Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?

Safe Boot is a special way to start when troubleshooting. Safe Mode is the state Mac OS X is in after a Safe Boot. To perform a Safe Boot, hold the Shift key immediately after your Mac starts up.

Safe Mode can be useful for troubleshooting. However, certain Mac OS X features do not work in Safe Mode.

Via Apple Support.

Continuing our theme of troubleshooting boot issues, this Apple support article explains exactly what “Safe Boot” is, how to do it, and what OS X features won’t work when you’ve started up using this method.

• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• Intel Mac Start-up Sequence Reference
• Woes of MacBook Pro Unibody Owner

Get rid of .zip files once they’re expanded

Mac OS X makes opening .zip files simple: you double-click them, and the OS quickly unzips them. But one thing has always bugged me: After I unzip it, the original .zip file—for which I no longer have any use—is still there. I’d rather my Mac clean up the zipped versions of files automatically after I expand them, instead of leaving me with one more thing to get rid of.

(Via: Macworld)

I used to end up letting a bunch of zip archives pile up in my Downloads folder, sometimes taking up gigabytes of precious disk space. This handy trick helped me to clean up after myself once and for all.

• Yasu 2.6.8 b2 Available for Download
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Workaround for Having No Scrollbar Arrows in Mac OS X Lion

Although you can set scrollbars to always display in windows, there is no option to show the actual scrollbar arrows anymore in Mac OS X Lion. A simple workaround to get used to this is to start using the keyboards up and down arrow keys instead.

(via: OS X Daily)

Also note that while you hold down the Option key and type the up or down arrow you’re able to scroll by an entire page as it’s displayed on screen. And when you add the Command key to the mix you’re able scroll all the way to the top or bottom of a page.

I’m pretty sure this method of scrolling has worked in earlier versions of OS X — at least 10.6 that I’m sure of, and probably all the way back to 10.3, if not before that.

Still, it’s a handy trick to learn if you like to navigate using the keyboard.

• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder
• Navigate Finder with arrows
• Automatically Get Rid of Those Used .zip Archives

There are many different ways to make your User Library folder visible in OS X Lion, from Terminal.app to utilities that change the settings for you. If you’re looking for an easy way to make the folder visible when you need it, but keep it hidden when you don’t, and all without system hacks, here’s how I do it.

This method doesn’t require opening Terminal or using any special app. All you need is to add a quick setting to your Keyboard System Preferences.

Normally in the Finder, if you click the “Go” menu, you won’t see your User Library folder. While it’s a bit of a pain for power users, I can understand why Apple chose to go this route. Many inexperienced users have gotten themselves in big trouble poking around in here.

However, when you hold down the Option key and select the “Go” menu, that’s when you’ll see your User Library folder — but you’ll notice it’s the only folder that doesn’t have a keystroke attached to it. This is kind of a pain if you like to navigate by keyboard like I do.

Here’s how we can easily solve that problem.

Open up System Preferences and select the Keyboard preference. Click the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab, then click “Application Shortcuts” in the left pane. Then click the “plus” icon just below the right pane…

In the sheet that drops down, select “Finder” as the application (that’s pretty important), type “Library” in the Menu Title field (that’s important too), then assign a Keyboard Shortcut of “Option + Shift + Command + L” and finally click the “Add” button…

Now you’ve got a keystroke assigned to the Library menu option in the Finder “Go” menu. It’s okay to quit System Preferences now.

Back in the Finder, if you hold down the “Option + Shift” keys (our new keyboard shortcut slightly changed the behavior of the menu), and click on the “Go” menu, you see the Library folder has your shortcut assigned to it.

Now, when you’re in the Finder and need quick access to your Library folder, just type “Option + Shift + Command + L” and the folder automatically opens for you. No more having to hold the Option key to select the menu item.

• Keyboard Scrolling in Lion Application Windows
• SecondBar Puts a Menu Bar on All Your Macs Monitors
• FastScripts 2.6 Update Available from Red Sweater Software

Here’s a little hint for the WordPress users that smacked me square between the eyes yesterday in one of those “a-hah!” moments while dinking with the theme files for my site.

