How to "securely" erase my MacBook's SSD

You don't need to.
Once you erase an SSD on  a Mac, it's unrecoverable even from a forensics standpoint.  This is because of the type of TRIM command that the hardware (SATA controller on the logic board and the SSD) issues.  Basically, if you were to stop an erase mid-process you theoretically could take it to a lab or the manufacturer to recover data.  So, it's not impossible but highly, highly improbable recovery is possible. I've previously written about this topic:

Can the data on an MacBook Pro SSD be recovered after formatting using Disk Utility
How to get the "securely erase" function of Disk Utility on El Capitan & Sierra
https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/288756/119271
Recovering files from SSD and SSD life?

If you want to be even more certain, turn on File Vault (Apple recommends this) when you reset it.  Then disable it (for the next user).


Mavericks makes files synced to SMB share hidden

Apparently the issue was with how the share was mounted, smb:// caused the hidden-problem while cifs:// in the path worked well.


New Lion MacBook Air Address Book deletes all entries from MobileMe Contacts on sync

I have a similar issue here, but not involving MobileMe.
I
've been struggling to see any of my iPhone 4 (running iOS 5 beta4) contacts appear in Lion's Address Book. It's all empty, whatever I do through iTunes (10.5 beta 4) (either manual syncing of Contacts, or by using iCloud).

At least all my contacts are still on the iPhone...  but i'm stuck with a beautiful new Address Book on Lion which has 0 contacts... (or just that "Apple Inc" and "Me" contact cards)..


This is not a bug, it's a feature

Just long click on the bottom right key of the keyboard, when the menu pops up, click Dock.

You can enable that by dragging up the keyboard with this key. Also, you can dock him back by dragging it to the bottom of the screen.

FYI, you can also split the keyboard, making it easier to type while holding the iPad.


Does Apple provide replacement tips for their In-Ear Headphones?

I know it used to be not a big hassle to change them. You could just send them to Apple and a few days later, the new earbuds arrived. But since many people took advantage of this system, Apple came up with a limit (both in quantity as in warranty time).

Now days, my best guess is to go to the Apple Store and ask if they will replace it.

But why would you exclude non-Apple earbuds? There are some very good (and cheap) ones. For example on DealExtreme or even on eBay.


"Command not found" when attempting to cd in Terminal

The first $ in the command should not be typed.  It represents the unix prompt.

So, instead of

$ cd web-starter-kit/app

you should use

cd web-starter-kit/app


Shutdown and ASD errors on late 2013 15" Retina Macbook Pro

You have a hardware issue.

There are two errors:

ERROR - -12100 [IOConnect error reading from PCI address space] -- TEST FAILED
ERROR - -12105 [PCI driver IOService open error] -- TEST FAILED

Both have to do with I/O (input/output) operations on the PCI bus.

The first, related to the AirPort card says that it can't read from the "PCI address space."  The address space is a location in memory that points to a physical piece of hardware.  When attempting to read from it, it errors out.
The second, is another I/O error, this time when attempting to connect directly to the SATA hardware; it received an error when trying to open it for operations.

Given that both of these errors related to entirely different pieces of hardware, but both are related in that it's happening on the PCI bus, you have a hardware issue on the logic board.

Bottom line:  The logic board needs to be replaced.


Do all iPhones really delete themselves after 10 failed passcode attempts?

No it isn't.  There is an option that has to be set on iPhones and if you set that option, it makes you wait longer times in between repeated attempts. If your phone gets stolen the thief can only  try 10 times and on 11th attempt the phone will erase. But again the owner has to set that option for it to take effect. Yes Apple allows the owner of the phone to set that up if they want to. And you can turn it off when you choose. The default setting is off.


I'm the developer of DetectX.

A few facts about my app pertinent to your question:

i. DetectX does not ask for admin rights either to install or run.

ii. DetectX does not install any 'helper' apps or contain any other binaries save for i. it's own macOS binary and ii. the Sparkle updater binary.

iii. DetectX cannot delete anything save for the things shown in the Search panel. The user has to authorise any deletion by first pressing the 'Trash All' button, and if the offending item requires admin privs, by further providing authorisation to either the Finder or osascript. This happens on a per-file basis - i.e., the user has to authorise each file individually. DetectX cannot do mass deletions of files outside of user space.

iv. DetectX itself never asks for or sees your admin password. Any requests made for permissions is done via osascript or the Finder, and they deal with the password request and carry out the requested task.

i., ii., iii. and iv. were all deliberate design choices to make DetectX as safe as possible. Unlike some other security tools, DetectX itself cannot be hijacked to take over the user's system as it does not have - nor can it acquire - any root privileges.

A word of warning about using Avast in particular with DetectX: last I checked, Avast flags DetectX as a threat. I believe this is due to the fact that Avast is not smart enough to recognise that DetectX contains search strings that look for adware, malware and other associated badware. Users can inspect these search strings themselves as most are in plain text in the Resources folder of the app's bundle. This is stated on the DetectX home page, and there is a link there to further info about problems with Avast. All other reputable AV software recognises DetectX as safe.

Please contact me through the website if you haver further questions about DetectX.


Why does Pages force me to waste the last line in the page?

This occurs because of a pagination option called "Prevent widow & orphan lines". By default, Pages prevents the first or last line of a paragraph from appearing on the bottom or top of a page and separating it from the rest of the paragraph. These lines are called widows and orphans.

To disable this, select the text. Then, under the Format sidebar on the right side of the window, click the More tab and uncheck "Prevent widow & orphan lines."


How to view Failing Authentication Logs for a specific iOS Application

If you do not see the log file you need along the crash logs in XCode or Apple Configurator 2, then the log file is not available here.

In that case the log file is something proprietary to the app - i.e. for example just a text file that the app writes to during execution. In that case, the text file is within the app's document folder. You can use the "Files" app on the iOS device to look inside the app's folder for the log file.

If you do not see the log file there, I think you might be mistaken that there should be a log file at all. If you haven't got a manual, support web site or similar stating that there should be a log file, there usually isn't a log file.

You could use a program like iDevice Manager or similar to browse the file system on the iOS device to look for a log file within the app's folder. This is normally not something you want or need to do.


How to look up your contacts and see who can I talk with iMessage?

The feature you are looking for does not exist in iOS 5.0. I guess the reasoning is that you just want to send a message to your contacts and the device will send it via the appropriate route, favouring iMessage where it is available.

The closest you can get to seeing who has iMessage available without visiting each contact's card individually is if you go to send a new message, type 'a' in the To: field and you'll get a phone-number drop down. As you scroll, those contacts with iMessage available will have a little blue speech bubble to the right of their name and number (or email address).

Other that that, when you're sending a message...

If the Contact's Name and the Send button are green, then they don't have iMessage available and you'll send them an SMS (or MMS).

If the Contact's Name and the Send button are blue, then they do have iMessage available and you'll use that.


How to get the three finger 'scroll to top' back in mountain lion?

In Trackpad System Preferences, set 'Swipe between pages' option to three fingers.  Quick scroll to top and bottom seems to work, at least in Firefox.


Will my photos still be saved on icloud if I turn off 'find my iphone' from the icloud?

Yes. There is no impact from turning off "Find my iPhone" besides you losing the ability to track your phone should it be misplaced/lost/stolen/etc. To prevent syncing of all items, you would need to turn off iCloud altogether on your phone (or its individual services).


External screen turns off after macOS boots - Mac Mini

I had the same issue with EV3237 Monitor. Also, when I was lucky that the Mac Mini somehow started to send a signal, then the screen would go black randomly for a few seconds while I was working on it.

I tried the PRAM and SMC thing - no difference. I tried HDMI - no difference. On the other hand, I had no issue on a LG 4k 27" Monitor.

Finally I found a way to stop this: On the EV3237, I turned off the power saving feature. Now, my Monitor will only be off when I turn it off. On the other hand, I have a stable screen now. Somehow the signal from the Mac Mini seems to initiate a power saving on some monitors I guess.

So try to turn off power saving on your monitor.


Can't start any VMs using VMWare Fusion v3 on Mac OS X, nor upgrade to v4

Fusion uses lock files to prevent multiple processes from modifying the same files at the same time, as could happen if you tried to run to copies of Fusion (say version 3 and version 4) at once.  When Fusion quit abnormally, as it did when your laptop battery died, it left behind the lock files and you need to clean them up manually.

See this support article for how to clean up Fusion lock files.  If that doesn't solve it, do a Spotlight search including system files for files whose names end in .lck and if they look like they belong to Fusion, delete them.


Which filesystems support symbolic links?

HFS+ (Mac OS Extended Journaled)

Why?

Supports Symlinks
Read/write on macOS natively
Easy installation for read/write on Linux

See this for Linux installation tutorial.


How does the Eurovision app know where I am from?

As a Chinese living in strict censorship, I use proxy and apple id from various countries. And I often use MITM to capture packets to see the restrictions in the packet. I have to say, Apple’s Privacy Policy is doing a good job.

1、The app doesn't know which store you purchased and downloaded it from.
2、They can't access the IMEI and UUID directly from the system.
3、They may get your EAP-SIM authentication data from your isp. And your mac address is fixed every time you link wifi. Android is better in this case, you can generate a random mac address.

The most common situation I have experienced is that the app will get your carrier, which is the API provided in iOS. Tiktok Line Apple News even Apple Watch's ECG feature uses this method to identify the user's location. When your sim card is in the phone, whether you use data or Wi-Fi or even in flight mode, the app can get your carrier information.

Another possibility is that your device language is German, and your app will bring Accept-Language: XX-de in your HTTP request header.

And if you use a device for a long time, companies with various apps on your phone may sell information to each other. Large advertising companies such as Google facebook they have enough information to generate a UUID for you.


Command Shift + will increase the font-size while viewing an email.


Mac OSX Mail; how to delay 'Mark as Read'

The Plugins MailHub and Mail Act-On have such options:

MailHub

  MailHub is a 'smart' plug-in for Apple Mail that revolutionises email management. It learns as you work, suggesting likely filing locations to take the pain out of keeping your mail organized. It also allows you to set reminders on emails, so you can follow-up later.

