MP 7,1 MacOS Catalina 10.15.5 - Improvements or new nightmares?

[tommy chen]

bombich (carboncopycloner) has discovered a new change in the handling of APFS in 10.15.5

Carbon Copy Cloner: macOS Backup Software

Advanced backup and copying for macOS. Schedule automated backups, take snapshots, and restore your Mac with confidence. Download a free 30-day trial.

bombich.com

 

[dspdoc]

I am getting kernel panics when using Steinberg's Cubase Pro (latest version). It is the craziest thing because the panic occurs when just using the Magic Mouse to scroll left and right or when dragging the scroll bar left or right in the bottom of the window. So a few swipes of the mouse to the left and to the right and BOOM, KP! And I mean a HARD KP! First you see the SWOD and then the mouse disappears and then the machine shuts down. What's even more alarming is you cannot power the machine back on unless you first unplug the power cable for a few seconds. This has to be GPU related. I am running a W5700X GPU. These KP issues are getting VERY long in the tooth! What is Apple even doing these days?!

 

[daveedjackson]

I have two 7,1's and I have been running the beta builds of 10.15.5 and it was running very well. Yesterday I had literally just finished configuring my new second 7,1 when 10.15.5 went gold, so it went on both machines. The only problems I've had were both with the XDR firmware updates: On one machine, the firmware updated but all of the presets were missing until I powered off the XDR for a minute (unplugged it) and then they all appeared. On my new MP I couldn't get the XDR firmware to update at all until I did an NVRAM/PRAM reset on the MP.

Otherwise everything seems great so far.

Ok. Are using creative cloud. Are you using the Bluetooth keyboard? I have crashes when starting any adobe app when the system has been sleep. My Bluetooth keyboard is massively laggy. Only Bluetooth, as when I plug it in, it’s fixed.

 

[CMMChris]

I am running a W5700X GPU. These KP issues are getting VERY long in the tooth! What is Apple even doing these days?!

Navi drivers have a ton of problems. They are basically still the same state as when they were introduced back in October 2019. Bug reports are all ignored without any exception.

 

[Adult80HD]

Ok. Are using creative cloud. Are you using the Bluetooth keyboard? I have crashes when starting any adobe app when the system has been sleep. My Bluetooth keyboard is massively laggy. Only Bluetooth, as when I plug it in, it’s fixed.

I'm not having any problems with the keyboard or trackpad, both the BT ones that came with the MP, on either of my MP's. I use Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, I have LR open all day long. My machines both have the Radeon Pro Vega II MPX modules; one has two.

 

[jjhny]

I am sitting on the sidelines, still running 10.15.3 which seems to run fairly well. Only a rare Kernel Panic. Use an external drive as my User folder drive in an OWC 4 bay enclosure which works fine. I have the T2 chip turned down to lowest security settings. Disabled Gateway and SIP. I can sleep the machines and wake them no problem. Using Adobe apps and C4D with no major problems.

Is it worth it to load 10.15.5? I don't have time to go through the hell of downgrading back to 10.15.3. So is 10.15.5 more stable than 10.15.3? Anyone in the same boat as me on this?

My irritation with Apple is very high right now, having bought a very expensive Mac Pro configuration! 10.15.2 was endless kernel panics when waking from sleep - and 10.15.3 fixed it, so don't give me any BS about how great Catalina is or that it is a hardware issue.

 

[unpapapro]

On my side, I have to report a specific situation I didn't see anywhere else...

Just after last night's upgrade from 10.15.4 to 10.15.5, I lost my wifi and sound devices... they are not detected anymore.

I have a Mac Pro 2012, with OpenCore installed with no configuration...

And i had to re-install OpenCore because it was gone after the upgrade... but nothing fixed it, I still have no wifi card detected or Sound Device... strange because they are by default and were not customized. Now i have to play soundvia my HDMI monitor and have a Ethernet connection...

If someone have a fix for these, would be good... I had a Wifi card to be delivered by the end of the month, so hopefully it will be ok!!

 

[eflx]

Hmmm, not sure what issues everyone is seeing with 10.15.5 but all went smoothly for me. 0 stability issue, no crashes, and no Bluetooth lag which I did seem to have previously with 10.15.4 sporadically.

I have a 12core 7,1 w/96GB of RAM 1TB SSD and the W5700X - not a single complaint, so for me the update fixed the couple sleep related issues and at times stuttering performance for me with heavy graphics workload.

I'm hoping 10.16 will be another major performance and bug fix release versus introducing a host of new "junk" add ons to the OS again.

 

[th0masp]

I am getting kernel panics when using Steinberg's Cubase Pro (latest version). It is the craziest thing because the panic occurs when just using the Magic Mouse to scroll left and right or when dragging the scroll bar left or right in the bottom of the window. So a few swipes of the mouse to the left and to the right and BOOM, KP! And I mean a HARD KP! First you see the SWOD and then the mouse disappears and then the machine shuts down. What's even more alarming is you cannot power the machine back on unless you first unplug the power cable for a few seconds. This has to be GPU related. I am running a W5700X GPU. These KP issues are getting VERY long in the tooth! What is Apple even doing these days?!

