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[paulrr01]

All,
Running MC 25.0.114 in server mode on 'headless' Mac Mini (latest OS) connected via USB to DAC.  Media is on NAS. I control playback using JRemote on Iphone. All works nicely.
However, problem I have is that occasionally MC will 'hang' (i.e. become unresponsive) - it seems the cause may be when the OS wants to update itself and things don't get going again until that is done. I have no supporting evidence except to say this happened on at least two occasions - I just have a hunch this is what's happening.
I've checked the settings for OS updates - 'Automatically keep my Mac up to date' is unticked. In advanced all options are unticked.

I'm not sure what else to check/troubleshoot, any suggestions, tips, help greatly appreciated.
I'm not Mac savvy btw and appreciate I may be missing something straightforward.
Many thanks in advance.

[dmitch77]

All,
Running MC 25.0.114 in server mode on 'headless' Mac Mini (latest OS) connected via USB to DAC.  Media is on NAS. I control playback using JRemote on Iphone. All works nicely.
However, problem I have is that occasionally MC will 'hang' (i.e. become unresponsive) - it seems the cause may be when the OS wants to update itself and things don't get going again until that is done. I have no supporting evidence except to say this happened on at least two occasions - I just have a hunch this is what's happening.
I've checked the settings for OS updates - 'Automatically keep my Mac up to date' is unticked. In advanced all options are unticked.

I'm not sure what else to check/troubleshoot, any suggestions, tips, help greatly appreciated.

Do you have a way to look at the Mini's (virtual) desktop when the hang occurs? E.g. via Remote Desktop, with an iOS app like VNC Viewer, or by screen sharing from another Mac? There is probably some indication as to what's going wrong - an alert (from the OS or from MC) awaiting user response, etc. At the very least you should be able to examine the state of the MC server (if it's running, for example).

[paulrr01]

Thank you, I'll be keeping an eye open for the next OS update and report back then.

[paulrr01]

It's happened again. MC becomes unresponsive - JRemote doesnt do anything, client can't play either on itself or via Mac.
I hooked up a monitor/keyboard/mouse etc to the Mac, it had a splash screen saying next update of OS was available - i.e. same situation as previously. I couldnt see any other notifications.
I am PC literate, but virtually zero knowledge of Mac stuff, I double checked the settings for OS updates "Automatically keep my Mac up to date" is off and every option under 'Advanced' is off.
Because I needed to get my music playing again I 'cleared' the situation and went ahead with the OS update, once all done everything back to normal.
So two questions:
1) even though everything (that I'm aware of) to do with OS updates is off, is the splash screen saying an update is available considered normal behaviour?
2) Why is MC 'stalling' at this event? Are there any logs I can look at to get to the root cause of this?
Please bear in mind my lack of Mac knowledge, and any help/pointers gratefully recieved.

[blgentry]

The normal indication of an OS update is a little dialog box in the upper right asking you to approve the update or to approve a reboot because of an update.  If that's what you mean by "splash screen", then that's normal.  If you mean something that covers most of the screen, then I've never seen that and would be suspicious until I researched it using the exact version of MacOS that you are running.

My system prompts me pretty often for updates.  I am not aware of it stopping playback from MC during that, but I don't have MC playing all that often any more.

Your description does not seem normal to me, but that's just a hunch.

Good luck.

Brian.

[paulrr01]

Thanks Brian. The splash is (as far as I recall from yesterday) as attached EXCEPT the version numbers are different. The splash does not cover the whole screen and is placed reasonably centrally.
I'm currently on OS 10.15.5 (latest) and the OS update notification seems to have disprupted MC each time the last few events.

[dmitch77]

1) even though everything (that I'm aware of) to do with OS updates is off, is the splash screen saying an update is available considered normal behaviour?

No. :-)

2) Why is MC 'stalling' at this event? Are there any logs I can look at to get to the root cause of this?
Please bear in mind my lack of Mac knowledge, and any help/pointers gratefully recieved.

The stall is probably the result of the system *trying* to reboot in an attempt to complete an update. In such a situation the OS tries to kill every process gracefully, and things sometimes get hung up there, with various apps trying to get user confirmation for shutdown when they really shouldn't. MC isn't a suspect there but you never know.

The key issue is why the update is happening at all. If you've turned off all the auto update options (it sure looks like you have), and you then rebooted, and you still get update prompts after that, I'm stumped. I've never seen that.

[paulrr01]

The stall is probably the result of the system *trying* to reboot in an attempt to complete an update. In such a situation the OS tries to kill every process gracefully, and things sometimes get hung up there, with various apps trying to get user confirmation for shutdown when they really shouldn't. MC isn't a suspect there but you never know.

I think the download and update has not happened behind the scenes when the message is on the screen, as when I go through the prompt(s) to proceed the download starts and then the update followed by a reboot. The splash is a notification that an update is available (at least thats my thought)

The key issue is why the update is happening at all. If you've turned off all the auto update options (it sure looks like you have), and you then rebooted, and you still get update prompts after that, I'm stumped. I've never seen that.

Agreed. The options have been off for 'ages' yet this continues to happen. I also agree it's certainly most likely not a MC issue - it's just that MC seems to be impacted.
I'm going to scour Apple/Mac forums for any further info and also, next time the screen pops up I'll NOT proceed (cancel out of it) and then see what's what.
Thank you dmitch and brian for your input, of course all and any other suggestions welcome.