Mail Act-On

  Mail Act-On 3 new features give you unparalleled ability to manage your messages. Use Act-On's new templates to quickly reply to messages. Use Act-On composer options to specify when messages are delivered, where sent messages get archived, and even which outbox rules are applied.


How to depict your name on your iPhone's lock screen?

As you very well explained, the notifications will blur any image. So, the options are:

Not to show any notification on the lock screen
To depend on the Find my iPhone service from Apple.

I personally would not do #1, as I lose features from my phone. I have, however, activated the "Find my iPhone" service.

With this service, if your phone is lost, you can send messages to it (that will be displayed on the lock screen) and/or you can block the device and let the person only call a specific (alternative) number. This is called the "Lost Mode".

The only drawback, I see compared to your iOS 6 Wallpaper solution, is that you will have to go to a computer and access the iCloud site to effectively enable one of those features.

Apple has added Activation Lock in iOS 7, that if enabled, even if stolen, your iPhone cannot be deleted or activated with another Apple ID. If the finding person/thief knows this, he will probably return it to you.


Is News.app a resource hog for anybody else?

In essence, it's a 'multimedia' app, like a browser with many tabs open.
Every new page/report you open will load new content. That will stay in RAM until you quit.
They only way to keep its footprint down would be to only read the headlines, or quit after every report you open - which is hardly practical.
The Mac will handle memory usage quite well on its own. If the app really does start to use up too much RAM, then earlier pages will be released back to the memory pool, so the it can be used for something else.


Showing contact name with received SMS from Google Contacts

My iPhone contacts are synced with Google Contacts (using an Exchange-type connection; the regular one didn't work) and I had a similar issue, for which I stumbled on the following information by carefully comparing the contact lists.

Contact items (phone, address, etc.) on both platforms are tagged with a label, typically displayed to the left of the phone number or whatnot (in blue on the iPhone). As far as I can tell, if the Google contact has a label the iPhone doesn't use, the syncing protocol won't pick up that number, and the iPhone won't get it as part of its internal database of contacts. Likewise, if you add a phone number on the iPhone with a label that isn't on Google's prebuilt list, then it won't get synced back to Google.

The iPhone will put a name on any incoming or outgoing call for which it can find a phone number, but if the phone number doesn't make it into the phone because it was lost in the syncing process, then it can't display it.

The easiest solution for me was to relabel phone numbers and addresses with the useful common labels "Home", "Work", and "Mobile". There are other idiosyncrasies, but it's way too much detail for this answer, especially since I don't know what the sync code looks like and therefore can't give an authoritative description.


Having problems with Mail and a few other programs freezing

First off, congratulations on upgrading to a Mac, I'm a Windows "switcher", too, and will never go back. Secondly, as far as reinstalling a fresh copy of OS X (pronounced oh-es-ten NOT oh-es-ex) you will want to turn your MacBook off, then turn it back on, but while holding the Option key. Release it when you see two icons of hard drives, whatever you named your startup disk ("Macintosh HD" by default) and one labeled Recovery. Select Recovery by highlighting it with the arrow keys, and then hitting the enter key. Once there, you should see the option to "Reinstall OS X" select it and just follow the on-screen instructions from there. Make sure to select your start up disk, again named "Macintosh HD" by default, where it asks which drive to reinstall it on.


Could anyone tell me if this EFI should be listed like this

I do not see where your EFI partition is listed twice.
What I do see is that your EFI partition is named EFI, perhaps you were seeing that?
At the top of the diskutil list command, the first row is a header row that acts as a legend for the columns below: Number (#), TYPE, NAME, SIZE and IDENTIFIER.
Type and name are the same thing, which is how it usually is: the EFI partition is called EFI.
Note that in some situations I have seen an EFI partition with no name. It doesn't need a name to work, but macOS needs to recognize it as an EFI partition for the Mac to be bootable.


Access a printer on the network that is connected via USB to a Windows 7 PC

Since the mac is sending the job over the network to the PC - it should be easy to tell if the mac has handed off the job to Windows by opening the console app on the mac (/Applications/Utilities).

If the PC accepts the job from the mac, then something should print even if you are using a generic printer driver.

Look at the error_log, access_log and page_log in /private/var/log/cups as you print.

The job should get:

queued on the mac
sent to the PC
cleared from the mac queue
queued on the PC
sent to the printer
cleared from the PC queue

You should be able to know if there is a problem on 1-3 using the console app on the mac. If there are errors, you can post them if they are not obvious to you how to react to them. I would guess you would have seen the jobs backing up on the dock or gotten an error dialog on the mac end if the problem were with your setup on the Mac.


How can I move an icon to a different place on the dock?

Click and drag: put the cursor on the icon you want to move, then click and hold while dragging the icon right or left to the position you want.


What is a good 2D scrolling shoot-em-up for iPad in the style of Gradius V

You can try Space Tripper. It's well reviewed on touchArcade.


Question mark folder on startup, how can I recover?

The icon you are receiving indicates that your computer is unable to find a suitable operating system (OS).

Your internal disk does not appear in disk utility or diskutil list. Either it is physically disconnected or the more likely answer: dead. I would suggest you bring it into a local Apple Store. The Geniuses will be able to tell you the issue for free. You can decide if you would like to pay to have the disk replaced (assuming death is correct) or to get a new Mac entirely.

Either way you shouldn't lose too much data because you have been making consistent backups very often, right?


prevent second hard-drive from spinning up after standby

Running your script on wake up, with Power Manager, or using SleepWatcher, for instance, should do the trick.

There are, actually, different sleep modes, and knowing exactly which one you are using may help too, as Sleeping your Mac should not use the Hard Drive, the second disk should stay idle. Here is a brief explanation of what happens with each sleeping mode.


I think you get somethings wrong about App Nap :

If the app « does something for you » (expression used by apple), I won't be stopped. So videos on youtube will continue to play while your doing other things.

It's also the same with flash games/animations. If they do something they won't be paused.


How do I increase default font size in Reminders under Mavericks?

I've had a look at it and at a glance (with a disassembler) there's no .plist (property list) file that could have anything that it directly would use to alter the size.

The size of the sidebar is inherited from what Apple call "Aqua", which is the default theme for OSX. Although they allow you to over-ride side-bars in most apps, they haven't allowed this in ALL apps, which is perplexing as I have the same issue!

I'd strongly suggest that you drop the resolution of your display. This will generally make the font (and everything else) across the system larger, depending of course what you set it to!

You can do this by:

Click on  (Apple, Top Left)
Click on "System Preferences"
Click on "Displays"

note here that you might see:

This is the system default setting which is generally acceptable with people who are neither nor nor far sighted To change this, carry on to 4 below.. If you don't just close the screen as you would any other screen.

Change the setting shown above to "Scaled", which will present you something similar to:

`Mine is set to the highest possible setting on this MacBook (1440 x 900), so if I click on one setting lower, that is (1344 x 840), the above image would be larger, and as I click on the various ones going down, they get gradually more "zoomed" as to put it.

MAKE SURE YOU MAKE A NOTE OF THE SETTINGS IT WAS ALL INITIALLY ON!

Without unorthodox system "hacks" there is no run of the mill way to change what you need changed sadly.

Hope this helps!

Adrian S


CS5ServiceManager Java error shows up at startup of Mac

Here's another way, if you don't mind getting your feet wet in the Terminal:

launchctl remove com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager
sudo rm -f /Library/LaunchAgents/com.adobe.CS5ServiceManager.plist

What this does is:

Removes the launchctl profile that starts CS5Manager at startup;
Deletes the plist file that re-creates that launchctl profile.

The second step is necessary or it will keep coming back.

Be careful when using sudo and rm, you don't want to remove anything important - just this plist file.

Credit: https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1618590


Certain podcasts not syncing to iPhone when subscribed through iTunes

Are you using an iPhone 3GS? It's possible that the creators of the video podcast changed their video format to high definition. If that is the case,  these items will not sync because the 3GS can't playback certain HD video formats that are targeted for other more powerful Apple devices like iPad or Apple TV.

More info on supported video formats: http://www.macxdvd.com/mac-dvd-video-converter-how-to/iphone-video-format-supported.htm


Can XNA & Visual Studio be run in VMware Fusion on Mac OS X?

I have done the setup before. You won't get hardware acceleration but the setup does work and if your not doing any work that requires hardware acceleration it should be fine.

I previously did demos for Tech-Ed on gaming development using this setup without any problems.

For hardware acceleration you will need to use Boot Camp.


No, you cannot prevent the user from deleting messages, if they otherwise have access to the Messages app.


Please explain your question better. Are you trying to move your User "Downloads" folder to another location than the harddrive? Are you wanting to have a separate folder you download to moved to an SDCard?

You can easily create a new Downloads folder on the SDCard and when you download files just save there by default. I could do some searching (or you can) to see if there is a way to have a different folder open by default to save, but it's usually the last place you saved a file to.

If you are wanting to MOVE your Downloads folder, you can always create some sort of symbolic link where your current Downloads folder is and have it point to the SDCard, the problem with this is that if you SDCard EVER drops away you have a potential to have to recreate the link when card is seen again. There is no such thing as a "permanent" installed removable media.

For further reference, THIS LINK pulls up as a first search on google and walks you through the various options I mention above.


Where are my iPod videos after I sync to iTunes?

iTunes doesn't sync videos/photos back from your device. The Photos tab in iTunes for the device is only for syncing photos/videos from an iPhoto/Aperture library or folder to your device. It doesn't sync the other way — from your device to the library/folder.
You need to use something like iPhoto/Aperture or Image Capture.

 Transfer images and other items from your device
Transfer images, video clips, and MP3 sounds to your computer from many cameras and devices that contain a camera, such as your iPhone. Once you transfer the items, you can delete them from the device.

