Page 1 of 1
Forum

Welcome to the Tweaking4All community forums!
When participating, please keep the Forum Rules in mind!

Topics for particular software or systems: Start your topic link with the name of the application or system.
For example “MacOS X – Your question“, or “MS Word – Your Tip or Trick“.

Please note that switching to another language when reading a post will not bring you to the same post, in Dutch, as there is no translation for that post!




Pi-Baker 2.2.7 (bet...
 
Share:
Notifications
Clear all

Pi-Baker 2.2.7 (beta) on Big Sur issue with Helper.

5 Posts
2 Users
0 Likes
6,252 Views
(@mmmtaart)
New Member
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 2
Topic starter  

Hello all,

I had a fatal Raspberry Pi problem over the weekend which resulted in a bit of a nightmare of trying to restore previous configuration data, and, as Pi-Baker was the tool that I used in the past I tried to launch it to see how/if it could help me with the mess I had to deal with.

Unfortunately, as soon as I launch Pi-Baker, using the latest beta (2.2.7, apparently), I'm asked to provide my password to install the Helper.  I do that, but, the panel for authentication re-appears and I have to enter my password a second time.  I do that, but, Pi-Baker then reports:

Fatal Error:

Unable to Install, Update or Activate HelperTool.

The com.tweaking4all.ApplePiBakerHelper Helper is installed in the correct location (/Library/PrivilegedHelperTools), and it has the time/date stamp of whenever I try to Launch Pi-Baker.

I have also ensured that Pi-Baker has Full Disk Access granted to it in the System Preferences.

Nothing in the logs/console is particularly clear about why this is failing, and launching Pi-Baker from the command line also doesn't give any indication as to what, precisely, is failing.

Is this Just Me, or is this a known issue with Big Sur and this version of Pi-Baker?


   
ReplyQuote
 Hans
(@hans)
Famed Member Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 2654
 

Hi mmmtaart!

Sorry to hear you're running into issues.
Yes, 2.2.7 is the currently most recent beta. 👍 

So for some reason macOS is not installing the helper tool all that good.
I'd start by removing ApplePi-Baker and the Helper tool, do a reboot, and try to install APB again.
Even though "reboot your computer" sounds like the lamest suggestion, it does help even on a Mac. Then again: you may have already done this.

I'm not sure what kind of Mac you have (since I have no means to test the newer M1 models), and if your account is the Admin account (required to install the Helper Tool - but by the sound of it, your account is and admin account).


   
ReplyQuote
(@mmmtaart)
New Member
Joined: 3 years ago
Posts: 2
Topic starter  

Alas, that did not work!

I did:

  • Removed the .app and emptied the trash
  • Removed the /Library/PrivilegedHelperTools/com.twe* file
  • Removed the /Library/LaunchDaemons plist file (the unload command failed)
  • Rebooted

From there, I re-installed from the DMG file, ran the App and was prompted (twice) to provide my Admin password on my 2019 MacPro.

Both the LaunchDaemons plist and the Helper are installed, however, the issue MAY be that launchctl can't invoke the plist from LaunchDaemons, as if I manually run the Helper as root (ugh), and run Apple Pi-Baker, the app starts fine.

So the process that is checking not just for the installation of the Helper, but, invoking it to run, presumably as root (to access raw devices, I'm assuming), seems to be what is broken here.

I also created the log files and chmodded them 666 to try to catch any stderr/stdout, but, nothing is actually logged (/var/log/t4 etc).


   
ReplyQuote
 Hans
(@hans)
Famed Member Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 2654
 

Logging is not implemented all that well.
You can see log messages in console though, but most of these messages are generated by macOS and are not all that meaningful or useful.
I usually filter by "APPLEPIBAKER" or "com.tweaking4all" to get relevant messages.

For example:

495 13:43:12.218049+0200 Dock LAUNCH: Successful launched 0x0-0xb2bb2b pid=10051 com.tweaking4all.ApplePiBaker  '<private>'
 
Which indicates (in my case) that the helper tool started correctly.

Maybe there is a message indicating some more details.

I'm posting this now, just before rebooting (I'm doing the steps you've described, in hopes that I can reproduce).


   
ReplyQuote
 Hans
(@hans)
Famed Member Admin
Joined: 11 years ago
Posts: 2654
 

Steps I did to try to reproduce:

1. Removed all files (application, plists, helper tool)
2. Reboot to make sure the helper tool was unloaded (I have seen the "unload" option fail before, so that's why I always reboot)
3. Download the latest beta, and installed the app
4. Run -> enter admin password to allow installing the helper tool

No errors, worked as expected/hoped.

Did an additional check to see if I found anything funky/missing in Security - Privacy and found only these listed:

Full Disk Access lists (checked):
- com.tweaking4all.ApplePiBakerHelper
- ApplePi-Baker

Files and Folders lists (checked):
- com.tweaking4all.ApplePiBakerHelper
- ApplePi-Baker

From what I can see in your findings; in your case indeed the Helper tool doesn't kick in - even though it should.
Running is manually as root is obviously not a solution haha. Good find though!

Can you see any messages related to com.tweaking4all.ApplePiBakerHelper in Console?


   
ReplyQuote


Like what you see and you'd like to help out? 

The best way to help is of course by assisting others with their questions here in the forum, but you can also help us out in other ways:

- Do your shopping at Amazon, it will not cost you anything extra but may generate a small commission for us,
- send a cup of coffee through PayPal ($5, $10, $20, or custom amount),
- become a Patreon,
- donate BitCoin (BTC), or BitCoinCash (BCH).

Share: