Cura will not launch except from Applications folder (Mac)

[KenLucke]

Application Version

All

Platform

Mac OS 10.15.7 (Catalina)

Printer

N/A

Reproduction steps

Move Cura out of Applications folder Launch Cura

This is a long standing issue I just finally decided to mention. I have my apps in folders relating to their function, for organizational purposes (well, most of them, as some act like Cura and refuse to run properly when moved). I.e., I have all my 3D related apps in one, my Productivity apps in another, my Utility apps in another, Graphics, Audio, etc., all in grouped folders, within the Application Folder itself. With literally hundreds of apps on my system, I have to organize things more cleanly.

Actual results

Refuses to run.

If it is placed in the actual OS recognized "Applications" folder, it runs fine.

Expected results

Apps should run from wherever the user chooses to place them. They are, after all supposedly self-contained (i.e., "containers"), with preferences and application support files stored in the user's Library folder hierarchy. Where the app itself is located should make no difference, this should be the users' choice. Most of my apps don't care where they are, so it's not an inherent thing.

Running it from an Alias in the sub-folder pointing to the original in the Applications Folder works, but this is not my ideal solution.

Checklist of files to include

• [ ] Log file
• [ ] Project file

Additional information & file uploads

N/A

[fvrmr]

Hi @KenLucke thank you for your report. This should work, could you try to install Cura again and when the dmg pops up to drag Cura to the Application folder. You drag Cura to the folder you would like.

Let me know if that works!

[KenLucke]

Hi @KenLucke thank you for your report. This should work, could you try to install Cura again and when the dmg pops up to drag Cura to the Application folder. You drag Cura to the folder you would like.

Let me know if that works!

I have tried this every single upgrade since I started using Cura. It "launches" then dies before the splash screen/loading dialog even shows.

[fvrmr]

Hmm strange. I tried it myself also on Catalina 10.15.7 and I could drag Cura to my desktop from the dmg with no issues. I created a folder in my application folder and that also works, both Cura launches perfectly.

[KenLucke]

I made a screencast, where I copied it directly from the .dmg to the sub-folder where I keep my 3D apps. You can see it copy, and when I launch it, it goes through some initial verification, but then does not run (if it were running, you'd see a little black tick mark next to its icon in the dock. You can also see the aliases for the last two versions there, which point to the ones in the application folder, and which launch the app fine.

I then deleted that one, and copied directly to my applications folder. Running that one goes through the standard steps, gets my clearance from my network monitor (which was never requested by the one above, so it never got that far) and actually runs and opens its interface.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/szhvkrgsm7sl543/%20Cura%20Not%20Launching.mp4

[Ghostkeeper]

What I see in that recording, is that MacOS pops up with a question that "This is an application downloaded from the internet. Are you sure you want to run this?", but that pop-up disappears immediately, seemingly without interaction. Maybe something is up with MacOS before it even starts Cura.

Do you have a log file of when it didn't open?

[KenLucke]

It disappears because, instead of moving the mouse to the button and clicking, I was using the mouse to hold the dock open visually, so I hit [Return] (which activates the default button and accepts it. It disappeared seemingly immediately because I was anticipating it [having gone through this many times) and hit [Return] as soon as it popped up. If I don't, it does sit there until I deal with it). It does the same if I actually mouse the button. I'll look for logs.

[KenLucke]

OK, it never gets as far as even creating the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Cura/. Therefore, no log files, which was I what I suspected would be the case.

To test, I zipped my current v4.12 beta preferences folder, moved it out of the ~/Library/Application Support/Cura folder just to be sure, and ran a freshly copied Cura from the non-application folder, while watching the ~/Library/Application Support/Cura folder. The 4.12 folder was never created. Running it "legitimately" from the Applications folder, that preferences folder was created and populated just a split second before the first splash screen for Cura showed (factoring in the time it takes for it to show up in a Finder window).

I also tried leaving the older 4.12 log file in place and ran the new app from the non-Applications folder to see if it would find it and modify it. It didn't. The log file was byte-for-byte identical to the one from prior to running the rogue folder app.

[KenLucke]

I'm finally being forced into upgrading from Catalina. Photoshop's latest version refuses to use my graphics processor and continually tells me I'm an idiot for not upgrading. It's been a long resistance, as there are some programs I use that simply will not run beyond Catalina, but now it's down to programs I use sometimes that won't work past Catalina, vs. those I must use (I am a photographer) requiring it.

So, I will no longer be able to test this on Catalina, unless one of the other accounts on this computer will stay on that OS after my main account upgrades. I will let you know if the issue persists after the upgrade, as a data point.

[KenLucke]

OK, upgraded, issue still remains.

[Ghostkeeper]

OK, it never gets as far as even creating the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Cura/. Therefore, no log files, which was I what I suspected would be the case.

Since it's happening before the configuration folder gets created, that means it stops before Application.initialize(), most likely even during the imports. If it is a Python error, it occurs even before the early-crash dialogue has been loaded, or you'd see a crash dialogue. The imports are likely because it's the very first thing that happens, and it expects to find Python libraries. But it could also just be that Python itself doesn't start when it's not in the Applications folder. It has libraries too.

Running from a terminal might garner a bit more information, but this is something we can expect from a developer rather than a user. I'm sharing this issue with the team to see what they think about it.

[KenLucke]

Running from a terminal might garner a bit more information, but this is something we can expect from a developer rather than a user. I'm sharing this issue with the team to see what they think about it.

I can give that a try. I'm not a typical user. I've been using computers since the late '70s, and I'm fairly comfortable "on the metal," and have beta tested for literally decades. Let me see what I can do.

[KenLucke]

Same results.

{493} KensMacBookPro2018LAN: open -a "/Applications/3D Printer : CD/Ultimaker Cura.app" ; ps -e | grep "(Ultimaker|cura)"
69927 ttys000    0:00.00 grep (Ultimaker|cura)
{494} KensMacBookPro2018LAN: 

"Verification" dialog comes up, then the "Downloaded from internet, do you really want to run it?" dialog, then nothing. No logs, no support folder, no active processes with "ultimaker" or "cura" in their name (with the exception of the grep process itself). It creates the icon in the Dock when it tries to run, just as it does double clicking from the Finder, but it's not an active app (just the residual showing of one of the last three apps "run." Clicking on that icon shows an instantaneous "running app" tick mark, but it disappears within a quarter of a second. Not sure how to trace what's happening during that split second. All the same as originally reported.

I also tried running the executable within the package directly, with the same results.

[zuul47]

Won't even launch on my Mac. It's a MacPro 2010 w/ High Sierra.