Mystery computer appearing in the Finder's source list On my MacBook, in the Finder's sidebar there's a machine appearing under "Shared" that I don't recognize and definitely doesn't exist on our local network. When I attempt to connect to it, I get this message:

The server "otseeley-remote" is available on your computer. Access the volumes and files locally.

What is this and how do I get rid of it? I already checked Disk Utility and there are no extraneous volumes mounted or anything.
EDIT:
Additional information based on the questions below:

There are only two computers on the network, both running Mac OS X - this MacBook, and my PowerBook. The PowerBook shows up in the source list as a separate item from "otseeley-remote"
There is no Time Capsule on the network, though I do have a Time Machine drive plugged into the PowerBook (not shared, though)
No VPN
One wired printer, connected to the MacBook
Two other wifi networks other than my own appear in the wifi dropdown, so I suppose it's possible that the mystery machine is on a neighbor's network (though why would it show up in my source list?)

EDIT 2:
The mystery computer shows up on both my MacBook's and PowerBook's source list, but not always at the same time. Sometimes it appears on one and not the other; other times, it appears on both.
EDIT 3:
I have two user accounts on the MacBook and both accounts show the "otseeley-remote" item in the Finder. Not sure if that means anything, but just wanted to add another data point.

The message "The server "otseeley-remote" is available on your computer. Access the volumes and files locally" means that what you're seeing in the sidebar is your own computer, not a different machine... why you're seeing it is the real question, and unfortunately I don't have any great answers for you.

More troubleshooting is in order, and if this were shorter I would have posted it as a comment....

There's a very similar question on SuperUser which unfortunetly has no answers... if I were you, I would comment on that question and link to this one. That will bump that question and possibly get an answer to it.

Someone has the exact same issue on MacWorld's forums however they never returned to give any more detail or let us know if the problem was solved...

Do you have an Airport Extreme with a drive attached to it? This person and this person also mentioned seeing the same message with an Airport Extreme device which had an attached USB hard drive.

A lot of people refer to this problem when talking about virtualization software. That was my first thought, but you said you're not using it.

If you turn off your airport card, does the share go away?

If you open the Terminal and type/paste in: ping -c 5 otseeley-remote.local, what do you see?

EDIT: Let's see if this reveals anything. If you use a program like Bonjour Browser, do you see otseely-remote under any of the services? (You can expand all the levels of the tree by option-clicking on the topmost disclosure arrow twice)

I turned WiFi on and off and it got rid of the shared computer.


Jailbroken iphone 4S stuck in recovery mode after iOS update I started an iOS update, on my jailbroken iPhone 4s, via Settings and now the iPhone is stuck in recovery mode. iTunes just wants to restore, but if I do this I will lose all my data and I don't have a backup.

Any suggestions?

Updating iOS at all on your jailbroken iPhone (including OTA) will break everything. You will not be able to recover your data from the device and you should restore in iTunes. Once restored, restore from your iCloud/iTunes backup if necessary and re-jailbreak.

You can exit the recovery mode by:

Assuming you're running on Windows:

Google TinyUmbrella.
Download it.
Connect your iPhone
Click Exit Recovery
Done.


How do I recompile Bash to avoid Shellshock (the remote exploit CVE-2014-6271 and CVE-2014-7169)? Given that Bash 3.2 (the version shipped by OS X) is vulnerable to the remote execution exploit known as "Shell Shock" (CVE-2014-6271 and CVE-2014-7169) how do I rebuild Bash and secure my system ahead of an official Apple patch?

UPDATE: Note that Apple has now released the official patch. See below for details.

Status

Apple has released Bash security fixes for Shellshock and related vulnerabilities as "OS X bash Update 1.0". They can be installed through normal system update for people using OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5 or OS X Mavericks v10.9.5 (they are included in Security Update 2014-005) and can also be installed manually. Official Apple fixes are also available for OS X Lion v10.7.5 and OS X Lion Server v10.7.5 but those are only available via manual download. The security fixes are available via different URLs based on the operating system version:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1769 - Mavericks (10.9.5 and above)
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1768 - Mountain Lion (10.8.5)
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1767 - Lion & Lion Server (10.7.5)

(If new patches are released, put them here but please keep these existing ones as well for reference.)

The Apple patch takes care of Shellshock and several other vulnerabilities and is fine for most people. tl;dr people can stop reading here.

HOWEVER, the attention drawn to bash by the Shellshock bug has caused many researchers to take a hard look at bash and more and more (hard to exploit) vulnerabilities keep being found. If you are highly concerned about security (because maybe you are running OS X Server to host a publicly available web site) then you may want to (try to) keep up with the vulnerabilities and patches as they keep rolling in by compiling bash yourself. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

Look for Apple to release another update to bash some time in the future when the dust settles on finding further vulnerabilities.

An official set of patches of bash itself for bash 3.2, patches 52, 53, and 54 (which correspond to Bash 4.3 patches 25, 26, and 27) are available which fix both CVE-2014-6271 and CVE-2014-7169, as well as the 'Game over' displayed below. This has been tested by me (@alblue) and the post has been updated accordingly (and then additional updates were made: see revision 41 for the post that stops at patch 54).

Many additional vulnerabilities have been reported against bash. According to Michal Zalewski's post if you have patch 54 (and presumably Apple's official patch) "there's no point in obsessing about the status of these individual bugs, because they should no longer pose a security risk:"

CVE-2014-6271 - original RCE found by Stephane. Fixed by bash43-025
and corresponding Sep 24 entries for other versions.
CVE-2014-7169 - file creation / token consumption bug found by
Tavis. Fixed by bash43-026 & co (Sep 26)
CVE-2014-7186 - a probably no-sec-risk 10+ here-doc crash found by
Florian and Todd. Fixed by bash43-028 & co (Oct 1).
CVE-2014-7187 - a non-crashing, probably no-sec-risk off-by-one
found by Florian.  Fixed by bash43-028 & co (Oct 1).
CVE-2014-6277 - uninitialized memory issue, almost certainly RCE
found by Michal Zalewski. No specific patch yet.
CVE-2014-6278 - command injection RCE found by Michal Zalewski. No specific patch yet.

It gets pretty confusing. Fortunately Chet Ramey, the official bash maintainer, posted a CVE to patch mapping. His post refers to patches for bash 4.3, I (@OldPro) have translated them to patches for bash 3.2, which is what is applicable to OS X. Also, since this post he has released patch 57, so I added that below:

 bash32-052      CVE-2014-6271                           2014-09-24
 bash32-053      CVE-2014-7169                           2014-09-26
 bash32-054      exported function namespace change      2014-09-27 ("Game Over")
 bash32-055      CVE-2014-7186/CVE-2014-7187             2014-10-01
 bash32-056      CVE-2014-6277                           2014-10-02
 bash32-057      CVE-2014-6278                           2014-10-05

See David A. Wheeler's post for a timeline and greater detail.

@alblue posted build instructions through patch 55. I (@OldPro) added patch 56 and 57 to the instructions but have not tested it.

Testing for the original Vulnerability

You can determine if you are vulnerable to the original problem in CVE-2014-6271 by executing this test:

$ env x='() { :;}; echo vulnerable' bash -c 'echo hello'
bash: warning: x: ignoring function definition attempt
bash: error importing function definition for `x'
hello

The above output is an example of a non-vulnerable bash version. If you see the word vulnerable in the output of that command your bash is vulnerable and you should update. Below is a vulnerable version from OS X 10.8.5:

Testing for the new Vulnerability

There has been an update to the original post and Bash 3.2.52(1) is still vulnerable to a variation of the vulnerability, defined in CVE-2014-7169

$ rm -f echo
$ env X='() { (a)=>\' sh -c "echo date"; cat echo
sh: X: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token `='
sh: X: line 1: `'
sh: error importing function definition for `X'
Thu 25 Sep 2014 08:50:18 BST

The above output is an example of a vulnerable bash version. If you see a date in the output of that command your bash is vulnerable.

Disabling auto-imported functions to prevent "Game Over"

Researchers noted, without classifying it as a vulnerability, that a script could hijack a function in a subshell using auto-imported functions:

$ env ls="() { echo 'Game Over'; }" bash -c ls
Game over

The above code on an affected system would display Game Over instead of the directory listing you would expect from ls. Obviously, echo 'Game Over' could be replaced by any nefarious code you want. This became know as the "Game Over" bug.

Prior to the availability of patch 54, both NetBSD and FreeBSD disabled auto-importing bash functions by default, partly to prevent "Game Over" but mainly to contain any further errors in the parser (such as CVE-2014-7169) as they were continuing to be discovered, and added a new command line flag --import-functions to re-enable the old default behavior. I (@alblue) have prepared a patch (against 3.2.53) for others to use if they want to adopt this behaviour as well and have included it below. By default this patch is not enabled in the build script below. I (@OldPro) believe this patch is no longer necessary or a good idea, because it breaks backwards compatibility and the vulnerabilities it protects against are very well addressed by patch 54 and earlier patches, and enabling this unofficial patch prevents future patches from being applied.

(Note to question editors; please do not enable this by default, as it is an unofficial patch.)

a0c5c4d66742fddd0a35001cb91798a5fbf8a2f5  import_functions.patch

The patch can be enabled by running export ADD_IMPORT_FUNCTIONS_PATCH=YES before running the build. Note that enabling this patch will disable patch 54 and any future patches because future patches cannot be guaranteed to be compatible with the unofficial patch.

Apple Patch has Game Over vulnerability, sort of

As pointed out by @ake_____ on twitter the official Apple patch is still vulnerable to environment clobbering of executables:

$ env '__BASH_FUNC<ls>()'="() { echo Game Over; }" bash -c ls
Game Over

Users should decide for themselves how important this is. I (@OldPro) think it is nothing to worry about because there is no known exploit for this behavior (it was not even given a CVE identifier) because in general unprivileged remote attackers cannot set the name of an environment variable and attackers with privileges cannot use this to gain privileges they do not already have (at least not without exploiting an additional vulnerabiltiy).

