For all macOS versions below Catalina (10.15) , can I just build plugin and skip all the “code signing validation” BS?
Users of Formloom on older OS versions cannot use the current build that works fine on Catalina → Big Sur
I guess you could but it’s not a good solution - I would imagine users will hit issues with updates. A codesigned or notarized plugin should run just fine on older platforms so it sounds like something else is up. Have you tried running the plugin on an old OS to see if any errors are logged?
No, I keep all my machines using current software ¯_(ツ)_/¯
I have an external drive with a bunch of different macOS versions installed so I can boot up an older OS if I have to. It’s pretty easy to set up.
The errors folks are seeing is that the “Principal class cannot be found”.
This ONLY happens on mac OS < 10.15
Yeah that error message doesn’t really tell us much. It just means there was a problem loading the plugin. Something missing maybe?
I dunno, will look into it when I have time. May eventually stop support for it.
Too difficult to keep things working with RW these days 
All you need to do is get the RW log and check for errors during launch. Looks like you’re building for 10.14 and trying to use the dark mode appearance which obviously isn’t going to work on 10.13
2021-09-03 13:04:49.832 RapidWeaver 8[3172:213117] Error loading /Users/tpbradley/RWPlugins/FormLoom.rapidweaverplugin/Contents/MacOS/FormLoom: dlopen(/Users/tpbradley/RWPlugins/FormLoom.rapidweaverplugin/Contents/MacOS/FormLoom, 265): Symbol not found: _NSAppearanceNameDarkAqua
Referenced from: /Users/tpbradley/RWPlugins/FormLoom.rapidweaverplugin/Contents/MacOS/FormLoom (which was built for Mac OS X 10.14)
If it’s not running on 10.14, there’s probably something else in there that’s 10.15 only. You really should get an old copy of macOS running to test this stuff, it makes things a lot easier.
I will eventually, but I DO know the issue has nothing to do with Dark Mode ( or any other code in project ) , but EVERYTHING to do with the new build requirements that came with 10.15
Sure ok, then your only option is to tweak the settings and test on 10.13 unless I’m missing something? I don’t really know what else to suggest.
Which build requirements are you referring to?
Your’s …
Erm… what?
Building a universal app isn’t a requirement I’ve set. For your code to continue to run properly on macOS it needs to be compiled for Apple Silicon.
When Apple transitioned from PowerPC to Intel in macOS 10.4, they included Rosetta to translate old PowerPC apps on the fly. In macOS 10.6 Rosetta was removed but could still be installed via a download if necessary. In macOS 10.7 it no longer runs making it impossible to run PowerPC apps.
We can expect the same thing to happen with the transition to Apple Silicon. In macOS 13 (2022), I’d expect rosetta to be removed and stop running in macOS 14 (2023).
In my experience, building for Apple Silicon or notarizing / code signing hasn’t caused problems when running on older OS’s so I suspect something else is up.