I find the slideshow speed too fast and would prefer a 15-30 second duration. I know the relevant plist is at /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Slideshows.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Content/EffectDescriptions.plist and I believe the entry that needs changing is mainDuration in the JustASlide key. I tried recursively copying /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Slideshows.framework/ to /Library/PrivateFrameworks/Slideshows.framework/ and then changing the destination plist, on the hunch that user library settings would override System library settings. This had no noticeable effect. I've found the below Q&As helpful in researching the issue, but I do not want to disable SIP and authenticated root and therefore be unable to re-enable FileVault. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/135766/os-x-mavericks-screensaver-changes-pictures-too-quickly-how-do-i-slow-it-down https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/378905/how-do-i-change-the-image-display-duration-in-the-catalina-screensavers https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/395508/can-i-mount-the-root-system-filesystem-as-writable-in-big-sur

Right up until a week ago, my simple Applescript that had to simply click on a specific coordinate on screen just stopped working. Here is the Applescript: tell application "System Events" click at {693, 619} end tell And I automate it's trigger at a specific time of day with the help of osascript (recommended for Applescripts) using the following plist file. Label com.mouseclick.plist ProgramArguments /usr/bin/osascript /Users/mugenvoid/Downloads/mouseclick.scpt StartCalendarInterval Hour 6 Minute 10 I've added this plist file to the LaunchDaemons folder of my core Library folder. This will ensure it's a global daemon, so it should have the highest chance of always triggering correctly. Beyond that, I've given all the relevant access and permissions (Accessibility, Automation, disk access etc) for this setup to work correctly. To ensure the job is loaded correctly and functional, I use an application called Launchcontrol 2. Over there, it is always loaded in correctly and the status shows as OK. Despite all these checks and balances, the script just doesn't click on the specific coordinate no more. It was always working perfectly fine up until a week ago and I haven't made any changes whatsoever to this whole setup. The Launchcontrol 2 application has some launchd(8) logs of the job trigger event at the designated time that I would like to share. Perhaps it will help with the debugging. Here it is: 2024-10-22 06:10:03.808584 internal event: WILL_SPAWN, code = 0 2024-10-22 06:10:03.808688 service state: spawn scheduled 2024-10-22 06:10:03.808692 service state: spawning 2024-10-22 06:10:03.808727 launching: xpc event 2024-10-22 06:10:03.810543 xpcproxy spawned with pid 28683 2024-10-22 06:10:03.810593 internal event: SPAWNED, code = 0 2024-10-22 06:10:03.810599 service state: xpcproxy 2024-10-22 06:10:03.810718 internal event: SOURCE_ATTACH, code = 0 2024-10-22 06:10:03.827675 service state: running 2024-10-22 06:10:03.827703 internal event: INIT, code = 0 2024-10-22 06:10:03.827709 job state = running 2024-10-22 06:10:03.827726 Successfully spawned osascript because xpc event 2024-10-22 06:10:10.104597 exited due to exit(0), ran for 6293ms 2024-10-22 06:10:10.104617 service state: exited 2024-10-22 06:10:10.104630 internal event: EXITED, code = 0 2024-10-22 06:10:10.104633 job state = exited 2024-10-22 06:10:10.104665 service inactive: com.mouseclick.plist 2024-10-22 06:10:10.104681 service state: not running To the best of my knowledge, I've checked everything possible from my end and am still faced with this roadblock. I'd really appreciate your support here! Condensed view of what I've tried so far: - Under the Privacy & Security settings section, I enabled Accessibility for osascript, launchcontrol and the script editors I've used for the Applescript and the plist file. See image attached below. - Under the Privacy & Security settings section, under Automation, the requisite access has been given to Osascript and relevant applications. See image attached below. - Ensured the job is loaded correctly with no errors and that it is loaded in as a global daemon (by adding the plist file to the LaunchDaemons foler in my core Library folder). See image attached below. - Verified the script file and plist file and found no syntax errors (code used for both has been shared above). - Ran the script file from the Script Editor itself to confirm if it's working fine and got the following results. See image attached below.

I'm using The Pritunl VPN software for one of my Mac's user accounts. The software installer creates a system LaunchDaemon found under /Library/LaunchDaemons called com.pritunl.service.plist Unfortunately this service remains active when I log out from the user profile it's intended for, causing the VPN connection to also remain active for different user accounts. What I would like to do is to remove this service from the /system/ and add it as a /user/username startup service. My intention is for the service to be started whenever I log in with the specific user and for it to stop whenever the user is logged out. What I've tried to do so far is to unload the system service, remove the .plist from the system directory /Library/LaunchDaemons and to move it to the user directory ~/Library/LaunchAgents after which I attempted loading and registering it for the specific user account. I've not yet succeeded in performing these steps correctly as the user account in question does not have root access.

