Mac OS updates - clarification - issues!

[Dave2002]

I have a few pending macOS updates - all for video processing - Final Cut Pro X, Compressor and iMovie. I would have simply gone ahead and installed them, but I read this - or similar - depending on the program:

Detects media files that may be incompatible with future versions of macOS after Mojave and converts them to a compatible format

I'm not at all sure whether this means only some files, which are exclusively associated with those programs, or whether the update is going to scan the whole of my file store and do a conversion. It may be that some of the files get used by more than one program - including others not the specific ones mentioned - and that converting the files to ensure future compatibility with Apple programs may actually (a) render the files incompatible with other programs which can currently use them and (b) downgrade the quality somehow. I'm probably being too cautious, but I'm hesitant to hit the button and then discover that actually I wasn't cautious enough.

My guess is that at the very least I should make sure I have backups - though of which files exactly? .... The whole d**n caboodle seems the only sure way. It's not even clear which file types might be affected - "media files" coves a lot of options.

[Stunsworth]

Google is your friend...

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT209029

https://9to5mac.com/2019/03/22/apple-legacy-media-final-cut-pro-macos/

[Dave2002]

Google is your friend...

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT209029

https://9to5mac.com/2019/03/22/apple...cut-pro-macos/

Thanks for that. It does look as though anyone who has a lot of video and perhaps other material (audio?) should at least back it off, then decide whether to scan for issues, and only then do the conversions. Without an estimate of the size of the problems just going straight into conversions seems risky - unless one doesn't care too much. I still have machines which run older OS versions - though I don't use them so much now.

One option would be to create VME (Virtual Machine Environments) and back off whole systems - just in case.

The somewhat worrying part of this is Apple's insistence that conversion tools won't be available after the updates to the OS - whether that is for "genuine" technical reasons, or just because "we don't care about the 1%-2% of users who may have issues with this" I couldn't possibly say.

It may not actually turn out to be a big problem - certainly for most people - but it may concern some, and they need to be aware of this and address it in ways that suit them, and in a timeframe which is appropriate for them.

[Stunsworth]

QuickTime 7 was introduced 14 years ago and discontinued 2 years later, so I’d expect most people to have few - if any - problematical videos.

[richardfinegold]

Perhaps unrelated, but we are having a problem with my wife’s MacBook. She apparently clicked one of those faux Adobe Update buttons and has some kind of virus. She gets annoying pop ups, sudden loud noises. It’s still useable. We do our banking on line and immediately changed our passwords, and I asked my IT helper that set up my NAS to look at. He spent half and hour deleting a bunch of stuff that made a temporary improvement but then it regressed. She spent a couple of hours with Apple Support and they had her load the latest version of the OS (El Capitan) but that didn’t help either. The IT guy is recommending a complete scrub and reload of Mojave. I’m willing to do that but it’s time consuming and a bit of an expense. Any useful hints before I embark?

[Dave2002]

Perhaps unrelated, but we are having a problem with my wife’s MacBook. She apparently clicked one of those faux Adobe Update buttons and has some kind of virus. She gets annoying pop ups, sudden loud noises. It’s still useable. We do our banking on line and immediately changed our passwords, and I asked my IT helper that set up my NAS to look at. He spent half and hour deleting a bunch of stuff that made a temporary improvement but then it regressed. She spent a couple of hours with Apple Support and they had her load the latest version of the OS (El Capitan) but that didn’t help either. The IT guy is recommending a complete scrub and reload of Mojave. I’m willing to do that but it’s time consuming and a bit of an expense. Any useful hints before I embark?

Tricky.

Do you have any virus checkers or malware checkers/removers? If not you could try one or two first - they might make a difference, or even find out what the problem is. Ideally download any on another machine, then migrate to the troubled machine using local storage only - and make sure that machine is not connected to the internet.

If that doesn't help, you could do a complete backup to a clean drive if you have one, or buy one at the lowest price.

Then you could try upgrading to Sierra - see if that bumps it off. If not, then High Sierra - similarly. Finally Mojave - again if previous attempts don't work.

If you already have the essential data files on a backup drive, then scan that drive for malware on another machine, then try what your IT guy says - wipe the patient clean, and do a completely new install of Mojave, then bring the files back from the external drive.

How big is the Macbook? Depending on how active the users are it may not have that much data stored, so could be ressurected relatively quickly, but if it's like mine and is full to bursting, then the restore process and checks etc. could take days.

I would recommend to stop using that machine immediately, and disconnect from the internet, before proceeding any further.

Does that help for starters?

[Dave2002]

QuickTime 7 was introduced 14 years ago and discontinued 2 years later, so I’d expect most people to have few - if any - problematical videos.

Is it only Quicktime 7 which is affected - not the more recent versions - which I still have, and still use occasionally?

[richardfinegold]

Tricky.

Do you have any virus checkers or malware checkers/removers? If not you could try one or two first - they might make a difference, or even find out what the problem is. Ideally download any on another machine, then migrate to the troubled machine using local storage only - and make sure that machine is not connected to the internet.

If that doesn't help, you could do a complete backup to a clean drive if you have one, or buy one at the lowest price.

Then you could try upgrading to Sierra - see if that bumps it off. If not, then High Sierra - similarly. Finally Mojave - again if previous attempts don't work.

If you already have the essential data files on a backup drive, then scan that drive for malware on another machine, then try what your IT guy says - wipe the patient clean, and do a completely new install of Mojave, then bring the files back from the external drive.

How big is the Macbook? Depending on how active the users are it may not have that much data stored, so could be ressurected relatively quickly, but if it's like mine and is full to bursting, then the restore process and checks etc. could take days.

I would recommend to stop using that machine immediately, and disconnect from the internet, before proceeding any further.

Does that help for starters?

I neglected to mention that we tried one of those malware scrubbers that the IT recommended, to no avail.
She basically just surfs, pays bills, and edits photos with it. We stopped paying bills with it and changed the relevant pws.
We are going to back up her photos to iCloud. Will they be infection free when we subsequently re download them?

[Dave2002]

I neglected to mention that we tried one of those malware scrubbers that the IT recommended, to no avail.
She basically just surfs, pays bills, and edits photos with it. We stopped paying bills with it and changed the relevant pws.
We are going to back up her photos to iCloud. Will they be infection free when we subsequently re download them?

OK - I'll make another suggestion.

1. Back up the photos to a USB stick or SSD first - since I suspect they're the things you most likely want to protect.
2. Download Sophos AV and run it. On my 256 Gbyte MBP that can take hours, but it does either clear out stuff, or put things into Quarantine.
3. Make sure the Sophos AV has the latest definition files by doing an update before scanning - to save time - otherwise you may have to scan more than once.

https://home.sophos.com/en-us/download-mac-anti-virus.aspx

The reason I mention that one is that I use it from time to time, and at least it seems benign. Also, the "live" protection seems to work - or at least it activates from time to time if I try to open some files it thinks is dodgy.

If that fixes the problem, then hopefully you're OK. There are others, and there is a different one which is currently "flavour of the year", but that's the one I've been using for years without too many problems.

You may have already tried Malwarebytes - which fixes some problems - or detects them, but the Sophos AV is the one I use most for the tougher stuff.

3. Once done, you can also scan the external storage with the photos on explicitly.

If you're happy with iCloud then by all means upload the photos, but if they've been corrupted the corruption (probably) won't disappear when they are downloaded again. There are some tools which can fix corrupted photos, though some of those also present other problems, which you might not want, and some of them are bundled with other dodgy tools, so even if those programs are good, their companions aren't. I have been bitten that way while trying to fix/recover photos for other people.

[Stunsworth]

Is it only Quicktime 7 which is affected - not the more recent versions - which I still have, and still use occasionally?

Thats the only version mentioned in the Apple link I posted earlier.

[Dave2002]

Turns out that iMovie (latest version, after update) does have the check compatibility feature mentioned in the articles. It didn't report any issues on my libraries.

However, FCPX does have an incompatible update "feature" which may have nothing to do with the media compatibility, as I've not tested that yet. The option to check media compatibility is indeed under the File menu - though unless a library is selected it won't be active. Selecting a library in the latest version of FCPX may give rise to a message that the library should be upgraded - but with a proviso that this will render it unusable with earlier versions of FCPX. That would only affect people using several different versions of FCPX and/or different machines. If that is likely to affect anyone encountering the message, they should copy/save the library before initiating the conversion within the program.

I'll check whether any of this affects the original media files later.

[Anastasius]

I hope you didn't change your banking passwords using that machine but used another one.