Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Recent Questions - Ask Different

Recent Questions - Ask Different

Location of Disk Utility created volume?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 08:06 AM PST

Upon creating a new volume via Disk Utility in macOS (12.2 Monterey), where does the actual DMG file get created / live? (aside from the mount point /Volumes/newvolume - is there a DMG file somewhere, that I can backup / transfer to another machine? AFPS encrypted, if that matters)

AirPods 3 with AAC-ELD codec not working on MacBook Pro

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:09 AM PST

I checked my console log output on my Mac to see if my AirPods 3/Pro/Max use the new AAC-ELD codec with 24kHz sampling rate.

My iPhone 13 Pro and my iPhone 8 use the new codec according to the log output, but my MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017, MacOS Monterey 12.2) does NOT. It only uses the "old" codec mSBC with 16kHz sampling rate. (Check screenshots below.)

Does anyone know how to enable it on the Mac or is it not supported on my Mac?

Mac: enter image description here

iPhone 13 Pro: enter image description here

Can I make my Apple TV always default connect to an Airport Express?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 05:33 AM PST

I have an Apple TV (4th generation). Every time it goes to sleep, I need to reconnect it to my Airport Express. Is there any way to maintain the connection? I don't want to turn sleep off.

I'd like to change the shell script instruction to the one available in the terminal

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 05:43 AM PST

do shell script "bless -mount /Volumes/BOOTCAMP/ -legacy -setBoot -nextonly" password "0000" with administrator privileges  tell application "System Events"      restart  end tell

I want to make the script written above available at the terminal. Thank you in advance 🙏

iPhone call and data services stop working until toggling flight mode

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 04:18 AM PST

I have an iPhone 12 Pro that is only about a year old. It stops receiving texts and calls and I'm unable to use data services until I toggle flight mode on and off. These services then function for a very short period of time (sometimes less than a minute) before I have to do it again.

I've tried resetting all network settings and I've changed my sim card.

Has anyone ever experienced this? Is there any way to debug further?

DYLD_PRINT_RPATHS showing expanded RPATH without @rpath?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 03:29 AM PST

I am using DYLD_PRINT_RPATHS=1 DYLD_PRINT_LIBRARIES=1 to debug a dynamic linking problem. I see output like this:

...  RPATH failed to expanding     @rpath/libjulia-internal.dylib to: /Users/victor/sc-julia/build/../SCJulia/build/scjulia/lib/libjulia-internal.dylib  dyld: loaded: /Users/victor/sc-julia/build/../SCJulia/build/scjulia/lib/julia/libjulia-internal.dylib  RPATH successful expansion of @rpath/libjulia-internal.dylib to: /Users/victor/sc-julia/build/../SCJulia/build/scjulia/lib/julia/libjulia-internal.dylib  dyld: loaded: /Users/victor/sc-julia/build/../SCJulia/build/scjulia/lib/libscjulia.dylib  RPATH successful expansion of @rpath/libscjulia.dylib to: /Users/victor/sc-julia/build/../SCJulia/build/scjuli/lib/libscjulia.dylib  ...  RPATH failed to expanding     libscjulia.dylib to: /Users/victor/sc-julia/SCJulia/build/scjulia/lib/julia/libscjulia.dylib  ERROR: julia: Failed to load library at libscjulia.dylib

my question is how to interpret this line:

RPATH failed to expanding     libscjulia.dylib to: /Users/victor/sc-julia/SCJulia/build/scjulia/lib/julia/libscjulia.dylib                               ^                              there is no @rpath here ???

why is there an RPATH expansion being printed if there is no @rpath in the target?

additional context here: https://github.com/JuliaLang/PackageCompiler.jl/issues/662

macOS 10.14.6 (18G9323)

$ c++ --version  Apple LLVM version 10.0.1 (clang-1001.0.46.4)  Target: x86_64-apple-darwin18.7.0  Thread model: posix  InstalledDir: /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin

'grep --color' only shows limited number of matches and duplicates input lines

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 04:55 AM PST

I have a lengthy string on one line and want to highlight all occurrences of a character/substring using grep --color on the command-line. However, this only highlights matches in 'chunks' of 32. If there are more than 32 matches on one line, then only the first 32 are highlighted, the input string is repeated and the next chunk of 32 matches is highlighted on the next line(s). For example (replacing 'red' with 'bold'):

for i in {1..4}; do echo -n 1234567890; done | grep --color "[0123456789]"

1234567890123456789012345678901234567890

1234567890123456789012345678901234567890

How can I get all the matches on one line without duplicated input lines?

