texts: Replacing OS X with Linux or Unix, and making the switch to Tiling Window Managers

texts: I have a Macbook Pro 8,2 and really want to make the switch to something a little less stubborn and a little more flexible than the proprietary Mac OS X. I am a bit frustrated with MacPorts lately and Homebrew. I also would like to make the transition to a tiling window manager such as Awesome, RatPoison, or Xmonad. In the past I have had problems getting the Mac's wireless card working as well as setting up the EFI installer to boot to GRUB or LILO. So, I am curious if anyone here has had any experiences with running a Linux Distro like Slackware, Archlinux, Debian or a Unix OS such as FreeBSD on their MacBook Pro.


texts:
I'm about to buy an external monitor to use with my MacBook Pro late 2008. I do understand HDMI (digital) looks much better on screen (better quality?) than VGA (analog), so I'm thinking about buying a Mini-DVI to HDMI adapter. My questions are:

Does the Mini-DVI to HDMI adapter decrease video quality?
If so, is it noticeable and does it still have better quality than VGA?
Are there any known issues with third-party adapters?


texts: I can't get the zsh-theme to update all the inner shell scripting with each "return" on the terminal

texts:
Here is my new oh-my-zsh zsh-theme, updated with an escape character before each code block within $()'s which allows it to update every time the prompt is displayed (works with setopt prompt_subst:
PROMPT="%F{yellow}%n%F{white}@%F{green}%M %F{cyan}%j %F{white}\$(curl -s https://api.myip.com | jq .ip -r) %F{green}%2c%F{cyan} [%f "
RPROMPT="\$(git_prompt_info) %F{cyan}] %F{red}\$(top -l 1 | grep 'Load Avg' | awk '{print $3, $4, $5}' | tr -d , | awk '{print $2}')[\$(sysctl hw.ncpu | grep -o -E '[1-9]+')] @ \$(top -l 1 | grep 'CPU usage:' | awk '{print $3, $5, $7}' | tr -d , | awk '{print $3,"%%"}') idle %F{green}%W %* %F{yellow}%D{%p}%f"

ZSH_THEME_GIT_PROMPT_PREFIX="%F{yellow}"
ZSH_THEME_GIT_PROMPT_SUFFIX="%f"
ZSH_THEME_GIT_PROMPT_DIRTY=" %F{red}*%f"
ZSH_THEME_GIT_PROMPT_CLEAN=""

It will dynamically change the date and time, the IP address, and the git_prompt_info, every time I press return, but the shell scripting like \$(top -l 1 | grep 'Load Avg' | awk '{print $3, $4, $5}' | tr -d , | awk '{print $2}') does not update every time I press "return", it gives me an error instead:
awk: syntax error at source line 1
 context is
    {print >>>  , <<<
awk: illegal statement at source line 1
awk: illegal statement at source line 1

What's going on here?


texts: I'm developing an app for an iphone. This applicaiton stores almost all its data in a sqlite database. As you known, support for sqlite is not built-in to the swift/objective-c framework (unlike android). Will this data be backed-up. I've read that icloud backs up app settings but would this include the sqlite database too? If it doesn't, is it backed-up using itunes?


texts: Raise maximum connection limit for Internet Sharing?

texts:
I’m using Internet Sharing (USB 10/100/1000 LAN → Wi-Fi) to give a tech demo of a web site, running locally on my machine, to multiple phones.

I want to connect 15 phones to the shared network, but upon connecting the 6th phone, the phone reported “Access point temporarily full”.

Is there a way to configure how many devices can connect to Internet Sharing? I’m fine with delving into the Terminal.


texts:
When selecting March 2013 in the Month view, Calendar crashes. Does anyone know what could be the cause of this ?

Ps: I tried march 2012 and the weekly view for march 2013 and there is no problem.
Ps2: it's on a iPad 3 with iOS 6.0.1
Ps3: I've tried the same thing on my father's iPad : It's crashes also on march 2013. (the synchronized calendar are totaly different)
Ps4: Just found out that Facebook's birthdays are crashing the app on my iPad.


texts: How do I make my 1.5 GHz PowerBook G4 boot from a USB stick?

texts:
I actually want to boot Linux but since that is not working I'm thinking some one might know on the Apple end.

If there's a way to boot Mac from a USB stick, then booting another operating system should not be impossible.

Do I need to use an Apple bootloader to trick my PowerBook into thinking it's booting Mac OS and then slip in the Linux disc or what?


texts: MacBook Pro external display support (different resolution from notebook display)

texts:
My MacBook Pro has a Mini DisplayPort and running Snow Leopard. I'm looking to get myself a Mini DisplayPort -> VGA adapter so that I can attach a hand-me-down LCD display. The LCD display has a native resolution of 1280 x 1024.

Can the MacBook Pro use both displays at once, with the main notebook display at 1280x800 and the external display at 1280x1024?

In general, can the Mini DisplayPort output a resolution different from the main notebook display?


texts: Can I sync Address Book to iCloud on Snow Leopard?

texts:
I've updated my iPhone to iOS 5, but my Mac(s) are still on OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Syncing Contacts to iCloud is enabled in iPhone settings. Now, I was wondering is it possible to make Address Book on my Mac (running 10.6) to sync with iCloud too? Or is this something that's only available in 10.7 Lion?

(Sorry if this question seems too basic or whatever. I haven't been paying much attention to Lion/iCloud.)


texts: Is this an iCloud sync/backup or do I have a data leak?

texts:
What are these pictures showing my iPhone's screen is doing? I had no open video apps and was no streaming anything in Safari nor was Safari or Tv app open but it says data:video - Why data if a video?

Is this is just iCloud and if it is, then it’s occurring across my WiFi not my cellular data, correct?

I’m trying to figure out what sporadically spikes data usage on several iPhones around the same time. (Yes we have family share but this began way before that).

Every few months, the data on every cell phone under my account seems to spike 3X it’s normal usage or more - even though we use WiFi at home religiously.

Because of this, I can’t reduce my cellular plan since the overage charges in months with high data usage would negate any cost savings. I’d like to chalk it up to cellular carrier conspiracy but joking aside.

Any tips how to check what’s eating data beyond looking in my settings (inconclusive) are much appreciated.

P.S.: Probably unrelated but a long time ago, my son thought he’d isolated it to some iOS games (talking animal head apps or some such) and after deleting the games on phones installed issue resolved for about a year and a half but it’s back.


texts: Permanently change mount point of volume?

texts:
I'd like to set another user's home folder to use a certain volume on my disk. To that end, I'd like to be able to mount said volume at a specific location, say, at Users/foobar

I can do this using the command line by running sudo mount -t hfs /dev/disk0s4 /Users/, however this is only a temporary solution. If I unmount and remount the disk, it will mount to its usual location in Volumes/

Is there some way to permanently specify the mount point of a disk?


texts: WD external hard drive got disconnected without eject

texts:
So my WD External Hard Drive wasn't ejected properly. It shows up in Terminal and Disk Utility, however it is unable to mount. When trying First Aid, I always get these results:

Repairing file system.
File system check exit code is 8.
Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.
An internal error has occurred.
Operation failed…

When using diskutil list , these are my results

Cristians-MacBook-Pro:~ cristianmanuel$
 diskutil list
/dev/disk0 (internal, physical):
   #:      TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:   GUID_partition_scheme    *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:     EFI EFI                     209.7 MB   disk0s1
   2:    Apple_CoreStorage Macintosh HD        20.5 GB   disk0s2
   3:    Apple_Boot Recovery HD             650.0 MB   disk0s3

/dev/disk1 (internal, virtual):
   #: TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD   +120.1 GB   disk1
  Logical Volume on disk0s2
    A58A8705-F3C3-4ED1-AF90-18B03FE6F6C3
                                 Unlocked Encrypted
/dev/disk2 (external, physical):
   #:  TYPE NAME       SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:  GUID_partition_scheme    *4.0 TB     disk2
   1:  EFI EFI              209.7 MB        disk2s1
   2:  Apple_HFS Self Work    4.0 TB     disk2s2

What should I try next?


texts:
I use a custom keyboard and unfortunately, the command: < ctrl+cmd+n > in the Finder to create new folder with selection doesn't work for an obscur reason, so I would like to change it to another command, but the problem is that I cannot enter the exact name in the application keyboard shortcut because the name of the action varies (is dynamic) in function of the number of elements that are selected or because it will say : new folder with "filename".

I tried to add a custom one saying: new folder with selection (2 elements). And it worked, but only in the case that I have 2 elements. Is there a way to change the default shortcut so it will work for all files and number of files?

I tried this But I fail when it comes to edit the .nib file.

Thanks in advance for the help!


texts: No Sound from Mac Mini after OS X Server Reinstall

texts: I had to reinstall OS X Lion Server 10.7 on my Mac mini (late 2011) due to partition and boot record corruption. Since reinstalling, I have not have sound. The only sound device that shows under Utilities > Sound is "Internal Speaker". Previously, "Headphones" also appeared. I have a Harman Kardon Soundsticks 2.1 sound system. It has only one sound connector. I always plugged it into the green port on the mini. It worked fine. Since reinstalling I have no sound at all. Any ideas out there? Solutions? I've been through the Cmd-P-R deal, reinstalled OS X Lion Server - all to no avail.


texts: Can I make iTunes stop asking to access my phone?

texts:
I plug my phone (iPhone 5s, though I doubt it matters) into my laptop at work in order to charge it. Every time I do, if iTunes is open (it usually is, because music), it pops up a dialog to ask if I want to allow iTunes to access information on the phone.

I don't, and I'm getting tired of clicking through the dialog every time. Is there a way to get it to stop asking, either for this specific device, or in general?


texts: How to determine whether the thermal paste needs re-application?

texts:
How can I determine whether the heat sink is no longer firmly heat-tied to the CPU?

This appears to be the case for a seven year old MacBook, but I'd like to confirm without going to the trouble of re-applying the thermal paste just to find out that the old CPU (a core 2 duo) will indeed trigger the fan even for simple tasks.

I am looking for a recipe such as: Running a given process on a MacBook with a core 2 duo in a room with ambient temperature of 20C will not trigger the fans for at least 10 minutes.

In retrospect it's solvable. I can now run various jobs on each new MacBook and determine which processes trigger the fan. The same recipes should continue to work for the lifetime of a machine. If you have a core 2 duo and you can describe a specific testing recipe, please do.


texts: Why is the audio of my MacBook is becoming scratchy?

texts:
Okay, this is very weird. I've a MacBook Pro Retina 2014 model. It's all going very well. Sadly I've to use it in a dusty area most of the time. I've noticed the quality of the audio (any sound, iTunes, YouTube, etc) is getting really really worse gradually. Lots of buzzing and screeching and it's not as loud anymore!

