Tag Archives: error message

fixed : error message -2101F when trying to reinstall macOS

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Question :
I have a 2019 MacBook Air and when I tried to install the latest macOS system update, it froze… I called Apple, and they told met to reinstall macOS, but evert time I turn my Mac off and back on with the OPTION+SHIFT+R key-combo pressed on my keyboard, I run into a black screen with a light grey globe with a white triangle with an exclamation mark in it (a warning icon) and a text below it that just says “support.apple.com/mac/startup -2101F”

What can I do to fix this ?

Answer :
The -2101F error message that you are getting means “cannot connect to the internet”, and connection to the internet is essential for your Mac to do a regular reinstallation of macOS nowadays…
There are some options to solve this problem. First try this one :
– check if your WiFi internet is working properly by connecting to your WiFi using your iPhone (or any other mobile phone)
– if it turns out that your WiFi is not functioning properly, restart your modem to make sure all lights on it (like “Power”, “Internet”, “LAN” end “WiFi”) start blinking
– then restart your Mac and try to initiate the reinstallation process again

If that didn’t help, try this :
– connect your Mac to the internet using a UTP/Ethernet-cable
– for this, you need a UTP/Ethernet cable that is has connection to your modem (preferably directly)
if you buy anything from Amazon by using the links below, MacManus.nl makes a tiny profit, but it will not affect the price you pay
– if you don’t have a UTP/Ethernet-cable, you can borrow one or buy one
to buy one from Amazon US, click here
to buy one form Amazon UK, click here
to buy one from Amazon DE, clcik here
– modern MacBooks don’t have a dedicated UTP/Ethernet-port, so you will need a UTP/Ethernet-to-USB(-C)-converter-cable also
– if you don’t have a UTP/Ethernet-to-USB-C-converter, you can borrow or buy one
to buy one from Amazon US, click here
to buy one form Amazon UK, click here
to buy one from Amazon DE, clcik here
– if you have a UTP/Ethernet-to-USB-converter-cable, but you only have USB-C ports on your Mac, you will need a USB-C-to-USB-converter also
to buy one from Amazon US, click here
to buy one form Amazon UK, click here
to buy one from Amazon DE, clcik here
– after you have connected your Mac to the internet using a UTP/Ethernet-cable, restart your Mac and try to initiate the reinstallation process again

If that didn’t work, try this :
– connect the UTP/Ethernet-to-USB(-C)-converter-cable to a different port on your Mac, because sometimes that USB/USB-C port on your Mac may be faulty, misfunctioning of broken
– then restart your Mac and try to initiate the installation process again

If that didn’t work, try this :
– make sure that one of the USB(-C) ports on your Mac is functioning properly by connecting a USB-mouse or USB-keyboard or USB-stick with a light in it (you might also need a USB-C-to-USB-converter-cable for this) and check if the light is switching on
– if the light in the mouse, keyboard or USB-stick doesn’t turn on when connected to your Mac (do make sure that the light is actually working when using it on another computer), your USB-port is broken and you will need a hardware repair (or a new Mac, which might be more tempting in a lot of cases)
– if the light does turn on, disconnect the mouse, keyboard or USB-stick and use that USB(-C)- port for the reinstallation of macOS from a USB-stick
– first you will have to create a USB-stick with a macOS-installer, to do this, you will need another Mac that is the same age or newer than your Mac and if your Mac doesn’t have an M1/M2/M3-or-newer processor, you will need an Intel-based Mac for this
– follow the directions to create a USB-stick with a macOS-installer that are outlined here :
https://www.macworld.com/article/671308/how-to-create-a-bootable-usb-macos-installer.html
or the instructions from Apple itself :
https://support.apple.com/en-us/101578
– if you don’t have an empty USB-stick at hand, you’re best of buying a 32GB USB-C-stick
to buy one from Amazon US, click here
to buy one form Amazon UK, click here
to buy one from Amazon DE, clcik here
– after you have created the USB-stick with the macOS-installer on it (on the other Mac), plug the USB-stick into your faulty Mac (make sure you use the USB(-C)-port that you know is working) and restart your Mac and initiate the installation process

