Can't start BTT anymore. :(

Lock · June 30, 2023, 12:56pm

Today something strange happened on my Mac. Suddenly BTT opened a window asking me to grant some permission in System Preferences (weird, as it's years it's correctly configured) but, before I was able to read it, my Mac crashed.

After restart BTT doesn't launch anymore. Even if I manually try to launch it from Applications folder. I don't get any error, nothing. Simply, double clicking on its icon does nothing.

I've not idea of what to do. Any help? Thanks.

Device information:

Type of Mac: Mac Mini 2012
macOS version: Catalina
BetterTouchTool version: 4.136

More informations:
If I kill the BTTRelaunch process and I launch BBT manually, BTTRelaunch appears in Activity Monitor, but BTT is nowhere to be found.

Andreas_Hegenberg · June 30, 2023, 1:00pm

There was an issue with 4.136 in combination with macOS 10.15, a new build has been uploaded: https://folivora.ai/releases/BetterTouchTool.zip

Lock · June 30, 2023, 1:10pm

Thank you Andreas!

I tried this solution with no success: folivora.ai - Great Tools for your Mac!

But downloading the app again solved the issue.

Lock · July 5, 2023, 8:49pm

Hi again Andreas,

today BTT got an automatic update, and I was welcomed with this window:

I've followed the instructions and everything in Accessibility was ok. But I removed and re-added BTT just to be sure.

I've no idea about how to dismiss the window, now. Is there still any incompatibility with Catalina?

Thanks.

Andreas_Hegenberg · July 5, 2023, 8:55pm

no but Catalina was very buggy in regards of the Accessibility API. This happened quite a lot back then because macOS sometimes broke its permission database, especially on app or system updates. I'm happy Apple has fixed that with later macOS versions.

You can try to reset the Accessibility database with this terminal command, which sometimes helps (make sure to quit BTT before)

 tccutil reset Accessibility

or maybe

sudo tccutil reset Accessibility

Lock · July 5, 2023, 9:01pm

It worked, many thanks.

Anyway this torture is going to end, as I've just ordered a new Mac.

Thanks again.

Andreas_Hegenberg · July 5, 2023, 9:03pm

Just in case you don't know: The open core legacy patcher supports running macOS Ventura on 2012 Mac Mini's. (It's pretty simple to setup and works great)

https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html

Lock · July 6, 2023, 1:41pm

Thanks for the info, I know I can install not-supported MacOS versions on my old Mac. But, sadly, it's already very slow and I don't think it will go faster with a not optimized OS.
Anyway I'll receive my new Mac Studio in a couple of weeks, so I can survive until then.

Have a nice day,
Andrea

Andreas_Hegenberg · July 6, 2023, 2:03pm

nice! That is a huge upgrade

Lock · July 6, 2023, 2:41pm

Yeah, expensive too. But this Mini was a good deal for all these years.

Lock · July 10, 2023, 5:25pm

Hi again Andreas,

sorry if I bother you here but I don't want to open too many threads on the forum.

The Mac Studio arrived and I'm having some issue importing my old settings.

Everything works for the most, but I have some problems with complex shortcuts.

For example, this one:

When I type SHIFT-"0" (zero), I need to have a closing bracket ")" instead of "=", that is the default keyboard beaviour. Then, if I keep the key pressed, I want a single "=".
But, If I keep the key pressed, then the character "=" is repeated forever (after typing the closed bracket). On the old Mac it only wrote the closed bracket once, and it's what I'd like to do.

Is there a way to fix it?

Thanks.

Edit: I'm using the "reverse tecnique", where the normal button is triggered on a shot key press down for 0,01 seconds, and the alternative one on a long press between 0,02 and 3 seconds.

The "normal mode" you describe here doesn't work (long press still types "0"):

Andreas_Hegenberg · July 10, 2023, 5:38pm

Could you copy & paste the shortcut group here? (select the group in BTT, press cmd+c, then come back here and paste it)

Lock · July 10, 2023, 5:40pm

Sure:

