FET executable for Mac OS X, by Darren McDonald

fjrump · April 08, 2026, 08:41:06 AM

Hi,

I have a problem with the current FET version (7.8.4). When I launch it on macOS, I get the following error message: "'fet' is damaged and can't be opened. It is recommended that you move the object to the Trash." (This is a translation from German, so the original (English) message may be phrased slightly differently). I had no issues with earlier versions (e.g., 7.7.7 still works for me), and I am familiar with the security‑settings on macOS. What could be causing this, and how can the error be resolved? Thanks for any hints!

Greetings,
Frank

Liviu Lalescu · April 08, 2026, 09:11:46 AM

Hello, Frank, and welcome to the forum!

I am sorry for this possible problem. I ask @Darren McDonald and @Volker Dirr to kindly see your post.

Darren McDonald · April 08, 2026, 09:46:05 AM

Yes, something is wrong with the file - I'll compile and upload a new version in the next 10 min or so.

[Edit:] An updated version of FET for macOS is now available for download.

Liviu Lalescu · April 08, 2026, 10:27:23 AM

Thank you, Darren!

fjrump · April 08, 2026, 10:41:04 AM

Thank you, Darren, for the quick response and the new version! Unfortunately, I still have the same problem with it. What could be causing this?

Best regards,
Frank

Darren McDonald · April 08, 2026, 10:50:26 AM

Hmm... let me have another look.

Liviu Lalescu · April 08, 2026, 10:51:20 AM

Maybe Qt 6.11.0 problem on some possible older macOS-s? We use Qt 6.11.0 since FET-7.8.2.

fjrump · April 08, 2026, 10:54:27 AM

If it helps: I use MacOS Tahoe 26.4 (Apple M4) ...

Darren McDonald · April 08, 2026, 11:27:48 AM

fjrump, can you try the version linked here? (It will only be available in English.)

FET 7.8.4

fjrump · April 08, 2026, 11:49:06 AM

It works, thank you! What was changed during compilation?

Darren McDonald · April 08, 2026, 12:09:35 PM

This will take a bit of work for me to figure out (something for next week, I'm afraid), but it looks like the issue concerns the language files for FET.

When running .macdeployqt (necessary to run FET on computers other than the one used to compile), if the language files are moved into place manually before .macdeployqt is run, an error message is thrown (this is something new with Qt 6.11), but if they are moved into place after .macdeployqt is run, you get a message about a damaged app when running from a downloaded file. You can manually copy the .qm translation files into place on your own machine, but it looks like I can't provide them in their usual location at the moment. (In fact, it looks like they really shouldn't be in the

Code Select

fet.app/Contents/MacOS folder as we have been doing, but this is something that needs looking into.)

Liviu Lalescu · April 08, 2026, 12:14:36 PM

Darren, for next week maybe: recent FET (I am not sure, maybe from 7.7.0) searches for translation files also in ../share/fet/translations. On GNU/Linux this is the location after running "cmake --install ...". Maybe it is normal now also on macOS.

Darren McDonald · April 08, 2026, 02:02:41 PM

@fjrump, can you check the file linked below? I think I've got everything working now.

New macOS FET 7.8.4

fjrump · April 08, 2026, 03:43:10 PM

How quickly a week goes by

... The new version works, thank you very much! The German interface is also displayed correctly for me.

Darren McDonald · April 08, 2026, 04:17:44 PM

Quote from: fjrump on April 08, 2026, 03:43:10 PMHow quickly a week goes by ... The new version works, thank you very much! The German interface is also displayed correctly for me.

Glad to hear it!

I'm a bit behind on some other things I should have been doing, but this was a puzzle I wanted to solve. Marking student work is something I am all too eager to postpone...

The fix was to move the .qm files to a new folder in

Code Select

fet.app/Contents/share/fet/translations then to run ./macdeployqt (which doesn't complain when the translation files are in this new location).