Category Archives: macOS (OS X, MacOS X, MacOS, System)

software running on Apple Macintosh computers with various versions of the Macintosh Operating System :
System 1.0 – 7.5
MacOS 7.6 – 9.2
MacOS X 10.0 – 10.7
OS X 10.8 – 10.11
macOS 10.12 and newer

fixed : share EPUB (with digital watermark) accross Books.app on iPhone, iPad and Mac

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Question :
I want to purchase an eBook that is not available in Apple Books. I have found it is available on the website of a bookstore in EPUB (with digital watermark) version. It seems like I should be able to download it after purchase and then read it in Books.app on my iPad or iPhone, but is it also possible to read it in the Books.app on my Mac ?

How do I do that ?


Answer :

Yes, you can buy an EPUB (with digital watermark) [ a.k.a. EPUB with social DRM ] and then read it on Apple’s Books.app on either iPhone, iPad or Mac. To do that, do this :

NOTE : if you buy an eBook on Amazon, it will only be available in the Kindle.app (that will automatically sync across your devices also), but getting a Kindle eBook into Apple’s Books.app is problematic… so if you prefer to read all your eBooks in Books.app, avoid buying eBooks on Amazon.

  • first, make sure that you are logged into your iCloud account on your iPhone, your iPad and your Mac (with the same iCloud account)
  • on your iPhone (or iPad) go to the online bookstore that sells the eBook in EPUB (with or without personal watermark or Social DRM)
  • purchase the eBook
  • when the download link appear, click on it
  • now the eBook will be downloaded to the Files.app on your iPhone (or iPad), which means it will be visible on the Desktop of your Mac also (which is automatically synced in iCloud)
  • now, on your iPhone (or iPad), click on the eBook in the Files.app and choose “open in Books”
  • now, the eBook will open in Books.app and is ready for reading
  • it will stay in the Library of your Books.app
  • if you have iCloud syncing switched on (most of us have) the eBook will now be available for reading in Books.app on your iPhone, your iPad and your Mac
  • if the eBook is not showing up on all devices, recheck in Settings.app if iCloud-syncing is switched on for Books.app
  • if you want to manually add the eBook to your iPhone or iPad, do this :
    • – open the Files.app and find the eBook
    • – click on the eBook and choose “Open in Books”
    • – then wait for the eBook to open in Books.app
    • if you want to manually add the eBook to your Mac, do this :
    • – on your Mac, find the eBook on your Desktop (or in the Desktop folder)
    • – Option-click (right-click) on the eBook icon
    • – from the pulldown menu that appears, choose Open With > Books
    • – now wait for the eBook to open in Books.app

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : no internet connection while WiFi and LAN are okay (after running Jaksta)

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Question :
I was running an app (Jaksta Media Recorder) that crashed. Now I am no longer able to make any connection to the internet from macOS using my regular settings. Safari, Apple Mail.app and Whatsapp for macOS can no longer get propper connection to the internet.
I have tried resetting my internet modem, and my VPN now works, but the apps still cannot get a propper internet connection… so it appears to be a DNS problem, but changing DNS servers didn’t help…

What can I do to solve this ?


Answer :
As you might have expected, Jaksta Media Recorder has caused this problem when it crashed… to fix it, do this :
– restart your Mac
– do not startup any apps, startup the Jaksta Media Recorder app first
– when the Jaksta Media Recorder window opens (where you can see your previous downloads a.k.a. recordings) go to the bottom left corner and put the slider (that is turned ON automatically) in the OFF position
– then quit the Jaksta Media Recorder app

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

Note : Jaksta Media Recorder for Mac is no longer being supported, as of 2023 Jaksta is a Windows-only app, so if you run into any problems with Jaksta for Mac you are pretty much left hanging… so, if you’re looking fro an alternative for Jaksta, see this post :
fixed : current version (or replacement) for Jaksta downloader app on macOS

fixed : XLOOKUP function not available in latest version of MS Excel

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Question :
I am running the latest version of MS Excel, but even though it should include the XLOOKUP function, it is not appearing when I want to use it in a formula.

What can I do to fix this ?


