Discuss Notion Music Composition Software here.
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I'm not sure, but is Notion ready for OS Big Sur? I'm asking because it's totally unusable for me. Apart from lagging like hell when I try to add a voice or instrument, it looks like this after I tried to add a tenor treble clef to the tenor voices:

Screenshot 2021-02-28 at 18.52.35.png
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by Surf.Whammy on Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:18 am
From what I can determine at present, it's best to avoid macOS 10.15 (Big Sur) . . . :mrgreen:

THOUGHTS

The new Mac computers use "Apple Silicon", and it's a rewrite of everything . . .

Apple has abandoned Intel and now is using its own private processor, M1 . . .

PreSonus suggests they will have an Apple Silicon version in "early Spring" . . .

Apple has a new version of Rosetta that purports to let the new Apple Silicone Mac run Intel-based applications . . .

Here in the sound isolation studio my primary Apple computer is a Mac Pro (Early 2008) running macOS 10.11.6 (El Capital) which pretty much freezes everything in one way or another, including Studio One Professional and NOTION, which is fine with me because (a) the older versions currently run with no problems and (b) it saves money due to not updating anything . . .

I was pondering the idea of getting a new Mac, but this is not on the list of things to do at the soonest until perhaps in the Fall of 2021, which is how long it will take for everything to be updated and rewritten for Apple Silicon--Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) applications, NOTION, all AU and VST effects plug-ins, all AUi and VSTi virtual instruments, and so forth . . .

Fortunately I have two Mac Pro (Early 2008) computers--one for primary use and one as a backup--so provided everything continues working, it's all good here in the sound isolation studio . . .

I am using an Apple 30" Cinema HD Display from 2004 that I bought on eBay for $250 and $50 shipping and handling, which is superb . . .

The backup Mac Pro (Early 2008)--also from eBay--cost about $750 with shipping and handling, plus a video card upgrade and a 4TB internal hard drive, although since then I have purchased two more Toshiba 4TB internal hard drives from Other World Computing, because I like to make full backups on separate internal hard drives . . .

Overall, my current thinking is that a few cases of Corn Huskers Lotion® and Astroglide® might make the transition easier . . . :P

phpBB [video]


phpBB [video]


FACT: It's not my fault, and it's not PreSonus' fault!

Lots of FUN! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
User avatar
by michaelmyers1 on Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:04 pm
I have been using Notion with Big Sur for a few months now with no issues. You should submit the above multiple clefs issue to tech support.

iMac (Retina 5K 27", 2019) 3.6 ghz I9 8-core 64 gb RAM Fusion Drive
with small AOC monitor for additional display
macOS Ventura 13.4
2 - 500 gb + 2 - 1 tb external SSD for sample libraries
M Audio AirHub audio interface
Nektar Panorama P1 control surface
Nektar Impact 49-key MIDI keyboard
Focal CMS40 near-field monitors
JBL LSR310S subwoofer
Notion 6 + Studio One 5 Pro

http://www.tensivity.com
User avatar
by dariangrewe on Thu Mar 04, 2021 9:24 am
If it were just the clefs issue. It take like 5 to 10 seconds to add voices in the setup. At the current state it‘s totally unusable for me. I‘ll try a reinstall to see if that helps before I contact support.
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by davidmiller28 on Wed Mar 17, 2021 4:05 pm
I've been running Notion 6 on a MacBook Air and a Pro with no problems until I loaded Big Sur.
Now I get "sounds are unavailable " messages on pieces that I previously composed in Notion 6 on the same machines.
So far the suggestions from support haven't helped.
I did notice that Notion got very choppy after the OS upgrade.
Any suggestions?

Attachments
Mac Pro 2021-03-17 at 5.27.23 PM.png
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by michaelhaughian on Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:42 pm
I use a MacBook Pro 2017 and currently use Notion 6.8.1.

I updated to the macOS Big Sur Version 11.2.3

Notion is continually lagging with every action.

Would uninstalling and reinstalling the complete software be helpful with this issue?

Thank you.
User avatar
by Surf.Whammy on Thu Mar 18, 2021 6:03 pm
michaelhaughian wroteI use a MacBook Pro 2017 and currently use Notion 6.8.1.

I updated to the macOS Big Sur Version 11.2.3

Notion is continually lagging with every action.

Would uninstalling and reinstalling the complete software be helpful with this issue?

