View from Kapalama
A little old from last Friday but the view from the Kapalama campus of Kamehameha Schools.
Life
Windows 10 VM Finally Under Control
I hope. That was an ordeal. Not exactly sure why, but my Windows 10 virtual machine in Parallels went crazy one day, slowing to a glacial crawl. I thought it was actually not functioning, but really, it was operating, really, really, really slowly.
I thought I did something to Windows so I tried migrating back to a month old backup. But then I fought with macOS Sierra’s optimzed storage. Luckily, this free/unfree space issue seemingly was resolved after updating to 10.12.1.
So with space available, I tried working with an older copy of my VM to no luck. Still slow. Then I found this forum post describing a common problem with the combination of Sierra, Win10, and Parallels Desktop 12. None of the recommended fixes helped.
I tried downgrading to Parallels Desktop 11 but still slow. I even moved products, trying out VirtualBox and copying the .hds file from my Parallel’s VM file. With Gary’s help and his supercharged MacBook Pro, he encountered the same slowdown so it wasn’t just me and my MacBook Air. He did notice that my VM was woefully out of space, so he created another disk image and cloned content to it.
Then I found the Windows reset feature. This nuclear option begins Windows 10 like it was brand new (but with data files retained). This had the biggest effect. The VM started behaving “like normal.” For me, having a functioning OS is a worth lost apps, but that’s fixable since I only have a handful of app to re-install.
I did move back to Parallels though due to Windows activation. Using VirtualBox deactivated my Windows with the underlying (virtualized) hardware changes. But back in Parallels, Windows was still activated. I even learned to link a Microsoft account to Windows 10 to store my Windows 10 digital activation information.
I’m hoping this ordeal with Windows is over…
Fighting with macOS Optimized Storage
I’ve been fighting with the new macOS Optimized Storage feature today. I accidentally enabled this feature while trying to free up space on my drive. Optimized Storage does make it easy to see what’s taking up all the space and then free up that space.
But then you end up with this Purgeable space that isn’t living up to its name. See that cross hatched section? That’s the purgeable space weighing in at 104 GB. The actual free space is that blank section at 32 GB.
I’m trying to restore a Time Machine backup of a virtual machine, and that single file is roughly 55 GB. But when I start the restore, my Mac complains that 23 GB of space is needed to complete the restoral. Doing the math, 32+23=55 GB makes sense, but there’s all that purgeable space that can easily cover the additionally needed space. So what’s up with that?
I’m trying to see if I can deactive Sierra’s Optimized Storage which I’m hoping deactivates the Purgeable space, immediately making it free space.
I Suffer from Tsundoku
I kinda suspected there was a term for my condition, and I now know its name. I suffer from tsundoku which is defined thusly:
The acquiring of reading materials followed by letting them pile up and subsequently never reading them.
Yes, I have a collection of books that maybe, just maybe, I cracked the spine on. Otherwise, they are in pristine condition (just a little dusty). I intended to read and learn from these books, but history has taught me otherwise, and now I acknowledge that I won’t read them.
I have gotten better over the years with the stagnant books acting as a reminder of this wasteful habit. Okay, okay, I did have a relapse buying (and not reading) that Sports Illustrated issue on Kobe Bryant’s career.
So while I suffer from tsundoku, I acknowledge it and vow to stay away from Amazon Prime Reading.
Asked to Leave… Again
It’s been a few years since I was asked to leave a store, but it finally happened again. Well, to be clear, I wasn’t directly asked to leave the store, but I could not have my drink in the store, so I took it as an indirect request to leave the store. And I did, but this time, this incident was at the Halloween seasonal store at Windward Mall.
The store moved into the old Children’s Place location near the former Sports Authority and relocated play area, now dubbed the Zen Pen.
Walking through the store, the worker told me no food or drinks were allowed and offered to hold my Starbucks. I wasn’t about to give up my $5+ SBUX crack, so I walked out the door where I only then saw their fair warning sign.
