Ffmpegx suddenly won't launch at all

[epa1nter]

Hello everyone;

Just recently, when I try to launch ffmpegX (v0.0.9x r2), I get the following error message:

AppleScript Error

NSReceiverEvaluationScriptError: 4 (1)

I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app and the files from the library>application support folder, and reinstalled, without success. The error window also has to be exited 4 times to finally get rid of it. What's more, the app keeps running, and I have to quit it. If I try to load a preset from the menu bar or try to install the binaries, I then get the following error message:

AppleScript Error

Can't get window "main". (-1728)

I can't be sure, but I think it started after I undated my OS to 10.4.9 with the latest security patch. (It may have been a million other things, though.)

Does anyone have any ideas about this?

Thanks in advance for your replies.

[Jupiter]

According to some Google searches, there are several different causes for that, but the one that worked for me was deleting the System Preferences plist file. (Weird, I know. But I don't think it screwed up any of my settings, so that's good.)

So, try deleting com.apple.systempreferences.plist.

[epa1nter]

Thanks very much for your reply, Jupiter.

I deleted the plist file as you suggested (in my home library folder), but the problem seems to have a different cause for me: it had no effect at all.

Still, I appreciate your effort. Thank you.

[Jupiter]

Hmm, do you have any SIMBL plugins? I think one guy said that was the cause when he was having this problem.

[epa1nter]

Hmmm.

Truth is, I have no idea.

I don't know which applications use it.

I DO have a SIMBL plug-in on an external drive running Panther, and if I boot up from that drive and run ffmpegx in Panther, I have no problem. But a Spotlight search in my normal boot drive (runs 10.4.9 on a G5 PPC) reveals no SIMBLE plug-in anywhere on it.

[Jupiter]

If you download AppZapper (http://appzapper.com), it can tell you what plugins you have installed.
It's probably not problem with a SIMBL plugin though...

I guess you'll just have to research Google. There seem to be a lot of people having this problem, but they all seem to have found different causes... According to other forums, that error just means "object not found".

I think doing an archive install of OS X fixes the problem. Or at least it did for me, several times. You might want to do that, and then keep checking to see if the problem comes back.

If you find a solution, post it here if you get the time:
http://fixthefruit.the-byte-factory.com/index.php?title=Applescript_NSReceiverEvaluati...Error_4%281%29

It's a wiki I set up as an archive for Mac problems/solutions. I know it looks terrible, but I haven't gotten the time to clean it up yet.

Sorry I can't help you more.

[epa1nter]

Jupiter:

Please don't apologize; you are the only one who has even replied so far. And you pointed me to possible other sources for help and offered alternative strategies, like doing an archive reinstall (which would be a last resort measure for me, but maybe.).

I appreciate all your efforts. Thank you.

[Jupiter]

Alright. You're welcome. Good luck!

[vancanman]

After searching around for ages I found the answer (for me anyway) in a blog.

You need to remove the system preference plugin "Amendment" - it's under other in the system preferences pane.


Hope this helps

[Jupiter]

Really? That's really weird. I would say you should probably email Drew Hamlin about this, since he wrote it, but when I go to the Amendment site it says it's no longer in development.

[epa1nter]

Hello, Vancanman:

I did as you suggested, and no joy. I still get that Applescript Error window.

Thanks for responding, though.

Here is a further clue, for those of you who are a LOT smarter than me about these things: I am getting the same problem with program called xACT. It is also written in Applescript as a front end GUI for Unix. And it is also a conversion utility, but for audio instead of video (converts FLAC files into other audio formats).

[Ai Haibara]

Have you tried deleting the preference files (plists) for both ffmpegx and xACT, if it has one? (Save backups of each plist first, just in case. Or just move them temporarily to another folder, and see if the problems go away.)

Another thing you might want to try is to open Disk Utility and have it repair permissions on the drive containing the apps and their preferences.

[Jupiter]

Do you get the problem for all AppleScript applications, or just those two? When I was having the problem, it affected ALL my AppleScript apps.

[epa1nter]

Thanks for the input, Ai. It is appreciated.

Yes, I have tried both of those things. As a matter of fact, in an effort to track down a possibly errant plist file, I moved ALL the plist files to another folder, and still no change. I have also repaired permissions about 5 times now.

I'm not at all sure about this, but I think that when two, not one, programs, both written in the same scripting language, and both dealing with audio/video conversion using Unix go bad at the same time, and that time is immediately following a security/software update from Apple, a change in the script itself might be warranted.

I've run a couple of the sub-scripts (I think that's what they're called) found inthe conetents folders of both apps in Script Editor, and the editor shows errors in the scripts.I don't know what those errors mean, or if they have any bearing on this collapse. I don't have a clue about how to write or read code.

As I said, I'm not at all sure about this, (and am probably wrong), but I'm stumped. I don't even know what an nsreceiver is or what an nsreceiver evaulation script is, let alone an error in it, except that is has something to do with bad Applescript code somehow.

Then again, I just tested both apps in a test user account, also running the latest updates from Apple, and they work fine there. So maybe there is a conflicting program on my machine that I don't know about.



As I said, I am clueless.

Again, thank you for your effort.

Jupiter: I really don't know. I have run a a script that creates nfo's for music files on iTunes, and it worked fine. Did you have any programs in mind I should try as a test?

[Ai Haibara]

How did you uninstall Amendment? I haven't tried it, but I've seen claims that it installs other components elsewhere on your system... including an InputManager (in a folder in /Library/InputManagers/ ?). If you just trashed the prefpane, the other components are probably still there. Try deleting/moving the Amendment folder there (if it's indeed there), and see if that helps. (I don't know what else it might install, or where it would be.)

[epa1nter]

Ai !!!!!!!!!


That did the trick!!!!! Everything's woking as before!

Hurray!


Thank you, and everyone else, VERY VERY VERY much!


Gee, I wonder what kind of pernicious programing was in that Ammendment app.

[Ai Haibara]

Glad to hear it.