Tag Archives: download

fixed : save Instagram pictures to Photos.app on macOS

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Question :

I came across some group photos on Instagram that I am on but that I did not take and/or post myself. I would really like to save them to my Photos.app but I can’t figure out a way to do that…

How do I do that ?

Answer :

Yes, this is possible, but… DO NOT use any app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac that needs your Instagram login credentials to do that !! as by doing that, you are granting third party access to your Instagram and you are thereby making your Instagram account extreme vulnerable to hacking, fraud and identity swapping !!

Instagram has made it impossible to save pictures from within the Instagram.app (either on iPhone, iPad or Mac) so the only ‘good’ way to do this is via the website. To do so, do this :

  • on your Mac, open the Photos.app
  • then, open Safari and in the top menu bar goto Safari > Settings > Advanced
  • in the “Advanced” window, make sure that there is a checkmark at “Show Develop menu in menu bar”
  • now, close the Settings and goto http://www.instagram.com
  • login using your account name and password
  • scroll through the pictures and select one that you want to download / save to Photos.app
  • now, in the top menu bar goto Develop > Show Page Source
  • the underwater screen will now appear in the bottom half of the browser window
  • inside the underwater screen, in the menu on the left, click on the folder named “Images”
  • now, in the main past of the underwater screen you will see just the pictures of your Instagram page
  • scroll through these pictures and when you find a picture that you want to download drag&drop it to Photos.app’s main screen and it will be imported to your Photos.app (note that you could also drag&drop the image to your Desktop or any folder in the Finder to save the picture to your Mac)
  • repeat this drag&drop action for every picture you want to download
  • when done, close Safari
  • now, goto the Photos.app and in the menu list on the left, click on “Imports”
  • then, on the main part of the Photos window, all recently imported pictures will appear
  • scroll down to the very bottom and you will see the pictures you have imported from Instagram
  • from here on, you can use the downloaded Instagram pictures however you like…

…that’s it !

enjoy 😉

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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 : where to get an OSX driver for Griffin iMate USB to ADB adapter

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Question :

I came across an old Mac gamepad that has an ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) connector and I was wondering if it would be possible to use it with my current Mac.

I also found a ‘Griffin iMate USB to ADB adapter’ that enables me to connect the gamepad to my USB-port. Unfortunately, when I connect it, only the joystick directions work, but not the buttons.

Is there anywhere I can get drivers for the Griffin iMate that would work for OSX ?

 

Answer :

Luckily, the WaybackMachine has a rather good backup off the original Griffin website, and most downloads still work. You can find it here :

Griffin iMate Software @WaybackMachine

This includes iMate-drivers for both MacOS9 and MacOSX (both support MacOSX Classic mode, which is MacOS9 running from inside MacOSX).

for MacOS9 driver version 2.7 and earlier versions are available

for MacOSX driver version 1.5.2 and 1.5.3beta are available

Since these are really old drivers, you will have to try if you can still run in your recent version of OSX / macOS.

If they don’t run, you might even be able to use the iMate OS X SDK (Software Development Kit) to create your own 😉

For Windows PCs there are no drivers needed, but keyboards, mice with extended functions will only be partially supported.

enjoy !

fixed : which version of Java do I have ?

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Question :

I would like to know which version of Java I have installed on my Mac, since the software I want to use will only run on Java 7 or higher.

How can I check (and update) ?

 

Answer :

Java is a free software platform which is operation system independent (so Mac & PC) created and maintained by Oracle. Despite it always having been a very reliable way of making cross platform games & applications, Apple has restricted the use of Java to ‘only when needed’ by default in the latest versions of OSX and macOS, because of the security risks involved in using Java and similar software that can run autonomously on your Mac next to macOS.

To find out which version of Java you have installed, do the online check that’s on this official website :

https://java.com/en/download/installed.jsp

Just follow the instructions given and the result of the check will be shown : you will either have the latest version installed, or you won’t… in that case update instructions will guide you to getting the latest version available for your Mac.

enjoy 😉

fixed : my Mac can’t unzip this file I’ve downloaded

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Question :

Someone just sent me a file over WeTransfer. After downloading it turns out to be a .zip-file, but when I double-click on it to unzip as usual, the Archive Utility does start the unzipping but ends in an error each time, claiming the .zip-file is broken.

I’m pretty sure the .zip-file isn’t broken… what can I do ?

 

Answer :

Even though OSX/macOS’s built-in Archive Utility is your default choice for zipping and unzipping files and folders, it turn out not to be the best choice for unzipping. (Especially .zip-files created on Windows PCs seem to be problematic every now and then…)

The solution is simple : just use an other app to unzip.

There are various payed alternatives like Stuffit Expander and WinZIP, but there’s no need to buy an app for this as most FREE apps ( like The Unarchiver ) will do just fine.

