Sunday, September 12, 2021

Recent Questions - Ask Different

Recent Questions - Ask Different

Creating new gpt header for broken SD-Card [closed]

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 10:15 PM PDT

I have a broken SD Card. When using gpt -r show and got this:

/dev/disk8 (external, physical):     #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER     0:     FDisk_partition_scheme                        *31.3 GB    disk8

Is there a way to recover the SD card?

Budget monitors for MacBook Air? [closed]

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 07:07 PM PDT

I have a 16" MacBook Pro (2018) which runs Catalina for my work - I'm on this every weekday from 8 am to 5 pm after which I fully switch to my MacBook Air (2020) running Big Sur for personal projects, etc. I'm looking for a display that would run smooth with both of my MacBooks. My budget is $350-ish but I can go higher if the monitor is a great promise for ~5 years. Most of my use is browsing, coding, reading and a little bit of watching videos. Sharp and crisp visual quality is important, especially coming from a long time of viewing only retina screens. I would prefer 27 inch but I might consider 24 inch options too! Please let me know your suggestions and what worked for you.

Extra info, please feel free to skip this before replying: I started off with trying HP M27ha FHD monitor and quickly realized that FHD on a 27 inch screen is just not for me. I then got a 24 inch FHD by Sceptre and its display quality was worse than the FHD 27 inch I had before it. Are Sceptre monitors really good? - after using the monitor for just a couple hours, I could not believe how it got the reviews it did. Anyhow, I next got another 24 inch FHD, this time by HP but it had similarly bad quality of display as the Sceptre - at this point I realized I really prefer the real estate of a 27 inch and my choice of quality has to be better than FHD. Next, I got a Dell 27 inch QHD - it did not deliver the promised 2560x1440 resolution with the HDMI cable that came in the box. So I got a DisplayPort to USB-c cable and it does give QHD resolution now but at the full resolution, the font is too tiny and it is straining on the eyes to read. MacBooks unfortunately do not have an option to scale the view or change font size while keeping the resolution - I tried a few softwares and the apple-suggested way to make this work but nothing was even remotely perfect. This Dell QHD monitor btw works perfectly on a windows computer giving the best resolution and desired viewing scale. I'm now worried that this might be a pain point with any QHD or UHD monitor I get. Do you all live with tiny fonts or bad resolution? Is there no way out of this problem? I'm feeling pretty lost at this point and I'm desperate for help and suggestions on what would be a good monitor compatible with my MacBooks.

Put back the data from trash (error code 36) for Mac (arm64 m1)

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 06:26 PM PDT

If I want to put back my data in trash. This doesn't work.

The error is : The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "id=xxxxxxxxxxx" can't be read or written. (Error code -36)

How can I fixed it ?

How do you use a keyboard with a first-generation Apple TV?

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 06:09 PM PDT

How do you configure a first-generation Apple TV to use a keyboard connected via USB?

Terminal command to force open new tab in Safari

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 08:09 PM PDT

While running the open https://www.google.com command in Terminal consecutive times, I have noticed the second time I run the command it just shows the original window of google.com instead of opening in a new tab. It works fine when its a different website being requested.

Is this a macOS bug? I've tried setting new tabs to always in Safari but no luck.

I'm trying to get Safari to always open a new tab even if its the same website. FYI I have a for stock alerts and automatically opens default browser new tab ​upon stock being found using Terminal however it doesn't open new tabs correctly as described above.

Replacement for Apple Music on macOS?

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 02:58 PM PDT

I've noticed that Apple no longer requires the Music app (previously known as iTunes) to be running in order to sync your music library on you mac with an iPhone or an iPad.

This is fantastic because I must endure prolonged periods of the beach ball of death whenever I start up that app.

Although I have to use exactly the right USB-to-lighning cable and I might have to reboot my computer a few times, I can usually get the playlists on my mac synched to my iPhone with less than a dozen errors and less than 30 minutes of effort.

