Earlier this week I have upgraded to macOS Mojave, and since then I have not been able to capture data to my QRecall archive.

I have given the QRecallHelper app Full Disk Access, but the process seems to get stuck in the Opening Archive stage of the capture.

I am able to open the archive and browse it's contents without issue. So is QRecall supposed to be compatible with Mojave?

Paul

Paul,

QRecall is, for the most part, compatible with Mojave. There are still issues with Full Disk Access, which we're currently working with Apple to resolve, but you've taken the correct step of adding the ~/Library/Application Support/QRecall/QRecallHelper program to the Full Disk Access group.

There are some minor bugs you might encounter. Mojave makes some subtle changes in how timers work and you might experience issues like the QRecall scheduler sometimes won't actually schedule anything for about 15 minutes after you first boot the system?oddities like that.

Mojave doesn't really change how the archives are accessed, so if you're getting "waiting for archive" status messages then maybe something else is going on. You might start by sending us a diagnostic report (Help > Send Report) and take a look at the troubleshooting topic in Help > QRecall Help > Guide > Troubleshooting > Problems > Can't Open Archive. (Note that opening an archive to modify it and opening an archive to read/browse it are different modes, and one can still work while the other is stuck.) Often just waiting 10 or 15 minutes, or a restart, will break these kinds of deadlocks.

The big outstanding issue is that Mojave's Full Disk Access doesn't act consistently. Even if you grant the QRecallHelper program Full Disk Access, some future captures might still be unable to read restricted items. Keep an eye out for an update that addresses this.

Thank you for the detailed response to Paul, James ? and for your problem report, Paul.

I?m on Mojave, too, and while I haven?t had the problem Paul reports, I have had consistent problems with QRecall Monitor reporting that there have been Capture issues with various files in ~/Library and one in ~/Pictures. In each case, the problem is ?Unable to read extended attribute data.?

I?d given QRecall.app and QRecall Monitor.app Full Disk Permissions, but that had no effect. I?ve just now removed those permissions and instead given them to QRecallHelper. I?ll try to post tomorrow with an update.

Problem solved!

What actually solved the problem? I have QRecallHelper with full disk permissions but I still get the capture issues as you describe.

Paul,

The problem is Mojave. Even when you grant the helper app Full Disk Access, sometimes the operating system still denies access to protected items.

Note: first make sure you've granted the QRecallHelper app Full Disk Access. Between QRecall versions 2.1.4 and 2.1.5 the helper has changed from an executable file to an executable bundle. If you've granted the file Full Disk Access, remove it and replace it with the app. The Capture Assistant will walk you through the steps.

It seems to be a timing issue. If the helper immediately attempts to access a protected item, it will typically get blocked. But if it first reads a bunch of other files and then tries to access the same item, the request is granted.

Consequently, initial and infrequent captures tend to work just fine, while frequent ones will often fail. The reason is that when only a few items have changed since the last capture, QRecall jumps right to those items. And if one of them is protected, it access is denied.

As a workaround, I've found that setting the "Deep Scan" option of the capture action helps. It significantly increases the capture time (because QRecall checks every directory), but it's enough busy work to skirt around the bug and capture all of the files.

Naturally, I've brought this to Apple's attention and have had some short conversations about it. But at the moment, I'm waiting on Apple for a solution.

Hi James, thanks for the update. In general things are working now, after granting full disk access I rebooted and all appears to be OK. I have another issue, but after investigation I will create a new thread!