Answer :
The problem is that even though you have the latest version of MS Excel installed, the active license you have is one for MS Excel 2019 or earlier…
So, make sure you have a license for a newer version of MS Office for Mac, then do this :
– in Excel, click on “Excel” in the top menu bar
– from the pulldown menu, select “About Microsoft Excel”
– in the “About Excel” window that opens, at “License:” you will see “Office … 2019” (or something alike)
– now, go to the Microsoft website and download the License Removal Tool for Mac
– when downloaded, run the .pkg file and follow the online instructions
– when done, move the downloaded .pkg file to the trash
– then, open any MS Office app (e.g. Excel, Word, PowerPoint or Outlook)
– when prompted, typ your MS Office for Mac license code (for Office 365 or 2021 or newer)
– when done, restart your Mac to activate the license code
– then open Excel after startup and check : XLOOKUP will now be available under “Formulas” > “Lookup & Reference”

That’s it !
enjoy 😉

Note :
Microsoft’s website has further details that you can find here : “How to remove Office license files on a Mac”

fixed : screen and Touch Bar stay black when starting up MacBook Pro

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Question :
I was trying to start up my MacBook Pro this morning but when I did, nothing appeared on screen… the screen stayed black… even the Touch Bar above the keyboard stayed black… I think I could hear a distant startup chime sound, but that was all… no indication of any response to my start-up attempts…
I thought that the battery might be empty, so I plugged in the USB-C power cable (which unfortunately does not turn on any light that indicates it’s charging), but the result of my start-up attempts stayed the same : black screen, black Touch Bar and only a dim, distant start-up chime…
Is this some kind of hardware failure (broken screen) ? Or is this a software problem that I can fix myself ?

What can I do ?

Answer :
This is a software problem.
You can fix this by doing the following :
– simultaniously press this key combo on your MacBook Pro’s keyboard :
[CTRL] + [CMD] + [ON/OFF] for at least 5 seconds, then release

[CTRL] = the ‘Control’ key
[CMD] = the ‘Command’ key, the key with the stylized 4-leaf-clover, previously known as ‘Apple’ key
[ON/OFF] = the ‘Touch ID’ key on the far right of the Touch Bar that is used for starting up, shutting down, and Touch ID

…and now, your MacBook Pro should start-up as usual, starting with a white Apple logo appearing on your black screen…
if it still doesn’t work, use this slightly longer procedure :
– press the [ON/OFF] key for at least 10 seconds to shut down your MacBook Pro
– then press the [CTRL] + [CMD] + [ON/OFF] key combo for at least 5 seconds to start-up

…That’s it !
enjoy 😉




fixed : contact Microsoft Office Helpdesk

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Question :
I have questions about Microsoft products that go beyond regular issues that are documented in the FAQ. Previously, I would contact the Microsoft telephone Helpdesk ( NL 020-5001500 ), but if you call that number nowadays, you just get a voice message telling you to go online since the Helpdesk is no longer supporting direct contact to callers…

But on the website mentioned, I am getting stuck in a loop… any progress I make sends me back to the same page were I can only typ a question, but there is no chat option given, even when specifically asking for “talk or chat to helpdesk”…
Even Google searches or searching anywhere else on the Microsoft website, doesn’t get me to a page with a chat option… Even the Microsoft-owned chatbots ChatGPT or BingChat AI can’t help me…

What can I do ?

Answer :
Microsoft’s telephone helpdesk used to be great… but the options for contacting Microsoft are a complete mess… unbelievable !
But there is a chat helpdesk, but finding and contacting it is very complex… here’s how to :

  • Do this on a computer (it can be done on an iPhone, but the web chat interface is not really suited for that)
  • Go to the Microsoft website using this link :
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/home/contact
  •  in the search field typ “talk to agent” and (click “Done” and) click the blue “Get Help” button
  • scroll down and click the blue “Contact Support” button
  • on the next “Tell us a little more about your problem” page, select your product or service from the pop-up list (activate the list by clicking on the triangular arrow on the right of the selection box)
  • when the second pop-up list appears, select your support category
  • then click the blue “Confirm” button
  • on the next page, click on “Chat with a support agent in your web browser”
  • on the next page check if the email address shown corresponds to the one of the Microsoft account you are having problems with, if not typ the correct account email address first, the click the “Confirm” button
  • now, wait for the live chat will start

    NOTE : 
  • If you would prefer to chat in your local or native language, you need to tell this in the chat to the English speaking agent…
    (unfortunately, at the time of writing, the autoranslate service is not working and waiting queues for local language chats are extremely long, so chatting in English is about your only option…)

    That’s it !
    enjoy 😉

fixed : HP LaserJet M254dw not printing and giving error message “low memory”

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Question :
I have a HP LaserJet M254dw that works great, but when I was trying to print a PDF yesterday, it took an enormous time to print and finally only printed the first page was printed, and the second wasn’t…
There was no error message on my Mac or on the small printer display, so I tried again, this time only printing the second page. Since it was a page filled with lots of graphics and colours, I wasn’t surprised that it took a long time to print, so I left the printer to do it’s job for a while… when I returned after an hour or so, there was nothing printed and there where no error messages…
So I tried again, this time I reduced the PDF to only the one page I wanted to print, made sure I would hear the printer startup (as it always does after receiving a new printing job) and I waited next to the printer to see wat happened…
This time it also took a long time and nothing was printed, but before the display on the printer went black, I noticed a “low memory” warning being displayed….

