Can i use the cd/dvd from an older mac mini as a cd/dvd for a newer one via a thunderbolt cable?

The 2011 Mac mini can run OS X 10.7 through OS X 10.13.6, therefore you should not be able to install Snow Leopard. You should want to install 10.13.6 in a APFS container since APFS was designed for SSDs.


Third party tools and rm can not delete System Integrity Protection (SIP) protected files.

To remove Terminal.app from your Mac, you would first need to disable SIP.

System Integrity Protection on your Mac means you can not delete or modify a range of important files and applications. See About System Integrity Protection on your Mac for what and how SIP protects you.


Homebrew installed: geoiplookup shows no output - howto install GeoIP-data?

After installing geoipupdate and geoip with geoipupdate support navigate to the file /usr/local/Cellar/geoipupdate/2.3.1/etc/GeoIP.conf and open it.

Replace:

# Please see http://dev.maxmind.com/geoip/geoipupdate/ for instructions
# on setting up geoipupdate, including information on how to download a
# pre-filled GeoIP.conf file.

# Enter your user ID and license key below. These are available from
# https://www.maxmind.com/en/my_license_key. If you are only using free
# GeoLite databases, you make leave the 0 values.
UserId 0
LicenseKey 000000000000

# Enter the product IDs of the databases you would like to update.
# Multiple product IDs are separated by spaces.
ProductIds GeoLite2-Country GeoLite2-City
...

with:

# The following UserId and LicenseKey are required placeholders:
UserId 999999
LicenseKey 000000000000

# Include one or more of the following ProductIds:
# * GeoLite2-City - GeoLite 2 City
# * GeoLite2-Country - GeoLite2 Country
# * GeoLite-Legacy-IPv6-City - GeoLite Legacy IPv6 City
# * GeoLite-Legacy-IPv6-Country - GeoLite Legacy IPv6 Country
# * 506 - GeoLite Legacy Country
# * 517 - GeoLite Legacy ASN
# * 533 - GeoLite Legacy City
ProductIds GeoLite2-City GeoLite2-Country GeoLite-Legacy-IPv6-City GeoLite-Legacy-IPv6-Country 506 517 533
...

and update the database with geoipupdate.

Entering geoiplookup 8.8.4.4 now will yield:

GeoIP Country Edition: US, United States
GeoIP City Edition, Rev 1: US, N/A, N/A, N/A, N/A, 37.750999, -97.821999, 0, 0

Update:

According to adejones' comment the GeoIP.conf file moved to /usr/local/etc/GeoIP.conf in newer versions of "brew-installed" geoipupdate.


Can I keep the Screen Sharing app from showing the menu bar?

Something that made this less annoying/painful for me was to:

Turn scaling on
Set remote monitor resolution to match exactly client resolution (laptop)
Set to follow cursor continuously

This seems to trigger the top bar pull-down less frequently, but it still happens.

Another workaround would be not using fullscreen mode, and use maximized mode instead, but that's no fun!


How to delete undeletable songs from an iOS device

Go into Settings > Music > and enable "Show All Music".
The undeletable song have the cloud symbol next to them.
Redownload the songs.
Once finished downloading, go back to settings>music> and disable "show all music" then the swipe-to-delete will work again for the rogue songs. If you don't disable "show all music" it will delete then pop up again.

My theory is that initially when playing songs from the cloud, it caches the song somehow, and when you switch off "Show all music", the cached song remains, but iTunes doesn't see it as an actual song and won't allow deletion.


Is there a searchable list of applications that support OS X's resume/autosave/iCloud features?

I don't believe that there is a resource showing apps that support one specific Lion feature; but an excellent starter source is Roaring Apps: http://roaringapps.com.

Roaring apps is a group sourced site that analyses apps and how well they do or don't work on Lion. This site had a lot more traffic right after Lion's release and I expect it to get hit again as (Redacted) Lion hits the streets.

It might be worth submitting to that site to see if they'd expand to cover Lion-esque features for more details.


Is it possible to use Apple Watch with AirPods to detect a "left hand double tap" vs a "right hand tap"?

I wanted to accomplish this with the iTunes version of the Apple Watch, but it only works if playing music from your phone, otherwise the watch can't program these tap options by itself.


iPhone turning off on 10 - 20% and battery percentage not showing right

I agree with Tyson, these are classic "dead battery" symptoms. If you want to be certain before ordering a replacement battery or having it repaired, use a battery utility, such as coconutBattery (for Mac) or 3uTools (for Windows). It will tell you what the health of the battery is (Design Capacity). If your battery shows anything less than 70% of design capacity, it will require replacement.


How to keep apps from adding themselves to login items?

Update*

if you do a get info on the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist file and tick the lock checkbox.

No changes will be written to the file. Therefor on next login there will be no additions.

I just tested this and it worked. But cannot guarantee that this may or may not be a good thing to do.  I my self will use my Answer below.

You can set a launchAgent to watch for changes on the ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist file

In my example here I use a launchAgent to watch for the change and then run a command to notify me. In this case I use the command tool growlnotify

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>loginItems</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/local/bin/growlnotify</string>
        <string>-n</string>
        <string>login items change</string>
        <string>-m</string>
        <string>login items change</string>
        <string>-s</string>
    </array>
    <key>WatchPaths</key>
    <array>
        <string>/Users/USERNAME/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist</string>
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>

I actually made this using lingon which take some of the pain out of making launchAgent.

The command I run is :/usr/local/bin/growlnotify -n "login items change" -m "login items have been changed" -s

Note this is a simple example. And you should remember that any changes may take a short while to be written to the plist. But my tests have shown it to work.


Is there a .eml email file viewer that can also save attachments?

To extract attachments from the Terminal, you can use a couple of different methods. Probably the easiest is

  perl -MMIME::Base64 -ne 'print decode_base64($_)' < file.eml > out

where file.eml is the email file in question and out is the name of the attachment.

The same thing can be accomplished by using the base64 command, but you have to do some cleanup work on the original email file first -- namely strip everything out of the eml file before the base64 encoded attachment. The command would be something along these lines

  base64 -D -i file.eml -o out

If you take the 2nd approach, recommend that you operate on a copy of the original file.

Of course for reading the eml files, you can probably use cat or your favorite editor. Works in a pinch, but certainly not the easiest way to deal with email.


Lowest volume is still too loud—how can I make it even lower?

Pressing ShiftOptionVolume Up/Volume Down allows you to adjust in quarter-box increments. You can also click the volume icon in the menu bar and fine-tune with the slider, or open the Sound panel in System Preferences and get a bigger slider there, which would allow for finer control.


The size is normally the size of the full application. What I do is I open the application info screen and look at the file size. Remember, App Store updates are full versions of the file being downloaded, and the existing one replaced.

There is unfortunately no way to do this quickly, you have to check each application individually from the update screen by tapping on its icon.

As pointed out by @cksum, when finding the app on the iPhone, scroll to the bottom and it will show the size.


Safari's "Quick Website Seach" Address Bar Feature Redirects Google to Ask Different

https://shouldiblamecaching.com

I won't recommend removing the site from history, however, you can try removing it from "Manage Website data" under Safari privacy preferences and then use command + option +E or Empty Cache under Develop menu.


If you are an administrator (i.e. have an admin account) on the MacBook Air and are familiar with the command line interface you can use the sudo command to obtain machine-level admin rights. Once you have those rights, you can access the files in that folder.

An example of this might be:

$ cd ~/Desktop
$ mkdir luannsphotos
$ sudo cp -R G-Drive/Backups/LuAnne'sMacBookAir/Latest/MacintoshHD/Users/luanne/Pictures/* luannsphotos

This is pseudo-"code", but essentially I've created a folder in your home folder, and then recursively copied the contents of that folder you referenced into this new folder.


&eacute; is one of the HTML forms of é and when &eacute; is pasted as plain text... No, TextEdit will not convert it to é.

Either copy from a source that show it as é or use the Find and Replace... command in TextEdit to find &eacute; and replace it with é.

As a side note, &#233; and &#xE9; also represent é in HTML.


How does macOS "detect malware downloaded with Safari"?

It's part of the XProtect / file quarantine scheme built into the OS.  macOS has a hard-coded list of file signatures in /System/Library/CoreServices/XProtect.bundle/Contents/Resources/XProtect.plist.  If a file matches one of the signatures, it gets flagged and quarantined.  The list is silently updated, outside the usual software-update mechanism.

It is effectively a very rudimentary blacklist of known malware.  XProtect does not provide active scanning or heuristic-based protection offered by typical antivirus products.


The application (or a third-party) has to provide support for Automator. It's not automatic.


If I use a prepaid SIM card from AT&T retail store in iPhone, do I get 3G or GSM service?

Presuming that it's not a CMDA iPhone (i.e. not from Verizon/Sprint), you will see '3G' if you're in a 3G coverage area. The Enable 3G and Cellular Data options must be turned on in the Settings.

Sidenote: AT&T requires purchasing a data package for their smartphones; no Pay per use.

As AT&T also had a GSM network, you could also access that (and GPRS/EDGE as well).

Usual Terms and Conditions will probably apply.


Little Snitch could help you out here. It's very configurable outbound firewall for Macs. The rule set it supports is comprehensive and you can block based on interface as well as IP ranges. You could set it up with everything blocked, tether, let through just the apps you want, and then enable/disable Little Snitch with this ruleset based on how you're using your Mac at any particular point in time.


To determine the Battery status open About this Mac -More -System

now look for battery information in there under Power.

Look for:

Charge cycles count < 600 for yours

and the Full Charge Capacity (mAh): > 4557

In any case resetting your SMC (System Management Controller will help some).


Are there any good reasons to NOT symlink 'System Folders' like Photos or Music?

This is fine! Go ahead!

Symlinks or hard links are followed by the system, so you're free to create them within any of those folders, or indeed the folder itself.