Unfortunately, whenever I want to add a file to my library, and/or change my playlists before syncing, I still have to endure the beach ball of death. Both on startup (~20 minutes) and with every single mouse click (5-10 seconds). I can't endure this torture any more and need an alternative.

I presume that the decoupling of the Music app from the sync process by Apple was done so that other applications could be used to write to the music library.

Is this the correct presumption?

If so, does a list of such apps exist?

Alternatively, can I add just mp3s and edit my playlists manually on the file system without using an app?

Why does my mac report different free space on the internal SSD for different users?

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 02:10 PM PDT

I've got a 2019 Macbook Pro 16" with a 1 TB internal SSD running MacOS Big Sur. I have three user accounts - one for me, and one each for two of my kids.

When I "Get Info" on the SSD, User 1 shows 17 GB free. User 2 shows 177 GB free. User 3 shows 322 GB free.

What the heck is going on? Why is the number so different for all three uses?

Even when I launch disk utility, it sees that much free space for each user rather than showing the same amount of free space.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Get info for user 1 Get info for user 2 Get info for user 3

Google Translate selected text with Automator [closed]

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 01:27 PM PDT

Is is possible to create to create a workflow service that allows to have selected webpage text to be translated in a separate google translate window?

Razer mouse not detected since update

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 02:46 PM PDT

After I installed the latest Mac update (Big Sur 11.5.2) my Razer Basilisk V2 mouse is no longer being detected. The light in the mouse turns white, but the mouse isn't working.

I have reset SRAM and PRAM, which didn't work. I have installed bootcamp, because I have assumed that this is a software error, and it didn't work there as well. The USB device was detected, not as the Razer device it is, but it was detected. The following error was visible:

This device cannot start. (Code 10)

I still think, that this is a software problem and that there is some sort of corrupt information on my system. Unfortunately I do not have a second PC or MacBook to test the Razer mouse itself. Connecting my lightning power cable or my iPhone to the USB-Ports works though!

Is there a way to make my mouse work again? Maybe some sort of software or the possibility to remove corrupt files?

Enable/load .plist issue after Big Sur update

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 12:56 PM PDT

I've spent the last day googling this issue and can't get it figured out. Apparently, Big Sur treats load and unload as legacy and you are supposed to use enable and disable however I've tried many different combinations of commands and still can't get my plist to work. Load and unload give Input/Output errors.

I have a script that runs every 30 minutes during the day. It is located in ~/Library/LaunchAgents and is called com.office.ks.ExportData. It worked fine before Big Sur but now doesn't run. If I type launchctl list I see that the process has a 126 error.

I've tried so many different types of commands using user/501, gui/501, sudo, changing where spaces are, etc. I can't seem to get anything to work. All I'm trying to do is get my script to run every 30 minutes between 9am-5pm which never was an issue before.

sudo launchctl enable user/501/~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.office.ks.ExportData.plist

Can somebody please help me get this plist enabled? When I type the above command it doesn't give a message but doesn't give an error either. It just goes to the next line waiting for a new command.

Is there any way to append text to files outside the Shortcuts directory via iOS Shortcuts.app?

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 11:14 AM PDT

I would like to create a shortcut (in the Shortcuts app) to append text to a csv file.

The file already exists. For a variety of reasons I don't want to move the file from its current location to iCloud Drive/Shortcuts — not least because this would cause some disruption to existing workflows and file sharing, and negate any of the time saving benefit of the shortcut.

The Shortcuts app is obviously sandboxed to iCloud Drive/Shortcuts. But is there a way to safely work within this restriction while still appending text to files outside the Shortcuts directory?

I have had a look at aliasing/ symlinking the file, and have also considered scripting. But so far have not found a workable solution.

I'm wondering of there is any clever way to maintain all of the safety and benefit that Shortcuts.app's sandboxed approach offers, while still allowing explicitly defined and approved files/ locations to be modified.