To provide a little background, bash allows you to define functions, and furthermore allows you to export those functions to subshells via the export -f command. This used to be implemented by creating an environment variable with the same name as the function with its value set to the function definition. So

$ ls () { echo 'Game Over'; }
$ export -f ls
$ echo $ls
Game Over

This happened because export -f ls created an environment variable named ls. The "Game Over" vulnerability was that you could directly create this environment variable without having to first define the function, which meant if you could inject the right variable name you could hijack a command. Apple tried to fix this by making it hard to create a variable with the right name. The official bash patch 54 actually makes it impossible to create a variable with the right name by using variable names that include % which is a character not allowed in a variable name, effectively putting exported function definitions in a different, reserved namespace.

If none of the above makes sense to you, don't worry about it. You are fine with the Apple patch for now.

System Binaries

OS X 10.9.5 (the latest stable release at the moment) ships with Bash v3.2.51:

$ bash --version
GNU bash, version 3.2.51(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin13)
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

You can obtain and recompile Bash as follows, providing that you have Xcode installed (and have run xcodebuild at least once before to accept the license):

$ # If you want to disable auto-imported functions, uncomment the following
$ # export ADD_IMPORT_FUNCTIONS_PATCH=YES
$ mkdir bash-fix
$ cd bash-fix
$ curl https://opensource.apple.com/tarballs/bash/bash-92.tar.gz | tar zxf -
$ cd bash-92/bash-3.2
$ curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-052 | patch -p0
$ curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-053 | patch -p0
$ # See note above about ADD_IMPORT_FUNCTIONS_PATCH
$ [ "$ADD_IMPORT_FUNCTIONS_PATCH" == "YES" ] && curl http://alblue.bandlem.com/import_functions.patch | patch -p0
$ [ "$ADD_IMPORT_FUNCTIONS_PATCH" == "YES" ] || curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-054 | patch -p0
$ [ "$ADD_IMPORT_FUNCTIONS_PATCH" == "YES" ] || curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-055 | patch -p0
$ [ "$ADD_IMPORT_FUNCTIONS_PATCH" == "YES" ] || curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-056 | patch -p0
$ [ "$ADD_IMPORT_FUNCTIONS_PATCH" == "YES" ] || curl https://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/bash/bash-3.2-patches/bash32-057 | patch -p0
$ cd ..
$ # Note: DO NOT ADD SUDO TO XCODEBUILD HERE
$ xcodebuild
$ build/Release/bash --version # GNU bash, version 3.2.57-release
$ build/Release/sh --version   # GNU bash, version 3.2.57-release
$ sudo cp /bin/bash /bin/bash.old
$ sudo cp /bin/sh /bin/sh.old
$ sudo cp build/Release/bash /bin
$ sudo cp build/Release/sh /bin

(Note: you can run this by copy-and-pasting the above code block, going into Terminal and then running pbpaste | cut -c 2- | sh. Always take care when running random scripts from the internet though ...)

After this, the Bash version should be v3.2.57:

$ bash --version
GNU bash, version 3.2.57-release (x86_64-apple-darwin13)
Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

For security, and after testing, I recommend that you chmod -x the old versions to ensure they aren't re-used, or move them to a backup site.

$ sudo chmod a-x /bin/bash.old /bin/sh.old

Other answers have solutions for those using MacPorts or Homebrew; these don't fix the problem, they just install additional versions of Bash. Please see those answers if you want to upgrade those specifically.

Thanks

Thanks to Chet, who looks after bash, and has been making these patches available. Thanks to everyone else who has commented on this and improved it over time.

Now Apple has released the real fix, though this might still be useful. Because they only released a fix for Lion and up, and the official patch provides GNU bash, version 3.2.53(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin13), however, the Game over bug is still somewhat vulnerable. At this point, rebuilding your own version of Bash against 3.2.57 is probably more secure than relying on Apple's patch, unless you do it wrong.

You can follow the instructions here: https://github.com/tjluoma/bash-fix Basically, do the following in a Terminal:

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tjluoma/bash-fix/master/bash-fix.sh | zsh -f


AppleScript runs twice? This script should say a b just once but many times it says a b a b.

I think this has something to do with Saved application stage. I emptied Saved application stage folder for this script then locked it. Then script works for a while but then after few runs it starts to say a b a b again.

How i can fix this?

--stay open

on run
    say "a"
    say "b"
end run

on my_stuff()
    say "my stuff"
end my_stuff

on idle
    my_stuff()
    return 30
end idle

on quit
    say "quit"
    continue quit
end quit

Try to put a delay before such as:

on run
    delay 5
    say "a"
    say "b"
end run


2nd HDD in Early 2011 MacBook Pro ejects during large file transfers, but only in OSX I recently installed a 1TB HDD in my early 2011 13" MacBook Pro using an MCE Optibay. The stock 120GB SSD houses an OSX Mavericks install and a Windows 7 install, done basically via Bootcamp. The 1TB HDD is split into 2 partitions: an NTFS side for Windows file storage and an HFS+ side for OSX storage.

When I'm doing large file transfers (DVD .iso files, my music library, etc) to the HFS side of the drive, usually after about 5 minutes both of the partitions on the drive will unmount and display a message about not being ejected properly. After unmounting, the drive won't show up at all in Disk Utility and the "SATA" section of System Information just displays an unknown device. I've tried disabling the sudden motion sensor in Terminal and telling it not to spin down drives when it's plugged in.

The weird part is that large file transfers work fine on the Windows side, i.e. transferring to the NTFS side of HDD from within Windows.

Any thoughts or advice? I'm considering installing Windows to the HDD, giving OSX full reign of the SSD, and putting a FAT32 shared partition on the HDD. I also have a USB to SATA cable I'm thinking of using to test the drive to see if it's maybe the Optibay or ribbon cable's fault.

The answer:

I took the 1TB HGST Travelstar 7K1000 and gave it a firmware downgrade.  HGST emailed me application to set the port to either, Sata I, II, or III.  Reducing it to Sata II solves the problem.

No more dropping.

Has somethgn to do with Apple/intels first venture into the Sata III world back then.  I used the less expensive Opti bay kit.  Not the more expensive Extreme they have created to solve the problem.

Works great and is plenty fast for a seconday drive.

I too had this problem. I found a solution in this youtube video. Please check it out. It might solve your issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASV9X8efSkA

After following steps in this video , the random eject issue of 2nd HDD was solved on my Macbook Pro.


Why can't I see some of my notes from my iphone on my macbook? There are some notes that I created on my iphone and i can't see them on my macbook pro.  I have icloud turned on everywhere and I do see certain notes synced across my devices but some are just on one.

Is there anyway to determine what the issue is?  Is there a known issue with notes not syncing properly?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

It is possible you have an email account with "Notes" enabled on your iPhone, but don't have the same account set up on your Mac.

On your iPhone, in the Notes listing, tap "Accounts" in the upper left corner. Mentally review those accounts.

On your Mac, click the Navigation icon that shows two lists next to a box, and makes sure the accounts are the same.

If the accounts aren't the same, setup the missing accounts on your Mac in Mail Preferences. Also, if you have an Note "Account" on your iPhone that is named something like "On my iPhone", transfer those notes to an account that syncs. You can accomplish that by, tapping the Share icon in the note, tap "Copy", tap "Notes" to view your list of notes, tap "Accounts", tap an account that will sync to your Mac, tap the "+" icon, tap and hold, paste the note that. (Hopefully you don't have too many notes that need that action).

I had the same issue with syncing notes. The copy paste method worked perfectly
I opened the iPhone note that I wanted to appear on my macbook, copied the note, went back into the iCloud note folder, opened a new blank note in the iCloud note folder, pasted the data (previously copied from iPhone note) into a new note. It appeared in the cloud note folder on my iPhone as well as the notes folder on my macbook.


Get password prompt in the terminal/shell When I am connecting a Mac through ssh, I don't have any GUI.

However, for some of the commands like security find-internet-password, there will be a GUI prompt for the admin's password. How can I have the prompt in the shell instead of GUI?

I use this in Terminal

sudo security find-internet-password -gs www.facebook.com

that asks me to confirm with my Admin Password

then it delivers.

This is by design, the security interface requires human interaction (well, GUI interaction). Normal keychain usage is done using an API which allows the user to grant the requesting application permanent access to the stored data for that request.


How to fix AFP where some users connect after 4 minutes and others never connect (spinning progress bar and no authentication dialog)? I am having an issue for multiple (but not all) users whereby AFP connections are taking 4+ minutes to connect to the share. Some never connect. The spinning progress bar sits there but no auth window appears. So far I have:

Tested the network cable in a MBP which could connect instantly with correct credentials.
Power cycle
Ping AFP share - working
Ping server IP - working
Check DNS, added manually
PRAM reset
Tried connection over SMB and NFS, SMB would bring up the Auth window slightly faster but still a good 4 min wait
Created new local user account which was able to connect to the share instantly

Dumped network settings and location, which produced a strange result; with the AFP connection pending, ditching the Ethernet 2 interface in Network Settings brought about the connection. Upon ejecting the share and restarting the connection however, the same wait followed. Recreating the Ethernet 2 interface and dumping it again brings about the connection.

Pulling the cable out (with Airport off) brings up the authentication window instantly.

We have restarted the AFP server and all switches.

We have swapped out the Cat5e cabling between the AFP server and the switches.

It appears that all the machines are on 10.7.4.

I have read some posts on Google about NetAuthAgent maxing out CPU cycles, I am going to test the offending machines for that now.

How can I fix an issue with AFP where some users connect after 4 minutes and others never connect (spinning progress bar and no authentication dialog)?

Yup, we saw the same exact symptoms, only on 10.7.4 machines, and after some digging, it appears to be a preference file causing this behavior.

Backup then delete the following:

 ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

and

 ~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist.lockfile

then reboot.

See the following link for more info:

http://derflounder.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/odd-afp-and-smb-connection-problem-caused-by-idisk-going-away/

If you delete the files above you'll have to redo your Mouse preferences, and perhaps something else, from scratch, but it was no biggie as far as I could tell.

use wireshark to view what traffic is being held up


How to remove undeletable login item I have a login item that I can't delete! It's a random Garageband audio file that I never put there myself. It opens in Quicktime every time I boot my Mac. Does anyone know how to get rid of it?

