Live data from Hacker News

Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

morrick.me

121–130 of 248 posts

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#121
post #27

The biggest issue I have with Mac upgrades is that for me, it doesn't cache the upgrade. My internet is weak, not as great in speed and bandwidth as US so it downloads 4gb and then fails. Then it starts from 0 sgain. I expected Apple of all companies to cache downloads. Frankly, it caches only the first 500MB. I do not know why. Any workarounds?

You might want to give "macOS Patcher" a try. http://dosdude1.com/software.html It's main purpose is to allow for running macOS on unsupported Macs, but it also can download the original unmodified version. I've only used the unpatched Mojave version myself and I have no idea how well it supports slow/unstable connections.

I've had good experiences using this to download the installer and install macOS on external storage.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#122
post #118
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn’t something I’ve encountered and I dock to three different desk setups most days. It’s typically good enough that it remembers the correct layout for multiple of the same type of monitor once configured. Is your monitor sending the serial number correctly?

I think I heard someone complaining about this when docking to two identical displays (with identical model names in display settings).

I commonly do this (hot desking) and don’t have the issue.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#123

One of the killers for me is the dropped support for 32-bit binaries. I don't have a gaming box, so I play Steam games on my MacBook. Lots of the games I want to play (e.g. all the BioShocks) are 32-bit.

this is my situation, my iMac is for home use which includes games and the like, more than half of my games are marked incompatible and this includes all the Half Life titles and even a few games which have current DLC. Now is the first time in years where it is valid for Windows fans to mock those who use their Macs for games as it truly isn't for a majority of games that used to work just fine. Though a few games t…

Yep, same here. This really sucks.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#124
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This just started happening to me on Mojave, after I messed around with installing some third party USB managers to try to get my new keyboard and mouse to behave. Deleted the managers and returned the hardware, but some lingering issue crippled my multi-monitor setup. It’s particularly bad because I use one horizontal one vertical.

While I don’t have that particular issue, I have other issues related to external screens, with 10.14 and 2018 MBP: I usually run the laptop with closed lid and an external screen at work and at home; and use it in “laptop mode” during my commute. Now, sometimes (once a week?) when I plug it into the external screen, it just won’t wake up, unless I open the lid, and then it still won’t recognize the external screen.…

Ah, I’ve never tried in clamshell mode - long harboured fear of the thermal envelope from the PowerBook days.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#125
post #55

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250719221 Thread on Catalina bricking Macbooks.

My god, the rudeness of some of the defensive replies on there. If I was in that situation, with an expensively broken computer and no help from anyone, and someone with no experience of it kept harrying me in that way, well... I'd be so livid I could barely type.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#126
post #118
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn’t something I’ve encountered and I dock to three different desk setups most days. It’s typically good enough that it remembers the correct layout for multiple of the same type of monitor once configured. Is your monitor sending the serial number correctly?

I think I heard someone complaining about this when docking to two identical displays (with identical model names in display settings).

I have two identical setups, both with two 27 monitors and to make it worse one is horizontal and one vertical. Most of the time when i go to the other desk the monitors switch and I have to reset the orientation in display preferences. I have been fighting this for two years. Reset everything apple has told me to and no fix at all. Total PIA.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#127
post #11

Am I the only person that doesn't have any significant issues with Catalina? I'll admit, some of the permissions-related pop-ups are a bit annoying, but overall it's been a rather stable macOS version for me (developer, working mostly in Xcode and JetBrains IDEs).

It's funny, at least here on HN, I find the sky is often falling when it come to Apple but my personal experience is usually quite different. I don't necessarily disagree with the specific complaints, but they seem to take on an importance here that feels overblown.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#128
post #11

Am I the only person that doesn't have any significant issues with Catalina? I'll admit, some of the permissions-related pop-ups are a bit annoying, but overall it's been a rather stable macOS version for me (developer, working mostly in Xcode and JetBrains IDEs).

Didn’t upgrade until the recent minor release (15.3?) and haven’t experienced any major hiccups described by others.

Then again, I have a 2017 MBP and none of my daily apps (mostly developer related tools) were all 64 bit compatible from the start.

I imagine other people in certain industries weren’t too happy when their outdated 32 bit applications created by defunct companies no longer function.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both Catalina and Mojave were the smoothest MacOS upgrades I've had for a very long time. The only issue I have with Catalina is that I can't figure out how to disable password auth for sshd since the config is basically read only now. Ended up using Wireguard and disabling external SSH access.

Maybe it's other issue. I was able to do `sudo vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config` then save it Once saved, it looked like this: https://imgur.com/CGh4cB0

I must be getting old. I can't tell if you're referring to some meme.

Re: Mac OS Catalina: more trouble than it’s worth (Part 2)

#130
I never been an Apple fan. When iPhone launched I was skeptical, and didn't wanted one, and so on...

I often argued with apple fans, and one thing that was clear to me, is that people that tried apple products around 2008 or so often would just love it, and many would become apple fans too.

I used my first Mac around that time, and although I found some stuff just silly (mouse with only one button...) I overall liked it.

Fast forward to launch of Touch Bar...

Now I see lots of division and love hate relationship with apple... Still, my sister moved to US to be a researcher, invited by top universities (she even did a 6 month stint in MIT, at their request!) And was offered to pick a computer. She always liked Apple and other "fashionable" brands and picked up a machine with touch bar and would get mad at me whenever I pointed out it's flaws (like the impossible to repair keyboard), until the touchbar suddenly died and the machine would not boot anymore... She took it to Apple and they just swapped the whole machine.

Then keyboard broke... Another swap.

Then Catalina...

Then the fact upgrading it's RAM was unecessarily hard and expensive and needed urgently (an app to analyze microscope data was outright refusing to run).

Then she came to me, sheepishly, to ask me to recommend a non Apple computer, and said Apple was worse than what I said...

Thing is, it is not just her, I have the impression that current Apple is opposite of 2008 Apple, instead of making weird but good stuff that create hardcore fans, it is creating products that are just bad and makes haters stop hating, and just ignore the company, and fans start hating...

Post reply on HN