Lemme get this straight.
You’re moaning about the measures taken to stop software piracy and then in the same breath you tell us all that you’re happy to steal it. ???
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Hollywood Mac Pro Workstations Hit by Mysterious Software Issue [Updated]
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You’re moaning about the measures taken to stop software piracy and then in the same breath you tell us all that you’re happy to steal it. ???
Seems like 10.12 is affected as well. Since Catalina isn't released yet, Sierra should be officially supported.
A virus sounds scary but not unlikely.
It's strange that so many people are affected and as far as I know there hasn't been an apple security update or the like within the last days that could have caused this.
I actually enjoy using iLok since it makes it quite easy to just change studios / machines and using your own software.
Have there been issues with it? Sure and you definitely don't wanna break / lose the thing.
But having to activate your plug-ins with challenge response every time you work abroad is much more exhausting.
I heard it's quite expensive for developers which stops them from releasing smaller plug-ins that not might be worth the investment. But from a user's point of view it's actually not as bad as many people claim.
Sorry for OT..
A virus sounds scary but not unlikely.
It's strange that so many people are affected and as far as I know there hasn't been an apple security update or the like within the last days that could have caused this.
I actually enjoy using iLok since it makes it quite easy to just change studios / machines and using your own software.
Have there been issues with it? Sure and you definitely don't wanna break / lose the thing.
But having to activate your plug-ins with challenge response every time you work abroad is much more exhausting.
I heard it's quite expensive for developers which stops them from releasing smaller plug-ins that not might be worth the investment. But from a user's point of view it's actually not as bad as many people claim.
Sorry for OT..
No, I said I ran plugins I owned with iLok removed. They ran better, the system had less problems. Pace install a lot of junk on your system, much of which goes against Apple's guidelines.
You’d be shocked. I had to install Avid all the time when setting up new hires at ESPN. The version they were using (I think it was 8.4) was so old it’s UI didn’t even support retina displays (this was just over two years ago).
The version had a ridiculous flaw where I constantly had to remind people that if you didn’t turn of wifi to LAUNCH the program it would never get passed the loading screen. You would then turn WiFi back on and everything worked normally.
This was ESPN, with DISNEY money, and they were still using a 4+ year old version of Avid. I ALWAYS asked when we were updating and was always told it was “in testing”. The version that was being tested was a .1 upgrade, basically a bug patch, and that was 3 or so years in review.
Edit: Thinking back on it, the version number may have been as old as 6.5 on machines. Definitely not all of them (I think 8.4 was installed on new machines) but enough of them to make me think that running updates on the Macs just was even a consideration for the organization.
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A bunch of unrelated computers running the same application that all crapped out at the same time, and the fix involves booting up without internet access? Smells like a certificate expired somewhere
I assume you are referencing Autodesk Flame, correct?
My theory is that someone cracked the iLok DRM, inserted a virus/malware and as @dannys1 stated (#23), iLok has permissions it shouldn't and here we are...well, not me, as I use FCP X, but I empathize with those who are in this pickle.
I assume that Mojave is more restrictive and that's why support has been slow in coming for Avid users as iLok can no longer run amok without the user giving explicit consent. I also assume Catalina shuts them down completely which is why it will be a long, cold day in Hell before Avid MC users are allowed to upgrade their systems.
What would be interesting to find out is whether or not a Mac with backup admin users on the system also has the issue or if a system with the main Avid user set up as a Standard user in macOS suffers the same issues.
It should be interesting to see how this pans out.
One thing that also seems to be happening after this alleged iLok update is that admin users are relegated to standard user status, which is probably why the Mac won't boot correctly. So unless you had set up a failsafe admin account beforehand, you need to remove /var/db/.applesetupdone, either from Recovery (after mounting the boot volume in Disk Utility) or from single-user mode, the latter after mounting the boot volume with `mount -uw /`, then reboot and set up a new admin account. Then you can use that account to reinstate admin status for your original account, either in System Preferences or Terminal. That might just do the trick, and it's the first thing you should try before any radical moves like re-installing macOS.
A virus, very..VERY unlikely, there are no viruses for OS X/macOS, at least no known ones.
Most don't even know what the definition of a virus is, here's a few, it must install itself without user interaction/consent, it replicates itself and infects other computers on the same network AND others not on the same network.
Seems to me it's just a bug in software/hardware.
There's a chance it's malware, even malware is very uncommon, and malware does not replicate and infects other computers.
What if the disk and or the user account is encrypted?
Your assessment is much more likely than the Virus scaremongering in this article.
Most don't even know what the definition of a virus is, here's a few, it must install itself without user interaction/consent, it replicates itself and infects other computers on the same network AND others not on the same network.
Seems to me it's just a bug in software/hardware.
There's a chance it's malware, even malware is very uncommon, and malware does not replicate and infects other computers.
What if the disk and or the user account is encrypted?
Your assessment is much more likely than the Virus scaremongering in this article.
If the disk is encrypted, you need to boot into Recovery, then open Recovery's Disk Utility, select to mount the encrypted boot volume, enter your FileVault password (which in most cases is your admin password), then quit Disk Utility, open Recovery's Terminal, cd into /Volumes, then into your boot volume, then into /var/db, and then rm -f ./.applesetupdone
EDIT: as for single-user mode, have never done that with an encrypted drive, but I guess you'd have to enter your password when running the `mount` command. EDIT2: question… would single-user mode even work with FileVault encryption enabled?
EDIT: as for single-user mode, have never done that with an encrypted drive, but I guess you'd have to enter your password when running the `mount` command. EDIT2: question… would single-user mode even work with FileVault encryption enabled?
