Tag Archives: OSX

fixed : play retro Cuphead game on Mac

Posted on by
4

Question :

My children have played the ‘ultra-retro Disney’ game Cuphead on their friend’s PC and they love it. So now they want to play it on their own Mac also. Unfortunately there is no Mac version available yet.

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

There are various ways to solve your problem, and they all boil down to trickery to play the Windows game on your Mac : installing Windows (like Bootcamp, Parallels, VM Ware or VirtualBox) or some form of WINE (= the ‘Windows without Windows’-virtualization called “Wine Is Not an Emulator”, like WineBottler, WinOnX or PlayOnMac) or NVIDIA GeForce NOW cloud gaming.

It turns out that the simplest way to get the Cuphead game running on your Mac is this :

  • get (buy) the Cuphead game (Windows 10 version) in the Microsoft Store here
  • find the Cuphead.zip or Cuphead.rar in your downloads and unzip/unrar it
  • make sure you have both the setup_cuphead_xxxxxx.bin and the setup_cuphead_xxxxxx.exe files
  • then get the PlayOnMac virtualization-app here
  • download and install the PlayOnMac-app
  • now, right-click on the setup_cuphead_xxxxxx.exe file
  • in the pulldown-menu, choose “Open with PlayOnMac”
  • now the installation (in an app-like container) will start
  • this will take some time, just ignore any error messages
  • when PlayOnMac asks for the location of the setup_cuphead_xxxxxx.bin file, locate it on your Mac and proceed the installation
  • again, ignore any error messages
  • when PlayOnMac asks you to create a Cuphead game-alias on your Desktop, do it
  • when the Cuphead game-alias appears on your Desktop, it might have an icon of a non-runnable application ; ignore that
  • drag&drop the Cuphead game-alias on the Dock (in most cases, the icon will now change to the yellow-squared Cuphead icon)
  • then exit PayOnMac
  • finally open the Cuphead game-alias in the Dock and the Cuphead game will run

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

Note : depending on your screen-settings, there may be weird looking edges on the top and/or bottom part of the screen while playing the Cuphead game, this is one of the little downsides of using PlayOnMac…

fixed : play Windows-only Steam games on Mac

Posted on by
1

Question :

I have installed Steam on my Mac, and have played several games on it. It’s great, but now I’ve found that some of the games I want to play are Windows-only, even on Steam. I get a “not supported on this platform” error.

Is there any way to play Windows-only Steam games on my Mac ?

 

Answer :

Yes there is.

Probably the easiest way to be able to play Windows-only Steam games on your Mac is to download and install NVIDIA GeForce NOW Cloud Gaming for Mac. At this moment of writing the service is in (FREE) Beta and only available in Europe and North America, but that will change in due time.

Do do so, just do this :

  • download the NVIDIA GeForce NOW app here
  • then install it and run it on your Mac
  • first you need to login by creating an NVIDIA account (or using your Google or Facebook account, which will also share your personal user data with those parties and their associates)
  • then you will need to test the speed and reliability of your internet connection, to do so, click on your username in the upper right corner and select “Test my network” from the pulldown menu
  • only if your internet connection is reliable and fast enough you will be able to proceed (sorry… this is one of the few disadvantages of cloud-computing…)
  • if you need to optimize your internet connection, you can use a direct Ethernet/UTP-cable from your internet modem to your Mac, and adjust or shut down your Firewall (that’s about the only thing you can optimize, full instructions can be found here)
  • now, inside the NVDIA GeForce NOW app, you will be able to log into your Steam account and browse for games as usual
  • you will now see that even the Windows-only games are available for you to run on your Mac

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : export eMail message as EML file

Posted on by
Reply

Question :

I had a complaint about the amount of spam I was getting from one particular sender, so our system administrator asked me to send him samples of the eMails in EML-format so he can have a look into the eMail-headers and adjust the spam-filter.

But how do I export eMail messages as EML-files ?

 

Answer :

EML is short for eMail ; an .eml-file is the typical way for macOS (and MacOSX) to store individual eMails that are not in your mailboxes.

