Recent macOS updates leading to a crash when using the Colors palette in all versions of SketchUp

Technical Problems Known Issues
1

Below is what I originally wrote, and some of it will still apply. Today though there is some news. macOS Sonoma 14.4 was released by Apple. It does appear to fix the crashing when changing materials or resizing the Colors palette, but only for SketchUp 2023.1.3. Older versions are still crashing when you do those things.

If you have a subscription, and no other reason to be using an earlier version, you should update to SketchUp 2023.1.3. You can get that here:

https://www.sketchup.com/download/all

Here’s what I wrote before:

We first saw a new crashing issue in August, where a few Mac users who had updated to Ventura 13.4 were getting a crash when using the Colors palette in various versions of SketchUp. When macOS Sonoma 14.3 was released, it then affected every Mac user.

To know if it’s an issue you’re seeing, the steps to cause the crash are these:

  1. Show the Colors palette (Window/Materials).
  2. Go into the materials section (click the brick icon on the right).
  3. Either resize the Colors palette, or use the drop down menu to go to a different set of materials. ‘Wood’ for example.

The new crash will have happened by now.

Something has changed in macOS that affects the system color picker, that SketchUp uses.

We have found a way to work around the issue, and the next update to SketchUp won’t have this problem. I can’t say when that update will come out, but will come back here with an update as soon as I can. We also are trying to get Apple to fix the problem on their side of things.

In the meantime, all versions of SketchUp will get the crash if you are on Sonoma 14.3 or later, and a good chance of getting the crash in Ventura 13.4 or later. If you are on Sonoma 14.2 or Ventura 13.3, stay there for now!

I have a fairly low-tech work around. I made this model:

Mac Materials.skp

It’s a SketchUp 3 file, so should open in whatever version you are using. Here’s what it looks like:

Mac Materials
Mac Materials2514×1552 421 KB

There is a scene for each category in the Colors palette drop down menu, and most materials show the name as well. I didn’t name the hundreds of flat colors!

You could have that open as another model, and eyedropper pick up the material you need. Or select the square and copy/paste it into your working model. An advantage of doing it that way is that the material scale may work more predictably. Using the eyedropper and then paint bucket in your own model might impose the texture scaling that is in my model.

Preferences have an option to “Auto-activate paint tool”, to show the Colors palette when you select the Paint Bucket tool. Doing that might increase the chances of accidentally crashing SketchUp. You can turn off that option in the preferences, Drawing section:

image
image962×528 76.1 KB

7 Likes
2

I use Ventura 13.6.3

SU doesn’t crash when I try your 3 actions.

3

ditto.

So for all the crashers (crashees?) out there, if you’re crashing with 13.4 , time to upgrade to 13.6
and if you’re crashing on Sonoma, and you have a possibility to rollback to ventura, 13.6.3 looks clear.

4

I’m definitely having this problem. Thank you for the info.

5

Unfortunately, some of the reports we have are from 13.6.4 users. It isn’t an easy thing to dig through, but I will try to map out what versions were being used. It is possible that the problem everyone gets in 14.3 might have been seen by a much smaller group in both 13.x and 14.x.

Updating from 13.4 to 13.6.4 is still a good idea.

Editing my own post. I have now seen a case where someone on 13.2 had the crash.

1 Like
6

There is an unrelated Sonoma issue that affects SketchUp 2022 more than other versions. Unless there is a reason for you to stay with 2022, getting 2023 would help with the other issue.

7

I’m using SketchUp Pro 2023, and running 14.3.1 if that helps.

8

That sounds good. Your forum profile says you are using 2022.

9

And while you are fixing the macOS version in your profile, please also fix the graphics card. You can easily find out what it is by clicking the apple icon at top left of the screen, and choosing “About this Mac”.

1 Like
10

Got it, thank you. I will make those changes.

11

Thank you for the effort,

I have 3 clients who also experience this bug. Would you know when this problem is being solved / what the status is?

All the best from the Netherlands

12

Probably need to ask Apple since they caused it.

13

Older versions of SkertchUp do not have this issue. And if a change has been made, most of the time the software supplier has to deal with it… (unfortunately)

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All versions of SketchUp will crash with the steps I gave. For the next update we release we have put in a work around, but I’m sure we’re not going to go back to all old versions of SketchUp and release an update. So I’m hoping Apple can do something in macOS.

15

Hi @colin , I’m in Ventura 13.5.2 and it’s not happening… :crossed_fingers:

16

That’s good! It has happened to people on 13.4 and on 13.6.4, but didn’t happen to me on those versions. I think the change in 14.3 makes it happen to everyone, whereas in 13.x it only happened to some people.

17

A Spanish customer told me that he solved the problem in Somoma by putting all the materials in one folder, resizing the palette also works fine.

18

I may test that, though it seems odd that it fixes the resize crash as well. I imagine it takes a bit of scrolling to get to the material you want!

Another issue, that I discovered while making that materials model, on Mac there is a problem if two materials have an identical name. Two materials are named Aluminum, and when you try to use the second of them, it fills the face with the first one. I logged a bug report about that.

Combining all of the materials into one folder might make those two files clash.

1 Like
19

I upgraded to a M1 Mac Studio about a month ago running Sonoma 14.3.1 The paint bucket issue/crash happens every time I use it. Which is ever day. After the crash when I reopen SUP and go to the PB once it does not happen. If I use the PB again it happens.

20

Got same problem.