Unable to update

This issue has been a thorn in my side for some time. I have Rapidweaver 7 installed on my iMac and MacBook. The application resides in the Application folder and nowhere else. I have been in contact on several occasions with Realmac Support however, despite some suggestions the issue has not been fixed. I have just downloaded and installed Version 7.5.4 to the Application folder in the hope that the problem might have been resolved but sadly not. I have appended below the evidence sent to the support team in the hope that someone on the forum will be able to help me resolve the issue.

Messages to and from support team

When I try to update to the most recent Rapidweaver version today, I am presented with an Update Error! message. The message text states that I cannot update Rapidweaver from a read-only volume like a disk image or an optical drive. I am running Rapidweaver 7.4.1 from the Applications folder since I purchased the software however, there has been something odd about my installation since purchase. Somehow my iMac believes my installation is on a drive other than the Applications folder but it is not.

Hi Martin,

This issue is usually a result of the following:

  • project file is stored on a network drive / external drive
  • items in project (assets) are on a network / external drive

Can you confirm if this is the case or not?

Hi Aaron,

Thank you for your email.
I can confirm that all files are stored on the main iMac drive with the Rapidweaver application in the Application folder and the project files stored in the Documents folder. This situation is mirrored on my MacBook where I also have Rapidweaver installed, which only has the internal drive installed; no other drive. Furthermore, I downloaded the update from the Realmac site after making contact with you, dragged the downloaded file to the Applications folder on my iMac, and the position is still the same. It is also worth noting that I have an application installed on my iMac called ClamXav which is antivirus software. When I launch Rapidweaver, ClamXav responds with the following message - Really Scan?. This would indicate that it thinks Rapidweaver is stored on a removable drive. All very odd indeed.

Can you boot in safe mode and see if the issue persists? Wondering if it’s an app causing this…

The problem still exists in Safe Mode. I got a little confused when rebooting in safe mode. So, the problem still exists in Safe Mode on both my iMac and MacBook Pro.

Another symptom ….
When I load Rapidweaver and pin it to the dock and then reboot, the Rapidweaver icon is replaced by a Question Mark!!

Despite trying hard to get this problem corrected my issue was closed without resolution.
Support have suggested that … “For some reason, different setups, different apps, they all have different variables and some of our users can’t update automatically”.

I cannot disagree with this but, at the root of this problem is the fact that when I load Rapidweaver my system thinks that it is being loaded from a location other than the applications folder.

If anyone can help, I will be very grateful.

Regards, Martin

Hi, Martin,

Automatic in-app updates cause some of the biggest problems for some of us (second only to publishing problems).

The workaround is to download the current version of RW from here and using this. Then, you can simply delete the previous version. Don’t forget to remove old version’s icon from the dock and replace it with the new one (important, since the old icon will be looking for old version, when clicked).

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Hi Martin,

I’m sorry to learn we weren’t able to resolve this issue for you yet.

As mentioned previously, it can be an app (software firewall, snitch app) or network setting causing an issue with the in-app updater.

The best method is to download the latest version from the link, as @Rovertek mentioned, and replace any current versions.

Thanks for your reply Rob but, as you can see from my opening text of this post, I have already done that and done it repeatedly each time a new update is available. My main gripe is not so much about updating, it is that despite placing the Rapidweaver application in the Application folder when I execute the app, my system believes it is on a removable drive. As I have also stressed, this occurs on my MacBook as well as my iMac. I have started from scratch on several occasions by completely removing Rapidweaver on both machines to no avail. Incidentally, I am able to update stacks normally. I am advised repeatedly by Aaron to download and install the new version from the link which I then place in the application folder but the problem still exists. Also, when I pin the app to the dock and reboot, the icon changes to a question mark despite being pinned to the application in the Application folder. Martin

PS - Problem still occurs in Safe Boot.

Hmmm, this is a highly unusual situation. Do you use beta versions of RW? If you do, I would advice against it.

For now, I would suggest to create a new folder within Applications and name it something like “Web Development” – it’s up to you. Then, place a fresh copy of RW in that folder and try to run it from there. See what happens. (I have my RW copy residing in a folder 3 levels deep and it runs fine.)

If that fails, try to delete RW app and all supporting files in the OS. Then add new copy of RW and try to start afresh.

If that fails to remedy your predicament, create a new account on your Mac and run RW from there.

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Installing RW in a separate folder makes no difference.
If I uninstall RW completely, is it possible to simply back up the stacks etc. in order to avoid having to re-install them in addition to the app? I have reinstalled the app before, and was then unable to activate until I had support to do something at their end. Thanks for your help. Martin

It sounds to me as there may be multiple copies of RapidWeaver on your system – and perhaps the one that is being launched is not the up-to-date copy in the Applications folder – perhaps there is another copy somewhere more insidiously hidden (like in your Downloads folder or on a backup hard drive) and that copy is out-of-date.

