Re: Time Machine "no backups for xxx" warning
I'm still seeing them - 2019 MBP.
Sent from JT's Ipad - maybe using voice dictation!
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On Mar 4, 2020, at 16:07, Keith Parr via Groups.Io <kg.parr@...> wrote:
Recently we have noticed that these warnings are no longer displayed. I'd like to think that we will be able to remember anyway, but Murphy's Law probably applies ...
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Hi Bev,
Will you please contact me ?regarding 17” MacBook Pro 2010 - I’m having many problems including a corrupted OS install disk.
Cheers,
James
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Well, I finally bought a new 16” MBP this morning. ?I’ve had a number of hardware and software issues with my old 2010 17” MBP lately, but another unexpected crash on it this morning was the last straw. ?I’ll probably set it up the new one tomorrow. ?Are there any pitfalls of which I should be aware? ? I was thinking of using Migration Assistant to transfer my files from my old MBP to the new one, as that seems an easy option. ?However, I would rather do everything manually if Migration Assistant automatically copies outdated programs (e.g., MS Office 2011} or detritus from ~/Library. ?I read Apple’s blurb on using Migration Assistant, but they don’t give many details of what is copied. Also, my old MBP is incapable of using Air Drop.
Thanks!
--
Bev in TX
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On Mar 4, 2020, at 10:04 PM, jimrobertson via Groups.Io <jimrobertson@...> wrote:
I was thinking of using Migration Assistant to transfer my files from my old MBP to the new one, as that seems an easy option. ?However, I would rather do everything manually if Migration Assistant automatically copies outdated programs (e.g., MS Office 2011} or detritus from ~/Library.
Congratulations!
I’m probably too late, but if you were considering inserting your applications and datafile manually rather than taking the “easy” way with Migration Assistant, I think I’d tell you that may be a good idea. Migration Assistant will NOT populate your new machine with 32-bit apps that won’t run. I think Office 2011 is 64 bit. I had Office 2008 on my old MacBook Pro, and the Migration Assistant just didn’t contaminate my new machine with it.
On the other hand, Migration Assistant won’t winnow out all the p-list and other supplementary settings files that are associated with applications it’s not going to transfer to your new machine, and that CAN cause issues. ...
?You were not too late with that excellent info. ?This is exactly what I needed to know before I setup my new Mac :-). ?I don’t want 10 years of detritus on it, so I will take your recommendation and manually install apps and copy data. ?That may take more time on my part, but perhaps I will also learn more about the new hardware and OS along the way. As for the machine itself. The keyboard, of course, is said to be better. I like the “feel” a bit better and can notice the longer travel of the keys, but what’s promised is freedom from keyboard failure because of bits of detritus that wedge their way into the butterfly mechanisms of the laptops Apple made from 2016 through mid 2019. ...
Additional niceties include a Trackpad that’s not claimed to be better but seems so to me (it’s MUCH less likely to regard a gentle kiss of the base of my thumb on the keypad as a “mouse down” event that sent my cursor off to unpredictable locations.
I was a little hesitant about the keyboard, but was encouraged by good reviews. ?I especially appreciate your input on it and the trackpad. The screen is brighter, shows more real estate, and I think is a major improvement.
It will be slightly less screen area for me, as my old MBP had a 17” screen. ?But I’m sure that adjusting to a 16” screen will be easier than it would have been for the older 15” screen. The stereo speakers are marvelous.
The speakers on my old MBP were never anything to write home about, so I’m looking forward to those better speakers.
There’s a new security chip (this actually has been available for some time). One benefit of this chip is that if your old computer was encrypted, you can transfer your “stuff” much more rapidly to the new one because FileVault can now be turned off temporarily in short order, the reacctivated once you’ve imported your “stuff” to your new machine.
I’ve never used FieVault, but I guess I should start doing so. ?Or is it automatically used nowadays? ?Thanks for the tip about the T2 chip. Just today, a Forbes columnist (Ewan Spence) published an article online that said, basically, that no one should buy one of these new machines. I sent him an email (I don’t expect a response. ...
