DP 5.01-- User reports

[Frodo]

For those of you with DP 5.01 and are getting the new patch downloaded and installed-- please post your process and your results---

1. Uninstall DP 5.1 first, reinstalling it, and then doing the patch?
2. Results with repair permissions? Pro and con?
3. Any success stories (very important)
4. Any additional horror stories
5. If anyone is using a third-party utility such as Tech Tool or DiscWarrior or any other as an essential part of this particular process, PLEASE include that info as well. It will be very helpful.

Thanks all!
Fro.

[Matcher]

Can someone with v5.01 check if this bug has been fixed:

-Open the MIDI editor and select pitch bend in the automation lane.

-Select the controller lane meter to show pitch bend values only (80-80)

-Select the pencil and draw pitch bend automation values at the highest and lowest points in the lane that (should) present the values -8192 and 8191.

-Open the event list and see if the values are -8192 and 8191.

In 4.61 the values are -8064 and 8064. The values can be changed to -8192 and 8191 in the event list or by dragging the nodes.

I really hope the drawing works in 5.01, it'd save me from so much of unnecessary work.

Then again, my hopes aren't high after the answer I got from motu's tech support:

My Q:

2) I can't get the pb value over or below 8064 with automation or by
dragging the cursor and following the value from the pointer cordinates and the value in the pointer cordinates is 8064 even when the
pointer is clearly below 8000 as indicated by the white line in the meter.

...And here's motu's tech support's answer:


2. This is the limit for Pitch Bend. The range goes from -8064 to 8064.

Everyone can make their own conclusions about this.

Ok, I got a new answer from TS, they wrote it might be an issue, so I believe it'll be fixed in 5.02.

[danny]

i'm no deep OS X expert, but I've read repeated assertions in Matt Deatherage's excellent Mac Daily Journal, which is sometimes very tech-oriented, that it is a very bad idea to repair permissions incessantly, particularly after OS upgrades.
Don't ask me to defend this on a tech basis, but the argument I read was compelling, and based in part on apple documentation.

[Frodo]

Ok, I got a new answer from TS, they wrote it might be an issue, so I believe it'll be fixed in 5.02.

This confirms something that has been on my mind for some time. I've suspected that many (most? too many?) of the calls MOTU-TS gets are so incredibly basic that the tech reps probably assume rightfully that the manual never ever gets read. Also, tech support rarely (if ever) gets calls of gratitude-- and the vast majority of what they hear day in and day out are complaints. It's not an easy job, and I wouldn't want to be the person who picks up the phone.

However-- I would hope that the bit of news we've had about the 5.01 patch and your recent news of the pitch bend issue being possibly addressed in 5.02 means that the TS folks may be reading this forum and seeing that U-nation users are indeed doing their homework and are making concerted efforts to make sure the basics are properly in place. In a nutshell-- MOTU has an easier time helping those who help themselves (and each other)!

Inasmuch as TS might not always understand right off why a user might be having a problem, the user may not fully understand what it's like to be on the other end of the problem to find a solution. That's what makes this forum indespensable: we are not only helping each other, but we are helping MOTU help us.

Congrats, Matcher. Ya gotta know that your efforts are indeed contributing to making DP a better app. You have championed the pitch bend issue-- and that feature, when corrected, will always have your name on it.

[Frodo]

i'm no deep OS X expert, but I've read repeated assertions in Matt Deatherage's excellent Mac Daily Journal, which is sometimes very tech-oriented, that it is a very bad idea to repair permissions incessantly, particularly after OS upgrades.
Don't ask me to defend this on a tech basis, but the argument I read was compelling, and based in part on apple documentation.

Do you have a link? I suppose I can Google it..

This is an interesting assertion, the only one of its kind I've ever heard. While I'm not OS "X-pert" me-self, it seems odd that the OS's own repair permissions could be self-deprecating. I'd like to read more about this... especially if it's based on Apple's documentataion. Repair Permissions has saved my system many times over, so understanding when NOT to use it is at least worth exploring....

[Timeline]

With 10.4.6 I find that few repairs are found. This is quite different from previous versions of OS that seem to repair the identical threads over and over and never clear out.

Something tells me that you can't hurt it in .6 and you should try and clean house regularly.

Cheers

[tommymandel]

I can't seem to get onto that guy Matt Death Rage's journal pages. Won't load. He had a hand in explaining the Apple v. ThinkSecret lawsuit. Caution, Will Robinson!

[kinnylandrum]

FWIW, I also notice that MIDI volume only goes to 126.

[stickwolf]

With 10.4.6 I find that few repairs are found. This is quite different from previous versions of OS that seem to repair the identical threads over and over and never clear out.

Something tells me that you can't hurt it in .6 and you should try and clean house regularly.

Cheers

This is not quite accurate. Since 10.4.3 I think, Apple CHANGED some permissions INTENTIONALLY, and the coding of Disk Utility was to alert the user for anything that was considered a "SPECIAL PERMISSION" so those were never repaired, because they weren't wrong, they were simply alerting you that they were different from what Disk Utility expected. In 10.4.6 Apple updated Disk Utility to stop alerting everyone and only show permissions that need repair. This is purely a comsmetic adjustment, but makes the clarity of permissions repair much clearer.

[Timeline]

That makes sense SW. Thanks for the clarity.

[Frodo]

So with the economy of info with DU, and considering that what now shows is indeed what is being repaired, where does that leave us in terms of how often or how infrequently DU should be run? Does Matt Deatherage suggest any sort of routine maintenance? I don't want to be *afraid* of running DU, but I suppose it is possible to OD on any medicine.

[danny]

"John Gruber notes that apple's "mac Maintenance quick assist" article that had been apple's only substantive recommendation to repair permissions as a maintenance procedure has been revised
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303602
The article no longer suggests repairing or restarting as periodic maintenance tasks. (printing quick assist still does recommend this as the 10th and final troubleshooting step for printing probs but that's not maintenance)."

This was a followup. I can't find the old article right now that points out several hazards of haphazard repairing practices.

[danny]

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25751
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106712

[danny]

by the way, you won't be able to google it, MDJ is a subscription newsletter.

[danny]

http://daringfireball.net/2006/04/repair_permissions
http://daringfireball.net/2006/04/repai ... ons_voodoo
http://www.unsanity.org/archives/000410.php