You are here

MacOs 10.6 Snow Leopard Font/Display Issue

TestGen 7.4.3 no longer functions properly with MacOS 10.6 Snow Leopard. Test banks do not show up in library. Is a fix in the works? TestGen works fine with Leopard.

TestGen Forums: 

Yes, we see the same issue. We are working on a fix. I'll post back here once we have a solution.

Jeff

I'm glad you were able to see the problem. Fortunately I did not upgrade my laptop with Snow Leopard. I guess I will have to use this machine until you find a fix.
Thanks

Jeff - Can you clarify something here. It just occurred to me that the other posts in this string are from professors who are building & creating tests. I am a student on Snow Leopard and having problems. Is this patch for me too? Should my MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard be working without the patch?

Ah, good point Mike.

The problem is due to a font that ships with both TestGen and the TestGen Plug-in. So...yes, the patch will be for TestGen plugin users as well.

Jeff

Jeff

I found another bug with TestGen and Snow Leopard. The TestGen preference will not allow me to set the folder to save tests. I get a message indicating the path is not valid. I get the same message if I try to reset using the default location.

We are not seeing this on our 10.6 test machines. Are you entering the path using the old HFS notation? EG:

MacHD:Users:rsteeper:mytests

You have to. TestGen doesn't use Posix notation in those fields yet. If you are using the HFS style, can you post the paths here for me to look at?

Jeff

I had that problem too after upgrading to Snow Leopard. I found a work around. Restarting my MacBook in Safe Mode (Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold down the Shift key) allowed me to use TestGen. Although I had two font errors as the application loaded, they did not prevent me from using the application to generate two exams.

I purchased my new mac in order to take a class this semester. Since I can not run testgen on Snow leopard I am in a bind. Can you help with a work around or advise timing until a fix is available?

A fix is in progress (as we speak).

The problem appears to be that one of our fonts is not compatible with 10.6. As Wiener mentioned above, you can boot into Safe Mode which will temporarily substitute Times New Roman for our font and fix the redraw issue. You will lose our special math symbols however (built into our font). But this may not matter depending on the content of your testbank/test.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff - Any idea on timing and how will it be released? Is here a new Testgen version or will my system just start working?

We are really close to an approved fix. I'd think we should have something within a week. The current plan is not to ship a new version of TestGen; rather, we will have a patched file available for download with some instructions. Will that work?

Jeff

A patch would be fine if that solves the problem. Thanks for addressing the issue promptly.

yes - A patch works! I must say I am frustrated that this has happened but thrilled with the speed of your response Thank you

Yes, a patch would be very helpful. Thanks for your prompt attempts to resolve this issue.

As promised, we have a fix for the 10.6 problem TestGen, and TestGen Plug-in users are experiencing. You can get the fix here.

Let me know if this worked. Thanks.

Jeff

Hi, I download the fix file and replace the old one, but the plug-in in safari still not work..

I'm currently using Mac 10.6.1 Safari 4.0.3

Are you running v7.5 of the TestGen plug-in? Also, Rosetta should be turned off. Then you can apply the font patch and you should be good to go.

Jeff

The fix worked for me. Thanks!

Hi Jeff

TestGen seems to work now with the new font file. Just in time. Thanks

Thanks, that fix worked for me. That sure is better than using safe mode.

Thanks so much for your quick attention and fix to this glitch. The fix works perfectly for me, now I just have to wait for the Edline folks to release a fix.

Very Respectfully,

Jim Miller

Okay, forget my last post. I followed your (very precise, accurate) instructions and removed the offending font, and replaced it with the correct one.

Maybe that wasn't the problem because I went back into the Cultural Landscape: Human Geography test bank and tried expanding Chapter 1 Thinking Geographically again. BOOM, CRASH.

Incredulous that all my troubleshooting hadn't worked, I relaunched and expanded another chapter. VOILA, it expanded!

MEANING??? You have a corruption in the Chapter 1 test bank. I need it for a cumulative exam I'm putting together next week. Any change of obtaining a fixed version soon?

Thanks!
Ronn

I am not using the plug-in, I am using Test Generator v.7.43 and I applied the "fix" that did not change anything. I continue to get the error message "The following fonts have not installed properly: TestGen Regular" when I load TestGen.

I am still seeing grey triangles where the test bank library is, but there is no text after the triangle.

I tried reimporting the test banks and they still do not show up.

I've clicked the grey triangles to open the files below, and it keeps crashing.

This is rather disappointing.

It should work. So, let's see what's going on here. Some questions to get things started:

1. What is the "modified" date of the "testgenrg.otf" font in your local font directory, "MacHD/Users/[username]/Library/Fonts/"?
It should be 09/10/2009.

2. Are you running in "Safe Mode"?
You should not be in safe mode.

3. Did you delete the "testgenrg.otf" font from the TestGen package?
You should not need to delete the old font from the package.

Jeff

1. The modified date is 9/17/09. The font is not visible in the FontBook app, only in the directory.

2. I am not running in safe mode.

3. I followed the directions above, which suggested to delete the original font file and replace it with the new on referenced in question 1.

Should I uninstall the app and redownload and reinstall the app?

Not sure where to go from here.

Update:

I deleted the app and all associated prefs files and reinstalled 7.43. I launched the program and a dialog box popped up that said "The following fonts have not been installed properly: TestGen Regular. Please copy them to your system fonts folder." When I was running TestGen in Leopard (10.58), I would get that same message also, but there were no other problems and I was able to see the testbank list.

So I followed the fix linked above and then I checked the font directory and the testgenrg.otf file was there, but it does not show up in fontbook. I validated the file and fontbook said this font fails on "system validation"

I have tried moving the testgenrg.otf file in my user font directory to the system font directory and neither location alleviated the problem.

Since you were seeing this in 10.5, something else is going on here. If you don't mind, let's methodically remove all the TestGen fonts and reinstate them one more time. Here's the procedure I'd like you to follow.

  1. Remove testgenrg.otf from the system font folder.
  2. Remove testgenrg.otf from your "user" font folder.
  3. Launch Font Book and verify that TestGen us not installed, make sure it is showing "All font".
  4. If TestGen is installed, uninstall using "Remove this font", verify it is not installed.
  5. Copy new testgenrg.otf to your "user" font folder.
  6. Get info on testgenrg.otf and verify that the version is 5.002.
  7. Double-click testgenrg.otf (on your "user" font folder), it should open in Font Book.
  8. Verify that is passes validation and is installed and enabled. 
  9. Under "Preview->Show font info", verify the version is 5.002.
  10. Launch TestGen.

If this doesn't work then there is something amiss with your machine which we will look into next.

Jeff

I have followed all of the steps, but at step 8 when I install the font, fontbook says "there is one serious problem with this font" and suggests that I do not install this font. I clicked the disclosure triangle and it once again failed validation.

I tried to launch TestGen and experienced the same problem as described above.

I'm about to abandon this program, as I have paid for test banks from publishers and am now unable to access them via TestGen.

I am frustrated and do not know what else to do.

I have also restarted and repaired permissions to no avail.

That error message is the one the "old" font produced. Can you check the version of the font it is verifying? You can do this by:

  1. Open Font Book
  2. Under the "Collection" column, select "User".
  3. Then Highlight "TestGen" in the "Font" column.
  4. Type "CMD-i" to get the font info.
  5. It should be version 5.000.

Something else to try...

Check your system font folder for the "old" copy of "testgenrg.otf" and remove it. You can find this at, "MacHD/Library/Fonts".

Jeff

I followed your directions. I dropped the new font, which was the 5.002 version into User>Fonts and then opened fontbook. The font was there and I verified it was the 5.002 and the verification came back as "passed." I then restarted and opened TestGen and still got the old error message. The same behavior occurred - just grey triangles, no text and when I clicked on the triangle to expand it, the program crashed. Here is the error message that was returned:

Process: TestGen [387]
Path: /Applications/TestGen/TestGen.app/Contents/MacOS/TestGen
Identifier: com.tamarack-software.testgen
Version: 7.4.3 (7.4.3)
Code Type: PPC (Translated)
Parent Process: launchd [88]

Date/Time: 2009-09-25 19:57:38.595 -0400
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.6.1 (10B504)
Report Version: 6

Interval Since Last Report: 447820 sec
Crashes Since Last Report: 5
Per-App Interval Since Last Report: 903 sec
Per-App Crashes Since Last Report: 2
Anonymous UUID: B0ECABE1-9CB0-4640-BBB6-47BABB98D080

Exception Type: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: KERN_PROTECTION_FAILURE at 0x0000000000000014
Crashed Thread: 0

I also cleared my font cache and verified that no other Testgenrg font resided in either my user or system font folders.