I enjoyed reading your response and alternate title for that article. ? I read a couple other articles that discussed that LED rumor. ?Personally, I’m a bit cautious when it comes to new hardware, as I no longer enjoy being on “the cutting edge of technology” like I used to. ? I just want a computer that works well. -- Bev in TX
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On Mar 4, 2020, at 4:01 PM, Jim Saklad via Groups.Io <jimdoc@...> wrote:
Bev in TX wrote:
Well, I finally bought a new 16” MBP this morning. ... Are there any pitfalls of which I should be aware? It will take some getting used to.
It will have a *fast* SSD, with APSF formatting. Faster will be better :-). I guess that my USB 3 backup drives will also run faster now (I only has USB 2 ports on my old MBP). It will have macOS Catalina installed.
If you look in Disk Utility, you will likely be confused by the presence of a <Macintosh HD> and a <Macintosh HD – Data>.
The former is the system and apps that are installed by the Apple installer, and it is read-only.
The latter contains all your user data, and all the apps NOT installed by the Apple installer … AND hard links to the Apple-installed apps, so it will *appear* that they are there also. Thanks for that info, as I only briefly scanned an article about the new boot disk volumes around the time Catalina was released. I didn’t pay much attention back then. There will undoubtedly be other stuff that I’m too familiar with to remember as “new”, so feel free to ask us. Thanks, I’m sure that I will back with more questions. -- Bev in TX
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I was thinking of using Migration Assistant to transfer my files from my old MBP to the new one, as that seems an easy option. ?However, I would rather do everything manually if Migration Assistant automatically copies outdated programs (e.g., MS Office 2011} or detritus from ~/Library.
Congratulations!
I’m probably too late, but if you were considering inserting your applications and datafile manually rather than taking the “easy” way with Migration Assistant, I think I’d tell you that may be a good idea. Migration Assistant will NOT populate your new machine with 32-bit apps that won’t run. I think Office 2011 is 64 bit. I had Office 2008 on my old MacBook Pro, and the Migration Assistant just didn’t contaminate my new machine with it.
On the other hand, Migration Assistant won’t winnow out all the p-list and other supplementary settings files that are associated with applications it’s not going to transfer to your new machine, and that CAN cause issues. I’ve had one that’s not really a big deal: Any time I’m away from my own LAN, specifically when I want to join an open network at Starbucks, in a hotel, or in a medical care facility, I need to reboot or my MacBook Pro will recognize the SSID but not be able to establish an internet connection through that SSID. I spent over an hour on the phone with a second or third level supervisory support person several days ago, and I thought we’d resolved the issue by means of me turning off all “login items” in my admin account, but that success was short lived. The next recommendation she planned to make was a reinstallation of macOS on the new laptop. For now, it’s easier for me just to reboot periodically.
As for the machine itself. The keyboard, of course, is said to be better. I like the “feel” a bit better and can notice the longer travel of the keys, but what’s promised is freedom from keyboard failure because of bits of detritus that wedge their way into the butterfly mechanisms of the laptops Apple made from 2016 through mid 2019. The fact that I’ve had no problems in 2 months of ownership is good news, but it may be what’s reported by people who’ve collected a few YEARS of experience that will really reassure people who had problems such as mine. Additional niceties include a Trackpad that’s not claimed to be better but seems so to me (it’s MUCH less likely to regard a gentle kiss of the base of my thumb on the keypad as a “mouse down” event that sent my cursor off to unpredictable locations.
The screen is brighter, shows more real estate, and I think is a major improvement.
The stereo speakers are marvelous.
There’s a new security chip (this actually has been available for some time). One benefit of this chip is that if your old computer was encrypted, you can transfer your “stuff” much more rapidly to the new one because FileVault can now be turned off temporarily in short order, the reacctivated once you’ve imported your “stuff” to your new machine.
