About This Mac

[RodgerWW]

Perhaps try resetting Alfred2? Open preferences, click on the advanced button, then, click the "Clear Knowledge" button, and maybe also beside 'Files / Apps' clear the cache and rebuild meta ... although I don't see why that might matter here.

 

Out of curiosity: When you type 'xabout' DOES it in fact delete the txt files in the workflow folder?

[Ilithian]

same issue here. All informations are correct except the system info on the top. It shows an old mac I don't own anymore since about a year. But I migrated the system via Time Machine.

 

Where do I find the workflow folder? There isn't one in the workflow data folder inside the Alfred 2 folder in Applications Support. At least not for your workflow. Strange...

[dntz]

Perhaps try resetting Alfred2? Open preferences, click on the advanced button, then, click the "Clear Knowledge" button, and maybe also beside 'Files / Apps' clear the cache and rebuild meta ... although I don't see why that might matter here.

 

Out of curiosity: When you type 'xabout' DOES it in fact delete the txt files in the workflow folder?

 

Reset those options but still having the same issue. Where would i locate the workflow folder?

 

Thanks

[Ddyracer]

same issue here. All informations are correct except the system info on the top. It shows an old mac I don't own anymore since about a year. But I migrated the system via Time Machine.

 

Where do I find the workflow folder? There isn't one in the workflow data folder inside the Alfred 2 folder in Applications Support. At least not for your workflow. Strange...

 

There is another one in Alfred.preferences then workflows.

[ChrisHumphreys]

Thanks great workflow works great on my Mac Mini Late 2012. Any change you can add the MacMini x,x in also saves me looking it up in mac tracker??

[Ilithian]

Thanks, found it.

 

Deleting the mymac.txt doesn't fix it. It creates a new one which is wrong again.

[RodgerWW]

Thanks great workflow works great on my Mac Mini Late 2012. Any change you can add the MacMini x,x in also saves me looking it up in mac tracker??

I am not sure what you mean. Macmini identifiers are in the xml ... for 6,1 and 6,2 which are the late 2012 models, for the icon. Can you be more specific?

[ChrisHumphreys]

I am not sure what you mean. Macmini identifiers are in the xml ... for 6,1 and 6,2 which are the late 2012 models, for the icon. Can you be more specific?

 

Is it possible to add the identifiers in () maybe next to the model

 

Currently:

 

Mac mini Late 2012

 

with identifier:

 

Mac mini Late 2012 (6,1)

[RodgerWW]

Is it possible to add the identifiers in () maybe next to the model

 

Currently:

 

Mac mini Late 2012

 

with identifier:

 

Mac mini Late 2012 (6,1)

Ah, ok, you can add this manually for now:

 

1: Open Alfred Prefs

2: Select "About This Mac" workflow on the left column.

3: On the right side, double click on the script filter 'about' and it opens up those options.

4: In the window at the bottom with the script look for:

 

 

<items>

  <item arg="$MACHINE" valid="yes">

    <title>$MACHINE</title>

<subtitle>System</subtitle>

<icon>$MYMACICON</icon>

  </item>

 

and right beside $MACHINE in the title, put your identifier so it looks like:

 

    <title>$MACHINE (6,1)</title>

 

 

I'm not sure if I will add this to the workflow, as the workflow was really only meant to replicate everything in a 'Human Readable' way that the system menu version does. I WILL consider it though as at times even I can see it being useful to know the identifier.

[RodgerWW]

For those with issues after migrating or using Time Machine to restore. May I suggest doing a permissions repair on the hard drive, then rebooting, then, resetting the workflow again with 'xabout'.

 

I'm starting to think maybe there may be a writing/permissions error on the older data when restored ... maybe. I still can find no link to the issue with the commands that I am using in the workflow.

 

I even completely removed Alfred2, then restored from my own Time Machine backup and all 'seems' to be behaving normally. The txt files are created on first run, removed if I type 'xabout' etc. Only difference perhaps is that I only have the one machine and the hardware is all identical of course.

[ChrisHumphreys]

Ah, ok, you can add this manually for now:

 

1: Open Alfred Prefs

2: Select "About This Mac" workflow on the left column.

3: On the right side, double click on the script filter 'about' and it opens up those options.

4: In the window at the bottom with the script look for:

 

 

<items>

  <item arg="$MACHINE" valid="yes">

    <title>$MACHINE</title>

<subtitle>System</subtitle>

<icon>$MYMACICON</icon>

  </item>

 

and right beside $MACHINE in the title, put your identifier so it looks like:

 

    <title>$MACHINE (6,1)</title>

 

 

I'm not sure if I will add this to the workflow, as the workflow was really only meant to replicate everything in a 'Human Readable' way that the system menu version does. I WILL consider it though as at times even I can see it being useful to know the identifier.

 

 

Thanks made the change. Please consider adding this to the next release!

[RodgerWW]

Thanks made the change. Please consider adding this to the next release!

 

OK, twist my arm ... added

[ChrisHumphreys]

OK, twist my arm ... added

 

Thank you very much RodgerWW just updated to the latest version.

[guiguan]

This workflow is very nice. Thanks for creating it!

[RodgerWW]

Just a friendly reminder to those using this workflow:

 

Apple has released 10.8.4, so if/when you update your systems be sure to type "xabout" to reset this workflow in Alfred upon reboot.

This is so the files the workflow uses will also be updated to reflect the OS X version change.

[Pennyworth]

same issue here. All informations are correct except the system info on the top. It shows an old mac I don't own anymore since about a year. But I migrated the system via Time Machine.