I usually clean it by vacuuming around the keys and under the screen. I did look up some results online and couldn't find anything useful!
Any help?


texts:
Download a Free App published only to India AppStore while my primary iTunes account is US Appstore?

I have years (maybe a decade) with my iTunes account on US Appstore. I do not wish to switch permanently as I have Apps bought from it.

I just need a few 'Free' India AppStore apps now and then for when I visit.

Is there some temporary way to switch or buy them?

Some kind of workaround?
e.g. Maybe create an alternate user account and as a family member on India AppStore?


texts: How can I sort Safari bookmarks in Lion?

texts:
I used Bookmarkdog in Snow Leopard and Lion but since I'm using iCloud that app no longer works and its successor BookMaster does not seem to be doing the sorting like Bookmarkdog used to do.

What others tools are using to sort Safari's bookmarks?
How do you keep your Safari Bookmarks sorted?


texts:
I had a Retina MacBook Pro with Windows 8 already installed. I can boot from it without problems, and all the drivers Apple provided for Windows 7 works perfectly for me except one thing.

I am not able to use Target Display Mode with a Thunderbolt iMac. I understand that Boot Camp doesn't currently support Windows 8, but I am hoping someone has encountered this problem and solved it.

Also, I am able to connect to an HDMI or Mini Display Port-equipped display under Windows, and Target Display Mode works under OS X.


texts:
Page down in terminal
How can I "page down" in the terminal?


texts: What is the Mac keyboard key with a symbol ⌅ of an up arrow pointing into a horizontal line?

texts:
On a Mac, symbols are often used for keys rather than names. In Adobe Indesign for Mac, the keyboard shortcuts for inserting various break characters are described using what looks like an up arrow / caret / chevron pointing into a flat horizontal line:

It's the symbol on the right I'm asking about.

After much searching, I found it on the far bottom right of the full-size Apple keyboard. It's the... enter-like key (?) in the bottom right of the numeric keypad.

So two related questions:

What's it called?
Is it possible to trigger this key (for use in keyboard shortcuts) when using a keyboard without a numeric keypad (like a wireless keyboard or laptop keyboard)? If so, how?


texts:
I'm looking for a FTP client that supports sending notification when transfers have completed. Does anyone know of one?

I'd like to trigger an email when files have finished uploading to a server.


texts: How do I show Apple Maps turn-by-turn navigation for public transport on my lock screen and Apple Watch?

texts:
I use the iOS Apple Maps app frequently for public transport directions. In the past, if I was actively navigating using public transport, Maps would display turn-by-turn directions on the lock screen and on my Apple Watch. Since upgrading to iOS 13 this doesn't happen, although I still get turn-by-turn on the lock screen and watch for driving and walking directions.

How do I get turn-by-turn back for public transport?


texts: Change behavior of "Messages" window in Mountain Lion Messages

texts:
In general, I'm more than pleased with the changes in Mountain Lion, but in any release there are a few niggling things that bug me. One of them involves the behavior of the Messages app which replaces iChat. When you give focus to the app by clicking on its icon in the Dock, it opens the unified Messages window even if it's closed if you don't have other windows (like the Buddy List) open. I'm not a fan of the behavior, and was wondering if there's any way to change it.

Also, as a bit of a twofer, when you double click a contact in the Buddy List, it opens the chat in the unified Messages window, instead of its own separate window. If that behavior could be changed as well, it would be totally sweet.


texts: Entering hibernate mode after delay upon going to sleep mode doesn't work when using power supply

texts:
I've successfully set the MAC to enter hibernate mode after 1 minute delay upon going to sleep mode but it works only on battery power. When using power supply, the computer stays in sleep mode after 1 minute. How to achieve the same results using power supply?

commands I've used:

sudo pmset -a destroyfvkeyonstandby 1
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3
sudo pmset -a standbydelay 60

pmset -g gives me these results:

standbydelay         60
 standby              1
 halfdim              1
 hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage
 powernap             0
 gpuswitch            2
 disksleep            10
 sleep                1
 autopoweroffdelay    28800
 hibernatemode        3
 autopoweroff         1
 ttyskeepawake        1
 displaysleep         2
 tcpkeepalive         1
 acwake               0
 lidwake              1

I am using macOS Sierra Version 10.12.5 on MacBook Pro


texts: OS X: Read mbox formatted files in /var/mail (local mail) graphically

texts:
I have a local development environment that is sending email to the mbox file at /var/mail/myusername.

I can successfully view those emails with the command line mail program, but I'm looking for a way to read the emails graphically (they contain HTML).

I've read the article at: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20040313194905606, but I've also read that this method does not work in Snow Leopard (10.6) because Mail.app no longer uses standard mbox files, but rather has it's own format based on sqlite.


texts:
A coworker has Apple in a mostly Windows environment, she sometimes receives email that has Icelandic letters in the subject and sometimes (not always) they get decoded wrongly. I have tried to fiddle around with fonts with no luck in that. I see from the mail headings that the mail gets sent using the ISO-8859-1 encoding but can't find a solution to the problem.

Here are the headings from two mails, the former shows the Icelandic letter 'ð' as 'š' but the latter heading shows it correctly (note, this is only in the subject, the main text is fine).

Return-Path: <user1@bla.com>
Delivered-To: user2@bla.com
Received: from user1 (unknown [IP address])
    (Authenticated sender: user1@bla.com)
    by outside.mailprovider.com (Postfix) with ESMTPA id 00DA712006F;
    Wed, 31 May 2017 13:11:33 +0000 (GMT)
From: =?iso-8859-1?B?S3Jpc3TtbiDTc2sgSvNuYXNk83R0aXI=?= <user1@bla.com>
To: "'User3'" <user3@bla.com>,
    <user2@bla.com>,
    <user4@bla.com>,
    <user5@bla.com>
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?fundarger=F0_89._MNN_fundar?=
Date: Wed, 31 May 2017 13:11:33 -0000
Message-ID: <003601d2da0f$6d54bc00$47fe3400$@uw.is>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
    boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0037_01D2DA0F.6D5642A0"
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 14.0
Thread-Index: AdLaD0dkN4N8uPchRNy8u4QHBCJiLQ==
Content-Language: is

And the second one that shows it correctly.

Return-Path: <user3@bla.com>
Delivered-To: user2@bla.com
Received: from [internal ip address] (unknown [external ip address])
    (using TLSv1 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits))
    (No client certificate requested)
    (Authenticated sender: user3@bla.com)
    by outside.mailprovider.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 89CEC12006F;
    Wed, 31 May 2017 13:29:57 +0000 (GMT)
From: User3 <user3@bla.com>
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="Apple-Mail=_D5239118-AC5C-47BC-811F-EB55A38501AD"
Message-Id: <AE509899-9943-424A-B2E4-9183507BB06B@uw.is>
Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 7.3 \(1878.6\))
Subject: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Re=3A_fundarger=F0_89=2E_MNN_fundar_?=
Date: Wed, 31 May 2017 13:29:56 +0000
References: <003601d2da0f$6d54bc00$47fe3400$@uw.is>
To: =?iso-8859-1?Q?User1 <user1@bla.com>,
 User2 <user2@bla.com>,
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?User4 <user4@bla.com>,
 =?iso-8859-1?Q?User5 <User5@bla.com>
In-Reply-To: <003601d2da0f$6d54bc00$47fe3400$@uw.is>
X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1878.6)

The subject of these mails should be the same, reading "fundargerð 89. MNN fundar". As you perhaps can see then there is a slight difference, the former has a dot after 89 but the second encodes the dot as "=2E" and the former ends as "fundar?=" while the second ends as "fundar_?=". I don't see any difference in the offending character, namely "=F0" at the end of "fundarger".

Any hints on what is going on is well appreciated.


texts: Prior to setting a name in Siri, it does not call you by a name. For example ("I'm not sure what you said" rather than "I'm not sure what you said, insert name here"). So how do I revert to the behavior of not getting called a name after I have set one. There is no option to do that in Settings > General > Siri except changing to a different contact.


texts:
Is there a way to export iOS Health data daily?

I know about the in-app export option, but is there a way to automatize this process. Could be an app as well.

Probably something like QS Access, but this tool is lacking automatic export as well.

A daily email export would work as well.


texts: Update to macOS 10.12, but still keeping 10.11 in an external HD

texts:
I am still running macOS 10.11, now I wanna update to 10.12, but since some apps must be running on 10.11, so I need to keep this system and here is my plan:

I use TimeMachine to backup my system 10.11
Update the system to 10.12
Restore the backup 10.11 from TimeMachine to an external HD, so I can boot it up there and I can use two versions of OS together.

Does this work? Will it cause any possible issues? License issue?


texts: How does one a base a podcast playlist off of release date?

texts:
I'd like to be able to make a playlist that is all recently released podcasts.

Unfortunately release date is not a field available for selection in a smart playlist in iTunes.

Similar-ish dates like date added and modified date won't be close to release date when downloading the back-catalogue of newly added podcast.

The best solution I've come up with is to close itunes, truncate the iTunes Library.itl file, copy the release date field values in the iTunes Music Library.xml file into the date added field, and then relaunch iTunes, and letting it rebuild the itl file from the xml file.

However, my library file is large enough that the rebuild takes 20-30 min, and even with no hacking of the xml, fails more often than not.

Is there a method for me to either or both of:

hack the itl file to set the date added to the release date?
be able to select the release date either in rules for a smart playlist or the "limit to... selected by" dropdown of a smart playlist?


texts: Using Automator to batch crop with custom coordinates / measurements

texts: I'm trying to crop large batches of images automatically.  I'm currently using Automator's Crop Images action, but it is lacking in options.  I can specify a width and height, and then it performs a centered crop.  I want to be able to specify X and Y as well as width and height (to use Xcode terms), so I can perform a consistent crop for any custom rectangle.  Are there better, more featureful cropping actions available?  Preferably for free...  :)


texts: How to disable the built-in MacBook keyboard?

texts: Is it possible to completely disable the built-in keyboard on a MacBook? No input should be possible from that keyboard when I connect an external keyboard. This is sort of possible with the trackpad and the mouse, is there an option (or indeed a hack!) to do the same with the built-in hardware?


texts: Leave iPhone unlocked for a few seconds after closing

texts:
With Face Id, the moment the screen blanks out or the moment I press the side button the screen is locked. This ends up being extremely annoying. I unlock the phone, set it on the table, hands are mostly full, screen fades out, I spring to touch the screen but am 0.00001 seconds late. Phone is now locked and I have to put the stuff I'm holding down and physically pick up the phone so that it can see my face just to continue what I was doing.

