texts: Macbook Air boot menu defaults to external monitor

texts: Took a while to figure out why the screen stays black during boot, but I eventually found that the boot menu and apple logo are by default going to an external monitor. I have tried to fix this by resetting the default display in system preferences, SMC and PRAM resets, but to no avail. I'm at a loss as to what is causing this to happen, and can't seem to figure it out. Any help would be appreciated!


texts: GMail option missing from share sheet on iOS

texts: I'm running iOS 14 and use both Mail.app and Gmail (personal and work respectively). From the share sheet I see Mail but not Gmail. I suspect it's because Mail is my default mail app. Is there a way to force both Mail and GMail to appear as options on the share sheet?


texts: OSX Mail - deleting imap email without deleting on gmail server

texts:
I am using Mail.app to access my gmail account (business / google apps email).

I want to delete a big pile of emails in Mail to clean up my inbox, but I want to keep those emails in gmail (IMAP server) so I look them up in the future by logging directly into gmail.

I'm new to Mail. Is there a setting where I can delete my emails in this account freely in Mail without deleting them at all from the gmail?


texts: I have decided to add a firewall to my computer and have heard of applications such as 'Little Snitch' which help to give me control of inbound and outbound connections on my mac running macOS Sierra. Is there (free) application which would allow me to configure the settings via the command line? The default firewall is also an option, however, I would like to determine the ports myself and preferably the server address that is sending or receiving data from my computer like little snitch allows.To review what I want, Is there an application which would allow me to block ingoing and outbound connections on my mac through the command-line while allowing me to say what ports and addresses are allowed to communicate on my computer? It would also be good if the application is free.


texts: Is there any way that I can download apps that I removed last week? (I can't remember the names of them)


texts:
I've got my Mac speaking me the time every hour, but I'm currently trying to learn French so I thought it would be a good idea to make it speak the time in French.

However, rather than saying "Il est 11 heures." she says "It's 11 hours." (in a lovely French accent).

Is it possible to make her actually speak French?


texts: How does "Find My" application is working with location service changes in iOS 13

texts: I have installed iOS 13 and gave it a shot to Find My application. First question is the location service and I have chosen "While Using App". But what does that really mean? Does it mean that I have to have Find My application running all the time so people can see where I am. I am a bit confused.


texts: I broke my PATH by editing my ~/.bash_profile and Bash will not recognize most commands

texts:
in .bash_profile I accidentally set the path to:

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

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

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

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

How can I fix this situation?


texts: How do I programmatically change the "Hide extension" setting for a list of files?

texts:
For some reason, when I do a bash operation on a list of files (i.e. ls | cat -n | while read n f; do mv "$f" `printf "name-%02d.png" $n`; done, the "Hide extension" setting becomes enabled on all of them, and I have to manually uncheck that via "Get info". How can I avoid this, or fix it programmatically?

EDIT: The files I was operating on were native screenshots and thus already had their extensions hidden. My bad!


texts:
With family sharing the docs say ALL purchases are charged to the organizers credit card.

Is there a way to charge a purchase to the account owners credit card rather than the organizer accounts credit card?


texts: How can I monitor the amount of data sent/received to/from a specific host?

texts:
I've found som tools to monitor tx/rx and show the overall data usage and live graphs etc.
But what I need is a tool to monitor how much data has been transferred
between my machine and a specific host.
Is there any tool where I can specify an IP/hostname for yosemite?

And just to clarify the needs:
required is

Dumping/graphing the incoming/outgoing network data
Limiting the output to a specific host
Easily readable output (regarding the units - Mb/GB etc.)
"Counter" can be reset

Does anything like this exist?


texts:
Just curious, what happens in OS X Maverick if someone issues sudo rm -rf /?
I heard most modern *nix systems are protected from this epic fail.


texts: IOS 10.0.1 on an IPhone 7 with WhatsApp 2.16.10

texts: WhatsApp 2.16.10 update for iOS 10 now shows recent WhatsApp calls on the iPhone recent calls log, rather then just logging it in WhatsApp. Is there a way to turn this off? It's really not needed.


texts: How can I fix Youtube videos only displaying black with sound in iOS's Safari?

texts: Frequently I encounter this problem in iOS's Safari:  I want to watch a Youtube video, and  it starts playing, but the display area is entirely in black, although I can still hear the audio.   Is there some sort of hack that will get the videos to play normally, with a 100% success rate?  Quite frequently I have to refresh multiple times (>5) to get those videos to start playing.


texts:
What are the consequences of disabling Kest Signing on OS X Yosemite? I have disabled it to keep TRIM enabled on my aftermarket SSD. What are the security issues I could run up against? If I install applications only from trusted resources can I run in any kind of trouble?

I couldn't find online extensive answers to these questions. Sorry if it's a duplicate.


texts: View the display out signal on main monitor?

texts: I am running an event for my community soon an I need software where I can see the contants of the two projects when they are in "No Show" mode. Is it possible to see what is being displayed through the two displays (being powered by two Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapters on my rMBP) without having the projectors on?


texts: Create MacOS style screenshots with drop shadow using Imagemagick

texts:
How do I add the drop shadow to any image with imagemagick to create the same effect that the screenshot on MacOS adds to screenshots when screencapture shadow is true?

Before and after pictures are to clarify the effect I am seeking.


texts: Can iPhone battery apps actually prolong battery life?

texts: I've seen a few apps that claim they do some kind of conditioning/deep charge/other jargon to extend the life of an iPhone battery. Is this just hokum or do I really need one of these apps to maximize the life of my battery?


texts: Can't change wallpaper for Secondary Desktop; I've already tried system preferences

texts: I can't change the secondary desktop wallpaper. I've already gone to system preferences and have chosen a wallpaper for second desktop, but it remains all white???


texts: How to purchase Lion OS without going to Mac App Store?

texts: I would like to purchase Lion, but the Mac App Store requires a credit card, and I don't have one. Are there any other options which don't require a credit card?


texts: Can I sync podcasts from the iPhone to my PC's iTunes? (not the other way around)

texts:
Back in the iPod days, I used to download podcasts in my PC with iTunes, then sync them to the iPod. Now that I use an iPhone, I download the podcasts directly on the phone, but I'd like to sync them back to the PC with iTunes, in order to have a backup. Can iTunes actually do that?

I am asking this because I have the "Sync podcasts" option turned on both on iTunes and in the iPhone, and up to now I thought it did exactly that, but today I needed to delete some podcasts from my phone to free up space, and I went looking at my PC's iTunes library and found out that it actually didn't have any of those old episodes. So... the "Sync podcasts" option in iTunes, is it only one way? (PC ->iPhone)


texts: Keyboard shortcut to switch between Activity Monitor tabs?

texts:
Are there keyboard shortcuts to switch between or select specific Activity Monitor View, e.g. CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk & Network?

Use case example, instead of clicking with the mouse, it'd be nice to toggle between two Views while examining a specific process like Opera, Chrome helper, bash, etc. Instead or mousing around between the view tabs, it'd be faster to use a keyboard shortcut to toggle between and check the process CPU and Memory loads:


texts: Using Windows on Mac keyboard without Delete key

texts:
I'm just curious - I guess lots of people with Mac hardware use Windows.

How do they manage to do so, given that delete key is missing on Mac keyboard and you have to press ctrl+alt+delete to log in to Windows?

Are they all forced to use autologin (to bypass ctrl+alt+delete pressing) or buy a PC keyboard?


texts: How can I see the call history from one month ago?

texts: Someone called me last month. I know date and approximate time, but I'm unable to see that call in my iPhone. Is there any way to do this?


texts:
I am developing a web application for a client who is planning to use an iPad when interviewing staff (as part of the recruitment process).  Can I use Apple Pencil 2 to collect information in a web page?  Specifically:

Can I use it to fill out a html <input> or <textarea> field?
Can I use it to create a file (which I would attach), i.e. a PDF, GIF, something like that?


texts:
I have a mid 2009 MBP with OSX 10.11.6 and Safari 11.0.2, and my problem is with Safari.

For many months, possibly for the past year, when I display my gmail account it is usually the case that the display has to be reloaded numerous times before the usual parts of the gmail display are shown.

The usual display has 3 or 4 separate parts: the top line has the google search bar and 4 icons to the right; the second line has button options relating to the list of emails; below these two lines are two columns, the left showing the labels associated with 'saved' emails, and the right column - the bulk of the whole display - showing (first) unread and (then) read emails in the inbox. When I logon to gmail it is usually the case that the inbox part does not show, but does show after multiple reloads. Occasionally, along with this no-show, the other parts of the display are messed up in a way that is hard to describe.

Does anyone have an idea of what's happening here? Could Flash be a culprit here? I mention Flash because it gives me problems in Safari that I can overcome by switching to Chrome or Firefox.


texts: Wi-Fi voice calling methods on a jailbroken iPhone?

texts:
I have a jailbroken iPhone 4S on AT&T in Cambridge, MA. My location has unreliable AT&T coverage, and I can't use Verizon or Sprint (too much coverage = pilot pollution). It's got to the point where I can't even reliably initiate a call, and if I can, it'll get dropped within 10 minutes. AT&T has been no help.

I get 2-3 bars on AT&T, so I can't use an AT&T MicroCell; those work best with no coverage, and they have handoff problems when you already have some reception.

I would prefer to stay with my iPhone if at all possible.  What are my least-painful alternatives for making and receiving voice calls? So far, I've tried:

Google Talk via Talkatone. This is a very brittle app; after a few hours of network configuration, I was able to receive and place some calls, but it often crashes back to SpringBoard and it often sends calls straight to voicemail.
Skype via the native iPhone app. Their app isn't a great replacement for Phone.app; I have to re-enter my password frequently, remember to launch Skype after a reboot, have no way to silence a call while it's ringing (even flipping the "mute" switch doesn't stop it!), have poor integration with the native phonebook, etc.
Skype + AppFront. This adds a "call with Skype" button to Phone.app, but requires extra pop-up dialogs, doesn't handle Skype being offline or needing a password, etc.

I've looked at Viber but AFAICT this only uses WiFi when both parties have Viber.