Just today, a Forbes columnist (Ewan Spence) published an article online that said, basically, that no one should buy one of these new machines. I sent him an email (I don’t expect a response. Here’s what I said:
Re:?New MacBook Pro Leak Is A Great Reason To Not Buy Apple’s Laptop
Let’s see. I had a late 2016 15.4 inch MacBook Pro. I bought dongles (but still missed the LED on the charging cable hub and the safety provided by MagSafe).
Over the three years of ownership, I struggled several times with its keyboard, even to the point of seeking help from my son, who’d worked in an auto parts store where they regularly sprayed their grease and grime embedded desktop junk Dell keyboards with a volatile organic solvent, then sprayed them with compressed air.
That resuscitated my MacBook Pro keyboard 3 times (after Apple had told me that a keyboard replacement would be $1600; the spray cans cost < $10, but the problems always returned within a month or two).
Then the 16” model appeared. Keyboard problems solved. Speakers are amazing. Screen has more real estate and is impressively bright. The trackpad seems smarter about ignoring kisses from my thenar eminences that used to send the cursor off to parts unknown.
All in all, a FANTASTIC update.
Now, Apple may be developing screens with mini-LED technology. But, let’s be honest, practically, about how much that will affect the average user doing web browsing, document creation, spreadsheet wrangling, email and <ugh> social media self promotion.
When those screens appear, I’ll bet their benefit for the average user will be minuscule. For the guy doing animation for PIXAR, they could be the next great thing. But not for the guy in premium economy just trying to get his PowerPoint or Keynote presentation finished before the plane lands.
Now, if next gen WiFi is on offer, THAT might make a difference, but the typical hotel I visit doesn’t even offer 802.11ac (even though my wife won’t let us join the lice at Motel 6), so even?that?isn’t reason sufficient enough for the person who really would benefit from what the 16” MacBook Pro offers now to wait.
Unless your headline should be:
Everyone Cursed by the Butterfly Keyboards Should Wait for Screens that Won’t Make a?Bit of Difference in Their Daily Use of Their Laptops
--?
Jim Robertson
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Bev in TX wrote: Well, I finally bought a new 16” MBP this morning. ?I’ve had a number of?hardware and software issues with my old 2010 17” MBP lately, but another?unexpected crash on it this morning was the last straw.
I’ll probably set it up the new one tomorrow. ?Are there any pitfalls of which I?should be aware?
It will take some getting used to. It will have a *fast* SSD, with APSF formatting. It will have macOS Catalina installed.
If you look in Disk Utility, you will likely be confused by the presence of a <Macintosh HD> and a <Macintosh HD – Data>.? The former is the system and apps that are installed by the Apple installer, and it is read-only. The latter contains all your user data, and all the apps NOT installed by the Apple installer … AND hard links to the Apple-installed apps, so it will *appear* that they are there also.
There will undoubtedly be other stuff that I’m too familiar with to remember as “new”, so feel free to ask us.
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Time Machine "no backups for xxx" warning
For a long time, if no TM backups were done for X days, then TM would tell you, remind you that you haven't backup up for X days.
Recently we have noticed that these warnings are no longer displayed.? I'd like to think that we will be able to remember anyway, but Murphy's Law probably applies ...
A bit of Googling reveals a number of discussions about trying to turn these reminders OFF, but none about turning them on, nor about them no longer appearing.
I could imagine (!!!) that they may not be considered necessary as the internal backups will still be made even when the external TM drive is disconnected.? Nevertheless I'd like to be able to turn on the warnings.? Does anyone know whether this is possible, please, and how to do it?
Keith
OS 10.14.6
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I had requested help with Time Machine which refused to backup to my LaCie drive because it had become unencrypted. So I followed suggestions from the group to first of all to turn off Filevault (which took over a day), and after doing a SuperDuper copy of my hard drive to another backup drive, reformatting my LaCie drive. Now Time Machine is working but I was wondering if I should turn File Vault back on for my hard drive and would that mess up the Time Machine backup. Any ideas?
