macOS and Mac Software: We still exist!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > macOS and Mac Software: We still exist!

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Hi everyone, I tried to upgrade BootCamp to Windows 10, but the computer needed to reboot a few times before doing the whole upgrade thing. However, I had my computer set to OS X as the restart disk and now I can't boot into Boot Camp at all. When I hold Option on start up, it shows me OS X and Recovery. OS X launches OS X as normal, Recovery never loads at all. Boot Camp itself doesn't appear anymore. I see the Boot Camp partition through Finder, but I can't boot into it.

Is there anyway to fix this multitude of issues or should I just cut my losses and install Windows 10 fresh on a new Boot Camp partition?

# ¿ Mar 14, 2016 02:11

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# ¿ May 19, 2024 21:43

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Safari has been rear end for me for as long as I can remember. Chrome will always be my default.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2016 00:50

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Dubstep Jesus posted:

r.i.p. your battery life

I use an iMac :v:

# ¿ Mar 20, 2016 03:47

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Boot from the USB or disc and install to it.

# ¿ May 6, 2016 04:36

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Does CCC from macOS have the ability to make a bootable backup drive out of a Windows partition?

# ¿ Jun 30, 2019 16:34

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

This isn't software related, but who cares. I figured Mac people would have better suggestions than someone who's built a PC, so: how do you guys go about storing a bunch fo SD cards and flash drives? I'm about to just say gently caress it and buy some Altoids cans, but I feel like there *has* to be an easier way.

# ¿ Jul 6, 2019 07:02

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

I'll never not use Google Drive. For $12 a month (and a random domain) I can get unlimited space and then whatever else comes with the Gsuite. Pair that with rclone on a Mac and make the Google Drive a networked drive, I essentially have the same reliability of iCloud storage but on my Mac with no fuss or frills.

# ¿ Aug 9, 2019 16:25

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

On Windows, if you click the time in the task or menu or whatever bar, it shows you a quick calendar. Is there a simple app that can mimic this? I don�t need any advanced features or anything, just a basic digital clock that when tapped shows a calendar of the current month and maybe a few in the future and past.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2020 22:10

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Tippis posted:

Fantastical? Although it's gone a bit bloated over time�

Yeah...

Fantastical is great, but I really don�t need all the extras it has jam packed into it.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2020 22:16

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Oof. And only two posts above mine too. :ohdear:

# ¿ Feb 4, 2020 22:34

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

got any sevens posted:

Well i hosed myself tonight

Got tired of seeing my deadname when i log in and in a few other places when using my macbook, so i asked their support about it and they said make another acct and redirect my files to its user folder,
so i did that but everything is default now, even mouse settings, etc. so i figured wtf, i'll just reverse it, but now the settings app freezes when i try to change the folder back, and i "dont have permission" to access all of my documents
So now i'm trying to time machine backup to an hour ago before i started. I sure hope this works but its gonna take 2-3 hours to find out...

Just ugggggggh

I'm pretty sure it's as easy as clicking the lock in Users & Groups to unlock the settings, then right-clicking your name and changing the names in there.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2020 06:33

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

I could never get 1Blocker or Wipr to work the way I needed them to. I got AdGuard Pro and it's been a breeze ever since.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2020 03:43

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Does anyone know of an app that can create a set of folders and then move files to those folders based off some user-set rules?

I have a lot of files within one folder. I want to, instead of having just a bunch of files, have them organized into alphabetical folders. So, if I had 100 files with names ranging from A - Z, I'd want 26 new folders (for letters A - Z), and then the files placed into the folders based off the first letter the file starts with. So from RandomFolder > anthropology.mp3, biology.mp3, calculus.mp3 to RandomFolder > A > anthropology.mp3 and RandomFolder > B > biology.mp3 and RandomFolder > C > calculus.mp3 etc

# ¿ Jul 3, 2020 23:12

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Switzerland posted:

Automator.app?

I was going to try this, but even as braindead as Automator is made to be, it was still not doing exactly what I needed it to. I managed to get it to work via a shell script though.

code:

`
for file in *; do
  mkdir -p ${file:0:1}
  mv $file ${file:0:1}
done
`

In case anyone else wants to use this (or if I need to find it in the future).