Similar annoyances happen when wearing a face mask either beacuse it's cold or to avoid spreading/catching a cold (I live in Japan where face masks are common). Mask needs to be off to unlock with Face Id, if the phone locks there's no buffer off a few moments before I have to either take off the mask or else type in the code. Have this happen a few times in a row and I'm ready to smash the phone into a million pieces.

Is there a way to set a 1-5 second delay until the phone actually locks after the screen fads out or even accidentally tapping the side button? Touch Id had (has?) an option to keep the phone unlocked for a brief amount of time which was so much more user friendly in this area. Does the same option exist for Face Id?


texts:
tldr; How far back does the TIFF exploit affect iOS and OS X legacy versions?

I've found conflicting information regarding how far back the recently reported image exploit can affect both iOS and OS X versions.  The blog at Talos suggests that "all previous versions" are vulnerable; while This Reddit thread says that the proof of concept TIFF "didn't visibly crash Safari" on iOS 8.4 (emphasis added).

Obviously, the proof of concept TIFF may or may not match the exploit patched this week by Apple.

And Apple is not likely to offer up information on older OS versions it considers to be EOL.

So, the question is if there is a reliable place to provide info for both OS X and iOS legacy versions against this exploit?

Various stats generally show that around 15% of iOS devices are still running 8.4 or earlier; and, there is also an enclave of people who won't (or can't) update their computers beyond 10.6.8 or 10.9.5 for example.

A nicely referenced source regarding the vulnerability of these older OS versions would put many people's minds at ease.


texts:
I can not partition nor use a removable USB disk without file system.
I obtained the following informations:
sh-3.2# diskutil info disk2
   Device Identifier:        disk2
   Device Node:              /dev/disk2
   Whole:                    Yes
   Part of Whole:            disk2
   Device / Media Name:      IC1100        CF

   Volume Name:              Not applicable (no file system)

   Mounted:                  Not applicable (no file system)

   File System:              None

   Content (IOContent):      None
   OS Can Be Installed:      No
   Media Type:               Generic
   Protocol:                 USB
   SMART Status:             Not Supported

   Total Size:               8.0 GB (7994327040 Bytes) (exactly 15613920 512-Byte-Units)
   Volume Free Space:        Not applicable (no file system)
   Device Block Size:        512 Bytes

   Read-Only Media:          No
   Read-Only Volume:         Not applicable (no file system)

   Device Location:          External
   Removable Media:          Yes
   Media Removal:            Software-Activated

   Virtual:                  No
   OS 9 Drivers:             No
   Low Level Format:         Not supported

After following this guide, I am now able to see the disk in Disk Utility, but it is uninitialized, and when I try to format it, I get the error
Couldn't open device
EDIT: I tried the following:

Disk Utility > Erase
Terminal > diskutil eraseDisk MS-DOS NAME disk2
Terminal > diskutil eraseVolume MS-DOS NAME disk2
Terminal > diskutil partitionDisk disk2 1 MBR MS-DOS NAME 7.8GB

They ALL lead to the same error: Error: -69877: Couldn't open device
EDIT 2: This is the partition table:
    sh-3.2# fdisk -e /dev/disk2
    fdisk: could not open MBR file /usr/standalone/i386/boot0: No such file or directory
    The signature for this MBR is invalid.
    Would you like to initialize the partition table? [y] y
    Enter 'help' for information
    fdisk:*1> p
    Disk: /dev/disk2    geometry: 971/255/63 [15613920 sectors]
    Offset: 0   Signature: 0xAA55
             Starting       Ending
     #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
     1: 00    0   0   0 -    0   0   0 [         0 -          0] unused
     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

EDIT 3: If I type fdisk /dev/disk2 , this is shown:
sh-3.2# fdisk /dev/disk2
Disk: /dev/disk2    geometry: 971/255/63 [15613920 sectors]
Signature: 0xD913
         Starting       Ending
 #: id  cyl  hd sec -  cyl  hd sec [     start -       size]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1: D5  843 125  41 -  856  48  15 [3289417632 - 1579849264] <Unknown ID>
 2: B0  380 233  63 -  580 252  34 [1433382022 - 2359874114] <Unknown ID>
 3: 21  542 173  50 -  368 171  22 [ 805962412 - 2236752874] <Unknown ID>
 4: C1  311 233  33 -  417  95   7 [3864719105 - 4292535645] DRDOSs FAT12

How can I solve? Thanks
(I'm using Mac OS X 10.11.3)


texts: Salvaging a Flash Drive that won't mount and Disc Utility can't erase, restore or repair

texts:
I have a Centon Flash Drive that will not mount.  It is not readable on the iMac nor a Windows 7 machine.  The drive cannot be reformatted by the Windows or IMac usual methods that this layman tried.
In another thread about this subject I've read:

Can you get the disk identifier? In Disk Utility, select the drive and choose "Info" – it should read something like disk1 or disk2 or so. (But NOT disk0; that's your internal HD!)
Then open a terminal, and type in
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/diskX

(where diskX is of course the disk identifier you got earlier.)
Type in your admin password, and it should overwrite every block of the disk with 0x00 (i.e. erase it).
Then, you can format your drive.
[Please be cautious when doing this; I'm not responsible for anything if anything goes wrong ;-)]

I have OS X 10.6.8.
Will you tell me if I should try this and if yes, how do I "open a terminal"?


texts: Installing Kernel Debug kit (KDK) on Big Sur 11.1

texts:
I'm trying to install the KDK package on a VM with BigSur 11.1 on it (20C69 build).
I used Apple's guide for general guidelines, and this guide for details.

It appears that since Catalina, the system volume is read-only:
Indeed, after disabling SIP in recovery mode, trying to copy kernel.development to /System/Library/Kernels results in an error message saying: "Operation Not Permitted".

Some forums suggested to mount it as writeable and save the changes, for example here:

The command csrutil authenticated-root disable is not recognized for some reason, and shows the csrutil help text.
If using the "regular" csrutil disable, then back in the normal boot mode csrutil status indicates that all of the components are disabled, apart from BaseSystem Verification which is still enabled.
Attempting to ignore it and move forward with the instructions, everything goes smoothly until the bless command, which fails with the same "Operation Not Permitted".

So far no luck with any of the similar guides (1,2...) as well.
Would appreciate any help,
Thanks


texts: How can I disable visual effects in Lion?

texts:
I've just installed Lion on my 24" iMac from 2006 and do have again problems with screen-freezes due to overheating. This is a known issue with the 2006 iMacs since OSX late 10.5 / 10.6. While for (Snow) Leopard it was possible to overcome this problem by deactivating a kernel extension of the graphics card driver, this does not seem to have any effect with Lion.

How do i disable visual effects with Lion, such as smooth window-moving, drop-shadows everywhere, window-animations, smooth video playback etc.?

Thanks so much!

UPDATE

I just wanted to make clear, that I have already tried some UI tweak applications like Cocktail and iTweax. While they are able to disable some animations, the most "expensive" effects are not turned off (at least not as far as I know) like smooth window moving and drop-shadows.


texts: how to make a png graphic for an icon into a rsrc file

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Changing a file or folder icon using the Terminal

ok, my original question was pretty much the same as this one: Changing a file or folder icon using the Terminal, but now that I see the commands, my secondary question is with a .png file, (or any other graphic format) how do I change it to a .rsrc file, as required b


texts: Mountain Lion Messages Facebook Jabber connection problem

texts:
This is a very weird problem I'm having with my Messages app on Mountain Lion. I have two accounts: a Google Talk and a Jabber account that is linked to my Facebook chat. Whenever I open my Messages app, my connection to Google Talk works just fine, but there is always a connection error with my Facebook account. But my Internet is working fine (like, I'm able to browse to www.facebook.com just fine). It's not an account authorization problem (incorrect username/password), trust me. To fix the problem, I need to go into Preferences -> delete my Facebook Jabber account -> recreate the account -> boom, connection is working fine again.

But, as soon as I log off from my Messages app (by closing it) and re-opening it, the problem re-emerges. Connection to Google Talk works fine, but a connection error with Facebook again. Perhaps this is an issue with Mountain Lion's implementation of Messages; because it is a newer app than the battle-tested iChat, there are still some rough edges needing to be sorted out.

Anyone having any tips regarding this problem?

PS: I did try to look at this question:  iChat + facebook disconnection


texts: Is the connector the only difference between a Cinema Display and a Thunderbolt Display?

texts: Is the connector the only difference between a Cinema Display and a Thunderbolt Display, or are there other features that changed between the two models as well?


texts: Macbook Air on Catalina freezes upon waking when connected to VPN

texts: My Macbook Air freezes for like 30 seconds up to a minute if I have my VPN active and try to wake it up while it is trying to connect to the vpn. Seems like as soon as the connection is established the macbook is responding again. Tried to set a permanent DNS-server and turned off IPv6 but that didn‘t help to solve the problem. I also reseted SMC which also didn‘t help. The MBA wakes up with no stall at all if the vpn-connection was not active as it went to sleep. I‘m on Catalina 10.15.4 and running perfect-privacy-vpn.


texts: How to transfer only several apps data from old iPhone to new iPhone?

texts: I just buy new iPhone. I want to transfer only Whatsapp chat history, and none of all the other apps. I want to start with clean slate. I don't want to going through each app to delete them one by one on the new iPhone. But I still need all the Whatsapp chat history. How can I do that using  Finder? I presume I have to use the backup on Finder to backup just the selected app (Whatsapp), and then use the backup to restore on the new iPhone. But how do I do that (backup just the selected app)? I don't see any selection on the Finder iPhone management to do that. Only "Back Up Now" button.


texts: Where is the specific driver for my GPU located

texts:
I am trying to run a bitcoin miner (bfgminer), I know this is not efficient but I want to do it anyway.

The mac in question is a MacMimi running an Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU and Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3615QM CPU @ 2.30GHz.  The os Mac OSX 10.8.5.

I have outlined my problem on the bitcoin stackexchange site. I also did a google search and duckduck search with various combinations of the terms "Where is the specific driver for my GPU osx".

I am trying to hard specify the GPU driver for gpfminer when it starts as it is not detecting the GPU.

