macOS X 10.15 Catalina support?

[silviu-bucsa]

On the Public betas of Mac OS X QLStephen.qlgenerator stopped working. I've attached a screenshot with the message I'm receiving:

I haven't found a workaround.

Thank you.

[aslilac]

This is probably because of notarization enforcement. The binary just needs to be notarized by Apple. (Which I believe requires their $99 developer program subscription.)

[pkmnct]

In the mean time, to get around this, you can go to the folder (⌘⇧G from Finder) ~/Library/Quicklook/QLStephen.qlgenerator/Contents/MacOS/ and right-click QLStephen, selecting Open. This will give you the option to open it anyway, and it should load correctly in the future.

[kevinmartin]

In the mean time, to get around this, you can go to the folder (⌘⇧G from Finder) ~/Library/Quicklook/QLStephen.qlgenerator/Contents/MacOS/ and right-click QLStephen, selecting Open. This will give you the option to open it anyway, and it should load correctly in the future.

This doesn't work for me.

[samcat116]

On the latest beta you can get by it by going to Security in system preferences after you try and open it once and hit "Allow Anyway". Still would love to see it notarized properly.

[adityasrini]

This is probably because of notarization enforcement. The binary just needs to be notarized by Apple. (Which I believe requires their $99 developer program subscription.)

Not gonna lie this sounds like extortion. Open source developers should be able to freely ship their code when end users fully understand and accept the risks of using such code.

EDIT: @samcat116 cleared this up in the subsequent comment.

[samcat116]

Notarization does not require the $99/yr subscription. Just needs an Developer Apple ID and Xcode .

[adityasrini]

On the latest beta you can get by it by going to Security in system preferences after you try and open it once and hit "Allow Anyway". Still would love to see it notarized properly.

I tried qlmanage -p README.MD for a readme file. I don't get the warning to move the plugin to the Trash, but I now get an error message in the console and the file appears the way it did if I never installed this plugin (plain text).

Testing Quick Look preview with files:
	README.MD
2019-10-07 20:18:17.998 qlmanage[32498:129283] *** CFMessagePort: bootstrap_register(): failed 1100 (0x44c) 'Permission denied', port = 0x6f07, name = 'com.apple.coredrag'
See /usr/include/servers/bootstrap_defs.h for the error codes.
2019-10-07 20:18:18.054 qlmanage[32498:129283] *** CFMessagePort: bootstrap_register(): failed 1100 (0x44c) 'Permission denied', port = 0xb01f, name = 'com.apple.tsm.portname'
See /usr/include/servers/bootstrap_defs.h for the error codes.

On a related note, I see this message when I try the same thing for a json file with a json reading plugin. this preview cannot be safely displayed in quick look

[kallewesterling]

Just updated my operating system and got this message:

[KoCMoHaBTa]

Same here, just updated to Catalina yesterday and QLStephen stopped working.
Please update it in order to be compatible with Catalina.

[fvvliet]

+1

[adityasrini]

Please use thumbs up instead of "+1" or "me too" comments. They often add no value, clutter the issue's discussions, and generate unnecessary notifications to all participants, including the project's maintainers.

[jeffbyrnes]

If it helps, here are the docs on Notarizing Your App Before Distribution.

[aslilac]

@samcat116 This is what I get when I follow the instructions on this page. The app in the screen shot is an freshly created, properly code signed app that meets all of the notarization requirements. If you know something I don't I would love to be proven wrong, but from all the resources I've come across and my own personal experience it seems that the paid Apple Developer Program membership is a necessary part of notarization.

[KoCMoHaBTa]

Can you try with the CLI?
As per Notarize Your Preexisting Software under Notarizing Your App Before Distribution, you can try to Upload Your App to the Notarization Service using altool

It might look more complex, but could you give it a shot and try it out.

[aslilac]

@KoCMoHaBTa When following those instructions, the Archive Post-action script that it gives doesn't even export the zip file that it is supposed to export. I made my own zip file instead, tried uploading it, and got this error. I find it weird that there is a space between "provider" and the period following it, like there is supposed to be a provider name there. The command I ran is exactly the command given in the instructions (except for the file name of course). I'm not entirely sure what a provider is in this context, but I'm guessing it's related to ADP membership.

[KoCMoHaBTa]

@partheseas Check this out - https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/119445
Looks like the message is misleading and for some reason, the tool cannot find this provider automatically.
So you have to specify it as the --asc-provider parameter, part of altool command.
In order to find your provider name - check the first post from eskimo on this thread - https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/113798

[graylogo]

watching……

[gggdomi]

Simply cross-referencing similar issues in other QuickLook plugins in case a solution surfaces somewhere :

• Doesn't work on 10.15 anthonygelibert/QLColorCode#51
• Not working on catalina public beta 3 toland/qlmarkdown#89
• macOS 10.15+ Support Nyx0uf/qlImageSize#45
• QLVideo 1.92 does not work in Catalina beta Marginal/QLVideo#63
• Failed on macOS Catalina beta1 ealeksandrov/ProvisionQL#30
• Not working on Catalina hezi/QuickLookAPK#12

Also, there seems to be changes in Catalina beyond notarization breaking the plugins.

[jonluca]

Note that sudo qlmanage -p README.md works for me, with SIP and notarization disabled (with csrutil disable and sudo spctl --master-disable).

Is the move forward to publish a version that is notarized? Or is it a different issue?

[biocross]

So I tried notarizing one of the plugins with my paid developer account, and it doesn't seem to accept .qlgenerator files

I ran the xcrun alttool command, and got an error like

 1 package(s) were not uploaded because they had problems:
	/var/folders/nz/nlsr_8yn2tdblj6fcfyylv140000gn/T/62F12993-D9CA-4467-829C-0460DC836E3A/com.fiatdev.QLMarkdown.itmsp - Error Messages:
		ERROR ITMS-4064: "File extension of file 'QLMarkdown' is invalid for this software; use 'zip,pkg,dmg' instead." at SoftwareAssets/EnigmaSoftwareAsset
2019-10-15 17:40:56.282 altool[3526:23550] *** Error: ERROR ITMS-4064: "File extension of file 'QLMarkdown' is invalid for this software; use 'zip,pkg,dmg' instead." at SoftwareAssets/EnigmaSoftwareAsset

There seems to be no documentation online on notarizing QuickLook plugins either.

[KoCMoHaBTa]

Check this out -> anthonygelibert/QLColorCode#51 (comment)

[ahmetgeymen]

I hope description on this site might be useful.
https://glyphsapp.com/tutorials/how-to-notarize-your-plug-ins

[biocross]

Thanks @KoCMoHaBTa @ahmetgeymen, I'll try this again in the coming weekend.

[cactusnix]

In the mean time, to get around this, you can go to the folder (⌘⇧G from Finder) ~/Library/Quicklook/QLStephen.qlgenerator/Contents/MacOS/ and right-click QLStephen, selecting Open. This will give you the option to open it anyway, and it should load correctly in the future.

it works for me at macOS 10.15.

[SewellDinG]

QL插件都在~/Library/QuickLook/目录，但从系统设置->拓展->快速查看，却没有允许使用此目录，但其中包含了/System/Library/Frameworks/RealityKit.framework内的几个插件。
brew cask 不允许使用root，并且/System/Library/Frameworks/RealityKit.framework只读。
很烦~ :(

[tessus]

@samcat116

Notarization does not require the $99/yr subscription. Just needs an Developer Apple ID and Xcode .

You are kidding right? You only get a valid developer id, when you pay $99 for the Apple Developer program.

[gustavohellwig]

~/Library/Quicklook/QLStephen.qlgenerator/Contents/MacOS/

In the mean time, to get around this, you can go to the folder (⌘⇧G from Finder) ~/Library/Quicklook/QLStephen.qlgenerator/Contents/MacOS/ and right-click QLStephen, selecting Open. This will give you the option to open it anyway, and it should load correctly in the future.

it works for me at macOS 10.15.

not for me. What else did you do?

[varyform]

xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/QLStephen.qlgenerator
This worked as for all other apps with same issue

[ballo]

@varyform Can you confirm whether or not you saw the "cannot be opened" error and if your solution is for people who have seen the error?

I have yet to see that error.

[carlos-crespo]

@ballo I wasn't able to see the error either, but @varyform 's command worked for me.

[ballo]

Doesn't help here.

I also tried moving all contents from ~/Library/QuickLook/ into ~/Library/QuickLook.old/ and reinstalling QLStephen.qlgenerator from brew. It reinstalled but same non-function and non-error.

[lloydsargent42]

@fregante Instructions worked for me.

[relikd]

xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/QLStephen.qlgenerator
This worked as for all other apps with same issue

Came here to say the same. You can even run xattr -c on the zip file. Then Apple won't even write quarantine flags on the extracted executables. You can even create an Automator action and add it to your right click menu. ;)

[dixonge]

I ran this with wildcard and my Markdown and Syntax highlighter plugins all work now!
xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/*.qlgenerator

[MikeSuiter]

I ran this with wildcard and my Markdown and Syntax highlighter plugins all work now!
xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/*.qlgenerator

This did not work for me but using sudo did

sudo xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/*.qlgenerator

[dixonge]

I ran this with wildcard and my Markdown and Syntax highlighter plugins all work now!
xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/*.qlgenerator

This did not work for me but using sudo did

sudo xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/*.qlgenerator

might depend on how your bash permissions are set up?