Where do I find the workflow folder? There isn't one in the workflow data folder inside the Alfred 2 folder in Applications Support. At least not for your workflow. Strange...

I've finally figured out this problem! I was having the same issue and after a bit of research, got it to work.

You need to edit a plist file that has somehow retained your old machine's identifier and edit that information out. Here are the steps:

 

1. Open the following file with a plist editor of your choice (Xcode, PlistEdit Pro, etc): 

   ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SystemProfiler.plist

2. Under the 'CPU Names' field, locate the identifier for your current system as well as the identifier for your previous system.
3. Delete that old identifier.
4. Save the plist file.
5. In Alfred, reset the About workflow by typing the keyword: 

   xabout

When you run the workflow again by typing the keyword 'about', you should now see the correct 'System (Model Identifier)' entry!

Edited June 13, 2013 by Pennyworth

[RodgerWW]

I've finally figured out this problem! I was having the same issue and after a bit of research, got it to work.

You need to edit a plist file that has somehow retained your old machine's identifier and edit that information out. Here are the steps:

 

1. Open the following file with a plist editor of your choice (Xcode, PlistEdit Pro, etc): 

   ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SystemProfiler.plist

2. Under the 'CPU Names' field, locate the identifier for your current system as well as the identifier for your previous system.
3. Delete that old identifier.
4. Save the plist file.
5. In Alfred, reset the About workflow by typing the keyword: 

   xabout

When you run the workflow again by typing the keyword 'about', you should now see the correct 'System (Model Identifier)' entry!

 

 

Wow, good find! I would never have thought the SystemProfiler.plist to retain the old system identifier ... but perhaps a restore needs that?

 

At any rate, another way would be to use terminal and type:

plutil -convert xml1 -o - ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SystemProfiler.plist

This will output an xml version in terminal of the keys so you can easily identify the 'old identifier'

 

Then, you could type:

sudo defaults delete ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SystemProfiler.plist SomeKey

NOTE: that SomeKey would be the key you wanted to delete ... the old identifier.

 

CAUTION: Do this at your own risk, either the terminal or plist edit methods. This is SYSTEM plist file needed to get the model for tech support and hardware specifications! BACK UP FIRST!

[Ilithian]

that's great. Worked fine for me. Thank's a lot!

[Pennyworth]

Thanks for the alternative method RodgerWW! That would certainly help people without a plist editor.

 

I realized the problem because I have a Mac mini and a MacBook Air that were both showing the ID of my old machine, a MacBook Pro (since they're both restored from that machine's backup). That's when I knew it had to be some type of residual data stuck somewhere in my system.

 

I parsed your script to see how it was generating the text files and which plists it was referring to and eventually I figured it out. (This was a lot of fun, I must admit.)

 

In any case, thanks for this workflow. It seems so obvious to type 'about' into Alfred that it could easily have been one of the included System commands that shipped with the software.

[hzlzh]

Nice workflow and I've submited it on the List site below.

[RodgerWW]

I realized the problem because I have a Mac mini and a MacBook Air that were both showing the ID of my old machine, a MacBook Pro (since they're both restored from that machine's backup). That's when I knew it had to be some type of residual data stuck somewhere in my system.

 

This is starting to intrigue me. Obviously the OS knows how to parse the data from a backup, adding the new machine and only showing it in "About This Mac". Mine has only one entry, because I only ever do fresh installs.

 

Do you recall if the old machine was first or second? Or, what might be better is if I actually had a couple of other users' plist files.

I'm thinking, if there is a reliable pattern, I could probably add a function to my workflow to check ... and subsequently, a restore from another system's Time Machine would not have this 'issue' with the workflow. And of course, it makes the workflow more seamless and universal.

 

QUERY: If anyone still has the old plist file (~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.SystemProfiler.plist) from a backup, which exhibits the above mentioned 'issue' of showing your old machine ... please send it to me either here personally, or through my DA page as a note. This file does show the last 3 or 4 digits of your machine serial, not something I can do anything with, but if concerned it is possible to edit those 4 digits to other digits. I only need this file to see if there is a pattern with multiple machines ... to better my workflow.

[glgray]

Here is an old plist file that I believe exhibits the problem you are talking about:

 

http://gray.dropmark.com/124520/2016636

[RodgerWW]

Here is an old plist file that I believe exhibits the problem you are talking about:

 

http://gray.dropmark.com/124520/2016636

AWESOME ... ok, so which is the old, and which is the new? I am going to assume the "Retina" is new ... and from this one plist (so far) the 'restore' places that under the old machine. Good to know ... should be easy to parse if that is in fact the pattern.

 

Also ... your plist has a bit more info in it than mine ... just for 'saftey' please remove the zip from Dropmark ... none of the extra lines in it is identifiable to ME ... but just to be safe.

[glgray]

Sorry, yes, the new is the retina machine.

 

I have deleted it from Dropmark.

[Wildcard]

Very very nice workflow!  The accurate graphics are a very nice touch.

 

I don't mind the identifier number—mine says (MacBookPro8,2).  However, two things:

 

1. The copy/paste shortcuts (Fn and ⇧ Return) don't work for me.  Edit: Actually, the other two actions aren't working either.  The subtext shows up correctly, but each of them just launches http://www.apple.com/support/

 

2. I would really like the "human readable" model info back.  Like "MacBook Pro, Mid 2012" or whatever.  Was that intentionally removed?  Or is my system just being weird and it's still showing up for everybody else?

Edited July 5, 2013 by Wildcard