I am using Darwin on Big Sur and have tried bash and zsh. Duplication is not an issue if I don't use the --color flag or do use -o. Everything works as expected in Linux (Fedora 7.3).

Deleting duplicate copy of cURL command line application and point the system to only one copy of it

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 04:00 AM PST

I recently updated my copy of cURL via Homebrew, which it put in /usr/local/Cellar/curl (v7.80.0). I also have an older version of it (7.43.0), which is located at /usr/bin/curl. This is the version I execute without specifying the path (as per which curl). I'm using bash shell.

It seems it's not a good idea to simply remove /usr/bin/curl and place a symbolic link from /usr/bin/curl to /usr/local/Cellar/curl. So how do I tell the system to use the newer version located in /usr/local/Cellar/curl?

Do I need to update environment settings to ensure curl gets found? Is there a way to "uninstall" the old copy of curl in /usr/bin/curl?

No Show Webpage Option when Opening New Application

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 04:33 AM PST

I was setting up my Macbook for some coding development, and wanted to install chrome, github desktop, and visual studio code. When I added Chrome to my Applications folder and double clicked, it gave the option to open, show webpage, close. However, when I open either github desktop or visual studio code, I do not get the option to show webpage. Is this normal, or are these apps possibly malicious (i.e. not from real sources)? I have included a screenshot of opening Visual Studio code.

enter image description here

iPad screen time / app limits show uninstalled apps / doesn't show installed app

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:29 AM PST

My iPad screen time / app limits section is complete broken. It shows apps not installed, but doesn't show apps that are currently installed.

As a result I cannot set per-app time limits, because I simply don't have desired apps in the options.

I tried to reset iPad completely but it didn't help.

Anyone had the same issue and has a solution?

Why does macOS intermittently drop packets over WiFi?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 05:01 AM PST

I have a 2020 13" M1 MacBook Pro. My WiFi is eero pro 6. Recently I observed that I have a small amount of packet loss ~0.1%. Although the packet loss is tiny, it is puzzling me. The weird part is that I only seem to be having packet loss on Apple computers over WiFi. I have an older Intel Macbook Pro which also experiences similar packet loss. I have a Mac Mini that also experiences packet loss over WiFi but it doesn't over ethernet. Here's the weird part. I have a Lenovo X1 Carbon running Linux which doesn't seem to be experiencing any packet loss over the same WiFi network.

None of the Macs experience packet loss at the same time. When I run ping, I see them experiencing packet drops at different times. I also have pings running in multiple terminal tabs to different destinations (e.g. google.com, WiFi Router, Internet Gateway) on each computer. Funny enough there is packet loss at different times to each destination. On my X1 Carbon, I don't see packet loss anywhere.

X1 Carbon is using 5GHz network as well as WiFi 6. It's not connecting to the 2.4GHz band. I checked this on Eero app and confirmed.

I initially suspected my broadband provider was having issues. However, I seem to be experiencing packet loss only on macOS machines and not a Linux machine. Packet loss also isn't limited to Internet destinations. It's occurring to Intranet destinations as well. I suspected rogue devices giving out EMF causing radio interference but then I would see packet drops across all devices simultaneously. That doesn't seem to be the case either.

The packets are also lost at different times in different terminal tabs on the same devices so I doubt it could be the WiFi. If there is a periodic WiFi glitch I would expect to see all ping destinations having issues at the same time. This is perplexing. The weirdest part is that I always had issues with WiFi on Linux and never on macOS.

I have tried the standard update & reboot, reconnect WiFi but nothing seems to eliminate the issue.

Is there something I am overlooking?

Activate M1 MBP without contacting Apple servers

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 03:01 AM PST

I'd like to have an airgapped M1 macbook, with some form of backup/disk cloning in case of hardware failures. Is there a way I can completely wipe/restore an M1 MacBook Pro without an internet connection?

  • disk cloning seems very hard, since several "hidden" partitions don't get cloned
  • in fact, the internal SSD seems to be an integral part of the boot process (based on the above post); it's soldered-on anyway, so if it fails, it sounds like the whole macbook needs to get replaced

So without disk cloning, I think I'm stuck with hitting Apple servers to activate the macbook after an OS/disk wipe.

