cp -rp /source-dir/. /destination/

-r = recursive

-p = preserve

/source-dir/. = dot means the entire directory contents, including hidden files

In bash terminal, to skip forward or backward whole words you need to send meta + f and meta + b, but Mac’s don’t have alt keys, rather option.

iTerm allows you to change option to meta under profiles (or globally in Keys).  Change option key to meta shown below and you’ll be able to use Option + left-arrow and Option + right-arrow to skip jump backward and forward whole words within your bash terminal.

Debian / Ubuntu linux visual package manager, a step-up from apt / apt-get command line for installing your LAMP server.

Navigating aptitude with hot keys

? - help screen with partial list of hot keys

l - filter packages (lower case L), shows only packages

/ - search, places cursor (within context of all packages) on next package that matches your search term.  No filtering.  You’ll see all unrelated packages above/below your search hit.

n - search & find next item going forward / down

N - search & find next item going backward / up

[ - expand fully tree under cursor (useful after using "l" filter, which doesn't open any tree, just reduces visible packages within their hierarchical trees)

] - collapse fully tree under cursor

^ - back up one level of tree

Ctrl + f - move forward one screen

Ctrl + b - move backward one screen

Ctrl + u - undo last action

q - back out of current screen.  If at top level of screen, will offer to quit aptitude.  Try “^” if you don’t see what you want and “q” offers only to quit aptitude.

Enter - expand/collapse current item under cursor, can be tree (expands/collapses) or package (shows/hides package description)

+ - mark package for install

- remove package from system

g - review packages for install (and dependent packages approved for install to support packages selected for installation).  When in review window, pressing “g” again will start installation.

View

Packages are marked in the left-most column as either:

• p - Package (not installed).  Pressing “+” while highlighting item will mark/queue package for installation.  ”-” will remove package from installation queue.
• i - Installed Package.  Pressing “-” will mark package for uninstallation.
• i A - Installed Package as dependency to another Package
• pi - Package marked for installation (highlighted green)
• piA - Package marked for installation as a dependency of another chosen package
• id - Package marked for deinstallation. (highlighted purple)

aptitude - Package (and dependencies) marked for installation

aptitude - task list showing packages for installation

aptitude - package marked for deinstall

Tips

Filtering

Filtering uses regex.  To unfilter packages, filter on “.” to show everything. i.e.

l - bring up filter dialog

Enter “.” (no quotes) and hit enter.

Root

Some (many) actions will ask you to become root if you’re not before aptitude will complete task.

After finding Jeff Tchang’s Python (programming language) Eye-Fi lightweight file transfer server, I’ve decided to uninstall completely the Eye-Fi Center and Helper from my Mac.  Mostly because the Eye-Fi Helper continues to start on boot of my Mac, even after I’ve set it to Not Start on Boot.

There’s no uninstaller for Eye-Fi Center & Helper, so you’ll need to:

• Quit Eye-Fi Center (if it’s running)
• Quit the Eye-Fi Helper in the top right menu bar (if it’s running, looks like Wi-Fi icon with a dot at bottom)
• in Finder, drag and drop Eye-Fi folder into your Trash Bin
• in Terminal (Applications –> Utilities –> Terminal) delete the remaining files
  • rm ~/Library/Preferences/fi.eye.center.plist
  • rm -r ~/Library/Eye-Fi

Then empty the Trash Bin.  And you’ve uninstalled Eye-Fi.

Opening the lid of MacBook Pro Retina from sleep, I sometimes get black screen and no wake up.  Only solution is to hold down the start key and do a cold reboot.  Keyboard function still appears to work somewhat (caps lock lights).  Changing brightness keys do nothing (nor a bunch of random button mashing, unplugging attached accessories like wireless mouse receiver, headphones, external monitors).

My MacBook Retina is running basic OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion (haven’t yet installed Supplemental Update 1.0 as of January 2013).

