Audacity not opening cleanly in OSX 10.11.1 Beta-with a CLUE

I am trying to run Audacity 2.1.1 installed from the disk image found here: http://audacityteam.org/download/mac
I am running El Capitan, OS X 10.11.1 Beta (15B30a) on a MacBook.

I install by dragging the Audacity folder to my applications folder as recommended. When I attempt to start Audacity the following pop-up appears:
“The application “Audacity.app” can’t be opened.”

I tried right-clicking on the app and selecting “open” from the drop-down menu, same result.

In my Console I do see messages regarding Audacity, which I’ll paste below.

Any help interpreting these messages would be much appreciated, thanks! I don’t understand them.

I was able to get Audacity to start as follows: I opened the package contents and drilled down to /Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/ where I found an executable “Audacity” with no “.sh” extension. Double-clicking it opens a Terminal, and subsequently Audacity opens.

I manually added “.sh” to the executable; I got a warning the first time I tried to run it. (I didn’t copy/paste so I don’t have the exact warning language; it was a warning the app may be incomplete or damaged.) I then changed the executable back to no extension and it opened OK. I made a copy of the executable and then renamed THAT to “Audacity.sh” and tried launching using the application icon in the higher level folder /Applications/Audacity.

THIS OPENED SUCCESSFULLY! I first got the standard warning that the app was DL’ed from the Internet, and I OK’ed it. The app then opened. Second launch no warning.

I was able to test the basic function of recording and playing back audio from the built-in mic OK.

Finally: I noticed that the Get Info window (from OSX Finder) shows Audacity.app as version 2.0.3.0, not 2.1.1. “About Audacity” has 2.1.1.

I hope this info is helpful…???

UNSUCCESSFUL LAUNCH CONSOLE INFO:

10/13/15 12:48:08.004 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000033.Audacity.sh[7734]) Could not find and/or execute program specified by service: 2: No such file or directory: /Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh

10/13/15 12:48:08.003 PM Finder[553]: spawn_via_launchd() failed, errno=111 label=[0x0-0xa80a80].net.sourceforge.audacity path=/Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh flags=1 : LaunchApplicationClient.cp #963 LaunchApplicationWithSpawnViaLaunchD() q=com.apple.root.default-qos

10/13/15 12:48:08.003 PM Finder[553]: spawn_via_launchd() failed, errno=111 label=[0x0-0xa80a80].net.sourceforge.audacity path=/Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh flags=1

10/13/15 12:48:37.073 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000034.Audacity.sh[7738]) Could not find and/or execute program specified by service: 2: No such file or directory: /Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh

10/13/15 12:48:37.072 PM Finder[553]: spawn_via_launchd() failed, errno=111 label=[0x0-0xa83a83].net.sourceforge.audacity path=/Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh flags=1 : LaunchApplicationClient.cp #963 LaunchApplicationWithSpawnViaLaunchD() q=com.apple.root.default-qos

10/13/15 12:48:37.072 PM Finder[553]: spawn_via_launchd() failed, errno=111 label=[0x0-0xa83a83].net.sourceforge.audacity path=/Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh flags=1

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH CONSOLE INFO:

10/13/15 1:12:50.570 PM Audacity[7816]: WARNING: The Gestalt selector gestaltSystemVersion is returning 10.9.1 instead of 10.11.1. This is not a bug in Gestalt -- it is a documented limitation. Use NSProcessInfo's operatingSystemVersion property to get correct system version number.
Call location:

10/13/15 1:12:50.572 PM Audacity[7816]: 0   CarbonCore                          0x9ce41f1d ___Gestalt_SystemVersion_block_invoke + 135

10/13/15 1:12:50.572 PM Audacity[7816]: 1   libdispatch.dylib                   0x97ed97e7 _dispatch_client_callout + 50

10/13/15 1:12:50.572 PM Audacity[7816]: 2   libdispatch.dylib                   0x97ed96c3 dispatch_once_f + 78

10/13/15 1:12:50.572 PM Audacity[7816]: 3   libdispatch.dylib                   0x97edaf4d dispatch_once + 31

10/13/15 1:12:50.573 PM Audacity[7816]: 4   CarbonCore                          0x9cdbd9e1 _Gestalt_SystemVersion + 1047

10/13/15 1:12:50.573 PM Audacity[7816]: 5   CarbonCore                          0x9cdbd18a Gestalt + 154

10/13/15 1:12:50.573 PM Audacity[7816]: 6   Audacity                            0x00462ae2 _Z14UMAInitToolboxtb + 50

10/13/15 1:12:51.455 PM Audacity[7816]: 13:12:51.454 WARNING:  140: This application, or a library it uses, is using the deprecated Carbon Component Manager for hosting Audio Units. Support for this will be removed in a future release. Also, this makes the host incompatible with version 3 audio units. Please transition to the API's in AudioComponent.h.

