Cannot communicate with other Affinity apps since 2.2.0 update

[magnus123]

After upgrading to 2.2.0 I see the same issue on all 3 apps (Designer, Photo, Publisher)

"Cannot communicate with other Affinity apps. Please ensure the app is up-to-date and that your firewall isn't blocking local network traffic"

Turning off fire walls completely does not help.

Restarting computer does not help

Uninstall and re-install all 3 apps does not help.

Running Windows 11 Home Edition (fully updated)

Core i3 (11th Gen), 16GB, Plenty of free disk space.

Did not have any issues before the upgrade.

 

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums.

Did you use the MSIX installer or the EXE installer?

Are you starting all 3 applications simultaneously, or one at a time?

[Callum]

Hi Magnus123,

Welcome to the forums

This issue typically occurs when opening multiple apps at a time if you open just one Affinity app with no other Affinity apps open does it open correctly?

Thanks
C

[frederic_montreal]

I am having the same issue and tried to uninstall and installing from Microsoft store and from affinity web site. I have all 3 apps. I cannot get of the apps to open.

Very frustrated.

 

[Rami3819]

Hi Everyone, 

I'm also getting the same message. I've tried both methods of installation, the exe and msix methods both failed. I'm not a firewall expert. I use the built in firewall that comes with win10 pro, default settings. V2 was working before I reset my win10 OS, so it's not my router either. I did install V1 of the apps and they work, but with V2 I can't even get to the screen to activate any of the V2 apps.

Any next step would be greatly appreciated,

thanx 

 

[Jimmyr]

Same problem here. Altough when I restart my computer it seems to work. But having to restart the computer to use the program every time is not doable.

Please change the validation process, I have no problem running any other software.

Happens to all 3 programs (photo, designer, publisher) starting them one by one.

[Dion67]

I am also having the same issues with all 3 apps. None of them will run at all. I have not experienced any problems with any other applications.

Turning off the firewall completely does not make any difference.

Restarted the computer but still get the same message upon trying to open one of the apps.

Uninstalled the apps and re-installed them.

Running Windows 10 Pro 64 bit version 22H2

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz   3.30 GHz

32.0 GB RAM

[meldrumis]

I am encountering the same as above.

I have tried the following steps to fix the issue to no avail. 

Restarted computer. 
Verified firewall is not blocking anything.
Uninstalled and reinstalled software. 

Any further advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Sooner rather than later please. 

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, meldrumis said:

I am encountering the same as above.

I have tried the following steps to fix the issue to no avail. 

Restarted computer. 
Verified firewall is not blocking anything.
Uninstalled and reinstalled software. 

Any further advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Sooner rather than later please. 

What OS?

If Windows:

• Have you installed using the EXE installers or the MSIX installers?
• Have you verified via Task Manager that none of the Affinity V2 apps are running, and then started them one at a time, waiting until each has fully initialized before starting the next one?

[meldrumis]

Hi Walt, I'm using windows 11. 

I used the MSIX installers. The entire affinity suite has been installed on my system for quite some time now (new PC in June installed upon purchase of machine. I have been in Amsterdam for the last 5 days and the PC has been off but was working on the software the night before leaving for my trip and it was working fine). It is the first time I have encountered the issues. 

There is no affinity software running in task manager for me to end. I booted up this evening to do some work and none of the V2 software works. 

I have reinstalled V1 which works with no issues. Any other suggestions on what could be causing the issue? 

 

[walt.farrell]

No other ideas at the moment; sorry.

[Return]

Perhaps this will work.

 

[meldrumis]

Good evening both, 

I have tried the steps in the forum post shared by return and the steps did not help. 

I have made some progress. I located an older version of an MSIX Publisher installer v2.1.1xx. It is working completely fine. 

Is there a way to get legacy MSIX versions of the software? I would say I have fairly solid grounds now to believe the 2.2 update is what has caused and I can't open the software to find any roll back options internally. 

Thank you both for your support in the issue so far.  

[walt.farrell]

10 hours ago, meldrumis said:

Is there a way to get legacy MSIX versions of the software?

https://affinity.store/update/windows/photo/2

https://affinity.store/update/windows/designer/2

https://affinity.store/update/windows/publisher/2

Make sure you uninstall the current version you have installed before trying to install an older version. And remember that if you've Saved any natI've Affinity files using 2.2, they won't Open in an older version.

[meldrumis]

Good afternoon Walt. 

I have installed version 2.1.1 of the suite all programs working correctly and all is well. 

Thank you and return for your help with this issue. Would you like any info on my system etc to 

help Serif find a solution to the 2.2 update issue?

John. 

 

[walt.farrell]

14 minutes ago, meldrumis said:

Would you like any info on my system etc to 

help Serif find a solution to the 2.2 update issue?

When @Callum or another Serif staff member gets back to this topic, they may have something they want. I don't have any further ideas at the moment; sorry.

[Callum]

37 minutes ago, meldrumis said:

Good afternoon Walt. 

I have installed version 2.1.1 of the suite all programs working correctly and all is well. 

Thank you and return for your help with this issue. Would you like any info on my system etc to 

help Serif find a solution to the 2.2 update issue?

John. 

 

I'd be interested to know if this issue occurs if you reinstall the latest version of the .EXE installers is this something you would be willing to try / have tried already?

[meldrumis]

Hi @@Callum, I tried briefly yesterday evening using the .EXE installers but had no joy with them either. 

I'm working on something right now however when I finish what I need to finish I am more than happy to try. 

Should hopefully have time over the weekend. If not it will be next Friday evening before I will have time to test. 

[Rami3819]

Has anyone been able to solve this issue without having to do a full reset or turn into a firewall security expert?

I tried updating t o the  new version 2.3 and the same results.  I'm pretty frustrated now. Any advice is more than welcomed.

[floraldeoderant]

Adding to the chorus here-- same error, this is beyond frustrating.
I've tried:

• Making firewall exceptions for Affinity 2
• Rebooting my computer
• Reinstalling 2.3.0 from EXE and MSIX
• Reinstalling older versions (2.1.1 from MSIX is the only one that works)

Really annoyingly, when I try to access 2 nearly completed files in 2.1.1, I get a message claiming I've used functions only available in more recent Affinity versions (which of course isn't possible). 

[Eerie]

I am having the same issue. Photo and Publisher throw the error message. Designer opens and freezes. 

[walt.farrell]

27 minutes ago, Eerie said:

I am having the same issue. Photo and Publisher throw the error message. Designer opens and freezes. 

If Designer is opening first, and freezing, that would explain why Photo and Publisher give the message. As Designer is frozen, they cannot communicate with it.

What OS do you use?

[Eerie]

I'm on Windows 11.

I open Designer and it freezes... the open modal to open recent stuff or start a new document doesn't do anything at all. 

I can open any one of them on their own, and the designer always does the above, and photo/publisher tell me they can't communicate. Even without having anything else open. I can open them fine at home (different set-up, windows 10), but I'm at work and have no such luck. 

[walt.farrell]

8 minutes ago, Eerie said:

I can open any one of them on their own, and the designer always does the above, and photo/publisher tell me they can't communicate.

When you open Photo or Publisher, have you checked Task Manager to make sure you don't have some other Affinity V2 application running, possiblly in the background?

[Rami3819]

Partial Success! Here is a list of steps/troubleshooting I've done. Maybe it will work for you too! Jump to the end if you just want the partial solution.

 

Computer: 

• AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor           

• GPU 6700xt

• 

 

• No Obvious Task Manager Process

• No Rules for firewall, 

• Default Firewall built into Win 10 Pro

• Asus router (maybe)

 

Troubleshooting:

• Have Installed using both the EXE and MSI versions

• Did check the Ransom Rules and it was not activated on my system. I did activate and afterwards 

saw that security block an AMD process but no Affinity product

• Control + Click to start, cleared user data, deactivated and still not working

• 

• Windows 10 was just reinstalled and I installed Affinity with V2

• Went into C:\Users\{youruser}\AppData\Roaming   and located the AFFINITY folder and erased it. Success! 

 

I did have to reactivate the license and probably all my settings are gone but Photo 2 at least seems to be working. It’s also late and I will  reinstall the rest of the apps tomorrow.