FINISHED: Apple / MacOS Tip a day for a year !

Sunday 29th March
Tip 136 - Bootup [5] - Running unix FSCK to check your drive.


Switching your computer on whilst holding down [command] + to enter single user mode.

You will eventually be shown the command prompt eg ":/ root#"

Type "fsck -fy" {without the quotes!}

Type "reboot"
 
Monday 30th March
Tip 137 - Bootup [6] - Verbose mode.


If any of you have used LINUX you will be familiar with the computer booting up and showing you what it is doing whilst it is booting. Verbose mode boots your computer using a similar display.

To invoke Verbose mode hold down your [V] key whilst booting then watch as the screen displays what is happening.
 
Tuesday 31st March
Tip 138 - MacOS[75] - Installing MacOS on a Mac below minimum spec.


The scenario...

I have bought a Leopard family pack and have a spare licence. My old iBook is 800MHz and I would like to use it for web browsing but Leopard insists on 867MHz or more. How can I ignore this limitation and just install it.

What you will need...

Another Mac using the same processor and with as close to the same spec as possible.

Firewire cable

Method...

Well we can use "Target Mode".

Start your computer in target mode (if you do not know how click <here>) and connect a firewire lead to it. Restart your more powerful computer with the Leopard installation disc in it and the firewire cable connected to the firewire port. Invoke "boot from DVD" by holding down [C] whilst booting your computer.

We now install Leopard as normal selecting the firewire drive as the installation hard drive (if you want more information about installing Mac OS click <here>)

Once installed we need to shut down both computers and disconnect the firewire cable.

Switch on the slower Mac and it will boot into MacOS from the installation you have just created.
 
I've used Target mode between a Dual Core & a PPC with a knackered DVD drive. Works a treat (y)

Your <here> links aren't working in Tip138 btw :)
 
Have you considered hosting your tips of the day with an index? I would dearly love to have them as a reference but now we are up to 11 pages things are getting a little awkward to find. I think my failing memory has something to do with my age - or eating hamburgers in my youth.

Chris

Chris,

They are now on my web site. See the link on post #3. I have rationalised a few of them and removed the Epson printer head cleaning tips which I have moved to the PROJECTS section.

I will be further rationalising them later and re-categorising them later.
 
Chris,

They are now on my web site. See the link on post #3. I have rationalised a few of them and removed the Epson printer head cleaning tips which I have moved to the PROJECTS section.

I will be further rationalising them later and re-categorising them later.

Has anyone told you recently that you are wonderful? No? Life is like that!

Anyway, thanks for doing this, very much appreciated - and I will shortly be trying out your scripts.


Chris
 
:agree: totally with Chris' sentiments Cowasaki... (y) ... an extrmeely useful series of tints and hips for us mere novices in the world of Mac... :cautious:


:ty:






:p
 
Wednesday 1st April
Tip 139 - MacOS[76] - Undo last delete in Finder.


If you delete something and want to restore it, rather than going to the Trash just go to EDIT and select "UNDO DELETE".
 
Bear <<<<< with me peoples, I am a week behind but I will catch up later in the week. I've got a headache and I'm tired :bang::bonk: and I think I should stop banging my head on a wall or with a hammer :)
 
Thursday 2nd April
Tip 140 - MacOs[77] - Creating a "webloc" Web Location file.


You can create a short cut file on the mac by re-creating the following file, using TEXTEDIT and saving the file with the extension .webloc

Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>URL</key>
	<string>XXXXXXX</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Then replace XXXXXXX with the full location of your target web page.

I have added a link to download a zip file containing the above ready for you to download HERE.

You can also create a webloc file by going to the page in Safari, highlighting the address and clicking on it then dragging the address to the desktop
 
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Friday 3rd April
Tip 141 - MacOS[78] - Adding a web page shortcut to the DOC


See Tip 140 above and create a webloc file for the page you want.
See Tip 4 on page 1 to change the icon for the file if you want to.

