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Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

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Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#101

Post by sumedh »

oneplane wrote: post #2

Odd, this seems to be happening across the industry and is now either reported better or just more prevalent. Besides bricks (well, is it a brick if you can recover?) we have seen post-update BSOD's, data loss, browsers going bad, settings getting reset on various operating systems of the big vendors out there. I know that it isn't like software 'used to be perfect' but this type of defect feels bigger than it used t…

> this seems to be happening across the industry and is now either reported better or just more prevalent.

Isnt that because lof of companies are eliminating QA people and expect the devs to do the testing.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#102

Post by hanche »

teilo wrote: post #82
baryphonic wrote: post #59

This is interesting. I sat down at my machine on Thursday morning, and it was entirely unresponsive. It had warned me about installing updates the previous evening, but I've done this many times without an issue, and regardless, they are always complete by morning. I waited a minute or two for any sign of life (beyond the fans running), and then held power. I heard the unpleasant sound of the fans spinning up to high…

I had a similar issue to yours when I manually ran this update on my 16". It froze on a black screen, after doing the BridgeOS part of the update. I had to force it down. When it started, it continued the update and, thankfully, everything worked. However, I'm still having kernel panics after the Supplemental update. But interestingly, they only happen when the machine is supposedly sleeping, with the shell closed. I…

Even a supposedly sleeping Mac will wake up from time to time, doing exactly what I don’t know. But I consistently see it in the logs.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#103

Post by eru »

throwaway15392 wrote: post #12
bromuro wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English is not my native language and this is the first time I hear about this “bricked” expression. What does it mean?

It’s not a real word, it’s more of a slang word It just changes the noun brick into a verb. So if a laptop has bricked, it means it’s like a brick now (useless)

Slang words are real. (And so is "ain't", and most words you can make up on the spot.)

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#104

Post by copperx »

__init wrote: post #15
bromuro wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English is not my native language and this is the first time I hear about this “bricked” expression. What does it mean?

Originally, "the device is bricked" meant that the device was about as useful as a brick, i.e. it had no useful functionality left couldn't be recovered at all. However, as the parent points out, it's been increasingly misused.

I wonder what the replacement term will be. Probably "hard bricked"?

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#105

Post by eru »

forgingahead wrote: post #88

Side poll: Do people automatically download OS updates for their computers? A lesson from my Windows days way back when was never to update anything unless absolutely needed -- computer, phones, etc. "Needed" is loosely defined as "key software that you need to work is no longer working on your older OS, hence you need to upgrade your OS to keep using this key software (sorry!)." I'm aware of security patches etc, bu…

> A lesson from my Windows days way back when was never to update anything unless absolutely needed -- computer, phones, etc.

Windows 10 seems to be pretty good at keeping its users on the latest version? (Unless you actively tell it, not to?)

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#106

Post by copperx »

bitwize wrote: post #20
bromuro wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

English is not my native language and this is the first time I hear about this “bricked” expression. What does it mean?

To render a device completely inoperable, turning your computer into an expensive brick.

I remember it was originally used for smartphones, which makes sense because of their size is comparable to an actual brick.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#108

Post by Dylan16807 »

sv9 wrote: post #67

I'm consistently amazed by HN's ability to take the most meaningless, inconsequential part of an article (the scroll behavior, the whitespace, the usage of the word "bricked"), and nitpick it to hell and back instead of actually discussing the article. Bravo.

It's not like "everyone bashes apple" is a more interesting conversation.

Short articles don't have much to discuss. There's no need to get mad that someone isn't laser-focused on the two sentences you think are most important.

Re: Nasty macOS flaw is bricking MacBooks: Don't install this update

#110

Post by mekster »

saagarjha wrote: post #96
Avi-D-coder wrote: post #86

Why is Catalina so unstable, were there major architectural changes? I know they broke Nix, ssh and a few others, but why?

Depends on what you’re looking at, but on the whole Catalina probably has more aggressive changes than Mojave did.

And what has users gained by that? For the past 5 years or so, I don't exactly know anything worth it from users' perspective. Getting third party app updates are enough to increase productivity.
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