Local policy error when disabling SIP on Big Sur/M1

I had the same problem. This worked for me.

csrutil clear
Restart and return to the recovery terminal
csrutil disable


App store asks me for password but won't let me enter my ID

"macotavio@mac.com" does not appear to be a "generic example email", but rather the Apple ID used to purchase the copy of Final Cut Pro that is installed on your Mac. The purchase is tied to this Apple ID (which explains why you cannot change it) and in order to update the installation, you will have to provide the correct password for this Apple ID.


Is possible to distribute app only to one account?

Yes. Sign up with apple for their custom B2B store and you can sell apps to only the clients you approve.
Your clients will sign up for VPP and you'll need to set  things up when you upload your app to the App Store.

http://www.apple.com/business/vpp/
For the administrative hassle, you get the ability to sell purchase orders, set custom pricing, negotiate custom contract directly with your customers and have Apple still do the app review, the QA and app distribution for you.

Alternatively, your clients can set up a MDM and custom App Store and you can follow Apple's instructions for app distribution outside the App Store.


How do I get LaunchBar to open the enclosing folder for a selected file?

Command-Return

Hold the Command key and tap the Return key

This will bring you to a Finder window, where the file/app is selected within the enclosing folder.


View TLS Certificate in Safari 8 / Yosemite

The padlock should still be there

and by clicking on it, you get the certificate information as before:

Clicking on «Show Certificate» gives the details:


Jailbreaking a stolen iPhone 5S after remote wipe from Find My iPhone

Since iOS 7, Apple has employed Activation Lock. Once Find my iPhone has been enabled, the device is bound to the user's Apple ID and will require the username and password of that particular Apple ID to restore or activate.

Remote wipes put a lock on the device on top of clearing out the data. Once that phone is turned back on, a password will be required.

Activation Lock cripples iPhones for life (or till the user enters the Apple ID password).

The thief that has your device now has a brick and it will always be a brick. There is absolutely no bypassing Activation Lock because Apple's servers will chase it forever.

The only procedure left to the thief is to put the device in DFU mode, but once the restore is complete, the user will again be prompted for the Apple ID password upon setup. And since the device checks Apple's servers for this hold, the thief is left up a creak.

You can see on Apple's website what Activation Lock consists of:

  With Activation Lock, your Apple ID and password are required before
  anyone can:

  Turn off Find My iPhone on your device
  Sign out of iCloud on your device
  Erase and reactivate your device

Jailbreaking a device requires access to it. If it was that easy, Activation Lock would be useless. Apple is much smarter than that.

iPhone Hacks has a more in-depth look at the feature: Protect your iPhone against theft with Activation Lock


Passbook
is only for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The following is taken from the official description:

...you can scan your iPhone or iPod touch to check in for a flight, get into a movie, and redeem a coupon....


iPad repeatedly asks for WiFi password although unchanged

To those who experience Apple products 'forgetting' (temporarily or indefinitely) a WIFI password, this is AN APPLE FAILURE - not yours.

Equally failing are the responses you'll get to 'reset network settings' that will delete ALL of your saved WIFI passwords. This is a totally unacceptable response and should be avoided. Same goes for completely restoring an Apple device to resolve some mundane issue that renders your Apple product less than useful and lacks a true 'fix' from Apple.

No other product line outside Apple has this chronic problem that has made it through every generation of OS and iOS.

Since the issue has never been resolved for the end user, one can only surmise Apple has good reason to inconvenience users with this.

Not amused.

Solution: other than resetting network settings and losing all logins... one can (usually) find success by turning off WIFI and waiting some time before allowing your device to re-login. Or, one can reset (turn off and on again) all devices (including modem/router/etc) EXCEPT network settings on the Apple device and that should clear the problem. It is an inconvenience, but it should work.

And for the few that will be forced to reset network settings, and lose everything, I'm surprised you haven't sued Apple for the loss of business - if taking a chance using an Apple product for your business.


Finder in Mavericks will not tag files on network drives

I'm also having this problem. I've seen a few users comment on it on different forums and Apple's Support. No one has offered a real answer, other than this seems to be a problem with Apple's implementation of SMB or the way the Finder interacts and reads those Volumes (or the way attribute files are saved/stored/read on them).

The format of the servers volume doesn't really matter and should be transparent to the client. All Finder can see is a SMB share, whether that share is on an ext3 filesystem or a NTFS one is quite irrelevant.

I've tested connecting to the same volume with AFP, SMB (which in Mavericks now uses SMB2 by default) and CIFS (forcing Finder to use the SMB v1 protocol). As far as I know, tags info are stored in .DS_Store files for each folder.

Connecting with CIFS or SMB, tag support is buggy. Tags sometimes appear for a few seconds and then disappear. In addition to the .DS_Store file, a ._FILE_NAME file is created for each file. Getting the properties of the file sometimes shows the tag.

Connecting with AFP tags work as expected. Just a .DS_Store file is created. But no tag info is available if tag was assigned while mounted as SMB.

Is a pity, because SMB2 is faster than AFP in my tests, but sacrificing tags for it is too bad.


Yes. You'll want to look at caching server on OS X to avoid downloading 100 copies of the software image and either ground control or Apple Configurator 2. Both can be highly automated and scripted and will re-enroll the devices into your MDM once the job is done.


Does deleting a photo on iPhone also delete it from PhotoStream?

As long as you don't remove the Photo Stream photos or albums from your iPhone 4, no it doesn't.

Since your Photo Stream photos and albums show up on all of your devices, whatever changes that you do on the albums will be reflected everywhere else. In this case, if you delete the Photo Stream album from your iPhone 4, your iPhone 5c will lose access to said album, too.

If you still feel uncomfortable deleting your photos, backup your photos to your Mac or Windows PC using iTunes, then delete the photos. If they are gone from your 5c, then at least you have a backup to fall back on.


Is it possible to reduce the size of a chrome window further than normal?

I suggest that you use a PIP extension that can allow you to view almost any video like you could using the Safari browser. You can basically watch the same video regardless of your active desktop. Here's what I use.

The only issue I face is that the PIP doesn't work on fullscreen windows and for such situations I am forced to use Safari.


Does iOS download iOS updates when using a hotspot?

In short, yes. This is how it works:

By default iOS does not allow the download of any single file above 100MB in size using your device's cellular/mobile data connection
When an iOS device is sharing its cellular/mobile data connection as a Personal Hotspot, that hotspot is seen as just another type of internet connection and not as a cellular/mobile data connection
More specifically, that connection will be seen as either a Wi-Fi interface, Bluetooth interface, or USB interface (depending on your personal hotspot settings)
Since the second device (i.e. the one connecting to the personal hotspot) is not seeing it as a cellular/mobile data connection, it can download files larger than the 100MB cap allowed on its own cellular/mobile data connection

There are a range of settings within iOS settings that you can use to manage what (incl. individual apps) have access to your cellular/mobile data connection, but these settings will not recognise a Personal Hotspot as anything other than another internet connection.


Unable to force quit Chrome (Yosemite) OS X 10.10.4

Try with the -9 option:

killall -9 Google\ Chrome

You can also try killing all Chrome processes:

kill -9 $(pgrep Chrome)


How to open a file in the default application for it directly from QuickLook?

Quick Look windows have had a button for opening files since Lion:

They're not shown in the full screen slideshow windows though. Holding or secondary-clicking (but not control-clicking) the button shows a menu for selecting other applications.


How can I type a backtick (accent grave or "`") on a European (Dutch) keyboard?

According to this image from Apple's KB article, it appears to be between the Z and shift.


Macports will have /opt/local/lib/port as the executable that does all the work.

Fink's main executable is fink  - I think it is in /sw/bin/fink but as I don't have fink installed I cannot confirm

You also need to see if there is anything in /usr/local that could conflict with home-brew.

A better alternative, as you are using a package manager, is write your installs a script in all of the package managers, rather than introduce yet another installer

The usual OSX way is to create an app with all the required shared libraries inside the app bundle so there is no need for a special install just copy the app.


Install MacOS 10.12.2 on VMWare Fusion 8.5.3

The description here: https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2056603 is still valid - which also has a small video of the installation process.

Select File > New from the Fusion menu bar.
Select "Install from disc or image" and Click Continue.
Drag and drop the Install MacOS Sierra application into Use operating system installation disc or image dialog box.
Click Continue.
Fusion should automatically discover the Guest Operating System. If not, ensure that the Operating System is set to Apple Mac OS X and that the version is set to Mac OS X 10.12.x. Click Continue.
If you want to modify any of the settings, such as memory (RAM), CPU, or hard disk size, click Customize Settings and specify the non-default values.
Click Finish. The installation starts.
When prompted, select Reinstall Mac OS X and click Continue.
Click Continue.
Agree to the license agreement and follow the prompts to begin the
 installation.


Implementing virtual currency is against latest apple guidelines?

Apple mention virtual currencies in their App Store Review Guidelines:

  Apps may facilitate transmission of approved virtual currencies provided that they do so in compliance with all state and federal laws for the territories in which the app functions

But the only way you are going to get a definitive answer on whether Apple will accept or reject your app with your own virtual currency is to ask Apple.


transfering contacts from my old phone to iPhone via Bluetooth

No, unfortunately this isn't possible as the iPhone lacks the necessary Bluetooth services for address book transfer. If both your iPhone and previous phone are GSM phones, you can transfer the contacts to the SIM and transfer them off with the iPhone.


iOS 10/macOS Sierra: Merging Faces between iPhone and Mac

With their focus on privacy Apple have deliberately made the decision not to sync certain information between devices.

They have documented this in a Knowledge base article called Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers.

  After you sign in, these items appear in the Photos app on all of your
  Mac computers:

  All original photos and videos
  All folders and albums
  Smart Albums
  Keywords
  Memories
  Key photo selections

  These items are available only on the Mac where you created them:

  Books, cards, and calendars
  Slideshows
  Keyword shortcuts
  Unused keywords
  Last imported album (this album contains photos you most recently imported on a specific Mac)
  Names and faces in the People album


iPhone voicemail does not display my messages, tells me to call voicemail

You should probably call your carrier and ask them to sort it out.