Since it is set for all users it should be in the

/System/Library/StartupItems

or in the /System/Library/LaunchDaemons

Correction thanks to @maximus that would be in the /Library/LaunchAgents

Copy one of the above and paste it in the Finders "Go to Folder"

Alternatively hover the mouse pointer over it (while it is highlighted) and there should be a pop up with the location of that file.

The file /Users/your_username/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist should contain the link to this file. Using Get Info, check to see that your user account has Read & Write Privilege.

I noticed that the minus sign used for deleting items from this list is greyed out. Can you remove other items from this list?


Remove recent documents history? I recently got a MacBook Air and am getting used to the macOS interface... Liking it so far but still relearning how to do some basic stuff.

For example, right clicking on VLC, and all the porn I've been watching comes up! Don't want to risk that popping up if someone else is using my computer for a few moments.

I've tried setting the Number of recent items under system preferences to none, but vlc still remembers all my filthy video titles! What gives?

In windows I could clear my recent documents easily enough, or use a tool like ccleaner to clear system cache, browser histories, recent documents etc with one click.

Can you recommend something similar for Mac?

(I know the best solution for this is separate user accounts - but would like to be confident that I could pass my laptop quickly to someone at a moments notice without all my recent activity being two clicks away!

Thanks for any help.

It is generated by Spotlight

(see the second post on this link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1071627?tstart=0)

You can make it so that nothing shows up (aka deactivating it) by doing the following.

System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy > +
then select your Macintosh HD (or whatever your HD is called)
then click choose.

Now that should do it.

If I can confirm that you don't want your wife (who has access to your profile and YES always will be able to just pass by as well as inspect your computer.) to be able to see that you have been loading files pron, divorce papers, off shore banking, p i videos of her I am using to launch a divorce.

If so, just admit APPLE REFUSES to allow you to shut off the recent folder in Finder so people like you will have easy access to what we have been doing when you want privacy.

Here is the answer: It cannot be done without severe damage to other file lists and is a critical failure on privacy on a computer you own. I feel Apple over reaches here to not protect you.

Sorry that it is the best answer... sometimes you cannot do something.


How to prevent iPad from keeping pushing iOS 11 to me? My iPad Air 2 keeps downloading iOS 11 in the background and then tries to push me into upgrading. I don't want that. I have declined it numerous times, and recovered the storage space it takes up from the download, but every time it keeps doing it over and over.

Is there a way for my iPad (currently running iOS 10) to stop downloading or bothering me about iOS 11 at all?

Update:
iOS/iPadOS 13.6 has introduced the ability for users to turn off automatic download of updates. To configure automatic download or installation of iOS/iPadOS updates on your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings app → General → Software Update → Customize Automatic Updates and toggle the switches as desired.
The linked Apple Support document discusses the same:

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT204204

Customize Automatic Updates

With iOS 13.6, or iPadOS, you can choose not to download software updates automatically. Go to Settings > General > Software Update > Customize Automatic Updates, then turn off Download iOS updates.

Old answer which applies to iOS/iPadOS versions earlier than 13.6 is as follows:
Apple strongly advises to keep your iOS devices up-to-date by installing the latest supported public release of iOS on your devices.
While Apple takes every measure to get the iOS devices to the newly released software, you can choose to opt out of upgrading. There is no straightforward way for you to turn-off iOS software upgrade all together, following are a few tricks you can employ to keep yourself from upgrading:

Delete the update and avoid Wi-Fi connection: First delete the already downloaded iOS update by going to Settings app → General → Storage & iCloud Storage → Manage Storage. Select the Software Update item, tap on Delete Update and confirm that you want to delete the update.
Now disconnect your device from Wi-Fi. Software update can be downloaded and installed only over a Wi-Fi connection. If you can make do with a regular data/LTE connection, you can avoid Wi-Fi and you will not be nagged by a downloaded update.

Block the Apple software update domain(s) on your router: If you need to connect to a Wi-Fi connection at your home or office and have the admin access to the router, you can blacklist the Apple Software domains. Use it with caution as this will block the domains for others who are connected to the access point as well and they will not be able to check for or install the update. Prevent access to the following domains:
 appldnld.apple.com
 mesu.apple.com

Here is your solution.

I too have a limit on my data and their updates aren't exactly small in size but are currently about 2.5 GB in file size which is quite expensive if you are on restricted data.

For years I had to manually keep on deleting these updates so that I didn't accidentally install the update and to get rid of those relentless notifications, but good news I have finally a solution that works for me.

What you need to do essentially is fill up the space on your device enough so that the IOS Update physically cannot download. It will present you with a message stating that "The update cannot be installed because it requires at least #### amount of availiable storage during installation."

This will then solve your problems.

Your choice as to how you fill up the space. You may want to download a lot of Netflix movies to your device.

For me the quickest way may seem obsurd but it's the quickest.

I set my iPad facing a window and simply just hit record and leave it for an hour or so. At least I get some nice wildlife shots as my window sits facing a park. This usually fills up the space and if I ever need space I simply go in to my gallery and delete the video. You can even do incremental videos so you only have to delete one for however much space you need rather than having a single file taking up the entire space on the device hard drive.

This may seem tedious but is the only way to get Apple of your back from forcing their stupid updates on its users.


How to clear browser cache for just one specific site in Mobile Safari? I'm doing some testing on a mobile site in development and there are many updates and changes happening to this site. In order to test afresh and clear any JavaScript or what-not that is held in the cache on my iPhone I need to clear the site from the history.

However, i'm not too keen on wiping all my browser history as I don't want to have re-sign into every site I'm currently logged into or have cookies for. This testing could last several months and the thought of having to clear my history and sign into all my various accounts every time is not that appealing.

Is there a way to specifically clear out the history of just one domain from my history without wiping all my cache out?

I could (and do) have other browsers on my iPhone (chrome, opera - if that even counts as a browser) but as Safari is the browser the target audience will mostly use I need to keep with this one predominantly.

I don't know if this is exactly what you want, but if you open Settings, then click on Safari, then scroll down and click on Advanced, then click on Website Data you will get a list of websites that have stored data. You can click Edit then remove the data from just the sites that you want to remove stored data from.

To clear cookies for a specific site on Chrome for iOS

Save any site as a Bookmark via 3-dot menu at top right
Rename Bookmark to something like “Clear Site Cookies”
Copy/paste the below code below as the URL

Now just visit any site, pull up your bookmarks and click on the bookmark we just made.  That will clear the cookies just for that one site, even on Chrome iOS.

    javascript:void((function(){var%20a,b,c,e,f;f=0;a=document.cookie.split(";%20");for(e=0;e<a.length&&a[e];e++){f++;for(b="."+location.host;b;b=b.replace(/^(?:%5C.|[^%5C.]+)/,"")){for(c=location.pathname;c;c=c.replace(/.$/,"")){document.cookie=(a[e]+";%20domain="+b+";%20path="+c+";%20expires="+new%20Date((new%20Date()).getTime()-1e11).toGMTString());}}}alert("Expired%20"+f+"%20cookies");})())

References

originally found on this answer
code is from this site


How can I script the setup of preferences in Mac OS X? I have a couple of Macs and I would like to create some kind of script that I can use to:

Easily setup a new Mac after a reinstall
Update settings to consistent values (so if I decide to change some preferences on Mac A, I can run the script on Mac B to get it to match)

I'd be happy if I could use this script to customize:

System Preferences
Finder Preferences

I would prefer a method where I can use a script or config file to specifically set certain settings I choose to certain values.  I don't really want something that will import/export ALL settings indiscriminately.

I also don't want some complicated IT management solution, since this is really just for me.

I did some more digging and I managed to find a solution that isn't AppleScript-ed UI movements.

You can script most of the settings changes I wanted to make using the defaults command (wiki).

As for figuring out the actual keys/values that correspond to the UI preferences, I've found lists like this to be useful (this one too).  I've also used this little script I wrote to suss out the changes made by the UI:

#!/bin/sh
mv ~/new-defaults.txt ~/old-defaults.txt
defaults read > ~/new-defaults.txt
diff old-defaults.txt new-defaults.txt

It'll give you all the changes to the defaults since the last time it was ran.  There's likely going to be other changes detected (like window positions), but most of the keys seemed reasonably named.  You can then take the changed key and figure out its domain by searching the full file.

There appear to be other mechanisms for storing preferences in Mac OS besides this (e.g. allowing non-App Store apps does not seem to be reflected in the defaults plists), and I still haven't figured those out.  The list I liked above uses some other commands, and I'll have to look into those next.

Not sure the motivation for wanting to script this “just for you.”  When I get a new system, or a clean install, the way I normally get all the settings I want is by letting Migration Assistant transfer them from my old system or it’s backup.


Why is my iPod touch so slow after installing iOS 5? With iOS 4.x everything was super fast on my iPod Touch. Now with iOS 5, whenever there are a few apps open in the background, everything becomes slow.

It takes 20 seconds to switch between playlists. It's ridiculous.

The unfortunate thing is, thanks to Apple restrictions, I can't downgrade to iOS 4.x.

On Apple's official forum, other users report this problem too: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3376176?start=0&tstart=0

What is going on with iOS performance?

Newer iOS devices have more system memory, which is separate from the flash memory. The OS itself has a specific memory footprint at boot time, and the rest of the system memory is used by applications. I don't have any data on this, but I can imagine that each major revision of iOS (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) has a larger system memory footprint than the previous release.

Keep in mind that the iPod Touch has a lower overall price than the iPhone released within the same year. An iPhone may cost $200 plus a two-year contract, but this is due to a subsidy paid by the wireless provider to Apple. So, the iPod Touch is expected to have a bit lower quality in terms of hardware specs (for example: system memory size, camera quality, CPU speed).

Taking the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4th generation as examples, Wikipedia states that the iPhone 4 has 512MB of system memory, and the iPod Touch 4th gen has 256MB of system memory. When the system runs out of memory for applications, it must make more memory available by terminating background processes or reducing their memory footprint. This may take time. You're more likely to experience this overhead on a device with less system memory, and on a likely slower CPU.

