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Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

chalmovsky.com

161–170 of 259 posts

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#161
> What kind of fucking name is that anyway? “Samsung Magician” - for a disk utility? Who greenlit this? Who sat in a meeting and said “yeah, Magician, like it does magic”

I agree with all your points except this. Disk utilities have a long history of magic-themed names: PartitionMagic, Disk Wizard, Magic Partition Resizer, the list goes on. Samsung is doing whatever everybody else does and is naming their tools based on user expectations.

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#162

I worked on a disk utility in the 90s called PartitionMagic that was one of the first ones to let you dynamically resize disk partitions. Maybe Samsung used that when naming their product. I am old, but I miss the days when the install process was copy . to / and the uninstall process was delete /

[deleted]

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#163

I worked on a disk utility in the 90s called PartitionMagic that was one of the first ones to let you dynamically resize disk partitions. Maybe Samsung used that when naming their product. I am old, but I miss the days when the install process was copy . to / and the uninstall process was delete /

Partition Magic was indeed magic. Thanks for the great work you did on it!

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#164
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the file menu of the installer, there is generally an option to see all the files it is placing on the system with full system paths. I generally note this down so I can make sure to clean things up completely if/when needed. For app that just get dragged into the Applications folder, they end up doing all this additional file creation on first-launch instead of via an installer. That actually makes it harder. For…

I'll have to check that installer trick the next time I use one. Isn't the "Receipts" folder that so angered OP kind of that same thing? I thought those included the list of files installed. In general, I think some worries about removing "every trace" are overblown, though. The receipts, for instance, are inert and they're not filling up the disk or consuming RAM. Of all the things Apple does in the name of "securit…

There are two cases: I am uninstalling because I never want to use the app, or I am uninstalling because I know I currently don't need the app and will reinstall after 6 months when I do.

An example of first is a trial of an app but you don't like it in the end, an example of the latter is a game that you might want to play with the same settings later.

Now, I want the option. In the first case I don't want these inert files taking up disk space and in the second I want to have those files.

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#165
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember a time when UIs looked consistent, instead of custom-branded, and I still think the "completely reasonable and normal" state is the former, not the latter.

When, Windows 3.1?

Each version up thru Win8 had a style guide. If you wanted the windows sticker on your box you made it consistent. Why would you want that sticker? If you did not have it it was much harder to get floor space at many of the big box stores.

It was at win8 where everyone just noped out and just started doing whatever they wanted. XP/2000 was the last era where anyone really cared.

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#166

It’s always the dummies who don’t know what they’re doing who write long screeds about how bad something is. The first indication the OP is a dummy was using “sh” to run the Samsung uninstall script instead of just invoking it directly, then not realizing he should’ve sudo’ed it. This is not a defense of Samsung, their software sucks, but this over the top.

> The first indication the OP is a dummy was using “sh” to run the Samsung uninstall script instead of just invoking it directly

Well that's a novel way to gatekeep.

Stick to the part about realizing it needed sudo, because the other complaint is just ridiculous.

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#167

I worked on a disk utility in the 90s called PartitionMagic that was one of the first ones to let you dynamically resize disk partitions. Maybe Samsung used that when naming their product. I am old, but I miss the days when the install process was copy . to / and the uninstall process was delete /

When a user mode application on the Mac doesn't just allow you to drag the app into the applications folder to install, it's a red huge red flag. Personally, I'd look for another alternative from a company that better understands the Mac. Chrome, for instance, previously used an installer that had to run with administrative permissions and famously ended up rendering systems unbootable. System utilities and drivers a…

This application is a custom one to use custom features on specialized hardware. There are zero alternatives.

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#168

> I shut down my Mac. Held the power button. Booted into Recovery Mode. Opened Terminal. Ran csrutil disable. Rebooted. Opened Terminal. Deleted the kernel extensions. Ran find to confirm they’re gone. Shut down AGAIN. Booted into Recovery Mode AGAIN. Ran csrutil enable. Rebooted AGAIN. All this just to delete four dead files and their mirrors from a disk utility. This one is entirely on Apple. It was Apple who decid…

This is 100% by design and 100% a good thing. “root” aka uid=0 should NOT have unlimited privileges to permanently modify the deepest parts of the OS, as assuming uid=0 is done daily for routine operations. Modifying kernel level stuff should not be possible from this daily use privilege level. It’s an ancient holdover from unix time sharing systems that are approaching a hundred years old.

If you think it’s bad, you don’t know why it was built - google Chesterton’s Fence. You, the user, still have 100% ability to modify your system however you choose - if you first clearly indicate that you ARE the user, and not just some random-ass installer running under admin privs, which is a completely normal and common occurrence. A higher privilege level that is used to protect OS integrity is a wonderful thing. If you think there is a better or safer way to access it, please submit your suggestions to Apple, but don’t assume the guardrails around System Integrity Protection (1TR etc) are slapdash or unreasonable or poorly thought out.

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zero percent of users require 100 percent of languages at all times.

Sure, let's go back to the old days where you had to download language packs for windows and office.

The alternative would be the installer only installing the languages that match the system settings. Which yes is imperfect, but not nearly as bad as separate downloads or god forbid the two tier base language and modification pack system Microsoft came up with.

Re: Samsung Magician disk utility takes 18 steps and two reboots to uninstall

#170
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the two steps: * going into some internal directory and running a script based on the name * deleting a bunch of directories Seem like pretty bad ideas. Especially for software provided by a hardware vendor, which is probably a little clunky and inherently touches deep stuff. But not including a removal script seems like bad form. Edit: On the other hand, I don’t actually know for certain that the tool doesn’t…

I mean, there clearly was an uninstall script. It was in the app's Contents/Resources file, and it was called CleanupMagician_Admin_Mac.sh. Which means there was some intended way to trigger running it. Perhaps Samsung's instructions or their menu system weren't clear and they managed to hide it from him. But there most definitely was an uninstall script, and if he had managed to find the intended button in the inter…

I think you are probably right. Although, with a name like that it could be some post-install cleanup of temporary files (which would explain why it was doing chown, rather than rm, although there are certainly other options!).
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