current settings of tab 0 of window 0
    set background color of tabsettings to {0, 32768, 0} -- colours are 16-bit
end tell

That's the good news. The bad news is that the background opacity is not exposed to AppleScript in Lion (this seems like an oversight by Apple). You can change pretty much everything else like this though (see the Library in the AppleScript Editor for the full list). There are a few crazy AppleScripts out there that adjust the background opacity by emulating keypresses to Terminal, but that approach is too horrible to even link to.

Once you have the AppleScript code to change the settings to your liking there are many ways of binding your script to a key.


Is it possible to map doubleclick on folders in Finder List View to Expand/Collapse triangle?

I'm raising my hand…

 Return ⏎  or  Enter ⌅    is to rename,  Cmd ⌘    O   or double-click is to launch or open.

The Finder is the most beautifully key-commandable environment. Just look at what you can do…

OS X: Keyboard shortcuts (Finder is towards the bottom)

Very simply, in List view  →  &  ←   will open & close the current folder, add the  Option ⌥  key to recursively open/close all folders in that folder simultaneously.
 Cmd ⌘    [   or   ]  will go to the previous or next folder...


Just found a solution for this on the web while waiting for the timelimit on creating questions:

You just need to open terminal, go to the drive you want the trash-bin to be disabled on and then do this:

sudo rm -rf .Trashes
touch .Trashes

Essentially what this does is deleting the trash-bin recursively and replacing it with an empty file thus blocking OSX from recreating it. When you delete files after that OSX will ask you about instant deletion instead of putting it into the trash-bin. Works perectly.


How to hide AppleTVs from the phone speaker options?

Turn off air play on the apple tv.

Otherwise the only way is to place the apple tv or iphone on different networks.  This can be done by creating a vlan and a new essid that tags network traffic to that vlan. Plus routing rules to give the vlan network access to things it needs (internet).

Or possibly create a new subnet and setup routing so the 2 subnets cannot communicate but still allows Internet access.


Is there a dedicated camera is for recording video on iPhone 12 Pro?

The built in Camera app on your iPhone can shoot video from one camera at a time. If you'd like to shoot with multiple cameras at a time, third-party apps can enable this functionality since iOS 13 - for example, DoubleTake by FiLMiC Pro. This does not improve the video quality, but it can let you capture with both the front-facing and rear-facing camera at the same time, for example.
To answer your second question, these are some of the features available on iPhone 12 Pro based on which camera you use:
Available for photos only

Night mode (Ultra Wide, Wide)
Deep Fusion (Ultra Wide, Wide, Telephoto)
Smart HDR 3 (Ultra Wide, Wide, Telephoto)
Apple ProRAW (Ultra Wide, Wide, Telephoto)
Lens correction (Ultra Wide)
Portrait lighting (Wide, Telephoto)
100% Focus Pixels (Wide)

Available for photos and videos

Optical image stabilization (Wide and Telephoto)
f/1.6 aperture (Wide), f/2.0 aperture (Telephoto), f/2.4 aperture (Ultra Wide)
Five-element lens (Ultra Wide), six-element lens (Telephoto), seven-element lens (Wide)

Available for videos only

Sensor-shift optical image stabilization (Wide)
HDR video recording with Dolby Vision (Ultra Wide, Wide, Telephoto)
Slo‑mo video support for 1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps (Ultra Wide, Wide, Telephoto)

Though all of the cameras perform well enough in great light, it's my personal experience that the Ultra Wide camera especially suffers in dim environments. You should pick which camera you'd like to use based on what you want to capture - the camera's field of view and lens distortion can drastically alter the look of an image. Compare these 3 images, all shot on iPhone 12 Pro, keeping in mind that Imgur compression has crushed the fine details:
Telephoto

Wide

Ultrawide

Sources

https://www.apple.com/iphone-12-pro/specs/
https://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/apple_iphone_12_pro_review


Disabling the "keep pressed" function of OS X sticky keys

You can't turn off the "key lock" functionality (last checked on OS X 10.8.2). You can however install KeyRemap4MacBook, which allows you to make modifier keys sticky without this "key lock".


In Chrome type chrome://extensions/ in the address window.

