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Sonoma 14.8.4 is a disaster! Compressor dead.

Kaptajn Haddock

Kaptajn Haddock

macrumors 6502
Original poster
14.8.4 is a disaster, it has killed Compressor on my Mac - is a dot update supposed to do that? I didn't even think twice about updating, as it was just announced as a security update. And I can't upgrade further (even though my Mac can run later OS's) because that will render Annotation Edit useless (and the developer has passed away). This is a production machine at work. Frustrating! Off course I found the below link after I discovered the issue 😞

If Compressor won't open after a macOS update - Apple Support (AM)

Update to Compressor 4.11.1 or later.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
Last edited:
I'm on 15.7.4 and I was amazed when Compressor's dock icon came up with the "no" symbol on it. Like you say, why in the world would a minor patch update deliberately break something? Fortunately I was able to update Compressor itself but it looks like that's not an option for you 🙁
 
Kaptajn Haddock said:
that will render Annotation Edit useless (and the developer has passed away). This is a production machine at work.
Click to expand...
However useful Annotation Edit may be, a production machine should not be entirely reliant and dependent on software that is no longer being developed. As you say, that is preventing you from updating your OS and other software.
 
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benwiggy said:
However useful Annotation Edit may be, a production machine should not be entirely reliant and dependent on software that is no longer being developed. As you say, that is preventing you from updating your OS and other software.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know, but its the only valid version for a Mac, and as long as the machine still gets security updates, I don't see an issue. I just really didn't expect a small security update like this to break an app like Compressor.
 
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@Kaptajn Haddock make a copy of the Compressor app and try from Terminal:
Code: 
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/version.plist CFBundleShortVersionString 5.10
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/version.plist CFBundleVersion 540074         
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString 5.10
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleVersion 540074                        
sudo codesign --force --sign - /Applications/Compressor.app

The commands change the version of the app to 5.10 and macOS should allow it to run.
 
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bogdanw said:
@Kaptajn Haddock make a copy of the Compressor app and try from Terminal:
Code: 
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/version.plist CFBundleShortVersionString 5.10
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/version.plist CFBundleVersion 540074        
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString 5.10
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleVersion 540074                       
sudo codesign --force --sign - /Applications/Compressor.app

The commands change the version of the app to 5.10 and macOS should allow it to run.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Will try that.
 
bogdanw said:
@Kaptajn Haddock make a copy of the Compressor app and try from Terminal:
Code: 
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/version.plist CFBundleShortVersionString 5.10
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/version.plist CFBundleVersion 540074        
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleShortVersionString 5.10
sudo defaults write /Applications/Compressor.app/Contents/Info.plist CFBundleVersion 540074                       
sudo codesign --force --sign - /Applications/Compressor.app

The commands change the version of the app to 5.10 and macOS should allow it to run.
Click to expand...
Didn't work :-(
 
I get this error, even if the version number has been changed from 4.1.x to 5.10

There is no later version in App Store for Sonoma, so they require me to update the OS, which I can't.

Screenshot 2026-02-25 at 14.39.00.png
 
Let's check what the block list says:
Code: 
defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/Exceptions.plist | grep -A 5 Compressor

in Sequoia 15.7.4 it returns
com.apple.compressor.Compressor"
HighVersion = "3.5.3";
SoftDisabled = 1;
"com.apple.Compressor" =
AppStoreIdentifier = 424390742;
HardDisabled = 1;
HighVersion = 442074;
"com.apple.compressor.Compressor"
AppStoreIdentifier = 424390742;
HardDisabled = 1;
HighVersion = "3.5.3";

I don't have Sonoma to test.
 
bogdanw said:
Let's check what the block list says:
Code: 
defaults read /System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources/Exceptions.plist | grep -A 5 Compressor

in Sequoia 15.7.4 it returns
com.apple.compressor.Compressor"
HighVersion = "3.5.3";
SoftDisabled = 1;
"com.apple.Compressor" =
AppStoreIdentifier = 424390742;
HardDisabled = 1;
HighVersion = 442074;
"com.apple.compressor.Compressor"
AppStoreIdentifier = 424390742;
HardDisabled = 1;
HighVersion = "3.5.3";

I don't have Sonoma to test.
Click to expand...
I get this:

"com.apple.compressor.Compressor" = {
LSApplicationCategoryType = "public.app-category.video";
};
"com.apple.dvdstudiopro" = {
LSApplicationCategoryType = "public.app-category.video";
};
--
"com.apple.compressor.Compressor" = (
{
HighVersion = "3.5.3";
SoftDisabled = 1;
}
);
--
"com.apple.Compressor" = (
{
AppStoreIdentifier = 424390742;
HardDisabled = 1;
HighVersion = 442074;
}
--
"com.apple.compressor.Compressor" = (
{
AppStoreIdentifier = 424390742;
HardDisabled = 1;
HighVersion = "3.5.3";
}
 
And I just checked, Apple only has the 14.8.4 disk image of Sonoma on their download page, so I can't even get the previous 14.8.3 version and do a clean install.
 
Kaptajn Haddock said:
Do you also have version 4.10.1 on Sequia?
Click to expand...
4.10.0 CFBundleVersion 440074
Kaptajn Haddock said:
And I just checked, Apple only has the 14.8.4 disk image of Sonoma on their download page, so I can't even get the previous 14.8.3 version and do a clean install.
Click to expand...
You can still download 14.8.3
https://mrmacintosh.com/macos-sonoma-full-installer-database-download-directly-from-apple/

https://swcdn.apple.com/content/downloads/32/47/089-71265-A_6O6NMLUUUS/7eoxdv3yggl8rmaz7jicf3wmys68ptjwho/InstallAssistant.pkg
 
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Aha, wish I had seen this thread prior to updating to 14.8.4...smh. Never expected a simple "security" update to intentionally break a random application. Probably the last time I ever update anything.
 
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vjl323 said:
I got burned very badly with 14.7.5 breaking /usr/bin/shortcuts so I have not updated since. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256038658?login=true&sortBy=rank&answerId=261377757022
Click to expand...
Interesting! This has certainly been eye-opening for me – I never considered that Apple made actual, user-facing changes in so-called security updates.


As an aside for anyone curious, while it may be quite a pain, you can DFU restore to 14.6.1 using the IPSW, then update to 14.8.3 with the InstallAssistant that's still available for the time being. That said, I have all of Apple's "security" bs disabled, so I don't know what, specifically, might have to be turned off to do so.
 
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I did a clean install with 14.8.3 image and installed all my apps again, now everything works as it should, and automatic updates disabled!
 
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Would those on 14.8.3 mind opening Terminal and running /usr/bin/shortcuts ? It will not harm your system; it is the command line version of the Shortcuts app in /Applications. If, when you run it, you get a "zsh: killed /usr/bin/shortcuts" then that means it is still broken. 🙁

Without bugging @Kaptajn Haddock or @Avenged110, I'd love to know a safe way to update to 14.8.3. I do have and use Compressor on this Mac. And, after pulling many hairs out due to the /usr/bin/shortcuts issue, I created a workaround. It sounds like the main way to get to a non-current version of OS is via clean install, which would be very, very time consuming for me. But I am glad to know it is possible! Happy you now have Compressor working!

Also wondering if Safari gets updated in any of these macOS updates - still sporting version 18.4 under macOS 14.7.5 as I've read that version 26.something does not work well under macOS 14.x.

Kinda loathe having to keep track of what updates can break my system or slow things down to the point of being less productive or having to build more workarounds. Fully get and expect that entire OS upgrades can do this; but updates - should not, IMO
 
vjl323 said:
Would those on 14.8.3 mind opening Terminal and running /usr/bin/shortcuts ? It will not harm your system; it is the command line version of the Shortcuts app in /Applications. If, when you run it, you get a "zsh: killed /usr/bin/shortcuts" then that means it is still broken. 🙁

Without bugging @Kaptajn Haddock or @Avenged110, I'd love to know a safe way to update to 14.8.3. I do have and use Compressor on this Mac. And, after pulling many hairs out due to the /usr/bin/shortcuts issue, I created a workaround. It sounds like the main way to get to a non-current version of OS is via clean install, which would be very, very time consuming for me. But I am glad to know it is possible! Happy you now have Compressor working!

Also wondering if Safari gets updated in any of these macOS updates - still sporting version 18.4 under macOS 14.7.5 as I've read that version 26.something does not work well under macOS 14.x.

Kinda loathe having to keep track of what updates can break my system or slow things down to the point of being less productive or having to build more workarounds. Fully get and expect that entire OS upgrades can do this; but updates - should not, IMO
Click to expand...
I ran that command and received the "zsh: killed /usr/bin/shortcuts" result.

Since you're running <14.8.3, you can simply run the InstallAssistant for 14.8.3 (download it from Apple) and it should update without issue. At least that's how I've traversed every update for 14.x and never had any ill-effects (until 14.8.4, that is). The only reason any of us needed to clean install anything was because we were already running 14.8.4.

Since they're not 'x.x.0' releases anymore, I'm relatively sure Safari gets updated separately. So since you're already on 14.7.5, going to 14.8.x shouldn't touch Safari unless you update it manually (either via Settings.app or the pkg). I don't use Safari so I can't attest to the performance across versions.

And I agree completely, that's why I was so shocked to hit this wall with a simple 'security' update.
 
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