Adobe acknowledges InDesign crashes with Apple's 2012 MacBooks

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Users running Apple's latest MacBooks featuring Intel Ivy Bridge processors are experiencing system crashes with Adobe's popular InDesign software.

The issue has been documented by InDesign users on Adobe's official website where a forum thread has been growing since mid-June. The problem appears to be limited to users who are running just-released MacBook Pros or MacBook Airs featuring Intel's Ivy Bridge processors and OS X 10.7.4.

Adobe technical support employee Scott Worthington confirmed in the thread that the issue is related to a change made by Apple in OS X 10.7.4 The latest MacBook models, including the new MacBook Pro with Retina display, ship with OS X 10.7.4 preinstalled, making it difficult to "roll back" the operating system to a previous version.

"At this time it appears the update is removing an API we use to control our use of system icons," Worthington wrote. "At present the solution appears to be to rollback the update for the software to continue to function as expected."

Worthington added in a subsequent post that he's unsure if the problem will persist when Apple releases OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion later this month. He did not attempt to explain why the issue appears to be isolated to new 2012 MacBook models with Ivy Bridge processors.

"We're taking this issue very seriously," he said. "I wish we had more to share at this time but I'll be sure to share what comes down the line from the engineers relating to solutions or any workarounds they can find."

Crash


User "arminvit," who started the thread on June 15, found that they were able to address the problem by restoring their 2012 MacBook to factory settings and not installing the "MacBook Pro (Mid 2012) Software Update" available from Apple that includes OS X 10.7.4.

When running the latest version of OS X on their 2012 MacBook Pro, that user found that InDesign would crash when trying to delete a page that has content, and also when packaging a file. Users in the thread said the issue occurs with both Creative Suite 5 and Creative Suite 6.

When the crash occurs, InDesign attempts to post a warning box. However, the box is displayed blank except for the text "Warning," and InDesign promptly crashes.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 58
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    That alert box pretty much sums up Adobe's effort into making Mac software.
  • Reply 2 of 58
  • Reply 3 of 58
    kpluckkpluck Posts: 500member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

    ...Worthington added in a subsequent post that he's unsure if the problem will persist when Apple releases OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion later this month. 


    ...."We're taking this issue very seriously," he said. "I wish we had more to share at this time but I'll be sure to share what comes down the line from the engineers relating to solutions or any workarounds they can find."


     


    In the main thread about this in the Adobe forums, it has already been confirmed that the bug is present in the 10.8 beta. I am guessing he said that hoping to buy some time.


     


    Wish they had more to share?? B.S. How about sharing if you have an idea on how to fix the problem and how long it is expected to take? How about sharing if you have talked to Apple and what they said about the problem. How about letting someone with real information talk to the press instead of someone from the P.R. department that knows almost nothing about the problem?


     


    UPDATE: I will also add that Adobe hasn't updated their "known issues" page with this problem 


     


    Don't get me wrong, I am not laying this all at Adobe's feet. How a release of OS X got out into the wild with such an easy to identify problem in a major piece of software speaks to exactly how much thought and care Apple is putting into its testing procedures which in turns says a lot about how much Apple cares about its professional users. Of course, I guess that memo was sent long ago.


     


    -kpluck

  • Reply 4 of 58
    dualiedualie Posts: 334member


    I'm sure the InDesign 6.5 "upgrade", no doubt releasing before people have even figured out there is a version 6, will solve one or two problems, while introducing exciting new tweaks to the tool bar.

     

  • Reply 5 of 58
    neiltc13neiltc13 Posts: 182member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post



    That alert box pretty much sums up Adobe's effort into making Mac software.


     


    Or, it sums up Apple's attitude to Mac OS X if it is simply leaving developers to find out the hard way that it is removing APIs.


     


    Apple's developer support leaves a lot to be desired, especially for Mac OS.

  • Reply 6 of 58
    jjthompsjjthomps Posts: 24member


    As someone who has been encountering this issue on old projects migrated to the new CS6 on a Retina MBP I'm at least glad they have admitted a problem rather than make me spend any more time trying to troubleshoot the damn thing.

  • Reply 7 of 58

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by neiltc13 View Post


     


    Or, it sums up Apple's attitude to Mac OS X if it is simply leaving developers to find out the hard way that it is removing APIs.


     


    Apple's developer support leaves a lot to be desired, especially for Mac OS.



     


    Most likely Adobe was using a private API that's now been changed or removed in the special build of 10.7.4 released with the new Macs. Apple has zero obligation to inform developers of changes to APIs that they aren't supposed to be using in the first place.

  • Reply 8 of 58
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post



    That alert box pretty much sums up Adobe's effort into making Mac software.


     


    Yep... Adobe seems to be falling asleep at the wheel... again...


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by neiltc13 View Post


     


    Or, it sums up Apple's attitude to Mac OS X if it is simply leaving developers to find out the hard way that it is removing APIs.