Enable Developer Mode (slider)

New window will open allowing you to add your Extension

Chrome will prompt you at every browser start if you really want to keep the manually installed extension. This is normal. It is a security feature of Chrome so nobody can install extensions behind your back.


How can I tell which volume the operating system is on?

Open Terminal.app and run df -h /:

% df -h /
Filesystem     Size   Used  Avail Capacity  Mounted on
/dev/disk1s2  111Gi   75Gi   36Gi    68%    /

On my machine my OS drive is on /dev/disk1s2. With this information you can use the Disk Utility app and find out what physical drive your OS is on:

Using diskutil from command line you're OS drive will be whatever correlates to what the df command output gave you:

% diskutil list
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Nymeria                 499.2 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
/dev/disk1
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *120.0 GB   disk1
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk1s1
-> 2:                  Apple_HFS Untitled 1              119.2 GB   disk1s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk1s3

If you're unfamiliar with how UNIX-like operating systems (OS X) partition a drive check out this Wikipedia article.

And if you want to get all the details for the root partition directly in terminal, run

diskutil info $(df / | tail -1 | cut -d' ' -f 1)


You can access the Emergency functionality by:

Wake your phone (press the power or home buttons)
Slide to unlock
On the unlock (keypad) screen, tap the "Emergency" button at the bottom left of the screen

The Emergency button should yield another keypad with the button labeled "Medical ID" in the bottom left.


Connect LED Cinema Display (Mini DP) via HDMI

You don't need to use an adaptor (supposedly) -- thunderbolt ports are the same as mini display ports, so according to Apple you do not need an adaptor, because it "will work just like it was connecting to a Mini DisplayPort connector when plugging in directly to the Thunderbolt connector on your Apple computer."

That said, I am also trying to figure out how it works, because it doesn't for me currently. But it is "supposed to".

Some links:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5219#11

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3382#3a


How do I get my iPhone 8 to fast charge?

Yes, all of this year's newly released iPhones (8, 8 Plus and X) support fast charging. And no, there’s no setting you need to enable for it to work.

And, just to clarify, by fast charging you can recharge your iPhone up to 50% (not 80%) within the first 30 minutes.

However, for fast charging to work you need to use a charger that provides enough power for it to fast charge, and the chargers bundled with your iPhone only deliver 5 watts of power at up to 1 amp. By way of example, an iPad charger delivers 12 watts of power at up to 2.1 amps. Note: I am not saying that an iPad charger will fast charge your iPhone 8, although it would certainly charge it quicker than the standard iPhone charger.

Instead, I refer to what Apple says you need for fast charging your iPhone:

  Fast charging gives you a quick and convenient way to recharge your
  iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus. Your iPhone fast charges up to 50 percent
  in 30 minutes when you use an Apple USB-C to Lightning cable and one
  of these adapters:

  Apple 29W, 61W, or 87W USB-C Power Adapter
  A comparable third-party USB-C power adapter that supports USB Power Delivery (USB-PD)

For more info refer to: Fast charge your iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus.


Using an external HD as my applications folder

Yes, you can use an external drive to keep (install) apps.

You should be fine. You don't need to specifically create a folder named Applications on the external drive. Any name or directory hierarchy should be fine.

macOS apps are generally made available as bundles (.app extension) which is technically a directory appearing as a single file to the user (with a specialized structure). An app bundle could be placed anywhere on secondary storage and the app can be used without any difference.

By default, apps are installed in boot volume's /Applications directory and are automatically made available to all the users on macOS. Keeping an app bundle in a folder/drive only accessible to you limits the app available to you.

On a related note, it is worth mentioning for the macOS newcomers that installing/uninstalling an app in macOS is as simple affair as copying/trashing the app's .app file.


Can Mid-2010 MacBook Pro 13" drive 2560 x 1440 external display

While you will be able to drive a display at the resolution with your Macbook Pro 13”, don’t expect the performance to be blazingly fast, and there may be limitations on the type of video connection you can use. Read on for more details.

When you drive a display at that resolution (higher than HD that is) with the graphics card you have in your Macbook, you will be pushing it to it’s maximum. This means if you are looking at a display running 2560x1440 to say play games. You won’t see stealer performance. It will be decent, but you’re not going to be pushing anything over about 30FPS.

