Mac OSX (Monterey/Catalina) and Kicad - The Hidden Problem

[BlackCoffee]

Re: Mac OSX Monterey

In another post (or, two) containing my description of the ‘Hidden’ folder problem that’s causing trouble, a User inferred I did not know enough about the Mac. I didn’t want to push it and decided to let it drop (nobody likes being told they don’t know what they’re talking about…). In one of my previous lives, I was an Apple Developer and understand the Mac well enough…

I dropped subject until this morning’s coffee. I’ll avoid further criticism and post here some info about this subject and how it’s affecting Kicad and my Footprints/etc

If reading this link leaves reader with further ‘wondering’, I explain what I’m seeing/experiencing such that it may Help Others facing a similar issue with Kicad/other on a Mac (with Monterey/Catalina)

Quick Summary:
It’s true the Hidden Volumes Dir should contain Alias’s of the files/Apps/etc. BUT, in my case (and appears for others, too) Not all of them are Aliases but, rather the full Enchilada (meaning, a 10 Gig file can be fully duplicated. Thus, bloating . And, broken links).

Looking into this, the links showing up in Kicad Paths (after my Mac and Kicad upgrades) are linked to the Hidden Dir. Screenshot #1

I post additional screenshots of this - no further detail as I’ve previously posted my comments elsewhere.

My Kicad projects should link to the correct Dir/Files, not to the Hidden files/Dir created when installing Monterey/Kicad 6.0.
When looking at the Path links, the Red symbol indicates a problem, the Library Link (shown at Bottom) shows the Correct file/link. But, it’s Not correct. I needed to Manually re-link it (on all of my Kicad projects).

The Hidden duplicated Folder with my Symbols/Footprint/etc…Everything
You can see there’s an Applications Dir (it contains the Full App’s). But, of more interest is that it also contains Duplication of my Kicad folders and contents…

Follow the Red-Line: it passes through the Hidden Volumes (but, those files/contents are NOT Alias’s!!). They should be but, they’re not

Expanding the Application’s Dir, you’d see it filled with duplication of the App’s

The (I’ll call it, “correct”) App’s Dir.

The Hidden App’s Dir

Thus, Bloated system (about 250 Gig’s!!), bad links to Symbols/Footprints/(others’s)…

[Seth_h]

I think that you are off base in the diagnosis.

Open up “Terminal” and type ls -la /Volumes

There, you will see that “Macintosh HD” is a symlink to / There’s no duplication here. In fact, in your bottom screenshot, you see the “Volumes” folder again. You can follow that recursion as many times as you like.

That said, it sounds like you feel that there is a problem somewhere when using KiCad. It is not clear to me what the problem is because I don’t see your PATHS variables. It looks like you might have a project with the old paths variable KICAD_USER_3DMOD that isn’t set to the location where you have your KiCad 6 models.

[BlackCoffee]

Thanks, I appreciate your comment(s).

Sorry, but, I think I’m Not off-base. And, won’t repeat my other previously posted info except for this screenshot from this post…

It’s very possible I’m seeing what I ‘want to to see’ but, I don’t think so…

And, if you Google the subject, you’ll find others having similar issues (not related to Kicad).

How about this example: I use GarageBand (a Mac App). When Monterey made the Alias’s to the App’s, (as I said in another post) not all were made Alias… GarageBand App in the Accessible ‘Applications’ folder was the Real App and an Alias was placed into the Hidden Volumes… It’s size was just a few kB (as an Alias should be).

All of the Alias’s SHOULD BE Alias, as Apple say’s. But, they are not - they range from Meg’s to Gig’s and each is it’s own, unique beast. Not consistent with other App relocation…

I’m not a novice at this. And, I’m reminded of the day I want to the Apple Store with brother having iPhone trouble. I knew the manager (having bought 4 mac’s from him for my consulting company).
I explained, “My brother wants to do this…”. He looked around the store as he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone and said, “You can’t do that with an iPhone, that’s why I use an Android”.

EDIT: Adding; I just Googled ‘OSX Monterey Problems’ and read some… problems range from Memory Leaks to a range of issues and an ‘Open-Minded person’ might say, 'Wow, I had no idea. Perhaps that BlackCoffee guy has a Monterey problem"…

EDIT: I don’t specifically remember seeing this or other message but, I suspect a “Volume Hash Mismatch” is somewhat related to my wonderful Monterey.

EDIT: …More info… Reviewing a number of related items on the Internet, I discovered needing to dig into the Shared Folder to find More info. Below screenshots…

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Here’s the PDF Text… I don’t remember moving anything (or knowing about this) But, perhaps without thinking or seeing it, I moved them to the same location (did many things in trying to solve this…). There is No Shortcut on my desktop. They should have made this info a Must-Read message before upgrading - like a Pop-Up Warning…

This Post is simply Info for others (I don’t expect a solution post)…