Yes, you can have a snowball effect in sunny Florida! I know this because it happened to me this week. What started as a simple need to install a software program gradually grew into a larger, more complex series of events.
Applications and System Requirements
I am teaching my Graphic Design 2 class remotely this semester. That’s because my students are in Newton, Massachusetts and I now live in Florida. One of the more promising tools I was considering for video conferencing—Skype for Business—requires Mac OS X El Capitan and higher (see system requirements). My Mac was still using Yosemite. OK, no problem, I thought. I’ll just upgrade to El Capitan, which is the next OSX in the sequence:
- OS X Mountain Lion – 10.8
- OS X Mavericks – 10.9
- OS X Yosemite – 10.10
- OS X El Capitan – 10.11
- macOS Sierra – 10.12
- macOS High Sierra – 10.13
I quickly discovered that El Capitan and Sierra are no longer available as downloads in the Apple store. None of the download links I tried for them worked. My only choice was to upgrade directly to High Sierra, which made me nervous not only because it would be jumping up 3 levels, but also because High Sierra is based on a new 64-bit architecture. That meant at least a few of my software applications would be incompatible and I’d have to upgrade them as well (i.e., dish out some money). At least the OS X upgrade was free.
Backup Computer Files
Upgrading my operating system is not a common task for me, so I read all of the information Apple provides about how to do it (https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/). The most emphasized recommendations are to back up your computer and create a bootable disk in case you need to restore the operating system. I’ve had a backup procedure in place for years that is 3-tiered: (1) Manually back up all files to an external LaCie drive (which uses the FireWire port and is very fast); (2) Manually back up all files to an external USB drive (much slower than the Firewire device); (3) Automatic daily backups to a cloud service (I use iDrive). So, I made sure all of my backups were current.
Even though I had learned about bootable disks years ago, I neglected to ever follow through and create one. I was determined to follow through this time. Of the many ways to create a bootable disk, I decided to use Disk Utility, following the instructions in this article: Back Up Your Startup Disk Using Disk Utility.
Flash drives are not recommended by some people. Since my LaCie FireWire drive and Western Digital USB were already being used for regular backups, the only other non-flash external drive I had was a Seagate USB. I plugged it in and verified it with Disk Utility. Everything looked good to this point. However, it didn’t pass the disk permissions test, because it was PC-formatted. No big deal. I reformatted it as Mac-based with the “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” option. Reformatting a disk erases all of its contents and configures it to be entirely Mac-compatible. It was quick and easy.
I returned to the task of creating the bootable drive. Disk Utility still wasn’t happy and wouldn’t complete the cloning. It turns out that reformatting wasn’t sufficient: I needed a new cross-platform utility that would enable my Mac to read AND write to the drive.
Paragon NTFS was installed, then I went back to Disk Utility. Now it suggested that I create a partition on my “Destination” drive (the newly Mac-formatted USB drive). Huh? More research revealed a partition tab that I was supposed to select, but that tab didn’t appear in my Disk Utility. Roadblock.
Sometimes, trying something over and over again with subtle changes in the approach will actually work. Maybe you missed a step or typed the wrong letters or misunderstood an instruction. Sometimes, though, it’s better to change the approach and try something different. There is always more than one solution.
I decided to try another utility. More research ensued. This article provided good guidance: No Excuses: 7 Free Mac Backup Apps. I was familiar with SuperDuper, which was effective, but it received tepid reviews and had a clunky interface. The tech community was more enthusiastic about Carbon Copy Cloner, so I installed that application and launched it. Warnings were issued about the external drive and possible difficulty using it as a reliable backup. Yet, this program offered me the option to proceed with caution. I did exactly that, and I’m glad I did. The process was much quicker than I thought it would be.
A few days later, I came across this information:
Beginning with OS X El Capitan, system file permissions are automatically protected. It’s no longer necessary to verify or repair permissions with Disk Utility.” – Apple Support
Hmmm… is that why the permissions repair didn’t work and I never saw the partition tab? Maybe some day I’ll have the answer.
High Sierra Upgrade and Incompatible Apps
It was nearly a full day of dealing with the backup and cloning. The following morning, I upgraded to High Sierra. It took about one hour. No issues arose. Things will likely go smoothly for you, too, if you take the time to minimize problems.
I knew Quickbooks would be an issue. Sure enough, my version was not compatible with High Sierra. More research. I had an online chat with a Quickbooks sales rep and found out that Quickbooks 2016 for Mac would automatically import my data. If I decide to go with a cloud-based QB later, I can migrate to that. I bought the QB 2016 for Mac, installed it, launched it, and opened my most recent QB file. The program automatically imported the data and all was well.
Next, I discovered that my fonts manager, Fusion, was incompatible. I was in the middle of a print project, too! Yikes! No problem, I simply used Font Book, a native Mac application. I mostly do web stuff now, so Font Book fits my needs.
Finally, I was able to load the software I thought I’d be using for my class: Skype for Business. I had a test session with a couple of colleagues. The interface and features were great. One big drawback was that the other participants couldn’t hear me. I could hear them, but no matter what I did with my sound settings, they couldn’t hear me. What a huge disappointment!
