I just upgraded to a MacBook Pro running High Sierra and on trying to install Adobe Photoshop CS4 get a System Requirements Error preventing installation. My wife is running CS4 on her MacBook Air with High Sierra so I know it's possible. Anyone have an idea?
Thanks
By using the migrate function, you bypassed the installer's requirements check. CS4 is looking for an HFS+ drive and isn't finding one. You'd get an error message if it were formatted as case sensitive, too.
You could make a separate partition and format it HFS+ (Mac OS Extended). High Sierra does still allow installation and booting on an HFS+ drive, but I presume the new Mac is using an SSD. In which case, it may reformat the drive as APFS whether you like it or not.
Another option is get Paralells Light from the App Store. That is free and allows you to install virtual machine Mac OS drives for no cost. So, you could take an older OS you acquired from the App Store, such as Yosemite, and install it on a Mac OS Extended virtual drive with CS4 running in that.
By using the migrate function, you bypassed the installer's requirements check. CS4 is looking for an HFS+ drive and isn't finding one. You'd get an error message if it were formatted as case sensitive, too.
You could make a separate partition and format it HFS+ (Mac OS Extended). High Sierra does still allow installation and booting on an HFS+ drive, but I presume the new Mac is using an SSD. In which case, it may reformat the drive as APFS whether you like it or not.
Another option is get Paralells Light from the App Store. That is free and allows you to install virtual machine Mac OS drives for no cost. So, you could take an older OS you acquired from the App Store, such as Yosemite, and install it on a Mac OS Extended virtual drive with CS4 running in that.
The problem seems to be you're trying to install an ancient version of Photoshop on a new Mac. The last version of OS X CS4 was officially supported on was Leopard, 10.5.4.
The difference here is you likely upgraded your wife's Mac to High Sierra. Meaning, Photoshop CS4 was already installed under an older OS CS4 was okay with. But on the new Mac, it simply won't let you install on an OS version it isn't even designed to recognize.
Lots of old apps are like that. I tried to install an old game that uses Flash. It complained that my version of the Flash Player was out of date, and I needed to install version 7. Well, the installed version is 30, but the app wasn't written to recognize any number above 9, so it bonks out of the installation.
As an update I tried in safe mode - no luck so I decided to see if installing with a temp license for 30 days would work and it did. Now when the 30 days are up I'll need to try to get it to accept my serial number! Otherwise works fine.
What exactly is the error text.
One thing you definitely need to run older Adobe apps is this, Download Java for OS X 2017-001
Remarkably I was able to install it from my original Photoshop CD in the trial mode. After 30 days I'll try to get my serial # to be accepted.
Thanks
Are you both running 10.13.6 and do you have any anti-virus software installed?
Kurt could be correct. You could try installing while in Safe Mode.
Being Adobe, and when CS4 was written, they didn't know about APFS filesystems, could it be possible it is checking to see if it is on HFS+, and borking because APFS is alien to it? Not discounting other reasons it may not be working... (e.g. the graphics card is too new to be recognized, so GPU test failure) 😉
Not selling the old one. It's now back-up. When I tried to install from the Photoshop CD it wouldn't accept my serial number even though it is accurate. Installing from the download is where the Error message appeared. So I tried installing from the CD as a trial and it worked. Now to see if the serial number is accepted after the trial period.
Thanks
That is likely the more precise reason. It's not seeing a Mac formatted drive it understands, so it's refusing to install.
Both running 10.13.6 and no anti virus software. The error window is apparently a photoshop window as it has an adobe logo in it.. Reads "System Requirements Error this software cannot be installed because the file system of the Setup volume is not supported". I have installed the Java script update
boardbanger wrote:
ave been using the same copy on 2 computers for years,
That's possible but the Adobe license as a rule allows you to install their software on two computers to be used by one person. No skin off my teeth. 😎
The other version is on my wife's computer and she just bought it and had the data transferred. My MacBook is almost new 2017 and I reinstalled the OS so I could port my data to it and it didn't work. That's why I'm trying to re-install it.
I'm very surprised that worked in Safe Mode, being the drive itself is still APFS. The license issue may be from not deactivating it from the previous Mac before formatting the drive for sale (if you were indeed selling it). Meaning, as far as Adobe's servers are concerned, you still have 2 of 2 active licenses in use and it won't allow another one.
I should ask, are you trying to install using the same copy? I think you would need separate licenses.
System Requirements Error installing Adobe CS4
