LW 9.6 UB Crashing in High Sierra

Puguglybonehead

Puguglybonehead

New member
I've never had trouble with 9.6 as far as stability goes, until my current setup. (had no trouble with any versions of Lightwave, going back to 8.3 when I first purchased a seat) I've run 9.6 UB mostly trouble-free on a G4 and a G5 in older OS's (as well as running the last PPC-specific version) and I've had no problem with 9.6 UB on Core2Duo machines and even my MacBook Air (mid-2011, Core i5) running Mavericks seems to have no problem with it.

I don't get what's wrong. I'm running the final version of 9.6 UB on a late 2011 iMac (Core i3) and it's giving me all kinds of grief. When I try to load an object in Modeler from the file requester it quits. I have to click on a .lwo file in the Finder to get it to load. When I try to load a scene file in Layout from the file requester it quits. I have to load scene files using the Items/Load menu buttons. Saving files is another issue. Modeler will only save without crashing if I use Save Incremental. Layout is hit and miss with saving. If I try to load an image to use as a background image, it crashes. I have to load it into the Image Editor first in order to prevent a crash. There are all sorts of other little everyday operations that you normally take for granted that just aren't working right now.

This is driving me crazy. This is what it felt like trying to use ElectricImage Modeler way back in the day. Do everything 'just so' or else it'll crash or freeze or whatever. What could be wrong here? Why did 9.6 UB work just fine on a G4, a G5, a Core2Duo and a Core i5 running Mavericks but it won't work for me now? I can't handle going back to the tiny 11" screen and miniscule RAM of my MacBook Air. I can't afford to upgrade, either Lightwave or a newer computer at the moment. I am stuck with this 2011 iMac Core i3 for the near future at least, due to financial reasons.

Could it be the way I have my file system set up right now? I'll admit to being sloppy here. I don't have my Objects/Scenes/Images/etc in the same folder as Lightwave at the moment. I've got them in a couple of different folders in Documents. Now, I do remember when I first installed Lightwave 8.3. Everything installed into the Lightwave application folder. The entire directory was in there. (we're talking the G4 and G5 days here) Is this a directory issue? Do I need to place all my project directories into the Lightwave application folder again in order to get things working in a stable manner again?
 
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Just tried 9.6 (intel version) on my MacPro on Mojave.
Both modeler and layout open fine and load object and scene files....:unsure:

I was actually surprised how good it still looks, havn't opened 9.6 for 10+ years.
Version 2015 all buttons are messed up after HS, so this was pleasant surprise.

It could be the UB version not playing nicely.
 
OK, so I'm wondering if the problem is my OS, High Sierra being incompatible with 9.6 or could it be the Core i3 processor that's the problem? I was just reading up on my machine specs:

"is powered by a Dual Core 3.1 GHz Intel "Core i3" I3-2100 (Sandy Bridge) processor with a dedicated 256k level 2 cache for each core and a 3 MB shared level 3 cache. In lieu of a system bus, it has a "Direct Media Interface" (DMI) that "connects between the processor and chipset" at 5 GT/s."

Could this be the problem? A lobotomized processor with no system bus?

It would be simple enough to 'downgrade' to an older OS, but if the OS turned out not to be the problem then I would have wiped the drive for nothing.

Has anyone else out there run Lightwave 9 on a Core i3 iMac?
 
Like I say it works in Mojave, so it should work in HS.

I had 9.6 previously running on G4/G5 Mac, so your processor shouldn't be an issue.
If this was the case LW probably wouldn't start up even.

Have you tried 9.6.1

Have you read the crash logs?
Have you deleted the config (preference) files?
 
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Drat! Such a simple solution. Wish I'd read that post sooner. Was getting fed up and decided to downgrade to Mavericks, which I already knew to be trouble-free on my MacBook Air. High Sierra wouldn't let me do a smooth downgrade so now it's wipe and start over. Partitioned the drive though so I can stay more modern in one half and run Mavericks for LW 9.6 in the other. At least I don't do this for a living.
 
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