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- The Lone Wolf Development Team
Hero Lab on Mac Needs Update for New OS
- Thread starter javadragon
- Start date
It's really great that some of the significant compatibility issues with Herolab Classic are being addressed for MacOS, and I know I'm not the only one who appreciates it. Thanks!
But...
It would help if the description for the update (displayed in the list of updates) didn't just say "Bug Fixes". It could say something like "Bug Fixes. File locations have changed, please check ReadMe.pdf for details."
Also, the menu items for accessing the folder locations don't work from the game selection dialog screen. So most people will need to re-download at least one of the game data sets, and then quit the app, and then reopen it and launch that game system, and then wait for the game system to load, in order to find out where the new folder locations are. Maybe the readme could say that "After launching the updated app for the first time, the new data folders can be found at ~/Library/Containers/com.LWDTechnology.HeroLab/Data/Library/Application Support/Hero Lab/... in the home folder for the current user. You can access your Library folder in the Go menu of the Finder by holding down the option key if it isn't already displayed there."
But...
It would help if the description for the update (displayed in the list of updates) didn't just say "Bug Fixes". It could say something like "Bug Fixes. File locations have changed, please check ReadMe.pdf for details."
Also, the menu items for accessing the folder locations don't work from the game selection dialog screen. So most people will need to re-download at least one of the game data sets, and then quit the app, and then reopen it and launch that game system, and then wait for the game system to load, in order to find out where the new folder locations are. Maybe the readme could say that "After launching the updated app for the first time, the new data folders can be found at ~/Library/Containers/com.LWDTechnology.HeroLab/Data/Library/Application Support/Hero Lab/... in the home folder for the current user. You can access your Library folder in the Go menu of the Finder by holding down the option key if it isn't already displayed there."
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I can't find the path listed in the ReadMe for the new files, and not sure where the old files are to be found. I know how to get to the user library directory but there's no com.LWD... to be found under Containers.
I know there are a lot of packages I've collected somewhere because my .por files generate a ton of errors. I really don't want to have to go find all these again.
Updating Mac Data Files
There are multiple methods you can use to fix this issue:
1) you can use the menu option Tools->Explore Folders->Game System Data Folder. This will open a finder window in the new gamesystem folder location, and you just need to copy over your data files into that.
2) you can open your own Finder window and use Cmd-Shift-G to open ~/Library/Containers/com.LWDTechnology.HeroLab/Data/Library/Application Support/Hero Lab/data. Because this directory is normally hidden, you cannot navigate to this directory without using the shortcut.
3) Included in the most recent Mac installer, or available at https://www.wolflair.com/download/free/HLDFC.zip is a simple utility - the "Hero Lab Data File Copier" - that will copy over data files from the old location to the new location.
Once the data files are copied over using any of the above methods, no other changes should be necessary, although if you are editing these files within the editor you should ensure that you are editing the files in their new location.
There are multiple methods you can use to fix this issue:
1) you can use the menu option Tools->Explore Folders->Game System Data Folder. This will open a finder window in the new gamesystem folder location, and you just need to copy over your data files into that.
2) you can open your own Finder window and use Cmd-Shift-G to open ~/Library/Containers/com.LWDTechnology.HeroLab/Data/Library/Application Support/Hero Lab/data. Because this directory is normally hidden, you cannot navigate to this directory without using the shortcut.
3) Included in the most recent Mac installer, or available at https://www.wolflair.com/download/free/HLDFC.zip is a simple utility - the "Hero Lab Data File Copier" - that will copy over data files from the old location to the new location.
Once the data files are copied over using any of the above methods, no other changes should be necessary, although if you are editing these files within the editor you should ensure that you are editing the files in their new location.
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I ended up just setting up the community stuff again and redownloading. For feedback on clarity of your instructions:
1. I know how to do that. But I don't recall where the files used to be stored. It would be helpful to tell us where we should be copying files from as well as where we are copying them to.
2. Same problem. I can get to this directory (which can actually be reached by a navigable path in the user library, probably linked somehow) but didn't know where the old files were.
3. The Data File Copier didn't default to the necessary file locations. It just gave me a button to select where I wanted to copy from/to. And...see 1 and 2.
So it's all sorted. I'm not sure where my old .user file is, so the one or two items I had made I'll just live without.
1. I know how to do that. But I don't recall where the files used to be stored. It would be helpful to tell us where we should be copying files from as well as where we are copying them to.
2. Same problem. I can get to this directory (which can actually be reached by a navigable path in the user library, probably linked somehow) but didn't know where the old files were.
3. The Data File Copier didn't default to the necessary file locations. It just gave me a button to select where I wanted to copy from/to. And...see 1 and 2.
So it's all sorted. I'm not sure where my old .user file is, so the one or two items I had made I'll just live without.
After updating to the latest, and using the Data File Copier successfully, I'm able to create new portfolios again with all my addons. However, whenever I try to open any existing .por file, it crashes every time. Anybody else seeing this? Any ideas on how to fix it? I'd really rather not recreate all my old portfolios...
Thanks. I appreciate the helpful answer. They're not there. I'm not sure how they got lost but they weren't anywhere I expected them to be and don't turn up in searches.
At this point it doesn't really matter; I think the only thing I'd created was Krune's rod, since I ran the PFS scenario as a side-quest during Shattered Star. But we finished last weekend and are on to Return of the Runelords. So we're starting fresh again.
I've been running this update for some time now and it did fix several glitches I encountered on Mac OS 12.x, including unreadable buttons on dialogs.
However, it does seem this new release introduced a more serious issue as well. On occasion, when I try to save my portfolio, I get a dialog saying I cannot save it because the file is marked as read-only. On OS level that's not true, so it must be something in Hero Lab itself.
The current workaround is to 'save as', then at a later moment use 'open' to get back to the file again.
And for those paying attention. If I would have used 'recent' to reopen that newly saved file I would be greeted by yet another error saying that it cannot find the game system files for the character in the portfolio.
For completeness sake, this is with a character for Shadowrun 5. Not sure if other game systems fare similar fates. And it's also not happening at all attempts to save the portfolio, but enough to have become a nuisance and it did cause me to lose some data when I was still figuring out how to work around this.
I also thought this was a thing of my setup where I would save the data in an iCloud folder, but today I heard from one of my party members that he's experiencing the exact same issue and another one also knew about it and the workaround. All working in IT in some capacity so we're used to working around issues and stuff, but it would still be nice if these issues could be fixed as well.
However, it does seem this new release introduced a more serious issue as well. On occasion, when I try to save my portfolio, I get a dialog saying I cannot save it because the file is marked as read-only. On OS level that's not true, so it must be something in Hero Lab itself.
The current workaround is to 'save as', then at a later moment use 'open' to get back to the file again.
And for those paying attention. If I would have used 'recent' to reopen that newly saved file I would be greeted by yet another error saying that it cannot find the game system files for the character in the portfolio.
For completeness sake, this is with a character for Shadowrun 5. Not sure if other game systems fare similar fates. And it's also not happening at all attempts to save the portfolio, but enough to have become a nuisance and it did cause me to lose some data when I was still figuring out how to work around this.
I also thought this was a thing of my setup where I would save the data in an iCloud folder, but today I heard from one of my party members that he's experiencing the exact same issue and another one also knew about it and the workaround. All working in IT in some capacity so we're used to working around issues and stuff, but it would still be nice if these issues could be fixed as well.
Are you using 'recent' to open them? If so, then you may have run into the same issue I have. The workaround is to use 'open' instead and then it does work ok.
These have been reported to support@wolflair.com, right, so that they can get into the queue to fix? These sound like the sort of issues where we may need to get details from you - OS versions, for example, so it's better to report them by email so we can reply to ask follow-up questions.
Just did. Thanks for pointing that out.
jrcchicago
Well-known member
I'm running what I think is the current version of Hero Lab Classic (8.9k) on my Mac (Monterey - OS 12.6) - has anyone tried running it after upgrading to Ventura (currently OS 13.1)?
Happy holidays!
Happy holidays!
Nope, and with the message I received after reporting the issues I encountered I'm not inclined to do that anytime soon either. I might actually see about running it inside a VM so I can stay at a 'supported' version of MacOS
javadragon
Well-known member
Upgraded to 13.1 today and no issues
I just upgraded to 13.1 on my 14” MBP and had no issues using Hero Lab. Was able to open a character and level them 3 levels without an issue.
I just upgraded to 13.1 on my 14” MBP and had no issues using Hero Lab. Was able to open a character and level them 3 levels without an issue.
Not even the slow-to-a-crawl issue when adjusting numeric values? For example, add the stoneskin spell adjustment to a character, then click the up arrow 150 times (because it was cast by a 15th level wizard). The entire sheet recalculates on each click, so it takes foreeeeeeeeeeever.
