Adobe is now offering a ZIP archive of replacement files and instructionsfor 2012 MacBook Air and Pro model users running OS X 10.7.4 on how to manually patch a bug that causes InDesign (CS5 and higher) to fail on those machines. Though not as simple as a patch installer, the company’s instructions are clear and relatively easy to follow — and appear to fix the issue, which centered around how a particular API handles icon management.
So far, Adobe’s InDesign appears to be the only program affected by the API change, and the change appears to have occurred only in new notebooks that updated to the special Mid-2012 Software Update for 10.7.4 issued to the refreshed MacBook Pro and MacBook Air (all 2012 models). It is not clear whether the change just went unnoticed by Adobe, or was unannounced by Apple (and could even be an accidental omission or bug in the Mid-2012 update).
The bug caused some dialog boxes to come up blank (failing to retrieve the correct icon), which would trigger a program failure usually resulting in a crash. While the workaround falls short of an update or patch installer, Adobe expects a more permanent fix in future updates and versions of InDesign.
Adobe is recommending that those users of InDesign CS5 and higher who have not already updated the Mid-2012 MacBooks avoid doing so until a more permanent fix is implemented. Those who have already updated (or whose machines came with the update pre-installed, as would be the case for very recent buyers) should download a ZIP file of the missing icons. Older and recent machines that didn’t qualify for the special updates do not appear to have been affected by the issue.
Once the ZIP file is downloaded and opened, user must right-click (or control-click) on the InDesign program icon and choose “Show Package Contents,” then navigate to the Contents->MacOS->Required folder, locate the “Application UI.InDesignPlugin” package, right-click to show package contents on it, navigate to Resources->idrc_PNGA and copy the three icons from the downloaded zip into this location. Adobe says it is working with Apple to resolve the problem more permanently, but the manual replacement of the needed icons should restore InDesign’s functionality and stability in the meantime.
