topic Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness in Desktop (Mac)

Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

AbsolutelyNoFB — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:05:28 GMT

-- This part of the message is directed at the folks who work at Spotify --

Please turn off the auto-update madness for customers using Mac OS X 10.5. All you are doing is breaking their already running Spotify installations.

Frankly, it's just gratuitous cruelty to force a version of the Spotify client on their computers when you know it won't run.

You should make a version of Mac Spotify that runs on Mac OS X 10.5 and has auto-update disabled. It is a hassle for customers to download the old Mac client and manually disable the update. Let the Mac OS X 10.5 users download this special no-update Spotify for OS X 10.5 and enjoy your music service.

-- If you are Mac OS X 10.5 user and neet to get Spotify working again --

As of the v0.8.8 client, Spotify no longer supports Mac OS X 10.5. So you will have to go back to an older version of the client and disable Spotify's auto-update mechanism. This process is tricky. Evelinder and fgmart and Peter all have contributed to getting Mac OS X users running on an older client version. Kudos to them.

As some of the links to the Mac instructions no longer work, try these instructions from fgmart (I've copied them below in case the link gets deleted like some previous ones I posted):

Re: Spotify crashes as soon as it opens

OK everyone, here's the deal. You have to prevent Spotify from auto-updating. The way you're going to do this is by sticking two files in the place where it will try to download its auto-update. You're going to configure these files as read-only and locked, so that when Spotify tries to auto-update it will fail.

Then you will download and install an old version of Spotify that works.

Because you've previously put these two blocking files in the right place, the newly-installed, old-working version of Spotify will silently try and fail its auto-update, and you'll be happy.

Here we go.

1. Create the two special files.

Using TextEdit, create a blank file. Then, go into the Format menu, and choose "Make Plain Text".

Choose File:Save, and uncheck the box that says "If no extension is provided, use '.txt".

Enter filename as "Spotify_new.archive", and save it in <Your home folder>:Library:Application Support:Spotify.

Make sure to uncheck the box that adds an extension. The file cannot have a .txt or .rtf extension!

Now, choose File:Save As, and save it again, in the same folder, but with filename "Spotify_new.archive.sig".

Yes, you are indeed saving blank files -- that is correct!

2. Make the files read-only and locked.

Remember, the point of this is to prevent Spotify from replacing them with an actual update.

Using the Finder, locate the Spotify_new.archive and Spotify_new.archive.sig files. They should be in <Your home folder>:Library:Application Support:Spotify.

One at a time, do a Get Info on them (Command-I), and then:

2a. In the Sharing & Permissions tab, change access privileges to Read only. This is at the bottom of the get-info dialog. You will have to click on the little lock icon at the very bottom-right of the dialog and authenticate before you can do this.

2b. Check the box saying "Locked" under the General tab.

When you're done, the dialog should look like this: http://i.imgur.com/XZaNHX5.png

Do this for both the Spotify_new.archive and Spotify_new.archive.sig files.

After you've done this, the files should look like this in your Application Support:Spotify folder: http://i.imgur.com/rpOenQ8.png . Notice the little lock icon by the two files.

3. Re-install an old/working version of Spotify.

I have the version 0.8.3.222.g317ab79d from CNET, which works fine: http://download.cnet.com/Spotify/3000-2141_4-10912448.html

ANFB: You can also download version 0.8.5.133 from here:

http://mac.filehorse.com/download-spotify/old-versions/

4. Boot up Spotify and you should be all set.

That's it! I hope this works for you.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

pabloprieto — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:03:44 GMT

Thanks for the tip, it worked for me.

To the Spotify crew, I adhere to the comment about the lame policy of auto-updating and leaving all 10.5 Mac users with this problem and no support.

I am a Premium user: who do you make money from? Unless Apple is paying so we all upgrade our Mac, this is just bad policy...

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

munkhammar — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:03:11 GMT

Im extremely dissapointed in Spotify. I have not decided if I will fix this or if I will simply turn my back on them and quit paying. I mean come on, I paid for this and now I cant use it? That is something I would never accept in any other case as a customer.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

Andii0 — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:30:49 GMT

Thanks for the fix! And tsk-tsk Spotify!!!

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

Rorey — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 12:54:26 GMT

Hi everyone,

Many of you have had problems with Spotify for Mac OS X 10.5. We no longer support Spotify on this operating system which we announced back in November here as a "heads up".

However, we've noticed that many folks have been updating regardless which should not be the case. Our intention was to let anyone using Mac OS X10.5 continue using a "legacy" version of Spotify. In any case, the folks who were using 10.5 were updated, and in many cases these customers have experienced crashes with the newest version of the application (Spotify version 0.8.8. at the time of writing).

To make a long story short, we messed up in updating folks who should not have been updated and we're sorry. We plan on fixing the problem of Spotify updating to the latest version for Mac OSX 10.5 users and we're working on it as I write this. If you're a person who has already upgraded and the application is crashing, we're looking into a solution and we hope to have an update shortly.

Warm regards from your humble community manager,

Rorey

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

C-AyePurcell — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:40:17 GMT

Thank you so much for posting this. It's worked for me. I've been furious trying to figure out how to use a program I'm paying for. I feel like you are entitled to a settlement from Spotify for fixing a problem they are profiting from.

Peace and Blessings to you

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

AbsolutelyNoFB — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:02:53 GMT

@C-AyePurcell wrote:
Thank you so much for posting this. It's worked for me. I've been furious trying to figure out how to use a program I'm paying for. I feel like you are entitled to a settlement from Spotify for fixing a problem they are profiting from.

