Friday, June 11, 2021

Recent Questions - Ask Different

Recent Questions - Ask Different

How to upgrade to Big Sur? It hangs

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 08:40 AM PDT

I have been trying to upgrade to Big Sur, as some services just stopped working (kerberos).

Of course, the upgrade did not work (I would have been extremely surprised if it had worked).

So after I downloaded the 12.40 GB for the update, a window opened asking me to accept the license stuff, and then I clicked on continue to install it on the single harddrive in the Mac.

A popup then asked me for a password to install some "new helper tool" (???), and after I entered the password nothing happens. I restarted several times, waited almost 2 hours - nothing happened.

So what can I do? Wait a day? Wait a week? Code my own OS?

How to create a Quick Action in macOS to Resize/Scale an image?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 08:23 AM PDT

Currently I use a 3rd party MacOS App to open and "resize/scale" by 50% any imported picture from my iPhone. This makes it a bit more manageable but it's tedious.

Is there a shell script that can be used in Automator to create a {Quick Action} so it can be used in Finder by right-clicking on one or more images and having a "Resize Image 50%" quick action?

I'm running Catalina 10.15.7.

Thank you.

Can't install Adobe on Mac because of it is a APFS Mac [closed]

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 08:15 AM PDT

I can't install Adobe photoshop on my Mac because it has an APFS drive. And when I formatted it to a Mac Extended drive, I couldn't reinstall macOS because it was showing me a "This mac can only install macOS on APFS formatted drives". I had to change it back to APFS but that doesn't solve my problem because I'll need to install Photoshop.

Softether Mas OS asks “VPN connection username & password” but not on Windows

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:15 AM PDT

I'm trying to build a L2TP/IPSec connection. This connection is working on Windows but with my Mac it asks me this little window once it is connected. So I enter the server address, account name, password & shared secret and then click "connect" and THEN this windows pops up and I just don't know what to do. I tried many different names (server name, user name, user@hub, etc.) but it keeps bugging. What's very weird is that this window doesn't appear in the documentation.

Thanks for any tips,

enter image description here

Smart Folder for all images with current month and day

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 06:57 AM PDT

I want to create a Smart Folder showing all images with current month and day (for any year), but I don't find "month" in the list of available search attributes.

Take iPhone photos _directly_ to a specific album?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 06:21 AM PDT

For at least recent versions of iOS (11.x - 14.x):

  1. Photos taken by the built-in Camera app go directly to the Photos Library (formerly known as Camera Roll)
  2. When viewing the Library using the built-in Photos app, the user may select one or more photos and add them (as a reference) to one or more individual or shared Albums
  3. When viewing an Album (individual or shared) using the built-in Photos app, a user may select one or more photos and remove them from that Album (but they will remain in the main Library unless deleted from there as well)
  4. A user may delete one or more photos from the Library; after doing so, those photos will disappear from any (individual but not? shared) Albums where they previously appeared.

This is known.

It doesn't seem there is a way, using the built-in Photos or Camera apps, though, to select an existing Album, and then take multiple photos which would then automatically appear both in the selected Album and in the main Library.

  • Is there something I've missed? (since it seems it would be a basic feature)
  • If not, are there any third-party apps that can do this while using the native device photo library? (i.e. a different interface while still using the on-app/iCloud photo library for actual storage - e.g. no separate database or storage service)

Example use case:

  1. Mary collects rare coins. Today she wants to quickly take pictures of 20 old French coins, and add them to her existing "Francs" album.
  2. Mary opens the Photos app on her iPhone, clicks the "Albums" icon, and clicks to open her "Francs" album.
  3. Mary clicks the "+" button (or a dedicated camera icon) and selects the "Camera" option from the resulting menu; a camera interface then opens.
  4. Mary sees the normal iOS camera interface, and takes as many photos she likes.
  5. There is no step five. All photos Mary just took now appear both in her "Francs" album and in her Library (to be synced to iCloud if that feature is enabled). There is zero chance any of the photos were mis-filed.

