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Comments on Application check for updates will never succeed and blocks launch; can I intercept or bypass it?
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Application check for updates will never succeed and blocks launch; can I intercept or bypass it?
I have a software application (Trope Trainer, from Kinnor Software) that I installed on my Mac (OS 10.12) several years ago. I don't use it often but it's always worked fine for me. The application uses only local storage as far as I know; cloud dependencies weren't common back when this software was written.
Last night I opened it and was greeted with a "checking for updates" message. I guess it's done that before; I don't remember, so it was probably very quick. This time, though, the check just spins. I suspect, but do not know, that the software is making some sort of call to a service run by the publisher. Unfortunately, the publisher has gone out of business and their former domain name is now for sale.
I can't just skip the update check; canceling it crashes the program with an out-of-bounds exception. (Clearly they did not anticipate being unable to check for updates.) I'd like to be able to use the program, and the first thing I would check would be whether auto-update is a user setting I can turn off.
It occurred to me that if I knew what URL the software was trying to hit, I could edit my hosts file to override it and intercept the call. I'd then need to guess what it's expecting me to send back. (I'm not quite sure how to create and send that response if I do identify it, but that's part two of the problem.)
I installed WireShark to see if I could find the outbound call that I assume it's making, but I am a complete newbie, their documentation is written for people who know more than I do, and I'm not sure how to find what I'm looking for. I set it to monitor Ethernet traffic and then started the application and let it run for a while, but I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I tried saving a "capture file", thinking this would give me a text file to search, but I don't recognize any of the file formats they offer. I searched (in WS) for the name of the publisher without success, and I don't know what their IP addresses were when they had a domain.
Am I on the right track in trying to use WireShark to find the call? If so, what should I be looking for? If not, what should I be trying instead?
Post
samcarter gave me a clue in a comment by asking if the same thing happens if I'm not connected to the Internet. The software does detect that and proceed, fortunately, with the following message:
Clicking "ok" here allowed the program to launch. I then followed those instructions and found these checkboxes, which I'd never noticed before because they're not on a "preferences" menu:
Unfortunately, the part of their message about how I can change those settings turned out to be wrong. I unchecked the boxes, but they were checked the next time I opened that menu. I tried this while disconnected and after reconnecting (with the program still running). Still checked, no matter what I do.
The good news is that, according to their UI, they do this check once a week, not every time. I restarted the program while connected to the Internet and it launched. Presumably in a week it will fail again.
This is a workaround, but I'm still interested in a more permanent fix. So I'm not ready to retire WireShark.
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