Connect your device to your computer, then turn the device on.
If the device is locked with a passcode, enter it.

In Image Capture, select the device in the Devices list.

Use the buttons at the bottom of the Image Capture window to view the thumbnails as a list or as icons to change the size of the thumbnails, or to rotate or delete images.

From the Import To pop-up menu, choose where to save the images or which app to use to open the image.

To import only some of the photos, select those photos, then click Import. To import all the photos, click Import All.
Choose AutoImporter from the “Connecting this [device] opens” pop-up menu to transfer images from a device to your computer whenever you connect it to your computer.

Select “Delete after Import” to remove the items from the device after transferring them to your computer. You can also select individual items on your device, then press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Source: OS X Image Capture Help


I would just give max() the column to work with and it will take the max of all values found. The only danger is if someone adds data further down the column...
See:


Time Machine stopped backing up my iPhoto library a year ago, lost all photos

This sounds like somehow your iPhoto Library has moved. If you hold down ALT when you click to start iPhoto, the library management dialog comes up. This will tell you where iPhoto is currently located. If you somehow had access to your old HDD, you could see where this was located.

Obviously iPhoto doesn't work without a library, so the library has to be somewhere. I would certainly dig a little to see if you could find it.

 Unfortunately, I haven't worked with HDD recovery at all. I do know there are companies that do this. You could potentially send it it. I'll update or comment if I do find something.


Windows Vs Mac wars aside, it makes a lot of sense to use a Mac as a Windows machine. PC World or PC Magazine (I always get them confused) named the MacBook Pro the best Windows machine not so long ago. Their reasoning was that Apple includes the right drivers for the different hardware components that they ship on the Mac. I don't think that means the latest drivers, but the right drivers nonetheless.

@Rabarberski speculates if Apple does not want to invest too much time and money developing good drivers. My take on this is that I don't think Apple develops their drivers, they just work with a much limited number of components and that makes including all necessary drivers in BootCamp possible (For instance, there's only a handful of different video and sound cards that the Macs have shared over the last few years). My theory is that Apple doesn't issue repeated updates to the BootCamp driver set precisely because they don't need to--the ones included work fine for all of their Mac hardware configurations.

Before switching over to the Mac, I used PC's from Acer, Compaq, HP, Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo. On each one of these systems, drivers were always an issue at some point--even the ones included in the system restore disk. Using Windows on the Mac has been the exact opposite experience and I highly recommend it if Windows is your thing. I develop software for Windows and the Mac and I dual boot using BootCamp. I am seriously considering keeping my current MacBook Pro as a Windows-only computer once I get my next Mac. Hope this helps.


Can you whitelist certain words from being auto-corrected?

Generally, you can tap the little × in the autocorrect bubble to block the autocorrect (or pick the left-most choice if using Predictive). Do this enough times and iOS will learn your typing habits and stop trying to correct that word.

For a more permanent solution, you can also add that word into your systemwide custom dictionary.

On iOS, open Settings → Keyboard → Text Replacement → +
Under Phrase enter Morty. Then either leave the Shortcut field blank, or enter morty in lowercase so the name gets capitalized automatically.

Note that these text replacements synchronize across your iOS and macOS devices over iCloud. However if you also want to add a word on macOS, it’s under  → System Preferences → Keyboard → Text.


Is data in an APFS container erased after main partition is reformatted?

When Mojave is installed, you need to choose a APFS volume. However, the operating system is not just installed to this volume. Additionally, three other hidden APFS volumes (Preboot, Recovery and VM) are created, if they do not already exist. The preboot files are placed in a folder in the Preboot APFS volume and the recovery files are place in a folder in the Recovery APFS volume. In both cases, the name of the folder is the same as the UUID assigned to the APFS volume you chose when installing Mojave. The VM volume is used to store the sleep image and the swap file.

If you create a new APFS volume and install Mojave to this volume, then the three hidden volumes are reused. Again the preboot and recovery files are placed in a folders with a name the same as the UUID of the new APFS volume.

If you delete a APFS volume that was chosen for a Mojave installation, only this volume is removed. The three hidden volumes remain and still contain and the same files. To remove the folders containing the preboot and recovery files, you have to manually mount the volumes and remove the folders. (For example, use the diskutil mount command to manually mount each volume.) Since the space taken up by these folders and their contents is fairly small, most users will probably elect to just leave the folders intact on these hidden volumes.

  This is a long way of saying: The removal of Mojave by deleting a APFS volume does not alter any other APFS volumes.

What I wrote above also applies to High Sierra when installing to a APFS volume.


My desktop background won't change automatically. OS X 10.6.7

You might need to select a new folder of pictures and then back to the pictures you prefer. Deleting one of the plist files not all of them can sometimes leave the preference pane in a state of confusion.

Step one is to get some change, then re-enable the automated change part.


Don't know if this will fix the issue for you, but for some magical reason, it worked for me.
I removed the speaker from the list of Bluetooth devices that were paired and was ready to start again when I decided to just listen to music through the internal speaker. Pressed play and got the sound coming from Bluetooth box. It doesn't show in the Sound settings (it says Internal Speakers are being used) and it's not on the Bluetooth panel, although the bluetooth is showing a connection. Hope it works for you, although given the nature of this fix, don't be surprised if it doesn't.

BTW, I'm using a mini Smart Box II speaker on a MacBook Pro with Sierra 10.12.6.


Built-in microphone level auto adjusts itself

If you haven’t already, try resetting the NVRAM and attempting to replicate the issue. Here’s an Apple support article on what an NVRAM resets does and how to do one.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

If the issue continues, create a new user account and attempt to replicate the issue in that account. If the issue persists in a test user account than, I’d advise visiting an Apple Store for them to run audio diagnostics and determine if you are having a hardware issue or if your operating system needs to be reinstalled.The article below highlights creating another user.

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25796?locale=en_US


How do I remove the Finder from the Dock automatically at login?

The solution is to create a LaunchAgent (man launchctl for more info) that runs the above script via the command-line. Essentially, you want to store the script above in a file, say 'killfinder.scpt' and then run the command osascript /path/to/killfinder.scpt.

We want to do this automatically at login, so we use a LaunchAgent. Since I want to use this because I use Pathfinder and my wife doesn't, I'm going to put it in ~/Library/LaunchAgents, but if you want this to be system wide, put it in /Library/LaunchAgents.

You will have three files:

A UNIX script
An AppleScript (optional)
A LaunchAgent XML plist

Script File

Put this in an appropriate path. For example, I stored it in ~/dev/scripts/killfinder.bash.
Create the file and add this content:

#!/bin/bash
osascript /path/to/AppleScriptFile.scpt

Make sure the permissions are correct (i.e. chmod ug+x killfinder.bash)

AppleScript File

You can call osascript directly with AppleScript code as an argument. I leave that as an exercise to the reader; in that case, you can creating this file. But if you want to do it this way:
1. Put this in an appropriate path.
2. Create the file and add this content:

    tell application "System Events"
        tell UI element "Finder" of list 1 of process "Dock"
            perform action "AXShowMenu"
            click menu item "Remove from Dock" of menu 1
        end tell
    end tell

Make sure the permissions are correct (i.e. chmod ugo+r Finder\ Remove.scpt)

LaunchAgent XML plist

Put this in ~/Library/LaunchAgents or /Library/LaunchAgents depending if you just want this behavior for your personal account or system-wide.
Create a file called com.<whateveryouwant>.KillFinder.plist with the following content:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
   <key>Label</key>
   <string>com.<whateveryouwant>.KillFinder</string>
   <key>Program</key>
   <string>/path/to/unixscript</string>
   <key>RunAtLoad</key>
   <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

It's important to make sure the 'string' value after the Label key is correct as well as the path to the unix script.

Now all you have to do is exit and login and it should work!


Maybe go to your local apple store (or repair center).
They often have spare keys around from broken keyboards and/or topcases.
Otherwise check ebay (make sure it's the same model. Apple changed the mechanism behind they keys 2 or 3 times afaik)


Can I use my unlimited Verizon data plan on my iPhone 5s and connect to my 2015 Cadillac Escalade Wi-Fi and AirPlay to my media center?

You should confirm with Verizon, but the plans I've seen never have 'hotspot' capability on an unlimited plan.


Insert a tab character in PowerPoint 2016

Keynote is accepting tab directly. Is much easier to use than any version of PowerPoint and is able to output PowerPoint format which is readable with many PowerPoint versions.

My personnal experience is that Keynote is providing a more compatible PowerPoint than any version of PowerPoint, and is also much user friendly.

Actually I don't use PowerPoint for quality and security reasons.

Then this part of advice is untested!

I suggest you to try:

ctrl+Q, tab

or:

ctrl+V, tab


MacBook keeps booting into system installation after failed installation

Use Internet Recovery to reinstall the correct build of Mavericks for your machine, your user account and applications will be unaffected.

When you've done that, re-download a fresh copy of the Mavericks installer from Apple. This will be the latest available build (10.9.5) and you should have no further problems if you install from that. I'd recommend you build a USB installer from the Mavericks installer so you don't have to worry about a hard disk failure, lack of internet connection etc. To do this you can use 3rd-party utilities or follow this procedure. Download the Mavericks installer but quit it when it tries to run. Take an 8GB USB stick and name it Untitled. Then run this command in Terminal...

sudo /Applications/"Install OS X Mavericks.app"/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/Untitled --applicationpath /Applications/"Install OS X Mavericks.app" --nointeraction

As you noted, you cannot install an unmodified version of OS X on hardware newer than the OS X build, regardless of where it's being installed to.


Someone in China tried to log into my AppleID account. What should I do?

Apple recommends you select Don't Allow since that will block this attempt.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201303

The bottom of the page linked above has steps to take (like change your password) if you think the alert is not correct or a result of your actions.

Next, you should check that the email / alert you see is indeed legitimate (i.e. actually sent by Apple's servers). It is common place to receive emails like this that are actually fake.

