Tag Archives: 10.15 Catalina

fixed : (re)format a drive in FAT32 MBR using macOS

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Question :

I need to reformat a USB-stick in FAT32 MBR.

Is it possible to do that on a Mac ?

 

Answer :

Yes, you can.

To (re)format a drive, like a USB-stick, external HardDisk or external SSD in FAT32 MBR (MBR = Master Boot Record) do this :

  • plug the drive (USB-stick) into you Mac
  • make sure that there are no files or documents you need to keep left on the drive (USB-stick)
    • copy all files and documents you are not willing to lose to your internal disk space, or to another external drive
  • goto Applications –> Utilities –> Disk Utility
  • double-click on the application’s icon to startup Disk Utility
  • in the window that opens, click on the View-button (top-left) and select “Show Alle Devices”
  • then, select the drive (USB-stick) from the list of drives on the left
    • it should be listed in the “External” chapter
    • make sure you select the drive itself, not the formatted partition that is on it
      • drives are listed entirely on the left (and have a small triangle in front if they are formatted)
      • partitions are listed shifted slightly to the right of the devices list
  • then, click on the Erase-button (top-center, just below the Disk Utility name)
  • in the pulldown window that opens, select these settings :
    • Name : Untitled [ …or any name you prefer, the choice is up to you ]
    • Format : MS-DOS (FAT)
    • Scheme : Master Boot Record
  • then click on the Erase-button
  • now, wait for the process to complete
  • then, click on the Eject-icon (underlined triangle) next to the name of the drive (USB-stick) in the list on the left
  • when de drive (USB-stick) disappears from the list, you can unplug the USB-stick (or external HD or SSD)
  • close the Disk Utility app

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : swap Windows-key layout on PC-gaming keyboard within macOS

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Question :

I’ve been playing online multiplayer games like Fortnite for a while now on my MacBook Pro, but the built-in keyboard is starting to cramp my hands & fingers…

So I bought an (external) keyboard, and since there are hardly any gaming-keyboards for Mac, I got myself a PC-gaming keyboard that is supposed to work with Mac also : Trust GXT860 Thura.

I love the metal housing, the mechanical keys and the huge space-bar. I could learn to work with the PC-layout of the ALT and CMD keys, but isn’t there an option to swap or remap the layout of the keys on my Mac so I can use the keyboard blindly without any practicing ?

 

Answer :

Yes, there is, and it’s even built into macOS.

To remap the keys of your (external) keyboard on macOS, do this :

  • make sure your external gaming-keyboard is connected to your MacBook using USB, RF or Bluetooth (even though a wireless connection is not recommended for gaming, it is optional)
  • if your external gaming-keyboard only has a USB-connector and your MacBook only has USB-C ports, use a USB-to-USB-C-adapter (e.g. this USB-C-connection cable or this USB-C-connection adapter or anything similar, most basic ones will do fine)
  • goto Apple-menu (top-left on your desktop)
  • select System Preferences from the pulldown menu
  • in the System Preferences window, click on the Keyboard icon
  • in the Keyboard window, click on the Keyboard tab
  • then, click on the “Modifier Keys” button (bottom right)
  • in the pulldown window, you can individually remap the function of any of the 4 keys that differ from Mac to PC
    • the standard Mac-layout (for desktop and external Mac-keyboards) is from-left-to-right : CTRL – ALT – CMD – SPACE – CMD – ALT – CTRL
    • the standard MacBook-layout (for internal MacBook-keyboards) is from-left-to-right : FN – CTRL – ALT – CMD – SPACE – CMD – ALT
    • the standard PC-layout (for desktop PCs and external Windows-keyboards) is from-left-to-right : CTRL – WIN – ALT – SPACE – ALTgr – FN – CTRL
    • the Trust GXT860 Thura keyboard-layout is from-left-to-right : CTRL – WIN – ALT – SPACE – ALTgr – FN – illumination – CTRL
    • check your PC-gaming keyboard to see it’s layout
  • in the pulldown-window, at “Select keyboard:” select your external gaming-keyboard from the list
  • then set the key-mapping to your liking : the key names (on the left side) stand for the actual keys on your keyboard, and on the right side you can choose the key-stroke they should invoke in macOS on your Mac
  • the default is everything the same on the left and the right side (of course…)
  • and if you want to blindly use the Mac-keyboard-layout on your PC-gaming keyboard, you should set it like this :
    • Caps Lock Key : Caps Lock
    • Control Key : Control
    • Option Key : Command [ connect the ALT-key to the Apple/CMD-keystroke ]
    • Command Key : Option [ connect the Windows-key to the Option/ALT-keystroke ]
  • …but you can choose any variation you like if that suits you better

That’s is !

enjoy 😉

fixed : need to run old 32-bit app in macOS 10.15 Catalina once or twice

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Question :

I have just upgraded to macOS 10.15 Catalina, but I just found out that I still have an old iPhoto database somewhere that I want to integrate with Photos.app using the official Apple iPhoto Updater application. But that’s 32-bit software, so it won’t run in macOS 10.15 Catalina…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

The easiest option is to find a Mac that still runs one of the latest versions of the 32-bit supporting versions of macOS like 10.13 High_Sierra or 10.14 Mojave.