[
{
"BTTLastUpdatedAt" : 1689009741.8183041,
"BTTTriggerType" : 0,
"BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeKeyboardShortcut",
"BTTLayoutIndependentActionChar" : "0",
"BTTAutoAdaptActionToKeyboardLayout" : true,
"BTTGenericActionConfig" : "autoAdapt",
"BTTShortcutToSend" : "29",
"BTTAdditionalConfiguration" : "0",
"BTTKeyboardShortcutScope" : 0,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutKeyboardType" : 13905,
"BTTUUID" : "7B6C9F49-8905-4732-9027-523D84C4B95A",
"BTTTriggerOnDown" : 1,
"BTTLayoutIndependentChar" : "0",
"BTTEnabled" : 1,
"BTTEnabled2" : 1,
"BTTShortcutKeyCode" : 29,
"BTTShortcutModifierKeys" : 0,
"BTTAutoAdaptToKeyboardLayout" : 0,
"BTTTriggerConfig" : {
"BTTKeyboardPreventRecursiveTriggers" : 1,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMinTime" : 0.0099999997764825821
}
},
{
"BTTLastUpdatedAt" : 1689010176.4791331,
"BTTTriggerType" : 0,
"BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeKeyboardShortcut",
"BTTLayoutIndependentActionChar" : "DELETE",
"BTTAutoAdaptActionToKeyboardLayout" : true,
"BTTGenericActionConfig" : "autoAdapt",
"BTTShortcutToSend" : "51",
"BTTAdditionalConfiguration" : "0",
"BTTKeyboardShortcutScope" : 0,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutKeyboardType" : 13905,
"BTTUUID" : "3E66E987-F5DE-4C99-97EE-FD972FB9D820",
"BTTTriggerOnDown" : 0,
"BTTLayoutIndependentChar" : "0",
"BTTEnabled" : 1,
"BTTEnabled2" : 1,
"BTTShortcutKeyCode" : 29,
"BTTShortcutModifierKeys" : 0,
"BTTOrder" : 1,
"BTTAutoAdaptToKeyboardLayout" : 0,
"BTTAdditionalActions" : [
{
"BTTLastUpdatedAt" : 1688991599.436089,
"BTTTriggerType" : -1,
"BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeKeyboardShortcut",
"BTTPredefinedActionType" : 193,
"BTTPredefinedActionName" : "Type Custom Text",
"BTTAdditionalActionData" : {
"BTTActionTextToPaste" : "BAtzdHJlYW10eXBlZIHoA4QBQISEhA1OU1RleHRTdG9yYWdlAISEGU5TTXV0YWJsZUF0dHJpYnV0ZWRTdHJpbmcAhIQSTlNBdHRyaWJ1dGVkU3RyaW5nAISECE5TT2JqZWN0AIWShISED05TTXV0YWJsZVN0cmluZwGEhAhOU1N0cmluZwGWhAErASmGhAJpSQEBkoSEhAxOU0RpY3Rpb25hcnkAloQBaQOShJmZB05TQ29sb3KGkoSEhAdOU0NvbG9yAJaEAWMDhAJmZgABhpKEmZkQTlNQYXJhZ3JhcGhTdHlsZYaShISEF05TTXV0YWJsZVBhcmFncmFwaFN0eWxlAISEEE5TUGFyYWdyYXBoU3R5bGUAloQEQ0NAUwAAhQCGkoSZmQZOU0ZvbnSGkoSEhAZOU0ZvbnQelpwwhAVbNDhjXQYAAAAmAAAA__4uAEEAcABwAGwAZQBTAHkAcwB0AGUAbQBVAEkARgBvAG4AdAAAAIQBZgyeAJ4BngCeAIaGhg=="
},
"BTTMoveCursorLeftBy" : "(null)",
"BTTKeyboardShortcutKeyboardType" : 0,
"BTTUUID" : "5D8E8367-AFD2-408E-9BD5-E20CBA8D8552",
"BTTTriggerOnDown" : 1,
"BTTEnabled" : 1,
"BTTEnabled2" : 1,
"BTTShortcutKeyCode" : -1,
"BTTShortcutModifierKeys" : -1,
"BTTAutoAdaptToKeyboardLayout" : 0
}
],
"BTTTriggerConfig" : {
"BTTKeyboardPreventRecursiveTriggers" : 1,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMinTime" : 0.20000000298023224,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMaxTime" : 3
}
},
{
"BTTLastUpdatedAt" : 1689010176.479178,
"BTTTriggerType" : 0,
"BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeKeyboardShortcut",
"BTTPredefinedActionType" : 193,
"BTTPredefinedActionName" : "Type Custom Text",
"BTTAdditionalActionData" : {
