Tag: MacBook Pro

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Home PC iMac iPad iPhone MacBook Pro MacOS

Resolved Canon MF743 Communication

I purchased the Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw in 2020 just before the pandemic. I purchased the print because at the office we had a Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE C5535i. The imageRUNNER scanned well, worked with Windows 10, Windows 11, Mac, and all our mobile devices. Scan to email never failed, and it was easy to manage through the web interface. I really liked this printer and I figured the imageCLASS MF743Cdw would work just as well. It worked almost as expected.

My home network is setup for DHCP, and I set the printer with a static IP address and made the reservation in the router. The MF743 is connected by a wired ethernet cable. The MF743 works great when the Mac can see the printer. However, when the printer reboots due to a power outage or maintenance, the printer add extra characters to it’s name and the Mac can find it. I think I found the answer on a Canon community post.

In the IPv4 Settings, turn off all the DHCP options and enter a specific name for the printer in DNS settings and mDNS Settings. I also used the updated Canon driver instead of Airprint.

So far, I’ve restarted the printer several times and I can print and scan with no issues. I do not have to remove and add the printer when the printer reboots. I still have a problem with printing from mobile devices when he printer is in power save mode. Someone has to tap the screen to wake up the printer and then it is listed under the available devices.

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Apple Geek Stuff MacBook Pro MacOS

Add the iCloud Drive Icon to MacOS Dock

I like having the iCloud Drive on my MacOS dock. I do this for my personal and work accounts. Below are the steps to add the icon to your dock and your desktop

Open the Mac Finder and select Go and then select Go to Folder

Enter the follow path and press return
/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Applications/

Drag the icon iCloud Drive application to your Dock or Desktop

I dragged the icon next to the Finder icon on the Dock.

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Apple Home PC MacBook Pro

Goodbye MacBook Pro Mid 2017

Wednesday, December 1, 2021, started off like any more work day. I walked into the office and connected my MacBook Pro to my Dell port replicator as I’ve done for several years. I grabbed a coffee pod and headed towards the kitchen for a cup of coffee in my second favorite mug. I went back to my desk with a granola bar started my work day and enjoyed that cup of black gold.

My mug is a dark brown color

It was a great day, and I accomplished many tasks and was ready to meet my manager for my bi-weekly meeting to discuss my current work load, what’s coming up, and for me to ask questions. All in all it was a typical day. However, just before my meeting, my day was going to get worse.

I disconnected my MacBook Pro and headed into the conference room. I brought my second cup of coffee, sat down and waited for my manager. I opened the lid of my MacBook and there is was, a dead screen. No response from the mouse or the keyboard. Just a rainbow of color and missing rows of pixels. Nothing I could do but a hard shutdown. The computer to the same problem again. This was not going to be a good day.

After the meeting (which I had my notes on my phone and as reference), I went back to my desk and connected the computer to my port replicator. Success!! The computer was functional, but only in this state. It appears I have a bad video ribbon cable. I texted my wife the sad news, and she asked how much will it cost for repairs. That will need to be a call for Friday when I have time for Apple Technical Support.

I called Apple technical Support and they tried to connect to my computer with no success. I was amazed they were able to connect to my iPhone so I could show them the issue. Now the computer looks worse.

We schedule an appointment the next day at the local Apple store to discuss with an Apple Genius. Needless to say, the cost to repair this four year old computer was $650.00 for a new display and ribbon cable. I was prepared for a cost closer to $250.00. Instead, I went through the buy back program for this computer and purchased a new MacBook Pro 16-inch M1Pro. Nice!

Goodbye my friend

I was not in the market for a new computer. I was planning to purchase a new computer in 2023 after more testing and compatibility issues were worked out with the M1 chip. This new MacBook Pro M1 Pro is incredibly fast! I am very pleased with the purchase. I have installed almost all of my applications and my data was retained in Microsoft OneDrive and iCloud.com.

Something I didn’t think about when I made the purchase was my virtual computers I have in Parallels. The virtual computers were setup for an Intel based system and will not work on an ARM based chipset. So my Windows 11 Pro is now a Windows 11 Pro Arm based preview, which is good until Sep 2023. My Windows 10 Pro virtual computer I use for work is not available.

I do not have buyer’s remorse for my purchase. This is a great computer and I got some money for my 2017 MacBook Pro. Once I have the virtual machines resolved, I ca go back to my MacBook full time instead of the work provided computer.