If on the other had you are looking at doing coding, web surfing, and the occasional graphics work. Then you should be fine. But video playback in full screen will most likely be choppy at best.

Be aware that the ability to support the resolution you are taking about is not solely the responsibility of the computer. If the display in question uses only a digital video signal (no VGA connector on the monitor) then the monitor must also synchronize with your Mac.  I’ve seen this be a problem with some off brand displays, but an Apple Cinema Display, Dell, HP, or other name brand monitor should work fine in most cases.

For optimal performance you will need to use Dual-link DVI out from your computer, and make sure the monitor supports that. Most monitors support DIV, but not all support the Dual-link DVI format. To do this you will need the Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter with cost around $99 as of 2015. By the way, this is REQUIRED if you are using a 30” Apple Cinema Display.

I hope this helps.


How do I un-claim a Time Machine backup?

I had this a long time ago, so I am not 100% sure that I remember the solution correctly, but I think it was rather simple:

Rename the existing backup image or tuck it away in a folder.


Sierra Window Focus Loss, Caused by SystemUIServer

I determined that my issue was caused by one of our management profiles.  Specifically the profile used to manage Menu Extras.  For now I've pulled the profile off and my associate is working on updating the profile to hopefully fix our problem while still maintaining management.  The profile in question was the following:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>PayloadContent</key>
    <array>
        <dict>
            <key>PayloadContent</key>
            <dict>
                <key>com.apple.mcxMenuExtras</key>
                <dict>
                    <key>Forced</key>
                    <array>
                        <dict>
                            <key>mcx_preference_settings</key>
                            <dict>
                                <key>AirPort.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>Battery.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>Bluetooth.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>Clock.menu</key>
                                <true/>
                                <key>Displays.menu</key>
                                <true/>
                                <key>DwellControl.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>Eject.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>ExpressCard.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>IrDA.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>PPP.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>PPPoE.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>RemoteDesktop.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>Script Menu.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>TextInput.menu</key>
                                <true/>
                                <key>TimeMachine.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>UniversalAccess.menu</key>
                                <true/>
                                <key>User.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>VPN.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>Volume.menu</key>
                                <true/>
                                <key>WWAN.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>iChat.menu</key>
                                <false/>
                                <key>delaySeconds</key>
                                <real>1</real>
                            </dict>
                        </dict>
                    </array>
                    <key>mcx_targets</key>
                    <array>
                        <string>user</string>
                    </array>
                </dict>
            </dict>
            <key>PayloadEnabled</key>
            <true/>
            <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
            <string>com.mycompany.menuextras</string>
            <key>PayloadType</key>
            <string>com.apple.ManagedClient.preferences</string>
            <key>PayloadUUID</key>
            <string>36b14197-3388-492c-b7a1-cae748143969</string>
            <key>PayloadVersion</key>
            <integer>1</integer>
        </dict>
    </array>
    <key>PayloadDescription</key>
    <string>Included custom settings: Menu Extras settings.</string>
    <key>PayloadDisplayName</key>
    <string>MenuExtra</string>
    <key>PayloadIdentifier</key>
    <string>com.mycompany.menuextras</string>
    <key>PayloadOrganization</key>
    <string>My Company</string>
    <key>PayloadRemovalDisallowed</key>
    <true/>
    <key>PayloadScope</key>
    <string>System</string>
    <key>PayloadType</key>
    <string>Configuration</string>
    <key>PayloadUUID</key>
    <string>ae5c4c7c-c354-453b-bd15-d37437b46d2c</string>
    <key>PayloadVersion</key>
    <integer>1</integer>
</dict>
</plist>


How do to keep web pages (like google.com and yahoo.com) from grabing cursor in Safari (form focusing)?

using safari (or other browsers too) i installed adblock. then i select the search bar that is offendng, right click and tell adblock to block this ad. can be tricky selecting the right amount of the code to block, but a little trial and error will make it work.


Softlink /bin/bash to a brew-installed bash

#!/usr/bin/env bash is the 'most portable' approach but #!/bin/bash is the standard convention on OS X and Linux. There are advantages to shebang with a stable system interpreter, and it's probably not worth using a newer Bash.