Symptoms

Opening Terminal (Applications –> Utilities –> Terminal) and going to the log directory (cd /var/log) and checking which log files have been updated recently (ls -lTt) nothing out of the ordinary appears.  So I check system.log (less system.log).

Paging up and down the log file I notice a few things show up a lot:

• mdworker: Unable to talk to lsboxd
• sandboxd[1016] ([1015]): mdworker(1015) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ls.boxd
• kernel[0]: Sandbox: sandboxd(1016) deny mach-lookup com.apple.coresymbolicationd

Will try the solution of rebooting Mac into safe mode, then rebooting normally.  Apparently it’s helped to reduce the occurrences of “Unable to talk to lsboxd” and issues with “sandboxd deny mach-lookup”, working to delete temporary cache files and performing disk permissions & file checks (similar to what Disk Utility can help do: verify file/directory permissions and make repairs as needed).

Will report back if this solves the issue of “no wake from sleep” for my MacBook Pro Retina (2012).

http://www.bandwidthplace.com performs its Internet connection speed test using HTML5 unlike every other bandwidth testing site, which has lots of useless graphics and ads.

Recommended!

iPhone 3GS or 3G (software unlocked by redsn0w/ultrasn0w & similar) going from full signal strength bars to 1 bar to no bars, both 3G signal and wifi, to SEARCHING… to NO SERVICE, back to full bar signal strength, repeatedly, randomly especially with location services / GPS running (mouse pointer arrow visible in top right of iPhone screen) is because you’re using version 6.15.00 modem firmware (commonly called a baseband or BB) on your iPhone 3G/3GS.

Downgrade iPhone modem firmware to 05.13.04 to fix searching/no signal iPhone 3GS problems using redsn0w version 0.9.14b2 for OS X or Windows. Instructions and downloads are available from iPhone Dev Team:

- basic instructions on using redsn0w to downgrade modem firmware from 06.15.00 to 05.13.04

- updated instructions with 0.9.14b2 version of redsn0w.

6.15.00 modem firmware used for software unlocks of iPhones is meant for iPad, not iPhone. (Find your iPhone 3GS / 3G modem firmware version in Settings –> General –> About –> Modem Firmware (near bottom).  Format is MM.mm.pp.

From my little experience with jailbreaking & software phone carrier unlock iPhones, using iPad modem software on an iPhone 3GS / 3G is not a good solution.  Sure, your iPhone 3GS / 3G is unlocked, but your iPhone is barely operational, constantly dropping and searching for wireless signals during which the iPhone is useless especially when GPS / location services functions are running.

Download Chrome beta with Retina support (code name Canary) from Google Tools.

While Safari 6 problems on Retina Macbook Pro solutions are being found, Chrome beta with Retina display support can be an alternate solution, albeit with its own set of problems.

Word of warning: as of August 4, 2012, Chrome beta Canary is still very buggy.  Support CSS and Javascript has many issues.

Google Chrome Retina support

Stuttering, flashing, missing page parts, delayed typing/keyboard reaction, character corruption are Safari problems (Safari version 6) seen under Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) on Macbook Pro Retina.  The current Safari 6 version 8536.25 (check in the menu bar by clicking Safari –> About Safari) seems to only have serious issues on Macbook Pro Retina, not on other Macbook’s like the Macbook Air.

Most people are guessing it’s javascript processing that’s causing the issues, but there isn’t any official response from Apple as of yet.

Here are some forum threads where others have noted the same Mac Safari problems

https://discussions.apple.com/message/19091724#19091724

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1409005&page=2

Here are some visuals of issues:

courtesy of gnuyoga

Update Feb 6, 2013: See Lior’s comment/fix to Bootcamp Assistant not giving the option to make your USB drive into a Windows installation bootable drive.

