texts:
For the past week or so, perhaps since updating my iPhone 6S to iOS 14.4.1 or 14.4.2 periodically if I plug my phone in to charge, or even just raise to wake, whether I fully wake it with TouchID or not, then it does not go back to sleep, whether charging or not.
The screen stays on indefinitely. I've tested it to 15 minutes which is far beyond normal behaviour for either raise to wake or its set sleep period when fully woken.
I am not actively running any app designed to keep it awake, like a sat nav etc.
This may coincide with the iOS update itself, or with the series of app updates I tend to run only infrequently, usually after an OS update.
I have discovered if I swipe up to kill 'some' apps this behaviour stops. I did this at "almost smart random", killing a 3rd party app I knew had been recently updated then re-testing until it stopped misbehaving. I didn't write down what order, rather annoyingly, hence the 'almost' smart. My current suspects are IMDB, AnyList & Virgin TV Control. A reboot will also reset the behaviour, though as this is in effect rebooting all the apps it seems less useful as a diagnostic. Once it behaves again it may take up to a couple of days to manifest once more, so this is tough to tie down.
As I doubt there are too many people who have this issue and all three of those apps, this is really a "has anyone else had this issue & can we jointly discover any commonalities?"


texts:
I recently brought Western Digital's Passport Essential, and will be using with my MacBook (running Snow Leopard), MacBook Air (running Lion) and Windows 7 Desktop. I should be able to read-write data using each machine/OS.

Moreover, I need to store and move files larger than 4GB.

So, what should be preferred file-system type: FAT, exFAT or NTFS? Will my portable drive support exFAT?


texts: Macports / fink / homebrew - which allows true non-root, home-directory-only installation?

texts:
I'm looking into doing some development on my Macbook Pro running Yosemite. I've used both Macports and homebrew before, but I really don't want to install anything on my machine outside of my home directory. Ideally I would be able to have everything installed under $HOME and still be able to link libraries such as SDL, install things like pygame, etc.

I've read various other StackExchange posts about the three main tools (that I'm aware of, and which are mentioned in the title of this message) but I don't think I've seen a clear answer with regard to my question. Is there one?


texts: I'm just wondering if macOS has /usr/bin/env. I am a software developer trying to support macOS without having a box at my disposal.


texts: Does deleting user account on macOS also deletes their installed apps?

texts:
On a Mac with more than one user account, I can open apps installed by other users through Spotlight.

If I delete the other user accounts, will their apps get deleted too?


texts: How to set up mic volume to a fixed level

texts:
Lately, I am holding a lot of vconfs on Google Hangouts. I'm using a headphone set but the internal mic is capturing the input sound. Apparently, if I move a bit away from my iMac or if I speak softer, the system increases (adjusts) that volume automatically. That is all very nice except that then, I start hearing my own echo on the other end! (I mean, transmitted back to me from my vconf partner amplified and delayed).

Does anybody know of a way to prevent that (automatic) behaviour? For instance, to limit the volume instead of just setting it up.


texts: Setting a NVRAM variable in normal boot not permitted but allowed in recovery mode

texts:
If memory serves me right then in Yosemite it was possible to set the NVRAM variable agc with nvram boot-args even in normal full boot mode.

This seems to have changed in later versions of the OS.

In Sierra this results in an error message:

sudo nvram boot-args="-v agc=0"
nvram: Error setting variable - 'boot-args': (iokit/common) general error

If I issue this command in recovery mode it is still accepted without error in 10.12.6.

In SingleUser is it is likewise rejected.

Was this changed from 10.10 to 10.12? Why? Why doesn't it work anymore in normal boot mode but still in recovery?

Any insight on the above is appreciated. But the single question I like to have an answer to is: how can I set this NVRAM variable in either normal boot mode or at least in SingleUser boot mode?


texts: How to connect MacBook Pro (2020) to ultra widescreen monitor?

texts:
I have an ultrawide monitor that's 3840 X 1200. It works perfectly fine with my windows laptop.
I now need to connect my work MacBook Pro provided to me, but under the list of resolutions (and extended hidden resolutions) none of them come close.
Is it a matter of the cable I'm using? I'm using a HDMI cable with a usb-c adaptor on the end to connect it to the MacBook.


texts: Applescript - activate background application doesn't work

texts:
Why doesn't this work

tell application "System Events"
    set AppName to name of every process whose background only is false
    tell application (some item of AppName)
        activate
    end tell
end tell

while this

works

global AppName
tell application "System Events"
    set AppName to name of every process whose background only is false
end tell

tell application (some item of AppName)
    activate
end tell

Obviously, it has something to do with scope but I don't understand why or what.


texts: Can I delete text messages with one swipe like mail messages on iPhone?

texts:
I would like to be able to swipe completely to left and get my text messages deleted similarly to email messages.
I can swipe left and the "delete" option appears, but it's another click.
Is this possible?
Thanks


texts: Why Has the "Downloads" folder become Read-Only?

texts:
Recently my Downloads folder has become read-only. This prevents Safari form saving any file amongst other annoyances.

As you can see from the below image the folder is read-only but I have plenty of disk space.

As you can see in the Info window it not locked. I am logged in as a user with admin rights etc, etc...


texts: Time machine backups not recognised after OS upgrade

texts:
I finally updated my OS from 10.6.8 to Mavericks 10.9 yesterday on my late 2009 iMac 27", but when I got to the point of switching back on my Time machine (connected to a time capsule 2 Tbytes) it doesn't see the previous backups.

How can I make Time machine see the previous backups?  Also: Can I continue on the same time capsule to add to the backups I was doing under 10.6.8 ?

Thanks for your input.


texts: Why does this bash script not work as an automator service?

texts:
I know very little about bash scripting or Terminal commands, this is all very new to me so please bear with me.

Original script

I would like to use a script I found on littlefield.info as an automator service. This is the original script:

for file in *.flv *.mov *.mp4
  do mediainfo "--Inform=Video;%Duration%" $file
done | awk '{total+=$0}END{total=total/1000}END{print strftime("%H:%M:%S",total,1)}'

Explained by the creator:

  Cycle through every video file in a folder,
  Passing it to the mediainfo program to extract the duration in milliseconds,
  Passing that result to the awk program to add up all the numbers to give us a total,
  Passing that to awk again to divide that number by 1000 to give the number of seconds,
  Passing that that to the strftime function to display the result in Hours:Minutes:Seconds format.

Modified script

I installed the mediainfo CLI and started experimenting. Apparently strftime is not available on mac, so I had to look up another way on how to convert the seconds to readable output. I cobbled together the following script (probably horribly inefficient, but hey.. it works):

# the cd is needed for automator
cd "$1"

i=$(for file in *.flv *.mov *.mp4
        do mediainfo "--Inform=Video;%Duration%" $file
    done | awk '{total+=$0}END{print total}')

((i/=1000, sec=i%60, i/=60, min=i%60, hrs=i/60))
timestamp=$(printf "%dh%02dm%02ds" $hrs $min $sec)
echo -e "Total duration of video files in this folder:\n\n$timestamp" > _total_duration.txt

It works perfectly fine in Terminal. But running it as a service from Finder gives the following output:

  Total duration of video files in this folder:

  0h00m00s

awk variable problem

The duration shouldn't be 0. I started troubleshooting, and reduced the script to the following:

for file in *.flv *.mov *.mp4
    do mediainfo "--Inform=Video;%Duration%" $file
done | awk '{total+=$0}END{print total}'  > "test_file_awk.txt"

There seems to be a problem with the variable total in AWK. It doesn't output anything when run from Finder but works correctly from Terminal.

Do you guys have any idea what I'm doing wrong?


texts: FFmpeg with Automator & ask Start and Stop parameters

texts:
I use Automator together with ffmpeg which works great. A shell script command is run with two parameters:

-ss 00:00:00 (starting)
-t 00:00:00 (time length)

Q: Is it possible to set the two parameters using a popup window?


texts: How to find out MBA-2011 13" battery serial number on the battery?

texts:
I'm aware of ability to find out the battery serial number via About This Mac.

Is it also written somewhere on a physical battery, to be read without turning Mac on? If so, where?

Of course I'm ready to open the bottom cover of the computer to physically see the battery (and most likely to detach the battery from the Air to see the number on it).

I have Macbook Air 2011 13".


texts: Is it possible to have the auto display sleep less them a minute some how?

texts:
In the System prefernces Energy Saver section you have "Display Sleep" option.

The minimum time is a minute. is it possible to tweak that some how to less then a minute?

Please don't add comments about good / bad idea... just the answer on the technical part.


texts: Cross-Platform alternative to expr length

texts:
When running some BASH scripts I had in my Linux box I noticed that expr length gives syntax error.

Manual pages doesn't seems to include any information about the length operator. Is it missing in Mac OS X?

What other cross-platform alternative can I use?


texts: Can not create a bootable drive / partition on iMac

texts:
This is a very frustration issue and I am banging my head against the wall.

I have an old iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2389 iMac I salvaged from my parents and the drive failed.  I added a new 1TB WD drive to replace the old 500GB WD drive:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+2389+Hard+Drive+Replacement/6284

Tried to do a clean install of OS X and it kept going into an installer loop after the first install reboot (would go back to the start and ask you what drive to install to etc.).

I finally figured out that the newly formatted internal hard drive is not bootable despite me partitioning and formatting it with the GUID Partition Map.  If I select the drive in Disk Utility and click the info button the drive is listed as bootable = no.

So the installer plugs away, installs the first wave of files then reboots expecting it to boot from the target but it can't so it goes back to the installer USB stick again.


texts: How to change OSX System (Default) Shortcuts?

texts:
In OSX (now is Mavericks), how to change the System Default Shortcuts, for example which are currently like:

Command + Shift + Q .. for current User Logout.
Command + Q .. for current (active) Application Quit.
Command + Down Arrow .. for Opening A File.

Blah blah .. I don't like any of those, honestly.

How to permanently change them, please?

(I would even PAY for an App if it the only way to do.)
Thanks!


texts:
I've created an Automator workflow which (should) create a copy of a particular file in the currently selected folder. (i.e. select a folder, run the Quick Action, get a copy of the file in the folder.

However, when I run the Quick Action, I get the file and TWO copies of the folder itself, within itself. They are not links (I think), but I get a couple of iterations.

Here's the workflow:

I'm thinking that the variable "Path" is copying itself, for some reason. Possibly because it's been "Got". Is there a way to clear the "get"?

Even if I remove the "Get Selected Finder Items" action, I still get one copy of the folder.


texts: How to block bluetooth device that spams me with pairing requests?

texts:
A bluetooth device that is not mine nor under my control asks my computer to pair, about every minute or so.

Interestingly, it's fairly effective as a DOS attack actually.