Thank you for documenting your experiments.

Had you installed older versions of Audacity before? The known cause for Audacity 2.1.1 not launching is presence of an audacity.cfg settings file from older versions of Audacity. The workaround of modifying or deleting audacity.cfg is described at Fix for Audacity 2.1.1 not launching and near the top of the 2.1.1 Release Notes.

The problem as described above is believed fixed in our source code so should not be a problem in the next 2.1.2 release. It was a problem of writing the “socket” file Fix bug #1087 · audacity/audacity@2a6d423 · GitHub.

Yes Audacity is executed by a shell script inside the app bundle. If you rename Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity to “Audacity.sh” the script becomes a non-executable text file and Audacity won’t launch.

I see 2.1.1.0 here.

Let us know if this was the first time you had ever used Audacity. By the way, although it can be useful to experiment with beta versions of operating systems, Audacity has no explicit support for that and I recommend you use the released OS for production work.


Gale

But of course!

Yes. 2.0.3 I think was the previous running version, I don’t remember the last OS version I was using it with, I don’t use it too frequently. (Don’t know why - great program!)

I did see that info in another thread, I had deleted that .cfg file as part of my attempt to get the new version running, but that did not help.

Sweet :wink:

I would have thought that would depend on the file permissions, not the filename extension? FWIW, the Finder ID’s the original executable as a “Unix Executable” with Terminal as the default application for opening it, and the copy (.sh extension) as a “Shell Script” with Xcode as the default application to open it.

See linked screenshots from my installation.
About screen
Welcome Screen
Get Info

I wonder if the Get Info window is stuck with the metadata from the previous installation for some reason…I think that was the last version I had that was working without any weirdness.

No, off and on for a while. I usually use SoundStudio for stuff that is simpler and ProTools for stuff that is more complicated. I left my iLok at work so I was trying to get something done that SoundStudio wasn’t really cutting it for.

I couldn’t agree more!

Bumping this old thread because I have the exact same issue. I’m on OSX 10.11.6 (15G31), and since I updated audacity to 2.1.2 I can’t open it anymore. Same error popup, same error 111 in console.log.

After updating (by replacing the folder I had in /Applications) and getting the error message, google showed me a post about deleting ~/Library/Application Support/audacity . That didn’t help. After deleting it I reinstalled the application (dragged it to the trash, dragged a fresh version in from the DMG). Didn’t help. I tried looking for any old audacity.cfg files kicking around in my homedir with

find ~ -name 'audacity.cfg'

, and didn’t come up with anything.

The good news is that @tubegeek’s protocol worked for me - the app opened and operates normally. I also had a peek into the Info.plist file with XCode, and didn’t see anything unusual. After quitting out of XCode and closing that version of Audacity I had opened with @tubegeek’s instructions… now the application starts from Audacity.app .

Go figure. Hopefully this report will be helpful for the dev team!

Thanks. Given we can’t reproduce the problem, it’s only background information, unless we can understand in what way your system is different.

Do you also get tubegeek’s issue that Finder’s Get Info gives you a different version number than Audacity > About Audacity…?


Gale


I also downloaded Audacity 2.1.2.0 and could not open it. I first tried deleting the offending line in ~/Library/Application Support/audacity/audacity.cfg, and then tried deleting the .cfg file altogether. Audacity still wouldn’t open. Error dialog was “The application “Audacity” can’t be opened.” Console log showed:

9/25/16 9:44:51.829 PM lsd[296]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
9/25/16 9:44:51.837 PM lsd[296]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
9/25/16 9:44:51.855 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000013.Audacity.sh[19262]) Could not find and/or execute program specified by service: 2: No such file or directory: /Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh
9/25/16 9:44:51.855 PM Finder[330]: spawn_via_launchd() failed, errno=111 label=[0x0-0x692692].net.sourceforge.audacity path=/Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh flags=1 : LaunchApplicationClient.cp #963 LaunchApplicationWithSpawnViaLaunchD() q=com.apple.root.default-qos
9/25/16 9:44:51.855 PM Finder[330]: spawn_via_launchd() failed, errno=111 label=[0x0-0x692692].net.sourceforge.audacity path=/Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh flags=1
9/25/16 9:44:51.865 PM lsd[296]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist

Then I tried a variant of tubegeek’s hack: I created an alias to /Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity and named it Audacity.sh. Then I was able to open the application.