To install & use another app to unzip do this :

  • download a FREE zip/unzip-app from the Mac AppStore
  • after installation, lookup the .zip-file on your Mac ( it will probably still be in your Downloads folder or on your Desktop )
  • right-click on the .zip-file’s icon and select “Open with…” from the pop-up menu
  • then choose your zip/unzip-app from the list
  • …and wait for the file to unzip

That’s it ! enjoy 😉

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fixed : macOS Sierra downloaded but installer won’t run

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Question :

Since the latest version of OSX (entitled “macOS Sierra) has been yesterday, I wanted to install it on my Mac. I clicked on “download” in the Mac AppStore and  the download started ; on the dedicated product page I could see the status bar filling up and finally stating “downloaded”… but then, nothing happened…

The download wouldn’t install…

I re-checked if macOS Sierra does support my Mac, it does. So I tried restarting the AppStore-app, I tried logging out my iCloud/AppStore-account & than logging back in, I tried rebooting my Mac, I tried rebooting in SafeMode, I tried FirstAid in the Disk Utility app, I tried clicking 10 times on the “downloaded” button repeatedly, I tried installing the DeBug-menus & cleaning the AppStore cache, I tried deleting the hidden AppStore downloads folder… and I tried various command line solutions found online in the Terminal app… nothing helped… I am still stuck with the button under the macOS Sierra icon saying “downloaded”… and nothing happens…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

You are probably not (really) going to like this answer, because this will set you back hours & hours, in which you can’t use your Mac ; but it’s the only way known to solve this, and you need to have a recent TimeMachine backup (or alike) for it :

  1. shut down your Mac
  2. disconnect all cables  from your Mac (except your keyboard & mouse if you haven’t got a MacBook)
  3. restart your Mac, and be quick to press the [CMD]+[R] key-combo during startup (your Mac will now start up in Recovery Mode)
  4. in the “OS X Utilities” window that appears, select Restore From TimeMachine Backup and click Continue
  5. in the next “Restore Your System” window, click Continue
  6. now first make sure that your Mac can connect to your TimeMachine-harddisk by plugging in it’s USB-cable, plugging in your Ethernet-network-cable or connect to your WiFi router
  7. then select the hard drive that has your TimeMachine backups on it and click Continue
  8. in the next window, make sure you select the most recent backup that is from before you tried to download macOS Sierra ; only if you’re sure you’ve selected the right backup, proceed and click Continue
  9. now wait (or do something more useful in the mean time) and wait and wait ; this is going to take hours and hours ; putting back a TimeMachine backup this way will go a a speed of about 30BG per hour, so if your hard drive is 500GB it may take you about 15 hours (yes, an entire night and an entire morning…)
  10. finally, once the TimeMachine backup-reinstall is done, your Mac will restart… just let it
  11. then, when logged in, open the Mac AppStore-app and notice that the button under the macOS Sierra now says “download” ; click on it
  12. after the download has completed, you should now see the installer window popup on your screen… proceed from there…

that’s it… it’s simple, but very time-consuming…

enjoy !

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fixed : can’t delete unnamed app without icon from iPad

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Question :

I have an icon on my iPad that has a generic icon and no name. If I double click it, the name turns into “Waiting…” and nothing happens, even after a long wait. If I try to delete it, I get the small X-tag, and if I click on it, I get a window saying :

Delete ‘  ‘

Deleting ‘  ‘ will also delete all of its data.

…and two options to click on : “Delete” and “Cancel”

…still no name of the app is given, and since the icon is generic (a.k.a. “empty” ; showing only a greyish-white icon with a dark grey grid, some circles and diagonals) I still don’t know how to delete it.

What can I do to fix this ?

 

Answer :

For some reason (unknown and probably irrelevant also) this app has stalled during an update or even during it’s initial install. To figure out the actual name of the app, do this :

  • in iOS, go to “Settings” –> “General” –> “Restrictions”, and make sure you have permission to delete apps and change accounts
  • then, go to “Settings” –> iTunes and App Store and log out
  • then, when in iOS8, go to “Settings” –> “General” –> “Usage” –> “iCloud” –> “Manage Storage” ; in the next window, click on “Backups” ; in the next window, click on “Show all apps”
  • or when in iOS9, go to “Settings” –> “General” –> “Storage & iCloud Usage” –> “STORAGE” –> “Manage Storage”
  • now find the app that has a generic icon in the list of apps you see
  • write down the name of that app (the one with the generic icon)
  • then, when the Menu-button has a white square icon on it, restart your iPad (or iPhone) by simultaneously pressing the Menu-button (below the screen) and the ON/OFF-button (on the right top edge of your iPad’s/iPhone’s housing, hold this key-combo until your iPad/iPhone shows a white Apple-logo on a black screen, then release
  • or, when the Menu-button has fingerscan, restart your iPad (or iPhone) in the way described in this post
  • when the reset is done, login to your iPad (or iPhone) if you have an access pincode on it
  • then, go to “Settings” –> iTunes and App Store and login
  • then, when in iOS8, go to “Settings” –> “General” –> “Usage” –> “iCloud” –> “Manage Storage” ; in the next window, click on “Backups” ; in the next window, click on “Show all apps”
  • or when in iOS9, go to “Settings” –> “General” –> “Storage & iCloud Usage” –> “STORAGE” –> “Manage Storage”
  • now find the app has still with the name that you wrote down (this app may or may not have a generic icon now) and click on it
  • in the next window click “Delete App”
  • then click the Menu-button to get back to the main screen
  • then go to the “App Store”-app –> “Purchased” –> “Not on this iPad” (“Not on this iPhone”)
  • in the list, find the app with the name you wrote down and (re)download it from the App Store by clicking on the ‘cloud with blue downward arrow’-icon behind its name
  • when the app starts downloading, click on the Menu-button to return to the main screen
  • finally, turn restrictions back on if you had any initially (in “Settings” –> “General” –> “Restrictions”)

…that’s it – enjoy !

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