Label
	com.pritunl.service
	ProgramArguments
	
		/Applications/Pritunl.app/Contents/Resources/pritunl-service
	
	KeepAlive
	
	Umask
	0

sudo launchctl list com.pritunl.service
{
	"LimitLoadToSessionType" = "System";
	"Label" = "com.pritunl.service";
	"OnDemand" = false;
	"LastExitStatus" = 0;
	"PID" = XXXX;
	"Program" = "/Applications/Pritunl.app/Contents/Resources/pritunl-service";
	"ProgramArguments" = (
		"/Applications/Pritunl.app/Contents/Resources/pritunl-service";
	);
};

Reference material I've used: https://rakhesh.com/mac/macos-launchctl-commands/ When trying to learn more about LimitLoadToSessionType I've only managed to find this archived older documentation. https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/technotes/tn2083/_index.html Trying to find it on the current documentation page hasn't resulted in what I'm looking for. https://developer.apple.com/search/?q=LimitLoadToSessionType I've found this excellent post detailing a lot of related subjects. https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/366281/launchd-confusion-on-semantics-of-bootstrap-and-bootout-etc-after-reading-manu

When I try to load a self-created LaunchDaemon using

sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/local.setup-network.plist

I get the following error

Bootstrap failed: 5: Input/output error

And I don't know what is wrong. My plist looks like this:

label
        local.setup-network

		ProgramArguments
        
			/Library/Scripts/setup-network.sh
        

    	RunAtLoad

The plist is well formed

# plutil -lint /Library/LaunchDaemons/local.setup-network.plist
/Library/LaunchDaemons/local.setup-network.plist: OK

I checked all file permissions and they all look fine to me. The console application shows no errors either.

I have a workflow which is installed as a Service. It is used to call code in my AppleScript applet. The Service has one action: a "Run AppleScript" action. I update the Service quite often with improvements. I need a way to know that the installed version of my Service is old. One way might be to give it a "version". I have tried many ways, none of which worked. In particular, usually there is a CFShortVersionString key in an app's info.plist file. I can add that to my Service's info.plist file. But, when I open my Service in Automator.app, make some changes and then save, all my custom entries in the info.plist file are deleted. Is there an editor for Automator workflows that does not remove custom keys in the info.plist file ? Thanks. UDATE: Adding a variable to the workflow is a good idea. But, I can't it working for me. Yesterday, I added the variable called "Version" and gave it a value "1.21". Today, the variable is still there but is empty. Probably because I still do not understand how it all works and I made a mess of it. In the end, a separate file in the service's bundle containing just the version string is easy for me as my AppleScript applet can read it without having to parse a complicated XML file (either as plain text or using System Events). Also, I still don't know how developers create workflows which DO contain version and other keys inside the info.plist file. Automator removes those keys and so developers must be using another tool – Xcode ? Have also found some services that contain a "version.plist" file. I have Googled for hours but, can find no documentation on the "version.plist" file content – which seems to duplicate some keys inside info.plist. The "version.plist" file does not seem to be used by Finder. In an example service provided by Apple, if I delete the CFBundleShortVersionString from the info.plist file, but retain the version.plist file, Finder's Get Info shows no version. UPDATE 2: Apparently version.plist is used by Installer. More detail here: http://mirror.informatimago.com/next/developer.apple.com/documentation/DeveloperTools/Conceptual/SoftwareDistribution/Concepts/sd_pkg_version_info.html Can't find that detail anywhere on developer.apple.com so, it might be out-of-date/wrong.

I have been useing a wired Logitech USB mouse for a couple years and all of a sudden it decided to slow way down. Thinking this was a preferences issue. Settings > Mouse, cranked the speed up to Max. Still slower than I would like. Break out the magic mouse, and it moves the cursor across the screen by tapping it. So I have a standard USB mouse that is suddenly a slug and an Apple Magic Missle... Both of these devices are seemingly governed by a single preferences panel. Ostensibly stored in a .plist Searches on this site state the file is

~/Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist

moving the file to

~/Users/brap/Desktop

to save it off and letting the OS re-create the file still yields the same result. Wired slug and bluetooth rocket. People have suggested that I should contact Logitech - that its a hardware issue and not software. Which might make sense if the devices behavior had not suddenly changed two days ago. I will be taking my mouse to the local box retail store to see if I can replicate the issue on one of their devices. Hopefully someone can give me an idea on what to try next that is not : back up everything and re-install from scratch. Do any of you know any more about the Preferences and plists? Is there something I am overlooking? Best.