What are my other options? I'd be happy to go as far as running my own VOIP server if it'd give me reliable phone service via my iPhone.


texts: I recently released an update to my iOS app. Is there a way to tell in iTunesConnect how many users have updated to the new version?


texts:
I received my M1 Mac Mini a couple weeks ago and restored my time machine backup from an Intel Mac with Catalina.
Today I execute this command: sudo spctl --master-disable and the following occurred.
objc[865]: Class SPExecutionPolicy is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class AppWrapper is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class AppWrapperPolicyResult is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class AppWrapperPolicy is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class SPLog is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class MIS is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class SPExecutionHistoryItem is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class SPExecutionPolicyItem is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class SPDeveloperPolicy is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.
objc[865]: Class GKScanResult is implemented in both /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SystemPolicy.framework/Versions/A/SystemPolicy and /usr/sbin/spctl. One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.

I've never seen such messages in previous versions of Mac OS. Can anyone shed some light?


texts: How to sort (filter, move, delete) a huge number of files on a NAS

texts:
I have a NAS (Synology ds418), and I access it using my Macbook Pro (macOS 10.15.6)
There is a folder with an unknown amount of files, and I need to classify them:

delete some files
filter some files depending on their extensions
move some files

Unfortunately, it seems there's too many file for my mac to handle.
What I've tried:

Finder

Using the finder I get the spinning ball of death. It keeps loading but nothing never shows.

Terminal utilities

Same goes for commands like find, ls, and other.

Custom program

I tried to make my own program as advised here. But it seems to stop working after a while... (I tried to print the current count to ensure the program is still running and it stops at about 20k)
Nothing works, what else could?


texts: Start the recording using the MIDI piano keyboard?

texts:
Is it possible, in GarageBand, to start/stop the recording using the midi piano keyboard as it is, for instance with Cubase? My piano is quite far from my mac and I want to start recording from my piano. (I know about the count-down feature)

PS : With cubase, you can define a key on your piano that will be used as command key.


texts: How do I restore a Mojave Time machine backup on Catalina?

texts: I recently did a clean install of macOS Catalina. I did this knowing well that my previous OS, Mojave was backed up on Time Machine. However, am failing to restore the Time machine backup on the new Catalina OS.


texts:
I had to reinstall OS X. I was not succeeding to login to my Apple ID due to a server error, so I skipped that step and got a desktop -- but none of my data are visible.

Assuming that the data have not been destroyed (IMO they probably haven't), how can I get at them?

The old OS X was Mavericks. It reinstalled the original one, which is Mountain Lion. I don't think I asked it to wipe the volume.

df -- I had to email myself the output to post it. Not trying to be coy. Sorry. Here it is:

Filesystem    512-blocks     Used Available Capacity iused     ifree %iused    Mounted on
/dev/disk0s2   975425840 46603552 928310288     5% 5889442 116038786    5%   /
devfs                365      365         0   100%     632         0  100%   /dev
map -hosts             0        0         0   100%       0         0  100%   /net
map auto_home          0        0         0   100%       0         0  100%   /home

I have generally not used iCloud. I do have backups of my main work on another computer. But I don't have a backup of all the data that were on the computer -- it's not as important as the critical stuff, but I'd still like to get it.


texts: Auto change keyboard layout based on application focus

texts:
I basically use US keyboard for programming and Spanish for everything else, and I´m always switching keyboard layout when I change from browser to VIM or console.

In Linux (gnome), keyboard layout was a per application preference, that the window manager remembered automatically, so for every application, if you switched keyboard layout, when you focus back to that application the keyboard layout would change for you.

Is there any way of doing this in OSX Lion?


texts: 10.13 - Disable Auto screen lock after Apple Remote Desktop Session

texts:
Using ARD (Apple Remote Desktop) to login to my Mac Pro running 10.13.6 then exiting the ARD window the Mac Pro locks the screen which is fine sometimes, but not at other times.  I would like to control the ability of it locking the screen after ending the ARD session. Is there a setting that I don't see or know of?

The settings:

user account is password enabled
screen saver is enabled for 15 after inactivity
energy saver for display 10 minutes.

Observations:

If you logout of the user account then login then start and end a session the screen remains unlocked.
When the display goes to sleep or screen saver is enabled then start and end a session process locks the screen when closing the ARD window.
Seems like the sleeping of the screen itself changes the expected behavior.

Question:
 - How do we control the desired behavior to not lock the screen after ARD session without turning off energy saver for the display?


texts: Trying to connect to my schools wireless network, but the 802.1X Authentication wont finish. It also says that I have a self-designated IP.


texts: Buying an iPad through an iTunes account?

texts:
Is it possible to use the iTunes account to buy an iPad?

I'd like to build up credit using iTunes prepaid cards with 20% credit to buy a new iPad Mini Retina. I think there is no restriction to what you buy through the store.

Am I correct?


texts:
I'm trying to install CUPS-PDF for Mac by Homebrew as follow:

$ brew install cups-pdf
Error: No available formula with the name "cups-pdf"
It was migrated from caskroom/cask to homebrew/core.

but there is an error that it has been migrated to homebrew/core which I'm trying to install from.

In this case, what would be the proper method of installing it?


texts: Why are load averages on macOS always over 1.0

texts:
My load average on a bunch of Macs running Catalina and Big Sur is always over 1 (1.2 -> 1.5), with just finder open, or safari idle...
On my other linux boxes raspberry pi etc, I usually see close to 0.
Why is a full core always engaged on macOS? is this a BSD thing? i.e. is 1.0 equal to 0 on linux? (or does 1 mean a full core is always used).


texts: Unexpected reboot on a macbookPro with "Previous shutdown cause: -11"

texts:
I have a 2020 macbookPro 64GB 16" .  It shut down unexpectedly and I ran a log show command to find out the cause:
log show --predicate 'eventMessage contains "Previous shutdown cause"' --last 24h
Filtering the log data using "composedMessage CONTAINS "Previous shutdown cause""
Timestamp                       Thread     Type        Activity             PID    TTL
2021-04-30 20:46:14.785443-0700 0xd8       Default     0x0                  0      0    kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Log      - Default:          1, Info:                0, Debug:             0, Error:          0, Fault:          0
Activity - Create:           0, Transition:          0, Actions:           0

The key of this is  kernel: (AppleSMC) Previous shutdown cause: -11
From this page https://udcf.gla.ac.uk/~gwm1h/Error_Codes/Codes_0_to_-99.html the errror is:
qAllocErr               from MakeITable

What would be a fix in case this were to start to recur?


texts: When I go to the App Store on my iPhone 4s, the password box pops up, but the keyboard to enter the password does not pop up, so I have no way to enter a password.  Any idea how I can correct this?


texts: AppleScript to Make New Calendar in Specific Account

texts:
The AppleScript Dictionary for macOS Calendar 10.0 (High Sierra) appears to have no API for addressing specific accounts.

For example…

set myCalendar to make new calendar with properties {name:"New Girl"}

…creates a calendar "On My Mac."  There seems to be no way to create a calendar in an iCloud or other calDAV account.

Have I had insufficient caffeine, or is the answer just plain "No"?


texts: Weird .download files keep emerging in Downloads folder

texts:
It's a while some random files with .download extension are emerging inside my download folder and I can't find what are these and what creates them, even I can't open them.

These files are like this:

And when I get their info it's like this:

There is no running download at the moment.


texts:
I want to install FreeBSD 10.3 as a virtual machine on my Mac mini with 10.11 via xhyve. I found this tutorial. But I don't get it to install. When I run the install script I get this error.

dlopen(/Library/Caches/Homebrew/xhyve--git/test/userboot.so, 4): image not found

What do I do wrong? Also, maybe someone can explain to me, what the install script xhyverun-fbsdinstall.sh actually does.


texts: How can I install boot camp off a Windows 7 USB flash drive?

texts:
I'm trying to follow the directions on how to create a Windows 7 installation USB flash drive. I was able to create the drive and when I insert it into a Windows computer, it shows the installer correctly.

The problem is that when I get to the "Start Windows Installation" step in boot camp, it asks to insert the Windows disk. I inserted the USB drive, and it appears on the desktop, however, when I click Start Installation, I get the following error message:

  The installer disc could not be found.
  Insert your Windows installer disc and wait a few seconds for the disc to be recognized.


texts: Connecting two monitors to MacBook Pro 2017 while charging it

texts:
I am using a 13" MacBook Pro 2017 with a Shinevi Hyperdrive adapter for access to a wider variety of ports, granting my access to a single Thunderbolt 3 port, a USB Type-C port, and a single HDMI port.

While fully charged, I can connect both of my Samsung S22C300 monitors with no problem, one through the HDMI port, and the other through the Thunderbolt 3 port. (Note: The single Thunderbolt 3 port is the only port that allows you to charge the MacBook through the Shinevi hyperdrive). This configuration allows me to use 3 screens in total, including the MacBook Pro screen.

However, when my laptop starts running low on battery, I have to unplug the external monitor connected to the Thunderbolt 3 port in order to charge my laptop, leaving me with only one external monitor.

I'd recently bought an HDMI splitter (I have no idea what model splitter it is) in hopes of connecting both monitors through the splitter, but neither monitor is receiving signal through the splitter. I have also checked to see if the splitter is broken by testing it on other devices, and it works elsewhere.

can I charge and have HDMI out from one thunderbolt port?


texts: Not able to share symlinked folders with Dropbox for Mac?

texts:
I'm having a problem with the Dropbox client for the Mac. I have symlinked ~/Projects/ into ~/Dropbox/Projects/ using MacDropAny.app, which basically runs ln -s. This works as suspected. But when I try to right click a file or folder within my Dropbox/Projects folder, the Dropbox sharing alternatives are not showing. These items appears fine in other, none-symlinked folders inside Dropbox.

If I go through Dropbox.com, i can share this folder/subfolders fine. But I want to be able to easily share linkes to files/folders from the Mac right click context menu. Any tips/ideas?


texts: How do I remove java version "1.6.0_65"?

texts:
Every single time I try to install the Oracle Java Runtime Environment... I keep being stuck with Apple's Java 6. I have no idea how Apple's Java 6 ended up on my computer in the first place. The mac OS version is High Sierra 10.13.4.

I keep putting "java -version" into the terminal and it comes out telling me I'm still running 6...

How do I remove Java 6 completely as I need to install java 8 instead?


texts: How to find wifi passwords in Yosemite or iOS8

texts:
I can still connect to this foreign network using this new computer -- my old computer had access. I want to share the password with my wife's system.