Disabling my BT is not an option, since I need it for my BT devices.

I want to tell OSX to ignore this particular BT device, but I can't figure out how.


texts: Docking Station for 13" MacBook Pro and Surface Pro 3

texts:
Is there a docking station that is compatible with both 13" Macbook Pro (2015 model A1502) and a Surface Pro 3?

I am looking for one that has

Connectivity up to two monitors (DVI/HDMI/VGA)
Ethernet adapter
1 USB Port
Portable

Thank you


texts: SanDisk SSD Extreme 500 not detected by macOS High Sierra

texts:
I have an external SSD device which is randomly mounted in my MacBook Pro with macOS High Sierra (anyway, I had this problem even in Yosemite, it is not OS related).

I've formatted the SSD with Disk Utility app to NTFS because I need a drive readable from wherever. I do have the Paragon NTFS for Mac app (version 14.3.318), so I guess the filesystem is not the issue. I said so also because this morning, just after the format, I was able to copy stuffs to the ext SSD. But right now is not detected at all.

If I run in the terminal:

diskutil apfs list

I can only see the internal SSD

APFS Container (1 found)
|
+-- Container disk1 536C2ECC-3939-4732-9357-2F037669B42F
    ====================================================
    APFS Container Reference:     disk1
    Capacity Ceiling (Size):      250790436864 B (250.8 GB)
    Capacity In Use By Volumes:   165896990720 B (165.9 GB) (66.1% used)
    Capacity Available:           84893446144 B (84.9 GB) (33.9% free)

What is going on?
Thank you for any help you will provide


texts: Should I buy DDR3 or DDR3L RAM for late 2012 MacBook pro 13 inch?

texts:
I have a MacBook Pro 13", late 2012 model.

This MacBook has 2x2gb 1600MHz DDR3 RAM. I am planning to upgrade it to 8GB of RAM.

I am wondering, should I buy DDR3 or DDR3L type of RAM?


texts:
My 10 month old has figured out how to open both my wife’s iPhone 7plus and my iPhone 7.  The iPhone can be locked which would require fingerprint touch or 6 digit passcode, but for example a moment ago she was ‘editing’ my carrier settings. My baby bought an app a month ago and upon my requesting a refund Apple told me to make sure my phone was locked, which i thought it had been...but gave it the benefit of the doubt.  But, recently I have been catching more and more times when we let her explore the item ensuring it’s locked only to have her unlock it.

Any ideas how she could do this? Do I need to eliminate lock screen shortcuts?  They require Touch ID.  Turn off fingerprint recognition?  I thought fingerprints were unique, and her fingers are tiny.
  I want her to be able to explore technology; so I don’t t want to completely remove all devices.


texts: Connecting iMac + External Monitor to Win 7 Desktop

texts:
My question is 2-part, but first some background.
I have a Windows 7 machine, an iMac (27" Sept. 2013 model) and an Apple Cinema 27" display. I'd like to link all of these together. The Windows 7 machine has Mini DisplayPort on the graphics card. The Cinema Display uses one Mini DisplayPort only.
First, Using this Apple support post, can I link the Cinema to the iMac, link the iMac to the Windows 7 machine, and basically Cmd+F2 to swap BOTH displays between the iMac and the PC?
Second, must the Windows 7 machine be a Thunderbolt port, or will Mini Displayport suffice?
Answer: In the specifics from PacoSF's link the following answers have been transcribed for future readers, as well as for clarity:

Can I use the iMac in Target Display Mode as a display for my gaming console, DVD player, or other device?
The Mini DisplayPort port on a supported iMac can receive DisplayPort compliant video and audio signals. Converters not made by Apple may provide options to convert other electrical, video, and audio protocols to Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt compliant signals.
Can I use the built-in camera or connect USB, ThunderBolt, or FireWire devices to my iMac when in Target Display Mode and have them work on my main computer?
A supported iMac works like any other external display while it is in Target Display Mode, except that you cannot access its built-in camera or USB, ThunderBolt, and FireWire ports. To use external devices while in Target Display Mode mode, connect those devices to the computer the iMac in Target Display Mode is connecting to.

Edit: As a follow-up to this question, I have been following procedure and speaking with specialists. The newest iMac models in fact DO NOT support Thunderbolt-to-non-Thunderbolt video display in any capacity. I was advised submit this feature as feedback to Apple's Product Feedback page (apple.com/feedback). They also advised that if others desire this feature to submit as well, so that it gets enough momentum to provide a Firmware update to provide this feature.


texts: Problem creating a Windows 10 bootable USB on Windows, to work on a MacBook Pro

texts:
I have a MacBook Pro 2013, now with a clean SSD (no OS).
I have a Windows 10 PC from which I am trying to create a bootable USB from a Windows 10 ISO file.
I tried a lot of combinations and softwares, but when I plug the USB on MacBook Pro, click options and then select UEFI, the screen just stays black, it is not recognizing the installation program.
Can anyone share a method to create this USB on Windows in a manner that the MacBook Pro will recognize it?


texts: Can I use 16GB DDR3-1600MHz RAM in an early Macbook Pro 8.2?

texts:
I found Macs which had:

16GB RAM installed

8GB RAM installed, but running on 1600MHz instead of 1333MHz (link in dutch)

Question
Is it possible to put 16GB running at 1600MHz in my Mac?
If you've done this, please post a screen shot.
Apparently you need a Macbook Pro with an i7 processor of at least 2.2GHz or more in order to use memory running at 1600MHz.
My hardware

Macbook Pro 8,2  early 2011 - 2.0GHz i7 quad

edit:
I recently found this sleepimage. Basically it's just a swap file of your RAM. so your mac can 'sleep'. But when you install 16GB you're gonna have a 16GB RAM file sitting on your disk as well. Which you can safely delete but it will be recreated when your mac goes to sleep. just something to consider when your working with limited disk space.


texts: Possible to transfer an active, Verizon sim card to an unlocked iPhone 8 purchased from the Apple store?

texts:
I would like to purchase an iPhone 8 as a gift for a current Verizon customer who is still using an old iPhone 5c. I plan to purchase the phone outright and since the cost at the Verizon store is the same as with Apple, I would prefer to get it directly from Apple. My question is, can I buy her a SIM free phone from Apple or must I buy a Verizon activated phone from Apple instead? This person has a current, activated Verizon account with a Verizon iPhone 5c phone (which was paid off in monthly installments a long time ago). My guess is that since she already has a Verizon account with the 5c and an active SIM card, I could just go with the SIM free option and then all she would need to do is transfer her Verizon SIM card to the new phone and it will work fine. Is this a correct assumption?

Thank you!


texts: Is the gloss on iOS icons automatically applied?

texts: Clearly it isn't completely automatic, as many icons don't have a reflection, but is there some sort of checkbox when creating an app to determine whether the gloss is applied?


texts: Getting a rented movie from iPod touch back to the PC

texts:
I just rented a movie using iTunes on Windows 7 and then transferred the movie to my 4th gen iPod touch using drag & drop.

It has disapeared from the list on the PC, and I have not started watching the movie yet.

Now I want watch it on the PC, how do I get it back on the PC?


texts: Macbook Pro Bluetooth not available after plugging in a dongle

texts:
I plugged in a USB Bluetooth dongle into my MacBook Pro 16" late 2019 model and it seems that after unplugging the dongle I am unable to use my Macbook's internal Bluetooth controller. I am not able to connect to any BT device when the dongle is not connected to the Macbook.

Here is my System Report for Bluetooth:

  Apple Bluetooth Software Version: 7.0.4f6
  Hardware, Features and Settings:
  Name: Aleksanteri’s MacBook Pro
  Address:  3C-22-FB-05-56-D9
  Bluetooth Low Energy Supported:   Yes
  Handoff Supported:    Yes
  Instant Hot Spot Supported:   Yes
  Manufacturer: Broadcom
  Transport:    UART
  Chipset:  4364B3
  Firmware Version: v50 c4177
  Bluetooth Power:  On
  Discoverable: On
  Connectable:  Yes
  Auto Seek Pointing:   On
  Remote wake:  On
  Vendor ID:    0x05AC
  Product ID:   0x0096
  Bluetooth Core Spec:  5.0 (0x9)
  HCI Revision: 0x1051
  LMP Version:  5.0 (0x9)
  LMP Subversion:   0x2032
  Device Type (Major):  Computer
  Device Type (Complete):   Mac Portable
  Composite Class Of Device:    0x38010C
  Device Class (Major): 0x01
  Device Class (Minor): 0x03
  Service Class:    0x1C0
  Auto Seek Keyboard:   On
  Devices (Paired, Configured, etc.):
  Magic Trackpad 2:
  Address:  E4-50-EB-F1-5F-81
  Major Type:   Peripheral
  Minor Type:   Trackpad
  Services:
  Paired:   Yes
  Configured:   Yes
  Connected:    No
  Bluetooth Core Spec:  1.0b
  Vendor ID:    0x004C
  Product ID:   0x0265
  Class of Device:  0x05 0x25 0x2594
  Services:
  Bluetooth File Transfer:
  Folder other devices can browse:  ~/Public
  When receiving items: Accept all without warning
  State:    Disabled
  Bluetooth File Exchange:
  Folder for accepted items:    ~/Downloads
  When other items are accepted:    Save to location
  When receiving items: Accept all without warning
  State:    Disabled
  Bluetooth Internet Sharing:
  State:    Disabled
  Incoming Serial Ports:
  Bluetooth-Incoming-Port:
  RFCOMM Channel:   3
  Requires Authentication:  No

What have I tried to do to fix this:

Restarted the computer numerous times
Deleted /Library/Preferences/com.apple.Bluetooth.plist file
Reset PRAM, NVRAM and SMC
Ran bluetooth with Debug mode to "Reset Bluetooth Module" and "Remove all devices"
Installed Bluetooth Explorer that shows the following error on startup:

updateChainPower error: -3903
2020-04-13 20:35:57 +0000 Apple80211Get(APPLE80211_IOC_BTCOEX_MODE) returned error -3903
updateChainPower error: -3903

Bluetooth starts working again when I plug in the dongle. Have I broken the internal controller by attaching an adapter to the machine? I am not even able to connect my Magic Trackpad to the Macbook via Bluetooth. First, I pair it with the machine using the cable. After disconnecting, it is unresponsive and is not able to connect.

What are my next steps? Is this a warranty issue?

EDIT: This is the dongle that might have caused the issue: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32686102148.html

EDIT2: Took it to the repair shop today, I'll follow up with what was the resolution of that case.