From this Apple Support article:

  Only your wireless carrier can access and manage the voicemail account for your phone number. On your carrier's customer-service page, look for steps about how to reset your password online or over the phone.


How can I downgrade apps from the Cydia Store?

The only way (as far as I know having experience with Cydia repos) is to find a respiratory with the older version as when you push an update to Cydia you take out the original.

I'm sure if you run a quick google search for the version of whichever Cydia app (.deb) you are looking for you'll be able to find it.


So if you are reading this, this may not be how to downgrade itunes, but this is how I used a different version.

Install VirtualBox
Obtain a .iso version of windows, and Boot it in VirtualBox
download itunes version needed from here within VirtualBox
Do what you need


Connection Interrupted error in iOS simulators after updating to xcode 7

I had the same problem, and I found at the end that I had 2 simulator windows running at the same time. I close both of them and Xcode, and the problem was solved.
I didn't need to restart my machine.


Streaming video without an internet connection

You dont need the internet connection to stream, you just need a wifi network (a router; example: stream from the iphone to the apple tv via an airport express creating a network). If you neglect DRM-protected stuff that is, which needs access to the internet.

Apparently you just have to activate the apple tv beforehand though, which requires an internet connection.

Another option would be a Chromecast.


Create a new (.txt) File in Finder - Keyboard Shortcut

Well, here you go with an AppleScript for that.

First, create the AppleScript:

Open Automator
Create a Quick Action
Set the input to no input
Drag and Drop the Run AppleScript workflow element onto the grey space.
Paste the code from below into the AppleScript
Save the workflow as Create new file
If you have iCloud Drive activated, make sure you are saving the file under Library/Services/ in your Home Folder.

try
  tell application "Finder" to set the this_folder ¬
   to (folder of the front window) as alias
on error -- no open folder windows
  set the this_folder to path to desktop folder as alias
end try

set thefilename to text returned of (display dialog ¬
 "Create file named:" default answer "filename.txt")
set thefullpath to POSIX path of this_folder & thefilename
do shell script "touch \"" & thefullpath & "\""

To add it as a shortcut:

Go to System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Services
Scroll down until you find the Service Create new file
Assign a shortcut to it by clicking on the right side none, which turns into a Add Shortcut.
Click the Button and type the shortcut you wish to use.
I use ⌘ Command+⌥ Option+N


Is there an App or Extension that allows for per-window zoom/magnification?

What you ask isn't possible.

There are apps that will zoom a portion of the screen - I use the loupe in Xscope for this purpose and it does a very nice job of magnifying the area around the cursor, but it's not able to grab an entire window and zoom it in place.

The OS takes the content that the application draws and maps that onto the space where the window exists, so you would need to fundamentally alter the screen rendering on OS X to force an app that hadn't considered zoom levels to zoom only itself.

Unless you really like Xscope, my guess is you'll get in the habit of zooming the entire screen or possible find another software package to replace the one that won't zoom.

The other workaround would be to run that program in a virtual machine and force it to be full screen zoomed in that one OS and keep the rest of your programs running outside the VM. That would accomplish exactly what you ask at some level of time commitment to virtualize the OS and get that set up.


Simulate how a volume is mounted using diskarbitrationd

You hook into diskarbitrationd by using Apple's Disk Arbitration framework. Basically you call DASessionCreate() to create a DASessionRef, and then register one or more notification callbacks.

You would need to register for the DARegisterDiskMountApprovalCallback. This gives you a notification whenever diskarbitrationd is going to mount something new. By returning a DADissenterRef from this callback, you can prevent diskarbitrationd from actually mounting the file system.

Then you can mount the file system yourself and create shortcuts etc. using standard methods, such as the mount() system call.

Here's a direct link to the page in the programming guide, you'll need to examine:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/DriversKernelHardware/Conceptual/DiskArbitrationProgGuide/ArbitrationBasics/ArbitrationBasics.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009310-CH2-SW1


Horizontal scrolling not working in macOS calendar app

A stupid and so simple solution, which for months (if not years...) I didn't think about, is simply to right click in the calendar app (with the same two fingers you use to scroll).

And that's it, problem gone!


Unable to install apps on new iPhone 11 Pro Max because I have to purchase them first

You just need to delete the app (or, more specifically, the icon placeholder for the app) from your iPhone's Home screen. Then when you go to the App Store again you should get the cloud download symbol indicating you've previously purchased the app. Tap on that and it should download just fine.

To delete apps from the Home Screen on iOS 13, follow these steps:

On your iPhone's home screen, long press on the app icon and let go
From the options that appear, tap Rearrange Apps
Now you'll see the familiar jiggle action and the associated cross at top left of the icon
Tap on the cross to delete the app
Now proceed to the App Store to download it again


Will Time Machine restore the "Date Created" field along with the restored files?

I can confirm that it does on OS X 10.9. I created a spreadsheet in November 2013, then deleted it a couple of weeks back. I've just restored it (because I didn't know the answer to this question!) and the Date Created says 17 November 2013.

Since Time Machine changes between OS X versions, I can't say that this will be the case for older versions, but I imagine it should be.


Can I test my iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 apps on an iPad mini retina

Yes, you can run iPhone apps on a retina iPad mini but you cannot test anything that may rely on the hardware features that exist in the iPhone but not the iPad - namely the GPS. If you buy an iPad Mini with Cellular, I think you'd be all set.


Send Wake-On-Lan packets from Mac to Nas for TimeMachine backups

I resolves this by the using an answer from this question that links to this blog post, and incorporating this Wake UP NAS applescript into the automator app (Changing the MAC and local broadcast IP address to suit)

Wake Up Nas Script:

do shell script "python -c \"
import socket
data = '\\xff'*6+'\\x00\\x13\\xd4\\xdc\\xf2\\x80'*16
s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
s.setsockopt(socket.SOL_SOCKET, socket.SO_BROADCAST, 1)
s.sendto(data, ('192.168.1.255', 80))\""

The automator app is as follows:

pause 10 seconds
run the above WakeUpNas script
pause 4 mins (let the nas start up if needs be)
Get Specified Servers (add the servers that you want to wake)
Connect to Servers

Then adding the above App to the startup items to reconnect to drive when the Mac restarts.

By following the blog post you can also call the app when the computer wakes from sleep by installing Sleepwatcher and a little extra work.


How to focus the list of songs in iTunes after typing the search query?

With Full Keyboard Access set to "Text boxes and lists only" in System Preferences, press
tab tab, then the list is in focus and you can use the up/down arrows to navigate.
(even if the focus is not visible at first, which seems wrong)

With Full Keyboard Access set to "All controls",
tab through to "Songs", then "Library", then tab twice more and use the up/down arrows to navigate the list. (As in the first method above, there won't be any visible indication that the list is in focus)

Subsequently the focus should be visible.


Most development work is typing and waiting for compilation to complete. This is possible on any modern Mac.

Both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro will run Xcode. Developing software can stress any Mac, including highly specified Mac Pros.

It is unlikely anyone can clearly and definitely answer your question. All answers, including mine will be based on opinion and personal experience.


Can I use my iPhone charger for charging other USB based devices?

Most standard USB charges for 0.5A. But not all USB are standardized - there are some that go for up to 1.8A and even the MacBook Pro is said to raise up to 1.1A when relevant. iPhone's charger do little more than 1.1A and it's pretty decent. That's why iPhone charging on regular USB usually take double the time to fully charge. iPad's charger are roughly 10W and 5V which translates to 2A.

There's nothing wrong that can happen with the charger because USB devices are made to work with the same standard voltage (about 5V). The USB hosts are only outputting the maximum energy it can provide up to what the client can receive. A 10W energy source will only give up to 10W and just 1W if the plugged device can only take 1W.

I'm no electrical specialist but...

Having bigger power supply (measured in watts) or bigger current (measured in amperes) on itself can't break any system because what puts them in movement is the difference of potential measured by volts.

Think of a light bulb and picture all USB devices are prepared to receive about 5V (actually little more). If you get a 220V and put in on a 110V nothing wrong happens, but it will be very weak. Apple's chargers only go up to 5V, which is within the USB standard. So yeah, it's all good and safe.


Settings -> General -> International -> Language -> Make sure it's set to English.

If this doesn't work, SYNC to your computer and see if it goes back.


Your iMac should automatically spin down its disks and go to sleep.

Use the following command to view a detailed log showing your iMac's power history:

pmset -g log

Look out for applications that may be keeping your Mac awake and active. Applications and other processes can keep your Mac awake if they are providing a service, such as file sharing or remote access.

Do you have an active ssh session or terminal session running? This can also be responsible for keeping your iMac awake.

Be aware that Apple does not officially support hibernation on desktop Macs. Your setting hibernatemode suggests you have this feature enabled.

Disclaimer: I am involved with a commercial product called Power Manager, it can help make your Mac sleep more predictably.


How created watched folder with Automator to auto import new files into itunes?

You can do it better by placing files to the folder ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Automatically Add to iTunes in Finder (or ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Automatically Add to iTunes.localized in Terminal.app) to be automatically added to iTunes without any third party program


Open a URL in Chrome Canary as incognito

I do not have Google Chrome Canary installed but I do have Google Chrome installed and because you've not shown how on run {input} is actually receiving its input, what I'm presenting is being done in AppleScript Editor however you should be able to translate it to your use with Google Chrome Canary in Automator.

The following AppleScript code examples do what it is you're trying to do albeit in Google Chrome not Google Chrome Canary however change instances of Google Chrome to Google Chrome Canary as applicable and it should work as the examples do work as tested.