A lot of people will tuck an “All content © 2003-2011 So-and-so” or similar notice in the footer of their site. If you’re one of those who do, and you’re bugged by the fact that you have to change (or forget to change) the latter year every time a new year rolls around, there’s a quick and simple solution for you.

It dawned on me, since WordPress themes are based on the PHP language (this works with any PHP based template system really), why not just tuck the date function into my template footer in place of the latter year? That way it will automatically change when it’s supposed to, and I won’t have to remember anything. So, in place of the following:

<p>All content &copy; 2004-2011 jimmitchell.org</p>

<p>All content &copy; 2004-<?php echo date("Y") ?> jimmitchell.org</p>

Yippie! No more having to remember to change the footer on January 1st.

Overly simple? Yes. Painfully obvious? Only to those further along the path to web development enlightenment than myself. To the other neophytes like me, it’s one of those moments where we start to wonder “If I can do that, could I do this?” I hope this helps to bring one of those moments to your own work, be it for fun or profit.

• Getting Back to Basics
• TaskSync Syncs Remember the Milk Tasks to iCal
• Automatically Get Rid of Those Used .zip Archives

Fix slow start-ups in OS X

Sometimes after adding new system components or otherwise changing the hardware configuration of your system you may find that the OS will load rather slowly. Usually this will only happen after the first restart as the system configures the kernel extensions needed for the new hardware; however, there are times when it can persist.

Via MacFixIt

A decent semi-advanced troubleshooting article from MacFixIt that covers troubleshooting slow start-up issues in OS X.

If you’re somewhat Terminal.app savvy, it’s worth looking at. For those who shy away from the nerdy underbelly of OS X (a.k.a. Unix), I plan to add this to the system cache cleaning routines of Yasu in the very near future.

• MacFixIt ‘General Maintenance’ Recommendations
• Yasu Updated to Version 2.7.3
• Playing It Safe When Booting Up Mac OS X

There are many times when in our articles we will mention “General Maintenance” as part of a troubleshooting routine. If you are having software issues, either with third-party applications or the Mac OS itself, giving the computer a virtual scrub-down will many times help, or at least give you a cleaner slate upon which to do more in-depth troubleshooting.

Via MacFixIt.

A good general maintenance article from MacFixIt, which includes a mention of Yasu. Worth a read if you’re at all in the dark about how to maintain that beautiful new Mac you just switched to.

• Fixing Slow Start-ups in Mac OS X
• Watch For This Apple Billing Email Scam
• Yasu 2.6.7 Released

Is it a software or hardware issue? You may not be able to determine this with certainty before troubleshooting. Troubleshoot software before hardware unless the issue prevents any software troubleshooting. See Mac OS X Troubleshooting: How to Isolate an Issue for more information.

A good Apple support article outlining a smart way to deal with system issues. Every Mac user should learn how to troubleshoot like this.

• Fixing Slow Start-ups in Mac OS X
• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• Playing It Safe When Booting Up Mac OS X

Some time ago, I had set up my Gmail account in Apple Mail in order to copy over messages that were missing in my online jimmitchell.org IMAP account. I’m one of those guys who likes to have everything all in one place at my finger tips when I want it.

After copying over the messages I wanted, I completely removed the Gmail IMAP account from Mail and went about my business. Soon after, when I went searching for a specific email, I experienced the phenomenon of ghost emails in the search results (see image below). These are messages that Mail once knew about, but no longer knows where they exist. The ghost emails were all from the since removed Gmail account.

If you’re experiencing the same problem, here’s a very simple fix for it. First, quit Apple Mail if it’s running, then navigate your way to “~/Library/Mail/” (where “~” is your home folder) in the Finder. Once you’re in the Mail folder, you’ll see a file named “Envelope Index” which keeps track of where all messages are located. Rename “Envelope Index” to “Envelope Index Backup” (We don’t want to trash the file just yet).

Then, relaunch Apple Mail. You’ll be presented with a daunting “Message Import” dialog that looks like your email account was wiped out and you’re starting all over. Fear not. You’re simply rebuilding the Envelope Index at this point.

