Am I the only one who has Poser 6 on a Mac and hasn't been able to do a damn thing with it for several months now? I did what they suggested and downgraded from 10.4.2 to 10.4 which fixed the problem for about 2 days before it started up again (under 10.4)! I can't believe tons of people aren't outraged. e-frontier should be makinfg this tere first priority - and their technical support is a serious pain in the a**. I've had Poser 3, 4, Pro, 5, and now 6 and the software I've paid for has been useless for way too long. So- am I the only one?

I do not mean to make light of your situation, but P6 works fine on 10.3.9. A little slow perhaps, compared to P5, but no crashes. I have no interest at all in upgrading to Tiger, since my main 2 apps, Maya Unlimited and MotionBuilder, won't work at all under 10.4.x. -scara

I've had no difficulties with Poser 6 on MacOS 10.3.8-10.4.2 after updating to SR1. Before SR1, I couldn't select any of the drop-down menus. But no problems encountered so far.

Some of them in the Mac forum are saying P6 is working o.k. for them. I can't verify that, since I haven't seen any renders by them, but I tend to believe them. However, one of them said it works better if you put it on a secondary drive (which I can confirm for P5), which may prevent it from over-writing some of the system files. However, given the sad history of P5 and the nightmares Mac users experienced with the first release (pre-SR1) of P6, I have been waiting for SR3 or SR4 before I'll buy P6. But if you are having trouble and the rest of them say they aren't, you know the drill. Check for hardware problems, i.e. videocard, RAM, mouse/drawing tablet, USB drive, firewire drive, et al. Do all the permissions crap, run Diskwarrior, shut down indexing and all other software while running Poser, kill all unneeded processes, run in safe mode, etc. ad nauseum.

Yeah Poser 6 and Tiger don't mix. I have 10.4.2 and Poser 6 with SR1 and found out immediately when I tried to import an obj file that it's nothing but a pain. You get no dialog box when selecting Import OBJ, it just ignores you and you have to force quit.

As it is Tiger has been quite a bit of trouble for me. I've been a Macintosh technician since 1989 and this is the first time I've ever dropped back a version of the Mac OS. Tiger's Spotlight feature is clumsy and painful, I stare at the spinning beachball while trying to scroll down my search results.

Someone in this forum said e-frontier recognized that dialog box problem and to fix it you needed to reformat your drive. So I wiped my drive and did a complete clean install of Tiger and Poser and everything else. And still got the problems when trying to import OBJ and pretty much anything else that required a dialog box.

So I boot 10.3.9 on an external drive and Poser 6 SR1 runs well enough. Poser 6 had a serious bug that happens when you had any animation graph window open and tried to do anything, like move another window. You would stare at the spinning beachball for 15 seconds while Poser took up 100% of your CPU doing who knows what. Then you could click on a keyframe in the graph window, then watch the cursor for another 15 seconds. Well they acknowledged that and fixed it with SR1.

So I can sympathize. Things are running okay with Panther but I won't even bother with Tiger until e-frontier steps up to the plate and makes it useable. I can now at least try the cloth and hair room, both of which were laughably slow in Poser 5 on my dual processor G5.

I am running P6 on a dual 1.4 G4 without problems - the same holds for a Mac Mini and my Titanium (and I also have renders made on these in my gallery).
Its working fine, I see all dialog boxes etc, and up to now P6 never crashed.
The only problem I encountered is that in some circumstances copy and paste are not possible - for instance copy light parameters and paste it onto another one.

The most obvious thing for me is that permissions are not set right if does not run - it could happen, that the app has not write permission for the directories where it tries to put its temp files - this might be the case when you installed the app as a single user app and not as admin or root.

Also get the newest security update - one of them in between caused many problems because it was full of bugs - this is fixed and repaired with the latest security update.

Forgot one thing: I installed the video drivers directly from the Radeon website - in ten four are buggy drivers, coming with one of the security updates.