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Apple Home PC iPad

Keyboard for Home Office

About a week ago I purchased a Satechi Slim X1 Bluetooth Backlit Keyboard for my home office. You can connect unto three Bluetooth devices to the X1 keyboard. Press and hold the fn key with one of the Bluetooth keys to program. I set the Bluetooth connections to match my Logitech MX Anywhere 2 mouse. Switching between the three connections is quick by pressing the fn key with the corresponding Bluetooth key. You can also connect the USB-C cable to the keyboard and computer and press fn Eject to switch to a wired connection.

You can adjust the back light of the keyboard by pressing the F5 to turn down the brightness and F6 will increase the brightness. The back light is nice, but I only used it twice, once when I pressed the keys and then for the pictures for this post. The light does bleed out from the keys.

One key that I was missing is the Mission Control on Apple Magic Keyboard (F4). The F4 key is now mapped to a task switcher. I checked the settings and found pressing ctrl and the up arrow ^↑  will activate Mission Control.

Satechi states it will take about 2 – 3 hours to charge the keyboard. Depending on the brightness of the back light keys, you can get anywhere from 8 hours to 125 hours and 13 days of standby time.

This is my favorite keyboard. I have it programmed to connect to my Lenovo T480 work computer, my MacBook Pro, and my 2020 iPad Air. It is comfortable for my ergonomic needs, responsive keys and switching between devices, and looks great. Plus the color is very close to the Space grey on my MacBook Pro.

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Apple Google Chrome Home PC Personal Safari

How to Disable Norton Security Extensions Popups on Mac

Photo by Josie Stephens on Pexels.com

Back in October 2018, I purchased a 15″ 2017 Macbook Pro and to use as my main computer for home and the office.  To be compliant, I installed Norton Security on my Mac and enabled all the features including those pesky browser extensions.  The browser extensions disabled my ability to search Google from my Safari home screen and disabled my password manager, 1Password (one of my favorite applications).  So I removed the extensions and thought everything was good to go.

Screen Shot 2018-11-13 at 2.56.42 PM.png

Every few days I would receive a pop-up asking me to install the Norton browser extensions.  No matter what, you can’t get out of it.  Your only options are to Remind Me Later or Add.  I searched the Internet and found that nobody had a solution.  So I reached out to Norton and had the issue fixed with 30 minutes.  All you need to do is install the extensions for all your browsers and then turn them off.  Here are the steps

Safari

Screen Shot 2018-11-24 at 6.33.33 PM.png

  1. Open Norton Security and click Advance.
  2. Click on Safe Web and select Safari.
  3. Install Norton Safe Search and Norton Password Manager extensions in Safari.
  4. With Safari still open, click Safari from the menu bar and select Preferences.
  5. Click on Extension and remove the check from the box.

Google ChromeScreen Shot 2018-11-24 at 6.34.04 PM.png

  1. Open Norton Security and click Advance.
  2. Click on Safe Web and select Chrome.
  3. Follow all the prompts to install the extensions Norton Safe Web, Safe Search, and Password Manager.
  4. Click the three dots on the menu and select More Tools and then Extensions.
  5. Turn off the Norton extensions by clicking on the blue slider button.

Ten days and about five different Wi-Fi networks later, and I have not been bothered with extension pop-ups!

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Apple Personal

Boot Up Problems with MacBook Pro 2017

Today my new MacBook Pro (15-inch 2017) arrived by FedEx.  Nope, I didn’t take a picture or shoot an unboxing video.  No time for that.

I purchased the MacBook from B&H Photo.  Yes, yo can get the better Coffee Lake processor with more RAM and most likely a faster SSD in the 2018 model, but that was too far out of my price range.  After I got over the initial hiccup with the setup (which is what this post is about), I am enjoying my new 2017 MacBook Pro.

While I was setting up the Mac, I received an error after connecting to my home Wi-Fi.  A critical software update was needed but there was an error.  I clicked Try Again, and everything seem to work.  I was able to set up with macOS High Sierra and everything was good to go. Critical_Software_Update_2Then I plugged in the charger, and nothing.  No power, no chime, no change in the battery icon.  Weird.  I rebooted the Mac and the same error came back, and nothing was letting me get past it.  I found a discussion on an Apple Community and it resolved my problem.

Here are the steps and the link to the article I found:

  1. TURN OFF MAC, REMOVE USB-C POWER SUPPLY CABLE AND ANY PERIPHERAL
  2. WAIT 10 SECONDS
  3. PRESS SHIFT + CONTROL + OPTION + POWER FOR 10 SECONDS
  4. WAIT 5 SECONDS
  5. CONNECT USB-C POWER SUPPLY
  6. POWER ON.

Minor issue fixed!  I am able to charge the Mac, update to macOS Mojave, install almost all of my apps, setup iCloud, and a few other things.