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kwokaaron

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 20, 2013
577
264
London, UK
Has anyone enabled the 'no32exec' flag on 10.13.4? Nearly all of my applications are working flawlessly with it enabled (looking at you, Kindle). Mostly I like the fact that my Mac is now fully 64-bit only on all levels, kind of like iOS 11.
 
32 bit apps will continue to work until the next OS. am sure most developers are planning for this (for me, final draft, a few others). will miss quicktime pro...
 
I turned it on because all the apps I care about are 64-bit anyway. In fact, only some Apple apps (DVD Player) and Kindle are still 32-bit on my Mac. As a developer it seemed to make some sense to run full time in 64-bit mode here on out. You should run this in Terminal to see what all remains that is 32-bit:

mdfind "(kMDItemExecutableArchitectures == 'i386') && (kMDItemExecutableArchitectures != 'x86_64’)"

Lots of system components are still 32-bit but that isn’t hurting my daily usage at all. What did surprise me was that Dropbox helper tools were 32-bit... Dropbox still works without them, but asks for admin password on each launch. To find a more permanent fix set yourself to receive Dropbox betas.

I do like the notion of a clean 64-bit-only macOS. I mean, a lot less cruft floating around when no 32-bit libraries get loaded. But it isn’t something that most people should turn on, as a ton of 32-bit apps are still around that many people may be using.
 
I turned it on because all the apps I care about are 64-bit anyway. In fact, only some Apple apps (DVD Player) and Kindle are still 32-bit on my Mac. As a developer it seemed to make some sense to run full time in 64-bit mode here on out. You should run this in Terminal to see what all remains that is 32-bit:

mdfind "(kMDItemExecutableArchitectures == 'i386') && (kMDItemExecutableArchitectures != 'x86_64’)"

Lots of system components are still 32-bit but that isn’t hurting my daily usage at all. What did surprise me was that Dropbox helper tools were 32-bit... Dropbox still works without them, but asks for admin password on each launch. To find a more permanent fix set yourself to receive Dropbox betas.

I do like the notion of a clean 64-bit-only macOS. I mean, a lot less cruft floating around when no 32-bit libraries get loaded. But it isn’t something that most people should turn on, as a ton of 32-bit apps are still around that many people may be using.
I'm running 10.13.4 and loaded your suggested line of code into a Terminal window and it produced this result...

Failed to create query for '(kMDItemExecutableArchitectures == 'i386') && (kMDItemExecutableArchitectures != 'x86_64’)'
 
I'm running 10.13.4 and loaded your suggested line of code into a Terminal window and it produced this result...

Failed to create query for '(kMDItemExecutableArchitectures == 'i386') && (kMDItemExecutableArchitectures != 'x86_64’)'

Odd... It worked for me, but just now I pasted it in again and got the same error. Closed and reopened Terminal and it now works again. Weird. Anyway, that does work for me more than it doesn’t. Maybe just try again?
 
Tried your trick, closed and reopened Terminal 5 or 6 times, each time it failed.

Hmm, well then I don’t know what is up. I can consistently get it to work right now, so who knows. mdfind is a command that searches Spotlight’s index, so it isn’t new to 10.13.4. Maybe something messed up formatting here on the forum? You could try retyping the command manually.
 
An easy way to check is About This Mac, System Report, then scroll down on the left margin to Software-Applications. 64-bit Yes/No is on the far right.

Compressor is still 32-bit...
 
An easy way to check is About This Mac, System Report, then scroll down on the left margin to Software-Applications. 64-bit Yes/No is on the far right.

Compressor is still 32-bit...

That shows just Applications. The nice thing about the Terminal command I list above is that it shows anything that is just 32-bit from anywhere on the Mac. Applications, system frameworks, command-line tools, etc. I agree that the System Report is a nicer view, but it just isn’t complete.
 
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I'm running 10.13.4 on my 2008 MacPro which is an unsupported madel according to Apple, maybe that is causing the problem?

