Topics

1

Tech / iPad Software Confusion...

« on: December 02, 2021, 09:43:41 PM »

I thought I would upgrade my iPad to iPadOS 15.1 from iOS 11.4.1 via iTunes rather than the upgrade that shows on the iPad as that's how I've always done it, but I'm confused about the version of software iTunes downloaded for my iPad when I chose the Download Only option rather than doing the whole Down and Install in one step.
According to what I see in my System Info it downloaded iOS 15.1 for iPad Mini 4 (Model A1550) as shown in the screenshot I'll attach here. The download is 5.15GB

My iPad is an iPad Air 2 (Model A1567) according to the info on the back of the iPad. I have upgraded my iTunes to the latest version that I know of for High Sierra... v12.8.3.

The upgrade I am offered in the Settings on my iPad is iPadOS 15.1 at a size of 4GB.

Would I be better to go with what is offered on the iPad than what got downloaded in iTunes? I always thought iTunes would be "smart" enough to download the right software and it does state my device is an iPad Air 2 but I'm not sure the update through iTunes is the right one?

The file as viewed on my computer is:
~/Library/iTunes/iPad Software Updates/iPad_64bit_TouchID_15.1_19B74_Restore.ipsw                                                                                                                         

2

Tech / Adventures in High Sierra...

« on: November 28, 2021, 07:30:05 AM »

Kinda starting to wonder if the upgrade to High Sierra was a good thing or??? Unless this sort of thing is normal? 

This is a screenshot of my internal drive (called X-Drive)... the openvpn.logs and sockets.logs keep showing up and I have no idea what they are. They aren't big files... 4kb and under, "get info" tells me they are dated Today, Nov 20/2021 and Sept 1/2018 for the openvpn.logs and Today, Nov20/2021 and Oct. 8/2016 for the sockets.logs.

What ARE these? Trying to figure out why these are all showing up here, at this rate I'll have who knows how many before long... I've never seen ANY of these here before, not even the 2 oldest.
I've looked at Console while trying to figure these out, and there my "system.log" looks like one repeating error after another.

Also a shutdown and/or restart of the computer gets me disconnected from my network so that upon restart I have to click the network item in the menubar and re-connect with my network.

3

Tech / Calling jchuzi... Please help!

« on: November 27, 2021, 06:09:15 AM »

I was just waiting for payday to order the USB hub you recommended but it appears they now have new stock which says it's for Mojave so don't know if it will work for High Sierra:

https://www.amazon.ca/Portable-SuperSpeed-Splitter-Aluminum-Transfer/dp/B00D600M68/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Tripp-Lite%2BU360-007%2BUSB%2Bhub&qid=1637263243&sr=8-1&th=1

Any suggestions for perhaps another model if this one won't work for me? 

There's this one with 4 ports... it would do although the charging port would be nice.
https://www.amazon.ca/Portable-SuperSpeed-Splitter-Aluminum-Transfer/dp/B004ZMDQG4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Tripp-Lite%2BU360-007%2BUSB%2Bhub&qid=1637263243&sr=8-1&th=1

Bunches of thanks in advance!

4

Tech / Odd message in Font Book...

« on: November 26, 2021, 07:37:18 PM »

When I open Font Book there is a message in yellow "Multiple copies of this font are installed." That's the best I can get after several openings and closings of Font Book as the message flashes by so fast it's hard to read!

I have preferences set to Default Install Location: User and the box for "Resolve duplicates by moving files to the trash" checked.
I also selected ALL the fonts and checked for duplicates... there were none found... then I chose to validate all the fonts... no problems found except for 2 minor problems with one font. I disabled that one otherwise no problems.
Shut down Font Book... restarted it and there's the same message flashing by...  Happens even when there is no font selected.

Does anyone have any idea what the thing means?

5

Tech / Rapport Extensions

« on: November 25, 2021, 03:58:55 AM »

Two extensions that appear by default in my Safari preferences are Rapport Content and Rapport Extension. I am familiar with Rapport as I have a Pref Pane on my System Preferences called "Trusteer Endpoint Protection" which is by Rapport and came recommended by my bank. The 2 in Safari preferences are as shown in the screenshots. I would trust the "Content" one but not so sure about the "Extension" one. That one says at the bottom "Browsing History - Can see when you visit: . all websites" That part didn't fit into the screenshot

6

Tech / Lost Login - User and Groups Window...

« on: November 24, 2021, 04:46:00 AM »

Usually you've got a little window in the upper right corner of your menubar that gives you access to Users & Groups etc.

It has your name etc. I've lost that somehow. Anyone PLEASE have any idea how to get that back?

7

Tech / USB Hub?

« on: November 17, 2021, 07:49:25 PM »

Does anyone have some suggestions for what would be a good USB Hub to get? I've been looking at Amazon but there are so many choices it's a bit confusing. 

Thanks in advance for any help!

8

Tech / Advice on best way to install High Sierra please...

« on: November 16, 2021, 11:57:14 PM »

So... the good news is that I've managed to install High Sierra booted to the clone I have created by SuperDuper... all went well!!!  Including installing the OS and updates to Safari and 2 security updates. The drive I used for the clone is a portable 2TB flash drive (Seagate). I just assumed since it is a flash drive that the conversion to the new file system APFS would happen but upon checking Disk Utility it states that it is a "USB External Physical Volume . Mac OS Extended (Journaled)."

Perhaps because of this it didn't change the file system? The internal drive on my MBP is a "SATA Internal Physical Volume . Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" and is also flash or as they call it "SSD." Personally I have no problem with leaving it as is but I thought I'd let the change to APFS happen. If I was to do the whole thing all over from the start on my MBP I image it would "unless" I used the Terminal command

/Applications/Install\ macOS\ High\ Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/startosinstall --converttoapfs NO

available here: https://osxdaily.com/2017/10/17/how-skip-apfs-macos-high-sierra/
My main concern is whether my Time Machine would work as usual especially if I needed to restore from it as it is not a flash drive so would not convert.

So what I'm wondering right now is that it would seem High Sierra is working very well on my external clone so would it be possible to wipe my internal drive and clone it over with SuperDuper or should I go through the whole procedure again on my MBP's internal drive? That drive choked on the last security update for El Capitan with a Kernel Panic even upon several restarts. I finally had to boot into recovery mode and restore from Time Machine, hence why I decided to try the whole works booted to an external drive first now.

Also theoretically after I use iTunes 12.8.2 to install iPad OS15.1 on my iPad I should be able to easily revert to iTunes 12.6.5 if I wish to continue to use syncing for Apps capability. But if I decide to try that I'd try it from the clone first.

I'll include an explanation of why I could NOT get a download of High Sierra until recently... it was all pretty much due to that uninstalled security update quoted from a TextEdit file:

I finally did manage to download a whole 5.24GB installer of HS... AFTER I placed a phone call to Apple Support. It turns out all I needed to do was install an update to El Capitan called Security Update 2018-004 10.11. There was also an iTunes Device Support Update. Also once I updated my iTunes from 12.6.4 to iTunes 12.8.2 it showed the update for my iPad to OS 15.1 available. I did all that on a SuperDuper clone I booted from so as not to mess up my MBP because I had tried that Security update on my MBP a couple of years back and it caused a snafu so bad I had to boot into recovery mode and restore from Time Machine. It had caused a Kernel Panic that essentially locked me out of my MBP until I did the TM restore. I did that update and the iTunes updates on my clone and all went well but have not had the nerve to try it again on the MBP just yet. Apple Support was at a loss to explain what caused the fatal Kernal Panic... they just suggested to try running the update again and call them if I had trouble. While booted to my clone everything went well and then all updates installed and done Safari downloaded a 5.24GB High Sierra installer.

Only other bit of nastiness is Firefox... I had really hoped that being able to upgrade to v94.0.1 it STILL will not sign into my online banking and various other sites. Safari however continues to work perfectly! I've gotten all my bookmarks imported to Safari and am considering trying Chrome as well. Firefox has generally worked well for me however this latest "stunt" and lack of uncomplicated fixes has about driven me crazy... a shame since I've always been a Mozilla fan... maybe if I can remember how to create a new profile and what to copy over from the old one I'll see if that works. If not then I guess me and Firefox will part ways. 

Any suggestions as to the best way to get High Sierra over to my MBP's internal drive would be most greatfully appreciated. If by chance someone else with Firefox has run into the same issues as mine and managed to fix it that would be awesome as well. 
Sorry for the long post! 