Seagate Backup Plus Mac reformatted to NTFS don't mount on Mac

You can surely wipe it using Disk Utility and choose ExFAT or HFS+ or partition and use both. If cross platform is your goal, I would see if ExFAT works for your needs.

https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/erase-a-volume-dskutl14079/mac

For any of the choices above, use GPT the GUID Partition Scheme.


OSX does not recognize the Scroll Lock key on my external USB Keyboard

I made a small command line utility to fix this for my Trendnet TK-204UK. The trick is to toggle the Scroll Lock LED state on the keyboard because it seems to be monitored by the switch. Mac does not normally toggle the LED when you press the Scroll Lock key. I found an Apple sample program (HID LED test tool) that does low level access to the keyboard and modified it to flash the Scroll Lock LED. I called it kvm, put it in my /usr/local/bin and bingo no need to reach under the desk to do what I bought this switch to do. Here is the modified main function of the main.c file of the HID_LED_test_tool project. Note that you will probably have to change a setting of the Xcode project to compile it with the 10.7 SDK because it is configured to use 10.5.

--- update ---

This solution works (thank you so much) but you are missing some of the code.  You need to go to http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#samplecode/HID_LED_test_tool/Listings/main_c.html and grab the function declared at the top.

Also for anyone who doesn't know what to do with this, you need to create a new command line OS X application in Xcode and build this.  Then you can run it to switch your KVM.  You'll also need to add CoreFoundation.framework and IOKit.framework to the build.

--- end update ---

--- update 2 ---

Just realized that if instead of building a "Command line OS X application", you create a "Cocoa Application" and then delete everything except for main.m and dump the code below in that, you'll create a 'regular' application instead of a 'command line' application and that will launch quicker (without loading up terminal) and can be docked on the dock, etc.  If you do go with the "Cocoa App" you'll have to update some of the build settings to correspond to the files you delete.

--- end update 2 ---

//
//  main.m
//

// ****************************************************
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark * complation directives *
// ----------------------------------------------------

#ifndef FALSE
#define FALSE 0
#define TRUE !FALSE
#endif

// ****************************************************
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark * includes & imports *
// ----------------------------------------------------

#include <CoreFoundation/CoreFoundation.h>
#include <Carbon/Carbon.h>
#include <IOKit/hid/IOHIDLib.h>

// ****************************************************
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark * typedef's, struct's, enums, defines, etc. *
// ----------------------------------------------------
// function to create a matching dictionary for usage page & usage
static CFMutableDictionaryRef hu_CreateMatchingDictionaryUsagePageUsage(Boolean isDeviceNotElement,
                                                                    UInt32 inUsagePage,
                                                                    UInt32 inUsage )
{
    // create a dictionary to add usage page / usages to
    CFMutableDictionaryRef result = CFDictionaryCreateMutable(kCFAllocatorDefault,
                                                          0,
                                                          &kCFTypeDictionaryKeyCallBacks,
                                                          &kCFTypeDictionaryValueCallBacks );

    if ( result ) {
        if ( inUsagePage ) {
            // Add key for device type to refine the matching dictionary.
            CFNumberRef pageCFNumberRef = CFNumberCreate( kCFAllocatorDefault, kCFNumberIntType, &inUsagePage );

            if ( pageCFNumberRef ) {
                if ( isDeviceNotElement ) {
                    CFDictionarySetValue( result, CFSTR( kIOHIDDeviceUsagePageKey ), pageCFNumberRef );
                } else {
                    CFDictionarySetValue( result, CFSTR( kIOHIDElementUsagePageKey ), pageCFNumberRef );
                }
                CFRelease( pageCFNumberRef );

                // note: the usage is only valid if the usage page is also defined
                if ( inUsage ) {
                    CFNumberRef usageCFNumberRef = CFNumberCreate( kCFAllocatorDefault, kCFNumberIntType, &inUsage );

                    if ( usageCFNumberRef ) {
                        if ( isDeviceNotElement ) {
                            CFDictionarySetValue( result, CFSTR( kIOHIDDeviceUsageKey ), usageCFNumberRef );
                        } else {
                            CFDictionarySetValue( result, CFSTR( kIOHIDElementUsageKey ), usageCFNumberRef );
                        }
                        CFRelease( usageCFNumberRef );
                    } else {
                        fprintf( stderr, "%s: CFNumberCreate( usage ) failed.", __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ );
                    }
                }
            } else {
                fprintf( stderr, "%s: CFNumberCreate( usage page ) failed.", __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ );
            }
        }
    } else {
        fprintf( stderr, "%s: CFDictionaryCreateMutable failed.", __PRETTY_FUNCTION__ );
    }
    return result;
}    // hu_CreateMatchingDictionaryUsagePageUsage

int main( int argc, const char * argv[] )
{
#pragma unused ( argc, argv )

