The OSX/Apple support thread

[robbieduncan]

Sounds like a dead GPU. Does it have a discrete GPU or integrated only? If it has both can you force to internal only via energy preferences?

[K12beano]

I think a fair number of MBP around that era had GPU problems.

I had a 2011 MBP which lasted until about 2017, and professional opinion included a bit of an intake of breath alongside a comment that I was lucky it had lasted so long....

[stemll]

Integrated GPU only so I'm guessing there is no fix other than a new mainboard which really doesn't seem worth it

Ah well, can't really complain at 8 years and it was only £700 (refurb and uni discount) with the only expense in that time a new trackpad a month or so ago. Still got the box the trackpad came in, maybe I'll stick that back on eBay and see if I can get a couple of pounds back

[robbieduncan]

If it’s a Magic Trackpad 2 you’ll get £60-£70 for it

[stevoknevo]

My sister asked me yesterday if I want an old iMac, unsure of model/year but an older one - my nephew bought it/set it up and promptly forgot his Apple id so it can only be used in guest mode/can't download anything, is it possible to recover it without the Apple id? (I suspect not as he done the same thing with an iPad that Apple could do nothing to help, and I found my son's ancient ipod 30gb recently and I couldn't do anything with that either)

[robbieduncan]

stevoknevo said:

My sister asked me yesterday if I want an old iMac, unsure of model/year but an older one - my nephew bought it/set it up and promptly forgot his Apple id so it can only be used in guest mode/can't download anything, is it possible to recover it without the Apple id? (I suspect not as he done the same thing with an iPad that Apple could do nothing to help, and I found my son's ancient ipod 30gb recently and I couldn't do anything with that either)

A Mac is a bit different to an iPad. You can re-install the OS (wiping everything on the disk) without needing the current Apple ID. If it's somewhat modern it should be able to boot to Internet recovery mode and prompt you through the process from there. If it's older than that you should boot from the grey CD/DVD that came with the machine when new

[stevoknevo]

robbieduncan said:

stevoknevo said:

My sister asked me yesterday if I want an old iMac, unsure of model/year but an older one - my nephew bought it/set it up and promptly forgot his Apple id so it can only be used in guest mode/can't download anything, is it possible to recover it without the Apple id? (I suspect not as he done the same thing with an iPad that Apple could do nothing to help, and I found my son's ancient ipod 30gb recently and I couldn't do anything with that either)

A Mac is a bit different to an iPad. You can re-install the OS (wiping everything on the disk) without needing the current Apple ID. If it's somewhat modern it should be able to boot to Internet recovery mode and prompt you through the process from there. If it's older than that you should boot from the grey CD/DVD that came with the machine when new

Cheers! I'll find out the exact spec on Sunday and see what's what - I was planning to connect it to my AV set-up as a music player potentially, so no plans to do anything strenuous with it.

Edited by stevoknevo on Saturday 17th October 09:38

[K12beano]

Well here’s a fun little problem.

Have been using Amazon Prime for quite a few years now.

First time things won’t play. Probably updated OS earlier this week, then (and only just put two and two together) Safari won’t play with Amazon any more. Get “Video Unavailable” whatever we try and play.

Amazon ”Help” blame it squarely on a missing Apple codec.... “try another browser”....”no - we’ve never heard of this problem before/no one else has ever reported it”...”well if you won’t install a different browser, it’s not our problem (Governor)...goodbye” ....and I can sort of see their point... but no, I’m not going to start installing different browsers because Safari has been fine for me for ten years....

Anyway, same problems on both 2014 Mac and 2017 MBP... latest OS installed (and both running squeaky-clean according to “Clean My Mac” which we regularly use)

Will be getting onto Apple Support a bit later.

Any ideas... anyone else had similar?

[vaud]

Cleared all cache, cookies, etc?

[K12beano]

vaud said:

Cleared all cache, cookies, etc?

Good call - yes, done!

[stevoknevo]

robbieduncan said:

A Mac is a bit different to an iPad. You can re-install the OS (wiping everything on the disk) without needing the current Apple ID. If it's somewhat modern it should be able to boot to Internet recovery mode and prompt you through the process from there. If it's older than that you should boot from the grey CD/DVD that came with the machine when new

Finally got my hands on it today - specs

OS X Yosemite
Version 10.10
IMac
Processor 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 MB
500gb HDD

It's come up immaculate after a good clean, but I can only use the guest user account as the password for the main account has been forgotten, and I can only get so far trying online suggestions before it inevitably prompts for an admin password to do something. I wasn't getting much joy with terminal either (unsurprisingly in a guest account)

Any recommendations on how to get a fresh install on to it? Been a long tìme since I last used a mac and I'm not very familiar with them.

