RM8 won't connect to internet any more, although it did during the testing period

RootsMagic
1

Since installing the final version of RM8 and importing my RM7 files, RM8 won’t connect to the internet . It did during the testing period. And RM7 was OK before that. I haven’t changed my computer or operating system (Mac Mini under Sierra) and the internet works for every other app, including this community’s pages. I loaded v 8.1.4 today, and the problem is still the same.

So I don’t get webhints, and the home page says it can’t do the three things via the internet (read news, get support and check for updates). I can only be aware of updates by looking on RM’s downloads web page or this community.

As with other Mac users, the app seems very un-Mac like. There’s no “About RootsMagic” menu item to show the version number etc. And the version number doesn’t show in the Apps Get Info - it’s always v 1.0.0 which is nonsense. It takes about three minutes to complete opening - maybe because it’s looking for things on the internet and can’t find anything?

Can anyone suggest what to try?

2

Upper right main window, click on the tricolon to get the dropdown menu:
image

I can’t help on Mac matters.

3

Have you got some anti-virus or firewall software that is blocking RM8 from accessing the internet?

4

Thanks for that - and I can see that I’ve got 8.1.5, not 8.1.4.

Here’s my Mac’s menu that doesn’t have About RootsMagic:
Screen Shot 2022-01-10 at 17.18.15
which isn’t what Macs normally show top left.

And here’s what Get Info shows when looking at the app file:

Screen Shot 2022-01-10 at 15.44.03

5

Thanks for the suggestion. I use ESET antivirus and the Mac’s own firewall. It doesn’t block anything else that I use, but I’ll dip into their menus to see if there’s something helpful to reset.

Gordon

ADDED LATER - I disabled the antivirus protection and set the Mac firewall to allow RootsMagic access to the internet. It didn’t help - the problem is the same. It was OK before with the trial versions and RM7.

6

That’s not a RootsMagic menu. Don’t you have the ‘three dots’, vertical ellipsis, tricolon in the upper right of the main RM window? Tap it.

7

Tom is, of course, correct, but dutyhog was highlighting that RM8 is very much not in the tradition of a ‘normal’ Mac program, as many have already highlighted. Maybe because it is so far from being a normal Mac program that the lack of an About option from a menu bar pull-down is acceptable - not really, but I am prepared to concede that - but the fact that the real program version number isn’t displayed when one uses Get Info against the application - nothing to do with whether RM8 is running or not - is inexcusable. It should - MUST - display the correct version info. (Note - this is a display from the installed application, not the downloaded disk image that is yet to be installed.)

Get Info on RM8
Get Info on RM8558×912 110 KB

8

Thanks for explaining that for me, JP1. It is, of course, a pain when an app doesn’t behave like most other Mac apps.

But my main problem is still that RM8 itself doesn’t seem to connect to the internet. I want to have webhints back again.

9

This seems very odd. I wonder if anyone else is successfully using Sierra, though why the beta worked OK but not the production version is definitely odd.

Without some error messages (somewhere) or a trace of what is happening (or failing), I’m out of ideas. Sorry.

10

I could have elaborated, JP1. The beta version worked at first, but lost the internet connections about 3/4 of the way through development. I did report the snag. Clicking on send a report to RM doesn’t get anywhere - I can’t see a report stored on my Mac before it tries to send it to RM.

I had also tried RM7 as an .exe app using Wine (which I use for several Windows apps) - it seemed faster than the Mac version of RM7, even though that was used via a version of Winebottler.

11

For a couple of days, I’ve had problems opening RM8. When eventually it opens the ‘News’, ‘Help and Support’ and ‘Updates’ windows cannot connect to the internet and the windows have a revolving circle of dots. An error report was sent. Connecting to Ancestry and Family Search work fine.

Trying RM7 there is a similar problem; the RootsMagic news windows says, ‘Unable to contact RootsMagic news server’.

Using Windows 11.

Anyone else having this problem?

12

Do you have the UK Edition of RootsMagic? S&N Genealogy supplies the news feed for the UK Edition. They are currently updating their servers.

13

I have the UK PC version of both 7 & 8, 8 refuses to open and as someone commented I just get the revolving dots when I try and open version 8, however version 7 seems ok.

14

Yes, Renée, I do have the UK version. How would S & N dating their servers affect the delay in opening RM8? It takes about 25 seconds to open whilst showing in the toolbar what you see in the picture.
Richard

RM8
RM82231×1617 458 KB

15

If RM8 is delayed in opening then that’s a different issue. You can get on our chats and we would happy to see what’s going on. More than likely it’s your security software. Go to www.rootsmagic.com and open a chat. The best time to reach an agent is M-F, 8:00-4:00 pm (MT).

16

I’m the OP, and still have no luck with RM8 connecting to the internet, so it doesn’t get news feeds or communicate with RM. I’m in the UK. I’ll try a chat on www.rootsmagic.com next time I’m within 8:00-4:00 pm (MT)

17

If you are in the UK and have the UK Edition of RM8 then contact S&N Genealogy. They can tell you what’s happening with their servers.

18

I have phoned S & N and they are are aware of the problem. They are in contact with RootsMagic to try and rectify the problem. They said they will e-mail me when it is sorted out.

19

My RM8 is back this morning. :grinning:

20

Mine isn’t, though. Here’s a screenshot of the error messages that RM8 shows on my Mac:
Screen Shot 2022-05-05 at 10.32.40

Maybe it works in Dorset, but not in Scotland - some legal problem?

Gordon