What is the location of this driver on OSX?

bfgminer specifies that is should be in the form of erupter:/dev/cu.SLAB_USBtoUART


texts: The screen resolution difference with a retina display

texts:
I can get the screen resolution of my Macbook pro using the AppleScript code on this site.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1866912/applescript-how-to-get-current-display-resolution

on getScreenSize()
    -- from https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1866912/applescript-how-to-get-current-display-resolution
    set resolutions to {}
    repeat with p in paragraphs of ¬
        (do shell script "system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType | awk '/Resolution:/{ printf \"%s %s\\n\", $2, $4 }'")
        set resolutions to resolutions & {{word 1 of p as number, word 2 of p as number}}
    end repeat
    -- return the last one assuming that it should be the one that is not the Laptop screen
    return item (length of resolutions as integer) of resolutions
end getScreenSize

The returned value matches from the information from "About this Mac".

However, when I get the window size from a debugger, it shows half of the value from the system. I make a window to fill in a screen, and check the bounds of the window.

This is confusing and problematic as I'm writing AppleScript code that aligns multiple windows using set bounds command.

set bounds of s to {x1, y1, x2, y2}

What makes difference between the display resolution from a system and bounds of a window? Is it just safe to assume that (system resolution)/2 should be used for setting bounds for retina displays?


texts:
I'm curious as to a problem I have. So, I bought a 2009 Mac Pro recently (with only coins, it was pretty epic) and did a little trickery to get macOS Mojave onto it. However, the video card preinstalled is the original and pretty weak video card. I was hoping to put at least something better into it, but every card I try, it doesn't display anything. I've been informed that (unlike Linux, it seems) I need to get drivers -- macOS is not plug-and-play with video cards. However, I can't seem to find driver downloads (macOS versions) for any of the various cards I've tried -- if I find anything, it's Windows only). I was wondering if Apple has a different way to install video drivers, or perhaps there's a website somewhere where video driver packages run free through the tall grass.

I've tried several cards, including the NVS 300 (which I was just trying to see if it was at least a bit better), as well as a red FoxConn card (which I can't even find Windows drivers for).

Any insight would be appreciated.


texts: How do I put old e-mails in a new client, if they're not downloading from IMAP?

texts:
Preamable:
On OS X 10.15.7 I am tidying up both my old mails and my mail processes.
I want to change from Mail.app to Unibox.
Situation:
After configuring Unibox (I can send! I can recieve!) no new mails enter the application!
I am currently checking the mails with spike and via webmail, I know they are there…
Wish
I want my new mails to pop up into Unibox. What could be wrong in my IMAP setup to prevent this? If the same settings are used in another app and that works fine, it suggests something is wrong elsewhere, right?
Question
What could be wrong, where do I start looking?
What would be the workaround to move old mails from Mail.app to Unibox (if possible)
P.s. Unibox have so far not responded to my support request of 10+ days ago


texts: Apple Watch 1st Gen serial number and pairing issue

texts:
I am trying to get the serial number of my Apple Watch 1st gen watch.
I can’t get it off the back as wear has scraped it off over time.
I thought I would try and get it off the watch itself in settings, but I can’t pair it to my iPhone 11 (running iOS 14.1). Every time I try to pair, my iPhone tells me I need to have the latest version of iOS on my iPhone. Which I have.
Is there any way I can get the serial number without pairing?
Or is there a way to help me pair it to get the number?


texts: How to encrypt outgoing connections from a local device?

texts:
ISPs' throttle internet traffic, so some provide fast lanes for popular websites while all other websites are available to the user at lower internet speeds or bandwith.

I am on an iMac so my question is that is there any way by which I can encrypt outgoing connections from my iMac in-order to escape internet capping


texts: Screencapture keeps dedicated graphics active

texts: When I use the screencapture tool on it turns on my dedicated graphics (Radeon Pro 560X) and when I finish the system doesn't switch to Intel graphics and consume my battery faster.Any idea how to make it stop?


texts: does going to the itunes store app to sign out also sign you out of your icloud account?

texts:
I have an iPhone 4 with an IOS all the way up to date and I got it from my older brother as a birthday present. He moved to college and isn't in contact. I have my own Apple I'd and thought about using it but I don't want to go to the iTunes app and sign out of his account from the bottom where the balance is shown because I don't want it to be signed in but asking for the old password. What should I do?

Also will that sign me out of his cloud account? I have a broken iPhone and want to get the stuff off of my cloud account


texts: How to enable Autoboot for old MacBook Air?

texts:
MacBooks released in and after 2016 have a feature that enables them to boot as soon as the lid is opened. I wanted to replicate the feature on my 2013 MacBook Air (MacOS Catalina Public Beta 5), so I read through this article: http://osxdaily.com/2017/01/19/disable-boot-on-open-lid-macbook-pro/
and entered the following command

sudo nvram AutoBoot=%03

But it doesn't seem to work.
Is there any alternative?


texts: iMac; OS X Yosemite; App switcher continues to come up without pressing -

texts: I am having an issue with an older iMac.  The app switcher will come up and then rapidly switch between either two or all icons without pressing -.  It seems as if moving the mouse is causing the switching behavior.  I swapped the mouse and keyboard from another mac that is not having any issues.  The mouse and keyboard from this mac work on the other without issue.  I've disconnected all USB devices and switch off the WiFi.  None of this resolved the issue.


texts: Mac AppStore badge does not reset after installing update

texts:
I am experiencing a strange problem: after I installed a bunch of updates, the Mac AppStore badge was not reset. When I go to "Updates", I get the message "no updates available".
I tried to

delete the AppStore cookie
rebuild the Spotlight index (found a recommendation to do so somewhere)
logged out and in the AppStore
delete some of the updated Apps and re-installed them

without any effect. Today, I got an update for another application; the update count was incremented and was not reset again.

Any ideas?


texts: How to export a table with transparency from Numbers to PNG?

texts:
If I copy a table from Numbers to the pasteboard and then create a new document in Preview, it usually works fine, but if cells contain partially transparent background or border colors (especially within gradients), the alpha value is either not kept or it’s more opaque than anticipated.

Maybe this is a limitation of or issue with the PDF format that Preview defaults to, or of the underlying framework. Anyhow, I already reported a bug to Apple.

OS X 10.10.5, Preview 8.0, Numbers 3.5.3. I’m willing to upgrade if needed.

Meanwhile, is there a way to export a table to PNG while keeping alpha information intact using just system or free third-party tools?


texts:
I upgraded to ios7 this morning, and now all my albums have their songs out of order. Does anyone know where the setting to change them back to album order is?

I can't find anything to indicate that shuffle is switched on (it does say "Shuffle" in the top right, but when I press it, it just changes to a highlighted "Shuffle All", which I don't think I want.)


texts:
I have a macbook pro with a 250 GB SSD in it. The diskutil list command gives a confusing result for me. It somehow shows a 98 GB disk. Does anyone know what this is? The result is pasted below. (also attached as screenshot)

/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_APFS Container disk1         250.8 GB   disk0s2
/dev/disk1 (synthesized):
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +250.8 GB   disk1
                                 Physical Store disk0s2
   1:                APFS Volume Macintosh HD            98.0 GB    disk1s1
   2:                APFS Volume Preboot                 19.6 MB    disk1s2
   3:                APFS Volume Recovery                518.1 MB   disk1s3
   4:                APFS Volume VM                      1.1 GB     disk1s4


texts: How do proceed if I get "Verification failed" errors from iCloud?

texts: My iPhone 5S can't verify iCloud but it can log into the iTunes store. I don't know what has happened. Please help me understand how this happened and what I can do to fix the problem.


texts: Does APFS reduce the needed free space on SSD's?

texts:
I've seen recommendations for the minimum amount of free space one should have on an SSD that range from 20%—33%.  For instance, this answer (Can MacBook Pro get slower after SSD is almost full?) cites a 2012 Anandtech study (https://www.anandtech.com/show/6489/playing-with-op) that concluded:
"Whatever drive you end up buying, plan on using only about 75% of its capacity if you want a good balance between performance consistency and capacity."

The Anantech study was, however, pre-APFS.  I understand that APFS is optimized to work with SSDs, so my question is whether that optimization changes (reduces) the minimum free space needed to obtain, using Anandtech's words, "a good balance between performance consistency and capacity."

Further, it's also possible that APFS's different design might mean that the minimum free space needed to obtain a "good balance" should be expressed in absolute, rather than relative (percentage) terms.

I currently have a late-2014 MBP with a 1 TB 4-lane PCIe SSD, with 200 GB free out of 940 GB available on my main partition (I have a 2nd partition with 60 GB available).

I understand APFS can reduce the total storage space needed to store a given set of files (see https://appleinsider.com/articles/17/06/08/inside-macos-1013-high-sierra-apfs-benefits-end-users-with-space-speed), but that's a different attribute from the one I'm asking about. Please also note that I know I can move little-used files to other disks (obviously), but that's not my question. I'm purely interested in learning if APFS affects the minimum free space needed for "a good balance between performance consistency and capacity" and, if so, why it does this.


texts: Setting HomeKit scene without Siri voice feedback

texts:
I have several scenes set up in HomeKit and I control them by talking to Siri on the Homepod.  Most of the time when I set a scene using Siri, she responds audibly with Done or All set.  I want to silence the voice feedback.  There is one scene in particular, called Bedtime, that works silently, but I can't figure out how to make the other scenes work this way.
At first I thought it was based on the scene name, so I tried renaming Bedtime to Good Morning and I changed the icon too.  But it still works silently.
There must be something different about this one scene, the only one which works silently.  Is it some hidden characteristic which could be set with a 3rd party app?


texts: iOS 7 upgrade - how much space will I get back?

texts:
I've got an iPhone 5 running iOS6 and I'm considering upgrading to 7.0.6.  I see I need 3.9 GB to run the update and I'm pretty sure I'm going to get some of that back, but don't know how much.

How much space does an iOS 6.1.4 to iOS 7.0.6 take?


texts: "which" command doesn't work / path of Safari?

texts:
Why can’t I locate programs like Chrome or Safari or FireFox with the which command line tool?

pasocon:~ ThisUser$ which python
/anaconda3/bin/python
pasocon:~ ThisUser$ which firefox
pasocon:~ ThisUser$ which Safari
pasocon:~ ThisUser$ which chrome
pasocon:~ ThisUser$

This is what I get with the which command. It is not giving me the path for many applications. Am I making a mistake here or is this potentially an issue to be fixed?