    // create a IO HID Manager reference
    IOHIDManagerRef tIOHIDManagerRef = IOHIDManagerCreate( kCFAllocatorDefault, kIOHIDOptionsTypeNone );
    require( tIOHIDManagerRef, Oops );

    // Create a device matching dictionary
    CFDictionaryRef matchingCFDictRef = hu_CreateMatchingDictionaryUsagePageUsage( TRUE,
                                                                                kHIDPage_GenericDesktop,
                                                                                kHIDUsage_GD_Keyboard );
    require( matchingCFDictRef, Oops );

    // set the HID device matching dictionary
    IOHIDManagerSetDeviceMatching( tIOHIDManagerRef, matchingCFDictRef );

    if ( matchingCFDictRef ) {
        CFRelease( matchingCFDictRef );
    }

    // Now open the IO HID Manager reference
    IOReturn tIOReturn = IOHIDManagerOpen( tIOHIDManagerRef, kIOHIDOptionsTypeNone );
    require_noerr( tIOReturn, Oops );

    // and copy out its devices
    CFSetRef deviceCFSetRef = IOHIDManagerCopyDevices( tIOHIDManagerRef );
    require( deviceCFSetRef, Oops );

    // how many devices in the set?
    CFIndex deviceIndex, deviceCount = CFSetGetCount( deviceCFSetRef );

    // allocate a block of memory to extact the device ref's from the set into
    IOHIDDeviceRef * tIOHIDDeviceRefs = malloc( sizeof( IOHIDDeviceRef ) * deviceCount );
    require( tIOHIDDeviceRefs, Oops );

    // now extract the device ref's from the set
    CFSetGetValues( deviceCFSetRef, (const void **) tIOHIDDeviceRefs );

    // before we get into the device loop we'll setup our element matching dictionary
    matchingCFDictRef = hu_CreateMatchingDictionaryUsagePageUsage( FALSE, kHIDPage_LEDs, 0 );
    require( matchingCFDictRef, Oops );

    int pass;   // do 3 passes
    for ( pass = 0; pass < 3; pass++ ) {
        Boolean delayFlag = FALSE;  // if we find an LED element we'll set this to TRUE

        //printf( "pass = %d.\n", pass );
        for ( deviceIndex = 0; deviceIndex < deviceCount; deviceIndex++ ) {

            // if this isn't a keyboard device...
            if ( !IOHIDDeviceConformsTo( tIOHIDDeviceRefs[deviceIndex], kHIDPage_GenericDesktop, kHIDUsage_GD_Keyboard ) ) {
                continue;   // ...skip it
            }

            //printf( "  device = %p.\n", tIOHIDDeviceRefs[deviceIndex] );

            // copy all the elements
            CFArrayRef elementCFArrayRef = IOHIDDeviceCopyMatchingElements( tIOHIDDeviceRefs[deviceIndex],
                                                                           matchingCFDictRef,
                                                                           kIOHIDOptionsTypeNone );
            require( elementCFArrayRef, next_device );

            // for each device on the system these values are divided by the value ranges of all LED elements found
            // for example, if the first four LED element have a range of 0-1 then the four least significant bits of
            // this value will be sent to these first four LED elements, etc.
            int device_value = pass;

            // iterate over all the elements
            CFIndex elementIndex, elementCount = CFArrayGetCount( elementCFArrayRef );
            for ( elementIndex = 0; elementIndex < elementCount; elementIndex++ ) {
                IOHIDElementRef tIOHIDElementRef = ( IOHIDElementRef ) CFArrayGetValueAtIndex( elementCFArrayRef, elementIndex );
                require( tIOHIDElementRef, next_element );

                uint32_t usagePage = IOHIDElementGetUsagePage( tIOHIDElementRef );
                uint32_t usage = IOHIDElementGetUsage( tIOHIDElementRef );