Strangely enough, they advertise that it does not work with Macs but now it is the only way to get Bluetooth working on the Macbook.


texts: OS X: frequent discoveryd warnings in console

texts:
Here's an example from the console log:

29.05.15 09:27:23,475 discoveryd[89]: Basic Warn DD_Warn: Bad count; corrupt TXT RDATA

I'm trying to find the cause of some frequent slowness on my iMac so I'm inspecting the console log regularly. These are one of the messages I can't get rid of and I can't seem to find an issue for.

Any idea where this may come from? They seem to appear every few hours.

10.10.3, late 2012 iMac.


texts: Using Favorites from Character Viewer on another Mac

texts:
I would like to use the list of customized Favorites in Character Viewer from my Macintosh on my co-worker's Mac.

Is there a way to do so?


texts: error -36 on a brand new samsung 850 ssd drive

texts:
I after some advnature (as described here) I have successfully booted osx installation from a brand new SSD by Samsung (EVO 850).  I am running osx 10.11.6 (trim is not enabled). My Mac is mid 2009 macbook pro.

When installing, I have restored a Time Machine state. Now, whenever I try to access large files on the disk, they fail to be copied with an error message  -36: saying that source file "cannot be read or written". I am able to successfully copy files from the backup disk or from internet to the SSD, but once there, they cannon be copied further (they can be moved, but this is just bookkeeping operation, no data is read then). So it seems the problem occurs when the OS tries to actually read something besides FS entries.

The error persists both in Finder and Terminal.

The SSD is brand-new. It has uptime of 7 hrs, and 41 power cycles. It comes clean with "disk utility" - no problems detected, but I guess this tool does not perform disk read/write integrity test, just checks FS entries. Am I right?

So what options do I have here?


texts: Shell not finding commands after I changed my .bash_profile file

texts:
I was following a tutorial trying to install Laravel (5.0). The tutorial showed to add export PATH="~/.composer/vendor/bin/laravel" to the .bash_profile document. Since then, I am not able to execute any command (nano, ssh, etc).

Nothing happens when I executed this in terminal:

export PATH="~/.composer/vendor/bin/laravel"

My .bash_profile looks like this:

export PATH=/Applications/MAMP/bin/php/php5.5.10/bin:$PATH

I tried logging out, restarting and entering the following commands:

source ~/.bash_profile
. .bash_profile

Can anyone help?


texts: AppleID can I transfer data without using the same one?

texts: I don't want to use the same Apple ID on my new phone as on my old phone because it got messed up, however I don't want to have to buy each app twice. Is there a way I can without using the same Apple ID? Same goes for music.


texts: What makes a webpage's sound continue after the page is closed?

texts: Some websites that have sound/music keep the sound running even after the web browser is closed on iPad. Some other websites stop the sound when the page is closed. I suppose there must be some coding within the HTML to control this. How is this done?


texts: How to see count of unread emails from the Mail app in the Mac OS menu bar?

texts:
What's the best way to see the count of unread emails from the Mail app in the Mac OS menu bar? (Bonus points if I can use it to open the Mail app as well.)

I don't really use the Dock, and I've gotten used to apps like Airmail and Fantastical that use the Mac OS menu bar to show information, like e.g. the count of unread emails.

The best I could find after a quick search was https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/22042/mail-unread-menu (from this thread), which looks like it hasn't been updated in ~6 years and might not work without also installing the MailPluginFix plugin. Is that really the best way to do this?

I'm using Mojave.


texts: Replacement battery in MacBook Pro 2009 doesn't charge

texts:
I had a dead battery on my Mac so I bought a new one. Installed it and it works fine.
After the battery got low, I plugged in the charger but nothing happens, it just won't charge the battery. When the charger is plugged in it just flickers orange.
Any ideas?
Update: I guess the charging system is toast, but love my Mac and would like to get it fixed, reasonably priced.


texts: What is the significance of 1946-02-14 08:34:56?

texts:
When Finder is operating on a file or folder on the system, the file/folder is greyed out and unable to be opened, as well as unable to be trashed. This is most notable when copying or moving a file or folder using Finder; whilst the operation is in progress the destination file/folder is shown in grey. Finder is aware that the destination file/folder is currently in an operation by setting the creation date of the file or folder to the kMagicBusyCreationDate, which is 08:34:56 on 1946-02-14 (+0000).

What is the significance of this date and time? When I discovered that a date is used for the aforementioned purpose by Finder, I expected it to be something relating to the Unix timestamp/epoch, etc. but nothing seems to be standing out to me as a reason for this date/time being chosen, being far back beyond 1970.

I have found in Finder.h, the following comment is provided, yet this does not provide the significance of the specific date/time that was selected either:

  Use this date as a file's or folder's creation date to indicate that it is temporarily busy (while it is being downloaded or installed, for example). This prevents Finder from trying to change the item's attributes before it is fully created (Finder 8.5 and 8.6 check file creation dates; later Finders may check folder creation dates as well).


texts: How do I rebuild the music library on my iphone?

texts:
Using iTunes, I updated album names and track numbers on my iPhone. But the music library is stuck using the old values. What gives? How can I get the iPhone music library to update?

I'm on iOS 5


texts: Is Apple Watch accurate in measuring activity?

texts:
I just got my first Apple Watch and I notice the activity app tells me I've completed various goals at very strange times. I'm not particularly active. I exercise 15-20 minutes 3 times a week. But, I'll be sitting on my sofa late in the evening and I'll get up to get something from the refrigerator and my watch will tell me "Congratulations! You reached your goal for X!". I'll turn over in bed and it will tell me "Congrats, you reach your goal for Y!"

This happens regularly that in periods of doing almost nothing the Activity app tell me I reach my goal.

That got me thinking how does it actually work? How does it know me lifting food to my mouth is different than me living a weight?

Is there any info on how accurate Apple Watch is knowing what the user is doing?


texts: Will OSX Lion support filevault encryption on bootcamp partitions?

texts: I'm thinking of migrating to bootcamp (from Parallels for speed), but need encryption. Apple has said Lion will have "whole disk" 128-bit encryption - any guesses on whether this includes bootcamp partitions?


texts: How to check installed OS X version from the command-line on each partition?

texts:
I'm managing a lot of Macs and each machines has several partitions with different OS versions.

I would like to create a script that I could run to do an inventory of all partitions of all machines and take note what OS is installed on each partition.

On the active partition, it would be easy to get it via the sw_vers command. But what about on a different partition?


texts: Finding Where Alias Points Even With Deleted File

texts: Can I find where an alias was pointing to, if the file is deleted?


texts: How to find which template is used in existing Xcode project?

texts: I have one iOS application existing project and i have opened it in Xcode-7 but i want know which template is used in that?


texts: How can I "go to page" in preview via toolbar?

texts: I would like to select the page directly from the window, but it is not accessible :


texts: How do you find an AirTag on the web using iCloud.com's FindMyiPhone (not the app?)


texts: If I paste in an image into Pages '09, it scales the image, creating something that is either too small, or too large. Trying to resize these is driving me crazy, how can I either prevent this from happening, or quickly get it back to its original size?


texts: Intermittent Static / Garbage External Display On Wake and Boot? Picture included

texts:
Intermittently (relatively frequent) when the MacBook wakes from sleep and it kicks the external displays on, one or all of them may be fuzzy like this.
I have one display in a Thunderbolt port, and the other one is Apple HDMI adapter in the HDMI port.

I've ruled out the adapters being the problem,
I've done a PRAM reset. (even after it booted from PRAM reset it did it at boot up on login screen)

To fix it, I have to unplug and plug it back in and cross my fingers that it doesn't happen again.

Any ideas?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013)
2.3 GHz Intel Core i7
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB


texts: Apple Configurator 2 - How to edit a profile

texts:
I am using Apple Configurator 2 to program some iPads. I am able to create a profile but editing that profile once it is made has completely eluded me.

Am I missing something here> How do I edit a profile once it's been setup?


texts: Wifi/Bluetooth/Ethernet all mixed up in Sys Prefs

texts:
Today took my iMac out of sleep (9,1) and it was not loading anything over the internet.  So I looked into it, and noticed my wifi indicator has gone missing from my menu bar.

So I looked further into it, and as per the following screenshot my wireless is showing with the ethernet icon, my ethernet does not exist, my bluetooth is showing the wifi logo and appears to be connecting over PAN to one of my Airport Extreme access points - I am totally confused.  I have rebooted, turned wifi on and off, and it's staying the same.  Currently doing a software update to see what happens, and internet is working again as I am currently connected with this exact setup as per the screenshots:

It looks like it's just a naming mixup, like a bodged plist or something for the network connection names, I have turned bluetooth off and it stays connected.  Anyone got a clue what is going on?


texts:
I have a scenario where I'd like 2 separate applescripts.

The idea is super simple. 2 Applications, but only one runs at a time.

Example: Close application 1, launch application 2 (and vise versa)

Here are the 2 scripts I have:

A.) OpenSteam

tell application "Plex Home Theater" to quit
delay 5
tell application "Steam" to activate

B.) OpenPlex:

tell application "Steam" to quit
delay 5
tell application "Plex Home Theater" to activate

The script "OpenSteam" works perfectly fine. It does exactly what I want it to do. However, the same script in reverse (OpenPlex) does not seem to work.

Steam closes, but my script then gives me the following error *Note, Plex is not launched:

error "Steam got an error: User canceled." number -128

I have no idea what this means, and was hoping someone could help me out.

--

I got my initial information from here: https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/27945-harmony-one-custom-command/#entry179765 I have revised the example scripts to fit my needs.


texts: Mac alternative boot loader for booting legacy OS from USB

texts:
I am trying to install Windows 7 on my MacBook as a dual boot setup. I have a MacBook 7,1 running Mavericks. I have replaced the DVD drive with a SSD (now have 2 internal drives) so cannot use a windows CD to do the install. I have used the trick that alters the BootCamp info.plist file to allow me to create a bootable USB to do the install. So I have a bootable Windows 7 installer USB. I know this works because I can boot into it on another MacBook.

However, it turns out that my MacBook can't boot from USBs other than USBs containing a Mac OS. The BootCamp created USB (Windows 7 installer) does not appear at all on the grey boot sources screen (holding option at boot). I have tried rEFIt/rEFInd and they see that there is an OS on the USB but when it tries to boot it gives me a heap of errors saying that Mac can't boot "legacy" OSs from a USB.

To summarize: Its not a problem with corruption or incorrect formatting. I put the USB into another (newer) MacBook and can boot into it absolutely fine. This is a problem with my MacBook not being able to boot from USBs.

I need a way to boot from this USB even though the mac won't natively do it. Is there an alternative bootloader that I can install on my macbook to provide this USB booting functionality?


texts: Put computer to sleep and have it ask for password on wake

texts:
How do I put computer to sleep and have it re-awake asking for a password?

I'm looking for a terminal command to do this.

