FCS Upgrade Headache...

Hey guys. I just bought a new computer and new version of FCS and finished all the myriad porting of info, and installation of programs.

However, my installation of FCS seems broken and I wanted to get any thoughts from those who have upgraded already or those who worked with the beta to see if any of my issues have been noticed before.

Though all programs properly open, FCP 7 shows white in both the viewer and canvas. This is in RGB mode, not alpha. Projects open and media plays, but picture is unavailable, though audio is there.

Strangely, if I switch to RGB+Alpha, or RED, GREEN, or BLUE viewing, then I see an image in pause. This goes back to white when play is resumed.

In addition, Motion 4 will sometimes open to a normal, black, viewer. Sometimes it'll open to a white viewer. When it's black and I try to draw a shape with the shape tool, it'll disappear immediately after I release the mouse. If I switch to Transparent mode, I'll see a black shape that represents the shape's opacity. If I open an existing project, elements are not displayed properly (mostly everything displays white).

I'm currently running the new Mac Pro 8core 2.26gHz with OS 10.5.7 and QT 7.6.2.

I'm guessing I'll need to reinstall, but I thought I check and see if anyone else has seen this happen.

Andy

Haven't seen that issue Andy. I assumed you trashed preferences?

Michael Horton
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Yeah, prefs have been trashed for both apps. The only thing I can think of has to do with me using the Migration Assistant to move items from my previous system onto this new one. I didn't move applications because I thought that would break them, but it moved application support files.

I don't know if it made a difference or not, but it's all I've got to go on right now.

Andy

Can always create a new user to see if it cures problem

Michael Horton
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All due respect...I do not agree with that "create a new user" advise regarding FCP - never did. If you boot in that user, you lose all settings for all other apps in the previous user account. You are just digging a bigger hole IMHO.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

True. But for a diagnostic test, it's certainly a good idea. Helps to exclude possibilities, or point to them.

Andy

Start a new user for a diagnostic test? For one app? I'll disagree. I would rather strip out FCP from my user account and reinstall more carefully - not clicking around & letting the machine do it's thing.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Well Andy what ever you decide please keep us informed. I'm sure theres a few of us sitting on the side waiting for reports from the more adventurous.

Goos luck.

Ok. Michael's idea has borne fruit. After doing a complete reinstall of the suite, I had the same problem. Therefore, I decided to try a new user. Lo and behold, FCP now works properly, but only for that user.

So, somehow, what was brought over from the previous system is preventing FCP from operating properly.

The question is, what to do now? I have no idea how to diagnose what it is about this user that has broken FCS.

My best guess at this point is to reimport my user again. I've got 4 years of AppleCare, so I think I'll wait until tomorrow and make someone earn my $190. I'd rather not have to manually deal with my mail, internet and program settings if I can help it but at least I know that it's an option.

More tomorrow.

Andy

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After doing a complete reinstall of the suite, I had the same problem.

Did you totally uninstall it first?

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The question is, what to do now? I have no idea how to diagnose what it is about this user that has broken FCS.

Exactly. There is no way to troubleshoot it in a new user...which is why I disagree with it.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

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Did you totally uninstall it first?

Well, since there doesn't seem to be program specifically designed for the new FCS I was forced to use FCS Remover designed for FCS2. However, it SEEMED to have uninstalled everything. However it did no good.

I think I've ruled out FCS components causing the problem. There's something about the files 'ported over from the previous system that is causing this. Now the previous system was a Tiger system, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

Andy

You "ported over" files from a previous system?? You didn't mention that before. That has everything to do with it. THAT is the #1 no-no in my book - always do fresh installs on a newly upgraded OS / machine.

Wipe & reinstall everything from the ground (OS) up.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Andy,

Using the FCS Remover tool was a good first step.

And, FYI, logging into a new (temporary) user account ("Guest" is the perfect choice for this in OS X 10.5.x) is one of the best ways to start troubleshooting problems, not just for FCP (or other FCS apps). Thanks to Michael for pointing this out.

FCS Remover does not remove older render files, nor does it remove many third-party plugins, kernel extensions, etc.

I experienced similar issues when migrating from Tiger to Leopard. And, I had similar issues moving from a PPC Mac to an Intel Mac. QuickTime plugins, various kernel extensions, and some older third-party plugins for FCP can cause problems.

The best next step would be to erase the hard drive and reinstall OS X and then FCS, without doing any migration. Bring in a test project and see if FCP is working properly. If so, it is very likely that migrating from your previous setup caused the problem (which is probably the case).

