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Mac Guide to Curious Knowledge
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Mac Guide to Curious KnowledgePosted:
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I am currently a Senior in high school. Since freshman year, I have experimented with and spent countless hours trying to bypass anything I could. This has led me to discover many things and , well, bypass things that I wanted to get around for the most part. Here is what I discovered. Please note that it is not my fault if you decide to do something and get in trouble. This is for "educational" purposes only. Get it? Let's begin.
Note: Some of these are kinda bogus, but was worth the laugh. Don't hate!
Note: "//" simply means a comment and "[Root]" means that you need Administrator privileges to proceed.
- How to Create an Local Administrator Account
We have all come across a time where you want to download something and you can't because you need admin rights to do so. I myself was trying to download Steam . Here is how it is done.
1. Completely turn the Mac off.
2. While holding "command + s", turn the Mac on.
// A black screen should appear with white text. This is normal. Please wait until the screen is still.
4. Type, without quotes, "/sbin/mount -uw /" and press enter.
// There is a space after "mount" and "-uw". Be aware.
5. Type, without quotes, "rm /var/db/.applesetupdone" and press enter.
// This removes the initial Apple setup file and tricks the computer into thinking that it is fresh out of the box.
6. Type, without quotes, "reboot" and press enter.
// The computer will now boot into a configuration screen. Go through the normal setup process. When you are prompted to either use an existing user or create a local administrator, create a local administrator. Once you create a local administrator, finish setting up and you are done! Please note that the computer name will be the name of your new user and that your user will automatically log in when the computer is turned on. You need to either change this yourself or, if you do not know how, I will be explain how to do this later on.
- How to Have Access to All System Preferences [I Forgot If This Needs Root TBH]
I don't know about you guys, but my school put a horrendous background on all of the Macs. Unfortunately, my school also blocked all of the System Preferences meaning that the aberage person would be unable to change it. I wanted mine to be a picture of a cat so I improvised and found a solution.
1. Go to your applications in Finder.
2. Scroll until you see System Preferences.
3. Right click, or uh.. like do the equivalent, and click on "Show Package Contents".
// To "right click" hold down "control" and click with the mouse at the same time.
4. Click on the folder labeled "Resources"
5. Scroll down until you see the file named "NSPrefPaneGroups.xml" and delete it.
6. Open the System Preferences application. Nothing should be visible.
7. Click on the System Preferences window and click "View" at the top of the screen to access all of the Preferences.
// If for some reason you want the visual, locked icons back, just go to Trash and restore the file to its original location.
- How to View the WiFi Password [Root]
I wanted to connect my phone to the WiFi that my school uses, as did many others, but nobody knew the password. I snooped around Keychain Access and found my answer.
1. Go to your applications in Finder.
2. Scroll to the bottom and click on the "Utilities" folder.
3. Scroll down and launch the app "Keychain Access".
4. Click on the lock in the top left corner and enter your admin details (or the details of the account that you are signed in with if that doesn't work).
5. On the left side, under "Keychains", click on "System".
6. On the left side, under "Category", click on "Passwords".
7. Look for the WiFi name in the center view and click on it to open a popup.
8. Near the bottom of the popup, you will see an unchecked box labeled "Show password". Click on the unchecked box.
9. Enter your admin account information, press Allow, and you're done!
- How to Remotely Connect to Another Computer (SSH) [Root]
Honestly, I just wanted to mess around with my friend by making his computer say and do funny things. In order to do this, you need to first have an admin account on your computer. This is just how to connect to the other computer through Terminal. Other fun things will come later. My Honors Biology teacher actually taught me how to do this Freshman year then claimed that it isn't his job to monitor the computers.
1. Go to applications in Finder.
2. Scroll to, and click on, the "Utilities" folder.
3. Open the app "Terminal".
4. Type, without quotes, "sudo -s" and, when prompted, enter your admin password and press enter.
// Note that your password does not appear when you type it, but it really is being typed.
5. If you get some type of warning requiring you to type yes or no, type "yes" and press enter.
6. Type, without quotes, "ssh YOURACTUALSCHOOLUSERNAME@COMPUTERNAME" and press enter.
// Let's say that the computer name was "rm-mba-cte-30" and my regular username for the computers was "jdoe0827". I would type, without quotes, "ssh jdoe0827@rm-mba-cte-30" and would press enter.
