Nov 22, 2020

When will Google drive file stream be available for the new Apple Macbook M1 Silicon?

Allowed full disk access on my macbook, restarted computer and still unable to access file stream.

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Email Migration and Synchronization (POP/IMAP),A Google Workspace end user,enterprise

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Jason Fiore

Nov 26, 2020

For anyone wondering why File Stream does not work with Rosetta 2 on M1 Macs, it's due to the client's use of a kernel extension. Kernel extensions are legacy system extensions that allow applications to hook into the system to perform tasks they otherwise wouldn't be able to.

Because kernel extensions (kexts) work at a lower level than most other applications, they are not compatible with Rosetta 2. Apps with kernel extensions must be rewritten/recompiled to work on Apple Silicon Macs, which is much more difficult than porting a user-level app like Chrome.

Also, since Apple is deprecating kernel extensions due to security concerns, they've made it harder to use them on M1 Macs. Users actually need to boot into recovery mode on their machines and downgrade their security settings in order to allow 3rd party kernel extensions to run at all, which is far more hostile than how they work today on Intel Macs. File Stream would either need to instruct their users on how to perform this task manually or come up with an entirely new implementation that doesn't rely on kernel extensions - and without an official API from Apple, this is not a simple problem to solve and would involve a complete rewrite of the app from scratch. Hopefully, Apple will one day provide an official sanctioned method for file providers to do this kind of work on macOS like they already do on iOS / iPadOS.

tl;dr - Rosetta 2 won't work with apps like Google Drive File Stream by design. It involves a lot more work to get running on M1 Macs than most other apps, both from Google's developers and from users.

Diamond Product Expert LMcKin51- G-Suite-Product Expert recommended this

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LMcKin51- G-Suite-Product Expert

Diamond Product Expert

Google Workspace PE /Google Groups PE

Nov 22, 2020

HI Anthony Espina,

Welcome to Google Workspace Admin Community

we don't know you have to keep check the update blog or the drive stream download page

_______

LMcKin51

Google Workspace Admin Community - Dimaond Products Expert

Google Groups Community- Gold Products Expert

This forum is mostly monitored and managed by Product Experts which are not Google employees.

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Augustin Lluberes

Jan 20, 2021

Great suggestion: in the interim I am using https://mountainduck.io/ as suggested by Roman. Thus far working as expected. A few extra click to navigate to folders but it better than having to upload manually.

Greg Gerosky

Jan 20, 2021

Can't even post my real comment, so now Google not only doesn't provide updates, it tries to suppress public opinion about its shortcomings.

Valerie S888

Jan 21, 2021

I really hope this gets fixed- its frustrating to pay for a suite of services but not be able to fully utilize it.

Laxmi N Khatiwada

Jan 21, 2021

I never expected Google File Stream wont work on Mac M1 chip laptop. Simplify wasted hours trying to make it run. Managing with backup and sync for now but this is not the solution.

Luke Geniella

Jan 22, 2021

this is an ABSOLUTE DISASTER.

Google: how can you prod users into using your product and then leave hang them out to dry like this.

Disgusted, and more importantly, completely blocked at work. I have other words but they aren't very professional.

Also YOU ARE DOING THIS WHILE EVERYONE IS FORCED TO WORK REMOTELY. W. T. F?!?!?!?!

Gordon Gilchrist

Jan 23, 2021

Looks like they aren't going to fix the issue until April!

https://9to5google.com/2021/01/22/google-drive-file-stream-m1/

Google user

Feb 16, 2021

What a joke, if chrome wasn't able to track your cookies on an M1 anymore it'd be fixed in days!

Google user

Apr 2, 2021

This has taken waaay too long.. I’ve been looking for an alternative to Google for file storage and sync + email with own domain + calendar. Unfortunately, I’m too locked in. Tried migrating to Microsoft.... too many implications.

Suggestions anyone?

Google user

Apr 7, 2021

I have been checking every day since April 2, the expected release date of the final v 46 for file stream. I've tried the beta and it doesn't work for me. The instructions don't map well to the Mac and even when I do all the steps, it doesn't work. Can someone from Google please send us a new date for a fix? I may need to go back to the Intel chip if this can't be resolved.

Google user

Apr 13, 2021

Any Update on this from Google?
Been on an M1 since Feb with a new company, and it is freaking annoying that I have to manage files through the web interface...

Stephen Pratt 4982

Apr 27, 2021

Am also waiting on this release, with growing frustration. In the meantime, I've found that odrive is a good alternative, with some benefits that filestream lacks, although I'm not a fan of having to manually push syncing.

Google user

May 27, 2021

with backup and sync it works only on my drive part of google drive. it is not displaying shared drives which is crucial to work with..

hope google will fix it soon.