MacOSXHints.com

Install OS X 10.9 Mavericks Developer Preview on a virtual machine

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

If you have an OS X developer account, and want to work with OS X 10.9 Mavericks, you may prefer to do so using a virtual machine, in Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion. However, you won't be able to create a new virtual machine in either of these programs using the Mavericks installer.

John Martellaro, on The Mac Observer, posted an article with links to Parallels knowledge base articles explaining how to do this. You'll need to update Parallels Desktop, then create a snapshot of an existing virtual machine and install Mavericks on that.

For VMware Fusion, the process is quite simple: take an existing virtual machine, running 10.7 or 10.8, duplicate it in the Finder, then launch VMware Fusion. Choose File > Open, then select the duplicate virtual machine. Rename it, then launch it. Fusion will ask if you moved or copied the virtual machine; click I copied ...

How to repair damaged disks that crash Disk Utility and DiskWarrior

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Some damaged disks do not show up with Disk Utility and DiskWarrior, and may hang and crash such repair utilities. Yet, there is a trick to repair such broken disks using Disk Arbitrator.

1. Open Disk Arbitrator and select "Activated - Block mounts." This prevents the damaged disk from crashing the repair utilities and allows such disks to be displayed by these utilities.

2. Connect the damaged disk.

3. Open Disk Utility or DiskWarrior. The damaged disk should show now and it should not crash the repair utility.

4. Deactivate Disk Arbitrator (uncheck the Activated box). This allows the repair utility to handle the damaged disk properly (mounting it once repaired).

5. Run Disk Utility or DiskWarrior.

Then, the utility should repair the disk, or at least, mount a Preview disk (DiskWarrior), allowing you to inspect and even copy or backup some files or the full disk, re ...

Another Dropbox permissions errors problem, and fix

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Some time ago, I posted a hint about fixing Dropbox Permissions Denied errors. This fix works in many cases, but I came across another, similar issue this weekend which Dropbox couldn't fix.

In addition to using Dropbox to sync files across two Macs, and access them from iOS devices, I back up my home folder (with the exception of my media files). I have a selected of folders in my home folder that back up: these include my Documents folder and others, and only parts of my Library folder. I back these up because of settings that would be useful to have in case of local data loss.

Recently, I found that there were some files that couldn't sync. The Dropbox menu showed a Permissions Denied error, so I tried the solution in the above-mentioned hint; it didn't work. Not only were these files not syncing, but Dropbox was in an endless loop trying to sync them.

After much searching, ...

Access old Dropbox menu with Option-click

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

You can access the older version of the Dropbox menu by Option-clicking the Dropbox icon in the menu bar. This saves you an extra click, because with the newer version, you have click on the gear icon on the lower-right corner of the new menu to access the same information.

[kirkmc adds: I do find myself accessing that information at times, and it's nice to know that there's a one-click way of doing it.]

Send selected text to Evernote

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

A colleague asked if anyone knew how to migrate his vast collection of Mac Stickies notes to the cloud. I suggested he get an Evernote account while I did some quick research. I didn't find any existing solution, so and I came up with an Automator workflow that copies the selected plain text into a new Evernote note.

Launch Automator, and create a new Service. Set "Service receives selected" to TEXT in "any application". Drag the Run Applescript action into the main part of the window. Paste this code in that window:

on run {input}
	tell application "Evernote" to activate
	synchronize
	repeat with selectedText in input
		tell application "Evernote"
			if (not (notebook named "Stickies" exists)) then
				make notebook with properties {name:"Stickies"}
			end if
			try
				create note with text ...

Peek inside zip archives from Terminal

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Have you ever wanted to see what's in a Zip archive without unzipping it? Well, it turns out that there is a Terminal command you can use to do so: zipinfo. Just run zipinfo [filename] to get a list of files in an archive.

There are a number of interesting options to this command. The default behavior is to list the files in a short "ls -l" format, but you can also use the -m or -l options to have medium or long lists. You can use the -1 option to only show file names. And there are other useful options in the man zipinfo page.

One other useful item is the amount of space the archive takes up, and the amount of space saved. For example:

12 files, 10587791 bytes uncompressed, 9400060 bytes compressed: 11.2%

It's worth noting that this command has been around for a long time, and I was surprised to find that it's not mentioned here.

Peek inside zip archives with Quick Look

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Following yesterday's hint about a Terminal command to look inside zip archives, I was informed that there's a Quick Look generator called BetterZip that can do the same thing, but from the Finder. Install BetterZip in either /Library/QuickLook or ~/Library/QuickLook (you may need to create the folder), then log out and log in again, or relaunch the Finder.

