Keyboard Maestro 8.0.1 Crashing

Yesterday, I upgraded to 8.0.1 and the software has crashed three times today. So far, it looks as though this might be. related to changes that I’m making to the names of Macros. These are all new macros that I’m creating and then renaming when I’m done with them. Any suggestions?

More details would be very helpful.

See Troubleshooting (KM Wiki)

I’m not sure exactly what additional information I have to offer. I’m working with various macros (as I recall in the title area of the macro) to rename it), and the software crashes. This is happened three times today and so it’s entirely reasonable to expect that it may happen again. What other information should I look for so that I can be more helpful?

I could also not find anything in the troubleshooting wiki that addresses the software unexpectedly crashing.

When the software crashes, I am sending in the crash report so the logs might be useful.

Thank you

Please keep in mind that, while we are generally good at troubleshooting, we still have not learned how to read minds. :sunglasses: And assumptions are rarely correct. So the more real-world details you can provide us, the quicker and better we can help you solve your problem. :wink:

Well, you could start with some real-world examples of the Macro names, before and after the name change.

Also, what is your workflow that causes you to rename Macros so often?
I occasionally do so, but it is seldom. If you can provide the details of your workflow, maybe we can spot an issue.

There is not a lot, but there is some:

The software is so awesome, I just assumed that you were also good at reading minds as well.:slight_smile: But, I suppose that product is already in development. In the context of my KM use, I am a college professor. I use the software to automate various functions within an online course room. So, constantly building new macros to further improve the backend tasks associated with managing the course.

Sometimes, I might copy one macro and then this right alongside all of the other macros in a group. Sometimes, I might even post them after in a new group. When I do either these activities, as I recall, I double click on the macro name and then type or dictate a new macro name for the macro.

I have thought about a couple of different potential problems that could be. First, I am dictating using Dragon six. I do not always the macro name, but sometimes I do. Additionally, I also have the old version of keyboard Maestro installed on my computer. It’s possible that this might be messing this up as well.

I checked the links to information on crushing that you provided and none seem to pertain to my situation. Take the help!

The software just crashed again. I was changing the name of a macro to include 2. I moved to where I wanted to.insert 2 and then typed 2. As soon as I.did this, the software crashed. I cannot replicate the issue because once the software rebooted, I was able to insert 2 at the desired location. I can’t figure out what else might be at work here, but I will my best to trace this backward now that I think I figured out the title issue.

Hi again, I have more information if it is helpful. I copied the title of one macro and tried to paste into another macro. As with insert topic, I can also not replicate this issue. I just tried sing operation and it worked without problem at all.

Isn't this the same issue you posted here?
Issue with macro names in 8.0.1

And @peternlewis identified the issue, and gave you the solution:

Have you applied Peter's cleanup macro to all of your existing Macros?
That would be the first step.

That would be my first suspect. Dragon may NOT be translating correctly and/or creating multiple lines in the Name. I recommend you quit using Dragon to enter Macro Names.

After you do all that, if you are still having the issue, then you will need to do this:

  • Keep a detailed log of each material step you take with KM until you get another crash.
  • Be sure you send every crash report to Peter, and be a detailed as possible on your activities just prior to the crash.
  • Pay very close attention to the name you give every macro.
  • Make sure you can remember the last macro you renamed before the crash.
  • Be sure to check the KM Log files for relevant entries.
    In the KM Editor, goto menu Help > Open Log Folder

Sorry you're still having trouble. Thanks for the update, and please keep a good manual log. FWIW, since you reported this issue, I have tried numerous times to rename a Macro, and have not had any issues.

This forum is awesome, but for crash reports, you are better contacting me directly at support@stairways.com

I have a small handful of crash reports related to this. It appears to happen while reporting a name change to the Execute Macro action.

A method of duplicating this would be extremely helpful in figuring it out. I have looked at the code, and cannot see anything immediately obviously wrong or potential for crashing.

If you can send me an export of the two macros, being clear which was the first and which was the second, that may help.

I think I know where it is crashing, but not why. I can stop it crashing there, but knowing why would help ensure there are no other similar crashes.

I don't know what happens when you run two different versions of KM, but in general I doubt that this is a very good idea.

To be on the safe side, make sure that you don't have two instances of the KM Engine running:

  1. Open the "Activity Monitor" app. (It's in ~/Applications/Utilities)
  2. In the search field type "maestro".

You should see exactly one instance of "Keyboard Maestro Engine", like here:

Do not ever run Keyboard Maestro 7 after running Keyboard Maestro 8. You can revert to Keyboard Maestro 7, but unless you do it carefully, the reversion will lose chunks of your macros (any actions that have been converted to newer versions, like the new generalised Search & Replace and Filter actions).

So if you want to keep Keyboard Maestro 7 around, I would suggest you compress it in the Finder, and then delete the original. However there really is no point in keeping around the old version because all the old versions are available from our archive site (https://files.stairways.com/).

Fixed in Keyboard Maestro 8.0.2.
Please confirm and check "Solved" if fixed.