Stop Mac Screen Dim When on Battery

Posted on 14/06/2024 by PeteLong

Mac Screen Dim KB ID 0001876

Problem

I work primarily on a macbook, (it’s usually perched on my lap while I work). My current (and my first) macbook had magsafe charging, which is a nice feature, but when you work with a laptop on your knee you are constantly knocking the magsafe charger, which results in an annoying ‘I’m NOT charging, and now I AM charging again’ noise (I can cope with). But as soon as it’s on battery power it dims the screen which would not be a problem if it turned the brightness back up when main power resumes!

Here’s how to STOP that from happening,

Solution: Mac Screen Dim

Click the ‘Apple Logo’ (top left of your screen) > System Settings > Battery > Options.

Disable/Deselect ‘Slightly dim the display on battery > Done.

For something that’s annoyed me for a while. that was a remarkably easy fix.

MAC OSX – Add ‘Open Terminal Window Here’ to ‘Right Click’

Posted on 18/01/2023 by Migrated

KB ID 0001060

Problem

One of the things I used to like about using Windows was if I needed to drop to command line, I could (from any given location), by simply right clicking (while pressing CTRL) and selecting ‘Open Command Window Here. On a MAC I have Terminal but thats not an option.

Solution

As with most things on the MAC it is there, you just need to enable it.

1. Apple Logo > System Preferences.

2. Keyboard.

3. Shortcuts > Services > New Terminal at Folder.

4. Now when you right click a folder (or command click), you have ‘New Terminal at Folder’.

5. Et Voila!.

Mac: No Captive Portal

Posted on 22/04/2022 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001780

Problem

I was on a train today, and they were offering free Wi-Fi but despite me being able to connect, I had no internet access. This has happened a few times to me and it’s when I need to connect to a captive portal to get internet access, then no captive portal ever appears.

Note: A captive portal is just a pop up window that you usually see on ‘Free‘ wifi services, so you can ‘Pay‘ for connection, by giving them your details (name, email etc).

No Captive Portal: Solution

Now I could connect with my Android phone and that has a hotspot so I knew the problem was on my Mac, and I had my work iPhone in my bag I could also connect to that and get 4G. But I wanted to bottom out the problem in case I was ever stuck.

Open your network preferences > Select the Wifi connection > Advanced.

Firstly let’s try the obvious, locate the entry that matches the SSID you are trying to connect to , and Delete it > OK > Try again?

In my case the problem was being caused by the fact I had static DNS entries (Google’s DNS servers), this is why the captive portal was never being shown. You cant do a DNS lookup, before you have internet access, and if your DNS servers are on the internet, you can’t resolve the private URL of the captive portal!

Delete all the static DNS entries (dont panic! you will get the correct one dynamically allocated to you.) Once you’ve removed them all > OK > Try again.

Fixed.

mac OSX: Opening JNLP Files?

Posted on 02/12/2021 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001767

Problem

I needed to get onto a HPE server’s iLO at work today. I was using Firefox and the .Net extensions no longer work, so I was forced to use Java web start. Annoyingly that opened my Windows 10 VM (that runs in VMware Fusion), then it fell over!

So the problem is, I need to be able to ‘RUN‘ jnlp file on my MacBook, but there’s no Java application in the applications folder.

Opening JNLP Files (mac OSX)

Try to execute the jnlp file again, but under ‘Open with” Select Other.

Select your hard drive, then System > Library > CoreServices > JavaLauncher.app > (Tick Do this automatically for files like this from now on.) > Open.

Now the file will get blocked by security (if you’ve done anything technical on a Mac you should know how to get round that) Click the Apple Icon (at the top of your screen) > Preferences > Security and Privacy > General Tab > Open Anyway.

You might get some further Java warnings but you should now be able to run the application.

GIMP: Post Upgrade Tools Missing?

Posted on 06/01/2021 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001726

Problem

I’ve been running an older version of GIMP for a while, it’s been a bit ‘flaky’ since the Big Sur upgrade, so yesterday I took the plunge and updated it. As expected I had to recreate my custom arrow brushes and things. But the problem that hit me the most was ‘Where have all the tools gone!‘

Solution

I know it’s open source software and I’ve no right to complain, but come on? After some investigation it seems the tools are there, they are just grouped together so they are more difficult to find? Why was this considered a good thing? The resolution on my mac is staggering I’m not exactly pushed for screen space?

