Can't Start Program

markspurlock1 · March 11, 2020, 10:18pm

Hello.

Just downloaded SS Sci Fi Player to my Macbook. I’m running OSX 10.8.5, but according to the specs it should work with 10.6+

When I start the program, it displays “Syrinscape is Loading” for a few seconds, then changes to the error message “Syrinscape was not able to load it’s soundset data. Please check your internet connection”.

My internet connection seems fine, but when I click OK it just repeats this loop (attempt to load, then error message).

I found one other thread with this error message, but the resolution seemed to be somebody fixing an issue on the SS servers, so nothing actionable for me.

I don’t believe the SS servers are down because I can load the app on my iPad just fine, and I also don’t believe there’s any issue with my account since I haven’t had a chance to log into yet on the Macbook.

Any suggestions?

benjamin · March 11, 2020, 10:22pm

Hi @markspurlock1,

Yes, MACs sometimes object a bit with a few warnings and often block the first run at the moment.
First give this a try:

Shutdown Syrinscape completely
Restart your system
Restart Syrinscape

If you have no luck with that, then check you are running it the best way for the OS:

download the DMG and drag the app to /Applications folder (ie don’t run it from inside the DMG)
right-click and select open instead of double-clicking to launch the first time
if Catalina asks for additional weird permissions (eg to monitor keyboard input), you can deny… We think this is due to the version of Unity this build is running on, and we do NOT and do NOT need to monitor keyboard input while the app is not active
if it appears to be stuck, quit and re-launch the same way

Let us know how you go!

markspurlock1 · March 11, 2020, 10:31pm

Thanks for the quick response.

Restarting the system did not resolve the issue, nor did right click to open after restarting.

I was already running from the Applications folder rather than the DMG, and I’m running OSX 10.8 which is waaay older than Catalina. So no weird permissions errors, just this specific error from inside SS. Screenshot attached.

benjamin · March 11, 2020, 10:34pm

Sooo… that message is saying SOMETHING is blocking Syrinscape from accessing the internet…

Firewall? Virus protection? Malware shield? Actual virus intercepting internet traffic? Proxy?

…goblins?

markspurlock1 · March 11, 2020, 10:38pm

It would seem to imply that. But it’s my personal laptop on my home internet connection. I’m not running any kind of firewall, proxy, or antivirus (don’t tell the hackerz), and I don’t think I’ve ever had this sort of issue from any other software.

I was expecting that it would turn out to be an issue with older versions of OSX, but if that doesn’t sound likely then… I dunno. Are there any particular hosts I should test trying to hit from the browser?

benjamin · March 12, 2020, 1:11am

How old is the laptop?

@sonofconan any ideas?

markspurlock1 · March 12, 2020, 2:29am

It’s a late 2011 model

benjamin · March 12, 2020, 4:06am

Hmm… What date was the operating system released?

markspurlock1 · March 13, 2020, 4:02am

It came out in 2012.

council · April 19, 2020, 2:26am

I am having the same issue on Mac. I was able to open it fine, but because of another error where I could not get my Pin off of the application, it was recommended that I uninstall Syrinscape and reinstall it. After doing so, I now get the same error that, “syrinscape was not able to load it’s soundset data. Please check your internet connection.”

benjamin · April 20, 2020, 2:37am

Hi @council

If you’ll excuse the copy and past from our faq page, this should work for you.

Trouble getting Syrinscape working on a MAC
We have many people using Syrinscape on Catalina, but, yes, it objects a bit with a few warnings and often blocks the first run.

First give this a try:
1) Shutdown Syrinscape completely
2) Restart your system
3) Restart Syrinscape

If you have no luck with that, then check you are running it the best way for the OS:
1) download the DMG and drag the app to /Applications folder (ie don't run it from inside the DMG)
2) right click and select open instead of double clicking to launch the first time
3) if Catalina asks for additional weird permissions (eg to monitor keyboard input), you can deny... We think this is due to the version of Unity this build is running on, and we do NOT and do NOT need to monitor keyboard input while the app is not active
4) if it appears to be stuck, quit and re-launch the same way
This is an issue we are working on, and it will be fixed with our next released version.