Mac OS X Mojave

[philosopher]

The aquarium does not appear when run as screensaver on the latest mojave operating system that was just released on Sept. 24, 2018.

When I run the screensaver I get just a black screen. Other built-in screensavers work as expected.

I'm hoping someone is going to update the current version to work on mojave? (And I hope the update to make it work is simple.)

Regards,
Justin

[Jim Sachs]

Thanks, I'll pass it along to Jim O'Conner.

[GregJ]

Please Update aquarium for Mac " Mohave " ASAP !!!!!

[Fester1952]

Same issue here since updating to Mojave. Miss my fish!

[Jim Sachs]

It appears that Apple has discontinued OpenGL in Mohave. Since the Mac version of the Aquarium is written in OpenGL, I'm not sure how we would handle this.

[feldon34]

Mojave still has OpenGL, it's just deprecated / no longer being updated. Considering how much Mac software uses OpenGL (specifically Windows CAD software that's been ported over) and will not be rewritten for Apple's new whizbang graphics engine (Metal), I think it would be suicidal for them to kill off OpenGL entirely.

Some useful quotes:

For tools such as AutoCad, Sketchup, Kicad, Eagle, Blender, GIMP etc that are natively Windows or Linux, Mac support is often a token gesture; simply a tickbox when the graphics core is OpenGL. If developers have a hard time porting to Mac because they have to use Metal, they just won't bother. It's not worth them spending disproportionate time on a minority of computer users to support an obscure graphics API, and game engines aren't any good for writing actual tools to get things done.

Apple has pretty much no clout in the desktop/laptop market. Developers want to support iOS because it's profitable, so they'll follow Apple's every whim. On Mac however, that won't happen, developers just won't bother, to the detriment yet again of Mac users.

Deprecating OpenGL will be the 'kiss of death' for many CAE and CAD programs on the Mac. CAE/CAD software has different needs to games. Typically large amount of 3D data with simple rendering - and OpenGL does just fine, thank you.

Being able to move to Metal on new projects is great. How about the thousands of scientific programs that were written for Linux that can be compiled on macOS because OpenGL is supported. Many of those types of programs are written, released and never updated again.It is interesting that at the same time Microsoft is adding Linux support within Windows, Apple is doing something that might eliminate the compatibility they've had for years.

[ryan_m]

Good morning,
Missing my fish.
What I found is that Apple makes root hard to activate and particular system files/folders untouchable even with root (i.e. "system integrity protection" SIP).
I had to find out how to disable the integrity protection to get older versions of Java and other X11 components installed, or aliases set up to where apple moved the files. Once done I was able to turn system integrity back on and disable root.
Sounds like OpenGL has gone that way and it'll take someone a bit to figure out where the files have been moved, and/or which libraries need to be put back in place?
I had to do this for scientific software I need for work.

Admittedly I'm assuming a WHOLE lot, and hoping that the problems are similar.
If you need information on activating root, and disabling SIP let me know.

[Jim Sachs]

Thanks Ryan - I'll pass that info to Jim O'Conner.

[Jim Sachs]

Ryan - Jim O'Conner says your info could be quite helpful, so thanks again.

[Markdj]

Upgraded to Mojave. Marine Aquarium only displays a black screen but can hear sound. Went and purchased the latest version. Still a black screen. I want my money back.

[feldon34]

Originally posted by Markdj:

Upgraded to Mojave. Marine Aquarium only displays a black screen but can hear sound. Went and purchased the latest version. Still a black screen. I want my money back.  

You updated to an new operating system which breaks the Aquarium. How long ago did you purchase the screen saver?

[Fidipaldi]

Hello everyone, I am one of these faithful users who have used Marine Aquarium from the very beginnings. My kids love it too.

I just upgraded to Mojave. Same issue, blank screen. I don't understand the technical side, but is there a chance that Marine Aquarium will be updated for Mojave?

Greetings.

[Tim]

Same here guys!! Please advise if there is a workaround?!

[Jim Sachs]

Our Apple guy, Jim O'Connor, is trying to find a workaround. Apple wants all 3rd party developers to re-write their OpenGL apps in Metal. With only 1 or 2 Mac sales per week, it's not feasible for him to re-write the program. There's a rumor that the Aquarium can still be started as an executable file, but not a screensaver. Not knowing anyone with a Mac, I don't know if this is true.

[uczmeg]

Glad I read this as I was about to upgrade, I'll now hold off as long as I can.

Can't believe Apple would suddenly kill a huge amount of apps, so there must be a workaround without a rewrite.

I'd happily pay for an update...

[Richard Gelber]

The rumor is true, just tried it. It works as an executable file but not a screen saver. Works for me, I'm a pediatrician, use the fish tank to calm my patients, will leave on in the background and just switch to it when I need to show it to patients!

[Fidipaldi]

I would also pay for an upgrade, for sure. Please keep the fish alive!

[philosopher]

Originally posted by Jim Sachs:

... There's a rumor that the Aquarium can still be started as an executable file, but not a screensaver. Not knowing anyone with a Mac, I don't know if this is true.  

Jim, I can confirm that the aquarium can indeed be run as a "regular app" on the Mac running Mojave. For anyone who wants to do so it's very simple. Just open finder, click on Applications, find Marine Aquarium 3.3.app in the list of applications and double click it.

It runs as expected in windowed mode and can be changed to full screen via the top menu by clicking View -> Enter Full Screen.

[Jim Sachs]

Thanks for the info.

[Ike Nassi]

So, there is no plan to update SereneScreen Aquarium on Mojave? Really?