Thwarting malware affected bootstrap - MBP '13 retina

i have fresh mavericks download on my SSD drive named Untitled. i want to boot up in single user mode otherwise malware takes over and clandestinely netboots. so here is what im presented with:
what is the correct action at this point?

i want to boot up in single user mode otherwise malware takes over and clandestinely netboots.
And what could possibly lead you to believe that? If it's clandestine, how do you know?
Regardless, there's very little you can do from Single User Mode. If you're concerned, then erase the drive and start over.
Save any important data to another drive, first. That would be any personal documents, music or movie files, email data, etc.
Restart and hold down Command+Option+R keys to boot into Internet Recovery Mode. Launch Disk Utility and repartition the drive. If you have only one partition, change Current to 1 Partition anyway. That forces Disk Utility to destroy the current partition map and anything else on the drive. Reinstall the OS.
Manually put back your personal data and reinstall your third party apps from their original disks or downloads. Do not merge a Time Machine backup into your reinstall of OS X.

Similar Messages

How to clean an MBP with Retina Display

I have a Sept 2012 MBP with Retina Display that I want to sell. How should I clean it to ensure the buyer does not have any access to my personal data?

Thanks. If I did the following:
"Once you have backed up all your stuff, restart in Recovery Mode by holding down theCommand R keys prior to the chime. Go past the languages select screen, if it pops up, select Disk Utility (bottom choice). Click on the Macintosh HD volume to select on the left column, do an Erase".
And when the buyer turns it on for the first time, he will be guided through the initial set up process, as if he is setting it up for the first time right out of the box?
Secondly, this MBP backs up automatically to a Time Machine, will any of the data be affected there? Once I sell this?

Is the fact that the new MBP with Retina display, has choppy scrolling in safari, a reason not to buy it? Can it be fixed through software?

I am debating buying a new MBP with Retina or a Macbook Air. I am looking for more info on wat people have been saying about lag in safari. Thanks!

Hey fredryan..did you end up getting the rMBP? I too am a little concerned about the screen performance while I wait for mine to ship. If you have gotten yours do you mind commenting on how Mountain Lion affected it? Is the lag still a big issue? Thanks!

Whats better for my mbp 2013 retina in the long run? Keep it plugged in as much as possible or letting the battery hit 10% and then recharge it?

Whats better for my mbp 2013 retina in the long run? Keep it plugged in as much as possible or letting the battery hit 10% and then recharge it?

