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OS X keeps appending "(2)" to computer name
- Thread starter BriMercer
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Not exactly. WOL and wake for network access are two different things. With WOL the power can be completely off and the PC only responds to a magic packet. Wake for network access brings the PC out of sleep for any unicast traffic received. This is needed for iTunes to work as a server, for screen and file sharing, etc. Without it, your PC would not respond to those things if already asleep.
I do agree the problem is some sort of bonjour issue causing duplicate names to be registered. Maybe the directory is not being checked on wake. Not sure but it's interesting my MBP has the issue but my iMac does not.
Yeah, because the 5GHz channel is the issue. Your "solution" is not a solution. You maintain 30 Macs and are quoting speedtest.net results to prove that the 5 GHz channel isn't any faster than the 2.4 Ghz channel?
What is your problem? Just like to argue? Join a debate team...
We're talking about ways to possibly fix the "OS X Bug" of computers getting re-named... NOT speed - sheeeesh
Focus...
I'll try it but annoying I have to disable a feature. Thankfully it's not one I use often
To people saying this is not Yosemite related, it most definitely IS. It has existed in past OS versions, but to the degree is this occurring, it is absolutely bc of Yosemite. Doesn't make it a horrible OS, just means it's a bug Apple needs to fix.
I'll try it but annoying I have to disable a feature. Thankfully it's not one I use often
To people saying this is not Yosemite related, it most definitely IS. It has existed in past OS versions, but to the degree is this occurring, it is absolutely bc of Yosemite. Doesn't make it a horrible OS, just means it's a bug Apple needs to fix.
it IS a bug apple needs to fix. but, if you're acknowledging that the bug existed in past OS versions, then it's NOT specifically because of yosemite.
meanwhile, intell's suggested fix continues to hold here...
I spoke with a senior tech at Apple about this just now. I discovered that the changing computer name has made my TimeMachine backups unaccessible - the permissions are all FUBAR. So in addition to being extremely annoying to see the computer name constantly changing, I cannot get to any TM backups. The Time Capsule sparsebundles cannot be loaded - when I attempt to mount the drives and view the sparsebundles, I get an error saying they are temporarily unavailable. Within the TimeMachine, all of the folder icons have little red dots on them.
He suspected corrupted network files, and suggested the following to fix the issue of the computer name changing:
Go to Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > SystemConfiguration
and delete the following files:
com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
NetworkInterfaces.plist
preferences.plist
Then reboot. The deleted files will be recreated and you should be good to go.
I have done so, and now we wait.
He suspected corrupted network files, and suggested the following to fix the issue of the computer name changing:
Go to Macintosh HD > Library > Preferences > SystemConfiguration
and delete the following files:
com.apple.airport.preferences.plist
NetworkInterfaces.plist
preferences.plist
Then reboot. The deleted files will be recreated and you should be good to go.
I have done so, and now we wait.
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Seems that quite a few prefs are being corrupted with the upgrade to Yosemite. For example, a similar fix from engineering to resolve notification prefs not saving after the upgrade. Not to mention the issue where Finder windows reset to a default size (no fix for that yet).
-Kevin
Yeah I had the notification centre bug too.
Also I have to continually refer bluetooth preferences on my Mac to allow my iOS devices to see it for airdrop, handoff etc.
I like the sound of this fix... Looking forward to hearing about your outcome.
Apple needs to fix this in the next OS X update!
I think another problem could be keychains for those who are syncing keychain among apple devices in iCloud (I never have)... Login names are remembered/stored there too... I had multiple logins for my macs for file sharing and screen sharing for any given mac with (2) behind the names...
I can report that it has now been over 18 hours since employing this "fix". That timeframe includes multiple times of my rMBP going into sleep mode, and for testing purposes, multiple restarts.
The computer name has not changed a single time. I have lost about 15 months of TimeMachine backups, which I find inexcusable. However, I started a new backup on a new drive. There are about 5 incremental backups on that drive now, in addition to the initial full backup. All of the backups are accessible. So, while I am not yet ready to declare this issue "fixed", I am very optimistic that it is so.
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Cant answer that one. There seems to be quite a few of these "gotchas".
To be fair, its a bit like saying "my screen wont go to sleep and the light is keeping me awake"
"here, take a hammer to your screen and break it, problem solved"
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???? what ????
It's just trouble-shooting. You can turn things on/off to try...
I would hate to be stuck in a room with some of you guys...
Turning key features off to fix something else is hardly troubleshooting... hence my analogy is just fine.
"My finger hurts!"
"Then cut your hand off"
Was your answer to things.
On a serious note, the solution of deleting the 3 network preference files above has worked for me for 24 hours now and the person who did it. So rather than handicapping your Macbook or turning Wake on Lan off, everyone in this thread should do that. It could be with be a promoted comment, its a shame we don't have them, people have to wade through a lot of nonsense to get to the serious suggestion.
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Will deleting these files cause the Time Machine backups to be lost or was that a separate issue you had?
In my case, after deleting the files the computers name defaulted to macbook pro. I renamed it to what it was before deleting the files and it found and backed up to time machine after a l-o-n-g preparing backup process... mac name still holding on 8 of 30 macs...
In addition, I had to re-install logmein, team viewer and re-issue apple remote desktop client's...
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I have probably been trouble-shooting probably longer then you are old...
On a serious note:
In my case, after deleting the files the computers name defaulted to macbook pro. I renamed it to what it was before deleting the files and it found and backed up to time machine after a l-o-n-g preparing backup process... mac name still holding on 8 of 30 macs...
In addition, I had to re-install logmein, team viewer and re-issue apple remote desktop client's...
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Thank you for sharing what apple had you do for this bug. It seems to be doing the trick. Time will tell but it sounded good from the start...
Who knows how long before our next OS X point release and next time, I'm going to hang back a while (like I did with iOS 8.0.1)
I went to System Preferences, File and Sharing, I believe, and changed the name there and rebooted. Problem seems to be fixed.
So far this has worked for me 24+ hours later. I had been having my computer renamed about 3 iterations everyday since the update, so a big thanks for sharing
I was holding out posting in this thread, but this problem seems to be turning serious.
I tried most of the fixes suggested in this thread, but none of them worked.
Last thing I tried was deleting the .plist files in the preferences as suggested.
This fix held for a mere two hours. I was actually inside the settings, when I SAW it add the (2) behind the name.
At the beginning, I didn't consider this issue serious, but now I lost a whole bunch of Time Machine backups to this bug - fortunately I have a multi-layered backup strategy.
I already wrote to Apple through the bug reporter. I believe many people have done so, but the more the better. This bug needs a fix and soon.
By the way, I only get it on my iMac - and completely unrelated to whether I use WiFi or LAN. So far, I haven't gotten the issue on my MacBook Air - which uses the same setup and network as the iMac.
So weird...
I tried most of the fixes suggested in this thread, but none of them worked.
Last thing I tried was deleting the .plist files in the preferences as suggested.
This fix held for a mere two hours. I was actually inside the settings, when I SAW it add the (2) behind the name.
At the beginning, I didn't consider this issue serious, but now I lost a whole bunch of Time Machine backups to this bug - fortunately I have a multi-layered backup strategy.
I already wrote to Apple through the bug reporter. I believe many people have done so, but the more the better. This bug needs a fix and soon.
By the way, I only get it on my iMac - and completely unrelated to whether I use WiFi or LAN. So far, I haven't gotten the issue on my MacBook Air - which uses the same setup and network as the iMac.
So weird...
almost 10 days later, this is still holding for me (the problem hasn't re-occurred once yet)...