M4 Mac mini + Sequoia + networking

TidBITS Talk
1

Anyone else finding weirdness with Sequoia 15.1 networking plus M4 Mac Mini?

Long story short:

  • friday received new M4 Pro Mac Mini & set it up → nice machine (is to be a replacement for headless mac mini in my office)
  • set the static IP
  • Saturday arv go to put it in it’s proper spot and plugged in ethernet (now have ether + wifi)
  • errr no access to external internet, only internal network
  • fluff around for 2 days, then finally called apple tech and finally escalated to senior tech support guy (very patient and thorough chap, I must say)
  • after an hour, we trash ethernet network prefs in /Library, turn off wifi and everything wonderful
  • 10 minutes after the phone call, turned on wifi - boom - back to square one

Pretty sure this is some sort of Sequoia issue, but thought I’d check here.

Bonus issue: if running headless, you can’t remote into the mac unless you plug in keyboard, monitor and “wake the screen” - that doesn’t seem right.

Thanks for reading this far.

Rob

2

I don’t understand the “arv” reference, but maybe it will help to know that I’ve seen weirdness like that when the Mac is connected to both WiFi and Ethernet. Leave WiFi on for airdrop purposes, but “forget network” so it doesn’t connect and see if that helps.

This may also resolve the headless issue, assuming you have “Wake for Network Access” turned on, as the magic packets might be getting lost.

3

I did wonder when I used the local venacular if that might lose someone.

arv = arvo = afternoon. Sorry about that.

Yes, wake for network access is running. Power settings are all full on, no sleeping, napping, etc. Thanks for checking.

Definitely seems to be some sequoia magic going on here.

4

ah, I found a screen saver setting that might be at play here, so ignore that for now.

5

False alarm…that setting didn’t work.

Still hunting how to make M4 Pro Mac Mini headless…

6

arvo

Afternoon, as in see you Saturday arvo . It is often used in the phrase this arvo , which is sometimes shortened to sarvo : meet you after the game, sarvo . Arvo is an example of a special feature of Australian English, the habit of adding -o to an abbreviated word. Other such words are bizzo ‘business’ and journo ‘journalist’. First recorded in the 1920s and still going strong today.

7

sounds pretty bang on to me. Ripper, mate!

1 Like
8

So it looks like you can’t run the machine headless if FileVault is turned on (because it won’t auto-login).
Turn it on and have it automatically log into a low level account (and with suitable lock screens, etc) is a solution, if a little less secure, I guess.

1 Like
9

If the computer is physically located in a secure location (e.g. your home, where you trust the people living there), you may want to disable FileVault.

FV is only meaningful in the event that the computer is physically stolen or is kept powered-off in a place where you can’t trust those with access, since the storage will unlock after the first login.

If you auto-login, then that means FV is disabled.

If you secure your remote access (e.g. suitable access credential requirements, firewalls, etc.), you should be fine.

If, however, your circumstance is that you can’t do this, an alternative would be to get a KVM switch that provides remote access, so you can remotely log in to the locked system. But these devices are not cheap and may actually cost more than that Mac mini.

And, of course, if a KVM is used, you still need physical security, because your access will be driving the device’s console, so anybody with access to the real console will see what you’re doing and will be able to use that console whenever you’re (remotely) logged in.

1 Like
10

I’d say that in addition to location, another consideration in disabling FileVault is what data is stored on your computer.

11

I should add that you don’t need auto-login if FV is disabled - all services are available.

As far as security goes, it’s not hard to find a well ventilated place that is out of view. These Mac Minis are nicely compact.

12

Exactly. I can live without FV on this. Any critical data is further encrypted at rest.

13

Blurring threads here, but I’m just emerging from a similar setup evolution. I’ve just moved into a “Smart” home, where even the MICROWAVE OVEN can be on Wi-Fi (I haven’t the foggiest notion how that would make anyone more productive). However, I decided to make the move an opportunity to replace my (highly modified) 2017 iMac as my desktop computer, which is still fast but unable to take advantage of “Apple Intelligence” because even with 32 GB of RAM it cannot run the current versions of macOS.

I’m retired, so “time” is now a cheap commodity. Therefore, I decided to try using an “ancient” (2010) Apple 24 inch LED Cinema Display as my monitor, ditching the iMac, possibly for a refurb M4 or M4 Pro Mini, then realizing I could get the same result if only I could use my 14" M3 MacBook Pro running in clamshell mode as the CPU, saving oodles of cash by note purchasing the Mac Mini or a current Apple display.

It WORKS! However, there are a few things I don’t understand. For example, my “Sound” dropdown menu includes an item named “Default” and one named “OWC Thunderbolt 3 Audio Device,” neither of which seen to do anything.

But, thus far, the only REAL issue came when I shut down the computer, only realizing after returning this morning and realizing that to begin working again I’d have to disconnect FOUR different cables from the laptop hiding behind the 24" monitor in order to gain physical access to reboot it.

Maybe that’s enough to justify the “sweet spot” on the Apple Mini Refurb offerings (M4 Pro, 24 GB RAM, TB5, 10 gbit Ethernet.

Having moved from a home where the Medusa tangle (atop, underneath, and behind my desk) of a/c power, HDMI, USBA, USBc, TB, and Ethernet cables was a threat to marital harmony I made multiple pilgrmages to inventory-poor Best Buy retail outlets here in Las Vegas (which MUST be the strip mall capital of America) before realizing that as long as I wasn’t ordering a McLaren supercar, I could have virtually ANYTHING delivered within a few hours by gray Amazon panel trucks (even on Sundays). Finally equipped with probably TOO many adapters (no HDMI port on that Cinema Display, which outputs MiniDisplayPort signals, and not enough TB cables to enable my 2017 TB3 OWC “dock” to serve as the interface, but now armed with a LARGE supply of Zip ties, I created an almost-neat braided array of cabling to enable the laptop to cast video AND data (for brightness control, sound output, and pixel density) to that still attractive but old monitor, AND host the lid-closed laptop in a nice cradle.

14

Now following this as I just bought a Mini. My 2014 was headless for a long time until I needed to do zooms and couldn’t get the sound/video working on my 27” Cinema Display (it works fine when plugged in directly)

What cable/adapter did you use for your display? I ordered an Answin after reading a couple of threads saying they tried others and the Answer was the one that worked. They weren’t necessarily don’t headless though.