Keynote crashed, presentation file disappeared

I'm glad I found this discussion. I'm a college professor and never experienced any problems with Keynote until this past week when I was revising my slide decks. I too believe the July update was the culprit because no matter which machine I use, I get the same problems--movies, audio, autosave, etc.

I had "save previous version" checked in prefs, which doesn't do much good when you're revising. I find I have to lock the file as soon as I open it; otherwise, it's toast. I had my opening day deck disappear.

I also tried exporting to Powerpoint and reimporting to Keynote--same thing. I tried using a script from OSX Hints for disabling autosave on my Mac mini to see if that helps.

I can't say how disapponted I am. Yes, I too was contacted by the iWork team, but I think it's clear that this is a long-term issue. I need a short term fix, which may mean originating new content on the iPad Keynote app and using Reflector on the class projector.Or porting everything to the dreaded Powerpoint, a program I own and have never used.

Gary

I have removed Keynote (and Pages and Numbers) with Appcleaner (http://www.freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/), and then reinstalled Keynote from the AppStore on my MacBook Air 2013 (OS 10.8.4). That solved most of the problems.

For a couple of hours I have done all kinds of wild stuff on file-copies to crash the program. Twice it couldn't find the original file while autosaving, but it prompted me, and I could save my file. Twice it crashed without deleting the original. Some of my audio had lost its "animation' (i.e. start play on mouse click), and I could see it struggle with some video as well, but once everything was saved it ran.

For now, when I'll give a presentation, I'll make a copy (command-d) of my file and run that. If Keynote should crash and delete I have the original of which I will make a copy and then continue my presentation.

I have no problems whatsoever on my iMac which still runs Lion, so it is the combination of Mountain Lion and Keynote, either of which needs to be patched.

I have been having the same problem too. The only thing that seems to help at all is making sure that the "Backup Previous Version" box is checked in Keynote's preferences, saving feverishly, and then... if it crashes during a presentation... jumping out into the Finder, making a duplicate as fast as I can of the backup file and opening that in order to continue the show. (This has happened to me twice now during class.)

Now what I wonder is if this is at all related to iCloud.

I noticed that aside from about a dozen "Untitled Presentation N"s in my iCloud account, some of the untitled presentations were actually pretty up-to-date versions of some of the presentations that I had lost. It was hit and miss as to whether or not they would open, but all of this trouble seems to have started at the same time as the iCloud rollout.

If the problem is with iCloud, the workaround might be to uncheck "Documents and Data" under your iCloud sync preferences in System Preferences. Yes, you then lose the whole Apple echosystem of document sharing between iOS devices, but if you are a teacher (like many of us, it seems) and your presentations are important (like all of us), this might be the only thing.

I for one am going to give it a shot and check back here if it seems to work. (I am pretty annoyed by the incompatabilities between Keynote and iCloud Keynote and iOS Keynote anyhow.)

My solution until now is that instead of working on my desktop with 10.8 on it, I make my presentation on my apple air with 10.7. So far so good, but stll keeping my fingers crossed all the time.

Has anyone noticed crashed files that are reopened (if they don't disappear) have a tilde keystroke attached to their filenames? Some of mine has a tilde and then "tef." It's as if the file hasn't closed and is still open. Afterward, the placed images appear as placeholders, much as what you would find in a template.

I've used Keynote since its inception but never have I experienced anything remotely and as devestating as this. I have never used Powerpoint but may be forced into it if there's not a fix soon. I don't know how long I can prepapre presentations when I have no confidence they'll even play in class.

Gary

Yes, that has happened to me. What has also been happening now is freezing - or being forced to force quit or being unable to save with a prompt that says it's because the document has been altered in another application (untrue). Then when I reopen, pretty much every image is missing in the slides even though I can see them in the thumbnails. What the --?

Keynote lover, can't keep my nerves straight when I work on powerpoint, but know I'm forced to do it, which makes me even angrier. My job is basically to write presentations, so I know what I'm talking about.

I've had all these problems too recently, since I upgraded to the latest version of Mountain Lion, 10.8.4

I've had a Keynote presentation freezing while on slideshow during an important business meeting, forcing a restart, then the file was GONE.

Most of my keynote files act weirdly:

- Sometimes, I got messages saying the file can be saved because some of its contents were modified by other applications

- Some keynote files cannot be zipped at all

- Some keynote files cannot be restored from previous versions

- The worst and most frequent problem is: some of the media contents (images, videos) suddenly DISAPPEAR from the presentation, randomly (but always all from the same slide, some slides remain intact), leaving squares with big crosses inside where the media file used to be. In every case, a kinf of temp folder is created on my computer, containing all the media elements (I didn't bother to see it's only the missing ones or not). In the best case I can reopen the file and save the few slides that can be saved (where medias files haven't disappeared) in a fresh keynote presentation, but in the worst case I can no longer open the file at all.