[tsdorsey]

1.5.1 should works on macOS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) - 10.15 (Catalina)

[philfreo]

I uninstalled via brew, then installed the latest version:

➜ brew cask install qlstephen 

==> Downloading https://github.com/whomwah/qlstephen/releases/download/1.5.1/QLStephen.qlgenerator.1.5.1.zip
Already downloaded: /Users/philfreo/Library/Caches/Homebrew/downloads/a66a639beb4f4dfd883e9b83c9260d66121184a25c59f02ecd2e322b1b75c598--QLStephen.qlgenerator.1.5.1.zip
==> Verifying SHA-256 checksum for Cask 'qlstephen'.
==> Installing Cask qlstephen
==> Moving QuickLook Plugin 'QLStephen.qlgenerator' to '/Users/philfreo/Library/QuickLook/QLStephen.qlgenerator'.
🍺  qlstephen was successfully installed!

Then I got this:

I also noticed this in Preferences:

Even after clicking Allow Anyway, the extension is not working for me. I'm on macOS 10.15.2.

[relikd]

Did you try to reboot your machine? QL cache is very error prone. qlmanage -r should also work, though I had situations where only a reboot help.

[tarikkavaz]

Did you try to reboot your machine? QL cache is very error prone. qlmanage -r should also work, though I had situations where only a reboot help.

qlmanage -r helped me to solve the same issue mentioned above

[tsdorsey]

Without paying $99/yr for an Apple dev account I cannot fix this.

I found in testing that even reloading the plugin with qlmanage -r will NOT reload it for the preview in Finder. To do that I have to reload Finder.

Could you try this:

1. Click the lock to make change.
2. Click the allow anyway
3. qlmanage -r
4. Hold down Option key and Right Click on Finder’s Dock icon, then select “Relaunch” from the menu

Check if it works.

[frankrolf]

I would like to thank everyone for investigating/posting various solutions!
After applying some of them, the extension works for me on Catalina, but only for files without file extension.
If I am not completely mistaken, this was not the case before 10.15.
I posted about this here #81 (comment) – does anyone have further insight into this?

Thanks!

[relikd]

Again, the QL caching is very error prone. Restarting Finder might help in most cases but not in all. My full procedure would be:

1. copy QuickLook plugin to ~/Library/QuickLook
2. run xattr -cr ~/Library/QuickLook/*.qlgenerator (sudo if needed)
3. run qlmanage -r
4. run qlmanage -r cache
5. reboot

@frankrolf Do you have other plugins that may override specific file types? I'm not sure what the precedence is when multiple plugins claim the same extension. Also the readme states:

If you want to preview some text files that do have extensions (e.g., *.txt), follow these instructions.

[tsdorsey]

I added the steps from @relikd to the README 🙇

[philfreo]

The steps as outlined in the Readme, which do not mentioning rebooting the entire computer as a requirement, do NOT solve the problem for me. Basically so far I tried all those steps, in that order, and I still don't see anything when trying to view a LICENSE file. The only thing I haven't tried yet is a system reboot. I'll report back when I do.

[MikeSuiter]

Like others this is working for me except for files with an extension. I can QL RELEASE-NOTES but not catalina.out and I completely followed @relikd steps.

[ballo]

FWIW I've tried everything in this thread including removing all qlgenerator bundles except QLStephen.qlgenerator to no avail.

What is the actual process that loads the qlgenerator? Is there a background daemon that needs to be running? mp4s still work, so I can only assume /Library/QuickLook/Video.qlgenerator is being loaded. Maybe I should put my bundles there.

[tsdorsey]

I can QL RELEASE-NOTES but not catalina.out

Check out issue #87 for discussion on file extensions and types and why some files work and some do not.

What is the actual process that loads the qlgenerator?

There is a process called qlmanage which handles deciding which plugin to use for a given file.

[relikd]

Sadly, debugging QL issues got much harder on Catalina. Previously you could run qlmanage -d4 -p MANIFEST.in and Terminal would output what plugins were loaded and what plugin was used for the preview. Now, Catalina complains argument for -d is deprecated, use Console info logs with subsystem com.apple.quicklook, categories Generator and/or Client.

Which means:

1. Start your Console app
2. Select Action menu and enable Include Info Messages and Include Debug Messages
3. Search for com.apple.quicklook and set the type of the search to Subsystem
4. Clear the log if necessary
5. Run qlmanage -p README on the file and see the results in Console.app (or -t for thumbnail)
6. Try to pinpoint the issue in the Console log

Again, sadly the results aren't useful in many cases. Stupid privacy rules hide important information, e.g., there are a couple of entries simply showing:

Registering <private> for <private>

I don't know how this can be useful at all. You don't even know what plugins were loaded. Still it is helpful in some cases where the QL plugin would crash!

[tsdorsey]

@relikd I mentioned you in the comment, but for anyone else finding this thread, please head over to issue #87, this is not specifically a Catalina issue anymore, it has to do with dynamic UTI values. More info can be found in this comment