(I realise that I could configure the shortcut to have the user select the file each time the shortcut runs, but as the file location will never change and I will be the only person using this shortcut, I'd prefer to streamline this step.)

Thanks for any suggestions

External microphone interfering with macbook speaker volume

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 10:36 AM PDT

I am using 2019 Macbook Pro with macOS Catalina v10.15.7.

I am trying to use external microphone (Maono AU-400 Lavalier Microphone (Black)) through audio jack. On connecting the microphone, I change audio settings to use external mac speakers for output and external microphone for input. However, moving or touching microphone often changes speaker volume level. There is no explicit volume control setting on external microphone.

When I connect external microphone, it is shown as "external headphones" in both sound input and output settings. I am guessing the issue is the system is not able to recognize microphone as only input device.

enter image description here Is there any advanced configuration which can disable connection between speaker volume level and device connected through audio jack?

Thank you!

Clean install MacBook Pro prevented by security software [closed]

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 12:38 PM PDT

Trying to erase and reinstall macOS on a MacBook Pro that might have been a corporate loaner formerly with some kind of security software.

I have tried:

  • erasing and booting from an external drive, but the drive isn't showing in the restore window.
  • resetting the admin password; this also failed.

Anybody got a suggestion?

Hide actual serial number from application

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 02:16 PM PDT

I do not want certain applications to get my actual serial number (the one you get with ioreg -l | grep IOPlatformSerialNumber). How can the application get the serial number? Can I change the return request to a serial number I specified myself?

Thunderbolt 3 versus USB Type‑C external SSD, is there difference for MBP 2019?

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 10:49 AM PDT

I want to purchase an external SSD for MBP 2019, 16" and occasionally run it from an external SSD. I understand that Thunderbolt 3 is much faster in data transfer than regular USB Type‑C, but can the SSD utilize this difference? Should I pay extra for Thunderbolt 3 external SSD or if I purchase a USB Type‑C SSD, then I will not feel the any difference?

Another consideration is back compatibility with older hardware. If I understand correctly, USB Type‑C <=> USB 3.0 adaptor is a much cheaper and more widely available than a Thunderbolt 3 <=> USB 3.0 adapter.

For example, I hesitate between the Samsung X5 Portable SSD (actually, it is the only one external SSD which is available near me locally) or the Samsung T7 portable SSD.

I am using my MBP for development, multiple docker containers, IDE, etc...

"View Ad Targeting Information" shows "Advertising information isn't available right now. Try again later"

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 10:08 PM PDT

Control how Apple delivers advertising to you on iPhone

Go to Settings > Privacy > Apple Advertising > View Ad Targeting Information.

The information is used by Apple to deliver more relevant ads in the App Store, Apple News, and Stocks. Your personal data isn't provided to other parties.

enter image description here

enter image description here

I tried about 6-9 times at different timestamps and always get

Advertising information isn't available right now. Try again later. It seems never working. Is there and issue at my end?

Signal no longer working on iPhone 4S

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 10:41 AM PDT

I had Signal from Signal Technology Foundation on my iPhone 4S. It worked until last week. Now I have to re-register my phone number with a one-time code and I see this message:

Verification failed. (The operation couldn't be completed SignalServiceKit.NetworkManagerError error 401)

error message

I know the code is right because a deliberate wrong code gives a different message. The same happens whether on 3G or wifi.

I suspect that the phone is now too old for Signal because the message on the screen is truncated. Is that true?

update

The iOS version is 9.3.6 (13G37), which is still be compatible with Signal (since I was able to install it and run it, and did not update it at the time of the change).

You may not install to this volume because the computer is missing a firmware partition

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 08:07 PM PDT

I have a 13 inch MacBook Pro 2015 model. The Mac had Big Sur installed on the internal SSD. This internal SSD died and thanks to macOS Recovery over the internet (Option-Command-R), I managed to install El Captain on an external SSD drive.

I am trying to upgrade to Big Sur, but the option to choose my external SSD during installation is greyed out with the message

"You may not install to this volume because the computer is missing a firmware partition".