Thank you.


Rolling back to macOS Catalina is a possibility, but probably will be relatively easy only if you have a full backup . . . :)

THOUGHTS

I started writing a lengthy post on my thoughts about macOS Big Sur a few days ago but decided against it . . .

Things evolve, and now it's relevant . . .

The succinct version is that I was troubleshooting a $6,000 2019 MacBook Pro running macOS Catalina that was freezing at random times; so I called Apple Support . . .

Rather than look at the system logs and other information, they suggested installing Big Sur as the first step in solving the problem . . .

I suppose that would be good if I had recently fallen off a turnip truck and knew nothing about macOS internals, including the existence of system logs, crash logs, and lots of other stuff, but alas I am encumbered by knowledge and asked to speak with a supervisor . . .

She knew about running diagnostics and getting the resulting log file (approximately 170MB), which was sent to Apple for review and analysis by Apple software engineers; but she said I should upgrade the machine to Big Sur, which I did . . .

However, before I called Apple Support I did a full backup of the machine with SuperDuper! (Shirt Pocket) . . .

After upgrading to Big Sur, I tried to do a full backup with SuperDuper!, but as I so rudely discovered, as of mid-March 20221 SuperDuper! does not run on macOS Big Sur . . .

Instead, I did a full backup with Time Machine to the external LaCie drive I partitioned and formatted APFS for this purpose; and the backup completed successfully in about the same time as a SuperDuper! backup requires, so all good there . . .

From my perspective, the problem is that I don't like stuff not working; and combined with what I consider to be a BS response from Apple Support, I do not like macOS Big Sur . . .

For reference, I am a degreed Computer Scientist and registered Apple Developer, and I have been working on computers since 1975; and I have never encountered a hardware problem which was solved by upgrading to a new version of an operating system . . .

It makes no sense, and I find it highly annoying for Apple Support to try to tell me it makes sense . . .

Once they realized I did not fall off a turnip truck recently, the quality of support and respect improved significantly . . .

On the good side, I was sufficiently adamant to get a case number and a plan of action, which I suppose will map to getting a replacement MacBook Pro, sooner or later; but in the interim I bought an Apple Airport Extreme Time Capsule on eBay for about $125, which I am going to install where it can be used with the 2019 MacBook Pro . . .

Basically, it's like a baby monitor, and when the 2019 MacBook Pro running macOS Big Sur freezes, there will be at least some evidence, with the key word being "evidence" . . .

STRATEGY

If you have a few, full backups of your Mac when it was running macOS Catalina and everything worked, then that's a way to solve the problem . . .

I have backups done with SuperDuper! to LaCie external drives going back years, so this is something I can do . . .

For me the strategy is first to boot from one of the macOS Catalina backups with all the digital music production and other software . . .

Then i will run SuperDuper! from the external LaCie drive and use it to restore the 2019 MacBook Pro SSD from the most recent macOS Catalina et al. backup from earlier this week . . .

The key is that since SuperDuper! does not work on Big Sur, the first step is to book from a backup image where SuperDuper! works, which makes sense if you think about it a while . . .

If you do not have a full backup from before you upgraded to Big Sur, then rolling back the macOS clock will require a bit more work, but i think it's probably possible . . .

Putting my perspective into focus, the 2019 MacBook Pro is not my machine . . .

I do everything here in the sound isolation studio on a Mac Pro (Early 2008) with 32GB system memory and a 2004 Apple 30" Cinema HD Display (purchased last year on eBy for $250 plus $50 shipping), with an upgraded graphic card . . .

It's running macOS El Capitan, which is the most recent version of macOS the Mac Pro (Early 2008) will run, and I shared this information with Apple Support, mostly to say that Apple used to make good stuff . . . :ugeek:

So here in the sound isolation studio I am running a 13 year-old Mac with at 17 year-old Apple Display on a version of macOS that Apple stopped supporting several years ago . . .

For the most part, none of the new versions of digital music production software run on the Mac Pro (Early 2008), but so what . . .

Everything works nicely, and not being able to update to new versions saves me probably thousands of dollars . . .

If I needs an older version of something, I probably can get it from BostonMusicSupply on eBay, which is what I did after buying Stutter Edit 2 (iZotope) and discovering it won't run on the Mac Pro (Early 2008) . . .