Odd you ask that, since both are HORRIBLE,   ... especially often draining your battery low.
General consideration of your MacBook battery
Contrary to popular myths about notebook batteries, there is protection circuitry in your Macbook and therefore you cannot ‘overcharge’ your notebook when plugged in and already fully charged.
However if you do not plan on using your notebook for several hours, turn it off (plugged in or otherwise), since you do not want your Macbook ‘both always plugged in and in sleep mode’.
A lot of battery experts call the use of Lithium-Ion cells the "80% Rule", meaning use 80% of the full charge or so, then recharge them for longer overall life. The only quantified damage done in the use of Lithium Ion batteries are instances where the internal notebook battery is “often drained very low”, this is bad general use of your notebook battery.
A person who has, for example, 300 charge cycles on their battery and is recharging at say 40% remaining of a 100% charge has a better battery condition state than, say, another person who has 300 charge cycles on their battery and is recharging at say 10-15% remaining on a 100% charge. DoD (depth of discharge) is much more important on the wear and tear on your Macbook’s battery than the count of charge cycles. There is no set “mile” or wear from a charge cycle in specific. Frequent high depth of discharge rates (draining the battery very low) on a Lithium battery will hasten the lowering of maximum battery capacity.
All batteries in any device are a consumable meant to be replaced eventually after much time, even under perfect use conditions.
If the massive amount of data that exists on lithium batteries were to be condensed into a simplex, helpful, and memorable bit of information it would be:
1. While realistically a bit impractical during normal everyday use, a lithium battery's longevity and its chemistry's health is most happy swinging back and forth between 20% and 85% charge roughly.
2. Do not purposefully drain your battery very low (10% and less), and do not keep them charged often or always high (100%).
3. Lithium batteries do not like the following:
A: Deep discharges, as meaning roughly 10% or less on a frequent basis.
B: Rapid discharges as referring to energy intensive gaming on battery on a frequent basis (in which case while gaming, if possible, do same on power rather than battery). This is a minor consideration.
C: Constant inflation, as meaning always or most often on charge, and certainly not both in sleep mode and on charge always or often.
From Apple on batteries:
http://www.apple.com/batteries/notebooks.html
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1446
"Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time."
Keep it plugged in when near a socket so you keep the charging cycles down on your LiPo (lithium polymer) cells / battery, but not plugged in all the time. When not being used for several hours, turn it off.
DoD (depth of discharge) is far more important on the wear and tear on your Macbook battery than any mere charge cycle count. *There is no set “mile” or wear from a charge cycle in general OR in specific.    As such, contrary to popular conception, counting cycles is not conclusive whatsoever, rather the amount of deep DoD on an averaged scale of its use and charging conditions.
                          (as a very rough analogy would be 20,000 hard miles put on a car vs. 80,000 good miles being something similar)
*Contrary to some myths out there, there is protection circuitry in your Macbook and therefore you cannot overcharge it when plugged in and already fully charged
*However if you don’t plan on using it for a few hours, turn it OFF (plugged in or otherwise) ..*You don’t want your Macbook both always plugged in AND in sleep mode       (When portable devices are charging and in the on or sleep position, the current that is drawn through the device is called the parasitic load and will alter the dynamics of charge cycle. Battery manufacturers advise against parasitic loading because it induces mini-cycles.)
Keeping batteries connected to a charger ensures that periodic "top-ups" do very minor but continuous damage to individual cells, hence Apples recommendation above:   “Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time”, …this is because “Li-ion degrades fastest at high state-of-charge”.
                    This is also the same reason new Apple notebooks are packaged with 50% charges and not 100%.
Contrary to what some might say, Lithium batteries have an "ideal" break in period. First ten cycles or so, don't discharge down past 40% of the battery's capacity. Same way you don’t take a new car out and speed and rev the engine hard first 100 or so miles.
Proper treatment is still important. Just because LiPo batteries don’t need conditioning in general, does NOT mean they dont have an ideal use / recharge environment. Anything can be abused even if it doesn’t need conditioning.
Storing your MacBook
If you are going to store your MacBook away for an extended period of time, keep it in a cool location (room temperature roughly 22° C or about 72° F). Make certain you have at least a 50% charge on the internal battery of your Macbook if you plan on storing it away for a few months; recharge your battery to 50% or so every six months roughly if being stored away. If you live in a humid environment, keep your Macbook stored in its zippered case to prevent infiltration of humidity on the internals of your Macbook which could lead to corrosion.
Considerations:
Your battery is subject to chemical aging even if not in use. A Lithium battery is aging as soon as its made, regardless.
In a perfect (although impractical) situation, your lithium battery is best idealized swinging back and forth between 20 and 85% SOC (state of charge) roughly.
Further still how you discharge the battery is far more important than how it is either charged or stored short term, and more important long term that cycle counts.
Ultimately counting charge cycles is of little importance. Abuse in discharging (foremost), charging, and storing the battery and how it affects battery chemistry is important and not the ‘odometer’ reading, or cycle counts on the battery.
Everything boils down to battery chemistry long term, and not an arbitrary number, or cycle count.
Keep your macbook plugged in when near a socket since in the near end of long-term life, this is beneficial to the battery.
In a lithium battery, deep discharges alter the chemistry of the anode to take up lithium ions and slowly damages the batteries capacity for the cathode to transport lithium ions to the anode when charging, thereby reducing max charge levels in mAh. In short, radical swings of power to lithium cells disrupts the chemical ecosystem of the battery to hold charges correctly which likewise impedes the perfect transfer of lithium ions both in charging and discharging. In charging your lithium battery, lithium ions are “pushed uphill” (hard) to the anode, and discharged “downhill” (easy) to the cathode when on battery power. Deep discharges, damages this “upward” electrolyte chemistry for the battery to maintain a healthy charge and discharge balance relative to its age and cycles.
Optimally, in terms of a healthy lithium battery and its condition, it is most happy at 50% between extremes, which is why low-power-drain processors such as the Haswell are ideal on lithium battery health since a partially charged battery with a low-drain processor has, in general, much more usage in hours
Battery calibration, battery memory, battery overcharging, battery training, …all these concepts are mostly holdovers from much older battery technology, and on older Apple portable Macbooks ranging from early nicads, NiMh and otherwise; and these practices do not apply to your lithium battery and its smart controllers.
Calibrating the battery on older Apple portable Macbooks with removable batteries.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14087
There is no calibration of current Apple portable Macbooks with built-in batteries.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490
There is no battery calibration with current Apple portable Macbooks with built-in batteries. Lithium batteries have essentially a 0-‘memory’, and all such calibration involve the estimations fed to the system controller on the SOC (state of charge) of the battery over long periods of time as the battery degrades. The software based battery controller knows the battery's characteristics, or SOC and adjusts itself. This is why there is both no need and purpose to periodically deeply drain your macbook battery, since it doesn’t affect the characteristics of the battery, and further still deep discharges are something you should not do on purpose to any lithium battery.
From BASF: How Lithium Batteries work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PjyJhe7Q1g
Peace

MBP w/ Retina corrupts 3 different external HDs

I have a MBP w/ Retina running Lion, and three separate external hard drives used with Time Machine have become corrupt, requiring a complete reformatting. What could be the problem? Two were USB 3.0 Seagate Backup Plus drives. I exchanged the first one after the initial corruption. Then I used a FreeAgent GoFlex Pro with a USB 2.0 interface that I've been using with no problems for years. All have eventually become corrupt after a week or so of usage.
Any help would be appreciated.

The symptom I first notice is that Max OS X pops up an alert that says the drive cannot be repaired and it becomes unwritable. I am generally able to copy data from the affected drive, but attempts to repair it in Disk Utility are met with long stalls or a quick red message that says it cannot be repaired. I have to erase it to regain writability.
I partitioned the first drive into two equal partitions. I used the first for a SuperDuper clone and second for Time Machine. After a week or so these symptoms appeared. Only the second partition was harmed. I erased it and went on for a week or so like that. Then, it happened again. I erased the whole drive and made it a single partition. After a week or so it happened again. I exchanged the drive. I formatted it with a single parition. Note, all along I'm using the Mac OS Extended (Journalled) option for erasing. The same thing happened to the drive. I was beginning to thing all Seagate Backup Plus HDs are crap. I started using a portable self-powered drive, which was previously partitioned into two partitions FAT32 and HFS+. I used the HFS+ partition for a week or so and the same problem occurred. Now I'm thinking its something with the laptop. I haven't had any problems with the internal hard drive (knock on wood)...
--Micah

MBP 15" Retina Battery Life Problems

Hello all!
I recently got the highest end MBP 15" Retina and it runs AMAZINGLY fast, but the only problem I'm having with is the battery life.
For example, right now, at 100% charge, the predicted time is 4 hours and 35 minutes, but it's plummeting very quickly; I don't think I'll get more than 1 or 2 hours.
On the website, the average predicted battery life is almost 8 hours. I understand that the numbers on Apple's website may not be exact, but I feel like getting a quarter or even half of the advertised battery life suggests there is something wrong as well? o-o
I'm not doing anything intensive on my computer either; just simple web browsing and chatting on Skype.
I've searched the internet for solutions, and I've already tried resetting PRAM AND NVRAM settings, I've turned off Bluetooth, and checked off all of the Power Saver settings in Preferences.
My battery's condition is "Normal" since I recently purchased it.
I'm curious if anyone has a solution to this problem? (To give an idea of how fast the battery is draining, I started writing this post with 100% battery, and now it's at 98% several minutes later)
If anyone has any advice, it'd be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advanced!

puzzledsean wrote:
I'm not doing anything intensive on my computer either; just simple web browsing and chatting on Skype.
Skype is one of the most resource hungry application that one may use. It will drain the battery very quickly. When using it, connect your MBP to the power adapter.
Read the Apple hype regarding battery run time. The operative term is 'UP TO' not will achieve 8 hours run time. In the 'real world' conditions, battery run time will be determined by the number and type of applications you are using. If you are just text editing, you may very well get 8 hours from from the battery, but certainly not with Skype games or video.
Ciao.