Is it possible to install any macOS higher than Catalina on an external SSD?

Below is the output from the command diskutil list.

enter image description here

Can't connect to the Internet via Ethernet (Wifi and VPN/Ethernet works)

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 07:52 PM PDT

I have a M1 Mac Mini running Big Sur (11.5.2). Had it for 30 days or so and have been accessing the internet via Ethernet since day one without problems - until a couple of days ago. After waking the computer from sleeping suddenly I wasn't able to access the internet anymore (for the most part - read below). I switched to WiFi and it started working again. Thought it may be the cable so I tried a different cable to no avail. Tried the original cable with my MBP (via Thunderbolt 2 dongle) and that worked fine as well. I power cycled my router, which did not help. So it's not the cable, switch or router.

Turned off WiFi and plugged the Ethernet cable back in and turned on VPN (ExpressVPN). Internet works! So WiFi and Ethernet on VPN work fine, but Ethernet on it's own doesn't.

Back to the problem itself which is strange. On a handful of sites, the internet does work on Ethernet. Best Buy, DuckDuckGo (gets search results, but can't navigate to any of the links), Pocket, Reddit, Goodreads, Amazon (partially loads - probably from cache) seem to work okay (the pages load up but the browser tab icon keeps "spinning" for a while). But most other sites just don't work - Google Sites, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Weather.com, etc. The error specifically is "Connection Timed Out"

The problem is not isolated to browsing. I opened Spotify and the Apple Podcasts app and they couldn't connect to the internet either when using plain Ethernet. That said, say I use WiFi to start Spotify and go to a playlist (which works) and then switch to plain Ethernet and click play on a song - it works. If I then try and navigate to another playlist, then it just keeps spinning and times out.

Pinging sites on plain Ethernet works fine. Running traceroute seems to either take a while or timeout on most sites (even ones that work using the browser). This behavior is the same when I'm on WiFi so I'm not sure what that means.

I tried a few other things individually that didn't help:

  • Created a new user
  • Started the Mac in Safe Mode
  • Did a fresh reinstall of MacOS
  • Via Network Preferences, Renewed the DHCP Lease
  • Via Network Preferences, Removed and re-added the Ethernet adapter
  • Via Network Preferences, Created a new Location (instead of "Automatic") and tried the Ethernet adapter
  • Connected Ethernet to the computer via a USB-C dongle to the Thunderbolt Port
  • Changed the default DNS to Google's DNS servers (8.8.8.8)
  • Uninstalled ExpressVPN

Does anyone know what might be the problem here?

(Edited to add other things I tried) (Edit 2: More specifics added regarding problem)

Cannot use any browser and message app while date is changed

Posted: 12 Sep 2021 12:08 AM PDT

Does somebody know how to fix internet connection problems when the date on my Mac is not the actual date?

I'm changing the date on my Mac to use a trial version of Parallels desktop because I need to run an old program for Windows for work purposes. I cannot use browser/apps it says "SSL ERROR BAD CERT DOMAIN" or "your connection is not protected...".

What can I do to fix this?

Firefox does not accept ⌃⌘Space keyboard shortcut for Emoji & Symbols

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 11:04 AM PDT

I really love the option of ⌃⌘Space to bring up Emoji & Symbols in macOS. Unfortunately this does not work in Firefox.

How can I get this to work?

I am on macOS Big Sur 11.3.1, and Firefox is the latest version.

http://localhost/~username - 403 forbidden error

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 03:06 PM PDT

I'm in the process of setting up my local ~/Sites folder, but if I access the page http://localhost/~soren I get a 403 error:

Forbidden    You don't have permission to access this resource.

I have read several tutorials etc. on the subject, but I still can not make it work.