I searched Microsoft’s Skype help forum (MS purchased Skype in 2011). There were a lot of complaints about the sound. Great, I’m not the only one! Then, I remembered trying to use Skype Meetings a few months ago and having difficulty with the sound: they could hear me, but I couldn’t hear them. That was the final straw and I had had enough of Skype.
Ironic isn’t it? My entire journey down the High Sierra lane began because I wanted to use Skype for Business and now I want nothing to do with it. On the positive side, I can now use other applications that were not compatible with Yosemite, notably Adobe XD, for mobile UX design and prototyping. I’m pretty psyched about that.
Video Conferencing Tools
One last thing. My search for a video conferencing tool continues. The features I am looking for are:
- Free
- At least 10 users
- At least 90 minutes in length
- Video conferencing: students need to see me and I need to see them.
- Audio: we need to hear one another 🙂
- Screen sharing
- Presenter-switching
- User-friendly interface
- Easy installation
I landed on 3 strong contenders:
- Free Conference Call
I’ve tested this with several colleagues and really like it. - Uber Conference
Still to be tested: stay tuned! - Ring Central
Provided by my school. We need to check on the system requirements and plan offerings.
A future blog post is brewing on this subject!
Related Posts
Upgrading Your Mac to Mountain Lion
Embracing Technology in the Classroom
8 Awesome Responsive Web Design Emulators
Hi Anne – I recently upgraded to High Sierra as well in addition to a new iMac. Actually I found that Skype was running smooth from all points of view. I do however have 2 separate accounts. Skype and Skype for Business. When I first launched, I too had a few issues but then I trashed both versions and redownloaded and everything worked well. I did however have to do some tweaks in the system preferences for the video and all is now good.
And another horror… the day I set up my new Mac it died that evening and I had to send back and get another one 🙁 Talk soon.
Hi Robin,
Congratulations on getting a new iMac. Holy cow, though, about the new one dying! Like you, I have 2 separate accounts (regular Skype and Skye for Business). The regular Skype works just fine for one-on-one sessions. Have you ever used it for multiple participants? Maybe I should test it!
I use it all the time for one of my clients as that is all they use. So yes and I actually really like it. It is easy to share screens back and forth so you can see theirs and they can see mine. The biggest issue I have is with Fusion. There are a lot of issues that I have to deal with and upgrading was a mess. They were not super helpful. I ended up turning off all of my fonts except for a few core fonts. I’ll turn them back on slowly as I have time and can watch to see if there are anymore issues. Yea… and can you imagine your new iMac dying the day you set it up?? And although Apple was easy in respect to returning and replacing, they were not apologetic at all. I was in the middle of a large project and I had to have my Mac guy come over to redo everything. 🙁
Robin, what a nightmare! You are approaching it exactly the way I would suggest: turn the fonts on one by one to see if you can find the culprit. It sounds like a couple of things might be happening: (1) Fusion hasn’t been updated to be fully compatible with High Sierra; (2) Some fonts may not work well with High Sierra. I found that some of my PostScript fonts were being read by Font Book as “damaged” after I upgraded to High Sierra. I don’t know yet why all of sudden they were “damaged”, so I’ll have to look into it. I used Font Doctor to “heal” them; maybe it would help you too. My suspicion is that High Sierra prefers the newer OpenType technology.
I have another blog article that talks about font and their various formats: Choosing the Correct Font Format.
Hi Anne-a-roo!
I’m so far back on my OS I can’t even remember. I think I’m still in Yosemite. How long did the whole process take for you to be up and running to High Sierra. My Mac is about 8 years old. I’m considering upgrading my iMac instead.
Miss you!
Talk soon,
Faith
Hi Faith-a-roo!
The whole process, including the backups, clones, High Sierra upgrade, installing the new Quickbooks and using Font Book, took me about a day! The High Sierra upgrade itself took only about an hour.
Another thing: a couple of years ago, I swapped out the original iMac hard drive and installed an SSD (solid state drive). So, my machine was more than ready to go up to High Sierra. You should check the compatibility of your iMac on the Apple website:
https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/
I don’t think it will install if your machine is incompatible.
OMG! What a tale, and what dedication and persistence. I was able to follow most, but not all of this saga, and am amazed that you did not end up just screaming at the computer gods. Recently upgraded to High Sierra here. Please let us/me know what you finally end up with for the best video conferencing, so I can get it for our (BDI) Board meetings.
Hi Naomi, I’ll be happy to share my decision about the video conferencing tool. I’ll probably write a blog post about it.
I think I’m still in Yosemite. How long did the whole process take for you to be up and running to High Sierra? My Mac is about 8 years old. I’m considering upgrading my iMac instead.
The installation of High Sierra took about 1 hour. It was the backup process that took several hours. And you shouldn’t skip that step, because you never know what can happen!
I upgraded my iMac a couple of years ago by installing an SSD. You could certainly do that and ask the tech person to install High Sierra at the same time.