Monthly Archives: January 2019

fixed : can’t connect new iPhone (iOS 12) to MacBook Air Late 2010

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Question :

I have a new iPhone 8 (running iOS 12) and I want to connect it to iTunes on my MacBook Air (Late 2010), but when I connect them using the Lightning-to-USB-cable I get an error message saying the software on my Mac should be updated.

I found that I had OSX 10.10 Yosemite installed, so I used the Mac AppStore-app to upgrade to macOS 10.13 High_Sierra. That went smoothly, so I also installed all available updates for my apps from the Mac AppStore. Then, I ran into a strange error : I can’t upgrade to the newest version of iMovie because my version of macOS doesn’t meet the minimal system requirements…

I also ran iTunes, but even now my iPhone 8 isn’t recognised when I connect it…

I found that for some reason macOS 10.13.4 is installed, and not 10.13.6, but still : Mac AppStore says “no updates available”…

Is my MacBook Air late2010 not meeting the minimal system requirements for macOS 10.13.6 for some reason ?

I looked up my MacBook Air late 2010 in MacTracker, and found that is should be able to run macOS 10.13.6 so why won’t it install ?

How can I fix this ?

 

Answer :

For reasons unknown, you need to upgrade your MacBook Air to macOS 10.13.5 manually using this download :

download macOS 10.13.5 upgrade

And only after macOS 10.13.5 is installed, you can manually upgrade to macOS 10.13.6 using this download (this is an incremental upgrade, not a combo upgrade) :

download macOS 10.13.6 upgrade

After macOS 10.13.6 is installed, you should be able to update to the latest versions of iMovie and iTunes via the Mac AppStore.

If iTunes won’t update, you need to (re)install it manually, using this download :

download iTunes

After installing the latest version of iTunes, connect your iPhone to your Mac using a Lighting-to-USB-cable. Now, an extra update will be downloaded, which will put an extra Devices-button in the iTunes and your iPhone will be recognised in iTunes.

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

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fixed : Birthdays not showing in macOS Calendar.app

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Question :

I just did a clean install of macOS on my Mac and everything works fine. Except for one thing…

The birthdays of my contacts are not showing up in Calendar.app even though they were properly showing in Calendar.app on my previous version of macOS and they are still showing up properly in Calendar.app on my iPhone.

I’ve already tried unchecking and re-checking the checkmark at “Birthdays” in the list of available calendars (at “Other”), login out of iCloud and back in, restarting my Mac, adjusting some birthdays in Contacts.app, etc. Simply put : I’ve tried any solution I could think of…

How can I fix this ?

Answer :

The solution might be simple, but easily overlooked :

in Calendar.app on macOS, go to “View” in the menu-bar and when the pulldown-menu appears, put a checkmark at “Show All-Day Events”, then click “Refresh Calendars”.

Now check if that solves your problem. If it doesn’t, try this :

  • goto Calendar.app
  • select Calendar (in the top menu-bar)
  • select Preferences (from the pull-down menu)
  • select General (the left tab)
  • put a checkmark at “Show Birthdays calendar”
  • note : if you already had a checkmark at “Show Birthdays calendar”, do this also :
    • remove the checkmark
    • close the Calendar-app
    • restart your Mac
    • open the Calendar-app
    • put the checkmark back at “Show Birthdays calendar”

That’s it.

enjoy 😉

fixed : MacBook Pro hangs during final stage of macOS startup

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Question :

I have macOS 10.14 Mojave installed on my MacBook Pro ‘Mid 2012’, but every time I try to start up my Mac, it hangs when the progress bar (on the white startup screen with the Apple logo) is at 99%…

On the TechRadar-website I found some startup key-combos to try : https://www.techradar.com/how-to/computing/apple/how-to-use-os-x-boot-options-to-troubleshoot-your-mac-1305645

I have tried the following, but it didn’t help :

  • restarting my MacBook
  • zapping the PRAM / NVRAM
  • running Disk First Aid in Recovery Mode
  • running Disk First Aid from another Mac while in Target Mode
  • reinstalling macOS Mojave from Recovery Mode
  • reinstalling macOS Mojave from a USB installer

So far, no problems where found, but the exact same problem keeps occuring :

When I startup my MacBook Pro, the progress bar goes quickly to 50%, then slows down but still keeps progressing up to 99% or even 100% and then hangs…

What can I do to solve this ?

 

Answer :

You have already tried most of the options that usually give success when you encounter these types of problems, so you have little options left to choose from.

