Helvetica Regular font display issues in Big Sur 11.4 with Suitcase Fusion

Question

Helvetica Regular font display issues in Big Sur 11.4 with Suitcase Fusion

So since upgrading from Catalina to Big Sur with Suitcase Fusion 21.3.0 (9663) installed for Font Management the font Helvetica Regular displays mostly as question marks, though in the case of mail it is only in the mail window, if I open the e-mail separately it shows correctly. I also am showing it in 1Password.

IN WINDOW

AND Opened externally.

And in 1Password

The strange thing is this is a system font that is not controlled by Suitcase, but is only in Font Book.

I found this other thread about it, but wasn't allowed to post there, but the solution does work if I never again open Suitcase. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252362828?login=true

I have contacted Extensis technical support but haven't heard back.

Anyone have any ideas?

iMac Pro

Posted on Jun 11, 2021 2:03 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Kurt Lang

Level 9

62,484 points

Jun 11, 2021 3:34 PM in response to Jonah Lee Walker

There's no way around it in Big Sur. You simply can't use old T1 PS or legacy Mac TrueType versions of Helvetica anymore. They conflict with the system version, which cannot be disabled or removed.

If you require a PostScript font, the only fix that avoids using the OS installed version is to purchase the Adobe or Linotype OpenType PostScript version. They have different internal names that do not conflict. Either of those and the OS version can be active at the same time.

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Answer 2

Kurt Lang

Level 9

62,484 points

Jun 11, 2021 2:34 PM in response to Jonah Lee Walker

It's not Suitcase causing the problem. As in, not the app itself.

If it is Suitcase, it would be because Suitcase is set to automatically enable another copy of Helvetica regular, which then conflicts with the system font. The OS, not knowing which one to use, borks the font cache data and you get question marks where that font should appear.

First, find where in Suitcase where it's activating an older version of Helvetica. A conflicting version would be Type 1 PostScript, or an old legacy OS 9 style TrueType font. Disable it.

Then 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

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

The moment you choose to restart, hold down the Shift key. Keep holding the key until the Mac asks you to login to your account. Once at the Safe Mode desktop, restart again normally.

This resets/removes Font Book's hidden database files and resets its preferences.

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Answer 3

Jun 11, 2021 2:52 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Yea the terminal thing was also in the post I linked to, and I said it works (though don't need to do the shift thing on restart, just the terminal command and restart and it fixes it till I re-open Suitcase.

Strangely none of Helvetica fonts I have in Suitcase are anything close to the System Helveticas in Font Book. Might just have to try them in batches and see if the problem clears up, but unfortunately I am doing graphics on a project that someone used helvetica variants for basically everything.

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Helvetica Regular font display issues in Big Sur 11.4 with Suitcase Fusion

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