In any case, there's no need or obligation for you to report this to Apple or Yahoo. It is not an indication that your or their systems have been hacked.

In case of US State / Federal reporting, unless you're employed by these entities and have specifically been bound to report this (very likely you have not), then there's not need to report it to them either.


Running `nano` uses the old nano(2.0.6) even though nano 3.0 is installed

You don't make nano "use" anything. You run the executable you want, from the shell. Bash keeps a hash of where binaries are. If you type type nano, and it shows you the system-provided one, restart your shell or use the command hash -r to force the shell to re-hash the paths. Also, cat /etc/paths is meaningless, instead echo $PATH.


How to set the Reply-To in Apple Mail exactly?

This worked for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Skwoo8RjHSw

I deleted com.apple.mail savedState, and moved com.apple.mail and com.apple.MailServiceAgent to the desktop, as the video suggested. After restarting, the Mail App stopped its autocopy that I had set up.


Alternative to Personal Blocklist for Safari

Kind of late, but I hope it will help some people. I use this script with Tampermonkey, it works great on 10.11.3 / Safari 9.0.3.


How to open new Finder tab without showing parent directory structure on the left?

What you may require is to 'root' the folder that you need into the sidebar.

Is it as simple as dragging the folder that you want into the sidebar? If not I may have misunderstood your question.

There is probably a way to default this behaviour by using default write com.apple.finder.plist <somevariable> -bool true (or similar) but I would not be able to tell you the particular variable without spending a deal of time on it. Apple prefer you to use the GUI in a lot of cases, but editing the plist files generally grant you more granular control over the system.


Want to Update iMovie, etc. on MacBook Pro

One possible explanation is that you have the latest version already. The latest iMovie version is 9.0.9 (1795). It prompts you to sign in to check if there are any newer versions. Since it finds nothing, it updates nothing.


When I shake my MacBook Pro it makes a strange noise.

The only thing I can think of that would be shaking is a loose screw.  I'd recommend taking it to an Authorized Apple Service Provider to have them poke around and see if they can get it out.  If you are daring enough (or out of warranty), you might want to try it yourself.


Screen shots shortcuts disabling themselves (Yosemite)

If the user preferences are not sticking or been changed there are 2 possibility.

1- You have a app that does that.

2-You Permissions need repair, using the Disk Utility.- usualy Start with this step first.


How to add watermark to all video files in a folder? (Mac, mencoder, terminal)

You should be able to do it from the terminal with ffmpeg's overlay filter ... download prebuilt binaries or install with Homebrew if you don't have it already and the command would look something like this:

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -i watermark.png -filter_complex 'overlay=10:10' outputname.mp4

That'll place watermark.png 10px in and 10px down from the top right corner ...


Which RAM to buy for mid 2010 15 Inch Macbook Pro

The brand shouldn't really matter. I have G Skill in mine with no problems. The stock was Samsung. The trouble with that specific model is that it doesn't clock down faster RAM properly thanks to some hardware bug with the Nvidia chipset. It's very important to only use 1066 MHz DDR3 with this model (you can usually get away with faster on other models). I had 1333 MHz RAM for a while and I had kernel panics all over the place.

The actual specifications are here:

  Double Data Rate Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module (DDR3) format
  30mm (1.18 inch)
  2 GB or 4 GB
  204-pin
  PC3-8500 DDR3 1066 MHz type RAM


I finally figured it out:

My shared secret was too complex, I configured a new one that's slightly shorter and has no special characters and now iOS is able to establish a VPN connection.

It turned out iOS can't handle shared secret of more than 32 characters.


Why can't I open downloads from Google Chrome's download bar?

It's caused by a bug in 10.8.2. Occasionally revealing files in Finder stops working in all applications, and for example Archive Utility stops responding when extracting archives.

As a workaround, you can terminate appleventsd from Activity Monitor or with sudo killall -kill appleeventsd (without -kill the process is sent a TERM signal, which makes other processes stop responding). The issue will probably return within a few hours or days though.


El Capitan installed but App Store says there was an error

It might not have actually installed. From the Apple menu, choose About This Mac and verify that you are running El Capitan. If you still have the installer in your applications folder then this too might suggest that it did not install. If it didn't then I would delete the installer from Applications and download El Capitan from App Store again and preferably perform a clean install although not required.


iTunes Connect did not ask for bank or PayPal account when attempting to publish paid app in App Store

Use the Agreements, Tax, and Banking section to manage contracts with Apple, provide required financial information relating to iTunes developer payments and tax withholdings, and track the status of your iTunes agreements. If you plan to charge customers to download your apps, start with this section right away to request a contract for selling paid apps.

Apple publish the following documentation about adding your Banking details, Setting Up Banking Information.


Nano is perfectly fine as a simple code editor. It has wonderful syntax highlighting. You will probably want an up-to-date version of nano.

Install homebrew: https://brew.sh/
Install nano: brew install nano
Add this line to ~/.nanorc. That directory has all the syntax highlighting definition files.

include "/usr/local/share/nano/*.nanorc"


What is the difference between Full Disk Access and Files & Folders access in Catalina?

Full Disk Access feature is much like a security check at an airport. When you grant “Full Disk Access” to an app it is added to the whitelist of applications that are now marked as safe to work with your data. At the same time, all other applications will be greeted with “You Shall Not Pass.” The protected areas that require Full Disk Access permission are your Mail, Messages, Safari, Home, Time Machine.

According to Apple: “So if your app attempts to access any data that is part of one of the protected categories the system will automatically terminate it.” And by “terminate” Apple really means a forced crash.

In the other hand regarding Files and Folders,

In macOS 10.15 Catalina, Apple has further extended the number and range of User prompt that can be generated when code attempts to access certain locations and functions.

In order to prevent attackers enabling FileVault with a secret key via fdesetup, a possible avenue for a ransomware attack, Apple has introduced a new prompt that requires user approval before FileVault can be used to encrypt the drive programmatically.

Programmatic access to user’s Desktop and Documents folders will now also require user approval, as will access to the Downloads folder, iCloud, mounted volumes and cloud storage folders like Dropbox, OneDrive and similar. As on Mojave, the list of approved apps can be viewed and managed in the System Preferences Privacy pane.

The prompt takes the form of a message “SomeApp would like to access files in your Desktop folder” with “Don’t Allow” and “OK” as the options; there is no password required for this approval.

In brief:

Apps on the Mac will need permission - asked once, when first needed - to access files in your Documents or Desktop folder, in iCloud Drive, and on any external volume connected to your Mac. You'll also be prompted when any app can capture your keystrokes or take a screenshot or video of your screen.

macOS will run in its own private, read-only volume, so there will be no way for malicious apps to write files to the volume or alter existing files, or no way for you to accidentally delete key files. The installation of macOS Catalina creates two volumes, one with the operating system, and another with data, segregating the two types of files.

Apple is doubling down on security and privacy, and this is an impressive list of new features. We'll keep you posted as more information about these key features becomes available.


Forcing/Getting app to run on lower Mac OSX version

NSBundle and CFBundle aggressively cache the contents of application bundles to improve performance. Although you edited the Info.plist, the Finder and Launch Services don't yet know that the application is any different.

Running the following command in Terminal to touch the application bundle will force the Finder (and Launch Services) to re-register the application, thereby noticing the changes you made to the Info.plist:

touch "/Applications/My Cool App.app"

After running that, deselect the application, then reselect it in the Finder, and then try launching it.

Note that this won't necessarily guarantee that you'll be able to launch the app. The developer would need to make sure they set a deployment target of 10.4 and/or use weak framework linking to assure that the app will be fully backward-compatible.


iTunes doesn't allow me to create playlists and playlist folders anymore

Don't do it in 'device' do it 'on the compy' in Music/Playlists - should be underneath the device list.


Windows have pinstripes and large corner radius on Lion

It turns out that I overlooked the two checkboxes in Secrets depicted below (even though their labels were red and in bold and they are obviously in every way exactly what I was looking for). The second one, "Use Leopard window values", was unchecked. Checking it and rebooting restored all windows to their normal appearance. Phew.


Which free alternatives to Little Snitch can I use to block internet traffic per applications?

TCPBlock

  TCPBlock is a lightweight and fast application firewall … you can prevent selected applications on your computer from opening connections to the network.

TCPBlock is free and can be downloaded from MacUpdate, however TCPBlock doesn't appear to work with El Capitan and is no longer being updated.

PF Firewall

OS X comes with the PF firewall, which can be configured to block all connections to certain servers in all apps. Blocking all connections from a single app is not possible as far as I am aware without external software.

You can use IceFloor as a GUI for the PF firewall.


What is the best replacement battery for iPhone 5s

I would buy an replacement battery for your iPhone 5s from iFixit. They provide also the tools to replace your battery. It's a trustworthy company. Worked with their parts/tools many times.

  COMPATIBILITY

  All iPhone 5s Models (Not iPhone SE, 5 or 5c)

  SPECIFICATIONS

  Voltage: 3.8

  Watt Hours (Wh): 5.92

  Capacity: 1558 mAh

  Apple Part #: 616-0718, 616-0719, 616-0720, 616-0721, 616-0722,
  616-0728

  WARRANTY

  One Year Warranty - This iFixit product is guaranteed to
  function for one year.

I do not have financial ties with iFixit!


Yes, I would definitely recommend installing an operating system which is currently supported with security updates. Whether that system is a version of Windows, Linux or something else is entirely up to your likings.

Running an old, non-supported OS X on a machine connected to the Internet is not a good idea, if you have problems with it being compromised.


How to disable emoji on Chinese keyboard in OS X? (Related: disabling emoji systemwide)

The following method is produced on OS X 10.9.

The emoji definition file is at /usr/share/mecabra/zh/common/emoji.plist.

You just replace it with an empty plist file (back it up first). The input method will not start again if you simply remove or rename the file. I use the following Python code:

from plistlib import dump

dump({}, open('emoji.plist', 'wb'))

The Python version I use is 3.4. You have to use sudo to replace the file.

