Although macOS may update fine now via
System Prefs’ Software Update pane, after
one failed update you might prefer to
download the latest “delta” package from
Apple (available at bit.ly/10-14-5d at the time
of publication). If that also gets stuck, restart
in macOS Recovery (see bit.ly/mfrcvry), open
Disk Utility there, and run First Aid on your
startup disk to ensure it’s in perfect condition.
Sometimes updates get partially installed,
leaving your Mac midway between versions,
and that can make it less likely that the delta
update installs properly on it. Once you’re
confident the startup disk is healthy, returning
no errors, you’re most likely to meet success
by using the “combo” updater (the latest at
the time of publication being bit.ly/10-14-5c).
That contains all the updates since the very
first release of Mojave rolled into one, so it’s
larger but comprehensive.Rarely, there can be other problems that
are tricky to diagnose or fix remotely. If the
combo update doesn’t fix things, and your
Mac’s startup disk seems okay, it’s worth
contacting Apple (support.apple.com/en-gb/
contact) or getting your Mac seen to at
a Genius Bar.> The latest macOS update failed
My iMac ground to a halt early in the process of trying to install the last Mojave update.
I forced it to shut down, started it up again and all was well, but it hadn’t been updated.
How do I now update it?WHY DO I GET
A “DYLD: LIBRARY
NOT LOADED” ERROR?
This unusual error should
only occur when running
macOS 10.14.3 or earlier, and
can originate with software
built for 10.14.4 or later, as of
which support libraries for
software written using the
Swift language is bundled
with macOS. Install the
download from bit.ly/swiftrt,
or update to macOS 10.14.4
or later.WHY IS THERE SO
MUCH “PURGEABLE”
SPACE ON MY DRIVE?
What Disk Utility reports as
purgeable space on APFS
volumes is currently being
used by system features
such as local snapshots,
made automatically when
Time Machine backs up.
When storage runs low,
macOS should purge that
space, freeing it for use.This mystery certificate has appeared in
the login keychains of many — perhaps all
— Macs on which the macOS 10.14.4 update
has been installed, and was placed there
during or shortly after that.
The letters and digits in its name are two
universal identifiers (UUIDs). Apple uses
these extensively to identify events and
objects in macOS, but their use doesn’t
appear to be personal or sensitive in this
context. It’s a dummy certificate for a new
service that runs in the background, named
studentd, which was enabled on Macs with
that update, and is part of Apple’s newly
extended Classroom software for people
using Macs and iPads in teaching. The sameupdate also created a new folder at /Users/
[yourname]/Library/studentd.
Until your Mac has restarted after
installing that system update, you may also
see the new studentd process listed as
running according to Activity Monitor, but
once you have started up your Mac again
that should disappear.
Your Mac shouldn’t need that certificate
unless it’s part of a teaching network
controlled by Apple Classroom. It should be
safe to delete the certificate if you want to,
although another one could be generated in
its place. No one knows whether this was
a minor bug in the macOS update, or if it’ll
be used by a new feature in the future.> What is this mystery certificate?
I stumbled upon a new security certificate that has recently appeared in my keychain.
Its name starts with “member:”, after which there are lots of capital letters and digits.
Where has that come from, and is it safe to remove it?A new security certificate whose name
starts with “member:” followed by two
long strings of hexadecimal is created
by a recent update.A failed system update via System Prefs is an
excellent reason to try Apple’s manual delta and
combo updates.
Ask
78 SEP 2019 maclife.com