Fonts showing up as Unix executible files in snow leopard and not on OS X10.5

I understand what you're saying, but what confuses me is that the fonts were already on the Mac Pro before I installed SL and there was never an issue. So is this a Snow Leopard thing or perhaps an issue with the computer?

So you are saying those fonts were ok on your machine prior to the SL update? But are you sure? Did you look or ever use those fonts prior to the SL install and know positively they were ok at that time? Did you run any font software after the SL install that might have (mis)handled those fonts? Maybe using SL versions of Fontbook or Suitcase Fusion 3 (or using them in SL) was sufficient to destroy those fonts. I don't know. But the bottom line is now they're toast! I don't believe this has anything to do with your machine and the only way SL could be involved is, like I said, maybe running those font utilities or some other font utility under SL caused the problem.

All I can suggest now is copying them back over from your G5 again and see if the new copy is ok on you SL machine and replace the defective fonts or font folders with the new copies. If they are indeed ok I would keep an eye on them particularly after (during) running any of those font utilities.

And finally, like Linc says, find a way to convert them somehow or hunt down updated versions on the web somewhere.

I think it's time for google searching. Try something like "os x font conversion" and see what turns up.

Is there a way to convert a font to a newer format, or do you mean acquire newer versions?

Either one. There is certainly software that converts fonts between formats. I know nothing else about it. I also don't know whether fonts in that particular format can be converted. That's something you'll have to research.

So you are saying if you view those fonts on the inserted CD they already appear as 0k unix files in the finder display?

Then perhaps the resource forks are still there. This can be verified. But the question is is it really worth doing? There's not guarantee these fonts will work in SL even if they have their resource forks. That's most likely why Fontbook and Suitcase Fusion 3 can't deal with them under SL. They really need to be converted or more current substitutes found.

But, FWIW, if they could be used, and the resource forks are really there, then I suppose the method to use would be to change their type and creator to something associated with a font. There are utilities to change the type and creator to be found on macupdate.com.

One way check if a resource fork is present is from terminal. In terminal type ls -s followed by a space. Then drag one of the questionable font files into the terminal window. Then backspace and type /rsrc followed by pressing return. Thus before pressing return you have a line resembling:

ls -s path-to-file/rsrc

If the resource fork is there ls will just echo back the pathname preceded by a number (the size of the resource fork).

No need to convert the fonts. Being from the '80's is also irrelevant. I have hundreds of ancient fonts that all work just fine.

All you need to do is go to the Mac where these fonts work as expected. Copy all of them to a new folder on the desktop so they are not in use. Put all of the copies onto a Mac formatted flash drive. Make sure it's formatted as Mac OS Extended. Bring the flash drive over to the new Mac and copy them off.

Have you even read this thread? He already has them on a CD. He already copied them to his SL machine. And he is discovering these (particular) fonts have problems with his font software!

Have you even read this thread?

Uh, yes. Thank you so much for assuming I hadn't. No, I don't understand why he can't copy them off the same CD that works in Tiger. That makes no sense whatsoever. The CD of course can't change from Mac to Mac. I'm just suggesting a different approach.

It makes no difference what font software you're using. You don't even need to use a font manager to activate your fonts. Just manually place the fonts into the /Library/Fonts/ folder, or the Fonts folder in your user account. As long as the fonts are good, they'll work.

If even that doesn't work (assuming they copy off correctly, not zero Kbytes), then the usual cause of fonts refusing to open or close is a corrupt Font Book database. When that happens, it will affect any other font manager from working the way it's supposed to. jim1964 also notes he has both Font Book and Suitcase on his system. Always a very bad idea to have more than one font manager on your system at a time.

I can stop pulling my hair out now.

Male pattern baldness does that for us. 😉

Glad you got them working.

So I have two files, one with the 0K unix files and one with the resource forks content. Both show up as Unix files. Info sees them as non-executable bitmap files. Any other ideas? Should I reinstall fontbook?

Should I reinstall Font Book?

That won't help in the least. Your problem is here:

So I have two files, one with the 0K unix files and one with the resource forks content. Both show up as Unix files.

0K means just what it says. The file is nothing more than a file name. Any data that was supposed to be there is gone. I'm guessing you have a Type 1 PostScript font. The suitcase of screen fonts, and its matching outline font. With such fonts, all data is in the resource fork for both items. So if one got stripped, it's very likely they both did.

In Windows, if a file is an unrecognized type, its icon is show as a dog-eared piece of paper with the Windows logo in the center. That's Windows' way of saying, "I have no clue what this is." While there are actually some UNIX executables in OS X, it's usually OS X's way of saying, "What is this?".

You're going to have to retrieve the font from its original source and replace the damaged copies.