The easiest way to export an eMail message from Mail.app to an EML-file is to Drag&Drop :

  • in Mail.app, select the one eMail that you would like to export
  • click on the eMail and drag it out of your Mail.app onto your Desktop (simply put : “Drag&Drop”)
  • now, on your Desktop, the eMail will be automatically be saved as an EML-file
  • you can double check this by right-clicking on the eMail-file on the Desktop and choosing Get Info ; at ‘Kind:’ it will be listed as ‘Email message’, and at ‘Name & Extension:’ it will be listed with the ‘.eml’-file extension if you uncheck “Hide Extension”

Then you can share the eMail as an attachment in another eMail or put it on a USB-stick or upload it to your system administrator or whatever you like.

That’s it 😉

enjoy !

fixed : MacBook’s external monitor screen stays black

Posted on by
29

Question :

In my office, I am using an external monitor as my main screen for my MacBook Pro. Today, the screen didn’t respond when I connected my MacBook however : the screen stays black and nothing appears on-screen. So I opened up my MacBook and used the built-in screen to figure out what’s wrong, but so far I haven’t found any indication in the Displays Preference Panel that my MacBook even detects the second screen…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

In such situations you should always do this first :

Remedy #1 :

  • if you are using a MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, make sure you have the power adapter connected
  • if your laptop is on battery power, the external screen will go black whenever you close the lid of your laptop (when on battery power, all connections are powered off when you close the lid to save energy)

if this works, you’re good, if not, try Remedy #2

Remedy #2 :

  • make sure your monitor is switched ON
  • then hit the SPACE-bar on your external keyboard several times (maybe once, usually about 5 to 10 times…)
  • the monitor should now appear and show the inlog panel to unlock your screensaver
  • then login

if this works, you’re good, if not, try Remedy #3

NOTE : if you have a Benq monitor (especially the BL2420TP), try this first :

fixed : Benq monitor stays black when MacBook is switched on

Remedy #3 :

  • unplug all cables between the monitor and your Mac ( DisplayPort / Thunderbolt / HDMI / DVI / VGA  and also USB, UTP, FireWire and PowerAdapter )
  • shut down your monitor
  • shut down your MacBook
  • reconnect all cables and double-check if they’re properly connected on both the Mac and the monitor
  • switch on your MacBook
  • switch on your monitor

if this works, you’re good, if not, try Remedy #4

Remedy #4 :

  • on your MacBook, open Apple [main menu bar top-left] –> System Preferences
  • in the System Preferences window, select “Displays”
  • in the Display Preferences window, see if there is a button marked “Gather Windows” bottom right
  • if there is no “Gather Windows” button, press the ALT-key on your keyboard and a button marked “Detect Displays” appears ; click on it when it appears

if this works, you’re good, if not, try Remedy #5

Remedy #5 :

  • on your MacBook, open Apple [main menu bar top-left] –> System Preferences
  • in the System Preferences window, select “Displays”
  • in the Display Preferences window, see if there is a button marked “Gather Windows” bottom right
  • if there is a “Gather Windows” button, click on it
  • then you will see 2 Display Preference windows on your MacBook screen
  • select the Display Preference window that has 3 tabs on it marked “Display”, “Arrangement” and “Color” (not the window that has “Display” and “Color” only)
  • first, press the ALT-key on your keyboard and a button marked “Detect Displays” appears where the “Gather Windows”-button used to be ; click on it when it appears
  • if your monitor switches on, you’re good, if not…
  • click on the “Arrangement”-tab and in the next window put a checkmark at “Mirror Display”
  • if your monitor switches on now, uncheck the “Mirror Display” option again and close your MacBook… you should be good now…

if this didn’t work, try Remedy #6

Remedy #6 :

  • unplug all cables between the monitor and your Mac ( DisplayPort / Thunderbolt / HDMI / DVI / VGA  and also USB, UTP, FireWire and PowerAdapter )
  • shut down your monitor
  • shut down your MacBook
  • reconnect your Mac to your monitor using a different type of cable then you normally would choose (e.g. if you normally use a DisplayPort/Thunderbolt-cable, use an HDMI or DVI cable now)
  • switch on your MacBook
  • switch on your monitor
  • if your monitor wakes from sleep now, open Apple –> System Preferences
  • in the System Preferences window, select “Displays”
  • in the Display Preferences window, see if there is a button marked “Gather Windows” bottom right
  • if there is a “Gather Windows” button, click on it
  • then you will see 2 Display Preference windows on your MacBook screen
  • now, remove the monitor-cable that you have just used to connect your MacBook to your monitor
  • then, reconnect your MacBook to your monitor using all cables you normally use to connect the two
  • if your monitor now wakes from sleep, you’re good
  • if it doesn’t, restart your monitor
  • it that doesn’t help, restart your Mac

normally your issue should be resolved by now…

if still the monitor stays showing a back screen, I’m sorry to inform you that your screen probably has a hardware problem… if so, get an authorized Mac-repair-centre to fix it, get the Apple Store support-crew to fix this…

that’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : where are my Office 365 AutoRecovery files ?

