Sunday, March 28, 2021

Recent Questions - Ask Different

Recent Questions - Ask Different

iOS 14 Messages swipe left to right to mark read

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:49 PM PDT

I have noticed that swiping a message left to right in iOS Messages is suddenly pinning it instead of marking it read and it appears that the is no longer a quick way to mark a message read without opening it.

I am wondering if there is a way to change the behaviour back to how it was (mark message read by swiping left to right)?

Didn't find any tips on that by googling.

How can I configure iPadOS so that any selected text is copied to the clipboard automatically?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:46 PM PDT

E.g. the Google Chrome extension Auto Copy 3.0.3 can do it in Google Chrome for Microsoft Windows.

Any way to modify DISPLAY similar to how it works for X11 with the macOS display system / window manager so other users can display on active display?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:12 PM PDT

I have a scenario where I need to run graphical applications from other users from shell on the currently active display. In other words, I am logged in as user "A" and in Terminal I su to user "B" and need to run TextEdit.app as user "B" in user A's graphical display.

Currently if I start up (in Catalina) /Sys/System/Applications/TextEdit.app/Contents/MacOS/TextEdit I see the following in Terminal:

TextEdit[26292:293814] +[NSXPCSharedListener endpointForReply:withListenerName:]: an error occurred while attempting to obtain endpoint for listener 'ClientCallsAuxiliary': Connection interrupted  TextEdit[26292:293831] Spell server connection invalidated  TextEdit[26292:293792] In -[NSApplication(NSQuietSafeQuit) _updateCanQuitQuietlyAndSafely], _LSSetApplicationInformationItem(NSCanQuitQuietlyAndSafely) returned error -600

And while TextEdit renders on the display I cannot get the Menubar entries for it or save files, etc.

Similar behavior happens with all apps I try such as TextMate.app. I always seem to get this error:

TextMate[26365:295425] +[NSXPCSharedListener endpointForReply:withListenerName:]: an error occurred while attempting to obtain endpoint for listener 'ClientCallsAuxiliary': Connection interrupted

Is there any way to work around this?

Execute command chain with launchd

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:06 PM PDT

I would like to mount a disk image, rsync a folder with the disk image, and unmount the disk image. So I split

hidutil attach /Users/username/Backup.sparsebundle && /opt/homebrew/bin/python3 /Users/username/bin/rbackup.py image && hdiutil detach /Volumes/Backup

in a plist for launchd like so

<key>ProgramArguments</key>      <array>          <string>hdiutil</string>          <string>attach</string>          <string>/Users/username/Backup.sparsebundle</string>          <string>&&</string>          <string>/opt/homebrew/bin/python3</string>          <string>/Users/username/bin/rbackup.py</string>          <string>image</string>          <string>&&</string>          <string>hdiutil</string>          <string>detach</string>          <string>/Volumes/Backup</string>      </array>

&& is interpreted as an additional (invalid) argument by hdiutil, though. How can I chain the commands similar to the shell version above in the plist?

How to move lines that contain a specific string to the end of previous line Notepad++

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:06 PM PDT

I've got a list that looks something like this:

C200  A200  A600  A800  B200  A800  C200  A200

Whenever i see a line with "A200" i want it to be moved to the end of previous line, so on this example it should look:

C200 A200  A600  A800  B200  A800  C200 A200

I'm trying to do this in notepad++

Find in time machine all versions of a file

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 10:38 PM PDT

I want to find in time machine a file on my mac that once existed. I know that this file has been created and deleted several times in the past but I don't remember when that happened. I need to be sure to find all the versions of this file.

So what would help me is a way to search the complete history in time machine. Can this be done? How?

"Enable Siri" window keeps popping up in mac OS Catalina

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 07:33 PM PDT

I've recently got a MacBook Pro 2019 running macOS Catalina. Doing some initial setup, I've disabled Siri. However, a really annoying window keeps popping up, at unpredictable time intervals (sometime more than once in a 5-min timeframe, sometimes it doesn't show up during a whole day).

In my Settings, the "Enable Ask Siri" checkbox is unchecked. Also worth mentioning that "Show Siri in menu bar" is also unchecked but its symbol is also appearing at the touchscreen bar at the top of the keyboard. How can I get rid of Siri or at least make sure its window won't impose itself again during my workflow?

Display a chrome tab/window in a 'hover' position in front of all other activities on macOS?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 06:56 PM PDT

Probably the easiest way to describe what I'm after is to show an example. On iOS 14, FaceTime video will 'hover' in a small window in front of all other activities, so you can still watch the video call when you're doing other things, and the video will always be there without you needing to do anything, even as you switch between other apps.

This allows you to be very productive even while continuing your FaceTime call.

I would like to achieve the exact same thing on macOS, but with the video coming from a chrome tab, say, a twitch stream or youtube video. That is, to have the video continue playing in a 'hover'-like position in front of all other activities.

Is there any way to do this?

Does Logic Pro X require GarageBand's instrument library?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 05:31 PM PDT

I've formerly have GarageBand and its instrument library installed, but since then I have "upgraded" to Logic Pro X and uninstalled GarageBand. Recently I've been running low on storage and found a bunch of music creation files labelled under "GarageBand". I'm wondering whether these files are used by Logic Pro X, or are they just leftover GarageBand files that didn't get deleted? Is it safe to remove them without messing up Logic Pro X?

WINE starting an application

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 10:41 PM PDT

The window that opensI built WINE from source, following their INSTALL.UNIX file, so I start wine via Terminal, a UI appears:

Microsoft Windows 6.1.7601

Z: \Users\USER\Downloads\wine-4.20>

so I write

start "\Users\USER\Downloads\PROGRAM.exe"

it gives the output

File not found.

so I suspect it may be a permission thing, I go to "Security & Privacy" settings and give permission to everything I can in the wine-4.20 folder.

I can't fix it

Am I doing something wrong?

EDIT: Well my own answer fixed it, except apparently I need to install Wine Mono

Is my SSD failing?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 03:52 PM PDT

I have a Mac Mini 2018 with a 2T SSD.

I've started to notice a few files getting corrupted, and an I/O error being reported when I try to access them.

I've run Disk Utility, and nothing bad shows up either running in recovery or normal mode.

The worry I have is that the SSD is degrading, but I'm not sure how to confirm my suspicion.

How do I tell if my SSD is dying? Or is there some other cause?

What service to restart after modifying /etc/sudoers for macOS to make changes active without reboot?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 04:44 PM PDT

What's the service that needs to be restarted after modifying /etc/sudoers for macOS in order to make changes active without a system reboot?

Applescript to find application path from partial app name?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 07:47 PM PDT

How do I get the path to a running application using part of the app name. (eg. 'Acrobat' in 'Adobe Acrobat Reader DC') This is what I tried but it's incorrect. (Note: Not sure if it changes if multiple instances are running, but I only want a single POSIX path returned)

tell application "System Events",    if (get name of every application process) contains "Acrobat" then      return POSIX path of (path to ((get name of every application process) contains "Acrobat"))    end if  end tell

Managed Software Center - update not updating

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 04:06 PM PDT

I have a Brother printer (model: Brother MFC-J475DW) which works fine. However, I keep getting a pop-up from "Managed Software Center" (pictured below).

I press "Update" and it says it's "Finishing..." but it just goes back to the same screen.

Is there any way to block this window from appearing? Currently, I just keep it minimized.

enter image description here

Wifi dongle stopped working as soon a I upgraded to MacOS Big Sur 11 version

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 05:01 PM PDT

My wifi dongle is not working on Big Sur. Whenever I tried to install the software that came with the wifi dongle, I get a message that the drive is incompatible. I was using a Wifi dongle from this company called Cuddy and when I contacted them, they said they are not sure when are they going to have a compatible driver for the same.

I found a similar post related to this over herewhen someone faced similar issue when Big sur was in beta phase.

And I was looking at Gummibando's answer where he mentioned the following:

While macOS 11 is in development, you can enable the loading of deprecated KEXTs by disabling SIP. See https://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos-release-notes/macos-big-sur-11-beta-release-notes (Deprecations).

However, the link is not working anymore. Any other solution to solve this issue?

Problems Reformatting SSD on mid 2015 Retina 15" MBP

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 10:02 PM PDT

When I purchased the subject laptop last year I replaced the original Apple SSD with a non-Apple 2 TB SSD. For years I have always kept OS and data on separate drives or at least separate partitions. That always made backups and moving data to new machines simple for me. This time I struggled to create that same arrangement, but it proved too difficult.

I sat down recently to attempt to resolve the mess I created. It appears I had created a 1.05 TB and a .95 TB partition on the SSD. The 1.05 TB partition contained a "container" that contained my OS and data in a couple of "volumes". The remaining .95 TB partition of the SSD was simply a wasteland.

Over the last couple of days I have made numerous attempts to erase/reformat any or all of the SSD but the Disk Utility simply will not allow any of that (erase is ghosted). I have tried changing the size of the first partition, but Disk Utility will not allow that either. Next I tried a few things with diskutil in terminal but do not seem to be making any progress there either. Command + R and Command + Option + R did not work for me because Disk Utility there only shows disk0/OS X Base System, neither of which can be erased, and Reinstall OS X cannot find any drive at all for the install.

So, in summary, help! If I do a diskutil list in Terminal I see disk0 thru disk13... and that can't be right. I want to reformat and start over but nothing seems to get me there. Currently there is no important data on this machine. Oh, laptop still works fine, I just can't live with system and data on same partition.

