Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
MacBook Air may also tell you that you don't have permission to delete a file. In this case, you need to follow
these steps to solve the problem:
1. In Finder, choose Applications
→
Utilities
→
Terminal.
The Terminal window opens.
2. Type
cd ~/.Trash
and press Return.
3. Type
sudo rm -rf
and then add a space at the end of the command, but don't press Return just yet.
4. Right-click the Trash icon and then click Open.
5. Choose Edit
→
Select All.
You can also press +A.
6. Click and drag the selected Trash files and drop them inside the Terminal window.
7. Return to the Terminal window and press Return.
Terminal prompts you for an administrator pass-
word.
8. Type your password (it doesn't appear on-screen) and then press Return.
Terminal deletes all the
files from the Trash.
You Can't Run Administrator Commands in Ter-
minal
Certain Mac operations require you to open the Terminal application and run a command as an administrator by
using the sudo (super user do) command. When you first enter the sudo (pronounced soo-doo) command fol-
lowed by the actual command you want to execute, Terminal prompts you for your MacBook Air administrator
password.
It's important to note that the sudo command requires some kind of password. If your MacBook Air adminis-
trator password is blank, you might be tempted to press Return when sudo asks you for a password. Unfortu-
nately, that won't work because sudo will simply drop you back off at the command prompt without doing any-
thing.
If you want to run administrator commands in Terminal, you must create a nonblank password for your
MacBook Air administrator account. This has the added benefit of greatly increasing your MacBook Air secur-
ity because the administrator account should always have a nonblank password.
You Can't Send E-mail
When you compose messages using Apple Mail on MacBook Air, you may find that you can't send those mes-
sages. For example, the Send button may be disabled, or you may receive bounce messages from your ISP
telling you that the messages could not be delivered.
A disabled Send button almost always means that you haven't selected or configured an outgoing mail server
for your account. If you know you already have an outgoing mail server (also called an SMTP — Simple Mail
Transport Protocol — server) configured, follow these steps to select it:
1. In Mail, choose Mail
→
Preferences.
The Mail preferences appear.
2. Click Accounts.
Mail displays a list of your e-mail accounts.
3. In the Accounts list, choose the one with which you want to work.