Then you reload the input method by doing killall SCIM, and then activate the input method again. If the SCIM process fails to start, log out and log in again. Now the Chinese input method would be emoji-free.

PS: I like the emoji feature. Emoji is the first reason I use the Apple Chinese input method rather than other third party ones.


What do I have to do on my iPhone or in iTunes if my number changed?

I simply had to change the "my phone number" field in settings, everything else worked just fine.


Getting an unsuitable terminal error when opening tmux after switching to homebrew

I had to add:

set-option -g default-terminal screen-256color

to my ~/.tmux.conf to get it to work under all the same versions you reference above on Yosemite. You can see my tmux configuration file here if you'd like a point of reference.


ExtremeCap U3, RECentral, and El Capitan

Looks like they just put up a new firmware for the Extremecap U3. Recentral now launches immediately for me. Also - after I updating the firmware - the beta version stopped working. I went back to version 1.2.15 and all is well.


The easy and sure way to start over is to restore the device to factory defaults and wipe everything away. If you don't want that, you'll have to learn how the settings app uses AppleID and decide which ones you want to delete from the device and which you can live with on the device.


Acer UHD4K2K not working through Thunderbolt

Got the same setup, and all is working fine here - but some things you will need to take into account:

My ACER didnt ship with an HDMI cable, it came with a Display Port Cable, as i am having the XB280HK Version - and thats the only way that makes sense (technical restrictions on other connection methods, as you stated above) to connect it.
A Thundebolt cable is NOT a Thunderbolt-to-MiniDP cable! Thunderbolt has an integrated Handshaking, and is for Data-Io only - non Apple Products, like the Acer cant make sense of the Thunderbolt Data and wont be able to recognize it as "Display Data"
SOLUTION: Make your life easy and get a third party Mini-DP cable. The thunderbolt PORT will recognize what you want from it and switch mode to be just a mini-dp port. Dont know where you are, but here is one on Amazon USA: http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Gold-Plated-DisplayPort-White/dp/B004CAGDSW/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416467966&sr=1-2&keywords=mini-dp+cable

Lastly be advised, Not only HDMI has a restriction with the 30 HZ, but also any model of the MacBookPro prior to the IRISPRO Graphic Chipset (introduced late 2013) will not give you more than 30Hz on that resolution... (discrete Graphics aside obviously)

Greetings from Ibiza


How to fix my MacBook Pro that goes straight into sleep/hibernate?

Before doing an SMC Reset as suggested by @Thecafremo, I decided to clear the PRAM/NVRAM (because the SMC Reset page says: "an SMC reset should only be attempted after all other standard troubleshooting has been performed")

This seems to have been enough to bring the MacBook back to life at least for the moment.

Clearing the PRAM/NVRAM is achieved by holding down Command+Option+P+R during boot before the gray screen appears and letting the startup go thru three chimes before releasing the keys.


How to identify extensions blocked by Gatekeeper

I figured it out.  In System Information > Software > Disabled Software, it shows a list of these extensions with their bundle identifier.  In my case, that was enough info to understand what the app is, but to locate the actual kext file requires more digging.  Example:

grep -r "com.aladdin.kext.aksfridge" /Library/Extensions finds nothing.

grep -r "com.aladdin.kext.aksfridge" /Library/Application Support found it.

I'm not sure if there is a documented list of locations that are allowed to load kexts, but you could grep the whole hard drive for the bundle ID and that would surely find it.


How to losslessly rotate rotate jpeg images *without* a change to the last modified date?

I'm not aware of any image tools that have this functionality built in, but you can use the built-in UNIX touch command to adjust the timestamps.

In Terminal, run touch -r photo.jpeg timestamp. That will create an empty file named timestamp with the timestamp of your image (replace photo.jpeg with the path to your file).
Edit your file however you want.
In Terminal, run touch -r timestamp photo.jpeg. That will copy the timestamp from the timestamp file back to your image file.
Remove the timestamp file: rm timestamp.


Right-click for Creating a New Document - How?

Here is an AppleScript I use as an AppleScript application so I can assign it the TextEdit icon and place it in the Toolbar of Finder. Then it's available to create a new text document at whatever location Finder is set to, that one has write permissions to. In other words, if one tries to create a new text document at a location that is only write accessible to e.g. root or any location one does not have specific write permissions to, then one is notified upon trying to create the new text document.

The code checks to see if a file of the same name already exists and if so notifies and brings back the Save As: dialog box.

Open (Apple)Script Editor and copy and paste the code below into the empty window and save it as Create New Text File Here.app. Make sure you select Application for File Format: in the Save As: dialog box.

Before adding it to the Toolbar of Finder, you'll want to change it's icon to that of which is used by TextEdit. You can open the Get Info sheet for each app and then copy and paste the one from TextEdit.app to the one in Create New Text File Here.app. Note that this is the icon displayed in the top left corner of the Get Info sheet.

Now that it has a nicer icon, drag and drop the new app to the location on the Toolbar of Finder you'd like for it to be. Note that depending on which version of OS X / macOS you may need to press the Command ⌘ key while dragging the app to the Toolbar of Finder.

To use, just click the Create New Text File Here.app icon in the Toolbar of Finder and you'll be prompted for a name and the a new text document file will be created and opened from the current location of the Finder window.

on run
    my createNewTextFile()
end run

on createNewTextFile()

    tell application "Finder"
        activate
        set the currentFolder to (folder of the front window as alias)
    end tell

    tell me
        activate
        set fileName to ""
        repeat while fileName = ""
            display dialog "Save As:" with title "Create New Text File Here" default answer fileName buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default button 2
            set fileName to text returned of the result
        end repeat
        if fileName ends with ".txt" then
            set newTextFile to POSIX path of currentFolder & fileName
        else
            set newTextFile to POSIX path of currentFolder & fileName & ".txt"
        end if

    end tell

    tell application "Finder"
        set itExists to (exists newTextFile as POSIX file)
    end tell

    tell me
        activate
        if itExists is false then
            try
                do shell script "touch \"" & newTextFile & "\"; open \"" & newTextFile & "\""
            on error
                display dialog "Cannot create the \"" & newTextFile & "\" file at this location!..." with title "Cannot Create File" buttons {"OK"} default button 1 with icon stop
            end try
        else
            display dialog "The \"" & newTextFile & "\" file already exists!..." with title "File Already Exists" buttons {"OK"} default button 1 giving up after 5
            my createNewTextFile()
        end if
    end tell

end createNewTextFile

Note that this code could also be used in Automator for a Service workflow, however I've found that I'm already in Finder when I want to create a new text document and it's just easier to click the Create New Text File Here.app icon in the Toolbar of Finder then to right-click and choose from the already over populated Services context menu that I have.

Additionally, if you modify the code once the script is saved as an application and placed in the Toolbar of Finder, then you'll have to remove the icon from the Toolbar and then drag and drop the newly saved Create New Text File Here.app in order for it to work properly.


What's the ios app that gives you share options when you take a screenshot?

When you take a screenshot and the preview pops up in the bottom-left corner, just press and hold (for 1-2 seconds) on the preview. That will bring up the sharing panel right away.

Some additional details about screenshots if you're interested...

Any iOS app in the foreground can detect a screenshot and react however it wants. I guess you were using some app that offered helpful sharing when you took a screenshot of that app specifically, but I have no idea what that might have been.

There are no apps** that can change the system-wide behaviour of screenshots to reveal the sharing options when you take a screenshot. iOS apps can't interfere with the system that way.

**Actually that's not totally true. If you're trying pre-release versions of apps through TestFlight, any screenshots taken in the pre-release app are automatically converted to suggested feedback for the developer.


Why won't my iPad mini’s gyroscope work?

try switching the button above the volume rocker, if it shows a rotation lock/unlock icon that should fix it.
If it shows an mute unmute icon swipe up from the bottom to reveal the quick-acces menu, in there there should be an icon for locking and unlocking the rotation of your iPad.
Let me know if this fixed it.


Can I manually specify Sound Output device in the Mac (like in Windows/Linux)

I think the general consensus on this appears to be 'no' ... but have you tried something like Soundflower or Jack Audio, which allow non-standard routings. I can't test for headphones here, as I'm on a Mac Pro, but it might be worth 5 mins of your time to try it - http://cycling74.com/products/soundflower/ or http://jackaudio.org


Select all the folders you want to rename, right click them and select "Rename [number] Items..."

When you use the "Rename Finder Items" feature, you have to change it from "Replace Text" to "Format" in the drop down menu:

Now you can rename it however you want:


How should I demonstrate a functional iOS application to a client?

Yes, there is a way to install apps on stock OS iOS devices, other than from Apple's App store or when tethered directly to the developers Mac.

An enrolled iOS Developer can sign an app with an Ad Hoc Distribution certificate and a mobileprovision file which includes the UDID's of the client's devices.  You can email this app and provision file to a client.  Then the client can install this app (and the mobileprovision files required for it to operate) using the iTunes app on their Mac or PC.  Or the client can download direct to their device from a (OTA) web page using HTTPS plus a manifest plist.

This is very commonly done for beta testing of iOS apps.

Ad Hoc provisioning expires at least once per year, so these apps are only temporarily useable.  A Developer is limited to no more than 100 UDIDs max total per year, so can only do this for a very limited number of clients.


Back up an external hard drive with video on it

Yes you can — when setting up Time Machine, add your internal disk to the exclude list and remove your external disk so that it is backed up.


Does the iPhone ask for iCloud password after updating to iOS 8.1?

Yes, you will be required to verify your account when you first log in.

I would suggest trying to get to the bottom of it BEFORE you upgrade, it will be harder after (since you should still have some access to email accounts etc).

Also, I would research the effects of running iOS8 on an iPhone 4S. Although it may be supported, I would think it would be incredibly slow.

I know you didn't ask for the second part of this answer, but I would strongly recommend you do some more research on this before blindly doing it.


How can I stop applications from preventing restarts?