Some of my symptoms sound similar to Redrighthand's "MacBook-pro Internal PCIe Samsung 512g SSD no longer recognized on MBP (mid 2015 15" A1398)".

Thanks in advance for any help. First screenshot below of diskutil list taken in recovery mode, second screenshot taken of terminal after normal boot. Last two screenshots are of Disk Utility...

diskutil list in recovery mode

diskutil list after normal boot

Disk Utility with SSD selected, Erase ghosted

Disk Utility with Container disk1 selected, Erase ghosted

Mac OS Big Sur - mouse stutter (not a Bluetooth problem)

Posted: 28 Mar 2021 12:26 AM PDT

I'm experiencing really annoying mouse stutter on my MacBook Pro 16 inch. When I move the cursor it's smooth for a few seconds and then it suddenly stops for a split-second before moving again. This stutter/lag is there all the time.

It started about a week ago and it doesn't stop. I restarted the computer, reset everything that is to reset on a Mac (except reinstalling the os) and it still persists.

I googled that problem and almost all posts I found relate this to the Bluetooth connection. That's not the case for me because the stutter is also there when I use the built-in trackpad.

Any ideas?

Can the App Store be installed on Xcode's iOS Simulator on the new ARM/M1 powered Macs?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 05:01 PM PDT

Years ago on Stack Overflow people already asked about installing the App Store on the iOS Simulator but the answer was you couldn't because the Simulator doesn't run ARM code but Intel code.

The Simulator does not run ARM code, ONLY x86 code. Unless you have the raw source code from Apple, you won't see the App Store on the Simulator.

So you can only run apps you're working on and compiling yourself, and the few that are preinstalled on the Simulator.

But as of very recently Macs now also run on ARM. So can the iOS Simulator on an M1 powered Mac have the App Store installed on it now?

How to put MacBook to sleep using only an attached Windows keyboard?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 08:47 PM PDT

I have a new MacBook Pro that I leave plugged in and closed because I use an external display, keyboard, and mouse.

My monitor, keyboard, and mouse are also used by my PC.

When I'm finished with work, I'd like to be able to easily sleep the Mac so that my monitor can automatically switch over to my home PC.

Apple docs say:

Option–Command–Power button* or Option–Command–Media Eject : Put your Mac to sleep

But my Windows keyboard doesn't have a "Media Eject" or "Power" button on it.

What are my other options for easily putting my Mac to sleep?

I already know I could use the mouse to click Apple > Sleep. And I could open the lid and use the power button. But I'd prefer a keyboard command.

Accessibility — click a link/button by typing its text

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 09:02 PM PDT

Background: Voice Control lets you click links by just saying "Click <link/button name>".

Question: How would I do this by typing instead of speaking? (Siri has a "Type to Siri" option, but Voice Control does not). Is there really no accessibility option for letting the user type the text of the button they want to click?

What I've tried: I tried Switch Control, but it scans for links instead of letting you jump to ones matching a given text. I've also tried Cmd+F in Safari to highlight links, but nothing I've found lets me click the highlighted link without using the mouse. I've been using Mouse Keys to navigate instead, albeit slowly.

APFS Partitions corrupted

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 06:03 PM PDT

I recently ran Boot Camp Assistant to remove the Windows partition from my 2017 MacBook Pro, but during the partitioning step I quit Boot Camp Assistant. After restarting the computer the next time, I got a flashing drive icon and macOS was no longer booting.

My only option at this point was Internet recovery. I tried running Disk Utility, unfortunately First Aid seems to be unable to fix the problem:

Disk Utility Screenshot

Looks like the APFS Container got corrupted.

diskutil apfs list

|  +-- Container ERROR -69808  |   ======================  |   APFS Container Reference:     disk1  |   Size (Capacity Ceiling):      ERROR -69620  |   Capacity In Use By Volumes:   ERROR -69620  |   Capacity Not Allocated:       ERROR -69620  |   |  |   +-< Physical Store disk0s2 2881B334-866B-4DC7-98F9-2DB0B583B353  |   |   -----------------------------------------------------------  |   |   APFS Physical Store Disk:   disk0s2  |   |   Size:                       451000901632 B (451.0 GB)  |   |  |   +-> No Volumes

Next, I tried diskutil repairVolume on the APFS Volume, but again, no luck:

diskutil repairVolume disk0s2  Started file system repair on disk0s2  Repairing storage system  Performing fsck_apfs -y -x /dev/disk0s2  warning: nx_block_count is 122061322, while device block count is 110107642  error: object (oid 0x1): o_cksum (0x50eca9de0b97f54e) is invalid for object  Checking the container superblock  Storage system check exit code is 8  Error: -69716: Storage system verify or repair failed  Underlying error: 8

GPT partitions:

Password:       start       size  index  contents           0          1         PMBR           1          1         Pri GPT header           2          4         Pri GPT table           6      76800      1  GPT part - C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B       76806  110107642      2  GPT part - 7C3457EF-0000-11AA-AA11-00306543ECAC   110184448   11953680            122138128          4         Sec GPT table   122138132          1         Sec GPT header

Also, recovery tools like iBoysoft do see the APFS volumes and all the files after I provide the encryption password, so the volumes seems to be OK:

iBoysoft sees the APFS volumes

Is there any way I can re-build the partitions/APFS container so the disk will boot again? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Note: currently I am running a fresh install of Catalina on an external HDD.