     


    Apple's developer support leaves a lot to be desired, especially for Mac OS.





    Get a clue.  If you even remotely keep tab on what's going on with Apple's OS release schedule, Apple gives developers the opportunity to test updates before publishing it to the world.  Are you even a developer in the know, or are you simply some weekend wannabe coder?

  • Reply 9 of 58
    emig647emig647 Posts: 2,455member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by kpluck View Post


    Don't get me wrong, I am not laying this all at Adobe's feet. How a release of OS X got out into the wild with such an easy to identify problem in a major piece of software speaks to exactly how much thought and care Apple is putting into its testing procedures which in turns says a lot about how much Apple cares about its professional users. Of course, I guess that memo was sent long ago.


     


    -kpluck



     


    Why is this apple's fault? It isn't their job to make their hardware compatible with 3rd party software. It is up to the developers to make their software work with new OS releases. It's part of their jobs. Who knows what kind of janky hacks Adobe is using with their ancient code base. 

  • Reply 10 of 58
    emig647emig647 Posts: 2,455member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sflocal View Post


     


    Yep... Adobe seems to be falling asleep at the wheel... again...


     




    Get a clue.  If you even remotely keep tab on what's going on with Apple's OS release schedule, Apple gives developers the opportunity to test updates before publishing it to the world.  Are you even a developer in the know, or are you simply some weekend wannabe coder?



    +1 to this. Apple gives a ton of a notice (much more than other companies I could name) of when they are going to deprecate something.

  • Reply 11 of 58
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    So the real questions here are;

    What API(s) were removed…and

    Can they be reinstalled somehow, using Pacifist to remove the appropriate modules from the 10.7 installer?…or

    Will their reinstallation cause other problems for the OS?

    The last question is whether Apple removed these intentionally, or whether it was inadvertent.
  • Reply 12 of 58
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post



    That alert box pretty much sums up Adobe's effort into making Mac software.




    It equally shows Apple's slack efforts at testing their products before putting them in the hands of users.

  • Reply 13 of 58
    bartfatbartfat Posts: 434member


    @cnocbui


     


    You can't be serious, right?  Apple's products function just fine; it's Adobe who's relying on private APIs that they shouldn't be relying on anyway that crash their software.  Why would Apple have any obligation to clean up after purely third party software issues?

  • Reply 14 of 58
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    neiltc13 wrote: »
    Or, it sums up Apple's attitude to Mac OS X if it is simply leaving developers to find out the hard way that it is removing APIs.

    Uh… huh.

    I take it back, I think I like how DaHarder and MacRulez never post anymore. If we could get ALL trolls to just +1 comments they like instead of posting their own opinions and responses, eventually there won't be any more posts for them to +1 at all!
    cnocbui wrote: »
    It equally shows Apple's slack efforts at testing their products before putting them in the hands of users.

    What?
    melgross wrote: »
    The last question is whether Apple removed these intentionally, or whether it was inadvertent.

    The APIs were intentionally removed. The damage done was inadvertent.
  • Reply 15 of 58


    This is wonderful, so it's going to take Adobe, what, two years to come up with a fix that they will "roll" into a future CS release?


     


    Adobe makes crap bloatware and needs to die.

  • Reply 16 of 58
    shaun, ukshaun, uk Posts: 1,050member


    This is precisely why I never buy new hardware or software as soon as it's released, especially Apple kit which almost always seems to have problems in the first few months. Adobe isn't much better either.

  • Reply 17 of 58

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bartfat View Post


    @cnocbui


     


    You can't be serious, right?  Apple's products function just fine; it's Adobe who's relying on private APIs that they shouldn't be relying on anyway that crash their software.  Why would Apple have any obligation to clean up after purely third party software issues?



     


    Why does Apple allow third party software to access private APIs? It seems that Apple should tighten that up, don't you think?

  • Reply 18 of 58
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member


    Trolls and iHaters are once again out in full force displaying the exact same amount of cluelessness of how software development works and managed.



    Come on mods, can't you spray some pest-be-gone on these guys?

  • Reply 19 of 58
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    This is wonderful, so it's going to take Adobe, what, two years to come up with a fix that they will "roll" into a future CS release?

    Adobe makes crap bloatware and needs to die.

    You forgot to add that they'll charge you $3,000 for the upgrade.
    Why does Apple allow third party software to access private APIs? It seems that Apple should tighten that up, don't you think?

    Developers have been told repeatedly not to use undocumented APIs. Why is it Apple's fault that Adobe can't follow instructions?
  • Reply 20 of 58
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    sflocal wrote: »
    Trolls and iHaters are once again out in full force displaying the exact same amount of cluelessness of how software development works and managed.

    Come on mods, can't you spray some pest-be-gone on these guys?

    We don't actually have a trolling policy here. As long as forum users aren't being insulted or accosted, they can say whatever they want.

    We do have a Feedback subforum, though!
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