9

Tech / When downloading an OS what to do if you only get the small approx. 24mb install

« on: November 06, 2021, 07:46:46 PM »

So I FINALLY managed to get the entire High Sierra OS installer to download... it's 5.24GB, version 10.13.6.02.    I thought I'd download Mojave as well in case I do want it but that one only download an approx. 24mb installer to my Applications folder and says to set up the OS installation to click continue. I seem to remember "something" from somewhere about what to do to get the entire installer as I did with HS. For the life of me I cannot remember how to or where I saw the instructions now.

Would be ever so grateful if anyone happens to remember or knows where to find that info... 

10

Tech / Has Anyone Run Into This Re: iPadOS...

« on: October 28, 2021, 08:33:30 PM »

I found this today... it's from Oct. 26th so very recent and I keep "hearing" about the option but it doesn't show on my iPad Air 2:

https://osxdaily.com/2021/10/26/ios-14-8-1-ipados-14-8-1-released-with-security-updates/#comments

It states:

    Open the “Settings” app on iPhone or iPad
    Go to “General”, then select “Software Update”
    Scroll down to ‘Also Available’ below the iOS 15/iPadOS 15 updates
    Choose to “Download and Install” iOS 14.8.1 or iPadOS 14.8.1

However when I go to the Settings app>General>Software Update on my iPad Air 2 it offers only iPadOS 15.1, no other choices. I want to upgrade from my current iOS 11.4.1 and would prefer the option to upgrade to iPadOS 14.something but the option is not there as it should be? I thought, or at least I heard the last iteration of iPadOS 14 was 14.7.something so it would seem this is a new release that would have come out when iPadOS 15 was already out too but it does not give me the option on my iPad.

Has anyone else run into this? :shrug:

11

Tech / OK... Just to get some idea of what I "might" be up against...

« on: August 10, 2021, 06:38:10 PM »

Re: an upgrade of the MacBook Pro in my signature to High Sierra which is really as far as I want to go right now. I did downloaded the whole installer when it was available on the Mac store, archived it and saved it in a folder I call "Utilities (Mine)" which is in the Applications folder.

Something I saw online is that it may not work because Apple doesn't sign old OS's... something to worry about? According to here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211683 one can still get High Sierra by using Safari to download it. I believe they are still there but hidden.

I also wonder about the best way to do an upgrade since I still have some glitches currently on the El Capitan that I'm currently running, I'm not sure an install over the current OS is the best way to do this, unless there's the possibility it might solve a thing or two. I have seen other complaints online about Time Machine not working as expected under El Capitan although mine used to do so very well.
Don't particularly want to do a clean install but if Migration Assistant could be used to restore stuff from Time Machine or a clone that would be OK. I believe the clone on my USB Flash Drive should be bootable... as it did say so but I've not tried it yet.

Also I remember that letting the High Sierra installer convert to APFS caused a problem with external drives that were not flash drives. Is that still an issue... if so I have saved the site with the command line to start the install from Terminal with the directive not to convert to APFS.

https://osxdaily.com/2017/10/17/how-skip-apfs-macos-high-sierra/

I understand that APFS is a better system however I still need my non-flash external drive to work.

12

Tech / Problem With Time Machine

« on: August 08, 2021, 01:40:46 AM »

I'm sorry to be back again but I've run into an issue with my Time Machine drive that I really need help with, please. Info I really don't want to bother you with so just a short note... severe health problems at this time just leave me unable to effectively deal with this... I cannot afford to be w/o a reliable back up method and Time Machine is the best method at this time.

I use a USB external physical volume as Time Machine... I call the volume (drive) Back In Time and I have directed Time Machine in from the preferences for it to use this volume and it accepted that. It apparently does backups as normal to it and if I open it from the sidebar in Finder the backups are there and are indeed backups of my internal drive. However when I choose to enter Time Machine I see backups of only my Home directory not what is on the Back In Time drive. Furthermore when I go to /Volumes there are 3 drives in there called Back In Time, Mobile Backups and an alias to X-Drive which is my internal drive. Mobile Backups is a mysterious volume with apparently 10 complete backups of my internal drive all created 2021-08-07-"number" so it looks just like a Time Machine volume but only those 10 backups all created yesterday. I have no idea where this volume came from, it's not one I created but it's info says it was created Dec 31, 2000 and modified current time. Format is Unknown (mtmfs). Of course I can't delete it, and I don't know if it's the problem with the drive I use for Time Machine. I do have an external portable USB Flash Drive that I use to back up parts of my Home directory but it is not connected at this time nor is it called Mobile Backups. It's a 2TB drive so it could be used with something like SuperDuper to a point... my internal drive is 500GB so lots of room but I've not used SuperDuper in some time, last time I tried you couldn't make a bootable drive with it but I think that's been rectified, it's been a long time since I tried. I did erase Back In Time and assure in Time Machine prefs that it was selected and accepted and it did make a new first complete backup... and is set to make one every hour as usual. It was doing that even before I decided to erase it and start over but I wouldn't know how to access the backups and restore them as from the menu bar icon to entire Time Machine all I get is backups of my Home directory, not at all what is actually on the drive.

