How Can I Kill Keyboard Maestro Through the Terminal?

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Hi

Since Catalina Keyboard Maestro opens the app switcher Window and then the whole Mac hangs.

I can't click anywhere anymore with the mouse. the mouse moves but I can't click any icons.
The window won't go away with Esc or any other keypress.
I can only progress to the next icon by using Cmd-Tab and nothing else.

I've tried the commands from this thread: The KM Editor Won't Open on macOS El Capitan
But they don't appear to work in Big Sur anymore.
Any idea how to get this done on Big Sur?

Here's a screenshot of the view that I have:

Keyboard Maestro issue
Keyboard Maestro issue970Ă—1080 183 KB

Thanks

2

Here's a status update:

While I haven't managed to find an answer to my question, I have managed to open Keyboard Maestro and shut down Keyboard Maestro and the Engine, since I can control most actions through the keyboard.

Still no improvement. I can still move the mouse and move windows, but I still can't click any buttons like OK, or close. Clicking on the dock does not work either.

What I have done in the meanwhile:

  • Closed almost all other tools (one I don't want to close due to unsaved work).
  • Removed external mouse and keyboard.

I am not sure anymore that it's an issue with Keyboard Maestro. If someone has any input, do let me know.

3

Hey Boris,

What version of Keyboard Maestro?

kill and killall should both work on Catalina, although I can't test this personally. I'm still running Mojave on my old hardware.

I suspect you have not enabled all of the macOS permissions the Terminal needs – such as Accessibility, Full-Disk-Access, and Automation.

image

Catalina's permissions can be very problematic to set. They may look set and still not work, so it's a good idea to toggle them a couple of times.

If all else fails with permissions then the tccutil may help:

How to fix macOS Accessibility permission when an app can’t be enabled | Macworld

In the meantime I suggest you turn OFF Keyboard Maestro's app-switcher macro (search in the editor in the All Macros macro-group.

Then reboot your system.

This problem is not one I've heard of before, but I haven't paid close attention to Catalina issues – since I'l bounce to Monterey when I upgrade my hardware.

Oh, one thing you might try is cycling through your windows using Control-F4. If you have a hidden window in the mix that should reveal it.

Good luck.

-Chris

Force-Quitting Keyboard Maestro: The KM Editor Won't Open on macOS El Capitan

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@peternlewis – does this issue ring any bells?

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If the problem remains after you quit the Keyboard Maestro Engine and Keyboard Maestro, then it is almost certainly unrelated to Keyboard Maestro - Keyboard Maestro does not “install” anything, so when it is quit, nothing is left of its interactions with the system.

No, I have never heard of anything like this.

Sounds like maybe a mouse driver issue?

I would restart as a first course of action, and then check for any drivers installed (things like Logitech Control Center and such).

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