New Clean El Cap. Now "Pages cannot open because of a problem... this version OS X"

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linda2009 Author

Level 1

75 points

New Clean El Cap. Now "Pages cannot open because of a problem... this version OS X"

I finally decided to upgrade to El Cap.

At first I tried an upgrade install, but there were a lot of issues with constant beach balls... LOL

So I did a complete clean install. I have a simple set up with not a lot of extra apps.

I was using Mavericks and it was basically running well. It's just that some of my apps were upgrading but with minimum of El Cap.

I had to reinstall all my apps, app by app.

I copied over my iWork folder (Version 09) and didn't think about it right away. I don't use it as much as I used to after getting Nisus. Sometimes I used Keynote to view powerpoint files, etc.

Now, the first time I tried to use any of the iWork apps, it gives me this error "Pages cannot open because of a problem... it may not work with this version of OsX." And, the app just won't open. I have noticed MAS keeps telling me to install iWork 5, and I can't ignore update like others, so it just sits there. I have not installed it.

My most important question is how do I fix this using the Best Steps to get iWork '09 working again.

I am running El Cap 10.11.2. (this macmini came with Mavericks installed and I installed iWork '09)

I have my original iWork '09 install DVD 9.0.1.

I have the iWork 9.0.4 update (I also have the 9.3 update, but I had made a note to not use it! ?)

I have a clone of my Mavericks and iWork is working fine on it and my MacbookPro which is still Mavericks. (I like to take my time with OS upgrades!)

What are my best steps to get iWork 09 back to working?

Thanks so much for help!!

Mac mini, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2), 2 GHz Intel Core i7

Posted on Feb 4, 2016 11:34 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

VikingOSX

Community+ 2024

Level 10

111,689 points

Feb 4, 2016 2:47 PM in response to linda2009

Reinstall the iWork '09 DVD on your El Capitan machine, and then immediately follow it with the Apple iWork 9.3 updater.

Reasons for reinstall

You cannot copy an iWork '09 DVD install between machines because the DVD install places application dependent frameworks in System locations.
The Apple iWork 9.3 updater does not install the application dependent frameworks.
The iWork '09 DVD applications by themselves are incompatible with El Capitan, and will bomb until updated.

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Answer 2

linda2009 Author

Level 1

75 points

Feb 4, 2016 2:52 PM in response to VikingOSX

Thank you, VikingOSX, especially for the explanation of why. I was unsure about the 9.3 updater. Mavericks is/was running 9.0.4

Here's what I did:

I uninstalled iWork.

I used Easy Find to find all files related to iWork. I deleted them all; there were quite a few. (I think from trying to run the apps.)

Then I installed iWork from DVD.

Then I installed the 9.3 updater.

All 3 iWork apps opened, so now I'm good to go!

Thank you for your time and assistance! Appreciated.

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