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Level 1

133 points

No good deed goes unpunished

After lots of recommendations to upgrade to High Sierra, I took the plunge. And I did it just yesterday, so a couple of point releases have come out. Well, no good deed goes unpunished. So far I have the following problems:

1) Reminders don't display on my Mac. They display on my iOS devices. Any ideas?

2) No audio for Messages alerting me to a text message. ideas?

3) Various apps that worked under Sierra no longer work under High Sierra. Obviously I'll have to work with the vendors for support there.

Posted on Nov 11, 2017 1:49 PM

32 replies

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Nov 14, 2017 12:05 PM in response to DesertRatR

I've read some good things about DriveDX. The easiest way to do a sector by sector test using Disk Utility is to set up to format the disk and then add the Security option of 1-pass. It will write zeroes to every byte on the drive. If there is an error it will be reported during the run that can take a long time, as you said.

I have no clue as to why there are different open times for your encrypted sparsebundle. What I can state is I hope you have that data backed up somewhere safe because using disk images like that can be risky causing loss of access to the encrypted data.

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 14, 2017 12:42 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy, are saying that under the best of circumstances a disk image can be a risk? Most of that data is mission critical (i.e. tax returns and so on). I do have paper copies of the really important stuff, locked in a safe. Otherwise I have lots of backups of the image itself (Time Capsule, HD clone and also that image on a thumb drive), but not of the individual data files.

The reason I went the sparse bundle route was because it is encrypted, and stored on my HD, at my fingertips. If the image itself is a bit risky, is there some other way have keep data encrypted and at my fingertips?

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Nov 14, 2017 1:04 PM in response to DesertRatR

All disk images, encrypted or not, carry the risk of not opening. They can get corrupted just like any other file. As long as you keep current backups you would not be at risk of losing the data. Many users over time have had an occasion of finding an encrypted disk image that no longer recognized the password to open the image. Then there is the bigger risk: the user forgets the password.

Your private records need to be on a separate drive, not encrypted, and stored in a fireproof safe either on or off the premises. Normal storage media has a lifetime before data starts deteriorating It's different depending on the media. Remember that nothing lasts forever.

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 17, 2017 7:45 AM in response to Kappy

Well Kappy, Apple has tested my entire machine every way possible and everything is good. Etrecheck also came up good. So time to proceed with wiping the drive and a fresh install of HS. Thanks for all the feedback.

I just did a HS install on my wife’s iMac. I did the 0-write from the recovery partition that you recommended. Oddly, once the wipe was done I couldn’t get the installer to work. Nothing happened when I selected the option to install the OS. I always keep copies of the installer app on a thumb drive, so I booted to that. It worked but really slow. All is well now.

BTW the tech told me HS DU will no longer do First Aid on a drive from the recovery partitio. So that mystery is explained.

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 19, 2017 11:38 AM in response to vale1940

Kappy, I am ready wipe my Fusion drive and proceed with HS fresh installation. Is Disk Uitlity smart enough to know what to wipe? There seems to be some confusion out there about wiping mechanical driver versus SSD.

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 19, 2017 2:57 PM in response to DesertRatR

Kappy, there is no security button option under the Erase option for the Macintosh HD (indented below Fusion Drive). I want to write zeros as a way to verify the media, per your suggestion further up in this thread. Any suggestions?

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 19, 2017 6:01 PM in response to DesertRatR

Happy, if you get this far before replying, please don't. I figured out that the terminal commands wouldn't do what I want so I just went ahead and erased the mechanical HD, and proceeded. Installation went well. However, I ran DU First Aid and what did I discover? Lots of "Load and verify Transaction Segment" reports, along with "Incorporate 13 newer non-checkpoint transactions". Hmmmm..... those were I think what led you to conclude that the drive needed erasing.

So where am I now with a potential HD problem?

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 20, 2017 1:36 PM in response to Kappy

Thanks Kappy. I guess we are out of options. 10.13.1 is what the recovery partition installed. I know that because that is what About indicates, and the only update the App Store performed was iTunes 12.7.1. Thanks for trying.

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Nov 20, 2017 1:26 PM in response to DesertRatR

Can't help you there other than to say if you installed High Sierra 10.13, then Download and (Re)Install 10.13.1 High Sierra Update.

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 11, 2017 1:53 PM in response to DesertRatR

Let me add one more oddball behavior. There is a gray Safari symbol appearing in the middle of webpages. what is that about?

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 11, 2017 8:38 PM in response to Kappy

Kappy, sorry for the nonsense comment. This is all pretty intimidating. I had a perfectly functional computer and now problems.

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Nov 12, 2017 9:59 AM in response to DesertRatR

Alas, that means the drive is corrupted. The only fix is to erase the drive and reinstall OS X. I suggest you backup your files if you can then move to Step 9 of my procedure posted earlier.

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 12, 2017 2:52 PM in response to Kappy

Well Kappy, I have an appointment next week for Apple to run the SMART test. In the meantime I ran the Apple Hardware Test (extended version). No problems were reported.

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 12, 2017 3:08 PM in response to DesertRatR

Kappy, do you have any experience with Volitan's SMART utility?

DesertRatR Author

Level 1

133 points

Nov 13, 2017 10:08 AM in response to DesertRatR

Kappy, do you know of anything like spinrite for Macs? I think low level testing of the media would be a good adjunct to the maybe less than perfectly reliable SMART parameters.

No good deed goes unpunished