Is Five Years Too Long?

[Marrk]

Last night, against my own better judgement, I installed the software updates that brought me up to OS 10.9.5. Now, I am experiencing dysfunction and non-function the like of which I have never seen before.

1) Won't ReStart
2) Won't quit programs
3) Won't Force Quit
4) Won't recognize Bluetooth devices

Gentlemen, exactly what new kind of **** have I wandered into? Or is it simply time to replace a five-year-old computer with a newer model?

Thanks.

 

[chas_m]

Five years ago would be 2009 or 2010, so there's no reason why that machine shouldn't be able to run Mavericks or Yosemite well, provided your hard drives isn't full or you have a tiny amount of RAM.

I'm not even sure how you GOT Mavericks, as Apple is no longer providing it. It's Yosemite or nothing from the Mac App Store, which makes me think you may have obtained a corrupted copy. Perhaps a clean install would fix that, but more information is needed on your machine, what OS version you started out with, your procedure and so forth.

You should also give yourself a firm smack across the face if you didn't make a backup of your system before doing a major upgrade. Rookie mistake, that one.

Much more clarification is also needed on your specific errors, and just generally everything.

Yes, your machine is getting towards the tail end of its useful life cycle, but that's not the problem here. Sounds like a bad or corrupt install or other problems, from what little we can glean.

 

[Marrk]

I do a backup every morning before I do anything else. However, the problems only became apparent after I backed up the "bad" OS. In any case, it's all on Time Machine, day by day.

I have not updated to Yosemite. I thought that that was simply too risky. The backup that I performed was on 1-7-15 and included Security Update, Safari Update and Printer Update (see attachment).

RAM:
Max-ed out to 8 gb (one 4-gb in each slot).

Storage:
Available: 278.53 GB (278,525,816,832 bytes)
Capacity: 319.21 GB (319,213,174,784 bytes)

History:
The computer was purchased in March 2010. I updated to Mavericks earlier this year,


View attachment Updates 1-7-15.pdf

 

[pigoo3]

Gentlemen, exactly what new kind of **** have I wandered into? Or is it simply time to replace a five-year-old computer with a newer model?

I don't think that it's time to do anything drastic like get a new computer. If these problems are truly a result of upgrading the OS (10.9.5)...then going back to the old OS would be the thing to do.

Unfortunately...Time Machine backups do not back up the OS. So what you will have to do is reinstall the former OS version...then do a Time Machine restore.

If you have done this and the problems persist. Then the problems had nothing to do with the OS upgrade (10.9.5)...but something else. If the problems disappear...then the OS upgrade might have been the problem.

Good luck,

- Nick

 

[Marrk]

Thanks, Nick.

So, how do I go "back to the old OS"? Where do I find it?

Restoring things from Time Machine has always been baffling to me. I don't understand how to do that. Is there a single-click "Restore" button? It seems like every time I restore something from Time Machine, I have to do it item-by-item, a la carte. Should I just update to Yosemite? Would that be a better fix?

 

[pigoo3]

So, how do I go "back to the old OS"? Where do I find it?

Sorry...but I can't answer this question if I don't know what the former OS version was.

Should I just update to Yosemite? Would that be a better fix?

Well...at this point you could give it a try. If Yosemite doesn't work well...then we are back to reinstalling the old OS anyway. Just remember...if you have older apps...the newer the OS version...the more possibility the apps won't run (or will need to be updated or upgraded).

- Nick

 

[Marrk]

Fine. So, once again, what's the downside to buying an entirely new computer? What's the sense of dealing with these Software Updates from Apple that are nothing but trouble?

 

[pigoo3]

Fine. So, once again, what's the downside to buying an entirely new computer?

Possibly an empty wallet or bank account!

What's the sense of dealing with these Software Updates from Apple that are nothing but trouble?

To be honest...the problems you are experiencing I seriously doubt are related to the OS upgrade. The fact that this OS upgrade was to 10.9.5 (and not the newest OS 10.10)...means that most of the bugs have been worked out of 10.9.

Thus 10.9 should be mostly trouble free.

Why did you upgrade to 10.9 in the first place? I sure hope not because it was free!

- Nick

 

[Marrk]

All I did was perform the updates that the Software Update function told me to update. Aren't you guys responding to the messages that appear on your desktop, and aren't you going to the Updates part of the App Store to do it? That's what I did, and the reason that I did it was to get security updates and Safari functionality updates. The Cannon Printer update was the third one.

I thought this updating business was what we are supposed to do.

 

[pigoo3]

All I did was perform the updates that the Software Update function told me to update. Aren't you guys responding to the messages that appear on your desktop, and aren't you going to the Updates part of the App Store to do it? That's what I did, and the reason that I did it was to get security updates and Safari functionality updates. The Cannon Printer update was the third one.

I thought this updating business was what we are supposed to do.

I need to define a couple things:

Update = small incremental changes (like going from OS 10.8.1 to 10.8.2)
Upgrade = larger more significant changes (like going from OS 10.8 to OS 10.9)

I personally usually do the "updates"...but I am much more cautious when it comes to "upgrades". And with the upgrade part (for example)...I don't like going with the first version (such as 10.9.0). Since it is more likely to have bugs. Version 10.9.5 (5 updates...10.9.1, 10.9.2, 10.0.3, 10.9.4, 10.9.5) should be a much more stable version...and contain far fewer bugs.

What I'm saying is. OS 10.9.5 (the version you upgraded to)...should be very stable...and mostly bug free. This is why I say that "most "likely"...the OS upgrade to 10.9.5 is probably not the issue. The issue is probably confusion of some sort on the user's end.

Another reason the upgrade is probably not the issue. There is no "avalanche" of other users reporting the same issues.

Another question for you (you actually did not answer my earlier question). Where & when did you get the 10.9 install file? The 10.9 (Mavericks) install file is currently not available from the Mac App Store.

If you got this install 10.9 install file recently...it didn't come from the Mac App Store.

- Nick

 

[pm-r]

All I did was perform the updates that the Software Update function told me to update. Aren't you guys responding to the messages that appear on your desktop, and aren't you going to the Updates part of the App Store to do it? That's what I did, and the reason that I did it was to get security updates and Safari functionality updates. The Cannon Printer update was the third one.

I thought this updating business was what we are supposed to do.

To save you all the trouble of "re-installing" some old OS X, Mavericks with all its updates should run fine on that Mac — providing that the HDD isn't failing or has some bad sectors.

I'd suggest booting up in Safe Boot Mode, run Disk Utility to Repair and Verify your boot disk.

Then head off and download the OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 Update (Combo) and install it, and then run Disk Utility again.

You'll find the COMBO at:
OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 Update (Combo)

Then reboot and run any Software Update suggestions until no more are shown as available. Avoiding any Apple suggestion to install Yosemite!!

 

[pm-r]

As for where the OP got the Mavericks from, maybe their Mac is like ours and the Mavericks download is still showing and still available on our Macs running SL 10.6 8.

I assume that Apple's site is still considered legitimate.

 

[Exodist]

To save you all the trouble of "re-installing" some old OS X, Mavericks with all its updates should run fine on that Mac — providing that the HDD isn't failing or has some bad sectors.

I'd suggest booting up in Safe Boot Mode, run Disk Utility to Repair and Verify your boot disk.

Then head off and download the OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 Update (Combo) and install it, and then run Disk Utility again.

You'll find the COMBO at:
OS X Mavericks 10.9.5 Update (Combo)

Then reboot and run any Software Update suggestions until no more are shown as available. Avoiding any Apple suggestion to install Yosemite!!

As for where the OP got the Mavericks from, maybe their Mac is like ours and the Mavericks download is still showing and still available on our Macs running SL 10.6 8.

I assume that Apple's site is still considered legitimate.

This is precisely what I would suggest also.. Sounds Advice PM-R..

 

[XJ-linux]

I'm running 10.9.5 and updates from Apple come out every so often for this and that. I haven't experienced any of the issues you are reporting though and I've applied the ones you mentioned. I have a 2013 MBA with 8GB of RAM. Your issues seem to be manifesting in the OS not interacting properly with applications and base level things like ending processes correctly and gracefully shutting the OS down and restarting it. Seems like an OS issue to me to some degree or another.

I think pm-r has you on the right track.

 

[pigoo3]

As for where the OP got the Mavericks from, maybe their Mac is like ours and the Mavericks download is still showing and still available on our Macs running SL 10.6 8.

I assume that Apple's site is still considered legitimate.

Why don't we let the OP answer the question. The idea of asking probing questions is...so that the OP gives an honest answer...and not a "supplied safe answer" given by someone else.

If the OP downloaded a "jacked-up" version of Mavericks from a torrent site...then that would be good to know. Since that could explain the problems.

Most folks don't like to admit that they download things from illegal torrent sites.

On the other hand. If the OP did legally download Mavericks from the Mac App Store (when it was available) that would be good to know as well. But Mavericks hasn't been available since Yosemite was released (since October).

So as I mentioned. It would be nice to let the OP answer the question.

- Nick

 

[Exodist]

I'm running 10.9.5 and updates from Apple come out every so often for this and that.......

I think pm-r has you on the right track.

Yea its likely a update he downloaded got corrupted and still somehow installed. Its crazy how a OS that checks the files before it installs them, still manages to install corrupted one even though the check sum should not match.. That said, its happened to me on a few occasions..

 

[Marrk]

Sorry to be slow in reply, guys.

I upgraded to Mavericks four or five months ago. I only upgrade and update from the App Store.

Today, I ran Disk Utilities. In the Verify Permissions process, I was getting line items like "ACL found but not expected." No idea what that could mean. Then, I read the above and ran Disk Utilities from a Safe Reboot.

I haven't had anything lock up again today like it did last night. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Many thanks for the posts.

 

[Rod]

Keeping things simple like I like to do I would suggest that the easiest solution considering the OP would probably have app compatibility issues with Mavericks anyway would be to bite the bullet and upgrade to Yosemite. Perform a clean install and restore from Time Machine backup. Other than the few compatibility issues and notwithstanding any mechanical problems this should fix everything else. Cetainly a lot cheaper than replacement.

 

[Rod]

Goldarn it got pipped again. When I wrote my last post the post from Marrk wasn't there. So I was a little out of sync. Hopefully the Permissions repair did the trick.

 

[chas_m]

Unfortunately...Time Machine backups do not back up the OS

This is not, in fact, true. Time Machine backs up every single solitary file on a Mac boot disk, including the system. While the backup may not be bootable, once can easily do a FULL system restore from a Time Machine backup, proving that every single file (including the invisible ones) are backed up.