I can't figure out how to do this, either in Yosemite or iOS8.

I've looked at this question among others. Keychain Access doesn't seem to hold wifi passwords any longer. (I've used this method in the past).

Has anyone else seen this? Am I looking incorrectly or is there a new location/method?

Thanks


texts: Emoji Keyboard not inserting emoji after pressing Enter

texts:
After opening the emoji keyboard with Ctrl + Cmd + Space, selecting an emoji and finally hitting enter, the emoji keyboard closes but nothing is inserted at my cursor.

A restart seems to fix this, but after some time the keyboard breaks again and I need to restart again.

Does anyone have an idea why this is happening?

This is on macOS High Sierra v10.13.6 (17G2307)

Thank you.


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

texts:
I'm a bit stumped. So I was trying to add some MP3s to my iPhone 5 using iTunes and it simply doesn't react to the clicks on the respective symbols anymore.

Here's a partial screenshot:

The shown playlists and playlist folders are contained in a parent playlist folder, which was selected prior to attempting to add a playlist.

The two controls at the bottom with the plus and the cog don't work. It's as if they're disabled, but it's hard to tell for me in this Apple-style GUI.

Does anyone have an idea how I could convince iTunes to let me create (smart) playlists and playlist folders again?

NB: this is the music "tab" and I have opened the "Device" node for my iPhone on the left hand side and selected the parent playlist folder there.


texts: Log in and out of iTunes account on separate computer

texts: Is it possible to use someone else's computer, log out of their iTunes account, log into your own account and access your own library on their computer?


texts: Can't access Yahoo account on iphone- says 'IMAP server"apple.imap.mail.yahoo.com" isn't working'

texts:
My yahoo account has stopped working on my iphone 4s.
I can access the account on a desktop but not the iphone.
Comes up with 'The IMAP server "apple.imap.mail.yahoo.com" is not responding. Check your network connection and that you entered the correct information in the "incoming Mail Server' field.'

Any idea how to fix this? Hasn't happened before.


texts: User input assigned to variable in AppleScript then passed to "do shell script" command

texts:
How do I grab input from the user in AppleScript and then pass the result of the variable to a do shell script command from within AppleScript itself?

For example, the user would type the answer foo to the following dialog box:

display dialog "Please enter your username" default answer ""
set the userID to the text returned of the result
do shell script "rm -rf /Users/$userID/.Trash/*" with administrator privileges

So in this instance, if I were to incorporate the answer of foo in lieu of $userID, it would read as the following when it executes the command:

display dialog "Please enter your username" default answer ""
set the userID to the text returned of the result
do shell script "rm -rf /Users/foo/.Trash/*" with administrator privileges

How do I pass that variable I grabbed earlier, in this case it would be $userID and incorporate it into the middle of the shell script call that I have made just above.


texts:
I'm trying to move my Windows 10 Boot Camp partition to an external drive. The ideal way seems to be with Winclone, however I've been unsuccessful so far.

Winclone appears to clone the partition to the external disk successfully and does not report any errors, but upon ⌥-booting, the disk is not shown in the Startup Manager.

Windows 10 is up-to-date and chkdsk has been run on both the Boot Camp partition (disk0s4) prior to cloning and the external disk (disk1s2) post-cloning. The external disk is GUID as Winclone informs me this is required when attempting to clone to an MBR partition scheme.

$ diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *251.0 GB   disk0
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:                  Apple_HFS Mac SSD                 150.0 GB   disk0s2
   3:                 Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3
   4:       Microsoft Basic Data Windows                 100.1 GB   disk0s4
/dev/disk1 (external, physical):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.1 GB   disk1
   1:                        EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk1s1
   2:       Microsoft Basic Data Windows                 499.9 GB   disk1s2

$ sudo gpt -r show /dev/disk1
      start       size  index  contents
          0          1         PMBR
          1          1         Pri GPT header
          2         32         Pri GPT table
         34          6
         40     409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
     409640       2008
     411648  976355328      2  GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
  976766976       2015
  976768991         32         Sec GPT table
  976769023          1         Sec GPT header
$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk1
Disk: /dev/disk1    geometry: 60801/255/63 [976769024 sectors]
Signature: 0xAA55
         Starting       Ending
 #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 -  976769023] <Unknown ID>
 2: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused
 3: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused
 4: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused

$ sudo gpt -r show /dev/disk0
gpt show: /dev/disk0: Suspicious MBR at sector 0
      start       size  index  contents
          0          1         MBR
          1          1         Pri GPT header
          2         32         Pri GPT table
         34          6
         40     409600      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
     409640  292968736      2  GPT part - 48465300-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
  293378376    1269536      3  GPT part - 426F6F74-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC
  294647912       1944
  294649856  195584000      4  GPT part - EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7
  490233856        863
  490234719         32         Sec GPT table
  490234751          1         Sec GPT header
$ sudo fdisk /dev/disk0
Disk: /dev/disk0    geometry: 30515/255/63 [490234752 sectors]
Signature: 0xAA55
         Starting       Ending
 #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1: EE 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [         1 -     409639] <Unknown ID>
 2: AF 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [    409640 -  292968736] HFS+
 3: AB 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 293378376 -    1269536] Darwin Boot
*4: 0C 1023 254  63 - 1023 254  63 [ 294649856 -  195584000] Win95 FAT32L

How can I make the external disk bootable?

MacBookPro10,1 (Retina, Mid 2012)


texts: Mac Mini (late 2012) No boot, heavy fans after upgrade

texts:
Not sure where else to turn - just upgraded two Mac Mini (late 2012 models) to include 120GB SSDs.

The first one went fine - took the update and booted properly. Great.

Second one, after closing the case, connecting power and turning on, I get the power light and the fan progressively spins up until it is running like crazy. No beep, chime, or screen output. I tried putting the old hard drive back, but same behaviour.

I double checked every connection both before and after the problem so I'm pretty sure that's not it. My gut says I shorted the logic board (possible) - has anyone any experience with this or these symptoms? I have worked through Mac will not boot, and no display output.

Thanks in advance!


texts: MBP Dual core (2006) fans usage since Mac OS X update 10.6.7

texts:
Am I the only one who noticed this :

since the last Mac OS X System update, the fans are quite often spinning at full speed, regardless of the activity on the computer. It happens even when there is not app running. I don't know if it's an heating problem or just the fans that are randomly triggered...

Does someone else encountered this weird behavior since a couple of months ?

EDIT : In fact, it seems that this problem has nothing to do with OS X upgrade. The problem is an heating problem and it related to some flash video reader that takes all the CPU power to display the video.


texts: Change 'Open in iBooks' to something useful?

texts:
Older versions of Safari/iOS remembered the last used PDF viewer, or at least displayed my preferred one automatically e.g. at the top in the PDF preview of safari, 'Open in PDFExpert or so.
With the introduction of iBooks -- which is lacking annotation, dropbox, and other crucial features for working with scientific articles etc. -- the default has become the annoying self-promotional 'Open in iBooks' with apparently no way to change it to something useful.

I've reported this as a bug to Apple, but while waiting for the unlikely fix, has anyone figured out a way to change the default 'Open in' to something useful or at least move iBooks to the end of the icon list in the Open In menu? It seems to come back to the front all the time.


texts: How do I make sure that OS X Mavericks is successfully installed?

texts: How do I know if OS X Mavericks was installed successfully? In the App Store, will the button next to the OS X Mavericks app be shown as "Installed" after the completion of installation?


texts: Is there a way to specify artist artwork for Music in iOS 7?

texts:
I've been a big fan of the redesign of the music app in iOS 7. I noticed that on the Artist list, certain musical acts have a thumbnail of band/artist next to them. This image is independent of any album art that I might have, and definitely comes from iTunes.

I was wondering if there was a way to set this image manually. I have a lot of bands that aren't covered by this feature, and I think it's a cool way to visually identify the music  I listen to.

In the screencap below, The Moody Blues, The Mountain Goats and Neil Young all feature this custom artwork.


texts: SIM card transferrable between iPhone models?

texts:
My iPhone SE is not working anymore and someone has offered me an older (2015 - she doesn't know the model) iPhone that her husband bought shortly before his death.

Can I transfer my SIM card (Deutsche Telecom)from my iPhone SE into any other model of iPhone?  I'm assuming it's unlocked as he used it before his death.


texts: Why can't I resize a window's height to make it smaller when it is at full height?

texts:
I have two 21" monitors at work which I attach to my early 2011 MBP (running 10.8.1) and I move various windows between the monitors. Sometimes the windows coming down to my laptop's screen are larger than it so they fit the maximum height (but are over the maximum width) of my built-in LCD.

I can resize the width of a window by clicking its left or right edge and dragging, but when I try to resize the height, and it shows the up-arrow (or even in the corner where it shows the diagonal arrow), I can click and drag as much as I want but it doesn't resize the height, it only moves the window left and right if I move my pointer either direction.

In other words, the height is stuck when the window is the height of the screen. This only happens when the bottom of the window is at the top of the dock. When windows are smaller than the screen, resizing is fine.

Is there any way to resize a full-height window on my LCD without moving it around then dragging from another corner or something?


texts: My MacBook Pro was stolen. Is it possible to figure out what Apple ID is now associated with my MacBook Pro using its serial number? Is there a way I can still track down my macbook pro in the event that the one who took or "borrowed" my MBP... 1) Did not connect to the internet 2) Clean installed the OS (boot from USB, then reformatted the Hard Drive/Macintosh HD) 3) Reset the PRAM and NVRAM 4) Installed his own or new Apple ID credentials to iCloud I really just need to know realistically, if whoever took it did this. Is there still a chance I can get it back or at least track its location or who has it.


texts: Mac Mini does not recognize USB Keyboard at start up

texts:
I am using a Quickfire Stealth mechanical USB Keyboard for my Mac Mini. I am having an issue that each time I boot the computer, I have to plug it out from the USB port and plug it back in for the Mac Mini to recognize it.

Anyone has an idea what could be the cause for this weird behavior?


texts: How can I remove a folder that no longer exists from my Finder sidebar in Lion?

texts:
There is a folder in my favorites in the sidebar of the finder on my Mac. That folder no longer exists, but for some reason it started showing up again as soon as I upgraded to Lion

When I right-click to delete the folder, nothing happens. Normally, for most folders, I see a "Remove from Sidebar" option, but alas, I do not for this folder.