Click “Continue” to rebuild the index. Once it’s done, all those pesky phantom messages will be gone the next time you perform a search in Mail (Yay!). You can then go back to the “~/Library/Mail/” folder in the Finder and move the file you renamed to “Envelope Index Backup” to the Trash.

And there you have it. A very simple solution to a problem that has baffled some of the best Mac users.

• Watch For This Apple Billing Email Scam
• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder
• A Stylish Treat for Mailplane Users

So you just got a new iMac for Christmas, and now you need to know how to reset which machines are authorized to access your purchased iTunes media. Well, you’re in luck, because here’s the support article you’ve been looking for:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93014

• MacBook Pro Intermittent Black Screen or Loss of Video
• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• Intel Mac Start-up Sequence Reference

This is a follow up to the bit I posted last week about Mail.app hanging — usually at login/startup/wake, but then at other times for no reason in particular. My original post blamed the problem on iCal syncing To-Do’s with Mail (which I personally don’t like).

An update to that post later shifted the blame to GrowlMail. I can confirm — without a doubt — that GrowlMail has a problem with IMAP email accounts under Leopard, both on Intel and PPC based machines. While you could simply turn GrowlMail off in Mail preferences, my recommendation is to completely remove the bundle until it can be fully updated for compatibility. Note: a new version of GrowlMail was released a few days ago that supposedly addresses Leopard issues. However, my testing found it to still have lingering problems, so I promptly uninstalled it.

If you have GrowlMail installed, it can be uninstalled by removing the following files from your hard drive:

/Library/Mail/Bundles/GrowlMail.bundle
/Library/Receipts/GrowlMail.pkg
/Library/Receipts/growlmailPreflight.pkg

Since deleting those files, I’ve had no trouble with my IMAP account in Leopard Mail whatsoever. It should be noted you’ll probably have to authenticate as an administrator to remove the files.

• Yasu 2.6.8 b2 Available for Download
• Some Mac App Store apps already hit by easy piracy trick
• Yasu 2.7.6 Released

With the move to my new web host, I finally have the luxury of good, fast IMAP email again (thank you!). I had been doing the Gmail thing for the past few months using the very awesome MailPlane, but even as much as the app rocks, it still wasn’t quite what I was looking for in the way of doing mail.

Though I touted GyazMail as the mail app to have a while back, I’ve secretly harbored a desire to use my first love, Mail.app. There’s something about it that I find gets me where I want to be the quickest. But I digress. This post isn’t about which email reader is better…

Instead, this post is intended to help others who may have run into the same problem I had. Every so often when I’d launch Mail 3.1 in Leopard, or just at other times for no reason, the application would become totally unresponsive. Mail would still arrive, but I couldn’t do much more with it than move the main window around on my screen. I was almost as though the application was frozen, but not quite. Obviously it was doing something very resource intensive to become that unresponsive.

After some rooting around, I think I discovered the problem. By setting the “Add invitations to iCal” option in the General preference of Mail to “Never”, all of my freezes have suddenly disappeared. This may or may not help someone else who’s having the same issue. But for me, it did the trick. Your mileage may vary.

[Update] I’ve also noticed that GrowlMail doesn’t seem to be playing nicey-nice with Mail under Leopard. When I logged out or restarted, logged back in, and launched Mail, it would freeze up as GrowlMail thought about displaying a notification for each message, quite slowly.

If you have GrowlMail installed, and are experiencing freezes in Leopard Mail, try turning it off (Mail > Preferences > GrowlMail). Post a comment if that helps (or doesn’t). So far, it seems to solve the problem for me.

Oh, and I got rid of MS Office completely too. That might have some bearing, or it might not. I’m using iWork ’08 for that kind of stuff now.

• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder
• What to do When Songs on Your iPod Skip
• Secure Virtual Memory on OS X

Secure Gmail Notifier using hidden preference setting

I was shocked to discover that the Gmail Notifier, as distributed by Google, defaults to sending your Gmail password over the network in clear text every time it checks your inbox for new mail.

Here’s a very handy tip I came across on MacOSXHints.com this morning. I had no idea that my GMail & GCal password was being sent in clear-text. I’m not too happy about it either. Thankfully, it’s really easy to change Google Notifier to an https connection using the poster’s instructions. If you use the app, I recommend you do the same — pronto.