Here are my access rights to my /Users, ~/ and ~/Sites folder:

drwxr-xr-x   5 root   admin   160 Aug  9 03:14 /Users  drwxr-xr-x@ 64 soren  staff  2048 Aug 11 05:19 /Users/soren/  drwxr-xr-x+  9 soren  staff   288 Aug 10 00:54 /Users/soren/Sites

Excerpt from my /usr/local/etc/httpd/httpd.conf file:

...  LoadModule authn_core_module lib/httpd/modules/mod_authn_core.so  LoadModule authz_host_module lib/httpd/modules/mod_authz_host.so  LoadModule userdir_module lib/httpd/modules/mod_userdir.so  ...  # User/Group: The name (or #number) of the user/group to run httpd as.  User soren  Group staff  ...  <Directory "/Users/soren/Sites">      Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Multiviews      MultiviewsMatch Any      AllowOverride All      Require all granted      <FilesMatch "\.php$">          SetHandler application/x-httpd-php      </FilesMatch>  </Directory>  ...  # User home directories  Include /usr/local/etc/httpd/extra/httpd-userdir.conf  ...

I have tried two different versions of httpd-userdir.conf but none of them work.

Version 1:

# Settings for user home directories  #  # Required module: mod_authz_core, mod_authz_host, mod_userdir    Include /usr/local/etc/httpd/users/*.conf    <IfModule bonjour_module>         RegisterUserSite customized-users  </IfModule>

/usr/local/etc/httpd/users/soren.conf:

<Directory "/Users/soren/Sites/">    Options Indexes MultiViews FollowSymLinks ExecCGI    AllowOverride None    Require host localhost  </Directory>

Access rights for soren.conf file:

-rw-r--r--  1 root  admin  145 Aug 11 07:29 /usr/local/etc/httpd/users/soren.conf

Version 2:

# Settings for user home directories  #  # Required module: mod_authz_core, mod_authz_host, mod_userdir    #  # UserDir: The name of the directory that is appended onto a user's home  # directory if a ~user request is received.  Note that you must also set  # the default access control for these directories, as in the example below.  #  UserDir Sites    <Directory "/Users/soren/Sites">      AllowOverride FileInfo AuthConfig Limit Indexes      Options MultiViews Indexes SymLinksIfOwnerMatch IncludesNoExec      Require method GET POST OPTIONS  </Directory>

What else do I need to do to get this to work?

Edit: Just some more information that I forgot to write.

Here are my directory group rights:

ls -le /Users/:

 0: group:everyone deny delete

ls -le /Users/soren/:

 0: group:everyone deny delete

Horizontal mirror/flip webcam image for video conference on MacOS

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 02:02 PM PDT

I am looking for a solution to horizontally (or vertically) mirror/flip the webcam image (not rotate) on MacOS on the hardware or driver level. The ultimate goal is to use a mirrored video stream in Webex, Zoom, or Skype.

I have seen solutions involving virtual cameras (e.g., OBS, Logitech Capture), which work, but this requires additional software and processes to run in parallel.

I am looking for a solution that works on the OS, driver, or hardware level to flip the image. The solution could be a specific webcam having a driver that allows flipping the webcam or an option on MacOs that I have not found.

Unfortunately, the Logitech cameras I have and their companion software (Camera Settings) only allow for adjustments of brightness, zoom, etc. but not for flipping the image.

Update to provide additional clarification on the use case: The background is that my webcam points first at a mirror -- hence, I need to flip the video screen to "undo the mirroring".

Under Windows, the device driver ("device properties") for many Logitech webcams offers the "orientation" option, allowing to flip the image horizontally or vertically. I am looking for a similar option under MacOS -- or for another webcam offering this option.

Any suggestions, ideas, or experiences are very welcome!

Stop autocorrect in Microsoft Office changing custom symbols to emoji

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 12:05 PM PDT

I have set up a number of custom shortcuts for math/logic symbols to use in Word and OneNote, including the left/right arrow ↔. This works in OneNote, but I also need it to work in Word, but it keeps autocorrecting to the corresponding arrow emoji which is incredibly frustrating.