From Finder, I can preview a plist file without any difficulties. For example, using Quick Look with ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.RSS.plist I get a nice preview of its contents: However, if I then try to open the file, either with TextEdit, or any other editor (I've tried SublimeText, TextMate, Vim, Nano, and Coda 2 so far), the encoding appears to be off: bplist00Ò_"FixedRefreshesInBackgroundSettings_(com.apple.PreferenceSync.ExcludeSyncKeys ¡ 2]^����������������������������` Here's what it looks like if I open it with TextEdit: I've tried changing the encoding in Sublime Text and other apps, but that doesn't help. Any thoughts? I'm running 10.8.4.

Is it possible to edit whatever plist contains magic trackpad preferences (MacBook Pro 2023) on Ventura to increase the force required for regular click beyond what the "slider" in system settings allows? I'd like it if it was approximately 25% "harder" to click and the slider in system settings isn't adaquate. Additionally--where is the .plist governing trackpad settings on Ventura?

I ran the following command: launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchAgents/...plist The plist file has the following values: KeepAlive StandardErrorPath /dev/null StandardOutPath /dev/null LimitLoadToSessionType Aqua ProcessType Interactive When I run: sudo launchctl bootstrap gui/501 /Library/LaunchAgents/...plist` I got /Applications/...app/Contents/scripts/...plist: Service is disabled And then I ran: launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchAgents/...plist with the error: Service cannot load in requested session

I’m making a few assumptions here. I find that the Apple Books app is a little clumsy when it comes to managing books and collections, so I though I’d have a look at going behind its back. It appears that the books are managed in a plist file:

~/Library/Containers/com.apple.BKAgentService/Data/Documents/iBooks/Books/Books.plist

This is an XML file, so it’s easy enough to read. Using XCode, I’ve noticed the following: - The items are mostly books (I have nearly a thousand of them). - There appears to be no section for collections. I gather they’re inferred from the book details. - Books don’t all have the same information. I suppose some items exist for all of the books, but some information is missing from some books. What baffles me most is the collections. There is some information call genre which sort of matches some of the collections, but I can’t work this out. I added two collections and added a book to both, but this doesn’t appear in the plist at all, even after quitting the books app. Maybe it’s the wrong file. Does anybody have any information on managing the books data? __Edit__ Now I’m a little more confused: in the Finder the file appears as an XML file, but in the terminal it’s a binary file.

I've built a simple Python script that tries to discover my Sonos speakers via mDNS/UPnP/Bonjour and set some music sources to them. This is done using the [soco](https://soco.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting_started.html) lib. The script works well when started on the shell. Starting it from a LaunchAgent (same machine, same user), it can't find the speakers.

import soco
from soco import discovery

found_speakers = discovery.discover(timeout=30)

Label
        sonos
        ProgramArguments
        
                /usr/local/bin/poetry
                run
                sonos-sanitizer
        
        RunAtLoad
        
        StandardErrorPath
        /var/log/sonos/sonos.stderr
        StandardOutPath
        /var/log/sonos/sonos.stdout
        StartCalendarInterval
        
                Hour
                5
                Minute
                35
        
        WorkingDirectory
        /Users/xxx/Code/sonos_sanitzer

I'm a bit puzzled as of why it doesn't seem to get network access when run via LaunchAgent. I've even extended the discovery timeout to 30 seconds. System is macOS 15 Sequoia. Caveat: The Mac is connected to multiple networks using VLANs.

I need to navigate a site that makes use of javascript that checks for user agent and only permits IE9.0 (don't ask). I am using safari and can set IE 9 in the user agent submenu of the develop menu. However, when the site directs me to another page in its collection, an exception is thrown because the new page sees I am using Safari. Reseting the user agent in the develop menu does not work because the page reloads as a safari user agent. Yes I edited the com.apple.Safari plist to include the following item: Key: CustomUserAgent class: String value: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0) But safari deletes that entry every time it opens a new tab/window and reverts to default! The plist reverts back to 'normal'. Is there a way to make this change permanent?

I have looked through all suggested threads. The ones I am looking for are **not** stored in the following locations: .GlobalPreferences.plist com.apple.universalaccess.plist pbs.plist I have looked through them after converting a copy to XML, but they did not include the shortcuts I am interested in. I tried following advice in another thread to locate the changes using sudo opensnoop | grep '.plist' but I was not able to identify the location myself. I am looking for the storage location of the keyboard shortcuts on this tab, specifically: Open to advice on either: 1. How I could properly parse the information from sudo opensnoop | grep '.plist'. What to look for. 2. Some other way to locate them that does not require me to disable SIP partially. 3. The location of the plist containing the keybinds for this tab.