This first example uses the do shell script command in the else block:

set theURL to "http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/270413/open-a-url-in-chrome-canary-as-incognito"

if application "Google Chrome" is running then
    tell application "Google Chrome"
        activate
        make new window with properties {mode:"incognito"}
        open location theURL
    end tell
else
    do shell script "open -a 'Google Chrome' --args --incognito " & quoted form of theURL
end if

tell application "Google Chrome" to activate

Note: When used in a Run AppleScript action in Automator you may not need to use quoted form of with theURL, so the last part of the do shell script command will in that case just be: & theURL

This second example forgoes the use of the do shell script command in the else block:

set theURL to "http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/270413/open-a-url-in-chrome-canary-as-incognito"

if application "Google Chrome" is running then
    tell application "Google Chrome"
        activate
        make new window with properties {mode:"incognito"}
        open location theURL
    end tell
else
    tell application "Google Chrome"
        activate
        -- close window 1   # Uncomment this line if you want the normal window that opens first to be closed.
        make new window with properties {mode:"incognito"}
        open location theURL
    end tell
end if


How do I use Back to My Mac (to time capsule) in a multiple Airport configuration?

It turns out that only one Airport at a time is visible via Back to My Mac. I had Back to My Mac configured on both airport_downstairs and airport_upstairs. As soon as I disabled Back to My Mac on airport_upstairs and restarted both routers, airport_downstairs appeared in Back to My Mac.

I suspect that the last Airport to start up is the one that appears on Back to My Mac, though I haven't verified this.


Bootcamp Partition Erased and Partition is Gone (Now it's FREE SPACE)

You should not need disk0s3. You can remove the partition with the command given below.
diskutil erasevolume free none disk0s3

The free space can now be added to the APFS container by using the command given below.
diskutil apfs resizecontainer disk0s2 0


Unable to run Office with same product key

The problem here is during install the installer pre installed all of the office apps, but your serial does not "unlock" Outlook which is used only in the business edition.

The only way to fix this is to pay for the upgrade through mactopia.com or calling microsoft, or to remove outlook.


Verify Time Machine Encryption from the Command-Line?

If you know the UUID before you mount the disk you can use:

diskutil coreStorage list XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX

This will give the following output.

Logical Volume Family XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
----------------------------------------------------------
Encryption Status:       Unlocked
Encryption Type:         AES-XTS
Conversion Status:       Complete
Conversion Direction:    -none-
Has Encrypted Extents:   Yes
Fully Secure:            Yes
Passphrase Required:     Yes

If you know the mountpoint of the disk, you can get the UUID by the following command.

diskutil info /MOUNTPOINT | grep UUID | awk '{print $3}'

And if you do not know the mountpoint you can always run

diskutil coreStorage list

A MacMini with two encrypted drives (Macintosh SSD & Backup Mini) will give the following output.

CoreStorage logical volume groups (2 found)
|
+-- Logical Volume Group XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
|   =========================================================
|   Name:         Macintosh SSD
|   Status:       Online
|   Size:         250140434432 B (250.1 GB)
|   Free Space:   16777216 B (16.8 MB)
|   |
|   +-< Physical Volume XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
|   |   ----------------------------------------------------
|   |   Index:    0
|   |   Disk:     disk0s2
|   |   Status:   Online
|   |   Size:     250140434432 B (250.1 GB)
|   |
|   +-> Logical Volume Family XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
|       ----------------------------------------------------------
|       Encryption Status:       Unlocked
|       Encryption Type:         AES-XTS
|       Conversion Status:       Complete
|       Conversion Direction:    -none-
|       Has Encrypted Extents:   Yes
|       Fully Secure:            Yes
|       Passphrase Required:     Yes
|       |
|       +-> Logical Volume XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
|           ---------------------------------------------------
|           Disk:               disk2
|           Status:             Online
|           Size (Total):       249804886016 B (249.8 GB)
|           Size (Converted):   -none-
|           Revertible:         Yes (unlock and decryption required)
|           LV Name:            Macintosh SSD
|           Volume Name:        Macintosh SSD
|           Content Hint:       Apple_HFS
|
+-- Logical Volume Group XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
    =========================================================
    Name:         Backup Mini
    Status:       Online
    Size:         999860912128 B (999.9 GB)
    Free Space:   0 B (0 B)
    |
    +-< Physical Volume XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
    |   ----------------------------------------------------
    |   Index:    0
    |   Disk:     disk3s2
    |   Status:   Online
    |   Size:     999860912128 B (999.9 GB)
    |
    +-> Logical Volume Family XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
        ----------------------------------------------------------
        Encryption Status:       Unlocked
        Encryption Type:         AES-XTS
        Conversion Status:       Complete
        Conversion Direction:    -none-
        Has Encrypted Extents:   Yes
        Fully Secure:            Yes
        Passphrase Required:     Yes
        |
        +-> Logical Volume XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX
            ---------------------------------------------------
            Disk:               disk5
            Status:             Online
            Size (Total):       999542136832 B (999.5 GB)
            Size (Converted):   -none-
            Revertible:         No
            LV Name:            Backup Mini
            Volume Name:        Backup Mini
            Content Hint:       Apple_HFS


iPhone builtin speaker partly not working

I just worked it out. The entire time Bluetooth was on. Usually when I turn off my car the phone automatically disconnects. I guess this time something went wrong. Even after restarting the phone away from the off car the phone still thought it was connected. All it took is to turn Bluetooth off


How can I create text-based aliases? (Local hyperlinks?)

I'm not aware of any way to do this without 3rd-party software.

However, you can definitely do this with OmniFocus.

You can "attach" files, but have that attachment simply be a "link" to the file, so it's not actually moved inside your OmniFocus database, it still exists on your filesystem.

Then your reminder/to-do could be something like "Review Quarterly Report" and have that report attached as an OmniFocus link.


iCloud shared calendars won't stay in view only

The only way I managed to change the permissions was via icloud.com. OS/X and iOS did nothing.


Boot windows bios from second internal drive MBP Mid 2012

Below is a excerpt From page 6 of the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide (Copyright 2011). These instructions do change significantly with the next release of the Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide (Copyright 2013).

  If you have a Mac Pro with more than one internal disk and you want to install Boot Camp on a disk that isn’t in the first hard drive bay, remove the drives in the lower numbered bays. You can reinstall the drives after you install Boot Camp.

Back in 2011, all Macs were still BIOS booting Windows. Although the excerpt does not explicitly say Mac Pro's where the only models that could BIOS boot from a second internal drive, this was already generally known to be true. So, the answer to your question is your 2012 MBP can not natively BIOS boot from the second internal drive.

rEFInd is a Boot Manager. This means rEFInd does not actually boot operating systems. Instead, rEFInd saves information in the nvram. The Mac firmware reads this information to determine which operating system to load. The means rEFInd can to be directly used to BIOS boot windows from a second internal drive.

On the other hand, GRUB 2 is a boot loader. You may be able to BIOS boot GRUB on the primary drive and configure GRUB to boot Windows on the second internal drive.


As of version version 4.1.1 (4338), unfortunately with Numbers one can define the entire row, but not from a specific column forward.

So, while COUNTIF(I3:3, 0) will resolve to an error, COUNTIF(3:3, 0) will work regardless of the row's length. (Increasing columns)

Example:

This would be a good feature suggestion for Apple.


launchd error "Could not find and/or execute program specified by service"

Launchd does not perform word splitting. Remove the escape characters \ from the following line-

<string>/Users/rhiannon/Library/Application\ Support/Script\ Testing/test-launchd.sh</string>


Switching input sources quickly no longer shows menu / picker

Unbinding and rebinding the shortcut fixed the issue!


How do I prevent my MacBook Air from forgetting my Remapped Caps Lock Key?

Try doing a 'repair permissions' in Disk Utility. A permissions error could be causing the preference to get overwritten by the default.


You can simply create a new Admin account in the system. After creating it, during the initial setup, you'll be asked to sign in with your Apple ID. You can also choose to create a new Apple ID if you don't have it already.

Apple ID is required to interact with the plethora of online services offered by Apple. You can learn more about Apple ID in the Apple Support document:

Create, manage, and use an Apple ID

Once you have your account setup, you can use the system normally and will have access to all the features. Your Dad's user account can stay on system safely.

To create a new admin account, go to System Preferences → Users & Groups → (Click the lock to make changes) → (Click on + button towards the bottom of the left sidebar) → New Account → Administrator.

Creating an additional user account won't take up much space. It gives you a segregated environment while giving access to the systemwide pre-installed apps (those installed in /Applications directory). You generally won't face any issues later while repairing or installing things.


Have recent updates caused the iPad battery to not last as long?

Try several things:

Close suspended apps. Double click home button, the screen items should raise and there is an extra row of apps appear at the bottom of the screen. Press and hold one of the apps that appear at the lower part of the screen (these are the apps that were suspended). When they start to shake/wiggle, press the red X on all of them to close them.
Check your email settings and make sure "push" is enabled and the "Fetch" is set to less frequent options
Your screen might be set to 100% brightness comparing with your previous usage settings
If you don't use any Bluetooth device with your iPad, you could turn the Bluetooth off by going to Settings > General > Bluetooth. That saves some power.
Try a hard-reset - full power off and on


Command + Shift + 4 not saving image to clipboard

Command + Shift + 4 saves a file to the desktop, not to the clipboard.
Use Command + Control + Shift + 4 to save to the clipboard.
Take a look at this comment I wrote a few years back for the full list of keyboard shortcuts related to screenshots:
https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/204387/60161


Can i invite someone on my LAN to view my screen using Apple Remote Desktop?

I would recommend using ARD for trusted IT management and something like screens express to invite a share on demand.

https://edovia.com/en/screens-express/


How can I access an iOS Mail password stored in Keychain?

If you can sucessfully recieve email from your wifes old phone, maybe try restoring the password.


Does iTunes put my iTunes account information in track files when I import CD albums?

Ripped/imported audio tracks do not get any account information embedded.

This does not apply to tracks matched via iTunes Match and replaced by the AAC version from the store. These tracks do contain your Apple ID


Can I connect an iPad to a monitor with with an Apple Digital AV Adapter converted to DVI?

I went ahead and ordered an HDMI to DVI adapter cable from Amazon. Using this cable and the most recent Apple Digital AV Adapter I was able to mirror my iPad on my old monitor.


