autoupdate window question

Alright so first, three questions about this forum:

1. How do I not keep getting an email every time someone posts to this thread? I know that there is a Follow checkmark, which I can click to turn off subscriptions, but then it seems to re-activate after my every post, and sometimes re-activates after I edit my own post (seems more random for the editing case). How do I KEEP it de-activated?

2. Is there a general "Reply" button anywhere? I seem to be forced to reply to a particular person, rather than to the whole thread.

3. Why is the font so inconsistent? If I just want to type something or add a post (that I started pre-typing on my computer) it comes in a different font. How do I fix this?

Alright about Autoupdate:

I also learned earlier today about Sparkle, which I never downloaded.

I was about to post to GitHub but saw that you folks beat me to it: https://github.com/sparkle-project/Sparkle/issues/452

The only reason I found it is I did a search in my Console about an hour ago and found "Sparkle" in there, with a timestamp of the message at exactly the same time that the autoupdate pop-up appeared. Here is what the Console message said:

1/23/15 1:25:41.809 PM Autoupdate[963]: Sparkle: releaseFromQuarantine

1/23/15 1:25:41.000 PM kernel[0]: Autoupdate[963] Unable to quarantine: 93

^ this message then repeats exactly 434 times with the same timestamp

and then only after I enter my password do I get:

1/23/15 1:25:53.315 PM Autoupdate[963]: Sparkle: releaseFromQuarantine after installing

1/23/15 1:25:53.347 PM Autoupdate[963]: Sparkle: mdimporting

I called my service provider, and they said that it wasn't from them. In case you are wondering, the app that TWC had me download for screen sharing was from Citrix. They said that the Citrix app (which I deleted same day) absolutely does not cause this issue. So, that rules that out. I still have no idea what is causing it. Too bad I had already tossed out my copy of the trashed Autoupdate 1.8.0. otherwise I would have inspected it as you have.

(And I really do not appreciate being singled out among this forum that I don't understand the point of the questions, when I do understand it, or being told my computer has been compromised and that I should erase it!)

Andrej wrote:

I also learned earlier today about Sparkle, which I never downloaded.

Sparkle is an update framework used by many different apps. Some app that you have installed uses Sparkle for its updates. See the Github link that Drew posted for details on what's going on.

(And I really do not appreciate being singled out among this forum that I don't understand the point of the questions, when I do understand it, or being told my computer has been compromised and that I should erase it!)

Some of the things you have said suggest that you may have fallen for a tech support scam. It's very clear from your response that you do not understand that, or do not care to respond on that topic. Either way, I've given you the information you need to know to deal with the potential after-affects of that. It's up to you to choose what to do with that information.

Hi, Andrej:

You are correct: this forum re-activates your "following" status every time you edit the thread, and so there is no permanent "no-follow" setting. In turn, the "Reply to Original Post" at the bottom right of the thread is as close as there is to the "General Reply" you seek.

In turn: the "Autoupdater" most certainly is not from your ISP, but was bundled with some app on your Mac. Most likely, its a legit app that you installed recently, or the app was recently updated and this updated version switched to using the Sparkle system that is afflicted by this bug.

Cheers, Tristan

Hi ezdz (and everyone afflicted by this issue):

Please, when the dialogue box next appears, and before you dismiss it, see if there is a corresponding icon in the Dock. Echoing Drew Reece (above), Ctrl(right)-click and select "Options > Show in Finder." Hopefully, this should show it inside the package contents of the app that harbors it.

Once you dismiss the dialogue box, the "Autoupdate" app should turn up in the Trash. See if it is the same as I identified it in a previous post (at least by icon). Although all the dialogue box symptoms agree, you (and other posters here) have not identified that the app that you encounter is indeed the app that comes from the Sparkle updating framework. (In principle, there could exist something else, masquerading.)

Try to identify by whom is your instance of "Autoupdate" signed (see my post above, with the information retrieved from the system.log). In my own case, I have identified (at least one instance of) "Autoupdate" to be signed by Richard Koch, the manager of the "TeXShop" app. I have informed him, and he confirms that by embedding the Sparkle framework into "TeXShop," the package contents of his app harbor, within the Sparkle framework, the "Autoupdate" app. Since it is buried within another app, Spotlight won't find it, but this (and possibly other instances, buried within other apps that use the Sparkle framework) is the app that comes up intermittently on my system. I have set TeXShop to NOT auto-update, so it is not clear to Koch why this instance of "Autoupdate" should ever get activated on my Mac. Also, we guess that this instance of "Autoupdate" got "signed" by Koch in the process of embedding Sparkle within his "TeXShop".

Thanks, Tristan

1. How do I not keep getting an email every time someone posts to this thread? I know that there is a Follow checkmark, which I can click to turn off subscriptions, but then it seems to re-activate after my every post, and sometimes re-activates after I edit my own post (seems more random for the editing case). How do I KEEP it de-activated?

