Krissserz

Q: Font display problems since upgrading to Yosemite.

Hi!

 

Since I upgraded to Yosemite, I have a few font display problems on certain Websites (via Safari only) and on Mail.

 

Please view attached screen shot.

 

What is wrong?

 

I use FontExplorer Pro, and I cleaned system font caches and cleaned application font caches and both didn't work.

 

Thanks!

 

Chris.Screen-Shot-2015-07-25-at-5.00.jpg

iMac (21.5-inch Late 2009), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), null

Posted on Jul 27, 2015 9:17 AM

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Q: Font display problems since upgrading to Yosemite.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 27, 2015 9:28 AM in response to Krissserz
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jul 27, 2015 9:28 AM in response to Krissserz

    Back up all data before proceeding.

    Launch the Font Book application and validate all fonts. You must select the fonts in order to validate them. See the built-in help and this support article for instructions. If Font Book finds any issues, resolve them.

    Start up in safe mode to rebuild the font caches. Restart as usual and test.

    Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t start in safe mode. In that case, ask for instructions.

    If you still have problems, then from the Font Book menu bar, select

              FileRestore Standard Fonts...

    You'll be prompted to confirm, and then to enter your administrator login password.

    Also note that if you deactivate or remove any built-in fonts, for instance by using a third-party font manager, the system may become unstable.

  • by Krissserz,

    Krissserz Krissserz Jul 27, 2015 1:00 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jul 27, 2015 1:00 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thank you so much!

  • by Krissserz,

    Krissserz Krissserz Jul 27, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Krissserz
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jul 27, 2015 1:45 PM in response to Krissserz

    The problems in my Mail seem to be solved.

     

    The problems with most Websites (via Safari) seem to be solved. However, here is an example of a remaining problem.

     

    Thanks again!

     

    Chris.Screen-Shot-2015-07-27-at-4.38.jpg

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 27, 2015 3:50 PM in response to Krissserz
    Level 10 (208,000 points)
    Applications
    Jul 27, 2015 3:50 PM in response to Krissserz

    I don't know which steps you took, but if you haven't already gotten rid of "FontExplorer," I suggest you do that, or else refer to its developer for support. It's supposed to take over all font management tasks.

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Jul 27, 2015 4:11 PM in response to Krissserz
    Level 8 (37,946 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 27, 2015 4:11 PM in response to Krissserz

    I would guess you used Linc's suggestion to use Restore Standard Fonts, and that's fine. It moved all non OS X installed fonts out of the /System/Library/Fonts/ folder, and the root /Library/Fonts/ folder if either of them contained third party fonts you added to them in any manner.

     

    However, it also means you have two font managers on your Mac at the same time. This is never a good idea as they will fight each other for control of your fonts. FEX Pro is light years ahead of Font Book in its font handling abilities. Assuming you prefer to use that font manager, you need to get Font Book off the drive.

     

    First, copy Font Book from the Applications folder to another drive. All other components of FB will still be on the main drive, but will be inactive with the main app gone. That means you can always easily restore Font Book if need be by simply copying the main app back to the Applications folder.

     

    Highlight Font Book by clicking on it once. Press Command+I, or choose Get Info from the main menu (same thing). Click the lock at the lower right and enter your admin password. Under the Permissions heading, click the + button and add yourself as an owner (your admin account). Change all permissions to Read U& Write. Close the Get Info dialogue. You can now delete Font Book without the OS telling you it can't be removed.

     

    Next, restart in Safe Mode by restarting and holding the Shift key down. You will be asked to login to Safe Mode, even if your Mac is set to automatically login otherwise. Once at the desktop, restart again normally. Among other things a Safe Mode startup does, it removes all cache data from your user account, and clears Font Book's database, which is the important part of this step.

  • by Krissserz,

    Krissserz Krissserz Jul 29, 2015 9:18 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jul 29, 2015 9:18 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Thanks guys!

     

    But I have to stick with FontExplorer X Pro. I'm a graphic designer, and all my fonts are perfectly listed in it.

     

    Thanks again! I guess I'll live with the weird font display.

  • by Kurt Lang,Helpful

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Jul 29, 2015 9:49 AM in response to Krissserz
    Level 8 (37,946 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 29, 2015 9:49 AM in response to Krissserz

    There's no need to put up with it. Since you would prefer to stick with FEX Pro, follow the steps above to remove Font Book. Two font managers on the same system will only continue to cause you problems.

     

    If you've already tried booting into Safe Mode and the letter A in a box is still showing, there are two other possible reasons for that. (BTW, that repeated character is from the system font LastResort).

     

    1) Apple uses three different versions of Helvetica as system fonts throughout the OS. If you've activated yet another version that conflicts with either the system Helvetica or Helvetica Neue fonts, you can cause this problem. The OS ends up with two cached versions of Helvetica it sees as the same font. Besides being a font conflict, this can corrupt the cache for those fonts, and the OS then has to use the LastResort font to display something there.

     

    So if you have any other versions of Helvetica enabled in FEX, disable them and restart.

     

    2) Coming back again to restarting in Safe Mode. This clears the cache data for the user account. But if the problem is with the system font cache data, it still won't be repaired. Follow these instructions to clear all font cache data.

     

    Close all running applications. From an administrator account, open the Terminal app and enter the following command. You can also copy/paste it from here into the Terminal window:

     

    sudo atsutil databases -remove

     

    Terminal will then ask for your admin password. As you type, it will not show anything, so be sure to enter it correctly.

     

    This command removes all font cache files. Both for the system and the current logged in user account. After running the command, close Terminal and immediately restart your Mac.

  • by Krissserz,

    Krissserz Krissserz Jul 30, 2015 8:34 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jul 30, 2015 8:34 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Thank you so much for taking your time to answer me with such great details!

     

    I appreciate it so much!

     

    For the time being, I simply deactivated my other Helvetica versions, and all is good now.

     

    Thanks a million!

     

    I have one last question, though... Here are screen shots of my Helvetica files on my iMac.

     

    screen.jpg

     

    In this screen shot, two things:

     

    1_ It surprises me that the fonts are in TrueType and not OpenType.

    2_ How come Helvetica Neue Desk UI is missing? I previously did a «Restore Standard Fonts» with FontBook.

     

    screen2.jpg

     

    In this screen shot, I wonder what are HelveLTMM (no format!), Helvetica LT MM (no format!), and HelveticaNeueDeskInterface (in TrueType format!).

     

    Thanks again!

     

    Chris.

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Jul 30, 2015 8:49 AM in response to Krissserz
    Level 8 (37,946 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 30, 2015 8:49 AM in response to Krissserz

    The .Helvetica Neue DeskInterface font is the Yosemite system font (which is actually a collection of 10 fonts to cover bold, italic, etc.). Font Book doesn't display it, but FEX Pro, Suitcase Fusion, and other font managers do.

     

    The font HelveticaNeueDeskUI.ttc shown in red as missing doesn't even exist in Yosemite. That's a Mavericks system font. Old info FEX Pro isn't clearing?

     

    All of the LTMM fonts are deprecated. When you run Restore Standard Fonts in Font Book, it will move those out of the System's font folder with the message;

     

    These fonts are not part of the default system install. They would have been removed to 'Fonts (Removed)':

     

    So why does Apple's installer still include them if Apple themselves says they shouldn't be there? Hard to say. But you can remove them if you want.

  • by Krissserz,

    Krissserz Krissserz Jul 30, 2015 8:56 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    Jul 30, 2015 8:56 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Thanks again!

     

    Seems odd to me that Helvetica Neue DeskInterface is a TrueType and not an OpenType, though

     

    Chris.