TechNote (Archived)

Contribute 2 will not launch on Macintosh OS X 10.3 (Panther)

Issue

After upgrading to Mac OS X version 10.3 (Panther), Contribute 2 will no longer launch. It appears to be starting and then immediately stops without any error message.

Solution

There are two possible solutions to this issue. Please see the solutions below and choose the one that best describes your issue:

Delete Macrovision folder
If you have used the "Archive and Install" feature, delete the /Library/Preferences/Macrovision folder, restart the application, and reactivate the product. If this does not work, reinstall Contribute and activate it again. The application should then launch as expected. For more information about this issue please see Some applications won't run after upgrading to Macintosh OS X version 10.2.8 or to Panther (version 10.3) (TechNote 18933).
Log in as root
Log in as a root (System Administrator) user. When logged in as root, Contribute should launch successfully and Contribute can be reactivated. Once this is done, any user can launch and access Contribute.

Note that the root account is the ultimate account that enables a user to do anything to any file anywhere. The root account holder can move, delete, rename, or otherwise mangle any file on the machine, no matter where it is located. This is the reason why this account is turned off by default.

For detailed instructions on how to enable the root user, read this documentation from Apple: Mac OS X: About the root User and How to Enable It.

For more information about compatibility with Macromedia products and Panther, please see Macromedia compatibility with Apple Macintosh OS X v 10.3 (Panther) (TechNote 18972).