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : MS Auto Updater warning saying I need to upgrade eventhough I am already on the latest version

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Question :
every time I restart my Mac, I get an error message from Microsoft saying that I can’t update, but I can’t find what’s wrong. When I click the link provided for more information, I get a page on the Microsoft website telling that support for MS Office 2019 for macOS has ended and that I should either updagrade to MS Office 365 or MS office 2021 for macOS… but as far as I know I am already running MS Office 2021 for macOS…

What is wrong ?

Answer :
Eventhough there is a very small chance that something completely different is going on, in the majority of cases, your problem will be that you are running the MS Office apps that you primarily use (e.g. Word, PowerPoint and Excel) in the 2021 version and some of the MS Office apps that you never use (e.g. Outlook, OneNote or OneDrive) are still on the 2019 version.

To solve this problem, do this :
– open the Finder
– go to [your Mac] > Library > Application Support > MAU2.0 > Microsoft Autoupdate
– doubleclick on Microsoft Autoupdate to run the MS Autoupdate.app
– click on the pulldown-button (top-right ; the downward-pointing triangular arrowhead)
– now the pulldown list of recent updates will fold out
– in the list, spot the apps that aregiving an error
– then click on the ‘Check for Updates’-button and wait for other updating errors to appear
– if the MS Office apps that you regularly use (e.g. Word, PowerPoint and/or Excel) are giving an update error saying you need to upgrade, your version of MS Office for macOS is outdated and you should buy the newest version or switch to an Office 365 (now called Microsoft 365) subscription
– if you only get updating errors for apps that you never use (e.g. Outlook), open a new Finder window
– then, goto [your Mac] > Applications
– then, type the name of the app you are looking for (e.g. Outlook) in the search field top right
– in the list of applications that appears, select the app you are looking for
– right-click on it’s name and choose Delete from the pulldown menu
– in the warning window that appears, typ your computer password (the password you use to startup & unlock your Mac) and click OK to allow the app to be deleted from you Mac

That’s it !

Enjoy 😉

fixed : Storage Full error warning on AppleWatch 3

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Question :

I have an AppleWatch 3 (or Series 3 as it is officially called) and a few days ago, an warning message popped up saying there its memory is full.

The warning reeds :
Storage Full Try removing music or photos using the AppleWatch app on iPhone.

but… when I go to the Watch app on my iPhone, there are no photos or music that I can erase…

What can I do to solve this ?

Answer :

In case you get a ‘Storage Full’ warning and you have an AppleWatch Series 3, your only option is to Unpair & Update, as you cannot erase any content manually. If you have a newer AppleWatch (an SE-Series, Series 4 or up) you can erase some content manually, so you could restart you AppleWatch and see if that helps, or you could try freeing up space by deleting media or apps. Here’s how to Unpair & Update :

  • on your iPhone, open the Watch-app
  • now, make sure your AppleWatch and iPhone are close together during the entire process (so the connection between the two will not be broken)
  • in the Watch-app, click the My Watch icon (bottom left) first, then click “My Watches” (top left)
  • in the “All Watches” window that opens, make sure that the AppleWatch you want to unpair is selected ( not really relevant if you only have one AppleWatch )
  • then, click on the INFO-icon (the i-in-a-circle icon) next to the selected AppleWatch
  • in the “Apple Watch” window that opens, click on “Unpair Apple Watch” (bottom left)
  • then, type your AppleID password when asked
  • note : upon request, make sure to select to keep your cellular plan if you have a GPS+Cellular AppleWatch
  • now click to confirm the unpairing
  • note : if you get a message that the unpairing might have gone wrong, and the AppleWatch is no longer listed in the Watch-app on your iPhone, try resetting your AppleWatch by long-pressing the Side Button until the SOS-slider appears ; then click the power button that also appeared (top right) ; if that still doesn’t unpair the AppleWatch properly, select “Erase all content” from the Settings menu
  • note : upon request, disable Activation Lock by entering your AppleID password
  • your iPhone will now create a backup of your AppleWatch’s content & apps before erasing your AppleWatch (if needed, you can use that backup to restore to a ‘clean’ Apple Watch)
  • after the AppleWatch has been erased, start by setting it up as a new AppleWatch
  • to do so, make sure your AppleWatch and iPhone are close together and follow the onscreen instructions
  • when done, you have a ‘new’ (but ’empty’) AppleWatch, and the latest available version of WatchOS will be installed
  • now, you will probably want to reinstall your apps & content from your backup – to do so, do this :
  • unpair the AppleWatch again
  • then setup your AppleWatch once again from your iPhone, but this time, upon request, choose “restore from backup” (not “set up as new”)