You will have to reset your ipod touch, and turn some of the newer features that are really made for newer devices. If these don't help try to restore device as a new ipod.
Go to this site and follow instructions,
You will see much improvement.
http://www.techhormone.com/ipod-touch-running-slow-after-ios-5-upgrade/


How can I speed up rate at which dock appears on second screen? How do I speed up the time it takes for the dock to appear on a second screen in Mavericks?

At the moment it takes over a second when I've been using it on the first screen then go to use it on the second.

Try something like this in your terminal.

 defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0.3; killall Dock;

Where the number 0.3 is, you can insert the number of seconds you want the animation to take. I found 0.3 to be quick enough, but still provide a nice effect.

P.S. grabbing this from Col1107's answer. Just wanted it saved.

Take a look at this website it helped me.


How to SSH in one line How would I connect to another computer through SSH in one line? If I were to do ssh host@IP, it would require me to enter the password in the second line.  I was thinking that I could do something like this: ssh host@IP | echo password, but that puts the password in before asking for the password.

You should be using SSH keys to authenticate with rather than putting your password on the command line as it's extremely insecure.

The way this works is once you have your SSH keys set up, all you have to do is issue the command:

ssh user@host

and without typing another thing, you will be automatically logged in.

Copy SSH Public Key to Mac/FreeBSD/Linux from macOS

This assumes you have access to the remote server via password based authentication (typing in a password),  and that you have already generated your private/public keypair (if not, see below).  In the following example, we are using RSA.  To start with let's copy the key over (be aware that the "home" directory differs between macOS, Linux, BSD, etc.):

Using SCP:

scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub username@hostname:/Users/username/.ssh/

Or simply cat-ing the file to authorized_keys (I prefer this method):

cat id_rsa.pub | ssh username@hostname ' cat >>.ssh/authorized_keys'

(Your key name may differ)  If the .ssh directory does not exist on the remote server you will need to login and create it.

Now the key has been copied from the mac to the remote server.
Set correct permissions for the SSH Public Key on the remote server:

chmod 600  ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Next add the key to the SSH authorized_keys file, if the file does not exist create it.

If the file authorized_keys already exists in ~/.ssh the use the following command:

cat id_rsa.pub >> authorized_keys

If the file does not exist enter the following commands:

cat id_rsa.pub > authorized_keys

chmod 600 authorized_keys
chown user:group authorized_keys

Generate SSH Public/Private key on macOS

Open up the Terminal by going to Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal

In the terminal, use the following command to start the key generation

ssh-keygen -t rsa

Next you will be prompted to provide the location where you want to create the private key file:

Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/username/.ssh/id_rsa):

Leave this empty to create the key in the default location, which is /Users/username/.ssh/id_rsa. The public key file will be created in the very same location, and with the same name, but with the .PUB extension.

After you will be prompted to choose a passphrase. This is the password optional to use the private key.

Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):

Your SSH key is generated.

Now, keep in mind, if you put in a passphrase you will be required to enter it each time you connect.  The utility ssh-agent will keep the passphrase in memory alleviating the need to manually enter it every time you connect while you are in the same session.  For more details see man ssh-agent

Access the remote host and run bash script without checking host key and username password in one line.
First install sshpass Debain:

sudo apt-get install sshpass

For CenOS install form EPEL:

yum --enablerepo=epel -y install sshpass

Copy and paste in a file for example: remoteScript.sh
Add remote host details.

#!/bin/bash
PATH_TO_SCRIPT="/path/script.sh"
UserName="root"
HostName="192.168.01.11"
Password="yourPassword"
sudo -S sshpass -p $Password ssh -o stricthostkeychecking=no $UserName@$HostName 'sudo -s ' < $PATH_TO_SCRIPT

If you want to use without bash script in terminal:

sshpass -p Password ssh -o stricthostkeychecking=no root@192.168.11.22 'bash -s' < YourScript

Change Password, User, and Server IP


Is it possible to type something into the address bar without going to the URL? On the desktop version of Safari, you can type something into the address bar without going to it. If I think of something I want to search as I'm browsing, I can put it in the address bar, but I won't press enter until I'm done reading the current page.

How do I do this on the iOS version of Safari? Typing something in the address bar gives you 2 options: "go" and "cancel." Unfortunately, pressing "cancel" will delete what you typed and revert the text in the address bar back to the original URL of the page you're on.

Is it possible to type something into the address bar on iOS Safari and leave it there?

This is technically impossible to achieve in the current version of iOS.
Though, you may want to try this trick which isn't right what you'd like to do, but may be a way around:

Tap the address bar and type whatever you want to search
Copy what you've just typed
Tap on cancel in order to get back to your current open webpage
When you're done and you want to search what you typed before, simply long press the address bar and tap on Paste and Search.

As I said before, this is not what you'd like to do, which indeed is not possible to achieve at the moment. Although, this may be an easy and quick trick as a way around of what you wanted to do.
Hope this helped you out!


How to change the cover photo of an album? Looking at the album index in the Photo app, it seems that the photo used as the album cover is picked randomly. Is it possible to change the picture that is used as the album cover?

In my experience, the cover photo is simply the first photo in the album. When you're within an album, hit the button in the upper-right corner to manipulate the photos; then tap and hold a photo until it "inflates," at which point you can drag it to move it around. You'll just have to be happy with your album cover being the first photo in the album.

(Edited to clarify the tap-and-hold gesture.)

Your albums that are synchronised with your iPad are also in iPhoto. Open the album that you want to change the photo cover for and reorganise your pictures so that they are how you want them to be displayed in your iPad. Your iPad will display the pictures in the same order as they are listed in iPhoto.


How do I change Software Update server to official one on OS X Lion (or later)? I recently bought a new macbook pro with Lion, had some problems and had it checked by Apple people. It was returned to me but the software update server seems to have been changed and will not update. How can I change to the official one? I would like to avoid the 2 hour drive.
Thanks!!

It depends on exactly how they changed the update server setting.  If they did the obvious thing, this should delete the setting (so it'll go back to normal):

sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL

If that doesn't work, it's possible it's configured as a per-user (rather than system-wide) setting, in which case this should do it:

defaults delete com.apple.SoftwareUpdate CatalogURL

sudo defaults rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist

then reboot


Wifi hardware undetected after installing MacOS Sierra This is a follow-up question to Mac Pro 4,1 (Early 2009) Sierra Compatibility?

I installed macOS Sierra on an early 2009 Mac Pro and now I noticed that my wifi hardware "is not detected". Here's what I did:

I used the MacPro Firmware updater to change it's version from 4,1...5,1.
I installed a 480GB Mercury Electra 3G SSD which I bought from OWC in the next available slot.
I installed Sierra Public beta. It's been updated twice, and now it's at 10.12 Beta (16A313a)
I now noticed that the wifi icon in the toolbar has a big X on it, and it says that no wifi

Is it possible that there's a new incompatibility with the wifi card with Sierra, or that somehow adding the new SSD caused a problem?

Does anyone have experience with this and/or have any hints?

Apple decided to try and piss off as many educational customers as possible by not including basic broadcom drivers from their AirPort wifi cards.  Even the later 4321 cards do not have a driver in MacOS Sierra and some of them shipped with Mac PRO 2010's.  So Apple even lied to their own owners about what models would be supported.  I have two Mac Pro's one is a 2009 and the other is a late 2010.  The late 2010's wifi does work.  The original card from the 2009 does not work and the upgraded BCM94321MC also does not have a driver in Sierra.  My 2nd Mac Pro has the following Wifi that does work.  Apple Airport Extreme BCM94322MC.  Comedic isn't it the BCM94322MC works and the BCM94321MC doesn't.  I ordered a second 22 to fix this issue.

It maybe an issue with the new software. Downgrade from Sierra to EI Captain. There is a guide here.


How to restore/re-create some folders from Time Machine backup of a different computer? I have Time Machine backup of computer A, a Macbook Pro mid-2010. I want to restore/re-create some folders backed up in that backup on a different computer, a Macbook Pro Retina mid-2014.  How to properly do this?


Keyboard predictions when typing in Safari address bar (iPhone) When typing something into the search / address bar in Safari or Firefox, the predictions and autocorrect are disabled. This means I don't get suggestions to complete the current word I'm typing either.
Is there a way to enable this functionality? It does seem to work in a lot of places e.g. iMessage, but also realised it doesn't work in the app store search bar.
I've just moved over from Android, so apologies if this has an obvious answer.
Phone is running iOS 14.4.2

The QuickType predictions don’t show when the text field has autocomplete disabled.
This is most often seen in inputs where completions appear as part of the text entry in the app. For example, regular QuickType predictions don’t appear in the Safari address bar because Safari shows autocomplete suggestions from your selected search engine. This is the same for App Store search, Spotlight, and others.

How to use Auto-Correction and predictive text…
In Settings > General > Keyboard you should see switches to enable Auto-Correction and Predictive.
For quick, alternate access, touch and hold the 'emoji' or 'globe' icon when the keyboard is visible. If the keyboard language supports it, you should see a switch for 'predictive'.
If the issue is specific to search suggestions, then these can be enabled in the Search section of Settings > Safari. If they're enabled but not working, try toggling them off and on again. I don't use Firefox on iOS but try Menu > Settings > Search > Show Search Suggestions


How do I change the default alarm sound when creating an alarm with Siri? I picked a song for an alarm and now every  alarm that I create with Siri uses that song. I cannot change the default alarm song back to the default alarm sound. When I need to create an alarm manually I can see the default alarm sound, but every single time I  create an alarm with Siri then it reverts back to that one song. It's impossible to change the default alarm sound that Siri uses. I'm using iOS 10.2.

I had the same issue. Did a hard reset (power and volume down until the Apple logo appeared. That'd be power and home button for all other non-7 devices.) It fixed the problem. It was driving me absolutely crazy.


How to move data between iCloud accounts? For some reason when I first got my iPhone the iCloud was created under my mom's email. Now that she recently got an iPad all of my contacts, Photo Stream, internet favourites, etc are all on her iPad.