Oh, btw, Mary is 72 and has undiagnosed ADHD, so fewer steps are better. She has been using Apple products for 30 years, and hopes to for another 30 yet.

How to modify macOS BigSur system sounds?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 06:14 AM PDT

I recently updated to macOS BigSur and discovered the sounds are awful!

How can I replace them with the old ones?

I know they are in /System/Library/Components/CoreAudio.component but I can't replace them.
How can I force to replace them?
What do I have as options?

How to find out, what I am able to look for in Spotlight

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 05:08 AM PDT

I am looking for a very good documentation or tool, that help's me to make better searches in spotlight.I have found some descriptions like: "https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/CoreServices/Reference/MetadataAttributesRef/Reference/CommonAttrs.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001694-SW1", there I can find e.g. kMDItemKind, but what is possible to define as Kind ?

I know in I can define a search like "kind:folder", but what's possible behind kind instead of folder, how can I find out what I am able to search for ? "kind:" stands here as a example, but there are much more keywords, but I want to know what are the possible values for this keywords.

Either a documentation/manual/reference about the keywords or a tool, that evaluates the possible values out of my spotlight database.

GCC instead of clang on M1 MBP

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 03:20 AM PDT

alias gcc='gcc-11'  alias cc='gcc-11'  alias g++='g++-11'  alias c++='c++-11'

reg : GCC on m1 mbp

Hello,

I need help in selecting gcc as default compiler so I can run and other things . I installed gcc-11 using "brew install gcc" and linked it using "ln -s g++-11 g++" and it says file exists but when I type g++ in the terminal its still in clang. I tried using this

and it uses g++ instead of clang but when I log out or exit the terminal it reverts back to clang. I've tried many things but it says file exists and its still on clang

and after I log out its in clang

Please Help . I have looked into various YouTube tutorials and many other things

Thank you .

enter image description here

PLEASE HELP.

Export a single mail folder to an archive file in Outlook 2016 and "mount" that back later?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 12:30 AM PDT

In Outlook 2016, I have a folder labeled "2020" with my mails from that year, and want to export it to a single file. I then wish to move that file around (to an external archive HDD or wherever). If, eventually, I ever need one of those mails, I would like to open the file with Outlook, and find that single file - I most definitely do not, in that case, wish to import the whole archive back into my online account.

In Outlook for Windows, one can create a .pst file which acts like a local account - you can "mount" it, move mails into and out of it, but also close it and then work with the .pst file like with anything else.

In Outlook 2016 for Mac, there is an Export and Import functionality which works on .olm files. But it seems very limited: during exporting, you can pick categories of mails, but not, say, a single mail folder. During importing, the .olm file is not "mounted", but simply imported, adding the content of the .olm to your regular mail account.

Is there a way to achieve what I need in Outlook 2016, or is the functionality simply not there? Do you know some kind of workaround? If it matters, the account is provided by an Exchange server.

In creating Mac desktop shortcuts to specific Apple Notes, is there a way to have it launch that note directly into its detached window?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 12:25 AM PDT

I've read the following two related threads and successfully created a desktop link that launches the URL-specific note, but I saw no reference to launching the note directly into its independent detached window, as opposed to displaying it within the full Notes application interface:

  1. Is there a way to create a shortcut in Finder to an Apple Note?

  2. Link to a note in Apple Notes, from another note

I also read this one, but it was far too complicated for my consumer skill-level; I don't write code:

  1. Is there a way to create a shortcut in Finder to an Apple Note?

Rationale: My problem is when I have a lot of apps, browser and Finder windows open on my Mac across 2 displays, it's very easy for the main Notes.apps interface window to be buried behind many overlaying windows, and there's no easy way to reveal the target note's separate window... Yes, I could use Expose, but it still places a high cognitive load on figuring out where that item is, then there's no keyboard shortcut for "Bring all to front". And when I'm trying to capture a note quickly forming in my brain, I just want that specific note to pop up on top of everything else so I can just start typing.