I wouldn't be so sure that it is only a software issue. If the thing shuts itself down all the way and needs to be unplugged to be able to boot again - well only time I experienced that it was actually a hardware failure (initially I also thought it was just software related - bad driver type of issue).
In my case the power supply had to be replaced and it took a while for the repair shop to realise that. In yours I'd try first with a different GPU installed.

 

[tommy chen]

yes, a software issue called catalina +g*

 

[edubfromktown]

yes, a software issue called catalina +g*

LOL- what micro$oft would call a “feature” haha

 

[Cayenne1]

I believe there is a major issue with 10.5.5 based on Carbon Copy Cloner DROPPING BACKUP SUPPORT for this release of Catalina.

Release notes from a CCC update last night:

"Starting in 10.15.5, CCC will no longer back up a macOS Catalina System volume to a disk image destination (i.e. a sparseimage or sparsebundle disk image file). We're making this change reluctantly, unfortunately we just can't get reliable results when using Apple's proprietary utility with disk images.?"

 

[jjhny]

I believe there is a major issue with 10.5.5 based on Carbon Copy Cloner DROPPING BACKUP SUPPORT for this release of Catalina.

Release notes from a CCC update last night:

"Starting in 10.15.5, CCC will no longer back up a macOS Catalina System volume to a disk image destination (i.e. a sparseimage or sparsebundle disk image file). We're making this change reluctantly, unfortunately we just can't get reliable results when using Apple's proprietary utility with disk images.?"

Well that is a problem... a major one. And please don't mention the stupid cloud. I have about 9 Terabytes on just one workstation to be backed up. Time machine is a joke, a broken, depreciated bit of code. I guess if you are backing up your selfies, the cloud works for you.

Oh, Tim Apple, you are really a piece of work.

 

[dspdoc]

NVM

 

[seek3r]

Apple wants to sell you a $5K display with a $1K stand.

This is getting a little tired, another way of putting this is "Apple wants to sell you a $5k display for $5k for the majority of the users it targets since most of them will mount them on arms or the wall". The display itself is pretty competitively priced, the majority of users it targets don't need the ridiculously over-engineered stand, so the stand ends up being even more niche than the relatively expensive pro-targeted monitor and something people who actually want it are going to pay a premium for (but not a premium that will get rolled into the display price for everyone else). The stand is definitely ridiculously over-engineered and probably not worth the price for anyone except as a status symbol, but slamming the actual display for it is silly.

I'd be more annoyed that the VESA mount isn't included if you don't buy the stand if I were buying one

 

[profdraper]

Catalina Mail is still buggered ... unbelievable. Also see other threads here.

*update: Went at it again, finally managed to fix it and indeed *everything* in now there again in Apple Mail: by deleting every Mail pref, Mailboxes, Internet accounts, rebooting in between, also running Onyx to delete any Mail index (just to be sure). In sum, this article pretty much covers it: appletoolbox.com/mail-not-working-in-macos-catalina-how-to-fix/

 

[eflx]

This is getting a little tired, another way of putting this is "Apple wants to sell you a $5k display for $5k for the majority of the users it targets since most of them will mount them on arms or the wall". The display itself is pretty competitively priced, the majority of users it targets don't need the ridiculously over-engineered stand, so the stand ends up being even more niche than the relatively expensive pro-targeted monitor and something people who actually want it are going to pay a premium for (but not a premium that will get rolled into the display price for everyone else). The stand is definitely ridiculously over-engineered and probably not worth the price for anyone except as a status symbol, but slamming the actual display for it is silly.

I'd be more annoyed that the VESA mount isn't included if you don't buy the stand if I were buying one

Well said. I'm one of those people that couldn't care less about the stand - "anyone" with a decent setup is using a VESA stand anyhow, especially with dual monitors. Also, by the time you add up the cost of a good quality VESA arm (especially dual) plus the VESA mount bracket, it's not ridiculously far off the cost of the stand.

It's just not funny anymore.

 

[chabig]

I believe there is a major issue with 10.5.5 based on Carbon Copy Cloner DROPPING BACKUP SUPPORT for this release of Catalina.

Release notes from a CCC update last night:

"Starting in 10.15.5, CCC will no longer back up a macOS Catalina System volume to a disk image destination (i.e. a sparseimage or sparsebundle disk image file). We're making this change reluctantly, unfortunately we just can't get reliable results when using Apple's proprietary utility with disk images.?"

I would not call it a major issue, as I doubt most people back up to disk images. But for those who do, yes it will require a change.

 

[choreo]

I think I will hold off a bit longer on ordering a Mac Pro - had planned to order one next week, but don't need some of these issues for that price.

 

[t90]

I think I will hold off a bit longer on ordering a Mac Pro - had planned to order one next week, but don't need some of these issues for that price.

I’m in the same position unfortunately. I really want to upgrade to a 7,1 but at this price I’ll be holding off until Apple can get it together.

