Monday, November 8, 2021

Recent Questions - Ask Different

Recent Questions - Ask Different

Cannot Pair Microsoft Surface Headphones V1 to MacBook Pro

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 10:17 PM PST

Several years ago I bought a pair of Surface headphones on a great Black Friday deal. At the time, I was running macOS Mojave and I had no problem connecting via Bluetooth to these headphones. However, ever since Catalina it will not stay connected. They do show up in the list of Bluetooth devices and as soon as I click connect, the headphones behave as though they are just being powered on with a pleasant voice saying it has so many hours of battery life left. Then it drops the connection and then connects again, with the same voice stating the battery life. This will continue repeatedly until I power off the headphones or forget the connection in Bluetooth settings. I recently got a newer MacBook 2018 model and installed Monterey and it has the same issue. I have updated the firmware on the headphones so it is running the latest.

Some of the things I have tried:

  1. Restarting Bluetooth by Shift+Opt click the Bluetooth menu bar icon > Debug > Reset the Bluetooth module.
  2. several reboots, sleep/wakeup
  3. delete bluetooth.plist(s), reboot
  4. reset NVRAM

I can use the supplied audio cord and connect it to the audio jack just fine, but that kind of defeats the purpose of expensive wireless headphones. There does not appear to be any documentation on using these with macOS, only iOS and Android aside from Windows of course. Short of reverting back to Mojave, I am not sure what else to try.

Charge 2017 13" Macbook air through Thunderbolt 2 port, while connecting display

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 05:37 PM PST

I currently have a 2017, 13" Macbook Air, and have been looking to buy a monitor to have at home. Is there a product that would allow me to power my computer, while connecting an external monitor (preferably HDMI), through the Thunderbolt 2 port?

Cannot Boot From Anything Other Than MacOS

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 11:45 PM PST

I wanted to install Linux on my Mac. I made USB installers (with Rufus from my PC and Etcher) but when I boot from it, it shows an error:

The version of macOS on the selected disk needs to be reinstalled: Use Recovery to reinstall macOS or select another startup disk.

I installed rEFInd to boot for me, but I can't boot from that either, showing the same error. SIP was always off during these boots (never tried SIP on but I don't think that might help). I tried manually blessing the rEFInd .efi file, still didn't work.

Apparently, my Mac doesn't recognize anything that's not macOS. What can I do to make it recognize these?

The Error

Podcasts app on macOS keeps asking me to sign in

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 04:24 PM PST

No matter how many times I try signing in or click cancel, the pop-up keeps reappearing with no way to finally get rid of it and to keep it from coming back permanently. Is anyone else having this problem and possibly knows how to fix it? It's an extremely annoying bug. I'm on macOS 12.0.1.

Can there be damage to an iPhone 13 Pro Max from using a magnetic cable?

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 01:52 PM PST

Can there be any ill effects to an iPhone 13 Pro Max as a result of using a Lightning magnetic cable like this one below to charge it (because of it being magnetic)?

Thanks

enter image description here

Changed user account name and now notes gone missing

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 01:16 PM PST

So basically I changed the name of my user account which then made a new folder on my computer for this account and I lost important notes which I now can't or don't know how to access. Any help would be appreciated

Source of PF 'anchor "com.apple.internet-sharing" all'?

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 11:55 AM PST

I see someone had/has the same issue I'm seeing here, but I can't find an answer to it.

What I'm trying to do: create a packet filter that is applied to any device that's sharing internet. My use case has devices plugged into a Mac Mini via USB that shares the ethernet connection.

What I've done so far:

  • Created a /etc/pf.anchors/tethering file with my desired rulesets
  • Modified the /etc/pf.config file so it looks like this:
#  # com.apple anchor point  #  scrub-anchor "com.apple/*"  nat-anchor "com.apple/*"  rdr-anchor "com.apple/*"  dummynet-anchor "com.apple/*"  anchor "com.apple/*"  load anchor "com.apple" from "/etc/pf.anchors/com.apple"    # Custom anchor loadings  anchor "tethering"  load anchor "tethering" from "/etc/pf.anchors/tethering"
  • Run command sudo pfctl -E -f /etc/pf.conf to load modified config
  • Run command sudo pfctl -sr and get the following
scrub-anchor "com.apple/*" all fragment reassemble  anchor "com.apple/*" all  anchor "tethering" all
  • Finally, I test a device that's already connected and everything behaves as expected.