Does anyone know a way to edit this list from the terminal? Has anyone else experienced this problem and found a solution?


texts:
My mac 2012 had black screen and fan yesterday. Then I powered off it and retried. This time it has loaded Catalina desktop and a few seconds later restarted.

Now when I ry to power on either it shows black screen with fan sound or it desktop, restarts.

I did NVRAM PRAM reset.

I tried pressing D on keyboard to diagnostics but it did not load diagnostics.

I tried recovery mode. It entered recovery mode but when in language selection halted and restarted.

I plan to unmount, then try unplug and plug some cables inside.

I appreciate any idea or suggestion.

Thank you very much.


texts: Keyboard shortcut for accessing address bar in Firefox

texts: I am trying to Alt+D on my Mac, but it doesn't take me to the address bar. Instead, the key seems to insert a random character. Is there an alternative shortcut?


texts: Function keys with Apple wired keyboard not as expected

texts:
I am using a Retina iMac 5K running Mac OS X El Capitan connected with a Apple A1843 wired (USB) keyboard with F1 thru F19 and numpad.

I expect (as per icons on key-tops):

F1 dim brightness
F2 brighten
F3 mission control
F4 multiple windows
...etc...
F10 mute
F11 sound quieter
F12 sound louder,
and F13 - F19 not assigned

What I get:

all F keys do nothing, except F14 (old F1, dims screen), and F15 (old F2, brighten), regardless of state of fn modifier key.

A complication:

I cannot get the function keys at top of the keyboard to work as advertised, even with the modifier keys (fn, control, shift, option, command). I tried to check the box for Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys under System Preferences → Keyboard but the option is missing.

A test of key scans:

I ran the xev program in XQuartz (X11) environment and verified that the system is responding to keypresses on the function keys (see comments).

Q: How do I reset the function keys to do what they advertise?


texts: Can I install 10.8 over 10.7 and maintain windows xp boot camp functionality?

texts: I have an iMac with 10.7.5 running fine with Windows XP installed with Boot Camp that works both as native boot and with Parallels. I want to install 10.8 over 10.7 and I have read that XP cannot be installed from 10.8, but will XP/Boot Camp survive the upgrade?


texts: Can I remove the stock camera app from iOS 9 or later?

texts: I would like to be able to remove the stock camera app from an iOS device without disabling the camera itself (because I would like to replace the camera app with a non-stock app).  I know MDM applications allow the camera to be disabled via the iOS mobileconfig restrictions, but can I remove just the (original) app while keeping a functional camera?


texts: Can I submit an app without iPad version to App Store?

texts:
I finished an app a while ago but this app's layout only works well in iPhone and I didn't plan to let it available for iPad, I just want it to work on iPhone devices.

Is it possible to submit to App Store and iPhone app that won't be available for iPad?

At iTunes Connect -> My Apps -> (App Name) -> App Store -> iOS APP -> Prepare for submission I didn't see anything like permitted devices.


texts: Applications frequently become permanently unresponsive

texts:
I frequently have applications become unresponsive while they're in the background. That is, I'm not able to switch back to them*, and the Force Quit Applications window shows them as "Not Responding". They never become responsive again no matter how long I wait.

Some features that make this problem unusual:

It's not limited to one or two applications. It's happened with MS Office applications, Textedit, BBEdit, Evernote, OpenOffice, Preview, and others.
It's not limited to times when the application is doing something intensive. In fact, it usually happens to apps that have been in the background and not doing anything in particular.
I've never observed it to happen to web browsers or to music players that are playing music.
It doesn't seem to be triggered by other applications doing things that are CPU or memory-intensive.
Other applications are not slowing down or hanging when it happens.
The non-responding application shows < 1% CPU usage in Activity Monitor.
If I force quit the application and restart it, then the problem usually doesn't recur quickly.

Does this suggest any potential causes or troubleshooting steps? I know the usual advice is to either start with a new account or disable all of my other programs and customizations one by one, but I'm hoping that the specific features of this problem might help me proceed in a more targeted way.

System info:
Macbook Pro, 2012 model, OS 10.9.4, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD with 160GB free

* Specifically, what I mean is that I can cmd-tab to the application's icon, but the program in the foreground doesn't change. If I expose one of its windows, I can move the window around, but clicking in it doesn't bring the application to the foreground or affect the contents of the window. Notably, I do not get the beachball / pinwheel pointer when hovering over it, as I do in other cases when an application is stuck.

update:

Here's the system log from an incident when OpenOffice became unresponsive. I discovered it at 8:17. I don't know exactly when it failed, but the last log message and the last revision time on my auto-saved files is 7:46, so I assume it was within 5 minutes of that. Note that the OpenOffice error in the log (appears as soffice) shows up twice, five minutes apart, meaning that the first one wasn't fatal and so I suspect the second wasn't the cause of the hang either.


texts: I'm a developer and was able to download the new iOS beta yesterday. However, the new News app was missing. Does it not go public for a while?


texts: Is it possible to tune OS X so it will execute exe files without having to prefix the command line with wine?

texts:
I'm writing cross-platform scripts that are executing utilities and some of them are windows executables.

I would like to find a solution that would not require me to prepend the command line with wine when I run from OS X.

I know that on Windows it is possible to define executable files based on file extension but I would like to know if this is possible to do on OS X and how.

I am open to suggestions ;)


texts: MacBook Pro battery life tanking even after battery replacement?

texts:
I've been having some issues with battery life on my MacBook Pro (15", Mid 2010).  I thought I had tracked it down when I found out that the battery was near the end of its life (only holding 60% of its maximum charge) and replaced it with a new one and reset the SMC.

However, the battery still drains at an incredibly fast rate, draining in 90 minutes or less with no applications running. The new battery is at 98% of design capacity (6760mAh) and has 7 loadcycles on it, so it doesn't seem to be the culprit.

The one thing that is a possibility is I've noticed some weird behavior from Notification Center—it seems to jump up to 100%+ CPU usage for spurts of time, which I could definitely see as a battery drain (which is a question in itself: why the heck would it be doing that?)

Does anyone have any other suggestions as to what could be causing battery drain?


texts: Google Chrome: Error 11 after setting Automatic Updates

texts:
Yo, got the following issue: Google Chrome is running on OS X El Capitan.
After I set "Automatic Updates for all Users" to true at the "About" page in Google Chrome and entered my credentials (this process obviously needs root rights) this error message appears now on the "About" page:

Update failed (error: 11)

After I googled this error message I visited the following link that describes my problem very well: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=520135.
Sadly none of the approaches works for me (Reinstallation worked neither), so I ask here if anybody has any idea to solve this problem ?


texts: MacBook Air (mid 2011) running OS X 10.7.2 won't stay asleep

texts:
I'm running OS X 10.7.2 on a MacBook Air (mid-2011). The computer seems to be waking itself up from sleep. If I go from the black apple in the menu bar and set it to sleep, it wakes up in about 10 seconds. If I let the computer sleep from being idle, then it wakes itself up within four minutes.

Here's what the console output looks like after waking up:

10/13/11 3:07:56.000 PM kernel: Wake reason: EHC2
10/13/11 3:07:56.000 PM kernel: The USB device HubDevice (Port 1 of Hub at 0xfa000000) may have caused a wake by issuing a remote wakeup (2)
10/13/11 3:07:56.000 PM kernel: Previous Sleep Cause: 5
10/13/11 3:07:56.000 PM kernel: The USB device Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad (Port 2 of Hub at 0xfa100000) may have caused a wake by issuing a remote wakeup (3)
10/13/11 3:07:56.000 PM kernel: HID tickle 140 ms
10/13/11 3:07:56.000 PM kernel: AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::checkStatus - received Status Packet, Payload 2: device was reinitialized
10/13/11 3:07:57.000 PM kernel: Sound assertion "0 == fAudioEngineArray" failed in AppleHDADriver at line 3047 goto Exit

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to fix this?

The output is more complicated when I have the network on, but I suspect that's unrelated to the actual problem. Here's an example with my ethernet adapter plugged in:

10/13/11 2:33:16.507 PM Console:  Marker - Oct 13, 2011 2:33:16 PM
10/13/11 2:36:54.000 PM kernel: Ethernet [AppleUSBEthernet]: Link down on en2
10/13/11 2:36:54.000 PM kernel: AppleUSBEthernet::disable - Link down, Device eb86000
10/13/11 2:36:55.245 PM configd: setting hostname to "..."
10/13/11 2:36:55.247 PM configd: network configuration changed.
10/13/11 2:36:58.000 PM kernel: Wake reason: EHC2
10/13/11 2:36:58.000 PM kernel: The USB device HubDevice (Port 1 of Hub at 0xfa000000) may have caused a wake by issuing a remote wakeup (2)
10/13/11 2:36:58.000 PM kernel: Previous Sleep Cause: 5
10/13/11 2:36:58.000 PM kernel: The USB device Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad (Port 2 of Hub at 0xfa100000) may have caused a wake by issuing a remote wakeup (3)
10/13/11 2:36:58.000 PM kernel: HID tickle 141 ms
10/13/11 2:36:58.000 PM kernel: AppleUSBMultitouchDriver::checkStatus - received Status Packet, Payload 2: device was reinitialized
10/13/11 2:36:58.000 PM kernel: Sound assertion "0 == fAudioEngineArray" failed in AppleHDADriver at line 3047 goto Exit
10/13/11 2:37:01.000 PM kernel: Ethernet [AppleUSBEthernet]: Link up on en2, 100-Megabit, Full-duplex, No flow-control, Port 2, Debug [3100,782d,05e1,41e1,0001,0306]
10/13/11 2:37:02.698 PM ntpd: bind(26) AF_INET6 fe80::2a37:37ff:fe00:e2cd%4#123 flags 0x11 failed: Can't assign requested address
10/13/11 2:37:02.698 PM ntpd: unable to create socket on en2 (23) for fe80::2a37:37ff:fe00:e2cd#123
10/13/11 2:37:02.720 PM rpcsvchost: sandbox_init: com.apple.msrpc.netlogon.sb succeeded
10/13/11 2:37:03.055 PM configd: network configuration changed.
10/13/11 2:37:03.065 PM configd: setting hostname to "..."
10/13/11 2:37:08.070 PM com.apple.launchd: (com.apple.smb.preferences) Throttling respawn: Will start in 5 seconds

Any thoughts would be really appreciated.