In any version of macOS before 10.15 Catalina, the easiest alternative would probably have been to create a bootable external USB drive running an older version of macOS (like 10.14 Mojave), but by installing 10.15 Catalina you have also installed some drastic security which prevents your Mac from booting from an external drive easily…

So your best option at this moment is to create a virtual machine on your Mac (hoping you have enough internal disk space available – even though you might be able to pull the trick with 16GB free memory, you should be better off with at least 32GB of free memory before you try this).

First, get yourself an official copy of the macOS 10.14 Mojave installer :

  • search online for the official macOS 10.14 Mojave installer on iTunes / the App Store, or use this link to download :   https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/macos-mojave/id1398502828?mt=12
  • the AppStore.app will now automatically open on your Mac on the right page
  • click the GET button
  • now System Preference’s Software Update window will open with a pulldown window asking you if you are sure you want to download macOS Mojave (since you are running from macOS Catalina even macOS knows that normally doesn’t make sense) click the Download button
  • when the installer has been downloaded completely, it will automatically run – however, since your Mac is already running a newer version of macOS (you are running macOS 10.15 Catalina) you will get an error window saying ‘this copy of the “Install macOS” application is too old to be opened on this version of macOS’ so you will only be able to click the Quit button
  • then open a Finder window to check where the Install macOS Mojave application is located (it should be located in the Applications folder)

Secondly, get yourself a Virtual Machine application. I would suggest to use Oracle’s VirtualBox, as it’s FREE and the features are nearly identical to commercial Virtual Machine applications like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion :

  • go to https://www.virtualbox.org and download VirtualBox
  • since you are ultimately trying to run 32-bit software, you might be tempted to download VirtualBox 5.2 which is the last version to run on 32-bit hosts ; there is nothing against doing so, but VirtualBox 6 should do great as well, since your Mac is capable of running macOS 10.15 Catalina ; it’s just the VM you’re trying to install (Mojave) that needs to be 32-bit capable, not the host (your Mac running Catalina)
  • install VirtualBox
  • run Virtual Box

Then, install macOS 10.14 Mojave within VirtualBox. There are various guides available on doing so, but the best way is using the guide created by TobiWasHere! on installing a macOS 10.13 High_Sierra VM, which is (nearly) identical :

VirtualBox: How to create a macOS High Sierra VM to run on a Mac host system

When done, run the macOS 10.15 Mojave VM. Then import the 32-bit application into it and run it.

As mentioned before, it’s far faster and easier to borrow a Mac that hasn’t been upgraded to macOS 10.15 Catalina if you incidentally need to run 32-bit software. And if you need to run a 32-bit application for daily use a Virtual Machine is not recommended (even though it can be done), in that case it is probably best to either use a ‘two Mac strategy’ with one running macOS 10.14 Mojave and one running macOS 10.15 Catalina, or – if you insist on using one Mac only – to run macOS 10.14 Mojave only until all applications you need have been upgraded to (or replaced by) 64-bit versions.

Good Luck !

enjoy 😉

fixed : quickly rotate a movie file in macOS 10.15 Catalina

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Question :

I have a movie-file that was shot on an iPhone in portrait-mode, but I think it will look better  when viewed in landscape-mode. It’s a video of you cat playing on the carpet, shot from above, so both portrait-mode and landscape-mode are okay for viewing, but as we prefer to view video’s on out TV it would make more sense to have it in landscape-mode.

How do I do that ?

 

Answer :

In MacOSX and OSX rotating photos was easily done in iPhoto or Photos.app, but rotating video couldn’t be done in iPhoto or Photos.app – that had to be done in video editing software like iMovie, or a dedicated video-rotation-app.

