Filemaker and Sierra

Question

Level 1

4 points

Filemaker and Sierra

Want to know if earlier versions of Filemaker, FM13 & 14, or earlier(I have FM9) will work with Sierra? FM wants $329 for FM16 - too much.

macOS Sierra (10.12.5)

Posted on Jun 6, 2017 8:10 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Garym91 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 6, 2017 9:05 AM in response to John Galt

John,

Thanks for your quick response, however, it told me nothing. I called Filemaker, and all they wanted to do was sell me on FM16. Had no idea about backward compatibility. Your second recommendation would have been helpful if I were upgrading from a previous version of OSX, but I'm buying a new iMac with Sierra installed. This article mentioned nothing about FM.

Reply

Answer 2

John Galt

Level 10

140,948 points

Jun 6, 2017 10:41 AM in response to Garym91

I called Filemaker, and all they wanted to do was sell me on FM16.

I don't doubt it, and that's all I was able to conclude from their website also.

FM 9 is obviously quite old and very unlikely to run in Sierra, but you can find out for yourself. As its name implies, the User Tip addresses concerns regarding upgrading an existing Mac to Sierra.

You can check this website, but it yields "no data" for that version. If you do what I suggest, you can update that website so that others will know.

If anyone else can provide a definitive answer, it will be FileMaker's developer... and they are likely to have zero interest in supporting obsolete products.

Reply

Answer 3

Jun 21, 2017 5:08 AM in response to Garym91

FileMaker 9, 10 and 11 all use the same file format, FileMaker 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 use the new format.

Like I believe what others have found and stated FileMaker's website is not clear one whether specific older versions are compatible with newer versions of OS X. I did find the following which does not really answer this.

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/7546/~/system-requirements-for -filemaker-pro-11-and-filemaker-pro-11-a…

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10012/~/system-requirements-fo r-filemaker-pro-12-and-filemaker-pro-12-…

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11894/~/system-requirements-fo r-filemaker-pro-13-and-filemaker-pro-13-…

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14163/~/system-requirements-fo r-filemaker-pro-14-and-filemaker-pro-14-…

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15533/~/system-requirements-fo r-filemaker-pro-15-and-filemaker-pro-15-…

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16353/~/system-requirements-fo r-filemaker-pro-16-and-filemaker-pro-16-…

More relevantly I also found this -

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16121/~/filemaker-14-and-earli er-versions%2C-macos-sierra-compatibilit…

Which basically says that FileMaker have not tested version 14 and earlier on Sierra and are not going to and therefore will not say if it does or does not work. I also found this -

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16120

Which says that FileMaker 15 works on Sierra with a handful of issues as per that document at least with regards to 15.0.2 and 15.0.1. What that article does not make clear is that there is now a 15.0.3 update which may resolve those issues.

So, overall it seems the earliest fully Sierra compatible version would be 15.0.3 as stated by FileMaker themselves. In reality you might well get away with a much older version, to some extent it will depend on what functions you use and how paranoid you are over possible subtle problems happening which might affect you.

Update: Now found a single document which seems to summarise all the versions, despite what this says and FileMaker do admit this, often you can run newer versions of OS X than the following list but it is at your own risk.

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4701/related/1

You could potentially create a VM of an older version of OS X and use that to run the older version of FileMaker. You could even run FileMaker on Windows even in a VM. Windows 7 is still listed as supported for at least FileMaker 11 all the way up to FileMaker 16.

Reply

Answer 4

Garym91 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jun 26, 2017 5:31 AM in response to John Lockwood

John,

Thanks for all your research. I am a rather basic user of FileMaker which is why I was reluctant to spend a lot of money to upgrade. For whatever reason, I again called filemaker, and they issued a replacement license key which allowed me to install FileMaker Pro 9 in my new iMac running 10.12.6. So far it seems to be working well. See following for details. Again, thanks, Gary

Hello Gary,

Here is your replacement FileMaker Pro 9 License Key (with local activation): 379NT-85J64-N8668-191N8-M195N-169N9-VT4X7

Please use the following steps to properly install and use your new License Key.

1. Close and uninstall the application. For instructions on how to properly uninstall the FileMaker application review FileMaker Knowledge Base answer:

http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6445

2. Once the application has been successfully uninstalled, reinstall using your new License Key. Note: If you are installing an Upgrade version of FileMaker Pro 9, you will need the License Key from a previous qualified version of FileMaker Pro 7, Pro 8, or Pro 8.5 to complete your installation.

Note: If you do not have your installation media please download it at the following link. Please note that the username and password fields are case sensitive

MAC

http://fmdl.filemaker.com/LALK/fmp_9.0v3b_R3_full_ESD.dmg

Windows

http://fmdl.filemaker.com/LALK/fmp_9.0v3b_R3_full_ESD.exe

Username: supportlalk

Password: p2ufUdeP

3. Please register your product and new License Key when prompted to so during the installation process. This is now your valid License key. The original License key is no longer valid and has been transferred back to FileMaker, Inc.

NOTE: Your Operating System may not be compatible with FileMaker Pro 9. Please see the following knowledge base article for more information: https://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4701

Please Note the following term and conditions

- The new License Key may ONLY be used with the FileMaker Pro 9 or FileMaker Pro 9 Upgrade product for which the original License Key was exchanged.

- The new License Key is a single user license and may not be used on multiple computers except as permitted by the terms and conditions of the FileMaker Retail Software End User License Agreement (EULA) located at http://www.filemaker.com/company/legal/index.html .

- On September 27, 2012 FileMaker discontinued providing technical support for the FileMaker 9 family of products. For more information please visit http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10116/

If you have any questions, please contact Customer Support at: +1 800-325-2747, Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time (U.S. holidays excluded), and reference case number: 170615-000299.

Thank you,

Darrin *******
<Personal Information Edited by Host>

Reply