I've also just tried renaming Back In Time to Time-Machine but still when trying to enter Time Machine it shows only my Home directory. However it did make the hourly backup and the mysterious Mobile Backups in /Volumes is gone. So now it only contains Time-Machine and the alias to X-Drive. If I name the drive Time Machine with no dash... it's still the same thing when I try to enter Time Machine. But the mount point changes to Time Machine 1 instead of just Time Machine which I can see by using Disk Utility. Does that matter? I'm guessing it does, but don't know for sure.
I've googled the issue but found nothing helpful.

I really do need to get Time Machine working but have no idea how. I do have screenshots however Firefox will not let me attach them here... it freezes solid. Until I figure out what my sign-in password is for TS so I can use Safari my hands are tied in that regard. Dah! Sorry...  Please help me! I just can't deal with this right now and I'm desperate. If someone can help me with my password I'm happy to come back with the screenshots. Meanwhile... going to bed... I'm exhausted.

13

Tech / Why is my AppleID suddenly expiring every couple of weeks...

« on: December 27, 2020, 04:01:50 PM »

Hi guys... 

My problem is fairly well explained here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4019934

For me this is a very sudden and new thing... just twice now in about as many weeks. I'll wake up my MacBook Pro and get a popup from iMessages saying my session has expired and I need to sign in with my Apple ID so I have to re-enter my password for some apps like Messages, iTunes, App Store.

This problem has never happened to me before so it's very recent unlike in the link. I haven't changed anything... I think my signature is up to date for what I have. I'll make sure.

I know my software is getting long in the tooth, I planned to upgrade things however I had a major heart attack this last March 15th and everything is just on "stall." It doesn't seem to be an OS problem though... I sign in with my Apple password and it's OK for another  couple of weeks. This happens on my MacBook Pro and my iPad... when one device requires a password so does the other. It doesn't insist on my getting a new password, just sign in with the one I have. I could change it to a very strong one as Firefox will generate one and remember it when I need to sign in... but I don't know that it would help as it's not asking for a new password it just states that my session has expired. 

*edit**
Info as to devices and software in signature is correct.

14

Tech / Flash Drive Question...

« on: December 14, 2019, 05:25:31 PM »

Anyone have any idea if this:
https://www.amazon.ca/Lightning-External-Storage-Encryption-Certified/dp/B01N1UXH7S/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3G5GJQX7R8PDB&keywords=idiskk+usb+3.0+128gb+iphone+lightning+flash+drive&qid=1576365232&sprefix=iDiskk%2Caps%2C283&sr=8-3

iDiskk Flash Drive would work with my iPad Air 2 with is running iOS11.4.1?

I assumed these things only work as of iOS13, however in the last paragraph of the description of the thing it would appear to say that both my iPad and MacBook Pro are OK. I've looked for a definitive answer online but of course couldn't find one. If anything according to an article I saw was written in 2016... before iOS13 the thing should work.
I've got a HUGE folder of artwork (around 500mb.) that I'd rather not put right on the iPad... a little flash drive like this would be handy. There's in fact 2 apps for it... iDiskk Pro and Max. The iDiskk Max must be new it wasn't there last time I looked. The way I understand it is that you should be able to work with or view your flash drive through the app. 

*edit** Thought it would handy too to put artwork that I do with a couple of iPad apps on for moving over to the MacBook Pro for further refining in Photoshop before I put them in a permanent folder.

15

Tech / How NOT to clean your screen...

« on: December 05, 2018, 01:04:45 PM »

Have any of you ever tried to use just a plain dry Swiffer cloth to wipe the dust of your computer screen? Also dry. I did this morning and talk about sorry! It left an absolute awful smeary mess all over my MBP's screen... I'm still trying to clean it off! I've got most of it but around the edges and such.

I wouldn't recommend trying those at all!