I bought it from Sweetwater without reading the specifications and requirements, so I called them and the technical support specialist told me (a) they don't sell the older version but (b) it's probably available on eBay . . .

I did not ask for a refund, since it was my fault for not reading the details; and I have a newer Mac that will run it, hence everything is good . . .

This is the way I discovered BostonMusicSupply on eBay . . .

SUMMARY

If you can rollback the macOS clock to Catalina, then that's probably the best solution--or at least a solution . . .

I do regular, full backups, specifically for scenarios like this one, as well as to be able to recover quickly when an internal hard drive fails catastrophically, with "quickly" mapping to about five hours once a replacement internal hard drive arrives from Other World Computing . . .

On a related note, I got a second Mac Pro (Early 2008) on ebay for about $500, and upgraded it with 32GB system memory, and a fast Apple ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB graphic card (approximately $200) and a new Toshiba 4TB internal hard drive with I cloned on my primary Mac Pro (Early 2008) using SuperDuper! (Shirt Pocket), hence now it's a backup machine; and I am thinking about doing this again, so I have two backup machines . . .

Is this strategy of not rolling the macOS and digital music production software forward working?

It works sufficiently well to add a section of Violins (Gold) from EW ComposerCloud X to my current song in development yesterday, featuring the fabulous vocal stylings of my pretend Country Western personality, Ferliss Nuberton . . . :P

phpBB [video]


Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. In some respects, everyone is saying "We don't want any more of your money, so go away" . . .

Mostly, it's Apple's fault, but so what . . .

eBay likes my money, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous! :mrgreen:

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
User avatar
by Surf.Whammy on Sun Mar 21, 2021 4:13 pm
I'm mostly on a nighttime schedule, so for me it's early in the morning . . . :)

THOUGHTS

Apple has embarked on a split-track development scheme for its operating systems and computers:

(1) Apple silicon (Apple M1 processor)

MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)
MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Mac mini (M1, 2020)

(2) Macs with Intel processors

Every Mac not in (1), excluding "ancient" Macs with PowerPC processors, of course

One might suggests (1) are the "winners" and (2) are the "losers" from the perspective of the future, and since here in the sound isolation studio I am doing everything primarily on an Intel-based 2.8-GHz (8-core, dual XEON processors) Mac Pro (Early 2008), I am a "loser", which is fine with me . . .

Perhaps the biggest benefit of being a "loser" is that the only possible upgrades are found on eBay for dimes or nickels on the dollar, where for example I "upgraded" to a 2004 Apple 30" Cinema HD Display last year for about $250 (US) on eBay, plus $50 for shipping and handling . . .

More recently, I upgraded to an Apple ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MBj graphic card for about $200, which is the one that shows the boot screen and is the true Apple version and is very fast, relatively speaking . . .

For the most part, nearly none of the digital music production software is upgradeable, but so what . . .

Older "loser" versions are available on eBay at very attractive, low prices, which is the way I got the first version of Stutter Edit (iZotope) after buying the new version and discovering it doesn't run on the Mac Pro (Early 2008) and macOS El Capitan (10.11.6) . . .

It works, and I use the custom preset I created and call the "Elvis Stutter', which is fabulous . . .

phpBB [video]


Fabulous! :P

Connect a few dots and understand that I call myself a "loser" to avoid upsetting the folks I call "winners", and this has the likely potential to be as messed-up as Microsoft's nearly decade-long wandering into the ".NET" nonsense . . .

As it is early in the morning for me here in the sound isolation studio, where I am working on my first cup of very strong coffee* that would kill people who do not have the "South American Coffee Achiever Gene Matrix" which maps to rapid metabolism of caffeine, my perspective is that in the digital music production universe, (a) the "winners" are losers, and (b) the "losers" are the real winners . . .

[NOTE: I am not South American, but I read a research paper on this several years ago, which was comparing typical South American coffee achievers with "slow caffeine metabolizers", where the key bit of information is that South American coffee achievers can handle and enjoy very strong coffee without it being fatal--not the case for "slow caffeine metabolizers", hence the idea to call it the "South American Coffee Achiever Gene Matrix" . . . ]

There probably are a few people who use the new Apple silicon Macs, but really . . . :roll:

Why?