What goes wrong: Every time I connect a new device, my anchor appears to have no effect. I run the command sudo pfctl -sr and get a different result (below). OSX automatically appends an anchor com.apple.internet-sharing that overrides my desired tethering.

scrub-anchor "com.apple/*" all fragment reassemble  scrub-anchor "com.apple.internet-sharing" all fragment reassemble  anchor "com.apple/*" all  anchor "tethering" all  anchor "com.apple.internet-sharing" all

Finally - the question: How do can I find - and therefore modify - the com.apple.internet-sharing anchor? Or, how can I prevent this anchor from being automatically added?

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance.

2007 iMac Not Booting From USB [closed]

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 11:15 AM PST

I am trying to install macOS Snow Leopard on my 2007 iMac I go into the boot menu and i click efi boot and it just freezes, trying a different usb now. will delete this if it works

Why does iOS not allow you to forget a specific WiFi network out of range? [closed]

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 09:59 AM PST

This is a "why" question. Why does iOS not allow you to forget a specific WiFi network out of range? I know you can forget all WiFi networks, but what is the design reason for not allowing you to forget a specific one if you are out of range? Most other operating systems, including macOS allow for it. Is there some kind of security purpose, design purpose, or etc?

Time Machine System Restore: Stuck in "Preparing to restore "Macintosh HD"". (external HD sleeping?)

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 12:18 PM PST

I am attempting to do a Time Machine System Restore in order to revert to a previous OS.

I have the full time machine backup on an external hard drive. (It's a Seagate model.)

However, when I initiate the System Restore, the utility gets stuck on the screen that says "Preparing to restore "Macintosh HD"." I left it on overnight-- and 24 hours later it was still stuck on this screen with no signs of progress.

Part of me wonders if this has something to do the external Seagate HD going to sleep. (Maybe it happens when my screen goes to sleep?) I'll hear the external hard drive make sounds and the light will be on at first, but later on when I come back to my laptop, the light is off and it is silent.

I am running MacOs 12.0.1 on a 2017 MacBook Pro (15 inch).

screenshot

Graphically display the information collected by powermetrics [closed]

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 09:36 AM PST

how can I graphically display the information collected by powermetrics in the terminal as bar charts like in the following video?

enter image description here

https://youtu.be/2XY_Utsmfvw?t=398

I am very interested in the cpu/gpu frequency which is often not displayed by other tools. I want to know when my system is thermal throttling.

How to use 2 different iCloud accounts in Reminders app on iOS and macOS?

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 07:38 PM PST

I use one iCloud account for my private use (mainly on my phone) and one for work (on my Macbook Pro with Monterey). I however want to use Reminders to use both accounts, so I could see all my working reminders on my private phone and all my private reminders on my working computer. I've already done the same for Calendar but for reminders it seems different. On my Internet Accounts settings page there is no Reminders. enter image description here

Am I missing something? Is there a way I can use 2 iCloud accounts in the Reminders?

high fan speed even w/o SSD on MacBookPro9,2 (mid-2012) MD101LL/A

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 10:42 PM PST

It is important that I give a detailed description of the event

MacBook model MacBookPro9,2 (mid-2012), MD101LL/A, Core i5, 16G RAM, SSD 500GB, bought in 2014

Used up to a week before the disaster, it showed no signs of abating.