Thanks!


texts: My computer is an iMac running High Sierra 10.13.6 and my internal SSD is about full. To free up space I've decided to move my Applications to an external HDD with 2 Gigs. I know I can't move the applications folder but I can select all and move the applications into a new Applications folder on the HDD. I did that and most of the Applications moved but some didn't because they were in use. Ever since I did that my machine has been having problems. Are there steps I should have taken when I moved those applications?


texts: External hdd: Difference "Get Info" Available space and "About This Mac - Storage

texts:
OS X El Capitan.

I have seen this thread, and it explains a bit (different reporting units), but there is an additional substantial discrepancy in the free HDD space of an external HD reported:

Get Info : 11.22GB
df -h    : 1.3Gi
About This Mac - Storage : 1.42 GB

So the differences between About This Mac and df -h can be according to the different units - but the Get Info is heavily off?

Any ideas what is going on there?

I know for a fact that the df -h and About This Mac are correct as I can not copy anything larger than the 1.4 Gb on the disk.

ADDITIONAL INFO

These are the hidden files and folders - the rest is stuff I put there:

$ ls -la
-rwxr-xr-x   1 rainerkrug  staff       14340 Nov 10 14:51 .DS_Store
drwx------   5 root        staff         170 Nov 10 18:19 .Spotlight-V100
d-wx-wx-wt   2 root        staff          68 Nov 10 17:36 .Trashes
-rwxr-xr-x@  1 rainerkrug  staff         313 Mar 15  2015 .apdisk
drwx------  15 root        staff         510 Nov 10 18:24 .fseventsd

and their disk usage:

$ sudo du -sch .[!.]* *
 16K    .DS_Store
 11M    .Spotlight-V100
  0B    .Trashes
4.0K    .apdisk
 52K    .fseventsd


texts: Is it reasonable to assume Jar Launcher is set up to run jar files from Finder on OS X 10.5+?

texts:
I have a jar file containing a swing application that needs to run on Windows, OS X and Linux. At the moment, Windows users are launching it from explorer, and Linux/OS X users are running a shell script to launch the jar.

However, I suspect the shell script is probably not necessary in OS X. I don't own an OS X machine myself, but Wikipedia says that Jar Launcher will run the jar file when it's double clicked.

Is it reasonable to assume this is always present on an OS X system with 10.5 or above?


texts: My iPad's MAC address seems to have changed with the iPadOS 14 update. Is this normal?

texts:
I was looking at my Ubiquiti UniFi controller webpage and noticed that my iPad Pro 10.5 was seen as a new device. I went to the Insights tab and saw that it has two entries, with two different MAC addresses.
Why has the MAC address changed? Does this sort of thing happen usually and I have only noticed it this time because of the UniFi controller webpage?


texts:
I see these tiny colorful pixels on my screen which (seemingly) do not go away.

The reason is probably me wiping off smudge with paper or whatever I had around the house.

Is there a way to get them off? I don't want to try "scrubbing" any harder.


texts: How to preserve portrait mode of iPhone recording in iMovie and Final Cut Pro?

texts:
If an iPhone screen recording, which is 1080 x 1920 (portrait size) is edited in iMovie or Final Cut Pro, and resaved as a final video, I noticed the video will be landscape: 1920 x 1080 with black bars at left and right.

It isn't a problem if viewed on a desktop computer, but if viewed in any mobile phone, then, the left and right black bars will "push" the video to be really tiny, about 1/9 of the screen size.

Is there a way to "preserve" the video as portrait: 1080 x 1920, so that there is no black bars, and so the video will be shown on mobile phone as the original 100% screen size, instead of 1/9 of screen?

(iMovie's crop must crop it as landscape size, and Final Cut's crop can do a crop, except when "Share" as file, the file saved is landscape size again.)

I can think of one way which is to use HandBrakeCLI to do a crop, but then can it and how can it be done in iMovie / Final Cut Pro?


texts: How do I boot my MacBook Air running Lion in safe mode?

texts:
I follow the instructions in http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455 to boot in Safe Mode, but it appears something different happens with Lion.  After holding the shift key when hearing the startup tone, the icons for the two accounts I have configured come up as usual.  If I hold the shift key after logging in, the screen stays grey and a status bar appears with a "sunburst" waiting animation.  (I don't know what the canonical name for that is.)  After the status bar fills, the waiting animation continues and then my MBA reboots.

How do I boot my MacBook Air (running Mac OS X 10.7.1) in Safe Mode?


texts: Restore WhatsApp History from old Number

texts:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but maybe someone can help me out.

I lived in Australia for a few month and got a new number on my iPhone. I backed up my WhatsApp a few times while having that new number. When I got back to Germany I returned to my old number on the same phone. I did a factory reset after I came back and then switched to my german number with a clean WhatsApp history.

Now here is my question: Can I still restore my old history (Australian number) onto my new WhatsApp?

I'm not even sure if my Australian number still exists since I don't have the SIM anymore.


texts: Unwanted hollow star / album ratings foul up a Smart Playlist of zero-star songs

texts:
The SXSW Showcasing Artist compilations typically include more than one thousand songs. When I add them to iTunes initially, the songs display a blank rating, which is what I want.

The songs are each tagged with the album SXSW YYYY Showcasing Artists (where YYYY is the year of the festival). They appear in coverflow view as more than one thousand distinct one-song albums, which is unwieldy. So, I gather them with a Smart Playlist, select all, open Get Info, set the album, year, sort album, and mark them "Part of a compilation."

Then I start listening to them, and rating them one to five stars. In some cases, I do not need to listen all the way to the end in order to determine a rating, so the "Played" count does not increment. Sometimes the song plays all the way to the end and I can't rate it because I'm too busy. Sometimes a whole bunch of songs play to the end and I never hear them because the headphones were plugged in to the player but not to my ears. The only way I know I have actually heard enough of a song to be able to rate it is that it has a rating.

Then, something happens. I don't know what.

Some of the songs to which I have never listened show a two hollow star rating. I guess that's the Album Rating. What the heck?

I want a Smart Playlist of the songs I have not rated yet, whether or not they have been played, and I do not want to count "Album Rating" as a rating. I want the zero-star songs, and the Album Rating makes the Smart Playlist think there are no zero-star songs.

I would be delighted to remove the Album Rating, but there appears to be no way to do so within the iTunes GUI.

I do not mind writing a program to remove Album Rating from wherever iTunes stores it, and based on Google searches such a tool would be popular. Is iTunes library format documented? Does iTunes generate Album Rating dynamically, so even if I were able to erase it from the disk, it would come back?

Note: the technique "View in Album List, click to the left of the leftmost star" does not always work. See here and here.


texts: What happens to messages when they're deleted

texts:
I would like to know what happens when you set Settings > Messages > Keep Messages to something other than forever? (I.e. 30 days)
I was under the assumption that messages are stored both in the cloud and locally on the phone. Will it remove both versions or just the version on your phone allowing you to redownload those messages at a later time?


texts: How can my wife use my iPod touch with her Facebook account?

texts:
My wife ruined her 4th-generation iPod touch in the pouring rain at Farm Aid this weekend. I have a 3rd-generation iPod touch that I don't use often because I have an iPhone.

How can I get her Facebook account to work on that iPod and remove my account? I can use my account on my iPhone instead.


texts: Set iPhone volume to maximum when connecting to a Bluetooth speaker

texts:
Normally I like to keep my iPhone volume quite low, so that when audio plays, it isn't too loud at first.

However, when I connect my iPhone to a Bluetooth speaker, I want the iPhone's volume to be maximum, so that the audio that gets outputted to the speakers isn't too soft, and I can from then on control the audio with the speakers instead of the iPhone.

Is it possible to have the iPhone automatically increase its volume to maximum only when connecting to Bluetooth speakers?

For instance, when attaching headphones to the iPhone, it has a different volume setting for them, versus without headphones. I'd like something similar when connecting Bluetooth speakers.


texts: How to drop a file onto a GUI app from command line?

texts:
I've got a tool to normalize WAV audio files, but it only works by dragging and dropping the file either onto the GUI or onto its dock's icon.

As far as I know the app doesn't have any option to pass from command line, so I was wondering whether there is a way to pass the file from a terminal in order to use it in a bash script.


texts:
My macbook has a high cpu usage because of one process and i don't know why.

This is the process all the time at 130%

I think it has something to do with this log. The log is getting spammed only with this message.


texts: I have a new iPhone 4s and an account on iCloud. Is it possible to move an old photo album from my old iPhone 4 to the new iPhone 4S by just using iCloud?


texts: How to restore a backup to iPhone 6s using out of date iTunes/OS X?

texts:
My iPhone 6 was stolen and I had only backed up to iTunes, not iCloud.  But the company can only supply me with an iPhone 6s, which can't connect to be out of date iTunes (11.4) and OS X (10.7.5).

This means I cannot reach the backup of my iPhone 6 within iTunes.

Any suggestions for how to bypass this issue and reach the backup in order to recover my data?


texts: How to go back to "All Artists" in iTunes

texts: In iTunes, in Artists view, after I've used Command+L to go to the track currently playing, how do I exit and go back to showing All Artists? I currently have to scroll to the top of the Artists list (on the sidebar) and click "All Artists" every time. Is there an easier way?


texts: New USB-C charger to be used on an old MagSafe2 Macbook Pro

texts:
Are there any adaptors so I can use the new MacBook Pro USB-C Charger in my old Magsafe 2 MacBook Pro?

I know one day I am going to buy the new MacBook Pro and my old original charger broke on a trip, so I want to buy the new one as I use two chargers, one lives in my traveling bag and the other stays home.


texts: Can't take Apple Watch out of power saving mode

texts: I still can’t get my Apple Watch Series 3 out of power saving mode and I have held down the side buttons, and held down both buttons for at least 6 seconds. What do I do?


texts:
On a MacBook Pro with OS X 10.9.1 (13B42) with both the trackpad and a Bluetooth "magic mouse" I observe an excessive amount of (especially) horizontal scrolling.

A trivial touch to the mouse (or touching the trackpad with two fingers) may result in dozens of (especially horizontal) scroll events. This is especially pronounced in Excel, Firefox, and Emacs (which notice horizontal scrolls) but not in Terminal and Outlook (which mostly ignore them).