I’m using Mac OS 10.11.6.

That error message is generated by the Mac, not by Audacity. How exactly are you “opening” Audacity?

We can’t fix it if we can’t reproduce it on our own machines running 10.11.6 or understand in what way your machine is different. Are your running as a guest or with low privileges?

Do you also get tubegeek’s issue that Finder’s Get Info gives you a different version number than Audacity > About Audacity…? If yes, the problem could be messed up plist files. Have you tried “repairing” the disk in Disk Utility?


Gale

Console log showed:

9/25/16 9:44:51.829 PM lsd[296]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
9/25/16 9:44:51.837 PM lsd[296]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist
9/25/16 9:44:51.855 PM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.oneshot.0x10000013.Audacity.sh[19262]) Could not find and/or execute program specified by service: 2: No such file or directory: /Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh
9/25/16 9:44:51.855 PM Finder[330]: spawn_via_launchd() failed, errno=111 label=[0x0-0x692692].net.sourceforge.audacity path=/Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh flags=1 : LaunchApplicationClient.cp #963 LaunchApplicationWithSpawnViaLaunchD() q=com.apple.root.default-qos
9/25/16 9:44:51.855 PM Finder[330]: spawn_via_launchd() failed, errno=111 label=[0x0-0x692692].net.sourceforge.audacity path=/Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity.sh flags=1
9/25/16 9:44:51.865 PM lsd[296]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist

Then I tried a variant of tubegeek’s hack: I created an alias to /Applications/Audacity/Audacity.app/Contents/MacOS/Audacity and named it Audacity.sh. Then I was able to open the application.

I’m using Mac OS 10.11.6.

From memory and FWIW:

This seems to happen to people who upgraded from Mavericks to EC. The reason seems to be that either the “lsd” folder in

/private/var/db/

is missing, or you may have a corrupted Launch Services database.

To reset the database:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user ; killall Dock

Restart the mac.

This launch services stuff gets cached at startup, so debugging trough changing the plist with a text editor won’t work, unless you restart every time.

Thanks, cyrano. So you think this might be a problem if you upgraded from Mavericks direct to El Capitan (or Sierra), bypassing Yosemite?

I recall now that I’ve used that command to rebuild the launch services database when the Open with menu gets cluttered with multiple versions of Audacity and other applications, or hangs fetching the list.


Gale

I only had that command saved - no other notes. That fixed it for one user with Filemaker Pro 15. So I googled a bit and then remembered his Mac was upgraded from Mav to EC, which seemed to be true for other cases I found. But other workarounds seem to work too, like the one Tubegeek found.

And these cases were with a lot of other apps too, so it’s not Audacity, but something in EC.

I recall now that I’ve used that command to rebuild the launch services database when the Open with menu gets cluttered with multiple versions of Audacity and other applications, or hangs fetching the list.

I don’t really understand what changed with EC, as I don’t use EC atm. My EC machine is still in need of a new SATA cable. And I’m too lazy to set up an external disk :smiley:

I need a newer mac to run Sierra anyways, so I’d like to find a new Macbook Pro SATA cable first. Unfortunately, all the usual suppliers are out of stock. These break an awful lot, if you ask me. :cry:

This is a serious issue with either the newer version of Audacity, or in the compatibility considerations with the newer OS versions.
This is NOT due to issues with upgrades, I have reproduced it on a clean 10.11.6 installation. It seems the developers have not used a clean 10.11 install themselves for testing.
The problem is clearly stated in the Console when you try to start the application (by any means be it double click or right click open):

11/27/16 11:26:43.267 AM lsd[487]: LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist

That is a system location and is protected.

drwxr-xr-x 64 root wheel 2176 Nov 26 04:02 db

Additionally, there is no lsd folder. So whatever call Audacity is making to LaunchServices is simply invalid as the file and folder in question does not exist, and even if it did it’s protected so it couldn’t be written to. I suspect this is due to changes in the OS that software developers needed to code for in new app versions. It should be noted we run dozens of applications both commercial and freeware in our labs and no other app has a problem and yet this location/file still does not exist that Audacity seems to need. This very much points to Audacity needing to change how it is operating to not use what would seem to be a deprecated system, or implement a system call correctly so the system can make this location if needed.

Until the application is fixed to be compatible with the newer OS, it simply will not work without system modifications that require admin (root) level access. This means in a setting like ours were users only have user rights, not to mention lacking the knowledge to implement this kind of fix, they can’t use the software without us doing significant tricks.