Anyhow if I wanted to try setting this 'no32exec' flag', how do I go about it?
 
I'm running 10.13.4 on my 2008 MacPro which is an unsupported madel according to Apple, maybe that is causing the problem?

Anyhow if I wanted to try setting this 'no32exec' flag', how do I go about it?

You can find directions here. What you’re doing is setting an NVRAM variable. These are firmware-level settings. As such, it may be that an unsupported model will not have the option at all.
 
An easy way to check is About This Mac, System Report, then scroll down on the left margin to Software-Applications. 64-bit Yes/No is on the far right.

Compressor is still 32-bit...

so is 'DVD Player'

its laughable looking through Applications for compliance... some 32-bit only are "Apple" stuff..

I would have expected the first one to set an example would be the company offering the machine to customers to 64-bit over third party developers always... Not even Microsoft can do that.
 
some 32-bit only are "Apple" stuff.
I pick on Compressor for a reason. f there was ever something that could use some 64-bit oomph, Compressor would surely be a contender. Apparently that time is getting near(er).
 
reasonable to expect apple will update everything to 64bit when 64bit is all there is. and i know that developers will step up to the plate (they'll have to). my biggest concern is... quicktime pro, since it's an apple app that hasn't been updated since... the 1800's or so. but so it goes... the future can't be stopped.
 
reasonable to expect apple will update everything to 64bit when 64bit is all there is. and i know that developers will step up to the plate (they'll have to). my biggest concern is... quicktime pro, since it's an apple app that hasn't been updated since... the 1800's or so. but so it goes... the future can't be stopped.

Apple could just always abandon apps they do see 'fit for purpose' anymore. Either add more features back into Quick-time Player, or just get rid of the stuff Apple would prefer to nudge people off to 'a new app' they could do.

They did that with iPhoto, when changing OS's.
 
Apple could just always abandon apps they do see 'fit for purpose' anymore. Either add more features back into Quick-time Player, or just get rid of the stuff Apple would prefer to nudge people off to 'a new app' they could do.

They did that with iPhoto, when changing OS's.
I prefer and still use iPhoto, works just fine in High Sierra.
One tends to resist change as one gets older, say 82 like me.:eek:
 
Out of curiosity, I still use a considerable amount of applications that are 32-bit only and likely never get an update from developer whatsoever for 64-bit.
 
i doubt apple will give us a new QT that can do what QT7 pro does, leaving us to use FCPX or imovie (i have both). but for simple hit&run stuff, it is (or was) a great tool.

wonder what apps we'll be scrambling to find replacements for tho. and am sure there will be no rosetta-type option...
 
That shows just Applications. The nice thing about the Terminal command I list above is that it shows anything that is just 32-bit from anywhere on the Mac. Applications, system frameworks, command-line tools, etc. I agree that the System Report is a nicer view, but it just isn’t complete.

Open the Activity Monitor application > select in the Menu View > Columns > Kind. This will show - not only applications - all processes , when checked in the Menu too - for their 32/64 bit in AM.
 
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Odd... It worked for me, but just now I pasted it in again and got the same error. Closed and reopened Terminal and it now works again. Weird. Anyway, that does work for me more than it doesn’t. Maybe just try again?

It's because your last quote got converted to a curly quote. Change it to a straight quote and it works.
 
Open the Activity Monitor application > select in the Menu View > Columns > Kind. This will show - not only applications - all processes , when checked in the Menu too - for their 32/64 bit in AM.

What kind of process isn’t an application? ;)

Also, that’ll only show running ones.
 
What kind of process isn’t an application? ;)

An easy way to check is About This Mac, System Report, then scroll down on the left margin to Software-Applications. 64-bit Yes/No is on the far right.
Compressor is still 32-bit...

Of course I meant the difference between the workaround by @alexclst and Activity Monitor... ;)

Also, that’ll only show running ones.

Please elaborate?
 
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