OS X 10.10 Yosemite

[mmntech]

I've installed 10.10 on my Late 2008 MB. IMO, it's pretty much identical to Mavericks, just with a fresh coat of paint. No performance issues. I don't hate the new flat look but I'm not crazy about it either.

Most of the new features are heavily geared towards iOS users. Even then, they require iOS 8, which my phone can't realistically handle.

What's the max ram you can go to in the vanilla Mac? Many sites say 8gb but with the older gen processor do you need more?

Macs always have an "official" RAM maximum, and an actual one. In that particular laptop (late 2012 non-retina MPB) it's officially 8GB, but you can stuff 16GB in there no problem. OS X will recognize and utilize it.

I have no idea what the purpose behind that is. At first it seems like planned obsolescence, but why not just cap the amount in the EFI to the official number?

 

[sportage]

One nice thing you wouldn't get from Microsoft, a free OS upgrade.
Downloaded & installed the free Yosemite update.
No issues. Not sure what they improved besides a little change in appearance.

Check your installed apps, especially 3rd party. Most needed and had available a compatibility update. iPhoto & iMovie currently updating. MS Office for mac updated.

 

[Childs]

Macs always have an "official" RAM maximum, and an actual one. In that particular laptop (late 2012 non-retina MPB) it's officially 8GB, but you can stuff 16GB in there no problem. OS X will recognize and utilize it.

I have no idea what the purpose behind that is. At first it seems like planned obsolescence, but why not just cap the amount in the EFI to the official number?

For most of the machines they seem to qualify the highest available dimms available at the time. They don't requalify new dimm capacities after the machine is released since they tend to refresh machines annually. Sometimes it is capped in EFI. I remember for the first Intel Mac Mini it was limited to 2GB, and it was actually capped in EFI. It somewhat makes sense since I think 2Gb dimms weren't available. Many years later I replaced the CPU, added 2 x 2GB dimms, and applied the 2,1 firmware and it worked fine. I would think PC motherboards using the same chipsets where the same way. The difference is they tend to update their bois for awhile, and Apple does it sparingly.

 

[Eug]

I still can't get Yosemite to play Netflix content without Silverlight, on my 2009 13" 2.26 GHz MacBook Pro.

I'm running the last beta - gold master 14A388b. Even though Software Update says I don't need any updates, I'm currently downloading the release version, which is 14A389, but I don't think that will solve the problem either.

I'd really like to get the increased battery life of HTML5 Netflix over Silverlight Netflix.

 

[Mhorydyn]

I still can't get Yosemite to play Netflix content without Silverlight, on my 2009 13" 2.26 GHz MacBook Pro.

I'm running the last beta - gold master 14A388b. Even though Software Update says I don't need any updates, I'm currently downloading the release version, which is 14A389, but I don't think that will solve the problem either.

I'd really like to get the increased battery life of HTML5 Netflix over Silverlight Netflix.

I'm fairly certain that it requires a Sandy Bridge or newer CPU.

 

[TheSlamma]

lots of my BYOD users went to this, all kinds of stuff broken, network printing, SSL VPN

 

[jbm]

lots of my BYOD users went to this, all kinds of stuff broken, network printing, SSL VPN

Yes, there seem to be some SERIOUS issues with networking in Yosemite which affect a lot of people. Wifi dropping issues/performance issues as well as weird DNS problems (which cause Internet connectivity to fail). Tons of threads about it in the Apple Community forum. Weird that no major websites like Anandtech, arstechnica etc. have picked up on that yet. I have a Macbook Air here as well as a Mac Mini, and I got a Mac Mini for my mom a while ago. My two Macs updated without issues, but my Mom's Mac Mini (which is the same revision as my own one) had the DNS issue, i.e. no Internet connectivity. The workarounds mentioned on the Apple forum (unloading/loading some stuff via Terminal) restored connectivity, but you have to do that after each and every restart - not something I can tell my Mom to do, she needs a machine which Just Works. So, after a whole afternoon of trying to fix the problem, I went back to Mavericks and I'll wait for some official solution.

 

[Eug]

I'm fairly certain that it requires a Sandy Bridge or newer CPU.

Ok but why? I'll test it on my iMac through target mode. I'm not sure I'll install it on imac just yet.

 

[Excelsior]

Ok but why? I'll test it on my iMac through target mode. I'm not sure I'll install it on imac just yet.

Have you tried Chrome? I just gave Netflix a go on mine and it seemed to be running HTML5 ok.

 

[Childs]

Check out System Preferences -> General -> Use dark menu bar and dock. I like it!

 

[ViRGE]

Ok but why? I'll test it on my iMac through target mode. I'm not sure I'll install it on imac just yet.

If it requires Sandy Bridge or later, then that sounds a lot like Intel Insider DRM, which was first introduced on SNB.

 

[BentValve]

I just love the new dock and seemingly higher resolution/easier to see icons and text! I also love Safari 8.0 I am going to have to get used to it but I love it!

And the Yosemite desktop pictures are sweet!vv :biggrin:

 

[Spineshank]

Count me in for one having wifi issues.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Safari is fantastic on the battery. Firefox and especially Chrome drain it much quicker.

 

[BentValve]

I had to give all my ~100 bookmarks actual names because they were all just tiny nicknames that I gave them because I mainly went by the icon. No more icons so they are getting as short of a name as I can come up with. It will take some getting used to but I love the clean look. Plus now I can reset Safari and I don't have to open every bookmark to get their icons again after resetting Safari.

 

[BentValve]

I got a quick Safari 8.0 question.

When you click the ~center of the address bar a box of websites pops up, how can I stop this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[BentValve]

I got it, Safari Preferences>Search>then uncheck Enable Quick Website Search. So its Search engine: Google then everything underneath that is unchecked.

 

[StarTech15]

I've installed 10.10 on my Late 2008 MB. IMO, it's pretty much identical to Mavericks, just with a fresh coat of paint. No performance issues. I don't hate the new flat look but I'm not crazy about it either.

Just downloaded Yosemite last night. No complaints so far. Not freaking out with excitement though.

 

[fjmeat]

Count me in for one having wifi issues.

This is making my MBA useless. What's the fix?!

 

[Eug]

I just installed 10.10.1. Among other things, it's supposed to address WiFi issues. I don't notice any difference, but then again my MacBook Pro's WiFi has been working fine. I own an Airport Extreme though, not a 3rd party WiFi access point.

Count me in for one having wifi issues.

---

Argghh! Trim Enabler is hamstrung on Yosemite. It works, but only if you globally deactivate kext signing.

About Trim in Yosemite

In OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), Apple has introduced a new security requirement called kext signing. (A kext is a kernel extension, or a driver, in Mac OS X)

Kext signing basically works by checking if all the drivers in the system are unaltered by a third party, or approved by Apple. If they have been modified, Yosemite will no longer load the driver. This is a means of enforcing security, but also a way for Apple to control what hardware that third party developers can release OS X support for.

Since Trim Enabler works by unlocking the Trim driver for 3rd party SSD’s, this security setting prevents Trim Enabler to enable Trim on Yosemite.

To continue to use Trim Enabler and continue to get Trim for your third party SSD, you first need to disable the kext signing security setting.

It is important to note that the kext-signing setting is global, if you disable it you should be careful to only install system drivers from sources that you trust.

Important issues

The kext-signing setting is stored in your Mac’s NVRAM/PRAM, a sort of flash memory inside your Mac. This memory can be reset either by accident or by intention (usually by troubleshooting issues with your hardware), causing kext-signing setting to re-activate.

If you try to boot a Trim-enabled system with the kext-signing setting re-activated, you will be met by a gray screen with a stop sign:

This is your system telling you that a driver has been modified, and is not allowed to load.

To avoid this situation, you can make sure to disable Trim before performing any hardware maintenance or PRAM reset on your Mac.

I don’t want to disable a security feature! Is there no other way to get Trim?

Unfortunately not. It is important to note that disabling the kext-signing to enable Trim is best described as taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and for most users it will not be worth it. But I have been unsuccessful in creating a less invasive method to enable Trim, as all of Apple’s AHCI SATA drivers are closed source and undocumented, which makes it impossible for me to create my own Trim driver and get it signed. This is the only alternative for enabling Trim for the moment.

http://www.cindori.org/trim-enabler-and-yosemite/

For this reason I won't be activating TRIM in Yosemite. I'd rather take the performance hit.

 

[ZGR]

Did you see this?

http://www.cindori.org/status-of-trim-enabler-in-yosemite/

Edit: pfft kext signing is overrated

 

[Eug]

Did you see this?

http://www.cindori.org/status-of-trim-enabler-in-yosemite/

Fairly easy to enable on 10.10.

I haven't updated to 10.10.1 yet though.

That just links to the page I posted, which explains that using TRIM enabler requires turning off kext signing verification globally. That in itself is not a huge deal IMO. The problem is that then if somehow the kext signing verification gets turned on again somehow, such as with a corrupted or reset PRAM setting, then your Mac OS X install will stop working.

IMO, that is too much risk. I'd rather just deal with the slower performance.

tl;dr

TRIM Enabler requires a hack to disable security feature, but the hack can kill your Yosemite install if your PRAM settings get reset.

 

[ZGR]

That just links to the page I posted, which explains that using TRIM enabler requires turning off kext signing verification globally. That in itself is not a huge deal IMO. The problem is that then if somehow the kext signing verification gets turned on again somehow, such as with a corrupted or reset PRAM setting, then your Mac OS X install will stop working.

IMO, that is too much risk. I'd rather just deal with the slower performance.

tl;dr

TRIM Enabler requires a hack to disable security feature, but the hack can kill your Yosemite install if your PRAM settings get reset.

Yeah I thought it was updated again.... I hope 3rd party TRIM support can return without any compromises.

 

[Spineshank]

This is making my MBA useless. What's the fix?!

I went back to Mavericks. I tried numerous "fixes" that were posted. None worked. I wasn't going to disable BT either since I have a BT keyboard and mouse.

 

[Eug]

I'm fairly certain that it requires a Sandy Bridge or newer CPU.

If it requires Sandy Bridge or later, then that sounds a lot like Intel Insider DRM, which was first introduced on SNB.

Have you tried Chrome? I just gave Netflix a go on mine and it seemed to be running HTML5 ok.

I finally installed Yosemite on my iMac Core i7-870 (2010), and Netflix works fine in Chrome, but not Safari.

Note that Chrome first threw up a message saying:

We cannot find all the required components to play Netflix on this device. Please visit chrome://components, locate the WidevineCdm component, and click the "Check for update" button.
For additional assistance resolving this issue, please visit our Help Center.
https://help.netflix.com/support/14759

WidevineCdm was indeed already there, but I updated it and now Netflix works in Chrome (but still not in Safari).

Core i7-870 is 2.93 GHz Lynnfield.