11 replies to this topic

[Jim0348]

I installed Leopard on my Mac Pro two days ago, and spent nearly four hours yesterday on the phone with Apple Technical Support trying to determine why my Mac had slowed to a crawl so much it was rendered virtually useless. After the tech rep walked me through two verify/repair permission procedures using Disk Utility, after trashing several folders (such as Startup Items) and FINALLY doing an archive and total re-install of the Leopard software, it STILL did not work. The tech rep basically told me there was nothing more he could do. Later, on a whim, I turned off Spell Catcher and, surprise!...my computer worked fine! Just to be sure, I launched/quit Spell Catcher several times again, and, sure enough, my Mac was as slow as watching paint dry. What gives? Is it a compatibility issue between Leopard and Spell Catcher, or could another third-party application be interfering? I am very upset, since Spell Catcher has become one of my "can't live without" programs. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

[Evan Gross]

Jim0348, on Oct 31 2007, 11:28 AM, said:

I installed Leopard on my Mac Pro two days ago, and spent nearly four hours yesterday on the phone with Apple Technical Support trying to determine why my Mac had slowed to a crawl so much it was rendered virtually useless. After the tech rep walked me through two verify/repair permission procedures using Disk Utility, after trashing several folders (such as Startup Items) and FINALLY doing an archive and total re-install of the Leopard software, it STILL did not work. The tech rep basically told me there was nothing more he could do. Later, on a whim, I turned off Spell Catcher and, surprise!...my computer worked fine! Just to be sure, I launched/quit Spell Catcher several times again, and, sure enough, my Mac was as slow as watching paint dry. What gives? Is it a compatibility issue between Leopard and Spell Catcher, or could another third-party application be interfering? I am very upset, since Spell Catcher has become one of my "can't live without" programs. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Wow, this is certainly not any sort of known issue. My guess is that some part of your Spell Catcher installation is damaged. That said, I would like to get to the bottom of it and actually understand what's going on.

If you open the Console Utility, and turn on Spell Catcher (I assume it only happens when the input method is active??), do you see anything suspicious output to the Console log?

Another thing to do is open the Activity Monitor utility, sort by CPU usage, then reproduce the problem and tell me which process is chewing up the most CPU.

[Jim0348]

Evan Gross, on Oct 31 2007, 04:42 PM, said:

Jim0348, on Oct 31 2007, 11:28 AM, said:

I installed Leopard on my Mac Pro two days ago, and spent nearly four hours yesterday on the phone with Apple Technical Support trying to determine why my Mac had slowed to a crawl so much it was rendered virtually useless. After the tech rep walked me through two verify/repair permission procedures using Disk Utility, after trashing several folders (such as Startup Items) and FINALLY doing an archive and total re-install of the Leopard software, it STILL did not work. The tech rep basically told me there was nothing more he could do. Later, on a whim, I turned off Spell Catcher and, surprise!...my computer worked fine! Just to be sure, I launched/quit Spell Catcher several times again, and, sure enough, my Mac was as slow as watching paint dry. What gives? Is it a compatibility issue between Leopard and Spell Catcher, or could another third-party application be interfering? I am very upset, since Spell Catcher has become one of my "can't live without" programs. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Wow, this is certainly not any sort of known issue. My guess is that some part of your Spell Catcher installation is damaged. That said, I would like to get to the bottom of it and actually understand what's going on.

If you open the Console Utility, and turn on Spell Catcher (I assume it only happens when the input method is active??), do you see anything suspicious output to the Console log?

Another thing to do is open the Activity Monitor utility, sort by CPU usage, then reproduce the problem and tell me which process is chewing up the most CPU.

Evan,

I followed your instructions and opened the Console Utility and then made Spell Catcher's input method active. I got this report back: ...e.Console[3019] 2007-11-01 08:14:43 Spell Catcher input method (Console[3019]) CFMessagePortSendRequest returned:-2 for message: 'Acti' <41637469> - CFMessagePortIsValid:1 <0x1d65c0> - error count:1.

It was then followed by several of the same entries, only they ended with error count:2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

I then opened the Activity Monitor, sorted by CPU usage, and found Spell Catcher highlighted in red with the notation it was not responding. The process which was using the most CPU was pmTool, at 9.4.

