Facebook and Google Authenticator

Rather than having 2FA via an SMS message, it is possible to use Google Authenticator.

Choose Settings, then Security > Set up code generator. See below:

gReader volume controls settings

I keep forgetting where to find this, and invariably end up trying to adjust volume on a podcast and end up moving through articles.

This is where it is:

Settings



Article controls

Volume Key (article view)

Nexus devices with dodgy USB power connections

An increasing frustration is the situation where there is power flowing to the USB cable, but it does not fit as snugly into the slot on the Nexus device any more, leading to eventually the device draining completely.

To save looking it up each time, this is the advice from Google which does seem to work.

1. Unplug the USB cable from the power adapter and use it to connect your Nexus device to a computer’s USB port while the computer is on and connected to a power source.
2. After 10-15 minutes, disconnect the USB cable from your Nexus device and reconnect it within 10 seconds.
3. After 1 minute, check to see if a battery icon appears on the screen.
4. Press & hold the Power button for at least 15 seconds to see if your device turns on.

And then

1. Follow the instructions for your Nexus device below:
   • Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 4, Nexus 6, or Nexus 7:
     • ​Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Power button at the same time for at least 10 seconds. You'll see an Android robot and the word "Start" with an arrow around it.
     • Press the Volume down button to move through options until the screen shows the option to Power off. Press the Power button to select that option.
   • Nexus 5 or Nexus 10:
     • Press and hold the Volume Down, Volume Up, and Power buttons at the same time for at least 10 seconds. You'll see an Android robot and the word "Start" with an arrow around it.
     • Press the Volume down button to move through options until the screen shows the option to Power off. Press the Power button to select that option.
2. Disconnect the charger and reconnect it within 10 seconds. A battery icon should appear on your screen.
3. Once the battery icon appears on the screen, allow your device to charge for at least 1 hour before turning it back on.

and finally

1. Make sure the power cord is securely connected to your Nexus device and the power adapter. Leave the charger plugged in to a working power outlet for at least 1 hour.
2. After 1 hour, disconnect the device from the charger. Reconnect it within 10 seconds.
3. Press & hold the Power button for at least 15 seconds to see if the device turns on.

Yet more power cuts badly affecting external Time Machine drive

Having previously posted about issues with power cuts corrupting Time Machine, it happened again this time, but to the extent that the drive didn't even display in Disk Utility.

I followed the steps here:

diskutil list

So the 2TB drive is clearly there. 

Next step - diskutil unmount /dev/disk2

That didn't work ("disk2 was already unmounted or it has a partitioning scheme so use "diskutil unmountDisk" instead"), had to modify slightly to:

diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2

Also didn't work - "Unmount of disk2 failed: at least one volume could not be unmounted"

Therefore referred here and tried instead:

sudo lsof|grep disk2

Running processes were displayed:

fsck_hfs  889            root    4u      CHR                1,7 0x1b0508000      693 /dev/rdisk2s2

fsck_hfs  889            root    5u      CHR                1,7 0x1b0508000      693 /dev/rdisk2s2

So I closed these in Activity Manager

At this point, the Time Machine (albeit greyed out) showed in Disk Utility, so next step is First Aid there.

Having also then tried diskutil mount /dev/disk7s2 and getting the response Volume on disk7s2 timed out waiting to mount

I was about to give up. But then, as a last throw of the dice, I tried connecting to my Ubuntu desktop.

Immediately in Home Folder it showed as a mounted drive! So from there I went to Disk Utility, unmounted the partitions, erased and formatted them and then re-connected to Mac.

A Time Machine backup has now commenced.....