If you are signing in on multiple VMs with the same account, Apple's account server may have noticed and stopped you as you have reached the limit for the number of devices on your account.

Check how many devices you have linked to your account by going to https://www.icloud.com and click Settings. Remove some if there are any that you don't use anymore and try again on the VM.

Clicking the 'Sign Out of All Browsers' button may also help as it will deactivate any sign-ins that may still be valid but unused. You'll have to sign in to your other VMs again afterwards however.


URL for guest access to a Linux Samba server share from Finder

The answer seems to be to use username and password guest:

smb://guest:guest@192.168.1.100/shared_files


Magic Mouse is frequently losing its connection to MacBook Pro

Batteries are loose

Apple designed the Magic Mouse battery compartment according to the official specification for AA batteries. Unfortunately, while Apple engineers were quite precise, the manufacturers of batteries are not. In practice, batteries vary in size, just enough to be problematic in the Magic Mouse.

Given that the batteries are hanging inside the mouse with only the tension of the terminal receptacles to keep them in place, incorrectly sized batteries can easily be pulled by gravity, falling down ever so slightly, just enough to lose contact with the electrical pads.

Wiggling the mouse is enough to re-establish contact between battery and the pads. For a while, until they fall again. Thus the annoying disconnect-reconnect-disconnect-reconnect loop.

Piece of thin cardboard

The solution is to use scissors to cut a piece of thin paper cardboard the size of the batteries. Lay this piece over the batteries before engaging the metal cover on the bottom of the mouse. The cardboard should touch only the batteries, but not the surrounding compartment of the mouse. Your goal is to get the metal door to push the paper up against the sides of the batteries, just snug enough to prevent the batteries from falling downward.

I have found the perfect thickness of cardboard to be the box enclosing a 12-pack of soda cans. A business card might do. You need about a millimeter. Thicker than sheets of paper. Card stock might do it, but may not be thick enough.


Save file to hidden directory with standard OS X save dialog

The built in way to do this by using a key combination when in the save/open dialogs to toggle the hidden files to visible or hidden

Update: This shortcut works in all views, But in column view it does not update the view to show the change until you navigate to another directory.
Not sure why this is the behaviour.
But you can toggle it in column view click on another folder (in the parent column on the left) and back to see it has changed.

When you are in the Save or Open Dialogue of the app.

Press and hold the CMD + shift  and then .  keys at the same time.

This will toggle hidden files/folders in the  Save or Open Dialogue.

[toggled to hide invisible files/folder]

[toggled to Show invisible files/folder]

Note: You do not need to have hidden files/folders set to visible in the finder
This toggle works independently.


Which iCloud account does iBooks use to sync?

The iBooks app on iOS as well as OS X Mavericks uses the account you use to sign into the iBooks Store for syncing bookmarks, notes, collections, highlights and purchased books. So if you share an Apple ID/iTunes Store Account for purchases from the iBooks Store, then the sync will affect all the users who share the account.

The iBooks sync is not based on one's individual iCloud account, which is used for iMessage, FaceTime, Mail, Calendar, etc.

See iBooks: How to sync iBooks between devices for more information.


How to have a custom (or no) sort order in Finder windows

If you simply put numbers (for the months) in front of the folders names they will be sorted.

If you prefer then use the Folder Action and Automator to do that automatically, for the folder containing the sub folders with the months names (numbers).


Apache VirtualDocumentRoot, MAMP, .local domain & xip.io?

I use MAMP Pro and the file httpd-vhosts.conf does not contain this setting, but in the app I have this:

The host is http://plugins.dev and if my memory serves me well, it's all that's needed to have it working.


There are a couple of things you can do figure out what's going on. First, see if it happens within other users. When it happens, see what Applications you're running, through Terminal or Activity Monitor, and check the Console, which logs all system's messages, and see if any of the running Application is sending any warning or having any issue.

All of these Apps can be found under Applications / Utilities.


How to prevent all usb mass storages from mounting at boot

It depends on how you clarify 'mount at boot'. Do you mean the user login or the actual system boot...

Anyway, here are two ways you can handle this.

You can use one of the Startup shortcuts. In your case holding ⏏ during startup will eject all removable disks. To be honest, I am not 100% if your external USB drives are seen as such.
Edit your /etc/fstab file, the file systems table. This table contains info on how to mount which disk. If the file does not exist, you can create it. Manual pages are here.

At this to your /etc/fstab.

# device-spec     mount-point     fs-type     options
LABEL=VolumeName  none            hfs         noauto


How Do I Restore the Default Settings in Lion?

I would start with a new user - if you felt it was easier to start there - you could always make one good back up, delete both users (keeping a third one for admin purposes) and migrate in your wife's account from the backup. You could make a new account for you and then copy in the files you want quite easily from the backup.

Most things you need are Documents, Music, Pictures so it's trivial to copy them back from a backup.

It's nicer to do this rather than go mucking among all the preference files unless you want to learn that end of things.


I often use my Mac without its battery to avoid overcharging during
  long periods of plugged-in use.

(Why is this even a thing?)  The SMC that you are attempting to reset manages the flow of current to/from the battery to ensure that it's not overcharged.  There's dedicated charging circuitry specifically for the task of safely charging your battery.

Additionally, all modern battery packs have over/under charge protection circuitry built into them.  So, removing your battery "during extended period of plugged-in use" is completely unnecessary and you risk damaging things if your battery is the non-removable type (those connectors weren't designed for repeated connects/disconnects).

To answer your question...

  Could I still reset the SMC by skipping the battery removal step and
  just unplugging the MagSafe adapter and holding the power button for 5
  ~ 10 seconds?

If your battery is removable - this would be a moot point given that you're supposed to remove it.  Reset the SMC and plug the battery back in.
If your battery is non-removable, plug the battery back in and reset the SMC. Leave the battery plugged in.

There are reasons to reset the SMC and this shouldn't be done in the course of "normal maintenance."  Too many times folks react to common errors with "I need to reset the SMC/NVRAM) - this is hardly the case.  Please see Apple's support page:  Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac for more information on Indicators that the SMC might need to be reset.


Indeed, there are some differences between cloning the disk and Migration Assistant.
As you mentioned, MA will not migrate all the files, which can be both good and bad…

Corrupt system files won't be copied if you use MA since you are installing a completely new OS, then copying certain files over.

However, be warned that since they won't be copied over, any modifications that you've made will be lost. This can be mitigated by manually copying over any system files that you've modified1.
Incorrect preference files will still be carried over, but only if they're specific to your account.

Most system-wide preference files will be reset, which can be useful if you have system-wide problems, but may cause some extra effort if you have specific changes that you've made.

This can be mostly mitigated if you know which global preference files you have modified, since these can be copied over1.
Because CCC doesn't reinstall OS X, the Recovery HD will not be changed.

This means that it won't reset it if you have problems with your Recovery HD or for any other reason, although you can manually copy your Recovery HD using CCC which can be useful if you've made changes to your Recovery HD that you wish to keep.
MA should not copy any system-specific preferences, which can be useful if you are migrating to a different computer, but since you are migrating the same computer, this should not be a reason to decide one over the other.
CCC will leave you a fully-bootable OS, which is much quicker than re-installing OS X then using MA separately.
If an app relies on an HD's unique identifier stored in a certain preference, CCC will not correct this.

Since MA will reset almost all system-wide preferences, any such preferences will not be maintained, and will revert any settings to match the current installation.

In conclusion…

If you want the speediest possible Mac, with all your data and almost all your settings, Migration Assistant is the best way to go.
If you want the simplest migration or want to ensure that all your settings are copied over, use CCC or another disk cloning tool.

1 This is where looking through your backups of system files & preferences before you changed them can really help, because you did make backups, right? :)


My iPhone keeps switching on and off charge whilst charging, how do I fix it?

Running this in terminal worked for me: (it will ask for your user's password)

sudo killall -STOP -c usbd

This pauses the troublesome process instead of killing it altogether like other answers suggest. The difference is that macOS won't try to reopen it automatically and cause the issue again.

Running sudo killall -CONT usbd will resume the process, should anything require it.

Tested on: iPhone 7 (iOS 11) + MacBook Pro Late 2013 (10.13.6)

Besides software issues, there's a good chance that the cable is at least partially damaged so it might work for dumb power chargers but not with a MacBook that also relies on the USB data pins.

Also this might happen when either device needs an update. I've been asked "Install update to connect to device?" before and if I don't accept, this issue happens.


Where can I find El Capitan's default and beachball/busy cursors?

The default cursor is available here:

  /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/EFILogin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/EFIResourceBuilder.bundle/Contents/Resources/loginui_cursor@2x.png

I can't seem to find the busy cursor, but I did find an older-seeming version of it here:

  /System/Library/Frameworks/GLUT.framework/Versions/A/Resources/waitCursor.tiff


Searching for mac files of same name but in a different format

You can just type kind:txt in finder search. This will give you all of the txt files on your system.


Try deleting the rule and creating a new one. Mail seems to randomly corrupt things on even the most well-maintained machines, the past few OS iterations. Passwords disappear. Then there is the step of trashing your Mail preferences, as preference files do get corrupt.


When streaming movies online, should I keep the computer on the charger?

To get the most out of your MacBook's battery, follow the Notebook Battery advice from Apple: unplug and use your battery until empty about once a month, then charge back up to full. Your question expands a bit on another question on the site about general charging:

Should I disconnect my MacBook Pro's power cord when the battery is fully charged?

In your case, streaming video is usually a high power usage event that can drain a battery in 4 or 5 hours. You will therefore be more likely to have a higher recharge cycle count than someone that isn't using as much power. For that reason, I would try to keep it plugged in when running. Everything is a balance, and it would be hard to reach the 1000 recharge cycles design lifetime of the new batteries in Apple portables - but as long as you are once a month draining it down, you might be better off keeping it on power the rest of the time it runs just in case you reach that limit before you are done with using the Mac.


