Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2016 February 11

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February 11

OSX Yosemite not opening / launching files / dmg / updates etc.

I don't know if people still answer questions like this here (last time I was *here* was like 2009 or something) but I am having a huge bug with my recently applecare expired macbook pro retina. Now, whenever I double click on a picture on the desktop, or try to install a new program (try to open the .dmg file to allow for installation, or even just update adobe flash, I instead just get a "verifying" pop-up with a security icon that never loads or finishes. So basically I cannot do anything. I can still open files from within programs (like open a picture from the open drop down menu in preview) but I cannot install new programs or updates.

Here is a picture of the messages

Things I have tried : It's not the right click give permission to open apps not from the apple store thing. I checked my security settings. I restarted computer in safe mode and tried. I tried as a different user. I repaired disk permissions. I let someone smart look at what was showing up in the console (they didn't see anything that looked suspicious).

At the very least could someone maybe at least tell me what the actual words I should be using to describe this phenomenon are?

Finally, if the answer is to wipe the whole thing and reinstall the OS, can I still just install Yosemite (Don't want El Capitan yet since have legacy software); how would one then put everything back from time machine without putting back the problem? I used to be really good at Macs until they got sort of automated. I do not want to screw things up more by typing unix code in the terminal based soley on stuff I read in online threads since I don't even know which problem I actually have.

Thanks Saudade7 11:02, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Unifying devices and e-mail

This may just be a question about the right terminology, as I don't know the right words to google for. But the situation must be not uncommon: I have three devices that each have their own OS and data, which I would like to combine:

1. desktop: my old machine, still running Win XP. E-mail through my main account (not gmail or MS mail, but a domain hosted through a traditional web host), managed with Outlook;
2. laptop: Windows 10; just bought. This apparently requires a Microsoft E-mail Account for some basic functionality;
3. phone: Android; e-mail via gMail.

I forward e-mail from my main account (on the desktop) to the gMail account through an Outlook rule. This is cumbersome (Need to edit the rule constantly because I selectively forward only some mail - I get too much mail through my main account), so I'm looking for a way to simplify my life. Also, any data transfer between the devices currently is through USB sticks or USB cable, which isn't the easiest way. How do others juggle three different devices? --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 17:18, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

It sounds like you need to exclusively use a server-based email system, like Gmail. This will allow you to access it from any device with an internet connection. Outlook, I believe, works the other way, and downloads email to your device. This is problematic with multiple devices. For now, I'd just forward everything from Outlook to Gmail, and sort it out there. If you are getting lots of spam, then maybe you need to set up some filters, whitelists, or blacklists to stop those. (Note that Gmail still allows you to download things, when you choose to do so.) StuRat (talk) 17:31, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for your reply. The bulk of mail is not spam, but just such mails as notifications from web pages I signed up for, or organizations or initiatives I support or follow. Currently I move them to their respective folders and look at them when I feel like it. Over the years, I got quite an intricate system of folders and rules for that; I'm not even sure if I could replicate that on Gmail. Also, that would still not help me with the need for a Microsoft Account, or would it? It seems the MS account is needed to start such simple applications as OneNote, and I thought it would help me unify non-e-mail data across devices. Or can that all be done with Gmail, too? --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 18:04, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Regarding "This will allow you to access it from any device with an internet connection." I can do that through Outlook, too, via IMAP, but that comes with its own set of issues. --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 18:07, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

I don't have any suggestion on the email front, but for data transfer, there are numerous cloud storage options, such as Dropbox and Google Drive. Bluetooth file transfer might also be an option, but possibly not on an XP-vintage PC. --LarryMac | Talk 18:14, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Actually, that could conceivably be a solution for the email front, too, if I kept a synchronized copy of the Outlook data file on that location, too. (I prefer synchronized because I don't want to be dependent on always having an internet connection. My Outlook file contains information such as appointments which I may need to access on the road.) --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 18:20, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

I can tell you what I do... I have many email accounts because every university I teach at gives a new one and every organization I work for gives me a new one. I forward all of them to gmail. I use IMAP clients to read gmail (like Thunderbird). I built rules through the gmail web client to put emails in folders based on subject lines, sources of the emails, and other things. Then, if I'm on my own computer, I run Thunderbird. I my phone, I use the built-in IMAP client. If I'm using someone else's computer, I use the web and go to gmail from there. I have only had one downside. When I send email, it always comes from my gmail account. I don't care, but I've had some people ask why I'm using my gmail account when they gave me an email address. I tell them that I always send email from one account so they will know it is me. They accept it. 209.149.115.90 (talk) 18:42, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Thank you for relating your experience. With your gmail rules, do you achieve that when an unimportant mail arrives, it will not show up as a new arrival, and you won't get the notification sound? Regarding the sender address, Outlook allows to change the sender, but it still says "sent on behalf of ...". Maybe gmail has a similar feature. --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 19:04, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

When new mail arrives, it gets sorted and then the email program I'm currently using can alert me however I've told it to. Thunderbird has rules per folder - so I can tell one folder to play a deafening siren and another to do nothing. On the web interface, I have no sounds. On my phone, I don't let it alert me at all. When I feel like looking, I see if any folders are highlighted as having new email. This requires me to keep up with the email. I'm not someone who lets emails sit for months and then have over 1,000 "new" emails in every folder. As for the sender email address, you can change it in Thunderbird easily, but that can be overwritten by the SMTP server. GMail's SMTP server ignores your request and uses your gmail email address. 209.149.115.90 (talk) 19:10, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

So I understand the following; please correct me if I'm wrong: The functionality you're describing seems to work for any IMAP account. So it would just as well work with my current (main) account, or with a Microsoft account. The reason why you're using gmail is because the phone expects it. Right? Do you have a Microsoft device that expects a Microsoft account, too? If so, do you use that account at all, or just as a temporary thing to get to the features? --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 19:28, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Correct. What I doing works for any IMAP account. I use gmail because it is my personal email account. I assume that I could lose one of the other email accounts at some point in the future (and I wish I could lose some that I don't use and I've lost my password for, but still get forwarded to me). 209.149.115.90 (talk) 19:56, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Why speakers on bottom of device?

Just out of curiosity: Both my Samsung Galaxy Core Prime phone and my new Lenovo ideapad 100S have the speakers at the bottom of the device. Searching for "why speakers at bottom of devices" gave me http://androidforums.com/threads/why-speakers-on-rear-of-phone.392616/, which (in unnamedny's) reply, at least gave me one reason that would apply to my phone. Their main argument there, that it's for space limitations, doesn't apply to my phone, and certainly not to the laptop, which has plenty of space next to monitor and keyboard. --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 18:55, 11 February 2016 (UTC) PS: What's a "congabible"? That's the CAPTCHA word I had to enter because of the link. :-) (No need to answer, I know it's random; I just found the word funny.) --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 18:55, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Congabible is two words "conga" and "bible" crammed together. The CAPTCHA here makes the assumption that nobody would figure out how to use a dictionary of 4 and 5 letter words to do a best two-word match and write a script to automatically fill in the CAPTCHA. 209.149.115.90 (talk) 19:04, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Yes, I know, I shouldn't have posted this on the Computer reference desk. I just couldn't resist. --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 19:06, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Heh! That suggests a challenge. Record the next 5 CAPTCHA "words" one encounters, and write a story that uses them as neologisms. The Congabible could be a definitive dance instructional manual. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 185.74.232.130 (talk) 14:49, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

Hmmm...I assumed it was the regular King James' bible, encoded as a series of complex interpretive dance moves played out to the conga rhythm. This is why it's inadvisable to ask these things on the Computing desk! :-) SteveBaker (talk) 18:30, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