Anyway, to put things back the way you are used to then, navigate to Preferences.

Disable GIMP Tool Groups

Interface >Toolbox > UNTICK Use tool groups > OK.

Relax

macOS: FaceTime HD Camera Not Working In Microsoft Teams?

Posted on 22/04/2020 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001671

Problem

My firm are in the middle of moving from Skype to Teams, so more and more online meetings are being done with Teams. I have had some problems trying to get my camera to work?

Solution

Firstly you need to ‘Allow’ Teams to use the camera; Click the ‘Apple’ icon > System preferences > Security and privacy > Privacy > Camera > Tick to enable ‘Microsoft Teams’ (Note: You may need to click the padlock at the bottom, before you can change any settings).

If you have Teams running, you will need to restart it, then if you can see the camera ‘feed’ in Settings > Devices, (as below) you should be good to go.

Cannot See Camera Input in Teams

If there’s still no input, then it’s probably because another application has control of the Camera. (Remember I said above, we are migrating from Skype!) Well look in Skype and boom its working there, so Teams can’t use it!

I don’t need my camera in Skype, so I can simply ‘Block’ Skype from using it;

But if you want to use the Camara in BOTH/MORE applications, simply close the other applications that may have stolen the camera and restart the one you want to use it.

Windows In VMware Fusion ‘Cannot Access Shared Folders’

Posted on 12/12/2019 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001627

Problem

Every so often I have a problem with the Windows 10 VM that I run on my mac in VMware Fusion, last time I needed to upgrade to Fusion 11.5, before that it was a registry fix. This time I could not access any files or folders on the parent mac.

Network Error
Windows cannot access \\vmware-host\Shared Folders\{Folder-Name}
You do not have permissions to access \\vmware-host\Shared Folders\{Folder-Name}. Contact your network administrator to request access.

Solution

Removing and re-adding the share in VMware Fusion didn’t fix the problem, in the end I had to grant VMware Fusion, ‘Full Disk’ access before the problem ceased.

System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy > ‘Unlock’ > Full Disk Access > Tick ‘VMware Fusion.app”.

macOS: Find your DHCP Server Address

Posted on 27/08/2019 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001587

Problem

In Windows this is easy to find, ‘ipconfig /all‘ will tell you 🙂 On macOS it’s not so simple.

Solution

First you need to know which network card we are talking about! Your wireless network card is nearly always en0 (that’s a zero), if you are on a wired connection simply run ifconfig and find the right network card.

to double check you can run;

[box]

ipconfig getifaddr en0

[/box]

Then to see your DHCP server address, issue the following command;

[box]

ipconfig getpacket en0

[/box]

Look for the value of server_identifier this is the DHCP servers address.

iLO: Java Error “Unable to Load Resource”

Posted on 09/06/2019 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001567

Problem

When attempting to connect to an iLO 3 remote console on an HP Server;

General Exception
Name: com.hp.ilo2.intgapp.intgapp
ExitException: Unable to load resource
https://{Server}/html/intgapp3_231.jar

Solution

Having added the URL to the iLO to the trusted sites in the the Java Preferences, I thought this all I had to do. Turns out I was wrong. Navigate to Administration > Security > Encryption > Encryption Enforcement Settings > Enforce AES/DES Encryption > Change to ‘Enabled‘ > Apply > Wait for the iLO to reset, and try again.

Remote Connect to macOS

Posted on 25/04/2019 by PeteLong

KB ID 0001539

Problem

Remotely connecting to Windows is easy we’ve had RDP since Windows NT4, (yes I’m that old). But what if you want to remote connect to a mac? Well that has ‘Screen Sharing’ built in, (which it pretty much the same, but it uses VNC).

If you’re unfamiliar with VNC, (Virtual Network Computing,) you can install it on both Windows and Linux. Normally you need a client, (to connect with) and a server, (to connect to). VNC server is built into your Mac, so you just need to switch it on.

Note: To access though a firewall you will need to have TCP port 5900 open/forwarded to the mac.

Solution

Apple Symbol > System Prefernces > Sharing.

Tick: ‘Screen Sharing‘ > Computer Settings > Tick VNC viewers may control screen with password > Enter a password > OK.

On a remote machine download a VNC client (there are a lot to choose from!) > Point it to the IP address of your mac > Enter the password you set, (above).

And you are connected.

Problem

Solution: Mac Screen Dim

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No Captive Portal: Solution

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