                // if this isn't an LED element or the Scroll Lock key...
                if ( kHIDPage_LEDs != usagePage || 3 != usage ) {
                    continue;   // ...skip it
                }

                //IOHIDElementType tIOHIDElementType = IOHIDElementGetType( tIOHIDElementRef );

                //printf( "      element = %p (page: %d, usage: %d, type: %d ).\n",                    tIOHIDElementRef, usagePage, usage, tIOHIDElementType );

                // get the logical mix/max for this LED element
                CFIndex minCFIndex = IOHIDElementGetLogicalMin( tIOHIDElementRef );
                CFIndex maxCFIndex = IOHIDElementGetLogicalMax( tIOHIDElementRef );

                // calculate the range
                CFIndex modCFIndex = maxCFIndex - minCFIndex + 1;

                // compute the value for this LED element
                CFIndex tCFIndex = minCFIndex + ( device_value % modCFIndex );
                device_value /= modCFIndex;

                //printf( "          value = 0x%08lX.\n", tCFIndex );

                uint64_t timestamp = 0; // create the IO HID Value to be sent to this LED element
                IOHIDValueRef tIOHIDValueRef = IOHIDValueCreateWithIntegerValue( kCFAllocatorDefault, tIOHIDElementRef, timestamp, tCFIndex );
                if ( tIOHIDValueRef ) {
                    // now set it on the device
                    tIOReturn = IOHIDDeviceSetValue( tIOHIDDeviceRefs[deviceIndex], tIOHIDElementRef, tIOHIDValueRef );
                    CFRelease( tIOHIDValueRef );
                    require_noerr( tIOReturn, next_element );
                    delayFlag = TRUE;   // set this TRUE so we'll delay before changing our LED values again
                }
            next_element:   ;
                continue;
            }
        next_device: ;
            CFRelease( elementCFArrayRef );
            continue;
        }

        // if we found an LED we'll delay before continuing
        if ( delayFlag ) {
            usleep( 250000 ); // sleep 0.25 second
        }
    }                         // next pass

    if ( tIOHIDManagerRef ) {
        CFRelease( tIOHIDManagerRef );
    }

    if ( matchingCFDictRef ) {
        CFRelease( matchingCFDictRef );
    }
Oops:   ;
    return 0;
} /* main */


Is it possible to use Adobe CS5 with Java SE 7?

I don't know if this works for CS5 and Mavericks, but for CS6 I have found a solution for Yosemite (more details there):

Create a directory /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk.
Create a symlink /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins/JavaAppletPlugin.plugin/Contents from your Java 7 / 8.
If missing, create an empty directory /System/Library/Java/Support/Deploy.bundle.

Paths on Mavericks may differ a bit though.

Also, you'll probably need to be root to do this, so use sudo using an administrative account.


switch back to clang after installing gcc through Macports on Mavericks

If you want to avoid uninstalling or changing your PATH. Just run:

sudo port select --set gcc none

…and to re-enable it you run:

sudo port select --set gcc gcc5


Restart both devices and try if AirPlay streaming is fluid again.

If that should not work you can try restoring one or both devices as described in this answer by bmike


Shift, CMD, Option and Alt disable my left/right mouse clicks

I simply fixed this by nuking my drive and reinstalling. Doing a simple in-place reinstall didn't help.


How can I cancel a pending payment in App Store?

If you cancelled the subscription soon after you subscribed, and you explain it was an accident no payment should be taken.

Bear in mind that if you had a free trial before the subscription, and you don't cancel 24 hours before the end of the free trial, you may still be charged.

  Some subscriptions might offer a discounted or free trial. If you don’t cancel more than 24 hours before your renewal date, your subscription might renew.

(Source)

Make sure you follow View, change, or cancel your subscriptions.

Additionally, you can go to Apple's official Report a Problem. This is specifically for subscriptions.


iPhone Camera app doesn't work but some other apps can still use it

I’ve seen this be a temporary situation.

Power off your phone - normal controlled shut down
Power it on - test camera app before you run any other app

If that fails, back up and restore the phone. I’ve not seen erase all content and settings fix this, but I always try that before I restore since it’s a lot faster and I’m about to reload a backup either way at that point.
Once you’re sure it’s not a software issue, then it’s time for a hardware repair or swap. Apple has replaced my camera module on that model phone and I was extremely satisfied with the results. Much cheaper than a new phone as well even if you pay for the repair instead of AppleCare or warranty.


