Mac OS X – Page 2 – A changelog by Daniel Mettler

July 22, 2014July 18, 2014

Mac OS X and Linux Dual Boot

A nice, easy to follow article on how to install Linux alongside Mac OS X, using the rEFInd boot manager:

http://www.howtogeek.com/187410/how-to-install-and-dual-boot-linux-on-a-mac/

I didn’t expect it to be that easy, but OSS has really come a long way.

July 3, 2014

Daislbe Mveriakcs Speilnlg Atuocroriecton

Gttneig rid of the slily, ssyetm-wdie aoutrrcocetoin faetrue in Mac OS X is prue bilss:

Seelct Kyebaodrs under Sstyem Prfeerneces
Udner the Txet tab ucnehck crorect spleilng atuoamitclaly

Ejnoy yuor new freeodm to tpye waht you atculaly itnneded to tpye :)

(via Disable Mavericks Spelling Autocorrection | a Tech-Recipes Tutorial.)

June 28, 2014

A working workaround when losing audio in OS X Mavericks ;)

After plugging out the headphones again, Mavericks decided to rather do without audio output for the rest of its runtime. As none of the usual approaches worked to convince it to obey and I wasn’t quite willing to reboot it, I did a web search and found the following hint:

sudo kextunload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext

sudo kextload /System/Library/Extensions/AppleHDA.kext

I can hereby confirm that this worked in my case (with a 15″ MacBook Pro Retina 2014 model), Mavericks finally obeyed.

via Losing Audio in OS X Mavericks? Here’s what you can do about it! | iMore.

June 25, 2014

Turn off drop shadows on Mac OS X screenshots

Philip’s post about More OS X Leopard Tips & Tricks is quite dated, but basically, all the valuable tips there are still valid.

Among them also the tip how to get rid of the (usually annoying) drop shadows that Mac OS X adds to screenshots (enter the commands in a terminal window):

defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true

killall SystemUIServer

Adding shadows again:

defaults delete com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow

June 3, 2014

Automatically install any downloaded updates on Mac OS X

Check the recommended answer in this thread on superuser.com. For example, to autoinstall the updates at 8 PM daily, you basically need:

1.) Create /Library/LaunchDaemons/some.meaningful.name.plist

<?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>Label</key>
    <string>some.meaningful.name</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>softwareupdate</string>
        <string>-i</string>
        <string>-a</string>
    </array>
    <key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
    <dict>
        <key>Hour</key>
        <integer>20</integer>
        <key>Minute</key>
        <integer>00</integer>
    </dict>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <false/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <false/>
</dict>
</plist>

2.) Execute the following in a terminal:

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/some.meaningful.name.plist

May 21, 2014May 21, 2014

Essential Mac OS X tools: Caffeine

Lighthead – Caffeine.

Keeps your Mac from falling asleep. Like good coffee does for you.

May 21, 2014May 21, 2014

Essential Mac OS X tools: NoSleep extension

macosx-nosleep-extension – The MacOS X kernel extension, preventing sleep when you close the lid. – Google Project Hosting.

Very useful, especially when watching a movie on a projector using HDMI directly, instead of using AirPlay with an Apple TV. Thanks to NoSleep, you can close your MBA’s/MBP’s lid but still stream the movie to the projector.

If I were Apple, I’d be a bit embarrassed that such a setting is not already built-in.

May 20, 2014

macvim – Vim for the Mac

When using Mac OS X, I used to use the CLI vim by the excellent Homebrew package manager.

Now I’ve just stumbled over macvim, which is kind of a “deluxe vim” for Mac OS X, including adjusted key bindings for the Mac and a GUI menu, supporting Cocoa file dialogs, among others.

It’s highly recommended if you want to have the best of both the CLI and GUI editor worlds.

Download

May 9, 2014May 9, 2014

Using IRC on the go

Running the console IRC client weechat (not to confuse with the wechat messenger) in a screen or tmux session on a Linux (or Mac OS X) server and accessing it trough mosh is a great way to use IRC on the go, i.e. with a unsteady Internet connection.

P.S. Thanks to Devaux and rmeyer for the hints

December 14, 2013November 4, 2013

Mac OS X: Reduce/increase workspace switching delay

Does dragging windows to the adjacent workspace in Mac OS X feel sluggish? Try lowering the according delay, e.g. to 0.1 seconds. For a persistent change, enter the following in a terminal:

defaults write com.apple.dock workspaces-edge-delay -float 0.1; killall Dock

If you’d like to have a longer delay, try setting a value of 1.0 or even 2.0.