If you download a file from the internet using Safari, some extended attributes are added to the downloaded file, among which com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms which contains the original URL of the download. In Finder > Get Info the value of this key will be displayed under **Where from:**. /bin/ls -alh shows the presence of extended attributes with a @ in the mode column and xattr -l filename.zip will list all the attributes. According to the xattr's man page to print the value of an attribute one can use:

xattr -p com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms filename.zip

# OUTPUT
# com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms: bplist00�_=https://example.com/filename.zip 

So even if the content is visible, the value is in a binary format with a header of bplist00�_. I tried to parse it in the following way:

xattr -p com.apple.metadata:kMDItemWhereFroms filename.zip > url.plist

# checking the file format:
file url.plist

# OUTPUT:
# url.plist: Apple binary property list

# assuming this should work:
plutil -convert xml1 url.plist

# OUTPUT:
# url.plist: Property List error: Unexpected character b at line 1 / JSON error: 
# JSON text did not start with array or object and option to allow 
# fragments not set. around line 1, column 0.

Trying to parse the file with python's ootb plistlib throws an error too:

import plistlib

with open('url.plist', 'rb') as fi:
    plist = plistlib.load(fi)

# OUTPUT:
# plistlib.InvalidFileException: Invalid file

From the output it looks like it is not a regular binary plist format even though file url.plist claims it is an 'Apple binary property list'. Any hints as to what the format is and how to parse it to a plain text value?

Are there any settings in Xcode which can increase the font size of the plist editor (especially the key and the value text)? I tried Preference → Fonts and Colors but to no avail.

I would like to enable logging on my file sharing service. (It's crashing intermittently and I can't figure out why.) When I inspect the plist for the file sharing service **smbd** on my Mac running Mojave, I see: user@mac:~ $ plutil -p /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.smb.server.plist { "AclsEnabled" => 1 "DOSCodePage" => "437" "LocalKerberosRealm" => "LKDC:SHA1..." "LogLevel" => 0 "NetBIOSName" => "transom" "ServerDescription" => "Transom" "SigningRequired" => 0 } So, it looks like logging is configured with the parameter "LogLevel". I've read the smbd man page, and it's not much help, with this parameter. - What are the allowed log levels? - Which level is best for debugging **smbd** crashes? - What's the preferred method for tweaking a value? (plutil can set, or...)

Coming from the Linux world, I've set up my share of systemd daemons, but I've only this morning been forced to experiment with launchctl. My recent update to Sequoia has made it so that I now have to manually run ssh-add after every boot. Having to do this from a terminal session breaks some other workflows I've set up, so I have the following saved as ~/.config/scripts/add-ssh-keys.sh: #!/bin/bash # Ensure the SSH agent is running and add your key if ! ssh-add -l > /dev/null 2>&1; then eval "$(ssh-agent -s)" fi # Add the private SSH key to the agent ssh-add -K ~/.ssh/my_private_key I can easily confirm that the ssh-add command works as written above when entered manually in the terminal. A quick ls confirms that the file is executable as I'd flagged it. Next, I have the following saved as ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.addsshkeys.plist: Label com.user.addsshkeys ProgramArguments /bin/bash /Users/myusername/.config/scripts/add-ssh-keys.sh RunAtLoad KeepAlive I then ran launchctl load -w ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.addsshkeys.plist and restarted my computer. I run ssh-add -l and get the 'agent has no identities' error. If I run launchctl list | grep com.user.addsshkeys I see the service has a status of 2. If I run log show --predicate 'eventMessage contains "addsshkeys"' --info, I see many messages along the following lines:

xpcproxy: Launch constraint set on 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 /Users/myusername/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.addsshkeys.plist
launchd: [gui/### [######]:] service inactive: com.user.addsshkeys

What am I missing?

I've been looking at plist variables while trying to set the position and size of a window when the editor is launched. But I'm failing to guess or find the name of plist key for this. I was following similar advice here but without success so far. defaults read $HOME/Library/Containers/com.apple.TextEdit/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.TextEdit.plist HeightInChars I'm not working with multiple monitors which I hope makes it easier.

man locate.updatedb says that the database for locate is updated weekly. That is confirmed by /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.locate.plist, which has Weekday 6 To run nightly instead of only on that weekday, as root I tried to remove that part: plutil -remove StartCalendarInterval.Weekday /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.locate.plist But that failed, "Operation not permitted," with no further explanation. How can I cause updatedb to run nightly? Sequoia 15.0.1, macbook pro, M3 pro.

com.apple.dasd.swapkills.plist Anyone know what this is? I've recently had police delete footage off my phone, am taking them to court. Can't get the videos back as I accidentally overwrote them when my iCloud backed up, but I have received the data back from Forensics (I sent my phone to them). I'm not a coder or anything but could use your brains trust to help me decipher some funny business. Some of it may be innocent, but the 3 days my phone was with the police there's definitely activity. I'm just trying to ascertain if some of it is useful for court. Cheers in advance! Jess