[jhersco]

After working just fine for some time now, Stuffit Expander v9.0.1 won't open. I have tried the following solutions, none of which have fixed the problem:

1. Uninstalled/reinstalled Stuffit Expander including Frameworks and Prefs. Also, tried Stuffit Expander v9.0.
2. Tested with a new user. Same problem, meaning no conflict with my user preferences.
3. Rebuilt the Directory with DiskWarrior.
4. Reinstalled Mac OS X v10.3.7 (Archive and Install.)
5. Booted from an external drive which contained Mac OS X v10.3.6, and tried to open a different copy of Stuffit Expander.

I don't know what else to try. Any help will be appreciated.

[jhersco]

Just found out that Stuffit was trying to access the Allume web site to see if an update was avaialable. Server must be down. Solution: Wait a long time until app finally opens. Change preferences by unchecking the update option.

[Sharky K.]

I really dislike the application, and now even more
I even didn't install it with the OS. Almost all Mac applications are now "zip"ed or "dmg"ed.

[mcsjgs]

I am really beginning to dislike Allume. I wish someone else would provide decompression or that there was a good open source program to do this. Waited 5 minutes while the little bastard tried to phone home.

[squilla]

Originally posted by jhersco:
Just found out that Stuffit was trying to access the Allume web site to see if an update was avaialable. Server must be down. Solution: Wait a long time until app finally opens. Change preferences by unchecking the update option.

I had the same problem. The solution works perfectly-- thanks for the tip.

[CharlesS]

Jeez, what's wrong with checking for a new version in a separate thread?!

[TETENAL]

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Jeez, what's wrong with checking for a new version in a separate thread?!

Asynchronous networking is sort of difficult to program.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by TETENAL:
Asynchronous networking is sort of difficult to program.

Allume is a large company. And what's wrong with just spinning off the simple networking needed to check for a version update into a separate thread? Is CFSocket not thread-safe or something?

It's better than blocking the main thread for such a peripheral function, anyway.

[Appleman]

I had the same. Tjeez, this, indeed, really sucks.
And, indeed, specially for a big company.
Just give me zip'ed or dmg'ed.

Thanks for the tip though!

[mcsjgs]

Originally posted by CharlesS:
Jeez, what's wrong with checking for a new version in a separate thread?!

Nothing, but the best-behaved programs let you set it up on an automatic or manual method in an intuitive manner.

Unless you notice the slider bar in Allume's preferences setup, you miss the last preference which is set default to auto-check for updates at some time not immediately apparent to the user. Nothing wrong with it, just executed somewhat user-unfriendly to my way of thinking.

Edited: As an example of how a Mac program should work, I refer you to your own, very excellent Pacifist. That's art. Stuffit expander is kludge as far as the interface goes. Check for updates should be prominent and easily configurable. All this has nothing to do with how it does it, but I had to vent.

[CharlesS]

Originally posted by mcsjgs:
As an example of how a Mac program should work, I refer you to your own, very excellent Pacifist. That's art.

Hey, thanks.

[Apfhex]

Oh gee! What a s***ty piece of software. Glad I found this thread, I thought Expander was going to sit there bouncing in the dock forever.

[Sarc]

yeah, I stumbled upon this while using tcpdump to monitor the network.

it tries to locate the server cgi.aladynsys.com, aparently down.

[CharlesS]

I suppose that if this happened, you could pull the Ethernet cable out of the machine. That should make the request fail right away instead of timing out so you wouldn't have to wait forever to get into the app and change the preferences.

[Appleman]

Originally posted by CharlesS:
I suppose that if this happened, you could pull the Ethernet cable out of the machine. That should make the request fail right away instead of timing out so you wouldn't have to wait forever to get into the app and change the preferences.

I suppose that if this happened, you could pull the power cable out of the machine.
That would make the request fall right away instead of timing out so you wouldn't have to wait forever

[pendragon]

A solution per Bill Fox at MacsOnly: http://www.macsonly.com/

"On Saturday our copy of StuffIt Expander v9.0.1 began hanging when we downloaded something that needed to be decoded. It would take seemingly forever to open if it did at all. The problem is that it is hanging on launch due to a failed check over the internet for a new version. Perhaps something is wrong with Allume Systems' server. The solution is to disable your internet connection, launch StuffIt Expander and in its last preference pane uncheck "Allow Version Checking."

[Chuckit]

Originally posted by mcsjgs:
I am really beginning to dislike Allume. I wish someone else would provide decompression or that there was a good open source program to do this.

Stone Software's PackUpAndGo offers decompression. I don't use it myself, so I can't comment on the quality, but Stone generally has a good reputation.

[yskar]

Originally posted by jhersco:
Just found out that Stuffit was trying to access the Allume web site to see if an update was avaialable. Server must be down. Solution: Wait a long time until app finally opens. Change preferences by unchecking the update option.

More simply, launch Terminal.app and type:

defaults write com.stuffit.Expander allowVersionChecking -bool false

This way you don't have to wait forever to open your StuffItExpander preference.

And when the problem with the server is fixed, then:

defaults write com.stuffit.Expander allowVersionChecking -bool true

[doublep]

Thanks all! I had the same problem and the same solution worked. I disabled my internet connections, and the app launched. I then disabled Version Checking in the app preferences and all is now fine.

[crooner]

It's officially official:

http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?...50110003819530

[addiecool]

Stuffit sucks bigtime. I hate to use it anymore. I'd like to give the company a tight kick in the axx.