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I think they've had 3 iterations since it was first "cracked". It wasn't really cracked mind. Someone just discovered that every audio plugin was wrapped in the same iLok wrapper - once they found the code for it they could remove the wrapper from the plugin and hey presto you had the pure plugin left.
These things loaded instantly where as with the iLok wrapper it took 3-5 seconds for them to load up. It's incredible to think you pay these companies money for worse performance and a less secure operating system.
Moral of the story: don’t use Avid. It’s antiquated anyway. You got no business using it unless you’re an old dog refusing to learn new tricks.
Ha the new version of Traktor by Native Instruments STILL doesn't support retina screens, it's madness.
It’s incredible you think 3-5 seconds is bad performance.
When without the wrapper they open instantly it is - you're wasting 3-5 seconds of your life for a piss poor unoptimsed wrapper around the plugin - this happens EVERY TIME you open the GUI of the wrapper and if you've go 100 iLok protected plugins a project, that's a hell of a lot of lag that doesn't need to exist.
It's incredible you think that isn't a bad UX.
In a production environment if there's one thing dumber than using an older OS, it's using the latest OS.
It's not Avid or iLok. It's a corrupted or otherwise broken Google update for Chrome. The update seems to have been pulled or replaced since this morning. Those systems affected all had System Integrity Protection (SIP) turned off, or were old enough to not have it in the first place.
It affected Avid and other video production users because they have a higher tendency to have left SIP disabled.
[automerge]1569353902[/automerge]
mrmacintosh.com
It affected Avid and other video production users because they have a higher tendency to have left SIP disabled.
[automerge]1569353902[/automerge]
Google Chrome Keystone is Removing /var symlink on non SIP Macs Causing Boot Issues
Reports that some AVID Users Macs would no longer boot. It now may be that a Google Chrome Keystone update modifies /var on NON SIP Protected Macs.
mrmacintosh.com
I received the following notification from an Avid vendor:
"Important technical note for all Mac-based Avid users”. There is currently an issue that could prevent your Mac computers to reboot. Until further notice, it is strongly advised to NOT reboot your Apple workstation or update its Operating System. Doing so may cause boot up issues. Avid is aware of the issue and their teams are working on a resolution.
Please look at this Avid page for any upcoming information on this issue. https://www.avid.com/92419issue
We have been doing a bit of our own research and see an update for Safari 13 was pushed out with this in the notes:
"Adds support for authentication using USB security keys on supported websites"
Our guess is this is corrupting/overwriting the iLok/Pace drivers and software and this is the root cause of the problem.
We're going to do some internal testing to see if this hunch is correct.
The workaround right now is to restart in recovery mode (command+r) and reinstall the OS overtop of the existing.
But obviously this is not ideal to reimage machines. We'll keep on top of this and will release press on our site and socials
as updates come in.
NOTE: Avid products are not just used by "old dogs". For Media Composer the Bin structure is unmatched in any other NLE. The media management, though infuriating for anyone who is computer savvy, probably saves production houses thousands in saved time not searching for files moved or deleted. There is a reason Media Composer is the number 1 choice of professional editors. That's right, it's because Apple killed off legacy Final Cut Pro. Adobe being a massive bug manufacturer doesn't hurt either.
FWIW I am a certified trainer for FCP X, DaVinci Resolve, have my Avid User Certification, and teach Adobe Premiere and Media Composer at a local collage. All NLEs have their pluses and minuses.
UPDATED: It turns out it was a Chrome update that broke the Avid iLok/Pace drivers; this is not the first time a Chrome update has done damage. Users of Chrome beware.
"Important technical note for all Mac-based Avid users”. There is currently an issue that could prevent your Mac computers to reboot. Until further notice, it is strongly advised to NOT reboot your Apple workstation or update its Operating System. Doing so may cause boot up issues. Avid is aware of the issue and their teams are working on a resolution.
Please look at this Avid page for any upcoming information on this issue. https://www.avid.com/92419issue
We have been doing a bit of our own research and see an update for Safari 13 was pushed out with this in the notes:
"Adds support for authentication using USB security keys on supported websites"
Our guess is this is corrupting/overwriting the iLok/Pace drivers and software and this is the root cause of the problem.
We're going to do some internal testing to see if this hunch is correct.
The workaround right now is to restart in recovery mode (command+r) and reinstall the OS overtop of the existing.
But obviously this is not ideal to reimage machines. We'll keep on top of this and will release press on our site and socials
as updates come in.
NOTE: Avid products are not just used by "old dogs". For Media Composer the Bin structure is unmatched in any other NLE. The media management, though infuriating for anyone who is computer savvy, probably saves production houses thousands in saved time not searching for files moved or deleted. There is a reason Media Composer is the number 1 choice of professional editors. That's right, it's because Apple killed off legacy Final Cut Pro. Adobe being a massive bug manufacturer doesn't hurt either.
FWIW I am a certified trainer for FCP X, DaVinci Resolve, have my Avid User Certification, and teach Adobe Premiere and Media Composer at a local collage. All NLEs have their pluses and minuses.
UPDATED: It turns out it was a Chrome update that broke the Avid iLok/Pace drivers; this is not the first time a Chrome update has done damage. Users of Chrome beware.
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In charge of production support for London and LA office here. We dont use much Media Composer anymore but its still installed on some of our machines on Sierra. We do have a bunch of audio suites running ProTools on ElCap. (and if you dont know - you do use older OS's in the media industry and for good reason. Because we know it works and it maintains compatibility with the various software that we still use. I've only just got us into a state where we can start testing a High Sierra upgrade for edit suites).
No issues yet, but still Im asking our guys not to shut down or reboot until we know more.
No issues yet, but still Im asking our guys not to shut down or reboot until we know more.
In production environments, you rarely want to be running untested, recently released software.