What next?

Hmmmm...very odd...there is something else going on here.

I should call and discuss this in more detail with you. The best way is for you to register with an email address that I can contact you at. Then we can arrange a good time to have me call and help sort this out. Reply here when you've registered.

Alternatively, you can send your info via our contact form, and ask to route this to "Jeff". I will email you from there.

Jeff

I've registered and sent an email to support with the subject "Jeff Rahman"

Test gen will not work on my new apple computer. I installed rosetta and stuffit expander and neither resolved. Tried your replacement link for testgen and that also did not resolve. Testgen test page shows the yellow background but the anticipated box with context that it was successful is never seen. I even fully removed testgen and had several attempts to reinstall only to still have issues. Can you please help?

Let's see if we can straightened things out on your new mac. Some notes:

(1) Mac OS Version.
I assume your mac is running 10.6, yes?

(2) TestGen Plug-in Version.
What version of the plug-in are you running? You should be running version 7.5 which is a universal application for Mac OSX. If you are not sure, go into "MacHD/Library/Internet Plug-Ins", right-click on "npTGEQPlugin.plugin", and choose "Get Info" to see the version information. If "npTGEQPlugin.plugin" isn't in the folder you probably have "npTGEQPLUGIN" instead. You can "Get Info" on that one, which is older than 7.5.

(3) Rosetta
If you are running version 7.5, turn Rosetta off for the browser you are using TestGen in.

Jeff

Just in case you overlooked it. I followed your (very precise, accurate) instructions and removed the offending font, and replaced it with the correct one.

Maybe that wasn't the problem because I went back into the Cultural Landscape: Human Geography test bank and tried expanding Chapter 1 Thinking Geographically again. BOOM, CRASH.

Incredulous that all my troubleshooting hadn't worked, I relaunched and expanded another chapter. VOILA, it expanded!

MEANING??? You have a corruption in the Rubenstein, Chapter 1 test bank. I need it for a cumulative exam I'm putting together next week. Any chance of obtaining a fixed version soon?

Thanks!
Ronn

Hi Ronn,

Yes, it appears to be corrupt data in your testbank, not TestGen.

To be sure we are talking about the same testbank, is it "The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography", 9th edition? Also, is the testbank filename "ihg9r.bok"?

If so, we took a look at the data and believe we found the problem. I can send you a copy of the fixed testbank if you like. To do this you can either register as a user on our site so I can get your email in your profile, or send us a note via the contact form requesting the testbank (make sure you request "Jeff" to handle this for you in the note so it gets routed to me), thanks.

Jeff

Jeff wrote:
Yes, it appears to be corrupt data in your testbank, not TestGen. ~ To be sure we are talking about the same testbank, is it "The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography", 9th edition? Also, is the testbank filename "ihg9r.bok"?

RONN: Yes, Jeff, that's right! That's the filename of the test bank, and it goes with the 9th edition of the Rubenstein HG text.

Jeff: I can send you a copy of the fixed testbank if you like. To do this you can either register as a user on our site so I can get your email in your profile, or send us a note via the contact form requesting the testbank (make sure you request "Jeff" to handle this for you in the note so it gets routed to me), thanks.

I thought I registered for this site, otherwise I wouldn't be able to post these messages! Anyways, okay, I'll send you a copy of this message in the contact form too. I could really use that fixed testbank file (ihg9r.bok)...great! Thanking you in advance, Ronn

I need a fix. Mac snow leopard will not display fonts.

Sure. The fix for the font issue is here.

Jeff

i have mac os 10.6.2
i have Safari 4.0.4
i cannot get testgen to work although i can have safari show it listed as an installed plugin.

please help.

i forgot to add above that i tried installing testgen v 7.5
i am a student at Western Governors University and through Pearson CourseCompass have tried to do this install.

By "not working" do you mean that after you install the plug-in and go to the TestGen Plug-in test page the plug-in doesn't display in the white box area?

Or, the test page works but you are having font related issues as mentioned in this thread?

Or, does it only have issues within the CourseCompass site? If so, please explain what you are seeing.