Go to your Preferences and untick email notifications. That is the general setting that will override your individual choices on particular threads.

2. Is there a general "Reply" button anywhere? I seem to be forced to reply to a particular person, rather than to the whole thread.

No there is not. If you do not wish to reply to someone in particular, reply to yourself is the only/best option.

3. Why is the font so inconsistent? If I just want to type something or add a post (that I started pre-typing on my computer) it comes in a different font. How do I fix this?

Apple uses Jive software for these forums; it has many glitches. I don't worry about different fonts - I just accept the default. Use the Advanced Editor if you want more choices including fonts.

The name Richard Koch sounded familiar and I use TeXShop, so that would explain it. *Phew*

To get the idea of the scale of Sparkle usage at the bottom of the Sparkle homepage you see a row of App icons, click the more button & it takes you to

http://osx.iusethis.com/top?sparkle=1

That site lists 75,898 entries for apps that use Sparkle. It is very popular with developers.

If you want to find all installed apps that contain Sparkle's framework you can use Terminal (as mentioned by Tristan, Spotlight doesn't look inside app bundles, but 'find' does).

find -x /  -name Sparkle.framework

Note you will see a lot of permission denied errors - that is normal. Use sudo if you want full access (but please be careful).

I think that this case is that actual app 'Autoupdate' that is updating, not the downloaded application.

The github issue also has this little tip that should indicate what app is running the autoupdate process…

ps aux | grep Autoupdate

That could help with the cases where you can't figure it out manually.

Does anyone else find it odd that the first post's 'mini icon' on the padlock does not match TexShop or Sparkle or Autoupdate 1.8?

Drew Reece wrote:

Does anyone else find it odd that the first post's 'mini icon' on the padlock does not match TexShop or Sparkle or Autoupdate 1.8?

It actually does match an Autoupdate app I have on my hard drive:

Thanks Thomas. It is nice to see it ties in.

I was digging into version 1.8.

I had a similar event after upgrading to 10.10.2, with repeated requests for authentication and multiple copies of the autoupdate app appearing in the trash. The autoupdate version is 1.9.0. I was able to fix the problem by trashing and reinstalling Duet, an app that allows using an ipad as a second screen with my macbook. I recently changed my primary account to a standard account and autoupdate may have been flumoxed by my not having admin authority anymore. As far as I can remember, Duet is the only app I've installed since downgrading my primary computer account to standard. At any rate, removed Duet, reinstalled Duet, restarted, and all is well. Duet did have a version upgrade available from what I had installed. I have not had any more requests for authentication from Autoupdate, so for now I'm declaring victory and retiring from the field.

Richard

The "Options > Show in Finder" tip worked for me and showed that this was part of Duet (on my system, at least). To resolve the issue, I went to the Duet Preferences and unselected the "Update App Automatically" check mark. (And then I went to Duet and manually checked for updates.)

Confirmed here - same error and it's Duet ( http://www.duetdisplay.com/ ) that's causing the trouble. I had installed it a few months back but I think this may be the first time it's tried to autoupdate itself. I have loads of apps that use Sparkle and this is the first one that's had an error. I quit Duet and it's sorted the problem but switching off automatic updates would probably do it do but less drastically.

Hope this is of use.

Cmd-click didn't work for me, but I did figure out what it was in my case, and so I'll share what I did for future reference to me and others:

1. Launch Activity Monitor app
2. Go to CPU tab
3. Sort by Process Name
4. Find Autoupdate in the process list and click to select it
5. Click the ‘i’ icon to get info
6. Click the Open Files and Ports tab
7. Look for clues as to its source based on the file paths there

In my case I saw a path containing 'com.evernote.Evernote' that tipped me off to the source. Sure enough, when I entered the password the app disappeared from activity monitor list.

NO Internet Service Provider would call you about anything

So if they called you, it will have been a clandestine hacker who has harvested your number and is calling from a call center.

Dont ever give soembody access to your computer if they call you!

Now thats really stupid thing to do.

Its easy to call say 'hi we are from 'name of ISP' we need to update your pc..

oh dear. Some people are really not with it at all.

I also have this updater which is in my opinion from one of the following three sources;

YIFY torrents downloaded through uTorrent

MacX YouTube Downloader

ANY Mp4 MOD converter

Or downloaded through Malware from Pirate Bay, which i began visiting after Apple removed items from their marketplace which i have purchased, and are after purchase no longer available, so i stopped buying from apple itunes and buy DVD and BLuRay from a physical shop instead, but always download a preview on pirate bay before buying the DVD to make sure i will like the movie.

these are the only apps which are ever open when the updater appears, which i don't allow because i have a password set