I tried pmset sleepnow did not work.


texts:
Is there any problem that I may have in the future if I use the name 'scrat' in an web app for App Store? For example 'Scrat Store' or something similar?

Since the name 'scrat' is the name of an Ice Age character and obviously is trademarked.


texts: iMessage often fails to send SMS on non-iOS device

texts:
Since iOS 10.1, my iPhone often fails to send SMS. After sending, it waits, then display the red (!), saying "not delivered"

it seems to only happen on non-iPhone recipients
most of time (everytime??), my recipient still get my message (in spite of the not delivered warning)
someone told me "why do you always send your messages twice?".

How this correct this issue?


texts: Why is the MS To-Do App adding things to my reminders, and how do I stop it?

texts:
I have a corporate Office 365 account for work and have the Microsoft To-Do app installed to manage work related things.

When I add a task, it seems to be added to my iOS reminders:

I haven’t given (or has it asked) permissions to access my reminders:

I use the Reminders app for personal stuff so don’t want this to happen. There is nothing in the To-Do app settings to disable this “feature”.


texts: I have installed some packages from macports, and nearly all of them required to install Xorg. How can I remove the Xorg packages? Is there a way to reinstall all my Xorg dependant package without Xorg support?


texts: Trying to restore Time Machine. Lost boot disk

texts:
I just bought a new Macbook Air after giving mine to my wife.  Before gifting the old laptop I created a Time Machine backup.

Now that I have my new MBAir, I went into Apple+R and chose to restore a Time Machine Backup.  Chose my backup, chose the Macintosh HD as the destination drive.  It failed.

Now, subsequent attempts have not shown Macintosh HD as a choice for restoration destination. It is also not a choice when trying to choose a start up disk.

However it does show up in Disk Utility.

Boot attempts without holding Apple+R take me to the same OSX Utilities Page.

It seems that I lost my Macintosh HD....

What should I do?


texts: Is there a way to view Game Center information on OS X?

texts: Is there a way to view Game Center information, such as achievements or friends, on OS X (or any other desktop OS), or is Game Center only accessible from iOS?


texts: Which version of ZSH is installed in macOS Catalina?

texts:
I am required to write a script on Linux while still supporting macOS. I am using ZSH. macOS Catalina has ZSH enabled by default, but the feature I am building has a version dependency on the ZSH version.

Which version of ZSH comes pre-installed with macOS catalina? (I did not have access to a macOS Catalina based machine at the time of writing this)


texts: ios9 updated iPad now wants passcode already tried restore

texts: I recently updated to ios9 and it now wants a passcode.  I've tried to restore via DFU mode, however iTunes no longer lets you JUST "restore" - you now have to "Restore & Update" which puts me right back to needing a passcode.  I either never set one up, or it was 10 years ago when I first go the iPad.  My apple ID and other "usual" passcodes I might have used don't work.  I tried a second time doing restore and now just get an error message.  Ideas??


texts:
I'm thinking about switching to new Mac with ARM in next months. I usually backup with TimeMachine my Mac. 3 years ago I moved from MacBook Air to MacBook Pro really smoothly using backup from TimeMachine. I'm now  asking if it will be as easy as last time doing it from an x86 Mac to a ARM one. For example all binaries files in my mac will not work on the new one, are they copied anyway? I know that Rosetta exists and it can run x86 binaries, but I definitely prefer pure ARM install of software instead of have the Mac full of old binaries. Does Time Machine copy smartly the applications or I need to do it manually? Is there a way to copy only the data and not the executable files?
Suppose that I have to transfer all the x86 executable files. Is there a script to clean the Mac from unnecessary files? This should be in another question, but since is quite related to what I'm talking about: how can I clean my Mac from old and uninstalled application data? My Library folder is full of files created by applications that I have uninstalled years ago (some of them were  uninstalled on the old mac and Time Machine brought their data on the new Mac) and I want to clean up it; I guess that this problem affects also other folders.
Thank you!


texts: Missing HD partition in disk utility (after failed Ubuntu installation)

texts:
My first attempt at installing dual boot Ubuntu on an old MacBook Pro (mid 2010) was rather unsuccessful and I was trying to erase the Ubuntu partition (300 gb) before re installing.
This somehow turned the 300 bp partition into a 'free space'; I can't do anything with it. what is this 'free space' and how can I turn it into a usable partition?


texts:
I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014) and would like to upgrade my SSD. I've searched online and haven't been able to find which type of SSD would work for this particular model. I've included the specs below.

Is an SSD upgrade compatible with my computer, and if so, what type?


texts: Why is Xcode 11.2.1 not appearing in the App Store updates tab?

texts:
I use OS X and have Xcode 11.2. I tried to push an app to TestFlight and got a warning that I needed to upgrade to Xcode 11.2.1.
Every time that I've upgraded Xcode in the past, I went to the Updates tab in the App Store, and downloaded the version there if there were any.

Right now there's no version 11.2.1 in the App Store.

What I Want To Know:

1) If 11.2.1 exists, why isn't it in the Updates tab of the App Store? Is it only new major and minor versions, and not patch versions, that show up there?

2) What's the best way to get version 11.2.1?


texts: MacBook Pro - can't boot into Windows, how to fix the MBR?

texts: Following the post FFFFFFFF problem with hybrid partitioned drive, not able to fix with the guide in other topics, I was able to fix the FFFFFFFF partition problem and managed to boot into macOS, and now how can I recover bootcamp Windows?


texts: How to show a Keynote presentation on other platforms?

texts:
I will make a presentation about my project in my college, and I will use Keynote to make the presentation file because I found it better than Powerpoint.

I have a Macbook Pro and I can't connect it to the projector directly.

Is there any way to use the Keynote file on Windows with all the features?


texts: Running multiple git ssh logins via Terminal

texts:
I recently set up an SSH key for by Bitbucket account, which works very nicely. But I also have other git repos like Github, GitLab (non ssh at the moment) and I came to push to one of those other accounts and I think the Terminal defaulted to use my bitbucket ssh keys.

So how would I force Terminal to either let me login with a username and password when using a github repo, or let me pick which ssh keys to use, say I had setup up keys for Gitlab and Github?


texts:
As in this previous question

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49120467/facetime-autoacceptinvites

I want to use my mac to look at the state of my home from time to time (particularly to see whether my HomeKit Automation works). That would most easily be done by having the mac auto-accept FaceTime calls from my iPhone.

Previously, there have been the com.apple.FaceTime plist keys AutoAcceptInvites and AutoAcceptInvitesFrom, which could be used to configure the desired behavior. However, they do not seem to have the desired effect any more in Mojave.

Running strings /Applications/FaceTime.app/Contents/MacOS/FaceTime | grep Auto as the poster of the original solution for the old OSses yielded several results. The keys AutoAcceptInvites and AutoAcceptInvitesFrom are still there. Another promising one was Auto-accepting invite: %@. Since %@ is the string format for an object in Cocoa (that is, a string for example), I guess this is something like a log message for an automatically accepted call. So it might still be possible.


texts: How to measure GPu temperature MBP 13 mid-2010?

texts:
My question is very simple. I have some troubles with my MBP 13' mid-2010 (kernels panics, crashs and reboots). I think the problem is coming from the GPU (Nividia 320m). One solution could be to change the thermal paste on the GPU but before doing this I want to know the temperature of the GPU.

I use iStat Pro but it doesn't propose to measure this temperature. Do you know if it's possible? And if yes how can I do this?


texts: Renaming files/names in bulk, any smarter solution?

texts:
I have few thousand files to rename.

The thing is I have the old file names and new file names as columns in a spreadsheet. Without renaming them one by one. Is there a better way to do this?

Appreciate any help. I have tried the following with little satisfaction:

File Renamer - This allows me to rename the specified files from an external list in .txt. However the Trial version limits to 500 items. I do not wish to pay $20 just for this manual job.

Could have installed them in separated computers or virtual machine though.
Automator - Get specified items > Rename >

Not as effectively as I thought it would.

Just looking for some smarter solution. Appreciate any help


texts: Tell application "Microsoft Outlook" not working after Yosemite upgrade

texts:
I have two Macs.  The AppleScript code below runs on one Mac ("Mac 1"), but not on the other ("Mac 2").  Mac 1 is running Snow Leopard, where Mac 2 was upgraded to Yosemite, and the AppleScript below no longer runs.

tell application "Microsoft Outlook"
    set NewMail to make new outgoing message with properties{content:"Hello Ashlie,

I hope you are having a wonderful day. I wanted to send a quick note to thank you for signing up on our real estate website. I'm confident I know of or can easily find a property fitting your criteria. Are you looking to buy a home in San Diego?", subject:"A quick note to thank you"}
    make new to recipient at NewMail with properties{email address:{address:"example@example.com"}}
    open NewMail
    activate NewMail
end tell


texts: HighSierra MacOS Input Sources and Input Menu Unicode Keyboard Bugs

texts:
I have an occupational need for about seven different keyboards including US, Greek Polytonic, Classical Hebrew, Ethiopic, Semitic Transliteration, and extended Latin keyboards (college professor). But I have had a devil of a time with High Sierra. Custom Keyboards that I install (ones that worked just fine in earlier OSs) don't stay accessible in the input menu, and disappear from the input sources menu.  I have tried various fixes, to no avail. NOW, I've tried to pare it back so that I have no custom keyboards installed at all, just the native US keyboard entry. But my input menu lists multiple duplicate copies of keyboards that the system preferences doesn't even acknowledge are installed! HELP. Apple has to fix this issue.

These are my current input sources dialog (System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources) and my current input menu drop-down (Menu Bar upper right).


texts: How to create a simple keyboard macro with Automator?

texts:
How can I use the built in tool, Automator (rather than a 3rd party app), to create a simple keyboard macro?

For example, I want it to press Cmd-Shift Left, then Cmd-U, then Right, etc.

I tried using the record feature to create this macro, but ran into several problems.

The first is that it's copying my mouse events after I press record and as I go into the application I want to run the macro on. For example, in this case I want to run it in Chrome. I ended up deleting the first few steps which involved launching chrome. The reason I deleted them is because I don't want it to be limited to a specific application, and I think that it just adds to the complexity if it tries activating an application. I want it to stick with running keyboard commands only.