[robbieduncan]

stevoknevo said:

Finally got my hands on it today - specs

OS X Yosemite
Version 10.10
IMac
Processor 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 MB
500gb HDD

It's come up immaculate after a good clean, but I can only use the guest user account as the password for the main account has been forgotten, and I can only get so far trying online suggestions before it inevitably prompts for an admin password to do something. I wasn't getting much joy with terminal either (unsurprisingly in a guest account)

Any recommendations on how to get a fresh install on to it? Been a long tìme since I last used a mac and I'm not very familiar with them.

Try Internet Recovery: https://osxdaily.com/2014/12/14/reinstall-os-x-mac...

[mmm-five]

K12beano said:

Well here’s a fun little problem.

Have been using Amazon Prime for quite a few years now.

First time things won’t play. Probably updated OS earlier this week, then (and only just put two and two together) Safari won’t play with Amazon any more. Get “Video Unavailable” whatever we try and play.

Amazon ”Help” blame it squarely on a missing Apple codec.... “try another browser”....”no - we’ve never heard of this problem before/no one else has ever reported it”...”well if you won’t install a different browser, it’s not our problem (Governor)...goodbye” ....and I can sort of see their point... but no, I’m not going to start installing different browsers because Safari has been fine for me for ten years....

Anyway, same problems on both 2014 Mac and 2017 MBP... latest OS installed (and both running squeaky-clean according to “Clean My Mac” which we regularly use)

Will be getting onto Apple Support a bit later.

Any ideas... anyone else had similar?

The first part of you message that scared me was that you use Clean My Mac!!!

Clean My Mac was one of the worst pieces of malware (mainly for the way it was advertised via drive-by pop-ups/downloads and not properly explaining the risks of removing certain items) out there for some years, and tended to remove system components that you needed for a properly running system.

Without knowing what it might have moved, there's not a lot I can suggest.

BTW, my 3 iMacs (on 10.15.7) work with Prime Video using Safari 14, Safari Technology Preview, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Opera and Brave.

I'd install Edge Chromium as a troubleshooting step. If it doesn't work with that, then it's likely to be an issue at a system level rather than a browser level.

If there is a system component missing, then the only way to fix it is to reinstall the OS (over the existing install so you don't lose anything).

[stevoknevo]

robbieduncan said:

Try Internet Recovery: https://osxdaily.com/2014/12/14/reinstall-os-x-mac...

Brilliant, that worked - think I'd been pressing the wrong keys as I'm using a windows keyboard - it initially wouldn't install as it wanted to put the original OS it came with, Mavericks, back on but Yosemite was installed on the HDD - erased/formatted the drive and I'm now in possession of it

Right, now to figure out how to update it again...

Many thanks for your help, much appreciated

[PushedDover]

mmm-five said:

The first part of you message that scared me was that you use Clean My Mac!!!

Clean My Mac was one of the worst pieces of malware (mainly for the way it was advertised via drive-by pop-ups/downloads and not properly explaining the risks of removing certain items) out there for some years, and tended to remove system components that you needed for a properly running system.

Is this the case and to be avoided?
An alternate, or simply no need and let OS manage itself?

[mmm-five]

PushedDover said:

Is this the case and to be avoided?
An alternate, or simply no need and let OS manage itself?

Depends what you're trying to 'clean' or 'fix'. There are lots of free options that offer the same functionality that CleanMyMac does (albeit in multiple apps - which is how these apps become popular...as an 'easy' or 'all in one' solution).

You may find it easier to click one button to 'fix everything' - but you risk breaking things too (even something 'simple' like removing non-local language packs to save space can stop some apps from working).

If it's an app uninstaller, then the very simple AppCleaner is useful & free.

If it's to clean the Mac's caches, etc. then there's really no need to do it manually, as the OS has daily/weekly/monthly maintenance routines built in - but if you want to rebuild your icon cache, or repair permissions then you can use a free utility like Onyx.

[NDA]

PushedDover said:

Is this the case and to be avoided?
An alternate, or simply no need and let OS manage itself?

I've used 'Clean My Mac' for a long time - never had any issues. My MacBook was getting bogged down with 'other' storage which is why I started using it. Very quick and effective.

[K12beano]

NDA said:

PushedDover said:

Is this the case and to be avoided?
An alternate, or simply no need and let OS manage itself?

I've used 'Clean My Mac' for a long time - never had any issues. My MacBook was getting bogged down with 'other' storage which is why I started using it. Very quick and effective.

+1 for MBP and iMac - simple, no issues

[mmm-five]

Sorry, it looks like I owe MacPaw an apology for spreading false messages about the more recent versions of CleanMyMac.

It looks like it's cleaned it's act up since I last looked at any reviews of it.

Gone are the dodgy advertising pop-ups, drive-by downloads or sneaky installs of other bundled apps and they've made it hard to accidentally delete system/app critical files by making these deselected by default (of course you could always break something yourself by re-selecting these).

Of course, the dodgy advertising/downloads might have not been MacPaw at all, and might have just been miscreants using it as a way to get their malware onto people's computers.

So one again...my apologies.

[PushedDover]

no need to apologise. Just glad I have not put on some crap on my latest clean install !