The OSX/Apple support thread

[miniman]

Is it possible to set up some kind of automated task to copy up a specific, single file, every Monday, to a specific location and append a date stamp to the file?

e.g.

BILLING.XLS

Week 1: 02Jun14-BILLING.XLS
Week 2: 09Jun14-BILLING.XLS

The intention is to create a weekly copy of a specific file in order to be able to review trends etc.

[PJ S]

Have a look for Applescripts, see if there's one you can copy bits of or tweak to give the end result.
There might even be an Applescript forum or something, which will let you pick the brains of those who know how to use the software that Apple introduced into OS X many years ago.

[Stu R]

jmorgan said:

NicD said:

MacBook Pro cooling - early 2011 17. I am getting sick of the fans running full speed, seems worse after 10.9. and of course now, when it gets hot the CPU diverts cycle away
I use a 2 fan Targus cooler pad which i just cleaned, but this hardly helps.

I resort to putting a freezer pad under the case and this works a treat but is pretty much Fred Flintstone

Any recommendations?

No idea with mac books but my imac fans were OTT just after I got it so used activity monitor to see what was hogging the cpu's. Turned out to be a screen saver.

Worth giving the SMC and PRAM a reset and seeing what that achieves too. Solved my mid-2010 15's fan addiction.

[miniman]

PJ S said:

Have a look for Applescripts, see if there's one you can copy bits of or tweak to give the end result.
There might even be an Applescript forum or something, which will let you pick the brains of those who know how to use the software that Apple introduced into OS X many years ago.

I set up an Automator script, which seems to run into permission errors on the server. :-/

[Stu R]

While I'm here, do I buy a 13" MBA or 13" MBP w/ Retina. Light duty (mainly documents and browsing). Love both, can't decide if I prefer cheap and ultra-portable over gorgeous screen and more expensive.

I know the technical differences, already have a 15" MBP and 11" MBA, still can't decide.

[PJ S]

miniman said:

I set up an Automator script, which seems to run into permission errors on the server. :-/

What were the Permissions errors?
I'm not up on *NIX command language, but I presume you added chmod xxx to your script?
What about simply storing them to the desktop in a folder, and then manually making a copy and dumping it on the server periodically, if you need to access them a remote location?

[The Nur]

If it helps I had the same dilemma and went for the Pro with Retina. I carry it all over the place and the weight penalty is worth it for the screen.

[mojitomax]

Mobsta said:

Im after a basic free image editing program. One tenth of the power of 'photoshop elements on the PC' - perhaps the PC equivalent of IRFAN view. I have nothing specific in mind, its only occasionally I want to crop or resize images, but the standard 'program' (whatever it is) that opens .jpg images or screenshots is a tad feeble. Any suggestions chaps? Thanks!

If it's literally cropping and resizing images then preview built into osx is perfectly usable. For anything more advanced try pixelmator?

[LordGrover]

Mobsta said:

Im after a basic free image editing program. One tenth of the power of 'photoshop elements on the PC' - perhaps the PC equivalent of IRFAN view. I have nothing specific in mind, its only occasionally I want to crop or resize images, but the standard 'program' (whatever it is) that opens .jpg images or screenshots is a tad feeble. Any suggestions chaps? Thanks!

pixlr.com

[Stu R]

mojitomax said:

Mobsta said:

Im after a basic free image editing program. One tenth of the power of 'photoshop elements on the PC' - perhaps the PC equivalent of IRFAN view. I have nothing specific in mind, its only occasionally I want to crop or resize images, but the standard 'program' (whatever it is) that opens .jpg images or screenshots is a tad feeble. Any suggestions chaps? Thanks!

If it's literally cropping and resizing images then preview built into osx is perfectly usable. For anything more advanced try pixelmator?

Skitch is worth a look too.

[jmorgan]

mojitomax said:

Mobsta said:

Im after a basic free image editing program. One tenth of the power of 'photoshop elements on the PC' - perhaps the PC equivalent of IRFAN view. I have nothing specific in mind, its only occasionally I want to crop or resize images, but the standard 'program' (whatever it is) that opens .jpg images or screenshots is a tad feeble. Any suggestions chaps? Thanks!

If it's literally cropping and resizing images then preview built into osx is perfectly usable. For anything more advanced try pixelmator?

Preview, then use Tools then Resize?

[moustachebandit]

Can anyone help - booted the iMac up today and rather than displaying the usual log in screen it displayed a black screen and loads of computer code? Unsure one if I mashed a few keys when it was starting up or it just defaulted to this screen.

It had a data entry section saying :/root but nothing i typed would make anything happen (like run / exit etc)

Is my Mac stting itself or have I just accessed some Diagnostic screen by accident?

Cheers

[marshalla]

moustachebandit said:

Can anyone help - booted the iMac up today and rather than displaying the usual log in screen it displayed a black screen and loads of computer code? Unsure one if I mashed a few keys when it was starting up or it just defaulted to this screen.

It had a data entry section saying :/root but nothing i typed would make anything happen (like run / exit etc)

Is my Mac stting itself or have I just accessed some Diagnostic screen by accident?

Cheers

Sounds like you may have hit "s" during startup and booted it into single user mode. If you still have the white text on black screen, try typing reboot to get it to restart.

( http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1492 )

[moustachebandit]

Marshalla - thanks for that I think I must have mashed a key then as I was sorting some papers whilst the computer was booting. PHEW! Panic over!

[HereBeMonsters]

Did you not just try turning it off then on again?

[moustachebandit]

Haha - that was the first thing I tried but the power button didn't seem to be responding!

[qube_TA]

You can also hit Control + v at boot to have the 'verbose boot mode', this is no different from a regular boot but instead of the grey screen you'll get the black screen with the boot log scrolling past. Exciting stuff if you're into that sort of thing

[craigjm]

I have an absolute load of crap on my MBA and I am going to move it all onto an external drive and start again. My questions are -

How do I wipe it and start again seeing as there no longer any physical disks or anything

How do I re-import my iTunes library without losing playlists and the data on how many times things have been played etc

What is the best way to set up iTunes for two different libraries? currently i have done it where you hold down ALT as you start iTunes and choose but I don't know if the way i have imported music into the second library is taking up loads of space as I suddenly seem to be eating disc space. Would it be better to have two logons

Thanks

[moustachebandit]

Wonder if anyone can offer some advice on the following issue.

I have my entire iMac cloned onto an external HD.

I want to access applications on my cloned HD (via my macbook) which are not installed on the macbook (also not compatible due to mavericks OSX on the macbook)

Is there some way I can get the macbook to boot up and run from my external HD - so it essentially thinks its my iMac?

Thanks

[marshalla]

moustachebandit said:

Wonder if anyone can offer some advice on the following issue.

I have my entire iMac cloned onto an external HD.

I want to access applications on my cloned HD (via my macbook) which are not installed on the macbook (also not compatible due to mavericks OSX on the macbook)

Is there some way I can get the macbook to boot up and run from my external HD - so it essentially thinks its my iMac?

Thanks

Assuming it's a full disc to disc clone, plug it in and hold down the Option key while you power up. You should get a boot manager asking which disc you want to boot from.

More here : http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1948