Alternatively, I was just looking for the path of Safari (so that you can open Safari by directing to this path in a configuration file). I am sure this is basic knowledge but I've somehow failed to find it.


texts: Remove a Mission Control space using a keyboard shortcut in macOS Big Sur

texts:
I am aware you can do it from Mission Control by hovering over it then clicking the "x" and that there is no shortcut available in 'Keyboard'.
Are there any ways to do this by using a 3rd party program or Shell/ Applescript, maybe similar to this solution?


texts: How to show all dates (jubilees) from contacts on calendar

texts:
There is 1 calendar, that shows only birthday dates from contacts on iphone/mac OS. But if 1 contact has several dates (e.g. jubilee, birthday of kids or other important dates) that i want to be shown in calendar on iphone or mac OS.
How can it be done? And can it?
Thanks.


texts: Automatically Converting PDF Beamer Slides into Keynote Slides

texts:
I am looking for a tool to automatically convert a set of Beamer slides (in PDF format) into current versions of Keynote. I have hundreds of slides, so need something automated. To be clear, each slide is a single page in the PDF.

I do realize this is a rehash of this question, but after exploring the answers, they either a) do not work for current versions of Keynote, b) are no longer available, or c) are not automated. The app mentioned in the first answer seems like it might be workable, but requires access to an older version of Keynote in order to update the file produced by the app, such that it is then eligible for the current versions of Keynote. I do not have access to older versions of Keynote.


texts: How do you disable or speed up the character/emoji keyboard animation?

texts:
Context: By default on macOS, you can press cmd + control + space to bring up the character keyboard (more commonly known as the emoji keyboard). Before the keyboard pops up, there is a short delay and a fade in animation. For documents where you enter such characters frequently, the delay is substantial and interferes with the flow of typing.

The Question: How can you speed up the time it takes to show the emoji keyboard? Is there a terminal command to disable the animation, or otherwise reduce the time it takes to ultimately enter the desired character?


texts: Is it possible to interrupt installation procedure at power on

texts:
My friend is bringing back a new Macbook Air from abroad to the UK for me. New rules have been put in place

  to power up electronic devices in hand luggage as part of new security measures introduced at UK airports

so it's possible that my friend will have to charge the laptop and then power it on at the security gates. The first power on will (possibly) start the install procedure - I don't know, I haven't run an install on a Macbook for a few years - and I'd like to know if it will be a problem for the friend or the laptop to do a quick power on and then close down the laptop?

Any help or insight with this would be much appreciated.


texts: Very small type size upon starting evince pdf viewer

texts:
I use evince as pdf viewer but when I start it running, the type is very small (about 10%) although 100% is written.

Looking at  Configure Evince to open maximized with 100% zoom level?, I tried the following commands to solve the problem without success:

the following command does not change anything

gsettings set org.gnome.Evince.Default zoom 1.5

the following command is not a valid command

gsettings get org.gnome.Evince zoom


texts: Always show text cursor while moving it in Word

texts:
The text cursor, or caret, is normally in the visible form in applications at the start of its display cycle. It then goes to the flashing sequence once you stop moving it with arrow keys or typing. However, in Word 2011 I'm constantly frustrated because the cursor disappears, or defaults to the invisible state of the flashing sequence, while I'm typing or moving it. This makes it painfully difficult to edit text without using the mouse. As I write this post and keep going back to word I'm noticing that it seems erratic as to what behavior it's acting. I think that it stays in whichever state it was last in, which 50% of the time is invisible.

I've since changed the blink rate to 200ms via changing the default in Word's plist file. This helps a little in my frustration, but the behavior really needs fixed.

Update 2014-09-02
It doesn't appear to be a problem on documents created locally. It seems to be an issue with documents I've got from elsewhere, quite possibly from other operating systems.


texts: How do I get the English United States international keyboard layout on my MacBook?

texts:
I'm used to using Microsoft's US International keyboard layout on Windows :

Is there a way I can get the same keyboard layout on macOS?


texts:
Installed Metasploit on my macOS Catalina from the rapid7 website - pkg installation. When trying to run the command msfconsole the terminal displays the following error:
zsh: command not found: msfconsole


texts: I never updated the beta and my play pause button does not work whatsoever, I am hesitant to download any updates anymore because my once well working remote now doesn’t have a play pause button and I usually switch to my Roku or firestick because my Apple product won’t pause or play. I can press mouse pad to pause but what can I do to fix this issue?


texts: view all windows in Mavericks keyboard shortcut

texts:
In Mavericks (and any other version of OSX) when pressing CMD + TAB you see the typical list of open apps to switch to.

I just discovered that when this list is open (before releasing CMD) if you press 1 you see all the windows of currently the selected app.

What is this feature called?
Is it possible to use it outside of the CMD + TAB list?


texts: Mavericks menu bar Wi-Fi icon does not refresh

texts:
In Mac OS X 10.9, once I am connected to a Wi-Fi station the menu bar Wi-Fi icon no longer refresh (the spinning wheel does not appear). This complicates station switching as I have to turn off and on the Wi-Fi.

Do you know how to revert this behavior to how it worked in Mac OS X 10.8, or an alternative tool to make Wi-Fi connections?

Update: As I mention  below, I realized that rebooting the machine the Wifi icon refreshes until I Fast Switch to another account. In this precise moment it stop working.


texts: I no longer have my iPhone, but I wanted to know if there was anyway I could access the pictures that I uploaded to Photostream before I got rid of the phone. Or are they all completely lost?


texts: Copy directory from "Get Info" in Yosemite?

texts:
I am a programmer who used to constantly copy directory of a file from its "Get Info" menu. Since Yosemite, the original pure path is replaced with a "user-friendly" kid-version directory, which cannot be copied. Like this.

Is there a workaround for this?


texts:
I have a handful of Mac's running Mavericks and up. Each Mac is generally used by 1-3 people.  Each person is a member of a specific AD group.

Pre-deployment we added that AD group to the "Allow Administration By" field with "domain\groupname" format. Pre-deployment and shortly after deployment, the end users were able to administer the Macs without issue.  They could escalate processes with their credentials.

Since then, none of the Macs recognize our users as administrators anymore, myself included (I'm in a separate AD group membership that was added at the same time).  We then started going into each user profile and checking the "Allow user to administer this computer" checkbox, which again worked for a time but no longer does.

We have started falling back on the local administrator user account to manually authenticate when needed, but we're not able to share that password with end users.

The following link is what I used for reference:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202112

Is there something we're missing?  Why would the administrative behavior work for a time then just stop?

Edit: This is not a duplicate to AD User as an administrator on the Mac?. I have tried all of the steps outlined in the link I originally referenced.  The key issue is that I do actually get local administrator privileges for a short period, but then for some unexplained reason, all users but administrator lose their privileges and no longer escalate privileges.


texts: How to make Little Snitch only block the upload traffic, but not the download traffic？

texts: I didn't find a way to do that, please help!


texts: Can I use Karabiner-Element or any other apps/workarounds to swap colon and semicolon in Sierra?

texts:
Until OS X El Capitan, I used Karabiner to swap the colon with the semicolon.

However, at least until now, the Karabiner Element doesn't support a key swap where both of keys are based on the same root key (so for example, swap between delete and backslash works but swap between single-quote and double-quote doesn't).

Is there any other hacks in Karabiner-Element that enables this swapping, or any other apps or workarounds in macOS that enables you to swap a key that built on the same base key?


texts: macOS Notes app: zooming in on sketches made w/ iPad Pro

texts:
I created a sketch in a note (Apple's Notes app, synchronized with iCloud) using 10.5" iPad Pro running 11.0.3. When I open this note on my macbook pro running 10.13, the sketch is tiny and there are no options to zoom in (zooming with cmd+shift+. does not affect the size of the sketch).

How does one zoom on a sketch so it appears the same size/sharpness as on iPad?


texts: Embed SVG image in email composed in mail.app?

texts:
Is there any way to embed an SVG in an email? If I try to attach it the same way I'd embed an image file, it comes out as an attachment, rather than a visible image.

For some content (e.g. charts, diagrams), .svg is much smaller than images, so it would be nice to send smaller emails by embedding .svg.  Apparently mail.app can render them ...


texts: Is it the Mac or the Headphones that Have the Weak Signal?

texts:
Recently bought just released Bang-Olufsen H8 headphones (wireless, BT 4.0, atpX A2DP). These paired perfectly with iPhone 5 and my MacBook Pro 15" early 2011, however, sound drops out on the MBP with little to no "provocation" of head turn; forget about range/direct line of sight distance--can't get more than 2' away without sound drop occurring. Avg raw RSSI is approx -72.  At first it was thought that b/c MBP was BT 2.1 and the phones were 4.0 they were incompatible. After I modified the MB appropriately with new Broadcom Airport/Bluetooth card to enable BT 4.0 connectivity and found no change at all in sound drops/range, I discovered through conversation with Bluetooth expert that BT is backwards compatible so he wasn't surprised at all with continued sound drops despite modification to MBP.  If the sound drops for more than a second or two, the audio somehow speeds up to sync with the place where the sound should be.

B&O's "stellar" customer service told me:  "I received feedback from Denmark, In principle a Bluetooth 4.0 enabled product with A2DP Bluetooth profile should be able to send music to the BeoPlay H8. Practical tests have shown a very differentiated market picture. Most newer computers with updated software and adequate hardware should be able to connect to BeoPlay H8, but we are not able to recommend or support this setup."  I'm sure I can get them to regret that statement, but I'm much more interested in getting the BT headphones to work with my MBP. In my research so far I've found that these phones behave similarly with both iOS devices as well as OS X.  There appears to be no rhyme or reason why this is. For me, I have no problem using them with my iPhone 5; not so for others around the globe.

Question is:  Is it the MBP antennae or is it the B&O H8 antenna?  Which begs the second question:  why is the performance so random--worldwide even--for wireless phones, these H8s in particular?

Thanks so much for your help.


texts: This seems strange.  The time of latest backup from the menu bar differs from the actual latest backup time (shown in the Time Machine preferences).  What is the reason for this?   Feature or bug?


texts:
Loading OneDrive office previews on iPadOS 14.1 suddenly started taking long time (1–2 min).
I've tried to restart the app and Ipad.


texts:
There was once a feature that reopened all the windows on startup. Is it possible to enable that somehow, even the checkbox "Reopen all windows ..." disappeared.

Did this happen because of an update ? I it possible to revert back to an older version ?