Problem mounting NFS shares from OSX servers

Posted: 10 Jun 2021 11:46 PM PDT

I am having a problem using NSF connecting to shares from a Mac with Catalina and another one with Snow Leopard (dont ask why ;). I just updated to BigSur 11.4 When I use :

-fstype=nfs,noowners,nolockd,noresvport,hard,bg,intr,rw,tcp,nfc

in /etc/auto_nfs

cd /System/Volumes/Data/NetVolumes/data  -bash: cd: /System/Volumes/Data/NetVolumes/data: Invalid argument

if by other hand I use

-fstype=nfs,rw,sync

cd /System/Volumes/Data/NetVolumes/data1  -bash: cd: /System/Volumes/Data/NetVolumes/data1: RPC prog. not avail

Batch rename (irregular names) in Automator

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 05:13 AM PDT

I need help to incorporate an AppleScript that allows me to remove all characters before the underscore _, including the first _.

The files have several _, but I only want to remove the text before the first one. However, the number of characters varies from file to file. It is not always as shown in the example, the key part is removing up to and including the first underscore, _.

The issue is that I need the script to keep the rest of the name intact, regardless of what it is. I need a script that supports different text below.

Example:

I have this item: "LPLLORMF_1023_PM_48_24_25"

I need to remove the first part of the name, in this case "LPLLORMF_"

Result: "1023_PM_48_24_25"

The second part, 1023_PM_48_24_25 in this case, wont always be the same, I mean that I would like to maintain this part whatever it may be. It could be "1433_PM_58_25_22" or "1483_FM_51_15_02".

set oriFilename to "LPLLORMF_1023_PM_48_24_25"    set newFilename to ¬      characters ((offset of "_" in oriFilename) + 1) thru -1 of ¬      oriFilename as string

This script correctly removes the first part of the name. However, it does not respect the original name of the second part of the name, it always uses "1023_PM_48_24_25".

The second question is how to get the script to batch rename multiple files once the first part of the text is removed?

Can't rewind WWDC 2021 on youtube livestream nor on youtube

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 02:28 AM PDT

This is really annoying I wanted to start watching while the event was one hour in but I can't find any way to start over from the start...

Edit: this is weird because I remember I could rewind on their website last year.

Cmd+Tab jumps to previous used Space

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 04:37 AM PDT

I typically use around 10-12 Spaces and I'm having problems with the Cmd+Tab App Switcher to navigate from one program to another.

This is what is happening:

  • Press Cmd+Tab
  • Press Tab as many times as needed until the program I am interested in is selected
  • Release Cmd
  • The view jumps to the Space where the program is. However, after a few ms it jumps back to the Space where the last used program is

Retrying the above procedure results in the same outcome. The only way to get it to work is to click somewhere on the screen and then try again.

It doesn't seem to happen specifically with certain programs - it can be anything really. One thing that I have to point out is that some of the Spaces are full-screen programs (e.g. Chrome full screen).

Using my Macbook Pro in clamshell mode with one external display. Using Big Sur 11.3.1.

Has anyone else experienced such issues or knows how to fix it?

In MacBook Terminal login history, does console mean that someone physically logged into my MacBook?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:02 AM PDT

In terminal, I used the last command and got the following:

Paul  console                   Tue May 11 15:46 - 15:49  (00:03)  paul  console                   Tue May 11 09:17 - 09:18  (00:01)

I wasn't at my computer at that time. Someone else was using my computer with a different username. Does this mean that someone physically logged into my computer under the username paul when I wasn't there?

Want scan-only virus removal, not real-time

Posted: 10 Jun 2021 11:00 PM PDT

I'm running Little Snitch to catch real-time transmissions, but I do want to scan at off-hours for latent problems.

Which of the best anti-virus products support scan-only with all real-time checking disabled?

I was running Sophos but their real-time checking cannot be 100% disabled despite turning it off (they confirmed, and you can see it running non-stop in Activity Monitor, and it was slowing down development).

Thanks.

