macOS Sonoma 14.4 Bug 'Destroys Saved Versions In iCloud Drive' (macrumors.com) 32
The macOS Sonoma 14.4 update introduces a bug affecting iCloud Drive's versioning system, where users with "Optimize Mac Storage" enabled can lose all previous versions of a file removed from local storage. MacRumors reports: Versions are normally created automatically when users save files using apps that work with the version system in macOS. According to The Eclectic Light Company's Howard Oakley, users running macOS 14.4 that have "Optimize Mac Storage" enabled should be aware that they are at risk of losing all previously saved versions of a file if they opt to remove it from iCloud Drive local storage: "In previous versions of macOS, when a file is evicted from local storage in iCloud Drive [using the Remove Download option in the right-click contextual menu], all its saved versions have been preserved. Download that file again from iCloud Drive, and versions saved on that Mac (but not other Macs or devices) have remained fully accessible. Do that in 14.4, and all previous versions are now removed, and lost forever."
Oakley said his own tests confirmed that this behavior does not happen in macOS Sonoma 14.3 or macOS Ventura, so it is exclusive to macOS 14.4. For users who have already updated, he suggests either not saving files to iCloud Drive at all, or turning off Optimize Mac Storage. To perform the latter in System Settings, click your Apple ID, select iCloud, and then toggle off the switch next to "Optimize Mac Storage." You may need to perform this action twice -- reports suggest it can turn back on by itself. For a more exhaustive account of the problem, see Oakley's subsequent post.
Oakley said his own tests confirmed that this behavior does not happen in macOS Sonoma 14.3 or macOS Ventura, so it is exclusive to macOS 14.4. For users who have already updated, he suggests either not saving files to iCloud Drive at all, or turning off Optimize Mac Storage. To perform the latter in System Settings, click your Apple ID, select iCloud, and then toggle off the switch next to "Optimize Mac Storage." You may need to perform this action twice -- reports suggest it can turn back on by itself. For a more exhaustive account of the problem, see Oakley's subsequent post.
Bug or Feature? (Score:2)
This isn't a bug, it's supposed to work that way. Apple software doesn't have bugs.
Re: (Score:2)
Either put up with them bugs or pay up!
That's exactly what you buy when paying up for icloud storage...12 Gigs of "data" that can only be used to move your entire system image to yet another overpriced Apple device. But make any attempt to extract your 10 years of text messages or any other apps or files, then you need to keep buying software and storage or you lose it to their "non bug" policy you gotta pay and pay again to get your data off the walled prison garden of "paradise lost".
Re: (Score:2)
Reminds me of when the iPhone 4 had reception problems, so they changed the way the reception bars are displayed.
They could call this a feature, it automatically frees up space on your iCloud account by removing redundant data that you don't need.
The Cloud = "Somebody else's computer" (Score:1)
And they will probably only give you a phony excuse and that is it.
Re: The Cloud = "Somebody else's computer" (Score:1)
That's good enough for the C suite. Why have your own IT and have to take ownership for your failures when you can go to the Cloud and blame a vendor for everything? /s
Re: (Score:3)
And they will probably only give you a phony excuse and that is it.
TFS clearly states the the error is within MacOS 14.4, that is, the error is in YOUR computer not on "the cloud is somebody else's" computer.
Re: (Score:1)
It really does not matter. The problem arises because of cloud use.
Re: (Score:2)
It really does not matter. The problem arises because of cloud use.
Wow that is possibly one of the dumbest things you've said. No the problem has nothing to do with the cloud. The problem is entirely related to software on your lcoal machine. Whether the bug erases something on the cloud, or nukes your backup, or deletes your local porn collection it is still a local bug.
You do understand that if you do something on your local machine it can affect your local data too right? Is your computer bug free simply because you're anti-cloud? Of course not. That would be almost as
Re: (Score:2)
For local storage, you can do things like, oh, I don't know, _remove_ the fucking drive and place it in your cupboard and no force on this earth can erase it via software. The cloud in the form that Apple has done here does not allow that.
Re: (Score:2)
And they will probably only give you a phony excuse and that is it.
This story is literally nothing to do with anyone else's computer. The problem was local to your own. If all you are is a regurgitation machine for pointless memes on topics you don't understand then don't bother commenting.
Sonoma Also Broke CircuitPython (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
What kind of idiot purchases Apple hardware?
The kind with way more cash than education, apparently.
Re: (Score:2)
Since Sonoma 14.0 CircuitPython has not worked correctly. Normally the device running CircuitPython mounts as a disk when attached to a USB port on a Mac. The mechanism used is USB MSC, the same as a thumb drive. Sonoma 14.0 introduced a bug where writing of the FAT table and the root directory are delayed by 10's of seconds leading to data loss and/or corruption.
Unless I'm missing something, that sounds like normal behavior. You have to eject the disk before unplugging or you'll get filesystem corruption. Apple aggressively does write caching to make flash drive performance not utterly unbearable.