Joan
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Well, I finally bought a new 16” MBP this morning. ?I’ve had a number of hardware and software issues with my old 2010 17” MBP lately, but another unexpected crash on it this morning was the last straw.
?I’ll probably set it up the new one tomorrow. ?Are there any pitfalls of which I should be aware? ?
I was thinking of using Migration Assistant to transfer my files from my old MBP to the new one, as that seems an easy option. ?However, I would rather do everything manually if Migration Assistant automatically copies outdated programs (e.g., MS Office 2011} or detritus from ~/Library. ?I read Apple’s blurb on using Migration Assistant, but they don’t give many details of what is copied.
Also, my old MBP is incapable of using Air Drop.
Thanks!
--
Bev in TX
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Re: MacPro 2019 Back Home
It's also?
better documented and a user can actually see the partitions in Disk?
Utility.
I’ll bet that lots of Mac users have never opened Disk Utility. I know I’m quibbling about minor things, but why not display two icons in the Finder. It’s like a politician not being consistent in his messsaging.
And, why not be consistent with the naming? In Finder, it’s Macintosh HD (one item). In Disk Utility, it’s actually FOUR: first the hardware, second a “Container” that contains the mounted partitions (and, of course a few that aren’t visible to the user), and then the two that ARE visible.
--?
Jim Robertson
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Re: MacPro 2019 Back Home
Howdy. Jim, you make some good points but I think I would dispute your criticism of the two partitions of the SSD boot drive. It keeps system stuff separate from your files, documents, images, etc., and should the system partition collapse it is a lot easier to replace/fix/repair without losing your files and documents. It's also better documented and a user can actually see the partitions in Disk Utility. Denver Dan On Wed, 4 Mar 2020 07:44:52 -0700, jimrobertson via Groups.Io wrote:
Witness the way in which the boot volume is actually TWO volumes but
cloaked as one. Why is that preferable to just making it clear that
there’s a read-only system volume and a separate volume containing
user accounts, productivity apps, and user-changeable settings.
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Re: MacPro 2019 Back Home
I think this is a big change by Apple. ?It's very, very poorly?
documented and introduced by Apple. ?Anyone getting a new Mac with a T2?
chip needs to be able to figure this stuff out without a month of?
effort and a trip to an from and Apple store with a giant 40 pound?
(18.4 kg) computer. ??Yes. ?The handles were convenient!
If it’s too much effort, you can send me that paperweight. I’ll even pay the postage! ?
Seriously, I know how frustrating this must be, especially leveraged against the size of your investment!
While Apple IS producing what seem to be qualitatively superior products now compared with their missteps of the past few years, their documentation of how they do and don’t work is frustratingly poor (as is the knowledge of the people who are deployed to support them, either by phone or on site).
Witness the way in which the boot volume is actually TWO volumes but cloaked as one. Why is that preferable to just making it clear that there’s a read-only system volume and a separate volume containing user accounts, productivity apps, and user-changeable settings.
Witness the way in which NO ONE at Apple has been able to tell me why I must reboot in order to join unencrypted WiFi networks
Witness the way in which NO ONE at Apple can tell me why, when my brand new laptop wakes up, it sometimes cannot find its own trackpad and keyboard (fortunately, this is only an occasional occurrence and just delays my using the machine for only a minute or two before, somehow, the system realizes it’s looking for input sources embedded in the box rather then reached by BlueTooth connections!
--?
Jim Robertson
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On Mar 3, 2020, at 4:29 PM, Christopher Collins via Groups.Io < maclist@...> wrote:
If you have 2 factor authentication turned on, that will be why thunderbird can’t get in.
You need to setup a special password on iCloud and copy that to Thunderbird.
And your iCloud mail password should be the same as your AppleID password.
Practically, that’s “sort-of” the case, but it’s a special instance of multiple authentication. Apple has created a requirement that third party applications seeking to access data stored in iCloud must have application-specific passwords. It’s not the same as “ordinary” two factor authentication, because the app-specific password needs to be entered only ONCE, not each time the application is used, and unlike “ordinary” two-factor authentication, entering the second factor in response to an each-episode-of-use polling of the user on a separate device also registered to the user is not required.