The second problem is that I'm not sure how to initiate the keyboard macro. Do I save the recorded file? Where to? How do I invoke the macro once I am in Chrome? Is there a way to assign a keyboard shortcut to it?


texts: How to lock a Mac lock screen without using keystrokes in the script?

texts:
I'd like to go to the Mac lock screen with a command line script. Many of the existing answers suggest something like osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to sleep', but my computer does not allow me to change the settings to show the lock screen on sleep.
The AppleScript includes a command to open KeyboardCleaner which disables access to the keyboard and I'd like to run this while KeyboardCleaner is active. So any script/command that doesn't depend on keystrokes is required.
I'll run my AppleScript (which opens KeyboardCleaner and also locks the computer ) by running
python3 -c 'from file import *; script();'

This is what I've tried

osascript -e 'tell application "Finder" to sleep' - my computer does not show the lock screen on sleep.
alias afk="osascript -e 'tell application \"System Events\" to keystroke \"q\" using {command down,control down}'" - this requires using the keyboard which is not possible for my use case
pmset displaysleepnow - same problem as 1
tell application "System Events" to key code 12 using {control down, command down} - same problem as 2


texts: Where does OS X store mouse preferences?

texts:
I couldn't figure out where the settings I change with the "Mouse" system preferences are stored. Neither plist ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple..plist nor /Library/Preferences/com.apple..plist changes significantly if I change the mouse pointer speed.

My problem: at work I plug in a usb mouse, at home I use my bluetooth mouse.
When I switch I always have to change the speed because for usb the slider must be at the very left, for bluetooth mouse far at the right. So I wanted to write a script that changes and was hoping to be able to use

defaults write ...


texts: The "allow apps downloaded from" setting won't stay selected

texts:
All my (downloaded?) files restored from Time Machine are marked as "damaged". I assume the problem is similar to this one: All downloaded files cannot be opened as they are 'damaged and should be moved to the Trash' so I try to change the "Allow app..." setting.

I open Security & Privacy and see App Store is selected:

I click the padlock and check "App Store and identified developers":

(I also notice that "Anywhere" is no longer an option.)

I leave System Preferences and try to open my files, but still get the error. So I go back to System Preferences, Security & Privacy and the old option is still selected:


texts: Adding new contact to iMessage group chat

texts:
With iMessage there is a group chat feature similar to the feature in Whats App. But I can't find a way to add new people to an ongoing group chat.

Is this possible?


texts: Sync music to a borrowed iPhone without disturbing other content

texts:
I need to use my daughter's old iPhone 5 as an iPod for a single event (so I can connect it to external speakers via its headphone socket, which my iPhone 7 doesn't have). To do so I need to sync it to my laptop to transfer over the music I need for the event. But it's only the music that I want to sync; I don't want to interfere with any other content on the iPhone 5 — photos, apps (and their data), etc etc I want to leave untouched. Is this possible?

Oh, and of course she's a teenager so this phone has almost certainly never been synced to a computer (or if it has then not for two years or more) so the idea of 'simply resync it from your daughter's computer afterward to put everything back as it was' is unlikely to be a workable option. And it's not her current phone anyway.


texts: How to create a Case Sensitive filesystem in 10.11.1?

texts:
How to create a Case Sensitive file system on a Mac?

Here is a simple test:

echo 'you should see this' > abc ; echo 'not just this twice' > ABC ; cat  abc ABC
you should see this
not just this twice

I'm on Mac version 10.11.1 and even with a "Case Sensitive" filesystem on a DMG image, I get:

not just this twice
not just this twice


texts: Mission control el capitan desktop thumbnail

texts:
I have recently moved from Snow Leopard to El Capitan, and there is something I'm missing currently and hope it is a gesture I don't know.

In Snow Leopard, when looking at all your desktop (Exposés and Spaces) it was possible to get what is actually Mission control, but on all the thumbnails of the other desktops.

In a quick view, it was then possible to expand all the windows of all the desktops. I don't know how to get that with El Capitan.

Thanks


texts:
cant upgrade my 2009 iMac 2009 20" with 2GB for a few months but need to upgrade to 10.9.4 to install Yosemite.

I am currently running 10.8.1 as a fresh install of Mountain Lion which runs fine, but I dont want to install Yosemite and have OS hang and beach ball on me.

Not running anything to intensive, at most; Sublime, Spotify, terminal, Firefox


texts: How to prevent an iPad from grabbing Apple ID for "Itunes and App Store" when plugged into a Mac?

texts:
I work as an iOS developer and have a number of development iPads at work. They are generic ipads used for testing and demos, none should apple ID.

When I plug such iPad into my mac, two things seems to happen:

iTunes opens and offers me to "set up my new iPad", even if it is already setup
I close iTunes
I unplug the iPad, but now it has my personal apple ID remembered in "iTunes and app store" in preferences.

Now at random intervals the ipad asks me for the password for this user ID. I think it even tries to convert that into an iCloud ID. Even worse, I randomly get popups saying "[some random generic company ipad] now uses my apple ID for facetime and iMessage".

How can I permanently lock generic iPads into something so it does not grab my personal apple ID and use it?


texts: Open app in current directory when another app with the same name exists, from command line

texts:
I have an app name foo.app I want to open from command line (using open).

My folder structure is like this:

~
+---bar
     +--- foo.app
+---baz
     +--- foo.app

I want to open the app located in the bar folder, however if I do open -a foo.app, the app located in the baz folder will open, even if my current working directory is in the bar folder.

open -a ./foo.app or open -a ~/bar/foo.app doesn't work either.


texts: Netflix app on AppleTV crashes and restarts after beginning to play

texts:
I have had this issue for several months, the AppleTV is up-to-date, I've even done a factory reset, but the same problem is happening, and it appears to be most common on Netflix.

After playing for a few minutes, the app crashes and the system restarts. After digging through the menu to get back to whatever was being watched, it usually plays after the point of failure, but sometimes crashes again at a later point.

I think I've ruled out:

Out of date software (keeping it up to date, auto updates enabled)
App data that is causing a failure (factory reset should fix that)
Hardware failure (since it's most common with Netflix)

Last week I turned on the feature to send usage data to Apple so that if a crash report was being generated in the background, it would go to Apple Developers.

Has anyone else had a similar problem? Or does anyone have any ideas about how I can diagnose this problem? I can't find logs anywhere, I feel like I'm working in the dark here,


texts: iMac is mysteriously unable to use WiFi that works for all other systems

texts:
So, my house has Wifi that works pretty consistently with all of our computers, both macs and PC's. However, we just set up our iMac (which runs Snow Leopard) for the first time in a few months, and data just trickles in. It usually connects to the router, but if a page loads at all it will take at least a minute (which is obviously entirely useless). I've tried playing around with AirPort settings a little bit, but nothing has worked. I've also done a good deal of internet searching, but nothing particularly helpful has arisen. So, does anyone have any possible suggestions?

I should also mention that I brought it to the Genius Bar to have this dealt with. When I was there, however, the store internet worked fine. This was after the employee showed me how to clear the PRAM, so we figured that this was the issue and I left on my merry way. However, the problem was the same back at home, no matter how many times I reset the PRAM.


texts:
In Yosemite the App Store System Preferences pane has automatic updates for a few separate items:

"Install App updates"
"Install OS X updates"
"Install system data files and security updates"

App updates would include 3rd party software as well as Pages, Numbers, iMovie, etc.

I'm not clear on the other two. My guess is OS X updates includes things like 10.10.3, iTunes, Safari, Remote Desktop Client Update, Camera RAW, etc. My guess for system data files and security updates may include things like XProtect definitions, Security Update 2015-001, etc.

Are those assumptions correct?

Would 10.11.0 when it released be considered an "OS X update" and be automatically installed?

I've found these articles (one two) with conflicting info, but an haven't located an official knowledge base article from Apple with definitive answers.


texts: Can you determine when the "Service Battery" warning came on for a MacBook?

texts:
I have a Macbook Pro 7,1 that may or may not have been damaged from water the other day. I noticed that the battery indicator now has the 'Service Battery' showing. I'm wondering if it's possible to determine when the warning turned on because that will give me an idea as to whether this is a water damage issue or just because it's almost 6 years old.
CoconutBattery says my battery has 972 load cycles and is only operating on 37% capacity.
Update: while I still don't have an answer to this question, I bought a new (and expensive) MagSafe charger for this MacBook that did the trick. I was able to easily rip off the tip of the old charger (the bit that connects to the Macbook), so I think it was pretty frayed already. Perhaps that was the problem.
While the battery still says "Service", it does charge up normally now.


texts:
I am on Catalina, latest version.
Since yesterday, I keep getting this:

I didn't know that iLife was even still a thing.
This is the update detail:

But then, when I try to install it:

and... it keeps repeating.
How can I get this over with?


texts: Can I take GoPro videos that I have imported on to my iPad and later put them on my MacBook Pro?

texts: I travel a lot and I use a memory card reader on my iPad to import my GoPro videos and pictures while I am traveling just because it is easier than bringing my whole MacBook along with me. Can I then later take those videos and put them onto my MacBook? I basically use my iPad as a temporary storage device that way I can get them on my MacBook to edit them and upload them appropriately (hopefully). Appreciate any help!


texts: How to fix Safari print preview crash after upgrade to Mountain Lion?

texts:
After upgrading to Mountain Lion, opening the print dialog in Safari.

Printing was fine before the upgrade. Also printing still works in my VMs under Parallels.

How to fix Safari print preview crash after upgrading to Mountain Lion?


texts: Macbook suddenly starts playing music with lid closed

texts:
Last night my laptop's battery died while I was listening to the radio. Before sleeping I closed the lid and connected it to the charger. After ~6 hours, the laptop suddenly started playing music for a minute or so, and then stopped again by itself. I had never heard the music it played. When I opened the lid nothing was playing. Does anyone know what could have caused this?
Thanks!


texts: MacBook 15 Air won't boot after Catalina install

texts:
I installed Catalina from Mojave and went through the normal steps. I left it plugged in overnight to download and install, and when I checked it this morning the screen was black with a flashing gray folder icon with a question mark on it.

I googled the issue and tried the various recovery methods (safe mode, boot from another drive, the local and remote system repairs) but none would work. I power cycled each time I tried one of the recovery key combos, but the mac would take a long time to get to the flashing folder icon and would run very hot.

I took it to my local apple store and they told me they would have to send it away for service because "it would not turn on" and they'd have to pull it apart to figure out the issue.

Has anyone else had this problem? The techs made it sound like a hardware issue, but that doesn't make sense to me.


texts:
In which path exactly are the pmset settings saved?  The manpage says it's stored here.  However, I couldn't find any settings there.

The macOS Energy Saver preference file is stored
at:
/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.PowerManagement.plist


texts:
I have a bash script imagecopy.sh that backups images which are located in a subdirectory with a prepended date string: this works perfectly fine when I execute it from the directory it resides in - /Users/danny/Library/Caches/.

The script is

#!/usr/bin/env bash
cat himawaripy/latest.png > himawaripy/output/$(date "+%Y.%m.%d-%H.%M.%S").png

I have also added the directory where the script is located to my $PATHusing nano .profile and confirmed this using echo $PATH.