If you insist to not save any work, open terminal and run sudo shutdown -r now

You could force the updates as well before issuing the restart with softwareupdate -ai and never see an “Are you sure?” or “Save this data?” dialog since the shutdown command sends SIGKILL which kills as opposed to asking nicely for programs to exit.

Back up your files, the filesystem will be safe but your data in specific files won’t necessarily be safe.


Routing all web 'traffic' via tun device on Mac OSX

Normally, rerouting traffic through a tunnel is done by changing the default route in the routing table on your system using a command such as route add default 10.0.0.2.  It may also be necessary to remove the existing default route to avoid confusing the routing subsystem.


I think @toni is just talking about a page that tries to stop you from navigating away.

Before you do anything else, double-tap the iPad's home button & close Safari.

You can then clear out all your open tabs:

In iOS 8 and later, Settings > Safari > Clear History and Website Data
In iOS 6 and earlier, Settings > Safari > Clear Cookies and Data

If you want to preserve your tabs & history:

Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced
Turn off JavaScript.
Open Safari & close the problem tab.
Turn JavaScript back on.


Which Power Adapter is the correct one for Powerbook G4 15inch FW800 - 45watts or 65watts

In practice, I've never seen a properly working 45 watt adapter not be able to boot a properly working PowerBook when you remove the battery.

The 45 watt adapter was intended for smaller devices and would often not be enough to both charge and run a 15 inch PowerBook in all situations even when everything was working properly.

At this point, with ten year old equipment, it's possible you will need a 65 watt adapter or have some power management issues with the adapter or the Mac.

That Mac should have a 65 watt adapter for best results, power on and charging since the G4 and battery do need that much power to work as designed.


Any way to enable File Vault for just one user?

FileVault 1 used to do just this but the current FileVault 2 is whole disk encryption. It is technically possible to use the Logical Volume Manager underpinning FV2 to accomplish this, but it's rather complicated and not supported by Apple or any GUI System Preferences.

You could consider using an encrypted disk image created with DiskUtility. This would give you an optionally mountable disk that is encrypted. It appears on the HDD as a large file (like most installer .dmg files) and mounts with a double-click and password. This is similar to what FV1 used to do with a user's home directory.


What is the python-style equivalent of virtual environments but for a user account on a Mac OS?

If you are dead set on that paradigm, then virtual machines seems to be a logical next step, no? Grab Virtualbox and do your thing in a VM.

Note however that package managers solve many problems virtualenv addresses. The libs you mention won't change interfaces radically, they are stable releases.

It's python libs which are the most volatile, not things like FreeType. I would just use whatever version X11 is using.


How do I enter commands in single-user mode?

After you've typed a line, press the enter key. Wait until the command has finished before typing the next line and repeating. If you've ever used Terminal, it is the identical process.


El Capitan: (Text) Cursor moves during my typing

Even though Apple says ignore accidental trackpad input is enabled by default, this does not seem to be the case in Yosemite/El Capitan, as several users have pointed out on the Apple support forums.

To address this issue, I made a program that disables the trackpad for a short time when typing on the keyboard. Take a look here and let me know if it works for you (I've only tested it on El Capitan 10.11.6 so far): https://github.com/thesyntaxinator/TouchGuard


It looks like you have a lot of extra parenthesis everywhere...    give this a try.

IF(B88="SHADY GROVE METRO","15903 SOMMERVILLE DR",IF(B88="POR TRAIN STATION","CLAY STREET",IF(B88="BWI","7062 ELM ROAD","")))

To provide a bit more detail, for every left paren (, you need a matching right paren ) to close the expression.    Counting what you've shown, you have 5 left parens, and 6 right parens.   This would likely cause an error due to the mismatch.

Additionally, each expression only needs one left paren to start it, not two.


Only seeing ONE of two external HD's plugged into Apple Airport Extreme

I've run into a similar problem using two flash drives, same size, same manufacturer. For whatever reason, the hub doesn't differentiate between the two. Try right-clicking on the drive that you can see and renaming it from "manufacturer xxxxx" or whatever it's called to something unique like "external drive A". Then shut down the entire setup (Mac, hub, Airport in that order) and restart everything (Airport, hub, Mac). That may help.


Is there any way to manually bless firmware when main disk is external?

To answer some of your questions:

The firmware is stored on main board. However, when updating firmware, the EFI system partition is used as a staging area.
After serval testings, it seems that Mac only recognizes the EFI partition at primary internal disk as a staging area (note: at least not working at the optical bay of my mac or at any external drive). So, if you only got an external disk or there is no ESP in your primary internal disk, that would be mission impossible, at least not the bless command could get it done.
To solve your issue, you may try the following steps if your internal disk has a EFI system partition:

boot the machine wish macOS
use bless command to prepare firmware update, including write scap file onto ESP.
make sure the scap file is on the ESP of internal disk. otherwise create one by copying it from ESP of external disk.
restart the machine. Hopefully, the upgrade will be processed.

or

backup your Windows
install High Sierra on the internal disk so that the firmware will be upgraded to latest one, or format the internal disk as GUID partition table (so that there will be a ESP on that disk for updating firmware), then use bless command to upgrade the firmware manually. note: strong recommend with --verbose and --recovery options.
restore Windows

or

I'm not sure is your mac be able to replace the internal drive with the external drive easily. If yes, I believe the fastest way is replacing the internal drive with your external drive temporarily to get the upgrade done.


iTunes: The song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?

Have you tried consolidating the files? Go to "File" -> "Library" -> "Organize Library" -> "Consolidate files". Afterwards iTunes should know that none of those songs are on your disk.


iPad's Apple ID did not reflect the change I made on and now I can't turn off Find my iPad

I just went through this mess, almost the exact same steps (minus the boss asking). In my case I had forgotten about the iPad being logged in to the same account and did not turn off findMyiPhone on it before changing the appleId.

What worked for me finally, I found here apple's KB.

Log out of iMessage on the iPad, and the log back into iMessage making sure to use the NEW appleId email address.  Next go to settings and turn off FindMyiPhone, you will be prompted for a password and the old appleid will still be displayed in the request, use the password for new appleid that you just used to log in iMessage, and it will turn off find my iphone.

Once find my iPhone is off, you can log out the account completely, and update the email address.


I had the same problem. Turns out that my iphone was trying to connect to an Apple bluetooth keyboard. I turned off bluetooth on the iPhone and the keyboard re-appeared immediately. No need for a reset or hard boot.


How do you force a 5 GHz wifi connection?

In short: you can not force a frequency band in OS X 10.9 Mavericks. (On 10.5 you can...)

You want to connect to the device using Basic service set identification (BSSID) instead of regular Service set identification (SSID). Connecting to a BBSID will connect you to a specific device regardless of the connection strength. Connecting to SSID will connect you to a specific network name, if similar network names are available it will connect to the best signal/noise ratio. It must be noted that your OS X chooses the wlan, not your router, and OS X switches to the strongest signal available (2.4GHz or 5GHz).

To find a specific SSID and BSSID combination, you can run:

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

Before OSX 10.6 you could connect to a specific BSSID using:

/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport --associate=XXX --bssid=YYY

Where XXX is the SSID/network name and YYY the MAC address of the base station you want to talk to.

On OS X 10.6 and beyond it is no longer possible to connect to BSSID directly. There is no known API for this and no third party Software exists that can do this. So you need to change your 5GHz SSID to a unique name or you need to go back to OS X 10.5, or you can change the 2.4GHz channel from within the router. I think these options are non-valid in your case.

UPDATE As maxim points out, you can force a frequency band and use that to fix to 5GHz.

On linux you can use iwconfig, but this tool is not available for OS X.


Time machine can be problematic. A couple of things to try:

open a folders that you can't access in finder, right click > get info, and check permissions. Does your user have read & write permission?
make sure your new HD disk name is the same as the old one.
try to access through time machine or finder.
give it time - there are references in the apple forums of backups not being browsable right away, but eventually becoming available.


Question about charging and using an iPad mini

You should be fine using the iPad while it is charging. The thing you want to avoid that affects battery life is always keeping it plugged in. You want to make sure you regularly "use" your battery, allowing it to drain and then recharging to full. If it is always plugged in and sitting at full you'll start to notice a decrease in performance when the battery finally does get drained.


OS X does not remember my network passwords anymore

This might be a permissions issue.

I sometimes have similar problems with settings not getting saved when the home folder has bad permissions (probably issues with the ~/Library folder). Using the terminal command resetpassword from the recovery permission may help as per http://osxdaily.com/2011/11/15/repair-user-permissions-in-mac-os-x-lion/

Restart using the recovery partition (hold down Command+r when restarting)
Under the "Utilities" menu select "Terminal"
In the Terminal window, type resetpassword and hit Return
When the Password Reset Utility launches, select the startup drive's icon and then select the user account that is having the difficulties (or go through one-by-one and select them all)
Click on the "Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs" button at the bottom.

Unfortunately, recent versions of macOS (10.14 and above maybe?) do not seem to have this feature within the Password Reset Utility. This seems to do the same thing without the Password Reset Utility or requiring restarting in the Recovery Partition. From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203538

From the Finder menu bar, choose Go > Home. Your home folder opens.
Choose File > Get Info. An Info window for your home folder opens.
If the Sharing & Permissions section at the bottom of the window isn't open, click the triangle in that section to open it.
If the lock at the bottom of the window is closed lock, click the lock and enter an administrator name and password.
Click the action menu , then choose “Apply to enclosed items.” Click OK to confirm the action.
A progress bar appears at the top of the window. When done, restart your Mac.


How to play music on iPhone via Apple Watch on watchOS 4?

Correct, with watchOS 3.x it was possible to use Apple Watch as a kind of remote for iPhone's Music.app:

Browse all available music by artist/album/genre
Start/stop playback on your iPhone with Apple Watch
Change the music source from iPhone's storage to Apple Watch's storage

Answer
Unfortunately, starting with watchOS 4, you can't browse music on your iPhone to start playing it using your Apple Watch.
See also Apple's Apple Watch User Guide on Music/Now Playing for using Music.app with watchOS 4.

