OWC Deals: Load up on HUGE Storage, Max-Out Memory, etc

Deals...

• OWC wishlist pages...
• New and pre-owned Macs...
• Memory...
• Thunderbolt...
• Memory Cards and Readers...

Click through for current pricing; some items may be lower than shown.

Camera cards

I love that I can go on a long trip and never have to worry about deleting a shoot, thus giving myself an inherent backup (camera card + computer + backup too). OWC camera cards are the best I’ve ever used (SD and CFExpress Type B)—with nary a glitch in any camera.

CLICK TO VIEW: OWC Camera Cards and SSD

Big, fast, fault tolerant storage

The smart move for high capacity and/or fault tolerance or RAID-0 striping is the OWC Thunderbay 4, which takes four hard drives. The Thunderbay 4 is the single greatest value-add peripheral I have ever owned, nothing else comes close.

As shown, you can populate a Thunderbay 4 with a massive 80TB of storage for about $2100. Four single volumes, a single 80TB RAID-0 volume, a RAID-4/RAID-5 fault tolerant 60TB volume, or multiple smaller volumes of any of those. Or you can buy it all pre-configured and pre-tested.

Storage and More

Hard Drives wish list • Deals on HGST

$275 SAVE $924 = 77.0% Western Digital (*) 4.0TB Western Digital Ultrastar SN630 2.5-in… in Storage: SSD

$389 SAVE $141 = 26.0% Western Digital 20.0TB Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC560 3.5-in… in Storage: Hard Drives

$350 SAVE $478 = 57.0% Seagate 18.0TB Seagate Exos X18 3.5-inch SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200RPM Ha… in Storage: Hard Drives

$320 SAVE $479 = 59.0% Western Digital 18.0TB Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 3.5-in… in Storage: Hard Drives

$258 SAVE $441 = 63.0% Toshiba 16.0TB Toshiba MG08ACA Series 3.5-inch SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200… in Storage: Hard Drives

$235 SAVE $355 = 60.0% Seagate 14.0TB Seagate Exos X18 3.5-inch SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200RPM Ha… in Storage: Hard Drives

$549 OWC ThunderBay 4 Four-Bay Thunderbolt 3 External Storage Enclosu… in Storage: Enclosures

Silent and fast external backup

For desktop or travel, it’s hard to be a 2TB or 4TB SSD. The diminutive OWC Envoy Pro Elektron is an all-time favorite of mine, as it hits over 1GB/sec and it’s tiny, perfect for travel.

Storage and More

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$229 SAVE $21 = 8.0% OWC 2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro Elektron USB-C Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories

$399 SAVE $101 = 20.0% OWC 2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C Portable NVMe S… in All Other Categories

$699 OWC 4.0TB OWC Envoy Pro EX USB-C Bus-Powered Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories

$779 SAVE $121 = 13.0% OWC 4.0TB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C Portable NVMe S… in All Other Categories

Memory

Have a 2019 iMac 5K or 2020 iMac 5K or a Intel-based Mac mini or iMac 4K? Go to 128GB for iMac 5K and 64GB for the others. No sense letting your work be constrained by too little memory.

Other stuff

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$329 SAVE $39 = 10.0% OWC 128.0GB (4 x 32GB) OWC 2666MHz DDR4 PC4-21300 260-Pin SO-DIM… in All Other Categories

$268 SAVE $28 = 9.0% OWC 96.0GB (2 x 32GB + 2 x 16GB) OWC 2666MHz DDR4 PC4-21300 260-… in All Other Categories

$173 SAVE $11 = 6.0% OWC 64.0GB (2 x 32GB) OWC 2666MHz DDR4 PC4-21300 260-Pin SO-DIMM… in All Other Categories

Accessories

Other stuff

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$1028 SAVE $471 = 31.0% Apple 13" MacBook Pro Retina Touch Bar (2020) 8-core Apple M1, S… in New and used Macs: MacBook Pro	$135 SAVE $94 = 41.0% Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport Earbuds - Black in All Other Categories	$40 SAVE $29 = 42.0% Audio-Technica ATH-S200BT Wireless On-Ear Headphones - Black in All Other Categories	$7 SAVE $11 = 60.0% Apple 1.0 Meter (39") Apple Genuine Lightning to USB Cable in All Other Categories	$24 OWC 0.7 Meter (28") OWC Thunderbolt 4/USB-C Cable in All Other Categories
$75 SAVE $20 = 21.0% OWC Thunderbolt Dual DisplayPort Adapter in All Other Categories	$8 SAVE $7 = 46.0% OWC USB-A to USB-C (USB 3) Adapter Cable in All Other Categories	$55 SAVE $5 = 8.0% OWC USB-C Travel Dock in All Other Categories	$149 OWC Thunderbolt Hub in All Other Categories

macos Bug for Launch Daemons in launchctl: posix_spawn ... Operation not permitted error 1

This article is for serious nerds only.

Apple’s security schemes have caused so many people so much confusion and pain, it’s just unbelievable.

It took me 10 hours of my time to track down what appears to be a nasty bug, or perhaps design defect, in Apple’s macos Launch Daemon support. It took that long because the nature of the bug hid all useful information from me until I chanced upon a solution.

ISSUE: launch daemon’s stdout and stderr always fail on external volume

If there is a solution to this, I’d be delighted to hear it.

A daemon process created by launchctl can have (and needs) a file for stdout and stderr (StandardOutPath and/or StandardErrorPath).

As far as I can tell, there is no way to allow permissions for StandardOutPath and/or StandardErrorPath on an external volume. That is, macOS will always deny access, no matter the conditions:

• Whether or not that volume has "ignore permissions" or not.
• Even if 'sh' and the script itself are both given Full Disk Access.
• Even when the launch daemon is running as the user that owns the entire folder path (eg "webserver" and the volume and its contents are owned by webserver).
• No ACLs are present, all permissions are appropriate; it's not a simple error like that.
• Works fine if the locations are on an internal (non-ejectable) volume.

Note that this case is different than, say, giving java or python or some program Full Disk Access—that works fine.

This case is with launchctl itself, in setting up stdout and stderr; the issue is that the shell cannot even set up stdout and stderr, and aborts before the script can be run.

Snippet of launch daemon (plist) script (paths simplified for clarity) in /Library/LaunchDaemons:

<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/webserver/scripts/tomcat-launchd.sh</string>  <====== #!/bin/sh
</array>
<key>UserName</key>            <string>webuser</string>
<key>StandardOutPath</key>     <string>/Volumes/webserver/logs/stdout.log</string>
<key>StandardErrorPath</key>   <string>/Volumes/webserver/logs/stdout.log</string>

If a StandardOutPath or StandardErrorPath is on an *external* volume, one always gets permissions error, as shown. On an internal volume, no problem, everything works fine.

File paths and script names modified/simplified simplified for brevity/clarity.

2022-11-25 21:28:10.766461 (system) : Bootstrap by launchctl[1682] for /Library/LaunchDaemons/webserver.plist succeeded (0: )
2022-11-25 21:28:10.766469 (system) : exiting bootstrap mode
2022-11-25 21:28:10.766499 (system/WEBSERVER [1683]) : internal event: SOURCE_ATTACH, code = 0
2022-11-25 21:28:10.769313 (system/WEBSERVER [1683]) : Service could not initialize: posix_spawn(/Volumes/webserver/scripts/tomcat-launchd.sh) error: 0x1: Operation not permitted
2022-11-25 21:28:10.769320 (system/WEBSERVER [1683]) : initialization failure: 21G217: xpcproxy + 23748 [846][7B354E71-81A5-3251-9AA5-BAF533AC5A21]: 0x1
2022-11-25 21:28:10.769322 (system/WEBSERVER [1683]) : internal event: INIT, code = 1
2022-11-25 21:28:10.769585 (system/WEBSERVER [1683]) : xpcproxy exited due to exit(78)
2022-11-25 21:28:10.769594 (system/WEBSERVER [1683]) : exited due to exit(78)

There is no apparent mechanism to allow the specified file paths to work.

Black Friday Deals at OWC

See also: Black Friday Deals at B&H Photo...

...

Here are key products be of interest to photographers and videographers many of which I can personally recommend from using them.

See also my OWC wishlist pages...

Please click through for current pricing; some items may be lower than shown.

Got an iMac 5K? Load it up with 128GB memory for only $330. Qdd a ton of storage with 18TB drives in an external enclosure.

...

OWC Camera Cards and SSD

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$1199 SAVE $281 = 18.0% OWC 8.0TB OWC Accelsior 4M2 PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 SSD Storage Soluti… in Storage: PCI	$149 OWC 1.0TB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G 2.5-inch 7mm SATA 6.0Gb/s S… in Storage: SSD	$300 OWC 1.0TB OWC Atlas Pro SDXC V60 UHS-II Memory Card in All Other Categories	$120 SAVE $20 = 14.0% OWC 128GB OWC Atlas S Pro SDXC UHS-II V90 Media Card in All Other Categories	$240 SAVE $30 = 11.0% OWC 256GB OWC Atlas S Pro SDXC UHS-II V90 Media Card in All Other Categories	$300 SAVE $100 = 25.0% OWC 320GB OWC Atlas Pro Ultra High-Performance CFexpress Type B… in All Other Categories
$480 OWC 512GB OWC Atlas S Pro SDXC UHS-II V90 Media Card in All Other Categories	$595 SAVE $125 = 17.0% OWC 640GB OWC Atlas Pro Ultra High-Performance CFexpress Type B… in All Other Categories	$279 SAVE $71 = 20.0% OWC 1.0TB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C Portable NVMe S… in All Other Categories	$229 SAVE $21 = 8.0% OWC 2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro Elektron USB-C Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories	$399 SAVE $101 = 20.0% OWC 2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C Portable NVMe S… in All Other Categories

Storage and More

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$275 SAVE $924 = 77.0% Western Digital (*) 4.0TB Western Digital Ultrastar SN630 2.5-in… in Storage: SSD

$350 SAVE $478 = 57.0% Seagate 18.0TB Seagate Exos X18 3.5-inch SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200RPM Ha… in Storage: Hard Drives

$320 SAVE $479 = 59.0% Western Digital 18.0TB Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 3.5-in… in Storage: Hard Drives

$258 SAVE $441 = 63.0% Toshiba 16.0TB Toshiba MG08ACA Series 3.5-inch SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200… in Storage: Hard Drives

$55 SAVE $5 = 8.0% OWC USB-C Travel Dock in All Other Categories

$149 OWC Thunderbolt Hub in All Other Categories

Other stuff

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$1028 SAVE $471 = 31.0% Apple 13" MacBook Pro Retina Touch Bar (2020) 8-core Apple M1, S… in New and used Macs: MacBook Pro

$329 SAVE $39 = 10.0% OWC 128.0GB (4 x 32GB) OWC 2666MHz DDR4 PC4-21300 260-Pin SO-DIM… in All Other Categories

$135 SAVE $94 = 41.0% Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport Earbuds - Black in All Other Categories

$40 SAVE $29 = 42.0% Audio-Technica ATH-S200BT Wireless On-Ear Headphones - Black in All Other Categories

$7 SAVE $11 = 60.0% Apple 1.0 Meter (39") Apple Genuine Lightning to USB Cable in All Other Categories

$24 OWC 0.7 Meter (28") OWC Thunderbolt 4/USB-C Cable in All Other Categories

$75 SAVE $20 = 21.0% OWC Thunderbolt Dual DisplayPort Adapter in All Other Categories

$8 SAVE $7 = 46.0% OWC USB-A to USB-C (USB 3) Adapter Cable in All Other Categories

OWC Atlas FXR: Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C Card Reader for CFExpress Type B

re: CFExpress Type B

MPG will test the OWC Atlas FXR soon with various CFExpress Type B camera cards.

The use of USB-C limits download speed to 1GB/sec (pretty darn fast!), but with Thunderbolt 3, CFExpress cards should be usable at their full rated speed of up to 1.7GB/sec. This might not matter for most users, but for video shooters, it may play into a more efficient turnaround for download/backup.

OWC Atlas FXR reader for
CFExpress Type B

Ultra-compact, universally compatible CFexpress Type B card reader for DITs, photographers, videographers, and content creators

• Flexible compatibility: plug and play with past, present, and future Macs, Windows PCs, iPads, Chromebooks, Android devices, and Surface devices
• Xtremely fast: get the most out of CFexpress Type B cards with your machine
• Read at warp speed: ingest video footage and photos at over 1600MB/s1
• Ultra-compact: about the size of a debit card and up to 7x smaller than other single readers
• Travel ready: bus-powered so no power supply or power cable needed
• Stable: non-skid rubber feet keep reader in place
• Plug and play: includes a Thunderbolt (USB-C) cable with a tethered USB-A adapter
• 2 Year OWC Limited Warranty

OWC Atlas Pro Camera Cards — Five Year Warranty, Card Reader Too

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$350 OWC 1.0TB OWC Atlas Pro CFexpress 2.0 Type B Memory Card in All Other Categories

$650 OWC 2.0TB OWC Atlas Pro CFexpress 2.0 Type B Memory Card in All Other Categories

$300 SAVE $100 = 25.0% OWC 320GB OWC Atlas Pro Ultra High-Performance CFexpress Type B… in All Other Categories

$170 OWC 512GB OWC Atlas Pro CFexpress 2.0 Type B Memory Card in All Other Categories

$595 SAVE $125 = 17.0% OWC 640GB OWC Atlas Pro Ultra High-Performance CFexpress Type B… in All Other Categories

$149 OWC Atlas FXR Thunderbolt (USB-C) + USB CFexpress Card Reader in All Other Categories

OWC Envoy Pro FX SSD, Now in 4TB Version

MPG previously tested the OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3/4 SSD in 1TB capacity—awesomely fast!

SSD technology has evolved to fantastic performance, and the new OWC Envoy Pro FX SSD is proof of that, with the fastest read performance MPG had ever tested in a Thunderbolt SSD, all in a portable bus-powered ultra-durable form factor.

Now available in 4TB capacity as well, which makes it a viable drive for even high-capacity requirements at home or on the road. At about $779, it’s a very approachable price compared to the cost of an Apple SSD.

And if you bought a Mac with too-small an internal SSD (and non-upgradeable), then 2TB or 4TB is a very nice way to go, whether it be desktop or laptop.

OWC Envoy Pro FX and siblings

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$279 SAVE $71 = 20.0% OWC 1.0TB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C Portable NVMe S… in All Other Categories

$399 SAVE $101 = 20.0% OWC 2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C Portable NVMe S… in All Other Categories

$699 OWC 4.0TB OWC Envoy Pro EX USB-C Bus-Powered Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories

$779 SAVE $121 = 13.0% OWC 4.0TB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C Portable NVMe S… in All Other Categories

$1279 OWC 4.0TB OWC ThunderBlade Thunderbolt External NVMe SSD Storage… in All Other Categories

$1799 OWC 8.0TB OWC ThunderBlade Thunderbolt External NVMe SSD Storage… in All Other Categories

$3499 OWC 16.0TB OWC ThunderBlade Thunderbolt External NVMe SSD Storag… in All Other Categories

$229 OWC 480GB OWC Envoy Pro FX Thunderbolt 3 + USB-C Portable NVMe S… in All Other Categories

Apple Analytics Personally Identifies You While Marketing the Piss Out of “Privacy”?

Claims propounded by these researchers have proven-out as correct; to my knowledge none of them have been found to be false or even been credibly disputed by Apple. I could be wrong, if so then readers can please point me at Apple’s debunk. Apple itself could comment on the claims right on Twitter—but does not—why not?

Latest claim from security researchers:

Apple’s analytics data include an ID called “dsId”. We were able to verify that “dsId” is the “Directory Services Identifier”, an ID that uniquely identifies an iCloud account. Meaning, Apple’s analytics can personally identify you.

Apple states in their Device Analytics & Privacy statement that the collected data does not identify you personally. This is inaccurate. We also showed earlier that the #AppStore keeps sending detailed analytics to Apple even when sharing analytics is switched off.

Apple uses DSID to uniquely identify Apple ID accounts. DSID is associated with your name, email, and any data in your iCloud account. This is a screenshot of an API call to iCloud, and DSID it can be clearly seen alongside a user's personal data:

...

MPG: appalling if true, which seems likely. Is this intentional or just the usual Apple Core Rot incompetence, all while making us endure self-serving Apple propaganda on privacy and human rights, while selling us products built by abused and exploited human being over in CCP China?

Seems to me grounds for a massive class-action lawsuit?

Granting Apple the best-case assumption of gross incompetence, the world’s most profitable company cannot afford a basic security audit?

Still, it does not matter what you use: assume whether it is Apple or any encrypted or secure app is not secure and has been compromised. Because it almost certainly is or will be and the other end is not you. One could wish for the old authentic legitimacy of PGP, which I helped engineer—it was the real deal.

As if that is not egregious enough, this claim is even more concerning for those living in oppressive countries:

We confirm that iOS 16 does communicate with Apple services outside an active VPN tunnel. Worse, it leaks DNS requests. #Apple services that escape the VPN connection include Health, Maps, Wallet. We used @ProtonVPN and #Wireshark. Details in the video: ...

Apple marketing propaganda and CED Tim Cook continue to claim security and privacy all while exhibiting incompetence at delivering it.

We are not talking about subtle flaws in code here, or obscure chip-design defects. We are talking about an obvious failure to exercise even the most rudimentary engineering safeguardds and the most minimal standards for quality assurance. In short, gross incompetence.

Some Early Black Friday Deals at OWC

The season begins...

Early Black Friday Deals at OWC

External SSD wish list • Deals on OWC

$1028 SAVE $471 = 31.0% Apple 13" MacBook Pro Retina Touch Bar (2020) 8-core Apple M1, S… in New and used Macs: MacBook Pro	$939 SAVE $2260 = 70.0% Apple 27" iMac Retina 5K (2017) 4.2GHz Quad Core i7 - Used, Exce… in New and used Macs: iMac	$259 SAVE $940 = 78.0% Apple Mac mini (2014) 3GHz Dual Core i7 - Used, Very Good condit… in New and used Macs: Mac mini	$313 SAVE $586 = 65.0% Toshiba 18.0TB Toshiba MG09 3.5-inch SATA 6.0Gb/s 7200RPM 512e E… in Storage: Hard Drives	$320 SAVE $479 = 59.0% Western Digital 18.0TB Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 3.5-in… in Storage: Hard Drives
$329 SAVE $39 = 10.0% OWC 128.0GB (4 x 32GB) OWC 2666MHz DDR4 PC4-21300 260-Pin SO-DIM… in All Other Categories	$300 OWC 1.0TB OWC Atlas Pro SDXC V60 UHS-II Memory Card in All Other Categories	$189 SAVE $310 = 62.0% Klipsch The Three Wireless Powered Speaker with Google Assistant… in All Other Categories	$229 SAVE $21 = 8.0% OWC 2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro Elektron USB-C Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories

Apple’s New iPhone SOS Feature: Great for the Real Deal, Ripe for Abuse by Feckless Morons

I actually hike (alone) in places where I could die by falling, freezing to death were I to break a leg, etc. I have done so for decades. I have put in the time, selected the right gear, done all the hard work of experience for 40 years. I go prepared, I don’t go beyond my capabilities, I take extra clothing and food, water filter, fire kit, knife, etc. If I have to overnight with a broken ankle or whatever, I have a good chance of surviving and getting out and down, one way or another. Though maybe not comfortably.

Hence the use of a SPOT personal beacon when I deem the risk warrants it. Never had to use it. So of course the iPhone SOS feature is appealing (assuming the iPhone battery is not dead, vs a SPOT which is not turned on unless you need it).

But what happens to the burden and risk for SAR teams when inexperienced people now think an iPhone gets you a SAR home-in-time-for-dinner rescue? That a cold night out demands a full-blown rescue?

A good feature that will kill rescuers and be abused

If you do stuff that might result in needing rescue, buy an insurance plan for it, because if you are like the two clowns in Apple’s video, you might be footing a $50K bill. Even if you were fully prepared and just had bad luck. The SPOT personal beacon offers such insurance.

Now, all you need to consume expensive and scarce SAR resources and sooner or later kill people (eg your rescuers) is (a) be an unprepared dumb-fuck, and (b) an iPhone.

The new Apple video showing the SOS feature makes me want to vomit with disgust.

It shows a helicopter crew risking their lives as a storm approaches to rescue a pair of feckless dumb-fucks on top of a mountain(!)* wearing clothes that belong at a shopping mall in Florida, using their magic iPhone to get a $50K helicopter ride back. All accompanied by music which extols how wonderful it is to be in no real danger while putting the rescue team in danger, and get home in time for dinner via helicopter ride. Which they deserve to pay in full. Those two Apple clowns (were it a real rescue) should be considered for prosecution for abuse of expensive and scarce resources meant for real emergencies.

I’ve seen hundreds of idiots like this on Mt Whitney, where when summiting it with my daughter four years ago, the rangers had to rescue five (5) people in just one week, in fair summer weather. It’s become an internet thing to go do Mt Whitney or similar with no experience, gear never used or worn before, no fitness, no brains whatsoever. A first summit with no experience has become the norm, and those poor rangers are now dealing with it.

It’s only going to get worse with this latest Apple mountains-are-the-mall feature. Already, the NFS shuts down access to areas at the mere hint of a storm, locking me out of areas I wish to access; they never used to do that—the consequences of the feckless moron crowd is already hurting responsible users.

* Where they risk lightning strike and are maximally exposed to wind and rain, show no signs of distress, etc, and presumably just got done with Instagram and Twitter moments earlier. The messaging is absolutely atrocious. Some jackass in Apple marketing is doing the public a huge disservice.

Mt Whitney, pre-dawn

f8 @ 15.0 sec panorama 4 frames, ISO 100; 2018-12-22 06:30:46
GFX 50R + Fujifilm GF 250mm f/4 R LM OIS WR @ 205.5mm equiv (250mm)
ENV: Alabama Hills view of Mt Whitney, altitude 4000 ft / 1219 m, 40°F / 4°C
RAW: LACA corrected

[low-res image for bot]

macOS Monterey Update 12.6.1 Tends to Kernel Panic Machines Using SoftRAID —  Apple XProtect Bug?

Turning to backup mode, I flipped on my OWC Thunderbay 4 and OWC Thunderbay 6 units and started the process (using a mix of RAID-0, RAID-4, and single volumes).

Returning later, I had multiple kernel panics. My day was severely impacted damaged by this; I made one backup but cannot finish the others without crashing.

The credible word on the street is that a number of users are seeing kernel panics from what is likely an Apple XProtect (security system) software bug.

Diarrhea-grade work as usual, Apple. Maybe invest one of your billions in QC? This Apple Core Rot on top of being locked-out of my login, and having my display not blanking during sleep.

MPG has long recommended waiting 6 months for a major system update. That recommendation is now extended to include waiting at least 2 months before proceeding with a minor update.

View the kernel panic...

XProtectPlistConfigData:
Version:	2163
Source:	Apple
Install Date:	2022-1107, 12:29:49.000

   

System status vis SilentKnight

   

System status vis LockRattler

Screaming Deal on Apple iMac 5K: Superb Display with a FREE Computer Inside as Low as $849

re: iMac 5K

Got a high school or college student who needs a computer? How about yourself on that pitifully small laptop screen and the neck-ache from hunching over your laptop?

Think of the Apple iMac 5K as an outstanding display with a free computer included. It was true and remains so! The iMac 5K is the best solution Apple ever produced.

Apple has quietly discontinued the iMac 5K and has no equivalent and won’t for a good long while. The cheapest Apple Mac Studio + Apple Studio Display 5K display will set you back $4000 or more.

Amazing deal

Why spend nearly double the price at Apple for an inferior display (eg M1 24" model)?

Fantastic screen, more than enough CPU power, and user-upgradeable memory to 128GB. And an Apple 1 year warranty (select models, OWC warrants some of the higher-end ones). Nothing else comes close to the value proposition.

Multiple persons can use it —  create one login account for each.

These iMac 5K models have only 250GB or 500GB SSDs. But for most all users that is ample space, and adding more fast SSD storage can be done with fast but inexpensive drives like the OWC Envoy Pro Elektron. Really need to keep thecost down? Go with the 4K model shown below.

Note: keyboard and mouse are NOT included. Upgrading the CPU is done by OWC and does not enhance video card options.

Ad blocker not showing stuff below? View iMac 5K at OWC

Best all-around value $939: iMac 5K 3.1 GHz 6-core, 32GB memory, 256GB SSD
Best photographer value $1439: iMac 5K 3.8 GHz 8-core, 64GB memory, 256GB SSD

CLICK TO VIEW: Thunderbolt and Related Accessories

iMac 5K at OWC, plus extra storage

Big Fast Storage wish list • Deals on OWC

$979 SAVE $820 = 45.0% Apple 27" iMac Retina 5K (2020) 3.1GHz 6-Core i5 - Apple Factory… in New and used Macs: iMac

$1079 SAVE $1320 = 55.0% Apple 27" iMac Retina 5K (2020) 3.1GHz 6-Core i5 - Apple Factory… in New and used Macs: iMac

$1529 SAVE $1470 = 49.0% Apple 27" iMac Retina 5K (2020) 3.8GHz 8-Core i7 - Apple Factory… in New and used Macs: iMac

$149 SAVE $11 = 6.0% OWC 1.0TB OWC Envoy Pro Elektron USB-C Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories

$229 SAVE $21 = 8.0% OWC 2.0TB OWC Envoy Pro Elektron USB-C Portable NVMe SSD in All Other Categories

macOS Monterey Update 12.6.1 Won’t Sleep Display

Any macOS update is taking a terrible chance of new and unwanted problems, major and minor.

The macOS Montereyupdate 12.6.1 on my 2019 Mac Pro will no longer blank my primary display when sleeping, only the secondary display (LG 5K).

So 24 X 7, my primary display (NEC PA302W) sits there burning 100 watts of power while also burning-out the phosphors in the display. Joy.

I don’t dare shut down the Mac Pro, lest I have a disaster like I did today.

If I turn off the display, my entire desktop is jumbled into a mess onto the other display, and then I also have trouble getting it to come back (fails to sync up and show an image).

It’s not just my system: I have a friend who can only boot his iMac Pro and get the 2nd display to work if he first unplugs that display, boots up, then and only then plugs in the display.

Apple quality control is an oxymoron.

macOS Monterey Locks Me Out of my 2019 Mac Pro after Shutown/Reboot, Both Admin Accounts Kaput

Shutdown your Mac normally, and then lose your ability to login and maybe all your data too?

Back in March, I wrote that macOS Monterey Locks Me Out of my 2019 Mac Pro after Reboot, Repudiating my Login Password.

This has now happened 4 times in the past 9 months, including today.

How can Apple let this bug keep happening? Simple: poorly tested and flaky software from Apple has been the rule for the better part of decade now. Apple is a phone company with computers an afterthought, with all software shipped on a calendar schedule, ready or not, bugs and all. Witness the frenzied series of updates to fix bugs after each and every calendar-drive release of iOS or mac OS each autumn. Ship it, and fix (some) of the bugs later, repeat ad nauseum.

My 2019 iMac 5K has run flawlessly since the day I bought it, including getting a lot of abuse in my Sprinter van including a major dent after falling off a table to the floor. It just keeps working, always boots up, never flakes.

Summarizing, macOS Monterey:
a) Locked me out of both admin accounts, apparently via some T2 security chip bug (or software bug involving it),
(b) Seemingly corrupted my primary volume (system update did it?), a volume that never before in 2.5 years has had any issue, and has always verified A-OK.

I rue the purchase of my 2019 Mac Pro with its festering T2 turd chip. Worst waste of money in my life. A full refund for this lemon design would be awesome but battling with Apple over it seems unlikely to succeed and be a massive time sink.

Meanwhile, my iPhone 7 Plus also died overnight (charging failure, nowhere near the Mac Pro!), so I cannot even use my regular phone. When it rains it pours, but that was two nights ago. Well, it’s a very old phone so I can forgive that breakdown. UPDATE: I got the phone fixed with a new battery and a cleaned-out Lightning port, and it only took me 3.5 hours to get the done, on top of two hours for the Mac Pro fiasco. But at least both are working normally again.

Locked out, main data volume damaged too!

Yesterday, I updated to the latest macOS Monterey; perhaps that is involved?

All went well and I used the Mac Pro all day after the update. Later that day it would not sleep; one display would stay lit up, yet another new bug? So I did a Shutdown to turn it off overnight. A nice clean normal shutdown.

Booting up the next morning, the Mac Pro refused my login password as invalid. I had created a 2nd admin account just in case. That password for that 2nd admin account was also repudiated. No, this is not a Caps Lock issue or anything like that. I know that because I’ve had to deal with this bug 4 times in the past 9 months. Sometimes simple reboot fixes it. Not today (several reboots including pulling power plug, etc). No joy.

Upon bootup into Recovery Mode, the same password rejected minutes ago was accepted. If that is not proof of a really bad bug around account login, I don’t know what is. BTW I do not use any Cloud password anything, just local password.

Now in Recovery Mode and with my password accepted, I ran a Disk Utility -> First Aid check on my main volume. Disk Utility reported a long and convoluted error message including:

error: unable to perform repairs without full space verification
error: Try running fsck against the entire APFS container instead of the volume /dev/rdisk3s6 could not be verified completely

How does a user run fsck or know the command and arguments to use? What kind of asshole programmer inserts a message like that which only an expert could possibly figure out? Not helpful!

So I selected the main APFS container in Disk Utility and let it run, the boot volume checked out fine, and then it started complaining about issues like those shown above on my main data volume..

UPDATE: after rebooting uot of Recover Mode (Disk Utility usage only, no system install or such), my screens were all screwed up (fiddled around with that and fixed), but I was able to login without issue, proving that the T2 security chip password bug is a nasty one (no change to password). Disk Utility repaired the minor errors on my main data volume too.

How in hell would a normal user deal with this kind of insane bug? Take it to the Apple Store, have them wipe out the entire computer and start from scratch? Shame on you Apple.

IntegrityChecker (icj) Java Release 3.0 fc3 — Public Release of IntegrityChecker Java version 3.0

re: IntegrityChecker Java

UPDATE: 3.0 fc3 is now posted

...

Considerable effort has gone into this new release.

The key new feature is extended file attributes (xattrs) in addition to the icjh files, supported on macOS and Linux*. This new feature is completely seamless (nothing new to learn).

In particular, extended file attributes store hash info in addition to the icjh files.

This comprehensive and unrivalled solution means that all files can be covered, and that hash info travels seamlessly with files that are moved. Even into the Cloud (macOS, iCloud and similar).

* Windows has no support for extended file attributes; there is no apparent way to support the feature.
Linux works well with attributes, but is inferior to macOS in that it has limited intelligence on preserving attributes during file copy or similar.

Get IntegrityChecker Java

Other improvements:

• Tested and working on Ubuntu and Debian Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS.
• Use of file IDs via xattrs to locate missing files and folders definitively.
• Improved preferences and settings for more control over status reporting and errors reporting.
• New info and sync commands.
• Memory usage reduced by up to 10X.
• Improved summary output.
• Improved scanning speed (somewhat balanced-out by support for xattrs).
• Both Windows and Linux now open prefs files and help files automatically just as on macOS.
• Numerous improvement, code overhaul, bug fixes for various special situations.
• Support for the latest version of Java 18 (requires Java 16 or later).

# icj 3.0fc2 2022-09-18 12:54
# (c)2022 DIGLLOYD INC. All Rights Reserved. Valid license required.  https://diglloydtools.com
# 2022-09-18 20:28:39 USER=lloyd HOME=/Users/lloyd OS=macOS i386 12.5.1 JAVA=18.0.2.1

Available commands:
verify      verify hash values
options: --optimize=HDD|SSD --threads=num --iterations=num

status      summarize files that are new, or of changed size or date
options: --ignored

update      update new and date/size changed files, forget missing items
options: --save=prompt|yes|no --hmode=icjh|both --optimize=HDD|SSD --threads=num

update-all  update hash values for all files, whether or not they already have hashes
options: --save=prompt|yes|no --hmode=icjh|both --optimize=HDD|SSD --threads=num

update-new  update only files lacking hash values
options: --save=prompt|yes|no --hmode=icjh|both --optimize=HDD|SSD --threads=num

sync        syncs hash info to com.diglloyd.icj.HashInfo file attribute
options: --kind=all|missing|existing --save=prompt|yes|no

clean       remove hash data files and/or remove file/folder extended attributes
options: --kind=ic|icj|icjh|all|attr

compare     compares two folders for equality

dupes       show duplicate files, emit remove or cloning commands
options: --size=size --types=type[,type]* --emit=rm|clone|symlink|nop

empty       show empty files

info        show any combination of empty, non-writable, size/distribution, hard links, dates
options: --kind=all|empty|nowrite|dist|hard|dates

prefs       open preferences eg open ~/.icj_prefs

matches     show globbing matches
options: --kind=all|files|folders|hier|attr

sha         test hashing speed
options: --size=size --repeat=num --sha=SHA-512|SHA1

version     display the version and other information

help        show help summary, or show help for specific command eg 'help verify'


Options that apply to more than one command:
--optimize HDD|SSD
--threads num
--purge  # unix only, requires sudo
--attr enable extended attribute usage if available
--noattr disable extended attribute usage
--output normal|verbose|debug|terse

Manual at https://diglloydtools.com/manual/IntegrityCheckerJava.html

IntegrityChecker (icj) Java Release 3.0 FC1 — Looking For Testers

re: IntegrityChecker Java

Considerable effort has gone into this new release.

I am looking for testers for IntegrityChecker (icj) Java version 3.0. It has been well tested already and is solid. However, the new feature set and additional cross-platform support means I’d rather see it tested more before general release. It’s about ease of use, oddball situations and how they are reported, and that sort of thing.

If you’d like to participate in testing (contact Lloyd, specify your diglloyd.com login id please), this is what I am looking for:

• Should be an existing user of ic or icj with current access to downloads.
• Anyone using IntegrityChecker (ic or icj) in production use.
• Reasonably technical users (for now), to keep communication more efficient on my end.
• Users running any version or variant of Linux and/or Microsoft Windows a plus, but I expect mostly macOS users.
• Users with mixed storage environments including SSDs and hard drives and network servers in which icj is regularly used.

Key new feature: xattr support

The key new feature is extended file attributes (xattrs) in addition to the icjh files, supported on macOS and Linux* (Windows lacks xattrs). This new feature is completely seamless (nothing new to learn).

Hash info is now also stored as extended file attributes in addition to the icjh files.

This comprehensive and unrivalled solution means that all files can be covered, and that hash info travels seamlessly with files that are moved. Even into the cloud (macOS, iCloud and similar). Regrettably, Windows has no support for extended file attributes.

* Linux works well with attributes, but is inferior to macOS in that it has limited intelligence on preserving attributes during file copy or similar.

Other improvements:

• Tested and working on Ubuntu and Debian Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS.
• Use of file IDs via xattrs to locate missing files and folders definitively.
• Improved preferences and settings for more control over status reporting and errors reporting.
• New info and sync commands.
• Memory usage reduced by up to 10X.
• Improved summary output.
• Improved scanning speed (somewhat balanced-out by support for xattrs).
• Both Windows and Linux now open prefs files and help files automatically just as on macOS.
• Numerous improvement, code overhaul, bug fixes for various special situation.
• Support for the latest version of Java 18 (requires Java 16 or later).

# icj 3.0fc1 2022-09-09 14:00
# (c)2022 DIGLLOYD INC. All Rights Reserved. Valid license required.  https://diglloydtools.com
# 2022-09-09 15:57:49 USER=lloyd HOME=/Users/lloyd OS=macOS i386 12.5.1 JAVA=18.0.2.1

Available commands:
verify      verify hash values
options: --optimize=HDD|SSD --threads=num --iterations=num

status      summarize files that are new, or of changed size or date
options: --ignored

update      update new and date/size changed files, forget missing items
options: --save=prompt|yes|no --hmode=icjh|both --optimize=HDD|SSD --threads=num

update-all  update hash values for all files, whether or not they already have hashes
options: --save=prompt|yes|no --hmode=icjh|both --optimize=HDD|SSD --threads=num

update-new  update only files lacking hash values
options: --save=prompt|yes|no --hmode=icjh|both --optimize=HDD|SSD --threads=num

sync        syncs hash info to com.diglloyd.icj.HashInfo file attribute
options: --kind=all|missing|existing --save=prompt|yes|no

clean       remove hash data files and/or remove file/folder extended attributes
options: --kind=ic|icj|icjh|all|attr

compare     compares two folders for equality

dupes       show duplicate files, emit remove or cloning commands
options: --size=size --types=type[,type]* --emit=rm|clone|symlink|nop

empty       show empty files

info        show any combination of empty, non-writable, size/distribution, hard links, dates
options: --kind=all|empty|nowrite|dist|hard|dates

prefs       open preferences eg open ~/.icj_prefs

matches     show globbing matches
options: --kind=all|files|folders|hier|attr

sha         test hashing speed
options: --size=size --repeat=num --sha=SHA-512|SHA1

version     display the version and other information

help        show help summary, or show help for specific command eg 'help verify'


Options that apply to more than one command:
--optimize HDD|SSD
--threads num
--purge  # unix only, requires sudo
--attr enable extended attribute usage if available
--noattr disable extended attribute usage
--output normal|verbose|debug|terse

Manual at https://diglloydtools.com/manual/IntegrityCheckerJava.html

IntegrityChecker (icj) Java Release 2.0.5fc3 — Last Release Prior to version 3.0

re: IntegrityChecker Java
re:data integrity
re: Validating Data Transfer/Copy Before Deleting the Source/Original Data: diglloydTools IntegrityChecker
re: Detecting Corruption / Validating Data Integrity Over Time and Across Drives and Backup/Restore
re: Reader Question on diglloydTools IntegrityChecker: “verify terabytes of content back and forth between the cloud and other local RAID drives I have”
re: Apple Core Rot: macOS Finder File Copying: Fails to Replace "dot files" When Replacing a folder = DATA LOSS
re: Detecting Data Corruption Caused by Bit Rot or Bad Drives or Software Bugs with diglloydTools IntegrityChecker

What is it?

IntegrityChecker Java runs on any platform that supports the Java language*—macOS and Unix, various NAS flavors based on Unix, Windows—just about everything.

The only high performance automated solution spanning all computing platforms. It works on hard drives, SSDs, network drives, CDs and DVDs, etc.

Futhermore, so long as Java remains available, you should be able to check data integrity on your files today or next year or in the year 2035 without so much as a software update.

Why Use IntegrityChecker Java for Data Integrity?
More about IntegrityChecker and why every professional should be using it.

IntegrityChecker Java (icj) version 2.0.5fc3

This release is a minor update with a few changes for compatibility with the upcoming version 3.0.

License and download page...

IntegrityChecker Java is bundled with diglloydTools. There is no separate purchase option.

Buy diglloydTools

Documentation/help

See the online help for IntegrityChecker java.

If you need support, please copy/paste the text from the Terminal window—don’t send screen shots as they are very large and frequently contain too little information.

More about IntegrityChecker and why every professional should be using it.

See the included READ_ME file for installation instructions.

Release notes

• 2022-09-07 Minor changes to retain compatibility with upcoming version 3.0
• 2022-09-06 Bug fix for error when processing filenames with characters interpreted by java as a "/", such as ≠ character.