Then drag the webloc file to the doc just after the dotted line near the Trash bin (where files live). The file will stay there and you can now go straight to the web page by clicking on it.
 
Thank you so much for keeping this up. It has been very helpful and informative :thubms: .. plus made me look so smart in front of my daughter :p
 
Thank you so much for keeping this up. It has been very helpful and informative :thubms: .. plus made me look so smart in front of my daughter :p

Did you get her laptop sorted?
 
It seems to be working fine, and the damage is only an external cosmetic one. So, I have ordered one of those "fashion-sticky-things" for her to put on it.

If she's not happy with that, then I will either get it fixed or :shrug: ... MacBook Air.
 
Saturday 4th April
Tip 142 - MacOS[79] - Automatically use birthdays from Address Book in iCal


In iCal goto preferences and under "General" you will find a checkbox labelled "Show Birthdays Calendar", make sure this is ticked and birthdays will now appear in iCal when you enter them in the Address Book

TIP142.png
 
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Sunday 5th April
Tip 143 - MacOS[79] - Automatically use birthdays from Address Book in iPhoto (for calendars)


In iPhoto click the "Show Birthdays from Address Book" option when creating a calendar and this will automatically add them to the calendar that is produced.
 
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OMG how many tips... :eek:

I have just moved to Mac, got mine yesterday, so this is a must for me. Thanks Cowasaki this thread will undoubtedly save me from asking many stupid questions, never a bad thing!:clap:(y)
 
Monday 6th April
Tip 144 - MacOS [80] - Active Screen Corners


Using the Corners function allows you to automatically start a feature by running your mouse into the corner of the screen.

Click APPLE :: Expose & Spaces then click the [EXPOSE] tab.

At the top of the screen is a picture of the display with the four corners shown as arrows and four drop down boxes. You can click on a drop down box and change this to one of the following:

  • All windows
  • Application windows
  • Desktop
  • Dashboard
  • -
  • Spaces
  • -
  • Start screen saver
  • Disable screen saver
  • -
  • Sleep display

Now select one of these and the computer will do this when the mouse is run into that corner.
 
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Tuesday 7th April
Tip 145 - MacOS [81] - Active Screen Corners (Stopping the screen saver)


This is a really useful one!

See Tip 144 and set the bottom right (or which ever you want) drop down to [Disable Screen Saver]. Once you have done this you can move your mouse pointer into that corner and it will stop the screen saver from starting which is useful is you are trying to watch a video on you tube or something like that.
 
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Wednesday 8th April
Tip 146 - MacOS [82] - Active Screen Corners (Dashboard)


This too is a really useful one (on a laptop).

The mac has something called the dashboard (tips coming up for this in next few days).

See Tip 144 and set the bottom left (or whichever you decide) corner to [Dashboard] and you can start the Macbook's Dashboard by simply moving the mouse pointer to the bottom left corner. This is especially useful on the Macbook because you cannot activate it in the normal way ie the center button.
 
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Thursday 9th April
Tip 147 - MacOS [83] - Active Screen Corners (Desktop)


This too is very useful and one that I use myself.

See Tip 144 and set the top right (or whichever you decide) corner to [Desktop]. When you do this you can clear the whole screen and get to the desktop simply by running the mouse pointer into the top right corner of the screen. You can then access any of the desktop items or icons. If you want to return to your normal display just run the pointer back into the corner.
 
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Friday 10th April
Tip 148 - MacOS [84] - Expose (All windows)


Click APPLE :: Expose & Spaces then click the [EXPOSE] tab.

In the middle of the screen are the Expose options:

  • All Windows
  • Application windows
  • Show Desktop

By default F9 is set to [All windows] and pressing [F9] (with [fn] on a laptop) will display ALL the windows currently active spread out around the screen and allow you to see them. You can now select one of them by moving the the window and highlighting it then clicking the mouse button. This will jump to that window and make it the current one.
 