# ¿ Jul 4, 2020 01:03

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Weird question, not even sure if this is the best place to ask, but I figure it might be.

Basically, virtualization.

I can set up a virtual machine relatively easily with macOS. My computer's internals are a hodgepodge of good/decent to really good parts since it's.a Hackintosh that started its life as a gaming PC in late 2016, but I want to try and virtualize Windows to its max ability. Mostly because I don't necessarily want to boot into Windows, do Windows things, then boot back into macOS. I enjoy the quickness of being able to close an app, hop in another app, within seconds. Is there an easyish way to do this? Even if it's harder, I can probably figure it out.

Here are my basic specs, in case that's useful.

GPU: Sapphire Nitro+ RX 5700 XT
RAM: 2x 8GB 3200MHz DDR4
CPU: i5 6600K
OS: Catalina 10.15.5

# ¿ Aug 15, 2020 14:53

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

BobHoward posted:

STEP 1: download and try VirtualBox. If it suits your needs, cool! It's free. Enjoy. Skip step 2.

STEP 2: VB isn't good enough for you? You now need to choose between the two paid options: Parallels and VMWare Fusion. I prefer VMWare personally, but part of that is never having tried Parallels. My touchy feely impression is that Parallels is a bit better if you want to run games in a windows VM and VMWare is better for stability, easily running VMs created on other computers, and other more enterprise-y features.

Be warned that both of them will periodically need paid updates. macOS updates once a year; virtualization software is extremely low level and needs an update to match. If you're keeping macOS up to date, you will often need to pay for a new version that works better (or at all) with the new OS. Again I don't have direct experience with Parallels, but I remember seeing complaints recently that they have pretty much been requiring one paid update per year while VMWare often lets you get away with every other year. Someone with direct experience should chime in here.

STEP 3 (Optional): Discover that 16GB isn't enough RAM to comfortably run a VM large enough for your needs with all your Mac apps running at the same time. Upgrade to 32GB or more. (Virtual machines can be very memory hungry.)

E: oh yeah, I have no idea how well any of this works under hackintosh. Virtualization software is, once again, some of the lowest level software possible (literally requires multiple kernel extensions up till Big Sur) and it would not surprise me if you run into some random bugs.

I'll have to give this a go. I luckily have access to paid versions of both VMWare and Parallels, but I did figure it'd be a bit more complicated. I have bad memories of running VMWare on my first Mac many moons ago, so I was going into this thinking there was some secret better option. Thanks!

# ¿ Aug 15, 2020 22:57

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Cheese Thief posted:

I need VLC to be "always on top." I watch a lot of youtube videos that are streamed to the network VLC feature. It's nice to float the window over my text editor, so I can type away with the video on top to maximize screen space. The Mac company sure doesn't make it obvious, as I see no options for it.

On the subject of VLC, that is the best video player/streamer software right?

https://github.com/jslegendre/AfloatX

# ¿ Jan 3, 2021 07:36

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Is there a Mac app that can somehow display both the dock and notifications across a dual monitor setup?

# ¿ Jan 20, 2021 09:58

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Is there a new best Adblock? Hell, even a Safari extension would ultimately be fine. AdGuard Pro at the OS level was causing some insane headaches and led me down a two day adventure of thinking my router, modem, macOS install, or *something else* was broken. So now I'm ad-block-less and everything online looks horrible.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2021 10:25

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

I used to use a MacBook to record DnD sessions between friends on Discord. Just record the fullscreen, record computer audio, but set it to silent -- out of site, out of mind.

However, now that I have a proper Mac, I have access to... real power. So I know my Mac could, in theory, handle a screen recording happening in the background, is there any way to actually do that? Is there a way I can use a Virtual Desktop (or something), full screen Discord, and do the same thing without the audio coming through my speakers?

It's very convoluted, I know, but I feel like some odd hodgepodge of apps might make it somewhat possible.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2022 06:28

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

I�ll try to clarify a bit.

