APS Excellence in Physics Education Award
November 2019

Education Prize Logo
Science SPORE Prize
November 2011

NSF Logo
The Open Source Physics Project is supported by NSF DUE-0442581.

Tracker not working on Mac OS 11.6 post and replies

Return to the Tracker not working on Mac OS 11.6 thread
Login to post to this thread

Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5
Stephan Pfeiler
6 Posts

I just tried to prepare some footage for a lesson i'm giving and naturally I updated Tracker to v6.0.6 when it asked to do that.

I haven't used Tracker in a while so I don't know if the update is the problem or if it was a Mac OS Update in the past.

So the situation is, that Tracker doesn't open any files I know to have worked about a year ago. I could supply videos and trk-files that worked a year ago, but do not do so now.

There is no specific error that could help me fix the issue.

Are there any things I could do to find the issue and fix it? I'd really love to keep using tracker in class.


Replies to Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5

Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Douglas Brown Avatar
Douglas Brown
449 Posts

Do you mean that nothing at all happens when you open a trk file? Or that it tries to open and fails or locks up? Is this for ANY trk or only yours?  

Look at Help|Diagnostics|Message Log. Any errors reported?


> I just tried to prepare some footage for a lesson
> i'm giving and naturally I updated Tracker to v6.0.6
> when it asked to do that.
>
> I haven't used Tracker
> in a while so I don't know if the update is the problem
> or if it was a Mac OS Update in the past.
>
> So the
> situation is, that Tracker doesn't open any files
> I know to have worked about a year ago. I could supply
> videos and trk-files that worked a year ago, but do
> not do so now.
>
> There is no specific error that could
> help me fix the issue.
>
> Are there any things I could
> do to find the issue and fix it? I'd really love to
> keep using tracker in class.



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Stephan Pfeiler
6 Posts

I tried several files that were created by me and students a year ago. I also tried two different trk-files from the examples library. It only shows an error saying "couldn't load file "



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Wolfgang
192 Posts

Some OSX folders, such as desktop and download, have restricted access unless you have changed Apple's default security settings.  Can you open TRK files from a digital library?



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Wolfgang
192 Posts

Some OSX folders, such as desktop and download, have restricted access unless you have changed Apple's default security settings.  Can you open TRK files from a digital library?



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Stephan Pfeiler
6 Posts

I was able to open the projectile model from the library, so it might be an issue with rights on my mac. Is there a way to find out which rights are given to specific folders, for example the folders I use at the moment to organize my files?



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Stephan Pfeiler
6 Posts

Hi Doug, sorry for the late reply. I looked at the message log and it tells me that the video format is not supported. This happens for a lot of videos that I used last year. I could supply those videos if that helps.

<<<<<
Jan 18, 2022 7:43:18 AM org.opensourcephysics.media.core.VideoIO handleUnsupportedVideo
WARNUNG: VideoIO.handleUnsupportedVideo Users/stephan/SynologyDrive/Unterricht/Physik/9/21:22/9:4/02_Gleichförmige und beschleunigte Bewegungen/220118_Beschleunigte Bewegung/fallenderBall.mp4 from OpenTabPathVideo null video

Jan 18, 2022 7:43:50 AM org.opensourcephysics.media.core.VideoIO handleUnsupportedVideo
WARNUNG: VideoIO.handleUnsupportedVideo Users/stephan/SynologyDrive/Unterricht/Physik/9/21:22/9:4/02_Gleichförmige und beschleunigte Bewegungen/220118_Beschleunigte Bewegung/FallendeMurmel.mp4 from OpenTabPathVideo null video
>>>>>



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Stephan Pfeiler
6 Posts

Another Test for old trk-files. This is the error in the message-log, when I try to open an old trk-file from about a year ago.

<<<<<
Jan 18, 2022 7:49:45 AM org.opensourcephysics.controls.XMLControlElement read
WARNUNG: Could not open Users/stephan/SynologyDrive/Unterricht/Physik/9/20:21/210128_Videoanalyse_Beschleunigung/Rampe2_3.trk
>>>>>



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Alexander Osorio Caicedo
3 Posts

Something similar happened to me some time ago, and at first I thought that all my previous work was lost.
Please try this: Open the app (Tracker) first without selecting an specific file. Now, with the app already opened, look for the file you want to work with and open it from inside the app (or drag it to the app window).
That's the way I'm currently opening Tracker files.



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Scott Schroeder
1 Posts

Smells like a permissions problem.

I just installed v6.0.6 and could not open any of the demo files or movies.
Seems the default installer makes the owner root, when it should be the user

Fix was to "Get Info" then fix the permissions to read-write

You can also drop into terminal and chown, or use a utility like batchmod to correct the permissions

Of course, this doesn't explain your old files not working...since I doubt those permissions have changed. Could still be a more restrictive permission scheme following the latest MacOS upgrades?



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Stephan Pfeiler
6 Posts

Hi Scott, I was thinking if this might be a problem. I had one video that worked when it was in me root-directory, but it didn't work in my working-directory. It still doesn't. So I am sorry, if I am starting to ask trivial questions now: but whose permissions do I need to change? The video files or trackers?

Is it possible, that Tracker was installed in a way, that gave it the rights to read files from certain directories but not from others?



Re: Tracker v.6.0.6 and v5.1.5 -
Wolfgang
192 Posts

The Downloads and Documents folders have special permissions in iOS.  Are you using those folders and have you given Tracker permission to r/w to those folder?

Also, have you accepted the Tracker default locations when you installed it?  If not, uninstall all Tracker files and reinstall Tracker.  The various Tracker files are shown below.

---------------------------------------------------------

In the Tracker home folder (hidden /usr/local/tracker by default):
- Tracker_README.txt
- tracker_install.log
- uninstall_Tracker.app
- tracker.prefs.default
- archives folder (only if an older version of Tracker was overwritten)
- share folder (only if videos and experiments installed--see below)

In the /Applications folder:
- Tracker.app (contains the following hidden folders and files)
- Contents folder
- Info.plist
- PkgInfo
- Java folder
- Tracker.cfg
- tracker_starter.jar
- tracker.jar
- tracker-6.x.x.jar
- xuggle-xuggler-server-all.jar
- slf4j-api.jar
- tracker_start.log
- MacOS folder
- Tracker
- libpackager.dylib
- PlugIns folder (bundled JRE)
- Resources folder
- tracker.icns
- trk.icns
- Tracker_README.txt
- Xuggle folder (video engine source files)

In the application support folder (~/Library/Application Support/OSP):
- .tracker.prefs

In the OSP cache (~/Library/Caches/OSP) (only if the digital library browser has been accessed):
- multiple osp-xxx folders and Search folder

In the user Documents folder (~/Documents):
- Tracker folder
- Tracker.app symlink
- tracker_start.log (only after Tracker is launched)
- resources symlink to videos and experiments folder
       - videos folder containing video files
       - experiments folder containing .trk experiment files

Attached File: FolderSecurity.jpg



OSP Projects:
Open Source Physics - EJS Modeling
Tracker
Physlet Physics
Physlet Quantum Physics
STP Book