What I'm trying to figure out is how to get rid of all my info off her iPad that doesn't involve anything getting erased from my phone. Eventually we need to create two separate iClouds, but how would you go about doing that when all the info is on "her" iCloud account?

Here is a simple solution for getting your contacts at the very least. This is what I did from one iPhone to another iPhone.

Login to the iCloud account associated with the device you are trying to retrieve this data from.

Once you are logged in click on the contacts tab in iCloud. In the bottom left hand corner you will see a "setting gear". Click this and then click select all.

Once all have been selected, click the "settings gear" and click export vcard. Save as contacts somewhere you will be able to easily locate like your desktop.

Log out of that account and log into the account you wish to transfer this data to. Once you are logged in to this account, click contacts and the "settings gear" in the left hand corner. Click import vcard, locate and select vcard imported from other account. You should now see your contacts transferred from one account to the next.

You will then need to click the "setting gear" again and click refresh contacts. Power off your device associated with the device you want contacts transferred and power back on.

Once everything is updated you should see your contacts on your new device.

Best of luck!

You can transfer everything from one icloud account to another. Just set up both accounts on the same PC/MAC and copy and past emails / contact etc..
E.G. Select all emails in Inbox one old icloud account, CTRL+C.  Then Past into new empty inbox, CTRL+V. Repeat for contacts etc..  Then set up forwarder if neccessary from old account to new account.


How do I delete a BootCamp partition using Terminal's diskutil? For some reason, the BootCamp Assistant app won't let me delete my BootCamp partition. How can I do so using Terminal and the diskutil terminal app?

Here's what worked for me:

use diskutil list to find the small Microsoft Reserved partition you're trying to delete but disk utility (or the command-line equivalent diskutil) won't allow.  Let's say it's on disk 99 partition 400 (mine was on disk 0 partition 4)
sudo diskutil eraseVolume JHFS+ deleteme /dev/disk99s400

The above reformats the partition to journaled HFS+ and once you've done that you can just simply delete it (and then resize etc. as you wish).

Note:  I've used /dev/disk99s400 because that should not ever work, you have to replace those with the right disk and partition.

WARNING: Destructive, high risk. ALWAYS do a full back up first before screwing with partitions.  ALWAYS.

I had the same problem and I HAVE THE SOLUTION.  The problem is that when you install Windows with bootcamp it is creating a Logic Volume Group.  What you need to do is delete the Logical Volume Group.  Very similar to if you have ever undone a manual fusion drive. Bust out terminal:

diskutil coreStorage list

Copy the Logical Volume Group ID

diskutil coreStorage delete lvgUUID

IT WORKS!


Lost ability to choose 3440x1440 resolution after Yosemite upgrade I have an LG 34UM95 connected via TB on a Late 2012 mac mini.

After the Yosemite install, I no longer have the option of choosing 3440x1440 resolution in the Displays preferences.  It worked just fine prior to the upgrade.

I did do the Option->Scaled bit to see the extended list of  choices, but nothing higher than 2560x1080 shows up.

Can I get my 3440x1440 resolution back?

EDIT: my colorsync profile...

EDIT 2
I just upgraded from 10.10 to 10.10.2.  Resolution stayed the same! Woot!!  So, either the new update fixed the issue, or it  didn't touch the graphics extension.

A bit of a late answer, but this issue is now fixed in Yosemite 10.10.2 - full 3440x1400 (on a macbook air you have to close the lid of your laptop, but it works without hacks!)

Just press the option key while you select "Scaled" and will appear all the compatible resolutions.


MacBook Pro won't recognize my analog audio jack headphones. Help? Periodically, my MacBook Pro 17" stops recognizing my headphones. No amount of unplugging and replugging seems to help. The sound settings never show headphones as an output device. How can I fix this? The only thing I can find elsewhere on the Internet are people saying, "Reboot!" This works, but is impractical and annoying.

There seems to be a bug whereby if the headphones are plugged in when the MBP is put to sleep and are not present when it is rewakened, the headphones stop being recognized. The solution is to:

Unplug the headphones
Put the MBP back to sleep (close the lid; without an external display hooked up)
Plug the headphones back in
Wake the MBP by opening the lid.

This should fix the problem.

Yes sleep the macbook connect the headphones then awake the mac, voila!


How to fix com.apple.dock.extra? I'm a gamer and one day  i was playing mine craft when this blabbering thing just showed up. I went to activity monitor and there was a process called com.apple.dock.extra. From the first day there was a annoying voice all the time and when i went to internet pages, i could not scroll down as it would go back up to the top again. Just yesterday i was playing mine craft when my up key stopped working. After some investigating, i think it has to do with com.apple.dock.extra. Whenever i press up, the annoying little black box goes up to multiple links and says them out to me. Finally, there is a big black box that appears telling me where my system is. My computer is a 13 inch MacBook Air version 10.7.4 and i have Mac OS X Lion 10.7.4. I have a 1.8 GHZ processor. Could someone PLEASE tell me how to fix it, as this is my school computer.

You could try this fix:

In Finder use the Go to and go to /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/XPCServices

In XPCServices Folder and move the com.apple.dock.extra.xpc file to desktop.

Then go back to the activity monitor and force quit the process and test!

Source: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4263912 user jximo 07


How do I prevent keyboard shortcuts being synced from my iPhone to my Mac? I use some keyboard shortcuts on my iPhone. This helps a lot, e.g. when typing gn which is replaced by Good night!. These shortcuts are synchronised to my Mac via iCloud.  On my Mac I use TextExpander as a sophisticated keyboard shortcut tool and don’t need these iOS shortcuts, as I have hundreds of Mac abbreviations and don’t need shortcuts that work on a phone but not elsewhere.

The answer to my question is pretty obvious: All I have to do is to unable System Preferences → iCloud → Documents & Data. However, a lot of apps rely on this setting being enabled.

What else can I do to prevent the synchronization/use of these abbreviations on my Mac?

You have answered your own question, the syncing is included with lots of other things and granular settings are not available.  The only way around it is to use just text expander on both iOS and OSX, or just the default text substitution tools, but not a mix.  Sorry!

I agree with you. I'm not a fan of turning off a primary feature of an unrelated service to solve an issue like this. It's not really a solution.

According to TextExpander's support there's no mention of official iCloud syncing. You may want to check to see if you have the Local Network syncing option on by mistake.

TextExpander's page on syncing

If that doesn't do it, here's the reality and this will probably come as a surprise to you... iCloud syncs all kinds of settings & data between devices (iOS & Mac) without you knowing it or explicitly allowing it. I've done a great deal of digging lately into how & what iCloud syncs and it's pretty upsetting. I'm seeing documents & preferences being pushed to iCloud for apps that don't have any official iCloud support. I've yet to figure out why some of these apps are immune to the situation, but I'm guessing that apps developed using newer versions of Apple's development software (XCode) are putting their settings/documents in places that get picked up by iCloud without the developer even realizing it.

In my experience, Mac apps that have an iOS counterpart are sharing information without being listed under Documents & Data in System Preferences. Basically Apple seems to be automating some syncing for newly developed apps on all their platforms and they've either failed to prevent inadvertent sharing that the developer didn't intend or they're intentionally doing this in silent thinking they're doing someone a favor. Either way, it's pretty sloppy on Apple's part.

I'd suggest contacting the developer of TextExpander so they're aware of the issue. In the meantime, if it is silent syncing, there's nothing you can manually do to stop it other than your above solution.

This next part I only offer as evidence of what I'm talking about, not to suggest you delete anything from the location I mention. Doing so could create problems and in my tests things just came back during the next sync.

None of the next steps will harm or change anything on your computer. It just opens a folder that's typically hidden. You can close the Finder window when done and no harm will be done.

On your Mac make the Finder active. Select Finder from the Dock or any window or just an empty area of your Desktop and press:

COMMAND+SHIFT+G

Then copy and paste this into the text box and press GO

~/Library/Mobile Documents

You'll see a list of a bunch of data being shared between your devices you probably didn't know about. Sadly this isn't the only place on the system where this tuff is tracked & synced, which is why deleting stuff here won't always do anything. But at least you can see if a folder exists regarding TextExpander.

Oh, remember when you turned on syncing of stuff related to "Finder"? Yeah, neither do I.

Good luck!


How to add a Safari toolbar button that runs an AppleScript How do I add a button to the Safari toolbar that, when clicked, executes a given AppleScript?

Another solution, and this is really dependant on what you want to do, is to use Services to execute your Applescript.

It doesn't create a toolbar icon, but will allow you to create a service from your AppleScript. You can then define a shortcut key in the System Preferences Keyboard Services pane

This page over at automatedworkflows.com shows an example as well as a link to the rather useful ThisService program.

"What were the test results?"

I posted a quite complex (& probably circuitous) solution or way to execute at GitHub ("Download window with full names").
Principally speaking my bookmark opens a folder that contains (and therefore executes) a Folder Action Script.
That bookmark I sometimes use to display a list of downloaded files in an AppleScript dialog window – but in an UN-abbreviated form (e.g. for an overview of several  episodes of a downloaded TV series …).


Is there a way to access the TOR network on iOS devices? What are my options for using TOR on an iPod Touch, either using something similar to the VPN settings, or through dedicated apps for browsing/email/RSS ?

I suspect you would be able to use TorVPN's PPTP Server, just make sure you switch the "Send All Traffic" switch on the VPN configuration settings to "on". Otherwise it will be astoundingly ineffective :).

Note that I have not used this service, but knowing what iOS supports (L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, Cisco L2TP), I have a hunch that it will work.

Yes. Open VPN can be used on all iOs devices. Open VPN Connect is a free app that you can load open VPN config files into. I use it to connect my iOs devices to the Private Internet Access VPN. I think you should be able to use it to connect to tor as well. Hope this helps.


Why is "Add to Wishlist" option not visible in iOS 7 App Store? I've found several apps that I'd like to add to my wishlist to download later, but the option isn't visible in the menu. I thought "Add to Wishlist" was a new feature in iOS 7 for the App Store. But the only options I see are Airdrop, Message, Mail, Twitter, Facebook, and Copy Link. Is anyone else having this issue?