What can I do to resolve this ?

Answer :
HP has an explanation page on this “low memory” type of problem on it’s website, but if you don’t have any extra fonts installed, the first step I would recommend is installing new firmware if there is any.
Here’s how to do that :
– unplug the printer form power (to reset it – not strictly needed, but just to be sure)
– plug the power back into the printer
– download the latest firmware form the HP website by going to this webpage
– then, find & open the “Software & Drivers” chapter
– then, find & open the “Printer” chapter
– then, typ “m254dw” in the search field
– click on “HP Color LaserJet M254dw” when presented
– then, find & open the link to “Firmware”
– when the latest firmware version is displayed, click the “Download” button if you are sure you haven’t upgraded the firmware on your printer since the date it was released ( e.g. the current version number 20230822 means it is the firmware version created on 22nd of August 2023, but you can also check the official release date that is also listed )
– then, on your Mac, open the firmware installer you’ve just downloaded and follow the on screen instructions guiding you through the installation
– when the firmware upgrade is done, try to print the PDF page again
– if it is printed okay now : great ! …if not, try printing some other, page that has a simple layout, first
– if that doesn’t work, check your printer as something simple might be wrong like an open tray or a loose cable (aside from the very small chance that your printer is actually broken)
– if you are able to print something else, just try printing the problematic page again and make sure you check “Scale” (and not “Scale to Fit”) and set it to “100” in the “Preview” chapter of the Printing options before printing
– then wait…
– if that works (note that you might have to wait 10 minutes or so), you’re okay !
– if your page original was too large, and it has now been printed across multiple pages, try printing again, now with “Scale to Fit” checked
– if “Scale to Fit” turns out to cause problems, open the PDF in Preview.app and (re)save a new version as JPEG or PNG (choose “Export” from the “File”-menu to get these options) that you can print

That should be it !
enjoy 😉

fixed : how to increase the playback speed of a QuickTime video

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Question :
I have some MP4 videos of online courses that contain a lot of blabla… if they were Youtube videos, I would be able to increase the playback speed to 1.5x (150%) or even 2x (200%) to increase my efficiency. However, these online courses were delivered to me for offline playback in QuickTime on macOS, but now I can’t find the button (or maybe ‘the trick’ ?) to increase the playback speed… so I seem to be stuck on having to watch them at the ‘normal’ s…l…o…w… playback speed…

Is there any way to speed this up ?

Answer :

Yes, there is !
Even though it’s a little more hidden than you are used to with YouTube videos, QuickTime is able to increase (or decrease) the playback speed in three ways, that differ in the range and number of playback speeds available :

1. the basic method :
– when de video is open in QuickTime, click on the screen to make the control panel appear
– then click on the >> button (top right on the control panel)
– from the popup list that appears, select “Playback Speed“
– then, select the desired speed from the 5 options that appear :
   0,5x  ( half speed )
   1,0x  ( normal speed )
   1,25x ( 25% faster )
   1,5x  ( 50% faster )
   2,0x  ( double speed )

2. the precise method :
– when the video is open in QuickTime, click on the screen to make the control panel appear
– then hold down the ALT-key (on your keyboard) while clicking on the DoubleArrow-button (the FastForward-button on the right or the SlowBackward-button on the left) to increase (or decrease) the playback speed in small steps of 10% :
   1,1x  ( 10% faster / slower )
   1,2x  ( 20% faster / slower )
   1,3x  ( 30% faster / slower )
   1,4x  ( 40% faster / slower )
   1,5x  ( 50% faster / slower )
   1,6x  ( 60% faster / slower )
   1,7x  ( 70% faster / slower )
   1,8x  ( 80% faster / slower )
   1,9x  ( 90% faster / slower )
   2,0x  ( double speed / half speed )

3. the hyper speed method :
– when the video is open in QuickTime, click on the screen to make the control panel appear
– then hold down either the CMD-key or the SHIFT-key or the CTRL-key (on your keyboard) while clicking on the DoubleArrow-button (the FastForward-button on the right or the SlowBackward-button on the left) to increase (or decrease) the playback speed in huge steps :
   2x  ( double speed forward or backward )
   5x  ( 5x faster = 5 seconds per second forward or backward )
   10x  ( 10x faster = 10 seconds per second forward or backward )
   30x  ( 30x faster = half a minute per second forward or backward )
   60x  ( 60x faster = one minute per second forward or backward )

That’s it !
enjoy 😉