Mac OS X 10.4.6 Special Report: Font issues -- fixes
Some users have reported various font issues after the Mac OS X 10.4.6 update. particularly a problem where certain fonts appear to be missing (or turned off), or applications provide an error message indicating that fonts are corrupt.
One reader writes:
"When I run any program, all I have available are my computer fonts. So all of my old document come up with substitute fonts."
Another reader adds:
"I opened up the Font Book Utility and my user fonts are turned off and I can't turn them on or re-install the missing fonts."
One reader writes:
"I had the same experience as your reader with only having the system-installed fonts available after the update. I checked my user fonts folder and my fonts were still there. So i ran font book, which seemed to re-load the fonts somehow. but there has still been some flakiness with fonts."
Another reader writes:
"Additionally, after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.4.6, Word 2004 v.11.2.3 and earlier versions may give the message that many fonts are corrupt when trying to open a Word file (which actually do not contain such fonts at all). This happens on some Mac models like the iMac G4/2GHz but not in others like the PowerMac G4/500MHz."
Fixes
Disable then re-enable afflicted fonts Launch Font Book, located in the Applications folder, then disable and re-enable any fonts that are not available in applications after the update.
Re-apply combo updater In many cases, the solution for this issue is to re-apply the current combination updater (PowerPC or Intel).
Index:
- Release Notes/Download links
- General purpose workarounds
- List of updated Apple applications
- Update process recommendation
- AirPort network not automatically re-joined after sleep
- Bluetooth: Connectivity issues
- Dock Auto Hide/Show function broken -- fix
- Double restart is expected behavior
- Energy Saver issues -- system will not automatically shut down, etc.
- FireWire problems
- Font issues -- fixes
- Improvements
- iSync Issues -- Issues with hacks for unsupported devices; Sony Ericsson K700i won't synch
- Menu bar items missing
- Networking issues: Problems with proxies
- Photo booth distortion
- Printer issues
- Problems logging in from Windows systems
- Reminder: Have enough free drive space before installing
- Reverting (downgrading) to Mac OS X 10.4.5
- Safari: Image loading problems
- SCSI drives not recognized
- Server volumes cannot be written to -- fixes
- Special permissions messages no longer appear in Disk Utility
- Spotlight issues -- make sure drive is not in Privacy tab
- Startup problems -- will not proceed after update, etc.
- Streaming Audio -- fixes
- Third-party applications: Fix for Photoshop save on crash; Word crashes; more
- Update Installer cannot find destination drive
However... when I try to save the document, Word first present the "Word is connecting to the printer..." and then "Word is saving the document mydocument.doc..." but then the spinning ball can spin (literally) for hours and the document is not saved.
I am running into this problem constantly on a MacBook Pro and the problem did not occur under 10.4.5. Word WILL save a small text block (a page or less) but when multiple pages are involves, it simply craps out. None of the fonts are corrupt and the very oddest thing is that it seems that I can occasionally save documents if the font selected is an Adobe OTF sans serif face but NOT if it is a serifed typeface.
There are so many variables in this scenario that deconstructing the problem is almost pointless - the only thing that is certain is that the problem only cropped up after I installed 10.4.6. My fix? Spending $80 on iWork as Pages eliminates all the font problems, scrolls like a speed demon, and allows me to easily create WP documents as simple as I like or as complex as I care to get before actually entering the realm of a page layout application.
Still... thinking of all of the money that I've put into Word in the past 21 years, I certainly would like to use it again as I know it so well. We can only hope that Office 2007 (?) will adhere to Apple specs and use the easy tools provided (a suggestion that should also be heeded by Adobe - don't reinvent the world!).