628: Stream Deck Power Users

Episodes
#141

This worked for me in the past as well

1 Like
#142

thanks for all your inputā€¦ Iā€™m getting close I think.

  1. I started stream deck and reinstalled all the plugins I used in the past
  2. I quit Stream Deck then copied over the preference file (the application support folders were already transferred and had the same files and size).
  3. Then I started stream deck ā€¦ and still no joy.
    strange thing is when I checked, the preference file had reset themselves back to 4kb - when the backed up preferences were a 9k file (edit for typo)
    soā€¦ I force quit stream deck using activity monitor and tried again but the sameā€¦
    very strange!

only thing I havenā€™t tried is to reboot the Macā€¦ will try that tomorrow

thanks again everyone for your input - really helpful.

#143

update

I found my old profile backup (which only has 2 of the 8 profiles I created) and it seemed to work, partially. at least some of the icons appeared back on the stream deck - no commands worked but I still havenā€™t restored my keyboard maestro macros fully yet so thatā€™s understood.

I noticed the preferences file went up from 4k to 5k - but when I quit everyone and restored the 9k preference file, it made no difference.

#144

I realize this isnā€™t helpful now, but under the category of ā€œLessons I Have Learned Myselfā€ ā€” I now have a repeating Due.app reminder for Sunday evenings called ā€œSunday Night Backupsā€ where I always manually backup:

  1. All of my Keyboard Maestro macros individually (this got easier in version 10)
  2. Stream Deck Profiles
  3. All of my calendars (BusyCal makes this easy)
  4. My BBEdit preferences and Application Support folder
  5. Contacts to individual vCards

#4 is probably the least necessary, but I wrote a script that makes it easy, and I have BBEdit set up in a very precise way, so I donā€™t want to lose it.

The others are possible-but-difficult to restore from a full-system backup.

Keyboard Maestro macros are stable, but sometimes Iā€™ll start mucking with one and screw it up (which is dumb because you can easily Duplicate it and muck with the duplicate instead, but sometimes I forget to do that).

5 Likes
#145

great advice!

ā€¦I need to do this for your list and a few other things I think fall into the same category.

actually, I did think, last time I migrated to my new shiny 16" top spec M1 MBP, 'Joe, you really need to write down each step of the things you install - in easy to remember ways, because for the life of me, I canā€™t remember things like Lightroom presets etcā€¦

so when I had the urgent crash that needed an overnight wipe and reinstall, I am left scratching around, trying to remember things like thatā€¦

now on my list to do once Iā€™ve got operational again!

andā€¦ I will probably just take time to rebuild my KM / SD setup, backing up all the way!!

thanks for the generous support on this forum! glad I become a member of this community.

1 Like
#146

I would add the following to any backup strategy if you use them:

  • hammerspoon config files
  • shell alias files (bashed or equivalent)
  • crontab settings
  • rsa keys? E.g., for ssh. Not sure about this one
  • Raspberry pi or similar (I keep fiddling with mine and donā€™t document what Iā€™ve done terribly well for future me)
1 Like
#147

I keep my zsh, gitconfig, brew bundle, and other similar files in Git, well worth doing plus it has finally got me to get all my devices in sync!

2 Likes
#148

For someone who has never used Git, any recommendations on how to best learn how to use it?

Thanks.

#149

GitHub has a good guide on it.

Oh Sh*t, Git!?! is a good guide for if you screw something up as well (as I have done often).

And finally, Git has an official (I think) book which is also quite handy.

2 Likes
#150

Cool. Thanks!

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#151

Thatā€™s an interesting idea. Iā€™m fuzzy on where those all live ā€“ do you have separate repos? Or is there a way to have one repo with files from disparate locations? (I only know how to turn a whole directory into a repo, and then selectively include or exclude files via .gitignore.)

#152

The way I (and I think a lot of other people) do it is:

  1. Make a repo
  2. Stick all of your dotfiles/configs/etc into said repo
  3. Symlink/copy those files to their expected locations (I had a script for this although I think it is outdated by now)

Essentially, ā€œmaster copiesā€ go into the repo and everything else is a ā€œshadow copyā€.

2 Likes
#153

Got it. Clever. I might do the opposite: make a repo, then run recurring cron jobs to copy and make sure the repo stays up to date. Or maybe better, make the repo the source of truth and copy to the right locations. I already do something similar with crontab on one machine ā€“ I discovered the hard way that cron -e is one easy typo away from cron -r

#154

That is exactly what I do!

4 Likes
#155

You boys and gals cost me more $ :triumph: Couldnā€™t resist and bought myself a stream deck.

1 Like
#156

Looks like Adorama has the Stream Deck XL on sale today (5/11/22) for $150+tax, which seems like a good price: Elgato Stream Deck XL Keypad with 32 Customizable LCD Keys 10GAT9901

1 Like
#157

I just heard and now Iā€™m on here looking for talk about it.

#158

Thanks for posting this. I bought it and it arrived today. Finally diving in!

2 Likes