One quick way test this theory is:

  1. Open up the Applications folder
  2. Select RapidWeaver there
  3. Choose Get Info from the File menu.
    Hopefully that will show the version number to be 7.5.4. If so
  4. Double click it.
    This version should definitely NOT try to update itself since it is definitely the latest version.

OK, so – with that quick experiment done – there are three possible scenerios:

  • This is NOT version 7.5.4
    easy fix!!! just download 7.5.4 and drag it in there. done!

  • It is 7.5.4, but still tries to update (this is very unlikely)
    this would be seriously weird. if this happens just post some screenshots because we’re in alien territory. :alien:

  • It is 7.5.4 and does NOT try to update (this is very likely).
    This confirms the theory – and we know that all those other times – when it does try to update – you must be running some other copy of RapidWeaver. So now our job is just to find it and get rid of it!

The next question is how you normally launch RW.

  • If you normally launch from the Dock, then the Dock icon may be connected to another copy somewhere else.
    Command-Click on the RW icon in the dock. This will open the folder that contains that app.
    If it’s not the Applications folder… BINGO!
    Once you’ve located it, delete it.
    Remove the RW icon from the dock by dragging it out.
    Re-Add the correct version of RapidWeaver to the dock by dragging the Applications folder version in.

  • If you normally launch by double-clicking a file – then go ahead and do that – double click and launch.
    After RW launches the RapidWeaver icon will show an icon in the dock. Follow the steps above – command click the icon to find the app, trash it, add the right version back to the dock if you want to. NB: You’ll have to Quit RW in order to trash it.

If none of this works – or i didn’t cover every possible contingency – post the details – that should help us narrow it down.

BTW: in answer to your latest question… don’t worry about your stacks and addons – hopefully those are not associated with this issue at all. No need to modify that stuff while we sort out the RapidWeaver version craziness.

Isaiah

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Before uninstalling Rapidweaver 7 from my iMac this evening and re-installing, I thought I would follow through on the guidance I have received so far on my MacBook Pro. So …

1 - Completely uninstalled RW7 from MacBook, and deleted all preference files etc. from the machine, and any other related files such as stacks and any websites created. So, as far as I can see there is nothing related to RW7.
2 - Downloaded RW7.5.4 from the website into my Downloads folder, and then moved it from there to the Applications folder.
3 - Loaded Rapidweaver which does not try to update however, when I elect to Update from the menu, I receive the error message that RW cannot be updated from a read-only volume like a disk image or an optical drive. Move RW to your Applications folder, relaunch it from there, and try again. RW is NOT on a separate drive, it is in the Applications folder. Is it not correct, that RW should be ab le to at least contact the Realmac servers to see if an update actually exists.
4 - When I elect to keep RW in the dock, and the reboot the MacBook, the RW icon is replaced by a question mark.
5 - Command clicking on the Dock icon takes me to the Applications folder.
6 - When I drag the RW7 icon from the Applications folder to the dock and click to execute it, another RW icon appears further to the right in the dock.
7 - When I reboot, the RW7 icon dragged in under step 6 remains in the dock and is not replaced by a question mark.
8 - I will proceed no further with removing and re-installing RW7 on my iMac until I can find out why this problem is occurring on my MacBook.

Regards, Martin

So, I had a deep think about this issue. And the one bit of info that keeps coming back up in my mind is that this is happening on two machines simultaneously. Correct???

This definitely implies that it is unlikely to be a strange configuration problem, hard disk issue, or permissions problem – those are all fairly rare things – and it would be unlikely (although not impossible) for two machines to experience identical issues at the same time.

This leads me to think that it is more likely something that is common to both machines and the error message is just a red herring.

So… we can do one more brainstorming session on this to see if we can think of anything anomalous that might prevent updates.

What is common between the machines?

  • network/internet
  • do you have any shared networked drives/backups/etc?
  • did you restore both machines from the same backup?
  • is there anything else that they share?
  • do they both run any type of virus/malware checker?
  • have you done anything “special” to both machines? (like reformatting with case-sensitivity enabled – this is something Linux users and developers sometimes like to do).

And lastly, how is your network configured? Is there anything “interesting” about it?

  • do you use a proxy server?
  • do you have a firewall?
  • do you use any network reporting tools like Little Snitch to block app network access?
  • parental filtering router? dns-cache-poisoning (Disney Circle)?

OK, that’s about all I can think of at this point. If none of those yield anything I think it’s probably just up to @simon or another RW dev to trace out any other possible mechanisms that exist to generate that error message.

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