The Lonovo Ideapad 100S uses rather poor speakers (very tinny) to begin with. I assume they figured nobody would care if the sound was also muffled. 209.149.115.90 (talk) 19:29, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

I've seen sub-bass speakers pointed downward. I had assumed that was to transfer the vibrations to the floor or furniture to make that into a larger resonator. StuRat (talk) 20:06, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

That is true. Before answering, I checked to see if these were sub speakers. The Lenovo Ideapad 100S only has two cheap rectangular general purpose speakers. No sub. Found many people complaining that the sound is terrible and others saying that you get what you pay for. 209.149.115.90 (talk) 20:08, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Yes, sound is tinny, and I'm not complaining; I understand that it saves money. I'm just wondering why in modern devices speakers are placed at the bottom. --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 23:31, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

One theory: Cheap-ass speakers produce way too much treble and too little bass. Treble tends to be blocked more by solid objects. Thus, one way to fix that problem is to cover the speakers and crank up the volume. Most of the treble gets blocked and the ratio is more acceptable. Of course, if they have treble/bass adjustments, that should fix the problem, too, except those may be absent or of minimal effectiveness on a bad speaker set. So, they just pointed the speakers down so most of that excess treble will be absorbed by whatever's underneath the speakers. You might try putting something soft under them, as that may be more effective at absorbing the treble. StuRat (talk) 04:58, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

Alternative theory: The gap between the laptop and the table improves the acoustic impedance matching by acting as a horn loudspeaker. --Guy Macon (talk) 05:16, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

I'd go with that one. Very *very* many years ago, I worked in the field of telephony in the UK. When the (then very innovative) Trimphone came out, we wondered about the electronics that transformed the electromechanical bell stimulus into a cute warbling tone worked. It turns out that the downward facing speaker did indeed use the air-gap beneath as a resonant chamber....which is why the phone was notorious for sounding crappy when the little rubber feet came unglued. SteveBaker (talk) 18:30, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

(Come to think of it - having read the Trimphone article and stirred a few memories - I think the volume control worked by mechanically raising and lowering the speaker to disrupt that resonance effect!) SteveBaker (talk) 18:34, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

Wouldn't the missing rubber feet cause vibration, and ruin the sound that way ? StuRat (talk) 18:39, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

echo characters onto new lines

Resolved

At the command line, how might one echo each individual character of a string onto a new line? For example

echo test

would become

t
e
s
t

Thank you 82.44.55.214 (talk) 21:30, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

You didn't specify what OS or what shell you're using, but if you have sed and pipes, you could do

echo test | sed 's/./&\n/g'

Mnudelman (talk) 21:46, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Thank you 82.44.55.214 (talk) 22:15, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Battery Warranty

If I have a warranty for my Laptop battery i.e. dying before the warranty ends, will I be able to replace it and get a new one? If so, what percentage does it have to be? Its was bought on 21-12-2015. thrice it was completely battery less, and so on. Its on 21% now. -- Apostle (talk) 21:37, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

There's no percentage batteries have to be at. It's by design that percentage changes as a battery gets charged and discharged. Or are you saying you can never go above 21%, no matter how long you charge it? That would definitely be defective. --Microsoft User 2016 (talk) 23:25, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

The percentage shown in the display just indicates the current state of discharge and is unreliable. If the capacity is only 21% of what it was initially (and as in the specifications), as measured by milliampere-hours, then you have a faulty battery and should claim under warranty. Dbfirs 00:26, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

It says: Wear Level: 21%.

Full Charged Capacity: is where the mWh decreases - I'm measuring it with the Designed Capacity: 48400mWh the software states.

Current Capacity: is where it displays how much it is charging... A few times the mWh did not decrease in the Current Capacity: row. During experimentation.

Note: The last (original) battery lasted since 2012. Designed Capacity was 48400mWh. I've done all sorts of things with and without charging.