I do believe that you are attempting to add Free apps to your wishlist.  When you try this you do not get the open to add to your wishlist, just as you never could gift a free app.  Try again on a paid app and you should see the options Add to Wish List and Gift appear before Copy Link.

I believe it will wait for a wifi connection if the download is over 100mb.


iTunes totally unresponsive. Wont open or close iTunes shows as running in dock but cant open or quit, force quit, or even shutdown computer.
Running OS X 10.10.3, don't know what iTunes as can't open it!

I would suggest to use the Force Quit method on a stuck process.

Hold alt+cmd+esc then select the iTunes from the list to force quit.

Now restart iTunes and see if it behaves.

Following the above use Terminal to see which processes died in the past 7 days.

ps aux | grep -w Z


External screen turns off after macOS boots - Mac Mini When I plug in the screen and I turn on the Mac Mini, I see the Apple logo and the OS loading. After macOS boots the external screen goes black.

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

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

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

So try to turn off power saving on your monitor.

Finally, I have solved this problem. Just turn off the FileVault !


Transferring all music from iPhone to iPhone I recently got a new iPhone and the music I downloaded on iTunes on my old iPhone downloaded on to my new iPhone perfectly fine. But the music I downloaded not on my iPhone doesn't download onto my new iPhone.

Hard to understand but to put it simply, I just want all my music on my new iPhone not just some it.

When you connect your new phone on iTunes, click on the phone in the left column and then click on the Music tab at the top of the page:

Make sure that the Entire music library radio button is selected (unlike in the screen shot) and no other option. This setting may have been inherited from your old phone.

Just use a software called WALTR. It may help you with transfering all your music from itunes to your new iphone.


Alarm clock for iPhone/iPad which permits me to choose custom sound track without apple music, exists? I seek a simple alarm clock that permits me to choose an arbitrary soundtrack (mp3 file) from iPhone/iPad without messing with Apple Music/iTunes/etc..

If a built-in HTTP server that can be used to upload the soundtrack from pc via browser, I will believe that this world still has hope for uncluttered apps that do one thing well.

Does this exist?

The salvation came from Reddit.
You can use the beautiful iMazing, it can sync items back and forth between devices without using Apple's iBloat


How to maximise a window to fill up screen in Mavericks? Before Mavericks, I could maximise a window while holding shift key, and the window would always fill up the entire screen without needing any third party tools or changes.

It no longer works in Mavericks, is there a workaround or hidden setting to revert to the old behavior?

While holding Shift + Option, click the green Plus button on the upper-left corner of the window.

http://teohm.com/blog/2012/03/22/working-effectively-with-iterm2/

For anyone using iTerm:

toggle maximize window: Cmd + Alt + =


Moving Files From Dropbox App to Music App Recently my laptop was put out of commission. Since then I've downloaded some music into my iPad's Dropbox app. I would like to move this from Dropbox to the Music app, but I'm not sure of a way to do it without my laptop. Any help would be great.

The only ways to get music into Music.app is to sync with a computer, purchase from the App Store or use iTunes Match (which requires a computer to get set up). Unfortunately because of the way iOS is architected it is not possible to take music from third-party apps or websites and put them into Music.app.

I downloaded "eddy" today. It works great. Select edit then choose which file from dropbox to download. Once they are downloaded you can play them back when offline.


I broke my PATH by editing my ~/.bash_profile and Bash will not recognize most commands in .bash_profile I accidentally set the path to:

PATH="~/Tools/apache-maven-3.3.3/bin"

and now the default path is gone. Nothing in Terminal works anymore:

Korays-MacBook-Pro:~ koraytugay$ ls
-bash: ls: command not found
Korays-MacBook-Pro:~ koraytugay$ mkdir test
-bash: mkdir: command not found

I can not see hidden files in Finder so I can not modify .bash_profile from Finder as well.

How can I fix this situation?

The simplest way is to restore from a backup e.g from Time Machine
However if the last backup is long enough ago that there is other changes you want to keep the you can edit .bash_profile

In terminal

In a terminal you can use the full path to the editors ( /usr/bin/emacs /usr/bin/vi or /usr/bin/nano) to edit ~/.bash_profile

e.g.

/usr/bin/nano ~/.bash_profile

Or you could open it with the default text editor (by default TextEdit) via:

/usr/bin/open ~/.bash_profile

In GUI - from Dock or Finder

But also you can do this from TextEdit (or other GUI editors) by File->Open and go to your home directory. Depending on if you have set Finder to show all  files or not show hidden ones (the default) you will either see .bash_profile in the list or you can hit ⌘ CMD+⇧ SHIFT+. which reveals hidden files in Open/Save dialogs. (the shortcut is from this answer)

Open your .bash_profile, go to the line with your error command and put a  #  before it as first character of the line. Restart (to be sure).


Can't update an app -- help? I can't update a particular app (CSR Racing) -- when I go to the "Updates" part of the app store or to the app itself and tap "update", it will go to the progress bar thing (circle with square in middle) for a split second, then go back to showing "update".  Now it's just sitting there with the progress bar not doing anything.  Help meh!

I already restarted the iPhone and tried to reset the App Store (as proposed by @csstudent in one of the answers), it still won't let me update it.

Type any one of the five bars at the bottom of the App Store (Featured, Top Charts, Explore, Search, Updates) 10 times in rapid succession. You will see the page redraw itself. This is a little-known feature in iOS that resets the App Store on the device. Try this, and then try to update the app.

Try taking Sim card out and restart phone then put back in, that's another option


Why does my iPhone 7 have a laser? In the box of my iPhone 7 there was a leaflet with all sorts of small print easy enough to be dismissed as some legal document (and maybe it is). I couldn't help reading it and on the reverse page it says something about Class 1 Laser Information:

See text: "This device contains a laser"

So my question is where in the iPhone and, more importantly, for what purpose is the laser in the iPhone?

This site indicates that the front facing proximity sensor consists of the laser and filters to attenuate the signal to safe levels once assembled.

  Located in the front of the phone, above the main speaker, the FlightSenseTM proximity sensor uses optical land-grid array (LGA) packaging. The custom Apple device measures 2.80 mm x 2.40 mm, half the size of the rest of STMicroelectronics’s portfolio.

That reinforces the warning about repair and implies potential danger if you operate the components while the iPhone is disassembled.

Well you can also use it for lecturers and presentations. It's something apple wanted to put on iphone a long time ago, but because safety issues and company decided to delay its usage. Also it servers for many other features, espicially at calculating distance for apps such as your camera.

I hope it works.


Which Mac for Web development + iOS development I'm a Windows user, but I'm looking to get a portable Mac for web development and iOS development.

I will be running sublime 3, Xcode and probably Nginx or XAMPP as my server. Would the 11-inch MacBook Air be a suitable machine? If not, what would be the minimum spec machine.

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

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

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

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

I can warmly recommend you the Apple MacBook Air MD711LL/B

Sure it has its price, but it's definitely worth it IMO.


What is the difference between "restore backup" and "restore iPhone" in iTunes? Connect the iPhone to the computer, click on the device in iTunes, and under Summary there are two buttons as described in the question.

What is the difference in terms of what is actually restored?

Restore Backup restores the contents of an iPhone backup performed sometime in the past. It restores content and stored data such as app settings, home-screen layouts, etc. Saved account login information is restored if the backup was encrypted.

Restore iPhone wipes the iPhone of all data & apps and reinstalls iOS, leaving the iPhone reset to factory settings. The iPhone is left with just the latest iOS and the Apple default apps.

Find My iPhone must be turned off for either to work.

This same thing happened to me. I restored my phone and the. Jail role again. That time the jailbreak didn't complete(there was a blue screen at the end of jailbreak) After that for the third time I jail broke and this time it worked. Now I can use jailbreak freely. I hope that helped. Have a good day


Why does OS X warn me before running an app downloaded from the Internet? I'm always hearing that there is practically no malware threat in Mac OS: clearly claims that there is no Mac malware are exaggerated, but the received wisdom is that they are a negligible threat and anti-virus software isn't generally used unless required by a corporate policy.

So that being the case, why does OS X warn me before running an app downloaded from the Internet? What's the perceived risk exactly? Either there's a credible malware threat out there (in which case everyone should be running AV software) or there isn't (in which case the warning is unnecessarily obstructive).

Edit for clarity in response to some surprisingly hostile replies: apologies if my terminology is misleading. I'm using "virus" loosely to mean malware that an anti-virus product would protect against. For example, a software site is hacked and the genuine download replaced with an infected version. A user downloads it in good faith and runs it. That's the kind of thing a good AV client would be expected to deal with: that's what I'm referring to.

Edit for clarity 2 (not by OP): changed "virus" to "malware" in the question to further the distinction.

There is a credible threat. You have to understand that virus means different things to different people, but the entire reason of it is to let a user know that there's a possible attack vector there.

For example, I don't think it counts as a virus when you've entered your admin password and installed a piece of software that trashes your system, it's just malicious software. I do however think something that propagates without user knowledge is, Apple seems to take a tighter view of security in general so the warning is for the casual user, just so they know to be careful.

You should note that there is a SIGNIFICANT difference between a self installing, under cover virus that automatically spreads itself and a malicious application the stupid enough user enters in their admin password.


Is it possible to use custom fonts in Mobile Safari? I need to install a font in iPad2, and Safari must be able to use it. Is it possible?

Solution:

I'm developing a iPad2 app using a web wrapper (PhoneGap) and a JS framework (Sencha Touch 2). I need to use custom fonts, for that I need to convert my TTF file (http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fontface/generator) and link the stylesheet.

No, you cannot install fonts on any iOS device without jail breaking or by creating an app.

But Safari can itself display fonts placed on a server with appropriate html code in the page.

As I'm developing a web app, I've converted the TTF file here and linked the generated font file from my CSS stylesheet.


How do I start rows with 0 (not 1) or not count header rows in Numbers? I'm using the Numbers app to make a database or catalogue of stuff.  For example, a list of all wines I'll try this year.  And for each column, I'll have the name of the wine, a rating, the kind of wine, and a few other items.

