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macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta Running “Sidecar” Running on Un-Supported MacBook Air with iPad Air 2

macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta Running “Sidecar” Running on Un-Supported MacBook Air with iPad Air 2

With the release of macOS Catalina 10.15 Beta we get a sneak peek at “Sidecar” which allows users to use an iPad as a display. What I soon learned was that my 2013 MacBook Air was not supported.

I then came across the article on AppleInsider that showed us a command to allow Sidecar on a Un-Supported Mac. This video shows how it works in just a few seconds.

The command was originally posted by @stroughtonsmith

https://youtu.be/rj12gYonv3M
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How to create a bootable macOS Sierra USB installer

How to create a bootable macOS Sierra USB installer


*** As with all Betas only install on a non production device and computer that you’re not concerned about & make backups! ***

These advanced steps are intended primarly for system administrators and others who are familiar with the command line.

You can download the latest macOS Sierra 10.12 Developer Preview here https://developer.apple.com/download
You will need an Apple Developer Account to sign in and download macOS Sierra 10.12 Developer Preview. Public Beta will be out later in July 2016

Use the ‘createinstallmedia’ command in Terminal to create your bootable usb installer:

  1. Download macOS Sierra 10.12 Developer Preview from the Mac App Store after redeeming the code from the Apple Developer Download site. Quit the installer if it opens automatically after downloading. The installer will be in your Applications folder.
  2. Mount your USB flash drive or other volume. You could also use a secondary internal partition.
  3. Format/Erase your drive and name it “macOSSierra” if you intend on copying and pasting the below command.
  4. Open Terminal (it is found in the Utilities folder)
  5. In terminal paste the following command:
sudo /Applications/Install\ 10.12\ Developer\ Preview.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia  --volume /Volumes/macOSSierra --applicationpath /Applications/Install\ 10.12\ Developer\ Preview.app --nointeraction

You’ve now created a bootable macOS Sierra 10.12 Developer Preview USB installer


Down the road when macOS Sierra 10.12 is at full version I would highly suggest using “DiskMaker X“. It’s simple and easy to use 

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OS X Finder Sidebar Favourites Missing or Permission Issue

OS X Finder Sidebar Favourites Missing or Permission Issue

I’ve been dealing with this issue for a good while now and there are countless articles online that talk about this but there hasn’t been a solid fix yet. In most cases users are playing with the Finder and Sidebar preferences but without luck. This is one of the only steps that seems to gets messed up with permissions errors or bad links when you use a default profile script. Everything else seems to work but starting with OS X 10.10 this has been broken.

Broken Finder Sidebar

Permissions Error Message

Working Finder Sidebar

Today with a suggestion from @harryn over at EduGeet.net http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mac/72443-how-create-os-x-default-profile-template-bind-ad-10-5-10-8-a-3.html#post1432366 I simply removed/deleted the user I use to build the profile then had a new user log into the computer and there it was, all the Sidebar Shortcuts with proper links and permissions. This now means I can customize the sidebar with the users Desktop, Download, Documents folders etc. and they will properly work when a user selects a location.

The cons to this route is that fact that you need to remove/delete the user you build your default profile from but if you are really only building your image to deploy this really isn’t a big deal. If you need to go back and make adjustments to the profile just create that same user again, make your needed adjustments run the default user profile script then remove the user again. 

It is an extra step but it’s a step that makes a lot of people happy. We have tons of students and faculty that will love to have these links back in the finder again.

For future “Default User Profile” scripts I think I’ll go back to creating an alternate user from “Administrator” and start using a user called “default”. This way I can keep the local “Administrator” in place and just use the “Default” user for creating a custom user. 

Hope this helps!

 

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Loving iOS 7!

I must say I really like iOS 7! I’ve always had a jailbroken iPhone to have the look, feel & customized usability that I want. Be it Apple, Samsung, BB, etc. they all have great features but also lack many. An iPhone has always been the best of both worlds because of jailbreaking. I could add all the extra features, tweaks & look that make a smartphone the way it really should be. From what I can see and I have read from reviews Apple has really listen to what the users want. They have actually added a number of features that were inspired by jailbreak tweaks. I’m sure there will be a jailbreak in the future for iOS 7 but so far they have already killed off SBSettings & a real app switcher and this is just the tip. Only thing I’m missing now is my 5 icon across option 🙂

Great job Apple and Jony Ive!!

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios7

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Mac OS X Over The Years (Public Beta 10.0 – 10.8 Mountain Lion)

Mac OS X Over The Years (Public Beta 10.0 – 10.8 Mountain Lion)
 
 
Almost spanning a decade OS X (pronounced as “O”-“S”-“10” not “O”-“S”-“X”) has gone through nine (9) major OS revisions of OS X to date including Public Beta.  In this review I’ve pointed out the release information for each major version of OS X as well as snapshots to help show the differences from version to version of OS X.

When it comes to OS X there have been ten (10) major releases when you include Public Beta:

For my review of OS X I used an iMac G3 700mhz Blueberry for versions 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, for OS X 10.5, 10.6 & 10.7 an iMac Intel Core 2 Duo & OS X 10.8 a MacBook Pro i7

*For OS release dates, cost, history, and general information, I used MacTracker found at www.mactracker.ca which is an amazing application that gives you detailed information on every Apple Macintosh computer ever made including ipods, iphones,Operating Systems and so much More. Download it today!

 

 

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Apples first OS X “Public Beta” was internally codenamed “Kodiak”

Apples first OS X “Public Beta” was internally codenamed “Kodiak”

How many people knew that the first OS X “Public Beta” was internally codenamed “Kodiak”?

The Mac OS X Public Beta (internally codenamed “Kodiak”) was an early beta version of Apple Computer‘s Mac OS X operating system Cheetah. It was released to the public on September 13, 2000 for US$29.95. It allowed software developers and early adopters to test a preview of the upcoming operating system and develop software for the forthcoming operating system before its final release.

From Wikipedia