Here’s my solution to the ”Installer disc could not be found” problem when installing Windows on a Macbook Pro Retina with Bootcamp using Bootcamp Assistant.  At the Install step, after sizing partitions for the Macintosh HD drive, Bootcamp Assistant will return an error :

Bootcamp Assistant 4 is a step-by-step program on Mac’s (available in “Other” programs group, same group where you find Disk Utility, visible below) that will guide you through setup of dual boot Windows and Mac OS X on your Macbook/iMac/Mac Pro.  Bootcamp Assistant can create a bootable Windows installer USB key from your Windows 7 ISO image file (download official Windows 7 ISO images) or use your Windows install DVD if you have bought one, but Bootcamp Assistant sometimes can’t recognize the USB key as being a bootable “Installer disc” when the Partitioning step of Bootcamp Assistant is reached.

The solution: use Disk Utility to partition Mountain Lion’s hard disk, then restart holding alt/Option key and choosing the Windows USB key install image as the drive to boot from.

Finding Disk Utility on Mac OS X Mountain Lion:

Start Launchpad, click on Other and find Disk Utility.

Launch Disk Utility.  You’ll see something similar

Select the top most drive, which should be your 251 GB or 502 GB APPLE SSD.

On the right you’ll see 5 tab buttons: First Aid | Erase | Partition | RAID | Restore.

Choose Partition. Then click the + button below left of the rectangle.  This adds another partition to the rectangle, separating the top and bottom with a bar.  Drag this bar up and down to resize your OS X Mountain Lion partition (space on the drive dedicated to Mac) and the BOOTCAMP partition that you will create to hold Microsoft Windows.  I went with about 60GB.

Change the Name to BOOTCAMP or something that helps you remember this is your Windows partition.

Change the Format to MS-DOS (FAT).  This will be reformatted during Windows installation to NTFS.  Click Apply to save the changes and then reboot your Mac and we’ll begin Windows installation.

During reboot, you’ll hear the startup “Chime”.  Press and hold the alt/Option key and you’ll be presented with drives to boot from.  Use the arrow keys and return button to select the Windows yellow USB key drive containing your Windows 7 installation files. This will begin the Windows install.

First screen where you’ll need to make selections is the drive selection of where to install Windows 7. Select the BOOTCAMP partition you created in Disk Utility.

Click Drive options (advanced).  This will reveal the Format option, which you’ll need to use in order to reformat the partition for use by Windows 7 (formatting the partition to NTFS).

Follow the rest of the Windows installation steps and stay at your Mac during the process.  Windows will need to reboot several times during the installation process and you’ll need to be ready to press/hold the alt/Option key during the Mac boot-up chime so you can select the BOOTCAMP partition to boot up into to continue the installation process.

Once the install is complete and you’ve booted into Windows 7, don’t forget to install WindowsSupport files that were put onto your Windows 7 installation USB key.

These support files adjust the resolution and keyboard/trackpad for best usability.

Enjoy your Bootcamped Macbook Pro Retina with OS X Mountain Lion and Windows 7!

Lior’s solution to no-bootup option for your USB drive Windows installation disk in Bootcamp Assistant (thanks Lior!):

If you have only 2 options in the boot camp assistant, or if bootcamp doesn’t recognize the windows installer disk when its on a bootable usb, it’s because bootcamp doesn’t recognize your macbook as a model that should install windows from a USB, its actually quite easy to fix, just follow these simple steps:

1. go to Applications>Utilities> right click on boot camp and click Show Package Conents, you’ll find a folder inside called Contents (If i remember correctly, not on my Macbook atm). Inside that folder exists a file called info.plist.
2. Right click on the folder containing the file > get info > change permissions so any user can read & write. Do the same for the file itself (right click > get info…).
3. Right click on info.plist and choose Open with > Text Edit.
4. at the end of the document theres a list of strings that contain different versions of Mac computers, the list is titled something like: “USB boot Versions”, add your Mac’s version to the string list ( MB40 ) if your version is Macbook 4,1 (you can see this by clicking on the System information App in the Utilities folder).
5. save the file and change back the permissions on the file and folder.

Now open boot camp and you should see the option to create a Windows 7 installler on a USB, and also bootcamp will look for a windows installation on any USB’s after you partition the hard drive.