Publisher 1.8.4 freezing on Catalina 10.15.6

[Harvey Kaufmann]

*** Also posted to Affinity bugs forum ***

I am experiencing repetitive freezing (spinning beachball) when opening my Publisher files. On opening the file, Publisher reports missing fonts and resources (despite all being available and in the correct folders). The master pages and documents pages in the Left Studio are mostly blank and the simple frames on page backgrounds seem to be lores (screenshot attached). The file is not accessible for editing and freezes permanently after a short period (spinning beachball) which requires a forced quit exit. I experience the same issue with this file whether I just restart Affinity, or completely cold boot and restart. Once this problems occurs it appears the file is not recoverable. 

On the assumption that I have somehow corrupted this file I have been working with an older version of the file for the past several hours however it has also crashed (Publisher disappeared to the desktop as I was editing) and now this file is exhibiting the same issues (see Crashlog - attached).

I have been working on this file for over six months without any issues until just recently. This all appears to have started after the 1.8.4 update. 

*** Update *** Reverting back to Publisher 1.8.3 did not fix the issue. It looks like this a problem related to macOS compatibility???

 

Affinity_Publisher_Crash_Log.pdf

[SPaceBar]

Hi @Harvey Kaufmann Welcome to the Affinity forums. 

I'm sorry to hear you experiencing these difficulties. Would you be able to zip up your project and upload it to this dropbox folder here so I can take a look for you? I am still on macOS 10.15.5.

[Harvey Kaufmann]

Hi SPaceBar,

Thanks for the offer but I've found a work-around for the moment by reverting to 1.8.2. Everything works fine now. Most of this project was completed on 1.8.2 and I'v only worked sporadically on it since the last two updates and may have missed the problem as a result. It may be from some combination of OSX update and Publisher version and iMac configuration. I'm pretty sure the issue arises from Resource Manager - the initial error that happens when loading a file is about fonts and graphics and then the program goes into freezing no matter what option (link/update/locate) I choose (in Resource Manager). The appearance of the graphics when the file initially loads is lores so presumably Publisher cannot link with the "missing" resources.

I can upload the file but I suspect it won't help any troubleshooting without the resources folder and fonts which starts to make this a very big zip file.

For now, I'm really happy with 1.8.2 (provided it keeps on being well behaved!) and will get on with my work, but happy to contribute to the bug resolution process, so let me know if you want to see the entire project.

Regards,

Harvey

[SPaceBar]

Hey Harvey,

Thanks for the update. It's good to see you are able to continue to work on your project but not that you have to roll-back in order to do so. This does help narrow the issue down a little though so if you are happy to let me have a look at your project I'd like to take a look.

You can upload it here to this folder.

[Harvey Kaufmann]

Hi again, thanks for the continued interest, I am a big fan of Affinity and it's reassuring to receive this level of support on top of enjoying this most excellent software!

I uploaded a couple of files before I realised they all needed to be zipped so there's a big zip and some seperate files. In my problem solving I renamed the resources so although they are all there, they are named differently to the names in the Publisher Resource Manager but it shouldn't be too hard to sort.

Thanks again, regards, Harvey

[JamesMid]

My problem is identical. How can I revert to using 1.8.2?

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, JamesMid said:

How can I revert to using 1.8.2?

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, @JamesMid.

If you’re using the Affinity Store version of Affinity Publisher, go here. If you’re using the Mac App Store (MAS) version of the app I’m afraid there’s no way to revert to an earlier build.

[JamesMid]

1 minute ago, Alfred said:

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, @JamesMid.

If you’re using the Affinity Store version of Affinity Publisher, go here. If you’re using the Mac App Store (MAS) version of the app I’m afraid there’s no way to revert to an earlier build.

Thanks. I bought it from the store. Which version is more stable 1.8.3 or 1.8.2? If I try to install either one, will it simply replace version 1.8.4?

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, JamesMid said:

Thanks. I bought it from the store.

In that case, you’re in luck!

1 hour ago, JamesMid said:

Which version is more stable 1.8.3 or 1.8.2?

I’m afraid I’ve no idea, but I would think it makes sense to try 1.8.3 so that you avoid going farther back than necessary.

1 hour ago, JamesMid said:

If I try to install either one, will it simply replace version 1.8.4?

Yes.

[SPaceBar]

Thanks for the files @Harvey Kaufmann unfortunately we haven't been able to reproduce your issue. We managed to load the file in macOS 10.15.5 and 10.15.6. The beachball appeared on the first attempt on 10.15.6 but it loaded, could be edited and saved ok. It was able to open without issues on the second attempt.

It might be worth renaming your appdata as there have been some changes recently that were appdata dependent.

Instead if you purchased from the Affinity Store could you try these steps please:

Go to Macintosh HD\Users\username\Library\Application Support\
rename the 'Affinity Publisher' folder to 'Affinity Publisher Old'
Start Publisher

If you purchased from the Mac App Store could you try these steps please:

Go to Macintosh HD\Users\username\Library\Containers\
rename the 'com.seriflabs.affinityPublisher' folder to 'com.seriflabs.affinityPublisher.old'
Start Publisher

[SPaceBar]

Welcome to the Affinity forums @JamesMid Take a look at the above post as it might be worth renaming your appdata too. 

