Just a PSA for anyone considering updating their system setup with the latest security update from Apple - for me at least, things got somewhat screwed up, so caveat emptor, perhaps it will work for you, but it might not.
Ever since a few days ago I installed the latest security update to macOS 14.3 on both my MBA and MM, the whole setup went haywire. My Topping E50 DAC connected to the MM randomly turns itself on and off, with random symbols flashing on and off. Usually the pattern is - it's turned off, then spontaneously it'll turn on for about 20 minutes, with "USB" sign flashing on the panel, then it'll turn off, stay off for maybe 30 mintues, turn on again, but this time the "USB" is steady, not flashing, then after another 30 minutes it'll turn itself off and so on. Utterly bizarre. I disconnected the DAC from the MM, reconnected, disconnected the DAC from power, reconnected. Nothing helps. Finally, I've just diconnected the power to the DAC to stop the cycling, and if I want to listen to music, I connect it to power - otherwise it seems to work fine.
Meanwhile, I used to be able to just sleep my MBA and wake it and it would still be connected to the MM through screen sharing. Now, the MM immediately disconnects itself. Worse, it used to be that when the MM would get disconnected from the MBA, I could just reconnect it directly. Now I no longer can - I must input my administrator password repeatedly, for "keychain access", "network", and some other things and finally get to the MM and there I must input the admin password for the MM to unlock the screen. Never used to have to jump through hoops like this.
It's hard enough to get everything set up so you can just have the MM act as a music streamer accessed through the MBA and my iPad 10. Now it looks like every time there's a security or some other kind of update, the whole system goes haywire. I better and better understand why people leave their media streamers with whatever OS version they set it up and don't bother updating, as more often then not, it'll screw things up. If you don't need the OS to do anything else than stream (as is the case for my MM), then there really is no point in updating... until Apple makes it impossible to access it from another Apple device because the device has been updated. YMMV.
Ever since a few days ago I installed the latest security update to macOS 14.3 on both my MBA and MM, the whole setup went haywire. My Topping E50 DAC connected to the MM randomly turns itself on and off, with random symbols flashing on and off. Usually the pattern is - it's turned off, then spontaneously it'll turn on for about 20 minutes, with "USB" sign flashing on the panel, then it'll turn off, stay off for maybe 30 mintues, turn on again, but this time the "USB" is steady, not flashing, then after another 30 minutes it'll turn itself off and so on. Utterly bizarre. I disconnected the DAC from the MM, reconnected, disconnected the DAC from power, reconnected. Nothing helps. Finally, I've just diconnected the power to the DAC to stop the cycling, and if I want to listen to music, I connect it to power - otherwise it seems to work fine.
Meanwhile, I used to be able to just sleep my MBA and wake it and it would still be connected to the MM through screen sharing. Now, the MM immediately disconnects itself. Worse, it used to be that when the MM would get disconnected from the MBA, I could just reconnect it directly. Now I no longer can - I must input my administrator password repeatedly, for "keychain access", "network", and some other things and finally get to the MM and there I must input the admin password for the MM to unlock the screen. Never used to have to jump through hoops like this.
It's hard enough to get everything set up so you can just have the MM act as a music streamer accessed through the MBA and my iPad 10. Now it looks like every time there's a security or some other kind of update, the whole system goes haywire. I better and better understand why people leave their media streamers with whatever OS version they set it up and don't bother updating, as more often then not, it'll screw things up. If you don't need the OS to do anything else than stream (as is the case for my MM), then there really is no point in updating... until Apple makes it impossible to access it from another Apple device because the device has been updated. YMMV.