Posted on by
29

Question :

I accidentally messed up the Office documents (Word/PowerPoint/Excel) I was working on, and I didn’t save it before, so I wanted to get the auto-saved version from the AutoRecovery-folder as I’ve done in the old days of Office 2008 and 2004.

But now I am using Office 365, and I can’t find the AutoRecovery folder anywhere… where is it ?

Answer :

You might have guessed : nowadays, the AutoRecovery-folder is located in an entirely different location on your Mac.

If you are running Office 2011 for Mac (whether as part of Office 365 or not) the correct path to the AutoRecovery-folder is this :

~/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery

…and even though you might not immediately see the recovery files there, you will usually find them when when you search for hidden files in that folder [ see Note #2 below – Thank You to Kurt Pfirter for this addition ]

And if you are running Office 2016 for Mac (whether or not as part of Office 365) the correct path to the Word 15‘s AutoRecovery-folder(s) is :

~/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery/

for PowerPoint 15 the correct path is :

~/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.PowerPoint/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery/

and for Excel 15 the correct path is :

~/Users/username/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery/

BEWARE : it’s not straight-forward to get to this folder in recent/current versions of OSX and macOS, as the user’s Library-folder is a hidden folder. So if you want to access it, the easiest way to do so is :

– in the Finder, click on “Go” in the top menu bar

– when the pulldown menu appears, press the ALT-key on your keyboard (a.k.a. OPTION-key) and an extra option named “Library” will appear in the pulldown menu

– while holding the ALT-key, click on “Library” and your personal (hidden) Library-folder will open in the Finder

– there you can navigate further using the paths listed above to find the AutoRecovery-folder you’re looking for

That’s it.

Enjoy !

😉

NOTE # 1 :

It is advisory to also switch on the “file overwrite protection” (or “double backup”) option as it stores the previous version of the file you are working on. In Word, you turn this feature on from Word –> Preferences –> Save and then mark the “Always create a backup copy” check box. This way, whenever you click “Save”, a backup version is made of the previous/stored version before it overwrites the stored version of the file… so with it turned on, you at least have one prior version of your file.

NOTE #2 :

If you do not see the autosave file you were expecting to find in the AutoRecovery-folder, you might need a ‘show hidden files’-app to find it. Especially Excel-autosave-files tend to be hidden.

There are various ‘show hidden files’-apps :

The FREE one in the Mac App Store is Show Hidden Files: best finder but you could also use another FREE app like Hidden Files Toggle (by ZandorSmith.nl) or Funter (by Nektony.com) or HideSwitch (by CreativeCag.com)

Just beware! that you can mess up OSX or macOS entirely is you accidentally delete or alter files that are hidden in regular use !

…or you can use a key-combo to (un)hide files, as pointed out in this post :
https://macmanus.nl/2020/02/14/fixed-quick-way-to-make-hidden-files-visible-on-macos/

[ a big Thank You to thekurrgan for discovering this and posting this find here ]

NOTE #3 :

it turns out that there’s a bug in Excel 2011 for Mac : even though the Autosave does save  a file with an .xlsx file extension, it’s not a true .xlsx file ! trying to open it will lead to an “Microsoft cannot open this file”-error. The solution is to change the file extension to either .xlsb (Excel binary format) or .xlb (older Excel backup format), to enable Excel to recognize the file and enable it to open.

[ a big Thank You to Paul Preston for noticing this problem and for Bryan P for posting the solution on Superuser.com and to Rich Michaels for posting his updated solution on answers.microsoft.com ]

Donate Button (MacManusNL)

fixed : which version of Java do I have ?

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
2

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 😉

Donate Button (MacManusNL)