I apologize...I am not a techie so this information does not mean anything to me. If you can shed some light on the problem, it would be greatly appreciated. Is there anything else I could try doing?

Thanks,

Jim

[Evan Gross]

Jim0348, on Nov 1 2007, 01:01 PM, said:

Evan,

I followed your instructions and opened the Console Utility and then made Spell Catcher's input method active. I got this report back: ...e.Console[3019] 2007-11-01 08:14:43 Spell Catcher input method (Console[3019]) CFMessagePortSendRequest returned:-2 for message: 'Acti' <41637469> - CFMessagePortIsValid:1 <0x1d65c0> - error count:1.

It was then followed by several of the same entries, only they ended with error count:2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

I then opened the Activity Monitor, sorted by CPU usage, and found Spell Catcher highlighted in red with the notation it was not responding. The process which was using the most CPU was pmTool, at 9.4.

I apologize...I am not a techie so this information does not mean anything to me. If you can shed some light on the problem, it would be greatly appreciated. Is there anything else I could try doing?

Thanks,

Jim

That definitely explains things. Sounds like something's damaged with your Spell Catcher installation - might just be a preference file, could be a problem with the application or component.

Here's what you should try:

1. Quit the Spell Catcher app, choose a keyboard (flag) from the input menu, and just for good measure, log out and in again (or restart).
2. Navigate to your home Library/Preferences folder, move any files beginning with "com.rainmaker..." to the desktop (if they turn out to be the problem, you can trash them later).
3. Navigate to your home Library/Components folder, trash the Spell Catcher.component.
4. Restart NOW.
5. Once you're logged in again, empty the trash.
6. Launch the Spell Catcher app, let it install the component, Restart.

You MAY need to turn Spell Catcher on in System Prefs, International, Input Menu tab to make it appear in the input menu.

See if things behave after that.

[Jim0348]

Evan Gross, on Nov 1 2007, 07:48 PM, said:

Jim0348, on Nov 1 2007, 01:01 PM, said:

Evan,

I followed your instructions and opened the Console Utility and then made Spell Catcher's input method active. I got this report back: ...e.Console[3019] 2007-11-01 08:14:43 Spell Catcher input method (Console[3019]) CFMessagePortSendRequest returned:-2 for message: 'Acti' <41637469> - CFMessagePortIsValid:1 <0x1d65c0> - error count:1.

It was then followed by several of the same entries, only they ended with error count:2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

I then opened the Activity Monitor, sorted by CPU usage, and found Spell Catcher highlighted in red with the notation it was not responding. The process which was using the most CPU was pmTool, at 9.4.

I apologize...I am not a techie so this information does not mean anything to me. If you can shed some light on the problem, it would be greatly appreciated. Is there anything else I could try doing?

Thanks,

Jim

That definitely explains things. Sounds like something's damaged with your Spell Catcher installation - might just be a preference file, could be a problem with the application or component.

Here's what you should try:

1. Quit the Spell Catcher app, choose a keyboard (flag) from the input menu, and just for good measure, log out and in again (or restart).
2. Navigate to your home Library/Preferences folder, move any files beginning with "com.rainmaker..." to the desktop (if they turn out to be the problem, you can trash them later).
3. Navigate to your home Library/Components folder, trash the Spell Catcher.component.
4. Restart NOW.
5. Once you're logged in again, empty the trash.
6. Launch the Spell Catcher app, let it install the component, Restart.

You MAY need to turn Spell Catcher on in System Prefs, International, Input Menu tab to make it appear in the input menu.

See if things behave after that.

[Jim0348]

Evan,

I tried to follow your instructions, but there are no files beginning with "com.rainmaker..." in my Library/Preferences folder, nor a "Spell Catcher.component" in the Library/Components folder. I even ran a Spotlight search just in case I had overlooked something. Could that in itself be a problem? Should I just trash everything related to Spell Catcher and simply reinstall the software again?

Jim

[Evan Gross]

Jim0348, on Nov 2 2007, 12:39 AM, said:

Evan,

I tried to follow your instructions, but there are no files beginning with "com.rainmaker..." in my Library/Preferences folder, nor a "Spell Catcher.component" in the Library/Components folder. I even ran a Spotlight search just in case I had overlooked something. Could that in itself be a problem? Should I just trash everything related to Spell Catcher and simply reinstall the software again?