Can't run a 10.7.4 VMWare VM on MBP with Retina

I have an old 13" Aluminum Macbook and a purchased copy of Lion that I created a VMWare OSX 10.7.4 VM with that I could use for work. I had it running fine on my 13" that runs 10.7.4. I just got a new MBP writh Retina display. It came with 10.7.4 pre-installed. I loaded VMWare, moved my VM over and tried to start it up. I got the login screen, but right after login, I get an error "The CPU has been disabled by the guest operating system. Power off or reset the virtual machine."
I submitted a VMWare ticket and they said this is caused by a mismatch between the OSX10.7.4 builds on the two machines, and that the one on my old macbook is unaware of the ivy bridge architecture on the new Macbook. They said this doesn't normally occur because Apple generally releases one build for all macbooks. As a point of reference, the build on my Retina is 11E2620, while on my 13" it is 11E53.
VMWare said that it should be cleared up once 10.7.5 is released. They had also heard from other clients that they had been successful in talking with Apple and getting a patch for the older Mac that would make it aware of ivy bridge. So I believe I would apply the patch to both the host and guest on the 13" (although I didn't get into that level of detail with the resource).
Anyway, I got Applecare with my retina so I submitted an Apple support ticket and talked to someone at Apple. They checked with their supervisor and basically said they didn't know anything about a patch and if there was one, I would have to get it from VMWare. They did agree that this should be clared up with 10.7.5 but again, pointed it back to VMWare.
So now I have Apple and VMWare pointing fingers at each other, I still have a non-working VM for my new machine (I can still run it on my old machine thankfully) and too much time has been spent on that VM to completely recreate it on the new Macbook. Anyway, not having the VM on my Retina really cuts down the amount I can use it. So if anyone has any more details on how to get this supposed patch, OR if anyone has any detail on when 10.7.5 is likely to be released, please let me know. Thanks,
-David

I can't answer the specific error message, but I can tell you a better way to do what you're asking.
on pathToScripts()
    tell application "Finder" to set parentFolder to (path to me) as text
    set scriptsFolder to parentFolder & "Contents:Resources:Scripts:"
    return scriptsFolder
end pathToScripts
There's no need to use the Finder here at all. 'path to me' is a standard command that doesn't require Finder input.
Secondly, if you're looking for a resource in the application's bundle then you should use 'path to resource' rather than 'path to me' + some hard-coded string.
As a result your first three lines of script could be reduced to:
set CloseBrowsersScriptPOSIXFile to path to resource "closeBrowsers.scpt" in directory "Scripts"
set theResult to run script file CloseBrowsersScriptPOSIXFile with parameters {"uninstaller"}

I'd like to know how much performance difference there is in the 15 in MBP with Retina display?

Hi:
I have a legacy (2007) MBP that needs to be replaced. It still runs, but not well, given that the HD is nearly full. The headphone out jack is "hit or miss" in terms of working properly.....you get the picture.
I'll replace it with a 15 MBP with retina display, and also go with the 1 TB drive rather than the 512 as its actually cheaper (I think) to have Apple put the larger drive in than upgrade after the fact.
My question relates to the available processor speeds:
2.5GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz
2.8GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.0GHz
Is there any discernible difference between these processors, and if so, under what conditions do they manifest themselves, and how significant, generally speaking are the differences.
I'm sure it depends on the software being run and tasks being performed....video rendering, gaming, etc.
I should also mention that I'm not the most patient person (serious understatement) when it comes to the speed of even basic tasks....word processing, itunes, youtube videos, and the like.
I generally work with multiple windows open and with my current computer's age and remaining HD space get the "spinning pinwheel of death" with great frequency.
One last bit of information. I'm a musician and composer, who needs to get into the 21st century and actually use the notation software I've got (Sibelius). Any computer I have needs to be able to play back scores well, which means playing/processing multiple instrumental parts at the same time,
Thanks in advance for your advice,
Michael

The only way you can get a valid estimate is by someone examining the MBP directly. Since no one on these forums can see or examine your MBP, you will need to get this infomation from a qualified repair shop. It seems that you already have secured one estimate. You can also bring the MBP to an Apple store and have a genius bar examine it for FREE.
Ciao.