(1) No digital music production software available

(2) Too small, tiny screens

(3) Can't connect external signal processors and external digital audio and MIDI interfaces without spending hundreds of dollars on Thunderbolt converter cables; and if there is a way to connect them, then there are no guarantees regarding drivers and supporting software

As noted in my earlier posts to this topic, I have two complete Mac Pro (Early 2008) rigs and probably am going to get another one so I can be a "loser" for years--frozen in time and saving oodles of money by not upgrading anything . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. "two heaping tablespoons of Massimo Zanetti Master Chef ground coffee and one heaping tablespoon of Cafe Du Monde ground coffee and chicory to 12 ounces of Ozarka Spring Water at the ideal brewing temperature of 200-degrees Fahrenheit, French Press method, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous! :+1

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
User avatar
by thomasbaxter on Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:17 pm
Has anyone had a problem with Catalina? I'm still on Mojave and I can't access the iTunes store. Apple support said I needed to upgrade at least to Catalina, although I'm going to have to figure out how to do that. Only option from the About this Mac window is Big Sur.
User avatar
by michaelmyers1 on Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:29 pm
thomasbaxter wroteHas anyone had a problem with Catalina? I'm still on Mojave and I can't access the iTunes store. Apple support said I needed to upgrade at least to Catalina, although I'm going to have to figure out how to do that. Only option from the About this Mac window is Big Sur.

I used Catalina for a long time before upgrading to Big Sur.

Unlike my friend SurfWhammy, I believe in upgrading system software as soon as I can, but I don't have the hardware issues he does.

I'm also a dyed-in-the-wool 100% Apple aficionado, since the first Mac in 1984. I've been having LOTS OF FUN making music with Apple computers since about 1990, and I lost count long ago of the system software updates. But they've all been improvements and it's been a great time.

iMac (Retina 5K 27", 2019) 3.6 ghz I9 8-core 64 gb RAM Fusion Drive
with small AOC monitor for additional display
macOS Ventura 13.4
2 - 500 gb + 2 - 1 tb external SSD for sample libraries
M Audio AirHub audio interface
Nektar Panorama P1 control surface
Nektar Impact 49-key MIDI keyboard
Focal CMS40 near-field monitors
JBL LSR310S subwoofer
Notion 6 + Studio One 5 Pro

http://www.tensivity.com
User avatar
by Surf.Whammy on Thu Mar 25, 2021 12:13 am
Perhaps it's just my perception, but I think someone at Apple issued the edict that the solution for every problem now begins by telling the customer to "Upgrade to Big Sur" . . . :roll:

THOUGHTS

Here in the sound isolation studio, I do nearly everything on a Mac Pro (Early 2008) running macOS El Capitan (10.11.6) with a 2004 Apple 30" Cinema HD Display and a very fast Apple ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB graphic card (relatively fast, but super fast for this 12 year-old set of hardware) . . .

I'm running iTunes 12.8.2.3, and it works nicely with my iPhone 12 mini, which I got a few months ago . . .

If I need to purchase or to upgrade an iPhone app, then I do it with the iPhone, not iTunes . . .

As far as I can determine, there is no iPhone App Store in this version of iTunes . . .

Nevertheless, I can purchase songs, movies, and other entertainment stuff in the iTunes Store . . .

Before I purchased the iPhone 12 mini, I checked with Apple to verify it works with my version of everything (Mac, iTunes, and so forth), which so far it does . . .

I have not found a downloadable version of macOS Catalina at the Apple website, and everything tends to map to macOS Big Sur . . .

Perhaps Apple will provide some help?

[IMPORTANT: In any event, do a full backup with Time Machine to a bootable external hard drive. This backup will be your recovery option if anything goes wrong. Having a full backup avoids the hassle of needing to reinstall all your digital music production software . . . :ugeek: ]

I use LaCie external hard drives, because they always work with the Mac and are bootable . . .

GENERALLY SAFE SOLUTION

(1) Do a bootable, full backup with Time Machine (Apple) to a LaCie external hard drive on which you have created an appropriately size partition, which is a little bit larger than the total used space "Get Info" reports, where for example if "Get Info" reports 1,500 GB being used, make the partition 1,600 GB or thereabout. You can verify the bootable, full backup by booting from it rather than from your internal SSD or hard drive. If it boots from the LaCie external hard drive and everything looks to be working, then you have a bootable, full backup of your Mac running macOS Mojave and all your digital music production applications.