Jim

Look in your HOME Library/Components and HOME Library/Preferences. They'll be there.

Try again before resorting to an uninstall.

[Jim0348]

Evan Gross, on Nov 1 2007, 10:37 PM, said:

Jim0348, on Nov 2 2007, 12:39 AM, said:

Evan,

I tried to follow your instructions, but there are no files beginning with "com.rainmaker..." in my Library/Preferences folder, nor a "Spell Catcher.component" in the Library/Components folder. I even ran a Spotlight search just in case I had overlooked something. Could that in itself be a problem? Should I just trash everything related to Spell Catcher and simply reinstall the software again?

Jim

Look in your HOME Library/Components and HOME Library/Preferences. They'll be there.

Try again before resorting to an uninstall.

[Jim0348]

Evan Gross, on Nov 1 2007, 10:37 PM, said:

Jim0348, on Nov 2 2007, 12:39 AM, said:

Evan,

I tried to follow your instructions, but there are no files beginning with "com.rainmaker..." in my Library/Preferences folder, nor a "Spell Catcher.component" in the Library/Components folder. I even ran a Spotlight search just in case I had overlooked something. Could that in itself be a problem? Should I just trash everything related to Spell Catcher and simply reinstall the software again?

Jim

Look in your HOME Library/Components and HOME Library/Preferences. They'll be there.

Try again before resorting to an uninstall.

Evan,

Thanks. You're right; I WAS looking in the wrong Library folder. Not sure why Spotlight didn't locate them. At any rate, I found the files in my Home Library and followed your instructions. At first, I thought the problem had been solved, but it was still there. As before, when I use Spell Catcher as my input source, everything slows to a crawl. When I use the "flag" source, all seems to be fine.

Since no one else is complaining of a similar problem, I would have to assume the issue is with something on my computer. Can you think of any other procedure I could follow?

Thanks!

Jim

[Evan Gross]

Jim0348, on Nov 2 2007, 12:37 PM, said:

Evan,

Thanks. You're right; I WAS looking in the wrong Library folder. Not sure why Spotlight didn't locate them. At any rate, I found the files in my Home Library and followed your instructions. At first, I thought the problem had been solved, but it was still there. As before, when I use Spell Catcher as my input source, everything slows to a crawl. When I use the "flag" source, all seems to be fine.

Since no one else is complaining of a similar problem, I would have to assume the issue is with something on my computer. Can you think of any other procedure I could follow?

Thanks!

Jim

Did you get rid of the plist files as well?

I guess it's time to download a fresh copy of the installation disk image from our Downloads page, uninstall your existing copy (if you use the default settings for the uninstaller, all your references will remain intact - so don't change the settings from their defaults!), and start over fresh.

There IS one other thing I can think of that can cause this sort of problem - and that would be a second copy of the component being installed. It doesn't sound like that's it, but after uninstalling and restarting, open System Prefs, International, Input Menu tab and make sure that Spell Catcher really, truly isn't in the list (scroll down to the "S" items).

[DEddy]

Four years later I'm getting what looks like the same problem... machine slows down... sometimes I catch SpellCatcher (and other) apps) in red in Activity Monitor... system log throws this message:

/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder: Spell Catcher Input Method (Finder[210]) CFMessagePortSendRequest returned:-2 for message:'Acti' <41637469> - CFMessagePortIsValid:1 <0x1187390> - error count:1


But I'm on Tiger/v10.4.11.

This thread went silent... what's the fix?

[Evan Gross]

DEddy, on 14 August 2011 - 07:38 PM, said:

Four years later I'm getting what looks like the same problem... machine slows down... sometimes I catch SpellCatcher (and other) apps) in red in Activity Monitor... system log throws this message:

/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder: Spell Catcher Input Method (Finder[210]) CFMessagePortSendRequest returned:-2 for message:'Acti' <41637469> - CFMessagePortIsValid:1 <0x1187390> - error count:1


But I'm on Tiger/v10.4.11.

This thread went silent... what's the fix?

This was never a problem I could reproduce. Hard to fix something that never happens to you.

Did you try the solution I suggested last time? Something sounds like it may be damaged with your Spell Catcher X installation?