Workaround
You may want to use this workaround:

While watchOS 4 will no longer allow a user to browse their iPhone's
music library, they can still use the Apple Watch to control it. In
fact, it's now easier than ever: A "Now Playing" screen shows up by
default when the user is playing music from their iPhone, giving quick
access to pause, skip a track, or adjust the volume with the Digital
Crown.
However, in order to take advantage of this, users must start the
playback of music on their iPhone, then continue controlling it via
the Apple Watch.


iphone 6: Making some apps not need passcode

With the exception of the Clock, Camera, and Calculator apps (which can be opened in Action Center (if you have it enabled in the lock screen)), there is no way to open any app without a passcode.

There is limited functionality with push notifications (but only on certain conditions, like, say, a tweet pops up in the lock screen and you can either retweet or favourite the tweet) and in Notification Center (if enabled in the lock screen), but that depends on whether or not the app has support for either one.


numbers: Copy/paste of cells messes up my formular

when this has happened to me it has been a big pain, and happens more often than I would think, even copy/pasting from Apple's own templates after I've filled them out.

Sometimes it is because of the 'relativity' of the function.

Hover over the color-highlighted cell id (i.e. C7, or B7 in my example) and a little 'circle-down-arrow' will appear (in either the function area under the toolbar, or by bringing up a function pop-up by double clicking a cell).
click on it and you will see the 'relativity menu' in my image below that begins with: "(checkmark) (B7) relative"
You can get more info in help by reading in the built-in help menu:
"Distinguishing Absolute and Relative Cell References"

Sometimes however, the cause has to do with what the 'Cell Format' is in the relative cells in question that the pasted formula would reference

see the lower left portion of my image below (arrived at by clicking the inspector, then the [42] tab).

I can sometimes, but not always seem to solve my pasted formula woes by one or both of the above.

Also, just to be sure, the intended newly referenced cells do indeed exist, otherwise my solutions will not be applicable, as there are no such cells to which you can refer in your formulae!


Why does Apple not recommend storing your iMovie library on an external drive?

"Apple doesn’t recommend storing iMovie libraries on external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives, or drives shared on a network."

'cause the quality of external flash cards are poor.  I have like eight flash drives bought in the last eight years and two of them have failed.  External cards use a double layer of circuits where as internal SSDs use one.

Library of Congress has a question and answer email facility.  I sent them a line about flash drives.  I found out that:

  LoC does not have data on the reliability of usb memory sticks.
  LoC recommends the use of rotating magnetic media for long term digital storage.

Here is what Library of Congress says about long term storage photos.  I assume that vids would be the same.

This is controversial around these parts, but I recommend you get your photos out of the Apple ecosystem and store them as one photo per file on multiple external storage devices. For long term storage, don't rely on usb memory sticks nor external ssd drives.  LoC does not have data on the reliability of usb memory sticks.  Apple seems to be saying do not store photos on external ssd drives.  One device should be off site.  Using a cloud service is fine.  Remember a lot of cloud services are sync services.  That is should the file be deleted on the local device, the photo will be deleted in the cloud.  For this reason,  I never install the cloud service software on my computer.  I use only file upload.  For those who complain, my assessment is that the apple Eco-system doesn't match Library of Congress's requirements for digital archiving.

informative video:
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/multimedia/videos/personalarchiving-photos.html

printed version
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/photos.html

General information on digital preservation:
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/personalarchiving/

R


How to Install Windows 8.1 on Haswell Mac?

This is how to fix the bootcamp windows install error:

"Windows could not update the computer's boot configuration."

Do not try to fix with a workaround - you'll find solutions of people manually selecting their Windows partition during reboot by holding down the OPTION key. This will work, but you are circumventing the way that apple wanted you to install it (via EFI).

The solution to this error is simple: it's a PRAM problem. I've seen a lot of different ways of people claiming to fix this problem. I've experienced it multiple times on my Haswell 15" retina Macbook Pro, but it seems to be affecting a lot of the other Haswells as well.

Here are the steps:

Create a USB install like normal using Boot Camp Assistant
(include the Apple support software)
Partition your drive for OSX and the new BOOTCAMP partition
Let it automatically reboot, follow the normal procedures to format the new BOOTCAMP partition, and get to the "finishing" step during the Windows installation. You will get the error
At this point, when you press OK it will automatically restart after 10+ seconds.  When that happens, quickly hold ALT+COMMAND+P+R. You will see
your screen flicker and you will hear the bootup sound twice, which means you reset the PRAM successfully
Your OSX install should now boot instead of the failed Windows install
Open Boot Camp Assistant again. Remove the Window partition that was created and restore OSX back to the partition size it had at the beginning of these steps
Go through the Boot Camp Assistant once more to create the BOOTCAMP partition. You do NOT have to recreate the USB, so just uncheck and skip those steps
Let it automatically reboot and follow the same Windows installation steps as before. You should not get the error the second time.

I found that this is the only thing that consistently works for me.  I've installed Windows 8 and 8.1 on Mavericks 10.9.2 Haswell Macbook a bunch of times, so I'm pretty sure of it. This will result in you installing it as Apple meant it to be installed.


What does the amber light on the AirPods case mean when AirPods are not in the case?

Apple's support article for AirPods doesn't point to an exact percentage but rather if the case can fully charge the AirPods.

  If your AirPods are in your case, then the light shows the charge
  status of your AirPods. If not, the light shows the status of your
  case. Green means charged, and amber means less than one full charge
  remains. If the light flashes white, your AirPods are ready to set up
  with one of your devices. If the light flashes amber, you might need
  to set up your AirPods again.


What prompts breathe reminders on an Apple Watch?

By default, breathe reminders are set to display every 5 hours. According to Apple, you can adjust or disable the reminders by doing the following.

  Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and tap the My Watch tab.
  Tap Breathe > Breathe Reminders.
  Choose how often you get reminders.


Will Swype ever be available for iPhone?

Update 2019-09-20

iOS 13 now has swype-like support built in.

Pre iOS 13...

I have been following Swype for some time, and the only thing they have officially said was one little peep in Reuters back in June about looking towards iPhone development.  In the article they alluded towards a developer running Swype on his iPhone, however no releases or leaks are anywhere to be found.

My guess... just a guess... is that they are trying to work around the need to jailbreak your iPhone in order to run it.

If you follow the Engadget blog, you'll be among the first to know.


Answer: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/set-your-mac-to-log-out-when-not-in-use-mchlp2443/mac

On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, click Security & Privacy, then click General.
Click the lock icon  to unlock it, then enter an administrator name and password.
Click Advanced. Select “Log out after... minutes of inactivity.” Set the amount of time before the user is automatically logged out.

@lhf Thanks!


HDMI Stop working after Macbook OS Update

So after some Google searches I found one fix that worked. Update the Display Link Driver located here:  https://www.displaylink.com/downloads/

Not sure what happened during the new Mojave Update to version 10.14.3 but after installing this new driver, my HDMI port to second monitor is now working.


Closed MacBook Pro keeps turning external display on/off

Sounds like you already have the suspects identified (power supply being intermittent, faulty port, faulty dongle (if in use), faulty HDMI lead). If I were you, I'd start a process of elimination. Source another power supply (and/or extension cord, if in use), swap out the dongle/port/HDMI lead. Also, try a different refresh rate/resolution for the display and see if that makes as difference. I'm using an early 2015 MacBook Pro with an Acer UHD4K2K display via display port and the laptop closed. I've had problems with the display not waking at times.

Also, check your Magsafe port for debris. Could be dirty contacts making the charging intermittent.


Go to the Security & Privacy pane in System Preferences:

You should be able to check/uncheck Dashboard for access. You will have to quit and restart the widget in order to accept the new setting.


CLI to copy to clipboard but still output to term ?

The tool of choice is called tee. Full description is available via man tee but you canprobably just use

echo test | tee >(pbcopy)

to get the result you are looking for.


El Capitan Mac: /usr/bin/login tries to run /bin/false

I had the same problem, with emacs giving me "Error (use-package): exec-path-from-shell :init: Searching for program: no such file or directory, /bin/false" on startup.
However, I noticed that this only happens when running Emacs (installed from emacsformacosx) from the Dock or Spotlight. If I ran it from my Terminal, or by clicking on it in Applications in finder, it worked fine.

After a restart, the problem was resolved. I suspect that Dock and Spotlight held on to my original default shell, and after a restart, they used the new value (changed from /bin/false to /bin/zsh).


Is is possible to format an Applescript dialog?

Barring using Cocoa dialogs and integrating them into your script (way out of the scope of this question – and of my expertise, too), you can’t. AppleScript’s display dialog does not allow for typographic formatting (and neither does the only script friendly alternative to AppleScript’s inbuilt abilities, Carsten Blüm’s Pashua).

If all you need is for the first (supposedly most important) part of the text to be emphasized, you can use display alert instead of display dialog

display alert "this is the important part" message "… and this is not"

which will give you this:


Does working in Target Disk mode hurt hardware?

That won't harm anything.  In Target Disk Mode, your MacBook Pro behaves like any external hard drive.  You're simply booting the iMac from the MacBook Pro's hard drive.  This is exactly the same as booting from a regular USB or FireWire hard drive.

Note: When you do this, none of the hardware on your MacBook Pro other than the hard drive is in play.  The CPU, RAM, etc. are all powered off.  Other than the hard drive, you're still using your iMac.


iPhoto - Removing image files that weren't taken by a camera

You can create a smart album to divide your pictures into the ones you wish to keep & the ones to delete. There are several metadata fields you can use to create an album that divides your images - you should likely start with the Camera Model field.

So, to do this,

Select New Smart Album in iPhoto
Under Match the following condition, select Camera Model is (whatever camera you wish to retain).
If you have several cameras create more than one condition, and change the "Match all of the following conditions" to "Match any of the following conditions."