Message edited on: 09/01/2005 00:38

Im still on 10.3.9 at home poser6 and my new seat of carrara pro4 are rock solid!! Have tiger on a dual 2.5 G5 at the office but my Home 3D/poser machines will stay on panther for the forseeable future

I didn't have much of a choice. Donated my eMac G4 (10.3.9) and upgraded to an iMac G5 with Tiger (10.4.2) installed in the process. Used the migration utility and everything worked well. I hadn't upgraded to Tiger previously because of all of those concerns about software stability and even runnability, but everything has worked - Cinema 4D R9.1, Poser 6, CodeWarrior Pro 9, FireFox. No complaints despite the issues others are having. AirPort has improved significantly. You definitely must be admin/root and keep up to date on updates!

This was the final straw for me when I gave up Macs. Every time they update OS X, it screwed up all of my apps. After several reinstalls, I gave up and am now a Windows person.

I have never really had much problem with Mac updates but I also don't jump on the new OS right away. I have 10.3 but I haven't installed it yet :) So I am pretty behind but 10.2. and Poser 6 work fine for me and it is a lot faster than P5.

Mateo...with all due respect you're a little more doom and gloom than reality. I can only speak for myself but after the sr1 I'm running rock solid on the MAC. (My G5 and my older G4.) P6 loads up in about 24 seconds with 27gig of content loaded in the main runtime. It seems to have cleared up all the major problems from earlier. I render in it and I create files and move into other apps. But to try to paint the program as it is right now as a terribly unreliable buggy program is just plain untrue. Hope you get things smoothed out on your end. -jay

I run mac and poser 6 with SR1 using tiger 10.4.2 wwith no problems at all. 2.7 gig dual powermac. Maybe try and reintall. Love esther

Jay, I wouldn't exactly say Mateo is "a little more doom and gloom than reality". I've been using Poser for 6 years and with the advent of Poser 5 and 6 and OS X if you can't even open a simple dialog box, or use the Hair Room, and all the things you paid for, that IS reality. Not an exaggeration.

This thread is pretty much as I expected. The users who say P6 works for them are not being helpful to those who are saying it doesn't work for them. What I would like to see are detailed examples of the hardware, software and OS on the machines where P6 works, in order to help these guys ferret out the problems specific to their machines. There may be some common videocard, RAM, or other hardware issue that we're overlooking here.

Poser 5 is a far cry from Poser 6 with the SR1. To lump them together is like closing one's eyes that there have been changes and fixes to the application. As for hardware, software and OS stuff, I really don't think that the answer is all there, maybe only partially so. I think the answer is how people manage the runtime issue and more importantly tons of content that is put out there with only the minimum of consistent parameters. I'm not 100% sure but my gut tells me that is more of where the problem lies. A CL tech once told me that certain naming in the content file like "&,-, /" seems to cause problems with the operation of Poser. There were other things like that but frankly I forgot after writing down a list and spending a day cleaning out my files. The whole thing about the !DAZ files is a problem. If Poser has to search all over the computer for those things it causes a problem and is imho a serious time waster. So their configuration pathway needs to be very clear. Mateo, if I sound like I'm of low patience its just that I seen so much bashing of products, people and things on this site that I've just lost the desire to deal with it. I tend to think a lot of posts come from that mindset rather than trying to truly find solutions to problems. I'm commited to getting Poser better and getting Poser artists more respect for the app... I just don't have time for bs. As for hardware. My new machine is a dual 2.5 Gig G5 w/ 4Gig of ram and a 128 stock graphics card running OSX.3.8. My older machine is a dual gig G4 with 1.75gig of ram running OSX.2.8. It loads in just under 30 sec as opposed to the new ones 24sec. I'd be glad to throw out what little I know to help folks, I just don't have time for non contructive board bashing. I'm sure you feel the same. -jay