——————- U P D A T E ——————-

If you get to see a progress bar while your Mac hangs, do as outlined below, but  if your Mac hangs before you see a progress bar below the Apple logo, have a look at this post first :

fixed : MacBook Pro sighs then hangs during startup without progress bar over and over again

——————- ORIGINAL POST ——————-

The first thing to try would be ‘Verbose Mode’ so you will be able to figure out what problems are encountered during startup :

  • shut down you Mac using the power button
  • startup your Mac in Verbose Mode by pressing the [CMD]+[V] keycombo on your keyboard during startup
  • now, your Mac starts up without a GUI (Graphic User Interface) but just displays lines of code (like in the Terminal.app and Console.app)
  • note that you might see a screen of code flashing by and than face your regular inlog screen… if so, just login and you will get to the Console-like black screen with white lines of code…
  • wait for the lines of code to halt and see what error messages are displayed in the final lines of code
  • if the error is “too many corpses being created”, use the solution outlined below (additional error terms are “Process”, “crashed:” and “opendirectoryd.”)
  • if you get any different error message : lookup the error message and the solution on the internet

The solution to the “too many corpses being created” startup-error :

  • shut down your Mac using the power button
  • startup your Mac in Recovery Mode by pressing the [CMD]+[R] key combo on your keyboard during startup
  • if FireVault is on, mount the HardDisk by clicking Disk Utility.app and then typing your password
  • then, go to Utilities in the top menu bar and click Terminal in the pulldown menu
  • in Terminal.app type this line of code (in which “Macintosh\ HD” is replaced by the name your have given your HardDisk ; the default name is “Macintosh HD”, and note that all spaces in the name of your HardDisk should be replaced by “\ ” (a backslash + a space) when typing these lines of code) :

cd /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD/var/db/caches/opendirectory

  • then press the [Enter]-key to run the code
  • when the cursor returns on the very next line you’re good, if you get an extra line in between, you’ve run into an error (e.g. “command not found” usually means you mistyped something, so you should just try again ; if you forgot to replace the space in your HardDisk’s name by “\ “ you’ll also get an error and you should just try again)
  • on the next line, type this :

mv ./mbr_cache ./mbr_cache-old

  • then press the [Enter]-key
  • when the cursor returns on the very next line you’re good
  • again, if you get an extra line in response, you’ve made an error and trying again with greater accuracy will probably solve it…
  • then, exit Terminal.app by pressing the [cmd]+[Q] key-combo
  • then restart your Mac by clicking on the Apple-icon top left in the top menu bar and clicking “Restart” from the pull down menu
  • now your Mac should startup without problems
  • note that the first startup will take a little longer, as all system settings need to be rebuilt

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : find specific info on a webpage that is already open on your iPhone

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Question :

I am looking for information on the internet, and now Google found some interesting websites for me. I can see most of the info I am searching for in the Google-preview of the website, but when I go to the website using the link Google provides, it opens a page with so much info that I can’t find what I’m looking for…

On my Mac, in Safari, I would typ the [CMD]+[F] key-combo and get a search field in the top right of the webpage where I can typ what I am looking for exactly, and it will highlight all occurrences of this search term on the webpage and guide me to them instantly…

But how can I do something similar on my iPhone ?

 

Answer :

Since you don’t have a keyboard with the option to press the [CMD]+[F] key-combo on your iPhone, Apple has come up with a slightly different solution for searching within a webpage :

  • in Safari, go to the webpage that should have the information you are searching for
  • when the webpage is open in Safari, tap on the bottom of the screen (about 1cm from the bottom)
  • when the top & bottom bars come up, click on the “Share”-button (the square with the arrow pointing upward)
  • in the menu that comes up, click on the “Find On Page”-button (looking glass icon)
  • in the search field that comes up, type your search term
  • then all occurrences of your search term will be highlighted and you can flip through them using the up & down arrows on the left (next to the search field)
  • when you want to go back to your regular website viewing, click on the “Done”-button

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : hi-res icons for the new Mac mini 2018

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Question :

I have just gotten my new space grey Mac mini 2018, and as I’ve always done, I would like to change the icon to the official Apple icon, but I can’t find an official logo anywhere…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

The current version of macOS 10.14 Mojave doesn’t include an official icon for the new space grey Mac mini 2018 yet, but you can use one of these :

  • you can get a ‘front view’ icon here :

  • or you can get a ‘top view’ icon here :

  • after downloading your preferred icon, do this :
  • select the Macintosh HD (or whatever you’ve renamed your internal SSD to) on your Desktop or in the Finder
  • press [CMD]+[I] to open the “Info” popup menu
  • then click on the icon (top left) and a blue outline will open around it
  • then open the file (with the icon as a picture) you’ve just downloaded in Preview
  • in Preview press [CMD]+[A] to select the entire image
  • then return to the Info-popup window, and press [CMD]+[V] to paste the new icon
  • now your Mac mini 2018 has a better looking icon

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

 

fixed : new hi-res icon for Scanmarker.app

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Question :

I have recently bought an Scanmarker Air scanner-pen. Seems like a great device. I’ve also installed the macOS-app. Strange thing is that the app’s icon is very pixelated.

How can I change that ?

 

Answer :

Scanmarker has released new colorful versions of the Scanmarker Air pen that can be bought here. It’s a great device for :

  • reading out written text from a book (very handy for anyone having dyslexia)
  • translating text on-the-fly
  • scanning text (or just portions of text) from textbooks

The official icon of the current Scanmarker app for macOS is still a 32x32pixels icon, which is a very old that shouldn’t be used in macOS (where 1024x1024pixels icons are standard).