How to fix “swipe up” and “swipe down” gestures in Reeder after installing Lion?

This problem is a known issue and has been fixed in recent versions.

However, it is not specific to Reeder and seems to also affect Twitter and other apps.

To work around it, hold ⌥ Option and swipe using the same count of fingers that you have set for Mission Control in Trackpad preference pane:


Weird El Capitan interface / icon glitch - clear cache?

Not sure this is going to fix it since I haven't experienced it myself yet, but I had issues in the past on older versions of OSX where some toolbar icons would get garbled and booting into safe mode would fix it.

Though documented on this Apple support page, the short of it is that you need to reboot and hold down the shift key after the startup sound plays (release after the Apple logo appears). The computer will boot and run much slower, but it is doing a bunch of housekeeping in the process. Let it complete loading and log in to your desktop and then at some point you can reboot again (no shift this time) and hopefully things are back to normal.


Is it possible to put Windows 10 onto an external SSD and boot it through VirtualBox/VMware?

In a word, yes. you can place the VM storage (EG the HD file) anywhere you want it.

Note that both programs have default locations to place the VM files so you will likely have to specify advanced setup and specify the location manually.


An iTunes backup includes text messages. See this Apple page for what is included. Notice that to restore everything, including passwords, you need to encrypt the iTunes backup with a password.


How to quit 'screen' if you don't have \ on the keyboard

One solution I meanwhile found was to create ~/.screenrc and add bind q quit to it. This allows me to quit by typing ctrl+a, q.


What will cause spaces to rearrange in Lion?

From my observations, when you alt-tab or click on an app icon on the dock, the clicked app will automatically be on the second space. This only happens only if the app is in another space that's not in the second one (if it's in the second one then the arrangement won't change).

Control-arrow key and Mission control navigation won't change the arrangement either.


Can Quicksilver be configured to open folders in new Finder tabs?

For folders, as with any other type of file, Quicksilver just asks OS X to open the file. The OS decides what to do from there.

It’s the same as typing open /path/to/folder in Terminal. So, if you can get that to open folders in a new tab, Quicksilver should start doing it too.

(I think Finder would need a preference to control this behavior, and I don’t see one.)


I got the "this information data is out of date" message on my iPhone, and the work-around for me (based on a different discussion thread) was to temporarily disable wifi. With wifi disabled, the "add to calendar" option re-appeared. Go figure.


MacBook Air won't get IP from Tenda 11n DHCP server

I then tried to add the laptop to the router's static DHCP assignment list.

This has changed something. Although it would still not connect, I was now able to see the laptop in DHCP client list, but with a blank host name.

This made go and check my laptop's "Computer Name", which was something like "John's MacBook Air" in Preferences/Sharing, which resulted in auto-generated NetBIOS name like "MACBOOKAIR-CB8C" in Preferences/Network/Advanced/WINS

As soon as I changed "Computer Name" to something simple like "JM Air", it connected to router's WiFi.

I have now tried to disable WiFi, and change the computer name to something as obnoxious as it previously was. It did not break anything, surprisingly.

I am still not sure why changing "Computer name" fixed this problem, but I found the problem quite annoying and there was no solution anywhere. So please enjoy.


Is there a way to remove a server account network entry from terminal?

After searching for a few hours I've finally found the command!

dsconfigldap -r *servername*


In the terminal type :

killall -9 Google\ Chrome

Since Google Chrome uses multiple process it will kill all the process of the app with that command.


Bash Tab-Completion for OSX Specific commands

If you use a package manager (Homebrew, MacPorts, etc) it's worth checking if it provides any - brew search completion returns launchctl-completion, for example, though the other tools you mention aren't listed. You don't mention tmutil, but if it's useful there's a completion for it here:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
### 補完関数。
_tmutil(){
  list=$( tmutil | /usr/bin/grep -v ^$ | /usr/bin/grep ^Usage | awk '{print $3}' )
  COMPREPLY=( $(compgen -W "$list" ${COMP_WORDS[COMP_CWORD]}  ) )
}
complete -F _tmutil tmutil

That might also be a good basis for hacking your own completions?


