I am experiencing a persistent crash with Dorico 6.2.10.6140 on my Intel iMac. The application crashes immediately upon launch, even before the splash screen appears.
Attempted to launch from a fresh macOS User Account (Same crash occurs).
Renamed/Cleared preferences in ~/Library/Application Support/Steinberg/Dorico 6.
Cleared VST/Audio Engine cache.
Validated system fonts and cleared font caches.
Tested launching via Terminal with --no-audio-engine (Still crashes).
Since the crash happens at such an early stage in CoreFoundation, it seems like a deep-level compatibility issue with this specific macOS buildās string handling.
I have attached the full crash report for your review. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is currently halting my academic workflow.
Itās surprising that this is not happening to everyone on Tahoe. Can you test in Safe Boot Mode, or perhaps in a new user account? (Though I donāt know if the licensing works per user.)
I think the amount of people on Tahoe that are still on < 2020 Intels is pretty low. Iām one and I reported a similar crash but it was with File ā Open. I can get to the hub. Still waiting to hear back.
First of all, thank you very much for looking into this so quickly. I truly appreciate the support.
Since the application crashes immediately on launch (even before the splash screen), I was unable to use the āCreate Diagnostic Reportā command from the Help menu. Therefore, I have manually zipped the āDorico 6ā folder from Application Support and included the latest .ips crash logs from the DiagnosticReports folder.
I hope these files provide the necessary clues to identify the cause of the CFStringGetLength error on my system.
Sorry for asking you to do something impossible, KĆ¼rÅat. Of course you canāt create a diagnostic report when Dorico canāt be started! I will look at the crash log file and come back to you as soon as possible.
Could it not be an issue on Intel processors only because it doesnāt happen on my Applie Silicon maxOS 26.4? I do run Dorico under/on Rosetta to be able to use a VST2 sound library and it doesnāt occur then either.
Hi KĆ¼rÅat, are there any other IPS files with Steinberg-related names in the same directory as the Dorico crashlog you sent? For example one that includes āSteinberg License Engineā or something similar?
Also, would you be able to zip up the contents of the /Users/yourusername/Library/Application Support/Steinberg/Activation Manager directory and post that here?
I would like to add a specific detail to my previous report regarding the Dorico 6 crash on macOS 26.4.
I currently have two physical USB eLicenser dongles connected to my iMac. Although Dorico 6 uses the new Steinberg Licensing system, I suspect there might be a hardware or driver conflict occurring during the SILK / License Engine initialization phase on this specific macOS build.
Could the legacy eLicenser Control Center (eLCC) be causing the CFStringGetLength null pointer error when it tries to scan these connected USB devices?
Itās certainly possible that the eLC system is at fault, though thereās not much in the logs. Does Dorico start up if you temporarily remove your eLicenser dongles? Another similar thing to try is editing the settings.json file in your Activation Manager directory (the one you zipped up before) and changing the line that says enableELicenser to say āfalseā instead of ātrueā.
After further testing, I have identified a very specific pattern:
Dorico SE launches and works perfectly on this same Intel iMac.
Dorico 6 Pro works flawlessly on my M1 MacBook, even with recent updates.
These issues strictly began following the update to macOS 26.4 on my Intel (X86-64) machine.
It seems that a specific regression in the X86-64 build of macOS 26.4 (likely within CoreFoundation or its interaction with the Pro licensing string) is causing the crash. Since the SE version works while Pro fails only on Intel, this appears to be a deep architecture-specific compatibility issue introduced by Apple.
I believe this is a bug that requires an OS-level fix or a future patch from Steinberg. Thank you very much for your time and for investigating this with me. For now, it seems this is out of my hands as a user.
Iām not sure what you mean about Dorico SE running OKā¦ Dorico SE and Dorico Pro are the same app - only the licensing is different. Do you mean youāve activated Dorico SE in the Steinberg Activation Manager but not Dorico Pro? What does SAM actually show you?
I wanted to provide a final update on my situation. I have successfully resolved the issue by performing a complete ādeepā clean reinstall.
I removed all Steinberg applications (including Cubase and the eLicenser Control Center), unplugged all physical USB dongles, and reinstalled everything from scratch. The software is now launching and functioning correctly. For context, my previous success with Dorico SE was a control test conducted on a separate user account.
Despite the resolution, I remain convinced that there is an underlying compatibility issue with macOS 26.4, as this environment was working perfectly prior to the OS update. I have already submitted a bug report to Apple regarding this behavior. I plan to perform a full system audit and another fresh installation once macOS 26.4.1 is released.
Thank you very much for your time, patience, and expert guidance throughout this troubleshooting process.