I have tried the following:

  • changing the shortcut to add a space after the ↔. This still corrects to the emoji.
  • selecting "change back to [custom shortcut]" – this does what it says, and corrects it all the way back to the shortcut, rather than to the arrow symbol I want
  • using the inbuilt shortcut \leftrightarrow (which I want to avoid because it's so much faster to type a three-character shortcut than that) also autocorrects to the emoji outside of math fields in Word
  • changing the shortcut trigger to something different. This still replaces the arrow with an emoji.

Within specified math fields, this issue doesn't occur, but I want to be able to continue to use these symbols outside of math fields, because that's the only way I can still use it within OneNote as well due to the way the Autocorrect dictionary for Office is set up.

I suspect that the issue is due to the fact that there is an inbuilt auto-replacement function for the arrow symbol to be replaced by the arrow emoji itself, much like how the smiley symbols started getting replaced by emoji a few years ago too, but I wouldn't know where to look to disable that to allow insertion of the actual arrow symbol itself. Any suggestions? Right now I'm copying and pasting but obviously this is not an ideal solution.

I am using Microsoft Word for Mac Version 16.46.

Thank you in advance, this is driving me up the wall!

Can I uninstall Xcode but keep Simulator?

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 07:04 PM PDT

I do not want Xcode, I only want Simulator. Are they different apps? Can I uninstall Xcode but keep Simulator?

How can I tell Automator to display an image with Preview but actual size?

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 01:59 PM PDT

I am trying to have Automator do a simple task: display an image, but actual size. The problem is that Preview by default wants to 'fit' the image on the screen, but there appears to be no way to tell Automator to tell Preview to do it 'actual size' instead.

Is there a way to do this or do I simply have to find another way and avoid Preview.app?

Can't delete Alex voice from the iOS simulator

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 08:09 PM PDT

I'm working with iOS voices for accessibility reasons. In iOS simulator I've tried to install Alex voice which is one of the most popular English voices. To choose it I downloaded it first. However, after that, the voice looks like something between enabled and disabled.

E.g. for Allison I see that it's not downloaded hence it's not available for me. On the other hand, Samantha is downloaded, so I can navigate further and edit the voice, for example I can delete it. But for Alex I can't neither delete it nor select it to use later.

When I try to press Erase All Content and Settings... for the simulator, sometimes it doesn't change anything, but sometimes it erases Alex voice, but situation returns after downloading this voice. Is there any other way how it Alex can be installed on the simulator?

Randomize Alert Sound Effect in Mac OS

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 03:11 PM PDT

Is there any way to randomize the alert sound effect in Mac OS? In system prefs I am able to select which sound effect I want to hear. Is there a way for the system to choose a random sound each time?

Apple Mail with Gmail Account (IMAP): Moving Mails from inbox to folders fails

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 12:38 PM PDT

I have a Gmail account (gmail 1), and if I'm moving email from Inbox to an IMAP folder, the email disappears from Inbox and after changing the folder and going back to Inbox the moved mail is back in my Inbox.

I just created a new Gmail account (gmail 2) and tried it with this account. The behaviour is like expected: moved emails don't re-appear in their old folder.

Now, I don't know how to fix this. I've checked the account settings from both accounts, the new one and the old one and I can't find a settings difference to fix this problem.

I made a short 30sec movie about the problem.

Is there a Mac OSX equivalent of zenity?

Posted: 11 Sep 2021 10:44 AM PDT

I'm porting some simple X windows/bash scripts to Mac OSX, but I cannot find a build of Zenity (a Gnome app for basic GUI dialogs) for OSX. Is there some other command line driven dialog utility I can use? Basic operations: notification dialog

  • List item
  • (i.e. basic title, text, icon, OK button)
  • error notification
  • yes/no or ok/cancel prompts
  • select 1 or n items from a list
  • input text string

I don't (yet) know AppleScript (but it seems pretty verbose for the file maintenance tasks I'm interested in).
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