OS X license on used Mac? I just got off a very long and very frustrating phone call with Apple support.

I purchased a used Apple computer which came installed with Mountain Lion. Meaning that the computer was shipped by Apple with Mountain Lion installed, and received by me with that same installation.

As a precaution, I tried to reinstall Mountain Lion via Recovery mode. This failed because my Apple ID hasn't purchased Mountain Lion.

Apple insisted that because I didn't purchase the computer new, I don't have a license for OS X. I don't believe this is correct, or even legal. This means that anyone using a used computer is doing so illegally, unless they've purchased a separate OS license.

Am I way off-base here? I'm pretty sure I now "own" a copy of Mountain Lion, and Apple is in the wrong. If this is correct, what are my options?

The agent should get low feedback. The license to Mountain Lion transfers with the computer when it is sold.

The agent should have told you that no Apple ID is needed to download another copy of the installer since the system prompts you to send the serial number for verification.

Now, you don't get a license to the Mountan Lion upgrade to install on other computers. That is software you purchase separately from a computer and that is tied to one Apple ID and is not transferable. (like everything else sold from the App Store)

The one case where you don't get Mountain Lion is if the machine shipped from the factory with Lion but was sold with a "free upgrade" to Mountain Lion. This could happen in the window between when they announce the new OS to when it's released or on Mac that are imaged in the factory before Mountain Lion was released, but sold after the release.

In that case, Apple have a free redemption of the upgrade to the first Apple ID to redeem it. The only license that would transfer would be Lion and not Mountain Lion.

Often OS licenses are not transferable.  You would have to read the EULA to be sure.

The OS that came with the system is most likely what would be allowed.  Did the previous owner give you any system disks?  Any upgrades they purchased wouldn't be transferable since you can't transfer purchases between AppleIDs.

Most likely you will need to purchase Mountain Lion under your AppleID then you will be able to install it on your new system.

How much is your time and frustration worth?  Mountain Lion is only $20 and it will be usable on all your computers.


Mac Excel Control Shift RIght Arrow It's been a while since I used Excel on a PC.

In Excel on a PC, I believe if you have a set of data and want to select all the cells in the same row from where the cursor is to the last cell below a set of data, you could use Ctrl - Shift - ←. On a Mac (Excel 2011) this selects all the cells until the end of the entire row.

Using Excel 2011 (Mac), how can I select all the empty cells in a row until beneath a set of data?

The reason for doing this is if I want to copy the current row and paste that to another row of data. I should be able to copy the current row, then hit down, then (I thought) Ctrl - Shift - ←, then paste and I would paste in another set of data.

I found it:  Fn + Shift + Option (Alt) + ←

On my Mac the shortcut is ctrl+shift+dirKey OR cmd+shift+dirKey
MBP 2017.
//Permki


Remove characters preceding the second underscore in file names I have a bunch of files and I would like to remove all characters preceding the second underscore in the file names. An example is shown below. How do I do this using bash commands?

[From]

021_D05_53715-F.ab1
021_D06_53936-F.ab1
022_C06_53935-F.ab1
030_C08_53993-F.ab1
048_A12_54057-F.ab1

[To]

53715-F.ab1
53936-F.ab1
53935-F.ab1
53993-F.ab1
54057-F.ab1

Bash can figure out where the last underscore is using a regular expression match, then you can use its substring extraction to get the part of the filename that you care about. Something like this:

#!/bin/bash

file="021_D05_53715-F.ab1"
pos=`expr "$file" : '^.*_'`
newfile=${file:$pos}
echo "$file -> $newfile"


How to downgrade iPhone 4S from iOS 9.0.1 to iOS 7.1.2? (Please read the whole question before flaming me)

Today I updated my iPhone 4S (Model A1387) to iOS 9.0.1 from 8.4. Since the Wifi doesn't work with either of these versions I decided to downgrade the software to iOS 7.1.2.

After I downloaded myself a IPSW-File for the iPhone 4S and tried to [Shift]+Update my phone in iTunes I received the error code 3194.
After a quick web search I booted the iPhone into recovery mode and tried it again. After that I tried adapting my hosts file in Windows as showed on apples support page. This also didn't work.
I also tried downloading the I P S W-File from different providers and also tried to use a third party tool called "The Firmware Umbrella". Then I found out, that recovery mode is not enough and I have to go in DFU mode.

Since the black screen is an indicator of the DFU mode I was sure that it will work this time, since the DFU mode seems to be some kind of ultimate firmware override mode, but after hours of effort I'm still stuck with iOS 9 and nothing has worked out to bring me back to iOS 7.1.2.

So as the title states: How can I downgrade my iPhone 4S to iOS 7.1.2?
(As I am going to jailbreak this device afterwards, you can also show a direct way to load a jailbreaked firmware)

You cannot downgrade to anything less than 8.4.1 now. Apple signs iOS software, they currently only sign 8.4.1-9.0.1. This means that you can't downgrade to 7.1.2.

you can downgrade to ios 6.1.3 without blobs


The Safari app has disappeared from my iPhone? I can't find the safari icon on my iphone 4?  I have tried resetting home screen layout and that doesn't work.  My restrictions button is 'on' and it asks for a password for this button.  I don't have a password.  Can you help? Thanks,

Sounds like you have got restrictions turned on, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it is these restrictions that are causing you an issue, you could have turned these on long ago and forgotten what password was setup (for sure, someone has turned this on and a password is required as part of this process).

If the missing safar is due to restrictions, then there is simply no choice other than recalling the password, or possibly restoring the phone from an old backup on the chance that the backup pre-dates the turning on of restrictions.

But icons often go missing for other reasons due to a particularly mean bug.  You can reset your homescreen layout to restore missing icons when this happens, (warning, it will reset the location and grouping of all your icons when you do this) by going to  Settings > Reset > Reset Home Screen Layout.

One final note, you may have simply moved it somewhere daft into a folder or something by accident - can you find Safari in Spotlight search?

I asked Siri to search something. Then I selected it. Returned to my home screen and there it was again!!


Failed upgrade from macOS Sierra to High Sierra on late 2010 MacBook Pro 15" I attempted to upgrade from macOS Sierra to High Sierra on my late 2010 MacBook Pro and it failed part way through the installation. On restarting it flashes a folder with a question mark on a white screen.

I boot into recovery with Command + r, go to Disk Utility, perform First Aid and both the internal hard disk and the disk image titled "OS Base System" checks out fine with no issues. I tried unmounting and mounting the hard disk. It still doesn't show any option to choose the disk as the startup disk.

I tried reinstalling macOS from the utility menu and after a long pause it brings up Terms and Conditions. After accepting them, it says it has begun and shows 8 minutes remaining. After staying at 8 minutes remaining for a few minutes it goes to 14h 22m and stays there and has been so for a few hours.

No errors are popping up, and while I don't know much about this stuff, it appears from the installer log it's having some troubles, various errors finding/creating information. I've restarted several times in between all of this stuff and nothing has worked.

I don't believe I have a backup less than two years old and none are showing up as options. How do I resolve this issue?

I have faced the same issue with the same MacBook. What worked for me was to restart and immediately press Option key. The computer asked me which start up disk to select. Avoid the updater and select your hard disk. Right now I am trying to figure out how to fix the High Sierra damaged installer. If anyone knows, let us know.

try installing os update no. 4 worked for me seemed to install some missing parts of the HS os


How to record/stream iPhone 4 screen with iOS 7? I have an iPhone 4 with iOS 7 and I want to record the screen from the device, or stream the screen of the device on my MacBook Pro and record it with QuickTime.

How can I do that?

I have AirServer, but it works only with iPhone 4s+! No jailbreak on my device.

Unfortunately the use of such software has a pre-requisite of AirPlay Mirroring, which is not supported by an iPhone 4 at any OS level, hence teh requirement for an iPhone 4s minimum.  If you had a device that supports it, then it's pretty straightforward (take a look at this answer elswhere on AskDifferent) but with an iPhone 4, you are out of luck unless someone can suggest a way of enabling it with a Jailbreak hack.

You could try reflector, it emulates apple tv so you get your iphone screen on your mac.
search Reflector on google.


Why does 4s iphone change to vibrate when I put phone in my pocket? Maybe I'm nuts but it seems my iphone 4s switches from normal (audible) mode to vibrate when I put my phone in my pocket.  Anyone else having this weird issue?

On the left-hand side of your iPhone is this little switch (ring/silent). The plausible answer to your question is, that you turn the switch on/off by accidentally touching it when you put your phone in your pocket. This happens to me all the time as well.

When the switch is turned from on to off your phone will vibrate one time.

Well there is a option in settings>Accessibilty>Vibration turn it off to avoid this .Hope this helps


How to use `click` in a shortcut? (Run a service when clicking a link) Is it possible to run an Automator service with an alternate click, e.g. ⌘ + ⇧ + Click? This kind of combination is built into browsers with ⌘ + Click typically opening a link in a new tab.
I have a service for handling links. Right now I can right click the link, pick services from the context menu, and then select my service. I'd rather not navigate the menu. Is there a way I can harness Click when making a shortcut?
A half-option is to right click the link, click elsewhere to close the dialog, and then press the keyboard shortcut, but this is cumbersome. (I'd be happy enough if I had to right click and then do a shortcut, but this seems to not work without clicking away.)
I've internet sleuthed with enough search strategies that I think this may not be possible but am hoping I'm wrong and simply a careless querier!

BetterTouchTool
You can use better touch tool to remap your clicks on your trackpad or mouse. Here is a screenshot of the rule I created. It copies the url from the hyperlink and sends this to a shell script, where you can handle it as you wish.

The last line actions, "Execute Shell Script" has this configuration:

This just runs an executable script and pastes in the url as its argument. If you don't want to use a bash/zsh script you can use applescript or javascript or python or perl or whatever you are comfortable with by changing the launch path.