[JamesMid]

Update: I downloaded 1.8.3 ... works the same, spinning beachball (not responding). I downloaded 1.8.2 ... works the same, spinning beachball (not responding). I also changed the name to "Old". Trying a reboot.

[SPaceBar]

Thanks for the update @JamesMid Are you having this problem opening a specific file or is it with all of your files?

If it's a specific file can you upload it into this dropbox folder here please?

[JamesMid]

20 minutes ago, SPaceBar said:

Thanks for the update @JamesMid Are you having this problem opening a specific file or is it with all of your files?

If it's a specific file can you upload it into this dropbox folder here please?

1) First of all, a reboot didn't help, the document still freezes (in 1.8.2) (was the same before with 1.8.3 and 1.8.4).

2) I created a new small test document (three pages with text and two photos) and didn't have a problem with it (in 1.8.2).

3) I then reopened the original document and it worked OKish, still some spinning beachball, but not as much as before (in 1.8.2).

4) I have since reopened the original document and it seems to be working just fine now ... no freezing (in 1.8.2).

5) I wonder if going through the same steps (creating/opening a new simple document, then trying the original document again) would work with 1.8.4?

Before I updated to 1.8.4 I didn't have a problem with anything.

It is pretty frustrating having these issues with Affinity. I am a long time Quark user (sometime InDesign user) and was thrilled to find Affinity.

Jim

[SPaceBar]

Hey Jim, are you selecting File > Open from within Publisher? Or are you clicking on the files themselves from a finder window? I am wondering if it's path related hence why it worked after you created a new simple document first. Can I also ask if you are storing your files on an external drive?

It's great to hear you are otherwise enjoying Affinity. I am also an old Quark Express / Quark / InDesign user and I do prefer Publisher myself.

[JamesMid]

At first, each time I opened the file by double clicking from the desktop (a few double click openings were after I created the new small file). Then I decided to try opening it from within Publisher. I really don't know if that made a difference. I have since tried opening it both ways, without a problem.

The working files are not on an external drive. Although I have them backed up on an external drive. 

[Harvey Kaufmann]

21 hours ago, SPaceBar said:

Thanks for the files @Harvey Kaufmann unfortunately we haven't been able to reproduce your issue. We managed to load the file in macOS 10.15.5 and 10.15.6. The beachball appeared on the first attempt on 10.15.6 but it loaded, could be edited and saved ok. It was able to open without issues on the second attempt

It might be worth renaming your appdata as there have been some changes recently that were appdata dependent.

Instead if you purchased from the Affinity Store could you try these steps please:

Go to Macintosh HD\Users\username\Library\Application Support\
rename the 'Affinity Publisher' folder to 'Affinity Publisher Old'
Start Publisher

If you purchased from the Mac App Store could you try these steps please:

Go to Macintosh HD\Users\username\Library\Containers\
rename the 'com.seriflabs.affinityPublisher' folder to 'com.seriflabs.affinityPublisher.old'
Start Publisher

 

[Harvey Kaufmann]

Hi SPaceBar,

Things with Publisher have been erratic since my last post. As I said, I entirely removed Publisher (and all of my other Affinity apps) and the Library entries for Publisher, Designer and Photos. I did a clean reinstall of Publisher 1.8.2 and I have been working with that for about 10 hours since early yesterday, saving regularly and backing up to several locations. I experienced a couple of small glitches; a program freeze when scrolling (no spinning beachball, just frozen) and a random crash but that's manageable. 

However having come back to the file after several hours away today I am having the same issue as earlier; resources are not loading - evidenced by white blanks in the Left Studio where the page thumbnails should be - and the program freezing followed by spinning beachball if I try to open resource manager or wait long enough (it seems to be a minute or two before the spinning ball comes). I have tried to load several versions of the file with similar results. 

FYI; I purchased the apps directly from Serif and navigated to Macintosh HD\Users\username\Library\Application Support\ and deleted 'Affinity Publisher' folder before reinstalling. I have also restarted Publisher from both 'warm' and 'cold' reboots several times with mixed success.

After five or six attempts starting Publisher, I managed to get the file loaded and it's working now. I am still seeing a missing fonts message (while loading) and the Left Studio page thumbnails are missing during load but I can navigate through the document and start editing. After a time (I'm not sure how long) the thumbnails populate the Left Studio and it looks like all is good. But this feels very insecure and every time I open resource manager I feel it's a 50/50 chance for a crash. I am going to embed all of the links into a version of the file and see if that takes one problem (resource manager) out of the equation.

I would really like to nail down this problem but right now my priority is finishing this project so perhaps it's best that I keep moving for now and come back to you in a few days for a more forensic exploration.

Regards, Harvey
 

[SPaceBar]

Hey Harvey,

I think if I was in your position I would finish my work and then come back without the worry of losing my project on my mind. This is generally what I do with any software / hardware issues that I encounter. You could then go through some troubleshooting with newly created files that you made just for the tests. That way you have nothing to lose.

Just give me a shout when you have time. 👍