“The Unix roots of Apple’s OS X means the operating system offers a range of performance and troubleshooting features every Mac user should get to know,” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld.
“Many of these tools require use of the Terminal app. This is a command line app that offers deep access to your operating system,” Evans writes. “You don’t have to be an expert to use these Terminal tips, but it is essential you only use commands in the forms listed here to avoid accidentally damaging your machine.”
“I can’t praise fsck highly enough,” Evans writes. “These four letters have saved many a Mac, helping me bring the computer back to life when all else failed. On several occasions I have been able to use this command to launch an ailing Mac for just long enough to back drive contents up before the drive or other hardware problems finally prevail. It’s incredibly useful.”
More tips in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We can’t praise fscking highly enough, either. 😉
One correction to Evans’ article: Since we also have our Mac set to take screenshots in JPEG, rather than the default PNG, the proper command is:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string JPG
Other options include:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string PNG
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string PDF
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string JPG
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string JP2
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string GIF
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string TIFF
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string BMP
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string PICT
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string TGA
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string SGI
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string TIFF
Ah, that’s the ticket, thanks. MDn – FIX YOUR POST, thanks.
Why would you want to downgrade your screenshots from lossless png to artifact-laden jpg?
you’re joking, right? you seriously don’t know the answer to that question?
I can see uses for both formats, and your condescending, answer-less answer could use some clarification. The question could have been worded better, but it is valid.
Must really suck to discover your operating system can’t actually fsck.
Instead of Top I’d suggest using Activity monitor to track CPU usage and more. Just click on the spotlight icon and start typing “activity” to find it.
Agreed. Top is good for a remote connection but the GUI to sort and filter things is way faster.
I’m disappointed they didn’t mention the AMAZING textutil, which can quickly interconvert a whole heap of document types. In your terminal, type man textutil for more info.
Nice I see you fixed your post and removed mine correcting you. Nice acknowledgement.
the author removed no posts. he may have added spaces though. Sorry