Macbook pro locked/disabled My Macbook pro got disabled. I tried to go into the recovery mode using cmd+R and internet recovery mode using cmd+opt+R. Both ask for my firmware password, and when I enter the password,although correct, it takes me back to disabled screen. Find my Iphone app says my Macbook is locked.In addition I tried to reinstall OS through bootable installer but that too takes me back to the disabled screen.

This lock is by design. It allows the owner to prevent anyone that can’t prove they own the hardware from getting Apple or other service professionals to erase the lock.

See https://www.apple.com/icloud/find-my-iphone/ and especially the Mac link at the bottom.

You now have a firmware password on that Mac preventing you from changing the OS to boot from other sources. You can either enter the passcode that was created to lock the hardware or follow the normal process when you forget a firmware password by seeking authorized service.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204455

You can do the startup that takes you to disk utility to get to terminal and type in the terminal command to reset your login password.


How do I force a "Waiting" file to upload to iCloud? In this question, I learned that the "dotted-line cloud" icon in OS X's iCloud file view means "Waiting to upload". While writing a document in Byword today, I saved it and found it had been marked with this icon - there were several other documents, months old, that still had the "Waiting" icon as well.

Is there any way to, if not force, gently encourage these files to upload to iCloud?

I was concerned I'd have to save these documents to my local filesystem, delete them from iCloud, and then perhaps save them to iCloud over again, but it turned out that simply re-opening the "Waiting" documents, making a trivial change to them (such as deleting a character and then adding it in again), and then saving the file caused them to be synced successfully.

2-finger-click the song.
Select "Add song to iCloud music library".


Eject Windows 7 Installation DVD 1, during boot camp install on MacBook Pro (Intel Based) I have 2 DVD's for installing Windows. The 1st DVD contains part of the Windows 7 installation and then the DVD 2 has to be inserted. Now, when I try to install Win7 on my MacBook Pro using Boot Camp Assistant, it starts Windows and initiates the steps to copy the files (1st step in the installation).

After some time, it pops up a window asking for the 2nd DVD to be inserted. But I have not been able to find a way to eject the 1st DVD and insert the second without rebooting the system, which fails my Windows 7 installation.

Can anyone help out with the same?

In short, you can't eject a CD/DVD during Boot Camp install. You can only eject it:

during boot (holding down the trackpad button)
while running OS X or recovery
while running Windows with Boot Camp drivers installed

The workaround is to copy the contents of the second DVD to a flash stick, insert that into an USB port BEFORE installation begin and, when asked for the second DVD, provide the path to the flash stick.

Type E:\ and it will see the USB flash stick.


When did Apple add support for 3D models in Quick Look and Preview? I just happily discovered that .obj files are viewable in Quick Look and Preview!

I'm assuming this is now standard functionality, rather than the result of some third-party software on my Mac having been bundled with a Quick Look plug-in for OBJ... since Preview appears to have added support at the same time.

Surprisingly, web searches have not revealed much about this feature. All I've found is this GitHub page, but it's for a separate plug-in. Maybe it was released under a license that allowed Apple to make it part of macOS? Curious...

If it is standard, since which version of macOS has this been available? I'd like to know what to tell others when sharing .obj files with them regarding if they can expect to be able to view the data on their Macs without needing to install 3D software.

Quicklook 3d file preview was available since Mac OS 10.5 Leopard as far as I can remember. Common 3D files like OBJ and Collada DAE works out of box for quicklook and preview, Finder too will generate a nice icon for them. Pretty neat!

…there was a hack time ago on early os x, where simply adding a text line in a preference file (in my case .lwo) give quicklook the ability to preview 3d objects (in my case lightwave .lwo). im unable to find this hack again…


Time Machine error creating the backup folder on a spacious hard drive I have upgraded recently to Mavericks, and am setting up Time Machine on this system for the first time (it wasn't set up with the earlier OS, Mountain Lion.)

Time Machine successfully backs up once after I boot the laptop.  However, every time it tries to back up again while the laptop is running (I don't normally perform a full shutdown and reboot very often!) it fails with the error message: "An error occurred while creating the backup folder."

I would like to eject the drive and plug it in again to see if this helps, but clicking the Eject button in Finder shows this message:

and I have not wanted to do a Force Eject.  I have rebooted, and Time Machine successfully backed up once after that, only to fail again the next time it tried.

I do sometimes close the laptop lid or put it to sleep with the disk still plugged in, and it is still there when it wakes.

I searched the Console for Time Machine-related errors but could not see any.  (The Console won't display system.log saying I don't have permissions, but running syslog -C in the Terminal and scanning the output doesn't show anything either.)

How do I:

Solve the issue, so it successfully create the backup folder
Perhaps, see if it is Time Machine or another app that is preventing the disk eject?

Details:

An early 2011 Macbook Pro, which was running Mountain Lion for a week on a new internal hard drive, now Mavericks
The drive is a 2TB Toshiba USB drive.  I formatted it at as Mac OS X Journaled.  Running Disk Utility and verifying the disk shows no errors.
The drive has about 800GB free space.
I am running from a normal (non-admin) user account.

I had the exact same symptoms with a Nov 2013 MacBook Pro (came with Mavericks already installed) using WD "My Passport" USB drives for Time Machine backups.  The solution was to erase and reformat the external drives using Disk Utility as described in
   http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5911 under the heading "Erase and reformat the storage device".

I had a spare drive so, in order not to lose existing backups, I did the following:

erase spare drive as above
use Disk Utility to "restore" the backup drive's volume to the erased drive
(you have selected the volume correctly (rather than the drive) if the Disk
Utility window shows
    "First Aid; Erase; RAID; restore" as options
not
    "First Aid; Erase; Partition; RAID; restore")

After this I have no problem doing multiple backups in a row, putting the machine to sleep without ejecting the backup disk and then doing a further backup, and no problems with ejecting the disk.

Good luck!

I just resolved this error by rebooting my imac.  After that Time Machine worked fine.


Require login for Single User mode? Is there a way to require a password to login to single user mode? I don't want to use a firmware password, because that will not only disable single user mode, but also Startup Manager (which I use to boot from a USB). I don't like the idea of anyone with physical access to my computer having more privileges than my user does.

I'd simply like to have it ask for the root password before logging in as root, or ask for any username and password, and log them in normally. Is there a way to do this?

The following article may help your problem. :)

Mac OS X: Require Password at Single User Mode:

  By default, Mac OS X will simply give you a shell when you perform a Single User Mode startup.  However, you can force OS X to ask for a password in order to gain shell access.  To do so, vi the /etc/ttys and change secure to insecure.  Once you have done so, create a password in /etc/master.passwd for root.

An alternate solution that will in effect disable Single-User Mode without using an EFI password...

I edited /var/root/.profile and added the command

  shutdown -r now

When the machine boots into SUM, this script runs and the machine restarts. More reporting or functions can easily be added. For a great example of this, check out Jacob Salmela's script.


How do you exclude applications from the 'open with' menu I've got quite a list of installed application. The result is there are many applications bloating the 'open with' menu.

Is there a way to exclude applications from the 'open with' menu?

If it's possible to exclude applications from both certain file types and from all file types, that would be great.

No, they're included automatically by the OS, but if you want to reset the file, you can try this:

Open Terminal in /Applications
Type the following command:
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user
Relaunch Finder, click cmd+alt+esc and select Finder and click Relaunch
Now the "Open With..." menu is reseted!


Is there any way to re-enable the “old style” iTunes metadata editing window in version 12.1.0.50? Short Question: Versions of iTunes 12 previously allowed users to use the “old style” iTunes metadata editing window layout when clicking alt/option and selecting “Get Info…”. That has seemingly disappeared with a recent update to iTunes 12; specifically version 12.1.0.50. Is there any way to re-enable the “old style” metadata editing window in this new version of iTunes 12.1.0.50.

Long Question: So, when iTunes 12 was released the interface was changed a bit; which is expected. But unlike older releases, it included a change to the metadata editing window which made it more compact and altered the user experience.

Some of us still like the “old style” editing window layout and the user experience connected to it. Heck the “old style” window has been like that for years. But prior to iTunes 12.1.0.50—and still using iTunes 12—one could access the “old style” metadata editing window by doing a “Get Info…” on media while holding down the alt/option. This blog post explains the simple trick nicely and below is a screenshot of the “old style” metadata editing window for reference.

Now with iTunes 12.1.0.50 it seems that this somewhat hidden—yet easy to access—functionality is gone. Unless I am missing something? Does anyone know how to reenable the “old style” metadata editing window in iTunes 12.1.0.50? Or is it simply gone and ripped from the core code forever?

It's still there.

Press Opt while right-clicking on the track and selecting Get info.


Command + Delete (Move to Trash) command doesn't work I have this problem for a long time, and I don't know how to fix it. When I press Command + Delete key sequence, it doesn't work.

When I use the key sequence, I hear a beep.

It was working before I reinstalled macOS, but now it isn't. I can see the shortcut in menu, but I cannot use it via keyboard.

Check System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts to see if command-Delete was remapped to something, or to use Restore Defaults.

This is by design. Apple doesn't want you to delete files, they want you to buy iCloud storage.


How can I make my very own OS X Lion Install DVD/USB Stick? I bought new MBP some days ago and it came with the lion installed on it. Now I am curious can I make an OS X Lion Bootable Disk?

I read some tutorial to make an OS X bootable Disk if you download it from appstore, but if Lion was installed by factory on it how can I make a bootable disk?

Open Terminal, and type this command to list all partitions on your hard drive or SSD:

diskutil list

Identify the "Recovery HD." For example:

/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *120.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Filesystem              119.2 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3

Then run the following (replacing [ID] with your identifier (will most often be disk0s3).

diskutil mount readOnly /dev/[ID]

So the following would look like:

diskutil mount readOnly /dev/disk0s3

The disk image inside the Recovery HD partition has been marked invisible, so use the Terminal command to mount it:

hdiutil attach /Volumes/Recovery HD/com.apple.recovery.boot/BaseSystem.dmg

Now, from the newly mounted Mac OS X Base System Image, double-click the 'Install Mac OS X' application and proceed past the licensing agreement.