I’ll give them that much. They did warn their customers though I’m not quite sure of the reasoning. I should have stuck around to see what happened to the family with young kids (everyone holding some kind of drink) that entered as I left the store.
Ala Moana Parking Stall Counter
Recently, I noticed that Ala Moana now indicates how many open parking stalls are in the various parking areas. As you go up the Keeaumoku entrance ramp, you’ll see the big board counting all the open spaces (sorry, I don’t have a pic). I had seen this on the mainland but never in Hawaii.
I wondered how it got its data then I finally (and painfully) looked at the new-ish LED lights in the structure. Nestled between the left and right LED lights is what I’m guessing to be the sensor.
Old Airport Express, New Problem
Maybe it was fun while it lasted, but my revitalized AirPort Express, the 802.11g version, isn’t showing up as an AirPlay device anymore. It was there the other day, but today I can’t see it to stream music through. This geeky experiment could be over.
Oh wait… powering down then restarting the Airport Express seems to have brought it back to action. Let the music play!
Wait, part 2… the music just cut out and the Express isn’t showing up again. Too sporadic and problematic for me. 🙁
iPhone 7 Migration: Notifications
Another oddity about moving to a new iPhone. Some notifications make the move while other don’t, and I don’t know why. Came home to see that an Amazon shipment scheduled for Wednesday had already arrived today, but I wasn’t notified on my iPhone. Well, I was…on my iPhone 6. It had all the Amazon notifications about the impending delivery.
This was easily fixed by configuring notifications from the Amazon app. Not sure what other notifications I’m missing though.
iPhone 7 Migration: Bluetooth
Okay, this was expected since my iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 are two separate devices, but I did have to pair my iPhone 7 with all my gear and hardware. Yup, the car, the headphones, the external speaker, the other car, the keyboard, and the Pebble (okay, not really since the Apple Watch). Also, it’s amazing to see what else I had paired my phone with in the past like that rental car, another rental car, and someone’s Bluetooth speaker.
Even after making a brand new pairing with my car, the audio is still messed up. Streaming music from my iPhone 7 will play on the iPhone’s stereo speakers for a few seconds before rerouting to the car’s audio system. This had previously worked perfectly with my iPhone 6, so I’m hoping Apple fixes this annoyance soon enough.
Apple Airport Express 802.11g Rides Again
I’ve had the older 802.11g Apple Airport Express sitting in a box unused for a few years. Ever since Apple updated its Airport Utility management software to ignore this older model, it essentially became unusable. Until now…
Well, I guess this solution has been out there for some time, but I only stumbled upon it yesterday. You can still run the older Airport Utility v5.6.1 that can configure the older Express, but you need to use this special launcher. This “app” makes the needed changes so that v5.6.1 can launch on newer Mac OS versions including Ep Capitan 10.11.6.
Word of warning though. If your Express is previously configured, DO NOT factory reset it. This makes things much more difficult. If you do so, the Express goes into a configuration mode with a brand new, generic Wifi network. You need to connect to this temporary Wifi network in order to configure the Express, but when you attempt to do so, the newer version of Airport Utility launches, and of course, this version is incompatible. If you try to launch v5.6.1 simultaneously, it won’t connect with the Express. So if the Express was previously configured, you could connect and make any necessary changes. But if reset, you need to connect via wired Ethernet. Not hard but a hassle, especially if you don’t have all the pieces and parts handy (like a Lightning to Ethernet adapter for a MacBook Air).
I configured my old Express to simply serve as an AirPlay relay with connected speakers. Good enough use for this aged hardware. And yes, it works! I can stream music from an iPhone 7 running iOS 10 via this older Express.
iPhone 7 Migration: Home Automation
Unrelated to two-factor authentication issues and Apple Trusted Devices, my home automation system also updated their software that required a login.
I wonder what other accounts and services do I need to fix?