7. If prompted with a password, enter your admin password, and press enter.
8. You are now connected!
// Commands that can be executed range from making the computer talk "say cat", to shutting their computer off all together to annoy them "shutdown -h now". It is endless!
- SSH Commands [Root]
These are the commands I found by doing a little research. It was very fun using these!
How to set your targets volume level: "osascript -e "set Volume 10"
// The "10" is how loud you want their volume to be with 1 the lowest and 10 the highest. I used this during a movie to turn the movie volume first all the way down, then I blasted it 1234((. Mean, I know. But fun.
How to turn off your targets computer: "shutdown -h now"
// This does what it says.
How to make the target computer speak "say I just laid an egg"
// I paired this with the set volume command and had LOADS of fun here. I once made someones computer rap .
// More will come in a future Guide update. I forgot a few as of right now.
- How to Screen Share and Control Another Mac [Root]
This was total fun. I wanted to mess with my friend and control his screen. On my main user account, however, screen sharing was disabled. On my admin account, however, it was not. You need to know that in order to do this, you need to have an admin account on BOTH computers meaning you need one on your computer and the target's computer.
1. Click Finder and, on the left hand side under "Shared", click on all.
2. Locate the computer you have an admin account on and click on it to open it up.
3. Near the top of Finder you will see a button that says "Share Screen" or something like that. Click on it.
4. Enter your admin details for the target computer and share!
// I used this, set the targets volume to max, went on YouTube, and played "Epic Sax Guy" 1234((.
// Note that you need to enter the admin details that are on your victims computer for this last step.
- How to Disable Remote Monitoring [Root]
I only discovered this last year after I got caught up for making 7 computers start rapping in the middle of my Personal Finance class. I got suspended 1234((, but anyways. This method needs to be approached from two sides. Chances are that your Mac has the application "LanSchool" installed and, in "Sharing" which is in "System Preferences", remote management and screen sharing are enabled. Let's fix that.
// If LanSchool is installed, you will know by the icon that appears at the top right of your screen which, when you click on it, says LanSchool.
1. You can remove LanSchool by clicking [ Register or Signin to view external links. ] and following the steps.
2. Go to "System Preferences".
3. Click on "Sharing".
// Remember, if you deleted NSPrefPane that you have to click view at the top to see the Preferences.
4. Make sure that on the left, all services are unchecked.
// If you want to personally screen share that computer in the future, however, screen sharing will need to be enabled again beforehand to do the sharing.
5. You are in the clear!
// Note that if your school uses some other application other than LanSchool to monitor your computers, you will need to uninstall it. Otherwise, you can still be monitored.
- How to Retrieve Saved Passwords [Root]
Believe it or not, I learned how to do this the same day I originally posted this. I asked my teacher to enter her credentials into Xcode so I can use her Apple Developer account for coding. I noticed that her password was saved and was marked by "*****" meaning that it was stored in Keychain Access. I feel bad, but from this I found out her password which just happened to be her password for everything! I am a good person though, so no harm done.
1. Go to applications in Finder.
2. Scroll down to the "Utilities" folder and open it.
3. Open the app "Keychain Access".
4. Click on the lock in the top left corner and enter your admin details (or the details of the account that you are signed in with if that doesn't work).
5. Under Keychains, on the left side, click on "login".
6. Under Category, on the left side, click on "Passwords".
// Just as an example, double click on the first item in the list. At the bottom, there is a check box that says "Show password". Click on it and enter in either the admin details or the details of the account you are signed in as and the password will show.
// For me, the kind was labeled as "internet password". I opened it up, clicked on the show password checkbox, and found out her password to her email account.
7. Open an item, click on the unchecked "Show password" checkbox, and enter in either the admin details or the details of the account you are signed in as and the password will show.
- How to Go on Blocked Websites [Root]
Annoyed about how I could never go on Facebook or YouTube, I found out this method. Many people know about a VPN, but without admin rights, you can't install one.
1. Go to Google and search for "Hotspot Shield Mac Download".
2. Continue down the page looking for a website that isn't blocked.
// This is because most schools filter out file sharing websites also.
3. Download Hotspot Shield, set it up (you will need the admin details), and go on whatever website you want!
This Guide Will Be Updated When I Get More Time to Write It. Updated 2 October 2015
All in all, I got suspended once and received two Saturday detentions. Was it worth it? Yep.
Please let me know if you have any questions at all. I will be glad to help!
- How to Disable Remote Monitoring [Root]
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