 

[crjackson2134]

I believe there is a major issue with 10.5.5 based on Carbon Copy Cloner DROPPING BACKUP SUPPORT for this release of Catalina.

This is a misleading and incorrect characterization of the facts.

CCC is NOT dropping backup support for 10.15.5.

They are removing a feature that allows for sparse disk images as a non-bootable option (for now). The feature will likely return in the near future, but for the sake of reliability, and unexpected failure of Apple’s ASR it will be disabled for now. That’s a far cry from “Dropping Backup Support”.

I make and test my freshly created, bootable backups using the latest version of CCC with 100% reliability.

I do use sparse images as well, so that will cease until Mike finds a way to reimplement the feature.

 

[Jake73]

I have a mid 2012 MacBook Pro. At some point before this update my Mac went back to behaving normally - e.g. if I gave it the command to shut down, it would actually shut down and not restart, I wouldn't have to restart it in order for Time Machine to back up, etc. Then after the 10.15.5 update all those Catalina bugs returned. Did anybody else have this happen? Is there a fix? Sorry if I'm phrasing this amateurishly - I'm an amateur when it comes to computers.

 

[2178965]

I haven't read about what others have gone through, but my funniest 10.15.4 bug was updating my photo library to find that I had 9,223,372,036,854,775,807 shared albums. (That's the largest possible 64-bit signed integer, btw. It reverted after reopening.) I guess I'm ready to try 10.15.5...

Ha ha...! Sounds like some programmer had a wee little bug... maybe his variable had type "unsigned" instead of "signed", if in Objective-C NSUInteger instead of NSInteger or something like that...? Or didn't do a conversion correctly...?

My ongoing problem even with 10.15.4 (current version) is that photoanalysisd takes up 110+% CPU unless I keep Photos application open (minimized is ok but application must be open).

 

[2178965]

Performance is not updated, tweaks are not seen. Especially compared to Windows. I'm not interested in your reality denialism.

In fact, I'm tired of Mac users completely. They complain often. And then sometimes they enter denialism mode and pretend their complaints never existed.

Enough of this **** for me. It's worse than Scientology or whatever other crazy things exist.

I'm with you.... I've had so many problems with Catalina. I've decided to move to Linux. I'm in the process of finding a distribution that suits my needs. In fact, right now I'm trying to format my external drives to ExFAT so I can copy all my files from my iMac to the external drives that I will then be able to read from Linux and Windows (risk management).

I am having trouble as macOS doesn't seem to support partitioning of ExFAT.

Cannot partition external drive using ExFAT file system

iMac Late 2015, macOS 10.15.4... I'm trying to partition and format my Western Digital 3TB external drive. I erased the entire disk. There are two partitions, 2 TB - ExFAT 1 TB - MacOS Extended (Journaled) - Time Machine back up partition I just now reformatted the 2 TB partition to ExFAT...

forums.macrumors.com

Activity Monitor is not working. Mail has crashed at least 9 or 10 times (won't start without me going and deleting metadata files), my CPU pegs at 150% from accountsd, photoanalysisd, and the 1,000 other daemons that run.

I was a former kernel and system software engineer at Sun Microsystems. I have provided Apple with copious technical detail on all of the core dumps, even doing some preliminary core analysis for them, describing in great detail the scenario that reproduces crashes or exhibits bugs, or at least given them steps that I think caused a particular problem. I haven't seen a fix in 3 years (e.g. I've been reporting the problem above with Mail for 2 years now).

OK, so they are a corporation and their priorities are undoubtedly different than mine. But for a company whose main message is the user experience, they've really declined... the quality, not the price. 🙂

I'll keep this iMac until it dies. Hey, I've paid for it already. But risk management requires that I now get the backup systems going. I have an old Windows 7 machine. So I'll first backup all my files as I can read ExFAT from Windows.

Next step, get a good Linux bistro. With LibreOffice, GIMP, Adobe PDF viewer, many commercial and open source photo manipulation programs, audio, etc. I don't really need a Mac.

At this point the only compelling factors are that the UI is aesthetically pleasing, and the international character input methods (IMEs) work effortlessly on the Mac. But there is no other compelling reason to use a Mac for me.

For the price of this iMac, I can get a better, larger monitor, with a Lenova laptop that I can also use as a desktop), and it has a wonderful touch screen, light, plenty of RAM, etc. And I'm not locked in to the Apple ecosystem.

I'm sure I'll be the target of vociferous criticism, but, hey, it's the Internet.

 

[Adult80HD]

I'm happy to report that I am having zero problems with 10.15.5, and quite frankly I've had very few issues with 10.15.x since day one. I don't use massive amounts of 3rd-party plugins, etc. so that no doubt helps, but I do have a decent amount of software installed and running. I've got it on two iMacs at work, three laptops at home and two Mac Pro 7,1's at work. I've never had any email problems either, and I have four different accounts all holding years (in some cases more than a decade) of mail. Guess I'm lucky?