Mac OS file for starfile downloads missing, crashes

They can be stored in one of two places. They should be stored in ~/Library/Application Support/Stellarium/stars but can also be in ~/Library/Preferences/Stellarium/stars and this can cause the crash you see.

I am trying to get this straightened out.

Thank-you for the help. Yes, the folder had downloaded to the wrong place as you describe. So, the fix is to move the Stellarium file out of the ~/Library/Preferences/ folder and put it in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder? The strange thing is that Stellarium worked until after my third star file download, then after that download it would only crash on start. It had always pixelated on start even when it didn't go on to crash. I noticed that no matter how many stars I downloaded, they never seem to appear in the program during use.

Yes, basically it's to have everything in the same place. We are working on the actual fix now.

I moved the Stellarium file to ~/Library/Application Support/ , tried to start Stellarium, but it pixelated then crashed just like before. I am using Mac OS 10.6.2 with 4GB RAM.

I am running Stellarium on a early 2009 MacBook Pro unibody under Snow Leopard. I have had no crashing problems, but I did notice that recently downloaded star files were not showing up in Stellarium.

After looking around, I found there are two places that Stellarium is storing these types of files on my machine. One is User/Library/Preferences/Stellarium. I have NO Stellarium-related folders in Application Support at all. I do have some Stellarium-related folders in Library/Cachesstellarium which do not seem to be related to the star files at all (plus the naming and location of this file is a bug - its a misdirected file which actually should appear as a subfolder in the Caches folder as "Stellarium", as already listed on the bugfix site).

Now, back to the other place that star files are being stored on my machine: This is with the application itself in the application package. These are normally hidden files which you can see by right-clicking and choosing "Show Package Contents" from the right-click dropdown menu. Once the Contents window comes up, if you look in the Resources folder in that window, you will see a file structure similar to that in the Library/Preferences/Stellarium folder, i.e., a series of folders named stars, nebulae, landscapes, etc.

I figured out which were the newly downloaded folders by looking at the numbering sequence on the filenames. I could not see these new downloaded star files until I moved them from the Library where they orginally downloaded, to the Package Contents/Resources/Stars file.

This is kind of odd, because I have downloaded new landscape files which also appear in the Library, and all the landscape files I have, both those in the Package Contents and those in the Library, show up just fine when I run Stellarium.

You might try taking any Stellarium related files out of Application Support first of all, and moving your star files to the package contents folders and see if that works.

Just a thought.
Raji

I should add that my newly downloaded star files originally appeard in the Library. I couldn't see them in Stellarium until I moved them to Package Contents/Resources/Stars. This was a bit confusing in my first post.

Raji

Did you build from source? Or use a pre-compiled download?

I am using the pre-compiled download that you can link from the Stellarium site. Ver 0.10.2

I moved the newly downloaded star files out of Library/Application Support and then into the original Stellarium Contents/Resources/Stars/default file that came with the initial install as described by Raji. I also moved config.ini and updates.ini files along with them and then deleted the empty Star folder. The program still crashes on start. So, I wonder where the .ini files should be put?

I did not delete the old Stars file, nor did I move the stars.ini file. They are still sitting in Library/Preferences/Stellarium where they originated. My reasoning for leaving the original file structure where it was, plus the stars.ini file, is that because Stellarium put the downloaded stars files there to begin with, it needs that folder and is looking for it. I didn't want to do anything that might upset that.

The only thing I did was move the actual star catalogs themselves, since the ones from the Resources file were being seen by Stellarium when the program was running, while the ones in the Library were not.

I did miss something in my original post here.... I had mistakenly put a star catalog outside the "default" folder that is in that Stars folder when moving my star catalogs. This did cause my Stellarium to crash twice on startup. I went back in and checked and noticed one was within Stars and not within Stars/Default. If you have star catalogs that aren't all collected within a folder called Default, inside the Stars folder, try correcting that and see what happens.

It is curious to me that I have no file structure for Stellarium in Application Support, while you do. This is the first place I usually look when I want to access files for a particular program, but Stellarium put everything I would normally expect to be in App Support, in the Preferences file or in the invisible Resources file.

