Hi Leonard, so your /tmp permissions look ok.

I guess you could try upgrading from 10.6.x to 10.7 Lion, that could possibly reset whatever has gotten messed up. Either that or wipe the disk and do a reinstall of Snow Leopard.

That you have gotten different results since doing a volume repair certainly does suggest to me that something has gotten messed up on your machine somehow.

After you did that repair, you can now save files ok, is that correct? And it's just opening of specifically .ai and .pdf files that is not working for you? Do other file types like 3DM files open ok now?

- Michael

Hi.

Yes, I can create and save .3dm files. Also, I can open them using Command O and by dropping the file on the app icon in the dock. Double clicking does not work; I get the dialog in pic 1 (attached). Only v3 Beta is in the Applications folder.

Some .ai files open normally - Comm O and dropping on icon - and others have "Invalid Name" dialog (pic 2). No luck with .pdf. When I try to open the original 8 files sent in the first post, the "invalid Name" popped up with the file I tried.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, the screenshot you show there with that dialog pic says on it that the version being used there is the Jan-31 beta release.

That's a pretty old beta version and it's expired now, you should remove that old beta release .app entirely and instead use the full release version, the full version does not expire and also has various fixes in it from that old beta release, including a fix for drag/drop of other than 3DM files onto the dock icon.

So using that old expired beta release is at least part of what is going on there.

You can get the full release version from here:
http://moi3d.com/reinstall.htm

And you can also get the brand new v3 beta release from here:
http://moi3d.com/beta.htm

I'm actually not really sure how you tell Mac OSX which program you want to have open when you double click a file in finder, but you seem to have it currently set up to open that old expired beta version of MoI for that, that's why it puts up that expired dialog.


That particular "invalid name" thing was a bug in older versions that was fixed up with the Apr-29 beta.

So anyway all that you are showing there is explained by running older beta versions, please make sure you're running an updated version of MoI (either the full v2.5 release rather than one of the earlier betas, or the just released v3 beta) and that should solve those problems. If not then please let me know.

- Michael

Also it's a new feature in the just released v3 beta that the PDF import has been improved, so if you're trying to import PDF files you want to be using that new v3 beta release and not that old v2.5 beta from January 31st.

The new PDF importer should work a lot better and be able to read PDF files that the previous one got confused by.

It also improves AI v9 or higher AI files as well which are actually PDF files. You do however need to save the .AI file from Illustrator with the "Make PDF compatible" checkbox turned on as described previously in this thread.

If you want to use the v2.5 full release (the full version that does not expire) rather than the new v3 beta release, that one has the old PDF importer which was not very reliable - to work with that version you need to export to a V8 or earlier type AI file in the export options when saving from Illustrator.


Previously I just assumed that you were using the current versions - but you're actually using some old beta releases and that explains some of the problems that you are running into, there's a whole bunch of bugs that have been fixed since then.


- Michael

So anyway probably a full disk wipe will not be needed - it seems that the disk repair did fix whatever was messed up, and you just need to update MoI to use the final v2.5 release or the current v3 beta to solve these remaining problems.

Also don't forget that when saving an AI file from Illustrator to check the "Make PDF compatible" option though.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

He's b-a-c-k.

The next chapter; please read the entire post.

After the last post, I had to deal with some lingering thoughts (yours and mine) regarding hardware and software.
1. Computer crashed:
MOI is the only app to crash (only twice to date and likely my fault).

2. Hard drive might be failing:
This computer is 18 months old.
Disk Utility>Repair Disk and the extended system analysis booted from the installation disk found no issues.

Software precautionary measures.
1. Operating system:
10.6.4 reinstalled using disks original to the computer.
OS upgraded to 10.6.8 using combo file downloaded from Apple Computer support.

2. MOI app:
MoI v3 beta Jul-20-2012 was removed and the computer scoured for older versions. No older MOI apps on the computer.
MoI v3 beta Jul-20-2012 was again downloaded today from the MOI site and installed.

After doing all that, did MOI open the problem files?

No, they could not be opened on this computer (10.6.8) These same files were posted on this thread (post #1) and found to be openable on your computer.