If the first row of my spreadsheet is a header, and the first row is 1, then every item in the spreadsheet will be off by 1.  To me, this makes absolutely no sense.  Can I start the spreadsheet with the first row being 0 instead of 1?  Or, can I have Numbers not use a row number for the header row?

If I could name the columns, this wouldn't matter.  But since Numbers names the columns A, B, C, etc, I have to use a header row to name (or label) the columns, and this leads to the first actual item being in row 2 instead of row 1...  and this leads to every single sort being off by one, since the top item is a label in the header, which gets listed as being #1.

Using column A for an index won't work unless there's a way to lock the order of column A, because the index would get sorted each time any other column gets sorted.

So, this is easy to solve in Excel...  I don't have access to Numbers at the moment, but I'll give you the solution I'm aware of and you can confirm whether it works in Numbers like it does Excel.

You can create a column with the following formula:

=Row() - 1

This will always give you one less than the "default" row number, which is what you are looking for.   It also won't be affected by sorting.

A complete reference of functions that are available in Numbers can be found HERE, including the ROW function.

= row()-1 works but if you insert a line above your list it will need to be adjusted for each row added (for example, " = row() - 2 ").  I recommend starting with typing the number " 1 " in a column for your list separate from the numbers on the side numbers (as recommended for the row function).  Then, in the box below, type " = " then click on the box where you put the " 1 " (right above) and then type " + 1 " and then hit enter.  You can do this for each subsequent box or just click on the second box, use the copy function (ctrl c or command c if you use mac), and then use the paste function (ctrl v or command v if you use mac) in the box below.  And repeat. Then you can insert lines above your list and it will keep the numbers straight.  DO NOT TYPE THE QUOTES - they are used to highlight what you type in.


Delete Key on Apple KeyBoard Deleting only 1 char at a time I used to delete characters continuously by pressing my delete key on apple keyboard but for some reason now I can not do it. I have to release and press again to delete the previous character.

For example:

If I have a line like "This is a text to delete". In the past, I will just place my cursor at the end of the sentence.. e.g after delete and keep pressing delete key until the entire sentence is removed. Now, I have press the delete key and release for every character.

I have set keyboard setting to default but still see the same issue.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Rj

This might be a setting in your keyboard system preferences panel.  Try adjusting your Key Repeat setting as shown:

go to settings.  click on keyboard icon.  under on screen key board, look for filter keys and turn it off.


How to fix homebrew error: "invalid active developer path" after upgrade to OS X El Capitan? I get this error when I run brew update:

$ brew update
xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools), missing xcrun at: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/xcrun
xcrun: error: invalid active developer path (/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools), missing xcrun at: /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/xcrun
Error: Failure while executing: git checkout -q master

How to fix this issue?

Run the following commands to fix the above error

sudo xcode-select --install
sudo xcode-select -switch /

I found the answer on https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew/issues/23500

I also had to do this:

sudo chown -R $(whoami):admin /usr/local

Because of some permission issues. However, do this only if you have to.

@Ranjith Ramachandra answer but I was able to get everything to work by only running the install command with sudo so if you’ve got modified permissions, forcing root may be needed

sudo xcode-select --install


How do I use only the external display with my MacBook Pro lid open on Lion? Sorry for the wordy title, but my problem is thus:

When I'm at my desk, I would like to use only the external display.
With the nifty gestures in Lion, I have decided I would like to use the internal trackpad on my MacBook
To physically touch the trackpad, the lid on my MacBook Pro needs to be open

This used to be a piece of cake with Snow Leopard and below - you plug in the external display, close the lid, plug in a USB device or press a key on a connected keyboard to wake the machine, and once it's woken up and using the external display reopen the lid and the internal screen stays off.

Unfortunately, Lion detects when my MacBook Pro is open and thinks its being helpful by activating the display. Is there a way to disable that? Is there a way to fool Lion into thinking my lid is closed?

I've taken up olivier's suggestion to arrange my monitors to eliminate a common border:

I chose the bottom right because I keep my dock on the left hand side of my screen, and I use my upper right as a hot corner to sleep the display. I also moved the menu bar to my desktop monitor and the MacBook screen is completely dimmed.

There was another option I heard about: using a magnet to make your MacBook think that the lid was closed. This does work - I placed a snippet of a refrigerator magnet near the bottom left side of my keyboard and sure enough my MacBook thought I had closed the display. Unfortunately, Mac OS X also disables keyboard and trackpad input when it thinks the display is closed, so this option didn't work for me.

Once you have hooked up the external monitor, for sometime you do see this extended monitor setup. But if you don't want to use the laptop screen, simply close the lid of the macbook pro and continue working on the larger screen this works. The laptop doesn't go into sleep mode. This is with the Lion release.


How to turn Mac OS X Lion into a web server? After using MAMP for ages, I found out I could actually use Snow Leopard's built-in Apache server. Now that I've upgraded to Lion, I have no idea how to do this anymore.

Do you know how to turn my Mac OS X Lion into a web server, so that I can easily run the latest version of PHP and MySQL in it? Also, how do I set the "localhost" aliases? I remember it was a httpd.conf file — something that I don't seem to find anymore on Lion.

You first need to enable Apache in the Sharing prefpane. Check "Web sharing" and your web server is running.

Note that since Mountain Lion, Web Sharing was removed from the Sharing preference pane, but Apache is still included. Check this answer for controlling Apache in Mountain Lion.

To activate PHP you'll need to edit /etc/apache2/httpd.conf in Terminal.app. This requires root credentials. nano is a very accessible command-line editor if you are uncomfortable with vim.

sudo nano /etc/apache2/httpd.conf

Find the line (you can press ctrl + W to start searching in nano):

#LoadModule php5_module libexec/apache2/libphp5.so

and uncomment it. Next find the line

#Include /private/etc/apache2/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

and uncomment that as well to enable virtual hosts support.

Save the file and exit nano by pressing ctrl + X, then confirming the changes by pressing Y(es), then enter.

You can now edit your virtual hosts in the file /etc/apache2/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

sudo nano /etc/apache2/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf

Important to note is that the first defined host will be the default host for unqualified host names. For resolving additional hostnames apart from localhost I recommend hardcoding them in /etc/hosts.

To install MySQL, download the installer from the MySQL website (64bit installer should be ok). Follow the instructions to install it.

Finally, to configure PHP for MySQL, copy the default php.ini:

sudo cp /etc/php.ini.default /etc/php.ini

Now you can edit /etc/php.ini (again root access required) and replace any reference to /var/mysql/mysql.sock with /tmp/mysql.sock (the default location of the MySQL socket after running the installer). There probably are about 3 references to that path.

Finally, restart Apache for the new configuration to take effect:

sudo apachectl restart

Alternatively you can restart Apache by toggling it off and on again in the Sharing prefpane.

Done.

You can find a good tutorial here to enable also phpmyadmin and such without using mamp


Can I change the behavior of the Home and End keys on an Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad? I just bought an "Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad", then I connected it to my Macbook Pro running Lion.

But the home and end key under the F14 key doesn't work as I expected. Say in "Pages", the home key doesn't bring the cursor to the beginning of the line, while the end key takes you to the bottom of the page.

Does anyone know how to re-map the home/end key?

One option is to create ~/Library/KeyBindings/ and save a property list like this as ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict:

{
  "\UF729"  = moveToBeginningOfLine:;
  "\UF72B"  = moveToEndOfLine:;
  "$\UF729" = moveToBeginningOfLineAndModifySelection:;
  "$\UF72B" = moveToEndOfLineAndModifySelection:;
}

Quit and reopen applications to apply the changes. Note that DefaultKeyBinding.dict is not supported by some applications like Xcode or Firefox.

In Terminal you can assign home (↖) to control-a and end (↘) to control-e from Preferences > Settings > Keyboard. That will leave you with no key combinations to scroll to the top or bottom of a window though.

It might be easier to just use the default keybindings. In most native text views:

control-A or option-up goes to the beginning of a paragraph
control-E or option-up goes to the end of a paragraph
command-left goes to the beginning of a line
command-right goes to the end of a line

I followed this blog post and it did the "home" and "end" key bindings as well as a few other userful adjustments.


Strange path environment Is it normal to have all this stuff in my path environment?

  /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/texbin

It seems I have included the same path many times. I have installed and uninstalled Python 3.4 and Python 3.4.1 a few times because I am still having problems in making the IDLE work correctly due to Tcl/Tk libraries compatibility and stability problems with Mac OS X. Is this maybe the reason of having apparently the same path repeated?

The issue is how you have uninstalled python. Deleting the app does remove the code but does not affect anything you have changed elsewhere will not have been undone. In this case the changes to the path have not been undone and as the installer is a simple one it keeps adding the new bit of the path to the existing path.

To fix the path you need to find the file where the PATH environment variable is altered. If you are using the bash shell (the default in recent OSX) then. . ideally it should be ~/.bashrc but probably ~/.profile or ~/.bash_profile. See other questions or manuals on what startup file bash uses) Then edit this file so that you have only one Python in it, the lines changing PATH will begin export PATH=

In general things are uninstallable if only you know exactly what they changed in install and what they write to at run time. There is no generic way to do this. The best apps have uninstallers which will do the best. You can stop the app running by deleting the .app bundle and most configuration takes up little disk space so the cost of leaving it is not high. Also most .apps do not need edits in bash files so are more self contained.

I think that I have determined the problem that this person is having.  They might be using a different kind of shell, like .tschrc.  They should look at their startup files, and likely the now unused framework has been added to the path there.


How can I get rid of MacKeeper Helper on my mac's activity monitor I have tried to quit, force quit and so many more things in Terminal and all over the place but it's still there.

There is an article on deleting MacKeeper in the Feb issue of MacWorld.

This suggests starting from Applications, Quit, then move MacKeeper.app to Trash.

There was more if it persists.