Choose the external drive or spare partition when the installer asks where you'd like to install OS X Lion.

Once the installer completes the download, do not restart your system. Rather, quit the installer. If you restart, you'll likely lose the local Lion installer. Once you have the InstallESD.dmg in the Mac OS X Install Data folder, you can burn it to a DVD, or image it to a USB flash drive to create your very own Lion boot disk.

This article was adapted from: How to get a full Lion install disc for a new MacBook Air or Pro
All credits go to: CharlesS

You need to visit the Mac Up to Date WEBSITE and you can then get a code from the website to download Lion and create the bootable disk from there.


How to recover files from command "git clean -df" I accidentally run the command "git clean -df", so I lost many directories and files, I want to recover them, I don't have backup in time machine. I tried some software to recover, but they don't work.

If you are working with an online repository and you keep it up-to-date you can download all the file from the online repository using the following commands:

git pull                            # in the case the remote is set
git clone <address_of_repository>   # in the case the remote is not set

Using these commands you'll be able to restore your deleted files, obviously only if the online repository is up to date.

I also ran into same issue unknowingly ran git clean -df and git clean -xf, but fortunately I am using php storm and it saves local history by which I am able to recover the deleted files.
If you are also using any IDE then check if it has local history.


In Mountain Lion how do I set, in one place, the PATH environment variable for all newly launched applications? On Ask Different there are many questions regarding the PATH environment variable and how to set it for applications launched by a shell, by spotlight or via the finder (typical questions: How to set PATH for Finder-launched applications or How to change PATH environment variable...).

Answers range from sh startup scripts to /etc/paths to /etc/launchd.conf. Here I am after the answer for a unified setting of PATH for all apps under Mac OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.2.

After many trials with different options I conclude:

Is there a unified way to set the PATH for applications launched by different means (like shell script, Finder and Spotlight)? Well, yes and no:

No: Setting PATH in shell start up scripts (e.g. .bashrc) works only for apps launched by shells.
No: Setting PATH for the current launchd process via launchctl setenv PATH <...> does not work for me at all.
Yes: Setting PATH in /etc/launchd.conf (and restarting the system) will make the appropriate PATH visible in  applications launched by Spotlight, Dock and Finder and subsequently (local) shells.
No: Remotely invoked shells do not inherit the environment. (See ...why do remote shells via ssh do NOT inherit the environment..)

Notes for set-up of shells:

For correct functioning in local shells it is important to switch off the use of /usr/libexec/path_helper, because the default paths in /etc/paths might change the order of the paths in PATH.**
To accommodate remote shells you need to re-import the launchd environment into the shell. Use something like this in your .bashrc:

# the vexatious path stuff
eval $(launchctl export)

Unfortunate consequences of the whole issue are:

No way to have these unified settings on a per user basis. (~/.launchd.conf does not work.)
No easy way to construct the PATH from different sources using techniques like home directory expansion et al.

You may give https://github.com/ersiner/osx-env-sync a try.

It handles both command line and GUI apps from a single source. And it works with the latest version of OS X (Yosemite).


After upgrade to HighSierra Finder's Sidebar do not work anymore I have a 13" early 2014 MacBook Air which had been running El Capitan for some time now. Yesterday I successfully upgraded to High Sierra (10.13.3), but since then a problem keeps occuring:

All "Favorites" and some "Devices" have the generic file icon (looking like a sheet of paper with a dog-ear). When clicked, the system thinks for a few seconds (rotating beach ball) and then displays an error, e.g.:

  "Documents" can't be opened because the original item can't be found.

As you can see, this happens to custom as well as to system Favorites.

So, my question is: How can I restore Finder's full functionality?

What I've tried so far:

Turning it off and on again
Force-quitting Finder
Trying to delete the not-working Favorites (beach ball, error from above, Favorite still there)
Trying to change Finders side bar's preferences (Initially: No Favorites' boxes are checked, if checked by me, they become unchecked again after a few seconds. Now: Trying to access the side bar ridget of Finder's preferences invokes the beach ball until I close the menue.)
Trying to delete com.apple.finder.plist and com.apple.sidebar.plist from ~/Library/Preferences/ restarting imidiately afterwars (result: Looks to be working for a few seconds after restart, then back to old problem. However, my custom fevorites are gone, only the default ones remain.)

Some additional information:

It is possible, to access the directories manually. They do exist and have not moved (as far as their path is concerned).
The user name did not change.
"Go To" works fine.

Two things could be going on here:
1
First with the introduction of macOS High Sierra you can now synchronise your Desktop and Documents folders with iCloud Drive.
macOS does some screwy things with them as officially they are actually still in /Users/{username}/(Desktop|Documents) which you'd expect but Finder relocates them into iCloud Drive if you have this feature enabled, this could be why your old shortcuts aren't working.

If this isn't something you want you could disable this by going to System Preferences > iCloud > iCloud Drive and unchecking "Desktop & Documents Folders"
2
The system update didn't go quite to plan, this is the route of trouble shooting you've already been testing and the work you've done so far is perfect.
2a
Next steps assuming it's not just what I've said in option 1 above, would be to create a new user account, and see if that resolves the issues. If it does you can use the /Users/Shared folder to transfer all your files manually, but you will need to re-setup all your preferences and some software may have only been licensed in that user account, not across the system, but from what you've described you seem pretty technically competent and would be able to manage that, if not come back and we can give you further help.
2b
If that also didn't work you should backup your files manually, and perform a full system restore, there are instructions on Apple.com here:
macOS Sierra: Erase and reinstall macOS
The instructions are the same for High Sierra.

I was able to fix this by doing the following:

starting my mac in recovery mode by holding cmd + opt + r
selecting disk utility
clicking mount for my SSD
clicking first aid
restart my mac


How do I limit caching in Mail for Mavericks? I have a really low capacity MacBook Air. Earlier this year, I discovered I could keep it usable without a bunch of "running low on disk space" warnings by limiting the caching performed by Safari and Mail. In Safari it was easy, it's in Preferences, but in Mail it was a bit buried - select the account, advanced tab, and then "don't keep copies of any messages".

Problem is, it seems like in Mavericks this preference is gone. Is there an equivalent? I'm out of room on my Air once again.

With GMail, you can slightly aleivate this problem with:

Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > Folder Size Limits > Limit IMAP folders to contain no more than this many messages = 1000

Also, in Mac Mail you can still disable Automatically download attachments.

This will leave you with the text of latest 1000 messages from each GMail label.

What else are you doing on the MacBook Air that has it burst it's GB seams?

Recommendations

Onyx: http://www.titanium.free.fr Have it run and clean and script your way to a fresher path. Isn't destructive but does clear out gunk.
Delete and prevent RAM image saved on your start volume. Your mac automatically and intelligently creates an image of your RAM for sleep mode (hibernation) so that if the unit suddenly lost power your you didn't use it for a long time and the battery died you can restart and everything is like it was. If you don't have this issue where power lose occurs (ever) then proceed with the following as long as you have some unix/sudo experience.

First, disable hibernation mode :

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0

delete /private/var/vm/sleepimage :

sudo rm /private/var/vm/sleepimage

create an empty file and name it 'sleepimage' :

touch /private/var/vm/sleepimage

change his flag to immuable :

chflags -uchg /private/var/vm/sleepimage

With this all said and done you will have a the same amount of GB saved on your Mac as you have GBs of RAM.

HDD and SSD are similar in one regard, keep the drive 30% free at all times so that you get the best performance.


Dictating spelled numbers in English and other languages Is there a way to have iOS voice dictation spell out numbers?  I mean speaking  145 and having it write "one hundred forty five"; this would be useful in English and other languages. Although it’s not that common to spell out numbers in English, in my experience it seems a lot more common in foreign languages such as Italian and German.  It’s really difficult to spell out the very long words in those languages and so this would be a gr8 feature

I’ve done a lot of searching and tried different things  but nothing seems to work, including here on stack exchange  where almost everything on this topic is several years old.  In fact some of the posts I read indicate that there was the reverse problem years ago  that was solved by saying “numeral”  beforehand  to avoid spelling the number.

Edit:
In response to @MeanAverageMeanie I installed GBoard and tried dictating "eleven plus fourteen equals twentyfive" in Italian, German, and English. Unfortunately, it still produced numerals rather than spelled words in each case, as seen below using Gboard within the iOS Mail app:

The answer is to install Google’s GBoard keyboard. Its voice dictation feature automatically spells out numbers like “forty-five” rather than typing them out as “45”. I don’t know why iOS doesn’t do this. I’ve tried, but ultimately it was Google to the rescue. It also works in other languages, i.e. French “quarante-cinq” and Spanish "cuarenta y cinco”.


Can't install El Capitan over beta version I saw a previous question similar to mine but no answer. I participated in the beta version of El Capitan I think last year. When the public release version came out I installed it and didn't discover that I was still using the Beta version until a month ago. I can't seem to find a way to do so. Apple tech support wants to charge me ridiculous $'s to help me with no guarantees. Can anyone send me to a site or tech paper or direct help to help get rid of the beta? I am unable to update from the app store. I am using a MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012). Thanks

GM is a Master update (the last one before the real thing).
Your literature when participating in the beta testing has a paragraf how to go from beta to the final release.


Reminders: Move list item to other list is it possible to move a reminder from one reminders list to another?

For example I have two lists:

Today
Tomorrow

How could I move for example "call cindy" from "Tomorrow" to "Today"?

Select the entry, right click, go to the "Move to List" menu entry, select the destination list you want.  (Or drag and drop.)

When I first tried this the difficult part was selecting the item rather than editing it...I needed to be sure to click white space off to the right of the title.

The app should automatically transfer items from the 'Tomorrow' list to the 'Today' list at midnight.

It seems bogus that it doesn't.