/Users/danny/Library/Caches:/Users/danny/anaconda/bin:/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/opt/X11/bin:/Library/TeX/texbin

I would like to run the bash script periodically using a LaunchAgent, located in /Users/danny/Library/LaunchAgents.

The LaunchAgent file com.user.imagecopier.plistreferences the script location by the lines..

..other code

<key>Program</key>
<string>imagecopy.sh</string>

...etc

I presume there is a mistake linking the LaunchAgent file to the script, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: Updated LaunchAgent File as Suggested

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

  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/Users/danny/Library/Caches/imagecopy.sh</string>
  </array>

  <key>Nicer</key>
  <integer>1</integer>

  <key>StartInterval</key>
  <integer>60</integer>

  <key>RunAtLoad</key>
  <true/>

</dict>
</plist>


texts: What do I need to update a late 2012, 27" iMac to SSD?

texts:
I know I need this thermal sensor from OWC.

I want a 2TB SSD disk. My question is: will any SSD disk fit inside a late 2012 iMac?

Do I need any special frame to make it fit?

I will be replacing the internal HD.


texts: Trying to restore Macbook Pro to factory setting, but it freezes when inserted the DVD

texts:
I'm trying to restore my Macbook Pro (17") to factory settings, and here were the steps that I took:

I inserted the Snow Leopard DVD.
I turned off my Mac.
I turned it back on while pressing the "option" key.
It prompted me to choose either my hard drive or the DVD; I choose DVD.
I saw a gray Apple logo in the middle of the screen, but it just freezes there.
By freeze, I mean pressing the keys doesn't do anything.

Other points:

My Mac works perfectly. I just want to reformat it.
2 Hardware changes: I upgraded the memory to 8GB, and I changed my hard drive to Momentus XT SSD hybrid

Update:
I blogged about the solution in details here. In a nutshell, the DVD I was using to reinstall OS X was too old for my system. So here’s the takeaway from this post which I had to spend many hours figuring out: when you want to reinstall your Mac, please make sure you use the disc that came with your system!


texts:
Time Machine stopped this morning, stating it has too little disk space left. It wants to back up 200 gigs, but my local hard drive has 240 gig used and 150 gig are excluded in the Time Machine options, so this leaves 90 gigs of data at most that can be backed up, and I am pretty sure only very few files have changed (no big update or similar). So I would estimate a backup of, at most, 1 gig.

How can this happen? Any idea?


texts:
If you press Cmd+Enter on iTerm while having the preference "Use native fullscreen windows" turned off, it goes into fullscreen but not the standard MacOS-way.

Is there a way of doing the same in Terminal.app? I know I can use Ctrl+Cmd+F to enter a native full screen. And I know I can maximize the window manually to eventually consume all of the screen, but in this case the title is still visible.


texts:
I'm wondering if my HD gets stolen, and my current permissions are set to:
User: R&W
Staff: R&W
Everyone: R only.

Would anyone be able to plug it to a mac (it's a HFS+ partition) and just read any file?


texts: Add a Service to an Application, not General

texts:
I have a script that I'd like to show up in the Services menu of the QuickTime app.
I already know how to make scripts show up in the "General" section of Services, which makes them available in every app.  And know macOS comes with categories of Services in System Preferences.
Is there a way to assign a custom script to a single application?


texts: How to access history of podcasts I have listened to in iphone?

texts: I don't know if this is possible or not: I would like to see the history of all the podcasts I have ever listened to. Is this possible?


texts: Too strict permissions checking in Mac OS

texts:
After long debugging, I found why I can not login to my MacOS machine with ssh:

Authentication refused: bad ownership or modes for directory /Users/myuser/projects

The problem is that I track my .ssh config directory in a git repo, and I link to it in my home directory. It seems that MacOS, as opposed to Linux, does check that all parent directories of the linked repo have strict permissions. And this even though the repo itself has the right permissions:

» ls -ld /home/myuser/projects/homedir/dotfiles/.ssh
drwx------ 2 myuser myuser 4096 Feb 14 07:47 /home/myuser/projects/homedir/dotfiles/.ssh

Is it possible to disable this checking in MacOS? I have a single directory structure which I rsync around to my machines, and having to change this because of this MacOs limitation is a pain.


texts: Is there a keyboard shortcut for "Show Hidden Files" in the Finder in El Cap?

texts:
Related: Hotkey to show hidden files and folders in File Open dialog?

Looks like there was a keyboard shortcut for it. But in 10.11.6 all I get when I press Cmd Shift . is the bonk sound.

Is that keyboard shortcut gone? What's an easy way to get it back?

Note that the shortcut works in file dialogs but not the standard Finder window.

Not a duplicate: the top ranked question on Hotkey to show hidden files and folders in File Open dialog? does not work in El Cap.


texts: Internet Sharing from WiFi to Ethernet doesn't work in Mountain Lion

texts:
After upgrading from Lion to Mountain Lion, it seems like internet sharing no longer works.

With the settings:

Share network from: WiFi
To computers using: Ethernet

When Internet Sharing is enabled, the host can't access the internet, and neither can connected clients. Clients are given an IP address via DHCP, and the correct route is setup, but that's it.

It seems like the host can't access the internet because the bridge0 device is set as the default route:

# Before enabling internet sharing
$ route -n get default
   route to: default
destination: default
       mask: default
    gateway: 192.168.1.1
  interface: en1
      flags:
 recvpipe  sendpipe  ssthresh  rtt,msec    rttvar  hopcount      mtu     expire
       0         0         0         0         0         0      1500         0
$ ping 4.2.2.1
PING 4.2.2.1 (4.2.2.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 4.2.2.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=54 time=33.418 ms
…

# And after enabling internet sharing
$ route -n get default
   route to: default
destination: default
       mask: default
  interface: bridge0
      flags:
 recvpipe  sendpipe  ssthresh  rtt,msec    rttvar  hopcount      mtu     expire
       0         0         0         0         0         0      1500        -1
$ ping 4.2.2.1
PING 4.2.2.1 (4.2.2.1): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
…

Additionally, disabling Internet Sharing leaves the routing table broken. I've got to manually add the default route back in before things start working again:

# After disabling internet sharing
$ route -n get default
route: writing to routing socket: not in table
$ ping 4.2.2.1
PING 4.2.2.1 (4.2.2.1): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: Host is down
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
…
$ route -n add default 192.168.1.1
$ ping 4.2.2.1
PING 4.2.2.1 (4.2.2.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 4.2.2.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=54 time=33.418 ms
…

Finally, checking the output of pfctl before and after enabling internet sharing doesn't show any (significant) changes. Should there be?

And various bits of info:

This is with OS X 10.8.2
Output of ifconfig when sharing is enabled (with irrelevant adapters p2p0, fw0, gif0, and stf0 removed):

lo0: flags=8049 mtu 16384
    options=3
    inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
    inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
en1: flags=8863 mtu 1500
    ether 60:c5:47:93:47:66
    inet6 fe80::62c5:47ff:fe93:4766%en1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x5
    inet 192.168.1.118 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
    media: autoselect
    status: active
en0: flags=8963 mtu 1500
    options=2b
    ether 3c:07:54:1a:83:89
    media: autoselect (none)
    status: inactive
bridge0: flags=8863 mtu 1500
    ether ac:de:48:11:fa:4e
    inet 192.168.2.1 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255
    Configuration:
        priority 0 hellotime 0 fwddelay 0 maxage 0
        ipfilter disabled flags 0x2
    member: en0 flags=3
             port 7 priority 0 path cost 0


texts: Messages asks for two factor authentication in iCloud settings

texts: I updated to iOS 12 on my iphone SE and didn't like what it was doing so I reverted to iOS 11. Now my wifi iPad, also iOS 11 won't sync messages and in iCloud settings if I try to slide Messages on it asks for two-factor authentication. Any idea how to revert this so it just works again? It was bugging me when I updated the phone to iOS 12.


texts: Why does my VPN client (Viscosity) disconnect when I lock my screen?

texts:
Usingthis information, I've set it so that the WiFi doesn't disconnect when I lock my mac. To lock the mac, I'm using this alias to lock my screen from the command line: alias lockscreen='/System/Library/CoreServices/"Menu Extras"/User.menu/Contents/Resources/CGSession -suspend' obtained from this article.

Unfortunately, when I lock my screen and come back, the WiFi stays connected but Viscosity, the VPN client I use, doesn't. I went to this website and it gave me the advice to keep my network adapter always on and linked to the same StackOverflow link I linked at the top. Is there a way I can keep Viscosity connected? I'm open to other VPN clients as well, I just need a good one that stays connected when I lock the screen and the wireless is connected.

I'm running Viscosity version 1.7 and my Mac information is as follows:

Could it be that the VPN adapter is using a different interface than ens0 and therefore I need to set the DisconnectLogout line in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources to NO for that interface as well?

Edit: The wireless adapter still disconnects upon screen lock, so disregard my earlier claim. It worked fine when I slept it but when I used the screen lock alias, it didn't work. Not sure why this would be, so I'll need to look into this as well.


texts: Mophie juice pack is being drained too fast?

texts:
I have an iPhone 5 with iOS 8 installed. Sometimes, when I charge the iPhone with a mophie Juice Pack Case for iPhone 5, the power of the battery pack gets drained up in merely 5 seconds. This does not happen a lot, it happens randomly. I am sure my Juice Pack is fully charged.

What is the reason behind this? How can I fix this?


texts: Why does the folder icon in my Terminal have a question mark overlaid?

texts:
From time to time, I spot that the folder icon in the titlebar of one of my Terminal windows has a question mark overlaid on it, e.g. this one:

What does this mean? It doesn't seem to have any effect or issues that I've noticed - I'm just curious.

I'm using OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion).


texts:
I had a bit of water damage incident with my MBP 13 (mid 2014). Apple have quoted me £1250 to replace the flash storage, the top board and the logic board so obviously it's a write off in that regard.

I've since done all of the SOP regarding drying it out etc and it has eventually turned on. The majority of the keyboard inputs completely the wrong character and the trackpad isn't functional. However, external mice and keyboards work fine so I thought I'd log in to grab a couple of bits off of it which weren't in dropbox/github/cloud of any description.

I can't log in with either of the administrative accounts, both of which I definitely know the passwords for.

I have booted into recovery mode with CMD+R keys, and used the disk utility to unlock and mount the drive, then the terminal to run resetpassword and use the dialog to both reset the password and repair the home directories to no avail.

I can't boot into single user mode because I have filevault enabled and I can't revert the decryption- it errors* and exits.

I have tried creating a new account but I get errors about the path. I'm honestly not sure if I'm doing it wrong or if there are actually some errors with the paths. I haven't pursued this avenue much further than that.

I can't understand why I am unable to log into either of the accounts. If anyone can provide any insight that'd be much appreciated.