I have my setup which is two monitors. I want to record Discord (either the app itself or running it through a browser) set to fullscreen on a �third screen� - a separate Space. Then the audio from Discord, that would normally play through the computer�s speakers, I don�t want to hear - have it not come through the speakers. But still be recorded via this magical screen recording app.

Basically, I want to record what would not immediately be visible on my screen and audio record what would not be playing through my speakers.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2022 07:08

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

tuyop posted:

Does cmd + shift + 5 do what you need?

It does, but it's all the all malarky that I'm not super sure on how to accomplish. Or if the selection window would remain active in a different Space or if it would just record that area on whatever Space is active. It's something I'll potentially dive more into in a few days.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2022 04:42

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Is it, by any stretch of creativity, possible to pair some bluetooth device to macOS and have its buttons specifically only work in one single app? Not as in it does nothing if you're in another app, but pressing one of its buttons makes the aforementioned app active etc etc.

It's for a super niche use, but I feel like it may not be that outlandish to exist.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2022 12:50

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Is anyone here 1) using Mail.app on Monterrey and 2) having the problem where it'll eventually not connect to the associated mailboxes/accounts until you restart the app? I've ran into this problem twice in the past two days and I'm not sure what the trigger could be. It's just, at some point, it'll throw up the little triangle with an exclamation point on all my accounts and not refresh.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2022 16:27

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Anyone had a bug or problem with external HDs somehow causing problems with sleep, but only through the external monitor?

it's a bit convoluted.

My Mac Studio will enter sleep after an hour -- or so that's what I set it to in Energy Saver even though the verbiage only says it turns the display off, but I imagine macOS just goes to sleep when the display is off. However, I wanna say maybe like 10 or so minutes later, my monitors will turn on, but not actually wake up to anything. Turn on, "No Signal, turning off in 15 seconds," off again, another 10 minutes. Rinse repeat. I haven't timed it or giving it any kind of real tests, but it seems to do this every handful of minutes.

And the weird part: this only happens when my external drive is plugged into the Studio itself. Which makes it even more odd, since I would assume if the drive was waking up the Studio, macOS, it would boot me to the login screen, but it never does. My Studio stays asleep until I purposefully go to wake it up.

I don't understand it. Anyone have any ideas?

# ¿ Mar 31, 2022 20:54

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Small White Dragon posted:

I don't know if this belongs in the hardware or software thread, but I met up recently with a coworker who had a Asus Zenscreen he used as a second laptop monitor. I thought this was pretty rad, so I'm curious if there are recommendations for what works well with Macs.

I'd like something about the same size as the MBPs I use (so, 15 or 16 inch). I do see there are even some portable 4k monitors but I'm unsure if I can treat those as 2K retina or if it'll just make everyone squint.

Retina is weird. It�s purely a marketing, naming scheme that Apple uses for screen that have a high resolution for their screen size, giving them a higher pixel density. It�s not necessarily anything unique outside of the 5K range. For instance, the 16 inch MBP has a resolution that�s a little bit beneath 4K. So, to make things easier, just getting a 4K portable monitor would purely in theory be better than an MBP retina screen.

But that�s where it gets kinda fucky. One of the better things about Apple screens is that they�re typically using really nice IPS panels � usually made by LG. On top of that, they also have decent brightness, and some basic quality differences between the plastics, glass and whatnot. I don�t know for certain which portable monitors would offer the same type of quality, but I�m sure they exist.

All that being said, you don�t really need a 4K portable monitor either. There�s no real barrier for what Apple considers retina, but the lowest PPI a device has had that they�ve called retina was 226 on older generation 16 inch MBPs, but that�s not any type of standard resolution (3072�1920). Most monitors will be FHD (1080p) QHD/2K (1440p) or UHD/4K (3840 �2160).

I imagine if you got a 16 inch IPS monitor that was 4K, the differences would either be slight, not noticeable, or better than your MBP. However, I use 4K on a pair of 27� monitors as my main work station and it looks chefskiss.bmp good.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2022 09:40

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# ¿ May 19, 2024 21:43

LODGE NORTH: Jul 30, 2007

Install an ad-blocker and be smart�

# ¿ Jun 8, 2022 05:00

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > macOS and Mac Software: We still exist!