applicationserrormacos
I'm attempting to launch a macOS application.
When I select the file from Applications, or double-click the app's icon, I get the alert message:
The application "APP_NAME.app" is not open anymore.
I know it's not open… I want to launch the app!
What is the meaning of this error? How can I launch the application?
Disclaimer: I do not own Borderlands 2 and so I cannot predict what the results of this process will be. Your safest bet is to go the Mac App Store page for Borderlands 2 and use the Borderlands 2 Support link. All Mac App Store apps are required to have a ‘support’ link, although some are more useful than others. The one for Borderlands 2 looks like it will lead to actual, official support, so I suggest you try that first.
That being said, the following is the troubleshooting technique that I use when trying to figure out why a Mac App Store app won’t launch.
Use at your own risk, etc. Remember that I’m just some guy on the Internet (allegedly!) giving you free, un-guaranteed advice. I almost always have a complete, recent, fully bootable backup on my Mac just in case something goes wrong. So should you, especially before mucking around with stuff.
We’re going to be moving the app’s preferences file, and you don’t want to do that when it is running. That would be a bad idea.
Click “Go” (or press Enter) and you will see all of the various “Containers” used on your Mac.
n.b.: Tread carefully. Apple hides the ~/Library/ folder because mucking around in there can cause problems.
This is what mine looks like:
Yours will look different but similar. Hopefully you will be able to tell which one goes to the you are trying to fix.
I am going to use com.multimarkdown.composer.mac (MultiMarkdown Composer 2) just because it’s easier to work with a specific example.
You will find it inside the app’s “Container” folder (above) → Data → Library → Saved Application State
Inside that folder will be one more, which ends with “.savedState” and contains the information used to restore the windows which were open when you quit the app.
Move that folder to the Desktop, or even the Trash if you want. Then re-launch the misbehaving app.
If it still won’t launch I’d repeat the process but instead look inside the ”Preferences” folder instead of ”Saved Application State” and I’d look for the file which doesn’t look like a link or an alias (in this case, com.multimarkdown.composer.mac.plist) and I would copy that file to the Desktop or the Trash, understanding that I was effectively deleting all of my saved preferences. Then re-launch the misbehaving app.
If that didn’t work, well, then I’d probably do something desperate like move the app’s entire folder from ~/Library/Containers/ (such as ~/Library/Containers/com.multimarkdown.composer.mac/) to the Desktop or the Trash and try one last time.
After that I might even delete the app and download it again from the Mac App Store.
(If you need to see any of the images in a larger size you can find them all at http://media.tjluoma.com/askdifferent/116501/.)
The Classic Environment is Apple's software that supports running Mac OS 9 apps on Mac OS X. ("Mac OS Classic" refers to Mac OS versions before Mac OS X.) Both Mac OS 9 and Classic are really old: Mac OS 9 was discontinued in 2001, and the last version of OS X to support Classic is 10.4 (Tiger), which was released in 2005.
What's the difference between Classic and OS X apps? Their code is completely different, as different as the difference between Windows and Mac apps. This is because Classic and OS X are very different architecturally.
Why did Mac OS X think your app was a Classic app? Most likely:
TheApp.app/Contents/MacOS.* Usually files that come from non-UNIX systems will have the executable property set to true by default, e.g., if you move files using a flash drive or if you use zip instead of rar. The program you use to unrar files on your Mac would be the one to blame.
Why was your rar 177 bytes? Perhaps because there were entire files that were unsupported and so didn't get rar'd.
Best Answer
I encounter this regularly. Usually I can track it down to the application immediately crashing - but Finder/the taskbar do not get notified and no way to remedy.
Unfortunately there is no easy fix.
What usually works is:
I know - both approaches are very disappointing for 2021.
Two rather sophisticated tips - that require some understanding and may leave you with a system that will not work without reboot(!) - and unfortunately rarely help are: