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Alan Houser
Community Expert
Alan HouserCommunity Expert
Community Expert
January 17, 2023
Question

Success running RoboHelp 2020 for MacOS on M1 Macs?

  • January 17, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 457 views

Colleagues -

Has anybody successfully run RoboHelp 2020 for MacOS on an M1 Mac? I'm seeing some "unsuccesful" reports here, but no mention of success. For me, RoboHelp 2020 churns on the initialization screen.

I acknowledge that RoboHelp 2020 for MacOS is only supported on Intel architectures. But as an analogy, several people on the FrameMaker forums have figured out and shared how to run Adobe FrameMaker (2019 and 2022) on Windows 11/ARM architectures (also unsupported, but works with some configuration hacks).

I'm reaching out here on the chance that anybody has figured out the same for RH 2020/MacOS on the M1 chip.

TIA!

-Alan Houser

412-551-8882

 

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    4 replies

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 18, 2023

    From Adobe 

     

    "RoboHelp is not supported on M1 or M2 versions of Mac.

    Mac changed their processor from Intel to ARM and it requires a separate installer for ARM. We are exploring if we can provide support in Update 1 otherwise definitely in Update 2."

    ________________________________________________________
    My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

    Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
    Matt-Tech Comm Tools
    Community Expert
    Matt-Tech Comm ToolsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 18, 2023

    Good to know...but not supported is different from seems to work.

    While it may be whack-a-mole between OS and M-series processors, the combination I shared above does seem to work.

    Of course, it's also Rh 2020, so for now I've chosen to use Rh 2022 via vmware Fusion.

     

    -Matt

    -Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant
    Matt-Tech Comm Tools
    Community Expert
    Matt-Tech Comm ToolsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 17, 2023

    Good news/bad news/interesting news: 

     

    I got the app installed on an M1 MB Air, but I was prompted for (and I approved) an installation of the Rosetta software that helps with Intel-based installers/software.

     

     

    The first time I ran the app, it threw an error with a reference code 205

     

    The second time I ran the app, it started up, and allowed me to create a new project.

     

    Hopefully, the error code will give tech support a starting point...

     

    -Matt

    -Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant
      Peter Grainge
      Community Expert
      Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 17, 2023

      @Alan Houser We did meet many years ago at Writers UA. Portland? Seattle?

       

      Anyway, I have asked an Adobe contact to take a look at your question as I believe it has been installed on M1. It is a separate installer but that's all I know.

      ________________________________________________________

      My site www.grainge.org includes many free Authoring and RoboHelp resources that may be of help.

       

      Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
      Alan Houser
      Community Expert
      Alan HouserCommunity ExpertAuthor
      Community Expert
      January 17, 2023

      Hi @Peter Grainge! I know we've met F2F at WritersUA or elsewhere, and I certainly know you as a prominent member of the community. I'm grateful for your help!

       

      -Alan Houser

       

      Matt-Tech Comm Tools
      Community Expert
      Matt-Tech Comm ToolsCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      January 17, 2023

      Hmm, and just for clarity...you'd rather install the Mac Rh 2020 (latest release on Mac) than the Win Rh 2022 (using Fusion, etc.)?

       

      I haven't tried the Mac 2020 install on an M1, but easily installed in on an Intel MBP. 

      -Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant
      Alan Houser
      Community Expert
      Alan HouserCommunity ExpertAuthor
      Community Expert
      January 17, 2023

      Good Q, Matt. This is potentially for a college-level course in software documentation. It's getting harder and harder to teach conventional HATs ... 3/4 of the kids come in with Macs. I know ... virtual machine, install Windows, install the HAT ... but this is pretty high-overhead for the students, just so they can work with a HAT for a few weeks.

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