"This thread is pretty much as I expected. The users who say P6 works for them are not being helpful to those who are saying it doesn't work for them. What I would like to see are detailed examples of the hardware, software and OS on the machines where P6 works, in order to help these guys ferret out the problems specific to their machines."<<< Agreed :-) First generation E-mac 700 MHZ Mac OS 10.3.9 256 megs of ram!!! Poser6 no problem (obviously a little slow at times with my HW config) just installed carrara pro4 to render poser files running rock solid also. Look, you all know Im biggest OSX evangelist on renderosity :-) BUT quite frankly "Tiger" broke poser . broke it worse for some than for others apparently My advice : if you are a regular poser user needing to work and render with poser6 ,..DONT upgrade to tiger!!!! if you are buying a new MAC, order it from apple with 10.3 installed NOT tiger. additional ,while i agree it does not help to just chime in with: "no problems here dude!!!" it is equally pointless to post a general tirade about the very existence of OSX itself or how one feels about some OSX "loyalists" defending apple. it almost 2006 citizens OS9 is truly Dead!!!! and OSX panther,tiger siamese kitten,bobcat whatever!!! is what mac users will have to use. now you Do have alternatives. you do have the option of switching to "wenduz" (honestly not a bad choice these days except for the increase virus risks) or Living, like a friend of mine, who still clings patheticly to MAC OS8.6 running poser4 . existing in an anachronistic wasteland of unsupported software/hardware from the 1990's while the modern world of 3D/CG passes him buy. Me??.... I prefer to live in the present.

Attached Link: http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/WindowFun/WindowFun.html

What problems are you having on 10.4 - "only" the file dialogs behind the apps or other problems as well? The wrong layering with the file dialogs is a problem that surfaces only on some systems and does not depend on hardware. I saw it on my PowerBook's (*) test installation of 10.4 but not when I upgraded my main partition to 10.4, on the same hardware. The dialog problem was introduced by certain function calls in OS X that changed their behavior from 10.3 to 10.4, causing some applications that worked fine under 10.3 to fail under 10.4 - including Apple's own sample code (which is supposed to show you how to do it correctly). It was only until I filed a bug report about it that Apple fixed their own sample, last week (see the link). As for Poser 6, the [e-Frontier web site](http://www.e-frontier.com/article/articleview/1441/1/595/) says that a fix is expected for SR2. If you have other problems that Poser 6 shows after an upgrade to 10.4, I'd be interested to hear them. (*)PowerBook G4, 1.5GHz, SuperDrive, Radeon 9600 Mobility, 10.4.2.

How are users with working versions of P6 on Tiger not helpful? It helps stop the creation of the illusion that Poser doesn't work at all for anybody on any Mac system with Tiger installed! ;)

I recently migrated to a Mac G5 with Tiger. It was the most troublesome migration I've had, though that might be as much because I was switching computers as it was the new OS. Poser 5 crashed a lot on G4 with Jaguar, and Poser 6 crashes a lot too; before I put on SR1 it crashed almost immediately after launch. I think the features of P6 are more interesting and worth exploring, but apparently because I have a Mac, the Clothes Room doesn't work quite right. Haven't done many imports, so I don't know about a problem there. One interesting thing is that one of the times Poser crashed, it wiped out my OS, and I had to reinstall the OS and everything! If I could go back to Jaguar I would, just because Tiger hasn't bought me anything I needed. I'd be reluctant to go back to Poser 5, however. And I have no interest in going back to Windows! BRRRRR!!!

My experience with Tiger upgrades from 10.3.9 on a dual 2GHz G5 with ATI Radeon 9800 Pro driving dual monitors is that I have come to the conclusion that the 10.4 and 10.4.1 upgrade installer as well as the installers of some software updaters from Apple prior to 10.4.2 were the repeatable causative agents for the dialog window appearance problems in Poser 6 and Bryce 5. What I did find was a reliable fix, on my system at least, was to use the archive and preserve users method of migrating to and updating to 10.4.2 without recurrence of the Poser dialog problems. Having used the upgrade installer method to go from P6 preSR1 on 10.3.9 to 10.4.0, I found P5 still usable, but P6 and Bryce 5, though not Bryce 5.5, to be suffering from the dialog windows opening behind the application window. After a false lead implicating dual monitor use, someone reported in the forums here that they had had success with the archive and preserve route. When I re-ran the 10.4 installer and chose that option, lo and behold, Poser 6 and Bryce 5 behaved themselves as expected (at least as well as the pre SR1 version could be expected to) with visible and usable dialogs. I went the same route with the 10.4.1 update and again experienced no problems. However, a subsequent software update broke Poser 6 once more. Going back through the 10.4.0 and 10.4.1 archive and preserve updates restored P6 functionality. 10.4.2 came along and I was pleased to see that its archive and preserve update left P6 in a working state. I have installed all the software updates from Apple since then and none has broken P6 yet. I do hope that this information is of assistance. Both to those who have experienced problems and rolled back to 10.3.x and those who have held off grasping the tail of the Tiger. Maybe if my success can be replicated and reported by those who have seen the same problem, some confidence can be restored. Cheers, GeoffIX