Stolen Mac - Help Finding Serial Number? My apartment was broken into yesterday and my Mac (Mavericks) is gone. I'm trying to dig up the serial number for the police, but I'm having zero luck. Here's what I've done so far, to no avail:

Checked Find iPhone through my iPhone and iCloud.com (didn't iCloud show the serial number at one time?)
Checked https://supportprofile.apple.com/
Searched my emails for one from Apple from purchase (found an email with an almost 3 year old Order Number and a Crucial email with some specs)
Searched for the box my Mac came in

Here are some things I still have that may help:

An external drive used for Time Machine
My iPhone used the Mac for iTunes syncing
Programs connected to the Internet, like Dropbox and TeamViewer

The police have been here already and I've contacted my renter's insurance. I have the Mac Locked and on Notify When Found. But I would really love that serial number. Any ideas I haven't thought of or found online?

Someone stole my iPads last week and I didn't have the serial numbers. I found the serial numbers on appleid.apple.com. Once, logged in, scroll down to Devices and click view details. You will need to answer your security questions, but any of your devices that are linked to Apple ID will be shown with their serial numbers. I hope this helps someone.

If you synced it up to your mac it should be stored in your preferences plist.

/Users/yourusername/Library/Preferences/com.apple.iPod.plist

This file stores all the information about devices you connected to iTunes.  You can easily get to your user library by holding Option(alt) when you click Go on the top menu.


Finder: keep sort-by per-directory Some directories make sense to be sorted by date modified, while others make more sense to be kept sorted alphabetically.

How can I make it so that finder will apply a specified sort by selection on a per-directory basis?

If no such feature exists (In which case I hope somebody at APPL is paying attention), I suppose using/remapping the keyboard shortcuts (Defaults being Cmd+Ctrl+5 for Modified and Cmd+Ctrl+1 for Alphabetical by Name) is the next best thing.

Finder should already remember both arrange by and sort by modes for all normal folders. But in column view and list view the current folder is the root folder of the window. Or if you use column view, it is usually some location in the sidebar or the computer view.

I don't think there is any way to change that, but if you open folders by selecting them from the sidebar (or for example from Alfred), you could add folders to the sidebar.

I'd actually like the opposite and make all folders default to arranging by none and sorting by name. Deleting .DS_Store files only does that temporarily until you change the sort by or arrange by modes manually.

You can right-click on the folder, click on "Show View Options", and then you can modify the "Sort By" default via a drop-down menu.


Logitech wireless mouse not working with gigabit ethernet adapter plugged in? I am seeing baffling behavior with my wireless mouse (connected via USB) and my gigabit ethernet adapter plugged in simultaneously.

If my mouse is plugged in and working fine, if I plug in my gigabit ethernet adapter (even without the ethernet port plugged in) to EITHER thunderbolt port, my Logitech m510 mouse stops working completely.

I have plugged in my external monitor to both thunderbolt ports, and it doesn't affect my mouse at all. What the hell is going on here?

The reason you are seeing the symptoms present when you connect an ethernet adapter to the TB port and not when you connect a monitor to the TB port has to do with what is being passed over the TB cable.

TB multiplexes at least 2 signals over the same connection.  In this case, video and PCIe.  Yes, basically the same PCIe bus that you would find looking inside any computer is now on that cable.

Thunderbolt Technology Brief

So, basically speaking, when you are connecting the DP to TB, you only get video.  When you connect the ethernet adapter, you are connecting to PCIe.  When you daisy chain devices, you get both.

Your mouse stops working because the ethernet adapter is generating noise that is interfering with your receiver.  It is the PCIe "signals" that is creating this noise within the ethernet adapter.  It is not interfering with the USB port - just the wireless radio reception/transmission of the receiver.  I know this for a fact because:

1)  I experienced it myself. I have a Logitech Anywhere MX (non bluetooth) and bought a TB to Ethernet adapter.  I had the same issue.  I changed out my TB to Ethernet adapter to a more reputable brand and the problem went away.

2)  I found this answer on Logitech support forum

3)  Plug in a USB hard drive.  If it was interfering with the USB, the hard drive would fail as your mouse does.

The reason that when you move it from one port to another it "sorta" works is because you have lessened the wireless interference, not eliminated it.

Here is the Apple Ethernet adapter that I bought that solved my issue.

If you want to confirm this, buy a USB extension cable to move your unifying receiver to another location (sometimes logitech includes this with their mouse).  Or, plug in the unifying receiver into a hub away from the ethernet adapter.  The problem should go away.

The problem has nothing to do with the mouse's nano USB receiver or the Thunderbolt Ethernet adaptor, and everything to do with the Thunderbolt port next to the USB port.

If you are running Windows on your Mac the Thunderbolt ports are not plug-and-play therefore you can plug a device into the Thunderbolt port and the mouse still works fine, however once you re-boot Windows with a Thunderbolt device, such as the Ethernet adaptor, plugged in and the device is recognized and the Thunderbolt port opened. Even if you "hot" unplug the device the Thunderbolt port stays open and continues to cause the problem

If you move the mouse within 1 inch of the USB receiver it works, but if it is further away it seem the open Thunderbolt port causes a problem, perhaps distorts the 2.4GHz signal from the mouse, or maybe the motherboard and Thunderbolt and USB ports are not well grounded from Apple.

The exact same problems occur even if you are running Apple OS-X Y, the only difference is that the Thunderbolt ports are plug and play therefore the problem is continuous from the time you boot the system no matter whether a Thunderbolt device is plugged in or not.

If you disable the Thunderbolt ports in Windows and OS-X Y there is no problem.

The question is: is this an isolated problem with just USB Nano receivers, or does the Thunderbolt port cause a problem for any USB device plugged in? If it does, this is a serious design problem because that would mean that a USB hard drive will cease to operate correctly while the Thunderbolt ports are open.

Yes, moving the USB device to the other side of the laptop computer also solves the problem, but that limits the use of all the ports which we paid for.

Macs were nenver designed to use USB Nano mouse receivers. They were designed to use the Apple mouse which I think is Bluetooth.


How to make a demo video using a Mac? How can a simple demonstration video like this be made using a Mac?

In particular, I need:

To edit and cut some of the raw materials, as some of it may not be very interesting to the audience.
Add some words in the video.

Could anyone can give me some help?

There are two parts to this:

Preparing your content: screenshot the pages you want to present. Use Cmd+Shift+4 to get all the screens. Don't worry about getting some incorrectly, just do a few tries is you have to, you can filter them out later.
Build a presentation: create slides, add highlights and transition animations,  time it just right and practice your speech. You can use Apple Keynote for this, or any other presentation software.
Record your show: do your screencast in "Present" mode and record your screen. Open QuickTime player and use the option File → New Screen Recording to get some (limited) editing options after you record it. On the start screen, set the audio recording options to pick up or ignore your microphone

If you want to fine-tune the result, or to export it to other formats, make an iMovie project out of it.

Enjoy :-)

The beginning of the video shows the paper title. A simple Google search would lead you to http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=7203040, which is the paper describing the tool.

It is usual in papers describing software to offer a download link in the paper, so I would suggest buying the paper. If there isn't a link inside, or it's not OSX compatible, you could then write your own version based on the description in the paper.

Edit:
misinterpreted the question. To record the screen, you can use quicktime then a video editor to add annotations etc.


Backing up home directory, can I exclude ~/Library? I want to backup the home directory of my Mac. For reasons I won't go into, using builtin Mac backup tools is not an option and the backup cannot be too large. Luckily I already have my own software to do the backup, so the first point is taken care of. For the second point, I know that the data that is important would add up to about 5 GB, which acceptable.
When I took a look at my actual home directory however, it was way too big. It turned out that ~/Library alone takes about 50 GB.
What exactly is the purpose of this directory, and what sort of files are expected to be in it? What are the consequences of excluding it from the backup?

The Library folder contains all the preferences set for the applications you are using, login information for Mail etc, the local mail archive, your keychain and a lot of other configuration stuff. If you are using iCloud Drive it also contains the local copy of the drive content; and backups of your iDevices in case you don‘t use iCloud backup for them.
You may be able to recover most of it in case of data loss, but some things (e.g. your keychain or any locally stored mail) will be lost.
Given that external drives and USB sticks are rather cheap nowawdays it's most probably not worth the pain to fine-tune a backup script to include just the essentials from ~/Library.

I will add this answer to document my own workaround.
I take my backups using gtar (the tar utility from Linux; because the tar shipped with Macs is buggy) to create an archive of my ~. Since I keep everything important to me in ~, this works out.
gtar supports excluding but the implementation is a mess and took a lot of troubleshooting to figure out. It seems to depend on the version of the program, I have v1.32 and the correct syntax and order looks like gtar --exclude=${HOME}/Library --exclude=${HOME}/OtherDir -cf archive.tar ~.
This shrinks the size of my backup to a reasonable size. The drawback is that Applications like to store their settings under ~/Library, so you would have to reconfigure everything. I solve this problem by separately backing up only those configuration files that I care about. Important configs are already symlinked and moved to my dotfiles repo as described here. Since my dotfiles are not in ~/Library, they get included in the backup (in addition to also being, in effect, backed up on Github).


How to make Siri-initiated calls use Google Voice Previously asked for iOS 7. I need to use Google Voice (e.g. for cheaper overseas calls), not just for the Caller ID part of the problem.

iOS 10+ is fine if that solves the problem.

To the close vote: I wish to be able to use Siri and say "Call Alice" and the call go via Google Voice. Or "Call Alice with Google Voice" would be good too. I did ask the local Apple Genius Bar. And since (as of 2017-11-01), Google Voice isn't a supported 3rd-party Siri integration, that doesn't work.

Google needs to integrate Siri into their Google Voice app. Only if Google makes the integration you can use Siri with Google Voice. "Call Alice with Google Voice" is a good example.

Audio or video calling integration with Siri is possible since iOS 10 (September 2016). And for developers to build the integrations since June 2016.

So my best advice is, start asking Google to build this integration.

Try downloading the Google Assistant app and then see if you can ask it to place that call with Google Voice as you intend.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-assistant/id1220976145?mt=8


All of my downloads are failing. I am suddenly unable to download or open any files.  It says "failed" in my downloads folder for everything I try to do.  I don't have any blocks on, no firewalls on, updates have been done and nothing has helped.  Any suggestions?