For now, I would create the first new user as an "admin" account, not the account you'll migrate things to. This way you can test things and then not have any issues from migrating your data from the previous setup. It is good practice to have a separate "admin" account that is different from your normal user account.

FYI, you can run Migration Assistant.app anytime after you install OS X.

If the reinstall of OS X and FCS solved the issue on a test case, then you will need to be careful about using any migration tool. Migration Assistant.app is much improved in Leopard, but you really need to be careful about moving data from an existing setup to a new one.

I will stop here. If you need more clarification, I will gladly try to help... ;-)

---

On the other hand, if you don't want to reinstall everything, you'll have to start digging into various folders to try to find the offending components, plugins, etc. This can be successful, but it requires more knowledge of the OS and folder/directory structure than most of us are comfortable with... (I'll stop at that.)


-Dave

What Joey said.

Nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

But this installation has a substantial dollar value attached to it.


www.derekmok.com

The problems mostly come at night. Mostly...

_______________________________________
SCQT! Self-contained QuickTime ? pass it on!

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You "ported over" files from a previous system?? You didn't mention that before. That has everything to do with it. THAT is the #1 no-no in my book - always do fresh installs on a newly upgraded OS / machine.

Re-read my 2nd post Joey. I DID mention it before. You must've been too busy taking umbrage at creating a new user for diagnostic purposes to have seen it. Well, at least you have something else to take umbrage over (re: Migration Assistant).

For the record: I'm not some 24-teen who's only been working with macs for 6 months. Believe it or not, I DO know something of what I'm doing.

I did NOT port over any applications; I believe in fresh installs of my programs, which I did. However, there are elements/files from my previous user which I absolutely needed and did not want to spend hours hunting down and recreating on my new system only to forget something because I was doing it manually. I felt that for these things, Migration Assistant was ideally suited to the task.


It turns out that user was corrupted either during the migration, or by installing FCS AFTER migrating.

I archive and deleted the corrupted user and then, from a second admin user, I retried the Migration Assistant.

Good news. FCS now works with the migrated user. My system appears to be completely up and running.

I would recommend to anyone else having problems of this kind to make sure to reinstall Applications BEFORE running Migration assistant.

Andy

Ah...you are correct...I did not see that. My Attention Deficit Disorder again has me skipping lines when I read...

Still...my opinion still stands...Migration Assistant will screw something up - never fails when trying to "save settings".

...and for the record - I never mentioned anything about "some 24-teen" or inexperience or anything of that nature. I have seen you around for a long time. I simply offered up my opinion based on my own experience. I have done the "NEW USER" troubleshoot and the "MIGRATION ASSISTANT" fix...both have buried me. If you don't agree, please feel free to ignore me. Jeff agrees with me...and he hardly ever agrees with me

Migration = trouble in my experience. You are having that trouble now and I believe it is because of migrating files from an old system...period. Not "taking umbrage" with anything. That's my last words on the subject. I hope you fix your problem.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I did fix it, and I apologize if my last comments seemed unduly snarky.

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If you don't agree, please feel free to ignore me.

Oh, I ignore you quite frequently...except when Jeff agrees with you.

Andy

"This installation has a substantial dollar value attached to it."

"You can BILL me!"

For what its worth a Apple support document came out on day of release addressing migration assistant and FCS. Might not have anything to do with this though.

[support.apple.com]

It says:

Final Cut Studio, Logic Studio: Applications may quit unexpectedly when opening after migration

Symptoms
Applications in the Final Cut Studio (2009) and Logic Studio (2009) suites may quit when opening after migration from one Mac OS v10.5 computer to another.

Products Affected
Final Cut Studio (2009), Logic Studio (2009)
Resolution
Final Cut Studio (2009) and Logic Studio (2009) install a newer version of the ProKit framework, which the Mac OS X v10.5 Migration Assistant does not migrate. To resolve the issue, use Software Update:

Choose the Apple (&#63743 menu in the upper-left corner of the screen.
Select Software Update.
Install the ProKit update.

Michael Horton
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Nice find Mike!

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Andy,

Glad to hear you sorted things out and all is well.

Thanks for reporting back and mentioning that you installed and updated things before using Migration Assistant the last time. This is very important, in my experience. By installing the OS, all updates, all applications and their updates, then running Migration Assistant, outdated components and other system items won't replace the newly installed ones.

By doing things in the order that you described, it probably would make everyone's future experience using Migration Assistant much more successful.

I'll have to remember these steps, as I will probably do a clean OS and applications install myself when I move to FCS (2009)...

Thanks to all...


-Dave