Peace and Blessings to you

You are welcome. It is really mvelinder, fgmart, and peter that figured out the answers. I'm just trying to make sure people know there is a solution available and, hopefully, get Spotify to be better about these sorts of things in the future.

Cheers 🙂

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

ConstanzeSche — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:27:42 GMT

I am so glasd about this post! But: How we know it's working again??

I am so tired of this. I have been installing and uninstalling my spotify every day for a week now. (AND quit my premium account.) Once its working again, i might think about subscribing again. But WHEN? Already lost my money for the last month..

thx

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

AbsolutelyNoFB — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 02:10:37 GMT

@ConstanzeSche

Spotify should give you a month's credit. They knew for 6-7 months that they were going to break Mac OS X 10.5 compatibility but didn't communicate with their customers and didn't do anything about not breaking existing customer installs of Spotify. You should email Spotify support at "support@spotify.com" and ask them for a one month credit.

I think the only way to keep track of what's going in the Spotify world is to visit these forums occasionally. There is no other place where you can find honest communication about what's really happening and what really works or doesn't work.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

ConstanzeSche — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:48:51 GMT

Thank you so much for the advice. I emailed them right away and - instead of money - i receivend a code for the next subscription. One month for free. But the support team also said, that the problem might not be fixed before may.

I will look into this every once in a while. But it's a) annoying and b) not easy for a non-native speaker to follow all the updates, especially when technical terms are used. There is no Community Help in my language. That is something Spotify should start working on, too.

But again, thanks for the help. I will spread the word among my friends.

Greetings from Germany.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

brudy — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:50:53 GMT

Thanks for this. I'll be using this to block any future updates for as long as I can, given the increasing awfulness of the client software.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

SeanMac — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:40:58 GMT

A big thank you to everyone! Downloaded the older version. Created and locked the new files. Up and running again! Very clear and easy to follow instructions. Again, very thankful for this fix! Had been very frustrated, partiuclarly with no communication from Spotify. Cheers!

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

nuriaq — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:54:30 GMT

Thank you very very much! This worked for me too!!!

To Spotify team: I am a Spotify Premier user, so why have i been paying these last days if i hadn't right to have a working version of Spotify? what is the reason of this discrimination?

Núria

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

l_renwick — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:50:56 GMT

thank you

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

AbsolutelyNoFB — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:55:58 GMT

@nuriaq wrote:
Thank you very very much! This worked for me too!!!

To Spotify team: I am a Spotify Premier user, so why have i been paying these last days if i hadn't right to have a working version of Spotify? what is the reason of this discrimination?

Núria

Hello Núria, first of all, glad you are up and running again 🙂

It bears mention that Spotify is aware they made a mistake with how things were handled for OS X 10.5 users and that many users ended up with service interruptions.

If you email them at "support@spotify.com" and explain your situation and ask for a one month Premium subscription credit, they should be able to help you. Spotify does want to make things right. From what I understand, this "credit" will take the form of a coupon that can be applied to a future month's worth of Premium service.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

AbsolutelyNoFB — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 10:04:48 GMT

@ConstanzeSche

You are most welcome. And greetings from Oregon -- with a litlte travel info attached 😉

I'm glad Spotify was able to help you with the service credit. Not so glad to hear they may not fix everything until May. Hopefully it will be sooner than that and there will be no further service interruptions. I'm using the old clients as well, so I hope they will keep working.

I realize it is a hassle to check here for updates and sort through a foreign language. It would be a smart thing for Spotify to translate some of the help materials for the Mac OS X 10.5 situation into more languages, especially German. I believe they do have quite a few multi-lingual employees, so this should be something that can be done without great effort.

If you don't notice any issues with Spotify, you probably only need to check back every few weeks. It's good to keep the annoyance levels down 🙂

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

nymalajin — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 05:04:20 GMT

Godwilling you will figure out a way to fix this. I had to go find an old version to dl, finally got it working again after a day of it not working and then in the middle of a song, spotify crashed (this is new) and when I went to restart it, what happened?? it tried to update.... which is the exact reason I did all this work to find/dl an older version of the program. This TOTALLY sucks and really takes this company OFF the credibility list. I'm done. I can't imagine if I was a paying customer and this was happening. Sorry for all of you out there who pay and who have Macs. Good.bye Spoti.fy. Peace out. I will get my music elsewhere. Hey, this could be excellent news for the music biz --- people will start buying/dl'ing from iTunes etc again --- since the Mac OS X 10+ can't use Spotify / listen for free here as far as I'm concerned.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

ClanMcDowall — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 18:12:11 GMT

Well, well, well..... After days / weeks / months screwing around with Spotify -- reloading, trashing, restarting - and doing it again, I finally found this thread. Spotify did blow this, and when I have more time to screw around with Spotify I will ask for some credit on my Premium account. This is the kind of crap that takes all the fun out of computing.

This fix is easy, and takes less than 10 minutes -- just follow the instructions.

I am listening again, first time in a week. I just hope it will continue. I listened to Pandora all last week, that is always an option.

Good luck.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

joylucktrevor — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:46:27 GMT

Thank you for posting the legacy version link.

Reeeal dumb Spotify. I already cancelled my premium subscription. I'll listen for free till you get your business together.

Re: Stopping the Mac OS X 10.5 auto-update madness

macosx123 — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:50:42 GMT

Thank you so much for posting this! It worked!:) Also, agree with all comments noting that this is a design flaw that should be corrected more or less immediately.