When you select a zip archive in the Finder, and press the Space bar, the BetterZip QuickLook generator will show a graphical display of the contents of the archive. If you don't want to use the command line, and want to see what files an archive contains, this is a great way to do so.

Access Wireless Diagnostics app in OS X 10.8.4 or later

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

New to OS X 10.8.4 is a Wireless Diagnostics app, which you can access from the Wi-Fi menu extra in your menubar (press the Option key, click the Wi-Fi menu extra, then choose Open Wireless Diagnostics), or by double-clicking the app in /System/Library/CoreServices.

Apple provides information about this app, which generates an archive of log files for troubleshooting. Wireless Diagnostics also features a number of informational sections. After you've generated a log, a Summary screen offers you information about Wi-Fi Best Practices, and provides information about any issues you may have.

A Utilities window (accessible from the Window menu) provides more information about your Wi-Fi network. It lets you scan all available Wi-Fi networks, offers a performance log, and much more.

This is a powerful tool, which can be very helpful if you are having Wi-Fi problems.

[kirkmc adds: I found, ...

Easily update Mail plug-ins for new UUIDs

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Yesterday's hint about finding new UUIDs, to re-enable Mail plug-ins after an OS X update, featured some information in a comment that's worth highlighting. There's an app called MailPLuginFix which claims to be able to fix disabled plug-ins by setting the new UUIDs with a few clicks:

Just start the application and you will see a list of all incompatible plugins for your current Mail.app installation. Just select the ones you would like to fix and press the start button in the toolbar. All selected plugins will get patched with the UIDs of the current Mail.app version and also all disabled plugins will be enabled again.

I haven't tested this, since I already updated my plug-ins, but if you get irked each time Apple updates Mail and your plug-ins stop working, it's worth checking this out.

Re-enable Mail plug-ins in OS X 10.8.4

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

With OS X 10.8.4, Apple has updated Mail, which means that plug-ins that are not up-to-date won't work, and will be placed in a ~/Library/Mail/Bundles (Disabled) folder. In order to get any plug-ins to work, you'll need to find the new UUIDs and add them to the plug-ins' info.plist file.

We ran a hint about this back in 2010, but it's good to remind people how to do this. You want to run two commands in Terminal to get two different UUIDs:

defaults read /Applications/Mail.app/Contents/Info PluginCompatibilityUUID

defaults read /System/Library/Frameworks/Message.framework/Resources/Info PluginCompatibilityUUID

For OS X 10.8.4, the UUIDs are:

19B53E95-0964-4AAB-88F9-6D2F8B7B6037
2183B2CD-BEDF-4A ...

Archive iOS device backups

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

When you sync an iOS device to iTunes, it is backed up; by default, this backup goes to your Mac, but you can also set it to go to iCloud. When you save backups on your Mac, there's plenty of data and settings saved, so you can restore the device, or even set up a new device, using a backup.

Dave Hamilton, writing at The Mac Observer, recently pointed out that you can also archive backups. To do this, go to iTunes' Preferences, then click on Devices. Right-click or Control-click on one of your devices, then choose Archive. The name of the backup in the Device Backups list will change, to contain the name of the device and the date it was last backed up. The next time you sync your device, iTunes will create a new backup, and retain the old one.

Interestingly, when I checked my backups, I found a number of older ones, with dates, that weren't there before. I ...

Radical fix for dead iMac center fan

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

The Power Management Controller (PMC) failed for the center (hard disk) fan in my iMac Core 2 Duo 3.06 27-Inch (Late 2009). The two outer fans work perfectly, but no center fan gets no power at all.

It took me three tries, but I finally got it right. It's an ugly fix, but it works great.

1. First i got Marcel Bresnik's free Temperature Monitor to read the disk's temperature. It shows the hard disk temperature in the dock. when it started to show close to 130 F, I would shut down the Mac. This was unacceptable.

2. I got a small, square USB fan and attached it over the rear center hole with velcro. This made the heat buildup at the hard disk worse. I figured the new fan was blowing air out of the original fan's intake, so air was moving in the wrong direction. And I couldn't tilt the screen down.

3. So I watched some how-to videos before cracking the case. I had to pull off the mot ...

Resolve problems logging into iMessage and FaceTime on iOS

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 07:30:00 -0700

If you're unable to login to FaceTime and iMessage because the login process repeatedly loops, check the time settings. If the time is not set to automatically adjust (Settings > General > Date & Time > Set Automatically > On), you might find that the login sequence for both FaceTime and iMessage loops. Once you set the time to adjust automatically, all is back to normal.

[kirkmc adds: I've never had any problems, since I've always had that setting set to On. But I've found that a number of odd settings can affect logging into Apple services, so it's worth pointing out.]

Move Dropbox sub-folders to other disks or volumes

Fri, 31 May 2013 07:31:00 -0700

If you have a Mac with an SSD, and limited storage space, and use Dropbox, you may want to think about how much space your Dropbox folder takes up on your disk. Jeff Carlson, writing at TidBITS, had this problem, wanting to use Dropbox's Camera Upload feature on his MacBook Pro, but not wanting to have the space taken up on his SSD.

The solution he explains is relatively simple: it involves creating a symlink for the folder in question after moving it to another disk or volume. After moving the folder, open Terminal, then type:

cd ~/Dropbox

Type ln -s, then drag the folder from its new location into the Terminal window, which will add its path; press Return.

This symlink lets Dropbox use the Camera Uploads folder, as if it were in the main Dropbox folder, yet the files are stored on the external disk.

You can do this with other Dropbox folders as well. For me, I use Dro ...

Fix dimmed iOS dictation button

Thu, 30 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

I use dictation a lot on my iPhone. I have big thumbs, and typing on the iPhone's keyboard ledas to myna rerrors. So occasionally, when I see the dictation button is dimmed, I get quite frustrated.

iMore recently posted an article about how to fix this issue.

Apparently, this occurs when memory on the iOS device gets too low; the solution is then to force-quit as many apps as possible. You do this by double-pressing the home button to show the application switcher, then tapping and holding an icon until they all wiggle. Tap on the "do not enter" buttons at the top-left of the icons to quit them. Press the home button again to close the application switcher.

Since I saw the above article last week, I haven't had the dimmed dictation button, so I haven't been able to test this. I'd been restarting my iPhone when this problem arose. If you ...

Enable the Develop (Debug) menu in Safari 6

Wed, 29 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

While this isn't strictly a hint anymore, it was back in 2003 and 2009. The Safari Develop menu - formerly called the Debug menu - offers a number of nifty features for web developers. In addition, it's been greatly enhanced under Mountain Lion.

So, to activate this, you no longer need to run a Terminal command; just go to Safari > Preferences > Advanced and check Show Develop menu in menu bar.

FaceTime not logging in? Check your Mac's serial number

Tue, 28 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Have you ever found that FaceTime won't let you log in even though your Apple ID and password are correct? I had that problem with a client's Mac, and nothing I tried did work. After eliminating all the obvious things, such as testing with other IDs, user accounts and even other systems, I discovered the reason.

As it turns out, FaceTime is dependent on a correct logic board serial number. This is also true for other services like iCloud. This particular Mac had its logic board replaced a long time ago, and the technician forgot to set the serial number on the new board. So instead of the regular serial number it said SystemSerialNumb in System Profiler. After setting the serial number to the correct one, which can be found on every Mac's housing, FaceTime would log in and work flawlessly.

In case you are wondering: every Apple Authorized Service Partner has access to a bootable image which contains a tool to write the serial number to the logic board.

...

No hints today

Mon, 27 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

No hints today, as some of us celebrate Memorial Day, and others the "late spring bank holiday."

Create secure passwords with Siri

Fri, 24 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Siri's ability to access Wolfram Alpha lets you access a huge amount of interesting data by talking to an iOS device. One useful thing thing Siri can do for you is ask Wolfram Alpha to generate a very secure, random password.

To do this, invoke Siri, then say "Wolfram password," or "Wolfram Alpha password." This retrieves an 8-character random password, along with a list of a half-dozen others. You can also have Siri get longer passwords, if eight characters doesn't ring your bell. Say, "Wolfram 14-character password," for example.

The downside to this is that you can't copy this password, and once you've switched away from the Siri results, you can't get them back again. So you need to either type this password on a computer or other iOS device, or write it down. Either way, make sure you delete it, or store it in some sort of encrypted file.

Put Mac to sleep with Drafts on iOS

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:30:00 -0700

Agile Tortoise's Drafts is a nifty tool for writing texts and doing things with them on an iOS device. I use it mostly for the more comfortable writing environment, and send texts as emails or tweets, but there's an entire sub-culture that's been hacking Drafts to do many things. (Check out the Drafts actions directory.)

David Sparks posted an interesting use of Drafts (credited to Milosz Bolechowski; I couldn't find the original on his site), together with noodlesoft's Hazel - a tool that automates tasks on your Mac - to put a Mac to sleep. In essence, Hazel looks for a file named "MB sleep" in a the Drafts folder in his Dropbox folder; when it finds that file, it puts the Mac to sleep wit ...