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Saturday 11th April
Tip 149 - MacOS [85] - Expose (Clear Screen)


Like Tip 147 it is often useful to be able to clear the screen so that you can use a desktop item or select an icon. You can do this using Expose by setting setting the [Show Desktop] option to a function key. This is set to [F11] by default and by pressing [F11] (with [fn] on a laptop) the screen will be cleared of windows. To return them press it again.
 
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Sunday 12th April
Tip 150 - MacOS [86] - Dashboard display


By default you can display the dashboard by pressing [F12] (with [fn] on a laptop) but you can change this by going to:

APPLE :: Expose & Spaces and clicking on the [EXPOSE] tab

At the bottom of the screen you will see [Dashboard] then below this the field "Hide and show". Set this to the function key you want and next to it you will see "Middle" or "Secondary" mouse button. I would set this to "Middle" and then you can bring up the Dashboard using the middle button.

As laptops do not have the buttons I find Tip 146 useful on a laptop and this does the same thing.
 
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Well it IS a tip and it is more useful than any of the other tips :)
 
Tuesday 14th April
Tip 152 - MacOS [87] &#8211; File Vault


To protect user accounts on your computer it is possible to encrypt all the files within the user directory. To do this you can use File Vault.

To enable File Vault go to >>> APPLE :: System Preferences&#8230;. :: Security
Now click on [FileVault]

First click on [Set Master Password&#8230;]
Now enter a password that is secure and that you WILL NOT FORGET. This password is used to get into user accounts on that computer when the user has forgotten them.

Then click on Turn On FileVault

I do not personally like File Vault as IF you do use it then have a problem it becomes rather difficult for someone to recover your files at a later date! If you have good backup policies then this is not a problem. I prefer Tip 6
 
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Wednesday 15th April
Tip 153 - MacOS [88] &#8211; Firewall


To protect files on your computer it is possible to set up a Firewall. To do this you can use Firewall.

To enable File Vault go to >>> APPLE :: System Preferences&#8230;. :: Security
Now click on [Firewall]

The options available are:

Allow all incoming connections [default]
Allow only essential services
Set access for specific services and applications

The first two options are quite easy but the third option requires a little more explanation.
To add another application click on [+] then select the application from the list.
To remove an application click on the application in the list and then click [-].

At the bottom right is a button marked [Advanced] click this and it gives you the options &#8220;Enable Firewall Logging&#8221; and &#8220;Enable Stealth Mode&#8221; which are explained on screen.
 
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Thursday 16th April
Tip 154 &#8211; MacOS [89] &#8211; Auto log off


To enable this go to >>> APPLE :: System Preferences&#8230;. :: Security
Now click on [General]

In order to enable auto log off click the option &#8220;Log out after XXX minutes of inactivity&#8221; and set the XXX to the number of minutes that you want.
 
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Friday 17th April
Tip 155 &#8211; MacOS [90] &#8211; Auto lock computer


To enable this go to >>> APPLE :: System Preferences&#8230;. :: Security
Now click on [General]

In order to enable auto lock of the computer after a period of inactivity click the option &#8220;Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver&#8221;. Then adjust the time using the screen saver options which you access via:
APPLE :: System Preferences&#8230;. :: Desktop & Screen Saver
Now click on [Screen Saver]
Then set the number of minutes using the slider at the bottom right.
 
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Saturday 18th April
Tip 156 &#8211; Unix [1] &#8211; General


MacOS is the operating system on your computer but it sits on top of UNIX much in the same way that Windows 95 sat on top of DOS. UNIX is a very secure operating system and it is THIS that makes MacOS so secure.
In order to get into the &#8220;nuts and bolts&#8221; of UNIX we have a few options, one of these is SINGLE USER MODE whilst booting Tip 135. The main way that you would access the UNIX command line is to use something that we have mentioned on quite a few occasions which is TERMINAL
Command line interfaces &#8220;CLI&#8221;s are more powerful but they are inherently harder to use.
Over the next few tips we will visit a number of the commands that you need to know in order to make use of the CLI.
When you start TERMINAL you will be shown a message showing when you last used the command line such as:
Code:
Last login: Sun Apr 26 21:11:07 on console
MacBookPro:~ Darren$

Below the sign on line you will see another line that starts MacBookPro:, this is the PROMPT and is followed by your current location.
 