  • there's some existing investigation into caching the activation info for the touch bar, which might potentially still apply to M1
  • Apple Configurator 2 also permits IPSW restores and a DFU mode, which includes T2 (possibly M1) firmware. But that seems to need a connection to Apple servers.
  • some versions of T2 sound jailbreak-able, which might lead to some way to activate offline, but I don't believe M1 has the same vulnerability.

How to stop ioS from dimming the display

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:19 AM PST

I have an iOS device and the display dims despite my settings. It is either a bug or it is on purpose but I have set the display on maximum brightness. It still adjusts the brightness if I'm in a shadow or in the sun. I can see this happening.

I have accessibility issues. If this is intentional PLEASE STOP DOING THIS! Please stop dimming the display despite my turning off the auto-adjust feature.

Now the setting is gone!?! How do I stop this?

Orphan blank window randomly pops up

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 02:30 AM PST

Since about a week ago, I've had a window like this one1 popping up out of nowhere a few times a day.

It's not "attached" to any app, in the sense that it's not coming to the foreground while using the app switcher. Selecting it doesn't show a corresponding app name in the menu bar either.

I closed all my apps, then all the menu bar apps, then I opened Activity Monitor, selected everything and then "Quit" and it was still there.

If I close the window, sometimes a new one pops up; sometimes it just goes away and doesn't seem to come back for a while.

Is there a way to find the process that corresponds to a particular window like that?

  System Version:   macOS 12.0.1 (21A559)    Model Name:   MacBook Air    Model Identifier: MacBookAir10,1    Chip: Apple M1    Total Number of Cores:    8 (4 performance and 4 efficiency)    Memory:   16 GB    System Firmware Version:  7429.41.5    OS Loader Version:    7429.41.5

Screenshot of a blank window on a colorful background

How to use terminal to visit a site and take screenshot?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 04:59 AM PST

I am aware curl on Mac lets you visit a site from the command line.

Is there a way to visit that site then take a screenshot and download it?

M1 brute force protection, password complexity

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 02:00 AM PST

What protection does the M1 SoC have against an attacker attempting to brute force the login password of a macOS user?

What password complexity should be enough to stop an attacker from brute forcing a user's login on a M1/Pro/Max-based device?

How to remove the MacOS Legacy System Extension signed by Golden Frog Inc (kextstat does not help) [duplicate]

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 06:17 AM PST

After every update of my MacOS, an error message like this is shown to me upon restart:

Legacy System Extension

I deleted VyprVpn long time ago, but this system extensions seems to still run on my laptop.

In System Information -> Software -> Extensions, there is nothing that says VyprVpn or Golden Frog. I guess that's because "Golden Frog" is who signed the extension, but the extension name is different.

Running kextstat | grep -v com.apple does not show anything with "Golden Frog" either, so this answer does not help.

How can I identify and remove that extension completely?

Please note that my question is not solely about how to remove an extension, but also how to find / identify it based on the error message where it only says who signed that extension.

macOS doesn't run executable file anymore, after upgrade to Catalina/Monterey

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 02:12 AM PST

Since I upgraded to Monterey (from Mojave), I cannot run anymore a local server that was installed under /Applications.

The app has no extension, the file type is "Unix Executable File". It was working perfectly before the update.

Now when I try to run it from shell it fails with

-bash: ./ManicTimeServer: cannot execute binary file

What's going on? Why the app doesn't run anymore?

And, mainly, how do I make it run again?

Additional info:

  • ls -la ManicTimeServer returns -rwxr-xr-x@ (not the additional xattr)

  • xattr ManicTimeServer returns

com.apple.lastuseddate#PS

  • stat ManicTimeServer returns

16777220 96934799 -rwxr-xr-x 1 myusername staff 0 138736 "Nov 30 17:37:52 2021" "Sep 22 09:26:35 2021" "Nov 30 17:38:24 2021" "Sep 22 09:26:35 2021" 4096 272 0 ManicTimeServer

  • file ManicTimeServer returns ManicTimeServer: ELF 64-bit LSB pie executable, x86-64, version 1 (GNU/Linux), dynamically linked, interpreter /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2, for GNU/Linux 2.6.32, BuildID[sha1]=1cfaaf19b37c906e12f121854b3a6b45c6c9bdf7, stripped

  • otool -L ManicTimeServer returns

ManicTimeServer: is not an object file

How can I fix underscan/overscan when the slider isn't shown in System Preferences on macOS Monterey?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 08:12 AM PST

So I have this same problem:

I purchased two new monitors recently and both had pretty bad overscan (underscan? there were black bars around the screen). My mac no longer has the setting it used to have in the Displays section of System Preferences to fix this.

Here is the solution I had hoped would help: How can I fix underscan/overscan when the slider isn't shown in System Preferences?

Unfortunately /var/db/.com.apple.iokit.graphics does not exist in MacOS Monterey. Trying to find it on Mac, as well as googling around... I have found nothing.

Does anyone know where pcsn values are now kept? Or if there is any solution to manually changing underscan settings without using MacOS' GUI?

Where are the authentication logs, and how to send to remote syslog server

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:47 AM PST

Where are the authentication logs (failed, successful logins) and how do you send them to a remote syslog server on the latest version of MacOS?

It appears i'm part of of 0.1% of people who want to send their security-related MacOS logs to a SIEM, and couple the rarity of the task with the constantly changing syslog features, and it seems insurmountable to find accurate information on this.

Can a time machine backup be restored to a single user on a new computer?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 05:03 AM PST

I had a 2013 MBP Retina that I have been doing regular Time Machine backups to an external hard drive. A few months ago I also bought a Mac Mini which I just started from scratch with, and never transferred over any files from the MBP. I was using both, simultaneously for somewhat different purposes. Well, my MBP stopped working (probably logic board according to my "Genius") and I don't feel it is worth the price to fix it, and I am not able to afford a new laptop right now. So what I want to do is restore my MBP backup onto my Mini, without deleting what is already on it, OR merging the two. If I create a new user on my mini, can I restore my backup to that user profile only, leaving my original user information intact?

How to Disable Lock Key on iMac M1 Magic Keyboard?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:04 AM PST

I bought a magic keyboard for my MacBook (to use with a stand). They now have lock key in the top right corner instead of Touch ID - if you press it it logs you out.

It's positioned so I accidentally hit it while doing work and get logged out. Also it's pretty useless.

Is there any way to make it dysfunctional other than using key-logging software like Karabiner? System Preferences > Keyboard > Modifier Keys don't have that option.

Delete network file without warning in macOS Big Sur

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:38 AM PST

When I press Command-Delete to delete a file on a network file system in macOS Big Sur, I get a warning that says:

"Are you sure you want to delete '...'"?

This item will be deleted immediately. You can't undo this action

This warning does not occur when deleting a file from a local drive.

Is there a way to suppress this warning when deleting a file on a network file system?

MacBook App Store not downloading or updating apps

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 08:05 AM PST

When I want to download an app (clicking on the cloud with arrow icon) or when I want to update an app (like XCode), the app gets the "square in circle" icon and stays like this forever.

  • clicking on the square does not stop/cancel the process
  • signing out and back in the App Store or restarting the MacBook (Big Sur) did not help (i.e. the same behaviour when signing back in or after restart.
  • there is Internet (since I see and choose App Store content)

Is there a command line (in the terminal) to force cancel a started download / update? Is there a place (log file or already installed logging app) to see the errors why App Store is stuck?

SSD firmware upgrade requires iso on a pendrive: how to make that bootable?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 05:03 AM PST

Goal is updating a NVMe SSD firmware on a Mac without optical drive via USB stick that should contain a minimal Linux, flasher and payload.

The instructions (PDF) for a firmware update utility say to use Unetbootin on MacOS to write an iso-file to a FAT32 formatted (erased) USB stick.

That works. No errors shown.

What then doesn't work is booting a MacBook Pro 2015 from that stick.

The external USB-drive never shows up in the boot menu.

What I tried:

  • erasing the sticks a few times with DiskUtility
  • partitioning the sticks to either MBR or GPT
  • 3 different sticks
  • different laptops (Mac & Windows)
  • writing the iso file with dd directly to the stick (and in another round using Balena etcher and universal usb installer)
  • different versions of DiskUtility (Sierra and Mojave)
  • Windows on-board tools on a PC for re-formatting the sticks
  • gparted and fdisk mkfs.vfat on a Linux machine
  • using a different iso (not matching the target device) from the vendor site (works without any issues according to instructions, but can't update my device…)
  • writing to customer support (answer: "iso looks good, should work, please try again")
  • booting a fresh virtual machine on a Mac host with just the needed iso attached. Frustratingly, that indeed boots as intended, but can't update the device either. Neither a Windows PC, nor a Linux laptop can boot the sticks I prepared.
  • searching net and especially Ask Different for solutions

The sticks just aren't recognised on any Mac laptop as 'bootable' once the procedure outlined in the manual is finished. All Laptops can boot from external drives (Thunderbolt & USB) and the boot manager updates without interaction once I plug those in.