Mouse tracking in system settings is set to the 3rd notch (out of 10).

It is possible to disable or reduce horizontal scroll events?


texts: Keyboard shortcut to quicksave Tomb Raider II

texts:
Usually, with the Aspyr Media version of Tomb Raider II on MacOS (newest version), you save game with

Fn+F5

and load game with

Fn+F6

on the Macbook Pro 2016.
However, this frustratingly overlaps with the voice control when you press

Fn

Is there a way to set a shortcut key which, when in the game, will shortcut Fn+F5 (for example, just pressing F5)? The BetterTouchTool I am using doesn't appear to be recognized within the game.


texts: How do I download iCloud-Photos to my iPhone?

texts:
I use an iPhone 6s plus with 128 Gb memory. When I am on the road, I don't want to use mobile data to download photos or videos that are in the cloud, but I still want to view them.
Is there a way to download all or a selection of my iCloud-content on my iPhone?


texts: I have a 2020 iMac and I dont turn it off at night. Will this hurt the SSD

texts: I have a 2010 iMac that I used until recently. It has an internal Fusion Drive. I seldom ever turned this iMac off. I just let the screen saver kick in. The iMac worked great for 10 years and is still working as i write this.. I recently got a 2020 iMac and now I'm curious if leaving it on for 24 hours a day will hurt anything, especially the SSD.  Thanks.


texts: iTunes for Windows randomly skips songs, puts exclamation mark next to them

texts:
I'm using iTunes 11.0.1.12 on Windows 7 SP1 with a large music library (30+ GB). I've had no problems with this until recently...This problem only started within the last week, which is odd since I haven't applied any updates recently (within the last several months) that might cause this (unless it silently installed one in the background).

In the middle of a song, it'll stop playing that song and jump way down in the playlist and start playing a different one, putting a grey exclamation mark inside a circle icon to the left of all songs in between.  It only happens maybe once every 2-3 hours of playing music, but it's often enough that it's very annoying, especially when I've got a big queue of songs I want to listen to.

Based on what I've been able to figure out, the exclamation mark means iTunes couldn't find the file, but that doesn't make sense to me since the files are there, and if I manually double click on them, they'll play fine; even going back to the one it skipped out of will play fine.

I interpret this to mean that iTunes somehow temporarily got into a state where it couldn't read files any more, and kept going down the list until it found one it could play again.

How can I stop this behavior/bug from happening so it just plays my music normally?


texts: Route FaceTime notification sounds through internal/non-hdmi speaker

texts:
I'm setting up an old Mac Mini as a home theater machine. We'll use it for, among other things, letting the kids FaceTime with Grandma on the big screen.

Here's my question. I want most audio played through the TV via the hdmi connection. But... can I set things up so FaceTime notification (when Grandma calls) and only the FaceTime notifications will play through the a different speaker, so we can hear when Grandma calls even if the TV is off? Or, failing that, notification sounds in general will play through the alternate speaker but application sounds play through the TV as expected?


texts: Is there a difference between launching an app from /Applications vs /System/Volumes/Data/Applications?

texts:
I noticed that since updating to macOS 10.15, I get duplicate search results for some apps (due to the new read-only filesystem).

If we take Spotify as an example, is there any difference between launching either of:

/Applications/Spotify.app
/System/Volumes/Data/Applications/Spotify.app

or is the second option semantically equivalent to a symlink?

Clarification My question is not why there is a second folder, or why I get duplicate search results. My question is whether there is any difference in behaviour when looking at how apps from the two file locations are treated by the system (for example, does macOS impose additional restrictions on apps launched from /System/Volumes/Data?), or whether they can be treated as identical.


texts: Is there currently any way to vote on what music you play?

texts:
iTunes used to have a "party shuffle"/"iTunes DJ" feature that allowed users to vote on what was played, but as far as I know it was yanked a long time ago and nothing else replaced it.  Is there currently any way to do the same sort of thing?  (By "currently" I mean using current software, whether from Apple or a third party, not by digging up ancient software.)

It would be fine if involves connecting to iTunes from other computers or from iOS devices, or whether it involves an Apple TV as the central point of control, where devices or computers connect to the Apple TV.

All I want is some way to allow input from multiple people in an office to determine what gets played and what gets skipped.  (It doesn't even need to be, strictly speaking, a "voting" metaphor that is used.  It could be  that anyone can veto specific songs, or the most popular go first, or whatever.)


texts: iPhoto 10 : is there still a way to subscribe to rss feed?

texts:
I thought there was a menu entry in iPhoto to subscribe to RSS feeds.

I can't find it anymore. Is there still a way to do so in iPhoto 10 ?


texts:
My MacBook (El Capitan 10.11.2) one day cannot connect to the internet via wifi. It work solidly beforehand.

My router setting has not changed. Nor have any device white/black-listing.
Other devices can connect to the router and internet fine.

ping 192.168.1.1 works
nslookup stackexchange.com works
nslookup stackexchange.com 8.8.8.8 fails
ping stackexchange.com times out

Interestingly if I connect to the Router's wifi guest, it works fine.


texts: network preferences shows self-assigned ip but macbook pro connects to internet

texts:
As stated, the network preferences control panel shows a yellow icon next to Wi-Fi connection. However, the laptop connects fine. This condition exists whether DHCP or a manually entered ip address is used.
Turning wi-fi on and off makes no difference.I can see the little text label on the network preferences control panel change (the words under the button turn wifi off). They always come back

Wi-Fi has the self-assigned IP address 192.168.1.46 and will not be able to connect to the Internet.

'Forgetting' the network and reconnecting makes no difference.
Connecting to other wifi networks makes no difference.
Rebooting makes no difference.

ifconfig gives this:

lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 16384
    options=3<RXCSUM,TXCSUM>
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
    nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>
gif0: flags=8010<POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST> mtu 1280
stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280
en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
    ether b8:e8:56:44:9e:3e
    inet6 xxxx::xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx%en0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x4
    inet 192.168.1.46 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>
    media: autoselect
    status: active
en1: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
    options=60<TSO4,TSO6>
    ether yy:yy:yy:yy:yy:yy
    media: autoselect <full-duplex>
    status: inactive
en2: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
    options=60<TSO4,TSO6>
    ether zz:zz:zz:zz:zz:zz
    media: autoselect <full-duplex>
    status: inactive
bridge0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
    options=63<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,TSO4,TSO6>
    ether aa:aa:aa:aa:a7:aa
    Configuration:
        id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 hellotime 0 fwddelay 0
        maxage 0 holdcnt 0 proto stp maxaddr 100 timeout 1200
        root id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 ifcost 0 port 0
        ipfilter disabled flags 0x2
    member: en1 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>
            ifmaxaddr 0 port 5 priority 0 path cost 0
    member: en2 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>
            ifmaxaddr 0 port 6 priority 0 path cost 0
    nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>
    media: <unknown type>
    status: inactive
p2p0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 2304
    ether aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff
    media: autoselect
    status: inactive

Obviously I have vmware fusion player installed on this machine but it is not running. As you can see all those connections are inactive and there are no vmware processes running. MAC addresses have been changed to protect the innocent.


texts: How to change the Siri icon on macOS Catalina?

texts:
Does anybody know how to change the Siri icon on macOS? I am using macOS Catalina. I have changed the default icon in the Launchpad, but the main icon, Siri.icns found in ~/Appications/Siri.app/Contents/Resources, has not been changed. Help would be much appreciated. If feeling confused as to the question, look at the attached images :
PS: This is macOS Catalina, just changed the icons to make it look like macOS Big Sur.
Launchpad:

MenuBar:


texts: Can I put memory from a 2.7GHz Mac Mini into a 2.4 GHz MacBook?

texts:
A colleague has just upgraded the memory in his spanking new 2.7GHz Core i7 Mac Mini from 4Gb to 8Gb. This means he's got 2x2Gb PC3-10600 (1333MHz) modules kicking around.

I have a Mid-2010 model 2.4GHz Core 2 MacBook which has 2x1Gb PC3-8500 (1067MHz) modules.

So, my question: can I replace the memory in my MacBook with his spare modules? Does the speed mismatch matter? Will it just "downgrade" to the speed my MacBook's expecting, work but be worse (slower) than the memory I have now, or just not work at all? (Or, worst case, fry my MacBook?)


texts: How to change cell background color in numbers according to some rules?

texts:
Making it simple, using Numbers, how can you set up the following:

If number is positive make background cell green, else make it red.


texts: I am in Disk Utility under the Erase Tab. The Format section is grayed out even though I have my main disk selected. The only buttons active are Erase Free Space, but I want to reformat the entire disk.


texts: Remotely working on iMac, but with screen darkened

texts:
I have my main iMac in my kids room (little house, alas) and often I have to work late at night; I'd like to connect from my MacBook to the iMac keeping the screen black, as in sleep mode. Is there any sort of magic to achieve this? What if I plug a Mini DisplayPort cable? Will it exclude the monitor?
Thanks,
Guido


texts:
Is it possible to relay SMS to macOS without using iMessage? I want to only use a phone carrier's SMS service, without iMessage, but would like to leverage the Mac Messages app.

If I can relay standard audio phone calls to a Mac, answering them through FaceTime, why is relaying SMS to Messages dependent on iMessage? Seems like a workaround should exist.


texts: How can I restore an iPad to factory defaults?

texts:
I'm planning to sell / give my old iPad to a friend.  I've already saved everything that I want off of the old iPad.  How can I restore the old iPad to factory default settings so that my friend can start fresh?

It's a first-gen iPad, in case it matters.


texts: Safari loses web site "login" state after computer restarts

texts:
I have a problem with Safari losing my web site login state after a computer restart. For example, if I am logged in to Facebook or StackExchange the before a restart, then after the restart I will be prompted to log in to the site again.

Simply restarting Safari doesn't cause the problem nor does logging out and logging back in - It only occurs on an OS X restart.

The other interesting thing is that if I log in and start Safari immediately after the machine restart then my web sessions are still active but after about 30 seconds I will be logged out of the site.

For example, if Safari automatically restores the tab with Facebook I will see my Facebook feed and then after about 30 seconds a pop up comes up asking me to log in to Facebook.

This only seems to affect my user account and only on this one computer and it seems to affect any site with a log in, but not "insecure" cookies.  It also doesn't affect the usernames/passwords stored in the Keychain.