GeoffIX, I've finally used your suggestion of using the "archive and preserve users" reinstallation - it worked admirably well for Poser 5. Hooray! After so many months of frustration, I can use it again! (I don't have Poser 6 yet, so I don't know if it works as well for 6).

Poser 5 even "survived" all the updates I had to install afterwards, even using the traditional model.

I would definitely recommend that approach. I did not lose a single document, and although some of the network settings and Preferences disappeared (they were not so important for me), as well as all printers, the fundamental point is - it works.

Thanks a lot for that tip! It should be printed on bold, 80-pixel-font at e-Frontier's web site ;)

Attached Link: http://versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20510

Worked for me too -- Thanks Gwyneth!

I posted a rather testy review at Version Tracker (see link), and Gwyneth's reply there helped walk me through getting it up and running.

Here's hoping they put together a real fix for this thing pretty soon -- If I'd known about this (potential) problem beforehand I definitely would have been scared off from purchasing Poser 6, and I'm afraid others might be thinking that same way now. Tiger's not a new OS anymore -- there's been more than enough time to work out these sort of compatibility kinks.

I have to agree, doing the Archive and Preserve kick started Poser 6. I can now open dialog boxes using Tiger. Yippeee.

5 days later the hidden dialog box problem is back. I aint gonna spoonfeed this stupid application by doing another Archive and Preserve of Tiger. So it's back to booting off an external Panther drive to get any work done. This is pathetic. You listening e-frontier? You monitoring these boards? Step up to the plate and fix these well-known problems in a timely manner.

Hey, I checked P6 after a few days absence, and it's back for me too. It was a good try, but bummer. Fortunately I hadn't started any projects with it yet, so I don't have much to lose by letting Poser sit unused on my HD until the developers fix this for good. Booting into Panther is just not in the equation for me.

Just an idea: Have you tried to delete the Poser 6.0 OS X.plist file in your librarry/preferences folder ? This type determines what NAV services to use. Apple has changed the Navigation services and the old Quickdraw is depracated from 10.4 on - this seems to cause these problems.

@MungoPark, that might be a useful path to check out. I recently was bitten by the Quicktime 7.0.2 debacle which caused Safari crashes and Finder lockups (P6 was still OK btw) The agreed solution for that problem (delete the ~[username]:Library:Preferences:com.apple.Finder.plist file then reboot, BUT, before you do, take note of any application or document icons you may have dragged into the toolbar at the top of finder windows. You'll need to put them back there later), plus downgrading to Quicktime 7.0.1 via the specific updater from Apple, fixes the crashes and lockups. Trying a similar method (after making a precautionary backup of the Poser 6.0 OS X.plist file elsewhere) for Poser sounds like it's worth a shot. I've been without a working render progress bar in P6 since somewhere round my update to Quicktime 7.0.X. A lot of these problems are being laid unfairly (and I certainly admit I've been a culprit) at eFrontier's door. Their frequent responses to bug reports of "It's out of our control" are increasingly apparent as being sincere. Apple must share a significant measure of the blame, as stewer has noted, for developers having difficulty keeping their applications OS X & Quicktime update compliant when even Apple's own software releases exhibit serious problems. [/rant]

Kuroyume, Just saying "it works fine on my machine" looks more like gloating than anything else. It might look like gloating to say you have some obscene amount of RAM, but if there is some problem related to not having enough physical RAM, that sort of information can help identify it. But both sides, the people with problems and the people saying they don't have that problem, need to deliver some facts about their system. (And that's a piece of OS-independent advice.)

