Minecraft 1.8 mac OSX 1.6.8 – minecraft.app not running at all

macosminecraft-java-edition

After having tried the 1.8 prerelease, I wanted the 1.8 final of course, but I couldn't log in through the launcher (and hence, could not get the update through the launcher like normal). I just got some error message and an invitation to play offline. Somebody suggested to re-download the launcher so I did, from minecraft.net. I moved the new minecraft.app to Applications, overwriting the old (stupid). Now nothing happens when I double click Minecraft.app – the icon "expands" in that little "swoosh" animation that happens every time you open something on a mac, but after that, nothing happens, no window, no error message, nothing.

I tried renaming the 1.8 pre-release minecraft.jar file – that changed nothing.
I tried renaming the entire minecraft folder in Application Support – that also changed nothing.
Numerous restarts, what have you – no change.
I even tried to find the latest Java JRE for mac through Oracle.com – that was fun… and futile (since Apple makes their own stupid version of Java, and Oracle just happily ignores the existence of OSX).

Everything is updated just fine (according to Software Update), with the exception of me not having upgraded to Lion yet, which I hope (and sort of insist) is not the cause.

Am I alone in this? Any suggestions? Do I need to migrate my game and saves to my Windows machine? (that would kind of suck, as it does).

Best Answer

I found the answer on the minecraft forums, so I'll repost it here.

http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/36564-minecraft-on-osx-wont-open/ Thanks to

ahefner said: The bundle doesn't work because some unix file permissions get screwed up as a result of distributing the app bundle inside a zip file (versus, say, a .dmg). You can fix it from the terminal using the chmod command as follows:

chmod +x ~/Downloads/Minecraft.app/Contents/MacOS/JavaApplicationStub

Modify the above command to reflect where you unzipped Minecraft at. This will fix the bundle so that it opens when you click it.