that’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : “This block has encountered an error and cannot be previewed” error in WordPress Dashboard

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Question :

My WordPress.com website has been shifted to the revamped version of the WordPress Dashboard, but now, when I am trying to re-edit posts from before September 2020, I can only see the post’s title in the edit page… the body text is replaced by an error message saying “This block has encountered an error and cannot be previewed”.

What can I do to fix this ?

Answer :

The underlying problem is not exactly clear, but the solution is rather simple :

  • make sure you are running the latest version of macOS, if not : upgrade to the latest version of macOS
  • make sure you are running the latest version of Safari (or the browser you are using), if not : upgade to the latest version
  • open Safari
  • goto “View” (in the top menu bar)
  • click on “Reload without Content Blockers” (from the pulldown menu)
    • Note : the regular “Reload Page (CMD+R)” will NOT solve the problem !

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : get rid of Virus Infection warnings in Calendar.app

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Question :
For some reason, my Calendar.app is flooding with red warning messages like “Your iPhone is infected”, “Virus detected”, “Critical Warning”, “Your iPhone is in danger” etc.

Is this true ?
Where did this come from ?
How can I get rid of these ?

Answer :

It is not a virus infection. These are not real iOS Error Messages. These are Calendar Events. You have recently clicked on some unreliable internet link that has subscribed you to an external event calendar…

To get rid of these, do this :

  • on your iPhone, open the Calendar.app
  • in the window that opens you will see your current appointments, and in the bottom-bar three buttons : “Today”, “Calendars” and “Inbox”
  • click on the “Calendars” button (bottom center)
  • in the pull-up screen that appears, you will see all Calendar-feeds that you have active
  • scroll down to the “Subscribed” chapter
  • if you have just one entry there, click on the coloured circle in front of it to remove the white checkmark
  • if you have more than one entry in the “Subscribed” chapter, click on the coloured circle in front of the top/first one to remove the white checkmark
  • then, click “Done” (top-right) to see if the error messages are gone
  • if they are, proceed – if not, redo the above step until the error messages have gone from your calendar
  • when you see that the error messages have disappeared from the regular Calendar view, click on the “Calendars” button (bottom center) again
  • then, in the pull-up screen that appears, scroll down to the “Subscribed” chapter again and click on the Info-button (encircled i-letter) that is at the right side of the name of the Calendar that you have previously unchecked (to make the error messages disappear)
  • in the “Edit Calendar” page that opens, scroll down completely and click on “Delete Calendar” (in red – completely at the bottom)
  • now, the pesky calendar subscription will be gone

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : 70mai A800 dashcam WiFi connection error

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Question :

I just bought the best dashcam I could find for an affordable price : the Xiaomi 70mai A800 4K Ultra HD video with WiFi, GPS and ADAS driver assistance built-in.