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Sunday 19th April
Tip 157 &#8211; Unix [2] &#8211; Viewing the current directory


ls &#8211; This is the command to show all the files in the current directory.

To use this command just type ls into your terminal window. Right that&#8217;s simple enough but this is a CLI so there are going to be further options and there are&#8230;

To access options within UNIX commands we use switches and for ls we have a number of useful ones.

ls &#8211;a &#8211; This shows your first &#8220;switch&#8221; ie a and to set switches we use the minus sign. This switch shows ALL the files in the current directory including hidden files.

You will see two strange files &#8220;..&#8221; and &#8220;.&#8221; &#8211; &#8220;..&#8221; refers to the directory ABOVE the current one.

The ls command works, by default, one the current directory but you can direct it to any directory by including this in the command:

ls .. &#8211;a &#8211; This shows all the files in the directory above your current one (the parent directory).

Other switches

a &#8211; Show all files.
s &#8211; Show files sizes in list (directories show as 0)
la &#8211; Show file list including file owners, permissions etc.

Using the LESS option

If you use the ls command on a larger directory you will find that the file list scrolls off the top of the screen. To avoid this you can use the less option.

ls &#8211;la | less

This displays the data one screen at a time waiting for you to press the [SPACE] bar. To abort press [q].
 
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I have been really busy over the past couple of weeks hence getting a little behind with my tips. I will be posting several a day for the next few days to rectify this with the rest of April being the UNIX commands that you need to know in order to make use of UNIX within MacOS.

You may think "What is the point" of using TERMINAL but the reality is that there are a number of things which are easy to do, when you know how, from the command line (like delete a hidden file). But are rather difficult to do without it and this is why I am showing you all. Also you can create your own BATCH files which allow you to complete multiple commands with one click (we have covered this previously).
 
Monday 20th April
Tip 158 &#8211; Unix [3] &#8211; Navigating between directories


cd &#8211; This is the command to change the current directory.
pwd &#8211; This is the command that shows you the directory that you are currently in.


To change directory you use the command cd eg.

cd /Applications &#8211; This change to the directory &#8220;Applications&#8221; in the root directory.

cd Applications &#8211; This changes to the directory &#8220;Applications&#8221; in the current directory.

cd .. &#8211; This changes to the parent directory.

cd / &#8211; This changes to the root directory.

cd ~ &#8211; This changes to the current user's home directory.

To see where you are in the directory tree type pwd and press [return].
 
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Tuesday 21st April
Tip 159 &#8211; Unix [4] &#8211; Creating and removing directories


rmdir &#8211; This is the command to change the current directory.
mkdir &#8211; This is the command that shows you the directory that you are currently in.


eg.
rmdir /Bob &#8211; Removes the directory &#8220;Bob&#8221; in the root directory.
rmdir Bob &#8211; This changes to the directory &#8220;Bob&#8221; in the current directory.

Note to remove a directory it MUST be empty, we will get onto deleting files shortly.....

eg.
mkdir /Bob &#8211; Creates a directory &#8220;Bob&#8221; in the root directory.
mkdir Bob &#8211; Creates a directory &#8220;Bob&#8221; in the current directory.
 
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Wednesday 22nd April
Tip 160 &#8211; Unix [5] &#8211; Copying and moving directories


mv &#8211; This is the command to move a directory.
cp &#8211; This is the command that copies a directory (preserving the original).