[NOTE: The amount of storage used on your primary internal SSD or hard drive will depend on how much digital music production software and sampled-sound libraries you have installed, as well as other stuff on the primary internal SSD or hard drive. Here in the sound isolation studio, my primary internal hard drive has approximately 2.7TB of stuff, so I use Toshiba 4TB internal hard drives to do rotating, bootable, full backups, since (a) a Toshiba 4TB internal hard drive costs less than a LaCie drive and (b) tends to be faster for doing backups, since it's done on the internal bus rather than via a USB or FireWire cable, although it takes about six hours. I did it one time with a LaCie Thunderbolt drive, and it took about 22 hours, probably because it was USB-1, since there is no Thunderbolt of USB-C port. I probably should consider using Time Machine on a LaCie drive connected to the cable modem, but for now I do it "old-school" and like having bootable, Toshiba internal hard drives. It's not exactly "plug-and-play", but it's pretty close--no "hot swapping", but it's just a matter of power-down the Mac and then swap internal hard drives, followed by powering-up the Mac and rebooting. Perhaps one of the folks I help with Mac problems will buy me a new Intel-based iMac Pro? That would be nice! . . . :+1 ]

(2) Do the upgrade to macOS Big Sur, but ensure the LaCie external hard drive is not connected to your Mac.

[NOTE: The cynical perspective is that the bootable, full backup done with Time Machine in macOS Mojave to your LaCie external hard drive is your protection against Apple messing-up everything. It's "cynical", because I think the "Upgrade to Big Sur" suggestion is BS, lazy, and stupid when you should be able to do what you need to do in macOS Catalina, except that unless you hoot and holler, Apple will not provide macOS Catalina, and overall the only outcome of hooting and hollering will be some more intelligent, non-BS help that still maps ultimately to having to "Upgrade to Big Sur". This is so annoying that I purchased an Apple Extreme Time Capsule on eBay for about $150 (US), which I am going to use with WIFI to be the Time Machine hard drive, where the goal is to have a real-time audit trail when the 2019 MacBook Pro inevitably freezes, this being important because (a) I don't care what Apple believes and (b) it's hard to argue with evidence. Additionally, unless you have a Computer Science degree and know a good bit about macOS internals, then you might not be able to hoot and holler successfully at Apple Technical Support if they are trying to feed you a pile of BS. And "yes", there are other ways to have a Time Machine external hard drive accessible via WIFI, but I verified the Airport Extreme Time Capsule strategy with Apple Support, and it appears to be easy to configure, which I will know in a few days, because it just arrived this afternoon. The logic is that having a LaCie drive attached via a Thunderbolt cable to a 2019 MacBook Pro pretty much defeats the concept of being untethered when in the house, and it's not my MacBook Pro or my house, which is a clue to how annoyed I am about this BS . . . ]

(3) If you got a reasonably large LaCie external hard drive--perhaps 4TB to 6TB, depending on how much stuff is on your primary Mac hard drive, at least large enough to do two backups--then you can partition another "virtual drive" to use to backup the Big Sur version of your Mac, which will need to be APFS format, but be certain to keep them separate, which is what partitioning will do . . .

[NOTE: Partitioning is done in the Disk Utility application found in the "Utilities" subfolder of the "Applications" folder. if you have never used Disk Utility, then read about it before tinkering with it . . . :reading: ]

Now you have two, bootable full backups--one for macOS Mojave and all your digital music production stuff, and one for macOS Big Sur (APFS) and all your digital music production stuff--and then you can see how everything works with Big Sur . . .

If you experience no problems running your digital music production software and the iTunes store or whatever it's called in Big Sur, then there you are . . .

If there are problems with macOS Big Sur and your digital music production software, then you can restore the machine using your full, bootable backup of macOS Mojave and your digital music production software at the time--this all being part of what I call the "bootable, full backup of macOS Mojave" in this context,which basically can be as recently as (a) whenever you did it and (b) after you have done the "Upgrade to Big Sur" bit and its corresponding full, bootable backup using Time Machine . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
User avatar
by michaelhaughian on Mon Mar 29, 2021 1:04 pm
Surf.Whammy wrote
michaelhaughian wroteI use a MacBook Pro 2017 and currently use Notion 6.8.1.

I updated to the macOS Big Sur Version 11.2.3

Notion is continually lagging with every action.

Would uninstalling and reinstalling the complete software be helpful with this issue?

Thank you.


