Finding modules after updates

[Chuck Schneider]

I check for updates pretty frequently and whenever one appears, I can't resist the urge to download it. Almost every time that I install one of these updates, though, Accordance asks me to locate and select every module that exists in the highlighted tab of my favorite workspace setup. Since I have one text and nine reference tools displayed on this tab, it gets kind of tedious.

 

Is there a way that I can avoid this or at least automate the process?

[Helen Brown]

This is a very strange error. It does not normally happen. There must be something unusual in your setup, and it may best be explored by screensharing via Skype or iChat.

[Chuck Schneider]

This is a very strange error. It does not normally happen. There must be something unusual in your setup, and it may best be explored by screensharing via Skype or iChat.

 

Since we're on such different time zones, how about if I use my flip camera to take a video of the process?

 

Does Accordance begin to behave strangely if it is left on for days/weeks? I rarely shut down my iMac and I keep Accordance running almost all the time since it takes so long to start up. I'm so used to the Windows world that this would make sense to me.

[Timothy Jenney]

Does Accordance begin to behave strangely if it is left on for days/weeks? I rarely shut down my iMac and I keep Accordance running almost all the time since it takes so long to start up. I'm so used to the Windows world that this would make sense to me.

 

Hmmm....,

 

Sounds like you need to repair some disk permissions on your hard drive, if you haven't recently. In applications>utilities, locate and run "Disk Utility" and select "Repair Permissions" on your hard drive. These errors accumulate over time and reeeeeally slow down your Mac.

 

Second, Macs do need to be shut down and rebooted periodically. Our IT guy [Joel] tells me this should be once a week, at a minimum. Not sure why in this case, but I trust his advice.

 

Accordance should run pretty rapidly, even on older machines. I wouldn't be surprised if these two steps will make your computer feel like it is brand new!

[Joel Brown]

As the aforementioned IT Guy (first I've been told of my apparent position!) I wanted to clarify what I said. Macs are extremely stable computers for 99% of what normal users do. Me? I very rarely restart my computer. I can't recall the last time I restarted my computer for stability issues. It usually ends up getting a restart a week or so because I am rebooting into Boot Camp, or connecting an Audio Interface that desires the computer to be off when connected. I've gone much longer than that, though, with no issues. I know of people that have their computer running for months at a time between reboots. Now, granted, these computers do often go to sleep at night to save energy.

 

So to clarify my position: If you are doing things that have lots of system tinkering, install lots of daemon programs (invisible helper programs) or things that tweak your system internals, you are probably going to experience less stability, as those things are not going to be nearly as stable as the plain OS X system. Likewise, if you are running things that need your system to always be at peak performance (like Tim does!), planning to restart once a week can help maintain that. For everyone else, it certainly is not a requirement. I doubt it hurts (though I wouldn't recommend doing it daily), but its not necessary for most of what people do. It is *definitely* not necessary for Accordance. Accordance runs lightning fast on G3 machines at 233 MHz!

 

Now, specific to your problem, I'd guess that its either a corrupt Accordance preference file (that is preventing proper reading/writing of file locations) or your disk permissions, as Tim said. First try the repair permissions and see if that works. Next time there's an update, make a copy of the old module (probably found in [Accordance folder]/Modules/Texts or /Tools) so you can test the update process. If the repair permissions doesn't work, try renaming your General Preferences file and see if that fixes the problem.

 

Let me know if this helps.

[Chuck Schneider]

I've "repaired permissions" on both MacBook Pro and iMac today (five entries each, four of which were repaired).

 

Since I hadn't updated my texts/tools on the MacBook, I had a chance to test the update behavior. I wasn't asked for the various texts/tools this time. It closed my workspace during the install, but all I had to do was open the saved workspace and I was back in business.

 

Startup seems to have improved too. After a couple tries, Accordance started up quickly again on both platforms. Just to be clear, though, the response of Accordance software has always been practically instant once it had launched. It was only the startup that was taking so long.

 

Thanks for the practically instant help on my questions (once again)!

[Joel Brown]

It is still a little odd that it didn't successfully open your workspace up again. It should close it to install the modules, but then reopen you right back where you left off. I'm a bit curious now as to your setup and why this is happening. It does sound like some other funky permissions or file system setup. Do you run as an administrator? Also, is your Accordance folder on your boot drive or on an external hard drive? Finally, is your current user a fairly clean user, or has it been migrated in from many computers in the past?

 

Regardless, I'm glad to hear the other issue has been fixed.

[Chuck Schneider]

It is still a little odd that it didn't successfully open your workspace up again. It should close it to install the modules, but then reopen you right back where you left off. I'm a bit curious now as to your setup and why this is happening. It does sound like some other funky permissions or file system setup. Do you run as an administrator? Also, is your Accordance folder on your boot drive or on an external hard drive? Finally, is your current user a fairly clean user, or has it been migrated in from many computers in the past?

 

Regardless, I'm glad to hear the other issue has been fixed.

1) The MacBook Pro was the first to get Accordance (and the first Mac that I have owned since back when the IIcx was hot stuff). On the MacBook Pro system, I first created an Admin account and then a User account. I only work with the User account and authenticate as Admin whenever necessary.

2) The Accordance folder is on the boot drive.

3) When I brought the iMac home, I used the initialization feature that copied all of my settings from the MacBook Pro (which was about 4 months old at the time). I kind of regret this although it got me working (and playing) so quickly. One weekend, soon, I plan to start from a clean install on both systems.