I am running OS X 10.10.5 and Safari 8.0.8.

Update

I should have said I have already tried deleting

~Library/Safari
~Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari
~Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari.SearchHelper
~Library/Caches/com.apple.SafariServices

and, as suggested by @TonyWilliams

~Library/Cookies/Cookies.binarycookies
~/Library/Cookies/com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing.binarycookies


texts: How do I fix broken dictionary on iPhone?

texts:
Using iPhone 4s. In settings > general > keyboard I have a British keyboard, and no other keyboards. In settings > general > international I have region format set to UK and language set to British English.

Yet many apps seem to ignore that.  EG the stack exchange app will highlight colour but not color; apps highlight programme (eg tv programme not computer program). There's a bunch of -ise / -ize suffixes that get mangled.

How do I fix this?


texts: Encryption of the whole Time Capsule drive

texts:
I would like to encrypt the whole content of my Time Capsule HDD.

I selected "Encrypt backups" in Time Machine settings but I am not sure if encryption applies to the whole drive or just to the Time Machine backup.

Could you please advise? Also what is the right command to verify this?

My setup:

OS X Mavericks
3 TB Time Capsule with 802.11ac


texts: When I try to lock’Notes’ it says ‘wrong password’, although my password unlocks normally. How can I update the password.


texts: I am attempting to set up bootcamp for my 2013 MacBook. I have a 16gb USB for the Windows ISO. The USB was formatted in MS-DOS (FAT32). I need just MS-DOS for bootcamp. I attempted to switch it using Disk Utility but when i erase and select MS-DOS it just erases and reverts back to (FAT32)? any way how to fix this?


texts: How does one reorganize one's entire Aperture library from scratch?

texts:
I imported pictures into Aperture from iPhoto and since then, added a lot of new ones. I'd like to start over because the dates on the tags/folders in which the pictures are organized are not consistent.

In effect, what I'm looking for is a way to do a re-import of all pictures in my current Aperture library (not that many... just over 1,000) to have it apply its import rules/magic to have it all sorted properly.

That feels like a hack, though. Is there a proper way to do this?


texts:
I have an iPhone that I need to wipe because I need to send it to Apple for the Lock Button Replacement Program.

The only issue is I need to restore my iPhone and I don't want to lose my text messages and iMessages. If I backup my iPhone to iTunes will I be able to recover them when I get my iPhone back and still use them with the 'messages' application and not a 'SQL lite' app?


texts: Why does opening Mac Mail show a preview pane not the whole email?

texts: On my MacBook OS X 10.10.3 when I used to open Mac Mail it would just display the entire message and there was more flexibility to deal with this or other messages. Now it seems to load a preview (constrained) version of the message with fewer options not the entire message as before. Looking on viewing preferences there is no obvious way to view email messages as before.


texts: Are time machine directory exclusions recursive?

texts:
In macOS 10.15.3, using Time Machine Preferences GUI I have excluded /usr and /System from backups.

In the terminal I get:

% tmutil isexcluded /usr/
[Excluded]    /usr

% tmutil isexcluded /usr/local/
[Included]    /System/Volumes/Data/usr/local

I was expecting /usr/local to be recursively excluded but it isn't. Why? How can I excluded things recursively?


texts: AppleTV's Netflix browse menu is no longer accessible

texts:
I bought a new Apple TV from the local Apple Store yesterday. I set it up last night and all was working well. I activated Netflix and was quite pleased with how easy it was to browse TV shows and movies within Netflix. The next evening I started Netflix and the interface had completely changed. The only way to find anything new was to use the Netflix search interface. In other words, the browse interface was gone.

Using the same Netflix account I activated my Sharp TV's Netflix app. It has the browse interface. The same is true for my iPad and from the web on my MacBook Pro; i.e. the browse interface is there.

Lastly, I updated my Apple TV last night but I don't remember if I updated it before or after I used the Netflix brows interface.

When using Netflix from my Apple TV, how do I get to the Netflix browse interface?

I use an Apple TV (Gen 3), model MD199LL/A, running Apple TV Software 5.2.1(6025)
Sharp Aquos 60" HDTV


texts: How do I solve performance issues with OmniGraffle on my MBP

texts:
I am running OmniGraffle v5.3.6 (latest) on my 13" MBP (late 2011; Lion; 2,7Ghz; 4GB). I would NOT expect performance issues on this machine. For some reason it has significant delays when OmniGraffle is running. It would stop for 2-10 seconds, then show the spinner for some seconds and then run normal again.

Q: Any ideas what to do (except for stopping to use OmniGraffle)?


texts: I recently had to restore my iPhone as I wasn’t able to remember the passcode for it. Upon reinstalling WhatsApp on a group chat each of the members security codes have changed a number of times (3 times each) none of them have reinstalled Os/app or changed device. Can anyone shed some light on what could be the issue?


texts: Accessing SD card disk in a VirtualBox machine

texts:
I am trying to add a hardisk to a virtual box running ubuntu so I could access an SD card mounted on the host machine i.e Mac.
I followed these steps but there's an issue:

creating a vmdk file requires permissions so I ended up using sudo but then when I try to add this VMDK file as a hardisk to virualbox, it says access denied which I believe has to do with permissions because VirtualBox isn't running as root

I could create a vmdk file as root but then I would also have to open virtual box as root which would require a separate login and I don't want to do that.
Any other way around?


texts:
I have a 2017 MacBook Pro Retina 13", running the latest version of macOS. I use Iterm + zhsrc as terminal configuration but a few weeks ago my shortcut Alt + Tab stopped working.

If I'm executing the command ls and I have multiple choices they are displayed underneath the command. With Tab I can scroll those options down, and I used to use Shift + Tab to scroll in the opposite direction but now it doesn't work, and I can scroll the only in one direction.

Do you know what could have happened?

EDIT: Updated shortcut


texts: Ok I've just converted to a Mac from Windows and I am totally stumped by Apple iCloud and Apple Photos (Running Mojave 10.14.2) In Windows I had all my photos organised by date (eg filename 2018-12-20, y/m/d)then a description (ex: a photo of my 9 month old would be 2018-12-20 - Wallace 8 Months - Australia Zoo) but I can't figure out how to organise or change filenames on Mac. Changing the title doesn't change the file name and I NEED it to!! I want to back up to an external hard drive but everything recent will all be jumble when I do with not being able to change the file names. Help please!!!


texts: macOS does not receive IPv6 address from router even though the router has a DHCPv6 server

texts:
I've a TP-Link Archer VR400 router which has some support for DHCPv6. There are only a few config option so I selected DHCPv6, starting addresses to be between 1000:0:0:0::1 to FFFE, lease is 86400 seconds, site prefix is 1000:0:0:0:: /64, but when I set Configure IPv6 to Automatically I get nothing. Well I get the auto-configuration DHCPv6 assigned which misses the point. So obviously the Mac doesn't recognised the router's DHCPv6 Server, or the router is just crap (which admittedly it is).
However, when I change router mode to RADVD then my Mac does configure itself to use the address from 10:0:0:0:: /64 range, which is great. Unfortunately then I can't assign the address range (because either router doesn't support it or it is a trait of RADVD works - I'm configuring IPv6 to play and learn a little). Looking at sysctl net.inet6.ip6 I didn't see anything immediately revealing to me what I could enable (if that's what the problem is).
So the question is - since apparently Mac can get address when router is in RADVD mode, is there anything I can do with Mac configuration to make it want to work with that DHCPv6 Server on the router?
BTW, IPv4 config works exactly as I want, so at least that :) I've seen a lot of posts from 2012-15 about macOS not having DHCPv6 support (others argued that it does have since at least around 2016) so in this question I assume macOS supports it, but there's either an intrinsic fault in the router (any suggestions for a configurable router for an enthusiast are welcome) or something in macOS perhaps could be changed to recognise the router is offering a DHCPv6 address from a static range?
Thank you in advance.


texts: I noticed that on when I go into "About this Mac" on my iMac I see a parameter named "Startup disk" while on my MacBook I do not... Is this because I have multiple disks in my iMac and only one in the MacBook?


texts: Stop iTunes from launching when iPhone is connected

texts:
I know this has been asked many times, but none of the solutions seems to apply to iTunes 12.1.

When I plug my iPhone 6 into my Mac, iTunes (12.1) automatically launches. I've already tried:

In iTunes - Preferences - Devices, check "Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPad from syncing automatically"
In iTunes, select my iPhone, then Summary - Options, "Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected" is disabled and grayed out
Image Capture, setting "Connecting this iPhone ..." set to "No application"

No matter what, when the iPhone is plugged in, iTunes launches. Any ideas?


texts: iPad screen mirroring does not work with Mac Book Pro

texts:
I'm trying to screen mirror iPad to Macbook Pro, but it does not respond other than showing a waiting cursor.
Here is what I did. I connected the two devices by the iPad charging cable and connected them to the same LAN.Then I chose the screen mirroring option on the upper right corner of iPad. But it then kept me waiting and never responds.
Does anybody know how to fix this? The iPad version is iOSs 13.5 and Mac version is macOS 10.11.6.


texts: Is there a way to change the naming scheme for screenshots?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Save screenshot with my own name

Is there any way, short of a third-party application (I'm quite fond of the baked-in functionality of the screenshot system in Mac OS), to change the filename that screenshots get named with when they're created?

Failing that, are there any notable screenshot apps that give you better granular control over your screenshots, without nuking the process too much?


texts: How can I log OS X Server disk performance?

texts:
I know Activity Monitor exists to view disk i/o and other performance metrics. However, does Activity Monitor have the ability to log any of these metrics?

If not, how can I log these metrics into a database or csv file and how often should these be logged? Every second?

