[jmwmnl]

Ok, so I just upgraded to Snow Leopard (10.6.2) and Adobe CS4. I am using a BTO iMac 24" 2.33ghz with 2gb of ram. I woke up this morning and wanted to do some vector art, so I attempted launch Illustrator. I was met with the following "Illustrator unexpectedly quit" warning. Here is some data from the report generated and sent to Adobe:
Process: Adobe Illustrator [406]
Path: /Applications/Adobe/Adobe Illustrator CS4/Adobe Illustrator.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Illustrator
Identifier: com.adobe.illustrator
Version: 367 (14.0.0)
Code Type: X86 (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [83]

Date/Time: 2009-12-28 09:30:24.915 -0800
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.2 (10C540)
Report Version: 6

Interval Since Last Report: 5154 sec
Crashes Since Last Report: 4
Per-App Interval Since Last Report: 47 sec
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report: 4
Anonymous UUID: **********************************CBD1

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: KERN_INVALID_ADDRESS at 0x00000000ffffff5a
Crashed Thread: 0 Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread

Has anyone else had this problem. I was running CS2 and actually upgraded to CS4 because of this same problem. I have unistalled and reinstalled multiple times. While using CS2, I was eventually left with only Photoshop, as all other CS apps would crash and not ever open successfully. Does anyone have any advice.
Thanks,
jmwmnl

[Thorzdad]

Before deleting/re-installing, did you also delete all of the Adobe preference files? There's a ton of them. Be sure to include the AdobeFnt*.lst files. Those things are all over the place.

Have you tried creating a bone-stock new user account and running Illustrator from there? This would help eliminate your current account as a source of the problem (as in, user-specific fonts or somesuch.)

There are so many things that can upset an Adobe app. Though, the fact that, under CS2, you were having issues with all of the Adobe apps makes me suspect something universal, like a font issue of some sort.

[design219]

Have you rebuild permissions and zapped the pram of the computer?

[jmwmnl]

Resolution!!! So I ended up having to reformat my entire computer, after I tried unsuccessfully to both zap pram and reinstall adobe (and deleting all preference files). I installed CS4 before I did anything, and then updated it, and everything is finally working again. I'm so thankful! I still have not updated systems software, as I think that is the root of my problem. There seems to be some discrepancy between my updating and adobe. So I'm going to test that theory on my laptop after I wipe it. Thanks for all suggestions folks. Here's the end result...jmwmnl
[IMG] [/IMG]

[jmwmnl]

So the saga continues. After doing the everything in the above post, I slowly started updating things. First updating all my adobe products, then slowly doing all the systems updates and then finally this morning I reinstalled all of my fonts (560) after resolving the duplicates through font book. Up until this morning everything was working fine. I'm still able to open illustrator, but upon opening a new document or working on any previous projects, illustrator crashes. So I'd like to say that whatever is causing it (illustrator) to crash is due to my fonts. Can anyone suggest some possible fix/program to better manage my fonts or even find the specific font that's causing me grief. Thanks,
jmwmnl

[Thorzdad]

Sounds like it's definitely a font issue. But, it's hard to say what, exactly, the problem is. It could be a corrupt font, of course. Have you run the Validate Fonts function in FontBook? When you resolved the duplicates, did you accidentally disable a font in the Adobe>Fonts folder?

Ca we assume that you installed all your fonts in the main HD>Library>Fonts folder? Or do you have them scattered between that and the User>Library>Fonts folder?

To be honest, font management in OSX can be a big headache.

[jmwmnl]

I ran validate fonts via fontbook and then resolved duplicates because there were warning signs next to several of them. I loaded all of them onto the library>font folder and resisted the urge to put them in specific user and systems folders. I don't think I have disabled any. Is there anyway for me to isolate the "bad" ones, in order to delete them? Do fonts corrupt often? I can get a copy of suitcase fusion, would that help? Thank you for the advice Thorzdad. I took a look at your site and I like the illustrations. All vector based I assume?. Aside from the Ivy Tech gig, do you work freelance the majority of the time?
Thanks again,
jmwmnl

[Thorzdad]

Honestly, I've never had a font corruption issue in the umpteen years I've been working in Illustrator. Yet, I hear about it all the time. Sometimes, I think it's more apt that Illustrator's font cache and db become corrupt, not the fonts themselves. That said, since a font is really just a file, it's certainly possible that corruption can occur, especially if the file gets copied/moved umpteen times over the years.

Have you tried my earlier suggestion and created a new user account on your Mac and tried launching Illustrator in that account? If it opens and you can create a new document without crashing, that points to the problem being somewhere in your old user account.

I guess the go-to app for font diagnosis is FontDoctor. Unfortunately, it's far from free. Otherwise, I guess you could disable all non-system, non-Adobe-required fonts, then slowly enable a few, launch Illustrator and see if it crashes. I know...that sounds like a real painful evening.

I would highly encourage you to take this problem over to the Adobe user forums. I have to think this is an issue that has cropped-up before and someone there will have an answer. Or, at the very least, suggestions on how to proceed.

As for my stuff...yes, all the illustrations are done completely in Illustrator. No Photoshop anywhere. And, yes, I am freelance. Not a very successful freelance, I'm afraid. But, at my age, freelance is pretty much the only game in town.

[olePigeon]

I use Linotype's FontExplorer X version 1.2.3 (the free version.) It works great and manages my fonts perfectly.

[Doc HM]

I guess its the interaction between font and app that causes the issues with corruption. Unlike most other types of file fonts are directly manipulated by the application which makes any corruption in the file more damaging than with (say) a jpeg or tif file. And those go bad all the time.

I too recommend the free version of FontExplorer X. It's great and far better at picking out damaged fonts that FontBook, which is crappy.

There is an adobe cs uninstaller app available from the adobe website in case you need to uninstall things again.

[PatBadger]

I had this exact problem, and I downloaded the FontExplorer X and got rid of all fonts other than the system fonts and everything worked like a dream.

Thanks for the heads up! I'd been searching for ages for a remedy.