We mentioned the filename &#8220;..&#8221; previously without mentioning the filename &#8220;.&#8221;, well in this section &#8220;.&#8221; comes to it&#8217;s own. Where we found that &#8220;..&#8221; signified the parent directory &#8220;.&#8221; signifies the CURRENT directory.

Switches

i &#8211; do not overwrite target.


Move (mv)

mv /A /B/ &#8211; Moves the directory &#8220;A&#8221; from the root directory INTO directory &#8220;B&#8221; which is in the root directory also.
mv Bob / &#8211; Moves the directory &#8220;Bob&#8221; which is in the current directory to the root directory.
mv /Bob . &#8211; Moves the directory &#8220;Bob&#8221; which is in the root directory to the current directory.


Copy (cp)

This command copies files without removing the original to another location creating an identical copy. If the destination file already exists then it will be overwritten.

cp /Bob ~ &#8211; Copies the directory &#8220;Bob&#8221; in the root directory into the user&#8217;s home directory.
cp &#8211;i Bob /backup/ &#8211; Copies the directory &#8220;Bob&#8221; which is in the current directory into the directory &#8220;backup&#8221; which is located in the root directory using the &#8220;i&#8221; switch which checks to make sure that no files are overwritten in the process.
 
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Thursday 23rd April
Tip 161 &#8211; Unix [6] &#8211; File/Folder/Drive sizes


df &#8211; This displays the file system usage information.
du &#8211; This displays the directory usage size.



df

This command displays the file system information including the size, free space etc with mount location information etc. It does not change anything.

du

This displays file information for files specified, the information tends to fly off the screen quickly so it is useful to use the &#8220;| less&#8221; addition.
du ~/downloads | less
 
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Friday 24th April
Tip 162 &#8211; Unix [7] &#8211; File permissions


chmod &#8211; This changes the file permission information.

chmod [switches][references] [operator] [mode] filename
The chmod command is used to change the permissions for directories and files. Use it with caution as you CAN do a lot of damage with it if you do not use it correctly. I have tried to create a simplified explanation giving just enough information about how to use it.
It is well worth checking the current permissions using the ls command with the &#8211;la switch ie. ls &#8211;la | less
This command can be used with alpha characters as below OR alternatively with &#8216;octal&#8217; numbers see below.

[references]
This specifies the users to which the permissions apply and if none are specified it just defaults to all.
u &#8211; user &#8211; The owner of the file(s).
g &#8211; group &#8211; Users who are members of the file(s) group.
o &#8211; others &#8211; Users who are not the owner of the file(s) or members of the group.
a &#8211; all &#8211; All of the above and the equivalent of ugo.

[operator]
This specifies how the changes are made either additionally, removal or verbose.
+ - Adds these modes to the specified classes.
- - Removes these modes from the specified classes.
= - The modes are set specifically to those specified.

[mode]
This specifies what permissions are actually set.
r &#8211; read &#8211; Sets read access.
w &#8211; write &#8211; Sets write access.
x &#8211; execute &#8211; Sets execute access.
X &#8211; special execute &#8211; Sets execute access to files that currently have execute bits set to one of the groups.

[switches]

R &#8211; Makes changes RECURSIVELY.
v &#8211; Verbose mode &#8211; lists all the files as they are being processed.

Examples using the above

chmod a &#8211;rwx woops - This sets read, write and execute bits OFF for file woops so that nobody can actually read, write or execute it.
chmod u +w bobsfile - This adds user write for the file bobsfile so that so that it can be written to.


Examples using the OCTAL/BINARY method

This sets permissions in a much more compact manner and specifies all the permission information in three digits and is the method I personally prefer.
The three digits are made using three separate numbers with the first number specifying USER information then GROUP information then OTHER with the numbers in binary.

1 &#8211; x
2 &#8211; write
4 &#8211; read

So to set read and write to USER and GROUP you add 2+4 giving 6 and use this for the first two digits giving 660
Eg.
chmod 660 filename
 
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