Mac version won't hold graphic option changes

[mdmiles]

Actually, this appears to be the case with the new Mac CM:SF as well as with CM:BN. I go into Options and change a couple of the graphics settings per my preference, but when I save the changes and exit the game, it appears to lose those settings: when I restart the game and go back into Options, the settings are returned to the defaults. Basically, even though my Macbook Pro is maxed out - and it is the top-of-the-line mid-2009 15-inch to begin with, I cannot even change the options to the suggested settings in your Mac performance guide that came with the game.

Why might these games be doing that?

Where is the configuration file that those settings are in?

Do I need to change ownership, group, location, or manually modify the applicable config file?

I do have a machine configuration that is different than the norm: I am running an SSD as the boot drive with a standard HDD where my user directory is located, but the game is installed on the SSD.

Could the machine configuration be conflicting with the configuration of the game - this doesn't seem likely to me, but stranger things have happened.

Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Redwolf]

This sounds like either a permission problem (config file owned by root, playing as user) or a mixup with pathnames (directory for config file doesn't exist because installer created it in a different place than where the game expects it).

You aren't using a German MacOS X or so, right?

[mdmiles]

I wonder about the permissions problem or location. The problem is that I do not know what the name of the config file is or where it is supposed to be located. If I know those things, I can go in and change the ownership and location.

My OS X is English version (I am in USA).

Any idea what file I should be looking for?

Thanks!

[Redwolf]

No, I don't have my Mac here right now and can't check.

Schrullenhaft?

[Buzz]

I suspect your machine configuration is the issue. I had a similar Mac won't hold graphic options issue on one of my Macs. I also had my user directory on a different, non boot HD.

I moved my user directory on the boot HD and my graphics options were recognized and retained.

[Schrullenhaft]

As Redwolf and Buzz suspect, this appears to be an issue with the location of your 'user' folder. Phil, the Mac developer, says that most issues with writing to the 'Preferences' file are permissions-related. I'm not sure what the best method is of moving your 'user' folder to another drive may be, but the method use may be at the root of this problem. Most likely I assumed you went to the Users & Groups preference pane, right-clicked on your account name and selected Advanced Options, and set the location of the user account.

The 'preferences' file should be located within your 'users' folder:

Library/Application Support/CMBN/preferences

(I'm not looking at it, so I don't know its full name)

One or more of these directories may be a hidden. You can unhide the directory with several methods.

You may want to double-check the permissions on these files and see if you can set them to match exactly with your current account.

[Redwolf]

It's `/users/$USER/Library/Application Support/CMBN/Preferences.pfc'

This in a commandline window ("terminal") will list all files in your homedir that are not owned by you. You generally want to look for root-owned files, because they might have been created by installers but you can't overwrite them as your own user

find $HOME \! -user $UID -ls

[Buzz]

Redwolf, I get no files listed with the terminal code but I moved my user directory on the boot HD and my graphics options were recognized and retained after that. My issue was in CMFI but I suspect it is the same for CMBN/CW FI & SF in Mac.

NOTE* When I deleted the user directory on the NON boot HD (CMFI) I had to run the gsClean utility and use an activation to get CMFI running again. The Helpdesk was very prompt and clear on their instructions so if using the terminal code can't help you fix your graphic option changes retention and you decide to move your user directory to fix the problem you would be well advised to contact the Helpdesk.

I can say graphic option changes retention is a time saver for as often as I start and stop the CM games.

[Redwolf]

Why did you move your home directory to a removable drive? That can't work.

[Buzz]

I did not move my home directory to a removable drive.

[Guest]

There's a pretty incredible array of bizarre permissions setups in OSX even under normal conditions. Your configuration could just be exacerbating a more pervasive problem.

What version of OSX are you running?

[Schrullenhaft]

Phil, the original customer is using 10.8.2. They actually opened up a ticket in the Helpdesk (SFF-755783).

[mdmiles]

To address a couple of things:

1.) I just reinstalled the Mac OS X on my machine to build this configuration with the SSD and additional HHD. Due to the limited space on the SSD (for the money), and the fact that my user folder is very large (I am a software developer and do a lot of graphics and other work as well - all of those files can take up a large amount of space), and generally any app that uses files from that folder never really touches more than one or at most a few of those files at any given time - other than maybe on initial load of the app, I do not want my user folder on the SSD. I am using the SSD for system execution and applications - with very few exceptions. I have no intention of moving my 100GB user folder back onto the SSD. If there is a way to make the game reference a preference file in an arbitrary location, I can set up a location on the boot drive (SSD) to do that. As this is a pretty new install, my permissions should be pretty clean.

2.) When I created/moved the User Folder to the HHD, I told Mac this is where I wanted it - in fact, I had the OS move it. I also created a symbolic link from the old location to the new user folder in terminal in case the standard user folder location was addressed. This should have (in theory, anyway) minimized the problem of locating the file in the new user folder. So, I am not sure why that would be a problem.

3.) I believe I found the preference files for both of the games in the applicable locations, but I did not see any useful information inside those files. And if I remember correctly, the ownership and grouping was correct for each of them - I will have to verify this though as it has been a few days since I have looked at it. I am not sure why the game would not be able to access them.

I hope this answers some of the questions. Again, Thanks for all of the input. Hopefully we can come up with a solution.