So, I did a test using the issues computer (10.6.8) and another computer (OS 10.7):
1. On 10.6.8, a desktop folder containing files not openable on 10.6.8 was created.
2. The 10.6.8 test folder was moved (unmodified) on to the 10.7 desktop.
3. On 10.7, MOI opened all items.

On 10.7, two new MOI3D items (.3dm), one created on 10.7 and one created on 10.6.8 and the file saved to 10.7, were added to the desktop folder (originally from 10.6.8) on 10.7.

On 10.6.8, only the two new items were imported from the 10.7 desktop folder directly into the 10.6.8 desktop folder created earlier, as noted above.

HARD TO BELIEVE:
10.6.8 MOI opened the two new items (.3dm) in the desktop folder normally. Again, the original 10.6.8 file could not be opened on 10.6.8. Saving the file to 10.7 seems to have altered the file allowing it to be opened on 10.6.8.

STILL HARDER TO BELIEVE:
10.6.8 desktop folder contains files that originally could not be opened on 10.6.8 and, as noted, the two new items imported from 10.7.

Now, the original items in the 10.6.8 desktop folder OPENED NORMALLY. Why?

The identical items on 10.6.8 located several layers down in the directory DO NOT OPEN.

Did 10.7 repair the 10.6.8 files?

Finally, some probably think the solution is to upgrade to 10.7. If it were possible, I would, however, several costly apps have to be upgraded to work with 10.7. Upgrading is not financially possible.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, well that is pretty mysterious stuff...

Maybe there's some bug in MoI relating to the names of the directories that you happen to be opening the files from, do any of the directory names happen to have accented or non-English characters of any sort in them?

Do you get any different results in you place the files in a directory with a very simple and plain name?

Also in your previous message from a while ago the screenshots you were showing very clearly showed a dialog from an older beta release - are you still getting that same expiration message pop up again now?

I'm referring to this previous message here:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=5275.33

The screenshots you showed were these:





Are you still seeing this same thing now as well? Because if you are it means that the old beta is still on your system somewhere and it's still what is being launched.

Or are you no longer seeing these pop ups that you previously reported?

What happens exactly when it does not work, are any messages displayed or just nothing happens or what?

- Michael

Hi Michael,

>Maybe there's some bug in MoI relating to the names of the directories that you happen
>to be opening the files from, do any of the directory names happen to have accented
>or non-English characters of any sort in them?

YES!!!!! An asterisk preceding the name of a file in the directory stack! That is what caused it. The files open normally now.

This is something I have done for many, 15+ years, to keep a file at the top of the directory and no other app has ever been sensitive to that labeling. It should be noted that the mac will stop naming attempts that use unacceptable characters as will some apps.

Now I know. An expensive "Now I know".

I think we can close out this thread...

Thanks for your help and my apologies if I put you through the wringer.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, well I'm really glad that solves the mystery!

For the next v3 beta I'll see if I can fix that up or at the very least pop up a message saying that a file path with a * in it will not work properly when you try to use one.

In Windows the * character is not allowed for file names, because of the history of using a * for a "wild card" pattern in command line operations (like saying: del ab* means delete any files starting with the text "ab" and anything allowed after that), and the Windows OS itself handles prohibiting it in the system UI.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

Yes, that seems to have solved it and MOI has been at work since (see pic). I found MOI does not like my using ">" in lieu of "to", e.g., "From ai>MOI". No more characters other than english. Lesson learned.

The pop up message will be helpful for us jockeys.

Leonard

Hi Leonard, yup it looks like the following characters are illegal in Windows:    " * : < > ? \ / |

So for the moment anyway avoid using those in any part of a file name and then you should be ok.

- Michael

Hi Leonard, ok so I've been able to fix things up so that files with any of these characters:   " * <> ? |   which were not working in file names before should work ok in the next beta.

Sorry it took so long to pinpoint what the problem was!

- Michael

Hi Michael, I didn't think you would take that route, i.e., to make those characters workable. You do good work.

My takeaway: its helped my problem-solving skills. In the case of this and the last problem, they were right under my nose!

Kudos to you for coming back each time with questions; that led straight to the central issue in both cases.

Cheers.

Leonard