"BTTActionTextToPaste" : "BAtzdHJlYW10eXBlZIHoA4QBQISEhA1OU1RleHRTdG9yYWdlAISEGU5TTXV0YWJsZUF0dHJpYnV0ZWRTdHJpbmcAhIQSTlNBdHRyaWJ1dGVkU3RyaW5nAISECE5TT2JqZWN0AIWShISED05TTXV0YWJsZVN0cmluZwGEhAhOU1N0cmluZwGWhAErASmGhAJpSQEBkoSEhAxOU0RpY3Rpb25hcnkAloQBaQOShJmZB05TQ29sb3KGkoSEhAdOU0NvbG9yAJaEAWMDhAJmZgABhpKEmZkQTlNQYXJhZ3JhcGhTdHlsZYaShISEF05TTXV0YWJsZVBhcmFncmFwaFN0eWxlAISEEE5TUGFyYWdyYXBoU3R5bGUAloQEQ0NAUwAAhQCGkoSZmQZOU0ZvbnSGkoSEhAZOU0ZvbnQelpwwhAVbNDhjXQYAAAAmAAAA__4uAEEAcABwAGwAZQBTAHkAcwB0AGUAbQBVAEkARgBvAG4AdAAAAIQBZgyeAJ4BngCeAIaGhg=="
},
"BTTMoveCursorLeftBy" : "(null)",
"BTTAdditionalConfiguration" : "131076",
"BTTKeyboardShortcutScope" : 0,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutKeyboardType" : 13905,
"BTTUUID" : "D9A243F7-E37E-4187-A911-364E4C27BD91",
"BTTTriggerOnDown" : 1,
"BTTLayoutIndependentChar" : "0",
"BTTEnabled" : 1,
"BTTEnabled2" : 1,
"BTTShortcutKeyCode" : 29,
"BTTShortcutModifierKeys" : 131072,
"BTTOrder" : 2,
"BTTAutoAdaptToKeyboardLayout" : 0,
"BTTTriggerConfig" : {
"BTTKeyboardPreventRecursiveTriggers" : 1,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMinTime" : 0.0099999997764825821
}
},
{
"BTTLastUpdatedAt" : 1689010176.4791679,
"BTTTriggerType" : 0,
"BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeKeyboardShortcut",
"BTTLayoutIndependentActionChar" : "DELETE",
"BTTAutoAdaptActionToKeyboardLayout" : true,
"BTTGenericActionConfig" : "autoAdapt",
"BTTShortcutToSend" : "51",
"BTTAdditionalConfiguration" : "131076",
"BTTKeyboardShortcutScope" : 0,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutKeyboardType" : 13905,
"BTTUUID" : "B1469DB5-BA47-4DB7-A950-20ED5ED43B76",
"BTTTriggerOnDown" : 0,
"BTTLayoutIndependentChar" : "0",
"BTTEnabled" : 1,
"BTTEnabled2" : 1,
"BTTShortcutKeyCode" : 29,
"BTTShortcutModifierKeys" : 131072,
"BTTOrder" : 3,
"BTTAutoAdaptToKeyboardLayout" : 0,
"BTTAdditionalActions" : [
{
"BTTLastUpdatedAt" : 1689009619.3518181,
"BTTTriggerType" : -1,
"BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeKeyboardShortcut",
"BTTPredefinedActionType" : 193,
"BTTPredefinedActionName" : "Type Custom Text",
"BTTAdditionalActionData" : {
"BTTActionTextToPaste" : "BAtzdHJlYW10eXBlZIHoA4QBQISEhA1OU1RleHRTdG9yYWdlAISEGU5TTXV0YWJsZUF0dHJpYnV0ZWRTdHJpbmcAhIQSTlNBdHRyaWJ1dGVkU3RyaW5nAISECE5TT2JqZWN0AIWShISED05TTXV0YWJsZVN0cmluZwGEhAhOU1N0cmluZwGWhAErAT2GhAJpSQEBkoSEhAxOU0RpY3Rpb25hcnkAloQBaQOShJmZB05TQ29sb3KGkoSEhAdOU0NvbG9yAJaEAWMDhAJmZgABhpKEmZkQTlNQYXJhZ3JhcGhTdHlsZYaShISEF05TTXV0YWJsZVBhcmFncmFwaFN0eWxlAISEEE5TUGFyYWdyYXBoU3R5bGUAloQEQ0NAUwIAhQCGkoSZmQZOU0ZvbnSGkoSEhAZOU0ZvbnQelpwwhAVbNDhjXQYAAAAmAAAA__4uAEEAcABwAGwAZQBTAHkAcwB0AGUAbQBVAEkARgBvAG4AdAAAAIQBZgyeAJ4BngCeAIaGhg=="
},
"BTTMoveCursorLeftBy" : "(null)",
"BTTKeyboardShortcutKeyboardType" : 0,
"BTTUUID" : "A52F5779-9670-4164-9417-8A91BC2624A8",
"BTTTriggerOnDown" : 1,
"BTTEnabled" : 0,
"BTTEnabled2" : 1,
"BTTShortcutKeyCode" : -1,
"BTTShortcutModifierKeys" : -1,
"BTTAutoAdaptToKeyboardLayout" : 0
}
],
"BTTTriggerConfig" : {
"BTTKeyboardPreventRecursiveTriggers" : 1,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMinTime" : 0.019999999552965164,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMaxTime" : 3
}
}
]

Lock · July 11, 2023, 3:07pm

Hmmm... I'm getting crazy.
Almost all commands don't work anymore with Ventura.

A short press should type ESC (it works), a long one should sleep the Mac (doesn't do anything):

[
{
"BTTLastUpdatedAt" : 1689087819.271364,
"BTTTriggerType" : 0,
"BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeKeyboardShortcut",
"BTTPredefinedActionType" : 189,
"BTTPredefinedActionName" : "ESC (Escape Key, respects pressed modifiers)",
"BTTAdditionalConfiguration" : "0",
"BTTKeyboardShortcutScope" : 0,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutKeyboardType" : 0,
"BTTUUID" : "CD4C650C-9B34-4193-8FA9-9E6EE21D7CBB",
"BTTTriggerOnDown" : 0,
"BTTLayoutIndependentChar" : "ESCAPE",
"BTTEnabled" : 1,
"BTTEnabled2" : 1,
"BTTShortcutKeyCode" : 53,
"BTTShortcutModifierKeys" : 0,
"BTTAutoAdaptToKeyboardLayout" : 0,
"BTTGestureNotes" : "Mac in stop se premuto > 0,5 s",
"BTTTriggerConfig" : {
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMaxTime" : 0.40000000596046448
}
},
{
"BTTLastUpdatedAt" : 1689087869.4879951,
"BTTTriggerType" : 0,
"BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeKeyboardShortcut",
"BTTPredefinedActionType" : 14,
"BTTPredefinedActionName" : "Sleep Computer",
"BTTAdditionalConfiguration" : "0",
"BTTKeyboardShortcutScope" : 0,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutKeyboardType" : 0,
"BTTUUID" : "E356918A-0804-4DF0-8025-B122AB4F39B3",
"BTTTriggerOnDown" : 1,
"BTTLayoutIndependentChar" : "ESCAPE",
"BTTEnabled" : 1,
"BTTEnabled2" : 1,
"BTTShortcutKeyCode" : 53,
"BTTShortcutModifierKeys" : 0,
"BTTOrder" : 1,
"BTTAutoAdaptToKeyboardLayout" : 0,
"BTTTriggerConfig" : {
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMinTime" : 0.44999998807907104,
"BTTKeyboardShortcutMaxTime" : 3
}
}
]

Andreas_Hegenberg · July 11, 2023, 3:14pm

I have a hard time understanding how this would have worked before, but maybe I'm missing something.
Possibly something is missing in the JSON export for some reason.
Could you try copying the BTT config database manually (best copy the whole ~/Library/Application Support/BetterTouchTool folder from your old machine to the new one, to go there use Finder => Go => Go to Folder, make sure to include the ~)

Andreas_Hegenberg · July 11, 2023, 3:30pm

I think for some reason all of your long press shortcuts have a BTTKeyboardShortcutMaxTime of 3 defined, and I'm not sure where this is coming from. This seems to cause the issue because long press shortcuts with "Trigger On Key Down" can not have a maximum holding time.

I'll look into this

Lock · July 11, 2023, 3:33pm

Thanks Andreas,

overwriting the Application Support folder, everything started to work perfectly again.

I don't know if my configuration is good or really bad. I'd like BTT working in the simpler and better way. But even deleting and re-adding the function, following your help instruction, they didn't work. O_O

Lock · July 11, 2023, 3:35pm

I think for some reason all of your long press shortcuts have a BTTKeyboardShortcutMaxTime of 3 defined, and I'm not sure where this is coming from. This seems to cause the issue because long press shortcuts with "Trigger On Key Down" can not have a maximum holding time.

It was defined in @Frank1 's "reverse mode". He said that maybe it wasn't necessary at all but, since they didn't interfere, I left them.

Andreas_Hegenberg · July 11, 2023, 8:18pm

Took me a a while but I think I finally found what causes this to fail on preset imports if a maximum hold time is set and the triggering is set to "on key down"
Probably not relevant for you anymore, but it should now work correctly with imported presets starting with v4.165 alpha

Lock · July 11, 2023, 10:30pm

Good to know. My fear is the import was loosing something in the process, but of course I wasn't good enough to find what. It will be relevant next OS installation.

Many thanks again.