To start I'd do a reset to factory settings. This support document tells you how.

From there I would start by then connecting a Mac using Ethernet and seeing if you can get it connected to the 'net.

First would be to establish that the Extreme is handing out IP addresses via DHCP. When you look in System Preferences > Network the Mac should have an IP address from the Express (probably 10.0.. or 192.168..), not a 169...* self assigned IP.

Then can you ping the Extreme from the Mac. Then can you ping your modem. Finally, can you ping "www.google.com" (which will also show that you have DNS working).

If any of that breaks then check the settings on the Extreme until it does and you should be good.


I was able to get this to work by creating an SMB (instead of NFS) share for use with Time Machine backups. That way it was pretty straight forward to copy the sparse bundle and then mount it.


How to stop iPad/Safari from treating certain numbers as 'phone numbers'?

In the <head> of your web pages, add:

<meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no" />

There's lots more where this came from at Apple URL Scheme Reference: Phone Links.


iCloud took my mac as a hostage-how to get back all my files?

.. and files are not available when i need them ..

System Preferences → iCloud → iCloud Drive options → Uncheck Optimise Storage. All files will be found locally, always, as well as on iCloud.

Can I safely uncheck the Optimise Mac Storage check box on the Apple ID - iCloud page?

For the second part,

What may seem counterintuitive is that your files are still stored in the iCloud ( which is perhaps why you thought you lost them).
To retrieve your files, you should open Finder and navigate to iCloud Drive, and then to the Documents folder within iCloud Drive. You should then manually transfer or copy the files from that directory to the local Documents directory on your computer. You should then do that same with your Desktop folder.

How to separate iCloud Drive from Desktop & Documents


MBP mid 2015 initial Time Machine backup to Samsung T5 blindingly slow

Initial Time Machine backups do take a long time compared to subsequent backups. How long the first backup takes will depend on a number of factors, some of which you've already covered in your question.

As for your exact situation, it is possible that you have a faulty T5, but it's not the most likely option.

I've used a few of these drives on various Macs and have found them to be very fast, but in all cases they're connected to a USB-C port (not a legacy USB 3 port).

The first things I'd do is test the T5 by transferring only a few large files (e.g. a few movie files so that you're transferring about 5GB or so of data). I would then repeat the test, but with the T5 connected to the other USB port of your MBP.

The above tests should result in one of the following results:

transfer speeds anywhere between 100 MBps to 200 MBps on both USB ports
transfer speeds anywhere between 100 MBps to 200 MBps, but only in one USB port
transfer speeds still at a very low level, regardless of port

If you're getting transfer speeds you're happy with from both ports, then you know that your lack of speed is nothing more than the initial Time Machine backup having to process/copy a lot of files.

If you're getting transfer speeds you're happy with from only one port, then you know you have a problem with one of your ports and you should use the other for your Time Machine backups.

If you're not getting good transfer speeds regardless of the port, then further troubleshooting is warranted to isolate whether it's an issue with your MBP or your T5.

Let me know how you go.


ML Messages not connecting automatically to some accounts

I found a sort of solution to this bug. What I did is write an AppleScript which tells Messages to connect all accounts when one of the accounts successfully connects. I use Messages with Gmail, Yahoo and Bonjour, so when either of those connects, it "tells" all other accounts to connect. It's not failure-proof, but it seems to keep my accounts online properly so far.

using terms from application "Messages"
    on login finished for theService
        log in service "Yahoo!"
        log in service "Gmail"
        log in service "Bonjour"
    end login finished
end using terms from

Usage instructions:

Edit the AppleScript above to include the services you are using
Save it using "AppleScript Editor.app" to a .scpt file
Open Messages > Preferences > Alerts
Set the script to run for the "When I Log In" event.

N.B.

For the line containing log in service "<service>" you will need to replace <service> with the value you find in the Description field for that particular service in Messages’ account preferences. In my case my Yahoo! account had ”Yahoo” in its description field so I had to change log in service "Yahoo!" to log in service "Yahoo". Ditto for the other services.


How can I remove my data but keep the OS when putting my MacBook up for sale?

Here is a link to Apple's directions on how to erase and reinstall OS X Mountain Lion, so it will be like new.