First delete all your apps except the ones you can't then download the ones you want.


Can running `yes > /dev/null` harm a Mac? I recently ran yes > /dev/null for a 3 minutes to drain my Mac's battery. During that time, the temperature rose to 72 °C and fans spun up to 4000 RPM. I immediately quit the process.

Should I fear that has this damaged hardware or the logic board?

The instructions for yes have this little gem from the man page :

  Using yes results in 100% processor usage, for this reason it is
  rarely used other than for testing e.g. to max out a computer's CPU.

Which means, no, you will not have damaged your hardware. Using the yes command is a way of using all (i.e. 100%) of your CPU. The symptoms you experienced (i.e. a rise in temperature and the resulting increase in fan RPM) are to be expected under these circumstances.  Additionally, your CPU will "throttle back" and ultimately shut down if its thermal threshold is exceeded to prevent damage.

The sad truth is: this can "Harm a Mac".

The actual example given in the body for the question: this very likely did not harm the device. Granted.

But as a general answer to the question in the title:
It depends on which type of Mac we are talking about. The advice and reasoning given so far on this question or in the comments is not universally true and can be quite dangerous! There is too much trust and faith put into the mere belief that Apple hardware is just the best there is.

It is simply not true that Apple designs now or designed in the past all its systems to really not harm themselves through overheating. While it is true that this should not happen it is also true that it does happen. And did:

The prime example for this are the MacBook Pros, especially those from 2010-2012.
While the Intel chip that is primarily stressed with yes on all threads for a prolonged time will throttle down, will handle high temperatures quite well and even the OS will kick in and ramp up kernel_task to do nothing useful except help cool down the machine, the discrete chip on the same heatpipe is the vulnerable counterpart there.

Stressing these systems needlessly, like with yes, hastens the RadeonGate graphics chip failure. There are numerous examples of questions to the most heavily effected 2011 8,2 on this very web-site.
This GPU failure is a thermal issue. There are even guides out there on how to kill the machine by simply running heavy 3D rendering or benchmarks for a time. These systems were advertised for but not suited for e.g. rendering or gaming. Class action lawsuits (only threatened) and Repair Extension Programs speak for themselves.


How many displays can I plug into MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports) In the MacBook technical specifications documentation, I read that it supports up to 2 monitors (or 1, it depends on display parameters).

On Apple’s Thunderbolt 3  page, I read the same info but about a single Thunderbolt 3 port (of which I have 2).

What is the number of monitors I can connect to my MacBook Pro?

You can plug in a maximum of two monitors

The technical specifications gives you detailed info about what your specific model’s capabilities are.  In this case, your model MacBook - 2017 13 inch MacBook Pro - has enough bandwidth to support two monitors at 4K or less or just one monitor at 5K.

The Thunderbolt information page gives you a generalized perspective of Thunderbolt’s capabilities.

I have tried plugging in an Apple thunderbolt display using Apple's own USB-C to thunderbolt adapter (purchased from the apple store) - works great. - I can also connect a Dell 1080p, USB-C monitor -- but not both at the same time. - I am considering trying with a diff monitor.


iOS diagnostics test gives you new problems? Has anyone gotten software problems after performing the iOS diagnostics test offered by Apple? (where you get a test URL from Apple support)

I can't connect to Gmail on Safari after the test... it keeps reloading.
Logging out nor restarting is helping.
Anyone with similar problems?

Have you tried restarting the device? This will wipe the cache, and perhaps solve your problem.


Apple Watch for Workouts Without Phone In short, I'd like to be able to complete a workout without having to bring my phone along. The introduction of native apps for the Apple Watch seemed like it would open the door to this, but I've not been able to figure it out. I would need:

Heart Rate Monitoring
An Interval Timer
Music via BT Headphones

Can the Apple Watch do this? If not, any alternate suggestions?

The current Apple Watch does all that you've asked about.

However, I would recommend waiting until WWDC this June to see what new Watches will be made and what the new costs will be.

There is an interesting article about it: http://www.macworld.com/article/3069462/ios/how-the-smart-connector-could-be-key-to-an-iphone-pro.html
However I use my AW with iPhone, because one of the most useful apps for it is to control iPhone battery: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/watchmybattery/id1024068907


How can I figure out what's opening a Terminal window whenever I log in? Whenever I log in to my Macbook, a terminal window pops up with what appears to be some Java CLI help text and a [Process completed] (or whatever) at the bottom. It doesn't cause any problems that I can see; I always just close the window and move on. I vaguely remember installing the thing a long time ago that caused this to start happening; but I don't remember what it was or how to find it.

I've Googled "Mac startup scripts" and checked various directories for any obvious culprits, but nothing jumps out. Is there any good way for me to definitively determine what startup item is causing this window to open, so that I can get rid of it? For example does the Terminal app provide any visibility into what command started it up (is that what's printed at the top)? And if so can I easily deduce from that where the startup script/daemon/agent/whatever is?

Basically, what would you do if you were me? Admittedly this is really just an aesthetic annoyance, nothing more. Maybe the sane answer is "I'd leave it alone rather than risk screwing something up." Just seems irritating that I can't even figure out how to stop a window from popping up whenever I reboot my computer.

This might not be too helpful, but you can always check the date you downloaded things in your Applications folder and (if you remember the date, even vaguely) if you delete it, or anything non-essential near that date, then go by the process of re-installing what you want to find out what is causing the problem (or just leave them uninstalled).

This is my recommendation, and if you are still seeing problems I would recommend Apple Tech Support (the official one).


"Share" button in Preview (10.9.5) I have tried to send pdfs via email from Preview but the app is not letting me.  The share button only gives me the option to send via "message" and "airdrop". I want to be able to send via Mac Mail and Outlook. What can I do to add these options under the "share" button.

Thanks
Brandi

Suggest to reset your Preview app by deleting following files in your ~/Library.

Copy the stuff in brackets in to Finders "Go to Folder" window to find the files.

Caches/com.apple.Preview

Containers/com.apple.Preview

(~/Library/Containers)

Preferences/com.apple.Preview.LSSharedFileList.plist

(~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Preview.LSSharedFileList.plist)

Preferences/com.apple.Preview.SandboxedPersistentURLs.LSSharedFileList.plist

(~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Preview.SandboxedPersistentURLs.LSSharedFileList.plist)

Saved Application State/com.apple.Preview.savedState

Launch the application and test.

Go to System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts tab > Services item (on the left). On the right side, under the "Messages" heading, ensure both items that start with "New Email" are checked.

(Specifically for OS X 10.10) Also, go to System Preferences > Extensions > Share Menu and ensure that there is an option named Mail and it is checked.


Optimum way of charging apple devices? I have recently read the article Should you leave your smartphone plugged into the charger overnight?

The article listed the following points:

  You can leave your phone plugged into the charger overnight without
  too much risk, provided it’s not a counterfeit charger, and you don’t
  let your phone overheat. For best results with your smartphone
  charging, here’s what to remember:

  Always use official chargers and cables, or certified alternatives from reputable brands and retailers.
  Don’t let your phone get too hot. Remove the case when charging overnight.
  For the longest battery life possible, try to keep your battery between 50 and 80 percent.
  Avoid letting phone battery completely discharge, and don’t charge it from 0 percent up to 100 percent too often.

Is this actually the optimum way of charging iPhones, iPads, MacBooks ?

That article is focusing on the possible dangers of starting a fire if not original components are used.

Now you can ignore it and continue using non apple hardware at your own risk (usually small but it can happen), or use OEM hardware that is designed to prevent overheating (over-current) and it will shut down before serious stuff occurs.

Definitely do not put it under your pillow while charging or in any case allowing it to radiate the heat generated.

The points 2, 3, and 4 are correct.

Pro-tip: Use an iPad charger on your iPhone and it will fill up 2x as fast.


El Capitan gives me a kernel panic error right after installing Almost immediately after the installation reboot, and seconds after the apple logo appears the following error shows up;

panic(cpu 0 caller 0xffffff8017d263a6) : "zone_init;kmem_suballoc failed"@/Library/Caches/com.apple.xbs/Sources/xnu/xnu-3247.1.106/osfmkkern/zall oc.c:2199

This is a 2010 iMac running the latest Yosemite with all updates installed.

Any guesses for the cause?

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac11,3
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 4
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 8 MB
Memory: 12 GB
Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s

This is really basic memory allocation that's failing (zalloc.c) - and even if your install was completely trashed by outside forces, I'd expect a panic just about anywhere else in the system. This is a pretty low level failure.

If you can't get a recovery install to work, your next step is to call support, because this looks very much like a hardware problem.

It's possible that you have a corrupted installer. I would suggest downloading it again and following instructions to make a bootable drive using the create install media tool provided in terminal.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

I would not agree that there was a hardware problem due to the fact that you were able to use the computer after reinstalling 10.10 there is also a 3rd party app called disk maker X if you would prefer to not use Terminal

http://diskmakerx.com

I have had this happen to me before,when an installer was bad. It didn't load the OS correctly and it was just the installer.


How do I stop my Mac from ringing when I get a phone call on my iPhone? Yosemite has a new feature where my Mac rings when I get a phone call. Annoyingly, it continues to ring for 30 seconds or so, even after I've answered the iPhone.

How can I turn this sound off? I'd like to continue to have this feature available on my Mac: I'd like to be able to start calls from my Mac and I'd like to see the little alert that says "Accept / Decline" when the calls come in, but I want to turn off the ring sound on the Mac so I can answer my iPhone without having the other person hear endless ringing in the background.

Easy Peasy.

System Preferences > Notifications > FaceTime > uncheck 'Play sound for notifications'

Alternatively, you could just turn on 'Do Not Disturb' from the Today/Notifications widget easily when you need it by clicking on the notifications button in the menu bar and scrolling up the 'Do Not Disturb' setting will scroll into view

Here is another solution to the problem:
http://osxdaily.com/2014/10/17/stop-iphone-calls-ringing-mac-os-x/


Can't download (update) files in iCloud Drive over Cellular I can't download (update) files in iCloud Drive on my iPhone 6 over 4G connection. It only works with WiFi. Can someone help me? Thanks.

Please see this image which shows you how to enable cellular data.

Source: http://www.imore.com/how-enable-or-disable-icloud-drive-syncing-over-cellular

The way I solved that issue is to logoff from and login in icloud and turn plane mode on for 30s. See https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8246057.


iPhone (iOS) mistakes my router (mifi) as needing a login page When using my iOS 8 iPhone 6 with a cellular mifi, it sometimes thinks this device has some sort of webpage login page, the way public wifi does (I guess sometimes called a landing page).  However, it does not.  Is there a way in iOS I can mark a SSID as never needing a login page?

I suspect the reason it does this is this:

The mifi gives out DHCP before it has connected to the internet via cellular
iOS sees that it has a local IP address but can't reach the interent via some sort of test
Thus iOS assumes this is a scenario where you have to login, and tries to bring up a landing page - its blank but has the domain name that the router uses a shortcut to get to its web interface

Thanks!

When you log into any wifi router, immediately thereafter the OS (iOS or MacOS) tries to resolve the DNS for www.apple.com, and then attempts to navigate to this page:

apple.com/library/test/success.html

(Or one of a handful of similar ones distributed around the 'net.) The page is very simple and basically just responds with the word "Success". If they do not get that, or it times out, they assume that you're on a captive router that needs a login. In that case they navigate to the IP of your router/gateway, which in your case brings up the settings, but in a captive system brings up the login page.

Fixing it seems to be a bit of a dark art. Try this solution first and see if it helps.

In Settings → Wi-Fi, when you click the small i next to the network name, you can disable the automatic login setting, then the window should not be shown again.


Removing news headlines from Spotlight Search in iOS 9 How can I turn off news headlines from Spotlight Search in iOS 9?

I think it's a matter of turning off "Spotlight Suggestions" in the General > Spotlight Search preference pane, but leaving "Siri Suggestions" on? It's buried in the list!

You have to toggle off "SPOTLIGHT suggestions" not "SIRI suggestions". Settings, General, Spotlight Search, scroll down until you see "Spotlight Suggestions" and then it off.


Will the Apple Watch function properly if worn on inside of wrist? I plan to use my Apple Watch Sport predominately for tracking fitness goals. I am curious if turning the watch to the inside of my wrist will affect its performance when measuring my heart rate. (I like to use kettlebells, so I will surely smash the screen if I keep the watch on the outside of my wrist.)

Today I wore my Apple Watch on the inside of my wrist while weight lifting. I tightened it one additional notch compared to how I normally wear it during daily activities. Otherwise I had noticed that it would often lose my heart rate, even on the top of my wrist. This usually happened when my arms were vertical and/or the particular exercise required me to twist my wrists.

I am happy to report my heart rate was detected without skipping a beat. The main downside is Activate On Wrist Raise is very finicky. I suppose that is to be expected since the Watch assumes it's being worn on the top of your wrist.

Possibly-relevant piece of information: I am Vietnamese with fairly light skin on the inside of my wrist. Your mileage may vary if you have darker skin.

Also note that I'm only verifying the proper function of the heart rate monitor. I haven't tested distance or step count estimates while wearing the device this way, although I don't see why that should affect those functions.

Edit: I tried again the following day and the Watch lost my pulse on occasion, on either side of my wrist, even when tightened as much as possible. I slid the Watch up my wrist a little and my pulse was detected correctly again. I think this is because when the Watch is too low, movements of your hand tug on the skin and make it harder to measure your blood flow.

I am doing kettlebells as well and rotate it on the inside of my wrist, but I use a bluetooth heart rate monitor, you can get them for like 50 bucks, its probably worth it.


How do I remove the 802.1X settings in Mountain Lion I made a stupid 802.1X settings file some time ago to test some things. Now I am unable to remove it, even though I think I have deleted the file.

The picture below shows the 802.1X profile to the bottom right. How do I delete this profile? I've tried removing the ethernet with the minus sign in the left menu, but once I try to make a new ethernet profile, that 802.1X setting shows up as the standard.

Here is the picture of the 802.1X settings:

Try System Preferences > Profiles. It listed my 802.1X profiles and I was able to remove them from there.

Alternatively, you can manually edit configuration files in /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration (see this post) - grep the files located there for the name of your profile.

(Using OS X Mavericks)

 (Profiles is located in the second row from the bottom)

I just Restarted my Laptop, and it was back to normal again.


QuickLook blanks when displaying some images When using QuickLook to quickly look through multiple images (pressing space and then using the arrow keys to navigate), some images will not get displayed by QuickLook when hitting them up a second time (going back for example).

A GIF does a much better job than me showcasing the issue. So here's me previewing a few random images:

I have tried deleting

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.QuickLookDaemon.plist ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.QuickLookDaemon/Cache.db
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.QuickLookDaemon32/Cache.db
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.quicklook.ui.helper

and restarting, unfortunately to no avail.

Repairing permissions and restarting the Finder in 32-bit mode, as suggested  by others, don't appear to have any effect on this issue either.

This happens with all kinds of images, no matter their source or format.

This "blank Quicklook image" Bug is caused by the activation of the undocumented TextSelection-Feature.
As soon as I deleted that feature with this terminal command the blank images were never seen again ;-)

defaults delete com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection; killall Finder;

If this delete-command doesn't work for you, you could try to disable the feature with

defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -boolean NO; killall Finder;

This might be some kind of rendering bug due to switching between images 'too fast' for the Mac to handle. In theory it could be due to the filesize and/or image dimensions that makes it a bit harder to render the images fast enough when scrolling through them quickly. Although they should be cached for a little while after viewing them so I wouldn't think this is the case.

I read here that there has been an occuring problem with Mavericks and QuickLook since the start and apparently it's not fixed yet. Hopefully some of the tips listed in that link is somewhat helpful for you. I'll google some more and edit this comment if I find something else of interest.


Missing 'man' entries after upgrade Having upgraded from Snow Leopard to Mountain Lion a few days ago, I find that most of the 'man' entries from section 3 (programming functions) are missing.  For example:

phillip-millss-macbook-pro:etc phil$ man fopen
No manual entry for fopen

Exploring with the terminal shows me that all that remains in man3 directories within the 'man' search path are things related to Perl.

Is there something extra that I should be installing to get the reference information back?

You can set an environmental variable called MANPATH that will tell the "man" command where to look for the man pages. I see my mac 10.12.6 (Sierra) does not have that variable set.  According to "man man"  output, it uses /etc/man.conf to know where the directories are. You can add missing paths into that file.  That file may be overwritten by an mac os x update, so you may have to do it again.  To find your missing man3 files, which are probably still on your disk, try "locate \*man3"  and it should list every directory with a man3 folder in it.
Boyd


Two Applications folders, one empty I just noticed on my Mavericks' Finder today that there are two different Applications folders. One located under Main HD:

And the other one at Main HD -> Users -> Amit:

What's the difference between the two and why is one full while the other empty? Also, I did notice that my Main HD no longer shows the Users folder even though it's there. The Users folder wasn't always invisible. While it's no big deal, I am really curious as to why it would suddenly go undercover without me doing anything to it!

The Application folder inside your home folder is for apps which are restricted to your user. So some applications choose to "install"
  or copy their application in this folder. It's based on the decision
  of the app creator. But most of the apps are installed in the
  /Applications folder.
  Apple decided to hide the /Users folder. That's it.

With this command:

sudo chflags nohidden /Users

unhides it.

I had the same issue, the only explanation i can guess that , the reason it went hidden as an impact from a Spyware script that was installed with an infected dmg file of one of the software downloaded recently from cNet


Fixing dead/stuck pixels on Apple Cinema Display I have a 23" Apple Cinema HD Display, and it has a couple of dead or stuck pixels (don't really know the difference). I am wondering if there is some way to fix these pixels, like some kind of software/app?

You can sometimes fix stuck pixels by running something like this:

http://www.flexcode.org/lcd2.html

Hit the fix my screen button and it can attempt to unstick the pixel.  If that doesn't work then the best things that you can do is to make an appointment at your local Apple Store Genius Bar:

http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

and have the Geniuses look at it.  If it is under warranty still and it falls with in Apple's Guidelines for Pixel/Screen Replacement, they can replace the screen for you for free.

If it isn't under warranty there will be a parts and labor charge, but they will let you know this up front and you can decide if you want to go through with it.  That is one of the great things about Apple, free diagnostics even if you don't go through with the repair.  So technically you don't have anything to lose.  (Except your time, technically)


Earbud Audio Not Working? I have a Macbook Pro and it has a problem when plugging in headphones/ear buds into the audio jack may cause the audio to lower/raise by itself, but simply just unplugging and plugging back in helps with it, but recently the audio in my earbuds aren't working, I had another pair of earbuds that wouldn't work so i switched to the ones I'm using now but they stopped working as well. Whenever I check the audio when the earbuds are plugged in, it says that there's sound but not connected to the headphones. I have a set of gaming headphones and put them in the usb and they work just fine. Anyone else experiencing this weird audio problem, or at least can redirect me to an solution.

clean your audio plug

something is stuck in it

do not use metal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei9Z4M91E5o

You have a problem with the connector. It needs to be replaced or cleaned as mentioned above.


update my imac OS X 10.9.5 to OS sierra i just installed macOS SIERRA which is 10.12

but nothing has changed it's still OS X 10.9.5

so how to upgrade to sierra

You first have to install El captain X
You might not can install the sierra if you ox system was made in the early part of 2009


Where is the microphone for Siri for the iPhone 5? I thought it was at the bottom left on the phone, but when I cover the bottom and blow on the earpiece, the waveform when Siri is waiting for a response moves.

There are three microphones on the iPhone 5. This setup is used to eliminate background noise while on call. One is ideally placed at the back, and two in the front. So basically when you're covering the bottom, the mic on the ear piece picks up the audio input.