Increase Activity monitor update frequency to less than a second

I have found a few options:

Menumeters, says its incompatible with 10.11 due to code signing restrictions
XRG, an open source Mac resource monitor
Stater, $4.99, available on Mac App Store
Monity, $2.99, great if you want it in Notification Center
iStat Menus, $18, tends to be the most popular
System Monitor, $4.99, sits in menu bar.


Connect Two Dell 27" 2719H Monitors to Macbook Air 2017

Since you're using the P2719H, it has DisplayPort connectivity.  Instead of converting to HDMI, you should just get a mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable (mDP to DP).

You can't daisy chain and since you only have one Thunderbolt port, you will need to get either (one or the other) of:

Thunderbolt 2 Dock with multiple display outputs
USB Video adapter

However, this a lot you're asking this MacBook Air to do.  Remember, there's no discrete GPU as it's integrated into the CPU.  Video memory is taken from system memory (up to 1.5GB worth).  I wouldn't be surprised if you see a noticeable performance decrease or reduced video capability.


How do I access files downloaded through Telegram?

Open the file, say PDF, in the chat, and use the share icon in the top right to save it to Files etc.

You could use telegram for Mac too.


Should I delete the "Recovered Items" folder?

Sometimes you might find a "Recovered Items" folder in the Trash. Don't worry, you can safely delete this folder.


MBP works fine but not visible on network

So, Broken MBP can ping anywhere, including other machines in your network, but can it ping itself?  (You have to read that with the "Will it Blend?" sound)

The rest of the machines can ping each other, but not the Broken MBP.

Am I correct?

Does this only happen via Wi-Fi? Have you tried using a Cable?

What happens if you turn ON the firewall and make sure that in "Advanced" the machine is not in Stealth Mode:

(Security -> Firewall -> Advanced)


How can I go to the previous desktop in Mission Control using a hot key?

Using keyboard shortcuts to switch Desktops.

Open System preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts.

Click on the Mission control.

Desktops will show there with number associated to it.

Check all you want to switch.

Use "ctrl" and press number to switch.


Can I show the Mission Control desktop number in the menu bar?

Maybe the open source WhichSpace project can do this:

WhichSpace
Have you ever forgotten which space is currently active on OS X (10.11+) and wanted a quick way to tell? Didn't think so... but I did!
Screenshot


Files on my desktop seem to set themselves as hidden files (macOS Catalina), greyed out, even though they don't begin with periods

We resolved it in the comments as following:

Give full disk access to Terminal in System Preferences > Privacy & Security.
Run

cd ~/Desktop
chflags -R nohidden ./
killall Finder

The -R flag will unhide recursively everything under the ./ (current directory).
To hide something back, for example:

chflags hidden ~/Desktop/project/.git

Don't use -R here since git only keeps the top level folder, .git hidden, rest all inside it is normal.


Is it possible to hide files from Terminal's ls?

Hidden files are hidden from ls unless you use the -a or -A flag:

-A   List all entries except for . and ...  Always set for the super-user.
-a   Include directory entries whose names begin with a dot (.).

Source: ls man page

Therefore, files can be hidden by starting the filename with a . but ls will still show the file if it is run with -a or -A.

Note that not all files that are hidden with a . are malware-related. The system creates many files like this for a variety of reasons in various places on the disk that can cause problems if removed or modified.


How can I restart on a schedule, if network users are connected?

You can use a third party tool like Power Manager to ensure the restart completes. The tool's web site includes has a recipe that shows how to schedule a restart.

Power Manager will ensure your Mac restarts, even if other processes or applications try and block the process:

  Power Manager is multiple user savvy and first deals with the logged
  in users. The following steps happen within each logged in user’s
  session:

  Running applications are sent a quit request.
  Running applications are given time to quit.
  If an application has not quit in time, the application is force quit.
  With all the applications quit, the user is logged out.

  Once all the users are logged out, Power Manager then asks Mac OS X to
  shut down. You can watch this sequence play out in the transcripts of
  the Mac’s system.log file.

With regard to formerly-connected applications like iTunes, and Time Machine; these applications will be quit and no data will be lost. Time Machine will resume backing up where it was stopped - it was designed to be interrupted.

After restarting, previously connected Macs will need to reconnect and be asked to resume playing any shared content. No harm will come to them.

If you are watching a streaming film while the media server restarts, the film will stop and you will probably need to resume the film playing. A smart player might seamlessly handle the dropped network connection but that is outside of the control of the media server.

Disclosure: I created Power Manager.


How can I view hidden files in the Finder?

To enable the Finder to show all files (including "hidden" ones), you can type the following command in at the command prompt in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool YES; killall -HUP Finder
The first part sets a hidden preference so the finder shows all files; the second part restarts the Finder so these preferences take effect (killall on its own tells a program to quit; the -HUP flag asks the program to restart).
If you want to reverse this so that the Finder now hides the files it normally hides, type this in Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool NO; killall -HUP Finder
That said, your actual problem of disk space not being freed up when you "delete" files is actually by design.
To permanently delete a file, you need to empty the Trash — Mac OS X doesn't delete files directly in the Finder; it first moves them to a temporary storage on their original volume, and then when you Empty Trash… in Finder, the files get deleted.
Some users are reporting that defaults write com.apple.Finder is not working on their Mountain Lion systems but defaults write com.apple.finder (note the lower case) is working. On my system running Mountain Lion, I am finding that the command works as written, but if it doesn't for you, try lower-casing the F in Finder in defaults write statement.


Couldn't change the Country and Region on my iPhone

There could be numerous reasons for that error. So, a good starting point is to make sure you check all the below mentioned points-

Ensure that there is no Store credit remaining in your Apple ID.
Check whether any refund is in progress associated to your Apple ID.
Turn OFF all the subscriptions that you have for various services with your Apple ID.
Make sure you are not in a Family Sharing group.

Once you are assured with all the above points, you can try changing your Country or Region now. In addition, make sure to enter the correct details, especially Payment information, Address, and Phone.


@Rick - With Mirroring turned off, when you open System Preferences and click Desktop & Screen Saver, you should see a window open in each display that allows you to select a distinct background image for each display.

Mac 101: Change your desktop


The easiest way to unlock your device that you’ve forgotten the Apple ID to is to take the device to an Apple Store along with proof of purchase and ID.

The iPad will definitely appear in the list of devices for the Apple ID that the iPad is asking for. If the device had been removed from the account, the iPad would no longer ask for that Apple ID as part of checking activation lock.

There is no way to identify the full email address the iPad is asking for. This would provide a means for a thief to conduct phishing for the owner's iCloud credentials.

The password asked for is the current iCloud password. You are performing the sign in over the network with Apple, requiring current credentials.

Incorrect password attempts may lock your Apple ID. The device will not become permanently locked through Apple ID login attempts.

  After multiple unsuccessful attempts to unlock your account, your Apple ID will remain locked and you can try again the next day.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204106


What do "Mac Ads Cleaner" and "Mac App Cleaner" do while installed?

You ran into a scam - that was not an actual Flash Player update, it was just a malware installer made to look like Adobe Flash Player. People are so used to updating Flash every other day, so a web site offering an upgrade doesn't set off any alarms.

The programs that got installed are search hijackers. They bring up pages offering other fake programs, or even send you to a page that insists you have a virus, which includes a handy 800 number to call to remove it. This is a scam - the "support" company will remote into your system, probably steal personal info such as banking files, then charge you $500 for their "service." Fake, fake, fake.

Go to malwarebytes.org and download the free Mac version of AntiMalware. It will scan for and remove the remnants of those junk apps.

Next time you get a prompt to update Flash, use the applet in System Preferences or get the update direct from adobe.com. If the site still says you need to update, it's a scam and you should run screaming.


I think you're confused about what parts of the output actually represents threads:

Yes, the threads you see in the output from "Sample Process" in Activity Monitor are definitely "normal threads".

However, each of the lines in your screenshot do not represent a thread each.

Activity Monitor clearly labels each seperate thread with the word "Thread" - the whole line is in lightly blue color (compared to the rest that is black).

The screenshot you have does not indicate that a thread is "unknown", nor does it indicate that "the library a thread is linked to" is unknown.

I'll explain how to read the output from "Sample Process":

Each blue line indicates a thread.

Each black line below the blue line is a function that has been executed by that thread.

The percentage indicates how much time was spent inside the function. You can choose when viewing if you want it displayed as a percent of the thread or the parent.

The number in the brackets (such as [0x1100007ffd]) is the memory address of the function.

The field right next to the percentage is the name of the function, and in parentheses, the binary file from which the original contents on the memory address was loaded.

Here's why unknowns can appear:

Note that the name of the function is only available if the function was loaded in from a binary that contained what's known as a "symbol map". This makes it possible for the sample program to known that the code at a given memory address was generated from a function with that specific name in the original source code. If you haven't got that information, it is listed as ???.

Typically you'll see that Objective-C programs will show you these names, while C programs typically won't. The developer of a C program chooses whether or not to expose the names, but for performance/size reasons, these are typically left out in programs meant for "the public" (as opposed to internal testing).

Similarly the name of the binary file is known only if code in question was loaded in via the actual program binary itself, or by the dynamic linker from a .dylib or similar shared library. If the code at the memory address came to be there for any other reason, the sample program cannot know the name and it is displayed as unknown.

In addition you'll often see that programs that internally employ dynamic languages, JIT compilers, interpreters, etc. will show up as "??? (in unknown binary)" in these listings. This is because the code at that specific location wasn't there from the start - it was generated dynamically by the program as it executed.

Word explanation:

If you do not know the meaning of the word thread, an rough, high-level explanation is as follows:

Think of a CPU as a machine that executes instructions in a sequence. The current state of the CPU itself is the contents of the registers (internal memory locations inside the CPU that are seperate from RAM) as well as the program counter (the address of the instruction currently being executed). Each time an instruction is executed, the registers can be changed by the computation, and the PC is set to a new address. Typically the PC is set to address of the next instruction in memory, but it can change arbitrarily.  In this view, the CPU executes a single program.