You definitely want TestGen 7.5 for Mac OS 10.6 to avoid font issues.

One thing to try...first remove our font as mentioned in this fix. Then run the TestGen 7.5 Plug-in installer again.

Jeff

TestGen plug in is ok in firefox, but not in safari (box does not appear in safari, but does in firefox). Snow leapord. Also, several times when I take the TG test as a student (i am an instructor), firefox hangs and i have to force quit and reload firefox. Then it works OK some of the time, but not all of the time. It hangs a lot. I was hoping that trying it out in safari would fix this issue, but i cant get the box to appear in safari.

Thanks for anything you can do to advise.

Bob"

Hi Bob,

Quick question, are you running TestGen Plug-in v7.5?

We improved stability in Firefox with this version. Now, if the Plug-in is displaying in Firefox this means your plug-in and font have been installed properly. Safari should run the plug-in without issues, so we should approach this problem from the Safari side first. Let's check your security settings:

  1. Open your Safari preferences window.
  2. Click the "Security" tab
  3. Under "Web Content", is it set to permit plug-ins?

You probably should enable Java and JavaScript as well since this may be an issue for the CMS system you are using the plugin in.

One more thing...does Safari display a blank page when it goes to the Pearson Plug-in test page?

Jeff

Hi I seem to be having the same problem. I'm a student at the University of MIami and I am using mymathlab which requires testGen Plug-in v7.5. I have a mac using snow leopard. When I go to the test page a blank white box appears. After opening it up with rosseta nothing appears. Any ideas?

Hi, forgot to mention I have tried EVERYTHING in this forum.

Hi Alex,

Here are some things to try:

  1. Turn off Rosetta. v7.5 can (and should) be run natively. Quit and restart your browser and test again. What does it do?
  2. Quit your browser, relaunch, and go to our TG Plug-in Test Page. What does it do?
  3. Quit your browser, relaunch, and go to Pearson's TG Plug-in Test Page. What does it do?

After I have this information we can proceed.

Jeff

I have snow leopard (Mac OS X10.6.4) and testgen 7.4.4.
I am using .BOK files from the "Cosmic Perspective" Series (files tecp5b.BOK and cp5b.BOK). In the case the fonts do not appear when I add the testbank. I have copied in the new .oft file and per the instruction on the website. Any assistance you can offer is much appreciated

TestGen 7.4.4 installs the fixed font so it should work. Let's start by verifying you have the correct font installed with TestGen:

  1. Go find the TestGen application (usually in your Application folder)
  2. Right-click on it and choose "Show Package Contents".
  3. A new window will appear. Go into "Contents/MacOS"
  4. Scroll down the list of files and find "testgenrg.otf"
  5. Right-click on the file and choose "Get Info".
  6. Under "General", the Copyright should say "v5.002-9/10/2009".

It's possible that you have a copy of the old font on your system which can lead to problems. Let's look at you system fonts folder:

  1. Open the Macintosh HD and go into "Library/Fonts".
  2. Scroll down the list and look for "testgenrg.otf".
  3. Right-click on the file and choose "Get Info".
  4. Under "General", the Copyright should say "v5.002-9/10/2009".
  5. If not, delete it.

Let look at your user fonts folder:

  1. Open the Macintosh HD and go into "Users" and click on your username folder.
  2. Go into "Library/Fonts"
  3. Scroll down the list and look for "testgenrg.otf".
  4. Right-click on the file and choose "Get Info".
  5. Under "General", the Copyright should say "v5.002-9/10/2009".
  6. If not, delete it.

If you made changes, restart the Mac to force it to reload the fonts. Try TestGen again. Let me know what happens.

Jeff

I am unable to get this to work. I have tried firefox and safari on the test page. Safari shows nothing not even a box. Firefox doesn't show a box ether and even deleted the space where the box is suppose to be. I have tried changing the font in both the System font folder and the user font folder. I have also made sure the settings are right in preferences.

I have testgen-plugin 7.5
I am using OS X 10.6.5

Pages

All forum messages express the views of the author, and Tamarack Software will not be held responsible for the content of any message. By participating in the Forum, you agree to abide by the Terms of Use and not to:

(a) post any messages that are threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented or otherwise unlawful; (b) post messages totally unrelated to TestGen Software; (c) advertise unauthorized products and services; and (d) send Spam.

Back to top