Yosemite! My nightmare!

Since upgrading to Yosemite so many things have gone wrong and /or disappeared! I have upgraded Apps where possible but sometimes even that doesn't work.
For instance I reinstalled iWork '09 but with the exception of Keynote both Pages and Numbers will not open. I checked in the App Store and downloaded the updates but they do not work either. When I click to open Pages it opens the iWork folder but the programs within it are greyed out!

iPhoto does not work at all, all my carefully organised photos in particular folders for easy access have gone. In the new version Photos my photos have suddenly been listed by year which is absolutely no use to me since the photos were scanned in for secure storage purposes and dates mean nothing!

My Office for Mac (2011) has completely disappeared as has my original paid for disks but that's another story! Today my Address book disappeared and had to restore it from TimeMachine. Never known that to happen!
Microsoft Office is not listed in my new Time Machine external drive and Yosemite can't read my old Time Machine drive. In fact it can't read or recognise several of my external devices including my new TomTom 5000 SatNav, which is really annoying because I can't update the maps.

I would dearly love to return to SnowLeopard, Mountain Lion or Mavericks anything but Yosemite which has caused so many problems.
Why do Apple think they must "Fix" a good running program and we are suckered into upgrading, oh yes I forgot they need to make money!

I used to love my MBP but I'm increasingly borrowing my wife's old white Macbook running Lion!

Your experience isn't the norm.
You have a good Time Machine backup from before, right?
I suggest you re-download Yosemite and make a USB flash drive installer:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372
Then, boot with the USB drive, and reformat the internal drive, then install Yosemite. Then use Setup assistant to restore all your apps and data. (I suggest you Don't restore all settings - the problems are often there.)
You'll have to re-register Office and maybe other apps.

Can't tell you what to do about iWork. Pages and Numbers both work here for me on 10.10.4.

iPhoto should still be in the Applications folder and should continue to operate as it did before. For now, you don't have to use Photos, but eventually support for iPhoto will be withdrawn.

How did you install Yosemite? If you did a clean install, did you deactivate Office for Mac before you did that? Office won't be in your new TM backups if you did a clean install as it was wiped out on the format step. It should be in your old backups, but even so, if you didn't deactivate it with MS, you may have problems reactivating it because MS might think it's a new install and a copy.

Check with TomTom for drivers for Yosemite. That's TomTom's responsibility.

Returning to to previous versions is possible. Look in "Purchased" in the App store and you should see any previous versions you had installed on the machine. Be aware, however, that going back won't fix the registration issue with Office.

Last time I looked Yosemite was free, so I'm not sure why you added the comment about Apple needing to make money. Yes, they do, but they sure didn't make much giving away Yosemite (and Mavericks, etc).

If you take gsahli's advice, make sure to do the restore BEFORE creating an account. Migration Assistant will then create your account just like it was before.

For instance I reinstalled iWork '09 but with the exception of Keynote both Pages and Numbers will not open. I checked in the App Store and downloaded the updates but they do not work either. When I click to open Pages it opens the iWork folder but the programs within it are greyed out!

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The older versions of the iWork apps are not compatible with Yosemite. There were free updates to the iWork 09 apps: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. I believe the downloads are still free. The old versions (iWork 09) are placed in a separate folder. You're probably clicking on the wrong Pages. If you updated properly, you should have a separate copy of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. Try again.

As for Microsoft Office, it doesn't matter if you de-activate it or not because without the Product ID serial number which you no longer have, you can not activate it again without paying for another copy. Your fault for losing the original Disk with PID. Office 2016 will be released this September anyway. We will all need to buy a copy if we wish to update.

Going to Yosemite from an older version of OS X is a big step and as you can see, if you're not properly prepared you will have problems. Just stick with it and we'll try to help you the best we can.

imho problems come about with upgrades and not clean installs.

Harry has a point but regardless I agree with gsahli, you should not be having these problems and I can say that I have MS Office for Mac 2011 and had absolutely no problem after upgrading to Yosemite it did not require any action just continued to work as before.
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote updates are still available and yes some apps especially 3rd party apps will need updating but what you describe is a much broader problem.
My guess is that something went wrong with your upgrade and the only real way to fix that is to follow gsahli's (and harryb2448's ) suggestion and perform a clean install of the OS and restore your data from backup. You do have a backup I hope?
My wife recently had a serious problem after an upgrade and I had to restore her entire HD from a clone. This stuff just happens sometimes.
By the way both Mavericks and Yosemite were free upgrades but I feel your pain.

bumbleboo said:

In fact it can't read or recognise several of my external devices including my new TomTom 5000 SatNav, which is really annoying because I can't update the maps.

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Weird. I have a TomTom as well and I have TomTom My Drive on my mac and there's no issue at all, runs fine, and it detects my TomTom GPS, no problem. So TomTom works with Yosemite.