I've installed 10.8.1 on new MBP w/ retina display and battery starts at 8 hr charge and drops to 7 hr in just 30 minutes of run time. This is not what I expected from Apple!!

I've installed 10.8.1 on new MBP w/ retina display. Fully charged battery shows 8 hrs at 100% then drops to 7 hrs after only 1/2 hr of use. I was hoping that 10.8.1 would have fixed a obviously well publicized defect.

jemham wrote:
I've installed 10.8.1 on new MBP w/ retina display. Fully charged battery shows 8 hrs at 100% then drops to 7 hrs after only 1/2 hr of use. I was hoping that 10.8.1 would have fixed a obviously well publicized defect.
Sorry pal, not this time. The release notes for 10.8.1 do not discuss anything about battery issues. I do know Apple is aware of the problem thought and are working on a fix, hopefully in the forthcoming 10.8.2.

Connecting MBP w/Retina and Work Laptop with Switch to dual monitors

I have the latest MBP w/retina display and NVidia GT750M video card. I also have my work laptop (Dell, Win 7, HDMI out). I want to connect these to a dual monitor setup with a switch. I currently only have one monitor that is 1920 x 1080 and supports hdmi and dvi. I would like to buy another cost effective monitor to take advantage of my MBP's higer resolution and have that as my main monitor.
Next I would like to connect the two laptops to the dual monitor setup via switch to go back and forth between systems.
What is the best switch to buy for my needs? Does OS matter when selecting switches? Monitor recommendations are appreciated also.

I am also seeing lots of posts about Mavericks not working well with switches. Has this issue been resolved?

How can I clean malware in my MBP (if I have it at all)?

Seems like a have malware in my MBP running 10.8.5. Pop-ups windows links to Mac antivirus sites start two days ago. I run the
Disk Utility and DiskTools Pro to defragmented and check what happens but no success.
I got this message (image below).
Thanks for any help from all of you.
Miguel

Hello Allan !!! Hello Niel !!!
First of all thanks for your response.
Some info: I begun my Macs experience with a Performa 600 running 7.1 almost 20 yrs. ago. I can really say that
I enjoy the evolution through 8, 9 and OS X. Somehow I am aware that this pops-ups are scams.
What bothers me is that never happens before 3 or 4 days ago, now they are going on in all my browsers including Safari.
Almost all the time that I click a link in my bookmarks a MacKeeper page or any other pops-up first.
Something is wrong, and I want to fix it. I check securities, firewall, preferences for any single browser, etc etc.
Also I don't download anything out of the ordinary or open emails form unknown sources that can compromise my MBP.
Maybe I stream a movie sometimes from HBO.
Bottom line: something is not right.
Thanks for to all the invisible friends again !!!

Can I use two HP Pavillion 23bw monitors with my MBP with Retina Display?

Can I use two HP Pavillion 23bw monitors with my MBP with Retina Display with good video quality? I just purchased them and am already reading about issues with non-Apple External Monitors being used with MBP with Retina. Plus I just assumed it given the power of the video card, but I can turn off the display to my MBP and extend the two HP monitors correct? I do realize they won't have the picture quality of the retina display but I would hope they look reasonable with 1080p
New to the Support Community so thanks in advance for any help.

This is an update on the question about the use of the Dell P2415Q 4K monitor with MacBook Pro 13" and 15" w/ Nvidia graphics card installed. The monitor works very well with both systems and is automatically identified when connected. The 13" machine with Iris Graphics defaults to 2560 x 1440 at 60hz. This was very workable, matching the Apple Thunderbolt Display for resolution. I was not able to set the display for full 4K at 3840 x 2160, even at 30hz. Just not enough horsepower with the basic Intel CPU with Iris Graphics. But make no mistake, the setup works well and the screen looks great.
The 15" with Iris Pro Graphics and the Nvidia GeForce GT 575M discrete graphics card also recognized the display and drove it at full 4K, 3840 x 2160, 60hz with no problems. Running in clamshell mode required a bit of fine tuning with the Apple display settings. But nothing major.
Due to a relatively small workstation, I selected the 24" version of the Dell monitor. If you are looking for a relatively large monitor with near "retina" resolution, the P2415Q is a perfect pairing for the MacBook Pro - and a terrific bargain. I paid $530 on the Dell website.

