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Author Topic: GUI problems on Macbook  (Read 3221 times)

edbro

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GUI problems on Macbook
« on: August 16, 2015, 04:49:34 pm »

I have the latest version (20.0.126) running on a Macbook Pro 13" Retina. Every time I open the program it will flash through all the menus on the menu bar and stops with the Help menu open. When I use the mouse to select text it will jump out of the field I'm in and flicker the menus again. And, every time I close the program it will take 10 to 15 seconds to close. I have always love MC on my Windows machines but this Mac version is almost unusable for me.

Another problem is that the first custom toolbar icon sits directly under the green window control button that is in the upper left of any Mac window. The custom toolbar icon works but I can't get to the window control button. 
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blgentry

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2015, 05:41:29 pm »

It sounds like you might have something odd going on with a Skin.  What skin are you using?  Have you tried Noire?

I *have* had MC for mac exhibit behavior that's a little like you are describing.  What happens to mine is that the GUI doesn't update, and when I click, I have to aim at screen elements that *should* be displayed, but are not.  For example, the left Navigation Pane will stop updating, and if I click in it where items are supposed to be, the GUI reacts and partially draws what it's supposed to display.  I have no idea why this happens or what triggers it.

It only happens to me maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks, and that's with daily use of MC.  The cure for me is simply to quit MC and start it up again.  I know this isn't the exact same problem you are having, but maybe someone reading this can correlate the two behaviors in some way.

Brian.
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edbro

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2015, 07:24:58 pm »

I am using Noire. This prompted me to try other skins but I had the same problems with the menus flickering, etc. Plus, the other skins look horrible on a Retina display!

I would love to get this fixed as I can't use my mouse to select text without it jumping out of the field and making the menus flicker. Mine isn't a sometimes problem like yours. Mine is all the time.
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glynor

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2015, 04:39:53 pm »

I *have* had MC for mac exhibit behavior that's a little like you are describing.  What happens to mine is that the GUI doesn't update, and when I click, I have to aim at screen elements that *should* be displayed, but are not.  For example, the left Navigation Pane will stop updating, and if I click in it where items are supposed to be, the GUI reacts and partially draws what it's supposed to display.  I have no idea why this happens or what triggers it.

I've seen this.

I can't use my mouse to select text without it jumping out of the field and making the menus flicker. Mine isn't a sometimes problem like yours. Mine is all the time.

I've never seen this.

Can you post a Log ZIP file collected after a run of MC?
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edbro

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2015, 07:07:49 pm »

Log Attached

I'll add that the problem of the toolbar icons sitting under the GUI controls is only with Retina mode enabled. The problem with the long shutdown delay is only if Auto Import is enabled.
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edbro

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2015, 07:59:24 pm »

See video here:
http://youtu.be/IEILS0-mA4A

This shows all my problems, including the long shutdown. Notice the toolbar icons that I point to after the opening menu flickering settles down.
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glynor

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2015, 09:42:56 pm »

What are all of these?



Close them, one at a time, and see if the issue goes away. It looks to me like some other application is interfering with the way MC is trying to operate.

If that doesn't help, try turning off your Top Toolbar (remove everything from it) and see if it goes away.  You can certainly use a top toolbar with MC on Mac (I do), but something is wonky there, for sure.
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edbro

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2015, 09:58:46 pm »

You're a genius! Through the process of elimination I found that the program Popclip was interfering. I can't live without Popclip but luckily it has a program exclusion feature. Once I excluded MC from it the flickering menu problem has gone away. Thank you very much.
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blgentry

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2015, 10:14:44 pm »

I think I'm a pretty good tech.  I've done tech for most of my life in one way or another, including a variety of computer tech jobs.  I had no idea where to go with this one, having read the entire thread, and watching the video twice.

Big props to you Glynor!  Very nice observation and recommendation.  +2 points for you!  :)

Brian.
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glynor

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Re: GUI problems on Macbook
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2015, 10:18:35 pm »

Applications that hook into the Window Manager are dangerous in general (it does so by injecting its code into Apple's system process). I'd be willing to bet that's what Popclip is doing, especially since they have an "excluder".

Up until 10.10, Dropbox had to do code injection on the Finder to work. They did it very, very, very well (employing lots of ex-Apple Finder engineers), they only tried to do one simple thing (adding the sync icons to your Dropbox folders), and it still could occasionally cause Finder crashes. Code injection is dangerous.

Also, shell extensions that do stuff to "windows" often interact badly with MC on Mac and Windows. I have to exclude MC from the "button overlay" functions in DisplayFusion on Windows, for example, or it does some crazy things.

Most of those applications are designed assuming applications use the standard OS window controls. But MC doesn't use any standard OS widgets at all, which is why it can be cross platform, but it also isn't written against a publicly available "cross platform library" or system (like Java or whatever). JRiver wrote everything themselves, in pure C++, to be cross platform.  So, it is a pretty weird case, and unless they built something special for it, it isn't surprising that it would freak things like that out.

Not saying Popclip is bad (I know nothing about it). But, be aware that running things like that is dangerous, and can interfere with the way other applications behave. Now that you know you have it, keep an eye on it.
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