Have you tried a USB pen drive first? What I mean is, connecting a USB pen drive might get the mac to "fire up" the drivers for USB devices, and from then on, it'll detect other devices you hook up to the mac properly. Just a thought.

chscag said:

The older versions of the iWork apps are not compatible with Yosemite. There were free updates to the iWork 09 apps: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. I believe the downloads are still free. The old versions (iWork 09) are placed in a separate folder. You're probably clicking on the wrong Pages. If you updated properly, you should have a separate copy of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. Try again.

As for Microsoft Office, it doesn't matter if you de-activate it or not because without the Product ID serial number which you no longer have, you can not activate it again without paying for another copy. Your fault for losing the original Disk with PID. Office 2016 will be released this September anyway. We will all need to buy a copy if we wish to update.

Going to Yosemite from an older version of OS X is a big step and as you can see, if you're not properly prepared you will have problems. Just stick with it and we'll try to help you the best we can.

Click to expand...

Thanks guys, I've been off the air for three days, both telephone and Internet, due to a major Fault with Telekom, my provider, so only getting under way again and trying to sort out these problems for which you have kindly given advice.

Mencelus said:

Weird. I have a TomTom as well and I have TomTom My Drive on my mac and there's no issue at all, runs fine, and it detects my TomTom GPS, no problem. So TomTom works with Yosemite.

Have you tried a USB pen drive first? What I mean is, connecting a USB pen drive might get the mac to "fire up" the drivers for USB devices, and from then on, it'll detect other devices you hook up to the mac properly. Just a thought.

Click to expand...

Sorry been off the air for three days due to a major fault with Telekom cables, it is driving me crazy! Our area had a break down at the beginning of July for 7 day days, no apology at all!

Ok my flash drive pens are all recognised and work fine but when I plug in my TomTom USB cable to the MBP the SatNav fires up in that it shows it is charging and the touch screen is activated but the device does not show up on Finder and also TomTom Home and MyDrive cannot see it! I have the latest updates too. A further great annoyance is that after driving back from Spain, an 1870 km journey when the machine was used, I unplugged it from the car since we were not using it around town, for at least three weeks. We suddenly needed it for a two day journey and when I switched it on there was the screen message "No Maps Available" reinstall a map you already own or go to TomTom and buy one"!!! This machine is still under guarantee!

I had no time to do this so grabbed my old TomTom 700 and it fired up no prob and off we went! I am still annoyed about all the maps on the new SatNav disappearing and since it won't connect to my laptop I can't restore from the backups! I think I'll just go and have a cry in my beer!!!

Rod Sprague said:

Harry has a point but regardless I agree with gsahli, you should not be having these problems and I can say that I have MS Office for Mac 2011 and had absolutely no problem after upgrading to Yosemite it did not require any action just continued to work as before.
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote updates are still available and yes some apps especially 3rd party apps will need updating but what you describe is a much broader problem.
My guess is that something went wrong with your upgrade and the only real way to fix that is to follow gsahli's (and harryb2448's ) suggestion and perform a clean install of the OS and restore your data from backup. You do have a backup I hope?
My wife recently had a serious problem after an upgrade and I had to restore her entire HD from a clone. This stuff just happens sometimes.
By the way both Mavericks and Yosemite were free upgrades but I feel your pain.

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Hi Rod,
Sorry not to have replied sooner but as I explained in the other posts there was a major cable fault in our area with the result of no phone or internet for three days!

Thanks for you advice, I am going to follow yours and et als advice but daren't go offline at the moment because we are trying to sell our apartment and my mail box is the link to enquiries!
Yes the last Mac OS's were free but iWork and the rest were not anyway I'm going to have another go by uninstalling my pre-Yosemite progs and reinstalling from the Mac Store and see it that will work! I'll keep you informed! Cheers.

bumbleboo said:

Sorry been off the air for three days due to a major fault with Telekom cables, it is driving me crazy! Our area had a break down at the beginning of July for 7 day days, no apology at all!

Ok my flash drive pens are all recognised and work fine but when I plug in my TomTom USB cable to the MBP the SatNav fires up in that it shows it is charging and the touch screen is activated but the device does not show up on Finder and also TomTom Home and MyDrive cannot see it! I have the latest updates too. A further great annoyance is that after driving back from Spain, an 1870 km journey when the machine was used, I unplugged it from the car since we were not using it around town, for at least three weeks. We suddenly needed it for a two day journey and when I switched it on there was the screen message "No Maps Available" reinstall a map you already own or go to TomTom and buy one"!!! This machine is still under guarantee!

I had no time to do this so grabbed my old TomTom 700 and it fired up no prob and off we went! I am still annoyed about all the maps on the new SatNav disappearing and since it won't connect to my laptop I can't restore from the backups! I think I'll just go and have a cry in my beer!!!

Click to expand...

Very odd. Maybe something with the particular model? Like, for example, I recently had an issue with the TomTom; turns out exactly my device is one of the few that can't use TomTom Home, but CAN use MyDrive Connect. This caused a weird problem where I couldn't download new maps (despite us buying a Lifetime Maps device).

So, I called up TomTom in the UK (not cheap as I live in Hungary), and after some talking with the guy he sorted out my issue and now all is well. You might, if you feel crazy, see if:

1. There are specific problems with that model of TomTom? People on their forums often write about such - that's where I found out my issues.
2. Give them a call. I mean, if you like calling long distance from Germany. They MIGHT be able to sort you out. I had a very good customer experience with them, so, maybe I'm biased, but they might be able to help you solve this. If your other USB things connect okay, then it's a TomTom specific issue, no?

Mencelus said:

Very odd. Maybe something with the particular model? Like, for example, I recently had an issue with the TomTom; turns out exactly my device is one of the few that can't use TomTom Home, but CAN use MyDrive Connect. This caused a weird problem where I couldn't download new maps (despite us buying a Lifetime Maps device).

So, I called up TomTom in the UK (not cheap as I live in Hungary), and after some talking with the guy he sorted out my issue and now all is well. You might, if you feel crazy, see if:

1. There are specific problems with that model of TomTom? People on their forums often write about such - that's where I found out my issues.
2. Give them a call. I mean, if you like calling long distance from Germany. They MIGHT be able to sort you out. I had a very good customer experience with them, so, maybe I'm biased, but they might be able to help you solve this. If your other USB things connect okay, then it's a TomTom specific issue, no?

Click to expand...

Hi there Mencelus,
thanks for your story and will take your advice and phone TomTom (free from Germany well 3,50€ month fee EU wide plus US and Australia!). Had a reply from TomTom support (they're slow in responding!) but their answer was pathetic since they told me to connect my device to the computer and re-install the maps even though the subject of me mail to them was "Device not recognised by Computer"! I hate dealing with idiots! I'll phone UK and let you know. Cheers.

harryb2448 said:

imho problems come about with upgrades and not clean installs.

Click to expand...

Hi there Harry, I think you will be in bed now so sleep well and see you in the morning!

I have various software problems and now having installed extra RAM to 16GB and a 1Tb SSD internal storage and restored everything from Time Machine I am taking your advice to do a complete clean reinstall from the ground upwards. I just thought I would seek advice before I format the drive and start again with a clean OS installation. I also want to install a BootCamp partition because I tried the Paralles software for running Windows and my Money programme that will only run under Windows and I had corrupted file problems! Six months of data must be reinserted! Under Bootcamp it works fine.

Is there anything I should do to prepare the machine for a clean life? I did look at Disk Utility and it seemed that the format drive was greyed out! So maybe I have to format from the Terminal?

Anyway am sure you'll have a few ideas for me!
Thanks mate and sorry the Ashes are coming home ...................... to the motherland!!! Cheers, Colin
Don't cry in your beer it's only a game!

When you tried to check the drive with Disk Utility were you running from the drive? If so, that probably explains why the drive was grayed out. Try this instead Repair Boot Disk in Mac OS X with Disk Utility & Recovery HD | OSXDaily

Checking the disk isn't absolutely necessary in most cases but is a good idea. The OS install often fails if there are disk issues.

Assuming no errors are found you should be set to do the install.

bumbleboo said:

Hi there Harry, I think you will be in bed now so sleep well and see you in the morning!

I have various software problems and now having installed extra RAM to 16GB and a 1Tb SSD internal storage and restored everything from Time Machine I am taking your advice to do a complete clean reinstall from the ground upwards. I just thought I would seek advice before I format the drive and start again with a clean OS installation. I also want to install a BootCamp partition because I tried the Paralles software for running Windows and my Money programme that will only run under Windows and I had corrupted file problems! Six months of data must be reinserted! Under Bootcamp it works fine.

Is there anything I should do to prepare the machine for a clean life? I did look at Disk Utility and it seemed that the format drive was greyed out! So maybe I have to format from the Terminal?

Anyway am sure you'll have a few ideas for me!
Thanks mate and sorry the Ashes are coming home ...................... to the motherland!!! Cheers, Colin
Don't cry in your beer it's only a game!

Click to expand...

And Michael Clarke falls on his sword. I guess you have to blame someone.

I can't get cricket in the States (not for a reasonable price, anyway) but I heard that Australia was all out for 60-something in the first innings last week. What was up with that? Then England was something like 120 for three! Must have been a nasty wicket!

Rod Sprague said:

And Michael Clarke falls on his sword. I guess you have to blame someone.

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Yes poor Clarke but England has been blaming captains and trainers for years, it's like Waltzing Matilda with the number of partner changes but this time they seem to have got it right! I think it's the youthful side that they put together with fresh ideas, certainly seems to have worked but guess we'd better not discuss Cricket in this thread but it does release the tension!!!! ;D

MacInWin said:

I can't get cricket in the States (not for a reasonable price, anyway) but I heard that Australia was all out for 60-something in the first innings last week. What was up with that? Then England was something like 120 for three! Must have been a nasty wicket!

Click to expand...

I use this to get BBC from Germany and my internet radio is a dream to connect to the world! Try this for connection from the States : https://client.my-private-network.co.uk/aff.php?aff=2147