And, as others have noted. while it makes sense for most people to have their Apple ID password also be their iCloud mail password, that’s not required by Apple.
--?
Jim Robertson
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Howdy.
I wrote earlier about a problem with the new MacPro 2019. Couldn't
boot in Recovery or from an external boot drive.
Took it to an Apple Store last Friday.
I went back to Apple Store and picked it up tonight. And I can now
boot in Recovery and boot from an external drive.
Multiple changes by Apple caused this problem.
Startup Security Utility.
Catalina and Macs with the T2 chip have something new called Startup
Security Utility. It's part of Recovery mode and found on the
Utilities menu.
Startup Security Utility does several things dealing with security.
In addition, booting in Recovery is different. One must shut down the
do a cold boot and immediately press Command r.
Note that the about is still iffy because it may not work if the
Startup Security Utility is set to factory defaults. This is still
unsure to me.
Startup Security Utility has the following options.
? Turn on Firmware password
Secure Boot:
? Full Security
? Medium Security
? No Security
Allowed Boot Mode:
? Disallow Booting from external or removable media (like a USB flash
drive).
?Allow booting from external or removable media.
More on this later including links to Apple info on Recovery and
Startup Security Utility.
I think this is a big change by Apple. It's very, very poorly
documented and introduced by Apple. Anyone getting a new Mac with a T2
chip needs to be able to figure this stuff out without a month of
effort and a trip to an from and Apple store with a giant 40 pound
(18.4 kg) computer. Yes. The handles were convenient!
Denver Dan
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iSent from iDan's GyazMail on my MacPro
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Re: Oddity in Finder window in Catalina
On Mar 3, 2020, at 1:26 PM, jimrobertson via Groups.Io < jimrobertson@...> wrote:
Although all of the items in Macintosh HD\System\Applications are Apple apps, all of those applications are also listed as present in the Macintosh HD\Applications folder, which contains all my 3rd party applications as well, along with some things from Apple that would be considered productivity applications;?e.g.,?Numbers, Pages, and Keynote.
That’s essentially what I said. What I wasn’t certain about was whether there were 2 copies of each of the core Apple “part of the standard OS installation” applications.
Thanks to Bev and Dan, who helped me exorcise one of the two iterations of “Macintosh HD” from my Finder Sidebar.
--?
Jim Robertson
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If you have 2 factor authentication turned on, that will be why thunderbird can’t get in.
You need to setup a special password on iCloud and copy that to Thunderbird.
And your iCloud mail password should be the same as your AppleID password.
Christopher
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On 3 Mar 2020, at 11:32 am, Bob Beckham via Groups.Io <rbeckhm@...> wrote:
Hi Folks!
I did try Thunderbird, but it couldn’t log into the iCloud account. Says my password is wrong. I’m assuming the mail password is the same as the Apple ID password. Correct?
Bob Beckham
FCC Radiotelephone w/Radar P1-6S-2422
Late 2012 iMac 27” - 16 Gig RAM - 1TB SSD - macOS 10.15.3
2019 Harley Ultra Limited 114
1993 Allen MDS Theater 2
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Re: Oddity in Finder window in Catalina
The puzzle for me is why my “Macintosh HD” is listed?twice, because both are?really the same thing. Icon views of each of them show that each “contains”?both the system files and user files; column views shows the same “read only”?designation for the System, Library, and Users Folders, but within the “Users”?folder, my own user is NOT listed as read only. Total available space is the?same size for both iterations; I’m unable to get the Finder to calculate size of?individual folders in the columnar views of what’s in either of them.
My advice: drag one of the duplicates off to delete it, and stop worrying… Another Catalina oddity that trying to sort this out has revealed is that each?iteration of “Macintosh HD has both?
Macintosh HD\Applications
and
Macintosh HD\System\Applications folders?