Yesterday, I take him out of his backpack and immediately notice these symptoms:

  • OS loading too slow almost seemed to me to be blocked
  • fan (which seems to almost not exist), after 10 seconds of power on , it accelerated slowly and then went like a turbine
  • login screen appears without the password box, which appears after about 1 minute
  • on password input, on key stroke the pass bullet it's shown after seconds
  • minutes and minutes to load desktop
  • on Activity Monitor CPU was full, flat line and kernel_task was what consumed the most, but we know to be a false positive
  • my MBP was completely stuck, a paperweight
  • I try to reset SMC, PRAM, I go into safe mode, but nothing happened

Important: after hours on, with the CPU between 98 and 100%, the mac was not hot (just use FinalCut to understand what a hot mac is). The temperature was the classic temperature of an idle state. I also bought iStat Menu, but the mac was so slow it couldn't show any results.

After all these tests, I make up my mind, I open the mac and unplug the SSD: same problem, fan too high. So, it's not a software problem.

I unplugged everything. Everything. The motherboard remains with only the power supply and the fan: same symptom, after 10 seconds, slowly, became a turbine

I do another searchs on the internet and someone was talking about dry thermal paste. I checked and mine, in fact, after more than 7 years (2014-2021), had become concrete.

I haven't changed the thermal paste yet because when you look for it you never find it here, I ordered it on Amazon.

So, with the heatsink in hand, I said "let's see what happens without it". I connect the power supply and the CPU, after 4 seconds, becomes a barbeque (my fingertip confirms this). But the strange thing remains the fan. It should accelerate almost immediately where it always takes those 10 seconds, slowly, and then get to high speed; as with the mounted heatsink, as with the boot.

The hypotheses can be:

  • the thermal paste was so dry that with or without a heat sink the result is identical
  • the fan control chip is gone, but it would not explain why the CPU is so slow

Ideas?

Thanks

UPDATE 2021-11-08

Thermal paste replaced. Nothing. Same scenario, same behaviour.

Apple diagnostic says PFM006 and NDC001

Can't assign normal keyboard shortcuts on Monterey because "it's already used by a system-wide keyboard shortcut"

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 08:13 PM PST

I just bought a new MacBook and it came with Monterey installed. Normally, I would set up "Cmd+\" to map to the 1Password Mini browser, to retrieve passwords. I also have shortcuts set up for Divvy - "Cmd+E" brings up the Divvy window, and then "S" assigns the window to the left half of the screen, "F" to the right half, "R" to the top right corner, etc.

When I try to assign any of these shortcuts, I get a system dialog informing me that the shortcut I have tried to assign cannot be used because "it's already used by a system-wide shortcut."

I pulled up the Keyboard preferences and went to Shortcuts and scrolled the entire list and didn't see anything conflicting. I also opened the "Shortcuts" app but I do not have any shortcuts installed.

What do I need to do to get my keyboard shortcuts working again?

iCloud Drive - Stop Automatic File Upload & Download

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 03:45 PM PST

Files have automatically started downloading to my Mac from iCloud Drive and I'd like to stop them.

I've tried clicking the X button next to the progress bar, and I've also tried looking for a stop button in context menus, yet no luck. Even though they are definetly downloading, all I see in the context menus is "Download Now".

Any help please?

Screen recording: https://RyderCragie.com/iCloudDriveIssue

Potentially corrupted external hard-drive freezing MacBook Pro

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 04:06 PM PST

I was copying some files from my old Macbook onto my external hard-drive, but at some point the file transfer completely stopped (no progress for 15+ minutes). I decided to stop the file transfer and try again. However, when I tried to stop the transfer anything connected to Finder disappeared - e.g. all icons on my desktop. Other programmes were still working, so I decided to quit everything while I could and reboot. However, this seems to have corrupted the external hard drive. I tried plugging it back in and it couldn't be mounted anymore. I tried it on a different MacBook Pro, and started running first aid from the disk utility. It was all going fine, but it is now at the "Checking catalog file" stage, and has completely frozen the Macbook. The colorful wheel just keeps spinning and nothing is responding. What should I do to avoid further damage? Just wait?

