Make sure you don’t remove or eject your external device while you’re using it, since macOS will periodically need to access it. Step Three: Change Your Startup Disk. Now, your Mac will automatically boot to your external drive every time you start your computer—but you probably don’t want that. A Mac computer runs Apple's OS X operating system and comes with a variety of applications you can use to generate files that are saved to the hard drive, such as the TextEdit word processor or GarageBand, a program for making music. When you run Apple's native Disk Utility program, it displays the hard drive or drives mounted on the computer. On upgrading Mac OS will automatically convert on upgrade flash storage and Solid State Disk drives to APFS. Mechanically based hard drives will remain Mac OS Extended (Journaled) file systems. But Time Machine does not support APFS formatted drives for backup right now. If you’ve a SSD drive that you want to use for Time Machine. To find your best external hard drive for Mac, you’ll want to decide how quickly you want to save and retrieve data. Consider how you’ll be saving and transferring files, such as photos, videos, files from tablets, files from PC laptops, or photos from top-rated cell phones.Drive speed is measured in revolutions per minute (rpm), based on how fast the drive can spin. Dec 05, 2012 Yes, you can update your Mac's hard drive firmware in OS X. Some third-party drives in use by your Mac may need a firmware update. With modern Macs, we can create an ISO update disc on that.
It’s almost become a tradition; one that we wish we didn’t have to put up with. It seems with each new version of the Mac operating system, there are some features that just don’t seem to work the way they used to. The tradition lives on with macOS High Sierra, so we’re gathering a list of what High Sierra broke and how to fix it (when you can).
Drive Encryption Can Change Formatting
Encrypting an entire drive to add a level of security has been an easy task in the Mac OS ever since FileVault 2 was released as part of OS X Lion. Full disk encryption has been a boon for Mac users who worry about their personal data being easily accessible on their Macs or external drives. This is especially true for portable Mac users, who need to worry about their Macs being lost or stolen.
Encrypting an entire drive to add a level of security has been an easy task in the Mac OS ever since FileVault 2 was released as part of OS X Lion. Full disk encryption has been a boon for Mac users who worry about their personal data being easily accessible on their Macs or external drives. This is especially true for portable Mac users, who need to worry about their Macs being lost or stolen.
macOS High Sierra continues to support full disk encryption, but Mike Bombich, who created Carbon Copy Cloner, has verified a bug in High Sierra that will cause an external drive to have its format changed from HFS+ to APFS when the drive is encrypted in High Sierra.
Enabling encryption on a drive should not alter the underlying drive format. If the drive was HFS+ (Hierarchical File System) before you chose to encrypt it, it should remain an HFS+ drive afterwards. The same is true for APFS (Apple File System) formatted drives; choosing the encryption option shouldn’t change the APFS format of the drive.
Related:A Note On High Sierra Compatibility with Third Party SSDs
(Encrypting an external drive can lead to the drive being converted to an APFS volume.)Under certain conditions, encrypting a drive will modify the format to APFS without the user being aware of the changes.
The specific conditions are:
- Must be an external drive
- Must not have a Mac operating system installed on the drive
If these two conditions are met, and you select the option to encrypt the drive, by right-clicking the drive icon and selecting Encrypt from the popup menu, the drive will be converted to APFS format and then encrypted.
Even though the drive has been converted to APFS and encrypted, it will continue to work just fine with your Mac running macOS High Sierra. The problem comes about should you ever connect the drive to a Mac running an earlier version of the Mac operating system, or if you boot your Mac to an earlier version of the OS. In either case, the external drive won’t be recognizable by the older operating system.
Our recommendation is not to encrypt your external drive, unless converting to APFS is acceptable to you, and you have no plans to use the drive with earlier versions of the Mac operating system.
Being Logged Out Randomly
If you find yourself occasionally being logged out of your Mac after you upgraded to macOS High Sierra, you can stop worrying; your Mac isn’t possessed. Instead, the upgrade process may have enabled two security options that you may not have been using before.
(If you’re being logged out from time to time, it may be because the Log out option, shown above, has been set during the installation of macOS High Sierra.)If you find yourself occasionally being logged out of your Mac after you upgraded to macOS High Sierra, you can stop worrying; your Mac isn’t possessed. Instead, the upgrade process may have enabled two security options that you may not have been using before.
To correct the phantom logouts, launch System Preferences, either by clicking on its Dock icon, or by selecting System Preferences from the Apple menu.
In the System Preferences window, select the Security & Privacy preference pane.
From the Security & Privacy preference pane, click the Lock icon and enter your administrator credentials. Once the padlock is unlocked, click on the Advanced button.
Either remove the checkmark from “Log out after xx minutes of inactivity” or set the time frame to a longer period to meet your needs. Click the OK button when done.
The second security issue that may be causing the problem is also located in the Security & Privacy preference pane. Select the General tab.
The item: “Require password xx minutes after sleep or screen saver begins” may also be checked. You can remove the checkmark, or modify the amount of time that needs to pass before the screen saver kicks in to better fit your needs. My own preference is to leave this security feature in place, and just adjust the time as needed.
While you’re at it, you may want to jump over to the Desktop & Screen Saver preference pane to adjust the time for when the screen saver starts up.
(Be sure to check the General tab of the Security & Privacy preferences for password requirements to wake from sleep. These may have also been changed during the install.)Select the Screen Saver tab, then use the Start after: dropdown menu to select how much inactive time needs to elapse before the screen saver starts
High Sierra Battery Life is Poor
Another issue that seems to be common is portable Mac battery life being adversely affected after an upgrade to High Sierra. So far, it seems that macOS High Sierra isn’t the culprit; instead, there are a few apps that may need to be updated to make better use of the battery.
Another issue that seems to be common is portable Mac battery life being adversely affected after an upgrade to High Sierra. So far, it seems that macOS High Sierra isn’t the culprit; instead, there are a few apps that may need to be updated to make better use of the battery.
Launch Activity Monitor, located at /Applications/ Utilities.
Oki c5300 driver mac os x. In the Activity Monitor window, select the Energy tab.
(Activity Monitor’s Energy tab can help you find apps gulping down the power from your battery.)In the resulting display, look for apps that are marked as preventing sleep, or are listed as having a high energy impact. Contact the app developer to see if there are updates available for the app to make it perform better with macOS High Sierra.
Unable to Wake From Sleep
I’m not sure what it is about sleep, but the Mac seems to always have issues with sleep after a system upgrade. There have been reports of Macs not being able to wake from sleep after upgrading to High Sierra.
I’m not sure what it is about sleep, but the Mac seems to always have issues with sleep after a system upgrade. There have been reports of Macs not being able to wake from sleep after upgrading to High Sierra.
Unrelated, but with the same solution, is a flickering of the display, especially when the Safari browser is open.
You can fix both issues by resetting the NVRAM and then resetting the SMC.
You can find detailed instructions on how to perform these resets in the article:
How to Reset NVRAM, PRAM, SMC on your Mac.
Office 2011 Crashes
If you’re using Office 2011 for the Mac with macOS High Sierra, you’re not having any issues, you’re having occasional crashes, or Office simply refuses to launch at all.
If you’re using Office 2011 for the Mac with macOS High Sierra, you’re not having any issues, you’re having occasional crashes, or Office simply refuses to launch at all.
That about covers most of the possibilities. The problem is Microsoft decided not to support Office 11 under macOS High Sierra, meaning they haven’t tested the apps nor are they going to offer any updates to correct any issues. Essentially, Office 2011 is on its own. If it works for you, wonderful, but if you have any issues, it may be time to consider a replacement.
Of course, software apps do get old, and Office 11 has been around for a long time, in software years. If you have a specific need for Microsoft Office, the Office 2016 for Mac version works fine and is fully supported under macOS High Sierra.
If you just need a Word or Excel work-alike that you can use to share files with others, there are a few options available. If you have a suggestion that you know works with High Sierra, please leave a note in the Comments, below.
Mail Stops Notifying You of New Mail
Have you noticed that Mail is no longer alerting you of new incoming messages via the Notifications center? If you’re used to seeing a banner pop up in the top right corner of your Mac’s display with a brief description of a new piece of mail whenever new mail arrives, you may have noticed the banners stopped once you installed High Sierra.
This bug doesn’t seem to affect everyone, but it happens often enough that Apple should be able to fix the issue in a subsequent update of High Sierra.
But you don’t need to wait for Apple; you can fix the issue yourself by opening System Preferences and selecting Notifications.
Highlight Mail in the Notifications window sidebar, and then select None as the Mail alert style. Wait a moment, then set the notifications style back to Banners or Alerts, whichever you prefer.
Close the Notifications preference pane.
(The Notifications center may need its mail handling alert style reset to work properly after installing High Sierra.)Launch Mail if it isn’t already running. Mail notifications should now work correctly.
Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator Issues
Adobe Photoshop has a minor issue with High Sierra that prevents the Photoshop window from expanding to full screen whenever the Dock is shown.
Adobe Photoshop has a minor issue with High Sierra that prevents the Photoshop window from expanding to full screen whenever the Dock is shown.
Adobe has created a Photoshop plug-in file that can rectify the problem. You’ll find instructions on how to download and install the plug-in at the Adobe Help website.
Adobe Illustrator is experiencing some issues with High Sierra; specifically, the licensing system seems to be broken when the startup drive uses the APFS file system. The result is Illustrator may not launch, or there will be an error message about license problems.
Adobe recommends not upgrading to High Sierra, or not converting to the APFS file system at this time.
![Should I Remove External Drives Before Upgrading Mac Os Should I Remove External Drives Before Upgrading Mac Os](/uploads/1/3/3/3/133301714/956631764.jpg)
There’s an additional issue with Illustrator on macOS High Sierra that results in the wrong color settings being applied; specifically, Emulate Adobe Illustrator 6 becomes the default color setting and is applied to any document you open or new document you create.
The workaround is to manually change the color settings before working with any document.
Select Edit, Color Settings, and then choose the desired settings for the document.
Click OK.
Should I Remove External Drives Before Upgrading Mac Os 8
Open the document you wish to work on.
You’ll need to repeat these steps each time you launch Illustrator, or before you open a document that uses a different color space.
Other High Sierra Problems and Fixes
macOS High Sierra is still relatively new, and I suspect there will be quite a few additional issues that will crop up. If you encounter any problems with using High Sierra, please feel free to share with our readers by leaving a comment.
macOS High Sierra is still relatively new, and I suspect there will be quite a few additional issues that will crop up. If you encounter any problems with using High Sierra, please feel free to share with our readers by leaving a comment.
If you’re having High Sierra install issues, you can leave a comment in the Rocket Yard guide: Common Problems During and After macOS High Sierra Installation.
[Update] Stay tuned for issues that you might encounter when running macOS Mojave.
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If you’re getting ready to install macOS Catalina on your Mac, you have some preparations to make and a few choices to make. While many people just download the new operating system and let the installer do its thing, it’s a much wiser choice to do a bit of housecleaning and preparation before you perform the upgrade.
In this Rocket Yard guide we’re going to exam the two primary ways you can install macOS Catalina, as well as the preparations you should make before you update your Mac.
Types of Installs
Like most versions of the Mac OS, Catalina allows you to perform two types of installs: an upgrade install and a clean install. The same installer is used for both types but the steps involved are a bit different for each.
Clean Install: This type of installation is used when you want to completely remove all traces of a previous version of the OS. The clean install process includes erasing the Mac’s startup drive or the selected destination drive, removing any data it may have held, likely including all of your user data and applications.
The advantage is the ability of a clean install to let you start over, just as if you had just turned your Mac on for the first time.
You can find out more about performing a clean install with the guide:
How to Clean Install macOS Catalina
Upgrade Install: This is the most common type of installation. It allows you to keep all of your current apps, data, and many of the existing operating system settings and preferences. The upgrade install merges the new macOS Catalina with your existing Mac OS.
This is the upgrade method we will cover in this Rocket Yard guide.
Before we begin the upgrade process, a few tips and notes about macOS Catalina and what you need to do to be ready for the install on your Mac.
Compatible Macs: If you’re running macOS Mojave, there’s a good chance your Mac is compatible with Catalina. The main exception is the 2010-2013 Mac Pro, which didn’t make the cut. You can find out more about Mac compatibility in the Rocket Yard guide:
A Complete List of Catalina Compatible Macs
Back Up Your Mac Before You Install
Although an upgrade install shouldn’t directly cause data loss, you should be prepared in case a problem arises when you install Catalina. A backup can allow you to get your Mac back up and running if something goes wrong. It can also serve as protection against the possibility of the new operating system removing any information you need.
Another bonus of having a backup is that it can serve as a way to downgrade from macOS Catalina should you discover Catalina isn’t for you, or an app you need no longer works, or your Mac just isn’t performing well with the new OS.
There are two popular backup methods you may consider employing: a Time Machine backup, and creating a clone of the current startup drive. Both are good choices for a backup before you install Catalina (or any new OS). I actually use both methods; a clone is a great way to quickly recover from a failed installation, and Time Machine can not only be used to recover individual files, it can also be used as a downgrade source if you need to return to a previous version of the Mac OS.
Be sure to have a current Time Machine backup, a clone, or both before proceeding.
Be Prepared for Downgrading
There may come a time after installing macOS Catalina that you wish to revert to an earlier version of the Mac OS. This could be for a number of reasons: an important app that doesn’t run under Catalina, an overall performance issue with your Mac and Catalina, or perhaps you just don’t like Catalina and want to go back.
The reason for downgrading really doesn’t matter, but there some things you should do now, before you ever install macOS Catalina, to make the downgrade process as easy as possible.
Be aware that although it’s possible to revert to an earlier version of the Mac OS, you may not be able to make use of specific app data files that could have been converted to new formats by the Catalina version of the application. This has the potential to force you to use older data files from a backup that may not contain all the information you had before beginning the downgrade process.
You can find out more in the article:
macOS Reversion: How to Downgrade from Mojave
The above article is written for the Mojave OS, but the process is the same for downgrading from macOS Catalina.
If you need an earlier macOS installer you can find them here:
- macOS Mojave Installer
- macOS High Sierra Installer
- macOS Sierra Installer
Upgrading Notes
64-Bit: MacOS Catalina supports only 64-bit applications. If you have any 32-bit apps they will not run under Catalina. I recommend checking with the app developer to make sure there’s a 64-bit version of a particular app before you install Catalina.
You can find out more in the Rocket Yard guide:
How to Tell if Your Mac’s Software is 32 or 64-Bit
APFS: macOS Catalina will change your startup drive to one formatted with APFS (Apple File System). The upgrade to APFS is not optional, and the upgrade will occur no matter what type of drive is involved: externals, Fusion, SSDs, or hard drives.
Clean Up: It’s a good idea to take a bit of time to clean up your Mac’s drives, trashing unneeded apps and files. Canoscan 9900f driver mac os x. Because you may be removing files, make sure you performed the backups first.
Verify Drives: You may also wish to consider verifying that your storage devices are in good working order. You can use Disk Utility to verify the integrity of a drive. There are also third-party apps that can perform these types of checks.
Upgrade Install macOS Catalina
We’ve gone through the process to get ready to install macOS Catalina, so now it’s time to perform the actual upgrade install. This is one of the easiest installs you can perform. The Catalina installer takes care of the entire process.
Start the upgrade process by quitting any currently running apps you may be using.
If you’re using macOS Mojave:
Launch System Preferences by clicking its icon in the Dock or selecting System Preferences from the Apple menu.
Select the Software Update preference pane.
The Software Update preference pane will appear, and after a few moments, will check for any new operating system updates. Once the check is performed you should see macOS Catalina listed as an available update.
Click or tap the Upgrade Now button to start downloading the Catalina installer.
Jump ahead to the section named Start the Install Process. Mac os x move home folder to another drive.
If you’re using macOS High Sierra or earlier:
Launch the App Store by clicking its icon in the Dock. You can also find the App Store in the /Applications folder.
Once the App Store opens, select the Featured tab.
You’ll likely find macOS Catalina prominently displayed as the featured item. You may also be able to find it in the Quick Links section on the right-hand side.
Once you have found it, click the macOS Catalina tile or link to open its description.
Select the Download button to start downloading the installer.
Start the Install Process
Once the download is complete, the installer will automatically launch. If you haven’t yet created a current backup, or verified the integrity of your startup drive, you should quit the installer and perform those tasks before proceeding.
When you’re ready you can restart the installer by clicking on the Install macOS Catalina app in the /Applications folder.
The Catalina installer will present its welcome screen. Click or tap the Continue button to proceed.
The software license agreement will be displayed. Click or tap the Agree button.
A sheet will drop down asking you to confirm that you agree with the licensing terms. Click the Agree button.
The current startup drive will be displayed as the target for the upgrade install. If this is correct, click or tap the Install button.
You’ll likely see a dialog box open, explaining that your administrator password is needed in order to continue the install process. Enter your password and click or tap the OK button.
The installation process will start, as the installer copies any needed files to your Mac.
After the files are copied, your Mac will restart.
The installation of macOS Catalina will continue. You should see a dark screen with an Apple logo, along with a status bar indicating the install progress. After a short time, an estimate of the time remaining will be displayed.
Eventually your Mac will display the login screen.
https://jesustree437.weebly.com/blog/app-to-change-the-yop-menu-size-on-a-mac. Select your login identity and enter the password.
Post Install
Once you log in to your Mac, you may see a message about your Mac being optimized; this will take a few minutes.
You may see some of the following post install options:
Analytics: You’ll be asked if you wish to participate in providing Apple with analytics that help Apple and its developers improve their products. You can modify these settings later in the Security & Privacy preference pane.
Click the Continue button.
Screen Time: Screen Time configuration options are displayed. You can choose to skip over this step by clicking the Set Up Later text. To proceed, click the Continue button.
Siri:You can enable Siri by placing a checkmark in the Enable Siri box. Click the Continue button when ready.
Theme: You can choose from three themes: the classic Light Mode, Dark Mode, or Auto, which will change between light and dark mode depending on the time of day. Make your choice and click the Continue button.
The setup process is complete and your Mac’s desktop will be displayed.
Your Mac is all set. The new Catalina operating system has been installed and you’re ready to start exploring its many new features. You can find out more about Catalina’s capabilities in the following Rocket Yard guides:
Should I Remove External Drives Before Upgrading Mac Os X
- A First Look at macOS Catalina
- Voice Control Comes to macOS Catalina
- Rocking Out with the Music App in macOS Catalina
- 10 Non-Intrusive Security Changes in macOS Catalina
- macOS Catalina Features: Using Screen Time
- How to Enable Dark Mode in macOS Mojave and Catalina
- How to Use Sidecar to Unite Your Mac and iPad
Let us know what you think about macOS Catalina by posting a comment below.
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All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2018, OWC – Since 1988