VW 2020 SP6 crashes after trying to open the Plug-in Manager

[MullinRJ]

Hello,
   I am out of ideas. My friends are out of suggestions. Hopefully someone reading this may have some insight. As of a few weeks ago, VW 2020 SP6 (580724) started crashing every time I try to open the Plug-in Manager, CMD-Shift-Z, or menu Tools>Plug-ins>Plug-in Manager. Prior to the first crash, VW 2020 worked reliably. I am currently running Mac OS 10.15.7. When I boot under 10.12.6, VW 2020 works as expected, so I am guessing it has something to do with the OS, but that's purely a guess.

 

   Things I have tried:
1) Remove the 2020 User Folder and reboot. VW 2020 rebuilds a new User Folder, but crashes when I try to open the Plug-in Manager.
2) Delete the RM Cache under \Library\Application support\Vectorworks RMCache\rm2020. Same result after computer reboot, crash on opening Plug-in Manager.
3) Ran Uninstall.app in the VW 2020 folder then copied VW 2020 SP6 from a backup drive to the Applications folder. Same result, crash on opening Plug-in Manager. 
4) Copy VW 2020 SP5 from a backup drive to the Applications folder. Same result, crash on opening Plug-in Manager.

5) Reboot under OS 10.12.6. VW 2020 SP6 works as expected.

 

Note – VW 2019 (and earlier), VW 2021, and VW 2022 still working just fine. I updated the OS from 10.14.x to 10.15.x on 20 Jul 2021. Everything was working in VW 2020 until mid November, and I have no idea what happened.

 

Any advice welcome.

 

Thank you,

Raymond

[zoomer]

If VW 2021 is the last VW version supported on Big Sur (macOS 11),

VW 2020 should be the last VW version supported under macOS 10.15 Catalina.

 

But maybe one of the latest macOS security patches caused a problem for VW 2020 SP6 ?

And unfortunately, I doubt that any VW developers will still care about VW 2020 which already

got its latest SP6 ....

Edited December 18, 2021 by zoomer

[MullinRJ]

10 hours ago, zoomer said:

If VW 2021 is the last VW version supported on Big Sur (macOS 11),

VW 2020 should be the last VW version supported under macOS 10.15 Catalina.

 

Hi @zoomer,

   Interesting, but VW 2022 works perfectly under OS 10.15.x. VW 2022 OS support is why I updated my OS last summer, and until November all VW versions were working. I am able to draw in VW 2020, and even run scripts, without a problem. It is only when I try to open the Plug-in Manager that VW crashes.

 

   In your comment above, I think you may have confused macOS 11 with macOS 10.11. I do that a lot. I just went back to the release notes of VW 2020, 2021, and 2022 and looked at the OS support notes, every SP release. This is what I found:

VW 2022 – macOS 10.12.6, 10.13.6, & 10.14 are no longer supported. Use macOS 10.15 (Catalina.)

VW 2021 – macOS 10.11.6 is no longer supported. Use macOS 10.12.

VW 2020 – No OS restriction notes posted.

 

10 hours ago, zoomer said:

But maybe one of the latest macOS security patches caused a problem for VW 2020 SP6 ?

 

The thought crossed my mind. It's pretty easy to reload back versions of VW. Not so with macOS'es.

 

Thank you kindly for your reply,

Raymond

[MullinRJ]

PROBLEM SOLVED! I just installed macOS Catalina Security Update 2021-008. After it rebooted I launched VW 2020 and immediately opened the Plug-in Manager. This time it opened, so it was OS related.   WHAT A TIMELY RELIEF.     Good call @zoomer.

[Kevin K]

This is precisely why zoomer gets paid the big bucks….:-)