In order to (seemingly) run multiple programs at the same time, the system is setup so that CPU executes a single program as described above, but at various times "switches program" by saving its state (registers and PC) to RAM, and loading in another state. Thereafter it is now executing at a different place in memory. By "switching" back and forth between these programs, you get the illusion of running multiple programs at the same time.

Each of these "programs" are actually what is known as a thread. So a thread is essentially just a saved state consisting of the values of registers and the program counter, which the operating system continually saves and restores.

In comparison, a "process" is what you observe as a running instance of an application - i.e. the whole thing you're sampling in Activity Monitor). The concept is very similar to a thread in that the operating system allows for running multiple processes at a time by continually saving/restoring state, whereby switching between processen. A process can have one or more threads, so part of switching between process is actually switching between threads as describe above. However more state is being saved/restored, as for example memory mapping are also saved/restored. This is the reason that threads within the same process can (in general) access the same memory, whereas different processes (in generally) cannot access each other's memory.

Note that in real life things are much more complicated. A system can contain multiple cores and multiple CPUs, meaning that you have multiple sets of registers and program counters at the same time. Threads will also have various attributes that are not described here.


How do I disable/enable an external monitor from terminal

This sounds like an issue that was addressed by one of our clever members who wrote a free tool to easily disable or enable a monitor on your Mac


Make Apple Hardware Test work on Mid 2009 MBP with OS X Mavericks

it is d you have to hold down to run the Harware Test from the Second DVD that cames with your Mac when you Buy it. I don't know how it is on the Macs that don't have a Disc-Slot. Maybe Apple has added the Hardware Test to the Recovery Partition.

Keep in Mind what do you do if the Check brings up a Failure? - And all the Time you maybe need to figure out what exactly is the Failure from a cryptic Error code!! - I highly recommend you ro bring your Mac to a local apple retail store so they can check it for you it will cost something but still less then the time you will be spending to do it yourself.


How to increment the font size of the Xcode UI?

With Xcode 12 you can also adjust the Navigator font size inside the Preferences panel:
Xcode 12 -> Preferences -> General -> Navigator Size

By default, it matches the system font scale, but you can override the settings and choose one of three different options: "Small", "Medium" or "Large".


How long is the power cable on the HomePod Mini?

There are no official specs on the cable length just yet, but an early review indicates it's about 6 feet long. Also of note, it's permanently attached but terminates in USB-C.
https://www.theverge.com/21561589/apple-homepod-mini-review


Once I cancel my apple Music subscription will it still make me pay a months worth or does it end straight away?

If you cancel the subscription 24 hours or less before the renewal date you may still be charged.

  Your subscription might renew if you don’t cancel more than 24 hours before your renewal date.

https://support.apple.com/HT204939

If you cancelled more than 24 hours contact Apple Support.


Balancing changes the volume of both speakers at the same time.

Since it only changes the volume, there is not manipulation of the stereo effect (sound shifting).

For example: If you play a track that plays on the left speaker and then shift the balance to the very right - you will not hear anything. If you play a stereo track, you will only hear the right track in the same case. This can be very easily verified using this this sample track.


They used to call the pink gold "Rose Gold". Checking the current Apple Store site, they now seem to call both 'gold' & 'rose gold'… just 'gold'. I'd call that a naming fail.
I just grabbed screenshots of two "gold" watches - see for yourself. You don't need to let the pink strap put you off, just photoshop one near the other & they are clearly not the same 'gold'.
I'd say you have a fair claim at being mis-sold - though Apple being Apple, I doubt you'd need to do anything more than say you're 'a bit unhappy' it's not what you thought it should be & they'll bend over backwards to try to correct that.
Watches as they appear on the store site. They don't state they're the same material, but they do state they're the same colour.

One watch rather crudely superimposed on the other, one is what they used to call rose gold, the other… isn't.

Looking at all the examples down the range, it does seem like aluminium is 'rose', steel is 'gold'.


Free PDF reader for iPad with 2 pages side-by-side layout (like a book)

Adobe Reader, Foxit Mobile PDF, & Bookari does that really well.

Adobe has a great looking interface and offers some of the basic necessities you need for PDF viewing. While Foxit Mobile PDF is very technical and straight forward. Foxit Mobile PDF offers more tools than Adobe does for free (Adobe charges for annotation features such as writing on PDFs and other things). Either of the two will work. Bookari is an honorable mention as well).


Share iCloud Family Calendar with Outlook

First, I am assuming by "Outlook" you mean the Outlook email client application and not an @outlook.com email account. In other words, your work computer uses the Exchange/Outlook system for emails, calendar, and so on.

If so - and assuming your IT department would permit this - you could try the iCloud Control Panel on your work computer. This add-in for Outlook will sync the Outlook email app with your iCloud email, calendar, and contacts - including your Family Calendar.

Instructions can be found on Apple's website. Good luck!


How does Siri come up with contact suggestions?

Relevant people

As Apple specified on its website page dedicated to iOS 9, with your Siri suggestions you can

  See the contacts you talk with most, those you talked to last, or even
  those you’re next scheduled to meet

I'd definitely suggest you to have a look to all that Siri suggestions include from here, in fact it doesn't just suggest you Contacts, but also

Places
Apps
News

Hope this helped you!


How do I click a button using AppleScript?

You also need to specify the parent objects.

activate application "TeamSpeak 3 Client"
tell application "System Events" to tell process "TeamSpeak 3"
    click menu item "Connect" of menu "Connections" of menu bar 1
    click button "Connect" of window 1 of window 1
end tell


Cannot change owner and group of file mounted disk image

If the disk is mounted to ignore file ownership, the owner is always reported as the current user, and cannot be changed. Attempting to change the owner will not produce an error message, but simply fail silently.

In the Finder, select the mounted disk corresponding to the sparse image in question and Get Info (⌘I). At the bottom of the pane that opens, see if it looks like this: (i.e. the Ignore ownership on this volume box is checked)

If you uncheck that box, you should get the behavior you seek.


Macbook Pro lags when dual screen is connected

Try a different HDMI cable. Not all HDMI cables work well with Macs. Make sure that you get one of a decent quality, those are usually better.


Is it still possible to run Safari 6 in 32bit on MacOS 10.8?

No, Lion abandoned 32-bit application mode.


Time Machine Backup Failing with Error 11

It took a while, but I found that I had some corrupted file that kept crashing the backup. Once that file was gone, the backup went smoothly.


Using Visual Studio Code on MacOS "Error: No default engine was specified and no extension was provided."

Seems that pug view rendering engine NOT INSTALLED locally as a depency, even though I installed Express globally with npm install -g express-generator
Fix

run a terminal window, or press CTRL-`(backtick) from inside of Visual Studio Code
cd into your project directory/folder - or already there if launched the terminal from VSCode (previous step)... from there run these commands:

install pug as a local dependency with npm install pug
for EXTRA good measure, re-install express locally with: npm install express
ensure all dependencies are installed and updated using: npm install
relaunch your application with:   npm start
test/view your application at: http://localhost:3000


What is the keyboard short cut to cycle to a minimized window?

This may seem complicated, although after you've done it a few times and use it regularly you'll have it down. Depending on if you have other windows minimized you may have to tap the left or right arrow keys on the last step to pull up the window you're wanting un-minimized.

  While holding ⌘ tap tab followed by ←
  then ↓ twice, then press return

  ( keep ⌘ pressed the until after you've tapped the initial
  ↓ )


What and how does macOS Mojave implement to restrict applications access to personal data?

How Mojave responds when an application tries to access this sensitive information; will it alert the user, block unsigned apps or what?

When an application attempts to access restricted directory the user will be prompted with a dialog box explaining the following information:

What Application
What the application is trying to access
Option to Allow or to Not Allow access

Many applications will prompt for a folder or file selection. If you attempt to drag a folder from a restricted directory (from a normal finder window) into the choose a file dialog box, the folder will open as a blank folder with the prohibited folder icon. This will not produce a request permission dialog box.

Terminal

The exception to asking for access is Terminal. If certain Terminal commands attempts to access these directories they will be blocked automatically without a dialog box.

$ sudo  cp  -r  ~/Library/Messages/ ~/Desktop/test
cp: /Users/[User]/Library/Messages/: unable to copy extended attributes to /Users/[User]/Desktop/test: Operation not permitted
cp: /Users/[User]/Library/Messages/: Operation not permitted

When attempting to use the zip command the directory is ziped up, recursively, until the blocked directory at which it will appear to be empty.

 $ zip -r  ~/Desktop/imessage.zip ~/Library/Messages/

Screenshot taken of finder after unzipping (~/Desktop/imessage.zip) and opening. As you can see it is empty.

Exceptions

If you would like to add exceptions to give certain apps unrestricted permissions this can be done in System Preferences.

System Preferences>Security & Privacy>Privacy
Unlock if needed
Select type of permission

Location Services
Contacts
Calendars
Reminders
Photos
Camera
Microphone
Accessibility
Application Data (Includes Message data, Mail data, etc.)
Automation
Analytics

Click the + icon
Select your app
Press Add

Note: The application will have to be restarted for changes to take effect.

Warning: Adding terminal will give all terminal commands access.


Spigen USB-C Cable doesn't fit MacBook Pro (13", 2019)

The 2019 13" MacBook Pro has a completely standard Thunderbolt 3 port, which physically is the same form factor as USB-C. It's not a "charger plug" as such, but a generic port that supports power, data and alternate mode (display signal).

The Spigen cable has a USB-C plug in one end and a HDMI plug at the other end. It is the USB-C end of the cable that you're meant to plug into the MacBook Pro. If you cannot physically make it fit, contact the vendor that sold you the cable.

Spigen lists their cable as being USB-C, which means that it should in any case fit. In addition they specifically list the 2016 MacBook Pro and later versions as being compatible with their cable.


How to take screenshot from iPhone using command line

Tha's very easy
1. Choose the screen from that you want to make a Screenshot
2. Pressing the home and the sleep/wake buttons together


Trying to find the culprit taking up space on Catalina HD

You should use DaisyDisk or Disk Inventory X.  These apps will make a color map of your disk showing what's taking up space. Daisy Disk is not free but has a free trial. Disk Inventory X is free.  These will break down you system folder to show what is using disk space.