Possible reasons : - assuming that DiskUtility from 10.12 and 10.14 can't properly format the sticks? - is latest version of Unetbootin acting up? - is the iso for my device incomplete/damaged?

The last item here may be the culprit:

The firmware iso for a Samsung 970 EVO is just so much smaller than for a EVOplus:

  • NVMe SSD-970 EVO Plus Firmware ISO 2B2QEXM7 | 28 MB (works, unneeded)
  • NVMe SSD-970 EVO Firmware ISO 2B2QEXE7 | 17.4 MB (doesn't work, needed)

The EVO-iso is mountable directly in macOS and just contains

 bzImage  initrd  isolinux >                    boot.cat  isolinux.bin  isolinux.cfg  ldlinux.c32

The EVO-plus-iso is not mountable but when written to stick with Unetbootin it shows an EFI folder and GRUB files, etc… Since this one does boot and scans the computer for eligible devices, I am a bit stuck here.

None of these similar questions on AskDifferent offered a working solution:

Copy Crucial SSD Firmware Update ISO to Bootable USB

Is it possible to make a bootable USB stick for a Macbook Pro to do firmware update?

How to install a bootable ISO onto a single partition of a usb stick?

How to create USB Ubuntu boot disk in OS X so that it boots on *non-Apple* computer?

How to make and use an USB stick with GParted that will boot on a Mac?

How to create a Mac bootable gparted or Parted Magic thumb drive?

Since playing with around with DiskUtilities options it seems to be the case that it is a bit buggy. Switching around between various partitions and filetypes related to FAT/FAT32 results in DiskUtility not recognising its own products, with different options greyed out at different times. Looks to me as if some flag or structural anomaly that DiskUtility introduces keeps this from working, like I might have to really wipe down the stick. Alas, neither wipefs nor gparted did that successfully and I do not know what to look for here.

How can I undo changes made to a picture I accidentally saved via preview?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 05:11 AM PST

The was a picture that I was looking at in my computer, I drew a line with the preview tool.

Since my was slow and the app was not responsive, I force quited Preview.

I opened the document and it saved the line I drew on the picture as part of the picture. I don't have the original picture but I don't want the line to be there.

Can I undo what I have done via a backup or version of this file?

Stop Opera from auto updating

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:47 AM PST

Since yesterday, I'm having a problem with auto update from Opera. Until yesterday I had no problem.

I'm in OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.5, and the last supported version is Opera 37.0.2178.54. Now it automatically updates to 48.0.2685.39 and after I close Opera I cannot open Opera again because it tells me "This version is not supported, you need 10.9".

In version 37, there is no preference setting to turn off autoupdate - you get it whether you want it or not.

How can I stop Opera from auto updating? I want to be in version 37, which is supported in my operating system.

How to find the currently connected network service from the command line?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 02:30 AM PST

I would like to find out which of the available network services (e.g. Ethernet or Wi-Fi) is currently active. In this screenshot from the Network Preferences, you can see that Wi-Fi is currently active (the green dot):

Network Preferences

How can I get that information from the command line?

The networksetup command allows me to list the available network services:

$ networksetup -listallnetworkservices  An asterisk (*) denotes that a network service is disabled.  Ethernet  FireWire  Wi-Fi

It can also show some details on the service, like the device name:

$ networksetup -listnetworkserviceorder  An asterisk (*) denotes that a network service is disabled.  (1) Ethernet  (Hardware Port: Ethernet, Device: en0)    (2) FireWire  (Hardware Port: FireWire, Device: fw0)    (3) Wi-Fi  (Hardware Port: Wi-Fi, Device: en1)

Unfortunately, the info on which service is active (the green dot from the screenshot) is not available in this info. Is there another command that I could use to get this information?

How to always show the menu bar on fullscreen mode?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 07:38 AM PST

Do not tell me to use this shortcut CTRL + COMMAND + F to exit or enter in the fullscreen mode. I would like to always see the menu bar in the top of the page when I am in fullscreen mode, is it possible?

This Mac default style is completely annoying.

Can I get mac notification when a Tab has new output in iTerm2?

Posted: 08 Feb 2022 06:06 AM PST

You know, iTerm2 will change the color of the tab to red or purple. But sometime when I run a long job in one tab, I have to check if it's done frequently. So.. can I get notification when there's new output in one tab? If so, how?
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