Two different errors when backing up two different Macs, a recursive RTFD document, and APFS path length limits. But what’s this about FileProvider?
APFS
How should you restore a whole volume, or an old version of a document to a different folder? Includes details of backup structure.
APFS checks file system metadata, not file data. Consistency Scan has gone missing, verifying checksums doesn’t appear to verify data, and Verify Integrity seems to do something altogether different.
The most frequent error written to the log during my backups concerns a rogue RTFD that went recursive on me 4 years ago, and has come back to haunt me.
Detailed account and explanation of the sequence of phases during an automatic backup in Sonoma 14.0 and 14.1, with tear-out chart.
First released 16 years ago, it was destined for Time Capsules, and relied on hard links in HFS+. It soon used APFS snapshots, and now uses them as the basis for its backups.
What are dataless files, and how do they work with iCloud and third-party cloud service providers? How can you tell whether a file is dataless?
Why are some file metadata embedded in their main data, and others stored separately as extended attributes? How can I tell them apart?
Two problems undermine Disk Utility’s First Aid: it persisting bug in failing to unmount volumes to check and repair, and its default omission of containers. And errors in APFS seem to be on the rise.
It’s exactly 5 years since Apple released Mojave, with its many major changes. macOS 14 should bring fewer shocks to the system than 10.14 did.
The Eclectic Light Company 