Rolling back to macOS Catalina is a possibility, but probably will be relatively easy only if you have a full backup . . . :)

THOUGHTS

I started writing a lengthy post on my thoughts about macOS Big Sur a few days ago but decided against it . . .

Things evolve, and now it's relevant . . .

The succinct version is that I was troubleshooting a $6,000 2019 MacBook Pro running macOS Catalina that was freezing at random times; so I called Apple Support . . .

Rather than look at the system logs and other information, they suggested installing Big Sur as the first step in solving the problem . . .

I suppose that would be good if I had recently fallen off a turnip truck and knew nothing about macOS internals, including the existence of system logs, crash logs, and lots of other stuff, but alas I am encumbered by knowledge and asked to speak with a supervisor . . .

She knew about running diagnostics and getting the resulting log file (approximately 170MB), which was sent to Apple for review and analysis by Apple software engineers; but she said I should upgrade the machine to Big Sur, which I did . . .

However, before I called Apple Support I did a full backup of the machine with SuperDuper! (Shirt Pocket) . . .

After upgrading to Big Sur, I tried to do a full backup with SuperDuper!, but as I so rudely discovered, as of mid-March 20221 SuperDuper! does not run on macOS Big Sur . . .

Instead, I did a full backup with Time Machine to the external LaCie drive I partitioned and formatted APFS for this purpose; and the backup completed successfully in about the same time as a SuperDuper! backup requires, so all good there . . .

From my perspective, the problem is that I don't like stuff not working; and combined with what I consider to be a BS response from Apple Support, I do not like macOS Big Sur . . .

For reference, I am a degreed Computer Scientist and registered Apple Developer, and I have been working on computers since 1975; and I have never encountered a hardware problem which was solved by upgrading to a new version of an operating system . . .

It makes no sense, and I find it highly annoying for Apple Support to try to tell me it makes sense . . .

Once they realized I did not fall off a turnip truck recently, the quality of support and respect improved significantly . . .

On the good side, I was sufficiently adamant to get a case number and a plan of action, which I suppose will map to getting a replacement MacBook Pro, sooner or later; but in the interim I bought an Apple Airport Extreme Time Capsule on eBay for about $125, which I am going to install where it can be used with the 2019 MacBook Pro . . .

Basically, it's like a baby monitor, and when the 2019 MacBook Pro running macOS Big Sur freezes, there will be at least some evidence, with the key word being "evidence" . . .

STRATEGY

If you have a few, full backups of your Mac when it was running macOS Catalina and everything worked, then that's a way to solve the problem . . .

I have backups done with SuperDuper! to LaCie external drives going back years, so this is something I can do . . .

For me the strategy is first to boot from one of the macOS Catalina backups with all the digital music production and other software . . .

Then i will run SuperDuper! from the external LaCie drive and use it to restore the 2019 MacBook Pro SSD from the most recent macOS Catalina et al. backup from earlier this week . . .

The key is that since SuperDuper! does not work on Big Sur, the first step is to book from a backup image where SuperDuper! works, which makes sense if you think about it a while . . .

If you do not have a full backup from before you upgraded to Big Sur, then rolling back the macOS clock will require a bit more work, but i think it's probably possible . . .

Putting my perspective into focus, the 2019 MacBook Pro is not my machine . . .

I do everything here in the sound isolation studio on a Mac Pro (Early 2008) with 32GB system memory and a 2004 Apple 30" Cinema HD Display (purchased last year on eBy for $250 plus $50 shipping), with an upgraded graphic card . . .

It's running macOS El Capitan, which is the most recent version of macOS the Mac Pro (Early 2008) will run, and I shared this information with Apple Support, mostly to say that Apple used to make good stuff . . . :ugeek:

So here in the sound isolation studio I am running a 13 year-old Mac with at 17 year-old Apple Display on a version of macOS that Apple stopped supporting several years ago . . .

For the most part, none of the new versions of digital music production software run on the Mac Pro (Early 2008), but so what . . .

Everything works nicely, and not being able to update to new versions saves me probably thousands of dollars . . .

If I needs an older version of something, I probably can get it from BostonMusicSupply on eBay, which is what I did after buying Stutter Edit 2 (iZotope) and discovering it won't run on the Mac Pro (Early 2008) . . .

I bought it from Sweetwater without reading the specifications and requirements, so I called them and the technical support specialist told me (a) they don't sell the older version but (b) it's probably available on eBay . . .

I did not ask for a refund, since it was my fault for not reading the details; and I have a newer Mac that will run it, hence everything is good . . .

This is the way I discovered BostonMusicSupply on eBay . . .

SUMMARY

If you can rollback the macOS clock to Catalina, then that's probably the best solution--or at least a solution . . .

I do regular, full backups, specifically for scenarios like this one, as well as to be able to recover quickly when an internal hard drive fails catastrophically, with "quickly" mapping to about five hours once a replacement internal hard drive arrives from Other World Computing . . .

On a related note, I got a second Mac Pro (Early 2008) on ebay for about $500, and upgraded it with 32GB system memory, and a fast Apple ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB graphic card (approximately $200) and a new Toshiba 4TB internal hard drive with I cloned on my primary Mac Pro (Early 2008) using SuperDuper! (Shirt Pocket), hence now it's a backup machine; and I am thinking about doing this again, so I have two backup machines . . .

Is this strategy of not rolling the macOS and digital music production software forward working?

It works sufficiently well to add a section of Violins (Gold) from EW ComposerCloud X to my current song in development yesterday, featuring the fabulous vocal stylings of my pretend Country Western personality, Ferliss Nuberton . . . :P

phpBB [video]


Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. In some respects, everyone is saying "We don't want any more of your money, so go away" . . .

Mostly, it's Apple's fault, but so what . . .

eBay likes my money, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous! :mrgreen:


____________________________________________________________________________

Thank you so much for your detailed guidance.

Unfortunately I have no back up of the previous OS, what would you recommend then as a start to fixing the lagging, unresponsive workflow of Notion at the minute?

Thanks a million
User avatar
by Surf.Whammy on Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:37 am
michaelhaughian wroteThank you so much for your detailed guidance.

Unfortunately I have no back up of the previous OS, what would you recommend then as a start to fixing the lagging, unresponsive workflow of Notion at the minute?

Thanks a million


Making backups is not optional, although some folks think it is . . . :ugeek:

THOUGHTS

When you have a full, bootable backup, you have options and can recover from adverse situations, including a hard drive or SSD crash--more so the former, but so what . . .

For a MacBook Pro, you will need a LaCie external hard drive to do backups . . .

I use LaCie external drives, because (a) they are bootable for the Mac and (b) they are reliable . . .

Since you do not have a bootable, full backup, you might try contacting Apple Support to see if they can provide you a link to the macOS Catalina install (download macOS Catalina and the install) . . .

There are macOS Catalina "recovery USB thumb drives" available on eBay for about $25, but they do not include licenses . . .

If you were running macOS Catalina, then you have a license from Apple; so this might be a productive strategy, although (a) I have not tried it and (b) I have not researched it sufficiently to know what it does to get macOS Catalina on a Mac . . .

The only other way is to contact Apple Support to see if they will get you a link to install macOS Catalina . . .

What I know for certain is that macOS Catalina runs nicely on a 2012 MacBook Retina, so the extra security stuff that kicks-in on a newer MacBook Pro with onboard security processor (Apple T2 Security Chip) does not affect the way macOS Catalina works on a 2012 MacBook Retina . . .

It's possible there are some operating system options and parameters you can set for macOS Big Sur to correct the sluggish response, but I don't know what they might be . . .

Apple Support might be able to help with this . . .

For reference, I always do a bootable, full-backup before installing a major new version of macOS--not so much for minor updates but certainly for major updates like going from macOS Catalina to macOS Big Sur . . .

Another possibility is to get help from PreSonus Support . . .

This is all that comes to mind at present . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by michaelhaughian on Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:28 pm
Once again thanks a million for your help, it is so much appreciated. 🙏

PreSonus support recommended switching to a different mouse to what I was using, which was the 2nd edition of the Apple Magic Mouse.

I did so today, and am delighted to report that simply by switching from the bluetooth Magic Mouse to a standard USB wired mouse, the entire lagging problem when using Notion, has completely stopped. The system is working great.

Very happy. 🤗
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by Surf.Whammy on Wed Mar 31, 2021 4:14 am
Switching from a Bluetooth Apple mouse to a wired mouse (Apple or otherwise) is an interesting solution, and i like it . . . :)

THOUGHTS

Here in the sound isolation studio, I am using a Bluetooth Apple mouse (Model A1296 3Vdc), a Magic Mouse 1 . . .