I'm looking to run reports to see at what times of the day the server has a lot of disk i/o for capacity management. Also want the ability to log used and free space every 15 minutes.


texts: Will it damage the battery if I use my MacBook Pro while playing WOW or just using it, while charging?

texts: I just received my first MacBook Pro as a birthday gift, and I am one of those people that tends to "baby" their electronics. I also tend to play World of Warcraft (WOW) quite a bit, but the problem is that is drains the battery very quickly. I have a 13 inch Retina Display.


texts: Key Codes's Unicode is different from the https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/technotes/tn2450/_index.html site?

texts:
I am trying to remap the key. However, the value I get from Key Codes is very different from
https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/technotes/tn2450/_index.html?
I get this for clicking 'a'
characters: a
unicode: 97 / 0x61
keys: A
Key Code: 0/ 0x0

I do not see any correlation between these two tables? How can I get the usage ID value to remap the key from Key Codes App?
I am trying to change
Unicode: 16 / 0x10
Key Code: 102 / 0x66
to left arrow. Is there any conversion table?


texts: The “Home” section of my Facebook page is empty (on mobile only)

texts: The Facebook home section seems to be empty and I don't understand why... out of 3 pages I have, 2 of them does this. I don't get it because they all have the same option activated and it seems like there is no real logic behind it...


texts: Is there any way to change the snooze time for alarms on the iPhone?

texts: It seems that the default snooze time for alarms is 9 minutes. Is there any way I can change this setting?


texts:
On Big Sur (11.2.1, but I believe also 11.2), every time I restart, I get asked asked again if I want to enable ask siri. Is there a way to get it to stop asking?
This is specifically when macos starts up; this is not the problem some people have had where a popup repeatedly asks to enable siri while the os is already running.
Siri is disabled in system preferences.
This is happening on an older macbook with no touch bar, as well as a newer one, so should not be an issue of touch bar or control strip settings.
re https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/256127/400905 in Activity Monitor, I do see siriknowledged and com.apple.siri.embeddedspeech processes running, but Disabled in /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.Siri.plist is already set to false.  How to completely disable Siri on Sierra? seems to be the same?


texts: Command line "open DIRNAME" fails (but "open FILENAME" is OK)

texts:
In a terminal (or xterm, or emacs) window, the command:
  open dirname
(where dirname is . or /tmp or /home/fred) doesn't open the the specified directory in Finder.  However:

Opening a non-directory file works fine, for all sorts of file types.
"open dirname" used to work.  Alas I can't identify what had changed, but AFAIR there was no OS upgrade or bash upgrade.
It doesn't work as root or as normal user.

GNU bash, version 3.2.57(1)-release (x86_64-apple-darwin15)
Model Identifier:   iMac8,1
System Version: OS X 10.11.6 (15G22010)
Kernel Version: Darwin 15.6.0


texts:
I want to register 100k Apple IDs with 100k different emails automatically.
I tried using a PHP script but it's not working.
Any ideas on how to achieve this?
I want them to be permanent, and not temporary (for example: Apple ban them in 6 month).


texts: What character is this possessive apostrophe: ’

texts:
In a recent answer I needed to include a a possessive apostrophe in a path name within Time Machine for a command line operation. I have it saved in a text file, but what the heck is it? I don't see it on my keyboard.

"/Volumes/Seagate Backup Plus Drive/Backups.backupdb/david914’s MacBook Air/2015-08-30-221221/Macintosh HD/Users/david914/"

I first tried to look at it with python, but no luck.

These I know:

things = ["'", '"', "`"]
names = ["single quote", "double quote", "backtick"]
ascii = [ord(thing) for thing in things]

for (a, b, c) in zip(things, ascii, names):
    print "  " + a  + "  " + str(b) + "  " + c

  '  39  single quote
  "  34  double quote
  `  96  backtick

but the apostrophe in question is: -->  ’  <--

and all I can get is:

>>> ord("’")
Unsupported characters in input

Then I used Excel:

=CODE("’")

and got:

Checking the opposite direction in Excel:

=CHAR(213)

Back to python:

>>> chr(213)
'\xd5'

Does this character appear normally on English MacBook Air keyboards? How else can I make them besides resorting to some kind of Office or Open Office product ?? What it is, anyway?


texts: Why can't iPhone 4s connect to a specific IP address?

texts:
I built a robot a while ago that I control via the iPhone (video).

The robot connects to a WiFi hotspot and the iPhone 3Gs would connect to it via Safari and I'd control it from there.  Now that I've upgraded to iPhone 4s, Safari simply won't connect to the IP address stating "Cannot open page".

I can't figure out why.  Every other device in the house connects to the robot fine. How can I debug this?


texts: How to make Siri audible to other person on the phone?

texts:
When Siri reads something I can hear it well.

But a person on the other end of a phone call hears nothing of it. That's a good default.

But how can I make the other person on the phone hear what Siri reads for me (not always but only when I want it)?

Hardware: iPhone 6

Background information about my motive:
In Germany we do not have a method to send a GPS position in a standardized way to the national emergency call center. We have no way at all to send a text message to that center. So my idea was, to let Siri read that coordinates. I want to have that for my old father, who walks often alone in the woods. No, he does not want a wearable. I have to deal with an iphone.

iOS: 12.4.1


texts: How to add Sudo Insults with TouchID without disabling SIP

texts:
I am following a guide to recompile sudo with insults.  However, I felt uncomfortable disabling SIP so I modified it a bit to allow me to use it with SIP enabled.  Unfortunately recompiling sudo broke my ability to authenticate sudo using TouchID.  I investigated this and discovered it had to do with the entitlements codesigning used by sudo.

If you look at the Entitlements for sudo:
sudo cp /usr/bin/sudo . && sudo codesign -d --entitlements :- ./sudo* you get:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>com.apple.private.AuthorizationServices</key>
    <array>
        <string>com.apple.security.sudo</string>
    </array>
</dict>
</plist>

Apparently this com.apple.private.AuthorizationServices key is necessary to the enabling of TouchID for sudo.

Proof:
./sudo ls prompts me for TouchID ✅

sudo codesign --remove-signature ./sudo  && sudo -k && ./sudo ls does not prompt me for TouchID and just asks me for my password ❌

Is this only because I continue to have SIP enabled? Does disabling SIP remove the code signing requirements for TouchID?

Edit 1:
Attempts at fixes:
What I am trying to do is just remove the code signature from a copy of /usr/bin/sudo and allow TouchID with that (so I can be sure any error isn't coming from recompiling)

Make an editable copy of /usr/bin/sudo to work with: sudo cp /usr/bin/sudo .
remove code signing sudo codesign --remove-signature ./sudo
Try to re-apply entitlements sudo codesign -d --entitlements :- $(which sudo)>entitlements.plist. && sudo codesign --entitlements entitlements.plist -s "signature" ./sudo
Try to execute ./sudo and see if it prompts for TouchID: ./sudo ls prints [1]    12559 killed     ./sudo ls

So the process is immediately being killed.   I'm guessing macOS is noticing an improperly signed executable and killing it.  What is the proper way to enable TouchID on ./sudo?

Edit 2:
Does anybody know where I can find logs to help track this?
Console.app just says

com.apple.libsqlite3    error   14:44:27.950193 -0400   taskgated   cannot open file at line 42270 of [95fbac39ba]
com.apple.libsqlite3    error   14:44:27.950216 -0400   taskgated   os_unix.c:42270: (2) open(/var/db/DetachedSignatures) - No such file or directory

Trying to run sudo dtruss ./sudo is weird.  It will give me 1 of 4 error messages each time it's run:

dtrace: failed to control pid 13256: process exec'd set-id or unobservable program
Failed to read dyld info for process 13279 (4)
dtrace: failed to control pid 13279: process exec'd set-id or unobservable program
dtrace: failed to execute ./sudo: Could not create symbolicator for task
Failed to read dyld info for process 13833 (4)
dtrace: failed to execute ./sudo: Could not create symbolicator for task

Edit 3:

trying to verify the code sign signature seems to be okay

sudo codesign --verify --verbose  ./sudo
./sudo: valid on disk
./sudo: satisfies its Designated Requirement

spctl says it is rejected, but doesn't give a reason why

sudo spctl -a -vvvv ./sudo
./sudo: rejected
origin=Mac Developer: vegerot@mac.com (is the UUID private?)

compared to /usr/bin/sudo

sudo spctl -a -vvvv $(which sudo)
/usr/bin/sudo: rejected (the code is valid but does not seem to be an app)
origin=Software Signing

So even Apple's sudo is rejected, but it says the code the valid (I'm guessing spctl is only for app bundles (like .app)).  Since it doesn't say ./sudo is valid, I'm guessing that means it's invalid, but I can't make it give more information


texts: Connect to Wi-Fi via command line that requires username and password

texts:
I am trying to find the command to connect to a wireless access point that is WPA2, and requires both a username and password.

The command networksetup -setairportnetwork <iface> <ssid> <pwd> only works if I don't need a user name.


texts: How do I completely uninstall Virtualbox from macOS?

texts:
I want to know how to uninstall virtual box correctly. I tried removing it from /Applications, but lots of things were left behind. I don’t want to use an app cleaner tool and would like a complete uninstall process if possible.

How can I remove the app and reverse the changes it makes when installed?


texts: Sharing a single Dropbox between multiple accounts on one Mac - possible?

texts:
This seems like it should be easy, but...

My partner and I use a single Dropbox.com account to keep all of our joint projects synced up between our computers - and this has been working great for years. We've now added a MacBook Air to the mix, and we each have accounts on it and can grab it and go when we need to do some remote work.

I've been trying to get the Dropbox synced to the Air - but I want to have it in the "Shared" directory so that we both can access it - it shouldn't matter who is logged in. This doesn't seem to be working.

I can located the Dropbox in the shared directory fine - but when I change the user who is logged in that user has no permissions to sync the Dropbox or access the files.

I can get it to work if I create a separate ~/Dropbox folder for each user, but this ends up with 50GB duplicated twice over if the entire Dropbox syncs - a particularly ridiculous waste of space on an SSD.

Any ideas how to make this sharing work????


texts:
I'm new to iOS, I've come from Android and to avoid loosing time migrating all the musics from Google Play Music to iTunes (and since Google allows you to have 50,000 songs on their servers for free that can be accessible on any device with a Google account), I decided to keep using Google Play Music on the iPhone.

But if I want to set the alarm it only lets me choose ring tones from the iPhone or musics from iTunes.

Does anyone knows if it's there any way to set Google Play Music musics to the alarm?

Thanks in advance!


texts: How do I stop iTunes from re-syncing to iPhone?

texts:
I would like to upload voice memos from my iPhone to my computer using iTunes, and then delete them from my iPhone to save space.

However, after deleting my voice memos from my iPhone, it seems that iTunes is set up to automatically re-sync the voice memos back onto the iPhone. How do I stop this from happening?

To summarize: I do want my voice memos to go from my iPhone to my PC. But I do not want them to go back to my iPhone.