A warning about Catalina and the 2019 Mac Pro

[Bob Zelin]

I guess this can’t be more unrelated (well, I could tell you what I had for lunch today) –
but this is what I went thru today. And it made me feel exactly like everyone else on this post, including Herb.
I was doing a new QNAP network attached storage system for a client today that is using Davinci Resolve, and Resolve uses the PostgresSQL 9.5.4 database (ok – think of the plug in that you HAVE TO HAVE to continue working – same thing here) –
And so to see this, you need to run a program called PGAdmin on your Mac or Windows computer so you can see the databases for Resolve –
This is the LATEST release for Windows for PGAdmin –
https://www.pgadmin.org/download/pgadmin-4-windows/
You will see that this is dated January 9th, 2020, but it’s for Windows 7. Now, these guys know a LOT more about computers than most of us know. Did anyone tell them that there is no more Windows 7 ? SO why do I care – because I need to run Davinci Resolve 16.1.2 with PostgreSQL 9.5.4

This is the insanity of our business. I feel for Herb more than you know. You HAVE to use these plug ins, and well – the plug in companies just don’t keep up, and the “major manufacturers” just don’t care.

Sorry for getting off topic – but it’s the same thing.

Bob

Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com

[Jeremy Garchow]

[Herb Sevush] “Catalina has a unique bifurcated (that’s”2-way” for the rest of us) folder structure that I think is part of the reason it behaves so badly with older software that wasn’t written for it. “

APFS (the newish disk format that Catalina requires, as opposed to HFS+ that earlier Mac OSes used) allows what amounts to multiple partitions or Volumes under one “Container” that is presented to the user (i.e. Macintosh HD and Macintosh HD – Data).

There is now the system side, and the data side. The system side is read only, data side, is not. So yes, if the plugins aren’t ready for the structure, that makes sense that they don’t work. And cloning an hfs drive to an APFS drive also isn’t possible. Bombich has a great write up of it: https://bombich.com/kb/ccc5/working-apfs-volume-groups

It’s part of then new security features of the macOS, something that we as Mac users were not privy to since we used to be such a small part of the computing populace. It is weird to have to “allow” and “accept” so many actions that we used to take for granted.

[Rich Rubasch]

Wow, am I glad I didn’t bite the bullet to get a new Mac Pro….I am still fighting to work between High Sierra and ElCapitan to keep DVD Studio Pro working! It’s kind of crazy…I have 19 years of legacy project with clients who still play DVDs and I need a system to be able to run DVD Studio Pro and other legacy apps and plugins.

I want to move forward but sometimes want to move back.

It’s a little nutty, but so glad I didn’t drop $15,000 on a Mac that won’t work in my workflow…my iMacPro is working swimmingly.

Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media Inc.
Video Production, Post, Studio Sound Stage
Founder/President/Editor/Designer/Animator
https://www.tiltmedia.com

[Oliver Peters]

[Rich Rubasch] ” have 19 years of legacy project with clients who still play DVDs and I need a system to be able to run DVD Studio Pro and other legacy apps and plugins.”

Just keep a separate 2009-2012 MacPro tower up and running for this sort of work. Leave it frozen. Then get a new machine of some sort for current software or update your iMac Pro. But stop at Mojave for now.

– Oliver

Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com

[Jeremy Garchow]

As an antithetic, I’ve been using a 16” MBP side by side with an old MacPro tube.

The 16” blows the trash lid off the MacPro Tube and it’s hard to go back to the Tube (in X and Pr). I would hope the new Mac Pro would be even better.

That being said, there’s some weirdness with SMB shares that I am experiencing that may or may not be due to Catalina and I don’t want to try and roll the laptop back to Mojave as it shipped with Catalina.

[Robert Withers]

Thanks for the word, Herb.
I have had my “Install Mojave” USB standing by for a new imac or Macbook so will take the time to check if either has Catalina on it.
Robert

Robert Withers

Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City

[Herb Sevush]

[Bob Zelin] ” You HAVE to use these plug ins, and well – the plug in companies just don’t keep up, and the “major manufacturers” just don’t care.
Sorry for getting off topic – but it’s the same thing.”

Your not off topic, that is the topic. I appreciate the sympathy but it’s a pain we’ve all felt at one time or another.

Some good news, Mocha Pro, upgraded to the latest version is working fine.

I’m probably not going to even load Colorista IV, it has a couple of unique settings that I like, but Lumetri can handle my grading needs for now.

Waves Vocal Rider is still unable to configure on Catalina and if anyone knows of a similar app that works in Ppro I’d love to hear about it, as I’ve grown very fond of automatic gain riding in post.

Still haven’t tried Cine X, I’m figuring it was the culprit of all my Ppro crashing, but I need to do some actual editing now on a stable platform. Will test it out over the weekend.

As of now the biggest problem is Adobe/Catalina/dynamic link broken. Major PITA, but only the strong survive ( I think Jerry Butler said that.)

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin\’ attached to nothin\’
\”Deciding the spine is the process of editing\” F. Bieberkopf

[Herb Sevush]

[Jeremy Garchow] “It is weird to have to “allow” and “accept” so many actions that we used to take for granted.”

Yes, this is very noticeable in Catalina. Apple is trying very hard to make us secure and sometimes it’s driving me batty.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin\’ attached to nothin\’
\”Deciding the spine is the process of editing\” F. Bieberkopf

[Paul Dickin]

OT:
These videos (on a high-end music production topic) shows where the new Mac Pro comes into its own……
Pt 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIQINCWMd6I
Pt 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9eY3vywjuc
His earlier videos show his previous (dual) trash can TB outboard gear/cable clutter.

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[David Lawrence]

A colleague of mine had your exact experience, Herb. Setup was a nightmare that took over a week. Catalina borked a couple key plugins, and worst of all even though the machine runs silent and stays cool internally, it’s pumping so much heat into his studio that he’ll have to install AC for the hot summer months. He was seriously considering sending it back and getting another iMac Pro for half the cost.

Eventually he got the plugin working with the vendor’s support. His workflow is 80% FCPX, the rest being AE and Ps so he’s mostly okay in that department. He’s decided to keep it, but it was a very dicey start. Glad you got Mocha Pro running. Version 5 is super old and you should be on 2020 at this point.

Me, I’m sticking with my Hackintosh for now which still performs comparably to a mid-tier nMac Pro in my particular workflows and has costed a lot less to build and maintain. Plus I can stay on Mojave if I want to.

_______________________
David Lawrence
art~media~design~research

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