* I can't post the filevault error at this point because I'm not at that machine currently but will add if anyone asks.


texts:
I have a MBP 6.2. Some time ago (1,5 year I guess) I have installed latest Mountain Lion upgrade and my WiFi (airport) stopped working.
Tried many options, spent lot of time on different forums, did update to Mavericks and Yosemite but nothing helped. AirPort still refused to connect.

I have small TLink wifi dongle and managed to make it working via Wireless Network Utility but the dongle has weak antena so MBP went to the cupboard for some time.

Recently I decided to install fresh Mountain Lion again hoping that maybe old software will help. I noticed that if I reset the SMC nadn NVRAM, AirPort connects and works for several minutes and then stops again.

Is it possible that the firware update has broken my Wifi ? I have the idea to downgrade to the previous firmware version hoping it will sove the issue. The version I currently have is EFI: MBP61.0057.B11 (2015-002) and SMC: 1.58f17 (SMC 1.7).

And now the final question. Could anybody suggest a site where can I find list of SMC and EFI software versions proper for my MBP6.2? I have found this: https://support.apple.com/pl-pl/HT201518 but it says only what is the latest version. I'm looking for the previous one.

Best Regards
Hightower


texts: Why can't my iPad connect to any other machines on the same LAN?

texts:
I had an old iPad 2 lying around and decided to fire it up to test out a webpage I was making on my computer. Both devices are on the same LAN, connected using the same wifi ESSID and on the same subnet: 192.168.87.0/24.

Web Server IP: 192.168.87.22
iPad IP: 192.168.87.23
Laptop IP: 192.168.87.24

It's a Google Wifi with excellent signal strength.


texts: Slowdown and lost windows when connecting/disconnecting external monitor

texts:
When I connect my external monitor, my 2017 MacBook Pro (OS 10.15) will freeze or have severe slowdown for more than a minute. When disconnecting, I often lose windows that I can't recover through any known means except reconnecting to the monitor. Is there a way to reduce the slowdown and have it properly move external windows back to the built-in display?
The monitor is an older SyncMaster using a USB-C -> DVI connector.


texts: Selling my mac mini which has Lion installed.. Can I transfer the Lion purchase to the buyer of mac?

texts:
I purchased Lion from the App Store, installed it, etc.  Now that I'm selling my Mac Mini, I'd like to keep Lion on there since: 1) I have no need for the purchase anymore since any new mac buys will have it preinstalled, and 2) it'll make my mac mini for sale that much more desirable of a buy.

What I've done so far is boot into Recovery Console (maybe I have the name wrong? -- Cmd+R mode during booting), and I've done the Secure Formatting of the hard disk, and when I go to reinstall Lion, it wants me to put my Apple ID in to download Lion.

Unfortunately, I didn't save the dmg file when I downloaded Lion, and I have been unable to find it on the computer (i.e. to create an installer disk as I've read about online). I don't even know if this bypasses the need for an Apple ID.

Any suggestions is appreciated.


texts:
I'm have a MacBook Pro (x86_64) with OS X 10.8.5 (fully patched). When I got the MBP, the iTunes icon was a cool blue icon.

Recently, Apple changed it to red. The psychologist tell us red indicates anger, defiance and hostility, and its a bad color. Its why USAir changed their color scheme from the shades of red to shades of grey. I did not like red, but I did not feel compelled to move.

I got updates this week (July, 2015), and Apple changed the icon again:

I despise that cartoony look, and now I am compelled to move. That cartoony look is one of the reason I have held back from OS X 10.9 upgrade for my personal equipment (and even one of the reasons to abstain from iOS upgrades). This is a personal preference, and I understand only a subset of folks feel the same way.

I've been through iTunes preferences, but I don't see a way to change the icons.

How do I change the iTunes icons? Or how do I use the previous, blue icon?

Related, other reasons to abstain from the upgrade includes all the untested features and broken features that got added to 10.9. Quod erat demonstrandum: iCloud Keychain and CVE-2015-1065. My keychain was never at risk through this vector, and it was a conscious decision to avoid the risk.


texts: Server-side copy on SMB share via command line

texts:
I need to copy a large number of files and folders from one folder to another on the same SMB share exposed by an Isilon server featuring server-side copy. Copying individual files and folders through the Finder window works fine, almost instantaneously, and does not cause any significant network traffic, thus I assume that here server-side offloading works. However, when I try to copy files from the terminal, my network traffic goes up and the throughput is accordingly low.

The share is mounted as follows:

$ mount
//my.name@server/RemoteFolder on /Volumes/RemoteFolder (smbfs, nodev, nosuid, mounted by my.name)

I tried to copy via the command line using cp, scp, ditto, and rsync to no avail, e.g.,

$ cp -vpRi "/Volumes/RemoteFolder/old/Peter Gabriel/" "/Volumes/RemoteFolder/groups/genesis/peter.gabriel"

How can I imitate the behaviour from option-drag & drop through the Finder in the command line?

Grateful for any hints!


texts: macOS (Catalina) Disabled Input Monitoring

texts: I have an application that I need to add to the input monitoring section of Security/Privacy.  For some reason when I click on it and then unlock I don't even get an empty list, I get nothing and there's no more "+" to add to the list....


texts: Where should I store command line applications?

texts:
When I download command line applications they are located in my ~/Downloads/ directory. But I feel this is wrong place to have a command line application located. Where in the Mac OS X filesystem should I store command line applications?

/Applications/ also feels wrong, it´s more for desktop applications. And /bin/ sounds more for applications that belongs to OS X.


texts: Brew won't uninstall a package because it can't find another formula

texts:
I'm trying to get rid of the php56-pdo-pgsql formula installed by Brew so that I can install it again with the --without-homebrew-php option. pgsql is installed in the copy of PHP that came with OS X 10.12. However when I try to uninstall it like this

brew uninstall php56-pdo-pgsql

brew complains like this

Error: No available formula with the name "mashape/kong/luajit"


texts:
Background
I actively use my MacBook Pro for development, and I need to update Xcode. My Mac is starting to max out on the data that I have stored on it (512GB). I only have 19GB free.
I have CleanMyMac installed and I run the scan and it says to "Clean Up Junk" which mostly consists of 32GB of User Cache. If you would like a screenshot of the output from the scan, feel free to let me know and I can attach it.
Question:
Is it safe to say remove this? I have read articles where people say its okay but I cant grasp the full picture consequences of what will happen if I do. I just wanted to hear from someone before moving on any farther.


texts: Why doesn't the Apple Watch activity app count the activity recorded on the iPhone?

texts: When walking around with the iPhone and not the Apple Watch the iPhone records steps. However when looking at the Apple Watch activity app the previously recorded steps are not shown there. Why is that?


texts:
I would like to add a new TextExpander snippet to do the following:

I will add a url from the clipboard in the form of:

  This is my text with a link [1] and one more link [2]

  [1] http//link1
  [2] http//link2

I wrote this:

[%filltext:name=number:default=1%] %|
[%filltext:name=number:default=1%] %clipboard

But the problem is, I don't know how to add the 2nd link after the first.

I get this instead this:

  This is my text with a link [1] and one more link [2]

  [2] http//link2
  [1] http//link1

How can I add text in the last line?


texts: Is switching 3G/4G off to save power a cheap trick?

texts:
Since UMTS is a lot fast than EDGE, data transfers via UMTS take less time.
When downloading the same file, it would take longer to be downloaded via EDGE.

Doesn't the difference in transfer time (partly) kill the advantage of saving power as the antenna pulls power for longer to end the transfer?


texts: How can I remap the volume buttons for custom use?

texts:
First of all, I only want to disable the standard volume buttons - I do not want to disable the buttons to change brightness, launchpad...

I need this because I want those buttons to trigger scripts for finer volume adjustment using FastScripts.


texts:
Im having problems updating iOS 9.0.1
I've deleted most apps so memory is fine, yet the phone appears to be frozen.

I can't restart or reset it. I've updated only 1 other bit - can't remember how I did it.

I've no laptop or PC & the wifi isn't great.
Any suggestions very welcome.


texts: Mavericks - strange behavior creating simlink in root directory

texts:
I want to create a simlink called /home, that points to /Users.  The command sudo ln -s Users home (executed in /) should work; at least, I've demonstrated that the syntax is correct by creating a similar simlink in my home directory) but it's not working well in root.  I somehow managed to create an actual directory, that now can't be removed ("resource is busy").  Then I cd'ed into /home and tried to run

/home$  sudo mkdir chap
mkdir: chap: Operation not supported

Anyone understand what's going on?  Or should I keep my cotton-pickin' fingers out of /?


texts: In my account settings under Login there is an app called iTunesHelper. What does this app do? Can I remove it from the login apps without affecting iTunes, or will it be put back?


texts: Rule that applies to mails containing Outlook invitations

texts:
I am using the Mail app for my work Exchange account. I am regularly receiving events corresponding to Outlook meeting invitations. I would like to filter these events and move them to a specific Mailbox, but I am not sure how to do that.

Here are some of the rules I have tried setting up:

Filter by "Any Attachment Name" = contains = .ics
Filter by "Attachment Type" = Document
Filter by "Attachment Type" = Executable

Thanks in advance


texts:
I've got a table as follows

| Name       | Year  | Price |
|____________|_______|_______|
| Foo        | 2013  | $10   |
| Bar        | 2009  | $3    |
| Baz        | 2010  | $100  |

What I'd really like to be able to do is a select * from table where [Year] <= CurrentYear

Since this is a spreadsheet and not a database, I'm wondering if there's any way to do this? Is there any way to do select statements in Numbers '09?


texts: Where can I find information on comparing two MacBook Pro models?

texts:
I'm thinking about getting a MacBook Pro, one of the 15" ones in the low end of the spectrum.

I can see two models in on-line shops that match my price range (namely, the MD318D/A and the MC723D/A). One model is 100 euros cheaper than the other, but weirdly, it seems to have the better specs: the MC723D/A comes with a 750GB hard drive as opposed to 500GB.

All the other specs seem identical, down to the size of the L6 cache, the processor, and the make and model of the graphics adapter. The only special thing the expensive one seems to have is OS X Lion instead of Snow Leopard. Can the software update account for a hundred euro's difference?

Here are the data sheets I'm comparing: MD318D, MC723D - German only, sorry,  Amazon.com doesn't seem to have them.

Where can I find reliable information on each generation so I can figure out whether the price difference is justified or not, and what the extra €100 would actually get me?


texts: Which iOS plist contains activation information for iMessage and FaceTime?

texts:
I'm looking for which plist or sqlite file iOS 12.1 uses to determine which mobile device number to (attempt to) activate with iMessage and Facetime.

