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macOS extensions are moving away from the kernel

eclecticlight.co

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Re: macOS extensions are moving away from the kernel

#111

Post by IndySun »

spicybright wrote: post #78
IndySun wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>and am stuck on 10.13.6 We have multiple Apple hardware based music systems 75% of which are deliberately still, not stuck, on 10.13.6.. We also have a few M1s. After decades of continual forced disconnects/'upgrades' of software/hardware compatibility we drew a line at 10.13.6 and have been very happy and have not missed a single so-called new feature, both from Mac OS or any DAW we use. We are, however, ready to m…

Upgrades suck, but at least MacOS leaves you alone if you choose not to update your OS. Windows shoves it down your throat... Do you have a blog or anything with write ups about your equipment? Would be very interested in hearing about your silicon upgrades once you get there.

>Do you have a blog or anything with write ups about your equipment? Would be very interested in hearing about your silicon upgrades once you get there.

No blog. We don't even have a website as work has only ever arrived by word of mouth. I am not enamoured by studio blogs, generally. There's too much noise out there without my clumsy typehand adding to it. I keep abreast of technology and audio by furiously skimming.

The change over is not set in stone. I have concerns about the privacy claims made by Apple for the sake of my clients, but so far we've had little issue with our Air or Mini.

Re: macOS extensions are moving away from the kernel

#114

Post by EricE »

yehaaa wrote: post #73
Hackbraten wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically, kexts allow me to have better backups in the first place. APFS won’t check for bit rot, nor does it allow to make snapshots. OpenZFS enables both, and works with a kext. I don’t know whether Apple will allow that use case in the future. I don’t like the way this is going.

You can definitely make snapshots on APFS. It also use checksums for filesystem integrity.

APFS does NOT checksum the same as ZFS. APFS relies on the SSD controller to checksum/safeguard data. Which is fine so long as all your data is on SSD :p

Re: macOS extensions are moving away from the kernel

#115

Post by EricE »

deregulateMed wrote: post #38
nemothekid wrote: post #2

This article does a good job of explaining how kernel extensions worked under Intel and how they will work under M1, and the blessed replacement for kernel extensions by Apple under M1. What it's missing, and what I assume everyone's questions is: Are the capabilities of Apple's user-level APIs sufficient to replace most legitimate uses of kernel extensions?

"blessed" replacement Why did you use the word Blessed? I'm curious what made your brain choose that word instead of something neutral. Reminds me of "Walled garden" marketing speak instead of "Walled Prison". Edit- is there some sensitive nerve I hit?

>Edit- is there some sensitive nerve I hit?

Probably the nerve that's tired of people going out of their way to be offended over terms that never were offensive when used in context such as this subject matter.

Context does matter.

Re: macOS extensions are moving away from the kernel

#116

Post by Klonoar »

sharikous wrote: post #56

You can still find the official documents about how to make changes in the MacOS X kernel itself (dated 2004 or so...). It's really sad that we have come to this. The platform became more and more closed off in the name of security and no serious law or regulation is preventing that. And if at least it was bug free it would be worth it, maybe. But my kernel extensions are all for circumventing bugs or stuff that does…

I mean, when they last dumped kernel sources there was a member of the team who blogged about how to compile and use them. It’s still possible, just almost nobody bothering.

Re: macOS extensions are moving away from the kernel

#118

Post by Klonoar »

solarkraft wrote: post #14

systemextensionsctl list yields 0 extensions on my system. Are there any users of these extensions at this point? It does seem a bit weird that installing these extensions supposedly doesn't require any user consent, even though stuff like screen recording or folder access does.

I recently ported a light kext to driverkit to enable some custom game controller usage. Wasn’t too bad, and if anything is more documented than kexts ever were (for the stuff I needed, at least).

Re: macOS extensions are moving away from the kernel

#119

Post by EricE »

spicybright wrote: post #79
DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it is one of their specialities as an OS/platform after all. Apple's been losing ground with creative-types across all industries and areas since their post-2000s peak: the major attitude-adjustment came with the reputational harm that came from the launch-and-downfall of the 2013 Mac Pro. As a wry zinger, I find it ironic that creative-types cannot express their creativity, and especially their individually by way…

Apples been doing that for yeaaars, especially with mobile devices (not that that's news to you) Anecdote: I had an iPad pro I put in a drawer for a while. I had it synced to an apple account from my old job (used my corporate email for it). When I took it out after I moved jobs, it became permanently locked with no recourse because I didn't have access to the email anymore. And there was no way to factrory reset it,…

Device lock is hardly something unique to Apple devices. It's unfortunate you forgot to unlock it before you lost access to that email account, but all may not be lost - have you tried account recovery? https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204921

For anyone else reading this - take heed. It's better to ensure you can recover before you need to. Apple provides multiple ways to ensure you have access to an important Apple ID - with or without access to email.

You can generate a recovery key that will work whether or not you have access to the email or phones associated with the Apple ID: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208072

When you now create an Apple ID it nags the crap out of you to print and file it. If you created your Apple ID before they offered the recovery keys, now's a great time to go generate it and stash it away in a safe space!

You can also set up backup/secondary emails and phone numbers in your Apple ID - not a bad idea either.

It's easy to overlook this kind of stuff when setting up ID's, and not all vendors justify this kind of diligence when you create a new account. But with Apple because of device lock (which is a useful feature for theft deterrence or just petty revenge that a damn thief will get no benefit from my stolen stuff), any data or purchases you may have associated with that account it's well worth ensuring you will be able to recover your ID before you are in a situation where you need it :)

Re: macOS extensions are moving away from the kernel

#120

Post by Hackbraten »

yehaaa wrote: post #104
Hackbraten wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can definitely make snapshots on APFS. Apple can. I can’t. Making APFS snapshots requires special entitlements, which they’re not going to give me. > It also use checksums for filesystem integrity. It doesn’t check integrity of the actual data though. But I care about my data.

You can use tmutil to create a snapshot. Or do you want to create an app that performs a snapshot via some API.

One does not simply create an APFS snapshot using tmutil. Using tmutil means Time Machine creates a snapshot for me. It also conveniently earmarks the snapshot for later removal at Time Machine’s own discretion.

That’s not what I want. I want to have a say in snapshot retention, not have some tool make the decision for me.

Specifically, I need precise control over snapshot retention so I can maintain several off-site replicas of my backup.

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