Latest MacOS will not allow OSCAR to run

[snorkler]

I'm running MacOS Sequoia 15.0 on an M1 iMac.  I cannot start up OSCAR, and the posted instructions for this MacOS problem do not work. 

Is there a newer work-around for this problem?

Thanks!

[WisNaeMe]

I have OSCAR (v1.5.3) running OK on a M2 Mac Mini with Sequoia 15.0 and then more recently under 15.0.1. No special tweaks or treatment were required.

Is this a first time install OSCAR (and straight onto Sequoia)?
OR did you have OSCAR running OK on your machine prior to the Sequoia upgrade? (i.e. did you manage to get it running under Sonoma v14.x?)
What version of OSCAR are you running and did you get it from this site, also did you run the CRC checks when you downloaded it?
Has anything else been changed on your machine recently or at the same time as your Sequoia upgrade?
How is OSCAR failing when you try to run it?

There still seems to be some outstanding issues with Sequoia regarding Apple's built-in security functions (in Safari, Apple's Firewall, DNS, etc.), interfering with third party security products - blockers, etc and possibly the new OS blocking some different firewall ports. I've not seen much (any!) information out there regarding fixes or workarounds for these problems.

But if you have any of these third party security products loaded or loading at startup, it might be worth disabling them temporarily and testing OSCAR again - I use AdGuard as my main blocker app and I've seen it have some problems running under Sequoia. A quick way to test might be to run your machine in Apple SAFE mode and then try OSCAR from there. This will run a stripped down version of the OS and do some system housekeeping. (To get into safe mode - start or restart your Mac while holding the Shift key. Release Shift when you see the login window - it should display the words SAFE mode in top right of screen).

Also a further NEW! version of Sequoia v15.1 (the AI version) is due in the next few weeks ...so potentially more fun! or a fix to outstanding problems if we're lucky.

It might also just be some corruption to your OSCAR installation (or some file rights issue post Sequoia upgrade). But I would avoid tampering with these prior to checking the above.

Also usual advice applies - backup your data (and OSCAR install) prior to attempting anything...

My usual first port of call is to do all the usual things like running my machine is SAFE mode, followed by giving the offending application temporary full rights to the system to see if they might have changed. Then dialling back the rights as necessary if this worked.

But I think that's about all I've got...

[snorkler]

Thanks for the reply.

This was the first time trying to run OSCAR.  I don't have any other security apps running.  I didn't think of trying Safe mode - I haven't had any problems for quite a while that would require Safe mode.  

I did some digging on the Web and found this Terminal command to allow unsigned apps to run under Sequoia:

sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /path/to/your/app

This worked for me.  I imagine it has to be used with great caution.

[WisNaeMe]

Yep, forgot about that one. OSCAR being from a small developer and so not being on Apple's 'notarized' application list, so having to be manually added/approved. Probably will become more of an issue as Apple and others continues to rack up security on their OS's.

[williamvv]

I have this problem, too.

[Crimson Nape]

Besides using the OSCAR installation instructions for a Mac, snorkler posted this as a workaround for Sequoia, too.

Code:

sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /path/to/your/app

- Red

[williamvv]

I have this problem, too. I was able to solve it using the suggestion above:

sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Applications/OSCAR.app