Spore Fails to Start (Mac OS X 10.6)

[GenericProdigy]

I haven't played for a while, so I waited until I installed a clean version of OS X 10.6 before starting again. I installed it successfully (it took far too long in my opinion with patches), and then I tried running it. The splash screen pops up and then disappears.

That's all I get, on an Administrator account and a Standard User account... it's the same as what I got before I upgraded to 10.6, so it must be an issue with one of the patches.

[ethe]

hi,

i'm having the same problem when i try to start the game in Mac OS X 10.6.

when i open thepackage and try to run cider or cider_noui, i get these errors in terminal window. hope this helps:

Last login: Thu Sep 17 03:35:21 on ttys000
Onur-Ersels-MacBook-Pro:~ onurersel$ /Applications/SPORE/SPORE.app/Contents/MacOS/cider ; exit;
Thu Sep 17 03:36:20 Onur-Ersels-MacBook-Pro.local cider[2332] <Error>: unknown error code: invalid context
Thu Sep 17 03:36:20 Onur-Ersels-MacBook-Pro.local cider[2332] <Error>: kCGErrorFailure: Set a breakpoint @ CGErrorBreakpoint() to catch errors as they are logged.
err:reg:Nt_openConfigW could not retrieve the module file name (reason: 'bad module')
err:reg:Nt_openConfigW could not retrieve the module file name (reason: 'bad module')
err:reg:Nt_openConfigW could not retrieve the module file name (reason: 'bad module')
err:wave_audiodevice:audio_device_stereo_channels device 280 failed to get preferred stereo channels (0x77686f3f)
err:wave_audiodevice:audio_device_channel_volume_w ritable device 280 failed to get volume writable (0x77686f3f)
err:wave_audiodevice:audio_device_format failed to get device 280 format inputChannel: 0 (0x77686f3f)
err:wave_audiodevice:audio_device_stereo_channels device 278 failed to get preferred stereo channels (0x77686f3f)
err:wave_audiodevice:audio_device_channel_volume_w ritable device 278 failed to get volume writable (0x77686f3f)
err:wave_audiodevice:audio_device_format failed to get device 278 format inputChannel: 0 (0x77686f3f)
err:wave_audiodevice:audio_device_format failed to get device 282 format inputChannel: 1 (0x77686f3f)
err:heap:NewRtlFreeHeap block 0x4242eb0 isn't a valid part of heap 0x7062b770
err:heap:NewRtlFreeHeap block 0x4242e90 isn't a valid part of heap 0x7062b770
err:module:BUILTIN32_dlopen failed to load .so lib for builtin pr.dll: dlopen(/Applications/SPORE/SPORE.app/Contents/Frameworks/libpr.dylib, 2): image not found
err:module:BUILTIN32_dlopen failed to load .so lib for builtin paul.dll: dlopen(/Applications/SPORE/SPORE.app/Contents/Frameworks/libpaul.dylib, 2): image not found
err:module:BUILTIN32_dlopen failed to load .so lib for builtin paul.dll: dlopen(/Applications/SPORE/SPORE.app/Contents/Frameworks/libpaul.dylib, 2): image not found
logout

[Process completed]


after i get this error, i checked and confirmed that libpaul.dylib and other files doesnt exist at those folders at all. now I will try to reinstall and do not patch, ans see if patch messes up the dylib files.

[Ytse001]

This is exactly the same issue I am having with the game. The log in the Cider file is exactly the same as the one above. A few sites have suggested dragging the cider file onto the desktop, so I did that to no avail. I have been unable to find a fix for this issue and am really getting frustrated.

[Herrchen]

Hello
The same Problem i have here.
I have send my System Log to EA Support but the Support Team can´t help me. They dont know what the Problem.

HELP

best Regards
Michael

[hypa75]

Crash on startup on patch level 2756, with the same three files not found on startup... Using Snow Leopard.

[ozpowell]

Just found a work-around to the problem

I was experiencing exactly the same problem with the same "invalid context" error message in the console log. The problem appears to be related to the fact that, after the patches have been installed, it expects that it already has a valid activation code. If you have performed a fresh install and automatically installed the 5 patches before actually running the game, you will see this problem.

To work around the problem, uninstall spore (drag the SPORE folder from the Applications folder into the Trash), insert your product DVD and perform a fresh installation. Once the DVD install has completed, run SPORE and answer *NO* to the prompt to download a patch. At this point you can enter the product activation key and run the GA version. You can then quit spore and re-run it, this time answering YES to the prompt to download the patches.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Michael.

EDIT: I'm running Mac OS X 10.6.2/2.16GHz Core 2 Duo/1GB RAM