I can’t get it to connect properly to my iPhone over WiFi however… I can find the 70mai WiFi network in the list of available WiFi networks in the iOS Settings-app, and I can connect to it, since it is shown as the connected WiFi-network… but the WiFi icon (the pie-shaped triangle) isn’t shown in the upper right corner of my iPhone… and when I startup the 70mai.app and click on the “70mai Dash Cam A800” in the “Please add 70mai devices”-window, I get an error : “Unable to get Wi-Fi connection Please enter [Settings – 70mai] to open location permission and then connect the device.” …and when I click on the “Go to open it”-button, the Settings-app opens …there I can set Wi-Fi, but that is already connected to the 70mai WiFi-network…

What is going on… how can I fix this ?

 

Answer :

The solution is simple, but you didn’t understand the given directions… probably because the the error message isn’t really straight forward : it’s in awkwardly translated English and the button only links halfway to where you need to adjust the settings…

First, make sure you are using the right iOS-app : you need the 70mai (Worldwide) app that can be downloaded here.

Then, do this :

  • connect the 70mai A800 dashcam to power
  • open the “System Settings” page (the icon is a hexagram with a dot in it)
    • Note that there’s no touch-screen so you should use the 4 buttons below the screen to navigate through the on-screen menu-structure
  • On the Settings page, you need to set “Wi-Fi hotspot” to “Enable” :
    • select “Disable” (at the top line, right of “Wi-Fi hotspot”)
    • in the “Wi-Fi hotspot”-page that opens you will see the name of the WiFi-network (at “Wi-Fi SSID”) and the WiFi-password (at “Password”)
    • remember these (or leave this screen open)

Then, open the 70mai.app on your iPhone and do this :

  • on the first page (simply called “70mai”) click the “Add device”-button (the only button on-screen)
  • in the “Please add 70mai devices”-page that opens, scroll down to “70mai Dash Cam A800” and click on it
  • when you get the “Unable to get Wi-Fi connection Please enter [Settings – 70mai] to open location permission and then connect the device.” error message, click on “Go to open it”
  • now the Settings.app will open, but it won’t always on the same page inside the Settings.app
  • so, make sure you go to the main Settings-page and clcik on “Wi-Fi” in the list
  • when the “Wi-Fi”-page opens, select the 70mai WiFi-network (with the name that was listed at Wi-Fi SSID”) from the list of “Other Networks” (or “My Networks”)
  • if the WiFi-password is required, use the “Password” that is (or was) displayed on the dashcam’s screen
  • now, even when the 70mai WiFi-network is connected you will still see 4G (or 3G or some other mobile data indication) instead of the WiFi-icon in the top-right corner of your iPhone screen
  • then click on “<Setttings” top-left
  • back in the main Settings-page, scroll all the way down to “70mai” (in the list of apps that starts after “Game Center”) and click on it
  • in the “70mai” page that opens, set “Location” to “While Using the App”
    • you could also set it to “Always”, but that isn’t a great idea since the 70mai WiFi-network is rather poorly protected
  • now, open the 70mai.app again
  • in the “Please add 70mai devices”-page, click on “70mai Dash Cam A800”
  • now, the “Turn on Wi-Fi hotspot”-page will open with a picture that resembles the “Wi-Fi hotspot” page that is displayed on the dashcam
  • there, you should click on “Dash cam WiFi hotspot is turned on” (eventhough it appears to be greyed-out) so a green checkmark will appear
  • then click “Next”
  • on the next page (the “Connect to WiFi hotspot”-page) click “Connect”
  • now the Settings.app will open again, check that the 70mai WiFi-network is listed at “Wi-Fi”
  • then, open the 70mai.app and you will see a countdown-circle on your iPhone and you will hear a voice from the dashcam
  • so, go to the dashcam screen and tap the button bottom-right to confirm
  • now you will see what the dashcam is ‘seeing’ / ‘recording’ in the 70mai.app on your iPhone

…that’s it !

enjoy 😉

Note that you can adjust various dashcam settings (like the Speaker Volume, Video Resolution, Parking Surveillance, ADAS Driver Assistance, etc.) by clicking on the 3dot-icon top-right in the 70mai-app screen.