I have an iPhone which is trying to activate iMessage under an old phone number. The current phone number settings are correct both in the UI and in com.apple.commcenter.plist, although the latter also contains some information about old SIMs.

Doing a text search against backup images for remnants of the old phone number shows com.apple.TelephonyUtilities.plist, com.apple.commcenter.plist, and CellularUsage.db as candidates. I haven't had luck finding in-depth technical documentation on those.

I have exhaustively performed the troubleshooting steps recommended by Apple and I have an open engineering ticket. I'm specifically looking for  the files where iMessage activation data are stored.


texts: Is there a non-Rosetta app for Snow Leopard similar to Hotspot Shield?

texts:
Is there any application similar to Hotspot Shield that I can use in Snow Leopard without requiring Rosetta?

For those who don't know, Hotspot Shield provides a VPN access so you can browse anonymously on the web.


texts: macOS on external monitor slows down after few days

texts:
This one is a long one, but I want to make sure the situation is clear :)
I have MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2019, Intel Core i7 6 cores 2.7GHz with Radeon Pro 555X 4  GB and 16GB RAM) connected via CalDigit TS3 Plus dock to DELL U3119Q monitor. I'm using the scaled resolution (3008x1692) and it works fine. Fast, good loking and proper size of UI. I was aware of possibility of worse performance on scaled resolutions, but nothing like this happens. At first, at least.
After some time (usually 1-2 weeks) the system is slowing down. Mostly User Interface. For instance, when I drag selection of folders on Desktop. I click with left mouse button and drag, there is no selection. With still pressed left mouse button, the selection appears after few seconds (and usually "starts" in different position than I actually clicked). However, and that's weird, it's all looking fine and dandy in Finder window, fast and responsive. Draging windows also looks less fluid. Switching between spaces, apps windows and so on. Clicking on menubar icons and menus also is muuuch slower.
When I restart or logout/login, all of the sluggishness dissapears and everything is great for another couple of weeks.
I checked the CPU and memory usage, but CPU is for most time 98% unused, and the memory usage is around 30-40% (I've got 16GB). I noticed that these sluggishness are still present when I disconnect macbook from the dock and use internal desktop. Also, when I switch from scaled to native (4K) or 1080p, the issue still remains.
I can't debug if it is related to any software, because I just can't stop using random apps for 1-2 weeks. The job will not do itself, so I need to use them everyday ;)
Did anyone encounter similar issue? Any idea how to debug this?


texts: How to control volume on Apple TV using iPhone?

texts:
I have an Apple TV 4K (tvOS 14.2), connected the Apple TV 4K to a 1-year old Samsung 4K TV through HDMI, and use an iPhone 11 (Apple TV Remote) to control it.
The issue is that I cannot adjust the volume on the Apple TV 4K by decreasing/increasing the volume on my iPhone (iPhone side-volume buttons or Apple TV Remote)
I contacted Apple support and they couldn't really provide any helpful feedback.
Why can't I control the volume on the Apple TV 4K using my iPhone 11, when I can control the volume on a Chromecast Ultra connected through the same HDMI port?


texts: Time Machine file hierarchy being added to - folders have been added

texts:
some 2 weeks ago I got my computer back from Apple service in which they had to wipe it.  I restored the time machine backup with no issues and have been using it since - waiting to make sure all is running smooth before doing another back up.  I did the back up today and when I took a peak at my external backup directory I noticed folders in the back up directory which have been named w/ appended names and which I do not have on my original file structure or that show mounted in disk utility.  When I called apple and showed them and asked, what were they, the advisor said, "Great question - Shouldn't be doing that.  Ive never seen that and don't have a precedent for that."  They had me run First Aid on my external drive.  Ran with no errors reported.
Question:  Why were the folders added/renamed with the 1 and 1 1 suffixes?  Is this normal behavior and what does it mean?
Current disk structure from disk utility

Folders from Time Machine backup

here is the back up progression and then the latest back up before this service a few weeks ago.  there was. no change in directory structure from no. 3 backup and last b4 service so I skipped all those.


texts: How to fix HP Officejet 7210 scanning in Mountain Lion?

texts:
I have a HP Officejet 7210 printer/scanner. I used to use Preview to scan, using File/Import from scanner. However, since upgrading to Mountain Lion, the option is greyed out.

Previously, the option had a sub menu where I had to select 'Include Networked Devices'. Afterwards, the printer, which is connected via Ethernet, showed up and I could scan. Now, there is no submenu anymore.

Image Capture also says no scanners are connected, and going through printers/scanners in preferences and clicking 'open scanner' shows a dialog with the 'scan' button greyed out.

Does anyone know how I can make HP Officejet 7210 scanning work again, either with Preview, or with some other software?


texts: Port Forwarding an SSH Connection on macOS

texts:
I have been trying to use SSH over the internet to connect to a few different computer on my network. Unfortunately, it only seems to work on the computer that is set to the forwarded port of 22 (ssh port). Here is what I have done:
Router:
Port forward 70 -> computer IP address
macOS Terminal:
ssh -L 22(ssh port) : my_external_ip : 70(forwarded port) username@my_external_ip

It connects and then asks me for the password for the account "username".
Even though I type in the correct password, it gives me "Permission denied (publicly, password)
I have been trying this all day and cannot figure it out. I can access my router non-locally and change the computer I am trying to access to forward to port 22, but I would really like a better solution.
I am not very familiar with bash commands (I think these are bash?) and am at a loss. Fortunately I have been able to connect to my storage server via SAMBA, but I would really like to be able to ssh into each computer independently.


texts: iPhone backlight changes it’s brightness

texts: When reading things on my iPhone, the backlight will get brighter by itself, and I don’t really acknowledge but I guess it dims then gets bright again.


texts: Is it  possible to create a folder in iBooks?

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I have iPad and iPod touch. Both I bought just for reading books in pdf format.

If it is possible, I want to create some folders to separate the books based on categories I will define.


texts: Which internal Blu-ray drives are compatible with a unibody Macbook Pro?

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Dimensions
The (unoffical) dimensions which I found are:

9.5mm slot load

Software
There is free Blu-ray player software available for the Mac and Toast Titanium 11 is able to burn Blu-ray discs.
As it turns out, there are only few Blu-ray drives which are compatible (dimension-wise) with a unibody MacBook Pro and the lack of Apple support for this media makes driver support, associated software and other requirements makes reliable information on using a BlueRay drive with OS X and Macs hard to come by.
Question
How can I know if a specific internal Blu-ray drives will work when installed in the unibody MacBook Pro? (both specific models you know work with specific OS answers and answers to explain this in general would be of use)


texts: How to make iPhone delete GMail contats that are not in GMail "My contacts" any longer?

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The only source for my iPhone contacts is my GMail account.

I've cleaned up "My contacts" in GMail, but those contacts didn't get removed from my iPhone/iOS 7.0.

I tried to set the GMail contact sync mode to "Manual" and ran "Contacts" app, and tried to set it to "Hourly" - they just won't go.

Is it possible to achieve?


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I don't use my Mac so I'm going to sell it. I want to give the customer a clean Mac, so I have completely wiped the HD and reinstalled Mac OS X. I've been reading about people getting locked out of their second-hand Mac and it being still linked to the previous owner's account. I wanted to know if this is the case because I want them to be happy with it and be able to use it when they get it. I logged out of iTunes and iCloud and turned off Find My Mac, then I did the full wipe and reinstall. Now I'm up to selecting the language and stuff. Is this enough? I want it to be new and without an account but watching a video when they went back onto the Mac they had to log into their account again.

Should I complete the setup and see or will I be fine leaving it?

Thanks.


texts: Where are the Safari bookmarks stored on a computer

texts: I just purchased a new iMac. I want to know how to transfer my old bookmarks from my old iMac running High Sierra to my new iMac running Catalina.


texts: How to remove Macintosh HD from desktop?

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I don't even know how, but this Macintosh HD logo is stuck on my desktop, and it wasn't like that a couple of days ago.
Don't see anyway to remove it or eject it from Desktop.

Thanks (;


texts: What is a MIDI Network Directory, and why is the connection refused?

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I am for the first time attempting to sync my two computers running Ableton Live using the OS X virtual MIDI Network driver over Thunderbolt.

The connection works if I use the MIDI Network Setup option "Who may connect to me" set to Anyone. But if I set it to Only computers in my directory,  I get the error message:

  (IP address) refused the connection request.

Questions:

What is the MIDI Network Setup Directory?
Why do my two computers see each other in the Directory menu box, but can't connect unless the option is set to Anyone? Computers seeing each other in the box suggests to me that they are in the same Directory, but apparently they are not. Or if they are, what could be the issue?
Is it safe using the setting Anyone? I ask because the computers primarily connect via Thunderbolt, but they are also on the same Wi-Fi network, and I wish to keep that network as safe as possible from outsiders.

Note: To get to MIDI Network Setup, open the application Audio MIDI Setup and in the menu bar select Window → Show MIDI Studio (⌘ + 2) and then double-click on the Network icon.


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I'd like to try to organize the songs in my iTunes library (rename artists and albums, etc.), but my library's pretty large and it would be time consuming to manually edit my songs via the Get Info screen.

Is there a way to mass-organize your songs? Ideally by exporting your library's song info to Excel, and then importing it back into iTunes?

I've tried exporting a playlist as a .txt file, editing it in Microsoft Excel, resaving it as a .txt file, and importing it back into iTunes, but my changes had no effect.


texts: Options for Replacing 60w Magsafe Power Supply

texts:
For the second time in four weeks I've had to re-solder the mag safe cord back on to the power supply. This time, unlike the first, the cord broke on the negative terminal on the circuit board itself. I was able to put a dab of solder back on the terminal to keep the power supply working, but the connection is weak, and I'm not sure how long it's going to last (I repack my charger a few times a day when I'm in school).

To that end, my question is this: would it be possible to solder the proprietary end of the (i.e. the magsafe cord) of the a/c adapter to a generic 60w adapter? I'm no electrician, but it seems as though nearly all 60w power supplies would be more or less equal in the whole scheme of things, but I could be wrong, and I don't want to fry my laptop.

Has anyone tried this?

Thanks in advance


texts: QuickTime Player 10.5 (928.50) Mojave - Controls Stuck, Always Visible

texts:
Latest version Mojave 10.14.1 (18B75) did not fix it.

Can't get the controls out of the way.

Mouse pointer is also always present.


texts: How can I see the phone number dialed after I initiate a call?

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In the Phone app (iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.2), I click on a contact's number, the call is initiated and starts ringing.

For a brief moment at this point, the label of the number (home / work / etc…) is displayed alongside the contact's name, but it quickly is removed and replaced with the call timer counting up and only the name (and picture of the contact) are shown.

How can I see the number that is being called during a phone call?