Catalina Beta 7 bricked my Macbook Pro I have installed macOS Catalina Beta 7 on my MacBook Pro Late 2013. After installing, my Mac prompted me to Restart. While installing the update I noticed that the Apple Logo with the progress bar disappeared. Shortly after, the screen went black and the Macbook froze. I tried a hard reset, but it keeps booting to the "question mark" folder. I tried several boot up methods, clearing NVRAM, starting in safe mode etc, but the Mac simply ignores my keyboard inputs while starting up. My guess is that the Firmware / EFI got corrupt because I can't use any of the key combinations. I can only boot to the question mark folder.

Does anyone have any recommendations or ideas?
Thanks in advance and sorry for my bad English :) !

I had the same experience with my MacBookAir. Turns out Catalina killed the firmware and the only solution according to the Genius Bar is to replace the motherboard. That is around 500 Bucks in my case.

I had to fix two similar-vintage machines last year after their owners (who were both employed as coders at the same company) installed the Mojave developer betas; one was a 2013 13in, the other a 2012 15in rMBP and whilst you could press the button and they'd chime and glow, everything else was dead-dead.

Turned out the SSD-sticks had died (from over-use, old age or just entropy, we don't know), causing a short across the PCIe bridge that basically made the main logicboard data-mute. Fit some new Apple-branded Sandisks and they were all happy again.


Boot Camp Assistant cannot be used I am running macOS Sierra 10.12.4 Beta (16E144f) off of an external SSD connected to my 13-inch retina MacBook Pro. I am trying to install Windows 10 on it.
When I open up Boot Camp Assistant and press "Continue," I get the following error:

Boot Camp Assistant cannot be used.
The disk is not journaled. You must enable journaling using Disk Utility before using the Boot Camp Assistant.

Can anyone help me solve this rather cryptic problem? I tried searching online to no avail.

Your problem is that your boot disk is not journaled. Go to Disk Utility, press on your boot disk (the parent, not the child partition), and press the information icon in the Toolbar. Look for the "Journaled" option in the list. It probably says "No". That's the problem! You need to enable journaling.


Will Apple replace my broken Lightning cable for free? I have an iPhone 6 and bought AppleCare for it. The Lightning cable that came with it is starting to split (see the picture). It still charges fine, to the best of my knowledge, but is it eligible for a free replacement under AppleCare?

I have had the same situation happen to me with 2 phones actually.  Apple did replace them under warranty.

If you have access to an Apple Store:

Either walk in or make a Genius Bar appointment
Be sure to have your iPhone with you
Apple will need your IMEI number from your device

To get the IMEI number go to Settings > General > About (The Apple rep can assist you)

They will then provide you with a new cable after verifying your eligibility.

If you do not have an Apple Store that you can get to, call AppleCare for instructions.

if it is a hardware fail they will replace it but if you broke it then they wont do it for free.


Got any tips or tricks for Terminal in Mac OS X? One tip or trick per answer.

My favorite is

open .

Opens the folder you're currently browsing in Finder. You can also pass URLs, images, documents or else to open.

If you specify a program name with -a you can pass the URL, image, document or folder to that program instead, e.g. open -a Preview image.png, overriding the default program set for the filetype.

Please don't post duplicates. Search in the question like this: inquestion:this ls -l

Mac OS X specific answers only.

You can hold option and click a position in the current line to move your cursor to that position.

alias alias_open="mate ~/.oh-my-zsh/lib/aliases.zsh"
alias alias_reload="source ~/.oh-my-zsh/lib/aliases.zsh"
alias lsa='ls -lahG'
alias l='ls -la'
alias ll='ls -l'
alias sl=ls # often screw this up
alias ..='cd ..'
alias ...='cd ../..'
alias ....='cd ../../..'
alias .....='cd ../../../..'
alias ......='cd ../../../../..'

#######
# GIT #
#######
alias gd="git diff"
alias gl="git log"
alias gu="git up"
alias gs="git status"
alias gf="git fetch"
alias gr="git remote -v"
alias gp="git push"
alias gph="git push heroku master"
alias gps="git push staging staging:master"
alias gpg="git push github master"
alias gpo="git push origin master"
alias gplh="git pull heroku master"
alias gpls="git pull staging staging:master"
alias gplg="git pull github master"
alias gplo="git pull origin master"
alias gpl="git pull"
alias gc="git commit -am"
alias gco="git checkout"
alias ga="git add ."

##########
# SYSTEM #
##########
alias cwd='pwd | pbcopy' #copy the working directory into the clipboard
alias grep="grep --color=auto"

####################################################
# Create box of '#' characters around given string #
####################################################

function box() { t="$1xxxx";c=${2:-#}; echo ${t//?/$c}; echo "$c $1 $c";echo ${t//?/$c}; }

########################
# Rip audio from video #
########################

# ("$1" for output file & "$2" for input file)
function audioextract()
{
mplayer -ao pcm -vo null -vc dummy -dumpaudio -dumpfile "$1" "$2"
}
# extract audio from DVD VOB files
# USAGE:  audioextractdvd input_file.vob output_file.ac3
function audioextract_dvd()
{
mplayer "$1" -aid 128 -dumpaudio -dumpfile "$2"
}

#######################
# Backup .bash* files #
#######################

function backup_bashfiles()
{
  ARCHIVE="$HOME/bash_dotfiles_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz";
  cd ~
  tar -czvf $ARCHIVE .bash_profile .bashrc .bash_functions .bash_aliases .bash_prompt
  echo "All backed up in $ARCHIVE";
}


Inserted SD-card not showing up on MacBook Pro, can't find or see it anywhere I inserted an SD card from a dashcam because it was full. The first time I inserted the card, it showed up and I deleted all the files on it. I went to plug it back in the dashcam and it still showed "storage full". I plugged it back into my Mac and it will not show up anymore. Not sure what's going on here.

This may vary by dash cam.  With my dash cam, you must not delete files on the SD card using Finder or some other operating system utility.
The dash cam is intended to manage its own storage and, by itself, will remove old video when full keeping just the most recent.
If there is a need to reinitialise the SD card, this has to be done with the utility provided for the dash cam.
In your case, I think you have corrupted the storage and need to reinitialise the SD card in the way required by the dash cam.

I think that with a normal erase using the delete button, the data doesn't actually erase the data, it just pretends that the data has been erased. This also enables you to undo the accidentally deleted files.
I think you need to format your media in Disk Utility.


Password dialog appears when SSH private key permissions are set to 0600 I installed my SSH private key in ~/.ssh/id_rsa and set its permissions to 0600.  When I connect to an SSH server which uses my private key in Terminal.app via ssh, a dialog pops up and asks me to enter my password to access the id_rsa file:

I see the same dialog when I connect to an FTP server with the Interarchy GUI client.

Update: I see this dialog every time I connect regardless of whether I check "Remember password in my keychain".  It appears two more times if the OK button is clicked regardless of what is entered in the password field.

When I relax these permissions to, say, 0640, I no longer see a dialog asking me for my password but ssh aborts with the following error:

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@         WARNING: UNPROTECTED PRIVATE KEY FILE!          @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Permissions 0640 for '/Users/myusername/.ssh/id_rsa' are too open.
It is recommended that your private key files are NOT accessible by others.
This private key will be ignored.
bad permissions: ignore key: /Users/myusername/.ssh/id_rsa

I find the password dialog extremely annoying and I am sure there must be some way to avoid having to dismiss this dialog SSH needs to access the id_rsa file.

Note: I am running Mac OS X 10.6.8.

First, run ssh-add -K and check whether this fixes your problem.

If not:

Removed the rsa_id.pub file and regenerated a new one (must be in ~/.ssh/):

ssh-keygen -y -f id_rsa > id_rsa.pub

Ensured permissions were set to 600 for both id_rsa and id_rsa.pub (must be in ~/.ssh/):

chmod 600 id_rsa*

Ran the following command:

ssh-add -K

After doing this, I was no longer prompted to give my private key password. This appears to actually put the private key password in the correct keychain location for OS X to use.

Use the .pem key rather than the .ppk key.


How to make Rsync copy alias files? System specs:  2011 iMac, OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.4

I have come to understand that Rsync does not handle Mac Alises properly, and have now discovered that hundreds of aliases I've previously copied to my portable drive, are dead and useless because of this.

Is there a way to force Rsync to handle aliases?  If the answer is a definitive "no", then how can I recursively batch convert all aliases in a directory to symlinks so that they will be handled by Rsync?  I've found references to an Applescript that would apparently do this, but the site hosting the script is long dead & gone.

As a last resort, does anyone know of something other than Rsync that would allow for incremental backups and also handle Aliases?

Rsync can't look into the content of Alias files which would be needed to convert them. So if you want to have your backup be useable as is (without restoring it to the orignal drive) you will have to replace the Aliases with symlinks.

There is a solution for this on MacOSXHints.com. It needs to be run on your original disk (not on the backup), I would also recommend to test it on some sample directories first.

#!/bin/sh
if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Usage: alias2ln alias1 alias2 alias3..."
    echo "  where alias1, alias2, etc are alias files."
    echo "  Each alias file will be converted into a symlink."
fi

while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
    if [ -f "$1" -a ! -L "$1" ]; then
        item_name=`basename "$1"`
        item_parent=`dirname "$1"`
        item_parent="`cd \"${item_parent}\" 2>/dev/null && pwd || echo \"${item_parent}\"`"
        item_path="${item_parent}/${item_name}"

        linksource=`osascript<<EOS
tell app "Finder"
set theItem to (POSIX file "${item_path}") as alias
if the kind of theItem is "alias" then
get the posix path of (original item of theItem as text)
end if
end tell
EOS`

        if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
            if [ ! -z "$linksource" ]; then
                rm "$item_path"
                ln -s "${linksource}" "${item_path}"
                echo "\"${1}\" -> \"${linksource}\""
            fi
        fi
    fi
    shift
done

To run

save the code above into a text file (e.g. alias2symlink)
execute chmod 755 alias2symlink
change to the folder where you want to convert the aliases in
execute /path/to/alias2symlink alias1 alias2 ...

For future reference I found a simple Mac service that converts aliases to symlinks perfectly!

That solution actually wraps the script mentioned in the other answer as an automator action to make it easier to use by those unfamiliar with Terminal.

To re-create the service, use Automator to create a service that receives selected files and folders, select the Run shell script action, and paste pastix's script into the script area.