Console - Lots of errors? Help a newbie

Getting a ton of errors/messages in console is normal esepcially if you have 3rd party apps that haven't been updated since Mavericks was released. I get errors every few seconds but everything runs smooth as butter. Only time I'd really check console is if you can actually tell you're having a problem then just look in console for strings that relate to your issue to find a fix. For that purpose I actually find console quite useful and it's helped me fix a few serious issues I've had.

I think a common problem people have these days is trying too hard to get their machine running perfectly. IMO you just end up stressing yourself out trying to fix problems that don't even exist. I had a good chuckle when Mavericks came out and this forum was filled with rage posts about Mavericks using too much ram, when most of the people complaining didn't know jack squat about what ram even is.

I'm also not much of a believer in Time Machine or Migration Assistant stuff. I prefer to do things manually. Both those just have terrible control and are essentially as bare bones and noob friendly as possible. I also hate the Time Machine interface.

+1 for rsync.

You're pretty damn far from being a noobie from the sounds of it.

IMO best way to avoid issues is to Fresh Install then copy your apps and data but leave all the preference and app info ~/Library stuff that's pretty much the most common cause for issues. Also try to avoid installing programs that have helpers or are always running unless you know you're actually going to be using them because they can be a nag to get rid of unless the app comes with an uninstaller.

Also having something like AppCleaner is nice to get rid of the junk that ALL apps leave behind after they're trashed.

Lastly if Mavericks just refuses to cooperate I'd just recommend using ML until a later release of Mavericks like 10.9.1 or 10.9.2 . I'm running 10.9.1 and it's works great for me but there's definitely still bugs and such.

8Apples said:

Thanks w0lf for the advice. I did a fresh install, copied data and prefs (thanks to migrate assistant's lack of choices) and didn't copy the apps, as I thought perhaps those were some of the problems. I have a MacBook Pro that came with Lion, and I upgraded to Mount Lion, and then upgraded to Maverick. Then I deleted it all, and re-installed Mavericks, and then migrated.

Ok, perhaps newbie isn't quite the right choice of words, but I honestly don't know a lot about Macs. I tend to lean towards the power user side of things, but I don't know what I'm doing on a Mac.

Four reasons I think I have problems.

1. App Store is not working, it is always loading a text version.

2. Wifi issues that have been around for a while now. (I just deleted all the wifi stuff in Keychain perhaps that will help.)

3. Safari absolutely refuses to load some pages. I pull up Google Chrome, and it pulls them up right away.

4. Keychain seems full of junk that is not necessary, and should probably be reset as well, as it could very well be part of all my issues.

So I think some of my previous problems got migrated to the new install, thanks to the help of Migrate assistant.

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1. Dunno could just be an Apple problem.

2. Never had wifi issues recently so can't comment much on this either as a lot of factors are in play. [computer settings, router settings, distance from router, modem, service provider, etc...]. Used to have some issues a few years back got an Apple router, pretty much eliminated all the problems we were having.

3. I don't use Safari unless something isn't working in Chrome. Issue could be related to your wifi issue.

4. Never really look at my keychain, I'm sure it's probably full of **** too. This would be one of those cases where unless you're actually having issues I'd ignore it (I know there was someone on here who if I recall reported keychain non stop sending out some request and causing massive data useage). Other keychain related issues would be passwords not saving or something.

8Apples said:

I tried cleaning out some of my ~/Library stuff, but honestly, I'm not sure in there what to touch, and what not to touch.

Now that I'm a little more familiar with Mac having tinkered around, and tried a bunch of stuff, I just want a smooth running good working machine. I don't want to have to tinker like I always did in Linux. So with the fewer problems that I have, what is the best way to wipe that stuff clean? I would almost like to just dump my ~/Library, and start afresh, and only install the things that I need in there, but I don't know if that is possible, or the right way to do that. My biggest obstacle is that I don't want to lose my mail account setup. I have like 5 address configured, and it is a pain to reset that all up. Calendar and contacts are 'online' and thus not a problem. What would be my best way to get a 'clean' setup, and manually migrate only the things I really need? Perhaps that is the real question when all is boiled down.

8Apples

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Honestly when I'm conflicted about deleting preferences I usually just move it to my desktop rather then delete it. Then I just start using the computer as normal and if I need any preferences back I just go drag those out and put them back in. After a few days/weeks I then delete the desktop folder.

The mail settings and data is all in ~/Library/Mail

Most apps are labeled by name in there so just leave ones that you're not having troubles with.

Most 3rd party preferences as well as a bunch of Apple prefs are in ~/Library/Application\ Support

8Apples said:

Ha ha, funny thing. I checked my App Store, and Safari and a particular page that was hanging up, and both seem to be working great today. These aren't major pressing issues, but rather things that I would like to be working correctly. Was the Keychain the key to the whole issue? Odd. I'm still open to any ideas on this.

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Can't really comment because I've never had a problem with the App Store and I don't use Safari because I think it's garbage and that basically everything they've added in the last 3 or 4 major releases has just been copy paste catchup to chrome/firefox.

8Apples said:

@w0lf is there a GUI backup system that you use? While I like rsync, and it is rock solid, and I actually understand what it is doing, and how to keep my backup even after restoring my system, I really want something a touch more friendly.

8Apples

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Nope I don't use a GUI.

Pretty much the only thing important is in ~/ but I also back up /Applications just to avoid re-downloading GBs of apps.

Anything outside of ~/ is generally no meant for a normal user to ever touch and nothing of value should generally be located outside of ~/

I generally just copy off ~/ and /Appliactions to an external then copy them back once I've installed again and I like to leave out ~/Library

For a while I had a backup script that I wrote and ran on a schedule with Lingon but now I just manually back stuff when I feel like it needs it.

Not everything - in fact, usually hardly anything in Console is an actual problem that needs addressing.

As a developer I'll toss certain messages into /dev/console just in case they might be helpful for troubleshooting, or if I run into an interesting or unknown condition. Doesn't mean anything's actually wrong.

Nicely enough, you can create queries in the Console app so you only see critical or emergency messages.