In macOS 10.15 Catalina, rotating video 90 degrees can be done extremely simple in the Finder :

  • open the Finder (click out of all apps until you have only the Desktop to look at)
  • open a New Finder Window by typing CMD and N keys on your keyboard simultaneously (or goto Finder > File > New Finder Window)
  • locate the video-file (if you know it’s name, typ it in the Search-bar, else browse to the file if you know where it’s located)
  • then click on the file name to select it
  • the video preview will now come up on the right side, with various info and some buttons below it
  • to rotate your video 90 degrees counter-clockwise, click on Rotate Left
  • to rotate your video 90 degrees clockwise, press the ALT key on your keybord and click on Rotate Right (in the same spot where the Rotate Left button used to be)
  • then wait for the processing to end…

…and you’re done 😉

That’s it – enjoy !

fixed : NVIDIA GeForce NOW completely broken in macOS 10.15 Catalina

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Question :

I’ve just upgraded to macOS 10.15 Catalina on my MacBook Pro, but now the NVIDIA GeForce NOW app is broken so I can no longer play Fortnite in a decent way…

The NVIDIA GeForce NOW app seemed to have disappeared completely from my Mac, but I found it is still in the Applications folder, but the icon is now a greyed-out NO ENTRY sign… so nothing happens when I click on it…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

For some unknown reason, some upgrades to macOS 10.15 Catalina break the NVIDIA GeForce Now app…

Luckily, the solution is simple : download the latest version of NVIDIA GeForce NOW here and install it… choose Replace Old Version during install and then just restart the app…

It’s simple as that…

enjoy 😉

fixed : EyeTV won’t run in macOS Catalina

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Question :

I’ve been using EyeTV for many years as my favorite TV-watching software, but since I recently upgrade to macOS 10.15 Catalina, the EyeTV software will no longer run…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

The EyeTV version you have is version 3.5 or older, which is a 32bit application. Unfortunately macOS 10.15 Catalina is the first macOS that only supports 64bit applications.

UPDATED INFO :

Geniatech (who took over EyeTV from Elgato) has released the 64bit version of EyeTV for macOS 10.15 Catalina. It’s simply called EyeTV 4 and is available now from the Geniatech website :

eyetv 4 (64-bit) macOS

NOTE : If you had previously installed the EyeTV 4 Beta (64bit) version, you should probably be best off with uninstalling that version first using the EyeTV Reporter (64-BIT) before you install the new EyeTV 4

 

PREVIOUS INFO :

Geniatech (who took over EyeTV from Elgato) has run into a lot of delay while reprogramming EyeTV as a 64bit application, but they now have EyeTV 4 in Public Beta, so anyone is invited to test :

Geniatech EyeTV 4 Public Beta preview

This preview software will not work beyond November 30th 2019 !!

To get it working, do this :

  • download the software from the download-link you find in Geniatech EyeTV 4 Public Beta preview
  • open your Downloads folder and double-click on the EyeTV dmg-file
  • in the window that opens, drag the EyeTV icon over to the Applications folder
  • in the warning screen that opens, click on the “Keep Both”-button or “Replace”-button
  • then, in the Applications folder, double-click on the EyeTV icon (if you have two, choose the one that doesn’t have the traffic sign over it)
  • in the warning screen (“cannot check for malicious software”) click OK
  • then, open System Preferences
  • in the window that opens, click on “Security & Privacy”
  • in the next window, make sure the “General”-tab is selected
  • if you see the text “EyeTV was blocked from use because it is not from an identified developer” click the “Open Anyway”-botton
  • if you do not see that text, go back and try to run the EyeTV application first/again
  • after clicking “Open Anyway” a warning screen opens, where you should click OK
  • in the next window Administrator Access is needed, so typ your admin password (usually the password you use to unlock your Mac)
  • in the next window you need to give EyeTV permission to access your Documents folder, if you don’t want that click “Don’t Allow”, else click OK
  • now the “Welcome to EyeTV” window opens, click “Next”
  • in the next window (licence agreement), click “Next” (you have to… not a real option)
  • in the pop-up window, click “Agree” (again : not a real option)
  • in the next window, select your country and click “Next”
  • in the next window, make sure your TV-reception-device (usually an EyeTV USB-stick or alike – if you use a “MyGica DVB-T2 (T230C)” choose the corresponding “EyeTV T2 Hybrid”) is selected and click “Next”
  • in the next window, enter one of the 5 serial keys (activation keys) that are given on the Geniatech EyeTV 4 Public Beta preview webpage
  • in the next window, make sure you have your TV-reception-device (EyeTV USB-stick) plugged in, then click “Next”
  • in the next window, click “Next”
  • in the next window, just click “Next” (and set this up later if you need to)
  • in the next window, just click “Next” (and set this up later if you need to)
  • in the next window, if a window with a TV broadcast has already been opened in the background, just click “Next” (if not, click “Auto-tune”)
  • in the next window, click “Finish”
  • in the pop-up window that appears, typ your admin password
  • then you may get another pop-up window where you need to give EyeTV permission to access your Documents folder, if you don’t want that click “Don’t Allow”, else click OK

…that’s it ! you can now use EyeTV on macOS Catalina (until November 30th that is…)

Note : this is beta-software, so it will probably still contain a few bugs and could therefore quit unexpectedly at any moment and some features may not fully be operational – so it is advised not to use  beta-software like this for business or production purposes