Mac OS X Yosemite: Stop log messages: postfix/master[xxxxx]: fatal: bind fe80::1 port 25: Can't assign requested address

After upgrading to Max OS X Yosemite my machine was running slowly and when I looked in /var/log/mail.log log file I saw the following error repeated every time launchd tried to respawn a postfix process.

postfix/master[xxxxx]: fatal: bind fe80::1 port 25: Can't assign requested address

Apart from filling up the logs this means that launchd is trying to start postfix every few seconds and postfix is quitting, which puts quite an overhead on the system and slows it down significantly.

I then found this article which solved my problem:
http://serverfault.com/questions/646284/postfix-not-working-on-macos-yosemite

Basically, /etc/postfix/main.cf contains the following line, which, for some reason, is not working with IPV6. (maybe the clue is that postfix is trying to bind to address fe80::1 but localhost on IPv6 is ::1):

inet_interfaces = localhost

Changing the line to the IPV4 IP address for localhost fixes the problem. Simply change the entry to this:

inet_interfaces = 127.0.0.1

The next time launchd attempts to start postfix it should work and there should be no more errors.

Apparently changing the protocol to IPv4 (thanks to David Leber) also fixes the problem but I have not confirmed this:

inet_protocols = ipv4

Prevent Mac OSX from writing hidden (._XXX and .DS_Store) files to your samba share

I had a cifs/smb share on a linux server which was being polluted with hidden files (like ._DS_Store and .DS_Store) created by MacOSX clients.  It doesn't really cause any problems, but for users who use the same share with a client which is not a Mac, these files are visible and it is really annoying and looks messy.

On Mac OS X you can disable writing of hidden files to shares by using the following command in Terminal:

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool true
killall Finder
 
HOWEVER, that only sorts out the problem for that one Mac, any others connecting to the share will need the same treatment so this is not really the ideal solution.

The better solution is to disallow these types of files on the cifs/smb share instead. Any and all Macs using the share are then not permitted to save those files

You can do this easily by editing your /etc/samba/smb.conf file and adding the veto files option, as in this example:

  [TV]
   path = /share/TV
   guest ok = yes
   browseable = yes
   create mask = 0666
   directory mask = 0777
   read only = no
   writeable = yes
   available = yes
   veto files = /._*/.DS_Store/

The veto files can be a single file pattern, or multiple so long as you seperate each one with a /

Once the config change is made, restart samba with:

service samba restart

Developer options on Hudl

I have a Tesco Hudl and need to hook it up to Android SDK to do a full backup, but I found it has no "Developer options" in the settings menu.

I found there is a little trick to enable this:

1. Go into settings
2. Scroll down to the bottom and click on "About tablet"
3. Click several times on the build number

It then says "You are now a developer!" (which I always knew :-)) and enables the developer options.

BigKeysLX UK Keyboard Layout for Mac OSX

I recently purchased a BigKeys LX UK Querty keyboard for a Mac and tried in vain to find a solution on the internet where I could get all keys working correctly.

The nearest I could get was the keyboard working with a US key mapping, but sadly the UK version doesn't just change the dollar sign to a pound sign, but moves around many keys as well, as you can see in the images below.

Example UK Querty keyboard layout

Example US Querty keyboard layout 

None of the keyboard layouts I tried were a 100% match, even the UK keyboard layouts built in to the Mac.  The distributors of these keyboards in the UK don't seem to really offer a solution for the Mac even though they sell the keyboards as Mac compatible. Some offer a Mac "utility" but this is hopelessly out of date and will not run on any modern Mac.

In the end, through sheer frustration, I decided to build my own keyboard mapping, which was suprisingly easy and took only a few minutes using the excellent free software called Ukelele

My finished keyboard layout for a BigKeys LX UK Querty keyboard can be downloaded here. BigKeysLXQuerty.GB.keylayout

If you have an ABC layout instead of a QUERTY layout you can open my keyboard layout in Ukelele which will give you a good starting point, and you can then simply modify it to suit. Keyboard layouts are only XML files so you can modify them with any text editor if you are that way inclined.

To install the keyboard layout:

1. Open the finder and drop the file into the folder /Library/Keyboard Layouts on your hard drive
2. Reboot the computer (keyboard layouts are only loaded at boot up time)
3. If you have a Mac OS version earlier than 10.9.1 Mavericks
   • Open System Preferences > International. Click the Input Menu tab.
   • Scroll down until you find the name of the keyboard layout you just installed. Make sure the checkbox is selected. The layout is now ready to use.
4. If you have OS 10.9.1 Mavericks or later
   • Open System Preferences >Language and Region. Click the Keyboard Preferences button at the bottom.
   • Click the Input Sources tab at the top.
   • Click the + (plus) sign at the bottom left to ‘add a keyboard layout’.
   • Select Others in the left-side pane, this should display a list of keyboard layouts which includes the one you are looking to activate. Select the keyboard you want and click add. Don’t worry if the message says ‘Keyboard layout not available’, just ignore this.
   • The layout is now ready to use.

As the BigKeys keyboard lacks an Apple/Command key, you will probably also want to map the Alt key to be your Apple/Command key. This is easily done with the following steps:

1. Open the Keyboard preferences (System Preferences / Keyboard)
2. Click on the Keyboard tab
3. Click the Modifier Keys button
4. Against the Option Key line, in the pulldown select Commnand
5. Click OK
6. Your Alt key now acts as the Apple/Command key

A note for advanced users: The name of the keyboard in your keyboard selection list will be BigKeysLXQuerty.GB. If you prefer it to be called something else, edit the file in a text editor before installing it, and change the name value in the tag on line 5.

The system extension /System/Library/Extensions/WkClassicNotSeizeDriver.kext was installed improperly and cannot be used

After upgrading to Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite) I was regularly getting a pop up error saying that the system extension /System/Library/Extensions/WkClassicNotSeizeDriver.kext was installed improperly and cannot be used.

After some digging into the bundle, I determined that this is a USB driver from WIBU-Systems from back in 2002:

CFBundleName = "WkClassicSizeDriver";
CFBundleShortVersionString = "WkClassicSeizeDriver version 1.0.0";
CFBundleGetInfoString = "WkClassicSeizeDriver version 1.0.0, Copyright 2002 WIBU-SYSTEMS AG, Inc.";
NSHumanReadableCopyright = "Copyright 2002 WIBU-SYSTEMS AG, Inc.";

I recall installing a driver from WIBU systems when I once ran ArchiCAD on my system a long time ago, which needed it for a copy protection dongle.   My ArchiCAD has long since gone, and nothing else I have uses a WIBU dongle, so I just deleted the extensions.

If you have in the past had a copy protection dongle which used the WIBU system and no longer use it, then you can safely delete this.  If you still use it, then you should download the latest drivers from your software vendor or from the WIBU systems website at http://www.wibu.com/