It is part of the top mic, camera and proximity unit.


What keyboard command can be used to move the cursor to the end of the next word on the Mac? In Windows and Ubuntu one can move the cursor to the end of the next word in text by pressing ctrl+ left or ctrl+right.

What's the equivalent of this on the Mac?

It's really quite simple: just us Command + right or left.


How to install plug-in in Gimp on OS X? I've got the Gimp for Mac OS X installed and working in my installation of Mac OS X 10.6.4. A very important tool I need is the David's Batch Processor plugin ( http://members.ozemail.com.au/~hodsond/dbp.html ) for batch auto-adjusting contrast/brightness/colour for my images.

There are no Mac specific instructions provided on the software's website saying how to install the python-based plugin. Can anyone please teach me how to install plugins for Gimp in Mac OS X?

You'll find the appropriate folders at /Users/username/Library/Application Support/Gimp/. There go in the scripts folder
and the presets go in the gimpressionist folder

I found these locations by looking at the GIMP preferences, and clicking on Scripts. The locations cited above were listed there.

I've managed to get DBP installed on my Mac (version 10.6.8). I've made the compiled plugin available on my blog, since compiling Gimp from MacPorts took an overnight compilation session, and is way too much hassle for folks who just want to plug-n-play.

So... anyone is welcome to grab my binary as they wish. If it's useful, please comment, and if it doesn't work, please comment; in either case if you can state versions of OS X and Gimp, that will hopefully help other users trying to avoid compiling it themselves!


Can't edit "Gmail SMTP Server" on iOS 10.3.1 I'm having problems recently with sending email from my gmail account on my iPhone using the mail app (keep being told username or password is incorrect, when they definitely are not).  In trying to troubleshoot, I wanted to edit my SMTP server settings, but there is only one "Primary Server" shown and when I tap it to edit (it has no username or password so I wanted to manually add them in), everything is greyed out, and nothing can be edited.  Not only that, but I can't even turn it off because when I flip the switch to deactivate it, there is no way to "save" the change, and as soon as I back out of that page in any way, the change is lost and the server remains activated.

How can I edit this SMTP server's settings?

Well I'm really not sure why this changed anything, but I logged out of my Google account from my desktop browser, then logged back in.  Immediately after so doing, I sent a new email on my phone from my GMail account, and it worked perfectly fine, without a hitch.  Go figure!

To Add new SMTP servers in iOS Mail:

Settings > Mail, Contract, Calendars > Tap your Gmail account. Tap
Account.
Under the heading "Outgoing Mail Server", tap SMTP.
Under the heading "Other SMPT Server", tap Add Server...

You can enter the host name, username and password


Are new macOS versions retained in the recovery partition? If a Mac is reinstalled by booting in to the recovery partition,
and the Mac came with El Capitan but was upgraded to Sierra via wifi,
what os will the Mac have after reinstalling via recover mode?

Found the answer to my own question:

The simple answer is, whenever you perform a major OS X upgrade, the Recovery HD partition is also upgraded to the same version of OS X. So, an upgrade from Lion to Mountain Lion will result in a Recovery HD linked to OS X Mountain Lion.

source: https://www.lifewire.com/identify-os-x-version-on-recovery-hd-partition-2259968

Coming from a windows background, this was too good to be true.

I wanted to check it out myself.
So I thought the upgrades are retained in the recovery partition. So I went to a local coffee shop (with slow internet), wiped my disc, and began reinstalling. Indeed the the installer bootstrapper was the latest Sierra version.
But it took me more than four hours. Why did it take so long to re-install? Fortunately the installer let's you peek in to the "activity log", and I found that despite the claims in the other answers to this question, the installer does actually end up downloading a very large amount of data from apple servers. It calls them chunks and I watched as all 400+ of them downloaded one by one. Mind you, this happened a few days after the recover partition was supposedly given the latest updates.


Altering screenshot filename When taking a screenshot using the keyboard shortcut shift+command+3 it yields a screenshot with a filename of Screen Shot 2014-11-23 at 3.25.36 PM.png. I would like to make a change so that the filename would be scr-20141123-152536.png. This would be the same exact date and time but altered to what I have been using for the past 13 years on other systems - it just works better for me. Is it possible to make this a permanent change? And, if so, how would I make this change?

UPDATE: I don't want to install Macports or Homebrew, or other package management system or apps that require the user to disable system security in order to run.

My system: Mac mini, late 2012, OS X 10.10.1 (Yosemite)

One approach that's forward compatible and will not get overwritten in an OSX update is to create a script that does ls -l Screen*.png (on the correct directory of course, I'm writing generically) if the list is empty the script exits, if not it uses mv to rename the file (and optionally move it if you also want to, you wouldn't need to since the renamed files won't match Screen*.png (the next time the script runs that is).  I would look at using an xargs to pipe the ls to mv. (I'll admit this would take me a minute to cook up, but it's do-able.)

Once you have the script working correctly use cron on a one minute schedule (hint * * * * *).  Since most of the time the script will exit after one command this will not use any measurable resources.

Previous answer:

One option would be to use fswatch to rename screenshot files as they are created.  This option really has the most forward compatibility as well.

fswatch as the name implies allows you to WATCH for File System changes within a script, and then pipe the output to some other command.   In this case probably xargs calling mv to change the name the way you want it to read.

I would reccomend this type of solution, as it is more update proof that modifying the way OSX names the file.  (i.e. that is let OSX do it's thing, then just have a script that watches and renames immediately).

Yes if you don't like OnyX, then give this a app a try, which can be seen on this page: http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23001/deeper


How specific/secure/selective is Touch ID? My new Macbook Pro has Touch ID, and I've trained it on one of my fingers so I can use it to unlock my machine, which is quite fun. I've been wondering, though, how secure it is really.

To be clear, since I must have already logged in using my password, and you have to be physically present before you can try using Touch ID, Apple doesn't have to guarantee that it will only respond to my finger; it just has to be very unlikely to respond to someone else's finger. That's why, from time to time, the OS will require that my full password be typed in. It's similar to ATM card PIN numbers; four digits makes it difficult enough for a card thief to guess that it's a good-enough confirmation measure, although it would NOT be good enough if the card weren't required.

So, here's my specific question: how likely is it that a random, non-trained finger would be recognized as matching my trained one? Are we talking a 1 in 1000 chance, 1 in 10000, or even less likely? (I doubt I'd get a clear answer from Apple were I to ask them...)

Apple, iOS Security, November 2018, p. 10

  The probability that a random person in the population could unlock
  your iPhone is 1 in 50,000 with Touch ID or 1 in 1,000,000 with Face ID. This probability increases with multiple enrolled fingerprints (up to 1 in 10,000 with five fingerprints) or appearances (up to 1 in 500,000 with two appearances). For additional protection, both Touch ID and Face ID allow only five unsuccessful match attempts before a passcode is required to obtain access to your device.

The main security concern of using biometrics is not the fact that they don't have enough entropy.

The main issue is that biometrics are not private i.e you literally show your face to everyone & leave your fingerprints on everything you touch.

Its trivial for any forensic professional to dust your Macbook for prints & unlock it with the findings.


Cannot install apps via macOS Big Sur App Store Since upgrading to macOS Big Sur (11.1), my system has been slow and laggy. Many applications upon first action seems to require a 2-4 second load to become responsive - once they've recovered that first time, things seem to be about as fast as they were on Catalina (no measurements, just perceptual observation).
Recently, I tried to update Xcode to the latest (12.4) via the Mac App Store (3.0). The download seemed to complete, but the install wouldn't finish. I restarted the computer after 4 hours of not completing. Upon restarting, the install did not finish, so I thought I may need to reclaim some disk space. I went to download "Cleaner One - Disk Clean" from the Mac App Store. The app seemed to download but, too, could not finish the install. I restarted the computer again and tried to install the app again.

This time, it doesn't seem to even start the download, it just hangs at what appears to be 0% - the Launchpad says "Waiting". After this I decided to try, another app that I've never downloaded before (Just a random featured free app) "MindNode - Mind Map & Outline". This time the download starts and seemingly finishes, but stops at the end of the download and fails to install (the same thing I saw with the first attempt of installing "Cleaner One").

Something is obviously pretty borked here. I'm hoping someone knows somewhere to look to clean out whatever caches are preventing these from completing. I would go back to Catalina, but I think I need the latest macOS for the latest Xcode to develop for the latest iOS.

Okay, I found the solution. I found an Apple Developer forum (that I had to access via Google cache for some reason) that discussed related issues.
To re-iterate here:

Sign out of Mac App Store

Store > Sign Out

Navigate to ~/Library/Caches in Finder

Keyboard Shortcut Cmd+Shift+G (Go to Folder)
Enter ~/Library/Caches

Click "Go"

Find the following folders in the Finder window and move them to the trash

com.apple.appstore
com.apple.appstoreagent

Reboot

 > Restart...

Launch Mac App Store & Sign in

Testing App Store downloads/installs after the above steps seems to have resolved the issues.

Sometime also if you go to system preferences then Security then unlock the lock thing in the left corner then choose to allow third party apps . Then get the app you want then lock it up back to just allow Apple apps again.


Word:mac 2011 preserve table formatting on copy-paste In Microsoft Word 2010 for Windows, I can duplicate a table simply by clicking its handle at the top-left (which selects the entire table), copying it and pasting it. When I do that in Word:mac, the table and contents is duplicated without any of the table formatting. This kinda sucks because the original table has a number of merged cells and all sorts of formatting going on. I'm basically using the source table as a template.

I just updated Office:mac 2011 to SP2.

Go to:

Word → Preferences → Edit → Settings  (under cut and paste options use smart cut and paste)
Remove the check mark on "Adjust table formatting and alignment on paste".

Now try copy-paste of a table. It works.

So I tried to copy a few lines of words with the table to paste and it worked. I hope it does for you too.

example: copy "Hello how are you" with "Table 3." and the table itself.

Hello how are you

Table 3.