I did not complie my own source code, but used the one that is pre-compiled from the link on the Stellarium site. Did you compile your own or use the pre-compiled one? Did you try uninstalling everything for Stellarium and doing a fresh reinstall?

I generally avoid fiddling around with the file structure for applications and I would have never started looking for these files and folders for Stellarium if I hadn't had problems seeing the new star catalogs or a problem downloading the last catalog. The last catalog took forever and gave me fits. The first time it didn't work at all and I had to redownload it.

I don't know if any of this will help you or not. I just know that I am now seeing all the available star catalogs after having moved them as described, and successfully running this program other than the fractured screen at startup with Mac OSX Snow Leopard (10.6.2).

Raji

Unfortunately the file structure on Mac was only yesterday 'corrected'. As that's source, that doesn't really help you two. Try deleting ~/Library/Application Support/Stellarium and ~/Library/Preferences/Stellarium, and it if exists, ~/Library/cachestellarium. See if that works.

If not, I can make available a compiled .app from my machine for you to try.

My last post should have read that I didn't move the "update.ini" file that was in Preferences (not the "stars.ini" file). The "stars.ini" file already existed in my Resources folder and is the original one that came with the program.

Sorry.

My program is running fine with the original weird file structure. I will wait until an updated version is released before deleting all the old stuff, since I seem to be okay. (But, if you do make a compiled app for the other guy, send me a link and I'll try it as well to see if it organizes better on my Mac.)

I do wish I could get rid of the fractured screen on startup, but if that's the only thing that's wrong with Stellarium at this point, I can live with it. It's really an awesome program overall and I can't believe something as good as this is essentially free to use. You guys rock.

Thanks for your help.

Raji

Treaves,

I can't delete Library/Cachesstellarium nor "some" of the Library/Preferences files, since when I reopen Stellarium, it just replaces those files with new files of the same name. Just thought you'd want to know this. For some reason Stellarium wants to keep some little files there. The files it keeps in Preferences are the config.ini file, the log.txt file, and the stars/default/ file structure.

Raji

I deleted the files per your instructions and Stellarium still crashes during start. Raji asked if I had ever tried deleting and re-installing Stellarium and the answer is no. I think it would be best to uninstall. Incidently, a stellarium file is being inserted in my Preferences folder also, even after I had deleted it. I assume that there is no uninstall program and that I should just drag the Stellarium App to the trash? Treaves wrote that he could make available a compiled .app. Should I delete all my existing files and download that .app?

Given what you describe, it really shouldn't be crashing. It will still put files in the wrong place; it won't be until the next official release that corrects that issue.

Do you have Qt installed?

What is displayed in Console.app when you run Stellarium?

I do not know a better way to send it. There is also a crash log report that looks different than this one that is from the "Send to Apple" pop-up window. You might want to delete it from the thread after viewing:
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] -------------------------------------------------------
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] [ This is Stellarium 0.10.2 - http://www.stellarium.org ]
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] [ Copyright (C) 2000-2009 Fabien Chereau et al ]
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] -------------------------------------------------------
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Writing log file to: "/Users/Admin1/Library/Preferences/Stellarium/log.txt"
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] File search paths:
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] 0 . "/Users/Admin1/Library/Preferences/Stellarium"
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] 1 . "/Applications/Stellarium.app/Contents/Resources"
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Config file is: "/Users/Admin1/Library/Preferences/Stellarium/config.ini"
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Thu Jan 28 08:38:22 M-MacBook-Pro.local stellarium[385] <Error>: kCGErrorIllegalArgument: _CGSFindSharedWindow: WID 212
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Thu Jan 28 08:38:22 M-MacBook-Pro.local stellarium[385] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
1/28/10 8:38:22 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Thu Jan 28 08:38:22 M-MacBook-Pro.local stellarium[385] <Error>: kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGSRemoveSurface: Invalid window 0xd4
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Cache directory is: "/Users/Admin1/Library/Cachesstellarium"
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Sky language is "C"
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Application language is "C"
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading Solar System data ...
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loaded 38 / 38 planet orbits
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading star data ...
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading "stars_0_0v0_1.cat": 0_0v0_1; 5013
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading "stars_1_0v0_1.cat": 1_0v0_1; 21999
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading "stars_2_0v0_1.cat": 2_0v0_1; 151416
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading "stars_3_1v0_0.cat": 3_1v0_0; 434064
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading "stars_4_1v0_0.cat": 4_1v0_0; 1725497
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading "stars_5_2v0_0.cat": 5_2v0_0; 7669011
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] Loading "stars_6_2v0_0.cat": 6_2v0_0; 26615233
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
1/28/10 8:38:23 AM [0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385] what(): file not found: stars/default/stars_7_2v0_0.cat
1/28/10 8:38:24 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[84] ([0x0-0x45045].org.stellarium.Stellarium[385]) Job appears to have crashed: Abort trap
1/28/10 8:38:24 AM ReportCrash[389] Saved crash report for stellarium[385] version ??? (0.10.2) to /Users/Admin1/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/stellarium_2010-01-28-083824_M-MacBook-Pro.crash