Display too dim for the latest MBP 13" retina

Bought the latest mbp 13" retina yesterday and I found the display is too dim even I change the brightness to the brightest,
it's more obvious when I compare it with my late 2010 mba as it looks more bright on the mba even its not on full brightness,
any other way that I could tune for a more brighter display for my mbp?
Cheers.

A new Mac comes with 90 days of free tech support from AppleCare.
AppleCare: 1-800-275-2273
Best.

Macbook Pro regular 2012 vs 2013 MBP with retina

I am deciding whether to get a new 2012 MBP, non retina, 4gb/500gb/ with dvd rom or the new MBP with retina. My needs are basic, nothing to advanced. I can get MPR for $950 out the door. I dont want to buy something I really dont need or will use. Any thoughts?

PS: side-by-side specs, graphics and drive data rates,
the newer of the two may be the better one to get, as
it has later Thunderbolt with higher capacities, too.
Look into mactracker or other specification chart that
can be opened beside each other (as I have now) &
then you can see sections in each model, one at a
time. MacTracker shows general-software-memory+
graphics-connections-history by category.
2013 model Thunderbolt, Hard Drive Interface, graphics
spec all look good. Not sure if the history of graphic issue
in the dual-graphic card model 2012, was overcome or not.
However this may require some research...
If yours is one that shipped with Mavericks OS X 10.9
you may do well to get a copy of the installer on a
USB and dedicate it as a backup or set up a second
drive or other device to safe a download of the installer
and/or a copy-clone of the Mavericks. The limited total
of RAM available may not be a problem, with both units
shipping with an SSD and not a rotational HDD. And if
you like (& if yours has OS X 10.9) you could then use
OS X 10.10 too. Be careful an 'upgrade' isn't done to
an older system by accident; surprises aren't so nice.
With either choice, be sure to get & make suitable backup
of your files in addition to a device to use Time Machine.
Good luck & happy computing!

High end MBP 15" or low end MBP with retina display?

I am having trouble deciding between the two laptops so I wanted to get some opinions.
I use photoshop and dreamweaver a lot. I ususally will have tons of applications/tabs open at the same time, including a lot of pages with different video players. I use iMovie at most once per month. I do like to plug in multiple displays through the thunderbolt ports so having 2 and an hdmi port would be nice. It mainly comes down to is the macbook pro with retina worth losing .3Ghz per core on the retina. To fix the memory (not RAM) I figured when necessary I would just get a thunderbolt external hard drive. And finally how much more space would the OSX and/or a program take up with so many more pixels. I also need this computer to last a while because I will most likely have to wait more than 4 years to update, but I can upgrade the ram of the mbp with retina display later to 16gb, but the macbook pro 15 has a 3.6ghz processor. Once again if i need more space I will just get a thunderbolt external drive. So could I please have some oppinions on what I should chose?

Even my 2011 MBP can take 16 GB RAM. I would be VERY surprised if the 2012 model cannot handle 16 GB RAM once macsales.com and crucial.com test enough of the available RAM types to find the most-compatible type. Apple advertises limitations based on testing with "commonly available" parts. 2x8 GB RAM chips are still around $150, so Apple probably did not test them. But only time (and those willing to test with their brand-new units) will prove that.
As to the actual increase is speed from the extra 0.3, I would not hazard a guess because you will run a very specific set of software under a very specific CPU and GPU (graphics processing unit) load. But I would suspect the Retina unit will run faster than the non-Retina IF you buy a non-Retina with a HDD instead of the SDD. SDD will outperform HDD in most cases.
My humple opinion, Retina units are lighter and lack utility ports. But they have the quad-core CPUs people want and more display-ports. Those who program computers will likely buy the non-Retina units. Those who play with pictures will buy the Retina units.

Thwarting malware affected bootstrap - MBP '13 retina

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