Sorry to report that, at least in my case, removing the P6 plist file did not restore render progress bar visibility. Looking at the original plist file, I'm not sure which of the NAV service or ColorPicker entries might have been relevant to this problem. Maybe it's that some entry that should have been there is missing. Dunno. The newly created plist file only contained PutFile Disclosure, Path, Position & Size AppleNavService entries as well as a single recent folders path and a DefaultFolderX SortOrder entry, none of which would seem to bear any relation to Quicktime or render progress bar. Need to look elsewhere for this one unfortunately.

There are no problems on the following configurations: No problems: MiniMac Revision A and B 515 mb memory; system 10.4.2 all updates Titanium 667 MHZ 768 MB memory, 10.4.2 all updates (only after installing new graphic drivers from Radeon) G5 double Processor 2.7 GHZ 2 gig memory, 10.4.2 all updates installed G4 Quicksilver 733 MHZ 768 mb memory, 10.4.2 all updates installed Problems: G3 iMac Revision B , 512 mb, 10.4.2 On all machines 10.4 was installed via updating OS X (exception the mini macs) - Poser 6 was alreay sitting there. I cant see a pattern .

I can unfortunately ALL of these MAC poser6 problems are somehow related to Tiger :-) I have Tiger at work on a Dual 2.5 G5 The little weather widget is cute and and all and i love being up to Date as much as the next forward thinking person. But right now Poser& Carrara pro4 are a major part of my home computing creative outlet So i plan on "languishing' in OS 10.3.9 and keeping my Most used software working properly for as long as it takes widgets be damned And frankly I never saw the value in running out and updating Quicktime every time a new version is released either. i dont watch many apple webcasts I use final cut pro3 adobe after effects 5.5 and autodesk combustion2 for serious editing&compositing. And use media cleaner Pro for cross platform output to the web .MPG and WMV studiously avoiding ANY proprietary exclusionary APPLE codecs anyway.

After months of work, we have finally tracked down what appears to be the root of the "focus bug" on Tiger- it seems to be the case that the DivX 5.2.1 video codec will reliably cause this bug to appear on previously-unaffected systems, and removing it seems to solve the problem. Specifically, removing the DivX 5.component file from the root-level Library:QuickTime folder (it can then be moved into another folder for safekeeping if so desired) and re-launching Poser allows saving, import and export to proceed normally. The DivX 5.2.1 codec is not fully Tiger-compatible by DivX's admission, and hopefully they will release a Tiger-compliant version soon, but until then, removing the codec while running Poser does seem to fix the problem. Our SR2 updater should also provide a solution that allows the component to remain in place. Regards, e frontier Technical Support

Hey, this looks good! A couple rounds of launching P6 with and without the DivX 5.component in place sure seems to back up what you say. With it, it's force-quit time. WIthout it, smooth sailing. Don't even have to restart or log out or any of that. (And it kind of explains the "it worked for a while but now it's bad again" thing... as most graphics people are eventually going to install assorted codecs... :) Nice job of hunting that down, guys!

I'm not in a position to check today, but has anyone else who's experienced the P6 missing render progress bar seen it reappear after removing the DivX5.2.1 codec or will we have to wait and see if SR2 fixes that? Cheers to eF for a good detective job. GeoffIX

I have searched my OSX drive and I don't have any DivX at all in 10.3.9. So how do I get my render progress bar??

I'm also looking at my root:Library:QuickTime folder and the files I see are "DivX Fusion Decoder.component" and "DivX Fusion Encoder.component". Get Info on them shows they are DivX 6.0.0 files rather than 5.x. I'm also going to (foolishly, I know) leap into the OS X 10.4.3 update. Wish me luck and send flowers to my family if I don't return ;-)