Discussion around issues in Catlina MacOS

[michael_brado]

There has been a lot of chaos on Catalina MacOS and its interaction with networks that have deployed Ruckus products for wireless service.  Issues are being seen in current Catalina MacOS that did not appear in earlier releases of MacOS: Mojave, High-Sierra, etc.

TAC managers have asked that we share information with our customers.

It is recommended that Macbook users use 10.15.4 who wish to use Catalina OS or have got an relatively older version of Catalina MacOS: namely 10.15, 10.15.1, 10.15.2 or 10.15.3. Apple has fixed a variety of bugs including but not limited to Wi-Fi, Safari stop responding when attempting to use Apple Pay, HSTS enhancement etc.

Apple has released beta version of 10.15.5 and it will soon be available officially on their website.

Some of the useful URLs on issues encountered with Catalino OS are:

-> https://www.techradar.com/news/macos-catalina-10154-gets-a-stability-update-but-reports-claim-its-br...

-> https://macreports.com/mac-catalina-wi-fi-problems-fix/

-> https://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/osx/macbook-pro-constantly-dropping-wireless-connection

-> https://osxdaily.com/2014/04/24/fix-mac-disconnect-wifi-sleep/

 

Please note that Catalina is true 64-bit operating system and Apple has asked all the users to use 64-bit version of those applications. Please read the following URLs for further information:

-> https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/12/20908567/apple-macos-catalina-breaking-apps-32-bit-support-how-t...

 

Quotes on 32-bit applications:

“Apple first announced that it would ultimately wind down support for 32-bit apps more than a year and a half ago, when it began pushing alerts to macOS High Sierra users that 32-bit software was “unsupported.” The apps still worked, but with Catalina’s official unveiling back in June at WWDC, Apple made the eventual discontinuation official. With the launch of Catalina, 32-bit apps no longer function.”

[robert_swidersk]

Our fix was to turn off channel fly and background scanning.  Problem went away on numereous sites.  This problem came about in march after the 10.15.4 Catalina update.

[chris_downing_g]

Hey Rob,

Nice update… I did read some info on "AWDL": https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19587701/what-is-awdl-apple-wireless-direct-link-and-how-does-it... when following a rabbit hole from one of the previous posters. 

Long-story-short AWDL uses 'off-channel' scanning for direct link establishment for services like AirPlay, AirDrop and others… and the techniques employed by Apple reminded me of the Techniques used by Ruckus for ChannelFly. 

Both very cool usage of radio air-time to perform 'other' functions, but it dawned on me that these two together could have been causing an 'incompatibility' so-to-speak.

I had no way of testing as we'd already upgraded the firmware of our AP's (and I was hesitant to downgrade just to prove the point to myself) so your fix sheds a little more light on that possibility.

What I can say is, Apple have been doing work on AWDL (& their wireless drivers more generally) throughout the life of Catalina… and the latest ruckus firmware seems to solve the problem (with ChannelFly still enabled) on all versions of Catalina.