No horizontal scroll in Safari. Bug, or pref?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 01:17 AM PDT

Mac Pro 5,1 Mojave, Safari [latest] 14.1

Since the last Safari update in the last week, I've lost the ability to shift/scroll to move horizontally.
Fine in Chrome, Finder etc, this seems to just be Safari. Did a pref slip somewhere? I've never really tried to find if this is a pref, I thought it 'just happened'.

If it's a bug I'll report it, but I'd like to know if I missed a pref.

Screenshot hopefully wide enough to display this. Click the image, then if you see a magnifying glass with a + in it when you hover your cursor over the letters, click again so it goes beyond your window size [or repeatedly tap Cmd ⌘ + until it no longer fits the window].
Hold Shift & scroll mouse wheel.

enter image description here

It would be interesting to know if this affects trackpads too, but I don't have one to test.

Repeatedly Being Asked to Install Command Line Tools

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:59 AM PDT

When I'm doing various development-related activities (such as initializing a git repository or installing packages in RStudio), I get repeatedly asked to install command line developer tools, even though I already have it installed.

I have a directory at /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools which contains Library,SDKs, and usr folders.

If I go along with the popup and install command line tools (again), the popup simply appears again if I attempt whatever I was doing before (like initializing a git repo).

I've attempted running xcode-select --install, but I get an error saying

Failed to locate 'clang', requesting installation of command line developer tools

and then that previously mentioned popup for installing command line tools reappears. I'm currently running MacOS Big Sur, but I'm fairly certain this was still an issue on the previous OS. Any suggestions on how I can fix this?

AirPods volume suddenly too low in Android mobile device

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:55 AM PDT

The volume of the Airpods (Gen. 2) will become suddenly too low on my Android mobile device (Aquaris U2 with Android version 8.1.0).

It usually works all fine, but it just happens (twice so far) that at some point when I start listening to a podcast the volume will be so low than I can barely hear anything, even if I set the volume at the maximum.

The first time it happened, I managed to fix it somehow, but I do not know how and I am not managing to replicate it now.

Other information that might be useful to find a solution:

  • Both times, the issue popped-up while listening to a podcast on Spotify. However, once the issue appears, also other apps like Youtube have the volume too low. For other uses like calls, there is no problem with the volume.
  • I never had this problem with other Bluetooth headphones.
  • The AirPods work great on my laptop.

Note that this is a different problem than this question, as it is not about a firmware update.

So far I have tried, without success:

  1. Unpairing and pairing the AirPods again.
  2. Restarting the mobile phone.
  3. Going to Developer Options > Disable Absolute Volume and turning the switch to the On position, as suggested here + restarting.
  4. Turning the volume down and up again, as suggested in the comments of the link provided in point number 3. Also turning it totally down, restarting it and then up again.
  5. Roll back the Bluetooth AVRCP Version (also under Developer Options) from 1.4 to 1.3, also suggested in the same comments as above.

Any ideas of what the problem is and how to fix it?

Apple Photos and iCloud

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 01:03 AM PDT

So from what I understood, if I have Apple Photos on my Mac set up with iCloud it will upload Photos to iCloud and only store a representation locally, thus free local disk space.

I have now importet a bunch of folders and my disk only has 112 MB of free space, so I'd assume there is enough "storage pressure" for deleting local copies but I cannot see any upload status nor does it appear that Photos wants to reduce local disk space.

Edit:

It appears Photos stopped uploading for lack of local disk space, which will be the primary reason why it cannot upload and it cannot free local disk space. upload for ... objects stopped. lack of local disk space

How can I fix this?

Catalina (10.15.5) Spotlight calculator CPU spike?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 09:08 AM PDT

I noticed that I would have insane CPU spikes (400%+) whenever I type in a math equation (even something simple like 1+2) into spotlight. The task that spikes is called mds_stores. Does anyone know if this is just an issue with my system/is there some sort of software fix coming?

Attached = picture of the spike

High CPU spike

How can I fix things when LaTex issues a package minted error for "Pygments" or pigmentize?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 02:02 AM PDT

I am trying to install the "Pygments" package to Python via terminal on my Mac so that I can utilize the "minted" package in Latex.

I have downloaded the package via the terminal by using the following code: 

curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py > get-pip.py

followed by:

sudo python get-pip.py

and then

sudo pip install pygments

It took a couple tries of repeating the same commands but it finally successfully installed. I don't know what to do now though. I'm still getting the same error from LaTex:

Package minted Error: You must have `pigmentize' installed to use this package.

Does anyone have any experience with this issue and could possibly provide some assistance?

MacBook Pro won't connect to Wi-Fi, with correct password. Error: "The Wi-Fi network requires a WPA2 password"

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 02:07 AM PDT

I'm trying to connect to my home Wi-Fi. When I enter the correct password, I get the message

The Wi-Fi network requires a WPA2 password

I verified the password is correct in my router configuration.

I am using a 2017 MacBook Pro, running macOS Mojave 10.14.2.

I restarted my modem/router combo, restarted my MacBook, tried removing the home Wi-Fi and re-adding it (under System Preferences → Networks → Advanced → Preferred Networks), and changed the Wi-Fi password. Nothing works. My Wi-Fi name (SSID) doesn't have any special characters either.

I have another 2015 MacBook Pro and an iPhone that can connect to my home Wi-Fi with no problems. So, it seems issue seems to be particular to this device (the 2017 MacBook Pro) in combination with my home network. This device has no problems connecting to other Wi-Fi networks (it works successfully at my office, at the airport, other homes, etc.)

How do I resolve it?

'No such file' when running rm AppleSetupDone from single-user mode

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 01:21 AM PDT

I'm in High Sierra (10.13.6) and recently I renamed my account in Users & Group. Now I lost access to my administrator (so I can't install apps or change settings in System Preferences).

I already tried to solve my problem by following I don't have administrator account on my mac but I can't make it past the 

rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone

command, or maybe I'm doing something wrong there?

However, here's the single-user mode screenshot:

Can an eMac boot from a USB optical drive connected via a FireWire adapter?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:25 AM PDT

I've got an eMac that's mostly working (running Tiger, plus a selection of other nice software), but has a broken optical drive. I have a spare USB optical drive lying around, and it works for most purposes, but, according to this discussion on the Ars Technica OpenForum, most PowerPC Macs (including eMacs) can't boot from USB drives (at least not out of the box and without a LOT of tinkering and swearing), although they can boot from FireWire drives.

Just in case I ever have to reinstall Mac OS X on the eMac, here's my question: if I plug a USB-to-FireWire adapter into one of the eMac's FireWire ports, and plug the USB optical drive into that, will the eMac be able to boot from said optical drive, or will I have to shell out for a FireWire optical drive?

USB 3.0 (Type A) to USB-C on Early 2015 MacBook Pro for HDMI

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:01 AM PDT

I have an early 2015 MacBook Pro with Retina Screen and USB type A ports. I'm trying to declutter (and come up with a way of easily switching my peripherals between my windows laptop and my Mac) and there are a plethora of USB-C hubs with HDMI out. Is it possible to use a USB-A Male to USB-C female adaptor to use this port for HDMI out on my machine?

I have a USB 3 type A docking station at work that outputs DVI and Display Port that I use with my Mac, so I'm aware that my laptop will output video over USB, but I've tried the above configuration and the laptop sees the hub as USB 2.0 and no display is detected.

TLDR;

Can I use a USB-C hub with a Type-A to Type-C adaptor to get HDMI from my Early 2015 MacBook Pro with no USB-C port?

It may be my flawed understanding, but I am under the impression that USB-C was just the type of connector and independent from the spec, so I don't know why this wouldn't work.

What directory comparison tools can I use on OS X?

Posted: 11 Jun 2021 03:49 AM PDT

I am looking for a tool that is able to compare directories, not only files. Also it is important to be able to call the tool from the command line.

It would be great to have a free tool, if not free please specify the price.
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