• A Stylish Treat for Mailplane Users
• Mailplane Clean CSS Updated (Again)
• How I’d Hack Your Weak Passwords

Using keychains with .Mac; troubleshooting keychain issues

You can use keychains with .Mac. This article applies to Mac OS X 10.4 or later and contains troubleshooting information that you can use if you encounter keychain issues.

Fresh on the heels of my last post about keychain troubles, Apple was good enough to release a far more detailed article on the topic. This is definitely one of those “Utility” bookmarks you want to keep in your browser. The article covers mostly troubles when syncing your keychains via .Mac, but it has some good points for troubleshooting none-the-less.

However, based on my past experiences syncing keychains with .Mac, there’s only one thing I can say about it — just don’t do it!

Why, you ask? Well, if you sync keychains between more than one workstation, and any two of those workstations use different login passwords, you’re going to wreak havoc with your login.keychain file due to the fact that the it’s tied directly to your user account password.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you have two Macs — A and B. Mac A uses password “abc” for the user account, Mac B uses “def” for its user account. You set up both machines to sync via .Mac. Mac A syncs first, and Mac B picks up the login.keychain from the .Mac server. It notices that your keychains are not identical and asks if you want to replace it. You say yes. The keychain on Mac B now has a password of “abc” while the account uses “def”.

Oh, that’s bad…

Since the passwords no longer match, you start getting bugged to unlock your keychain every time you try to do something that needs it. You enter what you think is the right password (“def”) only to be told it’s not right. You have no idea why, so you decide to reset your login.keychain, bummed that you lost all your passwords on Mac B.

Mac A picks up the reset login.keychain from .Mac that Mac B created and replaces entries as Mac B did above. You’re back where you were just a little while ago — Mac A has an account password of “abc” and a keychain password of “def”. The whole problem starts over again, and continues.

The ONLY way to avoid this disaster is to be sure you’ve changed both account passwords (and again — possibly user account short names) to the exact same value. So unless this doesn’t apply to you (and even if it does), I stand by my original advice: Don’t sync keychain items via .Mac — ever!

• Troubleshooting Mac OS X Startup Issues
• MacFixIt ‘General Maintenance’ Recommendations
• Playing It Safe When Booting Up Mac OS X

Resetting your keychain in Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4

If Keychain First Aid finds an issue that it cannot repair, or if you do not know your keychain password, you may need to reset your keychain. (Resetting a keychain deletes a keychain reference while preserving the keychain file.)

Here’s a good Apple Knowledge Base article about resetting your login keychain to keep on hand in your browser favorites. The only thing I would add to it, which isn’t made clear; resetting your keychain in this manner will rename your old keychain to “login_renamed#.keychain” (where # is a number), which can be opened manually in Keychain Access again to copy digital certificates and other passwords to the new login.keychain — this is presuming, of course, that your old keychain is not so corrupt that it can’t be opened.

To add the old “login_renamed” keychain to your current keychains, select “Keychain List” from the “Edit” menu of the Keychain Access application. In the sheet that appears, click the “plus” button at the lower left (next to the help button). A file open dialog appears in which you can select the keychain. Once you do, you’ll see it added to the list. Click “Okay” to close the sheet.

If you don’t already see your keychains in the upper left pane of the main window, click the “Show Keychains” button in the lower left of the window. From there, you can drag and drop keychain items from the old, renamed version to the new one.

Once you’re done moving items from the old keychain, click it once to highlight it, and select “Delete Keychain [keychain name here]” from the File menu. In the dialog sheet that appears, choose to only “Delete References” (the default button). This will remove all references to the old keychain, leaving it intact (not moving it to the trash) in your home folder in case you missed an item and have to do the process all over again.

A couple of final thoughts…

You should always try repairing your keychain before resetting it. Resetting should only be considered as a last ditch effort. By resetting, you’re wiping out all passwords you’ve stored for applications, websites, etc.

I would also recommend that you regularly (weekly, if not daily) backup your keychains to a safe place off of your computer, along with your other critical data. By doing so, you may save yourself the misery of having to work your way through this post.

• Easy Keyboard Access to the OS X User Library Folder
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