If I try to access a prior version when using an Apple app such as TextEdit, by choosing Revert To and then Browse All Versions, the image with the older versions flashes on my screen and then immediately disappears. In its place I get an error message with a small image of a hard disk with three people holding hands. The text says 'There was a problem connecting to the server. URLs with the type “file:” are not supported." All I can do is click OK.
My iMac (2017, 10.14.6) is not networked to any server. This has been true since I got this iMac (running Sierra), and I believe on my prior iMac as well.
I’ve done searches on this. All the discussions I find are pretty old. It has been blamed on iCloud (my documents are stored locally), on Time Machine (I do not use it; it is turned off), or on permissions (which I can no longer fix easily).
Thank you for your reply, but perhaps I didn’t state my problem clearly. I’m referring to the ability to access previous versions of a document that I am actively working on, by using the Revert To and then Browse All Versions menu items. I am not referring to access to versions that have been copied from my main drive to a backup drive by the hourly Time Machine process.
Take Control of Using Mountain Lion, the first version of MacOS to incorporate versions, says on page 135 “Versions are saved on your boot disk, not on a separate disk, and are saved even if Time Machine is off.”
I reviewed some later articles here on TidBITS and none of them make mention of the requirement to have Time Machine turned on.
In addition, if Time Machine were required for versions, why wouldn’t the ability to revert be removed from the menu or at least grayed out? And if the menu item remained active, why not a plain English error message about the need to turn on Time Machine to enable the function?
I still don’t understand the reason for the error message I’m seeing.
@papagordie
Thank you, but the command “Clear Recent Servers…” is grayed out.
@gastropod
Thank you. I read some of his articles. I downloaded Revisionist and opened my small test document. It correctly listed the versions and allowed me to open them.
His articles mention the versions database folder .DocumentRevisions-V100. I used the terminal command to see its size, which is 4GB. He mentions that it is possible to delete that database so that the OS rebuilds it, but that it requires root access, which I am hesitant to utilize. (I do not have any versions that I need to save.)
However, if the database were corrupt, Revisionist presumably would have the same problem as the apps.
@bb1 Thank you. Probably this would help, but just reading Howard Oakley’s columns about the log scares me. My skills are such that it would take me a long time to work through the log, even with Howard’s tools, and the problem is not worth the effort to me. If there is no readily available answer, I will live with it. I now know that I can use Revisionist when I need to.
Since I saw mentions of this problem as long as five years ago, Apple presumably knows about it and is unwilling to fix it. I don’t see any point in filing a bug report.
The fact that it’s a file: URL in the error is somewhat interesting, but I can’t think of how it might be helpful. I wonder if a Spotlight database might have gotten corrupted, such that links to files stored within the Versions database are failing. But that’s really grasping at straws.
It would be worth setting up another account and seeing if you can replicate the problem there.
I had to finish some other projects before attempting this. I logged into a different account, one that I set up three years ago when I got my iMac and had never logged into before - I had to go through the initial setup screens. I opened TextEdit, created a short document, saved it a few times while writing text, then tested my versions problem. Same error message.
I learned of and downloaded a program called console.app from GitHub. It divides log entries by application. I did my test again and these are the messages I got:
DEPRECATED USE in libdispatch client: Changing the target of a source after it has been activated; set a breakpoint on_dispatch_deprecated to debug
DEPRECATED USE in libdispatch client: Changing target queue hierarchy after xpc connection was activated; set a breakpoint on_dispatch_deprecated to debug
If these provide any insight, I would appreciate knowing about it. Thank you.
The messages are indicating that the app is using deprecated library functions. Deprecated functions work, but Apple has told developers to replace them with something else (which should be in the API documentation). Deprecated functions may go away in future releases of macOS.
Apple shouldn’t be releasing apps using deprecated functions, since they are telling third-party developers to migrate away from them, but that alone shouldn’t cause misbehavior.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing you and I can do about it. Only someone with access to the source code (like the developers in Apple) can actually fix the problem.
Thank you, @Shamino. I did think the messages were strange, because as you said deprecated functions should still work, but in this case they do not, or else the problem is something else entirely.
I suppose now I should file a bug report with Apple and ask them why their app is using deprecated calls that do not work. Since I’m on Mojave, if I get a response at all, it will probably be a recommendation to upgrade.
I wonder if something like the Launch Services database has been corrupted. A maintenance utility like Cocktail can help you rebuild it easily. Might be worth a shot.
