This is fascinating. My mid-2015 MBP on High Sierra and my Mini 2018 on Mojave both give Not a Number.
My mid-2011 Mini and 2017 MBA, both on Sierra, give a numeric answer, as do both our iPhones. So because I'm now fascinated by this bug, I rebooted my MBP onto Sierra and… got a numeric answer. It's looking a lot like a bug introduced in High Sierra. I wonder what release the guy in the Apple store was running… maybe they fixed it in Catalina. > On Jan 8, 2020, at 6:29 PM, Dinse, Gregg (NIH/NIEHS) [C] > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I guess it's sounding more like a software problem than a hardware problem... > > From: Macs R We <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at 8:26 PM > To: Gregg Dinse <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Cc: "[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>" > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > Subject: Re: problem with Calculator app > > I get Not a Number using either your keystrokes or mine. This is weird. > >> On Jan 8, 2020, at 6:23 PM, Dinse, Gregg (NIH/NIEHS) [C] >> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >> >> My problem machine is at the office. I'm at home now and the Calculator app >> works fine on that mac. >> >> I guess there are multiple ways to calculate exp(-1). What I have been >> doing is the following. I open the Calculator app and set View/Scientific. >> I click on 1, then the +/- key, and then the eˣ key. At home, the results >> field shows 1, and then -1, and then 0.367879... as I click those 3 keys. >> At the office, I got 1 and then -1 and then "Not a number". As you noted, >> another way to calculate exp(-1) is to click the minus sign, then 1, then >> the equals sign, and then the eˣ key. This gives the correct response at >> home, but I did not try that at the office. In any event, both should >> function properly and at least one does not give the correct answer on my >> iMac at the office. >> >> Over the next day or two, I will boot my iMac at the office from an external >> disk with a version of the OS for which the Calculator app works fine when >> booting at home. Hopefully this will help me figure out if it's a hardware >> or software problem. >> >> Gregg >> >> From: Macs R We <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> >> Date: Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at 7:48 PM >> To: C D Tavares <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> >> Cc: Gregg Dinse <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>, >> "[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>" >> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> >> Subject: Re: problem with Calculator app >> >> The ironic part is that I just tried the sequence myself: >> >> - 1 = eˣ >> >> and got "Not a Number." 😳 >> >> (High Sierra, MBP 2015) >> >> >>> On Jan 8, 2020, at 1:53 PM, Macs R We <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>> On the other hand, if it's clearly your hardware, you may have a much >>> easier time of wangling a free repair or replacement from Apple. >>> >>>> On Jan 8, 2020, at 1:45 PM, Dinse, Gregg (NIH/NIEHS) [C] >>>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>>> >>>> Thanks for the suggestion. I should be able to do this, but probably not >>>> today. I never even thought about the hardware being the problem. That >>>> is upsetting. >>>> >>>> Gregg >>>> >>>> From: Macs R We <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> >>>> Date: Wednesday, January 08, 2020 at 3:40 PM >>>> To: "Dinse, Gregg (NIH/NIEHS) [C]" <[email protected] >>>> <mailto:[email protected]>> >>>> Cc: "[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>" >>>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> >>>> Subject: Re: problem with Calculator app >>>> >>>> What's scary about this is that the response "not a number" is often a >>>> response directly from the hardware. >>>> >>>> If, like me, you are lucky enough to have on hand an external drive with >>>> relatively virgin copies of various Apple operating systems, you could >>>> boot one of them and see if you get the same result. It's possible that >>>> you will get this result no matter which operating system you boot on that >>>> hardware, whereas if you take the same drive and boot someone else's Mac >>>> with it, you may get proper results. That would pretty definitively show >>>> that the problem is your chip. >>>> >>>>> On Jan 8, 2020, at 12:49 PM, Dinse, Gregg (NIH/NIEHS) [C] >>>>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Hi, >>>>> >>>>> I am running the latest version of Mojave (10.14.6) on a fairly new iMac. >>>>> Using the Scientific view in the Calculator app, I tried to evaluate >>>>> exp(-1) and it said "Not a number". I tried several other negative >>>>> values and none worked, even though they certainly should. When I tried >>>>> taking 10 to the -1 power, I got the correct result (0.1), but for some >>>>> reason it has a problem raising "e" (the base for natural logarithms) to >>>>> a negative power. >>>>> >>>>> I tried quitting the app, but that did not help. I tried rebooting my >>>>> mac, but that did not help. I contacted our support group and they said >>>>> the only thing they could do is to reinstall the operating system, which >>>>> seems like a drastic step. And exp(-1) worked just fine on the support >>>>> person's mac. >>>>> >>>>> Is there anything else that someone can suggest, short of reinstalling >>>>> the OS? The support person said that we could not simply replace the >>>>> Calculator app because it was part of the OS. Any thoughts? >>>>> >>>>> Thanks, >>>>> >>>>> Gregg >> >> -- >> Macs R We -- Personal Macintosh Service and Support >> in the Wickenburg and far Northwest Valley Areas. >> http://macsrwe.com <http://macsrwe.com/> > > -- > Macs R We -- Personal Macintosh Service and Support > in the Wickenburg and far Northwest Valley Areas. > http://macsrwe.com <http://macsrwe.com/> -- Macs R We -- Personal Macintosh Service and Support in the Wickenburg and far Northwest Valley Areas. http://macsrwe.com
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