My company's IT guy has repaired permissions, reinstalled Mountain Lion and iWork, but I keep having the problem.

It seems to be related to the way Keynote saves files with the Time Machine style, and it definitely appeared with OSX 10.8.4.

And it *****.A.LOT. So Apple, fix it please. Or at least allow people to downgrade to 10.8.3 or even Lion in a simple way, **** it.

I'm convinced autosave is not the culprit. I've disabled it via Terminal on my Mac Mini and I still get problems--this time, I get a dialog box asking me if I really want to save this over another version. But no crashes.

I make sure I create a new file and all graphic elements are replaced not with the old file's graphics in its "package" but with the original source, either from Stockkeeper or iPhoto.

It's a pain, I know, and I still get the wavy character backup as if the file is still open. I think, as others do, that 10.8.4 is the culprit; c'mon Mavericks (and a different set of headaches?)

Gary

I might have a workaround.

I saved by presentation to a thumb drive and the use the file on the thumb drive for the presentation. So far no crashes.

Using the preference I have backup selected in the preference. As I am making the slide I save after every change. I hit the save control twice which updates the backup copy. At least when it crashes I have fairly up-to-date back up.

I'm like the other professors who've reported this. 15 minutes before class Keynote goes into an infinite loop looking for a video file. I'm told to leave the program and when I reopen the entire presentation is gone. I was forced to improvise for last Thursday's class. But today, when it started crashing again (after tech had told me to move all audio and video to the home drive and I did), I was pretty freaked out. Saved as a power point file. Unfotunately the animations for starting/stoping videos/audio do not work.

I'm so unhappy about this. I literally got hundreds of professional presentations, classes, talks, etc.

Before you open your file, turn it into a Template (command-I, check template). It'll open a copy of the doc, so you'll never loose that. My solution (reinstall the program, see earlier) has worked well. Keynote hung a couple of times, but nothing lost.

This is the solution I have found that works:

Working with a file:

• In preferances I have checked the make backup of the orignial file.
• I open the orignial file and then after every change I force the save, and then save again. The second change updates the backup of the orignial file.

  When I have a freez or crash the orignial is deleted from both computer and Timemachine, but the backup is unaffected. The key is forcing the save after every change.

• When I reharse, I duplicate the file and run the duplicate. When the file freezes, which it will, I have lost nothing because I sill have the orignial and the backup.

Making the presentation:

• I copy the presentation to a thumb drive which does not have versions capability.
• I run the presentatin from the thumb drive.

So far this has worked well. All of my vedio clips function and I have no crashes when working from the thumb. It is a pain to have to do it this way but it works.

Well, I've tried all these solutions. None work over the long haul. Just the moment I believe I have it conquered, I get a string of dialog boxes that tell me the file can't be saved.

Today, I had an audio file that suddenly cut out. I had to look for an archive copy in the DevonThinkPro on the fly.

I'm thinking of making simpler new presentations on the iPad until there's a new Keynote for Mac. There's word that's new version will accompany Mavericks, which is rumored to be available in late October. I just hate originating content on the iPad. It's definitely a step backward in awkwardness.

Gary

All the described happens to me too. I think I have solved it partly by running the presentation from a locked file. Also, I have restored disappeared keynote-files succesfully by restoring the folder containing them with TimeMachine.

Apple, fix this!

I understand what many of us visiting this forum have experienced and I offer no disrespect. But I challenge your use of the word "solution" to this problem.

A six-step process to protect a file using preferences changes, a zip drive, and only using duplicates to present from is not really a solution.

It's a coping strategy. The "solution" we need is for Apple to fix the problem. It is not terribly different from them building a bike, that when driven, can lose a tire. They just fall off, but only when you attach accessories to the handle bars like thumb-actuated bells or a rack in the back to hold a package (videos and audio files). Anyone in our neighborhood might think we look awfully silly strapping bungie cords around our handlebars, not to mention the duct tape, to hold on our little bell.

That's how I feel at this point. My solution is to stop using a tool I have grown to love. I certainly will go back when Apple announces a maintenance update, or even a whole new version. But it better acknowledge it fixes an issue (this one), and it better not cost me a dime to upgrade.

Using PPT or another tool is akin to walking or using another form of transportation. It's a psychological and aesthetic challenge each to switch.