Mac OS version 10.6.8


texts: Running AppleScript via shell(bash/zsh) expands window to height of desktop. How can I make it fit?

texts:
I have a shell script in which I use osascript to display a prompt to the user for selection from a list. The problem here is, when the script is executed via shell, the osascript window size is extended to the size of the screen height, filling the list selection with empty space. When I run the same osascript code from the script editor, the selection fits to the window size. Is there a way to make the window fit the list items (like in the second picture listed below)?
Here's the sample script:
#!/usr/bin/osascript
set magtitles to {"A", "B", "C", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "J", "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", "Q", "R", "S", "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "y", "Z"}
choose from list magtitles

Here's how it looks like when executed via shell:

And here's how it looks like when executed via Script Editor:

I have tested it on Big Sur 11.1 and Big Sur 11.2 beta, both with same results.


texts: Grey screen apple logo prohibitory sign etc MacBook 2009

texts:
I have an older Mac book that will not boot. I have tried all key commands including fcsk which resulted in a "mach kernel" end result, so nothing worked. I don't have a system install disk (bought used). I would like to try a disk utility fix. I'm not sure if I need the specific install disk for the precise model, or if a generic Snow Leopard install disk will allow my to try to repair the disk. Or would the Snow Leopard  that came with my husbands later MacBook Pro work? Or do I need Disk Warrior 4? I will try to actually replace the hard drive if necessary but I would lose my data. This is my model:

Apple MacBook 13-inch 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo (Mid 2009) MC240LL/A [Condition:Good][Memory:4GB (2x2GB PC2-6400)][Hard Drive:750GB Hard Disk Drive][Optical Drive:SuperDrive-DL


texts: I have a m4a audio file that I need to convert to a mov file. How can I do this?


texts: Access hidden "root-only" folders on Finder

texts: Is there any way to view folders that require root access to open, in Finder? I can open them with sudo in the terminal but it would be good if some setting or script allowed me to look at hidden folders in Finder? I am running OSX 10.9.


texts:
My iPod touch 3rd-gen won't play videos in Safari. It shows a play button with a line crossing it.

It used to play but now there's this problem.

What can I do?


texts: Set a custom dock icon for an application instance via Terminal

texts:
I'm frequently opening multiple instances of applications, especially Emacs, since I may be working on different projects on the same time, and I find this the best way to manage this (yes, I know there are lots of project management extensions for Emacs, I don't need to be taught in Emacs).

I'm doing this with open -n -a Emacs.app which opens a new separate Emacs instance. But it would be really nice to set a custom dock icon for the opened instances, so I can easily differentiate them when doing Cmd+Tab.

Do you know any hack or way to set a custom Application (Dock) icon for a instance? Even if it is a rather complex shell command (I could then create a shellscript for this).

What I really want to achieve is to create a shellscript for this so I can call opennew Emacs.app x and then it would fork the Emacs icon and add a badge with an x in it.

Then I can call opennew Emacs.app s for "school related", opennew Emacs.app p for "project related" etc.


texts: Backing up huge iCloud photo library to external HDD

texts:
I have a large iCloud photo library of about 30,000 irreplaceable images and videos. It is entirely hosted on icloud - I am using the 'optimise iphone storage' setting and have no high res images stored locally on my laptop as the library is too large. I'm getting concerned that iCloud is the only place I have the full resolution images stored and I want to download a backup of the entire library to an external HDD (preferred), or a second cloud service (less preferable) to ensure I have a second copy. I am happy keeping my main library on icloud as it works well for me and allows me to sync all my different devices (iphone, macbook, 2x ipads), I'm just looking to make a second backup copy in case something goes wrong. I don't need to use or access these photos under normal circumstance.
I can't work out how to do this. The only options I seem to be able to find is to either download 1000 images at a time from iCloud to my external HDD (which is near impossible as I can't work out how to select 1000 at once), or download the entire library to my laptop, then backup from there - which I don't have space for on my laptop (photos library is 250GB, laptop entire SSD is 250GB).
I'm not especially concerned about preserving file structure or anything like that, I just want to make sure I have all the images in case anything ever goes wrong with iCloud. What is the most sensible option? I'll pay for 3rd party software if that's the only option, though happy to put in some legwork to do it manually if there is a sensible way to do it. I don't mind manually adding future pics to the backup.


texts: How to submit an error report to app developer?

texts:
I'm developing a custom dictionary add-on to add to Mac's Dictionary.app.

I would want my user to report dictionary add-on's errors or his/her comments (if any) to me as the developer. So far, I have been using the following AppleScript to send such reports to me using Mail.app.

tell application "Finder"
set current_path to (container of (path to me) as string) & "VT_icon.icns"
end tell

display dialog "Intro. to Dict Add-on." with title "My Dictionary for Mac" with icon file current_path buttons {"Cancel", "OK"} default button "OK" giving up after 500

if the button returned of the result is "OK" then
tell application "System Events"
    if not (exists application process "Dictionary") then
        tell application "Dictionary" to activate
    end if
    set frontmost of process "Dictionary" to true
end tell

delay 2
tell application "System Events"
    set the clipboard to ""
    keystroke tab
    keystroke tab
    keystroke "a" using command down
    delay 1
    keystroke "c" using command down
    delay 1
    set selected_text to (the clipboard as text)
end tell

tell application "Mail"
    set myMessage to make new outgoing message at the beginning of outgoing messages with properties {subject:"Về: My Dictionary for Mac"}
    tell myMessage to make new to recipient at beginning of to recipients with properties {address:"myemail@hotmail.com"}
    set myMessage's content to "My precoded message: " & (the clipboard as text)
    set myMessage's visible to true
    activate
end tell
end if

So far so good. The above script works flawlessly. However, a big problem arises: The user cannot submit reports if s/he does not use or configure Mail.app to send email.

So my question is: Can I use an Apple script to send email without using Mail.app?


texts: iOS 5 now encrypts my text message backup?

texts:
I've always used MesaSQLite to open the SQLite database that stores my iPhone's text messages. I've also used python's sqlite3 module to programmatically do some things with my text messages.

After I upgraded to iOS 5, however, now when I try to open it up in MesaSQLite I get prompted for an encryption key, and my programs fail saying that the database is encrypted. I have my iPhone (it's an iPhone 4) set to backup to my computer and to not encrypt my backup, but it still is. Does this have something to do with iMessage (since it's advertised as "secure and encrypted")? Is there any way to find out what the encryption key is?


texts: bootcamp doesn't recognize windows partition to remove; also cannot install command line tools

texts:
The problem started when I tried to install the newest version of command line tools (11.5). https://developer.apple.com/download/more/?=command%20line%20tools
At the step where I was supposed to choose a disk to install command line tools, there was no Macintosh disk shown. It seems that the computer can't access the disk.
Previously, I have installed a win 10 on Boot Camp. So I figured that might be the problem and tried to remove it using boot camp assistant. But boot camp returns a message saying

Boot Camp Assistant was unable to verify if the Windows partition
contains a Windows installation. This may be because BitLocker is
enabled on the partition. If so, disable BitLocker on the disk before
removing Boot Camp.

diskutil list reads:
    /dev/disk0 (internal, physical):

   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *500.3 GB   disk0

   1:                        EFI EFI                     314.6 MB   disk0s1

   2:                 Apple_APFS Container disk1         361.0 GB   disk0s2

   3:       Microsoft Basic Data                         129.0 GB   disk0s3

/dev/disk1 (synthesized):

   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

   0:      APFS Container Scheme -                      +361.0 GB   disk1

                                 Physical Store disk0s2

   1:                APFS Volume                         240.1 GB   disk1s1

   2:                APFS Volume                         60.6 MB    disk1s2

   3:                APFS Volume                         1.6 GB     disk1s3

   4:                APFS Volume                         2.1 GB     disk1s4

   5:                APFS Volume                         11.0 GB    disk1s5

/dev/disk2 (disk image):

   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER

   0:     Apple_partition_scheme                        +17.9 MB    disk2

   1:        Apple_partition_map                         32.3 KB    disk2s1

   2:                  Apple_HFS Flash Player            17.8 MB    disk2s2

Your help will be much appreciated. I would like to remove Windows 10 partition, merge the whole disk back together and install command line tools. Thanks.


texts: Using Swedish keyboard as English ANSI on macbook pro

texts:
I have got a macbook pro late 2015 with MacOS High Sierra on it. It has a Swedish keyboard.
How can I use it as an English ANSI type? There are problems with replacement some keys and it doesn't comfortable for my work. MacOS recognizes this keyboard as ISO and it is impossible to change it in system preferences.

How can I fix this problem?


texts: Can app creators continue to access my data after I delete their app?

texts:
I know that once I have subscribed to a given app, that I have granted permissions to the author to access various bits of information.  but,my question is -  what happens when I delete the app from my phone and library?

Is the author of the app simultaneously and unilaterally denied the future ability to gather anything more from my phone?  Is it possible that while the app is deleted,  the app developer is allowed to maintain a mechanism which continues to gather information (and presumably which I was told about in the original T's and C's which I agreed to) ?


texts: "Disabling login after XX failed attempts" locks out diradmin on Mac osx 10.13

texts: I am trying to establish 'lock out because of failed attempts policy' with Server.app 5.6.3 but with the option enabled I'm getting error "diradmin user is disabled" when I try to unlock LDAP. To re-enable it I have to clear password policies. I checked diradmin password against policies and it looks fine to me. Is it just broken on 5.6.3 Server.app?


texts:
I have Mail set up to handle two different accounts: [my name]_iCloud, and [my name]_Gmail.

Today, when I try to send a message from the iCloud account, I get this message:

Can't Connect to the account "[my name]_iCloud".
Enter the password for user "".

The message is exactly as I typed -- it does not provide the user name (which would've been [my name]@icloud.com). Just two quotation marks next to each other. Entering the iCloud password does nothing. It refuses to send any mail.

The iCloud account will RECEIVE messages.
The Gmail account will both send and receive messages as usual.

Tried deleting the iCloud entries in keychain. Did not work.

Any suggestions on how to fix this?


texts:
Can anything else be done to fix the white screen on a 3G besides restore/upgrade and DFU/restore?

It sat in a box for ages, so was completely dead. I plugged it in to charge, got the white screen (oh noes). Left it like that for a bit.

Tried a home+lock 15 second reset, screen went black, came back up to white.

I did the upgrade->4.2 first via iTunes (latest, 10.6.x), no such luck. Still a white screen. So .. Ok, maybe the firmware didn't overwrite something, let's do a DFU update.

Put it into DFU mode (took a couple tries, but only like 3 tries, I promise :p) and saw the DFU on iTunes and Windows 7 system tray, so I know I loaded the DFU mode correctly.

Did the restore, still a white screen. Note: since the 4.2 upgrade I can work it blindly, for things like swipe to unlock, press and hold power for 3 seconds, swipe to shut down. So I know the logic all works, it's literally just the white screen.

Any last takers on tips before I consign it to the bin? (give it back to my buddy who had it in a box and thought it would work)


texts: How do I select non contiguous Numbers spreadsheet cells using applescript?

texts:
The AppleScript Numbers dictionary has info on single cells, and a range of cells.
I’d like to specify individual, non-contiguous cells.
My example works, but repeating lines like this bugs me.
Is there a simple, more elegant/efficient solution?
Can the cell names/numbers go in a list? What would the syntax be?
These all give various errors:
set the background color of cell "A1" and "A5" to cellColour
set the background color of cell "A1" & "A5" to cellColour
set the background color of cell {“A1”, "A5”} to cellColour
set the background color of cell {“A1:A5”} to cellColour
set the background color of cell {A1:A5} to cellColour
set the background color of cell (A1,A5) to cellColour
set the background color of cells {A1,A5} to cellColour

My script:
-- Opens a Numbers spreadsheet, then sets non contiguous cells' background colour
set cellColour to {0, 0, 0}

tell application "Numbers"
   activate
     if not (exists document 1) then make new document
       tell the front document
         tell active sheet
           set thisTable to ¬
               make new table with properties ¬
                  {row count:5, column count:3}
           tell thisTable
                set the width of every column to 30
                set the height of every row to 30
                -- make all cells white first
                repeat with i from 1 to the count of cells
                  set the background color of cell i to {65535, 65535, 65535}
                end repeat
                set the background color of cell "A1" to cellColour
                set the background color of cell "A5" to cellColour
                set the background color of cell "B2" to cellColour
                set the background color of cell "C4" to cellColour
           end tell
        end tell
    end tell
end tell

Thanks in advance :-)


texts: macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 windows getting focus on mouseover

texts:
As of about a week ago (no corresponding system upgrade) all windows in every app gain focus automatically on mouseover. So if I have two visible windows (in the same or different apps) and one has focus, then I mouse over the one in the background, it gets focus and is pulled to the foreground.

I can’t remember any upgrades or fresh installs of apps recently that could have caused this. Any ideas what might be going on?

Here is a short video illustrating the problem.


texts: Dock Dual Thunderbolt 2 Laptops with dual hdmi out / dual screen sharing?

texts:
I have a 2013 Macbook pro and a 2015 Macbook air. The pro has a busted screen but works fine otherwise, it has two Thunderbolt 2 jacks. The air is fully functional, it has one Thunderbolt 2 jack.
I like to make electronic music. I have some stuff on one Mac and some on the other. I have two displays I want to use. One is a older LG flatron with hdmi input, the other is a 4k uhd smart tv. I also own a 2tb time capsule.
In my head I'm thinking of a setup with the pro kinda always docked, maybe closed if possible, and always using the two displays, and a Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad controlling it or both, then I could just add the Air to the docking station whenever I wanted to and share files, monitors. I was thinking I could use one for like VST and plug ins and the other for my DAW host software. That way I could get the most computing power possible. Not sure if that's possible.
For a minute I was looking into DANTE or AVB but then that wouldn't solve my dual display needs.
I thought there has to be a dock that I can hook up both laptops to via Thunderbolt 2 and share data at high speed, with 2 hdmi outputs that I can also share between the computers. But so far I'm not finding anything. All I can find are dual monitor switches for mini display or Thunderbolt 3 / USB 3.1 docks with dual display but no dual hdmi. (I don't need to power the screens with hdmi).
So, I'm needing some help! I would like the added ports that a dock offers, I would like to quickly file share from laptop to laptop, and i would like to be able to, if possible, share dual external screens for editing and etc.
Does anyone know how i can accomplish this?
Any help is greatly appreciated!


texts: is there anyway to directly email videos or upload a video from iphoto to youtube?

texts:
When i download images and video from my iphone everything shows up under pictures in my iphoto library.  When i open iphoto i can scroll through pictures and videos but when i click on a video, i can play it but i can't see:

how to upload to youtube (surprised this is not listed in the share section)
how to email directly from iphoto (get a messagebox saying "Can't email videos"

can someone please advise on the best way to do the 2 things above as i thought they would be supported out of the box.


texts: App like Lightroom and Photos to display geotagged images in a map

texts:
I am looking for a Mac app to display locations of the geotagged photos in a folder using google maps.

I don't want to import them from Photos because:
a)  It is not practical to import several large images (10Mb+), get the info I am looking for (for example clicking on one of the sample thumbnails to see which photos were took in that place) and then delete all of them at the end.
Why that? Because I don't want Photos Library increased (it is linked to iCloud)
.
b) I don't like encapsulated data, specially because I access image folders from other computers in other OS.
I know it is possible using Lightroom but I am looking for a solution where I don’t have to pay majority of the features when I want just a map.
an interactive map where I can see images and explore them is a needed function

Edit 1:
Google Maps because it seems to me that it has more information. I also has Street

Comment 1: I am having a very simplified screen, no way to just put a thumbnail instead of a large photo, no preview screen


texts: Applescript "Can’t make {x:651.0, y:675.0} into type real." number -1700 from {x:651.0, y:675.0} to real

texts:
I get the error: "Can’t make {x:651.0, y:675.0} into type real." number -1700 from {x:651.0, y:675.0} to real"" when I run this script.
I don't know why this happens! Comes from an autoclicker I made, Very simple, but it works with slightly obscure methods (Credit: Clicker, Mouse Position) . Code:

use framework "Foundation"
use scripting additions

set theList to current application's NSEvent's mouseLocation()

(*
set xCoord to theList's x
set yCoord to theList's y
*)
round (theList)
tell application "System Events"
    click at {theList}
end tell


texts: When launching `screen`, "normal" bash environment isn't setup

texts:
My typical login looks like this:

But when I start screen, I get just a bare bash environment - no environment variables, aliases, etc:

Why is that happening, and what can I do to fix it?


texts: Why are some Mac apps not available on AppStore?

texts: One example is CheatSheet. I searched it on the AppStore but couldn't find it.


texts: Is it possible to use my Mac to mine Bitcoins?

texts:
So Bitcoin seems all the rage, but it’s way too expensive for us mere mortals. Who can afford a bitcoin, right? But apparently bitcoins are produced by mining them and mining them involves a computer processing mathematical calculations. So I wonder, can I use my Mac to mine bitcoins?

I have one old iMac sitting in a corner that I figure I could leave powered up 24/7 to do nothing else but mine Bitcoins. Is this possible? Will the benefit outweigh the costs?

It’s a 21 inch mid 2010 iMac with a 3.6ghz i5 processor and has 16gb RAM.


texts: Screensaver doesn't come back after display turns off

texts: I have setup WebViewScreensaver to show a dashboard, and the password is required afterwards. This works well, except that when the display turns off after a few minutes, I turn it back on and cancel the password prompt, the display turns off immediately. I would like to have the screensaver come back for a few minutes instead. Is there a way to do this?


texts: Why does Mac OS X turn off monitor #2 when an application is maximized on monitor #1?

texts:
I am running OS X Yosemite 10.10.5 on a Mac Mini system with two monitors. When I maximize an application on monitor 'A', monitor 'B' then goes black while that application maximizes to fill 'A'.

Why the heck is this happening? How do I fix it?

Thanks!


texts: I want to install Xcode SDK for iPhone app development on my Windows 7 PC, does any one know is this is possible?


texts: Where is the EFI stored on the macbook and is it possible to restore a previous EFI firmware version?

texts:
I recently upgraded my macbook pro 2008 (not unibody, running 10.6.8) to mountain lion. Directly after the upgrade finished the machine ran smoothly. But after a reboot it does not boot at all (no gray display, but noise from fan and hard drive) and does not react to any keyboard input (so no SMC/NVRAM/PRAM reset, no Target Mode no Recovery etc). After some research I came to the point that I could not do anything but giving to a apple for repair, but I am still curious to understand, which component could have failed when upgrading.

So the only possible component could be the EFI firmware, which is responsible for the pre boot sequence, and hence it must have been  damaged during an EFI upgrade, or is not compatible to my 3rd party ram, which worked perfectly in  snow leopard.
I tried to reinstall the system by extracting the hard drive and reinstalling the system, but this did not change anything. So where is the EFI firmware stored and is it somehow possible to access it, with no running system, and then is it possible to restore an older version?

UPDATE

It was not the RAM.


texts:
I am looking for a way to create a wish list in the App Store, like you can in iTunes on the desktop.

Is it possible to do this on the App Store from an iPhone?


texts:
For several months now i've had an issue where after using my laptop for a couple of weeks without restarting, i'll slowly lose my ability to copy and paste. First it's only between different apps such as Terminal and Sublime Text, but eventually it's system wide and stops working everywhere.

As I type this, nothing seems to be copying to clipboard. Not in textedit, chrome, safari, terminal or otherwise.

Going in to Finder > Clipboard shows only one small piece of text which is the last thing I successfully copied before it completely stopped working.

Should I dump a process list here to show what i've got running or is there a common issue that could be the cause?

I'm on a 13" retina macbook pro running 10.9.

Thanks

Edit 1: It's drag and drop too.

Edit 2: After trying a million fixes found on the internet (changing file permissions, /private/var fixes, disabling hidden files from showing etc, killing third-party processes one by one), none of it worked. I did find however that killing the WindowServer process, which esentially closes all windows and resets the GUI, does provide a bandaid "fix" to the problem and bring copy&paste/drag&drop back. However, this is not particularly surprising. It's almost as inconvenient as simply restarting, which was my old fix. Still would like to figure out the underlying cause. My main suspect is the Windows apps I run via Crossover are messing with something in the system, even after killing Crossover and their processors.

Edit 22/6: I will post a process list and result from kextstat | grep -v com.apple once the issue arrises again.


texts: My Macbook Pro Right Speaker Kept Going Broken Even After Replacement

texts: The right speaker of my macbook pro retina 13" kept going broken even after I replaced the speaker. (Ran out of the warranty at this point so had to DIY, also no Apple Store near me, have to fly to one if need be). A while ago the right speaker starts to produce cracking sounds so I ordered a speaker online and replaced it myself. It worked for a while until today it started to produce similar noise again. I can take photos of the inside later today. I wonder if any of you might know how this malfunctioning appeared. I suspect it might be a software + hardware problem (meaning a software malfunction results at the speaker getting broken) but I might be wrong. Could it be overheating? It is really hot lately.


texts:
I would like do real-time monitoring, discussing one part of it here about counting quickly.
No packages about it in homebrew.

