Sync iPhone or iPod on multiple computers - iTunes PC/Mac

You've probably noticed that it is impossible to sync your iPhone on two or more computer. It's a really annoying limitation! Here is how you can get rid of that :

1. First, backup the "iTunes Music Library.xml" and "iTunes Music Library" (Tunes Music Library.itl for PC user). They are located in Music / iTunes Folder

2. On the machine your iPhone is currently synched with, open "iTunes Music Library.xml" with a text editor (TextEdit on mac, Notepad on Windows).

3. Find the entry between the tags, after "Library Persistent ID" . It should be an alphanumeric string containing 16 characters/digits. Copy this entry in a text document or write it on paper. ex : 8B6C633F7DACB74B

4. Now go to the computer you want to synch with and make sure iTunes is not running.

5. You will need to change the Persistent ID in two file. An XML File and a Binary File.

6. First, open the XML File "iTunes Music Library.xml" and find the entry between the tags, after "Library Persistent ID". Copy the string that is here (you will need it later) then replace it with the string you copied at step 3(the one from the computer your iPhone is synched with). MAKE SURE YOU DON'T CHANGE ANYTHING ELSE.

7. Save the XML File and close it.

8. Now open the binary file ("iTunes Music Library" on Mac and "Tunes Music Library.itl" on PC) in an Hex Editor (Windows : HxD , Mac : HexEdit)

9. With the command "Find and Replace" look for the ID you copy in step 6 and replace it with the ID in step 3. Make sure you search type is Hezadecimal not ASCII. Replace all occurences.

10. Save the file and close it.

11. That's it!

12. Launch iTunes on the second machine you wish to sync with and plug in your iPhone. When you select "Manually manage music and videos" you will no longer be prompted to delete music, nor will the files on your iPhone be grayed out.

Visit http://www.andrewgrant.org/2008/03/30/how-to-sync-an-iphone-with-two-or-more-computers.html for screenshot of the process

Show Hidden Files in Mac OS X

Here is how you can view all the hidden files in your Finder. It is very useful for web developer who want to view the .htaccess file that is automatically hidden by Mac OS X.

Go to Applications / Utilities and launch the Terminal

In the Terminal window, write the following commands :

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

killall Finder

That's it!

If you want to hide the hidden files, the command is :

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

killall Finder

Security Tools for Mac OS X. Password recovery, FileGuard, etc...

Here are some cool softwares that can help you with security problems on Mac OS X.

http://www.msec.net/software/index.html

 

Crack root password on Mac OS X. Change the password or find it.

Here is a technique to change or get the root password on an apple computer running Mac OS X.

1- Restart your computer in single user mode by holding the CMD+S key at the booting.

2- Type : /sbin/mount -wu / to mount the hard drive

3- Type : /sbin/SystemStarter to start the network services

4- Now you have to choice :

a) Change root password : passwd root

b) Get the root by password :
b.1) Type : nidump passwd
b.2) Now write the line looking like root:rQkFQ37SYveHw:0:0::0:0:System Administrator:/var/root:/bin/tcsh in a text file and crack it with a cracking program like John the Ripper.

Get the password of any user in Mac OS X

This is how you can get the password of any user in Mac OS X. It is a technique called Swap File Hack.

You will first need to login as root. First login with an administrator account. If you don't have access to an administrator account please read «Crack Mac OS X Administrator password - create new admin account». Once you're logged in as an administrator, go to Applications » Utilities » NetInfo Manager and open it. In the top menu, go to Security and enable root user. Choose a master password. Than, logout, and log back with the new "root" account, with your master password.

Once your logged in as root, go to System Preferences » Personal » Security. Un-check «Use secure virtual memory».

Next, change the amount of RAM memory in the computer.Changing the amount of memory will create something called swap files, that include the passwords.

After the memory change, log back with the root account, open up Terminal, and enter this:


sudo strings -8 /var/vm/swapfile0 |grep -A 4 -i [longname]


Replace «[longname]» with the long name of the account you want the password. Look around for the word "password", and you should find what you need!

Disable rEFIt and boot in Single User Mode or from CD(Mac OS X)

rEFIt is a boot menu and maintenance toolkit for EFI-based machines like the Intel Macs. You can use it to boot multiple operating systems. It is also used in computer labs to disable Mac OS X boot options like Single User Mode, booting from CD or external drive, ...

You can access booting options from rEFIt (if it's not disabled in rEFIt configuration file) by selecting the OS in the rEFIt menu and pressing ‘+’ or F2. A Submenu containing more booting options should appear. If you don't see options like "Boot in single user mode"(wich can be used to crack administrator account) you will need to enable it in the rEFIt configuration file.

-Boot in Mac OS X
-Start the Terminal in Applications/Utilities
-Write: vi /efi/refit/refit.conf
-In the editor find the lines that start with «disable ...» and put a # before (you will need to press «i» to enable the Insert Mode of vi editor)
-When it's done quit and save vi by pressing ESC and «:wq» and ENTER
-You can now close Terminal and reboot your mac to try again the F2 key in rEFIt menu.

Uninstall rEFIt
You can manually uninstall rEFIt by deleting the «efi» folder at the root of your Hard Drive. You can do this directly in the finder or in the "Single User Mode" by typing : rm /efi

Crack Mac OS X Administrator password - create new admin account

Here is how you can create yourself an admin account without knowing the actual administrator password on Mac OS X.

You will need to restart your computer in something we call «single user mode» wich give you a root access to your computer (command line only). You can to that by holding CMD+S keys while rebooting. The screen should turn black and geek stuff appear on the screen. When it's finish loading, enter these command :

/sbin/mount -uw /
rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
reboot

than you'll get the wizard that you've seen when you boot the first time after Mac OS X installation. Follow all the steps including creation of an Administrator account.
basically this crack remove the file that tells Mac OS X you've already done the installation and let you create a new administrator account.

Crack Mac Os X Open Firmware Password - Enable boot options & keyboard shortcuts

If the booting options(like Single User Mode) and keyboard shortcuts of your computer are disabled or locked by a password, this is probably caused by the firmware protection of Mac Os X. One good way to know that this is the firmware protection, is to hold the ALT key while rebooting. If you see a box asking for a password, this is the openfirmware protection. This is usefull if your system only boot on Windows XP and you want to change booting disk (with ALT key). Here is the solution to reset that password.

To crack the firmware protection:
Change the amount of RAM memory in your computer (remove or add DIMMs)
then you reboot the computer while holding CMD+OPT+P+R. Hold the keys until it restart and you hear the apple song. Release them then hold it again. Wait for restart and release then hold it again (basically you need to do it 3 times).