Depending on your setup, you can reverse this search - instead creating a Smart Album that contains just the images that weren't taken with any of your cameras, and then deleting the downloaded ones...


Every time I enter an url into safari it goes to a previously visited part of it

It is normal. It allows you to get to pages you previously visited or, if you prefer to visit only the URL you've typed thus far, you simply hit backspace and then enter.

Safari's autocomplete model is slightly un-ntuitive at first (especially if you're used to shell completion) because it offers not the shortest unique completion but something else which is almost always longer.

From my non-scientific observation, I'd say the algorithm most likely uses the most visited URL which matches what's already been typed or, all being equal, the most recently visited.  Which makes a lot of sense when you think about it AND understand that you can always ignore Safari's guess by either continuing to type or hitting backspace.


Restoring one system file from Time Machine backup

Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to recover that file using Time Machine. There are a number of files and directories that Time Machine does not back up—primarily cache and temporary files. This includes the files in the /tmp directory. The directory itself (minus contents) is backed up, because it is necessary for a reinstall.

The complete list of exclusions can be found in /System/Library/CoreServices/backupd.bundle/Contents/Resources/StdExclusions.plist

ᔥ Devin Lane: Time Machine Exclusions


How can Mail.app in Mavericks show a messages plain text alternative?

Apparently there is no way to do this with mavericks' Mail.app.

The option in the menu is gone and setting it by hard in the plist file doesn't seem to work anymore either, according to this post and this post.

Unfortunately you have to switch to a different mail client if you want to have proper multi-format support.

Or, for testing purposes, you could just send you the email in plain text and see how it looks and then verify that both parts are present by looking at the raw mail text (which Mail.app still lets you do).


How to find all files that are larger than 1GB on the Mac HD?

You can use the -x to avoid traversing mounted drives:

-x      Prevent find from descending into directories that have a device number different than that of the file from which the descent
        began.

You command should then be

$ sudo find -x / -type f -size +1G

Regarding the fact about the missing documentation: is not missing is just not easy to find. At the end of the PRIMARIES section of the man page

  All primaries which take a numeric argument allow the number to be preceded by a plus sign ("+") or a minus sign ("-").  A preceding plus sign means "more than n", a preceding minus sign means "less than n" and neither means "exactly n".


How to record my voice and output to speaker at the same time?

You need a USB Audio Mixer like this one Presonus Audiobox USB

When you use audio software, if you CAN monitor the output, there will be a delay because it has to come in through the mic, record to disk, they play it back.

What this device does is take the live audio and send it into two different directions:

to your computer for recording
to an external device like a PA system or audio system

When you use this, you are not depending on your computer to play it back - it will go directly to the PA system while simultaneously recording it.

The best part is you can adjust the levels for your PA and recording independently so the quality is good on both - not on one and horrible on the other.

Using the Presonus as an example:

Your mic would go into 1 on the front and you would have your computer plugged into the USB (back) and the MAIN OUT (back) would go to the PA.  You just need the right plugs at this point.

I have used this setup many times and it works flawlessly.


How to change the language of the date (day of week) in Yosemite's lock screen?

You may want to check this article from Apple's website.

  OS X Yosemite: Customize formats to display dates, times, and more

  Change the language and formats used to display dates, times, numbers,
  and currencies in Finder windows and apps, such as Mail. For example,
  if the region for your Mac is set to United States, but the format
  language is set to French, then dates in Finder windows and email
  messages appear in French.

  Tip:   If you just want to change how time is shown in the menu bar,
  select the “Time format” checkbox in the Language & Region preference
  pane, or select the 24-hour option in the Clock pane of Date & Time
  preferences. To show the date in the menu bar, also select “Show Date”
  in the Clock pane.

  Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Language & Region.
  Choose a geographic region from the Region pop-up menu, to use the region’s date, time, number, and currency formats.
  To customize the formats or change the language used to display them, click Advanced, then set options.

  In the General pane, you can choose the language to use for showing
  dates, times, and numbers, and set formats for numbers, currency, and
  measurements.

  In the Dates and Times panes, you can type in the Short, Medium, Long,
  and Full fields, and rearrange or delete elements. You can also drag
  new elements, such as Quarter or Milliseconds, into the fields. If
  you’re not using a 24-hour clock, you can replace AM and PM with
  whatever you type in those fields.
  When you’re done customizing formats, click OK.

  The region name in Language & Region preferences now includes “Custom”
  to indicate that you customized formats.

  Your formats are visible in Finder windows and in some apps. For
  example, dates in Mail or Notes show your custom format.

  To undo all of your changes for a region, choose the region again from
  the Region pop-up menu. To undo just your changes to advanced options,
  click Advanced, click the pane where you want to undo your changes,
  then click Restore Defaults.


Yosemite three-finger lookup not working

Are you running Scroll Reverser? It causes the bug. Just quit Scroll Reverser.


How does the mv command work with external drives?

macOS's mv is based on the BSD source code. You can find the source code to the mv command online. Using https://github.com/freebsd/freebsd/blob/master/bin/mv/mv.c as a reference, you can see that they do indeed first try to rename the file and then if it is crossing filesystems, it does a cp followed by a rm.

    /*
     * If rename fails because we're trying to cross devices, and
     * it's a regular file, do the copy internally; otherwise, use
     * cp and rm.
     */
    if (lstat(from, &sb)) {
        warn("%s", from);
        return (1);
    }
    return (S_ISREG(sb.st_mode) ?
        fastcopy(from, to, &sb) : copy(from, to));
}


Firefox has no built-in reader feature. But you can install an extension to add this feature : Reader for Firefox


Have you tried calibrating your Apple Watch? According to the support article, Calibrating your Apple Watch for improved Workout and Activity accuracy, calibration helps improve accuracy of things like distance and pace when GPS is not available. An example of this would be when you are walking or running on a treadmill.


I'm a little unclear what your configuration is...
If your "128GB SD" is an external drive: Unencrypt the data, reformat macbook, encrypt data again.

If your "128GB SD" is the drive that you wish to reformat:
Copy the data to another external drive unencrypted, reformat your drive, copy the data back onto it and encrypt it over again.

Is there anything keeping you from doing either of these?


How to change [option + key] international shortcut in OS X

Stumbled upon this post when trying to achieve the same mapping with Karabiner-Elements.
The old "Karabiner" does not work with Sierra and above and have been replaced with Karabiner-Elements.

I managed to achieve the behaviour desired by original poster in Karabinier-Elements by adding the configuration below to karabinier.conf so I posted this as reference for others that stumble in here for same reason.

It is based on the "standard" way to enter umlaut characters with a US keyboard, e.g.
option+u, a => ä
option+u, o => ö
and
option+a => å

(in section "complex_modification" -> "rules")
"rules": [
       {"description": "left_option ['; to åäö",
        "manipulators": [
            {"type": "basic",
            "from": {
                "key_code": "open_bracket",
                "modifiers": { "mandatory": [ "left_option" ] }
            },
            "to": [
                {"key_code": "a",
                 "modifiers" : [ "left_option" ]
                }]
            },
            {
            "type": "basic",
            "from": {
                "key_code": "open_bracket",
                "modifiers": {
                "mandatory": [
                    "left_option",
                    "left_shift"
                ]
                }
            },
            "to": [
                {"key_code": "a",
                 "modifiers" : [
                 "left_option",
                 "left_shift"
                 ]

                }
            ]
            },

            {
            "type": "basic",
            "from": {
                "key_code": "quote",
                "modifiers": {
                "mandatory": [
                    "left_option"
                ]
                }
            },
            "to": [
                {"key_code": "u",
                 "modifiers" : [
                 "left_option"
                 ]
                },
                {"key_code": "a"}
            ]
            },
            {
            "type": "basic",
            "from": {
                "key_code": "quote",
                "modifiers": {
                "mandatory": [
                    "left_option",
                    "left_shift"
                ]
                }
            },
            "to": [
                {"key_code": "u",
                 "modifiers" : [
                 "left_option"
                 ]
                },
                {"key_code": "a",
                 "modifiers" : [ "left_shift" ]}
            ]
            },

            {
            "type": "basic",
            "from": {
                "key_code": "semicolon",
                "modifiers": {
                "mandatory": [
                    "left_option"
                ]
                }
            },
            "to": [
                {"key_code": "u",
                 "modifiers" : [
                 "left_option"
                 ]
                },
                {"key_code": "o"}
            ]
            },

            {
            "type": "basic",
            "from": {
                "key_code": "semicolon",
                "modifiers": {
                "mandatory": [
                    "left_option",
                    "left_shift"
                ]
                }
            },
            "to": [
                {"key_code": "u",
                 "modifiers" : [
                 "left_option"
                 ]
                },
                {"key_code": "o",
                 "modifiers" : [ "left_shift" ]}
            ]
            }
        ]
        }] // end "rules"


You can set the text from Terminal by running

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow LoginwindowText "your text here"

The text is displayed in three lines with a max length of 68 characters each so it it might help to pre-select/format the quotes to match these limitations.


Make Time Machine use two drives from Terminal

I don't think using terminal to configure Time Machine to back up to 2 different disks is necessary.  If you have Time Machine setup currently to back up to one external disk, you can go back to the Time Machine preferences in System Preferences and select a different drive to back up to.  After doing this you will be presented with the option of using both drives for Time Machine backups or change the existing drive. If you select the option of using two separate drives, the Time Machine backups will alternate destination drives for each backup.  At least these are the options I am presented with, while using two separate 3 tb Time Capsules.


I'm sorry to break the bad news, but your GPU has failed. This is a known issue for your machine. Your model was subject to a replacement program for the logicboard due to a defective GPU, though it no longer is active. Apple may or may not still replace your logicboard. It is ultimately at the discretion of the store manager. If you don't qualify, your other option would be a flat rate repair, for ~$300, which Apple will repair anything wrong with the machine for this fee. Just googling around, other options exist that may prolong the life of your machine.

Ultimately though, this is a hardware issue for which no online troubleshooting exists. Best of luck.