Please see cyrano’s reply: Audacity not opening cleanly in OSX 10.11.1 Beta-with a CLUE - #8 by cyrano The solution will be included in the FAQ about launching Audacity. But the issue you point to is not frequent.

If you are a developer and wish to suggest an improvement, please send us a Git pull request.

Gale


Not a developer, just a user and support for university IT. The issue is indeed frequent as it is 100% reproducible. It has nothing to do with an upgrade as previously stated. Fresh installs of 10.11 and 10.10 do not contain the lsd folder you are trying to use, I’m not sure any version of the OS does to be frank. Putting something as high level as making a directory in a hidden root owned location to make your app function is frankly a poor choice of solution, especially since this is an issue with your software. Version 2.0.6 does not have this problem, it runs fine. Version 2.1.1 does not have this problem, it runs fine (does ask for admin as it’s an unsigned app, I had given that for 2.0.6 previously on this system I think). Version 2.1.2 does not run at all due to this new requirement of a folder that does not exist. This is nothing short of a fatal defect in the latest version. I don’t know what your testbed is, but it’s clearly not a standard install of 10.10 or 10.11 if you’re not reproducing this with 100% reliability.

It’s NOT happening to the vast majority of users. Nor is it limited to Audacity. It happens with other applications too, for a small set of users. Here’s an example where Safari has the exact same problem:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7282267?start=0&tstart=0

LaunchServices: Could not store lsd-identifiers file at /private/var/db/lsd/com.apple.lsdschemes.plist

It is possible it is not related to upgrades, even when I only encountered it with machines that had been upgraded and even when doing a clean install fixed it in one case.

The problem is possibly that (at least for the user who started this thread), the Gestalt manager reports a wrong system version. This was a bug with El Capitan that should have been fixed a long time ago. I couldn’t catch that one in the wild.

AFAIK the lsd folder at /private/var/db/ should be present in your system. I have no idea why it is missing or why this error is erroneous.

Which Mac are you using exactly?

It seems to happen with the latest Macs (from 2013 on), but unfortunately, I have no system info for these, as Apple has closed their hardware test system. And, again, it doesn’t happen to all these machines either.

Did you try an SMC reset?

And FWIW, this bug has been reported on Radar at least a hundred times. So I suppose Apple is looking into it.

The fact remains that this directory does not exist on any system we have, be it iMac, Macbook Pro, or Mini, spanning 5 years of models. We have not seen failures in any other piece of software (if Safari needed this to run, we’d know, so clearly it does not, and no such errors happen in the Console). We use a LOT of software, Audacity is the ONLY thing that has this issue needing this directory that does not exist. And as I just pointed out, this is the first version of Audacity with this problem. In light of all these points, asserting this is not an issue that needs to be fixed in Audacity just doesn’t make sense. If the development team chooses to not correct this problem, I tried to help.

Unfortunately, though, this Audacity problem does not happen on all clean installations of El Capitan (no previous OS X, no previous Audacity) and also happens on some upgraded machines.

We can only really test on machines whose “clean installations” are separate partitions or drives. Are your test beds separate machines, strictly one OS per machine?


Gale

I had only been looking at our deployed systems, but I just checked a test box I have that has partitions going back to 10.8. None of the partitions of any version of OS has the lsd directory from 10.8 to 10.11. I don’t know what is making that directory for you, but it’s not there by default. Perhaps xcode makes it? It’s been years since I used xcode, but I know it adds a lot of things not in the base OS.

I don’t have the /private/var/db/lsd/ folder on my 10.10 or 10.12 systems, nor any “com.apple.lsdschemes.plist” files according to the find command run in a terminal on 10.12. I have not seen this error in 2.1.2 when I had El Capitan.

There is some consensus online that it is some kind of El Capitan caching bug (some system file not being updated or deleted).

How have you fixed or worked around the problem on your deployed systems? Does the fix of opening the embedded “Audacity” executable work for you?


Gale

Not working around it, sticking with 2.1.1 as that works fine.

That is simply not true. Just paste the directory path in Google, you’ll get thousands of hits…

I don’t know what this directory is, or what it’s used for. It could also be an erroneous error. But it is an error generated by OSX and not by Audacity.

And since you have several systems showing this behaviour, it should be somewhat simpler to deduce the common factor. I’ve only seen this kind of error on a couple of systems. And it surfaced with Filemaker Pro, in my case, on a Mac that doesn’t have Audacity installed…