Simplest way to fix this is to download an appropriate icon of higher resolution and paste that onto the app. Here’s how to :

  • either download my custom made 1024×1024 icon here :
  • or download the original icon here (still fuzzy since it is a 300x300pixels icon enlarged to OSX-native 152x152pixels) :  Scanmarker Android app icon
  • or download the icon of the iOS app here : ScanmarkerAir iOS icon
  • or download the diap desktop icon here :ScanmarkerAir OSX icon
  • after downloading your preferred icon, do this :
  • select the Scanmarker app in your Applications folder
  • press [CMD]+[I] to open the “Info” popup menu
  • then click on the icon (top left) and a blue outline will open around it
  • then open the file (with the icon as a picture) you’ve just downloaded in Preview
  • in Preview press [CMD]+[A] to select the entire image
  • then return to the Info-popup window, and press [CMD]+[V] to paste the new icon
  • now your Scanmarker app has a better looking icon
  • to make sure it also shows on the Desktop, delete the old Scanmarker alias from the Dock, then open the Scanmarker app again and right-click on it’s icon in the Dock and select “Keep in Dock” from the popup menu

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

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fixed : Logitech Craft keyboard not recognized during macOS 10.14 Mojave startup

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Question :

I have bought this great Logitech Craft keyboard and it works perfectly. I love it. With it’s backlit keys, it’s programmable crown-dial, it’s USB-C charging, it’s multiple device-switching and it’s very responsive keyboard keys, it’s a joy to work with and a very interesting alternative for Apple’s own Extended Magic Keyboard at roughly the same price point if you shop around.

The only problem is : when I start up (or restart) my Mac, the keyboard isn’t recognized so I can’t type my password to unlock my Mac…

When using the Carft keyboard with my MacBook Pro that isn’t a huge problem, since I can just open the MacBook Pro and use the built-in keyboard to bypass this, but with my new Mac mini… I’m stuck…

The only option I could come up with is to keep an old USB-keyboard connected to my Mac mini and just use it for loggin in only… but that’s not a very tempting solution…

Isn’t there any alternative solution ?

 

Answer :

Yes, there is… there are actually 3 alternative solutions (option 3 is the most versatile in my opinion) :

  1. use your Apple Watch to login on macOS Mojave (of course, this won’t work if you don’t wear an Apple Watch…)
  2. use the on-screen keyboard during login (the so called Accessibility Keyboard that you can use when only your mouse or touchpad is recognized)
  3. use Logitech’s Unifying Receiver (the 2.4GHz RF-connection USB-plug that came with your Craft keyboard)

1. To enable your Apple Watch to unlock macOS Mojave, do this :

  • go to Settings.app
  • click on “Security & Privacy”
  • in the window that opens, click on the “General”-tab
  • put a check mark at  “Allow your Apple Watch to unlock your Mac”
  • then use the “<“-button to go back to the main Settings screen
  • then exit Settings.app (by clicking on the red dot top left)
  • now, you’ll only need to make sure you wear your Apple Watch and have it unlocked before you try to login on your Mac… (this seems trivial, but turns out to be complicated from time to time…)

2. To enable the on-screen keyboard during login, do this :

  • go to Settings.app
  • click on “Users & Groups”
  • in the window that opens, click on “Login Options”
  • then, click on the “Accessibility Options”-button
  • in the window that opens, put a check mark at “Accessibility Keyboard” and click the “Apply”-button
  • then use the “<“-button to go back to the main Settings screen
  • then exit Settings.app (by clicking on the red dot top left)

3. To setup the connection with your Craft keyboard using the “Unifying Adapter”, do this :

  • find the Unifying Receiver (the USB-plug) that came with your Craft keyboard… it might still be in the original box… if you can’t find it, you can get a new one here or at Logitech (Logitech charges $15 or €13 plus shipping for it)
  • plug the Unifying Receiver in one of the USB-ports on your Mac (or in a USB-port of a USB-hub that is connected to your Mac)
  • go to Settings.app
  • click on “Bluetooth”
  • in the “Devices”-list click on the Craft keyboard, the non the X-marked dot that appears on the right side of it (to un-pair the Craft keyboard from your Mac)
  • then go to https://support.logitech.com/en_us/downloads and download the latest version of the Logitech Options software
  • install the Logitech Options software on your Mac
  • then, go to Logitech Options.app and follow the directions to pair your Craft keyboard to your Unifying Receiver
  • note that in macOS 10.14 Mojave you will need to also allow Logitech Options.app in the Privacy settings, to do so do this :
    • go to Settings.app
    • click on “Security & Privacy”
    • in the window that opens, click on the “Privacy”-tab
    • then, click on “Accessibility” in the list on the left
    • then, put a check mark at “Logitech Options Deamon” on the right
    • then use the “<“-button to go back to the main Settings screen
    • then exit Settings.app (by clicking on the red dot top left)

That’s it !

enjoy 😉