Unusable (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
I tried OCLP with the latest Sonoma, which worked okay for getting Xcode 15.3 on a 2014 mini. It performed somewhat acceptably after disabling just about every service imaginable. I was going to just deal with it. After I realized Apple started forcing the use of their hypervisor, I wiped Sonoma for Ubuntu. Aside from losing an $80 box that can properly build Apple stuff, Iâ(TM)m quite pleased. If I had to, I guess I could dial boot, but Iâ(TM)d rather avoid the hassle.
In principle, you can run MacOS on a virtual machine on ubuntu, as long as it run on Apple Hardware. the ToS allow it 100%. Now, if a 2014 mini can run sonoma in a VM, is another matter entirely, I think it can be done, but will depend on what your VMM is capable of simulating or not.
If you make that work, you could build. and more importantly, notarize, Apple Apps, be it MacOS or iOS.
Re: (Score:2)
I tried OCLP with the latest Sonoma, which worked okay for getting Xcode 15.3 on a 2014 mini. It performed somewhat acceptably after disabling just about every service imaginable
I'm running OCLP on a 2017 imac and it runs about 98% fine. The 2% is that occasionally, like once a month or so it will fail to wake up from sleep. I haven't had to disable anything. I guess ther eare some issues with the old GPUs in the 2014 model? What did you have to disable?
After I realized Apple started forcing the use of their hypervisor
Which hypervisor?
Re: Unusable (Score:2)
They're probably referring to the Virtualization Framework. Parallels is basically a GUI wrapper around it these days.
Re: Unusable (Score:1)
I found a gist with a list of Sonoma services that could be disabled and disabled all of them indiscriminately. There were at least 20, so I threw caution to the wind and tested it out. Lost camera sharing at least, but not a big deal here. It covered services for iCloud, Bluetooth, etc. I suspect iCloud could have been a root cause of a number of performance issues, but I've been focused on a code idea, so this stuff is provokes annoyance more than curiosity atm.
Virtualization Framework is the only option
who says macs dont get viruses (Score:2)
iCloud needs a refactor/revamp badly. (Score:2)
This is why I wind up using Dropbox instead of iCloud for storage/"backups" of items. Dropbox's versioning is quite solid, and is not tied to OS updates.
Overall, even though I am a "Mac person", Apple needs to really redo iCloud from stem to stern. There is a lot there that has not been changed from the .Mac and Mobile Me days, and it needs a complete revamp. iCloud could be a vast income source for Apple, but they need to look at expanding some things.
* They need to fix the versioning system, stat. Th
Re:iCloud needs a refactor/revamp badly. (Score:4, Insightful)
I disagree. Apple needs to simply dump iCloud entirely and let third parties fill the resulting gap in their product offering. They've never gotten it remotely right, IMO, and it has always felt like it was held together with duct tape and baling wire.
What's so sad is that Time Machine has worked relatively well for a really long time. If we had that on iOS, and if Apple then added a cloud version of Time Machine available where the SMB connection was replaced by a tunneled SMB connection to a server that somebody else maintains, it would be absolutely awesome.
But instead, they keep trying to dumb down backups to a level where people don't have to think about it, and the result is predictably awful, because backups are something that you should have to think about at least a little bit, or else when you need them, you might find that it didn't back up what you thought it backed up, and then you've lost everything. Backups have to be transparent, and on iOS, they just aren't, which is basically the opposite of having a backup from my perspective.
And the whole "Cloud Drive" thing is basically just a workaround for the sad failure of Back to my Mac, which was the right way to do that sort of thing, but they never could get the firewall piercing and wake-on-magic-packet right, so they ditched it and replaced it with, once again, something that tries to be too transparent, and thus by its very nature is a version conflict waiting to happen, and fragile to boot.
Other than Mail (and maybe the web-based version of Pages/Keynote/Numbers — I've never used those, so I'm not sure), Apple has IMO pretty much never done anything right in the server space, from the iTunes Store that I'm pretty sure is still a giant pile of WebObjects to iSync. And IMO, Apple users would be way better off if Apple stuck to building computers and operating systems, stopped trying to get the server side right, and let third parties fill the gaps. They'll do a way better job if Apple would just get out of their way.
Wow. 14.4 is a disaster. (Score:2)
Between this and the Java bug on Apple Silicon, 14.4 is proving to be the biggest s**tshow since the 10.3 Oxford 911 bug that wiped people's external hard drives.
I think maybe Apple should declare their next release as "the year of the unit test". This just isn't an acceptable quality level from a major OS vendor.
Apple's QA is going downhill! (Score:2)
https://arstechnica.com/civis/... [arstechnica.com]
It's not just Apple too. :(
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It also breaks Java (Score:2)
Apparently 14.4 breaks Java as well [softonic.com].
Hopefully your Java development team didn't all upgrade.
Alternatively, if you are an overworked Java developer and need a break, here's your opportunity!
Re: (Score:2)
That Java one didn't sound like a bug so much as a disagreement about what the proper response to a user-space application accessing unmapped memory should be.
It sounds like Java was using undefined platform-specific behavior (undefined as in, not specified in a document saying that is the intentional behavior) - unless it's common for user-space apps to treat invalid memory accesses as recoverable?
To me it sounds like a security issue - if an app can just start trying to access memory, it can get side-chan
Re: (Score:3)
Optimize Mac Storage is for idiots (Score:2)