How can I restore an iPad to factory defaults?

In iPad Settings, go to General, then Reset, then "Erase All Contents and Settings". The next thing you see ( after confirmation) is the welcome screen as if just out of the box.

Also: If shipping it you might want to power off by holding top and bottom buttons until you see the "slide to power off" slider. I recently sold my iPad 2, cleared it to factory settings as described and powered off. Happy new owner received it with charge, ready to configure.


Is it possible to mirror emojis on an iPhone

As mirrored emoji are not actual Unicode characters, the only way to accomplish this would be to edit an image with an emoji in Preview or another editing program. The directions provided are for preview.app on any mac.

Open Preview
Open any image that is just a plain transparent background, like this
Open the markup  toolbox
Add a new text box, and insert the emoji. You can type emoji using Edit > Emoji & Symbols, or the touchbar on a new MacBook Pro.
Now, click Tools > Flip Horizontal
Save your image. Now you've made a flipped emoji that you can place anywhere you want.

Here's your reversed megaphone, too:  imgur link


Why is the iPhone's default landscape orientation 'upside down'?

I was going to chalk it up to the developer just being lazy and selecting the default value and tab-completing when creating their app. However, I tried it out for myself (create a new iOS app project, edit the $AppName-Info.plist file and add the following new row):

You can see that the first auto complete option for Landscape mode is (left home button), meaning the developer had to consciously choose the second option for it to be right sided as in your app. This supports stuffe's conjecture that this is done because most users are right handed.
The screenshot above are the options for iPad. The iPhone has the same set, except for the second one, which is absent.

AFAIK, Apple doesn't advocate the use of a specific orientation as a default. Their iOS Human Interface Guidelines only say the following re: orientation

Launch your app in your supported orientation, regardless of the current device orientation. For example, if your game or media-viewing application runs in landscape only, it’s appropriate to launch your app in landscape, even if the device is currently in portrait. This way, if people start your application in portrait, they know to rotate the device to landscape to view the content.

Support both variants of an orientation. For example, if your application runs only in landscape, people should be able to use it whether they’re holding the device with the Home button on the right or on the left. And, if people rotate the device 180 degrees while using your application, it’s best if you can respond by rotating your content 180 degrees.

On iPad, strive to satisfy users’ expectations by being able to run in all orientations. The large iPad screen mitigates people’s desire to rotate the device to landscape to “see more.” And, because people don’t pay much attention to the minimal frame of the device or the location of the Home button, they don’t view the device as having a default orientation. This lack of awareness of an app’s default orientation leads people to expect apps to run well in the device orientation they’re currently using. As much as possible, your application should encourage people to interact with iPad from any side by providing a great experience in all orientations.

So as you can see, they don't advocate for any particular orientation and encourage the developer to support all orientations. Also see this.
However, this technical documentation uses an example with code for right-oriented apps (i.e., home button on the right). So another explanation – apart from the developer's own UX inclinations – is a copy-paste effect :)


How can I generate a rendered preview of selected markdown text or files?

To view a HTML file (I'll leave you to work out exactly how you want to format it and parse the markdown etc) in a chromeless window similar to quicklook you can use the automator actions Get Urls From list > Safari Popup.

This will open the URL (which can be a local file://~/etc) in a box as follows (the following screenshot shows facebook - as you can also set window size and user agent in the safari popup options - I choice iPhone size and Mobile Safari agent to show how you can create a quick and dirty Facebook app using automator in 10 seconds).  Clicking OK or cancel closes the app as it's the last Automator step, but you could easily extend it so a canel stops the workflow, but OK continues the actions, which may me to copy the file to an upload folder or whatever.


Waranty and Apple Care plan after exchange of SSD?

When I purchased my early 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina Display, as well as a previous MacBook Pro seven years earlier, I specifically asked about changing the HDD and RAM in the older one and the SSD in the newer one myself and in both instances I was told that it didn't void the warranty as long as there was no evidence that the work done by myself was the direct/indirect cause of a subsequent issue.  The problem with such a response is having to prove on my part that a subsequent issue was not the direct/indirect cause of the subsequent issue if Apple challenged repairing it under warranty.  The sales person and tech at the Genius Bar both said that Apple expects that some Users would upgrade parts like HDD/SDD and or RAM where applicable and said it doesn't directly void the warranty in doing so, except with the aforementioned caveat.

So I waited until the older one was out of warranty before I upgraded both the HDD and RAM.  The newer one I maxed out at the time so I doubt I'll pull the 750 GB SSD any time soon or within the warranty period.

Good luck with Apple!


Add spacing before and after paragraph in iOS Pages?

Unfortunately, as of the current version (Pages iOS 4.0) it is not possible.

Line height is supported but not spacing between paragraphs.

However, in addition to the macOS version, iCloud Pages can do it too.

  Adjust the paragraph spacing:
  You can control how much space appears before or after one or more paragraphs.

  Click to place the insertion point in the paragraph you want to adjust, or drag to select multiple paragraphs.

  In the Format sidebar on the right, below Spacing, click the up or down arrows, or enter a point value in the adjacent fields.

From the iOS documentation:

  You can adjust the margins for specific paragraphs to indent them from the document margins, and change the indentation of the first line of each paragraph.

  You can also increase or decrease the spacing between lines in a paragraph.


Please try this.  Click on Mail > Preferences > Viewing  There will be a dropdown for list preview.  Select a choice other than None.  That will give summary information about the email message you have selected. Make sure you select an email. The actual email message should appear to the right of the summary.  If it does not, you'll probably need to move your cursor as far to the right of the screen as you can go.  Push down your mouse or track pad and move the cursor to the left.  You should see the email that is selected.


How to tell if my old Mac supports Sidecar feature in macOS Catalina?

I found a quick way to distinguish it. macOS Catalina seems to use Intel's HEVC hardware encoding. So as long as your old Mac has the 6th generation (Skylake 6xxx Series) or newer Intel processor, it definitely supports this feature.

HEVC hardware encode on macOS 29:30

Blacklist found by Steve Troughton-Smith

  Sidecar supports iMac 27" (Late 2015) or newer, MacBook Pro (2016) or newer, mac Mini (2018), Mac Pro (2019), MacBook Air (2018) , MacBook (Early 2016 or newer), and blacklists all the devices in the screenshot.


Transfer external hard drive Time Machine data to a replacement

Have a look at: Time Machine: How to transfer backups from a current backup drive to a new backup drive

Synopsis:

In Disk Utility, select the new drive's icon to make sure it has a GUID partition and is formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).  If not make appropriate changes.

Set permissions on your new backup drive in Finder using Get Info and make sure "Ignore ownership on this volume" at the bottom of the "Sharing & Permissions" section of the Get Info window is deselected (unchecked).

Temporarily turn Time Machine off.

Copy your backup data from your original drive to your new drive. Drag the folder "Backups.backupdb" from the original backup drive to the top level of the new backup drive.

Set Time Machine to use your new drive.


Mojave does support hiding Desktop items. If for any reason true or false does not work, try using 1 or 0. Example below worked on macOS 10.14.5 and hides items from view:

$ defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop 0; killall Finder


Dictionary doesn't work after upgrade to Catalina - why there is no reference sources here

They are supposed to be added automatically as a part of post-upgrade updating process. The upgrade itself doesn't bring everything up to date, the apps that are not part of the OS and some nonessential components are updated later.

If you are stuck with the lack of dictionaries for a prolonged time (more than a day and a couple or so of restarts), and especially if you see the degraded overall performance of your Mac, most probably the updating process is broken. I had the same picture yesterday, so I've started investigating and solved it. Maybe you have the same bug that I have had, maybe not. Still, I hope my solution would help, and to make it more general, I will describe the process, too -- so that even if your source of trouble is different, you can find your own solution.

So, first I've opened the Activity Monitor to found that trustd and nsurlsessiond are eating up the CPU. I even had to kill trustd (nsurlsessiond went down after that, too) so that I could continue to work without lots of spinballs. It looked like trustd tries to verify some app, and calls nsurlsessiond for update information and/or update itself, which, in turn, fails.

Then I've opened the Console and started searching in logs for nsurlsessiond -- and found lots of records that __mkdir failed to create a directory, "not permitted". The directory in question was /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000y800007k/0 . I went to its parent /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000y800007k and I've found in the Get Info that while _nsurlsessiond as a user had Read and Write permission, as a group it had Read only permission. Now, /private/var/folders/zz/ is not a place to mess with, but adding a permission to a known daemon and creation of a new directory are not that dangerous, so I did both: changed the permission of group _nsurlsessiond for /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000y800007k to Read and Write (to do that you must first unlock it in the right-down corner of Get Info box), and created a new folder "0" in it, making sure it also gets Read and Write privilege for _nsurlsessiond.

Then I've restarted, and let the Mac idle for a while. Soon App Store showed updates for some apps that I didn't even remember. I let them all update, updated some other apps that could not auto-update previously (such as Chrome), and again let it idle or semi-idle while I was browsing the web etc. I intentionally avoided opening the Dictionary app at that time. Today I restarted the Mac again, opened the Dictionary app, and found that all its dictionary tabs  are back; when I've clicked on the German tab, it said "wait a minute for a download" and almost immediately showed me the dictionary. All the other dictionaries were back, too, after that.


Keyboard shortcut for right-click in current cursor position on OS X? ('Menu Key' on Windows)

In researching this particular issue, I ran a accross a particular app called Shortcat.

You can create a keyboard shortcut to select an element and click or right-click where your pointer is.

Note:  the right clicking function that brings up the menu where the pointer is seems to be OS X convention.

I tried this in Word and One Note for Windows as well as OS X.  In Windows, when you press the "right click key" or simply right click, it will bring up the contextual menu where your cursor is.  In OS X, it will bring up the contextual menu where your pointer is.