Lion quarantine causing applications to not launch/open

Question

Lion quarantine causing applications to not launch/open

Hello all,

I seem to have tripped over this quarantine bug in Lion. Newly downloaded apps simply sit in the Dock with the sphere pulsing, and disappear when clicked on.

I've found a few places that talk about possible workarounds with Terminal, but haven't been able to get them to work for me.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3824067

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3826648?tstart=0

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57374676-263/workarounds-for-quarantine-bug -in-os-x-lion/

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57406599-263/tackling-a-newly-installed-app lication-not-opening-in-os-x/

Is there anything new known about this situation? Is there any other workaround or trick to try? This is stopping me from being able to install any new software properly. I'm hoping I don't have to wipe the system and start over, but I'm not seeing much choice. Assuming I don't trip the bug during the rebuild process and end up back in the same spot....

Helpful pointers or information greatly appreciated,

Markie

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Apr 3, 2012 3:16 PM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Apr 3, 2012 3:38 PM in response to Markie Castle

Please describe your workflow for installing these applications, from download to (failed) launch. Also, what exactly did you do to try to solve the problem?

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Answer 2

Apr 3, 2012 3:41 PM in response to Markie Castle

Do you have an anti-virus package installed on your Mac?

Allan

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Answer 3

Apr 3, 2012 3:57 PM in response to Markie Castle

Good questions, apologies for the vagueness.

Download app from 3rd party site, haven't confirmed if something from App Store has the same problem.
Copy app to Applications folder
Icon appears in the Dock with the plusing "I'm launching" sphere beneath it.
That's where it just hangs there, and clicking the icon in the Dock causes it to disappear and the launch to abort

I don't have an anti-virus running in the background, but I do periodically run ClamXav (about once a week).

I've tried uninstalling with AppCleaner

I've tried uninstalling manually

I've copied and replaced

I've emptied Trash, Logged out, restarted, tried the Terminal to flip quarantine bit workaround, etc -- all multiple times with no change in behavior

The App I'm currently battling with

MacTubes (http://macapps.sakura.ne.jp/mactubes/index_en.html)

I innocently updated from the previous (working) version just this morning and realized this had happened with another app last week.

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Answer 4

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Apr 3, 2012 4:14 PM in response to Markie Castle

Download app from 3rd party site, haven't confirmed if something from App Store has the same problem.

Copy app to Applications folder

There's another step between those two. You have to expand some kind of archive, such as a disk image or a ZIP file. How are you doing that? For example, if the archive is a ZIP file, you double-click it, and an application launches. What application is that? By default, it would be the built-in Archive Utility application.

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Answer 5

Apr 3, 2012 4:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

I'm out of practice in reporting this usefully. 😮

I do in fact have to expand archives, and I currently have "The Unarchiver" as the default app for that.

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Answer 6

Apr 3, 2012 4:23 PM in response to Markie Castle

Linc,

I now see where you were going with this. When I read the thread https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3826648?tstart=0 the last entry talks about The Unarchiver. It reads

If you are using The Unarchiver 3.0 to unzip the application, it will not work properly when you launch it. This is because of the sandboxing feature in 10.7.

I understood this to mean The Unarchiver would not work properly, NOT the expanded app.

I used the Apple supplied Archive Utility and the app now works properly.

Thank you for the clarification and the assistance!

Markie

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