Auto connect VPN in Cisco AnyConnect on MacOS Big Sur

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 10:03 AM PST

I would like to connect automatically after I logon in my computer. For that I need some form to pass my user and password to Cisco Anyconnect.

I tried to use the -s option in /opt/cisco/anyconnect/bin/vpn but not matter what I do, I tried a zillion different ways, the VPN doesn't take into consideration my username and password, no matter where I put it.

I saw that there is an option in my profile that forbidden scripting: EnableScripting, at /opt/cisco/anyconnect/profile/AnyConnectProfile.xml. Then I ask myself if this holds and if yes, would be possible to find an alternative path without the need of involving the network administrators.

Any help?

How do I add actions to the ctrl+click or right click menu when using it on a link on Microsoft Outlook?

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 11:01 AM PST

I'm using the Microsoft Outlook Mac client to read work email. Sometimes I want to open links in my default browser, and sometimes I want to open them in a different browser. When I right-click on a link it gives a few options: Copy Link and Share. Under Share, there are a few options that appear to come from the "Share Menu" in Preferences. Is it possible to create a new entry in the share menu such as "Open in Firefox" or "Open in Safari"? How would I do this without purchasing software to do it for me?

I'm using MacOS Big Sur if that's relevant.

I've seen this answer: Force URL link to open with a specific browser but it does not answer my question. The answers talk about software that operates on rules to open different browsers; I want to choose which browser to open each time I right-click on a link. There is already a menu there; how do I add to it? Actually allowing even just one alternative to the default browser is sufficient for my purposes.

The Automator looks promising: I was able to create a simple action to read aloud text highlighted on the screen. However, I want the action to operate on the link destination instead of the displayed text. I have created an action that calls a shell script but it doesn't appear in the context menu.

Unable to install printer driver for HP1606DN printer on Big Sur

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 10:05 PM PST

I have tried to configure the HP1606DN printer via IP address, direct driver download, EasySetup, and HP Smart: none have worked.

For newer printers my preference for installation is to connect via IP address and then hopefully the printer will download the drivers properly. For the HP1606DN I believe that were the case in the past: but it is not working now because only Generic PostScript or an incompatible HP printer type are available.

So I have downloaded the HP driver from https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-laserjet-pro-p1606-printer-series/4110408/model/4110409

enter image description here

[![enter image description here][2]][2]

I installed EasySetup 2 and then connected by USB (I'd prefer to do ethernet but apparently we need a physical connection ??) It asks me to install yet another program HP Smart. This is obviously troubling - since too many programs mean too many chances for the programs to fail or get confused.

Then the HP Smart setup program still does not recognize the printer - it hangs here:

enter image description here

And it can't find the (correctly attached) USB

enter image description here

Note that I had previously tried using drivers directly: HPPrinterDrivers5.1.dmg

This volume does not meet the requirements for this update

I am at a loss to how to get this (relatively recent!) printer to work with _macOS Big Sur. Has anyone succeeded?

enter image description here

AppleScript to Rename File Names

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 06:06 PM PST

Can anybody help me with the following issue. I'd like an AppleScript that will rename files like these by removing the leading numbers and underscore.

So file names like these:

  5111632_The Secret_ Dare to Dream.mp4  5099299_Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1.mp4  5099287_Basic Instinct.mp4  5099283_Before I Go to Sleep.mp4

would turn into:

  The Secret_ Dare to Dream.mp4  Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1.mp4  Basic Instinct.mp4  Before I Go to Sleep.mp4

I'm going to run it in one folder using Hazel.

Is there any way to use sleep mode on WatchOS 7 without do not disturb activating on my iPhone?

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 04:15 PM PST

I want to use my Apple Watch for sleep tracking, and want to use sleep mode so the watch display is completely off while I sleep.

However, I need my iPhone to NOT turn on Do Not Disturb (I need to be able to hear certain app notifications) when sleep mode is activated on the watch. I haven't been able to get this to work yet. Is this possible?

Siri will not understand one particular word I say and its driving me nuts

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 10:17 PM PST

In Australia one of our major supermarkets is Coles and I have their app.