Also, I do not know what you mean by "Do you have Qt installed?" I just downloaded Stellarium per instructions on the web-site.

That's fine; that's what I wanted to see.

As for the Qt, I'd assume yo do not have it. Do you have an Intel or PPC Mac?

I just bought this new MacBook Pro with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 memory running a NVidia GeForce 9400M Video. I also have the NVidia GForce 9600M GT, but I have that turned off, I think, to save power and reduce heat.

There are still a couple of fairly series issues with the new version. Please hold on a bit more.

If you want a test package, you can download it here: https://silverfields.webhop.net/PublicMedia/Stellarium.tar.bz2

You'll need to set use_glshaders to false in the main ini file, or stars & planets will not show.

When will the new version be ready for download? I would rather just wait until it is ready.

I just downloaded 10.4. So far, it has been running well. Thank-you for the update! I also downloaded 2 additional star files using the "Tool" within the application. Many more stars are identified in this newer version compared to the last version. I have not been able to verify if the program is picking-up the additional stars from files 5 and 6 that I downloaded using the Tool, so I don't know whether to keep downloading more star files or not. Has the problem with the location of those files and the reading of them been fixed?

Michael,

I also downloaded this version for my Mac and downloaded additional star files.

If you go to User/Library/Application Support/Stellarium/Stars/Default, you should see the addtional star files there. They are listed by number.

However mine hung up on File 7 download so I manually put the corresponding star file from the previous version there and the .10.4 version seems to recognize it OK (I am assuming they are the same files?)

I have noticed that the trackpad zoom in/zoom out does not work well on this version (I had to switch to using the key command for it) but otherwise, looks and acts better than the previous version.

Raji

The optional star files (files 4, 5, etc.) I downloaded using the Tool within the application are located in /Library/Application Support/Stellarium/Stars/Default as you have written. But, the the star files (files 0, 1, 2, 3) that came with Stellarium 10.4 are located in the "package contents" accessed by alternate clicking on the Application itself, then Contents/Resources/Stars/Default.
So, the original question arises again, where do the star files need to be for the application to read all of them?

Michael,

Actually, I don't think you have to choose one over the other...I think it's reading all of them from both folders. For example, I have landscape files that I downloaded separately from the ones that came with Stellarium, and they are in the "User/Library/Apps Support...." folder while the included landscapes are in package contents. Even though I have landscapes in two different folders, when I open Stellarium, I see all the landscape files. The same goes for nebulae.

As for stars, I had uninstalled the previous version of Stellarium prior to downloading the new one and noticed I could see a starrier sky after doing the downloads of additional star files. Therefore I have to assume that the program is reading both folders here, too. (Since most casual Mac users don't even know how to view Application package contents, I'd have to assume that the "User/Library/Apps Support..." folder is more of a "user friendly" folder with subfolders for program additions that can be easily modified by the user without affecting the original application.)

For what its worth.

Raji