Quick search in NAS. Which software for overview?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 07:07 PM PDT

We use a NAS in our small company to acces our files from different locations. Searching within the NAS does not work well due to the amount of data stored and slow internet connection. So if we're looking for a file, we need to know exactly where it is.

I do not need a NAS-side solution since the operating system of the NAS is very inflexible.

Is there a way to keep an up-to-date overview of the complete folder/file struture (as text, tree, table, whatever) in which we can quickly search for the files?

QuickTime Player won't save edited file: The operation could not be completed

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 03:12 PM PDT

I've edited an MP4 movie file in Quicktime Player Version 10.5.

When I try to save the edited file, I get: The operation could not be completed.

Does anyone know what causes this and/or how it can be solved?

macOS Mojave 10.14.2 / Quicktime Player 10.5 / MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)

New uninitialised SSD not showing in Disk Utility

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 06:08 PM PDT

I have bought a new Samsung EVO 850 SSD, it is yet unformatted. I have a SATAI/II to USB3.0 dock which I want to use to get the drive formatted, but it is just not showing up in Disk Utility (Recovery mode or plain) or even Disk Management on Windows. I have a Macbook Pro 17" Early-2011 [El Capitan 10.11.5] and want to clone my current HDD to this SSD using Carbon Copy Cloner.

The dock I am using is this exact one: https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-3-5-Inch-Drive-Black-NST-D300S3-BK/dp/B007B5PQW4

The SSD is this one: http://www.samsung.com/za/consumer/memory-storage/memory-storage/ssd/MZ-75E250BW

I have read of a few people successfully installing this drive into their Macbook Pro, but success eludes me.

Is the drive maybe broken? Or is the dock preventing the drive from showing up? Or am I doing something wrong.

How do I change the icon of Emacs installed via Homebrew?

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:40 PM PDT

I am aware of the "Get Info" process of changing icons, but when I change the icon of Emacs, nothing happens

I installed Emacs with this command:

brew install emacs --HEAD --with-cocoa

When I run csrutil status I get disabled.

I am able to change the icons of folders but not apps

Updating OS X to NOT the latest version [duplicate]

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 04:55 PM PDT

I have a macbook that is running OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion); for various compatibility-related reasons I would like to upgrade the system, but not to El Capitan. Yosemite (OS X 10.10) would be dandy. The App Store, of course, only offers an upgrade to El Capitan, currently the newest OS X version.

I know that it is possible to restore a computer to the OS it had prior to an upgrade, but is it possible to upgrade to a (never-seen before) OS version that is not the latest available?

Edit: This question is related (but only if Yosemite had been downloaded via the App Store in the past).

Devices not showing up for AirDrop

Posted: 28 Mar 2021 12:17 AM PDT

I have

  • iPhone 5 (with iOS 8.3)
  • MacBook Pro Early 2013 (with OS X Yosemite 10.10.3)
  • iPad Air (with iOS 8.3)

My iPhone is paired with the MacBook, so e.g when my phone rings, I can see it in my computer. But when I want to AirDrop photos from my iPhone the MacBook, then I can't see the MacBook in my iPhone AirDrop targets.

I can see the iPad, I can see my wife's iPhone, but not the MacBook.

On MacBook, I can see the iPad, my wife's phone and even my iPhone and I can drop to there, but not the other way around.

Before I started troubleshooting, the iPhone and MacBook were mutually invisible (I only saw iPad from both). After a while of trying things and sending files back and forth, my MacBook started to see the iPhone, but I did not manage to make it work from the other way. Still, the iPhone seems to be much "less" visible than the iPad - which I see almost instantly and always, the iPhone only seems to appear after a while.

Just to make it clear:

  • both iPhone and MBP have BT turned on
  • both have AirDrop visibility set to Everyone

I would be glad for any suggestions to fix this - what settings to check, logs, whatever.

When I open Terminal, I get an "I have no name!" prompt

Posted: 27 Mar 2021 11:46 PM PDT

Suddenly, this morning, I open a Terminal window and I get this:

I have no name!@macbook:~$ whoami  502

** I am not a number! I am a human being! **

What gives? Anyone know what I need to do to get my name back?

I suppose there are two problems here, one is that my hostname is undefined, the other is that whoami reports my name as a number.

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