(and neither of these is the ~\Applications Folder (which has a few things in it?that were put there by a GoToMeeting Installer—not by me, manually).
Not to belabor the obvious, but…
<Macintosh HD\System\Applications>? contains apps installed BY the Catalina installer.? It doesn’t even have Pages or Numbers, which are Apple Apps, but NOT system-installed
<Macintosh HD\Applications>? contains *all* your Apps (unless you have manually installed them elsewhere), including the afore-mentioned System Apps (by way of a hard-link, or sym-link, or whatever).? If you ask for Info on, say the Chess App in <Macintosh HD\Applications>, it will tell you it is actually located in <Macintosh HD\System\Applications>
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Re: Oddity in Finder window in Catalina
On Mar 3, 2020, at 8:30 AM, jimrobertson via Groups.Io < jimrobertson@...> wrote:
For some reason, under “Favorites,” I have two iterations of “Macintosh HD”, both read-only, but both exactly the same size:<MacHD screenshot.png> Both are marked as “Read Only (lower L corner)” but I assume that this is because the “Macintosh HD” designation applies to both the Read Only system and the “separate” volume containing my users, etc.
Regardless of which partition you are looking at, your ID does not have write permission to the root folder. ?Having such permissions could easily create a dangerous situation.
Is there anything wrong with having duplicate icons like this? I
I’m stuck back on High Sierra, so I can’t say, but I haven’t seen anything like that in any articles. s there some way I should try to delete one of them, and how would I know which one to delete. I’m assuming, actually, that the Mac wouldn’t let me do it, because the portion of Macintosh HD that contains the System IS read only.
Did you try turning off Locations in Finder Preferences and then turning it back on again? -- Bev in TX
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Re: Thunderbird and other 3rd party email apps... require an app-specific password
Hi JR!
Thx so much for the detailed response.
I had no idea that needed to be done. There is nothing in the installation procedure that says anything about that. I’ll give this new procedure a try.
Again, Thx!
Bob Beckham
FCC Radiotelephone w/Radar P1-6S-2422
Late 2012 iMac 27” - 16 Gig RAM - 1TB SSD - macOS 10.15.3
2019 Harley Ultra Limited 114
1993 Allen MDS Theater 2
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On Mar 3, 2020, at 12:42 PM, JR via Groups.Io <Yahoo_jr@...> wrote:
Hi Bob, et al...
FYI your password is otherwise good, HOWEVER Thunderbird and other 3rd party email apps logging into iCloud accounts requires an APPLICATION-SPECIFIC password that you have to generate on your Apple ID account page...
See here:
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Re: Oddity in Finder window in Catalina
Howdy. I tried to find a reason for the two Mac HDs in Sidebar. No idea unless you dragged them there yourself. However, Right click each one and pick remove from Sidebar. I'd then restart. You can add one back to Sidebar but check your Finder Preferences>Sidebar and see what's checked and not checked first. Denver Dan p.s. One Google response on this topic was, "Is Macintosh HD a Virus?" Yeah. Right. On Tue, 3 Mar 2020 07:30:01 -0700, jimrobertson via Groups.Io wrote: For some reason, under “Favorites,” I have two iterations of
“Macintosh HD”, both read-only, but both exactly the same size:
Both are marked as “Read Only (lower L corner)” but I assume that
this is because the “Macintosh HD” designation applies to both the
Read Only system and the “separate” volume containing my users, etc.
Is there anything wrong with having duplicate icons like this? Is
there some way I should try to delete one of them, and how would I
know which one to delete. I’m assuming, actually, that the Mac
wouldn’t let me do it, because the portion of Macintosh HD that
contains the System IS read only.
Seems to me Apple hasn’t really figured out an easily understandable
way to describe the immutable and changeable portions of the boot
volume in the Finder UI in Catalina.
--
Jim Robertson
[|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|][|] iSent from iDan's GyazMail on my MacPro
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Jim Saklad
Bob Beckham