Everytime I say the word "Coles" Siri interprets it as "Kohls" so it can not find the app or the shopping list or ANYTHING associated with Coles.

No matter what weird and wonderful pronunciations I have tried she just keeps hearing Kohls.

Even as I say it I can see she sometimes puts Coles in the speech bubble but then it is auto changed to Kohls.

Apart from many other issues minor but irritating with her this one really is annoying.

How can I retrain her?

Catalina 10.15.5 Bluetooth (Keyboard) Connection Not Working

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 09:38 AM PST

  • MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
  • Catalina 10.15.5 update (last night when I went to bed)
  • Bluetooth: 7.0.5f6
  • Firmware Version: v150 c9318 (from About Thus Mac; System Report;Hardware; Bluetooth).

This morning, 2009 Wireless Keyboard not connecting, not even seen.

Also posted with another user at Apple Communities here.

How can I download the file on iCloud Drive manually?

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 06:23 PM PST

I have a few music files I put on iCloud Drive a while ago, and now I want to move them to my Dropbox directory.

So I tried to download them locally in order to move to my Dropbox directory, but the download won't start by double-tapping the filename.

I also tried to choose the "Download now" section on the file (maybe the English description is different, but it is the third menu item on the pane) but the download won't start, either.

In the past the download started immediately, but now it won't. There is enough storage in my local computer (about 90GB at least). Restarting the computer won't resolve the problem.

What is wrong with it and how can I download the files? I use Catalina Beta 6 on my 2017 12' MacBook.

My iMac keeps crashing

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 01:00 PM PST

I have a 27" Late 2013 iMac with 8GB RAM and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M (2GB) GPU.

Last year my iMac started crashing now and then. Not only that, when it's in sleep mode it just falls out. I have to pull the wire out and in again and then it works again. Very annoying.

I brought it back to the store and they did a hardware check, nothing was wrong apparently.

They looked into the logs and saw that before my iMac crashed the 'Steam -app' was mentioned. So they suggested that I have to reinstall the iMac. Weird I know. So I asked a friend to do that for me since I'm too afraid to make a mistake.

So the iMac was clean and yet again after a few hours it crashed. I downloaded software to see if the fans were working right or the temperature was too high. Again no problems. I used the console to get the CPU to work 100% to see if it would crash. Nope.

So I thought maybe it was the power supply and I tried a different cable. Nope

I looked into the log again and now I see that the last crash was because of com.apple.dictionaryServiceHelper??

I uploaded a screenshot of this: (log+About This Mac)

I'm no iMac expert at all so I just don't know what to do anymore.

How can I continue troubleshooting this?

Disable ssh password authentication on High Sierra

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 12:41 PM PST

I want to disable password auth - ie keys only - on SSH. I've done this many times on Linux variants, and some searching here suggests it's the same on Mac, ie:

/etc/ssh/sshd_config

Then add/edit:

PasswordAuthentication no

However, this seems to have no effect - ie I can still log in with a password. Is there any different trick to do this on High Sierra?

How to configure Finder to let me rename dotfiles?

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 02:46 PM PST

I always have hidden files set to 'visible' in Finder, because I'm a developer and I work with a lot of dotfiles.

But even with this setting, Finder won't let me rename a file beginning with a dot. It also won't let me modify these files by pasting over them etc; it gives an error like "The item ".gitignore" can't be replaced because it's invisible." Well, it's not invisible, I can see it, and I want to replace it, and it's mine.

I know how to use mv. I am asking about doing this with Finder.

Can't find 100gb of movie files on my macbook

Posted: 07 Nov 2021 06:40 PM PST

I have a small problem with my ssd of my macbook. I have been deleting some files to make some space. If I go to 'apple' -> About this Mac -> Storage, I see I have 117 gb of video files on my macbook.

If I search my entire storage of my macbook, I can only find 15gb in my Movies map and 30gb in my downloads map. I seriously can't find the other files and my trashcan is empty.

Can somebody please help me with this?
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