Have you ever come across the above dialogue, asking if you’d like to “accept incoming network connections” on your Mac? It’s caused by the Firewall and it’s meant to be helpful. Because if you have an app that needs incoming network connections all the time, you can just add them to the Firewall rules (under … Read more
On a recent chat with Apple support, the representative suggested I reset my PRAM. From what I understand this will clear BIOS like values that may cause a Mac to malfunction. It only takes a second to do – here’s how: Press CMD+OPTION+P+R, then start the system. You’ll need three hands or a portable keyboard … Read more
Hold down SHIFT during normal boot, until the loading bar appears. It will take longer than usual to start the system. Some services are not available. Safe Mode will clear several caches and verify the startup disks. From the command line, or on remote systems, boot into Safe Mode using this: sudo nvram boot-args=”-x” When … Read more
Hidden files start with a . on UNIX like systems and OS X is one of them. While we can show hidden files in a Ternimal session by using something like ls -a, it’s not so easy to convince the Finder to show such files. If ever you need to see them, execute the following … Read more
I passionately *H*A*T*E* the startup chime that my Mac makes when I switch it on. At least on my MacBook, if the volume is turned down before I shutdown, the system restarts silently. I guess it’s somehow linked to the internal speakers. Sadly on my Mac Mini this approach doesn’t work: due to the lack … Read more
There’s a built-in command line tool in every Mac called caffeinate that prevents your computer from going to sleep, even when the lid is closed. This is the default behaviour if an external monitor is attached, but if that’s not the case, MacBooks just go to sleep as soon as you close the lid. While … Read more
Usually the top command shows you how long a Linux system is up and running – but sadly not on OS X, or Darwin more specifically. There is however a command line tool with the descriptive name uptime which will tell you how long your Mac has been running, precisely the line that’s missing from … Read more
It’s often necessary to know what the exact type of CPU that’s installed on your system. For example, you may need to know if you’re dealing with a dual core or quad core system, or a 32/64 bit system. Only the CPU can tell you this. Here’s how to find out the string you need … Read more