How can you have RAM-based filesystem in OSX?


texts: Can you see a list of all open tabs in Safari?

texts:
I often have a good 150 to 200 tabs open in Safari at all times because this is where I like to keep all my current work.
Obviously, all open tabs are never displayed at the same time when there are so many...

I am wondering if a list of all currently open tabs is available in Safari.


texts: How do I change my TimeMachine volume in a script

texts:
I have a TM volume on my desk at work and I also have one at home. That way, I have a better shot of my data surviving a disaster. Right noow I have to manually change the TM volume based on where I am.

I'd like to use some location aware software (like Marco Polo) and have it just switch the volume. I tried using Applescript and Automator to make the switch but I haven't been able to be consistently successful.

I'm looking for a more terminal/shellscript based way to switch the TM volume.

Any ideas?


texts: How to create a .app folder from an executable .jar?

texts:
Just this. I have an executable jar that I'd like to create a .app folder for. Mainly just because I'd like it to be pinnable to the dock.

Is there any easy way to do this?

Edit: Really what I'm looking for, is a mac shortcut. But apparently on the .app folders can be pinned to a dock.


texts: My iPhone keeps telling me my Apple ID cannot be used in the U.S. store and that I need to switch to the Albania store

texts: I’m not sure why but my phone keeps thinking I’m from Albania. I ordered the iPhone 7 off of Amazon. I got the phone yesterday and when I finished setting up my Apple ID, I tried to download an app. It immediately said my ID was not in use at the U.S. store and that I needed to review the account, it also said my Apple ID was not in use in the iTunes Store but my iTunes isn’t working. So I went back to my account and it took me to a page where I had to agree to Terms and Service. Above it was a location and it said I was from Albania. I changed it to United States and refilled all my information, then I tried to download an app and it said the same thing. I went to settings and changed my location on there, but it’s not helping to reset the App Store and iTunes. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. I’ve contacted Apple Support and I stayed up until midnight trying to figure it out. We factory reset it so many times and we tried turning my phone off and on again. I’ve tried going to the Apple ID website and changing my location from there but it keeps resetting to Albania as well. I have no idea what’s wrong with it.


texts:
I clicked unwillingly on "Don't show this message" and now it does not appear.

How can I revoke it to be shown as previously?


texts:
In iTunes it was/is possible to prevent files to be copied to iTunes Media folder. Does any of you know if same de-selection is possible in iBooks?

Thanks for lot of useful knowledge sharing


texts: TIme Machine IP Change Loses Backup History

texts:
I have a time machine setup where the backup location is on a Synology NAS drive; having recently moved house, and ended up with a different router, I setup the NAS drive again, and it has a different IP address (formerly in the 10.* range, now in the 192.* range).

I couldn't - no matter what I tried - get Time Machine on the iMac to recognise the drive as the existing TM location; despite it showing up as an available disk in TM preferences. In the end, I deleted the old backups (nothing required from them yet, so it won't hurt to start again, I suppose). What I'd like to know, for future reference, is if/how I can get TM to recognise the NAS as the backup location if the IP address changes again. None of the hardware changed, so I can't see why this was an issue.


texts:
Im facing a problem with AppleScript/Rsync.
I try to copy various folders from various drives to one HDD.
The following shows a part of the Apple script which is more or less always the same part of code:
tell application "Finder"
    if (disk "MAC SSD X5" exists) then
        do shell script "rsync -azvp '/Volumes/MAC SSD X5' '/Volumes/Backup/MAC SSD X5' --progress --partial  --delete --backup  --backup-dir='/Volumes/Backup/Gelöschte\ Dateien'"

    end if
end tell

If I run this in Applescript it works. But uses rsync 2.6.9 which has less functions and less performance.
While if I run:
 rsync -azvp '/Volumes/MAC\ SSD\ X5' '/Volumes/Backup/MAC\ SSD\ X5' --progress --partial  --delete --backup  --backup-dir='/Volumes/Backup/Gelöschte\ Dateien'

directly in the terminal it uses rsync Version 3.2.3 from another folder.
I tried to remove the former Version (2.6.9) of rsync but I didn't succeed.
Also I tried to add
--rsync-path=/usr/bin/local/rsync

in Applescript.
But it still uses rsync 2.6.9.
Also if I add the path of the rsync 2.6.9 in Terminal it will uses the new rsync (so the flag is not working either way).
Hope anyone can help me out with this issue.
Thanks in advance!


texts: Producing music on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air

texts:
I am curious whether my MBA or MBP would be suitable for my creative purposes.

I like writing music. Now I have a slow but stable laptop with Ubuntu 13.10 installed. I've set up JACK, Ardour workstation, Hydrogen (drums) etc, and I got an overfunctional combine, but it is pretty laggy when it comes to real business. As for my "connection", at times I could just conect preamplified guitar cable to my laptop's mic-in, and entertain myself.

I heard that MacBook Pro is a great machine for sound engineering (whereas MacBook Air is not).

So my questions:

Why is it so great? How could it overgo my setup (apart from the speed of SSD, as I lack one)
Is not MacBook Air as much capable in this context as it's bolder brother?
If I am buy a Macbook Pro/Air, what hardware should I buy? i.e., core i7, 8 Gb, 256 SSD,... what soundcard?


texts:
I seem to have broken something in my OSX Lion install. Whenever I insert a SD/CD-ROM into the machine I have to go into Disk Util to manually mount it. This happens quite a lot and is getting on my nerves. Any ideas what I might have done or what might cause this?

Thanks

Gordon


texts: Running shell scripts in single-user mode

texts:
I'm planning on running a couple of scripts in single-user mode to speed up (and simplify for less savvy users than myself) the configuring of a few aspects of some Macs that I set up for other people.

I've read the few threads I could find about this, and my question is simply is there anything I should be particularly aware of when it comes to running scripts from single-user mode?

I'm aware that I can't invoke any commands/apps that would require a GUI to load, and that the /sbin/fsck and /sbin/mount commands would still be required before a script can be run at all.

Two more specific questions: If I set the script as executable before depositing it on the disk image that will be booted in single-user mode, will it remain executable?

And lastly, when it comes to removing user accounts I've seen on some threads e.g this one the need to invoke this command:

launchctl load /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.opendirectoryd.plist

However, as I simply want to rm various files - is there any need to do this, the process seems to work just fine without it?


texts: How to lower the Alert volume when starting/ending the dictation?

texts:
How can we control (lower) the alert sound when starting and ending the dictation in MacOS ?
I tried to control that in the preferences for Alert Volume but it doesn't change anything for the dictation. It seems that the volume of this dictation's alert depends on the Output Volume and not the Alert Volume.
Then it might be very loud so it's quite bad for hears if you use headphones.


texts:
I have been shutting down Pandora using swipe-to-close to deal with its high battery usage. However, I've recently found that it's still somehow active in the background. I have my phone synced to my car's bluetooth, and when I got in the car yesterday, my phone connected and started playing music. The music in question isn't on my phone, and seems to match the Pandora station I was last listening to. I can see in Now Playing that music is indeed playing, and I can hear it, but Pandora isn't open. I also have a Pebble with the Pandora app, and that's not showing the song title, as it would were Pandora open.

I'm coming to the conclusion that somehow Pandora is running in the background, prompted by my car's connection via bluetooth, but I can't figure out how to turn it off. In the interests of prolonging battery life, I'd really like to be able to turn it off completely. Is there any way to do this short of uninstalling it? And how is it possible for the app to continue to run after force quit?


texts: What free VPN server to use that would work with iOS?

texts:
iOS supports 3 VPN solutions: L2TP, PPTP and IPSec and currently I'm using PPTP connecting to a Ubuntu server.

Also, there are several problems: PPTP configuration has to be tunned on both ends in order to make it work and also I heard that PPTP can be broken in just 4 hours.

Is any other better solution for setting up Apple compatible VPNs that would not require buying some commercial software.


texts: Watch Mac's iSight (webcam) on another Mac over LAN

texts:
I have two Macs (A MacBook Air, and a MacBook Pro).

Now, I'd like to view the live picture of the webcam of one MacBook on the other. (So, I'd like to stream my webcam or, equivalently use my iSight as an IP Cam).

A nasty restriction is: I do have a router (and hence a LAN), but it's not connected to the Internet. 3G (cellular network) too is practically non-existent.

I have tried:

VLC Player: The tutorials on the net are mostly outdated (pre 2012). I tried, but I could not receive the stream. VLC would keep on telling me that it could not open it.
FFMPEG: It could find the cam and presumably stream it using RTP, but I could not find a way to watch the stream on the other Mac. (Neither with QuickTime, nor with VLC)
AtHome Video Streamer: This app only sends the image, but there is no app to watch it on the Mac. This app is only available on hendheld devices.

I am not afraid of the command line interface and also prepared to pay a couple of Euro's (Dollars, for that matter) for an app.


texts:
I bought a grey-market import iPhone 7 plus in the Phillipines. It's a Hong-Kong phone, per the authorized agent in Manilla.

How can I get it serviced by Apple, as the authorized agent doesn't want to cover the work, given it's import status.


texts: When inserting notes in Preview app, apostrophes become double-byte characters

texts:
Whenever I type a word with an apostrophe inside a note that I insert in a PDF document in Preview (i.e. "I'm"), the apostrophe automatically becomes a double-byte character. I have no idea why this is happening, nor how to fix it. I'm using Mac OS Mojave 10.14.5

Anybody have an answer on how to fix this?


texts: Typing 'paral' into Spotlight suggests 'Pages' instead of 'Parallels Desktop' - how to fix?

texts:
If I type any of these in Spotlight (Yosemite):
par
para
parall
parallel
etc

Parallels Desktop is suggested as the program to launch - which is what I want.

However - if I type 'paral' - what you would think was a good short bet to load the app - it suggests 'Pages.

I endup typing 'paral' a lot as it used to work.

I found nothing on Google.

This makes no sense. How can I fix this?


texts: macOS: Get Safari to show web page load progress bar in full screen mode

texts:
It's annoying to hover over the Menu bar or Toolbar of Safari to see if my click is being responded, or how much of the next page has loaded in when running Safari in full screen mode.

How can I get a thin strip of progress bar? I don't want a Toolbar. I don't want Tab Bar. Just a Progress Bar.

I am running Safari 12 on macOS Mojave 10.14.

Note: If there's no native solution for this, I am willing to install 3rd party extensions too. Something similar to in-page progress indicator used on websites such as Medium or YouTube.

Sample Progress bar on Medium: