Mike Bombich:
This week we reported to Apple a serious flaw in macOS that can lead to data loss when using an APFS-formatted disk image. Until Apple issues a macOS update that resolves this problem, we’re dropping support for APFS-formatted disk images.
What I describe below applies to APFS sparse disk images only — ordinary APFS volumes (e.g. your SSD startup disk) are not affected by this problem. While the underlying problem here is very serious, this is not likely to be a widespread problem, and will be most applicable to a small subset of backups. Disk images are not used for most backup task activity, they are generally only applicable when making backups to network volumes. If you make backups to network volumes, read on to learn more.
As Bombich points out, this is a fairly specific issue that may not affect many of you but it could be catastrophic to those of you it does affect. Thanks to Moeskido for the heads up.
Good to know. I’m suffering another problem that I’m trying to sort out. My Mac Pro has an APFS boot disc, and Time Machine keeps reporting it can’t back up the drive because it can’t create a local snapshot. Still a few major fixes needed to make High Sierra ready for prime time use by non-tech heads.
I’ve had numerous problems with high Sierra and I was thinking the new file system might be a piece of it.
space on the boot drive?
Well, that’s just swell.
That is the question at hand. It doesn’t show space taken up by snapshots. I have deleted several of them via Terminal, and I’ve been deleting a million or so files (and the counter keeps going) from the Trash (I gotta keep up!). It shows about 60 gigs of free space, but that’s not the whole story. Once I get the trash to empty finally, I’ll see if it is working again. (Not sure why the trash is so slow emptying, but I think it has to do with the nature of the files being complex.) I like APFS, but it needs some tightening up.
Just don’t make AFPS formatted Sparse Disk images and you’ll be fine. Carbon Copy Cloner has fixed their software so that for now it can’t make APFS formatted disk images. Outside of that, and Disk Utility, it’s not a big issue for the average user.
Should show free + purgeable. SSD or Fusion or HD? I’m wondering if it just needs too much space for the initial snapshot. Odd. (I ask because I have an SSD formatted APFS and haven’t run into this yet).
Btw yo could manually delete the trash (~./Trashes) but… Be careful.
I had been running the MacOS beta on it last year. I think maybe that is part of the problem.
The really strange thing that has me puzzled is I have tried to copy my Time Machine backup to a new drive (with Apple’s instructions followed to the letter). And even though the file is 3.7 TB, it ends up hanging because it’s filled up a 6TB drive. There’s some wonky stuff going on there. I’m about to just give up on Time Machine and find some software that does incremental backups again.
2013 Mac Pro, so PCIe SSD.
I actually rely on periodic clones from Carbon Copy Cloner and incremental to Backblaze. I use TM but once had a restore fail and so don’t really trust it.
I like to have both kinds of backups, so that I am safe, but have the benefit of finding older versions of files that I can bring back. I’m sure they’ll have it sorted out soon.
Saw it linked on Macintouch, which I read every day, despite the preponderance of “Apple should still support my 15-year-old server rig” posts from older noodlehead techies.
Happy to take that bullet for the team. 😉
does it affect you? or are you among those who are not affected by various bugs but love to whine about them nonetheless?
Thanks. I got too tired of “Snow Leopard was the greatest thing ever” in 2014 to ever read it again.
[lower lip trembling]
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In all seriousness, the site still has value to me. The home page is a good rundown of new software releases, without the crappy clutter of MacSurfer’s.
And one can ignore most of the noodleheadedness by avoiding the interior topic discussions, but I still find helpful notes in them.