It's the Apple mouse that uses two AA batteries, not the newer one that has to be charged every once in a while . . .

The newer one (Model A1657) with built-in, rechargeable battery (Magic Mouse 2) does not work with my primary Mac Pro (Early 2008), but it works with the other Mac Pro (Early 2008) I have as a backup machine. . .

M primary Mac Pro (Early 2008) is 2.8-GHz (8-core, dual XEON processors), while the backup Mac Pro (Early 2008) is 3.2-GHz (8-core, dual XEON processors), hence is faster . . .

I might switch, so the faster Mac Pro (Early 2008) will be the primary; but it seems like a lot of moving stuff around, and I have not done it yet . . .

The primary is on the floor, while the secondary is on the tabletop to the left of the Apple 30" Cinema HD Display I use with the primary, said display being from 2004 and costing $250 plus $50 shipping on eBay . . .

The primary hard drives are the same, since I clone the hard drive on the primary and then use the clone in the secondary; but the GUIDs are different, and this probably affects licensing schemes for the various digital music production software, which is another reason to not "fix" anything . . .

Some of the software is licensed via USB dongles (iLOK and another one for Reason [Reason Studios]), so that software is easily portable; but other software keys on variations of what generally is called a "Globally Unique Identifier (GUID)", also called a "Universally Unique Identifier (UUID)"--a large number computed using various specific information about the machine, hard drive(s), graphic card(s), system memory, and so forth . . .

At present, I prefer to avoid needing to re-activate stuff, should it be necessary . . . :ugeek:

Prior to this, I was using one of the "scroll pea" wired Apple mice, but the "scroll pea" had to be cleaned with rubbing alcohol and eventually stopped working . . .

I like the current Apple mouse I am using, and the pair of AA batteries lasts several days--perhaps one week or so . . .

You never mentioned the version of macOS you were using before upgrading to macOS Big Sur, but the problem being corrected by switching to a wired Apple mouse tends to suggest macOS Big Sur has a problem with Bluetooth mice . . .

THE CURIOUS PERSPECTIVE

This appears to be a hardware problem caused by upgrading to a newer version of macOS, which I suggest is different from the scenario where solving a hardware problem requires upgrading to a newer version of macOS . . . :P

Making it all the more interesting, after upgrading to a newer version of macOS, the resulting hardware problem was fixed by reverting to an older hardware device . . .

This makes a bit of sense if one hypothesizes macOS Big Sur is "bloated", in the sense of having a lot of code which for older Macs does absolutely nothing--other than churning processors and other onboard electronics for zero useful reasons . . .

At some point, the cost of digital music production software exceeds the cost of the computer (Mac or Windows), so when the operating system (macOS in this instance) requires getting a new Mac, it's not just a matter of getting a new Mac, because all the digital music production needs to be upgraded, as well . . .

Upgrades tend to be less expensive than first or starting versions, but it's something to consider when determining the total cost of getting a new Mac--plus there is the matter of installing all the digital music production software, which when there is a lot of it can take days . . .

Here in the sound isolation studio, I like to think of this as a matter of having a 1956 Gibson Les Paul or a 1957 Fender Stratocaster--clearly outstanding guitars that at one time cost just a few hundred dollars but now sell for half a million dollars or more . . .

I suppose this is the reason I drive old vehicles, the oldest at present being a 1987 Chevy G30 Van, which is all steel, Detroit heavy metal, and no computers and airbags, although it has an electronic control module . . .

I might need to get more Mac Pro (Early 2008) machines . . .

These days, rolling-back the clock makes more sense than one might imagine . . .

Lots of FUN! :)

P. S. Glad you found the solution, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous! :+1

Surf.Whammy's YouTube Channel

The Surf Whammys

Sinkhorn's Dilemma: Every paradox has at least one non-trivial solution!
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by michaelhaughian on Sat Apr 03, 2021 12:36 pm
'Making it all the more interesting, after upgrading to a newer version of macOS, the resulting hardware problem was fixed by reverting to an older hardware device . . .' 😂

I love this sentence. ⬆️

Again, thanks a million for all your help. 🤗🙏
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by TechSupport77 on Fri May 28, 2021 9:34 am
If you are having problems with Notion 6 on Big Sur please take a look at the following article...

https://support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/a ... on-Big-Sur

Brian

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