Now, this current battery

The battery had something like 1540444mWh (or something alike) on the Full Charged Capacity: that gave just about 5hr 13min. On the battery it says 5200mAh Its reduced to 3hr something (37807mWh) now. However, the Designed Capacity: 48400mWh of the 5200mAh. I guess its a modified version of 4200mAh

I discharged it many times after it was fully charged while it was on. - reduced mwh drastically.

It also switched off by itself automatically (to the power reserve mode) two or three times- reduced mwh drastically - the third time I quickly put to recharge mode cause I knew what it would do to the battery. Yes, I lost mWh but not as much as the last two times. Also note, while it was charging and was trying to go to reserve mode, I manually switched the laptop off - just did not trust anything...

I'm just wondering whether I could change this battery and get a new one cause its been 7 weeks...if so than I can proceed with more experiments...

Apostle (talk) 19:09, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

A lot of modern laptop batteries are more than just a pile of batteries in a plastic box. They often contain a small microcontroller to manage this stuff. Before you try experimenting with your battery - you might want to read the warranty terms more closely because it's very possible that the battery microcontroller is logging your charging and discharging behavior, and if the manufacturer decides that you somehow abused it, they may not replace it for free on grounds that this wasn't "fair wear and tear" usage. That was the case with a reconditioned HP laptop I bought for my mother in law - it had a 1 year warranty on the 3rd party battery they'd used during the refurbishment. But when it failed completely after 10 months they refused to replace it for free because the battery reported that it had been driven down to zero charge over 100 times in 10 months. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper - and eventually haggled a half-price replacement by applying the "If a little old lady can't use it..." defense, loudly, in the store and with a line of people waiting behind me. It is likely that they'll check how you've been using it - and if you've been ignoring the instructions on how it should be charged, they may well not replace yours for free either. Go read the fine print! SteveBaker (talk) 18:19, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

After an analysis, together with your past time scenario, I believe I'm alright, because,

1) the shopkeeper told me to charge it for about four-five hours for the first time. He did not say whether to charge it on/off. The manual however did not say what the shopkeeper said and I followed the manual's one/two line definition statement i.e."Charge it to 100% when it goes to 2% for the first time." - I guess it meant by keeping the Laptop on. There was no other definition/description rather than another section to the statement above i.e. "For maximum power ____________(something)___________ to 70%." Now, before I followed through the first section of the one/two line the manual stated (every time thereafter the first time), I sought advice from you guys and you guys redirected me to the manual - only Stu stated what the electronic shopkeeper stated as above. I knew over charging creates problems, so I took a risk - if this could create a problem than the manual should've addressed it clearly that "Charge for four-five hours non-stop for the first time", not the shopkeeper.

2) Its been 7 weeks, its gone to auto reserve mode three times in a month - not consecutively. Its been charged and discharged a few times while it was on - this should be a minor problem upon which a finger shouldn't be pointed at. I called the guy after messaging you guys because it went up to 21%. It was Friday so I couldn't explain the truth to the guy. He respected me for not disturbing him on his day off and the next day, without a discussion he said that he'll change it. Now, before I called him on Saturday, the battery stopped functioning - it wan't working without the power plug. I thought since he respected me so much I would take my Laptop down and show it to him - I was suppose to do this the first time as he requested but I did not wish to and he trusted me that's why I took it the second time.

Now, if you think the guy might point his finger for the first point, than -- Apostle (talk) 09:46, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

I'm just concerned that you said "..if so than I can proceed with more experiments..." - and if your experiments go beyond normal wear and tear, you might have a hard time getting it replaced under warranty. Just because the battery failed within the warranty period doesn't guarantee they'll replace it for free if there is evidence that there was more than 'fair wear and tear' involved. SteveBaker (talk) 17:15, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

I understand. I would've proceeded, intended to because Dbfirs wished for me to notify about my experience(s) to you all. I just wanted a clarification. Thank you for your posts for analysis...I never knew that battery controller existed... -- Apostle (talk) 20:43, 14 February 2016 (UTC)