Table here


Two Clash of Clan accounts under one Game Center account I have a problem that I am worried about with my Clash of Clans game. I originally started playing the game on my iPad. I was not able to play it while I was out because my iPad did not have an internet connection. So I downloaded the game on my iPhone 5 so I could play it everywhere and started a new base. At the time, I did not know that they were on the same Game Center account. Now every time I get onto my phone, it asks if I would like to load my TH 7 village, but my progress on this base will be lost. Well my base on my iPhone is a lot higher then the one on my iPad now. If I have to lose one account, I am OK with losing the one on my iPad lvl 47 rather than my lvl 70 on my iPhone. Can someone explain to me what I need to do to save my lvl 70 account?

I am OK right now but when i get a new phone I will lose it because it is not linked to a Game Center account anymore. How can I ditch the level 47 village and keep the level 70 village?

Long story short: I have Clash of Clans on my iPhone and on my iPad. Both have different villages. Started my village on the iPad first. Both are under the same Game Center account. Everytime I get onto my phone it ask if i want to load my TH 7 King Tom village. I always say no because it is not high lvl like on my phone. Is there a way to keep both villages and put one under a different game center or can I delete the low level one and just leave the high level one? Just dont want to lose my lvl 70 village is all because I have put so much money into it.

Thanks

How open are you to creating a new Game Center account?

If yes, then follow the steps below:

Steps are taken from http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4314?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Open the Game Center app
Tap on your email/username and click sign out
Tap on the Create a new account button
Follow the steps on the screen
Sign in to your new GC account and open Clash of Clans
Congrats! Your village should be linked to the new GC account. To test it out, sign in to another device with Clash of Clans and tap on OK/Confirm

If no, well..... * shrug *. IDK what to do.

Ok. I have gotten the same problem but in the opposite way. I am not sure but I think you need to ( on which ever device you aren't using and dont want the base) log out or delete clash of clans from Game Center account. It is hard but you can look it up. Easier will be just deleting the game on iPad or phone (which ever you don't want to keep), so that the message will stop appearing. BUT THE EASIEST is to just always click on Cancel when the note about replacement appears (This is what I do). Hope I helped. Good luck!


iPad app for collecting door-to-door survey information? I need to be able to develop a custom form so I can have workers go door to door and collect survey information.  Think census workers, but geared towards the upcoming election.

While I could develop a custom app, I expect to have to customize it heavily for each area, and make changes to the forms throughout the process.

In order to control costs we're not going with 3G service, so all the form data has to be collected on the device and saved until it's uploaded via wifi network (or any other method) later.

Are there any apps that let me design my own custom fields for form entry, and save the data on the device?
Simple database apps with custom forms or similar?

If I had my wishlist, it would also:

Automatically download the latest collected data when in range of a network.
Update a standard database server directly (MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, other?).
Track the location the info was collected (difficult and imprecise, probably, since it's a wifi tablet only)
Allow hundreds of tablets to check in and upload to the central server at any time, including simultaneously
Prompts the survey recorder with a script - not just a form, but gives them what to say, what to ask, and leads them through a configurable tree of questions, some of which depend on previous questions answered.  For instance once they indicate their political affiliation, it might skip questions not appropriate to save time.

You could use Bento for iPad. It allows you to create custom databases with great looking entry screens. It will also store information on the device until you sync it again.

To conduct a survey you can use Survtapp the Android and ipad based survey app, allow you to conduct offline survey.


disable versions on Mavericks I have been using this command to get back Save As... in Mountain Lion and it works great:

defaults write -g ApplePersistence -bool no

However, this doesn't seem to work anymore in Mavericks. Ut seems that it's just the older iWork '09 apps that can't use the Save As function.

All the other apps (textedit, preview, etc) are able to use Save As. So are the newer iWork apps (the ones just released). But I use the older iWork 09 apps the most. Is there anything I can do to bring the functionality back on those?

you might can use this hint: http://osxdaily.com/2012/08/27/enable-save-as-os-x-mountain-lion/ It worked for me.


How to setup OS X Server to not to be accessed via localhost, but other different host? I have installed MAMP on my MacBook, and I use localhost to manage my website repositories. Previously once I installed OS X Server I was not able to manage my websites because there was OS X Server. Is it possible to configure OS X Server under the different name than localhost (example: osxhost)?

I think that the issue may be that both MAMP and OS X Apache (VIA the Server.app) are both listening on the default port 80. If you use SCUTIL to set the host name it will change the hostname for all servers on that Mac, I believe.

What I would do is check the settings in MAMP and make sure it is not listening on port 80 and if it is change it to something else. I believe if you restore defaults it will listen on a different port. Then you will have two independent web servers each listening on a different port. The server.app web server will listen on port 80 and MAMP on whatever port it is set to.

Now you can get to the MAMP site by adding a colon and the port number after localhost. Assuming MAMP is set to port 8080 it would look like this:

http://localhost:8080

and for the server.app server instance:

http://localhost

If you don't specify a port, it defaults to port 80.

maybe this command can help you: scutil –setHostName <new hostname>

source: krypted


How do you use Greek letters in pages, 5.5.2? Need to use some Greek letters using pages, 5.5.2?

Open the Character Viewer and drag the letters from there in to your document.

If you have to use it more frequently you can set it up bit automated, in the syst pref- Keyboard- Text. Then assign a Greek letter to some word like when you type Beta it would be replaced with Greek β.

You can always install the Greek alphabet on your Mac, the same way as you'd install any other language.


Deleting all photos from iCloud immediately 2018 I would like to delete all of my photos from icloud immediately. The only way I have found to do this is select each individual picture and delete it. There does not seem to be a select all option anymore.

I already know about this. I just don't want to have to wait 30 days.

On your iDevice/s (iPhone, iPad, etc), go to Settings > Photos & Camera > and turn off the "iCloud Photo Library" option.

On a Mac you can open System Preferences -> iCloud
Click the "Manage..." button in the bottom right corner and then disable and delete the iCloud Photo Library.

Can't be done. Must delete one at a time. Thanks Apple


typing a backtick on Mac OS X Snow Leopard I have had a hunt around the net for this, but cannot find an answer - how do I type a backtick on Mac OSX Snow Leopard? I have a Macbook from late-2010.

The backtick character is one I use on a regular basis on StackExchange.

Disclaimer: This info is for English keyboards. If you're using a keyboard for a different language, look for the keys on your keyboard that match the photos.  Pictures of Apple's keyboards for various languages can be found here.

This question was answered 5 years ago, but pictures may be helpful for viewers coming upon it now.

To make a backtick on the US English keyboard - Use the key just to the left of the 1 key

To make a backtick on the British or International English keyboard - Use the key just to the right of the left shift key

Backtick is on the left of "1" keyboard button.


Missing "show package contents" cmd I was trying to extract the contents of a .pkg file, and right clicking on it should usually allow the context sensitive Show Package Contents option.  However, it does not seem to show on any .pkg file I can find on my system.

I have since expanded the contents on the command line using this command:

StuffeMac:Desktop stuffe$ pkgutil --expand AirPortUtility56.pkg ./dan2/

Which worked fine, and inside this package was another .pkg file.  Right clicking on this and Show Package Contents is back again, but only for the one I just expanded...

What's going on?

Show Package Contents is not for showing the contents of .pkg files, it's for showing the hidden structure for Applications (and other bundles), which are actually folders. You can use the program Pacifist to look at the contents of .pkg files.

To answer the question in your comment, here's how you can tell in Terminal. When you perform an ls -l command, directories have d as the first character in the line.

516 $ ls -l
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  admin         102 Jan  6  2011 Form Viewer.app
drwxrwxrwx@   3 root   admin         102 Jan 18  2010 FormViewerFonts.pkg
-rw-r--r--@   1 steve  staff  2157020198 Jun 30  2012 MacTeX-2012.pkg

In this example, the first two entries are bundles and the last isn't.

Quick and Easy:

"Duplicate" package file.
Righ-Click and Run "Show package contents" on the duplicate file


SSD drive does not boot internally 13" Late 2011 MBP I have a late 2011 macbook pro 13" on which i used a kingston 60gb v300 ssd in my primary slot and in the secondary slot i used the 500gb toshiba hdd the macbook pro came with. i've had the ssd since january 2013 and in mid december, it failed. The computer froze all of the sudden, I tried formatting, reinstalling but no luck, the ssd boots fine as an external storage device, but internally it doesn't.

I've sent the ssd to warranty but they said there is no problem with it. right now i'm using the old 500gb 5400rpm drive and it's driving me crazy because it's so slow. I have to mention that the ssd isn't even recognized when i put it in the secondary slot and when i have it in the primary slot and try to go to recovery mode it freezes immediately.

How can I figure out why the SSD doesn't work any more internally?

Ok, so soon after this happened the 500GB 5400 rpm HDD failed also. I took it to Apple and the drive connector/cable was damaged from overheating they said. They changed the cable and it works great now.


how to get pictures off the phone (running 5.1.1)? So my dad left behind his old phone so my son can use it as a music player. It's currently running 5.1.1.

There are several albums and one of them are pictures of our family. I want to get them off the the device  but when I connected the device to my MBPr (running Yosemite) and selected the phone inside "Image Capture", not all photos are showing. There's easily around 500+ photos inside various albums but I can only 29 pictures are showing which are all from an album called "Saved Photos".

Any ideas on how to get it off the device? thanks :)

Two options come to mind:

set up email on the iPhone and mail the photos to yourself (might be kind of cumbersome with iOS 5 though)
install any third party app allowing photo upload (e.g. Dropbox or Flickr) on the iPhone and upload all photos to it

If the photos were put on to the phone by syncing them from iTunes, and/or the photos are not in the "camera roll", you won't be able to import them conventionally.

If you get the photos into the camera roll you should be able to import them.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201302

Also give the photos app a try instead of image capture (the OSX photos app)

Judging off the pictures, the software below seems like it might help. But given the fact that all you want is these photos, it probably makes more sense to email them or upload them to dropbox as someone else suggested.

https://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/ There seems to be a pc version as well called phonetopc